From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG9811D" ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 21:42:18 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eilonwy Jamison Subject: LnC sound track MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Is there a LnC soundtrack? While going through all of the LexFiles for a second time today I noticed there were some pretty neat songs. There is also the song in the alt world by REM, and some others I can't remember right at the moment because my sister is singing in my ear. Well, you'll hopefully hear more from me soon. A young devoted LnC Fan, Eilonwy Jamison ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 07:08:46 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Somewhat off topic... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In my last installment of Dawning, I mentioned the volcano outside of Mexico City, Popocateptl. It is currently (708am, Mountain time, Nov 22) *very* active. If you can see pictures via your browser, check http://www.cenapred.unam.mx/UIVR.html or for a review, http://www.cenapred.unam.mx/~jfg/cgi-bin/reporte/repo.sh.cgi Debby :) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 13:36:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Regina Gilchrist Ash Subject: copy of Futuresport available sans commercials Comments: To: loiscla@vm.ege.edu.tr MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi, FoLC, My life is incredibly hectic right now (aren't they all?!?) but I noticed that I still have the tape of Futuresport, no commercials, very high quality, and it's available for anyone who's interested in having it for the cost of the tape (around $2-Maxell silver) and shipping ($3 priority in US.) It'll be first come, first answered...so LMK if you're interested. I'm nomail right now, so you'll have to reply to my personal email address to get noticed :) Thanks, Regina Regina Ash rashtchr@bigplanet.com ******************************************************************** Science, sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic. -Arthur C. Clarke ******************************************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 15:58:41 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Madden Subject: Re: LnC sound track Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Eilonwy, Yes! There is a Lois and Clark soundtrack. It's all instrumental, though, no lyric songs. But nonetheless, it's very good, and if you want to learn more about it, there's a site on it here: http://www.sonicimages.com/soundtracks/loisclark/ Check it out! -Rachel :) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 13:24:19 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peace Everett Subject: Re: Funny Fanfics? In-Reply-To: <3.0.1.32.19981121210632.0069fe58@mail.geocities.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > At 08:58 PM 11/21/98 -0500, Maggie wrote: > >so anyway, it got me to > >thinking, there are many fanfics we all know and love, but what are = the > >fanfics that make you Laugh Out Loud? and Beverly replied: > I've always thought Quick Change by Carla Humbert is the funniest fanfi= c. Got to agree with you there -- this story has me ROFLMHO every time!! But then again, there's Beverly's own "Lois's Revenge/Clark's Response" which quick tickle my funny bone! And Sandy McDermin's "Love As a Blonde" is hysterical (and I think it's also nfic, so probably not in the archive). And if you're noticing that all three of these stories were nominated for Kerths this year for Best Comedy, well, there was a reason why!! Peace A FoLC Named Peace Lois & Clark fanfic and a personal love story http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/7137 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 17:51:12 -0600 Reply-To: alyssam@earthlink.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alyssa Mondelli Organization: Deceive, Inveigle, & Obfuscate, Attorneys-at-Law Subject: S6: Episode 1 now airing Comments: cc: loiscla@vm.ege.edu.tr MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit You've waited all summer, and now it's finally here: the first episode of Season 6, Barbara and Pam Jernigan's "Strained Relations." Lois and Clark have brought baby Laura home, but of course things in Metropolis can't go smoothly for *too* long. Enter a labor strike, daycare problems, and Lex Luthor to make life difficult for our favorite family. And more trouble is right around the corner... "Strained Relations" is available at the Season 6 website: http://tempus.simplenet.com/season6/ or try the text version at http://tempus.simplenet.com/season6/s6text.htm Go forth and read, and don't forget to send feedback; writers live for that. ==Alyssa in St. Paul== (alyssam@earthlink.net) Webmistress, Tempus Expeditions - http://tempus.simplenet.com University of St. Thomas graduate in 26 days "You mean I'm *right*?!" --Daniel Jackson, Stargate SG-1 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 20:19:24 -0500 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: Tracked = Dogboys MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Kathy, Thanks for the response. I was guessing by the title that it was Dogboys.= I don't subscribe to Showtime so I didn't see it but I watched it scrambled= and = heard it pretty good but I will be off to my Blockbuster to get a copy to= view! thanks again. Donna ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 20:21:05 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lansbury 1 Subject: Writer's Showcase Comments: To: LOISCLA@VM.EGE.EDU.TR Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi, It's that time again. The Writer's Showcase has a new Featured Writer of the Week. I hope you will enjoy reading about this wonderfully talented writer. You can check out the interview at the following URL. http://www.simplyorganized.simplenet.com/showcase.html If you would like to suggest someone for the Writer's Showcase please do so. Annie Lansbury ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 19:25:15 -0500 Reply-To: nightsky@erols.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Subject: Re: Funny Fanfics? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Peace Everett wrote: > > > And Sandy McDermin's "Love As a Blonde" is hysterical (and I think it's > also nfic, so probably not in the archive). It's not in the archives, but those of you over 18 can find it at Sandy's website ____________________________________________________________________ Genevieve Clemens Lots of great stuff on my webpage For everything you want to know about Superman: in comics, cartoons, television, or movies; from Bud Collyer to Dean Cain -- check out THE SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 20:38:36 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Maggie Subject: Re: Tracked = Dogboys MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit **warning** DeanRadar has received reports that the movie is available at Selected Blockbusters--sooooo, you may want to call before you trek to the store. :o) Maggie maggie13@bellsouth.net (aka supermags on IRC) "Yeah, well, just remember there are no perfect sunsets. There's a little crack in every cloud, that's what gives you your silver lining." ~Perry White, Editor In Chief, Daily Planet ---------- From: Donna Lehman <102262.2435@COMPUSERVE.COM> To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Subject: Tracked = Dogboys Date: Sunday, November 22, 1998 8:19 PM Kathy, Thanks for the response. I was guessing by the title that it was Dogboys. I don't subscribe to Showtime so I didn't see it but I watched it scrambled and heard it pretty good but I will be off to my Blockbuster to get a copy to view! thanks again. Donna ---------- ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 19:36:52 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (1/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Characters in this episode are copyrighted by DC Comics, December 3rd Production and Warner Brothers. No infringement is intended in any part by the author or the Season 6 group, however, the ideas expressed within this episode are copyrighted (c) 1998 to the author(s). _____________________________ STRAINED RELATIONS Season 6, Episode 1 By Barbara (bml44@AOL.com) and Pam Jernigan (jernigan@compuserve.com) Rated PG Original Air Date: November 22, 1998 ________________________ Previously on Lois and Clark, Season 5: Episode 22, "It's Time" (by Pam Jernigan) "One more big push, Lois," the nurse reminded her, and she complied. As the doctor and nurse steadied the baby's head, it turned, and the shoulders slipped free. Once that wide point was clear, the rest of the infant slid out easily, and Lois relaxed, sobbing with happiness. A higher note joined in, as the baby found its lungs. "Listen to that," Dr. McGrath exclaimed in satisfaction. "And let's see ... Lois, Clark ... Congratulations, you have a daughter." ***** "Time of birth," Judy called out, looking at the large wall clock, "1:53am, Tuesday August 18th. She's got a healthy cry, and her skin is a nice pink." "Six pounds, 12 ounces!" an anonymous blue-gowned figure announced. "And 18 inches long." Another nurse wrapped the squalling baby in a diaper, some plain cotton clothes, and a receiving blanket, putting a cap on her tiny head as well, for good measure. Preliminary observations done, Judy picked up the newest Kent and carried her over to her parents. "She had an Apgar score of nine out of ten, Lois, that means she's very healthy. Smaller than I'd have thought, especially for an overdue baby, but there's nothing wrong with that." Lois held out her arms to receive the noisy bundle, paying little attention to the nurse. "Hello, little treasure," she cooed softly, and was rewarded by an abatement of the baby's cries. Tiny eyes fluttered open, seeking the source of the familiar sound. "Do you know my voice, precious? You've been hearing it for months, haven't you?" Lois crooned, in a tone of voice she barely recognized, herself. It seemed to reassure the baby, however. Clark leaned over and tentatively stroked one of the baby's cheeks with his forefinger. "Hi there ... I'm your daddy, and this is your mommy." The baby's head moved jerkily towards the contact, and her mouth opened in an "o". "Ah, I've heard about that rooting reflex," Lois chuckled gently. "Let's see if we can put that to work." Awkwardly, she shrugged one shoulder out of her gown and put the baby to her breast. The infant needed help maneuvering into position, but then latched on with an eagerness that surprised Lois. "Oh!" "Does that hurt, honey?" Clark asked anxiously. They had agreed that breastfeeding would be the best start they could give to their child, but neither of them was entirely convinced that it would work. "Nooo ... not really," Lois responded cautiously. "It's just strange, that's all. Look at her go!" For a moment, the newborn suckled with enthusiasm, but then she seemed to lose interest, and relinquished her grip in favor of looking around. "Clark, would you like to hold her?" Gingerly, Clark picked up the tiny bundle; even supporting her neck, he scarcely needed more than two hands to hold her. "She hardly weighs anything," he whispered, awed. Lois covered herself up again. Modesty had momentarily lost all meaning, but she was beginning to feel chilled. One of the nurses, anticipating this common reaction, wordlessly placed a heated blanket over the new mother's lap. Looking down, Lois noticed with vague surprise that the doctor seemed to be done. She looked around the room, trying to assess what was happening, but she was interrupted by Clark's excited whisper. "Lois, she's looking at me!" She looked over at her husband, and realized that the baby did, indeed, seem to be staring straight into her father's face, a serious expression on her tiny features. "She's checking you out," Lois replied, laughing softly. At the sound, the baby closed her eyes briefly, and reopened them to stare directly at her mother. Lois, in turn, submitted to the infant's examination. "Yes, honey, we're your parents. This is what we look like. This is what you're stuck with." The baby, of course, offered no comment, but after a long moment, she closed her eyes and appeared to drift off to sleep. Clark looked at his wife, his eyes glowing with love. "I think we passed." "I love you, Clark." "I love you, too." ***** "What did you name her?" "That's what I was just asking," Ellen replied, not quite able to conceal her impatience. "Maybe now they'll tell us." "Okay, okay," Lois laughed. "Now that everyone's here, we can announce it." "It was a tough choice," Clark interpolated. "We discussed a lot of names over the past few months." "And then I remembered a story you'd told me, Martha." Lois smiled at her mother-in-law. Martha frowned inquisitively, and Lois turned to explain things to her parents. "See, when Martha and Jonathan took Clark in, as a baby, Martha's family jumped to the conclusion that he was the, um," she glanced sideways, unsure if she were about to reopen old wounds. "Unfortunate side-effect of a youthful indiscretion." "You mean a bastard," Sam spoke up helpfully. "Most likely a teenage pregnancy; those weren't too acceptable in the early 60s." He looked around at the array of disgusted looks. "What? What'd I say?" "Anyway," Lois persevered, "Martha's family thought that she was doing something bad instead of something good, and they cut her off -- refused to have anything to do with her. Except for her favorite aunt." Jonathan put an arm around his wife as Martha started smiling, seeing where this was going. "This aunt, see, she stayed in contact, and visited whenever she could. She was pretty much Clark's only extended family on that side, and he loved her a lot." Lois' voice softened. "She died 20 years ago, but she's still remembered very fondly. And when I heard about her, I knew that's the sort of woman I wanted my daughter to be. Someone loving, but strong, too. Someone who will do the right thing, no matter what." Clark smiled tenderly at his wife. "With you as a mother, Lois, how could she be anything but?" "Well, anyway," she blushed, "We agreed that this would be a great name for our daughter." Lois declared, then gestured for her husband to do the big announcement. Clark smiled broadly. "Everyone, say hello to ... Laura Lane Kent." ***** STRAINED RELATIONS Season 6, Episode 1 By Barbara (bml44@AOL.com) and Pam Jernigan (jernigan@compuserve.com) Tuesday, October 20, 3:05am Clark landed softly in the living room of their brownstone, carefully closing the window behind him, not wanting to wake Lois or Laura. Floating up the stairs to bed, he was drawn, as always, by the light spilling from his daughter's room. 'His daughter,' he thought with a grin. Walking into the nursery, he was immediately captivated by the sight before him. Sitting in the rocking chair was his beautiful wife, the mother of his child, softly lit by a solitary nightlight. She had obviously been awakened to feed Laura. Both Lois and Laura had since drifted off to sleep, still gently moving to a rhythm heard only by mother and child. He knew he should wake Lois and return Laura to her crib, but he couldn't draw his eyes from this miracle before him. Most men seemed to take it for granted that they would someday marry and have children. Most normal men, that is. It was this one simple thing that a *super* man most dearly desired, something he had never quite allowed himself to believe would ever happen. Marrying Lois had been the greatest gift he could have ever imagined. And now to be married to Lois and to be a father? It had kept him on a perpetual high from which he hoped never to fall. During his musings, Laura had stirred and awakened Lois from her dozing. She looked up and saw Clark smiling at them. Taking in his outfit, she grinned. "I didn't know Superman considered 3:00am feedings an emergency," she whispered, smiling up at him. Looking down at the suit he still wore, he smiled back at her. "I forgot I still had this thing on. I was just on my way to change and I saw the two of you...." Clark lost his train of thought, captivated by Lois' movements. Lois had made the decision to breastfeed Laura as long as she could. It wasn't something Clark had felt comfortable giving an opinion on one way or the other when they had discussed it. He had read as many books on child development as he could find while Lois was pregnant and they all recommended breastfeeding for its multitude of benefits for both mother and child. But he was asking so much of Lois just to be willing to have his child. They really couldn't be certain if they would have a *super* baby and what effect that might have on Lois. After watching all she had gone through for almost ten months having their child, this seemed like too much to ask. He had decided it would have to be her decision. One which she had made so quickly it shocked even Lois. But then why should he be surprised? This was typical Lois-think. If you are going to do something, then you do it 1000 percent. And if the baby manuals recommended breastfeeding, even if it meant she would be *on call* every 2 hours for months, then that's what she would do. And to his surprise, Lois had seemed to take this imposition in her life, in her career, as a gift. Lois shared a bond with their child that he would never know. He had watched this bond develop, watched the look of peace, understanding, and unconditional love pass between mother and child and he could only be envious of this special connection. A combination of wifely love and reporter's intuition allowed Lois to sense what Clark was thinking. Smiling softly, she slowly rose and made her way to him. Reaching up, she placed a soft kiss on his lips and whispered, "You may not share this with Laura, but there will be a million things the two of you will share that I won't be able to." Clark pulled the two of them into his arms, careful not to wake Laura. "And here I thought only Kryptonians could read minds...." Lois giggled. "Well, I don't know about the rest of the Kryptonians, but I've never had any trouble with a *certain* Kryptonian." "That's an understatement. You won't be passing this ability on to Laura, now will you?" Pulling from his embrace, Lois bent over the crib and put Laura down, settling her in the blankets. Once certain that she was safely asleep, Lois walked back to Clark and led him to their room. "No, I think there are a few tricks I'll save just for you...." Grinning, Clark caught the tone in her voice. Picking her up and carrying her down the hall, he smiled down at her. "I should hope so. Isn't that what got us into this in the first place...." ***** Early morning, Amalgamated Transport Co. main warehouse. "Um, excuse me?" Jimmy tried in vain to attract someone's attention amidst the hustle on the warehouse floor as the morning shift took over from those who'd been working all night. He'd never visited ATC's facilities before, so he wasn't quite sure where he was going. "I'm looking for a friend...?" Several workers hurried past him, engaged in a spirited discussion. They didn't seem to notice him. "His name's Nick Fleming, just coming off the night shift, if you know him...." Now that he'd gotten a little further into the area, he noticed that the people there weren't just ignoring him. They also seemed to be ignoring their jobs, standing clustered around the floor, talking and gesturing. He drifted closer to one group, curious in spite of himself. He couldn't quite make out the gist of the discussion, but it quickly became clear that they were angry. And from the suspicious looks that some of them were directing his way, it seemed very possible that they could, with very little excuse, turn that anger in his direction. He was suddenly glad that he'd worn his old flannel shirt instead of the newer, more professional wardrobe he'd assumed lately. "Are you with us?" Jimmy turned, startled, as a heavy hand came down on his shoulder. A wiry older man faced him, a mean look in his eye, standing closer than Jimmy liked. "Are you with us?" the man repeated, squeezing Jimmy's shoulder. "Or are you against us?" "With, definitely," Jimmy replied hastily, shifting uneasily beneath the old guy's hand. It seemed wise to humor the guy, and besides, his budding reporter's nose was smelling a story. "Do I look like the type of guy who'd be against you?" The older man squinted at him for a long moment more, then twitched up a corner of his lip, in what was probably meant as a smile. "Nah, nah, I reckon not. Good then, you can come along to the meeting." He shifted his grip on Jimmy's shoulder and steered him further into the interior of the warehouse, following other employees through a door near the back. "I was actually looking for my friend," Jimmy offered. "Do you know Nick Fleming?" The old guy cocked his head in thought for a moment, then shook it. "Nope, don't reckon I do. He'll likely be at the meeting, though. Everyone will." This was getting weird, thought Jimmy. Every time the guy mentioned this meeting, he got a funny far-off expression. Almost worshipful. "I didn't know there was going to be a meeting today," he ventured cautiously. "It's special. Mr. Hughes is gonna speak." "Mr. Hughes?" "Don't you know Mr. Hughes, boy?" The old man appeared shocked. "Everybody oughtta know Mr. Hughes; he's important. He's the leader. How come you don't know him? Maybe you are against us, after all...." "No, no, not at all," Jimmy reassured his companion, trying to stave off renewed paranoia. "It's just ... uh, I've been sick...." "Ah, well, that 'splains it then. You'll know Mr. Hughes soon. You'll like him." The old man's eyes glowed with conviction. "He's gonna save us all." ***** Lois had never been a morning person and mornings seemed to get worse after being up late caring for an infant. As much as she loved her daughter, she would willingly trade 100 Double Fudge Crunch bars right now for just a little more sleep. Hearing the insistent cries of her daughter in the baby monitor, she groggily pulled herself up to make her way to the nursery. Looking over, she saw that Clark was already gone. Just as she was about to get out of bed, Clark entered, cooing at Laura in the crook of his arm. Seeing that Lois was awake, he sat down beside her on their bed. Reaching over in a familiar gesture, he gently caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Good morning, beautiful," he whispered. Reaching for the squalling baby, she looked away, mumbling, "Yeah, I'm sure I look wonderful." Clark gently tipped her head upwards, looking her straight in the eye to emphasize his words. "You always look beautiful." Lois smiled, still amazed by his unconditional acceptance. "Leave it to you to overlook these dark circles under my eyes. Hold still, baby," she shushed Laura, "Mama's gonna feed you in just one second...." Clark watched as Lois finally got everything where it should be so that the hungry baby could begin nursing. "Honey, I know how much sleep you've had in the last few months. And I know how hard it's been for you to stay home with Laura, watching me leave for work each morning. I feel bad leaving you here...." "Clark, it's okay." Looking up at him, she continued. "I wouldn't trade the time I've shared with Laura for anything in the world. Even when I was pregnant, I never knew I could feel so ... so attached to someone." Looking down at the baby, she ran her hand across her daughter's soft cheek. "I never thought I could do this. Even with you and Martha telling me I would be a good mother, I never thought it was really true. I mean, look how long it took for me to realize how much I loved you. I was so afraid I would screw this up. That I will screw this up." Clark was shocked. How could she still have doubts? Pulling Lois back to his gaze, he tried to quell her fears. "Lois, relax. I mean, I have super hearing and you hear her before I do. How can you doubt that you're a wonderful mother?" "Of course I'm able to take care of her now. Fortunately for her, I came with the right equipment and nursing's been easy for us. I mean, she's just lucky I don't have to cook for her. But what about when she gets older? She'll expect me to know how to do things ... to ... to know things. What do I do then?" "Lois, please don't ever forget that we're in this together. You might've had to bear the brunt of caring for her up until now. I mean, I'm Superman, but even I can't fight biology," he grinned, trying to lighten the mood. "But we are always going to be there for her. The fact that we are having this conversation...." Lois joined in him completing his thought. "...shows how much you care. Yeah, yeah, I remember. Just keep telling me that, okay." "I'll tell you as often as you need. Just like you did to convince me that I would be a good father." "Well, you're a natural, Clark. Maybe some of it'll rub off on me." "Lois, you are a natural, too." Reaching over, he placed his hand over Lois' where it rested against their daughter's cheek. "Laura doesn't have any complaints. And now that she is a little older, I want to be there for her more, too. I know you are dying to get back to work." "Not as much as I thought I would be, actually," she interjected, in a faintly surprised tone. "I was afraid I'd go crazy, staying home by myself with a baby, but it's been really nice.... Well, apart from never getting more than four hours of sleep at a time, being spit up on daily, and changing diapers. That stuff isn't really emotionally rewarding, if you know what I mean." She tipped her head to the side and grinned. "I guess I am dying to get back to work, after all -- if only to get some rest!" Clark laughed softly. "Well, I've been thinking a lot about day care, since your leave is up pretty soon -- you're supposed to go back November 3rd, right?" At her morose nod, he continued, "Mom has agreed to keep helping out until she and Dad leave for their trip cross country, but I get the feeling they'd like to get going pretty soon." "Yeah, me too. They keep looking at their maps and re-reading those brochures they've gotten from all kinds of historic places across the country -- did you know that Jonathan borrowed my laptop the other day, to surf the Internet? One of the information packets they got had a website address, and he wanted to check it out. I had to help him a little, to get used to my browser, but he picked it right up and was on there for hours...." Clark shook his head. "That's my dad. He's really looking forward to this trip." "They both are," she confirmed. "We really shouldn't keep them from it any longer. So what are we going to do with the Laura-monster?" He gave her a stern glance but refrained from correcting the nickname. "I've been thinking about that work-sharing plan thing we'd heard about. What do you think about the two of us sharing this responsibility? Both you and I can work a four-day week. We can each stay with her one day during the week -- we'll get someone else to watch her the other three days; probably my Mom. That will give us a little more time before we have to get her into day care." "Your parents have been wonderful, leasing the farm to the Halls and moving here. But Clark..." Lois frowned, concerned. "How are you going to stay home with her? What happens when someone needs you?" He shrugged, flashing a pained smile. "We might be able to work out some emergency back-ups, eventually, but ... I have to have priorities, Lois. You and Laura-babe are my priorities. I can't be everywhere at once, and this is where I want to be." Lois knew how much he wanted this to work out. It was always such a paradox to her that all this incredible man wanted was just to be normal . She, on the other hand, had always aspired to greatness, but when you got right down to it, 'normal' did have its appeal. She couldn't deny him or herself the opportunity to see if it was possible. "Okay, Clark." She smiled, starting to feel more hopeful about the situation. "I mean, I know babies her age are put in daycare all the time, but I was just dreading it ... the less time she spends with strangers, the happier I'll be." Her voice became more upbeat as she shifted into practical mode. "I'll check with Martha this morning and see when they plan to leave on their trip. Why don't you talk to Perry about our work schedule and we can compare notes over lunch. You are bringing us lunch, aren't you?" "Would I miss an opportunity to spend time with the two most beautiful ladies in the world?" Lois laughed and leaned back against his shoulder. "You are such a suck-up, Kent, but it works for you." "Well, Kent," he teased back, "I haven't had any complaints so far." "Yeah, well, before this all goes to your head, don't forget you are still supplying my breakfast." Clark leaned down and placed a soft kiss first on his daughter's cheek and then lingered against his wife's lips. "That was the deal. You supply Laura's breakfast and I supply yours." Getting up, he smiled as he headed out the door. "Two Omelets-a-la-Kent coming right up." Looking down into the fluttering eyes of her daughter, she leaned back and sighed, smiling to herself. 'Well, Laura,' she thought. 'You may not have perfect parents, but your father is about as close as it gets.' ***** end part 1, cont'd in part 2 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 19:37:16 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (2/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" So this Mr. Hughes will "save us all", huh? Jimmy thought skeptically as he was steered into a large interior room. The space was filling up rapidly, but the real attraction was a raised platform against the far wall. Instinctively, he moved towards it, trying to get a better view, wishing he'd brought his camera. There were two rows of folding chairs and a makeshift podium with some wires dangling that probably indicated a microphone. A small group of people began ascending the platform, led by a heavy-set man in workman's clothing. "Hey, Jimbo, you made it!" Jimmy turned to see his friend Nick approaching. "Nick! Man, what's going on here?" Nick was a wiry young man, his Greek heritage clearly visible in his dark coloring and features. He glanced around uneasily, and leaned close to confide in a low voice. "There's talk about a strike, and people are getting *really* worked up." "So, what are the grievances? I mean, I don't know much about strikes, but I guess people would get worked up--" "That's just it, Jim; the grievances are, like, nothing! We had the same kind of issues with last year's contract, and it was no problem -- but they're talking them up like they're the end of the world. Something screwy's going on here, and it's got me worried." Jimmy considered that briefly. Nick had worked at Amalgamated for four years, like his dad had before him, and he was not the excitable type; Jimmy had known him since high school. Neither Nick nor Jimmy had attended college, choosing instead to get "real" jobs; the handicaps of that choice had forged a close bond between them. "I don't know what I can do about anything, but ... Okay, Nick, I'll stick around for a while. We'll see what we see." "You're a pal." Nick flashed a nervous grin, then turned his attention towards a movement on the stage. "I think they're about to get started." ***** Clark sat at his desk, dutifully typing up his notes from the morning's press conference. Lois had been on leave for over two months now, but he still missed her presence in the newsroom; turning unconsciously towards her desk to share some new speculation or just to get her view on some troublesome point. Right now, he'd appreciate her opinion on when would be the best time to approach Perry about the work-sharing plan. The editor had been holed up in his office all morning, handling phone calls and doing paperwork; reviewing the monthly expense reports always put him in a foul mood. Then again, the news that Lois was ready to come back *should* improve his mood somewhat ... Clark stood, prepared to beard the lion in his den, when Perry surprised him by emerging from his office and bellowing across the newsroom. "Alright, people, I want to know why no one has gotten me a story on the Amalgamated Transport work slowdown? Shipments coming in and out of Metropolis are already falling behind, and I'm hearing rumors of a full-blown strike, possibly as soon as today. There's a big story here, boys and girls, and if we don't get it, I will know the reason why!" He glowered around the newsroom, until his glance fell upon a suitable target. "Jamison," he continued, in a deceptively quiet voice, "I thought that was your specialty; I get enough expense vouchers for your lunches with labor leaders!" Jamison swallowed, then stood to reply. "Sir, they're not talking. I've tried everything, but--" "Try harder!" Perry snapped back. "And the rest of you ... I want you to pull every string you've got, every trick in the book, and get me that story!" ***** "They want us to cut back on our sick days. They want us to give up our vacation. They want us to pay more for inferior health care!" Hughes strode tirelessly across the stage, his intense gaze sweeping through the crowd. "They want *us* to sacrifice, so *they* can profit! Are you willing to hurt your children in order to pad their bottom line?" He paused, waiting for a response. He was not disappointed. The crowd roared "NO", worked into a near frenzy by the past hour's impassioned speech. Jimmy shook his head slightly, amazed at the performance he was watching. Hughes was a compelling speaker, and he had this audience eating out of the palm of his hand. Jimmy was almost ready to storm the managerial castle, himself, but he struggled to maintain his journalistic detachment. Years of research, and of working with Lois and Clark, had taught him to *never* take things on face value. "Yet what power do we have, brothers?" Hughes continued persuasively. "We are the downtrodden, the overlooked. Metropolis society won't acknowledge us, in their fancy houses and stretch limousines. The politicians take us for granted, and accept money from the rich! Even the newspapers turn us a deaf ear; not one journalist has agreed to talk to us. Not one!" Impulsively, Jimmy scrambled up on top of his chair, and yelled out, "Jimmy Olsen, Daily Planet -- I'll listen to you!" He fumbled around his belt and pulled out his press pass, displaying it to the crowd. They roared approval, but Jimmy noticed that Hughes was barely suppressing a frown. "Come up here, young man," the labor leader called out. As the crowd parted to let Jimmy through, Hughes continued his speech. "My brothers and sisters, this is a brave man, and we salute him! Even though he works for the enemy, his courage may yet win the day; his editor may be forced to publish his words -- if all of you do your parts!" He helped Jimmy climb up onto the front of the stage, posing with him as he continued. "We need for you to all contact the Daily Planet -- let them know that you want this story covered fully. Our story needs to be told, and together we have the power to let the world know!" He paused once again as cheers erupted, and as he waited for the ruckus to die down, he bent over to get face-to-face with Jimmy. "If you'll sit down right back there, I'll give you a full interview as soon as the rally is over. You're a brave man." Jimmy saw the look in his eyes and shivered. For whatever reason, this man was not happy about getting press coverage. He nodded shortly and retreated to a seat near the back of the stage, next to a few other labor leaders. Hughes continued his speech, with the passion of an old-fashioned pastor at a revival. "Yes, friends, together we have power. If we stand together, the mighty Daily Planet will print the story they don't want to print. And if we stand fast, in unity, we can force those bloodsuckers in management to pay us decent wages and to give us proper benefits! But we must stand together! Are you with me?" "Yes!" "Are you sure? The road may be difficult, but we must have resolve and courage! Are you resolved?" "Yes!" "Then, my friends, we have no choice but to declare ... a strike!" "Strike, strike, strike!" ***** Lois put Laura down after feeding her, and headed for her laptop, cup of tea in hand. She and Clark had created a list of seemingly acceptable day care centers while she was pregnant but Lois hadn't felt comfortable choosing a center when she herself was still so unsure about how to care for her baby. If she intended to go back to work soon, however, her time was running out, so it was time to get down to business. They'd spent days researching centers and had come up with a short list of their top five choices. All were accredited and met Metropolis and federal standards. Two were recommended by several of her coworkers and the others had long reputations in the city. They had pre-registered Laura for admission. Now they just needed to decide which one would be best for her. She planned to call all five and set up an appointment for her and Clark to interview them, now that she had a better idea of the important questions to ask. They would only accept the best for Laura. Much to her surprise, the first four were very willing to set up an appointment, but only one had an available space. And that space wouldn't be available for six months. She was dialing the last one on her list, the Winky Tink School, when she heard Martha knock on the door before entering. She waved for Martha to enter, then returned to her phone call. She got right to the point when they answered, and was somehow not surprised by the response. "A waiting list, I see. So filling out the pre-admission forms was, what, a cruel joke on your part? Oh, it puts us at the *top* of the waiting list, that's so much better..." She rolled her eyes, then realized where her sarcasm was getting her. "Well, no, please do put us on the list, I was just blowing off steam, you know... Sorry, I know it's not your fault. Right, that's our number... Thanks." Hanging up the phone, she saw Martha returning down the stairs from visiting Laura. "Well, that was productive," she sighed, throwing her pencil on the desk. "What's that, honey?" Martha asked, joining her in the living room. "I thought I'd finally pick a daycare center for Laura -- I've hated to think about it, so I put it off, and now I'm paying for it. All but one of the five I like are full. And that one has a six month waiting list." "Lois, you know Jonathan and I will help out any way we can." "I know, Martha, but we can't impose on you two forever. Clark and I have to get back to some semblance of a life. And so do you. I know you two really want to get started on your trip." "Lois, Jonathan and I have talked about this trip for as long as I can remember. We can certainly wait a few more months to help you and Clark out. And it's certainly no imposition spending time with our granddaughter." "Thanks, Martha, but Clark and I really need to work something out. He's talking to Perry about the two of us working a four day week. That way we can limit the time she's in day care, anyway." "Lois, will that work? Does Clark really think he can stay with her for a whole day? What about Superman?" "I know, Martha," Lois answered, getting up and beginning to pace around the room. "But you know Clark. He is determined to be normal. And I know he really wants to spend the time with her." Martha walked over to Lois and put an arm around her, stopping her pacing. "Well, if there's one thing I've learned with you two, it's that if there's something you want, you'll find a way to make it work." Lois looked over at Martha and grinned. " I guess it's just what we've learned from our parents." "Touche," Martha laughed. "So, when did you want to get started on your trip?" Lois moved back over to her chair and sat down, sipping her tea. "Hmm... well, we'll be driving the RV so we can plan our own route and it doesn't really matter when we start -- but Jonathan's found out about this absolutely fascinating Native American festival that's starting in November. It's in the Bad Lands, in South Dakota, so that would be quite a drive, but we thought maybe we could start out west, before the weather gets too bad, and make our way back at a more reasonable pace. Of course, we could always see it later--" "But by the time the snow melts, you might just want to go home," Lois finished for her. "Well, we might," Martha admitted with a twinkle in her eye. "Or we might never want to go home! There's just so much to see in this country. Until we began planning this, I had no idea what I was missing. It's a shame we missed some of the fall foliage, but we did manage that day trip two weeks ago, which was lovely." Lois laughed. "It's obvious you're dying to get started! I'm surprised we've been able to keep you here for this long." "You haven't, dear," Martha confided with a laugh. "We're only using you to be close to our granddaughter." "Well, I can live with that." Smiling broadly, Lois checked her watch. "Want to stick around a while? I am dying for a shower, and then it'll be about time for Laura to wake up and eat again, and by the time I feed her, change her, dress her up, and get her bag packed, it'll be nearly eleven. We can go visit Clark at the Planet. We have a few things to discuss with Perry and then Clark can buy his three ladies lunch." "Sounds good to me, Lois." ***** "Where in tarnation is that boy?" Perry growled, pacing across the newsroom. "He's late." Clark winced on behalf of his friend. The Chief's bad mood had, if anything, gotten worse, and it looked like Jimmy was going to bear the brunt of it. "Um, Chief?" he spoke up hesitantly. "What?" "Remember, he said he had an appointment this morning, and you said he could come in later?" "I told him no later than nine, Kent," Perry shot back, unappeased. "It is now, oh, let me check...." he made a show of looking at his watch and comparing it to the big one on the wall. "Why, would you look at that, it's nearly eleven. Wouldn't you say that's later than nine?" "Well, yeah, I would," Clark responded, willing to take some heat if it resulted in Perry working off some of his foul mood. They didn't call him Superman for nothing. "But I'm sure that--" Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Jimmy stepping off the elevator. Conversation in the pit, already subdued, died away completely at his appearance. Perry turned slowly, until he was facing his victim and sure of Jimmy's full attention. "Well, thank you so much for joining us, Olsen. To what do we owe this honor?" Jimmy flushed. "Well, I met my friend on time, over at Amalgamated, but there was this labor rally that he wanted me to see, and I guess it went longer than I thought, and then afterwards I was talking to some of the speakers, um, kind of an interview, and...." he ran out of steam, unsure how Perry was taking this, suddenly convinced that he'd just made the worst mistake of his short reporting career. "I hope that's not a bad thing?" he asked in an uncertain voice. "Let me get this straight," Perry said carefully, looking rather stunned. "You say you were at a labor rally for ATC, *and* you interviewed the leaders?" Jimmy looked around nervously, and Clark flashed him a big smile and thumbs-up. "Well, uh, yeah. I took notes...." Perry slowly began smiling, first at Jimmy and then at the newsroom in general. "Ladies and gentlemen, why can't you all have excuses as good as this?" "It's not an excuse, Chief!" "Jimmy, I'm not mad, so relax." Perry walked over to put his arm around the young man. "I've just spent the morning browbeating these sorry excuses for newspapermen -- this interview is *exactly* what we needed. Write it up pronto; I want it on my desk by noon." He clapped Jimmy on the shoulder and strode back across the pit to his office. "Me, Chief?" Jimmy squawked, startled at the sudden increase in responsibility. Perry waved a hand in the air, neither turning nor pausing. "You got the story, you write it. I'll get someone to help you polish it...." A finger stabbed the air. "Kent! This afternoon, you help him with it." "Yes, sir!" Jimmy and Clark answered in chorus, one terrified and the other amused. Perry reached his office and stepped inside, closing the door firmly behind him. "Good work, m'boy," he muttered. "I knew you had it in you." He remembered some of the looks on the others' faces, and chuckled. "I just love the smell of fear in the newsroom." ***** Lois smiled as she stepped off of the elevator; there was nothing in the world like the chaos of the Daily Planet newsroom. Looking around the room, she noted that all seemed right in the world. Carl in Travel was racing down the hall toward the photo lab. Ralph was on the phone, his feet propped up on his desk. And Clark was at his desk, typing on his computer. As soon as Lois and Martha started walking toward Clark's desk, they were spotted by several of the women in the newsroom. While Martha entertained them by showing off her granddaughter, Lois made her way to Clark. Clark had, of course, heard the commotion and was already approaching her desk. "Hi, honey," Clark greeted her, pulling her into his arms. "Just can't stay away from the office, can you?" She grinned. "Hey, I haven't been here in three weeks. I see nothing's changed." "Not much," he affirmed cheerfully, then pointed to her desk. "With one noticeable exception. I couldn't bear to look at that poor dead plant anymore. I took the opportunity to give it a proper burial." "You got rid of my plant? It wasn't dead. It was just dormant." "Trust me, Lois. I'm the one who grew up on the farm, remember? It was dead." "Okay, I guess I can get another one." "Lois, let's not sacrifice any more plants, okay? I'm sure we can find something to fill that space on your desk." Sorry he brought up the topic, Clark decided to steer the conversation in another direction. "So what brings you and Mom into the newsroom? I thought I was bringing lunch home." "Oh, you are still buying lunch, only you're taking Martha, Laura and me out. We decided we needed to get out of the house for a while. And I wanted to see how your conversation went with Perry." "Well, actually, I haven't had an opportunity to talk to him yet." Making an expressive face, he continued, "Trust me, he has *not* been in a receptive mood. Where's Dad?" "He's meeting Al for a heated checkers battle -- that's the guy he met on the subway, a few years back, remember? Martha's so glad he has a friend here in Metropolis. She was worried about finding things for him to do here to keep his mind off the farm." Pulling from Clark's embrace, Lois took his hand to lead him towards the elevators. "Well, let's go get some lunch and then we can talk to Perry together. We need to talk about what I found out about the day care situation." "Let me finish up this story and then we can take off. It will take you at least that long to get Laura away from all of her admirers." "Okay," she smiling, reaching up to give him a kiss. "I'll go tell Perry we want to talk to him when we get back." ***** Enrico O'Reilly entered the office silently, coming to a halt two feet behind the high-backed chair. "Ah, Enrico," Lex greeted him, turning to face his most trusted employee. "And how was your morning?" "Not too bad," Enrico smiled toothily. "The rally went just like we planned, and they've officially declared a strike." "What a shame," Lex puffed on his cigar. "The stock prices haven't dropped yet, but with any luck they'll be sinking like a stone by tomorrow. And when the company is unable to resolve the differences...." "You'll be able to take it over," Enrico guessed. "Not 'over', Enrico, I'll be able to take it *back*." He leaned forward for emphasis. "What was mine, I keep." He paused, consciously relaxing back into the chair. "Besides, transportation companies are useful for so many things." "Whatever you say, boss." Lex smiled thinly. "That, my dear Enrico, is one of the qualities about you I most admire. At any rate, I've another delivery for you." He pulled a printout from a nearby tray and handed it over. "A new list of demands for our Mr. Hughes to present to management." He smirked. "On the surface, so very reasonable ... but so unfortunately expensive to achieve. No company could afford them; I'm quite pleased with myself, actually." Enrico took the paper with a mild nod of his head, and exited, as silent as when he'd arrived. ***** end part 2, cont'd in part 3 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 19:37:39 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (3/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Lois had chosen her favorite Italian restaurant (outside of Italy) for lunch. Clark spent most of the meal holding Laura, cooing at her and watching her sleep. She still didn't tire of watching the two of them together, knowing how much it meant to him to have a child of his own. But she also couldn't resist an opportunity to tease him. "You know, Martha, I guess it is a good thing Clark does go to work during the day. It's the only time Laura gets any time to rest." "I know, Lois," Martha smiled. "I've seen him wake her up just to hold her." Raising his free hand in concession, he tried to stop the two before they got going. "Okay ladies. I know when I'm outnumbered. I'm not going to apologize for loving my daughter and I deny waking her up to hold her. She sleeps better when she's being held. It's good for her to know she's loved." Lois and Martha just looked at one another and laughed. Clark was such an easy target. They decided to go easy on him today. "Okay, Clark," Lois laughed, winking at Martha. "It is good for her to know she's loved. That's one thing she'll never have to worry about. We all know how much this little girl is loved. But she's waking up now, so hand her over. It's time for her to eat, too, and I'd better get her started before she starts screaming." Clark, reluctant to let her go just yet, leaned down and kissed her forehead, awed as always by her soft scent of baby lotion and powder. With one last peck on the cheek, he passed Laura to Lois. He watched Lois settle her in the crook of one arm while she opened her nursing blouse with the other. While this had become routine at home, it wasn't something he was used to observing anywhere else. "Lois, honey, we're in public." He shifted uneasily in his seat, glancing around the dining room to make sure no one was ogling his wife. "Shouldn't you do that in the ladies room?" "Clark, this is a totally natural thing. People do it every day and have for thousands of years. Besides, with this blouse, no one will be able to see anything." "But...." Lois turned to Martha for assistance. "Martha, tell him." "Clark, she's right. There's nothing wrong with a woman feeding her baby." "And I agree, but is it really appropriate at the table in a restaurant?" "Well, Clark," Martha began slowly, "This was obviously not something I ever had to contend with. And I can assure you your father would have had the same reaction as you. In our day, breastfeeding in public just wasn't an accepted practice. But this is the 90s, Clark. Women are allowed to be women and not hide anymore." "Okay, okay," Clark conceded. "If you two are okay with it, I guess it's okay. It's just that it's my wife, not just Laura's mother, people are looking at. I guess that makes me uncomfortable." Lois leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thank you for remembering I'm still a woman. But I'm not going to go around exposing myself, Clark." "I know, honey. I guess it's just something I'll have to get used to." "Well, we don't eat out that much anymore, so you'll be okay, Clark." She grinned impishly. "And the pizza delivery boy is used to this by now." "Gee, that makes me feel a lot better." "I'm sorry, Clark," Lois offered, although the effect was spoiled by the laugh in her voice. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but honestly, I have trouble thinking of this as anything but feeding the baby. Breast, bottle, as long as she gets fed, who cares? And I'm quite sure that this chair is a lot more comfortable and germ-free than the ladies room." "I guess you've got a point there," Clark conceded, then decided to once again move on to a new topic. "On another subject, Lois, you mentioned you had some news about day care?" She pulled a sour face. "I have some bad news about day care. Remember our short list of the five best centers? I called them all this morning, and only one had an opening. And that's not for six months." "Wow. I guess we should have sent that money to the Winky Tink School when they sent us the form, huh?" "I guess so. I called them, too, and they don't have an opening either. I don't know what we're going to do, Clark." Lois looked down at Laura who was nursing contentedly, oblivious to the discussion about her future. "We can't leave her with just anyone." Clark gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. "Lois, we're not going to leave her with just anyone. We'll talk to Perry about our work schedule and we'll work something out. Maybe we can have someone come in three days a week, the days we can't be there ourselves." "You know Jonathan and I will help out as long as you need us. That's why we moved here in the first place, to be near you and our granddaughter," Martha added. "Thanks, Mom. But I know you and Dad are ready to go off on your trip. We don't want you to postpone that because of us." "He's right, Martha, we've imposed on you two enough. Don't postpone your trip. We'll figure something out." "Oh, it hasn't been an imposition, Lois," Martha reassured her. "We've enjoyed our two months here, and remember, we've taken a few short trips out of the city already. Just being away from the farm is a vacation for us; it's no hardship to help you two out. " Clark smiled at his mother. "Thanks, Mom. For everything. I don't know what we would do without you. You two have done so much for us -- we can never thank you enough." "Honey, that's what family's for," Martha replied, smiling back. "So what are you going to do?" "We discussed extending my leave," Lois commented, carefully reaching for another bite of her lunch over the top of her baby's head. "But I don't have very much time saved up--" Clark leaned towards his mother, explaining, "It's not that she takes vacations, you understand, but if you don't take the time during that year, they don't roll it over; they just pay you a lump sum." Lois nodded. "And I'd rather save what time I've got for emergencies, in case Laura gets sick and needs me." Clark took a deep breath. "Well, Lois, what about your Mom? She's been after us to spend more time with Laura. Maybe she can help us until we can work out something else." "Oh, I don't know, Clark," Lois frowned in instinctive distaste, her mind flashing back to a myriad of disappointments she'd suffered at the hands of her mother in the past. "Lois, I know you've had your differences, but she really has tried to patch things up. She raised the women I love, so I guess I can trust her to care for my daughter. And she is a nurse, in case Laura gets sick." "Yeah, but Clark, the whole drinking thing, it worries me..." "She's been clean and sober for nearly five years now," Clark reminded her gently. He'd given this a lot of thought, and he was convinced it could work out. If only he could persuade Lois. "And you know I can check in on them during the day; she'd never even know I was there." "I know she'd love it, Lois," Martha added tactfully. "I think she's been a little jealous of the time Jonathan and I spend with Laura. I know it would mean a lot to her. And to you, too, dear." Lois looked back and forth between her husband and his mother and sighed. She knew her misgivings weren't logical, so she gave in. "I guess we could *try* it..." "That's the spirit, Lois," Clark smiled encouragingly at her. "I know you're overprotective of Laura; I am too. But I think this is a safe bet." "Well, I'll call her this afternoon and see how she feels about it. I don't even know if she'll have time with her responsibilities at the Superman Foundation. And a lot depends on how our talk goes with Perry." "And there's only one way to find that out," Clark said, reaching for the check. "Let's go see what the Chief has to say." "Not me, thanks," Martha commented, standing. "I want to catch up with your father, Clark. If you could drop me off?" "We can do that," Clark agreed. "And on the way, Lois, lemme tell you about the latest big story that Jimmy pulled in..." ***** Lois and Clark made their way into Perry's office with Laura, knowing they would not be allowed out of the newsroom again without Perry having some time to spend with the baby. It always amazed Lois to watch otherwise intelligent adults reduced to cooing idiots with a baby around. And Perry was no exception. Just as he had always viewed Lois and Clark as his children, Laura was now his adopted granddaughter. Hesitantly at first, but then with more assurance, he had begun dropping by their house in the evenings to hold the baby, frequently bringing along a new toy that he'd picked up for her. So it was no surprise that Perry commandeered Laura out of Clark's arms the second they walked through the door. "Isn't she just the most adorable little thing," Perry cooed, moving Laura's hand back and forth as she held onto his finger. "I think she's grown another inch since I last saw her." "Well, you haven't visited in almost a week, Chief," Clark grinned. "And she's been playing with that rattle you got her." "Is that so?" Perry asked Laura, smiling besottedly. "Did baby Laura like her pretty new rattle?" Lois couldn't help but smile at the two of them. Here was the love of her life and her surrogate father making faces at *her* daughter. If someone had told her six years ago when she broke into Clark's interview with Perry that she would be standing here today a wife and mother, she would have sent them straight to the nut house. "Uh, Clark, we came to talk to Perry about something, remember?" Lois prompted. "Right." Turning back to Perry, he got back to the task at hand. "Perry, Lois and I are trying to work out child care for Laura. We've been discussing what would be best for her. We want to try to limit the amount of time she's in day care. So, what we were wondering was if Lois and I could work a four-day week." "We'd overlap for three days," Lois interjected, "and each do a day solo. We'd have to adjust those days to accommodate the stories we were working on, of course, but you know we never worked very rigid schedules to start with." Clark nodded agreement, and concluded, "That way each of us would be with Laura for a full day and she would only be in day care three days a week." "We'd probably be able to get *some* work done from home, too," Lois added, trying to sweeten the pot. "You know we've always worked hard, in the office or out of it. It would technically be part-time for both of us, I guess, but...." she glanced at her husband. "We both feel it's important to be there for Laura as much as possible." Perry had been looking down and smiling at Laura while they had been talking. At Lois' last words, he looked up at Clark and then Lois. "Well, I, ah ... I'm not sure what to say. I want what's best for this little girl, myself. I know how many things I missed over the years with my kids, so I understand why you want to do this. I also don't want to lose the best writing team I've ever had." Lois walked across the room to stand next to Clark, putting her arm around him to emphasize their partnership. "And we don't want to go, believe me. Working at the Planet has been the best thing in my life--" "--the benefits have been exceptional," Clark interjected with a grin, gazing lovingly at his wife and partner. She ignored him. "--and I wouldn't want to lose that. But we have to find a good way to care for our daughter, too." "Well, it seems like you two have done a lot of thinking about this. And I can't disagree with anything you've said. I have to admit, in the back of my mind, I was kind of worried about losing one of you altogether. So I can't be too upset to still have you both." He held up a cautionary finger. "I have to clear it with the board, though, and I'm going to put it to them as a trial arrangement. We'll see how it works for the next few months. Don't think I'm going to accept anything less from either of you. I'm going to expect more, and if I don't get it, we'll have to change gameplans." "You got it," Lois agreed. "So, what do you have planned for child care?" "Well, Chief," Clark answered, "We still have a few things to work out. It appears there are waiting lists at all of the good centers. We have some searching to do to find someone or some place to take care of Laura." "You know, Perry," Lois added, "I'm surprised that a business the size and stature of The Daily Planet doesn't have a day care facility. I mean, we have people working here around the clock. Why don't we have a facility to provide child care for the employees?" "Well, there was talk back when Franklin owned The Planet about starting one down in the old microfiche rooms. But when he sold, those plans kind of fizzled out. I guess no one pushed it after that, so it never got implemented." "Well, someone's about to push it again," Lois responded, setting her jaw in determination. A crafty look entered her eyes as she said, "You know, I checked this morning, and the Metropolis Star has onsite daycare. I'd hate to leave the Planet, but...." "Lois, bite your tongue!" Perry scolded. "Alright, I'll talk to the board about part-time schedules for you both, and about setting up a center here. In the meantime...." Laura was starting to fuss again, so Perry handed her back to her mother. "Lois, if you've got time to talk to people at that rag, you've got time to do some work -- prove to me you can work while you're home with the baby. I want you to do some background digging into the people over at Amalgamated. I assume Clark told you about it?" "He hit the highlights," Lois confirmed, suddenly assailed with the fear that she had somehow lost her edge. Maybe pulling Perry's chain *hadn't* been so smart. She tucked Laura back into her carrier and quashed her doubts; she could do this. "Well, get a copy of what Jimmy's written -- Clark, it's ready for you to polish up, so it's waiting in your in-box -- and get me anything you can find. I've got one of the researchers here on it already, but you two have the sources and experience to analyze what you find; that's what I want." "You got it, Chief." "No problem, Perry." Lois handed the diaper bag to Clark and picked up Laura's carrier. "We'll get right on it. You know, Clark," she commented, on their way out the door, "has anyone talked to the management side of this mess?" ***** Clark escorted his wife and daughter to the car, then headed back to his desk. He needed to look over Jimmy's story, and he'd have to make a few phone calls to get an interview with the management negotiators at Amalgamated. Thanks to extended time on hold in each phone call, he managed to finish both tasks at about the same time. He looked up to find Jimmy hovering anxiously. "Um, hi. Just wondered if you had time to look over my article?" Clark laughed and handed over the printout he'd marked up. "For this interview, Jimmy, sooner is definitely better. The Chief was ready to spit nails this morning when it looked like we were going to miss the story; nobody could get in to talk to these guys." "They said the opposite, that no reporters would talk to them." Jimmy hesitated, then continued, "Kinda makes me wonder about the other stuff they said." "Always wonder, Jimmy," Clark commented. "Very few people will tell you the other guy's side of the story." "True." Jimmy lapsed into silence as he looked over the printout to see what Clark had done to it. "It's good writing," Clark reassured him. "Just tighten it up in those couple of places and it's good to go back to Perry. And if you hurry, you can get it done in time to come with me; I just got an interview with some of the management types at Amalgamated." Jimmy's face lit up. "Me? Really?" "Sure. You talked to labor, you should talk to management. We're going to get the other side of the story." ***** Lois left the Planet a woman on a mission. Laura was awake now, and would probably be awake for another hour, but if Lois put the bouncy seat where the baby could see out the window, that might occupy her for some time. Time Lois could use to make some calls and cruise the Internet. She checked her watch. In only a few hours, it would be time for Laura's next well-baby doctor's appointment. Martha was planning to go along for that visit. Briefly, Lois toyed with the notion of sending Martha and Laura to the doctor by themselves, but then discarded the idea. Laura came first. She'd just have to get as much done as she could in the meantime. ***** end part 3, cont'd in part 4 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 19:37:57 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (4/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Clark and Jimmy signed in at the impressive front desk, and received directions to the office of Walter Barnes, the main negotiator on behalf of the management of Amalgamated Transport. Jimmy bounced on his toes as the elevator carried them smoothly upwards. "Man, I have a ton of questions for this character. I mean, if only one half of the stuff I heard this morning is true... did you see that the union was asked to give up most of their sick days? It's just not right. Um," a thought struck him, "you don't mind if I ask questions, do you CK?" Clark laughed softly. "Just try to be polite, okay? I do want to hear his reaction to the stuff you were told. Why don't you let me start, though." Jimmy spread out his hands in front of him. "No problem, CK, you're the man." Clark wondered briefly if this had been how Lois had felt, when training her junior partner. He grinned. No, she had been much more adversarial, and he, therefore, had reacted more aggressively. It was funny how life turned out. The elevator pinged their arrival, and the doors glided open, revealing a plushly carpeted suite, humming with quiet activity. As instructed, the two reporters proceeded straight and then to the right. Clark could tell they were nearing their destination as his superhearing picked up a female voice saying "Mr. Barnes' office, could you please hold, thank you..." He frowned, distracted. The voice seemed familiar, somehow. They rounded the last corner while he was still puzzling it out. "Penny!?" Jimmy stopped dead in his tracks. She looked up, startled by their arrival, then smiled. She held up one finger, asking them to wait while she took two more phone messages, and Clark used the time to look around. They were in a cul-de-sac of sorts, with the secretarial desk in the wide hall; there were three doors leading out of the hall into, Clark assumed, private executive offices. Penny hung up the phone. "Hi, Clark, right on time. Hey, Jimmy." She smiled warmly at her boyfriend. "I wasn't expecting you." "I wasn't expecting you, either! What are you doing here? What about journalism school?" She shrugged. "I'm just helping out here temporarily, around my class schedule. Dad's old secretary quit, and he hasn't been able to--" "I'm sorry, wait a minute," Clark interrupted, trying to understand. "Your dad?" "Well, yeah. Walter Barnes, Penny Barnes...." she prompted. "It's just until they get this labor thing straightened out and he can get a replacement from personnel. And he's eager to see you, so I shouldn't keep you waiting." Clark looked at Jimmy, who seemed rooted to the floor. This was an interesting development, but it really didn't make any difference to Clark. Jimmy, however, seemed to be a different story. He leaned towards Clark and confided in a strangled whisper, "I haven't met her father yet!" "Well, it's about time, then." He patted Jimmy on the back, steering him towards the indicated door. "Just be polite and businesslike. You can do it." Walter Barnes stood as they entered, extending a hand. He was a distinguished man in his late fifties, Clark judged, with a kindly expression. "Welcome, gentlemen, I'm Walter Barnes. And this is my associate, Dennis Shenckman." He indicated a smaller, younger man at his side, who smiled tightly. "Clark Kent, Daily Planet," he introduced himself. "And this is James Olsen, my partner." They traded handshakes all around, then settled into their respective chairs. "Olsen, eh?" Barnes mused, giving Jimmy a sharp glance, but didn't pursue the connection. "Well, Mr. Kent, I'm glad to talk to you. I've followed your work over the years, and you've a reputation for honesty and fairness." "Thank you." Clark nodded acknowledgment. "I do my best. As you know, I'm here to find out all I can about this strike. Our sources tell us that the management here at Amalgamated has been making some outrageous demands, and I'd like to know--" "Sources?" Shenckman snorted. "Sources in the labor union, you mean. They should know about outrageous." "Dennis, please," Barnes shushed his assistant. "I don't believe that we've been excessive in our demands, but I won't deny that the union has been extraordinarily difficult to deal with this year." Jimmy shifted in his seat, and Clark glanced his way, expecting an outburst at any moment. Nothing. Apparently Jimmy was totally quelled by the mere presence of his girlfriend's father. He suppressed a grin. Well, then, Clark would have to ask all the questions. "Can we go over these points one by one?" Barnes nodded. "I'll hear what you have to say, then I expect you to hear what I've got to say." "Agreed." Clark glanced at his notes. "First, I'm told that the union is being asked to give up sick days?" "Yes and no," Barnes replied. "The industry average is four sick days a year; we currently offer six. We want to cut that back, yes, but we're offering a more liberal short-term disability policy in return. I believe that would be a net gain to the workers. The union, on the other hand, is demanding both the expanded disability policy *and* four more sick days a year. We cannot afford both." The interview proceeded along those lines, with Barnes and Shenckman refuting or explaining away each claim. Clark was very thoughtful by the time he gathered his notes and stood. "Thank you, gentlemen, for a most enlightening interview." "It was our pleasure," Barnes replied. "Feel free to call if you need additional details." ***** Clark waited until they'd reached the relative privacy of the elevator before speaking. "That was interesting, wasn't it?" Jimmy nodded. "It sure was a different story than what I heard this morning." He paused, then continued slowly, "But I'm not sure I believe everything they said, either." He glanced at Clark to see how that was received. "Well, I like to believe that there are some honest people in the world," Clark answered, "but unfortunately you can't count on it." Reassured that he wasn't off on the wrong track, Jimmy squared his shoulders. "I think I want to talk to the labor leaders again." The elevator doors opened, revealing the lobby, and the two reporters made their way to the parking lot. "Good idea, Jimmy. Talk to Jamison; he should have all their numbers and how to reach them." As they drove away from the building, they noticed a picket line forming. "That was fast," Jimmy commented idly. "They only declared the strike this morning." "Yeah. And notice the signs? Those were done by a professional printer; funny how they could get them produced so quickly, isn't it?" ***** Once back at the Planet, Jimmy wasted no time pursuing his story. This may have started by accident, but he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass him by. "Hey, Jamison, my man! I need some help..." The older reporter looked up and smiled. "Hi there, Olsen, I see you're moving up in the world. And I'll be glad if I can be of *some* use on this story." Jimmy flushed. "Um, yeah, I guess this was kind of your beat, huh? I hope you don't mind...." Jamison shrugged. "At least the Planet got the story, that's the important part. I couldn't get close to it at all; none of my contacts would talk to me." He frowned. "It was weird, like they were scared of something. There's something screwy going on with this. Anyway, what do you need?" "Phone numbers -- I need to talk to Hughes again if I can get him, or one of the other people I met this morning -- there was a woman named Susan something." Jamison reached for his Rolodex. "Phone numbers, I can give you. I just hope they're more willing to talk to you than they were to talk to me." Jimmy shrugged. "We'll find out. Thanks, man." A few phone calls later, Jimmy found that Mr. Hughes was not available, but that Susan Mallory, one of the other union leaders he'd seen on the platform that morning, was willing to answer his questions. "Oh, yes," she responded to his first question, "I know about the expanded disability program. Did they tell you that it wasn't part of their original package? They only threw that in there when we protested losing a full third of our paid sick days. And there is a lot of red tape involved that would make it much more difficult for our members." Jimmy felt his eyebrows rise as he noted that down. This was indeed a different picture than he'd gotten from the management side of the dispute. He wondered briefly which of them were telling the truth, or if he'd gotten lies from both sides, but a good reporter only had to relay what he was told. It took a great reporter to find "the truth". "You have to understand," she continued, "I'm not trying to do anything here but help our members; that's what they elected me for. Amalgamated has always been a good company to work for, but this year ... this year we have to fight just to keep the package we've had for years, let alone get enough of a pay raise to cover the cost of living. This has come as a very unpleasant surprise to all of us." "I understand," he replied, hearing the ring of sincerity in her voice. "And I have some more questions for you, if you don't mind...." Jimmy went down the list of issues with her, hearing a new spin on most of them; his head felt like it was spinning by the time he ended the call. Man, this was a lot more complicated that it looked. Good thing he had until tomorrow morning to assemble it into a readable article; he'd need the time to make sense of it himself. ***** Following the doctor's appointment, Lois and Martha returned to the brownstone to find Clark and Jonathan in the kitchen preparing what Lois had begun to call 'Kansas food'. Jonathan was basting a roast while Clark was busy making biscuits. She knew from personal experience that Clark had definitely inherited Martha's ability to make biscuits, and while she was breastfeeding, she rationalized, she needed the extra calories. Lois opened the kitchen door for Martha to bring in Laura, and grinned when she saw what Clark was wearing -- the Superman apron she'd bought him last year as a gag gift. "I love it when they cook, don't you, Martha?" Jonathan winked at them. "Someone has to, with you ladies running around all over town." "We'll have you know that we were at the pediatrician's, thank you," Martha retorted, setting Laura's carrier down on the kitchen counter. "Besides, it's the first productive thing you've done all day." "Careful," he shot back, grinning. "Or I won't let you have any." "Now, now," Lois intervened, "this is my kitchen, and I'd just like to say ... it smells fabulous. And if you don't let me eat anything, I won't let you hold the baby." "That's my tough negotiator," Clark grinned. Taking off his apron, he reached over to hug his wife and then extract Laura from her carrier. Holding her up and kissing her, he settled her in his arms and gushed over her. "And how is my little Laur-Angel? Did you get a good report card >from the doctor?" Lois smiled; she loved watching Clark get all gooey over their daughter. "She got a clean bill of health. She was at or above average in the percentile rankings for her age group. Dr. Langdon is really pleased with her development so far." Clark continued to nuzzle Laura, talking baby-talk to her. "Of course you are above average. You're our daughter ... how could you be anything but perfect?" Laura appeared to agree with Clark, looking up at him, reaching for his face. "You know I'm talking about you, don't you?" Lois suppressed a smile at Clark's gushing and continued with her report. "I called Mom on our way home. She was so excited about the possibly of taking care of Laura and insisted she could help out two or three days a week. She's even coming by tomorrow to get used to her routine." Walking over to Clark and laying her head against his shoulder, she let out a deep breath. "Can I go with you to the office tomorrow? I don't know if I'm ready for a whole day with Mother." Clark rested his head against hers and laughed. "It's not that bad, honey. You've said yourself she's been a different woman with Laura around." "True. But that's because Martha's come to my rescue when she'd start to tell me what I was doing wrong and how it should be done. I don't know if I'm ready to deal with her all by myself." "It'll be okay. Remember, she loves you and Laura and just wants what's best for both of you." Jonathan had been listening to their conversation, quietly going about his dinner preparations. As he placed the roast back in the oven, he decided to rejoin their conversation. "You know, I don't think we've ever talked about this before, Clark. When Martha and I were first married and were having trouble trying to have a child, everyone was quick to give us advice. Everyone, especially our parents, kept telling us about this or the other thing that would help. We took it in stride at first, but as time wore on and we found out we couldn't have kids, people quit discussing the subject all together. It wasn't until we found you, Clark, that I realized what was going on. That was just their way of being involved. People seem to help out by passing along their experiences. And, of course, when things changed to something they hadn't experienced, most would just avoid discussing it all together." Jonathan put his oven mitts on the counter and walked over to pull Martha against him, "Things changed dramatically after we found you, son. Everyone was back to providing their ideas of when a child should crawl, take their first step or say their first word. And you know, no matter how many people gave us advice, it was always different from the person before. The truth be known, each child does things, learns things, at their own pace ... when they are ready. If you have five children, each one will make their own way and learn things in their own way. I guess what I'm trying to say is that whatever advice you get from us or anyone else, just remember that Laura's is the only opinion that really counts. And Lois, Ellen may come across a bit...." "Neurotic," Lois finished for him. "Over helpful. Just remember that's just her way of showing she cares and sharing your childhood with you. I think if you ask her how you and Lucy developed, you'll come to understand her better. And you may even discover that she has some good advice to give." Lois pulled away from Clark and crossed the room to Jonathan. Reaching up, she gave him a gentle hug. "Thank you, Jonathan. I never thought about it quite like that. I'll give it a try." Lois turned and winked at Martha. "I mean, what have I got to lose ... other than my sanity." They were nearly finished with dinner when Lois noticed the familiar abstracted expression on Clark's face. "What is it?" "I heard a police radio from down the street," he replied absently, getting up from his seat. "They're concerned about the picketers at Amalgamated headquarters, and sending a squad car by to check. I think I'd better check it out, too; maybe I can nip something in the bud." Lois sighed -- another evening ruined. But it was for a good cause, as always. "Go see what you can do. We'll be here when you get back." "Thanks, honey." He paused long enough for a quick kiss, then dashed out the back, spinning into the suit as soon as he cleared the townhouse. ***** As he approached the Amalgamated corporate headquarters, Clark surveyed the situation from the air. The picketers had earlier concentrated themselves in front of the main entrance, but now they were clustered down the street, at the entrance of the building's private parking garage. One of the protestors had jumped up onto a low concrete wall and appeared to be using it as a soapbox to speak to the crowd. A police car cruised by, but evidently saw nothing illegal. Clark's intuition, however, warned him that this was an explosive situation, so he flew in closer, remaining out of sight until he could get the lay of the land. The speaker was not encouraging moderation, but instead was feeding the crowd rhetoric about all the wrongs, real and imagined, that had been inflicted upon them by the management. The crowd roared agreement with the flimsiest of claims, and Clark shook his head sadly. Individually, these people would probably be quite reasonable, but get them into a group -- and, he noted with disgust, give them lots of beer -- and they would swallow anything that fit their prejudices, no matter how unlikely. Still, this sort of meeting was legal, and the police seemed to be keeping an eye on them, so maybe he should just-- The speaker stopped abruptly, catching Clark's attention. The man seemed to be listening to something, and Clark tuned in his hearing to catch it -- there it was, the rumble of a car from inside the garage. "And here," the speaker resumed, sneering, "we have one of the rich, the oppressors, the blood-suckers of management. My friends, are we going to let them go their way? Or should we teach them what they're dealing with? We will not be underestimated any longer!" The crowd surged angrily, surrounding the exiting car, and Clark could stay hidden no longer. He flew down and landed in front of the car, yelling "Stop!" The mob paid him no attention, instead starting to bang on the car's hood, roof, and windows. Clark caught a glimpse of two frightened faces in the front seat. "People, calm down," he tried again, but they couldn't seem to hear him above their own commotion. He was loath to start throwing them around or prying them off the car one by one. Inspiration struck, and he backed off just far enough to hit them all with a blast of super-cold superbreath. The sudden arctic wind succeeded in distracting the mob, and as they turned, shivering, they saw Superman standing there, arms folded, with a strongly disapproving look on his face. Shamefaced, they retreated to the sidewalk, letting the car leave. Clark waited until he was sure he had everyone's attention, then spoke sternly. "I know you have grievances, but violence is *not* the way to resolve them. Do you know who was in that car?" No one quite had the nerve to answer, and Clark noted that the man who'd incited the riot had disappeared. "It was a secretary." Penny Barnes, to be precise, and she'd been with her father, but Clark saw no reason to reveal that. "A young woman who has never done you any harm, and you were willing to hurt her? I expect better of you." Without giving them a chance to rally themselves and argue with him, he leaped into the air, hovering a few feet above the ground. "I'll be watching." With that final word, he streaked away, leaving a much more sober group of picketers behind. ***** end part 4, cont'd in part 5 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 19:38:16 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (5/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Lois was in the living room hunched over her laptop when Clark returned. "Hi, honey," he greeted her, "where's Laura?" "Hi, Clark. Your mom and dad are taking her for a walk in her stroller." He sat down heavily on the sofa next to her. "Just so they don't go anywhere near Amalgamated." "Or any jewelry-store robberies," Lois added mischievously, hoping to lighten her husband's mood. He groaned and covered his face at the reminder, but when his hands came away she could see that his expression was slightly more cheerful. "So, what happened? You were gone a while." "There was a problem at the corporate building," he admitted, filling her in on the details. "And then I thought I'd better visit the warehouse, too. I watched for a while but I don't think that group will be any trouble. I'll want to check in a few hours, too." Lois smiled crookedly. "You can go out for patrol every time Laura wakes up, then. That schedule of hers ought to be useful for something...." He laughed. "Yeah, but watch this be the night she decides to skip a feeding." "One can only hope; I am so tired.... Anyway, I've found out some interesting stuff, wanna hear?" He sat up straighter. "Definitely." "Alright, so I'm looking into ATC's public records. It's a publicly-held company but there are still large blocks of stock being held by a few people; they effectively own the company and tell the board of directors what to do." "That's not too unusual, as far as I know." "True, I don't think there's anything odd going on with them. But," she emphasized, "this current group of stock-holders picked up their shares about a year and a half ago, when the former majority stockholder died without an heir and his empire basically fell apart and the pieces sold at auction. Any guesses?" she looked at him, her eyes gleaming with challenge. He pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit with interest. "Luckabee." "Got it in one," she cocked a finger at him. "That razor-sharp brain is probably the reason I married you." "Nah," he grinned, "You just wanted my body." She laughed. "Well, that too. I like to consider all of a person's assets. And speaking of assets, you know Leslie/Lex Jr. were trying to recreate Lex's empire -- utilities, phone company and broadcasting, and of course, transportation. They weren't all the same companies Lex had owned, just the same types." "What about Amalgamated? Did Lex own that?" "You betcha, and this is where it gets really interesting. After his apparent death, it was sold to a venture capitalist type, who still held it when Luckabee came around. The guy did not want to sell; he turned down a couple of offers. Then he started having problems with the business. Shipments went missing, orders were messed up, key people quit -- or disappeared. And guess what else?" Clark frowned. "Tell me there weren't labor problems." "Sorry, can't do that. It wasn't as big a deal as what's going on now, but there were rumors of a strike. And once Luckabee took over, all the problems magically went away." Clark shook his head in disgust. "All those people had their lives messed up just so Lex Jr. could fulfill a power fantasy. But you know that doesn't prove anything." "Well, of course not, but I do think it shows a pattern." She hit a few keys and closed down the laptop. "Tomorrow I'm calling a stock broker friend of mine, just to see what she thinks." "Good idea. And it might not hurt to see what's happened to other companies that Lex and/or Luckabee used to own." She groaned theatrically and flopped back against the sofa cushions. "That would be a lot easier if they hadn't owned half of Metropolis." Clark leaned back himself, and put an arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, I know, but you can do it. You can start with the Planet, that ought to be fairly easy to trace." "Clark ... do you really think Lex might be trying to rebuild his empire?" Lois spoke her fear for the first time. He sighed. "I don't know, Lois. I mean, no one's been able to disprove his clone story." She snorted. "Don't tell me you believe that good, upstanding citizen Lex Luthor was kidnapped by his own clone who then went on to a reign of terror, beginning with destroying the Daily Planet? Please. It's been the same Lex all along." "Well, I suppose it's remotely possible, but no, I don't believe it. For one thing, Lex was a criminal long before this supposed clone of his took over, it's just that no one was ever able to prove it." "All too sadly true. Anyway, since this is Lex and he's managed to lie his way back into respectability, I think he's going to want to get his power base back. The man was pathological about ownership. I can't believe it's taken me this long to think of it, actually." "We have been a little busy, this last year," he reminded her with a smile in his voice. "Well, it's time we got back to business," she stated sleepily. "Lex is a threat to everyone, and I'm going to see what I can do about that." Clark nuzzled her hair. "Just remember to let me in on your plans so I can help out, okay?" "Sure," she replied, turning slightly to cuddle better. They were asleep on the couch when Martha and Jonathan returned. ***** Wednesday, October 21 Lois had intended to call her friend the stockbroker first thing in the morning, but somehow it had taken her nearly until nine before she'd managed to get dressed, eat, feed Laura, and dress her for the day. She was beginning to realize how early she'd have to get up in order to get to work in the coming weeks, although she was sure Clark could be counted on to help out. Finally, however, Laura was awake, contentedly looking around the room from her bouncy seat on the table, and Lois had time to get back to investigating. It didn't take long before she had enough to call Clark about. "Hey, Clark, good morning ... yeah, I miss you too ... she's fine, she's fascinated by this bird outside of the window. Anyway, I talked to Sheila, you know, my stockbroker friend? And she said that Amalgamated stock is taking quite a dive over this labor problem; there's a rumor going around that they won't be able to resolve their differences. She couldn't tell if anyone is buying up blocks of stock, *but* if someone wanted to, they could probably take over without too much trouble, especially if this labor thing doesn't get fixed soon." Absently, she reached over to touch the end of the bouncy seat, and pushed it gently in a rocking motion that Laura seemed to like. "Print shops? Good idea ... good luck with that, sweetie. If I find out anything else, I'll let you know. Okay, see you later, love you ... bye." She put the phone back on the cradle and turned slowly, wondering which source she could call upon next, when a movement out of the corner of her eye startled her. She reflexively assumed a defensive posture, then relaxed. "Mother! You scared me!" "I knocked, Lois. You must not have heard me. You know, you really shouldn't leave your door unlocked. Anyone could just walk in...." "Tell me about it...." Lois muttered, then continued more audibly, "I thought it was locked. Clark must have forgotten -- oh, no, wait, I might have left it when I went out to grab the paper." Ellen was no longer paying attention, instead making a beeline for her granddaughter, tossing her purse and several packages on the couch. "Hello, precious! How are you today? Oh, you're awake! And mommy's just letting you lie here all by yourself? How are you going to learn about the world if mommy doesn't show you around?" Lois set her teeth, determined not to be annoyed by the implied criticism. "She gets plenty of stimulation, Mother. Sometimes she needs to just sit and think. Besides, she likes looking out the window." "Well, Grandma's here now, and we can play. Come here, my little angel. Do you need a diaper change? We'll just check..." Ellen took Laura from her seat and cradled her in her arms, then spared a moment to talk to her daughter. "I brought a few things I noticed you didn't have. I'll put them away after I've changed Laura." Watching her mother walk up the stairs to the nursery, Lois leaned back and ran her hand through her hair. "Heaven help me!" ***** Clark hung up the phone, feeling quite pleased with himself, and automatically looked around to share his triumph with Lois before remembering that she wasn't back yet. Well, for this, Jimmy would do just as well, and it was news on their joint story. He crossed the newsroom to find Jimmy at his desk, pouring over pages of notes and comparing them to the words typed on screen. "Hey, Jimmy. Have you got that follow-up piece done?" Jimmy looked up, rather bleary eyed. "Oh, hi, CK. Yeah, I'm just making sure I covered everything Ms. Mallory told me yesterday. You know, I got different stories from management and labor -- they hardly agreed on anything. But for all of that, I don't think they're really that far apart on the key stuff." Clark nodded thoughtfully. "From what I've heard, I think you're right. And they've always been able to work these things out in the past, it's just that things have gone wrong this year." "Yeah," Jimmy agreed glumly. "And my pal Nick is caught in the middle. It's a shame we can't just get a couple of people together, without all the lawyers, and just let them work it out..." Clark looked at him, pondering the notion. "That's not a bad idea, Jimmy. I mean, Barnes seemed like a reasonable guy --" Jimmy looked up, enthusiasm beginning to light his face. "And Susan Mallory, I talked to her yesterday, she seemed sincere, you know, not fanatical or anything, like Hughes..." "Oh, that reminds me -- guess what I found out..." "What?" "Remember the signs the picketers were carrying? I called print shops this morning, and found out where those signs were created. Your man Hughes ordered them last week." "Last week? But they only went on strike yesterday morning...." Jimmy's eyebrows climbed. "I guess he's not an optimist." "At the very least," Clark agreed. "And I don't think he's very committed to the idea of ending this dispute peacefully, so let's *not* invite him to the meeting." "You really think it's a good idea, setting this up?" "Well ... I don't think it can hurt, anyway. That's if they even agree to it." Jimmy shrugged. "I'll call Ms. Mallory, you call Mr. Barnes. Where do you want to set it up?" Clark considered for a moment. He was tempted to use the Planet's conference room, but this wasn't really official business, and the negotiators would probably appreciate more privacy anyway, in case things went spectacularly wrong. "How about The Pond restaurant, downtown? We can all have lunch, even if nothing else works out." "It's worth a shot, CK. And thanks for working with me on this." "No problem, Jimbo." Clark clapped him on the shoulder as he left. "You're shaping up to be a great reporter." ***** "Well, I don't imagine it will achieve anything, but I'm willing to give it a try. Yes, 12 noon, I'll be there." Walter Barnes hung up the phone with a shake of his head, piquing Shenckman's curiosity. "What was that all about, Walt?" "Remember those reporters from yesterday? They think they can help us resolve the labor differences; they want me to meet with them and one of the union reps. I'm afraid they're dreaming, but I don't want to seem to be the one standing in the way." Shenckman laughed uneasily. "You won't have to. The union reps have been the ones holding things up. So it's a lunch meeting?" "Yes, they said they've reserved a table at The Pond, for noon." "Well, at least you'll get a free meal out of it, right? Anyway, these are the figures you asked for," he changed the subject, handing over a stack of printouts, "And if you don't need me, I've got some paperwork I need to get back to." "Fine, Dennis. Thanks for all your help on this labor thing." "My pleasure." Smiling, he left the office. ***** Clark walked back over to Jimmy's desk, starting to feel hopeful about this whole project. When he'd called Lois to tell her his plan, she'd said he was being too idealistic, but he liked the idea that he could help these two sides make peace. "So, what's the news?" he asked when he was close enough. Jimmy flashed him a big smile and two thumbs up. "She's gonna be there. I mean, she thinks we're lunatics, but she's humoring us." Clark laughed. "We'll take it. Barnes didn't sound too enthused, either, but he said he'd make it." "Great! Oh, I called the restaurant, and they said they'd reserve a good table for us, something semi-private, back in a corner." "Now all we have to do is wait, I guess." Clark checked his watch and grimaced. "It's gonna be a very long hour." ***** Dennis Shenckman closed his office door behind him, and sat down at his desk, trembling. This was not good. He picked up the phone and dialed a little-used number and waited impatiently for someone to answer. "O'Reilly," the voice on the other end said. "I need to talk to Mr. Luthor," Dennis stated. "This is Dennis Shenckman, at Amalgamated, and we've got trouble." "Mr. Luthor's busy," Enrico responded flatly. "Talk to me." Dennis squirmed at the put-off, but couldn't resist the urge to speak. "Barnes is going for a meeting with one of the labor types; some reporters set it up. They're having lunch at noon at The Pond, downtown." "Yeah, so?" "Look, if they start comparing notes they're going to find out all the stuff I've done to keep these negotiations off-track! This could ruin everything we've worked for!" When Lex Luthor had approached him about running a little interference, it had sounded so easy. Send a few misleading memos, fudge the numbers here and there, and then Lex could take over the company, and he, Shenckman, would finally have that corner office. But if the plan was discovered too quickly, he'd be fired, at the very least. Frantically, he reviewed his actions, wondering if anything he'd done had actually been illegal. At the other end of the line, Enrico considered this information. He knew it was nowhere in Lex's plan for the two sides to begin talking rationally, so something probably ought to be done. He mentally ran down a few options for disrupting the meeting, then thought of the perfect thing. A well-placed bomb should kill both sides (and the meddling reporters) which would certainly impede negotiations for some time. They even had an explosive ready to go; a device carefully engineered to look hand-made, >from parts available at the ATC warehouse. If anyone were able to trace the bomb's origins, it would lead them right back to the union. It had been intended to intensify matters a little later in the game, but this might be the right time to use it after all. "Are you there?" Dennis demanded, unnerved by the silence. "Yeah. I've got an idea; lemme check with Mr. Luthor. We'll handle it." The line went dead, leaving Dennis not at all reassured. ***** Lois was in the middle of sending out e-mails when Ellen returned with Laura. In her researches of Amalgamated, she'd noticed that Hughes was a fairly new employee -- employed by the union, not ATC -- and that had seemed odd, especially considering his leadership position. Her instincts tingling, she was doing what she could to check his background. It was amazing what information was floating around on the Internet, but you had to be patient to sift out the gold from all the pebbles. Lois jumped when Ellen breezed by her, picking up her conversation from before. "And Lois, I brought some fresh lemons. We can have some fresh lemonade later. I couldn't keep it in the house when you were little. Sam always loved fresh squeezed lemonade and the two of you made such a big event, and a huge mess I might add, squeezing the lemons. I had forgotten until Sam and I got back together how often I had to admonish the two of you for drinking it directly from the pitcher." Ellen walked over to the rocker in the corner and sat down. Nestling Laura under her chin, she began to rock back and forth, humming a soft melody. Left in Ellen's wake, Lois watched in awe. This woman had always been such a contradiction to her. All her life, she had desperately longed for her mother's approval, her love. And here she was, gently rocking her granddaughter to sleep, comforting Laura the way Lois had always longed to be comforted. Lois couldn't decide whether she felt touched, or jealous. Walking across the room, she eased down on the sofa across from Ellen. Subconsciously rocking along with them, she tried to place the melody. "What song is that, Mother?" "It's a song my mother used to sing to me when I was a little girl. I've never even known the name and have long since forgotten the words." Looking over at Lois, she smiled, recalling a pleasant time in their past. "I used to spend hours humming it to you and Lucy when you were little." "You did? I don't remember it." "I would be surprised if you did. You were too small to remember. When you were older, you only wanted to be read to. The only way I could ever get you to sleep was by reading at least three books. And heaven help me if I tried to skip ahead. You had every word in them memorized." Looking back down at the infant sleeping in her arms, she continued in the rhythm. "Lucy was the one who liked to be sung to." "Maybe that's why she always seems to go out with musicians?" Ellen looked up and laughed, sharing a rare sentiment with her oldest daughter. "Could be...." "So what were we like as babies?" "Well, you were such a bright and curious child. You were always a step ahead of where Dr. Spock said you should be. And of course Sam and I thought you were perfect. Every parent does. I remember when you were trying to say your first word ... I spent all day one day trying to get you to say 'Mama'. Later that evening, you finally got out 'Da'. Sam was so proud. He must have called everyone we had ever met. It was a few more days, but you finally got out 'Ma'." Ellen had been staring down at Laura, lost to her memories. Coming back to the present, she caught Lois' eyes. "Lois, no matter what else happens in your life, you'll never forget the moment your child comes into your life or when they look into your eyes and say, 'Mama'. Nothing else can compare to that." Lois had never really spoken with her mother about her childhood. Even when she was pregnant, the focus had always been on how the baby was developing. She had spent so many years just wanting to get out of the house, that she never thought to find out if there really had been happy times in her troubled household. Listening to her mother had brought tears to her eyes. "Daddy really did that?" "Oh, yes. Even though we were both had medical careers, it's totally differently when it's your own child. I mean, you know how a child is supposed to develop, but it's still incredible to watch it happen." Ellen interrupted herself, another memory recalled. "I remember when you took your first step. Sam was so worried he would miss it, he canceled a conference in Paris to stay home." "Really?" "He did. He stood watch with the movie camera for three days. Of course, the second he put it down, you finally took your first step. I was folding clothes while you were crawling across the floor. You pulled yourself up on the coffee table and walked over to me. I was so excited, I couldn't speak. Sam came in later and you did the same thing. I didn't have the heart to tell him he missed it the first time." "Mother! You mean you've never told him?" "Oh, no. I mean, why spoil his memory?" "So, Daddy was around a lot then?" "Yes. Even though he was really busy with his surgical career, he made the time to be home when you and Lucy were little. I think that's why you were such an avid reader, because you saw him doing it. You were such a Daddy's girl. He would bring home his research to read at night. You used to curl up in his lap for him to read to you. Once you fell asleep, he would just keep holding you while he read his journals." "I never knew that." "Yes, you and I would work on something during the day and you would perform for Sam when he came home. He was an easy audience for you. You had him wrapped around your little finger." "I remember you stayed home with us until Lucy went to school. Was it hard for you to stay home while Daddy went to work?" "It was at first. But I had a gift he never had. I got to share so many things with the two of you he never will. In the beginning, Sam made such an effort to be involved. But when his career took off and he had less and less time for you, it was hard always trying to come up with an excuse of why he couldn't be there for this recital or that birthday party. I missed him myself, but I felt sorry for him because I knew how much he was missing. He'll never get that back." Lois just sat there staring at her mother. Was this the same woman who was always correcting everything she did? As if reading her mind, Ellen continued. "I would try to make sure everything was perfect ... to show him how much he was missing. And to show you...." "...how much you cared," Lois finished for her. All this time, she had just been trying to show Lois how much she cared. Jonathan was right after all. In her own way, she was just trying to be involved. Lois moved over to where Ellen was sitting. Looking down at her mother and her daughter, her eyes slick with unshed tears, Lois could barely speak. Reaching down to pull them both in an embrace, she finally whispered, "I love you too, Mother." ***** end part 5, cont'd in part 6 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 19:38:38 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (6/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Clark and Jimmy arrived at the restaurant early, partly to fulfill their duties as hosts, and partly due to nerves. A waiter led them to the table that had been reserved for them; as Jimmy had specified, it was away from the street, so it had some privacy. They didn't have long to wait before their guests arrived. "Mr. Barnes, good to see you again," Clark said, taking the lead. "And you must be Susan Mallory -- you two know each other?" At their nods, he continued. "Well, Ms. Mallory, I'm Clark Kent and this is my partner, James Olsen. Thank you both for coming." Mallory nodded curtly, seating herself before Clark could offer to assist. "I don't know what you hope to accomplish. We're not going to settle this unless management agrees to all our terms." She turned to her opponent and asked sweetly, "Walter, are you ready to agree?" He snorted. "If we give you everything you want, the company will be bankrupt in a week and we'll all be out of jobs." She shook her head sadly. "Well, that's too bad. Because if you don't give us everything we want, you won't have any workers and you'll go bankrupt anyway -- or at least you might have to cut back on the executive bonuses just a trifle." Jimmy and Clark exchanged a pained glance. This was not starting well. ***** It took half an hour before Lois turned up the evidence she'd been looking for. She stared at the screen, a half-smile playing on her face. She just bet Hughes didn't want anyone to know *this* but the union deserved to know what kind of man was leading them. She reached for the phone to call Clark, then caught sight of the clock. Darn, they'd be at lunch by now. She'd have to page him, or ... she looked across the room at Ellen, who was happily holding a very sleepy baby. Laura would probably be asleep soon, and sleep for at least an hour before she was due for another feeding. And what the heck, it would be a trial run. "Mother," she said softly, catching Ellen's attention. "I've got to run out for a minute, can you hold down the fort with Laura? There's a bottle of expressed milk in the fridge if she needs it, but she probably won't...." Ellen smiled. "Don't worry about a thing, Lois. I'll take good care of her." "You know, I think you will." Before she could succumb to self-doubt and ruin the moment, Lois grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She could meet Clark at the restaurant and tell everyone her news directly. ***** Her morning classes over, Penny hurried to her desk at Amalgamated to find a stack of work waiting for her, and a note letting her know that her father was at lunch with Clark Kent. She shrugged. More time for her to finish typing these memos ... just then she heard a noise from inside her father's office and frowned. If it wasn't Dad in there, who was it? She looked around and realized that the noise had been from Mr. Shenckman's office, instead. Well, that was alright then, she supposed, apparently he'd chosen to work through lunch. He was sitting at the desk, facing away >from the door, and hadn't seen her; she wouldn't disturb him. "Hello? Yeah, it's me. Look, you've got to tell me what's going on, I need to know--" Penny paid little attention to his phone conversation, concentrating on the top memo of the pile. "Oh, thank God. Wait, what do you mean? A ... a bomb?" Shenckman sounded like he was in shock, and Penny frowned. This didn't sound like a business call, and in spite of herself she strained to hear his next words. "You can't! I mean, sure, screwing up the negotiations was one thing, but killing Barnes? I can't be a part of this!" His voice had gotten higher in disbelief, but the person on the other end was apparently saying something persuasive -- or threatening; Shenckman got very quiet, sounding beaten. "Okay, yeah, I understand. Yeah, I'll keep up my end, don't worry. No, no, I know better than that. You can count on me, you know; I mean, it was just a surprise ... I'm fine." Penny was frozen to her chair. A bomb? To kill her father?? As part of a plot by ... Dennis Shenckman??? She'd always thought he was a bit of a weasel, came the inconsequential thought, but she'd never have thought him capable of this. She heard movement; he'd be exiting the office in a minute. She thought fast, and grabbed for the Dictaphone machine, plugging the headset into her ears moments before he emerged. She ignored him, typing industriously, pretending to transcribe dictation. He stared at her suspiciously. "Penny?" She fought the urge to look up at the sound of her name, and after a long moment, he moved on, apparently satisfied that she was in her own little world. She exhaled a long shaky breath after he rounded the corner. What was she going to do? ***** Lois entered the restaurant, and paused to collect her breath. It wouldn't look professional to pant out the information, and besides it wasn't *that* urgent. She spotted Clark and headed towards his table. He was clearly surprised to see her, jumping up from his seat. "Lois! What's up? Is there something wrong with Laura?" "No, no; she's home with Mother, taking a nap," she reassured him, smiling. "I just found out something about Michael Hughes that I thought you all should hear." "Oh, okay." Relieved, Clark introduced her around the table and seated her in the chair he'd vacated, snagging another one from a nearby table for himself. "Lane and Kent," Barnes commented, "Of course we've heard of you. Congratulations on your daughter. Daughters are a blessing." He threw a sharp glance in Jimmy's direction with that statement, but didn't elaborate. Clark smiled. "We think so. So, Lois, what did you find out?" She pulled a few notes out of her bag. "Well, Ms. Mallory, your Mr. Hughes has an interesting past. Did you know that he used to be an actor, upstate?" She blinked. "I had no idea. He told us he'd worked for other unions, helping them get better pay and benefits packages." "The only one he's been helping is himself," Lois stated. "He's been brought up on fraud charges twice now; once for a confidence scheme, and once as a local televangelist. He was never convicted, but only because key witnesses changed their stories. As far as I could tell, he's never worked for a labor union before, not even as a member." Mallory bit her lip. "That can't be the right Michael Hughes," she protested weakly. "Oh, I don't know," Jimmy spoke up. "It would explain his speaking skills. I thought that speech at the rally sounded a lot like a sermon." "It's him all right," Lois confirmed, a bit more gently now. "One of the old news articles had a picture. And," she continued, hoping to assist Clark's plan of peacemaking, "if he's not who he says he is, you can't trust any of the negotiating he's been doing, either." Clark caught his cue. "Seems to me you two ought to go over all the issues *without* a con man involved. You might be closer to agreement than you think." ***** Penny dialed her father's cell phone number for a third and forlorn time. "Come on, come on ... Damn!" No answer. He must have forgotten to turn it on again. She dangled the handset from one finger, trying to figure out what to do next. Of course, he was at lunch with Clark. She punched in the number for the Planet. "Yes, I know he's at lunch. No, I don't want to leave a message, I just want to know where he is ... damn. Thanks anyway." She took another look at the wall clock and bit her lip. It might already be too late, and the thought was driving her crazy. Well, when you're desperate, who ya gonna call, she thought with a small, slightly-hysterical giggle. She stood up and practically ran all the way to the roof. ***** A well-trained waiter delivered their food, but only Jimmy seemed to notice. "So, let's look at this short-term disability plan," Susan challenged. "The memo your office sent over made it look way too complicated." Barnes frowned. "It's not that bad, really. All you need is...." Clark lost track of their conversation, hearing a faint, desperate call for help. He twitched in his seat, looking sidelong at Lois. She caught on instantly, glancing around the table. Barnes and Mallory were caught up in their own discussion, arguing fine points, and Jimmy seemed engrossed in his lunch, but it wouldn't hurt to come up with something good. "Oh, Clark, I just remembered ... um ... we're running very low on diapers. Nearly out, actually. I was going to pick up a package on my way home, but maybe you could run by the discount place and pick up a case or two?" She knew it was a weak excuse, but it was the best she could come up with; she'd need to get back in practice. Clark raised his eyebrows slightly. "Ah, yeah, why don't I go do that right now, so I don't forget -- they'll hardly miss me. Think you can keep them on track?" "I'll do my best," she replied, raising her face to receive her farewell kiss as he ducked out of the restaurant. It was a short flight across town to the top of ... the Amalgamated Transport headquarters building. Clark geared up for more trouble, then groaned when he saw that the one calling him was Penny. He paused momentarily, remembering the last time she'd screamed for Superman -- "playing kissing bandit with local superheroes" was how a very displeased Lois had described it. Still, that was a long time ago, and Penny seemed quite happy with Jimmy these days, so he'd see what she needed. And keep a safe distance, just in case. ***** Lois heard terms like "pension", "disability" and "vesting" fly around, but had a hard time concentrating on them. She picked at the food on Clark's plate, without tasting any of it; her mind kept returning to her baby. Laura should be asleep by now, but what if she'd been startled by something, and woke up to find that mommy wasn't there? Relax, Lois, she ordered herself, Mother will know how to calm her. But what if she's hungry, and she doesn't want to take a bottle? Clark had fed her from a bottle a few times (the look of confusion on her face at the strange method of feeding had been delightful) but she didn't really like it, and she might not cooperate. What if she was screaming for her mother, right now, and Lois was sitting here, instead, babysitting grownups? She gave up arguing with herself, and pulled out her cell phone. Mother would think she was neurotic, but hey, like mother like daughter. She hit the speed-dial for the townhouse and scooted her chair a little way away >from the table to gain some modicum of privacy. "Hello?" "Hello, Mother? It's Lois. I just had to check to make sure everything was going okay." Ellen's voice was amused, but sympathetic. "Everything's fine, Lois. It's only been 20 minutes, you know." "Yeah, well, call it new mom jitters." Lois tapped her foot restlessly. "Is she sleeping?" Ellen sighed. "She fell asleep just a few minutes after you left, and I put her in her crib, and yes, I put her down on her back. I've got the monitor right here, and it's turned up loud enough that I can hear her breathing. She's wearing enough not to be cold, but she won't overheat either, and she just had a diaper change before she fell asleep. Anything else?" More reassured than annoyed by the litany of details, Lois smiled. "Thank you, Mother, I really do appreciate you watching her. This meeting was very important to Clark, and maybe to a lot of other people, too." "Well, that's what mothers are for, Lois. Just think," she added somewhat acerbically, "you could have asked me to help out a month or so ago." Lois smiled tightly. Trust her mother to get that jab in sooner or later. "Yes, Mother. Well, it sounds like you have things under control, so...." She shifted in her chair, ready to get back to the meeting, when the phone suddenly slipped out of her hand and clattered to a stop under the edge of a nearby table -- fortunately it was unoccupied. "Oops." She ducked down to retrieve it "Sorry, Mother, the phone slipped...." She brushed the hair out of her eyes. The rest of her apology faded away as she saw an unwieldy device duct-taped to the underside of the table. She didn't recognize it, precisely, but her instincts warned her that it wasn't a good thing. "Sorry, Mother, I've got to go." Cutting Ellen off mid-sentence, she folded up the phone and jammed it in her pocket, trying to get a better look at the thing. ***** As soon as Penny gasped out her information, Clark grabbed her and took off again, back towards the restaurant. Apart from a strangled shriek of surprise, Penny was a good passenger, although now that he was landing he could see that she had her eyes tightly shut. He touched down right outside the restaurant, and set her on her feet. "Wait here," he cautioned, then hastened inside, sweeping the place with his x-ray vision in a somewhat haphazard manner as he went. "Superman!" Jimmy was the first to notice his approach; Barnes and Mallory were deep into a point-by-point comparison of something, and ... well, judging by the shoes sticking out, Lois was *under* a table. "I don't want anyone to panic," he said quietly, "but I've heard there was a bomb threat against this meeting." Jimmy's eyes got wide, as he looked around in alarm, but he stayed seated. Barnes and Mallory seemed too engrossed in their conversation to even realize anything was happening. Lois chose that moment to pop out from under the tablecloth, folding it up onto the table. "Superman! I'm so glad you're here." "Always nice to see you, too, Lois, but right now I'm looking for a bomb." "How convenient. I've found one. It's taped to the underside of this table." She flashed a sardonic smile. "Oh." He grinned sheepishly. "I should have known. Let me see it." He squatted down next to her and examined the device. "It's pretty basic," Lois murmured, "and I *think* that cutting this wire would disable it...." She indicated the one she meant. He nodded, x-raying it to make sure there were no motion detectors or other booby traps. As Lois had said, it was a very basic design, giving the appearance of amateur work, featuring an explosive diesel fuel mixture. He began peeling the duct tape loose. "I think you're right, but I won't risk it here. I'll take it up a few hundred feet and try it there." "Good idea. But this time, honey," she teased, very softly, "try not to destroy the evidence, okay?" He grinned. "Anything for you." In a flash, he was gone, and Lois scrambled up to her seat again. Barnes and Mallory were just beginning to notice something amiss as Penny ran into view. "Daddy!" She gave him a hug, not pausing to let him reply. "I was so afraid when I heard about the bomb, I thought I'd never see you again..." She pulled out of the hug and looked around the table for the first time. "Jimmy, honey!" She released her father and bounded over to her boyfriend, "Oh, Jimmy, I didn't even know you were here, I could have lost both of you!" Susan Mallory looked on sardonically, and cocked an eyebrow at Barnes. "Your daughter, I presume?" "And her boyfriend, apparently," Barnes confirmed, frowning slightly. "But what's all this about a bomb?" "You missed it," Lois smiled. "It was under a table, but I found it, and Superman's off disarming it now, where it won't risk anyone else..." She was keeping an ear out for a distant boom, but nothing so far. "Penny, Penny, calm down," Jimmy laughed, extricating himself from her clutches. "We're okay, Superman was just here." "I know he was; I called him," she retorted, for the first time relaxing enough to look a bit pleased with herself. "I'm the one who told him about it." Jimmy frowned. "How did *you* know?" "Yes, princess, that's a good question," Barnes chimed in. "How *did* you know?" Penny took a deep breath and dropped her bombshell. "Dennis Shenckman called somebody, and I overheard. He's been undermining your negotiations the whole time, Daddy." Barnes looked shocked at the news, but Lois noticed Susan Mallory looking confused at this, and tried to signal Jimmy. He picked up on her gestures, and enlightened the labor leader. "Shenckman was Barnes' assistant. I bet he sent some of those memos you've been arguing about." The light dawned, and she didn't look happy about it. "So, basically, we can't trust anything that's happened so far, because the whole process has been subverted on both sides?" "I'm afraid so," Superman said, rejoining the group, holding various pieces of metal. He set them down on the tablecloth. "I just wanted to let you know I've disarmed the bomb; these are the remains. The police might be able to trace the components." Susan Mallory stared down at the pieces in morbid fascination as Barnes and Jimmy continued to question Penny. "I'm sorry, I don't know *who* he was calling. But he was definitely not in this by himself, and, for what it's worth, he seemed kinda shocked about the whole bomb thing. I don't think he expected that." Superman tilted his head consideringly. "Well, that may work in his favor at the trial. It's too bad we don't know who he was calling." "It must have been Hughes," Mallory stated suddenly, with conviction. "Why do you say that?" "Because I recognize these parts," she replied. "Most of them are in use around the warehouse, for repairing the trucks, and some of them are unique." "And it's too much of a coincidence to think that Hughes and Shenckman were working apart," Jimmy piped up, excited to figure out part of the puzzle. "I bet they wanted to drive down stock prices, buy 'em cheap, and make a fortune!" Barnes slanted him a speculative glance. "You could be right, I suppose. How do you know so much about stocks?" Jimmy flushed, suddenly remembering who it was he was talking to. "It, um, used to be a hobby of mine -- virtual stocks, though, and virtual money." He sighed in regret at the memory. Barnes nodded. "I've heard of that. Well, back to the matter at hand. I intend to let the police sort out the details. Meanwhile, Ms. Mallory, I think it's clear that our negotiations have been tainted from the beginning. Are you ready to begin again?" She sighed. "I suppose we'll have to." She paused, thinking things through. "I'll need more documentation than I brought with me -- to be honest, I thought this meeting would be a waste of time." Barnes laughed. "You and I both. Let's see -- can we meet at three? My office or the union hall, your choice." He stood, gathering the papers that had been spread out over the table. "Let's do it in your office," she sighed, likewise preparing to leave. "The membership is still pretty worked up. Actually, make it four o'clock. I'll have to let them know what kind of charlatan we've all been listening to." They exited the restaurant, hammering out the details in a businesslike way. "I suppose I'd better get this evidence to the police," Superman commented, and began carefully gathering the bomb components together again. "And I think I might want to detain both Hughes and Shenckman immediately, in case either of them decides to run for it." Jimmy smiled broadly. "Man, this is so cool! Who knew we'd uncover not one bad guy, but *two* of them?" Lois smiled tightly, still partially lost in thought. "Or maybe more than two... I wonder if there's any way to prove it, though..." Jimmy shrugged off her doubts. "Hey, at least labor and management are talking again, so the strike thing should be on its way out. Just wait 'til Clark gets back so I can tell him all about it! He missed the whole thing!" At the mention of Clark's name, Lois' eyes went wide. The cover story she'd concocted wouldn't hold water much longer, and Clark, as Superman, was going to be busy for a while. Her mind raced, then came up with a quick plan. She grabbed her cell phone and opened it up. "Hello? Oh, hi Clark." She paused to allow time for "Clark" to speak, and to her horror she heard the line start to ring. When she'd opened the phone, she must have hit instant redial, and now instead of talking into a dead phone she was calling ... oh God ... her mother. Well, there was nothing for it but to forge ahead and explain later. "What do you mean, they were out of diapers?" she asked "Clark", acting upset. "Well, we need diapers--" "Hello?" Ellen answered, "Kent residence." "--so you'll just have to go to the other store, they must have diapers there." "Lois? What are you talking about? You have plenty of diapers...." "You know, the one on the other side of town, they usually have a good supply. No, the meeting went fine, in fact it's over. I'll tell you about it later." "Lois, you're not making any sense." "Okay, then, honey, thanks. Yes, I'll tell Jimmy. See you later, love you ... bye." Ellen had clearly run out of patience. "Lois Lane, I demand to know what sort of game--" Without a qualm, Lois hung up on her mother. Jimmy and Penny were politely pretending not to overhear her conversation, but Clark, still dressed as Superman, had obviously heard both sides, and was having a very hard time keeping up his customary poker face. "Jimmy, that was Clark; he's going to be delayed ... why don't you just get back to the Planet and start writing this up? He'll meet you there." Penny spoke up, "That's a cool phone you've got, Lois. I didn't even hear it ring." Lois felt her smile freeze on her face. "Yeah, well, um ... that's because I have it set to vibrate, instead ... you know, like a pager. So it doesn't wake the baby. When I'm home, I mean. And speaking of home, I've got to go. See you all later!" Smiling brightly, she hurried away. As she left, Jimmy commented with a grin, "She's a pistol ... and she sure keeps Clark busy." Superman hid a grin. "Yeah, she does." He wrestled with his conscience a moment, but decided a tiny tease wouldn't hurt anyone. "You know, I was sure glad when she dumped me to go after him." He gathered up the last of the evidence and walked off, adding as he went, "She's much too high-maintenance for me." Jimmy and Penny looked at each other and burst out laughing. Laughter that ended rather abruptly when Jimmy was presented with the lunch bill. ***** end part 6, cont'd in part 7 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 19:45:19 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (7/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Wednesday night Clark entered the bedroom on tiptoe, looking around cautiously. Lois grinned up at him from her place in bed. "Sneaking in, are we?" He grinned, but made shushing motions with both hands. "Your daughter is finally asleep; don't jinx it." "Don't worry, she'll do what you want." Lois batted her eyes at her husband. "Don't women always do what you want them to?" Clark laughed, "All except for you; you never listen." "I always listen to you." "Right. Since when?" "Always." She grinned impishly. "And I sometimes agree." "Unless I ask you to stay put." "Oh, well now, that's your fault. You know I don't like to be told what to do." "Oh, so from now on, I should just tell you to run into harm's way and you'll stay put?" Lois grinned, mockingly slapping Clark's chest. "Nice try." He gave up. "So, I take it things went well with your mother today. I'm sorry I missed dinner, but I was at the police station -- they found a fingerprint on part of the bomb, so they should find out soon enough who was behind it." "Hmm, that'll be interesting. Keep me posted. And my mother ... Clark, it was unbelievable. We talked about things we never had before. I never realized how much she did for Lucy and I when we were growing up. You and Jonathan were right. She made some mistakes, but her nagging is just her way of being involved in our lives. Which is not to say it won't still drive me crazy... but at least I understand it better now." She grimaced. "I had a hard time getting away with that crazy phone conversation, though." "I knew you could do it." Clark pulled Lois into his arms. "I'm glad you two could finally talk." Lois nestled against his chest. "I never knew what a good mother she was -- before everything fell apart, anyway. She loved us and cared for us. The parts of my childhood I really remember are when she and Daddy were yelling at each other, or when she was drinking herself under the table." She grimaced in remembered pain. "It was good to find out that it wasn't always that bad, you know?" "So you feel better about having her take care of Laura, now?" "Yes. She was so good with her today. I kept having to remind myself this was my mother." "It's amazing how someone so tiny can have such a huge effect on people, isn't it?" Lois looked up at him and grinned. "Present company excluded, of course." "Hey, I'm the first to admit she has me right where she wants me. She's my daughter, therefore she's perfect. I wish I could spend every minute of the day just watching her. I don't want to miss anything. In fact, I was thinking about when would be a good day for me to spend my first day with Laura ... a kind of trial run. Perry was asking if you wanted to start easing back into work -- two days next week, maybe -- before going nearly full time in November." She sat up straighter, slipping out of his arms as she considered this. "I've heard it's a good idea to start back to work gradually, so it's not as overwhelming -- not that we have a normal work week, of course, but still ... and I wouldn't mind doing some more digging into this Amalgamated setup. It's obvious that Hughes and Shenckman were in it together, but I'm not convinced they were in it all by themselves." Clark hummed noncommittally. "Their records were subpoenaed, you know; they'd both bought a considerable amount of Amalgamated stock in the past 24 hours." Lois waved that away. "Circumstantial. I don't know, Clark, but this whole thing just smells of Lex Luthor. Anyway, I want to check a few things. Okay, maybe we'll give it a try on Monday." She smiled. Being home with Laura was wonderful, of course, but it was also messy and demanding; spending a day in the newsroom sounded like such a nice change. "Good," Clark smiled back, then made a show of x-raying through the wall in the direction of the nursery. Lois watched, raising an amused eyebrow. "She's asleep, alright," he confirmed. "I think the coast is clear..." he reached for her, a playful leer on his face. Lois evaded his grip, laughing softly. "Good luck, optimist. She's got special radar, I swear. Anytime we try to start something, she's up for hours." "Well, yeah, usually," Clark conceded, making a second, and more successful grab for her. "But maybe she won't mind if we just cuddle for a while." Lois adjusted herself into his warm embrace, with a little sigh of contentment. "Oh, Clark, it's so nice to have someone hold me, instead of the other way around.... So, just a cuddle?" she teased. "Mmm ... maybe we could try some kissing...." he suggested, suiting actions to words. "I wouldn't mind," she agreed, somewhat breathlessly. "After all," she added with a wicked smile, "she might *not* interrupt us this time...." Clark groaned low in his throat. "She'd better not ... I'm getting tired of those trips to the Arctic Ocean to cool down...." Lois had a sudden vision of Clark diving into the water, leaving a cloud of steam behind. She giggled, stretching her neck to allow him better access. "So that's what's causing global warming...." "Mm-hmm," Clark agreed solemnly, "and I think it's your patriotic duty--" he paused to plant a kiss on her neck, "--as a concerned global citizen--" another kiss landed softly on her cheek, "--to try to prevent further incidents." Their lips met, temporarily preventing her from replying. When he finally lifted his head, he saw with satisfaction that she was lying limp with her eyes closed, and a huge smile on her face. He had to strain to make out her slightly mumbled response. "Always happy to do my bit for the environment...." ***** Thursday, October 22 Lex Luthor puffed on his cigar angrily, snapping the pages of the morning paper as he read about the imminent end of the Amalgamated Transport strike. Enrico entered the office cautiously. He'd heard the news, and while it wasn't all bad, with Lex Luthor it was wisest to prepare for the worst. "Good morning, Mr. Luthor." "Morning, Enrico," Luthor greeted him. "I assume you heard the news?" "This morning," Enrico confirmed. "And I checked a few sources." "And all the evidence we'd planted against both of them has been found?" Enrico brightened; Lex seemed to be taking this well. "Yes, sir. They found the investment funds in Hughes' and Shenckman's names, and that fingerprint we planted on the bomb components." Lex puffed a cloud of cigar smoke, baring his teeth. "That was a nice touch, Enrico, using a part that Hughes had handled." "Well, it was your idea, boss." "Of course. And our two friends do know better than to deny any of this oh-so-convincing evidence, do they not?" Enrico nodded. "Shenckman's too scared, and Hughes doesn't know anything anyway. They'll do their time without a peep." Lex nodded, drawing deeply on the cigar. "Good, good...." Enrico hesitated, then plunged ahead. "Uh, Mr. Luthor ... I thought you'd be more upset than this ... especially with Kent involved...." Lex exhaled a long stream of smoke, spreading his hands wide. "One must be philosophical, Mr. O'Reilly. Some battles you win ... some you lose. That is what makes Mr. Kent a worthy opponent." His smile took on a decidedly nasty edge. "My next plan, however, will win me the war. I will get what I want, and a full measure of revenge besides." His face revealed deep satisfaction. "A full measure, pressed down and overflowing." He contemplated that future for a moment, and Enrico shivered. Lex looked up, and ended on a somewhat lighter note. "That loss will hurt Kent far more deeply than this has hurt me. With that, I strive to be content." ***** Monday, Oct 26 On his first full day of caring for his daughter, Clark was in heaven. Or at least he would be, if only she were happier with the situation. He'd cared for her before, of course, to give Lois a break to nap, shower, or run to the store, but those occasions had never lasted this long. Laura had seemed happy to be with Daddy for the first hour or so. Until, that is, it came around to feeding time. She was tired, she was hungry, and she wanted *Mommy*, not a bottle. At last, however, she had calmed down enough to accept the bottle, and Clark was enjoying the peace and contentment of feeding his baby, watching her drift off to sleep. The relative quiet was broken when his superhearing picked up a news report of a hurricane pounding the Caribbean. The wind had blown the roof off of an evacuation shelter, threatening the lives of those inside. Automatically, he shifted, mentally planning how to combat the emergency, but then he remembered the baby in his arms. Looking down at Laura, he shook his head, knowing that for the moment, at least, there was nothing he could do to help. It was not the first time he'd been unable to assist, for one reason or another, but it never got any easier for him. He reminded himself firmly that he had chosen parenthood, and the responsibilities that came with it. Surely that was more important. ***** Lois came home to discover her husband asleep on the couch, Laura sleeping soundly across his chest. Hearing a lullaby CD in the background, she realized it must have had the same effect on father as daughter. Putting down her briefcase, she walked over to them, placing a soft kiss on her daughter's cheek and her husband's lips. Clark's eyes fluttered open, looking up into the soft brown eyes of his wife. "Hi, honey." "Hi, yourself." Realizing he was still holding Laura, he grinned, blushing slightly. "I guess she wore me out, today." "I guess so. And you're the one with superpowers, right?" "So I thought. I guess I know why they have the warning label on that lullaby CD about not playing it while driving. It wasn't working on Laura for a while there, but it sure made me sleepy." Sitting down beside them, Lois couldn't help but tease him a little. "So, how did it go? Will this be your first and last day taking care of her?" "Very funny. No, this will not be the last time. We had a great day. I'm just going to have to get rid of that CD." Placing her hand on his cheek, Lois chose her words carefully. "I heard about the hurricane. You want to talk about it?" He squeezed her hand for support. "I heard the report on TV. And I heard the update later that two people were killed." "You know that they may have died before you could have gotten there, anyway." "I know. I just don't have to like it. But the thing is..." he paused, searching for words. "I know there is no way I can be everywhere, that sometimes I'm going to ... to fail, basically." Lois shook her head vehemently. "You only think that because you try to take on too much." He gave a tiny shrug of agreement, careful not to disturb the baby. "Yeah, maybe. But the point is, I don't want to fail you and Laura. You guys depend on me to be here, so this is where I'll be." Bridging the distance between them, she placed her lips against his. Pulling away slightly, she spoke into his lips. "I love you." "I love you, too, sweetheart. Both of you." "I know." She smiled tenderly, then sat back, merging into a more practical mode. "We'll just have to come up with some way for you to respond to some of the more major emergencies. Your mom and dad would be ideal, of course, but...." "But they're getting ready to start on their trip -- I think Dad said they wanted to leave tomorrow or Wednesday." Lois laughed softly. "I hadn't realized how much they'd prepared, already. Anyway, they'll be unavailable for a while. And Perry said that he got the go-ahead on the day-care center at work, but it'll take them some time to set it up." "That's great," Clark commented. "I love the idea of being able to visit her during the day." Laura started stirring around, perhaps aware that she was the topic of conversation. "Me too," Lois concurred fervently, "and even more I love the idea of being able to nurse her during the day. Speaking of which, give her to me...." With practiced ease, she gathered up her daughter and moved clothing out of the way. "Ahhh ... that's much better. I was getting so *full* it was uncomfortable." Clark raised an eyebrow. "You know, I hadn't even thought of that. I guess if you're used to nursing her all day long...." "Well, I thought of it," she retorted, "And I had my breast pump with me today, but I had the hardest time finding a private place to use it! That's the next thing I'm going to bug Perry about. Nursing has so many health benefits for babies that it only makes sense for the Planet to support it by setting aside a room somewhere for nursing mothers -- I know I'm not the only one." Clark squirmed, still a bit uncomfortable with all this biology. Then he grinned. "If you want it, Lois, I'm sure you'll get it." She stuck her tongue out at him. ***** Friday, November 6, 4:30pm "My goodness, Clark, I had no idea that going back to work would be this exhausting!" Lois collapsed into the passenger seat of the Jeep. Clark smiled sympathetically from his side of the vehicle. "Well, it's been a busy week, what with the election and all." He started the engine and maneuvered them out of the Planet's parking garage and onto the city streets. "Next week should be better, especially if Laura skips a nighttime feeding again." Lois groaned agreement. "Sleep is wonderful. I think I was more addicted to those little daytime naps than I thought." "Well, she'll get better at night, and you'll get used to work again. I thought the flex-time schedule worked pretty well, don't you?" "Yeah, actually, I do," Lois admitted, brightening slightly. "I got my four days in, anyway. Did you?" "Well, I owe Perry a few more hours tomorrow, but that's because of Superman distractions. I can go in first thing in the morning, and then we'll have the rest of the weekend together." Lois shrugged philosophically. "It'll give me a chance to reconnect with Laura, I suppose. I mean, it was great to be back at work, but I was amazed at how much I missed her this week. It'll be nice to just hang out with her for a morning." Clark chuckled. "There you go, then." They rode in companionable silence for another block before Lois voiced the question in the back of her mind. "How are you doing, with Superman distractions, I mean?" He sighed. "Not too badly. It's hard to ignore a call for help, but they don't really always need me, anyway -- not as much as my family does. If I wanted to be Superman full time, I should have given up on being Clark Kent a long time ago, and I can't do that, so ... I just have to try to find a balance." The light changed from red to green, and Clark's mood with it. "And speaking of my family ... how do you think Laura's doing with her grandmother?" Lois laughed, allowing the subject to be changed. "She's a champ. Mother did a great job as far as I could tell, and she seemed to be enjoying it, too -- she said she and Laura walked around the neighborhood a few times, and got to say hi to some of the neighbors, which is more than I managed in two months of being home." She grinned. "I guess I'm more of a homebody than I thought." "It's called cocooning, Lois," Clark informed her in his mock-professor tone. "The trend of the nineties." "Well, what a relief to know I'm trendy," Lois murmured, idly watching the flow of traffic in the darkening streets. "It feels like a cocoon when it gets dark this early." "It's just the change of the seasons, Lois; perfectly normal." "If you say so, Farmboy," she teased him, starting to recover from the stress of the workday. "I do," he affirmed, with a grin in his voice as he turned the Jeep onto their street. "Before you know it --" He broke off suddenly, peering ahead intently. Lois looked ahead and felt her stomach clench in fear. Red and blue lights were flashing, strident in the gathering dusk. "Clark, which house are they at?" He shook his head. "I can't tell. I'm sure it's not ours." Lois heard the doubt and fear in his tone and was not reassured. As quickly as safety allowed, Clark parked the Jeep, and Lois was out of the door almost before the engine cut off. Clark caught up with her immediately, holding her hand for support as they hurried towards their townhouse. "Oh, God, Clark," Lois breathed, "our door is open, what happened??" He shook his head grimly. "I can't tell, but I can hear Laura whimpering, so it can't be too bad." Lois vaulted up the front stairs, bursting into her living room, expecting the worst. What she saw seemed like a nightmare. The room seemed full of people, but the first sight she could make sense of was one that was all too familiar: her mother, passed out on the floor, an empty bottle beside her. Not again, Mother! Flashes of innumerable prior occasions flooded through Lois' mind, and she reeled from the shock and outrage. Clark steadied her, and she tore her eyes away from the figure on the floor to search for her baby. There she was, across the room, being held by a woman Lois did not know. She started forward, but was stopped by a uniformed policeman. "Hold it, ma'am." "What happened here?" Clark demanded, finding his voice at last. "We're the homeowners, that's our baby ... what's going on?" The officer looked at them disapprovingly and shook his head. "A neighbor heard the baby crying and called us in. Clear-cut case of neglect." Lois again moved to cross the room and reclaim her child, but the officer tightened his hold on her arm. "I'm very sorry, ma'am," he intoned in a voice that sounded more bored than regretful, "but until this is settled, I'm afraid Social Services will have to take custody of the baby." To Be Continued ... ___________________ Be sure to join us next month for the conclusion, "For The Good Of The Child", by Chris Mulder! ___________________ Characters in this episode are copyrighted by DC Comics, December 3rd Production and Warner Brothers. No infringement is intended in any part by the author or the Season 6 group, however, the ideas expressed within this episode are copyrighted (c) 1998 to the author(s). ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 18:51:20 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Guo Zheng Lee Subject: Re: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (1/7) In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Please send the episodes for 5/7, 6/7, 7/7. I did not received them so kindly forward the messages. Thanks. Guo Zheng ************************************************* ************************************************* "For Nearly A Quarter Of A Century, I Have Been Engaged In The Investigation Of The Fundamentals Of Life, The Material Universe And Human Behaviour. Such An Adventure Leads One Down Many Highways, Through Many Byroads, Into Many Back Alleys Of Uncertainty, Through Many Strata Of Life..." --------------------L. Ron Hubbard------------ ************************************************** ************************************************** ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 22:13:01 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: -Audrey Howard Subject: Re: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (1/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I didn't recieve parts 1/7, 2/7, 4/7 and 7/7 of "Strained Relations" Could you please send it to me? -Audrey (Moped12646@aol.com) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 00:41:18 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jessica Sweeney Subject: Re: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (1/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit I did not get 1/1, 1/2, or 1/4. If you could send them it would be great! Jess~ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 01:26:48 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Peace Everett Subject: TAN: FoLCStitch Comments: To: L&C Listserve MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; X-MAPIextension=".TXT" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Posting to both lists with permission from the list moms :) Are you proud to be FoLC? Tell the world! Visit FoLCStitch, at: http://www.angelfire.com/tx/folcstitch/index.html to see how to get your own personalized coffee mug (or a kit to make it yourself) Peace FoLCStitch Tell the world you're a FoLC and proud of it! http://www.angelfire.com/tx/folcstitch/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 16:16:17 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: -Audrey Howard Subject: Re: S6, Ep 1, "Strained Relations" (7/7) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hiya! I still didn't get part 7/7 of "Strained Relations". If you could send it I would really appreciate it! Thanks, Audrey (Moped12646@aol.com) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 19:50:12 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: NEW FANFIC: "PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR" Part 2 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR: Continued from part 1 __________________________________ Ellen took the dish that Perry had brought. "I'll just take this into the kitchen. You boys make yourselves comfortable, and I'll tell Lois and Clark you're here." She pushed open the kitchen door expecting to see the turkey being stuffed. Instead, the turkey was nowhere to be seen, and Lois and Clark were locked in a passionate kiss. She cleared her throat, and they jumped guiltily apart. Lois smoothed her hair and smiled nervously. "Oh. Mother. I didn't hear you come in." Ellen looked around suspiciously. "Where's the turkey?" "Oh. Um. It's in the oven. Cooking, you know." The doorbell rang again. Ellen rushed off to answer it. Lois looked at Clark and breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew, that was a close one. No more superspeed stuff today, okay?" Clark leaned down for another kiss. "I promise. Now let's go say hello to Jimmy and Clarissa." Lois groaned. "Oh, God. Do we have to?" In the entryway, Clarissa was handing over another covered dish. "Hi, I'm Ellen Lane, Lois' mother, and you are?" Ellen asked as she took the casserole dish from Clarissa. Clarissa gave Ellen a wan smile. "Bored and uncomfortable." Jimmy laughed nervously and stepped in front of Clarissa. "Just kidding!" he interjected. "She is such a kidder. It's because she has such a wonderful sense of humor!" Clarissa rolled her eyes at Jimmy. "Well, how *nice*," Ellen replied, with a tight smile of her own. "I've always thought a good sense of humor is important. I don't know how I would have survived without mine." Standing in the kitchen doorway, Lois and Clark exchanged quizzical looks and a strained silence settled over the hallway until Ellen decided to speak up once again. "So what did the two of you bring today?" she said cheerily. "It's a broccoli, beet, and tofu casserole," Clarissa replied flatly. "Oh, that sounds *interesting*. I'm sure it will be just delicious with the turkey." "I wouldn't know. I've never eaten animal flesh. I believe it's a form of cannibalism." Ellen was just about to make a comeback to Clarissa's comment when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Here, let me take that from you. Lois is still in the kitchen and I wanted to come out and see if everyone knew each other." Ellen looked at her son-in-law. "Oh, we introduced ourselves," both women said at once. Clark looked at Ellen and what he saw made him squirm. She was still eying the younger woman. "My dear, you must pay a visit to my hairdresser. She can work miracles on bleached hair. I don't think I've seen that shade of blonde since I had the misfortune to be at the mall when this dreadful country singer was giving a concert." Clark pulled Clarissa and Jimmy further into the room, before either had a chance to reply. Clark looked over his shoulder and gave Ellen a stern look. "What did I say? I was only trying to help the poor thing, but since I'm no longer needed in here, I'll go help Lois." "No, don't do that. She has everything under control in there." Clark took the couple's coats and left them with the rest of the other guests. Still balancing the casserole in one hand and the coats in the other, he rushed to Ellen. "Here, let me take that, and you go entertain your guests." Before Clark could stop her she had the casserole in her hands and was heading for the kitchen. "Yooo--hoo, Lois. I come bearing more food." Lois looked up as she saw her mother. "Mom, I need Daddy. Go get him now. Don't ask questions, just GO!" Ellen placed the casserole on the edge of the counter and immediately turned around, exiting the kitchen, heedless of the teetering casserole dish. Lois gasped and reached for it, a split second too late. She watched as the dish fell off the counter, only to be returned safe and intact, thanks to a pair of super-speedy hands. "Thanks, Clark. What is that, by the way?" Clark smiled and raised the lid, peering at the concoction. "Looks like a broccoli, beet, and tofu casserole, honey." Lois wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Clarissa?" "Clarissa," Clark confirmed. "What did you need your father for?" Before Lois could answer, the door swung in to reveal a frowning Sam Lane. "Yes, Princess? Ellen said it was an emergency. What's wrong?" Lois sighed and shook her head. "Nothing, Daddy. I just need you to keep Mother out of the kitchen." Sam nodded, understanding. "I'll do my best, Princess, but you know your mother. Her intentions are good ..." Lois interrupted. "Please, Daddy. Spare me a listing of Mother's good intentions. I know them by heart." Sam started back to the living room. "I know, Lois. I heard about the Swiss Bell Ringers." At the sound of the doorbell, Lois left the kitchen. "That must be Lucy. I'd better warn her about Mother ..." She paused and held the kitchen door open, listening for the tirade that would indicate the mother and daughter reunion. When it didn't happen, Lois frowned. Clark came up behind her and leaned down to whisper. "Dr. Friskin and Dr. Klein, honey." Lois breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness!" She turned to look back at Clark. "I still can't get used to the idea that they're seeing each other socially. Clark smiled at her. "Stranger things have happened. As long as they don't share case studies about a certain alien superhero and the woman that he loves." They stood there smiling and looking into each other's eyes. The sudden ringing of the phone startled them out of their momentary reverie. "Hello? Lucy! Where are you?" Lois covered the mouthpiece. "It's Lucy." "I got that, honey. What's the matter? I can hear her sniffling." Now concerned, Lois spoke into the receiver. "Luce? Is everything all right? .... Uh huh ... I see ... okay ... " Lois looked at Clark. "Okay, Lucy. Lucy? Listen to me, kiddo. Stay right where you are. Clark has to go pick up his parents. I'll have him swing by and get you, too. ... Excuse me? Say that again?" She sighed. "OK, Luce ... I'll see if that's possible. Uh huh ... yeah ... right ... bye." She hung up the phone and sighed heavily. At the familiar sound of spinning, Lois turned and smirked. "You heard." Clark stood there, clad in his red and blue suit. "Yeah. And if Superman picking up Lucy is what it takes to have our families together for Thanksgiving, I'm willing to do that." "Remind me to thank you later." Clark winked. "Count on it. I'll bring Lucy here and then get Mom and Dad at the airport." Lois stepped forward and hugged him. "Make it quick." Clark smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I will." He paused and listened for a second. "Besides, I want to catch the last quarter of the football game." With a soft kiss, Clark whooshed off to get Lucy. Lois sighed and started to walk toward the living room. The timer dinged and Lois groaned. "Great. And the potatoes aren't even peeled ..." Sighing, she looked around for the peeler. *** "I told you I never wanted to see you again!" Superman dodged the flying telephone and peered in the open doorway of Lucy Lane's apartment. "Miss Lane?" "Superman?" The stridency was kicked out of Lucy's voice at high velocity. Clark could have sworn he heard it follow the phone out the door. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She appeared around the corner of the kitchenette, a concerned frown on her face. "I thought you were Jason." "Lois asked me if I could come and get you for dinner." Now that the threat of flying appliances was gone, Clark folded his arms over his chest. Lucy brightened. "Oh, great!" She picked up the suitcase waiting by the door. "I'm so glad. I really wanted to go, and then Jason decided he wanted me all to himself, and this was my big chance to introduce him to the family and then he tore up the plane tickets and I threw him out- I tried to pitch him out the window, but he made it to the door first." Clark ignored the broken shards of two plastic cups peeking out of the dented wallboard by the door. "I see. Are you ready to go?" Lucy took a deep breath. "Sure. But could you do me one favor?" "I'll try." She pointed to the other suitcase waiting patiently by the door. "Dump that in the ocean before we get there?" Continued in part 3 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 19:50:22 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: NEW FANFIC: "PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR" Part 5 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR: Continued from part 4 ________________________________ Lois and Clark wisely began to set the table in the dining room as their guests communed in the living room. Clarissa, having offended everyone else, turned the gun to Klein and Friskin. "Surely as doctors, you know the dangers of flesh!" Klein stared blankly and blushed. "We use protection." Friskin smiled. "I don't think she's speaking of carnal contact, dear." Clarissa sighed loudly. "I'm not a Catholic. This isn't about priests, carnals, *or* the Pope! This is about eating dead animals!" "Well, sweetie," Perry said as he passed by. "If you eat *live* animals, there's always an opening at a sideshow." "There's an interesting anthropological precedent regarding early humans switching from goat grass to consuming animal flesh--" "Oh, Bernie," Friskin practically squealed with delight. "You saw 'The Ascent of Man' too?" "Of course, puddin'," he smiled and felt passion in his very soul that they had shared a PBS moment. Ellen shook her head. "I never thought anyone could make me miss Baby Gunderson." "Well," Sam shrugged, "I could always take out her battery pack." "Okay, everyone," Clark called with all due cheerful caution. "Dinner's ready." The assembled crowd, perhaps motivated to remove themselves from Clarissa more than any true hunger, stampeded to the dining room. Amazingly, no matter where Clarissa chose to sit, the person next to her found something wrong with the chair ... and moved. Lois grabbed Clark's tie and whispered, "Maybe we can set her up with a TV tray away from the main table." Clark nodded thoughtfully. "I can set it up in Toronto." Jimmy, finally, grudgingly, took a seat next to Clarissa since everyone seemed to be blaming him for the need of musical chairs in the first place. Clark sighed. "Okay, two years ago, my dad carved the turkey in Smallville, and last year," he smiled down at Lois, "I carved the turkey for our first Thanksgiving in our new home. But this year," he said, handing the carving tools to Sam. "I think you should have the honors ... Dad." Sam took the carving utensils from Clark with one hand and scrubbed at his eyes with the other. "Thanks, son," he managed to croak. Then he picked up the carving knife. "Prepare to see a surgeon at work. I noticed how you massacred that bird last year, m'boy. Take notes." Clark and Lois rolled their eyes at each other. Some things never changed. The rest of the meal passed in relative peace, in spite of Ellen finally noticing that the final count at the table was thirteen. She calmed down somewhat after Sam fetched her a Valium from her purse, but was heard muttering dire predictions as she and Sam went down the steps. The doctors were the next to leave. As she said goodbye, Dr. Friskin pulled Lois aside to whisper in her ear. "Lois, you don't know how much I admire you after meeting your family. Would you mind if I wrote up an article? Of course I won't mention any names. By the way, I would also like to explore your interesting relationship with Superman one day. Call me." She ran down the steps after Dr. Klein, leaving Lois gasping in her wake. "Clark, did you hear that??" Clark turned from saying goodbye to Jimmy and Clarissa. "Hear what, honey?" Before Lois could say anything, their attention was diverted as the conversation between the two departing couples filtered back to them in the silent evening. "Tell me, Clarissa. When you're around other 'cannibals' as you call us, how does that make you feel?" "Like I'm the sacrificial limb." "Um, Clarissa? That's 'lamb.' 'Sacrificial lamb.' " "Jimmy! I told you, I don't eat meat! It cramps my aura!" "She's obviously not familiar with Survival of the Fittest, Ruth." "I am too, Doc! I even have their latest CD!" As the couples walked further away, their conversation faded. Lois rolled her eyes again. She'd been doing that a lot today. Lucy came rushing out. "Mother. Wait a minute. I won't be staying with you tonight. I'm going home with Jerry," she yelled. Ellen's shriek could be heard >from the car. Lois collapsed on the steps and buried her face in her hands. "Oh, Lord, Clark. I'll never hear the end of that, and it will be all our fault." Lucy turned to them and chuckled. "Do you mind if I stay here tonight, Sis? I just wanted to get Mother's goat." "Lucy!! I'm going to kill you." They were all laughing as Perry and Jerry came out. Perry cleared his throat. "Lois ..." he began. "Darlin' ... that was a wonderful dinner. I didn't think you had it in you." Lois smiled and looked at Clark. "Just like everything Clark and I do, it was a team effort, Perry." Perry clapped his hands together and beamed. "I knew it! The minute I partnered you two together." Clark grinned. "As far as I'm concerned, that was one of your better ideas, Chief." Perry and Clark shook hands. As he headed down the stairs, Perry looked back at Jerry. "Let's go, Son." "In a sec, Dad." Jerry turned to Clark and Lois who had stood up to stand next to him. "Lois, Clark. Thanks for inviting me. I really appreciate it." He looked at Perry briefly. "I know Dad appreciates it, too." Lois smiled and took Jerry's hand. "It was a pleasure having you in our home, Jerry. You and your father are always welcome." Jerry smiled. "Thanks." He cleared his throat and turned his attention to Lucy. "Um, Lucy?" "Yeah?" "I was wondering ..." " ... if you could show me some of Metropolis' sights?" "Actually ... yeah, that's what I was wondering." "I'd love it." Lucy cast a quick glance at Lois. "Don't worry, Sis. I'll be good." "That's what I'm afraid of," Lois muttered. She took the sting out of her words by reaching out and hugging Lucy. "Have a good time. We'll have the den made up for you." "Don't bother, dear. Lucy can use the spare bedroom." Everyone turned at Martha's voice. Noticing that Jonathan was carrying their suitcases, Clark frowned. "Mom? Dad? I thought you guys were staying with us." "Normally, Clark, we would, but your mother has always wanted to stay in the honeymoon suite of the Lexor Hotel. And well, she doesn't often ask for anything ..." Lois smiled at Martha. "You'll love it. Take a bubble bath in the sunken tub." Martha smiled and hugged Lois. "Is it big enough for two?" "Mom!" The women all giggled for a few moments, looking at the shocked expression on Clark's face and the hopeful one on Jonathan's. With a last round of hugs and handshakes, Lois watched as the last of their dinner guests left. Holding hands, they entered their home. "Well, that didn't go so badly," Lois mused. "Actually, I thought it went fairly well," Clark countered. Lois smiled at him as they went up the stairs. "I married the eternal optimist." Clark stopped on the step, pulling Lois to a stop. She turned back and stepped down until she was eye level with him. "What?" "What were you going to tell me earlier? You said that you had realized something in the midst of all the pre-dinner chaos and confusion." Lois smiled warmly at him. "Oh. That." "Yes, that. What was it?" She reached out and cupped the side of his face. Looking into his eyes, she softly said, "Just that we all have a lot to be thankful for. That no matter what life has thrown at us, we're all family. And that the love that we have in our hearts for each other makes us all that much stronger." Clark smiled at her words. Leaning forward, he gently kissed her. "How'd you get to be so wise?" Bringing her arms around him, Lois explained. "Because you taught me how to love unconditionally. And how to share that love." She kissed him again, thanking him once more. Clark picked her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way up the stairs. THE END ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 19:50:10 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: NEW FANFIC: "PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR" Part 1 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR An IRC Round Robin by Mackteach (Mackteach@aol.com); Misha (mhall@sound.net); Zoomway (zoomway@aol.com); AMCiotola (AMCiotola@aol.com); chrispat (cp13607@aol.com); Eraygun (eraygun@aol.com); Lansbury (Lansbury1@aol.com) _____________________________________ Clark replaced the phone's receiver and tuned in to find Lois. He smiled as he headed down the stairs of their townhouse. Lois was in the kitchen. Talking to herself. He pushed the swinging door and walked toward Lois. Her head was bowed, looking at a list, pencil in hand. As he neared, her muttering became clearer. "... Perry ... Jerry ... Mom and Dad ... Lucy and whomever ..." "Um, Lois?" Lois held her pencil aloft. "Just a sec, Clark. Klein and Friskin ... Jimmy and Clarissa ... " She looked up at Clark and smiled. "Plus your parents and you and me ... that makes fourteen for Thanksgiving dinner." "Thirteen." Lois frowned and counted the names on her list once more. "No, fourteen." "Thirteen, honey. That was Lucy on the phone. She just broke up with ... with, um ..." "Whomever?" Clark smiled. "Right. So, she's coming for dinner alone." Lois scowled. "Well, that's just great, Clark! Here I've ... we've ... been planning for fourteen people ... the turkey's about to be stuffed ... and I got out the good china. Boy, is her goose cooked!" Clark leaned down and gently kissed her. "It'll be fine, Lois. That just means more leftovers." "Does your mom know any recipes?" Clark looked at Lois, his eyebrow raised. "Honey, this is *Mom* we're talking about." Lois smiled sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. Right. Of course she has recipes." She scanned her list once more and crumpled it up. "So much for pre-planning." She looked at Clark. "So, when were you going to put the turkey in the oven?" "Me? I thought you said *you* were going to do the turkey and I'd do all the side stuff." "Wait a minute, buster! Opening some cans of cranberry sauce and putting out butter patties does *not* constitute a partnership in my book!" She grinned slyly. "Besides, you cook much better than I do." "That's because I *always* cook." "Except for breakfast." She wrapped her arms around Clark. "Anyway, I seem to recall you telling me that I got a five-star rating in *other* rooms ..." She leaned up and kissed him. Clark closed his eyes and returned her kiss. "True ... *very* true." "So ... " She tickled him behind the ear. "You'll do the turkey?" Clark hugged her to him. "How about we *both* do the turkey?" "Stuffing?" Clark leered at her. "Maybe later ..." "Or while it's cooking?" "We'll see ..." Lois sighed dramatically. "OK. Let's get this started then." Moving out of Clark's arms, she went to the oven to turn it on as Clark set out the ingredients for the stuffing as well as double checking that there was enough foil and that the roasting pan was nearby. The sack of potatoes was already on the counter; they and the carrots would only take a few seconds at superspeed. "Clark?" Lois asked over her shoulder. "What should I set the oven to? Five hundred?" Clark paused, the roll of aluminum foil in his hand. He looked up at the ceiling, seeking divine intervention. "It's gonna be a long day..." Clark moved to Lois' side and reached around her to turn the oven down. "Try about half that, honey. You want the turkey to roast, slowly, simmering in its own juices..." "Oh, you mean like Kyle Griffin is doing at Blackgate right now?" Clark chuckled and kissed the side of her neck. "Exactly. Could you get out the turkey while I chop the vegetables for the stuffing?" "Sure." Lois grabbed the front of his apron as he turned back to the other counter. "But I get a reward first." "Reward?" "Yep. For agreeing to help cook." "Waitamin..." As their lips met, Clark decided not to protest. "Mmm..." He mumbled into her mouth. "What?" "Oh, I was just saying that you taste good, but you'd taste better after you got out the turkey." "Fine." Lois released his apron front slowly. She patted his chest with a smile, then twirled toward the refrigerator. "I can do that." Clark sighed happily and turned back to his vegetables. Within seconds, the celery and onions were chopped and he was reaching for the saute pan. A solid, heavy thunk behind him rattled the dishes, and he turned around. "Clark, how are you going to stuff this? It's still frozen." "Oh no..." Clark groaned, shutting his eyes. " I meant to defrost it yesterday, but I had to run to Australia for that earthquake." Lois wrinkled her nose. "Well, zap it with your vision gizmo," she waved at the inoffensive lump of ice and meat, "and let's get this show on the road." Vaporized water started rising from the turkey and the ice-white skin slowly turned pink. Lois' fingers did a rat-a-tat dance on the counter. "Lois." Clark's head didn't turn, but Lois stilled her finger tapping. "Why don't you find out who's about to knock on our door?" "Who-" The doorbell cut off the rest of her question, and Lois flung up her hands. "Santa Claus. I knew it. I married Santa." Lois removed her apron as she opened the door. "Princess!" "Daddy, Mother, you're ... early." "I know," Ellen sighed. "But I thought you might need some help in the kitchen." Lois eyed her mother suspiciously. "Bring a chef in your purse, Mother?" "I know I was never a great cook, but I had my moments." Sam nodded. "I thought we'd never get the Chicken Pacifica off the ceiling." Ellen tossed her purse, gloves and jacket on the chair. "I never used a pressure cooker before. It was an honest mistake." Lois smiled. "Well, I was only about nine when it happened. I thought it was pretty cool having a kitchen that rained pineapple chunks." "Sweetie," Sam interrupted. "Mind if the old man cranks up the TV? The games will be starting soon." "Sure, Daddy, and Mother, you just relax. Clark and I will handle dinner." "Whatever you think is best," Ellen said, and seemed relieved that Lois hadn't taken her up on her threat...her offer to help with dinner. "But if other guests arrive, you can be the official greeter, Mother. I'll be too busy." "No problem," Ellen said cheerfully. "I love playing hostess." "Good," Lois said, a lack of conviction in her voice. She went back to the kitchen. "Okay, my parents are here," Lois said as she headed for the spice cabinet. "They aren't fighting ... yet, so we're ahead of the game." "Speaking of "game", football will be starting..." "Not till you finish the cooking." Lois smiled sweetly as she placed spices on the counter. "Besides, you missed the Superman balloon in the Thanksgiving parade." Clark grimaced. "Every little boy's dream, to grow up and be flown in bloated effigy over several city blocks." Lois laughed. "Well, it was pretty impressive. It took thirty handlers." "Ah," Clark half-smiled. "That was their mistake. It only takes one sexy newswoman to handle Superman." He dropped a kiss onto her laughing mouth. "Mm," Lois sighed against his lips. "Don't forget it." The doorbell rang again. Clark turned and glanced over his glasses. "Perry and Jerry, and they brought some kind of covered dish." Lois sighed. "Probably remember the last gourmet meal we prepared for them." Clark hugged her from behind. "Don't worry, honey. I said a covered dish, not a pizza box." Ellen went to the door. "Perry! It's so nice to see you. Please, come in." "Well, Ellen, you're looking festive," Perry smiled. "This is my son, Jerry." "How do you do," the young man said politely and handed her the casserole dish. "My mom's candied yams. I used to think that was her name when I was a kid," he laughed. "She'd come to the door and people would say 'candied yams' instead of her name." Perry laughed and put his arm around Jerry. "Let's find a good spot for football." Continued in part 2 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 19:50:15 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: NEW FANFIC: "PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR" Part 3 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR: Continued from part 2 _____________________________________ *** Clark managed to convince Lucy to donate the suitcase and its contents to a shelter rather than the deep blue sea, and deposited her on the doorstep of his house not ten minutes later. Superman waved and smiled at everyone inside as he set Lucy's suitcase down, and zoomed around to the kitchen. He caught Lois in his arms before she made it to the kitchen door. "Mmmm...what was that for?" Lois asked dazedly as Clark held her until her feet were steady again. "Oh, just a quick kiss for strength. Has anyone been in the kitchen since I left?" "Mm...just Daddy, and I told him you were in the bathroom." "Good, because I remembered that Mom told me she didn't want to be juggled with the rolls she's bringing. She thinks I'd pay more attention to them than her." "What are you going to do?" "Use the Jeep." Clark grabbed the keys off the counter and opened the kitchen door for her. "Lucy's here. Go put her in the guest room, and I'll get the potatoes when I get back." Clark waved to the growing throng in the living room, paused a moment behind the sofa as a Metropolis U quarterback fumbled, shook his head, and continued to the door. Lois hugged Lucy. "I see Superman got you here safe and sound." "And just *why* did Superman bring you here?" Ellen asked, stepping between the two sisters. Lucy shrugged. "No plane ticket, and so Lois was nice enough to ask Superman to pick me up. Why? "she asked and folded her arms. "Think I'm dating Superman now?" Ellen sighed. "One daughter making a spectacle of herself over Superman is enough." "I did *not* make a spectacle of myself over Superman," Lois protested. Jimmy cleared his throat and Perry whistled and stared at the ceiling. "Not a *complete* spectacle of myself," she amended. "Well," Lucy beamed. "I thought it was all so romantic. I mean, I saw the news footage of you kissing him good-bye when he went to stop that asteroid." Lois blushed. "Um ... well, it was just a ... kiss for luck." "Lois!" Lucy laughed. "You gave the man a tonsillectomy!" "Don't let 'em get you down, Princess," Sam soothed. "So you had an affair with Superman and it didn't work out. At least you're still friends." "Daddy! I did *not* have --" Jerry approached Lucy quickly. "Hi, I don't think we were introduced," he said, extending his hand. "I'm Perry's son, Jerry White." "Hi," she said casually, but then looked at him more closely."*Hi*. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, that dangerous dreamy quality in her voice. "You sound just like Richard Dreyfuss. That's so sexy." "Really?" he said, and became even more nasal trying to sound as close to Dreyfuss' tonal quality as possible. "I never thought of that voice being sexy though." Lois picked up Lucy's suitcase. "Compared to Mickey Mouse ..." Lois' voice trailed off as she toted the suitcase to the spare room. "Oh, I love Richard Dreyfuss," Lucy gushed. "He's so sensitive, caring --" "Short," Sam laughed. Jerry swallowed. "Well, I admit there's no face as pretty as yours upstate, Lucy." "Upstate?" Ellen asked as she brushed lint from Lucy's sweater. "Well, I made a mistake - a big one, and was at the prison up there." Without asking, Sam handed a small bottle of aspirin to Ellen. "Just take two, honey. Remember your colitis." "Prison?" Ellen fumbled with the child-proof cap. "I keep having this nightmare of what Lucy's wedding album will look like--" "*Mother*." "A priest marrying them just before the groom walks the last mile; the best man will be a jailer named Hugo--" "Actually, Mrs. Lane, the jailer's name is Rich, but we like to call him 'Tiny' because of his--" "Anybody want coffee?" Lois interrupted before her mother had a heart failure. With a shrug everyone retreated into their own areas of the living room. The men were soon engrossed in the football game and Lois hoped that Lucy's sudden interest in Jerry would be enough to keep her mother occupied and out of her kitchen. She sighed, wondering how Clark was making out at the airport. *** Clark had made good time getting to the airport, but when he got there the traffic was incredible. Even though he had no problem getting to his parents on time, he could not believe the people who did last minute traveling. Being one who never had to rely on good old-fashioned airplanes, he'd never had to worry about it, but now he was a little anxious about getting back to the house on time. He didn't want to leave Lois alone with the kitchen - or her mother - for too long. "Clark, there's a booth opening up over there. Think you can get to it?" Jonathan was pointing to the right. "I don't know, Dad ... let me see." As he began to maneuver his way out of his line a car came from nowhere, totally blocking him off. This left him stuck in the same line and in the same position he had been in for the last half hour. If only he could just get out and fly the car home. Meanwhile, back at the townhouse, Drs. Klein and Friskin were cuddling in the corner of the sofa. "Bernie, I am so glad you invited me to accompany you today. I don't know when I've witnessed a more interesting dysfunctional family. Do you mind if I take notes?" Dr. Klein grinned. "I knew you would enjoy it, Ruth, but I asked you because I enjoy your company." Dr. Friskin sighed. "Oh, Bernie. You are so romantic. But I really think Lois could use some help...and maybe I can explore that fascinating relationship she has with Superman. I wonder what Clark thinks of that." Lois had retreated to the kitchen. At least the turkey wouldn't criticize her, and if she had to watch Lucy throwing herself at another jailbird and their mother's reaction to same, she would start to scream. Oh, Clark, where are you? she thought, and was tempted to scream 'Help, Superman.' She opened the oven and stared doubtfully at the turkey. She was supposed to do something to it, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember what. Just then, the kitchen door opened: "And just how do you feel about that turkey, Lois?" Lois jumped and then started to laugh. "Oh, Dr. Friskin. I'm so glad it's you." Dr. Friskin's eyebrows rose. "You are?" Lois grinned sheepishly. "Yes. I thought it was my mother." Dr. Friskin smiled. "Please, call me Ruth. I think I'm beginning to understand you a lot better, Lois. Is there anything I can do to help?" She gestured at the open oven. Lois turned back to the oven. "Clark said I was supposed to do something to the turkey. Do you have any idea what?" Ruth thought for a moment. "Oh. I know. I think you're supposed to baste it." She looked around and spied the baster. "I'm not much of a cook, but I saw Julia Child do this on TV once." Just then there was a commotion at the front door. Lois tossed the oven mitts on to the counter and headed out the kitchen door just in time to greet Jonathan, Martha, and Clark. "Thank goodness you're finally here," she said with a huge grin as she helped her in-laws with their coats. "What took so long, sweetheart?" "The traffic was unbelievable..." Clark began. "It certainly was," Martha interrupted. "We would have still been stuck at the airport if it hadn't been for Superman." "Superman?" Perry asked as he left the living room and came into the hallway. "Yes, he convinced the airport officials to let him help collect the parking fees. He had everyone out of there in record time." "Well don't that beat all," Perry said with a grin. "That boy really knows how to make himself handy." "Yes," Lois replied as she raised an eyebrow and looked carefully at Clark. "I wonder if we could convince him to help out in our kitchen." "I think that's my cue," Clark said sheepishly as he followed Lois through the swinging doors. As the doors closed behind them, Clark began to apologize, but before he could utter a coherent sound Lois launched herself at him and pulled him into a long, slow, deep kiss. "I thought you wanted me to help out in the kitchen," Clark murmured against Lois' mouth as the kiss finally ended. "Believe me, Clark," Lois said breathlessly, "you have no idea how much you just helped me." Continued in part 4 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 19:50:19 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: NEW FANFIC: "PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR" Part 4 of 5 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR: Continued from part 3 ______________________________ Both Lois and Clark were still in each other's arms when all the females who had gathered in their home came into the kitchen. Ellen, who deemed herself spokesperson of the small group, piped up. "We know this bird of yours is still in the oven but we can't stand another second of watching grown men in skin-tight kneepants chase after a little ball." "Speak for yourself, Mother," Lucy said in a stage whisper. Ellen gave her younger daughter a disapproving look. "But we want to help." And with that she took Clark by the elbow and led him to the swinging doors. She gave him a little push. "Go in with the rest of the men and don't come back until it's time to carry the turkey to the table." Lois felt the panic start at the tip of her toes and begin to rush to the roots of her hair. "You don't have to do anything. I...we have everything under control." She looked at Martha who just shrugged her shoulders. "I tried to stop them, but I was outnumbered." The ladies stood looking around the kitchen, each expecting to see dishes, pots, and pans stacked, waiting to be cleaned and put away. But to everyone's surprise it looked like the holiday kitchen from a magazine spread in 'Better Homes and Gardens.' Clarissa was the first to comment on the appearance of the room. "Your mother said you would be elbow deep in dirty dishes and surrounded by boiling pans on the stove. The only thing I see on the stove is this one pan of cooked animal blood which you so calmly call gravy." Lois walked over and took the lid from Clarissa. "It is not boiled animal blood. It's made from the drippings from the turkey. And if you don't like it then why don't you eat something else? I'll put extra carrots and celery next to you so you'll have something to still that mouth of yours. And while I'm at it, Mother, look around. I am not elbow deep in dishes and pots. The turkey and sweet potatoes are in the oven, the gravy and potatoes are on the stove. The salad and relish trays are in the fridge. I only have to put on the green beans and squash." Martha gave her a loving pat on the arm. "You've done a wonderful job, dear." Before she could say another word, Lucy spoke up. "Hey, Sis, where's the pumpkin pies? I don't see any desserts?" Lois stood still. "CClarrrkkkkk!!" In the living room, at Lois' yell, Clark got sympathetic looks from all the men. Sitting next to him, Sam laid a hand on his shoulder. "Clark, there's something that you should know about the Lane women ..." Clark looked at him, his brow furrowed. "What's that, Sam?" "Don't keep them waiting." With that, Sam pushed Clark up from the couch. Clark stood there for a few seconds, looking at all the men. His father, Perry, Jerry, even Jimmy -- they all nodded in agreement. Perry spoke up. "Especially around the holidays, Clark." He turned to Jerry. "Remember how your mother would get, son?" Jerry nodded. "I sure do, Dad. Especially when another woman, like Aunt Sara, would go into the kitchen." At Jerry's words, Clark went quickly to the kitchen door. Cautiously, he pushed it open. "Did you want --" Before he could finish his question, all the women exited, talking rapidly among themselves. Clark caught snatches of their conversations. "... She always was high-strung ..." "... All I asked was how did that make her feel ..." "... blood of butchered animals ..." "... what about dessert ..." "... I know, dear ..." He stepped into the kitchen and stood there as Lois rushed at him. Pulling her into his arms he held her tightly, whispering what he hoped were soothing words. Lois buried her face in his chest and Clark felt her shoulders shake. With laughter. Not expecting that particular reaction, Clark pushed her to arms' length. "Lois? Are you all right, honey?" Lois stood there laughing, tears running down her face. Finally, she took a deep breath and wiped her face. "Yeah ... the whole situation just finally ... got to me. And, rather than be upset about everything, I realized something." "What's that?" "I'll tell you later. Clark smiled, relieved that Lois had seemed to work it out for herself. "So. What can I do to help?" Lois smirked. "Other than fly to France and get some French apple pies for dessert, find Jimmy a girlfriend who *is* a meat eater, make sure that Lucy doesn't fall for Jerry White, and find out who won the football game?" Clark smiled. "Yeah." "Nothing." "Nothing?" "Well, you could kiss me and tell me how much you love me." "That I can do." Clark's mouth closed over hers and they stood there kissing as if they had all the time in the world. The kitchen door bumping into them interrupted their passionate embrace. Looking away from each other's eyes, Clark kept Lois in his arms as Jimmy poked his head in. "Um, guys? I've sort of got a problem ... and I need some advice." Clark chuckled as he heard Lois mutter, "Figures." "What's the matter, Jimmy?" Stepping into the kitchen and making sure the door closed after him, Jimmy started. "It's like this. I'm with Clarissa, right?" "How could we forget?" "But, she's really starting to upset everyone with her talk about the football being the skin of a dead pig and the barbarity of the whole game ..." "No surprise there." "And ..." Jimmy paused. "And?" Clark prompted. "Is Lucy seeing anyone?" Lois rolled her eyes. "Oy ..." Clark sighed. "Jimmy, I think I need to remind you of a few things." "What's that, CK?" "Lucy broke up with her boyfriend today, so she's probably still missing him." Or at least not hitting him as often as she'd like, judging by the shattered plastic around her door, he added silently. "Oh. So I'd be the rebound guy, huh?" Lois swallowed hard and turned to blindly stir the nearest pot, fighting down further laughter. "Ah. Yeah. And since Lois and I are busy here, Clarissa is your guest. If she doesn't like football, then you should find something else for her to do." Jimmy nodded, then shook his head. "Like what, CK? I think the soccer game ended fifteen minutes ago." "There's Trivial Pursuit, or we've got some packs of cards in the desk. Dad likes bridge, and Mom plays a killer hand of poker." "Uh, thanks- I'll try that." Jimmy reached for the swinging door and was nearly brained as Ellen stormed in, two boxes in her hands. "You'll never guess what your father just did to me now, Lois." Jimmy slunk out the door as Ellen brandished the boxes in Clark's face. He grabbed the wildly waving bakery goods and placed them safely on the counter. Lois sighed and turned. "What now, Mother?" "He just went and got a store-bought pie! From CostMart of all places! Didn't you tell me that store was a den of thieves and crooks and organized crime?" Clark looked at the boxes. Criminals or no, CostMart made darned good pumpkin pies. Two of them, in fact. "Ellen?" Ellen stopped her advance on her daughter. "What?" "Why does one of the pies have your name on it?" Ellen gasped for air twice, then turned on her heel and strode quickly from the kitchen. Lois wrapped her arms around Clark's waist and nestled into his embrace. "Is there any other disaster looming over us?" Clark cocked his head slightly, tuning into the various conversations around the townhouse. "...I've been dying to ask you this, Martha: How on earth did such a normal guy like your son fall in love with my sister?" "...Jonathan, do you know much about Lois' sister?" "...I don't care if it is a women's team, I refuse to watch any human desecrating the skin of one of Mother Earth's children by kicking it around a plasticized, pollution-creating, concrete amphitheater filled with over-fed ignorant peons!" "...it's an interesting triangle between the three of them, and I have yet to see any demonstration of jealousy on Clark's part." Clark sighed and hugged Lois closer. "Just the usual, honey." Continued in part 5 ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 19:50:05 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: NEW FANFIC ALERT: "PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi everyone The IRC Round Robin writers have been at it again, and as a result I have the pleasure of posting our latest story, "Plenty to Be Thankful For." In this story Lois and Clark have invited their family and friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. But as we all know nothing is ever simple for these two and between Lois's culinary skills and Clark's second job (moonlighting in tights) Thanksgiving may never be the same ;). We enjoyed writing this story and we hope you enjoy reading it. As always comments are welcome . Cheers, Eileen ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 20:08:13 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Betty Cay Stanford Subject: Re: PLENTY TO BE THANKFUL FOR MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0011_01BE171D.004588C0" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0011_01BE171D.004588C0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I did not receive part one please resend thank you betty cay ------=_NextPart_000_0011_01BE171D.004588C0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I did not receive part one please resend thank=20 you
 
betty cay
------=_NextPart_000_0011_01BE171D.004588C0-- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 23:13:08 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Subject: nfic Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Okay, quick question here, what's the difference between a fanfic and a nfic? ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 22:31:14 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: nfic In-Reply-To: <4bdc5912.365a3254@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 11:13 PM -0500 11/23/98, Kristen wrote: >Okay, quick question here, what's the difference between a fanfic and a nfic? Nfic is "adult" fanfic, usually a story with an R or NC-17 rating (as opposed to G, PG, or PG-13). Kathy ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@fgi.net KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 23:24:32 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: S6: Ep 1 (re: requests for parts) In-Reply-To: <3658A370.4815@earthlink.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I have resent various parts of "Strained Relations" to everyone who either posted to the list and wrote to me personally saying they were missing parts. I will be out of town from tomorrow through Sunday, so if you still are missing parts, please feel free to check out our website: http://tempus.simplenet.com/season6/ >From there, you can pull up either the web version or the text-only version of the episode. The site looks GREAT and I think you'll be glad you went. As an added plug, even if you've read the text version, I highly recommend taking 5 minutes to skim the web version of the story on the S6 website. We have included various pictures to go along with the story, and it looks really great. Not to mention, you'll get to see Laura's baby picture. ;) And who wouldn't want to do that?!? Trust me, she's adorable!!! Anyone care to guess who's playing Laura for this season? (No fair guessing, those of you who already know!) Enjoy those pics! Kathy ______________________ Kathy Brown kathyb@fgi.net KathyB on IRC ______________________ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 06:20:39 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: nfic In-Reply-To: <4bdc5912.365a3254@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 11:13 PM 11/23/1998 -0500, you wrote: >Okay, quick question here, what's the difference between a fanfic and a nfic? about 69 degrees ;) (Fahrenheit) Debby Debby@swcp.com keeper, Nfic mailing list... write for details (if you are +17.99 years of age) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 14:06:45 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Mandy Subject: Co-Op Fic! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit There will be a co-op fanfic starting soon on the afolcslife mailing list! If you'd like to be a part, email me and I'll give you the details!:) We're looking for any and all writers, even if it's your first time! Mandy mandyc@lcc.net ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 17:09:19 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Samantha Kegan Subject: Another Q MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain It's that time again FoLCs. The time for another annoying question from a clueless FoLC. This time it's kind of off topic. S6 people, What kind of font did you guys use? Don't laugh, I'm always looking for another good font to add to my collection. This is Samantha Kegan signing (literally) off. Samantha ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 21:27:53 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gillian B Tanz Subject: Re: Funny Fanfics? >I've always thought Quick Change by Carla Humbert is the funniest >fanfic. >Each and every time I read it, I giggle uncontrollably. I once >attempted to >read it to my husband while he was working on some odd job or other >around >the house. I finally gave up because I couldn't read and LOL at the >same >time. >Beverly :-) > >B.B. Medos >Beverly's Book Basket > >Beverly's Book Sanctuary: > > I'll second that! I showed it to my non-FoLC buds and even THEY LOLed! -Jill aka AlienDove- AlienDove@juno.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ my webpage: http://members.tripod.com/~AlienDove/index.html "The truth is nobody knows how long they've got. Anyway, it's not years that count, it's the moments. Right now, as they happen." - CK in Brutal Youth ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 23:22:37 CST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Stefanie D Slifer Subject: Re: Funny Fanfics? Beverly wrote: >>I've always thought Quick Change by Carla Humbert is the funniest >>fanfic. Each and every time I read it, I giggle uncontrollably. Jill added: >I'll second that! I showed it to my non-FoLC buds and even THEY >LOLed! Is there any chance of getting it posted to this list? Maybe if I beg?? (I know, I know, it's probably at the archive site. Darn that lack of 'net access!) Hugs, Stefanie =) cute6@juno.com There Are Three Kinds of People--Those Who Can Count and Those Who Can't. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 13:06:57 -0600 Reply-To: alyssam@earthlink.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alyssa Mondelli Organization: Deceive, Inveigle, & Obfuscate, Attorneys-at-Law Subject: Re: Another Q MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Samantha Kegan wrote: > S6 people, What kind of font did you guys use? The one I'm using currently is called Onyx, which you can download at http://www.lothys.com/fontdepot/ofonts.html - part of a really great site I just discovered, since I have no idea where I originally downloaded it. :-> "Season 6" on the logo is written in Aristocrat, which you can get at http://www.gurlpages.com/zines/f.sheena/fonts.html . ==Alyssa in St. Paul== (alyssam@earthlink.net) Webmistress, Tempus Expeditions - http://tempus.simplenet.com University of St. Thomas graduate in *23 days* "Permission to barge in, sir?" --Col. Jack O'Neill, SG-1 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 12:10:04 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Correct spelling of a name MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi all! Sorry to post for something as trivial as this, but can anyone tell me what the correct spelling is for Jonathan Kent? Is it "JonathON" or "JonathAN"? I can't seem to remember. Thanks! Erin :) _______________ erink@ida.net Visit my updated LNC website! http://www.ida.net/users/davek/ ***** "No one knows how long they've got. Anyway, it's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." _______________ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 07:51:50 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: Re: Correct spelling of a name Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Either is acceptable, but "AN" is more common. I think most fanfics use it, although I'm not sure about the scripts. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 15:06:18 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: Debby Subject: New Story: No Bull Cause, 1 of 7 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This story was originally written for a zine published by a friend. She okayed my publishing it far and wide now that her zine has been out for quite some time. This version below will be somewhat different from the first one. It has been a while since I last read it, and, as any author knows, that means typos and (the, argh, many) inconsistencies will jump right out. They have been excised, new ideas have be applied, and a fine proofreader was employed to look it over. I submit it on November 26, 1998. No Bull Cause By Debby Stark Author's note: There is some graphic... well, not violence or sex below, but the mystery is graphic. The graphic material is also based on things that I know have really happened... Clark Kent tried to do something special every Wednesday, his day off from the rigors of being an investigative reporter for the greatest newspaper in the world: sometimes he'd get up at about two, fly east, and have breakfast in some English countryside market town; or he would fly in the opposite direction and have a breakfast that was actually dinner in Brisbane or Christchurch. He might then stroll the streets of Marrakech or commune with martial artist friends in Beijing. As often he as not, though, he wound up simply spending his free time at home, pretending he was in complete domestic bliss... until that familiar, aching sense of loneliness hit, and he wondered what choice he had but to pretend. To make things worse, he had been struggling with a huge crush on his workplace partner Lois Lane for more than three long months now, and she in turn was... still pretty much stuck on Superman. That couldn't last forever, could it? No! Discounting how bright her eyes got whenever she even so much as breathed that name she'd given him; overlooking the file folders full of facts, half-truths and guesses she had gathered; and ignoring the times she had inadvertently put her life in jeopardy just to catch a fleeting glimpse... She was too mature to have a crush, too, especially on someone who wasn't even real. Her basic reaction was understandable. She was like the rest of the world, simply surprised. Okay, simply surprised for a long time now. Incredibly long. Longer than Clark had expected or could think of any remotely sensible reason for. The world's surprise wasn't showing signs of letting up, either, not according to the ever-happy Murray Brown. He called it "Superfascination!" and was moving as fast to copyright the term as he'd moved to protect the "S", the supersuit and even the "woosh!" sound made whenever Superman dashed to the rescue. Superman had been at a loss for words to express his honest desire to keep a low profile and just help people; but at least the money that Murray showed him was already pouring in was pouring right back out to a variety of charities. Lois... Maybe Lois just had what Perry White called "a reporter's gut instinct for a damn good story... and Lois, honey, stop droolin'..." But Clark was sure, completely sure that everyone's enchantment with Superman would wear off eventually. Look how many people couldn't remember the names of the first man and woman into space. It didn't matter that they were Russian. Clark shook his head at himself. Funny how long Mom and Dad had thought... Mom and Dad...? He frowned, pausing as he washed the last mixing bowl. Hmm... Something... but it refused to be pinned down. It probably wasn't important. Well anyway, when the world and Lois Lane finally grew used to Superman, Clark Kent would still be there in the newsroom, in that wonderful woman's direct line of sight (as long as the people from Planning didn't get their way and partition off everyone's desks "for much-needed psychic privacy"). Clark Kent would continue to make strides--and everyone had to start with baby steps, didn't they?--and inroads into that beautiful woman's unsuspecting consciousness. He grinned at himself. He might not have much more work to do: just last Monday she had remembered that he was due for his four-month review--and she hadn't added anything about it being a good idea if he had another job lined up, preferably back in, what was it? Hooterville? She had done precisely that just before his one-month review, but since then she had visited Smallville, danced with him and helped save his life... He had jumped to reply: Yes, Friday was the big day, he told her, trying not to smile more than pleasantly or to let on to his complete joy about her excellent memory. Next, as though he had written the script himself, she had nodded and said, "Oh, good." She thought it was "good"! She had continued: "I've always thought monthly reviews for the first six months was a good idea, to weed out the people who don't belong here before they can do any damage" She paused at that point and looked like she wondered how that statement sounded to one who could still easily be weeded out. She added, impromptu, "Well, I mean, *I'd* be a little nervous, just on general principles, but I didn't go through that, so..." "Oh, of course. But they knew you were great already." "Well, no, I didn't start out great. I had to learn things like you're learning things. I was just here a year before Personnel put the review rule into effect, so..." So she could have been weeded out, too? Clark couldn't imagine that. Neither, apparently, could she. "But it was a *long* year since Perry kept an eye on me every day. Believe me, there were times I really had to struggle, so you *never* want to go through *anything* like *that*." "No, I don't suppose so." "It was... well, I'm sure the Board members are *much* easier to talk to." Clark had only been able to nod. The Board was rumored to be purely business and profit minded and to have little interest in the world of publishing. Those were the people Clark would talk to this month, not Perry White, who Clark had found to be tough but eminently fair and helpful in all his assessments of Clark's performance. Lois had actually begun to look concerned for her part-time partner then. "I'm sure qualified reporters have no trouble at all with board reviews, and you're qualified. I mean, with my help, you've attracted... several more subscribers to the Planet, and that's good since they only care about the bottom line. So... how do you think it will go?" He had intended to say "Just great, because this is the best job I've ever had, I really enjoy it, and that's what I'll tell them!" or something else overenthusiastic like that. But before he could reply, Jimmy had walked in and paused to drop a fax on Lois's desk, cutting off Clark's view of her. By the time the young photographer had moved on, Lois's phone had re-acquired her attention. She had been taken off hold and she proceeded to try to sweet talk information out of her source in the Pentagon. Only hours earlier, Superman had stopped a runaway missile before it could reach its unintended target of Bermuda. The man on the other end of the line began to argue and, naturally, Lois switched tactics. She reminded him that last week it had been Antigua. What would it be next week--Coney Island? And, no, sir, this island-full of alphabet clues was *not* tenuous! What's more, the Man of Steel had not only averted *another* international incident, he had propelled $2 billion worth of weaponry into the sun instead of giving it back this time (she covered the phone's speaker and whispered to Clark "He's learning fast; that's what I would have done..."). What did the Pentagon think of that? Watching her shake down the Pentagon representative had been almost as thrilling as thinking about the conversation that might have been. Fortunately, there was something magic in even simply observing her in action. As clever as Lois usually was at gathering obscure clues to solve amazing mysteries, however, Clark didn't think much of this alphabet idea. Since the Navy's second malfunctioning missile had been identical to the first one, the idea of giving this one back too hadn't made any sense. It hadn't taken a brain surgeon to figure out what to do with it, either, so Superman wasn't really so bright... Wait a minute! Clark had pulled himself to a screeching halt. *What* am I *thinking*? Well, my enchantment with Superman sure has worn off, he smiled at himself now as he dried the mixing bowl with a gentle touch of heat vision. Even with such marvelous personal breakthroughs, he had to admit that at the rate his relationship with Lois was going--well, *he* liked to think of it as a relationship; she no doubt would have been speechless at the farmboy's audacity--he probably wouldn't get up the courage, let alone see the opportunity to tell her he loved her any time soon. He tried not to let thoughts like that bother him, especially on Wednesdays. His love life, precarious as it was, was just something to work on--to sculpt, as Mom might put it; to make it into a lovely centerpiece for the garden of life. It was something with which to take great care, his Dad might say, so it wouldn't get root rot, fall right over, curl up and find itself tossed on the compost pile of life. Good old Mom and Dad. Yeah, they were cheering them on, but they didn't have the slightest idea what was really happening in his life, or how he had to figure out ways to shade the crazy garden salad of his life from the hot sun of his unrequited passion for *that woman*... He sighed. Don't think about that on Wednesdays. There was something still bugging him though and it wasn't Lois Lane. It had started around midnight, an uneasy, niggly feeling that had woken him up so he could ponder it... to no avail. It was then that he realized he had been troubled by this since, oh, maybe noon the day before. At midnight, though, it had become something that couldn't be ignored any longer. He hadn't been able to hear or smell anything unusual, so no burglaries in progress, no fires. He hadn't sensed the ground moving, ruling out even a distant earthquake. He had gotten up and turned on the TV, finding a syndicated all-night news program, but for once no one was reporting anything that required Superman-style assistance. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 15:26:05 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: Debby Subject: New Story: No Bull Cause, 2 of 7 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" No Bull Cause, part 2 of 7 by Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com What if it were something as yet undiscovered? What if someone was hatching some terrible plot? What if Lois was inadvertently in the middle of it? She often was. She thrived on trouble; that was one of the things that made her so... But this didn't feel that way, either. Besides, he liked to think he'd know if she or any of his other friends were in danger. She was probably at home, sleeping the sleep of angels. She could well need the rest. Tuesday afternoon she had said she sensed a fight coming on and had informed him in no uncertain terms that if he heard that night of any villains who needed beaten up and then interviewed, he could find her working out hard at her dojo. At 12:30 a.m. he had decided to check her whereabouts. He slipped into the suit and out of his home, flew south and was soon hovering over the building that housed the dojo. It was quiet and securely locked up. Next, he checked out Lois's 22-story condo building. It, too, was in good shape. Lois's windows were dark, even the one she left open in the hopes that Superman would stop by for a chat. He shot only a brief glance into her living room and no further. It looked just fine, though it was odd that she had a fish tank full of water, plants and decorations but not a single fish. So that wasn't it; she was okay. He had checked out some of Lex Luthor's numerous projects but had seen nothing suspicious about any of them: Lex must be between villainous schemes. Superman had then cruised around town and over the surrounding countryside, righting a few wrongs here and there, but finding nothing terribly amiss. He had eventually returned home and turned in again, telling himself that all was fine with the world. There was no reason to be paranoid; he could feel free to relax and enjoy his day off. Over breakfast he decided to make cookies and began the first batch at 7 am. By nine, he was checking the last batch and washing up. As the others had, this batch was flattening out nicely and the visible chocolate chips were beginning to ease into a smooth, gooey melt. Yum! Fresh Mexican chocolate was the best thing for this particular recipe (one of Mom's he had adapted). The Kent Family: Master Cookie Bakers, and it need not be a genetic thing. If he ever decided to give up both journalism and flying around in that crazy suit, baking was a great profession to get into. Pleased with what he had seen, he closed the oven door. He didn't need to actually open it to see what was happening within, of course, but he enjoyed doing so because Mom always... That pervasive feeling hit him again. Mom. Mom *and* Dad... Something *is* wrong... Gosh, why didn't I think--why didn't I *know*--why didn't... Yet it wasn't a truly *bad* feeling. Nothing whatsoever was screaming "Panic!" at him. So a modicum of caution could be exercised first. He didn't need to rush there unannounced. He could announce first, then rush. He flashed into his living room, grabbed up his phone and speed dialed (letting the phone do that part lest he break it) the number of the Kent farmhome outside of Smallville, Kansas. It would be almost 8 there; his parents would have been up for hours. They better be okay... "Kent residence." Relief washed over him. "Mom, good, I was afraid I'd get your machine," or worse... "Oh, and good morning to you, too, sunshine. You sound like you're in a hurry. Are you okay?" "Me? Mom, I've had the strangest feeling ever since midnight--or yesterday probably--I'm sorry, I *should* have called you then. Are you and Dad okay?" "Well, yes. We have two unexpected visitors at the moment, but considering what's been going on, I guess that's to be expected." Uh-oh. His trouble gland, or whatever it was, tingled an *Alert!* feeling up his back. "Visitors? Who are they?" "Just a minute..." She put him on hold. *She put him on hold!* He stared at the phone. He could *not* believe it. How could she just... just *do* that? Calm down, Kent... Short of rushing out there *right now*, there was nothing he could do but listen to the music: Lennon and McCartney's "With a Little Help from My Friends." It was appropriate and soothing somehow. He found he was already beginning to hum along with the chorus ("gonna try with a little help from my friends...") as his mother came back on the line. "There, now I can talk." Oh, she'd been in a compromising position, okay--wait, *a compromising position in her own home*!? "Who *are* they, mom?" "Two FBI agents--" "Good grief, mom! Why didn't you call me right away?! I'll be right there!" "No, wait!" "'Wait'? Mom! Remember *Trask*?" It had only been three weeks ago! Not even that! *19 and a half days*! The man had terrorized Smallville, nearly burned down the farm and tried to kill everyone Clark loved, and-- "Trask wasn't FBI--" "Trask was *government security* and--and--*honestly*, Mom!" "Clark? Clark, calm down right now." "But Mom--" "Calm... down... now, and take a *deep* breath..." He sighed dramatically, stopped himself, and took the deep breath, making it audible, as though he were drawing in a lake of air. The cookies smelled warm and sweet. An unneutered cat had visited in the vicinity of the big trash container down the alley >from the wide paved area that Clark laughingly called his backyard (and planned to turn into a garden spot one day in case Jimmy was right and people decided to play peeping tom through his big window back there). Mrs. Cheung must have received a delivery from Metropolis Wholesale Flowers that morning. "Good. Now let it out carefully... That's better. What were you doing before you called?" "Well, ah, I have some cookies in the oven, it's the last batch." "Then you have something better to worry about than us." "No, then I have cookies to take out of the oven, and I'll lock up my apartment" (because Lois had once commented that only idiots didn't lock up things in Metropolis) "and be there in..." He looked toward the oven, reached up to lower his glasses, remembered he didn't have them on, and just plain looked. "five minutes, or three if I don't catch a headwind." Now his mother sighed. How *could* she? "*Please*, Mom...!" "All right, all right, let me think... Come in the bathroom window." Huh? Too many Beatles references. Ah, no, that's not what she meant. "Okay." "We'll think... no, *you'll* think up an excuse for yourself when you get here." "No problem." He could have sworn he heard her nearly laugh. She said, "And let your father do all the talking. He knows more about what happened than I do." "Fine. I just want to be there to back you up." "I understand, honey, I really do, but remember..." "What?" "Oh... you'll learn soon enough. Don't let the cookies burn." *** Martha Kent turned off her cell phone and looked around the laundry room for help. Clark. That boy. She should have known... Someday he'd learn to look before he leaped. At least this time he called; that was promising. Good thing, she thought, he has a thick hide. She spotted what she needed, a stack of towels. She had washed them the afternoon before, hung them out to dry, and then taken them all down just before nightfall. She had gotten this far with the stack before Jon had ambushed her and almost carried her off to dinner with the Langs in town. That had been a pleasant evening; some of it had been spent bragging about how successful their children were. She picked up the stack of towels, nestled the phone on top, and headed for the front of the house. Jon was keeping their two visitors preoccupied in the living room. The small, red-haired young woman was pretty in a subdued, business-like fashion. She was one of those people who could get away with wearing little make up, and she sat on the edge of her chair in a composed yet alert manner. Martha wondered if she was all business, all the time. With her intense manner, the woman reminded Martha a little of Lois... but a tired, travel-worn version. Interestingly, like Lois, the young woman also had a handsome partner, though the tall, somber young man looked like he could use a week of hearty meals and time communing with nature spirits. His coat smelled of cigarette smoke but neither of the young people gave evidence of being a victim of that nasty habit. Maybe he was forced to commune with an someone who smoked heavily. He could use a week away from that person, too. Indeed, Martha thought, they both might enjoy some vacation time. The young woman had explained that she and her partner had dropped everything and traveled overnight from Phoenix to get here. It occurred to Martha that the young woman didn't understand the need for the urgency but that she was used to following her partner's lead. Jon looked up. "Martha, these two don't know anything about farming." "We haven't had a case quite like this one, sir," Agent Diana Skully said. "The closest I've come to cows is my uncle who has a fleet of ice cream trucks in Gulf Breeze, Florida," Agent Fred Mulner said. "I've visited there, but not to... well, I assume his business is thriving; everyone likes ice cream." "Well, that's nice," Martha smiled. What else could she say? Even Agent Skully looked just a little surprised at what her partner had admitted, but they had no way of knowing that people naturally opened up to Jon before they realized what they were doing. One thing struck Martha though: when had the FBI started looking into UFOs, for she knew that was what Gulf Breeze was famous for. And ice cream? Some loony on TV said aliens like strawberry ice cream, when the only alien she knew preferred full-flavored, homemade, vanilla ice cream. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 15:27:37 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: New Story: No Bull Cause, 3 of 7 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" No Bull Cause, part 3 of 7 by Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com Martha also couldn't understand FBI agents giving more than lip service to the problems of rural America if those problems weren't drug or gun related. Then again, maybe they *were* here after drug runners and the reason they gave for their visit was a cover story. There was some marijuana grown here and there, in back yards and greenhouses. Everyone knew but no one talked about it because those who grew it used it for their cataracts or their back problems. Smoking pot was safer than getting drunk. Who had ever heard of driving stoned, though no doubt some Congressman had tried it and now religiously wanted to make sure no one else had the chance. Nonetheless, something told her that these two people were not here taking advantage of a poorly conceived cover story. They certainly didn't impress her as being dangerous, either, which could mean that the cover story... Martha warned herself not to let her imagination escape, or she'd start sounding like... Oh, yes, Clark. "Jon, I'm taking these," the towels, "up to Clark. I just remembered that we were out of fresh ones for his shower..." Jon nodded and said without skipping a beat, "Good idea. He smelled pretty ripe when he came in after exercising the horses." "Clark?" Agent Mulner asked. "Our son," Jon smile. "He flew in unexpectedly this morning." Not yet he hasn't, Martha thought. Give him and his cookies 30 more seconds. She turned away and headed upstairs, leaving Jon to continue to pump the two young people for more information about why they had come. They seemed to be willing to talk, as though they weren't listened to very often. Chasing down top-ten-list criminals had to be a dangerous job--though the paperwork was probably worse. Back in her college protest days she and her comrades had occasionally made use of that little-known aspect of an FBI agent's job to talk themselves out of sticky, quasilegal situations. She entered the bathroom and closed the door behind herself as Clark was squeezing through the bathroom window. If he'd just slow down, she thought, he could slip right in. But he was young and excited, and he still had a lot of trouble taking time to do things carefully. She supposed that if she had his abilities, she'd probably be overconfident sometimes, too. At least he hadn't come in the suit; it would have been difficult to get that cape through the window unsnagged. In a moment his feet were on the floor and he was reaching back out to reset the window screen. Overconfident he was, but he always cleaned up after himself. "What kept you?" she asked his back. "I decided to put the cookies on the rack first..." Satisfied with the window, he turned and smiled. "But then I got a tail wind, so..." While it was always nice to see him, she couldn't help but smile in return. His cheerful, honest grin had always been contagious, starting as early as when he had used it on her as she had changed his diapers. It was though he was promising to learn how to walk as soon as he could so she wouldn't have to worry about this aspect of his care any more. His smile had also helped him escape with a mild warning after throwing baby food at his father. Jon would start out mad, swearing to Martha that "No son of mine is..." But in moments the big, strong man would succumb to the extortion of the baby's smile. "Well, he has got some arm, hasn't he?" She pointed to her cheek. Clark leaned down, gave her a peck, and said, "You're okay." "Yes, I'm just fine." "And Dad?" He was being too polite, unless this meant that even he realized things weren't so serious as he feared. "Look for yourself." Clark reached for his glasses... but they weren't on his face. He patted his upper shirt for a moment and felt them in his left breast pocket. He grinned at himself, "Whew! I do jump first sometimes, don't I?" "Yes, you do," though she doubted this realization would sink in deep enough to make a real impression. Someday something would force it home to him; she just hoped it wouldn't be something too painful. "Well..." He looked at the floor, through it, concentrating unrestrained for a quiet moment. He shook his head. "I don't recognize them. Why are they here?" "*I'm* not telling. Why are *you* here since you were here only three weeks ago?" "Oh..." He hadn't thought about that, had he? "Ah..." She could see him thinking furiously. She decided to comment off-hand and provide an idea. "Lois has called us twice already, asking us for facts about farm life for some story she claims she's writing. Mostly though I think it's to see that we're okay. She's so sweet; I really like her." Clark brightened at that--and at last with an idea of his own. "That's it. You and Dad had a traumatic experience with Trask--and you did, I *know* you did--and so I've decided to check in to keep an eye on you as often as I can. Today's my day off anyway, so I flew down unexpectedly this morning." Pretty good for a spur-of-the-moment without-that-much-help he-didn't-hear-Jon-say-that plan, Martha thought. She and Jon had gotten over the wild experience with Trask quickly enough, but she knew there was no way she'd ever convince Clark of it... nor was there any need to. "Okay, I'll buy that. As for why they're here, you can come down and find out for yourself." She handed him a towel. "Soak your head first, though, and pretend you just got out of the shower because when you turned up this morning, your father put you to work exercising the horses and we haven't had time to talk about anything else." "So I shouldn't necessarily know why those two are here." "Right." "Well, you see?" There was that overwhelmingly confident smile again. "It'll all work out. I don't have to *act* like I don't know what's going on because I don't, *and* I'll be able to protect you without them realizing who they're *really* up against." Like Clark was ready for absolutely anything... Apparently even the lessons offered by his encounter with Mr. Trask had yet to sink in. Martha kept herself from sighing. "All right, but let your father do all the talking, he knows what's going on." "Gotcha, no problemo." *** The two FBI agents stood as Clark came down the stairs after having "taken a shower." Mom had provided him with a pair of his worn old jeans with that great kind of horsy smell that was hard to wash out after a while, a clean plaid shirt and his work boots, and he was now wearing his glasses. The agents introduced themselves and he shook their hands. They had confident, courteous grips. They also looked tired and somehow impressed him as being harmless. However, with Lois's recent influence, Clark had come to wonder how much he really could depend on first impressions, "looks" and his many pre-Lois experiences that had shown him the basic goodness in people's hearts. Actually, he reminded himself, he could probably still depend a great deal on the knowledge gained in his first 27 years of life here in Smallville and in his travels. It was the people Clark Kent, investigative reporter, and Superman, well, hero, met who often had to be treated with care. If only there weren't Lex Luthors and Jason Trasks in the world to be wary of... The two were dressed in knee-length, nondescript coats, not really much protection against an average Kansas wind. But while Clark had noticed it was cool out, in the upper 40s now at about 8:05, on his flight in he had noted that it like looked like a nice day was shaping up. Maybe they would be comfortable. So why were they here making his parents uncomfortable even if Mom and Dad were claiming not to be bothered at all? "I've read some of your work, Mr. Kent," Skully smiled. "Your paper is doing a great job covering the scientific discoveries made on Space Station Prometheus." "And your colleague, Ms. Lane, seems particularly knowledgeable about Superman," Mulner said. "Yes, she is," darn it. "That Superman's a real hero," Mom claimed. "His parents must be very proud of him," Dad nodded. Clark restrained himself from suggesting that *his* parents step into the dining room with him so he could remind them of the seriousness of this whole thing. Why were these two government agents interested in Superman? Well, at least the taller one was. That was enough to confirm Clark's growing suspicion that they were following up on Trask's lead, and that could in no way be considered a good thing. It was time to start getting some answers to some tough questions.... questions he couldn't ask directly, though, or Mom might get upset and she was one lady you didn't want upset at you. Lois was like that; odd how that was. Clark reconsidered the two FBI agents, trying to size them up like Lois might, looking for weak spots. After a moment, all he could tell for sure was that they looked as though they were ready to go somewhere. I have still some ways to go before I'm in Lois's league, he thought. Well, whether or not they wanted to go somewhere, they'd have to wait for a while. "Despite all that Superman's done though, government agents still came here, to my home town, less than a month ago, searching for something they thought could kill him." "That was Bureau 39, a renegade black-budgeted security operation in no way affiliated with or sanctioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Mulner said smoothly, so smoothly that he must have expected this very concern to come up. "Though personally I'd like to get my hands on their files--" Skully cut in. "The FBI is *very* happy that Superman is on our side." Her deepish voice was sincere and her heart beat hadn't changed to indicate any nervousness, but still... "I can understand why you're still upset since in his misplaced zeal Jason Trask nearly killed you and your parents and quite a few other people..." Mulner paused. So Clark nodded to confirm it (in more ways than one). "In his misplaced *criminal* zeal." "Yes. And 'zeal' isn't the word I'd use if I weren't in polite company. That was the word Bureau 39 used in their last press release." "Criminal pathology are the words I would use," Skully said. "He suffered from a fanatical xenophobic psychopathology, misplaced only in that he no longer had the normal socially- approved targets--i.e., 'the communists'--to aim at and so he took into his sights a target that he was totally unable to integrate into his world view because the target is, literally and without a doubt, from out of this world." Mom elbowed Dad. "She means Trask was a nutcase." Dad looked down at her. "I knew that." "Yeah," Mulner nodded, at pains, evidently, to keep from looking at his partner. "I don't know if it will make you all feel any better, but I understand that Congress is going to hold hearings to get to the bottom of what happened." "And the FBI is supporting them firmly." "Sounds like a territory thing," Mom guessed, no doubt pegging it. Lois would have said the same thing, Clark thought. "Well, FBI Headquarters in Quantico did have a big party with a band and a lot of booze..." Mulner mumbled. "We weren't invited..." "We were in Alaska interviewing some Inuits about... Big Foot." "Oh?" Mom raised her eyebrows. "Fascinating!" Agent Skully did not appear to think so. "We discovered it was actually a complex plan by a conglomerate of oil and gold speculators to scare the natives away from their homelands." "Oh." So much for that story, Clark thought. "I'm glad to hear the government's not going to sweep Bureau 39 under the carpet," Dad said, keeping on subject. "No self-important agency can ride roughshod over a small town just because we *are* a small town. We've fought wars to keep that kind of thing from happening." (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 15:26:30 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: New Story: No Bull Cause, 4 of 7 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" No Bull Cause, part 4 of 7 by Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com "Oh, we agree," Mulner nodded quickly. "But as you know, we're not here for anything to do with that at all." He glanced at Clark. "Though I would certainly like to talk to Superman some time about life in outer space." Like Superman knew anything, Clark sighed to himself. "I'll see what I can do," he heard himself say. He thought about directing them to Lois, the expert, who would be pleased instead to give them a sizable piece of her mind about what had happened here during Corn Festival time. "But for now," Agent Skully said gently, "if we could see the victim...?" Victim? Had someone been hurt--or, worse, killed? *And* here on the farm? Why else would the FBI be here if they weren't following up on Trask's nasty work? Was it an interstate crime? His dad nodded grimly. That had to mean that whatever it was, it was bad. He indicated they should all head for the front door. Mom stopped by the front hall closet and pulled out a sweater for herself and a light jacket for Dad. She looked at Clark, but he shook his head, saying what he wore would be fine, he was still warm from working with the horses and the hot shower. The agents observed this transaction politely, saying nothing, waiting. Clark wondered if they were looking for clues of some kind, though this was about as boring a domestic tableau as a person could find. But boring or not, Clark loved it, it felt so homey and wonderful; he missed that about the big city. It made him wonder for a moment if the agents had homes somewhere far away waiting to be warmed up by their return. Dad pointed out his pick-up truck and told the two that he would lead the way out to the east fields. He opened the passenger door of the cab and helped Mom in, then looked at his broad-shouldered son. It would be a tight fit, or Clark could climb in back among the greasy, grass-stained parts of the engine of one of the antique tractors Dad had recently acquired. "Why not ride with us?" Agent Mulner asked. "That way you can tell us what you know about the Addison Dairy." Addison Dairy? Was one of the Addison clan "the victim"? Clark hoped not, he had grown up with several of the Addisons. A ride with the agents seemed like a very good idea. He sat in the back seat, in the middle so he could lean forward a bit, elbows on his knees, and be heard more easily over the sound of the Taurus's slightly mistuned engine and the poorly aligned tires rolling over the dirt roads. He explained that the Addisons ran an organic dairy two miles east of Kent Farm and Orchards. In exchange for certified organic dairy products and clean manure, Mom and Dad grew some oats, wheat and corn, that kind of thing, to help supplement the feed for the prize-winning cows. Was there something about that which had gotten someone killed? "We don't know yet but there could be. Do the cows roam free over the Addison land or are they penned in?" "They roam and graze mostly. It makes them happy. Happy cows--*contented* cows give better, healthier milk." Agent Skully nodded. She pulled out a map of the county. The locations of Addison Dairy and of Kent Farm and Orchard as well as of Dobson Vineyards to the north had all been sketched out on the map, all southeast of Smallville. She tapped a finger on the map. "I understand the Addisons' farmhouse and their dairy buildings are here." "Yes." "And the victim was found here," she moved her finger west, "just inside the Kent property line." "Oh?" "That's not why we came here to your farm first though," Mulner explained. "We wanted to talk to the Addisons first but when we called they didn't answer, so we left a message on their answering machine asking them to meet us at the site where a Mr. Ross Addison found the body." "We told them we'd contact you, the Kents, next, that maybe you could show us the field and we could find the body ourselves." They made it sound so common, like people would leave a body lying out in fields while they got on with their lives. Then again, maybe Mr. Addison had little choice or time. Clark said, "Dairy farmers are busy all day long, but if there's been a murder..." hint, hint, tell me... "I'm sure they'll meet us there if they can. Frankly, I'm surprised the place isn't swarming with police," not that Smallville had enough police to "swarm" anything, but the principle was the same. "I'm not surprised," Mulner said, his voice flat, as though he expected this kind of murder, whatever kind it was, to be of little interest to local law enforcement. "Have the Addisons been in business a long time? Are their practices up to community standards?" "As we warned you, Mr. Kent," Skully said quickly, perhaps sensing that a local resident's feathers might be ruffled at such a poorly veiled accusation, "we don't know anything about farm life." "Yeah, sorry," Mulner said as he glanced at Clark. "I'm just trying to rule out prosaic explanations. I wouldn't ask, but we haven't had time to look into the Addisons' background." Clark might have gotten mad, but he'd seen Lois ask the same kind of questions, sometimes bluntly, sometimes craftily. "The Addisons have held their land for several generations. Smallville has had a Mayor Addison, and one of the town's doctors is an Addison. As far as I'm concerned, they're above reproach." Mulner nodded. "That's usually the case..." "You're not surprised." "Frankly, no." "So you didn't expect the local police to be interested and the Addisons, who discovered the body, are not likely to be suspects. Why is the FBI interested then?" Clark noticed that at this point Skully returned to looking at her map. Her manner of concentrating, Clark noticed, that gave him the impression of such intelligence that observers must have found it distractingly attractive. He wondered what affect it had on Mulner. "The FBI isn't really interested," Mulner said. "But I am, and I've made a career of looking into anomalous events with possible criminal features. The Bureau can send me out to look into a problem, and if I don't give them an explanation they want to hear--" "Which could be a perfectly reasonable one," Skully muttered. "They can always tell the public they have agents working on it and the case won't be closed until it's solved. It may be *forgotten,* buried in paperwork..." "So you solve the mysteries behind anomalous events?" "I try to. We try to. Skully here is an MD-- "And skeptical monkey on his back..." Mulner grinned. "She tries to keep me on the straight and narrow. She writes reports full of logical explanations for everything, which pleases our supervisors and they can declare the cases closed, but they keep me on because the anomalies keep happening despite the logical explanations." "The day that I can't find simple explanations for what we see, Mulner..." He raised his eyebrows at her until the rental car's poor alignment threatened to drift them off the road and he had to pay full attention to driving again. She continued, "The day that I realize Skidmore won't accept what I report--because I've always told it the way it is..." He shrugged a little, as though acknowledging most of this. "That's the day I'll sweep you off your feet and carry you to Hollywood myself." "You've said that before." "And you're in the middle of Kansas and not getting a star on the Walk of Fame..." "So, Mr. Kent, this woman, besides seeing things a little differently than I do," "Considerably differently sometimes," she amended. "She also has *great* hands. She performs a really wonderful..." Skully looked sharply at her partner, but Clark was sure he detected a twinkle in her eye. Mulner looked boyishly innocent. "...autopsy." So there had been a murder that involved the Addisons at least indirectly but that apparently didn't interest the local police *or* the FBI, but did interest these two, who dealt with anomalous events. They were, Clark bet, just full of unusual stories. Finally, a reason for him to have come other than to protect the interests of his parents. If these two were attracted to trouble, then trouble might in turn be attracted to them, and here were Mom and Dad in the big middle of it. It was time for Clark Kent to make himself a bit more evident in the picture. "You know, I'm interested in anomalous events--" "You hang around with Superman, you must see them all the time." "But I can't seem to get enough. Perhaps I'll have a chance to interview you two while you're here." "I don't know, Mr. Kent. We've already practically promised our life stories to a Mr. Carter," Skully told him. "He wants to develop a TV program and he seems to think we would make good consultants." She shook her head. "I'm flattered but I don't understand it. We have never seen anything totally inexplicable." She ignored Mulner's derisive snort. "And of course the Bureau would never allow it as long as we're employees, particularly since Mr. Carter said he'd have to spice things up to get any kind of show on that new Fox Television network." "Where no one will ever see it even if he gets everything else right," Mulner smiled sadly. "Then again, sometimes I don't think people are ready for the truth, even with the evidence of extraterrestrial life flying over Metropolis every day." Clark asked, "But isn't Superman the only one?" "Maybe the only one from Krypton, but there are billions and billions of stars and planets, and hundreds of good sightings of UFOs every year, so..." "No one argues about Superman," his partner said. "But as for the rest of what you claim, Mulner..." "But the truth *is* out th..." She looked at him sharply again, but this time to warn him, as though she'd heard something one too many times already. He amended, "The truth is, there are times I wouldn't mind the nest egg Carter is offering us since the Bureau's retirement plan is so skimpy." He glanced back at Clark. "Rumor has it they want to shut us down before the end of the year anyhow." Skully didn't seem to have a counterresponse to that; indeed, she didn't look happy at the thought. Clark decided to try to put the best light on it. "Maybe they'd look on your... department?" "Basement file room." "Well, on that with more favor if I could arrange an interview with Superman for you," because he didn't want these people, who did seem to be hard working, to lose their jobs. "The Bureau might like that. After all, Superman generally approves of he FBI's work," when they stayed within the bounds of the law, as Mom would have reminded him. "Then in return maybe you'd allow me to interview you for my paper...?" The two traded uneasy glances. So this idea wasn't much better than the first one, even with the added enticement. All right, back off, Kent, but leave them with something positive. "Well, if the Daily Planet doesn't get your story first, I'm glad it will be Fox TV and not Lexnet." "Unofficially, we can agree on that," Skully smiled at last. She looked ahead then sat forward and pointed at Dad's truck. "They're slowing down." Mulner nodded. "And signaling another turn." (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 15:15:17 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: Debby Subject: New Story: No Bull Cause, 5 of 7 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" No Bull Cause, part 5 of 7 by Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com Clark sat back as they took the same turn off and headed south down one of the roads that helped define Kent and Addison properties. Here in this east field Dad had grown corn and soy beans this year. Now a crop of ankle-high barley, as green and healthy as all get out, was waving in a light breeze. Dad would sweep the disker through the barley in a week or two and turn it under to break down and enrich the ground over the winter toward next year's crop. The truck slowed, so Mulner slowed down, too. "Mr. Addison found the body on your father's land, which is over there?" to their right. "Yes. You said you didn't talk to Mr. Addison." "No, we didn't," Skully said. "He called on your local sheriff about it and she in turn reported it to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas Cattle Board." The KBI *and* the KCB? Dad pulled to a stop behind a gray Ford truck. Tall, thin, raven-haired Eppy Addison was standing beside it. Leaning against legs her was a relaxed, yellow, mixed-breed dog. In front of truck was Rachel Harris's squad car. Rachel, dressed in a sharp sheriff's outfit, was talking to Eppy. The two women waved at and turned to face the newcomers. Dad introduced the agents, who pulled out and showed their identification to the Sheriff. Rachel nodded in appreciation of the professional courtesy and said, "You sure got out here fast!" She also had a quick, inquiring look for Clark but said nothing to him. Good thing I have a ready-made excuse for being here, he thought. Agent Mulner got right down to business. "We'd like to see the body." "Well," Eppy sighed, "we waited for you, though one of my brothers and I checked at sunrise this morning and nothing has changed. We've been trying to figure out how to get a truck out there without causing too much damage. We tried to call you last night, Jonathan." Dad nodded. "We went out to dinner." Mom said, "And we didn't realize our answering machine was at the end of its tape until this morning." "So you didn't move the body, Ms. Addison?" Mulner asked. "Nope, we hardly even touched it." She led the way toward the field of barley, approaching the three-wire fence. Clark and his dad moved a little faster so they could hold open the wire for her and the others and the dog to step through. Clark held it last for his dad, who took the moment of privacy to wink at Clark. "I'm glad you came," he whispered and smiled. Dad wasn't afraid of anything, Clark knew, because he was a brave man even in the face of overwhelming obstacles. However, Clark felt that his father was simply was glad he had come to share the adventure. He grinned as his father patted him on the back. Eppy took the lead again. The dog bounded around her, happy to be of assistance, but he couldn't save her from Agent Mulner's questions about how she had discovered the body. Once she realized Flower was missing, Eppy said, she had searched the farm for her but it was no use. Something had drawn her here, though, in this direction. She had ridden on horseback up as far as the boundary of Addison land back there--she aimed a thumb back over her shoulder--and then come over here on foot. Flower was her favorite, she said, unable to keep a whimper from creeping into her voice. Mulner looked up and away from her, to give her time. Clark looked up, too, for the same reason, but also in case there were any "anomalies" up there. Nope. The sky was a rich, clean blue with clouds drawn out long and thin by cold, high-altitude winds. Mulner asked, "Was the weather like this yesterday?" Yes, Eppy said, wonderful weather. Clark noticed that they were heading toward a large brown lump perhaps 100 yards away. Rachel, walking at his side, gathered his attention next. "I didn't expect to see *you* again so soon." "I know," he whispered in return, "But it's my day off and fares are cheap, so I thought it would be a good idea to check on my folks, you know, after what happened..." She nodded. "They were pretty shaken up. I've been looking in on them, too, all their neighbors have. But they seem to be recovering okay." "And you? How are *you* doing?" "Well... after I got over shaking and wishing I'd gotten there five minutes sooner..." She sighed and then smiled, the worries dropping away. "I'm okay. It was the first time I've ever shot at anyone. I guess I couldn't have picked a better target. He was one sorry SOB..." "He didn't give you any choice in the matter, *and* you saved my life." "I know. I'm sure glad about that, but I *should* have arrested you right on the spot." "Huh?" "Yeah, to help me with the paperwork! It's incredible how much there was!" "Oh. Well. I've testified in court a few times. It must be like that. Paperwork everywhere, and boring mostly, too, not at all like on TV." "Yeah... Well, I'm glad you came today, since this happened on your folks' land and all..." Ah... If he could come right out and ask anyone, it was Rachel. "This what?" "This..." She looked toward the big brown lump. "Well, I'm just glad we don't see it very often around here..." She picked up her pace then and caught up with Eppy and Mulner so she could approach the body first with them. The dog yelped, enjoying the extra company. Clark noticed that Agent Skully, carrying a black doctor's bag, was holding a steady pace just behind the three, keeping an eye on her footing. Behind her were Mom and Dad holding hands, and he, Clark, was guarding the rear. And it felt suddenly like there was the real need for a guard. Odd. There was nothing but these people, the dog, the body (maybe behind the brown lump), farm land in various states of cultivation for miles all around, and the blue skies, and yet there was now this strong feeling of his being needed... Eppy was explaining. "She was perfectly fine yesterday morning. She's one of our best producers and she's dropped some great calves. I just don't understand how this could happen, why anyone..." her voice caught again, full of emotion, "anyone would do this..." So the big brown lump was a cow, not a human. Not quite as critical as Clark had feared, but losing a valuable dairy cow who was also a pet was almost as heart-wrenching. "Just one cow, Ms. Addison?" Mulner asked. "I don't know much about farms and even less about cattle, but..." "Oh, no!" Eppy cried out. "Oh, no!" That was the signal for a free-for-all run toward the body... or rather, bodies. "It's Flower *and* Desmond! Oh, no!" In the center of a neatly laid down circle of deep green grass-like barley lay a cow and a bull, back to back, "Dead as doornails," Dad observed. "Don't touch anything!" Mulner warned abruptly, and Dad jumped back, next to Clark, who reached for him in case he needed support. Eppy was speechless, gasping, wanting to touch the bodies of her prize-winning cattle so unceremoniously dumped here, yet afraid to and at the same time ordered not to. "Oh!" she wailed. "Daddy had to go out of town and he left this for me to take care of...!" Eppy, the oldest Addison child, was presumably expected and able to take care of the grim task her father had given her: get rid of one dead cow. It was a fact of life on a farm. But now suddenly the burden was doubled and the situation was repugnant. Clark saw his Dad step in and offer his shoulder, which Eppy took without a second thought. Agent Mulner pulled out and put on a pair of rubber gloves and then produced a small 35-mm, single-lens reflex camera from his other coat pocket. He looked at his partner. "We need samples of everything." She nodded, said, "Of course," and opened the black bag she had brought along. Clark wondered if she planned on doing an autopsy, here and now, and if she was qualified to do one on a nonhuman body. He also wondered if this was what Mulner meant by "anomalous event." Clark also decided to take a closer look--a hands off one, yes, and he shoved them in his pockets when Mulner gave him a frown and said, "Be *very* careful..." "We may need help to move them though, Mulner," Skully said. She handed a pair of rubber gloves to Clark and another pair to Rachel, who had been keeping one hand on her gun just in case. "I've been around bodies of cows before," Rachel said. "And after this long--and we just had the cow yesterday and not the bull, too, well..." She frowned at herself, determined by the look on her face to get the words out, "*one* of them sure enough should be stinking to high heaven by now." "True," Mulner nodded. "But often in cases like this, normal decomposition is delayed almost indefinitely." He approached the cow. "Though I know of some cases where investigators were prepared to move in quickly and get the next mutilated cow they heard about to a veterinary pathologist, only to discover that the body was decomposing *faster* than it should have." He took another picture and then pointed. "Note how they're lying." The cow was lying on her left side, her head pointing due east. The bull was on his left side, too, head pointed due west. Mulner pulled out a compass, positioned it on the cows not-bloated stomach, and snapped off a picture that included the compass and thus the direction it was indicating. He moved the compass to the ground at the tip of the cow's nose and took another picture. He lowered his camera and pointed. "See this? It's typical. The right eye removed with surgical precision--" "I'll decide if it's surgical, Mulner. Birds could have done this." "What birds?" "The birds... that our arrival probably frightened off." "I didn't see any birds," Rachel said. "I don't *hear* any birds either." She was right, Clark thought. It was almost unnaturally quiet, even to one with his keen hearing. "There are no bird droppings on either of these bodies, and no other signs of predators..." Mulner looked around himself. "...in this crop circle." "There are plenty of coyotes and crows and even eagles around these parts that should have gotten after this body right away," Rachel said. Then she looked at her friend. "Sorry, Eppy..." Eppy just nodded. Clark's dad squeezed her shoulders comfortingly and whispered that her father certainly wasn't going to blame her for any of this. "Well, all this is why we need samples. Get some from where the lips and the whole right half of the upper jaw were removed, Skully. We're going to find that high heat was involved." "Or just as likely a sharp knife," she informed him as she opened a jar of what Clark smelled immediately was formaldehyde. Clark had seen a few regular animal slaughters; each one had almost turned his normally cast-iron stomach. When he was on his own, he had vowed not to get involved in that kind of thing again but one day had found himself in northern New Mexico, invited to a matanza. This turned out to be the slaughter of a pig for a family barbecue. Fortunately for Clark's sense of well-being, he hadn't been expected to help, and the rest of that celebration had been considerably calmer. But in both types of killing, there had been a lot of blood. There was none here: none on the ground and none on the wounds. As far as he was concerned, this was rapidly adding up to being "anomalous." "You've seen this kind of thing before?" he asked Mulner. Mulner frowned at the cow. "No, but I've studied a lot of cases." "Did those cases look like this? Was there no sign of blood, no flies even, and..." He looked closer, reaching down and opening the cow's mouth. He heard his mom say "Oh..." and so he moved a bit to block her view. "No tongue...?" "Yes. Removed from deep inside. Typical." "Excuse me..." Clark moved aside and watched Agent Skully take a dime-sized sample from the flesh remaining at the edge of the cow's missing right jaw. Why, Clark wondered, would anyone want to take that bone mass, *and* flesh *and* the tongue, *and* the eye... He could understand a rustler taking the whole cow for slaughter and coyotes going after the entrails, but no one would just take these few pieces of a cow and leave the rest to... well, not rot. Agent Mulner began pointing out other things, this time on the bull pressed up against the cow. He lifted the tail. The anus had been cored out "with surgical precision," he claimed. Skully didn't comment but the wound did look clean and bloodfree. "Someone has a warped sense of humor," the man observed. The bull's penis had been turned inside out. "I know of one other case where that happen." He snapped off a picture. "No one has explained it. And see the way the skin is stripped from all four legs?" (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 15:15:22 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: New Story: No Bull Cause, 6 of 7 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" No Bull Cause, part 6 of 7 by Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com "Maybe someone lifted the bull by the legs and the skin gave," Clark said. "Maybe. There's no sign of that on the cow though." By this time Dad's curiosity had overcome him. He took a spare pair of gloves from Agent Skully's bag and left Eppy and Mom by themselves, outside the neatly laid down circle of young barley. Clark noticed that the dog, quiet now, observant and shivering a bit, stayed with the women. He wondered if the dog's behavior related to the lack of evidence of coyotes visiting the carcass. Mom's eyes drew Clark's next. She felt something. I feel it, too, Mom, but it'll be okay, I'm here... Dad wanted a closer look at the bull's head. It had been stripped in a fashion identical to that of the cow, though on the left side. In addition, a serrated-edged cut had been made from the bull's throat downward about 12 inches toward the forelegs. "I bet the heart and lungs are missing," Mulner said. "I don't see how," Skully frowned. "There's no way those could be gotten out of that small hole." "We could pull the legs apart and look," Dad suggested. "No," she warned, "I haven't taken enough tissue samples yet." Eppy said from the distance, "I can help..." She wiped a tear from her eye, stiffened her back and came forward. Agent Skully gave her gloves and careful instructions. Eppy nodded and explained that she understood; she'd gone to agriculture school and had taken all kinds of samples before. She'd even heard about cattle mutilations; she had just never thought it would happen *here*, to *her* cows. "It doesn't happen too often in Kansas anyway," Mulner agreed, "no more than average, but it has happened in every state in the United States over the past 30 years. It happens more often in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, and northern Alabama is having a lot of cases this year. It's also not confined to cattle. It can happen to any animal, from domestic to wild, but mostly it seems to be cattle." "We've heard of it, too," Dad said, speaking for himself and Mom. "But the last time it happened anywhere around here was..." he shook his head, "at least ten years ago." Clark didn't remember anything like this happening ten years ago, but about that time he had started traveling, too, so he could have just missed hearing about it. He wondered if the FBI had been interested then. "No one knows who does it yet, do they?" Eppy sniffed as she took a skin sample from where the teats had been neatly removed >from the cow's udder. "Or how it's done... That's what I hear, like, at shows, at fairs... Most times when it happens, the police won't even come look so most people don't even report it any more. The insurance companies don't believe 'em either. So they end up angry and scared and losing a lot of money." "I know police don't care in *other* places," Rachel said, not happy. "They can't be bothered, but they can't explain it so their pride's hurt..." She paused. "Not that I can explain it, but I'm not too proud to say I can't." "Well, I know you won't tell us we don't know how to take care of our animals or know what one looks like that's died of old age, like we're *stupid*..." "I sure won't. I can tell your insurance company it happened, but since we can't explain it--can we?" she asked Skully. "Not yet..." "Then we may have to call it an attempted cattle rustling." "It was, Sheriff, in a way," Mulner said. "The animals seem to be taken away, mutilated and then returned. That's one way the lack of blood is explained. Victims have been found in all kinds of positions, including in trees and once, according to what I've read, in a cabin that had doors too small for anyone to get a whole body but somehow they did. They had to remove a wall to get the cow out." He paused and shook his head, then continued almost casually, "Commonly the victims are okay, witnesses see them alive and healthy, and then a few hours later the cow or the horse is dead, and it all might have happened within walking distance of the farmhouse." "It practically did," Eppy claimed. "See that clump of trees?" She pointed east. The fields were so flat that, almost a mile away, a dark line of wind-breaking trees could easily be seen. "Our milking barn and the house and most of our other buildings are just beyond that. This cow was there, near the house yesterday, at noon. I know, I saw her. This bull, too. He was friendly. He liked to stay near the house, to be near people. But she didn't come in with the others for evening milking. I didn't realize he was missing..." She sighed shakily. "He *was* in his pen last night. I know that because we let him out this morning..." "Do you have any kind of alarm system on your property?" Skully asked. "Against cattle rustlers? Well, everyone knows my father isn't afraid to use his shotgun, and we have some big, noisy dogs, including Beau there..." She waved at the yellow dog sitting quietly at Clark's mom's feet, outside the crop circle. "And he's not afraid of anything usually, but he won't come near here. He didn't this morning, either. We also have some geese that no one can get past. But none of them saw a thing, I guess..." She marked her last jar with the location of the sample and handed it to Agent Skully. "They say it's UFOs, don't they?" When Skully didn't appear to wish to reply, Eppy looked at the other FBI agent. "The little green guys come and steal the cows and kill 'em and take what they need for some reason and then just leave them..." "I hear that Reticulans are gray," Skully muttered to herself, so quietly that Clark was sure he was the only one who could hear her. Mulner glanced at her; had he heard her, too? No, the look on his face seemed to say that he had intuited the skeptical observation. He looked back at Eppy and shrugged. "That's still open to conjecture, but there are a lot of strange stories..." He walked around and looked more carefully at the two bodies. "You know, I still don't know much about cattle, but they usually have four legs each, so two cows means eight legs..." Everyone but Clark's mom came around to where Agent Mulner was standing near the bull's head. He pointed at where the cattles' backs touched. There was a tiny hoof just visible between the two bodies. No one could explain it. In a moment Mulner suggested the obvious. "Let's move one of these bodies." They opted to move the cow since she was smaller. Clark assigned himself to pull the rear legs. No one argued. After all, he knew he looked big (there was no hiding his physique) and that he meant it was likely he could exert the most pull. They parted the two bodies by about three feet. Clark noticed that neither body was stiff with any form of rigor mortis, but given the absence of blood, flies or signs of predators, this new fact was not a surprise. The tiny hoof belonged to a newborn calf. "This cow was *not* pregnant," Eppy stated flatly. "Do you have any reports of other missing cattle?" Agent Skully asked Rachel. Rachel shook her head. "No, assuming it isn't too early for another farmer to have noticed his calf is missing and that this is a local calf." Eppy shook her head. "It doesn't look like a local breed." "What's that under the calf?" Dad asked. "Wait! Don't move anything yet." Skully quickly took some more samples. "We can take this body and come back for the others, Mulner. I'm sure we can find a qualified animal pathologist in town." "I don't know," Eppy said. "They're few and far between," Mulner told her as he took pictures of the calf from several angles. "It's one of the problems researchers have, finding qualified pathologists." "They'd just say coyotes did it," Eppy snorted. "We should still try to find one, even if it's a veterinarian," Skully told her. "Even *I* know that coyotes can't do this." Everyone agreed about trying, and Dad, Eppy and Rachel began to make plans to get bigger trucks than Dad's out here to move the bodies. This made sense to Clark, who wondered if he should volunteer to head home on his own in Dad's truck so he could call his buddy Superman to come lend a hand... Nah. And, besides, he had no real desire to leave this place at the moment. When Skully was finished taking samples, the calf's body was carefully removed to one side. Under it was revealed an intact, stretched-out, adult-cow-sized spinal cord. "Well," Dad said. "You don't see one of those every day..." Skully checked both the body of the cow and that of the bull. "And you don't see them removed from the body, this body," the bull's, "without any sign of surgery, either." She stood up away from it, looked at it for a long moment then switched her serious gaze to her partner. "I hate to admit this, but I think we have a real mystery on our hands. When we find the warped genious who did it, though, I'm sure it'll be obvious how they did it, too." Mulner nodded. "Maybe." Then he looked south. Clark looked, too, as he heard Mulner say, "I think you may have your chance to talk to them soon." "It sounds like a helicopter," Mom said. It was one, low on the horizon, coming out of the south and angling roughly westward so that its profile was visible. "It's moving awfully fast," Rachel frowned. "I saw plenty of helicopters in 'nam," Dad said, "and some of them could move that fast, but I've never seen one that looked like that." It was thin and dark. "It's not one of yours, Sheriff?" Skully asked. "No, we can hardly afford new radios let alone a helicopter." "Did that helicopter just get longer?" Mom wanted to know. Clark did, too, because the thing had suddenly sprouted an extra rear rudder. "It did," Dad said, "but it still doesn't look like any helicopter I've ever seen." Clark stepped back behind the others and toward his mother, using comforting her as a ruse if anyone noticed. She really did look a little nervous, though, so concern for her overrode his original plan. He pulled off his gloves and touched her shoulder. "Are you okay, Mom?" "Yes..." She had folded her arms under her breasts and she shivered a bit. She whispered to him. "I just don't feel like... stepping in that grass. I've seen pictures of crop circles and they're so beautiful, but with those poor cows and now that so-called helicopter..." "I don't think the British crop circles have ever had dead cows in them..." Then again, he hadn't paid much attention to such things. Maybe it was time to start doing so. The helicopter made a curving turn and roared toward their little group. Mulner was pointing out things about it, saying something about "black helicopters," and Dad was saying that it had become too long and awkward looking for a helicopter. At that point the thing appeared to shorten up and absorb the extra rudder, but Dad wasn't impressed by that, either. Clark wanted desperately to lower his glasses and take a good look at the thing, but that wasn't a good idea as everyone was looking at each other for their thoughts and opinions. Instead, he concentrated on pushing past his well-established mental blocks limiting his use of his special forms of eyesight when he was wearing his glasses and trying to be human. Today, this once, he had to free himself from the restrictions. Squinting seemed to help, and his telescopic vision worked... but only to a point: Clark couldn't see what he first focused on, pilots. The off-shaped helicopter's bulbous window was as gray and opaque as lead. Weird, though not as weird as the helicopter itself changing from black to sort of a dark lavender color. Since his vision wasn't helping or there simply was not anything to see that made sense, Clark switched to concentrating on what he could hear. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 15:16:59 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: New Story: No Bull Cause, 7 of 7 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" No Bull Cause, part 7 of 7 by Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com As though continually trying to top itself for being unique, the sound the helicopter was making didn't seem to actually come >from the thing itself but off to the side somewhere, displaced and uneven in tone--fake, a ruse. Clark wondered if human ears were noticing this anomaly, too. Mulner rapidly changed his film and, as the helicopter approached and then stopped and hovered high over head, he continued taking pictures of it. What a truly weird tableau, Clark thought. It reeked of danger. Superman should be here, to protect these people. And yet... And yet this whole... Whatever it was, this event represented by the "helicopter" on high, there was somehow something... Engaging and... danger... Not dangerous (it insisted), no, but... but appealing about it. Appealing? How could that be the right word? If it was "appealing", it was that way because... it wasn't a helicopter, that was it. No, that's no reason, Clark told himself. Oh, it seemed to say, that's right, but there are good reasons for your interest, there are things you should know. The heavy-looking flying device began to change again, for him, and become something new, something well beyond a common apparatus meant to transport bodies and inanimate objects from human place to human place. It became... a thing of wonder. The sound it was making to try to pass for the mundane died away altogether, replaced by, to Clark's ears, a remarkable calm. The "helicopter" was replaced by... a concept, an idea... a... door. That was the word it wanted to use. A door, for him. It was attracted to him, it was morphing for him. It wanted to be something delightful, something incredibly other-worldly and, slowly, tantalizingly, something... inviting. Inviting... him. It was now something, some... being that welcomed the most lonely one in this world to enter and to explore it... and to go away with it. It offered the last son of Krypton the promise of a goal far more interesting in life than staying here, where there was such a great failure to appreciate him. Come with us, come, you, now, and be with us... Far away, Clark felt something Something real On his... It was his... shoulder, wasn't it? The something was holding him, pulling him... down. Earthward. His feet touched the ground again. He'd been floating...? He looked down, at his feet first, at the young barley. He was standing just inside the crop circle. He stepped back, on to the unflattened crop. Into the real world again. The appeal of the invitation weakened and fell away. He looked to his right next. Mom. She was anchoring him, keeping him anchored, keeping his feet on the ground. "Mom?" There was a sudden terrific FLASH! behind him and everything became very, very slow as Clark turned as fast as he possibly could to see what was happening now. (He might have seen a swarm of small, gray figures assisted by figures of an adult human size, some of which might have had hairy coats or lizard skins or insectoid skeletons or US military fatigues or white lab coats, a few of whom paused and frowned at him) ...and then he heard a fire cracker-like "BANG!" Clark immediately closed his eyes in reaction, though he hadn't been looking directly at the source, which was most likely the unearthly helicopter. He asked himself *why* he had closed his eyes; nothing had ever hurt them. When he couldn't come up with an answer within two milliseconds, he opened them again. He looked back at his mom. She had closed her eyes and she looked okay. The others had reacted the same way and now they were all blinking and exclaiming. Clark could hear them easily. Their hearts and respirations were reflecting surprise but no unstable patterns. Beyond that he heard two red-winged black birds squabbling and the lazy buzz of last of the season's cicadas, all in the distant brush by the road. He heard the breeze playing around them; he felt the cool freshness of it; and he smelled the hint of real winter only weeks away. However, he didn't hear any helicopter racket. Normal sounds reigned over the plain again. The racket was gone because the "helicopter" was gone. The cow, the bull and the calf were gone, too! Clark, forgetting about being seen, immediately lowered his glasses and swept the area. Nothing. There were absolutely no signs of anyone having, say, driven a big truck in and loaded up the bodies and taken them away in the blink of a supereye. The only signs of human activity at all were those made by himself, his family, his friends and the FBI agents when walking in from the road. Next, on an impulse, he checked his watch. His internal clock said it was 11:25 Metropolis time, thus 10:25 here. His watch was nine minutes fast. Or his mind was nine minutes slow. That explained nothing. What had happened here? As the others regained their sight quickly, they discovered what Clark had moments earlier. "Where did it go?" "Where did *they* go?" "Is everyone okay?" "What was that thing?" "Was that a UFO?" "Men in black..." "I couldn't see *any*one piloting that thing, black or not." "Let alone grappling hooks or tractor beams or anything like that." "Do you still have--there it is, your bag, check for the samples!" As the FBI agent opened her bag, Eppy helped her hold things and Mom approached and offered a hand. Clark noticed she showed no hesitation to enter the crop circle. Eppy's dog entered as well now, even walking through the area where the mutilated cattle had been. The bodies were missing... but in trade an air of complete, restful normalcy had settled over the field. This was the way it should have been. Everything was just so... right now, so real. It suddenly occurred to Clark that an error had been corrected. And that he was glad he was here, that he had not made an error, that he had not given in to temptation... though he could not for the life of him explain any of it. "My samples are gone!" "You put them in there! I saw you do it!" Agent Mulner approached Clark. "Your watch..." "Digital. It keeps good time, except..." "You suspect it. Mrs. Kent...?" "I have an old-fashioned wind-up one." They compared time. All the battery-powered watches were nine minutes slow. Mulner nodded, apparently not surprised. He checked the battery of his camera. Dead. "I guess I should be glad that none of us has a pacemaker..." He glanced at Clark's dad. Dad shook his head. "Not me... Do you suppose your film is okay?" "I'll find out soon enough." "Mulner, my *samples* are gone!" Agent Skully repeated angrily. He shrugged. "These things happen. I'm sure you'll think up a logical explanation." That caused her to glare at him. "Well, *I* can't think of a good reason!" Rachel frowned. "Except that thing, that... that *UFO* took them!" Eppy looked at her. "If his pictures don't come out..." Rachel sighed. "Even if they did... We'll tell your insurance agent I helped you bury the animals. That should be enough." "It's easier than trying to explain how coyotes got portable lasers in here to perform the surgery," Mulner said. "You know what size they have those things down to now? Ones powerful enough to do this are the size of double-wide refrigerators. The only smaller lasers I know of are the ones Superman uses, from his eyes..." He put two fingers to his and then pointed the fingers out, indicating heat vision. "And for all I know he's a vegetarian, and even if he's not, he probably doesn't have time to suck the blood out of cows anyway." Clark grimaced. During her partner's reflections, Skully was walking over the area where they had found the cattle. There was no trace of them except that the barley was slightly more flattened here than in the rest of the circle. The dog looked sympathetic but unhelpful. Skully kicked at the plants at the edge of the circle, paused, looked like she was coming to a decision, balled her small hands into fists, and marched back to her tall partner. "Mulner! Skidmore will laugh his head off at my report!" "Not if you write it in your typical understated manner full of scientific--" "Argh! I can't take it any more!" She grabbed him by his lapels, threw him over her hip and kissed him madly. He struggled only briefly. Clark could sympathize. In a moment she hauled Mulner up again and left him standing, swaying, as she picked up her black bag and headed across the field, back toward their car. "Wow," Rachel said. "What does *that* mean?" Eppy gasped. "I think it means we're going to have an interesting new TV show to watch real soon," Clark told them. *** Rachel stayed with Eppy, escorting her back to the dairy to fill out some paperwork. The FBI agents drove away on their own, heading west toward California and Hollywood, Clark noted. Then again, Interstate 35 was also in that direction so they didn't have much choice. Odds were they'd head toward Washington first to tender their resignations in person, then they'd head for southern California. Clark rode squeezed in the truck's cab with his folks. He told them briefly what he had learned about the FBI agents while riding in their car. Mom thought all that "smoldering emotion" was precious. Maybe they'd even let both agents play themselves, after giving them acting lessons, because that young man Mulner was a real fox, or could be if he let his hair down... Clark and Dad looked at her, speechless. Dad finally smiled. "Well, I'll be sure to watch the show whatever it's about if they hire a red head who looks like her. They should hire *you*, Martha." She smiled. "Oh...!" "Well, they should, you could handle all those weird things." She poked him affectionately. "All right, all right... Now you, Clark, tell me how *you* feel about what happened. He almost floated away, Jonathan!" Dad frowned. Clark explained, "I don't think anyone but Mom saw it. I didn't realize it was happening. I..." How could he put this? It had felt so odd and now it seemed like a dream he was rapidly forgetting and he knew he couldn't afford to. "I wanted to go with them... or I think I did, I think... I think they invited me... or maybe it was a trick because I think they..." he searched his mind and then remembered the parting expressions he'd witnessed. "They frowned at me as though I'd... failed or... or won, or something. They weren't happy... Oh, I don't know." He looked at his parents. "What if..." This was the hardest thing, "What if they were my people? What if they were Kryptonians and I've lived so long here that I've forgotten how understand the message they were trying to give me?" What if this had been his one chance to get to know them and he'd blown it? "Clark," his mom said, "your people, whoever they were, would *not* do that to innocent cows, I just know it." "And then, son, they wouldn't have come and taken the bodies away without explaining themselves." "*And* they would have stayed to talk to you like civilized people." "Clark, I've known you all your life, and you don't even like to step on ants." "Not if I can help it..." "So I'm sure other Kryptonians, wherever they are, are just like that, too." "Those were *not* your people, honey," Mom said confidently. "They probably weren't even people." Well, that did make sense... "Okay, you're probably right." The evidence stacked up that way anyhow. "But did you see how Mr. Mulner wasn't surprised? It's almost like he expected everything that happened." Mom said, "It's probably common knowledge among those interested in UFOs, Clark." "Um... You know, maybe I should look into that..." For, with his precious little ship missing, Clark Kent realized suddenly that there was always the chance, admittedly quite small but nonetheless there, that people who were interested in the strange, wide-ranging milieu of UFO research might know something that could help him... Author's afterword: This story fits into my Dawning universe and helps explain why (my) Clark Kent attends MUFON meetings. It also explains how the XFiles fits into my Dawning universe, too. In addition, I have a friend who researches animal mutilations and she has seen the dual-cow-plus-calf scenario and, in another case, the spinal cord scene. There are reported strange, morphing helicopters, too. Everything about this particular helicopter and what Clark might have seen, though, was of my own making. Your author wishes to thank Frances Coogan for her proofing help and her knowledge of the XFiles :) All typos remaining above are mine and may have been specially added after FC made her suggestions. - Debby Stark, debby@swcp.com November 26, 1998 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 19:14:14 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Eileen F. Ray" Subject: L&C Fanfic Session November 28, 1998 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi Everyone, Well, skip week is over and we hope you'll be able to join us Saturday, November 28, 1998, for our fanfic writing session. In this week's story some startling news raises Lois's and Clark's hopes that they may be able to have children despite Dr. Klein's gloomy prognosis in Family Hour. Meanwhile, as Dr. Friskin begins her examination of into the disfunctional Lane family she's sidetracked by Lois's *unusual* relationship with Superman and she begins to investigate it as well and of course she wants help from the one and only Dr Klein ;). 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 me at: eraygun@aol.com Or better still, just bring your ideas with you when you join us this Saturday or for our weekly "story bouncing" sessions on Wednesdays on #L&CFicOrg, starting around 9:00 PM EDT. We generally meet Saturdays starting at 3 PM EDT and try to start 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 takes time. Since #L&CFanfic is on occasion "invite only" 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. A note on procedure here ;) : When people need to be caught up on the story in progress after being bounced off IRC or just joining the session late, please try and avoid pasting the story directly into the channel window. Please do that in a private message or dcc-chat window instead. Hope to see you all there! Cheers, Eileen Eraygun@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 17:43:08 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sue Modolo Subject: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain I just got the email about the IRC session this weekend. Unfortunately, my server does not accommodate IRC. That fanfic that you guys are working sounds really intesting. Trying to figure out the dysfunctional Lane family could prove out to be very interesting. Anyways, I hope that the Webmaster will not mind me asking for some help. I am working on a fanfic tentatively called A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART. There is supposed to be a total eclipse in Europe August 11, 1999. Anyways, my storyline involves Superman going to Europe to rescue people during it. Anybody have any ideas of what kind of things people could get themselves into to need his help. Thanks. Please email me privately if anyone has any ideas. I also have some ideas people might try their lucks at. I have more than enough fanfic to keep me busy for a while, but if anyone is looking for a challenge and I think they are good ones - (1) I have seen a lot of fanfic to do with Lois and Clark's early years - when they were younger, how about one on Jonathan and Martha? (2) How a continuation of the SOUL MATES tri-logy and since Kevin Sorbo was up for the role of Superman until Dean won it, how about Superman Meets Hercules? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 11:48:51 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-11-27 22:45:26 EST, you write: << There is supposed to be a total eclipse in Europe August 11, 1999. Anyways, my storyline involves Superman going to Europe to rescue people during it. Anybody have any ideas of what kind of things people could get themselves into to need his help. >> Nowadays, most likely just looking directly at the sun without protection. But that isn't exactly a job for Superman. It's been centuries (I think) since an eclipse produced the kind of total panic among the populace that would result in disasters. Of course Superman could possibly carry some equipment out of the atmosphere for special observation for scientists, but, again, that's not very exciting. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 12:45:59 -1000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: maeve Subject: Re: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Greetings All, Wow! An eclipse story. If this is the last total eclipse of the century then it could symbolize a final battle between good and evil on this planet . Its outcome would determine the course of the next millenium. Several groups that have been awaiting just such a sign are coming together in Transyslvania. One because of its symbology to that classic evil villain Vlad Dracul also his descendants are still there. Certain items have been gathered together and people have been disappearing all over the world. Lois goes to Transvylvania to do a story on whats happening as all of the threads seem to come together there. All contact with her is cut off. Superman concerned about the status of his wife and jimmy flies over to romania and discovers the fiendish plot of the evil vlad, to take over the world, make Lois his unholy bride and jimmy his minion. To unleash the powers of darkness upon the planet where they would reign supreme for the next millennia. Naturally our man of steel, defender of the planet, and number one good guy,could not let this happen. Not withstanding the damage it would do to the planet, he is thinking of the havoc it would wreak upon his home life to have lois a vampire. Our hero rescues the remaining people who were to be used as sacrifices to raise the original Vlad. Rescues Lois and Jimmy from a fate worse than death, and saves the world ! AGAIN! How's that for a premise.......? LOL :>) Maeve ex journalist, ad copy writer and graphic artist doing the mom thing ( with a little help from my three daughters) (the cats are in on it too!) Mele Kalikimaka Those Folc's in Hawaii -----Original Message----- From: No Name Available To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Date: Saturday, November 28, 1998 6:48 AM Subject: Re: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART >In a message dated 98-11-27 22:45:26 EST, you write: > ><< There is supposed to be a total eclipse in Europe August 11, > 1999. Anyways, my storyline involves Superman going to Europe to rescue > people during it. Anybody have any ideas of what kind of things people > could get themselves into to need his help. >> > >Nowadays, most likely just looking directly at the sun without protection. But >that isn't exactly a job for Superman. It's been centuries (I think) since an >eclipse produced the kind of total panic among the populace that would result >in disasters. > >Of course Superman could possibly carry some equipment out of the atmosphere >for special observation for scientists, but, again, that's not very exciting. > >--Laurie > ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 18:20:32 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "K.M. de Castro" Subject: Re: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Maeve wrote: << Greetings All, Wow! An eclipse story. If this is the last total eclipse of the century then it could symbolize a final battle between good and evil on this planet . Its outcome would determine the course of the next millenium. Several groups that have been awaiting just such a sign are coming together in Transyslvania. One because of its symbology to that classic evil villain Vlad Dracul also his descendants are still there. Certain items have been gathered together and people have been disappearing all over the world. Lois goes to Transvylvania to do a story on whats happening as all of the threads seem to come together there. All contact with her is cut off. Superman concerned about the status of his wife and jimmy flies over to romania and discovers the fiendish plot of the evil vlad, to take over the world, make Lois his unholy bride and jimmy his minion. To unleash the powers of darkness upon the planet where they would reign supreme for the next millennia. Naturally our man of steel, defender of the planet, and number one good guy,could not let this happen. Not withstanding the damage it would do to the planet, he is thinking of the havoc it would wreak upon his home life to have lois a vampire. Our hero rescues the remaining people who were to be used as sacrifices to raise the original Vlad. Rescues Lois and Jimmy from a fate worse than death, and saves the world ! AGAIN! How's that for a premise.......? LOL :>) Maeve ex journalist, ad copy writer and graphic artist doing the mom thing ( with a little help from my three daughters) (the cats are in on it too!) Mele Kalikimaka Those Folc's in Hawaii >> Good Golly! It's not like those three daughters of yours are keeping you busy, are they? Nooooo..... you just gotta write that fic or help the original questioner (sorry, message already deleted...:)) write that fic. Or did you just do that? Ve shall be anxiously vaiting for your imaginations to run vild... Marie ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998 00:02:11 -0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Maeve wrote: > ><< > Greetings All, > > Wow! An eclipse story. If this is the last total eclipse of the century > then it could symbolize a final battle between good and evil on this planet > . Its outcome would determine the course of the next millenium. Several > groups that have been awaiting just such a sign are coming together in > Transyslvania. One because of its symbology to that classic evil villain > Vlad Dracul also his descendants are still there. Certain items have been > gathered together and people have been disappearing all over the world. > Lois goes to Transvylvania to do a story on whats happening as all of the > threads seem to come together there. All contact with her is cut off. > Superman concerned about the status of his wife and jimmy flies over to > romania and discovers the fiendish plot of the evil vlad, to take over the > world, make Lois his unholy bride and jimmy his minion. To unleash the > powers of darkness upon the planet where they would reign supreme for the > next millennia. Naturally our man of steel, defender of the planet, and > number one good guy,could not let this happen. Not withstanding the damage > it would do to the planet, he is thinking of the havoc it would wreak upon > his home life to have lois a vampire. > > Our hero rescues the remaining people who were to be used as sacrifices to > raise the original Vlad. Rescues Lois and Jimmy from a fate worse than > death, and saves the world ! AGAIN! > > How's that for a premise.......? LOL :>) > > Maeve ex journalist, ad copy writer and graphic artist > doing the mom thing > ( with a little help from my three daughters) > (the cats are in on it too!) > > Mele Kalikimaka > Those Folc's in Hawaii >> > Or - for the original questioner (I too have been slightly over zealous with the delete key this week Will have to *stop* doing that.) If you're still looking for doom, gloom and disaster for Superman to rescue people from.......perhaps some quasi religious group (I see them as French for some unknown reason - probably because I saw a consumer programme last night about travel companies offering bogus trips to Paris to see the eclipse which you won't there - not a total eclipse anyway, but that's another story.....) could view the eclipse as a harbinger of the end of the world and *they* could cause panic and trouble for Superman to sort out......? Just a kind of a thought. I prefer the troublesome Transylvanians though, personally! LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 20:36:37 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit In a message dated 98-11-28 19:04:51 EST, labrat@DIRCON.CO.UK writes: << .perhaps some quasi religious group (I see them as French for some unknown reason - >> Actually I believe there is some sort of cult of the sun in France that has gotten some publicity. Maybe that's why you thought that. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 20:40:28 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit What about doing a "Where were you when the lights went out?" sort of thing like a major blackout? (Sorry, I, too deleted the original message.) Or maybe the roundrobin group could tackle that one and each person could write the story of one character... --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 20:59:50 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: nfic Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Someone may have already asked, but how do you get nfics to read? ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 15:49:29 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART In-Reply-To: <87a882b5.36602973@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 11:48 AM 11/28/1998 -0500, you wrote: >In a message dated 98-11-27 22:45:26 EST, you write: > ><< There is supposed to be a total eclipse in Europe August 11, > 1999. Anyways, my storyline involves Superman going to Europe to rescue > people during it. Anybody have any ideas of what kind of things people > could get themselves into to need his help. >> > >Nowadays, most likely just looking directly at the sun without protection. But >that isn't exactly a job for Superman. It's been centuries (I think) since an >eclipse produced the kind of total panic among the populace that would result >in disasters. > >Of course Superman could possibly carry some equipment out of the atmosphere >for special observation for scientists, but, again, that's not very exciting. > >--Laurie In the summer of 1991, during a total eclipse visible over Mexico City, many people saw and videotaped what some think was a UFO (skeptics called it "Venus", as though millions of people could mistake the bright light for the planet). Since then, many other UFOs have been taped over and near Mexico City. Perhaps in your story people could be looking for UFOs or other celestial phenomena while in the meantime a bank is being robbed or some other more heinous crime is being committed? Debby Debby@swcp.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998 13:56:36 +1100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jenny Stosser Subject: website change of address announcement Comments: To: LOISCLA@vm.ege.edu.tr Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello everyone, First up, I'll apologise to everyone who is on both lists and gets this message twice. I've just changed ISPs and decided to move my Lois & Clark desktop theme website and the listings of l&c sounds websites to my geocities site instead. The desktop theme website is at http://www.geocities.com/heartland/estates/4583/themewavs/index.html and it has links to things such as wallpapers, animated cursors, icons and some wavs. The sounds websites start at http://www.geocities.com/heartland/estates/4583/themewavs/lcsounds1.htm and is a set of 5 websites listing the wavs I have available sorted by season and episode (the fifth one is commercial lead-ins, advertisements, theme music, and wavs I couldn't identify). If there's any wavs there you would like copies of, please email me privately and i'll try to send them to you. But please please please, if you are requesting long wavs or lots of them, ensure there's room in your mailbox to receive them! Otherwise they bounce back and fill up MY mailbox! Don't forget to sign the guestbook! -- Jenny Stosser -*- NEW email: jenerator@ozemail.com.au -*-This message is umop ap!sdn (Jenerator or Some1Else on IRC) -*- JenerEight on AIM -*- My ICQ# is 11477318 Photos of David (6) and Megan (3) on the Stosser Family HomePage: http://geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/4583 Please sign our guestbook! ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 19:45:11 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sue Modolo Subject: A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Hey, you guys are the greatest. I got one email yesterday from someone who said that the idea was not very good and then Maeve, KM DeCastro (AKA Choir Girl) Larus and Debby came to my rescue with all those great ideas. Hmmmmmmm, I kind of like the idea for the religious cult rather than the vampire slant. Does one have to be a member of the IRC group in order to do a round robin type story? I don't have a server that has access to it, but I would like to try a round robin story. With you guys and your ideas, it would be a great story. I think it is to be the last major eclipse of the century. According to the online eclipse websites (I do go other websites besides LNC fanfic) it is taking place for at least an hour and covering most of Europe early in the morning - 10-11 am London time, so about 3 or 4 am Metropolis time. I was hoping to encorporate s sub plot with Lois going into labour and having a C-section. It reminded me of when I had our 2nd daughter - she was a C-section and my husband kept the humour in the labour room by telling me Bill Cosby jokes. Do you think that would work or should I put that in another one I could work on? Anyways, I am looking forward to doing my first fanfic. I have been reading a lot of the ones on line and they are quite good. Sue ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 20:35:48 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sue Modolo Subject: AND THE LIGHTS WENT OUT ALL OVER THE WORLD...... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Okay, I guess I have too much time on my hands.......I love that idea of a round robin power failure story. Since I do not have access to IRC, how about an email round robin.... Let us get some ideas going here. I need some characters - if anyone has any characters they would like to work on, let me know. I think this is going to be fun. Maybe Lois can go into labour and she can have her C-section then...... Sue ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 20:40:56 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sue Modolo Subject: JONATHAN AND MARTHA: THE EARLY YEARS MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain There have been several fanfics on Lois and Clark in their younger years, how about one in Smallville 1950s with Jonathan and Martha? Anybody got any ideas? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 20:48:55 PST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sue Modolo Subject: Superman Meets Hercules MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain I don't know whether this fanfic is going to fly, but how about a take off on the Soul Mates theme and Superman goes back to ancient Greece and meets Hercules. After all Kevin Sorbo was supposedly up for the role of CK with Dean Cain. Anybody got any ideas as to what could happen in that one? ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 23:50:38 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Subject: waff Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Okay, can someone tell me some of the best WAFF fanfics? Also, how do i get into nfic? kristen