From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG9804B" ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 15:11:42 -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: <173c0dd2.352a9e66@aol.com> MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 05:45 PM 4/7/98 -0400, you wrote: >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 > Well the Bible doesn't say anything about a romantic relationship between Moses and Nefretiri or a romance between Joshua and Lilia. Or that Sethi (Old Pharoah) was good at delivering one-liners... "...the old windbag..." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | Gary A. Rudick mailto:gar8434@rit.edu | | "You decide what you feel heaven is worth" - Deborah Gibson, TWYH | =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 18:55:57 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eraygun Subject: NEW FANFIC: THE LADY VANISHES Part 1 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit THE LADY VANISHES; or FRONT WINDOW (With apologies to Alfred Hitchcock) An IRC Round-robin by zoomway(zoomway@aol.com); ChrisM^(mulders@mindspring.com); CrystalW(JCWimmer@aol.com); Eraygun(Eraygun@aol.com); Kirshnera(Kirshnera@aol.com); Lansbury(Lansbury1@aol.com); DorDor(dorisschmill@gmx.net); Mackteach(Mackteach@aol.com) "Clark, I'm fine!" Lois snapped. Clark fluffed up her pillow and placed it under her swollen ankle. "Honey, you're *more* than fine, but your ankle isn't, and the doctor said a few hours of bed rest with your foot elevated for a few days." Lois folded her arms and stared out the window. "I've got to get to work, but your mom should be here soon." "A swollen ankle, no work, and now my mother. When you get the time, Clark, write a memo to Kismet, or Fate or whoever is having this big grudge against me!" "Well," a familiar voice said, "I had no idea I was such a burden, Lois. Maybe I should just turn right around and--" "Ellen," Clark said, plastering his best fake smile on his face. "Great to see you." Ellen shrugged and removed her gloves. "Being in the same welcome league as a swollen ankle is too touching for words," she said and glanced at Lois. "What have you done to your hair?" "Good to see you too, Mother." "And this pillow is too high," Ellen fussed, removing the pillow and replacing it with a chair cushion. "Now, that's much better, sweetie. Of course if you didn't spend your life trying to be Emma Peel, this wouldn't happen." Clark stepped in quickly and kissed Lois. "Good-bye, Mrs. Peel." Lois managed a smile. "Good-bye, Steed." Clark departed with all due and grateful haste. Ellen smiled down at her daughter. "So, what can I do for you, sweetheart?" "Well, I would like--" "Of course it's been my experience if you coddle a patient too much, it hampers healing. It creates a cycle of dependency where the patient becomes less motivated to get better. Being waited on hand and foot is just too appealing. So, what do you need?" "Nothing, Mother. Nothing at all," Lois said. "Well," Ellen sighed. "If you can't think of anything, I'm going in the other room and watch "Emergency Room Interns." It may just be a soap opera, but it has so much compassion and caring, it's hard not to be moved." "Go ahead. I'll just sit here and not be dependent." Ellen, the comment sailing over her head like a squashed beer can, smiled approvingly. "That's my little tiger." Lois shook her head, but had to smile. Her mother was her mother. She looked around the room, then picked up a book and began to read. She looked up as she heard a car backfire, but saw no car. "Hmm." She reached for her purse on the nearby end table and got out her tiny pair of binoculars. Lois studied what she could see of Hyperion Street from her vantage point on the living room window seat. Thank goodness Clark had suggested she perch here instead of over on the sofa. She wouldn't have been able to see anything from there. It was amazing how much activity there was in this block during the day. People walking their dogs or pushing baby strollers. Delivery vans, taxis, bicycles, as well as an assortment of other vehicles, continually passed by her townhouse. She was used to all the traffic downtown near the Daily Planet building but she was surprised to learn just how busy her own little block was, too. Anyway, she couldn't readily determine from where that "bang" had come, so she amused herself with watching her neighbors as they went about their daily business. There were the new people who had moved in across the street last week. She could see a pile of boxes on the curb, evidence that they had been busy. With the windows open she could hear the Morrises arguing again, an interesting contrast to Mr. and Mrs. Evans, the elderly couple who lived down the street and still held hands during their evening strolls. A car she didn't recognize pulled up in front of the building across the street, and she used her binoculars to get a better look at the two men who were getting out of it. Nicely dressed ... suits ... shiny shoes ... wonder what they're doing? They went into the building and Lois turned her attention to a group of kids rollerblading. They were yelling and laughing, shouting at one another in order to be heard over the noise of their wheels as well as the noises of the street. As she afterwards explained to Clark, that was why she almost missed hearing the scream. Lois smiled at the laughing children, then glared at her painful ankle. She should be out there, with them. It was a beautiful day, and if she couldn't work, she should be able to have fun. As she looked more carefully out the window, the last sound she had heard finally registered. That hadn't been a playful scream, it had been different. Lois scanned the street with the binoculars, and attempted to locate the source of the sound. Foot by foot she covered the area, and had just about convinced herself that she had imagined it when she heard it again. It was a scream, a real scream. The sound was shrill and frightened, and she knew that she couldn't ignore it. Raising herself carefully onto her one good foot, and grimacing at the pain present despite the medication Clark had given her before he left, she pushed the window open and leaned out. She searched in vain for several moments before finding something out of the ordinary. The screams had stopped, and others on the street seemed oblivious, but she was sure something was wrong. She saw the well dressed men that had entered the building previously gathered into a small huddle near the alley down the street. She used the binoculars to see what they were up to, and just as she got them into focus saw that they were beginning to disperse. She was able to see beyond them to a beautiful woman who was dressed as well as they were. Unfortunately, the woman was not leaving the gathering as the men were, but was lying in a crumpled heap on the ground. Lois found it amazing that no one had stopped to see what the problem was, that no one had heard the screams. She searched for signs of life with the binoculars, but quickly became frustrated with the people passing between her and the woman. "Mother," Lois yelled urgently. "Mother, I need you." She attempted to reach the telephone to call 911, but it was placed so far away from her she was unable to reach it. She called for her mother once more as Ellen entered the room looking more than a little miffed at being interrupted. Lois turned her back to the window as she commanded her mother to give her the phone. Ellen, more shocked at this demand than at the request, stood there with her hands on her hips. "Young lady, what do you think you are doing up?" "Mother, someone has been hurt. Go out there and see if you can help." Lois was breathless with urgency. "Mother, now!" she commanded when Ellen still didn't move. Finally sensing her daughter's panic, Ellen picked up the cordless telephone and handed it to Lois. Lois dialed 911 quickly as she reached to tug her mother in front of the window. "There's been an assault," she told the emergency operator. "I need the police and an ambulance." She waited while the operator processed the necessary information, and finally noticed that her mother was leaning forward to look out the window as well. Lois was eager to point out the victim to her mother, grateful that Ellen was showing some indication of action, but as she looked to where the woman had been lying, she saw only the asphalt of the alley. Lois used her binoculars, but still she saw no body. Where was it? Just then, the voice of the operator came back on the line. "Miss, I need your address." "Huh?" Lois replied. "Your address? You know, so I can send the police, an ambulance, the Marines, all those things you were just asking for." "Oh well... never mind," Lois said absently as she hung up the phone. Ellen turned from the window to look directly at Lois. "Mother!" Lois interrupted before Ellen could utter a sound. "I know what I saw." Ellen eyed Lois skeptically. "You've always had a wild imagination, you know. You inherited that from your father's side of the family. Heavens knows no one in my family ever.." "Mother..." Lois said tightly in a voice laced with irritation. "All right, why don't I just go outside and take a look. Maybe I'll see *something*. Will that make you happy?" Lois nodded and leaned against the window seat as Ellen proceeded out of the townhouse and on to Hyperion. A few minutes later she returned. "Well, did you see anything?! Did you find that poor woman that was assaulted?" Lois demanded as she limped over to Ellen's side. "No but what I did find was a film company," Ellen replied as she handed Lois a business card. "November 4th Productions!?" "Yes. I bet they were filming the latest episode of that hit TV show "Metropolis Blue" here in your neighborhood, and you just saw the crime of the week." "Well ... er ... ah, anyone could have made the same mistake." "That's right dear," Ellen said soothingly. She picked up the bottle of pain medication. "How much of this have you had?" Continued in Part 2 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 18:55:53 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eraygun Subject: NEW FANFIC ALERT: THE LADY VANISHES Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi there folcs ;), The IRC round robin's usual suspects have been at it again . This time we've written a fanfic called "The Lady Vanishes", a story with a little mystery, a little romance, and a whole lot of water . Hope you enjoy it. Comments are welcome. Cheers, Eileen Eraygun@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 18:56:01 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eraygun Subject: NEW FANFIC: THE LADY VANISHES Part 2 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Continued from Part 1 _____________________________ Lois grumbled a little bit. "Too much?" Ellen suggested. She was rewarded with a glare. "Well, be that as it may, I'm going back in to finish my show. Unless you need anything else, that is...?" "I'm fine," Lois replied. Ellen left, and Lois sat on the couch, brooding. She was an investigative reporter! How could she make such a dumb mistake? But then she realized something that gave her pause. The cameras. There were no cameras there. Also, if they were shooting a popular TV show, where were all the fans? There should have been crowds of people all around, just outside the area they were filming in, hoping to catch a glimpse of a star. Even if the show's directors had managed to keep people away, there were no cameras or trucks. That was the big thing here. There was no way that all those trucks and equipment that MB used could be gotten rid of so quickly. Therefore, there must be something else going on. Something other than the filming of a TV show. And if there was, she was going to find out. But now, she had a problem. She couldn't very well ask her mother to go out there again. And she wasn't about to call Clark yet. She stopped to think for a second. And then a small idea popped into her head. It wasn't the best thing to do, but it was her only real option. She moved over to the closet that was under the stairs and opened the door. Sure enough, the crutches that she had hung there when they moved in were still there. She had used them long ago when she had broken her ankle skiing. She had kept them because she figured they'd be useful in her line of work - if not to help her walk, then at least to hit a bad guy with. She pulled her coat on and used the crutches to help her walk out the door. Ellen was still glued to the television set, and didn't hear her. Lois couldn't do much like this, but at least she could poke around. She hobbled out the door and crossed the street. By the time she reached the spot where she had seen the body, she was already becoming exasperated with her slowness Just as she had expected, there were no clues indicating that a television crew had ever been there. No trash, no footprints, nothing. So she looked around for a different kind of clue. She walked over to where the body had been, and looked around the immediate area. She regretted not asking her mother where she had gotten that card. Lois had noticed that the corner had been a little muddy, so maybe it had been partially in a puddle. There was one about a foot away from where the body had been. So this was *probably* where the card had been. The big question was had it been dropped by the victim or the attackers? Lois carefully searched the area around where she had seen the body. She scanned for any signs of a struggle but could not find any evidence of one. She manipulated the crutches with the ease of a bull in a china shop. She was almost completely exhausted from her search when she heard the familiar swhooshing sounds from behind her. Clark, dressed as Superman, came towards her with fire in his eyes, took the crutches without saying a word to her, and unceremoniously picked her up and began carrying her back towards the main street. "Lois, I can't believe you're down here on that leg." He did not give her a chance to respond "Didn't anything the doctor said in the emergency room sink in?" "Clark, will you stop and listen to me for a second. There was a woman hurt in the alley and I --" Clark cut her off. "And you what? How did you think you could help her? You barely made it down here? Why didn't you tell your mother or phone for help?" "I did, but she was gone before Mother could get to her and since the body was moved I canceled the 911 call for help. I had to come down and see what had happened for myself." Clark gave the alley a thorough scan and saw no evidence of an assault. He continued carrying her into the townhouse and when he opened the door he walked right into Ellen. "I just missed her, Superman. Where did you find her?" "Mrs. Lane, if you are here to keep an eye on Lois you haven't succeeded." Ellen was taken aback at the criticism in Superman's voice. Clark carried his wife to the sofa and placed her on it. He leaned forward and quickly said, "Don't get off here for the next three hours or I will --" but was interrupted before he could finish his threat. "Superman, I know you're a busy man. I promise to keep a closer eye on her." "Mrs. Lane, I hope you do. It's a severe strain now, but can very easily become broken if she doesn't stay off it." Superman walked to the window and leaped out. Ellen turned back to her daughter. "I'm going to make you a cup of tea. I want you to stay still until I come back." Lois felt as if she were a naughty child and had been caught doing something wrong. She still wanted to see out the window. Lois pulled herself to the edge of the sofa and very slowly stood to gain her balance. She had to reach the window seat. She placed her weight on her good leg and began the journey to the across the room. Halfway there she stumbled and put far too much weight on her injured leg. Ellen came running out of the kitchen just as she made it to the window seat. She was gripping her leg and Ellen could see her daughter was in pain. Ellen helped Lois back to the sofa. "Were you trying to get Superman to catch you this time by flying headlong at the window?" "Mother--" "And where did he get off telling me how to do my job? Is he a mother?" "No, he just--" "Is he trained in medicine?" "Of course not, but--" "Is he your husband?" "Ye..you have a good point." "You bet I do!" Lois sighed as her mother stormed back toward the kitchen. She grabbed back her binoculars and made do with them. Maybe she was being paranoid. Her mother saw nothing, Clark saw nothing. Oh well, maybe it was nothing. She focused the binoculars. A light went on in a room across the street. Silhouettes played back and forth past the curtains. It was hard to tell what they were. Looked like a man and woman, but-- "Where are your tea bags?" "We don't have any, Mother. We have a tea ball. The tea gets put in that, and--" "Since when do you turn your nose up at tea bags?" "Since you gave us a tea set with a tea ball for our wedding present, Mother." "Well," she blushed. "That's what I get for letting your father pick the present. I just...did you see that?" "What?" Ellen shook her head vigorously. "Now you've got *me* imagining things are happening out your magic window." Lois, forgetting about the big tea ball debate, picked her binoculars back up. There was a blur of shadows at the curtains. Obviously more than one person, but doing what was impossible to tell. "Could be two people struggling," Lois whispered. "Or *dancing*," her mother countered and grabbed the binoculars. "Hey!" Lois protested. "You get some rest, young lady, and I'll be back with your tea if I figure out that 'ball' thing." Lois doubled her hands into fists and pounded them to her side in frustration. "I'm going to go *stir* crazy!" Lois let out a long breath noisily. She really felt a scream would do her good. Then, her mother, quite ashen, stepped back into the room. "I just looked out the kitchen window with your binoculars." "And..and?!" Lois said, barely able to contain her excitement. "And," Ellen replied, "I think I'm going to be sick." Lois looked at her mother's pale face, and instantly lifted her aching foot into the air. Hopping quickly, with absolutely no regard for her injured ankle, she snatched the binoculars from her mother and went into the kitchen, Ellen close behind. She leaned against the window to catch her breath, and used the binoculars to examine the area. Just as her mother had said, the body Lois had seen earlier was crumpled against a dumpster. The sight shook Lois, even after all of the grisly scenes she had seen in her career. This was quite literally too close to home. Not taking her eyes off the body, she tried to reach for the phone. She considered calling 911 again, but was unsure whether or not they would have logged her previous call, in which case they most likely would disregard a second one. She used the autodial to page Clark, following their home number with the universal "911", indicating it was an emergency. She then considered an earth-shattering scream to bring her husband running, but a loud and hearty "Help, Superman!" would be a little too obvious if the assailants were still in the area. As she turned to Ellen who was still looking ashen and stunned, she heard Clark's whoosh towards the living room window. He wouldn't be able to see her without x-raying the townhouse, so she called out to him. He flew in at only a slightly greater speed than she had hopped, and came to a halt before her. "Clark, the body, it's out there," she said excitedly. She forgot completely for a moment that Ellen was present, and that her husband was not in his usual suit and tie. Clark, seeing how dazed Ellen still looked, decided to try to brush over the goof. "I can get Clark if you need me to, but I think that I am better qualified to handle this." Lois looked up into his eyes, and suddenly realized what she had said. Quickly, she reinforced Clark's fib and showed him to the window. "Of course, he'll need to know. She's right out here..." Lois stepped aside to allow Clark a good look out the window. He scanned the ground and the surrounding area well. He gave Lois a quizzical look. "She's gone, Lois," he told her. Lois snapped her head around to the window, and nearly fell as she put too much weight on her bad ankle and lost her balance. Clark caught her with one arm, steadying her, and allowed her time to look. "But, she was there..." Lois said in a plaintive voice. Lois was more than a little upset at the situation, until Clark looked her in the eye. "I know she was. There's blood on the ground. However, I couldn't find a trace of a body anywhere!" Continued in Part 3 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 18:56:04 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eraygun Subject: NEW FANFIC: THE LADY VANISHES Part 3 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Continued from part 2 ______________________________ "But that's impossible. No one could move that fast!" Lois replied. "I know, but it's true. There's absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in the alley or any of the surrounding buildings." "So what can we do?" Lois asked. "I think you should call the police..." "But.." "I'll wait here until they arrive and explain what I've seen. We can at least put them on notice and maybe they'll start an investigation." Lois nodded in agreement and placed the call. One hour later she sank down in frustration on the sofa in the living room. Metropolis's finest had listened patiently to both her and her mother, but the final result was the same. No body, no crime. Even Superman's report about finding blood stains failed to have much impact. But at least the technician took some samples. Ellen had left the two of them and gone up upstairs to rest, complaining of shattered nerves and muttering to herself. Something about "...so typical..." and "...death of me yet..." but Lois pretended not to hear. What the heck was going on here? Lois thought glumly as she shifted positions yet again. Who the devil is playing hide and seek with a dead body? And more importantly, why oh why did it have to be in her neighborhood? "I'm cursed, that's it," she mumbled out loud. "Cursed!" "What did you say, honey?" "Clark, I am not going crazy and I did not imagine a body by the dumpster. You saw for yourself there was blood on the ground. Why do I get the feeling you and the police think Mother and I are being two hysterical females about this?" "I don't doubt you, honey. But maybe what you thought you saw was really a by-product of the painkillers you have been taking." Lois's head shot up and she looked her husband in the eye. "Okay. That explains my seeing the body but what about Mother? She has seen it too." Clark looked at his wife. "Maybe she had a little tip in her afternoon tea?" "Clark, my mother doesn't do that anymore and you know it. She may be a lot of things but that is one thing I know she would never do again. It caused her too much grief in her life and she wants to put that completely and totally behind her." Clark looked like the child who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I'm sorry, Lois, I guess I was grasping at straws. But the time for guessing has got to stop. If there has been a murder "we" are going to find the body and find out who did it. Partners," he said as he bent over her to place a kiss on her upturned lips. "Hmmmm.. partners. Always partners. But leave my Mother's sobriety out of the equation from now on. I know I saw a body in the alley from the living room window. Fact! I know I later saw strange shapes in the empty apartment across the street. Fact! I also know I saw a body beside the dumpster in the back of our townhouse. That is another fact! Now we have to use these facts to lead us to the truth." Clark nodded in agreement. "How about I go over and check out the apartment across from us for any clues?" "Good idea, Partner." "Except," Lois added. "You're taking me with you." "Lois--" "I'll sit on the floor, or you can hold me in your arms, which I prefer actually, but your call. Either way...I'm going." Clark shook his head. "Didn't we go over this before, that sometimes it's easier for me to work alone?" "Yes, but unless that vacated apartment is haunted--" "Wouldn't be the first time in this neighborhood." Lois, a bit bold on the painkillers, hopped easily into his arms with one foot. "Shall we?" "Well, it looks like I don't have a choice," he sighed. "You have a choice, but I don't think you want my mother staying here say..a month." With a non-hesitant 'whoosh', Clark transported them across the street. There was a packing barrel in the vacant room. Clark x-rayed it, but it contained only some old clothing. He set Lois on top and began x-raying the room. "Nothing," he shrugged. "Well, before we got married, well, even way before that when my social calendar was drowning in red ink, I watched a lot of movies, and there was this one--" "Gee," Clark smiled. "To think I ruined your viewing habits." Lois grabbed his yellow belt. "Well, we still have the movies on. I just don't watch them anymore." "I know," he laughed and stroked her hair. "They all star FBI Warning, and I never see much after that." "He's overrated," she smiled, and then their eyes locked for a moment. The room felt hot. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, this movie had something to with magic, and the magician said that if you want to find out how a trick is done, you ask yourself how *you'd* do it." "Our vanishing woman." "Exactly." "Okay, how *would* you make a grown woman disappear?" "The 'I Can't Believe it's Not Butter' commercials does it for me, but somehow I don't think Fabio is involved. You sure you found no secret passageways, hidden closets?" "Lois, there's a manhole cover in the alley." "And nothing in the sewer line?" Clark fidgeted. "Well.." Lois folded her arms. "Clark." "Okay, well, it was lead pipe, I couldn't x-ray it." "Clark!" "I'm sorry, honey, but at the time I thought you were..well.." "Hallucinating." He blushed. "Yeah." "Okay," she said, smiling at him so he'd know he was forgiven. "If there's a manhole cover, there must be a manhole. A body could disappear down that very nicely." "Yes, it could," he agreed. "Would an apology suffice or do I need to grovel?" "I'll have to think about it, but I think a "super" apology, later on, when we're alone, might do the trick." He grinned and she could see an expectant gleam light up in his eyes. "In the meantime, Superman, just promise that the next time I tell you I see dead bodies, you'll believe me." "You got it." "Let's check out that manhole." Ellen Lane, downstairs once more and in search of Lois, was passing the open front window when she saw Superman landing in the alley and carrying her daughter. She watched in amazement as the Man of Steel lifted a manhole cover and then began to help Lois descend into the sewer. Well! She wasn't going to stand by and let that happen! Charging out the front door and down the steps, she crossed the now quiet street at an angle. "Superman! Have you lost your mind?" Clark was so surprised, he nearly lost his grip on Lois. "Mrs. Lane! I -- I didn't see you there." "Mother! We're investigating." "Investigating? Investigating what? Mysterious sewer rats?" "Mo-ther!!!" Lois exclaimed. "Superman will look after me." "And what do you think Clark will have to say about this, young lady?" Lois looked over at her brightly garbed husband and saw that he was avoiding her eye. "I'm sure Clark wouldn't mind, Mother. He knows Superman wouldn't let anything happen to me." "Well, just the same, I'm going to call him. You wait right there." Lois waited only until she'd seen her mother enter the house. "Quick, before she gets back. Let's go!" Clark didn't need any persuasion. Bad guys were one thing, but a mother-in- law in a righteous wrath was something else again. He lowered Lois through the manhole opening and then followed her down below. ****** It was damp and smelly down there, but Lois was safely tucked into her husband's arms as he floated above the shallow water in the bottom of the huge pipes. At first it looked like any ordinary, run-of-the-mill sewer line, but after they'd explored for a few minutes, Clark's "vision gizmo" picked out a place where the wall of the pipe appeared to have been repaired. Could this be what they were looking for? They continued for a distance down the disgusting pathway, and saw little besides the occasional rat and a good deal of garbage. Lois was just beginning to think that this was probably a bad idea, when they heard what sounded like voices a little further down the tunnel. Clark stopped for a moment and set Lois down gently on the driest spot he could find, but continued to support her weight. He motioned for her to be silent so he could tune in to the sounds. He had some difficulty filtering the voices from the overpowering sounds of the local subway and the traffic above them, but he was finally able to tune himself into the discussion. "Why did you leave her there, you idiot!" The voice was gravelly and low as it continued, "I told you to drop her down the hole. Can't you follow a simple instruction?" Clark attempted to see who was having the conversation, but the tunnels appeared to be coated with lead. He supposed it wasn't unusual, as the city had once used the material quite freely in its construction, but it was extremely inconvenient. He heard a mild grumbling reply, not clear at all, then the first voice was speaking again. "I realize that woman was watching, but that was no reason to leave a job half finished. You have no idea what kind of a mess this presents." With a sound of exasperation, the voice trailed off. "What is it, Clark?" Lois inquired as he shook his head in frustration. "I've got to get you out of here," he told her. "There is most likely a killer down here, and you can't even run." "You'll keep me safe," Lois told him with confidence. "You bet I will," he told her as he lifted her again into his arms. "I'll put you back up on the street." Lois was just beginning to protest when they were interrupted by a low growl. Clark turned slowly, Lois still in his arms, to face the situation. The growl turned into a loud roar and Clark and Lois were suddenly faced with a contingent of employees from the Department of Public Works, complete with the latest mechanical scrubber machine. "Gosh, Superman, what are you doing down here?" the supervisor of the men asked. "I was just about to ask you men the same thing," Clark replied. "That's right," Lois interjected. "Since when do you guys clean sewers?" "Well, we're not here actually to clean the sewer lines. We're planning to clean the tunnels." "Tunnels?" "Yes, this whole area is ringed with tunnels. Left over from Prohibition days. Some bigwig down in City Hall has this idea that they can be turned into an attraction. You know, like Underground Atlanta? So he sent orders for us to start work down here. Didn't you read about it? It was in all the papers." "Gee, I must have missed it," Lois said sheepishly. "Anyway, first the clean-up, then we start the excavation. So now that I've answered your question, Superman, maybe you'll answer mine. How come you're down here?" "This doesn't have anything to do with those stories about that SuperRat I've been reading in the National Whisper, does it?" one of the men chimed in nervously. Continued in Part 4 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 18:56:11 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eraygun Subject: NEW FANFIC: THE LADY VANISHES Part 5 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Continued from part 4 __________________________ Lois stood by the bathroom door and watched appreciatively as Clark strip= ped=0Aout of his suit and stepped into the shower. "Any ordinary man who'd been in water as often as you have today would be= =0Aprune-y," she said, "but you..." Her voice trailed off as her gaze mo= ved over=0Ahim. His hand on the door, he turned and winked at her. "Wanna scrub my back?= " She smiled indulgently. "Not right now, Clark. Maybe later. What happe= ned=0Adown there?" "See? That's what I love about you, Lois. Your tenacity. Your bull-=0Ad= oggedness. Your single-mindedness. Your ---" "Enough about me, Clark. What happened?" Clark started the shower and began to soap up. He left the door ajar so = they=0Acould talk. Lois kept her eyes focused on the shower head, determ= ined not to=0Abe distracted by the sight of Clark. In the shower. Soap = suds running=0Adown..... "Not much happened, honey. Just a close encounter of an unexpected kind.= " "Uh huh. Define 'unexpected.'" Clark stepped under the shower to rinse off. "Let's just say that for a = while=0AI thought Katie Banks wasn't the only ghost in town." Lois took a quick look at Clark's backside. "Are you telling me that Cas= per=0Aand friends have taken up residence in the sewers of Metropolis?" Clark looked over his shoulder at his wife. "No, not Casper." "Then who?" He turned off the shower and reached for the towel. "Honey, you wouldn't= =0Abelieve me if I told you. In fact, I'm not sure that even *I* would h= ave=0Abelieved what I originally thought, and I saw it....er, them." "Clark! You're not gonna tell me that Sky Masterson and the floating crap= game=0Aare down in the sewers singing 'Luck Be A Lady,' are you?" Clark toweled himself dry and walked across the floor to stand before Loi= s.=0A"No. I didn't see Sky or Nathan Detroit, even." Lois watched as a bead of water dripped from his hair and ran down his ch= est.=0AWithout thinking, she reached out with her finger to trace its tra= il. "Then=0Awho, Clark?" Clark's sharp intake of breath caught her attention. Her hand dropped to= her=0Aside. "Sorry. You're just so hard to resist." Clark reached out for Lois and picked her up. "So are you. Let's get ba= ck=0Aunder the covers and I'll tell you all about the sewers and who was = there." Lois traced her fingers through Clark's damp hair. "Tell me now, or you = can=0Aforget the covers." Clark frowned. "Ouch, and you say *I* obsess. I mean, you seemed pretty= =0Ainterested watching me in the shower." "That's just because I didn't want you to throw the soapy washcloth on th= e=0Aceiling repeatedly to see what pattern it makes." He laughed and set her on the bed. "I only did that once." "You did it six times. Now who was down there?" Clark shrugged. "Sorry, honey, I was just teasing you a bit. It was the= =0Areclamation workers again. Their taste in music is what made the weird= =0Anoises." "At this hour?" "Honey, it's only six o'clock." "But that's time and a half pay, Clark. Metropolis is so anxious to have= this=0Aproject done they're working crews around the clock at increased = wages?" Clark frowned. "I see your point." Lois sighed. "Well, I guess you should head to the Planet, and I'll go b= ack=0Aover these notes--" Clark put one knee on the edge of the bed, his towel gaping slightly. "No= w?" Lois averted her glance...with effort. "Yes, now. Remember, you're Super= man.=0AYou can take it." "I can *take* it, I just can't *get* it." Lois tugged playfully at the towel. "Please, Clark." "You don't have to beg, just tug harder." Lois smacked his rump. "Go!" Clark folded his arms. "I don't like having to mess with the staff that p= uts=0Aout the morning edition of the Planet." "And why is that?" He made his irresistible puppy dog face. "Because you're not one of them.= " Lois got up on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Just bite= the=0Abullet, and the quicker you get it done, the quicker we can get un= der the=0Acovers, and then I'll put on that black teddy --" =3D=3D=3D=3D= =3Dwhooooosh=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D "--you=0Alike so much," she said to the rustl= ing curtains. Lois sighed with satisfaction and wiggled her little finger. "Sometimes h= e's=0Aeasier to wrap than others." She walked over to the window to clos= e it, but=0Asaw a shadow down in the alley. She grabbed her binoculars, b= ut in the=0Agathering dusk they did no good. "I get a tea set for a wedding gift, but does anyone give me something=0A= practical like night-vision goggles? No!" Lois decided to take a closer = look. A few minutes later, she was standing on the sidewalk in front of the hou= se.=0AShe wrapped her coat snugly around herself as the wind picked up an= d hobbled=0Aacross the street in classic Long John Silver gait. As she neared, the silhouette was all too familiar. "Mother?" "Run, Lois!" Two men leaped out of the shadows and grabbed Lois. She literally didn't = have=0Aa leg to stand on, and so Tae Kwan Do was out. ***** Clark checked in at the Planet, finished up his assignments and after mak= ing a=0Aquick side trip flew back home with a bouquet of tulips. He hoped= she didn't=0Amind just this once that he'd taxied down the runway to Hol= land.=0AUnfortunately, Lois wasn't there to scold or to kiss him. Her coa= t was gone. "Lois!" ***** "You never listen to me, Lois, even as a little girl you never listened." "Mother, please. We're tied up in a sewer. Can't this lecture take place = later=0Awhen I'm not bound to a pipe and can run into another room and sl= am the door?" "Enough!" a man in a sanitation outfit shouted. "Look, Mr..." Lois squinted at the name tag on the jumpsuit. "Biff. This = being=0Atied up underground, as funny as it may seem, is not new to me, b= ut it is new=0Ato my mother, so would you please let her go?" Ellen looked dejected. "I know you meant that to sound altruistic, but I = know=0Athe *real* reason you want me to leave." "*No* one is leaving," Biff said and rubbed his temples. It was reminisce= nt of=0Asomething Sam did often. "You're here because you know too much, = and to keep=0Ayou from telling anyone until we're done." Ellen glanced at Lois. "So, what exactly do *we* know too much about?" Lois kept her eyes on Biff. "That these people aren't really with the sew= er=0Areclamation program." Ellen laughed and shook her head. "Well, I can understand that. My goodne= ss,=0Athink of the good tables they'd get at restaurants walking in with = grubby=0Aoveralls. Please, Lois," she sighed. "If you don't want to tell= me, don't." "They're after something buried in these old tunnels. It seems Mr. Banks,= a=0Aformer owner of some of the Hyperion property and some nice mob conn= ections,=0Ahas something to do with all this." "How about the Kinsey jewels, Miss Lois?" Biff offered. Lois raised her eyebrows. "They were stolen over twenty years ago, and ne= ver=0Afound." "Until now," another man said as he entered the tunnel. He tipped his hea= d to=0Athe side indicating Biff should exit. "We're pulling out soon, tel= l the=0Aothers." Ellen swallowed. "So now that you have the jewels, you'll let us go?" "Not exactly, grandma," the man said, and opened a crate near a wall and= =0Aextracted some dynamite. "I'm paid, for the time being anyway, to get = rid of=0Apests in these tunnels, and that's just what I'm going to do." "You're not very bright," Lois said. "If you set that stuff off, you'll b= e=0Ataking out this tunnel, and your own...people." "Oh, the lady gets a gold star. I have my own little escape hatch, but if= it=0Amakes you feel better, their widows will get nice city pensions." Lois nodded. "Just once, I'd love to see honor among thieves. Clich=E9s g= ive me=0Aa headache." "Don't get him upset, Lois!" Lois's eye's widened. "You mean he'll give me a pillow for my head to lan= d on=0Aif I'm nice?" "Maybe I would," the man shrugged, and set the dynamite in place. "Well, = I=0Ahate to run, but time's nearly up," he said, and pushed a hidden grat= ing above=0Ahis head. "Hey! It won't budge. Some jerk must have parked a = car on it!" Lois shrugged. "Yeah, imagine, a car on the street. What a concept." The= man=0Apushed frantically at the grating. "Then again," Lois added, "mayb= e somebody=0Areally, really strong is holding it closed." The grating suddenly flew out of its setting and the man fell backward.= =0ASuperman floated down gently. "You spoiled the surprise, Lois." "Sorry," she said nonchalantly. "But I'm tired, I'm dirty, I smell like t= he=0Asewer yet again, and so I just want to go home, take a shower with m= y husband,=0Aand make love..hopefully in that order." Ellen's mouth gaped. "Lois!" "Mother, you wanted me to share, suffer the consequences. And speaking o= f=0Aconsequences, what were you doing back here anyway?" Clark grabbed the dynamite. "Excuse me, I'll be right back." He blurred = out=0Aof the tunnel, a distant explosion was heard, and he returned. "The= police=0Ahave already raided the rest of the gang, so if you'll excuse m= e once again,=0AI'll just be a second." He picked up the man and vanished= . Lois smiled. "I'm glad he did that in the right order." "Well, if your father had met me when he said he would--" "Clark said there was a phone message on the answering machine, Mrs. Lane= ,"=0ASuperman said upon his return. "Dr. Lane is at the Starlighter Hotel= awaiting=0Ayour arrival...with chocolate covered strawberries." Ellen blushed. "Really?" Clark untied her and lifted her up to the street where there was a waitin= g=0Ataxi. "Have a great time, Mrs. Lane," he said, and flew back down int= o the=0Atunnel. "I never knew Daddy could be so romantic." Clark untied Lois and took her into his arms. "Neither did he until I lif= ted=0Ahim out of a traffic jam and flew him there. I said we'd pay their= =0Aexpenses...darn, I didn't order the strawberries yet." "Ooh," Lois cooed as Clark flew them back to the townhouse. "And what abo= ut=0Aus?" "A bubble bath - no more showers. Candles all around. Champagne chilling,= =0Aand..." "And?" "And soapy washcloths to throw at the ceiling." "Well, three out of four isn't bad," Lois smiled, as she was set on the f= loor.=0A"I think my ankle is better...oh, what about that woman?" Lois as= ked as she=0Aremoved her jacket. "Do they know?" "Sarah Witkin, daughter of--" "Mr. Banks?" Clark smiled admiringly. "You're good." "Wait till you see me in the bubble bath." Clark removed the third (or was it fourth?) filthy Superman costume for t= he=0Aday and followed Lois into the bathroom. "It seems her father had to= ld her=0Aabout the jewels, and she was killed for the information." "That's too bad," Lois said, disrobing the rest of the way, and slipping = into=0Athe tub. Clark floated down behind her. "Well, she did help her father steal them,= and=0Aa guard was killed at the heist." Lois tossed a washcloth at the ceiling. "Pour the champagne, blow out the= =0Acandles, and--" "Make a wish?" "I have a feeling it will come true." "Great," Clark growled. "I've been wanting a ham sandwich all day." Lois splashed water over her shoulder as Clark blew out the candles. THE END ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 18:56:08 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eraygun Subject: NEW FANFIC: THE LADY VANISHES Part 4 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Continued from part 4 ________________________ Superman's laughter could be heard echoing down the sewer walls. "I have heard rumors of a SuperRat but I've never seen one myself," piped in another worker. Lois gave him an elbow to the ribs as a signal to wrap things up. "Superman, I don't think we need to gather any more information for my story. I need to check in with Clark to get his slant on the details. Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure talking with you." She looked over her shoulder as Superman lifted them both up towards the opening. Two tiny red glares caught her attention just beyond where the men where standing. "Naaah, it can't be." "What? I didn't understand what you just said." "It was nothing, honey. Just get us out of here." Superman flew out of the sewer and landed them both beside the back door of the townhouse. Lois looked down at herself and wrinkled her nose. "I stink and so do you. We need to clean up before we see Mother." Clark looked down at himself and at Lois and shook his head in agreement. "And I don't want any muddy tracks on my clean carpet," Lois added. She opened the door carefully, and called, "Mother, Mother, it's me and Clark." There was no answer. Lois stepped to one side to let Clark scan the kitchen and on the counter was a note. ' Lois, I couldn't reach Clark and I decided that you probably are in good hands. I went to the grocery for some decent tea bags. Be back soon. Love, Mother. ' Clark grinned down at Lois after he read the note to her. "Well, since we can't make tracks on the carpet, there's only one way to get to the shower." Lois smiled as she leaped into his arms and said, "I like your ideas, Mr. Kent." Clark flew them both to their shower upstairs but en route he thought he would do them both a favor. He spun them both out of their clothes just before he landed in the shower. "Oh, Mr.Kent, you do take good care of me," Lois said as she turned on the water and began to wash her husband's chest. "I was thinking," Clark said, but his voice dropped an octave just as the washcloth lowered to his abdomen. "I'm thinking too," Lois smiled. "No, seriously, Lois." "I'm serious." Clark smiled. "I mean, maybe whoever was in that old tunnel knew it was being reclaimed, and had to move...oooh." "Oops, sorry, go on." "Had to move faster on some..proj....ect." "Turn around," Lois said, re-soaping the cloth. "So maybe there was something hidden in that Prohibition pipeline," she said, making large circles with the soapy cloth on Clark's back. "Oh, honey, that feels so good." "Earth to Clark." "Hmm? Yeah, yeah, that's what I was getting at. The whole thing is lined with...just a little lower...lead. It'll take a more thorough search." "Or maybe you can use a little buzz-buzz and find the terminus points. Maybe we can search there first," Lois suggested. Clark turned around and took the cloth. "Your turn." "Lois! I'm back!" "Oh cr--" Lois put a soapy hand over Clark's mouth. "Your costume, it's lying on the floor in the bedroom!" "Lois, I'm nude!" "I'm crippled!" "Okay, I can move fast enough, but this is so--" "Embarrassing. Go!" Ellen opened the bedroom door, felt a stiff, rather moist breeze, and heard the bathroom door slam loudly. "Can't they shut their bedroom window?" She walked to the window, but noticed it was already shut. "Well," she shrugged, "I warned them about these drafty old buildings." "Now what?" a wet and unhappy Clark asked. "Now I go out and distract mother and you hide that dirty suit, get into a fresh costume and check out the terminus points." Clark sighed. "A man can take just so much." She patted his bare chest. "Well, you're Superman, you can take more." She wrapped a towel around her and left the bathroom. Lois felt that her ankle could now bear a little weight and so she gingerly hobbled into the bedroom. "Mother, just in time. I'm dying for some of that good homemade, tea bag tea." "You could have broken your neck in the bathtub with that bad ankle." "Always looking on the bright side," Lois smiled and ushered her mother to the door. "You brew, and I'll dress." Once Ellen was on her way back downstairs, Clark didn't waste any time getting into a clean suit and returning to the sewers. It occurred to him that he'd need another shower after this and he hoped that Ellen wasn't planning on spending the evening with them. On the theory that whoever was hiding out in the sewer wouldn't be doing so in the same area as the City crew, he went in the opposite direction from the one he and Lois had taken earlier. It didn't take him long to search the entire area, and he found several places where it was obvious that something had been stored ... probably caches of bootleg whiskey, if these tunnels dated from the Prohibition era. But would bottles of illegal hooch be worth killing for? Clark didn't think so, but then he'd been surprised more than once by what people had been willing to kill for. A thorough search revealed the existence of several possible hiding places, bits and pieces of old crates, various other odds and ends, including part of an old Tommy gun, and a small pool of blood. No doubt this was where they'd hidden the body. However, there wasn't anything here now. He figured it was time for Clark Kent to do a little digging of his own. Taking advantage of the fact that Lois had Ellen out on the back deck, Clark sneaked into the house for a shower and clean clothes then headed for the Daily Planet. Once there, he got out his notes from the story they'd done on Katie Banks Before he and Lois had only been interested in the story from Katie's point of view. Now he wanted to do some more checking on her two- timing husband. He kept in touch with Lois over the phone. In fact, it was through some of her sources that they were able to piece together as much as they did about Mr. Banks's shady past. Apparently, he'd had several affairs in addition to running one of the biggest bootlegging operations in the city. He'd been a busy boy. They also found evidence of at least one illegitimate child ... a girl. But that's where they ran into a brick wall. There weren't any pictures of her to be found and no one seemed to know of her current whereabouts. Surrounded by mounds of papers and file folders, Clark phoned Lois again. She could hear in his voice how discouraged he was ... they had been so close. "Come home, Clark. We'll work on it some more tomorrow." "I don't know, Lois, I think if I just--" "I had Daddy call Mother, Clark, and she'll be leaving in two minutes." "I'll be there in three." Exactly two minutes and fifty-nine seconds later, Clark was standing behind her, bending over the back of the sofa and leaning in for a kiss. Afterwards, Lois pulled back just a little, wrinkling her nose. "You smell a little like ... SuperRat," she grinned. "There is something I could do about that," he smiled. "Or we, depending on your mood. I got some platypus milk shampoo on the way home." "It's not so much a matter of my mood," she said with a grin. "You know what that stuff can do. But I am starving." "Didn't your mother feed you lunch ...?" "Oh, well, she did ... Would you care for some soy sprouts on jellyfish eggs ...? Her latest fad. She said it will help my ankle heal." She grinned. "It's in the fridge if you care to try." "Well, then it's good that I also stopped by Tony's on the way home. I'll be back in two minutes." He made it in less, returning from his third shower since seven smelling clean and just slightly of the shampoo that she liked so much on him. Putting the pizza box in the middle, he sat at the opposite end of the sofa. They started eating, laughing as they fed each other slices of pizza across the cardboard box sitting on Lois's outstretched leg. "Your leg is in the way," Clark grinned. "What can we do about that ...?" "I don't know. Usually it doesn't bother you." She smiled innocently, running her hand down her leg and pushing her skirt up just a bit on the way back up. By then, the pizza box was empty save a lone slice that was sitting there forgotten as Clark returned her smile. Discarding the box, and easily lifting his wife into his arms, he carried her up the stairs. "Care to get more comfortable?" he asked. "I promise my foot won't be in the way." She winked as her husband opened the bedroom door. Later... Clark was wakened by the sound of unearthly groans that seemed to echo from the alley behind the townhouse. Lois woke as he was getting out of bed and spinning into the suit. "What is it?" she asked sleepily. "I'm not sure. It sounds like some of Katie's cronies are having a party in the alley or rather underneath it. I'm going to check it out. I'll be right back." "All right," Lois replied groggily, "but hurry back. You've spent so much time in the sewers lately I'm beginning to feel like I married one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Clark chuckled and sped out the window and into the still open manhole cover, trying to focus in on the banging and clanging noise that he'd initially thought originated underneath the alley, but now seemed to be much further away. The search proceeded slowly as once again the lead in the pipes and the tunnel walls had a dampening effect not only on his super vision but also on his superhearing. When Clark didn't return immediately, Lois, still a little restless, decided to get out of bed and wait for him. She snagged the crutches and slowly made her way downstairs and back to her perch on the window seat. And gazing out the window at the vacant apartment across the street she saw... ...Superman slowly move in front of the window. She waved frantically trying to get his attention. How in the world did he get over there? she asked herself. She watched as he moved along the wall and vanished. Lois screamed "Clark!" and scanned the room with the binoculars only to find he was still gone. Panic was beginning to set in for she had never felt so unable to help him. She was just about to rise with the aid of the crutches when a figure in the alley below caught her sight. To her relief it was Clark. She leaned over the windowsill and called out, "Up here!" Clark turned and looked at his worried wife hanging out of the window. "Lois, get back, move out of the way." With a single bound he leaped up and through the window to land at his wife's side. "What happened?" she asked as she was about to throw her arms against him. But he stopped her. "Honey, I'm okay, but I need another shower - those sewers really stink." Continued in Part 5 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 19:05:18 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kat5107 Subject: "CLASSIC" FIC: "Wherefore Art Thou ..." part 1 of 2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I put the word "classic" in quote marks because though this fanfic is old, not many people have read it, so I wouldn't consider it a true classic. However, I've had a few requests for it (it's available in the archive, though) since I gave summaries to people ... so I thought I'd post it If any of you know me, you also know that I'm an incessant editor ... so I've made a few minor changes since the first time this fic was put in the archive. Summary: Lois Lane meets a muscular geek from Smallville at a high school convention of journalists in Washington D.C. ... now what would keep Lois from remembering when she met him ten years later? ;-) "Wherefore Art Thou ..." by Kat (Kat5107@aol.com or picson@rohan.sdsu.edu) Author's note: I wrote this fanfic after being inspired by an episode of "Who's the Boss?" where Tony and Angela realize they knew each other at summer camp when they were kids. I just stuck the premise into Lois and Clark mode, added my own flavor and voila! Instant fanfic! Usual disclaimers apply. Comments are welcome. Enjoy! Seventeen-year-old Lois Lane clipped the nametag that prominently displayed her name to her collar and proceeded to the first seminar. She loved going to these journalism conventions. This particular one was in Washington, D.C., and she had taken the free day yesterday to admire the Washington Monument and to take a tour of the White House. She was only a junior in high school, but she had already won many awards in journalism, this trip being one of them. This was her third convention this year, but this time it was particularly hard because her best friend Julie, who usually attended these conventions with her, was not there because she was at a cheerleading competition in Connecticut. At the table five feet away, 18-year-old Clark Kent was speaking calmly with one of the convention directors. "But sir, my name isn't Kent Jerome, it's *Clark Kent.* There must have been some kind of mistake with my application ..." Clark indicated his erroneous nametag and then showed the man his Kansas driver's license. "Young man, it hardly matters," the director said, stifling a yawn. "You will still be receiving the same instruction as the rest of the students at this convention if your name was Darth Vader." "But -" The man brushed him away and went on to the next person. "Don't worry, Clark. No one's going to care what your name is. You're a great journalist, and you'll be even better once you get through this convention." Once again, Lana Lang, amateur photographer, was along to accompany Clark during the convention. "It's just that everything's going wrong during this trip," Clark commented, pushing his glasses up on his nose. He had started wearing the glasses when he started high school because he felt he didn't look enough like Jonathan and Martha Kent, his parents. It was a self-esteem thing, and Jonathan and Martha had gone along with it. They knew their son had enough to worry about, what with the incredible strength he was developing, as well as his enhanced senses and invulnerable skin. "What do you mean, Clark?" Lana asked. "Well, first there was the airport losing my luggage, then the mixup at the hotel with us being booked into one room, and now this." Lana giggled. "Well, it's all taken care of. Fortunately there was that group from Metropolis that had room for one more." "You ever been to Metropolis, Lana?" Clark asked. Lana nodded. "Yeah, but I was like six or something. My dad took me for my birthday. It's nice. Kind of like here, or New York City. Everything's big and crowded. There's people everywhere. Mostly I remember things from the pictures we took there." Clark was no longer listening as he spotted a beautiful brunette at the next table. She seemed different from the rest of the high school convention attendees. Not only was she dressed differently - she was wearing long black slacks and a conservative navy blazer while everyone else was wearing neon colors and Madonna-like lace or jeans - but she was beautiful beyond compare. Her long brown hair was swept back away from her face, and she had an aloof, confident manner that was apparent in her mannerisms, like the way she smoothed her hands over the front of her jacket and flipped the hair from her shoulder. "Hello? Earth to Clark?" Lana waved a hand in front of Clark's eyes. "Do you see someone you recognize or something?" Clark shook his head and focused on Lana again. "Huh? Uh, no. What were you saying?" Lana rolled her eyes. "I was saying that since you're going to the newswriting seminars and I'm going to the photojournalism seminars, we should just meet up again for lunch somewhere." "OK." Clark sounded indifferent, but Lana didn't seem to notice. "Meet me at the cafe in our hotel lobby at twelve-fifteen." "Twelve-fifteen, got it," Clark answered, his eyes wandering back to the mysterious brunette. "Bye, Kent Jerome," Lana teased to see if he was paying attention. "Bye, Lana," Clark waved insignificantly as his eyes continued to follow the brunette. To his delight, she walked into the room for the newswriting seminar that he was planning to attend. Lana rolled her eyes one more time and left. Clark Kent was so weird. Sometimes she wondered why she hung around him so much. She admitted to herself that she did have a sort of crush on him, but she never understood why. He was naive and innocent and too nice to people, even for a Smallville boy. She had even taken a chance on him and asked him to the Homecoming dance that had been held that fall. Clark was a complete gentleman. He came to her house and brought her a beautiful wrist corsage to match her pretty pink dress, brought her punch, danced with her close but not too close, and afterward he didn't even try to kiss her on the lips. He walked her to her door and planted a light peck on her cheek before driving off in his father's pickup truck. Clark walked into the room and followed her to her chair. He took a seat one row back and two seats to the left so he could admire how pretty she was. Lois felt like she was being watched. She turned around to her left, but all she saw was a brown-haired muscle guy wearing jeans and a striped T-shirt. She would have said that he looked like someone Joe Malloy, her current crush, would hang around with, but this guy's geeky-looking, wire-frame glasses threw that theory out the window. He was probably some hick from a nowhere town. She glanced down at his shoes and saw that he was wearing old but clean Nike running shoes. He wasn't looking at her but doodling on his notepad. Satisfied, she turned back around with a satisfied "hmmph." Clark had read the nametag on her jacket from the corner of his eye. "Lois Lane," it read in large capital letters. "Metropolis High School," it said in smaller type underneath. The seminar started, and Lois produced the small hand-held tape recorder she had bought with her birthday money. She began to record and take notes simultaneously. Meanwhile, Clark, sitting right behind her, continued to watch her and doodle on his notepad. He was glad he learned to listen and remember things while doing other things. He took in her long lashes, dark brown eyes and the gentle manner in which she pushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes with the eraser of her pencil. She looked so put together, yet so ... lonely? Clark couldn't place it. All he knew was that he was falling in love with a girl he had only seen and hadn't even spoken to ... yet. The speaker took a five-minute break after an hour of lecturing and pointing out slides on a projector. When the lights came back on, Lois Lane turned around quickly to confront Clark. Clark was caught off-guard. "Take a picture, it lasts longer, Muscle Geek," Lois snapped. Although she hadn't shown it, she knew that he had been staring at her through the whole lecture. And nothing irked her more than people who showed up to journalism conventions just to scope out the girls. Or even the girls who came to the conventions to scope out guys. Like her roommate, Wilma Crowell. Wilma was the director of the Metropolis High's radio station, but she was boy-crazy. Last night as Lois tried to fall asleep she listened to Wilma yammer loudly to her friends from the next room about the cute boy from Kansas, the cute boy from Los Angeles, and goodness knew who else. "Uh, sorry," Clark mumbled, fiddling with the spiral on his notebook. Instantly Lois felt sorry for him. She shouldn't have been so rude. She had had a problem with that lately. She had a feeling it had something to do with her cranky mother. "I wonder if attitude is hereditary," she thought. "Hey," Lois said to the muscle geek. "Sorry if I was rude. But I've been really on the edge during this whole trip ..." She glanced at his nametag. "Kent Jerome. I'm Lois Lane." They shook hands, and Lois noticed how strong and confident his grip seemed to be, contrary to his shy exterior. "Nice to meet you, but my name's not -" Clark began to say, but before he could finish his sentence, a voice boomed on the speakers that they were ready to continue. Lois Lane gave him a little smile and turned around to pay attention to the guest on the lectern. The seminar ended at eleven, and when the lights came on again Lois quickly got up. She wanted coffee; it was four hours since she had her morning java. On impulse, she turned around to face Kent Jerome, the muscle geek. "Hey, Kent." Clark quickly looked up. Lois Lane, the most beautiful girl in probably the whole world. Of course. "Uh ..." Clark quickly debated whether or not to tell her his real name. What the heck, he thought. After today, he would probably never see this beauty queen from Metropolis again. "Yeah?" he answered. "I was going to have a cup of coffee before I went to the next seminar. Wanna come?" Clark's heart jumped. "OK," he stammered. What was happening to him? He never acted like this with other girls. They ended up at a hole in the wall cafe strangely called December 3rd Cafe. "I wonder what December 3rd means," Lois said, trying to make conversation as she ordered a coffee with no cream, extra NutraSweet. "I bet a lot of people ask that question." Clark shrugged. "Sorry, I don't know." He couldn't believe he couldn't say anything to this girl! He knew lots of girls from school: Lana, of course; Rachel Harris, who was the star soccer player of the Smallville Tigers and a fellow auto shop student; Gina Irig, who was like a sister to him. But for some reason this girl, this Lois Lane from Metropolis, New Troy, had a strange effect that left Clark Jerome Kent - or Kent Jerome, as she knew him - breathless. "So where's Smallville?" Lois asked, noticing his nametag again. They sat down at a table near a window. "Kansas." "Is this your first convention?" "Uh-huh." "You write for your school paper?" "I'm the editor." "Wow, for a journalist, you sure do talk a lot." Clark should have been insulted, but he liked the sarcasm Lois displayed. It was a fresh attitude from the shy farmer's daughter acts he got from Lana, Rachel and Gina. "Sorry." "You keep apologizing." "Sorry." Clark realized what he had just done, and the two of them laughed. "You write for your school paper?" "Yeah, I'm the editor, too. But I just got a job as a research intern at The Daily Planet. I just got the job before Christmas." "Wow. The Daily Planet. Big time." "Yup," Lois said without hesitation and with a lot of pride. "One of these days I'm going to be an investigative reporter. What about you?" Clark shrugged. "I don't know yet. I want to travel. Maybe write for a travel magazine or something." Lois frowned. Obviously she didn't think much of travel magazines. "Where are you going to college?" she asked. "I wanted to go to Princeton, but my mom and dad own a farm, and I want to stay and help them for awhile. I'll probably end up at Midwestern State. And you?" Lois shrugged. "I'm only a junior." She paused. "But I'll probably go to Metropolis University. It's only the best school for journalism in New Troy. And I want to keep my job at the Planet." "Good idea." "Got a girlfriend?" Lois asked. "You sure ask a lot of questions," Clark said with an amused smile. "I'm a reporter," she said matter-of-factly. "It's part of my nature to find out about people." "If you're such a great reporter, then you should be able to tell a lot just by looking at me," Clark retorted. "OK," Lois said, taking the comment as a challenge. "I'll tell you what I know about you. By your nametag, I know you're from Smallville, Kansas. You're wearing really really faded jeans, which means that you either work in the sun a lot or your mother washes your clothes constantly." "A little of both," Clark said with another smile. Lois continued, as she carefully surveyed him. "You're into some kind of sport or working out or something, because you have a firm handshake ... and, you're wearing Nikes." "Just because I'm wearing Nikes it doesn't mean I'm an athlete." Lois' eyes narrowed. "Well, are you?" "Well, OK, yeah. I play football for my high school." "Told ya. I bet I can guess what position." Clark looked at her in disbelief. "No way. If you can guess I'll ..." Clark thought fast. At first he was going to suggest buying her lunch, but then he realized that would sound like he was coming on to her. He guessed by her sharp observation skills that Lois Lane picked up on things like that really quickly. "I'll buy you a Double Fudge Crunch bar," he said at last. Lois' eyes lit up. Double Fudge Crunch bars! Her favorite! "You're on. How many guesses do I have?" "Three," Clark said. "Well, since you're not too tall, not too heavy-looking, I'd have to say running back." "Strike one." "OK. Quarterback?" "Nope, strike two." Clark looked triumphant. She looked at Clark sideways, her eyes narrowing. "Defensive back?" "Lucky guess," Clark said, surprised. Lois didn't respond. Instead, she said, "You owe me a Double Fudge Crunch bar." The two new friends chatted for a while longer, and then realized that there were more seminars to attend. "Which one are you attending next?" Clark asked, trying not to sound eager. "Investigative reporting," Lois answered. "What about you?" "Magazine writing," Clark answered, this time trying not to sound disappointed. "Well, you still owe me that Double Fudge Crunch bar," Lois said, wondering what she was doing trying to meet up with this muscle geek again. "Where are you staying? Maybe we can meet after dinner or something," Clark said. "So I can buy you that Double Fudge Crunch bar." "At the Plaza." "Hey, me too!" Clark said. "We can meet in the hotel lobby around eight." Lois looked at Clark, hesitating. "Well ... OK. Meanwhile, you can walk me to my seminar." Clark happily obliged. They walked down the street toward the convention center, chatting about normal, everyday things. Clark thought it was strange that he could feel so comfortable around a person he met only hours before, but he really enjoyed her company. She wasn't fluff like all the other girls he knew; Lois Lane had something to say, and she wasn't afraid to say it. "So what's your lifelong dream?" Lois asked, as they rounded the final corner. "What do you mean, 'lifelong dream'?" Clark said, confused. "I mean, my lifelong dream is to win a Pulitzer for investigative journalism, maybe two, with another one for the novel I'm going to write, own a huge house with a ton of servants and eat Double Fudge Crunch bars and chocolate ... no, Rocky Road ... wait, no, chocolate ice cream ... for the rest of my life." "Oh. Well, I guess I'm really boring then. My lifelong dream is to own a moderate sized house, get married, and have kids." Lois wrinkled her nose. "Well, I guess that's Kansas for ya." "I don't think you'd really want to live in that huge house all by yourself anyway," Clark challenged. "Who says?" "Well, I say. I think that you *will* be a great investigative reporter one day, but some tall, dark, handsome stranger is going to sweep you off your feet and you're going to fall in love and marry him. I give you ten years." "I think you've watched too many Molly Ringwald movies," Lois said in dismay. "Besides, I would never get married before I won that Pulitzer." "If you can guess what position I play in football, I think I'm allowed to guess what kind of future you're going to have," Clark insisted, amused. "And I think if you really did fall in love, you would get married even *without* a Pulitzer." "Kent Jerome, you know *nothing* about me," Lois snapped. They were already inside the convention center, in front of the room designated for the investigative journalism seminar. Clark opened his mouth to correct her, but decided against it. Instead he said, "Well, just in case, in ten years I'm going to take a break from my travel reporter job to drop in on Metropolis. And then I can say, 'Ha ha, Lois Lane, I was right. You *were* swept off your feet by some tall, dark, handsome stranger, and wait! I still don't see a Pulitzer on your mantle.'" Clark grinned. "You ... are a strange one, Kent Jerome." Lois smiled cryptically before walking into the room, out of Clark's sight. Clark sighed. Lois Lane. Lois Lane. The name just seemed to flow off his tongue. He checked his watch. If he ran as fast as he could he would only be ten minutes late for his own seminar. He took a deep breath and raced to the magazine writing seminar. (concluded in next e-mail) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 19:05:31 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kat5107 Subject: "CLASSIC" FIC: "Wherefore Art Thou ..." part 2 of 2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit "Wherefore Art Thou," part 2 of 2 --------------- Lois spent her lunch hour in her room, listening to the tapes of the lectures she had heard and reviewing her notes while eating a tuna sandwich. The telephone rang. "Hello?" she said absently, hitting the pause button. "Princess!" a male voice boomed on the other end. "Dad! How did you know where to find me?" Lois said, pleasantly surprised. Her parents had separatedly roughly five years before, with a divorce soon following. She hardly ever saw her father anymore. "I called the house." "You talked to *Mom*?" That surprised Lois more than the phone call. "No, honey, I talked to Lucy. Listen, I'm actually here in Washington, D.C. for a medical convention. Would you like to meet me for a late dinner? Say, eight?" Lois was speechless. Without hesitation she answered, "Sure, Dad!" "I'll come and pick you up at 7:45. Plaza Hotel, room 1217, right?" "Yup!" Lois gleefully hung up the phone, and suddenly remembered Kent. "Uh-oh," she thought. She picked up the phone and called the operator. "Hi, can you connect me to Kent Jerome's room, please?" "One moment, miss," the operator's smooth voice said. After a moment, she said, "I'm sorry, miss, looks like we don't have a guest by that name. Can you spell the last name, please?" "Jerome. J-E-R-O-M-E." There was a pause, and then, "Sorry, miss. Either that guest checked out today, or he is staying under a different name." Lois hung up, dejected. She came up with a wild yet (somewhat) rational idea that he was a young-looking undercover agent from the FBI, masquerading as a journalism student for some covert operation that was happening in the journalism convention. "Lois, your imagination is running away with you again," she told herself. She felt disappointed, but thought that if she hung around the lobby around 7:45 Kent might be early. She crossed her fingers and continued to review her notes. "So where are we having dinner tonight, Clark?" Lana asked. She was sitting at the desk in his room, feet propped up. She was flipping through a tourist guidebook. "How about the local McDonalds? Or, the four-star Carl's Jr?" Clark laughed. "I don't care, Lana. I just have to be back by eight." "Why, Mr. Kent Jerome! Do you have a date?" Lana said in a playful voice. But the expression on Clark's face was unexpected. He did have a date! Lana tried not to look disappointed. "Who is she, Clark?" "She's this girl from Metropolis," Clark answered. "I met her in my first seminar, and we had coffee together." "Oh." Lana was hopeful. Metropolis was far from Smallville. Clark had never even been there. Fat chance he was ever going to see her again. The thought gave Lana hope. "Well, I hope you have fun," she added. "Thanks. Now, where to for dinner?" The two friends had dinner at an all-you-can-eat buffet sports bar. There was a football game on, and it reminded Clark of his earlier conversation with Lois. In fact, everything reminded him of Lois. The coffee Lana ordered, the black blazer that Lana wore that was similar to the navy one Lois had worn that morning, and even looking down at his Nike running shoes, he thought of Lois Lane, research intern at the Planet ... and epitome of the female human species, at least in Clark's mind. He shook off the thought. He was starting to think like how teenage romance novels were written. Afterward, he and Lana went to the Lincoln Memorial, not far away. They took pictures on the steps, and raced to the top. Not one thought was spent on the mysterious Lois Lane. Suddenly, Clark stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong, Clark?" Lana asked, raising an eyebrow in concern. "What time is it?" Lana looked at her watch. "7:55." "Darn! Lana, I have to go!" Clark started running toward the hotel. "I'll see you at breakfast!" he yelled back at her. Lana shook her head and descended down the stair slowly. It was dark, but there were lots of students from the convention around. She spotted a person she knew and walked back to the hotel with her group. Lois was dressed in a light blue dress and white pumps. She was nervous whenever she met her father. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and carefully applied lip gloss. She wasn't sure if she was doing it to impress her father, or because there was a chance she would find Kent Jerome, or whatever his name was, again. She was in the lobby and ready at 7:40. "Lois!" At precisely 7:58, fashionably late as usual, Dr. Samuel Lane's voice penetrated Lois' ear. She was staring at the antique grandfather clock across the room. She spun around. "Daddy!" She gave her father a bear hug. "Princess!" He took her hand and led her down the escalator to the porte cochere, where he had a car waiting. "I told you I'd come get you in your room. What were you doing waiting in the lobby all by yourself?" Lois was looking behind her, searching the lobby for a tall, muscular teenager with wire-frame glasses and Nikes. "Huh? Oh, sorry, Daddy. I must've misunderstood you." "Listen, I know a great restaurant ..." Sam Lane's words blurred together, and Lois didn't understand a word he said. She kept searching up and down, right and left. No Kent Jerome. The bellman opened the door of the limousine Sam Lane had rented. She got in, taking one last look down the street before ducking her head into the car. "Forget him," she told herself as she settled into the brown plush seat. But not without one last look behind her. Clark ran the six blocks to the hotel, almost out of breath as he rounded the corner. He looked at the digital clock on the bank across the street. It read 8:01. He stopped to catch his breath and caught a glimpse of a brown ponytail ducking into a black limo. With a sinking heart, he knew it was Lois Lane. And he was just one minute too late. ***THIRTEEN YEARS LATER*** Clark Kent carried the last of his boxes into the bedroom of the new brownstone he had bought with his wife. Lois was sitting on the mattress - they were in the process of buying a new frame - opening boxes and putting things away in their new bedroom set. "Hey, Clark, look, it's your old high school yearbook!" Lois pulled a blue book with gold trim out of the box. "Looks like you haven't seen this in ages." Clark set the pile of boxes down in the corner and sat down next to his wife. She opened the book gingerly and began reading dedications. "'Dear Clark," she read in amusement. "'You are the best prom date a girl could have. Thanks for the memories. Have a great summer, and good luck at Midwestern State. Stay in touch. Love, Rachel Harris.'" Lois gave Clark a pointed look. "What?" Clark said. Lois said nothing as she perused the rest of the yearbook, making fun of his "ricebowl haircut" and his participation in the "food appreciation club." She flipped through the last few pages and came across a dedication in red ink pen in a flowy, curly hand. "'Clark Jerome Kent, I will always cherish the many moments we had together these four years in high school and even before that since preschool.'" Lois paused to pretend to stick her finger down her throat in a mock-gag. Clark slapped her hand down playfully. When Lois finished laughing, she continued to read. "'I will especially remember the night we were at the Lincoln Memorial and you took off running like a maniac, leaving me there like a fool. But I forgive you. Love, Lana Jane Lang.'" Lois put the book down. "What were you guys doing in the middle of Washington, D.C., and why did you leave that poor girl in the dark?" Clark put on his mysterious grin, and said, "That's for me to know and for you *never* to find out." Lois didn't do anything for a moment, then she grinned. She put the book back in the box, but a small square piece of paper fluttered out. She picked it up. "What's this?" Lois turned the paper over and realized it was a nametag. "'Washington D.C. Annual Journalism Convention 1983,'" she read. "Kent Jerome, Smallville High School ..." Her eyes widened, memories of the convention 13 years before flooding back into her mind like a wave. "Clark!" She turned to face her husband, who had a silly grin on his face. "What?" he said innocently. "When were you planning on telling me about this?" "Never." "Why not?" "Because, Lois. How would this sound? When I proposed to you, and you said, 'Who's asking, Clark Kent or Superman?' and then I had said, 'Neither, it's Kent Jerome, the muscle geek you met in Washington, D.C. You *never* would have married me." Lois looked at Clark, trying to look angry, but a smile playing at her lips. She wanted to scream at him for being dishonest with her *again*, but instead she said, "You still owe me that Double Fudge Crunch bar, Kent Jerome." "You never met me in the lobby," he said, challenging her. "I tried to leave a message for you, but your name - your *fake* name ..." "It wasn't fake! It's really my name, but I filled my form out wrong!" "... In any case, I didn't know your real name, so I couldn't leave a message for you that I was going to dinner with my dad." "Well, then, can I do something to make up for it?" Clark asked. "I mean, this is 13 years of, well, lying. And you're right. I owe you a Double Fudge Crunch Bar." Clark smiled, and Lois knew she couldn' resist. Lois looked at him with mock dismay. "Maybe," she countered. "Like ..." Clark put his hand on Lois' thigh. "Maybe," she said again, this time with a smile. Clark suddenly kissed her hard on the lips, and the moment was followed by giggles and sighs as the Kents "christened" their new bedroom. The End Copyright KPhoeniX 1996, 1998. Do not distribute or duplicate without author's permission. Comments and criticism welcome! Write me at Kat5107@aol.com or picson@rohan.sdsu.edu. (Just don't beat on my poor ego *too* much ...) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 04:22:43 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Zoomway Subject: Montrose's Toast part 1/6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I'm happy to report that by permission of the author, Phil Atcliffe, I'm posting his story "Montrose's Toast" to the fanfic list. He explained that he had not done so because he has a fairly whimpy mailer limitation and could only have posted it as an attached file. Since that's 'verboten', I offered to post it for him. I hope you enjoy Phil's folc tale ;) [Yet another story that comes from my curiosity as to "what happens next" after I've read a good fanfic. This one is a sequel to "Sold! The Metropolis Bachelor Auction Incident" by Erin Dawn McInnis (available on the archive), but is very different in tone. Writing this has been an interesting experience. I've never known a story to change so much in the course of creation. What began as a relatively light-hearted tale twisted as I wrote it to become something much more serious -- and a heck of a lot longer -- than I had intended it to be. Actually, I blame Mike Grell (one of my favourite comics artists). There's a panel in issue #2 of "Starslayer" showing the Celtic hero, Torin MacQuillon, holding his wife Gwynereth in the air -- when I first saw it, I wasn't at all sure that a human, hero or not, could actually *do* that (you have to see the drawing to understand -- it looks quite beautiful, but it would be incredibly difficult to hold a woman that way); and when I came across the comic while I was writing this story, I couldn't get the image of Clark holding Lois like that (now, *he* could do it!) out of my head, and that led to the "dance" on the beach... and most of the rest of the story flowed from that. Strange are the mental processes of writers... Many thanks to Erin for her kind permission-- nay, *encouragement* -- to release this to the public gaze. And to Demi; this isn't quite the Clark-loses-his-temper story we corresponded about, but it's along those lines... And, always, to proofer extraordinaire Gay Devlin for her invaluable help. Okay, your turn: what did you think of it? -- PA] Montrose's Toast by Phil Atcliffe Rated PG March 13, 1998 The headline story of the morning edition of the Daily Planet had something to do with national politics, and was therefore, naturally, ignored by all the newsroom staff except those who had written it, were assigned to follow it up, or whose job it was to cover that sort of thing. Of much more interest was a local story -- *very* local, featuring as it did two of the paper's own stars -- namely the previous night's charity Bachelor Auction, and what happened there. Since they were all newsmen or -women, the inhabitants of the Planet's newsroom were prone to treat gossip like page one stories, and there was a cordial, but slightly heated argument taking place at a water cooler as to whether the most appropriate headline for last night's amazing events was "Kent Tops Auction: Superman Humbled by Planet Reporter" or "Lois Lane Turns Down Superman for Clark Kent". For, against all expectations, the highest bid for any of the men at the auction, *including* Superman, had been made for their own Clark Kent, and by *Lois Lane!* Even the most fervid Lane-and-Kent-watchers -- a pastime that was remarkably popular amongst their colleagues -- were flabbergasted by the news. *What* had got into Lois? Lois and Clark had also been asking themselves the same question. Lois had the inside information, of course, but even she was wondering in the cold light of day why she'd done such a thing the previous night. In the end, she had to admit to an explosive combination of impulse, competitiveness, just a touch of jealousy -- okay, okay, *more* than a touch -- and... well, darn it, yes, a powerful, irresistible surge of attraction to Clark. Even if he did pull one of his vanishing acts straight after she'd spent *$20,000* on him! He'd come back, though, not long after Superman had been auctioned off for a surprisingly, almost ridiculously low $10,000 -- Lois could only assume that her huge bid for Clark had somehow taken the heart out of the audience -- and they'd spent the remainder of the evening together, although much of it consisted of long, uncomfortable silences. Even so, she'd been better off than the woman who had actually *won* the bidding for Superman; the hero had had to rush off to some emergency or other, thereby depriving the triumphant victor of her opportunity to preen in front of all the other auction attendees. Clark had taken Lois home in a cab, escorted her to her door, declined an invitation to come in for coffee, kissed her very gently on the cheek and left. She found herself inside her apartment, leaning against her front door in a state of dreamy confusion, half-delighted, half-appalled at what she'd done that evening. 'Twenty thousand dollars... on *Clark!* What *have* I done?' she had asked herself. But, without an answer, her mind turned to a question that had been occupying her thoughts for a while of late; she had become increasingly attracted to Clark, but she still had feelings for Superman. She hadn't been able to sort out just what she was going to do, or even what it was exactly that she felt. Superman, she found exciting; not in the sexual sense -- or not *just* sexually, although she had fantasies... -- but in the way that any woman would be excited by a man who was handsome, super-strong, kind, invulnerable, honest to the point of nobility, faster than a speeding bullet, caring, brave and could fly. He was a dream come true, but he also had the dream-like quality of being... insubstantial, somehow. She cared for him, but the first white-hot intensity of her feelings was gradually cooling. Of course, if he ever made the effort, she was sure that he could make her forget the entire male population of the world. *If* he ever made the effort... Clark, by contrast, just sort of lurked in the background, and had somehow wormed his way into her affections, almost without trying. He shared many of Superman's good points; not the super- powers, of course, but he *was* good-looking, kind, honest, caring (particularly about her) and brave. He could also be incredibly aggravating. She had never known a man who could... play ping-pong with her emotions quite the way he did: one minute, she felt that he was the best friend that she had ever had, and might be something much more; and the next, he drove her mad with frustration and anger. But he had become more and more important to her, and she wasn't at all sure just where this was going to stop. It worried her; here were two men, both of whom she cared about, both of whom shared qualities that made them *worth* caring about, and both of whom, she thought, cared for her in their own way -- whatever that was. But there was only one of her -- what was she going to do? The problem was, after last night, it was starting to look as if she'd made her choice. If she could only be certain that Clark wanted -- *really* wanted -- more of a relationship with her than their present friendship, then she might feel better about her unconscious decision -- if that was what it was. He'd made the suggestion that they think about dating, so he had to be interested in her, but if that was the case, why did he keep disappearing? She shook her head; this was all so confusing... Meanwhile, Clark was thinking long and hard about what *he* was going to do. To say that he had been stunned by Lois' behaviour last night was to plumb the furthest depths of understatement. He thought he understood some of why she had joined in the bidding for him -- competition with Mayson, even if she would never admit it -- but what on Earth had made her spend *twenty thousand dollars?!* On *him*, in preference to Superman. And then, when she had won the auction for him, she'd *kissed* him, in public..! For a second, he'd almost been tempted to x-ray her ankle to check that this woman was actually Lois Lane; she sure wasn't acting like her! Or was she? Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but Clark thought that maybe, just maybe, Lois might have come to a decision last night. They'd talked about dating, about where their friendship might be leading, but Lois had been very wary about trying anything in the way of a romantic relationship between them. This was understandable, given the way her *last* "romance" had turned out -- if her association with Lex Luthor could be said to warrant that title; Clark was of the opinion that the man's behaviour hadn't earned him anything other than a super-kick in the groin, but he was dead, so let him rot as he deserved. Then, of course, there was the continuing problem of her feelings for Superman (and, truth to tell, his for her -- or, rather, Clark's inability to control himself around her, in *or* out of the suit). And, naturally, just as they had begun to move a little closer to each other, Mayson had turned up; Mayson, who was attractive, self-confident and not at all reluctant when it came to expressing her interest in Clark Kent -- and also her dislike of Superman. 'What a mess,' Clark thought. 'This is like something out of a bad soap opera, except that even soap operas have story editors...' However, there was a possibility that there was a way out of this tangle -- a way that would bring Lois and Clark together. Unfortunately, it depended on Lois sorting out her feelings, and on him being able to tell her his without being interrupted by criminals, emergencies, prize-winning stories, crazed billionaires or predatory assistant D.A's. Which is why the present situation had him both worried and hopeful. He hoped -- he *wanted* to believe -- that Lois' actions of the night before meant that she'd decided to go ahead with their idea of dating, that she was prepared to risk (well, that's how *she* saw it) a deeper relationship with him than their friendship. One thing was sure: they were definitely going on a *date!* There were twenty thousand reasons why *that* was going to happen! But if that was the case, then the ball was most firmly in his court, because if Lois had decided that she was more interested in Clark than Superman, she deserved to know that the two were one and the same. And that was what worried Clark. Before he could tell her about his dual identities, he needed to know which of him, so to speak, she preferred, and how did he find that out? He couldn't come straight out and *ask* her... or could he? And what would he do if she told him that she still loved Superman, not him? And what would *she* do when -- if -- she knew the truth? Clark sat in an easy chair in his apartment for most of the night, thinking. He had to go out a few times for the usual Superman stuff, but he wrapped that up as quickly as he could and returned home to settle once again in the chair and gaze at the wall, lost in contemplation of the complexities of his life and their effects on his relationship with Lois. He eventually went to bed, but sleep was elusive, and what little he got was troubled. * * * Lois stepped out of the elevator into the newsroom, and a hush fell over the place. She walked down the stairs and headed for her desk, and almost every eye in the room followed her. The few exceptions were Perry White, who was busy in his office, and Clark, who very carefully wasn't looking in her direction. More-or-less the same thing had happened when he had arrived a few minutes earlier, except that the massed stares of his co- workers had been accompanied by a smile here and there, some whispered comments that he wasn't supposed to be able to hear, and a few hastily-smothered giggles from some of the female staff. No-one was brave enough to do that to Lois, so she was confronted with ranks of amazed eyes and a dreadful silence. Clark had no intention of adding to the embarrassment that she must be feeling -- even Lois couldn't take *this* in her stride, surely..? -- and kept his own gaze fixed on his computer screen until his peripheral vision let him know that she'd reached her desk and sat down. Then he looked up, smiled at her, got up, walked over to her and said, "Morning, Lois. Want some coffee?" Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her mug and headed for the drip machine. This simple, everyday exchange seemed to kick-start the watching hordes, and the usual office buzz sprang into life as the newsroom snapped out of its paralysis. Lois watched Clark get them both coffee and was grateful -- and not just for the coffee. She'd noticed that he hadn't looked round when she'd arrived, even though he usually did if he got in first -- his smiling face was often the first thing that she saw at work -- and she could guess why this morning had been different. If he'd been greeted by such a fascinated audience, she knew that he'd have hated it, so he'd have been careful not to embarrass anyone else in the same way -- especially her. The good manners that his parents had instilled in him, so well that they were an essential part of his personality, would prevent that, in any case -- and today, if she knew her Clark, he would be particularly determined to keep things as calm as possible. Whatever he might be feeling after last night, he would no more want it spread around the newsroom (and the rest of the building) than she would. This suited her. She had decided that she'd be all business today, and Clark seemed to be making it easy for her by taking a similar line. They'd have to get together, to talk, plan... *whatever*, but that could and should be done when they were alone. This was *their* business, not a soap opera for general consumption! 'Of course, it would help if I had the faintest idea of what I'm going to say to him,' she thought to herself. Clark would have been amused to hear her echo his thoughts on their relationship and its resemblance to a TV show but, lacking telepathy, he remained calm, and just a tiny bit nervous, as he came back to Lois' desk and gave her the coffee. "Oh, thanks, Clark," sighed Lois, taking a sip. It was, as always, just how she liked it. "I need this right now." "Any time, Lois," he replied, taking up his usual perching position on the edge of her desk. Lois looked at him for a second, and her eyes reflected a certain amazement as she thought, 'Any time... You *mean* that, don't you? You always have...' She would have taken that train of thought further, but she saw that he was watching her, and her concentration dissolved into embarrassed confusion. Clark caught the look, and her subsequent blush (even though she hid it well), but wasn't sure what either of them signified, so he stuck to business, saying, "So, partner, which story do you think we should start with today?" She dragged her thoughts to the world at large, and the work day began. * * * continued in part 2 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 04:23:16 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Zoomway Subject: Montrose's Toast part 2/6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Lois hit the "save" key, leaned back in her chair and sighed. It had been quite a day. As if the usual day-to-day city news wasn't enough to keep her mind off her personal dilemma, a long-running investigation into Intergang finances and money-laundering had suddenly come together, and she and Clark had spent most of the day after they'd made the breakthrough talking to the police, covering a series of raids that Inspector Henderson had managed to lay on in a phenomenally short time after getting their information, and then writing the whole thing up for the late evening and morning editions. This had helped keep her occupied and stopped her brooding over the two men in her life. She'd hardly seen Clark since they'd split up to cover the raids, but Superman had flown in to help with one that she'd been on; just as well, really, because the bad guys had been packing some serious firepower as protection for the megabucks that Henderson had taken great delight in seizing under the RICO statutes. She'd heard from a source at Headquarters that the hero had helped with at least one other raid, possibly two; there weren't many details because no-one had actually seen him, but the torn or melted locks on the doors and the bent gun barrels were pretty effective give-aways. Clark had caught up with her at the office afterwards and they'd planned their joint account of the day's happenings, but he'd disappeared again not too long afterwards, which rather worried her. She'd finished her part of the story, but his was just as important, and Perry would be yelling for it very soon. 'Where *is* he?' she groaned internally. 'Don't *do* this to me, Clark!' But he was nowhere to be seen, and there was nothing she could do about it. After waiting for a few minutes, she got up and went to the Ladies' to freshen up, and to think. When she got back to her desk, a few minutes later, she sighed with relief, because her computer was showing a message from Clark, although he was still nowhere in sight. The message, once she'd called it up, said that he'd ducked out to cover Superman rescuing a would-be suicide -- a jumper who'd changed his mind half-way down -- but that he'd written his half of the Intergang story, and would she mind checking it over as usual before LANing it to Perry? He'd looked at her stuff, and had no comments. 'For once...' she mused wryly as she did as he'd asked. It was only after she'd sent the completed story to their boss that she noticed the envelope, which had been pushed to one side when she moved the keyboard to start looking over Clark's copy. It was a plain buff manila envelope, but with Clark's distinctive handwriting on it. She picked it up and read, "About that other matter..." She tore it open it to find a small rectangle of mustard-coloured paper with some printing on it, and a folded piece of cardboard. She picked up the paper and looked at it; her eyes widened and then narrowed as she recognised what it was. Then... nothing. For a few moments, she just *sat* there, not knowing whether to laugh or blow her top. It was a piece of play money, a "$20,000 note" that she recognised as coming from Clark's old, much-used copy of "The Game of Life." She glared at it, but the slightly-smudged face of "G.I. Luvmoney", who occupied the George Washington position on the "note", gazed back impassively. Since that hadn't provided any relief, nor helped her to work out if she appreciated this not- exactly-subtle reference to her winning bid for him, she turned the piece of paper over, revealing that Clark had written something on its blank back. She was surprised to find that she was relieved that he'd had a reason for including it other than to poke fun at her. She went to read it, finally noticing that she was holding it upside-down. Lois was quite good at reading upside-down (also sideways, backwards and mirror writing) but, not quite feeling up to the mental effort involved, took the time to turn it around to read: Lois, The calendar will show you when I'm free in the evenings for the next few weeks. Let me know what you'd like to do, and when, and I'll make the arrangements. I await your convenience. Clark It took her a moment to realise that the calendar that he'd referred to must be the piece of cardboard still in the envelope. She took it out and saw that that's what it was -- a cheap, gaudily-printed piece of advertising (for Dalremy Farm Supplies of Smallville, Kansas, she was amused to note) with small, tear- off monthly calendars stapled to the bottom. Clark had stuck a Post-It note on the backing board to the effect that he'd crossed out all the days on which he currently had commitments, but otherwise he was at her disposal. She looked at the calendar for the present month, and was surprised to see that more than half of the remaining days were crossed off. She flipped to the next month, and the next, and saw much the same. After that, there were a couple of days here and there marked off, but not as many as in the next few weeks. 'Boy, you're a busy little bee, aren't you, Clark?' she thought. It was odd, though, that there was no discernible pattern to his "commitments". No weekly basketball games ('Or poker games,' she giggled to herself. Somehow, she just couldn't see Clark gambling -- except, maybe, in the sense of a friendly, no-money-involved bet with... *her*). She went back to the current month and looked at the next couple of weeks. She didn't want this to go on any longer than it had to; it wouldn't be fair to either of them, and she didn't think she could stand too much more of this "careful" treatment from the newsroom, and even (especially?) from Clark. What she really wanted was for the whole mess to just disappear and for everything to go back to what it had been this time the day before, but *that* wasn't going to happen. For better or worse, things were never going to be the same again between herself and her partner -- she just wished she knew whether that would prove to be a good thing or not... 'Let's see...' she mused, perusing the calendar. 'Tonight's out -- well, that's okay; I've got my Tae Kwon Do class anyway, and Master Chee's been insisting I show up more often...' But her concentration drifted as she couldn't help asking herself, 'Wonder what Clark's going to be up to?' After a few moments considering various ideas on that score, to no real conclusion, she dragged her attention back to the matter at hand. 'Hmmm, tomorrow's a possibility... not the day after, though, or the day after -- *or* the day after that!' In fact, it would be the following week before Clark was free again, according to this improvised diary. Lois was surprised once more at just how busy he seemed to be. 'In that case, it looks like tomorrow night is *it*, 'cause I sure don't want this dragging on into next week! I just hope Clark won't suddenly find he has to go to a Cheese-of-the-Month Club meeting or something...' Well, if he pulled one of his disappearing acts on her *this* time, she'd know that he wasn't serious about being anything more than her friend and partner, and maybe not even that. That would at least settle *that* problem, and she could concentrate on her relationship with Superman. Of course, if he *didn't* disappear on her, and she could decide what she wanted to do tomorrow night, and they did it, they might have a really good time... which would leave her right where she was now -- except that she would have had a terrific date with Clark. And he might want them to do it again... Was that such a terrible prospect? She shook her head, grimacing at this sudden mad leap into rose- tinted optimism. 'One thing at a time, girl,' she told herself, 'Let's just concentrate on tomorrow night; you'll know where you stand after you see what happens then.' With that "clear", she began to wonder what they might actually *do* on this date, assuming all went well. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. Dinner... well, yes, but what else? The two of them had done so many things together as friends that it was hard to come up with something different or special for a unique occasion. In the end, she decided to pass the buck back to Clark -- let *him* make the decisions for once! She who pays the piper may well call the tune, but Lois felt like being surprised, and she had to admit that Clark was good at surprising her... Her computer beeped at her, and she saw that Perry had given the partners' story his okay, for once using the LAN rather than his usual method of bellowing across the newsroom from his office doorway. That meant that Lois was free to leave, but Clark hadn't come back yet and she wanted to tell him what she'd decided. She waited for a while, but he still didn't appear. Finally, she felt that enough was enough -- just how long did it take to interview a would-be suicide? -- and she began to tidy up and gather her things to go home. As she put away her notepad, she noticed Clark's "note" and the calendar again, and inspiration struck: he'd left this for her, so she'd return the favour. She got out a marker pen and boldly ringed tomorrow's date on the calendar. She cut a piece of paper to the same size as the play money and attached both of them to the calendar with a paper- clip. Then she sat thinking for a few moments, before writing a few lines on the paper. She smiled as she finished, tidied everything away and headed for the elevator, dropping the calendar face-down on Clark's desk as she passed. * * * continued in part 3 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 04:23:40 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Zoomway Subject: Montrose's Toast part 3/6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Clark returned to the newsroom after an hour or so as Superman to find it mostly deserted: most of the day staff, like Lois, had finished their work and gone home, and the night staff either hadn't arrived yet or had gone out to look for news. He found this convenient, because he was able to use super-speed to type up accounts of his latest super-feats -- nothing outstanding, but they were newsworthy -- and besides, having mentioned the first one (the jumper) to Lois, he needed to live up to his cover story. It didn't take him long and, with the articles on their way to editorial, he was finally able to turn his attention to Lois' message for him. He'd noticed it as soon as he'd sat down, and recognised the calendar and the small piece of the "20-grand note" that was sticking out from underneath it, but had shifted it out of the way and got on with his work because he wanted to be able to devote his full, undivided attention to it. He could now do this, so he turned it over to see the marked calendar and Lois' note, which read: Clark, There's no time like the present, particularly with your busy schedule, so tomorrow night looks like my "convenience", or at least the best opportunity we'll have. As for what we do -- why don't you surprise me? I know this doesn't give you much time to arrange things, but think of it as a challenge. I'll expect to see you at 7:30. And, hopefully, at 8, 8:30, 9, 9:30... and who knows how much further on into the night? Lois Clark grinned at the challenge -- all too typical Lois -- but, as he read the final paragraph, his smile faded into a serious frown, relieved only by a wistful quirk of his mouth that expressed his... appreciation of the validity of her words. He knew that his frequent disappearances were becoming a real stumbling block in the way of building a relationship with Lois, and her note, he thought, reflected her unhappiness at what she no doubt regarded as his unreliability. On the other hand, she seemed to be offering him a chance to make good on his promises; if he was prepared to stay with her, to *not* run away, she had come out and said flatly that she wanted him to be there. That kind of commitment didn't come easy to Lois Lane... 'Surprise you?' he asked a mental image of the woman he loved. 'Now, how am I going to do that?' He thought for a few moments, ideas coming and going. Finally, he raised one eyebrow and commented wryly to himself, 'I can think of one thing that would *really* surprise her!' His mental "voice" then became wondering, and slightly nervous. 'Maybe I *should..?*' Clark lapsed into thought again, ignoring the world around him as he tossed this "new" notion around inside his head. After a while, he turned his eyes towards Lois' desk, spending several more minutes apparently gazing at her chair. Eventually, he pulled a sheet of paper towards him and went through many of the same motions that Lois had made an hour or so previously. The calendar, now with another banknote-sized piece of paper under the paper-clip, went back onto Lois' desk as he detoured past it on his way to the elevator, and home. * * * Lois looked at herself in the full-length mirror, and was satisfied. She'd made a special effort in getting ready for this special evening, and the overall effect, completed just in time, was downright stunning, even if she did say so herself. Now, if she could only get rid of the butterflies in her stomach..! The problem was, they'd been there all day, ever since she'd woken up this morning, and they'd only got stronger as the day wore on. The flutter rate had taken the first of several sharp lurches upwards when she'd got to work to find Clark's note on her desk. It hadn't said much, but somehow, what lay behind-- what she *thought* lay behind-- what she *hoped* lay behind the few words on that piece of paper had made her head whirl and her stomach tighten nervously. Who would have thought that three little words -- "I'll be there" -- could be so powerful? Unless, of course, they were three *other* words... but Lois didn't think she was ready for *those* words, not yet. When Clark had arrived, she hadn't said anything other than the usual good-morning-want-some-coffee-what-are-we-doing-today routine, but she'd watched him closely, hoping for some hint as to the exact meaning of his message. She'd implicitly dared him to make a commitment -- thrown down the gauntlet, as it were -- when she wrote her note to him, and his reply could either be construed as indicating that he'd picked it up... or that he hadn't. She wished she knew which. If his behaviour that day was any clue, her hopes could well be realised -- or maybe not. He'd hardly left her side all day, even when it might have made better sense for them to separate. If she'd suggested that they part, for whatever reason, he'd refused; he was perfectly affable and polite about it -- those characteristic Kent manners again -- but she had come to realise that he was utterly determined to stay with her, and this had so surprised her that she hadn't pressed the point, preferring to observe this new behaviour and try to make some sense of it. Her observations had merely increased her puzzlement. For all that his outward demeanour was as friendly and pleasant as usual, there was something... grim about him today. And to add to that, she'd caught him staring at her several times. She hadn't said anything or let on that she'd noticed, so she'd been able to watch him back. He'd had the *strangest* look on his face -- wistful, longing, even a bit hungry, but also somehow content; it was as though he was... *savouring* her, taking every bit of... pleasure(?) that he could from just being with her during a normal working day. Then, when she'd left for the day -- early, so as to have time to get ready -- he'd seemed almost sad as they'd said good night... for the moment. She was, she had admitted, looking forward to the evening, but Clark, even as he said the same thing, had had an air of melancholy about him. Why? The only reason that she could think of, and the thought was like a knife in her heart, was that he wasn't going to turn up, but she couldn't-- didn't *want* to believe that of him. The doorbell rang, and she jumped. She looked at the clock -- 7:30, on the dot -- and her heart leaped. It was Clark! He *was* here, just like he'd promised. She rushed to the door, her fears dispelled, although she still had no idea why he'd behaved so oddly that day. Suddenly, it didn't matter; what was important was *tonight!* She fumbled with the locks, cursing her nerves and the way that her hands were shaking. The final latch clicked open and she flung the door open. As she did so, part of her warned that it had *better* be Clark out there, or she was leaving herself wide open... but any fears of that sort vanished instantly, because it was him... and didn't he look good! She'd been expecting him to be in a suit, or even a tuxedo, so an ensemble consisting of a black leather jacket over a black roll-neck sweater and black pants was something of a surprise, but it *did* suit him. He looked mysterious, even a little dangerous -- somehow un-Clark-like, even though he still had that familiar, reassuring presence -- and the sight of him sent a pleasant thrill down her spine. "Hi, Clark!" she said brightly, stepping back to allow him to come in... after she realised that she'd been staring at him. She blushed as he smiled and walked past her, and she prayed that her mouth hadn't been hanging open or her eyes bulging. "Hi, Lois," he replied, but quietly. He looked her up and down in obvious appreciation, making her blush again. "You look... lovely." "Thanks, Clark... You look pretty good yourself. Black suits you..." She paused for a moment, not sure what to say next, until her mind, wondering about his unusual attire, asked itself a question, answered it, and wanted confirmation of its guess. "Do your clothes have anything to do with where we're going?" "Ye-ee-es," he said slowly. "In a way... but before we go anywhere, I think we need to talk." "Oh..." Lois' pulse leaped; she didn't know what Clark wanted to talk about, but she was sure that it must have something to do with his behaviour that day. This must be important... she just hoped that she was going to like what she was about to hear. "Okay," she said, "What do you want to talk about?" "Quite a few things, actually..." His manner, until now pleasant, had reverted to the grim, slightly sad air that he'd had in the newsroom when she'd left for the day, and Lois thought she could detect a certain amount of nervousness, too. She tried to think what that might mean, but he spoke again: "Let's start with the Bachelor Auction." 'Huh? What *about* the auction?' a startled Lois thought. Her mind raced, but to no avail; eventually, she asked him straight out what he was talking about. He didn't say anything for a few moments, but just stood there, looking at her with the most intense gaze that she'd ever seen. Finally, he took a deep breath and began, "Lois... You went to the auction determined to bid for Superman, didn't you?" "Well... yes," she replied in a small voice. "Stop me if I'm wrong, but what you were really after was that night-time flight over the city, wasn't it?" "How did you know? It wasn't *just* that... but it was the main attraction. I just thought that it would be so romantic..." Her voice trailed off before she could add, 'And I thought it might help me make up my mind about him... and you...' She was about to say that, but he spoke before she could. "Uh-huh. And yet you spent almost all your money on me. Well, I don't want to deprive you of your dream, so... you shall *have* your flight over Metropolis!" "What? How? Oh, you mean in a 'plane or a helicopter. Clark, that's so sweet. Thank you, but you don't have to do that." "I know. I *want* to do it. I also didn't mean in an aircraft. I thought about doing it that way, but who wants a pilot around? You know, three's a crowd and all that. So, I finally decided the heck with it, it was time you knew anyway. Get your coat." So saying, he pushed her gently but firmly towards the coat rack, got down her coat and helped her into it. Lois was dumbfounded by his sudden decisiveness and more than a little confused by what he could possibly mean -- time she knew *what?* -- so she didn't say anything. Her surprise deepened as he led her away from the front door and over to the window, which he opened. Then he reached down and picked her up in his arms. "Clark! What are you doing?" And yet, somehow, she already knew what he was doing. She'd been picked up in that same effortless manner before, and held that same way -- lightly but firmly, as though she were something incredibly fragile and precious -- but not by *Clark*... "Taking you for that flight. Hang on tight." And with that, he turned to the window and lifted off, moving slowly until they were both clear of the opening, then accelerating up and away from the building. "CLARK!!!" By now they had climbed above the city skyline, but Lois barely noticed. Shocked and shaken to her core, her one desire at that moment was to get away from him, to be somewhere else, by herself, so that she could think about this. She began to pound on his shoulders with her fists. "Put me down!" she cried in a voice that was meant to be her usual resolute, decisive tone, but somehow came out rather too close for comfort to a hysterical shriek. He reached up and lightly took both of her hands in one of his, restraining them with a grip that was gentle but quite irresistible. "Quit thrashing about," he said, quietly but firmly. "You'll hurt yourself, and I am *not* letting you go -- not a thousand feet up!" Realising that he was right, and hating him for it, she stopped her struggles and sat motionless in his arms with what was intended as an air of quiet, offended dignity. Had this been the flight over Metropolis with Superman that she'd dreamed of, she would have been torn between enjoying the scenery and wanting to get closer to the man carrying her. As it was, feeling hurt, angry and humiliated, she did her best to ignore everything around her -- especially him -- as they flew east towards the coast, and then south, away from the city. Eventually, she noticed that they were descending, heading towards an isolated and deserted strip of beach. He touched down gently and set her on her feet. She leant over, careful not to touch him or use him as support, and took off her shoes, then walked a short distance down the beach, ignoring the sand and the discomfort of her stockings. She stopped and spent a few moments just looking out to sea, collecting herself before turning back to face him. Looking at him, calmly standing there with a neutral expression on his face and that familiar lock of hair hanging down over one eyebrow, the whole situation somehow seemed unreal, and the strangeness of it demanded expression. "I don't believe this," she blurted. "All this time... all these years... all those *excuses!* I just don't..." "Oh, you don't think a farm boy from Kansas could be Superman, huh?" he interrupted dryly, half-amused and slightly annoyed at her attitude. 'I'll show her,' he thought. "How about if you hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak?" Suddenly, even though Clark hadn't moved, Superman was standing there, slightly to his... own left? Lois was totally confused -- one minute, Clark was flying with her as only Superman could; and the next, Superman was there, large as life, right next to him! "What? How..?" she gasped. "Not bad, huh?" Clark chuckled -- or was it Superman? They were both smiling at her, but she couldn't tell which one was speaking. "I haven't done this since I was a teenager, and I didn't have the suit then." Lois was beginning to get angry with this oblique crosstalk. "Done *what?* Clark... Superman... *whoever* you are, *what* is going on here?!" Clark and Superman looked at each other. One of them -- Lois still couldn't tell which -- said conversationally to the other, "Will you tell her, or should I?" "Claaarrrrkkkk!!" snarled Lois through gritted teeth. Seeing her expression, Clark decided to stop his teasing. Without warning, Superman vanished and Clark stood there alone, but without his glasses and with the super-suit hanging from one hand. "Okay, Clark, okay..." Lois, her eyes closed, spoke slowly and heavily, obviously fighting an internal battle not to explode with... well, it would at least be partly anger, but there was more to it than that. "You've convinced me. Now, tell me... *how* did you do that?" Clark, realising that the time for levity was over, replied simply and seriously, "It's simple in concept, just a little more complicated in execution. I move at super-speed, back and forth between where each of me, so to speak, is standing, changing clothes as I go and stopping still at each end for an instant. If I do it more than 25 times a second, your eyes don't see any flicker as I move between being Clark and Superman, and it looks as though there's two people there. It's more difficult if I have to speak, because I haven't quite got the hang of synchronising my speech with appearing as one of me. That's why you couldn't tell who was speaking -- *I* was, but I was zipping back and forth at the same time." "Very clever," she growled. "But what do you do for an encore?" "Oh, I dunno... Maybe I tell Lois Lane the real reason behind my 'disappearing act', as she calls it." Lois would have said something in reply -- quite what, she wasn't sure, but she had no doubt that she'd come up with *something* -- but Clark didn't let her. Instead, he took a step towards her, looked her right in the eyes and began to speak, very seriously. "Lois. Two nights ago, you paid *twenty thousand dollars* for a date with me -- and all you ever had to do to get one was hint that you weren't revolted by the idea, that you'd decided that dating was the way that our relationship should go, and then say yes when I asked you, which would have been... oh, all of a second and a half later. "You said that you did it on impulse. Okay -- well, now it's *my* turn to be impulsive, and my impulse is to tell you the truth. No more lies, no more games, no more lousy excuses -- just you and me! *All* of me -- not just the mild-mannered reporter, not just the flashy superhero in the suit, but *me*: Clark Kent, a.k.a. Kal-El, alias Superman, citizen of Metropolis from Krypton by way of Kansas, who just happens to spend too much of his spare time flying around trying to help people, and then live something like a normal life on the side. Oh, yeah, and eating his heart out over a certain reporter who doesn't seem able to notice him for a... a *mirage* in blue tights! "So, now you know. Now *I* want to know -- what are you going to do about it?" His words rang out like a challenge. Clark was rather surprised at the vehemence that he had put into what he had just said. 'I guess I'm tired of the run-around,' he thought. 'At least this way, things can get sorted out between us... one way or the other.' Lois was now flabbergasted, on top of her anger. "What do you *mean*, what am I going to do about it?" she snapped back at him. "Lois, I know you -- not as well as I need to, right here and now, but well enough to have a fair idea of how you'd react to being told the truth. I figured you'd be angry, and you are -- and I admit that I haven't made it any easier with that bit of showing off, but I couldn't stand the 'I don't believe it' talk. I've run *that* scene through my head a zillion times -- every time I tried to think how to tell you, or whether I even should. "I also know, or can guess, that a good half of your anger is at what you see as my 'betrayal' of your trust. Believe me, I *know* how hard it is for you to open up to someone, because it's even harder for *me* to really trust anyone. I've spent my entire life from the age of five, when my invulnerability started to come in, having to hide who and what I am. I've never had any close friends -- until I came to Metropolis and met you, Jimmy and the gang at the Planet. I've had dozens of acquaintances, pals, but no *friends*, if you can appreciate the difference. "For what it's worth, you are one of three-- well, maybe four -- people in the world who know who-- no, *what* I am, and you're the *only* one who's ever been *told* the truth; my parents found out as I grew up, and Jack suspects but has no proof. So if you don't think I trust you, remember that. "I've also seen how you react to situations like this in the past. You kick yourself for your supposed stupidity, and you lash out at the other person for what you *think* they've been thinking about you. Right now, I imagine that you think I've been laughing at you in your ignorance as I zip in and out of your life as two people. *Ha!*" continued in part 4 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 04:24:02 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Zoomway Subject: Montrose's Toast part 4/6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Lois winced at the scorn that Clark-- Superman-- *he* had put into that single syllable. She *was* angry, but her anger was currently suppressed by a wall of amazement at how well he'd been able to predict her reactions, and concern at his anger at... himself? Her? Fate? She saw him begin to pace back and forth as he kept speaking, and she was amazed at how he seemed to have grown in stature -- he *loomed*; he was all that she could see though he was several feet away, and all her senses were concentrated on him and his words. "Laughing? Why the hell should I *laugh?!* *Crying*, more like," he went on, in a voice that was so quiet, but carried to her more effectively than the loudest shout. She tried to concentrate on what he was saying, but it was difficult because his voice was filled with such intense emotion -- anguish, exasperation, bitterness, though at what, she couldn't say -- that it tore at her. "You haven't seen the glacier I shattered, screaming in pain when you said you'd marry Lex Luthor. You haven't had to come up with a thousand *stupid* excuses to get away from the one person that you want to be with, even though you know it's tearing you both apart inside, every time you leave -- but you *have* to go, so that you can protect her, or help someone else, or save the world. You haven't had to deal with people, especially women, who are only interested in half of you -- *either* half -- and who ignore or actively dislike the other half... which is there, all the time, part of you..." And then, it was as though all his anger, whatever its target, drained away, to leave him standing there, no longer a god-like figure raging at the heavens, but simply what he had always appeared to her to be -- a good-looking, mild-mannered farm boy from Kansas. He turned to her and spread his arms towards her. His voice was tired. "Lois... this is where I have always run into a blank wall when I tried to work out what you'd do if you knew. Which is one of the reasons that it's taken me till now to tell you; the others are all very logical, and they seemed important, but they were never *as* important as this one. You are the only person in the world who has ever cared -- I think that's the word I want -- for both Clark Kent and Superman, and now you know that they are only one man -- me. And that man cares for you, too, more than I have for anyone that I've ever known. So, I want to-- I *have* to ask you this: what are you going to do, now that you know?" "Uh... Clark... Superman..." Lois didn't quite know what to say. Her anger had drained out of her even as his had -- or perhaps it was just hiding for a while; whichever, her dominant emotion at the moment was a dull, stunned surprise, together with a certain amount of sorrow, and even a little guilt, for what he had had to go through to live this double life that he had shown her. The guilt was for what she realised that she'd done to him, carelessly, unthinkingly, in her gushing over Superman, but she didn't want to think about that just now. She was also a little startled to hear her own thoughts -- about caring for both Clark and Superman -- turned back on her. She tried to answer him again: "I-- I'm not sure, Cl-- Superman. I don't know... I mean, this is a shock. I-- I never thought..." She realised that she was babbling and shut up, the better to gather her thoughts and try to sort out just what she *was* feeling. Not having any immediate success in doing that, she took refuge in flippancy, mixed with some honest astonishment. "After all," she said in a slightly more spirited manner, "it's not every day that you find that your best friend is really Superman!" "Lois..." he said, and she recognised a very Clark-ish tone, the kind of voice that he used when he was getting fed up with her over something. "You still don't get it, do you? Superman isn't *real!* He's a... a *facade* that I put on, along with the suit, so that I can use my powers openly and keep some semblance of privacy. Oh, he's not all an act -- I *feel* the same things in the suit as I do out of it; I just can't *show* many of them. So I put a lid on what I feel, and spend my time acting upright and noble... and most of the time, I do my damnedest to finish things quickly so that I can get away and go back to being *me* -- Clark. "Except, of course, half the time I can't even be *Clark* properly, because I can't let anyone know what I can do, and I keep having to rush off because I hear a call for help, or a siren, or a newscast, or... something! That's how we got into this mess in the first place!" He was right, she came to realise. It hadn't yet quite sunk in that Superman, the champion of truth and justice, the idol, the man that every woman dreamed of -- including, she blushed to admit, herself -- didn't actually exist. Oh, he was real enough, but what Clark was telling her was that the hero was a... a shell, a disguise, something that he, Clark Kent, pulled on over himself, in order to *be* himself -- or, at least, that part of him that could fly. Because the implication of what he had told her was that he couldn't *ever* be himself -- not *all* of himself. When he was Clark, he could do all the things that an ordinary human could do, but *only* what a "normal" man could do -- except, a flash of memory said to her, when he had no choice, like the time when his cloned double had threatened them both -- and when he was Superman, he could never relax, never let his guard down, never simply be what he was, because no-one would let him. Everyone, herself included, had put the Kryptonian on the highest of pedestals, and he must be so lonely up there... Her mind, racing ahead of her feelings, took the next step, and she almost collapsed in shock. He *was* lonely, and he'd turned to *her* in his loneliness. He'd told her the truth because he didn't want to have to pretend with her any more; he was offering her the chance to know him as he really was, to be one of... what was it he'd said? Only *three* people with whom he need not hide half of himself away. A wave of... well, tenderness was the only word for it, swept over her. She tried to say something, but the words died in her mouth. She realised that she didn't know *what* to say. Her mind raced back to the last thing that he'd said, and what she herself had said before that. Most of her own words now seemed to be mere babbling; he'd always said that he liked her babble, but now was not the right time for it. "Well, Clark," she said haltingly, "You needn't worry that I'll ever tell anyone your secret..." He didn't react to that, though she was sure that he must have worried about it. "I-- I'm going to have to think this over. Like I said, this is a shock." Somewhat to her surprise, she was beginning to feel more comfortable with the idea that her partner and the guy in the suit were the same man. She wanted to think back over the time since she met Clark in the light of this new knowledge; she was sure that she'd think of a thousand little things that should have told her this before, but it didn't seem to matter so much. Her self-confidence, deeply shaken by the thought of her "stupidity" in not discovering the truth for herself, was coming back; more importantly, the deep-rooted need to know that made her the reporter that she was, and which other people -- not Clark, though -- called mere curiosity, was firmly concentrating on the prospect of getting to know him fully. Her thoughts began to turn to the future rather than to the past. "I think I'll be able to cope, though -- eventually," she went on. "But what about you, Clark? You've been impulsive and told me your secret -- although I do wonder if impulse had much to do with it. Anyway, now that I know, where do you think we should go from here? What do *you* want?" "What do I *want?!*" he cried, seemingly stunned that she should ask -- that she should *need* to ask. "I want..." He paused for a moment, visibly seeking the right words. Then, with a force that surprised her, even after everything else that he'd said that night -- and the way that he'd said it -- he went on, "I want an *end* to this crazy masquerade! I want to *stop* these stupid misunderstandings, to stop hurting you and being hurt because I can't tell the world who I am and say that if it doesn't like it, it can go to hell! I want to tell you, show you, let you experience all the things I see, all that I feel, all that I *am*... "Above all, I want *you*..." Suddenly, he was behind her and his hands were on her waist. Before she could make a sound, whether of surprise, joy or protest, he lifted her high above his head. She felt like a ballerina, but this was no dance. The grip on her waist was firm and strong; she was in no danger of falling, and he seemed to have no immediate need or intention to put her down. Almost in spite of herself, she began to relax. Her head fell back, her back arched and her limbs stretched out until she found, to her surprise, that she was in a very ballerina-like pose, but quite comfortable and secure. Her response to his impromptu pas de deux seemed to encourage him, and she saw the horizon begin to sweep past as he began to slowly turn around, his feet a few inches above the sand. He was... flaunting her, almost, displaying her, although to whom or to what, she couldn't say. His voice had become slightly louder, but no less intense, taking on a challenging note as he spoke on, and she began to understand as she listened to him, whomever he might be addressing now: "I want to shout out to the whole damned universe, Here She Is! This is Lois Lane, the woman I would have to share my life. *This* is the one! *She* is the reason that I was sent hundreds of light-years; *she* is the only woman who has ever truly touched me; *she* is the other half of my soul..." And then, as before, he seemed to run down, as though, having said something that he'd been wanting-- had *needed* to say, for far too long, his outburst had emptied him of almost all emotion and all of what little pretence he had ever used with her. He set her down on the sand and stepped back, finishing what he was saying in a much-diminished voice, "...she is the one I love..." Lois was astonished. All that caring, all that passion, all that *need*, in someone who'd been sitting a couple of desks away from her for more than a year now, and she'd seen barely the merest hint of it. No wonder he'd seemed to blow hot and cold with her; he must have been afraid of being hurt, just as she was -- or, more likely, knowing him, he'd have been afraid of hurting *her*. 'And,' she thought, 'he *could* hurt me.' The sheer power of the emotions that he had shown her could consume her like a moth attracted to a blowtorch. But, at the same time, to be loved like that, by *Clark*... The prospect thrilled her, even as it made her wary. "Clark..." she said, haltingly, fearful of the intensity that he had shown her, yet, she was suddenly aware, wanting it so much, "*Am* I all that... to you?" "Oh, Lois," he replied in a voice that made her heart lurch from that very intensity, "You are all of that, and *so* much more..." He shook his head, helplessly, and opened his arms towards her. "I-- I can't find the words to say everything that I feel. I know hundreds of languages, but I can't find the words -- not in English, not in Kryptonese, not in *anything*. I-- I don't know how to tell you..." Just, she realised, as he hadn't known how to tell her his secret, that one, big secret that had nearly put an impenetrable barrier between them -- until tonight. Tonight, he had truly been Superman, because no concrete slab, no steel bars, not even her own prickly defences against being hurt, could have been as much of an obstacle as that secret and what it had been doing to them. But he had crashed into that barrier and broken through it, as he had so many other walls in the past -- except that, instead of breaking her out of imprisonment or helping her escape from danger, this time he had let her *in*. He had exposed his innermost self to her, shown her the man inside the costume -- *and* the one behind the glasses. She knew that he was totally vulnerable to her at this moment, and this touched her, incredibly deeply -- almost, she thought, as deeply as she seemed to have touched him. Her mind went blank as she searched for some way to reply -- as she tried to sort out just what it was that she felt and how she *would* reply. And then she remembered something that she'd seen in a book; appropriately, it came from a science fiction novel that she'd picked up in Clark's apartment one evening while waiting for him to finish dressing for a stake-out. It had seemed out of place in the futuristic world of the story, but it was almost too appropriate now; it was Montrose's toast: "He either fears his fate too much, Or his desserts are small, Who dares not put it to the test, To win or lose it all!" continued in part 5 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 04:24:24 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Zoomway Subject: Montrose's Toast part 5/6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Clark had dared to "put it to the test" tonight, all right; he'd put it *all* on the line -- his identity, his feelings, their relationship... and, she understood with a gasp, his life and the lives of everyone close to him. If she printed, or even just told anyone what she now knew about him, he would no longer *have* a life -- the media, the public, the government, the world would descend on him en masse with demands that no-one, not even Superman, could fulfil and remain sane. He'd have to be Superman all the time -- and he'd just told her that Superman wasn't real! There was more; his parents, and his friends -- they'd *all* be targets. Not just for his enemies, but for anyone who wanted a way to reach, or control, or *hurt* the Man of Steel. They'd had enough trouble that way as it was, with crooks using her as a shield or distraction for Superman -- the thought of what could happen if his secret got out was horrifying. And *she* could do that to him, unleash what could only be considered as hell on earth for him. Oh, yes, she'd be caught up in it as well, as much or more a victim of the craziness as he was, but she didn't think that he thought that fear would restrain her. That wasn't Clark; he was too straight-forward, too... *gentle* for that. It took exceptional circumstances for him to even think about threatening someone but, if he did have to, he didn't rely on oblique hints of distant or future retaliation; he was right there, giving the malefactor the simple, immediate choice -- do the right thing, or suffer the consequences, here and now. But he had given her that power, of his own choosing -- because, she guessed, the alternative was to go on as they had been, strangling in a web of lies born of fear -- fear of rejection, fear of vulnerability. He must have been relieved when she said that she'd never betray him, though she'd never have guessed it from his face. Which brought her back to Montrose's toast. Clark had risked *everything* tonight, and was now standing over there, his hands still extended towards her, waiting for her to give her verdict -- had he won or lost it all? For a moment, she wavered. Could she match his courage? Did she, proudly independent woman that she liked to think that she was, dare to risk everything by giving herself to him -- for she knew that *she* was the important stakes in his great gamble. He could lose his privacy, his identity, his friends and family, but that would only be secondary to his losing her; *that* would be his true loss, to which all else would only be added sorrow -- painful, but as nothing to the real wound. 'Can I do that?' she asked herself. And, in a moment, she answered herself, 'Yes, I can-- I *must!*' For she realised that he was offering her what she had always wanted in a relationship, but had had to armour herself against in the past because no-one, until now, had been prepared to give *her* what they insisted that she give them. She no longer feared the intensity of his love for her, because she knew that it was not meant to consume or even change her. This was not Lex Luthor, who said he wanted her -- but not as she was, only after she had been altered to fit his requirements, like a bespoke suit from a tailor. This was Clark; an enhanced Clark, to be sure, but still in essence the man (men?) she knew -- and he wanted her, with all her faults, all her quirks, all her insecurities. He wanted *all* of her, and in return would give her all of himself -- which, she now knew, was so much more than anyone could possibly have known. She wondered if this was not a *very* uneven trade, but dismissed the idea with the thought that Clark didn't seem to think so; for once, she had no way to argue with him, and didn't want to. She was still afraid, though. She had been hurt too often and too deeply before for all her fears to vanish, even though her mind told her that the man who had brought her to this point tonight was-- *had* to be different. But, in spite of her fears, she had made her decision and she summoned her courage, bolstering it with every assurance that she could think of as she began to walk haltingly towards him. A few steps and she was there, right in front of him. He hadn't moved and was staring at her with a look that she could only describe as akin to terror. She reached down and took his hands, then, with one final surge of resolve, forced herself to say, "Okay, Clark, you've won." "*Won?*" He sounded dazed. "Lois, this isn't a competition, or a game -- not to me. What have I won?" She looked deeply into his eyes, and she thought that she might have seen a flash of hope in them -- but it was gone almost before she became aware of it. She suddenly realised that he still had no idea what she was going to say, and the suspense of waiting for her to answer had to be the most exquisite torture to him. She took a very brief, intense moment of malicious pleasure in paying him back, just a little, for what he'd put her through, but that was smothered quickly by a rush of more powerful emotions -- concern for him, disgust with herself for being so petty, and a mind-whirling cocktail of hope, fear and tenderness. "Me," she finally said, so softly. "Me, Clark. If you want me so much, then *have* me, to... to share your life. And let me have you to share mine..." For a long moment, he didn't move, didn't speak, and his face went totally blank. Lois felt her heart start to break apart; she'd torn down her last defences, offered herself to him wholly and unconditionally, and he could have been a brick wall for all the effect it seemed to have had on him. The old fears sprang out from their lurking places with unholy glee. 'Oh, no,' she began to cry inside herself, 'Not again...' Until his face lit up with such intense hope that she almost recoiled from him. She couldn't, though, because his hands clamped over hers like steel traps; he wasn't hurting her, but there was no way that she could move away. He tried to speak: "You-- I-- Lois... do you *mean* that?" Her heart leaped at the look on his face. Her eyes, ready to cry already, filled with tears, but tears of joy, not sorrow. 'He *does* want me!' she yelled to herself, 'He just can't believe that *I* want *him!*' The realisation and the relief that it brought with it made her giddy with happiness. She smiled through her tears, suddenly anxious to reassure him. "*Yes*, Clark. Yes, I mean it..." she managed to choke out. Before she could say another word, she found herself crushed against his chest. She gasped for breath against him, his arms holding her to him with such force that she might have been frightened were it not for the wave of love that seemed to be coming from him; it crashed over her like the most powerful breaker on a beach, and with its passage all doubts, all fears, all hesitation were pushed-- no, *swept* away with yet more of that fantastic force, and they were no more able to resist than she could. They might return eventually, but she knew that they could never have the same power over her, not as long as she was protected -- *armoured* -- by his need for her and, she came to realise, hers for him. He lessened his grip on her for the barest interval, just long enough for her to take a deep breath while he moved so that he could kiss her. And what a kiss! She felt as though her body had melted, the giddy happiness of a few moments before exploding into incredible, mind-shattering joy. She couldn't think -- she didn't want to -- and her entire being was content just to feel this unbelievable, rapturous bliss. How long the moment lasted, the two of them locked in each other's arms, shutting out everything but each other, neither of them knew. Lois gradually became aware of a rushing sound and was then startled by a sudden, dull booming. "Clark..." she whispered once their mouths finally separated, "What was that noise?" "Uh..." he said after a moment, obviously embarrassed about something, "I tend to... float when I'm happy, and I guess I got a little carried away. I think we broke the sound barrier just then..." She gasped, turned her head to look around, and then broke out into a peal of delighted, joyous laughter. They were several thousand feet in the air, speeding over clouds and sea, racing across the sky. As she watched, they flashed through a small cloud and she saw long tendrils of cloud-stuff follow them, dragged along by their passage but unable to keep up with them and eventually dropping back and disappearing from her view. A thought struck her. "Clark..." she said, curious, "Why aren't I cold? If we're... supersonic, I should be freezing, but I can hardly feel a thing." "You're right... Maybe it's my aura -- the energy field around my skin that gives me my invulnerability -- maybe it's protecting you as well." "Oh." Well, that was something to think about -- later. Right now was more for feeling than thinking, and that thought made her realise what it was that she wanted to feel. She pulled him to her and lost herself in another one of those kisses that set her body and her soul on fire. "Now," he said softly, a little while later, "It's a nice night -- how about that flight over Metropolis?" "Who needs it..." whispered Lois before kissing him again. They may have done something rather like a barrel roll during the course of the next few seconds, but neither person was concentrating on anything but the other. concluded in part 6 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 04:24:45 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Zoomway Subject: Montrose's Toast part 6/6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Epilogue -------- Lois arrived at the Daily Planet and came into the newsroom just in time to see Imelda Wells, the paper's latest gossip columnist, hug Clark and kiss him enthusiastically on the cheek. The sight merely made her edgier than she had already been all morning. Last night, Superman had had his much-awaited date with the woman who had "bought" him at the auction. Much awaited by the media, and by people like Imelda in particular, that is; Clark had told Lois quite emphatically that *he* didn't want to go, but he had promised and he couldn't back out of this obligation. Lois believed him -- she kept telling herself that -- but there was this little voice inside her that kept nagging at the fact that her boyfriend, whom she had only just been getting to know -- to *really* know -- was going on a date with a beautiful, *rich* redhead, and she was nervous. She thought back over the last few days, about that incredible night on the beach and what he'd said to her then, and about all the places that he'd taken her since then, and the romantic things that they'd done, and especially about the wonderful way in which he kissed her... and she was still nervous. She kept her head high, squared her shoulders and marched towards her desk. She'd spent a long, lonely night deciding that the best way to play today was to be all business; after all, look what had happened the last time that she'd done that... She'd be with Clark a lot during the course of the day, so she'd find out soon enough what the score was, and then she'd deal with it appropriately. She could handle this. 'Wanna bet?' said that treacherous little voice. Before she could reach her desk, however, Imelda rushed over to her and breathlessly gushed, "Lois, you are so *lucky*. That man of yours is an absolute *gem!*" Before Lois could respond to this unusual statement from someone who normally worked on the Eleanor Roosevelt principle ("If you can't say anything nice about anyone... come sit by me."), particularly with regards to the male of the species, Imelda was chattering away again. "Do you know what he *did* last night? Oh, well, of course you do, you were there, weren't you?" Suddenly, Imelda looked shocked. "Oh, that means that it wasn't just Clark, it was you, too! Oh, *thank* you!" And she reached over and hugged Lois as well. Lois, completely confused, didn't reply, but she probably wouldn't have been able to get a word in anyway as Imelda babbled on, "I *wish* I knew how you two managed to get so close to Superman all the time. I know, I know, trade secrets and all that. Oh my, look at the time; I've got to *rush!* See you later, Lois, and thanks again..." "Uh, sure, Mel... any time," said a stunned Lois to the woman's rapidly-retreating back. 'What was all *that* about?' she thought. From what she could make out, it seemed to have something to do with Clark and Superman, and she was in there somewhere too, which totally mystified her. Clark had... what? Done Imelda some sort of favour? And Imelda thought that Lois was involved as well. 'This is nuts,' she thought. 'The only thing that I know of involving Clark and Superman that Imelda would be interested in is that... date... last... night.' Lois suddenly felt every nerve in her body tense. By now she had finally reached her desk, where she found a neatly-folded copy of the morning edition, and on top of that a note and a single exotic orchid. She admired the beauty of the flower but was more interested in the note, which read: Dear Lois, You might find page 23 interesting. Love, Clark This, naturally, sent Lois' curiosity through the roof but, before she could turn to page 23, Perry came barrelling out of his office in his usual fashion. "Lois! Kent!" he bellowed. "Great work last night, you two! Now get on over to City Hall -- the Mayor's about to announce who's gettin' this year's Federal grants, and the word is out that half of the applicants are fronts for Intergang! I guess they need the money after last week!" With that parting word, he turned back into his office, chuckling to himself. "We're on it, Chief," called out Clark as he came over to Lois' desk. "Hi," he said, smiling broadly. "Hi," she replied, unable to resist smiling back. "Thanks for the orchid. Where did you get it?" He leaned over and said softly, "From a grower I met. I... take it from that that you haven't had a chance to read the paper yet." "Well, no. I only got here a few minutes ago -- just in time to see Imelda try to take up where Cat left off," she added with just a touch of waspishness, "and then have her come and gush all over *me*. Just what did you do to make her so happy?" 'And did it have anything to do with a certain other woman?' the little voice added. "And what's with Perry and this 'great work' that we're supposed to have done last night?" "It's all in there," he replied, pointing at the paper. "Come on, we'd better get going. I'll drive and you can read the paper, and then I'll tell you all about last night." "Okay..." * * * Once in the jeep, Lois finally got to look at the mysterious page 23. Her eyes widened as she read the headline above what turned out to be Imelda's column. She began to read out loud before turning to look at Clark with astonishment. "'Super-Date A Super Disaster; Exclusive report by *Imelda Wells*?' Clark, what *happened?*" Clark shook his head before lowering it onto the steering wheel. "Lois, you wouldn't believe it," he chuckled softly. "What a night! It was just one thing after another. And talk about bad timing: she kept trying to get close to me all evening, and *every time*, my hearing would kick in and I'd have to go to deal with another emergency." He looked up, and she was delighted by the laughter in his eyes. "And it was all *real*, too. No fake emergencies to get me out of a potentially embarrassing situation. I'd wondered if I might have to do that--" His voice suddenly became dryly amused. "--and the way she kept trying to move in on me, I probably *would* have." The dry humour turned into a laugh. "But every bad guy in the city must have decided to try something last night because they thought Superman had a hot date!" He laughed again, and the gay, joyous sound was infectious. Drawn into his mirth, she began to laugh too. He started the engine and began to drive, still talking and still chuckling. "A hot date? Lois, the only thing hot about last night was Red's temper. She asked me to call her Red when we arrived at the restaurant, and I *think* she was going to say something about matching my cape, but I had to leave -- was that the first bank robbery? No, must've been the freeway -- and things went downhill from there." He waved a hand at the paper. "After you've finished with Mel, take a look at the city pages. It's all there -- the bank robberies, the muggings, the freeway pile-up, everything." Lois didn't wait to see what Imelda had written but turned immediately to her usual stomping grounds, where she found a series of articles describing Superman's feats the previous night. She was amazed at the sheer number of them -- 'He wasn't kidding, was he?' she thought -- and, just for a moment, she felt a flash of sympathy for poor "Red", trying to make time with someone who not only didn't want to be there but who kept leaving because he was needed and couldn't refuse a call for help. 'Oh, I know about *that* one,' she thought. The difference was that now, she also knew that he *wanted* to be with her, but what made him who and what he was could never disregard another's distress. She quickly scanned the pages, trying to follow the course of the apparently disastrous evening. Two bank jobs; three-- no, four-- no, *six* muggings, including one attempted rape; a fire at a plant breeders'('Oh, *that's* where he got the orchid...' she realised); a 30-car multiple shunt on the New Troy freeway; another fire, at an industrial plant this time; a sinking pleasure cruiser out to sea off Metropolis Harbour; the list went on and on and *on.* She started to count the reports and cross-reference them in her mind, to see if she could figure out just how many times he'd have to leave his poor date. She'd worked out that it must have been at least nine times -- or was it ten? -- when her eye fell upon something that she had yet to notice: the by-line on the reports. Up in the top left-hand corner of the first page was a small-to-medium-sized box, the kind of thing Perry used to attribute multiple, connected articles to their authors. It read: "Special Report on the Latest Feats of the Man of Steel, by... *Lois Lane* and Clark Kent"..! "Clark..." she said, turning to him with startled, wide eyes. "What... How..?" He smiled at her again. "How come you have a by-line? Well, I was out and about so much last night that I knew that I'd have to write it all up. No reporter worth his -- or her -- salt could have missed all that super-activity, but I also realised that there was no way that an ordinary man could have covered *all* of Superman's appearances. So, I figured that my partner had better get into the act." Lois felt herself cringe inside at his off-hand comment. *She'd* missed "all that super-activity" because she'd shut herself away from the world for once, to deal with her fears about his date. She wasn't sure that she liked his casual use of her to cover his double identity, but she suddenly realised that he was worried about it, too, and was, even now, apologising for it. She made herself listen to him. "...so I'm sorry about that. I promise that I won't do it again, unless there's a real emergency. It just seemed like the best way to handle the situation. After all, everyone knows that we're close friends of Superman. "Besides," he went on, his voice taking on a reminiscent, thoughtful tone, "you *were* there last night, in a way. Every time I did something or saw something, I wanted you to be there too, to share it. When Red came on to me, I wished that she was you, so that I could enjoy it and respond, rather than being horribly embarrassed by the whole business... And every time I had to leave, I could see that she was getting more and more upset, but I kept on thinking that *you'd* understand, now. I didn't have to give Red any stupid excuses, but all I could think about was that I didn't need to give *you* any, either -- not any more, even if I wasn't wearing the suit." His voice changed, becoming tighter. "And when I caught that rapist... well, let's just say that the only reason that he's still in one piece is that I couldn't come to you with bloody hands..." He paused for a moment, and she saw a darkness lift from his face. He chuckled again. "Anyway, after the evening was finally over, I cleaned myself up and rang the office to say that I-- *we* were coming over to write everything up for the morning edition. Which is how Imelda caught up with me. Perry must have had the phone on conference -- or she must have been eavesdropping on an extension -- because as soon as she heard that I was writing about Superman, she came on the line and was all *over* me with questions: had I seen Superman that evening? What was he doing? Did he say anything about the date? Did he look happy? Was he in a hurry to get back? You know the sort of thing..." Lois did. She'd seen -- and heard -- Imelda in action; when the woman was in full flight, she was so melodramatic that she *almost* made Lois regret Cat's departure... Not quite, but almost. "So why was she so grateful this morning? What did you tell her?" she asked. "Well, I told her that I didn't think that things had gone too well. It took her a minute to recover from the shock, but then she wanted to know *why*, and I told her that Superman had been so busy that he couldn't have had much time for his date in between emergencies." He cast a quick glance over at Lois, one eyebrow up. "What I didn't tell her, of course, was that he didn't *want* much time for the date... "And then I said that I thought that the date would be over by now. That *really* shocked dear Mel, who couldn't imagine why any red-blooded woman would let Superman out of her clutches at *all*, much less before midnight, but she recovered when I suggested that Red -- I didn't call her Red, of course; I said, 'Superman's companion' -- might appreciate someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on... that sort of thing. "She didn't need to be told twice! By the time I got to the newsroom, she was on her way out the door to see Red. Hence the 'exclusive report' on page 23, and Mel's... *effusive* thanks this morning." Lois laughed at that, and then settled down to think a few things over while Clark kept driving. It certainly seemed that her fears over his reaction to "Red" were unfounded, however rich and spectacular the woman might have been. If anything, he seemed to have spent the entire evening wishing that *she* were with him. It was a stunning thought -- here was a man (*her* man? -- did she dare even think that?) telling her that he had wanted her to be with him through all the supposedly romantic events of the previous evening -- and, she suddenly guessed from the way he'd spoken, through the *un*romantic events as well. *This* was even more stunning. Clark was truly offering her a partnership; he wanted her by his side, or at least there for him, in good times *and* bad. Oh, he'd probably still be over- protective, but she could deal with that; more importantly, he really did want to share his life with her. *All* of it, from the wonders to the horrors... But then she remembered something else that he'd said, and her new-found confidence almost collapsed. All her doubts and anxieties surged up again as she considered one possible interpretation of his words. The rational part of her brain was sure that she was reading way, *way* too much into an innocent phrase, but the voice of reason was being drowned out by the clamour of insecurity, which would only be stilled by finding out what he had really meant. "Clark..." she said, trying desperately not to let this sudden new fear show in her voice, "You said that before you went to the office, you had to clean yourself up. Why?" "Hmm?" he murmured, obviously concentrating on driving. "Oh, *that*... Well, you see, Lois, I'd just taken Red home, and she'd asked me in for coffee, when that fire broke out in the industrial plant. I was going to beg off the coffee and say good night, but I had to fly off in so much of a hurry that I forgot to actually *say* it. "The fire was a real mess, and the only way to prevent it from getting worse was to shut off the fuel supply -- which meant diving into some of the chemical storage tanks. So, by the time that the fire department were satisfied that they had things under control, I was *filthy!* I mean, really awful: I was covered in a mixture of foam, brick dust and stuff from half-a- dozen tanks; I *reeked* of chemicals and smoke; half my cape had been burnt or eaten away -- and there was Red, waiting for me to come back and have a nice, cosy tete-a-tete with her over coffee!" He groaned and cast his eyes to the heavens, just for a second. "What could I do? I got a fire truck to hose me down, to get rid of as much of the muck as possible, but it didn't really work -- that suit was a goner, and it took a quick trip into the sun not too long after. But before that, I flew back to Red's place in it. I figured that this was the perfect way to avoid having to come in for coffee; from what I'd seen of her apartment, she was very houseproud, so I was sure that she wouldn't want me messing up the place, and it was an excuse made in heaven..." Clark chuckled and his voice took on a sardonic note. "What I *wasn't* expecting was her reaction when I hovered outside her window to say good night. She took one look, screamed and threw her coffee at me, cup and all! Then she collapsed onto her couch and started crying. I was mortified; I wanted to apologise, but I didn't dare go into the apartment, and then I noticed her heartbeat; she wasn't half as upset as she was making out. So I put the cup and saucer, which I'd caught -- my suit 'caught' the *coffee* -- on her window-sill, said good night and left. She's a good actress, I'll give her that..." Lois just looked at him, wide-eyed, and then burst out laughing. Clark noticed that her laughter had a slightly relieved tone to it, and made a mental note to try to find out what she had been worried about, but said nothing, merely smiling as he looked at her, thinking yet again how beautiful she was. For her part, once she had recovered, Lois sat back in the passenger seat of the Jeep with a small smile on her face and was silent for the remainder of the ride to City Hall. Once Clark had parked the Jeep, she reached over and pulled him to her in a long, hard, passionate kiss. They separated -- eventually -- and Clark looked at her with a startled but eager gaze. "Wow..." he breathed softly, "What was *that* for?" "Everything... nothing..." murmured Lois, who was starry-eyed and somewhat short of breath herself. "But mostly just for being you..." She gently kissed him again, the merest brush of her lips on his, then released him and sat up in her seat. Clark could almost see her switch from personal to reporter mode, and wasn't surprised when she turned to him and said, all business now -- or *almost* all business -- "Come on, Clark. Let's go find out which of their colleagues those crooks in City Hall are planning to give our tax money to." "Yes, ma'am," he replied, getting out of the car a split-second behind her. Clark stood still, just for a second, and watched Lois Lane, investigative reporter, head for the doors of Metropolis City Hall, marvelling once again at her confident, forceful personality. When she was like this, she'd tackle tigers, and the smart money bet against the big cats. Of course, sometimes there might be a few too many tigers, but that was what he was there for. They were partners, and that word was taking on new, more important and deeper shades of meaning every day. Right now, though, he'd better work on the earliest interpretation of their partnership and catch up with her... For her part, Lois felt ready to take on the world, but she'd settle for the City Council at the moment. Her fears of the previous night had disappeared like the phantoms that they were, evaporated by the light and warmth that Clark and his love -- there could be no other word for it, Lois finally had to admit to herself -- brought into her life. She looked around for him as she reached the top of the City Hall steps, and he appeared by her side, seemingly out of nowhere as usual. She grabbed his hand and almost dragged him through the revolving doors and into the building. The City Council didn't have the faintest idea of what was about to hit it... THE END ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 11:37:12 PDT 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: "CLASSIC" FIC: "Wherefore Art Thou ..." part 2 of 2 In-Reply-To: <2ad3cc43.352c02bd@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi, Kat, I remember reading this when it first showed up in the archive, and I enjoyed it just as much on the second read-through :) It really appealed to me that Clark had fallen in love with her so many years before, but never told her -- I don't know that she would never have married him knowing he was "Kent Jerome" but he would certainly have had a harder time of it. It was a little odd that she would not recognize the face, but the name clicked the minute she saw the nametag, even though she had to have known his full name for a while. But that's a minor point -- I really enjoyed this story. Peace A FoLC Named Peace Come visit me, and read my Lois & Clark fanfic http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/7137 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 07:18:49 -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: Fanfic OT: The Nature of Fanfic, or, How to Have Your Own Universal Playground Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi all, I'm a member of the Buffy Beta fanfic mailing list and I thought I would share this fic with you, as being a fanfic about fanfic, it's fun. I got Anna's permission to, so here it is! (So are Anya's archive stories where she has teh Buffy characters addicted to reading fanfic about themselves!). So -- this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer fic, there are a few injokes at the end -- but can't you see Jimmy or Lois getting into this? oh, BTW, there's no Season 5 ep this weekend. The Easter Bunny said he was too busy to read it and so could I please put it off a week? Leanne > >TITLE: The Nature of Fanfic, or, How to Have Your Own Universal Playground >AUTHOR: Annanara / Ananara@aol.com >DISTRIBUTION: Willfic archive. Slayer Fanfic Archive. Any other archive ask >permission first, please. >SUMMARY: Willow find help for her creative writing project in an unexpected >source. >DISCLAIMER: I don't own any B:tVS characters, WB and Joss Whedon do, I'm just >gonna borrow them for a bit. :-) As for some guest appearances...I don't own >them either. > > >Willow strolled through the stacks, trying to find a book that would help her >with her English assignment. Creative writing. All she found so far were a >bunch of books on correct grammar, spelling, format and the such. All >technical information about writing, which she already knew. Which, in turn, >was utterly and completely useless to her. > >She sighed as she ran her finger across the tops of the books on the shelf. >As she got near the end of the shelf, her finger snagged on something and a >small pamphlet fell to the floor. > >"Oops," she muttered as she picked it up. Turning it over to see the cover, >the pamphlet read: > >"The Nature of Fanfic, or, How to Have Your Own Universal Playground." > >"Hmmm, this looks interesting." Willow walked back to the main floor and took >a seat to read. She opened the pamphlet up to read the table of contents. > >Willow shook her head. This is too weird...but, she plunged ahead to read. >Maybe it would give her some ideas. Heaven knew she didn't have a clue what >to write for her class. She wasn't that creative unless she was hacking. > >Turning the first page, the title greeted her in bold, black letters. > >"Chapter 1: In The Beginning, or, How Do I Start." > >"The first thing to do when writing fanfic is to choose a fandom. Preferably >one show that you are ultra-obsessive about. The kind that you can nitpick to >death and create cheesy rationalizations for." > >Willow paused in her reading. Yah, I think I can do that. But, do I really >have to pick one? > >"Picking one is the best way to start." > >"Okay...that answers that question," she mumbled to herself. So, what's next? > >"The next thing to do, after choosing your show is think about what -you- >would like to see happen on the show. Or, depending on how the show ended, >what you -didn't- want to see happen." > >"Yep, definitely got a show in mind..." Willow smiled. Oh yah, this is >definitely a good read. She felt a pull to start reading again. She had to >finish reading this...she didn't know why, she just had to. Turning the next >page, she came upon... > >"Chapter 2. What if..." > >"What if Marcus never died...what if Scully was never returned to >Mulder...what if the Smurfs ever got eaten...all burning questions in the >minds of some. "What if's" are another way to start writing a story besides >what you wish would happen. These "what if" questions can also lead to >another thing. The alternate universe, but we'll get to that later." > >"Hmm...what if...sounds good to me." Willow's smile got bigger. She never >noticed the figures of her friends enter the library, surprised to see the >hacker reading a pamphlet of all things. > >"Set in your mind a firm "what if" scenario to work from. What if such and >such happened. How would such and such react? What would they think. These >are all important questions..." > >"I bet they are..." she mumbled happily. Her smile widened. > >"Hey Will?" Xander said as he walked up to his best friend. Seeing the lack >of attention she was giving him, he tapped her on the shoulders. When she >didn't respond, he shook her shoulders, but her attention was firmly on the >pamphlet before her. > >Taking a good look, he noticed the pages where blank. "Uh, Giles, I think >we've got a problem..." > >Willow smiled and continued to read, oblivious to the concerned looks Buffy, >Xander, and Giles were giving her. > >"Chapter 3: Getting In Touch With Your Inner Moppet, or, Channeling Characters >for Fun" > >"By now, if you're "in the zone" or, possibly "completely zoned out" you'll be >hearing voices of the characters in your head. If this happens, -do not >panic-. You have simply telepathically crossed over to the fanfic character >repository dimension, a place where all characters in the universe are stored >for writers' convenience. You will find that many other fanfic writers have >the same ability. But, be warned, the characters may not shut up until you >write so it is a good idea to have pen and paper handy in case -they- contact >-you-." > >Willow closed her eyes and swore she heard some voices whispering in the back >of her mind. Or is could just be the fact that Buffy, Giles, and Xander were >buzzing around her like gnats. She tuned them out and listened to the inner >voices of the characters. > >Oh yes, she thought, this is coming along just nicely... > >"Chapter 4: How Silly Can You Get?!" > >"Of course, not all fanfic is meant to be serious or completely in character. >Sometimes you've got to let loose. So what if Natalie, Grace, Scully, and >Alex go to a strip joint while a Law Enforcement Convention was in Toronto and >had a little too much fun?! Or if the Animaniacs decide to descend on >Seacouver and one Duncan McLeod? Be creative, be bad, be wacky and spazzy! >Too much seriousness can ruin anyone's day!" > >I am definitely having some clear thoughts...this is the best thing I could >have found to help my writing, Willow thought as she quickly thumbed to the >next page. > >"I don't think she can hear us!" Xander exclaimed. He suddenly felt alone. >His best bud was completely out of it and there was nothing he could do. He >paced around the library. "What has gotten into her, Giles?! You should >know! What is she reading? Or, should it be, what does she think she's >reading?!" He began pointing wildly at the pamphlet in his friend's small >hands. "It doesn't even have writing!" > >"Xander, please, calm down. I'm sure Willow is fine. I've...I have to admit, >I've never seen that...um...pamphlet before." Giles took off his glasses, >cleaning them off quickly. "But, I believe that when she's finished, she >should be fine. Whatever has her...enthralled is whatever she is supposed to >be reading. Once she's done reading, it'll be over...I think." > >Xander flung his arms in the air and plopped down in one of the chairs. Buffy >just smiled and watched Willow's face. The girl was definitely happy about >something. Hope she enjoys whatever it is she's reading... > >"Chapter 5: Traversing the Space/Time Continuum, or, Alternate Universes" > >"As we mentioned before, the use of "what if" in a story line causes a shift >in the space/time continuum of that particular show. That shift may be good >or bad, depending on whatever the fanfic writer chooses. However, the sad >thing is, the shift in space/time only occurs in your own personal dimensional >playground, it does not affect the show's cannon. But, don't worry about >that, fanfic is both for fun and therapy when things -do- go horribly wrong on >your favorite show..." > >Willow stopped reading a moment and wondered. What would happen if I did >this...oooh...she liked that idea. She smiled again and began to read. > >"Chapter 6 Beware of Borg Smurfs, or, The Crossovers" > >"Ah, yes, the blessed and cursed crossovers. Or Xovers for short. These can >be the best and worst things to play with. They too are at type of space/time >shift, but more dimensional shifts then space/time, unless you decide to do >both, which is very possible. > >The best Xovers are those that have some relation between them. Whether it's >a common theme >or set in the same city, some connection makes the story more fun. Or, you >could simply bring >two show together just to be silly. But the main thing is, make it your >favorite shows and watch >the characters try to figure out what they did that ever warranted such an >Xover!" > >"Hey!" Xander piped up, "looks like she's almost done!" > >Willow turned the to the last page. It was a short blurb, but contained a >small bit of vital information. Well, at least for her...and it was of the >good. She grinned, a wicked gleam appearing in her eye. > > >"Chapter 7 Girls Just Want to have Fun...and Guys Too." > >"You now have the basics to write your own fanfic. Write your story, grab a >friend to proofread and post! It's that simple! Have fun and mix it up! > >Cautionary Note: Should any characters of actual shows be reading this, as you >are characters of the show and most likely in a fanfic yourself while reading >this, you have now become aware of your own fanfictioness. You now have the >power to command that fic. Have fun! > > The Author" > >Willow giggled, then laughed and put the pamphlet on the table. "That was >-the- best read!" > >"Willow? Will? You okay?" Xander asked, concerned. > >"Perfectly peachy, Xander my dear," Willow said while laughing again. In her >mind's eye, she had a vision before her like none other. It was gonna be >worth while to see the look on Xander's face. > >Willow glanced to the stacks, and out of the shadows Angel walked. "Buffy? >How..how did I get here?" Angel asked. Buffy gasped and cautiously approached >Angel. Willow smiled. One down, two to go... > >Without warning, Ms. Calendar came running into the library. "Giles!!" She >rushed into the Watcher's arms, confusion clearly written on his face. > >"Jenny?" Giles gasped. He held her close and twirled her around. > >Moments later Cordelia came through the door with Screed. "Sorry, Xander, but >I'm gonna have to dump you. Screedy and I are goin' to Vegas!" > >Xander looked at Cordelia, then the bald man who was sucking a big rat dry. >"Eewww...Cordy, you really leaving me? For that...that..." "Carouche, Xander. >He's a carouche." "Whatever," Xander mumbled as Cordelia left as quickly as >she came in. > >Screed turned and waved. "Bye, mate!" he said in a cockney accent as he went >after Cordelia. > >Willow smiled as she walked up to Xander. "Tough break..." Willow whispered >in his ear. > >Xander smiled and put his arm around her. "So, Will, what're your plans for >tonight?" > >Willow grinned widely and pulled away from Xander. "I've got a date with a >Ranger." Xander stared at her wide-eyed and in confusion. She waved to her >friend as a man with long dark hair and a beard, dressed in a tunic and robe >walked into the library. > >"Ready, dear? The Whitestar is ready to take you where ever you want to go." > >Willow put her arm around the waist of her personal Ranger. "Let's go Marcus, >I'm ready for anything." > >With that, Willow and her handsome Ranger left the library, left the school, >left the Hellmouth, and went into the great unknown. At least to her. > > >Willow put down her pen and grinned. Yes, this is of the fairly good. An >excellent warmup short story for her real homework. But, it was so much >fun...maybe one more before getting to the real work... > >And Willow picked up her pen and power once again... >--------------------------------- > >Hey, out there, let me know what you thought! Or at least, let me know if you >read it :D > >Annanara 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: Sat, 11 Apr 1998 11:37:39 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Comments: RFC822 error: TO field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. Comments: RFC822 error: TO field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. Comments: RFC822 error: TO field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: The Gardner Family Comments: To: UNCLE BILL , ZACK BURCH MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Happy Easter Everybody!!! Brad G. ------------------------------------------ Brad Gardner Gardners@htc.net=20 Visit Brad's World-everything from Buffy, Friends, and Lois and Clark to = music and books! http://www.angelfire.com/ga/gardners/brdswrld.html=20 Phoebe's Song Grandma- Now grandma's a person who everyone likes, She brought you a train and a = bright shiny bike. But lately she hasn't been coming to dinner, And last = time you saw her she looked so much thinner. Now your mom and your dad = said she moved to Peru, But the truth is she died and someday you will = too La-la-la-la-la... ------------------------------------------ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1998 13:45:24 -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: Looking for an Editor Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello, I'm yet again looking for an editor. *This* time the special requirement is that you must be familiar with the Regency Romance style (it's a Soulmates chronicle) -- oh, and be reasonably quick about editing. As poor Chris can attest, I'm a right royal pain! *grin* At the moment, this is a PG-version, but there are at least two or three places where it can be nficed. (in fact I had to delete a paragraph when I realised it was getting a wee bit heavy!) I guess, if nobody offers to edit it, I'll post it here next week and you *all* can have a go. Leanne Leanne Shawler aka Volterra on IRC (volterra@sd.znet.com) Web Design: http://www.znet.com/~volterra/design/webdesign.html Home Page: 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: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 02:57:47 +1000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Louise Kendall Subject: Re: Looking for an Editor In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Actually I've always wondered, how does one become an editor - what are the qualifications required? jem At 13:45 11/04/98 -0800, you wrote: >Hello, > >I'm yet again looking for an editor. *This* time the special requirement is >that you must be familiar with the Regency Romance style (it's a Soulmates >chronicle) -- oh, and be reasonably quick about editing. As poor Chris can >attest, I'm a right royal pain! *grin* > >At the moment, this is a PG-version, but there are at least two or three >places where it can be nficed. (in fact I had to delete a paragraph when I >realised it was getting a wee bit heavy!) > >I guess, if nobody offers to edit it, I'll post it here next week and you >*all* can have a go. > >Leanne > >Leanne Shawler aka Volterra on IRC (volterra@sd.znet.com) >Web Design: http://www.znet.com/~volterra/design/webdesign.html >Home Page: 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: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 07:19:43 -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: Re: Looking for an Editor In-Reply-To: <3.0.1.32.19980413025747.00888100@mail01.cbr.aone.net.au> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Actually I've always wondered, how does one become an editor - what are the >qualifications required? > Well, generally speaking ... it would be someone who is a meticulous reader, can spot a typo at twenty paces, leap dangling participles in a single bound *grin* ... They need not only to spot poor grammar and spelling, but also to suggest a better way of writing a clumsily reworded sentence. Also, being fresh to the story, they can discover any plotholes or moments of "out-of-character"ness. Some of the latter is subjective but you know that any time someone goes "huh?" they either didn't read it properly or you,the author, has got some 'splanin' to do! While I have you here, those who offered to edit my story, I .... ah, decided last night it wasn't finished after all. The hero isn't nearly developed enough, there needs to be a tad more tension and the whole she-bang gets resolved by one of those "airing of emotions" that never happen in real life unless you're on irc *grin*. So -- I'll be in touch with those who offered when I get that all sorted out, probably at the end of the week. Thanks, Leanne Leanne Shawler aka Volterra on IRC (volterra@sd.znet.com) Web Design: http://www.znet.com/~volterra/design/webdesign.html Home Page: 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: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 11:45:58 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Larus2407 Subject: Re: Looking for an Editor Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-04-13 10:27:54 EDT, you write: << While I have you here, those who offered to edit my story, I .... ah, decided last night it wasn't finished after all. >> Gosh, Leanne must be Ultrawoman to be working on another story while juggling the rescheduling of eps for S5, writing her own ep, and, maybe even, real life . --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 18:14:55 -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: Re: Looking for an Editor In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Laurie wrote in response to me: > ><< While I have you here, those who offered to edit my story, I .... ah, > decided last night it wasn't finished after all. >> > >Gosh, Leanne must be Ultrawoman to be working on another story while juggling >the rescheduling of eps for S5, writing her own ep, and, maybe even, real life >. > Well, Laurie, I had to burst your bubble but: a) KathyB actually suggested the rescheduling (she's in training as co-coordinator *if* we do a S6) b) my ep was out two Sundays ago and well and truly finished by then, except for a few corrections from the S5 crew (yours being among them!) c) ok, you got me on the last. *grin* Stay tuned soon, gang, for the promo of this Sunday's ep -- I just finished reading it today (Real Life having taken over my weekend, pretty much) and it's great! Leanne Leanne Shawler aka Volterra on IRC (volterra@sd.znet.com) Web Design: http://www.znet.com/~volterra/design/webdesign.html Home Page: 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: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 07:09:04 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Kathy Brown (by way of Leanne Shawler)" Subject: S5: Ep 18, TTLG -- Promo Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Promo for "Through The Looking Glass", Season 5, Episode 18 by Kathy Brown and Betsy **** Announcer: Next week, on "Lois & Clark", Season 5 ... The answers to all your questions ... **** Lois, in bed with Clark: "Mr. Wells seemed to imply he was going to help the other Clark find his Lois. Do you think he ever did?" **** Clark Kent jerked awake in his bed, covered with a thin sheen of sweat. **** A phone rings in the middle of the night ... "Who is this?" Alice White demanded. When she turned to face her husband, she was white as a ghost. "Oh, my Lord," she whispered into the phone. **** Lex Luthor calmly placed something in the hand of the waiting man ... who quickly fell to the floor. Lex's voice, whispering: "Lois Lane." **** Frightened shouts: "Get out of the way!" Superman swoops down on a young woman with long dark hair. Seconds later, a speeding car passes directly over where she had stood. The two hover in the air ... stunned. **** "Ah, Clark," James Olsen enthused. "Right on time. Lois Lane, Clark Kent." Lois couldn't help but stare as she shook his hand. "We've ... uh .... met." **** Perry White grinned. "Kinda eerie, isn't it?" **** Lois, in newsroom: "Lex Luthor. What's he like?" Lex Luthor, in his office, kissing Lois's hand. "Ms. Lane." **** Clark tentatively reached up to stroke Lois's long hair. Lois's voice: "Were you in love with her?" **** Clark fell to the floor. Lois, sobbing: "Clark!!" **** Announcer: Coming Sunday, April 19 ... to a monitor near you. "Lois & Clark", Season 5. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 14:06:48 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kat5107 Subject: Next Sunday From The Unaired Fifth Season Of Lois & Clark... Comments: To: loiscla@vm.ege.edu.tr Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Craig Byrne asked me to post this ... so here's our next episode "trailer= " ...=0AI should be posting all future episode trailers as well ... All q= uestions=0Ashould be directed to CraigByrne@aol.com, not me And if yo= u want to=0Asubscribe to TUFS/Krypton Club, the new address is kryptntufs= @yahoo.com -- Kat, kat5107@aol.com "Smallville, Kansas is the place to be, Farm living is the life for me, Land spreading out so far and wide, Take Metropolis, give me that countryside..." With their baby=92s birth only 2 months away, Clark reflects on his own i= dyllic childhood in Smallville. But is Kansas really the bucolic haven that Cla= rk remembers? When Clark=92s parents are faced with the possibility of losing the famil= y farm, Superman is challenged to effect a very different kind of a rescue. Lois= and=0AClark journey back to Smallville, and in their efforts to help the= Kents, find=0Athemselves embroiled in a twenty year old mystery. Before= it=92s solved,=0Athey=92ll deal with a haunted house and inexplicable crop failures, and Lois will prove that s= he=0Adoesn=92t need to be in Metropolis to find intrigue and life-threate= ning danger. "Paradise Lost" is written by Genevieve Clemens and Peabody, and is comin= g=0Ayour way SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 1998 from TUFS. Don't miss it! Craig Byrne---------------------- "He's the classic only child. He pouts when things don't go his way and h= e=0Aonly sees things in black and white. Anything else confuses him." -- = Joey,=0A"Dawson's Creek" ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 21:15:02 -0500 Reply-To: peabody@mcs.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pat Organization: Amarna House Subject: Paradise Lost MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi FOLCs, Just wanted to let everyone know that Genevieve and I will be posting "Paradise Lost" to this list after it is sent out to the TUFS subscribers on Sunday night (4-19) We hope that you'll enjoy it! Pat -- peabody@mcs.com pattijean@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 19:27:13 -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: TUFS on the fanfic list! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Well, all I can say is: about time!!! I asked Craig whilst the voting for the Kerths was going on why he wasn't posting TUFS to the fanfic list. I told him it wasn't S5's personal domain ... and I'm glad to see that it's not so! Hmm, is the contention for Kerths '99 hotting up already? *grin* Leanne Leanne Shawler aka Volterra on IRC (volterra@sd.znet.com) Web Design: http://www.znet.com/~volterra/design/webdesign.html Home Page: 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: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 23:17:02 -0400 Reply-To: NightSky@erols.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Subject: Re: TUFS on the fanfic list! and a question... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Leanne Shawler wrote: > > Well, all I can say is: about time!!! I asked Craig whilst the voting for > the Kerths was going on why he wasn't posting TUFS to the fanfic list. I > told him it wasn't S5's personal domain ... and I'm glad to see that it's > not so! Now, Leanne, I posted "Yet Each Man Kills" here, and it was part of TUFS. Seriously, I think Craig is leaving it up to the individual authors whether to post here or not. And since Pat and I both feel at home here on the list, we want to make sure that you all have a chance to read (and offer comments! Please!) on this magnum opus we are finishing up. Jeff, your story's coming up next. Are you going to be posting it here? -- Genevieve (NightSky@erols.com) ; Who needs to find time to watch Pilot and MOSB to see what the name of the Smallville newspaper was ... anyone remember? Was it mentioned in any other episodes?