From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG9805B" ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 04:48:02 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: Re: Lois' parents Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-05-08 00:29:06 EDT, you write: << Speaking of inconsistencies I just for the first time watched a L&C show I somehow missed. "Lethal Weapon" and as good as it was, I found myself not understanding so many parts. Like where did this "new" red kryptonite come from, wasn't it red kryptonite that made him apathetic? Why would it all of a sudden make him not be able to control his powers? I didn't notice any mention of any work being done on the red to alter it. >> Red kryptonite comes from the silver age Superman comics. It affects Superman differently with each exposure. On the show he was first exposed to red K in Individual Responsibility. It made him apathetic. The second time was in Ultra Woman, it transfered his powers to Lois. Red K isn't and doesn't have to be altered, it is just part of the comic book lore that it has a different effect on Superman each time it's re-introduced. >>>Also did Kryptonite ever make him sneeze like he did in Dr. Kleins office? I remember him always saying how he never sneezes and the only time he did I thought was when he had that strange kryptonite virus they got from his ship and harvested it. Maybe this kryptonite may cause him to sneeze? <<<< Clark/Superman sneezing in Lethal Weapon was mainly for humor's sake, just as in All Shook Up with Clark sneezed for no other reason than to cause a sight gag (sending a taxi crashing into a fire hydrant) The sneeze in Home Is Where the Hurt Is where Clark gets sick from the Kryptonian virus is the only time Clark had what could be called a legitimate reason to sneeze, although just about anyone can sneeze if they feel a tickle in their nose ;) >>>>THe biggest thing I couldn't figure out was why that military/marksman guy shot him? Dr. Klein told Lois that they were going to shoot him with the kryptonite bullets "if" he went bizerk because he was a danger to other people. When he first landed on the crime site, he had a hard time stopping and went through a window and broke a water pipe but then stopped and was fine. You could hear the marksmans 'boss' from military head quarters or wherever, tell him to hold his fire over his radio. Then after it was all over, Superman had just saved the city building and had just saved Perry by wrapping up that bad cop with that yellow 'do not enter' tape and was standing there in his usual arms folded pose -- the guy shoots Superman! This didn't make sense to me. Did I miss something?<<<< I think mummifying the police officer is what looked like Superman going berserk. I don't know who was commanding the sniper, but unless either the sniper or the person giving him instructions was down there in the street where Jerry was saying the cop was in on it, all they would have seen was what looked like an unprovoked attack by Superman on a cop just doing his job. I did love that Dr Klein tipped off Lois about the danger to Superman even though the mayor forbid him from doing so. My hero..sigh ;) Oh, back to the original topic ;) Superchick wrote: >Was it ever mentioned where Lois' parents live?<< I'd guess Ellen got the house after the divorce. Lois and her parents seemed to live in the suburbs since her father was barbecuing in the back yard. Lois seems to have inherited his cooking skills since he was actually burning the steaks ;) Or, they could have sold the house and split the money and Ellen split the greater Metropolis area to wherever you'd like to have her living in your fanfic ;) Sam had an office in Metropolis until he corrupted his "good work" and then had to take a powder (1rst season), not resurfacing until Lex was in jail (3rd season). By the end of 4th season he had rented office space again in Metropolis. I was so glad they cast Harve Presnell as Lois's father. He, like Kenneth Kimmons (Dr. Klein) could do comedy or be serious and be equally believable in either operating mode. Best of all, Presnell's interpretation of Sam reflected Lois. That is, I could see Lois being a lot more like her dad in this interpretation. Driven, but not cold (like the depiction of Sam first season) having problems expression positive emotions, but not austere. I love the scene where he reaches out to touch Lois's cheek. It's almost like he has to dare his hand to move. He's been out of her life so long that he's stuck in a stasis field where Lois was his "little girl" and his "princess" and so has several years and some emotional damage to make up for. I also like when he thanks Jonathan for being so good to his daughter and does understand that he is at least partly to blame for Lois finding it difficult to trust people. Compare that to Ellen who not only didn't thank Martha for being good to Lois, but felt hurt that Lois turned to Martha. Lois sprang from both of her parents and you could see qualities of both of them in Lois. Ellen took herself too seriously and was so busy complaining, giving orders, issuing ultimatums, that she was an easy target for being set up as the butt of the jokes, and that was certainly true of Lois first season. Ulitmately though, Lois became more like her father. She ended up realizing, as her father did belatedly, that being a workaholic, even for a "noble" cause wasn't as satisfying as having a life, love and a family. gee, maybe I should have put "tangent" on this last part ;) Zoomway@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 04:11:22 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: super chick Organization: MailExcite (http://www.mailexcite.com:80) Subject: Re: Lois' parents Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <...saved Perry by wrapping up that bad cop with that yellow 'do not enter' tape..> Maybe he wasn't supposed to wrap the bad cop guy up in tape(?). Nah he's done worse in the past. Free web-based email, Forever, From anywhere! http://www.mailexcite.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 10:31:28 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Doris Schmill Subject: #L&CFanfic: We are still out there Comments: To: LOISCLA@VM.EGE.EDU.TR, lnc@snorre.fb12.tu-berlin.de Comments: cc: eraygun@aol.com, eraygun@gmx.net, eileen_f._ray@hud.gov, mulders@mindspring.com, cmulder@hal.dcr.state.nc.us Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" May 8, 1998 Dear Fellow Fanfic Readers and Writers, Since it's been a while since we last posted to the lists, we felt it would be good to let you all know we are still around and going strong. :-) Those of you who have not been directly involved with our online round robin group, may know some of our stories, however, that have been posted to both the fanfic listserv and also the Archive. Those stories included: "Three Capes to the Wind," "World Without Superman," "Soulmate Cronicles: The Falcon," or "Soulmate Chronicles: The Lone Rider." What the heck are round robins, you ask? Round robins are stories written together by a group of people taking turns at writing the story. That can be done by email, snail mail, or, in our case, "live," that is in real time on an IRC channel (something similar to a chatroom). Different people have different writing styles and work best under different conditions. It's amazing, though, how smooth the final product is sometimes, though. It can be a thrill to watch and be part of a story being developed "live." In addition, writing in real time, working with what the previous writer(s) have thrown out can be a great training ground and keep you on your toes. We are a really mixed bunch out there, some of L&C fanfic's veteran's as well as some rookie writers, some of us even writing in a language not their native ones. When we come to write online, however, those different backgrounds are not important, however. We all learn from and help each other along when necessary. The main thing is having fun and being creative together, and to spend time with our friends, old ones and the ones we just haven't met yet. We meet WEEKLY on Saturdays, starting at 3 pm EDT and try to get into writing fairly soon thereafter. You can come and join the fun at any time, however. We are usually there for several hours since writing a story just takes time. When you sign onto IRC, especially when you plan to write, please try and use the following UNDERNET server: toronto.on.ca.undernet.org This is to get around netsplits and lag, and it's the only undernet server all of us can get onto. If Toronto doesn't let you on at first try, please try again. It also helps if you enter the ports other then the default 6667 under "setup". Toronto has the ports 6660 through 6669 available. Since #L&CFanfic is "invite only" sometimes, please message if you want to join us. If an official "inviter" is designated, we will let you know. Some of us should be hanging out on #Loiscla. New writers are always welcome, but there is no pressure to write. Seats in what we call "The Peanut Gallery," that is for those who just enjoy reading along and having fun, are ample and all free. And if the writer's bug gets you somewhere along the way, you can just join the fun writing by asking "to be opped" for writing. Our stories are a little preplanned. We meet on the Tuesday night prior to the upcoming writing session on Saturdays to decide on and bounce around story ideas. Those "Story Bouncing" meetings start around 9.30 pm EDT on the channel #L&CFicOrg (also on UNDERNET) Please feel free to join us. Once thing that is neat about online folcdom is the international aspect. Euro-Folcies, take note of the starting time for #L&CFanfic: 3 pm EDT is 9 pm (21.00 hours) Central European Time (Germany, France, etc.) You should be able to join us for the early hours at least. Those of you "Down Under" reading this on the other hand, might be able to join us later in the evening (according to Eastern Time schedule.) We hope you'll be able to join us this coming Saturday starting at 3 pm EDT for our fanfic session. We would still like to hear from you if you have any story premises of your own that you would like us to explore together. You can either email them to Eileen at: eraygun@aol.com or better still, just bring your ideas with you when you come to join us for writing or also just reading along next Saturday or for our weekly "story bouncing" sessions on Tuesdays on #L&CFicOrg, starting around 9.30 pm EDT.. Hope to see you all there! Doris at dorisschmill@gmx.net OR dor2302@usa.net OR schmills@freestamp.com OR schmill@mail.students.go-on.net ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 11:32:30 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Subject: L&CFanfic: We are still out there Comments: To: Blind.Copy.Receiver@compuserve.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Thanks for the reminder, Doris! Even those of us who've participated in the past can get caught up in real life and forget that writing is still going on every week... Just a few additions, though... the stories theoretically start at 3:30, but that depends on enough people being there on time! So don't assume that if you show up at 6 that the story will be half-finished. The earli= er we start, the earlier we can finish (usually), so please make an effort t= o show up as early as you can. You also get more turns that way, and that= 's the fun part = And speaking of taking more turns, we've had to evolve a few groundrules to keep stories moving along. Most weeks, writers have a time limit. = Starting from when the previous writer says NEXT, you get a 5-minute grac= e period to organize your thoughts and plan where you want the story to go,= all without being nagged to get started already, or fear of losing your turn. Once you start writing, then, you've got 20 minutes to take the story wherever you want it to go (and you'll get a warning when you get close to the end of your time). This was, we felt, a good balance to let= individual writers have enough time to play with the situation, while sti= ll letting everyone participate within a reasonable time frame. And of cour= se you don't have to take all your time if you run out of ideas or your real= life intrudes :-) Around about midnight, EST, if we're not done yet, we generally stop and take stock in the story - can it be finished quickly, or is there still a= lot of ground yet to cover? If necessary, we can hold over a story until= the next week, or designate a writer to finish it offline. At any rate, I highly recommend these sessions, they're some of the most fun I've had on IRC (well, except for the Kerth Awards ). So come joi= n us some weekend! PJ !^NavFont02F05C50007MGHHLC77C23 E-mail from: Pam Jernigan, 08-May-1998 jernigan@compuserve.com / ChiefPam on the IRC ~~~~~ http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jernigan/folc.html ~~~~~ "Are you under the care of a qualified psychiatrist, Constable?" = -- "The Ladies' Man", Due South "Women and cats will do as they please and men and dogs = should relax and get used to the idea." -- Robert A. Heinlein ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 7 May 1998 18:28:12 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Gardners@htc.net" Subject: Re: question about an episode MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable >In the French version of that episode, he tells the to put on the 6th >channel - which is coincidentely the channel >where LnC is broadcasted in France. >I wonder that : in the American version, which is the Channel ? is it >ABC, or LNN ? In America, (Or rather, the US), channels are a little more complex than that. For instance, here in Kansas City, Kansas, the local Fox station calls itself KSMO Channel 62, but on my cable box, it's channel 11. Across the state line, not three miles from where I live, another cable company has assigned it to channel 13. And when I lived in Georgia, _their_ local Fox station was on channel 6. (And I'm using Fox because I never watch ABC, so I don't know what channel it's on...) I'm not sure if this explanation makes sense, but the bottom line is: whatever channel ABC is on varies widely between cities, and even within a city, though it's usually a low number. And LNN is a made-up cable channel, a clone of CNN. Gardners@htc.net inserted:=20 <<< Let me elaborate a little more. In America there are a lot of = network channels. (ABC, NBC, WB, CBS, FOX, and so on) There are also = local stations that are mainly news. They "pick up" the major networks. = (Similar to the way a radio station plays world-wide songs) So the shows = on NBC are seen everywhere, but on different local channels. So you = can't say that if they would have picked channel 5 on the show that ABC = would have been on channel 5 everywhere, because NBC is 5 in my area. = Understand? It's kind of hard to digest, American t.v. is really weird. = But anyway, the local companies are called affiliates and they do the = major networks a favor by broadcasting them in a certain area. They also = pick up shows like Wheel, Rosie ,and Oprah that are not assigned to a = specific network. Hope this explains a little more sense. :) (No offense = to the original replier) >>> ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 12:31:40 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Beverly Latham Subject: flying with Lois Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi all, I have a more or less technical question concerning Superman flying with Lois -- realistically, how fast could he fly with her? [Although, the word realistically does make me chuckle, I'm sure you know what I mean. ] What I'm looking for here is in relation to time not speed, because I'm working on a timeline for a twenty-four hour period. Say, for instance, if they were to fly all the way around the world without stopping, how long would it actually take? This would give me something to use as a basis for comparison. Beverly :-) ******************************* Beverly Latham blatham@hop-uky.campus.mci.net ******************************* ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 14:52:39 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Lisa M. Ramirez" Subject: Re: flying with Lois MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT On 8 May 98 Beverly Latham wrote: > I have a more or less technical question concerning Superman flying with > Lois -- realistically, how fast could he fly with her? [Although, the > word realistically does make me chuckle, I'm sure you know what I mean. > ] What I'm looking for here is in relation to time not speed, because > I'm working on a timeline for a twenty-four hour period. Say, for > instance, if they were to fly all the way around the world without > stopping, how long would it actually take? This would give me something > to use as a basis for comparison. That's a hard one, but maybe this will help. In DLW Lois said that Clark could fly fast enough so that he is nearly invisible. Clark replied that HE could, but that SHE would be vaporized. In UW, Clark was going to take Lois to Paris for dinner; it couldn't take him terribly long to fly several thousands of miles with her. The Concorde can make it from New York to London in a little under 3 hours and I would think that Superman could fly a little faster than that and still keep Lois safe as well keep the people on airplanes seeing him fly with Lois Lane over the Atlantic Ocea and wonder what's going on. >From SL&V I think it's safe to say that Clark can fly faster than the speed of sound (approx. 700 mph) with Lois and she's none the worse for wear. Remember, he arrived at the site of the press conference seconds after the bomb should have exploded, but didn't. He also had time to get Lois out of the building before the bomb underneath her exploded and also use his vison gizmo to destroy the receiver near the conference site before he even left the hotel. I can't remember any more fast flights with Lois that could give relative speeds off the top of my head, but maybe someone else can. Lisa M. Ramirez ramirez@estuary.amrl.odu.edu To most people, solutions are answers to problems. To chemists, solutions are things that are all mixed up. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 16:32:49 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandra McDermin Subject: Writers Meshing with Their Characters: the POV "problem" (was Lois' Parents) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Since I've debated, ad nauseum, the relative merits of Lois' parents vis a vis Clark's, etc. on the L&C listserv, I thought I'd take another tack regarding this issue, forming it into a fanfic discussion topic. I don't know about the rest of you, but of the four of them (Martha, Jonathan, Ellen, and Sam), I find Ellen to be the most fun to write about. I guess that's evident from the stories I've written. I find her frailties and hangups not only easy to make light of but also touching. It doesn't matter to me that she's never *quite* atoned for all of her errors nor stopped repeating them because I haven't stopped repeating mine either and neither has anyone I know. Despite the rendering of her by the show in broad comic strokes, I really felt for her and could see aspects of my relationship with my own mother in her relationship with Lois. As someone who has tried her hand at writing (and is obviously no where near professional), I find characters with a set of personality "challenges" a whole heck of a lot more interesting to put on paper than people who are built up to be nigh to perfect. (I suppose it's analogous to actors who like playing villains or characters with personality flaws where they can really get their teeth into something.) I suppose that's why *this* rendering of Superman has been fun as we've been presented with a hero who is not fully formed yet -- who has doubts and insecurities, without which, Superman would be quite boring. (If I was a real writer, I suppose I could do a better job with Martha and Jonathan -- bring out "the dark side".) The show touched on that a bit, and those were the times I liked Martha and Jonathan the best. For instance, I loved the scene in WHALTTA where Martha opens up to Lois, pouring out her heart over the pain she felt watching her son grow up, trying to come to grips with his uniqueness. I liked the Pilot where Clark's parents voice their worries and concerns to him and to each other. Back to Superman/Clark for a moment (as an aside): Of the two characters, I think I like writing about Lois or from Lois' point of view more than I do from Clark's. I sympathize with her a lot more and find that her personality dovetails a bit better with my writing style. I think I once discussed this with Debby Stark, who, I believe, enjoys writing more from Clark's point of view. To bring this all together, I guess what I should have done, in one of my stories, is try to write something completely without Lois -- just with Clark and *his* parents, so I could explore characters with whom I'm not as comfortable. Lastly, I think I've gotten the most pleasure when I've created characters not already developed by the show who readers have taken to and have begun to care about. It was always nice receiving an e-mail from a reader who asked me about a character I created: What happened to them? Why did I make them do this or that? Etc. Anyway, I just thought it might be interesting to discuss which characters we like to write about and why? Who we find easier? Who we find to be more of a challenge? Sandy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 15:53:54 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Beverly Latham Subject: Re: flying with Lois In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 02:52 PM 5/8/98 EST, Lisa M. Ramirez wrote: >That's a hard one, but maybe this will help. Tell me about it. And this twenty-four hour thing is about to fry my brain. Okay, what little was left of it, anyway. >In DLW Lois said that Clark could fly fast enough so that he is nearly >invisible. Clark replied that HE could, but that SHE would be vaporized. >In UW, Clark was going to take Lois to Paris for dinner; it couldn't take >him terribly long to fly several thousands of miles with her. The >Concorde can make it from New York to London in a little under 3 hours and >I would think that Superman could fly a little faster than that and still >keep Lois safe as well keep the people on airplanes seeing him fly with >Lois Lane over the Atlantic Ocea and wonder what's going on. Good point. Maybe what I need to consider isn't how fast they could go, but how slow. Hmmm. >>From SL&V I think it's safe to say that Clark can fly faster than the >speed of sound (approx. 700 mph) with Lois and she's none the worse for >wear. Remember, he arrived at the site of the press conference seconds >after the bomb should have exploded, but didn't. He also had time to get >Lois out of the building before the bomb underneath her exploded and also >use his vison gizmo to destroy the receiver near the conference site >before he even left the hotel. Yes, and that particular episode really seemed so inconsistent about the speed thing too. Well! >I can't remember any more fast flights with Lois that could give relative >speeds off the top of my head, but maybe someone else can. No, actually, this was a lot of help, because I hadn't sat down to make myself remember which episodes in which they did refer to them going flying together. Beverly :-) ******************************* Beverly Latham blatham@hop-uky.campus.mci.net ******************************* ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 17:18:11 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: goldengrove unleaving Subject: Re: Writers Meshing with Their Characters: the POV "problem" (was Lois' Parents) << Anyway, I just thought it might be interesting to discuss which characters we like to write about and why? Who we find easier? Who we find to be more of a challenge? >> Great idea for a discussion, Sandy. :) << Lastly, I think I've gotten the most pleasure when I've created characters not already developed by the show who readers have taken to and have begun to care about. >> I like doing this too. Right now I'm working on a story about Martha & Jonathan that takes place over a 10 year time span and includes their meeting and most of the few small things the series told us about them. I've always loved the character of Martha, especially, and was very comfortable writing not only from her point of view, but in first person. I didn't even notice that I'd done this until someone read the story over for me and told me. I usually have a hard time writing in first person, but it just seemed to fit in that story. I should be done with the story soon, but it's been kinda pushed to the side lately due to exams. I've also written a story completely from Ellen's point of view but I wasn't too upset when my computer destroyed the disk it was on since her characterization in it was too one-dimensional and the story needed a massive rewrite anyway which, one of these days, I will get to. ;) << Of the two characters, I think I like writing about Lois or from Lois' point of view more than I do from Clark's. I sympathize with her a lot more and find that her personality dovetails a bit better with my writing style. I think I once discussed this with Debby Stark, who, I believe, enjoys writing more from Clark's point of view.>> I think I like writing from Lois's point of view better than Clark's as well. I haven't written much from Clark's point of view at all, though I have another story started that takes place mostly from Clark's point of view. (Another story started but not finished... gee, I'm beginning to sense a pattern here. :) And the stories I've started that do use Clark's point of view have a little more Superman action in them. This may be part of the reason I don't use Clark's point of view much- I'm not very good at A plots and action so if I use Lois's point of view, Clark can just say, "I stopped a flood in India," but if I were writing from Clark's point of view, I'd feel some obligation to my reader to describe at least a little bit what happened in India. -Christy kubitc@kenyon.edu Attalanta on IRC ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 17:28:08 -0400 Reply-To: NightSky@erols.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Subject: Re: flying with Lois MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Beverly Latham wrote: > > Hi all, > > I have a more or less technical question concerning Superman flying with > Lois -- realistically, how fast could he fly with her? This doesn't answer the question at all, but it is on topic. For those of you who haven't read it, I have a copy of Leland McInnes' (Louette McInnes' son) essay on "How fast can Superman fly" up on my webpage. (Go to http://www.erols.com/nightsky/superman.html> and click on "How Fast Can He Fly". It hypothosizes about what might happen if Superman accidently ran into a 747 while flying at top speed. It's very interesting. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genevieve (NightSky@erols.com) ; The World Wide Web has made it possible for anyone to find in five hours, what a competent librarian can find in five minutes. :-) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 17:48:13 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: JCWimmer Subject: Sam and Ellen vs. Martha and Jonathan Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 5/8/98 1:37:04 PM Pacific Daylight Time, SMcDermi@NAS.EDU writes: > I don't know about the rest of you, but of the four of them (Martha, > Jonathan, Ellen, and Sam), I find Ellen to be the most fun to write about. > I guess that's evident from the stories I've written. I find her frailties > and hangups not only easy to make light of but also touching. It > doesn't matter to me that she's never *quite* atoned for all of her errors > nor stopped repeating them because I haven't stopped repeating mine either > and neither has anyone I know. Despite the rendering of her by the show in > broad comic strokes, I really felt for her and could see aspects of my > relationship with my own mother in her relationship with Lois. > I found this interesting, because I am exactly the opposite. I was 4 months into Full Circle when I realized that I had not had Sam and Ellen visit Lois at any point in her illness. I forget about them...they simply are not important to me. I had to go back and find a way to "get rid of them" in a relatively convincing manner in order to prevent what I considered to be a major plot hole. Keep in mind, that Martha and Jonathan had moved in with Clark and had become major players in this story. I find it easier to write them because the series authors gave us a little more to work with. S&E were inconsistent and ignored often in the series (except for a few eps) and so it is easy for me to avoid them. On the other hand, M&J were always there. Their relationship with both Lois and Clark is consistent, and it gave me more to work with as far as keeping them "in character" when I wrote them. Just my thoughts ;) Crystal ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 17:56:54 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: IndiBlue Subject: Re: question about an episode Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-05-08 13:23:17 EDT, you write: << In the French version of that episode, he tells the to put on the 6th >channel - which is coincidentely the channel >where LnC is broadcasted in France. >I wonder that : in the American version, which is the Channel ? is it >ABC, or LNN ? >> The episode says for Clark to turn to Channel 6 here as well. They did not change it so that it meshed with the local broadcasting stations for reasons that have already been explained. It would have been neat if they had though :) Layney ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 18:35:28 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sandra McDermin Subject: Re: Sam and Ellen vs. Martha and Jonathan Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >>I found this interesting, because I am exactly the opposite. I was 4 months into Full Circle when I realized that I had not had Sam and Ellen visit Lois at any point in her illness. I forget about them...they simply are not important to me. I had to go back and find a way to "get rid of them" in a relatively convincing manner in order to prevent what I considered to be a major plot hole. Keep in mind, that Martha and Jonathan had moved in with Clark and had become major players in this story. I find it easier to write them because the series authors gave us a little more to work with. S&E were inconsistent and ignored often in the series (except for a few eps) and so it is easy for me to avoid them. On the other hand, M&J were always there. Their relationship with both Lois and Clark is consistent, and it gave me more to work with as far as keeping them "in character" when I wrote them. Just my thoughts ;)<< Well, I know what you mean about familiarization. In my last story, I had very little trouble writing Lex. He is always very eloquent, uses proper English, but he speaks very quickly and casually. (It's not *stilted*, proper English.) I didn't really have to think about this much, however, because I could hear his voice in my head. Mindy was a different story. Because she was used less -- at least throughout the series -- I literally had to pull out the episodes she appeared in and run her scenes over and over to get the proper wording and inflection. Her way of speaking is so distinctive, I felt it had to be just right or it just wouldn't be Mindy. *Now,* -- however -- I can't *get* her voice out of my head at all.... Eeee! Over and over, I can hear her say.... "totally" or "I'm just a bird in a gilded case." As for Martha and Jonathan being better known to us, that is certainly true. But, I found them to be such "Johnny-one notes". (I know I'm going to catch some flack on this because I suppose you can say the same about Ellen and Sam.) But, I guess M&J's use as a device was far less interesting *for me* than S&E's. While M&J were used mainly to give sound advice to Clark and to be an exemplary couple, Sam and Ellen were introduced as individuals with their own separate set of problems. They were distinct from each other as a result of their divorce so they never meshed into a blob for me as "the Lanes" as much as the Kents became "the Kents". Other than the fact that Martha had an art fetish and was extremely capable at *everything*, I had a hard time getting a grip on the two of them as individuals. I suppose we could say, for instance, that Jonathan liked to eat just by virtue of his size and that he must have liked fishing because he took Clark fishing, but what else did we know about his likes and dislikes? Strangely -- despite their infrequent appearance on the show -- I felt I knew Sam and Ellen better. I don't know. Maybe I like choppy waters better than smooth sailing. In any case, I've always wanted to put Jonathan and Martha in a boat and start rocking it, just to see what would happen.... Hmm. I think we saw a little of that in ATAI.... Martha can be quite snippy. Sandy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 20:06:13 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Beverly Latham Subject: Re: Writers Meshing with Their Characters: the POV "problem" (was Lois' Parents) In-Reply-To: <852565FE.006661C8.00@smtpmta.nas.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 04:32 PM 5/8/98 -0400, Sandra McDermin wrote: >Despite the rendering of her by the show in >broad comic strokes, I really felt for her and could see aspects of my >relationship with my own mother in her relationship with Lois. I think this is very true. And besides that, I also think a lot can be learned about Lois from watching her mother. That's what I've tried to do in an installment of NEBS, explore the similarities between Lois' and her mother's dealings with men a little. >Back to Superman/Clark for a moment (as an aside): Of the two characters, >I think I like writing about Lois or from Lois' point of view more than I >do from Clark's. I sympathize with her a lot more and find that her >personality dovetails a bit better with my writing style. I think I once >discussed this with Debby Stark, who, I believe, enjoys writing more from >Clark's point of view. One of the things that came out when I decided to work on the NEBS series of stories was having to decide whose story I was really telling overall. It ended up being Lois' story, not simply theirs. That might seem like an insignificant distinction, but once I realized that, I began writing it as much as possible from her POV and only using Clark's when absolutely necessary. Then something else occurred to me that has had a major impact on how this particular fanfic is developing -- so much of the Superman story pre-revelation to Lois is told from Clark's POV where we see him being himself [i.e. hiding the secret and using his powers and being both Clark and Superman intermixed] that it tends to bias our attitudes towards Lois -- because WE can't go back to not knowing the truth it's easy to think of her as being galactically stupid for not being able to see. But what if we could go back to not knowing? Impossible, I know, but I decided that in NEBS prior to the revelation, I was going to present Clark and Superman as much as possible from Lois' POV entirely -- which means treating him essentially as two separate characters in the narration right up until the revelation. When I first suggested the idea to my two alpha editors, they thought I was nuts. They raised very good questions as we brainstormed some things. Things like isn't approaching it that way going to give him a split personality? I insisted that I wasn't going to treat him as if he was two people. Clark would still be both, all I wanted to do was avoid the give-away things that creep into the narration . . . Clark thinking like Superman or Superman thinking like Clark . . . on the theory that if I left those out everything about him would read much more ambiguously. It has been eye-opening, to say the least. And really difficult to adhere to. Talk about having to force myself into a certain mind-set. Do you realize how well we know this character called Clark Kent/Superman and how intrinsic being both is to WHO he is to us? Try writing Clark where he doesn't use his powers on the sly or Superman where he never even thinks about the mundane 'real-life' things like laundry or work at the Planet. It's an amazing exercise in who he really is and who we see him as. >Anyway, I just thought it might be interesting to discuss which characters >we like to write about and why? Who we find easier? Who we find to be >more of a challenge? Lois is the easiest. Definitely Lois. Lois I understand. The hardest is Clark by a long shot but I didn't realize how difficult he was until I split him in two. We know so much about this literary creation called Superman, but it is difficult to imagine what a man with all these powers would really be like inside his head and heart. Normal, and yet not normal. Then again, what is normal? I've been thinking about this a lot just recently because I'm gearing up to write the section of NEBS just post-revelation where I first get to put him back together again, so to speak. This is one complex man, let me tell you. Beverly :-) ******************************* Beverly Latham blatham@hop-uky.campus.mci.net ******************************* ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 21:13:35 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: Re: Sam and Ellen vs. Martha and Jonathan Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-05-08 17:48:41 EDT, JCWimmer@AOL.COM writes: << I find it easier to write them because the series authors gave us a little more to work with. S&E were inconsistent and ignored often in the series (except for a few eps) and so it is easy for me to avoid them. On the other hand, M&J were always there. Their relationship with both Lois and Clark is consistent, and it gave me more to work with as far as keeping them "in character" when I wrote them. Just my thoughts ;) >> I find Sam and Ellen a lot of fun to write. Keep in mind that Ellen was in only 6 episodes out of all 87 and Sam was only in 5 and in Mxymas he only had a couple of lines at the very end. I think given how little they were used, the show did a fine job of establishing their characters. Even the telephone conversation Lois had with her mother in Dead Lois Walking kept Ellen in character as the perpetual injured party even though it was Lois who was in trouble. "I'm sorry you had to double your medication, Mother. Yes, I realize medication isn't cheap.." But also in her own singular way, Ellen wanted Lois to be safe "Bloodhounds lose the scent in water?" There's a breakthrough scene between Ellen and Lois in INPY. Ellen's an insecure person who tries to offset that by being controlling. There's a lot of first season Lois there, and Lois herself acknowledges that. Lois then becomes the one trying to mother her mother by giving her advice that helped her and hopefully will help Ellen. Writing either set of parents I think becomes easier if you take qualities that belong to either Lois or Clark and then try and find those in their parents. It's not just a matter of parenting skills, it's also those genetic things we have to deal with ;) Clark has that only from his Kryptonian origins, but for Lois it's from Sam and Ellen. Clark's innate goodness comes >from Jor-El and Lara, if innate is to mean "born that way" and since the clone of Superman couldn't be corrupted out of that goodness and alt Clark even without the Kents raising him was still good and wanted to help then with Clark it's easy to ascribe at least that quality (as well as the bond to Lois) to his Kryptonian genetics. Where Clark differs from alt Clark is where the Kents made the difference. There's not the same "lab" for examining the 'nurture versus nature' of Lois Lane to try and figure out what was innate and what was learned behavior. Her clone, though immature emotionally, was cunning and showed the ability to be single-minded in achieving a goal. She also was self-absorbed and didn't care who she stepped on to get what she wanted. She was number one, and to hell with anyone who got in her way. Later, however, Clark's love and tenderness, and most of all his forgiveness, changed her. She learned to put someone else and their needs above her own. Self-absorbed became self-sacrificing In this it might be that Clark brought out an innate quality that Lex could never elicit because it was completely lacking in him. This innate quality, to me, comes from Sam, but is awakened in Lois by Clark. Okay, ramble mode off ;) Zoomway@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 19:39:53 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: Re: flying with Lois Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 12:31 PM 5/8/98 -0500, you wrote: >Hi all, > >I have a more or less technical question concerning Superman flying with >Lois -- realistically, how fast could he fly with her? [Although, the word >realistically does make me chuckle, I'm sure you know what I mean. ] >What I'm looking for here is in relation to time not speed, because I'm >working on a timeline for a twenty-four hour period. Say, for instance, if >they were to fly all the way around the world without stopping, how long >would it actually take? This would give me something to use as a basis for >comparison. > >Beverly :-) I have them making it (so to speak) from Metropolis to Mexico City in about 9-10 minutes, with him worrying about it for the first minute or so. His aura protects them both (the sun is good for him). I don't know how long milage wise that is as the Superman flies. I just looked at a globe and drew a "straight" line. Debby Debby@swcp.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 00:56:38 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Donna Lehman <102262.2435@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Re: Lois flying with SM MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 One question: When was the last time SM/Clark took Lois flying? I can't remember. Donna ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 04:05:28 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: super chick Organization: MailExcite (http://www.mailexcite.com:80) Subject: Writers Meshing with Their Characters: the POV "problem Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I had fun writing my story about Jimmy (which I haven't posted here yet coz it's thirty pages long and I'm lazy and scared you'll hate it LOL) because he is only a few years older than me. But I like writing stories involving Lois and her parent's coz there funny. But Clark is a challenge for some reason I can't get inside his head. Supesy Free web-based email, Forever, From anywhere! http://www.mailexcite.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 06:17:03 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Doris Schmill Subject: Re: #L&CFanfic: Time Limits Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" May 9, 1998 Hi, guys! Just a quick note regarding channel procedure: >And speaking of taking more turns, we've had to evolve a few groundrules >to keep stories moving along. Most weeks, writers have a time limit. = > >Starting from when the previous writer says NEXT, you get a 5-minute grac= >e >period to organize your thoughts and plan where you want the story to go,= > >all without being nagged to get started already, or fear of losing your >turn. Once you start writing, then, you've got 20 minutes to take the >story wherever you want it to go (and you'll get a warning when you get >close to the end of your time). This was, we felt, a good balance to let= > >individual writers have enough time to play with the situation, while sti= >ll >letting everyone participate within a reasonable time frame. And of cour= >se >you don't have to take all your time if you run out of ideas or your real=life intrudes :-) > Not all of us enjoy writing under time pressure, and adapting the procedure of implementing the time llmit Pma is talking about was not a unanimous one. Theoretically at least, that procedure as well as as the actual writing per turn/writer (currently 20 minutes) is still under review. Those of us against imposing said regulations, and, yes, I was one of those, were assured at the time, sometime at the beginningf the year, they would voted on again after a one- or two-months trial period. I, for one, am still waiting for those two months to end. If you guys reading this are maybe pondering to join us writing are maybe scared by writing under that much pressure, I just wanted to let you know that you are not the only ones ... and that I am hoping that other people's calendar won't have THAT many more days to the month than mine does. ;-) Hope to see you on #L&CFanfic Doris Schmill at dorisschmill@gmx.net OR dor2302@usa.net OR schmills@freestamp.com OR schmill@mail.students.go-on.net "The truth is, no one knows how long they've got. Anyway, it's not the years that count, it's the moment ... right now ... as they happen." (CK in "BY") ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 08:49:23 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: MOONLIGHT ON THE POTOMAC Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi Folcs, The IRC Round Robin writers (try typing that 5 times fast ;)) are back with another story, "Moonlight on the Potomac". It's a flashback to that time in the second season, before "The Phoenix" but after "Season Greedings" and "Metallo" when Lois and Clark were, best friends and partners, but clearly on the edge of something *more*. The story represents our speculation on what off screen events might have triggered Clark to finally ask Lois out on a date and Lois to accept. We hope you enjoy it. Comments are welcome. Cheers, Eileen Eraygun@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 08:49:26 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: "MOONLIGHT ON THE POTOMAC" Part 1 of 6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Moonlight on the Potomac An IRC Round Robin by EmmyRose (kassia@concentric.net ; Eraygun (Eraygun@aol.com); Kirshnera (kirshnera@aol.com); Zoomway (zoomway@aol.com); AMCiotola (AMCiotola@aol.com); ChiefPam (jernigan@compuserve.com); DorDor (dorisschmill@gmx.net); Chrispat (cp13607@aol.com); debz ;Lansbury (lansbury1@aol.com); THWacky (lynn@cube.net); Demi (demi22@aol.com) The scent of caffeine was a lingering aroma in the newsroom of the Daily Planet as Clark Kent emerged from the elevator. It seemed like a regular morning for Clark, colored by a simple rescue of a cat in a tree. Not even the sun could shine more brightly, in his eyes, than the smile of a child. However, it seemed anything but average for his partner-in-byline, Lois Lane. As he walked closer to her desk, her voice, in its most animated tone, was dripping with sugary sweetness. She must want something, he mused. "Andrew! Oh, dear. How long has it been?", she chimed. "Oh! Five years?" Lois' face fell for a moment. "Um...I've been...busy," she continued, sinking back into her chair. "I was just wondering if you were going to the Alumnus Association's meeting in D.C." Lois bit her lip in anticipation. Even on the telephone, Lois knew how to get to the heart of the matter. Clark tapped Lois on the shoulder. Lois whipped around and motioned in a frantic wave for Clark to be quiet. "Okay..." Clark sat on the edge of her desk. Lois threw the latest edition of the Daily Planet at him. "Page four". ** Thaddeus Franklin "Man of the Decade" ** Clark did a double-take when he read the header. "Thaddeus Franklin". "No, Andrew. Wasn't talking to you." She darted a look Clark's way. "I was just thinking that it would be a great way to...uh..." Lois struggled. "Reunite? Taking advantage? Me? Lois Lane?" she exclaimed. "Never!" Clark suppressed a laugh. Apparently Andrew didn't. Lois hung up the phone with a loud crash. "The *nerve* of some people." Lois clenched her fists in the air. "Oh, yes, Lois. The nerve." Clark smiled and shook his finger at her. "So, what's up, Lois?" "It's only *the* event of the year--no, make that the decade." Lois pointed to the page four article. "Um...Lois..." "I *have to be there....I just-" "Um...Lois!" "What?!" Before Clark could answer Perry appeared at the door of his office and bellowed, "Lois, Clark! Inside NOW!" Lois and Clark exchanged quizzical looks and then turned and entered Perry's office. "Is there a problem, Perry?" Lois asked as she perched herself on the corner of Perry's desk. "It depends, Lois. How successful have you been in scaring up an invite to that Midwestern University Alumni shindig in Washington?" "We... er... I... er..." "I thought so," Perry said with more than a hint of irritation in his voice. Heaving a heavy sigh he turned to Clark "Chief, " Clark interrupted. "Would you mind filling me in on what's going on? I'm a little out of the loop this morning." Now it was Lois' turn to sigh. "Like I was saying before, Clark, it's the story of the decade, Thaddeus Franklin, computer whiz, the man who broke Bob Fences' monopoly on computer operating systems with his program Doors93 is going to be given an award at Midwestern State University's Alumni meeting." "Oh." "The boy's apparently gun-shy around the press, never given an interview, and I want the Planet to be the paper that finally snags him," Perry interjected. Clark nodded and then picked up the paper and smiled at the picture of Franklin. "I can't believe old TK finally made good on that dream of his to change the world." Perry cleared his throat. "TK?" he asked. "Sure," Clark replied. "Thaddeus sounds kind of...dorky...so we all called him TK." Lois stared at him. "We?" Perry echoed her sentiment. "Well," Clark explained, "he was an old friend of mine. We went to the same university." Lois' shocked countenance changed rapidly to anger. "Why didn't you tell me?" "You never asked," was Clark's reply. At this point, Perry jumped into the conversation. "So you went to MSU?" "Yes..." "And do you have an invitation to this reunion?" "Yes..." Perry smiled. "What a lucky break this is!" he exclaimed. "Thank you, Elvis!!" Clark pulled something out of his pocket. "I have the invitation right here. It's for me and any 'significant other we're dying to meet'." Perry shook Clark's hand. "Congratulations, son." Then he shook Lois' hand. "I'm so happy for you!" Clark was lost, but Lois got it. "The wedding's next June, hope you can make it!" "I'll be there," he grinned. "But don't invite too many of Clark's college buddies." "Oh," said Clark. "I guess I've got a significant other?" Perry nodded. "So you two go to this reunion, have a good time, and..." "Get the story, of course," Clark finished. "You've got it!" Perry said. "Good luck. Go pack." "It's not 'till the weekend," Clark protested. "And it's only Wednesday!" Lois rolled her eyes. "Don't procrastinate. Darling," she added with a smile. "Oh-kay," Clark said, and he and Lois left the room. "Well, this is shaping up to be a really good day," said Lois. She wouldn't have to go with Andrew, that loser. Clark was much more tolerable, even pleasant to be with. Not only could she get the interview, she might actually have a good time while doing so. "What are you grinning about, Lois?" he asked. "Oh...nothing. Can't I be pleased about getting the interview of the century?" Clark hadn't thought that it looked like her usual hungry 'I've got a *story*' grin, but he shrugged it off. She was allowed to be happy. Though, Clark thought, it was odd that Lois didn't become 'intense' over the pairing that had been foisted on her by Perry. Clark shook his head. It didn't make a lot of sense, but he had felt his heart skip a beat when Lois had said "darling". He glanced up at her when he returned to his desk, and then was embarrassed to see she had been looking at him. He hadn't expected that. It was disconcerting. She *never* was looking at him when he sneaked a look at her. At least it seemed Lois found it just as awkward. She swept a strand of hair behind her ear, forgetting a pencil was tucked there already. It was propelled backward and hit the floor. Clark knew a good excuse when he saw one. He retrieved the pencil and carried it back to Lois. He held it up as he leaned against her desk. Were her ears red? "Thank you," she said curtly, grabbing the pencil. "You're welcome," he said, enjoying the blush being on her cheeks for a change. Lois took a deep breath and began typing furiously, all the time well aware that Clark had not budged. She finally dropped her hands with an exasperated sigh. "What!?" Clark smiled. "Nothin'," he said casually and walked slowly back to his desk. He saw the pencil sail past him. Oh yes, Clark thought, this was more like it. ***** Clark stood at the luggage carousel contemplating the last couple of days. The awkward glances, the smiles that came and went just as quickly when noticed accidentally. Now they were in Washington, and the hotel confirmation letter seemed like a tonic in his jacket pocket. One room. It was perfect. "Okay," Lois said as she hurried up to Clark. "I rented the car so we're all set. Did you get the hotel rooms confirmed?" "Mm hm," Clark said, lifting his one suitcase, and all three of Lois'. "Good," she said trying to hide her surprise at Clark being able to carry so much weight. Then again, he was dressed casually, and she could see his powerful back beneath the fabric. "Lois, you want to drive? Lois..?" "Huh..oh, yes, of course I'm drool..driving!" After what seemed like an eternity, they finally got their car from the rental booth. Walking out to where it was parked, Lois stopped dead in her tracks. "That's the best they could give us?" They stood there looking at a 1989 Yugo. Grumbling, Lois climbed into the driver's side and reached over to unlock the other door for Clark, who was putting their luggage in the trunk. His superhearing picked up Lois saying something about The Club and who would want to steal this piece of cardboard they call a car. He slipped into the passenger side while trying to hide his grin. "Clark, this doesn't even have a radio - I mean come on, even the crappiest of cars have at least an AM radio." "Well, Lois there are better things to do than listen to the radio." "Oh, like what?" "Like talk?" "Oh. Yeah." Before starting the car, she turned and gave Clark her brightest smile. She didn't know why she did, but it felt good. Not to mention she was rewarded with a smile back. She felt her insides melt. She felt as if something big was gonna happen this weekend and she didn't mean the story Did I just think that? Lois asked herself. She found her way out of the airport and started to head north toward the hotel. "Okay, Lois, you need to follow the 395, otherwise known as the Beltway, for a short distance until we hit downtown D.C., then we gotta find Pennsylvania Avenue, ya know the one with the big white house on it?" He grinned. Lois drove north into the city. She hadn't gotten too far before she realized she had no idea where she was. "Stupid traffic circles," she muttered under her breath. "Where are we supposed to be going again?" she demanded impatiently. Clark checked his notes. "The Willard Intercontinental." "Thank you, that's very helpful. Now could you tell me which street it's on?" "Pennsylvania and 14th Street," Clark replied, checking the map he'd gotten >from AAA before the trip. "Yeah, but is that northwest, southeast, what? How many times does Pennsylvania cross 14th street?" "Hmm, good question." He studied the map a few moments longer. Lois took the occasion to animadvert bitterly about city planners who built a city on horizontal, vertical, and diagonal streets instead of a more sensible grid. An hour later, after much confusion, they finally reached their hotel. Lois was so grateful to have arrived that she'd have sworn nothing else could possibly upset her. Until she found out they were booked into only one room. "*What*? How could you??" Lois hissed at her former partner. "Well..." he began sheepishly, only to be cut off by a voice from behind him. "Clark! Man, it's good to see you!" Clark turned, and smiled brilliantly. "Jeeber! Great to see you, too." He dragged Lois forward. "Meet my fiancee, Lois Lane." Lois glared at him briefly, letting him know that this was not over, but then managed to get into character, smiling at the newcomer. "Pleased to meet you... Jeeber?" Clark laughed. "A college nickname, Ms. Lane," 'Jeeber' explained, gallantly kissing her hand. "My initials are GB, so..." "You guys were big on nicknames, weren't you," Lois smiled. "Like TK, for instance?" Clark shot her a warning look; they didn't need to be quite so obvious about this, but she ignored him. Jeeber laughed. "I guess Clark told you about him, huh? Yeah, he always hated Thaddeus. I tell ya - names are so important. Now, when you have kids you won't do that to them, will you?" He grinned broadly at the joke, and elbowed Clark in the ribs. Continued in part 2 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 08:49:30 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: "MOONLIGHT ON THE POTOMAC" Part 2 of 6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit "Moonlight on the Potomac" Continued from part 1 _________________________________ Lois forced a laugh. "Oh no, Clark and I won't name our kids anything awful, I can promise you that." A covert glare at Clark drove home her point; by the time she was done with him, he'd be lucky to have kids at all, and certainly never with her. "Well, your kids will be grateful." Jeeber gave them a jovial grin. "When's the date anyway? I need to make sure to keep it free." "Oh ... that's great." Clark was stalling and getting 'that look', the one he had when he had forgotten to return a video, pick up his mail, or missed his barber appointment -- anything embarrassing. "Yeah, the date ..." "We haven't quite settled that yet," Lois came to the rescue. "We had hoped for spring, but with two large families and numerous friends to accommodate, it's not easy." "Ah, I see. Well, Clark *was* popular back in school. And with you, he's certainly got ..." Now it was Lois' turn to get uncomfortable. But just as Jeeber was about to finish his sentence, there was a honking noise from the entrance way and then a bell hop came up and signaled Jeeber. "Oh, I'm sorry." Jeeber shrugged. "I think my cab has arrived. Nice to have met you, Ms. Lane. I'm looking forward to seeing you at the reception tonight." Both Lois and Clark smiled politely, then turned back to the task at hand. Their baggage was still parked in the lobby. Clark was just about to pick it up when the bell hop returned, picked up the suitcases and motioned them to follow him. Lois hesitated, wanting to turn back to the reception desk to again try to find a solution to the room problem. Just then, however, the hotel's front doors opened and in came a noisily chattering group of women just about their age. Momentarily distracted, Lois made a face and was about to comment to Clark when she noticed him first paling and then blushing slightly. As if on cue, one of the women, the one leading the group and wearing a pink dress and a matching feather hat, took notice of them, started to wave frantically, and let her high pitched "Hey, Clarkie!" ring through the lobby. Although she was still mad about having them booked into one room, she didn't want her partner to be subjected to that attack, nor did she feel ready to face it. She made up her mind, grabbed Clark's hand, and pulled him after the retreating figure of the bell hop who had turned around and was looking at them questioningly from the elevator doors. They made a rather hasty retreat in the direction of the elevator, Clark letting out a sigh of relief and Lois mumbling under her breath. The elevator deposited them on the fifth floor, and the boy led them to their room. Once the baggage was inside, and the boy tipped and gone, Lois glanced around the room taking inventory. The room was clean and homey looking, comfortable enough. But ... it being located in the side wing of the hotel should have given her warning. Clark had finally found his voice again. He was mumbling something about the hotel having been overbooked. But that wasn't all. There were two easy chairs and a table, TV, wardrobe ... everything for comfort. But only one bed. Not even a sofa. So if neither of them was to sleep on the floor, they'd need to share. Whoever had arranged for this was going to pay. She turned to face Clark. "Okay, buster! Whose bright idea was this?" Clark had the grace to blush. "I'm sorry, Lois. I figured if we were supposed to be engaged, we would have one room. I thought there would be two beds." "Oh yeah? And what if I happened to be an old-fashioned girl, who believed in being patient?" Clark snorted. "Yeah, right.," earning a poisonous look from Lois. "Just what is your opinion of me, anyway? Just because I had the bad judgment to confide in you about Claude, does that give you the right to judge my morals?" Lois was really seething. Clark gulped. "Lois...please. I'm really sorry. It was a mistake. I haven't had much experience in the relationship thing, myself." Lois harumphed, not mollified, and Clark proceeded to dig himself in even deeper. "Um...I mean...if I ever get engaged...I kind of thought...well, I kind of hoped...oh. I don't know!" He ground to a stop looking at Lois helplessly. Lois threw him a look of exasperation. "Honestly, Clark, I pity the woman you ever get engaged to. She's probably going to need ESP. You're hopeless." Clark looked at his feet. That hadn't gone too well. He was beginning to despair that they would ever get through this weekend still speaking to each other, when the phone rang. He went to answer it gratefully. "Hi, Perry. Yes, we're here..." Lois wandered to the window as Clark talked to Perry on the phone. Despite her words to Clark, it wasn't anger that churned in her gut. It was nervousness. And real attraction. Despite their competitive streaks and their arguments, she had always been aware of Clark on a purely feminine level. She was human, after all. And she wasn't blind. She knew that other women found him as attractive as she did. But the idea of taking things further than partners, further even than friendship, both tantalized and terrified her. She glanced at the bed. The single, lone bed that she was supposed to share with Clark. Her buddy. Her partner. Her pal. Her closest friend who probably had the nicest buns in Metropolis. Realizing that she was staring at the buns in question, she jerked her gaze back to the window. Good Lord, what if Clark had seen her staring at him? "Get a grip, Lois," she muttered. She heard Clark hang up the phone and experienced a jolt of panic. She wasn't ready to face him yet. Him or that bed. "Everything all right with Perry?" she asked brightly, grabbing her bag from the table. "Yeah, everything's fine." Clark watched her with that puzzled expression that she found endearing. "Great. I'll be right back." She dashed into the bathroom. Clark watched the bathroom door slam. What had gotten into Lois? One minute she was tearing into him, the next minute she was Suzie Bright Eyes and dashing into the bathroom as if nothing was wrong. Very odd behavior. Which of course was normal for Lois. He resisted the impulse to look through the door and make sure she was all right. He couldn't violate her privacy like that, so he settled for knocking on the door. "You okay in there, Lois?" "Just fine, Clark!" came the cheerful reply. "Be out in a minute!" He pursed his lips and frowned at the door. Something was definitely up with her, and knowing Lois, it could be anything. A knock came from the hallway door. He hesitated, then went to answer it. With his mind still on Lois, he was totally unprepared for what happened next. "Clarkie!" Melanie Griswold, the curvy blond in the pink dress who'd almost cornered him in the lobby, threw herself into his arms. He stumbled backwards, spitting out the feather from her hat that had somehow got caught in his mouth. "Isn't this great?" She hugged his face to her generous chest and grinned conspiratorially at him. "I bribed that cute little bellhop to let me up here. I've missed you!" He knew it was going to happen. It never happened any other way. The bathroom door clicked open behind him. He tried to turn, but Melanie wrapped around him like wet wallpaper unbalanced him. They both tumbled backwards on to the bed. Lois came out of the bathroom, raised her eyebrows and said in that *tone* of voice he knew so well, "Puh-leeze, don't let me interrupt." If looks could kill, Melanie would be dead, Clark thought, and he would be pretty close to the critical list himself. He quickly got off the bed brushing feathers off his clothes and pulled Melanie from her horizontal position. "Lois, *dear*, I want you to meet Melanie Griswold." "Don't be so formal, Clarkie," Melanie chided. "You used to call me Melly during our all night study sessions." Turning to Lois she extended her hand. "Pleased to meet you, Lois," she said with an artificially sweet smile. Lois matched Melly's grin with a tight smile of her own. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, *Melly*." An awkward silence hung over the room for a few moments until Clark spoke up. Clark looked at each of the women standing in the hotel room. He thought to himself he'd better get them out among other people before they started exchanging sweet-tart comments about one another. "Lois, sweetheart, where did you say you wanted to go to dinner?" "It doesn't matter to me. The reception starts in a few hours, so wherever you want to eat is fine with me." Before Clark could reply, Melly jumped into the conversation with the grace and ease of a woman who was used to getting her own way. "A group of us have made reservations at the Red Sage. Why don't you join us? We have plenty of room." Clark looked at Lois. She raised her eyebrows in a questioning movement. Clark smiled at Melly. "We would love to." Lois walked over to where he was standing and very skillfully put her arm around his waist. "That would be wonderful, precious." Clark could feel her fingernails as they dug into the flesh above his belt and he gave a small groan, not of pain but of excitement, as he felt her hand move slowly over the area she'd just assaulted. Lois had always known Clark was in great shape but it wasn't until she pressed her hand into his waist that she realized the soft tissue of skin covered a body of steel. Her reaction to this new bit of information made her heartbeat quicken. She hastily moved away. "I'll get my things and I'll be ready to leave whenever you two are." As they entered the Red Sage, to the threesome's surprise they were greeted by.... ...one of the President's aides leaving the restaurant. He glanced over. "Ms Lane, Mr. Kent. Here in Washington covering the President?" he asked, sounding friendly, yet nervous. "No," Clark shrugged. "Just an alumni get-together." "Thank God," the man whispered, then said more loudly, "well, enjoy your stay in our fair city." Lois glanced over to a small art display of a skeletal man astride the skeleton of a horse. Melly crinkled her nose. "That is just horrid." "Not at all," Clark smiled. "It's a common figurine to commemorate--" "'La dia de los muertos'," Lois finished his sentence. Clark smiled broadly. "I'm impressed." Melly sighed. "I'll get a table," she said flatly. "I've been to Mexico for the festival, Clark," she said, and looked up at him. His smile was sometimes unnerving. Clark shifted his glance to the figurine, not sure what to make of Lois' sudden discomfort. "Me too, but I went with my parents as a little boy. I'd like to go back some day." Lois nudged him with her elbow. "We have a honeymoon coming up." Their eyes locked. Clark swallowed. "Sounds good." "We have a table," Melly said. The couple did not take their eyes from each other. "We have a *table*," she repeated. "Oh," Lois blushed. "Let's...eat." Clark let out a long sigh as he followed the two women to the table. He was feeling...what? Spring fever? He couldn't concentrate. All he could think of was dumping Melly. He'd never thought in such terms before. Lois seemed to be crawling all over his higher logic functions, civility and everything else. He...loved it. He pulled out a chair for Melly, but kept his eyes on Lois. If Melly needed a brick wall, she needn't look far. He was holding her chair. "Thank you, Clark," she said cheerily, trying to recoup a loss she had no prayer of recovering. Clark pulled out Lois' chair, handed her a napkin and scooted his chair next to hers. "We can share the menu...if that's okay, sweetheart." Lois blinked a couple of times and grabbed the left half of the menu. She knew Clark was being unintentionally rude, but.. she loved that. That it was entirely unintentional meant his interest was singular. Melly was about to try getting closer to Clark one more time when Jeeber walked up. He pulled a chair from the other side of Melly and sat down between her and Clark. Melly, miffed at being pushed out of the way, slid her chair away from Jeeber. Lois couldn't help but feel grateful. She smiled, "Hi, Jeeber, nice to see you again." Before he had a chance to reply, several others walked up to the table. She picked him right out of the group. He stood tall, but still shorter than Clark, with dark hair, darker than Clark's. But for a wealthy and powerful man who was about to dominate the computer world, passing Bob Fences by a few million, he did not seem too sure of himself. On the other hand, Clark always walked with confidence. Why am I comparing him to Clark, she began to wonder. Clark stood up and he and TK did some kind of secret handshake thingy that looked like only fraternity brothers would know. "Hey, TK, it's been a long time." "I know. How's everything, I hear you're a hotshot reporter." "Ah, well nothing compared to a hotshot computer whiz." Clark turned and was about to introduce Lois to him when suddenly Melly appeared and slid between Clark and TK. "TK darling!" she said as she wrapped her arms around the startled man and gave him a big hug. "It's been ages and we have so much to catch up on!" That said, she grabbed TK by the hand and began dragging him off from the rest of the group to a more private corner of the restaurant. TK shrugged and smiled. "Talk to you later," he called over his shoulder to Clark as Melly hustled him away. Continued in Part 3 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 08:49:34 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: "MOONLIGHT ON THE POTOMAC" Part 3 of 6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit "Moonlight on the Potomac" Continued from part 2 ___________________ Lois gave Clark a little shove. "What was that all about? The nerve of that woman, breaking in on your conversation that way?! Are you going to let her get away with that?!" she demanded, and then added with a frown, "Does she greet every man she used to know in college like that? She's going to break some poor man's rib one of these days." Clark opened his mouth to attempt to answer just as the waiter, whose name tag said Bill, came up and asked for a drink order. They sat down at the table again. Lois was still in full spate. "And why didn't you introduce me? Here I am pretending to be a devoted fiancee and you don't even think about introducing me. How can we keep a cover if you won't even act like we're engaged?" "I was about to, Lois... I'm sorry." Clark decided his best bet was to act humble. "I'll introduce you to him tomorrow, between meetings. That'll give us a better chance to talk anyway." "Hmpf. You'd better," Lois grumped, but she could be patient if she had to. And a group dinner in a crowded restaurant was not the ideal circumstance for an in-depth interview anyway. She consoled herself by deciding to observe TK tonight, sort of a passive interview. Her resolve didn't last long, however, as drinks arrived and the reunion crowd began to loosen up and enjoy the evening. Even Clark unbent much more than she was used to seeing; it was almost like seeing him back at that corn festival in Smallville. This was an alumni meeting, not a specific class reunion, but this particular subgroup had all graduated within a few years of each other, so they were all acquainted. And they were all, to one degree or another, very curious about the woman Clark was engaged to. "So, Lois," Melly asked sweetly, "how did Clark and you meet? He's always been so quiet, I didn't think anyone could catch him." Lois smiled at the woman she had unconsciously labeled a rival. "Oh, we work together." On a sudden whim, she added, "All those long stakeouts, late nights... we really bonded, didn't we sweetheart?" She glanced over at Clark, with laughter in her eyes, wondering what his reaction would be to her act. He was gazing down at his dinner roll, shredding it, and she was surprised to see a wistful smile on his face. Belatedly, he looked up, and the heat in his gaze took her breath away. A second later, it was gone, and she blinked, almost convinced that she'd imagined it. "No, actually, Melly," he replied softly, never taking his eyes from Lois, "it was love at first sight." Melly smiled brightly and quickly changed the subject, turning the conversation back to more general topics. The rest of the evening passed quickly for Lois. She found it disturbingly easy to act as if she were head over heels in love with Clark... and he was a better actor than she would have thought, given how bad he was at lying. If she didn't know better, she'd swear that he was completely in love with her. Before she knew it, the meal was over, and it was time to leave. The relaxed mood lasted until Lois and Clark reached the rental car, and realized they were alone together. They stood in front of the car a little awkwardly. Eventually, Clark cleared his throat and started to fumble for the car keys. Eventually, he got them into the lock ... but the lock obstinately refused to be opened. Once she realized what the problem was, Lois giggled, breaking the tension. "I *knew* we were in trouble when I first caught sight of this ... car." "Well, it's not so bad. It didn't break down on us. Let's just see if we can't fix it ..." He pulled the key out of the lock, breathed on it, and reinserted it back into the lock, giving Lois a reassuring smile. Then he gave it a skilled little twist and came away with the bottom half of the key in his hand and the front part locked securely in the door. Lois turned her eyes heavenward. "Men." Taking out her key, she walked around to the other, as yet undamaged door on the driver's side. When her key wouldn't open the door either, she pulled a hair pin from her pocket, opening the door in two seconds flat. "See. Easy," she said. "You'll have to climb in on my side and scoot over, though." "No problem," Clark made his way by her, brushing against her as he somewhat awkwardly clambered across the driver's seat and the gearshift. "Careful with the stick," Lois warned belatedly just as Clark's pant leg got caught on the stick and he bumped into her, halfway pulling her down with him on the driver's seat. When they had disentangled themselves from a confusion of arms, legs, steering wheel and stick, both were out of breath. Feeling a little awkward, Lois blushed and looked at Clark, finding his gaze upon her. Seeing Clark blushing in response, she cleared her throat. "Well, you better get into that seat *carefully*. We need to get a move on, or we'll never make the reception." Once they were finally settled in the car, Lois started the engine. They left the windows open and drove fairly slowly despite Lois' earlier warning to hurry. The spring air was mild and smelled faintly of ... something sweet ... cherry blossoms? Lois wished there was time to see those. If she was honest, she would much rather spend the time with Clark than go to another official meeting. Much as she had enjoyed seeing him with his school contemporaries, she had had enough of that for one night ... and the reception was bound to be more formal. She sighed and settled back in her seat, taking a firmer hold of the steering wheel and resigning herself to her fate. And then there was a noise and bump as the car jerked under her. Alarmed, she stepped on the brakes and managed to steer the car over to the side of the road before it completely sagged on the passenger side. The passenger door still refused to open, so they had to clamber out the same way they had gotten in. Once that was accomplished, they walked around and took inventory. Not only did they have a *very* flat flat tire but it looked like the whole wheel was about to come off. "We'll need to change the wheel," Clark diagnosed, only to find that there was no spare in the trunk. "Looks like we're stranded," Lois said, trying to sound remorseful. "Not even a phone close by," Clark responded. "Or did you see one?" "No. Just this park here ... and deserted office buildings over yonder." "Well, the main street should be over that way through the park." Clark nodded in the general direction. A walk through the park with a guy she ... found interesting ... wasn't so bad, Lois thought. Out loud she said, "Well, then we have to try that." That said, they tried in vain to lock their car and set out towards the park, she slipping her arm through his unobtrusively after a few steps. "Actually," Clark said as they began to walk, "we're not all that far from the Tidal Basin, maybe we could take a side trip and see the cherry blossoms. They can be a pretty spectacular sight." Lois nodded in agreement and snuggled a little closer to Clark as the wind picked up. "You're getting cold, maybe we'd better go back." "No, I'll be fine. Let's keep walking. I haven't been to Washington as a tourist since I was in grade school. This is real treat for me," Lois said, giving Clark a warm smile. "I think the Lincoln Memorial is down near the cherry trees, right?" "Actually it's the Jefferson Memorial." "Whatever." Clark took off his jacket and draped it over Lois' shoulders. They walked together in silence for a few moments, then Lois spoke. "So exactly how did you meet the *renowned* Thaddeus Franklin? " she said with a sly grin. "Are you interviewing me for background material?" Clark asked, returning her grin. "No, I really want to know how you two met. Did he play football too?" "TK?! Hardly. He was never really a team player, you know." "More of a lone wolf." "You know the type. Single-minded, focused, always thinking of work and little else." Lois nodded and laughed nervously. "Yeah, I know a few people like that. So what brought you two together?" "We go back quite a few years. His mother and my mother were childhood friends. In fact they were neighbors until Betsy moved out west with her family. She and Mom kept their friendship alive through cards and letters but lost contact until they met again at a friend's wedding. I was about nine then and TK was the same age. We had a ball at the wedding. So you could say we met that day and have been friends ever since. As time went by our friendship grew. His father was really busy with the family business he inherited from his father so he didn't have much time to be with TK." Lois listened as Clark continued talking about his friend. "I remember one summer TK came to stay with us at the farm. At first he was like a fish out of water. But by the end of the summer we all hated to see him leave. In fact for many summers after that he would come and visit, always working right alongside me and Dad in the fields, never complaining about any of the hard work. I always teased him he could bring his butler along but he knew I wasn't serious." Lois stopped as they came to a crosswalk. "Let's go this way." They changed their direction and now were heading towards the Washington Monument in the distance. "Are you sure you don't want to go back?" "No, I enjoy listening to you talk. Tell me more." Clark continued. "We kinda lost contact when we were about fourteen. His father decided to send him to a prep school back east. We stayed in contact but it wasn't until I decided to go to MSU that he called and said he was going there too. We became roommates and are still friends." Lois looked up at Clark and realized there were so many things about him she didn't know. She wanted to know. They were on the Mall passing the Washington Monument heading towards the Lincoln Memorial when she caught a movement to the left of them. Her hold on his arm tightened as she sensed something wasn't right. Clark turned his head, also sensing the presence of someone else. But when he saw that someone, his worried look disintegrated. "Jacie! How are you?" he asked. Lois was surprised. "You know her? What am I saying? Of course you know her. You know everybody here." The woman walked up to them. "I didn't think I could tail Clark for very long. He always did have a sort of a sixth sense." "Jacie, this is Lois, my fiancee." "Oh, how nice! I'm--" Lois interrupted. "Wait, let me guess. Julie Cassano? Jess Cartwright?" "No, Jacie Person." She had a puzzled look on her face. "Oh, um, I thought JC was another initials name," Lois explained sheepishly. Jacie giggled a little. "No, it's my real name." "So, Clark, how've you been?" "Fine, fine. As you can see," he said, gesturing to Lois. "Yes! Congratulations on your engagement! That's wonderful." Jacie turned to Lois and whispered, "We're going to have to exchange stories! I'll let you know what you're getting yourself into!" Lois smiled. Despite herself, she was starting to like this woman. "Sure. Sounds good." "So, Jacie, how have you been?" asked Clark. "Oh, fine. I got myself hitched, too." "Congratulations," Lois said. "Anybody I know?" asked Clark. "Nope. His name's James. So, where are you guys off to?" she asked them. "We were going to go see the Lincoln Memorial. And then maybe buy a new tire for our car." "Uh oh. Trouble?" "You could say that," Lois said, sounding slightly annoyed. "But we're going to have a good time here anyway. Aren't we, sweetheart?" Clark smiled. "We sure are!" Lois couldn't help but think back to the situation with their hotel room. Maybe a very good time indeed. "I can give you a ride if you need," Jacie offered. "Thanks," said Clark. "We'd appreciate that." "Would you like to come see the Lincoln Memorial with us?" Clark asked. Lois couldn't help but wince at the offer. She suddenly didn't want Jacie tagging along. It wasn't anything against Jacie; she just wanted to be alone with Clark. So she was greatly relieved to hear Jacie say, "No, I have some errands to run. But I could pick you up here in.. say.. two hours?" "No, that's okay," said Clark. "We'll get back on our own. Don't worry ." "All right then. Bye, Lois, Clark. Have a nice time!" "Bye, Jacie. It was nice meeting you." They parted company, waving goodbye to each other. Clark looked down at Lois. "Are you sure you want to see the Lincoln Memorial? It's still a good distance away on foot." Lois could hear the concern in his voice and knew it had to be about the flat tire. "How about we postpone that for a later time when we don't have to worry about car problems?" Clark was relieved to hear her say that. "I'm glad you understand. I think we should call the hotel for them to send a tow truck for the car. I'll ask them to send us a limousine to take us to meet the others." Lois nodded in agreement to that. "Just make sure you remember where they're taking the car. But, Clark, are you sure we should use a limo? What will Perry say when he sees that one on the expense account?" "I thought we could swing by and ask TK to join us. Now our next problem is to locate a phone." Lois looked sheepishly at her shoes as she opened her purse and handed him her cell phone. "You had this all along? Why didn't you say something before now?" She shrugged. "Just wanted a cheap tour of the city, I guess." Clark smiled and ordered the limo, then returned the phone. "Well," he said. "I hope you weren't disappointed in the 'cheap tour'." "No," she said airily. "It did make me wonder something though." "Which is?" "Why Superman chose Metropolis instead of Washington, D.C. If any city was begging for help, it's this one." Clark laughed softly. "Well, maybe D.C .seemed too partisan, and politics is harder to save than a collapsing bridge. Besides," he said, looking right into her eyes. "There are a few attractions in Metropolis that can't be found anywhere else." Lois looked into his steady gaze. It seemed more comforting than disconcerting for once. "But don't you ever wonder, Clark? There are so many places in the world he might be of better help." Clark sighed and looked up into the sky. "I know. I was in Kuching--" "Kuching?" "It means 'cat city'," he smiled. "In Sarawak." "Ah, Borneo. I remember your 'gecko' story." He laughed again. "Yeah, I was pretty naive thinking that would get me on the staff at a great metropolitan newspaper." "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. What about Kuching?" "The rain forest there caught fire when I was staying in the capital. Even that far away you could feel the heat. It was like the air itself was on fire. It was the middle of the night but the sky glowed red in the distance, and a blur of black smoke above it. It was like God took His thumb and smeared the sky. I ... I wished Superman existed then ... could have helped.." Lois put a hand on Clark's arm. She felt like comforting him, as if he were taking the whole thing personally. "He can't help when he's not there, Clark. He does what he can." Clark shrugged and forced a smile. "I know, and maybe that's another reason he chose Metropolis. A big city, lots of news reaching out everywhere. He can stay on top of what happens in the rest of the world." "Makes sense," she nodded. "You know, you have a very romantic past--" She cut herself off. She'd meant to say "adventurous" - how Freudian could she get? Continued in Part 4 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 08:49:41 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: "MOONLIGHT ON THE POTOMAC" Part 5 of 6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit "Moonlight on the Potomac" Continued from part 4 ____________________ Are you sure?" he said, uncertainty written all over his face. "I'm sure." She smiled. "I trust you, boy scout. Besides, they have a Gideon's here somewhere. We can always put that in the middle ..." He grinned at that and nodded. Returning to the bed, he replaced the pillow and blanket. They got ready for bed in less than five minutes, not undressing all the way, settling on the big bed. First they were each at opposite ends, but then in silent agreement they moved closer together, and their hands touching the other's, were asleep within moments. Sometime about midnight, Clark was startled awake by the sound of fire engines. He started to sit up, but realized that Lois' head was nestled on his shoulder. Somehow it just felt right and he hesitated before easing out from under her. To his dismay, she woke at once. "Where are you going, Clark?" "Um..." He gestured toward the bathroom. Lois grinned. "Oh." "Go back to sleep. I think I'll go down to the lobby and get you some aspirin while I'm up." "Okay," she mumbled sleepily, and Clark sighed with relief. He went into the bathroom and pulled on his pants and a shirt, before exiting the room. As soon as he was in the hall, he spun into his Superman costume and flew off to do what he could to help Washington. ***** The next morning Lois found that her ankle was much better, although for safety's sake she kept on the ACE bandage. As they rode down in the elevator on their way to the alumni breakfast meeting, she kept sneaking glances at Clark It had felt somehow right to wake up in the same bed, and she had been surprised to discover he didn't even snore. She had awoken when he finally crawled back into bed at two a.m. and just naturally settled her head back on his shoulder. He hadn't even blinked, just wrapped his arm around her and seemed to fall right back to sleep. She, on the other hand, had been tempted to do a little exploration, but had restrained herself and eventually drifted off too. "So, do you think TK will be at this breakfast meeting?" she asked. "There's a good chance he'll be there, he always was a big fan of breakfast," Clark said with a grin. "Or at least he was when he visited our farm during the summer." Lois giggled. "It might be that he was a fan of your mother's cooking." "Well, that's true too, but I guess we won't know anything until we get there." And they walked arm in arm into the hotel's cafe. Lois and Clark took a seat at a centrally located table, so that they could watch the other guests arrive. As if on cue Thaddeus Franklin walked through the Round Robin's door. He smiled as he saw Clark and made his way across the crowded restaurant to their table. "'Morning, TK," Clark said as he stood. "We didn't get a chance to talk much last night, join us for breakfast?" Clark held his hand out to his old friend, but TK pushed the hand away and encircled Clark in a huge bear hug. Both men spent the next thirty seconds greeting each other with claps on the back. "How are Aunt Martha and Uncle Jonathan?" "They're doing great. Mom really enjoyed the new computer and fax you sent them for their anniversary. Dad's still a little computer shy, but Mom's working on getting him to come online. She got them hooked up to AOL in hopes it would spark his interest." "I am not surprised about Jonathan but I will tell you one thing once he decides to join the cyber-world Aunt Martha won't be able to get him offline." TK looked across the table and again back at Clark. "Who is this and where have you been hiding her?" For the first time since TK joined them Clark looked a little embarrassed by his old friend's remarks, but before he could introduce them, TK reached across the table with outstretched hand. "I'm TK Franklin and you must be - ?" "Lois La --" Before she could finish Clark moved to Lois' side and placed a territorial hand on her shoulder. "TK, I would like you to meet my fiancee, Lois Lane." "Your fiancee? Why haven't I heard about her before this? I was just speaking to your parents last week when I couldn't get you, to see if you were coming, and they didn't say a word about it." TK began to shake his friend's hand and gave him a nod of approval. "I'm envious of you, ol' buddy. She is gorgeous." TK moved to Lois and placed a small kiss on her cheek. "You are about to marry one of the last good guys left. I hope you will be very happy together." Lois seemed touched by TK's sincerity. "I'm already happy, and you're right, Clark's about the last of the good guys. In fact," she said, glancing at Clark, "he's so good that he isn't asking for an interview that we would dearly love to have with you for the Daily Planet." "Lois--" "But since I've never been known for *my* good manners, could I have an interview?" TK stared at her a moment and then looked back at Clark, whose mouth was still agape, then started laughing. "You got it, Ms. Lane. Ask away. It was worth it to see Binks speechless." Lois sighed with relief. "Thank you, and call me Lois. I'll only ask a few -- Binks?" Clark shook his head at TK, which TK ignored. "You mean Clark here never told you he was called 'Binks' in high school. The senior year, wasn't it?" Clark adjusted his glasses and then took a gulp of water. "I..I don't remember." Lois looked over at Clark and put her hands under her chin. "Come on, Binks, you don't want our marriage to start with secrets." Clark sighed. "It was nothing, Lois--" "Nothing good," TK laughed. "You see, Lois, your fiance ended up playing a mean game of football in college, but in high school he just couldn't seem to make high enough leaps for interception. Well, there was this poor old two- legged dog named 'Binks', and--" "Ah," Lois smiled. "He couldn't jump any better than a two-legged dog!" TK laughed and nodded, and then looked thoughtfully at Clark. "Funny thing is, you'd think when Clark turned eighteen, he learned how to fly or something." Clark spewed water and began to cough. Lois patted his back. "Take it easy, Binks." "Thanks," he frowned. "I think you need to start that interview...Stretch." Lois smiled and nudged Clark with her elbow. "Okay, TK, what was the big influence?" "Influence?" "Yes. What inspired you to pursue the software market." "Well," he said, and thought a moment. "I had something of a mathematical talent, but mainly it was having no life, no girl and no job, which also might explain why Binks isn't rich, but a lot happier." Clark smiled self consciously and shifted his gaze downward for a moment, out of modesty. TK nodded and returned his gaze to Lois, who, although not oblivious to her partner's polite deference, was still intent on the interview. "So, if you could go back and change something...anything about your life, what would it be? Or would you change at all?" "Wow.." TK cleared his throat and glanced up at Clark. His eyes were smiling when he quipped, "She gets right to the point doesn't she?" "Yeah.. yes she does." Clark agreed, tossing Lois a knowing glance which carried with it a healthy dose of admiration and...something else? Lois had to wrench her gaze away from Clark's in order to concentrate fully on TK. It was a state of affairs she had already chastised herself for, and yet there was something in the way he smiled at her, and glanced at her today...something that made her warm inside and nearly took her breath away. She swallowed just as TK began to speak once more. "Well," he paused briefly in thought, "...I guess if I could go back and change one thing.. I might have taken Bin--Clark's advice." Lois raised an eyebrow and watched the computer genius of the western world regard Clark respectfully. To say that the exchange surprised her would have been an understatement and a half. When TK didn't elaborate, Lois chimed in, back to reporter-mode. "Advice?" "Yeah... a few years back, he told me that no matter what I was searching for, no matter how hard I worked, or how many hours I devoted to my career dreams, I needed to take time out and just..be me. I think of all the things I'd ever go back and change, I might have spent a few more summers on a farm.." He grinned at Clark. "Hey, who knows, I may even rush out after breakfast and go grab one for myself!" Clark and TK both began to laugh. It was only when Lois did not laugh, that Clark's own expression sobered and he met her contemplative stare. At his scrutiny she finally smiled, a little, and nodded. But after a moment during which no one who did not know Lois the way Clark did would have even recognized something was amiss, she had recovered completely and returned to the interview with a smile. "Well, TK, you sound like a man who's come a long way from his old college dreams.. What does it feel like to have achieved so much and now have the world, well, literally, at your feet?" >From there the interview segued to different portions of TK's life and childhood, his company and his financial goals. Clark interjected with one or two fairly innocuous questions, but for the most part he watched Lois. Watched her because he knew that not very long ago TK's remark had touched something inside of her, and that whatever it had been she would likely need to talk about it later on. When all was said and done, TK once again complimented Lois on her interview and told her he'd be looking forward to reading the article whenever it came out. Lois and Clark had both thanked him for allowing them to be the first to speak with him about his life, and he had brushed it off, slapping Clark on the back as he stood to leave and reminding him to "*Call* sometime! I may be a billionaire, but I'm not made of stone!" He winked and sauntered off into the foyer of the hotel, leaving Lois, pad in hand, regarding Clark, who watched both his college buddy and his partner almost simultaneously. Finally, after long moments, Lois spoke. "Clark.. he seems so sad." Continued in Part 6 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 08:49:37 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: "MOONLIGHT ON THE POTOMAC" Part 4 of 6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit "Moonlight on the Potomac" Continued from part 3 ____________________ "What was that?" Clark was looking at her with at least a trace of astonishment. "Huh ...?" Lois bit her tongue, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks. "You said --" "Oh ... past ... It's way past the hour." She fought down a pang of regret at the next words she was going to utter. "We better hurry to meet that limo if we want to at least catch the end of that reception." "Yeah. We'd better." Had he caught that slip of the tongue? Had he been able to see her blush? She had been standing with her back facing the nearest lamp. So ... probably not. Anyway, it would be better to get the conversation back to safer ground. "Where is the reception anyway?" "Union Station," he said as they started walking towards the street. "That sounds like a train station ..." "Well it is ... I mean it was. But they renovated it. It's really pretty now. I still remember it from the way it used to be. I was just out of high school then, visiting a friend here." They had fallen in step easily, and she had slipped her hand through his offered arm without much thinking. 'Hurrying' to meet the limo turned into a leisurely stroll. Lois sneaked a glance up at her companion's face. Clark was relaxed and smiling as he recounted his first visit to Washington D.C., a "farmboy on the town" adventure. "Is your friend going to be here tonight, too?" she asked. "No," Clark sobered momentarily. "He was in a motorbike accident that same fall. He died on the way to the hospital. I never saw him again ..." "I'm sorry." She squeezed his arm slightly. "I wish ..." "Hey, you sound like you're blaming yourself. You're not Superman, you can't be everywhere at once." "No. But ... He was from Kansas originally. Only moved here with his parents during his senior year. He wanted to come back to Kansas with me at the end of that summer ... I persuaded him to stay and accept the scholarship he had been offered here." Lois again looked at him. He might not be Superman, but he still shouldered a lot of the blame for the mishaps in the world. And her heart reached out to him. At a loss for words, she stopped and hugged him instead. They had almost reached the street. They stayed in the embrace for a long moment. When they parted, Clark smiled down at her and said quietly, "Thanks." Then cocking his head and peering over the rim of his glasses, added. "Our limo has arrived." "Let's face the lion's den," she replied, again falling in step with him as they headed towards the waiting car. As they crossed the last few yards of the park, one of Lois' heels sank into the soft grass, and she stumbled. Clark caught her before she fell, but not in time to prevent her from wrenching her ankle. "Lois, are you all right?" Clark's concern was evident in his voice and in his anguished expression. Lois' ankle was hurting, but she couldn't help a small chuckle. "Clark, this wasn't your fault either." She disengaged herself from his arms and started to walk toward the limousine, but pain shot up her leg and she collapsed to the ground with a moan. Clark instantly swept her up in his arms and carried her to the limo, settling her into the back seat and climbing in next to her. He picked up her foot and examined her ankle, surreptitiously lowering his glasses for a quick x-ray. Thankfully, nothing seemed to be broken, but her ankle was swelling. "Take us back to the hotel," he ordered the driver over Lois' protests. "Clark, we're going to miss that reception. What about the story? Perry will kill us." Clark released her foot and lifted one hand to cup her cheek. "Lois, you are more important to me than a story. You need to get some ice on that ankle. We'll just have to meet up with TK some other time." Lois didn't quite know how to react. On the one hand, she was furious with herself for spoiling their chance to get the story, but on the other hand, Clark had just let another tantalizing glimpse of his real feelings to show. She reached up and covered his hand with her own, turning her head to place a small kiss on his palm. "You know, I'm really beginning to enjoy having a partner." Clark blushed. If I could only tell you how much you *really* mean to me, Lois, Clark thought, "...but I guess this isn't the time or the place," he mumbled. "What did you say, Clark?" "I... er, I said I guess we're pretty near the place, our hotel, I mean. Right, driver?" "Yessir, it should only be ten or fifteen minutes or so at this hour. No traffic; they sort of roll up the streets around here. Most of the hotshots on Capitol Hill have too many power lunches to party at night." "Well, as long as we're not going to see Thaddeus tonight maybe you can tell me a little bit more about your friendship," Lois said. "More background material?" "Clark..." "Okay, okay, Lois, what is it you'd like to know?" "Well, you two were close friends at one time, but now you're not. Why is that?" Lois asked, her eyes searching Clark's face despite the gathering darkness in the car. Clark shrugged. "We just sort of drifted apart after graduation." "Your lives were going in two different direction, maybe?" "Sort of. TK always knew where he was going and what he was going to do. There was never any question in his mind. He was going to be one of the Masters of the Universe." "And you wanted to be a reporter?" "Well, I wanted to write, that was for certain, but not necessarily for a paper. I wasn't sure of anything when I left school. That's why I traveled so much. I guess I was looking for something." "What was it?" Clark shrugged again. "Well, have you found it?" Lois asked, suddenly apprehensive. Clark gave her a shy smile. "I think so." He took her hand and squeezed a little. She smiled back at him, her heart racing. Wow... Then the driver turned the limo and headed into the hotel parking lot. Clark got out and lifted Lois out behind him. The limo drove away, leaving them in the parking lot, Clark holding Lois in his arms. As much as Lois liked it, it *was* kind of an embarrassing situation. She suggested that he put her down and just let her lean on him. They could take the elevator. It wouldn't be too far, especially since they were right in front of the door. So he set her down gingerly and put an arm around her waist. She leaned on his shoulder, putting a minimum of weight on her ankle. In this way, they hobbled through the doors and to the elevator. They took the elevator up to the fifteenth floor and limped down to room 1538. Clark used his key to open the door, and they went inside. He set her down on the bed. "Do you need anything?" he asked. "No, that's okay. But thanks." "Okay..." he started to say, but she interrupted. "Wait. Actually, I need to do this," she said. She stretched up and kissed him quickly on the lips. "Thank you -- for everything," she said to his startled face. Clark couldn't help but smile at her. "You're welcome," he whispered. Neither one moved for almost a minute. But then the situation changed from enchanting to awkward as nothing happened, and Lois giggled to break the tension. "Do you wanna... watch a movie or something?" she asked him, running a hand through her hair. "Sure," he said. "They have cable here." He took the program listings off the top of the TV and handed it to her. "What looks good?" Actually, my friend, *you* look pretty good right now, she thought, but she took the booklet and read the list of movies. "'Ghost' is starting in a couple of minutes on The Movie Channel. How about that?" "Okay." Clark found the channel and lay down next to Lois on the bed. To his delight, she snuggled up close to him. The movie came on, and neither one of them minded anymore that they had missed the big party. "Ouch," Lois sighed. Clark looked at her, a worried look on his face. "Everything all right, Lois?" "Yes ... well, no," Lois answered. "Actually my ankle hurts." Clark got to his feet. "Don't move, Lois. I'll be back in a minute." Move? How could I move? Lois thought. After a few minutes, Clark returned with some ice and put it gently on Lois' swollen ankle. "Oh, that feels great, thank you, Clark." Lois looked up into his eyes. His hand had moved from her ankle to her leg and rested there for a moment. Suddenly the quiet moment was ended by the sound of a gunshot. "What was that?" Clark looked around, not knowing what had happened. He had lost himself so completely in Lois' eyes that he had forgotten about the movie. Clark gave a self-conscious laugh when he realized that the shot had only been part of the movie they had turned on, but not really followed. Clark felt a soft tug at his hand. He looked at it. It was still lying on Lois' leg, and now her hand was covering his. "Oh, Clark. " Lois' voice reached that Laura Petrie pitch. Clark looked over at her. Her eyes were filled with tears. "Lois, what's wrong, is it your ankle? Do you need a doc--" "No," she sobbed. "This is *so* sad." "Oh ... let me turn it off--" "You do, and you die!" Clark sighed with exasperation. "You just said -- "I know what I *said*, but it's a good cry," she said and pulled a tissue from the nightstand. "I mean there they are, so in love, and then =BAM= in one lousy ... second ... Oh God," she whispered. She looked up at Clark, her eyes and lashes glistening with tears. "That was you, too." Clark raised his eyebrows. "Lois, don't take this the wrong way, but I have *no* idea what you're talking about." She put her hand on his chest. "You. It was almost you. Clyde shot you ... you were dead." Clark's face burned. "Lois," he said softly. "I'm okay. I didn't turn into a ghost, or possess Whoopi Goldberg, or jump through a subway. I'm okay ... I'm here." "I know, but --" He put a finger over her lips. "But nothing. It happened. I had to come back, you owed me $11.95 for your half of Jimmy's birthday present." Lois laughed even as she cried. "Why can't we ever have a *deep* conversation?" Clark shrugged. "Switch the channel to 'My Dinner With Andre'." Lois laughed again. "Or I could bring up your cross-dressing father if we watched 'Tootsie'." They both laughed. Clark leaned over and hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "Okay?" Lois sniffed. "Yes. Okay." "Good," he smiled. "Besides, you're much more attractive than Demi Moore, and I have it all over Patrick Swayze." Lois threw a tissue at Clark. "You wish!" Clark made a face of mock surprise. "You don't think so? I'm a pretty good dancer. "Well," she considered. "Yeah, you're a pretty good dancer, but I don't think you could lift me over your head like he did with Jennifer Grey. " Clark folded his arms. "You'd be surprised, Lois." "Not so much anymore." She smiled at him. "Remember, I have you all figured out ... well, almost." He looked at her for a moment contemplatively, then agreed. "Almost." She studied him as he bent forward to take the wet rag from her ankle and replaced it with a fresh cold one from the bowl with the ice water. She tensed for a moment as the cold rag made contact with her skin, then relaxed as the sensation passed, easing the throbbing pain a bit more. Just a few hours ago, she had been so mad at him when she found out that they were to double up, and that the shared room only had one bed on top of that. She could have killed him. Then that thought made her mentally wince again. Not killed ... but ... gotten him. And now ... Here she was, together in one room with him, her partner and her best friend. They had played "couple" at the dinner earlier, and she had to admit that she had enjoyed it. Then the walk in the moonlight and the smell of cherry blossoms that she hadn't wanted to end. She'd been dreading the reception and the formality and wishing for a way out. Seemed she had gotten her way out. She winced a little when Clark touched her ankle. The way out was a little painful, but she gladly put up with it. Watching that movie had gotten her emotions so close to the surface. She longed to tell him how she felt as she had on that night when she had nearly lost him. More so actually. He had become her partner and her best friend before that fateful day, but since then, when she was honest with herself, she knew there was more. Now as she looked at him, watching him trail a gentle finger up and down her exposed calf, he glanced up at her. "You know, it is getting late. Think you can stand it if I taped that ankle for you?" "Huh ...?" "Well, the swelling has gone down. It would be good if you had some support around it so you don't move it too much in your sleep or strain it more." "Oh, sure. You'll need to get 'equipment' then? "No. I've got it together with the ice." He smiled, pulling out an ACE bandage >from his coat pocket. Then he removed the moist rag and began to carefully wrap the bandage around her ankle, ever watching her face for the slightest indication of discomfort. In the beginning, she held her breath, expecting her ankle to start hurting again, but Clark's fingers were careful and gentle, well versed in what they were doing. When he was done, he looked at her. "How does that feel?" When she smiled at him reassuringly, he extended a hand, helping her up, adding, "Try to stand on it." She took an experimental step and then another. "All right. I won't run a marathon with this, but a lot better. Thanks." Picking up a pillow and a blanket from the bed, he said, "Well, time to turn in, I guess." "Where are you going?" she heard herself ask. "Well, I'll be sleeping over ..." He nodded into the direction of the farthest corner of the room. "That's all right," she said quickly. "This bed sleeps two." Continued in Part 5 ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 08:49:44 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: "MOONLIGHT ON THE POTOMAC" Part 6 of 6 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit "Moonlight on the Potomac" Continued from part 5 ____________________ Clark stared at Lois and then nodded slightly. "A little, I guess. His mother died last year and he's an only child. I guess he's lonely and..." "That may be part of it Clark, but that's not the primary reason he's sad." "It's not?" "No." "Then what is?" "I don't think your friend TK has ever been in love. He has all that money and fame and no one special to share it with. That's really sad. I just hope that ...." Lois voice trailed off and she was silent. "That's not going to happen to you Lois. I know it," Clark said reassuringly. Smiling broadly he took her by the hand and after paying the bill led her out into the lobby. "Where are we going? "Well we've fulfilled our obligation to the paper," Clark replied. "Now we are going to play tourist. How would you like to finish that cheap tour from last night?" Lois smiled. "I'd love that," her face fell, "but my ankle...?" "We can take the tour bus or I can always carry you again. What do you say?" "How about the tour bus? I don't want you to hurt yourself carrying me all over the city." With that Lois and Clark joined a tour group coming together outside their hotel. Lois was the typical tourist reading the brochures and taking pictures of everything they saw. The bus deposited the tourists at a central location near both the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. "Lois, are you sure you want to try and climb those steps?" Before she could answer Clark lifted her into his arms and started towards the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. She made a half hearted attempt to stop him but decided she loved the feeling of being in his arms that rose in her. "Clark, maybe you shouldn't do this. I don't want you to pull anything. Why don't you put me down and let me lean on you the rest of the way up?" "I'm fine, Lois." And to prove his point he took the last two steps in a single bound. He placed her before the giant statue of the president. Both stood in awe as they read the words carved into the monument. "Thank you, Clark. I have always wanted to visit here." She turned to walk away and was met with the beautiful view of the Washington Monument and off to the left she could see the long black wall of names of the Vietnam Memorial. As before Clark lifted her into his arms and carried her down the steps. They both heard a group of foreign teenage tourists who were practically in awe over his actions. He placed her on a bench and sat down next to her. "Again, thank you, Clark." She looked closely at him, just realizing that he hadn't even gotten winded from carrying her. "How do you do it, Mr. Kent? How do you carry a grown woman up and down those steps and not even become short of breath or break out in any visible sweat? Clark adjusted his glasses. "I...uh.. was breathing hard, but it wasn't from the carrying part," he said, and smiled. He wasn't kidding. Having Lois in his arms was a cardiovascular workout of the emotional kind. Not to belabor the point, he asked her how her ankle felt. "Much better. Good enough for the dance, if he alumni dance is still on." Clark raised his eyebrows. "You sure?" She stood up. "See? Besides," she said, looping her arm through his, "didn't you say you were as good a dancer as Patrick Swayze." "Not *as* good," he laughed. ***** There was a pleasant breeze as Lois and Clark stood at the rail of the 'Spirit of Washington' as it began to glide down the Potomac. Lois looked at the moonlight glinting off the water, and Clark looked at her. She was dressed in *that* dress. He thought it was burgundy, but it was deep violet. He shook his head. She looked so sexy. When would he have the guts to just ask her out? It was definitely getting to the point that if he didn't make some move, another guy would, but would she say yes? Maybe a test. "The band is playing 'Moonlight Becomes You', and since that describes how you look, it would be a shame not to share this great envy thing I could have from the other guys." "Envy?" "Dance with me, Lois," he whispered. Lois took his arm and walked to the dance floor. She put her arms around him and felt her breath catch. Sometimes being so close to him had a beautiful hurt. An ironic thought, but it did. She was feeling lately that she needed more in her life than headlines and deadlines, and what that 'more' was never seemed very clear until she was this close to Clark. Would he ever be ready to take their friendship farther? They began to sway to the old tune. "I love this song," Clark said. "Do you?" Lois smiled, and then held him tighter. Maybe it was the night, or the music; there was some eerie 'deja vu' going on, but she couldn't quite place it. "Yeah. My parents had a lot of old 78s and would dance in the kitchen. " Lois laughed softly. "The kitchen?" "They said it had a floor like the old Stardust Ballroom...the one in Kansas City." "I like your parents. It's probably how you ended up such a romantic." Lois bit her lip. The words had tumbled out before she had a chance to stop them. Clark knew she'd made herself uncomfortable with that confession, though it made his heart several degrees lighter. He dipped her. "Perry's not the only one with smooth moves," he said, bringing her back up. "Romantic enough for you?" She laughed. When she looked in his eyes, she saw gentle teasing there, affection, and ... something more? There was just a trace of uncertainty, too, she was sure, but the way he held her secure in his strong arms made her feel bolder. Picking up on his lighter tone, she smiled at him and saw her smile reflected by the sparkle that lit his eyes. "Did the Nigerian princess teach you that one?" "No," he grinned, elegantly dipping and bringing her up again. "But I've been ... around." Then the music came to a stop. They stopped also, looking into each other's eyes and smiling. The music picked up again, at a faster beat this time. They started to move, but when Clark noticed that she was favoring her foot slightly, he immediately stopped, leading her off the dance floor. For a moment she considered debating but when he led her to a group of chairs and table in a quieter corner, she made up her mind that having a chance to rest and chat a little wasn't so bad. Maybe ... "Are you hungry?" His voice cut into her thoughts. "No ... but thirsty." She settled back into the chair he had pulled out for her. "They have punch over there. I'll get you ..." Then there was a splash from the back of the boat, and a scream ... followed by more as people began running aft. "Stay here," Clark's voice said. Then he was gone. Of course Lois didn't stay. She wouldn't have been an ace reporter if she could forgo the chance of a story at this nice but somewhat boring reception. When she had made her way through the crowd however, and reached the rear of the boat, there wasn't that much to see. An unconscious man was lying on the deck, having the ship's doctor working over him. Presently, the man began to stir, coughing and bringing up water from his lungs. She was about to turn back when she noticed a second wet figure a little off to the side, huddled in a blanket. She didn't have to take a second look. "Clark!" she exclaimed, rushing toward him. "Are you all right?" "Yeah," he grinned. "Just wet." He was glad that he had remembered to not take his street clothes off. It wouldn't help if she had seen him in the suit. The spandex would dry fast on his skin underneath. "Well, then let's get you someplace where we can get you out of those wet clothes." "Actually, Lois.. you know what?" Clark smiled at her concern. "What?" She couldn't help but smile back. Here they were on what had quickly become one of the most romantic evenings of her life, except that now Clark was soaking wet, leaning on the starboard rail of the boat after having just rescued a man from drowning. Yup.. this was definitely part of an "average" day. She sighed. "I know they rent formal attire in the front. I can just go change right here, and we can stay..." He glanced up hopefully at her. "That is.. if you still want to?" Lois' eyes lit up. "Yeah.." she spoke softly, dipping her head in a way that signaled she was still a little shy; it made Clark's heart skip several beats. "I'd like that very much." "Okay." He swallowed. Moving to pass her on his way towards the front of the boat, he realized that some way, some how, their hands had found one another when she'd come running up to him. As if on cue, they became vividly aware of their fingers intertwined. As his fingers slid over hers to their very tips, Clark never took his eyes off of her. The way she touched him, the way her smaller hand had fit inside of his, and the way she seemed to hesitate when he pulled away all combined to make Clark more than a little light-headed. He let out a short breath and straightened his glasses which were ... wet, to say the least. For long moments, the tips of their fingers remained touching, and their eyes locked. It was Lois who finally broke the silence, but she did so without speaking. Wordlessly, she moved forward until she stood so close to Clark's warm body that she could literally feel the heat rising off of his chest...his arms...his breath near her skin. Clark caught his breath, as Lois slipped her arms back around his neck, despite the dampness of his shirt. He tossed her a look of uncertainty when she began to move still closer, if that were possible. "Lois..." he breathed, feeling lucky that he could speak at all. "I should....change?" The last sentence had been intended as a statement of fact, but it had quickly turned into a moot question when Lois laid her head against his shoulder and molded her body to his. "Shhh... you promised me a whole dance," she whispered. "We'll miss the song if you leave now.." Clark had already shut his eyes; the nearness of her body, the smell of her perfume mixed with the airy river breeze was intoxicating. He wrapped his arms around her waist without even thinking and spun her around onto the open deck. They stayed that way, swaying back and forth to the music from inside the boat until a gust of wind ruffled Clark's already damp jacket. He glanced down at Lois in concern. "Aren't you cold? You probably shouldn't have.." Then Lois did something which Clark had never anticipated, never dreamed possible before tonight. She took in a deep breath without saying a word. With one hand she reached forward and placed her fingers against the side of his face and she traced his jawline before leaning forward on tiptoe. They were barely an inch apart; Clark could feel her breath on his skin and he knew he'd never wanted anything more in his entire life. If this was a dream then he never wanted to wake. "Lois.." he whispered one last time before meeting her advance half way, pressing his soft lips against her own and knowing that once taken, the experience would remain etched in his mind forever. It was slow...surreally slow when they began kissing. Clark felt his arms tighten at her waist and felt her hands brush over the back of his neck. It was the most incredibly tender moment. Lois opened her eyes slowly, watching her partner do the same, and noticing the slowness with which he seemed to return to reality. She smiled up at him. "No..." she whispered. After a moment of delirium, Clark swallowed and found he was able to speak. He gazed into her eyes, two dark pools he had been so lost within only moments before. "No?" he asked. "I'm not cold." Lois' smile widened into a grin and Clark had to accompany her. She was ...incredible. He pulled her into his embrace once more and wrapped one arm around her before she continued. "But I do think you should change..." This time she nudged him with her hip. "You still owe me the rest of the cheap tour..." she winked at him, "...on foot." THE END ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 03:05:54 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Beverly Latham Subject: new fanfic NEBS: SECRETS [3/4] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a white lab coat about three feet away on the ground. He stared at it blankly until it finally sank in that he had absolutely no idea why it was there. More important than that, he didn't have a single glimmer of an idea as to where there, or rather here, was. He looked around the semi-dark enclosure slowly, then down at the S-shield on his chest. Without thought his hand moved to the familiar symbol, as if to reassure himself it was really there. Or real period. Once his fingers had confirmed it was real, and by association so was he, he turned back to studying the area. Every piece of evidence from the rock wall at his side to the loose dirt-rock mixture he was lying on pointed to the conclusion he was in a cave of some sort. All things considered, that didn't make a lot of sense. Next, he examined his most recent memories. They were sketchy at best. Snatches of words and images . . . some of which were downright weird and certainly disturbing. There was only one constant through all of them. Lois. Just focusing on her made him sit straight up, the knowledge she wasn't in sight making his heart suddenly pound in his chest. That's when he realized his thoughts and emotions were an even bigger jumble than his memories. She had rescued him, from something, that much he did know, but now where was she? Before he could make it to his feet, a woman scurried into sight through the mouth of the cave. At least, he assumed the person was a woman, but it was difficult to tell under all the layers of odd clothing she was wearing. Something about the figure was familiar for all that and he frowned at the solution that popped into his head. Lois as a bag lady? She didn't spare him a glance, but shoved a rough wooden barricade across the opening before peeping back out, surreptitiously. "Lois?" The scruffy cap swung around and familiar brown eyes looked his way. "You're awake! Good." "Easy for you to say. I almost wish I'd stayed asleep. Nothing makes any sense." "I can imagine, but pardon me if I'm glad you woke up. I was beginning to worry." The bag lady smiled sympathetically before beginning to shed various articles of clothing, one after another. In seconds she was transformed into . . . Lois. "Is there a reason for all this?" Her expression changed from smiling to serious in a heartbeat. "I'm not sure, but until I am, I'm not taking any more chances." His eyebrows shot up. More? What did that mean more? Knowing her, it could mean many things. Most, if not all of them, bad. Bad for his nerves, at any rate. His gaze focused on her again, even more intently than before. "Care to fill me in on what I've missed?" "Sure, just let me get something to eat first. I'm starved." Reaching down to pick up the plastic bag she'd dropped just inside the opening, she turned to find him grinning. "What?!?" "You're amazing." She shrugged then sat down beside him on the ground, stretched her legs out and dug into the sack to pull out a small bag of apples and another of chocolate chip cookies. When she again reached in for a six pack of canned colas, Superman muttered softly. "Interesting combination." "I was too busy checking to make sure I wasn't followed to pay much attention to what I got. Just be glad it's all edible." Her gaze lifted to meet his. "Although, I don't suppose that makes much difference . . . er, are you hungry? For that matter, how do you feel?" "Weird." Seeing her immediate overly-concerned expression, he hastily shook his head to reassure her. "I'm okay, if that's what's worrying you. At least, I think I am. I just feel so strange." He frowned, deep in thought. "Not bad, just strange. Whatever it was, I don't think it involved Kryptonite." "No, it didn't. They had orders not to use it." His brow wrinkled over that. "I'm weak. Very weak and I don't think all my powers work right yet, but it's not like krptonite exposure. For one thing, there's no pain. I've never not felt pain around it. Usually intense pain, although the degree does vary, considerably." Lois popped open a can of soda as she studied his face. "You still look very pale." His hand went to his forehead. "But I don't feel hot and I usually run at least a slight fever after Kryptonite exposure." "I told you they didn't use kryptonite." "I know, but, Lois, what else could do this to me?" "Something called Starcatcher." Superman blinked then sat forward to stare at her. "Starcatcher? What is that?" "I have no idea." Lois leaned back against the rock wall and closed her eyes tiredly. "Honest. So far all I do know is that it made you become unconscious. More or less instantly. So much so, they thought you were dead or, more precisely, they weren't sure if you were dead or not." She looked back at him. "What happened to you anyway?" Superman slowly pushed himself upwards until he was standing in the middle of the cave. Seeing Lois studying his progress intently, he smiled, ruefully. "Just checking. It's getting easier to move around. I no longer feel like I'm wrapped up in something." Then he rubbed a hand over his hair. "As to what happened, it's a muddle. Just bits and pieces of memory, here and there. I was flying back to Metropolis . . . from somewhere . . . now I can't even remember. They must have hit me with some kind of energy beam. That much I do know because there was this burst of intense light. Not an explosion, though. It was more like being caught in lightning, but not any lightning I've ever run into before. I don't remember much after that except flashes of being moved around and those are almost dream-like." He stopped and looked back over at her. "Until you woke me up in that lab." Leaning one hand on the wall of the cave for support, he began walking around the small enclosure, testing the strength in his legs. They were still slightly unsteady and stiff but better, much better. Lois watched in silence until he reached the wood across the opening. "Don't go out! Not yet." His gaze returned to her. In the soft semi-darkness, he could see the fear in her eyes. Real fear. For his safety. He turned his face towards the wall and swore softly under his breath. "This is ridiculous! What is going on here? For that matter, where IS here? How long was I in that place?" His head came around again. "And how in the world did YOU find me?" Before she could gather her thoughts to begin answering the barrage of unanswered questions they both had, he moved back over to where she was sitting and dropped down on his knees to face her as something else occurred to him. "God, Lois, please don't tell me you did this all alone." When she didn't respond immediately but instead looked away, more defiantly than sheepishly, he shook his head and collapsed back against the wall beside her, shaking his head. "Forget I said that because I'm not sure I want to know. No, I am sure. Lois Lane . . . what am I going to do with you?" Lois let out a long, shuddering sigh and turned back to him, tears glistening in her eyes as she whispered, plaintively. "Hold me. Please." The second he pulled her into his arms, she burst into tears, sobbing almost uncontrollably. When the emotional storm seemed to abate a little, she sniffed against his chest, weakly. "I'm . . . sorry. It's just--when I first found you in that horrible lab . . . I thought you WERE dead." She looked up at him, her eyes wide in the darkness, and took a deep breath before continuing in a soft whisper. "Or close to death. I--I couldn't leave you there, even long enough to go get help, not knowing what they might try next. I just couldn't. Dead or alive, I had to get you away from them. I just HAD to." The last ended with a whimper and she buried her nose against his chest again. This time his arms closed tightly around her as he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his own eyes. They were feeling very watery. Must be the dust in the cave. After a moment, he whispered against her hair. "And you did it." This only brought a renewed round of sobs from her and he swallowed hard before comforting. "Shhh, it's okay. I understand. I do. Lois, thank you." Her only response was a quick up and down movement of her head, then she snuggled more tightly against his chest, apparently intending to stay there for the duration. He wasn't completely sure if she was seeking comfort or making sure he didn't disappear on her and, frankly, it didn't matter because he didn't care. She'd earned whatever security and peace of mind he could give her for the moment. He'd hold her as long as she needed it. It was apparent he wasn't going anywhere soon the condition he was in. Besides, until he had some answers, he had no idea where to go or what to do, anyway. And, yet, as he sat there, quietly holding her as her breathing settled down into the regular pattern of sleep, the thought occurred to him that he might need the comfort of knowing she was safe in his arms as much as she did the reverse. "All I need is a healthy dose of sunlight. My powers are already starting to come back, they're just weak." Specifically too weak to fly them both out of trouble, which was what seemed to be bothering him the most. Superman glanced around the small cave. "Besides, I'm not a bat and this place is disgusting. How in the world did you find it anyway?" "It belongs to a friend." Lois smiled soothingly, but didn't explain any more. Everyone had their secrets and this was one of hers. Tiredly, she focused on her current problem. Namely, her patient was getting cranky and uncooperative. Which was probably a good sign, but it was starting to wear on both their nerves. "Then put on these clothes." "No." When he continued to stare at the articles in her hand like they were snakes instead of the dark shirt and pants they really were, she glowered back at him. "Hey, they're not much but I went to a lot of trouble scrounging around in garbage to get them for you, just in case we needed them." "I know, but I prefer my uniform." His arms crossed against his chest, he met her gaze steadily, apparently trying to intimidate her of all people. Lois rolled her eyes. Normally, she thought he was absolutely adorable when he stood like that but at the moment all it did was increase her irritation with his unyielding stubbornness. She pushed hair out of her eyes tiredly. "Well, so do I, but we both know you can't very well appear in public that way at the moment. It kind of attracts attention, you know, and we do need to leave here. If we can get back to Metropolis maybe Star Labs can figure out what's wrong with your powers." His head tilted as he thought it over. "Still--" "Superman, please." Seeing by his expression he had no intention of giving in, her face abruptly crumpled and her bottom lip quivered slightly. "Look, there's something else I haven't told you." Instantly suspicious, he eyed her as if she was attempting to trick him. "More? Lois, I thought--" "Don't start! This isn't about what happened to you." Her head came up, suddenly, and her brow wrinkled. "At least, I don't think it is." Seeing his eyes narrow even more, she waved away the accusations before they started. "Before I left Metropolis, I couldn't find Clark. For all I know, he could be in trouble too. I need to get back and make sure he's okay. So, I don't have time for this. Don't you see, I'm . . . I'm worried about him." His face went completely blank, then he sighed. "I sure Clark's okay. Besides, Lois, you can't take care of everyone, you know." Eyebrows high in disbelief at what she'd just heard, Lois shook her head. "Oh, yeah. Right. Look who's talking." Laughing suddenly, his eyes twinkling, Superman walked over to place his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them gently. "Good point." He frowned down at the clothes she was clutching, his face a study of acute displeasure. "I'm still not wearing those. Not yet." "But--" "No, you listen to me for once. You said we were miles away >from anything. It should be safe enough for me to get some direct sun for a little while. If that hasn't helped in a couple of hours, we'll do it your way. Agreed?" Reluctantly, Lois nodded, all the while wondering if she was making a big mistake. A first for her. [continued in part 4] ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 03:06:10 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Beverly Latham Subject: new fanfic NEBS: SECRETS [4/4] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" A short time later, Lois decided it definitely hadn't been a mistake. In fact, it might have been one of the smartest decisions she'd made in her life. Superman was probably right, anyway, the rest of the world could take care of itself. That only left Clark to worry about. Besides, she wouldn't have missed this one for the world. The concept of Superman sunbathing was mind-boggling enough. Actually seeing it in reality was . . . Indescribable. Breathtaking, even. The only disappointing aspect was that he'd opted to wear the red briefs instead of going for total nudity after they'd argued again about him not being out in the open in the uniform. Not that she was complaining or anything, but it was really making it difficult to remember Clark might be in trouble. Suppressing a nervous giggle, Lois took another peek at the male form stretched out on the ground a few feet away from where she was leaning against a tree trunk, supposedly keeping watch. She sighed. He was absolutely gorgeous. Then she noticed he appeared to be deep asleep again and frowned, biting her bottom lip as she started worrying about him, all over again. He'd assured her repeatedly that he did need sleep just like any other living organism, particularly in times of stress, but she was still concerned about how quickly and how deeply he seemed to reach that state. It was just so strange to see him laying there, unmoving, when she was more used to him being full of life and energy. It also brought back unpleasant memories of finding him in that lab, memories she'd just as soon forget. An abrupt movement at the edge of her field of vision brought her back to the present with a jolt and she straightened away from the tree. Superman was sitting up, grinning at her. "How long was I asleep?" Checking her watch, Lois smiled back. "A little over three hours. How do you feel?" Standing up, he stretched from side-to-side then tilted his head as he considered it. "Better, much better. Let me check." Before Lois could do more than gasp, he shot straight up into the air, completely out of sight in less than a second. Scrambling to the spot he'd been standing, she scanned the skies but, naturally, couldn't see anything at all. "Well, of all the nerve! Is that all the thanks I get?" "Actually, you have my undying gratitude, you know. Something wrong?" Lois spun around with a startled little scream to find him standing behind her fully dressed in the suit, grinning like crazy. She glared and wagged a finger at him. "Don't ever scare me like that again." "Oops, sorry." Since he looked so much like an apologetic, if mischievous, little boy, so happy to be back to normal, she knew she shouldn't stay mad at him, but she couldn't help it, she was still miffed and let him know it by stomping into the cave to collect her things, muttering all the way. "Funny. Very funny. A real comedienne." Once she'd joined him back outside, Superman frowned, thoroughly puzzled. "What are you so upset about? My powers are back." As if that was the only thing they should be concerned about. Raising her eyes to the sky, Lois blew out a breath. "Men!" "Huh?" Flashing brown eyes pinned him to the spot. "Don't EVER say another word to me about rushing into danger. Of course, I'm ecstatic your powers are back, but we don't know who or what is out there, waiting for you to show up again and the first thing you do is--" "Oh. I see. You were worried about me." "I was not!" "But it's okay. I checked on the way up and didn't see anything, or anyone, for miles." "This is supposed to reassure me? You said the same thing about the night they caught you in that beam in the first place." Superman nodded. "Yes, but then I didn't know what I was looking for. I do now." His expression turned serious. "Believe me, I have every intention of being careful." Lois let out a breath. "Good." "Now, let me take you back to Metropolis and then--" "What?" "Nothing." Lois stared at his suspiciously blank face, horrified by what she was thinking. "You're going to go back there alone and check that place out, aren't you?" Arms crossed, he met her gaze squarely. "Wouldn't you if you were me?" "But that's crazy--" When his eyebrows raised, she stopped and frowned. After a long silence, she nodded, grudgingly. "But I suppose you're right. I would." Then her eyes hardened. "It might be smarter to let some good friends check it out for you, though. Will you at least give that some thought? I don't want to have to go through this again." "Neither do I. Okay, I'll think about it. Now, ready to fly?" The last was added with a small smile which she returned as he picked her up in his arms. Just before they lifted off, he shook his head and murmured softly. "One of these days, Lois Lane, I promise you we'll go flying for fun and not a life or death situation. I owe you that much, at least." Eyes sparkling with appreciation at the suggestion, Lois hugged his neck affectionately. "You got a deal, Superman." With a mixture of disgust and disappointment, Clark slowly looked around the lab where Lois had found Superman two nights before. It was deserted. More than deserted, the entire complex was cleaned out, down to the bare walls and the last paperclip. Not that they'd expected things to be otherwise. Not really. Frowning, he looked over to where his partner was standing in the middle of the room, apparently deep in thought. She'd been that way for several minutes, totally unmoving and silent, while he'd taken a quick tour of the rooms and offices immediately surrounding the lab, just to make sure things were as empty as they appeared. Her long silence was beginning to worry him. "I don't think we're going to find anything. At least not anything important." "Hmmm?" His expression deepened to one of concern at her blank stare. She had been through a lot in the last few days. "Lois, are you sure you're okay?" "What? Oh, I'm fine." She attempted a small smile, but it didn't quite lift the corners of her mouth or look very convincing. "I just don't like this place. It gives me the creeps." Glancing around again, he nodded and murmured feelingly. "I'm not crazy about it myself." Straightening and moving over closer to his side as if seeking comfort, Lois half whispered as if she was afraid someone might be listening. "There's just something so wrong about all of this." Eyebrows raised above his glasses, Clark stared at her in consternation. "Wrong? I'd say that was an understatement." His sarcastic tone brought her head around and she shook it worriedly as her eyes met his, pleading with him to understand. "But, Clark, I don't mean wrong as in evil or bad. I mean . . . " her eyes narrowed as she looked around them again and mentally attempted to work out what she was experiencing, "I mean wrong as in incorrect. Or false. Fake." This time, Clark looked puzzled rather than disbelieving. "Huh?" "It's just . . . " Lois rubbed her arms distractedly through the light jacket she was wearing. Then she sighed heavily and shrugged. "Nothing, probably nothing. Just one of my infamous gut feelings, I guess. Nevermind." Clark blinked, then tilted his head to stare intently down at her subdued, but very thoughtful, expression. He could feel the hairs on the back of his own neck rising in alarm as he recognized the look she normally got whenever something major was coming together in that mind of hers concerning one of their assignments. Before coming out to investigate the abandoned industrial site several hours from Metropolis where the hidden lab had been located, they'd talked at length about everything that'd occurred to her and Superman in the last three days, but this was the first time she'd expressed anything remotely like this. "Hey, this is me, remember? Your partner. I may not like the trouble your instincts usually get us into, but I do respect them. I've learned to the hard way. What's bothering you about this place?" "I don't know. None of this seems real somehow, but that doesn't make any sense because they certainly did something very real to Superman." Frowning, Lois nibbled on her bottom lip, then waved a hand to indicate the room around them. "When I first walked in here a few minutes ago, all I could think about was finding Superman that night and how terrified that had made me. Clark, I honestly thought he was dead at first. I've never been so scared in my entire life. I'll never forget the terror I felt when I saw him on that table." He nodded, and she continued. "Even when I found out he wasn't dead, I could barely keep myself from panicking." "That's probably understandable." "Maybe, but it's the reason I panicked that's bothering me now." When he didn't speak, she placed a hand on his arm and whispered. "I think now that the reason I knew I had to get him out of here immediately was because something was very . . . wrong about this entire set-up. This may sound totally crazy under the circumstances but I never should've been able to rescue him alone. Not if this really was some Top Secret lab, government or otherwise. But I did and it was way too easy. Clark, they weren't trying to keep anyone out. All their effort were centered on keeping him. Period. And that's part of what bothers me so much, I think. That really was all they were concerned with. Everything else was just window dressing. It was as if they didn't expect a rescue attempt to hinder their plans. And why would they? Superman has disappeared from sight for days before. Even if anyone was concerned, how would they find him?" Blinking, he slowly nodded. "I'm not sure I'm completely following you, but if you're right, why go to all this trouble of setting all this up?" Lois ignored his question as she warmed to her topic and became more animated. She began walking slowly around the empty room as she worked it out in her head, mentally and verbally. "They weren't trying to harm him and they didn't expect to be here for long. They were attempting to take him away from us. That woman said it. Not to harm but to capture. That's why I panicked. I knew if I left long enough to get help, he would be gone when I got back and I'd never see him again. I know that as clearly as I know I'm standing here right now talking to you." Swallowing hard, Clark questioned, hoarsely. "Even so, how long could anyone keep Superman prisoner?" Turning to him suddenly, her eyes wide, Lois whispered back. "Forever . . . if they took him some place where he couldn't get back to us. Or we couldn't get to him. Maybe he even wouldn't want to come back. That scares me the most of all." "But . . . but that's the craziest thing I've ever heard." Shaking his head adamantly in denial of the very possibility, Clark stared at her. "I think you're letting your imagination run away with both of us here, Lois." "See, I told you it was going to sound crazy." Putting her hands in the pockets of her jacket, she gave him her most stubborn look. "But I know what I know and I know we almost lost Superman the other night, one way or another. I just don't know why . . . or how they were going to accomplish it. I'm not even sure I want to know and that really scares me." For the longest, their gazes clashed, then Clark looked away, knowing he wasn't going to change her mind, not once she'd latched onto one of her crazy ideas. Instead he focused on another aspect of the situation. "Well, I certainly wish we knew more than we do. Perry is going to have a fit." "Maybe." When he glanced her way, she shrugged and began walking towards the door. "Besides, even if he does, what have we really got for an article anyway? Superman certainly isn't going to confirm on the record that someone was able to knock him out of the sky that easily, and I don't blame him, so I'm the only real source. No one else is going to come forward, that's for sure. We have no physical evidence the lab even existed. Nothing. Zilch. Essentially, there is no story." As Clark followed her out the door, she mused. "What really worries me now, though, is what we do know." "What's that?" "They weren't successful." Their eyes met and she nodded, her eyes wide and full of concern and fear, her expression echoed in his as he immediately grasped where she was going with the thought. "One day, sooner or later, they'll try again." "It's crazy really . . . That I had the gall to think that Superman was mine, er, Metropolis'. I mean, unselfishly speaking, I suppose he should belong to the whole world, but, selfishly speaking, I thought this was his home . . . Maybe, but the fact remains, I have no hold on him at all." --from VATMAN [continued soon in PROMISES] ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 03:05:36 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Beverly Latham Subject: new fanfic NEBS: SECRETS [2/4] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" "Where's Clark?" Lois looked up at the question Perry had just snarled at a copy boy. She took a quick survey of the newsroom looking for her partner. He wasn't in sight. Sidling over to Jimmy's desk, she whispered. "Have you seen Clark?" "No, he hasn't been in all morning." "But . . . we have an interview in half an hour!" One that had taken a full week, subtle threats and even some intensive groveling to secure, she added in a silent mutter to herself. It was a good thing she'd gotten to relax and have fun at the ballgame two nights ago, because the rest of the week had been hell. Well, except for the emus. Lois grinned then immediately frowned again as she glanced down at her planner in her hand, distractedly. The CEO of WorldComp Productions was not happy with them after their recent expose on the company's safety practices. Or rather the lack of them. She really didn't think she dared trying to reschedule at this point. Naturally, Clark disappears at the last second. Now if she could only avoid Perry long enough to escape herself. "Where's Clark?" Wasn't that the thousand dollar question? Penning a bewildered look on her face, Lois barely managed to keep from screaming at her boss as she turned to face him after the bellow almost in her ear, knowing it was only her own frustration in action anyway. No sense adding to his. Clark did, after all, always turn up again. Usually. She waved a hand in the air. "Oh, he's around somewhere, Chief, I'm sure. Why?" Perry only shook his head and it occurred to her he looked worried. She immediately shifted into alert mode, smelling a potential story in his very posture. "What is it? White motioned for her to follow him into his office where he closed the door and turned to face her slowly. If anything he looked even more concerned as he whispered. "I'm not sure, honey, but I heard a strange rumor this morning. Now, normally, I do not run a newspaper based on rumors, but my gut tells me you and Clark should check this one out." "Check what out?" Perry sighed, ran a hand over his face, then seemed to come to some kind of internal decision. "After your WorldComp interview this morning, start poking around to see if the term Starcatcher means anything special. Check any of your sources but be CAREFUL." Her eyes widened. "That's it? One word?" "One word, two words . . . hell, it could be single letters for all I know." He shook his head at her baffled expression. "Look, I'm not going to say any more than that. If it's a rumor, then it's a rumor. But for all our sakes, we'd better be sure that's all it is. Call it a favor to me. If you find out anything, fine, if not, also fine. We'll forget I even mentioned it. Okay?" Lois nodded, beginning to get edgy herself just listening to him. Tension was radiating off him in waves. "Sure, Perry. Starcatcher. Right." She was almost out the office door before his hand landed on her shoulder, stopping her progress. "Oh, and Lois, I wouldn't bandy that around to many people, either. Particularly the wrong people. Just in case. If it's not a rumor, it's big." Her eyes narrowed as a look of understanding passed between them, honed from years of working closely together and knowing how the other's mind worked. "And quite possibly very bad. I understand, Chief. Clark and I will get on it immediately." Clark didn't show up for the interview. Or at work all afternoon. By the time it was time to head home for the night, the WorldComp interview was a long forgotten memory for Lois. She had more important, certainly more worrisome things on her mind. A partner who'd vanished from sight, completely, and a acid feeling in her gut that Perry's rumor wasn't a rumor. Not by a long shot. During the afternoon, she'd managed to scare four trusted informants into hiding just by mentioning the word in their presence. It had not been a fun afternoon. Now, she had two choices. Go straight home and continue to worry about Clark all evening while staring at four walls or try to track down her best source of info, Bobby Bigmouth, and continue to worry about Clark anyway. She went in search of Bobby. By the time she did find him, something else had occurred to her that was as disturbing as Clark being missing. No one had seen Superman since early the night before. Anywhere in the world. She'd double-checked the wire services before leaving the Planet, just to make sure. The acid-burn in her stomach was reaching the volcanic stage at the point she cornered Bobby at his favorite restaurant and her patience was almost gone. She certainly was not in the mood for his prevaricating over answering a simple question. "Have some linguini." "I'm not hungry." When Bobby seemed puzzled, as if that was the strangest concept he'd ever heard, she shook her head. "Please. I need help here. Tell me what you know about--" "Don't say it again! Once was enough. Again could ruin my appetite." Her eyebrows rose when he did look a little green for a second or two. She waited until he recovered and picked up a forkful of linguini before trying again. "Okay. Then you do know something?" "I did not say that!" "Bobby!" He glanced around the restaurant, then pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. "I had a feeling you were going to show up, sooner or later, but I did NOT give you this. Remember that--and don't open it here." Lois rubbed her forehead in exasperation, feeling a massive headache coming on to match her stomach ache. She stuck the paper in her bag and stood up to leave. "Okay, okay. I owe you." "No, you don't." Their eyes met. "Not for this one." His next low whisper made her turn back again. "Be careful and watch your back on this one, Lois." That made her eyes widen but all she did was nod. Once she reached her car, she opened the paper and frowned in consternation. Had Bobby lost his mind? Or had someone a lot more dangerous lost theirs? "No respiration, no pulse, no brainwaves, nothing. As far as any of our instruments can determine, he's dead." "Are you absolutely positive?" "Hell, no." "But you just said--" The original speaker, a gray haired male dressed in a white lab coat, shook his head, vehemently. "No, I didn't. I said nothing we have available registers any definitive life signs, but we have no reason to believe they would've in the first place. Therefore, we cannot conclude with any accuracy as to whether he's alive or dead. Before or after the test. At least, not yet." "Great, just great." The man at his side was clearly not happy with that revelation, but before either could continue the discussion, the only other individual in the room stepped forward into the light and spoke softly, so softly she almost couldn't be heard by the observers of their discussion through the security cameras along the walls. "Most important for now, how long can he be kept this way?" "Unknown." The woman shook her head, quickly and decisively. "Unacceptable." "Doesn't matter. It's the simple truth. We have no way of knowing exactly what's going on inside his body in the first place or what effect Starcatcher had on him in the second, so how in the world are we supposed to determine how long the effects will last? Hell, we weren't totally positive it would work to begin with." "But it did." This declaration came from the younger male standing beside the table and staring intently down at the examination table in the center of the room. "Maybe." The very dark eyes of the female leader of the trio swung back in the doctor's direction. "Explain." "I'm not sure I can. Yes, he's unconscious and has been since last night, but I do know nothing else has gone as we planned. He's still completely invulnerable as far as we can tell, so we can't take any samples to test. Apparently, there's only one thing that will effect him strongly enough to make that feasible and you gave explicit orders that it not be used." "That is correct, Doctor. The goal isn't to harm but capture. Preferably alive." "So we're left with inconclusive evidence. The only thing we are sure of is that he's unconscious. Maybe." The doctor rubbed his eyes tiredly as he leaned back against a counter. "Hell, at this point, I'm not sure I'm conscious or not." Silence fell on the group as they stared down at the object of their discussion. The body in the distinctive blue, red and yellow outfit lay unmoving on the examination table in the center of the circle of light, almost as if he really was poured from solid steel. After a long moment of silence, the woman spoke up again. "We'll be read to transport the package in twelve hours, so let's call it a night but I want around the clock surveillance of this room. No one, and I mean no one, goes in or out without my knowledge. I want to know if a single hair on his head falls out of place." Most people assumed Lois Lane blindly and recklessly plunged headlong into trouble whenever and wherever she found it. And they would've been wrong. At least, some of the time. She only leaped first and questioned the decision afterwards when there wasn't enough time to do otherwise . . . in her opinion. That there never seemed to be time to think things out just seemed to be part of her life. That night, however, she sat in the dark for a long time, slowly, carefully, and methodically considering what she'd seen and heard. As well as her options. There weren't all that many that she could see. Any way she looked at it, they were going to know about her rescue attempt the second it started. So . . . she figured she might as well give them a good show. A split second after the explosion rocked the building, a hysterical woman in a lab coat barrelled down the corridor, sliding to a halt in front of the intimidating and very official- appearing guards positioned at the closed double doorway. "Ohmigod, ohmigod! OHMIGOD! It exploded. We have to put the fire out! Where the hell's the fire extinguisher in this place?" When all she got were blank looks in return, she grabbed the nearest guard by his crisply ironed labels and shook him. Hard. "Did you hear me?!? IT EXPLODED! There's a fire--I need your help! Now show me where a fire extinguisher is." After a quick glance at his partner, he trotted off down the hallway with her on his heels. Less than a minute later, she was back, sobbing even more hysterically as she coughed and struggled to breath. "Oh, no! He passed out. Must've been the smoke. Please, you have to help me. He could die in there." With her dragging him along, the second guard didn't have any chance to think about it or resist. Or avoid the blow on the head he also received from the handy fire extinguisher when he bent down to help his buddy. "Two down. No telling how many to go." Tossing aside the fire extinguisher after her whisper and picking up one of their guns instead to tuck into a pocket of the lab coat, Lois turned back to stride towards the door they'd been guarding. Her eyes narrowed as she examined the lock mechanism. She muttered under her breath as she began working on it. "Standard electronic lock. Nothing fancy. Strange. For a so- called top secret operation which such fancy-smancy medical technology in this lab, a lot of their security equipment is almost outdated. It doesn't make sense." Even as the words left her mouth, the door opened under her hands. Instead of entering immediately, however, she pulled a small canister out of her pocket and rolled it along the floor towards a counter filled with electronic equipment but also strategically located under the security camera. She pulled back and waited for the subsequent explosion. The sound had barely receded before she was through the door and leaning over the still figure on the table. "Come on, wake up. Please. You've got to help me out here, Superman. We don't have a whole lot of time." Either her imagination was going into permanent overdrive or his eyelids flickered slightly. Lois patted his cheek, urgently. "Wake UP! Attaboy. Come on." Leaving him, she double-checked the doorway, but everything remained quiet in the hallway. A groan from the table instantly brought her back to Superman's side. His head was moving from side-to-side and she placed her palms on each side of his face to pull it around in her direction. "Superman? Can you hear me?" A hand suddenly clamped around her wrist like a manacle as his eyes shot open. At her small squeak of surprise, chocolate brown eyes focused on her face, first fierce with anger then softened to pure bewilderment. "Lois?" He blinked and tried to look around. "Where? W-what?" "THAT isn't important. Not at the moment, anyway. First, we get away from here, then we trade explanations. God, I hope you can fly." Sitting up and shaking slowly his head to clear it, Superman grimaced. "I have a feeling I'll be lucky to walk." Lois released a long, heartfelt sigh. "Okay, I can live with that. For now." A loud noise coming from the corridor snapped her head around and she started tugging on his arm. "Let's go, they're about to break through my little barricade." He gave her another puzzled stare but didn't question her words or deeds. Instead, he stood, a little unsteadily, but under his own power, then followed dutifully behind her as she led the way across the room to a blank wall. Only when she hesitated before moving again did his eyes narrow. "You did say we were going somewhere, didn't you?" "Well, of course." Shooting a quick peek his way and encountering his skeptical expression, she glowered and grumbled, considerably peeved that he'd doubt her at this point. "Honestly, you're as bad as Clark at times." When he opened his mouth, she rushed on. "Okay, on the other side of this wall there's a garage with a whole fleet of more or less useless cars. I know they're useless because I disabled all but one just an hour ago and I'm the only one that knows which one still works." Another loud racket from the opposite corridor made her hiss, rather desperately as she grabbed his arm. "There's just one thing, could you possibly get us through this wall? NOW!" [continued in part 3] ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 09:29:28 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Beverly Latham Subject: new fanfic NEBS: SECRETS [1/4] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii" Okay, I think I'm ready to send out this next installment of NEBS. Well, to be honest, I'm not sure if this one is really ready for the archive, yet, so I'm beta testing it on the list first to see how it works. < The next installment, which is also ready, I feel much better about. Go figure. It will be coming out next weekend. Then we'll see. I am determined to keep working on this thing until I get it out of my system. Or, at least, keep working on it until my muse on this idea flees for good this time, whichever comes first. < Beverly ;-) ********** "Characters in this story are copyrighted by December 3rd Production, Warner Brothers, and ABC. No infringement is intended in any part by the author, however, the ideas expressed within this story are copyrighted to the author." AUTHOR'S NOTES: This second NEBS installment, SECRETS, presents an interlude in Lois and Clark's relationship in sync with where they were emotionally towards the end of the first season of the series. However, continuity is relative, meaning it is either there or it isn't . . . so don't assume anything. I've learned not to. For instance, I could've sworn I was placing this relatively between ALL SHOOK UP and VATMAN, but somehow or other Lois knowing about Kryptonite snuck into the story and wouldn't leave, which would definitely place it at or after MADAME EX, the first episode of the second season, if we wanted true continuity. But I say, well, phooey, that's close enough to the end of the first season that I won't quibble if you don't. Enjoy it anyway. I hope. < THE NEVERENDING BATTLE FOR SANCTUARY SEASON ONE: SECRETS by B.B. Medos [bbmedos@aol.com] "Superman wants to help and he will . . . I know Superman . . . Superman is the type of man that makes things happen. I mean, he's good-looking and he's good, but the thing you notice most about him is how much you can count on him." --from ALL SHOOK UP "Get out of here! Martins is a better pitcher than Peterson will ever be a hitter. No contest." "You are crazy. Besides, it's not going to matter because the Met Stars will probably lose the pennant and they'll never meet on the field anyway." The friendly argument going on between Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen as they walked into the newsroom together stopped practically on top of her and Lois Lane gave up trying to ignore them. She scowled over her shoulder at the noisy pair. "Guys, in case you haven't noticed, some people are already hard at work this morning." "On what?" Lois sighed at Clark's wary question as his attention immediately shifted her way and he craned his neck to read what was up on her computer monitor. Partnership could be a tricky thing and she still wasn't sure she liked having one, although she had gotten rather used to the 'feeling' over the last year. It was comfortable. Or maybe having Clark around was comfortable. Most of the time. "Nothing for you to be concerned about, nosy." When Jimmy muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'famous last words' she shot an irritated glare his way that immediately sent him scurrying towards the safety of his own desk, then she grinned soothingly at her partner. "Just a Superman sighting on the way to work this morning." "Oh." When Clark continued on to his desk across the aisle from hers, her eyes narrowed. "Aren't you even a little curious about what happened?" He shrugged as he began sorting messages and mail left on his desk overnight. "Seen one, seen them all." "Oh, really??" Curious enough now about his marked disinterest in spite of mentally warning herself it was dangerous territory, and she knew it from a lot of past experience, Lois picked up a photo off her desk and stood up to casually wander over towards his desk. "How many times have you heard about Superman tangling with" here she paused and her brown eyes sparkled with laughter as she wiggled her eyebrows and continued dramatically, "evil emus?" Again a disinterested shrug. He didn't even look up from his mail. "Not many." "Not many. Not many?!? Clark, you know as well as I do it's a first. Perry almost cracked up laughing when I showed him this picture." She plopped the photo down on top of his mail and grinned as she started telling him the emu story. She couldn't help it. Three hours later and it still made her chuckle to think about Superman and the emus. The birds had gotten loose earlier that morning when the truck they were being transported to the zoo in was involved in a wreck and overturned. Thankfully, no one, people or birds, had been hurt but the dozen or so emus had been running up and down the road harassing passerby while their keepers frantically attempted to get them back under control. Superman had stopped to right the truck and ended up literally getting chased off by the male emus when he tried to help round up the birds. One of the keepers had joked that emus weren't the friendliest fowls in the world to begin with but apparently the three males in the group had taken immediate and intense exception to Superman's brilliant plumage on sight. Or maybe it was that he could fly and they couldn't. She'd come on the scene just in time to capture a shot of Superman surrounded by the irate males. One had hold of his cape and was attempting to shred it. The second was beating at him with his wings. But it was the last one that got the biggest burst of laughter from the crowd when he began making a serious and determined attempt to peck Superman in a very private place. Superman had looked patiently exasperated over the entire ridiculous exchange as he gently attempted to herd the birds towards the truck. When they'd shown no sign of calming down as long as he was present, he'd finally joked that the keepers would probably have better luck without him in the way and flown off. Lois ended her story with a laugh. "I felt so sorry for him, but I couldn't stop giggling myself. Although, I'm still not sure why he didn't just scoop them up and fly them directly to the zoo." "Superpowers aren't the answer to every problem, you know." "What?" Clark heaved a sigh at her thoroughly confused expression after his grumble. "Maybe Superman thought flying would be even more traumatic for the birds." "Well, maybe, but still . . . it would've been a lot faster." "Sometimes, faster isn't better. It can cause more problems than it solves." At his continued low, disgusted mutters, Lois frowned down at Clark, puzzled by his reaction. He shoved the photo back into her hands and determinedly went back to work on his mail. She rolled her eyes and resumed her happy gloating, just as determined to ignore his mood. If she could. "Anyway, Perry said it was a great human interest piece and you know how he's always ragging on me about those." She wrinkled her nose. "Keeps telling me I need more practice writing them and, since it's Superman, he knows I won't back out so he thinks he has me trapped into doing things his way." She grinned again and crowed. "I think he's going to put the picture on the front page." Clark actually winced. "Actually, I don't think . . . " Her eyes narrowed when his words trailed off and he shook his head. "Nothing. Besides it's not that big a deal. They were just emus." "Not that big--?!? Clark, what is with you this morning?" "I told you . . . nothing. I guess I'm just not in the mood to talk about Superman." "That much is obvious." Giving up, Lois turned to go back to her workstation, but spun around when he muttered something under his breath. Hands on hips, she glared at him. "I do NOT rave about Superman constantly!" Then she sighed and amended. "At least, not as much as I used to." "Thank god for small favors." "Now wait a minute--" Her irritation was cut short when Jimmy broke in with an almost wail of anguish. "They're sold out! Man, I can't believe they're already sold out!" Clark almost seemed overjoyed with the distraction of not being able to get tickets to the Met Stars' next game. He promptly stood up and moved over to lean against Jimmy's desk, leaving her glaring impotently at his back. "You're kidding. Well, maybe we could find--" With a small, indignant huff at being pointedly ignored by the pair of males, Lois sat down at her desk and tried to concentrate on finishing her Superman article. It was difficult. Not the writing, because Superman WAS her favorite subject and almost second nature at this point. Writing human interest stuff, even puff pieces, about him was fun, even for her. What was difficult was blocking out the impression that Clark was seriously bummed about something, something important. No matter how miffed with him and his 'I'm not interested in Superman' attitude she was, she couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. Very wrong. Or stop wanting to help. That was probably the most blatant change in herself she'd discovered since acquiring a partner. Having someone to be concerned about whether she wanted to or not had become second nature to her. It was damned annoying at times. Like now. With one part of her brain concentrating on the article as her fingers flew over the keys, the other half began turning over various possibilities. And what to do about them. "I hate this. I really wanted to see Martins play in person." Clark's soft exclamation brought her eyes back over to the duo. She studied his face silently, abruptly realizing how tired he looked. No, tired wasn't the right description of the weariness etched on his face because it wasn't physical. In fact, unless one knew him well, it probably wasn't noticeable. But she had come to know him very well and she suddenly realized he looked emotionally drained. She came to a sudden decision and after a short telephone conversation grinned his way impishly then went back to typing, hurrying to get the article completed before their meeting that morning with Perry to discuss their on-going investigation into WorldComp Productions. Lois was just returning from the morgue in the basement of the Planet with a stack of research to go through when she heard Jimmy's whoop of delight and instantly knew the messenger had arrived with her little surprise. Jimmy was bouncing around a happily smiling Clark like an out-of-control rubber ball when she stopped at her desk. Holding back a grin, she sat down and raised an eyebrow at his antics. Clark's head turned her way and he just stared at her. She bit her bottom lip and it was all she could do to keep from blushing. *He knows.* She wasn't even sure why she was so positive he knew, but he did. Of that much she WAS certain. Sometimes that man could be downright unnerving to her peace of mind. Hastily, she bent over her research notes but wasn't a bit surprised when Clark sat down in the chair beside her desk two seconds later. "What?" Not a bit put off by her testy warning snarl, Clark waved an envelope under her nose. "Know anything about these?" "Since I have no idea what THESE are, how can I?" Clark shook his head at her innocent expression. "You're an expert liar, Lois Lane." He grinned at her instant outrage, then mused. "Except when it's personal." "Well, I never! If you just came over to insult me--" "Okay, okay. You know nothing. I believe you." Since it was blatantly obvious he didn't, she decided silence was her best option. After a long stare passed between them, Clark grinned. "I find myself the proud owner of complimentary tickets to the ballgame tomorrow night. Want to go?" "Huh?" Lois hastily snapped her mouth shut from where it had dropped open. "But I thought . . . " No, couldn't go that way. She swallowed and shifted gears to try again. "Weren't you and Jimmy wanting to go together? That's all I've heard this last week. You two wanting to see the Stars play the Rogues." His eyes sparkled behind the glasses. "And we still can. My mysterious benefactor sent four tickets. Jimmy's calling Angela right now." "Four?!? Oh--" Now, that was a complication she hadn't expected. She'd only asked for two tickets. "Well, if Jimmy's taking a date, shouldn't you . . . " He shrugged. "I could, but I'd rather take you instead." Shifting uncomfortably under his intense brown-eyed scrutiny and not at all sure she even liked the way he'd worded that invitation, Lois gave up. She'd halfway wanted to go to the game to begin with. Why fight the inevitable? Particularly when fate seemed to be working against her. "Okay, sure. When and where do you want to meet?" As Clark walked with Lois back to her car through the brightly lit parking lot after the ballgame, he noticed she looked like she was seriously considering regretting the decision to go to the game with him in the first place. For his part, her little gift had been worth it and very appreciated. He was feeling much more relaxed and happy with the world in general and knew it. Lois, on the other hand, was seriously stressed because her team had lost. A major loss at a crucial point in the season. She was not a happy camper, to say the least, and she was saying a lot more. Continuously. Interrupting her newest babbling tirade as they reached the jeep, he soothed. Or attempted to. "Lois, let it go. He was out." She sniffed indignantly. "Was not. That umpire is blind. Any idiot could see Martins was safe. Roger is very upset and I don't blame him. I may call the Baseball Commissioner about the--" Clark chuckled at the reminder of their after-the-game trip to the locker room to meet his anonymous benefactor. The benefactor that had also spilled the beans on her involvement, much to her consternation. "Why didn't you tell me Roger Martins was a personal friend?" Lois rolled her eyes as she unlocked the car door. "Well, it's not like we have beer and pretzels together every other night. I knew him in college, that's all. He owed me a favor." Clark stared, amazed in spite of suspecting exactly that situation in the first place. At times, the number of people in Metropolis who owed Lois Lane a favor in some form or other was almost scary. Even more amazing was the varied walks of life they came from. The lady certainly got around, he'd have to give her that. Recovering, he changed the subject since it really seemed to embarrass her that Martins had given away her secret about the tickets. "So, your place or mine?" "Huh?" Her head snapped around then she laughed at his wiggling eyebrows and enormous grin. He was teasing. Well, of course he was. Tossing the keys at his chest and motioning him to the driver's seat, she sighed dramatically. "That all depends." "On what?" Waiting until he was settled in the seat, she widened her eyes and purred silkily. "On what you have to eat in your fridge, of course, silly." Clark blinked, swallowed then grinned and muttered ruefully. "More than you have in yours, undoubtably." "Umph!" When Clark laughed uproariously at her disgusted expression, she poked a finger at his arm. "Just for that, farmboy, you're going to buy me a pizza, instead. I'm starving." "After three hotdogs AND two bags of popcorn?" He grimaced when a pair of glittering and definitely threatening brown eyes were turned his way and hastily backtracked as he started the car. "Right, forget I said that. Pizza it is." [continued in part 2] ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 11:52:10 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Subject: Re: #L&CFanfic: Time Limits Comments: To: Blind.Copy.Receiver@compuserve.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >> Theoretically at least, that procedure as well as as the actual writing per turn/writer (currently 20 minutes) is still under review. << Well, yes, you're right. I confess that I have been so comfortable with the time limits that I hadn't given much thought to reviewing them (and I= thought they only went into effect in March, but I could be wrong). We'l= l have to vote on that *privately*, not on the list for all the world to se= e. In the meantime, however, there is still a time limit in effect. Like I said, I find it very useful, both when I'm writing (I often start slowing= down around that point, so it's only fair to let the next writer take a crack at it) and when I'm waiting for my turn. It can be fun to watch on= e writer go for an hour and a half, if they happen to be a good writer, whi= ch most of us are, *but* that's not exactly the point of round-robins. If I= 'm going to invest a few hours of my time ignoring my family, I like to be assured of having more than one turn. Otherwise, it's like reading a really slow fanfic, and it would be a much better use of my time to just read the finished version. When I want to write for that long, I go off and write on my own, and sha= re it with others only when it's done. :-) Doris, since you're so manifestly uncomfortable with the time limits on the IRC round robin, perhaps you'd be interested in starting up an e-mail= round robin? That would give everyone a much longer turn, and let you ta= ke the time you need to get the exact word you're looking for, expand your ideas, etc. Just a thought :-) PJ !^NavFont02F04EB000FMGJHG74MG76HKECAE97 E-mail from: Pam Jernigan, 09-May-1998 jernigan@compuserve.com / ChiefPam on the IRC ~~~~~ http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jernigan/folc.html ~~~~~ "Are you under the care of a qualified psychiatrist, Constable?" = -- "The Ladies' Man", Due South "Women and cats will do as they please and men and dogs = should relax and get used to the idea." -- Robert A. Heinlein ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 22:29:15 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: JCWimmer Subject: Re: #L&CFanfic: Time Limits Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 5/9/98 8:52:53 AM Pacific Daylight Time, jernigan@COMPUSERVE.COM writes: > Doris, since you're so manifestly uncomfortable with the time limits on > the IRC round robin, perhaps you'd be interested in starting up an e-mail > round robin? That would give everyone a much longer turn, and let you take > the time you need to get the exact word you're looking for, expand your > ideas, etc. Just a thought :-) > Just wanted to touch on this: A trio of us (calling ourselves the Three Musketeers) have done just this. We have started a round robin, and are circulating in amongst ourselves. So far, I am really proud of it. We have been working on it for a week or so, and it is going very well. It is so nice to get it, and see where it has gone since your last turn. You have time to think, and plan, and fix grammar (all those little tidbits). It is a unique way to write, and I prefer it to the online version. I still plan to participate in both, but this is an underrated way to write. You can still pass it on when you get stuck, and you don't need to neglect your family or change your schedule to fit the rest of the group. I highly recommend it :) Just food for thought. Crystal ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 22:37:32 -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: Vignette Fanfic: Mother's Day Gift (1/2) MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Setting: Lois is 5 months pregnant with their first child... Lois awoke in bed to the sunlight from the bedroom window. She stretched and noticed that she was alone in bed, but before she could be disappointed she smelled breakfast...in bed. Clark came into the bedroom carrying a tray filled with food, and a single red tulip. "Happy Mother's Day!" Clark set the tray over her and leaned down for a good morning kiss. "Thank you, Clark. Wow! You made so much, don't expect me to do anything like this for Father's Day this year." "Don't worry, you *not* cooking for me on Father's Day will be a gift." he said with a smile. "Oh you!" she took a playful swipe at him with the tulip. "It's beautiful." "Just like its owner." "Thank you....from Holland?" she asked coyly. "No, Tony's down the street, do you want to see a receipt?" "No." she giggled remembering their conversations from so long ago. As Lois ate her fresh fruit and whole-grain waffles, Clark got her gift. Lois noticed that he was hiding something behind his back. "Oooh, is that a present?" "Yes it is." "Let me see!" she asked with the excitement of a little girl on Christmas morning. Clark handed her the soft package. Lois could feel that is was something made of cloth through the wrapping paper. "Clark, you better not have bought that 'Baby On Board' t-shirt!" "Would I do that?" Clark asked in an innocent voice. "Hmmm." Lois eyed her husband. She opened the package and yes it was a t-shirt and Lois unfolded it to see what it had written on it. "I don't get it." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | Gary A. Rudick mailto:gar8434@rit.edu | | "You decide what you feel heaven is worth" - Deborah Gibson, TWYH | =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 21:21:03 -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: Dr. Goose Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Next week on Lois and Clark ... > >Announcer's voice: It's Lois Lane's last day at work before going on >maternity leave. > >"Lois, promise me you'll stay at the office today, and just enjoy your >last day. No investigations. No criminals. No getting in trouble. >Okay? Promise?" > >"Clark, all I will be doing today is organizing my desk and files for >whoever is going to cover for me while I'm on maternity leave. Boring >stuff like that." Lois threw Clark another coy smile. "Besides, what >trouble could I possibly get into at the office?" > > >Announcer's voice: Meanwhile, a doctor is preparing a new form of >*practice*! > >As Bradley continued to stare at the television, Superman's concerned >and loving image toward the Mayor's daughter fanned a smoldering ember >of hate and vengeance within his soul. He stood and replied coldly to >his wife. "Don't worry; nothing that involves you," and he left the >room. > >Announcer's voice: Will Lois be able to stay out of trouble? > >Lois, unable to see who was driving the machine, tried to jump quickly >to the side but her weight shifted, causing her to lose her balance and >she fell to her knees. She cursed at the sharp, intense pain that >coursed through her body. > >Announcer's voice: "Or will Bradley get even with Superman? > >"And when Superman is lured to come to his mistress' rescue, I'll greet >him with this!" Bradley pulled a small box out of his overalls. "And >watch *him* suffer as he watches me kill two of his closest friends, >right in front of his very eyes." > >Next, only on Season 5 of Lois and Clark, the New Adventures of >Superman. > 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: Sat, 9 May 1998 18:46:21 -1000 Reply-To: shore@maui.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jamee Jones Subject: Re: Lois' parents MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Zoomway wrote: > In a message dated 98-05-08 00:29:06 EDT, you write: > > << Speaking of inconsistencies I just for the first time watched a L&C > show > I somehow missed. "Lethal Weapon" and as good as it was, I found > myself > not understanding so many parts. Like where did this "new" red > kryptonite come from, wasn't it red kryptonite that made him > apathetic? > Why would it all of a sudden make him not be able to control his > powers? > I didn't notice any mention of any work being done on the red to > alter > it. >> > > Red kryptonite comes from the silver age Superman comics. It affects > Superman > differently with each exposure. On the show he was first exposed to > red K in > Individual Responsibility. It made him apathetic. The second time > was in > Ultra Woman, it transfered his powers to Lois. Red K isn't and > doesn't have > to be altered, it is just part of the comic book lore that it has a > different > effect on Superman each time it's re-introduced. > > >>>Also did Kryptonite ever make him sneeze like he did in Dr. Kleins > office? I remember him always saying how he never sneezes and the > only > time he did I thought was when he had that strange kryptonite virus > they > got from his ship and harvested it. Maybe this kryptonite may cause > him > to sneeze? <<<< > > Clark/Superman sneezing in Lethal Weapon was mainly for humor's sake, > just as > in All Shook Up with Clark sneezed for no other reason than to cause a > sight > gag (sending a taxi crashing into a fire hydrant) The sneeze in Home > Is Where > the Hurt Is where Clark gets sick from the Kryptonian virus is the > only time > Clark had what could be called a legitimate reason to sneeze, although > just > about anyone can sneeze if they feel a tickle in their nose ;) > > >>>>THe biggest thing I couldn't figure out was why that > military/marksman guy shot him? Dr. Klein told Lois that they were > going to shoot him with the kryptonite bullets "if" he went bizerk > because he was a danger to other people. When he first landed on the > crime site, he had a hard time stopping and went through a window and > broke a water pipe but then stopped and was fine. You could hear the > marksmans 'boss' from military head quarters or wherever, tell him to > > hold his fire over his radio. Then after it was all over, Superman > had > just saved the city building and had just saved Perry by wrapping up > that bad cop with that yellow 'do not enter' tape and was standing > there > in his usual arms folded pose -- the guy shoots Superman! This > didn't > make sense to me. Did I miss something?<<<< > > I think mummifying the police officer is what looked like Superman > going > berserk. I don't know who was commanding the sniper, but unless either > the > sniper or the person giving him instructions was down there in the > street > where Jerry was saying the cop was in on it, all they would have seen > was what > looked like an unprovoked attack by Superman on a cop just doing his > job. I > did love that Dr Klein tipped off Lois about the danger to Superman > even > though the mayor forbid him from doing so. My hero..sigh ;) Well that clears things up a bit! Thanx! Never knew that about the red kryptonite! Interesting! That leaves openings for so many more story lines! I guess I just figured that when those sisters got their hands on the stuff, they altered it with that machine somehow. And yes, I enjoy doctors Kleins character as the "absent minded proffessor" as well! I've always wanted Lois and Clark to tell doctor Klein about Supermans identity especially if Lois ever became pregnant. I'm just now reading I think episode #11 called "Oh Give Me a Home", it is by Jeff Brogden and thats exactly what he did! YAY! ; ) j-me ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 22:32:56 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: Small announcement... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I've finished Dawning 21. It's on my site in txt, zipped up txt, and a zipped up Word for Windows 6.0a doc with italicized words and the occasional accent :) It's also available from me as email or attachment. If you haven't read any of the earlier parts, do so, don't start in the middle or you might be lost... Debby Debby@swcp.com ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark Stories a sleepy person... or she'd think of a commercial for this installment :) ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 18:48:52 -1000 Reply-To: shore@maui.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jamee Jones Subject: Re: Lois' parents MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit super chick wrote: > <...saved Perry by wrapping up that bad cop with that yellow 'do not > enter' tape..> > > Maybe he wasn't supposed to wrap the bad cop guy up in tape(?). Nah > he's done worse > in the past. > > Free web-based email, Forever, From anywhere! > http://www.mailexcite.com I can't remember did he wrap his whole face up too? Maybe he couldn't breathe? j-me ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 23:25:40 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: Small announcement... whoops... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I just sent a note to say D21 was ready... but my provider isn't cuz they've messed up my ftp site somehow. I've complained but, naturally, they're closed. The story can be emailed though, if you can't wait ;) Debby Debby@swcp.com ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark Stories <--should work again eventually. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 09:26:51 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Stark Subject: Once more, with feeling.... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" My ftp site is back on line (well, from my end now, anyhow), and my story (D21) is up there in txt, zipped text and zipped Word for Windows 6.0 (with italics). /me does a little dance! Debby :) Debby@swcp.com who can also email it... ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 15:07:44 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pellis Subject: Re: new fanfic NEBS: SECRETS (Missed part 4?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00C8_01BD7C25.62B1DE20" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00C8_01BD7C25.62B1DE20 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable If you've already posted the conclusion to this story, could you repost = it? If you haven't posted it yet, I'm looking forward to it. Great = story. ------=_NextPart_000_00C8_01BD7C25.62B1DE20 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
If you've already posted the = conclusion to this=20 story, could you repost it?  If you haven't posted it yet, I'm = looking=20 forward to it.  Great story.
------=_NextPart_000_00C8_01BD7C25.62B1DE20-- ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:13:32 -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: Early airing of S5 episode Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" As it's Mother's Day and I have guests coming over for dinner in the next hour, I thought I'd better get this week's episode out early because chances are, I won't get a chance to later this afternoon .... Enjoy this, the 2nd to last episode of S5 ... 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: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:14:02 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: ep 21 -- Doctor Goose (part 7 of 7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Just then, the trap door on top of the cab swung down as Hank and Ron jumped into the cage, distracting Goose's aim even more. His shot embedded in the back wall of the elevator, missing Lois. Before Goose could get off another shot, Hank and Jimmy were on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. As the gunman landed on the floor, the gun in his hand discharged one last time, killing him instantly. Jimmy, unable to heed Perry's wishes, came down into the elevator cab. "Lois! CK! Are you all right?" He helped Lois get up and over to Clark who was now unconscious. "CK!" Jimmy called out to his friend but Clark didn't respond. "Lois, is he dead?" "I don't know Jimmy, he's lost a lot of blood. Goose hit him in the head with the gun." Lois glanced towards Goose and saw the Kryptonite had fallen from his hand to the back corner. "Jimmy, that's Kryptonite in the corner. Get it out of here, now!" Lois was trying hard to keep the panic out of her voice, but it was difficult knowing how dangerous the rock was to both her husband and unborn child. "Superman could show up any minute, and we don't want to expose him," she added at the end, hoping it was enough to cover her growing desperation. "Okay, sure," Jimmy picked it up and was tossing it around in his hand. The baby started to stretch and kick again. The pain against her already bruised ribcage, threatened to overcome Lois and she used short, quick breaths to ease the pain. "Lois!! Are you OK? Is the baby coming?!" Lois shook her head no as the baby started to still. "No I'm fine, just please take that to STAR Labs *now*!" Jimmy started to give it to Hank to take out of the elevator. "No Jimmy, I want *you* to personally take it to STAR Labs, and give it to Dr. Klein. I want to be sure it doesn't get into the wrong hands, again." The S.W.A.T. team called out before descending down the shaft. Jimmy called out to tell them that it was over. He took off the emergency stop and the cab returned to the upper floor. "I've got to call an ambulance, CK's been hurt, bad." Jimmy said as he rushed past them. "They're already here, Jimmy. Judas Priest. Lois, are you okay?" Perry asked looking at Lois who was covered in Clark's blood. She was so upset that all she could do was nod. With the Kryptonite gone, the baby was calm and still. Her voice broke and tears began to flow again as she held her husband. She was sure with the absence of the Kryptonite, that he would have started recovering quickly, but he was still unconscious. "Clark's dying. Somebody help him." "Bradley!!" Mary saw her husband slumped on the floor. She broke down with the realization that he was dead and went to his side. Henderson sent a fellow detective to comfort the grieving wife. Suddenly, Clark began to moan and stir as he tried to open his eyes. His vision was still blurry and the ringing in his head wouldn't stop. He called out for his wife who he could not see. A soft but shaking hand lovingly caressed the side of his face as she replaced his blood covered glasses with the soft handkerchief from his back pocket. "You're alive. Oh, God, Clark, you're alive. I'm right here, shhh, right here." She placed another handkerchief that Perry had given her, to the wound which had now stopped bleeding. She shielded his eyes and forehead >from his coworkers, in case Clark started regaining his powers and healed to quickly. There was too big of an audience to see that. "I'm okay Clark, I'm okay. You just lay still. There are a lot of people around," she whispered to him. * * * * Two ambulances were waiting at the entrance of the Daily Planet. One headed for Metropolis General Emergency Room, one to carry Goose's body to the morgue. Lois rode in the ambulance next to Clark as they tended his head wound. With his forehead bruised and with his eye almost swollen shut, the attendants didn't recognize him as Superman, even without his glasses. She attempted to pull his matted hair down on his forehead. Quietly concerned that the swelling and large bruise remained after this amount of time, she thought that there were maybe some slivers of Kryptonite still in his wound. Going by the loss of blood, the attendants were preparing Clark for the need of possible stitches when they arrived at the hospital. When they finished cleaning the wound they noticed that it had practically self healed. Lois interjected her own theory. "Oh, he's just a free-bleeder. One little scratch and you would think he was cut to the bone." In the emergency room, Lois was placed on a fetal stress monitor. An internal exam showed that she hadn't dilated any further than the two centimeters from her previous doctor's visit. The baby wasn't showing any signs of stress and the heartbeat was steady and normal. The doctor's encouraged her to stay, but she insisted on going home to be with her husband. Perry said that he and Jimmy would help Dianne finish the article for the morning edition. Lois filled Jimmy, Dianne and Inspector Henderson in on the details of the incident in the elevator while Clark insisted to the emergency room attendants that stitches were not needed, that he was fine and all he need was to just wrap his head with a bandage. As they were preparing to leave, Mary Goose approached them. "Ms. Lane, Mr. Kent, I'm so sorry for the pain that my husband caused you. He was a very sick man. I never knew that he would turn so violent. I'm sorry." Clark politely smiled back. "I'm sorry for you too, ma'am, and I'm sorry about the loss of your daughter." "Oh, and please tell Superman if you see him, that I don't hold a grudge against him. Bradley put Superman at fault for our daughter's death, for not rescuing her. I know it wasn't his fault. He can't be everywhere at once. We have to be thankful for the lives that he is able to save." As she turned to walk away, she stopped and faced Lois. "And Ms. Lane, I know those tabloid stories weren't true. It's obvious that you care very much for your husband. Please take care." "Thank you, Mrs. Goose." * * * * The mantel clock chimed 2 a.m. when Lois and Clark finally returned to the townhouse. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Clark removed the bandage. The majority of the effects of the Kryptonite had worn off, his forehead showing a mere shadow of the former bruise and swelling. After sharing a long, warm shower, they climbed into bed and turned out the light. Lois lay her head on the pillow, and immediately her nose became stuffy and she reacted with frustration. "Aaaagghh! I'm so tired of not being able to breath at night when I lay down to go to sleep. I know I've been crying, but it's been like this every night for the last month. Clark, can you please reach the tissue?" Clark turned on the light. Realizing the box was empty, he slowly rose to go back to the bathroom to get some more. His head started to throb, and he held his hand to his forehead. "Oww." He sat back down on the bed. "Oh, honey, I didn't realize your head still hurt. I'll get it." She got up herself and went to the bathroom for some more tissue. When she walked back into the bedroom, she noticed Clark sitting up on the side of the bed, his eyes closed, his face cradled in his palms. "You okay?" She stood in front of him, gently caressing his aching head. Clark looked up to her, his eyes glistening with unshed tears in the moonlight. "I know what Mary Goose said, but Lois, did I let their daughter die? Do I become so entranced in your spell, when I make love to you, that I completely tune out everything else? He reached up to caress her cheek in his loving manner. "Well that's what I would like to think I do to you." Lois started to joke, but realized that this was really bothering Clark when she didn't see a return smile from him. "Lois, was it the night you and I were at Chateau Roberge?" "Actually Clark, I had Jimmy check the date on the death certificate on Meredith Goose. It was after our weekend getaway. You were in Los Angeles, helping the victims of the mud slides caused by El Nino. It wasn't because of us. But even if it was that weekend, you were *not* responsible. You can't take this on yourself." "I don't think I've ever been so scared, or felt so helpless as I did tonight. After rescuing all of these children lately, then Bradley almost killing you . . ." He reached out. Caressing her stomach, he felt a little kick in return. "And our baby." His throat closed for a moment. Blinking away the encroaching tears, he lay his head against her stomach. "Clark, the baby kicked wildly when the Kryptonite was near me. Do you think it was just stress from the whole trauma, or could the baby have had a reaction to the Kryptonite?" "I don't know, Lois." Clark was quiet for a moment, his mind trying to compose a million thoughts he wanted to convey to his wife. "Lois, when I first came to Metropolis, I had no idea what the future would hold. I dreamt of finding a place. . . a place where I could fit in and grow. Then I met you." Lois smiled at him and stroked the side of his cheek, wiping a stray tear >from the corner of his eye. "Shhh, Clark. I know what you're going to say. It's okay. Let's just lie down and try to get some sleep." "No, Lois, I need to say this." He looked back into her eyes. "Right after I met you, I fell in love with you. I so hoped that you would be a part of my future. But there were many times when I almost gave up on that future. On us." Lois squeezed his hand tightly. "But when that future stepped closer, became more real after you said you would marry me, I never thought anything in the world could be better." He unbuttoned the lower part of her gown to stroke her stomach with his warm hand. He felt the baby push back against him. "Now you are pregnant with our child, a child conceived out of our love. A child that will carry on a part of my Kryptonian heritage that myself, mom and dad, and probably Lara and JorEl, weren't so sure would ever be. Life, truly can't be better than this." Lois swiped at her escaping tears, touched by his heart-felt words. "Lois, if anything happened to you, and him, I don't know if I could go on, I love the two of you so much." "Oh Clark." Tears of happiness trickled down her cheeks. They embraced as their tears began to flow more freely. Clark tenderly wiped her tears away, and captured her lips in a soft, loving kiss. As the kiss lingered, it literally began taking her breath away, and she gently pushed him away. "Sorry," she panted. "I couldn't breathe. Clark, what did I ever do to deserve you . . . this." She took his hand and placed it on her stomach. Together they felt their baby move gently. "I'm the luckiest woman in the universe." Though his head continued to throb, he gently scooped her in his arms and placed her into the bed. Clark rained a trail of kisses down her neck, across her breast, to her tummy. Featherlight kisses danced around a belly button that was now threatening to lose all resemblance of its former self. He placed his ear to her stomach and listened to the strong, fast, rhythmic heartbeat of their new life. A new existence. A new love. A larger, steady heartbeat took over and he glanced at his wife who was fast asleep. He buttoned up her gown and helped her to roll on her left side. Tucking the supportive pillows under her stomach, against her back and between her knees, he kissed her cheek and turned out the light. Soon inner peace prevailed and he too, drifted to sleep. * * * * Cigar smoke in paisley patterns curled through the air of the study, rising above a leather wing chair. The phone rang five or six times before he chose to answer it. "Well done. I see the Kryptonite was delivered to Dr. Goose as planned. Yes, I received a call from my source at the hospital moments ago, of his death. . . He was just a pawn, a player to move one step closer to eliminating Superman. . . . A delicate and unstable mind is a terrible thing to take advantage of, don't you think . . .? Goose failed in his attempt to kill Superman. Your next mission is to retrieve the missing Kryptonite. When you do, you will receive payment by courier drop." He quietly put down the receiver and took another long drag on the cigar. The hospital informant also gave him a report about the condition of Lane and Kent. Beth entered the study. "Was that the informant on the phone? Did you find out what Bradley was up to?" A glimmer twinkled in his eye as the smoke curled above him. "Shall we retire for the evening my dear?" Lex rose and embraced his wife as they walked to their bedroom. The future looked more promising with the pending birth of the child of Lois Lane and Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman. * * * * Lois Lane read aloud the headline of the morning edition of the Daily Planet. "Former prominent obstetrician, Bradley Goose, dead after kidnapping and murder attempt." "Well, it looks like Dianne did an okay job for a rookie, investigative reporter." "Yeah, that's one story I'm glad we didn't have to finish. I think we were a little too close to it." Clark placed a breakfast tray of yogurt, personally picked fresh fruit from the tropics, and a beautiful yellow orchid next to Lois as he climbed back in bed. As she leaned into his kiss they were interrupted, as always, by the ring of the telephone. Lois picked up the receiver as she smiled at the morning menu. "Hello?" "Oh, hi Perry, yes, we're fine. Well, we talked to Superman this morning. He apologized for not being in the area, he was in a remote part of the Alps where an avalanche was threatening a ski village." Lois smiled at Clark, as she held up two crossed fingers. "Yes, I guess this is one time where I'm glad he didn't come to our rescue, that was a pretty big piece of Kryptonite . . . Clark's fine, that cut on his head is still pretty sore, but I think he'll soon be as good as new." She winked at her husband as he fed her a piece of fresh papaya. His forehead was just as smooth and flawless as ever. He motioned to her that he was going to take a shower. "Yes Perry, Clark and I thought Dianne did a very good job on the story. A little too much detail about the Kryptonite, we thought, but she's new . . . Now Perry remember, after maternity leave, I'm back. No replacement. right? . . . Don't worry about me Perry. I'm going to take it easy until the baby is born. Of course, we'll call you when it's born. And you'll see me before my leave is up. I'll be bringing the baby in for a visit just as soon as I can. Have to get that newspaper blood into her as soon as possible." she giggled. "Hey, thank Jimmy and Dianne for us . . . Bye, Perry." Lois was enjoying her last bite of fruit and the view as Clark returned to the bedroom. Beads of water still glistened on his freshly showered, towel-clad body. "I feel much better now; how was your breakfast?" he asked. "And the stores call it fresh from the vine. They should be sued for false advertising. To imagine that I used to complain about you spoiling me!" Clark chuckled as he leaned down to kiss his wife. "Ready to get in the shower?" He reached out to take her hand. Suddenly Lois' face tensed. "Are you okay?" Lois didn't answer for a moment. She relaxed and smiled at her husband. "I think I might have just felt a contraction!" "Really? Like last night?" "No, I don't think I had contractions last night, just a lot of kicking. Help me up so I can go ahead and get in the shower. If this is the real thing, I want to have my hair washed." "Lois, I wouldn't worry about that." "Clark, a woman always wants to look good, especially while she's having a baby, you know visitors and other people will be seeing you." Clark knew better than to argue with his pregnant wife. "Okay dear. Whatever makes you feel better.. I'll stay right here until you get out, okay?" "Okay, no flying to anyone's rescue, right?" "I promise." Clark was getting dressed and making up the bed when he heard Lois gasp >from within the shower. Immediately he was at her side. "What is it? Did you have another contraction?" Lois rubbed her stomach and smiled at her husband. "Contraction number two!" "Do you think it's the real thing?!" The end ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:14:01 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: Ep. 21 -- Doctor Goose (part 6 of 7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Lex stopped in front of Bradley. "Does it have to do with Superman?" Bradley wasn't sure how to answer, but felt sure that Lex was always very thorough, and he did not want to be caught as one who lied to Lex Luthor. "Yes sir, it is." Bradley continued to tell Lex of his feeling of vengeance that he had towards Superman, for the death of his daughter. As he told of his suspicion of Lois Lane, Lex reached down and grabbed Goose by the collar. "I heard about the little accident you staged this afternoon, with Lois Lane." He leaned closer and stared coldly into Goose's eyes. "If she is harmed in any way, I can promise you I will pluck each and every hair from your head, and boil you alive, *Goose*!" Lex threw him back into the chair and walked over to a box sitting on the counter. Shaking, Bradley didn't know whether to stay or run for his life. As Lex turned around, his face took on a completely different personality. One of pleasantness, confidence, power. "If it's Superman you want, well then, I'll make you a deal." * * * * Lois sat in a chair next to Clark's desk, munching on a Nutri Grain Bar, while resting her swollen ankles in his lap. Clark was massaging her feet as he read over the online article that Jimmy had found about the death of Meredith Goose. "Clark, you don't really think this Goose guy has a revenge thing for you, do you? Do you think he knows, you know, about you, us?" "No, I think maybe somehow he just knows that we can get in touch with Superman pretty easily. This online article gives a reference to the date of another article that hasn't been posted on the archives site yet. I'll go to the paper morgue and see if we can find the back issue that has the article from Goose's trial." He stood up and looked at his wife. "Stay here, please. It won't take long." "No, wait, Clark. I want to go with you. You never know where he might show up next." They took the elevator down two floors and walked down the hall to the paper morgue, next to the pressroom. Nicknamed the morgue, the room was a large storage area with rows and rows of back issues of the Daily Planet. Library ladders on tracks gave easy access to the high shelves which held past copies of newspapers filed by date. They walked in through the double doors into the dim room. Lois stopped momentarily to catch her breath. "I'll wait here, Clark." The aisles seemed to stretch further into the darkness than she cared to walk. "Okay, it's dated 1989. It's probably in the middle racks. I'll be right back." Clark chose to briskly walk at human speed, to avoid spreading the papers around like a whirlwind. Lois stood next to the freight elevator door. She grew nervous for a moment, as the light from the small window appeared, signaling the arrival of the cab. 'Get a grip girl, it's probably just the maintenance crew.' Lois thought to herself as she nervously looked down the aisle. ' What's taking Clark so long, the paper must be way in the back,' she thought. 'Maybe this article will provide some clue or connection to what's going on.' The horizontal doors opened and a man stepped off the elevator dressed in dark green coveralls with the Daily Planet logo on the chest pocket. Lois glanced at him. A strong shadow from the light inside the cab, fell across his face, hiding his features. She glanced back toward the aisles to look for Clark, when something cold and hard suddenly pressed against her spine. As she let out a short, alarmed breath, Clark seemed to instantly reappear >from around the corner. "Stop! Don't come any closer, Mr. Kent." Goose called out as he pressed the gun harder into Lois' back, causing her to flinch. "Bradley Goose." Clark's eyes narrowed, recognizing the man in front of him, as the same man that was in the front page article and in the car in red light district. Bradley motioned for the two of them to step into the freight elevator. He followed them inside, holding them at gun point. Lois also reminded him of his other aliases. "You're also the one who delivered my mail, and those office supplies." Clark looked at him coldly. "Says here, Goose, that you were charged in several attempts to cause pregnant mothers to miscarry." "All my research, all my efforts, were only benefiting strangers. Seeing these women daily, elated with their impending motherhood, while my own wife and I couldn't conceive a child of our own . . ." "How could you take the life of an innocent child? Take a child away from its parents?" Clark snapped back. While Bradley's attention was focused on Clark, Lois tried to move toward the door on the opposite side. Bradley became agitated and motioned for her and Clark to hold their hands higher into the air. "I couldn't let those mothers have those babies. I couldn't let them have the joy that was taken away from me and my wife. I couldn't go on practicing, giving these women the technological advances enabling them to conceive, when none of my theories could help my own wife." Lois felt her knees weaken at his sinister words. "Look Dr. Goose, whatever it is you're after . . . it can't be worth risking the life of innocent children across Metropolis." "Shut up. How would you know, you probably had no trouble getting pregnant." Lois and Clark glanced at each other, remembering all the trials and tribulations about not being able to conceive. Bradley continued his verbal confession. "Finally we conceived a beautiful daughter. Our Meredith, so beautiful, so full of life." Bradley lowered the elevator and stopped it between the second and third floor. He waved his gun back and forth between Lois and Clark to keep them at bay. Clark was ready to spring at super speed if Bradley fired his gun. Tears formed in Bradley's eyes as he continued his story. "We couldn't get her out of the car seat when our car went in the river. The seat belt jammed and we couldn't get her out before it was too late." His eyes turned to rage and he started to shake and wave his gun erratically, as the tone in his voice grew stronger. "And where was Superman? He didn't come to her rescue. He let us down, he let my little daughter down. Superman let her die. I have nothing left to lose." Clark felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew that he couldn't be everywhere at once, but that didn't always take away the guilt, especially when an innocent child lost its life. "After Meredith died, I lost everything. EVERYTHING! I'm going to show Superman how that feels. I have to make him realize how crucial it is to rescue every child that's in trouble. It's all *his* fault, you know!" Lois couldn't believe the words of this madman. "So you're the one who sent those sick nursery rhymes to Clark and me. You staged these calamities, so we would get the word to Superman. What are you, some twisted Father Goose?" Bradley was getting more and more irritated at Lois' accusations. His deep-seated anger and opinions of her, made him not take heed of Lex Luthor's warning to keep her out of harms way. Clark was trying to gradually move over closer to Lois, when suddenly Bradley aimed the gun directly at her. "And it's your fault too that Meredith died, Ms. Lane!" "NO!" Clark yelled, fearing that he would pull the trigger and protectively stepped in front of his wife. "Bradley, you don't want to do this. Lois has done nothing to you." "What do you mean it was all *my* fault?" Lois exclaimed, and she stepped out from behind Clark to confront him, but Clark put his hand out to stop her. "Superman didn't save our daughter because he was too busy in bed with *you!*" Lois' mouth dropped open and a look of fury mingled with astonishment crossed her face as he finished his verbal assault. "What??!" "Your wife couldn't keep out of Superman's bed, and because of it, he didn't come to rescue our daughter and she died! Now it's your turn!" Clark's emotion turned to rage, and he pushed her protectively back behind him, regardless of Bradley's threat. "That was a set-up, Goose." "And you believe everything that boy scout in spandex says? Boy, are you gullible, Kent. I've read the stories of how Superman's always coming to his mistress', uh excuse me, your wife's rescue." Goose was trying to toy with Clark's emotions. Clark was afraid that if Goose fired, the bullet would ricochet off of him, possibly hitting his wife. "And when Superman is lured to come to his mistress' rescue, I'll greet him with this!" Bradley pulled a small box out of his overalls. "And watch *him* suffer as he watches me kill two of his closest friends, right in front of his very eyes." Bradley momentarily took his eyes off of them as he began to open the box. Clark was afraid he knew what the contents had in store for him, and took Bradley's slight distraction as an opportunity to whisk the gun from him and make their escape. Clark lunged just as Goose unveiled a medium chunk of roughly cut Kryptonite. Goose's reflexes were quick, however, and he struck the already weakened Clark with the Kryptonite. Clark's superpowers quickly diminished with the direct exposure and he felt the rough edge of the meteor tear into the flesh of his forehead. Clark clutched his head and fell to his knees, as the excruciating pain seared through his body. When Goose hit him in the head once more with the butt of the pistol, Clark dropped completely to the floor, struggling to stay conscious. Lois watched in horror at the sight of her husband in distress, blood pouring down his forehead over his eyes and glasses from the wound on his head. "Clark!! Oh my God, are you all right?!" Lois dropped to her knees at her husband's side. She put her ear to his chest to see if he was breathing. Goose reached down to see if Clark was still a threat to him. As the Kryptonite in his hand came closer to her stomach, the baby began kicking hard. Lois gasped at the surprise and clutched her stomach. Clark heard her cry out and tried to reach his arm toward her. Bradley yelled into the air. "Okay Superman. Come to your friends' rescue! Superman!" "Lois?!" Clark's voice was weak and faltering. "Clark, I'm okay." She took short quick breaths that her Lamaze coach had taught her to help ease the pain. "It's the baby, Clark. It's kicking. Hard!" Lois had always been able to get Kryptonite away from Clark in the past. With its continued presence, she had never seen it affect him as badly as this. He was losing a lot of blood, more than ever before, and she could tell he was fading in and out of consciousness. Lois cradled his head on her legs and put the edge of her shirt against his wound, to stop the bleeding. The baby kicked against the side of his head which made him yell out in agony. "Oh God, I'm sorry." She moved back slightly, but continued to hold his head, attending to his wound. It looked for a moment like he was gone. "Clark, hang on! . . . Don't you die on me!. . . Please!" Bradley was getting frustrated with the absence of Superman. "So where is he?!" He started to pace back and forth in front of the fallen reporter. "Maybe he's with some other slut somewhere." The derogatory remark about his wife brought him back to consciousness. "Don't . . . call . . . her . . ." As Goose walked past, Clark managed to grab him by one ankle, but Goose turned and kicked Clark in his side. He aimed the gun at Clark and cocked the trigger. Lois' scream echoed off the walls and carried throughout the elevator shaft. * * * * Jimmy, Dianne and Perry were returning to the newsroom from dinner when they heard the email chime of Lois' computer. Jimmy downloaded the message. Lois and Clark walked arm and arm to fetch a back copy of the dailies Clark got whacked, and grimaced in horror. And poor Lois and child will never see tomorrow. Jimmy couldn't believe his eyes. "Perry!! Come look at this!" "Great Shades Of Elvis! What the hell is going on here!" Suddenly Mary Goose came running into the news room hysterical to find anyone that could help her. She ran up to Perry and Jimmy, grabbing them by the sleeves to get their attention. "You've got to stop him!" she screamed. "Ma'am, please," Perry said curtly. "We have an emergency here." "No, you don't understand. I think my husband is out to kill Superman. He's vowed to take revenge for Superman not rescuing our daughter. I don't know the connection, but I think your reporters might be involved and in danger." Mary Goose looked at the computer screen and realized that maybe it was too late. Jimmy studied the email for a moment. "Clark was trying to find a back issue to read about this doctor . . ." Mary Goose pointed to the page in the baby magazine that had her husband's picture on it. "That's my husband, Bradley Goose." Mary pulled out the crumpled paper that she had found. "I don't know if there's a connection, but I found their email addresses on a piece of paper that Bradley dropped. I'm afraid that he might have sent this message. He's a very sick man." Jimmy and Perry took off down the back stairs toward the paper morgue, with Mary Goose close behind. The room was quiet and the lights dimmed. It seemed deserted. The 'In Use' light on the elevator was on. "Bradley must have them down there." Perry pushed the button but only the bell sounded, the cab didn't budge. "The emergency stop must be on." Jimmy banged on the large metal doors. "Lois! Clark! Are you alright?" He looked around for something to pry the doors open. Mary Goose caught up to them. "If he hears you, it might send him over the edge." "She's right Jimmy. We've got to play it safe. I'll go call the police. Where in the Sam Hill is Superman?" Perry ran out the door, back upstairs to the news room. Just then, two pressmen approached, attracted by all of the commotion. "What's going on in here! We thought we heard someone scream." "We've got to get in that elevator! Lois and Clark are being held by a . . ." Jimmy didn't need to finish his statement. Just then, the sound of a gunshot echoed through the chamber. * * * * Bradley had fired a warning shot through the roof to alert Superman. "So where the hell is he? Ms Lane, doesn't he always comes to your rescue? Scream! Scream 'Help Superman'. Now!" Through her tears she could see Clark laying in a pool of blood, struggling in pain to breathe. Between the loss of blood and the Kryptonite, she knew they didn't have much more time. * * * * Hank, one of the Daily Planet press operators had an emergency key to open the elevator doors. There was a maintenance ladder on the side of the shaft wall. Hank and the other pressman Ron, quickly scaled down the ladder to the elevator cage below. Jimmy started to follow, but Perry returned just in time to stop him. "Now just a minute. With your latest brush with death, no way are you going down there. The S.W.A.T. team's on its way." * * * * Bradley put the gun to Lois' head in attempt to scare her into calling for Superman, but she was so distraught that she could only manage a squeak. Angry, Goose grabbed Lois' arm, roughly pulling her away from Clark. Lois gasped as the Kryptonite came close to her stomach once again, and Goose finally put two and two together. He attempted to bring the Kryptonite to her belly once more, eyes narrowing as Lois jerked violently away from him in an attempt to escape. "Now why would a woman fear a little rock unless she is carrying Superman's baby?" he asked in an evil voice. "Soooo, the affair wasn't so alleged after all. Well, Mr. Kent, it looks as though you'll probably have a few words for Superman too. IF HE EVER COMES!" "Get . . . away . . . from . . . her," Clark said to Bradley through ragged breaths. "Don't make . . . my wife and child another one of your . . . victims." His vision was becoming blurred, all he could see was Lois clutching her abdomen in the corner. "Superman's . . . not . . . coming. I'm the one you want. I'm Superman." Lois continued to breath short quick breaths, putting her focus point on her husband. She looked shocked at his confession. "Clark, no!" "You! Well, well, well, Mr. Kent, you don't look so super to me." Bradley laughed. He knelt down next to Clark, and laughed gleefully as the close proximity of the Kryptonite caused Clark to groan in pain. "So you *are* Superman. Then the little rescues I staged, proved to be an even better lesson in protecting your own child. This is turning out better than I thought." A greedy smile turned to rage. "Why didn't you save my child, Superman? Why?!?" He screamed as he grabbed Clark by his shirt, and shook him. "You didn't save my child, and now you're not going to be able to save your own." Goose released Clark and aimed the gun at Lois' stomach. Lois pleaded with him, looking down the barrel of Bradley's gun. "Superman didn't cause your daughter to die. He can't be everywhere at once! Please! *No*!" "Say good-bye, Ms. Lane." Lois closed her eyes and kicked up with one leg as far as her stomach would allow. Striking Bradley hard in the kneecap, it sent him reeling backward in profuse pain. Clark's strength was completely gone. The crying, yelling and screaming kept echoing in his head. He tried but couldn't get over to Lois in time to protect her. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was Lois' scream, Bradley's yell and the sound of another gunshot ringing out. *Lois!!* his mind screamed and darkness fell. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:14:00 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: Ep 21: Doctor Goose (part 5 of 7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Superman escorted Lois to her desk. Perry came storming out of his office to find out why his two top reporters had suddenly disappeared from his newsroom. "Lois, honey are you okay? Superman, what in the name of Elvis happened? Dianne said that Clark flew out of here like there was a five alarm fire!" "It's okay, Perry, just a few rolls of . . ." Her voice grew slower and progressively quieter with each set of words. "newsprint . . . almost fell on top . . . of me." "What in the Sam Hill!! Where's Clark?" Lois looked at Superman, giving him an 'I'm blank, you'll have to take this one' look. Superman spoke to Perry. "He's, uh, downstairs talking to some of the men that were around when it happened, checking their equipment, seeing if there were any witnesses. I'm sure he'll be right back." He suddenly glanced toward the large window in the newsroom, out to the Metropolis skyline. "Sorry, I have to go. I hear a bank alarm. Lois, you take care of yourself and that baby, okay?" Lois smiled at him, knowing of his real plan to make a quick change of identity, and in a blue streak he was gone. Perry turned his attention back to Lois. "And did you happen to get another one of those anonymous emails?" Dianne spoke up, "Uh, Clark did, Chief, this time on *his* computer." Lois and Perry walked over to Dianne and read Clark's monitor. "Oh my," Lois responded softly. A little taken back, she leaned against Perry's arm for support. "Lois, you come in my office right now and rest on this couch, or I'm sending you straight for the hospital." Perry led her by the arm into his office as if she was a five year old. "Really Chief, I'm too keyed up to lie down. I'm fine." "Lois you're going to lie down, now! Don't say another word!" Lois rolled her eyes. Once she settled on the couch, stretching out suddenly seemed like a good idea. The baby started to move gently which assured Lois that everything really was okay." He covered her with a throw and returned to the news room so she would have some peace and quiet. Lois decided that this would be a good time to practice her Lamaze breathing exercises as she could still feel her heart race from the incident. She picked a focus point and started to take long deep breaths. Soon she was calm and relaxed. 'Amazing, they really do work.' Before she realized it, she drifted off to sleep. Clark came running back into the news room to where Perry, Jimmy and Dianne were standing at Clark's desk. "Perry, where's Lois? Didn't Superman bring her back here?" "She's fine, son, she's in my office. I made her lie down and rest. I think she's taking a little snooze." Clark walked to Perry's door and looked through the partially open blinds. Lois was comfortably stretched out on the couch. Clark smiled contentedly as he listened to both heartbeats making a smooth rhythmic sound. How could this beautiful woman who was carrying their child be the same one who made him so mad that he ripped the hinges off of this very door last year? 'I'll let you sleep, but only a short nap,' he thought. 'Because I know if I don't wake you up soon, I'll never hear the end of it.' * * * * Dianne was trying to put all of these strange events together in her head. As Clark returned to his desk she stood up with concern and determination on her face. "All right, Clark, this is my first break at doing investigative reporting instead of feature writing. I want to know how you and Lois do this." "Do what?" "You know, *this*!" She pointed out all of the notes of the details of Superman's rescues. "The two of you constantly have the scoop on Superman. And how did you know that Lois was in trouble downstairs?" "Well, the email had some pretty obvious clues." "I know, but how is it that you are always in the same place as Superman to get the exclusive?" The conversation was making Clark a little nervous, not knowing what direction it was heading as Dianne continued her personal interrogation. "If I'm going to be partnered with you, next time you let me know so I can get in on the act. Deal?" Her determination and feistiness reminded him a little of Lois when he first met her. But she didn't have the fire in her eyes that his wife did, when she smelled a story brewing. "OK, but there's no secret Bat Symbol or anything. I think it's just that since Lois and I were the first ones to report on Superman, we've developed a mutual trust of reporting on his actions, accurately and truthfully. Let's go back down to newsprint storage. I'll show you the tow motor and where Superman told me that Lois was trapped. Superman said he didn't seem to find anything immediately out of the ordinary, but maybe we can question some of the paper handlers again to see if there were any other details." Putting her interrogation to rest, Dianne jumped up at the opportunity to talk to other witnesses and raced ahead of Clark to the elevator. "Sounds great, let's go." Lois awoke about ten minutes after Clark and Dianne had left. Perry was sitting at his desk, working. She seemed a little disoriented at first. "You okay, honey?" "Yeah," she sat up slowly. "I had the wackiest dream. All of these huge rolls of newsprint were falling through the air like a big domino game." "Honey, I'm afraid that wasn't a dream." As she sat up, the incident in the newsprint storage room came back to her vividly. "Oh, wow, you're right. I've got to go find out . . ." She tried to stand but couldn't get her balance right to stand up from the soft, deep sofa. "Dammit, I'm so tired of not being able to move. I feel like a beached whale." Perry walked over to give her a hand. "Now wait a doggone minute Lois, you're not going anywhere except straight to your desk." "Perry!" "Clark and Dianne went back downstairs to talk to James again. You're staying right here like I promised Clark. Now you were lucky this time, but I'm not letting you take any more chances." "But Perry!" "Don't *but* me . . . now go back to your desk. That's an order!" "Perry, I don't need you to baby-sit me while some rookie reporter from another department works on a story about me with my husband!" "Lo-is. Do I detect a note of jealousy?" Lois realized how childish her last comment sounded. "No Perry, just frustration. I'm just having a hard time letting go." "I know Lois. Don't worry, everything will work out just fine. Now, you just go back to your desk. See if Jimmy has found out anything more about who the nutcase is that's sending those emails." By the look on Perry's face she could tell she wasn't going to win this battle. Slipping her shoes on, Lois dejectedly went back to her desk. Jimmy wasn't around either, and the baby magazine looked much more interesting than the remaining files that still needed attending to. She chose to continue reading the article that she had started yesterday in the doctor's office. Soon she heard Dianne's voice as she and Clark stepped off of the elevator. "Why would this person be staging rescues of children? And what is he trying to prove by putting children's lives in danger so Superman can rescue them? It must be awfully hard on him, emotionally." Without looking up from her article, Lois responded as they walked by. "Yeah, Dianne, I'm sure it is hard for Superman." Lois' response took Clark a little off guard. His thoughts were focused on a lead weight that he found on the floor, near a roll of newsprint. He hadn't noticed that Lois had returned to her desk. "Lois, honey, how do you feel? Are you hurt in any way?" He reached down and gave her a tender kiss as he placed his hand on her belly. She opened her eyes as the kiss ended and saw the concerned look in his dark eyes. "We're fine, really." Assured that Lois was all right, Clark stood and returned to his desk, expounding on Lois' comment as he did so. "Even Superman's emotions seem to run high when children are involved. I can really identify with him. With our baby almost here, I seem to be worrying constantly whether I can protect him or her. Superman always seems to be there when we need him, but he can't be everywhere." Lois knew that even though Clark's words were physically directed toward Dianne, they were meant for her. The strong words pulled at her heartstrings, as the tears welled in her eyes. She knew of his fears of something happening to his family, not being able to be there if they needed him. She flipped through the pages of the baby magazine faster and faster to take her mind off of his last comment. As she turned the pages, however, a subscription ad caught her eye. A familiar face on a past cover photo merged in her memory with the face of the unfamiliar worker that she had seen in the newsroom, earlier in the day. "That's him!" Clark and Dianne both answered, puzzled. "What do mean, it's him? Who?" "I've seen this man before! He used to be an associate of Dr. McGrath's, back when I first started going to her in college!" "You mean you've seen him as a patient?" "No, I mean I've seen him in this building! Clark, he's the guy who delivered the mail earlier this morning!" "Lois, a prominent physician wouldn't have a part time job delivering mail at the Planet." "As a matter of fact, not only did he deliver the mail, but the faxes, and I think the supplies. Look at his face!" Lois showed the photo in the magazine to Clark and Dianne. Dianne recognized his face as well. "Lois, I saw him over at the files before lunch . . . and he was putting toner in the copy machine, right before you went to get a drink!" The three of them yelled in unison, "Jimmy!!" Jimmy had just come out of the darkroom. "Right here. What's up?" Clark used his magnification vision to read the very small, blurred print that was in the reproduced article. It read 'Dr. Bradley Goose, New Fertilization Breakthroughs.' "Jimmy, find out everything you can doctors who specialize in fertilization and see if there's one named . . ." Lois interjected his name before Clark spouted out a really lame excuse. "Dr. Bradley Goose." "Ah, sure." Jimmy replied as he saw Lois and Clark smile at each other. "One of these day's I'm going to figure out how you do that." Jimmy turned to go back to his computer, then spun back around to Lois, Clark and Dianne with a grin on his face. "Now you aren't sending me on some wild goose chase are you?" "Bad Jimmy." Clark chuckled and popped him with the rubber band that he had been toying with throughout the conversation. Dianne spoke to Lois and Clark. "How did you two know what his name was?" Lois knew the answer because she saw Clark lower his glasses. She jumped in and replied before Clark could say anything. "I remembered his name >from the practice." Clark then replied. "I thought I remembered seeing his name, when I was gathering some research notes about fertilization." He picked up on Lois' uneasy feeling about this conversation getting a little too personal. "Uh, it was for a friend of mine, back home in Kansas." Lois continued to wonder how Goose fit in all of this. "Clark, why would he be in the building doing different jobs, unless he was . . ." "Spying on us?" "You don't think he has anything to do with sending those email messages do you?" Dianne asked. "I don't know," Clark replied as he chewed on the end of his pencil, contemplating Bradley's role in all of this. "I found a lead block downstairs that may have been used to hold the gas pedal of the tow motor. I'm going to take it to the station, have it dusted for fingerprints." Jimmy returned rather quickly, not gathering very much information. "There's not much in the computer data files on a Bradley Goose. I did find his daughter's obit from a year and a half ago. Goose and his wife were driving in an ice storm when they lost control of the car and slid into the river. They survived, but their daughter, Meredith, didn't. The car seat proved to be defective. The seat belt jammed and they couldn't get her out in time. Unfortunately, she drowned." "That's so sad," Lois responded softly. "Anything more?" "I found another story in the National Inquisitor from just a couple of months ago. He wrote an editorial and sent it to their Hits and Picks column, about how Superman seems to pick and choose his rescues, and how he judges who's worthy of his super feats." Clark could feel his anger rising. "That's a bunch of bull." Lois noticed his pencil, which he had idly been chewing on, was down almost to a nub. Her eyes grew wide, signaling him to hide the pencil that he had almost devoured out of frustration. Jimmy continued. "He seems to blame his daughter's death on Superman not coming to her rescue in time." "You don't think he would do these twisted things to get back at Superman, do you?" Dianne asked. "I don't know." Clark returned. "I think there's definitely a connection somewhere. It's just too much of a coincidence that this man keeps showing up around the building. Anything else, Jimmy?" "Well, there was a reference note to an article that ran about eight or nine years ago. It seems that Dr. Goose was accused of causing women to miscarry while he was practicing obstetrics. I couldn't locate that article electronically. That's before we started our computerized archives." Perry emerged from his office. "How's this story coming you folks? Any leads yet?" "Well, Lois and Dianne recognized a photo of a former obstetrician in an issue of the Metropolis Baby Talk as the same man that's been doing odd jobs around here today: mail clerk, delivery person, copy machine technician." Perry chuckled. "You mean to tell me that a doctor in Metropolis is moonlighting here at the Daily Planet?" "No, Chief, I think he's watching us. I think he's using us as bait for alerting Superman." Perry picked up the magazine and looked at the picture. "Great shades of Elvis! Bradley Goose!" "You know him, Chief?" "About nine years ago, when we were understaffed in the newsroom, I covered his trial. He was indicted with causing some of his patients to miscarry. He was charged with murder and malpractice. Damn thing is, even though several of his patients testified against him, he was acquitted, supposedly >from lack of evidence. He hasn't appeared in public that I know of since then." "Until now." Lois responded as a cold chill ran through her and she protectively caressed her unborn child. Perry looked at his watch. "Look kids, it's been a hectic afternoon. Let's break for dinner, I'm buying." Lois had already lost her appetite at the news of why Bradley Goose was brought to trial and the last thing she wanted was to go to one of Perry's dives to eat a greasy, fat laden dinner. "Thanks, but no. I don't think I can handle a 'Bo's Ribs and Rinds' or much of anything else right now." Clark put his arm around Lois. "I think we'll stick around here, Perry. I want to see if I can find out more on this Dr. Goose guy. Also if he is setting us up to make the connection to Superman, I want to make sure we're here so we can get the word to him. Dianne, you and Jimmy go on. Lois and I can handle it for a while." Dianne and Jimmy left with Perry. The news room was quiet as Lois and Clark were among the few remaining at the dinner hour. * * * * Mary Goose looked at her husband as he nervously hung up the phone. "Who was that on the phone dear?" "Mr. Luthor. He wants me to meet him at the laboratory in five minutes." "Sounds urgent. Is everything OK?" "Uh, yeah. He wants to go over some notes I left for him to study." He grabbed his briefcase and ran out the door. Mary Goose wasn't totally naive and she didn't believe his excuse for a minute. She saw a piece of paper flutter unnoticed by her husband, from his pocket to the floor . Picking it up, she read his scribbled notes. Among them was Lois Lane and Clark Kent's email addresses. * * * * Bradley Goose did indeed return to the laboratory, but not for the reasons he told his wife. He sat nervously as Lex Luthor paced back and forth in front of him. "So Bradley, you said something about needing some personal time off. Are you feeling a lot of stress from your research? Do I need to allocate more money in the budget for new equipment?" "No, Mr Luthor. It's not the research. After that last purchase, I feel that we are still on the cutting edge of technology. It's something . . . more personal." "Could that personal problem have a color code of say . . . red and blue?" Bradley looked a little puzzled. "Excuse me, sir?" ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:13:59 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: Ep 21 -- Doctor Goose (part 4 of 7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In the lower red light district of Hobbs Bay, a young prostitute was standing in the doorway, looking for a way to score her next fix. Bradley Goose pulled up in a black, four door sedan. Noticing the strung-out young woman, he parked across the street and observed. Another car approached and stopped where she was standing. "Hey mister, wanna feel good? Twenty bucks?" As the potential customer opened the door for her to join him, her children ran out of a doorway to her side, pulling on her short skirt, crying for something to eat. "Mommy, mommy, don't go, we're hungry." The three young children pleaded for their mother not to leave them again. She ignored the cries and begging of her children, wanting to please her customer more. All of the children's noise and crying agitated the man and he decided that it just wasn't worth it, no matter how cheap the price. He pushed her out of the car and sped away. Goose smiled as he watched the scenario unfold from across the street. He retrieved his pocket computer and emailed a message to Lois Lane at the Daily Planet. Knowing this would pull at her heartstrings, he hoped that she would relay the message to Superman. He then would be able to observe Superman's emotions as he rescued the children in trouble. * * * * "Clark, another message is coming in." Lois was hoping this wouldn't be >from the mystery sender. There was a young lady who needed some crack whose crying children she wanted to smack she needed a fix , but they kept her from getting her hit so she gave them all a mighty whack! Clark read the message and was out of the news room before Lois had even finished it. Superman flew to a district that was known for having several crack houses. Flying over the run-down area, he spotted the strung out mother cursing at her children, out on the sidewalk. Her arm drawn back, she threatened to hit her toddler again. Superman landed between the violent mother and her innocent children who were cowering in fear. "Stop hitting your children!" "What damn business is it of yours?! Leave us alone!" Screaming, she ranked her children up by the arm and dragged them inside the apartment. Pain touched Clark's soul as he looked at the horror in their eyes. How could a mother betray her own children? Superman stepped into the apartment and picked the toddler up, whose nose was bleeding. The two other young children clutched Superman's leg and cape, hiding behind him >from their raging mother. "You need some help, and these children need to be placed in a home where they will be loved and cared for properly." "I give 'em all the care they need. I don't need any help from anybody. All I need is a fix. Now get out!" she screamed as she picked up an iron and threw it at him. Superman caught the iron with his free hand. Placing the toddler with her siblings, he ripped the cord from the iron and tied the mother's hands behind her back. After calling the police, he took the innocent children outside to escape the stench, blocking the door so the unfit mother couldn't escape. Clark looked across the street to see Bradley's car pull away. The police arrived and as Superman left, he stopped the man in his car about half a block away. "Sir, excuse me. I noticed that you were parked across the street, during that incident. Do you know that woman the police just took into custody?" "No Superman." Bradley was stammering, trying to think of a decent excuse. "I . . . uh, just happened to drive through. I don't know, my wife and I, well we don't really . . get together . . . anymore. I've never been with a hooker, honest. When the police came, I panicked . . . I gotta, I gotta get home. It won't happen again." Superman was disappointed that a married man would resort to prostitution instead of seeking counseling, but the man hadn't committed a crime so there was no reason to suspect or accuse him of any wrongdoing. Superman sensed the guy had truly made a mistake and patted him on the shoulder. "Maybe you and your wife should seek counseling." "Thank you Superman, I'll do that." Bradley drove away hoping that Superman didn't see his palm sized computer tucked away under his seat. * * * * Lois hung up the phone from her husband. "Perry, Clark just called in. He said that Superman rescued some abused children who were living in a crack house with their strung out mother. He's down at the precinct now, talking to a social worker about placing them together in the same foster home." She paused for a minute and sighed. "You know, it just makes me sick how such unfit people can have children while there are so many loving people who can't." Returning her attention to Clark's story, she finished the last bit of rewriting and hit the 'send' key. "Final corrections on that Fish Scandal piece coming your way, Chief." Perry walked up to her desk. "You know, sometimes I felt like my kids may have well grown up in a foster home, as far as my involvement with them, always being at work, not spending enough time with them at home." "Chief, you were a wonderful dad. Your boys knew they could always count on you." "Well, maybe, I don't know. Now what else is going on with this baa, baa, black sheep stuff you're getting on your computer?" "This email thing is really getting bizarre. At first I thought it was a joke. But now, it seems too coincidental. Superman's made three rescues that seem to be related to the emails that we've received. Jimmy's been trying to find out who's sending them." "Lois, I know if anyone can crack this case, it will be you." Perry put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm gonna miss ya, you know." "Hey Chief, it's not like I'm leaving forever. Think of it as the long vacation I never took." Perry chuckled and retreated to his office. Lois looked around to find just the people she needed. "Jimmy, Dianne, we've got to figure out who's behind this and fast. Superman says he's had three rescues today that have involved children. And this is the third email from this prankster." Lois flashed back to all of the practical jokes that the Prankster played on Lois and Clark and the rest of Metropolis. "Jimmy! You don't think that the Prankster is out again, do you? Were you able to find out anything about these emails, where they are coming from?" "I checked with George, the tech service guy for our provider, Metropolis.com. It's coming from someone who subscribes to our server, but that's all they can tell right now. There's no trace route outside the system. As for the Prankster, as far as I know, he's still in for another twenty years." Clark reappeared about thirty minutes later. He gave Dianne details of Superman's conversation with the Metropolis Police on the situation. Lois told Clark of her concern about the Prankster, stemming from the conversation she had with Jimmy. "Clark, do *you* think the Prankster's involved somehow?" "That did kind of occur to me, but I really don't think this is his style. I think there's another motive behind this, other than a practical joke." Clark, Dianne and Jimmy continued looking into possible suspects of who was possibly staging the accidents to prompt Superman's rescues. Lois continued to work on the mounds of paperwork. The end was beginning to come into view as she could actually see the wood grain of her desk beneath the piles. The double pastrami and swiss on rye from lunch was making her suddenly thirsty. 'A fountain drink with lots of ice would taste a lot better than a can drink. But if I get a drink *now,* that means more than double the trips to the bathroom this afternoon. Ugh, I can't win.' She sighed, stood and walked over to Clark, where he was working with Dianne. She placed her hands on her husband's broad shoulders, massaging them lightly. A bit of her wanted to be sure to put Dianne in her place. "I'm going down to the canteen to get a fountain drink. Do you two want anything?" Lois asked. "What about the drink machine? Then you won't have to walk so far." Clark said as he flashed his beautiful smile to his wife. All of Lois' insecure thoughts about Dianne working with Clark vanished like a puff of smoke. "No, I need to get up and walk, anyway I want a drink over lots of ice. What can I get you two? Last call!" "Nothing for me, thanks." Clark turned to Dianne. "Do you want a drink?" "Yeah, thanks Lois, a grape soda would be fine." "Umm, I haven't had one of those in a long time, think I'll make that two. Be back in a couple of minutes, so listen out for my computer in case I get any more emails, okay?" "Okay," Clark said as his attention returned to the screen and trailed away >from the bustling sounds of the news room floor. * * * * Bradley Goose stood undetected by the reporters at a nearby copy machine. Overhearing Lois's conversation with Clark and Dianne, he decided to follow her and he took the back steps down to the lobby floor. Taking the elevator to the lobby floor to get a drink from company's canteen, Lois walked in and found the steel gate was closed in the food preparation area, blocking the soda fountain and ice machine. The sign said: "Will reopen at 6 p.m." "What!? People aren't supposed to get thirsty at four o'clock in the afternoon? Great. I guess it's a canned drink after all. They don't have grape in the newsroom though, maybe the machine down in the newsprint storage has some." A few people casually walked by, staring at this woman who was having a private conversation with the steel gate that stood between her and her cup of ice cold grape soda. Lois suddenly noticed and blurted out. "Haven't you ever seen a pregnant lady talking to herself before?" The other employees chose not to reply and kept on walking. Bradley, standing just around the corner, heard Lois ranting and raving and saw this as another opportunity to stage another rescue. He smiled nervously as he pulled out his pocket computer to compose another nursery rhyme. Lois took the nearby freight elevator as a shortcut down to the newsprint storage room to keep from walking down another two flights of stairs. She walked through the newsprint storage room to the drink machine that was located on the opposite side of the room. Giant rows of one ton newsprint rolls towered above her head like the huge forest from which they originated. The room bustled with busy workers to the slow steady hums of the tow motors. The drivers worked their way through the rows. Large circular arms of the tow motors gripping the one ton rolls and transporting them >from the top of the towering stacks to the reel room. There the rolls would be placed on their sides in rows on the floor, waiting to be loaded on the bottom of the giant web presses, preparing for the next press run. An occasional warning beep was heard as the drivers zipped in and out of the rows of newsprint. Lois was careful not to step in the path of one. Some of the men working in this room she would talk to on occasion, as this was also a shortcut to the back parking lot. A few of them waved politely as they drove by her. "How's that baby doing today, Ms. Lane?" "Oh, just fine, James, won't be too long now." "Well, you just take it easy walking through here, okay?" "I sure will, thanks." She reached the machine on the far side of the room. "Yes! Grape Smash Deluxe, in stock!" Juggling the two cans, she managed to pop the top, and she brought the cool, bubbly drink to her mouth. She retraced her steps mentally as she read the nutrition label. So intent on the annoying details like calories and sodium intake, she accidentally missed the turn that led to the elevator. Bradley slipped on some pressman overalls in the locker room, hopped into an empty tow motor and set out to follow Lois. Lois heard a hum from behind, and then suddenly a blast from the caution horn. The sound startled her and she spilled the grape soda down her white shirt. She spun around to confront the guilty party, and she was momentarily blinded by the bright lights of a tow motor coming straight toward her. Turning to run, she found herself at a dead end. The rolls were too close together for an escape route. As the tow motor encroached upon her, the circular gripping arm opened, ready to embrace a roll of newsprint. Lois, unable to see who was driving the machine, tried to jump quickly to the side but her weight shifted, causing her to lose her balance and she fell to her knees. She cursed at the sharp, intense pain that coursed through her body. Bradley propped a weight on the pedal and exited before Lois could see him, sending the machine straight towards her. Looking up, she saw the arm of the tow motor bearing down upon her. As she half-rolled to the side, she felt the hard cold metal brush her arm. The tow motor continued to bump into the newsprint, causing the tower of paper to sway above her. Noticing the driver's cage was now abandoned she scrambled inside. Covering her stomach with her head and arms, Lois prayed that the federal safety regulations of the driver's cage would protect her and their unborn child as the massive rolls of newsprint came tumbling down around her. * * * * Clark was working at his desk helping Dianne compile the story when they heard the chime of an email alert. This time it was his computer, not Lois' and he downloaded the message. Humpty Dumpty walked through the aisles. Humpty Dumpty knocked over a huge pile. All the husbands and all the supermen, Couldn't rescue Humpty Dumpty again. "What the hell is this!?" Clark exclaimed, reading the twisted rhyme. "What is it, Clark?" Dianne asked, looking up from her notes. Suddenly Clark's super hearing picked up the sound of a scream and the crashing rolls of newsprint. He glanced towards Lois' desk to see that she had not returned. "Excuse me, Dianne. I've got to go check on Lois." He raced off. * * * * Clark took the backstairs to the reel room. Transforming into a blue and red blur, he flew into the newsprint storage room, hovering above the falling paper rolls to access the scene. Stacks of newsprint were falling to the ground like giant dominoes around the room. Everyone was running for cover to avoid being crushed to death. Clark could hear a repetitive whining of a tow motor. "Anyone in here?" Superman called out. James was standing against the wall out of harm's way and replied to Superman. "Superman. Ms. Lane was just in here getting a drink. I don't know if she went out that way or not." He pointed toward the last direction she was seen walking. "Lois?!" He started to scan the area with his x-ray vision, when he heard a soft, overwrought cry for help. "Clark!" He x-rayed through the piles and saw Lois cowering in the cab of the tow motor, the rolls of newsprint precariously balanced above. "Lois! It's Superman. Listen to me. DON'T MOVE OR TOUCH ANYTHING! Wait until I get everything moved, so it doesn't avalanche!" "Okay, Superman." Clark could hear the shakiness in her voice, even though she was trying to be brave. Quickly Superman returned the rolls to their previous positions. Lois felt his strong protective arms carefully pull her from the cab. "Easy, I'm a little stiff," she said softly. They stood close, his arms supporting her as she regained her breath. "Lois, how? . . . Never mind, I don't even want to know." "What?! All I did was go to the drink machine. Next thing I knew, this thing had me pinned against the newsprint. It was *not* my fault." His brief frustration with her seeming knack of always finding herself in the middle of trouble, quickly turned to concern about her and the baby's safety, as he watched her rub her stomach over and over again. "Are you okay? Let me take you to the doctor." "Clark, I'm fine, just give me a minute," she whispered to him, not giving away his true identity. She felt the baby roll to the other side and stretch. Clark felt it move against him too. They looked at each other and both gave a sigh of relief. James and some of the other paper handlers were coming over, to see if Lois was okay. Clark released his embrace on Lois, so as not to arouse any suspicion of their personal relationship. "Ms. Lane, are you okay?" Lois nodded an affirmative reply to James as Superman scooped her gently in his arms to take her back to the elevator. "I'm fine guys, really. And I think this guy here . . ." she patted Superman on the arm, "is the one who's being overprotective." Superman politely smiled in the company of others, as slowly flew away to the privacy of the freight elevator. Flying even this short distance was a little uncomfortable for Lois. He continued his personal conversation with her when they were out of earshot of the other employees as the elevator doors began to close. "I know it wasn't your fault, but I don't think it was an accident either. I just got a really bizarre email." As she stood again in the elevator, they gazed into each others eyes. Without words, the impact of the near miss accident suddenly came to their full realization. Superman embraced his wife, burying his head into her hair. He whispered into her ear. "I worry so much about you, and him." "Her, and besides. . . you can't be everywhere at once." Clark chimed in on the last sentence. Lois wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on his cheek, then rested her head on his shoulder. Observing them from a safe distance behind the recycling shredder, Bradley reacted pleasingly at Superman's anguished look during the rescue. He vanished quickly through an outside exit to plan his next course of action. Undetected by Bradley or Superman, Lex's henchmen, who also had observed the incident, made a call to Lex on his cell phone after Bradley had left the room. "Your speculation was right! Bradley tried to run Lois Lane down, then hid and watched Superman save her. He seemed to have taken some weird form of pleasure, watching Superman's reaction to Lois being in danger." "I don't know what he's up to, but I want you to keep following him." Lex replied and the phone line went dead. The henchmen continued with his given orders. * * * * ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:13:58 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: Ep 21 -- Doctor Goose (part 3 of 7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Perry's words quickly turned to background garble as Lois thought to herself 'Thanks a lot Perry. Pair Dianne and Clark. Real go-getter. Blond. Pretty. Skinny.' Lois knew that it would be purely professional between she and her husband. Yet, in her self-conscious state-of-mind, Lois couldn't help feeling like she was being replaced by a more attractive, over-eager reporter. The meeting seemed to drag on for hours. Lois didn't look forward to spending part of the afternoon familiarizing Dianne with her files. She didn't like to share that with anybody, except Clark. The previous rescue continued to puzzle Clark throughout the morning meeting. It didn't make any sense. There were no witnesses as to how the baby and the carrier were so quietly taken from its mother and placed in the nearby tree. He was eager to share his viewpoints with Lois on the event. After the meeting, Clark spoke briefly with Dianne on what they would be working on later. As he poured himself another cup of coffee, he saw his wife return to her desk from the restroom. She looked worn out and seemed to sulk as she sat to continue the assault of paper work before her. He walked up behind her chair, and started to rub her shoulders. "Honey, are you sure you don't want to go home early today and rest?" "No Clark, I'd feel much better knowing all of this is behind me before I go on maternity leave." Clark leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Then where would the most beautiful woman in the world like to eat lunch today?" Closing her eyes, she smiled as his large, warm hands caressed her neck. "Ummm, you always come to my rescue just in the nick of time. In more ways than one." "Glad to always be at your beck and call." And he kissed her on the cheek. "In about an hour? I'll have Perry's rewrites finished by then." "Okay, maybe I will have made some headway with all this mess by then too." * * * * As they walked back from the corner deli, Lois remembered to ask about Superman's rescue from earlier that morning. Clark filled her in about the rather odd turn of events. "That was one of the weirdest rescues I've ever had to make. You know how at the Riverwalk Emporium Park there are multi-level walking decks and playgrounds among the trees. A baby in a carrier was somehow placed over the rail, out of the reach of its mother, in the top of a tree. Just as I hovered over the tree to get him, the carrier slid off the branch. That baby would have died if I had arrived just a few seconds later." "Clark! That weird email I got this morning. Do you think there's a connection?" "What email? I guess I really wasn't paying much attention to what you were talking about. Sorry." "Somebody sent me the Rock-a Bye Baby nursery rhyme, as an email. You know . . . Rock-a-Bye Baby, in the treetop. Blah, blah, blah, down will come baby, cradle and all." "I would say that *is* a little more than just coincidental. That doesn't seem like your typical email. Do you know who sent it?" "I'm not sure. In fact, I don't remember seeing an address attached to it. I deleted it, but I don't think I've emptied the trash folder in the last couple of days. Let's go see." * * * * Bradley Goose returned to his laboratory after plotting a scheme for Superman's next rescue. He quickly sat down at his computer to compose another email to Lois Lane. He did not hear the stealthy footsteps of Lex Luthor approaching him from behind. "Hello, Bradley." Bradley jumped nervously at the unexpected visitor, accidentally sending a beaker of fluid crashing to the floor. "Feeling a little jumpy today, Bradley?" "Uh, no, Mr. Luthor. I, uh, I'm fine. I was just trying to locate some information on the internet." He quickly sent the message and closed the message window. "I've been studying your latest theory on the extension of the life expectancy of our cloning experiments. I must say, I'm impressed." "Uh, thank you Mr. Luthor. I think we're close to a breakthrough that will advance your clones beyond all other possibilities. Now, if you don't mind, sir, I need the rest of the day off. I have some personal business I need to attend to." Without waiting for a reply from Luthor, Bradley nervously retrieved his things and exited quickly. Lex waited until Bradley was out of the room and then opened the 'sent mail' file, reading the two nursery rhymes that were sent to Lois Lane. He glanced curiously towards the door, pondering the connection between Bradley's nervous behavior, the emails and Lois. He dialed his cell phone to instruct one of his henchmen to follow Bradley and report back to him the details of his whereabouts. * * * * Lex Luthor's hireling followed Goose to a small daycare located in urban Metropolis. He watched as Goose put on a cap, tuck a clipboard under his arm, and slip a small black box into his jacket pocket. The hireling observing him, started to phone Lex, but he decided would wait to see the outcome of the charade. Bradley Goose walked into the daycare's office. "Excuse me, I'm Rex Smith from the County Health Board. Occasionally, we arrive unannounced to do our quarterly inspections, just to keep everyone on their toes. Shall we begin?" Goose stayed calm as he mentally took notes of the places in which he could hide the device. The director showed him through all of the rooms without any hesitation, because she knew that her daycare was in compliance with all of the city's codes. The last room that he asked to inspect was the kitchen. The director talked to him as she showed him around. "I'm afraid the place is a little cluttered right now, we're preparing lunch, and have to do it in a few shifts in order to feed everyone within an half-hour." She watched Goose as he looked around the room, pretending to inspect breaker boxes, stove connections and the like. The chime of the entrance door signaled an arrival of another visitor. The director excused herself. "Excuse me, I need to see who just arrived." "Go ahead ma'am, I'm almost through." When the director slipped out of the room, Goose took the device from his pocket, set a timer and slipped it into the bottom of the trash can that was next to the stove. Then he exited the daycare, making a quick comment to the director, who was getting ready to show the daycare to a prospective parent. "I'm all finished ma'am, you'll will receive a report from the county within two weeks. Good day." The hireling watched Bradley quickly exit the building, jump into this car and leave before any one noticed anything supicious. He picked up the cell phone and reported his findings to Lex. ******* Returning to the newsroom after lunch, Lois and Clark looked at her mail file. "That's odd. There's nothing in my trash folder. I know I haven't emptied it in days." Suddenly a chime sounded. On the screen, there was a message: 'You have new mail'. Lois clicked on the icon, and they read the new message together, aloud. Ladybug, ladybug fly away home Your house is on fire And your children will burn; All except one And that's little Ann And she has crept under The warming pan "Oh my, Clark this is getting eerie." "No kidding." Clark suddenly looked into the air and reached instinctively for his tie. "What do you hear?" Lois quietly asked. "A dispatch call about a fire at a daycare center." Lois looked at Clark with astonishment of his answer. Was it just coincidence, or a connection? "Lois, promise me you'll stay here. If you get any more messages like this, call for me, okay?" Lois nodded in approval and placed a loving hand on his cheek. Usually when Clark specifically asked her *not* to go anywhere, her first reaction would be to do just the opposite. Today, the call for adventure just wasn't there. She was too hot, too big, and just too tired to do anything *but* stay there. Lois took another break to go to the restroom. When she returned to her desk, she sat down and studied the message that was still on her screen. All she could think about was the jeopardy of those innocent children in a burning building. She hoped that Superman would be able to rescue all of them in time. A fax message fluttered in front of her face, breaking her train of thoughts. "Fax for you, Ms. Lane." Lois let out a long breath. Was it the baby pressing up against her diaphragm, or was she just so lost in thought that she forgot to breathe? She glanced briefly at the unfamiliar face of the man who was holding the fax in his hand. "Oh, uh, thank you." The expression in his eyes unnerved her slightly, but she wasn't sure why. 'He must be new. Kinda creepy,' she thought, and she continued with her work as he walked away. * * * * Once again, Superman flew high above the city, just ahead of the fire engines, listening for cries of help, searching the cities horizon for smoke. The alarm was sounding from the Happy House Daycare where thick black smoke was billowing out of the kitchen window. Teachers and staff were frantically taking a head count of the children, as they gathered them in the playground and the parking lot. Superman flew in, extinguished the fire, inhaled the smoke to quickly clear the building, then exhaling it safely into the atmosphere. A teacher was frantically searching through the groups of children. "Martha Anne?! Where's Martha Anne?! Has anyone seen Martha Anne!!" "Is there someone missing?" Superman asked the anxious teacher. "Martha Anne. She was in line with us on the way out, now I don't see her. Please Superman, you've got to find her!" In one of the classrooms, Superman discovered the crying toddler. Tightly curled up with her blanket in a corner under a box of dress up clothes, she appeared frozen in terror by the alarm and commotion. "Is your name Martha Anne?" Superman asked the little girl who looked up at him through tearful eyes. Coughing and crying, she nodded. "I'm Superman, and I'm going to take you outside to your teacher, okay?" The little girl nodded. Wrapping his cape around her, he gently held her close as they slowly floated outside, where he handed her to her relieved teacher. "Is everyone accounted for? I didn't see anyone else inside." "Yes, oh yes, thank you, Superman; thank you so very much." Superman listened to the Director's conversation with the Fire Chief. "We had just finished lunch, and were preparing for story time when the smoke alarm went off. I went into the kitchen and saw smoke and fire was coming >from a trash can next to the stove. I don't understand it. We don't allow smoking, and I was the last one to clean the kitchen. The towel hanging above it mush have caught on fire. Within minutes, the whole kitchen was engulfed in flames." Superman praised the Director for her quick actions. "I'm glad you responded so quickly, getting the children out to the playground." "You know, thirty minutes later and it would have been nap time. Thank you again, Superman. You got here just in the nick of time." * * * * 'Just in the nick of time, nick of time . . .' "Aaahh, I can't get those words out of my mind!" Superman exclaimed into the atmosphere as he flew back to the Planet. The phrase kept going around and around in his head. What if he wasn't in the nick of time when his own child needed him? What if he's rescuing someone else, somewhere else? As Clark entered the news room, he noticed Jimmy and Perry were standing over Lois' desk. The trio were intently waiting for a new message to appear. Readjusting his tie, he walked over to Lois' desk. "What's up, guys?" Perry looked up, glad to see the second half of his favorite reporting team return. "Clark, there you are. Did you get a chance to talk to Superman about that baby in a tree?" "Yeah, Perry. And I also found out that he just now put out a fire at a daycare. I told him that just moments ago, Lois received another anonymous nursery rhyme email. You know the one that goes Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home, your house is on fire, children all gone." Lois gave him a concerned glance. "Were any children -- did Superman rescue them all?" "They're all fine. He did have to rescue a little girl who was hiding in the corner of the classroom. With all the commotion, she must have run back into the building unnoticed. I told Superman that you had received another email this morning that may be related to the baby rescue from the tree, and that we would check into it for him." "Well, so far we've only received those two. But that's two too many for me." Lois gave up waiting for another message and she started to work on another file. "Maybe it was just a fluke," commented Perry as he retreated back into his office. Clark looked at Lois and Jimmy. "Maybe, but I don't think so. Jimmy, there's no return address on these two messages. How hard is it to trace without them?" "Kind of tricky, CK." "Well, nothing seems to be happening in the land of Fractured Fairy tales right now." Lois grumbled. Spraying her screen and grabbing some tissue, she wiped off the annoying fingerprints that her co-workers had left. She stood and stretched, holding the side of her belly as the baby shifted to the left. "Everything okay, honey?" Clark said to her as he saw her face grimace slightly. "Clark, it's just a little foot attempting to re-align my ribcage. I'm fine. I stretch a lot, and I ache a lot. Don't be so concerned with every little face or sigh I make, okay?" She was tiring and getting a little annoyed at the constant questions from her husband about whether or not she was okay. Jimmy looked away, not surprised by Lois' snappy comment to her husband, and decided to retreat quickly to the darkroom. Lois looked at the look on her husband's face, which was taken aback by her thoughtless comment. "I'm sorry, Clark. I didn't mean to snap. I know you're just concerned at my every move and pain, but *really*, I'm fine. Forgive me?" "Apology accepted." He stepped closer to her desk to give her details on the rescue, as he had a feeling that this story would be making tomorrow's paper. "Lois, both of these rescues have involved innocent children. The baby in the tree and the fire, neither of them had any prior warnings about what was going to happen." "The children didn't, but *we* did!" "It's like someone is trying to set up innocent children as easy targets for Superman's rescues." "Look, Clark, maybe this *would* be a good story for you to write with Dianne." Clark responded to her statement with a quizzical look, at her relinquishment of a story. "Wait, I was just talking to the Planet's top investigative reporter, Lois Lane. I know she was just here. You know her, Mad Dog Lane, who never gives up the scoop on a story, always looking for that next Kerth." "I know, I know. But Dianne has to start somewhere. And assuming this baby comes *sometime* this century, the story can't wait until I return >from maternity leave." "You're sure? It's already two o'clock. Perry's going to have my hide if I don't get those rewrites done by deadline on the black-market fish scandal for tomorrow's edition." "I've already taken care of that for you." Clark slipped behind her and began to massage her shoulders again. "Know what? You're the best, my little tornado." She giggled in agreement. "Mmmm, that feels wonderful." She leaned her head back and teasingly tousled her hair in Clark's face. The sweet smell of the cucumber oil she wore caused Clark to sneak a kiss on her neck. "You know, when we get home tonight, I want to give you a full body massage. You know, to let the baby get to know his daddy's loving touch." "That sounds wonder..." "Hey, hey! Can't you two at least pretend you're working." Perry bellowed, as he came back out of his office. "You think we're going to meet the three o'clock deadline with my writers acting like a pair of Amazon Love Parrots?" "No, Chief." The two said automatically together. A discreet chime from the computer announced the arrival of new mail. "Oh boy, let's see what this one is." said Perry. The trio anxiously awaited as it downloaded. With a sigh of relief, Clark spoke. "It's only an update from Human Resources on the company picnic later on in the month." With a sigh of relief, everyone returned to their desk. Bradley stopped the mail cart and deposited some boxes of office supplies on Lois' desk. By the time she noticed, he was well on his way. "Hey, wait! I didn't order these!" When the man continued on without looking back, Lois muttered under her breath. "Great, something else to have to put away." * * * * ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:13:58 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: Ep 21: Doctor Goose (part 2 of 7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Stretching her feet out on the coffee table, Lois placed the remote on her belly. It lay still at first, then gradually teetered back and forth like a seesaw. Smiling, Lois marveled at the sight of her stomach change shape as the baby moved within her. Little bulges from elbows, feet, and bottom would appear in one spot and roll across her stomach to the other side. 'Getting ready for the Macarena huh, little one? Once you're born, you'll have all the room you need for dancing.' Suddenly there was a kick that sent the remote sailing to the floor. It landed face down and switched the channel to a movie. Lois' eyes grew wide as she became absorbed in what was on the screen. She watched the television intently as the expectant mother writhed in agony at the pain within her abdomen. Sweat poured from every ounce of her body. The people around her were of no comfort, no drugs could ease her anguish. Suddenly, her flesh ripped and a horrible monster, thrashing and biting, rose from within her, attacking everyone in the room, except for its host. The woman looked in horror at the beast that she had just given birth to. A blood curdling scream pierced the calm night air. A hefty kick from Lois' baby surprised her right at the climatic point, and she gave a startled scream that rivaled the actress in the movie. Without slowing down to open the window, Superman flew into their townhouse, glass shattering to the floor. "My God, Lois, what's wrong?! Are you okay?! Is it time?!" Lois was still transfixed on the screen and didn't immediately reply. "Lois?!!" Clark was answered by the television's announcers annoying voice. "We will return to 'My Mother Gave Birth to An Alien's Hell Spawn' right after these messages from our fine sponsors.' "What!?" Clark looked at the TV to see that the horror he heard was only >from the movie. His temper flared from being taken away from a real emergency by this false alarm, and he zapped the power off to the TV. "Lois, you know, you scare me to death sometimes. I didn't know what was wrong. I'm already dealing with a hot tempered gang situation in Hobb's Bay, I don't need false alarms like this!" He calmed his voice down as he saw the reaction on Lois' face of 'you're giving me that look'. "Don't watch shows like that if it's going to scare you, okay?" "Oh don't get your cape all in a flutter. The baby just kicked hard at the same time she gave birth to that-that-*thing*. Clark, what if. . .?" Clark immediately interrupted her as it was way past the babbling hour. "*Don't* even begin to go there, Lois." "But . . . I mean we don't know what can go wrong. We are definitely charting unknown waters in the realm of inter-species reproduction." "Lo-is, we've seen an ultrasound, and we've heard only one heartbeat. One very normal heartbeat. You told me Dr. McGrath said today, that the head is in position and you've dilated 2 centimeters. It won't be long now. Remember, Dr. Klein says so far it's as normal a pregnancy as can be expected." "Considering I'm giving birth to an alien's baby," she muttered. She looked at him and smiled, trying to get on his better side. "Probably the most sexy alien there is." It didn't work. Clark was still not amused. "Will you be okay now if I go? I've got to check back in the Bay area, then take a quick patrol around the city. Go back upstairs and just try to get some sleep please? I'll try not to be long." "Okay, I'm sorry to have worried you. Be careful; love ya." Clark kissed her goodnight and flew out into the muggy night air once again. Grabbing the broom she swept the broken glass into a pile in the corner. "And he tells me that I'm the emotional one, please." * * * * Mary Goose placed a hot breakfast in front of her husband as he read the morning paper. "How's work going, dear?" she asked, trying to make light, small talk, taking the focus away from the previous emotional night. Bradley, engrossed in his article, answered her with an intelligible grunt. "Must be an interesting article. What are you reading?" she said, trying to get his attention. "This goody-goody Superman piece that Lois Lane wrote, it talks about his latest involvement in the world peace talks." He suddenly ripped the article out, wadded it into a ball and threw it on the kitchen floor. "I hate him!! He's such a damn hypocrite." "Bradley, I think this obsession with Superman is getting out of hand. Remember your blood pressure rises when you get emotional." "Whose side are you on anyway?" His voice rose in anger at his wife's comment, thinking she was defending Superman's values. "Don't you care that he obviously values certain people over others? Doesn't it bother you what he did to our daughter?" "Of course, I'm on your side." Mary knew in her heart it was an accident and while she would had given anything if Superman could have saved their daughter, she knew that it was not his fault. Her husband however thought differently and she didn't want to push him anymore, with his unstable state of mind. "But remember Bradley, I lost Meredith too." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Please! The best thing you can do now, is to put this thing to rest and just forget about this obsession of getting revenge on Superman so when can get on with our lives." He jerked his shoulder away from her touch. "There is no life without Meredith. I *never* will forget, or forgive him," and he stormed out of the house and over to his laboratory at LexCorp. * * * * The morning sun shined brightly into the bedroom of the townhouse on Hyperion Ave. Lois opened her eyes to see that the covers on Clark's side of the bed were barely disturbed. She was hoping that he wasn't still mad at her for last night's little incident. "Clark? Are you home?" She didn't get a reply. Still sleepy, she quietly shrugged his absence off and ambled her way into the bathroom to prepare for her last day at work. As she was toweling off after her shower, she heard the familiar swoosh of Clark's arrival. Whistling a merry tune as he entered the bathroom, he picked up an extra towel to help dry her back and her legs and kissed her good morning. Lois was quite taken aback with his good mood, considering he was gone most of the night. "Hmm, Superman seems quite cheery this morning. A big change from the Superman that I had a conversation with last night." She quit teasing and looked turned to look into his eyes. "Really, Clark, I'm sorry if I made you mad." "Mad? Oh last night. Don't worry about it. I was just juggling a lot of emergencies and over-reacted. I'm sorry too." "Were you gone all night? Did you get any sleep?" Lois looked at his suit that was covered in mud and soot. "You're a mess!" "It was really busy last night. After the incident at the bay, there was a robbery, a homeless person that was being harassed, a house fire, and train derailment in California. I may have snuck in an hour or so of sleep sometime between three or four a.m." "And you're this happy first thing in the morning?" "Yeah! It's, you know, rejuvenating, to have a good night rescuing people." He stripped his suit off and tossed it in the hamper, then stepped into the shower. Lois continued drying her hair. "What's the weather like outside this morning?" "Pretty muggy already. You'll probably be hot today; you should wear shorts." "Clark, I've been hot since April with our little built-in furnace." She gently toweled the moisture off of her stomach. "Think Perry would mind if I wore shorts?" "Let's see, you've worn a chicken suit, a biker's outfit, a waitress's outfit. Cat wore a bikini during the heat wave. No, I don't think Perry will mind if you wear shorts. It is Friday after all. They're trying out that new casual Friday dress policy. You won't be going on any calls anyway." She stopped towel drying her hair and pulled back the shower curtain to reply. "I'm not going to be doing what?" Clark stepped from the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He looked at his wife who was giving him an annoyed look. "Lois, promise me you'll stay at the office today, and just enjoy your last day. No investigations. No criminals. No getting in trouble. Okay? Promise?" "Clark, all I will be doing today is organizing my desk and files for whoever is going to cover for me while I'm on maternity leave. Boring stuff like that." Lois threw Clark another coy smile. "Besides, what trouble could I possibly get into at the office?" Clark embraced his wife from behind, admiring her beauty in the mirror. "Lois, honey, I know I always seem to be nagging you about staying out of trouble. It just always seems to have a way of finding you, even at the office. We are so close to having this baby. With every rescue that takes me away from your side, I can't help but feel a little insecure if I don't know where you are. And when you give me that smile, it makes me very nervous about what you may be scheming." * * * * Arriving at the office together in their routine fashion, Clark whipped up a quick little baby-safe, craving-satisfying concoction of mocha decaf, coffee, extra creme, and sugar for his lovely partner. Lois walked to her desk, looked at the all of the stacks of paper and mess that covered her entire desk. Ever since she had cut back on her hours, the paperwork that would have normally been filed or tossed at the end of the day, was instead piling higher and higher, until her desktop was completely covered. Letting out a sigh as she sat down, she prepared to tackle her worst enemy: organization. Planning for her temporary replacement would be more of a challenge than any criminal she had ever encountered. As Perry walked by Lois' desk, he stopped and placed a fatherly hand on her shoulder. "How are you doing this morning, Lois?" "Fine, Perry. I'm just trying to decide where to start." Perry gave her a couple of pats on the shoulder, chuckled and continued on his way. Clark returned to her desk, handing her the coffee. "Here honey, just the way you like it." "Oh, thanks, Clark." she paused for a moment. Just looking at the steam rising from the cup made her forehead break into a sweat and she suddenly had second thoughts about drinking it. "You know, it seems awfully hot in here. I know it's probably just me, but now I'm really not in the mood for a hot coffee this morning after all. I'm sorry, Clark." As she started to dispose of it in her desk plant, Clark immediately took pity on the plant and quickly retrieved it from her. Looking around to see if anyone was paying attention, he quickly used his freezing breath, stirred it quickly and handed it back to her, grinning like the Cheshire Cat at his handy super feat. "No problem. There, Iced Mocha Cappuccino Milkshake." "See why you're so handy to have around." Lois teased. Looking at the piles of notes, drafts of stories, and files waiting to be organized, she sighed. "You just don't know how I hate to do this stuff. *I* know where everything is. Why do I have to organize it for someone *else*?" Clark smiled at her as she continued her complaining. "If I throw it all over the floor will you super organize it like you did before?" She thought back to when Superman came to her apartment when she was on suspension. He had taken pity on her disheveled living room and picked up, alphabetically refiling all of her source and contact file cards in about two super seconds. Clark leaned down to whisper, "Too many people around. Besides, then what would you do for the next eight hours. Looks like you'll have to tackle this one yourself." Lois half smiled at him, "Hmmmph, " and proceeded to connect to the internet as Clark returned to his desk. Downloading her email, she recognized the usual promotional updates, news from the International News Association, LNN reports. She scanned through them briefly, something she generally considered a waste of time. She clicked on the next one that did not have a description or an address of the sender. "What's this?" she thought as a message downloaded on her screen. She continued to read to herself the familiar nursery rhyme. Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop, When the wind blows, the cradle will rock, When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, Down will come baby, cradle and all. "Now why would somebody send me an email like this?" she spoke aloud. Without looking up from his notes, Clark answered. "Talking to yourself again, honey?" "Only to those who eavesdrop with super ears." she whispered as she read the rhyme again, trying to figure out who sent it. She turned to face him and spoke a little louder. "No, I received this email. It's a nursery rhyme." "That's nice," Clark automatically replied as he typed away on what Lois would call a fluff piece of news, obviously not paying full attention to his wife. Lois continued her conversation with herself. 'Wow, I never noticed before how twisted these lyrics are. Why would someone put a baby in a tree, and have it come crashing down? Stupid thing, probably some spam, or some teaser campaign for a new baby safety product.' She hit the delete key. Lois attempted to refocus on her organizational task, but the familiar nursery rhyme lyrics kept pushing its way back into her subconscious. Her thoughts then turned to Clark and his findings in the fish scandal case. "Hey, Clark, did you get a chance to talk to Zymack yesterday?" No answer. "Clark?" Lois looked over to Clark and immediately knew by the faraway look on his face, that the answer would have to wait a little longer. "I have to go. I'm sorry, what did you say a few minutes ago? I wasn't listening." "Never mind. What do you hear?" "A young mother screaming for help, something about her baby." He paused for a moment. "The staff meeting . . ." "Go! I'll think of some excuse if you're not back in twenty minutes. Be careful." "Who's going to cover for me while you're gone?" He smiled and exited quickly down the corridor. Lois heard the familiar swoosh about the same time Perry came out of his office and saw Clark's empty chair. "Lois, where the Sam Hill did Clark go?" "Uh, he went over to the editorial department. Someone needed his help with an article on political viewpoints in Borneo." "Tell him when he gets back I want to see him pronto. I've got changes on his story. And a staff meeting in twenty." "Oh, I'll take them, Chief. I can start working on them until he gets back." She thought to herself, 'Boy, some day I'm just going to run flat out of excuses.' * * * * Superhearing quickly pinpointed a frantic cry for help from the Riverwalk Emporium Park. It was an outdoor area, with multi-level playgrounds, shops and eating establishments. Superman landed to find the hysterical mother pointing over the rail to the top of the adjacent tree. Precariously perched on the end of a large branch out of her reach, a small baby in an infant carrier cried hysterically for his mother. "Don't worry ma'am, I'll get him safely back to you." Superman floated over the rail to reach the small infant. Just as he reached down for the handle, the carrier suddenly slipped off of the branch, and the baby tumbled toward the ground below. Superman quickly caught the baby and returned him to his mother on the above deck. She quickly removed him from the carrier to comfort him. "Ma'am, how did your baby get out on that tree limb?" "I don't know. I put the carrier down on the deck while I retied my daughter's shoelace. I watched her run to the playground, then combined some of my packages into one shopping bag. When I turned back around my baby was gone. I thought someone had kidnapped him, and when I looked over the rail to see if I could see anyone in the crowd below, I saw him in the top of the tree. I don't understand what happened, I only took my eyes off of him for a second." "Unfortunately, sometimes a second is all it takes for a child to be kidnapped." Superman stayed with the shaken mother and children for a moment, trying to calm their fears. "I believe you and your children are safe now. Why don't you take them home. I'll take a look around and see if I can find an explanation of what happened." Superman spoke to a few shoppers and people dining in the surrounding area. No one had noticed anything unusual. A man stood in front of a store window, posing as a casual shopper. He watched Superman from a safe distance talk to people and look for clues. He smiled as he observed, then continued on his way. * * * * In his flight back to work, the hysterical look on the young mother's face and the sound of the baby crying, kept going around and around in Superman's mind. The recurring worries began to surface, even though he had discussed his feelings with Lois many times. As her due date approached, his anxiety grew, heightened with every rescue he performed. He quickly flew back to the Daily Planet, just in time to grab a cup of coffee and make it into the conference room where the staff meeting was about to begin. "Everything OK?" Lois asked as he took a seat next to her. "Yeah, just a very odd accident. I'll tell you about it later." He proceeded to take notes as Perry started to lead the meeting. Lois tried to find the most comfortable position in the hard wooden conference chairs. Clark wished that he could suspend her in air, if it would help relieve some of her discomfort. Ralph was sitting on the opposite side of the table from her with an annoyed look on his face "Gosh Lois, can't you be still? With the way you're squirming, you'd think you were about ready to pop out that baby." All eyes glared upon Ralph after the callous statement. Clark stood up and gave Ralph a look that shut him up immediately. Ralph ducked his head to one side as Lois threw her pencil at him. Perry bellowed. "Hey, hey. This isn't some sideshow at the state fair. Ralph, I'll see you in my office after the meeting. Now, Dianne, I'm going to pair you with Clark while Lois is on maternity leave. You can learn a lot from him in your transition from features to investigative reporting. Get with Lois for part of the day, familiarize yourself with existing stories, and assignments. Then do the same with Clark. Now John, how's that investigation . . ." ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:13:56 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Leanne Shawler Subject: S5: Ep 21 - Doctor Goose (part 1 of 7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Doctor Goose A Season 5 episode of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" Written by Double L With lots of help from Adrienne, Kathy, Laurie, Pam and Leanne! A pretty young brunette glanced his way and impatiently tapped on the edge of the wooden door frame with her pencil. He would truly miss her. At times she made him feel as if his heart would burst with pride. He wept at her sorrow, felt anxious when she would return later than scheduled. She had been known to make his blood boil with her stubbornness and lack of discretion. He had watched her grow in character and skill. Never afraid of involving herself 200 percent, always before weighing the consequences. Now she was embarking on a new chapter, that would require gentleness, love. . . The pencil tapping grew louder and louder . . . . . .and most of all . . . Patience. *"Perry!"* Perry threw his pencil down at the interruption and yanked his reading glasses off. Looking up, he met the impatient gaze of his number one investigative reporter. "Judas Priest, Lois! Can't you see I'm trying to edit this story? I tell you sometimes Ralph's writing makes as much sense as a hound dog chasing his own tail. If he weren't so good at digging up dirt on the politicians around here, I'd . . ." *"Perry!!!"* She said as she snapped the pencil. She was sick and tired of everything today. Of being nine months pregnant in the sweltering August heat, of working on stories she found unworthy, of being ignored by her editor. Laying his glasses down gently, he folded his hands on his desk, outwardly portraying a calm he didn't feel. "Yes Lois, can I help you?" "Here." She tossed some print outs on his desk and placing her hands across her stomach, giving Perry a rather forlorn look. "I've finished the Cooking School rewrites. Boy, will it be interesting to see how those recipes turn out!" she said with a sarcastic twist. "Listen, I'm going to call it a day. I have a doctor's appointment in a couple of hours. I know I'm supposed to go home and take a nap, but there's a new baby boutique that just opened down the street, and I want to go check out first." "How are you and Clark coming with that follow-up story on the fish market scandal?" "Pretty fishy," she smirked. "I think he's out with Sergeant Zymack now, making his final notes. I've got to get up and walk some. This baby's been pressing on my lower back since the staff meeting this morning. See ya later, okay?" "Okay sweetie, you take it easy. Tomorrow we'll tie up the loose ends." "Thanks Perry. I'll probably try and work a full day tomorrow." "Now Lois, you follow doctor's orders and rest like you're supposed to." "I'll be *fine*, I promise. I'm just going to be at my desk all day anyhow. See you tomorrow." 'I've never seen a woman so stubborn in all my life.' Perry thought, as he watched her walk slowly toward the elevator. 'I pity the doctors and nurses in that delivery room when that baby comes. They'll be in for the ride of their lives. So will her poor husband.' * * * * Walking about half a block from the Daily Planet, Lois stopped in the new baby boutique. Browsing through the store she noticed the introduction of the new fall line of maternity fashions. 'Thank goodness I won't be needing fall maternity clothes, unless a Kryptonian pregnancy is a year long.' Venturing into the other half of the store she pondered over some last minute items for the nursery. 'Oh no, not this store too!' In front her were folded layette blankets, royal blue in color, with little Superman logos printed in a diagonal pattern. It seemed like every baby store that she had shopped in so far had pushed Superman bumper pads, Superman plush toys, even Superman baby blankets with the "S" shield. A sign above the display read, "For the little Superman in your life." "Oh brother. This is just *so* ridiculous," she muttered under her breath as she zig-zagged her way through the petite baby items. She made a mental note for Clark to ask Murray to make sure that these royalties were going to the Superman Foundation. "May I help you find something?" a voice from behind the counter broke her train of thought. "No thanks, just browsing." As Lois turned around the saleslady eyed her large profile. "My my, it looks like *we* don't have much more time for looking." "No, *we* don't. Actually, it could be any time." "Boy? Girl? . . . Twins?" Lois threw her an annoying look. "Look . . ." then caught herself before she said something really nasty. She replied calmly, "No, just one. We don't know what it will be yet." "Oh, I see." The saleslady attempted to regain Lois' confidence. "May I show you the latest in crib ensembles?" As trying as it was for her to maintain her politeness at this lady's nosy remarks, Lois managed to return a forced smile. "Well I really have all that part taken care . . ." Not listening to Lois' response, the saleslady continued her pitch. "Here is one thing that's very popular is . . ." 'Let me guess, Superman,' Lois thought to herself. "The Superman theme ensembles." "I can tell; it seems to be *everywhere*," Lois replied, acting mildly interested. "It's been very popular with today's new moms, especially ones expecting little boys. Superman is such a wonderful role model. After all, with the excitement of Superman possibly looking for a mate, it creates a very promising marketing opportunity." She nudged Lois' arm, and added slyly, "If you know what I mean!" "Yes, it sure is." Lois gave a fake, half-hearted laugh and then rolled her eyes as the lady turned to put something away. She had wished that part of Superman's life had not become such public knowledge. "Well, I mean, isn't that what every women secretly wishes for?" The saleslady suddenly spotted Lois' Daily Planet employee card hanging from her key chain. "Aren't you Lois Lane, of the Daily Planet? Well, then *you* of all people should be interested in a Superman theme nursery. After all aren't you and Superman verrry close?" The saleslady leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. "I read one of those copies of the National Inquisitor!" She gave Lois a wink. "Tell me, are his kisses heavenly?" "I beg your pardon?! How dare you!" Leaving the store in a huff, Lois heard the saleslady call after her, "I'm sorry Ms. Lane, I wasn't really implying anything; I remember reading it was a hoax . . ." Lois bolted out of the store straight into the path of businessmen walking on the sidewalk. The look on her face made them part like the Red Sea to let her through. As she walked, a million thoughts quickly built a paranoia mountain in her mind. 'What if everyone knows? . . . that's the third person to try to sell me Superman baby stuff. . . everyone snickering and commenting on how fat I am . . . making jokes about Superman having babies . . . oh God, what if someone finds out?' Stopping to regain her composure, she reached for a tissue from her purse. The Fudge Castle sign in front of her beckoned as a cure for her rampant emotions. Marching right in, she placed her order. "I'll take a triple cone of Chunky Monkey Chocolate Chip, packed tightly, smaller scoop on the top so it doesn't fall, in a waffle cone, please." A young, freckled faced boy behind the counter handed her the cone and accepted her ten dollar bill. He returned her change on the counter, as he grew tired of waiting for her to juggle her purse and wallet. Eyeing her large stomach he turned to a co-worker and whispered, "Yeah, she needs another 20 pounds, doesn't she." The young kids quietly snickered. "Excuse me, were you talking to me?" she shot back. The boy's face grew red with embarrassment as he shook his head. Lois snatched the cone away, giving him the look of death and left the ice cream shop, waddling her way back towards her Jeep that was parked near the Planet. Rounding the last corner of the block, she walked past a mirrored office front and noticed her protruding profile. 'Oh my God, I'm a hippo. And here I am cramming ice cream down my throat. I'll never be thin again, Clark will never find me attractive . . .' Her mind babbled on as the tears began streaming down her face. Though deep down she knew that pregnancy was a beautiful thing, after the ninth month of carrying what seemed to be a huge baby, she felt enormous. She was so tired of wearing maternity clothes and waddling like a penguin. She couldn't bend over to tie her shoes or roll over in bed at night without Clark's assistance. The melting ice-cream cone suddenly lost its appeal and she tossed it into a nearby trash can. Suddenly she felt a pair of strong loving arms embrace her shoulders as she realized once again she was not paying attention to where she was going. She gasped at the impact. "Honey, what's wrong?" he said, sympathetically. Clark was the last person she wanted to be see right now. "Oh Clark." The tears flowed down her cheeks more freely. "I'm as big as a house. . ." She sobbed into his shoulder. "I'm so fat, and you'll never think I'm pretty, ever again." She felt his thumb caress her tear stained cheek and brush her long hair behind her ear. "Lois, look at me." he said quietly, lovingly. She looked up into his mocha brown eyes. "You know you're tired and overworked. You're letting your imagination run away with you . . . and you *are* the sexiest mother-to-be that I have ever seen in my entire life." "You're just saying that." she argued half-heartedly, clearly wanting to be convinced. "That's right, I am . . ." he wrapped her into a big hug . . . "because it's the truth." He bent down and whispered in her ear. "And Superman *always* tells the truth." Looking at her beautiful face, he watched her quivering lower lip transform into that special crooked little smile that she reserved just for him. Her mood suddenly grew serious again. "But Clark, everyone is looking at me so nasty, even other women. And Superman baby stuff . . . it's everywhere. Have you talked to Murray about the royalties going to the Superman Foundation?" Stopping again for a moment, a tone of panic crept into her voice. "Clark, what if everyone knows . . . why else would everybody be so insistent on me buying Superman baby things . . . they're talking about that awful tabloid story . . . they're thinking just because I know Superman, that I should be fantasizing about having his baby. . ." Clark put a finger to her lips in attempt to slow down her building anxiety. "Well, you are, aren't you?" he said with a sly smile. She lightly smacked his chest. "Oh Clark, look at the time. It's almost four o'clock. Are you coming to the doctor with me? They're just doing the usual exam, like they've been doing every week this month. You know, listen to the heartbeat, measure my stomach. Maybe this time I'll show some signs of actually *having* this baby. If they tell me to come back next week again, I'm going to scream!" "I'll meet you there, okay? I need to get this story to Perry first." He lowered his head to meet her lips, kissing away the telltale ice cream. "Mmmn, Chunky Monkey . . . delicious!" Walking with her until her spirits were improved, he accompanied her to her Jeep. Watching her drive away, he thought to himself, 'I can hardly wait to see what post partum depression will be like. Heaven help me and the rest of the world.' He shook his head and walked back into the Planet. * * * * In a home on the upper east side of Metropolis, an irritated man replayed a video tape over and over again. It was a previous newscast of a story about Superman's rescues during last winter's snow storm. Marta Fisher from LNN, and a then slightly-showing, Lois Lane from the Daily Planet, were on location at Metropolis General Hospital, interviewing some of the people that Superman had rescued. One footage showed Superman reading a nursery rhyme book to the Mayor's daughter, who he had rescued the previous day, from a fall through a frozen pond. Bradley Goose looked at the TV screen, his eyes filled with anger and a desire for revenge. "Of course he rescues the *Mayor's* child! I guess he picks and chooses who he rescues according to who he wants to stay in good rapport with. And *where* was Superman when our Meredith was killed? In bed, with that reporter, Lois Lane! Well I'm going to show Lois Lane and Superman how much it hurts to lose a child. I'll show them!" He picked up a magazine >from the nearby table and threw it at the image of Superman on the TV screen. *"Why didn't you save her, why, why?"* Mary Goose walked into the room. Glancing at the all too familiar tape, she placed a consoling hand on her husband's shoulder. "Bradley, you've been watching that tape and ranting and raving about this for months; it won't bring her back to us. Please, just let her loving memory rest in peace." "He'll pay for not rescuing our daughter . . . when he was too busy having that affair with Lois Lane." "We don't know for a fact where Superman was at the time. He could have been on the other side of the world! Besides Bradley, that affair was a proven hoax." "That's the story that she and *Superman* conjured up, and that Clark Kent's just dumb enough to believe. Since you can't trust the tabloid rags either way, I prefer to assume that they're guilty. Lois Lane is pregnant. Whether that baby is Superman's or her husband's, I'm going make Superman suffer for not rescuing our child!" "What are you going to do?" his wife asked anxiously. She had been worried about his deteriorating behavior since their daughter's death. As Bradley continued to stare at the television, Superman's concerned and loving image toward the Mayor's daughter fanned a smoldering ember of hate and vengeance within his soul. He stood and replied coldly to his wife. "Don't worry; nothing that involves you," and he left the room. Dr. Bradley Goose was a former prominent Metropolis obstetrician, known for developing some promising theories on fertilization techniques. Ironically however, he and his wife Mary, soon found out that they too, had fertility problems of their own. Despite all his knowledge, efforts and research, he failed to find a solution that allowed them to conceive. His frustration led him first to desperation, then to derangement, as he became insanely jealous of his own patients who reveled in the excitement of first time parenthood. Soon there was an unexplained increase in miscarriages with his patients. He was asked by his partners to leave the practice and his fellow researchers began withdrawing monetary support for his research. Malpractice and murder charges were soon brought against him. Perry White did an expose about the case when he was brought to trial. Former patients and associates testified against Goose and it looked like there would be an indictment. Suddenly, the DA's changed their mind and the charges were dropped, supposedly due to lack of evidence. Dr. Bradley Goose and his wife Mary disappeared from the public limelight. Never revealed was the fact that it was Lex Luthor who paid to have Bradley's name cleared. Dr. Goose was then hired by Lex to privately continue his research as part of his future cloning project. With the monetary backing of LexCorp, experiments were once again successful. Mary Goose became pregnant. A daughter Meredith was born. * * * * The waiting room at Dr. McGrath's practice was packed with expectant mothers and it was estimated to be at least a two hour wait. Clark had not shown, but Lois didn't really mind this time since the outcome would probably be the same as last week. 'Two hour wait for a five second exam followed by the same statement that I've heard for the last three visits. 'You're doing great Lois, gained another couple of pounds. See you back next week.' Next week, next month, next century! Who knows just how long this half-human, half-Kryptonian pregnancy takes. Probably eleven months like an elephant.' she thought to herself as she started to read an article in the latest copy of Baby Talk. "Lois Lane," the receptionist called. "Next, please." 'Darn it, always when I just find a good article'. She folded the complimentary copy of the baby magazine and tucked it away in her bag. The exam was routine as Lois had expected, except today they did an internal exam to see if she had begun to dilate. It was rather uncomfortable because of the pressure of the baby, but Lois figured it was just nature's little way of preparing her for the major pain of childbirth yet to come. After the exam, Lois joined Dr. McGrath in her office. "Well Lois, it looks like baby's getting in position and you've begun to dilate. About two centimeters now." "That's great! Does that mean that I won't have to come back for next week's scheduled appointment?" she replied with a hopeful grin. "Well, that all depends. Some women walk around for days dilated halfway, some dilate to a full ten in a matter of hours. We've estimated your due date to be sometime midweek or first part of next week. Remember, that's just an estimate. We won't induce labor unless there is a problem with you or the baby. You're still taking midday, two hour rests aren't you? How much longer do you intend to work?" "Yes, I'm trying very hard to make myself rest more. Tomorrow *is* supposed to be my last day. I'm really trying to work as long as possible. If I stay home all day, I'll go absolutely nuts!" "Now Lois, I know that you're not one who prefers to sit and watch the world pass you by, but this is a baby you're having. Enjoy it. Enjoy the quiet moments before the baby comes. And rest. Once your little one is here, you'll wonder where all that quiet time went. Call me if your water breaks, or if you start feeling real contractions five minutes apart. And of course, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call. You're a first time mother. No questions are too stupid or dumb. You can still go about your normal routine, but don't push it." 'Normal routine,' thought Lois. 'Hah, if she only knew.' * * * * Clark was out on his late night patrol. Unable to sleep, Lois went downstairs, and settled in front of the TV with some popcorn and bottled water. Channel surfing was futile. Shopping channel. Baseball. Gabby on Howard Stern, blah, blah, blah. 'Yuk.' ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:43:47 -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: Only Angels Have Wings (part 1 of 4) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is a cross-over with a 1983 (also ABC-cancelled, grrr) show called "Tales of the Gold Monkey. For a reminder of the show, visit www.goldmonkey.com I hope you enjoy this ... comments welcome! Leanne Only Angels Have Wings There comes a time in every person's life when you have to take stock of what is real and what isn't. It was yet another hot day in Boragora when my friends at the Monkey Bar and I had to do just that. Somewhere over the Pacific, December 1997. The small plane's engines hummed smoothly as Clark Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet, looked out of the tiny window and down, way way down, at the ocean below. Nervously, he chewed his lip. "You OK, Clark?" Lois Lane, Daily Planet reporter and wife of Clark Kent, laid her petite hand gently on his arm. "You're awfully tense." Clark turned back from the window and gave her a shaky smile. Usually, just looking at her fine-boned features, her full lips and short, soft brunette hair was enough to soothe him, or indeed, arouse him. "I'm not used to letting someone else do the flying." He raked a hand through his black hair and then unnecessarily adjusted his glasses. "For our next vacation, I'll let you do the flying, OK?" Lois' brown eyes mirrored her concern. Aside from the pilot up front, they were alone on the plane. Otherwise Lois would not have dared to speak so openly about Clark's secret identity. "Deal," Clark agreed hastily. "I'm sorry, honey. I know you wanted us to go on vacation just like a normal couple, but this plane is so small ..." Lois snuggled up closer to him, although in the proximity of that tiny plane, that wasn't too difficult to do at all. "What can go wrong?" Clark raised his eyebrows at her. She rolled her eyes. "If this plane decides to fall out of the sky, you can save us, right?" "Without the pilot knowing?" Clark shrugged. "It would be difficult." They hit turbulence and he grabbed Lois' arm. Lois winced. Clark let her go. "I'm sorry, I'm over-reacting, aren't I." Lois kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him. "It's OK, just try to relax and enjoy it." The pilot turned around and looked back into the passenger area. It wasn't helping Clark to see into the cockpit and watch all the dials and lights move and flash for no coherent reason. "Fasten your seatbelts," said the pilot. "It looks like we're heading into a storm. I'm going to see if I can fly above it. It's gonna get bumpy!" He grinned. Clark thought the pilot shouldn't look so excited. The Kents fastened their seatbelts. Almost immediately they felt the plane begin a steep and rocky ascent. Clark clung to the armrests of his seat, very consciously trying not to let fear get the better of him. Otherwise he'd lose control of his powers and break *off* the armrests. Before long they were *in* the storm clouds. Outside the windows there was nothing but roiling greyness and rain washing over the window panes. Even Lois began to look green as the plane bumped and jolted through the storm. "Don't worry!" hollered the pilot over the deafening noise of rain against metal and thunder, not daring now to turn around to speak to them. "These storms don't last very long! We'll go up and get out of this in no time!" As if the gods had heard, the port engine sputtered and died. They saw the pilot working furiously to get the engine started again. Lois and Clark looked at each other, their faces pale. "Life jackets are under the seats!" This time the pilot turned to make sure they were hearing him. "If we go down into the drink, you'll need them!" "This is not sounding good," Lois muttered. "It'll be all right," Clark murmured, calm now that he was actually facing his fear. The starboard engine suffered the same fate. Lois clung to him and buried her head against his shoulder. "Let's get those life jackets on." He gently pried her grasp free and retrieved the life jackets from under his seat. Lightning flashed. Lois uttered a little scream of fright. "Clark! Do something!" Clark unstrapped his seatbelt. "Maybe I can lift the plane from the inside, get it out of the storm--" He stood. "And make it look like a normal landing!" He stood and pressed his hands against the plane's low ceiling, straining with all his considerable might. He paused. "Well, don't just stand there!" Lois prompted from the relative safety of her seat. Clark's face held a look of dawning horror. "I can't!" ***** Boragora, December 1938 A thin auburn-haired woman, her slender curves cloaked in fine, pale blue silk, left the lights and raucous noise of the Monkey Bar for the comparative silence of the verandah. The rain drummed down, turning the ground beyond into a wash of mud. "Sarah!" called out a voice behind her. She turned to see Jake Cutter come through the swinging doors. Despite having been invalided out of the Tigers, Jake appeared fit, not even walking with a limp. A sandy fringe of his hair poked out from beneath his jaunty flying cap, the leather brim almost hiding his blue eyes. "I thought you might like some company," Jake offered, nervously tugging at his pilot's cap, a shyly confident smile deepening his dimples. Sarah smiled. "I'm going to bed, Jake," she informed him, her voice low. Jake smiled back at her, a disarming grin, his boyish dimples deepening. "Allow me to escort you to your room, Miss Stickney White." Sarah took his proffered arm. "Why thank you, Mr. Cutter." They walked down the length of the verandah, looking out at the tropical downpour. Jake allowed Sarah to lead the way up the staircase to the second floor of the Monkey Bar hotel. "Wait a moment, Sarah." Sarah halted halfway up the stairs and turned to look down at him. "This, uhh, silk ..." Jake lifted the hem of her long dress. "It'll spot in the rain if you're not careful." Sarah looked amused. "I'll be careful," she promised him. "How did you know that about silk?" "My mo- ... uhhh ... the parachutes ... uhhh ..." Jake dropped her skirt hem. "Never mind. Let's get you out of this weather." At the top of the stairs, Sarah drifted over to the balcony's edge and leaned upon it. Jake followed closely behind. "It's so wild out there," Sarah said, a note of wonder in her voice. "It's like the elements of nature taking over, reminding us who we are: mere mortals." She turned to look at Jake, who was staring at her rather than the storm. "Rather beautiful isn't it?" Jake nodded. "I sure wouldn't want to be flying in it." Sarah rested her hand on his arm briefly. "I'm glad you're not," she said. Jake smiled at her in a way that made her heart pound. Reluctantly, she turned away and walked over to her door. "Sarah?" She turned, her hand resting on the doorknob. "Yes, Jake?" she asked softly. She found herself looking up at him as he leaned in close. "May I kiss you goodnight, Miss Stickney White?" he murmured. Sarah's eyes widened in surprise. In the past, their kisses had been spur-of-the-moment-"thank god you're alive" kisses. She nodded, her eyes fluttering closed. Jake's lips grazed past her cheek and landed at the base of her neck. Sarah shivered at his intimate touch. He kissed her again, a little higher on the neck. Sarah gasped. "Jake!" Jake backed off immediately, registering her surprise as disapproval. "Good night, Sarah," he said and walked off. Sarah frowned, confused. "Jake?" she called after him but he'd turned a corner and had gone. "Darn," she muttered to herself, her fingers lightly resting where he had kissed her. ***** Somewhere in the jungle, in a downed plane ... Lois slowly came to, wincing as various aches and pains made themselves known to her. Without moving too much, she carefully checked herself for broken bones, wiggling a toe there, flexing a muscle here. "Clark?" she croaked before coughing. 'Good!' she thought, 'No ribs broken at least.' "I'm here," came Clark's reply. She opened her eyes, seeing at first green leaves and branches mashed against the window opposite her. Clark had been thrown to the other side of the plane and was lying awkwardly. Lois undid her seatbelt and stumbled over to him. "You're hurt?" "Bruised, but fine. Our pilot did an excellent job of landing, considering." Clark rolled onto his knees, wincing. "I'm going to check on him." Crouching, he moved forward through the demolished plane to the cockpit. The pilot's head hung forward. Unsuccessfully, Clark tried to find his pulse. Clark covered his own face with his hand momentarily and then looked around. Maybe the radio still worked. Smashed. Like the rest of the cockpit. He left the cockpit. "Lois, he didn't make it." Lois' face crumpled, but she didn't cry. "Let's try and get out of here." "What about the radio?" "Smashed. We'll have to see if there's help on the island." "Your powers? Are they back yet?" Clark lowered his glasses and squinted, testing his heat vision. "Nope." "And yet, you aren't badly hurt," Lois observed. "You're not bleeding. Just bruised like me." Clark touched her forehead where a nasty lump and dried blood clung to her hairline. "You got a little more than bruised. He looked deep into her eyes, lightly caressing her cheek. "Your pupils are OK. You must've escaped concussion." "I have a headache, but I'm OK, Clark." Lois kissed him to reassure him. Clark rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I must be made of steel, although my head hurts. And you know, it doesn't feel like I've been exposed to kryptonite. What could it be?" "Something new, obviously. Maybe a different form of kryptonite. But what is it doing on this plane?" "Let's get out of here. Maybe once we're outside the plane and away from it, I'll be fine and I can fly you home." Lois smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me!" Getting out of the plane wasn't easy for two people without superpowers. However, with Clark's well-developed muscles, a couple of hard shoves got the plane's door open. Lois looked around at the heavy undergrowth and declared, "I knew I wore trousers for a reason!" They were both dressed in loose light brown trousers, and long-sleeved white cotton shirts, comfortable for travelling. Slinging a backpack over their shoulders, they started walking. **** "Jake! Jake!" Corky came barrelling through the Monkey Bar doors, which swung wildly in his wake. The plane mechanic whipped off his old fisherman's cap. "Jake!" Jake Cutter turned in his seat, looking up from a mess of paperwork. "What is it, Corky? I'm busy here." Corky opened his mouth to reply. "Mein Gott!" exclaimed a heavy Dutch-accented voice from behind him. For a moment, Corky thought his voice had changed. He looked around and saw everyone's attention was on the local padre, Willie Tenboom. To one arm clung a lovely native girl, who pointed out the door. The reverend said, "Trishi says that there are strangers coming from the jungle. She says that her cousin helped them find their way." Jack, perhaps named after his breed -- a Jack Russell -- barked twice in acknowledgement. One of his eyes was covered with a leather patch. Corky nodded excitedly, confirming it. "I saw them too, Jake! I reckon one of those thunder claps we heard last night weren't thunder!" Jake nodded, rising from his chair and clapping his hand on Corky's back. "You could be right about that, Corky." Jake and Corky followed the rest of the bar's denizens, who hadn't dallied to hear their exchange, outside. Jake lowered the brim of his pilot's cap, squinting against the sun. Corky massaged his hat in his hands before nervously putting it back on. Halfway across the clearing, coming towards the bar, shuffled a man and a woman. Clothes dirty and torn, they concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, their way cleared by inhabitants of the island, a mix of indigenous people and foreigners. Sarah Stickney White, dressed in a cool, flowered cotton dress, came down the stairs and joined them. "What's going on?" she asked, unsuccessfully following their gaze against the bright sun. "Take a look for yourself, Sarah," offered Jake, pointing. Sarah saw the staggering couple and frowned. "Isn't anyone going to help them?" Sarah demanded sharply. She stepped down off the hotel verandah and ran across to them. Bon Chance Louie appeared in the Monkey Bar doorway, led by Gushie in his wheelchair, taking Sarah's place. "Jake, mon ami, what is going on?" "New arrivals, Louie," replied Jake. Louie frowned. "But the Clipper is not due ...?" Sarah had reached the young couple. "Here," she said to the woman. "Let me take that bag for you." Lois stopped and looked up. Clark kept on moving. "Thank you," she gasped, her throat dry. The Reverend Tenboom, reminded of his duty by the American woman's actions, hastened up to them and without comment, removed Clark's backpack, sliding it down his listless arms. Willie slung it over his own back. The way before them parted like the Red Sea, residents hastening before them to reach their destination: the Monkey Bar. Louie and Gushie were in front. Somebody had to serve them drinks, after all. Leaving Gushie to it, Louie headed upstairs to his office. Sarah and Willie led the exhausted young couple into the by-now crowded bar. Gushie rolled up. "Fresh cold water?" he asked, indicating the tray on his lap. "Water?" Lois asked dazedly, staring blankly down at Gushie. Clark swayed and his eyes wandered muzzily around the room. So many faces ... so many monkeys ... One, a statuette, glowed golden from its pedestal at the end of the bar. One of its hands grabbed a sceptre and it appeared to leer at him. Suddenly, he felt dizzy. 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: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:43:26 -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: Only Angels Have Wings (part 2 of 4) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Willie dropped Clark's heavy backpack with relief, taking off his broad-brimmed straw hat and wiping away the sweat with the back of his sleeve. His white-blond hair was darkened with sweat. Corky grabbed two chairs, nudging their old occupants off. "Here, sit down!" Lois began to slowly sink into a chair. "So many monkeys ..." Clark murmured aloud. "Lois!" he cried out, afraid, and collapsed onto the floor. "Clark!" Lois leapt up, galvanised and rushed to his side. "Clark?" Tenderly, she caressed his face, tears brimming in her eyes. Jack ran up to the unconscious Clark and began to lick his face. "Gee," said Corky, scratching his head, "I've never seen Jack do that before, have you, Jake?" Jake shook his head. "No," he said wonderingly, "I haven't, Corky." "Stand back, stand back!" ordered Louie, as he hastened down the staircase. In one hand he carried his doctor's black bag. He knelt by Clark's side, nudging Jack away and checking Clark's heartbeat. "Let's get him upstairs." Louie rose and helped Lois to her feet. "Do not worry about him, madame. I will take good care of him." Two husky volunteers helped carry Clark up the stairs. Lois made to follow. "No, madame," Louie said, blocking her way. "Stay here and refresh yourself. You can see your friend when I've finished examining him." "He's my husband," Lois declared. "He needs me." Louie nodded and smiled understandingly. "Unfortunately, madame, what he needs right now is medical attention and rest. As do you." "But you don't understand!" Lois protested. Sarah put her arm around the distraught woman. "Your husband is in excellent hands. All of us would trust Louie with our lives." She looked around for support. Jake nodded. "Sarah's right, uhhh ..." He got stuck on the name. "Lois," she responded stiffly. "Lois Lane." "Mr. Lane will be fine, Mrs. Lane," Jake resumed. Lois cut him off sharply. "That's *Ms.* Lane and my husband is Clark Kent!" "Mzz?" Jake and Corky looked at each other in bafflement, while Sarah, slightly confused, nodded approvingly. "I like the sound of that." Lois took a glass of water off Gushie's tray and took a big gulp. Her weariness dispelled by her concern for Clark as well as by the water, she demanded, "Where's the phone? I need to get us off this island immediately!" Gushie spoke up. "I'm sorry, *Mz* Lane, but we only have a radio." Lois' eyebrows raised in surprise, before she relented. "Well, I guess we are a little off the beaten track here. If a radio's all you have, a radio is what will have to do." She followed Gushie into the small back room that served as wine cellar and radio room. Gushie put the headset around his neck and turned to Lois. "Now who do you need to talk to?" Lois quickly made up her mind. "Perry White, Daily Planet, Metropolis, United States." "The United States?" Gushie tried to conceal his astonishment. "Our radio isn't nearly that powerful. We'll have to send a telegram." He pulled over a dirty notebook and grabbed a pencil. "What do you want to say?" Lois mentally ran through her message, shrinking and abbreviating words where possible. She vaguely recalled that the cost of sending a telegram was per letter. "Lane ampersand Kent stuck on --- where are we?" "Boragora." "Boragora STOP Need to get home fast STOP Reply ASAP STOP." Lois nodded. "That should do it." She waited as Gushie tapped out the message, marvelling silently at his dexterity. "How long will it take to hear back >from them?" Gushie shrugged. "It depends. Could be a couple of hours, a day or two." Lois was aghast. "That long? Don't you bounce the signal off a satellite or something?" "A what?" Gushie scratched his head with the end of his pencil. Lois groaned. "Clark and I have to get off this island as soon as possible," she said urgently. Gushie gazed up at her seriously. "Jake could probably take you in his plane -- but shouldn't you wait until you see how your husband is?" Lois' eyes darkened with ire. "It's this island that's making him sick!" She whirled out of the back room. ***** "A radio will have to do?" mimicked Sarah once Lois was out of earshot. "She sounds like a spoilt rich girl." Jake eyed Sarah warily. "Just a moment ago, you were all peaches-and-cream with her." Sarah glared at him archly. "In my line of business," she said, not so loud as to be overhead, "you have to be nice to get somewhere." Jake nodded, his smile rueful. "Yeah, I can recall a few times when you were nice to me in order to get something you wanted." Sarah shrugged, flashing him a flirtatious smile. Things seemed to be uneasy between them since last night and she didn't want to be too pushy. "It just doesn't seem right to me. They have American accents, but they're using odd words and they appeared rather mysteriously..." Corky's eyes widened. "You think they're spies?" "Shhh!" Sarah hushed him and looked around. "But Lois sure looks awful nice," Corky protested. Jack barked twice in agreement. Jake nodded towards the back of the bar. "Here she comes." Lois rushed into the bar. She was headed directly upstairs. Sarah quickly followed and overtook her. "I'll show you," Sarah said, touching Lois on the arm. Lois gave her a frazzled smile of thanks. ****** Clark groaned as he regained consciousness. "Lois!" he moaned and tried to sit up. A hand steadied him and gently pushed him back onto the covers. "Be still, mon ami," a soft French accent, definitely male, told him. "You fainted. It would not be wise to move too suddenly." Clark opened his eyes and a saw a slender, dark-haired man sitting by his bedside watching him. Years of hardship and sorrow had carved deep lines in his face. Louie smiled, unknowingly transforming his look into an elfin-like appearance. "I fainted?" Clark asked. "Oui." "But I never faint!" "M'sieur, in the tropics, many things happen that normally wouldn't. Particularly with the heat, and in this case, your unusual arrival?" "Our plane crashed on the other side of the island," Clark replied, sitting up more and beginning to feel better. "In the storm last night." Louis nodded. "With all the thunder, we did not hear the plane." Louie closed up his doctor's black bag. "You have some slight bruising but nothing is seriously wrong." "You're a doctor?" "Doctor, magistrate and owner of this hotel." Louie smiled graciously. "At your service." "Lois--" "--is fine," Lois finished, entering the room, followed by Sarah. "I sent a telegraph to Perry. We need to get off this island, Clark. Apparently, Jake can take us." "Jake?" Clark frowned. "Some guy down in the bar," Lois said. "Jake flies a Grumman Goose," Sarah supplied. "He can get you to Tagataya." Lois turned and looked at her. "What is that? Another god-forsaken island?" "Lo-is," Clark said wearily to her. "Does it matter?" Lois looked down at her husband, her features softening with love and concern. She sat down on the bed, taking his hand in hers. Louie interrupted the special moment. "Now, madame, if we may discuss arrangements for your stay?" "Do you take credit cards out here?" Lois asked, rummaging through her fanny pack. Louie looked confused but recovered quickly. "Only cash, madame." Lois pulled out a small banknote holder and produced some francs. "Here," she said. Louie took one look at them and handed them straight back. "What kind of a joke is this?" he demanded angrily. "Joke?" It was Lois' turn to look confused. "You don't accept francs?" Louie turned his gravely serious face to her. "Madame, *these* gawdy bits of paper are *not* francs!" Baffled, Lois replied, "But we changed them at a reputable bank!" "Madame, you are lucky I do not charge you with forgery!" Louie's face was flushed. "But we don't have any other money!" Lois exclaimed. "How can we pay you?" "Wire for money?" Sarah suggested. "It might take a day or two, but Louie would be willing to wait, wouldn't you Louie." She turned to the Frenchman. Under Sarah and Lois' beseeching gazes, Louie demurred. "Yes, yes, all right. You have one day to get the money." "Thank you, Louie!" exclaimed Sarah, drowning out Lois' quieter 'thank you'. Sarah turned to Lois. "Why don't we go back down and see Gushie about sending a wire?" **** The next morning, two wires came in. Lois was eating breakfast on the patio with Clark. Gushie delivered them with a long face. Not noticing, Lois took them both and tore them open. "Clark ..." Lois said faintly. "Read this ..." She handed the first telegram to Clark. It read: "NO PERRY WHTE HERE STOP LANE KENT UNKNOWN STOP" "What?" exclaimed Clark. "It gets worse," Lois said, giving him the second telegram. Clark tossed the first one onto the table and read the second: "LANE KENT NOT MEMBERS OF BANK STOP REQUEST DENIED STOP" "What is going on?" they exclaimed to each other in frustration. Clark looked at the second telegram again. He couldn't take his eyes off it. "Lois ... look at the date!" Lois picked up the first telegram and stared disbelieving at the date. "1938?" Lois exclaimed. "Clark!" "Yes, Lois." Clark's voice was dead with the shock. "We're in 1938!!! What do we do?" Gushie, unnoticed by the travellers, quietly back-pedalled himself into the bar. "Ah, Louie," he said quietly, attracting the Frenchman's attention with a wave of his hand. Louie approached Gushie, drying his hands on a towel. "Yes, Gushie?" "The two Americans out there." Gushie turned his head, gesturing at Lois and Clark outside. "I think they've cracked." Sarah, who just happened to be walking by, paused in midstep. Jake, having noticed her entry, frowned and began to cross the room to her. "Cracked?" Louie looked at the couple, pursing his lips. "They look all right, not very happy, however." Gushie leant forward to whisper confidingly, "They're shocked that it's 1938." Louie's eyebrows raised. "Could you have a word with them?" Gushie added. "A word will not restore their sanity," Louie replied, reprovingly. He sighed and nodded. "But we'll see what we can do." He walked out to the young couple. "Good morning! I see you have some news?" "We can't pay you," Lois said flatly. "Our bank doesn't know who we are and the Daily Planet has never heard of our boss. And you know why?" Louie politely shook his head as Lois' voice rose. "Because this is 1938!" Louie nodded. "Of course it is, it has been all year." He attempted a placating smile. "Lois, calm down. Clark patted her hand lightly. "It's the heat," he told Louie. "The fact is our incompetent bank refuses to acknowledge us so we'll have to pay some other way until we get to a larger town. I assume a cheque is out of the question?" "Quite." Louie nodded. Clark forged on. "Then perhaps we could pay in kind? Wash dishes? I know a bit of bartending and Lois here--" he grinned sidelong at her "-- has been known to sing a note or two." Louie sadly shook his head. "I am sorry, but I already have someone to tend to the bar." He looked down at Lois. "And Miss Sarah is our singer." Sarah came out onto the verandah just in time to hear this. Close behind her were Jake and Corky. "That's ok," Jake piped up. "I'm sure Sarah won't mind sharing spots for a couple of nights." Sarah wasn't too sure about that, but she smiled brightly. "Hey, maybe we could have some sort of singing contest!" "Gee, Jake," Corky remarked. "What kind of contest would that be?" Sarah frowned at him suspiciously. Corky grinned at her innocently. Meantime, Louie's face lit up. "A contest! What a superb idea! We could have a prize for the one who picks the winner!" You could almost see the dollar signs (or should that be francs?) dancing above his head. "Louie..." Jake warned, clearly not pleased that the Frenchman would be making money out of the Kents' unfortunate situation. Louie looked innocent. "What? It will help cover the room!" He went indoors, mentally checking off items on his fingers. "You look worried," Sarah said to Lois and Clark. Jake clamped a hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Don't mind her," he said. "We don't make a habit of being nosey here on Boragora." Sarah gave him a look over her shoulder. "However," Jakes hastily amended, "if there's anything we can do to help ..." "Thanks," Clark said. He looked at Lois. "Should we...?" he asked. Lois shrugged. "This isn't going to be easy for you to believe. You better sit down." The three of them pulled up a chair each and sat. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad," Sarah said, nonchalantly rearranging her skirt so it fell nicely around her calves. "We now know why Louie thought the francs Lois gave him are forgeries," Clark began. "And why you don't have satellites, or credit cards or telephones on the island," added Lois. "Isn't the moon a satellite?" asked Corky vaguely. Clark continued. "It's because Lois and I come from the year 1997." "Nineteen ninety-what?!" Sarah and Jake exclaimed. "Jiminy!" Corky exclaimed. "You don't seriously expect us to believe that," Jake said, leaning forward with a frown. Jack barked twice. "Here," Lois dug through her fanny pack. She pulled out the francs and their passports, handing them over. "Here's proof. Look at the dates! And wait ..." Lois added her driver's license to the pile. Jake looked them over closely and shrugged. "They could be excellent forgeries," he replied. He glared at them. "What kind of scam are you pulling?" Sarah leant back in her chair, giving Jake an amused look. He was doing all her work for her -- if not very subtly. "Scam?" Clark and Lois chorused. "This is no scam," Lois added. "Look, we can take you back to the plane. It was built way after World War Two--" "What? What did you say?" Sarah cut in, leaning forward. Clark gave Lois a look. "Uhhh, never mind," Lois said. "I forgot that it's not exactly kosher to give away events from the future. It could change it." Clark nodded in agreement. Jake leaned back in his chair and looked over at his friend and mechanic. "So what do you say, Corky? If you found this plane would you be able to tell whether it's fake or not?" Corky nodded eagerly. "Sure thing, Jake." "I'm coming too," Sarah said, her stubborn features brooking no opposition. "There's just one thing," Lois said, her face serious. "We have to bring shovels. Clark and I didn't stop to bury the pilot." Jake, Corky and Sarah stared at each other and gulped. **** 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: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:43:21 -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: Only Angels Have Wings (part 3 of 4) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Flying over the island, Jake and his passengers craned their necks to see through the Goose's windows. Below them was nothing but the steep inclines of Boragora's volcanic mountain and impenetrable jungle. "Jake! Look!" Corky cried out, pointing over to portside. Jake looked over, chewing on his cigar. To his left, he could see a swathe of jungle cut away and at the end, the unmistakable silver of an airplane. "That's it!" Clark exclaimed, also spotting it. Jake cast his eyes over the area. "We can land on the far side of the island and then hike in. Should take a couple of hours." He looked back into the cabin at Lois and Clark. "You two up to it?" Lois looked at Clark. He reached out with his hand and gave hers a reassuring squeeze. "Sure," he said. ****** Jake led the way through the jungle. Jack was by his side, occasionally racing ahead to sniff out something and bark at suggested paths. Corky followed at the rear with everyone else in between. Two hours of trekking >from the coast brought them to the plane. The plane had snapped both its wings in the crash and had somehow sheared at an angle so that one side was higher than the other. Clark hefted a shovel, looking for an open spot in the undergrowth. "I'm going to start digging," he said. "You guys look around and see what you think." Jake, Sarah and Corky walked over to the plan and began to examine it. Corky ran his hand along the scarred belly. "Hey Jake! Look at this!" "What is it, Corky?" Jake came over to take a look. "Well, the metal's really strange. In fact, look at how glossy it was originally." Corky pointed to the still shiny parts of the body. "And see the gouges? It's a chalky white underneath, so that gloss isn't some kind of paint." "It's called fibreglass," Lois supplied. "I don't know all that much about it." Corky nodded, still running his hand over the scars. "Amazing, hardly any rivets. Jake, I wanna take a look at the engine," he said eagerly. Lois wandered over to help Clark, knowing she wouldn't be able to explain anything under the hood of a plane, if indeed that was what you called the metallic shell that covered the engine. The jungle ground was soft and Clark had quickly made a shallow grave for the pilot. "Hey," said Clark, pausing to wipe the sweat from his brow. "This manual labour isn't so bad!" Lois looked up at him from clearing away some of the undergrowth to make it easier for them to carry the dead man's body to the site. "Just wait until you get calluses!" she joked. Clark frowned worriedly at his palms. The others soon joined them. "According to what Corky has to say," Jake thumbed in Corky's direction, "the engine's similar (and even I could see that) but there are some design components that Corky's never seen before." Sarah made a moue with her mouth. "I still think it's crazy, but it looks like we have to believe you." Clark nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. "We don't belong here. We have to get back to our own time." "But how?" asked Sarah. "Hey," said Corky, "maybe one of the native elders might know something." Jack barked twice. Jake looked down at him. "Jack, how would you know?" Jack growled and went to sit by Sarah's feet. Sarah looked down at Jack and grinned. "He really doesn't like it when you disagree with him." "He can't have his own way all the time," Jake responded grumpily. Lois sidled closer to Clark. "And they think we're crazy," she whispered. ***** Back in the Goose, Sarah settled into the co-pilot's seat. Jake started up the engines and looked over at her with a raffish grin. "Spies, eh?" he muttered between the unlit cigar in his teeth. Sarah glared at him, her eyes narrowed. In a huff, she propped her elbow on the window and glared at the jungle outside. Jake's grin widened as he urged the Goose out over the ocean. ***** In their hotel room, Lois looked at herself in the mirror. Sarah had lent her an evening gown for the evening's entertainment. Lois smoothed the cream satin over her hips. "How does it look?" she asked over her shoulder. "You look wonderful," Clark said. He had changed his clothes with the luggage they had brought back from the plane. He gestured to himself. "You don't think I'm too casual?" Lois eyed his natural cotton suit and shook her head. "From what I've seen of the clientele, I don't think so! I just wish I had brought something more formal with me than a couple of sarongs!" Clark chuckled. He joined her by the mirror and smoothed the satin fabric himself, wrapping his arms around her. He nuzzled his wife's neck, Lois closing her eyes blissfully. "You seem to be feeling better," she murmured. "Mmmm," replied Clark. He looked at her via the mirror. "So do you." Lois opened her eyes and smiled into the mirror. "Make-up does wonders for that," she replied. Clark frowned. "Speaking of makeup ..." his left hand rose to her breast, "isn't that a stain?" Lois looked down at herself. "Yes, but not a make-up stain." She smiled. "I guess Sarah wanted an edge on the competition." Clark shook his head. "I don't think so. She wouldn't have loaned you the dress if she did." Lois frowned, thinking. She grinned in triumph. "Ah! I have it!" She went to the dresser and pulled a pink hibiscus flower from the bouquet there. With a pin, she secured it over the stained area. "Ta da!" "Instant corsage!" Clark grinned at her. "Shall we go?" **** The Monkey Bar was crowded with all the usual regulars. Corky was sitting at the piano, warming up with a few honky-tonk tunes. Gushie was by the bar, taking bets under the watchful eye of Louie, who was also serving drinks. The Reverend Willie Tenboom and his native girl of the month, Trishi, entered the bar and found a cool spot by the window. The reverend was fanning himself vigorously and appeared to be quite flushed. Trishi settled herself comfortably in his lap and whispered in his ear. Willie nodded in response and patted the native girl's thigh. "Later," he promised. Jake and Sarah chatted at a table nearby, while at their feet Jack lapped at a saucer of beer. Sarah ran her finger around her glass. "Jake, I'm nervous," she admitted. Jake smiled. "You? What do you have to be nervous of?" "What if she's really good? What if Louie hires her?" Sarah leaned closer. "Jake, I've got a job to do here, if she wrecks my cover ..." Jake caught Sarah's stabbing finger and lowered her hand to the table, his hand resting on top. "Sarah, they're from the future. She won't want to accept the job." "And if we can't get them back?" "I'll fly them to Tagataya." Jake grinned disarmingly. "Promise." Sarah appeared mollified, smiling back at him. She frowned as Jake's face went slack with awe -- and he wasn't looking at her. Sarah turned in her seat. Coming down the stairs, with her husband at her side, was Lois Lane. Somehow she had made Sarah's old cream gown look fantastic. Neither Jake nor Sarah noticed Lois' smile tighten as Clark inexplicably squeezed her hand tight. Sarah turned back and coughed. Jake's eyes dropped to hers. "Uhh, has anyone told you tonight that you look fabulous?" Sarah's smile was wry. "Nice try, Jake." Jack barked once in agreement. Half-turning in her seat, Sarah looked back at the couple. Sarah remarked, taking one last look at the well-dressed Clark, who found a table furthest >from the bar. "He'd make a *good-looking* bartender. Pity Louie won't hire him." Jake smiled slowly and refused to rise to the bait. "Well, Louie sure looks busy tonight." Louie stood by the front door taking bets, while Gushie wrote them all down. Sarah bit her lip, her worries returning. Lois approached Corky at the piano. "Hey Corky," she said. "Did you manage to find that music for me?" Corky looked up. "Sh--sh-sure!" He gulped. "Wow, Mzz Lane, you look great!" Lois smiled, blushing slightly. "Thanks, Corky." Louie drifted over. "Madame, if you are ready?" He gestured to the piano. "Ready as I'll ever be!" Lois almost succeeded in sounding sure of herself. "I'm sure you will do very well." Louie gave her a small, sweet smile and bowed slightly. He turned to the rest of the bar and clapped his hands loudly. "Ladies and gentlemen! Your attention please!" The room eventually stilled. Jake leaned across and gave Sarah's hand an encouraging squeeze. She looked across at him and silently forgave him for his wandering eye. "Tonight we have a wonderful event planned for you." Louie slowly turned so he could capture each and every eye. "Tonight, we have not one, but two delightful singers for your very own entertainment: our very own Miss Sarah Stickney White --" He waved his left hand at Sarah, indicating that she stand. She stood, grinning shyly at the crowd. The applause was not enthusiastic, but only Jake and Corky seemed to notice, exchanging unhappy glances. "And our very special guest, Madame Lois Lane, straight from Metropolis, USA!" With his right hand, Louie gestured grandly to Lois who stood by him. Lois managed a smile, but looked at the rough crowd nervously. Louie continued: "As Lois is the visitor here, it has been suggested by you American baseball fanatics," here Louie looked disapprovingly at the Americans in the room, "although how one can consider baseball even *comparable* to the fine art of singing, I do not know, mes ami." He coughed slightly. "But, I digress. Madame Lois will be singing first, followed by our very own Sarah." Louie saved a special smile for her and Sarah graciously smiled back, receiving the boost of confidence Louie had delivered. "At the end of each performance, your applause will be registered by this wonderful contraption Gushie has devised." Gushie unveiled a round circle that had markings noting the level of applause. In the centre, was a large red needle. "The singer with the loudest applause will win this event and a free dinner for two served by yours truly." Louie cut off the rippling "mmmm"s of approval with a sharp slice of his arm. "Bets are now closed," he advised the gamblers. He turned and bowed to Lois. "Whenever you're ready, madame." Lois nodded and bent over to Corky. "Can you follow my lead?" she asked softly. Corky nodded furiously at the music arrayed on the piano in front of him. "Sure, no problem." "Nice and slow," murmured Lois before straightening up. "Let's do it." Corky played a few introductory bars on the honky-tonk sounding piano, before Lois began to sing, low and husky. "I've -- Got -- A -- Crush on you ..." For the first few words, Lois and Corky kept their eyes on each other, finding synchronisation. "All the day and night time, hear me sigh ..." Lois, confident now, turned to the crowd. Clark leant on the table, remembering the first time he'd heard her sing this. It thrilled him as much now as it had four years ago. "I never had the least notion," Lois slowly pivoted to face her husband, her hips making the skirt of her gown shimmer, "that I could fall with so much emotion!" She winked at him and began to walk about the crowd. "Could you coo, could you care?" Her voice was true, if unpractised. "For a lovely cottage, we could share ...." Lois let a hand trail across the back of a customer, feeling his eyes turn eagerly to her, even though she had moved on. She raised her arms to encompass the bar. "The world will pardon my *mush* --" Lois folded her arms against her bosom. "'Cause I have got a crush, my baby, on you ..." By the time Lois had finished her song, having sung the very last line directly to Clark, the Monkey Bar was hers. Wolf-whistles and cheers erupted. The needle on Gushie's applause-o-meter rocketed three-quarters of the way to the edge. No one noticed Gushie's hand was behind the large dial. Even Jake, under the watchful eye of Sarah, had to applaud. For her sake, he toned it down. Jack ran up to Lois and sat in front of her, rearing up and begging. Woof, woof! he barked. "Traitor," muttered Sarah. The noise began to subside. "You know Jack," Jake tried to soothe her. Sarah gave him a look that said, 'yes, I know Jack *exactly*!' She leaned forward and whispered. "Jake, I can't do this! I'm not as good as her." Jake gazed at her with those baby-blue eyes and Sarah began to feel as if her knees would melt. "You'll do fine, Sarah. I believe you will." Sarah rose and crossed to the piano. "You ready, Corky?" Corky took a mouthful of beer and nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be!" he said, wiping his brow. Sarah began without accompaniment. "Am -- I -- Blue?" Corky joined in with his piano. "Am I blue? Ain't these tears in my eyes tellin' you ..." Jack whined and ran under Jake's table, putting his paws over his ears. Jake bent down. "Jack!" he whispered. "Behave!" Somehow, Jack managed to cover his one good eye as well. "Am I blue? You'd be too," Sarah's voice soared, missing the top notes completely, going too high, "if each plan with your man, just fell through." Sarah tentatively began to move between the tables. "Was a time I was his only one," she sang. She raised her chin, trying to ignore the shuffling feet and the men staring into their beers, anywhere but at her. "Now I--" she looked over at Jake and he gave her an encouraging smile. She sang to him. "--'m the sad and lonely one. Ooowoo-ooh!" Corky thumped the piano louder as they changed key. Dispiritedly, Sarah leant against a column. "Was I gay? 'Till today! Now he's gone and we're through. Am I blue?" When the song ended, Jake leapt to his feet, applauding madly, almost drowning out the half-hearted applause of the others. He gestured at others to do the same. On the other side of the room, Louie too was drumming up applause, glaring and giving people meaningful looks, all the while darting looks of praise in Sarah's direction. Lois and Clark were already clapping politely. The applause grew louder and the applause-o-meter's needle crept higher. Louie kept glancing at the needle until finally he announced, "We have a winner! Miss Sarah Stickney White!" Lois leant back against her chair, close to Clark. "Rigged," she whispered into his ear good-naturedly, smiling all the while. He covered her hand with his. "Home turf," he whispered back with a grin. Sarah gasped, surprised but as Louie came over to embrace her, she frowned suspiciously. "Louie ..." she began warningly. "Ah, mon ami, it is a wonder you have won!" Louie kissed her on both cheeks. "And as an extra-special reward, may I suggest that you take the night off and Madame Lane will sing for us." Louie had made the request gently and sugared it with a smile, but it still hurt. Sarah tossed back her hair. "Sure, Louie. You need to cover her board anyway, right?" Louie sighed, caught sight of the gamblers coming to claim their winnings, and turned to Lois, who had been close enough to hear. "You do not mind?" Lois shook her head. "Not at all. But do they want to listen to a *loser* all night?" She smirked at Louie wickedly. "Sometimes, madame," and Louie smiled wisely, "it is better to lose than to win!" Lois grimaced at the gentle reprimand. "OK," she said, and walked over to Corky and the piano. Louie went over to help Gushie peaceably settle the debts. When the crowd had settled a little, the Reverend Tenboom approached Clark at his table. "May I join you?" he asked, in his heavy Dutch accent. Clark nodded warily. From his world travels, he knew the difference between Dutch and German -- and how they'd sound mixed together. Clark wasn't sure which accent was more dominant but during that era, you couldn't be too careful. "Trishi here," Willie Tenboom indicated the young native girl who had followed him and now stood by his shoulder, "is one of my brethren. She has heard that you are seeking advice of the elders." He was interrupted by Jake and Sarah sitting down, unasked. They had caught sight of the reverend joining him and rightly suspected something was up. "What's going on, Reverend?" Jake asked, placing his hat on the table. Willie smiled. "I was just telling Mr. Kent here that Trishi may be able to help." Jake, Sarah and Clark looked up at the innocent native girl. "You can?" Clark asked eagerly. Trishi nodded. "Before good reverend gave me blessing," Trishi paused and gazed adoringly down at Willie, "my destiny was priestess to Monkey Goddess. As young girl, I learn many things, hear many tales." The native girl grew serious. "It is taboo to speak of it." Willie beamed up at his parishioner and reassuringly rubbed her back. "But Trishi is a full Lutheran now and such superstitions do not have any effect on her, right Trishi?" Trishi bit her lip and nodded nervously. "Do not worry, my child," added Willie, seeing her fear, "I will give you extra-special blessing this evening to give you even more of God's protection." "Really?" breathed Trishi, excited. "Reverend, you are *so* kind!" Clark brought her back on track. "Trishi, what do the stories tell you?" Trishi clasped her hands to her chest. "One night," she began, "many moons ago, in the days of our forefather's forefathers, my people were visited by the Monkey Goddess, whose name even now I cannot speak. She flew down from the heavens in her fire canoe and landed upon this island. She visited many other islands too that night. "The Goddess left behind a beautiful rock for each blessed island. The Elders decreed it be made in her image." She turned and pointed at the shining brass statuette that had pride of place on the Monkey bar. "That is not from our island but it is very like." Trishi turned to face her audience. "I do not know for sure because only the priestesses ever get to see it." Willie nodded. "It explains a lot," he said. "I have noticed that the natives do not like the statue." Sarah agreed. "It's true. I've heard Louie complain that he can never get them to dust it!" "I don't understand," Clark said. "How does this get Lois and I back to our own time?" "The stories say," Trishi replied, "that the idol of the Monkey Goddess has great powers. It is said that you will receive your greatest wish if you ask for it while you rub it." Jake frowned, unconvinced. "Sounds like rubbing a Buddha's belly for good luck!" Trishi's face collapsed into misery and she buried her face into Willie's shoulder, who patted her consolingly. "There, there, I'm sure it will not hurt to try this." Willie glared pointedly at Jake and Clark, the latter's face also showing the same misgivings. "We can try it," Clark finally said. Trishi perked up at the response. "Tonight, after the bar has closed," Sarah decided. "We don't want everyone to witness any disappearing act!" ***** 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: Sun, 10 May 1998 13:43:14 -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: Only Angels Have Wings (part 4 of 4) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" It was eerie in the closed Monkey Bar. Jake had turned on a few lamps, but the rest of the bar was shrouded in darkness. Gathered there along with Jake were Sarah, Corky, Willie, Trishi and, of course, the two guinea-pigs, Lois and Clark. Lois, having been filled in on the plan, had changed back into something more practical than the evening gown she had worn earlier. "So," she said, "we just put her hands on it and make a wish?" Trishi nodded. Lois raised an eyebrow. "Huh. It's just like clicking your heels three times and wishing to be sent back to Kansas!" "What?" the others asked, while Clark murmured, "I wouldn't mind being back in Kansas right now!" Lois straightened her shoulders. "Well, there's no time like the present!" She paused, looking confused. "Or the past, or whatever." Everyone laughed nervously. She took Clark's hand and they advanced towards the brass statue. The monkey seemed to glare back at them, watching them as they approached. Lois told herself that it was only a trick of the light. Suddenly, Clark stopped in his tracks. "I can't!" he gasped. Lois turned to him in concern. "What do you mean, 'you can't'?" She felt him shiver and she held him close. "I *can't*." Clark made the little flying signal, a secret gesture between him and Lois to indicate his other identity. "What's wrong?" Jake asked. Lois looked at the others, seeing their concern. "Excuse us a moment." She led Clark away from them to the door. She looked up into Clark's face, barely visible by the half-moon. "Kryptonite?" she whispered. Clark nodded and then shrugged. "It doesn't feel quite like Kryptonite, but it's painful to be near." "That's why you squeezed my hand earlier," Lois said. Clark nodded. "Clark," Lois said urgently, "we have to do this. This could be our only chance to get back to our time!" "But Lois--" "If this works, we'll be back in the future and far away from that idol so it won't hurt you. I think that mystery is one I'd be quite happy to leave unexplained." Clark nodded. "You're right. Let's get this over with." They walked back to the idol with determined looks on their faces. "Ready now?" Jake asked. They nodded. Corky burst out with a "Good luck, you guys!" "Thanks, Corky," Clark managed through gritted teeth. Together they placed their hands on the monkey idol. Clark was unable to stop a pained hiss of expelled air as his bare hand touched the metal. From behind them, Willie advised, "Rub it slowly, think of nothing but going home." Lois and Clark closed their eyes and focused on their home in Metropolis. Softly, Trishi began to chant: "Monki arka, monki arka, monki arka ..." "Lois," moaned Clark softly, feeling his consciousness attempting to escape the agony. "Hold on, Clark!" Lois begged, her eyes still closed. The room started to spin. Both Lois and Clark strained to stay upright and keep their hold on the idol. The room spun faster and faster. In that last instant, before they blacked out, they called each other's name. **** The group left behind at the Monkey Bar stared at the space where Lois and Clark had stood. Even the dust on the floor had vanished. The idol was still there, shining oddly in the poor light. Sarah shivered and rubbed her arms. "I hope they made it back." Jake draped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure they did, Sarah." Willie nodded in agreement. "We must have faith that they did." He turned to the native girl. "Come, Trishi, time for your blessing!" Trishi clung to the reverend's arm. "Blessing! Extra special?" Willie blushed and patted her hand. "Yes, yes, extra special blessing. You have done good work for the Lord today." He led her out into the night. "Goodnight, everyone." Corky yawned. "Time to hit the hay. 'Night Jake, 'night Sarah." Left alone, Sarah turned to Jake, his arm still about her. "I guess we ought to be getting to bed too," she said, suddenly aware of how close he was. Jake smiled raffishly. "Sounds like a plan to me." He lowered his head and kissed her on the lips. ***** Lois opened her eyes, feeling Clark's warm embrace, and took in the view around her. Her mouth dropped. "Kansas?" "Well," Clark said, "there's no place like home!" Lois lightly slapped his arm and he drew her in for a long, passionate kiss. The End 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: Sun, 10 May 1998 16:45:35 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Anne Campbell Subject: Re: Vignette Fanfic: Mother's Day Gift (1/2) In-Reply-To: <3.0.1.16.19980509223732.40af1b84@vmspop.isc.rit.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Hi, I didn't receive part 2/2 of this fanfic/ Mother's Day Gift. - Anne Anne B. Campbell Reference Librarian campbell@library.pace.edu Pace University ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 22:24:25 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alyssa Mondelli Organization: Brought to you by the legal firm of Deceive, Inveigle, & Obfuscate Subject: Penultimate S5 episode now airing Comments: To: loiscla@vm.ege.edu.tr MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit We interrupt your regularly scheduled Sunday night to bring you the penultimate (look it up ;->) S5 episode, "Doctor Goose", written by someone who calls herself Double L. At the risk of repeating a previous mailing, here's the promo: ******************************************************************** Announcer's voice: It's Lois Lane's last day at work before going on maternity leave. "Lois, promise me you'll stay at the office today, and just enjoy your last day. No investigations. No criminals. No getting in trouble. Okay? Promise?" "Clark, all I will be doing today is organizing my desk and files for whoever is going to cover for me while I'm on maternity leave. Boring stuff like that." Lois threw Clark another coy smile. "Besides, what trouble could I possibly get into at the office?" Announcer's voice: Meanwhile, a doctor is preparing a new form of *practice*! As Bradley continued to stare at the television, Superman's concerned and loving image toward the Mayor's daughter fanned a smoldering ember of hate and vengeance within his soul. He stood and replied coldly to his wife. "Don't worry; nothing that involves you," and he left the room. Announcer's voice: Will Lois be able to stay out of trouble? Lois, unable to see who was driving the machine, tried to jump quickly to the side but her weight shifted, causing her to lose her balance and she fell to her knees. She cursed at the sharp, intense pain that coursed through her body. Announcer's voice: "Or will Bradley get even with Superman? "And when Superman is lured to come to his mistress' rescue, I'll greet him with this!" Bradley pulled a small box out of his overalls. "And watch *him* suffer as he watches me kill two of his closest friends, right in front of his very eyes." ********************************************************************** Come on, you need to know, you just *do* ;-> So come play with us at http://www.tempus.simplenet.com/season5 or http://www.tempus.simplenet.com/season5/s5text.htm, and don't forget to send feedback. Writers thrive on that sort of thing. I hear they like Flake bars, too. ==Alyssa in St. Paul== (agmondelli@stthomas.edu)(AlyssaM on the IRC) Webmistress, Tempus Expeditions - http://www.tempus.simplenet.com Home of the Fortress of Insanity and Lois & Clark Season 5 "After five years together, you had to expect this eventually." --Mulder (strapped down in the psych ward) to Scully ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 09:35:23 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Mhcman Subject: Clarks Apartment Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi All, I was watching WIEAK (taped) and something caught my attention. I saw a set of spiral stairs in the middle of Clark's apartment. Does anyone know if they have always been there and I have missed it of something. Just Curious Thomas "Suddenly a walk in the park seemed like a good idea." Clark - WIEAK ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 09:45:45 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: Two Become One MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I forgot to send out the conclusion to my episode "Then Came You." Following is the six part mailing of "Two Become One." (No one asked for this. I guess no one cares! You will all have to suffer anyway. Here it comes!) ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 09:47:23 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: Two Become One: Part 1 of 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #21) "TWO BECOME ONE" Part 1 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- {Previously, on "Lois & Clark"} "Yes!" Clark levitated into the air automatically, riding on the joy of his thoughts. ** "Clark, I'd like to introduce you to one of the newest Daily Planet employees." James Olsen stepped to one side, motioning with his hand to the other chair. "Clark Kent, this is Amanda Hart. Amanda, Clark Kent." ** "I mean, I might not feel like... socializing... right now. I might not feel like sharing with you, a perfect stranger, what I'm looking for, or what I'm doing down here." Clark looked Amanda straight in the eyes, and she looked straight back. That unfamiliar tug in his chest returned. Amanda looked right at him. "Something tells me you need me." Clark pointed at the screen. "Just show me how to use the system -- please." ** Lucy Lane stared at Amanda Hart. "Only... only my sister called me that. It was a pet name." "It's true. It's really me, Lucy." "Lois?" ** "Are you falling for him?" asked Lucy. "No!" Amanda firmly shook her head. "Clark is, well, he's complicated. He's moody, closed, private, a bit pigheaded at times... unselfish, caring, gives too much of himself and doesn't expect anything in return. He's... wonderful. God, I am falling for him." ** "I want Clark to love me for who I am now. Not who I was, or who she was," Amanda said. Lucy shrugged. "So what's stopping you? Go for it -- or him, I mean." "In a weird, twisted sort of way -- I'm stopping it. I'm fighting a battle with myself," Amanda said sadly. ** "I found this information, and I'd like to go along. You might need me," Amanda said. Clark shook his head. "No. If there's trouble, you could get hurt." "Oh, and you can't right? So you have to protect us poor, weak females." "Yes, I can't get hurt. Mostly. And no, not because you're a poor, weak female," said Clark. "Mostly?" asked Amanda. Clark shrugged. "Well, there's this green rock, but I've only seen it once. Anyway, you're not going." Amanda continued to simply stare at him. "No. No way am I taking you." Clark turned around and walked over to the window. He opened it and turned back around. Amanda was pulling out some dark clothing. "You're not going Amanda. That's final." ** And now the conclusion... *** [Act I] {Metropolis. Warehouse rumored to be occupied by Agency 38.} Amanda was having trouble catching her breath and regaining her balance. "You should really slow down a little when you're carrying passengers." She reached over and grabbed him for support. "Sorry. I'm not used to carrying passengers. I still don't think that you..." "Come on," Amanda strode off toward the warehouse. Clark shook his head. How had she managed to convince him to bring her along? He wasn't exactly sure how it had happened, but it had. He decided he had better try to regain some control of the situation. "Will you slow down a second?" he grabbed her by the arm firmly but gently. "We don't need to go barging in there. I can take a peek inside. It's safer that way." "Clark, we've been over this before. I'm perfectly capable..." "I do this all the time, Amanda," Clark sighed. "I never go barging into a situation. I always look before I leap, so I don't have any surprises to deal with. It's just standard operating procedure -- nothing to do with your capabilities." "Oh. Okay. Fine then. Go ahead and," she made a motion with her finger next to her eye, "look inside. Tell me what you see." Clark shook his head. What was it with her and all the hand signals. She seemed to have one for every super power he had. He concentrated on the wall of the warehouse and let it dissolve away before him. What he found inside surprised him. Clark let out a low whistle. "What? Tell me what you see," Amanda tugged at his arm. "They have enough hardware in there to invade a small country. Probably even a medium-sized country. There are a few people stationed here, but for the most part, it looks relatively unguarded. Hmmm! Interesting." Amanda was alternately staring at him and at the warehouse. She was getting frustrated at not being able to see what he was seeing. "What? What!?" "Just hold your horses, geez. They have several areas that are lined with lead. Wonder what's in there?" He looked at Amanda, refocusing his attention on her. She looked at him, her eyebrows coming up. "Can't you tell?" Clark shook his head. "I can't see through lead." Amanda focused her attention on the warehouse, seemingly willing herself to see into the structure. "Wonder if that little bit of architectural detail was set up to keep you from looking in?" "Lead is also used to shield things from radiation," Clark offered. Amanda nodded. "True. It would still be worth a look to see what was inside those areas." "They almost certainly have a security system," Clark warned. "We can use your talents to find a way around them." Amanda got out a pad of paper and a pencil from the bag she brought. Clark could feel the excitement build in him. It seemed so natural to work with her like this. It was almost fun! That thought sobered him up. He took his time, X-raying the building and surrounding areas. Focusing on keypads to determine access codes. He could examine the surface of the pads to determine which ones had more wear and tear on them. This greatly reduced the number of possible combinations. They got lucky, and Clark witnessed someone entering one area. He watched him enter the code and Amanda wrote it down. After about an hour of monitoring, he felt as confident as he could about entering the warehouse. Using his speed, and the information obtained, he had the two of them outside the large door leading into the largest of the lead-lined areas. He paused to let Amanda regain her sense of balance. "It wasn't as bad that time," she whispered. Clark looked at the access code they had written down. This was a different door, but he thought it was as good a place as any to start. He examined the access pad to verify the digits of the code were still valid. They were. The keys on this access pad matching the digits in the code were more worn than the other keys. Clark keyed the code in and the door unlocked with a loud clunk. The sound seemed to echo through the hallway, growing louder instead of softer. Clark quickly whisked them inside and shut the door behind them. They were in a vast storage area. The lights were on, but Amanda wasn't sure if they had been on before or if they had just been turned on. "Wow. Look at all this stuff!" The room was full of odd-looking equipment. One side of the room was lined with file cabinets. There were several pieces of machinery in various states of disassembly in the middle of the room. The very center was home to the most impressive piece of machinery. "A spaceship!" Amanda said. Clark was drawn to the ship. As they walked around to the front of the craft, the stylized S-shield the world had become so familiar with came into view. "Oh my God," Clark could barely talk. He ran his hand over the S. "Guess this answers the question of where you came from," Amanda put her hand on his back. "Or at least how you got here." The hatch was open, and embedded in the center of a control panel was a globe. It was throbbing a weak color of red. Clark reached out to grab it. As his hand approached the globe, it glowed brighter. Amanda grabbed his arm. "Are you sure you want to grab that thing?" "It's okay. Somehow, I feel like it's... calling me. It's telling me to touch it. Not with words... just a feeling." He reached out and grabbed the glob. [CONNECTED. INTERFACE ESTABLISH WITH NODE KAL-EL.] Images, sounds, smells, and emotions assaulted Clark's consciousness. He tried to let go of the globe, but found he couldn't command the muscles of his arm any longer. [PROTOCOL NEGOTIATED. INITIATE PRIMARY MESSAGE FROM NODE JOR-EL.] His mind was suddenly clear again. Then, an image of a noble looking man filled his mind's eye. [Hello, Kal-El. If you're viewing this message, then our desperate attempt to spare your life has succeeded. I imagine your full of questions. Let me try to anticipate what they might be and answer as many of them as I may.] Amanda was starting to get worried. When Clark grabbed the globe, there had been a flash of blinding light. Now, he was just standing there, staring at the globe. The globe was pulsing, its surface alternating between an image of the Earth and an unknown planet. Clark's eyes refocused and he slumped slightly as his muscles relaxed. He blinked several times. The image on the globe was frozen at the image of the unknown planet. "Krypton," he whispered. "Are you all right?" "I'm fine," he turned excitedly toward her. "This is Krypton. It's where I'm from. This globe is like a messenger. I just *watched* a vision of my real father. He was telling me where I came from, why they sent me away..." "Clark, I think we should get out of here," Amanda looked around the room. She was getting an uneasy feeling. Clark noticed it too. Something was different. He tuned in with his hearing and could hear people approaching. He did a super-fast search of the rest of the contents of the room, committing it to his photographic memory. Every piece of information or object he thought was even remotely related to himself, he collected and deposited into the spacecraft. He picked Amanda up and put her in the cramped cockpit as well. "What on earth are you doing?" He picked the craft up just as the door swung open. Armed men came rushing into the room. They started firing some kind of energy weapon at him. The amount of energy the weapons released surprised him. He decided not to stick around to see if they would hurt him or anything else in the room. He, and the load he carried, just disappeared. One of the men started yelling. "Cease fire! Cease fire!" "Did we get him?" another one asked. The headset the commander wore crackled to life. <"Commander! Report!"> "Colonel Trask, Sir! The target has... vanished, sir!" <"I can see that Commander, what I want to know is what it got away with."> "Sir, it looks like it took everything we had on it, sir." <"Damn. Okay Commander, execute evacuation procedure Delta. Over and out."> "Aye sir!" The commander turned to his men. "Okay boys, evacuation procedure Delta... let's go!" *** ================================================================= End of Part 1 of 6. Continued in next e-mail... ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 09:50:58 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: Two Become One: Part 2 of 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #21) "TWO BECOME ONE" Part 2 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- {Smallville, KS. Kent farmyard.} Clark sat the spaceship down, and helped Amanda out of the cockpit. "Are you all right? Did you get hit?" Amanda mentally checked herself over. "I'm fine. What was it they were shooting us with?" "I'm not sure. It didn't really affect me in any way. I wasn't sure about you and the ship." They looked it over and check the contents. Nothing seemed to be damaged. "I'm surprised," Amanda said. "With that kind of firepower, I was sure we were molten slag. Wonder how come nothing was damaged?" "I'm not sure. I have this theory. I've never had it verified. I think there is this aura that protects me. On occasion, I've felt like I've been able to extend it to things that are around me." Amanda looked at him with a rare open expression of awe. "You are amazing." Clark smiled shyly. "I'm going to... find someplace to stash this. I'll be right back." Two seconds later, he reappeared. "So, where are we? Smallville?" "Correct. This is the farm my parents owned. I inherited it when they... passed away. I've used the money from the Superman Foundation to fix it up. It had fallen into disrepair. I had sort of ignored it... too many painful memories." Amanda turned around and looked it over. The night sky twinkled with the lights of thousands of stars. "The sky is so clear!" "Yeah, you can see even more stars out in the field, away from the mercury-vapor light. I sort of use this as a haven. A place to get away from it all, be myself. I call it my Fortress of Solitude." "Oh, that's a sad-sounding name." Clark shrugged. "The story of my life. Sad." He looked at Amanda, the mercury-vapor light casting a silvery cast to her skin and hair. She looked at him, the sadness in his expression evident. "Till I met you. You've made things... better," Clark said. "Thanks." Somehow, the distance between them had shortened to the point where they were mere inches apart. "For what?" she asked. Clark smiled. "Just..." "Please, don't say it," she reached up and put her hand behind his neck, pulling his head closer to hers. The wind picked up and caused the old windmill to turn. The creaking and banging broke the moment, and Clark straightened up. Amanda shivered as the cool wind blew around her. Clark noticed she was cold. "I'll take you home now. Thanks for the wonderful supper." He picked her up. "Hold on!" "Wait! Let's take it a little slower this time. I want to enjoy the ride." "Yes, ma'am." *** {The next day 7:00 a.m. CST. A field outside Smallville, KS.} Clark stood perfectly still, eyes closed, letting the wind blow through his hair. The roar it made as it blew past his ears sounded wonderful to him. The south wind picked up into a gust for a few seconds, then settled back down into the ever-present breeze. He could feel the sunshine on his face, see it through his closed eye-lids. At this time of year, the wheat field Clark stood in was a brilliant green. The stalks of grass about a foot tall or so. The evenly spaced rows marching off into the distance for miles. Clark let his sense of smell and sound explore the surroundings. He could hear the birds singing away to each other. He could smell the young wheat he was standing in. The ground was moist after a brief April shower, and he could smell the earthy fragrances drifting in the wind. Clark kicked off his boots and socks, and stood barefoot in the field. The damp soil made an interesting contrast to the warmth of the sun. He flexed his toes and let the mud goosh between them. he thought to himself. He could hear his neighbor, Mr. Irig, driving his tractor in the next field over. If the condition of all Mr. Irig's fields were as good as the one Clark was in now, then Mr. Irig was going to have a good crop this year. Clark could see how everything looked, even though his eyes were closed. He built the mental picture from his memories and what his senses were telling him right now. He projected the image forward in time to around mid-June, early July. The tall, golden stalks of wheat, each with its own heavy head of granules swaying back and forth in the southerly wind. That southern wind was important to the life cycle of the wheat. It helped the sun dry the wheat out, assisting in the ripening of the wheat. Clark could see and smell the acres and acres of the golden sea before him. He could almost taste the grains of wheat, fresh off the stalk, coming out of the combines chute. He heard a car driving down the gravel country road about a half mile to his right. He could still hear Mr. Irig's tractor to his left. Overhead he could hear the birds, cutting and drifting in the ever-present wind. What few trees there were growing here, all bowed in respect to that southerly wind. Its constant pressure from one side caused most trees to grow leaning slightly to the north. A car door to his right caught his attention. Deputy Rachel Harris looked out into the field and saw the lone figure standing there. She smiled to herself and shook her head. "I thought it might be you," she said in a normal voice. "I'd recognize those slumped shoulders a mile away." She could almost see him smile. She waited for a minute, leaning against the fender of her cruiser. "Are you going to stay out there or are you going to come over here and talk?" Clark opened his eyes and blinked several times. He looked over in her direction and dropped his head. He bent over and picked up his socks and boots and started walking toward the car. "Oh come on, don't make me wait for you to walk over here. I need to talk to you, so hurry up. I know you can hear me," she crossed her arms over chest and waited. Clark smiled. Of course he could hear her. He continued to walk slowly, laughing while she mumbled and cursed at him under her breath. Rachel put her fingers up to her mouth and cut lose with a patented County Fair Champion Cow Calling, Ear-Splitting Whistle. "HURRY UP, SLOW POKE!" Clark grabbed his ears. "Rachel..." he growled. Instantly he was beside her. "Did you *have* to whistle like that?" He rubbed his ears gingerly. "I wanted you to hurry. I've got to go over to ol' Mrs. Harmon's and help her to the doctors," she looked at her watch. "Her appointment is at 9:00 a.m." She looked him over. Damn fine looking as usual. He was decked out in a pair of faded overalls. No shirt, no shoes. Just a pair of overalls that fit just right in all the right places. She noticed he had his glasses clipped in the front pocket of the bib. "What did you come around here for?" Clark asked. "We've had reports of someone walking around in the fields all morning. Since we've had a lot of reports of people snooping around lately, I thought I better check it out." Clark's brow furrowed. "People snooping around? What kind of people?" "Don't know... haven't caught them yet. Anyway, so... how are things with you? Something must be bothering you, I don't think I've seen you in a wheat field since the whole Superman thing exploded." Clark laughed. "It's been a while." "Clark, I'm here for you, you know?" She looked up at him. "If you want to talk, I'll listen." "Thanks, Rachel," Clark sighed. "It's just..." he looked down at the road and kicked a rock. "It's just that I'm not sure what I'm feeling. That's why I'm here. Things are so much simpler here. It helps me think." Rachel let the silence between them sit. "Been busy?" she finally asked. Clark nodded. "Sort of. Nothing out of the ordinary on the Superman front. I've been looking for Lois again." "Ooohhhh. Now I know why you're out here. Any luck?" "Some. I know where she went, and that she got there. I also know that everyone seems to want to keep something quiet over there. Then, last night, Amanda and I were checking out this government Agency and I found some... things." Rachel's ears perked up. "What did you find?" Clark looked at her seriously. He simply stared at her for a long moment. "We've been good friends for a long time, Rachel. I know you've felt more than friendship toward me at times. I'm glad I have a friend like you... I don't want to lose you." Rachel laughed nervously. "You won't lose me, Clark. You may not see me in the same way I see you, but we will *always* be friends." "I found a spaceship. It had my S-shield logo on it. I found a bunch of documentation, and other things. More importantly, I found a globe, a message device, that told me some things." He looked at her to see the effect this was having on her. So far, she was just looking at him wide-eyed. "It told me I was from the planet Krypton. It was a dying planet, and my birth parents sent me away in a spaceship to Earth so that I might have a chance to live." "Holy cow!" "Yeah. Holy cow. The government had this information for who knows how long. I'm not sure what they know about me. I haven't had the chance to go through it all yet." Rachel sat there for a moment, letting the news sink in. She had to admit it made sense. After what the world had learned when he went public with the Superman persona, everyone in town had been buzzing about it. Here was Clark Kent, orphan home-town boy, mild-mannered reporter, the strongest man in the world. Everyone had their theories about how he came to possess these powers. For a brief moment, the strongly religious-based community feared him. It quickly passed when everyone realized that Clark was still Clark. "Does this change things between us?" Clark asked. Rachel could hear the pleading in his voice. "No. You're still Clark in my eyes," she smiled. "Good! Other than you and a few other people here, Amanda is about the only one who treats me like you do. Just Clark." Rachel couldn't resist any longer. "Who's Amanda?" She tried to keep her voice sounding neutral, she really did. Clark became even moodier at the mention of her name. "She's... she's this woman who has been helping me look for Lois. She works at the Daily Planet in Archives." "What's wrong with her?" "What? Nothing, why?" "Well, as soon as I mentioned her, you got all moody. You've started pacing, and you're worrying your hands." Clark looked down and noticed what he was doing. He put his hands into the pockets of his overalls. "She makes me feel... strange." "I thought you just said she made you feel like 'Just Clark'?" "That's just it! She treats me like I'm anyone else. Most people don't do that. When I'm around her, I feel more relaxed, more *normal*. We work *together*. She doesn't expect me to be some miracle worker all the time. She does things *for* me." He had begun pacing again. His hands had come out of his pockets and were waving about as he talked. "She confuses me constantly. She's always babbling about something and then something brilliant will come out. She's stubborn and pigheaded. She always seems to get her way, no matter how hard I try to change things." He stopped in front of Rachel. "She's the one who found the warehouse, and insisted on going. We were shot at! She could have been hurt! I didn't want her to go, but somehow, she managed to get me to fly her over there." He started pacing again. "Maybe it was the chicken-fry. I should have known better than to go over there." "Ah, Clark?" "I thought we were just friends. But after last night, I'm not sure anymore," he continued. "One minute we're talking about our narrow escape, the next, I'm about to kiss her." "Clark?" "Why would I be doing that? I'm supposed to be looking for a Ms. Lois Lane -- reporter lost in the Congo. Love of my life, my destiny. Have I told you about her? She's the reason I'm Superman." "Clark!" Clark looked at her. "What?" "Now you're babbling. It's obvious to me. It breaks my heart to say it," she put a hand over her heart, "but you're in love." Clark's mouth opened and closed several times, with no sound coming out. "I can't be!" "Why not? Happens to the best of us. Not you and me, obviously, but..." she shrugged her shoulders. "I can't be though. That wouldn't be fair. I can't be in love with two women at the same time." Clark leaned back against the car. He looked completely lost. "Somehow, she got to me. Snuck up on me when I wasn't paying attention." "Oh come on! Don't make this out to be her fault, Mr. Gorgeous, Man of Steel, can sweep a woman off her feet... literally." "What do I do? I still love Lois Lane. It wouldn't be fair to Amanda." "Clark, talk to her. Maybe Amanda should decide for herself what's fair." Rachel looked at her watch. "I'm sorry, Clark. I've got to go get Mrs. Harmon." She patted him on the back. "If you want to talk some more, come by the office. If you ever feel like dumping those other two women, I can be packed in record time. No super-help needed," she smiled at him. Clark stood back and watched her car disappear over the hill. He turned and started walking back to the farm house. He looked up into the sky one more time, then spun into the Suit and was gone, heading east. *** ================================================================= End of Part 2 of 6. Continued in next e-mail... ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 09:51:44 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: Two Become One: Part 3 of 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #21) "TWO BECOME ONE" Part 3 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- {Same morning, Metropolis, 8:00 a.m. EST. Amanda Hart's apartment.} "Amanda? Are you in there?" Lucy pounded on the door to Amanda's apartment a little louder. Inside, she could hear someone moving around. <"Just a minute, just a minute! You don't have to break the door down."> The door opened to reveal a very tired, ruffled Amanda Hart. "Lucy? What on earth are you doing here so early in the morning?" "Early? Amanda, we were supposed to meet for breakfast over an hour ago. It's eight o'clock." "Eight!? Oh my gosh!" Amanda disappeared back into the apartment. Lucy came in through the open door, and shut it behind her. "Are you feeling okay?" Amanda was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. She held up a finger, letting Lucy know she needed a minute. Lucy looked around the apartment. The table was still set for two. The bed was in disarray. The dirty dishes were still in the sink. "Ah, Amanda? Did you have company last night?" She sat down at the foot of the bed. Amanda came into the room and went to the dresser and started grabbing things out of drawers. "I don't have time for a shower, darn it," she mumbled to herself. "Clark came over..." she disappeared back into he bathroom, still mumbling. "Looks like the two of you must have had a wild ride," Lucy played with the corner of the bedspread. Amanda came back out, dressing as she talked. "Oh! You have no idea. It was... fabulous. I knew when he picked me up in his arms what he had in mind. I asked him to take it slow, so I could enjoy the ride. 'Yes, ma'am!' he said." Amanda slipped her shirt over her head. Lucy's eyes were about to fall out of their sockets. "We went up and up and up. He made me feel as if I was floating on air. I started to get dizzy from the rush. The things he can do! I don't know if I will ever get used to it. I didn't want it to end. I wanted it to go on and on. Over and over." She started putting on her shoes. "He was only too happy to oblige. The man never seems to tire out. I was seeing stars... literally. They were everywhere. And the lights!" She stood up and paused, catching the look of total shock on her sister's face. "Lucy? Are you all right?" "I'm... I'm... I'm not sure. I think I need a cold shower." She stood up and started fanning herself. She felt the urge to look at the bed again, then felt embarrassed when she did. "I mean... you didn't have to tell me *everything*! I was only kidding." Amanda watched her, and realized what had happened. "Oh my God! No! No, no, no, no! We are not communicating here. What you think happened, didn't really happen. Honest." Lucy looked at her like she had grown two heads. "Come on, I mean... your bed... your *detailed* description. What am I supposed to think went on. You more or less described it to me in TechniColor detail." She walked over and opened a window. "Is it hot in here?" "Lucy! I was describing what it felt like when he took me flying last night." "I bet!" "Flying! As in what Superman does to move from point A to point B along the shortest path!" She thought back to what she had said, and tried to look at it from Lucy's perspective. Suddenly she burst out laughing. "It's not funny! Can you imagine what I was thinking, looking around this place? A table for two, obviously abandoned. Dirty dishes... a crumpled bed. I asked if it was a wild ride and you start describing the ride of a lifetime." She turned back to the window. "It was almost too much to take!" She bust out laughing as well. "Oh man... the look on your face," Amanda said through the tears. "It was priceless. I would have given anything to have that on film." "Laugh all you want, tease. I'll get you back when you least expect it." "No fair! I wasn't out to get you on anything. Your own, twisted little mind jumped to the wrong conclusions. I can't help it if you were in the gutter while I was in the sky." "My version had you in the sky as well," Lucy said. "Besides, I've never..." Amanda stopped short and turned around. Lucy gave her a peculiar look. "Amanda, are you saying you've never..." "Lots of people never. It's not that uncommon. Once, this guy named Claude tried to, but he was... unsuccessful." Amanda wrapped her arms around herself. "Another time was close. In the jungle, a man..." the words caught in her throat. The nightmare loomed on the horizon. Amanda swallowed the lump. "A man tried to take me. He'll never bother anyone again, though." Lucy stepped forward and put out her arm. "I'm sorry..." "Anyway... we never..." she waved her hand at the bed. "I just kept him out flying too late. By the time he brought me back, I was so exhausted from the adrenaline rush that I nearly fell asleep in the hallway. I probably only got a few hours sleep, total." "Have a good time?" Amanda recalled the near kiss at the farmyard. "It was wonderful." A tapping noise from the window brought complete silence to the room. "You hear that?" Lucy whispered. "Yes." The noise repeated itself. Lucy stepped away from the window as Amanda pulled back the curtain. There in front of her was the red and yellow stylized S-shield of the object of misunderstanding himself. "Oh," Amanda said in a small voice. She looked up into Clark's eyes. "Hello, Clark." "Hello, Amanda. I was on my way to the Daily Planet, when I noticed your window was open. I heard voices and decided to see if you might be running late and need a... ride." Lucy tried hard not to laugh, but the giggles came out just the same. Amanda was smiling so hard it hurt. She turned quickly from the window and shook her finger at Lucy. "Sssshhhh!!!" She turned back to Clark, and almost lost it again. Clark was thinking. The confused look on his face was so adorable. "I'm sorry, Clark. Why don't you... I'll be ready in just a moment. I'll just be a second." Clark looked over her shoulder and saw Lucy trying to hold back some laughter. "Lucy? Lucy Lane?" "Oh, yes, this is Lucy... Lane. She's a good... friend of mine." "Right!" Lucy said a bit too quickly. She glanced nervously at Amanda. "We are good fish friends." "We both like tropical fish," Amanda explained. "Can I come in?" Clark asked. He had floated a little closer to the window. "Sure! Sure, come right in." Clark floated through the window, then settled down to the floor. "Can I borrow your bathroom?" he asked. Amanda just stared at him. "I need to... change," he fingered the cape. "Oh! Sure, go right on in." Superman entered the bathroom, closing the door. Immediately it opened again, and Clark stepped out, dressed in slacks and a shirt. He had his glasses on. "In a way, it's a good thing you're here Lucy, I was going to come by and talk to you today." He looked at Amanda. "Funny, you never mentioned you knew Lois Lane's sister, even after you knew what I was looking for." His tone of voice was accusing. "Oh, that's my fault, Superma- er, Clark," Lucy jumped in. "I asked her to not say anything. When she told me you were looking for Lois again, I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to you." "Why not?" "You've already come by several times. I can't tell you any more than I already have. I want you to find my sister more than anything," she glanced at Amanda, "especially now. I'm just afraid to hope." Clark listened to her heartbeat. He listened to Amanda's next. Both were within acceptable ranges. He got the feeling they were hiding something from him, but he had nothing to back this feeling up. "I just want to find her... to put an end to this whole thing," Clark walked over and sat down on a chair at the dining table. The evident pain caused Amanda to take a step forward, like she had reached a decision. "Clark..." He looked up, a strange expression on his face. "I've got to go." He stood up and spun into the Suit. "I'll see you later at the Planet. Sorry I couldn't take you." Then he was gone. "Wow!" Lucy stood looking at the spot he had just occupied. "That suit change is amazing!" Amanda walked over and shut the window. "You were about to tell him," Lucy said. "Yes." "Are you ready for that?" *** MOO {Undisclosed location of Agency 38} Colonel Johan Trask sat in his make-shift office, going over the information on the alien known as Superman. It had been wise to make copies of the information they had already developed. There wasn't much he could do about the loss of equipment. The ship had held the most promise. He cursed to himself again at the thought of the lost items. He turned his chair toward the video monitor behind him. On screen was the frozen image of the woman who had been with the alien. He pulled out a photograph of Lois Lane, taken when the alien had made his public appearance in the outlandish suit it wore. "So, Clark. Someone else is helping you now." He put the photograph away and rewound the tape. Again, he watched as the alien known as Superman moved at super-speed and collected everything his agency had on it. Even using the special equipment they had, the cameras were barely able to keep up with the alien's movements. Who was this woman, and why was she helping him? How had they found Agency 38's warehouse? He reached over and picked up the phone. He dialed a number and waited. "Hello. I need to know the identity of someone. Yes." He hung up the phone. Within minutes, someone knocked. Trask ushered in the assistant and handed them a photograph of the woman on the video. The assistant nodded and left. Trask was just about to sit down, when his phone rang. "Yes? Good. I can bring it up now? Thank you." He hung up the phone and sat down at his workstation. He logged on, and brought up a map of the country. A little red dot blinked quietly over a region of northeastern Kansas. Trask picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Congratulations on getting this to work. You will be rewarded... assuming the ship and the globe are there." He hung up the phone and used the mouse to zoom in on the red, blinking dot. "Gotcha." Again he picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Prepare a recovery team: destination northeastern Kansas." *** ================================================================= End of Part 3 of 6. Continued in next e-mail... ================================================================= Jeff Brogden jwbrogden@bigfoot.com http://www.bigfoot.com/~jwbrogden/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 09:52:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jeff Brogden Subject: Two Become One: Part 4 of 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----------------------------------------------------------------- (TUFS -- Episode #21) "TWO BECOME ONE" Part 4 of 6 By Jeff Brogden (jwbrogden@bigfoot.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------- {Metropolis. Daily Planet Archives.} Clark walked into the Archive Room, carrying a stack of steaming bamboo baskets. "Hello? Amanda, are you here?" She stepped out from behind some shelves. "Over here." "I brought something to eat. I've been away a lot today with Superman things, so I thought you might like something special." Amanda came over to where he was setting out the different dishes. "What is it? It smells wonderful." "Authentic Chinese food. I know how much you like Chinese, so I thought -- why not get the best?" "Hmmm. Thank you." She sat down and started eating after he had finished setting everything out. "Sorry I've left you searching on your own. Find anything?" Amanda swallowed her food. "No problem. I've been following what's been going on over in India. Senseless." Clark grunted his agreement. Amanda picked up some papers and handed them to Clark. "Here is everything I've found on Agency 38 and what they might have been doing in Zaire back in 1993. The information you got, about a drug trial, seems funny. Why would everyone go through so much trouble over a supposed drug smuggler?" Clark leafed through the papers. He didn't even use super-speed. There just wasn't that much to go through. "This is it? That's all?" Amanda nodded. "So far." Clark flopped the papers down and sighed. "Why would they arrest her for drug smuggling, then try so hard to cover it up? You're right. There has got to be more." He ate some more. "I know they had a trial. I know she was found guilty. I find that hard to believe." "You should," Amanda mumbled. "What?" "Nothing. I don't think she would have done that. There is nothing to indicate she was that type of person." "Right. Where the trail ends is back at the prison. She goes in, then she's never seen again."