From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG9907C" ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:17:32 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Intro, Part 00 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 00 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 FEEDBACK Comments welcome in all forums No Editing please (though you can fix typos) SUMMARY Read all previous Days, in order, before you read this last Days. The most recent versions of all parts and all noted "attachments" are available at ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark/Stories/MyJournal in Word97 doc or rtf form; with one exception, all pictures are jpgs. Clark Kent's adventures in Metropolis continue. Well, this is the last one, dear readers. There are no attachments with it though. It's long, too, but, I think, it's worthy midsummer reading :) Debby Debby@swcp.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:16:19 -0600 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. Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: Debby Subject: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 01 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 01 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 All characters below belong to DC Comics and Warner Brothers unless they are my own creations. Story by Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com. Submitted on July 15, 1999 My Journal Which includes the rest of Thursday, May 12 and the morning of Friday, May 13 My whole life has changed. I'll say that right at the beginning. You may already know about this, dear great-grandchildren, but if you don't, then it didn't work out, and my life will settle back to what I hoped twelve days ago would/will(?) become normal for me. You know: establish my career, find a girlfriend-fiancee-wife, acquire a mortgage, orthodontist bills for the kids (unless they inherit my teeth; then we'll save a lot of money), write a bestseller or two, retire back to Smallville or travel the world with my mate or both - that kind of thing. All that normality sounds a lot less daunting than what I'm facing now. I know how to live a normal life, or as close to one as I can get. I don't know how I'm going to incorporate this new - what do I call it, a new person? A new career? It's sure a new *challenge* - into my life, but I have to try. Make that "I *will* try." It has to be the solution to what's been bothering me for so long. So today - yes, Friday the 13th - was my first day dealing with this new challenge. Is that ominous or auspicious? Beats the heck out of me. But this journal entry starts with yesterday. It's the best place to begin in case I don't meet my challenge and you've been saying all through this, "Wow, that old fart, great-great-grandfather Clark, wasn't as mild mannered and boring as we thought! He sure gave it a good try, didn't he?" Thursday morning I did get to work late. Just after I sent the journal entry I wrote then, I smelled smoke. I turned off my oatmeal (it was almost done and could sit safely) and went to the window. I couldn't see anything, but I heard worried cries ("Oh! Oh! Oh!"), so naturally I had to see if I could help. It turned out that an elderly woman in an adjacent apartment building was making breakfast for her family and left it untended to look after an infant grandchild. Apparently an older grandchild decided to speed things along by turning up the flame under one of the pots. They were having oatmeal, too. Then, when the kitchen got hot, the grandchild opened a window. A breeze lifted the window's curtains which touched the flame and caught on fire. Down the street half a block, I saw a crowd gathering to watch smoke drifting out a third-story window of a run-down apartment building. I didn't hear any fire trucks. I know the fire department was called but they had yet to respond. I entered that building, grabbed a fire extinguisher from a cubby hole in the ground-floor hall, ran up the stairs, entered the apartment in question, and quickly put out the fire. Fortunately, little damage was done to the kitchen and no one was hurt. I don't know that anyone in the old building could have afforded medical assistance anyhow. The grandmother promised to keep better watch on her four grandchildren, but I overheard several neighbors complain that she's senile and they wish she'd vacate. She watches the children on her own because their mother goes to work at five. The grandmother was nervous about her daughter discovering what had happened. I'm going to check in on them on Saturday if I have time, just to show that strangers do care about them. Maybe I can help them find daycare options for the children and the equivalent for the grandmother that will take the pressure off the elderly lady. After that I returned to my room, ate my breakfast and changed clothes, all at a leisurely pace, thinking about how people get themselves trapped. Earlier in the morning, Lois Lane, Jimmy and I were trapped in the hangar, and now I'd discovered the grandmother trapped, trying to do the right thing for her family but overwhelmed. People often find themselves trapped doing things they don't want to do and leading lives they don't want to lead. Sometimes it isn't obvious to them that they're trapped because they aren't literally chained to a pole. People know something is wrong but not what, and they don't know how to change their circumstances. Sometimes, when they realize something has to change, they can literally break the chains, or (and this is more likely to happen), they get a boost from their friends' ideas. It's great that I can do the first (especially now), but if I couldn't help that way, I like the thought that I can be a friend in need from time to time. As I mentioned yesterday, I figured that with all I did around midnight, it would be okay if I got to work a little late. One way or another, Lois Lane and Jimmy probably told Mr. White everything. It would look odd if I *didn't* take my time. So instead of getting in at my usual 7:30, I was about 45 minutes late. As I came out of the elevator, I looked over at the conference room and saw that the budget meeting was in progress. While I was certain what I'd be working on (either the destruction of the hangar, the launch of the New Hope or both), and I probably didn't need to be in that meeting, I immediately regretted not having arrived on time. I really enjoy meeting with my peers first thing in the morning. I even get a thrill out of Mr. White terrorizing everyone who deserves it because he's just as likely to encourage those who need a little help and bestow a proud smile upon those who have gone beyond the call of duty. I enjoy being part of his team. Other than missing out on the meeting, I started my morning in the newsroom in a normal fashion. I went down to my desk to get my coffee cup. On my way I greeted several research assistants, clerks and photographers. They all complimented me on my report of the hangar explosion. It was sad... but exciting, huh? They wondered what hadn't been in the report and what secrets I knew. I just gave them a Mona Lisa smile. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to prevent the deaths of Dr. Baines and her cohorts, but they did try to kill us, so I'm not exactly heartbroken about their sudden demise. It was, after all, almost exactly the demise they had planned for us. The comments of my peers reminded me to look for a copy of the Thursday morning edition of the Planet, but I didn't see one out in the open nor on the table between the elevators and the little kitchen. I had passed several Daily Planet paper boxes on my walk in. All had been empty except one, but a customer was buying the last issue as I approached. I didn't intend to buy a copy since I can get one free, but I did want to see the headline. The customer moved too fast for me to read more than "Another Setback for EPRAD?", but I did see that there were no pictures above the fold. The Metropolis Star in the next paper box proclaimed "Disaster Strikes Again!" The newsstand down in the lobby always has stacks of papers from Los Angeles, London, Paris and Tokyo on its counter, but the stack of Daily Planets had disappeared by the time I arrived. Was everyone reading my story? I hope so! Despite what you may think, dear great-grandchildren, I wasn't in that big a hurry to see the story which had been written from my report. Mr. Arendt, who took the information when I called it in, had warned me that due to the nature of what I was telling him, the complete story might not be published until we could get confirmation and statements from EPRAD. To protect me from questioning by the police, my name might not even appear in the byline. I'd said I understood, but, to be honest with you, I did want my story to appear under my name on the front page, complete with a thundering headline like "Baines Sabotaged Messenger! Clark Kent Reports the Exclusive Story!" I wanted it to be complimented by Jimmy's astounding pictures, too, if his camera wasn't ruined by our fall into the ditch. Since the evidence was mounting that my story had indeed been toned way down, though, I could survive for a while longer knowing that my peers knew who had supplied the exciting information. One of my peers was already in the kitchen. Cat always keeps a small carton of real cream in the refrigerator. That's appropriate. She was adding some to her coffee as I entered, intent on washing my cup. "Hello, Tiger! We heard about you and..." her eyes twinkled "...Mad Dog this morning. You two are an *explosive* combination!" I hadn't mentioned Lois Lane's role to Mr. Arendt. Cat's knowing confirmed that either Lois Lane or Jimmy or both had probably talked to Mr. White, and he had spread the word to other team members in the newsroom. As I began to wash my cup, I said, "You don't know the half of it. That woman has a real kick!" She smiled and watched me squirt dishwashing liquid onto the sponge. "I love a man who knows how to clean up after himself." I smiled, too. "You should see me in an apron." "Is that all you'll be wearing? I'd love to. Can I consider that an invitation?" Oh! "Maybe!" You can tell how good I felt about myself because I didn't hesitate to match her tease. "Maybe I can clean up after you bake that walnut casserole." "No, no, that's why I have a dishwasher." "Oh, you have one of those *modern* apartments, huh? Maybe I'll invite you to my place instead, when I get one, and I won't have modern conveniences and you'll get to watch me wash dishes again." "Oh, yes, that's right. You're apartment hunting, aren't you? You know, Alice White helped me find my apartment, and I love it. She interviewed me first! She drew up a chart and she applied Feng Shui principles and..." Cat shook her head in disbelief. "The results are incredible. She even loves creating those cute little water fountains." This turned into a chat about Feng Shui because I've seen several versions of it in use in Asia. I happened to hear the elevator doors open. Cat did, too, and as she was standing near the kitchen door she glanced out casually - and did a double take. As I've mentioned before, elevators stopping on the third floor isn't unusual, considering how busy the Pit is. What was unusual today was the follow-up sounds: someone stumbling out, gasping, moaning. It was reminiscent of Dr. Platt's arrival a week earlier, but more melodramatic. I wanted to step over to the door to look out, but my hands were wet and there were no paper towels in sight. Cat glanced at me, determined my problem quickly, and whispered, "You need that apron now, don't you?" She pointed at the cabinet under the sink. There I saw to one side a stack of brown, industrial-style paper towels. I dried my hands on one and then took a handful of them, prepared to place them by the sink for others to use. Before I straightened back up, though, I took advantage of being in a crouched position to duck my head a little, look over my glasses and through the wall, and see what she was seeing. Surprise! The stumbling gasper was Mr. Interregnum! He was weeping. "Ohhhh..." The few people down in the Pit noticed him, but they looked uncomfortable. I'm sure they all hoped he would stop, look around, realize he had gotten off on the wrong floor, and beat a hasty retreat. Surely he sensed their attitude because no one rushed to his rescue, but rather than apologizing and going away, he moaned louder, "Oh, the agony!" I rose, put aside the paper towels, and intended to offer him my assistance, but Cat moved a step to block the door and she held up her hand, a firm "Stay right there!" signal that I didn't disobey. I think in many cases she knows people better than I do, and it's wise to be cautious if she is. If she thought I should remain hidden (for Mr. Interregnum could see almost the entire Pit and that the conference room was in use), then it was probably a good idea to do what she asked. Since she was watching him and not me, though, I did glance over my glasses again. Mr. Interregnum was now almost hanging over the railing, where he broke into great, inconsolable sobs which made even the skeptical Cat look concerned. I put my glasses back in place in time to meet her eyes. She didn't move to help him though. I don't think this means she's heartless. I think it means that the sight was so strange that neither she nor anyone else knew what to do. Mr. White knew what to do. He came to the door of the conference room and motioned at Mr. Interregnum. "Sir? Sir, now, I'm sorry you're all upset about something, but I'm sure you don't mean to be here...." Because I was certain that Mr. Interregnum was either looking down or looking at Mr. White (and thus not toward where I was hiding), I dared to steal a look around the edge of the kitchen door. Cat put her hand on my shoulder, prepared to push me back out of sight. Mr. Interregnum had indeed been sobbing into his hands but now he was looking at Mr. White. I think also that Mr. White caught a glimpse of me, but I wasn't sure. He seems to be very good at letting people know only what he wants them to know and if he saw me, he didn't want anyone to know it. "Oh, Perry! Perry!" Mr. Interregnum began to stumble toward Mr. White, who was obliged to leave the protection of the conference room door and meet the sobbing man halfway. "Oh, Perry!" He clutched at my boss and began to cry on his shoulder. At this point Cat pushed me back. I stepped off to her left, behind her a bit so she'd have to turn to see me, and resorted to looking over my glasses again. Mr. White was very uncomfortable. I'm sure that many of his friends and employees have cried on his broad shoulder, but in private. Recall that he told me that Lois Lane talks to him. Jimmy has said that he sees Mr. White as sort of a father figure since his own father (the spy?) is practically missing in action. And I feel that I can confide in Mr. White, too. He's a lot like you, Dad. You and he are about the same age, and he was also in Vietnam, though as a reporter, not in the military. But, the idea that Mr. Interregnum would also see Mr. White as a friend to whom he could open his heart to the point of collapsing on him, well, it seemed strange to me. I suspect Cat would have said, "He has a heart?" Mr. White patted the man's back gingerly and said quietly, "Now, now, what is it? What's wrong?" "He's gone!" Mr. White frowned. "Who's gone?" "Gone? No, he's dead!" (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:16:11 -0600 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. Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: Debby Subject: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 02 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 02 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 "Who's dead?" "One of the new young stars of this newsroom! Of all the great talents we have here...." He tore himself from Mr. White (who had not been restraining him), backed away a step, and gasped for another breath so he could continue. His move gave him the freedom to sweep his hand in a grand gesture that included everyone in the conference room and the Pit. "Of all my wonderful defenders of truth, justice and the American way... we lost the best one--nay, *America*--no, the *world* lost its great hope for the future...." He heaved out a tremendous sigh, "All because of me...!" Those in the conference room were now creeping out onto the landing, increasing Mr. Interregnum's audience. All my colleagues there and in the Pit were trading glances. They were obviously trying to figure out what this man - who owned a great deal of stock in the Daily Planet Publishing Company and who was thus a man to whom everyone had to listen - was talking about. But it remained up to our fearless leader to track down the cause of the problem. "Well, sir, what did you do?" "I shared with him some... fears and anxieties I've had about... about Lex Luthor...." There were a variety of gasps from all corners of the newsroom. He looked up and around, meeting eyes, nodding. "Yes, that very man! That very *evil* man! I told Clark"-- The gasps were replaced with whispers of my name. Cat stole another glance at me, one I was ready for again. I could only shrug. From her expression, I could tell she thought this was a complete mystery, too. --"of my suspicions. Kind heart that he was, he tried to allay my fears, but I'm sure he wanted to discover the truth for himself. He can do what I can't--I mean, he could have done it. He was a great reporter--he would have been one of the world's greatest investigative reporters...." My peers actually nodded. I have no idea if they agreed. In reality I'm sure they're reserving judgment until I've had my first official job review, which should come in about two weeks, at my one-month anniversary. In nodding, though, they encouraged Mr. Interregnum to continue. "But he's... he's gone now and it's all my fault." Mr. White said, "It is?" "Yes! I called him late last night and told him I was worried about the safety of the New Hope considering what happened to the Messenger. I've been protecting Dr. Platt, you see..." This was a pleasant surprise for everyone; they had all hoped the man would turn up alive and well. "I've come to believe his theories, and I thought the Messenger still held proof of sabotage." Several of my colleagues nodded knowingly. "Clark, selfless and heroic as he was, told me to get some sleep, that the Planet was on the job, but now I know that *he* rushed there," he pointed (north; he should have pointed south) "to where the wreckage was being kept, to gather the proof that would bring the saboteurs to justice!" "That sounds like him, sir," Mr. White said solemnly. "But...." Note that Mr. White didn't rush this "but." He drew it out, maybe hoping for Mr. Interregnum's interruption: "Yes, but! But! A *terrible* word - *but*! But now! Now the saboteurs discovered him and... and... he's... he's..." his shoulders slumped and he whispered, "...gone. The one chance for hope in the world, for a future of peace, love, light and understanding - which I've always been a *big* advocate of...." Everyone nodded. They were big advocates of all that, too. Mr. Interregnum approached the railing, half turning to include the people from the conference room. "Can you even imagine a future like that...?" Everyone tried. "Your wildest hopes and dreams come true...?" Everyone had wild hopes and dreams. "Well... stop imagining it, it's not going to happen now because he's gone, all gone. Everyday will *not* be like Christmas, there will be no Federation of Worlds, and no one will invent nonfattening chocolate truffles!" Everyone was speechless, their happy futures torn away. I had no idea what he was talking about. I have a good idea now (though I don't believe the bit about Christmas and the Federation), but you'll learn all about that later. Mr. Interregnum dried his eyes and shrugged his shoulders so that his designer suit fell perfectly about his slim, athletic frame. "Yes," he nodded... and chuckled, "he's dead." Gleefully, light-heartedly: "Dead, dead, dead! The whole *dynasty* - up in flames! " He glanced at his golden Rolex. "Oh, look at the time. I have a party to arrange - for myself! Champagne and caviar, all for me!" The Pit staff was stunned silent. "Oh, I'm *so* good. Too bad you'll never know what you all missed or how hard I've worked on this. When they sort through the debris of that hangar, they'll find charred little pieces of him and"-- The door to the Graphic Arts Department is on the other side of the elevators, near the conference room (see my map, dpmap.jpg). The door also leads to more offices and the darkroom. At this point during Mr. Interregnum's bizarre chortle, Jimmy opened that door and barreled through it. He was waving pieces of paper. "Chief! I've got pictures! Mr. Stark helped me save my film even though it got all wet and my camera got banged up! We were able to--" "You!" Mr. Interregnum pointed at him, his finger spearing out. Jimmy screeched to a halt, blinked and peeped, "Me?" "What are *you* doing here???" "Ah..." Jimmy tried to drag his eyes from Mr. Interregnum's but couldn't. He looked trapped, an exhausted deer in an 18-wheeler's headlights. "Me? I - I work here...?" "He's one of our photographers," Mr. White explained. His voice was quiet and informative, not hasty, apologetic or nervous. Something about it told me that he was thinking the same thing I was. Mr. Interregnum was lamenting (or something) my demise in the hangar explosion. I can see why he might think this if he saw the Planet's report, didn't see my byline and remembered what we talked about Thursday just after midnight. He might have called the guard's desk or the newsroom around 7:30 and been told I was late, which was unlike me. He might have begun to wonder if he had piqued my curiosity, leading me to trespass into EPRAD's Hangar 9 - and been caught in the conflagration. All the hyperbole about his being to blame, my being a great investigative reporter and the nonfattening chocolate truffles was weird, but possibly (minimally) explained by his inclination to exaggerate and to disparage others anyway. His reaction to seeing Jimmy told me he already knew who Jimmy was. He hadn't met Jimmy on Tuesday because that was Jimmy's day off. Then again, he could have easily met Jimmy earlier. But - *But!*... why was he *surprised* to see Jimmy? Because up to this point he thought Jimmy was dead, too, and in the same explosion. Just like the story lacked my byline, none of Jimmy's pictures had been ready to print. There had been no reason for Mr. Interregnum to call to see if Jimmy had come in. Not that either of these things mattered because Mr. Interregnum shouldn't have known Jimmy was present in the hangar. The only way he could have known was that Dr. Baines told him. She told her caller that she had found people who *she hadn't expected.* She had expected me because *someone* had told her I was likely to show up. Why had that "someone" told her this? Because he thought he had planted in my mind the idea to go. A zillion pieces of the puzzle fell into place for me. There were still gaping holes, but at least now I knew who the puzzle master was. One of the gaping holes, though, was the one waiting to be filled by a motive. For one thing, it never made sense for Mr. Interregnum to put himself and his fortune in danger just to disable Lex Luthor. However, it certainly made more sense than to make me his target. The thought occurred to me that maybe Mr. Interregnum hadn't actually done that much when it came to thwarting Luthor. He could simply have taken advantage of what Luthor (along with Dr. Baines) had already done: sabotage the Messenger. Luthor would also want all evidence of the sabotage destroyed and I doubt he worried if his accomplice and her cohorts died in the process. Luthor could have masterminded *all* of that. It was easy to that Mr. Interregnum, finding this out somehow, would wish to use it against Luthor. But the part that didn't fit was *me* (and Jimmy and Lois Lane) being there in the hangar. Luthor couldn't have expected that; indeed, I think he would have steered me clear of the area had he discovered my interest in checking it out. That ruled him out as the one who called Dr. Baines just after my failed rescue attempt. Had it been him, I don't think he wouldn't have been happy to discover I was there. After all, I was still a useful tool to him in his war against Mr. Interregnum. However, had Luthor discovered me there, I think he would have agreed that now I knew too much and I (and Jimmy and Lois Lane) had to die. But that's not what I had heard in that strange call to Dr. Baines. Had Mr. Interregnum not rushed to grieve/gloat, I might still be thinking his telephone call to me around midnight had been an interesting coincidence and that he was right, Lex Luthor *was* a total slimeball. But Mr. Interregnum's joy at the thought that I was dead didn't fit into any scenarios I could think of. Despite all that I knew, I still didn't know enough. Mr. White's voice explaining Jimmy's role in the newsroom freed Jimmy, who looked around for additional support or maybe someone else who could distract Mr. Interregnum. Guess who volunteered himself? I quickly siphoned off a cup full of steaming coffee from the canister and stepped into the kitchen doorway, next to Cat, who this time didn't try to stop me. She must have sensed that there was no longer any reason to keep me out of sight. I think she must be a little psychic to have hidden me in the first place. Perhaps she and Mr. White also had an inkling of what I was thinking - that Mr. Interregnum had been Dr. Baines's other secret business partner. Jimmy saw me. "CK! You should see my pictures!" and he rushed past Mr. Interregnum, careful to keep as far from the man as space would allow. Mr. Interregnum twirled about, saw me and his eyes widened. I preempted any comment he might have made by asking over Jimmy's shoulder, "Are you all right, sir?" "You're alive!" "Yes, sir! It was amazing! I've never been so close to a raging, man-made inferno before!" "Ah... Ah..." I could almost see him trying on different masks and each one slipping. While he worked at finding the one that fit, he exclaimed, "Thank God! And you... you - you didn't even get *singed* - how *fortunate* for you... and, and...." He gestured vaguely, which matched his true incoherence (as opposed to his earlier insinuation-filled nonsense). "I took Mr. Olsen here with me to get pictures." I smiled at my friend. "It looks like he did." "And... And... Wonderful." He fell back, toward the railing, but Mr. White and Pat helped him sit down on the floor. He cradled his head in his hands. "I... I have a horrible headache...." Pat said, "Oh, dear. I'll call the infirmary--" Mr. Interregnum grabbed her arm. As she winced, he shouted, "No!" But he seemed to realize what he was doing, let her go and tried to pet her arm to soothe the pain. He touched only air because she drew away immediately. He said, "No, no, it's all right. I've had it all morning. It started after I read about... and thought... I... I took drugs for it. Sometimes they... relax me too much." Pat rubbed her arm but she looked concerned for him. "Oh, you poor man...!" The consensus of the Pit quickly became that Mr. Interregnum's anti-headache drugs made him say most of what he'd said. I guess someone would have to be drugged to think I'm "the one chance for hope in the world." However, no drug-induced hallucinations could explain his alarm at seeing Jimmy. Moments later, Sharon and the penthouse security guard arrived. Saying that they would make sure he got some rest in a dark, quiet room, they helped him into the elevator. Mr. White accompanied them as far as the elevator door. Before it closed, he told them, "Please send Dr. Platt on down here right away. We'd like to ask him for his thoughts about the explosion at the hangar." Mr. Interregnum only moaned. The newsroom was quiet for a long moment after the elevator door closed... then everyone started talking at once. Jimmy showed me his pictures and they looked good. He had before and after pictures of the escape helicopter exploding and there were no signs of shrapnel or missiles heading toward it. Mr. White looked at them and said, "Good, we'll use..." he picked three, "in this afternoon's edition. Good work." "Thanks, Chief!" "Don't call me Chief." Mr. White muttered the order as though he'd said it a thousand times already and expected to say it a thousand times more. He turned to me next. There was a twinkle in his eye. "All right, now, Mr. Light of the World...." Everyone who heard this grinned, including me. It gave me leave to reply, "Well, I guess it's a step up from being a 500-pound, testosterone-driven gorilla." "Huh. Oh. *She* called you that." "Yes, sir, but I did sort of deserve it." Cat nodded. "Sometimes, *sometimes*, she calls it right on. One time I was having a bad day, nothing was going right, and I had to let everyone know about it. Naturally, she was having a worse day, and she told me to stop complaining because I was just an 'amorphous Aphrodite.' That struck me as so funny that I had it put on a T-shirt." (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:16:06 -0600 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. Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: Debby Subject: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 04 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 04 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 At about two, I excused myself for a moment and found Pat in her office. I would have looked for Jimmy, but Mr. White had sent him home to get some rest. I asked Pat to please call the infirmary to see if they could send the nurse by for a visit with Dr. Platt. She thought that was a good idea and got right on the phone. The nurse, Ms. Berard, a petite, competent Asian woman, sat with us for some time, chatting pleasantly, drawing Dr. Platt out. Among other things, she asked about his family. He had told me last week that his wife had gotten disgusted with his obsessions and fears, and had kicked him out of their home. He hadn't seen his daughter Amy in months, but it was safer that way "for both of the women in my life." Feeling uncomfortable for him and not knowing what to do to help, I hadn't pursued that. (I had wondered about talking to Mrs. Platt to get her side of the story, but there was no time). Ms. Berard discovered that young Amy has a number of birth defects that confine her to a wheelchair and that she was scheduled to head up to the Prometheus on the New Hope with her mother. The advanced scientific experiments to be done there include some that may help her. "I was supposed to go with them, but..." But his suspicions of his employers and then his being fired had apparently removed him from the passenger list, but not his wife or daughter. I pointed out that things had changed: after all, he had been right about the Messenger and there was certainly something suspicious about Dr. Baines's death. With the Daily Planet working to clear his reputation, there was no reason why he couldn't go up with the next shuttle full of passengers. "If you're in good shape," Ms. Berard said. She used that opening and the encouragement of several of my female peers (they verbally tickled him; I guess he is endearing in a shaken-up-old-guy sort of way) to eventually coax him up to the infirmary for a thorough checkup. This happened around 3:30, so I had some time to catch my breath before I got my first call from Mr. Interregnum. He was reporting in from his limousine and he was excited. He went on for ten minutes about his trip from Metropolis to about halfway to Future City and how much traffic there was. I took a few notes in case he asked for them later. (He didn't.) He warned me he would call back in thirty minutes, at which time I could read to him what I had written. I wrote it quickly, in the first person. It turned into seven flowery paragraphs I figured could be pared down later. I decided to let Mr. White do that since he had okayed this bizarre assignment. I'd include clippings of the results, but for various reasons I'll reveal later, none of "his" story got into print. A little before six, Dr. Platt returned. He was escorted by someone >from the cafeteria, who said she had been assigned to make sure he ate a good meal. Women certainly seemed to feel motherly toward the man and he practically glowed with all the attention. He sat down in front of my desk again and observed me with a gentle, genuine interest. He smelled a little of garlic and I said so. He explained, "They were serving some kind of wonderful pasta dish with a cheesy white sauce!" Alfredo. I love Alfredo sauce. My stomach considered growling. I said, "Oh, really?" "Yes, but they ran out. I saved some of these though." He offered me a bread stick. I accepted it with thanks. He suggested that I relax and take off my jacket, pointing out that others had done so. I took his advice, put my jacket over the back of my chair, loosened my tie and rolled up my sleeves. That did feel better... for a moment. He watched quietly as I answered the phone and talked to Mr. Interregnum about the lack of good hotel accommodations anywhere within 50 miles of the launch pad. Every parking lot they passed was full. That didn't really matter to him, though, he said, as his chef had packed him a big picnic lunch and of course he planned to stay up all night long gathering information to call in to me. He was so happy I was at my desk, helping him. After I hung up and sighed at the phone, Dr. Platt said, "He's a weird one, isn't he?" "Well...." Like I'm one to judge. But I said yes anyhow. "You're tired, aren't you?" No, I was bored. As much as I loved the newsroom, I did not want to be there. I wanted to go home, to the farm, and talk to my folks. Sure I'd thought I could postpone the visit, but seeing the time slipping away made me nervous for some reason. I'm usually a very patient person, but I was beginning to feel edgy. As I couldn't say all this, I said, "Yeah, a little." "You know, he hardly talked to me. I remember that. I don't know why forgot so much, but I'm remembering a lot more now." "It must be scary to forget...." "A whole week's worth of things, yes." He sat back and looked sleepily into the distance. He seemed to be comfortable, and he appeared healthier than he had a week ago or even two hours earlier. "But I didn't do all that much. We sneaked out the back of my apartment house and into a big, black car with blacked-out windows. Then we came here, to the garage. I guess it's in the basement. I didn't realize it was *here* here, in this very building, until today. We went way up in an elevator, up, up, up, to the penthouse. He didn't want me to get near the windows though. Maybe he was afraid I was so nervous that I'd jump." "You wouldn't jump. You have too much to live for." He nodded firmly. "Yes, I do! I want to get better so I can go up to the Prometheus on the next shuttle. I *was* feeling depressed about that, but I wouldn't have committed suicide. He showed me to a bedroom and someone brought in some food, and I ate and then I slept. I slept a lot. When I got up, there was a desk and writing paper and a calculator. The door was locked and the windows were, too, to protect me, he said. That was okay because I didn't want to go anywhere, anyway, and it was safer and cleaner than my apartment. I sat down and started working on my theories without any pressure." He smiled. "That was fun." "Did you have a chance to do that often before?" "No, I was always worried that no one would understand about the Messenger...." He sighed. "Oh, well... In that room I was comfortable, and there was always food, and I could take a bath, and I could work on problems that weren't earthshaking. A day or two ago, or three or four.... I don't remember.... No, I think it was... it was Tuesday." He smiled. "Yes, Tuesday, right before lunch, he brought me a puzzle. It was a vest." He put his hands to his chest and looked down at himself, as though he were wearing such a garment when actually he was wearing a Daily Planet T-shirt and nondescript dark slacks. "It was a heavy vest, and it was full of electronic circuits and very fine wires and.... It was as though someone had opened the most advanced computer in the world, mashed up the insides, mixed everything into a can of paint and painted it all into the cloth. I don't know how they did it or who did it, but it was *fascinating!*" I found myself leaning forward, my right elbow on my desktop, my chin in my hand. I fear I wasn't in the mood to be fascinated by much of anything. "It sounds strange." "It was that, too. He said it was broken and he was sure I could fix it. He called me a genius, but," he looked embarrassed, "I don't think I am...." I made a face, disagreeing. He shouldn't disparage himself. He looked like he appreciated that nonverbal advice and he resumed his tale with more animation, sharing the mystery. "He said it didn't work as well as it used to and it used to do all kinds of things, but he didn't say exactly *what* it used to do." "What do *you* think it used to do?" "I don't know. Maybe it warped time and space," but he smiled at himself and then at me, "or maybe it just kept him warm when he goes to football games in the winter. If he goes to football games. I don't think he likes people very much, so he probably wouldn't want to be in a crowd of them. I'm surprised he's going to Future City; it will be crawling with millions of people. If he's wearing the vest, though, you could pick him out in the dark because I think it probably glowed when it was working, even though I didn't see any batteries." He ran his fingers along the waist edge of a phantom vest. "Imagine D cells in the seams...." Seams. Things in seams... but this was not the time to dwell on what people could put in seams of clothing. I smiled at the silly image and asked, "Could you fix it?" "No, not without knowing a lot more about it, but all he told me was that I should watch out for... a... how'd he put it...." "Did it have a belt? Maybe he was afraid it would short out." "No, no belt." He looked thoughtful for another moment. "He said it had...." Then he remembered. "He said it had Godzilla. He wanted me to get rid of Godzilla because Godzilla was in it." I felt a heavy-duty chill run up my spine. The last time I'd felt one like that was when I was in Colorado, not long after I thought I had mastered flying. I was over a canyon, and it was a *long* way down. Now my life looked a *long* way from being normal as more clues clamored for my attention and my attention had no idea what to do with them. All I could say was, "Godzilla?" "Yes. I didn't know what that meant." He looked a little blank, like he must have looked back then. "I still don't. I don't like Japanese monster movies very much. I do like Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, but that's not what he meant. He tried to explain, I think...." He frowned and shook his head. "But it didn't make any sense. I couldn't concentrate." He blinked at himself and sighed. "I don't know. Maybe he didn't know how it worked, either. He said it only worked one way now, for short distances, and it was low on power, but it had to work in every way, everywhere, it *had* to, or he'd be stranded. You know, maybe he stole it.... But he wouldn't need to. He's rich. He could've bought it--he could've bought a dozen if there are a dozen. It could be one of a kind, things like that are. But look at all the people who don't know how to work their own VCRs.... Then again, some VCRs *are* vicious.... Well, he took it away and I went to bed after that and forgot about it until now." He looked at me. "Hearing you talking to him reminded me. Do you notice how he talks like he doesn't expect people to understand half of what he says but he doesn't care? Like it's a private joke?" Struggling with this new information, I was enough on the ball to say, "I think he uses a lot of double entendres." "Yes, exactly - and I remember what that means!" He sat back again, smiling at himself, and looked around at the file cabinets and the Pit beyond. "I like it here. Everyone is so friendly and helpful. I wish Amy could visit...." He let that thought go gently, blinking back a tear. "Well... Well, Mr. Interregnum certainly is an *unusual* man." I couldn't have agreed more. He was an unusual and dangerous man. He had targeted me, and I didn't know why. It included putting that green thread in my shirt, but I was getting revenge on him because somehow my Godzilla Virus had wound up in his computerized vest. That whole idea was so bizarre that I couldn't begin to think about it and tried to just set it aside for a while. He probably would have had double entendres for all that, too. I said, "I'm glad you're remembering. Would you like a notepad to write down what you remember? Or a computer to type it into?" He smiled. "A notepad would be fine." I found one for him and then stationed him at an unused desk not far away. He thought this was fine because it offered a better view of the newsroom. As I returned to my desk I paused to look out at the newsroom, too. The switchover to the night crew was almost complete. I didn't recognize most of the people settling into shared desks. No one has been sharing mine. I wouldn't mind if someone did; maybe I wouldn't have felt so alone. I had more puzzle pieces but no top of the puzzle's box, so I had no idea what the picture was supposed to look like, or when the pieces would stop turning up because there wasn't any warning ("5,000-piece puzzle!"), or even if I was clever enough to put them all together. The reason for my having the puzzle at all was still missing, and I had the growing feeling that if I didn't do something soon, Mr. Interregnum would win the game he was playing by his own secret rules, and I'd lose - big time. Mr. White was ambling through the newsroom. He couldn't miss me because I hadn't moved from the spot where I was standing, out of the way, despondent. "Hey, Kent. It's no fun pulling an all-nighter when there isn't much happening." True, usually. "No, sir. I pulled a few when I was at the Post, and they usually didn't prove to be worth it." I was often the only one there to pull those overnighters, too, but I didn't feel as lonely as I did now. "I get the feeling this all-nighter is one we'll wind up realizing we could have slept through." He glanced at Dr. Platt and nodded. "He sure is perking up, isn't he? I'm glad he's all right. Sometimes things like that don't turn out so well." By this Mr. White means that Dr. Platt might have become another hard-to-identify body in Hobbs Bay. Of all that Mr. Interregnum has done, I guess I can thank him for keeping the doctor safe. I said, "I asked him to write down what he remembers of his adventures in the penthouse." "Good idea. I think he'll have quite a story to tell." He looked at me again and patted me on the shoulder. "But he can tell it to someone else if he's ready to talk about it tonight. I want you to go on home." "Home?" I almost jumped at the idea because I thought of my real home. But my feet were too firmly planted on the floor of the Pit. "I can't. Mr. Interregnum was serious. He's already called me five times. If he's true to form, and I'm sure he will be, he'll be calling again at 6:30 to hear what I've written so far." "Did you write up his last call?" "Yes, sir." "And you think someone else can't read that to him?" "Well, no, sir, but--" "And someone else can't mimic your style to write up everything else he calls in?" "Ah...." Honestly? "I hope not." He grinned. "That's a good answer - but I'm sure someone can. Listen, Clark, I know he said he only wants to talk to you, but there's something he forgot. You were up most of the night risking your life." "Well, sir, that wasn't so-- "But that's not important. What's important is, he forgot the unions." (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:16:02 -0600 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. Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: Debby Subject: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 05 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 05 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 "The unions? You mean, the Metropolis Journalists Collective?" "Oh, they're pussy cats - *nice*, but not very scary. I mean the Pressworkers, United Maintenance, and the Amalgamated Accountants of America. They're just a few of the unions that represent people in this building." "But they don't represent me." "It doesn't matter. You signed up today, didn't you?" "For the Collective and the credit union, yes, sir." "That's enough. They all take care of their own, especially new employees like you." At this point, a small, tough-looking, gnome-like woman walked up to see what we were doing. It looked like she might want to tell us to do it elsewhere. Mr. White introduced us. She is Mrs. Schwartz, the night editor. She would've had every right to tell me to stop distracting everyone and wasting Mr. White's time and, if I were staying, to get to work. She looked me up and down, seeing everything about me in much the same way Mr. White had when we first met. It made me a little nervous in the same way, too. She made her judgment, nodded and stuck out her hand. "Nice to meetcha, Kent. I like your work so far. I've heard you're giving Lois heart palpitations, too. That alone's earned you a place in this newsroom as far as I'm concerned. But whatcha doing here this time of night?" Mr. White explained. During this, Mrs. Schwartz pulled out a slim, designer-style cigar, put it in her mouth, but did not light it. She must be trying to give them up and the sensation, in combination with a hidden nicotine patch, is enough to satisfy her craving. That or she's just a little odd. Maybe I need to develop some odd habits that are characteristic of me. ("Oh, look at Clark: whenever he plays with that [insert a toy from a fast-food restaurant], you can tell he's thinking hard"). Then again, maybe overnight I *did* develop an odd habit that defines me, though of course I don't want anyone to find out it's me being defined. I guess I'm a little odd, too. "Blah," she said, "Interregnum gives me the heebie-jeebies." She looked at me, more sympathetic this time. "Get out of here, Kent. We can cover for you." "But, ma'am, he specifically said--" "He specifically forgot about the unions," Mr. White told her. "I don't like the unions very much," Ms. Schwartz said, "but I like 'em a whole lot better than I like Interregnum." "They don't like him, either. Just think how interested they'll be when they find out he's been picking on an employee who's been here less than two weeks. Remember how riled up the maintenance people got when he wanted to put bars on all the windows last winter?" "Well, everyone got upset, but they led the charge. It was a stupid, dangerous idea. What if there were a fire and people had to escape through the windows? It's not like we've ever had any jumpers." A tall, thin, black reporter overhearing this chipped in with, "Remember when he wanted to put cameras in the bathrooms and all the supply closets?" Another said, "With his own hand-picked people watching round the clock?" "To guard against crossdressers," Mrs. Schwartz snorted. "That's when I knew he was a first-class loony." A photographer said, "Then he wanted to see the applications of everyone who applies for a job here, but the Personnel Workers Association stomped on that idea." "And they were right to," Mr. White nodded. Others remembered even more bizarre ideas Mr. Interregnum had apparently floated only to see them shot down when employees refused to accept them. Ban junk food from the building? Never! I have my doubts that all the proposals credited to the man were actually his (though I think most of them were, knowing what I know now), but the night staff had fun with the topic. I found their enthusiasm and fearlessness heartening - until the phone on my desk rang. A hush fell over the room. Pam, the evening office manager, was passing Mr. White, Mrs. Schwartz and I, and she rushed to answer the call before I even got moving. I'm glad she did she proved to be Pat's equal when it comes to fast thinking: "Mr. Kent's desk... Mr. Interregnum? Oh, hello, how are you?... Oh, that's nice. Did you know I had a baby three months ago?... Uh-huh, I'm doing well... You want to talk to who? Carmen? Carl...? Oh, Clark? Clark. I think I saw him just a moment ago. He's sort of tall and wears glasses? ...Doe eyed, huh?..." She looked at them ("them" my eyes) to check them out. I was standing next to her now so my eyes were easy to see, particularly as they were still wide with alarm about what she was saying. She smiled, not agreeing with what he said (I hope), but not displeased with what she saw (I hope), even when I gave her a "good grief!" look. I heard him correct her, though I suspect he did say "doe" the first time. "*Brown* eyes, oh, yes. Hold on." She put the phone on hold but refused to let me pick it up. She smiled like she wanted to pinch my cheek but restrained herself. "Let him cool his heels for a little bit." "But--" "No buts," Mrs. Schwartz said, cutting off any protests. She turned and looked at her staff, most of whom were paying close attention. "How many of you are up for playing a little game with our favorite board member?" Everyone was, so I was outnumbered. At that point I told myself to stop defending the man. I should defend only the innocent and helpless, and he was neither. Getting an easy consensus, she addressed me. "Go ahead, talk to him, but talk like you have been. Pretend we're not all breathing down your neck listening to every word." I nodded and tried to suppress a nervous laugh. After I got that under control, I picked up the phone, taking it off hold. At the same time, all across the newsroom, another dozen phones were picked up and mouthpieces covered so my colleagues could listen in. Mr. Interregnum wanted to know where I'd been. I told him I had been in the mini-morgue looking for some information about Future City. This explanation satisfied him, and he cheerfully asked to hear what I had written. As I read it to him, I noticed two things. First, an astounding number of the remaining night staff (those not sharing my party line) were able to squeeze themselves very quietly into my little corner area to watch and listen to me. Second, the background noise on Mr. Interregnum's end didn't seem to support his claim about where he was, in one of the many hotel meeting rooms set aside for the press. For one thing, I couldn't hear any noisy people around him. Then again, he might have had the room to himself and it might have been soundproof. But if he really wanted to play reporter, it seemed to me that he should have been among them. There should at least have been reporters pounding on his door, yelling at him to get off the phone. There are never enough phones available at important events, which is when cell phone batteries invariably die. So, what if he weren't at the launch site at all but simply pretending to be? If that were the case, why was *I* where I was, manning my post like a good soldier - whose commanding officer is partying far behind the lines? The moment I hung up, a dozen reporters, several clerks and two members of the cleaning staff said all at once, "I can do that!" "That's simple!" "Even I can fool that clown!" Since no one had any doubts, I was ordered to leave. Nicely, but I wasn't given any room to argue. I didn't argue at all but thanked them and grabbed my jacket. I was told they'd help me, "Any time," as though they'd do the same for any colleague in the position I was in. I think they would, but they were also taking the opportunity to tweak Mr. Interregnum's nose. Pulling my nose >from the grindstone was an added benefit. Let me tell you what they did. I gathered this information today, Friday. Day shift members were eager to tell me about what they heard had happened after I left. Since for the first few hours Mr. Interregnum called at predictable intervals, the night crew was able to set up a system of routing his calls around "looking for Clark." Each time that I was almost found, a reporter, researcher, clerk or even Mrs. Schwartz would say "I" couldn't quite make it after all. They would insist that they were perfectly capable of taking his report and passing along their notes. Some reporters got more upset than others (this was planned, too) at any implication that they weren't as good writers as "that rookie." Other times they would tell him to relax, they could read, and they'd give him what "I" had written from the notes. One time around ten "I" was apparently on my way to take the phone >from a particularly creative clerk when "I" bumped into someone carrying a tray of full coffee cups. "I" made a tremendous mess of things, complete with horrific sound effects and people screaming at "me." Mr. Interregnum reportedly said, "He always was clumsy but it's just an act." He was told, "Well, not *this* time! He's ruined everything on Mr. Sanders's desk and boy is he mad!" Mr. Interregnum didn't press to talk to me that time. Around midnight, Mrs. Schwartz was feeling chatty and she kept him on the line for fifteen minutes talking about her grandchildren, who she apparently doesn't think are grateful enough for the checks she sends them on their birthdays. At two, the evening science/health editor engaged Mr. Interregnum in a long conversation about the dangers of all the common migraine and other headache medicines, both approved and experimental, since she had heard about his awful problem. Whenever they sensed Mr. Interregnum growing tired of a tactic, he would be quickly passed on to someone who claimed to have no idea what was going on so that he had to explain everything all over again. Or he'd be passed to someone it became clear he preferred not to talk to (like Mrs. Schwartz). Or perhaps someone who simply didn't have time to talk to him would take the call and say, "Come on, just tell me what you saw, I'm a better reporter than that kid you want to talk to...." I've read what "I" wrote and they did okay. It does sound like me trying to sound like him. It will never be printed, but I'll be keeping a copy. So that's how I escaped from the Pit. I left the building not by any of the regular entrances on the very small chance that Mr. Interregnum might be watching them. This might be possible if he did indeed possess unusual technology, even if some major part of it was broken. Instead I ducked into the nearest men's room and checked out an idea he had inadvertently given me: leaving via a window. The men's room has one and it was wide enough for me to slip through after I unlocked it and dislodged the screen. I pushed the window shut (I couldn't relock it) and replaced the screen once I was floating outside. Then I hightailed it out of there. I didn't stop by the flophouse because Mr. Interregnum might have been watching that, too. Kansas is in the central time zone, so the sun hadn't set yet when I landed in the middle of the barnyard. I just stood there for a moment, regaining my composure. As I began to feel safe at last, I turned slowly, looking at everything. It's so quiet there in comparison to the city, and the air is fresh and clean. Sometimes I wonder why I want to live in Metropolis. I tried to see what had changed since my visit almost a week earlier. On Wednesday there was a thunderstorm that blew some branches off the elm trees, and there was a little wind damage to some shingles on the house. I'll see if I have time on Sunday to fix them so Dad doesn't have to climb up there. Not that he can't, I just don't want him to if I can do it. You know, maybe that's why I want to live in Metropolis. While I'm needed at home, Mom and Dad, you're smart and a lot more careful than people in the city. When something goes wrong despite all your precautions, you take responsibility for your actions. People here sometimes just don't think and blithely stroll right into trouble of all kinds, or they jump in without checking the water level, and wow do they complain! Other times, as careful as they are, they still have problems. So, while I'll be there for you when I can be, I think I can be helpful to people here in the city, too. Actually, now I can be even *more* helpful if I can get a grip on this new challenge. But I think you figured all that out as soon as you heard that I wanted to visit you. If anyone should write this part up, one of you should. Dinner was great. It always is. Sweet-and-sour tofu, with cellophane rice noodles and sauteed vegetables, many of them fresh from the garden and the rest from the freezer. Dad's right, you can't eat like that in the city. He complains about tofu sometimes, but usually only when you don't have time to make it, Mom, and you have to buy it. However, dear great-grandchildren, as much as I love Mom's cooking, I picked at this meal because I was busy completely ignoring Dad's no-bad-news-at-the-dinner-table rule and using my mouth to tell them everything that had happened to me in the last 12 hours. I was getting all upset about it, too. *Duck* upset. I revisited the close call at the hangar. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen might have died there. Yes, it's good I went - but did Mr. Interregnum's call get me moving a little faster? Should I be grateful to him for the one thing he did right by mistake? (Mom slipped in an "Of course not.") Why did he want me there at all? Why did he warn Dr. Baines and why did he give her a green rope and strict orders to use it - on me? Obviously he wanted to kill me in what might have been a very painful manner - but why did he want me dead at all? Was he also responsible for the green thread? Did he conspire to destroy the Messenger or did he "just" use his technology to make it a worse disaster than Lex Luthor and Dr. Baines expected? Why did he bug my phone and intercept my email? Good thing for Godzilla, huh? Why did he try to set me up with his secretary? Why did he insult me behind my back? Why did he want to keep me (trapped?) in the Pit all night long? Why is he *picking* on me? Mom and Dad, I really appreciate how quiet you were (mostly) while I worked up that rant. I needed to get it off my chest. I guess I don't rant very often. I guess I don't rant at all, really, except for what I've done in this journal. I've never had a truly good, solid reason to rant about anything in my life until now. I'm glad you were listening and that you're on my side. You're the only ones I can trust with everything. Mom, you're good at tackling mysteries, but Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe both would have been stumped by this one. I had plenty of information but none of it made *sense*. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:15:57 -0600 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. Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: Debby Subject: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 06 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 06 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 Dad, I should have predicted at least part of what you'd say and how you'd say it. Dear great-grandchildren, he sat there picking at his own plate half full of food, his frown deepening as I went on about my accumulating problems. When I fell silent at last, he laid down his fork, put his left fist on his hip and his right elbow on the table, leaned forward, and pointed his index finger at me. He looked over it, his blue-gray eyes pinning me. "Let's cut through the crap, son. His motives don't matter. What matters is, what are you going to do about it? Fly away again?" Of course my automatic answer was, "No!" Then, "No. He's not going to chase me out of *my job*!" "Something tells me he wouldn't mind if you left Metropolis all together," Mom said. "Well, I'm not going to do that, either. Even if I *wanted* to fly away, I wouldn't because The Silver Knight can't fly even when the suit works and I'm not going to wear that suit ever again because I look like *Ant Man* in it and I don't want to look like *that.*" "Ant Man?" They didn't know about that. "Well, you saw the picture I drew." I have that little scanner I ran the picture through and sent it to them as one of my attachments (which fortunately Mr. Interregnum never saw). "That stupid suit makes me look like Ant Man." "Well, maybe it does a little...." "More than a little. The Metropolis Star reported it, so everyone will think 'Ant Man' now and not 'The Silver Knight,' if The Silver Knight ever sees the light of day, which he won't if *I* have anything to say about it and I have *every*thing to say about it because Lois Lane thinks I'm the best Silver Knight she's ever created so there's the macrocosmically small chance she might listen to me when I tell her the idea just plain won't ever work, with me or anyone else." "Son, I've got to meet this woman who makes you babble." "No, you don't." I happened to look down and see my dinner. Gosh, I was hungry. I grabbed my fork, speared a mouthful of food, and shoved it in. I looked up and saw that they were still watching me, blinking. Oh. I tried to continue, talking over the food. That didn't work and certainly wasn't polite. I swallowed quickly and said, "She's a nut - a *good-hearted* nut with a history that completely explains why she's a nut - you read about all that...?" They nodded. "Good. But even with all that - and that's a lot to happen to anyone, I understand that - Mr. Interregnum's been after her, too, I guess, which she doesn't realize even though I tried to tell her - except he thought she'd left town...." Something occurred to me. "You know, she's been the wildcard all along.... I don't have any idea what that means.... But even with *all that,* she's still a nut." Mom said, "Clark..." "Well, I have the right to say that, but I mean it in the nicest way possible. She's a pretty nut, but more she's a *creative* nut. I've never met anyone as creative as she is. At least not this year." Dear great-grandchildren, I've met artists, craft makers, writers and other creative people all over the world, but Lois Lane is unique. "She had a good idea, maybe even a great idea." I shoveled in another mouthful and tried to continue. I didn't make any sense - in more ways than one. I chewed, taking my time, because Mom had a warning look on her face about that and Dad was being more than patient. Then I swallowed and began hunting around on my plate for more broccoli. I want to say here that I didn't stop during this time to think about what I was going to say next. I really was just babbling, getting it all out, and for this next bit, well, maybe it didn't really require any thinking. "But her idea is *her* idea, and her suit is *her* suit. They're perfect for her but they don't apply to me at all. I need *my own* idea and *my own* suit." This time they didn't blink. This pronouncement of mine didn't seem to surprise them at all. Actually they held out a hand to each other: pay up. Me: "What?" Mom pushed Dad's hand away and said, "Later, you...!" But they both chuckled and looked at me, smiling. Their complete lack of surprise - hey, they're apparently having expected this made me review what I'd said. Then *I* was the surprised one. *I* blinked about what I'd said. "I need my own suit?" I sat back, backtracking. "Well, I need *something,* but I... but...." What *was* I saying? "I can't just... just watch anymore. I can't just *report* on what happens. I need to help keep things from happening or help keep them from getting worse if I can." Dad favored Mom with a superior look. I tried not to notice. "I don't really need a suit, I just need some kind of disguise." Yeah, that was it. Mom raised a knowing eyebrow at Dad. "Just something I can use now and then when something awful happens and I can put it on and help people and then take it off and go to the newsroom and write up the story and...." They were nodding at each other. I couldn't take it any more. "Stop that! Or... Or...." Dad said mildly, "Or what?" "Or... Or I'll get a disguise that makes me look like a *frog*!" Dear great-grandchildren, Mom simply cannot contain a good laugh. "Not a *frog*!" "No, son," Dad shook his head. He took a sip of his wine. It really is his since he grows some fine grapes up on that dry ridge south of the house. "I think you need a disguise that makes you look like heroguy. Your mom went and bought out Cloth World this morning, so she can sew up something for you." "I only went shopping after your father said yesterday that you were about to burst." "I guessed the right time, too." "Yes, you did, but *I* guessed the disguise idea." "Okay, okay!" I said. "Well, you wanted our help..." "I'm not complaining!" Oh, yeah? "I just want to be one step ahead of somebody, anybody for once." "You'll be ahead of that guy with the funny name." "True." I smiled at last. "I like that." "Good." Mom said. "You finish eating - *slowly!* - and then we'll get started. I'll be able to take your measurements when you have a full stomach." When I was finished (and I washed dishes, too), I went upstairs and met her in her sewing room, which has a big mirror. I stripped down and she measured almost every inch of me. She did this because she already had ideas about my disguise, and she was basing them on *tights*! Dad was right: she must have bought the entire stock of the Wichita ClothWorld store because we tried out dozens of combinations of colors and cuts, all with a basic wardrobe in mind. I write "wardrobe" because she was thinking I should have summer and winter versions of this disguise, and versions to wear to places as diverse as the beach and high-class social gatherings. I think she was teasing mostly and that she was using the tease to help me focus on the idea and take it seriously. I just wanted something simple. The only criteria I had was that the disguise has to identify me as someone who is going to be helpful. Dad would visit the sewing room occasionally as the night went on, standing in the door, watching, smiling now and then, but nodding, too, approving. He fell asleep down in the living room around midnight. He was watching live coverage of preparations for the launch of the New Hope. Finally about two, when Mom was showing signs of flagging strength and enthusiasm, we had a combination I thought I could and can live with for a while. Basically it's a blue body suit with red briefs. The briefs are on the outside so I don't look like one solid blue person. Mom also found a yellow plastic belt, but it wasn't quite long enough to go around my waist (and not because I had that filling meal). While I was looking at myself in the mirror, deciding that this was the best disguise yet, much better than the leopard spots and the purple gear with the skull cap, Mom sat down on the bed, sighed, laid back, closed her eyes... and in a moment she was asleep. I didn't disturb her. I sat down carefully on the little loveseat there in the sewing room, but the spandex/moleskin combination stretched right along with me. I looked over the belt. I liked the yellow color. I rubbed my hands together quietly, warmed them up, and I used the warmth to stretch the belt. In a few minutes it was the right length and fit around my waist comfortably. As I couldn't save people while I was barefoot (well, I can, but I don't want to), I had to have some kind of shoes. I had a closet full, at least half a dozen pairs, most of them in reasonable shape and not very old. I floated quietly into my room - it's unchanged from when I flew off to Metropolis to job hunt more than a week ago - and went through the closet. The most likely candidates were some old red galoshes. Because warmed rubber could smell more than the warmed plastic had, I opened a window quietly and sat down there in my room to work on them. They yielded to the same warm-hands trick as I molded them to my feet. The rubber stretched and I turned the galoshes into boots that reached up just short of my kneecaps. I also found it easy to roll these boots off and on. They're perfect. I floated back to the sewing room, sat down, stretched a bit, and watched Mom snooze. She looked so sweet, and a little frail. Great-grandchildren, I have to be very careful of her and Dad. (Don't read that part, Mom and Dad.) I think I must have fallen asleep, too. The next thing I knew, the dogs were barking outside, warning of a truck passing in the distance on the state road. Most likely it was a neighboring farmer setting off to make a delivery. "Get up, sleepy head! I want you to try this on next." I opened my eyes. "Try what on next?" Mom stood in front of me. She unfurled a big square of material, waving it about as though it were a flag. It was the same almost-blood-red color as the briefs. Fortuitously, the boots were almost that color, too. She said, "Stand up here." "What is it?" She gave me such a look. She was sure bright eyed again. "Stand up and find out!" "All right, all right...." I stood up. "Turn around...." She did some more measuring then told me to take off the shirt. I peeled it off and she worked on the neckline area for about ten minutes, refusing to tell me why. She told me to make myself useful. I straightened up the room, folding up the unused material and gathering up pins and needles. Then I turned on the radio and we listened for the latest news. It was filled with reports from the control room of the New Hope. Everything was going well, but for some reason I didn't believe it. I felt uneasy, and I told Mom. She advised me to relax and let my subconscious mind work on translating the feeling. Better yet, she distracted me by telling me to put the shirt back on. After I did so, she fit the red square of material into place using a combination of Velcro and strategic tucking. I wondered if this was strong enough, and she said, "I'll think up something better, but for now I think this will do fine." I looked at myself in the mirror. I now had a cape. Ugh. "I don't know, Mom..." "Really? I love it. That girl Lois Lane was right, except that her cape was too big. This one'll look grand when you're flying." She put the back of her right wrist to her forehead and pretended she was about to make a dramatic, ballet-style leap. Well... "And you can take it off if it gets in the way. Like this..." She showed me and, like the boots, the cape was easy to take off and put back on again. "Now the mask..." "Eh..." I tried it on. It was red and it tied in the back like a scarf would. I looked dashing, I guess, but... We'd tried several forms of masks throughout the night, from ones that covered my whole head to little ones that just covered my eyes, and none of them exactly turned me on. Something tells me that I won't really need one. Besides, masked people are sometimes seen as untrustworthy. "I don't think so, Mom...." She understood my reasons. "Okay, well, that's okay..." She patted me on my chest. "One thing's for sure. Nobody's going to be looking at your face." I looked at her. What did she mean by that? *She* wasn't looking at my face. She was looking lower - a lot lower! I pulled back. "Mom!" She laughed and hugged me close again. "Well, they don't call them tights for nothing--" "Forget that! You remember that toga we tried at 9:30? I think I like that a *lot* better--" "Oh, no, you don't. This looks *just fine*." "Well..." Nothing really showed *down there*, but I guess people may sometimes look. If it keeps them from looking at my face too closely, I guess I can live with that. After all, I'm not going to be in the disguise very often and I don't plan to let anyone take pictures of my face or any other part of me. "But," she continued, "I don't know, something's still missing. Something...." "What? This isn't enough?" It met every one of my criteria plus some. "No, it's not. It's just...." She smiled and I could almost see the light bulb suddenly light up in her eyes. That's dangerous but thrilling, too. It's odd how Lois Lane had a similar look on her face on Wednesday, probably because she had just dreamed up breaking into the hangar. Mom went to the bed and got down on her knees. She reached under and dragged out a large, flat trunk that held my baby clothes. I'd forgotten about them, but I couldn't see what use they were now. However, there was more in that trunk than she'd told me. She pulled out a pure-white blanket. "You were wrapped in this when we found you. We used it for the longest time and I washed it so often it should have fallen to pieces, but the dirt never stuck to it and it never showed a sign of wear and tear." She smiled up at me, her eyes glistening a bit, the memories nice. "Do you remember how you used to carry this around everywhere?" "Ah, no..." "Well, you gave it up for your third birthday. It was very traumatic for you...." "Really?" "For about ten minutes. Then you became interested in something else. What was it... A toy tractor, I think.... No, it was a new set of crayons. You decided to write your own book and illustrate it, too. I still have that. But this is what's important now." She opened the blanket wide and in the center of it was an emblem about the size of a dinner plate. "This is what I wanted to show you." (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:15:44 -0600 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. Comments: RFC822 error: MESSAGE-ID field duplicated. Last occurrence was retained. From: Debby Subject: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 07 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 07 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 Let me describe this for you, dear great-grandchildren, in case no pictures of it have survived. The emblem is five sided. The sides are red bars maybe three-quarters of an inch wide. Two sides point down in a V. The tops of the V jut inward at 90-degree angles to meet a horizontal bar. Within this odd pentagon is a curly red "S" shape. The background is a bright yellow, almost the same color as the belt. I have no idea what material the emblem is made of, though it is sewn, like a regular, human-made emblem, and it's quite flexible. I said, "I remember this blanket now." Though I suppose it could as easily be a flag. I also remember now having carried or dragged it around everywhere, mostly in the house, though I may have taken it out to the barn a few times to sit on when I visited the animals and pretended I knew how to care for them. My main chore at that age was to help round up and feed the chickens. I think I did a pretty good job of that for a three year old. I don't think any friends or visitors saw the blanket, and there's no reason they would remember it now if they did see it. Mom had me turn around to face the mirror again. She folded the blanket so that the emblem showed and she held it up in front of me at chest level. Ah-ha! "Good idea!" I was able to cut the emblem out of the blanket using my laser vision while Mom readied a sturdy thread and needle. I took off the shirt, we positioned the emblem carefully, and I sewed it on quickly, working the needle between the threads of the emblem. I think the material of the shirt itself will be strong enough to hold the emblem firmly in place. I slipped this new version of the shirt on and looked at myself in the mirror once more. Perfect. I'm not just saying that. I really liked the disguise after the addition of the emblem. I don't know what it stands for, what it means where I come from, wherever that is, but it's *right.* It's right for *me.* If we change the disguise at all (maybe a sports model?), the "S" is going to be on it, too. Mom was grinning, her eyes really wet now. "Your parents would have been so proud of you. Jonathan and I sure are..." We hugged. "Thanks, Mom." I admit it: I felt proud of me, too. Everything felt just so *right* now. I don't know how long this *right* feeling is going to last, but I'm still enjoying it even as I type this journal entry. Then we heard Dad's voice: "Come on down here, you two! The colonists are just about to board!" "I want to see that," Mom said. "Hold on." I swept her off her feet. She giggled girlishly. I explained, "I feel like striding in this outfit." Although I don't think I'm tall enough to pull off a good stride, I could have broken into one at any moment. "I don't want to leave you behind." "It's the cape," she said as she laid her head on my shoulder. "I told you." "You sure did." I kissed her forehead. She snuggled. We floated out of the sewing room and down the stairs (I advise all would-be striders not to stride on staircases). I set her down carefully at the foot of the stairs and walked into the living room. I gave her a head start so that I could stride. Dad was stretched out in his easy chair, watching the big old 25-inch TV. He keeps getting it fixed every time it threatens to die. "You don't find wooden cabinets like that anymore, son. A value's a value." The colonists had by this time arrived at the launch pad in three buses, or "passenger mobilization vehicles," the fancy name that helped the subcontractor justify the $30 million price tag for them. I don't think Dr. Baines was involved in that part of the program though. The price gouging was normal graft and corruption. Network cameras were allowed in only so close, but we were able to see the faces of many of the adventurers. Some were smiling as they waved at their audience of billions. Others among them preferred to face their future looking ahead bravely, wanting to get on with their work. There were even some who ducked their heads, perhaps shy about being part of the hoopla. And there was one person who didn't want to be seen at all, let alone recognized. "Dad, are you taping this?" "I sure am. I wish I had tapes of all of them." He turned to look at us. "Do you remember back in 1982 when..." This was his first look at my new outfit. His eyes widened. I walked (two strides) around to the right side of his chair so he would get a better look. I was a little concerned about his reaction. His opinion was the most important one of all because, among other things, I think he represents the views of a lot of people: solid, realistic and thoughtful. I didn't try anything fake on him: no strides, no gut sucked in, no wind-in-the-face look, none of that. I just stood there and tried to be real (or as real as one can be in a suit like that). I wasn't sure what to do with my arms. I don't guess I can ask Mom to put some pockets in the suit. A smile spread over his face and I swear his eyes glistened a little, too, like Mom's had. "Very nice! I like this one! It's straight forward and honest. It's not too flashy and won't scare anyone like that suit that woman wanted you to wear." "Doesn't he look handsome in it, Jonathan?" If I could blush, my face would probably have matched the color of the cape. "He sure does. That's my boy!" But that made Mom's smile faltered. She looked at me. "Wait a minute. He's right. What if someone recognizes you? I'm not worried for us, we're out here in the middle of nowhere. But what would your Mr. White say?" "He'd probably say 'Where's that copy I asked for three minutes ago?' But I don't think *anyone* will recognize me." I stood up even taller and threw my shoulders back, which expanded my chest. "I never stand like this normally." Normally I stand with my shoulders relaxed and my knees unlocked so chi can flow. (I'm told I have a lot of chi.) But this wasn't enough of a difference. "I won't be wearing my glasses, of course, and..." and... what? How about... I combed my fingers through my hair, pushing it back. It stayed. I seem to have cooperative hair. "And I'll do this, so I won't be me. I mean, I'll be someone dressed like this who just turns up, helps, and leaves. Nobody knows me, Clark Kent, anyway, and no one will ever get a good look at me in this costume." I truly believed that when I said it. Dad nodded and Mom looked like she believed it, too. "That could work. Sometimes belief can be a very powerful thing." After all the colonists entered the New Hope, the networks switched to commercials. I asked Dad to rewind the tape about five minutes worth and use the still frame feature. When I saw her, I pointed out Lois Lane. She had pulled her hair back tight and was wearing a flight cap and dull gray flight suit, but I was certain it as her. "Why would she want to go into space?" Mom said. Dad said, "Things get too hot for her on the ground?" "Well, after the explosion.... She didn't look upset though..." "She had to have been. I would have been," Dad said, "and I saw plenty of explosions in 'Nam." "But I don't think she's seen plenty of them." "She's a strong young woman," Mom said. I nodded. "No doubt. She went to the hangar thinking she'd find proof that it was sabotaged." But when that failed, she must have come up with a new plan, meaning.... "I bet that's why she's decided to sneak onto the New Hope." "She's looking for a bomb?" "But they must have gone over that thing top to bottom a hundred times," Dad said, "especially after the explosion yesterday morning." "I agree," I said, "but they have no idea who they're *really* dealing with and neither does she. Mr. Interregnum. I wouldn't be surprised if he planted something in there..." well, of course! Puzzle pieces began to fit together. "...overnight! He used that vest thing, even if it was broken, or nearly broken. While I was supposed to be in the newsroom and *not* here doing this. He *knew* I wanted to do this, or something like this!" "Son--" "No, he *knew*! I don't know how, except he probably used that vest thing somehow, and he's done everything he can to stop me - he even tried to *kill* me!" "Well, then--" "But he didn't know he'd pissed off Dr. Baines so she didn't follow his orders to the letter. Since he murdered her and her henchmen, he may think that she used the green stuff but it doesn't affect me!" "That's a good thing." "It *is*! He won't try that again, I bet! *Now* he has no idea that everyone in the newsroom hates his guts and they're playing tricks on him, so he thinks I'm still stuck in the newsroom!" "But if he thinks that, maybe he didn't think he needed to plant a bomb." "That's logical, Dad, but he's not logical and he's not going to save his energy. I'm *sure* he planted one. He loves laughing at people because he thinks he's brilliant and we're all stupid." It was so obvious now. "He doesn't care *who* he kills. He just wanted me to be stuck in the newsroom, watching the launch vehicle blow up. He knows I knew something might happen and he probably knows I think he's involved, but I'm sure he knows I can't implicate him without giving myself away. He knows I'd figure out there might have been something I could do, some way to stop the tragedy, and I'd feel *awful* because I *didn't* do anything, and he'd *laugh!* - and *I'd* just want to *die*!" "Son..." I paused, tried to calm down, looked back at what I'd said, and sighed. "Is that paranoid?" Dad nodded. "A little..." "And you're babbling. You tend to babble when you get upset." Huh? "I do?" I thought I only babbled when I write in this journal. You should see some of the sentences I've had to chop up to make them more readable. Then again, Dad mentioned it during dinner, didn't he? Mom nodded. "But I think you're right to be upset and you're cute when you babble--" "Martha, this is serious." Dad stood up so he could address me directly. "You're just plain right, son. That Lois girl is, too. I think you better go check it out." I nodded. "I think I even know where he put the bomb." I strode out to the front porch with them right on my heels. The sun wasn't up yet, but the sky was brightening in the east, there was a light breeze, and the air was cool and fresh. Early birds sang in the trees and residents of the barn were beginning to wake up and wonder where breakfast was. Despite not having eaten anything since dinner, I was too nervous to be hungry. We exchanged brief hugs. I promised Mom I'd come right back if I could. She said not to worry about that, but she did want to Scotchgard the outfit. I said fine. She said she would start cutting out and sewing up some more outfits. I said one was probably enough. She said she'd get on the 'net and find me some more boots. I said that wasn't necessary. Dad cut through this small talk. "Git going, son. Go find that bomb - and be careful! You've never faced a bomb before." I shrugged. "There's no time like the present, I guess," and with that I took off, heading east into the sunrise of a very strange new day. Though I hadn't visited the launch site, during my research I studied it and the New Hope inside and out. I flew as fast as I could - someday I'll have to figure out a way to clock myself - and arrived at the launch vehicle only a minute or so after leaving home, slowing down as I approached. I noted all the traffic; there was no way Mr. Interregnum could have gotten through that. He had to have been lying about being in a hotel in Future City. The entrance the colonists had used was still open but abandoned by the media and apparently not under close guard. This wasn't good for security reasons, but it suited my needs perfectly. I slipped through the entrance at high speed, slowed down immediately, and began working my way up, avoiding passengers and crewmembers, launch personnel and cameras. This was not a good time to be wearing sky-blue tights and a scarlet cape. But somehow I wasn't seen. Can you guess where I was headed? I bet you can: for the crew quarters' restroom. However, there were three of these because the New Hope is a far bigger vehicle than the Messenger was. The trick was to figure out in which one a bomber would plant a bomb, unseen, so it would have the desired effect. In the restroom near the control room? That was probably the best place to plant one - but it was also in the most heavily staffed area of the ship. The second restroom was deeper into the ship but near no particularly delicate areas. A bomb could do damage, but it would have to be a big, easily visible bomb to do critical damage. A small bomb in the third restroom would get the most bang for the buck. That restroom was halfway up the ship and near the hull, in which were a number of critical plumbing, fuel, oxygen, and electrical conduits. A bomb going off there would probably breach the hull and destroy the conduits. If it did so as the New Hope was launching (and visible to everyone watching on TV), the result would be a total disaster, with hundreds of deaths and untold damage on the ground. Even if the bomb exploded on the ground, the contents of the conduit were highly explosive. Being unleashed and ignited by the bomb, they could do considerable damage. So I headed for that third restroom. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:14:09 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Part 08 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 08 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 I don't know if Lois Lane had access to the same information I did, the same maps and schematics (we didn't publish this detail in the Planet), or if she simply chose the first crew restroom she could reach. In either case, I wasn't surprised to hear her as I approached my target. "It *is* a bomb!" she said, and then she started screaming. "There's a bomb! There's a bomb!" Maybe because I was thinking about her I was able to tune in on her. I don't know, but I don't think anyone else heard her. Her voice was drowned out by the normal, louder noises people expected to hear, like the public affairs officer announcing: "Two minutes and counting..." and the rocket boosters beginning to warm up. I arrived at the right floor. Lois Lane said, her voice desperate, "I have to warn them...!" I wondered if she often talks to herself. The crew rest area and the restroom I suspected and Lois Lane were all at the end of a long, curving, vacated hallway. I zipped there. The door was locked - from the outside. It probably had an inner locking device that crew members could use. I heard her at work inside. I reached up to lower my glasses but of course wasn't wearing them. I'll have to get used to that. I just looked through the door She had opened a control panel and was using a Swiss army knife to slash at the wires inside. My knowledge of the schematics told me that the control panel regulated the back-up power for the crew VCR and television set on the other side of the wall. I don't know if she knew this. Perhaps she thought it was important wiring and that the New Hope wouldn't launch if the crew couldn't watch their favorite videos. As silly as this was, it turned out to be the right thing to do. Everything on the New Hope has to be monitored, so someone or some computer somewhere took notice of the sudden problem. Moments later, the public affairs officer announced: "Due to a mechanical failure, we have suspended countdown at twenty-nine seconds. We will advise." After all the built-in clock stops, this unplanned one must have been a disappointment. However, it meant that if the bomb couldn't be stopped, then there was a considerably smaller chance of loss of life. To try to stop the bomb, I had to get to it first. There was the temptation to simply remove the door from its hinges altogether, but I just broke the lock and the door swung open easily. I then came face to face with Lois Lane. Actually she was about two yards away. She was no longer wearing the cap. She was breathing hard, looking at her handiwork - and then at me. I wasn't prepared. I should have been. I'd had time to think about the probability that we'd meet, all the time it took to fly from home right up to opening the door. Plenty of time. But I hadn't thought about it at all and wound up, at that moment of truth, thinking, "Whoa, is she going to yell at me!" I did not particularly want to be yelled at just because she was all upset (*she* yells when she's upset). Her eyes grew so wide I thought they'd pop. In reaction, I inhaled. Naturally this caused my chest to expand and my shoulders to rise. My body seemed to know what to do so I played along, making sure my face took on a challenge-the-storm-type expression. Very serious. While her suit made me Ant Man, *my* suit makes me a Very Serious (but helpful) Person. She blinked... and frowned, another warning sign. But what she *said* - not yelled - *said* was a relief (for me). She said, "What...?" and then, "Who...?" I'm not so sure that I really wanted her to recognize me. I'd like to share this thing I'm doing with friends, but what kind of friend has she been over the past week since I met her? One of the weirdest friends I've ever had, that's for sure. If she had recognized me, did that mean others would? Would she have been the only one? Would she then proceed to tell everyone on her team, which could mean tens to hundreds of people? Would it become a headline in the Planet? Would Mom and Dad be in danger, even though they live out in the middle of nowhere? But those two simple words she uttered freed me up immediately. I could concentrate on the bomb. First, it wasn't in the restroom but further into the main room, hiding in a piece of abstract art attached to the hull-side wall. The art was made of pieces of pillow, as best as I could tell. Pillow material is certainly better for weightless conditions, unlike, say, the wrought iron Mom sometimes uses in her sculptures. Which would an astronaut want to accidentally float into? Why they would have a piece of art on the ship at all is beyond me, though, since weight is supposed to be a critical factor in spacecrafts. Was it another case of graft? Maybe I'll research it for an article for the Planet. The bomb was in a gray metal box about six inches square and three inches deep, poorly buried among the pillow pieces. "Poorly" because Lois Lane later claimed she had seen it immediately. "I don't know art," she reported, "but I know what I like and I didn't like the looks of that." Of course, as soon as I touched the box, she said, "Hey! Get away from that!" She was right to issue that order. I had no clue what I was doing. Still, I ignored her and examined the box itself. It was made of aluminum so I could look through it to see that it would probably be safe to pull off the front cover piece. I did this, touching only the edges of it, leaving no fingerprints. The bomb did not explode. Whew! "Wait a minute," she said slowly. "You're..." In the box were three dangerous-looking components. The first component was wires, but only two of them, one red and blue. On TV people have trouble deciding which one to cut. These wires ran from component number two, a small black box about the size of two Oreo cookies (I prefer Hydrox), to component number three, a mass of what looked like clay but was probably some form of plastic explosive. "You're..." What if I simply removed the entire bomb, took it outside, and threw it into the stratosphere? Was it motion sensitive? Was there some hidden component or something in the black box itself that might detonate if I moved it? It could blow my hands off or worse. I've held hot things (chunks of fresh lava) and stickery things (like porcupines and once a puffer fish), but not exploding things (Dr. Platt's notes don't count). The bomb by its very nature might be motion sensitive without any special devices attached to it. "You're him..." But would it be sensitive to a brief, very fast move, like one I could make? It occurred to me that there was no green string, rope or other green material in or around the box. There was nothing to slow me down. If Mr. Interregnum thought there was the remote chance that I would make it here, he must have also thought that the green stuff doesn't work on me. He had put in place no way to slow me down. Maybe only the green stuff can do that. You better believe I'll be watching out for it in the future. However, what if he decided to use my speed against me? That could mean that the bomb was indeed motion sensitive. It wouldn't be sensitive to the motion of the lift off, which was to be slow and careful due to the variety of people on board, but it could be sensitive to some measured horizontal movement, like one I would make in removing it. Very clever. If I hadn't figured that out but ripped the bomb out, it would have gone off, causing considerable damage. Realizing it could be motion sensitive would make me hesitate, and he who hesitates, in a case like this, is lost. "You're really *him*..." So there was really only one thing to do, which was move *part* of the bomb, but only a very short distance. I plucked the black detonator out of the plastic explosive and swallowed it whole. I'm not sure how I deformed my throat and esophagus, but sometimes my body takes care of that kind of thing without my stopping to think about it. Besides, I've eaten Hydrox cookies whole, before I realized they taste better pulled apart and eaten slowly. I note that I did wonder if this solution really was the wisest thing to do, if curling up bodily around the bomb might not have been better. But the bomb going off in my hands could have ruined my new suit and, besides, my stomach seems to be incredibly strong. I tried not to taste it, but it was unavoidable. Yech. It tasted like burning plastic smells, but worse. I think though that something in my saliva neutralized all that and I didn't wind up with bad, *really bad* breath. Lois Lane was in the midst of screaming, "What are you doing?!?! You're swallowing the--" when the detonator exploded. She gasped. So I think it really was motion sensitive. Dad, the explosion had about the same impact on me as did the winning green chile stew you made for the Corn Festival last year. You remember how Mr. Lopez perspired even as he ate the whole bowl full with a big grin on his face? He really complimented you. "Just like I can get in Ojo Caliente!" You remember that I always eat it, whatever the heat, without any trouble at all? And I've eaten hot food all over the world? *That's* how I know my stomach is strong, maybe stronger than my hands. Technically, I think my stomach has to be strong and maybe it was the first strong thing in my body. I've never had trouble eating "earth food" and why not? Because my stomach was one of the first thing to adjust. Not that I was ever expected to eat *bombs*. Unlike Mr. Lopez, I didn't perspire as a side effect of it going off, but it was a close thing. I didn't grin, either. I burped. I couldn't help it, but I did cover it and in a moment I could say, "Excuse me." The interesting thing is, the backlash deepened my voice somewhat. If I have to talk much when I wear the disguise, using a deeper voice than my usual one may be a good idea. "You swallowed the evidence...!" Oh, yeah. "Sorry." That's not enough! Some scheming part of my mind yelled at me: You don't know this woman! "Ma'am." She was blinking furiously, clearly trying to understand what was happening, to fit it into her reality. "But - no - that's all right - we'll find other evidence!" Not that either of us would have time to search for it. A half dozen security agents and crew members were charging down the corridor and in a moment they had all shoved their way into the room. They did not look happy, but I think my appearance made them hesitate. Maybe I looked crazy and they were trying to decide how to apprehend me with the least damage to themselves and the spacecraft. I understand now that the command centers of both the New Hope and ground control were able to pinpoint the cause of the mechanical malfunction only about a minute after Lois Lane had caused it. Since it looked suspicious, a contingent of security guards as well as regular crew had been dispatched. Lois Lane didn't let their presence scare her. She faced the biggest of them. "There was a bomb!" She pointed at the gray box filled with plastic explosive still nestled among the pillows. "And he..." She pointed at me. She smiled. She looked a little giddy. "*He* swallowed the detonator!" As a proud smile would have been out of place on my face, too, I remained calm. It occurred to me that a quiet, slightly removed, Zen-like approach to all this might be best for me. Captain Hudson, immediately recognizable from the many pictures of her published everywhere, arrived in time to hear this. She was as old as Mr. White but smaller and in better physical shape. She did rather sound like my boss though. "What in tarnation is all this..." She saw me. She saw Lois Lane pointing at the box. She frowned in alarm. "Ohmygod...!" But her alarm lasted only a second. The reason she was in charge of humankind's greatest adventure became evident immediately: "All right, everyone out of here!" "Ma'am?" I said. It is paramount that I show the utmost respect for everyone I meet. I try to do so usually anyway, but when I wear the disguise, there must be absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that I appreciate whatever position they find themselves in that requires me to be there. "What? Who are you?" As calmly as I could, I said, "That's not important now. I suspect you have on board devices that can examine the remains of the explosive," I indicated the box, "and determine where it came from and what residue it might--" "--leave on whoever planted it!" Lois Lane chortled. "Yes!" She started dancing around. "Yes, yes, yes!" She grabbed my arm and, since I didn't move, she pulled herself close to me. "You're so brilliant! I *knew* you'd be!" I've never before seen anyone so starry eyed - and never have any starry eyes ever been aimed at me. It's not bad. I'm not complaining. But I will not be encouraging such bizarre reactions from anyone in the future, believe me. "Yes, we do have that kind of equipment," Captain Hudson said dryly as she tried not to look at Lois Lane. She was looking at me instead. She had looked at all of me, you were right, Mom, but was now courteously keeping her eyes on my face. Good thing we've never met before. Trying to ignore Lois Lane, who was still hanging on me, I said, "There are indeed traces of chemicals around the box. I can see and smell them, and I suspect your equipment will be able to do the same." Lois Lane was trying to embrace me. I tried folding my arms before my chest to discourage her; it didn't work very well - the folding was okay but it didn't discourage her. She was incredibly happy. She grinned at the captain. "He saved this ship, you know. He just... *swallowed* the detonator! And it exploded in here!" She actually patted my stomach! "Isn't that great?" It didn't feel bad. The pat, I mean. "Quite." The Captain tore her eyes from my midsection and aimed them at my face again. She was cool. "Nice suit." "Thank you. My mother made it for me." Note: Mom, Captain Hudson reminds me a little of you. She smiled just a touch at my explanation, too. Lois Lane coo-ed, "Oh, isn't that sweet?" Captain Hudson said, "Uh-huh," just like you, Mom. I continued, "Captain, if you could send the results of your tests to..." should someone who looked like me know who to send test results to? I looked at Lois Lane. "To?" She caught on immediately and stopped gushing, turning into a serious person for a moment. "Send them to Inspector Henderson at the Metropolis Police Department. He'll know what to do with them." The Captain said, "I'm sure he will, but so will our own security people." "But the man who planted the bomb is *in Metropolis!*" "Oh?" The tone of the Captain's voice told me she was immediately curious about why the strange woman would know that detail. Lois Lane looked as though she suddenly realized that, too. Time for another rescue. I said, "I understand that Metropolis is a very large place--" "--so of course he's there! Or they're there, them, the conspiracy. You know... *them*." "Captain, your security people working with the Metropolis police will make a formidable team, guaranteeing truth and justice for all." Lois Lane lapped this right up. Well, all that sounded good when she said it originally. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:14:20 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Part 09 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 09 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 "Uh-huh," the Captain said again, but she had the right to be a little skeptical, I guess. "Well, we should have the information shortly." Indeed, equipment was already arriving. "Though we could take our time," she sighed. "We've missed our launch window so we're not going anywhere for at least another week." Specialists started measuring the area around the bomb and taking samples (when they weren't staring at me). In a moment they were able to remove the remainder of the bomb entirely. Lois Lane, watching this, did not looked pleased. "You mean you can't take off once they're done?" The Captain said, "No. Once the thrusters have been fired, they have to be replaced and tested, and that usually takes at least 24 hours." One of the copilots, a short black man, had come to watch. He jumped into the explanation. "Then we have to wait for the Prometheus itself to move into a good position again. That's particularly critical given this ship's configuration. Waiting, the weather, politics, other things.... We may have to forget about the space station altogether." "What? Why?" The Captain said, "The Messenger was going to take up critical components and install them. That didn't happen. That meant we had to do it, but now we can't. Without those components, the station's orbit will decay rapidly, and it will be too dangerous for anyone to live on, let alone approach." I said, "So for the lack of thrusters on the New Hope, the space station falls?" She looked me. She was cool and steady, which is ideal for one in her position, but she didn't hesitate to tell me, "Essentially, yes." "Otherwise, the New Hope is completely operational?" "Well," the copilot said, "except for the videorecorder here..." the one that Lois Lane had pretty much destroyed, "yes." "Then," I said, "I suggest that everyone get strapped in and ready to go." Lois Lane said before anyone else could, "Huh? Go where?" Since she was distracted, it was easy to remove myself from her grip. "Go up to the Prometheus. I'll give them a boost." They stared at me. First Lois Lane doesn't think I know what to do about the bomb and now everyone thinks I'm a nut case for saying I'd give them a boost. Well, maybe they were right. I have no idea why I volunteered to do the impossible. Nonetheless, I stood up for myself. "I'm serious. Please get ready." Lois Lane took a long look at me, nodded, and told them, "He's serious. If anyone can do it, *he* can do it." "And just who," the Captain asked her, "pray tell, are you?" "I'm... with the government. I can't tell you what agency - I've already told you too much. If I tell you any more, I'll have to kill you. But trust me on this: he," she pointed at me, "can do exactly what he says he can." This didn't sway them. The Captain said, "You two have three minutes to get out of my ship. I won't have you both arrested because you did find the bomb and..." she paused, looking at me, "and you apparently stopped it." "Ma'am," I said. "Assuming you decided to humor me for a few moments, how long would it take the crew and the colonists to get strapped in after this... woman--" "Lois Lane." She held out her hand. I didn't take it. This wasn't exactly the time. She seemed to realize this. She withdrew it quickly. "Heh..." "After Ms. Lane and I disembark and all the entrances are shut securely behind us?" The Captain figured it would take "no more than ten minutes. I'll humor you for fifteen while my people finish examining what's left of the bomb. Then I'm ordering everyone off this ship." "I appreciate that, ma'am." I must always be polite; that's as important as paying my respect to everyone I meet. "Well, we'll see. Now, both of you - out!" We got. People (most of them colonists roused from their bunks) watched us but stayed out of the way. I saw people of all ages and sizes (though none were overweight). I glimpsed Dr. Platt's wife and daughter but did not have time to stop and chat with them. I don't know if they would have been comfortable talking to me under those conditions. Also, over the intercom system, everyone was being instructed to prepare for the test of a secret new emergency lift-off system. If it did not work, no one would be harmed and the ship would be evacuated. I hoped the announcement wasn't a waste of the copilot's breath or imagination. I employed my stride and I floated down ladders. Lois Lane scurried along behind me, tossing questions at my back, but there was no time to answer any of them. Okay, I should show respect and be as polite as possible, but I think it's best to be somewhat removed from people and even a little aloof. "Alien" is a good word in this case. I was and am going to be a strange sight, so I think I should use that to keep people at arm's length so they won't ask too many questions. This means I may not be able to ask questions, but when I want to find out something, well, that's *Clark Kent's* natural job. People will talk to him - I mean, to me. Schmoozing with all kinds of people is what a reporter does; it's what I like to do. The guy in the disguise doesn't have to like anything but to help people. The reporter for the Planet has a job, will have an apartment eventually, will meet some special woman, will get married, and will do all those normal things. That's all that's necessary for him (me). For both of us. That sounds so strange, but I'm sure I can keep "him" apart from "me" once I get a little practice. One of the things "he" did not have to do, then, because it's not in his nature or his job description, was stop and chat with Lois Lane. She didn't let this deter her. As busy as she was asking questions, she was just as busy thinking up answers. For example, she asked, "How did you know to come here, that we needed you here of all places? You must monitor the world's TV and radio stations. Do you read the Daily Planet, too? I know you've been in Metropolis," and more. As soon as we left the New Hope, that door was closed behind us and we were descended upon by a team of highly trained security people and a corps of carefully chosen representatives of the world's media. The former began asking tough questions about how and why we were there. Their fierceness confirms to me that even Lex Luthor's toughest, most ruthless employees couldn't have gotten into the New Hope in the short time window open to them this morning. Only someone who with a vest that can bend time and space could do that. Also, more realistically, Luthor had everything to lose in the destruction of the New Hope, while Mr. Interregnum would have been nearly impossible to link to the bombs or the plot. I would have known. It might have destroyed me, too. The members of the media asked - shouted - many of the same questions and took millions of pictures. I don't know which group was more dangerous. I'm glad I didn't look like me. Despite all this, we could not be stopped. By "we" I mean Lois Lane and I, and by "not be stopped" I mean I gently eased aside every security officer who stood in my way. I tried to be gentle as well with the pushier media representatives who had been allowed this far. I recognized a man who I think was from the Planet's night crew (I think he was Mr. Sanders), but he didn't recognize me and he seemed to know better than to get in my way. On the other hand, Jimmy had somehow made it to the launch site (by motorcycle) and weaseled his way into the select group of media observers. He showed no signs of recognizing me, either, and I had to pick him up and set him to one side because he was too astounded to move. Lois Lane did her bit by continually informing everyone that "I'm with him! I'm with him! Get outta my way - I'm with him!" This was how she kept up with me until we came to a high, chain-link fence that surrounded the launch pad. The gate there was plastered with signs warning about the dangers that lie beyond. "Beyond" were the thrusters and the other massive equipment that made up the lower quarter of the ship. It was indeed a dangerous place, maybe even for me: there were all kinds of hot, life-threatening chemicals here, most of them constituents of the fuel used by the engines, which had started up but then been stopped by the might of Lois Lane's Swiss army knife. I turned and addressed her and at the same time informed everyone who had followed us, twenty or thirty people, "You cannot go with me." Louder: "Everyone has to *stay back.*" Someone who I now think was a reporter for the Metropolis Star shouted, "But *you* get to go, buddy?" and a representative of the BBC inquired, "Are you invulnerable, sir?" Lois Lane turned on them before I could say anything. "Yes, he gets to go! Of course he's invulnerable! He's going to save the space program! So everybody - stay back! - Except you." She grabbed Jimmy and pulled him forward. He looked surprised, then deliriously happy, and he started taking pictures immediately. Everyone else did indeed take a step back rather than face more of her wrath. She nodded, satisfied, and I'm sure when she turned back she expected to ask me what we'd do next. But I was gone. I had jumped over the fence and was zipping away. I know I was still in sight because this area had been cleared of anything launch directors didn't want destroyed by the ignition of the engines. When I glanced back to make sure that no one was trying to scale the fence, though, EPRAD security was moving everyone away, even Lois Lane. She was outnumbered but she wasn't silenced. "Come back! Look for me! Please! Oh, please! We have to talk! We have to!" She sounded desperate and I knew why: I was everything she'd been dreaming and scheming about. That looks weird to write and must be weird to read. After all, I'm really just me. But remember what she told me on Wednesday. She had grown up expecting heroguy to turn up in her life eventually, and at the moment I must have looked a lot like him. Me, I didn't expect anything remotely like this until last night when I finally realized I needed my own disguise. So, expecting heroguy all her life, she must have figured she was somehow responsible for his (my) arrival. Maybe, in some small way (or in some large way if you wish to factor in The Silver Knight), she actually was responsible. Not that I'd lay any of the responsibility for my decision on her, but her original desire did seem to mean now that I owed her something. So I did my best to catch her eye and nod slightly. She understood because she stopped yelling at me and almost immediately disappeared into the crowd, leaving Jimmy to continue taking pictures. Her departure was a good thing because I could then concentrate on how the heck I was going to launch the humongous, multimillion-ton New Hope. Brute force seemed to be the only answer. First, using my knowledge of the ship from its schematics, I knew there were several structurally strong points along the tail end of the ship. Though all the points were probably the same, I picked the one that "felt" right, that might be the most balanced. This point also happened to be within sight of a videocamera because I've seen a tape of this. I'm glad Dad got it in case this whole disguise thing fizzles out. This was twelve minutes into the fifteen minutes the Captain had given me. All I could do was hope that she hadn't been joking in an effort to get Lois Lane and me off the New Hope without any trouble. I floated up to the point I had chosen at the tail end of the ship. I planted my hands there, closed my eyes, breathed normally (ignoring the chemical stench), and called on every ounce of chi that I could muster (and more if Mother Earth would lend it to me). I could feel my conscious expanding. I don't know how else to describe it. I became aware of everything, the whole world, and yet I also felt extremely focused. At that point, something inside or outside of me, or both, suggested that I *push*. The ship moved. It actually moved. Upward. It stayed balanced in my hands, too. I found myself smiling - and ordered myself not to get cocky about this or it could all backfire and I'd make a terrible fool of myself if not kill a lot of people in the process. I took the New Hope up a full yard and paused. Other than the nervous tension ("This really is *me* doing this!"), I felt no particular physical strain. I felt I could do what I needed to do. The speakers positioned around the launch pad did not blare into life entreating me to stop, the ship wasn't ready. Instead someone got the wise idea to blow the bolts and such holding the fuel tanks to the sides of the New Hope. Fortunately, they were supported by other structures and didn't fall over. This thoughtful act took tons off the weight of the ship and saved a considerable amount of money on fuel because the next launch can use it. I added ten yards to our altitude and still no one begged me to stop. My muscles didn't complain, either. Well, then, this was it. I pushed the New Hope into orbit. That sums it up. I don't know how I did it except that I wanted to, I had to, everything seemed to be on my side in this effort, and so I did it. The New Hope certainly was heavy, maybe one of the heaviest things humans have ever made (comparable to an ocean liner or a giant oil tanker or the Pentagon), but maybe, too, there was an ingredient of the ship itself wanting to leave the ground and take on the job it had been built for. That sounds odd, I know, but *I'm* odd, too, so maybe we were meant to work together for those few minutes. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:14:28 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Part 10 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 10 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 After maybe 30 miles or so, we got some speed going. This took a surprisingly short time. Soon we reached at the edge of the stratosphere and about where the New Hope would have jettisoned its fuel tanks anyhow. At this point I moved to the edge of the ship and acted as a thruster, adjusting the ship's trim and guiding it toward where I hoped the Prometheus probably was. When Space Station came into (my) sight a few miles away, I figured that those in the New Hope's control room had it on their screens. They could take over, making their own fine-tuned approach as they normally would have. I headed forward, found a window looking into the control room, and I shrugged and mimed: Is this okay? People inside were grinning and shouting at each other (I could see but not hear this), patting each other on the back, and taking turns at the windows giving me thumbs up. All right! I returned the gesture and left them to take care of the rest of the mission themselves. If you're wondering if I surprised myself by surviving in space, yes, I did. It's the opposite of what I'd done a few times before, explored some of the deep sea trenches in the Pacific, but both require holding my breath, which I can do for at least 20 minutes. In neither case did I experience explosive or any other kind of decompression. I could see well, my mouth didn't dry out, and my hair didn't even get mussed up. I wrapped my cape around myself and plunged back through the atmosphere just for the joy of it, to see if I could do that, too - until I realized that even if I survived unscathed, Mom's handiwork might not and she wouldn't be happy about that. So I slowed down and zipped at a normal rate back to Future City. The suit did survive all this unscathed. I've noticed this kind of thing before though: when I got surprised by Etna (see EtnaBoom.doc again), my clothing got all sooty but not burned. The suit may have absorbed some of the New Hope's waste chemicals on the way up, but I think the vacuum of space sucked them right out, or if that didn't do it, the heat of my reentry burned out the chemicals. In any case, I noticed as I approached Future City that there were no traces of bomb or rocket exhaust on me or the suit. I didn't even need a breath mint. Lois Lane wasn't hard to find. Somehow she had made her way up onto the roof of the main control center and as soon as she saw me (which was after I saw her), she began jumping up and down waving at me. This drew the attention of the security guards she had sneaked past, but they slowed down, stopped and watched as I arrived. She looked all dreamy eyed again. It was really strange. She sighed, "You came back...." I tried that deeper voice again and my approach was totally pure and detached. Mr. Spock would have been jealous. "You asked me to. Do you require help?" "Huh?" Though I knew what she wanted (among other things to grab me and not let go until she had all her answers), I tried again, enunciating each word and looking completely sincere: "Are you in trouble, ma'am?" I don't think *she* knew what she wanted (though I'm sure that grabbing me was high on her list). Her "No..." was painful, uncertain and completely unlike her. She's a very decisive woman - or pretends to be. Was this the real Lois Lane? While I felt for her and wanted to know this Lois Lane better, I can't indulge myself while I'm in my disguise. Also, of course, I had my job to rush off to. I said, "I'm glad," and I began to rise. She almost grabbed for me, clutching her fists halfway instead. "No, wait!" I paused in mid air. "Ma'am?" "First - don't call me 'ma'am,' my *mother's* 'ma'am,' not me!" "All right, Ms." "No, no, call me 'Lois.'" "Lois. Nice to meet you--" "Do *you* have a name?" Huh-uh-uh. "Yes. I'm glad you're not in trouble, Lois," and I rose another few inches. "Wait! We *have* to talk!" "We do?" And give you more opportunity to recognize me? Though frankly I was beginning to wonder if the longer she looked at me, the *less* likely it was she would see me. I still wonder about that. "Yes! - I mean, I know you're busy...." "Yes, I am." I should have been back in the newsroom relieving everyone who had given me the most valuable break in my life. It was almost 7:30. Mr. White wouldn't be happy, unless he was organizing the day staff to cover for me, too, to continue tweaking Mr. Interregnum's nose - but he'd still wonder where I was. "I am very busy." She nodded, she understood completely - but she'd had a precious moment of time to think, too. "But I really *am* in trouble. Not *big* trouble, I know, not the kind you're used to handling...." She made a vague gesture toward the now-empty launch pad. "But I can't stay here - I mean, look at all those guards." I looked at them. They were a good ten yards away and growing in number by the moment. They simply wanted to do their job, but I doubt that their security manuals covered how to deal with anyone like me. I smiled at them, friendly, but to her I muttered, "Oh, dear." "I'm sure they want to throw me in jail and what have *I* done? Nothing! Think of what they'd like to do to *you!*" Dad, your words echoed in my mind... and then in my mouth: "Dissect me like a frog?" She looked alarmed at the thought. I'm sure such a thing had never occurred to her, but why should it? Heroguy was just supposed to show up and the world would love him. She said in a small, breathless voice, "Yeah... - but I won't let them! I'll protect you! Unless I'm..." reality bites: "you know..." "In jail?" She nodded, apologetic. I mustered up a brave smile. Actually I wasn't and am not afraid of the dissection thing now. I think the disguise may give me a bit of immunity >from that, or the startle factor will give me time to escape any overt threats. I asked her, "So how can I help you?" "Ah, well, if it wouldn't be too much *trouble* or out of your way..." She asked for a ride to Metropolis. I said I would be pleased to do that, but I said it in a way that I hope conveyed I'd be pleased to do it for anyone. I picked her up. I think she weighs just about as much as you do, Mom. She talked all the way. It's like a dam had broken inside her and at last she had someone to pour her heart out to. Hadn't she talked to her sister like this, or to her parents or any of her friends? I guess not. I can't imagine why. If I'd had siblings, I would have talked to them. I talk to my friends about nearly everything. Did she never take the opportunity to do that? She gave me a complete autobiography, starting with where she was born (Metropolis), schooled (a mix of private and public schools) and where she had worked (all journalism-related jobs up to her real job at the Planet). Then she went back in time and told me how she had seen me. "That was you, wasn't it?" I nodded and said, "Possibly. I recall a large airplane." This was, by the way, just about the only real answer I gave to any of her direct and indirect questions. I simply was not and am not prepared to be grilled by an expert reporter. Most of her questions warned me that she was capable of being an expert reporter under calmer circumstances. Flying at the altitude we were, though (several hundred feet), was not precisely a tranquil experience for her - and I took advantage of it. I kept watch ahead and was obviously (I hoped) concentrating on what I was doing while listening to her. Unlike the previous version of Lois Lane I got to know, she didn't try to tell me what to do, until we got to Metropolis and I asked her, "Where would you like me to drop you off?" How about right into the river here below.... "Pardon me. English idioms are sometimes still a mystery to me. Where would you like me to take you?" She smiled, but she had been smiling almost nonstop, when she wasn't talking. In all the times I had seen her before this, she hadn't smiled a thousandth as much. As soon as I had picked her up, she had thrown her arms around my neck (well, even you did that, Mom) and grinned like a madwoman. She said, "You have a sense of humor! I *knew* you would! Please take me to the Daily Planet. I'll tell you how to get there." "The Daily Planet? That's a..." "A newspaper, the greatest newspaper in the world. I work there... or I used to. I want my job back. I think I can get it now." She gave me an awkward hug. "*Now* I'll have proof that Lex Luthor tried to destroy the New Hope just like he helped destroy the Messenger!" Uh-oh... but there was nothing I could say about that, dressed as I was. Maybe I could drop hints though. "You think that gentleman--" "He's the scum of the earth." "--that gentleman," because in the suit I must try to remain nonjudgmental, "planted the explosive in the spacecraft?" "I'm sure he did!" Having been there and seen the bomb and still suspecting Mr. Interregnum as the culprit, I had every right to ask, "How did he do that?" That gave her pause. "Well... I don't know, but I'll find out. You watch me." "I will." In more ways than one. She turned dreamy again. "You... you will?" Oh, boy. I like Lois Lane better when she's consumed with defying common sense. I looked for a distraction, something, anything else to concentrate on. We were at this point approaching Crosstown and soon would pass near its intersection with I-95. This was the very place where I'd seen all the horror a week earlier. I began to feel a tingle. I don't now how else to describe it. It was some kind of warning: *Something is going to happen...* I've felt this kind of thing before and usually something *does* happen. I can tell from the tingle that I should, for example, get out of the way of some unknown force or linger for a bit longer and open myself to a new experience. What I miss by moving (a landslide in the Andes) or stay and witness (the arrival in a clearing of a snow leopard and her cubs) usually amazes me. I suppose I could have justified this feeling away: things happen every ten seconds on that freeway and nobody can stop them. Only drivers learning to take responsibility for their actions will make roads safer places to travel. Yet some drivers don't and maybe never will learn, and that makes trouble for everyone else. But that was why I wanted the disguise, wasn't it? To help those who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. As I was reminding myself of that, I saw someone in a black leather suit weaving his big motorcycle in and out of the traffic. He wore no helmet but did wear goggles. None of this is abnormal behavior for a motorcyclist, unfortunately, but his actions were not the wisest because it was happening in the eastbound lanes, where everyone was heading into a brilliant sunrise over a low bank of ocean fog. My tingle said, "That's it - stay and watch - then act!* I couldn't act if I were carrying Lois Lane. That was when I saw a big billboard advertising a classic rock radio station. It had a sort of landing on front of it. I zipped to it as fast as I dared. I don't know how fast that is if I'm carrying someone, though Thursday morning I flew quite fast with her and Jimmy. The speed didn't seem to bother her, but being left there to hold onto a lighting structure did. "What are you doing? Wait!" I didn't have time to reply as my prediction came true before our very eyes. Most likely due to the sunlight, the motorcyclist did not see the long slick spot in the road ahead. Or, if he did, he miscalculated. In any case, as he reached the beginning of the slick, he tried to change lanes, apparently unconcerned that he would be cutting off an approaching moving van. As he hit the slick spot, his wheels lost their grip momentarily, which was enough in combination with his speed and the curve of his cut-off move to start him into a sliding fall to his right. Fortunately, he only got started in the fall because I grabbed him >from behind by his collar and pulled him up before more than his leg touched the pavement. As his jacket was zipped up this was a safe grab on my part. This action was adequate to rescue him, but if I left his motorcycle there, oncoming traffic would run into it and the resulting mess would have been almost as bad as if I hadn't happened along at all. This is why I had also worked out the probable track the motorcycle would take in its slide. I was able to seize it with my left hand by what I hoped was one of its stronger points, the stem between the handlebars and the motorcycle body. This worked, too. I took both the squirming, screaming driver and his motorcycle up about 50 feet and to the south for a moment, hoping this wouldn't distract any of the drivers back down on the Crosstown. Fortunately, it didn't seem to: no one screeched to a halt to get a better look; no drivers lost control. There was no safe shoulder on the freeway to put the man or his motorcycle. There was an emergency lane, but I figured that could be just as dangerous for him as the freeway itself. So I took the two over the side of the freeway and down to a considerably quieter street below. We settled down in the parking lot of a gas station. People inside rushed out but kept their distance. The motorcycle driver couldn't stand, so I checked his right leg quickly. While his black slacks were scuffed, his leg was unhurt; I doubt he will even see bruises. His shaking and gibbering then was a nervous reaction to his close call and alarm about the nature of his rescue. I probably looked weird to him. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:14:37 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Part 11 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 11 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 But I figured he would be all right, that the gas station attendants would allow him to sit there as long as he needed to. If his motorcycle required any repair, let's hope that makes him think twice about driving in a dangerous fashion. As some people do worry more about their material goods than their lives, I left him after making a simple request: "Sir, please purchase and use a helmet." Wide eyed, he quieted and nodded quickly. I noted that everyone watching nodded, too. That was nice. If such a chance arises again, perhaps I can use it as a teaching opportunity. Nothing preachy though, since it didn't work for The Silver Knight. I don't want to bore anyone. I nodded as well and smiled at them (they all looked stunned but that's understandable) and then I zipped away to retrieve Lois Lane from her tenuous position. By this time she had gotten over being left behind and her eyes were almost as wide as the motorcyclist's had been. "Wow! You were wonderful!" She hugged me again. It was odd how she didn't hesitate to do that when she had been shy about touching me when we were at the Ace O'Clubs. "Thank you." "Your first *official* rescue in Metropolis! Congratulations! What did he say?" "Not much." I decided to fly back south for a moment to show her that the fellow was all right, and we saw that he was now surrounded by all the witnesses. One looked up, pointed at us, and they all looked up. They waved and shouted, calling for me to land. No, thanks, and I didn't want to stay hovering there, distracting everyone, either. It was a miracle my appearance hadn't caused any trouble on the freeway so far. "They all saw you," she said as we turned north again. She tried to look over my shoulder to watch their reactions but soon lost sight of them. She looked at me again, her eyes bright and full of plans. "This is great! We have to build on this, find more chances for you to do this kind of thing. We want everyone to know about you right away!" "Ma'am--" "Lois." "...Lois. That's not necessary--" "Why? Don't you want people to - or are you leaving again? Aren't you staying?" Her voice grew desperate and her grasp stronger. "Didn't you come to help? Help us? Are you going to go back to your flying saucer and leave again?" "No, I'm here to help, but--" "Oh, good! I thought I was going to - I mean, not me, we - *we* were going to lose you again and *you only just returned!*" Note here that I had not at any time confirmed (or denied) the story she had made up about me and my "family" having visited some twenty years earlier. Not including grunts, and shaking or nodding my head, I said less than twenty words to her on the trip between Future City and Metropolis. "I'm not going anywhere--" "Oh, there's the Daily Planet building, the one with the art deco globe over the entrance, see it? The newsroom's on the third floor. I'll introduce you to Perry. He's my boss. He likes to open the big window on the east side of the Pit this time of morning when it's cool and clear." I knew the one she was talking about. Opening it is a good alternative to expensive air conditioning. It is probably kept closed when it gets hotter and more humid in the summer. The newsroom has two sets of big windows, one on the east side and the other on the west (see my map, dpmap.jpg). The window that is most often open is the central one over the stairs that lead up to the mini-morgue. That window was open this morning, and it's the window we headed for. This was scary. I was going to fly right into the midst of some of the most observant people on Earth. They would recognize me in a moment. They would think I was a weirdo nut case and maybe color blind, too. Mr. White would be terribly disappointed in me. They'd call Mr. Mounts and he and his lieutenants would place me under arrest. My career would be ruined. I'd never be able to write anything ever again. Worst of all, Mom and Dad would be hounded into seclusion and of course there would be no chance at all that you would be there, my dear great-grandchildren. Maybe I could just sort of tell Lois Lane I had forgotten to turn off the stove in my spacecraft, fly up to the roof and leave her there... at the penthouse... with Mr. Interregnum... who might.... No, it was safer for all concerned to brave the newsroom. If I keep up this disguise thing, I was thinking, they'd see me eventually anyway. I even found myself thinking that the famous Mad Dog Lois Lane returning to where she belonged would provide enough distraction for me to slip away, as good as unseen. I really thought that. So we sailed in through the window. Despite the tremendous New Hope/Prometheus story to cover, the newsroom looked normal to me even from this angle. It was noisy, people were rushing everywhere, and the scent of coffee and pastries was in the air. That reminded me I was hungry. I hadn't eaten anything since dinner and I'd expended a lot of energy, both physically and mentally. I wondered if heroguy (me) should accept any offers of food or was eating something heroes shouldn't do? Lois Lane and I were noticed immediately. Jimmy, already back from Future City (did I mention how fast his motorcycle is?), may have seen us first. He happened to be carrying a camera and he started taking pictures right away. Mr. White stopped in the act of coming out of his office and his jaw dropped open. In rapid order, others noticed us and had similar reactions. I'm glad the newsroom has such a high ceiling; I had to pause, hovering for a moment, before I saw a good landing spot, beside the InfoCenter a few paces from that mystery desk (Lois Lane's desk). The noise in the newsroom hushed to nothing as we descended. No one said anything remotely like "Clark, what the heck are you doing?" or "Nice suit, Clark; you look good in blue" or "Nice catch, Lois!" The entire newsroom full of some of the sharpest people in the world didn't see *me* in the suit. It's totally incredible. Not that Lois Lane saw any of this. She was concentrating on me. (honestly, I appreciated it though I didn't like why she was so fixated), and she had a big, expectant grin on her face. "Okay! That was wonderful! Let me take you to the conference room and we can talk in private." She grabbed my right hand, intent on pulling me along. It was as though she had returned from a coffee break, found me waiting for her, and felt free to take over any part of the newsroom as her own personal playground. I didn't move to follow her. It was almost funny: she pulled on my hand but I wouldn't obey. I had a different idea. "Who is Perry? Is he here?" "Huh? Oh. Yeah, he's up there." She pointed. Mr. White hadn't yet recovered from his surprise, which in itself was amazing. I wish I had a picture of him looking speechless. I said to him, "Sir, I would appreciate it if you would consider giving this young woman," hinting that I'm older than her, preserving my disguise, "her job back. She was of great assistance in stopping the bombing of the New Hope." Everyone said "Wow..." in hushed tones. I didn't have time to wait for his reply. Something drew my attention to the elevator doors and, above them, the electronic tickertape-type device that rolls out breaking-news headlines. "Disaster in Himalayas... Climbers lost in sudden storm..." I had read about the expedition in the Tuesday edition of the Planet and I knew where the base camp was and the probable route the expedition had taken. I also knew there was a good chance that I could be of help. I retrieved my hand from Lois Lane's grip and floated up. "I have to go." "What? Why? Wait!" I didn't wait. I started for the window. She followed me, scrambling around my speechless, still-stunned colleagues, yelling at me: "How can I find you?!?!" Considering my reception and that none of my fears had come true, I felt confident in smiling in a reserved, slightly aloof, not Clark Kent-like manner and saying, "I'll be around." I was "around" the world for the following hour or so. I found the climbers and helped them back down the mountain. If they had been dug in okay, prepared to ride out the storm, I might have left them alone and checked back on them later if the storm didn't abate. I didn't stay to chat. Instead, I proceeded to: 1) Stop gorilla poachers in Rwanda by scowling at them (I never do that normally), which scared them. I also tied their rifles into knots, took their clothing and their supplies to a nearby village that could put them to better use, and told the authorities in the village the whereabouts of the naked poachers. 2) Interrupt a bank robbery in London by swooping down and disarming the robbers so the police could take over. 3) Help a sailboat floundering not far from Miami. 4) And checked on the New Hope; it was still doing fine as far as I could see. By then it was almost 9 a.m. Metropolis time and if I didn't get back to the Planet as myself, I'd surely lose my job. I rushed home to Kansas to get my normal clothes. Mom and Dad, you were ready for me. Great-grandchildren, they hugged me hard and tickled me to get me to grinning. I was pretending that everything I'd done in the previous three hours was all in a day's work for heroguy. They helped me relieve a lot of my nervous tension with the tickling and teasing so that I could relax about it, be just plain proud of myself and happy for everyone, and then get on with things. They had my same jacket and slacks ready, but a clean blue shirt and a different, hand-painted tie. Mom also warned me that she had called the Planet posing as my landlady and given them an excuse for my absence. I flew low and fast back to Metropolis and re-entered the Daily Planet using the same window into the same men's room as I used yesterday evening. I slipped into the hallway and headed for the newsroom. This was another moment of truth. There had been plenty of time for my colleagues to grill Lois Lane and for them to put their heads together to figure out exactly who the flying man was. Add my previous stint as The Silver Knight, Jimmy's pictures, and my absence, and there was a very good chance that as soon as I walked in, well, my career would be over. It's a wonder I didn't work up an ulcer with all the worrying I did about that. If you still have my map handy, you'll see to the west of the elevators the door that goes to the Graphics Arts Department, the dark rooms and, though I haven't indicated it on the map, the number of other small offices, including restrooms. That's the entrance I used. It's the same one Jimmy burst out of yesterday morning. Using it gave me a good overview of the newsroom but everyone in the newsroom could see me more easily, too. The first thing I saw was Mr. White's back. He was not wearing his suit jacket but only his shirt and tie, and his sleeves were rolled up. He had stayed in the newsroom all night long. He had his left hand on his hip and with his right he was shaking a finger at Lois Lane. She was down in the Pit, standing on that abandoned desk, clearly now her desk, doing a jig. "You get down right now, young lady," he was telling her. She stopped, put her own left hand on her own hip, mirroring him, but she pointed downward. "Not until this computer is hooked up and I can write my story! I will not use *his*," she pointed at me, "computer or anyone else's! I want to use my own computer!" Mr. White turned and saw me. "Oh, Kent. Your landlady called and said you were going out to the launch site." "Yes, sir. I'm sorry I didn't call myself, but I was afraid you-know-who might be bugging my phone." He nodded. "Um, good point." He frowned a bit then. "You didn't have to go, though, I've got plenty of reporters out there now." "I know, sir, but I didn't go as a reporter. I went as someone from Kansas who's never had the chance to see a live space launch." This was true. I've somehow always managed to miss them and had to watch them on TV. "I thought I'd be back sooner." "Oh. Well, as someone from Kansas, did you get anything?" I let my shoulders slump when actually I was feeling elated about his not pinning me to the wall and demanding to know why I hadn't told him I can fly. "Just bored. The train got me most of the way there, then the bus got caught in the traffic and I didn't get to see anything at all, and now I'm late back to work." I don't like how easily that lie rolled off my tongue, but my telling it didn't hurt anyone. That's important. "I hope someone here taped the launch...?" "More than that. If we can get Lois to calm down - and get her down to Personnel to get signed on again...." She folded her arms before her breasts, threw her head back defiantly and snorted at that. Keep in mind that she was still wearing the dull gray flight suit (she had stolen?) and did not look particularly professional. Wearing it, though, she had probably found it easier to climb up on the desk than if she had been wearing a skirt. She had also let loose her hair, and it fell into a nice frame around her determined face. I said, "She's staying?" "Yeah, I guess so. I got a special request I'm not inclined to take lightly. But she has to sign all the forms and go through orientation and all that, just like you did." (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:14:50 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Part 12 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 12 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 That makes sense. That way she'll come under the full legal protection of the Daily Planet again, one that will stand up and fight for her this time, especially if EPRAD wants its jumpsuit back. Not that she can't take care of herself, but it might make her feel more comfortable about being in the newsroom again. "I can do all that *later*!" she insisted. "Well," he grunted, "maybe so." He turned to me again but said loud enough for all to hear, "You can find out what you missed from her." He smiled now. "I want you to help her write up her exclusive on Superman." This was the very first time I heard that word. Naturally I was confused. I frowned and said, "Super...?" "Yeah, she named him--" "I don't need help!" Lois Lane shouted. "Especially *his* help! His writing style's too timid and this story demands superlatives! - and I don't mean that pun! - I don't need anyone's help - I need my computer! It has my thesaurus!" That brought me back to reality. "Timid??" Mr. White ignored me and gave her his final word on the subject. "You work with him or I'll give the assignment to..." Lois Lane stopped and looked surprised and at a loss for words. Everyone else, which includes all the clerks, research assistants and photographers, like Jimmy (who was busy pinning dozens of still-wet photos of "Superman" to a bulletin board), and especially those who had been pretending to ignore the contest of wills, came to attention and tried their best to look qualified to write the story. Mr. White smiled (he loves the smell of fear in the newsroom) and he chose: "Cat. I'll give it to Cat." Cat was standing in the doorway of her office. She looked pleased. Lois Lane searched the room, saw her, and seethed up at her. An ancient rivalry was being rekindled before our very eyes. Mr. White must have made the choice to get just that reaction. Cat smiled dreamily and told Lois Lane, "I bet *I* can get his phone number before *you* can." "Huh! And if *I* already have it?" "Then show it to me." "Like I would!" "Well, I'll be generous and give you his measurements. I could tell them at a glance." This made me nervous all over again, but I found out later when things calmed down that her estimations had the fellow in question five inches larger in several directions than I am and fifty pounds heavier, all of it muscle. Maybe it was the skin-tight quality of the disguise. I'll have to be careful not to let her get close to me when I'm in it; she might not be so easily fooled then. But that her sharp eyes failed first thing to see *me* in the disguise was another indication of how good the disguise is. It's not just belief, Mom, or not just *my* belief in it that makes it work. Lois Lane told her, "A glance is all you'll get!" "I understand how thrilling it was to be swept off your feet at last - too bad it was by an alien who didn't stick around - but *I* don't mind working with Clark," and she blew me a kiss. There's something to be said about having two exciting women journalists fighting over me even though only one of them actually wants me. "Oh, you'll work with *any*body as long as they're still *breathing*!" Cat nodded and said, "I like heavy breathers." But Lois Lane had already declared herself the winner of the contest by turning her back on Cat and jumping down from her desk. Everyone moved aside, either out of respect or fear. She gave her desk a solid kick. "Since you're not working..." that left her no recourse but to ask me, "Where's your desk?" I walked up to the railing. Mr. White patted me on the back as I passed him. I interpreted this as an effort to impart to me some of his own strength. I paused and said, "Thank you, sir." Then something occurred to me, something I wanted to know but asking it now could also conveniently prolong Lois Lane's agony. "Sir, this thing with Mr. Interregnum and me, that I was supposed to be here...." As the newsroom looked the same as ever, what impact did last night's decision to help me have? "Oh, don't worry about that, son. We'll still sic the unions on him if he says anything." He smiled but kept it small, as though, being in management, he shouldn't be enjoying himself, but the smile was in full, merry force in his eyes. "He kept calling for you like clockwork until... oh, it must have been about three, when he skipped a couple of calls." Dear great-grandchildren, I suspect that it was during that time that Mr. Interregnum planted the bomb in the New Hope. "He called again about 4:30 and again at 5:30. We told him you were asleep at your desk, but you still managed to write something barely intelligible. Sheila wrote up something very funny on your behalf. Maybe it... well, he hasn't called since the launch, if you want to call it a launch. But Lois'll tell you all about that." "Kent!" Oh. My temporary partner calleth. I wanted to ask about Dr. Platt, but as there was no reason to believe that he was having any problems, that could wait. I learned later that he had taken up temporary residence in the fifth-floor employee lounge. It has a nice view of the park. I leaned on the railing and paid polite attention to one pissed little woman. Everyone was watching me, but in an entirely different manner than they had watched when I'd flown into the room almost two hours earlier. They seemed eager to know how I would act toward and interact with Lois Lane. I'm sure that by now most of them knew my history with her regarding her underground activities, at least from Jimmy's point of view and perhaps Mr. White's. I doubt she's said very much about it. Maybe she plans to write a book. I said simply, as though addressing a crabby older person whom it was best to humor because they were just having a bad day, "Yes, Ms. Lane?" She is, after all, older than me. Everyone turned to watch her. Would she eat me alive? For brunch? Did she have more power here in her native setting? Had she used it before being forced out? Was I still in big trouble even after Mr. White had forgiven me my tardiness? I'm sure she noticed all this attention and that was why she lobbed back a ball that no one expected. "*Lois*, my name is *Lois*!" Uh-huh. Lure me with kindness - and then pounce. I could be kind, too. Kinder. "Then, *Lois,* I'm Clark." "Then, *Clark* - where's your stupid desk?" I straightened and pointed. "My stupid desk is back at the end of that row of file cabinets there. It's the clean, tidy desk, or it was yesterday," I told her back. "My *friends* may have been using it. That kind of thing's always okay with me." Supremely indifferent to my innuendo, she made a show of craning her neck this way and that, until, yes, that's Clark Kent's stupid desk *way* back in the darkest corner of the Pit. Once that was established, she announced, "It'll do." Except for one thing: "Now what's your password?" Yeah, right. "I've written it on my wrist." I pointed to my left one. "I'll arm wrestle you for it after I get a cup of coffee and a donut." People smiled. I think I won the match. She was theoretically in charge, yes, as it was her story we were to work on, whatever that story was. But *I* had won the right to be in no hurry to assist her. The story wouldn't suffer; it would only take me a moment to get some reporter fuel. Actually, it took a *lot* longer than that. She muscled her way through our colleagues, charged up the ramp after me and almost beat me into the kitchen. Too bad it doesn't have a door she could have slammed behind her for effect, but we did have the place to ourselves. She made the first demand: "What do you think you're doing, arguing with me?" "I'm not arguing, I'm working! And what is this 'superman' thing?" Could I be any denser? "That's his name!" "Who's name?" She sidled up close to me but not in an affectionate manner. She grabbed my tie, yanked on it so I'd bend down to her level, and growled out her whisper: "Look: everything I told you about what I saw when I was nine years old, everything I wanted to happen next - it all came true this morning!" "What do you mean? The little boy came back?" "Yes! Except he's not a little boy, you idiot! He's a full-grown man! He's a hero! He's everything I thought I could make you-know-who be - and more!" "Wow..." I straightened. "Then you *weren't* taking drugs!" She yanked again. "No! I wasn't! I don't! And he's more powerful than I dreamed, and kinder," she yanked me even closer, "and more *considerate,*" another yank, "and *every*thing!" "All that?" "And more!" She let me go, freeing me just like her imagination had been freed. I straightened my tie. "I guess your idea to lure him out worked." "Well, maybe, I don't know about that yet. There wasn't time to ask him, but I will later when I do an in-depth with him." Which would be the first Wednesday of the month of Never if I had anything to say about it. "Sounds like he's a dream come true--" "He is!" "And he told you his name was...?" "No, I assumed it because he has this S thingy on his chest." She drew it awkwardly over her own chest to show me the proximate size and location, though her terrain is more interesting than mine. "It must be some kind of logo where he comes from. It must stand for peace and justice or 'I'm a friend and I've come to help'. He was too modest to tell me his real name." "Modest--" "As in humble and unpretentious," she aimed a searing sneer at me, "unlike *some* people - and don't look at *me*!" "I wasn't." "You were, too." "Nuh-huh. If he didn't tell you his name, it sounds to me like he doesn't want any publicity--" "Then he shouldn't have launched the New Hope - which *could* have sat there *just fine* on its own. But no, he wanted the New Hope to really *mean* what its name stands for." "Oh, 'New Hope,' I get it." "You're *so* clever. He ate the bomb, launched the ship, flew me back here"-- (Note that I raised my eyebrows a fraction of an inch with each claim) --"then he flew off to do wonderful things all over the world!" "Really?" She caught herself and sighed. "Okay, you don't know about that, *you* were stuck on a *bus* while I was interviewing him. We've been getting reports >from all around the world. It's wonderful, it really is, but it's clear to me that he needs guidance so he can be busy doing the right things and not worry about little things like gorillas." "But gorillas are incredibly important!" "Not in the big picture--" "*Yes* in the big picture!" "Oh, don't argue with me. He saved them. They're just fine! Superman still needs *people* he can trust, people like *me.*" "Whoa...." I found my cup on the drain board where I left it last night after washing it. "You mean, you're going to be his..." I knew the word I was looking for but it was so easy to tease her. "Oh.... His sidekick? Like that fellow in Gotham City who has the little kid who--" "No! I'm going to *help* him," she said with total sincerity, so much so that I realized that teasing her about it anymore would not be kind. "Look," she continued, "I know you don't know what happened. The way he helped launch the New Hope is all on videotape, and Jimmy got rolls of pictures of him while he was here. You'll just have to follow my lead on this. Pretend you can do that, all right?" "I'll try, if *you'll* pretend I can write." "I'll try." She stuck out her hand, and we shook. That felt nice until she turned the hold into a strong grip. I'm sure she meant to impress me with her strength so I winced a little. She said, "Just don't get any ideas - this is not a partnership of *any* kind. This is a *learning process* for you, understand?" If it made her feel better about her return to the place she loved, "Understood." "And one more thing." She pulled my hand down, hard, so we were close again. "If you tell *anyone* *anything* that I told you yesterday morning, when I thought we were dead, I'll deny it and you'll *wish* you were dead, *got* it?" The only "person" I've told is this journal and you all reading this are the only people who will know what she said as far as I'm concerned. "Got it. You can trust me." She let me go quickly, her face skeptical. "Yeah, I've heard *that* before... You were all right as The Silver Knight, but beyond that, here on out, in the real world..." We are rivals and she isn't falling for anyone's lines (anymore). I didn't think it would be wise to remind her of the revealing chat we'd had Wednesday morning. But a lot of things changed between then, when I found out how deeply sensitive and caring a person she really is, and our confrontation in the kitchen. I'll just have to work on regaining her trust if I come to the conclusion that it'll be worth my time. And maybe it will be. After all, I like a good challenge. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:14:59 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Part 13 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 13 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 "Get your coffee and your calories," she ordered. "We have work to do." There was still coffee in the big pot, so I drew out a cup full, and there was a plain cake donut with chocolate sprinkles and my name on it (metaphorically) in the big plastic box that Pat refills with pastries every morning. Lois shook her head about all this, not in the mood for calories this morning, I guess, but then she likes designer bottled ice tea, so what does she know? As we departed the kitchen, another of the morning's startling events occurred. Lex Luthor stepped out of the center elevator. He was dressed in a light-weight suit and was unaccompanied by any form of guard or assistant. I'm surprised how one of the world's richest men feels free to walk around like any other person. It must show his confidence. If he continues to keep a low profile (recall that except for events like the White Orchid Ball he doesn't often appear in public), he'll probably feel free to go wherever he wishes. I wonder if he ever adopts disguises and spies on his employees or simply checks out what regular people are doing? That happens on TV all the time. He glanced around the Pit, probably looking for familiar faces. Residents of the Pit, having gotten bored of watching Lois and me since we'd taken our argument out of sight, now had someone new to pretend not to watch. In a moment Luthor saw me. "Oh, Kent, I'm glad to see you." He held out his hand automatically, prepared to shake my hand, until he saw that my hands were full. He looked amused. I said, "Hello, Mr. Luthor. There's coffee and cups and some more pastries in..." I indicated the room behind me. "Sounds delicious, but perhaps some other time." His eyes alighted on Lois, who had been standing somewhat behind me. "And who is..." He frowned, then had it. "Lois Lane?" She came into full view. She looked powerful. "Luthor." He crafted a neutral expression. "Back to work, I see." "Yes, and you're going to be seeing a lot more of me, too." That sounded like a threat to me. I wish she wouldn't do that kind of thing. "Delightful," he replied, but said it as though he had found his basement flooded but that was better than his house being blown away by a tornado. "So it was you I saw on TV with that flying fellow." "Right again, and his name is Superman and you'll be seeing a lot of *him*, too!" "I hope so. I'd like to talk to the man. My organization can use someone like him." He looked at me again. "Where is Perry's office? I believe he's the one who asked me to come here. My secretary said the caller didn't leave a name but did indicate that it was urgent." "It's *very* urgent," Lois said. "I know because *I* placed the call." At this point, the morning's third startling thing happened. It's considerably less startling than all the other things, but it does rank right up there. Inspector Henderson came out of the far elevator. He looked impassively enigmatic in an off-the-rack suit and tie. Tall, thin, angular, he could blend into a crowd if he wished, which I think must be a good thing for a detective, just like it is for a reporter. Lois said, "I called him, too." Luthor turned to him. They nodded at each other and shook hands in a perfunctory manner. "Henderson. Good to see you." "You look well, Luthor." The inspector was accompanied by two uniformed police officers, one of whom had on a leash a large, well-behaved German Shepherd dog. Mr. White, perhaps alerted by Pat, came out of his office next. I'm sure he wanted to know exactly what was going on and why and right now, but I saw him restructure his approach as he came our way. He calmly shook hands with both leading newcomers, nodded at the officers and raised an eyebrow at the dog, who yawned. Before anyone could ask the questions the whole newsroom wanted to ask (this doesn't include Lois because she had thought up the game), startling event number four happened. Mr. Interregnum arrived via the nearer of the three elevators. "I *didn't* call him," Lois whispered to me. He looked a little tired to my eyes, but I may have been seeing what I expected to see. Then again, if he was completely innocent and had been up all night trying to be a good reporter, then he had every right to feel tired. His suit did look somewhat wrinkled and his hair and beard were in need of grooming. Were these clues that he had been up to no good? Unfortunately, not in and of themselves or I could have saved everyone a lot of trouble by pointing them out ("His hair needs combing; this means he planted the bomb on the New Hope!"). He saw Lois and me first, then the others. "Oh, my..." he said. "Someone forget to invite me to the party?" "There's no party now but we're going to have one as soon as this man," Lois pointed at Luthor, "is put behind bars!" There was a sharp, collective intake of breath from the Pit below us. Mr. White blinked almost audibly and said, "Lois, honey..." Mr. Interregnum smiled and said, "Oh, goody!" Luthor frowned at her and said, "What *are* you talking about? Inspector, if anyone should be seeing the inside of a jail cell I suggest it is that man," and he shot a barely disguised glare at Mr. Interregnum. "He's been conspiring against me ever since he slunk into town!" "Look who's talking. Shall we tell them just how you're going about acquiring the CostMart chain?" Luthor didn't have an immediate reply to that. Inspector looked at them both and frankly appeared a little bored by their accusations. He glanced back at the officer with the dog and nodded slightly. The officer unleashed the dog and uttered a one-word command that sounded like "Seek." Being given something to do at last, the dog perked up. In the meantime, the Inspector said to us, "It's not public knowledge, but a bomb was found in the New Hope. Fortunately it was disarmed." Luthor looked surprised. "A bomb?" "Do tell," Mr. Interregnum said. "Don't tell us you're surprised, Lex." "I *am* surprised. I have a lot invested in the Prometheus program now." "It was a crude device but it would have been quite effective," the Inspector continued, keeping on track. The dog approached me. I considered offering him my donut but decided that I would have to get permission first to threaten his diet that way. Instead I balanced my donut atop my coffee cup and reached down to pet him. He wagged his tail. "Since it was prevented from going off when the detonator was removed, technicians aboard the New Hope could study the rest of the bomb and run tests on it." The dog also wagged his tail at Lois, who patted him but in a way that told me she hasn't had much luck with animals and didn't want to get involved with this one. "Common residues were found." Mr. White smiled at the dog and gave him a scratch under his chin. "They sent me information about the residues." Luthor scratched the dog behind his ears and passed the test, too. "These residues frequently cling to hands and clothing, so that's one way we can tell who has been involved in making a bomb." The dog approached Mr. Interregnum. His (the dog's) tail stopped wagging, and he looked alert and began to whine in an excited manner. "Special Agent Brutus here, on loan from the Bomb Squad, knows what the residues smell like." "Does he..." Mr. Interregnum said. He said it in such a threatening way that Brutus paused, which everyone noticed. Except Mr. Interregnum, who took the opportunity to leap behind *me*! As though I were a wall between himself and the police, he looked around me and told them, "You should be looking for another suspect! You should be questioning an alien who can *swallow* bombs!" Lois jumped, too. Not physically and not to my defense, but she did jump admirably. "You leave Superman out of this! He *saved* the space program!" "Leave him out of it? Why? When he's..." Mr. Interregnum reached both arms around me in what felt like a bear hug. It made me almost spill my coffee and donut. "Hey!" He grasped the edges of my jacket and shirt and ripped them apart. "...right here!" Everyone stared. I almost dropped my cup (I'm sure it would have shattered on the tile floor), my coffee went everywhere, and the dog got my donut after all. Mr. Interregnum was still in control because I was in shock (I said, "Oh, geeze, look at this!" - at least half the coffee had splashed onto my jacket and slacks). He was able to whip me around to show the rest of the newsroom what he had uncovered. My bare chest. I mean really bare. Tanned, I do have a nice tan, but bare as a baby's butt. This was totally embarrassing. I *have* to start drinking more Mad Dog Coffee. Mr. White growled and pointed a mean finger. "Inspector! Arrest that man for assaulting my employee!" Luthor quickly added, "And on suspicion of planting that bomb on the New Hope and numerous other underhanded activities I'll be glad to give you a complete list of!" Lois only said, "Huh?" Newsroom reaction was a collective gasp that turned into an uproar. The police officers moved to grab Mr. Interregnum. Mr. Interregnum whipped me around and stared wide-eyed at my chest. Now, why he thought I was wearing the disguise under my regular clothing I don't know. I had thought about doing that but rejected it because I think it would be uncomfortable. I still do. I like rolling up my sleeves, and I can't do that if I'm wearing that disguise as well. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to keep it handy, but I'll think of something. Maybe in the winter I can wear it under my regular clothes. Mom, any ideas? Maybe I could have a sleeveless version for the summer? However, at that time, the disguise, boots and all, was in a paper bag hidden behind a ceiling tile in the men's room. "You! How *could* you! You're not this smart! You're *never* this smart! You're never even ever this lucky!" If "Superman" is to be daring, heroic and laid back in a Zen manner, maybe I should consider cultivating a constantly startled attitude. I began planting that idea then, addressing him directly: "What *are* you talking about??" "This!" and he reached for my glasses. I think at this point Sewer Rat, Queen of the Underground, dreamer/idealist/visionary, peerless investigative reporter - the incomparable Lois Lane had had enough. That need to be in control she has constantly exhibited finally kicked into high gear. She roared, "Stop that, you!" stepped up swiftly, and ripped her knee into his lower midsection. Mr. Interregnum doubled over and wailed in anguish. The police officers were within inches of him now, but, still hunched over in pain, he managed to snatch himself from their grasp and from any further assaults by Lois. I just stood there, adequately protected (I think I better cut back on indicating any desire to fight and leave that to Superman). Mr. Interregnum lunged for what he must have hoped would offer an escape route, the kitchen. Wrong. And here comes startling event number five: the kitchen was suddenly full of people, strange people who no one knew (according to comments about it later) and who actually couldn't have been in there. There is only one entrance to the kitchen and they certainly hadn't used it. There were four of them. Two men, two women. One of the men and both women were tall, strong, and graceful. They were of mixed races, by which I mean that each of them had racial features that led me to believe that they could each claim Asian, black and anglo blood, and more. They could have been any age between 25 and 70. This sounds odd, I know, but they struck me as being at the peak of health, such that age was something that didn't matter to them. They were dressed in nondescript jumpsuits and had gentle smiles on their faces. Other than that, it's hard to remember much about them at all. I think this was on purpose. I think they used some technology to assure that they would be hard to recall. Even now as I think about them, they seem to blend together, though I'm sure I remember more about them than anyone else does, even the very observant Inspector Henderson. The fourth person and second man was a bit more normal looking. He was short, about Jimmy's height. He wore a well-cut brown suit jacket and slacks, a quiet plaid vest, a neat white shirt and a bowler hat, but all his clothing looked antique (or was it retro?), maybe from the turn of the century - the last century. I'm just not good with fashion. I'll have to look it all up and even then it may not mean anything. He had a cherubic face (which I think indicated he was in his 50s) with a brush mustache and wire-rim glasses. His name was "Herb." I know this because Mr. Interregnum threw himself at the man's feet, hugging them, and he wept: "Save me, Herb! Save me! This world is mad, mad, I tell you! Everything I've tried has backfired!" Herb reached down to pat Mr. Interregnum's shoulder as the other three reached to secure him. "Oh, my dear fellow," Herb said, soothing. "Everyone on this world seems quite competent to me...." Naturally Mr. White was the first one to try to determine what was going on, though Inspector Henderson was a close second. "Now what in Elvis's name is going on here?" Herb smiled in a most gentlemanly manner. "Mr. Perry White, I assume? I'm Dr. Wells and these people," the ones pulling Mr. Interregnum to his feet and securing him into a straight jacket, "are my associates. The man who you all have come to know as Chronus Interregnum..." he looked at the man, "That was a clever name...." "It took me ages to think up since Rockefeller was already taken." "Well, sir," Mr. White started. "Yes," Dr. Wells continued. "This man escaped from the New Troy Insane Asylum some five years ago, which should explain almost everything that's happened here today. We'll just be going now." "It doesn't explain anything at all," Inspector Henderson said. "He's been out five years and we're just now hearing from you?" His associates looked at Dr. Wells as though they took their lead from him and I'm sure they wished he would lead them out of the newsroom, quickly. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:15:10 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Part 14 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 14 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 But it was clear that Inspector Henderson and his assistants and Brutus wouldn't allow that. "How did he become so wealthy if he was in an asylum only five years ago?" And Lois asked, "Do you mean to tell me that he *is* responsible for the destruction of the Messenger and almost the New Hope and... and..." she waved her hands, but they didn't help her express herself. "And for soiling my good name, Ms. Lane," Luthor said quietly. She stopped waving, clutched her hands before herself, and stared at him, incredulous. Somehow, he looked sincere and totally honest. Can you believe this? She appeared both surprised... and open to the idea. How *could* she be? He may well have been a victim of Mr. Interregnum's schemes, but I know for a fact that he plotted with Dr. Baines to at least disable the Messenger and that he didn't stop logging the Perdido people's ancient homeland out of the goodness of his heart. He apparently has been working behind the scenes to buy the Zoo, and Lois herself said he has been polluting Metropolis's aquifer. But she's fooled by his sincere act? "It's wonderful what you can do with computers these days," Dr. Wells said smoothly. "He was on his best behavior so they gave him access to one and then to the marvelous Internet system. He created an elaborate persona for himself, complete with a false fortune in stocks and bonds that made him a real fortune. When he escaped, he stepped right into that persona and began destroying his enemies, apparently including...." Luthor simply nodded. Lois saw this, too. "We've only today been able to penetrate his elaborate ruse and recapture him. With our heart-felt thanks to you all for helping to subdue him, we'll be taking him away to a far more secure place..." and he turned to assist his assistants. They all quickly stepped into the first elevator to arrive. It happened to be going up. Jimmy, who was standing down on the floor of the Pit snapping off pictures, pointed this out. Dr. Wells blinked, smiled, said "Quite so! Well, it will be going down soon, I daresay!" One of his assistants waved at Jimmy but I noticed that the ring on the man's finger blinked. I suspect that this has something to do with the fact that all of Jimmy's pictures of this event were fogged and useless. The door closed - but not before *I* stepped into the elevator, too. My friends and colleagues may have been buffaloed by the Doctor's answers and the dazzle of his assistants' bright teeth (and, who knows, maybe some strange, hypnotic technology), but I wasn't. We couldn't talk right away, though, because two people from accounting were also in the elevator. They didn't know who to be more alarmed about: the elegant, upstanding man in the straight jacket or me with my clothes half ripped off. I rebuttoned my shirt quickly; I'm glad you sewed those buttons on tight, Mom, because none of them came off in the surprise move. My tie survived unhurt, too. When the elevator car stopped on the fifth floor, the two employees rushed off and no one else got on. One of the women from the future aimed a small device at the controls and the door closed more rapidly than it should have. We resumed our upward course, nonstop. I couldn't let any of this distract me. "I'm owed a *real* explanation," I informed Dr. Wells, his assistants and even Mr. Interregnum, who I pointed at while I looked at the Doctor. "Yes or no: is he from the future?" I didn't care whether or not it's possible to travel in time; too many unexplainable things could only be explained that way. My theory was dashed though because Mr. Interregnum said, "Wrong!" He looked at the woman on his right and confided in her, "He has *no* imagination. He *never* does." I don't recall her reaction. "He's from another dimension, Clark," Dr. Wells said. "Indeed, so am I. My associates here are from the future though, *your* future, or currently your most likely future. They're sworn not to talk to you about it or to even talk to you at all, though. You can surely understand why." I remember that they smiled apologetically, but that's the only expression I recall on their faces. Mr. Interregnum snorted. "You're all so noble..." Okay, they couldn't talk or even let anyone see them clearly because even their smallest action might warn today's people about something that would jeopardize their timeline, meaning *your* timeline, my dear great-grandchildren. But then that means there are things to warn me about, which has to mean that I'm probably not going to croak real soon. I think it also improves the chances of there being a *you* to read this, too. "You do know about one thing now that you, the myriad of yous, usually learn about later on," Dr. Wells said without apparent worry, "but I think that's probably all right." That "one thing" was easy to guess. "The green material." "Crip--" Mr. Interregnum said, or tried to say, but the man on his left didn't hesitate to clamp a hand over his mouth. "Okay, that," I said. "I hope it's all right with you all if I try to stay *far* way from it...?" The people from my future nodded, which must not have jeopardized anything. If anything, it means they expect me to try. Maybe I'll be successful, maybe not. Maybe I'll get immune to it or maybe there's only that little bit of the material and Mr. Interregnum used all he had in the thread and in the rope he gave to Dr. Baines. Where she put it who knows, but surely no one will ever connect it to me. Addressing the Doctor again, I said, "Okay, he's from another dimension. The way he talks, there's another me there?" "Yes, there is. There are countless dimensions and so there are quite a few other yous." "These other me's, have they done what I did? Become reporters? Made a... a disguise? Dealt with him?" He looked interested by my catching on quickly when actually I was saying the first thing that came to my mind. "Some of them have done that, yes, in one form or another, and some of them have met up with our... friend here." He wasn't their friend, but the Doctor was too polite to use any other word. "So this man," i.e., Mr. Interregnum, if that's his real name, "could practically predict what I would do, and maybe what Lois Lane would do, too, and everyone else, and he tried to manipulate us like he's tried to manipulate the others--" "And succeeded quite a few times!" Mr. Interregnum crowed. The man on his left shouldn't have let his guard down. "So many Supermen are Superdupes!" Not this one. Otherwise, I ignored him and continued to address the Doctor. "But we worked around him somehow. Does that mean I was... fated to do this?" I indicated my now-covered up chest, but I'm sure they knew exactly what I was trying to convey. "Not necessarily. We're all masters of our own fate. This," meaning the same "this" that I meant, "is what you decided to do." We were approaching the penthouse. I wondered vaguely how they would get past the guard there. Until then, there were more important things for me to ask about. "What about his ruining people's lives and murdering dozens of people and trying to murder hundreds more? Did that, does that happen in the other dimensions, too?" Dr. Wells looked uncomfortable. To their credit, his assistants did a little, too. Mr. Interregnum looked bored. I said, "I'll take that as a yes." I think it also means that I'm not at fault, that there wasn't anything I could have done about any of it in any dimension. If I had *known,* if I had realized any part of the grand plot beforehand, I would have tried to stop it. That much I know for sure. Come to think of it, I unknowingly managed to stop Mr. Interregnum at several points in his plot. I guess that if these people went back and stopped the destruction of the Messenger in my dimension, this wouldn't be "my" dimension anymore. They must have been meant (by someone? Some god? Beats me) to show up when they did. I continued employing my imagination, this time aiming at the man himself. "You used a device built into a vest that warps time and space to meddle in my world." "Certainly, why not? You're here, you're innocent, you were ripe for the picking, and I came so deliciously close to pickling *you*." "By going back and forth in time to do your dirty work? That's completely unfair!" "So? Life's unfair. You got a free lesson. Enjoy your brief victory while you can." Brief? Like, I'll croak the day after tomorrow? But I think not. I think he was trying to provoke me. It didn't work. For him to try it at all must mean it has worked on other versions of me. "He went mostly forth," Dr. Wells said gently. "Forward in time. For some reason it's a little easier and doesn't require quite so much power, and either way it always, *always* requires incredible power. He used an interdimensional time machine, which we have recovered--" "Little good it will do you," Mr. Interregnum muttered. "We realize that it's broken. It sent us a signal this morning when you used it for the last time." The Doctor looked at me. "Employing it, he may have actually lived in this dimension only a matter of months, if that long. We discovered that he would go forward in time as much as a week, find out what stocks he should buy, for example, and go back again and purchase them quietly. He built up quite a fortune, as you can imagine." "And he developed his Interregnum identity," I said. "Yes. This has been one of his more complex plots." "So, traveling a week at a time," I said, "he could... drop in every Tuesday, until I came to town..." "Yes. You are a little younger than the other Clark Kent's he's dealt with. You arrived on the planet and at the Daily Planet later. We think that threw his timing off--" "It did not! I planned this!" "He knew I'd arrive, here, in this building, on a Tuesday, just not which one?" "Yes. Apparently, unlike the stock market, that was a variable his vest couldn't figure out." I've had another thought about that vest and Tuesdays, and it involves the green thread. What if Mr. Interregnum jumped forward a Tuesday at a time? He'd look for me, but not finding me, he'd do the work necessary to keep his fortune growing and mess with Lex Luthor. Finally, he found me this last Tuesday. He attended the budget meeting and made his invitation, including me in it. He retired to the penthouse, donned his vest, went back in time to Saturday and planted the green thread in my shirt. He knew it wouldn't kill me and he knew I'd discover it somehow, so I'm sure he did it just to weaken, confuse and scare me. It worked. Let's say, too, that he discovered that I was writing this Journal so he started grabbing copies of it, maybe every day since Saturday, and on his return to Tuesday he tried to open them. Recall what Dr. Platt said: on Tuesday Mr. Interregnum came to him with the broken vest. Isn't it great that my little Godzilla virus could cripple Mr. Interregnum's advanced technology. I said, "It couldn't survive a simple little computer virus, either." The Doctor and his assistants looked surprised. The man in question smiled, but not kindly. "Not that I've yet to meet my match, but it's gratifying to find out that at least *one* of you isn't a *complete* cretin." "I'm not a cretin at all," I informed him mildly. Have other me's been cretins, though? Did he succeed in ruining their lives because they were careless or was his assault so unexpected each time that those me's were overwhelmed? Did Dr. Wells and his friends step in too late to help them or was that simply their fate? Poor me's. If they hadn't come to my dimension, Mr. Interregnum would still be in a straight jacket, just in the Metropolis Central Jail. This because I'm *not* a cretin. "In fact," I continued, tooting my own horn, "it looks like I'm responsible for your not realizing what would happen last night. You made a lot of enemies and then you got careless and let my Godzilla into your time dimension device." For once Dr. Wells and his assistants looked surprised. Did this not come out in the future? Or rather, won't this? I mean, are you, dear great-grandchildren, the first to find out about my Godzilla? No, you won't be because I mentioned it there in the elevator. If they go back (forward) and (will) reveal it, maybe you'll be first to know all the details. Or something like that. Mr. Interregnum's composure slipped and he scowled at me. "Yes, all right, because of *you* I couldn't go back and repair things when I found out that Lois Lane was sneaking around behind my back - at least *she's* been acting true to form! My only consolation is that I know for an *absolute fact* that she'll make your life a living hell, Clarkie!" The assistants tried to shake him into submission but he only laughed. If he'd used "Clarkie" more carefully, he might have succeeded in visibly irritating me, but I remained calm. At that point, the elevator door opened behind me. As far as I was concerned, this was not the end of the ride, but Dr. Wells stood aside and all the assistants pulled out large, nasty, futuristic-looking hand guns and aimed them right at me. Talk about alarming! "You'll put up your hands and step out now, please," the Doctor said. "But I have more--" "*Now.*" (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 05:15:24 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Part 15 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 15 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 I did as asked. What choice did I have? My being hurt by their weapons could very well have been a real part of my immediate future. The guard at the desk apparently thought he had a choice. He rose, came out from behind his desk, unholstering his gun as he moved. "Hey, you!" They shot at him. The "shots" looked like light beams but sounded like bullets. I turned, jumped out of the way, and pushed the guard back, taking him down behind the desk and cushioning his fall. The shots were a little high so I assume they were warning shots, but what if the guard wasn't important to the future? After all, while they had looked uncomfortable about the deaths caused by Mr. Interregnum - they hadn't (again?) done anything to stop them - unless they couldn't because it's part of their history, or they did something to keep the number of deaths from being higher but it's okay that I took care of the second bomb. I don't know; this time thing is threatening to give me a headache. At least I could save the one man. Later he told me he thought I should play football. The elevator door closed quickly. The guard scrambled to his feet and immediately began pressing buttons on the control panel on his desk. "I can override the elevator controls, stop the car and reopen the door! You get down in case they come out firing!" I got down behind the desk, but when the door opened, they didn't come out firing. They didn't come out at all. They were gone. Due to the guard's fast reaction, the elevator had moved only a few inches downward. We entered the car and found that one of the ceiling panels was dislodged. I suspect this was a ruse but I didn't say anything. I couldn't explain that Mr. Interregnum and the - what? Psychiatrist? Temporal peacekeepers? Bounty hunters? - who had stopped him had probably left the elevator using dimension-warping technology. The guard had the building sealed immediately and conferred with Inspector Henderson and Mr. Mounts on scouring it for the four mysterious people and Mr. Interregnum. Needless to say, they had no luck. Every witness in the newsroom was questioned, some more than others, and me most of all, since I'd had the audacity to try to get an interview in the elevator. I could only say that I hadn't been told anything and that the three younger people had pulled out guns as soon as the accounting people had left the elevator (the accounting people swore that everyone in the elevator had looked crazy). I honestly have no clue where Mr. Interregnum or any of the others is now. They could be in the future or in another dimension or anywhere, anywhen. But I have the feeling that Mr. Interregnum is not going to bother me anymore and I'm happy about that. I have enough to think about now without worrying about what he knows and how he could have used it against me even from jail. It's a good bet people would not have believed any of his statements about me, but it would have given me (Clark Kent) more publicity than I want. Why use what he knows against me at all? Why travel from dimension to dimension finding me's to torment? I don't know. I wish I'd had more time to talk to Dr. Wells. I think he might have told me, or confirmed or denied my guesses, and guesses are all I have now. Some version of me somewhere, somewhen must have made Mr. Interregnum (or whoever he was) so angry that he decided to take revenge against every version of me. He found some of them stupid or clumsy or unlucky or all of those things and was successful in destroying their lives. In other cases, Dr. Wells and his friends stopped him. In others, maybe "I" stopped him. I can only take this as a lesson to be as careful as I can be. My part in the search and the interrogation took almost an hour. I think the police and the Daily Planet security team would have liked to question me further, but Mr. White rescued me. He called up to the eleventh floor, where the Security Department's offices are, and told them I was needed, "In the Pit, now, to write." *That's* what he'd hired me for, not to play hero. As I returned to the Pit, I saw Lois escort Luthor out of the conference room. Both were smiling. She said, calmly, "I'll see you later." He said, charmingly, "I look forward to it." He walked over and pressed the button summoning an elevator. She went down the nearest ramp and headed for my desk. From what I could see of it, it was all messed up. She must have been working there already. Luthor caught sight of me. "Ah, Kent! That interview I was going to give you this afternoon?" "Yes, sir, I'll be ready for it. I'm planning to bring Jeanne. She can handle all the scientific aspects." "I'm sure she can. If she'd like to call for that interview with the director, I'll put in a good word for her. But you need not come. After all, with Chronus out of the picture, maybe *way* out of the picture..." he had been interrogated, too, and I'm sure he didn't speak kindly of his former rival, "I don't need to worry about what he's doing any more. That means you can get back to learning how to be an excellent reporter." I don't think he was trying to provoke me ("learning to be a reporter"???) but he was definitely very politely dumping me. Had I played *too* dumb on the phone Tuesday night? I should have been happy not to be associated with him anymore, to not be in his pocket, but it meant I no longer had even a distant view of what he might be up to. That didn't mean I'd go down without a fight. "Well, sir, I regret not being able to work with you." "Well, don't. I'm sure we'll see each other from time to time. I'll make sure you're invited to the next White Orchid Ball." "I appreciate that, but what I mean is, you'll still want someone from the Daily Planet you can feel comfortable talking to when you want to spread news about Luthor Industries and all your other businesses." "You're quite right, and I think I've found her. I'm not 'comfortable,' of course, given our past animosity, but I think Ms. Lane and I can work out our differences. I've already started to straighten out the misinformation Chronus fed her and I foresee correcting all the misconceptions she has about me." He smiled. "And I know you'll help." An elevator arrived. "I must be going. I have the feeling that a lot of stock held by a now-missing man will soon be coming on the market and I want to be first in line to look it over." With that, he almost danced away, a happy man. I wasn't happy. I knew I had to warn Lois. Jimmy wasn't happy. He almost bumped into me halfway to my goal. "Oh, sorry, CK, but I'm really bummed. All the pictures I took of Mr. Interregnum attacking you and all those weird people who took him away? They're all fogged and ruined and it's not my camera or the film or anything! "I'm sorry to hear that." "Me, too! I'm sure I got a great shot of the look on your face when he tried to rip your clothes off you." "I'm not sorry to hear that." My lack of sympathy for all aspects of his loss made him give me a dirty look and hurry on his way. This cleared my path at last. I walked up to my desk. Lois didn't notice, didn't get up, didn't apologize for starting without me, nothing. Hands on my desk, I leaned forward, trying my darndest to loom. "Still want my password, or is stealing my exclusive with Lex Luthor enough for you for one day?" "I hacked your password," she said without looking up or missing a keystroke. "You're not hiding anything, anyhow." "Well, Lex Luthor is." "Probably, just not what I thought he was hiding." At this point she did stop, but first to turn to the next page of her notes and then to look up at me. "Unlike you, he's interested in what I think." "But I *am* interested in what you think!" "Then ask me about Superman." "Huh?" "Lex Luthor's interested in Superman." "I *bet* he is." That's when I decided I'll have to have a little talk with Lex Luthor, maybe this evening after I finish this journal entry. I'll advise him that I'm aware of the man he *really* is and that he better clean up his act or I'll clean it up for him. I'm not sure how I'll do that, the cleaning up part, but I think since I'll be going in disguise, as "Superman," he will listen to me and heed my warning. He's not a stupid man. Lois expected her heroguy to tell Luthor his days as ruler of Metropolis were numbered. Superman can deliver the message unambiguously. "Kent, you're jealous of everyone." Huh? "No, I'm not." "I want you to take a minute and just look at these pictures." She opened a file and in it were a good two dozen pictures of me, in my disguise, at the launch site doing various things and then in the newsroom returning her to her rightful place. Maybe she's just grateful for that and her fascination with him will wear off soon and I can talk some sense into her. "Stop." "Huh?" "The look on your face. You're absorbed, enthralled, you're full of hope." I put the pictures down quickly. "No, I'm--" "Then pretend, okay? Those feelings are the same ones people all around the world will feel soon if they don't already. They need a shining beacon of hope. They now have one in blue and red. He's kind and humble and strong. All qualities that are, well..." She did draw back from what she was going to automatically say. "Well, they're not completely foreign to you. You're okay, in an innocent, backwoods sort of way." "Thanks. I like you, too--" "*But* you have to stop moping about this and start acting like a professional journalist. Now, would you *please* go get me a cup of coffee? Thank you." She thanked me and I hadn't even said I would. But she was already back at the keyboard, brow furled in thought. "Lois. Aren't you hungry? Wouldn't you rather eat a nutritious breakfast?" I bet I know who can use a big box of food. "Eating's for sissies." "How about Chinese food? I know this great place and I can get there right away--" "I need *coffee,* with real *caffeine!* As hot and black as it can be, with two sugars, in a *big* cup. Mine should still be in there." "Okay, but about Luthor--" "Coffee now, and I'll fill you in on Luthor, later." "But--" "No buts. Coffee. And if there are chocolate donuts, get me one of those, too." She wasn't going to listen to me. Why did I think things would change? "You know, someone told me recently that you will make my life a living hell." That made her pause again. She smiled up at me, so sweet they could put her picture on a box of expensive candy. "I only do that to people I like. For you, though, I can make an exception. Where's my coffee?" I could stand there arguing and she probably would have matched me word for word - and made just about as much sense - but still produced acceptable copy. "I'll trade you coffee for my desk." "We'll see..." Fortunately for us both, there was a fresh pot of coffee brewing, and I found her cup on the top shelf of the cabinet. On the way back to *my* desk, I was intercepted by Mr. White, who had a smile on his face. "I recognize that cup. She's got you working for her already." "I've been working for her for a week, but at least I could quit that job." "Well, things are different now. Now she's back in her element and all bets are off." True. "Sir, pardon me if I'm wrong, but I think I may rank her. I'm no longer low person on the totem pole." "Technically, yes." "But she's acting like she ranks me." He just nodded. "Son, that little woman ranks *every*one. Get used to it. She's the best there is... and she pretty much knows it." He patted me on the back, firmly, but it didn't cause my coffee-carrying hand to waver. Then he winked and said before he turned away, "I did like your arm wrestling idea though." That was like getting permission. To do what, I'm not sure. I think he's on my side, though; I think he's rooting for me. But what he hopes will happen is beyond me. I stood for a moment at her unused desk, holding her coffee, looking into my cubby hole at my desk and her working away furiously at my computer. I realized that she'd look the same working at any desk. She looked *right* sitting in the newsroom, concentrating on putting the perfect words into the story that only she could write. Okay, so it's about Superman and I could write it, too. I could write it *better* maybe, or at least from a more complete angle, but that's not the point. I couldn't write it "gee-whiz" and she can write it "gee-whiz" and more, and she's right, that's what the story needs. Tomorrow (if she works over the weekend) she'll tackle a different story with probably the same gusto, and Monday she'll find yet another story to throw herself into. And I get to watch. Maybe I'll even get to help. There's something about that idea that's exciting and you know what? I want to work with her. I'm not sure why other than it's bound to be a thrill a minute, more thrilling than being "Superman." I don't think she'll like the idea ("all bets are off") and she may decide it's a good idea to make my life a living hell (I shouldn't have given her the idea). Well, maybe I'll let her try. Except I'll make her really work at it. Maybe Superman can help. I'll let you know, but now I have to sign off, get this uploaded, and go for a little flight. The end Your real author wishes to thank the truly remarkable Pat H., Jeanne P. and Sandy McD. for their editorial and creative assistance! Without them, this long work wouldn't be half so good as I think it turned out to be! (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 12:42:56 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Thank you (for Sheila) In-Reply-To: <19990711055617.73503.qmail@hotmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Sat, 10 Jul 1999 11:25:26 -0500 Diyan Smith wrote: > I think that it was in S5 that Lois said she didn't want to decide whether > she wanted a girl or a boy because she didn't want to be disappointed if the > baby turned out to be the wrong one--the way her dad was disapointed that > she wasn't a boy. I think that it's very realistic to have her take this > view; and I think that in the same way, she'll be careful not to push her > kids to be reporters--like her dad pushed her to be a doctor. Actually, I think that was my 'It Happened One Super Night'. Unless it was another case of GMTA ;) Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 08:33:56 EDT 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: Episodes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/15/99 12:54:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time, hotpri@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << 'd like to get hold of the entire Superman series on video or preferably DVD. Does anyone know whether it's available to buy and if so from where? >> If you mean the TV show, Lois and Clark, the episodes are not commercially available on video at all in the US. I believe that a few episodes were available in the UK on video at one time, but judging from the number of requests I've seen in the last few months, they must be extremely hard to find if they are available at all. If you mean the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve, they are all on video. I don't know if they are still available to purchase, but they are still in rental stores. If you mean the old fifties Superman TV series with George Reeves, I have no idea. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 13:54:31 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Episodes In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Thu, 15 Jul 1999 08:33:56 EDT "Ann E. McBride" wrote: > If you mean the TV show, Lois and Clark, the episodes are not commercially > available on video at all in the US. I believe that a few episodes were > available in the UK on video at one time, but judging from the number of > requests I've seen in the last few months, they must be extremely hard to > find if they are available at all. > The Pilot, all of Season 1 and Season 2 up to Season's Greedings are, in theory, all still available, though I know some stockists sold off their remaining copies cheaply recently. However, anyone who can use PAL videotapes should try www.imvs.com - they deliver internationally, though be warned: their charges are high. For UK residents, I'd try FatSam's (can't remember the URL, but probably something like www.fatsam.co.uk - I found it viw the UK yahoo site). The postage charges there are much lower. And since I've also heard that in most US cities it's quite easy to find someone who'll convert PAL to NTSC it shouldn't be much of a problem even to someone who doesn't have a PAL-compatible VCR. Good hunting! Sorry, Zoom, I guess this counts as off-topic... what if I comment that getting my own copies of tapes of episodes I'd never seen or had seen only once and was dying to see again was what first inspired me to write fanfic? Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 12:46:42 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 04 of 15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Debby, I'm on the edge of my seat here but... Part 3 is missing! ARGH! Please repost it! Thanks, Irene _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 22:56:03 +1000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: jem Subject: Re: Episodes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Try PalVideo online - the url is www.palvideo.com - they have all eps, including the pilot, up to Seasons Greedings. At least, last time I looked. Good luck jem -----Original Message----- From: Ann E. McBride To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Date: Thursday, July 15, 1999 10:35 PM Subject: Re: Episodes >In a message dated 7/15/99 12:54:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time, >hotpri@HOTMAIL.COM writes: > ><< 'd like to get hold of the entire Superman series on video or preferably > DVD. Does anyone know whether it's available to buy and if so from where? > >> > > >If you mean the TV show, Lois and Clark, the episodes are not commercially >available on video at all in the US. I believe that a few episodes were >available in the UK on video at one time, but judging from the number of >requests I've seen in the last few months, they must be extremely hard to >find if they are available at all. > >If you mean the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve, they are all on >video. I don't know if they are still available to purchase, but they are >still in rental stores. > >If you mean the old fifties Superman TV series with George Reeves, I have no >idea. > >Ann ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 09:35:17 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Re: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 15 of 15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Debbie. My e-mails didn't include part 3. I went to your ftp site and got the whole thing from there this am. And I am going to read it today, but I thought you should know about the postings. If a lot of people didn't get part 3, perhaps you could repost. PS. Thanks for the response to my general Superman note. I saved it to reread. You and I dont always agree about Superman/Clark Kent/Dean Cain but fundamently we agree so I enjoy your posts. That after all is what a discussion group is all about. LOL Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 14:38:03 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Mr. D8a" Subject: Re: Episodes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >From MR. D8A's work email From: Wendy Richards [mailto:ida18@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK] Good hunting! Sorry, Zoom, I guess this counts as off-topic... what if I comment that getting my own copies of tapes of episodes I'd never seen or had seen only once and was dying to see again was what first inspired me to write fanfic? ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk This is not off topic. The episodes are research material! MR. D8A A.K.A. James Philippians 4:8 ...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Please visit and explore my house at: http://www.geocities.com/area51/starship/7859 mailto:mr_d8a@yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 16:01:56 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Zoomway Subject: Re: Episodes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/15/99 2:42:35 PM Central Daylight Time, James.Tull@EMRSN.COM writes: << From: Wendy Richards [mailto:ida18@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK] Good hunting! Sorry, Zoom, I guess this counts as off-topic... what if I comment that getting my own copies of tapes of episodes I'd never seen or had seen only once and was dying to see again was what first inspired me to write fanfic? >> Aw, poor Wendy. Victimized by "Auntie Beeb" and her scissors ;) Well, until you can get copies of what the BBC chopped up, Georgia made a couple of .ram files from Faster Than a Speeding Vixen. The scene in the kitchen and the other is the scene in the bedroom (gee, I've got to get that "defining moments" page in gear) So, strictly for "fanfic research" purposes, you understand, here's the links to those .ram files, Wendy http://members.xoom.com/thezoomway/avi/ftasv1.ram http://members.xoom.com/thezoomway/avi/ftasv2.ram Zoomway@aol.com (thanks, Georgia ;) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 16:05:42 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/ Subject: Badfic :) [Fwd: OT: worst opening sentence contest winners] Comments: To: Chris Mulder MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit For your amusement, a link to more badfic... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: OT: worst opening sentence contest winners Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 00:03:04 +0100 (BST) From: JEANCAIN@aol.com Reply-To: lois-bujold@herald.co.uk To: jernigan@bellsouth.net "Winners" were announced yesterday in the 18th annual Bulwer-Lytton contest, which may be familiar to some of you as the competition for the dishonor of creating the worst opening sentence for a novel. These are not real novels, just ridiculously bad opening sentences. Categories include science fiction and romance. Reading the winning entries made me shudder and howl with pain? laughter? - Hard to tell, it felt like both simultaneously. Here's the URL: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com They even had a link to _The Eye of Argon_ but it wasn't functioning when I tried it today. [Note to those who have not yet read it: _The Eye of Argon_ is a genuinely awful deep-purpley prose fantasy.] Jean Cain ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 18:56:03 -0600 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: My Journal, Day 11, Part 03 of 15 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" TITLE: My Journal Day 11, Thursday, May 12/Friday, May 13, PART 03 of 15 AUTHOR Debby Stark, Debby@swcp.com RATING PG-13 Sam the Sports Guy heard this in passing. "For our 4th of July party I had a role in the play. I was awful. She called me a hamstrung ham." He said this loud enough that others caught on and had stories to tell. Lois Lane had called people at one time or another: a winsome weeping windbag; an airy erudite egomaniac; a torpid tornado; an irksomely inefficient intellectual; and a jaded yet strangely lackluster jejune. And that was before she'd get warmed up and really dress someone down if they didn't get their act together. It's a wonder she had so many friends in the newsroom. I sighed. "I guess she was distracted or she would have been more creative with what she called me...." "That or she likes ya," Jimmy smiled and he cuffed my shoulder, but carefully, since he'd done it before, taking me by surprise, and gotten hurt. Mr. White said, "Well, this is all very nice--" "Has she called *you* anything, Perry?" Cat asked, hardly able to contain her amusement. Everyone was about to spout suggestions. He cut them off quickly. "Not that I'd tell you, Ms. Gossip Queen," he said firmly, implying that everyone better heed his warning. He then turned away from her to escape follow-up questions. He addressed the newsroom as a whole. "All right, all right, everybody! We were almost done in there," he said, pointing to the conference room, "so we don't need to go back in. I think you all know what to do." Everyone did. I thought I did, too, but he told me: "If you don't mind going back out to the science complex again so soon, they're holding a press conference at ten." I didn't mind. I did ask him if he would call Mr. Interregnum's office about Dr. Platt if the doctor didn't show up, and Mr. White smiled slyly and said he'd be glad to. Jeanne and I went to the press conference together, got everything they gave us (which did not include a tour of the explosion site; it was said to be too dangerous), and we were back in the newsroom by 11:30. What all reporters had been given by an EPRAD vice president (because EPRAD's president was "in serious talks") was this: Hangar 9 was a total loss. The bodies of Dr. Baines and three security guards had been recovered >from the wreckage of a helicopter. The reasons for the four being in the helicopter and for the helicopter being where *it* was had not yet been determined. Her death was "a true shock to everyone at EPRAD," but the company realized that she above all would have wanted the New Hope to launch on schedule, so that was still planned for Friday. Personally, I don't think she would have cared one way or another; she obviously hadn't planned to be in the command center to watch, let alone in the country. I was glad to hear that the launch was still going ahead, but during the press conference I had questions I couldn't ask: was the New Hope in any danger? Had she and her partner(s) figured it into their bizarre plan, too? What were Luthor's and Interregnum's bigger plans and were they still viable without her? Had Luthor planned to do away with her all along, or had Mr. Interregnum killed her as part of a plan to implicate Luthor? What were their next moves and why did all of this seem to involve me? I had no idea, and, worse, no idea how to get the proof I needed to interest the police in doing a serious investigation of either of the men. I wondered about talking to Inspector Henderson, but made that part of a fall-back plan because it was likely that Lois Lane had convinced him that Luthor was the main culprit behind everything bad that happens in Metropolis. She may be right, but I knew now that Mr. Interregnum was responsible for a fair share of the problems, too. Perhaps the return of Dr. Platt would tip some scales somewhere. However, as noon approached, he hadn't shown up. Eduardo said that not only had Mr. White been calling, but he himself had composed and sent up a memo in his capacity as Science Editor. Dr. Platt could provide valuable information that would put the Planet leaps and bounds ahead of competition. Word was that Dr. Platt was "on his way." After writing up my part of the story about the press conference, it was almost lunch time so I had some time to relax. Jimmy bounced by. He was glowing from the kudos for his daring pictures. He had also slipped out to buy a copy of the Metropolis Star. "Look at this!" On page four, the Star had a surprising headline: "Ant men spotted in Metropolis sewers!" I sat up fast, nearly spilling my coffee. "*Ant men*?" "Well," he shrugged, "just one, they admit that." He pointed at the second paragraph. "The helmet sort of does make you - I mean, *you know who* look sort of like...." "No, it... Well, it... I guess it..." If you've seen the sketch I made (TSK.jpg), maybe you think The Silver Knight could be mistaken for an "ant" man, too. Ugh! Good thing the helmet didn't include antennas. But that was the final straw. I knew I could never wear that suit again. He went on about how strong ants are, how "Ant Man" makes more sense as a name than "The You Know Who," and how everyone in the newsroom thought it would be neat if "someone" (Lois Lane) created an "Ant Woman" or "Ant Queen" (played by you know who) "to be your - I mean, Ant Man's sidekick, wouldn't that be really the totally kewlist?" No. It was yet another reason not to wear the suit ever again. And why did everyone in the newsroom know about it? I'd look like a fool in front of all my peers! To distract him, I asked if his pictures of that rescue had been printed. He said they sure had, in Wednesday evening's edition, hadn't I seen them? No. He rushed off and came back with a copy of the paper and a handful of pictures. They were good. He does have a lot of talent. I hope he gets a raise; he wants to refurbish his motorcycle. After Jimmy bounced away, I used another ten minutes of my lunch time accessing the in-house databank and looking up this "Claude" person who had hurt Lois Lane. I had a funny feeling about him (other than disliking him intensely) and about how "somebody upstairs liked him." I found his resume and a series of articles by him. He made no mistakes in spelling or grammar and his approach to the topics was modestly interesting. Most revealing, though, was a small announcement made late last November, at the beginning of Claude's brief stay at the Planet. It came from "upstairs," the office of the Chairman of the Board, a Jane Tarses. She had invited Claude DuBois to work at the Planet at the suggestion of board member Chronus Interregnum. Ah-ha! Except... why would Mr. Interregnum want to put in place someone who would ultimately only make Lois Lane feel worse about herself than she did already after the Luthor expose fiasco? I decided my imagination was working overtime just to find something to incriminate DuBois when he was probably a jerk all on his own, with no help >from anyone. Now, though, as I type this journal entry, I think he was a small part of a much bigger plan. I think Mr. Interregnum did indeed plant DuBois in the newsroom to do precisely what he did: distract and hurt Lois Lane. I don't think DuBois was instructed to do this. I think he was inclined that way and Mr. Interregnum took advantage of it. I found some interesting linkages between Interregnum and Tarses. The former has more stock in the Daily Planet Publishing Company than the latter, and that they have other business ties. Does this mean Interregnum support Tarses? Would Tarses have her position if not for that support? I decided I'd ask Ms. Klingler, who's on the newsroom's financial desk, about that later. My final piece of business over lunch was a visit to Personnel. I asked them about the credit union and was directed to the union office, where I chatted with several pleasant people. I filled out an application to join the Metropolis Journalists Collective (a revolutionary, feisty-sounding name, isn't it?). As soon as the clerk stamped the form, I was a member. But it's actually the more powerful New Troy Pressworkers Union that owns the prosperous, well-run credit union. Nearly everyone at the Planet and most other newspapers and book publishers in the state is a member of the NTPU. The clerk promised to begin setting up checking and savings accounts for me immediately. I should have my first checkbook and debit and credit cards by next Tuesday at the latest. They'll be delivered to my desk in the newsroom since I don't have a permanent address yet. On my way back to the newsroom, I bought some lunch at the cafeteria and took it up to my desk. Dr. Platt was waiting there, sitting in a chair someone had found and put in front of my desk. He was nervous. He looked like he hadn't seen any sunlight in a week. A little later I seriously considered suggesting we move our interview out to Centennial Park, but we didn't. He wasn't the only one waiting for me, though. Mr. Interregnum was there, too, as was Mr. White. "Clark! Clark, my boy!" Mr. Interregnum was sitting in my chair but he bounded out of it, brushed by Mr. White, closed the space between us, and embraced me. I was so surprised that I didn't return it. I did manage to ask, "Sir, are you feeling better?" "Much better! *Much* better, thank you! I was just visiting to apologize to everyone for making an utter and complete fool of myself this morning. If I had an evil twin, I could blame him, but as far as I know, I'm one of a kind." "Well, you weren't feeling good, so..." "Yes, that was it. I was upset because I didn't get my facts straight." He let me go halfway, keeping one arm around my shoulders and squeezing, buddy-buddy. I think this was the first time in my life I've ever wanted to shrink away from someone's touch. I don't think I did that even as a kid when I met strangers. I've always enjoyed meeting people. I've been in India and talked to lepers and I didn't feel like I did when Mr. Interregnum touched me. Since I didn't move away, though, I think I passed that test of my intestinal fortitude. He continued: "But I've come to make it up to you. I've thought up a wonderful plan which will not only get me out in some fresh air, away from all the worries here, but will keep you out of trouble and give you a chance to rest up from your horrible ordeal this morning!" "It wasn't really so horri--" "I've been talking to Perry about it, and he agrees, don't you?" My boss looked like he was totally against whatever Mr. Interregnum had been proposing. "Well, sir--" "You see, I'm so interested in the New Hope - what a wonderful name for the vehicle taking us on a leap into the future! - that I've decided I want to be there to see it lift off for myself! I'm even going to get a press pass - which should be easy for *me,* don't you think?" Mr. White only got as far as opening his mouth. "And then I'm heading for the launch site. This means there's now one less reporter the Daily Planet has to send: *you!*" and he squeezed my shoulders again. "But--" "Oh, I know I'm not a writer, but I think I'm good at describing what I see. You'll be sitting here at your quaint little desk, safe and sound, surrounded by your friends and colleagues, while I see all that there is to see and call my impressions in to you. You have a phone, don't you?" Dr. Platt obligingly pointed it out. "I thought so. You'll write up my impressions, and, with your incredible flair for words, you'll make me sound good. Of course, you'll get credit and a big raise, don't worry about that." I had no idea what to say. It isn't up to me to give myself assignments (unless they practically fall in my lap) or to accept them from anyone other than my boss. I looked to him. Mr. White admitted, "I suppose it could work...." Mr. Interregnum looked concerned. "You do plan to send other reporters...." "Yes, sir, of course--" "Good!" He gave my shoulders another squeeze, "And you don't mind me calling you over the next, what? Twelve? No, it would be about 18 hours, wouldn't it? Until the New Hope is up and safely in orbit? It's a long time, I know. I don't know if *I'm* up to it! Are *you,* Clark?" I could be up to it; I have no problem staying awake for long stretches of time. But I was still planning to visit you, Mom and Dad. None of them knew about this and of course I couldn't explain it. I was so looking forward to it that I wanted to sigh. But duty came first: the trip home was optional and could wait a day until the excitement died down. "I guess so, sir." "That's the spirit!" and as a reward of sorts, he let me go and simply patted me on the back. There wasn't much more to say. Having told me what to do and Mr. White either agreeing that the assignment was acceptable or not wanting to contradict Mr. Interregnum, they left me there in my corner with Dr. Platt. I tried to make the doctor more comfortable. I offered him part of my now-cold lunch and whatever our newsroom kitchen had (mostly coffee and some hours-old pastries), but he said he had been eating well and that I should go ahead and eat and not mind him. When I asked what he had been served, he couldn't remember but he wasn't hungry. Indeed, he could remember little of what had happened to him since he had decided on Friday that his apartment wasn't the safest place in the world to be. I questioned him about this as gently as I could, no pressure at all, and in time he recalled that Mr. Interregnum and several other people, all big, strong men, had met him at his door. They invited him to go with them to a place where he'd be safe. He had hesitated, but they had "invited" him more convincingly. He couldn't even recall if they had manhandled him, so I began to think up ways to talk him into visiting the Daily Planet's infirmary. (continued) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 19:16:08 -0600 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: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 15 of 15 In-Reply-To: <716ebddf.24bf3d95@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 09:35 AM 07/15/1999 -0400, you wrote: >Debbie. > >My e-mails didn't include part 3. I went to your ftp site and got the whole >thing from there this am. And I am going to read it today, but I thought you >should know about the postings. If a lot of people didn't get part 3, >perhaps you could repost. Will do :) >PS. Thanks for the response to my general Superman note. I saved it to >reread. You and I dont always agree about Superman/Clark Kent/Dean Cain but >fundamently we agree so I enjoy your posts. Thanks :D It's fun to talk about, huh? It gets everyone's creative juices flowing almost as well as a horseback ride :) >That after all is what a >discussion group is all about. > >LOL > >Charlotte Debby ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 19:16:42 -0600 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: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 04 of 15 In-Reply-To: <19990715124642.26253.rocketmail@web905.mail.yahoo.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 12:46 PM 07/15/1999 +0000, you wrote: >Debby, >I'm on the edge of my seat here but... Part 3 is missing! ARGH! >Please repost it! Will do as soon as my cat gets off my mouse... > >Thanks, >Irene > >_________________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com > ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 21:25:42 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rich & Dawn Subject: Re: NKerths - looking for an author MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jenny wrote: > I have read Jiji's stories, and enjoyed them immensely, but I have one > problem with your adding her stories to the roster (either for the nKerths > or for the nFic roster in general): Didn't we all sign agreements that we > would not forward nfics on to anyone without permission of the author? > Having stories in a roster of that nature, where we were not able to > contact the author means that either someone is going to be upset when s/he > can't get access to "such a wonderful story", or that someone may get in > trouble someday for posting the stories without permission of the author. > I'm not sure what the solution is. Wasn't Jiji in the US Army? Are there > records available to the general public where you may be able to hunt her > down (figuratively speaking) and contact her? Does anyone know her > husband's name? Can he be looked up on one of the many whitepages > collections available on the internet? These are just ideas. See how you > go... That is a good point. One reason to leave them on would be to avoid "you left off ...." messages, but list the stories as "unavailable" for those where the author can no longer be reached, or they have not previously given permission for distribution through someone else. As far as I know at this point, Jiji is the only one in this situation. From Demi's post I get the impression she doesn't want to be contacted. Does anyone know how this was handled for the Kerths with her stories? I know it's not exactly the same, but it may give us a starting point. Thanks! Dawn ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 22:46:05 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/ Subject: Re: NKerths - looking for an author MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dawn asked, re: Jiji being out of folcdom, > Does anyone know how this was > handled for the Kerths with her stories? I know it's not exactly the same, > but it may give us a starting point. Um, as far as I know, we completely failed to consider whether or not an author was still around Once nominated, the authors had the option to remove their work, but of course that presupposes that the author was aware of the process. I wasn't the key person for validating nominations, though, so I may have missed something. So I suppose this answer was no help whatsoever :) If I were doing it, I'd include anyone who'd ever distributed stories, unless they specifically withdrew their works when they left fandom (we've had a few rare cases). Older, unreachable authors would then be eligible, but unlikely to win if newer readers were unable to find the stories, either to nominate or vote. Which strikes me as a nice compromise between honoring the trail-blazers and wanting actual current authors present when the awards are given out :) I am, however, not doing it so my advice is worth what ya paid for it. -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ------------------------------------------------------- People who will reed a text, rather than use software to Czech it, are worth there wait in sliver and gold. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 13:40:07 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Episodes In-Reply-To: <9120b656.24bf9834@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Thu, 15 Jul 1999 16:01:56 EDT The Zoomway wrote: > > Aw, poor Wendy. Victimized by "Auntie Beeb" and her scissors ;) Well, until > you can get copies of what the BBC chopped up... Chopped? Mangled, shredded, butchered, destroyed! Like most sci-fi/adventure TV programmes, British TV considered 'Lois and Clark' to be a children's programme, and thus broadcast it between 6 and 7 on Saturday evenings, and repeated it on Saturday mornings around 8 - 9 am. So anything not suitable for the little kids came out! Grrrrrr!! Thanks for the URLs - I'll try them in the comfort and privacy of my study at home... besides, my husband might want to see them too... ;) Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 10:34:45 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Re: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 03 of 15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Just finished my first reading of day 11. Great story. No spoilers just a great elsewords story. Wonderful inverted premier as I said before. Trouble is now I'd like to read more of Clark's journal/adventures some time. Is this anywhere in your future plans? In the meantime, how about another chapter or two of Dawning? I took Dawning 7-10 with me on vacation. (Not enough room for all of it in the suitcase) and am currently in the middle of 9 daybreak. It is sort of my favorite sequence within the substories and I am enjoying it all over again. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 12:04:31 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kate Crane Subject: Re: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 03 of 15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/16/99 7:36:15 AM Pacific Daylight Time, Cdfisler@aol.com writes: << Just finished my first reading of day 11. Great story. No spoilers just a great elsewords story. Wonderful inverted premier as I said before.>> I was so delighted with this series. Many thanks to Debby for your time and talent. I enjoyed seeing all the pieces come together, as well as the logical changes you made to the beloved legend. I kept thinking, yeah, that makes more sense . (No spoilers here, either). I actually chuckled out loud a few times, which doesn't happen often. <> Yes, the ending left me wanting.....more. << In the meantime, how about another chapter or two of Dawning? I took Dawning 7-10 with me on vacation. (Not enough room for all of it in the suitcase) and am currently in the middle of 9 daybreak. It is sort of my favorite sequence within the substories and I am enjoying it all over again. >> Charlotte, thanks for the suggestion! Kate (the Maryland one) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 13:17:59 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nethra Ankam Subject: Re: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 15 of 15 Debby, This part is absolutely wonderful!! But I'm hoping Superman/Clark will take Lois down a peg in the near future ;) Nethra ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 15:59:31 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Mr. D8a" Subject: Looking for an episode. Comments: To: LoisandClarkNAOS@onelist.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >From MR. D8A's work email I have had a scene going through my head for the longest time and I cannot remember if it is from the series or Fan Fic. Here is the scene.(I don't remember dialogue verbatim so bare with me.) Clark as a Clark goes and talks to Dr. Klein at Star Labs. He asks "Dr. Klein, do you believe Superman could have children?" Klein gets a really thought provoking look on his face and says, "Gee, I suppose it's possible. We always assumed that he was the male of the species, but ..." Clark: "NO! No. I mean with an Earth woman." MR. D8A A.K.A. James Philippians 4:8 ...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Please visit and explore my house at: http://www.geocities.com/area51/starship/7859 mailto:mr_d8a@yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 17:15:03 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Dunn Subject: Re: Looking for an episode. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Chuckle, chuckle. That's got to be from fanfiction... so, which one? What a thought! Thanks, James, for a good laugh. LaurieD ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 17:15:01 EDT 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: Looking for an episode. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 99-07-16 17:04:45 EDT, you write: << Clark as a Clark goes and talks to Dr. Klein at Star Labs. He asks "Dr. Klein, do you believe Superman could have children?" Klein gets a really thought provoking look on his face and says, "Gee, I suppose it's possible. We always assumed that he was the male of the species, but ..." Clark: "NO! No. I mean with an Earth woman." >> I believe that ep is "Shadow of a Doubt.." unless you are talking about a fanfic or something. Alexis ;-.) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 16:59:07 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rich & Dawn Subject: Re: NKerths - looking for an author MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi FoLCs, Pam wrote: > Um, as far as I know, we completely failed to consider whether or not an > author was still around Once nominated, the authors had the option > to remove their work, but of course that presupposes that the author was > aware of the process. I wasn't the key person for validating > nominations, though, so I may have missed something. So I suppose this > answer was no help whatsoever :) > > If I were doing it, I'd include anyone who'd ever distributed stories, > unless they specifically withdrew their works when they left fandom > (we've had a few rare cases). Older, unreachable authors would then be > eligible, but unlikely to win if newer readers were unable to find the > stories, either to nominate or vote. Which strikes me as a nice > compromise between honoring the trail-blazers and wanting actual current > authors present when the awards are given out :) Nicely put! If no one has any objections, this would be my preference. Thanks! Dawn ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 17:46:45 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Zoomway Subject: Re: Looking for an episode. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/16/99 4:04:21 PM Central Daylight Time, James.Tull@emrsn.com writes: << Clark as a Clark goes and talks to Dr. Klein at Star Labs. He asks "Dr. Klein, do you believe Superman could have children?" Klein gets a really thought provoking look on his face and says, "Gee, I suppose it's possible. We always assumed that he was the male of the species, but ..." Clark: "NO! No. I mean with an Earth woman." >> The quote, or the "gist" of it, is from Shadow of a Doubt. Here's the actual dialog from the episode: Dr. Klein: "What's on your mind?" Superman: "A woman." Dr. Klein: "A woman?" Superman: "I'm seeing one." Dr. Klein: "Seeing?" Superman: "You know, dating." Dr. Klein: "Dating? You're dating?" Superman: "Well, yeah. Yeah. And I have a few questions." Dr. Klein: "No one has ever sat you down and explained these things before? Alright, what I'm about to say may shock you." Superman: "No. No. No. No. What I need to know is, if this woman and I got serious . . ." Dr. Klein: "Is this anyone I know?" Superman: "Do you think we'd have enough biological compatibility to have children?" Dr. Klein: "What? Uh, well, uh, well, the thing is, while in many ways you resemble an Earth human, your biology is clearly different. You couldn't donate blood, for instance. Determining whether you could father a child here would require careful testing." Superman: "Okay." Dr. Klein: "Meanwhile, any relations with your honey must be conducted with extreme caution." Superman: "Of course." Dr. Klein: "Uh, you know what I mean by caution?" Superman: "Yeah." Dr. Klein: "Okay. Alright." Superman: "Thanks." Dr. Klein: "Oh yeah. Oh yeah." (Superman flies off) Dr. Klein: "Wow. Who knew." Zoomway@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 16:17:47 -0600 Reply-To: tmtrx@earthlink.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=8C?= Subject: Sins of the Past MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit i just read this for the first time. i love the ending with dr. klein! great portrayal! by the way, does anyone know why his character wasn't named dr. hamilton? in the comics, dr. hamilton fulfills dr. klein's role as doctor/scientist/confidant/inventor. they could have used dr. klein's name for the single episode w/dr. hamilton. (i can't remember the name of that ep.) that was a little off topic, so let me just say again, great dr. klein scene! :D TmTrx ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 15:13:32 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Dennis A Arendt Subject: Re: email address MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I received a request from koko. When I replied, it came back, when I emailed direct it came back. Koko if you're out there the answer is yes. Sorry, but I didn't know anyother way to reach you. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 16:38:30 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rich & Dawn Subject: NKerth announcement - It's Up! It's Good! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi FoLCs, I am pleased to announce the Nfic / NKerth Directories! First, I would like to again thank the two FoLCs who put the pages together, and for the FoLCs who helped us track down the authors. Thanks! What you will find on this site is a directory, no actual stories, of all the nfic out there, organized by author and title. There is also a separate table of just stories released in '99. Linked to this page is a listing of all the stories eligible for this year's NKerth, also listed by author and title. Each story has a link to where it can be found, along with the instructions required by those sources. Please look over the sites and let us know if there is anything we need to change. You can use the link on either main page, or email me. We will take about a week to do this, depending on feedback, and then the nominations will begin! Thanks again to everyone for their input, Dawn http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/nfic.html ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 20:55:56 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Demona (Angel Of The Night)" Subject: Re: NKerth announcement - It's Up! It's Good! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Tremendous work on the NKerths archive and awards site(s) Dawn, Irene and co! Thank you all... this is project has been a long time in coming but you've taken up the proverbial torch with style and created a wonderful new resource for the fans. I'm sure I'm not the only FoLC who's thrilled about it! Kudos to everyone on the site's creative and organizational team! You deserve it! Demi ___________________________________________ Demi aka Demona nightangel@home.com http://fantasia.simplenet.com/lcfantasy/ http://www.destinyy.com/boards/ for the lcnfanfic email list, see: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/lcnfanfic "Sometimes I think I understand everything, then I regain consciousness." ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 10:14:48 -0500 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: NKerth announcement - It's Up! It's Good! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit RICH, DAWN AND IRENE - THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK. merry Rich & Dawn wrote: > Hi FoLCs, > > I am pleased to announce the Nfic / NKerth Directories! First, I would like > to again thank the two FoLCs who put the pages together, and for the FoLCs > who helped us track down the authors. Thanks! > > What you will find on this site is a directory, no actual stories, of all > the nfic out there, organized by author and title. There is also a separate > table of just stories released in '99. Linked to this page is a listing of > all the stories eligible for this year's NKerth, also listed by author and > title. Each story has a link to where it can be found, along with the > instructions required by those sources. > > Please look over the sites and let us know if there is anything we need to > change. You can use the link on either main page, or email me. We will > take about a week to do this, depending on feedback, and then the > nominations will begin! > > Thanks again to everyone for their input, > Dawn > http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/nfic.html ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 11:14:06 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: NKerth announcement - It's Up! It's Good! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Just a quick note of appreciation from me for the nKerth sites and the Nfic directories - first of all, I have to say that this was entirely Dawn's project. She and an army of dedicated volunteers did a great job, but I can't take any credit for it. Now, when it comes time for the nominations and voting, I'll be busier. Thanks, Dawn, Irene sirenegold@yahoo.com > Rich & Dawn wrote: > > > Hi FoLCs, > > > > I am pleased to announce the Nfic / NKerth > Directories! First, I would like > > to again thank the two FoLCs who put the pages > together, and for the FoLCs > > who helped us track down the authors. Thanks! > > > > What you will find on this site is a directory, no > actual stories, of all > > the nfic out there, organized by author and title. > There is also a separate > > table of just stories released in '99. Linked to > this page is a listing of > > all the stories eligible for this year's NKerth, > also listed by author and > > title. Each story has a link to where it can be > found, along with the > > instructions required by those sources. > > > > Please look over the sites and let us know if > there is anything we need to > > change. You can use the link on either main page, > or email me. We will > > take about a week to do this, depending on > feedback, and then the > > nominations will begin! > > > > Thanks again to everyone for their input, > > Dawn > > > http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/nfic.html > _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 14:56:10 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Elisabeth Subject: Re: New Kerth category! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Obviously, everyone wants to show their appreciation for proofing done, but practically it would be a difficult category to judge. Why not recognize all proofers of Kerth-nominated stories on the ballet. For example, the nomination would look something like this: Gulliver Travels written by Jonathon Swift edited by P.D.Q. Bach, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Daffy Duck === Elisabeth Feel free to visit my home at http://geocities.com/Area51/Starship/7859 _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 15:01:08 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Elisabeth Subject: Re: wham/waff (was re: babble, rant, tangent...) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Forgive the lateness of my response. I'm just now getting through the piles of e-mail that I let stack up. Zoom wrote: > As an old-timer on the list, WHAM was a word that referred to anything ranging from emotionally painful to bittersweet moments.< I'm confused. In Babylon 5, WHAM referred to a shocking episode which throws the b-plot forward in a completely unpredictable way. RL American examples would be the assassination of Kennedy or Oklahoma City bombing. An L&C example might be the bombing of the Daily Planet building or Lois' arrest for murder. In all examples, the floor dropped out for all involved. Their world was shattered, since they had no way to emotionally prepare. While I admit that might be emotionally painful, it does seem like an understatement. === Elisabeth Feel free to visit my home at http://geocities.com/Area51/Starship/7859 _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 16:36:16 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Zoomway Subject: Re: wham/waff (was re: babble, rant, tangent...) Comments: cc: LoisandClarkNAOS@onelist.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/18/99 2:05:00 PM Central Daylight Time, all4_mr_d8a@YAHOO.COM writes: << I'm confused. In Babylon 5, WHAM referred to a shocking episode which throws the b-plot forward in a completely unpredictable way. >> I can't speak for Babylon 5 since I never got into it, but with Lois and Clark the "W" in WHAM stood for "Wistful". In your examples of horrible events, like the Oklahoma City bombing "wistful" (pensive yearning) wouldn't fit and might even seem dismissive of something so tragic. Also WHAM tended to refer to emotional upheavals on Lois and Clark rather than anything "physical" in a plot line. So, Clark's cross-finger recant, though not devastating or earth-shattering, was a WHAM at that time since it did reset Lois and Clark's relationship to "just pals" and had Lois "wistfully" looking skyward to Superman once again. This is a little hard to explain, but often WHAM was the emotional reaction to an event, rather than the event itself. That is, when Clark got shot in the episode That Old Gang of Mine, the shooting wasn't a WHAM in itself, since we knew Clark wasn't dead. However *Lois* didn't know that, and her reaction was one of the traditional "WHAM" variety (Wistful Heartwrenching, Agonizing Moment). Even the "pensive yearning" part was there in the sense that she wished she'd told Clark what he meant to her, and thinking he was dead, felt she never would have the chance again. Another WHAM example was the ending of When Iris Eyes are Killing. Lois and Clark are *both* miserable. Clark did something he thought was right, but it ended up just breaking Lois' heart and through the chain of events, breaking his own heart as well. It also remains one of the more emotionally charged and powerful single scenes from the whole series. For me, this was a great WHAM Some fans felt Lois should have just caved in and taken Clark back, but you'll notice if you watch the scene, Clark didn't really apologize to her, he simply tried to justify his actions using some kind of "fever" analogy. An analogy that was so confusing to Lois that she asked, "Does this mean you don't love me anymore?" I have to admit I didn't know what Clark was driving at either, but that's what made the dialog and the performance so real. It wasn't a slick patch to tie things up in a pink bow. It was more like the kind of emotional chess game lovers become involved in when both players are strong, stubborn and passionate. That's my take on Lois and Clark's definition of "WHAM" at any rate. I also left this on the fanfic list since some fans like to put a "WHAM" warning on their fanfic. For the record, here's the old acronym list and it also contains usual cyber shorthand like "LOL" and "" definitions: Acronym Meaning -------------------- - big grin - evil grin - grin - sheepish grin - very big grin - very big evil grin - wicked grin AFK - Away From Keyboard (IRC Related) BBL - Be Back Later BRB - Be Right Back (IRC Related) BIAF - Back In A Flash (IRC Related) BTW - By The Way CK - Clark Kent CK=S - Clark Kent = Superman DC - Dean Cain DOCK - Defenders of Clark Kent DOLL - Defenders of Lois Lane EJ - Eddie Jones FANFIC - Fan Fiction FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions FOLC - Fan of Lois and Clark FOLCs - Fans of Lois and Clark GTO - Great Tongue Opportunity HAWK - Hungry Awesome Wet Kisses ILL - I Love Lois IMHO - In My Humble Opinion IMO - In My Opinion IRC - Internet Relay Chat IWWATFTDCIDDGWIHOA - Intelligent Woman Who Admires The Fact That Dean Cain Is Drop Dead Gorgeous Without Ignoring His Other Attributes J/K - Just Kidding JO - Jimmy Olsen JW - Justin Whalin KC - K Callan K - Kryptonite L8R - Later L&C - Lois and Clark LCAS - Lois and Clark Anticipation Syndrome LCWS - Lois and Clark Withdrawl Syndrome LNC - Lois and Clark LL - Lois Lane LNCTNAOS - Lois and Clark The New Adventures Of Superman LOL - Laughing Out Loud LS - Lane Smith MATH - Men Admiring Teri Hatcher ML - Michael Landes MOM - Tara O'Shea, our list Mom NBL - Not Bloody Likely OIC - OH! I See OTOH - On The Other Hand PATHETIC - People Admiring Teri Hatcher Even Though It's Crazy PW - Perry White QBL - Quivering Bottom Lip RDoLNW - Relentless Defender of Lois's New Wardrobe ROTFL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing ROTFLMAO - Rolling On The Floor Laughing My @$$ Off SMAN - Superman SOS - Sort of Spoiler SPOCK - Shallow People Ogling Clark Kent ST - Sexual Tension (as opposed to Star Trek) SWOCK - Shallow Women Ogling Clark Kent TDOCK - Tireless Defender of Clark Kent TDOLL - Tireless Defender of Lois Lane TH - Teri Hatcher TIC - Tongue In Cheek TPFIC - Tongue Planted Firmly In Cheek TPTB - The Powers That Be TTYL - Type/Talk To You Later WAFF - Warm And Fuzzy Feeling WHAM - Wistful, Heartwrenching, Agonizing Moment WOW - Wild over Whalin WRT - With Respect/Regards To YASA - Yet Another Silly Acronym ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 16:57:26 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rich & Dawn Subject: Re: NKerth announcement - It's Up! It's Good! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi FoLCs, Thanks Demi! The link I gave was for all nfic, so be sure to visit the NKerth link for stories eligible this year. We are thinking about a month for nominations, and will announce when those will begin, probably in about a week or so. Thanks! Dawn ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 08:37:59 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Joshua Phelps Subject: Season 6 Website MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey yall, I was just wondering why the Season 6 website has not been updated since episode 9? I know that all episodes are posted on this list but I always like to wait for them to be posted on the site and them save them because to me they are easier to copy and paste and then format them for easy printing. I have read all of TUFS and I am ready for Episode 16 of Season 5 so I know that the episodes will be up by the time I get ready to read them... I was just wondering. Ok have a great summer all! Thanx, Josh ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 04:49:18 -0600 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: NKerth announcement - It's Up! It's Good! In-Reply-To: <000b01bed16e$3e627440$764498ce@fred> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 04:57 PM 07/18/1999 -0400, you wrote: >Hi FoLCs, > >Thanks Demi! > >The link I gave was for all nfic, so be sure to visit the NKerth link for >stories eligible this year. We are thinking about a month for nominations, >and will announce when those will begin, probably in about a week or so. > >Thanks! >Dawn If through this link you discover that you can join an nfic ad mailing list (mine and Joyces) and if you write to join, include that you are over 17.99 years of age, you promise not to distribute *and* that you understand the nature of the stories. If you don't, I'll be asking you for this info. Debby Debby@swcp.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 10:47:39 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/ Subject: Re: NEW Season 6 Website MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Josh wrote: > I was just wondering why the Season 6 website has not been updated since > episode 9? Well, our original webmistress, Alyssa, had been getting very busy in her personal life, and apparently she's gotten to the point where she can't keep up anymore. We at S6 have tried to take up the slack, however, so there's a new website, which *does* have episode 10 (and will have the rest of the season as the episodes are completed). Check out http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/Season6/season6.html (and bookmark it). Episode 11 is *very* close to being finished, but it's not quite there yet. In the meantime, the "this week's episode" link will take you to "Mirror, Mirror" (ep 10) Hope that helps! -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ------------------------------------------------------- People who will reed a text, rather than use software to Czech it, are worth there wait in sliver and gold. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:16:42 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part 0/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 0/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... This is the third part of my 'mini-series' Big Boys Do Fly, based on=20 an alternate-universe characterisation of Clark Kent/Superman and=20 Lois Lane. If you have not read Parts 1 and 2, this story may not=20 make much sense ;) Thanks and kudos again to Margaret Brignell and Debby Stark for their=20 'Swap-Meet', which is responsible for some of the inspiration for=20 this story, and to Jenny Stosser for 'The Chicken and the Egg,' which=20 kind of kicked things off in my brain. Many thanks to Karen Ward for=20 her tremendous encouragement and for acting as a guinea-pig, which is=20 much appreciated. One of the characters in this story is dedicated to=20 Karen ;) Thanks also to Pam Jernigan for her encouragement. A further explanatory note, for those interested in continuity: I've=20 used this story in part to 'tidy up' some of my own personal L&C=20 universes, and so there are occasional links here to a few of my=20 other stories. The 'Big Boys Do Fly' series is therefore in the same=20 L&C universe as 'A Guest from the Blue' and 'A Ring on his Finger',=20 and also 'A Love so Long in the Making' (see the names of L&C's=20 children ), and also the forthcoming sequel to 'Love so Long'. Comments, as always, to w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk *************** ~ Previously: Big Boys Do Fly II: Close Encounters ~ **************** - Metropolis -=20 "You're not Clark!" "No, I'm not," Conor replied thickly. He looked around him; the=20 surroundings were completely unfamiliar. Where were Clark and HG=20 Wells? And more important, *where was Laura*? "Clark!" Lois wailed. "What happened? Why are *you* here instead of=20 him, Conor?" **************** - An Alternate Universe -=20 Clark stared around him with dawning horror. Lois, Conor, the=20 mysterious stranger and the interdimensional transport were nowhere=20 to be seen. No, scrub that, he thought viciously; helplessly. That was no=20 mysterious stranger. It was Tempus. Tempus had taken Lois, God knew where. And he had also taken Conor,=20 by the looks of it.=20 And HG Wells, who represented his only route back to Lois, was=85 =85dead? Continued in Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds **************** ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:17:22 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 1/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 1/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... **************** Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds - 348 Hyperion Avenue, Metropolis -=20 Conor stared helplessly at Lois, desperately trying to take in what=20 had happened to them. "Where are we?" "The back yard of our - mine and Clark's - house," Lois replied in=20 wooden tones, as she desperately tried to think of a way out of their=20 predicament. She *had* to find Clark! She couldn't bear it if=85. "So I got sent home with you, instead of Clark," Conor said slowly.=20 He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Could it have been a=20 mistake? I mean, just before it happened I was hugging you, and Clark=20 was hugging Laura - could that Wells guy just have taken the wrong=20 pair?" Lois shook her head. "He wouldn't do that. And anyway, in all the=20 times I've time-travelled or dimension-hopped, it's never worked like=20 that. I've always had to climb into the machine myself." She paused,=20 trying to remember. "What do you remember about it? All I can=20 remember is saying goodbye to you - yeah, hugging - and then there=20 was=85" she hesitated, trying to focus, "=85 a bright light?" Conor frowned. "I remember holding you, wishing you and Clark didn't=20 have to go so soon, but after that.=85" He shook his head. "There *was*=20 something=85 I don't know, I felt=85 weightless, my legs gave way=85 but I= =20 don't remember anything between that and waking up sitting in that -=20 thing. Only it's gone now, too." "And that was your way out of here and back to your world, Conor,"=20 Lois pointed out. He grimaced. "Yeah, and Clark's way back to you." He noticed that=20 Lois remained silent in response to his comment, which prompted him=20 to add, "What's the problem, Lois? You think Clark may not be still=20 in my world, do you?" She nodded. "I don't know, Conor. This just=85 well, I have a horrible=20 feeling about this whole thing." Her voice shook as she spoke, and he=20 strode quickly to her side and wrapped his arm warmly around her=20 shoulders. "Hey, come on, Lois. For all we know, it might have been a mistake,=20 and the transport thing could have gone back for Clark. He could be=20 on his way back here right now." Conor's tone was deliberately upbeat=20 as he tried to keep Lois's spirits up, although he felt far less=20 confident than he sounded. "I just don't think so," Lois replied glumly. "I don't feel good=20 about this at all." Conor stayed silent this time, reflecting that if Lois was right and=20 something had gone horribly wrong, Laura was alone and without his=20 protection. This time, it was Lois's turn to notice his tension, and=20 she gripped his arm. "Conor, Clark's with Laura - at least, we hope=20 he is. He'll look after her, you know he will." "Yeah," Conor whispered, staring into the far distance. "He better." ******************* - A remote beach, an Alternate Universe -=20 Laura dragged herself slowly to her knees, shaking her damp and sandy=20 hair out of her face, and stared at Clark. "What happened? Where's=20 Conor? Lois?" Clark, shaken out of his initial stunned reaction, rushed at=20 super-speed to HG Wells and turned his body over. He then knelt=20 beside the writer and wiped the sand away from the man's mouth, at=20 the same time checking for a pulse or any trace of breathing. After a=20 moment, he closed his eyes briefly in silent thanks. Wells was alive,=20 though barely. He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, and turned to see Laura=20 frowning at him in concern.=20 "Clark - is there anything I can do?" she asked him softly, putting=20 her own anxiety about Conor aside in deference to the more pressing=20 problem of HG Wells, who looked to be in quite a sorry state. "I think he'll be okay," Clark reassured her. "He doesn't seem to=20 have swallowed too much water - he was just suffocating by lying=20 face-down. I got to him in time." Laura removed her light jacket and tucked it under Wells' head as=20 Clark placed him in the recovery position. Clark then looked=20 assessingly at Laura. "Are you okay? You were out of it for a minute=20 or two=85?" She grimaced. "I think I just fainted. But what the hell happened?=20 And where are Lois and Conor?" Clark's shoulders slumped. "I have absolutely no idea. There was=20 another man here - did you see him? - he did something to Lois and=20 Conor which seemed to make both of them faint. In fact," he added=20 thoughtfully, "I seem to be the only one who wasn't affected by=20 whatever it was he did. But I don't understand why that is since=20 Conor also has super-powers." "Did you see who it was?" Laura asked anxiously. "Who would do=20 something like this?" Clark's mouth tightened, and his voice was harsh as he replied, "It=20 was Tempus. I didn't recognise him because of the cloak and hood he=20 wore, but I recognised the laugh as he disappeared. He's taken Lois=20 and Conor." "Why?" Laura's voice was shrill. Several coughs came from the prone body on the sand. "Ahem, Miss=20 Lindsay," Wells choked out, "Tempus usually has only one method to=20 his madness. He wants to stop Superman's descendants from creating=20 Utopia." "So he's split each of us up from our soul-mates," Clark finished=20 grimly. **************** - 348 Hyperion Avenue, Metropolis -=20 Lois shivered; it seemed to be early morning, and Metropolis was=20 certainly chillier than a Caribbean beach. Conor threw her a=20 sympathetic glance, hesitated, then stared at her intently. Feeling=20 waves of heat wash over her, Lois's head shot up and she glared at=20 Conor. "Only *Clark* does that for me, okay?" she threw at him. The words=20 hit him like chips of ice, and he flinched. "I didn't mean to=85 I was only trying to help, okay?" he retorted,=20 hurt that his attempt at kindness had been rejected so harshly. Lois saw his expression and felt guilty. "I'm sorry=85 it's just=85 I'm=20 worried *sick* about Clark, and I want him back here safe, all=20 right?" Conor shrugged angrily. "I'm pretty frantic about Laura too, might I=20 remind you? And she doesn't have super-powers, unlike your husband!" "Of course you are," Lois acknowledged, castigating herself for=20 forgetting that she wasn't the only one separated from her partner.=20 "But you know Clark will - " "Will take care of her. I know." Conor's tone was resigned. "In the=20 meantime, what the hell do we do about sorting this mess out?" Lois shivered again. "Let's get inside first of all, then decide what=20 to do." ***************** - An Alternate Universe - Laura shivered as the impact of Wells' words hit home. She and Conor=20 had been separated. He had been taken away from her by that evil=20 psychopath, Tempus; the man who had tried before to ensure that she=20 and Conor never met, never grew up to be together. He had failed in=20 the early 1940s, and so he had tried again in 1999. She glanced at Clark, instantly noticing the white lines of tension=20 around his mouth and eyes, the bleak expression on his face. He too=20 was separated from Lois, the woman it was plainly obvious he loved=20 more than his own life. As much as she missed Conor, was worried=20 about him, Clark was clearly frantic about Lois. She touched his arm. "Clark, I'm sure wherever they are they're=20 together. And Conor will make sure Lois is okay." Clark covered her hand with his own, throwing her a very brief smile.=20 "I won't tell Lois you said that - she's pretty good at looking after=20 herself, and hates being told what to do. But yeah, I hope he's with=20 her, too - at least he can protect her with his powers if necessary." Laura turned to Wells. "What has he - Tempus - done with them?" Wells dragged himself to his feet, looking older and more helpless=20 than Clark had ever seen him. "I=85 I really have no idea. But - oh,=20 dear - he must have deduced your location by tracking either myself=20 or the interdimensional transport. Then he just, he just overpowered=20 us." Clark fixed Wells with a hard stare. "How did he do that? He made all=20 of you unconscious, and when I tried to grab him I felt like=20 something threw me backwards." "Oh dear," Wells said again; Clark clenched his fists, desperately=20 trying to prevent himself shaking the little man until Wells came up=20 with an explanation. "Mr Kent, I think Tempus must have brought a=20 weapon from the future with him. There is something I have seen, a=20 device which works on the principle of ultrasound. It can render=20=0D=0A people unconscious, and if anyone tries to attack a man carrying the=20 device, the effect is like an electric shock." Clark assimilated the information, then asked, "So why was Conor=20 affected when I wasn't?" "I honestly don't know, Mr Kent," Wells replied shakily. "Some things=20 just cannot be explained." "Where could he have taken them?" Laura demanded again. She was=20 trying hard not to panic, but all she could think of was the memory=20 of Lois's face when she had told Laura about the time when Tempus, as=20 John Doe, had been elected president. Wells shook his head slowly. "I can only hope that he has at least=20 left them together, wherever they are." "Well, you can trace them, can't you?" Clark demanded. "The first=20 place to try is Metropolis - *my* Metropolis!" He ran his fingers=20 furiously through his hair. "Can you take me there?" Wells shook his head again. "Mr Kent, I only wish I could. But Tempus=20 has taken the transport. I have no other means of taking you there." Laura stared at him. "So does that mean you're stuck here too?" "I=85 er, I, ah, I suppose I must be," Wells replied hesitantly,=20 looking quite alarmed at the prospect. "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly allow that, could I, Herb?" a sardonic=20 voice came from somewhere. Clark whirled around; he could see no-one. "Tempus?" he yelled angrily. "Show yourself, you monster! What have=20 you done with my wife?!" "Now, now, Clark! You're letting your temper show," the voice=20 drawled. "It's not good for you, you know." There was a pause, then=20 Tempus continued, "As for dear Lois, she's safe - for the moment. I=20 haven't quite decided what to do with her yet. As for you and the=20 delightful Ms Lindsay, you will be seeing me soon!" Suddenly a shadowy figure materialised in front of HG Wells. Clark=20 rushed forward at super-speed, only to find that he was grasping at=20 thin air. Tempus and the writer had disappeared. ******************* - 348 Hyperion Avenue, Metropolis -=20 Conor eyed the interior of the Lane-Kent household curiously as he=20 followed Lois into the living-room. This was nothing like the sets=20 the studios had used for either Clark Kent's or Lois Lane's=20 apartments; although, he reminded himself, that was four years ago in=20 the lives of the two reporters. They had been married for more than=20 two years now; it was only natural that they would have a house=20 rather than the bachelor apartments each had previously occupied. The room was bright, airy and comfortable, with framed photographs of=20 the couple and other family members scattered about on shelves and=20 occasional tables. It was very different to his own home, but=20 welcoming all the same. He could easily imagine Lois and Clark being=20 entirely at home there. His eye was caught by a brightly-coloured=20 object lying on the floor, and he bent to pick it up. It was a=20 child's toy car, a large plastic object designed to be pushed along=20 the floor by a toddler. He was unprepared for Lois's reaction. "Oh my God! Jon!" Her hands flew to her face, and her body crumpled.=20 Conor caught her before she hit the ground, and he deposited her=20 gently on the sofa. "Lois? What's wrong?" Dumb question, he thought. What *isn't* wrong? She turned liquid-brown eyes to him; for an instant he almost=20 believed he was staring at Laura. But it was more than the hairstyle=20 which made this woman differ from his fiancee. "Jon - my son - he's still at Clark's parents' place!" she gasped. Conor frowned. "He's safe there, isn't he?" He didn't understand=20 Lois's concern; she and Clark had explained the babysitting=20 arrangements they had made before leaving with HG Wells. The toddler=20 should have been perfectly all right. Perhaps it was reaction, the=20 strain of the last hour or so finally taking its toll on her. "What time is it? What *day* is it?" Lois demanded agitatedly. Instantly grasping her point, Conor seized the television remote=20 control and read off the date and time. She closed her eyes briefly,=20 then met his gaze again. "Nine am, on the same day Wells took us. At=20 least that hasn't gone as horribly wrong as everything else." She=20 heaved a sigh, then gave him a determined look. "You'll have to fly=20 me to Smallville." He shrugged. "Sure; that's no problem. But I think we really need to=20 figure out what's happened here first. Who sent me here with you, and=20 why. And why Clark was sent wherever he was sent." "If he was sent anywhere," Lois added. "I mean, he and Laura could=20 just still be in your world." "They could," Conor agreed. "But my point is that you seem pretty=20 sure that HG Wells wouldn't have done this, which means that someone=20 else did. And if so, that person had a reason. And I think we're=20 likely to find out that reason sometime." He paused, fixing Lois with=20 a resolute expression so like her husband's. "I'm just not sure we=20 want to risk getting Superman's child involved in this situation." Lois frowned as her brain assimilated this idea. "You mean whoever=20 did this may be trying to get at *Superman,* not Clark, or me, or=85."=20 She paused. "Of course! It has to be!" She jumped to her feet.=20 "Conor, it has to be Tempus! No-one else would have the motive, or=20 the means. And Tempus has always wanted to split Clark=85 well,=20 Kal-El," she amended, remembering to whom she was speaking, "up from=20 his soul-mate." "And kill him - me," Conor added grimly. "And from what you and Clark=20 told us, he's also tried to kill you once or twice. And in my world,=20 he did kill the original Lois Lane." "In which case.=85" Lois's hand went to her throat. "I guess we'd=20 probably better stay well away from Jon." She sank down on the sofa=20 again as it sank in that she would have to be separated from her son=20 for even longer. Conor grimaced crookedly. "Maybe if we just go there for a quick=20 visit - you could still leave him with the Kents=85?" He wasn't quite=20 sure that even this suggestion was such a good idea if there was any=20 possibility that Tempus was watching them, but he could see that Lois=20 was upset and missing her son. She nodded. "I'd appreciate that, Conor. I hear what you're saying,=20 but you know, it's not as if Tempus won't know Clark and I have a=20 son." "You mean he'd go after Jon anyway?" Conor asked, incredulous. "Do=20 you think it'd be better if we brought him back here, where at least=20 I can protect him?" Lois wondered=20 bitterly. "No, I think I'd prefer him to stay with Jonathan and=20 Martha until we figure a way out of this." She paused then,=20 considering for a moment before continuing. "I'd better just give=20 them a call for now - there isn't really time to go there before I'm=20 due at the Planet." Conor's expression seemed to scream incredulity that Lois would think=20 about going into work at a time like this. Lois, however, glared at=20 him. "I *have* to get to work - there's no way I'm going to tell=20 Perry about what's happened, and anyway with the facilities at the=20 Planet I might be able to find out whether Tempus has been seen=20 anywhere in this world recently." "You mean *we* might," Conor replied abruptly. When Lois stared at=20 him in amazement, he explained. "How are you going to explain Clark's=20 absence? Yet more excuses about meeting a source? I'll come with you,=20 as Clark." When her expression suggested she would reject the idea he=20 added, "Look, Lois, we're in this together. I want to get home to=20 Laura as much as you want Clark back. And I think we need to work=20 together on this." "You're not a journalist," Lois objected. "I know when the other=20 Clark was here he pretended to be my Clark, but at least he knew the=20 paper, the people, how to behave.=85" Conor pulled a face. "Lois, I'm an actor. And I've played Clark Kent,=20 Daily Planet reporter, on TV for over a year - how hard can it be?" ***************** ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:17:38 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 2/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 2/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... ***************** - California, An Alternate Universe -=20 The flight back to Santa Monica had been almost unbearable, Laura=20 reflected as she made coffee back at the house. Clark had carried her=20 in his arms, of course, but she was used to flying with Conor like=20 that. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that Conor was no=20 longer here. And Clark, dressed in the Super-suit at any rate, looked=20 so like Conor. It would have been so tempting to nestle against him=20 in the way she would when with Conor; except that this was not Conor.=20 If nothing else, their scents were very different; Conor used a very=20 distinctive musky fragrance for men, while whatever Clark used was=20 quite different - sandalwood, she thought abstractedly. Clark himself had maintained a fixed, harsh expression as he had=20 flown them back. Laura realised that it must have been equally=20 difficult for him: he would be used to flying with Lois, of course,=20 and he would have far more memories of being with her than she,=20 Laura, had of Conor as Superman. But=85 Laura made a deliberate attempt to pull herself together.=20 she told herself firmly.=20 Returning to the living-room with two cups of coffee, she faced=20 Clark. "Okay, so when can you build a time-machine so we can get our=20 partners back?" Clark blinked. "I'm sorry?" "You know - build a machine like the one Wells had. In the script I=20 read for the show, you did that the time Tempus went back to 1966 to=20 kill you as a baby." Clark's expression cleared. "Laura, sure, I built a time-machine=20 then. But first, I had plans which showed me how to, and second,=20 *this* isn't a time-machine. It's an interdimensional transport." "Oh=85." Laura's face fell. "There's a difference?" Clark, putting aside his own anxiety for a moment, crossed to her to=20 place his hands reassuringly on her shoulders. "Hey, we'll find a way=20 through this, trust me. Lois and I have been in worse trouble before=20 now and we got through it. I'll get Conor back for you, and I'll find=20 Lois as well." Laura sighed; she really needed to start thinking positively. "I=20 guess Lois would be half-way to figuring out a solution by now?" Clark flicked her cheek lightly with his finger in an attempt to=20 cheer her up. "Sometimes. That's the way she is - I often just end up=20 watching her in disbelief. Forget all the things I can do - I just=20 can't keep up with her when she goes off on some tangent and comes up=20 with a brilliant solution." He paused, staring into the middle=20 distance as if remembering, then released Laura, taking a step back.=20 "But don't underestimate yourself. Conor told me how you figured out=20 who he really is - that was pretty smart." She shrugged. "I don't know - I just noticed a few things over the=20 months, and then when he kept us in the air after that accident=20 on-set, it all just fell into place." "Not for him," Clark pointed out softly.=20 "Okay," Laura said matter-of-factly, thinking that however nice Clark=20 was being, it wasn't getting them anywhere. "So what do we do now?=20 Hope that Mr Wells is okay and that he can come back for you?" But Clark shook his head, a discouraging expression on his face. "I'm=20 not sure that we can count on him. We have absolutely no idea what=20 Tempus might have done with him." "But what if an older version of him, knowing that Tempus did this,=20 comes instead?" This seemed possible to Laura; she couldn't actually=20 see HG Wells wanting this mixed-up situation to continue for any=20 longer than was absolutely unavoidable.=20 Clark considered this for a moment or two before responding. "I guess=20 it's possible - always supposing Tempus didn't just kill him. But=85"=20 he paused for a moment, then added, "Well, Tempus had opportunities=20 to kill Wells before now, and he didn't take them. We sort of got the=20 idea that he quite likes having Wells around - sees him as a=20 challenge." "Well, maybe he will come then." Laura made herself sound positive;=20 it was the only way to get through this situation, she reflected. She=20 had to convince herself that she would see Conor again.=20 It was hard, now, for her to remember a time when Conor hadn't been a=20 major part of her life. Even before the unforgettable day when they=20 had not only realised that he was actually Superman in reality, but=20 had also discovered their mutual love, Conor had been important to=20 her.=20 When they had first met, at auditions, she had been impressed by=20 Conor's strong physique and obvious good looks, but hadn't taken the=20 trouble to notice anything else about him. Even on the first time=20 they had been required to kiss for the cameras, she had simply=20 regarded it as another part of the job, a mechanical task which had=20 to be performed with strict precision. And yet, gradually, almost in=20 the same way as Lois had warmed to Clark, she had realised that Conor=20 was actually a very down-to-earth, funny and downright nice guy, and=20 they had gradually become friends. She had really missed him during=20 the summer interregnum, and their reunion when they started work on=20 the second season had been that of two close friends.=20 When she had fallen in love with him, she couldn't have said; all she=20 had known was that she gradually found it very hard to separate her=20 feelings for Conor from what she was sure were her character's=20 underlying feelings for Clark. When he had invaded her dreams for the=20 fourth night in succession, she had given up trying to pretend that=20 he was simply a friend, and had begun to look for an opportunity to=20 ask him out. Then there had been that morning in his trailer, when he=20 had completely unself-consciously stripped off his shirt in front of=20 her, and she had been unable to stop herself staring hungrily at him.=20 She had wanted to run her hands over his chest; instead, she had=20 simply, involuntarily, looked. And he had caught her at it, and if=20 they hadn't been disturbed, who knew what might have=85. But in any case, later that day things had resolved themselves, and=20 other than getting used to being engaged to someone with a double=20 life and two jobs to match, she had been blissfully happy ever since.=20 Until now=85. How would she cope if she never saw Conor again? **************** - The Daily Planet, Metropolis -=20 Conor glanced around him self-consciously yet again, trying to be=20 unobtrusive about it. Despite his over-confident assurances to Lois,=20 he did not particularly relish playing the role of Clark Kent for=20 real, whatever about being Superman. Sure, he knew quite a lot of=20 Clark's history, and by the look of it many of the Planet staff=20 looked exactly like the actors who had played them in his world, so=20 he was unlikely to make mistakes by failing to recognise someone=20 Clark worked with every day=85 unless, of course, there had been some=20 staff changes at the Planet. That was quite likely, he thought wryly;=20 it had been four years since the stage in Clark's career the second=20 season of the show had depicted. Although, so far, he had been=20 fortunate enough not to encounter anyone he hadn't recognised; even=20 Jimmy looked identical to the actor who had played the role in the=20 second season of the TV show. Dustin Frayling would be amused if he=20 knew that he, not the first-season actor, was the counterpart of the=20 real Jimmy, Conor thought inconsequentially. And, just as in the TV show, Jimmy called Clark 'CK'. That was=20 helpful; once Conor had heard the youthfully enthusiastic voice call=20 across the newsroom, "Hey, CK!" he had instantly known that the=20 speaker had to be Jimmy, even before he had caught sight of the young=20 man. Jimmy was as puppyish in his enthusiasm and eagerness as his TV=20 counterpart had played the role, though this Jimmy was some years=20 older and clearly more experienced. He was a little taller and=20 considerably thinner than Dustin had been; but then, this Jimmy was=20 about four years older. It was clear that Jimmy also considered=20 himself to be a good friend of 'CK's;' Conor just hoped that if the=20 younger man suggested a beer after work he would be able to continue=20 the deception and make appropriate responses to any comments. The interior of the Planet was also in some respects similar to the=20 set the TV company had used, which Conor found surprising. Okay, the=20 ceiling was real; there were no overhead lights and boom microphones=20 and wires trailing everywhere. The desks also looked as if they were=20 used, instead of simply having had a few pieces of paper scattered on=20 them for the sake of 'authenticity', and the computers were real. Yet=20 despite these differences, Conor had almost experienced a sense of=20 deja-vu when he had followed Lois through the elevator doors into the=20 newsroom=85. Once Lois had been persuaded that he should masquerade as Clark, she=20 had led the way upstairs and shown him the bathroom and spare=20 bedroom, and had then disappeared into her own room, returning a=20 couple of minutes later with a full change of clothing and a spare=20 pair of Clark's glasses. He had dressed quickly and then styled his=20 hair as Clark did, making use of the men's styling product which he'd=20 noticed in the bathroom. When Lois had returned, he had noticed her=20 instant shock and withdrawal with no surprise at all; after all, he=20 would have been equally disturbed to see Lois looking exactly like=20 Laura. Recognising that this was difficult for her, he had deliberately=20 tried to distract her. "So, are we ready to go?" "You're not," she had replied bluntly. At his questioning glance, she=20 had added, "Your hair. You can't go out like that." "What's wrong with my hair?" he had demanded. "I did it exactly=20 like.=85" he had finished silently. "It's too long," she had told him abruptly. "Clark wears his a lot=20 shorter now. You'll have to cut it." he had objected silently, but=20 decided not to say it aloud. She was right: there was no way he could=20 appear in the Planet newsroom with hair a couple of inches long than=20 Clark's had been only the day before. "Okay," he had conceded resignedly. "I'll need a couple of mirrors=85." "Bathroom," she had instructed quickly before leaving him to it. So he had shorn a couple of inches off his hair, using his=20 photographic memory to remember exactly how Clark's hair had looked.=20 When he'd finished, he would himself have been hard put to tell his=20 reflection apart from the real Clark Kent. In the car, Lois's attitude had made it clear that she would prefer=20 to pass the journey in silence, but Conor had felt that there were=20 things he needed to be aware of if he was to pass himself off=20 successfully as Clark. Sure, he was a professional actor, *and* he=20 had played Clark for the TV show until a few weeks ago - and from=20 everything Clark had said, 'their' Daily Planet was pretty much the=20 same as the real thing - but this was, in effect, a live performance.=20 No rehearsal. No re-takes if he made a mistake. He had to *be* Clark=20 Kent, and that included knowing exactly how Clark addressed=20 colleagues, any particular habits Clark was known for, and the=20 regular daily routine. So now here they were at the Planet, and he was doing his best to act=20 like a busy working journalist - however a busy working journalist=20 behaves, he reflected wearily. He wasn't entirely sure what he should=20 be doing, but he had booted up Clark's computer and was now trying to=20 make it appear that he was busy writing up a story; in fact, he had=20 started by trying to piece together an account of what had happened=20 on that beach in the Caribbean. This, however, had ceased as soon as=20 Perry White had strolled over and demanded to know when 'Clark' would=20 be ready to turn in his story on some pensions fraud. Conor had thought, surreptitiously glancing over at Lois to=20 see whether she had caught this exchange. It seemed that she hadn't,=20 so he had given Perry what he hoped was a realistic, Clark-like,=20 confident smile and a response that the story would be finished by=20 lunchtime. This had seemed to satisfy the editor, since he had simply=20 grunted and walked off. So now Conor was faced with the task of producing a newspaper article=20 on an investigation he knew nothing about. Playing Clark Kent on=20 television had certainly not prepared him for this. Lois had still=20 seemed to be occupied with whatever was engaging her attention, so he=20 had turned his attention to Clark's hard drive. It hadn't been too=20 difficult to find the files relating to Clark's current stories; the=20 man appeared to be highly organised, unlike his wife judging by the=20 clutter on Lois's desk. He quickly found the draft of the pensions=20 article, and realised that although it was substantially complete,=20 there were missing chunks where Clark had inserted a note to himself=20 to 'do more research' or 'add piece on motive/evidence'. =20 thought Conor; He searched Clark's desk; the surface area was almost empty, but in=20 one of the drawers he found a file which seemed to relate to this=20 story. Quickly glancing around to ensure that no-one was watching=20 him, he read the contents of the file at super-speed. Some of the=20 information Clark had wanted to add was there, so in the absence of=20 any other solution - and given that he was anxious not to arouse any=20 suspicions or do anything which might cause trouble for Clark later -=20 Conor wrote a couple of additional paragraphs dealing with the=20 material which Clark had signalled was necessary, doing his best to=20 emulate Clark's style as he did so. As he was finishing, he became aware of someone approaching; he=20 concentrated briefly with his super-senses and realised that it was=20 Lois. Turning to greet her with a deliberate smile intended for=20 public consumption, he murmured softly, "I really need to talk to=20 you." "I'll bet you do," she replied almost under her breath, but knowing=20 that he could hear her. "What are you doing with Clark's files?" She was now leaning against his desk, a mere couple of feet from him,=20 so he could speak quietly. "Your editor wanted this story today, so I=20 thought I'd better make it look like I was doing some work." Lois turned her attention to the computer screen, clearly scanning=20 his additions. He noticed her frown, then look taken aback; possibly=20 his work was better than she'd expected. As she straightened,=20 however, all she said was, "You'd better email this to me when you're=20 done so I can take a look at it. I know Clark's style better than he=20 does and if anything's wrong I can fix it." Conor raised an eyebrow in resigned amusement. Clearly his work=20 couldn't be all that bad or she would never have suggested that she=20 would just look it over. If she'd really thought it was terrible, she=20 would just have taken over. He simply nodded, then added, "We should=20 try to get out of here at lunchtime - talk, see whether either of us=20 has come up with anything." She simply nodded at that, adding quietly, "I really want to see Jon=20 later." "I haven't forgotten," he assured her. "Whenever you want to go, I'll=20 take you." She went back to her own desk, leaving him to get on with the story;=20 when he'd done all he could on that and sent it to her, he set to=20 work at figuring out all the databases to which the Daily Planet had=20 access. He wasn't entirely sure what he was searching for, but he=20 entered 'Tempus' and 'time travel' as part of his searches. To his=20 surprise, he found some matches, but upon reading the information=20 provided he discovered that it referred to the time when Tempus had=20 escaped from the asylum and been elected President. Lois and Clark=20 had told him and Laura about that incident the day they'd gone to=20 Smallville. he reflected He sat back in his chair and pondered the situation. Not being an=20 investigative reporter like his counterpart, he was unused to looking=20 at complicated situations and thinking his way logically through=20 them; his powers of deduction, he supposed, were sadly under-used.=20 Without the intervention of HG Wells, he could see no way out of this=20 predicament; he certainly had no idea where to find an=85 an=20 interdimensional transport, Lois had called it. And he simply could=20 not remember what had happened to Mr Wells in the confusion on the=20 beach. But if Wells had not travelled with them to Metropolis, did=20 that mean that he was still in Conor's own dimension? And if so,=20 surely Clark would be able to work with him to find some solution,=20 assuming that Tempus had removed the transport from Wells' reach. Lois had mused aloud, on the journey into the Planet - during which=20 Conor had been silently amused to discover that she really did drive=20 a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee, though a newer model than his show had=20 used - about the possibility of getting some scientist friend of=20 theirs to help. A Dr Bernard Clint=85 no, Klein, that was the man's=20 name. It seemed the scientist worked at STAR Labs, which was news to=20 Conor; although STAR Labs had occasionally featured in the TV show,=20 it had never been suggested that Lois, Clark or Superman had a=20 special relationship with any of its staff. Now it appeared that=20 Klein was in a sense Superman's personal physician. Conor hadn't=20 quite worked out whether Klein was aware of Superman's real identity,=20 and hadn't wanted to risk antagonising Lois by enquiring. He had=20 already had a lecture from her about being very careful in the use of=20 his powers and the need to ensure that *no-one* became suspicious=20 about either Superman or Clark. He frowned as he considered Lois's hostility towards him. It had=20 started the instant she had realised that he, rather than Clark,=20 occupied the seat beside her in the transport as it had settled in=20 the back yard of her home. He understood perfectly the reason for it:=20 it certainly couldn't be easy for her, being separated from her=20 husband and fearing that she might never see him again, while at the=20 same time being confronted with a man who looked identical to Clark,=20 was even wearing his clothes and pretending to be her husband. But he=20 just wished that she would remember that he was also missing Laura -=20 and while Lois and Laura did not look identical, due to different=20 hairstyles and preference in clothes, she *sounded* like Laura, and=20 with longer hair it would be difficult to tell them apart.=20 His musings were interrupted suddenly as his super-hearing kicked in;=20 someone was calling for help, and it sounded serious. There was no=20 way that Superman could fail to respond, and he glanced around=20 resignedly to ensure that he could make his exit undetected. There=20 was no way that he wanted to endanger Clark's relationship with his=20 work colleagues by any careless behaviour. No-one was paying him any=20 particular attention, and so he hurried off in the general direction=20 of the restrooms, ducking around the corner to the fire escape once=20 out of sight of the newsroom. **************** ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:17:53 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 3/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 3/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... **************** Lois noticed Conor hurrying out of the newsroom and slumped in her=20 chair, muscles she hadn't even realised she had been tensing=20 instantly relaxing. It had been sheer torture sitting at her desk and=20 continually catching glimpses of him, sitting at Clark's desk which=20 was directly in her line of vision, using Clark's computer, looking=20 *exactly* like Clark; but not Clark. Her first instinct had been=20 right, she reflected: she should have insisted that he stay at home=20 and let her tell Perry that Clark was sick. Maybe they could still do=20 that, she mused; she would tell Conor, when he returned, to plead a=20 headache or something and go back to the house. She couldn't possibly=20 make it through the day with him there. It wasn't that she disliked Conor, she acknowledged wearily. Far from=20 it; after that first awkward half-hour or so both she and Clark had=20 come to like their counterparts enormously, and all four had very=20 much enjoyed their 'time out' in the Caribbean. But however much she=20 liked him, Conor was not Clark; she now faced separation from Clark=20 for God-knew how long, and having to *pretend* that Conor was Clark=20 was just=85 more than she could stand. And telling Jonathan and Martha what had happened had been very=20 painful too, she remembered, her mind drifting back to that telephone=20 conversation before they had left the town house. It hadn't been=20 quite the most difficult conversation she had ever had with Clark's=20 parents: that had been the time she'd had to call them after Tempus=20 had managed to send Clark into infinity. On that occasion, she really=20 had believed that he was gone for ever. This time, as far as she knew=20 he was simply stranded in another dimension, while one of his=20 alternate counterparts was in Metropolis in his place.=20 The Kents had assured her that Jon was fine, that he seemed to be=20 very content to be with his grandparents and that they were perfectly=20 happy to keep him for the time being. Lois was only slightly=20 reassured at this, as she had felt a little hurt that her son should=20 be so happy away from her. Martha had been as supportive as ever,=20 soothing Lois and stating with confidence her belief that Clark would=20 find a way home to Lois. Jonathan had added that if Conor was in any=20 way like Clark, he would also do his best to right the situation.=20 Lois was less sure about that: after all, Conor had only been=20 Superman in his world for a very short time, and as far as she could=20 tell, he was not as resourceful as Clark. No, she reflected; if it=20 was up to her and Conor to find a way out of this, it would be her=20 own efforts which would find a solution. She grimaced, realising that she couldn't sit at her desk in=20 contemplation all day without inviting unwanted attention, and forced=20 herself to focus on work. Turning her attention to her computer=20 screen, she noticed that the minimised icon representing her mailbox=20 was blinking; on calling it up, she noticed that at some point Conor=20 must have sent her Clark's pensions fraud story. Sighing, she opened=20 the file in the expectation of having to do substantial rewriting.=20 However, she was thoroughly taken aback to discover that the sections=20 Conor had added - which he had clearly marked as additions, for her=20 benefit - were actually pretty good. The style was also very similar=20 to Clark's: he must have spent some time studying Clark's writing=20 style, Lois realised. All that was required for her to do was to make=20 a couple of minor stylistic changes in keeping with the Planet's=20 house style guide; nothing of substance needed altering. Some time later, she was conscious of someone hovering behind her;=20 without turning around, she knew that it was Conor. she=20 thought ill-humouredly. She turned to face him, at the same time as he took a further step=20 towards her and placed a hand caressingly on her shoulder. Taking a=20 sharp intake of breath, she gazed deliberately down at his hand and=20 then glared at him. He bent and inclined his head towards her, a=20 half-smile on his lips which didn't quite appear to reach his eyes. "Lois," he murmured softly, his tone gentle and his words low enough=20 not to be overheard, "we have a problem." "Yes?" Her tone was not inviting. "I overheard your colleagues talking=85 super-hearing=85 they all think=20 we've - or you and Clark have - had a fight, because we're not, ah=85=20 well, being affectionate to each other the way you and he normally=20 are. I wasn't sure if you wanted them to go on thinking that." Lois was silent for a moment as she considered the consequences of=20 this. Of course, if her colleagues believed that she and 'Clark' had=20 fought, then they wouldn't expect any public demonstrations of=20 affection. On the other hand, what *she* could expect would be=20 well-meaning interventions from people like Perry and Jimmy, anxious=20 to discover what was wrong and to help them make amends. And there=20 would be the newsroom gossips, agog to discover what had gone wrong=20 for the Planet's 'perfect couple', as they had been dubbed=20 sardonically by one or two jealous individuals. And of course, Conor=20 would be at the receiving end of sympathetic glances and advances=20 >from certain of the women in one or two other Planet departments, who=20 had always been attracted to Clark and would simply jump at the=20 opportunity to take advantage of trouble between Lois and 'Clark'. Did she want all of that to happen? Of course she didn't. She turned to glance at Conor. "Okay, no, I don't. But=85" her voice=20 dropped to a whisper in the knowledge that Conor could hear her, "I=20 can't=85 *pretend* that you're Clark in that way." He moved closer, protecting her from curious eyes with his body.=20 "It's no problem, Lois." His head moved even closer to hers, giving=20 the impression to any observers that he was whispering sweet nothings=20 into her ear. "Trust me here, Lois - I'm an actor, it's my job to=20 know how to make this look convincing. Just follow my lead." As she nodded faintly, he swivelled her chair slightly so that, she=20 realised, she was more fully in view of those colleagues who sat=20 nearby. Keeping his hand on her shoulder, he asked, in a soft,=20 affectionate tone which was pitched at a level designed to project=20 some distance away, "So I'm forgiven, then, sweetheart?" Lois conceded silently, She=20 smiled in return, realising suddenly that, although he had placed her=20 in a position where she could be seen, she wasn't in anyone's direct=20 line of vision and so her facial expressions would not be as visible=20 as his - and therefore did not need to be as convincing. "Yes, you're=20 forgiven," she replied, forcing a playful note into her voice. "Good." Conor's voice was now deeper in pitch, his eyes focusing on=20 hers. His hand shifted from her shoulder, curving itself along her=20 jaw and into her hair. Lois realised with a shock,=20 then remembered that Conor had also touched Laura in just the same=20 way. He must have remembered that she had remarked on it, Lois=20 thought, forcing herself to relax and act as if she welcomed the=20 caress.=20 His head lowered. Lois froze momentarily as she realised his=20 intentions. she thought agitatedly. "No! - I=20 can't do this!" she whispered, knowing that Conor could hear her. "Trust me, Lois," he replied softly, under his breath. He was very=20 close now; she could feel his breath against her face. She tried not=20 to jerk away as his lips touched her, but then realised in amazement=20 that instead of kissing her full on the lips, he was actually kissing=20 just above her upper lip. His mouth was moving in a parody of a=20 passionate kiss, but it was barely touching her own lips. "Act as if you're kissing me back," he whispered, under cover of=20 shifting his grip on her. She tried to comply, closing her eyes and=20 remembering similar occasions when Clark had kissed her at her desk.=20 It was still a relief when Conor straightened.=20 "That's a TV technique," he murmured very quietly. "Believe me, from=20 the right angle it looks exactly like a real, passionate kiss - and=20 this will have been the right angle." Lois nodded, feeling herself incapable of any other comment at that=20 precise moment. She was grateful when Conor then suggested that they=20 should go out for lunch; it meant a break from the need to pretend in=20 front of the newsroom, and a chance to recover from this faking of an=20 intimate moment. She allowed him to help her to her feet and into her=20 jacket, and then led the way out of the newsroom. ***************** - California, an Alternate Universe -=20 It was past dawn, Clark noticed; he must have been flying all night.=20 He felt a momentary twinge of guilt at leaving Laura alone and=20 unprotected, but after she had departed to her own bedroom and left=20 him to his own devices, he had realised that he couldn't face simply=20 going to bed in the guest-room. Not without Lois; not with her double=20 sleeping just down the hall. As he had said to Lois when they had first arrived in Santa Monica,=20 Laura looked exactly like Lois. He was aware that none of the other=20 three recognised the resemblance to the same degree, but then,=20 neither Conor nor Laura had seen Lois as she had been in the first=20 couple of years of their partnership. Laura wore her hair exactly as=20 Lois had done then, and while her manner was generally softer than=20 Lois's had been in the first few months of their acquaintance, she=20 occasionally had flashes of the old Lane temper which, these days,=20 was rarely seen. The return flight from the Caribbean had been very=20 difficult for him; all his instincts had been to cradle Laura tightly=20 against him, and yet however much his body was urging him to cuddle=20 and caress her, his brain was reminding him that she was not Lois,=20 his much-loved wife and partner, but her identical, alternate-world,=20 twin. Of course, as long as Lois had been with him in this alternate=20 universe, none of this had presented a problem. Laura had simply been=20 Laura Lindsay, fiancee of his counterpart Conor Kane. He had liked=20 Laura very much, just as he liked Conor. Now, he found it difficult=20 to be in her company. And yet, he recognised, he had no choice but to=20 be in her company, for as long as it took to get this mess sorted=20 out. This problem had been caused by Tempus, who no doubt had his own=20 dastardly agenda. In fact, before leaving Tempus had assured them=20 that he would be back; that they would be seeing him soon. Clark had=20 no doubt at all that this would not be a friendly visit. He landed silently in the shadowed end of Conor's large garden and,=20 spinning quickly into his jeans and T-shirt, walked swiftly back=20 towards the house. Lowering his glasses, he saw that Laura was in the=20 kitchen making coffee. She looked tired and there were dark shadows=20 under her eyes; she had also not taken her usual trouble over her=20 hair and clothes. He felt a pang of guilt at not having been there=20 when she had come down; clearly she had not been able to sleep either. Striding into the kitchen, he greeted her kindly; she spun around to=20 stare at him.=20 "Clark! I - I thought you must be upstairs still."=20 He grimaced, shaking his head. "I couldn't sleep - I went out=20 flying." He accepted the coffee she offered him, adding, "Did you=20 manage to sleep at all?" She shook her head, her dark hair swinging lightly around her face.=20 "Not really. I kept seeing Conor on that beach=85 collapsing=85. Clark,=20 what if this Tempus killed him?" she asked fearfully. He smiled, he hoped reassuringly, at her. "I don't think he's done=20 that - apart from anything else, he didn't have any Kryptonite with=20 him. I don't know what he's done with them, but something tells me=20 they're not harmed in any way." Not yet, he added silently. He sighed=20 deeply. "I guess, from what Tempus said before he left, that he's got=20 plans - he intends to take his own good time over this." He fell silent then, leaning against the counter as he stared=20 broodingly into his coffee. There was another very real fear which=20 was preying on his mind, which he had not so far allowed Laura to=20 guess at, and that concerned Jon. If Tempus was in Metropolis, if he=20 intended to try yet again to prevent the creation of Utopia, then he=20 would also have to kill the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane - unless=20 he had some evil plan in mind to subvert the child. If he and Lois=20 were out of the way, and Jon was brought up by someone with, for=20 example, the ethics of a Tempus or a Lex Luthor, the end result might=20 well be the same - if not worse. An evil Super-being=85 it didn't bear=20 thinking about. And it could happen, Clark reflected. He recalled his conversation=20 with Lois on the night they had spent together in this house. He had=20 argued that upbringing had a lot to do with the differing=20 personalities and ethics of the three Supermen they knew: he, Conor=20 and the other Clark. Being brought up by Martha and Jonathan Kent had=20 been a major influence on his own thinking and morality, Clark was=20 aware; it was also bound to have affected the other Clark despite his=20 having lost his parents at the age of ten. Conor had not had the=20 Kents as role-models, and as such his outlook differed from Clark's=20 in a few respects: he had quite a pessimistic nature, and was more=20 lacking in self-confidence in some respects than Clark had ever been.=20 And should the one-year-old Jon Kent be taken out of his current=20 environment and be surrounded with amoral evil, who knew how he might=20 end up? He hoped that Lois had the good sense to leave Jon with his parents;=20 he was aware that she would want to see their son, and fully expected=20 that she would insist that Conor take her to Smallville. But he=20 really did not want Jon brought back to Metropolis. He refused,=20 however, to allow himself to admit that part of this reluctance was=20 due to the possibility of Jon believing that Conor was his father.=20 It had only been in the past month or so that Jon had begun to speak;=20 he called Clark Da-Da and Lois Mama now, and was beginning to learn=20 other baby-words. As soon as he saw Clark each morning now, the=20 toddler held out his arms to be lifted out of his crib, and then=20 wanted to be placed on the floor from where he could walk in a few=20 tottering steps across to his father; he would then cling to Clark's=20 lower leg and scream delightedly for Clark to take a few steps with=20 Jon hanging onto his leg. Then there were rituals connected with=20 mealtimes, bath-times, bedtime; playtime in the living-room where=20 Clark would wave Jon's toys around just out of the child's reach=20 while Jon shouted excitedly as he tried to grab them. Then Clark=20 would swing his son up and carry him around the room on his shoulder,=20 something Lois now found difficult since the one-year-old was getting=20 quite heavy. The thought that Conor might take his place in these=20 rituals was something Clark found very difficult to accept. He forced himself to concentrate on his surroundings then as he=20 realised that Laura was watching him through lowered eyelashes.=20 "Sorry - I was miles away," he apologised. But she shook her head. "No problem. I guess you're thinking about=20 the same thing as I am." He gave her a wry smile. "I guess." He took a deep breath, telling=20 himself that he needed to stop brooding and concentrate on dealing=20 with the situation. The problem was that so far, no solution had=20 occurred to him; the hours spent flying had not even given him the=20 barest germ of an idea.=20 "So what do we do now?" Laura asked, running her hand through her=20 loose, unstyled hair. "Try to contact HG Wells?" "I wish I could," Clark replied. "I've never been able to, though -=20 he tends to contact us when he needs us." She nodded, as if this made sense to her. Shifting away from her=20 position leaning against the counter opposite Clark, she remarked, "I=20 suppose I should go take a shower and get dressed properly." "Yeah, me too," he agreed. Laura halted on her way out of the kitchen. "Clark, I=85 I don't know=20 what you thought we should do for the immediate future, but=85 well, I=20 think maybe you should pretend to be Conor for now. I mean, just in=20 case anyone should see you - well, we don't want to have to explain=20 where Conor's gone, or who you are, do we?" Clark stilled; that hadn't occurred to him. "I guess you're right. So=20 - I need to look like him, right? No glasses, casual hairstyle?" "That should do," Laura replied. "You can borrow any of his clothes=20 you need as well." A couple of hours later, Clark sat across from Laura on one of the=20 sofas in the large, airy lounge as she briefed him on things which=20 she felt he ought to know about Conor and about the two of them. He=20 was feeling a little awkward without his customary glasses, and had=20 to keep reminding himself that they were not an essential part of his=20 disguise in this world. As they talked, they were interrupted=20 suddenly by the sound of a buzzer; Laura looked perturbed and=20 explained that there was someone at the gates of the house. The=20 buzzer sounded again, twice, impatiently; Laura sighed and muttered=20 that she'd better see who it was.=20 Clark, left to his own devices momentarily, found himself listening=20 in on Laura's conversation with his super-hearing. Shocked, he heard=20 a female voice, distorted by the electronic intercom, mounting a=20 tirade. "=85and I realised that if I waited until you invited me to come and=20 visit I'd still be waiting next year! To think that I have to stand=20 at the gate and *ask* for *permission* to come in and see my *own*=85." Laura's mother, Clark thought with a resigned grin. He didn't even=20 have to see the woman to know that he was about to meet Karen Lindsay=20 - Karen Lane as was, he mused. Of course, Laura's mother was actually=20 related to Sam Lane, he reminded himself, going over in his mind what=20 he knew of Laura's family tree. Karen Lindsay was the daughter of Sam=20 Lane's brother and so, he realised, there was actually no reason why=20 she should be anything like Ellen Lane. But from the sound of that=20 brief harangue.... Laura came hurrying back into the room at that moment, an apologetic,=20 harassed expression on her face. "I'm sorry, Clark, but it's - " "Your mother," he finished in a sympathetic tone. "Yeah. I've had to tell her to come on in," she replied, looking=20 anxious. "Of course you did," Clark reassured her. "Look, it's okay. Just tell=20 me quickly - how well does she know Conor?" Laura shrugged. "Not all that well. She's met him about three or four=20 times - we all went out for a meal and spent the next day together=20 when she visited LA last year, then I took Conor home with me for a=20 day a few months ago." "What does he call her?" Clark enquired, not wanting to make any=20 mistakes which would be noticed. "Karen," Laura informed him. "Oh - and he'd probably kiss her cheek=20 or something like that. He's pretty=85 courtly with older women." Clark reflected, thinking that it=20 was probably his parents' example which led him to treat his elders=20 with respect. He certainly wouldn't have called Lois's mother 'Ellen'=20 on such short acquaintance, but then Conor and Laura were engaged.=20 Perhaps Conor had talked with Karen Lindsay on the telephone as well,=20 he thought, but didn't get an opportunity to ask Laura since they=20 were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. Thinking that, since this was Conor's house, he should show some sort=20 of welcome to 'his' future mother-in-law, Clark followed Laura out to=20 the door and stood just behind her as she admitted her mother.=20 Physically, Karen Lindsay bore no resemblance at all to Ellen Lane;=20 if anything, she resembled Sam Lane. She was not especially tall, but=20 her bone-structure and the shape of her eyes were very reminiscent of=20 Sam, Clark thought; he wondered idly what Laura's father looked like. ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:18:08 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 4/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 4/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... ------------- But he was given no opportunity to continue this train of thought,=20 since Karen Lindsay was marching smartly across the hall towards him,=20 talking non-stop as she went. "I must say, I would never have imagined that my daughter would get=20 engaged and *not* invite me to celebrate with her and my future=20 son-in-law. I really think it's most discourteous behaviour of you=20 both, leaving me to make my own way out here to see you. Anyone would=20 think that your mother was *unwelcome,* Laura. If your father was=20 alive to see how you treat me, he'd turn in his grave=85." Trying not to show his amusement at this piece of illogicality, or in=20 fact the uncanny resemblance to Ellen Lane at her most verbose, Clark=20 stepped forward to touch the older woman's arm. "It's good to see=20 you, Karen," he murmured, bending to plant a kiss on her cheek. "And=20 I'm sorry we hadn't managed to invite you here yet - it's just been=20 really busy over the last few weeks, you know? Moving Laura in here,=20 getting engaged, dealing with the Press=85." He let the sentence hang,=20 hoping for his counterpart's sake that Mrs Lindsay would accept the=20 explanation. It would at least be some small thing Clark could do for=20 Conor if he ensured that the man's future mother-in-law didn't bear a=20 grudge against her daughter's fiance.=20 As the morning progressed, Clark did his best to present a convincing=20 impersonation of Conor; he appeared to be succeeding, he thought. Or=20 perhaps it was simply that Karen Lindsay seemed to be similar to=20 Ellen Lane in other respects as well? She certainly seemed to be=20 quite self-centred, he thought with some relief. While she pursued=20 with great vigour a discussion about wedding plans, her aim appeared=20 to be to ensure that Conor and Laura got married with as much=20 publicity - and as much exposure for the bride's mother - as possible. Allowing his mind to wander a little as Laura and her mother=20 discussed bridesmaids' dresses - with no great show of enthusiasm on=20 Laura's part, Clark noted - it occurred to him that Karen Lindsay was=20 actually from out of town. Did this mean that she was expecting to be=20 invited to stay? His heart sank at the prospect. It was not so much=20 that he felt dread at the prospect of a day or two in the company of=20 someone who resembled his own mother-in-law; he was by now well=20 accustomed to handling Ellen Lane, and he felt confident that he had=20 now achieved a good and warm relationship with her. It was the=20 thought that he would have to continue pretending to be Conor, in the=20 company of the woman who would be Conor's mother-in-law. He would be=20 carrying on the masquerade while being observed at close quarters,=20 and by someone who would expect him to be intimate with Laura. He had done his best to give the impression of a man deeply in love;=20 he had sat next to Laura on the sofa and draped his arm around her=20 shoulders, taking her hand in his free one. She had played her part=20 as well, giving him loving glances every so often; Clark could see=20 why Laura Lindsay was so highly regarded as an actress. He could see=20 that her glances and smiles did not reach her eyes, but no-one who=20 was any further away from her would be able to tell. Just when he was despairing at the thought that Mrs Lindsay was=20 surely intending to stay, she got to her feet and announced that she=20 had to drive into Beverly Hills to meet a friend. It seemed they had=20 plans for lunch and shopping on Rodeo Drive. Laura shot a quick=20 glance at Clark, at once apologetic and long-suffering, before=20 turning back to her mother.=20 "Would you like me to come with you, Mother?" she enquired sweetly. "Well, I did hope that you'd come," Karen replied in a long-suffering=20 tone. "We haven't even got around to discussing your engagement party=20 yet, and I simply have to choose something to wear for that. And I=20 want to talk to you about where we're going to hold it. Beverly Hills=20 is simply too passe these days, and *I* thought we should consider=20 chartering a plane and holding the party in New York." She got to her=20 feet and collected her things before turning to face Clark. "So,=20 Conor, I'd like you to start putting together a list of your friends=20 and family so that we know how many invitations we need to have=20 printed=85." "*Mother*!" Laura interrupted. "Can we talk about this another time,=20 please? I'm not even sure=85 I mean, Conor and I don't know if we want=20 any fuss about this, let alone an engagement party." Karen swept out the door, leaving Laura to trail along helplessly=20 behind her. As Clark stood, Laura turned back to throw him a=20 regretful, apologetic glance; Clark gestured that it was okay and=20 that he'd see her later. "I'm sorry, Clark," Laura murmured under cover of her mother's=20 babbling. "I'll be back as soon as I can=85." Lois would have appreciated this, Clark thought as the door slammed=20 behind the two Lindsay women. She would probably also have taken=20 Laura aside later and warned her about the problems inherent in=20 allowing her mother too much of a say over the wedding plans, he=20 reflected with a wry smile, remembering his own appalled disbelief=20 over plans for Swiss bell-ringers, white doves and far more guests=20 than he had ever wanted at his wedding. Still, he was now alone for at least three hours, he recognised,=20 dragging his attention back to the present. Time to take a flight=20 around the city, perhaps; he could cover for Conor by allowing=20 Superman to be seen out and about, while at the same time he could=20 try yet again to think of a way out of this mess. **************** - 348 Hyperion Avenue, Metropolis -=20 Reluctant though she was to admit it, Lois realised that the=20 'romantic interlude' she and Conor had faked at the Planet that=20 morning had helped her to relax in his company and had banished much=20 of her resentment of him. She supposed that at some subconscious=20 level she might have suspected, or feared, that he would want to take=20 Clark's place, and as such she had been ready to resist any such=20 moves. But Conor did not want to do that; it was plain to her now=20 that he wanted to get back to his own world, and to his fiancee, as=20 much as she wanted Clark back. Conor was nothing like the Clark from=20 the other alternate universe; although Lois was fond of that Clark,=20 she had been alarmed when he had stepped over the invisible line=20 between a friend who was helping out, and someone who was trying to=20 muscle in on Clark's territory. Twice that Clark had pleaded with=20 Lois to love him; it had been clear that he was so lonely, so alone,=20 in his own world, and at the time there had been no Lois Lane in that=20 world. She remembered HG Wells' comment that the other Clark had now found=20 the Lois of his own world, and briefly she felt pleased for him. He=20 didn't deserve to be alone and unhappy. Conor, on the other hand, had everything he wanted in his own world,=20 and Lois knew now that she had no need to protect herself, or Clark's=20 interests, from him. He was no predator; he had no wish to usurp=20 Clark's position. From something he had said over the lunch they had=20 shared in a sandwich bar, it was clear that he understood perfectly=20 her fears on the subject: he had remarked that, Tempus aside, it was=20 just as well that Jon was staying with the Kents for the time being,=20 since it wouldn't be fair to confuse the child. Lois suspected that=20 Conor had also felt that it would not be fair to Clark for him to=20 spend time with Jon. Back in the newsroom that afternoon, Conor had surprised her still=20 further. They had agreed that they had to behave as Lois and Clark=20 would normally, which meant getting each other coffees, touching=20 affectionately any time they passed each other, and giving each other=20 long, loving glances. Surprisingly enough, this hadn't been=20 difficult, Lois now realised. Conor had made it easier for her by,=20 over lunch, teaching her a few techniques used by experienced actors=20 when performing romantic or erotic scenes for the cameras. Reminding=20 herself continually that it was all pretence had helped enormously. But towards the end of the afternoon, they had been seated together=20 at Clark's desk going through the details of a profile Lane and Kent=20 had been writing for the Saturday edition, when one of the Planet's=20 travel writers had approached. Carl had spoken to Conor on the=20 pretext of asking his opinion of Peru, a country which he knew Clark=20 had visited. It was obvious to Lois that Conor had never been to Peru=20 in his life, but he had maintained a reasonably convincing=20 conversation with Carl for a few minutes before the older man had=20 wandered off again. Lois had thrown Conor an apologetic glance. "Sorry about that - it's=20 just=85 well=85." She had trailed off with a grimace, unsure of how to=20 continue. He had given her a conspiratorial grin. "No problem. Let me guess -=20 he fancies Clark?" Lois had stared at him. "Well, yes=85 I mean, most people around here=20 know that, but you wouldn't believe how long it took for Clark to=20 realise=85. He just hasn't a clue about how attractive he is, and he=20 had no idea Carl's gay." Conor had laughed aloud, causing a number of heads to turn in their=20 direction; he had fended off the attention by pretending to share a=20 joke with Lois before returning to the original subject. "He's a bit=85=20 well, not exactly worldly, isn't he?" he had murmured with an amused=20 smile. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course!" he had=20 added quickly before Lois could take offence. Not that she had been=20 going to; she agreed with Conor on that score. And now they were about to travel to Smallville to see Jon; Lois had=20 called Jonathan and Martha to let them know they could expect=20 visitors in about half an hour. She was still a little unsure about=20 flying with Conor, however: no matter how relaxed she had become in=20 his company, she was still about to fly several hundred miles in his=20 arms - the arms of a man who looked exactly like this world's=20 Superman, a man with whom Lois had flown hundreds of times. Still,=20 she wanted - needed - to see Jon, and unless she wanted to fly by=20 conventional means, she was going to have to let Conor take her. If Lois had only realised it, Conor was no more looking forward to=20 the flight than she was. He didn't particularly relish the prospect=20 of carrying Lois in his arms for the duration of such a long journey,=20 for one thing: she did look, and sound, too like Laura, and he was=20 really missing his fiancee now. But he was also very nervous at the=20 prospect of meeting Jonathan and Martha Kent. If things had gone as=20 planned, the Kents of his world would have been his parents, and he=20 already felt envious of Clark's evidently happy childhood.=20 He wondered idly whether the Kents would also physically resemble the=20 actors who had played them in the show; so far, all of the familiar=20 characters from the TV show had resembled their real-life=20 counterparts. It seemed very strange that this should be the case,=20 particularly as, in some cases, there were real-life counterparts in=20 his world as well. Martha and Jonathan Kent, for instance, had=20 existed, but had died a few years earlier. If Clark's parents looked=20 like the show's actors, had the real Kents in Conor's world also=20 looked like these Kents? He shook his head; all this alternate universe stuff was difficult=20 enough to cope with, without figuring out the added complication of=20 Clark Kent's life being mirrored in the Marner Sisters TV show. Right=20 now, he had to focus on taking Lois to Smallville to see her son. He=20 wondered wryly whether he would be allowed to see young Jon Kent;=20 although he was very conscious of all the reasons why it would be=20 sensible for the child not to see *him*, he did like the idea of=20 seeing the child he and Laura might have in the future. Time to go, he realised, as Lois came down the stairs dressed in a=20 warm jacket and holding a small bag. He quickly spun into his=20 Superman outfit and turned to her. "You'd better tell me the best way=20 to make a discreet exit." ***************** - Smallville, Kansas -=20 Conor landed softly in the dark shadows of the yard behind the Kents'=20 house, thinking with irony of their visit to the Smallville of his=20 world just two days earlier. He had never imagined, at that point,=20 that he would be visiting what he thought of as the real Kent=20 farmhouse; but then, neither had he imagined that he would be living=20 in Metropolis, masquerading as Clark Kent. He was only just getting=20 used to the reality of being Superman, a character he had played on=20 TV; now he was also having to play, for real, the other half of the=20 Clark Kent persona. He allowed Lois to slide to the ground, gratefully relinquishing his=20 grasp of her. Avoiding her questioning gaze, he studied the house in=20 front of him uncertainly; he was half-tempted to suggest to Lois that=20 he should go flying for an hour or so and return to pick her up=20 later. Although he had no doubt that Clark's parents were nice people=20 and would make him welcome, he felt sure that they would not be too=20 happy to have him there while their son was missing. He was reluctant=20 to make them uncomfortable, and he desperately searched for the words=20 to explain his feelings to Lois. But she gave him no opportunity, instead catching his arm and urging=20 him forward. "Come on, Conor, it's cold out here!" Conor needn't have worried; the Kents were very welcoming despite=20 their obvious fears for their own son's safety. Jonathan and Martha=20 exclaimed at the likeness to Clark, which led Conor to explain=20 sheepishly that he didn't normally wear glasses; he immediately=20 removed the pair of Clark's glasses which he still wore.=20 Lois, after exchanging greetings and hugs with her parents-in-law,=20 hurried upstairs to Clark's old bedroom where Jon was sleeping in=20 Clark's old crib. Martha caught Conor glancing towards the stairs=20 once or twice during their conversation about Lois and Clark's visit=20 to Conor's world, and smiled. "Would you like to see Jon, Conor?" Conor stilled. "Yeah, I would=85 but I didn't want to intrude. And the=20 last thing I want is to upset Lois by having Jon think I'm his dad." "He's got a point there, Martha," Jonathan interjected. "I don't think Lois would feel you're intruding, Conor," Martha=20 assured him warmly. "And as for Jon thinking you're Clark, well=85 he=20 should be asleep now, so it shouldn't arise." Conor glanced towards the stairs again, as his super-hearing picked=20 up the sounds of light footsteps. A short while later Lois strolled=20 into the kitchen, murmuring softly to her son as she walked. She held=20 Jon balanced on her hip, and he was very much awake. For an instant,=20 Conor contemplated excusing himself to go and wait outside; before he=20 could do so, however, he felt Martha Kent's hand on his arm. He shot=20 her a surprised glance, wondering how she had guessed his intention. His attention was caught then by the little boy in Lois's arms; even=20 without the shock of black hair he would have known that this was=20 Clark's son. Jon Kent had turned his wide brown eyes on Conor and was=20 simply staring at him with a limpid expression. His heart in his=20 mouth, Conor waited with dread for the child to call him 'Da-Da' or=20 something similar, and for Lois to be angry or upset as a result.=20 But to his surprise, Jon's mouth curved into a curious smile before=20 he turned back to his mother. "Man!" he chuckled before punching=20 Lois's arm with his pudgy hand. Conor couldn't help it; he gasped and stared at Martha. She smiled=20 back at him. "I thought that might happen. Jon knows his daddy, and=20 he knows you're not Clark." Lois sat on the chair Jonathan pulled out for her, and handed Jon=20 across to his grandmother. "I wondered what Jon would think," she=20 said softly. "I think I half-expected he'd know Conor's not Clark,=20 but that's because I know I'd never confuse the two of them." Conor turned to watch Jon, now being bounced on Martha's lap; the=20 little boy continued to eye him with open curiosity. The resemblance=20 to Clark was amazing, Conor thought: not just the hair and the eyes,=20 but the shape of the jaw and nose as well. There was also a strong=20 hint of Lois in Jon's smile, though; Conor found himself wondering=20 whether a child of his and Laura's might look anything like this=20 adorable little toddler. He and Laura hadn't yet talked about the=20 possibility of children, and he suddenly realised that he wasn't even=20 sure whether Laura wanted kids. But he hoped she did=85 the thought of,=20 one day, having a son of his own was very appealing. He wasn't aware of the yearning in his expression until Martha smiled=20 at him again. "Would you like to hold him, Conor?" Taken aback, Conor instinctively looked at Lois for permission; she=20 waved her hand lightly in acquiesence. Clearly she wasn't concerned;=20 the fact that Jon had not confused him with his father had reassured=20 her. He held out his arms and lifted Jon from Martha's lap to his=20 own, cuddling the little boy against his chest. Jon seemed quite=20 content to be there, chattering away to himself in some=20 incomprehensible language as the adults around him carried on their=20 own conversation. For Lois, the visit to Smallville helped her more than she could have=20 imagined. Jonathan Kent's quiet strength, and Martha's faith in her=20 son, gave Lois the mental courage she needed to carry on believing=20 that Clark would find a way back to her. The Kents were, of course,=20 very concerned about the possibility that Tempus was behind the=20 separation of Clark from Lois, and Conor from Laura, and they vowed=20 to watch Jon extremely carefully. Lois was also very touched that=20 Conor urged the Kents to call him at once if anything happened about=20 which they were concerned. As she and Conor were leaving, after she had gone upstairs to say a=20 final goodnight to Jon, Lois noticed a suspicious brightness in=20 Conor's eyes as he escorted her out into the back yard. It occurred=20 to her that he had seemed very surprised and gratified at the warm=20 and friendly welcome which he had received from Clark's parents, and=20 again she was reminded about this man's very different childhood. And=20 yet he had still grown up to be his world's Superman; a Superman not=20 too dissimilar from Clark, in spite of Clark's suggestion that some=20 of Conor's 'ethics' were a little different.=20 He was still a man who freely gave up his own time and his abilities=20 to help people in distress or to assist the emergency services. She=20 had, over lunch, asked about the incident which had called him away=20 >from the Planet that morning; his response, that he had gone to=20 rescue someone who was being mugged, and had then assisted at a=20 freeway pile-up, had convinced Lois that Conor was no different from=20 Clark in respect of his need to 'help'. It was all part of their=20 need, their desire, to *belong,* a need they both shared. ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:18:23 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 5/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 5/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... *************** - California, An Alternate Universe -=20 Clark was feeling very frustrated; not only was there no sign of=20 Tempus fulfilling his threat - and thereby possibly affording Clark=20 at least a chance of getting back to his own world - but he had very=20 little with which to fill in his time. Laura had been out with her=20 mother for several hours on the previous day, and today she had been=20 out since dawn to fulfil a filming commitment in respect of her=20 current movie project.=20 Neither had there been much call on Superman's time. So Clark had=20 spent most of the time on his own, either out flying or wandering=20 around Conor and Laura's house; he wasn't very keen on the idea of=20 masquerading as Conor out and about in Beverly Hills or Los Angeles.=20 He supposed, with a wry grimace, that if Conor and Lois were back in=20 Metropolis, Conor would have the advantage that the staff at the=20 Planet looked like the actors who had played them in 'Lois and=20 Clark'. So if Jimmy came up to Conor in the street, for instance,=20 there would at least be a chance that Conor would know who he was. Clark had watched some more of the videotapes of the TV series, and=20 had also found some other tapes in the video library which included=20 some of the two actors' other work; he had watched some of these with=20 interest, as it had shown that his new friends were indeed very=20 talented actors. He had also - having asked Laura's permission - made=20 use of Conor's computer. The script Conor was working on looked=20 fascinating, Clark thought, and the notes for a novel which he had=20 stumbled across also seemed to represent exciting work. So much for=20 Lois dismissing these two actors as superficial and talentless, he=20 thought; although to be fair, she had reassessed this view within a=20 fairly short time of meeting the actors. He *missed* Lois. So much=85. He never could have imagined that he=20 would feel so lost without her, even though he had frequently=20 commented that his life had been meaningless before he had met her.=20 At the bleakest point of the night which had just passed, he had=20 asked himself whether it would have hurt more if Lois was dead. At=20 least in this situation he knew - or at least he had to believe -=20 that she was alive, somewhere. If she had been dead, he would not=20 even have that comfort. And yet, being separated from her like this,=20 with who knew what chance of seeing each other again, was almost=20 worse than being separated by death, in a way. At least when someone=20 died, it was possible to mourn, to grieve and to learn to live again=20 without that special person. With what Tempus had done, such grief=20 wasn't possible; only frantic worry, desperate frustration and aching=20 misery. Perhaps at last he understood how Lois had felt when he had left her=20 to go with the New Kryptonians, he mused. She had known that he was=20 leaving, while he had had no prior knowledge of Tempus's trick; yet=20 that would have made little difference. When he had left with Zara=20 and Ching, none of them had known when, if ever, he would return. And=20 yet Lois had been forced to face going on with her normal life=20 without her fiance, having to explain Clark's absence to friends and=20 family who did not, could not, know the truth.=20 Of course, he had also been hurt, distressed, frantic at their=20 separation then. But he had been the one travelling - as he had=20 thought - to the home planet of his fellow Kryptonians, and so he had=20 had other things on his mind. Not least the question of how he was to=20 deal with a marriage he certainly did not want! He had missed Lois;=20 but her grief and distress had been far worse. And it had been a similar situation for her when Tempus had managed=20 to send him into infinity. For quite some time after that had=20 happened, he had been completely unaware of his surroundings, or of=20 what had happened to him; when he had come to his senses and realised=20 that he was trapped in that tiny segment of space and time, he had of=20 course been frightened, distressed, grief-stricken for the=20 relationships he had left behind him. But again Lois had been forced=20 to carry on, pretending to live a normal life, fighting Tempus and=20 consoling his parents, all the time putting on a brave face to cover=20 up her fear of never seeing her husband again. He sighed heavily now, admitting to himself that - always assuming he=20 found a way to reunite himself and Lois, and Laura and Conor - the=20 experience could be beneficial to him in some respects at least. He=20 would never again be tempted to minimise in his own mind Lois's=20 suffering in the past. He got up from Conor's desk abruptly, having lost interest in the=20 computer. Before going out that morning Laura had passed him a set of=20 car-keys, telling him that he should feel free to use Conor's car if=20 he wanted to go out anywhere 'as yourself rather than as Superman,'=20 she had explained. Although they were both aware that Clark could not=20 possibly go anywhere in the wider Los Angeles area as himself, or=20 even as an anonymous visitor, Laura seemed reluctant to acknowledge=20 the fact that he was having to pretend to be Conor. He realised that=20 this was perfectly understandable; he would find it equally abhorrent=20 if he had to pretend to other people that Laura was Lois. Still=85. He *was* bored, and since he didn't want to go out in the=20 Suit again, perhaps there would be no harm in taking Conor's car for=20 a drive up into the mountains. Having made that decision, Clark=20 quickly headed for the garage, whereupon he stopped short on seeing=20 Conor's car. A gleaming black BMW 5-series convertible=85. He swallowed. If Jimmy=20 could see this, the young photographer would be hugely envious. These=20 cars were very rare, being imports and very expensive at that. Clark=20 had driven BMWs before, when he'd spent time in Europe, but never one=20 as sleek and sporty as this model. Determined to make the most of it,=20 he backed the car out of the garage, operated the automatic gate=20 mechanism, and headed for the hills. Lois would tell him that he was acting like a little kid, he thought=20 while the wind ruffled his hair as he sped along taking sharp bends=20 at a safe, but fast, speed. 'You're pretending you're in a James Bond=20 movie,' she would accuse him; well, perhaps he was, but it was only=20 for a few short hours. And it helped to take his mind off the fact=20 that he was missing Lois very much. And Jon: he hoped that she had=20 managed to see their son, partly because he knew that she would also=20 be missing him, but also because it wasn't fair that Jon should=20 suffer the absence of both his parents because of Tempus's behaviour. The car-phone then sounded, interrupting his train of thought; he=20 hesitated before deciding to answer it. It was Laura, inviting him to=20 visit the set of her movie; she was about to have a break in filming=20 and would be free for a couple of hours. It would give them an=20 opportunity to talk, to discuss any suggestions either of them might=20 have about finding a way out of their problem. They would be=20 virtually alone, she assured him; the crew and other cast members=20 would be busy with scenes for which she wasn't needed. Well, it gave him something to occupy his mind; it would allow less=20 time for these depressing thoughts. He turned the car around and=20 drove in the direction of Burbank. ***************** - 348 Hyperion Avenue, Metropolis -=20 It had been a long day, Conor reflected tiredly as he let himself in=20 through the back door of the Kent household at around 10.30 pm. He=20 had certainly been used to long days as an actor, but pretending to=20 be a journalist - and going out on the beat with Lois, tracking down=20 stories, conducting interviews and doing research - was a much harder=20 job than he had imagined. Of course, his second job was also taking=20 up a considerable amount of time, he conceded as he glanced down at=20 the rather smoky appearance of his Super suit. Putting out a bush=20 fire does have this effect, he reminded himself with a wry grimace. Lois got to her feet as he padded through to the sitting-room; he=20 glanced in her direction and then looked away as he caught sight of=20 the dried tears on her cheeks. She was taking the separation very=20 hard, he knew. And it was hardly surprising, after all; the depth of=20 Lois and Clark's love for each other had been very apparent during=20 the couple of days when they had been visiting his home.=20 He grimaced again; he was also missing Laura so much it hurt,=20 although he had tried to sublimate some of the pain by focusing on=20 activity. Hence he had gone out earlier when he'd heard a bank alarm,=20 even though the details he had overheard on the emergency frequency=20 had suggested that the police could handle the situation. It had=20 occupied half an hour or so; half an hour in which Lois would not=20 have to suffer his company in her home=85. If only he could comfort her=85 but it was not his comfort she wanted.=20 He was the last person from whom she would want friendly affection,=20 demonstrations of sympathy, whatever. He gave her a brief wave and gestured towards the upper floor,=20 indicating that he was going to get washed and changed. Lois watched Conor walk up the stairs with a mixture of relief and=20 guilt. It wasn't fair to him to wish that he wasn't here, she=20 thought; it was hardly his fault. While they were in public, for=20 instance at the Planet, he did a very convincing impersonation of=20 Clark and was openly affectionate, which dispelled any possibility of=20 speculation as to Clark's whereabouts. And he was doing his best to=20 help her as much as possible, by doing things for her as=20 unobtrusively as he could and by staying out of her way when they=20 were alone. She knew that he was going out to be Superman for=20 incidents which Clark probably would have left to the emergency=20 services. Her only concern was that those people who tended to=20 encounter Superman fairly frequently - journalists, some emergency=20 personnel - might notice a difference in 'Superman's behaviour: Conor=20 tended to handle some situations rather differently. Only that=20 afternoon, he had been caught on camera making a rather caustic aside=20 to a police officer about drivers who failed to keep their cars=20 adequately maintained and then cause accidents.=20 Earlier that evening, he had flown her to Smallville again so that=20 she could see Jon, but after greeting Jonathan and Martha he had=20 excused himself and said that he would come back for her in about an=20 hour. Lois suspected, and Martha had agreed with her, that he had=20 done it in order to give them the privacy to talk openly; Martha had=20 also suggested that perhaps Conor felt that Clark's parents might=20 feel uncomfortable having him around, and had asked Lois to let Conor=20 know that this wasn't the case.=20 Oh, if Clark was here having Conor around would be no problem at all,=20 Lois mused; in fact, it would be fun. Of course, Conor would not be=20 happy unless Laura was there as well=85.=20 *Damn* Tempus and his meddling, she thought for about the hundredth=20 time that day. She *needed* Clark. She ached for his arms around her;=20 she needed him to hold her, to whisper to her that he loved her, that=20 everything would be okay as long as they had each other. She missed=20 him in their bed at night; missed him making slow, passionate love to=20 her, curling her body into his as they slept.=20 And yes, it was a slow form of torture to spend time with Conor,=20 Clark's double. It *wasn't* Conor's fault, and she was really doing=20 her best not to let him see how much it hurt her to see him instead=20 of Clark. Conor was a nice guy. He was also doing a pretty good job=20 of pretending to be Clark; in fact, he had made fewer mistakes so far=20 than the Clark from the alternate universe had done. That other Clark=20 had deliberately stayed away from the Planet as much as possible, but=20 on the one occasion when he had gone in he had made the mistake of=20 calling Jimmy 'Mr Olsen', completely forgetting that in this world=20 Jimmy Olsen was not the owner of the Planet. Conor, on the other=20 hand, had not slipped up once, although he had confided to Lois on=20 the way home in the Jeep earlier that it was occasionally difficult=20 to resist calling Perry 'Dane', which was apparently the real name of=20 the actor who had played him in the TV show. But Conor was also showing promise as a reporter. Lois had imagined=20 that, since he was insisting on carrying on a normal life as 'Clark'=20 in order to allay any suspicion as to Clark's whereabouts, she would=20 have to do most, if not all, of the work. But he was a very quick=20 learner, and had an intuitive, logical brain - notwithstanding his=20 belief that he was lacking in such talents. He had proved on a couple=20 of occasions to be very useful in interview situations, asking=20 innocent-sounding questions in a deceptively innocuous tone which had=20 lulled the subject into giving away valuable information. And of=20 course, like Clark he was able to use super-powers surreptitiously to=20 their advantage. But his heart wasn't in it. Lois suspected that it wasn't just that=20 Conor was missing Laura; unlike Clark and herself, he didn't have any=20 burning desire to be a journalist. Now a writer, definitely; from=20 something she had caught sight of that afternoon on Clark's computer=20 screen before Conor had been able to pull up the screensaver, it=20 looked as if he was using some of their experiences as the basis for=20 a novel. A very well-written one, as well, she thought; far better=20 than her own half-baked efforts.=20 She heard him coming back down the stairs and made a careful effort=20 to compose herself, but in fact it wasn't necessary since he only=20 glanced at her briefly before saying that he was going to get a=20 drink, offering to get her one at the same time. She declined,=20 thanking him, and returned to staring at the TV. In the kitchen, Conor poured himself coffee and leaned against the=20 island worktop to drink it, brooding on the situation as he did so.=20 Lois was desperately missing Clark, that he could tell. She was also,=20 pretty obviously, worried about him. Although the most logical answer=20 was to assume that Clark and Laura were still in Conor's universe,=20 since they had no proof that this was the case it was difficult to be=20 optimistic. An idea occurred to him then and, cursing himself for not trying it=20 sooner, he began to concentrate. ****************** ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:18:38 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 6/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 6/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... ****************** - Santa Monica, An Alternate Universe -=20 Clark stretched again before standing up; pleasant as it was lounging=20 by the pool, he was beginning to feel over-indolent. Laura had=20 prepared a light supper which they could eat _al fresco_ on the=20 patio, and they had talked yet again about their predicament,=20 searching for possible solutions. It seemed to Clark, however, that=20 they were just going around in circles. It was certainly another indication of how like Lois Laura was, he=20 thought: they shared a terrier-like tenacity. Laura refused to=20 believe that there was nothing she and Clark could do to get Conor=20 back; she persisted in arguing that there must be a way to get hold=20 of HG Wells, or an interdimensional transport, or simply some portal=20 which would take Clark back to Metropolis and Conor home to this=20 universe. He tried to share Laura's optimism; heck, it was sure=20 better than his middle-of-the-night bleak pessimism which assured him=20 that he would never see Lois again. But he really could not think of=20 any means of achieving the desired outcome. And, of course, it was not just Lois; he also missed being with his=20 son, Jon, and it was hard to come to terms with that loss. Jon was=20 growing so fast; Clark hated to think that his child would be=20 learning new words, doing different things, while he was not there to=20 see it. Even worse was the thought that perhaps Conor was there to=20 share the experience - and that Jon might be calling Conor 'Da-da'=20 instead of him. And there was his parents=85 the two other people with whom Clark could=20 be truly himself. With Jonathan and Martha there was no need to=20 pretend, to suppress his abilities, to wear glasses as if he really=20 was short-sighted - although, to be fair, he wasn't wearing glasses=20 here. In this world, the only person who knew that he was really a=20 super-powered alien from Krypton was Laura - who, understandably,=20 didn't really want to talk to him about what all that entailed, or=20 really to acknowledge the fact of his abilities, because it was too=20 much of a reminder of her own fiance. Laura had returned inside some time earlier, saying something about=20 the need to go over her lines for the following day's filming. Clark=20 had, momentarily, wondered if he should offer to coach her, but had=20 decided that he would really prefer some time on his own. Not that=20 his own company was doing him much good at the moment=85. Perhaps he=20 needed to change into the Suit and go flying, he thought. He walked slowly towards the far end of the grounds, barely noticing=20 the twilight shadows falling from the foliage to the grass. Nocturnal=20 birds were starting to chirrup, but he was oblivious to their sounds;=20 all he could think about was Lois. But=85 what was that? He stilled=20 suddenly. Something=85 someone=85 was calling to him.=20 He frowned. Where was that voice coming from? And whose voice was it? It sounded=85 vaguely familiar. He strained to hear, to focus on exactly what it was which was=20 reaching out to him. Without realising it, he subconsciously opened=20 his mind to the voice trying to contact him. <> Clark started. *Now* he knew what it was! <> I don't believe=20 this, he thought incredulously. He's reaching me through telepathic=20 communication=85. He focused, and sent his answer back. <> The voice in his head came back. <> Instantly supplying the reassurance he knew his counterpart needed,=20 Clark replied silently <> <> Conor's voice demanded in response;=20 Clark could somehow sense the tension in his counterpart's body. <> <> Conor seemed=20 incredulous; Clark supposed that it was understandable, given that he=20 and Lois had probably not been aware of everything which had happened=20 on that beach. <> The response was swift and angry. <> Clark walked back to the seats by the pool area; this cross-universe=20 telepathy, apart from being a tremendous shock, seemed to require a=20 lot of mental effort. He strained to *sense* Conor, as well as hear=20 him, and got quite a shock.=20 <> For an instant, it was almost=20 as if Clark was there with Conor; no, not with him, *in* him. Inside=20 his head=85. <> Conor answered. <> There was silence for a few moments, and Clark was afraid that=20 something might have happened to break the 'connection', whatever it=20 was which was allowing them to communicate with each other across=20 dimensions. Although=85 he could still sense Conor's presence somehow.=20 But then, just as he was about to 'speak' again, he felt Conor's=20 voice in his head. <> <> Clark couldn't understand what Conor was getting at. <> Conor's tone was faintly=20 impatient, as if he believed that his counterpart should have been=20 aware of what he'd been suggesting. Clark stilled. Was that possible? Could he=85 somehow use Conor's body?=20 Or, at least, travel in his mind so far into Conor's thoughts that he=20 would, somehow, be there in Metropolis? He concentrated all of his=20 energies onto that possibility, focusing, projecting=85 =85 and suddenly he was looking around at the kitchen of his own home.=20 No, he wasn't really, he realised; what he was sensing was Conor's=20 own view of his surroundings. Clark's consciousness had somehow=20 become a part of Conor's. <> he whispered; he shifted his mental focus=20 downwards, and the body he saw was Conor's; the clothes his own. <> his counterpart replied;=20 Clark could feel the range of emotions Conor was experiencing. Shock,=20 disbelief, excitement, pain; they were all mingled together, and=20 Clark realised for the first time that Conor had been suffering=20 through this separation from his soul-mate in much the same way as he=20 himself had. But there were more urgent things to concentrate on=85. <> he demanded immediately. <> ***************** - 348 Hyperion Avenue, Metropolis -=20 Lois finally gave up trying to concentrate on the late-night news,=20 instead staring guiltily at the door leading to the kitchen and=20 wondering whether she should make an attempt to go and talk to Conor.=20 She was just about to get to her feet when the door swung open=20 suddenly and Conor emerged into the sitting-room; he strode quickly=20 over to her and sat on the sofa beside her, turning his body so that=20 he was looking straight at her. "Lois? Lois, there's something I need to=85 you may find this difficult=20 to accept=85." <> Clark told Conor impatiently. <> <> Conor's tone, to Clark, seemed resigned; Clark half-suspected=20 that his counterpart wasn't enjoying this experience. But Clark had=20 no intention of calling a halt at this stage. Through Conor's eyes,=20 he saw Lois curled up on the sofa, saw the pain, sadness and guilt in=20 her eyes, and desperately wanted to touch her. But=85 she didn't yet=20 know what was going on. He thought quickly, wondering how best to=20 broach the subject. Lois, watching Conor closely, saw him give a deep sigh. Puzzled, she=20 began to wonder just what was going on. Then she was thoroughly taken=20 by surprise as he reached out and took both her hands in his. "Conor! Just what do you think you're doing?!" "Lois, listen to me," came the reply. "Do you remember telling me=20 that you should have known=85 as soon as you looked into my eyes=85?" Lois gave a tiny choke as she stared disbelievingly at the man=20 sitting so close to her. It couldn't be=85 it *was* Conor, she could=20 easily tell him apart from Clark. To her, the two men were not=20 identical. And yet=85 what he had said: only Clark could know about=20 that! But=85. "Clark?" she whispered questioningly, her voice almost=20 cracking. "Yes," came the soft, murmured reply.=20 "But=85 how?" The hands holding hers tightened. "Lois=85 sweetheart=85 it's telepathy.=20 I'm talking to you through Conor's mind." She gasped, barely able to comprehend the possibility of such a=20 thing. "So=85 while I'm sitting next to Conor, holding his=85 hands, I'm=20 talking to you?" A lump formed in her throat as she spoke. "More or less," Conor/Clark confirmed. "We don't know how it works=20 either, just that Conor was able to contact me. And I can=85 send=20 thoughts into his mind, and if he allows me to, I can virtually take=20 over his impulses - which is what I'm doing now." Lois thought. But she continued to stare at Conor. He held her gaze unashamedly,=20 then said softly, "Lois, I know this sounds fantastic, but it's=20 happening. I'm sitting by the pool at Laura and Conor's house, and=20 yet I'm able to talk to you." "Do you hear me talking to you?" she asked, incredulous. He nodded. "It's sort of=85 hazy, a little out of focus, as if it's=20 coming from far away. You see, I'm not really there, with you - it's=20 just my mind is somehow with Conor's." This was so *weird*, Lois thought. But=85 she remembered another=20 incident=85 it was no less weird than the time when Clark was trapped=20 inside Woody Samms' body. She had known it was Clark then, once she'd=20 understood what had happened. She freed one hand and reached out,=20 tentatively, to caress his face. **************** - Santa Monica, An Alternate Universe -=20 This was absolutely incredible, Clark thought as he somehow 'felt'=20 the brush of Lois's hands over his face. It was not his face she was=20 caressing; it was Conor's. And yet somehow in his imagination, or in=20 his sub-conscious, he felt that caress. It was not quite real, but=20 not quite a dream either. Concentrating, he made Conor's hand tighten=20 around the hand of Lois's his counterpart still held. <> "Yes, I'm=85 fine," she replied shakily. "I miss you - we all miss you.=20 Martha, Jonathan, little Jon=85 we want you home again." <> Clark's anxiety obviously transferred itself,=20 since Lois instantly reassured him that their son was with his=20 parents and was being very thoroughly spoilt. "And Clark=85 you should be proud of him. He knew Conor wasn't you." Clark was well aware that he had no right to be so relieved; after=20 all, he knew that Conor was not trying to take his place in=20 Metropolis and with Clark's family. Conor was simply making the best=20 of a difficult situation, and was helping Lois in the same way as=20 Clark would try to help Laura if the need arose. But he couldn't help=20 his feelings. <> "I know - that's why we left Jon in Smallville. And Conor says he can=20 get there in seconds if anything happens." Clark swallowed. What if seconds wasn't quick enough? But Lois was=20 now asking him what had happened to him. He quickly explained what=20 had happened on the beach, and summarised events since - not that=20 there had been much to tell really. "Oh God, Clark, I miss you!" Lois choked out. His heart turned over.=20 Focusing through Conor's eyes, he saw the tears flow down her face,=20 and he concentrated; he needed to hold her. He willed Conor's arms to=20 reach out and enfold her; as Conor did so, Clark felt the vicarious=20 pleasure of holding his wife in his arms again. He wanted to kiss her, so badly; but he was conscious that it would=20 not be *him* kissing her. Unlike the previous occasion of which he=20 had reminded her, he had not swapped bodies with Conor. It was Conor,=20 not Clark, who was holding Lois; Clark was merely sharing Conor's=20 mind for a brief period through their telepathic abilities.=20 Reluctantly, he withdrew slightly so that he could sense Conor's=20 thoughts again as well as his own. Instantly, he became aware that=20 his counterpart did feel a little uncomfortable. <> He felt Conor's relief at the same time as he realised the younger=20 man was getting up from the sofa. He heard Conor say that he would=20 come and talk to Lois again in a little while; he heard Lois's=20 surprised, shaky voice say, questioningly, "Conor?" and felt Conor=20 nod. Then he was alone with his counterpart. Conor was flying; Clark recognised that quite quickly as he realised=20 that he could sense the swift flow of cool night air. He sighed=20 deeply, and asked his counterpart, <> <> came the soft reply. <> <> Clark assured him. <> He paused, then added, <> <> came the accusing reply. <> <> Conor answered. <> <> Clark asked anxiously. <> Conor assured him. <> <> Clark quickly answered. <> <> Conor replied. <> <> Clark paused, knowing what he should now offer to do but=20 somehow reluctant to say it, although he wasn't quite sure why -=20 after all, Conor had done it for him. Why was he hesitating=85? But=20 Conor beat him to it. <> His counterpart's tone was quiet but insistent.=20 <> <> ******************* ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:18:53 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 7/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 7/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... ******************* - Santa Monica, An Alternate Universe -=20 Laura threw down her script; she just wasn't concentrating tonight=20 and it would show in the morning when she wasn't word-perfect on set.=20 But thoughts of Conor kept invading her mind. She missed him terribly=20 and desperately wanted to know where he was, if he was safe, when he=20 was coming home to her. And yet, at the same time, she kept getting=20 the bizarre impression that he was somehow close at hand. she told herself. Just then she heard footsteps outside Conor's study. She braced=20 herself: it would be Clark. There was a tap on the door, then he=20 hesitantly asked for permission to enter. She closed her eyes=20 briefly, unsure whether she really wanted to speak to him but=20 reminding herself that he was really her only remaining link to=20 Conor. And maybe she did need his company, the comfort of his=20 presence. If only looking at him wasn't so painful=85. He came in, treading softly and looking almost as if he would prefer=20 to be anywhere else than there. Something seemed to be making him=20 distinctly uncomfortable.=20 He took a seat several feet from her, brushing his hand awkwardly=20 through his hair. "Laura=85" he began hesitantly. "What is it, Clark?" she asked, trying to be encouraging. "Um=85 well, do you remember Conor telling you that he and I are able=20 to talk telepathically?" Laura's breath caught in her throat. Yes, she remembered - what did=20 this mean? "Clark?" she whispered shakily. "Are you saying=85 are you able to=20 contact Conor? Do you know where he is?" "Well=85 actually, he contacted me," Clark admitted. "I didn't think of=20 it." Laura smiled involuntarily; despite Conor's feelings of inferiority=20 next to Clark, he had actually had the presence of mind to try=20 something which hadn't occurred to Clark. She was taken aback when=20 Clark responded to her, even though she hadn't spoken her thoughts=20 aloud. "He's pretty smart," Clark observed with a wry smile. "And only the=20 other day I was wishing he'd believe in himself more." Laura brushed the thought aside to deal with later. "So - you've had=20 contact with him? How is he? - and Lois," she added as an=20 afterthought. Clark smiled again, this time an odd sort of awkward half-smile. "How=20 about I let him tell you himself?" She started, her eyes widening. "What do you mean?" Clark paused before speaking again; his eyes closed briefly. "It's=20 sort of hard to explain, but I can relax, shut down my own thought=20 processes, and let his take over - then he can be here, in spirit,=20 sort of." Laura frowned as she tried to assimilate this. It sounded like=20 something out of a sci-fi TV show; she was sure that numerous=20 script-writers in and around Hollywood would have no difficulty with=20 the concept. But in real life=85? Her Conor, communicating with her=20 through this man's mind and voice? On the other hand, it was no stranger than the fact that this man,=20 Clark, *was* in fact Conor, but from another universe. And the fact=20 that he and Conor could communicate telepathically in the first=20 place. *And*, of course, the ultimate fact of Conor's being an alien=20 >from another planet. Any of these little details would be very much=20 at home in a sci-fi novel or TV show. It was just a little hard to=20 accept them in real life=85 but on the other hand, why should she not=20 believe it? It was no more far-fetched than believing that a man=20 could fly, and after all, she had been the one to realise, first,=20 just what Conor could do, that day he had saved their lives in the TV=20 studio. "So - you're saying Conor can speak to me, using your voice?" Clark nodded. "That's about it. But he's getting kind of impatient,=20 so I'll just hand you over=85." Laura watched, holding her breath, as Clark leaned his head back and=20 closed his eyes. A moment or two later, he opened them again and=20 spoke. "Laura?" She hesitated, then replied doubtfully, "Conor?" <> The words came from Clark's mouth, but=20 somehow Laura *knew* - it was Conor. "Conor - oh, Conor, where are you? Are you okay?" <> She leaned towards Clark/Conor, and clutched at his hand. "Do you=20 feel that, sweetheart? Can you tell I'm holding you?" <> It does, Laura thought, but it wasn't something she was planning on=20 arguing over - all that mattered was that she and Conor were able to=20 talk to each other. "So you and Lois are okay?" <> Laura smiled wryly. "Well, you played him on TV for more than a year=20 - it's not as if you haven't had practice!" Clark/Conor smiled. <> "How can I get you back here?" Laura asked, her voice almost letting=20 her down. Unbidden, tears sprang to her eyes. The man sitting=20 opposite her leaned towards her and extended a hand to brush them=20 away; she gripped his hand and held it against her face. <> Now that she had given way to them, the tears continued to fall; if=20 Laura had thought it was hard to be with Clark, who looked so like=20 Conor but was not her fiance, it was doubly difficult to communicate=20 with Conor in this manner. She wanted to be wrapped within his arms;=20 to go flying with him; to be reassured of his love and devotion; to=20 have him beside her. <> he pleaded with her. <> "I wish I could be as strong as you, my love," she murmured sadly.=20 "It's just so hard=85." <> he assured=20 her. <> "Not even a crazed villain from the future?" Laura replied, smiling=20 in spite of herself. <> "I love you too, Conor Kane." Laura stretched out her hand and=20 caressed his face, only to see the man in front of her blink slightly=20 before a vaguely uncomfortable expression crossed his face. She=20 frowned. "Clark?" Her tone was hesitant, disappointed. He grimaced. "Yeah. Sorry, Laura - I don't know what happened, but he=20 just seemed to - disappear - suddenly." He straightened in his seat=20 and, embarrassed, she withdrew her hand. "Hold on a second," he=20 murmured before closing his eyes. She watched, confused and longing=20 for just one more moment with Conor. She hadn't been ready to let him=20 go=85. Clark opened his eyes again and threw her a regretful glance. "Sorry.=20 I can't reach him." "Why not?" she demanded, crushingly disappointed. He shook his head. "I have no idea. I never thought we'd be able to=20 do this anyway - not across dimensions. I was absolutely amazed when=20 I heard him calling me earlier. But now, there's just nothing. I=20 can't sense him at all, and I have no idea whether he's blocking=20 communication or whether something else is stopping it." He met her=20 eyes again, his gaze sympathetic. "I know you weren't ready to let=20 him go, and I'm sorry. If I could get him back for you, I would." She nodded; it was obvious that Clark would do that for her. Struck=20 by a thought suddenly, she asked, "Did you get to talk to Lois?" He smiled suddenly, his entire expression changing in that instant.=20 "Yeah. She's - she's doing great, though she misses me=85 I guess it's=20 tough for all of us. But I did manage to tell her and Conor what's=20 going on - about Tempus." "I'm glad," Laura replied, meaning it. "But - what now?" Clark shook his head again. "I'm not sure. I wanted to talk to Conor=20 or Lois again, to discuss how we can set this right, but now=85." He=20 trailed off helplessly. On impulse, Laura reached for Clark's hand and curled her fingers=20 around his palm briefly before releasing him. "We'll manage. Hey,=20 he's got Lois helping him, and I've got you - with all four of us on=20 it, we'll find a way to beat Tempus!" Clark smiled, his eyes echoing the gesture. "Sure we will." He got to=20 his feet. "Can I get you a coffee or something?" Standing, Laura shook her head. "Would you find it very hard to take=20 me flying?" She thought that Clark seemed to hesitate, and was about to speak=20 again to tell him to forget it, it was a bad idea. But then he held=20 out his hand to her. "Sure. I'd like that." As they walked towards the rear of the house, Laura glanced up at=20 Clark; he seemed more relaxed now than he had earlier, and more at=20 ease in her company. This emboldened her to ask the question which=20 had been on her mind since he'd told her about contacting Conor by=20 telepathy. "Clark - was all of this uncomfortable for you? The telepathy -=20 letting Conor speak to me through your mind, and so on?" He glanced down at her, his expression wry. "Yeah, it was, a little.=20 You know, I couldn't figure out why at first. I just knew that=20 although I had to offer to let Conor do what I'd already done, I=20 wasn't happy about it. I know now it's that I=85 well, it felt like I=20 was invading your privacy there." She frowned, suddenly comprehending. "You saw=85 heard=85 what went on?=20 Oh, how stupid - of course you did!" she answered her own question.=20 "Yes, I did, though it was a really weird sensation," he told her.=20 "It was as if I wasn't in my own body at all, but floating somewhere=20 above myself. I could see and hear what was happening, but as if from=20 a distance." One of her conversations with Lois sprang to Laura's mind suddenly,=20 and she remembered being told how shy and lacking in confidence this=20 man could be; not like Conor, who in many ways was something of an=20 extrovert. She squeezed his hand, which was still gripping hers=20 lightly. "Clark, you weren't invading anyone's privacy," she assured=20 him softly. "What you *were* doing was giving me a chance to talk to=20 my fiance, and to let me know that he's safe. That's worth a lot to=20 me, you know that." "Yeah," Clark replied softly. "And it was worth a lot to me that he=20 did the same for Lois and I."=20 They had reached the end of the garden; Laura came to a halt and=20 turned to face Clark. He gazed down at her and placed his hands=0D=0A lightly on her shoulders. "I know how hard this has been for you -=20 it's been tough for both of us." She nodded. "I know - and I haven't been fair to you, Clark. I've=20 been avoiding you, because it's so hard seeing you and knowing you=20 aren't Conor. I've allowed myself to forget that you're going through=20 exactly the same thing." He smiled sympathetically at her; it seemed in that moment as if they=20 reached a new understanding. He drew her closer to him and for a long=20 moment cradled her body against his, her head tucked into his=20 shoulder. The embrace was similar to the way Conor held her=20 sometimes, but for both of them it was clearly platonic; giving each=20 other comfort and understanding. As he released her, she met his gaze and said shakily, "Thanks, Clark=20 - I needed that." "Any time." He smiled at her, then stepped back and spun quickly.=20 Coming to a halt dressed in his Superman costume, he held out his=20 hand again. "Ready to go flying?" ******************* - 348 Hyperion Avenue, Metropolis -=20 Lois paced the living-room impatiently, wondering where Conor had got=20 to. He had left so abruptly after her conversation with Clark had=20 ended, and she needed to talk to him. Apart from wanting to know=20 everything Conor knew about how Clark was and what he though they=20 should do in order to get him home, she wanted to know just how aware=20 Conor had been of what had gone on. Or did she really want to know that? It had been a very strange=20 interlude: to be in the room with one man, and yet really be talking=20 to someone else. To *hold* one man, yet know that someone else was=20 aware of the embrace=85 did she really want to know how Conor had felt=20 during those few moments?=20 On the other hand, she was a little disturbed by the fact that he had=20 been gone so long. Was he still talking to Clark? What was going on? A noise in the kitchen attracted her attention suddenly, and she=20 hurried through in time to see Conor closing the back door behind=20 him. "Where have you been?" she demanded angrily, more anxious than=20 she was prepared to let on. As he turned to face her, she noticed that he looked exhausted, and=20 that his eyes were not just weary, but sad. Her heart went out to=20 him; she realised that she had been so wrapped up in her own concerns=20 and yearning for Clark that she had forgotten this man's feelings. It=20 suddenly occurred to her to wonder how difficult it had been for him=20 to allow Clark use of his mind and body for those few short minutes.=20 And had Clark done the same for him? She moved to stand beside him, reaching out tentatively with her hand=20 to touch his arm which was encased in the Spandex of the Super-suit.=20 "Conor? Are you all right?" His mouth twisted upwards at the corners in what looked like a parody=20 of a smile, but then he met her gaze and his own softened slightly.=20 "Yeah, I guess. Sorry, all this was just kind of difficult." "Let me get you a drink." Lois offered, but suddenly he was standing=20 in front of the coffee-machine, dressed in Clark's casual clothing=20 again. He filled the machine at super-speed before setting a tray.=20 She didn't speak again immediately because it was apparent from his=20 stance that he was using his coffee-making activities to occupy=20 himself while he regained his composure. They moved back into the living-room, Conor taking up a seat opposite=20 Lois on the second sofa. She glanced across at him as she picked up=20 her coffee-cup; he still looked weary, but a little less depressed=20 now. He caught her watching him, and his expression relaxed a little. "Sorry, Lois - I was miles away." "In another dimension?" she guessed, her tone sympathetic. "Did you=20 manage to speak to Laura?" He nodded. "Yeah. But we got=85 cut off, I guess is the only way to=20 describe it. I don't know what happened - I don't think it was Clark.=20 But suddenly I was just=85 well, kicked out. And I couldn't manage to=20 contact him again." Lois frowned, trying to remember what Clark had told her about his=20 telepathic abilities. "He wouldn't have blocked you, would he?" Conor shook his head. "I can't see why. Can you? Anyway, I'd hoped=20 he'd want to talk to me about what we do next, how we get this=20 sorted." Disappointed, Lois exclaimed, "You mean he didn't?" Conor shrugged despondently. "We didn't get the chance." "So what did you talk about?" Conor sighed. "Once we realised we could talk=85 basically about what=20 had happened, you know, Tempus - I know Clark told you. And about you=20 and Laura. He wanted to know how you were doing, where we both were."=20 he thought with an inward sigh,=20 wondering whether it had really been such a great idea after all=85. "Conor?" Lois's voice interrupted his thoughts. "What's up?" He shrugged. "I'm fine," he replied abruptly. Lois ignored the curt response. "Conor, I've known Clark a long time.=20 And you and he are very, very alike in personality as well as looks.=20 When Clark gets that look on his face I know he's obsessing, and the=20 only way we can deal with it is if I get him to talk to me. So=85 talk!" He threw her a reluctant smile. "I can see why Clark would do just=20 about anything for you, Lois. You know, I really hope Laura and I can=20 have as great a relationship as you two." She reached out and touched his hand lightly. "You will. You two are=20 meant to be together, just like Clark and I are." He turned his palm over and curled his fingers around hers, holding=20 her hand lightly in his. "You're right. There is something bothering=20 me, and it shouldn't." He grimaced before continuing. "All this=20 telepathy stuff=85 it's new to me, and even when we were all in my=20 world I didn't altogether like the idea that someone else could get=20 inside my head, read my thoughts=85. Oh, don't get me wrong," he=20 continued, seeing Lois's concerned expression. "Clark didn't invade=20 my privacy or anything. He was very discreet - I think he just wanted=20 to show me that it could be done, and of course we used it when Laura=20 and I went to that theme park. I just never felt very comfortable=20 with it, though." He paused, taking a sip of his coffee. "That probably sounds weird=20 when I tell you that I was the one who contacted Clark tonight - but=20 it just occurred to me to try it. Talking to him was fine - it was=20 great, in fact, because at least now we know what's going on. But=85."=20 He paused, glancing at Lois anxiously. "Well, when I let him=85 talk=85=20 to you, that was=85 one of the weirdest experiences of my life. Even=20 more so than when I realised I could fly." "I wondered how much you saw, or heard, of it," Lois replied softly. "Oh, all of it, though it was as if I was kind of watching from above=20 somewhere. Even when you hugged me=85 him=85 it didn't altogether feel as= =20 if it was my body. But=85 well, I did feel as if I was invading your=20 privacy, and - I want to apologise. For - breaking things up the way=20 I did. I didn't mean to." Lois frowned, wondering what Conor meant. He explained. "Well, you=20 guys were hugging, and I could *feel* how much Clark missed you, his=20 love for you=85 and I felt pretty uncomfortable, like I wished I wasn't=20 there so you two could be alone. And I'm sure he sensed it, so he=20 stopped talking to you." And *she* had been resentful, that Conor had been the unwanted third=20 during her private conversation with Clark, Lois thought guiltily. It=20 hadn't occurred to her to consider that he might have been=20 embarrassed. But of course he would have been... as would Clark while=20 Conor and Laura had been talking. ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:19:07 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 8/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 8/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... ------------ But she realised that Conor needed reassurance. "Hey, it's okay.=20 Without you, I wouldn't have been able to talk to Clark at all. And=20 he probably felt the same way when you were talking with Laura, but=20 it really doesn't matter, you know. After all, you are the same=20 person, just from different dimensions." She paused, then added,=20 "Where did you go after Clark stopped talking to me?" He blinked. "Sorry about that - like I said, I felt kind of=20 embarrassed, and I didn't really feel comfortable around you straight=20 after that. And I wanted to talk to Clark, and to Laura - so I went=20 flying. Then the connection 'dropped' or whatever, and I felt pretty=20 drained, so I went and sat on the roof of the Planet for a bit, just=20 thinking=85 about Laura, about how the hell I'm going to get back to=20 her. And then I thought I'd better come and see if you were okay." She smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay. I felt kind of=85 flat, lonely=85 at first.=20 It was so weird, talking to Clark like that and then not having him=20 here. But I wouldn't have missed it for the world, Conor, so thank=20 you for letting me be with him." "Yeah, I know how it feels. It was so good, for those few minutes, to=20 be with Laura again, to hear her voice=85 but then it ended so=20 abruptly. That upset me, I guess. And this telepathy stuff actually=20 takes it out of you, you know=85." "Actually, no, I don't," Lois told him dryly. "Well, trust me, it does," he assured her.=20 "We're both missing our partners," she observed softly. "And I think=20 I haven't exactly been making thing easy for you." He pulled a face. "It's not your fault, Lois. I know I look exactly=20 like Clark, and it can't be easy for you to see me, be with me all=20 day long, and hear your friends call me 'Clark'. You have to pretend=20 to kiss me and be affectionate at work because that's how you behave=20 with Clark. And you even have to get me to fly you to see your son." "You didn't have to leave this evening," Lois told him abruptly.=20 His mouth turned down at the corners. "I did, Lois. For a number of=20 reasons. I didn't want to upset Clark's parents - or you - and I=20 wanted to give you all some privacy. And although I know Jon realised=20 I wasn't his father I still didn't want to risk confusing him. And=85"=20 he hesitated, wondering whether to add his other reason. Lois's=20 expression encouraged him. "Well, Jonathan and Martha are such great=20 people. Clark was really lucky to be adopted by them." "And that makes you envious? Wishing that HG Wells had never=20 interfered in your world to alter your time-line?" He shrugged. "A little - although I know that Tempus would have=20 killed me otherwise. I suppose maybe I've wondered occasionally if he=20 couldn't have found another way to save me then - like bringing an=20 older me back to save the baby me, the way it happened in your world.=20 Then I could have had the Kents as my parents." Lois wondered again just what this man's childhood had been like.=20 Both Laura and Conor had made occasional passing remarks which had=20 indicated that his parents had not been like the Kents, but on the=20 other hand, she didn't have the impression that they had been like=20 her own parents, for example, continually feuding. If anything, it=20 seemed that the Kanes had more or less ignored the boy Conor, apart=20 >from insisting that he abide by a number of rigid rules. There must=20 have been a lot of love lacking in that household, Lois decided. But Conor had other things on how mind, she realised, as he continued=20 with the earlier thread of their conversation. "I *needed* to leave=20 you alone with Clark's parents, Lois. That whole situation is just=85=20 well, it's difficult." He averted his eyes from Lois's, instead=20 staring down at his hands. "I'm glad Jon realised I'm not Clark. I=20 just wish there was some way you could have him here with you without=20 me being around. I did think maybe I should leave, find somewhere=20 else to stay - " Lois caught his hand abruptly. "Conor, that's ridiculous!" She got to=20 her feet, crossing to sit beside him on the other sofa. "Look, I know=20 I was nervous about you meeting him at first, but that was only - " "I know," he interrupted. "You didn't want him to think that I was=20 Clark, in case it confused him. But, like you said to Clark, he's a=20 very smart little boy - just like his parents, I guess. He knew I=20 wasn't his daddy." "Yeah. So there's no problem," Lois agreed. "Look, Conor, it would be=20 crazy for you to leave here. And I don't want you to - " "No?" he enquired tautly. "I know it's been tough on you having me=20 around." "Yeah, and I know that's why you keep rushing off, even when there's=20 no emergency to go to," Lois replied softly, a note of guilt and=20 apology in her voice. "Conor, you're right, this has been hard for=20 me, even more so since I've been through it before when Tempus sent=20 Clark into infinity and HG brought the other Clark here to help. That=20 was=85 well, it was a difficult time, and - and something happened=20 which I'm pretty ashamed of, and=85 and I just really wanted to make=20 sure that it didn't happen with you, and so=85 well, I wasn't very=20 understanding or sympathetic as a result." "Something happened?" Conor enquired gently, wondering what Lois=20 meant. She couldn't possibly mean=85 no, she couldn't=85? Lois saw the fleeting expressions crossing Conor's face and flushed.=20 "No! No, it definitely wasn't=85. Look, we kissed. That's all. It was=85=20 well, I was missing Clark, and he looked *so* like Clark, even more=20 than you do because you don't wear Clark's glasses around the house=20 and Clark usually wears them at home except in our bedroom, in case=20 we get interrupted=85 and we'd been having some wine, and I was talking=20 about how much I missed Clark, and he was talking about how lonely=20 his life was because the Lois of his world was missing, and=85 the next=20 thing I knew we'd kissed. It was only for a second, but=85 I was *so*=20 embarrassed, and so was he, and=85 and I didn't want anything like that=20 to happen again, and so I was kind of making sure I kept my distance=85=20 and I'm babbling and I hate it when I babble=85." Conor grinned suddenly, his face lighting up and reminding Lois so=20 much of Clark when he was enjoying life, as he so frequently did=20 these days. "Yeah, you sound just like Laura played you sometimes.=20 But honestly, you shouldn't worry about that. Like you said, nothing=20 happened and neither of you wanted anything to happen. And=85" he=20 paused, threw her a wry smile, then continued, "Nothing like that=20 would happen with us anyway. From what you and Clark have said, this=20 other Clark was more than half-way in love with you. I'm not - I have=20 Laura, and although you look and sound like her, I know very well=20 you're *not* her. It's as if you're her=85 sister, maybe. And although=20 *of course* I find you attractive - how could I not, in the=20 circumstances? - there's just no spark there. Just=85 affection. And a=20 sort of brotherly desire to make sure you're okay, that's all." Lois laughed. "Brotherly? I've never had a brother=85 though I do have=20 a sister. Clark likes her - and I think he kind of likes to look out=20 for her, too." "Yeah?" Conor smiled again. "Lucy, isn't it? Does she - know - about=20 Clark?" "Yes. She found out about - oh, almost two years ago. She was having=20 some problems, needed somewhere to stay for a few days, and I was=20 away, so she and Clark ended up spending quite a bit of time=20 together. Clark liked having her around because it gave him a chance=20 to get to know her properly. Anyway, he was careless, and she=20 noticed, so he had to tell her the truth. She's been great, though.=20 Apart from occasionally asking him to take her flying, she never=20 mentions it, and we know she'd never tell anyone." Conor stretched out his long legs in front of him, now looking much=20 more relaxed and at ease with her. "Lois, do you mind if I ask you=20 something?" She shrugged. "Sure, go ahead. If it's something I don't want to=20 answer, don't worry, I'll tell you!" "It's nothing too personal," he assured her earnestly. "It's just=85 I=20 was wondering about Jon. Do you and Clark think he'll have Clark's=20 powers?" Lois grimaced. "Oh, we worry about that all the time! Before he was=20 born, I was petrified that he was going to be floating in his crib,=20 and that we'd never be able to leave him with a babysitter or in=20 daycare. But Clark doesn't think Jon will develop any powers until=20 he's almost in his teens, which gives us time to prepare him, I=20 guess. And prepare ourselves," she added wryly. Conor nodded thoughtfully. "That is something that bothered me a=20 little. I mean, Laura and I haven't really discussed kids yet, but=20 I'd like at least three and I'm pretty sure she's keen." Lois nodded,=20 recalling her conversation with Laura a few days earlier. "Do you and=20 Clark want more?" he asked, then, his expression reddening, added,=20 "Sorry, that was a bit too intrusive. Forget I said it." Lois shook her head; strangely, while an hour or two earlier she=20 would have done anything rather than have this kind of conversation=20 with Conor, now she was enjoying their closer friendship. "No problem=20 - I don't mind. Yes, we'd like another baby, and preferably in the=20 next year while Jon's still very young. We'd prefer not to have too=20 much gap between them." "Would you like a girl or a boy next time?" Lois's mouth creased into a dreamy smile. "Oh, a girl, definitely. I=20 know Clark would love a daughter - and he says that since Jon looks=20 so like him he wants a little girl who looks like me. I know what'll=20 happen!" she added with an amused laugh. "She'd wrap him around her=20 little finger! And I'd like a daughter as well, just=85 well, because I=20 would." she mused silently, realising that Clark=20 probably understood this even though she had never actually told him. "So=85 a little girl next time, maybe," Conor mused aloud, smiling.=20 "Any thoughts on names?" "Clark likes 'Katherine'," Lois replied thoughtfully. "So maybe=20 'Katherine Martha Ellen', to keep my Mom happy too=85 though I guess=20 we'd still end up calling her 'Katy'." "Hmmm=85 Katy Kent," Conor drawled with a smile. "Nice." "'Katy *Lane* Kent', if you don't mind!" Lois insisted. Just them,=20 she noticed a familiar faraway expression on Conor's face; so like=20 Clark, she mused for about the hundredth time since meeting this man.=20 "Go, Conor. If you're late, I'll see you in the morning." ***************** - A mountain-top somewhere above Burbank, An Alternate Universe -=20 "You are sure you're not cold, Laura?" Clark asked, concerned. "You=20 know I can easily...." He gestured vaguely towards his eyes. She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. It's a lovely evening." She=20 remained silent for a few moments, her gaze taking in their=20 surroundings and the city far below them. "Thanks for bringing me up=20 here, Clark. It's so peaceful, and such a change from all the=20 craziness that goes on down there." "Hollywood, you mean?" Clark asked curiously. "It must be an=20 incredibly claustrophobic life - especially now Conor's got the=20 secret identity to maintain as well." It can be," Laura acknowledged. "But when you're living in that=20 goldfish-bowl, you pretty quickly develop strategies to guard your=20 privacy - like our house, the fencing all around, the security=20 cameras=85. We can usually manage to keep the world shut out. We're=20 lucky in that even before Conor and I got together we were both known=20 for being=85 well, not exactly Hollywood socialites, and neither of us=20 ever courted publicity. Even when we announced our engagement, we=20 just did one press conference to get all the attention over with." "I couldn't do it," Clark said softly. "It's not just the constant=20 attention, getting recognised - like when I was out in Conor's car=20 earlier today, and someone shouted, 'Hi Conor!'. I'm used to=20 attention, I guess - I get enough of it as Superman, but at least I=20 have my private life as Clark Kent. But although I know you're very=20 good at what you do, Laura, acting wouldn't be for me." She grinned at him. "I wouldn't make much of a journalist either. But=20 Conor enjoys writing, though he's keener on fiction." Clark laughed in genuine amusement. "Oh, trust me, Laura - sometimes=20 there's not much difference!" They fell silent for a few moments; Clark tried again to contact=20 Conor telepathically but had no success. Glancing at Laura, he=20 ventured, "I'm really sorry I couldn't sustain contact with Conor=20 earlier - I know you wanted more time with him." She smiled reassuringly back at him. "It's not your fault, Clark, and=20 I'm just really glad the two of you were able to contact each other=20 at all. And I'm pleased you got to talk to Lois." She hesitated,=20 glancing at him, the sudden rigid set of his jawline. "I know you=20 miss her too. Do I=85 do I look very like her?" Clark swung his upper body around so that he was directly facing=20 Laura. "You look *exactly* like she did when I first fell in love=20 with her," he replied huskily. "Oh," Laura whispered. "Hey!" he chivvied her bracingly. "It's okay=85 it's weird, you know,=20 but I don't have any problem separating the two of you. I know you=20 *look* exactly like her, and sound like her, and you're like her in=20 so many other ways, but now=85 after what happened earlier, somehow I=20 feel about you like I do about Lois's sister. I mean, I love Lucy,=20 but like she was my own sister. And I sort of feel that way about=20 you. While Lois=85 well, she's something else again." Laura gave him a wobbly smile. "Lucky woman." Seeing Clark's frown in=20 response, she added, "Oh, don't get me wrong. I am *completely* in=20 love with Conor. But in a way, I'm envious of what you two have.=20 You're so *comfortable* together - I mean, with you being Superman as=20 well as Clark, and coping with all the demands that makes of you, and=20 you've got a great kid=85." She trailed off suddenly, clapping her hand=20 over her mouth. "Oh Clark!" she exclaimed then, shocked. "I've been=20 so selfish - I never thought. You must *really* be missing Jon!" His expression clouded over. "Yeah, that's the toughest bit, apart=20 >from Lois. I keep thinking I'm probably missing some very important=20 part of his growing up." Laura stared at him, wide-eyed. "And Conor's there instead, and he=20 probably thinks Conor's his=85." She trailed off, unwilling to speak=20 the word. But Clark smiled slightly. "Actually, no. To start with, Lois left=20 him with my parents - Conor's flown her down each evening to see him.=20 And she says Jon knew Conor wasn't me." Changing the subject slightly, Laura dared to exercise her curiosity.=20 "Will Jon be a Superman as well, do you think?" He threw her a quizzical glance. "In the sense of having=20 Super-powers, or of wearing the Suit?" "Well, both, I guess," Laura replied with a shrug. Clark sighed. "We have no idea what a half-Kryptonian will be like -=20 but it's possible that he'll have my powers in some form. As for=20 being a Super-hero - well, I'd have to say that'll be up to him. I'd=20 never want to force anyone to take on this life. It's not easy. At=20 times it's damned hard, in fact. And Lois has to put up with a hell=20 of a lot, a husband who runs out on her all the time and leaves her=20 with a baby to take care of. I can never promise to stay home and=20 babysit, because if there's an earthquake somewhere I can't *not* go=20 and help. Or if I did=85." "You'd never be able to forgive yourself if something happened which=20 you could have prevented," Laura replied softly. "The thing is, if=20 your son is anything like you and Conor, he won't be able to stop=20 himself helping, doing good. You can't - you could no more walk away=20 >from someone in trouble than you'd cut off your right arm. And Conor=20 was the same - *is* the same," she added shakily, realising how close=20 she had come to allowing her sub-conscious fear that she would never=20 see Conor again voice itself. "When he first realised he really was=20 Superman, he didn't want to wear the Suit and fly around saving=20 people - but the instant he heard someone calling for help, he had to=20 go. *Wanted* to go. And=85 you're right, it's tough - but I wouldn't=20 have him any other way." Clark held her gaze for a long moment, a silent message in his deep=20 brown eyes. "That's why you're his soul-mate. It's like that for Lois=20 as well, and although I wish I didn't have to leave her as often as I=20 do, she would never want me to abandon someone in trouble in order to=20 stay with her. Which only makes me feel worse about leaving her,=20 sometimes, but=85" he shrugged, "=85 that's the price I have to pay for=20 having these powers." "One of the prices," Laura observed dryly. "Don't forget all the=20 various villains, psychopaths and criminal masterminds who come after=20 you because you're Superman." "True," Clark agreed wryly. "And give them time, they'll come after=20 Conor too. Though given our invulnerability, you'd think they'd know=20 better." He grinned conspiratorially at her. "Ready to go back? I=20 remember you telling me you had an early start on set tomorrow." He stood, taking her hand and pulling her lightly to her feet before=20 assuming the same flying position as before, with his arm looped=20 about her shoulders and hers around his waist to secure her body=20 beside his. "Fasten your seatbelt; we are ready for take-off=85." **************** ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:19:24 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 9/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 9/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... ****************** - 348 Hyperion Avenue, Metropolis -=20 "Conor? I never heard you come back last night - where've you been?"=20 Lois put down the slice of toast she had been eating and eyed him=20 curiously. He looked tired, drained, in a way that Clark only did=20 when he'd been assisting with an emergency which had involved loss of=20 life. Before replying, Conor quickly spun out of his Superman costume and=20 helped himself to coffee. "Sorry - I ended up helping out with a bush=20 fire in Australia. Then=85well, I just flew around looking for Tempus." "Tempus?" Lois frowned, then looked excited. "Have you seen him? Is=20 he here?" Shaking his head, Conor explained. "I was just fed up with waiting=20 for him to show himself - I don't know how Clark's coping, he didn't=20 really say last night, but I don't think I could take being here like=20 this indefinitely. Being separated from Laura, and having to pretend=20 to be someone I'm not=85 I can't do this, Lois." Lois grimaced; pretending to be someone else was what Conor had done=20 for a living until recently, she mused. On the other hand, she=20 supposed that at least when he was acting everyone had known it was a=20 pretence, unlike this situation where he had to keep up the act=20 almost continually. "So you went looking for Tempus?" "Yeah, but I know what you're going to say, Lois. It was a crazy idea=20 - I mean, he could be anywhere. Any *time*. Why should he be hanging=20 around in this universe, in this time-frame, just waiting for me to=20 find him?" He sighed. "Give me five minutes to get showered and=20 shaved, then I'll be ready to leave." As they drove to the Planet, Lois watched Conor out of the corner of=20 her eye. She had only allowed herself to realise the previous evening=20 just how much he was missing Laura; but as well as that, it occurred=20 to her that he really seemed to be miserable in her world. It seemed=20 to her inquisitive mind that there was something more on his mind=20 than simply missing his fiancee. It was almost as if something was=20 draining away his enthusiasm, his zest for life and his desire to be=20 happy. If he had been her Clark, she would almost have wondered=20 whether he had come into contact with red Kryptonite, or was=20 suffering from lack of exposure to the sun. Yet Conor had been out in=20 daylight any number of times, and she was pretty sure he hadn't=20 encountered any of that other stuff. Clark had told him all about it=0D=0A and its effects that day Conor had been exposed to green Kryptonite,=20 so Lois felt sure that he would have recognised it. "Conor?" she prompted softly. "You can talk to me, you know. What's=20 bugging you?" He grimaced. "It just doesn't feel right, my being here. I don't know=20 what it is, but=85 I don't feel sick exactly, but it's as if there's=20 something inside me which is slowly dying. I know that sounds weird,=20 but I can't explain it any better than that. I've never experienced=20 anything like this before, not until the last couple of days." Lois caught her breath, appalled. He sounded so depressed. "It=20 couldn't be=85 something about this world which you're, oh, I don't=20 know, sort of *allergic* to, could it?" Conor considered for a moment. "I've never had any allergies so I=20 don't really know what that would feel like. And it doesn't feel=20 anything like I did after the Kryptonite - there's nothing=20 *physically* wrong. I just feel=85 miserable, like I don't care about=20 anything really. Though that's not entirely true, 'cause I do want to=20 get home to Laura, more than anything." "It doesn't sound like red Kryptonite then," Lois commented=20 thoughtfully. "That affected Clark mentally, but when he became=20 apathetic he really didn't care about *anything*." She threw another=20 glance at Conor; she was concerned for him, of course, but at the=20 same time she was wondering whether whatever was wrong with him was=20 also affecting Clark. If Clark was sick, or miserable - more than=20 would be explained by missing her and their son - and she couldn't be=20 there for him=85 the thought depressed her still further. She drew the Jeep to a halt at an intersection, and regarded Conor=20 thoughtfully. As she had noticed when she'd seen him in the kitchen,=20 he didn't look at all his normal self. Of course, they had both been=20 under a tremendous strain over the past few days, and it didn't help=20 having to behave at the Planet as if everything was normal - normal=20 for Lois, that was. Conor was having to play the role of his=20 lifetime. She met his gaze now, and was shocked to the core. All the=20 life seemed to have gone out of his eyes; the humour and sparkle=20 which had been so obvious only a couple of days earlier. His brown=20 eyes seemed deadened. "If it is something to do with your being here, I can't understand=20 it." Lois's voice was concerned but mystified. "The other Clark was=20 here for several days, and he was fine. And Clark was in your world=20 with me=85." Her voice trailed off. "I'm sure he's fine." Conor managed to sound convincing. Just then, his attention seemed to be caught by something Lois could=20 neither see nor hear. His mouth turned down at the corners and he=20 muttered, "I need to go - there's a hijacking out at the airport." "Sure," she responded, easing the car away from the intersection as=20 the lights changed to green. "Just let me turn down that alley -=20 no-one will see you if you take off from there." ***************** Conor flew across the Metropolis skyline on his way back to the=20 Planet; the crisis at the airport had not taken long to resolve once=20 the hijackers had realised that Superman was present. They had given=20 themselves up and had allowed him to supervise the release of their=20 hostages. Conor had been quite relieved at this outcome, since he was=20 aware that Clark would have dealt with similar situations on numerous=20 occasions, and he didn't want any comparisons being made between=20 Superman's tactics on this occasion and on previous ones. He just couldn't understand why he felt so low. It seemed to him that=20 it was a struggle to generate any enthusiasm whatsoever; even now,=20 when he knew that he was required at the Planet in order to safeguard=20 Clark's position, all he wanted to do was to find some remote=20 location where he could curl up and shut out the rest of the world.=20 And yet he had never been a defeatist. His habit had always been to=20 look for the positive, to think of ways out of situations rather than=20 allow them to get the better of him. Maybe Lois was right, he thought=20 bleakly; perhaps it was something to do with prolonged exposure to=20 this world.=20 As he prepared to land discreetly in the alley behind the Planet, he=20 became aware of something, or someone, calling to him; he froze as he=20 realised that it was Clark. <> <> Clark's voice came in return. <> Conor sighed heavily, but before he could answer Clark interjected,=20 <> <> Conor asked, for the first time that day=20 experiencing a feeling of interest in something. <> Clark's tone was impatient, as if anxious to=20 concentrate on business. <> Conor agreed, taking off into the air again; it=20 wouldn't do for anyone to see Superman hovering near the Planet=20 building. <>=20 At that statement, Conor grunted sarcastically. <> There was a pause, and Conor realised that he could sense Clark's=20 emotional state; the older man seemed every bit as frustrated as he=20 himself was. And there was something else=85. <> he asked, an=20 urgent note in his query. Clark seemed to consider before replying. <> he added quickly. <> <> Conor agreed. <> <> Clark mused, sharing his thoughts=20 with Conor. <> He hesitated, thinking, then added, <> <> Conor threw back at his counterpart, without a=20 hint of sarcasm. He had come to admire Lois's intelligence and=20 ability very much over the past few days. <> Clark stated.=20 <> Conor told him, a frustrated note to his voice. <> Clark admitted, <> <> Conor enquired.=20 <>=20 Conor could sense Clark's concern, and also the older man's=20 increasing agitation and despair, even before Clark answered him. <> <> Conor answered, though he was secretly none too=20 sure of his ability to prevent a determined Lois Lane doing anything=20 she wanted to do. She was already aware of his mental state, and he=20 felt sure that she would already be wondering whether Clark was being=20 affected in the same way. The chances were that she was already=20 working out some move to try to force Tempus to show his hand. <> he added. <> <> <> Conor allowed the 'connection' to close, and doubled back=20 to reach the Planet. The conversation with Clark had restored some of=20 his normal equilibrium; to know that his unsettled mental state was=20 not actually his fault but was very possibly the result of his=20 enforced stay in this alternative universe at least provided him with=20 an explanation. And the fact that the telepathic connection had also=20 worked again at least gave him confidence that it might work a third=20 time. A few minutes later, he exited the elevator on the newsroom floor,=20 straightening his tie as he did so, and glanced around for Lois. He=20 couldn't immediately see her, but Jimmy bounded up to him instead. "Hey, CK! Great game last night, wasn't it?" Conor inwardly grimaced; one thing he did *not* share with=20 Clark was the older man's keen interest in sport, and he rarely=20 watched the big football or baseball games. Yet he was well aware=20 that Clark *did*, and that Clark Kent would certainly have watched=20 whatever game was on the previous evening. He frantically tried to=20 remember anything he might have seen or heard about who had won, or=20 which teams had even been playing. He guessed it was football -=20 Superbowl possibly - but=85. Stalling for time, he grinned at Jimmy and replied, "Sure, wasn't=20 it?" Jimmy frowned slightly. "I was sure you'd be bummed, CK! I mean, the=20 Bills lost! Okay, it was pretty close and all, but=85." He threw Conor=20 a curious stare. Conor summed up the situation and,=20 improvising for all he was worth, assumed a mournful expression and=20 allowed himself to lie. Not lying - acting, he reminded himself.=20 "Yeah, sure, that was a bummer all right. Lois'll tell ya - I was in=20 a foul mood once the game was over. But=85" he shrugged, "betcha=20 they'll win next time." Jimmy laughed sceptically. "That's what you said last time, CK! Look,=20 I'm tellin' ya, the Bills are on a losing streak. It's that new=20 manager, he should never have sacked=85" As Jimmy chattered on, discussing the tactics of the team's current=20 manager, Conor groaned silently. There was no way he would be able to=20 cover up his ignorance on this topic: Clark was clearly an expert=20 here, and Jimmy knew it. He briefly closed his eyes: could he take=20 Jimmy into his confidence? Would the younger man believe him? And -=20 most important - could he do it without giving away the secret that=20 Clark Kent was Superman?=20 Plan A, if he could manage it, was to find an escape route; while he=20 was pretending to give Jimmy his full attention, Conor was actually=20 surreptitiously scanning the room. Just then, to his relief, the=20 editor-in-chief emerged from the back office. Interrupting Jimmy's=20 flow of words, Conor explained that he needed a word with Perry=20 urgently. Jimmy's face fell. "Oh, sure, CK. I didn't realise you were busy -=20 breaking story, huh? Talk to you later, okay? I wanna know how much=20 you're prepared to bet on the Bills winning their next game.=85" Feeling a little guilty about deceiving this very open and friendly=20 young man, Conor hurried over to Perry White. Thankfully, he knew=20 that there was something he could use as an excuse for approaching=20 the editor, and he quickly explained that he had an exclusive on the=20 hijacking, including an interview with Superman. As he spoke, he=20 hoped desperately that this was something that Clark would do in real=20 life; it had become apparent to Conor over the past couple of days=20 that the apparently intimate atmosphere of the Daily Planet as=20 depicted by the TV show was not at all realistic. The editor,=20 although he possessed a caring nature masked by a gruff exterior, was=20 usually far too busy to swap anecdotes or follow every detail of his=20 staff's lives. "So what are you waiting for, Kent? Get and write it up! I want the=20 story on my desk in under an hour!" Conor hesitated; did Clark still call Perry White 'Chief'? How would=20 Clark reply to such a command - or would he simply nod and walk away?=20 He crossed his fingers mentally and replied briskly, "Sure thing,=20 Chief." To his relief, the editor didn't bat an eyelid, merely=20 grunting before returning to his office. Thus dismissed, Conor went to Clark's desk and did as he was told,=20 though Lois's continued absence bothered him. Although her diary=20 indicated that she'd had an interview to conduct on the other side of=20 town, he considered that she should have been back by now. He=20 recalled Clark's words about Lois's tendency to take risks, and as he=20 sent his story to Perry - taking the chance that he had copied=20 Clark's style sufficiently well - he mused on the possibilities,=20 rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stared into the middle distance.=20 Should he go to look for Lois, and incur her wrath if she was=20 perfectly safe? On the whole, though, he considered, he'd rather face=20 an irate Lois Lane than a furious Clark Kent; and so, informing a=20 colleague that he had to meet a source, Conor hurried from the=20 building. ***************** ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:19:39 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 10/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 10/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... ***************** - Santa Monica, An Alternate Universe -=20 Clark finally arrived back at the Kane/Lindsay house in late morning,=20 having been further delayed by a traffic pile-up caused by motorists=20 rubber-necking at an accident on the other side of the freeway. He=20 had resisted the temptation to lecture those drivers he'd pulled out=20 of the wrecks of their cars, recognising that his bad temper was as=20 much due to his mental state as it was to annoyance at the=20 recklessness of some of these crazy drivers. He made himself some coffee and began to contemplate his next step.=20 Conor was right; there was little point in searching for Tempus. The=20 man just had too many options when it came to hiding. Which meant=20 that their only course of action was to wait until he showed himself;=20 but that was incredibly frustrating. Clark wasn't sure how much=20 longer he could cope with this separation from his family, and with=20 what really seemed to be some sort of allergy to this universe. Just as he'd started to give some thought to what sort of trap it=20 might be possible to set for Tempus, however, he caught sight of=20 something landing in the back garden, near the trees. Frowning, he=20 hurried out and found a brick with a sheet of paper tied around it.=20 Clark unwrapped it, and read the message on the paper. "Does Clark Kent care about this world's 'Lois Lane'? If so, he might=20 want to try looking around the Encino Reservoir." The reservoir=85 it was up in the Santa Monica mountains, Clark=20 recalled. But Laura was filming, so how could she be -=20 He spun into the Suit and took off, heading for the location where=20 she'd said her film company would be shooting that day. Landing=20 nearby, he spun into normal clothes and strolled over to a passing=20 admin assistant, who recognised - as she thought - Conor Kane. "Hey, Mr Kane! Are you looking for Ms Lindsay?" "Uh=85 yeah. I thought I'd surprise her and have lunch with her," Clark=20 improvised. The woman's face fell. "Oh, I'm really sorry, Mr Kane, but she left a=20 short while ago. She was with somebody - I didn't recognise him, but=20 they went off together in her car." Clark felt as if a cold hand was closing over his heart.=20 Laura might not have been Lois, but she was someone dear to him all=20 the same. He quickly thanked his informant, taking care to indicate=20 that it was no big deal and that he would catch up with Laura later. =0D=0A A bare minute later he was flying over the Encino Reservoir, using=20 his X-ray vision to scan the area for signs of life - particularly a=20 certain time-traveller. Just behind the valley in which the reservoir=20 lay, he noticed a cave, and=85. Yes, it was Laura. Tied up, and gagged, but otherwise unharmed from=20 what Clark could see.=20 He landed by the entrance to the cave and quickly strode in to=20 confront Tempus, who seemed to be waiting for him in the rear cavern. "Ah, Superman," Tempus drawled. "You did take your time - perhaps I=20 was right in assuming that this woman means little to you." Clark gritted his teeth. "Let her go, Tempus. This is between you and=20 me." "Oh, no, Clark - after all, how do I know you won't forget your=20 'ethics', as you promised me once before that you might? Anyway, I=20 have a plan for dear Laura," he added with a sinister chuckle. Clark glanced over at Laura, who was crouched in an uncomfortable=20 heap on the ground; he wondered whether he could manage to get her=20 out at super-speed without injuring her, or whether he would need to=20 deal with Tempus first. He was calculating the necessary timings when=20 Tempus spoke again, appearing to savour every word as he smiled=20 broadly, and falsely, at his audience. "Oh, Clark, I just thought you might like to know. There is a=20 canister of highly poisonous gas in the outer cavern of this cave. I=20 released the lock on it just as you joined us, and so it should now=20 be pretty unpleasant out there. Of course, I know that won't be a=20 problem for *you*, Supes, but Ms Lindsay here will die if she inhales=20 even one breath of the gas, or if it comes into contact with her=20 skin. Oh, and before you try it, even you can't carry her out through=20 that cavern fast enough. Yet if she stays here, in about ten minutes=20 the gas will seep through here and will kill her anyway." Continuing=20 to smile in enjoyment, Tempus faced Clark. "You=85 you *maniac*!" Clark made a lunge for the time-traveller, but=20 he disappeared before Clark's eyes. Angry and frustrated, Clark=20 glanced at Laura, who was watching him through wide, fearful eyes. At=20 that moment, Tempus reappeared. "Useful little gadgets, these time-travelling devices, are they not?=20 I just felt that I should let you know, Clark, that I've also left=20 some Kryptonite in a small lead-lined box over there. The lock on=20 that box is time-locked, and it's due to open in=85 oh, about five=20 minutes from now. But if you try to interfere with the box, it will=20 open immediately."" Clark's gaze followed the direction of Tempus's hand; there was=20 indeed a box, and his X-ray vision would not allow him to see through=20 it. He guessed that Tempus wasn't lying. "What have you got to gain=20 >from this, Tempus?" he demanded helplessly. It didn't make sense;=20 Clark could certainly escape, so Tempus would not achieve his aim of=20 killing Superman. "Oh, Clark, do you really need it explained to you? I am surprised=85.=20 Well, it's straightforward enough. I know how much you love Lois=20 Lane, and that you would do anything to save her life. But how far=20 are you prepared to go for Laura Lindsay, who is in fact Lois Lane=20 but not *your* Lois? You can get out of here, Clark. It's easy. You=20 just walk through that exit, and you're free. But are you prepared to=20 do that, knowing you leave your counterpart's soul-mate to die?"=20 Tempus paused, clearly enjoying his speech very much. "On the other=20 hand, are you prepared to give your own life, to die in agony, so=20 that she doesn't die alone?" Clark had listened to most of that speech in silence, barely able to=20 comprehend the evil nature of this plan. As Tempus concluded,=20 however, he made a lunge forward and attempted to grab the=20 time-traveller. "There is another choice, Tempus - you take us out of=20 here with your device and return me to my own world, or I'll hold you=20 here to die too!" But just as he managed to grasp Tempus's sleeve, the man vanished=20 again, leaving only an evil laugh which echoed around the chamber. A whimper sounded from somewhere near the floor, and Clark swung=20 around. Laura was still staring up at him; he hurried to her side and=20 broke the ropes which bound her as if they were paper. She coughed as=20 the gag was removed, then gesticulated frantically. "Go, Clark! Get out of here!" ****************** - The Daily Planet, Metropolis -=20 Conor circled the area around where Lois should have been for about=20 the fifth time; there was no sign of her. His heart sank; he should=20 have been far more conscious of her safety. He should have gone to=20 look for her long before. God only knew what Tempus might have done=20 with her=85. He flew slowly back towards the Planet, half-heartedly scanning the=20 streets below as he went. Then his attention was caught by=85. No, it couldn't be=85. He swooped down and almost wrenched the door off a silver Jeep Grand=20 Cherokee which was parked at the kerb while its driver munched on a=20 chocolate bar. "Lois, can I talk to you?" he muttered through gritted teeth. She had jerked around in shock to face him, but once she realised who=20 was there her expression became stormy. "What's the problem,=20 *Superman*?" she asked, in a voice which was only barely remaining=20 calm. A muscle jerked in Conor's jaw. "Where the hell have you been?" he=20 demanded in a low voice. "I've been worried sick - I thought Tempus=20 might have got you." Lois stared at him. "And why might you think that?" Her expression=20 changed. "Has there been any contact from him?" Shaking his head, Conor replied, "No, but I have spoken to Clark=20 again." Lois's expression altered completely. "Meet me at the Planet -=20 without this," she added, gesturing at his Suit, before pulling her=20 door shut and driving off. Conor arrived in the Planet's parking lot before Lois, and as she=20 pulled into her normal space he strolled over, again dressed in=20=0D=0AClark's business suit. Under the guise of going out for lunch, they=20 strolled out of the garage and up to street level while he filled her=20 in on his conversation with Clark and explained his fears for her=20 safety. As he'd suspected, Lois was not precisely thrilled to discover that=20 Conor believed she was incapable of looking after herself. "Look,=20 Conor, she said under her breath but in no less a ferocious tone for=20 all that, "I am well able to look after myself. Clark knows that - he=20 may have taken a long time to learn it, but he hasn't made the=20 mistake in a long time of assuming I need him to watch out for me=20 twenty-four hours a day. And *you* don't need to do that either." Conor attempted to apologise, but Lois was not easily mollified. She=20 did, however, latch on to the other part of his discussion with=20 Clark, and began to suggest ways in which they could lure Tempus in=20 order to catch him. Conor grimaced as he kept up his end of the conversation. Was Laura=20 going to become more like Lois now that they knew of their real=20 origins? Could he keep up with her if she did? ****************** - A Cave in the Santa Monica Mountains, An Alternate Universe -=20 Clark stared at Laura in shock and disbelief. Did she really imagine=20 that he would=85 how could she think that he would abandon her? "Laura, don't be stupid. Of course I'm not going anywhere," he=20 insisted as he dropped to his knees beside her and began to chafe her=20 numb wrists. "Clark - I'm going to die anyway, he said so. Why should you waste=20 your life? You can get out of here - go! And get back to Lois." Laura=20 avoided meeting his eyes as she urged him to escape while he could. "I am *not* going to leave you," he insisted again. "*And* I will get=20 you out safely." She stared back at him this time. "But=85 how?" Clark gazed at her, his eyes intent, a deadly serious message in=20 their dark depths. "Do you trust me, Laura?" She met his gaze; those deep brown eyes, so like Conor's, but *not*=20 Conor's=85 how she missed her fiance! It was so hard, being with this=20 man who resembled him in so many ways, but just wasn't the man she=20 had fallen in love with and with whom she planned to spend the rest=20 of her life. But as she looked into the depths of Clark's eyes, saw=20 the concern for her in them, read in them the sheer reliability and=20 sincerity of this man, she knew what Lois had seen in Clark. If she=20 hadn't met Conor first, she could easily have fallen for Clark. But=20 then=85 Clark *was* Conor, was another world's version of her Conor. "Yes, I trust you," she replied huskily. "As much as I trust Conor=85=20 and I'd trust him with my life." "Good." Clark reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. "In that=20 case, I'd like you to do exactly as I say, and I'll get us both out=20 of here." "What=85 what do you want me to do?" she asked, her throat drying up.=20 What did he have in mind? "Just close your eyes," he instructed in a deliberately calm tone.=20 Although he had confidence that what he was about to do would work,=20 it wasn't something he enjoyed doing, or would have decided to do=20 were their situation not desperate. But he wasn't about to tell Laura=20 that. Clark knew that he had to remain unruffled and exude certainty=20 in his ability to rescue them; she was scared enough as it was, and=20 he didn't want to have to deal with a hysterical Laura Lindsay.=20 Although, given that she was this world's version of Lois, would she=20 become hysterical? He wasn't sure that he wanted to put that theory=20 to the test. She closed her eyes obediently, though her hand gripped his tightly.=20 "What are you going to do?" "I think it's probably better that I don't tell you," he replied=20 softly. "Just trust me, okay?" He felt very thankful that her TV show=20 hadn't reached the point where his parents had been kidnapped by=20 Jason Mazik, if - as seemed likely - future scripts would have=20 continued to mirror his and Lois's lives.=20 Recognising Laura's fear and wanting to comfort her, much as he hoped=20 Conor would comfort his Lois should she need it, he leaned forward=20 and gently pressed a light, reassuring kiss on her forehead. Then he=20 released her hand and stood up, taking a step or two back from her;=20 she started, but didn't open her eyes. Taking a deep breath, he sent=20 a long blast of freezing super-breath in her direction. Within a few=20 seconds, it had had the desired effect, and he rushed forward,=20 scooping her rigid, cold body up into his arms. A split second later,=20 he was flying them out of the cavern. He paused briefly to use his=20 heat vision in order to cause a landslide which buried the cavern and=20 its lethal contents, then flew swiftly homewards. Landing silently in the back garden of Conor's house, he walked=20 swiftly towards the French doors and carried his stiff, unyielding=20 burden into the living-room, anxious to bring Laura out of her state=20 of suspended animation as soon as possible. The first time he had=20 tried freezing Lois she had been frozen for at least half an hour,=20 but he had been well aware at the time that he had only managed to=20 thaw her in time; much longer and she could have been permanently=20 brain-damaged or even dead. Laying Laura's body on the sofa, he=20 super-sped upstairs to grab a large quilt from one of the beds, and=20 threw it on the floor beside the sofa; he would need it later. Then=20 he stood with his gaze focused intently on Laura, allowing his heat=20 vision to sweep over her. He was careful to regulate the amount of=20 heat he applied: too much and he knew he could cause permanent=20 damage. No matter that this was the third time he'd used this technique - or=20 that this time it wasn't Lois, though the fact that Laura was her=20 double didn't help - the minutes waiting for the subject to come=20 around didn't get any easier. His brain told him that he had only=20 been using his heat vision for less than a minute; his frantic heart=20 told him that it had been far too long, and that this time it wasn't=20 going to work. He dropped to his knees beside Laura, gathering her up into his arms.=20 "Laura - Laura, please, wake up. Come back!" Nothing. He tried again. "Laura - you know Conor needs you. You have to come=20 back to me, for his sake. Laura!" She coughed. "Conor=85 Conor?" Her eyes flickered open, then closed=20 again. "Cold=85 so cold=85" Clark swept her body with his heat vision again, thanking whatever=20 invisible powers existed that she had survived. He then covered her=20 with the quilt, gripping her hand to reassure her that she was safe=20 and that she wasn't alone. Laura opened her eyes again, focusing on Clark. "Clark=85 I thought I=20 heard Conor calling me! Is he=85 here?" Clark shook his head. "No. But he *will* make it back - I promise you=20 that. Just like I'm going to make it home to Lois." "Yeah," she whispered bleakly. She was finding it harder and harder=20 to sustain her belief that they would be able to undo Tempus's=20 meddling. It had been several days now, after all, and HG Wells had=20 not appeared to put things right. Then she remembered - Tempus! "Clark - how did you get me out of that cavern? The last thing I=20 remember is closing my eyes and you telling me to trust you=85? It went=20 cold=85" she remembered, puzzled. Clark's expression was wry. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you what I was=20 going to do - I was afraid if I did you'd be too scared to let me go=20 ahead." At her bewildered look, he continued, "I froze you with my=20 super-breath - so you were in suspended animation, more or less, and=20 I was able to carry you out and bring you here." "You=85 *froze* me? Like I was in a=85 freezer, or something?" she asked,= =20 incredulous. "Yeah, a bit like that. Only the freezing is pretty instantaneous,=20 and I can thaw you out quickly with my heat vision. It's safe enough=20 if you know what you're doing, and the subject isn't kept frozen too=20 long," he explained. "I've done it with Lois a couple of times." Laura struggled to sit up as her brain tried to make sense of what=20 Clark was telling her. What he had done sounded incredibly dangerous=85=20 but then, if he hadn't done it, she would have died anyway. She=20 reached out and lightly touched his arm. "Thank you," she murmured=20 softly. "You saved my life."=20 He shook his head. "You have to know I wouldn't have left. Don't=20 you?"=20 She met his gaze, nodding after a few moments. "I know Conor=20 couldn't, if it was Lois," she agreed.=20 Clark straightened. "You need to get some rest, and make sure you're=20 properly warmed up before you do anything else. I want to know how=20 Tempus found you, and whether he said anything about his plans,=20 though - did he mention Lois? And Conor?" Struggling to her feet, Laura shook her head. "He said very little -=20 he just appeared in my trailer and told me that he had you prisoner=20 and that unless I went with him he'd use some Kryptonite on you. He=20 had=85 a piece of what looked like your cape." Clark fell silent for a moment as he realised that Laura had also=20 risked her life for his. Then, wrapping his arm warmly about her=20 shoulders briefly, he urged her to go to bed for a couple of hours.=20 "I promise you, if anything happens I'll tell you." **************** ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:19:55 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 11/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 11/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... **************** - 348 Hyperion Avenue, Metropolis -=20 "Well, I still think it could work," Lois insisted, gesticulating at=20 Conor as they entered the living-room of her house. "And I still think it's too dangerous," Conor replied firmly, glaring=20 at her. "And *I've* told you I can look after myself." Conor, about to respond in kind, suddenly came to an abrupt halt=20 before, to his own surprise as much as Lois's, beginning to laugh. She stared at him. "What's so funny?" He threw her a rueful glance. "We are. We're behaving just like Lois=20 and Clark from Season 2." Catching her irate glare, he explained.=20 "Sorry - I forget sometimes. I mean, the way we showed you two at=20 that stage - you know, when you were friends but still needling each=20 other sometimes. Clark would be over-protective and she - you - would=20 consider taking all sorts of risks." Lois's mouth curved into a reluctant smile. "I guess we were acting a=20 bit like that. And if I'm honest, I'd admit that I don't take so many=20 risks now. It was easy for a while to be even more reckless than I'd=20 used to be because I knew Clark would be looking out for me, but I=20 gradually learned that he wasn't able to watch out for me twenty-four=20 hours a day, so I calmed down - and he also learned that I was more=20 capable than he sometimes gave me credit for. And then we had Jon,=20 and that changed me too=85." She paused, then turned her attention back=20 to Conor. "Okay, so I'm less likely to dangle over the jaws of death=20 these days, but this is important. I think I should do it." "Do what, Lois?" a smooth voice demanded. She swung around, to find=20 that she was facing=85. "Tempus!" Conor made a quick lunge, but Tempus disappeared briefly; when he=20 reappeared he waggled his finger admonishingly at Conor. "Now, now, Mr Kane! I certainly wouldn't advise doing anything rash=20 where I'm concerned - remember, without me you don't even have a hope=20 of getting home." "He's right, Conor," Lois conceded reluctantly, thinking of Clark.=20 She couldn't bear to be separated from him forever, and since there=20 had been no sign of HG Wells in the past few days, she could only=20 assume that Tempus had killed him. Otherwise, once the writer had=20 been freed by Tempus he would immediately have travelled back to the=20 time when Conor had been sent to her world. "Just what do you want, Tempus?" Conor demanded angrily. This man had=20 separated him from Laura, and given him probably the worst few days=20 of his life. Now that Tempus had finally shown himself, Conor was not=20 going to let him off lightly. "Oh, haven't you worked it out yet?" Tempus drawled, strolling over=20 to the large bay window at the front of the house. "You see, Lois may=20 have told you that I love irony. And it struck me that there would be=20 little more ironic than for Ms Lane here to be separated from her=20 'soul-mate', while at the same time, so far as the world was=20 concerned, Clark Kent was still here, married to Lois Lane. And=20 Superman was still flying around do-gooding. No-one but you and Lois=20 would know the truth." He smiled; a baring of his teeth which=20 revealed a sadistic humour. "And as I see it, neither of you would be=20 happy - nor would your _alter egos_ in the other universe - and so=20 there would be no Utopia. Perfect, as far as I'm concerned." "Do you seriously think it would get to that point?" Lois demanded=20 cynically. "HG Wells would have come to put things right long before=20 that happened." "Oh, you think so, do you, Lois?" Tempus drawled. "But then, you=20 haven't seen Herb lately, have you?" Lois shot a quick glance at Conor; it was obvious that he was=20 thinking along the same lines as was she. Had Tempus finally killed=20 Wells? They had thought it unlikely, as had Clark, but it was=20 certainly strange that the writer had not come to their rescue by=20 now. Her heart sank still further; what could they do now? She=20 glanced quickly at Conor, thinking that it was most probably up to=20 her to come up with a way of defeating Tempus. This actor - however=20 good he had been at pretending to be Clark over the past few days -=20 was still a novice Superman, and did not have either Clark's=20 experience and intelligence, nor her own street-smart wisdom, she=20 considered. Conor strolled over to her, however, and amazed her by throwing his=20 arm around her shoulders and holding her closely against him. He then=20 threw Tempus a somewhat pitying stare. "Tempus, you probably thought=20 this was a pretty devious plan. But I have to tell you, it stinks.=20 It's pathetic - I can't imagine how you ever thought it would work." Lois wondered wildly, casting a quick glance at=20 Conor's face. His expression gave nothing away; his face bore a=20 cynical, supercilious grin. Tempus straightened. "Oh, do stop trying to insult me, Clark=85 sorry,=20 Conor. You really are just a pale imitation of the real thing, aren't=20 you?" Conor's arm around Lois tightened. "Lois doesn't seem to think so,"=20 he observed coolly. He bent his head and nuzzled her ear. "In fact, I=20 think Lois thinks I make a pretty good Clark."=20 Just as Lois was again wondering frantically what he was up to, he=20 murmured very softly in her ear, "Just trust me. Play along, okay?"=20 He turned back to Tempus and spoke again, slowly and distinctly. "You=20 see, Tempus, what you've forgotten is that I *am* Clark Kent - just=20 >from another universe. As far as Lois is concerned, why should that=20 make any difference? The fact that you've swapped me with the Clark=20 Kent of this world is irrelevant. Superman here is married to Lois=20 Lane, and in my world Superman is going to marry Laura Lindsay, who=20 is really Lois Lane. So I'd guess Clark is pretty happy where he is=20 too." Lois realised. "You're lying," Tempus spat, his lip twisted in a cynical imitation=20 of a smile. "Lois Lane would never settle for anyone other than this=20 world's Kent." "No?" Conor taunted. "Well, you should have been here last night,=20 then. You'd have seen Lois in the arms of the man she loves." Lois realised; =20 Recognising that she needed to make Conor's story look convincing,=20 she moved closer to him, wrapping her arm tighter around his waist=20 and staring briefly and apparently lovingly into his eyes before=20 turning to Tempus. "He's right - I was. So you've wasted your time,=20 Tempus. Conor and I are perfectly happy together - and you know=20 something else? Last night we also talked about how much we both=20 wanted kids." At that, Tempus definitely looked taken aback, and Conor seized his=20 moment. While the older man's attention was distracted, Conor=20 loosened his grip on Lois and focused on the time-traveller. A quick=20 blast of his super-breath, and Tempus staggered backwards, hitting=20 his head against the windowsill. In an instant Conor was by his side;=20 as Tempus lay semi-conscious Conor searched his body for his=20 travelling device. He found it in Tempus's pocket, a small device=20 which resembled a TV remote control. Holding Tempus down and glancing around at Lois, who now stood by his=20 shoulder, Conor murmured, "Okay, now I just need to deal with this=20 guy, make sure he can't get away." "What are you going to do?" Lois asked, concerned. Conor shrugged, a harsh expression on his face. "What do you think=20 I'm going to do? You know better than I do all the harm he's done -=20 and don't forget he killed the original Lois Lane from my world. He's=20 too dangerous to be allowed any chance of doing this stuff again." Lois realised, shocked. Some part of her=20 wondered why she should be in any way upset or horrified at the=20 prospect; given all that Tempus had done to herself and Clark in the=20 past, she should be delighted at the thought of his death -=20 especially considering that he now also represented a danger to their=20 son. But somehow=85 there was something quite wrong about the idea of=20 Superman taking a life. This Superman wasn't Clark, of course, and=20 Clark himself had commented to Lois that he believed Conor's ethics=20 to be rather different from his own. But still=85 to kill someone? She laid a hand on Conor's arm. "Believe me, I hate him too, but=85." Conor shrugged again. "Lois, I have to make sure he can never hurt=20 anyone again. Now, stand back," he insisted. She did, unwillingly but=20 reluctant to interfere. Conor appeared to stare at Tempus for a few moments; the=20 time-traveller lay on the ground unable to move, but his eyes seemed=20 to bore into Conor's as he stared up at his nemesis.=20 "Well, Superman?" Tempus croaked. "Are you really going to forget all=20 you believe about doing good? Are you going to take a life,=20 deliberately, for the first time?" His expression creased into a=20 satisfied grin. "If that's so, then I've won. Whether I'm alive to=20 enjoy it or not, your own action will have ensured that there will be=20 no Utopia. And that's possibly the greatest irony of them all." "He's right, Conor," Lois admitted unwillingly. "You know what=20 Superman stands for. Once Superman stops upholding those standards,=20 he no longer stands for what's right. If you kill Tempus=85 it makes=20 you no better than he is." Conor heaved a heavy sigh. Lois was right; he knew that, and he knew=20 inside that he could never have killed Tempus, much though he'd=20 wanted to do it. "What I have to do is make sure he can't get away,"=20 he gritted, throwing Lois a quick, reassuring glance. He then=20 returned his attention to Tempus, suddenly sending a blast of=20 freezing breath his way. In seconds, Tempus lay on the floor, frozen=20 stiff. Staring at Conor, Lois demanded, "What made you think of that?" Clark=20 had used that method on her, twice, and had also restrained the=20 Toasters in that way=85. Conor shrugged. "We did it in the show once - I thought it might=20 work. Now I just need to get over to my world, and make sure this=20 thing sends Clark back to deal with him before he defrosts." "Okay," Lois agreed, "but I'm coming with you." **************** **************** - Santa Monica, An Alternate Universe -=20 Clark again used his super-powers to check on Laura; she seemed to be=20 asleep still, and her breathing was normal. He felt a little guilty=20 about invading her privacy in this manner, but he was still concerned=20 about her well-being after the experience of being frozen earlier=20 that day. Reassured, he wandered into the kitchen to make some more coffee; he=20 didn't really want coffee, but it was something to do. He had run out=20 of ideas for finding Tempus, and he also didn't want to leave the=20 house while Laura was resting. That unsettling feeling of melancholy,=20 depression, had still not gone away, and it was magnified with his=20 anger at himself for having allowed Tempus to escape yet again. As he filled the coffee-machine, however, he heard a faint noise; he=20 engaged his super-hearing to see what was going on. It sounded like=85=20 footsteps, outside the house. He quickly used his super-vision to=20 scan the area around the pool, which seemed to be where the sounds=20 were coming from -=20 - and he almost fell over. Lois and Conor were walking towards the=20 patio doors. "How on Earth=85." he began, then hurried to meet them. Using=20 super-speed, he was beside Lois before she had taken one more step,=20 and swung her into his arms. "Lois=85 oh, Lois, sweetheart, I thought I'd never see you again!" he=20 murmured brokenly as he pressed her against him, his lips devouring=20 her face, her eyes, her ears and finally, her lips. "Clark=85 oh, I've missed you so much," Lois exclaimed in response,=20 trying to touch all of him at once.=20 They were oblivious to anyone else for several moments, until Conor=20 coughed loudly. "Look, guys, I understand how you feel," he assured=20 them. "But I need to know where Laura is." Clark broke away from Lois and faced his younger counterpart. "Of=20 course you do, Conor - I'm sorry." He extended his hand warmly to=20 Conor. "It's great to see you again." Leading the way into the house,=20 Clark then explained some of what had happened earlier. "So Laura's=20 just fine, I promise you - she's just resting." "Hold on a minute," Conor interrupted, agitated. "You say Tempus had=20 her, and was going to kill her? She isn't hurt, is she?" Lois frowned; she thought she had probably taken in a little more of=20 Clark's explanation than Conor had. "How did you get Laura out of=20 there, Clark? You didn't=85 you did, didn't you?" He nodded soberly. "I had to freeze her - it was the only way." Conor lunged towards Clark, grabbing him by the throat. "You *froze*=20 my fiancee? You could have killed her!" Lois caught Conor's arm, though he was so intent on shaking Clark he=20 didn't even acknowledge her presence. "Conor! Conor - Clark wouldn't=20 have done it if he hadn't known it'd be okay. He's done it with me=20 twice, and I'm fine!" Conor eased his grip on Clark, who looked a little relieved; it=20 wasn't often that he was attacked by someone with equivalent powers=20 to his own, and in any case he hadn't really wanted to fight Conor.=20 He met Conor's questioning gaze, and answered the unspoken question. "Yeah, I did it to Lois, and she was fine. Really, there was no other=20 way of getting Laura out of there. And she is *fine* - I just made=20 her go get some rest." Nodding in silent acknowledgement, Conor hurried out of the room;=20 there was a whoosh as he headed up the stairs at super-speed. Clark=20 rubbed his neck distractedly, his expression somewhat surprised as he=20 realised that it actually hurt. "Remind me not to get into a fight=20 with Conor again in a hurry, sweetheart," he murmured ruefully as he=20 embraced Lois again. ************** ************** "Laura? Are you okay?" Hearing the anxious voice, Laura opened her eyes to see an even more=20 anxious-looking male hovering in the bedroom doorway. The hair was=20 rumpled, and he was wearing a business suit and glasses. "Clark?" Her voice was puzzled, and slurred with sleep. "Why are you=20 dressed so formally?" She saw him frown, as if what she'd said didn't make sense. Then he=20 spoke again, just one word. "Laura." That was enough. She threw herself out of bed and launched herself at=20 him. "Conor! Conor, you're back! But when... how...?" He lifted her off her feet, swinging her around in his delight at=20 being back with her. "Only just now - Tempus came after Lois and me=20 and I managed to distract him and get hold of his device." He broke=20 off his explanation to kiss her soundly, then pulled back. "But are=20 you okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern. "Clark told me he=85.=20 Oh, God, I still can't believe he did it!" She stroked his arm reassuringly as she allowed him to lead her back=20 to the bed. "He had no choice, Conor - I'd have died otherwise. That=20 gas was lethal. And if he'd stayed much longer, he'd have been killed=20 because Tempus had left Kryptonite in the cave." Conor was taken aback; Clark hadn't mentioned this bit. "Kryptonite?=20 Then=85 he took a hell of a risk coming after you in the first place." Laura shook her head. "I'm not sure he knew Tempus had it, though I=20 think he'd have come anyway. Like you would if the positions were=20 reversed?" she finished, throwing him an enquiring glance. He hugged her closely. "Sure," he murmured huskily. "Oh, sweetheart,=20 I've *missed* you - you can't imagine how much!" "I've missed you too, you know that," she assured him lovingly. "But=20 I want to know all about their world - what the Daily Planet's really=20 like. Is Perry White really an Elvis fan? Does Jimmy really have such=20 bad taste in women?" Conor realised suddenly that for most of his time in Clark's world he=20 had been too wrapped up in his own fears and in trying to get back to=20 Laura that he had actually neglected to pay much attention to the=20 real minutiae of Lois and Clark's lives, apart from what he had=20 needed to know in order to play Clark convincingly. Yet, once he and=20 Laura had discovered that their 'fictional' characters actually=20 existed in real life, they had talked a number of times about how=20 much they would like an opportunity to see how Lois and Clark really=20 lived their lives. But he smiled; he could answer some of Laura's=20 questions. "Yeah, Perry loves Elvis - and I had to sit through a=20 couple of tales, all right. I just hoped my reactions were=20 convincing! And I don't know about his taste in women, but Jimmy *is*=20 a real football fan - and so's Clark! I don't know how I managed to=20 pull it off earlier today when Jimmy started talking about some ball=20 game yesterday that Clark would *definitely* have seen=85." Laura cut off Conor's flow by kissing him again, then she moved away=20 >from him a little to ask, "Has Clark gone back, then?" Conor shook his head. "He's still downstairs, I guess - Lois is with=20 him." "She is?" Laura jumped to her feet excitedly. Grabbing Conor's hand,=20 she tugged him towards the doorway. "Come on - I want to see her=20 again!" As he initially resisted, throwing her a teasing smile, she=20 stuck her tongue out at him. "Why do you have to be so darned strong,=20 Superman?" He laughed, and allowed her to pull him to the door. *************** ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 16:20:11 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly: Torn Between Two Worlds 12/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Title: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part: 12/12 Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG Feedback: This story is currently being beta-edited for submission=20 to the Archive(Hi Karen ;) ). Bearing that in mind, feedback welcome=20 publicly or privately. Summary: This is the continuation and conclusion of my Big Boys Do=20 Fly trilogy. In Part II Lois and Clark travelled to an alternate=20 universe in order to help their counterparts Conor and Laura get used=20 to the existence of Superman, but they ran into problems... ************** Downstairs, Lois had filled Clark in on the story of Tempus's=20 disconcertion and defeat. "So he's still there - in our house?"=20 Clark asked. "How hard did Conor freeze him? Not hard enough to kill=20 him, I hope=85 but I hope it's hard enough for him to still be there=20 when we get back - " Lois placed her finger over his mouth. "Clark, you're beginning to=20 obsess! No, I don't think Conor would have killed him, though=20 honestly, do you really expect me to be an expert on Super-freezing=20 techniques?" "Okay, okay," Clark apologised. "Not that I don't think a dead Tempus=20 wouldn't solve all our problems with him, but=85." He trailed off,=20 looking distinctly uncomfortable. "I know," Lois reassured him. "Superman doesn't kill." "And *this* Superman doesn't either," Conor remarked, as he and Laura=20 strolled into the room. Lois and Clark noticed in surprise that he=20 had changed back into his normal clothes and no longer wore Clark's=20 glasses. "Clark, I'm sorry about earlier, by the way." Clark smiled wryly at him. "No problem. But you better tell me about=20 Tempus - I'll have to get back and deal with him." "Sure - but I took a good look at that travel device of his. It'll be=20 no problem getting us back there at the same time we left." "Us?" Clark threw him a curious glance.=20 "Yeah - I figured it might be a good idea if I went back with you and=20 Lois to help you deal with him," Conor offered tentatively. On seeing=20 Clark's even more surprised expression, he added a little sheepishly,=20 "It's not that I don't think you're capable of handling him, Clark -=20 of course you are. I know that. But=85 after what he did to us, and=20 what he did to Laura today=85 I'd be happier if I could see for myself=20 that he's out of harm's way." "Okay," Clark conceded. "I don't see why not - and just to set the=20 record straight, Conor, I'd be glad of the help." Laura frowned as she watched the interchange. "What do you plan on=20 doing with this guy? Whatever you've done in the past hasn't exactly=20 worked, has it?" Lois's gaze fell on the travel device which Conor was still holding.=20 "Why don't we send him back in time, to=85 say, some time in the Stone=20 Age?" she suggested in very dry tones. Clark grinned; he loved it when Lois had those sort of ideas. "Hey,=20 I'd love to! But remember when Wells left him in 1866 - he still=20 managed to escape." "Yeah, I'd love to know exactly how he did that," Lois mused aloud. Laura strolled over to Conor and laid her hand on his arm, while=20 looking thoughtfully at the other two. "You can say this is too=20 Quantum Leap if you like, but=85 couldn't he have gone back to rescue=20 himself?" Seeing Lois's disbelieving expression, she added, "Oh,=20 don't ask me to explain how it's possible. I never could understand=20 these time-travel paradoxes. But the sci-fi shows all tell me it can=20 be done." "True," Conor agreed. "The only other solution I can think of is that=20 a Tempus from another dimension rescued him." "Please!" Clark interjected. "I do *not* want to think that there's=20 more than one of him!" "But isn't it a logical possibility?" Laura enquired. "I mean, why=20 should there only be a Tempus in your world? From what HG Wells has=20 told us, there is a Utopia in all our worlds eventually. So why not=20 more than one Tempus?" Lois visibly shuddered. "I have no idea, Laura, but the Tempus who=20 took me to the other Clark's universe was definitely the Tempus we=20 met first in our world. And from what HG said, I think it's the same=20 Tempus who interfered in your world nearly fifty years ago." "Whatever," Clark interrupted, throwing out an arm to emphasise his=20 view that this wasn't a discussion he was particularly interested in=20 continuing. "I think we need to get back - can you get that machine=20 ready, Conor? Oh, and I think you'd better come as Superman, just in=20 case anyone sees two of us." "Wait a minute," Laura protested. "I'm coming too." The other three=20 swivelled to look at her in surprise. "Well, I'd like to see your=20 world too, Lois! And I want to be sure Tempus is gone." Lois and Clark exchanged glances. "Why not?" Lois commented casually. "You'd be very welcome, Laura. I'm not sure how we'd explain you,=20 though!" she added, laughing. *************** A few seconds later, all four were standing in the living-room of the=20 Kent house on Hyperion Avenue. Much as Conor had done when he had=20 first entered the house with Lois, Laura stared about her with=20 interest, until her gaze suddenly alighted on the frozen Tempus lying=20 on the ground. "You'd better do something about him quickly, Clark," Lois commented=20 in a biting tone, gesturing in Tempus's direction. "I don't want him=20 melting all over our carpet." Clark exchanged glances with Conor. <> After several sweeps of Tempus's body with his X-ray vision, Clark=20 stepped back. The time-traveller blinked a few times; Conor shook him=20 roughly to bring him back to full consciousness. As Tempus opened his=20 eyes and saw Clark standing in front of him, he grimaced. "Oh, if it isn't the boy-scout! And his junior partner," Tempus added=20 sneeringly, glancing around at Conor. "Don't you get tired of=20 dressing in blue Spandex, either of you?" "Not at all," Clark replied chillingly. "I'd prefer it to wearing=20 guns." "So what do you plan to do with me?" Tempus enquired, his tone=20 deliberately taunting. "Mr Kane here has already chickened out of=20 killing me - are you going to do the same?" Suddenly, a familiar voice called from the kitchen doorway, "That=20 won't be necessary, Mr Kent." "HG Wells!" Lois swung around in amazement. "We were afraid he'd=20 killed you!" "Oh no, Tempus wouldn't do that. I think, despite his complete lack=20 of morals he could no more kill me than you could him, can you,=20 Tempus?" As he spoke, the writer strolled over and came to a halt=20 just in front of Tempus, who glared angrily at him. "This time you've gone too far," Wells observed calmly. "So I took=20 the liberty of bringing with me some of the Guardians of Utopia, who=20 will take you into custody - and this time they will ensure that you=20 cannot escape. They have no intention of leaving you to the care of=20 this time's penal system." He turned to face Clark, Lois and Laura. =20 "While, as you're probably aware, Utopia has no prisons - there is no=20 crime, so prisons are not necessary - the Guardians have now=20 constructed a special cell just for Tempus. It is guarded by all of=20 the high-security devices made possible by their time's technology,=20 and we are confident that he will not escape to bother you again." Suddenly there was a shimmering, and three futuristically-clad men=20 appeared in the room. Ignoring the other occupants, they marched=20 swiftly over to Tempus and seized him, nodding at Conor to indicate=20 that he could release the villainous time-traveller. Then they=20 shimmered again, and all four disappeared. Four other jaws dropped=20 simultaneously. Wells laughed self-consciously, recalling his companions to the=20 present. "Ah=85 well, I am sorry to have inconvenienced you for so=20 long. But we needed to be sure that we would be able to find Tempus,=20 and so it was not until you, Mr Kane, overpowered him that we knew we=20 could capture him. Otherwise he would simply have escaped using his=20 device." Lois shook her head, trying to banish the sensation that this was yet=20 another scene from a futuristic sci-fi movie. "Clark told us that=20 Tempus kidnapped you. We were really afraid that you were dead." "I do apologise for causing you concern, Miss Lane," Wells replied.=20 "You see, I couldn't return to the point of Tempus's initial=20 interference either, since he disappeared so quickly. I could of=20 course have prevented the swap ever happening, but then we would have=20 lost the opportunity to capture Tempus." "I understand," Clark replied. "But *you* have to understand, Mr=20 Wells, that we have had a very unpleasant experience." "Yeah - maybe you can tell us why both Clark and I felt sick in each=20 other's worlds," Conor interjected. Wells smiled slightly. "Ah, Mr Kane, that is all part of the natural=20 workings of the universe, which is designed to ensure that this sort=20 of, er, dimension-hopping does not happen on a regular basis. You=20 felt fine in Mr Kane and Miss Lindsay's universe initially, Mr Kent,=20 because you had a legitimate purpose in being there - as did the=20 other Superman when he was brought here to help Miss Lane. But on=20 this occasion, the two of you were wrongly swapped. And so your=20 metabolism reacted unfavourably to the atmosphere in the dimension in=20 which you found yourselves." Conor grimaced; this explanation appeared to put paid to his=20 tentative plans for Tempus's dimension-hopping device. He glanced at=20 Clark, and knew that his counterpart had read his thoughts; Conor=20 could sense Clark's equal disappointment. Something had happened in=20 those first couple of days in Santa Monica; the two men, each an=20 alternate version of the other, had bonded like brothers. They were=20 going to miss that bond. Wells gave Conor a sympathetic smile. "Mr Kane, I'm afraid I must ask=20 you to return the interdimensional transport to me," he said=20 regretfully, holding out his hand. Conor hesitated. Briefly, he=20 wondered what Wells could do if he refused: he was Superman, after=20 all. And if Clark refused as well=85. But he sensed Clark sending a message to him. <> <> Conor replied=20 sadly.=20 <> Clark insisted. <> Slowly, Conor handed over the device. Laura shot him a swift,=20 concerned glance; she had seen the struggle on his face, and guessed=20 that he and Clark had been 'talking' to each other. She placed her=20 hand lovingly on Conor's arm. "Hey, sweetheart, at least you and=20 Clark will be able to communicate with each other." Conor was beginning to cheer up at this thought, when Wells=20 interrupted again. "I'm afraid not, Miss Lindsay. You see, the=20 telepathic connection was only able to operate because both Mr Kent=20 and Mr Kane were not in their correct dimensions. Once that is=20 rectified, telepathy will no longer be possible. The, ah, Kryptonian=20 ability in that regard is not designed to work across dimensions." Lois wrapped her arms around Clark's waist; she could see that he was=20 also disappointed at the thought that they would never have any=20 future contact with Conor and Laura. She was sad as well; despite her=20 feelings of awkwardness around Conor over the past few days, she felt=20 a real sense of connection to both actors. She released Clark and=20 went to Conor. "I'll miss you, you know." He smiled down at her, his expression regretful and sincere. "I'll=20 miss you, too, Lois. You're a wonderful person and a great reporter -=20 and a fantastic mother. Say goodbye to Jonathan and Martha for me,=20 won't you?" "Sure," Lois replied, reaching out to hug him close. "You know,=20 you'll make a great dad too one of these days." Laura had been watching this scene with feelings of sadness for=20 Conor; although she herself would have liked to get to know Lois=20 better, she was glad that Conor had had the opportunity. She=20 recognised his sadness at having to part from a genuine friend, and=20 felt for him. But suddenly Clark was taking her hand. "Laura - I'll miss you," he=20 was saying huskily.=20 She smiled back at him, the expression a little wobbly as tears began=20 to spring to her eyes. "Me too, Clark. And I'll never forget what you=20 did for me." He hugged her warmly, tightly. "Take care of him, won't you? He needs=20 you, as much as I need Lois." "I know," she whispered. To her surprise, Clark bent his head and=20 brushed his lips over hers in the merest whisper of a kiss before=20 releasing her. She glanced at him in surprise, then looked past him=20 to see that Conor was saluting Lois in a similar intimate, but=20 platonic, manner. Lois broke away to give Laura a quick hug. "Look after each other -=20 and don't worry, you'll have great kids." "You too, Lois. You have a wonderful man - but then you know that." Wells coughed again; Conor muttered, "Okay, okay, we're coming." He=20 turned to Clark. "I brought back your stuff - it's in the bag over=20 there." "Thanks." Lois watched the two of them, thinking how stiffly they were=20 behaving, how to an observer their words and body language would fail=20 to reveal their true feelings. She couldn't help but be aware of how=20 each was feeling inside, however. Clark's jaw was taut, a true sign=20 that he was having difficulty controlling his emotions. Conor's hands=20 jerked at his side. Lois gave Clark a little push. He glanced at her, threw her a=20 grateful smile, then reached out to embrace Conor. The two men hugged=20 warmly. At length Conor moved away. "We have to go now." As the two went to join Wells, Clark spoke again. "Take care, little=20 brother." Conor turned back to look at Lois and Clark, who stood holding hands.=20 "I will, big brother." <> <> The three figures shimmered, then Lois and Clark were alone. **************** - Three months later -=20 Sitting up in bed one morning, Clark's face assumed a wistful=20 expression. "I wonder how Conor and Laura's wedding plans are going,"=20 he murmured. Lois took his hand and squeezed it, unsurprised that he should have=20 thought of their alternate-universe counterparts. Clark had achieved=20 a bond with Conor which was as close as that with herself and with=20 his parents, but in a way it was even closer, because of their shared=20 Kryptonian heritage. "Probably a nightmare, judging by what you said.=20 Did you tell Laura about my mother's role in our first attempt?" He grinned. "Yeah, I did. She understood exactly what I meant, and=20 she said she'd make sure she and Conor resisted the worst of it." "Well, *how* they get married doesn't matter anyway," Lois commented=20 sensibly. "As long as they end up married, and as happy as we are." "They will be," Clark replied assuredly. Then he noticed that his=20 wife had made a sudden grab for her stomach, and was trying to=20 scramble out of bed. "Lois? Is something wrong?" She threw him an agonised stare. "Need=85 the bathroom=85." In less than the blink of an eye, he had carried her into the=20 bathroom, and then crouch beside her to support her as she threw up.=20 Afterwards, he wiped her forehead with a damp, cool cloth and asked,=20 "What's wrong, honey? Did you eat something that disagreed with you?" Shakily, Lois smiled back at him. "I'd have thought you'd know=20 exactly what's wrong, Superman! We've been here before, remember?" He=20 stared at her, puzzled. She raised an eyebrow, and added, "Jon?" "Lois? You don't mean=85." He stared in disbelief and dawning wonder.=20 "We're going to have another baby?" Her face creased into an enormous smile, which belied the continuing=20 queasiness in her stomach. "In about seven months, honey." The ecstatic expression on Clark's face somehow made all the horrors=20 of morning sickness worthwhile. ***************** - Santa Monica, An Alternate Universe -=20 "Well, are you ready to become Mrs Conor Kane?" Conor asked Laura as=20 she sat up in bed next to him. She swatted him with a pillow. "Laura Lindsay, if you please! You=20 know I'm not changing my name!" She smiled then, forgiving him=20 instantly. "But yes, I'm really looking forward to becoming your=20 wife."=20 "And I'm looking forward to becoming your husband," Conor assured=20 her.=20 "I'm glad we managed to get my mother to see sense, too," Laura=20 added. "She just couldn't seem to understand that we just didn't=20 *want* a huge wedding." "Yeah, I'm glad we won that one," Conor agreed. His face assumed a=20 distant expression then as he added, "I just wish=85 well, it'd be nice=20 if we could have had another couple of guests here today=85." Laura wrapped her arms around him. "Me too. I'd love to see them=20 again." "Yeah," Conor agreed. "I miss him - it was so good to talk to someone=20 who knows just what I'm experiencing. And Lois was great too - and=20 you liked Clark, didn't you?" "Yes, I did," Laura agreed. "I hope everything's all right with them,=20 and Jon - and I sure hope that Tempus never escapes to come after=20 them again." Conor paused, his face assuming a faraway expression again, but this=20 time he appeared to be concentrating. After a couple of minutes he=20 turned back to Laura. "The telepathy doesn't work any more, honey -=20 but you know, somehow I have this feeling that they're very happy." - The End -=20 ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 10:37:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Mr. D8a" Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part 0/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >From MR. D8A's work email FINALLY!!!! Sorry, but we've been impatiently waiting for-ev-er! (impetuous aren't we!) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 10:02:47 -0600 Reply-To: tmtrx@earthlink.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: TmTrx Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Big Boys Do Fly III: Torn Between Two Worlds Part 0/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit wow, there's more? i only knew about the first one! i'm so excited, but where do i find the second one? i want to read them in order. :D TmTrx ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 14:10:40 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Big Boys Do Fly Part 3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Bravo, Wendy! You tied up all the loose ends perfectly. What a fun inter-dimensional romp! My only complaint - that this is the end of the series. Once again, well done! Irene (Your biggest fan!) _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 14:02:11 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debra Gray Subject: Re: Big Boys Do Fly Part 3 In-Reply-To: <19990719181040.22702.rocketmail@web905.mail.yahoo.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Irene >(Your biggest fan!) I don't THEENK so, Irene! I think I have to qualify as much as you do for Wendy's biggest fan status... And I wrote Wendy a couple days ago to tell her how much I liked this story - but I will do so again here on the list. I love the way she has tied together all the loose ends from BBDF 1 and 2 - tho' since I thought BBDF 1 was it, and she found something to write two parts more on, I am STILL holding out hope that she will come up with a part 4 and more for us. (Hint hint, Wendy. Get busy, my friend!) I shan't say anymore, so I won't be forced to give spoiler status. But if you haven't read part 1, run, not walk, to the fic archive and get it. And if you haven't read part 2, go as quickly as you can to the ficlist archive, search the past few weeks, and READ it... You won't be disappointed, I promise. Then come back here and finish it off with part 3. Oooh, I just LOVE to see a Wendy Richards fic in my mailbox - I drop everything, even civilized conversation with my mother, to read it... Debra G Melisma on IRC melisma@intergate.bc.ca dlgray@usa.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 17:18:54 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rich & Dawn Subject: Re: NKerth announcement - It's Up! It's Good! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi FoLCs, Thanks Merry and Irene. I have to give the credit to the two FoLCs who designed the pages, and the crew who helped me track down authors. Thanks, guys! Just a reminder: If you wish to join Debby's list, be sure to include your name, age, agreement not to redistribute, and a statement that you understand the nature of the stories. She needs all four of these items. Thanks! Thanks also to everyone who has emailed me about the site. Once these changes are made, the nominations can begin. Thanks! Dawn ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 17:12:53 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: Big Boys Do Fly Part 3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Debra Gray wrote: > >Irene > >(Your biggest fan!) > > I don't THEENK so, Irene! I think I have to > qualify as much as you > do for Wendy's biggest fan status... Okay, Debra! How about I be Wendy's biggest admirer and you be Wendy's biggest, and most enthusiastic fan! That's what I call a compromise! Do we have a deal? (vbg) Irene _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 15:47:58 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debra Gray Subject: Re: Big Boys Do Fly Part 3 In-Reply-To: <19990719211253.614.rocketmail@web904.mail.yahoo.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Okay, Debra! How about I be Wendy's biggest admirer and you be Wendy's >biggest, and most enthusiastic fan! That's what I call a compromise! >Do we have a deal? (vbg) > >Irene Er, um, well, you see... That might work, if you can acknowledge me as YOUR biggest fan... I don't THINK Wendy would mind - would you, Wendy? Seriously, guys, Irene is a terrific writer in her own right - check out those same two archives for her "Firestorm" and "Starfire and Sunstorm"... magnifique! And SOMEONE told me a rumor that she and Wendy are co-writing a new fic together - ooooh, I hope thats true! I wanna read it!! Two of my favourite writers in one terrific new fic... /me shivers happily in anticipation. Debra G Melisma on IRC melisma@intergate.bc.ca dlgray@usa.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 18:40:37 -0600 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: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 15 of 15 In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 01:17 PM 07/16/1999 -0500, you wrote: >Debby, > >This part is absolutely wonderful!! But I'm hoping Superman/Clark will take Lois down a peg in the near future ;) > >Nethra I think they'll continue sparing until one surrenders. Debby Debby@swcp.com who has a lot of mail to get through but should be seen now and then again in the near future... ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 00:15:30 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nethra Ankam Subject: Re: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 15 of 15 On Mon, 19 Jul 1999 18:40:37 -0600, Debby wrote: >At 01:17 PM 07/16/1999 -0500, you wrote: >>Debby, >> >>This part is absolutely wonderful!! But I'm hoping Superman/Clark will take >Lois down a peg in the near future ;) >> >>Nethra > >I think they'll continue sparing until one surrenders. > >Debby >Debby@swcp.com >who has a lot of mail to get through >but should be seen now and then again >in the near future... I just realized this was the last part! When the part ended I started thinking about all the possibilities that lay in front of the two of them, that I guess I didn't see the "the end" because I didn't want to see it! Anyway, Debby, thanks for the wonderful ride. And I almost pity the people who will devour it in one stretch because part of the effect will be lost...kinda like watching reruns of L&C. They're still good, but what was the best part during the time was not knowing what happens next (seeing a snippet and not being able to recite the plot immediately) and having wonderful periods of anticipation (this is on looking back of course.) So anyway, thanks for wonderful periods of anticipation. Nethra ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 14:16:57 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Big Boys Do Fly Part 3 In-Reply-To: <19990719181040.22702.rocketmail@web905.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Thanks to everyone who mailed me about the concluding part of Big Boys Do Fly; I'm glad you liked it. Irene, Debra, I'll just be your biggest fan instead, okay? And Debra, although I certainly don't have a BBDF Part 4 planned, in relation to Conor and Laura all I can do is to refer you to HG Wells: 'Never say impossible' (or words to that effect - perhaps Zoom will correct my faulty memory!) Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 14:22:02 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Big Boys Do Fly Part 3 In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.19990719154758.007b2130@pop.intergate.bc.ca> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Debra wrote: > Seriously, guys, Irene is a terrific writer in her own right - check out > those same two archives for her "Firestorm" and "Starfire and Sunstorm"... > magnifique! And SOMEONE told me a rumor that she and Wendy are co-writing a > new fic together - ooooh, I hope thats true! I wanna read it!! Two of my > favourite writers in one terrific new fic... /me shivers happily in > anticipation. Mmmm, I do wonder how these rumours start... ;) No comment - other than to say that Irene is a terrific writer with great ideas.... Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 15:40:50 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Name that Fanfic! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII We've been having so much fun with these quizzes over on the nfic list that I thought I'd let everyone else join in. It's very simple: read the extracts below and see if you can name the author and the fanfic title. See just how much of a fanfic addict you are! (Sorry, Sheila, summarising the entire plot-line instead isn't good enough :P ) Here we go: Extract 1: And yet, if she needed help, or some emotional support -- he was annoyingly good at knowing when she was down or feeling upset, whatever the cause -- or someone to pal around with, or even a hug, he was right there, as solid and dependable as a rock. All of which confused her terribly, and worried her. She couldn't reconcile the Clark who'd told her before the wedding, almost desperately, that he loved her, even if he had taken it back later, with the... well, not cold -- never cold, not Clark! - but reserved person whom she saw these days. She recognised the man who had moved Heaven and Earth, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, to save her from a disastrous marriage, in the guy who helped her when she needed it (whether she realised it or not), but how did he relate to the *other* Clark, the ever-so-slightly aloof one who had an unfortunate tendency to run out on her at odd times? She frowned. Come to think of it, he'd always been prone to vanishing on occasion, and some of his excuses when he ducked out were pretty lame..! She just hadn't noticed it before -- or, she admitted in a flash of honesty, more likely, she hadn't been paying attention, and had been *pleased* when he'd faded out of the picture. Lois grimaced. Maybe he'd got tired of the way she'd treated him... maybe he was tired of *her!* And yet... and yet, he was there when she needed him... Extract 2: "What the -?" Lois was halfway down the block before the sound had completely died away. The drift of dust was barely discernible in the faint glow of the streetlights, but it was enough to lead her into an alley that connected with the next street over. She plunged into the alley and out the other end, then stopped, dropping her bag where she stood. Where there had been sidewalk was now a large hole at least eight feet across and several feet deep. Small fires were burning in a scattered pattern around the edge, and Lois stepped carefully past them as she crept closer to the hole for a better look.. The dust was still settling and very little light penetrated, but Lois could see something was there, a shape in the center of the crater. Suddenly the figure shifted, sitting up with a grunt. Lois's eyes rounded with astonishment as the flickering light cast by the fires reflected off smoothly polished skin. A *lot* of skin, she thought with a mixture of shock and amusement. It was a man sitting there - and he was totally naked. For a moment she just admired the breadth of his shoulders and the graceful line of his back as he bent forward. His position and the darkness prevented her >from getting a good look at *everything*, but she could see that his legs were as finely muscled as the rest of him. "Wow," she breathed. Extract 3: During the night, Lois woke as usual to go to Clark. She moved to the stairs and paused at the first step, trying to hone in on a unfamiliar sound. It wasn't coming from upstairs, as she would have expected, but seemed to be coming from outside. She called out Clark's name, not really expecting a response but feeling better having said it. She turned and headed towards the back door, grabbing her jacket on the way. Once on the porch, she could distinctly hear the sound of someone chopping wood and speaking in a loud voice. She recognized the voice as Clark's. Alarmed, she hurried to the grove of trees behind the washhouse where the woodpile was. She pulled up when she saw Clark. He was dressed in sweats and was methodically picking up a piece of wood, placing it on the block, and splitting it with one forceful blow of the axe. As he struck the wood, he would say something. She moved closer, realizing Clark had not yet noticed her watching. "My name is Clark KENT." And down came the axe. "My PARENTS are Jonathan and Martha Kent!" With each sentence, he split another piece of wood. "I was raised in Smallville, KANSAS! I LIVE in Metropolis, New Troy! I am a REPORTER for the Daily Planet! I LOVE Lois Lane and she's going to marry ME!" He picked up a bigger piece of wood and reared back. I DO BELONG!" he roared to the night sky as he came down hard on the wood. Extract 4: She was still gazing at the TV when she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder. She turned, to find Clark standing next to her, dressed in his business suit again. It was one of her favourites, a dark charcoal grey with, for once, a 'normal' tie and a gorgeous black shirt. "You did it," she said. "You saved them all." "Yes." "With confidence. I could tell." "Yes." "Without messing up." "Yes." "Clark, are you going to say 'yes' to everything?" "Yes." "Clark!" "Yes?" "Stop it!" "Yes." He pulled her abruptly into a close embrace and kissed her tenderly. "Mmmm...welcome back," she murmured. "Nice to *be* back," he replied. Extract 5: When Clark dropped Lois back to her apartment, it was early in the morning and Lois turned in quickly. As she reached her room, she saw sitting on her bed and envelope also. She sat on the edge of her bed and opened it. It simply read: "To Lois, You are from your world And I am from mine Two different worlds In my need, I can hold you But only in my mind While other arms hold you for real And I can only hope His arms give you the enjoyment That the dreams of you Give me 'Forever' "Clark" Lois folded it back neatly in the envelope, opened up her nightstand, and laid it gently next to her picture of he and her. They would go in a box, that she would open every so many years, and pull out the memories of days gone by. She would remember him singing "I'm All Shook Up" to her as they drove down the road, she'd remember him saying "Good morning, sunshine", and she'd remember the night he whisked her off the dance floor. Yes, definitely, she would remember him with a smile on her face. When Clark finally got home, he pulled the envelope from his pocket and looked at it. Taking a deep breath he opened it. There inside was folded a piece of paper, he opened it. It read: "Sometimes we have something Without truly knowing What we have Sometimes we hold something Without knowing completely What we hold Sometimes we are given something Without fully appreciating What we are given But that knowledge usually comes When we realize What we have lost" nd at the bottom, written in black letters, were the words: "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE?" Clark put the piece of paper in his wallet. And throughout all his married life with Lois Lane, he'd get it out every so often and look at it. And even in his later, golden years, he'd always ask himself the question, and then gently walk over to his wife kissing her smartly on the lips. He'd always get a, "Clark Kent what was that for?" and he'd always reply the same with a smile, "Just thinking about what I have, sweetheart." Extract 6: THEY WERE BOTH SILENT. LOIS abandoned herself to the warmth and strength of Clark's chest. The rising and swelling of his chest. Clark surrendered himself to the warmth of Lois' hair, burying his nose into it and breathing deeply. Then he rested his cheek upon it. The city swept past quickly beneath. They lost themselves in rediscovering each other. Their hands searched one another. They flew over the FBI building. A high-pitched whine reached Clark's supersensitive ears. He stopped in mid-air. "I'm really sorry, Lois. This'll only take a second." She understood. She didn't want to part with him, but she could manage a couple seconds. But not much more. Superman dropped her on a bench in some shade outside the FBI building, then entered. A guard led him to Agent Margaret Longfellow's room. But that wasn't who greeted him. It was a man. "Superman, hello," he said. "Hello," he replied, shaking the outstretched hand. "Will this take long? I've got something I need to--" "Don't worry. This will only be a second. I figured I should explain a few things. I thought you might want to know how William came by the knowledge of your alternate identity." Superman tried to cover his shock. "What are you talking about?" "Don't worry, Mister Kent," the strange agent said calmly. "The FBI has known for a long time. You are a very public figure, and we felt the need important to investigate you closely. We feared for reasons of National Security, in case you ever turned against our government, we needed a safety-line." Superman, Clark, was stunned despite himself. "Don't worry. We know you'd never go bad. We fight the same battles. We work together. Our aims are aligned. We don't doubt your allegiance, but it's our job to be prepared for any and all eventualities. Very, *very* few know of this information. William was one of them. It was tragic that he went bad, and lucky that Flash was able to help us in reclaiming him, and the bombs. We will watch closer in the future. I promise you there will be no more problems." Casually, the agent shook Superman's hand. Dismissed, stunned, Superman left. He gathered Lois up, silently, and took off into the air. They knew. He couldn't come to terms with that. Yes, yes, he could, he thought. How could he think he'd be able to elude everyone? The government? It was too much to hope for. In a way, he supposed, he was lucky. The people loved him, and the government refused to mess with PR. Not to mention the fact that Superman *did* help them. He had no reason to fear. He knew there was nothing to fear. If ever he was in a similar predicament, he now had a very powerful ally. He'd leave it at that. At least for now. Happy hunting! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 11:28:30 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Re: NEW: My Journal, Day 11, Part 15 of 15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Debby: Just wanted to chime in here with another word of 'encouragement' about continuing this story. (Okay, I'll put away the gun I'm figuratively holding to your head, but remember I still have it!) I love the inversion of the premier and would like to suggest you consider rewriting House of Luthor in a sequel to this one. After all you left Luthor still admired by everyone in Metropolis, including Lois(?), except for Clark who knows better. I love your series' rewrites because they are uniquely good stories that work alone even if the series shows had not taken place. Well enough of this gushing. Just keep writing and I will keep reading. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 17:53:38 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nene Subject: R: Name that Fanfic! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thank you Wendy! I think we'll have fun. #1: Much ado about... #2: Alt shook up #3: Power to forgive (really a great story) #4: Fear of the unknown by Yvonne Connell (this one was easy since I adore all her stories :)) #5: ? #6: A Flash in the pan Elena lanene@tin.it ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 17:12:19 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: R: Name that Fanfic! In-Reply-To: <015701bed2c8$219bbfa0$6c5dd8d4@g6l0y4> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Wow!! Well done, Elena! But you couldn't get No. 5? I suspect you confine your fanfic reading to the Archive... Wendy > > #1: Much ado about... > #2: Alt shook up > #3: Power to forgive (really a great story) > #4: Fear of the unknown by Yvonne Connell (this one was easy since I adore > all her stories :)) > #5: ? > #6: A Flash in the pan ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 12:06:08 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: R: Name that Fanfic! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy Richards wrote: > Wow!! Well done, Elena! > > But you couldn't get No. 5? I suspect you confine your fanfic > reading to the Archive... > > Wendy > > > > > #1: Much ado about... > > #2: Alt shook up > > #3: Power to forgive (really a great story) > > #4: Fear of the unknown by Yvonne Connell (this one was easy since I adore > > all her stories :)) > > #5: ? > > #6: A Flash in the pan > > ---------------------- > Wendy Richards > w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk #5 is "It Happened All Summer" By Jennifer Eagan Nan Smith (who is home today and bored.) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 21:44:12 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: NKWolke Subject: Re: Name that Fanfic! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT Oh dear, I thought I knew a lot of fanfiction, but here's all I have: > Extract 1: no idea > Extract 2: Alt shook up, Georgia Walden > Extract 3: I know it, I'm sure I know it! It's on the tip of my tongue, I read it not very long ago... but I can't remember. > Extract 4: no idea > Extract 5: It happened one summer, Jennifer Eagan > Extract 6: no idea AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@t-online.de ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 12:03:13 -0600 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: Fanfic Rumors (Was Re: Big Boys Do Fly Part 3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Debra wrote: > >> Seriously, guys, Irene is a terrific writer in her own right - check out >> those same two archives for her "Firestorm" and "Starfire and Sunstorm"... >> magnifique! And SOMEONE told me a rumor that she and Wendy are co-writing a >> new fic together - ooooh, I hope thats true! I wanna read it!! Two of my >> favourite writers in one terrific new fic... /me shivers happily in >> anticipation. And then Wendy wrote: >Mmmm, I do wonder how these rumours start... ;) > >No comment - other than to say that Irene is a terrific writer >with great ideas.... > >Wendy "No comment"?!?! LOL! Wendy, you're as bad as a celebrity dodging a question about their love life! So 'fess up. Are you and Irene writing one together?? /me crosses fingers hopefully ;) Erin :) _______________ erink@ida.net Visit my official LNC/Kerths webpage! www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." _______________ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 12:16:39 -0600 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: Re: Name that Fanfic! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Great idea to move this terrific thread to this list, Wendy! I've been enjoying the other game immensely (thought I don't know any of those answers, unfortunately ). But it's still a fun game! >Extract 2: > "What the -?" Lois was halfway down the block before the >sound had completely died away. The drift of dust was barely >discernible in the faint glow of the streetlights, but it was enough >to lead her into an alley that connected with the next street over. >She plunged into the alley and out the other end, then stopped, >dropping her bag where she stood. > Where there had been sidewalk was now a large hole at least >eight feet across and several feet deep. Small fires were burning in >a scattered pattern around the edge, and Lois stepped carefully past >them as she crept closer to the hole for a better look.. The dust >was still settling and very little light penetrated, but Lois could >see something was there, a shape in the center of the crater. >Suddenly the figure shifted, sitting up with a grunt. > Lois's eyes rounded with astonishment as the flickering light >cast by the fires reflected off smoothly polished skin. A *lot* of >skin, she thought with a mixture of shock and amusement. It was a >man sitting there - and he was totally naked. For a moment she just >admired the breadth of his shoulders and the graceful line of his >back as he bent forward. His position and the darkness prevented her >>from getting a good look at *everything*, but she could see that his >legs were as finely muscled as the rest of him. > "Wow," she breathed. WHOA!!!!! I have no idea what fic this one is, but I sure as heck want to read it now! Someone recognize it so I can go d/l it! >Extract 3: >During the night, Lois woke as usual to go to Clark. She moved to the >stairs and paused at the first step, trying to hone in on a >unfamiliar sound. It wasn't coming from upstairs, as she would have >expected, but seemed to be coming from outside. She called out >Clark's name, not really expecting a response but feeling better >having said it. She turned and headed towards the back door, grabbing >her jacket on the way. Once on the porch, she could distinctly hear >the sound of someone chopping wood and speaking in a loud voice. She >recognized the voice as Clark's. Alarmed, she hurried to the grove of >trees behind the washhouse where the woodpile was. > She pulled up when she saw Clark. He was dressed in sweats >and was methodically picking up a piece of wood, placing it on the >block, and splitting it with one forceful blow of the axe. As he >struck the wood, he would say something. She moved closer, realizing >Clark had not yet noticed her watching. >"My name is Clark KENT." And down came the axe. > "My PARENTS are Jonathan and Martha Kent!" With each >sentence, he split another piece of wood. > "I was raised in Smallville, KANSAS! > I LIVE in Metropolis, New Troy! > I am a REPORTER for the Daily Planet! > I LOVE Lois Lane and she's going to marry ME!" > He picked up a bigger piece of wood and reared back. > I DO BELONG!" he roared to the night sky as he came down hard >on the wood. Ooh! Ooh! I know this one! It's Sharon Gilbert's "The Power to Forgive". I haven't read many fics yet this year due to an intervening life , but I loved this one!!!!! Very well written and kept me on the edge of my seat. Nice work, Sharon! (If you're out there ) As for the next few extracts...I didn't recognize them, either. I guess that means I'm waaay behind on my reading, huh? :) Erin :) _______________ erink@ida.net Visit my official LNC/Kerths webpage! www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." _______________ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 22:23:50 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nene Subject: Re: R: Name that Fanfic! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Wendy Richards > Wow!! Well done, Elena! > > But you couldn't get No. 5? I suspect you confine your fanfic > reading to the Archive... > > Wendy > > > Well, what can I say? I discovered fanfics just this year and since there're more than 1.000 stories in the Archive, TUFS, Season 5 and Season 6 (plus some 200 nfics I could find...and I know there are many more ;)) I think that 5 out of 6 is not that bad! :)) (But good grief! There is so much fic/nfic I haven't read yet!) Elena (who should read all day long to catch up with the incredible quantity of stories available) BTW thanks to all the writers that keep alive the magic of LnC, you're great!!! lanene@tin.it ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 21:35:56 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Help required: Looking for editor MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I have just completed part 6 of my monster epic "Starfire and Sunstorm". I still have 4 more parts to write, but rather than inflict the whole thing on some poor archive editor, I would like some help at this time. The story is over 150 K in size at the present time. Is there anyone interested? Irene sirenegold@yahoo.com _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 21:18:53 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Diyan Subject: Re: Episodes MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > The Pilot, all of Season 1 and Season 2 up to Season's Greedings are, > in theory, all still available, though I know some stockists sold off > their remaining copies cheaply recently. However, anyone who can use > PAL videotapes should try www.imvs.com - > ---------------------- > Wendy Richards > w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk > I didn't find any L&C eps, but I did find (and buy :-) ) a Superman movie (well, it's almost an hour long w/o commercials) with George Reeves and Phyllis Coates. Thanks for the tip, Wendy. (I don't have a PAL video player; this site also has NTSC.) -Diyan ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 22:57:35 -0500 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: Help required: Looking for editor MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Irene, I've never done this before, but would not mind trying. I am a college grad. I've only read thru "Perry". Do you have another part out after that? If you want me to do the editing, let me know. Merry truitt22@flash.net Irene D. wrote: > I have just completed part 6 of my monster epic "Starfire and > Sunstorm". I still have 4 more parts to write, but rather than inflict > the whole thing on some poor archive editor, I would like some help at > this time. The story is over 150 K in size at the present time. > > Is there anyone interested? > > Irene > sirenegold@yahoo.com > > _________________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 11:00:10 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Name that Fanfic! In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Aha!! Nicole got the only one Elena couldn't find. Well done! > Oh dear, I thought I knew a lot of fanfiction, but here's all I have: > > > Extract 1: no idea > > > Extract 2: Alt shook up, Georgia Walden > > > Extract 3: I know it, I'm sure I know it! It's on the tip of my tongue, I read > it not very long ago... but I can't remember. > > > Extract 4: no idea > > > Extract 5: It happened one summer, Jennifer Eagan > > > Extract 6: no idea > Well, Elena got them all, but so far I only have authors for Extracts 2, 4 and 5. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 11:11:24 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Name that Fanfic: Results MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Well, this has been interesting...! It's certainly amusing to see just who knows their fanfic, and how well! Here's the answers: 1 - Much Ado About Nothing: Phil Atcliffe 2 - Alt Shook Up - Georgia Walden 3 - Power to Forgive - Sharon Gilbert 4 - Fear of the Unknown - Yvonne Connell 5 - It Happened all Summer - Jennifer Eagan 6 - Flash in the Pan - Ben Pistorius Elena comes top with five correct, though she only listed one author correctly. Nicole comes second, with Extracts 2 and 5 correctly named and attributed - and extra congratulations to all who got Extract 5, since it isn't on the Archive (that was the trick one ;) ). Erin, well done for identifying Sharon's correctly, but kick yourself for not recognising Georgia's excellent rewrite-of-'All Shook Up' cum-sequel to 'Tempus Anyone.' Nan also correctly identified Jennifer Eagan's 'It Happened All Summer', and for all FOLCs who haven't read it and its sequels, it is *well* worth the effort. Do remember, when you read it, that it was written *long* before 'Lois and Clarks' was dreamed up! You'll find it on the AOL fanfic archive, at http://members.aol.com/beth012400/fanfic.htm Happy reading! Now it's someone else's turn... Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 16:42:30 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Name the Fanfic - Second Round ;) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Well, you all did so well on the first one I thought I'd pose another. (Just let me know if you're all bored already ). Here we go: Extract 1: "Some people are suggesting that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person," Christina Carter of the Star announced, throwing down the challenge. "Nevertheless, this lady is not my wife."The voice came from Lois' right and slightly above her. There had been no 'whoosh' to accompany his arrival and Lois was taken by surprise. So too were the crowd. A collective 'ah' was heard to break the silence. The journalists had attended Superman's press meetings before and some had obtained short interviews at various crime scenes and rescues, yet once more they were overawed by his presence. For a few moments there was a pregnant stillness in which Superman floated gently down to stand just a few feet away from Lois. This was not in the plan. He was supposed to remain out of reach of the gathering. Lois looked over the heads of her colleagues towards the van but she could see no sign of either of the two men who were projecting this image. She had to admit that Cole's invention was brilliant. Even this close, it was impossible to tell that the figure was a mirage. It seemed so substantial and the voice was..........almost right. The others would definitely be fooled. Superman folded his arms and straightened his shoulders into his normal super hero pose. "I have to admit to a certain fondness for the lady, but she is married to my friend." Extract 2: Lois was quiet in the elevator. She knew Clark was going to be safe and that was important. But why was her heart flipping around so much? She loved him... and now he had to go away. For how long? When would he be able to come back? When they reached the bottom of the stairs to the roof, Lois hugged Clark. Clark hugged back. He felt Lois banging her fists into his chest. He pulled her away to look at her face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Lois...?" "Oh," she sniffed, "Clark... I'm going to miss you...!" Lois buried her face deep into Clark's shoulder. Only with help from his superhearing could he hear her. "I want you to come back, Clark, I'll solve this mystery soon... I... I have something to tell you... but not now, not here..." Clark kissed the top of her head. He had to try to calm her down before Superman was supposed to arrive. "It's all right, Lois. I'll be fine. I'm sure I'll be back before you know it. Who else is going to listen to your... your babble?" Lois looked at Clark's face. His embarrassed grin warmed her. He would be safe. She placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled his mouth to hers... It was a kiss of promise and hope. To Lois, it was a kiss of love. Lois broke the kiss and pushed Clark up the stairs. After one look back, Clark opened the roof access. Lois heard the *whoosh* of Superman's cape... Clark was safe... Lois sobbed...Clark was gone... Lois cursed fire... and fate. Extract 3: She looked fondly over at her only son, relaxing with his ever-so-slightly tipsy wife. Lois had indulged in more wine than was usual for her, enjoying their respite from public eye. "I love this house," she now declared enthusiastically. "Do you guys remember the first time I was here?" Oh yes, that first encounter with Kryptonite, and the first time someone had tried to kill them for their relationship to Clark - Martha didn't think she could ever forget it. It hadn't come up in conversation for years, though, not since they'd filled Lois in on everything she'd missed the first time around. Lois giggled. "I totally embarrassed myself, didn't I? Telling you what a fax machine was, when you had one already... and saying Jonathan was, was..." Words failed her as the giggles won out again. Martha smiled, and saw answering smiles on the Kent men. Lois had been so out of her element then, and so adorable. "You didn't do that all by yourself, you know, Lois. Clark set you up for a good deal of it." Lois looked confused as Clark protested, "Who, me?" "Yes, you." Martha answered in a tone of mock severity. "I quote: 'Careful, Mom, Lois thinks the cook might be a cross-dresser.' You could have told her yourself that she was talking about your father; how was she to know?" Lois looked up at her husband in dawning realization. "Yeah, she's right... Busted, Kent! And I thought you were so sweet and naive back then..." He laughed. "I *was*! But I was being steadily corrupted by this big-city girl who would have run me over like a steamroller if I wasn't careful." He gently tickled her stomach, and she swatted his hand away, unmollified. "Yeah, right, I'm so sure. I'll get you back, Clark, just see if I don't..." she threatened, although the effect was somewhat spoiled by her huge grin. "Oh, you don't have to, Lois," Martha leaned forward to catch her daughter-in-law's eye. "Why do you think I asked if you two were sleeping together, when I knew perfectly well that you weren't?" "Mo-om!" Clark protested, covering his eyes in remembered embarrassment. Extract 4: "...I want a doctor who will at least listen to me!" "Now Princess..." Sam began, when Ellen interrupted. "Lois has a point, Sam. I've had lots of doctors in my day, and you need a doctor who respects you." Sam gave her a look of disbelief. "I'm serious," Ellen continued. "Lois needs to do what she is comfortable with." "Ellen," Sam said in an aside. "Lois and I are talking." "Well, I know that, Sam, but I want to say something," Ellen began doggedly. "I may not be a doctor, but I've had two babies." Sam shook his head disparagingly. "Oh, come off it, Ellen. They had you drugged to the teeth with Lois, and you were *drunk* when Lucy was born. You don't know about childbirth; you can't even remember it. Now, this is a medical decision, and it has nothing to do with you. Why don't you just worry about what to serve your bridge club next week?" Ellen opened her mouth to start to say something else, but Sam intervened. "Hush," he said in a vicious stage whisper, "Just be quiet. Nobody cares what you think." Ellen stared at him for a moment in confusion, then dropped her head and stared at her plate, twisting her hands together. Silence ruled around the table. Lois looked quickly at her father and her mother, and then glanced quickly over at Clark. He was staring at his plate, pushing the food around with his fork. She looked at her mother again. Lois was reminded of the women she had seen at the shelter, who had also been unable to meet her eyes. Memories of other dinners, other disagreements, came back to her, and she glanced at her father with a dawning suspicion in her eyes. Suddenly Ellen pushed back her chair and stood up, her trembling apparent. "I'll...I'll be right back," she said quietly, as she disappeared in the direction of the bathroom. Extract 5: Jimmy scratched the back of his head. "It's confusing, C.K. I mean how were you able to--" Jimmy tried to think of a delicate way to ask his question. "Shift out of hormone and into friendship gear with Lois?" Clark, with great restraint, managed not to laugh. "I think with Lois, I'll always be in hormone gear, Jimmy. But I reached a point where I started wanting to share my life with someone, and that meant getting to know Lois and not just being attracted to her." "Yeah, but how did you know it would be her? I mean what was it, did you get a sign, or was it just a lucky guess, or--?" "Jimmy," Clark sighed, "All I know is, she woke something up inside of me, and I knew she was the one I wanted to share my life with. I just...knew. Besides," Clark shrugged, "I don't think you're quite at the point where you want to make a lifetime commitment to someone, are you?" Jimmy raised his arms. "No way!" Okay, over to you! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 09:33:30 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debra Gray Subject: Re: Name the Fanfic - Second Round ;) In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" #4 is "Yet Each Man Kills" by Genvieve Clemens, a Kerth nominee this year -er, did it win? I can't remember, but if it didn't it should have! :) I'm so far behind in fic-reading that I don't recognize the others... Melisma ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 12:32:05 EDT 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: Name the Fanfic - Second Round ;) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wow, Wendy! You sure don't want to make it easy on us, do you? I only vaguely recognize one, and I can't really place it. I hope someone posts some answers soon, I want to read these. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 14:01:59 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jess Subject: John and Teri Question In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I saw a pic of John and he looked a lot like Ching...was he? I'm sorry if this has already been talked about. thank you Jess ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 18:38:33 GMT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Zag Lembia Subject: Re: John and Teri Question Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Jess asked... <> Jon Tenney played Ching's role in BGDF. However, he was replaced by Mark Kiely in "Lord of the Flyes". Yael. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 14:51:49 EDT 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: John and Teri Question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/21/99 2:49:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, zaglembia@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << Jon Tenney played Ching's role in BGDF. However, he was replaced by Mark Kiely in "Lord of the Flyes". >> Jon also played Ching in Through a Glass Darkly. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 21:16:31 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: NKWolke Subject: Re: Name the Fanfic - Second Round ;) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT Okay Wendy, I think I know a "Zoomway" when I read one, but it's the only one I recognize! This is tougher than I thought, but it's fun! > Extract 5: Wheels of justice, Zoomway Nicole AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@t-online.de ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 18:37:27 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Kelsey J. Croft" Subject: Re: Name the Fanfic - Second Round ;) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Extract 1: The Huntress' Revenge by Jenni Debbage Extract 4: Yet Each Man Kills (episode 17 of The Unaired Fifth Season) by Genevieve Clemens Kelsey ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 17:35:54 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: Name the Fanfic - Second Round ;) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy Richards wrote: > Well, you all did so well on the first one I thought I'd pose > another. (Just let me know if you're all bored already ). > > Here we go: > > Extract 1: > "Some people are suggesting that Clark Kent and Superman are > the same person," Christina Carter of the Star announced, throwing > down the challenge. > "Nevertheless, this lady is not my wife."The voice came from > Lois' right and slightly above her. There had been no 'whoosh' to > accompany his arrival and Lois was taken by surprise. So too were > the crowd. A collective 'ah' was heard to break the silence. The > journalists had attended Superman's press meetings before and some > had obtained short interviews at various crime scenes and rescues, > yet once more they were overawed by his presence. For a few moments > there was a pregnant stillness in which Superman floated gently down > to stand just a few feet away from Lois. This was not in the plan. > He was supposed to remain out of reach of the gathering. Lois looked > over the heads of her colleagues towards the van but she could see no > sign of either of the two men who were projecting this image. She > had to admit that Cole's invention was brilliant. Even this close, > it was impossible to tell that the figure was a mirage. It seemed so > substantial and the voice was..........almost right. The others > would definitely be fooled. > Superman folded his arms and straightened his shoulders into his > normal super hero pose. > "I have to admit to a certain fondness for the lady, but she is > married to my friend." > > Extract 2: > Lois was quiet in the elevator. She knew Clark was going to > be safe and that was important. But why was her heart flipping around > so much? She loved him... and now he had to go away. For how long? > When would he be able to come back? When they reached the bottom of > the stairs to the roof, Lois hugged Clark. > Clark hugged back. He felt Lois banging her fists into his > chest. > He pulled her away to look at her face. Tears were streaming > down her cheeks. > "Lois...?" > "Oh," she sniffed, "Clark... I'm going to miss you...!" > Lois buried her face deep into Clark's shoulder. Only with help from > his superhearing could he hear her. > "I want you to come back, Clark, I'll solve this mystery > soon... I... I have something to tell you... but not now, not > here..." > Clark kissed the top of her head. He had to try to calm > her down before Superman was supposed to arrive. "It's all right, > Lois. I'll be fine. I'm sure I'll be back before you know it. Who > else is going to listen to your... your babble?" > Lois looked at Clark's face. His embarrassed grin warmed her. He > would be safe. She placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled his mouth > to hers... > It was a kiss of promise and hope. To Lois, it was a kiss of > love. Lois broke the kiss and pushed Clark up the stairs. After > one look back, Clark opened the roof access. > Lois heard the *whoosh* of Superman's cape... Clark was > safe... > Lois sobbed...Clark was gone... Lois cursed fire... and fate. > > Extract 3: > She looked fondly over at her only son, relaxing with his > ever-so-slightly tipsy wife. Lois had indulged in more wine than was > usual for her, enjoying their respite from public eye. "I love this > house," she now declared enthusiastically. "Do you guys remember the > first time I was here?" > Oh yes, that first encounter with Kryptonite, and the first > time someone had tried to kill them for their relationship to Clark - > Martha didn't think she could ever forget it. It hadn't come up in > conversation for years, though, not since they'd filled Lois in on > everything she'd missed the first time around. > Lois giggled. "I totally embarrassed myself, didn't I? > Telling you what a fax machine was, when you had one already... and > saying Jonathan was, was..." Words failed her as the giggles won out > again. > Martha smiled, and saw answering smiles on the Kent men. Lois > had been so out of her element then, and so adorable. "You didn't do > that all by yourself, you know, Lois. Clark set you up for a good > deal of it." > Lois looked confused as Clark protested, "Who, me?" > "Yes, you." Martha answered in a tone of mock severity. "I > quote: 'Careful, Mom, Lois thinks the cook might be a > cross-dresser.' You could have told her yourself that she was > talking about your father; how was she to know?" > Lois looked up at her husband in dawning realization. "Yeah, > she's right... Busted, Kent! And I thought you were so sweet and > naive back then..." > He laughed. "I *was*! But I was being steadily corrupted by > this big-city girl who would have run me over like a steamroller if I > wasn't careful." He gently tickled her stomach, and she swatted his > hand away, unmollified. > "Yeah, right, I'm so sure. I'll get you back, Clark, just > see if I don't..." she threatened, although the effect was somewhat > spoiled by her huge grin. > "Oh, you don't have to, Lois," Martha leaned forward to catch > her daughter-in-law's eye. "Why do you think I asked if you two were > sleeping together, when I knew perfectly well that you weren't?" > "Mo-om!" Clark protested, covering his eyes in remembered > embarrassment. > > Extract 4: > "...I want a doctor who will at least listen to me!" > "Now Princess..." Sam began, when Ellen interrupted. > "Lois has a point, Sam. I've had lots of doctors in my day, and > you need a doctor who respects you." Sam gave her a look of > disbelief. "I'm serious," Ellen continued. "Lois needs to do what > she is comfortable with." > "Ellen," Sam said in an aside. "Lois and I are talking." > "Well, I know that, Sam, but I want to say something," Ellen > began doggedly. "I may not be a doctor, but I've had two babies." > Sam shook his head disparagingly. "Oh, come off it, Ellen. > They had you drugged to the teeth with Lois, and you were *drunk* > when Lucy was born. You don't know about childbirth; you can't even > remember it. Now, this is a medical decision, and it has nothing to > do with you. Why don't you just worry about what to serve your > bridge club next week?" > Ellen opened her mouth to start to say something else, but Sam > intervened. "Hush," he said in a vicious stage whisper, "Just be > quiet. Nobody cares what you think." > Ellen stared at him for a moment in confusion, then dropped her > head and stared at her plate, twisting her hands together. Silence > ruled around the table. Lois looked quickly at her father and her > mother, and then glanced quickly over at Clark. He was staring at > his plate, pushing the food around with his fork. She looked at her > mother again. Lois was reminded of the women she had seen at the > shelter, who had also been unable to meet her eyes. Memories of > other dinners, other disagreements, came back to her, and she glanced > at her father with a dawning suspicion in her eyes. Suddenly Ellen > pushed back her chair and stood up, her trembling apparent. > "I'll...I'll be right back," she said quietly, as she > disappeared in the direction of the bathroom. > > Extract 5: > Jimmy scratched the back of his head. "It's confusing, C.K. I > mean how were you able to--" Jimmy tried to think of a delicate way > to ask his question. "Shift out of hormone and into friendship gear > with Lois?" > Clark, with great restraint, managed not to laugh. "I think > with Lois, I'll always be in hormone gear, Jimmy. But I reached a > point where I started wanting to share my life with someone, and that > meant getting to know Lois and not just being attracted to her." > "Yeah, but how did you know it would be her? I mean what was it, did > you get a sign, or was it just a lucky guess, or--?" > "Jimmy," Clark sighed, "All I know is, she woke something up > inside of me, and I knew she was the one I wanted to share my life > with. I just...knew. Besides," Clark shrugged, "I don't think you're > quite at the point where you want to make a lifetime commitment to > someone, are you?" > Jimmy raised his arms. "No way!" > > Okay, over to you! > > Wendy > ---------------------- > Wendy Richards > w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk #! is "The Huntress's Revenge" by Jenni Debbage #2 is "Clark Stays Over, by Melissa Dore #3 no idea #4 is "Yet Each Man Kills..." by Genevieve Clemens #5 no idea Nan Smith ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 20:40:11 -0400 Reply-To: nightsky@erols.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Subject: Re: Name the Fanfic - Second Round ;) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, since Wendy used one of my fanfics in this round, I guess I'd better play.... I recogonized Number 3 (the scene at the Kent Farmhouse); it's from Pam Jernigan's Presidential Party -- I just re-read those story so it was fresh in my mind. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genevieve Lots of great stuff on my webpage The World Wide Web has made it possible for anyone to find in five hours, what a competent librarian could find in five minutes. :-)