From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG9804A" ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 09:12:24 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: Re: LNC Fanfic Kerth Awards a Huge Success! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I tried originally to send this out Sunday (Mar 29, 1998) but a hard drive crash has screwed up things for a while. Then - I seen the other postings below. Here's a combined posting... > >>>Zoomway and Jeff Brogden were seen to be doing the mamba with tiny objects > resembling Doppoblufo frogs<<< > > Well, Jeff's a darn nice dancer, but more than that, he's a darn nice guy. He > gave a great parting chat to the nominees and it was very touching. There > really are some Clark Kents out there. Thanks Zoomway. I just wish I had CK's invunerability at times. :-) Here is a *much* expanded version of what I tried to express that night. I just wanted to do a follow-up on the Kerths last (Sat) night. It was a BLAST! If you missed it, you really missed out. A big tip of the hat to all the organizers and workers who made it the success it was (and on such short notice too!). I didn't win in either category I was nominated for, so I wanted to use the unique opportunity the Internet and the mailing list provide to say some things I didn't get to last (Sat) night. :-) Some of this, I actual said in #kerth_chat - but it was so noisy in there I doubt many people saw it. This story, UNKNOWN EMOTIONS, means *so* much to me that I had to say something. First, I wanted to say congratulations to the winners in the categories I was nominated for. Demi's HEAVEN'S PRISONERS won best Tearjerker, and Erin Klinger's WHEN YOU NEEDED ME MOST won best Pregnancy/Delivery. Both of these stories are full of one of the most important characteristics of good fanfic - originality. With an archive of over 700 stories, and more arriving daily, originality is something wonderful to behold (and darn difficult to write :-). I just love a story that's original. Good job your two. For my story, the biggest thank you goes to my wife Michelle. The story may have been my therapy, my outlet; but she was the one who truly suffered the most for our dreams. I can't imagine what she went through, and I couldn't even begin to put it into words. I just tried to be there for her as much as I could. If you haven't guessed by now, we went through one of these miscarriages together. The emotional strain is incredible. But like the story, ours had a happy ending and she's going to be 16 months old soon. Michelle - this was for you and our love. Your the *one*. If it hadn't been for Debby Stark's DAWNING, I probably wouldn't be writing fanfic. It was the first story I ever read - and I was hooked immediately. Hanging on every word as I read, I think it is one of the best revelation stories out there. She also unknowingly encouraged me (and others) through the list and IRC to get out and write (and send the story in). Her constant encouragement was one of the things that prompted me to write my first story. Thanks a million Debby. The story about Lois and Clark stranded in an elevator by Gail Lefkowitz was the first story I can remember reading that made me *feel* the story and the bond between these two people we love to read/write about. I miss you, Gail. This is getting a bit long, but hey! no time limit here! You, as the reader, can do one simple thing to make sure Lois and Clark live forever through fanfic. Give feedback. Not just the simple "Good Story!" or "I loved it, write more!", but some real feedback. I want to know what you liked, what you didn't like, what you thought/felt as you read it. What can I do to make it better. You can't fix something if you don't know what is wrong with it. As a writer, I live for feedback. It's tough - I know - to think of these things as your reading. You get into the story and just want to keep reading to the end. But take the time to let people know. It's what we live for! ;-) (Now - I'm going to have to start practicing what I preach...) Like everyone who didn't win - I was disappointed. The thing that disappointed me most, however, was that none of the stories by any of the guys won anything. What really drives this home is the fact that I've had numerous email messages and discussions on IRC stating that there are people who hadn't read any of my stories because I was male, and men don't write stories they like to read. They simply seen that a man wrote it and put it into the "Do not read" bit-bucket. I am quite aware that this is a female dominated arena, but there are some wonderful stories written by men out there. Ben's A FLASH IN THE PAN scores super high in the originality category - and he does do service to the relationship. Dan's REMEMBRANCES is one of the few Deathfic I've read and loved (Should have been in the Tearjerker category as well...) Great imagery in that one. Jon's TWO OF A KIND takes two couples from two worlds and melds them wonderfully. Gary's THE PARADOX OF FAILURE takes our two hero's on many emotional journeys (this one should have been in the Pregnancy/Delivery category as well - I like the weepy scene). If you skipped on reading these - you owe it to yourself to go and look them up. The main archive is full of many others. You won't regret it. Where does this leave me? With the great desire to write even better than I have before - to prove that I *can* write the kind of story you will want to read - over and over again. Thanks again for the nomination. UNKNOWN EMOTIONS is my personal favorite - my shining glory - my crowning achievement. I'm thrilled that someone out there thought enough of it to nominate it at all. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 11:13:10 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gary Subject: Re: LNC Fanfic Kerth Awards a Huge Success! In-Reply-To: <35225958.D69DC10C@bigfoot.com> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 09:12 AM 4/1/98 -0600, you wrote: >Like everyone who didn't win - I was disappointed. The thing >that disappointed me most, however, was that none of the stories by >any of the guys won anything. What really drives this home is >the fact that I've had numerous email messages and discussions on >IRC stating that there are people who hadn't read any of my >stories because I was male, and men don't write stories they like >to read. They simply seen that a man wrote it and put it into >the "Do not read" bit-bucket. I am quite aware that this is a >female dominated arena, but there are some wonderful stories >written by men out there. Recently heard on Dr. Laura's (a radio psychologist) show "Women don't want to hear about men's emotions unless it's about them." Which is the reason I try to stick to nfic... >Gary's THE PARADOX OF FAILURE takes our >two hero's on many emotional journeys (this one should have been >in the Pregnancy/Delivery category as well - I like the weepy >scene). Thank you- which scene is that? >Thanks again for the nomination. UNKNOWN EMOTIONS is my >personal favorite - my shining glory - my crowning achievement. >I'm thrilled that someone out there thought enough of it to >nominate it at all. Thanks from the bottom of my heart. > My personal favorite as well...great job, Jeff. > >================================================================= >Jeff Brogden >jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | Gary A. Rudick mailto:gar8434@rit.edu | | "You decide what you feel heaven is worth" - Deborah Gibson, TWYH | =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 12:57:42 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sheila Harper Subject: Re: LNC Fanfic Kerth Awards a Huge Success! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 09:12 AM 4/1/98 -0600, Jeff Brogden wrote: >I just wanted to do a follow-up on the Kerths last (Sat) night. It was >a BLAST! If you missed it, you really missed out. Geez, Jeff, don't rub it in! Of course, in exchange, I was walking barefoot in the surf and swimming in a heated outdoor pool all week, so I don't have much room to complain. >First, I wanted to say congratulations to the winners in the >categories I was nominated for. Me, too. My story, A SHOT IN THE DARK, didn't win anything, but it was up against such tremendous competition that I don't think *I* voted for it in all 4 categories. Congratulations, Demi and Chris Mulder. I don't feel any shame in losing to stories of the caliber of HEAVEN'S PRISONERS and LOVE BEYOND ALL MEASURE/DIMENSIONS OF LOVING. (Besides, my secret closet with the velvet lining and special lighting is full enough, especially as much as I hate to dust ) >Like everyone who didn't win - I was disappointed. The thing >that disappointed me most, however, was that none of the stories by >any of the guys won anything. Jeff, it was this statement that actually moved me to abandon my usual lurk-mode and post to the list. Voting on the Kerths was one of the hardest things I've done recently because, for me anyway, there were very few clear-cut winners. Inevitably, I would end up with two or even three stories in each category that deserved the award, but the ballot wouldn't let me mark more than one! Although none of our male writers won an award, I was very pleased to see several of you represented on the nomination list, the more so because there are so few of you writing. I hate to hear that some of our female readers won't read a story written by a man because they're really missing out. I always look forward to new stories by the male writers you mentioned, plus you and Phil Atcliff (sp?). For those of you who don't know, Jeff is one of a handful of writers who is writing for both Season 5 and for TUFS, and he has a story coming up on TUFS later this month, so keep an eye out for it. >Thanks again for the nomination. >I'm thrilled that someone out there thought enough of it to >nominate it at all. That's exactly how I feel. Now I understand why actors and writers and suchlike make long thank-you speeches at their awards programs. I just want to thank everyone -- Dean and Teri and the rest of the cast and crew and writers of Lois & Clark for giving me (and the rest of you, too :) four wonderful years and a world and characters that are real enough that I can't just forget them when the TV is off; the archivists and list-owners and keepers of subscription lists for making my work available to so many people; Kathy Brown and Lynda Love for being such good editors and telling me what's right as well as where I'm awkward or unclear; and all the readers who laugh or cry or drool over my work for writing to tell me so. Thank you all. Sheila Harper (sheesh, imagine how long my thank-you would be if I worked in a collaborative medium like TV!) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 13:02:29 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peace Everett Subject: Re: LNC Fanfic Kerth Awards a Huge Success! In-Reply-To: <35225958.D69DC10C@bigfoot.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Jeff wrote: > Like everyone who didn't win - I was disappointed. The thing > that disappointed me most, however, was that none of the stories by > any of the guys won anything. What really drives this home is > the fact that I've had numerous email messages and discussions on > IRC stating that there are people who hadn't read any of my > stories because I was male, and men don't write stories they like > to read. They simply seen that a man wrote it and put it into > the "Do not read" bit-bucket. Hmmm.... I wonder if we tend to look at men's stories and assume they're going to be strictly A-plot, action/adventure, possibly even based on the comic book continuity rather than the tv show. There's a tendency to believe that "real men don't eat quiche"... or cry... or show their emotions at all... or write about another man doing any of those things. Well, ladies, we're missing the boat on this one. I've just finished reading a couple of stories that are real eye-openers on the subject. The emotions portrayed in Jeff's "Unknown Emotions" and in Phil Atcliffe's "Montrose's Toast" are as strong and as well-written as any I've read. (Jeff, I've just sent a note of feedback to Phil, and am working on one for you -- I know all about craving feedback ;) I've been a fan of Gary Rudick's and Jon Knutson's for a while, having found them through the nfic list, and would encourage readers on this list looking for good stories to check out their listings in the Archive as well. And Ben Pistorius is an alltime favorite -- his "Flash.= .." had me ROTFLMHO!!! I'll confess that I haven't read Dan's story (shame on me, I voted without reading everything in that category). But since he was so willing, during the awards, to "give Peace a chance," I guess I'd better hop to it, hmmm? Peace A FoLC Named Peace Come visit me, and read my fanfic http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/7137 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 15:04:36 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Michelle Glenn Subject: Re: LNC Fanfic Kerth Awards a Huge Succes In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Well, me, I don't even look at the author's names when I pull up a story. If I like it a lot, I usually read it so much that eventually I figure out who wrote it. Personally, I don't think it matters whether the author is male or female. There are some males who are great at conveying emotion and there are some females who write nothing but action. I don't think I've ever used the "by author" button in the archive, I just shoot straight to the story, the name of the author doesn't matter to me at first. Now, if I see the name of a author whose stories I can remember reading over and over I go right to that story. I have no gender preference as regards to who writes a story, I just want a well-written story that captures everything I love about Lois and Clark. Michelle "Someday we'll look back on all this and...plow into a parked car." ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 13:56:43 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: TUFS story MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sheila Harper wrote: > ... For those of > you who don't know, Jeff is one of a handful of writers who is writing for > both Season 5 and for TUFS, and he has a story coming up on TUFS later this > month, so keep an eye out for it. Oh! The pressure! You just had to go and announce that didn't you. :-) I'veset myself up for sure now. I can feel the flop developing as I type... :-| ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 14:32:12 -0700 Reply-To: Erin Klingler Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: need site addy for Debby Stark's fanfics MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all! I've been trying to get to Debby Stark's site to download some of her fanfics (especially the Dawning series), but the url I have isn't working. Maybe I have the wrong one?? Could some kind folc please email me and tell me where I can read or download her fanfics? Thanks! Erin :) ___________________ (aka ELK on IRC) erink@ida.net "The truth is, no one knows how long they've got. Anyway, it's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now...as they happen." CK to LL in BY ******* "You bet your sweet little chumpy I am." _________________ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 15:13:56 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alyssa Mondelli Organization: Brought to you by the legal firm of Deceive, Inveigle, & Obfuscate Subject: Re: TUFS story MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Quoth Jeff Brogden: >> Jeff is one of a handful of writers who is writing for > > both Season 5 and for TUFS, and he has a story coming up on TUFS later this > > month, so keep an eye out for it. > > Oh! The pressure! You just had to go and announce that didn't you. :-) > I'veset myself up for sure now. I can feel the flop developing as I type... Does this mean I shouldn't mention that "Oh Give Me A Home" is probably the best-loved S5 story to date? All the stories have gotten nice reviews and reader feedback, but "...Home" has inspired more flat-out affection than any other. People have written just to say "I loved it." See Jeff, they like you, they really like you. :-> No pressure, though. :-> And it makes me really sad to hear that there are people who won't read a story based on the author's gender. I'm the other way - I don't always read the new stories on the list or archive right away, but I make a point of reading the guys' stories because there are so few of them. And I haven't seen a strong tendency toward A-plot over B-plot - generally the gender of the writer doesn't seem to make a difference. Although, after Jeff and Gary's posts, I'm wondering if that's because the guys believe that women aren't really interested in men's emotions and tailor their stories that way. Hmm. FWIW, I thought "Unknown Emotions" was a terrific story, and passed it on to a friend the day after I read it. It had just the right combination of WAFFs and WHAMs, and I could imagine all of it happening as though it were an actual episode. And besides all that, it has one of my two all-time favorite opening lines (the other is in Michael Crichton's "Travels"). How can you go wrong? (My New Year's resolution was to start sending feedback to writers rather than just devouring and loving their stuff from afar. I'm still working on it.) ==Alyssa in St. Paul== (agmondelli@stthomas.edu)(AlyssaM on the IRC) Webmistress, Tempus Expeditions - http://www.tempus.simplenet.com Home of the Fortress of Insanity and Lois & Clark Season 5 "What's less than square one? Minus zippo? Negative bupkes?" --Capt. Don Cragen, _Law & Order_ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 15:38:05 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: Re: TUFS story MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Alyssa Mondelli wrote: > Does this mean I shouldn't mention that "Oh Give Me A Home" is probably > the best-loved S5 story to date? No - feel free to mention it anytime. :-) > Although, > after Jeff and Gary's posts, I'm wondering if that's because the guys > believe that women aren't really interested in men's emotions and tailor > their stories that way. Hmm. Well - I can assure you that all the emotions in my story were my own. It's interesting how that story came out. I thought of the idea of a Superman breakdown in public while mowing one day (I used to have this HUGE yard - took me forever to mow). I just didn't have a context to put it in. What could be so bad that Superman would allow his shell to crack, letting his real-life emotions escape in front of everyone? Then our real-life provided the answer. It seemed natural that they might have problems conceiving. If that many normal people have these problems, then they could certainly have them as well. I just sat down one day before going to bed and the story came out through my hands. All in one looooong writting session. The emotional release felt good. So - I can stamp it "Contains 100% RealMan Emotions" if you would like. > And besides all that, it has one of > my two all-time favorite opening lines (the other is in Michael > Crichton's "Travels"). I had to stop to think what the opening line was.... :-) Sound effects are tough to do on paper. ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 17:56:37 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Zoomway Subject: Re: LNC Fanfic Kerth Awards a Huge Success! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-04-01 10:23:56 EST, jwbrogden@BIGFOOT.COM writes: << If you haven't guessed by now, we went through one of these miscarriages together. The emotional strain is incredible. But like the story, ours had a happy ending and she's going to be 16 months old soon. Michelle - this was for you and our love. Your the *one*. >> 'Unknown Emotions' is a great story and reading it I think most could tell there were definitely personal elements that only a writer who had gone through the same thing could understand and translate to words so beautifully, and you did. Congratulations on the baby, by the way ;) You also bring up something that I've wondered about fanfic writers. You said that 'Unknown Emotions' means so much to you, it got me wondering what other fanfic writers hold as the story that is their own favorite from what they've written. When 'Counter Clark-wise' won for best "elseworld" (it wasn't one when I wrote it ;) I said that it was my personal favorite of all the stories I've written and so the award for that meant the most to me. My reason isn't as personal as yours, but someone wrote me that she reads all kinds of fanfic. It doesn't matter to her if she's never seen the show, she said she just enjoys reading fiction written by fans, regardless of the show or if she's ever seen it. She wrote me and said my story made her want to see Lois and Clark. That was the best compliment I'd ever gotten, and this too relates to something else Jeff mentioned. If you read a story and it touches you, makes you laugh, or makes you cry, write the author and *tell* them. You don't know how much it meas to the writers. It's the *only* way they know that what they've done means something to you. I have to admit I've been remiss in this. One reason is I can't tell you the last fanfic I read because it's been *that* long, but mainly because I think I get sent so many stories before they hit the list or the archive with a note saying "would you tell me what you think" Many of us probably get notes like that, and that is flattering too because someone respects your opinion enough to ask for it. Some writers find writing fanfic scary and so reinforcement of something they put their time and heart into, can mark the difference between continuing writing or giving up. >>>If it hadn't been for Debby Stark's DAWNING, I probably wouldn't be writing fanfic. <<< Another important point. If you inspired someone to write, then you've won a greater award than a Kerth. Also, a sidenote on the Kerths, it too seems to have influenced some who had been a bit afraid to write fanfic, to give it a try, so a thanks to the Kerth Awards and its organizers for that perk too ;) >>>You, as the reader, can do one simple thing to make sure Lois and Clark live forever through fanfic. Give feedback. Not just the simple "Good Story!" or "I loved it, write more!", but some real feedback. I want to know what you liked, what you didn't like, what you thought/felt as you read it. What can I do to make it better. You can't fix something if you don't know what is wrong with it. As a writer, I live for feedback.<<<< I agree with this, but add a caveat. Trust your instincts, but if you're uncertain, send it to someone whose opinion or style you admire and ask that person. Random feedback can be confusing or even contradictory. One person can say "the story dragged at this point" and the very next person can say "this was my favorite part of the story" and they are talking about the same segment. However, if several people comment on the same segment in the same way, then you know that you did something good or needs work in that segment. Get an editor you know works well with your style and approach. Again, someone whose opinion and instinct you trust and value. You should always have the last word on this even if you do value that person's opinoin. It's *your* story. The best editors won't carry a cross around because you didn't agree with each and every single one of their suggestions, they trust and respect your instincts too. A good writer/editor relationship is a hard one to form, but the best one you'll ever have. >>>Like everyone who didn't win - I was disappointed. The thing that disappointed me most, however, was that none of the stories by any of the guys won anything. What really drives this home is the fact that I've had numerous email messages and discussions on IRC stating that there are people who hadn't read any of my stories because I was male, and men don't write stories they like to read. They simply seen that a man wrote it and put it into the "Do not read" bit-bucket.<<<< This is true and a big oversight. Most of the guys out there writing fanfic are writing great fanfic, and it's a shame that they've been skipped because they're often being pre-judged as writing "fanboy" stories (I like those too, by the way ;) and that's not right and not even close to the mark. You mentioned some wonderful examples and I hope folc take the time to read them all. Gary's vignettes are among my favorites of all vignette (short stories) and Jon Knutson and I go back a long ways and I've read every single L&C story he's written ;) >>>Thanks again for the nomination. UNKNOWN EMOTIONS is my personal favorite - my shining glory - my crowning achievement. I'm thrilled that someone out there thought enough of it to nominate it at all. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.<<< It's a beautiful and deserving story, and if so was your post here to the list ;) Zoomway@aol.com (forgive the typoes, now it's time for L&C and I can't reread what I wrote ;) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 18:37:09 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eraygun Subject: Re: NEW FANFIC:LOIS AND CLARK IN LALA LAND; Part 1 of 7 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I inadvertently left Kirshnera out of the credits. So here is the corrected Part 1. My apologies Sue ;): LOIS AND CLARK IN LALA LAND; or, Surreal You Can Feel It by ChrisM^ (mulders@mindspring.com); ChrisnDor/DorDor (dorisschmill@gmx.net); Ckgroupie (NKWolke@t-online.de); Eraygun (Eraygun@aol.com); Kirshnera (Kirshnera@aol.com) Lansbury (Lansbury1@aol.com); PeaceEv (peace9@worldnet.att.net); Zoomway (zoomway@aol.com); chrispat (cp13607@aol.com); Mackteach (Mackteach@aol.com); Nekanuq (Nekanuq@aol.com) **Any resemblance to real people in this fanfic is purely coincidental. The names were changed to protect the guilty. No actors or producers were harmed in the production of this fanfic.** Perry White hung up the phone in his office and yelled for his top reporting team. Lois and Clark had learned not to dawdle when they heard that tone in his voice. "Yes, Chief?" "What's up, Perry?" "I hope you two don't have any plans for the next few days because I'm sending you out to California." Lois and Clark exchanged looks of surprise and speculation, but always wisely opted against interrupting their boss when he was on a roll. "I just got off the phone with Mr. Stern ... he's got a job for you. Seems one of his larger investments, Broadcasting Corporation of America is facing a hostile takeover by The Sidney Corporation." He paused and looked at them over the top of his glasses, but they maintained a respectful silence. "BCA has a hit show called 'Mary Jane and Peter: The New Adventures of Spider-Man' ... maybe you've seen it?" Lois looked at Clark, and Clark looked at Lois. She turned back to Perry. "No, Chief, superheroes on TV don't hold much of a thrill for me...," Clark could hear her undervoiced mutter, "... since I'm hanging out with the real thing." He had to suppress a grin as he faced Perry once again. "I'm afraid we don't have much time for TV, Chief." "Well, I'll see about sending some tapes along with you, then. You'll need to do some homework if you're going to pass yourselves off as screenwriters for the show." Lois had been thinking about how nice it would be to explore California with her super husband, but at Perry's last remark she gasped. "Perry! You can't be serious!" "You bet I am!" he retorted. "If this takeover goes through, Mr. Stern might have to consider selling the Planet in order to recoup some of his losses, so you can bet your last Elvis souvenir that I'm serious." "I didn't know that Mr. Stern was so heavily invested in TV, Chief." "Well, he is. Things have been going from bad to worse, but last night the two head writers, a man and a woman, disappeared, so you two are going to take their places and investigate their disappearances at the same time." "But, Perry, how can we do that? We don't know anything about writing for a TV show!" Perry brushed aside their concerns. "You two are the best. I've seen you do some amazing things and I'm sure you can do this, too. You'll have some help. Mr. Stern has got a contact for you out there, someone he can trust. Her name is ... let me see, I wrote it down. Oh, yes, here it is ... Zoomer. Ms. Zoomer. She's the media liaison for the studio where the show is produced. Knows everything there is to know about TV, so you listen to her." "Okay, Chief." Clark and Lois turned towards the door, but Perry had one last word of advice. "Be careful around the show's Co-Executive Producer, Mickey Einstein. Mr. Stern doesn't trust him, and that's good enough for me." As they walked to the elevators, Clark said to his less than happy wife, "Well, Lois, it could have been worse." "How Clark?" "We could be writing a sitcom." As the door dropped into the lock behind them, Lois leaned back against it heavily. "I thought we had been through just about anything with these undercover projects," she sighed. "Well, at least you can't complain about getting bored." Clark smiled as he laid his arm around her. "We'll have some time off too, you know. Spending a day in Sidneyland with your husband isn't so bad, you know." "Yeah, I know." Lois was in a bad mood. "Everything has to be in a rush again, though. How can we possibly be ready to meet with Ms. Zoomer? "Don't worry so much. I'll help you pack." "We'll have to go via a regular airline. Perry had already arranged the tickets with Accounting. Heck, he didn't even wait for us to give him our okay to book!" "Ms. Zoomer will meet us at the airport and take us to our hotel from there. No way around it." Clark was helping her out of her coat. "But, you know, there's plenty of time till tomorrow. And maybe we can arrange a connecting flight on Superman Airways, giving us additional time tonight." As Clark pulled her close and kissed her gently, Lois felt herself relax and her resistance ebb away. Maybe things *weren't* so bad. "Well, we better start packing then. We could get most of it done tonight. Remember, you promised to help." "Sure do." Clark picked her up unceremoniously and zipped up the stairs, putting her down just inside the bedroom. He was back with their suitcases a split second later, placing hers on the bed. "We can start with yours. Now let me see ..." He had begun to search through a chest of drawers. Turning, he held up a teddy. "This looks a little small. Are you sure it still fits after you washed it last time ...?" "Hey, do you think ...?" She was beginning to become exasperated again, but then caught the teasing grin on his face. Walking up to him, she poked him in the chest playfully. "I could try it on ...." "Would you? We want to make sure you have the right attire when we're out in California ..." He was beginning to kiss her neck and helping her with the preparations to try on the teddy. "But the packing ..." ***** They never finished the packing that night. It was done at superspeed the next morning, allowing them to catch the flight to California just in time. Lois was glad that super pilots and their "aircraft" didn't get out of breath easily. Thus they were not the worse for wear when they arrived at the LAX airport lounge . It was seven o'clock and the January morning was pleasantly cool. But in the lounge waited another surprise. Ms. Zoomer wasn't there, only her secretary, who apologized and explained that Ms. Zoomer wouldn't be able to come. They would meet her later in Burbank at the studio. "So what shall we do now?" Lois asked after the secretary had left. Clark shrugged his shoulders. "I think we should rent a car and try to get to the studio, okay?" They decided to do it this way and by eight they were on the highway heading towards Burbank. "It seems to be easy to find, Clark," Lois said, fumbling with a huge map in her lap. "Just change from this highway to the 405 and then we have to get off at the second exit. It's a piece of cake." Lois' first thought about this whole undercover assignment had been right. Changing highways turned out to be a very bad idea. Once on the 405 the early morning fog partially obscured their view of an endless line of cars in front of their own creeping through the valley. But there was no turning back. "Uh uh..." Clark said. "Come on, Clark, we've been in a rush hour before. It can't take so long. I'm sure we'll be at the second exit soon." "That's not what I meant, honey," Clark answered. "'Uh uh' meant I have to go." "Go?!! Now?! Here!?" Lois stared at him as if she couldn't believe her ears. "No, Clark. Please, tell me you're kidding!" Clark had the grace to look really uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, honey, but there are tornadoes in Missouri - weren't you listening to the radio? I can't stay...see you later!" With that he spun in the air at superspeed, visible only to Lois, who sat in her seat, speechless, staring after the red and blue blur. "Oh no!" she said between clenched teeth, "sometimes I hate superheroes!" One hour later Clark returned to California, flying first to Tarner Brothers Studios. When he didn't see Lois there he headed back to the freeway. He spotted the rental car pulled into the emergency lane with its hood up. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Clark scooped up the car and whisked it to a relatively quiet side street near the studio. Spinning back to his regular clothes he approached Lois carefully. "Hi, honey," he said cautiously. "What kept you?" "Well, there was a train derailment in Arizona and I..." "Never mind," Lois said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you but the car died and I had no cell phone, and where are all those nice-looking highway patrolmen when you really need one?" "I know, I know, it's always something," Clark said soothingly as he took her out of the car and into his arms. "You need to rest. Why don't we just go to the hotel and check in?" "No, Clark, we're here now, we might as well get this over with. Besides, I've got plans for later," she said with a small smile. "Oh really?" Lois nodded. "I can hardly wait." "Good," Lois replied. "So what are our cover names?" "I'm Jerome Clark and you're Jo Miller. We've been writing partners for the last two years, mostly off-Broadway plays, minor productions and the like. Our spec script was picked up by November 4th productions and that's why we're here." "Okay, anything else I should know?" "Nothing that I can think of right now, sweetheart. Ready?" "I guess. Do I look okay?" "Lois, you always look okay." "Thanks, you're a big help." "Hey, I mean it!" "Hand me my hairbrush, would you? It's in the glove compartment." Clark reached into the glove compartment and took out the brush. Looking in the rearview mirror, Lois rearranged her hair. "Okay, now I'm ready to go inside." They walked down the sidewalk to the studio. When they gave the guard their contact's name, they were directed to the Public Relations Department. "May I help you?" the receptionist asked. "Ah, yes, we're here to see Ms. Zoomer," replied Clark. "I need your names, please." "Jerome Clark and Jo Miller." "Go right in," she said, pointing to a door. "You're expected." They walked into the room the receptionist had indicated and saw a woman sitting behind a cluttered desk. "You must be Jerome and Jo. Pleased to meet you," she said, extending her hand. They each shook her hand. "Have a seat," she invited. "Well, I suppose you'd like to hear about the hostile takeover by Sidney." "That is what our job is." "Well, the thing is--Sidney would ruin us. Nothing could be worse for MJ&P than that stupid gerbil." "But you suspect that they are sabotaging the show?" "Well, yes. They have made it no secret that they want to take over BCA. And MJ&P's ratings have never been this low. Our biggest competition has been CBN's FishTrek. Old Lady Mysteries on SBC is keeping the number one spot, but we were usually second. Not anymore." "But why would Sidney want to sabotage the show?" Lois asked. "If the show fails, can they buy the network for less or something?" "Something like that. The important thing is stopping them. Now, you're going to be scriptwriters?" "Yes. It shouldn't be too hard, right? We're already journalists," Clark said. "Okay, well, I've got a lot of papers here for you. It's all the information I could think of on the show." Ms. Zoomer reached into her desk and brought out a huge pile of papers. "All that?" Lois and Clark could just gape at the pile. "Yeah, this should prepare you to work on the show." Lois frowned slightly. Sure, Clark could cram all that info in five seconds, but she sure couldn't! And there was no way she was letting this ruin her evening plans. After talking with Ms. Zoomer for a little while longer, she offered to make arrangements for another car. When it arrived, they drove to the hotel where they had reservations. It was fancier than most, and looked pretty comfortable. They walked up to their room. "Well, this is nice!" exclaimed Clark. He closed the door and turned to Lois. "You know, we've got plenty of time to read that stuff later." "Oh, I don't know, Clark," she replied. "We should start now." He raised an eyebrow. "Kidding!" she exclaimed. "We've got," her voice got softer, "better things to do right now." She put a hand lightly on his chest. "Excuse me while I go change." She moved away from him with a wink. A few hours later, a smiling Lois and Clark left the hotel. Armed with the information Ms. Zoomer had given them, they returned to the Tarner Brothers lot. Once past the guards at the main gate they headed for the soundstage of MJ&P for a writers' meeting with the head of production, Mr. Einstein. From what Ms. Zoomer had written he was one slippery man to nail. Einstein was a recent addition, slipped in through the back door when the ratings had dropped this season. Lois was feeling a little hesitant about meeting with him. She had run into his type many times before and she already had a strong dislike for the man and hoped it didn't show. He was the proverbial snake in the grass, always trying to make himself look better no matter who he had to step on or sleep with. "Clark, I know this man is going to have a pot belly and smell of Cuban cigars. I don't think after reading everything Zoomer has written I can be objective about him." Clark looked at her. "Honey, I know you can put all your personal feelings aside. I've seen it happen too many times." Clark led them to Einstein's office. Again they were met by a beautiful young blonde receptionist. Once they had given her their names, Einstein himself answered the door. He reached out to both. "Come in...come in. I have heard a lot about you." Lois felt Einstein's eyes travel the length of her body. She met his gaze with a look of cold disdain. On the other hand, Clark was not used to someone openly ogling his wife and found he was reaching his boiling point. But this wasn't supposed to be his wife -- she was his writing partner. Focus on that, Kent. He stepped forward quickly and held out his hand. "Mr. Einstein, we appreciate your taking the time to meet with us." He felt Einstein squeezing his hand hard, and for a moment the two men engaged in the age-old ritual of testing each other's strength. Lois realized what was going on and rolled her eyes. She knew Clark could easily crush Einstein's hand, realized too that he was just angry enough about Einstein's ogling to go a little overboard. She stuck out her own hand, determined to break the ritual before it got out of hand, so to speak. "Mr. Einstein," she said crisply. "Jo Miller. I'm Jerome's writing partner." Einstein took her hand a little gingerly, trying to conceal a wince. Continued in Part 2 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 19:32:36 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: JCWimmer Subject: Fanfic: Full Circle: Chapter 14 ... ahh, the end is near Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit ***************************** Chapter 14 ***************************** Clark carefully carried the infant carseat into the house. He set it on the kitchen table, and then put down the large bag of formula, diapers, and instructions that the nurses had given him. He was still somewhat startled by all that had happened in the last few hours. He had arrived in the nursery to see CJ holding his brother, and carefully feeding him a bottle. After listening to twenty minutes of instructions from the nurses, CJ had burped the baby and strapped him carefully into the car seat. The baby wasn't much bigger than a regular newborn. The truth was, he probably could have gone home much sooner. Clark had begged the doctors to extend his stay, and they had done so for as long as they could. Now, the baby needed a home, and that was what he would have. After Clark had strapped the baby into the car, a skill he was still adept at although he hadn't done it in nearly fifteen years, he and Martha had driven home with the baby, allowing CJ to drive his truck into town to pick up Kat. Now, he found himself faced with caring for an infant. Martha followed him into the kitchen, and unstrapped the child from it's seat. Giving Clark a look that clearly told him that she didn't approve of his actions, she carried that baby into the living room while Clark began unloading the bag of baby things. When Clark entered the living room a few minutes later, he found his mother asleep with the baby sleeping on her chest. He carefully removed the child from his mother's arms and placed him in the crib. He managed to do this without actually holding the baby, he just quickly transferred him, and looked back at his mother. She was sound asleep, her head awkwardly leaning to the side. She hadn't even awakened when he had removed the baby from her hands. She was far too tired. As his father had told him, Martha was too old for this. She was nearly eighty, and she had been spending too much time caring for the rest of the family rather than herself. Clark closed his eyes as he felt another wave of guilt wash over him. He felt guilt over Lois's illness, CJ's neglect, his mother's fatigue, and his own ambivalence for his own child. His father had returned to Kansas to sign the final papers selling their farm, and Clark even felt guilty for that. There was guilt over Superman's absence, and guilt over his forgetting to do the grocery shopping this week. Clark was more miserable than he had ever been in his life, and he had no clue what to do with the emotions. Normally, he would use Lois as a sounding board, but she was so weak that he was afraid to do so. Still, he felt a need to be with her. He used the phone to call Mrs. Mosby, their next door neighbor. She had asked on several occasions if she could do anything to help, and this was as good a time to call in that request as any. She agreed to come right over, and to stay until either Martha awoke or until CJ made it home. After her arrival, Clark began to drive into Metropolis. When he encountered rush hour traffic, he pulled the car into the parking lot of a truck stop and locked it. Once he had walked into the trees behind the little diner, he spun into the suit and took off quickly. He really wanted to be with Lois, not driving back and forth. Clark did manage to run by a fast food restaurant and pick up a value meal for his wife. After signing a few autographs, and answering several children's questions about how he carried money in the suit, he began to wish he had taken the time to change before going into the restaurant. Clark landed behind the hospital in an alley. After scanning the area to ensure that he was not being watched, he spun back out of the suit. Wearing his jeans and T-shirt, with an unbuttoned flannel shirt covering his arms, Clark entered the hospital carrying his wife's dinner. He greeted a few nurses on the way up to Lois's floor, and then entered her room. He found his wife carefully lowering her water glass back to the bedside table. Even though the glass was plastic, and contained only a couple of ounces of water, the weight made her arm shake. With a disgusted sigh, she pushed the table away from herself, spilling water from the pitcher in the process. With that done, she finally broke into frustrated tears. Clark crossed the room quickly, and took Lois into his arms. He allowed her to cry until she was finished, stroking her hair and her back, and whispering nonsense into her ear. He held her upright as she sagged into him, too tired to maintain a sitting position on her own. When she was calm once more, he helped her to rest against the elevated head of her bed. "I didn't hear you come in," she told him. "I was quiet," he replied. "Are you ready to tell me what's wrong?" Gently, he stoked his fingertips down her arm, and took her hand in his. "Nothing," she lied. Then, with a sigh, "Everything." Lois shook her head. "I'm just tired of being so weak. I want to go home," she finally said, breaking into tears again. Clark watched her, and continued to hold her hand. He wanted her home, too, but he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to care for her adequately. Superman's return had made a live-in nurse a difficult proposition, and she still required constant care. He was fortunate that their medical insurance didn't have a cap, and he could keep her here as long as she needed to stay, just as the baby had been covered. Frankly, the only problems he wasn't facing were financial. Emotional, physical, and spiritual were a mess, but financially they were fine. There was a certain level of irony in that fact. Clark considered the situation as Lois pulled his hand to her chest and cuddled with it as she went to sleep. She often did this, held onto him during sleep, and it seemed to give her comfort. The bottom line was that he couldn't do everything. He could care for Lois's needs, but not for her and the baby, and work, and care adequately for CJ. His parents needed to get back to their lives. They needed to find an apartment and get settled, they had spent enough time taking care of him and his family. He had to work to maintain his insurance. He had used all of his vacation time when Lois had first become ill. She received a monthly disability check, but that was signed over to the insurance company as part of the hospitalization agreement. Money wasn't really a problem as long as he continued to work, but if he stopped to care for his family the medical bills would become impossible, and he didn't want to lose the house. His parents had done well enough financially since they had been living with him. They were receiving fixed incomes, but that didn't go far when you were eating out two or three meals a day, especially with the prices in the hospital cafeteria. The sale of the farm would pay off the debts that they had accumulated in the last few years of drought, but it wouldn't leave them much more than what they would need to rent an apartment in Claremont. He hated to even consider financial situations. After all, he had his wife back, or nearly back, and that was worth any price. Still, he did have to consider the practical side of taking her home. His medical insurance was designed for inpatient care, not outpatient visits, and having her here was the best decision financially. In addition to this, the memory of her collapsing in his arms was still vivid in his nightmares, and he was afraid that he couldn't get her help if he took her home. Maybe he was a little paranoid, or perhaps it was the illusion that one fell under when they spent too much time around hospitals, that the hospital staff was necessary to maintain health. Whatever the reason, he wasn't entirely comfortable taking Lois home this way, and he would have to explain that to her. Lois woke up nearly an hour later. Clark was thrilled to see her big brown eyes as she smiled up at him. She was still cradling his hand to her chest, and she now reached down to kiss his fingers. "You stayed," she said quietly. He smiled in response. "Always." Hearing something in his voice that she couldn't quite place, Lois asked him, "We need to talk, don't we?" "I guess we do," he replied. "What is it?" Clark sighed. This was so hard to admit. Dr. Friskin had once accused him of having a "Superman Complex", believing he could fix anything. The entire situation had taught him that he had very little control over anything, but it was still difficult to admit. "I just don't know if I can do this," he told his wife. "Do what?" "Everything," he said quietly. "I don't know if I can take care of CJ, and the baby, and you, and the Planet, and still be..." He lowered his voice to ensure that he wasn't heard beyond Lois's bed, "Superman." Lois considered her husband for a moment. "Well," she began, "I am getting better, and until I'm up to par I won't be going home. You really don't have to visit every day," she added, "I know that you have a lot that has to be done." Clark cut her off abruptly. "Lois, out of that whole list you and CJ are the only things that I *want* to do. You're what keeps me going." Lois met his eyes, and took his hand. "I notice that there was someone absent from that," she said. "What about the baby?" Clark lowered his eyes once more. "I'll take care of him," he said quietly. Lois knew that voice. It was the same one he used when he was talking about disciplining CJ or leaving her to go be Superman. He wasn't happy about the baby. "I see." Clark finally looked up into his wife's eyes. The pain he saw there tore at him. "Lois, I just don't feel anything for the baby," he admitted. "I don't even feel anger anymore, just ... nothing. It's like he isn't even ours. I don't understand it, and I hate it, but I can't change what I feel." His eyes pleaded with Lois to understand, but the hurt remained in her gaze. After a moment, he told her, "I'm sorry." "No," she told him, squeezing his hand gently. "You told the truth. I'm not angry, I'm just ... I don't know. I thought I'd be so excited about the baby, and I'm not. I thought maybe it was because I'd been so sick, but I'm starting to wonder if that's it." Lois paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "I wanted him so much, and now I feel like maybe it was the wrong decision to have him. I never felt like this with CJ, I was always to thrilled to have him, and I couldn't stand to put him down." She laughed softly at the memories. "Remember the time Perry jumped on me for bringing him to work in that backpack? I never wanted to be away from him, and this just feels so ... different." Clark considered what she had said for a moment before agreeing. "I'm worried about the baby," he told her. "Children need love, and that can't be faked. Lois," he said in a stricken voice, "I don't love him." Lois put her arms around her husband and held him as he cried. How long had he been holding it all in? He must have been so alone, for so long. She understood what he was feeling about the baby; she felt the same way. What she didn't understand was *why*. They had loved CJ unconditionally from the moment they had held him. He was theirs, and they had *felt* it, even before Dr. Klein's DNA tests had confirmed that he did have both of their genes. She wished they felt the same connection to the child that she had given birth to. ***************************** Bernard Klein stared at the lab report before him. He couldn't believe it! He felt so stupid, and yet so relieved. He hadn't been wrong! He clutched the report tightly and was half way out of the room before he remembered to check for the results on the second test. After printing these results as well, he held both papers tightly and scrambled from the room. Now, where were those car keys? ***************************** Clark was just finally dragging himself from Lois's side to return home when Dr. Klein came bursting through the door to her room. Lois jerked awake, and Clark whirled quickly to see who had invaded their privacy. He had begun to relax some, since the nurses had disconnected the monitors in Lois's room, but he lived in constant fear that someone would find out his secret. "Lois, Clark, I have to speak with you!" Dr. Klein was breathless with excitement, and his intensity stunned Clark enough that he didn't comment on the fact that Dr. Klein had awakened Lois. "What is it," Clark asked. He offered Dr. Klein a seat, but the older man declined. Clark sat back down on the edge of Lois's bed to await the news. He was pleased to see Dr. Klein here. He would always be grateful that the man had taken such wonderful care of his wife. When her illness had reached beyond his scope, he had enlisted the aid of the best medical doctors in the field, and had worked with them to keep her alive. He had managed the paperwork to keep the insurance company paying for her private room, and he had found the best pediatricians to care for the baby, and he had accomplished all this without raising questions as to why Lois had become ill. He had documented a rare blood disorder that kept Clark's secret, and had protected them both from the media as well as the hospital administration. Truly, Bernard Klein had been a friend as well as a scientist and physician, and Clark would forever be grateful. If it had ever occurred to him to be angry with the doctor for initiating the pregnancy, he certainly hadn't held a grudge. In fact, he was pleased that the doctor had helped them to grant Lois's wish. After all, Dr. Klein had been the one to suggest termination of the pregnancy, and her illness hadn't been his fault. Odd, though, that Clark's forgiving nature didn't extend to himself. Maybe not so odd, as he had always been harder on himself than those around him. Dr. Klein took a moment to regain his composure before he spoke. Clutching two wrinkled papers in his hand, he waved them before his face. "It's all here!" he announced. "I was wrong. It was a chemical reaction!" Lois and Clark looked at one another for a moment before confronting the doctor. "What *are* you talking about?" Lois asked. Dr. Klein looked stunned for a moment, then began at the beginning. "I've been doing some additional testing on the agent I used to facilitate fertilization," he began. Looking at the confused couple before him, be began again. "The chemical soup I used to help the egg and sperm join," he clarified. "We had assumed that it was the pregnancy itself that caused Lois's reaction, but that isn't the case. It was the formula." "But, you said that it was safe. I remember asking." Clark was confused. "It was," he answered. "The formula itself was safe. However," he said, waving the papers in front of him, "the combination of the formula *and* the HCG in Lois's bloodstream was nearly fatal." ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 05:11:34 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: Re: LNC Fanfic Kerth Awards a Huge Success! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 05:56 PM 4/1/98 EST, Zoom quoted Jeff...: >>>>You, as >the reader, can do one simple thing to make sure Lois and Clark >live forever through fanfic. Give feedback. [snip].<<<< >I agree with this, but add a caveat. Trust your instincts, but if you're >uncertain, send it to someone whose opinion or style you admire and ask that >person. Random feedback can be confusing or even contradictory. One person >can say "the story dragged at this point" and the very next person can say >"this was my favorite part of the story" and they are talking about the same >segment. However, if several people comment on the same segment in the same >way, then you know that you did something good or needs work in that segment. I'm in total agreement. I'll add though that I have a lot of proofers (you know who you are) and if even one of them questions something, I figure they respresent some subset who will also question it and it behooves me to consider a rewrite or at least to clear things up perhaps. [snip other good observations] >...Most of the guys out there writing fanfic >are writing great fanfic, and it's a shame that they've been skipped because >they're often being pre-judged as writing "fanboy" stories Personally I think category needed another name. I've worked too long at being a gal to be a "fanboy" or to think I'm writing for them alone. one of my stories was nominated in this category, and I would have described it as a "coming of age story," not a "fanboy" story. Debby Debby@swcp.com getting back in the mood to write again... all for myself (I pay the bills) Maybe we'll be snowed in :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 18:36:42 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: SwimminDeb Subject: Re: Fanfic: Full Circle: Chapter 14 ... ahh, the end is near Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi. I just joined the mailing list and I only received chapters 13 and 14 of Full Circle. Could you please send me parts 1-12 or let me know how else I can get them. Thank you for your time. From, Debbie ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 18:51:35 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: JCWimmer Subject: Fanfic: Full Circle: Chapter 15: part 1 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit ***************************** Chapter 15 ***************************** Simply put, the next couple of weeks were a mess for the Kents. Clark juggled his time between the paper, hospital visits, the occasional rescue, and the absolutely essential household chores. CJ did his best to study for his finals, in between caring for the baby and visiting his mom. He had to stop writing for the Planet, there just weren't enough hours in the day, but he tried not to worry about that. Jonathan and Martha finally found an apartment within their budget, and began to move some items into it. They knew that they would need to move out soon, because the baby moving around enough that the bassinet wouldn't contain him much longer. They had promised CJ that he wouldn't lose his room, so they needed to vacate the guest room to make room for a nursery. Frankly, they were worried about how Clark would manage nights without them in the house, but they weren't sure what to do about the situation. Martha was most concerned about CJ. She was afraid that nighttime care of the baby would fall to him. Granted, he was adept at caring for the infant, but he was a teenager. He had already given up his job under the pressure of final exams and child care, and they didn't want him to lose his summer as well. Nevertheless, the house could only accommodate so many full time residents, and the growing child would soon displace them. It was on one of many chaotic nights that the knock came on the front door. CJ was juggling a full bottle in one hand and an uncooperative baby in the other, so he asked Kat to get the door. When she opened the door, she was faced with a short man wearing an old fashioned suit and wire rimmed spectacles. She probably should have been worried about a stranger at the door, but he seemed familiar in an odd sort of way. "Why, you must be young Kathryn. How nice to finally meet you. My name is Herbert George, and I've come to speak with CJ." The little man spoke quickly. He had a friendly energy to his voice that belied his obvious age. Kat thought again that she should have been frightened, but instead she was slightly bemused. "CJ," Kat called over her shoulder. "There's someone here to see you." CJ entered the living room with his brother in one arm and a soggy diaper in the other. He passed the baby to Kat, then excused himself long enough to wash his hands in the kitchen. He returned carrying a warm bottle, and apologizing for the interruption. CJ didn't exactly recognize the man before him, but he did know who he was. He had heard dozens of stories about the little time traveller, and had in fact wanted to meet him. If anyone had any clues as to his origins, this would be the man. "Mr. Wells," he greeted the older man. "Please, have a seat." CJ indicated to the couch, and waited until the man seemed comfortable. Kat settled herself on a chair a few feet away, and began to feed the baby. "Oh, it certainly is nice to meet the two of you." The man said in the same friendly voice. What he wanted to do was to dive right into the issue, but he had learned with this boy’s parents that the direct approach was not always best. With that in mind, he decided to engage in a little friendly conversation. "Actually, it's pretty cool meeting you too," CJ answered. I've been wondering about a few things, and you seem the most likely person to answer my questions." "I'd be happy to help with anything I can regarding your past," Herbert told him. "I'm afraid I can't answer questions about the future, though, without causing problems in the time line." CJ smiled in understanding. "That makes sense, I guess. Anyway, my questions are about the past. Specifically, they're about *my* past. No one seems to know where I came from, or when I came from. I thought maybe you'd know." CJ tried to keep the hope from his voice, but was unable to do so. He wanted so much to know the answers. His life was so confused at the moment, and this one piece of knowledge would give him some comfort, even if it wouldn't solve his problems. Herbert looked slightly confused as he regarded the boy. He had believed that CJ understood his origins. The future CJ certainly had an understanding of his origins, and he was slightly unprepared for this. He glanced over at the baby and allowed a questioning look to slip through before he answered. "CJ, this is where you come from," he said, looking pointedly at the baby in Kat's arms. CJ looked completely confused. He had been expecting some cosmically brilliant answer as to why he was displaced from his own time, why he belonged here now rather than later, and this wasn't what he was expecting. He looked down at his brother for a moment. Sure, the baby looked like him, but it looked like his father too. Family resemblances were not unusual, and he didn't look *that* much like him. Kat alternated glances from CJ to the baby. She saw some resemblance, but not that much. Finally, she stood and carried the baby over to the far wall in the room, the wall where the family portraits were hung. She looked from the baby pictures of CJ to the child in her arms, and wondered if the label of "galactically stupid" was stamped on her forehead. It seemed so obvious. As she looked from the baby to the picture and back again, she was stunned at how similar they looked. It was rather obvious, now, and she wondered how they could possibly have missed it. CJ had followed Kat, and he too was looking from the baby pictures to the baby. It was him. It gave him an odd feeling to see himself, to know he had held himself. It was beyond weird. He looked back at Mr. Wells, who was just now rising to speak to them. "You are in the proper time, CJ, it's this baby that is out of time," he said. "That's why I'm here." ***************************** Clark sat next to his wife on her hospital bed. She was so much better now. She was nearly back to her old self. Now, she was sleeping, still in a form of shock from the news that had been delivered. Clark had been as stunned at his arrival home that night as he had been the night he had found CJ and the baby asleep in his bed. They had looked so sweet, and yet there had been a feeling of unreality to the situation that he hadn't understood. He did now. There was a level of comfort in the situation now that hadn't been present before. A type of understanding that he hadn't possessed. He wondered if this were taking the easy way out. After all, there was a certain amount of transition that was normal when an infant entered the home, and it made Clark feel like he was defying nature to allow this to happen. H.G. Wells had explained that he had entered this time to check on a temporal anomaly. Apparently, a time window had been opened into this general time frame, and he needed to check for disruption into the time line. They had not been able to find exactly when or why the temporal disturbance had taken place, but it didn't appear that Tempus, or any other villain, was at work. Wells presence did solve the problem of relocating the baby into his proper time. If the baby weren't sent back to 1996, CJ would not be here now. If the baby was sent back, they would loose the opportunity to raise him now. Of course, they had already raised him. Clark put his head back in his hands as the intricacies of time travel once more threatened to give him a headache. Lois was better. She had been starting to look forward to coming home, and the baby had been in that equation. Of course, she seemed less bothered about transporting the baby back in time than Clark, but she did appear to be in shock over the situation. They had always assumed that they had been sent CJ to protect him from some outside danger, but the only danger this baby faced was a busy family. Families had been raising their children for decades in working families, they had done so themselves, and it seemed like cheating to send the child to an easier time. Wells entered the room, and Clark raised his head to face him. "I'm sure you have reservations about this decision, Clark. Please, ask any questions that you have." Wells seated himself in the chair next to the bed, and waited for Clark to voice his concerns. "It just seems so strange," Clark began. "We have to choose something that should be out of our hands. It's confusing," he smiled. "But, it makes this strange sort of sense, too." Wells nodded his understanding. "How a temporal loop begins is a mystery to us all. The fact is, once a loop is initiated it *must* be carried out to maintain temporal stability. The circle must be completed, or the time line will change. There are elements that allow us to see when a temporal disturbance is taking place, and one of those is a feeling of ... wrongness ... for lack of a better word. Can you honestly tell me that it feels right to have this infant here, now?" Clark shook his head. "No, I can't. This has felt 'wrong' ever since I first saw him. I thought I was just angry or guilty because of Lois, but I guess I should have realized that it was more." "Having the child raised in this time line would make Utopia impossible. At seventeen, CJ is capable of dealing with the stresses that Lois's recovery and your parent's aging will impose. For that matter, he can be a remarkable help, and what he learns now will be instrumental in the formation of Utopia. His descendants will create a world that will be ideal for all of the inhabitants of Earth, but he can't do that if he is raised in chaos." "Clark," a quiet voice said from the bed. "The baby doesn't belong here. That's why it's been so hard." Lois leaned toward her husband, placing her hand on his leg. She gave a brief, bitter laugh before adding, "Why isn't our life ever simple?" Wells glanced at Lois fondly. "Are you feeling better, now?" It had concerned him when she had become so upset during their initial discussion, and he was pleased that she was showing her usual resilience. "I'm as well as I can be knowing that my baby is about to be sent nearly two decades into the past," she smiled once more. "Still, it does explains so much. I remember how right it all felt back then, and how hard it is now. Just the thought of facing the terrible twos is enough to make me ill, and I didn't know how I was going to get through it." Wells smiled his understanding. He hadn't realized the essential part he had played in situating CJ in time, but he was pleased that he could be a part of putting this family back where it belonged. They had been through so much, and the best part of their lives was just beginning. It was no wonder that they were awash in confusion when things began to go wrong. "When does he go back," Clark asked quietly. "I need to pick up the Interdimentional Transport Device from Star Labs, then I will meet you back at your house. That should give you time to explain things to your parents and also to prepare the baby for the trip." Clark nodded, and Herbert shook his hand before leaving the room. Turning back to his wife, he looked for the pain that he was sure to find at the loss of her child. Strangely, he saw nothing but the relief that he felt himself. "Are you okay with this, Lois?" Lois sighed, and then replied, "I suppose so. I can't imagine CJ growing up without Kat, and I couldn't live without the son that I have now. I just feel like I'm taking the easy way out, and I keep wondering what the catch is." Clark kissed his wife gently, and then prepared to confront his parents. They had been the grounding force for the baby, caring for him when his own parents could not. He had no clue how they would take this news, but they had to know. ***************************** Martha wrapped the infant in the dark blue blanket, and stroked his cheek once more. She would miss him, but she was grateful to know that she would be young enough to enjoy watching this child grow into such a wonderful young man. At least, she had been young enough, or was, or would be? The entire concept really confused her, but Clark seemed at peace for the first time in ages. She had always wondered why CJ's blanket had looked as new and fresh as the day Clark had arrived in it. CJ had carried the blanket for years, and it was a tattered mess that he kept hidden in his bottom dresser drawer, now. She had spent hours digging through boxes back at the farm until she had found Clark’s blanket, still new and fresh. It had been worth the effort to give him this. She covered the baby more tightly and kissed him gently. "I'll see you soon, little man," she told him. "I love you." With tears in her eyes, she turned back into the waiting arms of her husband. Jonathan had already said his good-bye, so he merely held his wife as she cried. CJ was next to say goodbye. He felt as though he was loosing his brother, and it hurt. Realizing that he held a part of this baby within himself was some comfort, but he would still miss the warm snuggling and sweet smell of the child. Someday, he planned to have children. Lots of them! He wanted to fill a whole house with them. Of course, not in his immediate future, but someday. CJ reached down to allow the baby to grasp his finger, then whispered a few words to the baby. Kat heard him, and stepped a little closer to CJ. Once he was finished, he stepped back, and put his arm around his best friend, both taking and giving comfort. Finally, Herbert carried the baby to Clark. After looking at him for a moment, Clark finally took the baby into his arms. He turned away from the group gathered, and spoke to his son. "Hey, little one. I know things have been tough here. They're gonna get better now. You are going someplace where people love you, and will take really good care of you." He caressed the infant's cheek, looking into the solemn brown eyes and for the first time seeing his son. He lifted the baby a little higher, and gently kissed his forehead. "That's for your mama. She wanted to be here, but we decided that this would be easier. You're gonna be with her soon, and she will be able to really enjoy you. Try to take it easy on her at first, she'll be new at this, and not too sure of herself. But, I'll tell you what, she's the best mom in the world, just as good as mine, and she'll take the very best care of you." Clark rocked the baby for a moment more, feeling again the love and attachment that he had felt for the little person that had been dropped in his lap so many years ago. He glanced down at the infant, now drifting off to sleep, and traced the side of his cheek with a tender finger. Knowing the wonderful person that this baby would develop into made the decision easier, and at once made it harder. With a sigh he conceded that the decision had never really been his at all, and with a final kiss he gave the child back to H.G. Wells. Herbert once more reassured them that what they were doing was right, and shifted the baby slightly to reach the keypad of the device in his hand. After touching a few buttons, a window appeared in the air, and he stepped into it. Clark stood quietly as his son was taken into another time, and then watched the window collapse upon itself and disappear. As Clark turned away from the empty space, he was enveloped in a hug by his parents. He held on, and allowed himself to cry for the loss of the few months he'd had with the baby. Perhaps, if he could have pulled himself from the grief and pain sooner, he could have enjoyed the baby, and perhaps not. The saddest part was that he would never know. ***************************** It was barely a week later that Clark carried his wife over the threshold of their home. It had been a long morning, and she was exhausted. There were balloons, banners, and flowers wall-to-wall in the living room. Friends from the Planet, neighbors, and even Lucy had joined together to welcome Lois back to her world. Amid the chaos, Lois put her head down on her husband's shoulder, and whispered in his ear. He nodded his agreement, and instead of stopping in the living room where all the craziness was centered, he carried his wife up the stairs and lay her down in their bed. With a sigh, Lois curled up on her side and went right to sleep, leaving Clark to face the people gathered downstairs. The group seemed to understand that Lois was too tired to deal with their party, and while they kept it quiet, they did stay to enjoy the food and conversation. Jimmy had flown in from New York, where he was working as a reporter for the Times. He casually flirted with a few of the guests, but the ring on his left hand demonstrated that the flirting was friendly, and not serious. Martha and Jonathan sat at the kitchen table with Lucy, discussing with her the pitfalls of parenting a teenager. Lucy was just drifting into this world, and she felt a little lost. Her husband had stayed home with the kids so that they wouldn't miss finals, and she was enjoying a little time to herself. Clusters of neighbors and Planet employees were scattered about the room, celebrating the return of one of their own. Clark drifted from group to group. He still felt some guilt that he had not tried harder to locate Lois's parents for the party, but she seemed almost grateful not to have to deal with her mother's smothering just now. He promised himself that as soon as things calmed down that he would go find them, and bring them up to date. The resolution eased his guilt somewhat, and he was able to enjoy some of the gathering, even as he felt detached from it. "Dad, why don't you just go upstairs for awhile. You look as tired as Mom did," CJ said as he returned from the kitchen with another case of sodas. "I'll make excuses if you want, but you were up all night, and you look like you need some sleep." Clark nodded vaguely in thanks. He was tired, and still feeling a little too much melancholy to deal with the festive atmosphere. With a sigh, he ascended the stairs, and let himself into the dimly lit room that he once more shared with his wife. She was curled onto her side, as she had been when he had left her. Clark made sure the door was locked, then pulled off his shirt and jeans. He carefully levitated and lowered himself next to Lois's side in the bed. He wanted to pull her close, but he was afraid that he would wake her. Instead, he curled onto his side facing his wife, and watched her sleep. He relaxed as he listened to her heartbeat, and was soon lulled into a state of relaxation that was neither fully awake nor fully asleep. He became more aware of her when she rolled away from him and then backed herself into his lap, snuggling spoon-style as they had always slept. With a smile, Clark put his arm around Lois and pulled her a little closer before giving in to the first true sleep he had experienced in over a year. ***************************** Lois awoke to the amazing warmth of her husband wrapped around her back. She wiggled her bottom back into his lap, and sighed as he pulled her closer. After a few minutes of contentment, she carefully pulled away from her husband. She sat up slowly, allowing herself to adjust to the faint dizzy feeling that still accompanied a change in position, then padded carefully to the restroom to tend to her morning business. Once her teeth were brushed, and her bladder relieved, she walked back through the bedroom and sat herself on the window seat. She considered cuddling with her husband, but he was still asleep, so he most likely needed that more than he needed her for the moment. CJ was already up. She supposed that he was enjoying the freedom of not spending his weekend at the hospital with her. She glanced down to see him running through the yard, dodging trees. She observed carefully, much as she had done years earlier when they had moved in. Once again, she saw him approach Kat, but this time instead of sitting with her, he wrapped an arm around her at a full run, turned, and pulled her to the ground. They landed in a giggling tumble of arms and legs, and rolled around for a few moments before settling into what appeared to be a discussion with Kat lying atop CJ's chest. Lois really considered going downstairs to find out what was going on. She was warm, though, enjoying the early morning sunshine. She did need to talk to her son. She had still heard voices from downstairs when Clark had come to bed, and she was certain that CJ had handled the end of the party. If she knew her son, the room would be spotless when she went downstairs. CJ was the most responsible child she had ever known, and it was that faith in him that kept her from checking on him when she saw Kat lower her lips to CJ's in a kiss that was part experiment, and maybe more. Discreetly, she turned away from the young couple, and gave a silent prayer that they would not get in too deep. As she turned from the window, she saw that Clark had not yet removed the bassinet from the corner of the bedroom. It was still sitting there, as though waiting for the baby to be returned to it. She sighed deeply, wondering what the little one was up to now. She supposed that she should feel some guilt for allowing the child to be sent away, but just looking out at CJ had reassured her that she had done the right thing. CJ belonged here now, with Kat. It was a minor miracle to find someone that you really belonged with in the world, and she was pleased that he had done so. After several more minutes, Lois began to feel sleepy once again. She was certain that the constant tiredness would fade with time, and the doctors assured her that this was the case, but she had found that now it was best to give in. She stood, and then took the couple of steps back to her bed. She sat down carefully, and with some difficulty pulled her legs up to the bed. By the time she had settled in, Clark was awake, and reaching over to pull her close. She rested her head on his chest, tangling her legs with his, and fell into a healing sleep. She was back where she belonged. Clark looked down at his sleeping wife, content to feel her heartbeat against his chest. He could hear CJ and Kat playing outside, and vaguely wondered what time it was, but he didn't care enough to check the clock. Lois was in his arms, and that was all he needed to know. He kissed her gently on the forehead, and allowed himself to drift back to sleep. ***** to be continued in a minute... ***** ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 18:53:10 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: JCWimmer Subject: Fanfic: Full Circle: Chapter 15, part 2, and Epilogue Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit ***************************** CJ caught Kat in a running tackle, and pulled her to the ground. She had dared him to catch her, and he had certainly done so. She laughed as he spun her through the air, and carefully cushioned her body with his as they hit the ground. He still hadn't mastered the levitation, but he could manage to remain airborne a few seconds longer than most. Kat playfully kicked at CJ, relatively sure that she couldn't hurt him. They rolled a few times in the soft grass, before she came to a stop on his chest. Looking down at him, seeing a light in his eyes that hadn't been there for so long, she felt a great deal of relief. "Okay," she relented. "So you are still faster than me. Boys are supposed to be faster than girls." CJ looked up at Kat and wondered at the softness atop him. She certainly didn't look soft. In fact, Kat was one of the most athletic girls he knew. She ran, played soccer, and had even tried out for cheerleading once, although she had dropped when she got her job. Still, there was a softness, both to her body and her eyes, that he hadn't seen before. He looked up into her wide green eyes and really considered giving her a hard time. In fact, he had just decided to really embarrass her when she leaned a little closer to him. Lost in the moment, he kissed her. He didn't plan it, or analyze it, he just felt it. He felt it from the warmth of his lips to the tips of his toes. Who would have thought that lips could have so many nerves? When Kat finally pulled back, looking down into soft brown eyes that were slightly fuzzy, she knew that something had changed. She tried to think of something brilliant to say, something profound and fitting to such a moment, but the only thing that came out was a whispered, "Wow." CJ looked up at his best friend, and had no clue what to do. This changed things, and he wasn't sure what to think of the situation. The one thing that he did know was that this was Kat. She was as much a part of him as his love of books and his skill with writing, and she would never hurt him. He echoed her whispered, "Wow," before reaching a hand up to wrap around her head, threading his fingers through the cool brown strands of hair. When his lips met hers this time there was less surprise, and more enjoyment, as he let himself get lost for a moment in the sensations. They stayed that way for a long time, just enjoying the newness of their first real kiss. Then Kat suddenly realized that something wasn't right. When she tried to pull back she realized that CJ was floating about six inches off the ground, levitating his own weight as well as hers. She considered mentioning it, but decided instead to just enjoy and not spoil the mood. After all, every girl wanted a boyfriend that was "super". ***************************** Epilogue ***************************** Herbert George Wells stepped from the window with a bit of a spring in his step. He had left the baby with a short note, just enough to tell Lois and Clark that the baby was theirs. He knew from the history books, and the legends of the current day, that this was all they would need. Frankly, he wouldn't have left that except for the innate honesty of Clark. The super hero most likely would have turned the child over to Child Protective Services, concerned that he was stolen or missing, without this little bit of help. He sighed as he sat in the self adjusting chair that dominated his living room. This was a wonderful time to live in. Aside from resting and enjoying the life here, he had no worries in the world of Utopia. Certainly, Lois and Clark's descendants had made this world a wonderful place. It had taken several generations, but it had all begun with the dedication and honesty of the reporting team that he had just left the baby with. He glanced up at the picture on the wall. It was one of several family portraits that the Kent's had taken over the generations. This particular shot held nearly thirty people, including CJ and Kathryn, their six children, and their children's spouses and children. They were a remarkable group, full of energy and life, and above all integrity. He briefly allowed his mind to wonder what would have become of Utopia if CJ had grown up in his birth time, rather than the time he was meant for, but he didn't allow the train of thought to go far. It simply wasn't meant to be. Without his proper placement in time, CJ would not have been what he should have been. In addition, he would not have met Kathryn, and his children would not only have been different, but their spouses would have been different. The near perfect world that he now enjoyed would not exist, and millions of lives would have been lost. It was not a world that he chose to think about. He had seen enough alternate dimensions to understand that a single change in history could violate a time line for an eternity. With a feeling of accomplishment, and gratitude that he could be a small part of the formation of Utopia, he leaned back in the chair and relaxed. Within moments, he slipped off to sleep, dreaming peaceful dreams. THE END!!!!!!!!!! (sort of ) ***************************** My Thanks...a word from the author ***************************** If you made it this far ... I figure you won't mind a little more rambling by the author. I have a lot of people to thank for their dedication and friendship, for without them, I never would have started, much less finished, this story. First, the authors. There are a number of specific authors that inspired me. Certain stories just stayed with me, and made me want to try. Thank you to Zoomway, Chris Mulder, Sheila Harper, Demi, Kathy Brown, and Erin Klinger. These are the ones who helped me to fall in love with fanfic, and without reading it, I never would have wanted to write. Next, to my friends. Anne, Annie, Erin, Carol, Julie, and Lissa (and many many other IRC buddies). You kept me going when I wanted to give up. You demanded the next chapter, and you graciously gave me such positive feedback. And Anne ... you kept me sane. :) Finally, a thank you to my "editors". I originally sent this story out in chapters to the list, and the feedback I received suggested changes, errors, and really kept me in line. I know I will miss someone, but I really need to thank: Sara, Wendy, Sheila, Laurie, Pam, Chris, Christy, Jenni, Deborah, Joan, Mariann, Allyson, Marie, Regina, Priscilla, Gay, Alyssa, Jeanne, Lucie, Linda, Deb, Donna, Anne, Cristin, Avia, and all the others who read, commented, and kept me "on track" to finish the story. A last note to Kathy Brown ... you were right, making Clark angry enough to send CJ away in order to protect the baby from himself was not a good idea. The closer I got, the more it just didn't work. I guess you did know more about this than me. There's a lot to be said for experience ... at least I found a way to finish the story without trashing it completely ... I am a persistant person. ;) Thank you all for reading ... I truly hope you enjoyed it, and were not permanently damaged by the WHAM. Sincerely, Crystal B. Wimmer JCWimmer@aol.com CrystalW on IRC ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 21:46:28 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Anne Campbell Subject: Re: Fanfic: Full Circle: Chapter 15, part 2, and Epilogue In-Reply-To: <6e010087.352424e8@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Excellent, Excellent story! I think it really closes the L&C story that began at the end of their fourth season - if one never read the 5th season stories, your 15 chapters could be the closure us L&C fans really needed. The WHAM was a good counterpoint to the ultimate outcome. WAFF's are best after a WHAM! - at least it didn't drag on like the 3rd season ARGH! - Anne Anne B. Campbell Reference Librarian campbell@library.pace.edu Pace University ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 13:34:23 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lalapoop2 Subject: Re: Fanfic: Full Circle: Chapter 15, part 2, and Epilogue Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Full Circle SPOILER WARNING: Scroll Down if you are already done reading this story I loved this story! It was a great way to clear up the questions posed at the end of Season 4. I have to tell you I had a feeling (around Chapter 13 or so) that the baby was really going to be CJ, and while waiting for the next chapters to come out, I couldn't imagine a happy conclusion to that . My imagination came up with a conclusion to the story just about opposite of how your story actually turned out; by that I mean that CJ's wrong timeline was the *past* and he was actually supposed to be in the *present*. I imagined that he would cease to exist in the *present* timeline and would never be able to be with Kat growing up. It was depressing! I want to say I love the way you completed this story. The end was very satisfying. The goodbye Clark gave the infant CJ was bittersweet and brought tears to my eyes! Thanks again for a great story Crystal! (Wow I've never written quite so much about any fanfiction I read. You can take that as a compliment too!) Michelle J. Lala2 on IRC ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 16:30:21 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Doris Schmill Subject: Online Round Robins International! OR An Invitation to #L&CFanfic Comments: cc: LOISCLA@VM.EGE.EDU.TR, lnc@snorre.fb12.tu-berlin.de In-Reply-To: <7803cacb.3522dca5@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" April 3, 1998 Hi, Folcies, Fanfic readers and writers! For about 6 months now, a bunch of us have been getting together weekly on Saturday afternoons -- or evenings depending on where you live ;-) -- to write or just watch "fanfic live." Our stories have have been posted to the fanfic list or even the Archive. The main thing, though, is writing together, being creative together, or just BEING together and having a good time. When I talked with a friend recently, we said that we enjoyed having people from different backgrounds there, me being excited to have made contact with a few more German potential fanfic readers/writers who I hoped might be joining us. When we "took inventory," we thought that there are a bunch of you out there who write or at least enjoy reading fanfic. My friend mentioned the British fans in particular, but we are sure that you are out there all over, and "all over" is what we would like to get! As L&CFanfic starts at a time that might make it possible for you Euro folcies to join us as well, we wanted to extend an invitation to you. :-) Please look for details below on when and where to find us. And a note here to "second language writers/readers": I am one, and so are a few of my friends. Don't let that keep you from joining us! We have people from a variety of backgrounds, some of fanfic's finest, freshly Kerth decorated, but also many newbie or wanna-be writers like myself. I have found that the native speakers have been very patient and happy to help; we're really all learning from each other. -- And, of course, nobody has to join in the writing. Seats in the "peanut gallery," as the audience's ranks are referred to, are comfy and completely free. ;-) We meet Saturdays starting at 3 pm EST and try to get into writing fairly thereafter. You can come and join the fun at any time, however. We are usually there for several since writing a story just takes time. A "running log" of the story is kept to bring anyone who either joins late or has to leave in between up-to-date. Time difference is one, if not THE major problem when getting together internationally. Normally EST is six hours back from CET (Central European Time), and five from GMT, but at the moment, there might be an additional hour difference because the US have not switch to daylight saving time yet. 3 pm EST is 10 pm CET at the moment; the rest of you guys will have to find out for yourself, please. Most of you are probably longtime IRC pros, but for those of you who don't know how to get there, you need an internet connection an IRC chat client program. You can download IRC clients for a variety of different operating system from: If you are using either version of windows, the program mIRC is probably one of the most popular and widely used programs. Most of those IRC programs are fairly easy to set up. Once you make it onto an undernet server or either #loiscla or #L&CFanfic, there are almost always people there willing and eager to help you. When you sign onto IRC, especially when you plan to write, please try and use the following UNDERNET server: toronto.on.ca.undernet.org This is to get around netsplits and lag, and it's the only undernet server all of us can get onto. If Toronto doesn't let you on at first try, please try again. It also helps if you enter the ports other then the default 6667 under "setup". Toronto has the ports 6660 through 6669 available. Since #L&CFanfic is "invite only", at least sometimes on "weirdo nights," please message Eileen (Eraygun) or Zoom, for example, if you want to join us. If an official "inviter" is designated, we will let you know. We should be hanging out on #Loiscla. Hope to see you there! Doris at dorisschmill@gmx.net OR dor2302@usa.net OR cschmill@zedat.fu-berlin.de OR schmill@students.go-on.net "The truth is, no one knows how long they've got. Anyway, it's not the years that count, it's the moments ... right now ... as they happen." (CK in BY) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 17:36:13 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandra McDermin Subject: Re: LNC Fanfic Kerth Awards a Huge Success! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII It's dangerous to have this list archived on the web.... I get too tempted. Jeff B. said with regard to "Unkown Emotions": >>Like everyone who didn't win - I was disappointed.<< This is one of the reasons I'm not too fond of award-type events.... But anyway, Jeff, if I had participated in the fanfic awards, I would have voted for you. (But, you already know that I like your story, in any case. And, isn't that better than receiving an award -- just knowing that *I* liked your story?) Actually, that does lead me to a point. (And, there it is. That little period at the end of the sentence. Ha? Pathetic, I know.) Anyway, what *I* value most (as do many others it seems) is feedback on stories -- negative or positive -- just as long as it's detailed. *And*, oddly enough, although I love feedback from everyone, I especially enjoy hearing from people who I don't know, because those are the people, who, *one would presume*, are judging the story totally based on its merits and not -- somewhat -- on a friendly relationship. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure the people on the L&C list who became my friends weren't trying to spare my feelings when they made positive comments about my stories, but I would guess that they *are* predisposed towards me. (I would hope that they were, anyway! ; ) So, when I don't recognize the name of the person writing me, I sometimes pay even closer attention to the response. (Boy, that doesn't sound quite right. *Now*, no one will tell me what they think --> Sort of like *not* putting your e-mail address on a story and, then, feeling depressed over the lack of a response. Who would do such a stupid thing?! ; ) Anywho, congratulations to all of those who were singled out for their fanfic-writing talents in *whatever* way that has happened. Sandy (who could never choose which of her 3 stories she liked the best. It's like asking which child I loved the most.... Okay ... With the first one, I made all my mistakes. As a result, it's a stiff child -- a little too serious. During the second one, I was more relaxed. It's breezy. The third one was quite impudent. I kept having to slap it down. Took a lot out of me, as I'm not getting any younger. At that point, I decided it was time to stop. *But*, lo and behold, nature gave me a surprise and I have another one due out this month by way of S5. That's what I get for saying "maybe" instead of "no". ; ) smcdermi@nas.edu ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1998 20:00:25 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: DarlaW Subject: Dean's Movie Dog Boys airs tonight! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi all, just a quick note. I was perusing the tv guide to check tonight's listings (what can I say it's a rainy night in Georgia) and I saw a listing for Dean's movie Dog Boys. I thought this was going to be on Showtime first, but if it was I missed it. Anyway it airs tonight at 9:00 est on the Movie Channel. Hope this gets to you all in time to watch! ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 4 Apr 1998 21:51:22 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: JCWimmer Subject: Some reassurance for all the Newbies out there... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="part0_891744683_boundary" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --part0_891744683_boundary Content-ID: <0_891744683@inet_out.mail.aol.com.1> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Well...We've all been newbies at one time or another. I personally feel pretty foolish about once a week...there is so much about computers that I just don't know. Whenever you feel REALLY stupid, just read this...there are people out there who have more trouble than you do...I'm just sure of it ;) Crystal In a message dated 4/4/98 11:40:44 PM !!!First Boot!!!, dwimmer@mail.neocomm.net writes: << ONE OF THE GIRLS I WORK WITH SENT THIS FROM HER HOME TO ME AT WORK. IT WILL MAKE YOU SMILE!!! >---------- >From: ROBIN REYNOLDS BOUSMAN[SMTP:rbousman@mail.neocomm.net] >Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 1998 8:10 PM >To: Harris, David >Cc: Wimmer, Elizabeth >Subject: THIS IS GREAT! > >Julie Bertrand wrote: >> >> Subject: FW: A true and funny story >> Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 19:33:20 -0800 >> From: brenda thiry >> To: "'Chris and Brenda Thiry'" , >> "'Julie Bertrand'" >> , >> "'Rene'e Ponzio'" , >> "'Sue/Gary Pieper'" , >> "'Tom & Jan Voyles'" >> CC: "'Chris and Brenda Thiry'" , >> "'Julie Bertrand'" >> , >> "'Rene'e Ponzio'" , >> "'Sue/Gary Pieper'" , >> "'Tom & Jan Voyles'" >> >> Subject: Fwd: A true and funny story >> >> >>>>>>This is a true story from the WordPerfect helpline. >> >>>>>>> > > Needless to say, the helpdesk employee was fired: >> >>>>>>> > > however, he/she is currently suing the WordPerfect >> >>>>>>> > > organization for "Termination without Cause." >> >>>>>>> > >> >>>>>>> > > Actual dialog of a former WordPerfect Customer >> >>>>Support employee: >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Ridge Hall computer assistant; may I help you?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "What sort of trouble?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden >> >>>>the words went >> >>>>>>> > > away." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Went away?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "They disappeared." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Nothing." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Nothing?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "How do I tell?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Can you see the c:\prompt on the screen?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "What's a sea-prompt?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the >> >>>>screen?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't >> >>>>accept anything I >> >>>>>>> > type." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Does your monitor have a power indicator?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "What's a monitor?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "It's the thing with the screen on it that looks >> >>>>like a TV. Does >> >>>>>>> it >> >>>>>>> > > have a little light that tells you when it's on?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "I don't know." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, then look on the back of the monitor and >> >>>>find where the >> >>>>>>> power >> >>>>>>> > > cord goes into it. Can you see that?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, I think so." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Great! Follow the cord to the plug and tell me if >> >>>>it's plugged >> >>>>>>> > > into the wall." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, it is." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "When you were behind the monitor, did you notice >> >>>>that there >> >>>>>>> > > were two cables plugged into the back of it, not >> >>>>just one?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "No." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, there are. I need you to look back there >> >>>>again and find >> >>>>>>> the >> >>>>>>> > > other cable." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Okay, here it is." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged >> >>>>securely into the >> >>>>>>> > > back of your computer." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "I can't reach." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Uh huh. Well can you see if it is?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "No." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Even if you maybe put your knee on something and >> >>>>lean way over?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle >> >>>>- it's because >> >>>>>>> > it's >> >>>>>>> > > dark." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Dark?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, the office light is off, and the only light I >> >>>>have is coming >> >>>>>>> > > in from the window." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, turn on the office light then." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "I can't." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "No? Why not?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Because there's a power outage." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "A power....A power outage? Aha! Okay, we've got >> >>>>it licked now. >> >>>>>>> > > Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing >> >>>>stuff your >> >>>>>>> > > computer came in?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, yes, I keep them in the closet." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Good! Go get them, and unplug your system and >> >>>>pack it up >> >>>>>>> > > just like it was when you got it. Then take it >> >>>>back to the store >> >>>>>>> > > you bought it from." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Really? Is it that bad?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, I'm afraid it is." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell >> >>>>them?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer." > >> --part0_891744683_boundary Content-ID: <0_891744683@inet_out.mail.aol.com.2> Content-type: message/rfc822 Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from relay18.mx.aol.com (relay18.mail.aol.com [172.31.109.18]) by air17.mail.aol.com (v40.19) with SMTP; Sat, 04 Apr 1998 18:40:44 -0500 Received: from mail.neocomm.net (mail.neocomm.net [205.160.234.10]) by relay18.mx.aol.com (8.8.5/8.8.5/AOL-4.0.0) with ESMTP id SAA16735 for ; Sat, 4 Apr 1998 18:40:43 -0500 (EST) Received: from default (usr16.neocomm.net [208.22.179.116]) by mail.neocomm.net (8.8.8/8.8.5) with SMTP id SAA06915 for ; Sat, 4 Apr 1998 18:41:57 -0500 Message-ID: <3526C321.731B@neocomm.net> Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 18:32:49 -0500 From: Danny/Elizabeth Reply-To: dwimmer@mail.neocomm.net X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01C-KIT (Win95; I) To: JCWimmer@aol.com Subject: [Fwd: FW: THIS IS GREAT!] Content-Disposition: inline Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Return-Path: Received: from mail.plumainc.com (mail.plumainc.com [208.9.98.4]) by mail.neocomm.net (8.8.8/8.8.5) with SMTP id HAA27925 for ; Thu, 2 Apr 1998 07:40:58 -0500 Received: by mail.plumainc.com with SMTP (Microsoft Exchange Server Internet Mail Connector Version 4.0.994.63) id <01BD5E0A.966F1C70@mail.plumainc.com>; Thu, 2 Apr 1998 07:40:20 -0500 Message-ID: From: "Wimmer, Elizabeth" To: "'dwimmer@neocomm.net'" Cc: "'AuckerSP@merck.com'" Subject: FW: THIS IS GREAT! Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 07:40:18 -0500 Return-Receipt-To: X-Mailer: Microsoft Exchange Server Internet Mail Connector Version 4.0.994.63 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ONE OF THE GIRLS I WORK WITH SENT THIS FROM HER HOME TO ME AT WORK. IT WILL MAKE YOU SMILE!!! >---------- >From: ROBIN REYNOLDS BOUSMAN[SMTP:rbousman@mail.neocomm.net] >Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 1998 8:10 PM >To: Harris, David >Cc: Wimmer, Elizabeth >Subject: THIS IS GREAT! > >Julie Bertrand wrote: >> >> Subject: FW: A true and funny story >> Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 19:33:20 -0800 >> From: brenda thiry >> To: "'Chris and Brenda Thiry'" , >> "'Julie Bertrand'" >> , >> "'Rene'e Ponzio'" , >> "'Sue/Gary Pieper'" , >> "'Tom & Jan Voyles'" >> CC: "'Chris and Brenda Thiry'" , >> "'Julie Bertrand'" >> , >> "'Rene'e Ponzio'" , >> "'Sue/Gary Pieper'" , >> "'Tom & Jan Voyles'" >> >> Subject: Fwd: A true and funny story >> >> >>>>>>This is a true story from the WordPerfect helpline. >> >>>>>>> > > Needless to say, the helpdesk employee was fired: >> >>>>>>> > > however, he/she is currently suing the WordPerfect >> >>>>>>> > > organization for "Termination without Cause." >> >>>>>>> > >> >>>>>>> > > Actual dialog of a former WordPerfect Customer >> >>>>Support employee: >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Ridge Hall computer assistant; may I help you?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "What sort of trouble?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden >> >>>>the words went >> >>>>>>> > > away." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Went away?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "They disappeared." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Nothing." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Nothing?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "How do I tell?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Can you see the c:\prompt on the screen?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "What's a sea-prompt?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the >> >>>>screen?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't >> >>>>accept anything I >> >>>>>>> > type." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Does your monitor have a power indicator?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "What's a monitor?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "It's the thing with the screen on it that looks >> >>>>like a TV. Does >> >>>>>>> it >> >>>>>>> > > have a little light that tells you when it's on?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "I don't know." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, then look on the back of the monitor and >> >>>>find where the >> >>>>>>> power >> >>>>>>> > > cord goes into it. Can you see that?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, I think so." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Great! Follow the cord to the plug and tell me if >> >>>>it's plugged >> >>>>>>> > > into the wall." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, it is." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "When you were behind the monitor, did you notice >> >>>>that there >> >>>>>>> > > were two cables plugged into the back of it, not >> >>>>just one?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "No." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, there are. I need you to look back there >> >>>>again and find >> >>>>>>> the >> >>>>>>> > > other cable." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Okay, here it is." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged >> >>>>securely into the >> >>>>>>> > > back of your computer." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "I can't reach." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Uh huh. Well can you see if it is?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "No." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Even if you maybe put your knee on something and >> >>>>lean way over?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle >> >>>>- it's because >> >>>>>>> > it's >> >>>>>>> > > dark." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Dark?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, the office light is off, and the only light I >> >>>>have is coming >> >>>>>>> > > in from the window." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, turn on the office light then." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "I can't." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "No? Why not?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Because there's a power outage." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "A power....A power outage? Aha! Okay, we've got >> >>>>it licked now. >> >>>>>>> > > Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing >> >>>>stuff your >> >>>>>>> > > computer came in?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, yes, I keep them in the closet." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Good! Go get them, and unplug your system and >> >>>>pack it up >> >>>>>>> > > just like it was when you got it. Then take it >> >>>>back to the store >> >>>>>>> > > you bought it from." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Really? Is it that bad?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Yes, I'm afraid it is." >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell >> >>>>them?" >> >>>>>>> > > >> >>>>>>> > > "Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer." > --part0_891744683_boundary-- ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 13:22:11 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gary Subject: The Ten Commandments MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hmm, the cast of Lois & Clark in the roles of the Ten Commandments... Moses = Clark/Dean Cain Sethi (old Pharaoh)= Jonathon/Eddie Jones Rameses (bald guy ;) = Lex/John Shea Nefretiri (throne princess) = Lois/Teri Hatcher Bithiah (adoptive mom) = Martha/K Callan Joshua = Jimmy/Justin Whalin Jethro (Moses' father-in-law) = Perry/Lane Smith Aaron = Ching/Jon Tenney Elisheba (Moses' wife) = Mindy Mcready Additions/Changes invited... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | Gary A. Rudick mailto:gar8434@rit.edu | | "You decide what you feel heaven is worth" - Deborah Gibson, TWYH | =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 13:32:54 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Anne Campbell Subject: Re: Dean's Movie Dog Boys airs tonight! In-Reply-To: <25e24b74.3526d7ab@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII So, when will the Dog Boys movie go on video? I must rent it - I don't get the fancy cable channels. - Anne Anne B. Campbell Reference Librarian campbell@library.pace.edu Pace University On Sat, 4 Apr 1998, DarlaW wrote: > Hi all, just a quick note. I was perusing the tv guide to check tonight's > listings (what can I say it's a rainy night in Georgia) and I saw a listing > for Dean's movie Dog Boys. I thought this was going to be on Showtime first, > but if it was I missed it. Anyway it airs tonight at 9:00 est on the Movie > Channel. Hope this gets to you all in time to watch! > ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 10:23:50 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Subject: Re: Dean's Movie Dog Boys airs tonight! In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >So, when will the Dog Boys movie go on video? I must rent it - I don't >get the fancy cable channels. > >- Anne I don't know when or if it will go to video, but we subscribed to The Movie Channel for the month of April just to get this movie. I've already taped it for myself and for Peace9. It will air twice this coming Wednesday and probably several more times this month. If anyone wants a copy for the cost of the tape plus postage, e-mail me privately. Nancy in Seattle mrspeel@blarg.net ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 17:51:21 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Cristin J Whitley Subject: Fanfic (kinda) Hey,all. This isn't really afanfic. I just got bored and started writing. Well, it IS about Lois and Clark. Here you go.... ***Cristin Whitley :o)***CKandLL4ever@Juno.com*** I love Superman!!!!! "You hear everything. You see everything. It's like being married to St. Nick!" LL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She was a great writer. She was the best of the best. As hard as she worked, she never quite felt complete. Something was missing in her life. What, she didn't know. So, she kept on working. She had lots of success at work. She had many failures in relationships, but she kept trying. He was the new guy. Trying to fit in was his major goal. He was assigned as her partner. It was the biggest thrill of his life. She worked alone. Always had, always would. A partner was like a trap for her. He was an unwelcome addition to her life. She looked at him and saw an obstacle. He was just another person to get in her way and pull her back. He was attractive. She couldn't deny it, but she'd been hurt before. She didn't trust anyone. She didn't trust any man. She was always trying to be her daddy's little boy. Her dad hadn't wanted a girl. She did things differently. She hid her feelings behind her work. Yet, her femininity shined through. He looked at her and saw a dream. He wanted to be her friend. He wanted to be her lover. He wasn't used to being close with a woman. Sure, he'd had girlfriends before, but the relationships were always brief and meaningless. He had never felt such a physical attraction for any woman. He tried to get to know her, but she kept pushing him away. He never stopped trying. While others found him charming, she thought he was annoying. He would do anything for her. She wanted to do everything for herself. Gradually, she began to like him, but she wouldn't admit it. Things she used to see as downfalls became his cute little quirks. She started to love him. They got together. It was what evryone was waiting for. It was what everyone was hoping for, what everyone was praying for. It was better than anyone could have imagined. They went together like peanut butter and jelly. They had their fights, but every couple did. In the end they always came back to each other, back to their love. She was a great writer. She was the best of the best. Finally, she felt complete. She found that something that was missing. It was him. Their love was the missing piece in her life. He was her guy. Keeping her happy was his major goal. He would always be her partner. It was the biggest thrill of his life. He lived with her; he lived for her. She worked with him. She couldn't remember why she hadn't wanted to. A partner was the best thing that ever happened to her. He was a big part of her life, an irreplaceable part. She looked at him and saw love. He was anything but just another person to get in her way. He never pulled her back. Instead, he helped her move forward. She trusted him. She did things differently. She shared her feelings with him. He looked at her and saw his wife. He was her friend. He was her lover. He was close with a her. He had never felt such a physical attraction for any woman. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 14:59:41 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: A Matter of Trust (final) (1 of 5) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" A Matter of Trust by Leanne Shawler edited by Diane Levitan TEASER A heavy spring rain made the streets wet and slippery. Beth Luthor carefully stepped off the sidewalk and out onto the road, looking each way down the dark street as she did so. An engine revved up and Beth turned, startled at the sound. Headlights blinded her and she flung up an arm to shield her eyes . She began to run, but she wasn't going to be fast enough, the car was heading directly for her. She drew in a breath to scream but before she could, a gust of air caught her up and away. Beth opened her eyes. "Su-- Superman?" "Are you all right, Mrs. Luthor?" Superman asked as they hovered above the city streets. "Y-y-yes," Beth stuttered. "Thank you." Superman squinted, looking beyond her, before turning a kind smile to Mrs. Luthor. "Can I drop you somewhere?" Beth nodded. "If it isn't too much trouble, I was on my way to see my uncle. It's at 15th and Wordsworth." Superman flew the trembling woman to her destination. "Are you sure you're all right? I'll let the police know --" He was cut off by more of Beth's stammering. "N-no! Please! I should have looked before I crossed. I'm always being stupid and clumsy like that." Superman frowned at her disapprovingly, but didn't argue and flew off into the Metropolis night sky. ***** "Lois?" Clark alighted through their open bedroom window, having just completed his rounds for the evening. "Lois?" A note of panic entered his voice, as she was nowhere to be found. Then he heard a heavy thud above his head. "Lois!" Very worried now, Clark zoomed for the attic. He found Lois sitting on the floor. She looked up at him and smiled. Clark saw instantly that her smile was shaky. "Clark!" she exclaimed cheerfully, although her voice wobbled. "You're back!" Clark dashed to her side and put his arm around her. "Lois, are you all right?" he asked. "I heard a loud bang. Did you fall? Are you ok?" He took a good look at her face. "You've been crying!" "I'm fine, Clark," Lois reassured him, resting her hand against his arm. "I knocked a chair over when I was trying to make more room, that's all." Clark looked around. Their attic was already crowded. Boxes of stuff from his travels jostled boxes and old furniture from Lois' grandparents' house. Lois had them rescued long ago and had kept them in storage until now. In cleaning out the nursery downstairs, it was somehow more expedient to store everything up in the attic. "I was going through Gramma's chest," Lois said, patting the open oaken chest next to her. Clark now noticed that old letters tied up in faded ribbon had been stacked around the outside of the chest. "And look what I found!" >From her lap, she lifted up a heavy christening robe: old, creamy layers of silk covered by a gauzy material with lace stitching. Around the high waist threaded thin, cream silk ribbon which tied in a bow, the ends falling almost all the way down the long gown. Lois got teary-eyed again. "Isn't it the most beautifulest thing you've ever seen?" "Yours?" Clark asked, gently reaching out to touch the old fabric. "Mother's," Lois replied. "And there's more in the trunk too." "This is what brought you up here?" Clark asked. Lois nodded. "You should be more careful, Lois. The stairs up here aren't exactly stable. What if you'd fallen?" "Don't you trust me, Clark?" It was a rhetorical question. "I'm fine, Clark. *We're* fine." Lois took Clark's hand and laid it on her swollen belly. They could feel the child move vigorously inside. "This one lets me know when enough is enough." Clark bent over and kissed his wife's forehead. Settling himself next to her, they nestled together, admiring the past and dreaming of the future. ***** Beth looked at the scene before her in dismay. Weakly, she leant against the doorjamb. Inspector Henderson gently supported her by the elbow. "Mrs. Luthor?" he asked, "are you sure you want to see this?" "I must," Beth replied. She had arrived at her uncle's office a matter of minutes before the police. "This man was your uncle?" the detective asked. "An old family friend," Beth replied. "I called him uncle." Her deceased, corpulent uncle lay sprawled and half-naked on the floor of his office, surrounded by scattered books and documents. If there hadn't been such a mess, one would have thought the old man had expired during a moment of passion. But someone had been looking for something, possibly the same mysterious person who had invited her to the scene of the crime. Did they find what they were looking for? Were they hoping for some reaction from her? Beth gave herself a mental shake. She had to stop thinking of "them" and "they" and start thinking "Lex". Who else would be so interested in her uncle? Uncle Sherman was an estates lawyer, partly retired. There were no controversial criminal cases, nothing that would spark a robbery, let alone a violent death. Only one small, sworn affidavit telling the truth about Lex Luthor. "Mind if I look around, Inspector?" Beth asked. "Yes, ma'am. You would be disturbing the scene of the crime." "Inspector, this is a matter of life and death. My life and my death." Beth's voice sounded shaky and upset, even to her. "I'll wait until your forensics people or whoever examine the scene, but I'm not leaving until I get to look around." Henderson looked at her suspiciously. "Is there something you need to tell me, Mrs. Luthor?" "Not right now, Inspector. But if what I suspect is missing *is* missing, then maybe we can have a nice chat." Henderson gave his assent. Beth guessed that being married to a former underworld boss had its advantages. The disadvantage appeared to be that she no longer had a hold over him. The tables had turned and Beth doubted that the tables would provide much protection for her. Lex was charming, romantic, the perfect gentleman, a wonderful lover, yet Beth was under no illusions as to who came first in their relationship. Beth wanted her dream to come true. She understood and accepted Lex's power-hungry drive but believed it could be channelled more acceptably. She recalled what had happened after Lois interviewed her that first time. **** "There," said Beth, as the door closed behind Lois, "that didn't go too badly, did it?" "If you could get the upper hand on me, I don't know why I was concerned about Lois getting the better of you," Lex replied dryly. Beth poked her tongue out at him. "Lex, I do not have the upper hand -- unless you count the fact that I'm still alive." Lex rose and took her hands in his. "If you love me so much, as you told Lois, when are you going to trust me?" "Lex, loving you doesn't mean I'm blind to your faults." Beth sighed. "I trust you more and more every day." "Then why do accountants still double-check my books? Why do I feel like I'm always being watched?" Lex vented his frustration. "The accountants are so the city can learn to trust you," Beth said bluntly. Her voice dropped. "I want to be sure I've done the right thing." She looked into her husband's eyes, her own filling with unshed tears. "I want to be sure I haven't unleashed a monster." "Is that what you believe me to be?" Lex asked brokenly. "I don't want to believe that." "Look at me, Beth," Lex gently commanded. She looked up. "You brought me back from insanity. Without you I'd still be a haunted criminal, and look where I am now." "Lex, let me think a while. I'll let you know tomorrow." Lex relaxed and smiled. "Very well, my love." "I have a meeting with the--" "Metropolis Board of Orphans, yes I know. Go now." Lex kissed her on the brow. She could feel his eyes on her as she left. **** Beth turned her head away as the coroner's officers carried out her uncle's body. If her affidavit were gone, what should she do? Trusting Lex not to conveniently put her out of the way because he had her affadavit, her 'life insurance', was a bit too much. She was quite certain it was within his capabilities to arrange an 'accident', like the one she'd almost had this evening. She could take the step and personally reveal to the world, now, the whole truth about Lex. She could destroy him before he destroyed her. Lois Lane would love the exclusive. But the truth was she loved him. She couldn't destroy him. She would punish him quite easily for killing her ... "God, I hate being a victim!" she murmured quietly to herself. A letter -- she would write a letter to Clark Kent, with the proviso it should not be opened until after her death. It was a risky thing -- Clark just might try something heroic or let his hatred towards Lex cloud his actions. Besides, writing Clark a letter and telling Lex would put both Clark and Lois in extreme danger. If he could take her life, he would take theirs too. She could pretend there was a second copy hidden somewhere else. Beth half-smiled at the thought: the good old backup procedure. The fact that it didn't exist made it even more foolproof. Yes, she could face Lex with that, if she could get to him before his operatives got to her. She had been keeping a close watch on him, yet she knew that a 24 hour watch was impossible -- for her and the team of private investigators she had hired. Beth had thought things through and felt calmer. She still needed to get that affidavit if it was still here. The police would love it if they got their hands on it. Beth pulled out her portable digital phone and dialled Lex's direct number. He picked up on the first ring. "Hello, Lex," she said. "Beth!" he exclaimed in surprise. "I was expecting you home earlier!" "Something's come up," Beth replied tersely. "Uncle Sherman has been killed." "Oh my darling, that's terrible. Are you all right?" Lex sounded truly concerned. Perhaps Beth had been wrong. "I'm fine. I can't wait to get out of here and come home." Beth watched the police officers closely as she talked. "You witnessed it?" Lex's voice was filled with dread. "Oh no," replied Beth breezily, but not feeling it. "I want to be sure that the second copy of a personal document of mine is still here and hasn't gone missing." Beth lowered her voice. "And I certainly don't want the police to find it." "A second copy?" It sounded like Lex couldn't believe his ears. "You made more than one?" "Uncle Sherman wanted me to make triplicates but I thought that was one copy too many." "You never told me about this." "It wasn't important, Lex. What is more important is: what do we do if this copy is missing?" "We'll discuss that when you get home." "Ok, I'll try not to be too much longer." "Darling, be careful." "Don't worry, Lex. I will." Beth closed the telephone link. Forensics were packing up. Henderson approached. "Mrs. Luthor, you may go in now, but please don't touch anything." "I'll try not to." Beth took her first step into the office. "I know exactly where it was supposed to be." "The place has been ransacked, Mrs. Luthor. Nothing is where it was." "It was an unopened envelope. If it's in this ... mess," Beth gestured to the paper-covered floor, "then I trust it will remain unopened?" "If it's important to the case, it will be opened, Mrs. Luthor," Henderson reproved. "If it's here, Inspector, I can personally guarantee you that it has nothing to do with your case." Beth picked her way slowly across the floor, closely examining it for that envelope. She reached her uncle's desk. All the drawers had been pulled out and emptied. Beth touched a panel on the underside of the desk. A drawer popped open, disappointingly empty. Whoever it was, they had been thorough. Lex only hired the best. Beth straightened, pulling her mind from that thought. An even worse-case scenario presented itself: what if it *hadn't* been Lex? Beth thought that she'd much rather it be her husband. Better the devil you know, after all. She thanked Henderson for his time and turned to leave. "Mrs. Luthor?" Inspector Henderson called her back. "The letter? Did you find it?" "No, Inspector," sighed Beth. "But let me know if you find it." "I'm sure we will, Mrs. Luthor," Inspector Henderson replied. When she had gone, Henderson added quietly, "and with the full strength of the law." **** "Here's what you were looking for, ma'am." The lean man in black placed the envelope on the vast expanse of desk in front of him. A petite, elegantly manicured hand lifted the plain envelope with two fingers. "This is it?" a sultry voice asked. "Yes, ma'am." The lean man rubbed his fingers nervously. "Unopened. It was exactly where you said it would be." "Of course," Mindy Church smiled. "I saw it myself." Mindy grinned as she recalled teasing the elderly lawyer with his tie, her curvy body curled up in his lap. With a little brandy and a little sex, she'd been able to get exactly what she now held in her hand. She returned her attention to the hired cat burglar before her. "Nice job," she said. "Eric will pay you. See him on your way out." The cat burglar exited swiftly. It was wise not to cross Mindy Church, nor indeed, to remain long enough in her presence for her to get ideas that maybe she'd been crossed after all. "It's taken some time to find out about this," she mused aloud, taking little note of his hasty exit. She was quietly exultant. "But I now have Lex's head on a plate." Mindy pursed her lips. "And I am Salome. This will, I hope, teach him never to refuse me again. Salome had had her revenge against John the Baptist and so will I!" Mindy slit open the envelope with a ornate silver letter opener. It contained Beth's confession. **** ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 14:59:48 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: A Matter of Trust (part 2 of 5) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" The Affadavit ... The almighty thump startled me out of my reverie: I had been reading Stephen Lawhead's "Pendragon", so it took me a little while to realise what it was. A number of successive, equally heavy thumps confirmed that my normally quiet neighbour was throwing something heavy against the wall. I became concerned and more than a little irritated at being disturbed from my book. My neighbour was a man still in his prime, yet misfortune had brought him down; his unkempt hair and beard, his often tattered clothes, which he tried to keep as clean as possible, as well as the fact he resided in these apartments were clear signs of this. I, at least, was here by choice. Granted, my job as a historian didn't pay well and my addiction to books (and to chocolate, I confess) substantially whittled away at my pay check. And while the neighbourhood was rough, the floors creaky, the walls damp (and I lived on the third floor) and the pipes shuddered throughout the entire building as water struggled to get through -- the old place still had remnants of class and a certain decaying grace which I loved (forever being a sucker for old, beautiful architecture) even as I battled to keep my books free from mould. I was too afraid to leave my apartment and bang on the door to protest the noise. Like I said, it was a rough neighbourhood. Now that I was listening more closely, I could hear a few grunts of pain and, more faintly, angry jeers. I retrieved a broom from the closet and banged it against the wall, ignoring the plaster dust that fell from the ceiling. Querulously, I hollered: "Hey you! Keep it down in there!" The noises ceased and a few moments later, someone kicked my door as they ran by. I waited a few moments more and went to check on my neighbour. If anyone else was concerned, they hid it well: doors were resolutely closed down the hallway. Except for my neighbour's. I stepped cautiously into his room, carefully moving around the debris. I had probably seen one too many detective shows (not to mention having read too many P.I. novels) but it seemed important not to disturb the "scene of the crime". This was quickly forgotten as I heard a low moan. I hurried forward and found my neighbour slumped against the wall. He seemed barely conscious, yet when I touched him lightly on the shoulder, he jerked savagely, yet ineffectually, towards me, his eyes flashing with ire. "It's alright," I said, my voice soft. "They're gone." He subsided back against the wall. "I should call the police," I thought aloud. "No!" His hoarse cry impelled me to remain still. "An ambulance?" "No ..." by neighbour struggled to speak. "Number by the phone. Marta." I nodded and moved to the phone where it lay on the floor. It and the small table it had stood on had been knocked over. I dialled the number printed neatly on a pad nearby. It was answered on the second ring. "Hello?" said a sleepy voice. "Marta?" I asked. "Ja," she replied. "Who is this? How did you get this number?" I ignored her two questions. "There's a patient of yours at --" I gave the address and apartment number. "He's beat up pretty bad." "How bad?" Her voice mirrored her deep concern. "Bad. I haven't moved him," I told her. "I'll be right there." She hung up and I put down the receiver. "She's coming," I told my neighbour. "Not long now." A grunt was my response. "I'm your neighbour," I offered conversationally. "We've met a couple of times in the hall?" He actually smiled. "Oh yes. Those cheery 'good morning's and 'how are you's. The happiest person on the block." He caught his breath painfully. "Not quite," I said, with a grin. "Those college guys in 409 get pretty happy some nights." He grunted assent. "My name's Beth," I said. He nodded, and began to close his eyes. "You know, you should try to keep awake until the doctor comes." He opened his eyes and a raised eyebrow asked volumes. "You know," I stumbled. "Just in case." He obliged me by keeping his eyes open, but remained silent. I looked around, not wanting to stare back at him and feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. His apartment was much like mine: a single room with a tiny kitchenette, a sofa (now tipped over) to divide the room. We were by the bed, which abutted the wall we shared. I gathered up a blanket from the bed and put it over his bruised and battered form, trying not to notice the older scars upon his body through his torn shirt. "Thank you," he said. I sat by him, fumbling with a corner of the blanket and waited for Marta to arrive. I didn't have to wait long. Marta, when she arrived, was a large Aryan woman with blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun. She wore old grey track pants, a matching sweater and trainers. My neighbour was again amused. I could tell by the way his mouth quirked. "Did I interrupt something?" he asked. "My sleep," Marta replied abruptly, drawing off the blanket to better examine him. "I just came off a 16 hour shift." "E.R. again?" He winced and sucked in breath through his teeth as Marta gently prodded his sides. "Ribs fractured." She frowned. "You'll need an x-ray." "Just strap me up, Marta, I'll be fine." He endured a more careful examination. "Bad bruising," she declared eventually. She flashed a pen-light into his eyes. "No concussion," she murmured, surprised. "I tried to keep my head out of the way," he said modestly. I noticed that since Marta's arrival, he behaved more confidently. It was so unlike what his exterior suggested, that I also examined him more closely. I kept my conclusions to myself, however, after Marta reached her final diagnosis. "You need to go to hospital," she told her patient firmly, in her unusual verbal shorthand. "Ribs could be worse, organs maybe ruptured, could be bad." My neighbour started gently shaking his head from the moment she said 'hospital'. "No Marta. No hospital." "Perhaps the clinic?" Marta persisted. My neighbour thought for a moment. "Yes. Yes, all right. The clinic. It's closed now, correct?" "I have key!" Marta smiled triumphantly. "I'll clean up," I offered, "what I can for when you get back." My neighbour opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Marta. "What about *her*?" Her tone brooked ill -- that is, if she had anything to do with it. "Nothing," he said, looking at me. It felt as if he was looking right into the heart of me. It felt like he knew I knew. I steeled myself to give away nothing. He couldn't know, only suspect, but maybe that was enough. "Marta," he turned his gaze to the doctor. "Can you get me downstairs now?" Marta shook her head. "Need gurney," she replied. "Be right back." She left, delivering me another glare as she departed. "Marta doesn't like to waste words," my neighbour said, breaking the silence that followed. "I know who you are," I blurted, my voice trembling. He became utterly still and fixed me with one of his penetrating looks. "You do?" I nodded. "And what are you going to do with that knowledge?" Heaven help me, I became confused. "I ... I don't know." His mouth twitched in amusement but he didn't allow himself to relax. He said nothing, waiting for me to continue. I tried to put my thoughts in order and began. "You are a great man, a creative genius that should not be lost to Metropolis and yet ..." I trailed off. Here was the quandary. One that I had battled over since his first public downfall all those years ago. The man I had admired, a true citizen of Metropolis had become, well ... "You've orchestrated many deaths, robbed a bank, threatened lives and livelihoods ... you ought to have been punished and yet ..." I attempted a smile. It didn't work. "It just seems such a shame that all of that creative talent is now going to waste, that you're stuck *here*." "Who says it's going to waste?" "I do," I declared. "You should be doing good things for the city, not undermining it. You *can* become the city's benefactor and the ruthless businessman you were before." The last to let him know my head wasn't completely in the clouds. "How?" he asked, genuinely curious, but oddly distant as if we were talking about someone else. "If there was money still --" My neighbour painfully gestured at his ruined apartment as if to suggest 'would I be living in this if I did?' I wasn't fooled and continued, ignoring the pathetic gesture, "-- then I know of a way to get back all you have lost, Lex." It was the first time I had spoken his name to him and I shivered. "Except Lois Lane, of course." His eyes darkened and he frowned. "There's no 'of course' about that." I shook my head. "But there is. And the sooner you realise it, the better." "Better for whom?" he challenged. "For you," I replied, calmly. "Your hanging on to her is skewing your vision." I took his hand gently. "Love is the hardest thing in the world to let go. *I* know that. If you love her truly, her happiness comes first and her happiness means you have to let her go and move on." "I ... can't," he grated, anguished. I gently caressed the back of his hand to soothe him. "You can. You just need a little help, that's all." "From you?" Another challenge. "I was thinking more along the lines of professional help." If Lex had had the strength to physically lash out at me, I'm sure he would have. "That's what I got in prison." They had been painful times, I could tell. "Perhaps Marta could recommend someone trustworthy, more ... sensitive ... to your needs." His frown deepened and he closed his eyes, dismissing me. "Fine," I said, "but it was a necessary part of my plan." Lex Luthor opened an eye. "What would you get out of this plan?" "A house full of books," I sighed before I could stop myself. I shook my head. "No, I just want you to fulfill your potential and serve this city to the best of your ability." "So altruistic," he jeered, but I had hooked him, I knew. "So what is this great plan of yours?" "I'm not telling," I responded robustly. "The Lex Luthor that exists now would take that idea and run, preferably leaving the creator dead. No thanks. I'd like to stay alive." Lex regarded me with renewed interest. I continued: "Let me put my life insurance plan in place and then I will tell you all, I promise." "I believe you would," he said. "But in the meantime, you hold a secret. How can I let you out of my sight with that?" "I have other secrets and I have kept them," I told him. "Besides, I don't fancy becoming the object of your revenge." "Wise lady," Lex replied, as sure of me as I was of him. Marta returned and with her two assistants took Lex to the clinic. The time of Lex's return was indefinite, so I didn't have much time in which to prepare for his return by writing this affadavit. I have written my story here as a prelude to the plan I have already written out, in the hope that the reader may understand the whys and wherefores of when I met Lex Luthor and therefore my untimely demise. My plan was this ... **** Mindy put down the last sheet of paper, her eyes wide. "Beth Luthor," she said aloud, slowly and musingly, "and here we all thought you were the stooge." Her smile as she thought was slow, deliciously sensuous, like a cat who knew the cream was just within her reach. **** "Ugh!" exclaimed Cat Grant. She was standing by the coffee machine and looking down into a milk carton. "All right," she called out to the Daily Planet staff within earshot, "who used the last of the non-fat creamer?" Not one staff member looked in her direction, pretending not to hear. A Cat without her cream was, well, it was like getting in the way of Lois Lane when she wanted a story. The elevators opened. Lois and Clark exited. "But Clark," Lois said, "why wouldn't she want the police to know? Who would want to try to kill her?" Clark shrugged. "Lois, I don't know. Superman followed the car with his eyes until it went into an underground garage and he couldn't see anymore. He went back to investigate after he quickly dropped off Mrs. Luthor, but all trace of them had gone." They had reached Lois' desk. "Do you suppose we could do a series of stories on how lead paint affects health and crime control? I-*Super*man's rather tired of losing people in those damn garages!" Lois patted his hand reassuringly and lowered herself into her chair. "Well, honey, I can't go near lead or those nasty fumes in *my* condition!" "Lois! Clark!" Perry called to them as he approached the couple from his office. "Do I have news for you!" He handed the piece of paper he was holding to Lois. It was a press release from the Metropolis Police Department. Lois scanned the first few lines. "You want us to follow this case?" she asked, frowning, not seeing why Perry was so excited. "Keep reading, Lois." Lois did so and her eyes grew wide. "Clark! Beth Luthor's godfather was killed last night!" "What?!" Clark couldn't believe it. "But--" He took a breath and while he got a hold of himself, Lois filled Perry in. "Mrs. Luthor was almost killed last night herself." "Great Caesar's ghost!" exclaimed Perry. "What happened?" Clark had regained an outer appearance of calm. "Superman rescued her just as she was about to be hit by a speeding car. Which, according to Superman, kept speeding off until it vanished into an underground parking garage. I believe he said he left Mrs. Luthor at her uncle's." "Could it be the same guy?" Lois asked. "Or perhaps they were unrelated? It puts Mrs. Luthor at the scene of the crime, very nicely." Perry frowned. "Lois, are you saying that Mrs. Luthor *killed* her own godfather?" Lois shrugged, her expression clearly saying 'people have done worse.' Clark took the press release from Lois and quickly scanned it himself. "I don't think so, Lois," he said finally. "According to this report, there was an element of sexual intimacy in this murder." "So?" Lois wasn't ready to give up the point yet. "He was her godfather, that doesn't mean they're related! I mean, he could have been abusing her and that was the last straw!" "Clark," Perry said, "Inspector Henderson is on the case. Why don't you pay him a visit and see what he has to say?" "Sure thing, Chief." Clark shrugged back into his coat. "Wait, I'm coming too!" Lois said, giving Perry a 'don't you try to stop me' look. Their departure was halted by the arrival of Alice White, bearing a large, flimsy cardboard box. Perry smiled expansively, his arms held out in greeting. "Alice! I didn't expect to see you here!" Alice nodded. "I dropped by to remind you about lunch, and," she turned to Lois, "to give you these." She handed the box to her. Lois looked down at the box in bemusement. "Alice, you shouldn't have ..." "Nonsense, my dear. It's just some old clothes my boys used to wear, nothing fancy, although you'll have to give them yet another wash. I could still faintly smell mothballs on them this morning." Alice smiled at Lois. "They're for when the baby is older and crawling. You don't want them messing up their new clothes unnecessarily." Her smile widened. "Even though they invariably do!" "Thanks," uttered a stunned Lois. Alice nodded, still smiling and turned to Perry. "See you at one?" she asked, her hand resting for a moment on his coat lapel. Perry nodded and watched her leave. He turned back to see that both Lois and Clark had their eyes on him. "What're you waiting for?" he growled, good-naturedly. "You've got a story to write!" "We're on it, Chief!" Clark ushered Lois to the elevators. ***** ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 14:59:55 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: A Matter of Trust (part 3 of 5) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Lex Luthor sat behind his desk, gazing up at his wife who stood before him. "Have you heard anything?" she asked, her fingers twisting nervously around each other. Lex shook his head. "No, nothing as yet." He frowned, looking at the telephone. "Whoever has it, wants to take advantage of it." "Maybe it was still in all that mess at my uncle's?" Beth asked hopefully. Again, Lex shook his head. "The police would have found it by now and we'd both be behind bars." He rested his chin upon clasped hands. "We'll just have to wait and see." The intercom buzzed, making Beth jump. "Mr. Luthor?" Lex's secretary's voice crackled over the speaker. "There are two reporters from the Daily Planet to see you." The Luthors looked at each other, Beth in shock. "Do you think--?" she started. "No." Lex disagreed. "Boy Scout Kent would have us in jail at the first opportunity. Let's not give them anything to make them suspect more." Beth nodded, while Lex pressed the intercom button. "Send them in." Lex settled back in his big chair. Beth hitched up her skirt a little and sat on the corner of his desk. Lois and Clark entered. Lois, in a dark maroon knit maternity dress, looked fabulous in this advanced stage of her pregnancy. Clark was dressed smartly in a charcoal business suit. "Lois!" Lex greeted them with a practised smile. "You look so ... radiant!" He nodded at Clark. "Kent." "Luthor," Clark returned, his voice clipped. Lois lowered herself into a chair, unasked, and got down to business. "Mrs. Luthor," she began. Mrs. Luthor interrupted her with, "Beth, please." "Beth," Lois continued. "Do you know of any reason why your godfather might have been murdered last night?" Lois was direct, her face stern. Beth shook her head, tears threatening. "I don't understand it at all! He was retired. He used to do deceased estates. He did some pro bono work on the side, but nothing to get himself killed over!" "Was that why you were there that night? Pro bono work?" Lois asked. Clark, arms folded, watched Lex watch his wife deal with the interrogation. Luthor seemed distantly amused, perhaps curious. He showed no concern. "I-- I--" Beth stuttered. "He was my uncle! Why shouldn't I go visit him?" Lois nodded, her smile cat-like. "That's right. You hadn't seen him in a long time, had you? Almost a year?" Beth nodded and licked her lips nervously. It was Clark's turn. "Do you think that your uncle's death was connected with the attempt on your life that same night?" "What?!" Lex sprung out of his chair and to Beth's side, his arm going around her. "Darling, you never told me about this!" Beth shook her head. "I guess I ... forgot, after I found my uncle and all." She looked up at Clark. "How did you find out?" "Superman told us," Clark replied. "It was his impression that it was an intentional hit-and-run." Lex looked over Beth's head at Clark. "Superman? You two must be awfully," his eyes narrowed, "close." Lois and Clark looked at each other with a touch of speculative fear. Clark shrugged. "Lois was the one who broke the exclusive on him, Lex. Why wouldn't we be close?" Lex frowned and let the subject drop. "Would it be possible that her uncle's death and the attempt on my wife's life are connected? That they're trying to get to me?" "Who would want to kill you, Beth?" Lois asked. She caught the strange look Beth gave her husband and wondered at it. "I don't know," Beth replied, her hand resting on Lex's. "Maybe Lex is right and someone is jealous or angry at our good fortune." Standing together, the Luthors' tension was obvious, but it was just as clear that Lois and Clark would get no further with them in this round. After they left, Beth asked, "Do you think they suspect anything?" Lex moved away. "But of course, my dear. They're the best investigative team in Metropolis." The phone rang. Beth watched as Lex answered it and listened. ***** Mindy murmured huskily into the telephone receiver. "I know the truth, Lex. If you don't want the whole world to know it, I think you should consider becoming a member of Intergang, subordinate to *me*. You have 24 hours. You know where to contact me." Mindy hung up, leant back in her chair and smiled, satisfied. ***** Lex turned to his wife. "That was the call we were waiting for," he told her. "They want two million dollars for the affidavit." "Who does, Lex?" Beth asked. "Intergang." Lex's lip curled in disgust. "We have 24 hours to give them what they want." Beth sagged. "I suppose there's no point in going to the police, is there?" "How right you are, my love." Lex put his arm around her. "Don't worry. Now that I know who has it, it should be easy to retrieve." Beth's forehead furrowed. "How? Steal it back?" Lex nodded. "If we're to stay free, my love, we must!" He smoothed back her hair. "Now, Beth, why don't you go rest and let me take care of things?" Beth nodded. "Yes, Lex." She moved to kiss him on the cheek, but Lex caught her chin and turned it into a full kiss. ****** As Lois and Clark crossed the floor of the Daily Planet, Lois grumbled. "Clark, we have to print this!" They passed by Cat who was flipping through a fashion magazine. "Lois, you know Perry won't let us. There's not enough corroborating evidence. As much as I hate to say it, Luthor will sue our butts off." Cat looked up. "Lois, printing rumours is my job!" Lois turned, eyes flashing. They each met the other's gaze steadily, and slowly a speculative smile crossed Lois' face. Cat saw and understood. "See what Perry has to say first," she advised. Lois nodded and turned to head for Perry's office. Clark shook his head. "You two scare me when you communicate like that without talking," he said with a smile hovering about his lips. Lois rolled her eyes at him and entered Perry's office. "Perry, we gotta print this!" she began. Perry White took one look at Lois' excited face and Clark's doubtful face and guessed what his answer would be. Nevertheless, he went through the motions. "Now, Lois, show me what you've got." **** Lex picked up the phone and dialled. After a short moment of waiting, he was connected. "Mrs. Church, I was just returning your call." "So soon?" Mindy's voice at the other end sounded surprised. "There's no point in delaying matters. What do you need me to do?" "I'll send a limo to get you now. We can sit down, sign a contract and maybe have a drink to celebrate?" Lex agreed. **** In the Daily Planet's editorial office, Perry White was shaking his head. "Lois, I'm sorry, but this is all merely supposition. Write me a story with the hard facts that Henderson gave you--" "But Chief!" Lois interrupted. "Even Henderson was suspicious of what was *really* going on behind the scenes--" Perry cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Lois, until you can give me more evidence, I'm not printing the story and that's final." Lois exited Perry's office in a huff, followed by Clark. When she had reached her desk, Lois turned to him, pouting. "Clark, this story will be old news by the time Perry lets it get to print." She stopped in mid-tirade. Clark was tugging at his tie. "Sorry, honey," Clark said. "Gotta go. You take it easy, ok?" "Don't worry, Clark, I'm watching my blood pressure." She watched him leave. With a sigh, she gathered up the notes on her article and headed into the conference room for a bit of peace and quiet. Cat poked her head in. "No go?" she asked. Lois looked up from her work. "None whatsoever." She held out a piece of paper. "Here. I've written all the basics down." Cat came in, took the paper and read it. "Is this a conspiracy *against* Lex, or *by* Lex?" "Against, if you listen to him," Lois replied, "meaning that it has to be the exact opposite." "OK, Lois." Cat tapped the paper with a long fingernail. "I'll see what the gossip-mongers can come up with." She flashed Lois a wicked smile. "And I wonder if Perry will let *my* story go to print?" Lois laughed and stuck her tongue out at her. "Yeah, right!" she said, and returned to her work. Half an hour later, a timid knock on the conference room door startled Lois. Instinctively, her hand went to her swollen belly as she turned to see who had disturbed her. Her eyes widening with surprise, Lois gestured to her guest to enter. Beth Luthor entered, her fingers trembling against the doorknob. She closed the door behind her and clutched them together tightly. "Lois, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I had to come." Lois' voice was cautious. "Please, Beth, sit down." Beth sat opposite Lois and tried to compose herself. Finally she looked up at the Daily Planet reporter. "Lois, I -- I need your help." "Help?" Lois gently prompted, scenting a break on the story. Beth took a deep breath. "I'm being blackmailed. Intergang wants two million or ..." Beth closed her eyes, took another steadying breath and continued, "There is something in my past. Something that can disgrace Lex!" Beth bit her lip to stop it from trembling. "After all that he's been through, Lois, it's so unfair that it all could be ruined by something I've done!" "What did you do?" Lois asked softly. Beth shook her head. "I can't tell you, Lois. Believe me, I've had to live with my actions every single day since then. I never killed anyone or anything like that, Lois, but I did betray a certain moral standard." Beth wiped the tears from her face. "Lex would be devastated if he knew." Clark entered the conference room, fixing his tie. "Mrs. Luthor?" Lois turned to her husband. "Clark, Beth says that she's being blackmailed by Intergang." "Blackmailed?" Clark looked at Beth. In her grey crepe suit she didn't look like she had anything to hide. "What can we do to help?" "Intergang has a personal letter of mine, the only incriminating evidence that exists." Beth clasped her hands together. "I wrote it to my uncle, a while ago, unburdening myself." She shook her head. "I should never have written it, let alone sent it." "Is that why you went to visit your uncle?" Clark asked, resting his hand on Lois' shoulder. Beth shook her head. "No. I got a phone call asking me to come." "Who from?" asked Lois. "I don't know," Beth replied. "That's why I went." "But Beth, what do you want us to do?" Lois asked, feeling sympathetic toward the tearful woman. "If you could find out where the letter is, it could be retrieved, and all this could be avoided!" Beth exclaimed, adding, "This could be a big story on Intergang for you." "Beth, I'm sorry," Lois shook her head, "but I'm not sure we can help you." "But you're the best investigative team in Metropolis!" Beth exclaimed. "It could be a big story, but we haven't got Intergang figured out yet," Clark pointed out. "It could take a long time. Longer than you have." Beth uttered a very small "oh." Lois relented. "I promise you I can look into the Intergang angle, but Beth, I can't promise to keep you out of it." Beth closed her eyes, wincing. With a heavy sigh, she rose. "Can you promise me one thing?" Warily, Lois replied, "Depends." "If you find the letter in your investigations -- don't open it?" Lois frowned. "Beth, I don't know if I--" Beth interrupted, agitated, "You don't understand! It would be my death sentence if any word of it got out!" "Death sentence?" chorused Clark and Lois. Lois added, "I thought you said you hadn't killed anyone?" "I haven't," Beth confirmed. "But ... certain people ... won't like it if that knowledge is made public -- for it involves more than me, you see -- and they'll take their revenge. And believe me," she added intensely, "they would find me in any witness protection plan anywhere." She took a deep breath. "I took a big risk just coming to you with this, but I had nowhere else to turn. Please, don't betray me." Clark answered for both of them. "All right, Mrs. Luthor. If the letter turns up, we'll return it to you and trust that *you* do the right thing with it." Beth nodded sadly. "Thank you." She looked at her watch. "I have to go. I don't want Lex to get worried about me." She looked at each of them in turn. "Thank you again." Lois waited until she had gone. "How could you promise her like that?" Lois exclaimed. "What if that letter contains something that will harm others? These dangerous people she's afraid of certainly shouldn't be allowed to run around Metropolis!" Clark rubbed her shoulders from behind, giving her an awkward hug. "You don't trust her?" Lois shrugged and then tilted her head to the left. "There was something not quite right, didn't you think?" Clark sat down on the table and looked down at her. "I don't know, she seemed genuinely afraid for her life. But in the meantime," he smiled. "She promised us a great story. Let's see if we can sniff it out!" **** Perry settled into the chair opposite Alice and gestured to the waiter for a menu. It was a fine spring day and Alice had chosen to wait for him in the outdoors section of a small Italian cafe. "Sorry I'm late, honey," he murmured, stashing his coat over another chair. Alice put down her menu with a snap. "Yet another breaking story?" she asked. "Well, it's not as if I'm seeing someone else." Perry grimaced. "Lois wanted to run a story. It wasn't anywhere near ready and I had to explain--" Alice cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Excuses, Perry, it's always excuses. You say you want us back together and yet you keep making the same mistakes that split us up!" Perry looked down at his empty plate. "I'm sorry, Alice. I'm trying, I really am. You can't change me overnight." Alice ran a hand through her red curls. "Maybe it's true what they say about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks," she said dully. She gazed seriously at him. "Why are we even trying? We'll just get back into the same old rut like we did for the last thirty-two and a half years." "We won't, honey," Perry leaned over and took her hand. "In the old days, we never used to have lunch together and you were lucky to see me before midnight each evening. Look at us now. I mightn't be on time, but you're seeing a lot more of me than you used to." Alice relented, smiling at him. "I'm sorry. I just find it hard to trust your promises and when you're late ..." She let that thought remain unsaid and continued brightly, "Let's order, shall we? I think I'll have the clam linguine. How about you?" She handed the menu over to him. Perry perused the menu. "Hmmm ..." Alice smiled. "Let me guess: spaghetti and meatballs?" Perry gave her an amused look. "Maybe I am getting predictable in my old age." Alice chuckled. "I knew that was what you wanted when you asked me to meet you here. You love the food at this place almost as much as Betty's Burgers. How long have you got for lunch?" Perry grinned. "As long as you like." He looked down at his watch and then gazed back at her, guiltily. "Well, actually, I'll need to be back by four. They can live without me until then." Alice laughed. "Oh, Perry! You old hound dog!" ***** Leanne Shawler aka Volterra on IRC (volterra@sd.znet.com) Keeper of Giles' Sheets http://www.znet.com/~volterra/leanne.html Lois and Clark Season 5 Fanfic: http://www.tempus.simplenet.com/season5/ Midnight Dreaming: The Original Anthony Warlow Home Page: http://www.zweb.com/volterra/anthony.html ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 15:00:01 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: A Matter of Trust (part 4 of 5) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" "Mrs. Church!" a young Intergang minion exclaimed, dashing into Mindy's office. "Lex Luthor is here!" Mindy looked up, quickly hiding her emotions behind a droll mask. "Send him in, Eric." Eric turned to open the door and Luthor strode powerfully through it. Eric quickly made his escape, closing the door behind him. "Lex," Mindy drawled. "How nice of you to drop by." "The affidavit," Lex growled. "I want it now." Mindy arched an eyebrow. "You're willing to concede to my demands?" Lex collapsed into a nearby stuffed leather chair, willing the tension out of his body. "Of course," he said, his smile urbane. Mindy opened a drawer and pulled out a rolled piece of paper. She untied it and rose, laying the paper out on the desk in front of her, her hands spread over the top and the bottom. "I've had a contract already prepared. You just have to sign on the dotted line." Lex rose and slowly moved to the desk, removing a pen from his pocket. He looked down at the paper, reading it swiftly. He looked up, his gaze shifting momentarily to her decolletage. He laid one hand lightly over hers. Their faces were just inches apart. His voice husky, he asked, "Where do you want me to sign again?" Mindy widened her eyes and then leant in for the kiss. A dry brush of the lips at first, before their mouths fused together in a torrent of dark passion. Lex broke off the kiss first, leaving Mindy panting. He smiled. "But first, my dear, I must see the affidavit." Mindy's free hand reached for the desk drawer and then halted, as her lust died away. "No, Lex." she disagreed. "You will sign first and then you will get your heart's desire." She sensuously licked her lips. Still smiling, Lex gently retorted, "But how do I know you have it?" Mindy grew impatient. With a toss of her head, she flicked back her long blonde hair. "Lex, that little minx of a wife of yours was the genius behind your return." Lex's face began to lose its urbane cheer. "Oh yes, now I know you were living like a bum when she found you, and that she took you to a psychiatric hospital and planned the entire clone story. Bribing the coroner's assistant to switch the fingerprints was a brilliant idea on her part. Must've been all that strategy and tactics in those history books of hers. Is that enough evidence for you?" she spat. Grimly, Lex nodded and took up the pen again. He signed the contract with a flourish, while Mindy looked on with increasing triumph. Lex straightened up, putting his pen away and holding out his hand. "Now, the affidavit?" "Of course," Mindy replied. She opened the upper desk drawer and removed a plain envelope, laying it on the desk instead of putting it in his hand. "But first," she said, taking his hand into hers and walking around the desk, closer to him, "why don't we consummate our deal?" Lex's charismatic smile sent delicious shivers down Mindy's spine. "Why don't we indeed?" He took her into his arms and they kissed passionately, leaning back onto the desk. ***** Alone, Mindy fastened the last button to her tight dress and went to retrieve the contract where it had somehow ended up on the floor. She read it over, smiling. The smile turned to one of horror as she noticed Lex's signature had vanished. "No! Invisible ink!" ***** Back in the safety of his limousine, Lex opened the envelope, unfolding the paper that it contained within. "Blank!" he exclaimed, and then leant back and smiled in wry amusement. The game was tied. ****** At a roadside cafe, Lois and Clark were eating with Bobby Bigmouth. That is to say, Lois and Bobby were eating, while Clark watched. Bobby put down the last chicken bone, bare of any flesh, and sighed, patting his stomach. Clark looked at Lois, who was still wolfing down garlic mashed potatoes. He sighed too, turning to Bobby. "OK, Bobby. What's the latest word on Intergang?" "You expect me to answer that with your wife gobbling down half my pay here?" Bobby Bigmouth replied, outraged. Lois spoke up through a mouthful of food. "Who're you callin' a gobbler?" "Ms. Lane," Bobby replied, leaning towards her, "if you weren't a lady in an expectant state, I'd *tell* you who's callin' you a gobbler." "Be fair," Clark interrupted, lightly pushing Bobby back. "I ordered triple your usual fee." Bobby nodded grudgingly. "All right. So what do ya need to know?" "The location of Intergang headquarters," Clark replied, deadpan. "Yeesh! For *that* I get dessert!" While Clark called over a waiter, Lois leaned forward eagerly, wiping her mouth. "You know?" Bobby shrugged. "I have a pretty good idea. It might not surprise you to know that Luthor was very anxiously searching for that very same location just this morning." Clark turned back from the waiter, having ordered. "Luthor? This morning? Did he find it?" Bobby shrugged again. "That I can't say. In fact, I won't say until dessert arrives." Clark tapped his fingers against the metal table as they waited impatiently. Bobby looked on in disgust as Lois finished off the gravy and peas. Triumphantly, the waiter arrived, placing one slice of Mississippi mud cake in front of Bobby and, just as Lois started to protest at missing out on this chocolate extravaganza, another piece was placed in front of her. She grinned at Clark, who smiled back as simultaneously, she and Bobby tucked in. Bobby stopped halfway through eating. "OK, Clark, Lois. This is *very* excellent cake." "Agreed!" mumbled Lois through a mouthful. "So you'll tell us now?" Clark prompted. "As far as I know, Luthor hadn't found their HQ. The last thing *I* heard about Intergang's HQ location was that it was in some sub-basement of a Costmart somewhere downtown." Bobby resumed eating. "That's it?" Clark exclaimed. "That's all I got." "Can I eat the rest of his cake?" Lois asked, not pleased with the response either. Bobby held his dessert plate out of reach. "Hey, my information's better than any one else's on the street!" Clark nodded and rose. "C'mon, Lois. We have some work to do." He helped Lois up out of her chair and they went to call a cab. Relaxing, Bobby resumed chowing down. ***** "Don't you find it odd," Lois was saying as they exited from the elevator and into the Daily Planet's newsroom, "that Lex would be looking for Intergang HQ too? When, according to Beth, he wasn't supposed to know about it?" Clark frowned. "Yeah, but maybe he found out about it somehow. Intercepted a ransom call from Intergang, perhaps?" His frown deepened. "Or perhaps, they're *both* using us in some way to get at Intergang." "Using us as part of some underworld plan to get at Intergang?" Lois frowned. "There was something odd about Beth today but ... she doesn't seem like the type who ..." Lois chewed her lip. "She *is* married to Luthor after all." She glanced sidelong at Clark. "Perhaps we should open that letter if we find it." Pretending to ignore Clark's 'we promised' look, she babbled on. "Of course, if this is all a part of some 'get Intergang' plan, then perhaps that's what they want us to do." They had reached their desks. "Clark?" Clark was scanning the newsroom. He stopped and looked down at Lois. "You're second and triple guessing them, Lois." He smiled. "Not to mention babbling." He saw Jimmy over at his desk. "Jimmy! We need your help!" Jimmy Olsen took one look at the newly-developed photos he had just arrayed on his desk, heaved a sad sigh and went to join his friends, a smile on his face. "What's up, guys?" Clark told him. "We need blueprints for every downtown Costmart." At Lois' confused look, he added, "It's for our story's corroborating evidence. I'll get Superman to take a look at them all." "Plus, any permits that Costmart may have filed with the city for making alterations," said Lois, adding, "although, Intergang's HQ may not be on any map." "True," replied Clark. "Let's hope that they made some use of an existing structure." Jimmy looked back and forth at Clark and Lois. "I want a photo exclusive," he bargained. Lois and Clark turned to look at him. "Done!" Jimmy smiled. "Then I'll get right to it!" He dashed off, heading for his computer and the online City Archives, exclaiming an apology as someone bumped into him. That someone didn't pause but bore down on Lois and Clark, who were bent over at Lois' desk going over their plan. "What have you done with my wife?" Lex Luthor, that someone, demanded. Clark's head snapped back to look at him; Lois' head turned, equally startled by his appearance. "Lex!" Lois breathed. "Where's my wife?" Lex repeated, almost beside himself with anger. Lois shook her head, confused. "I don't know what you're talking about. We haven't seen--" Lex cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Don't go giving me any cockamamie story about not having seen her. I *know* she was here. What I want to know is what you've done with her." ***** Jimmy tapped in the login password for the fifth time and glanced at his watch. "Not tonight!" he groaned. He picked up the phone and dialled. Through the receiver he heard, "Hi! I'm not in right now, but if you leave your name and number, I'll get right back to you." Jimmy groaned again. "Penny, it's Jim. Look, something's come up at work. It looks like the City's archive mainframe's down again. I'm gonna have to go downtown. Sorry, sweetheart, but I'm going to have to take a raincheck. If you're not too mad at me, come down to the City Archives, eh? I'll be in the Planning section. Love you." Jimmy hung up, grabbed his jacket and headed out, missing the altercation occuring over in the Kent area of the newsroom. ***** Keeping his anger under control, Clark asked, "What makes you think we've done anything with her?" "She's gone," Lex replied, his voice rough. "Gone?" Clark frowned. "Luthor, perhaps you'd better come into the conference room where we can talk privately." Clark led Luthor into the conference room, waving a curious Perry White away. Perry nodded understandingly and watched in concern as Lois followed the two men. Clark waited until both Lois and Lex were seated and began. "Luthor, tell me why you think your wife is missing." "She went out this morning, to see you, as I later found out." Luthor frowned mildly. "When I returned home and found she wasn't there ... I found she'd dismissed the chauffeur I'd given her and gone solo. She didn't call or leave a message. The best I can work out is that she was last seen here. With you." Lois nodded reluctantly. "She left us just before lunch, Luthor." Lex's eyes were dark. "What did she tell you?" "Beth told us that she was being blackmailed for a letter she'd written," Lois replied. "We know you know because we heard on the streets you were looking for Intergang." Lex nodded, his body tensing. "I didn't find them." He brushed invisible lint off his shoulder. "I'm surprised she came to you. Did she tell you what was in the letter?" Lois' eyes narrowed. "No, she didn't. Just that it would mean her death if it got out." The lines of Lex's body relaxed and he rose from his chair. "Perhaps you're right, Kent," he said. "I'm getting worried too soon." He looked down at Lois and then back up to Clark. Their faces were politely disbelieving. "I'm sorry I disturbed you." Clark watched the door swing shut after Lex Luthor. "Do you think he knows where she is?" Lois asked. "He's here throwing us off the scent, right?" Clark shook his head. "Luthor's often a mystery to me, but this time I have to say he doesn't know where Beth is. And that's worrying him." "I think it's possible Lex got too close to Intergang and they snapped her up in retaliation. We have to find that HQ, Clark." Clark nodded. "Let's see how Jimmy's doing." Lois shrugged. "Well, we know that the HQ is in a Costmart downtown. So why don't we go and take a look?" She did their secret flying hand signal. "*We*, Lois?" Clark folded his arms. Lois grinned and sighed. "Well, it was worth a try, right?" Clark couldn't help but smile back. "I'll be as quick as I can." He looked over his shoulder to ensure the conference room blinds were closed and then spun into the Suit. "You can go check on Jimmy." "Don't forget," Lois reminded, nodding. "The HQ's probably lead-lined!" Clark nodded. "If lead blocks my view, I'll know something's up." He bent over and kissed her forehead. "Love you." Lois tilted her head back, encouraging him to give her another kiss. Clark didn't need any encouragement. "Love you too," Lois said finally. **** Beth's eyelids fluttered drowsily as she woke. Suddenly, her eyes shot open and her body jerked. Beth moaned softly in pain. Her movements had been hindered by rope and she discovered she'd been strapped in a standing position. She looked down at herself, and saw that she was bound tightly in thick rope. Her arms were tightly bound to her sides. Her hands were free. Beth wriggled them experimentally but could only rotate them from the wrist. There was no knot within reach. She looked around at her surroundings. The decor was stark: black walls, a black lacquered desk, black leather furniture and hints of chrome. One of the blank wall panels slid open. "Mrs. Church!" exclaimed Beth. "Quick! Help me out of these ropes! Before they come back and ..." Her voice trailed off uncertainly. Mindy Church looked at her captive like she was crazy. "Why should I? I put you there." "You ... you kidnapped me?" Beth's voice grew small. "Why?" Mindy laughed. "Because your husband is a bad, bad man, Mrs. Luthor." Beth tried to hide her fear and spoke up bravely. "You have him mixed up with his clone, Mrs. Church, I assure you. Lex is a good man." "Dream on, girl," snapped Mrs. Church. "I attempted a transaction with your husband just this afternoon and he *cheated* me! I don't like men who cheat on me." "Who does?" Beth replied. "I understand the ruthlessness of the business world, but isn't this--" somehow she managed to gesture to her wrapped-up condition "-- a little extreme?" "Ah," Mindy moved closer. "Not really. Not when I discover who is the true mastermind behind Mr. Luthor." "What do you mean?" "I mean *you*, Mrs. Luthor. You put him back where he is today." Beth's stomach sank as it slowly dawned on her that Mindy Church knew. Nevertheless, she replied bravely. "I nursed him to back to health, helped him take his rightful place in this society that he -- his *clone*! -- had virtually destroyed for him!" Mindy smiled sweetly. "And you did so much more, didn't you?" "I don't know what you mean." Mindy spun around and headed to her desk. Beth watched closely as Mrs. Church retrieved something from her desk drawer. She waved it gently. "Oh yes you do, Mrs. Luthor. Yes, you do." Beth bit her lip and gazed at the letter, her thoughts in turmoil. "You've sent for the police?" she squeaked at last. "Why should I do that, when I can make a profit from it?" Mindy asked, lazily returning the letter to its safe place. "You! Intergang?!" Beth exclaimed. Mindy tossed back her mane of blonde hair and laughed. "You'll never be able to prove that." Her eyes darkened. "No matter what your dark horse of a husband does to save you and his name. Never." Mrs. Church smiled. "I'll leave you to think on that." She leant over her desk and pressed a buzzer. "And while you do, you can look on the face of the man who murdered your uncle. You'll never be able to prove I know about *that* either." The door slid to one side again and revealed a man dressed totally in black. "Peter, keep an eye on our guest, will you? I have some business to attend to." **** ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 15:00:07 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: A Matter of Trust (part 5 of 5) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Flying over the city of Metropolis, Superman scanned the first Costmart building. By now, he was used to sorting out the various elements that made up a building, and focused in on the basement. It appeared normal and he could see the city's power lines running beneath it. Looking even deeper, he focused on the sandy soil particles that made up the substrata of Metropolis. The second Costmart also revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Clark quietly hoped that the third would be the one. Otherwise, he and Lois would have to search from the beginning again. The third Costmart was in the sleaziest part of downtown, which when Clark thought about it, made sense if it was going to be doubling as a crime headquarters. He slowly scanned over the building, piercing each floor until he hit the basement, then the sub-basement, then ... nothing. Superman hovered in the air, his gaze again attempting to penetrate the depths of the Costmart building. "Bingo!" he said, with a small, triumphant smile. He climbed higher into the air, searching for a good entry point. Spotting a bare space in the parking lot, he dove, barrelling downwards, punching a hole in the asphalt and tunneling a tight hole into the ground. Guessing at the depth of the sub-basement, he turned and dug horizontally through the earth. The earth became concrete. He pushed against the four foot thick cement, causing it to crack, until finally the sheer pressure he exerted against it created a hole. Superman stepped through it, dusted himself off, and looked around. He stood in a tunnel. Heavy concrete surrounded him on all sides. It was lit by a steady stream of fluorescent lamps. He looked up, using his x-ray vision and saw ... nothing. The top had been covered with lead. "There must be a sheet of the stuff covering the place," Superman murmured to himself, his head slowly moving from left to right. His x-ray sight confirmed that theory. He sped west down the corridor, certain that the deeper he got beneath Costmart, the closer he would get to Intergang Headquarters. ***** Behind the warehouse shelves of Costmart there was a service elevator. The employees used it to go upstairs to their breakroom and the administrative offices. Mindy Church sat upstairs in her office, signing papers that would keep the Costmart chain running successfully. Putting them in her out-going tray, she opened a desk drawer, revealing a small monitor and keyboard. She flicked on the monitor. The black and white, flickering picture showed Beth still tied up to a convenient pole. She watched with a smile as Beth struggled within the strict confines of the ropes. Mindy clicked on a key and the view changed. It showed the thief Peter sitting at his desk reading ... Mindy clicked on a different key a couple of times as she zoomed in on him. A Spiderman comic. She murmured aloud, "Whatever happened to that Dark Knight series he was reading?" Tapping a key again, she panned up the long hallway that led to the Intergang lair. "What?!" she exclaimed, as she saw Superman zipping down the corridor. Swiftly, Mindy yanked the monitor and keyboard out of its drawer. She stuffed it into a shopping bag. The false bottom that had rested in the cupboard behind her and a stack of hanging files concealed the loose wires. Without further ado, Mrs. Church picked up the shopping bag, her purse and coat and headed out. ***** Down the end of the hallway was a door. Superman wasted little finesse and simply broke it down, crashing into the room beyond. "Superman!" gasped Beth Luthor as Superman lowered his powerful fists and straightened up. Peter fell off his chair, the comic flying back over his head, and quickly tried to make his escape. In one swift movement, Superman had hauled him back by the scruff of his collar. "Not so fast, mister." Superman hastened to Mrs. Luthor's side and one-handed, quickly broke the ropes around her. He used them to tie up the hapless villain. At last, he turned to Beth. "Mrs. Luthor, are you all right?" "All pins and needles," Beth replied, rubbing at her arms. Superman nodded took her gently by the arm. "Your husband is worried about you, we have to get you out of here." "Wait! The letter!" Beth exclaimed. Superman allowed his hand to drop and watched her rifle the drawers of the desk. She found the envelope and pulled out its contents. A smile transformed her face. Quickly, Beth tucked the envelope and its contents back into her coat pocket. Superman took a long look at her coat pocket, then shook his head. "Let's get you home, Mrs. Luthor, and this ... man to jail." ***** "Here," said Jimmy, dropping the stack of blueprints onto the conference room desk. Penny mimicked his actions and dropped a tall pile of crammed manila folders onto the table as well. Seeing the way Jimmy looked at Penny and then guiltily at the recently delivered pile, Lois replied, "Thanks Jimmy!" Abashed, she looked up at them. "I just heard from Superman. They've nabbed the guy who did it." Jimmy and Penny's faces dropped. "Then all this was for ... nothing?" Jimmy said. Lois shook her head. "No, it'll help immensely with the story, and the police will love having this evidence on hand for the case." She smiled up at them. "If you hurry, you'll still get that photo exclusive." She handed him the address. Jimmy and Penny smiled. "Great!" said Jimmy. "C'mon, Pen, we don't want to miss this!" Penny rolled her eyes at Lois, grinning, before being dragged off by her boyfriend. **** Superman watched as Lex Luthor wrapped his wife up in a warm embrace. "I thought I'd lost you," Luthor murmured. Superman left them to it and flew off into the night. Lex pulled Beth out of their hug, holding her at arm's length and deeply perusing her face. "What happened?" he asked her. "Mindy Church had the letter," Beth told him. "She'd kidnapped me! And left the man who murdered Uncle Sherman to keep watch!" "The letter?" Beth smiled and pulled it out of her pocket. "I have it," she said. Lex held out his hand for it. "May I?" She didn't give it to him. "Lex, you told me Intergang had the letter." Lex looked at her, deadpan, waiting for the rest. "Mrs. *Church* had the letter! Lex, if only I could prove it!" Lex smiled at Beth's frustration. "Then, my dear, we have to apply ourselves to doing that." Beth nodded. "The letter?" "Take it," Beth said, handing the envelope and its contents to him. "Read it, keep it, burn it, do whatever you want with it. I trust you now." Lex took the letter and tucked it inside his jacket. "There is still the other letter though, isn't there?" Beth just smiled. **** "Good job, Clark, Lois!" Perry proclaimed. "But Chief, we didn't get Intergang," Lois complained, discreetly rubbing her lower back. It had been a long day. "No, but you got the murderer," Perry replied. "With his fingerprints at the scene of the crime, at least something came out of it." He grinned at her. "Unlike that theory of yours, Lois." Lois shrugged. Perry looked at his watch. "Hell's bells!" he exclaimed. "I've got to go pick up Alice." He rose and reached for his coat. Clark smiled, his hand on his glasses as if he were about to lower them for some x-raying. "Are things OK with you and Alice?" he asked tentatively. Perry grinned happily at them. "Things are great, Clark." He winked at Lois. "But they're about to get even better." He headed out the door. Lois grinned at Clark. "That must be some hot date he's going on!" Clark nodded in agreement with a wicked grin of his own. Lois and Clark made their way back to their desks. Seated once more, Lois looked up at Clark. "Did you get a look at the letter?" Clark shook his head. "We promised not to, Lois." "You didn't look?!" Lois was astonished. "But why not? What if it contained something that we needed to know for our safety?" "And if it didn't," Clark reminded her. "We'd be invading Mrs. Luthor's privacy. She trusted us, Lois." Lois frowned and sighed. She clearly didn't like it, but there was nothing she could do about her husband's decision now. Clark smiled and began lightly massaging her shoulders. "How about we go home and I give you a foot rub, hmm?" Lois smiled up at her husband. "Sounds just perfect." Suddenly, she winced and gasped. "Oh!" Clark was on his knees by her side in an instant. "What is it?" he asked, his voice rising. "Lois?" Lois looked down at Clark. "It kicked, real hard!" Clark pulled up Lois' shirt, peeking under it. He glared at the unseen baby, a grin lurking at the corners of his mouth. "Bad baby," he remonstrated, waggling his finger. Lois giggled. The baby kicked again, causing Lois' stomach to ripple. Clark's eyes widened. "Whoa! That's some kick!" Lois smiled and took his unresisting hand and placed it on her belly. Their eyes met, caught in the wonder of their unborn child. "Love you," they whispered to each other. The End ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 16:52:56 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Linda Mason Subject: Re: The Ten Commandments MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii ---Gary wrote: > > Hmm, the cast of Lois & Clark in the roles of the Ten Commandments... > > Moses = Clark/Dean Cain > Sethi (old Pharaoh)= Jonathon/Eddie Jones > Rameses (bald guy ;) = Lex/John Shea > Nefretiri (throne princess) = Lois/Teri Hatcher > Bithiah (adoptive mom) = Martha/K Callan > Joshua = Jimmy/Justin Whalin > Jethro (Moses' father-in-law) = Perry/Lane Smith > Aaron = Ching/Jon Tenney > Elisheba (Moses' wife) = Mindy Mcready I believe Moses' wife was Sephora. > > > Additions/Changes invited... == Linda Mason deanishot@yahoo.com _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 19:46:37 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alyssa Mondelli Organization: Brought to you by the legal firm of Deceive, Inveigle, & Obfuscate Subject: S5 episode 17 now playing Comments: To: loiscla@vm.ege.edu.tr MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit A-one, a-two, a-one, two, three, four... Beth has a secret (didn't you just know it?): who will find out? Intergang? Lex? Lois and Clark? It's all "A Matter of Trust". Episode 17, written by Leanne Shawler, is now playing at the Season 5 website. Go see it at: http://www.tempus.simplenet.com/season5/ or http://www.tempus.simplenet.com/season5/s5text.htm and send us feedback! I promise not to blackmail you with it. ;-> ==Alyssa in St. Paul== (agmondelli@stthomas.edu)(AlyssaM on the IRC) Webmistress, Tempus Expeditions - http://www.tempus.simplenet.com Home of the Fortress of Insanity and Lois & Clark Season 5 "Eventually you love people - friends or lovers - *because* of their flaws." --Karen Allen ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 11:38:30 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Kerth awards MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII I intended to send this last week when the debate was in full swing, but had problems posting. Hope it's not too late! Jeff wrote: > Like everyone who didn't win - I was disappointed. The thing > that disappointed me most, however, was that none of the stories by > any of the guys won anything. What really drives this home is > the fact that I've had numerous email messages and discussions on > IRC stating that there are people who hadn't read any of my > stories because I was male, and men don't write stories they like > to read. They simply seen that a man wrote it and put it into > the "Do not read" bit-bucket. Jeff, That's certainly not the case as far as I'm concerned. I loved your 'Unknown Emotions' and had intended to vote for it, but in the pregnancy/delivery category Erin Klinger's story just seemed to have the edge so far as I was concerned. I agree entirely with Peace's comments in relation to some of the other male fanfic authors: as I have told Phil Atcliffe on several occasions, I love just about all his work, and fully intend to nominate several of his recent stories for next year's awards (assuming there is another ceremony next year). I also very much enjoyed Ben Pistorius' 'Flash in the Pan' and found it a difficult decision to choose between that and Sheila Harper's 'Faster...'. I have certainly never decided not to read a story on the basis of the gender of its author - and a confession: for some time I thought Chris Mulder was male, and I rate her as one of my favourite fanfic authors. So please don't be discouraged, Jeff; on the basis of 'Unknown Emotions' I would avidly read anything else you write! Best wishes, Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 05:01:20 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: Re: The Ten Commandments Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 01:22 PM 4/5/98 -0400, you wrote: >Additions/Changes invited... I'm sure abc won't be hard to cast... Devil? Burning Bush? would the fans be the ones tasked with/hired to [I saw a show on Discovery Channel about this; they weren't slaves] build the various pyramids? or would that be the shows writers and different, at times slopily made pyramids... Perhaps abc/ptb saw us as locusts :) Debby Debby@swcp.com not up on biblic things however... ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 12:17:25 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gary Subject: Re: The Ten Commandments In-Reply-To: <2.2.16.19980407040343.281f4af8@swcp.com> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 05:01 AM 4/7/98 -0600, you wrote: >At 01:22 PM 4/5/98 -0400, you wrote: > >>Additions/Changes invited... > >I'm sure abc won't be hard to cast... Devil? Burning Bush? > ABC should be Dathan, the Jewish Overseer AKA traitor >would the fans be the ones tasked with/hired to [I saw a show on Discovery >Channel about this; they weren't slaves] build the various pyramids? or >would that be the shows writers and different, at times slopily made pyramids... > The fans can be the push-pull men and basket women... >Perhaps abc/ptb saw us as locusts :) > >Debby >Debby@swcp.com >not up on biblic things however... > Who said anything about the Bible? ;-) I'm talking about a 1956 movie which was a remake of a 1923 movie... (i.e. most of the characters are made up) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | Gary A. Rudick mailto:gar8434@rit.edu | | "You decide what you feel heaven is worth" - Deborah Gibson, TWYH | =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 17:45:08 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: KampmeyerM Subject: Re: The Ten Commandments Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-04-07 12:27:31 EDT, you write: << Who said anything about the Bible? ;-) I'm talking about a 1956 movie which was a remake of a 1923 movie... (i.e. most of the characters are made up) >> Uh, Gary, I think the BIBLE came first.... you know, "In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth".... Marie