House of Cards By MetroRhodes Rated: PG-13 Submitted: August, 2007 Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, an expert on anything medically related. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. However, I did do research, and I did ask around (bless Sue's sweet little heart for answering all my questions). Hopefully I didn't get too far off the mark with my postulations in this story and if I did, I hope you'll all excuse me. We are dealing with science fiction here and an extra-terrestrial so hopefully you'll cut me a little slack. But feel free to correct me if you find anything that glares at you. Just be gentle. And another disclaimer: There isn't really any main villain in this fic. Luthor is in the beginning, but that's it. I say this because even though there's not a villain-plot, I'm not sure if this fic could be classified as mostly b-plot or not. I'll let you decide that. All characters and settings are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros., and whoever else can legally lay claim to them. No copyright infringement is intended. This story was written purely for fun, not for profit, but the story is an original idea and belongs to me. A thank you to the writers of Lois & Clark, without them we wouldn't have this wonderful world to play in. Any scenes or dialogue from the series belong strictly to the original writers of the episodes borrowed from. Thank you to Sue my always wonderful beta, and to Laramoon, who offered her brilliant beta services to me part way through... words can't adequately express my gratitude to both of you for your endless help and words of advice on this story. Thank you. And a thank you must be given to my GE, Julie, who has had the job of editing yet another one of my long fics. I don't know what she's done to deserve that task, but I'm indebted to her for all her help. Thank you, Julie! *********** Lois stared at the image in the mirror in front of her. The pristine white wedding gown was ornate and exquisite but something way too gaudy for Lois's tastes. She had wanted something more austere, something with less frills and more... her. But Lex had insisted that while no dress could properly do her justice, this dress and this extravagant veil came the closest. She reached down and fingered one of the lace appliques that adorned the soft satin. It was too flashy, too ornate. She preferred more tasteful clothing. A wedding dress could still be beautiful -- and in her opinion could showcase the bride even better -- if it were simple. But it was what Lex wanted. That thought made her pause. Since when had she started caring so much about what Lex wanted? Lois Lane was still her own person. Being married was not going to change who she was. Was it? In truth, things had already changed so much. She felt like she was losing herself to all the changes. For longer than she wanted to admit her life had been her work. Her life had been the Planet. It was her anchor and she missed it dearly. Her strong fortress had been reduced to a house of cards. How easily it had been toppled. But while she missed the building itself and the work, she missed the people even more. People who weren't going to be at her wedding. Friends... like Clark. Lois could feel the twinge of tears trying to start in the corners of her eyes. She took a deep breath and blinked a few times, trying to ward them off -- she had been fighting back tears all afternoon. Why was Clark being so stubborn about this? Lois knew that she could have been more tactful when he told her about his feelings for her. But what had he expected? His revelation of love for her had caught her completely off guard. No, she had to be honest with herself. It actually wasn't such a surprise. The fact that he told her was, but not the feelings he expressed. He had told her, back when Miranda sprayed them with her pheromone compound, that he hadn't been affected. But Lois hadn't really believed him. If there was one thing she knew with certainty, it was that Clark was attracted to her. That had been obvious almost from the moment they met -- she had just sublimated her attraction to him because the last thing she wanted was another complicated affair with someone from work... But she knew he was attracted to her; it was partly Clark's attentiveness to her that proved his attraction. While it was true that she considered him a really good friend... no, that wasn't right. If she was being honest with herself, Clark was her *best* friend. Even so, the kind of things Clark did for her, the way he put up with her for one thing, that went beyond mere friendship. Lois reached up and wiped under her eyes where a little moisture had gathered and was threatening to smudge her mascara. Before today, Clark had always been there for her. And it wasn't just the little things, though they were nice all by themselves. Lois couldn't help thinking back to when Barbara Trevino had threatened her and she had gone over to Clark's apartment. It had just seemed so natural to go there. She had callously told Clark that if she had to pick a bodyguard, it wouldn't be him. But that wasn't the truth. There wasn't anyone she trusted more to protect her and be there for her. Well, almost anyone... Sure, maybe Superman was more physically capable of protecting her, but no one had a heart like Clark's. He had taken her into his apartment that night, no questions asked. She could still feel the strength and comfort in his arms as he held her and let her cry softly against his shoulder. She could still hear his soft voice as he promised her that she would be safe with him. Lois knew there had been more beneath the surface of that comment. He had meant she would be safe from Barbara Trevino, but he had also meant that she could trust him. He had given up his bed for her -- even insisting on putting fresh sheets on it -- and he had slept on the couch. Not once during that night had he made her feel uncomfortable or made her feel like he was encroaching on her privacy. She had known then that she had feelings for him. Her feelings had been allowed to surface during the pheromone fiasco and she had tried to deny them, push them down... flippantly wave them off. But they were there and they had resurfaced. They had slowly been developing since... well, she wasn't exactly sure. But they had only grown stronger during the Nightfall asteroid incident. She had almost lost her best friend then. Besides nearly losing Superman, she had almost lost Clark. Not literally, of course. But she had really been afraid that his memory was permanently gone. It had scared her in a way that she wasn't comfortable thinking about. Somehow Clark had found the chink in what she had thought was the impenetrable armor of her heart and he had snuck inside. The closer they became the harder she tried to push him away. That's why she had gotten involved with Lex to begin with. Lex was safe. He was unattainable. She knew that she was only a fun, diversionary amusement for Lex. Even so, she loved the extravagant meals he lavished upon her, the trips to the opera... the gifts. And as a side benefit, it allowed her to keep her distance from Clark. But then something unbelievable had happened. Lex had proposed to her. Lois reached up and straightened the veil on her head. Why had she accepted? Lois wasn't really sure she had planned on ever getting married... to anyone. She was of course overwhelmed and flattered that Lex Luthor -- the world's richest and most eligible bachelor -- would actually be so in love with her to propose to her. Lois Lane -- the bristly, hard-as-nails reporter who didn't let anyone get close to her. The woman who Cat was certain would die a lonely old spinster. So Lois had considered Lex's proposal. And then Clark had done the unthinkable! He had outwardly professed his love for her. She wasn't sure why she was so afraid of her feelings for Clark. Truth be told, she hadn't actually realized that she had feelings of *love* for him until that very afternoon in the park when he had laid his heart on the line and told her how he felt. Lois had told herself all along that she really liked Clark. That they were good friends. That she cared about him as much as she could care about anyone... but not in a romantic way. But that day she realized she had been lying to herself. She did have those kinds of feelings for him. And it had scared her. It had terrified her. She had done the only safe thing -- she had told him she had feelings for him but just as a friend. It was all she could admit to. She was so stunned that she hadn't been able to even think straight. Lois cringed at her reflection in the mirror. What had she said? Even now she couldn't believe how calloused she had been to Clark. Just moments after he had confessed his love for her, she had asked him to run and fetch Superman. How could she have done that to him? Her stomach clenched into a tight knot. She had done it to push him away. She could have contacted Superman herself. A couple of hearty "Superman's" shouted from her apartment window would have surely gotten the Man of Steel's attention. And she really had wanted to talk to him. But she had asked Clark to find him for her because she knew it would show him that she didn't have *those* kind of feelings for him -- she had those kind of feelings for Superman. She could only bring herself to fall for men who she knew were unattainable. That was the only way to be safe. It was the only way to guarantee that she wouldn't end up with another Claude or Paul or some guy like the ones who had pursued her in college. Maybe it was just easier to be the one who's loved than to be the one doing the loving... She knew that was certainly the case with Superman. She had known deep down -- even if she didn't want to admit it -- that Superman was unattainable. That was probably part of the allure. What she hadn't counted on was his blatant refusal of her. He had been so cold and aloof that night he had come to see her. He had rebuffed her and then left without so much as a goodbye. It had stung. Stung? It had hurt like hell. It had left her open and vulnerable. So when Lex had asked her once again if she would marry him, she had done the unimaginable. She had accepted. The tears that Lois had been holding back so fervently began abruptly spilling from her eyes and a soft sob escaped from her lips. What had she done? Lois jumped slightly as a voice came from the other side of door, interrupting her thoughts. "Ten minutes, Mrs. Luthor." Mrs. Luthor? Why did that sound so... wrong? Lois took a deep breath and sniffled a couple of times as she wiped under her eyes. She looked carefully back on her image in the mirror as she practiced saying her name, "Mrs. Lex Luthor." She sniffled again. "Lois Lane Luthor." She sucked in a breath as another sob tried to escape. The name just didn't feel right. "Lois Luthor Lane," she whimpered out. A few tears escaped her eyes again and she patted them away with the tissue in her hands. It didn't matter how she said it. It was wrong. This whole situation was wrong. She shouldn't be marrying this man. This wasn't the man she wanted to be with. She had to say it, just once. She had to see what it would have sounded like. "Lois Lane... Kent." Her voice broke on the last name. She started crying again in earnest, mumbling her name to herself as her mother entered through the door into the spare guest room. "Oh, mom, what am I going to do," she half spoke, half sobbed. "Oh, honey, if you're not sure," her mother began earnestly. "It's too late!" she cried, interrupting her. "No it's not!" her mother reprimanded her. "You do what your heart tells you to do." Could it really be that simple? It *was* too late, wasn't it? She had already accepted Lex's proposal. She was here, in her wedding dress, and the ceremony was about to begin down in the lobby. She couldn't back out now. As if reading her thoughts, her mother continued, "It's never too late until you say 'I do'. And then you'll live with the regret the rest of your life or your marriage will end in failure like mine and your father's did. Don't marry someone who isn't right for you, honey. Divorce is a terrible thing to have to go through. Believe me. I know." "But mom, I said yes. Lex Luthor is well respected. He is a humanitarian and would be a good provider and..." Her mother took her by the arms and turned Lois to face her. "Do you love him?" Lois's heart stammered. Did she love him? She liked him a lot. She loved the things that he had done for the city. Her pride was enamored and flattered by the attention that he lavished on her. And truthfully she was probably a little infatuated with the kind of power that he held. But if she was honest with herself, she didn't have romantic feelings for him... not the same way that she did for Clark. Or even for Superman. How could she have not realized that sooner? Or maybe she had, maybe that's why she had put off his sexual advances. Her silence was answer enough for her mother. "Lex is still in his bedroom across the hall. Do you want me to go get him?" Lois hesitated. Could she do this? Could she really tell Lex Luthor that she was backing out of the wedding? Yes. Yes she could... she would... she had to. She nodded softly at her mother. "Yes, please." She watched her mother disappear out her door and she fidgeted for a few seconds while she waited for the inevitable. What would Lex think of her? What would the public think of her? Would they think that Lois Lane was a flake? A ditz who couldn't make up her mind? Who didn't know a good thing even when it was handed to her on a silver platter? The door opened again and a very concerned-looking Lex walked through the door. "What's the matter, my dear? Pre-wedding jitters? Your mother said you needed to speak to me." He seemed to sense her unease and he attempted to lighten the mood. "You know it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding." She nodded. "Yes, Lex, I know." It was going to be the worst luck he could imagine. She opened her mouth again, but she wasn't really sure what to say next. How do you tell someone that you're not really in love with them? Lex walked over to her, smiling indulgently at her. For some reason the smile irritated her. "Come, come, my dear. What's this all about? Hmmmm? Everything's ready. It's time to begin. We shouldn't keep our guests downstairs waiting any longer." He took her by the arm and attempted to lead her from the room. She finally came to her senses and planted her feet, resisting him. "No. No, Lex. I'm... I'm sorry," she began. He had turned to look at her when she had resisted him and now his eyebrows were beginning to furrow. "Sorry?" "Yes, I'm sorry. But I can't marry you, Lex. I'm... I'm not in love with you. Not like I should be. And that's not fair -- not to you and certainly not to me." The words were soft but she spoke them with a firm determination that almost surprised her. She almost felt like her old self again. She couldn't be sure but his eyes seemed to darken almost imperceptibly. But then that same indulgent smile fell back into place across his face. "Come now, darling. You don't mean that. You're just nervous. You'll feel better once you walk down the aisle and say your vows." Lois frowned. The smile told her everything she needed to know. He was trying to placate her and still get his way. Hadn't he even heard what she had just said? Didn't he care that she didn't love him? Any other man would refuse to marry a woman who had professed that they weren't in love with them. After all, he didn't even really know her that well. If they didn't have love, what did they have? She started to pull her arm away from him and was shocked when his grip tightened on her. "Ouch, you're hurting me." "Am I? I'm sorry, my dear." His voice almost seemed patronizing. "But you have to understand. I always get what I want. It's too late for you to back out now. You already said yes, you already promised to give yourself to me." His words threatened to make her nauseous. 'Give herself to him.' Had she really been willing to do that? She had managed to put him off until their wedding night, telling him that she wanted things to be perfect. But she had really wanted to wait until she felt more comfortable, until she knew him a little better, until she... loved him. But now she realized that she hadn't ever really known him at all. Maybe Clark had been right. Maybe she had been so enamored with Lex that she hadn't taken the time to see him for who he really was. Because the man standing before her right now was not a man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. "No, Lex. Let me go," she protested, allowing a little heat into her voice as she ripped her arm free of his grasp. "It's not too late until I say 'I do' and sign that marriage certificate. And I can't do that. I won't. I'm in love with someone else." Lex's eyes darkened visibly. "Who? Superman?" Lois shook her head. "I won't deny that I have feelings for him, but that's not who I was talking about. Not that it's any of your business," she bit out. He frowned at her and then understanding seemed to light up in his eyes. "No, it can't be," he said, shaking his head in amazement. "How perverse. You can't honestly tell me that you'd rather be with that out-of-work hayseed partner of yours over me." A knock at the door interrupted them and Lex snarled, "Who is it?" "Mr. Luthor this is Inspector Henderson with the Metropolis Police Department. Open up. We have a warrant for your arrest..." "Arrest?" Lois yipped, not hearing the rest of Henderson's words. "What's he talking about, Lex?" Lex wasn't listening to her. He was looking at a wall on the opposite side of the room. "I'm sorry to hear of your decision, my dear. I'm afraid before this day is out that you are going to deeply regret it." He walked past her headed for the other side of the room as Henderson began to bang on the door. "Open up, Mr. Luthor, we know you're inside." Lois heard the sound of the doorknob turning and then the door flew open. She looked back in the direction that Lex had gone and found herself in shocked amazement. He was gone. "Lane, where did Luthor go? Don't try to protect him or we'll have to..." "I'm not trying to protect him, Henderson," she snapped. "He was just here. I watched him walk that way." She pointed. "Then I turned to look at the door when you came through it. When I looked back, he was gone. He must have gone out the other door." Henderson pulled a walkie-talkie out of his coat pocket. "All units proceed to the exits of the building. I repeat all units, secure the building. Our suspect has fled the scene. I repeat, Lex Luthor has resisted arrest." He turned back to look at Lois. "Do you know where that other door leads to?" She nodded. "A hallway. The hallway leads to his office and he has a private elevator." It was the elevator that she had been instructed to take down to the lobby floor for the wedding. Henderson pulled out his walkie-talkie and shouted into it, "Jones, I want you to question Mrs. Cox about Lex's private elevator. Find out what stops it makes. See if she knows where he's headed. I'm on my way down in one of the main elevators to meet you." Henderson pointed at the two officers who had accompanied him inside the room. "You two fan out and secure this floor in case Luthor doesn't take the elevator and doubles back." Lois watched in stunned amazement as the officers sprinted from the room. "What's this all about, Henderson?" "Luthor has been charged with too many crimes for me to even go into right this moment. But I will tell you that your *fiance*," he stressed the word and Lois felt herself blanch just a little, "is guilty of arson, attempted murder, and the destruction of the Daily Planet building, just to name a few. Perry White brought the evidence to light for us. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a criminal to apprehend." Lois stood there in shock as she watched Henderson leave the room. Clark was right. He had warned her about how dangerous he thought Luthor was. She hadn't believed him. She had even mocked him. But he was right. Would he ever forgive her? ********** Clark was going to die if he didn't get out of here soon. He wasn't completely sure why he wasn't already dead. He wasn't sure how long he had been in this Kryptonite cage, but it felt like a lifetime. Every breath he took was excruciating. He had been certain that he was going to die here, either succumbing to the Kryptonite itself or by Luthor's hand when the man came back to finish him off after his wedding ceremony. But then Luthor had made a mistake. He had left him a way out. Clark looked at the key he held in his hand. It had taken every ounce of strength he possessed to finally get this key. Now he wasn't sure he had the strength left to follow through and get himself out of this cage. He was lying on his back on the cold concrete floor of the wine cellar. At least the floor should have been cold. He couldn't feel it. He couldn't really feel much of anything, anymore. His body was numb all over. The pain had been worse than anything he had ever experienced. Even his first exposure to Kryptonite hadn't felt like this but, then again, it had been a short exposure. He hadn't been trapped inside and surrounded by a cage that had been infused with it. Just the thought of the pain returning was enough to take his breath away. Or maybe that was the pain that his breathing was causing him. That was the only thing he could still feel -- knives stabbing through his chest with each breath he took. That and the ache in his heart at knowing that Lois was here in this very building about to marry the man who would have murdered him. Lois. She was the reason he was still alive, that he was still fighting. Even though she hadn't listened to him when he had tried to warn her about Luthor, he couldn't give up on her. He couldn't stand by and just let her marry that monster. Lex's words came back to him, igniting a fire in his heart. Lex would break her. He would extinguish the spirit that made Lois the woman that Clark had fallen in love with. And once Lex did that, he would have no further use for her. And even if Lex wasn't able to accomplish that, Clark knew him too well. If he couldn't break her, he would take all he could and then he would kill her. Clark shuddered with the rage that was building inside him. No! He couldn't let that happen. Not as long as there was breath left in his body. He pulled himself up from the floor and dragged himself over to the cage door. Sliding the key into the lock, being careful not to touch the glowing bars all around him, he turned the key and let out a sigh of relief at the welcome sound of the lock releasing. He pushed the door open and crawled away from the cage to a far corner in the room. Now what? How did he proceed? He was in no shape to do anything 'super'. Who knew how long it would be before he regained his powers after this long of an exposure to Kryptonite... if he even did regain them this time. As bad as he felt right now, he should probably still be worried about making it out of here alive. He just needed to rest for a few moments to catch his breath. He still had to figure out a way to get to Lois, to stop that ceremony. To do that, he was going to have to go as Clark Kent. Superman was in no kind of shape to be seen publicly. Clark was sure that the farther away he got from this cage and the longer he was away from it, the better he would feel. By the time he made it to the room where the ceremony was being held, he should at least have it together enough to carry on a coherent conversation with Lois. She had wanted proof. She didn't believe him about Luthor and had wanted proof. Well he had the proof now and he would give her what she needed to stop this wedding. And then he would leave. She had made it clear that she didn't love him and she sure as hell didn't trust him. That had been obvious when she accepted Luthor's proposal. Clark couldn't continue on living in this city, working side by side with someone he loved, knowing that she would never feel that way about him. And then there was Superman. He might have rebuffed her advances as Superman but she was still in love with her hero, he was sure of it. Whereas Clark himself would never be anything more in her eyes than just a friend or a partner. And Clark needed more than that. But first things first. He needed to change clothes. And he finally felt like he might have enough strength to manage it. There was no time to lose. The ceremony would be starting any moment. Clark wasn't able to spin back into his clothes, but he moved with all the strength he could muster and a couple of short minutes later he was Clark again. He looked down at the suit, cape and boots he was holding in his hands. The constrictive nature of his suit had been making it hard for him to breathe, so he had opted to take it off. Plus he didn't know what he was going to face before this was all over and he didn't want to risk the suit getting exposed. He couldn't be Superman so it was probably better if he just hid his costume somewhere for now. But where? Clark peered out from behind the barrels he had been hiding behind. They seemed to be shielding him just a little from the effects of the Kryptonite because when he exposed himself just then, the pain hit him again full force. This wasn't going to be fun. But he couldn't hide in here forever. He had to get out of here and up those stairs. He just had to keep it together that long and he would be okay. The stairs. There was a hollow area beneath the stairwell. He could stash his clothes under there and come back for them later... perhaps after the police had deactivated that cage. Clark took a few deep breaths. It was now or never. He moved out from behind the barrels and gasped audibly as the pain slammed into him full force again. He had to get out of this tomb. He kept to the sides of the room, staying as far away from the middle and that cage as he could. When he got to the stairwell, he quickly tucked his uniform as far back underneath it as he could reach. The pain was threatening to overtake him again, sharp shards of torture sliced through him with each movement he made. He just had to make it up the stairs. Once he got up the stairs and through that door, he would be safe. When Mrs. Cox had led him down here, he had been surprised to find a room like this inside the LexCorp building. Although he probably shouldn't have been. Lex's living quarters occupied the whole top two floors of the building. The rest of the building was pretty much offices and laboratories, rooms and sections devoted to his vast empire. But Lex still lived out of this building, this wine cellar was evidence of that. On his short tour, Mrs. Cox had made it a point to lead him through the lavishly decorated lobby area where the wedding was to take place today. Not far beyond that door at the top of the stairs there was a marriage ceremony about to begin. He could already hear the organ beginning to warm up. Images flashed through his mind of Lois in a beautiful white gown, her skin glowing radiantly, her glossy dark hair barely visible beneath her delicate veil... Luthor didn't deserve to see her like that. Clark weakly began his ascent of the steps, barely able to take one at a time. He jerked his head up at the sound of the door opening above him. His eyes widened in horror as he saw Luthor step through. Why was he here? Wasn't he supposed to be at the alter right about now? Luthor's mouth gaped open in shock when he saw Clark standing on the stairs below him. "You!" he screeched. "This is your fault." He came towards the stairs and then froze when he realized that the cage below him stood empty. He let out a fierce shriek and turned his gaze back on Clark. "This is the last time you will interfere with my plans." Clark felt his knees go weak when Luthor reached up and snatched the axe from the wall beside him. Luthor held up the deadly-looking weapon for inspection and smiled wickedly at Clark. "It appears that I have the high ground, Mr. Kent." Clark watched as if frozen in place as Luthor moved down the stairs towards him. Clark was weak and he was vulnerable, if Luthor struck at him with that axe... "So this is who she would love? This simpering nothing that is cowering before me?" Lex gloated as he moved toward Clark. Clark didn't understand what Luthor was talking about, but he knew he had to put some space between them and he began backing down the stairs. His mind whirled. Where could he run? There wasn't anywhere to hide down here. Luthor advanced on him in a rush and took an unsteady swipe at Clark's throat. Clark dodged at the last second, but his attempt to evade cost him his footing and he stumbled backwards down the stairs. In that instant Luthor swung out with the axe. The steel blade penetrated Clark's vulnerable skin and he felt a red-hot heat rip through his side, sending a searing jolt of pain through him. Clark let out an anguished cry and Luthor lunged out with the axe punching Clark in the stomach with the flat end of the blade. It knocked Clark off his feet and he fell the last couple of steps. He slammed into the rock wall behind him, hitting his head hard. The room started spinning and he slid slowly down the wall until he came to rest against the landing. He grit his teeth. The pain from his wound was almost unbearable. He hadn't thought anything could hurt worse than the Kryptonite. Clark looked down and felt faint from the blood that was seeping into his shirt. Luthor arrogantly strode down the stairs, smiling at Clark. "So wise so young, they say do never live long." He chuffed a short laugh. "This axe is special, Mr. Kent. It was going to be the death of Superman. I wanted the satisfaction of personally plunging this through Superman's heart -- watching him suffer as he drew his last breath. You may have taken that from me, but I most certainly will get the satisfaction of killing you with it." Clark's mind was hazy. He couldn't seem to concentrate on Luthor and the only thought he could hold on to was that he was sorry he had failed Lois. But as he watched Luthor adjust his grip on the axe, Henderson entered through the open door at the top of the stairs. His gun was drawn and aimed at Luthor. "It's over, Luthor!" "It's never over!" Luthor snarled as he raised the axe up to plunge it into Clark's defenseless body. Henderson didn't waste any time and fired his weapon, hitting Luthor in the back between his shoulder blades. The axe slipped from Luthor's hands, clattering noisily down the stairs to the floor below, and he collapsed next to Clark. He looked up at Clark and coughed. Blood began to trickle from his mouth when he opened it. Luthor tried to speak but before he could form any words his eyes closed and his body slumped. The world was swimming around Clark, colors and images blurring and fading and he fell over. The last thing he heard was Henderson calling his name. ********** Lois followed one of the officers into yet another room, questioning his retreating form, "What do you mean you can't tell me what's going on? Don't you know? Can you at least tell me if you've heard back from Henderson yet?" She was doing her best to remain calm but the officer's insistence on ignoring her was beginning to aggravate her. The young officer stopped and turned to face her. To keep from running into him, she stopped so suddenly that the slick soles of her satin shoes slid on the polished surface of the tiled floor. "Listen, Ms. Lane, I realize you're not the person we came here to arrest today but don't push me. I might decide that the future Mrs. Luthor is disrupting the peace..." Lois scowled at him and opened her mouth to flash a retort -- how dare he call her that? -- but a voice from his walkie-talkie cut her off. "Johnson? This is Henderson. Call an ambulance. We've got a civilian down. I repeat, man down." Officer Johnson's face paled. "Sir, do you require assistance? Have you apprehended Luthor?" "Luthor's dead," Henderson's voice came back. Lois's eyes went wide in shock. What had happened? "Now get me that ambulance, Johnson, and tell Perry White that one of his reporters has been wounded. It's Clark Kent." Johnson pulled a cell phone from his belt and began dialing numbers while Lois looked on in shock. Lex was dead and Clark was hurt? Lois hurried out of the room into the hallway headed towards the elevators. Clark was hurt! She had to find him. How badly was he hurt? Henderson hadn't said, but if they were calling an ambulance that couldn't be good. She suddenly felt numb and everything seemed to tilt out of focus. Staggering forward, she reached out for the wall in front of her to steady herself. Clark was hurt... Lois felt a pair of arms grab hold of her and she turned dazedly to look into the eyes of her concerned editor. "Perry?" "Lois, honey, are you all right?" "Perry! It's Clark. I have to find Clark." She started squirming in his arms to get free of his grasp. "Now hold on," Perry instructed her, slowly releasing her but keeping one hand on her, "You looked like you were going to pass out on me. We'll find Clark in a minute. You just need to..." "No, Perry!" she wailed. "You don't understand. Clark's hurt. He's been wounded somehow. We have to find him." She took his hand in hers and pulled on him, urging him to come with her down the hallway. They were close to the elevator. She would get on the elevator and... And do what? Go where? She didn't even know where he was. "Honey, what in Elvis's name is going on?" Perry huffed, refusing to let himself be dragged with her. "How do you know Clark's hurt? I haven't even seen Clark in the last two days. What did you..." Lois whirled on him, feeling too panicked and impatient to explain herself but understanding that she had to. "Because I heard it on the police radio. Henderson said Clark had been wounded and they were calling an ambulance. I have to find him!" "Okay, just calm down. If they've called an ambulance then our best bet is to go downstairs and wait for it outside. All right?" "Okay, Perry. I just... I need to find him." Lois swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and bit back tears. He had to be all right. Please let him be okay. She hadn't even gotten to tell him yet... He didn't even know... This time it was Perry who took the lead, taking her hand and escorting her into another room across the hallway. He was going in the wrong direction -- the opposite direction of the elevators. "Perry, the elevators are..." "I know. I have to let Jimmy know where we're going. Jimmy!" Perry bellowed as they entered the room. "Yeah, Chief?" Jimmy yelped as he jumped and then jerked his head around to look them. "Lois and I are going downstairs to check on Clark -- don't ask, I'll tell you later. If Henderson comes looking for me you tell him Lois and I went to check on Clark. You keep an eye on Jack and I'll meet up with the two of you later, okay?" "Sure," Jimmy said, looking thoroughly confused but knowing better than to question Perry when he was giving orders. Perry nodded at him and then turned on heel, headed back out of the room towards the elevators. Lois followed closely behind him. They rode the elevator in silence. The ride was taking entirely too long for Lois. She glanced at the digital readout. It was going down in variables of ten and was currently displaying the fiftieth floor -- she was over halfway there. Come on, come on, she thought furiously, move faster! With the wedding ceremony taking place here today, Lex had pretty much shut down the rest of the building so hopefully the elevator would have an uninterrupted trip to the ground floor. She looked at the readout again -- fortieth floor -- and then began repeating to herself that Clark was going to be okay. He had to be. But what if he wasn't? What if she never again got to see that beautiful smile light up his face? She thought back to the night he had held her in his arms when Barbara Trevino had threatened to kill her. Would she ever feel his arms around her like that again? Her mind raced to the kiss they had shared in the honeymoon suite of the Lexor hotel. Would she ever have the opportunity to kiss him like that for real? She glanced down at her wedding dress and immediately felt tears trying to form but she held them back. She wouldn't cry, not yet, not until she knew he was okay. Then she could cry tears of relief. But what had happened to him? All she knew was that he had been badly wounded -- bad enough that it had warranted an ambulance. She looked back up at the readout -- twentieth floor -- and then shut her eyes. She began her mantra again -- please be okay, Clark. She opened her eyes when the bell dinged, alerting them that they had arrived at their destination. When she stepped from the elevator she was off at a run towards the front doors. She could see bright red and white bursts of light coming from the ambulance outside and each flash tore through her. If he wasn't injured that badly, they wouldn't be in such a hurry. They wouldn't still have the lights flashing like that. Would they? Lois hit the front doors at top speed and shoved through them, not caring that part of her wedding gown had gotten caught in the side of the door and ripped. She could see them lifting a gurney up into the back of the ambulance and she hurried over to it. It was Clark, there was blood on his shirt and an oxygen mask was attached to his face. "Clark!" she cried in a strangled voice. "Excuse me, Miss," one of the paramedics said. He stepped in front of her to halt her progress. "No, please. That's my friend. Is he all right? I need to see him," she begged. "I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "I can't allow you in the ambulance. You'll need to..." "Which hospital are they taking him to?" Perry's voice cut the paramedic off. He walked up behind Lois and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Metropolis Regional South." With that the paramedic left them standing there as he climbed inside the back of the ambulance and shut the doors. "Oh, Perry," she sniffled as she watched the ambulance drive off, sirens blaring. "Come on, honey. I'll get you there. My car's parked just over there." He gestured across the street. "I pity the person who gets in our way." ********** Lois walked through the automatic doors into the emergency room waiting area. Perry had dropped her off at the front door and was parking the car. She walked up to the check-in desk and tried to steady her voice as she spoke to the woman sitting there, "Can you tell me where I can find a patient who was just brought in?" The woman was typing on her computer and didn't look up or acknowledge Lois for a few seconds. Lois was about to get impatient when the woman finally looked up at her with tired eyes and simply said, "Name?" It must have been a busy day. Lois finally realized that the waiting room area was overflowing with people. "Clark Kent." The woman flipped through some charts on her desk before nodding slightly. "He's in an exam room right now." "Is he all right? Do you know how long he'll..." "No, ma'am. I'm sorry. If you want to have a seat, I can check again for you a little later." Lois felt her shoulders sag. She desperately wanted to see Clark, to touch him and tell him that she was here. But it wouldn't do her any good to press the woman further. It would probably just irritate her. "Thank you." She turned around to see Perry come walking through the doors. "Did you find out anything?" he asked. She shook her head. "The only thing they could tell me was that he's in an exam room." Perry nodded at her. "It could be a while before we can see him." He let out a long sigh. "Listen, Lois, I can sit here and wait if you want to run home and change your clothes or..." Lois was shaking her head. "No. I can't leave, Perry. What if something happens? Or something goes wrong? We don't even know how badly he's hurt. I have to be here." She looked down at the wedding dress she had on and fingered the tear that had been ripped into the side of it. Between her attire, her swollen eyelids and her tear-stained cheeks, she was sure she was quite a sight. But she wasn't leaving. Not until she got to see Clark and she knew that he was okay. Perry nodded softly at her in understanding. They looked around for a place to sit but there simply wasn't any. Lois felt like her legs were going to give out and considered just sitting down on the floor, wedding dress and all. Instead she leaned against one wall and tipped her head back to rest against it, closing her eyes. She felt Perry's hand on her shoulder and opened her eyes to look at him. "Come on, let's go, kiddo." He turned and headed for the front doors and Lois followed behind him voicing her objection, "No, I told you, I can't leave." "I'm not asking you to, darlin', there's a bench just outside." He pointed out the window. "You look like you could use a place to sit." Lois frowned, not really happy with leaving the emergency room itself. But maybe she could sit for just a little while and then she could go back inside to check on Clark. She sank onto the bench Perry had led them to with a grateful sigh. It was a pretty spring day. The air was warm and the sun was shining. And yet, something seemed wrong with that. How could the sun be shining while Clark lay inside a cold exam room in pain? A sob tried to rise in the back of her throat. This was her fault. Clark was here and was hurt because of her. She didn't know exactly what had happened, but if Luthor was dead and Clark was injured... Why hadn't she listened to him? Why hadn't she believed him? If he died without ever knowing... thinking that she... Tears began to slip past her closed eyelids and her breath caught as she tried to hold them back. She felt Perry's arm slide around her shoulders and he gave her a gentle squeeze. He didn't say anything, just comforted her as she let the anxiety of the day finally wash over her. The tangled mass of her emotions was almost too much to endure and Lois was glad when she heard the sound of a car pulling up to the curb in front of them. It gave her a needed distraction. She was a little surprised to see it was a police car and even more amazed when she saw Henderson get out, followed by Jimmy and Jack. "White." Henderson nodded his head at Perry and then turned to look at her, "Lois." Henderson rarely used her first name and for some reason the way he had said it so softly made her want to cry. But she wasn't going to cry in front of Henderson so she bit back the tears that were threatening to begin anew. "Thanks for dropping the boys off," Perry told him, extending his hand. Henderson took the hand and shook it. "No problem. Listen I've gotta get down to the precinct and get some paperwork filled out, but I need to speak to Kent just as soon as he feels capable of talking." "What happened?" Lois finally blurted out. She wasn't going to let him leave without an explanation. "I'm not exactly sure what happened," Henderson admitted, shaking his head. "That's why I need to talk to Kent. But if you mean how did he get injured? Luthor attacked him with an axe." Lois gasped. "Where? Where did he...?" "Through the side of his abdomen. The wound didn't look deep -- just a flesh wound -- but I'm not a doctor. Clark had passed out on me by the time it was all over. I didn't get to ask him anything." Lois's heart clenched painfully inside of her chest. It was her fault! All her fault. She had broke off the wedding with Lex and he had deduced that she was in love with Clark and he had... tried to kill him! But how had Clark found Luthor? Where had Clark been all that time? Perry said he hadn't seen him in almost two days. What had happened? "Where did you find him?" she asked softly. Henderson frowned. "They were down in the wine cellar..." "Wine cellar?" Perry exclaimed. "Great shades of Elvis. What does a man have a wine cellar at his corporate headquarters for?" "Because he lived there," Lois murmured. She realized that Lex was beyond eccentric. He was downright strange sometimes. What had she seen in him? "What were they doing down there?" "You got me." Henderson shrugged. "Although, come to think of it, maybe you could help me out with something else." He stepped away and opened the door to his car. He pulled out a box and brought it over to her. "You and Superman seem to be pretty close. At least you write an awful lot of exclusives about him." He handed her the box. "Have you seen him in the past couple of days?" Lois looked down into the box. It contained the pieces of Superman's uniform. What in the heck? "Hey! Those are Superman's! Where did you get those?" Jimmy piped up before Lois could say anything. Jack reached inside and fingered the material of the cape, his expression darkening. "Under the staircase in the wine cellar. When I went down to retrieve the axe I found them." Henderson furrowed his eyebrows. "There was a very strange cage with metal bars in the middle of the room." "What was strange about it?" Lois asked, realizing that it was strange enough that Lex had a cage in a wine cellar to begin with... "It was glowing. It had this strange greenish hue coming off of it. We're not really sure what it was for. But we were more than a little alarmed to have found Superman's uniform down there." "I'd say," Jimmy spoke up. "Luthor wouldn't have these unless..." he broke off, looking a little pale. Lois's heart lurched in her chest. "No. No, he couldn't kill Superman," she stammered. "Superman's invulnerable. There has to be some kind of logical explanation." "Does there?" Henderson asked her, frowning. "I'd sure like to know what it is. I'd like to know what Superman's uniform was doing down in that cellar." "Well maybe he just has some morbid fascination with Superman and it's a knock off, a copy of the suit," she suggested lamely. The idea even sounded ridiculous to her. "Maybe," Henderson graciously conceded. "But then why did Luthor head down to that wine cellar when we came to arrest him? And why did he and Clark get into a fight? He would have killed Clark if I hadn't been there to stop him." That's when Lois realized what had happened. Lex was dead because Henderson had killed him. Henderson had saved her partner's life. She looked up at him through misty eyes and whispered, "Thank you." Henderson didn't look like he knew how to respond. "Yeah, well you just make sure that partner of yours returns the favor. I'm going to have a lot to answer for over this. I'm going to need Kent to give a statement about what happened down there." Lois nodded at him. "We'll call you just as soon as we know something," she promised. Henderson nodded at her and took the box back from her. "I've got to get back to the precinct. I'll be waiting for your call." She watched him walk away and get back into his car. He set the box down in the seat beside him and Lois felt a shiver run through her. Superman wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead. But why else would Lex have had his suit? And why hadn't anyone seen him the past couple of days? The last time Lois had talked to him personally was the night that he had come to her apartment at her request. The night he had told her that there couldn't be anything between them. The night she had gotten in bed with the devil, so to speak. That's the way Clark had termed it, and now she knew why. She should have listened to him. He was lying in there in pain and Superman was missing and it was all because of her. "It's my fault," she muttered softly. Perry had been chatting with the two boys and he turned to look at her when he heard her voice. "What is?" he asked stiffly. "Everything. If I had listened to Clark none of this would have ha...happened," her voice broke and she cleared it. "If I had seen past Luthor's facade and seen who he really was..." "Don't, Lois, don't do this..." "No, Perry! It's the truth. How could I have let him deceive me like that? I pride myself on being able to read people..." Perry wrapped one arm around her and gave her a soft squeeze. "He fooled us all, honey." "Not me," Jack piped up. "I never trusted the guy." "Me either," Jimmy quickly agreed. Perry flashed them both a warning glance and their faces fell, looking chagrined. "You can't blame yourself. This was Luthor's doing all the way. This was his fault." "Yeah, maybe," she hesitantly agreed, feeling sullen. "Hey," Perry said, turning her to look at him. "No maybes. The blame falls squarely on Luthor's shoulders, including what he did to you. You hear me?" She nodded at him, feeling a lump beginning in her throat. But would Clark feel the same way? "Okay, then," Perry continued, "Don't forget it." Perry gave her another squeeze before releasing her. He started to turn back towards the two boys when Lois spoke again, "Perry? What happened? What things did you guys find out about Luthor?" Perry turned back to her and sighed softly. Where did he begin? ********** As Lois walked towards the admissions desk to check on Clark again, she glanced back through the front glass at where Perry and the boys were still sitting. She felt like she was in shock from hearing about all of the things they had uncovered on Luthor with Clark's help. Clark had been right. She had been about to get in bed with the devil. It scared her that she had known Lex so little. He had hidden so much from her. Not like Clark. Lois knew Clark better than she probably knew any man; her father included. And she cared so much for him. Hopefully it wasn't too late to show him. The lady saw her approaching and gave her a short nod. "Clark Kent, right?" "Yes. Is he okay?" "He had to have several stitches but they've moved him into a recovery room now. He sustained a concussion and he might still be a little groggy from that and from the pain meds." "So I can see him?" Lois rang her hands in nervous tension. She *had* to see him. "Yes, they've got him settled in now." The woman checked something on the clipboard in front of her and then looked back up at Lois. "Room R14. Go through the doors to my right and down the hallway. The room will be on your left." "Thank you." Lois entered through the set of doors and began walking down the hallway glancing at room numbers on her left before stopping at the one Clark was in. She opened the door hesitantly and peeked inside. Taking a deep breath, she walked in and closed the door behind her. The room was dark but not because it was getting dark outside yet -- far from it. Someone had pulled the blinds to cover the windows. A small wall lamp above the sink in the room provided the only lighting. It had a fluorescent bulb, which cast a cold white sterile glow to the room. Lois felt her heart race as she walked towards her partner lying motionless in the small bed. She was relieved to see, at least, that there weren't a lot of wires and tubes and things attached to his body. She didn't know if she could have handled seeing all of that. He just had one IV connected to his left hand and he had a finger cuff connected to his right middle finger -- probably taking his pulse or blood pressure or something. Lois wasn't that familiar with hospitals. They weren't a place that she enjoyed visiting. She walked up next to the bed and laid one hand softly on his arm. "Clark?" she whispered. He didn't respond. Groggy nothing, those pain meds had knocked him out. "I'm sorry," she continued, rubbing her fingertips gently up his forearm. "I'm so sorry." As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized that he had some bruises on his right arm. The white light made his skin look pale and the sight of the purple flesh made her eyes tear again. "So sorry," she murmured again. "You were right. You were so right and I was so wrong. When you wake up I'm going to tell you that. So you have to wake up, okay? You want to hear Lois Lane admit that she was wrong, don't you?" She laughed half-heartedly at her own joke but there was no response from Clark. If it hadn't been for the slow rise and fall of his chest she would have felt alarmed by the sight of him. Clark was a strong, healthy looking man -- very healthy looking -- despite what his diet might say otherwise. She should know; she had seen him before in nothing but a towel. But she had never seen him like this. He looked so... frail. It frightened her and she averted her probing gaze from his body. As she did, the telephone on the table next to his bed caught her attention. Had anyone phoned his parents yet? Her heart sank with the thought. She needed to call them. ********** "Lois?" Martha's cheerful voice greeted her. "How nice to hear from you... um, but aren't you supposed to be getting married today?" Lois couldn't miss the strangely hopeful sound in Martha's voice and it made her grimace with guilt. "Yes, I was. I wish I were calling under better circumstances," Lois told her unsteadily. There was a hesitant pause before Martha answered her, "Better circumstances? Is something wrong, Lois?" "Oh, Martha, how do I say this? It's... it's Clark. He's in the hospital." "What?" Martha asked anxiously. "Why? What happened?" "It's a long story and I promise to fill you in on all the details later but," she took a deep breath, "Lex Luthor... wounded him." At Martha's worried gasp she hurried to continue, "He's... okay. He had to have some stitches." "Can I talk to him?" "No, I'm sorry, Martha. They gave him some pain meds and they seem to have knocked him out. I'm sorry no one called you earlier. Everything just happened so fast..." "I understand," Martha replied tightly, trying to reassure her. Lois flinched. She was sure Martha did probably understand but Lois was also sure that Martha was still probably upset that she hadn't been contacted sooner. "I'm just glad you called now. Jonathan and I will catch the next flight out and be there as quickly as we can." "I thought you might." There was silence for a few seconds and Lois began to wonder if Martha had already hung up when she began speaking again, "Lois, can I ask you to do something for me?" "Anything." "Can you watch over him, please, until we get there?" There was another pause but before Lois could answer, Martha continued, "Don't let them treat him any further until we get there." Lois felt her eyebrows creeping up her forehead. "Can I ask why?" "I promise I'll explain more later. For now, you just need to know that Clark could have some very unusual reactions to medication or treatment. Promise me, Lois, please?" Lois found herself nodding her head and she verbalized her promise. "Okay, Martha. I will. I wasn't planning on leaving him alone anyway. I'll look after him until you get here." "Thank you. We'll be there just as soon as we can. Bye, Lois." "Bye Martha." Lois hung up the phone and stared at it, a weird kind of shiver running through her. The last part of that conversation felt very peculiar. She glanced back down at Clark. "What other things don't I know about you, farm boy?" The door opening startled her and she looked up to see Perry entering the room. "Oh, Perry! I'm sorry. I meant to come out and get you. The lady out front let me come back to see him and then I realized that no one had probably called the Kents so I called them to let them know what was going on." She glanced behind him, waiting for the door to open again but it didn't. "Where's Jack and Jimmy?" "They don't usually like a lot of people in the room at once," Perry explained in a hushed tone. "I told Jack and Jimmy that I'd come back first and then they could take a turn." "Oh. Well, there's not much to report on right now," she told him mechanically. "They stitched up his wound. I guess the pain meds they gave him must have knocked him out." She sighed softly, letting a little of her emotion through. "The nurse said he'd just be groggy... I really wanted to talk to him." "Don't worry, honey," Perry said, coming up beside her and patting her arm. "I'm sure he'll wake up soon." Perry reached down and lightly patted Clark's shoulder. "You hear that, son? I need you up and at 'em. I'm not letting go of the Daily Planet without a fight and I'm gonna need all the help I can get." Lois felt a tug at her mouth and her eyes sparkled with a watery smile as she watched the loving exchange. Perry was a softie, whether he wanted anyone to know it or not. "Okay," Perry said, stepping away from the bed and clearing his throat softly. "I'm gonna go so Jack and Jimmy can come back. When they're done, we'll head down to the precinct to give Henderson an update. I remembered one more file of info that I need to give him on Luthor's involvement in the destruction of the Daily Planet building." Lois blanched at the reminder of what had happened. "Perry, I'm so sorry. I still can't believe I didn't see Luthor for who he really was. He almost destroyed everything I cared about." She briefly glanced at Clark. "Almost." "Don't you worry. The Daily Planet is not going down without a fight. I've already had one meeting with an investor I hoped might be interested, Mr. Stern..." "Really? Was he?" Perry let out a sigh. "No, I couldn't convince him. But I've got other names on my list. I'm not ready to give up just yet. The Daily Planet was more than just a building with offices and desks. It was more than just a newspaper. What really made the Daily Planet great were the people who worked there, like you and Clark. That and the things it stood for, like honesty and integrity. I've just got to get other people to see that," he growled in frustration. "You will, Chief. I know you will," Lois said encouragingly. If anyone could resurrect the Daily Planet, Perry could. An awkward silence fell upon the room and Perry cleared his throat. "I should, uh, probably get going. You know you're welcome to come down to the precinct with us. Or we could run you by your apartment..." Lois shook her head. "No thanks, Perry. This is where I need to be right now. I don't want to run off and Clark wake up here alone. When the Kents get here then I can think about leaving." "All right then. I'll be back first thing in the morning to check on him. You take care of yourself, okay?" Lois nodded at him. "I will. I'll see you tomorrow." *********** Lois fingered the edge of the baby blue sweatshirt she was wearing. It was probably one of the ugliest items of clothing that she had ever worn. It had a big brown teddy bear on the front of it that was holding a sign that said 'get well soon'. But after having been in that wedding dress half the day, it felt like a cashmere sweater on a crisp fall evening. Bless Perry's sweet heart for buying the sweatshirt and pants for her in the hospital gift shop downstairs. She glanced over at the trash bag that she had stuffed the wedding dress into. She'd deal with it later. Once Perry and the boys had left and everything began calming down again, Lois had felt herself beginning to get tired. It had been a very long day, and the day wasn't over yet. But she didn't want to fall asleep. At least not yet. She walked over to Clark's bed and stood beside it, looking down at her friend sleeping peacefully. The hair on his forehead was damp and the ends had begun to curl just slightly. She reached out and laid her hand against his forehead. It was hot. She wondered if that was normal after what he had been through. Lois walked over to the sink. There was a paper towel dispenser hanging on the wall next to the sink. Grabbing a couple of towels, she ran them under some cool water. After squeezing the excess water out of them, she took them over to Clark and blotted the cool, wet cloths against his forehead as she whispered softly to him, "You have to cooperate with me here, Clark. They're going to keep fussing over you if your temperature doesn't come down. You've gotta work with me, partner." She sighed quietly. "You've got to wake up." She pulled the towels back and felt of them. They felt warm so she turned them over, applying the other cool side to Clark's face. "I called your mom," she continued in a soft, soothing voice, "I bet she and your dad are in the air right now on their way here to see you." She rubbed the towels across his face lightly, wiping his cheeks and down his neck. Clark's face looked different to her and she finally realized what it was. He didn't have his glasses on. She wondered briefly where they were. Did the hospital have them somewhere? Or had they been lost or left back at LexCorp? She draped the warmed towel across the table next to his bed and reached out with one hand to feel his face. She was satisfied to note that he felt just a little cooler. Lois stroked his cheek softly with the back of her hand and smiled at him. "You know, you look very handsome without your glasses, Clark. You really should try wearing contacts." She reached out with her other hand to smooth a few curls from his forehead with her fingertips. When she had them combed back to her satisfaction, she frowned down at the man lying in front of her. Something looked very familiar about him. Well duh, she chastised herself, he is your partner. Of course he looks familiar. She looked again, more closely. No, something definitely seemed familiar, almost in an abstract sort of way somehow. As she continued to stare at him, grasping at the idea that was tugging at the back of her mind, thoughts began to run through her head. Henderson's earlier words came back to her mind. Lois frowned, trying to decide where her tired mind was going with this when Martha's words flashed through her mind. Now that Lois thought about it, what Martha had said was very odd. She didn't want Clark to be treated any further? If he had some kind of weird allergy or medical condition why didn't she just tell Lois what it was? So Lois could tell the doctor? She took an even closer look at him. Lois had dismissed that thought when she had told Clark that while under the influence of the pheromone. It was a preposterous idea. Wasn't it? She hadn't. And that just wasn't like Superman. He might still be upset with her for whatever reason... Lois paused in her thoughts. Why *was* Superman upset with her? She had been mulling that question over and over since the night he had flown out her window without even saying goodbye. He just hadn't seemed like himself that night. At first she had thought she was imagining it. But there had been that crass remark about her putting on a robe. And he had just seemed so cold and aloof. Not at all the way he usually was when he came to see her. Why? And then he had obviously been avoiding her since then. She had even seen him at a public function once after her engagement to Lex, but he had taken great pains not to even make eye contact with her. Her engagement to Lex... Was that what was bothering him? But why? He had told her that they couldn't be together. She had wanted to know his feelings before she gave Lex an answer and he had slighted her. She had poured out her heart, told him she would love him even if he was an ordinary man and... Lois paused and blinked a couple of times, looking at Clark again. <...you look a lot like Superman...> Her breath caught in her throat. She reached out with both hands and smoothed his hair back from his face. Her eyes widened at the sight of him. "No," she whispered. "No, it can't be." Clark had been wounded. Superman was invulnerable. He couldn't be hurt. She had seen bullets bounce off his chest. She had watched him eat a bomb for crying out loud. Had Lex found a way to hurt Superman? Was he that evil? Lois snorted. The man had blown up the Daily Planet. He had endangered the lives of every person in that building. Of course he was that evil. And he knew that she was in love with Superman. But how could he hurt Superman? The only thing even rumored to hurt Superman was Kryptonite. And she hadn't seen any proof that Kryptonite even existed. A stray memory flitted through her mind. Mrs. Cox. She was in Lex's office reading his itinerary to him. Mrs. Cox hadn't been willing to talk to her about Series K when she had asked. And Lex had oddly changed the subject when she brought it up. Lex had promised her that there wouldn't be any secrets between them and she had meant to bring it up again later but with everything going on, she had forgotten. Could Series "K" have been short for Kryptonite? It couldn't be a coincidence, could it? She shook her head at herself and almost laughed out loud. Lane, you are losing it. You're grasping at straws. Was she? She tried furiously to think of a time when she had seen the two men together -- Clark and Superman -- but she couldn't think of one. Not one single instance where she had seen them in the same place at the same time. That was a little weird, wasn't it? After all, Clark and Superman were friends, weren't they? When Lois had asked Clark to get a message to Superman -- he'd been able to. But if they were that close, or friends, why hadn't she ever seen them together? And then there were all those times that Clark would just dash off in the blink of an eye, with no good reason. Lois frowned down at Clark. She needed answers. And if Clark couldn't give them to her, she knew of two people who were on their way there that just might. She laid her hand across Clark's chest and leaned down, whispering fiercely to him, "Clark Kent, you have some explaining to do when you wake up." ********** Lois was awakened to a knock at the door and she jumped. It took a second for her to remember where she was. Had she really fallen asleep? She was amazed and a little embarrassed. The knock came again and she rushed to get up out of the chair she had pulled over next to Clark's bed. "Come in!" Lois hollered at the door without thinking. She cringed and looked over at Clark but he continued to sleep. Those drugs must have really knocked him out. She glanced back over at the door, expectantly waiting for it to open. She was sure it was probably Martha and Jonathan. If it had been a nurse, they would have just come in. Sure enough, a half a second later Martha's concerned face appeared as she opened the door. "Oh, my boy," she said worriedly. Lois walked over to greet her. She held out her hand but Martha pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you for watching over him, Lois. Has there been any change?" Martha released her from the hug and she started to respond when Jonathan wrapped one arm around her in an embrace. "Hello, Lois." The emotion in the room was starting to get to her and she had to take a deep breath so she didn't get teary-eyed again. "No, no change yet. He's just been sleeping." Staring Clark's parents in the eyes now, she began to question her earlier suspicions. Her desire to get some answers and get to the truth was warring with her need to just let Clark's parents spend some time alone with him and come to grips with the situation. "Why don't I step out and let you two have a..." "Nonsense!" Martha replied. "There's no reason for you to leave... unless of course you were waiting to leave until we got here?" "No." Actually that was sort of true... "I just thought you might want some time alone." "If you want to be here, you're welcome to stay. I'm sure Clark is glad you're here." Lois didn't want to point out that Clark was completely out of it and had no idea that she was here. Instead she kept her mouth shut and watched as Martha went over to give her son a hug. "Oh, Clark. I'm so sorry," Martha whispered quietly. She looked back at Lois. "Where was he injured?" "On his left side," Lois numbly replied, pointing. Before she realized what Martha was doing, she had folded Clark's covers sideways and tugged the left side of his gown up. Clark was still modestly covered but Lois blushed furiously at his exposure... that is, until she saw the long ugly line of stitches and dried blood that marked the side of his body. The sight threatened to make her nauseous and she had to look away. "Jonathan, I don't understand..." Martha broke off and Jonathan just nodded at her, going to her and wrapping her in his arms. Lois's curiosity was piqued again at the intriguing interchange. She was probably reading too much into it but it sounded more like Martha didn't understand how something like this *could* happen -- instead of how or why it had happened. She knew in her heart that this probably wasn't the most appropriate time, but she couldn't stand it any longer. She was tired of being lied to and kept in the dark. There was a chance that her suspicions could be completely wrong and that they would think she was a looney for asking, but she had to do it. "Martha, Jonathan, if there's something you haven't told me about Clark, I think now would be a good time." "What do you mean, dear?" Martha asked, staring intently at her. "This situation could be worse than any of us thought if my suspicions hold true," Lois explained, "and I need to know the truth." "What truth?" Jonathan asked, eyeing her warily. Lois sighed in frustration. They were as bad as Clark. They obviously weren't going to make this easy on her, so she got right to the point. "I think there's a good chance that Lex had Kryptonite." Martha and Jonathan's faces both paled visibly and she thought she heard Martha's breath catch. If that wasn't an admission then she didn't know what was. "Can Kryptonite kill Clark?" Martha sighed, turning away from Lois to look back at her son. "We don't..." "Martha, wait," Jonathan urged her. Martha looked up and frowned at him. "No, Jonathan. She knows already. Can't you see?" She turned back to face Lois. "You do, don't you?" Lois suddenly felt an unbridled flash of anger well up inside her. "I do now!" she huffed. Martha looked startled and it only fueled her annoyance. "He didn't trust me, did he? He told me he loved me but he didn't even trust me enough to tell me who he really was. He led me to believe that he was two different people. How could he not have expected me to choose between them? Here I thought I was being rejected when in reality I was merely being given a taste of my own medicine from the man whom I had rejected." She snorted at the irony of it. "Lois, honey, he wanted to tell you," Martha assured her. "Well wanting and doing are two entirely different things, aren't they?" she snipped. She couldn't believe how brazenly she was behaving but her ego and her pride had taken a huge hit and she just couldn't let it go. She looked down at her hands and was surprised to find them shaking. She was furious. And yet a small part of her was screaming at her, chastising her for her insensitivity. Clark was hurt and his parents had just spent the last several hours on a plane to get here... only to have to see their only son lying injured in a hospital bed. How callous could she be? She swallowed the bile that had tried to rise up the back of her throat and let out a soft sigh. This wasn't the time or place for this. "I'm sorry, Martha. That was rude and insensitive of me. It's... it's just a shock, you know?" Martha nodded her head and gave her a soft smile. "I know. But believe me when I say that Clark did want to tell you, eventually. He just felt that right now wasn't the best time. Lex Luthor hated Superman. And with you being so closely involved with him..." "Martha!" Lois was aghast. "I would have never told Lex about Clark. You have to believe me. I may not have known the true nature of the man, but I would have known to keep something like that a secret." "It's not that, Lois," Martha hurried to assure her. "Of course Clark trusted you and your integrity but... well... Clark told us that Lex Luthor has ways of finding things out, and he didn't want to put you in that position." Lois felt inexplicable tears forming in her eyes. "Clark tried to warn me about Lex but I didn't listen." A couple of tears broke free and rolled down her face. "But he didn't have any proof, and I couldn't see past my own ego. I'm so sorry." "Oh, honey, *we're* sorry," Martha said, coming over to give her a soft hug. "What an awful way to spend what was supposed to be a happy day. No woman should have to spend her wedding day like this." "No, but better like this than married to a monster. I was so blind." "It's not your fault, Lois," Jonathan piped up. "Lex Luthor had a lot of people fooled. Clark knew who Lex really was *because* he was Superman. He all but admitted to Clark that he had been the one performing those tests on Superman back when Clark first created Superman." "Yes, Clark's been quietly investigating him from the beginning," Martha continued. "Especially his connection to several deaths, including Dr. Baines. It was because of the things Superman saw that no one else could that Clark knew Lex was behind a lot of the shady things that went on in Metropolis. Clark just hadn't been able to find any solid proof before now." Lois nodded her head and then glanced over at Clark. "Yeah, but I was blind about more than just that." Martha patted her arm. "Well, that wasn't exactly your fault either." She looked down at Lois's odd choice of clothes and then over at the trash bag that her wedding dress was peeking out of. Martha's questioning eyes came back up to search Lois's face. "Can you tell us what happened?" Lois nodded. "Yeah. Let me go see if they have some more chairs we can bring in here. I'm sure you guys are exhausted. And then I'll explain." ********** Lois had rolled and unrolled one of the elastic cuffs of her sweatshirt as she spoke, unable to sit still. She had explained the situation to Martha and Jonathan to the best of her knowledge. None of them would know any more until Clark woke up and could fill in the missing pieces. But for now, at least, he was safe and he had someone to watch over him. For the first time today, Lois felt like she might want to go home and get out of these ridiculous sweats and into some comfortable clothes of her own. She glanced over at the bag with her dress in it -- it was a horrid reminder of the day's events. Maybe she would burn it. With the shape the dress was in she certainly wouldn't be returning it. And there was no way she was keeping it. "Martha, Jonathan, I think since you're here now, I'm going to run home for just a bit. It's been a really long day and I could use a shower and," she gestured at her sweats, "some of my own clothes." "Oh, of course, Lois," Martha said, reaching out to pat her hand. "You go home and relax. You've had a hard day. I'm sure Clark wouldn't want you to spend all of your time up here at the hospital." "Yes, Lois," Jonathan agreed, "You should go home and get some sleep..." "Thanks. I don't know if I'll sleep or not but I'll be back later. I'd like to say goodnight to Clark and check on him before I turn in." Lois got up from her chair and went over to Clark. She hesitated for just a moment before she leaned down and gave him a gentle hug. "I'll be back," she promised in a whisper. Lois released him and patted Martha and Jonathan on their shoulders. "You make sure you call me if anything changes." "We will," Martha promised. ********** Lois wasn't completely sure how she had ended up at Clark's apartment, staring at his front door. She had gone home first to shower and change clothes. A pair of jeans and a t-shirt had never felt so good. She was fortunate that her water and electricity were still on at her apartment. As it was, her apartment felt foreign to her with half the furniture gone and all her pictures and knick-knacks missing from the walls and counters. She had spent a few days earlier that week packing up her stuff for the move to Lex's penthouse. But when Lex had learned she was moving everything herself he had put a stop to it, telling her that his people could move all of her stuff while they were gone on their honeymoon. And since part of her furniture was gone, she could only assume that they had already started. It was going to be fun trying to sort this whole mess out. After showering, changing her clothes, and feeding her fish, she had gone for a walk. With her wedding dress under one arm, she had set out to clear her head and look for a dumpster to deposit the garment in. It hadn't taken her long to locate a dumpster and she had gladly pitched the thing inside it without so much as a glance back at it as she walked away. But then, instead of going home, she had continued walking. Walking and thinking. And she had ended up here, at Clark's apartment. She had been about to leave, had actually turned around and walked down a couple of steps, when she realized that it might be good to get Clark a couple of things while she was here. It certainly wouldn't hurt to get him a pair of fresh clothes to change into when he was released from the hospital. She knew if it were her, she wouldn't want to go home in her hospital gown; and the clothes that Clark had worn today were certainly in no shape to be worn again. So now she found herself staring at his front door with a decision to make. Was it wrong to break-in to a friend's house? Just to get them a change of clothes? It probably was. She had searched high and low for a hidden key but couldn't find one. She thought he used to have one under his front mat but maybe he had let Perry use that key while he was staying with Clark. It was too bad that Jimmy, Jack, and Perry weren't still staying here, but Perry had insisted on getting them a hotel room. He had told her earlier that if she needed to find him she could call the Metropolis Tower Hotel. He said Clark didn't need a bunch of squatters hanging out at his house when he got back so they would stay at a hotel until Perry could sort out a few details with his house. He had put his house up for sale when he had retired and moved to Florida. The house hadn't sold yet, but it also no longer had any furniture or food inside of it either. Okay, so no hidden key. Actually, now that she knew Clark was Superman, she thought it was probably not a good idea for him to have a key hidden somewhere for just anyone to break into his apartment and snoop around. Truth be known, if he ever got locked out of his apartment, he probably didn't need a key to get back in. Having super-powers surely had its advantages. She would mention that to him later. But that didn't help Lois any now. She wouldn't have felt so bad using a spare key to get into his apartment... but using her lock-picking skills to get in? She sighed softly and wavered a few more seconds before rummaging through her purse for the needed items. A minute later she was standing inside Clark's front door. She inhaled the familiar scent that was distinctly Clark and let out a soft sigh. Then she realized that the scent also reminded her of Superman. How had she never noticed that before? That the two of them smelled so much alike? She glanced around the room and noted with satisfaction that the boys had done a fairly good job of picking up after themselves. They hadn't left the place a disaster at least. Lois walked down the stairs and found herself looking at things through new eyes. This was where Superman lived. Everything in the apartment reminded her of Clark. It was so... him. And yet, little had she known the times that she had come over to hang out with him or work on a story that she had been with Superman. It gave her a weird out-of-sorts feeling and she had to catch her breath. She was still trying to meld the two men together in her mind. She made her way over to his closet and opened the door. She wondered briefly what clothes he would want? Definitely something soft and comfortable. She fished around until she found some dark gray cotton pants. They weren't exactly sweatpants because the legs weren't gathered at the bottom, but they had a drawstring waist and looked like they would be comfortable. For the shirt she just grabbed a white cotton t-shirt. She started to shut the door and a thought hit her. Where did he keep his *suits*? Or did he have just the one suit? She stuck her head back inside the closet and looked around but she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. If he did only have the one suit, she probably needed to find some way to get that back from Henderson later. She'd have to ask Clark about it when he woke up. Poor guy. If he knew everything he was going to have to answer for when he woke up, he might not ever wake up. Lois frowned and mentally chastised herself. She didn't even want to joke about that. Okay, she had pants and a shirt. He probably already had shoes, but were they dress shoes? He might appreciate a pair of sneakers. She glanced down at the floor of the closet and spotted a pair. Now to find some socks. She walked over into the bedroom area of his apartment and looked around. He had an armoire of sorts in one corner. Is that where he kept them? She opened the doors on it and found that it was filled with drawers. Probably so. Opening one of the drawers, she looked inside and immediately felt herself blush. It was his underwear drawer. She started to close the drawer but then realized that he would definitely want a fresh pair of boxers to put on. Pulling the drawer open further she felt her flush deepen. Oh, come on, Lois, she thought. They're just boxer shorts for crying out loud. But still... they were *his*. She reached inside and pulled out the pair sitting on top. They had a red and black plaid pattern. She doubted he'd care very much which pair she brought or what color they were. Her mind began to drift and she found herself visualizing what Clark would look like in the boxer shorts. It wasn't hard to do because she had seen him that one time in nothing but a towel. She felt her mouth fall open. She had seen Superman nearly naked! It was a good thing that she hadn't known he was Superman at the time because that image had already left her lying awake more times than she wanted to admit, wondering how it was that she had ended up with a partner like Clark. If she had known the fine male form she had been gawking at was really Superman... Lois pulled her thoughts away from the vision that had come back to her mind, yet again, feeling the heat in her face spreading to other parts of her body. She quickly tucked the shorts inside the folded pair of pants she had across her arm and then began busying herself by checking the other drawers for socks. Once she had everything she turned to walk towards the front door. As she moved past his bed, a picture on the table next to his bed caught her attention. It was a picture of them together. She picked it up with her free hand and took a closer look. Jimmy had taken it at one of those press events they had all attended together. They both had happy smiles on their faces. She remembered that night. They'd had a fun time together. Would there be more times like that? Now that the initial fear of losing him had passed, she was back to worrying about losing him for a whole different reason. And she was still upset with him. She was still angry at him for allowing her to believe that he was two different people. But she was also scared. She was scared because *she* had messed up too. Royally. She knew she could forgive him for his deception... eventually. It was always hard for her to let go of things. It wasn't easy for her to trust people to begin with and she had really begun to open up to Clark. But now, after this... she wasn't sure how she felt. It felt on some level like a slap in the face. But she would try her best to work through her feelings and not lash out at him. But that still left him. She could forgive him, but there were also things that she had done that would require forgiveness. Would he be able to forgive her? Lois set the picture back down on his table suddenly anxious to get back to the hospital. She noticed a pair of glasses on the table and realized that Clark probably kept several spare pairs of glasses around just in case. She smiled as she picked them up and added them to her pile. Now she was ready to go check on him. *********** It was late when Lois finally made it back to the hospital -- later than she had planned. She walked into Clark's room to find Jonathan and Martha fiddling with their chairs. There were a couple of extra blankets and pillows lying at the foot of Clark's bed. "You aren't thinking of sleeping here tonight, are you?" she blurted out. Martha looked up, a little startled by the intrusion. "Hi, Lois. You didn't need to come back here tonight. And yes, we were going to stay here with Clark tonight." Lois frowned. "But there's nowhere for you to sleep. You can't possibly get comfortable or get any rest in those chairs." "We'll be okay. I don't want Clark to wake up during the night and be alone." Martha looked tired and Lois knew she had to find some way to get her and Jonathan to leave and get some rest. "I'll stay with him." Martha raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "You've had an exhausting day too, Lois. You need your rest as much as the rest of us." "Yeah, but I'm betting my back can handle a night in one of these chairs better than yours can." Lois smiled reassuringly at her. "You have a key to Clark's apartment, don't you?" "No, but we found Clark's things in a bag next to his bed and his keys were with his stuff." Lois nodded. "Then I think you should go stay at Clark's apartment tonight. I don't have a bed to go home to at my apartment right now. There's a bed at Clark's and there's no reason all of us should stay here tonight. I can call you just as soon as he wakes up. I promise." Jonathan had been quietly staying out of it but when Martha looked like she was about to object, he spoke up, "I think that's an good idea. There's not anymore we can do tonight, Martha, and Lois is perfectly capable of keeping an eye on Clark." Martha looked conflicted. "Lois, are you sure? We don't want to impose." "Don't be ridiculous. Please, go home to Clark's and get some rest. He wouldn't want to wake up and find you sleeping in these uncomfortable chairs. I'll call you when he wakes up or else I'll see you first thing in the morning." Martha hesitated and glanced over at Clark. She looked back at Lois and smiled softly. "Okay. Thank you, honey." Lois nodded at her. "Sorry I was so late getting back. I went by his place before I came back here and picked up some clean clothes for him to wear home." "I'm sure he'll be grateful," Martha assured her as she began packing up her things. Lois stood back out of the way and watched while Martha and Jonathan got their stuff together and prepared to leave. "Now you promise to call when he wakes up? Don't worry about getting us up, okay?" Martha told her. "I will." Lois diverted her gaze as Martha and Jonathan said goodbye to Clark and gave him a hug, feeling that to watch would be an intrusion. They came over and gave her a hug as well, and then she walked them to the door. After saying goodbye, she shut the door behind them. Lois turned to look at Clark. She was alone with him again. She walked over to his bed and gently took his left hand. "Hi there," she whispered, rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand softly. "I guess it's just you and me. Are you still hanging in there?" She reached up and felt of his forehead. It didn't feel as hot as it had earlier. That was good. "I brought you some clothes. Probably not what you would have picked out for yourself, but go with me here. I'm not used to dressing a guy." She smiled at him and squeezed his hand before letting go of it. "I guess I'd better rearrange the furniture a little bit and see if I can get comfortable," she mumbled more to herself than anyone. She put two of the chairs together where they were facing each other and then grabbed one of the pillows and blankets from the end of Clark's bed. She sat down in one chair and propped her feet up in the other. As tired as she was, she didn't think she'd have any trouble sleeping in the chairs. She was right. ********** Lois had no idea how long she had been asleep when she was awakened to a soft groaning sound, but judging by the lethargy in her body she hadn't been asleep long. The dark room was illuminated only by the lights of the city shining through the window but it was enough light that she could see Clark moving around in his bed. He was making soft grunts and moans. Lois slid her feet out of the chair and stood up. She walked over and laid her hand against his head. It felt hot again. "Shhhh," she whispered. "It's okay." She started to walk over and get some wet paper towels to blot him with again when Clark's hand on her arm stopped her. "Lois?" he said hoarsely. Her heart swelled in her chest. He was awake! "I'm here... I'm here," she soothed, taking his hand from her arm and holding on to it. "You're okay. You're safe now." "Wher..." He cleared his throat. "Where am I?" he murmured softly, reaching up to rub his eyes. "You're at the hospital..." "What?" He pulled his hand away from his eyes and they seemed much more alert than they had a second ago. Clark was trying to fight through the haze in his mind. What was wrong with him? Why did it seem so hard to focus? He tried to remember what had happened but it was hard to grasp onto a single thought and hold it for very long. He took a long, deep breath and forced himself to concentrate. It began to come back to him in flashes. Bright green bars... Intense pain... Hard cold floor... Luthor mocking him... Freedom... Luthor... Fear... Darkness... He sucked in an unsteady breath. Why did it hurt so much to breathe? The left side of his body felt like it was on fire. "Ouch," he moaned. "I know. I'm sorry," Lois soothed. "I can go get the nurse, maybe she can give you some more pain medication or someth..." She broke off because Clark was struggling, trying to sit up in bed. "Wait, Clark! Don't do that! You're going to hurt yourself. You might rip a stitch!" She put her hands on his shoulders and tried to force him to lie back down. "No, Lois," he said weakly. "Please." He groaned. "I'm gonna... ugh... I'm gonna be sick." "Oh!" she exclaimed and began frantically searching for something in the darkness... There! She spotted the outline of a kidney-shaped basin. She hadn't been in the hospital often but she knew enough to know what one of those pink plastic tubs was for. She snatched it up and held it under Clark's face. He heaved a couple of times and a little bit of bile came out. Lois wrinkled her nose at the sight of it and then looked away. She hadn't ever been a very good nurturer, but she knew how awful she felt whenever she threw up so she used her free hand to rub Clark's back lightly. "That's it," she soothed. "You're just probably a little nauseous from the concussion, or maybe from the pain meds." He took a shuddering breath and lay back in bed. "Thank you," he told her quietly. He could now add stomach cramps to his list of bodily aches and pains. "You're welcome," she said softly. She grabbed the pitcher from the table next to his bed and poured some water into one of the paper cups. "Here." Clark took the glass and rinsed his mouth, spitting into the basin she had offered him again. He lay there speechless while she emptied the basin into the sink and rinsed it out. Then she turned on a light over the sink. Blinking against the sudden onslaught of light, he held up a hand to shade his eyes. His head was still a little foggy and to compound the problem he had a dozen different questions flashing through his mind. "Did they stop the wedding?" That wasn't really the first question he had meant to ask, but it was what came out first. Lois seemed to pale slightly and held up her left hand. There was no ring. She had given her engagement ring to Lex the day before because he was having the engagement ring and wedding band soldered together before the wedding. Clark felt a bit of relief wash over him. As he tried to recall the details of what had happened, he vaguely remembered Henderson being there before he blacked out. "Did Henderson arrest Luthor?" "Clark, Lex is... dead." She watched his body tense and then almost visibly relax. "What happened?" "I was hoping you could tell me. From what I know, Henderson shot Lex... to save you. Lex was going to kill you." Her voice cracked a little and she swallowed a couple of times. "You should rest." She tried to smile at him and managed to succeed. "I called your mom and dad. They were here earlier but I sent them to your apartment for the night. They didn't want to go but I told them I'd watch over you." "Thank you," he said quietly again. She nodded. Part of her was just dying to blurt out 'I know you're Superman!' But the other part of her knew he still wasn't well and she didn't need to add any anxiety to what he was already feeling. "You really should lay back and relax." "I'm okay," he told her and then flinched from the throbbing in his head. "Oh, of course you are." She rolled her eyes and then a smart response flitted through her mind. She couldn't resist. She would probably smack herself later for it but she added, "Who do you think you are? Superman?" Clark stiffened noticeably and Lois wanted to call him on it right then and there. Instead she went over and stroked his cheek softly with her hand. "I know you're in pain, Clark. You can't hide it from me. I can see it in your eyes." She smiled at him -- those big beautiful brown eyes. She had never realized how gorgeous his eyes really were until just then. He always kept them hidden behind a pair of glasses... Obviously Clark's mind had gone to the same place hers had because his hand went immediately to his face and he got a panicked look in his eyes. "Lois, where are my glasses?" "I'm not sure what happened to the glasses you had on, but..." She was about to tell him that she had brought him a pair from home when he interrupted her. "I need my glasses. Please. We have to find them." A swelling of anger seeped out and got the better of her right then. He was still trying to deceive her -- still trying to play games. "Why? Did you decide that you can't see all of the sudden without them? You were fine just a few moments ago. Didn't seem to have any trouble recognizing me... in the dark," she grated, cocking an eyebrow at him but silently cursing herself for behaving like she was. She had wanted to wait to get into this with him. But patience wasn't always one of her strong suits... And he had started it. He had brought it up. His face flushed and he looked away from her. "So you know?" She did -- he could tell from the heat in her voice and the fire in her eyes. She sighed in frustration -- at herself, at him, at the whole dang situation. "Yes, I know." "Do my mom and dad know... that you know?" She nodded at him. "Why do you think they agreed to leave you alone with me?" Lois fidgeted for a moment in silence, not sure she really wanted to know, but yet needing to. "What happened, Clark?" Where did he start? He knew she was asking about what happened with Luthor, but it would help if he went back a little further than that. "Well..." ********** "Where are you going?" Clark asked her when Lois suddenly got up from beside him and started grabbing her stuff. She had been listening to him explain what had happened, surprisingly patiently, until just then. Had she finally worked herself into a frenzy? Clark had fully been expecting her to be furious with him for keeping his secret from her. "I'm going to LexCorp," she stated rather matter-of-factly. That caught him off guard. "What? Why?" She slung her purse over her shoulder and came back to his bed. She started to lean down to hug him goodbye but stopped short and stood back up, feeling very tentative about close contact with him right at this second. Her feelings were all jumbled up inside. She felt so confused and after listening to what he had gone through the past few days... Lois suppressed a shudder. What must he think of her right now? She pushed that thought away and steeled her resolve. "To get that chunk of Kryptonite and destroy it so they can't use it against you again." Instead of hugging him she touched his hand softly and gave it a light, reassuring squeeze. "Henderson is interested in that cage. He thinks it might have something to do with Superman since he found your suit under the stairs in the wine cellar." "He found my suit?" Clark moaned. So much for going back for it. "Lois, I don't think this is a good idea. What if..." "Well, I don't think you're in much of a position to argue with me." She patted his arm condescendingly. "Oh, and that reminds me. Do you have other suits? Or do we need to try and get that one back from Henderson?" Clark frowned. "No, I have other suits, but listen to me, Lois. I don't think you should go there. Not tonight and definitely not by yourself. Just because Luthor's gone doesn't mean..." "I know," she cut him off, already nervous and not wanting his cautionary nature to add to her growing anxiety. "I'll be careful, Clark. Don't worry. You know I did survive quite well on my own before Superman came to Metropolis." In response, Clark muttered something to the effect of that having been a miracle and Lois scowled at him. "Listen, we don't have time to wait. Henderson will still be collecting evidence from the murder scene and also evidence related to the crimes that Lex was being charged with. We don't need Henderson getting his hands on that Kryptonite. It would become public knowledge and that's the last thing Superman... err... you need." Lois walked around the bed to the table and picked up the phone. "Who are you calling?" "Your parents." She began dialing numbers. "Wait. Lois, don't do that. It's the middle of the night and I'm..." "I promised Clark. Your mother told me she didn't care what time it was, she wanted to know when you woke up. I'm not going to have your mother upset with me." She put the receiver up to her ear. "And I'm not going to leave you here alone while I run off to LexCorp. I don't think... Hi, Martha? It's Lois. Clark's awake." ********** Lois silently thanked the stars that Lex had trusted her enough to give her the entry codes into the LexCorp building, the elevators, and his living quarters. Although, seeing that she was supposed to be marrying him and moving in with him, she had needed the codes. They had certainly come in handy now. She wasn't sure that she could have broken into LexCorp without setting off some kind of alarm, not to mention how hard it would have been to move around once she was inside. Lex had all sorts of monitoring systems and alarms in place to guard against intruders. But with her codes she had moved effortlessly through the building. She felt a little ridiculous in her all black outfit and the scarf she had wrapped around her head. She was sure she looked absurd but she hadn't wanted anyone to recognize her in case someone took a look at the security tapes for the building. She had worn gloves too, just to make sure she didn't leave any fingerprints behind. Everything had gone perfectly so far. But now she found herself face to face with Lex's desk and the drawer that he kept his personal files in -- the one thing she didn't have a code for. Not that she needed one. This was the one place that her lock-pick skills would finally be of some use. The lock on the file drawer of his desk took her a little longer than she had expected, but after several frustrating minutes she had it jimmied open. She squinted through the darkness at the files, wishing that she had a flashlight with her. She would have turned on the lights but felt like that might unnecessarily expose her. Thankfully his office had lots of windows and the moonlight streaming in was enough to illuminate the file names. One file caught her attention -- Series K. Lois held her breath as she opened the file and looked inside. She had been right. Series K did stand for Kryptonite. According to the notes and detailed reports contained inside the file, Lex had been conducting experiments with the deadly substance. Lois sat down in Lex's chair and spread the file out on his desk. Not only had he done a field test of the Kryptonite on Superman to confirm its effects on him, he had been doing tests on the rock itself. He had ground a chunk of it down into a fine powder which had then been experimented on further -- its ability to be dissolved in liquid, combined with certain chemicals and paints, and added as a component in a dirty bomb... just to name a few. In fact, the substance appeared to exist in almost every form imaginable inside the vaults of Lex Labs. There was also a report about a proposed process of duplicating Kryptonite through specialized cloning techniques. They had possibly found a way to create more Kryptonite! The final notes she found detailed how they had found a way to power it as some kind of force field, which is how Lex had used it on the cage that he had Superman in. The chunk that was powering the force field on the cage was down in the same place as the cage -- in the wine cellar. Lois closed the file. She started to put the file back in the drawer but then hesitated. Clark needed to know this, not to mention the fact that no one else needed to learn about it. She took the file with her as she left the office to board Lex's private elevator. She rode the elevator down as far as it would take her, assuming that was where she would find the wine cellar. Compared with the main elevators in the building this thing moved like lightning. The initial movement as she began her decent was enough to momentarily take her breath away and she was soon at her destination. Lois had come here to find that chunk of Kryptonite and destroy it, but she wasn't sure any more if that's what she should do. What good would it do to destroy this one chunk if there was more? ********** Lois shifted the telephone receiver from one ear to the other as she glanced down at the glowing green rock inside the small cardboard box she was holding. She probably could have called from her apartment, but she was suddenly feeling a little paranoid about the whole situation and that's why she found herself standing inside a pay phone booth about three blocks down from her apartment. The phone had rung twice now. It was still late, would he pick up? "H...hello?" his groggy voice spoke from the phone. "Dad?" she answered. "It's Lois." "Lois?" There was a pause. "It's three-thirty in the morning. Are you okay?" She could hear the genuine concern in his voice and it gave her a warm feeling, just briefly. "I know. I'm sorry I woke you but this really couldn't wait." Her father hadn't been there for pretty much her entire life. He had attempted to reconnect with her during his involvement in the boxing incident earlier that year. Before he had disappeared out of town, he had given her a number where he said she could always reach him. And she had. And he was going to be there for her now. She needed him. She heard him sigh softly. "Okay, princess, I'm listening. What kind of trouble are you in?" "First, please don't call me princess. I'm a grown woman. Secondly, I'm not the one in trouble. It's a friend of mine." "What kind of trouble are they in?" he asked, his voice betraying how seriously he was taking this. "The worst kind. Listen, dad, what I need is a name from you. I need the name of a doctor or a scientist. It has to be someone you would trust with your life... no, with my life..." "Lois?" "I know. It's okay. Trust me, I'm okay," she tried to reassure him. "But I have to have someone I can trust. I know you've met and worked with some brilliant scientists in your day. I need someone here in Metropolis who can do research on chemical components. The kind you might find... say in a meteorite that had been found. It has to be someone completely trustworthy." The line was quiet for several seconds and Lois bit on her lip waiting for his reply. "Klein," he finally replied with a soft sigh. "Doctor Bernard Klein. He works for STAR Labs. He's honest and hardworking. He's one of the few sincere men left in our field. If you can trust anyone, it would be him." "Thank you, daddy." "Princess?" Lois suppressed a groan. "Yes?" "I'm sorry I didn't make it to the wedding. I bet you looked beautiful." Lois sighed, not wanting to get into it but needing him to know. "There wasn't a wedding. I called it off. The man wasn't who I thought he was." There was a long silence. Lois realized that her dad was probably feeling some guilt over what he considered her distrust of men. But when he spoke again, he didn't say anything about it. "I won't ask what you're involved in. You're a big girl. But, please be careful. If there's anything I can do..." "I'll call. I promise." She closed her eyes briefly and took a breath. "Next time I call it won't be because I need something." "It's okay. Maybe the next time you invite me into your life, I'll be there to accept." He paused for a moment and when he began speaking again, she could hear a waver in his voice. "I'm glad I could help you. I hope Dr. Klein can help too. Goodbye, sweetheart." The emotion in his voice was unsettling and she forced her voice to remain steady, "Bye, Daddy." She looked down at her watch and sighed. It was too early to do anything right now. She wouldn't be able to go to STAR Labs until later that morning, and she wasn't going to let the Kryptonite out of her sight until then. That meant she wasn't going back to the hospital right now either. She wasn't going to let this stuff anywhere near Clark. She glanced back up at the receiver. She had another call she needed to make. *********** Clark lay awake in his bed staring worriedly at the ceiling. The nurse had told him that he should stay awake if at all possible. It wasn't good to sleep too much right after a concussion. Apparently the pain medication they had given him had knocked him out, so he had opted not to take anymore. And now his side was really beginning to ache. But that wasn't what was keeping him awake. Why had he let Lois go off and do something dangerous like that? Mrs. Cox had been arrested, but Luthor surely had other equally dangerous people working for him. Any one of those could be watching over things... could catch Lois. If she got into trouble, there was nothing he could do to help her. Superman was out of commission. He shouldn't have let her go. Yeah, like you had any say in it, he reminded himself. Lois was gonna do what Lois wanted to do... with or without his input. And he loved her for it. She was putting herself in danger to do something for him, to help him. But who was she really doing it for? If it had merely been Clark who was in trouble and needed help, would she still have offered herself so willingly? Or was it because she now knew that he was Superman? Clark didn't want to play second fiddle, not even to his alter-ego. He knew on some level that he wasn't being completely rational about the whole situation, but... Was it so much to want to be loved just for himself? Not for the special things he could do, but just for who he was? Just for the man and not the suit? Was that too much to desire? Should he have just taken what he could get? Been happy with her adoration for her superhero? He couldn't do it. And it wouldn't have been fair to Lois either -- to let her love only the superhero. Because one day she would wake up, she would realize that her idol was merely Clark in brightly-colored spandex. She needed to love him for who he really was, otherwise it wasn't real. He wanted that kind of lasting love. The kind of love that his parents have. Clark looked over at his parents, who had fallen asleep sitting in their chairs. He winced at how uncomfortable they looked. He wished Lois hadn't called them and had just let them sleep, but he knew his mom would have been furious if she hadn't. And honestly, he was glad they were here. Speaking of uncomfortable... Clark tried to shift a little bit to find a less painful position to lie in, but the movement pulled at his stitches and he had to bite down on his lip to keep from letting out a cry of pain. God, that hurt. He sucked in a breath and tried to relax again. Clark almost cursed himself for wishing all those times that he could just be normal. Because this being injured and vulnerable to pain thing wasn't very fun at all. He hadn't even had the nerve to look at his wound. He remembered how scary it had been just to see his finger bleeding from that paper cut after his first Kryptonite exposure. Clark had made enough disturbing rescues before to have a pretty good idea of what it probably looked like. The phone next to his bed rang and Clark jumped, eliciting another pain of protest from his side. He hurried to grab the receiver before it could ring a second time, hoping to catch it before it woke his parents up. "Hello?" he said quietly into the receiver. "Clark? Did I wake you? I'm sorry. Of course I woke you. I probably woke your parents too. I was just afraid if I didn't call you'd be worried, and I didn't want you to worry because you really need to get your rest. Are your parents still there?" Clark was awake but, even so, he was having difficulty keeping up with her. "It's okay, Lois. I couldn't sleep. You aren't supposed to sleep a lot after a concussion," he whispered. "Mom and dad must be exhausted because even the phone ringing didn't wake them up." He hesitated for a second but when she didn't say anything, he continued anxiously, "Did you find it?" There was silence for a couple of seconds and Clark started to worry, when she finally responded, "Mmmm. Yeah. I found it. It's taken care of. You don't have to worry about it Clark. Listen, I'll talk to you about this later. I don't want to disturb your parents so I'm gonna go sack out on the floor at my place and..." "The floor?" "Yeah. My bed had already been moved out, along with half my other furniture." Clark could hear the frustration in her voice. "But don't worry. I've got a pad I can sleep on. We can all get a little rest and I'll come up to the hospital later in the morning. Do you need me to bring you anything?" Clark looked over at his pile of clothes sitting on a table in the corner of the room. He unconsciously reached up and adjusted the glasses that he was once again wearing. "No, you already brought me what I needed, Lois. Thank you." He was touched by what she had done. She had gotten his glasses to help him protect his identity and she had gone after the Kryptonite to protect his life. No one could argue how much she loved her hero. If she could have only loved Clark... "Okay then." He could hear her yawn into the receiver. "I think I'm going to try to get some rest. I'll see you in a little while, partner." Partner... Clark sighed softly. "Okay. Bye, Lois." "Bye." Clark hung up the receiver and went back to staring at the ceiling. Partner. Is that all she would ever see Clark as? Maybe now that she knew he was Superman, it would change even her view of her hero. Maybe too much had happened between them to go back or even to press forward. She didn't love him. She had said she didn't. And you can't force someone to fall in love with you. Not even by pretending to be someone that you're not. He felt another wave of pain, but it wasn't related to his injury. He had managed to save Lois, only to lose her all over again. ********** Lois followed the receptionist back to Dr. Klein's laboratory. When he had found out that she was Sam Lane's daughter he had been happy to take the time to meet with her. She felt a little guilty for not discussing this first with Clark, but Lex Labs was getting dangerously close to finding a way to replicate Kryptonite. And if they did that, Superman was in trouble. The young woman Lois had been following finally stopped outside a door and pushed a button on the intercom system. "Dr. Klein, Ms. Lane is here to see you." A few seconds later the door opened up and an older, kind-looking man peered out at them. He slipped a pair of goggles over his bald head and smiled warmly at Lois. "Wow. Ms. Lane. You sure have grown up." He shook his head in appraisal of her. "Your father spoke so highly of you back when I worked with him but that was when you were still in school. He had a picture of you on his desk, but you were just a kid then. Please, please, come in." Lois found herself a little amazed to hear that her father had kept a picture of her on his desk. The man never ceased to confuse and surprise her. She nodded her thanks to the receptionist and followed Dr. Klein into his laboratory. She marveled at the beakers full of liquid, the wires and tubes flowing from one to another, some of them being heated over an open flame. It looked like the lair of a mad scientist. "So," Dr. Klein said, taking a seat on a tall bar stool in front of one of his experiments, "I assume that this isn't a social call." "No, unfortunately it's not." She sat the box that she had been carrying down on the counter in front of her. "But before I tell you the real reason for my visit, I have to get your ironclad assurance that what I'm about to tell you... what I'm about to show you, will never leave this room. I need the kind of confidentiality that you give your government contracts. Can you give me that?" Dr. Klein raised an eyebrow at her. "For Sam's girl? Yeah, I can do that. Trust me, I know how to keep secrets, Ms. Lane. What's in the box?" Lois took a deep breath, praying that she was doing the right thing and that Clark would forgive her. She tilted the box so he could see the glowing specimen of Kryptonite inside it. "Wow! That's amazing... I don't think I've... Where did you get that?" Klein stammered. "This," she glanced down at the rock she was holding. "Has been named Kryptonite. It's a meteorite that fell to Earth, a chunk of rock from Superman's home planet of Krypton." "Amazing," he mumbled staring appreciatively at it. "May I?" he asked, reaching out for it. Lois handed it to him and he carried it over to a table. He picked up an instrument that resembled a pair of tongs and removed the rock from the box. Then he set it on the table and began examining it. "This hunk of space rock is..." she started to say 'deadly' but she wasn't sure if she was ready to trust the doctor quite that far yet. "Harmful to Superman. It seems to make him sick when he's exposed to it. He isn't sure exactly how the rock affects him or why, but I was hoping that maybe you could study it, determine the extent of its effects on Superman's biology. It probably wouldn't hurt to find out if it's harmful to humans as well." Dr. Klein was nodding at her but he seemed totally engrossed in what he was doing, like a kid with a new toy. Lois cleared her throat. "Ultimately I'm hoping you can discover some way that we can combat its effects on Superman." The doctor continued his examination, mumbling things quietly to himself. "Dr. Klein? Are you listening to me?" Lois finally asked exasperatedly. He looked up and smiled sheepishly at her. "Yes, Ms. Lane, I am. And I can understand why this has to be kept quiet. You don't have anything to worry about. I will make this a top priority and I'll make sure that I'm the only one with clearance for this project." "Thank you, Dr. Klein, and Superman thanks you." He nodded at her. "I will of course need Superman to come in so I can do preliminary work-ups on his DNA through some blood work." Lois's eyes widened in surprise. She obviously hadn't thought things through all the way. Of course he would need biological information on Superman if he hoped to find a way to combat the Kryptonite's effects on him. That, however, was going to be tricky. Especially since Clark didn't know what she had done, and he might not approve of it. "When I see Superman the next time I'll let him know that in order to proceed you'll need him to come in and do some tests," she assured him. "Good. Our next hurdle will be figuring out how to get past his invulnerability in order to draw a sample of his blood." Lois smiled tightly at him. If only he knew how little of a problem that was right now. Clark had told her that he didn't know how long it would be before his powers started returning. That meant she needed to talk to him about this soon, while he was still vulnerable enough to get a blood sample from. She grimaced at just the thought of that conversation. ********** Lois entered Clark's room to find him sleeping. His parents were nowhere to be seen. She walked quietly over to his bed and touched her hand softly to his forehead. It was much cooler than last night. That was good. Clark's eyes fluttered open at the contact and he smiled at her. "Hi. Did you get some sleep?" She withdrew her hand a little self-consciously. "No, not really." The truth was she hadn't even tried. Her mind had been racing since the time she had left this room only a few hours ago -- it somehow felt like days ago. "It looks like you did." He nodded. "Yeah, a little. I worried myself to sleep thinking about you." Lois blushed. "It wasn't any big deal, really. I didn't hit a single snag getting in and out of LexCorp." She smiled and breathed on her fingernails and then rubbed them across her chest in a motion suggesting she was pretty proud of herself. Clark's smile broadened. "I should have never doubted the awesome skills of investigative reporter, Lois Lane." She smiled back. "Yeah. I'm pretty good at covert operations..." Her smile disappeared. "I just can't see what's right in front of my face." His smile fell and he looked away from her. Lois shifted uncomfortably on her feet. She had hardly sat down all night and her feet were killing her. She glanced over at the chairs that Martha and Jonathan had been sitting in and decided to change the subject. "Where're your parents?" "Down in the cafeteria," he said, without looking up. "They're early risers and have been up for a while, living on a farm will do that to you. I told them to go get something to eat." She nodded and walked over to sit down in one of the chairs. "Clark, I need to..." "Lois, there's something I..." They both said at the same time. "Let me go first," Lois told him. "I did something last night that I'm not sure you'll agree with completely, at least not at first. But I need you to hear me out because I think..." She was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. She sighed in frustration as Clark's voice rang out, "Who is it?" "It's Henderson," the gruff voice said from behind the door. "Come on in," Clark told him. Henderson opened the door and walked inside. "Hi, Clark... Lois." He frowned. "I thought you were going to call me when he woke up." He fixed her with a stare. "Cool your heels, Henderson. It was the middle of the night. You couldn't have come down here to interrogate him then anyway," she snipped. Henderson raised his eyebrows slightly. "Not get enough beauty sleep last night, Lois?" "Uhhh, what can I do for you?" Clark interjected. "I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions, Kent, that's all. Nothing too strenuous." What was he going to ask? Clark tried to keep the anxiety from his voice, "O-kay..." Henderson came closer to Clark's bed and pulled out a notepad and pen. "First, how are you doing? Since I did come down here to check on you and not just to 'interrogate' you." He looked at Lois as he said the last part and she had the decency to look chagrined. "As well as can be expected under the circumstances, I guess," Clark told him chivalrously. Lois frowned. She knew he had to feel like crap. Why didn't he just say so? Was it a macho thing, or a polite farm boy thing? Maybe it was just a 'superhero' thing? Henderson nodded at him. "Good. Tell me, what do you know about Superman? What happened to him?" Lois was watching Clark's face and she swore she could almost literally see the blood draining from it. "Uhh, what do you mean?" Clark stammered. Lois could hear the waver in his voice. Come on, Clark, she thought at him. Don't give Henderson any reason to be suspicious. "Surely Lois told you that we found Superman's uniform in the same room that I found you and Lex," Henderson said with an expectant-looking frown. "Did Lex do something to Superman?" Lois bit the inside of her cheek in an effort to quell the images that were flashing through her mind. Did Lex do something to Superman? That was the understatement of the year. She had seen the cage. He had trapped Clark behind metal bars reinforced with Kryptonite and tortured him like some sort of animal. The thought almost made her sick, but then she realized Clark looked like he was going to be ill so she decided maybe it was time for her to intercede in his behalf. "Superman was helping with the investigation into Lex," she answered for Clark. "Lex called Clark and told him that he wanted to meet with Superman. When Superman didn't come back, Clark decided something was wrong. He went to see Lex and..." Henderson eyed her pointedly. "Excuse me, is your name Kent?" When her face flushed, he continued, "No, I didn't think so." He turned back to look at Clark. "Is that right, Clark?" A little color seemed to have come back into Clark's face finally. "Yeah, that's about it. I went to LexCorp to confront Luthor and he caged me in that wine cellar. He came back down to check on me later, actually had the nerve to come inside the cage and threaten me. He said he would deal with me after his wedding was over. Anyway, I managed to lift the key to the cage from him and that's how I escaped." He paused for a second and glanced briefly towards Lois before continuing, "But I don't know what's happened to Superman." Henderson let out a sigh. "I see. Well I sincerely hope he's okay. A few people at the precinct still aren't sure where they stand on the Superman issue, but I for one would miss him if he was gone." "We'll be sure to tell him that if we see him," Clark assured him with a small smile. "Okay," Henderson said, closing his notebook, "I guess I'm done here. Clark, as soon as you break out of here, I'm going to need you to come fill out some paperwork down at the station and give your account of what transpired yesterday." Clark nodded. "I'll do it first thing." "Lane," Henderson pointed at her. "I trust you'll keep yourself out of trouble while your partner's laid up and Superman's missing. I've got plenty on my plate right now without you adding to it." Lois scowled at him. "I always stay away from trouble; trouble just has a way of finding me. I can't help it if I flush out the best stories. I'm just blessed that way." Henderson smirked. "Yeah, well since you don't have a paper to work for right now, I don't think you need to go chasing after any hot leads." He waved to both of them as he opened the door. "You two take care. I'll see you later." "Can you believe him?" she huffed after the door had shut. "Well he does have a point, Lois. We are currently unemployed," Clark reminded her. "Not for long. You should see Perry, Clark. He's been going around talking to investors about buying the paper and getting the Daily Planet back in business. He's already had one meeting with a Mr. Stern. I don't think that went exactly the way Perry planned but still, it's a start." She smiled encouragingly at him. "Well if anyone can do it, Perry can." She nodded. "I'm actually surprised that he hasn't come by yet this morning. He told me yesterday when he left the hospital that he'd be here first thing this morning and that's not like..." Lois broke off in mid-sentence as there was another knock at the door. For crying out loud, she thought, what was this? Grand Central Station? "Come in," Clark answered, without even asking who was at the door. If Lois hadn't been afraid of someone overhearing her, she would have asked him if his powers were coming back. She looked up to see Martha and Jonathan walk through the door. Martha was carrying a plate of food with her that was obviously meant for Clark. Lois could tell because of the unhealthy array of foods it contained. Clark's diet no longer surprised her anymore. What did surprise her was to see Perry come walking in behind Martha and Jonathan. "Look who we found on our way back up," Martha announced, smiling. Perry came over and shook Clark's hand. "How ya feeling, son?" "Like someone hit me with an axe," Clark joked lamely. "How are you, Chief?" "Me? I'm finer than frog hair split four ways." Perry's face split into a wide grin and Clark chuckled at the funny southern saying. "I just got off the phone a little bit ago with a man whom I'd pitched the paper to, Mr. Stern. Apparently he's seriously reconsidering my proposal. There's no offer on the table yet, but it was encouraging." "That's great, Chief," Clark said with a smile, taking the plate of food Martha was holding out to him. "Would it help if I met with him and talked to him, Perry?" Lois asked, getting up out of her chair to offer it to Martha. Martha shook her head but Lois stepped away from the chair, insisting. "Because I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be." Perry's face beamed in a grin. "Honey, there's a big difference between persuasive and pushy." At her look of protest, he continued, "No. I think it's best if your old editor fights this battle on his own. I just need my reporters to get well and be ready to hit the streets when we're back up and in business again." "You got it, Chief," Clark told him, setting his plate of food off to the side on his table. Lois frowned. "I think in order to get better that means you're going to have to eat something, Clark." She gestured at the food. "What's wrong? Don't tell me..." She crossed her arms in front of her. "You don't like hospital food." "Well..." "Clark for someone who eats Ho-ho's and Dingdongs, you can't be that picky. You need to eat something," she insisted. Clark smiled softly at her. It wasn't often that he got to see her mother hen side. And obviously she had forgotten that he didn't really need to eat. His energy -- his strength -- came from the sun. "My stomach still doesn't feel up to eating anything yet." Lois winced sheepishly at him. "Oh." She remembered Superman telling her once that he didn't have to eat but he liked to. Obviously if Clark's stomach was still iffy he wouldn't actually enjoy eating. There was a knock at the door and then a nurse came in. "I'm going to need everyone out of the room for a little bit." She smiled at Clark. "Since you're awake and doing a little better, we can take your catheter out." Everyone began to file out of the room and Lois reached over to pat Clark before walking away. Clark took hold of her wrist gently and stopped her. "Thank you." "For what?" Clark glanced over and Lois followed his eyes. His mom and dad were talking to the nurse. Clark looked back at her and continued in a quiet voice, "For helping me with Henderson and for protecting my secret. And not just *that* secret. Thank you for leaving out the part about the Kryptonite. I don't think it would be safe for anyone to know that it really can hurt me -- not even H