From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG0002C" ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 22:48:56 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: Valentine challenge: As seen thru the Eyes of a Bee In-Reply-To: <000e01bf769b$6160b740$eb1e8d18@co61019-b.hala1.on.wave.hom e.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable OOOOOHhhhh sis! Me likes it :) Melisma (grinning under her rock) At 10:27 PM 13/02/2000 -0500, you wrote: >I don=92t know how widespread certain commercial campains are but I had= this >hit me about the same time that the valentine challenge was issued.. there >is a commercial all over the tv here in Canada for Honey Nut Cheerios, it= is >based on the frog prince theme.. And part of this story is credited to my >Best Friend, Pat Rowe, who put up with me writing this on the phone, plus >adding very good suggestions, like to write the derned thing. > >As Seen through the Eyes of a Bee=85. > ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 22:54:28 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Re: Outrageous Intentions, A L&C vignette In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" LOLOLOL, Tank, this was cute :) Melisma (still giggling under her rock) At 11:47 PM 13/02/2000 EST, you wrote: >I don't normally post to this list, but since everyone has posted their >Valentine's to the gentle readers on both Zoom's board and this one I thought >I do so too. > >The following is just a little throw away vignette, given to the board as a >Valentine. We start out with a certain intimate conversation seen on the >episode "Virtually Destroyed" and veer off into a twilight zone of illogic >and the absurd. Please don't hold me too close to proper character >motivations. This is for fun. > >Outrageous Intentions >by Tank Wilson ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 02:26:55 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: PJ Piasecki Subject: Re: Nomination MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/14/00 9:51:41 AM Central Standard Time, mr_d8a@YAHOO.COM writes: << Mr. D8A Nominates Becky Bain's Timeless for the Alt-Universe and Revelation Categories. Fabulous story Becky! I was a faithful B&B watcher until it started getting Really weird. You captured the characters of both worlds well. James >> Delurking here, for just a moment. I went to the archives and read this story on James' recommendation. It's now 1:30am but once I'd started reading, I simply couldn't stop til I'd reached the end. What a wonderful, beautifully written, and completely riveting story. My thanks to Becky for writing it, and to James for bringing it to my attention. Piper ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 08:15:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: Re: 2001 Kerth category In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 14 Feb 2000 15:14:24 -0500 James Tull wrote: > [...] I would add an additional Category. > Best Crossover > Now I know that this seems self-serving, but there were several stories > that could have fit that bill this year and next. > Timeless - B&B > Phil's Doctor Who Um... before Wendy goes ballistic, let me state for the record that _she_ wrote the EastEnders/DW crossover. I only appear in "The lost Afternoon"! Of course, I still like the idea of Lois and Ace teaming up... Phil, who, now that you come to mention it, has this idea about doing an L&C/The Nanny crossover -- Kate, you've corrupted me! ------------------------------------------------------------ Gravity is a Downer... So let's go flying! -- so sayeth Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 03:36:31 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Re: Night Terrors (6 of 6) In-Reply-To: <001901bf772e$4240b0c0$0f02000a@csd.uwm.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Wow, this was really good. It all ended a bit quickly for me, but it was highly satisfying nonetheless. :) S P O I L E R S P A C E I loved Clark tying up the villain, big bow and all! You gave us a bit of a red herring when you mentioned how much time Lois spent online -- I was beginning to wonder if Jaxon was vamping her from the computer screen. ;) Why exactly did Alexis change her mind re talking to Lois? She's nervous, she's anxious, but there doesn't seem to be event that took place between the time she thew LnC out and the time she called, wanting to talk, that would prompt her to make that decision. BTW, the idea that this dream thingy could force someone to do something against their will -- something to which they are *diametrically* opposed -- is utterly chilling. I thought it would be something like hypnosis, which can't force a person to do something they know is wrong (like committing a crime). I'm glad Lois was wrong about Soppeland, even if she ultimately turned out to be right, so to speak. :) One thing: I can't see Lois saying, "Get him, Superman!" She sounds like she's talking to a dog. "C'mon, boy, sic 'em!" :) Unless she actually uses this expression on the show, it might be a bit out of character... something to think about. The chocolate tempation was sooo Lois, and I liked how you ended it with her falling into a gentle, relaxed sleep... But nice teaser there at the end. Who on the show owned a cat? At least we know you're planning a sequel, and that's always good news! :) :) Well done, and we look forward to your next fic. Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 05:48:57 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yael Kfir Subject: Re: Valentine Stories Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Thank you guys, for helping me go through the horrible day of Valentine wit= h a *huge* grin on my face=85 Just read this: Wendy=92s =91Valentine Rendezvous=92: =93I hope you=92ll be happy together = =96 you and your career, I mean=94. (Quote from memory) Gerry=92s =93Valentine expectations=92: =93What happened to the chocolates that were originally in the box?=94 =93The chocolates?=94 the question, coming out of the blue, put Clark off balance for a moment. =93What chocolates?=94 Tank=92s =91Outrageous Intentions=92: "Well, there is that one little blond= e in composing." Alicia=92s =91Basketball =96 a L&C Valentine: =93But I overheard them plann= ing, so I kindly asked them if I could play too; okay maybe it was more like weaselin= g my way in, but so what if a girl knows what a man wants and threatens to withhold it from him that's the American way.=94 Susan VanCott=92s =91February 15=92: =93And Lex! He's going to think I stood him up!" "It'll be good for him." You guys got me on the floor! Thanks, Yael. ----------------------- - Oh, god... - Zod. (Superman II) ----------------------- ______________________________________________ FREE Personalized Email at Mail.com Sign up at http://www.mail.com?sr=3Dmc.mk.mcm.tag001 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 11:19:29 +0000 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: 2001 Kerth category In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 08:15:55 -0500 Phillip Atcliffe wrote: > Um... before Wendy goes ballistic, let me state for the > record that _she_ wrote the EastEnders/DW crossover. I only > appear in "The lost Afternoon"! Me? Go ballistic? Phil, what sort of opinion do you have of me? (Actually, I saw the original post and grinned... I'm quite happy for 'Wits' End' to be attributed to someone else!). > Of course, I still like the idea of Lois and Ace teaming > up... Who's Ace? Wendy (the ignorant one ) ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 11:37:37 +0000 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: NEW: (1/1) FEBRUARY 15 In-Reply-To: <42.1b845da.25da0b9f@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Susan, Love it, love it, love it!!! Absolutely wonderful! The dialogue was so expressive - I thought at first that you were going to tell the entire story through dialogue, and it would have worked too! s p o i l e r s p a c e There were so many lines in this I liked: Yael picked out the one about standing Lex up being good for him, and there were lots of others - like Clark's snappy response to Lois's 'Superman?' - 'You know, dark hair, wears a lot of red and blue...' Somehow, this exchange struck a chord with me: >>> "Showoff," she muttered under her breath. He laughed. "Hey, I'm allowed. No one's ever known me as Clark first, then found *this* out."<<< Very true. And very sweet. It's good to see more from you, Susan! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 07:40:48 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Re: NEW: (1/1) FEBRUARY 15 In-Reply-To: <42.1b845da.25da0b9f@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Susan, this was a fun one! The bickering was perfect, and what a marvelous reaction from Lois for a change: yeah, yeah, couldn't you have done it a few hours ago? Lovely. :) A lot of excellent one-line zingers scattered throughout a satisfying little vignette. Well done! Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 08:08:45 -0500 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: Nomination MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I agree, Timeless was a fabulous story, and it definitely made my nominations list... but when it came to Best Overall, I just had to go with Sheila's S6 trilogy Turn Around/Walk In My Shoes/Mirror, Mirror -- The A-plot was amazing, the B-plot was amazing, the emotions were beautifully handled. Remember, most of the Season 6 stories are eligible this year :) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "So is the answer A) B, B) C, C) D, or D) A?" "Is this a trick question?" "Yes. The answer is 'meat'." --Whose Line Is It Anyway, spoofing Millionaire. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 08:13:07 -0500 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: 2001 Kerth category MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Of course, I still like the idea of Lois and Ace teaming up... Oh, me too, someone write it, please... :) And what would Ace say about Superman? Wendy, Ace was one of the Doctor's companions on Doctor Who, one of those science fiction programmes that you never watch :) (Although considering it was you who wrote the crossover... hmm...). She was the last of a long list, and a lot spunkier than the early models -- she liked to go 'round blowing things up ;) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "So is the answer A) B, B) C, C) D, or D) A?" "Is this a trick question?" "Yes. The answer is 'meat'." --Whose Line Is It Anyway, spoofing Millionaire. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 13:23:07 +0000 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: 2001 Kerth category In-Reply-To: <38A950E3.CF1609E@bellsouth.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII > Wendy, Ace was one of the Doctor's companions on Doctor > Who, one of those science fiction programmes that you never > watch :) (Although considering it was you who wrote the > crossover... hmm...). /me blushing... Actually, I stopped watching Dr Who after Tom Baker, so I suppose there's my excuse! Well, Phil, what's stopping you? Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 09:58:24 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: 2001 Kerth category On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 11:19:29 +0000, Wendy Richards wrote: >On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 08:15:55 -0500 Phillip Atcliffe > wrote: > >> Um... before Wendy goes ballistic, let me state for the >> record that _she_ wrote the EastEnders/DW crossover. I only >> appear in "The lost Afternoon"! OOPS!! > >Me? Go ballistic? Phil, what sort of opinion do you have of >me? (Actually, I saw the original post and grinned... I'm >quite happy for 'Wits' End' to be attributed to someone >else!). I don't know Wendy. It was a pretty fair piece. I almost could get into the characters and I don't even know the show! I agree Tom Baker was the best. I stopped watching after the guy from All Creatures Great and Small left. Tristen was his name there. James. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 10:00:15 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: Threads of Confusion: A Tank Ending Tank Q? Tank Q! Boo hiss! Boo hiss! You should be soundly whipped with a wet noodle or at least have a Cod thrown at you! James ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:08:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: Re: 2001 Kerth category In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Once upon a midnight drear, I wrote: >>> Of course, I still like the idea of Lois and Ace teaming up... To which Pam replied: >> Oh, me too, someone write it, please... :) And what would Ace say about Superman? << "Wicked!" comes to mind... And she went on to say: >> Wendy, Ace was one of the Doctor's companions on Doctor Who, one of those science fiction programmes that you never watch :) (Although considering it was you who wrote the crossover... hmm...). She was the last of a long list, and a lot spunkier than the early models -- she liked to go 'round blowing things up ;) << Which she did with her own home-made explosives! Ace is also famed as the only companion ever to do over a Dalek with a baseball bat! I _liked_ Ace! And, as I've said before, I'm somewhat biased that way because I met Sophie Aldred at a con, and she was lovely. And Wendy said: > /me blushing... > Actually, I stopped watching Dr Who after Tom Baker, so I suppose there's my excuse! Well, Phil, what's stopping you? < Um... "Imbalance" (which I'm working on at the moment -- Lois' body is back on the ground, but her mind..?), CP2 et seq., the MAA sequel, the crossover with "The Nanny" (which is about half-plotted; I keep cracking up at the thought of Lois meeting Fran)... then there's the third part of the Snowball Trilogy, and "Thunder Over Metropolis" (another cross-over -- guess who, comics fans? )... and I _really_ have to get down to the Galactica/Discworld story some time... Need I go on? I just can't write that fast... Phil who could really do with that thought-typer that Hazel wanted Bernie and I to invent -- but you can't drag the guy away from Carolyn at the moment, and good luck to him! Besides, I still remember the "Bummer-Be-Gone", and I ain't letting that kind of thing near _my_ little grey cells... -------------------------------------------------------------- "If you let a smile be your umbrella... you'll get wet teeth!" -- a forgotten comedian, quoted by me: Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:50:18 +0000 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: 2001 Kerth category In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:08:55 -0500 Phillip Atcliffe wrote: > > Well, Phil, what's stopping you? > > Um... "Imbalance" (which I'm working on at the moment -- > Lois' body is back on the ground, but her mind..?), CP2 et > seq., the MAA sequel, the crossover with "The Nanny" (which > is about half-plotted; I keep cracking up at the thought of > Lois meeting Fran)... then there's the third part of the > Snowball Trilogy, and "Thunder Over Metropolis" (another > cross-over -- guess who, comics fans? )... and I _really_ > have to get down to the Galactica/Discworld story some time... Oh, I am glad Lois's body is safe, after what I did to her! But what happened to the Lex-bashing one?! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 11:55:50 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Re: Night Terrors (6 of 6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit s p o i l e r s p a c e Wow.. I loved it! I'm glad that Alexis didn't turn out as bad as i thought she would be. Also my assumptions about her father were way off too! But that's what makes fanfic so fun...you think you know something when whammo bammo something throws you for a loop! Although Alexis turned out to be an innocent dupe and actually a nice person, I still feel sorry for what she went through at Stanford. That's real sad and I hope she got the help she needed. Super story! Alexis ;-.) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 09:06:04 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: 2001 Kerth category MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii "Thunder Over Metropolis"(another cross-over -- guess who, comics fans? ) Would that be the Thunderbolts or Thor? James ===== Mr. D8a - Philipians 4:8 Californian FoLCs - Blatant political statement, Ignore at your own risk. VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 22! The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 13:46:04 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Anita Dicker Subject: 2000 Nomination Qurstions Comments: To: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello, I'm trying to finish up, and I have some questions. 1. Best Series - Do you need to list all the titles of the series? 2. Best Revelation & Best Adaptation - Seem to be interchangeable. Some additional definitions would help. Thank You Anita Dicker ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:01:10 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Anita Dicker Subject: Re: 2001 Kerth category MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I thought that perhaps it could be Captain Marvel , AKA Shazam. Anita Dicker *********** James Tull wrote: > "Thunder Over Metropolis"(another cross-over -- guess > who, comics fans? ) > > Would that be the Thunderbolts or Thor? > James > ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 18:59:56 +0000 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: 2000 Nomination Qurstions In-Reply-To: <38A99EEC.9DD22E9A@bellsouth.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII > 2. Best Revelation & Best Adaptation - Seem to be > interchangeable. Some additional definitions would help. Anita, I'm not sure how these are similar! Revelation is simple enough: someone (usually Lois) finding out that Superman is Clark. Episode Adaptation refers to stories where the author rewrites an episode in some way, or adds on a 'missing scene' to an episode. I suppose a number of recent adaptations have also included revelations (Shaken Not Stirred, Partners, Dear Lois Love Superman, The Mirror Crack'd, Dark Revelation), but episode adaptations don't need to incorporate a revelation - there's Nan's 'missing scene' from Just Say Noah, Just Say... I Love You. Likewise, Chris Carr's Au Revoir and Not Goodbye is an episode adaptation (missing scene) which doesn't involve a revelation. It's another example of stories which can fit into more than one category! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:40:27 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Amy Lauters Subject: Re: Night Terrors (6 of 6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hazel, Lori, Alexis, Alicia ... thanks for making my first foray into fanfic a fun experience. S P O I L E R S P A C E Hazel said: "Why exactly did Alexis change her mind re talking to Lois? She's nervous, she's anxious, but there doesn't seem to be event that took place between the time she thew LnC out and the time she called, wanting to talk, that would prompt her to make that decision" Good question! :) I had the event in my head, and it looks like I forgot to put it on the paper, or screen, or ... hmm. Yikes. I'll add it to the story before I submit it to the archive, but for you folks: She had an encounter with Mortenson, which spooked her enough to try calling LnC. I'll work that in. The guy at the end is my deep, dark secret. But that does mean sequel, doesn't it? Again, thanks to everybody for your feedback Amy ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:48:53 -0500 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 2000 update MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi FoLCs! Thanks to everyone who submitted their choice for month and date for the NKerth Awards. September 16th was the clear choice, with September 23rd as the back up date. At this time we'll hold off on any further planning until after the Kerths. Thanks again! Dawn, Irene, and the Crew ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 22:29:30 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: New-7 Days of Superman Part 5 of ? -totally new stuff Comments: To: 7d , BackStep Fiction , Tad Flowers , Marc Gartin , Dave and Debbie Harrison , Travel Time , Dad Tull , Danny Tull MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title: 7 Days of Superman Part: 5 of ? Author: Mr. D8a Rating: PG-13 Genre: Crossover Summary: Superman fails to stop the nuking of Washington DC and gets some help from Frank B. Parker from Operation Backstep. Personal Note: This story, in no way, links in with Mr. D8a's and Elisabeth's Lois and Clark universe. This is purely the creation of Mr. D8a's mind...so beware! (Okay there is some dialog help from Elisabeth) Copyright Stuff: Lois and Clark and the rest of the show's entourage are the property of DC, Warner, ABC, and Joanne Siegel and Laura Siegel Larson. Seven Days is the property of UPN. BACKGROUND INFORMATION.SEVEN DAYS (Details supplied by http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/9329/SevenDays +++++++++++++++++++++++ Friday, October 8, 1999 2:30pm EST Metropolis Star Labs +++++++++++++++++++++++ Lois swiftly drove around abandoned vehicles on her way to Star Labs. In the last two day the East Coast had been thrown into chaos. The warm coastal breezes had turned deadly with the fallout from the bombing of Washington DC. A fine silvery green mist traveled swiftly on the air currents, slowly covering everything in its path. Nowhere was safe. It was sucked into ventilation systems and settled into water reservoirs. It only took one inhaled particle to start the deadly radiation spreading in the body. Birds that flew into the cloud never came out. In its wake it left a ecological nightmare. As the cloud traveled northeast, town after town fell to its relentless advance. The National Guard fought a loosing battle trying to evacuate the people out of harms way. Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland where the first major cities to depart from the land of the living. Little Delaware gave up it north most tip for the next hundred or so years in little under an hour. Central and Northern New Jersey bore the worst of the nuclear decimation, as far as lose of land are goes. People fled using every means possible. Planes where the first to disappear after a couple of planes crashed due to over crowding and being mobbed on the runways. Next were trains for similar reasons. Bus companies stopped all service to most of New Jersey and New York City. Truck drivers were being offered exorbitant fees to safely transport desperate families from their life long homes. Families fled to the east and west to avoid the nuclear specter. The New Troy National Guard finally had to close the bridges between New Jersey and New Troy due to over crowding and to the threat of a possible shift in the wind currents. Metropolis became the new Mecca as ships continued to dock and take on passengers in quarters so cramped that it made Cuban refugee boats look spacious by comparison. It was impossible to get anywhere near the docks. Nearly a tenth of the death toll was due to drowning alone as people tried to swim to safety. And New York City was next in line if the wind did not change direction. ~*~ Lois found it easy to get to Star Labs. She just hoped that Dr. Klein was still there. Concrete barriers, three tiers high, had been erected around the front gate and side of the building facing the road. There wasn’t really any danger of the building being laid siege to, but the powers that be thought it a wise precaution. The guard shack designed to house one, now held three and all of them watched as Lois came to a rolling stop at the closest barrier to them. They moved not a finger as she unbuckled her son and carried him up to the entranceway. “I’m here to see Dr. Klein. It’s an emergency!” The shortest of the three found his voice first. “No-no one g-goes in exc-cept official Star Lab p-personnel.” Lois gave the man a look that could wilt the hardiest soul. Ivan covered his ears and buried his head in his mommy’s shoulder. He knew what was coming next. “I am Lois Lane of the Daily Planet! I am here on official business with Dr. Klein! I demand you let me in!” The tall, Gunter-looking, individual stepped forward at this point. “Oh, a reporter. With a brat in-tow. I can see that this is real ‘official’ now. Maybe we should let her. NOT!” The rest of the guard started laughing at this point. Ivan started to mumble “nononononononononon.” over and over again. Lois reached up a hand and stroked the back of her little boy’s head. Lois calmly stuck her hand in her purse and started to pull something out of it. The first guard noticed and started to edge around ‘Gunter’ and feebly pointed at her. “S-she’s g-gotta g-g-g-g-g…” ‘Gunter’ spun around and his eye went wide, and started to un-holster his firearm. Lois stopped and using just two fingers pulled out the antenna for her cell phone. Satisfied that it was not a gun the three guards relaxed a little. They were premature in their relief. Lois dialed the number for Dr. Klein’s office and hoped that the Cellular service was up and going. It was. She explained to Dr. Klein the situation and immediately hung up. Seconds later the phone rang I the guard shack. ‘Gunter’ answered the call. As he listened he grew paler and paler. After about a minute of listening he quietly put down the phone and looked at Lois in a new light. He slapped the as-yet-to-actually-say-anything-guard and told him to escort Ms. Lane to Dr. Klein’s office. “Never mind. I know the way.” And with that turned on her heel and walked straight toward the entranceway. They fell all over themselves to press the button to open the door before she had to touch it. Ivan stuck his head over his mommy’s shoulder, stuck his tongue out at the guards, and made raspberry sounds in their general direction. Lois admonished Ivan. “Now sweetheart, it’s not nice to make fun of the unemployed.” She then laughed a hollow laugh and turned her thoughts on how she was going to get Dr. Klein to help her, in her own time of need. ~*~ The last day and a half had been hard on Lois. She had planned on telling Clark that they were expecting on the night he died. It was part of the reason she had been so fragile that night. It now was the one of the few things keeping her going. She adored little Ivan, but growing inside her was her last link to her husband and she was going to fight tooth and nail to make sure he would live and carry on in his father’s footsteps. And to do that she was going to need help. Dr. Klein seemed the most likely candidate. He was the expert on Kryptonian physiology, even though he had said that they would not be able to have any children naturally. Everybody makes mistakes and she was so happy that he was mistaken. ~*~ +++++++++++++++++++++++ Friday, October 8, 1999 2:45pm EST Metropolis Dr. Klein’s office. +++++++++++++++++++++++ Dr. Klein was usually a neat nick when it came to his office. He had to be. It was the only way he could find things! When Lois walked in she first thought she had the wrong office. It was in total disarray. Dr. Klein stood up immediately the moment that Lois walked in. “Lois! I am so glad to see you and Ivan. I don’t get to many visitors and I am glad to see a friendly face. Sorry about the guards. Most of our regular ones have already left the city and pickings are slim….” Dr. Klein seemed lost in thought for a while and then he seemed to see her for the first time. His face blanched and he had to steady himself for a moment. “Dr. Klein! Are you alright?” “Such a sweet thing to say. Especially with what you’ve been going through! My word Lois! How are you able to put such a positive face forward at time like this? How can you stand the loss!?” Lois’ face went ashen at the meaning of what Dr. Klein was saying. “You knew?” A slight smile crossed his face as he bid her to sit in the only free chair in the room, his. Ivan started flipping through a colorful stack of picture magazines. Dr. Klein paced the floor in front of her. “I have actually know for years. I figured that eventually you or Clark would tell me all about it. I just wish he had known before…” “A silent tear slid down Lois’ face. “What gave it away?” “Oh, it was pretty obvious to someone who makes their living observing people’s reactions to different circumstances. I could see the depth of your love for both of them and their love for you. After you got married it became obvious that you loved only one man and that man just happened to have two careers.” The tears started to flow freely at this point. Little Ivan got up and gave his mommy a hug and looked questioningly into her eyes. Wiping the tears from her eyes and cheeks she looked solemnly into her son’s eyes. “It’s alright sweetie. Mommy’s not really sad just relieved. Go back to the pretty pictures.” Ivan went back to the magazines, but kept a wary eye on his mommy. “This makes it easier to tell you what I need to tell you. Dr. Klein I'm pregnant." "You can't be! All the tests showed it to be impossible! Unless..." Dr. Klein’s eyebrows started to climb. "Bernard Oliver Klein! I can't even believe you'd think..." "NO! NO! NEVER! Well actually maybe…” Glare. “…but when I really think about it, it's not likely." The look in Lois' eyes could have given even her husbands heat vision a run for its money. "Never would have crossed my mind. Nope. No-way." The femme volcanal had been soothed…for now. “What I was really thinking was that since I gave Clark those results I have learned a considerable amount about his physiology and I could redo the test…” “You don’t need to. I am pregnant. With Clark’s child, just to set the record straight!” “Like I said ‘Never a doubt in my mind’. Did you use one of those home pregnancy tests or is this gut instinct?” “Both. After a solid week of heaving my gut I decided to take a test. It came out positive.” At that moment the door to Dr. Klein’s office flew open. A young man just a few years Jimmy’s senior burst into the room. “Dr. Klein! Turn on your TV! You’ve got to see this!” "What channel?" "It doesn't matter. It's on all channels." ~*~ ===== Mr. D8a - Philipians 4:8 Californian FoLCs - Blatant political statement, Ignore at your own risk. VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 22! The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 23:01:47 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: New-7 Days of Superman Part 5 of ? -totally new stuff CORRECTIONS!!! Comments: To: 7d , BackStep Fiction , Tad Flowers , Marc Gartin , Dave and Debbie Harrison , Travel Time , Dad Tull , Danny Tull MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii It is amazing what you can find when you just read it through just once! The rest of the guard[s] started laughing... Seconds later the phone ran i[n] the guard shack. It was the only whay he could find things[.] []A silent tear slid down Lois' face. ...even her husband[']s heat vision... ===== Mr. D8a - Philipians 4:8 Californian FoLCs - Blatant political statement, Ignore at your own risk. VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 22! The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:00:14 +0000 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: OT: Political statements In-Reply-To: <20000216070147.8724.rocketmail@web221.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Tue, 15 Feb 2000 23:01:47 -0800 James Tull wrote: > Californian FoLCs - Blatant political statement, Ignore at > your own risk. VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 22! Okay, having searched the State of California's government information pages, I don't see any reference to Proposition 22. I found a Proposition 227 (which I would disagree with, personally), but no 22. What's it about, and why, if I were Californian, would I be 'ignoring at my own risk' a call to support it? Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 07:03:32 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: Night Terrors (6 of 6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/15/00 3:41:03 PM Eastern Standard Time, alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU writes: << The guy at the end is my deep, dark secret. But that does mean sequel, doesn't it? >> I certainly hope so. This was a very enjoyable story with an interesting premise. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:48:02 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: kubitc Subject: Re: OT: Political statements Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >> Californian FoLCs - Blatant political statement, Ignore at >> your own risk. VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 22! > >Okay, having searched the State of California's government >information pages, I don't see any reference to Proposition >22. I found a Proposition 227 (which I would disagree with, >personally), but no 22. What's it about, and why, if I were >Californian, would I be 'ignoring at my own risk' a call to >support it? I can't answer the last part of your question, but I searched for Proposition 22 on Yahoo. From a pro-Proposition 22 web site: the complete text of the proposition states that the "only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." So voting for Proposition 22 would reinforce the fact that gay marriages are not recognized in California. (Not sure what the proposition's purpose is because gay marriages are not now recognized in California, but I hope that answers part of your question.) Christy kubitc@kenyon.edu * * * * * * * * * * "Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply disgraceful." -Aldous Huxley ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:50:31 +0000 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: OT: Political statements In-Reply-To: <38959EE8@webmail.kenyon.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:48:02 -0500 kubitc wrote: > From a > pro-Proposition 22 web site: the complete text of > the proposition states that the "only a marriage between a > man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." So > voting for Proposition 22 would reinforce the fact that gay > marriages are not recognized in California. Thanks very much for that information, Christy! Hmmm... not sure I *want* to see this list used to promote anti-gay propaganda - and I assure everyone that I'd be equally unhappy to see *this list* used for pro-gay argumentation as well, regardless of my own views, because either objective seems to me to be beyond the scope of the list. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 07:21:11 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: OT: Political statements MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I agree. That is why I only put it in my signature and did not discuss it in the main body of the email Please correct me if I am wrong but the point of a signature is to give a clue as to individuality of writer. Besides, on March 8 I will change it. James __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 10:40:32 -0500 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: OT: Political statements MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Hmmm... not sure I *want* to see this list used to promote > anti-gay propaganda - and I assure everyone that I'd be > equally unhappy to see *this list* used for pro-gay > argumentation as well, regardless of my own views, because > either objective seems to me to be beyond the scope of the > list. I don't think it qualifies as anti-gay propaganda ... but I definitely don't want to discuss it on this list! Let's all leave politics at home, okay? We're sure to have lots of differing views, and we shouldn't let that get in the way of what we do agree about -- Lois & Clark fanfic. I'll argue with anyone who wants to, but only in private, so as not to disturb anyone else :) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "So is the answer A) B, B) C, C) D, or D) A?" "Is this a trick question?" "Yes. The answer is 'meat'." --Whose Line Is It Anyway, spoofing Millionaire. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 10:47:59 -0500 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: OT: Political statements MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > That is why I only put it in my signature > and did not discuss it in the main body of the email > > Please correct me if I am wrong but the point of a > signature is to give a clue as to individuality of > writer. True... but we also strive to be polite. And not to embroil the list in controversy. There are plenty of lists geared towards politics; if any of us want action alerts, we'll join those lists, thank you. Politically speaking, I suspect I agree with you, James ... but this list is *not* the place to discuss it. PJ who has, once or twice, enjoined people to vote Republican ... and was always roundly thwapped for it -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "So is the answer A) B, B) C, C) D, or D) A?" "Is this a trick question?" "Yes. The answer is 'meat'." --Whose Line Is It Anyway, spoofing Millionaire. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:22:00 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: I know I'm late: Feedback- DMKMGS MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Phil, I know I'm late but since I had such a nice waffy afternoon reading your story with that completely unmemorizable name , I thought I'd tell you so anyway :-) Very sweet story! And very appropriate for our weather here today :-) Nicole (who felt all like spring today and even wanted to plant a few pansies, but now is looking out of the window and notices that it has snowed!) -- Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain? And don't you have enough time to find them? Go to: "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/CKgroupie/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:17:13 -0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Fw: Quiz answers MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Here are Helene's answers. Helene will score the responses herself. A little bird tells me that she has other author quizzes ready to roll, so duck and cover, guys - you never know who'll be next. ;) LabRat :) Okay, could you please forward this as well... say, the day after the quiz? Well, unfortunately, I just realized I wouldn't be able to count the points of everyone, but I think I may be able to get access to the list on thursday night, so I'll try to do it then. Oh, and don't look it up before answering the quiz, no cheating :) Take care and thanks again :) Hélène :) **************************************************************************** *** 1. "The Healing Time" by Wendy Richards 2. "It Happened One (Super) Night" by Wendy Richards 3. "An Ordinary Man" by Wendy Richards 4. "The Perfect Match?" by Wendy Richards 5. "Big Boys Do Fly" by Wendy Richards 6. "It's as Plain as the Nose" by Wendy Richards 7. "It's a Super Life" by Wendy Richards 8. "Strange Visitor from the Congo" by Wendy Richards 9. "Dear Lois, Love Superman" by Wendy Richards 10. "A Conscious Choice" by Wendy Richards 11. "The Penfriend" by Wendy Richards 12. "Escape from the Prankster" by Wendy Richards 13. "The Confession" by Wendy Richards 14. "A Time to Rebuild" by Wendy Richards I guess you all know what's the common point between those stories ;) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:37:00 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: ANOTHER Quiz! :) I liked Helene's quiz so much that I wrote one of my own. The usual disclaimers apply, like the other quizzes. I hope that I didn't make this too hard. The scoring is as follows: 1 point for guessing the theme, and either 2 points for guessing the title from the quote or 1 point for using the extract. Total possible points: 21. I'll post the answers on Friday. Good luck! QUOTES: Quote 1: "Superman doesn't kill." Quote 2: "For the sake of any future you hope we'll have together you'd better say you knew." Quote 3: "That's too bad. I was kind of in the mood to do some more apologizing for my fool-headed thinking of the other day." Quote 4: "Lois, you know I've long known that Clark was Superman and that he knew who I am." Quote 5: "Come on -- go up and try it on. The party is tonight, and I want to make sure it's ready." Quote 6: "Why Cat, you're here! Is it noon already?" Quote 7: "You forgot something buster! I *AM* Lois Lane!" Quote 8: "Lois, get a load of these." Jimmy spread the photos out across the desktop. "Seems, you've started something. These are photos of the crowd that has gathered in front of Star Labs. They are picketing, and protesting." Quote 9: "Okay, I'm Superman." Quote 10: "Do your people have any idea just what it was they lost? Do they know, do you know what you've done to this planet?" S P O I L E R S P A C E EXTRACTS: Extract 1: ..."Next question. Assuming what you told me at the park this morning still holds..." She waited for a response and got that smile that makes the recipient want to giggle like a schoolgirl. "Right, okay, Why me?" Clark was stunned. "What! you're kidding, right?" "No, I'm not. Clark, you are a great looking guy, you're kind and considerate with a great sense of humor. I've come to realize something I probably already knew but was afraid to acknowledge, but Clark Kent is a pretty terrific guy. You could have virtually any woman you set your sights on. So, why me? I know I can be difficult, a bit stubborn, even bossy at times...." Lois rolled her eyes when she noticed his grin. She stopped talking and just glared at him. Clark put up his hands in a defensive posture. "Okay, okay Lois, straight up, honest answer." Clark licked his lips and took a breath. "You are simply the most amazing woman I've ever met. You are brilliant and beautiful. " Extract 2: "Excuse me again, but aren't you Clark Kent, that reporter from the Daily Planet?" Clark put down his paper and turned to Lois. "Yes, I am." "I read your stuff all the time. You and your partner, Lois Lane. You two are very good." "Thank you, we always try to do our best." "Oh, you do. Tell me, what is Lois Lane like?" "Well, she's stubborn but brilliant, quite passionate but is prone to hair-brained schemes which usually get us into trouble." Lois' face darkened a bit but she held her tongue. "And she's almost as attractive as you." "Really? I.... What!" Extract 3: Clark stared unseeing at the ceiling of his boyhood bedroom. Lois lay snuggled tightly in his arm with her cheek against his bare chest. It had been the most incredible experience of his life. Never had he thought that he could ever know such joy and such a sense of belonging. It was like he had understood the meaning of life for the first time. He knew from her murmurings and reactions that Lois had experienced something wonderful also. Finally Clark truly understood what the soul mates thing was all about. The euphoria was quickly dashed by waves of guilt and despair. It had been selfish of him to have given in to his passion and animal desires. He knew that separation and heartbreak were ahead even if Lois didn't, and he should have been strong enough to spare both of them the added pain that this interlude would cause. But he hadn't been, and what was done was done. He would hold this memory very dear till the end of his days. He only hoped that Lois could, some day, find it in her heart to forgive him. Extract 4: That morning was burned into her memory. She had been cooking breakfast, a real Norman Rockwell painting come to life. Clark was at the table checking out the morning edition. It crossed her mind that that morning might have been the last time she used the stove. No, she must've used it since then, hadn't she? The phone had rung and Clark had answered it. She never knew who was on the other end; she assumed it must have been whoever was on monitor duty that day. Anyway, it was a major Justice League of America crisis, one where they had to fly off into space to fight some galactic threat. He promised he'd be back as soon as he could, but, of course, he had to go. Two weeks later the JLA returned from space. Some were badly hurt, but they all came back. All except Clark, that is. No one seemed to know what had happened to him. Superman had gotten separated from the rest, taking on some cosmic bad guy, while the others had concerned themselves with his minions. After their victory it was time to return via their borrowed mother box boom tube, whatever the hell that was, but there was no sign of Clark or his opponent. The League had stayed an extra couple of days looking for them, but neither was ever found. No bodies, no signs of any kind, nothing. Reluctantly they came home and broke the news to the world. Extract 5: "I think that's a great idea, Jimmy," Lois interrupted. "What?" Clark looked over at his wife as if she had just taken leave of her senses. "Clark, I'm sure Superman wouldn't mind. It's not like you're going to damage it by going out and stopping a train wreck or anything." She hopped off Clark's lap. "Thanks for the idea, Jimmy. You can tell Perry that we'll definitely be there." After Jimmy went off to inform the chief, Clark gave his wife a very confused stare. She giggled. "Lo-is-ss." He shook his head. "I thought you just told me that...." Clark's speech was cut off by Lois bending over and giving him a quick kiss. "Trust me," she said, then quickly made her way back to her own desk. "Where have I heard that one before?" Clark muttered. "I heard that!" Extract 6: "And is that so bad?" "Yes! No! Oh, I don't know. You can see how screwed up this has made me. Clark, I consider you my friend, my best friend, but I don't know about this. I'm not sure how to... Clark!?" Suddenly, Clark had that irritating far-away look in his eyes again. Lois could just about guess what was coming next. "Ah, I'm sorry Lois. I just remembered that I..." He patted his pants pockets. "Seem to have mislaid my keys. I think they might have fallen out when I was down in the locker room. I'd better go see if I can find them before some over zealous janitor accidentally throws them out." Clark started backing out the door. "I promise, we'll continue this later. Be back as soon as I can. I'm really sorry." As Lois watched Clark disappear around the corner she angrily kicked back in the chair and threw her pen against the wall. She shook her head. "Oh yeah." Heavy sarcasm belied her words. "There's definitely a future there." Extract 7: "Lois? "She felt her shoulder being tugged and had to shake her head to bring herself out of her reverie and back to the present moment. She looked over at the handsome, sad-faced man standing next to her. When he noticed she was back, he opened the door and indicated she should enter. "We're here." Lois Lane stepped from the entry to just inside the front door of the brownstone on Hyperion Ave. as Clark Kent closed the door silently behind them. He crossed the room and turned on a table lamp next to the couch. "Nice place," Lois said as she found her eyes drawn to all the assembled pieces that told her this was somebody's home and not just a place to live. "Thanks." Clark's voice was weak and he sounded very tired. "Please sit. Would you like something to eat or drink?" Lois knew his politeness was a reflex and that he really would rather just be alone with his grief so she was about to refuse when she realized it had been nearly a full day since she'd last had anything to eat and she *was* hungry. Besides, she had made a promise. "I guess I am kind of hungry, anything would be fine." Extract 8: Lois' face clouded up at the mention of Clark's name. She felt guilty over the way she had treated him. Telling him he was just acting petulant because she told him she didn't feel the same way for him as he did for her. The problem was, she did, and she needed to see him. She needed him to hold her and tell her that things were going to work out. She never felt more safe than when she was with Clark, not even when she was with Superman. "Oh, Perry, where is Clark? I thought he'd be here, you know, to be in on the big bust. I didn't think he'd want to miss out on Lex getting his just desserts." She bit down on her lip. "I really need to talk to him." "I know you do, honey, but none of us has seen him since early yesterday. He told us he had to meet with someone and that he'd hook back up with us later at his place to compare notes, but he never showed." "Perry!" Lois clutched his arm and a tear snuck out of the corner of her eye and slid unnoticed down her cheek. "You don't think that maybe Lex did something to him, do you? He wouldn't hurt Clark, would he?" "Now, Lois, Clark's a bright guy, and he knows how to take care of himself. I sure he wouldn't do anything foolish." He patted her hand in a fatherly gesture. "It's more likely that he's just shut himself away somewhere. I know he had no more desire to see you marry Lex than any of the rest of us. He probably went home to wait this out with his folks. I'm sure once he finds out that we nailed Luthor he'll be back in a heartbeat." Extract 9: "Stop, you can't! He's innocent, I *know* it. I need your help to prove it!" He gave her his Superman look. "Lo-is." "Please, trust me on this." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "You trusted me with your greatest secret, please, *please* trust me now." His look softened and he stroked her cheek with his hand. "Okay. I'm going now. " Now it was his turn to whisper. "But I'll be right back as Clark. And you and I are going to talk about this Lois." Tears returned to her eyes. "Okay, we will talk about this. We will get to the bottom of this, together." She reached up and planted a quick kiss on his cheek and whispered into his ear. "And then we will talk about us. Deal?" Superman just smiled and shook his head. "Deal, Lois." With a familiar whoosh he was gone. Extract 10: Lois Lane shut the lid on her laptop in disgust. This story was just not coming together! She glanced at the clock on the wall, 3 A.M. She flipped her laptop aside and ran her fingers through her hair. Apparently this one was going to take more work. She'd had three front page stories already this week so she guessed Perry would cut her some slack on this one, though with the dramatic upsurge in crime in Metropolis there were always plenty of stories out there. She contemplated going to bed but knew she'd just toss and turn and have more unpleasant dreams anyway. It had been just over three months since Clark had left to help those creeps from New Krypton. Lois couldn't help but dislike them, not only for the way they tested Clark, putting his life and others in jeopardy, but also for how they manipulated him with talk of destiny and duty to a race he never knew. The New Kryptonions took Clark's help for granted, never really understanding what and who he really was, and what he was giving up. Lois rummaged around the kitchen but realized she wasn't hungry. She let a heavy sigh escape as she bowed to the inevitable. She'd have to fight the nightmares and try to get some sleep or else she'd collapse at her desk tomorrow. At least she no longer cried herself to sleep. -- Felix E. Sung fsung@justice.loyola.edu ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 13:07:13 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Re: ANOTHER Quiz! :) In-Reply-To: <200002161737.MAA09240@justice.loyola.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" S P O I L E R S P A C E Okay, it's a Tank quiz. ;) I'm afraid I don't recognize most of the quotes though... Quote 3: Love Disabled Quote 4: Faith, Hope, and More Hope Quote 5: The Costume Quote 7: A Future Not Now Quote 8: Dark Revelation Quote 9: The Best Policy Quote 10: The Choice. Huh, better than I expected. :) Let's try the excerpts now: Excerpt 2: Ah! The Secret Identity, one of my nominations for Best Comedy. :) Sorry, Tank, 1 and 6 are total blanks... no one was maimed in them, I'd guess. ;p Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 13:25:01 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: More FDK for Phil- DMKMGS I also want Phil to know that I enjoyed the story. s p o i l e r s p a c e The cryptic ref of C&H left me stumped until you actually mentioned Calvin and Hobbs. I was really expecting some creatures to try and trash Smallville! Have you ever thought about Danger Mouse? I can hear it now. "Cah blimy chief! That Superman is the nicest guy." "That may be true Pendalton, but he is a little hard on the eye when he is up close." James ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:00:37 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Terry S. Horowit" Subject: Erin, where are you? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Erin, I've tried to be patient, REALLY I have. But you promised us after your last installment of "Darkest Hour" that you wouldn't make us wait so long for the next one; and it feels like it's been months!! I know you're busy with the Kerths, but I'm getting worried about Lois. She's been in that dungeon a long time with an infected wound in her leg, and if you wait too much longer to get her out of there, she might get gangrene and the leg might have to be amputated. Now I know that this would make Tank happy (or maybe not, he doesn't like bad things to happen to Lois...) but the rest of us would really like to see them get OUT OF THERE!!! Please? Terry ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 12:36:55 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Re: Erin, where are you? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Terry wrote: >Erin, I've tried to be patient, REALLY I have. But you promised us after >your last installment of "Darkest Hour" that you wouldn't make us wait so >long for the next one; and it feels like it's been months!! >I know you're busy with the Kerths, but I'm getting worried about Lois. >She's been in that dungeon a long time with an infected wound in her leg, >and if you wait too much longer to get her out of there, she might get >gangrene and the leg might have to be amputated. Now I know that this >would make Tank happy (or maybe not, he doesn't like bad things to happen >to Lois...) but the rest of us would really like to see them get OUT OF >THERE!!! >Please? ROTFL!!!!!! No, I can promise you Lois isn't going to get gangrene or have her leg amputated...both she and Clark could be considered in suspended animation at the moment. So don't panic! More IS on the way! ;) I've just been so occupied with Kerth tasks, and trying my dangdest to keep this impatient baby from coming 7 weeks early (as he seems to keep insisting on doing :P) that I haven't found time to polish up the final installments for the list. I have a couple sections that are written and ready to send other than a final look-over for grammar/punctuation 'oopses,' so I promise to do that this afternoon since you're clearly so worried about Lois' well-being. Actually, it's wonderful to hear that you're still anxious to read it! Thanks for the push, and letting me know you're interested in reading it! Your email totally made my day. ;) As for you others who are anxious, stay tuned as well! TTYS! Erin :) __________________ erink@ida.net Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:54:51 -0500 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: ANOTHER Quiz! :) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, Felix, this is a hard one... but I'll give it a shot :) s p o i l e r s p a c e Q1: can't get it just from this Q2: I know the story... Lois (post-revelation) disguises herself to see if she can fool Clark, but I don't know the title or author... Q3: dunno for sure Q4: that sentence is too convoluted for me to follow Q5: The Costume (?) Q6: The Kiss (?) (I'm starting to suspect a theme...) Q7: A Future Not Now Q8: Dunno Q9: The Best Policy (?) Q10: Not sure whether it's Dark Revelation or The Choice; I'm guessing the latter... Going back and guessing again, now I'm sure of the theme Q2: The Secret Identity? Q3: Love Disabled (?) Q4: Faith, Hope... and More Hope Q8: Dark Revelation Q10: Must be The Choice Still need to get #1... lemme look at the excerpt... E1: A Chat With Lois. Cute story, don't know how I'd missed it before now... And the theme, of course, is stories by Tank Wilson! :) Except you needed to use some of the original Tank endings, like, say... "Lois suddenly noticed a noise over head and looked up to see a small squadron a planes. they appeared to drop a strange yellowish gas out the back of the planes. Lois began to choke a gasp for breath. Oh no she thought, poisonous nerve gas! Within minutes all of Metropolis lay quiet as a grave." (I searched the message boards for the last few parts of Dark Revelation, last October) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "So is the answer A) B, B) C, C) D, or D) A?" "Is this a trick question?" "Yes. The answer is 'meat'." --Whose Line Is It Anyway, spoofing Millionaire. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 13:25:42 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Re: OT Prop 22 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I MISSED THIS ORIGINAL POST, SO I CAN'T REPLY PERSONALLY: < your own risk. VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION 22!>> As others have stated, politics have no place on this list.. Nor does religion and this proposition seems to involve both. They are pertinent only if they have to do with writing or L&C. Anti-Gay electioneering will only provoke knee-jerk emotional reactions from both sides. A rational, thoughtful discussion could be worth while but should be done PRIVATELY. Personally, I have several close gay friends and they are decent, kind, moral ethical human beings. If they were not they would not be my friends, regardless of their sexual orientation. Most importantly, I have a gay son who lives in California. He shares the aforementioned qualities and in addition is a beautiful, intelligent, caring person who is a successful and contributing member of society. Keep your prejudices out of my face and I'll keep mine out of yours. I think of the people on this list as friends. I'd like to keep it that way. Jude ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 15:29:52 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: NEW: The Darkest Hour part 25 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Since Terry begged so nicely , here's the next installment of 'The Darkest Hour.' I haven't had time to go back through this section for final grammar/punctuation checks, so hopefully it's readable. ;) As always, comments and suggestions welcome. ****************************** The Darkest Hour (Before the Dawn) by Erin Klingler erink@ida.net part 25 ****************************** Lois and Clark spent the next couple of hours waiting anxiously for the time when they felt Trask and his thugs would be asleep, giving them their best chance to make their escape. Lois was tense, and she knew Clark was, too, since she felt him jump beside her every time they heard the smallest noise, whether it was the occasional creaking of the ceiling above them, or the sound of a car door slamming outside. It seemed like an eternity before the creaking above them and the comings and goings of vehicles outside slowly diminished, and then finally stopped altogether. When it had been a while since they'd heard anything, Lois turned to Clark hopefully. "Do you think everyone's asleep?" Clark continued to listen for a long minute, straining to hear even the smallest noise. When everything remained deathly quiet, he shrugged. "I don't know about asleep, but all the activity has definitely died down. This may be our best chance at getting away undetected. We'll need at least fifteen or twenty minutes head start since we'll be on foot. Once they discover we're missing, they'll no doubt come after us in force." Lois nodded, her heart starting to pound. "Then I say we do it now." Turning to the cot's pillow, she slid her hand underneath it and grasped the cold metal tools, then stood up and limped over to the cell door. "Do me a favor and keep an ear out for the sound of anyone coming while I work on the lock." Clark pushed himself to his feet, wrapping his arm automatically around his ribcage as he went to stand beside her. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked, watching her pull the fingernail file out of the clippers' housing and then slip both it and the tweezers into the keyhole and start feeling around with them in the hole. "Maybe you should let me try first." "And just how many locks have you picked in your lifetime, Mr. Goody Two Shoes?" she asked pointedly, giving him the hint of a smile. "Your idea of breaking and entering has usually consisted of ripping a door off its hinges." Clark gave a quiet laugh. "You have a point there. Okay. You give it a shot." "Don't mind if I do." She continued to fumble around in the keyhole for a moment, her brow furrowed in concentration. "So what exactly are you searching for?" Clark asked after a minute of watching her fumble with the tools in the keyhole. "Well," she murmured, never looking up from her task. "I've got to raise the pins to the opening point with the tweezers, then use the pressure that the nail file causes to hold the pins in the open position until..." A sudden distinctive click sounded, and Lois looked up at Clark in satisfaction. "Voila! The lock opens." She straightened up and gave the door an experimental push, watching proudly as the door swung open. Clark shook his head in amazement and grinned. "Someday you're going to have to teach me how to do that." "Why? I think watching you rip doors from their hinges is much more exciting." Clark chuckled. "Yeah, I guess both ways work." Then he sobered. *If* I ever get my powers back." Lois gave his hand a quick squeeze. "You will. I'm sure of it. Now let's get out of here." Clark hurried out of the cell and went over to the single, high window in the corner and reached up to flip the lock before sliding it open. "It's a good thing Trask doesn't have this window barred, or we'd be stuck." "What about the screen?" Lois asked as she reached his side. "No problem." He put his hands on the screen's frame and gave it a gentle push, causing it to pop out of the window casing. "Shhh! Don't let anyone hear you!" Lois cautioned as he set the screen down on the ground outside the window, then put his hands on the sill and strained to pull himself up for a look outside. In his weakened condition, he could only hold himself off the ground for a matter of moments before his weary arms gave out and he let himself drop back to the floor. Lois noted the way he grimaced and grabbed his ribcage as the landing jarred him. "Are you okay?" she whispered. He nodded, though a bit breathlessly. "Yeah, but I don't think I'm going to be able to pull myself up through the window without causing a whole lot of commotion." Lois thought for a minute. "What if I go first, and then help pull you up?" Clark raised his eyebrows at her in a 'you've got to be kidding' look, and her shoulders slumped. "Yeah, you're right. You weigh a lot more than I do. Never mind. Stupid suggestion." "What we need is something to stand on," he mused, keeping his voice down and glancing around at the barren room. "Hey, how about the cot?" Lois whispered in sudden inspiration. "I don't think it's bolted down." Clark nodded. "Perfect!" Together they tiptoed back to the cell. "You take that end and I'll take this end," Lois instructed quietly. "Just walk slowly. And *don't* make any noise." Clark was silent as he lifted the foot of the cot and backed slowly out of the cell, watching as Lois cringed with the effort of carrying the cot. Quickly he looked over his shoulder to see how close they were, then turned back to her. "You're doing great, Lois, we're almost there," he encouraged quietly. When they reached the window, Lois gratefully set the cot down beneath it and reached up to wipe her sweaty brow. Her legs felt shaky from the effort, and she forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths to maintain her control over the radiating pain in her thigh. For a moment, Lois gave in to her sudden, nearly overwhelming feelings of discouragement and bent over to put her hands on her knees as she waited for her head to stop swimming. *How am I going to go running off into the darkness of the woods on uneven and steep terrain if I can't even make it across a room?* she asked herself in frustration as tears filled her eyes against her will. A second later, she felt Clark's hand rest gently on her back. "Lois, I promise this will all be over soon," he said in a hoarse, choked voice. "Just please don't give up." Wiping angrily at her tears, she straightened up and met Clark's gaze. She was haunted by the torment locked within the depths of his gaze, and she immediately scolded herself for making things worse. She knew Clark was already tormented by his feelings of guilt over her condition, and breaking down in a moment of weakness wasn't going to make the situation any better. Trying to force a more positive outward appearance, she brushed the hair back off her forehead and said with more force than she felt, "I'm not giving up. I just needed a second to compose myself. Now let's get out of here." And with that, she turned to the window and bit her lip as she stepped up onto the cot. As she reached up for the windowsill just above her head, the cot's fabric shifted as Clark climbed up beside her and placed his hand gently on the small of her back. "Let me give you a boost so you can take a look outside and make sure no one's around." Nodding, Lois looked down for Clark's cupped hands and placed her bent knee in them. She cringed as he lifted her up, but she tried to keep her mind focused on the task at hand. When she was level with the window, she peered out into the darkness, looking for any signs of activity. "Do you see anyone?" Clark asked, gritting his teeth as he tried to keep her weight supported. After a long moment, Lois shook her head. "No, I don't see anyone," she whispered. "There's a little bit of light coming from somewhere to the right, but I think it might be coming through the cabin windows, not a guard's flashlight or anything." Clark breathed a sigh of relief and slowly set Lois back down on the cot beside him. "Good. It sounds like this might actually work, then," Clark whispered back. "Now what are we going to do once we get outside? I think we should figure this out before we get out there so we don't talk more than we have to." "Well, I'm not going to be much help in figuring out where to go because I was unconscious when I got here," Lois reminded him. "Do you remember anything about where we are?" Clark sighed. "Unfortunately, I was pretty out of it, too. But I know we drove for about ten minutes after we got in the car. And the roads were pretty bumpy, so I doubt we were on paved roads." "Okay, so then let's think about this," Lois said logically. "Our best bet is to try to get to the town and find help. Manny's cabin-if that's whose it really was-is only a few minutes from town. Even if we're ten minutes further up the mountain, we couldn't be more than fifteen minutes or so from town. That couldn't take more than a few hours to hike to." "*If* we're heading in the right direction," Clark pointed out solemnly. "We could be wandering aimlessly through the woods for a long time before finding the road leading down the mountain, and who knows how long each of us can handle that much walking in the conditions we're in." "Well, let's not think about all that right now," Lois told him firmly. "First things first. We've got to get out of here, regardless of what happens to us after we do. We can deal with the other stuff later. Right now, I just want away from Trask and his thugs." "Agreed," Clark nodded. "So once we get outside, we'll decide which way to go and get out of here as fast and as quietly as we can. You go out the window first, then I'll climb up after you." Lois looked at him with concern, knowing his ailing body was as physically weak as her own. "But, are you sure you can...?" Clark quickly cut her off with an impatient wave of his hand. "Just go, Lois. The longer we stand around here talking, the more we risk the chance of Trask showing up with his men. Let's just go." Lois nodded, then put her knee once again into Clark's cupped hands and let him boost her up to the window. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she pulled up on the windowsill, trying to make Clark do as little as possible to support her as she climbed up through the window and out into the blackness of the night. Once her upper body cleared the opening, she rolled over onto her hip on the cold, hard dirt and pulled her legs out, biting her lower lip furiously as she tried to stem the pain in her thigh that all the awkward movements had caused. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she sat up, fighting to stem the pain as she felt the cold, hard dirt beneath her. Forcing herself to not think about it, she quickly opened her eyes and took a quick look around at the quiet compound. Satisfied that no one seemed to be around to notice their escape attempt, she turned back to the window to help Clark. "The coast is clear," she told him in a whisper as he peered up at her through the open window. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine," she answered with a quick nod as she reached a hand through the window for him to grasp. "Now hurry up! I don't know how much time we have before somebody comes." Clark nodded, but ignored her hand as he grasped the windowsill and scrambled up through the window. When his torso was out, he then took her hand and let her help pull him the rest of the way out. As he pulled his feet clear of the window, he crumpled to the ground in relief, his chest heaving from the effort. He struggled to catch his breath for a moment, unable to help feeling discouraged with himself. *You've been able to fly around the world in minutes, and have lifted rockets in orbit, but now you can barely climb out of a window,* he grumbled silently at himself. But as quickly as the discouraging thoughts came, he forced himself to push them out of his mind. *It doesn't matter what you can't do right now,* he told himself firmly. *The only thing you should be worrying about at the moment is getting Lois and yourself to safety. You can deal with the problem of how to get your powers back later.* A second later, he felt Lois grabbing at his suit jacket and tugging him to his feet. "C'mon, Clark, let's go!" she whispered anxiously, her eyes darting nervously across the compound. "Are you okay? Can you stand up?" Clark quickly nodded and scrambled to his feet. The world momentarily spun around him, and he held onto Lois for a minute to steady himself. Then when everything slowed down and came into focus, he turned to see Lois watching him with concern. "I'm okay," he told her. "I just got a little dizzy." He tore his eyes away from Lois' and looked around, straining to see in the darkness with only the light filtering through the cabin windows. A second later, he pointed in the direction of the dirt road leading away from the compound. "Since I'm assuming that leads to the main road, I think we should head the same way. But we shouldn't stay too close to it, because when Trask and his men discover we're missing, the road will be the first place they'll look." "Fine, but let's get going," Lois agreed, reaching out for Clark's hand and pulling him toward the woods beside the road. "We're going to need a good head start before they find out what happened and come after us." Clark nodded and took one more anxious look around the compound to make sure they weren't being watched, then together they hurried across the compound and disappeared into the woods. *********************** stay tuned for part 26... Erin :) __________________ erink@ida.net Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:44:29 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: fchisham Subject: This political thing. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Hey, guys, I actually go to work for four hours and see all of this crap. The OT: Political statements thread is OUT. If you don't like what someone's sig says, email them PRIVATELY. Not pubically. Personally, I really don't care what you put in your sig line as long as it isn't more than 3 lines long and doesn't have words that belong in Nfanfic. Those oh-so popular 4 letter words. Come to think of it, if I see one more OT: Blah, blah, blah that is about something like this political statement thing, person is getting kicked off the list. I really don't want to ban any OT postings, because we're all friends here and like to tell each other "wow, I jusst had a baby" and stuff like that. Please don't fight over politics and religion. Nobody *ever* wins. I'm hungry, i'm going for pizza and a beer, now. *geeze* farah PS. I really do love you guys. :) -- MU1 Farah Chisham, horn US Navy Band, Washington DC ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 18:28:48 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Marnie Rowe Subject: Re: NEW: The Darkest Hour part 25 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay Erin, you are going to get a laptop that will go into the hospital with you in case baby does come early, I want the rest of this story!!! I like it very much in case you had not gathered that from my comments Marnie ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 19:14:25 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: Erin, where are you? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/16/00 2:40:31 PM Eastern Standard Time, erink@IDA.NET writes: << I've just been so occupied with Kerth tasks, and trying my dangdest to keep this impatient baby from coming 7 weeks early (as he seems to keep insisting on doing :P) that I haven't found time to polish up the final installments for the list. >> Erin, I was about to second the motion to get more "Darkest Hour" but I will refrain since you have a very valid excuse. Please tell the baby to wait at least a couple more weeks. Then it will be fine. One of mine was 5 weeks early -- he was already 21 inches long and weighed 6 pounds. He was fine, except for this tendendancy he developed at about the age of 1 when he decided he was Superman and kept trying to fly. He's now 14 1/2 and still wants to fly but has come to the realization that it will have to be in a plane. Take care, and keep off your feet. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 19:21:12 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: NEW: The Darkest Hour part 25 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thank you, Erin. This was a great segment. I didn't notice any glaring grammatical or typographical errors. I'm really glad you finally got Lois and Clark out of that basement. I was starting to get worried. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 16:23:53 -0800 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: The Darkest Hour part 25 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Okay, now they're out. I want MORE and MORE and... please? Irene (this was fantastic BTW!) ===== Outside of a dog, a book is Man’s best friend. And inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. Groucho Marx __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:05:40 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: OT: Sig Lines Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ------------------------------------------------------- "So is the answer A) B, B) C, C) D, or D) A?" "Is this a trick question?" "Yes. The answer is 'meat'." --Whose Line Is It Anyway, spoofing Millionaire. ------------------------------------------------------- This is a really cool sig line. It always amazes me to see how many people on here have really great sig lines :) Tara "Boom, baby, boom! I am the evil midnight bomber that bombs at midnight!" the Evil Midnight Bomber from the Tick ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:14:37 EST 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: OT Prop 22 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I'm with Judith all the way on this one. Hopefully we will not deal with this issue on our L&C list again! LaurieD ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 20:50:21 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Terry S. Horowit" Subject: Re: NEW: The Darkest Hour part 25 In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Since Terry begged so nicely , here's the next installment of 'The Darkest >Hour.' >Clark nodded and took one more anxious look around the compound to make sure >they weren't being watched, then together they hurried across the compound and >disappeared into the woods. Yea!!! Thank you!!!! They're out!!!!! Terry ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 02:59:17 GMT 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: ANOTHER Quiz! :) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed * * S P O I L E R S P A C E * * all stories by Tank Wilson. >From the quotes. I answered before I looked them up, but I did check all my answers. 1. "A Chat with Lois" 2. "The Secret Identity" 3. "Love Disabled" 4. "Faith, Hope... and More Hope" 5. "The Costume - an L&C Vignette" 6. "The Kiss" 7. "A Future Not Now" 8. "Dark Revelation" 9. "The Best Policy" 10. "The Choice" -Dia zimri@hotmail.com ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 01:37:08 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Re: NEW: Basketball- A L&C Valentine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit S P O I E R S P A C E Wow, I loved it! I was sighing throughout the whole story. hee hee ;) I especially loved your background info on how Lois plays basketball. I'm terrible at most sports too (except for swimming ) and it was nice to actually meet a guy (Clark) who didn't care how bad she was. Your description about Clark in his basketball attire was awesome. That made me think of Dean in Rock and Jock so things became even clearer. Just put Dean in a pair of glasses and voila! I was sighing the most during that part. Alexis ;-.) {who has a big WAFFY feeling before she has to face a big, stressful day!} ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 08:30:12 EST 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-7 Days of Superman Part 5 of ? -totally new stuff CORRECTIONS!!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable James,=20 I hope you aren't planning on correcting this. <> I laughed out loud, not any easy thing to do at this point in this story. =20 Keep it up. Just because you have a new family member that doesn't mean you= =20 need sleep. So happy for you and Elizabeth. Charlotte =20 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 16:32:11 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kaethel Subject: Scores for the Wendy quiz ;) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I'm taking advantage of that fact that I can acces to a pc today to give you the results of the "Wendy Awards" quiz Btw, thanks for posting the quiz for me, Labby :) All of the people who played this quiz have found out what was the common point between those fics, so you all get one benefit point , which makes... 22 points for Irene, with 7 quotes and 7 excerpts, plus the "category" ;) 23 for Pam, with 8 quotes and 6 excerpts... and the "category" ;) Julie gets 16 points, with one quote and 13 excerpts... and... guess what?... the category ;) Hazel (who's not disqualified, even if she knew about this quiz ) gets 18 points for 5 quotes and 7 excerpts... and of course the category ;) Felix gets 24 points for 11 quotes and 1 excerpt... plus the category ;) And of course Diyan gets the maximum ... 14 quotes and the category, which gives you 29 points Thanks to all the people who have played, I hope you've had as much fun playing as I had while preparing this quiz :) LabRat writes: > A little > bird tells me that she has other author quizzes ready to roll, so duck and > cover, guys - you never know who'll be next. ;) Um... ah... well, I *should* have prepared other quizzes, but my laptop's modem crashed the other day (which explains why I'll very rarely be able to get to my internet acount during the week, and that for a while), so I haven't been able to prepare another quiz... and since I'll be out of town from tomorrow I won't be able to do it later either, sorry... :( However, I see Felix has taken over and I won't complain :) Thankee Felix :) Uh... just a side note, I may not be here, but I won't be going nomail, just in case Erin would post the next installment*s* of The Darkest Hour... hint hint hint ;) Hélène (pulling Wendy from the desk under which she has stayed hidden during the quiz... the coast is clear, now, Wendy, you can show up... and thanks for allowing me to embarass you ) ----------------------------------------------- Kaethel on IRC / Kaethel79 on AIM kaethel@club-internet.fr "To thine own self, be true" ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 11:34:49 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: fchisham Subject: From Listmom (was RE:political sigs) Comments: cc: Wendy Richards In-Reply-To: <002901bf794a$fb329440$9d3a883e@d9t5t7> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Before anything, I am not endorsing his sig file. Webster endores meanss: 2: to express approval of publicly and definitely syn see APPROVE. I do not approve of his sig line, I don't agree with it either, but I will let him have his freedom of speech. So, here goes, (and please put this in the FAQ) NO POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS POSTS OF ANY KIND. If you do it, prepared to be flamed by those who don't appreciate it. Furthermore, I don't know where to draw the line over what is appropriate in a sig line and I don't want to pretend that I do. I don't want to censure anything just like I don't want to bring out a point saying what is or isn't appropriate. I realize I am the leader of this list but this list is OURS including James. All he put in his sig line was, " vote for this. Ignore if you dare." Other people were the ones who researched it to find out what it is. He wanted to make a point and instead succeeded in upsetting many members. I'm not saying to simply ignore it and let me tell you, I DID NOT ENDORSE his sig line. I feel like my words are being used against me. Some people are offended by seeing bible verses quoted in their sig lines, others are offended by seeing things like political statements. However, political and religions vews are not to be shared in any way on this list. If you choose to put something like, "Child pornographs is cool" I promise you, you will get flamed. Thank God I have not ever seen this. Personally, I don't care about your anyone's political views, but for God's sakes, it doesn't belong on a superman fanfic list. Can I ask you something? How many of you really read everyone's sig lines and procede to investigate them? How many of you even noticed James' sig line until it was pointed out to you? I know I didn't. In case you didn't understand me, I am not supporting anyone's political or religious views. I do not endorse anyone's views and if you want to know, honestly, I don't appreciate James' sig line either. I didn't find it offensive. If he wants to vote for or against same sex marriages in California and he wants to tell others about it, it's his business and I'm sure he got flamed plenty for it. No, I haven't emailed him. The reason why I haven't is because, he put it in his sig line, others said something about it and he said, "I don't choose to respond on this list" and he hasn't. He did the right thing by responding privately. I would have not even noticed his sig had it not been pointed out to me. I really love you guys and don't want this to happen again. I think I made my point. Farah ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:40:45 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kaethel Subject: Re: ANOTHER Quiz! :) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit S p o i l e r S p a c e LOL! A Tank Wilson quiz! :) I had to look up the archive for the titles, though ;) Quote 1: "A Chat with Lois" Quote 2: "The Secret Identity Quote 3: ? Quote 4: ? Quote 5: "The Costume, a L&C vignette" Quote 6: LOL! It's "The Kiss" Quote 7: "A Future Not Now" Quote 8: "Dark Revelation" Quote 9: "The Best Policy" Quote 10: "The Choice" > S > P > O > I > L > E > R > > S > P > A > C > E Extract 3: "Love Disabled" (boy, I should have recognized that one from the quote) Extract 4: "Faith, Hope... and more Hope" Thanks for this quiz, Felix :) Hélène :) ----------------------------------------------- Kaethel on IRC / Kaethel79 on AIM kaethel@club-internet.fr "To thine own self, be true" ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 10:18:54 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: New-7 Days of Superman Part 5 of ? -totally new stuff CORRECTIONS!!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thank you for your positive input. Yours is the ONLY responce that had ANYTHING to do with the story. and yes Femme Volcanal is staying in. :-) --- Charlotte Fisler wrote: > James, > > I hope you aren't planning on correcting this. > <> > > I laughed out loud, not any easy thing to do at this > point in this story. > > Keep it up. Just because you have a new family > member that doesn't mean you > need sleep. > > So happy for you and Elizabeth. > > Charlotte > > > ===== Mr. D8a - Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 13:22:50 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: April Story Subject: Way OT - For AOL Members - WB Forums Comments: To: LoisandClarkNAOS@onelist.com, afolcslife@onelist.com, lcnfanfic@onelist.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hiya =) Apologies for those of you that get this more than once but I am trying to make sure that I reach as many of the AOL members as possible. Last night around 9:30 pm CST, I received some very disturbing news. Effective "on or about" Monday, February 21, 2000, the WB Online EXTRA Forum will cease to exist. >From the additional information I was able to find out this morning, apparently WB Online chose not to renew the contracts of 4 of their forums currently on AOL. In addition to the EXTRA Forum, the WB Virtual Lot, Insomniacs and Babylon 5 will also be going effective Monday. I guess with the internet interface forums that were developed last year, they no longer feel the need for the forums on AOL. This is pure speculation on my part that has not been confirmed by WB. On October 5, 1998, the folders were created and because of YOU - it is/was a huge success that far exceeded my expectations. The amount of support for the forum over the last 16 months has been overwhelming at times and I have to thank each of you from the bottom of my heart! As for the sightings and information posted there - never fear - that won't go away, it will just be continued on the established internet boards many of you already visit. I will keep this short as I don't want to make you read a long winded post from me ;) I will continue to post to the following boards on the internet: Dean Cain information: Vicki's The Cain Connection at: http://www.cainconnection.com/ Demi's Fantasy Land Pages at: http://www.destinyy.com/boards/ Teri Hatcher information: Les's Definitive Web Site at: http://teri.net Demi's Fantasy Land Pages at: http://www.destinyy.com/boards Lois & Clark related information: Demi's Fantasy Land Pages at: http://www.destinyy.com/boards Main URL: http://www.destinyy.com/lcfantasy/ There are many websites out there that have links to these boards and so if you happen to be one of those website owners or know of any - please take off the links as they won't be valid but for a few more days and I thank you so much for your support! Also, there have been some FoLC newsletters that have 'advertised' the EXTRA forum and so if you are connected with any of those - please pass this information on to them. Thank you! You all are just the absolute best and thank you so much for everything! Hope to see all of you on the internet boards! April I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being, let me do it now...for I shall not pass this way again. - Etienne de Grellet ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 10:22:14 -0800 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: New-7 Days of Superman Part 5 of ? -totally new stuffCORRECTIONS!!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I'm just getting caught up on the stories on the list. This one has me on the edge of my seat. Please give us the next installment soon. Nan James Tull wrote: > Thank you for your positive input. Yours is the ONLY > responce that had ANYTHING to do with the story. > > and yes Femme Volcanal is staying in. :-) > > --- Charlotte Fisler wrote: > > James, > > > > I hope you aren't planning on correcting this. > > <> > > > > I laughed out loud, not any easy thing to do at this > > point in this story. > > > > Keep it up. Just because you have a new family > > member that doesn't mean you > > need sleep. > > > > So happy for you and Elizabeth. > > > > Charlotte > > > > > > > > ===== > Mr. D8a - > Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. > > The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... > Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 14:17:20 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rowan Fuller Subject: Re: Way OT - For AOL Members - WB Forums MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 17/02/2000 18:37:11 GMT Standard Time, AStory2873@AOL.COM writes: << From the additional information I was able to find out this morning, apparently WB Online chose not to renew the contracts of 4 of their forums currently on AOL. In addition to the EXTRA Forum, the WB Virtual Lot, Insomniacs >> Thanks for the information April. Is this the virtual lot as a whole? Is this Insomniacs something different? Rowan - not happy :-( -- -- -- LaneKent@aol.com http://members.aol.com/lanekent For news of updates to my site: http://www.onelist.com/commun ity/LaneKent ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 14:24:29 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: April Story Subject: Re: Way OT - For AOL Members - WB Forums MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/17/00 2:19:17 PM EST, LaneKent@AOL.COM writes: << Thanks for the information April. Is this the virtual lot as a whole? Is this Insomniacs something different? >> You are welcome Rowan ;) Yes, this is the WB Virtual Lot as a whole to include any and all forums that were within that area which included many unfortunately. The Insomniacs and Babylon 5 forums were just another extension of some of the areas that were WB Onlines - much like the EXTRA area. Hope this helps =) April P.S. One other thing... I am not sure if any of the downloads are still available but if they are still in the VL - those will also be gone after Monday or so. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 15:29:02 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: New-7 Days of Superman Parts 1 - 5 Comments: To: 7d , 7days FanFic <7DaysFic@onelist.com>, BackStep Fiction , Tad Flowers , Marc Gartin , Dave and Debbie Harrison , Backstep Operation , Travel Time , Dad Tull , Danny Tull MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Title:Seven Days of Superman Author/pseudonym:Mr. D8A Fandom:Seven Days/Lois & Clark:The New Adventures of Superman Rating:PG-13 Status: NEW Parts 1 - 5 with more to come Archive: Yes E-mail address for feedback:mr_d8a@yahoo.com Desperate to get feedback on the story Series/Sequel:Seven Days/L&C:TNAOS Other websites:BACKGROUND INFORMATION.SEVEN DAYS (Details supplied by http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/9329/SevenDays Disclaimers: Lois and Clark and the rest of the show's entourage are the property of DC, Warner, ABC, and Joanne Siegel and Laura Siegel Larson. Seven Days is the property of UPN. Notes: This story, in no way, links in with Mr. D8a's and Elisabeth's Lois and Clark universe. This is purely the creation of Mr. D8a's mind...so beware! (Okay there is some dialog help from Elisabeth) Summary:Superman fails to stop the nuking of Washington DC and gets some help from Frank B. Parker from Operation Backstep. ************************************************** +++++++++++++++++++++++ Wednesday, October 6, 1999 12:40pm EST Metropolis Daily Planet +++++++++++++++++++++++ "Are you sure you want to do this? It's not to late to back out." "Are you kidding! Little Ivan loves his Uncle Jimmee and Aunt Lucee." Jimmy Olsen exaggerated the 'EE' sounds just like the toddler in question. "Ha ha. Okay. Our reservations are for 6:30, so be there by 5:30 so that Lois will have enough time to give you the litany of things to do, phone numbers to call..." Jimmy's eyes started to motion over Clark's shoulder before he said, in a positively cheesy grin on his face, "Hi Lois!" "... and don't bother eating beforehand. We'll have something for you when you get there." "Who's doing the cooking?" This was said with a mock look of horror on Jimmy's face. "I heard that James Olsen! Just for that *I'll* do the cooking! What do think Clark, Ellen’s Spam souffle with spinach leaves stuffed with pureed black olives, smothered in a Alfredo cream sauce or Lucy’s No-Crust Vegetarian Pizza?" The look on both their faces was reward enough. Lois turned on her heel laughing all the way back to her desk. Clark leaned toward Jimmy and spoke in a sotto voice, "I'll throw in a pizza about ten minutes before you get there." All comments and suggestions are welcome. Please let me know publicly of any blatant plot holes. Please let me know privately of any grammatical/spelling blunders. Part: 2 of ? +++++++++++++++++++++++ Wednesday, October 6, 1999 8:01pm EST Metropolis Dining Room at the Lexor Hotel +++++++++++++++++++++++ Even though it was overcast the cityscape looked beautiful. As it passed slowly by their window, Clark couldn't help but notice the pensive look in Lois' face. That and the fact that she had tortured her chocolate mousse for the last ten minutes without eating a bite caused him to raise a questioning eyebrow and clear his throat to get her attention. “Oh! Sorry. I was off in the ozone wasn’t I?” “Yes. I thought that was my job.” Clark flashed her reassuring smile. He put his fork down and gave her his full attention. “What’s on your mind?” "Should I feel bad, Clark?" "Why should you feel bad, Lois? We finally have a night alone. No evil plots unfolding. No hot story to investigate. No two year old wanting yet another drink of water and yet another story to be read to him. Just a quiet evening dinner for two, atop the city's most expensive rotating hotel." "That's it exactly. It's great that Lucy and Jimmy agreed to watch little Ivan tonight, but..." "But you're wondering if it is alright to *enjoy* being away from Ivan considering that you feel like you're barely there for him during the week. This from the woman that spends every coffee break and half her lunches in the Daily Planet's Early Editions Day Care" "I know it's been months since we've had any time alone, but I still feel like we don't spend enough time with him. We were so lucky that the adoption went through and we where able to bring little Ivan here to the states. But now that we have him we hardly ever see him. The hours we keep are atrocious...hectic...completely unacceptable if we hadn't been doing this for so long! Don't look at me that way. I know we spend nearly every waking hour together but mostly it's Daily Planet time or commuting time or stake out time or chasing bad guy time. Combine that with the world's hold on your time and there is no time for *family* time or us time." Lois finished with tears welling up in her eyes and her hands clenched. Clark reached his hand across the table and slowly disentangled her hands and wrapped hers in his. The look in his eyes spoke volumes of the sorrow her words had brought to his heart. "I know you have cut back as much as you can. And I know that your heart breaks when you have to ignore a cry for help. I'm not begrudging you that. The world needs you. I've never asked you to stop helping people, and I won't start now. But I've been looking at the last two years of our lives and something has *got* to change…." And, as if on queue, Clark got that look in his eye. The world was calling her love away. The shocked look on his face told her this was no ordinary emergency. The investigative juices started to flow. "What?" "There is a old SS-5 nuclear missile heading for Washington D.C. It seemingly came from Cuba but at speeds not possible. Every counter-measure along the path has failed to stop or even slow it down. President Clinton has already been evacuated and they are trying to get the Members of Congress out of the city. There is no time to evacuate the entire city. It will hit in 7 minutes. Those things carried enough fissionable material to level the entire city and spread nuclear waste for miles around. I gotta go." "GO. GO. Congress was having a late session to overturn President Clinton's veto of the new tax relief bill. If that bomb goes off we will lose most of the politician in the country." Lois' eyes got a mischievous look. "Maybe you should let it go off." "Cute. I love you. Kiss Ivan good night for me. I will tuck him in later." And with that, he was gone. Within seconds, a familiar sonic boom rattled the windows of the restaurant as once again the man she loved went off to save the world. ~*~ Part: 3 of ? +++++++++++++++++++++++ Wednesday, October 6, 1999 8:27pm EST The sky over Washington D.C. +++++++++++++++++++++++ The missile was headed straight for the heart of Washington D.C. It chewed up the air miles faster than most radar systems could track. Superman spotted the missile five miles above the city. Superman tried to intercept the missile, but the last moment it moved aside and veered away from him, almost like it was guided. A little over a mile and a half above the capital, he made contact with it. It exploded. It lit up the sky for miles. Distant viewers in Aberdeen, Maryland; Richmond, Virginia; and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania remarked on how it cast a slight lime-colored glow. Outdoor thermometers registered one hundred twenty plus degrees for over 10 minutes as far as forty-five miles away in Frederick, Maryland. Washington D.C. was 20 miles across and it became a memory in the blink of an eye. The White House was the epicenter. Destruction was swift and relentless. The fireball consumed everything in its path. The White House blacked for a moment before it was smashed to the ground. The titanium lighting rods on the Washington Monument melted a nanosecond later, quickly followed by the monument falling over like a child's stack of building blocks. And even those fragments were pulverized to nothing. The waters in the Reflection Pool were instantly vaporized followed by the Potomac River a heartbeat later. The Capital was gone, as was every monument in the Washington Mall. The statues of Lincoln and Jefferson were reduced to puddles of molten metal in a matter of seconds. Anything and everything that was not atomized became lethal projectiles. Tombstones from Arlington National Cemetery were found more than fifteen miles away stuck in houses and trees. Everything was instantly seared then shattered against the ground or each other. Even the subway systems proved no protection as all the oxygen in the area was instantly consumed by the raging firestorm that was once the nation's capital. Anything living never knew what killed it and would never be found. Three point four million people ceased to exist in under a second. Six million more suffered everything from temporary blindness to second and third degree burns over one hundred percent of their bodies. What wasn't knocked over in the initial outward blast was brought tumbling down by the massive suction of air back into the area at several hundred miles per hour. The farthest reach of the damage was the Electromagnetic Pulse. The EMP reached out its tendrils south to Jacksonville, Florida; Northeast to Quebec, Canada; West to Chicago; and East into the Atlantic. Everything electronic was fried into uselessness within twenty-five miles of the blast. Beyond that it was varying degrees of burnout and fluctuations. Nearly every single aircraft in the twenty-five mile zone came down whether they wanted to or not. Computerized trains rolled to a stop and the brains of hundreds of thousands of cars went dead. Pacemakers shutdown and critical systems fail. Anything computerized stopped. Technology just stepped back forty years. But while the Metropolis’ power-grid struggled to keep going, Lois knew. She knew that her Love had died. She let out an audible gasp as her soul was ripped asunder by the separation of her other half from this world. Her mind and emotions battled over what to do. Her mind told her to go home and be with their child. Her emotions wanted to stop the Jeep right where it was, curl up and die. The mind won out, at last, for now. ~*~ Part: 4 of ? +++++++++++++++++++++++ Friday, October 8, 1999 4:30pm MST Area 51 Operation Backstep +++++++++++++++++++++++ Project Leader Bradley Talmadge sat at the end of the debriefing room table. The group was solemn and quiet. In less than two days the world had been turned upside-down. “The US Armed Forces has cordoned off Cuba by sea and air. Nothing’s going out or in. Cuban President Fidel Castro claims to be as surprised as the rest of the world. The…” Nate Ramsey chose to voice his opinion at this point. “Fat chance. That Commie ba…” Dr. Olga Vukavitch cleared her throat loudly. Ramsey decided to back down a bit. “That Commie ‘bureaucrat’ has been chomping at the bit for years to get back at us for what happened in the sixties. Personally I wish we had done the job right back then and *we* wouldn’t be sitting here having this little discussion.” “Well, maybe if you had helped him remove that animal Batista from power instead of ignoring the situation then he would not have turned to Comrade Khrushchev for help in the first place. Then maybe ‘*we* would not be having this little discussion’ at this time either.” “Listen here Mis…” “Nathan! This is resolving nothing!” Ramsey and Talmadge locked eyes in a silent contest of wills. Talmadge won. “The U.N. is calling an emergency session to investigate and determine what sanctions, if any, are to be implemented. The order to over-run the island has not been given and will not be given until they say so. However, most nations across the globe have already tried and found Cuba's attack on the U.S. indefensible and are strategizing on how to take advantage of the situation. Certain members of the world community are urging Cuba and other nations to continue the work of destroying the U.S. International tensions over the event are in continuous flux as the world edged closer to a worldwide conflagration. Here in the States it’s worse. “Martial law has been declared nation wide. All Cuban Americans are being incarcerated and investigated. Retaliation against anyone of Hispanic decent is out of control. Emergency situation plans are being pulled out and dusted off. Special elections are being planned to replace the lost representatives. President Clinton is promising swift justice from his temporary headquarters in Fort Knox, TN. The dead, dying and injured tolls scroll across the screen of every working TV. Thousands are dying daily due to the lack of medical help. Across the world teams of relief people outfitted themselves to come to the help, but it won’t be enough. Fallout continues to drift north, killing hundreds of thousands in Delaware and New Jersey. Metropolis, New Troy has so far escaped the worst, but the Jet Stream is threatening to change direction at any time. New York City and Boston will eventually succumb as well. “The President has ordered a Backstep as soon as we have figured out what happened. We have until tomorrow to do that because he doesn’t want to cut it to close. Here’s what we know at this time. Apparently an old SS-5 nuclear missile was fired from the Isla de la Juventud just off the coast of Cuba. All missile sites on that island were dismantled some thirty-seven years ago. All they could find at the point of "launch" was burnt ground and an some slagged metal components." This brought up Dr. Isaac Mentor's eyebrows quickly. "Has anyone heard any word about Superman?" This was from Dr. Olga Vukavitch. Dr. Isaac Mentor spoke up at this point. "Star Labs' Dr. Bernard Klein confirmed the presence of powdered Kryptonite was indeed found in the radioactive fallout. It has been speculated that the bomb was rigged with Kryptonite and that Superman was vaporized when it exploded." This last statement brought dismay to all faces around the table, with the exception of Ramsey's face. "I've said it before. We can take care of ourselves. I knew that alien was going to be trouble the first time I saw him. The rest of his people proved that to be the case! I for one am glad he's gone. It was probably his fault that this happened in the first place. The Kryptonite in the bomb proves that he was probably the intended target all along." The looks of dismay turned to disgust. Frank Parker turned to give Nate a piece of his mind "Of all the bone-headed, callused and out-and-out-stupid things I have heard you say I think that one beats 'em all. Do you really think we would be having this conversation today if Superman hadn't stopped that asteroid? Or when..." Talmadge stopped listening to Frank as the phone rang. He picked it up and listened. Pointing toward Capt. Craig Donovan he said, "Turn on the television." "What channel?" "It doesn't matter. It's on all channels." Part: 5 of ? +++++++++++++++++++++++ Friday, October 8, 1999 2:30pm EST Metropolis Star Labs +++++++++++++++++++++++ Lois swiftly drove around abandoned vehicles on her way to Star Labs. In the last two day the East Coast had been thrown into chaos. The warm coastal breezes had turned deadly with the fallout from the bombing of Washington DC. A fine silvery green mist traveled swiftly on the air currents, slowly covering everything in its path. Nowhere was safe. It was sucked into ventilation systems and settled into water reservoirs. It only took one inhaled particle to start the deadly radiation spreading in the body. Birds that flew into the cloud never came out. In its wake it left a ecological nightmare. As the cloud traveled northeast, town after town fell to its relentless advance. The National Guard fought a loosing battle trying to evacuate the people out of harms way. Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland where the first major cities to depart from the land of the living. Little Delaware gave up it north most tip for the next hundred or so years in little under an hour. Central and Northern New Jersey bore the worst of the nuclear decimation, as far as lose of land are goes. People fled using every means possible. Planes where the first to disappear after a couple of planes crashed due to over crowding and being mobbed on the runways. Next were trains for similar reasons. Bus companies stopped all service to most of New Jersey and New York City. Truck drivers were being offered exorbitant fees to safely transport desperate families from their life long homes. Families fled to the east and west to avoid the nuclear specter. The New Troy National Guard finally had to close the bridges between New Jersey and New Troy due to over crowding and to the threat of a possible shift in the wind currents. Metropolis became the new Mecca as ships continued to dock and take on passengers in quarters so cramped that it made Cuban refugee boats look spacious by comparison. It was impossible to get anywhere near the docks. Nearly a tenth of the death toll was due to drowning alone as people tried to swim to safety. And New York City was next in line if the wind did not change direction. ~*~ Lois found it easy to get to Star Labs. She just hoped that Dr. Klein was still there. Concrete barriers, three tiers high, had been erected around the front gate and side of the building facing the road. There wasn’t really any danger of the building being laid siege to, but the powers that be thought it a wise precaution. The guard shack designed to house one, now held three and all of them watched as Lois came to a rolling stop at the closest barrier to them. They moved not a finger as she unbuckled her son and carried him up to the entranceway. “I’m here to see Dr. Klein. It’s an emergency!” The shortest of the three found his voice first. “No-no one g-goes in exc-cept official Star Lab p-personnel.” Lois gave the man a look that could wilt the hardiest soul. Ivan covered his ears and buried his head in his mommy’s shoulder. He knew what was coming next. “I am Lois Lane of the Daily Planet! I am here on official business with Dr. Klein! I demand you let me in!” The tall, Gunter-looking, individual stepped forward at this point. “Oh, a reporter. With a brat in-tow. I can see that this is real ‘official’ now. Maybe we should let her. NOT!” The rest of the guards started laughing at this point. Ivan started to mumble “nononononononononon.” over and over again. Lois reached up a hand and stroked the back of her little boy’s head. Lois calmly stuck her hand in her purse and started to pull something out of it. The first guard noticed and started to edge around ‘Gunter’ and feebly pointed at her. “S-she’s g-gotta g-g-g-g-g…” ‘Gunter’ spun around and his eye went wide, and started to un-holster his firearm. Lois stopped and using just two fingers pulled out the antenna for her cell phone. Satisfied that it was not a gun the three guards relaxed a little. They were premature in their relief. Lois dialed the number for Dr. Klein’s office and hoped that the Cellular service was up and going. It was. She explained to Dr. Klein the situation and immediately hung up. Seconds later the phone rang in the guard shack. ‘Gunter’ answered the call. As he listened he grew paler and paler. After about a minute of listening he quietly put down the phone and looked at Lois in a new light. He slapped the as-yet-to-actually-say-anything-guard and told him to escort Ms. Lane to Dr. Klein’s office. “Never mind. I know the way.” And with that turned on her heel and walked straight toward the entranceway. They fell all over themselves to press the button to open the door before she had to touch it. Ivan stuck his head over his mommy’s shoulder, stuck his tongue out at the guards, and made raspberry sounds in their general direction. Lois admonished Ivan. “Now sweetheart, it’s not nice to make fun of the unemployed.” She then laughed a hollow laugh and turned her thoughts on how she was going to get Dr. Klein to help her, in her own time of need. ~*~ The last day and a half had been hard on Lois. She had planned on telling Clark that they were expecting on the night he died. It was part of the reason she had been so fragile that night. It now was the one of the few things keeping her going. She adored little Ivan, but growing inside her was her last link to her husband and she was going to fight tooth and nail to make sure he would live and carry on in his father’s footsteps. And to do that she was going to need help. Dr. Klein seemed the most likely candidate. He was the expert on Kryptonian physiology, even though he had said that they would not be able to have any children naturally. Everybody makes mistakes and she was so happy that he was mistaken. ~*~ +++++++++++++++++++++++ Friday, October 8, 1999 2:45pm EST Metropolis Dr. Klein’s office. +++++++++++++++++++++++ Dr. Klein was usually a neat nick when it came to his office. He had to be. It was the only way he could find things. When Lois walked in she first thought she had the wrong office. It was in total disarray. Dr. Klein stood up immediately the moment that Lois walked in. “Lois! I am so glad to see you and Ivan. I don’t get to many visitors and I am glad to see a friendly face. Sorry about the guards. Most of our regular ones have already left the city and pickings are slim….” Dr. Klein seemed lost in thought for a while and then he seemed to see her for the first time. His face blanched and he had to steady himself for a moment. “Dr. Klein! Are you alright?” “Such a sweet thing to say. Especially with what you’ve been going through! My word Lois! How are you able to put such a positive face forward at time like this? How can you stand the loss!?” Lois’ face went ashen at the meaning of what Dr. Klein was saying. “You knew?” A slight smile crossed his face as he bid her to sit in the only free chair in the room, his. Ivan started flipping through a colorful stack of picture magazines. Dr. Klein paced the floor in front of her. “I have actually know for years. I figured that eventually you or Clark would tell me all about it. I just wish he had known before…” A silent tear slid down Lois’ face. “What gave it away?” “Oh, it was pretty obvious to someone who makes their living observing people’s reactions to different circumstances. I could see the depth of your love for both of them and their love for you. After you got married it became obvious that you loved only one man and that man just happened to have two careers.” The tears started to flow freely at this point. Little Ivan got up and gave his mommy a hug and looked questioningly into her eyes. Wiping the tears from her eyes and cheeks she looked solemnly into her son’s eyes. “It’s alright sweetie. Mommy’s not really sad just relieved. Go back to the pretty pictures.” Ivan went back to the magazines, but kept a wary eye on his mommy. “This makes it easier to tell you what I need to tell you. Dr. Klein I'm pregnant." "You can't be! All the tests showed it to be impossible! Unless..." Dr. Klein’s eyebrows started to climb. "Bernard Oliver Klein! I can't even believe you'd think..." "NO! NO! NEVER! Well actually maybe…” Glare. “…but when I really think about it, it's not likely." The look in Lois' eyes could have given even her husband’s heat vision a run for its money. "Never would have crossed my mind. Nope. No-way." The femme volcanal had been soothed…for now. “What I was really thinking was that since I gave Clark those results I have learned a considerable amount about his physiology and I could redo the test…” “You don’t need to. I am pregnant. With Clark’s child, just to set the record straight!” “Like I said ‘Never a doubt in my mind’. Did you use one of those home pregnancy tests or is this gut instinct?” “Both. After a solid week of heaving my gut I decided to take a test. It came out positive.” At that moment the door to Dr. Klein’s office flew open. A young man just a few years Jimmy’s senior burst into the room. “Dr. Klein! Turn on your TV! You’ve got to see this!” "What channel?" "It doesn't matter. It's on all channels." ~*~ ===== Mr. D8a - Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 15:30:55 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: New-7 Days of Superman Parts 1 - 5 Comments: To: 7d , 7days FanFic <7DaysFic@onelist.com>, BackStep Fiction , Tad Flowers , Marc Gartin , Dave and Debbie Harrison , Backstep Operation , Travel Time , Dad Tull , Danny Tull MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sorry!! I only meant to send that out to 7DaysFic@onelist.com. Sorry for blowing some of your AOL accounts out of the water. James __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:39:45 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: NEW: Basketball- A L&C Valentine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated Thu, 17 Feb 2000 1:37:29 AM Eastern Standard Time, "Alexis W." writes: > S > P > O > I > E > R > > S > P > A > C > E > > Wow, I loved it! I was sighing throughout the whole story. hee hee ;) I > especially loved your background info on how Lois plays basketball. I'm > terrible at most sports too (except for swimming ) thanks, Alexis... even though I am rather athletic, somehow I didn't think Lois would be a good basketball player Your > description about Clark in his basketball attire was awesome. That made me > think of Dean in Rock and Jock so things became even clearer. Just put Dean > in a pair of glasses and voila! I was sighing the most during that part. > Yeah, that thought was running through my mind when I wrote it :) Alicia :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:43:53 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: NEW: Silent Fears (1/6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Silent Fears Part (1/6) by Alicia U. Alicia3456@aol.com or lxu2@po.cwru.edu Summary: This is the continuation of a story I posted to the list in Decemb= er. It originally was going to be a seperate story, but I am going to resub= mit it to the archive as one story. Please send me feedback.. it seems like my stories don't generate much feedb= ack on the list, so I am leary about posting here. **************************************** Lois buried her head into Clark's shoulder, sobbing. What could have done t= his to Clark? This morning, he certainly wasn't exhibiting any symptoms. S= he blushed when she remembered just how healthy Clark had seemed But, now,=20= her super husband was lying face down on his desk just barely breathing. Wh= at could have caused him to collapse like this? =20 With tears running down her cheeks, she exclaimed, "I think we should mo= ve him so it's easier for him to breathe. Maybe we should lie him on his ba= ck on the floor." Perry and Jimmy and Eric, a sportswriter, all came to Lois' aid. They g= ently guided Clark to the floor and helped to make him more comfortable. Lo= is crouched on the floor next to Clark and grabbed his hand Perry pulled a=20= chair up next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, darlin'. We called an ambulance. They'll take him to the= hospital, and he'll be just fine." Alarms sounded in Lois' brain, 'Oh my God, they're going to take him to=20= the hospital. What if they notice that something's different? I have to ge= t a hold of Bernie. He'll know what to do!' "I wish I could believe that, Chief," Lois said solemnly. =20 Then a more urgent alarm sounded in her head. When the EMTs opened Clar= k's shirt, they would find the Superman suit. How would she explain that? =20= He would be exposed right in front of all of his colleagues and friends. Sh= e had to think of something fast. First, she had to make sure he really was= wearing the suit. If he had found somewhere else to hide it, his identity=20= would be saved. He had mentioned something about trying a new way to hide t= he suit because wearing it was becoming too conspicuous. Hopefully, today w= as the day he decided not to wear the suit. No matter where else he was hid= ing it, it would be easier to explain than if he was wearing it. Lois rubbed Clark's chest, and, as unobtrusively as possible, she stuck=20= one of her fingers through his nearest buttonhole. She covered a sigh of re= lief with another rush of tears when she felt bare skin under her fingers. =20= Thank God today was the day he decided to hide the suit differently. Maybe=20= he had known that morning that he wasn't feeling well and didn't plan to go=20= out as Superman during the day. Whatever the reason, she was glad that at l= east one thing was going right for them today. =20 Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and the hushed newsroom became a flu= rry of activity again. Two EMTs ran out of the elevator rolling a stretcher= down into the bullpen where Clark was lying. Perry met them at the elevato= r and indicated where Clark was laying. He said, "His name is Clark Kent, 3= 1 years old. He was sitting at his desk and just collapsed all of a sudden.= " The two men nodded and rolled their stretcher over to Clark.=20 It all seemed like a tornado of activity to Lois as she watched the two EMTs= work on her husband. The two men calmly pushed back the onlookers, includi= ng Lois, to give Clark some room as they bent down to examine him. =20 One EMT asked, "Did anyone else see what happened?" Jimmy spoke up, "Yeah, I did. CK, Lois and I were just talking around h= is desk and, all of a sudden, CK started gasping for breath. Then he just f= ell face first onto his desk!" Meanwhile, the other EMT started working on Clark, checking his breathin= g and pulse. He barked, "Breath sounds are clear bilateral, but shallow, an= d he has a weak pulse." The EMT not working on Clark asked, "Has he eaten or drank anything toda= y? Or taken any medications?" Lois answered shakily, "No, we missed breakfast this morning. He might=20= have had a cup of coffee and maybe a donut here. I'm not sure. And he does= n't take any medication for anything." His partner had enlisted Perry and Jimmy's help moving Clark onto the ba= ckboard, and Chris from sports had come over to help them lift the backboard= onto the stretcher. Clark still was yet to move, and Lois was becoming mor= e frantic. She just kept repeating over and over again, "He has a pulse and= he's breathing. He has a pulse and he's breathing." Then one EMT covered Clark's mouth and nose with an oxygen mask and started=20= pumping oxygen into his lungs. He had ripped Clark's shirt open and was now= attaching sticky round circles onto Clark's chest which Lois was pretty sur= e were for some kind of heart monitor device. =20 That other EMT, while asking Lois, "Does he have any kind of illness, hypert= ension, epilepsy, cancer, diabetes?" took Clark's blood pressure, pulse, che= cked his pupils, and did some other tests that Lois could not recognize Loi= s was especially curious about the long, white, tube-like instrument with a=20= red glow that the man attached to the top of Clark's index finger.=20 "No, he's never had anything. He's always been so healthy. As long as=20= I've known him he's never been sick," Lois answered, almost truthfully.=20 The EMT who had taken the tests shouted to his partner so he could be he= ard over the newsroom's roar, "Pulse 75, BP 130/70, O2 97%, resps 12, capill= ary refill good, pulse in all extremities." Lois wondered if those numbers were bad or good, but, for Superman, who=20= really knew what normal was? She heard one of the men radio Metro General a= bout Clark's condition while the other was trying to determine if Clark was=20= responsive to touch or voice. Lois gasped when Clark did not even flinch when the EMT yelled so that C= lark would hear him calling, if he could, over the low roar in the backgroun= d, "Clark! Clark!" or when the EMT rubbed his sternum. "Yeah, Metro, we have a 31 year old male, unconscious, complained of sho= rtness of breath=85" Lois blocked the man on the radio out when she saw the other EMT getting= out the supplies to start an IV. What if the IV tube didn't go through his= skin? How would she explain that? The EMT found Clark's vein quickly, and the needle slipped in easily. L= ois breathed another sigh of relief that the needle went in just like it wou= ld into a human, but now she was even more frightened. His invulnerability=20= was gone. It made her wonder again just what had happened to Clark that mad= e him so vulnerable. The man had already started a saline drip, and now he=20= was strapping Clark to the stretcher and getting ready to move. =20 Lois grabbed Clark's hand and said, "I'm going with you." The two men nodded and one said, "You'll have to ride in the front, Miss= ." Lois didn't care where she rode, as long as she got to see if Clark was=20= okay. She was also worried about what kinds of tests they were going to per= form on him. What if they found something different? As much as she worrie= d about their secret, those worries paled in comparison to the fears that Cl= ark might not live long enough to even have a secret to protect. Somewhere=20= in her gut, she had a horrible feeling that Clark may not even make it as fa= r as the hospital. She could hardly remember what her life was like before=20= Clark, even though she was sure she must have had one, but now she couldn't=20= even imagine a life without him, just as she was sure he couldn't really rec= all what his life had been like before her. Their lives had started when th= ey met, and now it was like both of their lives were ending. They had plann= ed to live happily ever after, and now all of their fairy-tale dreams were c= rashing around them.=20 When they reached the elevator, they had to wait for it to reach the thi= rd floor. In the interim, Lois ran her hand across Clark's face, and was su= rprised at how clammy his skin felt. He was usually warm, but never like th= is. His forehead was covered in sweat, and his hair was getting wet around=20= the edges. She smoothed his damp hair back away from his face and kissed hi= s cheek. Sweat? Had she ever seen Clark sweat before? The elevator arrived and the two EMTs, Lois, and Clark on the stretcher=20= all piled into the elevator. To Lois, it seemed like an eternity before the= y reached the ground floor. When they wheeled Clark through the lobby, the doorman and the security=20= guard were both shocked to see just who was on the stretcher. Neither would= have imagined that the man on the stretcher could be Clark Kent. They had=20= just seen him not two hours ago, and he had seemed healthy enough. At least= when they last waked through the lobby, Lane and he sure looked like they w= ere enjoying themselves, and certainly not on the verge of collapsing. But=20= now Lane looked pale and terrified as they wheeled an unconscious Kent out t= he door. =20 The doorman held his hand out to the security guard, looking for his mon= ey after the small group was out of the building. When the EMTs had asked w= hat floor the newsroom was on, the security guard had bet the doorman $50 th= at the man they would wheel out would be Perry White. Both were horrified,=20= to say the least, when it was young Clark Kent on the stretcher, but the doo= rman wouldn't let a little shock prevent him from getting the money he deser= ved. The two EMTs loaded Clark into the back of the truck, and one of them cl= imbed in with him. The driver opened the passenger door for Lois, and she c= limbed in. The driver started the ambulance and turned on the lights and si= ren. They pealed off towards Metro General, but they weren't going fast eno= ugh in Lois' opinion. She looked out the window and the sounds of the man w= orking on Clark in the back, the siren, and the other traffic sounds all ble= nded together in her mind. Her thoughts drifted to what her life would be l= ike without Clark. He gave her so much support and love, that when she was=20= with him, she felt like she could do anything. What would it be like for he= r baby if Clark wasn't there for it? Of course she would try to be the best= mother she could be, but children need fathers, and Clark had waited so lon= g to have a child. Now that they found out they could, indeed, have childre= n and that they were soon expecting one, this happened. It wasn't fair to h= im! He deserved the chance to see his child grow, and she would do anything= in her power to make sure he could. Lois must have looked as bad as she felt, because the driver said, "Don'= t worry, Miss. We're doing everything we can for him." Lois wiped away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks and rested her= head on the back of the seat. "I hope your best is good enough! I know I'm not going to be able to li= ve without him." He nodded, "How long have the two of you been married?" "About nine months," Lois said with a small smile through her tears. "A= nd yesterday we found out that I'm pregnant. Oh God, I can't believe I just= told you that! We haven't even told anyone yet!" The medic regarded her solemnly, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. And= I hope Clark will pull through for you and your baby." Lois smiled at him. She knew that Clark loved her with his whole heart=20= and soul, and he would fight whatever was ailing him with all the super stre= ngth in his body. =20 Then the ambulance pulled up to the hospital. All of a sudden, the world became a whirl of chaotic activity, and Lois=20= had been caught up right in the middle of the tornado. She jumped out of th= e cab, and ran around to the back of the ambulance where the two EMTs were u= nloading the stretcher. Then she grabbed Clark's hand and ran along side of= the stretcher as the EMTs wheeled it into the emergency room doors. Once t= hey were inside, a tall doctor with a full head of gray hair and a neatly tr= immed beard, dressed in full scrubs, met them. =20 "What have we got?" As they wheeled Clark towards trauma room two, one of the EMTs said, "Cl= ark Kent, 31 years old. Complained of shortness of breath before he collaps= ed and fell unconscious. No history of illness. BP 136/70, pulse 75. Pati= ent is unresponsive, and his breathing is very shallow. We started him on 1= 2 liters of O2 and we opened an IV line." By then they had reached the trauma room, and an orderly was now trying=20= to usher Lois out of the room She refused to go, fighting him with all her=20= might. A nurse closed the door to the trauma room, and Lois was stuck outsi= de in the hallway. Before the orderly lead her away, she heard the doctor o= rder chest films, a portable CT, and several drugs that Lois couldn't pronou= nce. The orderly pulled her away from the door saying, "Come on, ma'am. You=20= aren't doing anything for him standing here watching and panicking. All you= 're doing is getting in the doctors' way. Let's go out to the waiting room=20= so they can do their job. I'll get you a cup of coffee and you can get comf= ortable." That's what he thought. It wasn't his husband in there with needles and= tubes sticking out of him. At least the good thing was that no one knew Cl= ark was Superman, yet. She wanted to watch to make sure no one discovered a= nything they shouldn't. Why was she kidding herself? She wanted to watch n= ot because she didn't want them to find out the secret, but because she need= ed to assure herself that Clark was still alive. Before Lois had realized she was moving, the orderly had led her to one of t= he seats in the waiting room =20 "Would you like a cup of coffee, ma'am?" Lois found herself seated in an uncomfortable waiting room chair and loo= king up into the young Chinese orderly's face. He looked sympathetically do= wn at her, seeming to know what she was going through. Lois wondered how ma= ny dozens of families this young man saw in her position a day. At least he= didn't seem outwardly callous to Lois' fears about her husband in the traum= a room, and, for that, Lois was extremely grateful. "Um, yeah. Coffee would be good. Do you have decaf?" The young man smiled and said, "Sure, one decaf coming up." =20 He scurried away reminding Lois vaguely of Jimmy, such an eager young ma= n, always trying to please. =20 While she waited for her coffee, she pulled her legs up to her body and curl= ed up into a ball. Then she started to cry. Why did this have to happen? =20= Did God have to take Clark from her? Why, in what should be the happiest ti= me of their lives did this happen? Clark was such a decent man; the most de= cent she had ever met, in fact. He didn't deserve anything bad to happen to= him mostly because he had spent a large chunk of his adult life helping peo= ple in need, but now when the tables were turned, would anyone save him? He= meant so much to so many people, to her, to their baby, to his parents, and= even to her parents. Why did God always have to make the good ones suffer?= =20 The orderly returned with her coffee and saw that she was in a contempla= tive state, so he didn't want to disturb her. He knew better than to distur= b people when they were grieving. They usually didn't appreciate his good h= umor when their loved ones teetered on the fine line between life and death.= The young orderly set the coffee on the table next to Lois and made a hast= y retreat. Soon, Lois pulled herself out of her brooding state and realized she had= to call Dr. Klein. Maybe he'd know something to do. But they'd have to de= vise a plan so no one would know that he was Dr. Bernard Klein from STAR Lab= s. Then the gig would really be up, so to speak. She pulled her cellular phone out of her purse and dialed Dr. Klein's ex= tension. It rang three times before the scientist answered. "Hello?" Lois responded frantically, but barely above a whisper, words meshing to= gether, "Bernie, it's Lois. Something's happened to Clark. I don't know wh= at happened, but he started having trouble breathing, and he collapsed on hi= s desk. We're at the hospital now, and they're working on him in the ER, bu= t no one seems to know what's happened to him." In a more hushed tone, she=20= said, "And, Bernie, the needles went right through his skin!" Dr. Klein gasped, "Oh my God! The needles went right through his skin?=20= He's lost his invulnerability? This is horrible. I'll be down there as so= on as I can. Where did you say you were?" "Metro General, but, wouldn't it seem conspicuous if Superman's physicia= n showed up to treat Clark Kent?" "Already got that covered, Lois. I'll make up some medical records for=20= him, and I'll pretend to be his personal physician from Kansas. It shouldn'= t be that hard, I don't have any friends at Metro, the doctor friends I have= are all at University. It's a good thing they took him to Metro!" "I don't care what you do, just please make sure no one catches on to th= e truth!" Lois begged, "And please hurry!" They hung up only after Dr. Klein promised to be there as soon as possib= le with the falsified medical records. Lois thanked her lucky stars again t= hat they had chosen the right week to tell Dr. Klein about Clark's secret id= entity. She also was grateful to Bernie for being such a good friend to Cla= rk and lying to protect his identity. They both had known that they could t= rust Bernard Klein with their lives. As soon as she hung up with Dr. Klein, she decided to call the Kents in=20= Smallville. Knowing the Kents, she was sure they would board the next plane= to Metropolis to be with their son. And it would help her to have someone=20= to share her concerns about Clark with, even though they would suffer just a= s much as she already was, they still deserved to know what was going on. H= e was their only son, and they deserved to know that their boy was lying in=20= the emergency room of Metro General Hospital completely unconscious and bare= ly breathing. While Lois dialed the familiar numbers, she mentally rehearsed the conve= rsation she would have with them. However, her best-laid plans went awry wh= en she heard Martha's cheerful voice. Lois froze when she heard Martha's happy tone. She felt sorry for what=20= she had to say to her, the woman that had recently become a better mother to= her than her own mother had ever been. "Hello?" Martha said. And then when Lois failed to respond, she repeate= d, "Hello?" Finally, Lois found her voice and just blurted her news out frantically=20= and bluntly. "Martha, it's Lois. Something horrible has happened to Clark! We were=20= just sitting around his desk and he started having trouble breathing! I don= 't know what happened! He collapsed on his desk, and he hasn't moved since.= He has a pulse, and he's still breathing. But all the needles went right=20= through his skin! I don't know what's happening! And I am so afraid." Martha's voice dropped to a hushed whisper, "Lois, slow down. What did=20= you say? You're saying he just collapsed?" Martha's heart pounded. Her greatest fear for her son had now come to l= ight. Every time he donned the Superman suit, she worried for his safety. =20= She knew that someday some crazy lunatic would do something to her boy to ge= t rid of him. She despaired that today was that day. But why did it have t= o happen now? Clark's life had been going so right lately. He and Lois wer= e finally happily married, and he seemed so happy when he found out about th= eir baby. =20 Jonathan had picked up the other phone when Martha's face had gone white. =20 He said, "Lois, are you saying that needles went right through his skin?= " "Yes, and I have no idea why! He just collapsed, and they're working on= him now. They haven't come out to talk to me yet, so they're probably stil= l working on him." "Okay, honey, we're coming on the next plane to Metropolis. We'll be th= ere soon." They hung up, and Lois knew that it would take Martha and Jonathan at le= ast three or four hours to get there. =20 When Lois sat back down in the waiting room, she saw a familiar face com= ing through the door. Jimmy scanned the waiting room for Lois, and when he=20= saw her, his heart fell. Her face was drawn and her eyes were puffy from th= e tears that had been falling ever since Clark had collapsed. Her eyes were= focused on nothing in particular and she looked to be staring at the ceilin= g. She was absently ripping a coffee cup apart, a nervous habit that he had= never seen her exhibit before.=20 Jimmy approached Lois cautiously, but when she saw him, she smiled shaki= ly. He sat down in the chair next to her and put a friendly hand on her sho= ulder. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:47:17 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: NEW: Silent Fears (2/6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Silent Fears (2/6) by Alicia U. ******************************************* "So, have you heard anything?" Lois sighed, "No, not a thing. It seems like they've been in there=20 forever." "I guess no news is good news, though." Jimmy ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of something to=20 lighten Lois' spirits when his own needed lifting themselves. Lois cracked a crooked smile, "Yeah, I guess so. I hope so." "I'm sure he's gonna be okay. CK's a strong guy. Anyway, Perry sent me= =20 down here to keep you company. We're all worried about him, and about you.=20= =20 Perry thought you were going to have a nervous breakdown before. Were you=20 serious about having a baby?" Lois nodded, not entirely looking happy. Jimmy joked, "So, what, were you going to surprise us by showing up in=20 maternity clothes one day?" Lois giggled in spite of herself, and Jimmy was happy that he could get=20 her to crack a smile, if even for a second. "Jimmy, you don't know the half of it. It's kind of funny, actually. =20 Clark just said that as we were walking in this morning. He seemed fine thi= s=20 morning, like nothing was wrong." Lois broke down in tears again, and Jimmy hugged her, trying to provide=20 some comfort. "Lois, it's okay. He's going to be fine. Shh, he's going to be fine. =20 I'm sure he's thinking of you and your baby right now, and he's going to pul= l=20 through for you both." Lois sniffled and nodded. =20 "By the way, how did you know about the baby anyway? We just found out=20 last night and we were going to tell everyone today, but then this happened= =85"=20 Lois' voice trailed off. "Shh, it's okay. It's just when Clark collapsed you said, 'I can't have= =20 this baby without you.' I guess that kinda gave it away." Lois covered her face in her hands. She hadn't wanted her friends to=20 find out about the baby that way. Actually, she didn't want them to know at= =20 all yet. =20 "Jimmy, I'm sorry. That wasn't the way we wanted you to find out. We=20 wanted to tell you guys, but then this happened=85" The gray-haired doctor Lois had seen before interrupted Lois' apology by= =20 coming out into the waiting room. Lois knew who this doctor was and grabbed= =20 on to Jimmy's arm for support and prayed that the doctor didn't have bad new= s=20 for her. =20 The doctor called out, "May I please speak to Clark Kent's family?" Lois gasped. Finally they were going to tell her something, but would i= t=20 be good news? From the expression on the doctor's face, neither Lois nor=20 Jimmy could tell what he was thinking. His eyes were an icy shade of blue,=20 and they held no emotions. =20 This couldn't be a good sign, and Lois knew it. Something horrible had=20 happened to Clark in that little cubicle. He didn't make it; she could feel= =20 it. Their lives were both over, and all of their dreams for a long, happy=20 life together were shattered. She knew that their plans to live happily eve= r=20 after together were too good to be true. Jimmy squeezed Lois' hand and helped her to her feet. =20 He whispered, "Don't worry, Lois. I bet he's out here to tell you Clark is=20 okay." She squeezed back and started walking on shaky legs towards the doctor. He=20 met her half way and led her to an isolated corner of the waiting room. Loi= s=20 said a silent prayer to whatever deity was listening to please let Clark be=20 alive. =20 The doctor had seen Lois Lane and Clark Kent before. In fact, they had=20 interviewed him once for one of their stories. However, he had never=20 imagined that he would meet Metropolis' finest reporting team again, and=20 certainly not in this situation. He almost didn't recognize the female half= =20 of the team as she walked towards him. The last time they had met, her eyes= =20 shined brightly and all of her movements were full of animation and=20 liveliness. Now, however, her eyes were dull and red, without any outward=20 emotions, and she walked hunched over like a woman who had lost everything,=20= a=20 shadow of the woman he had once met. When the two were seated, the doctor began, "Miss Lane, I believe we've=20 met before. You and your husband interviewed me about Eric Birch's=20 condition." Lois absently responded, "Oh yeah, the serial rapist." Why was the doctor stalling? Couldn't he just tell her what happened to= =20 Clark? Did he really have to prolong her agony? Lois tried to read the=20 doctor's expression again, but, once again, she was unsuccessful. Even her=20 usually sharp as a razor's edge reporter's instinct, which was only slightly= =20 clouded at the moment, gave her no intuition about what the doctor was about= =20 to tell her. Finally, Lois broke down and sobbed, "What's happened to Clark. I need=20 to know! If he's dead, can you please tell me? I need to know! Please,=20 this is my husband lying in there, and it's tearing my heart to pieces not=20 knowing what's going on!" The doctor cracked a slight smile. Yes, this was the Lois Lane he had=20 met, although a little more frantic than before, but, yes, she did have=20 reason to act the way she was. It was her husband lying in a hospital bed=20 toeing the thin line between life and death, and she didn't have a clue of=20 his condition or a notion of what could be wrong with him. Lois was almost ready to ring the doctor's neck. Did he have to stall?=20= =20 Was he doing it purposely? =20 The doctor realized that his inner conversations were probably just=20 making Lois crazy. Her eyes had taken a maniacal quality, and she looked=20 like she could probably commit homicide if he didn't tell her about Clark=20 immediately. Just before Lois grabbed the doctor's collar, he coughed to clear his=20 throat and then he said, "Ms. Lane, we still haven't been able to figure out= =20 what happened to your husband or what caused it to happen, but his condition= =20 has stabilized. He has regained consciousness and he knows where he is, but= =20 he doesn't remember what happened. However, he still is in very critical=20 condition, and we need to find out what caused this to happen." Lois let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and a few=20 tears of joy ran down her cheeks. Clark hadn't died! But he still wasn't=20 out of the woods yet. The doctor had said he was in very critical condition= .=20 That meant that he was still in very bad shape. She, too, wondered just=20 what could have done this to him. It had to have been Kryptonite, somehow.=20= =20 But he'd never reacted quite this severely to it before. =20 Lois whispered, "Oh, thank God he's alive! I was so sure I'd lost him." The doctor continued, "We don't have any medical records for him on file, so= =20 we wondered if you could fill out some registration forms for him. And we=20 need to know if he has some kind of regular physician he sees or any=20 allergies to medications." Lois sighed. Paperwork, how could those damned bureaucrats think of=20 paperwork at a time like this. Her husband was lying in critical condition,= =20 and all they could think of was insurance and bills. She would write a stor= y=20 on this as soon as Clark was better. Lois bit her tongue and forced herself to present a civil and controlled= =20 exterior even when her heart and mind and stomach were all tied in knots. =20 "Yes, he does have a regular physician. I've already called and alerted him= =20 of the situation, and he's flying in from Kansas now. But do I really have=20 to fill out paperwork now? My husband is in critical condition and I would=20 really like to see him! I know he doesn't have any allergies, and he's neve= r=20 had a medical problem before. Couldn't I just fill out the paperwork later,= =20 like once his doctor gets here? I just want to see my husband, to prove to=20 myself that he's alive!" The doctor stared into Lois' deep brown eyes and was met with all the emotio= n=20 that she felt about Clark. He saw the intense love that she felt for him as= =20 well as the equally intense fear about his health. He realized that she=20 doubted his sincerity when he had told her that Clark was indeed alive. She= =20 needed to be reassured that Clark was alive, if not well. The doctor=20 relented and decided that it wouldn't do any harm to have her see Clark for=20= a=20 short time. =20 "Okay, you can see him. We've admitted him, and they've taken him up to the= =20 ICU." "The ICU? Where is that? And isn't the ICU usually locked, and they don't=20 let visitors in until the special visiting hours?" The doctor rubbed his graying beard and said, "Yes, it is locked, but you ca= n=20 use the intercom to identify yourself to the nurses up there. I'll call up=20 there and tell them to let you in for a short visit. You can't stay there=20 long, though. The ICU has very strict visiting hours, and your husband need= s=20 all the rest he can get right now so he can fight whatever is hurting him." "Thank you, doctor. I can't tell you how much this means to me. I need to=20 see him, to feel him, to make sure he's really still there. It may sound=20 silly, but I need to reassure myself that he's alive." The doctor nodded as he continued rubbing his beard contemplatively. Lois continued, "But I just need to know how to get to the ICU." The doctor pointed down a long hall adjacent to the ER. =20 "Take that hall to it's end and you'll find an elevator. Go up to the secon= d=20 floor, and then make a left out of the elevator and a left at the first=20 hallway. Then make a right at the first hallway you see after that, and the= =20 first two doors are to the ICU. Then all you have to do is use the intercom= =20 to call the nurses." Lois got up hastily, eager to see Clark. Armed with the directions and the=20 knowledge that Clark was indeed alive, she shook the doctor's hand and=20 thanked him for his help. Then she approached Jimmy who had been sitting=20 patiently in his chair at the other end of the room, trying to read what was= =20 going on between Lois and the doctor. =20 To Jimmy, Lois eyes looked a bit brighter, so he hoped she had good news. "He's alive," was all she had to say before Jimmy jumped out of his seat and= =20 enveloped her in a huge bear hug. "I knew he'd make it. CK's a fighter!" =20 Lois sighed. Jimmy was such a good friend to both Clark and herself. Alway= s=20 loyal and always eager to help, he had come to support Lois at the hospital=20 when no one else had. She owed so much to the sometimes overzealous young=20 man standing next to her. "Come on," said Lois, eager to see Clark, "They've moved him up to the ICU,=20 and they're going to let me see him." While they were waiting for the elevator, Lois saw a water fountain and=20 remembered that she had to take her antibiotic. She didn't want to=20 jeopardize her health or her baby's health. What good would it do Clark to=20 have her sick too?=20 Jimmy and Lois easily found their way up to the ICU on the second floor, and= =20 Lois pressed the intercom's button. =20 A nurse's voice drifted out, "Can I help you?" "My husband was just admitted from the ER, and the doctor said I could see=20 him." "Mr. Kent?" "Yes." "Hold on. The doors are going to swing out towards you, so stand out of the= =20 way. Come directly to the nurses' station in the center." Lois looked at Jimmy who had taken a seat on a nearby bench and had picked u= p=20 an old magazine. He looked up and said, "Lois, don't worry about me. I'll be fine out here b= y=20 myself. Just tell Clark we're all worried about him. I'll be out here when= =20 you come back." Lois gave Jimmy a small smile of thanks before she timidly walked through th= e=20 open doors. The doors swung closed behind her and she took in the horrible=20 images of pain and suffering as she made he way towards the nurses' station.= =20 Her curious eyes wandered around to the little cubicles surrounding the=20 nurses' station, and she almost wished she hadn't looked. Every patient she= =20 saw looked horribly ill, pale, unconscious, tubes sticking out of them, and=20 monitors constantly beeping, assuring the nurses that the patients were stil= l=20 alive. Would Clark look like those other patients? As she walked towards=20 the nurses' station, she clung to the doctor's statement that Clark had,=20 indeed, regained consciousness. She couldn't bear the thought of Clark=20 hooked up to a life-support system, and hopefully she wouldn't have to face=20 that fear. Finally, Lois made her way to the nurses' station in the middle of the ICU.=20= =20 Three nurses sat at the station and looked Lois up and down. All three=20 regularly read the Daily Planet, and were curious to meet Lois Lane and Clar= k=20 Kent, even though this was not the ideal situation. Even ill, Clark Kent wa= s=20 just as good looking as they had expected him to be, and Lois was just as=20 beautiful as her pictures showed. Lois could tell that two of the nurses were giving her the once-over and=20 whispering about her as she walked towards them. They were huddled around a= =20 copy of the Planet, and one nurse was trying to convince the other to ask=20 Lois for her autograph. The less timid of the two nurses approached Lois an= d=20 thrust her copy of the Planet into Lois' face. "Ms. Lane, I know you want to see your husband, but would you please sign=20 this copy of the Planet for me? It would mean so much to me. But if you=20 don't want to, I'd understand." Lois stepped back. On one hand, she was flattered that someone would want=20 her autograph, but, on the other hand, she was appalled that this person=20 would ask her for an autograph when her husband was, quite possibly, lying o= n=20 his deathbed. Then she took pity on the poor woman that truly seemed so=20 excited to meet Lois Lane. =20 The nurse continued, "You and your husband are my favorite writers. We=20 subscribe to the Planet because of your articles." Lois smiled gently at the woman. It floored her that someone would be so=20 happy to get her autograph. She decided to sign the woman's paper, just so=20 she could get to Clark without any further aggravation. If she didn't sign=20 the paper now, the nurse would surely badger her about it until she did. So= =20 Lois quickly scrawled her name on the paper and handed it back to the nurse.= =20 The nurse beamed at Lois with admiration until Lois was ready to burst. "Okay, so, where's my husband?" One of the other nurses pushed the star-struck nurse out of the way and said= ,=20 "Ms. Lane, Clark's in 15. Follow me and I'll take you there." "Thank you." As the nurse walked with Lois, she noticed how bad Lois looked. Her eyes=20 were red and puffy, undoubtedly from crying, and her face was very pale. Sh= e=20 was obviously taking Clark's sudden illness very poorly, but that was to be=20 expected. If she didn't look horrible, the nurse would have been surprised. They stopped at the entrance to Clark's small room. The nurse left, and Loi= s=20 was still a little nervous about going in. Her poor Clark looked so small=20 and vulnerable and completely helpless lying against the white sheets. Even= =20 without his glasses and with his hair pushed away from his face, no one woul= d=20 have ever recognized him as Superman. Tubes were sticking out of his arms,=20 and monitors were attached all over his body. Lois was almost afraid to wal= k=20 into the room, worried that she'd do something to hurt Clark. The desire to= =20 touch him, to feel the warmth of his skin finally outweighed her fear of=20 breaking him, so she quietly tiptoed into Clark's room. He almost looked=20 exposed as she neared his bed. He may have been under several layers of=20 blankets, but anyone walking by could still see his exposed chest and his=20 entire face. She wondered, in the back of her mind, if anyone would possibl= y=20 make the connection between Clark and Superman, however unlikely in his=20 current condition, but it was still an important concern. This was the=20 weakest she had ever seen him. He didn't look like he could even lift his=20 head, much less lift a bomb into the stratosphere. =20 The desire to touch him, to know that he was really there, outweighed her=20 concerns about his fragility, and she gingerly sat down on the corner of his= =20 bed. Timidly, she reached up to touch his face. The feel of his soft, warm= =20 skin under her hand reassured her that he was really alive. She ran her han= d=20 gently across his forehead, nose, and finally his lips. It was surprising=20 how dry they were. They certainly weren't the same lips she had kissed so=20 many times. As her fingers lingered on his lips, Clark's tongue flicked out= =20 of his mouth and caught Lois' finger before she could move it. Lois jumped.= =20 Had she felt what she thought she had just felt? Did Clark just lick her=20 finger? That meant he was awake! Clark's eyes fluttered open, and while his vision was still blurry he though= t=20 he had died and gone to heaven. He was staring into the large brown eyes of= =20 a beautiful angel. As his vision began to clear, he realized that the angel= =20 sure bore a striking resemblance to Lois. Suddenly, he heard the angel=20 calling his name. It seemed so far away, but the voice was getting closer.=20= =20 Then it dawned on him; he hadn't died! The angel he was seeing that looked=20 like Lois really was Lois. The image of his wife became clear and he heard=20 her voice calling him. "Clark, Clark, are you awake?" Tears of joy and relief streamed down Lois' cheeks when she realized that=20 Clark's eyes were indeed open. His deep brown eyes were still clouded over,= =20 and he seemed disoriented, but he was awake, and that was all that mattered. Clark had trouble talking because his mouth was so dry, and Lois noticed him= =20 struggling to talk. "Oh, honey, do you need some water? Is your throat dry?" Clark nodded as much as he could without too much pain. Where was he? Why=20 did every muscle in his body hurt? Why didn't he have any of his powers? H= e=20 was getting more frantic by the second. Why were all these tubes sticking=20 out of his skin? Why did Lois look so haggard, like she had been crying for= =20 hours? Lois had poured him a cup of water from the pitcher that was sitting on the=20 rollaway tray in the corner of the little room. She brought the cup over to= =20 him and helped him move his head up to drink it. It felt so good going down= =20 his parched throat, and he finally felt like he might be able to talk. Lois had again settled back to her original perch on the corner of his bed,=20 and Clark clumsily reached to grab her hand. It amazed him how much it hurt= =20 to do even that simple motion. Lois spit the distance and clung to his larg= e=20 hand like it was a lifeboat and she never wanted to let go. Finally Clark found his voice. It was weak and very disjointed, but Lois wa= s=20 just happy that he could talk. "Lois, honey=85 What happened? Where am I?" "Oh Clark," Lois sobbed, "It was horrible! You just collapsed in the=20 newsroom. We don't know what happened to you. It was like you had a heart=20 attack, but you didn't. For the last few hours, you were unconscious, but=20 the ER doctor said you regained consciousness in the ER for a few minutes. =20 Now you're in the ICU at Metro General, and Bernie's on his way here." Clark leaned back into the pillows trying to digest what Lois had just=20 told him. He had collapsed? And now he was in the ICU? But he didn't=20 remember collapsing. The last thing he remembered clearly was getting a=20 donut and a cup of coffee this morning at work. "I=85 collapsed?" "Yeah, we were all so worried about you. It was horrible." Their eyes locked, and both had tears rolling down their cheeks. Lois'=20 were from the fear she had felt earlier, and Clark's were because he had=20 caused Lois so much pain. He had made a promise to himself long ago that he= =20 would never make Lois cry. That promise had been broken today in a big way.= =20 As he tried to sit up so he could hug Lois, his eyes rolled back into his=20 head in pain. He had never felt anything so extreme, so sharp, so mind=20 numbing. Lois gasped as Clark fell back onto the bed. She reached around=20 all of the tubes and wires to hug him. As she laid her head down, he felt=20 her tears against his exposed chest. He tried to reach up to stroke her=20 silky hair, but it hurt too much to even move his arm. =20 She murmured into his chest, "Oh, Clark, I'm so glad you're alive!" Clark whispered, "Me too, honey. Me too." They just laid there for a few moments, each relishing in the other's=20 closeness. To Clark, it had seemed like forever since he had held his wife=20 in his arms. To Lois, it was a way for her to tangibly know that Clark was=20 still alive, but maybe not quite so well. But if anyone could help him, it=20 would be Dr. Klein, and he was on his way. =20 Clark, always selfless, wondered, "So, how=85 are you=85 and the=85 baby= =85=20 holding up?" Lois cracked a small smile, "Actually, the whole time you were in the ER= ,=20 I was thinking about the baby. If you hadn't made it, our baby would be a=20 part of you, and it would be like getting to see you every day even if you=20 were gone. It hit me that having your baby probably isn't as bad as I=20 thought it was." Clark fought against the muscles that didn't want him to move and slowly= =20 covered Lois' stomach with his hand. Even though there were no outward sign= s=20 of Lois' pregnancy yet, they both realized the significance of that gesture.= =20 Lois covered Clark's hand with her own, and they both made an unspoken=20 connection with their baby. The emotion level was high as Lois bent down to= =20 kiss Clark. Even sick, he responded as his sore muscles would allow. =20 When their kiss broke, Clark rubbed Lois' stomach lovingly. =20 "Clark, our baby is a miracle, and I am so sorry I ever had any doubts=20 about it." "Oh, honey, doubts=85 are=85 natural. I've had=85 so many=85 myself sin= ce=85 last=20 night=85 but=85 I agree=85 our baby=85 is=85 such a=85 miracle." Lois smiled again, and leaned down for another kiss. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:48:58 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: NEW: Silen Fears (3/6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Silent Fears (3/6) by Alicia U. ******************************************************************** A nurse had been watching this whole scene between the young couple, and=20 cleared her throat announcing her presence when they started to kiss again.=20= =20 Lois jumped up, and the nurse gently tapped on the glass door. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but you have to leave now, ma'am." Lois looked at her incredulously. "Why?" "Because the Dr. Harris said you were only supposed to have a fifteen=20 minute visit. He needs his rest before the other doctor comes to see him." Clark grabbed Lois' hand, "I can=85 rest=85 with her=85 here." The nurse shook her head and smiled. "I feel bad about this, I really do, but you really do need your rest. =20 Visiting hours start in an hour and a half, so it won't be that long before=20 she can come back in. Plus, there's a doctor coming up to see you in a few=20 minutes, so it would probably be best if you went out to the waiting room fo= r=20 a little while." Clark clutched Lois' hand tightly. =20 "I=85 don't want=85 her to=85 go. Couldn't she=85 stay=85 a little=85 l= onger?" Lois lovingly stroked his face and squeezed his hand back. "He's never been in the hospital before, and he's a little nervous. =20 Can't I just stay a little while longer?" The nurse shook her head sympathetically. =20 "I'm sorry, doctor's orders. Don't worry, Mr. Kent, she'll be back soon= ." Lois resigned herself to the fact that she had to leave, so she leaned=20 down for one last kiss. They shared a short, but sweet, kiss and Lois=20 squeezed his hand. =20 "I love you," Clark whispered as he squeezed Lois' hand. "I love you too," Lois answered as she guided his hand to her stomach. =20 "We both love you." Their eyes met, and they just stared into each other's eyes until the=20 nurse coughed again.=20 "Okay, ma'am, let's let him get some rest." Lois gave Clark one final peck on the cheek before she stood up fully an= d=20 started to leave. Clark smiled weakly and strained to say, "I love you, honey." Lois smiled back warmly, "I love you too." Then she walked out of Clark's little room and back through the ICU,=20 reassured by the fact that Clark was alive and conscious. He may have been=20 weak, and he may not have been able to move, but he was still her Clark, and= =20 he was still completely alive. She sighed, it had been such a horrible day,= =20 and the day was not over yet. They still didn't know what was wrong with=20 Clark, although she had every hope that Dr. Klein would be able to figure it= =20 out. And Clark could barely move, much less use his powers. His powers wer= e=20 nowhere to be found. Another huge problem was the whole Superman issue. =20 What if some hospital employee found out that Clark was Superman? What if=20 someone took a sample of Clark's blood and found out that it wasn't normal?=20= =20 Before Lois reached the doors leading out to the waiting room, she took a=20 deep breath. Clark needed her to be strong. She wouldn't break down; she=20 couldn't. He would be all right; he had to be. Suddenly, a horrible thought gripped her as she turned the handle of the= =20 door. What if Dr. Klein passed Jimmy in the waiting room? What would he do= ?=20 Would Jimmy make the connection between Clark and Superman? Lois didn't=20 want to take that chance. She hoped Dr. Klein had enough common sense to=20 take a back entrance to the ICU, but, knowing Dr. Klein, he would probably=20 walk right through the waiting room, and Jimmy would see him. That was just= =20 the way her day was going. =20 Lois took a deep breath and pushed the door open. When she stepped into= =20 the waiting room, she noticed that Perry had joined Jimmy on one of the=20 couches. They both looked worried, as they pretended to be interested in th= e=20 magazines they were reading. Lois knew both of them well enough to know tha= t=20 neither of them was dealing with this well. =20 Jimmy looked like he had lost his best friend, which was not unusual,=20 because he thought he had. He thought of Clark like the big brother he neve= r=20 had. Jimmy came to Clark whenever he needed advice about anything from work= =20 to women. He sat there now, pretending to read on outdated issue of Sports=20 Illustrated, with his head in his hands and the expression on his face=20 forlorn. His eyes had lost their usual shine and could only be described as= =20 bleak. When he moved to flip the page, his arm only moved slightly, and he=20 never even looked at the page. Perry didn't look much better. The older man held a copy of Newsweek,=20 but he made no pretense of reading it. In fact, it wasn't even open. The=20 editor stared off into space pondering the fairness of the world. He=20 wondered why something like this could happen to such a decent man. His eye= s=20 were glazed over as he remembered the first time Clark walked into his=20 office. At the time he didn't realize what a valuable addition to his life=20 Clark would become. If Clark didn't make it, he didn't know what he would=20 do. Over the years, Clark had become like a son to him, and, in fact, he wa= s=20 closer to Clark than he was to either of his biological sons. =20 The door slammed shut and both Perry and Jimmy were startled to see Lois= =20 walking towards them. Both men hurried to greet her, and Perry reached her=20 first. Tears were flowing down her cheeks and the men rushed to comfort her= .=20 Perry gathered her into a comforting hug and Jimmy rushed to get her a cup=20 of water. Jimmy busied himself trying to make her comfortable. Lois buried= =20 her head into Perry's shoulder and let out all of the pent-up emotion that=20 she had held in while she was with Clark. It wouldn't have helped him to se= e=20 her tears; he was nervous enough. Perry, almost afraid to ask, drawled softly, "How is he, darlin'?" Lois raised her head from his shoulder and backed up. Jimmy had returne= d=20 with a cup of water for her, which she took gratefully. She sipped her wate= r=20 and started pacing around the small room. =20 Finally, she took a deep breath and began, "I don't know. At least he's= =20 awake, and pretty alert." Perry and Jimmy both breathed sighs of relief. In the nether reaches of= =20 their minds, both had almost expected Lois to tell them that he was still=20 unconscious or, even worse, that he had passed away, although for both men,=20 it was a fleeting thought, almost barely acknowledged. =20 "Thank God," Perry said, and Jimmy agreed. Lois continued, "But he looked so pale. And he had so much trouble=20 talking. He couldn't put more than two words together at a time. And he=20 couldn't move, not even a finger. And they still don't know what's wrong=20 with him!" Jimmy moved to wrap a supportive arm around her shoulders. "Great shades of Elvis, Lois, you're saying that they have no idea what'= s=20 wrong with him. What kind of hospital is this?" Lois shook her head. The last thing she wanted to do right now was talk= =20 about what was wrong with Clark. She really just wanted to curl up on a=20 couch and cry. But that obviously wasn't going to happen any time soon. Lois said silently, "I don't know, Chief, I just don't know. Right now=20= I=20 just want to sit down." Perry and Jimmy leapt to help her sit down. It was almost like she was=20 the invalid. =20 "Just because I'm pregnant and my husband might be dying is no reason fo= r=20 the two of you to treat me like a china doll," Lois snapped as Jimmy helped=20 her sit and Perry helped her put her feet up on a coffee table. =20 The two men backed away and Jimmy muttered a, "Sorry, Lois." Lois leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes. Why did she snap a= t=20 them like that? They didn't deserve her wrath. What were they trying to do= =20 besides help her? And she knew that they were just trying to make her life=20 easier. "Look, I'm sorry. I guess all of the stress is just getting to me." Perry and Jimmy could see just how stressed out she was. This morning,=20 she had looked so vibrant, and so brimming with life, even though she had=20 been terribly sick just the day before. But now she was a broken woman. He= r=20 eyes were red and puffy, evidence of all of the crying she had been doing. =20 She looked tired, almost like she hadn't slept in days. Dark circles=20 surrounded her eyes and her makeup had smeared all around her eyes, making=20 the circles appear much darker. Her eyes, which usually telegraphed her=20 every emotion, were now bleak and expressionless, and her every motion was=20 apathetic. =20 Lois took a deep breath and continued, "I just can't believe this is=20 happening. We just found out we're having a baby yesterday, and I feel so=20 bad for not wanting it. Clark was so happy about it, but not me! I didn't=20 want to be bothered with a baby right now. I'm so selfish. Now, if I lose=20 Clark, our baby will be the only thing left of him." Neither Perry nor Jimmy could think of anything to say to her to ease he= r=20 pain. These demons were ones she would have to work through herself, and=20 they both realized that she really didn't expect them to answer, just to be=20 open ears for her. =20 Finally, Perry decided that she needed to see this from an objective=20 perspective. "Great Shades of Elvis, Lois, don't put yourself through all=20 this! Clark's a strong guy. We all know that. He's gonna be just fine, I= =20 know it." Jimmy nodded in agreement and added, "Do you really think CK's the kind=20 of guy that wouldn't be there for you and your kid? Come on, if I know CK,=20 he's in there now telling the docs that he's all better and wants to go=20 home."=20 Luckily, before Lois could finish her thought, her phone rang. At the=20 same time a middle-aged man dressed in scrubs and a white coat and a sterile= =20 cap stepped off the elevator. =20 Lois pulled her phone out of her purse and answered, "Hello?" "Lois, how is he?" Martha's worried voice came across the line. Got out of her chair and walked a bit away from where Perry and Jimmy=20 were sitting. "Martha, he's alive, that's the good thing." Martha gasped, he was alive, but for how long? "Lois, how's he doing? Have you seen him?" As Lois walked down the long hallway, she nearly walked right into Dr.=20 Klein. "Hold on, Martha. One second, I have to talk to Bernie Klein." Dr. Klein had been staring straight ahead, determined to get to the ICU=20 without being stopped. As he was about to pass Lois, she grabbed his hand t= o=20 stop him. "Bernie, what are you doing?" Dr. Kein stopped and stared at Lois, "I'm going to see Clark." "No, I mean why are you coming this way. Perry and Jimmy are sitting in= =20 the waiting room. What if they recognize you?" Dr. Klein rubbed his bald head. He hadn't considered that people might=20 be in the waiting room that might recognize him. He wasn't thinking. They=20 had to do everything in their power to keep Clark's identity a secret. He=20 would have to be more careful not take any more chances that people might=20 recognize him as Bernard Klein from STAR Labs. =20 "Oh, Lois, what was I thinking? There must be a staff entrance. I=20 forgot that I am supposed to be a doctor. Every other time I've been here,=20= I=20 haven't been the doctor, so I'm just not used to going that way. I'll find=20 that elevator and use it. Have you seen him? How's he doing?" Lois closed her eyes, trying to hold back all the tears that were=20 threatening to fall.=20 Her voice shook with emotion when she said, "Yeah, I was just in there.=20= =20 He woke up, that's the good thing. But you won't believe it when you go in=20 there. He's so pale, and so weak. He kept trying to talk, but he could onl= y=20 manage a couple of words at a time. He tries to move, but it hurts him so=20 much. And there are so many tubes sticking out of him, I can't believe it." Dr. Klein gulped. He knew Clark would be in bad shape, but he had=20 optimistically hoped that Clark might have recovered. If Clark's powers=20 hadn't returned, he was in much worse shape than Dr. Klein could have ever=20 imagined. Meanwhile, Martha had heard Lois tell Dr. Klein about Clark's condition. "Lois, honey, he's awake?" Lois turned her attention back to the phone for a second. "Yes, he is, but he isn't doing well at all." "We're at the airport and Jonathan's getting us a cab now, so we'll be=20 there soon, honey. You said you're at Metro General?" Tears spilled down Lois' cheeks as she said, "Yes, he's in the ICU. The= y=20 should be able to give directions at the information desk when you come in.=20= =20 Or I could come down and wait for you." "Oh, Jonathan's waving for me. I think he's gotten a cab. Don't worry=20 about meeting us, we'll be able to find our way up there. You and my=20 grandchild don't need any more stress trying to wait for us. We'll be there= =20 soon." They hung up and Lois turned her full attention to Dr. Klein, who was=20 pacing around the elevator lobby thinking. "Okay, let me get this straight. You were at work, and he started havin= g=20 trouble breathing, then he collapsed?" Lois sat on one of the benches near the elevator and started absently=20 picking at one of the plants. She sniffled, "Yes, that's what happened. I can't figure out why." Dr. Klein wondered, "Did he show any symptoms this morning? Was anythin= g=20 out of the ordinary at all, even if it was small, this morning? Did he do=20 anything differently?" Lois replayed the morning's events in her mind. It seemed like so long=20 ago, almost like a haze, like it might not have even happened. Only eight=20 hours ago, they had shared a wonderful morning, what they had thought would=20 be the start to a great day. "Well, he did sleep late and I had a hard time trying to wake him up, bu= t=20 he was out late last night. I don't know how late he got in, so I wasn't=20 surprised." Dr. Klein nodded, that might have been the first indication of something= =20 wrong. "What else happened this morning?" Lois blushed when she remembered what exactly had happened this morning.= =20 She wasn't about to tell Dr. Klein about their love life, but when Dr. Klein= =20 noticed her face was a deep crimson and her expression was a smile like that= =20 of a cat who had just caught a canary, he put two and two together to get th= e=20 whole picture. "Ah, I see. So, he obviously wasn't sick this morning," Dr. Klein=20 sputtered, and his face turned a shade of red that could have matched a=20 tomato. Lois coughed nervously, and turned her attention to the plant again. Sh= e=20 didn't want to look Dr. Klein in the eye, embarrassed that he knew anything=20 about her sex life. Her desire to help Clark far outweighed any embarrassment she felt, so=20 she swallowed her pride and looked the doctor in the eye. She whispered, "He seemed fine all morning. We even flew to work. Of=20 course that might have hurt him more than he let on, because he wasn't=20 wearing the Suit today when the EMTs ripped his shirt open. He might have=20 known something was wrong." Dr. Klein nodded, knowing Clark, he probably wasn't planning to do=20 anything as Superman today because he wasn't feeling quite so well, and=20 flying must have really drained him. But, also knowing Clark, he knew that=20 Clark would have gone out as Superman in his condition if it were even=20 remotely possible, so Clark must have known he was really sick. But would=20 Clark try to hide it from Lois? "Would Clark try to hide something like this from you, Lois?" Lois ran a hand through her already mussed hair and looked at the ground= .=20 There were so many times he had kept things from her to protect her. In hi= s=20 mind, protecting her meant keeping things that would hurt her from her and=20 trying to deal with them himself, usually unsuccessfully. Lately, he had=20 been trying to tell her everything. They based their marriage on the truth,= =20 and Clark had always gone out of his way to tell her the truth. =20 "I don't know, Bernie. I'd like to hope not, but it's possible. There=20 have been so many times he's tried to keep things about his health secret=20 from me, but l don't think he would now that we're married. Then again, he=20 might have been trying to protect me. You know I've been sick lately, and=20 now with the baby, he probably didn't want to trouble me. He probably=20 thought it was nothing to worry about, if he realized he was sick at all." Suddenly, Lois heard the Perry and Jimmy's voices coming from down the=20 hall. "Bernie, you have to get out of here! Perry and Jimmy are coming!" Dr. Klein didn't need to be told twice. The last thing Clark needed was= =20 for Perry and Jimmy to see him here. He knew the magnitude of his=20 responsibility to keep Clark's secret safe, and it was something he didn't=20 take lightly. He scrambled to the stairwell just before Perry and Jimmy turned into th= e=20 elevator lobby. "Great shades of Elvis, here you are, Lois. We were wondering where you= =20 got off to." Lois stood up, "Um, yeah. I needed some time alone to think, you know." Jimmy shifted from foot to foot nervously. He looked uncomfortable=20 standing there in front of Lois, almost like he was afraid that she might=20 bite his head off if he said or did anything wrong. Perry smiled, "I was just going to send the kid down for some coffee, an= d=20 we were wondering if you wanted anything. You haven't eaten anything today,= =20 have you?" Lois shook her head, "No, I'm not hungry. My stomach is all tied in=20 knots. I don't think I'd be able to keep anything down." "Now, Hell's bells, Lois, you getting yourself sick again isn't going to= =20 help Clark. Why don't you just get a little something, and see if you can=20 eat it." Lois nodded and said, "Get me whatever you want. I won't eat it anyway.= " "Okay, Jimmy, get me a cup of coffee and get Lois something healthy to=20 eat. We'll be back in the waiting room." He led Lois away from the=20 elevators saying, "You know, when Elvis was sick=85"=20 Dr. Klein eventually found the staff elevator, and he made is way into=20 the ICU. He stopped at the nurses' station long enough to introduce himself= =20 and to pick up Clark's charts, and then he made his way to Clark's cubicle. In his teal scrubs and white coat, he could easily pass for a regular=20 hospital employee. Somehow he had even managed to scrounge up an ID badge=20 with his picture and his pseudonym on it from a friend from school that=20 worked at the hospital and also had some experience making fake ID's. He paused at the door to Clark's room and watched him sleep. Clark's=20 face was scrunched in pain, even in sleep, and this disturbed Dr. Klein. =20 What could have caused Clark to hurt like this? And he had no evidence of=20 his powers either. From far away, Clark's skin appeared to have a greenish=20 tint, and Dr. Klein was worried that the green tint might have something to=20 do with Kryptonite. Thankfully, when he approached Clark's bed, the green=20 tint disappeared, leaving only pale, bone white, pasty skin. It must have=20 just been the way the fluorescent lighting hit his skin at a funny angle. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:51:10 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: NEW: Silent Fears (4/6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Silent Fears (4/6) by Alicia U. ************************************************** Before he did anything to Clark, Dr. Klein pulled the curtains closed around= =20 Clark's bed. He must have inadvertently knocked Clark's bed while he was=20 pushing the curtains shut because when he turned around, Clark's eyes were=20 wide open, and he looked to be having trouble focusing on Dr. Klein. Dr. Klein was amazed to see how Clark had changed from the strong=20 Superman he had seen yesterday to this pale, sick man lying here today. =20 Before Clark could fully focus, Dr. Klein asked, "Clark, what happened to=20 you?" Clark tried to sit up in bed, but Dr. Klein gently pushed him back onto=20 the bed.=20 "Wait, Clark, let me adjust your bed so you can sit up a little." Dr. Klein found the bed controller hanging off the right side of the bed= =20 and he said, "Just nod when it's high enough." They adjusted the bed until Clark was comfortable. When he was settled=20 in comfortably, Dr. Klein tried to ask again, "Do you know what happened to=20 you?" Clark shook his head. His entire memory was almost blank starting when=20 he left the house last night because he heard someone calling for him, but h= e=20 couldn't recall who that person was and what that person wanted. The whole=20 rest of the night was also a blur in his mind. In fact, the only thing he=20 remembered was waking up with Lois on top of him in bed and their wonderful,= =20 passionate lovemaking that followed. He remembered flying to work, and then= =20 talking to Jimmy at his desk. Everything else about today was a blur. How=20 late was it? =20 In a clearer voice than before, Clark answered, "I don't know, Bernie. =20 My mind's a complete blank! I've been trying to fill in the gaps in my=20 memory ever since Lois left, but where am I supposed to start with a gap thi= s=20 big? I can't remember anything after we got to work this morning or anythin= g=20 between when I left last night and when I woke up this morning." Clark sunk his head into the pillow dejectedly. He didn't like feeling=20 helpless, and he wanted to get better. More importantly, he wanted to find=20 out what was wrong with himself. Even in the presence of Kryptonite, he had= =20 never felt this way before. Why did it hurt so badly? =20 Dr. Klein nodded and scratched his head puzzled, "Clark, you can't=20 remember anything?" When Clark shook his head, Dr. Klein scratched his head thoughtfully. =20 Whatever happened to Clark could have, quite possibly, happened during the=20 previous night, in the time that Clark couldn't recall. That seemed to be=20 the most logical explanation, but how would Dr. Klein figure out what hurt=20 Clark if Clark himself couldn't remember what had happened? Since Clark obviously wasn't going to be any help in recreating the=20 events of last night, Dr. Klein began his examination. He checked Clark's=20 vital signs and read the monitors and wrote his findings in his book. Then=20 he pulled out his stethoscope to listen to Clark's heart and lungs. =20 Strangely, Clark's lungs didn't seem to be blocked at all, but he was clearl= y=20 struggling to breathe. Finally, Dr. Klein pulled up Clark's gown to examine= =20 his abdomen. The doctor poked around Clark's abdomen, checking all of his=20 vital organs as well as his lymph nodes. Clark cringed and withdrew when Dr= .=20 Klein touched an especially sensitive spot underneath his last rib on the=20 right hand side. As Dr. Klein ran his hand down Clark's right side, the pai= n=20 became even more intense for Clark. It felt like sharp needles were coursin= g=20 through his entire body, catching hold of his insides and punching painful=20 holes throughout. Clark bit his bottom lip to keep from screaming. This wa= s=20 the most intense, most mind numbing pain he had ever felt in his life. As=20 Dr. Klein prodded further, Clark began to tremble with pain. =20 Dr. Klein, however, didn't seem to care about Clark's pain. What he was=20 interested in was the unusual, oddly shaped, discolored, bruise that was=20 forming in every area Dr. Klein's fingers touched. As much as he hated to=20 see Clark in pain, this bruise was possibly the key to Clark's illness. The= =20 bruise covered nearly the whole right side of Clark's abdomen. It was a=20 strange color, almost like a mixture of green and purple. =20 As Dr. Klein prodded the bruise further, the pain became too much for even=20 Clark to bear. He fell back onto the pillow, having long since given up=20 trying to keep his eyes in focus. The world began to turn fuzzy, but Dr.=20 Klein's exclamation woke him up. "Look at this! It's turning greener as it goes on. Oh my God, I think you=20 must have Kryptonite in your bloodstream!" Clark, whose world was still fuzzy, sat up as far as he could in bed. Could= =20 it be true, could he have Kryptonite in his blood? Was it possible? The=20 constant, excruciating pain was definitely the type of pain he felt when he=20 was around Kryptonite, but the pain had never felt quite like this or lasted= =20 this long before. If the Kryptonite was inside him, it would explain why hi= s=20 entire body, even including his eyelids, hurt. But when did he get=20 Kryptonite into his bloodstream and who did it to him? And how long could h= e=20 live with the Kryptonite inside him? More importantly, how would they get i= t=20 out? Dr. Klein leaned down to examine the bruise more closely. With his face=20 inches away, he noticed a small hole in the center of the bruise, something=20 that would have probably gone unnoticed to anyone else, especially if they=20 had never seen Clark before to know he had no scars or blemishes on his skin= .=20 It was very small, almost the size of a needle prick or of the tip of and=20 ice pick. Puzzled about what his next course of action should be, he decide= d=20 to get Lois to see if she had any ideas. Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Lois and Perry sat in an uncomfortable=20 silence, waiting for Jimmy to return with their food. Perry picked up the=20 copy of Newsweek he had been reading before, and flipped through the pages,=20 all the time watching Lois. Lois, for her part, had curled up in the corner= =20 of one of the couches with her legs pulled up to her chest and her head=20 against her knees. Perry could tell she was trying to hide her sobs from=20 him, but she wasn't hiding them well. Her shoulders shook with every new=20 wave of tears, and every so often, she sniffled silently, and Perry's heart=20 ached to see her like this, but he wasn't sure what he should do. Maybe she= =20 needed time to deal with this in her own way without anyone's interference.=20= =20 She probably didn't need him trying to calm her down right now, and it was=20 more than likely that he would say something trying to comfort her and she=20 would bite his head off. =20 After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Perry couldn't take it any=20 more. It wasn't healthy for Lois to cry like this without talking out her=20 feelings. She couldn't just sit there internalizing her feelings. Clark=20 meant so much to her, and this was quite a shock to her system. It was=20 completely unexpected because Clark had always been the healthiest man Perry= =20 had ever known. But Lois had been sick recently. What if she was blaming=20 herself for making him sick? It wasn't helping Clark to have his usually=20 strong wife in tears because she thought she made him sick. Perry got out o= f=20 his chair and moved next to Lois. She looked up, eyes wet from her recent=20 tears, and Perry said, "Lois, you aren't thinking you made him sick, are you= ?" Lois gulped, that hadn't been what she was thinking, but how could she=20 reassure Perry that she wasn't concerned about that because Clark was=20 Superman and, therefore, not susceptible to her human illness? "No, actually, that wasn't what I was thinking at all," Lois' face turned a=20 bright crimson. "Actually I was thinking about our baby, and what kind of=20 life he or she would have if anything happens to Clark. I mean, I probably=20 won't be the best mother a child could have, so our baby will probably be=20 really screwed up." Lois' tears fell in earnest now while Perry put a=20 comforting arm around her shoulders. "Now, honey, you can't really believe that. First, nothing's going to happe= n=20 to Clark," Perry said with fake optimism. "He'll be fine and back to his ol= d=20 self soon. Plus, what makes you think you'll be such a bad mother?" Lois looked at him questioningly, but his smile remained reassuring. "Great shades of Elvis, darlin', you'll make a wonderful mother." "What makes you say that? I've never had any real experience with babies,=20 and what little experience I've had with them has always been bad." Lois wiped her eyes dry with her sleeve as Perry said, "Lois, I've known you= =20 for almost nine years, and I think I know you pretty well. And in all the=20 years I've known you, I've never seen you give anything less than one hundre= d=20 percent. Plus, when you hold your child for the first time, everything=20 changes. You bond with your baby, and you never want to let it go. Lois, I= =20 know you and Clark will make wonderful parents. You both try so hard to=20 succeed at everything you do, parenting will be easy compared to most of the= =20 things you've already overcome to get where you are now. It might even be=20 fun." =20 Speaking from his own personal experience, Perry's eyes moistened when he=20 realized that he had once had such a commitment to his own family, but then=20 he had forgotten what was most important in life, and had forgotten his=20 family. But now he looked back on the years he spent with his family, and=20 hoped Lois and Clark would not make the same mistakes he did. Soon, the elevator's bell rang and Jimmy, accompanied by Martha and Jonathan= ,=20 stepped off into the lobby. They entered the waiting room to find Lois and=20 Perry on the couch with Lois crying silently and Perry comforting her with a= =20 far-off expression in his eyes. Martha, however irrationally, immediately=20 thought the worst had happened to Clark. Her heart sank; they were too late= !=20 They wouldn't be able to say one final goodbye to their son, the little bab= y=20 who had fallen out of the sky and had completed their lives. She knew there= =20 weren't many things that could hurt Clark, but today Clark had finally met=20 his match. =20 When Lois noticed that the three had arrived, she got up to meet them=20 halfway. The looks in the Martha's eyes telegraphed just what they thought=20 had happened to Clark. Lois could just imagine what Martha and Jonathan wer= e=20 going through right now. Neither of them ever thought they would lose their= =20 child, since their son just happened to be Superman. Now they were faced=20 with the possibility of having to bury their only son. It would just crush=20 both of them if they ever lost Clark, and Lois knew that she would have to b= e=20 strong for them if anything did happen to Clark. And as much as she didn't=20 want to think about it, that possibility was looking more and more realistic= =20 to her the longer Clark was in there. =20 Martha's eyes met Lois' and she exclaimed tearfully, "We're too late, aren't= =20 we, Lois?" "Oh, no, Martha," Lois exclaimed, "You're not too late. He's still here. =20 He's still here!" Martha collapsed into Jonathan's strong arms and she muttered, "Thank the=20 Lord!" Jonathan rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. He whispered, "Our=20 boy is strong, Martha. I told you not to worry." Jimmy, hands full of food, joined Perry on the couch, trying to give Lois an= d=20 the Kents some room. They busied themselves laying Lois' food out on the=20 table and then turning their attention to their coffees. =20 Jonathan opened his other arm up to Lois, and she, too, collapsed into=20 his arms. The stress of the day was finally getting to Lois, and all she=20 wanted to do was go home and lie down in her bed and then when she woke up,=20 this would all be a dream and Clark would be lying next to her. =20 Unfortunately, this was not a dream. Clark was in a bed in the ICU, and the= y=20 didn't know if he was living or dead, or even what was wrong with him. Martha broke away first, "Honey, how's my boy? Have you heard anything=20 since I called?" Jonathan offered Lois his handkerchief, which Lois accepted gratefully,=20 and she wiped her teary eyes and blew her nose. She sniffled and responded,= =20 "No, they won't tell me anything. I hate this waiting. Why can't I be in=20 there with him? I think it would do him good seeing familiar faces and=20 hearing reassuring words." Martha and Jonathan both nodded in agreement. Why did the world have to= =20 be so cruel to their son? All he ever wanted to do with his super abilities= =20 was help people. In fact, when his powers first manifested themselves, he=20 always tried to help people in need wherever he could. But what did he get=20 in return? People trying to hurt him in any way they could, that's what. =20 And right when his life was finally complete, with a happy marriage to the=20 only woman he had ever loved and with a baby on the way, one person finally=20 succeeded where everyone else had failed. This person had put Superman,=20 their son and Lois' husband, out of commission, maybe even permanently. Martha realized how fatigued Lois really was and how she was trying=20 valiantly to be strong for them, so she wrapped an arm around Lois' shoulder= s=20 and guided her to the couch and helped her sit down in the opposite corner=20 from Jimmy.=20 Martha handed Lois a fork and said, "Honey, you need to eat something. =20 You look horrible, and I don't want you and my grandchild to starve to death= =20 because you are neglecting your own health worrying about Clark." Jonathan added, "Yeah, you need to take care of yourself and let us=20 handle the worrying for a while. You deserve a break." Lois sighed as she grabbed the fork and twirled it in her hand absently.= =20 Martha and Jonathan did have valid points. She wasn't just neglecting=20 herself now, she was neglecting their baby's health too, and she couldn't do= =20 that. If she was the only one being hurt, she could handle that. It was th= e=20 prospect of hurting her innocent baby that made her take a second look at ho= w=20 she had neglected her body today. She hadn't eaten anything all day and she= =20 had ignored her stomach's growling for a few hours now. At least she had=20 remembered to take her antibiotic at the scheduled times. =20 Sighing, she picked up the plate of food that was sitting in front of he= r=20 and decided that she was hungry enough to eat anything right now. Luckily,=20 it was almost decent, for hospital cafeteria food. A tuna sandwich that=20 didn't look too old and a salad that had more green than brown sat on the=20 plate staring at her, enticing her to eat them. =20 The other four watched Lois devour her food, and Perry and Jimmy both=20 started to feel uncomfortable. Now that the Kents were here, what did they=20 need to be there for? Lois had more than enough support, and they both felt= =20 that they were just getting in the way. =20 Jimmy suddenly spoke up, "Hey, Lois, I got you a little treat. You're=20 gonna love me for this." He pulled a small cup of chocolate ice cream out from behind his back. =20 Surprisingly, Lois gently took the cup out of his hand and said, "Thanks,=20 Jimmy, I owe you." She didn't even crack a smile as she ate in silence. Perry touched Jimmy's shoulder and cleared his throat, "I think the kid=20 and I should probably be heading back to the paper, to see it gets put to be= d=20 correctly. That is if you don't need us any more." Perry and Jimmy were probably the best friends Lois could have ever aske= d=20 for. Jimmy had really proven himself today; it was almost like he had=20 matured in a matter of hours. This morning, he had been the same boisterous= =20 kid they knew so well, but after today, Lois would look at him as someone=20 that she could call whenever she was in trouble and he would be there to hel= p=20 her at he drop of a hat. Perry, too, had again showed how much he cared for= =20 his star reporting team. He was so strong, and he had helped her see that=20 she, too, had to be strong for Clark. Martha was agreeing, "Thank you so much for being here for Lois. We all= =20 appreciate everything you've done for both of them, but we're okay now, if=20 you want to make sure the paper is okay." Jonathan added, "We'll be sure to call you if anything changes." When the two turned to leave, Lois stopped them. In turn, she hugged=20 them, and thanked them for their help. =20 "Jimmy, I don't know what I would have done without you. Thank you so=20 much for coming when I called you." =20 Jimmy blushed when Lois gushed over him, "Oh, it was nothing, Lois," he=20 muttered. "You and CK are my friends and you needed me." And then to Perry, Lois said, "I don't know what to say, Chief, besides=20 thank you for everything." Perry just nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. Choking back tears, and trying to cover it in his boss-like tone, he=20 barked, "Now, Olsen, we've got a paper to run! Let's go!" After Perry and Jimmy left, Lois and the Kents sat in a contemplative=20 silence, each concentrating on their own private thoughts. Finally, Jonatha= n=20 ventured, "So, Lois, Clark mentioned something about genetic tests." Lois sighed and closed her eyes. It seemed like so long ago when they=20 were sitting in Dr. Klein's office and he gave them the good news when it wa= s=20 really less than 24 hours ago. Martha took this as a bad sign, so she=20 scooted closer to Lois and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. Lois tried to smile. After all, it was good news, and they needed some=20 good news right now. She forced a smile onto her face and for a moment she=20 actually felt happy. "Actually, we found out last night. It seems like Clark is normal. As=20 weird as that sounds, and I can't really explain it now, for all intensive=20 purposes, Clark is normal, and our baby should be fine!" "Oh thank God!" Jonathan exclaimed. It didn't matter to him how it=20 happened, but as long as they knew Clark's baby would be normal, he was=20 happy. He had been worrying about Clark's ability to have his own children=20 ever since Clark first started dating Lois seriously, and now his fears were= =20 completely erased. Lois would tell them exactly what had happened when they= =20 were in a less public place, and Jonathan had no trouble waiting for that=20 explanation, especially if his grandchild would be a happy, healthy baby. Suddenly, a page came over the hospital's PA system, "Code Blue! Dr.=20 Rosenblum, to the ICU, STAT! Dr. Rosenblum to the ICU, STAT, Code Blue!" =20 Immediately after the page, a nurse's voice came over the intercom, "Lois=20 Lane?" Lois' breath froze in her chest and her heart skipped a beat. If the=20 nurse was calling her, it could only mean that something catastrophic had=20 happened. There were no doubts in her mind that it was Clark that had coded= .=20 From the nondescript looks on Martha and Jonathan's faces, she wondered if=20 they were thinking the same thing. She didn't want to answer the intercom,=20 but as it buzzed again, she realized that it was now or never. If Clark wer= e=20 dead, she would have to face reality sooner or later. =20 Lois tentatively approached the intercom and pushed the button, "This is= =20 Lois Lane." "Ms. Lane, the doctor wants to see you. Step back because the door is=20 going to open out at you." Lois did as the nurse bade, and Martha came behind her. With a calming=20 pat on the shoulder, Martha said, "Don't worry, honey, he's okay. They woul= d=20 come get you if something was wrong." Lois nodded and smiled bravely as she squeezed Martha's hand. =20 "I hope so." Jonathan added, "Lois, the doctor would have come out here to tell you=20 himself if anything happened to Clark. They wouldn't call you over the=20 intercom to tell you that Clark died. Believe me." Lois nodded again. She took a deep breath and walked through the door, read= y=20 to greet anything that lay beyond. However, she wasn't sure how long her=20 brave fa=E7ade would last. Ignoring the nurse's station, she made a beeline= to=20 Clark's cubical. =20 As soon as she was close enough to see into Clark's room, she breathed an=20 enormous sigh of relief. Thanking God, she stood silently outside the littl= e=20 room just staring through the glass, watching Dr. Klein work around her=20 husband, who was awake and alert. =20 When she couldn't stand watching Clark without touching him to make sure he=20 was really there, as calmly as she could, Lois entered Clark's cubicle. =20 Clark noticed her as soon as she appeared in the doorway. A wave of relief=20 flooded him when he realized that she wasn't a mirage and that she was reall= y=20 walking towards him. Lois practically flew across the distance that=20 separated her from Clark's bed with her arms extended to him. Dr. Klein=20 backed away from Clark so Lois could hug him freely. Being extremely careful so not to hurt him, Lois hugged him tightly and Clar= k=20 responded in kind. When she buried her head into his shoulder, her silky=20 hair brushed against his cheek, and he was able to smell her conditioner. H= e=20 simply breathed that scent, remembering just how lucky he was to be able to=20 hold his wife in his arms. Lois held on to him like she was drowning and he= =20 was her life preserver. She'd never let go. After all the agony she had=20 been through in the past hour or so, with that little voice in the back of=20 her head telling her that he was dead, she needed to reassure herself that h= e=20 was alive and that it was indeed Clark who was hugging her back. "When the nurse called for me, I was sure you had died. I was so scared,=20 honey!" Lois cried, in agony as she remembered how she had felt when she=20 heard the nurse calling her. Clark hugged back as tightly as he could manage with all of the tubes=20 sticking out of him, and tried to reassure her that he was there for her. =20 Before they got married, he had promised himself that he would never make he= r=20 cry, but today he had broken his promise. This was the most he had ever see= n=20 her cry, and it was his fault. A single tear fell down his cheek as he=20 planted a soft kiss on her cheek.=20 "I'm still here. Don't worry, baby, I'm still here." Lois sighed with relief and began planting soft kisses on his face, overjoye= d=20 that he was still alive and able to talk. She had been through a major=20 emotional catharsis in the last few minutes, first thinking Clark was dead=20 and now hearing his voice and feeling his lips against hers. =20 Clark leaned back into the pillow and enjoyed the feeling of Lois' lips on=20 his own. He was still chiding himself for making Lois hurt so badly. Lois,= =20 the single most important person in his life, did not need to be worrying=20 about him right now, especially after being sick herself for so long and=20 after finding out such life altering news, as they had yesterday. They=20 should be at home celebrating their news and Lois' recovery right now, not i= n=20 Metro General's ICU worrying about what was wrong with him. What troubled=20 him about his condition, other than the obvious physical trauma, was that he= =20 had no idea what caused that huge bruise on his stomach and that he had a=20 strange amnesia about what had happened last night and this morning. In=20 fact, the only thing he remembered in that time period was making love to=20 Lois as soon as he woke up. He recalled their flight to the Planet and thei= r=20 conversation vaguely, but after that, the day was a blur. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:55:43 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: NEW: Silent Fears (5/6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Silent Fears (5/6) by Alicia U. Alicia3456@aol.com, lxu2@po.cwru.edu Any and all FDK is appreciated :) ******************************************************* Dr. Klein cleared his throat from his isolated corner of the cubicle. He ha= d=20 been looking the other way, to give the couple some privacy, but now he had=20 given them enough time to reconnect. The one thing he was sure about with=20 Clark's condition was that time was of the essence. =20 Lois reluctantly stood up when they heard Dr. Klein's cough. Not wanting to= =20 break contact with Clark, she reached down and grabbed his hand, holding ont= o=20 it tightly, for fear that he might slip away again. =20 Dr. Klein traversed the short distance to Clark's bed trying to hide his=20 embarrassment, "Lois, Clark, sorry to break this up, but if I am correct,=20 time really is of the essence here." He ran a hand across his balding head,= =20 pushing back what little hair he had. "If my analysis is correct, we only=20 have a short window of opportunity to correct his problem." Lois squeezed Clark's hand, as she demanded, "Bernie, what is it? What's=20 wrong with Clark?" "I'm not entirely sure, Lois," Dr. Klein replied truthfully. As Lois'=20 expression fell, he continued, "But I do have a theory." Dr. Klein pulled the sheet off Clark's body. Before he pulled Clark's gown=20 back again, he warned her, "I have to warn you, Lois, this isn't pretty." An almost electric look passed between Lois and Clark filled with=20 apprehension and fear about what lie beneath Clark's gown. He seemed=20 outwardly okay, so what could be under his gown? Lois nodded to Dr. Klein telling him without words that she needed to see=20 what lay beneath that gown. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself for=20 the worst. After making sure no prying eyes could see into the room, Dr. Klein finally=20 pulled Clark's gown back. Both Klein and Lois gasped when they saw the=20 bruise. Even though Dr. Klein had seen it before, he was still amazed at it= s=20 shear size and its color. Lois nearly passed out in shock. What was that?=20= =20 How did it get there? Why was it such a horrible shade of green? Lois muttered, "Oh my God, it's Kryptonite!" Dr. Klein nodded, "That's my guess too. However, I am not sure exactly what= =20 caused it, where else it is in his body, or just how concentrated this=20 substance is." Dr. Klein paced around the bed, not sure if he should tell=20 Lois the other fact he knew. "I don't think it could be pure Kryptonite, or= =20 even real Kryptonite, because if he had this much real Kryptonite inside his= =20 body, I don't think he would have survived this long. I think it has to be=20 some kind of synthetic Kryptonite that doesn't have the exact same=20 properties, enough to incapacitate you, and possibly even kill you, but not=20 enough to kill you right away." Lois and Clark shared a look of horror. Synthetic Kryptonite inside his=20 body! Someone had synthetic Kryptonite and had somehow found a way to injec= t=20 it into him. Lois saw her own fears mirrored in Clark's eyes. She had to b= e=20 strong for him just like he had always been for her. =20 Then Lois did the only thing she could think of to do, what her mom had=20 always done when she was a little girl to make her boo boos feel better. Sh= e=20 bent down to give it a tiny kiss. When her lips made contact with the skin,= =20 even more of the surrounding skin turned the same hideous green. Clark=20 gasped in pain and Lois immediately withdrew in fear. "Clark, are you okay?" Lois hated herself for hurting him. He was in enoug= h=20 pain, so why did she have to do something stupid? =20 Eyes narrowed with pain, Clark managed only short bursts of words, "It's=20 okay=85 honey=85 I'm fine=85 You=85 didn't do=85 anything." Lois ran her hand down the side of his face trying to soothe him. She would= =20 gladly take some of the pain away from him if she could. It had to be so=20 hard for him, never being sick before and not knowing what pain felt like. =20 It probably made this pain so much worse for him. Suddenly, Dr. Klein, who had been studying the bruise, exclaimed, "Look at=20 this! I almost forgot about it!" "What, look at what, Bernie?" Lois wondered. Dr. Klein looked up and pointed to an area near the top of the bruise, right= =20 above Clark's navel on the right side. "Here, don't you see it? There's a hole right here. It's even bigger than=20 it was before!" Dr. Klein anxiously bustled over to the other side of the=20 room to get a syringe and a vial. "Clark, whatever you were stabbed with=20 must have been covered in Kryptonite and then you must have been injected=20 with the liquid Kryptonite. It's the only thing I can think of to explain=20 it." Lois gazed at the hole, her curiosity almost getting the better of her,=20 longing to touch it, to see what it felt like. =20 "Clark, this is going to hurt. I think there might still be something in=20 there, so I am going to feel around and then I am going to take a blood=20 sample to run some tests with." Clark nodded and bit his lower lip. He tightly squeezed Lois' hand as if he= =20 was clinging for dear life preparing for the mind numbing pain that was to=20 follow. Lois cringed as she imagined the pain Clark must have been going=20 through. She let him squeeze her hand as much as he needed to while Dr.=20 Klein examined his wound. =20 As Dr. Klein poked and prodded, Clark nearly passed out from the pain again.= =20 Lois' hand squeezing his was the only thing that kept him from fainting. =20 Finally, the agony was over. =20 Dr. Klein exclaimed, "Okay, I have what I need. Clark, I think you may have= =20 something inside you, left over from whatever stabbed you. I have to get an= =20 x-ray of your abdomen to make sure where it is, and I have to run some tests= =20 on this blood to see just what we're dealing with here." He raised the vial= =20 full of Clark's green-tinted blood for the couple to see. "But I have to=20 work quickly because, honestly, if there is Kryptonite in your blood and=20 something inside of you, you don't have a lot of time left. I'll have to ge= t=20 an x-ray before I go back to the lab. Let me see if I can get one." =20 Without waiting for Lois or Clark's reaction, Dr. Klein left the cubicle in=20 search of a portable x-ray machine. Lois and Clark stared at each other wit= h=20 terror in their eyes. What would happen if the Kryptonite remained inside=20 him too long? Both were to terrified to even consider the possibilities. Lois stroked his face tenderly, noticing the beads of sweat on his forehead.= =20 "Are you hot, honey? I could help you take one of these blankets off." Clark shook his head as much as he could. "No, it's okay. Not hot=85 Cold." Clark was sweating yet cold, that was a bad sign. Lois carefully wiped away= =20 some of the beaded sweat from his forehead and then brushed her lips across=20 his forehead. His skin was hot and clammy, and she had never seen him sweat= =20 so much before. Dr. Klein had to get back soon! They needed to find out ho= w=20 to make Clark better! Finally, Clark stopped sweating profusely, and began to feel a little bit=20 better, at least as well as he had before Dr. Klein had played with his=20 bruise. He tugged on Lois' hand to bring her closer to him. She bent down,= =20 and Clark captured her lips with his own. Their kiss was a light, gentle=20 kiss that spoke volumes about just how much they felt for each other. When=20 Clark had to come up for air, Lois reluctantly stepped back, trying to give=20 him room to breathe. =20 The question that had been burning in the back of her mind all day finally=20 found its way back into the forefront of her thoughts, "Clark, I need to=20 know, were you feeling sick this morning?" Clark sighed and shook his head. He honestly didn't know; his memory was=20 almost a complete blank. "Well, honey, I might have been, but I really don't remember. My mind is a=20 total blank. Well, except, I remember you waking me up in an interesting wa= y=20 and then making passionate love to you before work. Then I remember our=20 conversation about telling people at work about the baby." "Um, well, about people at work knowing about the baby, I kinda slipped up o= n=20 that one. I know we wanted to tell them together, but I sort of told them=20 all already. I didn't mean to, but when you fell, I screamed, 'I can't have= =20 this baby without you!' And Jimmy said everyone heard. Oh, yeah, Jimmy, he= =20 was such a good friend to me today. He came down here and sat with me in th= e=20 ER waiting room, then he and Perry stayed with me until your parents got=20 here. Oh, yeah, your parents are here. They took the first plane as soon a= s=20 I told them what happened." Clark watched his wife with a silly grin on his face, just happy to hear the= =20 sound of her voice. Lois stopped talking and stared at him. =20 "I was babbling again, wasn't I?" Clark reached up and cupped her face in his hand. He looked into her eyes,=20 almost reverently and declared, in an almost prayer-like tone, "Lois, I love= =20 to hear your voice. Today, there was a point when I wondered if I would eve= r=20 have the chance to hear it again. I don't care that everyone knows about ou= r=20 baby. Remember, I'm the one that wanted to tell everyone the minute we foun= d=20 out." Clark moved his other hand to rest on Lois' stomach. She covered that hand=20 with her own as Clark continued, "I know we wanted to tell everyone together= ,=20 but this is almost better. Having Perry and Jimmy know about the baby=20 probably gave you someone to talk to when I was unconscious." Lois nodded, "You're right. I don't know what I would have done if they=20 hadn't been there to talk to me, to guide me through it. I probably would=20 have lost myself in the world I was imagining. It must be the hormones or=20 something, or else it's a strange reaction to those antibiotics, because=20 every time we've been separated today, I've gotten this strange feeling that= =20 you were dead!" By this time, Lois was sobbing in earnest. Clark wiped some of the tears from her cheek and said, "Oh, honey, you aren'= t=20 going to lose me that easily. I'll always be there for you no matter what.=20= =20 And I am going to beat this, whatever it is, for you and for our baby. I=20 have absolutely no intentions of leaving you and our little son or daughter=20 alone anytime soon." He ran his hand across her stomach, taking her hand with him, making a silen= t=20 vow to their baby that he or she would always have both a mommy and a daddy=20 that loved it and would always be there for it. They stood there silently, not wanting to ruin their peaceful, contented=20 moment with any sound. Suddenly, Clark remembered the original question that had sparked this whole= =20 tangent. "You know, I really have no memory of anything that happened." Clark was=20 trying desperately to recall even the slightest snippet from the previous=20 night so they would have some clue as to what happened. Clark looked like he was in so much pain as he tried to force himself to=20 remember what happened. Lois smoothed his hair back and trailed her fingers= =20 down the side of his face and then down his neck and across his chest trying= =20 to soothe him in any way she could. =20 "Don't worry about it, honey. All you need to concentrate on right now is=20 getting better. We'll find out who did this as soon as you are well." Lois could tell that Clark was straining to keep a smile on his face. He wa= s=20 in so much more pain than he would ever let on to. =20 "Clark, what does it feel like? How bad is the pain, really? You don't hav= e=20 to be brave for me. Just talk to me." Clark shook his head. She just knew him too well. How could she tell that=20 he was hiding so much of his pain from her? And, God, what pain he was in.=20= =20 He took a deep breath and said, honestly, not wanting any more secrets to=20 come between them, "Oh, honey, it hurts so much! This is the worst pain I=20 have ever felt in my life. God, it even hurts to wiggle my toes." Lois cringed sympathetically. If Clark admitted that he hurt that much, he=20 must really be hurting more. Never wanting to inconvenience anyone, he woul= d=20 never reveal just how much pain he was in. Especially to her because he had= =20 trained himself to protect her from anything that could hurt her. And he=20 would rather bear the all the pain in the world than cause her any suffering= . Lois continued her soothing hand ministrations along his face, hoping to cal= m=20 him down a bit. Whispering sweet nothings, trying to calm his nerves, she=20 ran her hand across his face and through his hair hoping he would settle dow= n=20 and fall asleep. The thing he needed most right now was rest. He needed as= =20 much strength as he could muster to battle whatever was inside him. With he= r=20 other hand, she held one of his hands, absently running her fingers along th= e=20 palm. "Clark, just close your eyes. You need to get some sleep." Clark's eyelids were already beginning to feel very heavy and he was fightin= g=20 an up hill battle to keep them open. Lois' invitation was all he needed to=20 feel free to close his eyes and drift to sleep. Before Clark was fully asleep, he muttered, "Stay with me, Lois. Please=20 don't let go." A single tear fell down Lois' cheek as she nodded frantically and promised,=20 "I'll never let go, Clark. I'll never let you go." Under any other circumstance, she might have laughed at how they had just=20 sounded like Jack and Rose from the movie "Titanic." Unfortunately, right=20 now, she didn't have time for humor. Clark looked so angelic when he slept,= =20 and so innocent. No one would ever suspect that he really was Superman, the= =20 Man of Steel, who could lift satellites into orbit, fly faster than a=20 speeding bullet, or leap tall buildings in a single bound. If today had bee= n=20 any other day, she would have laughed at just how boyish he looked when he=20 slept so peacefully, his chest rising and falling rhythmically, his nose=20 scrunching up with each breath, his mussed hair falling in small locks onto=20 his face, and his completely peaceful expression. As she watched his chest=20 rise and fall, she began to feel the effects of the day. She was tired. =20 Today had been probably the most stressful day in her life. Somehow, she=20 allowed her own eyelids to droop, and before she knew it, she was fast aslee= p=20 with her head resting on the bed near Clark's arm. After a short while, Clark started stirring violently in his sleep. If it=20 wasn't Clark's violent tossing and turning that woke Lois, it was certainly=20 his scream, "No, no, please, no!" Lois abruptly sat up on the bed. Should she wake Clark up? Was it safe to=20 wake someone in the middle of a nightmare? Or was that sleepwalkers? She=20 couldn't stand watching him in any more agony, so she gently shook him. She spoke softly, but firmly, "Clark! Clark, wake up! You're having a=20 nightmare. Clark!" Suddenly, Clark's eyes flew open, and he seemed dazed and confused. His=20 first incoherent words were, "L-L-Lois! I heard you calling me. Wha-what=20 happened?" Trying to soothe her obviously troubled husband, Lois ran her hands gently=20 down his arms and around his hands. =20 "Shhhh, it's okay, Clark. Don't worry, I'm right here. It was just a=20 nightmare." Clark, in a more rational state of mind, realized that he was not just havin= g=20 a nightmare. He was remembering something horrible. Something horrible tha= t=20 had happened last night. "Lois! Kryptonite! Luckaby! LNN tower! Ice pick! Pain! Needle!" As=20 Clark spoke, he involuntarily trembled in fear. His arms thrashed wildly,=20 like he was trying to stop himself from falling. Lois grabbed his arms, holding them down to the bed. It was easy to do=20 because he was so weak. Once he stopped fighting her, she stroked his=20 sweat-damped cheeks to help him settle down. The involuntary shuddering soo= n=20 stopped, but Lois continued her gentle caresses. =20 "Luckaby? Leslie Luckaby? I thought he was dead! But we can deal with= =20 that later, once you're better." =20 Clark's eyes took on a strange, far-off look. He was remembering=20 something, and Lois didn't interrupt him. Giving him space to let him=20 remember what happened was the best thing she could do for him. She kept=20 stroking his cheek, in a calming motion, with one hand, and running her othe= r=20 hand up and down his arm. Finally, Clark's gaze fixed on Lois. In a calmer tone, he started, "Las= t=20 night, I heard someone calling for help from around the LNN tower. There=20 were so many people screaming that someone was going to jump. I didn't want= =20 to leave you there by yourself, but then the cries got more urgent. When I=20 got there, I spotted a man on the roof of the building who looked like he wa= s=20 about to jump off. Then, as soon as I got closer, he jumped." Clark shook his head at the memory. Suicide attempts were always=20 emotionally tough for him, especially because he could not understand why=20 anyone would ever want to end their own life. Even when his life seemed=20 hopeless, he had never even considered committing suicide. It went against=20 his every moral belief. Lois squeezed his hand, trying to signal him to continue. "The man seemed so strangely familiar. When I got a clear view of his=20 face, I realized why. Honey, it was Leslie Luckaby. Unmistakably Leslie=20 Luckaby!" Lois shook her head. Was Clark hallucinating? Leslie Luckaby was dead;= =20 she had seen him fall with her own two eyes. "Clark, honey, are you sure it= =20 was him?" Clark sighed. "Yes, I'm sure it was him. Didn't I tell you that people= =20 have been seeing him around lately? The people I've talked to have said tha= t=20 he somehow survived, and is back trying to take over Intergang. I had Jimmy= =20 working on some background about anything that could be related to Luckaby=20 resurfacing, although I didn't believe it myself until I saw him with my own= =20 eyes." "But he couldn't have survived? Could he? We both saw him fall into=20 that murky sewer water with a bullet hole in his chest. Didn't we?" "I'm not saying I have the answer, honey. I don't have any more ideas=20 than you do right now. Remember, I'm the one laid up in a hospital bed,=20 barely able to move." Lois shook all thoughts about Luckaby to the back of her mind. She had=20 to focus on the situation at hand and force her reporter's instincts to take= =20 a back seat to her concern for her husband. But Luckaby was on the loose an= d=20 he knew Clark's secret. That was bad, very bad. What did Luckaby want? Sh= e=20 didn't know for sure, but she was sure that it had something to do with=20 Superman's demise. "I'm sorry, Clark. Go on, what happened after he jumped." Clark closed his eyes, as if it pained him to even think of the memory.=20= =20 He continued, "Well, after I caught him and realized who it was, I had this=20 bad feeling about what was going on. I mean, I rescued a dead man for cryin= g=20 out loud. I didn't know what to do. He whispered, 'Hi Clark, I've missed=20 you.' I nearly dropped him in midair. I had almost forgotten that he knew=20 my secret. Then he told me to take him back to the roof or else he would=20 tell my secret to everyone waiting down below. I can't believe I listened t= o=20 him. I knew it was a trap, but I also didn't want him to tell my secret to=20 the entire world! Just think of what would happen to you, to our baby, to=20 our lives. I know I should have just taken him in to the authorities, he's=20 wanted for more crimes than I can count, but all I could think was that he=20 knew my secret. I flew him up to the roof so I could decide what to do=20 next." =20 Lois stroked his face, trying to wipe away the beads of perspiration tha= t=20 had again dotted his entire forehead. She tried to be reassuring when she=20 said, "It's okay, Clark, you did what you thought was right. You can't beat= =20 yourself up in hindsight. He knows your secret, and you didn't want to do=20 anything rash. What would you have done if he had blurted your secret to=20 everyone on the ground? You had to decide what to do. After all, if it was= =20 still only you, me, and your parents you had to worry about, it would be=20 different. Now we have to consider our baby and what kind of world we are=20 going to be bringing it into. If the world knows you are Superman, what kin= d=20 of life will our baby have? Being Superman's son or daughter with the world= =20 knowing would be so hard. We can't let the world know about you now. You=20 did the right thing not acting rashly." Clark kissed the palm of her hand as it passed by his lips. He took=20 Lois' words to heart and realized that he had done what seemed appropriate a= t=20 the time. Luckaby did know his secret and had threatened to blab it to=20 anyone that was down below. Any other time, Clark would have taken the risk= =20 and turned Luckaby in to the police immediately, but now that he and Lois=20 were expecting a baby, all of his priorities changed. He couldn't take the=20 risk that the world might find out his secret and that his child would suffe= r=20 because of it. "I know, you're right. But I just can't understand why I took him back=20 to the roof. It was such a deliberate trick. I couldn't let him tell the=20 world my, no our, secret. It wouldn't be fair to you or to my parents, or t= o=20 our baby especially." With a somber expression on her face, Lois said, "Honey, it's so sweet that=20 you were thinking about us. Lord knows I always worry about you when you ar= e=20 out as Superman, but I don't want you to put yourself in danger ever again=20 because of us, especially if it isn't an immediate threat to us. Clark, I=20 don't care if the whole world knows you're Superman, as long as you come hom= e=20 to us safe and sound. That's the price I'm willing to pay to have you in on= e=20 piece." Tears now flowed openly down Lois' cheeks. Clark's eyes also glazed over in tears and his voice shook when he said,= =20 "I know, honey, I know. What good would I be to you if someone hurt me so=20 badly I never came home?" Lois ran a hand through her hair, trying to forget that Clark might have= =20 gotten into just the situation he had described. She had long since given u= p=20 the pretense of keeping her hair styled today. After the long hours waiting= =20 and running her nervous fingers through her short hair, it was sticking up i= n=20 strange patterns. Clark, however, thought she looked absolutely beautiful.=20= =20 But, to Clark, Lois could never look anything but beautiful, even when she=20 woke up in the morning. To Clark's biased eyes, she was the most beautiful=20 woman in all the world. And, especially today, Clark thought she took on an= =20 ethereal quality that he could not entirely describe. In fact, to Clark her= =20 presence caused more aesthetic sensations than the greatest piece of artwork= =20 he could imagine ever could. Clark's eyes were glazed over, as if in deep thought. Now Lois was=20 antsy, literally on the edge of her seat, waiting to hear what happened next= =20 with Luckaby. "Clark, honey, we really got off track. Are you trying to=20 avoid telling me what happened after you took Luckaby up to the roof." This is where Clark had to stop and take a deep breath. What he was=20 about to tell her was not something he was proud of. How could he have=20 allowed himself to be suckered like that? The images of Luckaby and the=20 Kryptonite filled his mind until he forced himself to concentrate on Lois'=20 voice. He clung to the warmth of her touch and to her voice calling him. "Clark, Clark. Earth to Clark." Clark blinked a few times, trying to bring himself to tell Lois exactly=20 what had happened on the roof. Finally, he regained his voice, "Sorry, honey, I was miles away." He=20 looked at her with sad eyes, and she sent him a comforting look. =20 He continued, "Okay, this is hard to say. I don't even know if I can ge= t=20 the words out of my mouth. It's just so embarrassing that I got tricked so=20 easily." Lois clasped his hand again. "Just let it out, honey. You'll feel so=20 much better with this off your chest." Clark took another deep breath. Now it seemed like it might be easier t= o=20 get this incident out into the open.=20 He shuddered involuntarily when he remembered the maniacal look on=20 Luckaby's face when he had Superman in such a prone position. Lois realized= =20 how unsettling this was for Clark, so she didn't pressure him to tell her. =20 She knew he would talk when he was ready. In the meantime, Lois planted a=20 reassuring kiss on Clark's forehead. She whispered, "No matter what=20 happened, honey, you'll still be my Superman." Clark's dry lips curled into an unconscious smile at Lois' comment. It=20 was good to know that Lois loved him, and would always love him no matter=20 what had happened, even if he had made a stupid, nearly fatal mistake with a= =20 homicidal maniac. He began, "Okay, when you put it that way." His joking exterior faded=20 and he became somber again, "As soon as I landed on the roof, Leslie pulled=20 something out of his pocket. I felt him reach in, but I was still holding=20 him, so I couldn't see what it was. I should have known it was Kryptonite.=20= =20 He tricked me so easily." =20 Clark's face was now twisted in pain as he remembered the pain he suffered=20 the previous night. He continued, "Lois, it was horrible. He had what=20 looked to be an ice pick in one hand and the chunk of Kryptonite in the=20 other. I was paralyzed. I couldn't even blink my eyes. He took the pick=20 and stabbed me, and I couldn't do anything to stop him. After that it gets=20 really hazy. I think I must have blacked out for a while after he stabbed=20 me. I don't know when or why he left, either. It seemed strange that he=20 would just leave me on top of the roof to die like that without even waiting= =20 to see if I was really dead. Maybe he thought I was already dead. If I=20 remember correctly, our Mr. Luckaby was not the most intelligent man we've=20 ever met." He abruptly changed topics again, "I don't know how I managed to= =20 get out of there, honey. He must have taken the real Kryptonite with him=20 wherever he went because when I woke up, I was sore, but I could move around= .=20 I could even fly." Clark looked so vulnerable lying against those pillows, his face so pale= ,=20 and writhed in emotion. "Honey, I had to get home, somehow. I had no idea=20 what had happened, so I just flew home as quickly as I could. About halfway= =20 home, I started to lose altitude. I couldn't keep myself up any more. I=20 don't know how I did it, but by some miracle, I made it the rest of the way=20 home. It was like some unknown force was pulling me home." Lois gasped. This had all happened last night while she was sleeping. =20 How had she missed the warning signs this morning? What pain he must have=20 gone through just to make it home. And he couldn't even remember what=20 happened to him while he forced himself to fly home. Strangely, all it took= =20 was a little nightmare to trigger Clark's memories. Dreams were often said=20 to be the window to one's subconscious, though. If Clark was trying to bloc= k=20 these traumatic events from his mind, all he might have needed to cue the=20 horrible memories could have been something as simple as a dream.=20 Clark's eyes rolled back as all the pain he had felt rushed back through= =20 his body. He clutched Lois' hand tightly and he waited for his pain to pass= .=20 Soon, he felt well enough to continue, and he took another deep breath,=20 again trying to cleanse the bad memories from his mind. "Honey, it was all I could do to get out of the suit. I didn't even hav= e=20 the energy to spin. I stripped out of the suit so slowly. I almost can't=20 believe I got it into the hamper." Leave it to Clark not to leave his dirty laundry on the floor, Lois=20 thought wryly.=20 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:58:51 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (6/6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Silent Fears (6/6) by Alicia U. Alicia3456@aol.com=20 Please send FDK... I am begging you! ********************************************************************** Clark continued, "Then I tossed on the pair of shorts I was wearing before,=20 and that was all I could do. I fell into bed and I think I was almost=20 unconscious by the time my head hit the pillow. The next thing I remember i= s=20 you waking me up." Lois wiped a tear from her red eyes again. It pained her to realize tha= t=20 Clark was in pain all night and all morning and all she was concerned about=20 was herself. If she had been more observant, like the reporter she claimed=20 to be, she would have noticed that Clark was not all right. She was way too= =20 self absorbed to see that Clark was hurting. "Oh, Clark, I'm so sorry. I=20 should have realized something wasn't right." Clark smiled at Lois' concern, but he worried that she was dwelling on=20 the fact that she didn't notice his illness. =20 In a husky tone, he tried to dispel her concerns, "Honey, if I didn't=20 even realize there was something wrong, why should you have seen something?=20= =20 I had no idea I was sick this when I woke up this morning, Lois. I didn't=20 remember anything about last night at all when I woke up. And did I seem so= =20 sickly when we made love this morning? It was pretty memorable. I mean, I=20 had amnesia and I still remembered our love making." He gave her a lopsided= =20 grin, the grin that always melted her heart every time she saw it. =20 "No, Clark, it was wonderful. I would have never even guessed that you=20 had been exposed to Kryptonite." Now his lips were just inviting her to kis= s=20 them. She bent down, resting her lips on top of his. He parted his dry lip= s=20 and her tongue entered his waiting mouth. Feeling Lois' moist lips against=20 his parched lips felt so good to Clark. They kissed deeply, each reminding=20 the other of the passion they had shared that morning. Right at that moment, Martha and Jonathan walked through the door of the= =20 cubicle. They both heard the younger couple's conversation about their sex=20 life, and the older couple's faces turned a bright red. Jonathan spoke first. He cleared his throat announcing their presence,=20 and Lois jumped away from Clark. Jonathan began, "If you want us to leave=20 for a while=85" Lois' face showed a hint of a blush, but she hid it well. "No, Jonathan= ,=20 Martha, it's fine. Please, come in." Clark's face broke into a wide grin when he laid eyes on his parents. =20 "Mom, Dad, you came!" Martha immediately rushed to the side of Clark's bed and bent down to hu= g=20 him. "Clark!" she exclaimed, "How are you feeling?" Clark hugged her back tightly, realizing that a few hours ago they must=20 have doubted if they would ever see him alive again. For most of his life,=20 before he met and fell in love with Lois, there was almost nothing more=20 reassuring in his life than a hug from his mother, and if there was any time= =20 he needed a hug, it was now. Jonathan followed Martha and stood on the other side of the bed with his= =20 hand on Clark's shoulder. "You sure gave us a scare, son," he said, his=20 voice trembling with emotion. Jonathan wrapped his other arm around Lois' shoulders. The little famil= y=20 unit huddled silently around Clark's bed, praying that he would get better=20 quickly. Suddenly, Dr. Klein ran into the room. "Good, you're all here. I brought this portable x-ray machine. Let me=20 tell you, it took me forever to get one. They don't give these babies out t= o=20 just anyone." He patted the machine and grinned. "I had to pull a few=20 strings, but now it's all mine." He bustled around Clark's cubicle setting=20 up the machine. "Lois I don't want you to be anywhere near this machine whe= n=20 I'm using it. X-rays are bad for your baby, especially in such an early=20 stage of development. Could you wait out in the lobby until I come to get=20 you." Lois nodded. As much as she wanted to be there to see what Dr. Klein wa= s=20 going to do to Clark, her desire to protect her unborn child was much=20 greater. She knew the dangers x-rays posed to fetuses, and she did not want= =20 to subject their baby to anything harmful. Lois Lane could never be called=20 stupid; sometimes she did have her priorities right after all. =20 Jonathan squeezed his son's hand trying to pass some of his strength on=20 to his son, giving him as much support as the younger man needed to fight=20 whatever was hurting him. Then Martha planted a quick kiss on his forehead.= =20 Finally, Lois leaned down to give him a big hug and a peck on the cheek. If= =20 they had been alone, she might have drawn out their kiss, wanting him to fee= l=20 her own strength and for him to grab on to that strength to bring him throug= h=20 this illness. But since they were surrounded by Clark's parents as well as=20 Dr. Klein, Lois could only show her support with a comforting hug before she= =20 and the Kents departed. As they walked out the door, Lois turned around to=20 see Dr. Klein covering Clark's upper body with a lead sheet. "You never kno= w=20 just what these things will do to you, yes even to you. We don't want to=20 take any chances now and make things worse." About fifteen minutes later, visiting hours had ended, but Dr. Klein=20 emerged from the ICU to bring the Kents and Lois back to Clark's room. He=20 had the results of all the tests, and judging from his worn out, haggard=20 exterior, the results probably weren't as good as they could have been. When they reached Clark's room, Dr. Klein already had the x-ray=20 illuminated against a light board in the room. Lois perched on the edge of=20 Clark's bed and grabbed his hand. Martha and Jonathan stood anxiously on=20 either side of their son's bed and waited for Dr. Klein to begin. No one in= =20 the family knew what exactly the x-ray meant, but they did see something out= =20 of the ordinary. Dr. Klein pointed to the x-ray, under the ribs to a sharp object that=20 looked very out of place in Clark's abdomen. "Just as I suspected. Whateve= r=20 he was stabbed with is lodged in his abdomen. I have to get it out. =20 However, in the position it's in now, it could have punctured either his=20 stomach or his spleen." The Kent family collectively gasped. This was bad, very bad. =20 Clark wondered, "It punctured my stomach or spleen? Don't I need those=20 organs to function." Lois grabbed his hand and stroked his face soothingly as Martha squeezed= =20 his other hand. "Clark I need to get you to surgery to it. The sooner I get it out the=20 better. We just have to pray that it isn't poking through any major organs,= =20 but I'm sure if it were you'd be in much worse shape." Martha gasped, "Are you saying that this thing Clark was stabbed with=20 could kill him?" Jonathan wrapped an arm around Martha's shoulders, trying to comfort her= ,=20 even though he didn't feel so sure himself. Dr. Klein took a deep breath because this wasn't the worst news he had=20 for the family. He took another deep, cleansing breath before he continued,= =20 "Unfortunately, that's not the worst news I have for you all." Lois' heart sank, she knew it was bad. Maybe she had gotten her hopes=20 that he would be better soon up too high. =20 Dr. Klein ran a nervous hand through his balding hair and continued,=20 "From the blood I took earlier, I found large traces of Kryptonite=20 throughout." Clark fell back into his pillow. This was probably the news he dreaded=20 more than anything else. He had that horrible poison floating around in his= =20 bloodstream and it was probably slowly infecting his entire body. Dr. Klein continued, "So, I have to book an operating room soon. Can't=20 have an anesthesiologist because no one knows about you, so I'll just have t= o=20 do it myself. Then I have to get a dialysis=85"=20 Lois interrupted, "Dialysis, is that how you're planning to get rid of=20 the Kryptonite?" "Yes, Lois. I thought that since it is in his blood stream, it would=20 probably be best to try to dialyze it out." Jonathan added, "That's a good idea. Makes a lot of sense. Will you do= =20 this dialysis while you our operating on him?" Martha said at the same time, "Have you ever done this before, Bernard?" Dr. Klein coughed nervously, "Well, um, Martha, technically no, not sinc= e=20 my surgical rounds in med school. But I do know what I am supposed to do=20 theoretically. And, Jonathan, yes, that is what I was planning to do. That= =20 way I'd kill the proverbial two birds with one stone." Lois had been sitting silently, and Clark pulled down towards him and=20 wrapped her in his arms. He whispered, "Don't worry, baby, I'm going to be=20 okay. I trust Bernie; he'll fix me, and I'll be there for you. Just don't=20 worry about me, sweetheart." "=85 So I will get a portable dialysis machine, and then I'll see if the= re=20 are any open OR's so we can get in as soon as possible. If that's okay with= =20 you, Clark." Clark squeezed Lois' hand and nodded, "Do it as soon as possible, please= .=20 I need this stuff out of me!" Jonathan asked, "What happens if the dialysis doesn't get all the=20 Kryptonite?" The four Kents sat on the edge of their seats waiting for Dr. Klein's=20 answer. Dr. Klein paced around the bed thinking. "I'm not really sure, Jonathan= .=20 The tests I've run are all theoretical, but they all seem to indicate that=20 if a tiny amount of Kryptonite remains in his blood stream, he should be=20 physically fine, but just not super. He'd be normal in human terms, healthy= =20 and able to function, but without super powers." Lois asked, "How soon can you get him to surgery?" "I'll get a room right now. It's late, so I don't think there are any=20 other surgeries scheduled." Clark pleaded, "Please do it soon."=20 With that, Dr. Klein left to book the OR, get a dialysis machine, and=20 prep for surgery. =20 Lois reached down and encircled Clark in a big hug. She kissed his chee= k=20 and whispered, "I'll always love you. Powers or no powers you'll always be=20 my Superman. I love you, the man underneath the suit. Your strength all=20 comes from within, and that makes you the man I love." Clark kissed her back and whispered, "Thank you, honey. I needed that."= =20 He reached a hand up to touch her stomach tenderly. "And I'll always love=20 the two of you too. No matter what happens, remember that." Both Lois and Clark now had tears streaming down their cheeks, the air=20 tight with emotion.=20 Martha and Jonathan, as much as they wanted to spend time with their son= ,=20 realized that he needed this time to be alone with his wife. =20 Martha cleared her throat and said, "Clark, sweetie, your father and I=20 are going to go out to the waiting room. The two of you need time alone." Martha and Jonathan each took their turns hugging him, and then they=20 left. Jonathan turned around at the door and said, "Lois, we'll meet you in= =20 the surgery waiting room." Finally they were alone. Clark looked up into Lois' tearful eyes. He=20 reached up and pulled her back down towards him. He gently caught her lips=20 with his and then they kissed. It wasn't the most memorable kiss they had=20 ever shared, but it did help both of them forget, if even for a second, what= =20 was about to happen to Clark. For that all too fleeting moment, it was like= =20 the world had stopped for the couple, and the only thing that mattered was=20 their lips never losing contact. =20 As all wonderful moments do, their kiss came to an end all too soon. =20 Lois ran her hands through Clark's hair silently praying that Clark would=20 come out of the operation well. She trusted Dr. Klein explicitly, but she=20 couldn't help but wonder if he had enough formal medical training to be able= =20 to do a surgery like this. Sure, Dr. Klein was probably the most intelligen= t=20 man she had ever met, but that didn't mean he would be able to perform what=20 sounded like a complex procedure. And this procedure was going to be done=20 one the one most important person in her life, her husband, the father of he= r=20 child. Clark leaned back and enjoyed the feel of Lois' small hands' soothing=20 motions against his sore head. He closed his eyes, praying that he would ge= t=20 to feel her hands against him again. If the surgery didn't go well, he migh= t=20 never be this close to his wife again. He might never get to see the birth=20 of his child or be able to watch it grow up. Of course, he trusted Dr. Klei= n=20 that he would be able to perform the surgery, but Clark was still leery abou= t=20 letting a man that had not formally practiced medicine in nearly fifteen=20 years operate on him. But this was the only way he could hope to get better= ;=20 he couldn't risk letting another doctor in on his secret because now there=20 was just too much at stake. If that doctor wasn't trustworthy, his parents,= =20 Dr. Klein, Lois and, most importantly, their baby would be targets for any=20 mad man that wanted to get to him. He was making the right choice. Dr.=20 Klein would be able to do the surgery; he just had to. Clark tried to be=20 optimistic so he could project those emotions to Lois. She didn't need her=20 to be worried about him too; he had to convince her that Dr. Klein was=20 completely qualified to do his surgery, even though he wasn't sure about it=20 himself. =20 Lois' beautiful eyes were all red and puffy, obviously from crying all day.=20= =20 Worry lines etched her forehead, and she just looked plain worn out. She=20 looked like she hadn't slept in days. Rest was what she really needed right= =20 now, but he knew as well as she did that she wouldn't be able to rest=20 comfortably until he was better. With her mouth next to his ear, Lois whispered, "Honey, you know I meant wha= t=20 I said before. I'll always love you, no matter what happens." Clark's lips curled into a cautious smile. He repeated, "I'll always love=20 you, too, Lois. Remember that." A single tear slid down Clark's cheek. He was never a man to show his=20 emotions, but today, when he was so close to losing it all, tears just seeme= d=20 to flow with their own will. "Clark, are you scared? I mean, if you wanted him to get a real surgeon to=20 do this=85" Clark cut her off, "No, honey. We can't do that. Then someone else will=20 find out about the secret." Lois brushed a stray lock of dark hair away from Clark's face. "Clark, you=20 lunkhead, right now the secret isn't important. We need to do anything so=20 you'll get better, no matter if it puts the secret in jeopardy or not! The=20 most important thing in the world is getting you healthy again." Clark shook his head as vigorously as his headache would allow. "No, I trus= t=20 Bernie, honey. I trust him with my life. I'd never do anything that I=20 thought would hurt me. Please trust me. I know you want to help me, but I=20 think Bernie is the right person to do this. He is the only expert on my=20 physiology, and even though I may have the same anatomy of other men, my bod= y=20 might work completely differently. The only person I would even consider=20 letting work on my body is someone that has studied it so thoroughly, even=20 though he hasn't performed any surgeries in fifteen years." When Clark said that, he realized that he, indeed, believed it. He truly di= d=20 feel comfortable having Bernard Klein operate on him. It didn't matter that= =20 Dr. Klein's practical medical experience was rather slim; the only important= =20 thing was that Dr. Klein was the greatest authority, in fact the only=20 authority, on his Kryptonian physiology, and that outweighed any other=20 doctor's medical experience in Clark's mind. =20 Lois took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before she said, "Okay,=20 Clark, if that's the way you feel, I trust him too. I trust your judgment=20 explicitly. You'd never agree to anything that would put you in danger, at=20 least not consciously. I just can't help worrying about you. I guess it's=20 the same way you always worry about me." Clark smiled, "Now you see how I feel." Lois nodded, "I think I'm beginning to understand." A small grin played on=20 her lips. "It's just that things are so different now that we have another=20 little life to think of." She brought her hand down to her abdomen. "I=20 can't bear to think of our child having to grow up without a father. I can'= t=20 even think of how I would go on without you." Clark covered her hand with his. He brushed the tears off Lois' cheeks. =20 "Honey, you don't have to worry about that. I'm always going to be there fo= r=20 the two of you." A tentative smile worked its way across his face. "I love= =20 you, honey, the both of you. No matter what happens in that surgery, I will= =20 fight with all my power to come back to you." He tried to lighten the mood=20 by saluting her with the boy scout hand shake. "Scout's honor." Lois had to fight a giggle. This was too serious for her to giggle, so what= =20 was Clark doing trying to be funny? "Scout's honor?" "Okay, what about pinky swear?" This time, Lois couldn't fight the giggles that bubbled up inside of her. =20 She might have been giggling to relive all the stress she felt from the day,= =20 but no matter why, it sure felt good. Clark joined her, and when the=20 orderlies came into the room to wheel Clark down to surgery, they were=20 greeted by Lois' and Clark's giggles. The two men raised their eyebrows and= =20 one of them asked, "Are you ready, sir." The couple instantly sobered, and Clark nodded. "Let's go, the doctor's waiting. Ma'am, you can walk with us and stay with=20 him until he's prepped if you so desire." They helped Clark onto a gurney, and then wheeled him down to the prep area.= =20 It was strange that there were no nurses or nurses' aids in this room, but=20 Dr. Klein had probably made sure they had all gone home so he wouldn't have=20 to explain anything. While they waited for Dr. Klein to meet them, Clark grabbed Lois hand=20 tightly, almost like he would never let go. Lois knew he was very nervous,=20 more than he would ever let on. He had never been sick before, let alone in= =20 the hospital or in need of surgery. So, Lois knew he had to be nervous, eve= n=20 if he was trying to put up a brave, machismo front. =20 Soon, Dr. Klein came out pushing a portable dialysis machine. Lois turned=20 away as he skillfully inserted a shunt into Clark's brachial artery in his=20 upper arm, so that the blood would pump through the dialysis machine. He=20 explained that usually they would insert the shunt into the stomach, into=20 either the abdominal aorta or the illiac, but he didn't want to disrupt the=20 dialysis while he performed the surgery. Lois started with eyes wide open in amazement at Clark. From the way Dr.=20 Klein inserted that shunt, it seemed like he still had some medical=20 knowledge. Even though he might be rusty from not practicing for years, his= =20 skills must have been very sharp when he was in medical school. She wondere= d=20 why he chose life in a lab instead of in practice. Then she looked at Dr.=20 Klein more closely. Yes, it was obvious why Dr. Klein had chosen a career i= n=20 research. The man had very bad interpersonal skills, and a horrible bedside= =20 manner. It wasn't that Dr. Klein wasn't very personable, he was, but he jus= t=20 seemed uncomfortable with people he didn't know very well. Once Dr. Klein started the dialysis successfully, he was about to wheel Clar= k=20 back into the OR. Before he rolled away, Lois bent down to give Clark a=20 kiss. They lingered together for a moment before reluctantly breaking away.= =20 Clark squeezed her hand, "I love you, honey. And don't worry, I'll be okay.= "=20 He bit his lower lip, "But if I don't come out of this, let our baby know=20 how much I loved it." Another burst of tears fell from Lois' eyes. Why did he have to say that? =20 He was going to be fine. But she forced herself to somehow nod and said, "I= =20 know, Clark, and he or she will know too." She forced herself to smile. =20 "But we don't have to worry about that, do we? You and I both know you're=20 going to be fine." She bent down to kiss him again. When the kiss broke, she whispered, "I love you, Clark." Clark smiled and brought his hand to her abdomen. "I love you too, honey. =20 You and our baby are my life force. I'll cling to that force and never let=20 go." Dr. Klein cleared his throat and said, "We have to get into surgery. =20 Sorry to interrupt you, but we really have to get started. The dialysis has= =20 already started and I have to hook him to the monitors." Lois nodded, and Dr. Klein began to push the gurney into the OR. As the= y=20 drifted back, Lois left her arm extended, almost as if she still felt Clark=20 holding onto her hand. She watched until they had vanished into the OR, and then she resigned=20 herself to going back to the waiting room. As soon as she entered the=20 waiting room, Jonathan and Martha stood up. =20 Martha rushed to Lois' side and asked, "How is he? Did they get in all=20 right?" Lois nodded, "He's okay. As well as could be expected. I know he's=20 nervous, but he trusts Bernie, and I do too." Neither Martha nor Jonathan wanted to discuss their fears about Dr.=20 Klein's surgical qualifications right now. If both Lois and Clark trusted=20 their friend to perform the surgery, they shouldn't doubt him either. They all settled into the uncomfortable waiting room chairs preparing for a=20 long wait. =20 For the first hour, Martha and Jonathan tried to make idle conversation with= =20 Lois, trying to get her mind off what was happening in the next room. After= =20 a while, it became blatantly obvious that Lois was not a willing participant= =20 in this conversation. Jonathan snuck another glance at his daughter-in-law.= =20 He smiled when he saw that she was slumped in her chair, fast asleep. =20 Martha turned to him and smiled. "Let her sleep, honey. She's had a long,=20 stressful day. Plus she's still sick. I hope she's taken her medicine." "I think I saw her take a few pills. I know Lois wouldn't neglect her own=20 health, especially now that she's carrying our grandchild." Martha smiled, "Our grandchild. It feels so good to say, Jonathan. We used= =20 to wonder if we would ever have children of our own, and then we wondered if= =20 Clark would ever be able to have children, and now we're going to have a=20 grandchild." Jonathan shared a knowing smile with his wife, "I know, isn't it wonderful=20 how life turns out, Martha." He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her=20 close. Martha nodded, and they sat in silence until Martha's stomach growled loudly= .=20 "I'm absolutely famished!"=20 Jonathan nodded and said, "It's been a long day. I haven't eaten a thing=20 since breakfast, and I'm starving." "It's late. The cafeteria's probably closed, huh?" "Yeah." "Jonathan, I saw a Chinese restaurant on the corner when we drove by. Would= =20 you mind running out to get some? I'm sure Lois is hungry too." Jonathan nodded, "Yeah, be back in twenty minutes?" Then he left to get=20 their dinner. While Jonathan was gone, Lois awoke. She looked wildly around the room,=20 almost as if she had forgotten where she was. All of a sudden, it hit her.=20= =20 It hadn't been a nightmare. Clark really had been injured and they really=20 were sitting in a hospital waiting room, waiting for Clark's surgery to be=20 over. Lois sighed and Martha moved to sit next to her. "It wasn't a dream, was it, Martha?" Martha smoothed Lois' hair back from her face. "No, honey, I wish it was." They sat in silence, not really knowing what to say until Martha exclaimed,=20 "It's not fair, Lois. All Clark has ever wanted to do ever since he found=20 out what he can do is help people in need and this is what he gets. What ha= s=20 he done to deserve this?" Lois nodded; that was exactly what she had been thinking. "You're right,=20 it's not fair, Martha! He fights for truth and justice every day, and what=20 does he get in return? It seems like every criminal in Metropolis wants to=20 get a piece of Superman; and each time they try, they get closer to success.= =20 I'm really wondering if Clark's sacrifices are worth it any more." Both Martha and Lois lapsed back into silence, contemplating what Lois had=20 just said. After a few minutes, Lois finally realized that Jonathan was no=20 longer with them. "Hey, what happened to Jonathan?" Martha grinned as she heard Lois' stomach growl loudly. She had been right=20 when she assumed that Lois would be hungry. "Oh, he and I were hungry, and=20 we assumed you'd be too, so I sent him out to get some Chinese food." Lois stomach growled loudly again. "Looks like the baby sure is hungry. I=20 sure hope he or she likes Chinese food as much as I do." "Well, I think we're in luck. The food is here," Martha said when she caugh= t=20 a glimpse of Jonathan walking in the door. Jonathan set the bags he was carrying down on the table in front of them, an= d=20 Lois started digging in almost before she could remove the bag. The elder=20 Kents watched in amusement while Lois dug in like she had never eaten before= .=20 She looked up sheepishly and said, "Oh, oops, I guess you guys wanted some=20 too." Jonathan laughed at Lois' expression, "Don't worry Lois." Martha added, "It's okay. We'll eat whatever you don't. Believe me, you=20 need the food more than we do." "You know, this is the first time I've been able to look at food in so long.= =20 I can't remember the last time food's looked so appetizing. You know what I= =20 need right now, chocolate. Yeah, chocolate. I wonder if they have any=20 double fudge crunch bars in that vending machine at the end of the hall,"=20 Lois babbled. Martha and Jonathan shared a knowing look. Clark was right when he describe= d=20 her babbling, especially when she was nervous. It was a coping mechanism. =20 Lois babbled when others would break down and cry, especially when stress wa= s=20 getting to be too much for her to handle. Martha humored her and asked, "Did you want me to walk with you to see?" Lois nodded, and the women went off in search of the cure-all chocolate bar. When the two women got back, each with several candy bars, Lois had hit the=20 complete manic stage. She couldn't sit down, and contented herself by pacin= g=20 around the waiting room. Both Jonathan and Martha were getting dizzy just=20 watching her walk in circles around the room. First, she walked fast, then=20 she walked slowly, then she walked to get a drink of water, and then she got= =20 herself a cup of hot cocoa. Finally, after about half an hour, she was=20 completely worn out. All of her manic energy had left, and now she was at a= =20 low. All she could do was collapse on the small couch and lie there silentl= y. "Lois, why don't you try to get some sleep? You look exhausted, honey,"=20 Martha tried to get her to further relax. Jonathan added, "Yes, you certainly look beat. We'll wake you if we hear=20 anything. I promise." Lois didn't need any more invitation, and the next time Martha looked over t= o=20 the couch, Lois was fast asleep. Two hours later, Dr. Klein emerged from the OR. He stopped in the doorway=20 and watched Lois tossing and turning on the couch and the elder Kents sittin= g=20 calmly on two of the chairs. Martha's head rested on Jonathan's shoulder,=20 giving Dr. Klein the impression that she was asleep too. Jonathan heard the footsteps first and he turned his head to investigate. =20 This jarred Martha, and she too turned to look. Both took deep breaths when= =20 they saw Dr. Klein in the doorway. He wasn't betraying any emotions, either= =20 good or bad; he only looked haggard, like he wanted to go home and fall into= =20 bed. =20 Dr. Klein walked towards the group, and Lois instantly awoke when she heard=20 the sound of his footsteps. Still groggy, she exclaimed, "How is he?" Dr. Klein collapsed into one of the surrounding chairs, exhausted from the=20 last three-and-a-half grueling hours of surgery. He took a deep breath and=20 began, "Okay, I was able to remove the ice pick from his stomach. The tip=20 was lodged in his stomach, and I was able to repair the hole. He shouldn't=20 suffer any permanent damage from that injury." The three shared a collective sigh of relief. "As for the dialysis, I am not sure how it worked. This is going to be more= =20 of a wait and see. I drew some blood from after we completed the procedure,= =20 and it wasn't visibly green as it was before. I am not sure if we got all o= f=20 it, but if we didn't he will just have to go through the dialysis again. I=20 also have to run tests on the substance in his blood to see just what it was= ." For some reason, Lois got a strange feeling of optimism, the first bit she=20 had felt all day. "He's going to be okay!"=20 "Now, Lois, we aren't exactly sure how his body is going respond. I believe= =20 he'll recover fully, but it will be a long process. That Kryptonite was=20 circulating in his blood for over twenty-four hours, so I don't know how lon= g=20 it will take him to recover. And you know there is a chance that he will=20 never be super again." "Bernie, I don't care if you stuck him together with crazy glue and he'll=20 never be able to move again, just as long as he is alive. That's all that=20 matters." Martha and Jonathan both nodded their agreement. "Can I see him?= " Dr. Klein let out the deep breath he hadn't known he was holding. He wasn't= =20 sure what was wrong with Clark, and he knew Clark would probably need to be=20 hospitalized for a long time before he was even ready to go home, but now he= =20 was relieved the major battle was won. "Sure, you can all go in. He's been= =20 asking about all of you ever since he woke up." Lois didn't need a second invitation. She darted out of her chair and into=20 the room Dr. Klein had emerged from. Martha and Jonathan were close on her=20 heels. =20 As soon as Lois set eyes on Clark lying on the bed, something struck a chord= =20 inside of her. She knew in her heart that he would be okay. Their baby=20 would have a father, and she would have a husband for the rest of her life.=20= =20 Clark tilted his head and was greeted with the image of Lois perched on the=20 side of his bed and his parents flanking both sides. =20 They shared a tearful reunion, and all of them knew that Clark would=20 eventually be fine. The next morning, when Clark was back in the ICU, and Martha and Jonathan=20 were still at the brownstone, Lois and Clark just sat together thinking abou= t=20 what had happened over the last day. They knew Clark was going to eventuall= y=20 be healthy, but how long it would take, they didn't know. He could,=20 theoretically be without his powers forever. "Honey, what if I never get my powers back?" Lois faced him, "I know it will be hard for you, Clark, but isn't it better=20 that you are alive?" Clark nodded slowly. "Yes, but I know myself. Believe me, I am grateful to= =20 be alive, but I'm not sure how I will be able to live without being able to=20 help people." "I agree; it has to be so hard going from having powers one day to having no= =20 powers the next." "Honey, I'm not sure what I will do if I see something that I might have bee= n=20 able to help with as Superman, but now I won't be able to. What if I can't=20 protect you or our baby any more?" Lois stared poignantly into his eyes, "We'll get through it. I know we will= ,=20 together." Clark nodded, "I guess I am just lucky to be alive. This taught me not=20 to take so many chances. I should have just taken Luckaby to the=20 authorities, but no. I don't even know what I was trying to prove. =20 Especially now, I have so much to live for." Lois knew exactly what he meant. "I know, Clark. Doesn't it seem so=20 strange that now we are going to have a baby? It's strange that just two=20 days ago, we had no suspicion that I was even pregnant, but today we are=20 going to have a baby. I don't know if I've ever been so happy." Clark took her hand in his, "And you don't know how happy I am to hear=20 you say that. All my life I wondered if I could ever be normal, have a wife= ,=20 a family, and now all of my dreams are coming true. You and this baby are=20 the greatest gift I could have ever wished for, and it's like my whole life=20 is coming together at once. Even if I never get my powers back, I will stil= l=20 think I am the luckiest man in the world." Lois leaned down to kiss him. "Clark, I know this is going to be hard=20 for you, but we'll get through it, together. And I am sure you'll get your=20 powers back. I just have this feeling." As they sat in Clark's little room, holding on to each other tightly,=20 both realized that they were probably the luckiest people on=20 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 17:40:13 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (6/6) - cliff hanger!!!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii As they sat in Clark's little room, holding on to each other tightly, both realized that they were probably the luckiest people on .... Please tell me that we are only missing one word? And if you please what is that word? James :-) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 23:09:24 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (6/6) - cliff hanger!!!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit 2 words, actually, James :) the world. Alicia ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 20:33:45 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (6/6) - cliff hanger!!!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii My wife thought that might be it. --- Alicia Utowski wrote: > 2 words, actually, James :) > the world. > > Alicia > S P O I L E R S P A C E I have gotten as far as "Just because I'm pregnant and my husband might be dying... Up to this point I have been dying to read the previous story. Is this part of your series of stories? You do a wonderful job of giving everyone's POV. I rarely see anyone write in that format anymore. or at least not as clearly as you do. I will let you know what I think of the rest of your story. Shameless plug What do you think of 7 days of Superman so far? James ===== Mr. D8a - Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 23:57:38 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (6/6) - cliff hanger!!!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated Thu, 17 Feb 2000 11:34:10 PM Eastern Standard Time, James Tull writes: > My wife thought that might be it. that's why you should always trust your wife :) > > > S > P > O > I > L > E > R > > S > P > A > C > E > > I have gotten as far as > > "Just because I'm pregnant and my husband might be > dying... > > Up to this point I have been dying to read the > previous story. Is this part of your series of > stories? > yes, this is part of my series of stories... i have decided to rewrite all of them becuase when I went back and reread them, they weren't very good (okay, they were bad). I posted the first story, Better Family Hour, to the list in December, I think, or else it was early January. If you missed it, I could send it to you, or else check the list archive. > You do a wonderful job of giving everyone's POV. I > rarely see anyone write in that format anymore. or at > least not as clearly as you do. > thank you :) sometimes I think i am long winded when i do that, but when i read my stories before without that, they just seem bad to me > I will let you know what I think of the rest of your > story. thanks :) > > Shameless plug > What do you think of 7 days of Superman so far? honestly, I haven't had time to read it yet. I have all of the installments saved as unread mail in my email program... don't feel bad, I haven't started Erin's Darkest Hour or Carol's Connections yet either... school is a real drag sometimes... I dont have time to keep up with all the fic on the list and on the message boards... I promise I will comment on it when I get around to reading it (looks like it will be around spring break... mid-March) Alicia :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 21:18:50 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (6/6) - cliff hanger!!!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Over all: A well written story. I look forward to nominating it for best series in 2001. I can't wait to see what happens next. but I guess I should read what happened before! James ===== Mr. D8a - Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 07:50:07 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: SIP: Connections - part 9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi -- back from my trip and hoping some of you still remember this story. Anyway, here's the next part. There are a couple of lines in this part that I would like to be in Spanish so if anyone could translate them for me, I would be grateful. And, as always feedback is very welcome. Carol ------------ Connections, part 9 Clark's mind was chaotic as he streaked towards Mexico city, skittering between his time with Lois and his anticipation of what he would find when he reached his destination. Gradually, he brought some order to his thoughts as he focused on the types of wreckages he expected to find, working out where and what he would do first. Then, with horror, he wondered if this were another test orchestrated by Zara and Ching. This was no game; this time people had died. He knew already he would be too late to save everyone. His face was grim as he landed with a dramatic whoosh in the centre of the slums of Mexico City where the damage had been most severe. "Superman! Thank God!" He heard the relief in the lieutenant's voice as he stopped in mid command to a small crew of relief workers. "Over here. People are trapped in the basement of this apartment." Over the next few hours, Superman raced against time to dismantle the wreckage of collapsed buildings, hoping that he was finding the right balance between speed and the need to work carefully so that his actions would not further destabilize the rubble of collapsed walls and timbers. Plucking vehicles out of huge fissures in streets proved to be much easier. Sometimes he was too late, and he unearthed the body of a person who had been crushed immediately by a collapsing structure. But more often, he made it in time, freeing trapped victims who emerged injured but safe, their chests heaving as they gasped street air after hours trapped in small dark spaces. As much as possible he used his supervision to identify the location of people who could be freed easily by the emergency crews who were now at the point of exhaustion, their faces streaked with grime and sweat. Then, the next morning, a severe aftershock hit, adding to the devastation and the chaos in the streets. Now there was no doubt that there would be a serious problem of dislocation and contaminated water supplies. But the end of the day brought some hope as the first of the international relief forces arrived, their vehicles methodically wending through the streets to bring supplies and a fresh wave of workers to assist the desperate Mexican emergency forces. As Superman sped around the city, helping extinguish fires caused by downed electrical lines and extracating people from the ruins he felt his anger rising; so many of these people need not have been injured or have died. Shoddy construction practices and corrupt building inspectors had conspired to throw up apartment and office buildings which had turned out to be death traps. Two days after his arrival, Superman felt that he could leave. The sort of help these people needed now was beyond his ability. He was only the strongman; now they needed their own heroes -- the people who had worked with him to the point of exhaustion. They could use a few wise men, too, he thought as he shot back to Metropolis, his mind focused on finding Zara and Ching, hoping he was wrong in his suspicion that they had caused the quake. Recalling Ching's words when he had accused them of playing with people's lives after they had set up the bus incident, Superman remembered how Ching had been offended and his cold reply that they were not murderers. Then Superman's mind shifted to Lois Lane and he smiled. The Apollo Hotel. ***** Zara and Ching watched the news coverage of Superman's activities with some frustration. "You see," Ching pointed out as he walked with Zara towards the Planet, "he has no sense of duty to his own people. Aware his homeland is in danger, he rushes off to save a handful of peasants who have no connection to him at all. It's his emotional nature again. It dominates him." "Ching, we must be patient. I know he will come with us. You saw how eager he was to know everything about New Krypton. His assistance with the earthquake shows that it's nature to help people in trouble. That, too, will lure him to New Krypton." Ching let his gaze wander over the grimy streets of Metropolis as they continued their walk, his foot kicking at an empty beer bottle that someone had tossed away. "We can't get home fast enough for me, Zara. I hate it here. The sloppiness, the lack of restraint." His hand gestured at a sadistic bondage video playing out in the window of a porn shop they were passing. "This is what New Krypton will become if Nor succeeds. We can't let that happen!" Zara slid her hand around his arm. "We won't, Ching." He turned to her, his sternness vanishing as he looked at her. He raised his right hand, and for a brief moment, he touched the side of her face. "We've been gone too long, Zara. Our people need us, our children need us." "I know, Ching. We must push Kal El to act." ***** Lois Lane also watched the news coverage of Superman's actions in Mexico. As she did, she thought of the people he'd saved and wondered if he ever got any rest. Did he need to sleep? And, with a pang, she wondered how he was coping with the carnage and the death of so many people. But watching the news network wasn't the only thing that Lois did when she got back to Metropolis; she also continued her investigation of Superman. Now she wanted to go over all the film footage which Trask's people had gathered, not just what he had selected for her viewing. Why was Trask so convinced that Superman meant catastrophe for planet Earth, anyway? Perhaps a tiny, infinitesimal part of her had thought Trask's notion was marginally possible but her brief encounter with Clark Kent had knocked all her preconceived notions sideways, including Trask's. Whatever he was, she felt in her soul that Clark Kent was a decent man. And he was more than that. In her short time with him, she'd glimpsed a man who had become very isolated, traces of sadness lurking beneath the humour and optimism which she'd also seen as they'd talked during the drive back to Smallville. Still determined to write that article on Superman, she now was uncertain what would be in it. She was all too aware that she felt attracted to him. But she'd been attracted to Claude, too, and had been completely taken in. Maybe there was something in her nature that allowed her to be easily seduced by these guys with a spark in their eyes -- consequently she mistrusted this part of her reaction to Clark Kent. But what she didn't mistrust was the man who had needed to return to that barn in Smallville. So Lois spent the two days that Clark was in Mexico City doing more research at Bureau 39, and getting to know Jason Trask just a little better. She was much relieved to discover that Trask was unaware that she had met Superman while she was in Smallville. As far as he knew, her cover was still intact. Over lunch, she learned that Trask, too, had a past which drove him in his pursuit of Superman. He was convinced that twenty years ago, his twelve year old sister had been abducted by aliens. The girl had vanished without a trace after the two of them had approached a vast, luminous circle of light which had suddenly materialized on an escarpment not far from their home. As he told her this, his words spare and his eyes distant, Lois was aware that Jason Trask had felt responsible for his sister and had never got over her disappearance. Four years ago, Lois would have thought he was a little crazy; now she was less sure. The other thing she did during this period was to try to get in touch with her father again. This time she succeeded, sort of. She called Luthor Labs and found that he still worked there but that he was currently on leave of absence, seconded to the University of Hawaii for three months where he was working on a project on bionic prosthetic devices. Luthor Labs gave her his professional address but not his private address which was against corporate policy. So Lois contacted the University but, since it was Friday afternoon, Dr. Lane could not be reached. Lois decided she would wait for his return call. The other thing she did was to scrub and disinfect her apartment with an efficiency that would have brought joy to the heart of a hospital housekeeper. Tying back her thick hair in a ponytail, and donning a pair of old grey sweats with one of the knees long gone, she set to work. It was while she in mid-scour, on her knees in the bathroom, that she heard a tapping sound on the one and only window in her apartment. At least, she thought she heard it. Shaking her head, she continued her task, now aggressively scrubbing the grout in the shower stall. The tapping sounded again. Strange. Rising, she left the bathroom, walking the few steps to the tall narrow window which provided the room's only natural light. Astonished, she saw Superman hovering outside. She stared open mouthed at him for a second and then realized he was signally for her to open her window. Bending over, she tried to push the window up but a succession of bad paint jobs defeated her. She looked up at the man outside her window and shrugged her shoulders, raising her palms upward in a gesture of defeat. He smiled and drifted back a few feet and narrowed his eyes, letting them trace a line around the perimeter of the window. Then he gestured for her to raise the window. She tried again and the window opened although she noticed that layers of dirty paint were dripping over the sill. She giggled at the absurdity of the sight as she completed the task of opening the window and then stood back to look at the man suspended in the cold dark air. "May I come in?" "Sure." Lois stood aside and absently tucked an errant strand of auburn hair back into the band that held her ponytail, then decided that the ponytail probably looked awful and pulled the band loose. She probably looked pretty awful, too, she thought ruefully. Well, better he should see her at her worse than cosmetically enhanced. Then she frowned as she realized that she wanted him to find her attractive. Noticing her scowl, he said, "If this is a bad time, I can come back later." She brightened. "No, no. This is a good time. How did you know this was my apartment?" "It wasn't that easy," he grinned. "The walls of these old apartments are covered in layers of lead based paint which, for some reason, blocks my vision. Then I saw you pass by the window a few moments ago." "Oh," Lois said, as she remembered her trip to get cleanser from beneath the kitchen sink. "Hey, wait a minute, does that mean you can just cruise around and check out people?" Her tone was accusing as she thought about the possibilities which that little superpower gave him. Now it was his turn to frown and he crossed his arms, standing straighter. "Lois, Superman would not do that," he said loftily. "Of course not," Lois agreed; then asked, "but would Clark Kent?" "No, I would not!" He was indignant. Lois looked at him, surprised. No wonder she was confused about Superman/ Clark Kent. *He* was confused about Superman/Clark Kent. She looked at his face carefully, seeing past the mild indignation that had flickered there. Then she noticed his exhaustion. "I watched the news coverage of the quake." He walked over to the only armchair in the room and sank heavily into it. "So many people, Lois." His voice was little more than a whisper and she was dismayed by the haunted look in his eyes. "So many people dead. So many people lost family. I couldn't save them." Lois sat crosslegged on the narrow bed across from him. "But if you hadn't been there, Clark, how many more would have died?" she asked gently. "Lois, it shouldn't have been as bad as it was. If those buildings had been more substantial..." his voice trailed away. "How do I stop that?" He raised his eyes to look at her. "I'm not sure," she said slowly. "Maybe that takes a lot longer to do and maybe you can't do it alone." She met his troubled eyes for a moment and was silent. Then she gave him a small smile. "You must be so tired. The news reports made it sound like you didn't get any sleep at all." "None," he said with a small grin. "I don't need much sleep, but right now I sure could use some." "So maybe you should go home, Clark." "Maybe. I guess so." He got to his feet and plodded to her window. As she followed him, she asked, "Why did you stop here, Clark?" "I wanted to..." he hesitated, unsure of what to say, and then continued lightly, "to make sure you got back to Metropolis all right." She patted his arm and said teasingly, "Well, it was kinda rough figuring out how to get back to the airport and then, which plane I should get on, and then which subway line to take to get back here. But I managed." He grinned at her and then, again their eyes met, and neither spoke for a moment. "Uh, can I take you to breakfast tomorrow?" She smiled, lost in the soft darkness of his eyes. "Yes," she said almost shyly, like a girl being asked on her first date. "I'll be here at eight." Then he bent his head and gently kissed her cheek before taking off into the night. "Good night, Lois." Bewildered, Lois stood at her window watching as he soared upward. ***** As Superman flew towards Clinton Street, he felt less uptight than he had when he'd first returned to Metropolis from Mexico. In the back of his mind had been the fear that Lois would not be there, that somehow she would have disappeared, that somehow he had imagined the whole thing in Smallville. But she hadn't and he hadn't. She was in Metropolis and she was real. Where should they go for breakfast tomorrow? he wondered. Wanting to impress her, he decided on a new place, not far from the Planet, raved about by James Olsen only a couple of weeks ago. As he landed on his balcony he once again encountered Zara and Ching, just as he had before his trip to Smallville, standing, arms crossed, waiting for him. "Good of you to return, Kal El." Ching's voice was sarcastic and Clark wondered again about the antagonism which never seemed far from the surface in this man. Surely, if he, Clark, were to save New Krytpon, Ching should show more respect. Zara, on the other hand, he liked. Maybe because they were distantly related, he thought, with a smile. Ignoring Ching, Clark explained to Zara. "I had no choice." Zara smiled as she stepped towards him. "Perhaps not, my lord." She detected a flicker of surprise in Kal El's eyes at her use of the honorary address. That was a good sign, she thought; he had accepted her and wished to drop the use of formalities. "But now it's time for our return to New Krypton." "You're leaving?" Clark was surprised. Had they decided that they didn't need him afterall? He didn't want them to go yet; there were still so many things he wanted to talk to them about, to ask them. He hoped, too, to see the ship in which they'd arrived, and to meet the "others" whom Zara and Ching had said accompanied them to Earth. And he wanted them to meet Lois, wanted Lois to meet them. He smiled as he thought of that. Zara was puzzled. Had he failed to understand how urgent their mission was? "Yes, we must leave, Kal. And you must come with us. We can't lose any more time here." Her expression took on a worried cast as she thought of the latest news from home base; Nor had managed to kidnap the children and was now holding them hostage against her surrender. He had presented her with a deadline; she had one week to accede to his demand to marry him and thereby legitimize his claim to the throne of New Krypton or he and his supporters would resume hostilities. She and Ching had to get back. She would do anything to free her children. Her voice reflected this fear as she continued. "You must come with us, Kal El. You must." Clark was surprised by the desperation in her tone. Until this moment, Zara, and more especially, Ching, had struck him as reserved, always logical. But right now, he knew that Zara was very frightened and that Ching was worried, too. He watched as the lieutenant stepped behind Zara and gently placed both hands on her shoulders, lowering his head slightly beside hers. For a moment the two seemed to focus on each other, excluding him, almost as though they were in silent communication. Zara calmed and, once again, turned her attention to Clark as Ching retreated a few paces behind her. "Kal, we must leave tonight." "No, I'm not ready to do this, Zara; I'm not even sure if I will do this." What was he saying? he wondered. Why wasn't he blunter? Why was he equivocating? When he'd flown to Smallville, he'd been pretty positive that he would go with Zara and Ching. The trip had been partly about saying good-bye. But it had turned out to be so much more. From that incredible moment when Lois Lane had appeared before him, he had known that, finally, everything made sense. He had felt that sense of connection that he'd been searching for all his life. He couldn't leave Lois; he couldn't. And yet he still needed to know about his Kryptonian self, needed to explore it, and to understand how it was a part of him, how he was Kryptonian. And he needed, too, to help Zara. Whatever emotion had crossed her face a few moments ago, it had touched him. She was his kin, she was in trouble, and he could not forsake her. His agitation became apparent as he paced the small balcony. Then, he faced them directly. "Things have changed. I need more time. I will not go with you tonight." He crossed his arms as he said this, his voice decisive. Zara searched his impassive face for a second and then bowed her head slightly. "Very well, my lord." She turned to her companion. "Lieutenant Ching." It was a command and the two Kryptonians elevated a few feet in the night air. "We'll give you time, Kal El, but not long." Then they were gone, two dark clad figures arching into the midnight sky. ***** "Zara, forget him. He's taking too long to make up his mind," Ching said as he and Zara entered the nebulous, expanded space which lay hidden within Zara's shabby apartment. "No, Ching. Kal El has to return with us. You know he has a stronger claim to lead New Krypton than Nor. Kal El is the only counterforce we have." Ching frowned. "I know that, but just how do you propose we get him to come? He's no use to us if he's not willing. And this indecisivenesss of his..." "We must now give him a reason to come that's stronger than what we have presented so far. Ching, we know how he longs to find out about his heritage. Tonight, as we talked, I detected his thoughts turning to me. He has some feeling for me. We can take advantage of that." She paused for a moment. "We must do whatever is necessary -- we will have to use the hologram." "No! Zara, I cannot accept that!" Ching's anguish ripped Zara's heart like a jagged lance. "Ching, we must. *I* must. Lin and Kaz, Ching." She touched his arm, imploring him with the love in her tear brimmed eyes. "I could not bear it if anything happened to them." Ching took her in his arms, bending his head over hers, sliding his hand through her nut brown hair, comforting her, submitting to her. "No more than I could, Zara." He sighed as he kissed her gently. "We will do what is necessary. You and I"... his voice trailed off. "What matters is New Krypton, and our son and daughter." He tightened his arms around her, but his eyes focused elsewhere, determined to protect his country, his children and the woman whom he held who was not his wife, who could never be his wife. ***** end, part 9 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 05:27:47 -0800 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: SIP: Connections - part 9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- "C.C. Malo" wrote: > Hi -- back from my trip and hoping some of you still > remember this story. > Anyway, here's the next part. There are a couple > of lines in this part > that I would like to be in Spanish so if anyone > could translate them for me, > I would be grateful. And, as always feedback is > very welcome. > > Carol > ------------ Well, I certainly remembered this story, Carol, and am thrilled to see its return! I enjoyed this and I liked how you came up with a motivation for Trask's obsessive nature. I'm really interested in finding out whether or not that's just background information or a major plot point. Can't wait for more. Irene ===== Outside of a dog, a book is Man’s best friend. And inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. Groucho Marx __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 08:29:02 EST 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: SIP: Connections - part 9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/18/00 12:50:36 PM !!!First Boot!!!, Ccmalo@AOL.COM writes: << Hi -- back from my trip and hoping some of you still remember this story. >> This has to be tongue in cheek. I know many of us, myself included, have been anxiously awaitiing your return. Great to have a new section for the weekend. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 14:51:31 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: Re: SIP: Connections - part 9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol, Of course I remember your story! I've been waiting all wee for it! I love part nine. I'm very concerned though. It's slowly driving towards a tear jerker isn't it? I don't know what Clark is supposed to do! I hope he'll stay, but on the other hand how could he? Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain? And don't you have enough time to find them? Go to: "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/CKgroupie/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 13:55:28 +0000 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: SIP: Connections - part 9 In-Reply-To: <20000218132747.25743.qmail@web901.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII --- "C.C. Malo" wrote: > Hi -- back from my trip and hoping some of you still > remember this story. s p o i l e r Carol, that better have been tongue-in-cheek irony! Yes, what a set-up! I love the scene in Lois's hotel-room. I think she's less convinced now that this is a lead-up to an interview, isn't she? But then there's Ching and Zara about to make their own demands on Clark too.... In case you didn't already know I'm waiting anxiously for more of this, Carol, I'm assuring you of that here and now! Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 09:38:26 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: Re: ANOTHER Quiz! -- Answers Here are the answers to the quiz: Theme: Stories by Tank Wilson 1. A Chat With Lois 2. The Secret Identity? 3. Love Disabled 4. Faith, Hope... and More Hope 5. The Costume -- A L&C Vignette 6. The Kiss 7. A Future Not Now 8. A Dark Revelation 9. The Best Policy 10. The Choice Scoring: Hazel got the theme (1 pt.), 7 quotes (14 pts.), and 1 extract (1 pt.), for a total of 16 points. Julie (aka JoMurf, who emailed her answers to me) got the theme (1 pt.), 7 quotes (14 pts.), and 3 extracts (3 pts.), for a total of 18 points. Helene got the theme (1 pt.), 8 quotes (16 pts.), and 2 extracts (2 pts.), for a total of 19 points. Pam got the theme (1 pt.), 9 quotes (18 pts.), and 1 extract (1 pt.), for a total of 20 points. Dia got the theme (1 pt.) and 10 quotes (20 pts.), for a total of 21 points, which is the maximum. Well done, everyone! Thanks to all who participated. Does anyone want to write one more quiz before the deadline for Kerths nominations? How about a quiz on Irene's stories, as Laurie suggested. Or how about a quiz on Pam's stories (she was prolific too, I think)? Felix -- Felix E. Sung fsung@justice.loyola.edu ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 10:07:27 -0500 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: SIP: Connections - part 9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yay, she's back! :) :) :) I've been waiting all week, Carol... and it's another strong installment -- an almost impossible dilemma, in fact -- poor Clark. Not to mention Zara... Post more, now! -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Was that a creak?" "Was what a creak?" "Thought I heard a creak." "I didn't hear a creak" "Could swear I heard a creak." "Wasn't a creak." "No creak?" "No creak at all..." _Dead Lois Walking_ ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 12:00:40 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rowan Fuller Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (1/6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 18/02/2000 00:44:20 GMT Standard Time, Alicia3456@AOL.COM writes: << Please send me feedback.. it seems like my stories don't generate much feedback on the list, so I am leary about posting here. >> Please continue posting here I love your stories as a rule. I haven't read your latest one yet so I can't give you feedback. Rowan :) -- -- -- LaneKent@aol.com http://members.aol.com/lanekent For news of updates to my site: http://www.onelist.com/commun ity/LaneKent ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 11:05:32 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Amy Lauters Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (1/6) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > << Please send me feedback.. it seems like my stories don't generate much > feedback on the list, so I am leary about posting here. >> > > Please continue posting here I love your stories as a rule. I haven't read > your latest one yet so I can't give you feedback. > > Rowan :) Alicia, I love your stories! "Silent Fears" has me gnashing my teeth, waiting for more from you! As a rule, I read stories once they're posted to the archive, but that one caught my attention this week and I couldn't stop reading it. Thanks for some great work! Amy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 10:39:21 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: FINAL DAYS for Kerth Nominations!! Comments: To: LNC list MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone ;) Sorry to those of you who get this twice, but I wanted to make sure as many people as possible get this. THERE ARE ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT TO SEND ME YOUR KERTH NOMINATIONS!! The deadline for sending them to me is Sunday, February 20th, so get to it! Nominations can be emailed to me directly at erink@ida.net For all the details about the Kerths and nominating proceedures, please visit the Kerths web page on my website: www.ida.net/users/davek/kerths.html Thanks to the masses of you who *have* already sent me your nominations. I've been both surprised and thrilled at the sheer numbers of nominations I've been receiving from you guys. ;) TTYS! Erin :) __________________ erink@ida.net Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 10:56:06 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: creolel Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (6/6) Comments: To: Alicia3456@AOL.COM MIME-Version: 1.0 I loved the story-I read in on Zooms Boards, and I just had to read it again here!! It was excellent, and I noticed you added a little since you posted on the boards! I thought it only improved the overall story!! Again, Excellent work, and I can't wait to read more from you!! Lori ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 15:04:54 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: kubitc Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit << Please send me feedback.. it seems like my stories don't generate much feedback on the list, so I am leary about posting here. >> I understand the feeling. I was hoping to get some feedback for the story I posted last week, but haven't gotten much at all. I'm hoping it's because people are still scrambling to finish reading stories for Kerth voting, not that my story was so repugnant they couldn't bear to tell me... Overall I liked your story, Alicia. I like the way you switch POVs and give us the action from slightly different angles. I have a few general comments I'll include below, and some specific ones I'll send to you privately. * * S P O I L E R * S P A C E * * You mentioned that this story was part of a continuing series. I've read some of your fic before, but I can't remember clearly enough to place this story in its proper continuity. It might be easiest for your readers if you give them a short summary before beginning the story, like "Last time we saw L&C, they were..." Or else you could explain a little more in the text of the story, which might make it easier to read. For instance, when I first read that Lois was pregnant, I thought I'd missed something earlier in the fic. Little things like that you might just want to include in the beginning. I am also wondering about the way you chose to have your characters react to Clark's health emergency, in particular how you have the only two female characters fall apart emotionally, while the males are more or less strong. Lois in particular, while she loves Clark and would doubtless be devestated if anything happened to him, showed us in the show that she is a strong person: we see her privately grieving after Clark's gone to New Krypton, but she goes to work the next day. Yes, she's rather snippy once she's there, but she doesn't dissolve into a puddle of tears. She also gets back to work after Clark's been banished to space by Tempus. Martha also seems like a fairly solid person on the show, trying, with Jonathan, to help Clark fix whatever problems he's gotten himself into; she isn't prone to emotional outbursts. But when Martha arrives at the hospital she sort of collapses into Jonathan's arms. And Jonathan (and Perry and Jimmy and, to a small degree, Clark) are all pillars of strength, there to help Lois (and Jonathan to help Martha). Maybe you have a good reason for having your characters react this way, but I couldn't figure it out, so I thought I'd ask. Christy kubitc@kenyon.edu * * * * * * * * * * "Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply disgraceful." -Aldous Huxley ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 12:28:05 -0800 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: NEW: Silent Fears MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit kubitc wrote: > << Please send me feedback.. it seems like my stories don't generate much > feedback on the list, so I am leary about posting here. >> > > I understand the feeling. I was hoping to get some feedback for the story I > posted last week, but haven't gotten much at all. I'm hoping it's because > people are still scrambling to finish reading stories for Kerth voting, not > that my story was so repugnant they couldn't bear to tell me... ************************** I've already commented on Alicia's story on the message boards. In case of doubt, I liked it, and have noticed a steady improvement in your writing, Alicia. As for your story, Christy, I've skimmed it and am waiting until after I finish my Kerth reading and the new story I'm in the middle of writing to actually read it from one end to the other. From what I saw, it looked like something I'm going to like. I have noticed, however, that I don't get as much feedback from the list as I do on the message boards, either. I think most of the people here are readers, and are often too shy to comment. Hey there, everyone. We don't bite, really! Send Alicia and Christy your FDK. We need for them to be encouraged to write more! Nan > > * * * * * * * * * * > > "Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply disgraceful." -Aldous Huxley ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 15:43:02 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Re: NEW: (1/1) FEBRUARY 15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit s p o i l e r s p a c e Interesting story. I loved Lois angry bickering back and forth with Clark after he told her. If she had known since Season 1 that he was Sman, the show would of definately been different. Alexis ;-.) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:04:54 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: comments on fanfic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 02/18/2000 3:29:39 PM Eastern Standard Time, deimos1@EARTHLINK.NET writes: << I think most of the people here are readers, and are often too shy to comment. Hey there, everyone. We don't bite, really! >> Sorry, but I find myself in an unusual situation where fanfic is concerned--I'm behind in reading it!! This is due to an extra job as well as some health problems that often leave me rather tired. I'm embarassed to say I haven't even started Erin's long story because right now there are so many unfinished ones hanging on this list that since I'm so far behind, I figured I'd just wait till I had all the parts. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:08:41 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/18/00 3:07:20 PM Eastern Standard Time, kubitc@KENYON.EDU writes: << Lois in particular, while she loves Clark and would doubtless be devestated if anything happened to him, showed us in the show that she is a strong person: we see her privately grieving after Clark's gone to New Krypton, but she goes to work the next day. Yes, she's rather snippy once she's there, but she doesn't dissolve into a puddle of tears. She also gets back to work after Clark's been banished to space by Tempus. >> Ah, yes, but she wasn't pregnant then. And believe me, being in the early stages of pregnancy does very weird things to your mood and your ability to be strong in the face of a crisis such as the one in "Silent Fears." When I was in the first few months of pregnancy, I would cry at telephone company commercials. And I normally don't cry for anything. So I can readily believe that Lois would dissolve in this situation. As for Martha, I wouldn't expect her to be a basket case, but I don't remember her falling apart. Maybe I missed something. Alicia, I didn't respond here before, because I had already done so on a number or sections on the message boards. I agree with Nan, your writing has improved immeasurably since you wrote the original version. You should be very proud of your development as a writer. There is one thing, though. You didn't solve two mysteries: Who did it (Leslie Luckaby?) and here is he? and "Will Clark get his powers back?" So it seems logical that you have to write a sequel. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 21:34:19 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "MoesyL47 L." Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears/comments on fanfic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/18/00 3:29:39 PM Eastern Standard Time, deimos1@EARTHLINK.NET writes: << I think most of the people here are readers, and are often too shy to comment. Hey there, everyone. We don't bite, really! >> Guilty, as charged. :-) I'm constantly feeling guilty about not responding to you all (writers) about the tremendous pleasure your stories give me. It may be due to shyness (even at my advanced age), but I find that putting my thoughts into words is such an effort, and the thought of commenting to so many people about so many stories is so overwhelming, that I rarely make that effort at all. Generally, when I do, it's privately, although I admit I haven't done much of that in a long while either. :-) Please know that I (as one of many, I'm sure) have much respect for those of you who have the ability to write such entertaining fiction, and am so thankful that you are willing to share it with the rest of us. I suppose another reason that I don't comment publicly is that sometimes I don't have much original to add and hate to bore people with "Me too!" posts. I'll try to do better. :-) Thanks to all of you who post stories -- here, on the message boards or at the archive site -- I love reading them. Maureen ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 21:47:45 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: Goodbye to an old friend Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ------Original Message------ From: Judith Williams To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: February 13, 2000 8:41:30 PM GMT Subject: Goodbye to an old friend > I always saw the character of Lois Lane, as brilliantly >created and developed by Teri Hatcher in LAC:TNAOS as Peanuts' >Lucy, all >grown up mentally and physically but struggling to get there >emotionally >while carrying a big chip on her shoulder. Hmmm. is there a >crossover >here? Jude Ok, Jude, you just scared me, here. :) Tara StarKitty to Voyager, one to beam up! ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 22:07:53 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears/comments on fanfic Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Don't worry about boring us with "Me too!" posts. For some of use, those are as important as the long detailed "this is something I think needs to be worked on" posts :) I'll take whatever I can get, personally! :) Tara ------Original Message------ From: "MoesyL47 L." To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: February 19, 2000 2:34:19 AM GMT Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears/comments on fanfic I suppose another reason that I don't comment publicly is that sometimes I don't have much original to add and hate to bore people with "Me too!" posts. I'll try to do better. :-) Thanks to all of you who post stories -- here, on the message boards or at the archive site -- I love reading them. Maureen "Always give generously--a small bird or rodent left on the bed tells them, "I care."" from All I need to know about life I learned from my cat. ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 22:33:51 -0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Desert Rat MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0011_01BF7A60.3B09A480" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0011_01BF7A60.3B09A480 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable unsubscibe loiscla-general-l If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat? ------=_NextPart_000_0011_01BF7A60.3B09A480 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
unsubscibe = loiscla-general-l
If we aren't supposed to eat animals, = why are they=20 made of meat?
------=_NextPart_000_0011_01BF7A60.3B09A480-- ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 04:40:01 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chris Carr Subject: Re: comments on fanfic On Fri, 18 Feb 2000 20:04:54 EST, No Name Available wrote: >Sorry, but I find myself in an unusual situation where fanfic is >concerned--I'm behind in reading it!! This is unusual, Laurie? I'm in the same boat as you. If I haven't replied to a story it is quite possibly because I haven't managed to read it. (How am I even supposed to nominate anyone for the Kerths when I haven't even read all the stories posted in the last few months on the archive!?) One of these days, I'm hoping that life might calm down a bit, but at the moment I am adjusting to a new job, finishing up work hanging over from the old one, living in two cities, packing to move house, and a whole lot of other stuff that I won't bore you with here. While I would like to read everything that appears as it is written, that just isn't going to happen any time soon. I don't mean to be bad about giving feedback, either, especially when I know how much I appreciate it when I receive it myself, but there are times when other things have to take priority. (Perhaps it is selfish of me to be posting a story to the MBs of my own when I don't have enough time to read everything else, but...) So, apologies to anyone who hasn't heard from me. It has very little to do with your stories and everything to do with a very severe case of RL. Chris ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 06:15:02 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rowan Fuller Subject: What's Happened To Season 5 Site MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I'm just in process of validating links, ready for a bumper update to the Over 100 Links Page of my site (will be around 200) and the Season 5 site isn't coming up at all. Is this a glitch or has something happened? Thanks in advance? Rowan :) -- -- -- LaneKent@aol.com http://members.aol.com/lanekent For news of updates to my site: http://www.onelist.com/commun ity/LaneKent ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 07:04:03 -0500 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: comments on fanfic and fanfic recommendation Guilty as charged: I don't always respond to stories posted here either; it's partly due to time constraints but also partly because I don't like to keep hogging bandwidth! Somehow that seems less of a problem on the MBs; not sure why. Christy, I read the second part of the Martha Chronicles a few days after you posted it, and I liked it very much. I'm really enjoying the way you've written Martha and Jonathan as twenty-somethings, and you also use the first-person technique very effectively. I could have cried for Jonathan at the end! But since I know you're going to give us a Part 3, I'll wait and see how you manage to resolve the situation. Calling Amy, who wrote that intriguing story about dream control - nice work! It was good to see Lois and Clark investigating as a couple, and there were some cute touches of humour, such as the cape tied in a bow and Clark pampering Lois. I think I'm commenting on just about everything else over on the MBs (and Alicia, you know I think your writing has really improved). Now for the recommendation. Over on the message boards, Chris Carr is posting one of the most compelling stories I've read in a long time. Her 'Learning Curves' is an early S1 rewrite, but there's much more to it than that. Her prose is just lyrical, the emotions run off the screen, and her understanding of the characters and their motivations is among the best I've read. And when I got to a certain event in the story (no spoilers, but it's not a WHAM), it made me want to cry. If you haven't already started reading 'Learning Curves,' RUN and get to it now - or better still, Chris, start posting it here. And a reminder - Chris, believe it or not, is eligible as a new author for this year's Kerths. Wendy ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 08:06:17 -0500 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: What's Happened To Season 5 Site MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It's not a glitch, Rowan, the original S5 site has disappeared. Luckily for you, however, I managed to duplicate (and maybe even improve) it on my own site. Check out: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/Season5/Season5.html Hope this helps :) Rowan Fuller wrote: > > I'm just in process of validating links, ready for a bumper update to the > Over 100 Links Page of my site (will be around 200) and the Season 5 site > isn't coming up at all. Is this a glitch or has something happened? > > Thanks in advance? > > Rowan :) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Was that a creak?" "Was what a creak?" "Thought I heard a creak." "I didn't hear a creak" "Could swear I heard a creak." "Wasn't a creak." "No creak?" "No creak at all..." _Dead Lois Walking_ ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 09:00:53 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: Re: SIP: Connections - part 9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Irene, Charlotte, Nicole, Pam, Wendy, thanks for your encouragement on part 9. :) Nicole, I hope this won't tip into a tearjerker -- I have a dread of the maudlin, but a little angst is a whole different matter. :) Pam wrote: <> I thought that might be where the show was going because of a bit of dialogue between Zara and Ching in the 2nd (I think) ep of the NK arc. Also, special thanks to Amber who volunteered to do the Spanish translation I wanted in part 9. :) Carol ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 16:28:57 EST 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: OT Prop 22 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/16/00 9:26:44 PM !!!First Boot!!!, judithwilliams@PRODIGY.NET writes: << Keep your prejudices out of my face and I'll keep mine out of yours. I think of the people on this list as friends. I'd like to keep it that way. Jude >> Please don't do this. Yes, politics or religion don't belong on the list, but people do make mistakes. Sometimes, too, what you think is a mistake is not one in the mind of the writer. So, whatever, be a little kind and don't jump on her/him. A gentle reminder about the nature of the list would be in order and hopefully wouldn't result in hurt feelings. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 16:29:23 EST 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: Silent Fears (6/6) - cliff hanger!!!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Since you blatently are begging for feedback on this one, here is mine. (Very BG) I loved it. You write very realistically and compassionately about one of the most horrible situations a person can find him/her in, one in which their husband, (or wife, or mother, or etc.) is taken away and hospitalized fighting for their life. I believed it, because experienced just such a situation not once but twice over a period of three months, the first time with a good outlook but the second with the worst possible outcome. And it was much like you wrote from the EMT ride to IC unit, etc. A word about strength. No matter how strong you may be, you cannot avoid being terrified at the very real possibility of losing the person you love most. Believe me that is when you need to be able to depend on others, friends or relatives. I think the way you had both Lois and Martha act was very much in keeping with the situation, and not out of character for any human being no matter how strong they are. Lois and Martha's very real fears are normal. You cannot help the terror the very thought of the unbearable happening brings. And Martha needing her husband's comfort - that's not weakness that is one human being drawing strength from another and what better one than the person who'd been there all along for her. You wrote in the end a story about imaginary characters which speaks of the ultimate humanity of all of us in dealing with two of the important events which make up life, love and death. I do not as a rule read death fiction, especially when my beloved characters suffer for no good reason, but this story is good. It touched me and that is what art is about. Please keep writing. I want to keep reading it. Charlotte P.S. Just one technical point. This is a continuation of another story you posted. I think I read that one too but would like to reread it in connection with this sequel, so please name the original when you are doing a continuing story. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 17:28:06 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Farah Chisham, List Mom" Subject: Re: OT Prop 22 Do not post this again. >>Please don't do this. Yes, politics or religion don't belong on the list, but people do make mistakes. Sometimes, too, what you think is a mistake is not one in the mind of the writer.<< Farah ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 17:36:40 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin H Subject: Lois and Clark Site!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi FoLC's :) I was thinking of starting a Lois and Clark site..like www.folcplanet.com The thing is that I need FoLCs to help me out! I basically need 8-10 people who will help me pay for and manage this site. I found a CHEAP server that is $8 a month. If we get 8 people, that would be a dollar a month for each person. To activate this site, it costs about 70 dollars. That's 8.75 a person, less if we get more people. If you are interested, e-mail erinfolc@aol.com Thanks! Erin ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 16:56:02 -0600 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: Lois and Clark Site!! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit What do you plan on putting on the site? fanfic,message bds, pictures... more details please merry truitt22@flash.net Erin H wrote: > Hi FoLC's :) > > I was thinking of starting a Lois and Clark site..like > www.folcplanet.com > The thing is that I need FoLCs to help me out! I basically need 8-10 people > who will help me pay for and manage this site. I found a CHEAP server that > is $8 a month. If we get 8 people, that would be a dollar a month for each > person. To activate this site, it costs about 70 dollars. That's 8.75 a > person, less if we get more people. If you are interested, e-mail > erinfolc@aol.com > > Thanks! > Erin ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 16:44:35 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Re: Goodbye to an old friend MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Not to worry, Tara. The idea seemed a little strange to me too, but inspiration rides many horses, kemo sabe. Anyway, I'm too deeply involved with my initial magnum opus to develop this one. I can tell, however, despite your protestations, that you would really like to follow up on it, so have at it with my blessing. Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: Tara Smith To: Sent: Friday, February 18, 2000 6:47 PM Subject: Re: Goodbye to an old friend > ------Original Message------ > From: Judith Williams > To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU > Sent: February 13, 2000 8:41:30 PM GMT > Subject: Goodbye to an old friend > > > > I always saw the character of Lois Lane, as brilliantly > >created and developed by Teri Hatcher in LAC:TNAOS as Peanuts' >Lucy, all > >grown up mentally and physically but struggling to get there >emotionally > >while carrying a big chip on her shoulder. Hmmm. is there a >crossover > >here? Jude > > > Ok, Jude, you just scared me, here. :) > > Tara > > StarKitty to Voyager, one to beam up! > ----------------------------------------------- > FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com > Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 22:14:40 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: OT: Mini-FoLC Fest ;-.) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ~Waves~ to Nancy, Jude and Melisma! I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed our mini-FoLC Fest at the mall today. We should definately do this again, real soon i hope! Maybe we can meet in April to discuss "No Alibi." (Hee hee) ;) Nancy, I'm looking over the editing on my nfic as we speak. It will give me something to do during this loooong weekend! LOL! Alexis ;-.) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 02:29:06 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: Goodbye to an old friend Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Aaack! (/me hiding under my desk) Nononononono! :) I'm pretty busy with Threads and a couple of other things. Besides, I don't write horror ;) Tara ------Original Message------ From: Judith Williams To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: February 20, 2000 12:44:35 AM GMT Subject: Re: Goodbye to an old friend Not to worry, Tara. The idea seemed a little strange to me too, but inspiration rides many horses, kemo sabe. Anyway, I'm too deeply involved with my initial magnum opus to develop this one. I can tell, however, despite your protestations, that you would really like to follow up on it, so have at it with my blessing. Jude "May the schwartz be with you!" Yogurt, Space Balls ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 03:56:16 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Re: SIP: Connections - part 9 In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Carol, I just managed to read the last two sections... wow. No, that wasn't enough. WOW. How do you manage to write with so many undercurrents? The layers upon layers were incredible... there was so much going on at once, and it was all so clearly visible. Excellent writing, and the sheer poignancy of the barn scene brought tears to my eyes. I can't wait to read the next section. You're really piling on the pressure on poor Clark, but I was glad to see him stand up for himself with Z&C. Good for him! S P O I L E R S P A C E Two little comments: "our children need us"??? Hoo boy. Slight change there, huh? Then the confirmation at the end of the section... y'know, you're making Zara & Ching a *lot* more sympathetic than they were in canon. Which, of course, makes the decision that much more difficult. Oh, and Carol? Just wondered if Jason's sister was named Samantha. ;p Hazel (who knows nothing about the X-files, but osmosis on the net makes it impossible not to pick up *something*...) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 10:26:11 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: kubitc Subject: Re: NEW: Silent Fears (6/6) - cliff hanger!!!! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >A word about strength. No matter how strong you may be, you cannot avoid >being terrified at the very real possibility of losing the person you love >most. Believe me that is when you need to be able to depend on others, >friends or relatives. True, but in many circumstances in the show, Lois had equal reason to think she was losing Clark and she did not fall apart. I don't think her falling apart is necessarily *wrong* or anything, but since the show gave the impression that she doesn't usually do so, you've got to be careful to give good reason and background if you do. >Lois and Martha's very real fears are normal. You >cannot help the terror the very thought of the unbearable happening brings. >And Martha needing her husband's comfort - that's not weakness that is one >human being drawing strength from another and what better one than the person >who'd been there all along for her. And Jonathan needs that comfort from Martha as well. What's wrong with a man needing comfort from his wife or friend (male or female)? I can't think of anything in the show that would indicate that either Martha or Jonathan would be the comforter and the other the comforted. Their relationship seems to be fairly equal on the emotional front; neither of them really fall apart, despite the many trials they'd been through. In fact, I've always been impressed that Jonathan seems comfortable in hugging Clark; so many men cannot hug their sons or fathers, especially of Jonathan's generation. This is peripherally related to something that has bothered me about the show: Clark's need to protect Lois from problems they should be dealing with together. This happened to a certain extent on the show, but also occurs often in fanfic, and sometimes I get the impression that the writer is suggesting Clark is *right* in trying to protect Lois. Nan wrote: << I have noticed, however, that I don't get as much feedback from the list as I do on the message boards, either. I think most of the people here are readers, and are often too shy to comment. >> So maybe that's it; I don't post on the message boards because I don't have time to keep up with them. Perhaps I'll have to stop by, especially if the comments are of a critical nature. I'm always looking to improve my writing and am glad to receive (constructive) criticism. Christy kubitc@kenyon.edu * * * * * * * * * * "Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply disgraceful." -Aldous Huxley ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 13:40:12 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Terry S. Horowit" Subject: Fwd: site announcement Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Reply-To: >From: "B. B. Medos" >Subject: site announcement >Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 14:12:22 -0600 >To all interested fanfic readers: My L&C fanfiction stories are now >archived on my Book Sanctuary web and can be reached at the specific URL of >http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/loisnclark/l&c_fanfiction.htm. This >collection includes previously distributed stories reformatted as web pages >plus works-in-progress of both continuations of existing stories and >completely new ideas. (Or it will have some new material just as soon as I >get my computer problems straightened out. Ever have one of those months? >Well, I'm working on the second one in a row. ARGH!) While many of the older >stories are already on the L&C Fanfiction archive, this is the only place >you can read the "works-in-progress." Once I get them to a half-way >presentable, beta-reader stage, that is. > >Also, anyone who is also a fan of other "partners-in-crime" type series >similar to Lois & Clark might enjoy the trivia test on the home page of that >website, http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/index.htm. Just look under >the heading The Partners on that page and see if you can match up the >partners with the appropriate partnerships, otherwise known as their >television series titles. > >Enjoy reading and please let me know what you think, both of the stories and >the website. And, thank you, Terry, for forwarding this announcement for me. > >Beverly :-) >Beverly's Book Sanctuary http://www.booksanctuary.com I was delighted to read (and in some causes, re-read) these stories and works-in-progress, and strongly recommend everyone to go immediately to this site and enjoy!! Terry ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 14:47:56 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: The (Mis)conception (1/5) [Revised] Note: This story is set in the same universe as "The Wedding" and "The Rehearsal." I would like to thank Sheila Harper, Pam Jernigan, Carol Malo, and Wendy Richards for their plot suggestions, for their advice, and for their encouragement. Comments welcome. Disclaimer: The story is mine, but the characters are not. I'm merely borrowing the characters from WB, DC Comics, etc., etc. No borrowing, copying, or distributing without my permission, etc., etc. The (Mis)conception By Filex [Metropolis, 348 Hyperion Avenue] [September 2, 1998] Lois Lane woke up suddenly. A glance at the alarm clock told her that it was 3 A.M. She turned to snuggle into her husband Clark Kent's arms, finding a cool pillow instead. 'I wonder where he went to this time?' she asked herself. She cocked her head to one side, listening for sounds from the nursery, expecting to hear cries from C.J., Laura, or both. Everything was quiet. She was about to go back to sleep when she heard Clark's voice, or more accurately, Clark's moan. "Oh Lois..." Now instantly awake, Lois reached over and turned on the light on her nightstand. To her astonishment, she saw Clark, floating near the ceiling on the other side of the room. She couldn't help but grin at the scene before her. 'That must be some dream he's having,' she thought, stifling a giggle. Clark had admitted that he had erotic dreams about her, but never in their nearly two years of marriage did a dream cause him to float while he was sleeping. "Oh God, Lois... Yesssss..." Lois began to squirm. Normally, she wouldn't be hearing those sounds unless they were making love. There was something about the way Clark moaned Lois' name that sent shivers up her spine. Not surprisingly, she was starting to get turned on from listening to Clark's moans. "Oh God, I want him, right now," Lois whimpered. But in order to take him, she had to reach him first. "Clark, wake up," she called to him. His response was another moan. Lois got out of bed and walked towards Clark. To her annoyance, she found that she still could not reach him. She jumped up and slapped his shoulder. "Honey?" Clark bolted up. "Lois, what's--" he started, but didn't finish his question because he hit his head on the ceiling, tearing through the plaster in the process. Startled, Clark fell, nearly colliding into Lois, but he stopped himself from crashing through the bedroom floor by using his powers. Lois looked, wide-eyed, at Clark, with bits of plaster on his head. Dust and plaster started falling from the ceiling, creating a snowstorm in their bedroom. After staring at Clark for a few moments, Lois broke into gales of laughter. "Talk... talk about... a wake-up... call!" Lois gasped, collapsing on the bed. Clark stood in his 'Superman' pose and tried to give her a stern look. He failed, and joined Lois in her laughter. A minute later, after composing themselves, Clark asked Lois, "What happened?" Lois sighed. Sometimes she wondered if Clark being dense was limited to his molecular structure. "I woke up, and found you sleeping near the ceiling. It sounded like you were having a dream about me. I woke you up, but I guess you thought that you were still in bed..." Lois pointed towards the ceiling. "... And then that happened." Clark remembered the dream. Smiling sheepishly at his wife, he remarked, "I was dreaming about you, though I don't usually float upwards while I was sleeping." "You mean you've done it before?" Lois asked incredulously. Clark could only blush a deep red in response. Lois smiled in delight at the revelation. "You have! How come I never knew about it?" "Well Lois, most of the time it happened before we were married," Clark explained. "I've had a lot of interesting dreams about you, that's for sure." Now it was Lois' turn to blush. "But I don't think I've been doing it much, except recently." "Recently, huh? Did you have another costume dream, Clark?" Clark's response was another blush. Lois smiled to herself. 'He's so cute when he does that.' Without letting him answer verbally, she continued, "So you did. Who was dressed up this time, you or me? And in what?" When Clark didn't answer right away, Lois went to Clark and cupped his face in her hands, trying to reassure him. "Clark," she said gently, "you know that you can tell me. In fact, what was it you said when we were first married? 'We are supposed to share everything.'" "Okay, okay." Clark sighed. When was he ever going to learn that he could never keep anything from her, no matter what it was? "It was you this time. In your Ultrawoman suit," he said in a rush. He broke eye contact with Lois and looked with interest at the pieces of plaster on the floor. Lois smiled tenderly at Clark. She tilted his head so that he could look directly at her. "The Ultrawoman suit, huh? I forgot about that. I wonder if I still have it..." "Lois, this would be number six in the past two weeks. We've had you in the chicken suit, the biker outfit, and the concubine outfit. And we've had me in that cop uniform when I went undercover as Superman, and in the new-Kryptonian suit. And every time I dreamt it beforehand. Don't you think that's a little odd?" Lois sighed. 'Clark's still hung up about being normal.' Taking his face into her hands again, she answered, "No, Clark, I don't think it's odd. So your subconscious is going through a costume phase. I think it's your subconscious' way of wanting to keep our marriage interesting. I can only love you for that." She pulled his head towards her and gave him a gentle kiss. While she absentmindedly flicked pieces of plaster of Clark's shoulders Lois asked him, "Do you want me to look for the Ultrawoman suit?" Clark was about to answer when a twin set of cries emanated from the nursery. "Hah, they interrupted us before we even started. That's a start," said Lois with sarcasm. Clark was on his way to the nursery when she stopped him. "I'll go. Why don't you clean up the mess." Lois got up and padded her way out the bedroom. When she returned a few minutes later, she found everything in order and her husband sound asleep. Lois let out a yawn. 'It's just as well,' she thought. 'I'm too tired to look for the suit anyway. Tomorrow night, maybe...' With that, she went back to bed and fell asleep almost immediately. [Two Days Later] It was an unusually cool and breezy Friday morning, a perfect day to start Lois and Clark's weekend. They had just written yet another outstanding story together (their fourth since Lois' return from maternity leave), and their editor Perry White rewarded them by giving them Friday off. And since Monday was Labor Day, Lois and Clark ended up with a four-day weekend. After Superman dropped off the twins at Clark's parents' farm in Smallville the previous evening, and after making love late into the night (without any costumes, though), they woke up sore but refreshed, without the benefit of an alarm clock. (Well, without three alarm clocks. One was accidentally broken during last night's lovemaking session, and the other two were in Smallville.) It was 9:30 A.M. "Oh, it feels so good to wake up this late," Lois sighed, as she sat up and stretched. "I don't suppose Perry would let us do this all the time, would he?" "I doubt it, Honey." Clark rose and took Lois in his arms. "We ask him that and we'd be out of the jobs 'faster than a speeding bullet,'" he teased. "But you know, with the exception of Superman, this may be the first peaceful weekend we've had in a while." "You're right! We don't have to come into work until Tuesday, your parents have got the twins, Mother is going with Daddy on that conference in LA, Lucy is still on vacation God knows where, and there has been no psycho-psychiatrists or mad scientists making hybrid Kryptonite or supposed sons of Lex Luthor or guys with telekinesis or mmmmff..." Lois' babbling was immediately silenced by a passionate kiss from Clark. Lois could only sigh contentedly as they explored each other with their mouths. 'I'm so lucky, for he's all mine!' They parted, both breathing heavily. Getting up, Lois walked wobbly to the bathroom, still affected by Clark's kiss. "Now would, uh, would you be a dear and start breakfast while I, um, take a shower?" "Honey, wait..." Clark called to her. Lois turned to look at him. "Why don't we take that shower together?" Clark gave her that look, the look that showed her how much he loved her, how much he cherished her, how much he wanted her. 'God, he looks at me like that and I just want to melt,' Lois thought. She gave Clark a sultry smile and, taking his hands, led him to the bathroom without another word. * * * * * * * * An hour later, Lois and Clark finally sat down to eat their breakfast, or more accurately, brunch. Lois had changed her mind and decided that she would cook some 'Eggs ala Katie Banks.' As they ate, they discussed what they were going to do the next four days. "Clark, what are we going to do this weekend?" Lois asked. "I sure didn't expect to get Friday off, though I'm glad we did. We needed this." "Whatever you want, Lois. Maybe we can do some 'normal' things together, like go grocery shopping, work in the yard, clean the house..." Lois looked at him strangely. "Like I said," Clark continued hastily, "we can do whatever you want." "But Clark, what about you?" Lois asked as she helped herself to some more coffee. "Isn't there something you would like us to do... besides making love, of course?" Clark could only grin at his wife at her comment. "Or isn't there someplace in this world that you would like to go to?" Clark raised his eyebrows at her while he spread some jam on his toast. "Lois, I've been to a lot of places in this world, but I did so because I was looking for something. Happiness, security, a sense of belonging. And I've found that something, or I should say, I've found that someone." Clark smiled at her. Lois grew teary-eyed and almost dropped her coffee. "How come you always say the nicest things to me?" she asked, pretending to be exasperated. "Because I mean it," Clark answered simply. Taking Lois' hands, he pulled her onto his lap. "Lois, I don't care where we go, or where we don't go. I'll be happy as long as I'm with you." Clark leaned over and gave Lois a peck on her lips. Lois returned the favor by giving Clark a more substantial kiss. "Clark," she murmured, "you keep this up and we will be spending these four days the same way we spent our honeymoon..." Lois moved to his ear and flicked it with her tongue. Clark pulled back and looked at Lois with hunger in his eyes. "And that would be a bad thing?" he asked huskily. Lois lowered her voice to a barest whisper. "I never said it would be," Lois breathed, continuing to play with his ear. Clark closed his eyes. "God, Lois..." He was about to scoop Lois in his arms and fly them to their bedroom when the doorbell rang. "Oh, I don't believe this!" Lois exclaimed. "There's always something. I swear, if that's Jimmy or Mother interrupting us again..." Lois stopped, noticing that Clark wasn't listening. He had taken the liberty to lower his glasses to see who was at the door, but now he was staring at the door with disbelief. "Clark? What is it? Who's at the door?" "I can't believe this, Lois. It's... you. I mean, it's a woman who looks exactly like you, with your old hairstyle." Lois was stunned. "A woman who looks like me? Oh my God! It's not... it's not... my clone... is it?" "I don't know, Lois, but I'm sure the clone is dead." Clark looked through the door again. "She's got a bag with her, so I'll x-ray it... Her driver's license says... 'Kent, Lois Lane'... '344 Clinton Street, Metropolis, New Troy'!?!?" "Well, that doesn't make any sense!" Lois exclaimed. "Maybe she's me in the future? But why would she, err, we, be living in your old apartment?" The doorbell rang again. "I guess we won't find out unless we answer the door," Clark sighed, as he walked to the front door and opened it. The woman stepped in timidly, holding a carry-on bag. "Lois Lane? Clark Kent? Mr. Wells told me that I could find you here." There was a deafening silence in the house. Clark spoke first. "Mr. Wells? As in H.G. Wells?" The woman nodded. "Does that mean that you're... you're..." "I'm Lois Lane Kent from the other dimension." For a minute Lois and Clark could only look at the woman as if she had seven heads. The woman, feeling uncomfortable at their lack of response, asked, "May I come in?" Clark mentally shook his head and reprimanded himself for his lack of manners. "Yes, of course! Please." He led the woman to the living room and motioned her to sit down. Lois finally recovered from her shock and sat in a sofa across from the woman with a plop. "You're from the alternate dimension? Does that mean that your Clark has found you?" For the first time since she arrived the woman smiled. "Yeah, he found me. We got married, just like you, last October." "You got married?" our Lois asked. She beamed at the visitor. "That's wonderful! Oh, I'm so happy for the both of you. Honey, isn't this great news?" Clark sat down next to our Lois. "Yeah, Lois, this is great news! It's also good to see that you're alive and well. I couldn't imagine going through what your Clark did, living without you." Lois smiled at him, and reaching out, squeezed his hand. Clark smiled back and continued, "So tell me, Lois, um, other Lois..." He paused. "Hmm, what should I call you?" "That's a good point, Honey." Lois looked thoughtfully at the other Lois. "Why don't we call you 'Mrs. Kent?' Almost no one calls me that around here, and Clark's mom insisted early on that I call her 'Martha.'" "That's fine. In fact, almost everyone calls me that in my world." Lois looked at the visitor with surprise. "Really? People don't call you 'Ms. Lane?'" The other Lois shook her head. "I decided right after we got married that I should change my name. To hear someone call me 'Mrs. Kent' sounds wonderful to my ears. It reaffirms the fact that I'm married now, something that I was afraid I would never be." "That sounds familiar," Clark murmured, smiling at his wife. "But I think 'Mrs. Kent' sounds too formal." "Just don't call me 'Mrs. Superman,'" said the other Lois. "Some people have call me that, too, though not in my face." "I wouldn't dare," Clark agreed, chuckling. "How about 'Lois2?'" "That sounds fine," Lois2 assented. Lois spoke up. "So, Lois2, I think Clark was going to ask you where your husband is, right, Clark?" Her husband nodded. Lois2 looked uneasy again. "Well... he didn't come with me," she replied. "You've probably figured that this is not a social call. I don't think Mr. Wells would allow that." "That's right," Lois mused. "Mr. Wells visited us only when there was trouble with Tempus..." Lois2 flinched, and Lois became alarmed. "Oh my God. Is it Tempus? Has he done something to your Clark?" For a moment Lois2 looked as if she was about to cry. Then, composing herself, she answered in a low voice, "Lois, Clark, I need your help. In fact, my world needs your help." Avoiding Clark's eyes, she continued, "I think I want to talk to you first about this, Lois, alone." Clark looked confused. "I thought you needed our help. Why do you want to talk to Lois alone?" "Please," Lois2 said, in a strangled voice. "I want to talk to your wife first." Both Clark and Lois noticed clearly how distressed Lois2 was, and didn't want to upset her any further. "Okay, I'll go check..." Clark started, then stopped when his super-hearing kicked in. RRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG! I repeat, a hostage situation at Metropolis National... Both Lois-es noticed the look. "What are you hearing?" his wife asked. "A bank robbery, with hostages." Clark said grimly. He quickly spun into his suit. Lois2 appeared completely unfazed by the transformation. Lois walked to Clark and gave him a quick kiss. "Be careful," she said. Clark smiled lovingly at his wife. "Always," he promised, and flew out the window. Right after he left, Lois2 burst into tears. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 14:50:07 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: The (Mis)conception (2/5) [Revised] "Oh dear," Lois said, as she went to sit down beside the weeping Lois2. Lois grabbed some tissues from the tissue box on the coffee table and handed them to her visitor. Lois2 began to calm down. "I'm sorry, Lois, this is... this is very hard for me. I'm about to ask for something I... I... have no right asking." Lois2 shuddered. Lois had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She was afraid that something bad had really happened to the other Clark. 'And they just found each other!' she thought. Trying to think positively, she said, "Why don't you let me be the judge of that. You said you need our help? What is the problem?" Lois2 let out a huge sigh. "All right, I'll start from the beginning. My Clark and I decided that we wanted to have children. Both of us were alone before we met." Lois threw a questioning glance at her visitor. "You know how Clark's parents were killed when he was ten?" Lois2 asked. Lois remembered. "Yes. Apparently, that was Tempus' doing." "Well, my parents died when I was six." Lois gasped. Sure, she had some problems with her parents in the past, but to imagine herself living without them was an entirely different matter. Finding herself in tears, she grabbed some tissues for herself. Lois2 asked, "I assume yours are still alive?" Lois nodded again, and Lois2 went on. "My parents were killed in a plane crash. For all intents and purposes, Clark and I only had each other and no one else. Both of us, especially Clark, didn't want to be alone when one of us dies, so we decided to have children as soon as possible." Lois2 smiled sadly at Lois. "But what about Lucy?" Lois asked. Lois2 looked momentarily confused. "Who's Lucy?" "You don't have a younger sister named Lucy?" Lois2 shook her head. Lois recalled what Lois2 just said and smacked her forehead. "Oh right, you said your parents died when you were six, and Lucy is seven years younger than I am." Lois decided it was best not to dwell on the subject. "So you and your Clark decided to have kids right away." "Yeah. The only problem was that I didn't get pregnant. At first, we were so eager to try that we forgot that one little detail about Clark not being human. So we went to see a scientist from S.T.A.R. Labs by the name of Dr. Bernard Klein..." Lois2 noticed Lois jerking her head up. "What? Oh, you have a Dr. Klein here, too?" Lois nodded. "Clark, as Superman, saw Dr. Klein over a year ago, asking him to do some tests to determine if we were compatible. I guess that's what your Dr. Klein did?" "Yeah, he did," Lois2 said in affirmative. "Anyway, Dr. Klein ran some tests on Clark, and unfortunately, he had bad news for us..." Lois broke in. "Ours did, too. Dr. Klein first thought that we were incompatible, but then later found out that there was a glitch in the testing." Lois2 looked surprised. "Really? You must have been very upset by the news at first." "We were." Lois dabbed her eyes. "Clark wanted a family of his own. He did not hide that fact. But I... when I was alone, I had vowed that I would never have children. That all changed after I married Clark. I had found myself wanting to have Clark's baby so badly. I had felt that I lost something, when Clark first told me the test results." "I know how you feel. Dr. Klein found out what our problem was. It turned out that my Clark had an extremely low sperm count." "Oh my God..." Lois said, stunned. 'The alternate Clark has fertility problems? How terrible for him and Lois2! Did something cause this?' Tears reappeared in her eyes. She knew that if her Clark were sterile, then he would have been completely shattered. "How did... how did your husband take the news?" "Not very good. But that wasn't the worst of it. Dr. Klein discovered that after he ran the tests that the sperm that was left were all dead. Clark gave two more samples to Dr. Klein, all with the same results. Low sperm count, and after the tests, all the sperm died. It was as if Dr. Klein's intervention with the sperm had something to do with it." Without waiting for Lois' reaction Lois2 continued her story. "It turned into our first major spat in our marriage. Clark just simply flew off and disappeared for over a day. I didn't know where he went off to until his friend Rachel Harris called me and told me. It turned out that he went to his farm in Smallville. I went over there and gave him a piece of my mind, telling him that this was our problem, not his, and that he should talk to me about his problems and not shut me out." Lois, who was blown away by Lois2's story, finally smiled a little upon hearing the alternate-Clark's reaction. "Sounds like something my Clark would do." She shook her head. "What is it with our Supermen, Lois2? They try to do everything at once, and when something goes wrong they decide not to bother us with their problems." "I don't know, Lois," Lois2 sighed. "But we have to keep them in line, to make sure that they don't bottle stuff in. Fortunately, I was able to set him straight. We spent the entire night discussing our options. He wanted us to try artificial insemination, but I told him that I would rather adopt than to have another man's baby. So nothing was decided when we returned to Metropolis. Then Mr. Wells paid us a visit." Lois Lane didn't become one of the best investigative journalists in the country because of her writing alone. It was because of her tenacity, her intuition, and her desire to help others. But most of all, it was because of her powers of deduction. And using those powers, she began to realize what Lois2's trip was all about. Lois2 could see Lois' mind working overtime, and knew what's going on, being a great investigative reporter herself. She held up her hand. "I know what you're thinking, Lois. But let me finish the whole story before you say anything. Please?" Lois assented, and motioned for Lois2 to continue. "Mr. Wells came to our apartment to tell us that there was a anomaly with our timeline. Did Mr. Wells mention about a Utopia, founded by you and Clark's love and by your natural descendents?" "Yes, he did, about three years ago," Lois replied. "Same with us, though Mr. Wells told us about it more recently. But one day, he had made a trip to our future and right before his eyes, our Utopia had changed into a world of greed, war, and chaos. He backtracked to see if he could find the source of this change of the timeline, and found something in the early 1970's. "My Clark had told me all about your dealings with that diabolical being you call Tempus, and it had turned out that he had struck again. Clark was in some, some accident as a child, and it had affected his sperm. He won't tell me what it was, now that he knows what it did to him. Mr. Wells had tried to go back to that time period and stop Tempus, but he couldn't. So, Tempus' actions had threatened our Utopia. Without children of our own, they won't establish our Utopia. "When my Clark heard this, he was about to fly away and disappear again, but I stopped him. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Clark was really hurting now. But so was I! I mean, it's one thing to find out that Clark is basically sterile, but to also find out that Clark's infertility will threaten our world as we know it..." Lois2 stopped and began to cry in earnest. Lois' heart went to Lois2. She had enough experiences with Tempus to last her a lifetime. 'Damn that Tempus!' Lois thought savagely. 'Why does he keep trying to destroy us, regardless of the dimension?' After Lois2 calmed down again, Lois asked, "So then what happened?" Lois2 hiccuped. "Mr. Wells, Clark, and I discussed the alternatives. Actually, it was more like Clark and I discussed and Mr. Wells rejected. First, Clark brought up artificial insemination, and then I brought up adoption. Mr. Wells had to remind us that our Utopia was founded by our natural descendents. In fact, Mr. Wells somehow found out that if we had children that were not our own, then they would die before they finished grade school. Don't ask me how he knew. Mr. Wells then said that the only alternative left is to enlist your help, Lois. "I couldn't believe what Mr. Wells was suggesting! Asking your husband to donate his sperm so that I could be artificially inseminated? There was no way either of you would go for that. I mean, this would be your Clark's child! What would he think about having a child that he would never see, even if both of you agreed? But my Clark reminded me that his sperm didn't survive any intervention from Dr. Klein, and he thought that your husband's sperm wouldn't either. That left with one last alternative..." Lois2 would have continued, but Lois bolted up so fast that she could rival Superman's speed. Nearly knocking over the vase of flowers on the coffee table, she tried to steady herself as she tried to deal with the swirl of emotions in her head. It was very clear to Lois as to what Lois2 was asking. Lois2 was asking for Lois' permission to procreate with her Clark. "Oh my God," Lois whispered. "How could you... how could you ask me for... that?" "Believe me, Lois, I didn't want to. I despise this. I despise the fact that this Tempus has threatened my world. I despise the fact that I have to sleep with another man to have a baby. And I despise the fact that this will cause pain for all four of us. But I also know this. I know that if our roles were reversed, I could not deny you the joy of motherhood." Lois2 looked away. Lois knew that Lois2 was right; she could not deny Lois2 that joy either. She mentally cursed Tempus again for his actions. "Even if I give you my permission," Lois stated, "that still leaves Clark. I don't think he will go along with this. I know that he loves me with all his heart." "I know he does. And my Clark loves me." Lois2 looked at Lois. "But tell me, Lois, are there times when Clark, as Superman, didn't want to go out to a rescue?" "Oh sure. Clark hates being interrupted when he's spending time with me, especially during my pregnancy. But after I found out that Clark is Superman, I understood that he had to go away, because he has to help." "Exactly. Helping others is a part of who both of you are. Clark has had these powers for most of his life, and I'm sure he realized that with these powers came responsibility. And if you're anything like me, Lois, you help others by writing articles for the Planet, informing the public about any injustices that you see. Neither of you could just sit on the sidelines and not do anything if you could help. Don't think about helping my husband and me. Think about helping my world. A world, that will fall into despair and chaos if Clark and I do not have children. It's something that my Clark and I don't like, being responsible for the whole world. I know the two of you wouldn't like it, either. There was another point that was not brought up, Lois realized. She felt so guilty about what she had done to the other Clark. First, she had come over to his world and created Superman. She was sure that he fell in love with her there, but there was no way she could stay in his world. For over a year, Clark had to endure the fact that he had lost his true love before they had even met! Then, he came over here, and she nearly kissed him (okay, they nearly kissed each other), since her husband was then trapped in a time vortex. He helped Lois deal with her temporary loss, despite his pain. Lois knew that her counterparts would never admit it, but she owed them, in a huge way, for what the other Clark had done for her and her Clark. This may be the opportunity to return the favor. 'But what a way to return the favor!' Without betraying her emotions, Lois addressed Lois2. "Look, I see your point. I really do. But again, even if I give you my permission, I don't think Clark will want to do this. Speaking of Clark, I think we should talk to him about this right now. Like you said, this would affect all four of us. And if you and your Clark work the way we do, you would know that Clark and I make decisions together." "You're right," Lois2 said. "Clark and I work the same way. So I guess we'll wait till he comes back, huh?" She sighed. Lois in turn draped her arm around Lois2's shoulders in a comforting embrace. * * * * * * * * When Clark returned to the townhouse an hour later, he found the two Lois-es looking very somber. Quickly he spun out of his suit and went to join them. Looking at Lois2, he asked her gently, "Are you ready to tell me what's going on?" Lois squeezed Lois2's hand in encouragement. The other woman answered, "I guess so." Without looking at Clark at all, Lois2 retold her story. Clark went from sympathetic, to anger, to astonishment, to sympathetic again, and to disbelief, as Lois2 explained her dilemma and her and the other Clark's conversation with Mr. Wells. When Lois2 finished, Clark was simply blown away. His counterpart, sterile? The alternate universe's Utopia threatened? And the most amazing of them all: Lois2 asking him to procreate with her? He noticed that Lois had not said a word while Lois2 told her story. Does Lois actually approve of this? How would she feel afterwards? How would he feel afterwards? Immediately, he knew that even if Lois gave him her permission, he would feel very guilty about it. "Lois, I mean Lois2, I am so sorry for what you and Clark went through," Clark started, "but I'm not sure if I can help. And it's not because I don't want to; it's because I don't think I can, physically. While you look like Lois and talk like Lois, you're not my Lois." "But surely, you can pretend that she's me?" Lois2 asked, looking visibly troubled. "I can cut my hair, eat some chocolate in your presence..." "Wait a minute," Lois interjected. "You know that I eat chocolate? How come?" "My Clark told me, of course," Lois2 replied, with confusion in her voice. "It was when he came over to your world that one time that he knew." Lois threw up her hands. "Great, now everyone here and in the alternate universe knows that I eat chocolate!" "Lois, it's okay," Clark soothed, as he stood behind his wife and grasped her shoulders. "I think your secret is safe with Lois2, as far as her world is concerned. Anyway, they already have their own Lois Lane, a beautiful, intelligent woman..." -- Lois2 beamed at the compliment -- "... who, unfortunately, is not my wife... Hold on. Are you telling us that your Clark is okay with this, this, notion of another man sleeping with you?" "Not at first," Lois2 admitted. "But like I said, helping others is a part of who he is, a part of who you are. It would be the ultimate contribution to our world if he and I could help bring in our Utopia. The funny thing was that I was more against the idea of sleeping with you than he was. It was he who finally convinced me to come see you both." Lois started to think hard about the situation. She was right that Clark wouldn't go along with this, but they should give themselves time to discuss this rationally, but without an audience. "Honey," she said slowly, "what about AI? The other Clark thought that it wouldn't work here, but he doesn't really know, does he? I mean, our worlds are a lot alike, but there are differences, too. Maybe we should ask Dr. Klein about it." Clark was puzzled at what Lois just said, but look on Lois' face told him not to say what was on his mind right now. Lois faced Lois2. "All right, Lois2, this is what we'll do. Can you get Mr. Wells to maybe bring you back here in, let's say, three weeks?" Lois2 looked very uncomfortable. "Um, Lois, you also have to consider my monthly cycle." "Oh, right! So when do you ovulate?" Lois2 blushed in response, and Lois understood immediately. "Oh, I see. In a month, then." "Why a month, Lois?" Clark asked, but then he finally understood. "Oh. Duh!" Clark mentally kicked himself for momentarily forgetting about human biology. "Anyway," Lois continued on, "we'll find out if it'll work here, and go on from there. That's the best we can promise for now, Lois2. Is that okay with you?" Lois2 was clearly unhappy at what Lois and Clark was suggesting, but it was obvious that Clark was very much against the idea of sleeping with her at this point. Lois, on the other hand, was looking as if she was considering the idea intellectually. Their plan was the best one for now; Lois could perhaps convince Clark to sleep with her counterpart while they wait for her to return in a month. "O.K., we can do that," Lois2 conceded. "At the very least, it gives me time to get over the idea that your husband and I may... well, you know." "Well, that's settled," Clark said, although he didn't think so. There were still unanswered questions about Lois2's visit as a whole, so he decided to voice one of them. "Where is Mr. Wells? Why is it that he didn't come with you?" For a split second, Lois2 looked apprehensive, as if she had something to hide. But she recovered quickly, and answered Clark. "He wouldn't tell me. Maybe he thought it was something that the three of us should do ourselves." She shrugged. Clark wasn't convinced, but he decided not to dwell on that. "So how are you going to come back here in a month?" "With this..." Lois2 replied, brandishing an electronic device that was slightly larger than a palmtop. Recognition appeared on Lois' face. "Clark, that looked like the device Mr. Wells had..." "... when we broke Tempus' curse," Clark finished. He looked at the device with interest. "So you can travel through time as yourself and not in another person?" "In another person?" Lois2 asked, confused. "This is basically a time machine, developed in the 24th century. I think that's what Mr. Wells told me. It's an interesting machine, because he said that once I return to my own time and my own universe the machine stops working." "Why would they invent something like that?" Lois asked Lois2. "Maybe because too many people have been traveling through time?" Clark suggested. "I don't know, Honey, but at least we know how Lois2 is going to see us in a month." After reassuring Lois2 the they were going to see Dr. Klein first thing on Tuesday, and after the three of them talked a little bit about life in the alternate universe, it was time for Lois2 to go. Lois and Clark stepped back and watched in amazement as Lois2 disappeared in a flash of light, right before their very eyes. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 14:52:28 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: The (Mis)conception (3/5) [Revised] [Metropolis, 348 Hyperion Avenue] [October 4, 1998] Lois woke up to find herself on the ceiling, snuggled into her husband's arms. She sighed dreamily, feeling content. On Tuesday Lois and Clark will be celebrating their second wedding anniversary, and in an unusual move for Perry, they got the entire week off. It wasn't as if they didn't deserve it. Between their work, Clark's other job as the 'Man of Steel,' and raising two three-month old babies, by the time this weekend approached, they were simply tired. Perry practically threw them out of the newsroom on Friday, ordering them not to come back until a week from this coming Monday. They were too tired then to even argue, which was not like them. This time, Lois and Clark had dropped off the twins at her parents' place (Sam and Ellen remarried over four months ago), and, except for Friday night, they had spent their time off reenacting their honeymoon, alternating between staying in the bed or on the ceiling. Two years. Two wonderful years! In that time period, Lois never tired of being in Clark's arms, feeling secure, feeling loved. If anyone had told her five years ago that she would turn out like this, married to a 'hack from Nowheresville' (she groaned inwardly as she remembered calling Clark that), having two children, and winning a Pulitzer and another Kerth, she would have considered that person totally nuts and had that person committed. (Well, she would have believed the Pulitzer and Kerth part.) And while there were bumps along the way, those were a piece of cake compared to the obstacles they had to overcome before they had gotten married. Her feelings of contentment right now, unfortunately, were turning into feelings of anxiety, as she recalled the events a month ago. First of all, there was that exaggeration, um, distortion -- O.K., it was a lie! -- that she had told Lois2. Both Lois and Clark had known that AI was not possible in their universe, but Lois wanted time for her and Clark to digest all of what Lois2 had said. So in the spur of the moment, she lied, in order to get rid of Lois2 quickly so that they could talk about this alone. Then there was the question on Lois2's story herself. Was she telling the truth? Was the other Clark really sterile? Would the alternate universe be threatened if they did not have children? This Lois, if she was who she said she was, was very upset over the entire situation, and clearly did not like the idea of procreating with another man. On the other hand, Lois2 didn't seem completely enthused over Lois' idea of trying AI here, even if it wasn't possible. But there was no other way to check up on Lois2's story. Lois and Clark could not contact Mr. Wells like the way that they could easily contact Superman. Mr. Wells only came to them when there was trouble. Since they have not heard from Mr. Wells, could that mean that there was no trouble, at least for them? Perhaps what they were doing was supposed to happen, and Mr. Wells didn't tell them this because he didn't want them to know too much about the future? It was also possible, however, that Mr. Wells wasn't able to contact them, because he might be in danger himself. So either way, there was no way for them to know. Lois and Clark's only option, at that point, was to figure out who could that women be if she wasn't Lois Lane. Unfortunately, they didn't get very far. At this point, they had encountered only two other doubles: one was Lois' clone, and the other was the woman who worked with Dr. Ariana Carlin, Lex Luthor's ex-wife. The clone had died with Luthor (Clark was sure of this), but the other woman, a one Lauren Loxley, was alive and well, and still enjoying accommodations at the Metropolis State Prison. They had visited her, but Ms. Loxley had refused to speak to them. Thus, there was nothing left for Lois and Clark to do, except to wait until Lois2 returned, which was any day now. For now, they were going to accept Lois2's story. Before Lois and Clark could decide if they could help Lois2 at all, however, they would talk to her further about a couple more things, because in all the excitement surrounding Lois2's visit, Lois and Clark had forgotten about two more issues that were never addressed. The first issue was the fact that Clark, if he were to have a child with Lois2, would in all likelihood never see this child. Clark would never witness the child's birth. Clark would never be able to help raise the child. And Clark would never see the child grow up into a person who would use his or her superpowers for the benefit of the world. Should Clark let this happen, they would need to know if the child would be told the truth about his or her parentage. The other issue was not any easier to deal with. How many children would be required? If the Lois and Clark in the other universe wish to have another child, the two couples most assuredly would have to go through this again. Clark certainly wouldn't want to repeat the experience. Heck, if she were honest with herself, she wouldn't want to repeat the experience. Would one child be enough to establish the Utopia that the alternate universe desperately needed? The only person who would know the answer to this question was Mr. Wells, but again, he wasn't here. What were they going to tell Lois2? If there was only another way for them to help her! Lois was now starting to get a headache from thinking about all this. She looked at the alarm clock and groaned. 2:30 A.M.! She relaxed into the cocoon that was Clark's embrace, and tried to go back to sleep. [8:30 P.M.] "So..." Lois started, with difficulty. "I assume that you jumped straight here from a month ago?" "That's right, Lois," Lois2 answered, looking uncomfortable. "If I had returned home, this time machine would no longer work." There was tension in the air in Lois and Clark's brownstone. Lois2 had just arrived, and there was considerable difficulty getting to the subject at hand. Clark was standing near the fireplace, wishing that someone would cry for help so that he could get away for a while. 'What, and leave Lois alone with Lois2?' Clark shook his head. 'That wouldn't be fair to her. We're supposed to work this out together.' Truthfully, Lois and Clark had not talked much about the dilemma, at least not after the conversation they had right after Lois2 had left a month ago to come here. Clark was still amazed that Lois would want to consider having him procreating with Lois2. She did have a point, however, in mentioning that he had not seen the alternate universe and their problems, and that she had. He glanced at Lois, and noticed that she was looking at him, pleading with her eyes. She could no longer make small talk, and she wanted Clark to 'say the scary words,' as someone once said. He took a deep breath and forged ahead. "Lois2, Lois and I had discussed the problem at length, but we realized that we forgot to ask you something when you were here last, so we'd like to ask you now." "Go ahead," Lois2 prompted. Clark sat next to his wife and grabbed one of her hands for support. "We wanted to know if the child would be told the truth about his or her father, and we wanted to know how many children were you planning to have?" Lois2 jumped up immediately, reacting to the second question. "How many children?" she asked, her voice breaking. She started pacing. "We could never... do you think I could do this, we could do this, every time we wanted another child?" Tears began to fall from Lois2's cheeks. "Whatever we do, whether it's to use AI or to sleep with someone who's not my husband, it's one time too many! But it's necessary. Yes, Mr. Wells said our descendants will establish Utopia, but it doesn't necessarily mean that we have to have more than one child! There's no way Clark and I could ask you to do this again." Lois2 sat back down and put her face in her hands. Lois and Clark could only look at each other. 'That's one question answered.' "Lois2," Lois prodded, gently. "What about the child's origins? Would you tell the truth about Clark?" Lois2 sniffed, and wiped her eyes. "We would tell the child the truth. We would tell the child how we wanted to have him or her but couldn't, and that it was only possible because of the love and kindness of two people who wanted to help." Clark cringed upon hearing this. There was so much hope in her voice. And Clark, despite the fact that he had always wanted to help, wasn't sure if he could this time. Then suddenly, his super-hearing kicked in. 'And just a minute ago, I had wished to be interrupted...' But then, he realized the enormity of the situation he was hearing. Lois noticed the faraway look in his eyes and sighed. "What is it?" "An alarm at S.T.A.R. Labs!" "Oh my God! What if it's the kryptonite? Go!" Lois commanded, pushing Clark away. Clark spun into his suit. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise!" he called, and flew out their window. Lois2 turned to look at Lois. Lois noticed how Lois2's face was blotched from crying. The visitor asked in a timid voice, "Can we talk?" Lois sighed, feeling terrible about what she and Clark may have to say to Lois2. She sat across from her counterpart. "Sure..." * * * * * * * * Clark wasn't able to return home until midnight. It didn't take long to deal with the alarm at S.T.A.R. Labs (apparently someone carelessly tripped it and ran), but he then had to deal with three car accidents, an attempted rape, two more robberies, and an escalating gang war in Baltimore, among other things. He x-rayed his house as he approached and found that Lois2 was sleeping in the guestroom and Lois was in the bathroom, getting ready for bed. Entering through the windows, he spun out of his suit (quietly, so that he wouldn't wake up his guest) and tiptoed up the stairs. He opened the bedroom door. And stopped. And stared. There was Lois, lying on their bed, totally naked. Any coherent thoughts he had immediately flew out the window. Except one. "Uhm, Lois, do you think we should do this? What about... ?" Clark gestured towards the guestroom. "Cla-ark," Lois sing-songed, "this is Lois we're talking about here. She'll understand. Besides, she was out like a light an hour ago. I guess traveling through time took a lot out of her." Lois stood up and crooked her finger at him. As if in a trance, Clark closed the distance between them until their faces were inches away. Then Lois crushed her lips against his, acting as if they hadn't made love in a week. Clark pulled back after a few moments to allow himself to drown into her gaze, but was surprised to find that her eyes were filled with unshed tears. "Honey," he said gently. "What's wrong?" He brought up his hand to wipe away a tear from her face. "Nothing, Clark. I'm just happy. Just happy that I have you, and you have me." Lois ran her hands through his hair and then pulled him towards her. "I love you, Lois," Clark whispered, as their lips met. Then he scooped her into his arms and started towards the bed. * * * * * * * * In the guestroom, the other Lois was lying in bed, awakened by voices from the other bedroom. Tears were running down her cheeks as she tried to go back to sleep. [The Next Morning] Clark awoke to a sound of a fire alarm. Carefully getting out of bed so as not to disturb Lois, he spun into his suit, slower than usual. He glanced at the alarm clock and shook his head. 8:49 A.M. It was just as well that he woke up, for the alarm clock was to go off in ten minutes. After enjoying the view for a moment of his sleeping wife in bed, he flew off to the scene of the fire. The fire was at a building not far from the S.T.A.R. Labs, and it was clearly not accidental. After talking with the fire chief for a few minutes, Clark flew off in the direction of the Daily Planet building, but then stopped in midair. Of course! Clark Kent was off this week. He can't make an appearance at the Planet. As he glanced back at the scene of the fire, he was relieved to see Paul Hurst from the Planet's City section talking with a bystander. Clark flew back to give the young reporter a few quotes as Superman. 'Paul will be ecstatic getting his first Superman exclusive,' Clark thought, grinning. Unfortunately, after the fire, there were other things that required his attention (like a couple of robberies, attempted muggings, and a hostage situation at the Metropolis Airport), so he wasn't able to return home until two hours later, making him not in the best of moods. On one hand, being away as Superman prolonged the inevitable talk with Lois2. On the other hand, he was away from his wife, and being away from Lois, when he wanted to be with her right now, didn't make him a happy camper. He touched down in the balcony of their brownstone and spun into his normal clothes. Upon entering the house, he found out, to his surprise, that it was empty. Looking around, he found a note next to their answering machine, and the answering machine was blinking. Clark scanned the note quickly, causing him to smile: Honey, Went to the mall. :) I love you, Lois Clark smiled as he remembered a time when Lois left a similar message, that time on his voice mail at the Planet. It was about six weeks ago, and Clark had returned to the office from a source and found that Lois had gone early. That night, he went on a patrol, and he came home to find his wife with a pair of handcuffs in one hand and a policeman's uniform in another, inviting him to strip-search her. To his amazement, the uniform looked exactly like the uniform he wore when he went undercover as Superman, when Intergang first attracted Lois and Clark's attention, about four years ago. Although Lois knew that Superman had posed as a police officer, she had never seen him wearing the uniform. Superman had been warned to stay away from the South Side, because it was one of the places where Intergang was operating. Unfortunately, Lois' uncle Mike Lane owned a cafe at the South Side, which put him in danger. Lois gave Superman the idea to go undercover so that he could still check things out. It was the perfect solution; one night, Uncle Mike was being threatened by a group of thugs, possibly Intergang henchmen. Clark arrived at the scene, dressed as a cop, and took care of the thugs without any difficulty. He sprinted away when he and Uncle Mike heard the police sirens. So there Lois was, standing there in their bedroom with a sexy smile on her face, asking him to strip-search her. Clark had confessed to her a couple of days before that he had a dream about making love to her dressed as a cop, and Lois was giving him another opportunity to make his dream come true. Clark spun out of his suit and into the uniform, and then he proceeded to strip-search his wife, which didn't take long, because she was wearing a nightgown and nothing else. It was one of the most memorable nights of their marriage thus far. Clark then started to think about Lois2, and he sighed. There was just no way he could sleep with her. He loved Lois completely, whom Lois2 looked exactly alike. Maybe it wouldn't take a lot of imagination to pretend she was Lois, but she wasn't Lois, and he loved Lois, and Lois2 would have to understand that. And what about the other Clark? Does he understand what he and Lois2 had to do? Is he really okay with the idea of his wife sleeping with another man so that she could get pregnant? Clark could understand his counterpart's absence -- if the roles were reversed, certainly he wouldn't want to be nearby Lois and the other Clark while they were together; then again, he would never allow that to happen, even if he were to be sterile. His heart heavy, Clark looked at the note again. He read it twice and frowned. Why would Lois go to the mall? Clark's last 'Choose-Your-Costume-Fantasy' was a month ago, and it involved Lois as Ultrawoman. Because of Lois2's visit, and because of all the work he and Lois had to do this past month, he had forgotten about that dream until now. Lois' Ultrawoman costume was packed away in the attic. Even if Lois didn't have the costume anymore, her appearance was so brief, he doubted that any costume store would have the Ultrawoman suit now. He lowered his glasses and glanced through the ceiling to the attic, just to be sure. Yep, the costume was still there. The sound of their doorbell interrupted his thoughts. He redirected his x-ray vision to the door and reflexively stepped back in shock. "Oh no, it can't be..." he whispered. He rushed to the door. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 14:54:43 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: The (Mis)conception (4/5) [Revised] Clark threw open the door and there stood a very disheveled, a very agitated, and a very impatient Lois Lane. Unfortunately, it was not his Lois Lane, because this one had longer hair. So Lois2 was now safe and sound, but what about his Lois? She still hadn't 'returned' from the mall. He had a bad feeling that something happened to her. Have both of them been abducted? Did Lois2 escape from wherever they were being held? Was his Lois in danger? Lois2 meanwhile was ready to march into the house when she stopped and stared at Clark. Wow! The resemblance was uncanny! Change the glasses and he was the spitting image of her husband. "Oh my God," she breathed. Clark looked at her in concern. Lois2 didn't look hurt, but maybe she suffered from some internal injuries. "Are you hurt? Are you in pain?" Lois2 shook her head. After looking blankly at Clark for a few moments, she composed herself. "Oh my God," she tried again. "It's you! You're the other Clark!" "Yes, I am," Clark blinked, clearly confused. Did she not remember who he was? Maybe Lois2 was suffering from some form of amnesia, and that she had forgotten about her visits to his universe. But he didn't see any bumps or bruises on her forehead. He was about to ask Lois2 about it when she spoke up. "Clark, I think your Lois is in danger! There's a double that's been posing as me!" Clark's blood ran cold. Lois in danger? A double posing as Lois2? He was about to grab her by the shoulders and force her to explain herself when he stopped himself short. If this was the real Lois2 then she wouldn't appreciate it. Instead, he assumed his 'Superman' pose and glared at her. "Just who are you?" he spat out. Lois2 wouldn't let herself be intimidated by Superman. She crossed her arms in a similar pose and glared back at him. "I am Lois Lane Kent of the alternate dimension. I was kidnapped by a woman who claimed to be your wife, and was brought here. I believe that she's now pretending to be me, and that she's after your Lois." She turned away made her way to the living room. Clark followed her, and then sat down on the couch with a plop. He was astounded. Never in a million years would he have expected this. The woman who visited him and Lois a month ago and yesterday was therefore not the real Lois2. The woman who claimed that she was married to the other Clark was therefore not the real Lois2. The woman who asked him to procreate with her was therefore not the real Lois2! But wait a minute! It is also possible that the woman who first came over was Lois2, and that the woman sitting across from him was the fake. Trying to control his anger, he spoke in a low, even voice. "How do I know that you aren't really the double and that the woman is the real Lois2?" Lois2's face fell. 'Clark wasn't sure who to believe.' Then a thought came to her. She responded, "Perhaps the best way is for me to show you..." * * * * * * * * For the umpteenth time Lois struggled with the ropes. Nothing. There was just no way for her to get free. Lois had woken up this morning to find her husband gone. She had assumed that Superman was needed, so she had decided to cook and have breakfast ready for him when he returned. Before she could reach the kitchen, however, she felt something strike her back, and she then want black. When she came to, she found herself in a strange apartment gagged and tied to a chair. She struggled with the ropes again. Lois jerked her head, and in the process, her gag loosened slightly. At the risk of getting dizzy, she alternated between bobbing her head up and down and shaking her head from side to side. After a few tense moments, she was free from the gag. She took a deep breath, preparing to scream for help, when she heard footsteps approaching her. Then she felt a gun at the back of her head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Lois." Lois turned around to see Lois2 standing behind her. Well, it was obvious that this woman wasn't really Lois2. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Oh, let's just say I'm 'an accident victim who was at the right place at the right time,'" the other woman replied smugly. She took Lois gag and tied it again around Lois' mouth, securing it tightly. Lois' eyes widened as she realized the significance of the woman's words. This woman who pretended to be Lois2 was in fact Lauren Loxley, the double who worked with Ariana Carlin. * * * * * * * * "So your Lois went to the mall and hasn't returned?" Lois2 asked. "That's right, and I'm really worried. The double isn't here either, so it's possible that she has her." Lois2's heart went out to Clark. She could only imagine how her Clark must feel now, knowing that she was missing. "Was that the only note you found?" she asked gently. "Yeah... no! Before you came here, I noticed that there was a message on the answering machine. I completely forgot about it!" With determination, he strode to the machine and pressed the play button. "Clark, this is Lois2! Lois has been kidnapped! We were on our way to the mall when someone grabbed her and took her away in a van! One of the guys said that if you value her life, come to the top apartment of the apartment complex at 256 N. Washington Avenue. Or was it 265 N. Washington Avenue? You have to be there by 1 o'clock. I'm on my way so see if I can help out." Click. "Oh, give me a break!" Clark exclaimed. "Who does she think she's trying to fool! It's obvious that she has Lois. And I've got ten minutes to get there! I have to go!" Clark spun into his suit. He was about to fly out the window when Lois2 stopped him. "Clark, wait! Let me go with you!" "You're not going with me! You just escaped from that lunatic!" With a look of fierce determination on his face, Clark again strode to the window, but Lois2 grabbed him and spun him around. "Aren't you forgetting something? I'm fine! And I'm going with you, buster!" She jabbed her finger into his chest. "The double does not know that I escaped. We can use this to our advantage." "No! I can't! I can't put you at risk! Your husband would never forgive me. I... can't." Without letting Lois say another word, Clark flew out the window as fast as he could. "Clark, wait!" Lois2 cried. Superman's sonic boom was her only response. "Darn it!" Lois2 exploded. Looking around, she sighed. "He's so much like my Clark. O.K., what was the address again?" She looked at the answering machine and found that it was still blinking, which meant that Clark, thank goodness, didn't erase the message. She pressed 'Play,' and after listening for a few seconds, ran out of the house in a speed that rivaled Superman's. * * * * * * * * In no time, Clark was able to find Ms. Loxley's apartment. As he flew closer, he noticed that one window was open, the one near the fire escape. 'How convenient,' Clark thought sardonically. With a burst of speed, he flew into the window and landed in the living room of the apartment. What he found surprised him. There was a woman with long hair who looked like Lois, tied in a chair with a rope, and gagged. There was also a gun, broken glass, and an overturned table on the floor, as if a scuffle had taken place. But there was no sign of Lois. Clark was about to x-ray the apartment when he heard a voice from the bedroom. "Superman? Is that you?" "Right here, Lois." Lois came into the room (with short hair, Clark noticed), saw Clark, and said, "Took you long enough. But thank God you're here. My double had wanted to kill me. But I was able to get the gun away, fight back with some Tae Kwon Do-- thank God I haven't dropped the class-- and was able to subdue her. Not bad for a person without superpowers, huh?" As she babbled, she fiddled with her watch, which she was wearing on her right wrist. Clark's eyes narrowed at her gesture. Lois always wore her watch on her left wrist. In fact, people who were right-handed usually wore their watches on their left wrist. That must mean that the woman standing before him was left-handed. Which means... He quickly looked at the woman tied up in the chair. He then noticed that her hair was not cut evenly. 'Or it's a wig not on straight,' he realized. He immediately grabbed the wig and pulled it off the woman's head and found that her real hair was short, just like Lois'. He removed the gag. "Superman!" Lois gasped, darting her eyes towards the standing woman. "It's a trap!" Clark turned around, and was greeted by waves of pain flowing through his body. He crashed to the floor. Clark tried to right himself up. Every part of his body screamed as he did so, for the pain was too intense. Giving up for the moment, he sank to the floor. Looking at Lois' double, he groaned. It turned out that Lauren was wearing a rather odd-shaped locket around her neck. The locket was made out of lead, and inside it was a piece of Kryptonite. 'Idiot! How could I have not noticed it before?' Clark reprimanded himself. He tried to scoot away from her but his arms and legs simply wouldn't work together. Lois could only watch helplessly at her husband as he grimaced in pain. She struggled with the ropes again, wanting to do something, anything, to help get Clark away from the Kryptonite. But it was to no avail. "How did you know it was me, Clark, or I should say, Superman?" Lauren asked, with an icy stare. "The watch," Lois responded defiantly. "You're wearing it on the wrong wrist. I'm right-handed. Superman isn't 'galactically stupid,' you know!" "Yes, he is!" Lauren shot back. "He could have agreed to sleep with me and I wouldn't have to have resorted to kidnapping you. But nooooo!" She turned to Clark, waving the gun threateningly. "You had your eyes on Lois and no one else. I figured that you wouldn't go for it when I came back. So we're going to have to do it this way." Clark in the meantime had tried to get up, but Lauren pushed him back down with her right leg. He moaned again in response. He opened his eyes and looked at Lauren. He was surprised to see that instead of anger, there was fear in her eyes. "If you're Lauren, then who's the woman in your jail cell?" Lois demanded. "Oh, I don't know," Lauren replied airily. "He brought some woman there before he helped me escape." 'He?' Then Lois groaned. It was Tempus. It just had to be! And he's done it again! Somehow he had enlisted the help of this woman to try to wreck her and Clark's lives. When will this madness stop? Lauren idly fingered the Kryptonite as she went on a completely different subject. "Did you know that Superman has a lot of female 'admirers' where I was staying? We call it the 'Superman Fan Club.' You know most of them. Miranda, Constance the magician, Mrs. Cox, the resurrected Bonnie Harper, Amber Lake, Samantha from that tabloid; the list goes on. "I really thought that Samantha was crazy, you know? Superman, having an illicit affair with Lois Lane? Yeah right! But when John told me about Clark, it made perfect sense! Of course there was no affair, because Clark is Superman!" Lauren glanced down at Clark. "Or 'was', judging by the way he looks. What's the matter, Clark? Not feeling 'super'?" Clark managed to let out another groan. 'So Tempus' was calling himself 'John Doe' that time,'' Lois mused. Looking about, she thought furiously. Of course, she knew the drill. Whenever you are captured, you need to buy some time. So she asked, "So, why us? Why the whole charade?" "Why you, Lois? Simple: revenge. You did put me in jail, you know," Lauren said sardonically. Then she started to become agitated. "John thought it would have been the easiest way to get to both of you. But of course, he thought that Clark would have gone for it too, the 'Boy Scout' that he is." Lois' eyes blinked in surprise. What was wrong with this woman? Was she afraid of Tempus? Before she could ask Lauren, the woman edged closer to Clark. Lauren let go of the locket, letting it bounce off her chest. "Well now, before I kill you both, I'm going to fulfill my fantasy now." Lauren knelt, and with her right hand, stroked Clark's thigh. Clark tried to move away from her, but couldn't. "It just isn't fair. The man who I despise has to have a body to die for. Still, I've been wondering what Superman would be like in bed. I assume, Lois, that the suit really does come off?" Lois' response was an indigenous sound. Lauren got up, walked to Lois, and leaned forward until Lois' face was inches from hers. She smiled sweetly. "What was that? Does that mean that it does?" "Go to hell," Lois said and spat the other woman's face. Lauren, looking very angry, stood back and slapped Lois' face in return. Clark let out a groan, and both women turned to him. "Lauren," he spoke, faltering, "if you... you... touch her... again..." "Aw, Superman, are you in pain?" Lauren asked in mock sympathy. She wiped her face with her sleeve and knelt at Clark's side. "Where does it hurt? Do you want me to kiss it to make it feel better?" Without waiting for Clark's response, she leaned forward and crushed her lips against his. Lois could only cry out as she witnessed the scene before her. Clark tried to turn his head away, but Lauren took his face in her right hand and held it steady as she explored his mouth with hers. Then she rose, stepped back, and began to unbutton her blouse. Suddenly, there was a sonic boom, and something whooshed through the window. Make that someone. A woman, wearing the Ultrawoman costume, flew in and was on a direct course to crash into Lauren. Before Lauren could even turn her head to the source of the commotion, the two women collided. This caused Lauren to spiral backwards. She crashed on to the overturned table and hit her head hard against the tabletop, knocking her out. Lois could only stare in amazement at her rescuer, who was on the floor grimacing in pain. This rescuer looked exactly like her when she was Ultrawoman! She could tell, even with the mask on. 'This must be the real Lois2,' she thought. And she has superpowers! But how did she get them? The real Lois2, meanwhile, was inching her way towards Lauren. Reaching the fallen woman, she took the locket, closed it, and removed it from Lauren's neck. Immediately Lois2 relaxed and her breathing returned to normal. Clark, however, was slower in recovery. There weren't many things that could render Lois Lane totally speechless, but certainly this was a one of them. She stammered, "How... how did you..." "Not now," said Lois2, with difficulty. "I'll explain later." She got up and went to Lois. With a little more effort than usual, she tore the ropes off Lois. After she was free, Lois sprang from the chair and scooted to Clark's side. Lois shook her head as she smoothed the hair on her husband's head and caressed his face. "Clark? Are you okay?" "Ughh, that hurt," he croaked. Once he noticed that Lois was now free, he sat up, grimacing. "I'll live. How about you, Honey?" "Some rope burns on my wrists, but other than that, never better." Now that the ordeal was over, Lois wanted to kiss her husband senseless. She pulled his head towards hers and started doing just that. "Ahem. Excuse me," Lois2 said politely, not wanting Lois and Clark to forget where they were at the moment. They immediately disengaged. "Better," Lois2 smirked. She took the ropes that had bound Lois and began to tie Lauren up. "Clark, I can't believe that you left without me! Didn't you figure that the double would have some more Kryptonite?" Lois turned to Clark. "You did what?" she asked incredulously. "The double had me trapped with Kryptonite before, and Clark didn't want me in danger. Oh!" Lois2 extended her hand to Lois. "We weren't properly introduced. Lois Lane Kent, alternate dimension. Also known as Ultrawoman." Dazed, Lois shook the other woman's hand. Lois2 finished tying Lauren up. "Does he do that to you as well, Lois? Going off to do things without you?" "Constantly. I guess since you have superpowers that your Clark doesn't do it as often." "I'm afraid not," Lois2 replied. Then she frowned. "He still worries about me, and I'm sure he'll be worried sick when he finds me missing. Which means we have to hurry." "You're right," Lois agreed. She got up and glanced at her husband. To her relief, his color was back to normal and he was trying to stand. She helped him up. Lois2 made a quick check to see that Lauren was okay. Satisfied, she addressed the couple. "Clark, you're looking better. If you're up to it, why don't the two of you fly home? I'm going to the Metropolis State Prison and switch her back with the unfortunate woman who's there right now. That woman is my double in my universe, by the way. I'll be at your house afterwards and we'll talk. Really talk. Okay?" Lois and Clark nodded in agreement. "All right then, I'll see you in a bit," Lois2 said. She picked up Lauren and strode to the window. Lois could only watch in amazement as Ultrawoman flew out the window. Then they heard the sonic boom a short moment later. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 14:57:03 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: The (Mis)conception (5/5) [Revised] Lois loved being held in Clark's arms while flying. She was never tired of it, ever since the first time, when Clark flew her back to the Daily Planet from EPRAD over five years ago. Of course, she did not know that Clark was Superman then. 'Who knows what would have happened if I knew earlier,' she wondered. Hopefully, they will continue to do this all the days of their lives. Lois looked over at Clark and saw that he looked pensive, and almost sad. She nudged him. "Honey? What is it?" Clark sighed. "Did you notice the look on Lauren's face before Lois2 arrived? She almost looked..." "Afraid?" Lois finished. Clark nodded. "Maybe Tempus threatened her with her life if she didn't succeed," she suggested. "Maybe," said Clark. "It would explain why I thought I heard her crying last night while..." He stopped, looking almost embarrassed. "While we were making love?" Lois' eyes widened. "I thought I saw you once with that look. For a minute I thought that you weren't distracted enough." "Trust me, you distract me all the time," Clark teased. Lois swatted his arm, though lightly, so as not to get hurt. "But seriously, Lois, we thought she was Lois2. Not only did she look like you and talked like you, but she cried like you. And you know how I am when you are hurt or upset..." Clark shrugged helplessly. Lois smiled at her husband warmly. Yes, she knew, and she loved him for it. "It's okay, Clark," she assured him. "It's been a crazy past few weeks for both of us, hasn't it?" "Yeah, it has." Clark smiled fondly at his wife and glanced up ahead. He did a double take, looked again, and chuckled. "Looks like you've just distracted me again." "Why do you say that?" "Because I can see the Chesapeake Bay up ahead. We went too far south." Lois giggled as Clark turned around and headed for home. * * * * * * * * When they returned to their brownstone, they found out that Lois2 hadn't returned yet. So they decided to distract each other some more (by necking on their couch) while they waited. A few minutes later, they heard a whoosh on their balcony, signaling Lois2's return. Lois reluctantly pulled away from Clark's embrace. Then Lois and Clark heard Lois2 doing a super-spin, and a moment later, she emerged into the living room. She was wearing jeans and a MetroU sweatshirt, and they looked at her in amazement. The pairs of eyes on Lois2 were making her a little uncomfortable. "What?" she yelped. Lois and Clark looked away. Lois spoke up. "It's nothing. It's just weird hearing someone doing the super-spin when it's not coming from Clark." "Oh. My Clark taught me to do this when changing clothes. It's the easiest way to do it," Lois2 shrugged. "It certainly is," Clark agreed. "So what happened to Lauren?" Lois asked, changing the subject. "Well, I had to stop by here first, because that was where she had left the time machine," Lois2 explained. "Before we arrived at the Metropolis State Prison she came to. She must have hit her head on that table pretty hard, because she didn't know who I was! Me, the both of you, Tempus... she didn't even remember being in prison! So I brought her to her cell, left her there while I took my double back to my universe, came back, and brought Lauren to the prison infirmary." "Wait a minute," Clark interjected. "I thought the time machine would stop working when you returned to your world..." "That must have been another lie," Lois reasoned. "Now I wonder if Lauren was telling the truth at all." "I guess we'll find out when I tell my story," said Clark. "Anyway," Lois2 stated, "the doctor confirmed it; Lauren has amnesia. Of course, we don't know if she'll one day start remembering, but I think you may want to keep your eyes on her, in case she does." Lois and Clark nodded in agreement. "So how did your Clark find you?" Lois asked, curious. "That was one thing that wasn't brought up when Lauren was here." "It's a long story," Lois2 answered. "The gist of it was that Mr. Wells found me and brought me back last year. It was weird, though, to come back to Metropolis to find that Perry was now the Mayor, that a guy younger than me was the owner of the Planet, and that one of the reporters could actually fly! Clark was a big help in getting me back up to speed. It's disconcerting to find yourself four years behind and have to spend months in the morgue playing catch-up. "Clark and I also hit it off very well. Within a couple of weeks we were dating, and within a few months we were engaged. Never had I thought that I would fall in love with someone and get engaged just like that!" Lois2 snapped her fingers. "But there was this connection with Clark that I couldn't explain, and there was something about him that always made sense to me, even when most of my life didn't." Lois and Clark looked at each other with their hearts full of love. They realized that Lois2's story wasn't much different than theirs. Lois took her husband's hand into hers and squeezed it. Lois2 didn't miss the gesture, and she was starting to feel a bit homesick. It's only been a few hours in her perspective and she missed her husband terribly. She hastily continued on with her tale. "We were married on October 11, 1997, and fortunately, we were able to keep the wedding low-key..." A gasp from Lois stopped Lois2 short. "What? Do we have the same wedding date?" "Actually, no," Clark explained. "We were married the year before, but on October 6th." "Which means tomorrow is our 2nd anniversary," Lois added. "So our dates are almost the same," Lois2 mused, and then made a face. "Yuck. What a way to spend your anniversary!" She gestured to Lois. "You getting kidnapped" -- then pointed at Clark -- "and you getting hit with Kryptonite. I feel so guilty that you had to go through all that. If I knew, when I met Lauren, that she wasn't the real Lois, then none of this would have happened." Lois couldn't believe her ears. "Lauren visited you, pretending that she was me?" Lois2 grimaced, as did Clark. "Yeah, she did," she admitted. "It was my day off at the Planet, though not for Clark. She came over, and we were getting acquainted. What she had said about the two of you collaborated with what my husband said, so there was no reason for me to think that she was not Lois Lane. I then proceeded to tell her everything that happened to Clark and I since I returned from the Congo. And I mean, everything. Unfortunately, that made it easier for her to play me when she visited you." "So the story she gave us was true?" Lois asked. "Maybe," Lois2 said slowly. "What did she tell you?" Clark recalled Lauren's first visit. "Well, she first said that you and Clark were trying to have children, but couldn't. Then you visited your Dr. Klein, and he said that your Clark had a low sperm count. Then Mr. Wells visited you and explained how Clark had some accident as a child that caused the low sperm count, and that it was Tempus' fault. Apparently this threatened your Utopia, which was why you came here." Lois2 frowned. So Lauren mostly didn't tell the truth. She sighed heavily and avoided Lois and Clark's eyes. "The only thing that was true was our visit to Dr. Klein. And that happened only because we, uh, had a spontaneous encounter in the kitchen and that we had forgotten to, well, take precautions..." She glanced back at the couple and saw that they were trying hard not to laugh at what Lois2 had just said. Then it dawned on her. "I guess that it had happened to you, too," Lois2 said wryly. Lois and Clark responded by nodding their heads. Then they gave up trying to keep a straight face and started laughing. After Lois and Clark calmed themselves down, Lois2 continued. "So besides visiting Dr. Klein, none of what she said was true. We weren't planning to have children, yet. We don't know why Clark has a low sperm count. We haven't seen Mr. Wells since he found me over a year ago. And certainly we haven't been told about any Utopia. "While Lauren was in my world, she pulled out the Kryptonite. Let me tell you, that was the first time I was exposed to it, and it hurts! Suddenly, it was "poof," and the powers were gone! She dragged me next to her and pulled out her time machine. We arrived in some abandoned warehouse, she tied me up, and she put some Kryptonite beyond my reach. She then left to go see you for the first time." "How did you get your powers?" Lois asked. "Did you always have them, or did you get them recently?" "No, I didn't always have them," Lois2 shook her head. Has it been over a year ago already when she received superpowers? "Clark and I were on a stakeout one night in the Metropolis Park Cemetery, about two months before we were married. It was a dark and stormy night. We were huddled together behind a tombstone when suddenly we were struck by lightening! A bolt from the blue! Neither one of us was hurt, thank goodness. The bad guys we were watching didn't even notice! We nabbed them, and later, I pulled open a gate as we were leaving the entrance of the cemetery. Imagine our astonishment when I accidentally pulled a gate off its hinges and was holding it in my hand!" Lois and Clark gave each other knowing looks, remembering a similar incident three years ago when his powers were temporarily transferred to her. Lois2 shook her head, as if she still didn't believe what had happened to her. "Eventually I had to make myself a costume. Clark came up with the name 'Ultrawoman,' and I started helping him with the rescues." "Does everyone know who you are?" Lois inquired. "Unfortunately, yeah. Clark and I didn't want this process of copying powers to become public, so I lied and said that I had always had them." Clark became thoughtful. He hadn't thought of copying his powers to Lois. It would certainly make things easier for the reporting team Lane and Kent. It would certainly make things easier in raising their children. It might also alleviate some of his worries about his wife's safety. But would Lois want his powers again? He wasn't sure, but it wouldn't hurt to discuss this, though, once they are alone. "Apparently," Lois2 said, interrupting Clark's thoughts, "Lauren didn't like what you said when she visited you the first time. She came back to the warehouse angry and afraid, and then we traveled a month ahead. Before she left me again with the Kryptonite, I got her to tell me what her plan was, and why was she was doing all this." "Besides revenge, of course," Clark remarked. "Not just Lauren, but Tempus too," Lois2 reminded him. "She told me that he came to see her out of nowhere when she was in jail, and offered to free her in exchange for helping him enact revenge on you two. He must have known the two of you pretty well, because Lauren told me a lot about your getting together and getting married." Lois2 shook her head and sighed. "He basically planned it all. I also think that he might have threatened her with her life, because when we went a month ahead, she looked very nervous, almost frightened. Of course, I was kind of out of it with the Kryptonite, so I might have been hallucinating." "It would make sense, though," Lois noted. "Clark said that he had heard her crying last night when she spent the night in the guestroom." "I'm just glad that I was able to reach the Kryptonite and get rid of it when I was back in the warehouse," Lois2 said firmly. "I spent the next morning mostly walking to your house, after I found out where it was. Fortunately the streets of Metropolis were laid out mostly the same way, as I knew it in my world. Plus, walking kept me in the sun, which helped me get my strength back." "I'm sorry I didn't ask for your help," Clark said, contrite. "I was concerned for your safety, you know." Lois rolled her eyes at her husband. "That sounds familiar," she said sarcastically to Lois2. "Well, you and your husband had known each other only for over a year," Clark spoke, trying to defend himself. "If anything had happened to you now, I don't think I could forgive myself." Clark shrugged helplessly. "Anyway, I'm glad you were able to rescue us. I really don't want to think what would happen if Lauren succeeded." "After having her way with you, she probably would have killed us both," Lois guessed. "Our Utopia might have been threatened. Just like what Tempus had wanted. Thank God C.J. and Laura were away from all of this!" "Thank God," Lois2 repeated, getting up. "Well, I have to get going. I don't want my Clark to be worried. You know how Clark can be." She smiled. "Besides, I miss him terribly." "Wait!" Lois exclaimed. "What about you and your Clark's, um, dilemma? What are you going to do about having children?" Lois2 drew out a long sigh. "We don't know. We weren't really thinking about having children before -- we've been so busy being at the Planet by day and being a superhero by night. Like I said, we checked with Dr. Klein only because we forgot, uh, you know." Lois2's face turned a little pink. "We may adopt, since it had worked before, if you know what I mean. Or Dr. Klein may find a way around Clark's problem. Or we may not have children at all. And don't worry, we're not going to do what Lauren did, asking Clark to procreate with me. No offense, Clark, but you just don't do it for me." Clark grinned, not feeling the least bit insulted. "The feeling's mutual, Lois2." Lois went up and hugged Lois2. "Thanks so much for your help. It looks like we're in you and Clark's debt, again. And if you decide to have children, don't give up. Anything is possible, you know." "I know," Lois2 murmured, stepping back. "Take care, Lois and Clark. I hope we meet again in better circumstances." She pulled out the time machine, pushed a couple of buttons, and disappeared in a flash of light. Immediately afterwards, Lois and Clark turned to each other and hugged. She rested her head against his chest. "Quite an adventure, huh?" Lois asked quietly. When Clark didn't answer, Lois tilted her head upwards and saw that all-familiar faraway look in his eyes. "Honey, what is it?" "A huge accident on the highway," Clark told Lois. She stepped back to give him room to spin into his suit. "Clark?" Lois stopped him before he flew off. "Why don't you make a patrol while you're at it?" Clark nodded wordlessly and left. * * * * * * * * Clark was anxious as he made his way back home. The accident on the highway, plus the patrol that Lois had suggested that he do, kept him busy for over three hours. It wasn't until about four o'clock that was able to return home. He spun into jeans and a T-shirt after he entered the house. The house again seemed deserted, but this time, Clark was able to hear Lois' heartbeat from their bedroom. Good. Now they could have that talk. He jogged up the stairs and made his way to the bedroom. "Sorry, Honey, for taking so long..." Clark started, but then he momentarily lost all ability to speak. The bedroom was dark, since the curtains were drawn. In the middle of the room stood Ultrawoman, with a huge grin on her face, and assuming a 'Superman' pose. For a moment Clark panicked. Did Lois and Lois2 somehow switch, and Lois was in the alternate universe? The sound of Lois' voice interrupted his thoughts. "Honey, are you okay? Did something happen?" "Lois?" he asked with uncertainty. "Is that you?" "Of course it's me, Honey! Who else could it -- oh!" Clark could see recognition in Lois' eyes as she realized what this scene was looking like. "I'm sorry, Clark, it's really me, not Lois2. I wasn't thinking." Clark exhaled slowly, feeling very relieved. "So why the Ultrawoman suit?" "Well it occurred to me, Clark, that there was that costume fantasy that we hadn't acted out yet. Remember a month ago? I was wearing the Ultrawoman suit in your dream, and when you woke up you tore your head through the ceiling." Clark grinned sheepishly as he remembered. "Oh yeah! We never got around to doing that because of Lauren and Lois2." "Well, I don't see any other Lois Lanes around, do you?" Lois said, as she made her way towards her husband. "And Mother and Daddy still have the twins." Her face was now inches from his. "So, Clark, ever made out with a superhero?" Lois began applying light butterfly kisses on his face. "Lois...?" he whimpered, lost in the sensations she was creating. Clark tried to clear his head; there was something he wanted to discuss first. He pulled back gently. "Honey, wait." "What is it?" Lois asked, looking confused. "I was just wondering, if there was another reason why you donned the suit now. You're not about becoming Ultrawoman again, are you?" "Becoming Ultrawoman?" she asked, not understanding. "How could I?" "Well, it's possible," Clark shrugged. "Remember Lois2? Remember 'Resplendent Man'? Remember the little boy who was supposedly my love child? One zap from a lightening bolt and you could have superpowers too." Lois sat on the bed, stunned. Of course! It's very possible for her to get superpowers. The thought simply hadn't occurred to her, despite meeting the real Lois2. Wouldn't it be great for both her and Clark to be invulnerable? 'No it wouldn't,' she thought. She glanced at her husband, seeing the uncertainty in his eyes. Then she understood. She stood up and wrapped her arms around Clark's neck. "Clark," she said quietly, "I know what you are thinking. You're thinking about my safety, weren't you?" She didn't wait for Clark to acknowledge her, because she knew her husband very well, sometimes better than herself. "It would be easy, you know. I could jump headfirst into danger and not worry about getting hurt. We would have no problem juggling work and raising our children at the same time. We could work together on rescues so that we could spend more time together." Lois paused, trying to put her thoughts into words. "But it would not be me. I am Lois Lane, award winning investigative reporter, a mother of two beautiful children, and a wife to the most wonderful man in the world... or I should say, in this universe," she corrected herself, smiling. "I am not a superhero, though. I was Ultrawoman once, and it made me realize that I loved you more, more than what I thought was possible. But I also realized that I have my own way of fighting for truth, justice, and the 'American Way,' and that is by being a journalist. This was what I had always wanted to do, ever since I was little. I would not have it any other way." Lois reached up and brushed back a lock of hair from Clark's forehead. "Besides, I still wouldn't be completely invulnerable, you know, as long as there's Kryptonite out there." Clark smiled tenderly at his wife, leaned forward, and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I figured that you would say that. I try not to be so overprotective, yet here I am, doing it again." Lois returned Clark's kiss with a more substantial one. She then pulled away briefly. "Yes, you are." She then caressed his face. "So why don't you do something else instead, like letting Ultrawoman have her way with you?" "Oh, really?" Clark growled. "I would have thought that Ultrawoman was above all that." "Well I am a woman, Clark," Lois pointed out, "just like you're a man." She let out a puff of breath on his face. "And this woman has needs, wants, and desires, just like any other woman." She began to nibble Clark's neck. He groaned at the contact. "Help, Ultrawoman," Clark mumbled, as Lois turned to his face and sought his mouth with hers. THE END (Finally :)) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 15:04:48 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: The (Mis)conception (Remarks) First off, my sincere apologies to Farah. Farah, you know why, and if you don't, I'm still apologizing. As those who are members to Zoomway's MB will know, I've been posting a revised version of "The (Mis)conception" for the past month. I've finally finished this today. Sorry it took me so long. So here it is, in its entirety. Please, let me know what you think! I have to warn you that it's considerably different than the original. It still needs work in some places, but that's why I'm posting it here. Felix ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:48:49 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Nominations Comments: To: "Erin K." MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Caped Fear - Overall, drama, most uses of the word "sardonic" Family Tree - Original premise ===== Mr. D8a - Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:54:32 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Elisabeth Subject: Nominations Comments: To: "Erin K." MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii The Lover's Tale, Allison Forbes, episode adaptation Fear of Discovery II, Yvonne Connell, elseworld Timeless, Becky Bain, drama Becky Bain, new author Irene Dutchak, new author Suffer the Little Children, Jenni Debbage, drama Master Race, Jenni Debbage, villain Suffer the Little Children/Master Race/Tears of a Clone, Jenni Debbage, series Just Like That/Being Lois Lane, Pam Jernigan, series Just Like That, Pam Jernigan, episode adaptation When Separate World's Collide, Mandy Crustner (did I spell her name right?), series Thanks for all your hard work. Elisabeth __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:59:35 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Nominations Comments: To: "Erin K." MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I forgot the following: Master Race, villain Master Race series, series When Separate World's Collide, series Thank goodness I married to an FoLCer or I may have left off some of my favorites. ===== Mr. D8a - Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 13:19:04 -0800 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: Nominations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii James and Elisabeth, Were you aware that you have to send your nominations directly to Erin Klingler rather than to the list? If you follow the link to the Kerths page from the fanfic archive, that will get you her address. Irene --- James Tull wrote: > I forgot the following: > > Master Race, villain > Master Race series, series > When Separate World's Collide, series > > Thank goodness I married to an FoLCer or I may have > left off some of my favorites. > > > > ===== > Mr. D8a - > Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not > on earthly things. > > The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... > Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > http://im.yahoo.com > ===== Outside of a dog, a book is Man’s best friend. And inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. Groucho Marx __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 14:47:10 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Nomination redone Comments: To: erink@ida.net MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Erin, I have been a space case lately. I don't know what I have nominated so I am sending you my nominations again. New Author - Irene Dutchak Tara Smith Trevis Original Premise - Karen Ward's Nightmare on Hyperion Ave. Irene Dutchak's Firestorm Trevis' Awakenings Becky Bain's Timeless Chris Mulder's The Child Who Fell From the Sky LabRat's Caped Fear David Shock's The Letter Krypton/New Krypton - Jenni Debbage's A Universal Union Series - Jennie Debbage's The Master Race, etc Mobile Richard's Life in a Different World Trevis' Jon Kent series Wendy Richard's Big Boys Do Fly Mandy Crustner's When Separate Worlds Collide Drama - Jennie Debbage's Suffer the Little Children Jennie Debbage's The Master Race Alicia U's Final Forgiveness LabRat's Caped Fear Short - Misty Elison's The Absent-Minded Superhero Stephani VanWert's All Superman, All the Time Comedy - Misty Elison's The Absent-Minded Superhero Alicia U's The Newlywed Show Villian - Jennie Debbage's The Master Race Episode Adaptation - Nan Smith's Doppelganger Niklas Jonsson's Lois & Clark - Premiere Wendy Richard's It's As Plain As The Nose Hazel's The Mirror Cracked Overall - Hazel's The Mirror Cracked Becky Bain's Timeless LabRat's Caped Fear Revelation - Hazel's The Mirror Cracked Becky Bain's Timeless Elseworld - Becky Bain's Timeless Wendy Richard's Big Boys Do Fly I AltWorld - Mandy Crustner's When Separate Worlds Collide IRC - Touched by an Angle WAFF - Allison Forbes' It's Just a Sweet, Sweet Fantasy, Baby Next Gen - Erin Klinger's Through the Years -------------- I think that's everything! ===== Mr. D8a - Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 14:51:50 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: Nominations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii We sent to both the list and Erin. It just shows on the list that it goes only the list. Thanks :-) --- "Irene D." wrote: > James and Elisabeth, > > Were you aware that you have to send your > nominations > directly to Erin Klingler rather than to the list? > > If you follow the link to the Kerths page from the > fanfic archive, that will get you her address. > > Irene > > --- James Tull wrote: > > I forgot the following: > > > > Master Race, villain > > Master Race series, series > > When Separate World's Collide, series > > > > Thank goodness I married to an FoLCer or I may > have > > left off some of my favorites. > > > > > > > > ===== > > Mr. D8a - > > Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above > not > > on earthly things. > > > > The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... > > Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > > http://im.yahoo.com > > > > ===== > Outside of a dog, a book is Man’s best friend. And > inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read. > Groucho Marx > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. > http://im.yahoo.com > ===== Mr. D8a - Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things. The love of James' life is Elisabeth, but... Daddy's little sweetheart is Rosa! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:19:22 -0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: Nominations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit James wrote: > Caped Fear - Overall, drama, most uses of the word > "sardonic" > Terribly sorry, James. Next time I work on a 300+ page length story I will try to remember to do a search for common words to eliminate repetition. Glad you enjoyed despite this though - or at least I'll assume you did since you nominated CF in a few categories. Thanks for those! Appreciated. LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 20:28:06 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Re: Nominations On Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:19:22 -0000, LabRat wrote: >Terribly sorry, James. Next time I work on a 300+ page length story I will >try to remember to do a search for common words to eliminate repetition. >Glad you enjoyed despite this though - or at least I'll assume you did since >you nominated CF in a few categories. Thanks for those! Appreciated. > >LabRat :) Don't worry about it, LabRat. I wouldn't have noticed, except everyone in FoLCdom (except Elisabeth and I) seem to know what the word sardonic means. Mr. Too-Lazy-to-Look-it-Up D8a ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 20:45:06 -0500 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: Nominations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Elisabeth nominated: > Just Like That/Being Lois Lane, Pam Jernigan, series > Just Like That, Pam Jernigan, episode adaptation Thank you! :) But you do have to send these to Erin to make sure they count... And everyone else, have you nominated yet? The deadline is midnight tonight! :) -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Was that a creak?" "Was what a creak?" "Thought I heard a creak." "I didn't hear a creak" "Could swear I heard a creak." "Wasn't a creak." "No creak?" "No creak at all..." _Dead Lois Walking_ ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 21:23:12 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: Re: SIP: Connections - part 9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hazel, thank-you for your very encouraging comments :) S P O I LER SPACE <> I thought the possibility was there though in the NK arc - I just took it in a different way. <> Yes, I didn't think it would be easy for CLark, in spite of his initial curiosity. <> Probably. I know I should have resisted the impulse, but I couldn't. I was a major X-files fan for the first couple of years of the show. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 19:16:10 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: That Peanuts Gang of Mine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This story is a response to Tara Smith's implied challenge when I compared Teri's Lois with Peanuts" Lucy and asked, jokingly, if there was a crossover possibility. What's here is not up to fluff; it's not even up to pocket lint in the...well, I digress. What it is, is the demented result of trying to write, read enough fanfic to make credible Kerth nominations, and maintain contact with RL. It's my first vignette and my first story posting here. Feedback is solicited, both public and private. The usual disclaimers to Warner Bros., D.C. Comics; also to Charles Schultz, his family and whoever owns the Peanuts characters. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. TITLE: THAT PEANUTS GANG OF MINE A Crossover Vignette PART 1/1 AUTHOR: Jude SUBMITTED: February 20, 2000 To be read as a comic strip. ** indicates a separate panel. Please visualize. **Schroeder is sitting cross-legged on the floor watching television. **Lucy appears behind him demanding loudly: "What are you doing?" **Schroeder: "Watching Superman." **Lucy bending over looking at the screen: "That's not Super-man. That's a woman." **Schroeder: "This is a tape my Dad made of all his favorite parts from Lois and Clark. That's Lois" ** Lucy: Sitting on the floor, "Why is she wearing those feathers?" **Schroeder: "It's complicated." **Lucy: "She's good. I like the way she treats the guy wearing glasses." **Schroeder: (Sigh) **Lucy: "Where's Superman?" **Snoopy: Standing on top of the piano, paws on haunches, wearing glasses, a swirling cape and a big red S on his chest, "It is I, S-Man. Here I am my sweet. Don't you recognize me?" ** Lucy: "Why is she wearing those flimsy handkerchiefs?" **Schroeder: "It's complicated." **Lucy: Stands, pointing at the TV screen, "Help! She's falling." **Snoopy: Swooping down from the piano, "I'm coming to save you. Be brave, My Little Tornado." **Lucy: "Oh, good. He caught her." **Snoopy seizes Lucy, "You're safe now Honey." **Snoopy bends Lucy backward and plants a big wet kiss. **Lucy: "B L E E C C H !" and sends Snoopy tumbling head over paws. **Snoopy: Still spinning, "Aarrgh!" **Schroeder: "Good Grief!" **Charlie Brown: Standing in the doorway, "My Mom says the chocolate brownies are done." **Lucy and Schroeder stampede out the door, trampling Charlie Brown, leaving behind a small cloud of dust. **Charlie Brown: Lying on the floor, (Sigh) **Charlie Brown follows a trailing aroma of chocolate out the door. **Snoopy: Glasses askew, lies horizontally on his stomach, nose toward the TV, cape covering his back, (Sigh), "It's not easy being S-Man." The End judithwilliams@prodigy.net ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 22:11:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kasspur Subject: OT: Email Protest MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In light of recent reports of the Superman movie going ahead with a new script, we would like to protest the casting of Nicholas Cage in the starring role of Clark Kent/Superman. This is an official email protest, signed by the following protestors: Name: Email: Kara Johnson kaspur@swva.net Adam Johnson krjacj@yahoo.com Kendra Edwards sylvur_bunnie@yahoo.com Please pass this on to as many people as possible who also disagree with the decision. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 22:25:58 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rose Cookson Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This story is absolutely adorable! I loved it! Great images :-) Rose ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 22:26:44 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kasspur Subject: OT: Email Protest: Addendum MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Just wanted to include a note saying when you sign it, please forward it to me so that i can collect the signatures to send to Time Warner. Thanks! Kara Johnson ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 22:48:55 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Alicia Utowski Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Jude, that is so cute! I am still laughing :)... I always loved the Peanuts gang and I always read it in the Sunday paper when I was at home... Alicia :) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 22:24:06 -0600 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit cute Judith merry Judith Williams wrote: > This story is a response to Tara Smith's implied challenge when I compared > Teri's Lois with Peanuts" Lucy and asked, jokingly, if there was a crossover > possibility. What's here is not up to fluff; it's not even up to pocket lint > in the...well, I digress. What it is, is the demented result of trying to > write, read enough fanfic to make credible Kerth nominations, and maintain > contact with RL. It's my first vignette and my first story posting here. > Feedback is solicited, both public and private. The usual disclaimers to > Warner Bros., D.C. Comics; also to Charles Schultz, his family and whoever > owns the Peanuts characters. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I > did writing it. > > TITLE: THAT PEANUTS GANG OF MINE A Crossover Vignette > PART 1/1 > AUTHOR: Jude > SUBMITTED: February 20, 2000 > > To be read as a comic strip. ** indicates a separate panel. Please > visualize. > > **Schroeder is sitting cross-legged on the floor watching television. > > **Lucy appears behind him demanding loudly: "What are you doing?" > > **Schroeder: "Watching Superman." > > **Lucy bending over looking at the screen: "That's not Super-man. That's a > woman." > > **Schroeder: "This is a tape my Dad made of all his favorite parts from Lois > and Clark. That's Lois" > > ** Lucy: Sitting on the floor, "Why is she wearing those feathers?" > > **Schroeder: "It's complicated." > > **Lucy: "She's good. I like the way she treats the guy wearing glasses." > > **Schroeder: (Sigh) > > **Lucy: "Where's Superman?" > > **Snoopy: Standing on top of the piano, paws on haunches, wearing glasses, a > swirling cape and a big red S on his chest, "It is I, S-Man. Here I am my > sweet. Don't you recognize me?" > > ** Lucy: "Why is she wearing those flimsy handkerchiefs?" > > **Schroeder: "It's complicated." > > **Lucy: Stands, pointing at the TV screen, "Help! She's falling." > > **Snoopy: Swooping down from the piano, "I'm coming to save you. Be brave, > My Little Tornado." > > **Lucy: "Oh, good. He caught her." > > **Snoopy seizes Lucy, "You're safe now Honey." > > **Snoopy bends Lucy backward and plants a big wet kiss. > > **Lucy: "B L E E C C H !" and sends Snoopy tumbling head over paws. > > **Snoopy: Still spinning, "Aarrgh!" > > **Schroeder: "Good Grief!" > > **Charlie Brown: Standing in the doorway, "My Mom says the chocolate > brownies are done." > > **Lucy and Schroeder stampede out the door, trampling Charlie Brown, leaving > behind a small cloud of dust. > > **Charlie Brown: Lying on the floor, (Sigh) > > **Charlie Brown follows a trailing aroma of chocolate out the door. > > **Snoopy: Glasses askew, lies horizontally on his stomach, nose toward the > TV, cape covering his back, (Sigh), "It's not easy being S-Man." > > The End > > judithwilliams@prodigy.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 00:15:11 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit LOL! I loved it. What a great story to get your "feet wet" with. =) Alexis ;-.) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 02:46:39 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: OT: Email Protest Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Add me to the list. Tara Smith (jilectan@email.com) ------Original Message------ From: Kasspur To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: February 21, 2000 3:11:55 AM GMT Subject: OT: Email Protest In light of recent reports of the Superman movie going ahead with a new script, we would like to protest the casting of Nicholas Cage in the starring role of Clark Kent/Superman. This is an official email protest, signed by the following protestors: Name: Email: Kara Johnson kaspur@swva.net Adam Johnson krjacj@yahoo.com Kendra Edwards sylvur_bunnie@yahoo.com Please pass this on to as many people as possible who also disagree with the decision. ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 03:10:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Tara Smith Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ------Original Message------ From: Judith Williams To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sent: February 21, 2000 3:16:10 AM GMT Subject: That Peanuts Gang of Mine >This story is a response to Tara Smith's implied challenge :) Hey, I'm willing to take the blame for this one! I don't usually like Peanuts, but this is the exception :) Tara "Boom, baby, boom! I am the evil midnight bomber that bombs at midnight!" the Evil Midnight Bomber from the Tick ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 03:45:54 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine In-Reply-To: <001901bf7c1a$0242f640$e4e99cd1@v1t9j4> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Jude, I adored this! All we needed was for Schroeder to pull the piano out from under Lucy, giving Snoopy a reason to rescue her. :) But then, of course, Snoopy would have no basis for his leap... ah well. A sweet tribute. Very well done! Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 03:46:52 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Fanfic Recommendation Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I haven't even read it yet... but Mobile Richard's "Life in a Different World, part 3" is out on the archive! If the first two segments were any indication, this one is going to be good! Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 09:54:02 -0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: Fanfic Recommendation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hazel wrote: > I haven't even read it yet... but Mobile Richard's "Life in a Different > World, part 3" is out on the archive! If the first two segments were any > indication, this one is going to be good! > Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Thanks, Hazel!!! LabRat :) (dashing over to the archive even as we speak ;) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 09:57:43 -0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Subject: Re: Nominations MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit James wrote: > Don't worry about it, LabRat. I wouldn't have noticed, except everyone in > FoLCdom (except Elisabeth and I) seem to know what the word sardonic means. > > Mr. Too-Lazy-to-Look-it-Up D8a > Oh, I wasn't at *all* worried, James. ;) And...you'll have to lump me into the list with you and Elisabeth then. Sardonic means something in FoLCdom other than it's established definition? Or am I reading what you're saying here wrong? I've never heard of this. LabRat :) (course, could just be it's early in the morning still, Max kept me up all night and I'm dizzy with the excitement of Hazel's news.....) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 10:33:01 +0000 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: Fanfic Recommendation In-Reply-To: <002e01bf7c52$48096140$1a1e883e@d9t5t7> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Hazel wrote: > I haven't even read it yet... but Mobile Richard's "Life > in a Different World, part 3" is out on the archive! If > the first two segments were any indication, this one is > going to be good! As someone who was lucky enough to read it before it hit the Archive, can I add that it *is* good, very, *very* good! And if you're not already over there reading it, git! Wendy (expecting to see this list become *very* quiet for the next couple of hours...) ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 06:01:30 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Judith, what a delightful way to start the day. :) It would have made a good comic strip. Snoopy looks good in that cape. Carol ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 08:28:34 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: sharper Subject: Re: Fanfic Recommendation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > As someone who was lucky enough to read it before it hit > the Archive, can I add that it *is* good, very, *very* > good! And if you're not already over there reading it, git! As soon as I read that the Archive had been updated with a story from Mobile, I immediately raced over. This story is *so* good. The alternate Clark that Mobile created is so completely realized, and everything Clark does--his actions and reactions--is completely in character. I feel like my heart has swelled up so that it's blocking my throat, and I want to cry and cheer and go back and bury myself in the story again. Except now I have to get to work--and I don't know what I'm going to do because all I want to think about is this story. This one definitely goes into my Kerth 2001 folder. Sheila ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 10:42:38 EST 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: Fanfic Recommendation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/21/00 10:33:02 AM !!!First Boot!!!, w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK writes: << As someone who was lucky enough to read it before it hit the Archive, can I add that it *is* good, very, *very* good! And if you're not already over there reading it, git! >> You don't have to tell us. Mobil.Richards stories are all great. Thanks for the note, cause I'm going to get it today and read it. I'm online now just to get this one. Charlotte - who nominated two of his stories for the Kerths and would have like to have nominated every single one. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 10:59:44 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Farah Chisham, List Mom" Subject: Chain letters (was OT: Email Protest) I thought I would nip this in the bud. This is chain-letter and does not belong here. I realize this is Superman related, however I do not want to see this kind of thing here again. If you want to start a poll, do so using the different internet polling URLs. Please do not post any more replies here, private email only. I know "Onelist" doesn't allow this kind of thing (search for chain letters): http://www.onelist.com/info/tos.html If you want to see how harmful chain letters can become, go to this URL: http://www.sonic.net/~pvmtsaw/gonad/ Thanks, list mom At 10:11 PM 2/20/2000 -0500, you wrote: >In light of recent reports of the Superman movie going ahead with a new >script, we would like to protest the casting of Nicholas Cage in the >starring role of Clark Kent/Superman. >This is an official email protest, signed by the following protestors: ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 11:31:27 EST 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: He or she?? Mobile Richard MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/21/00 7:52:55 AM Pacific Standard Time, Cdfisler@AOL.COM writes: << who nominated two of his stories for the Kerths and would have like to have nominated every single one. >> Ok, is this where only the hairdresser knows for sure? I always assumed MobileRichard was a woman. Any takers? Kate ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 09:33:46 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Re: He or she?? Mobile Richard In-Reply-To: <61.19da217.25e2c25f@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kate wrote: >Ok, is this where only the hairdresser knows for sure? I always assumed >MobileRichard was a woman. Any takers? LOL! I'm glad I'm not the only confused one! I always assumed he was a guy, and that his name was actually "Richard Mobile," and that it was just listed incorrectly on the archive. Anyone know for sure?? Kathy? (oh mighty archive queen) Erin :) __________________ erink@ida.net Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 08:36:38 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Audrey Rempel Subject: Re: Fanfic Recommendation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hazel, I must second that recommendation. I was all set to go to bed at 10:00 like a good girl, but I made the mistake of checking to see if the archive had been updated before bed. Ack! Sleep, or Life in a Different World 3?? No contest really. And as tired as I am this morning, it was worth it! Everyone, Kerth nominations are over for this year, get started on next year's! Audrey --- Hazel wrote: > I haven't even read it yet... but Mobile Richard's > "Life in a Different > World, part 3" is out on the archive! If the first > two segments were any > indication, this one is going to be good! > > Hazel > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 11:42:33 EST 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: problem with archive MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Is anyone else having trouble accessing the new stories page on the archive? I found the newest MobileRichard story by going through the authors list, but I can't seem to get to the newest stories. I just keep getting the 2/13 list. I have restarted my computer, the whole nine yards. Any suggestions from any of you fanfic addict/computer wiz wonderful people? Kate ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 16:45:57 +0000 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: He or she?? Mobile Richard In-Reply-To: <61.19da217.25e2c25f@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Mon, 21 Feb 2000 11:31:27 EST Kate Crane wrote: > >> Ok, is this where only the hairdresser knows for sure? > I always assumed MobileRichard was a woman. Any takers? He's a he! Mobile Richard is of course a pen-name; he's explained its genesis to a couple of us, but I'm not sure to what extent that's for public consumption. Wendy ---------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 11:46:06 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Re: He or she?? Mobile Richard In-Reply-To: <61.19da217.25e2c25f@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Kate, As far as I can tell, he's a guy. :) :) I've exchanged a few e-mails with him in the past; "Mobile Richard" is a pen name (much like Hazel). I never asked the question directly, but I'd be very surprised to hear he's actually a woman! His writing is definitely male. Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 12:37:59 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genine Murray Subject: Re: problem with archive MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kate, I had the same exact problem. I had to clean out my browser cache and reload the archive pages before I could access the 2/20/00 stories on the "What's New" page. Once I did that it worked like a charm for me. I don't know what the problem was, maybe it's AOL acting up again. I hope this helps! :) Genine SuperGem4@aol.com SuperGEM on IRC In a message dated 2/21/00 11:42:58 AM Eastern Standard Time, KCrane1865@AOL.COM writes: > Is anyone else having trouble accessing the new stories page on the archive? > I found the newest MobileRichard story by going through the authors list, > but > I can't seem to get to the newest stories. I just keep getting the 2/13 > list. I have restarted my computer, the whole nine yards. Any suggestions > from any of you fanfic addict/computer wiz wonderful people? > Kate ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:42:57 EST 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: He or she?? Mobile Richard MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I nominated him and I certainly hope he's a he, since I e-mail corresponded with him and he didn't correct me. (I did a little search of the psychology literature on the super children that he mentions in his intro.) After I finished that I went to the archive and downloaded and read every single one of his stories and got positively effusive in my e-mail praise. The man is so good. There wasn't one story I didn't love. And I have been waiting for the third part to this one since the first came out. The only reason it disappointed me was it wasn't IMHO finished. You can imagine my joy when part 2 came out and now at last we have part 3. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:48:17 EST 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: He or she?? Mobile Richard MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A quickie confession here. You had me wondering, so I wrote but did not send my reply to this until Wendy confirmed the correct response. I've been wrong before; sometimes it difficult to be sure. Charlotte ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:53:50 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rowan Fuller Subject: Re: problem with archive MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 21/02/2000 16:42:58 GMT Standard Time, KCrane1865@AOL.COM writes: << s anyone else having trouble accessing the new stories page on the archive? I found the newest MobileRichard story by going through the authors list, but I can't seem to get to the newest stories. I just keep getting the 2/13 list. I have restarted my computer, the whole nine yards. Any suggestions from any of you fanfic addict/computer wiz wonderful people? Kate >> I did have problem, but since this morning I've been getting the update for the 2/20 Rowan :) -- -- -- LaneKent@aol.com http://members.aol.com/lanekent For news of updates to my site: http://www.onelist.com/commun ity/LaneKent ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 20:19:50 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: Re: He or she?? Mobile Richard MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh my god, I hope he is a "he"! I always wrote adressed him as "Richard" in my emails! LOL Oh and *he* or *she* certainly deserves all the praise you give him/her here! Life in a Different world definitely is one heck of a series! IMO it has some tough competition though: Yvonne's "Fear of Discovery" series. It's really difficult to chose between those two! Nicole (who *loved* part 3 of LIDW) -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain? And don't you have the time to go and find them? Here's your solution: Go to "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/Ckgroupie/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 14:28:21 EST 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: problem with archive MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/21/00 9:38:27 AM Pacific Standard Time, SuperGem4@AOL.COM writes: << had the same exact problem. I had to clean out my browser cache and reload the archive pages before I could access the 2/20/00 stories on the "What's New" page. Once I did that it worked like a charm for me. I don't know what the problem was, maybe it's AOL acting up again. I hope this helps! :) >> Thanks so much Genine, it worked for me too! I keep forgetting about that clean the cache thing so I greatly appreciate the reminder. Kate Looking forward to reading all the new fics now...... ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 12:50:08 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: sharper Subject: Re: He or she?? Mobile Richard MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I never asked the question directly, but I'd be very surprised to hear he's > actually a woman! His writing is definitely male. Hazel, I thought that was an interesting observation. What is it that you (or any of us) see as particularly masculine or feminine in writing? Sheila ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 14:45:11 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: fchisham Subject: Dead thread! Re: He or she?? Mobile Richard In-Reply-To: <000801bf7ca4$dcbcba60$c37faecf@net.cmn.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Okay, this is a dead thread. Please take it to private email. Thanks, Farah ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 14:50:46 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genine Murray Subject: Re: problem with archive MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/21/00 2:29:58 PM Eastern Standard Time, KCrane1865@AOL.COM writes: > > Thanks so much Genine, it worked for me too! > I keep forgetting about that clean the cache thing so I greatly appreciate > the reminder. > Kate > Looking forward to reading all the new fics now...... You're very welcome! So glad it worked for you too! Happy reading! There are a lot of great new stories this week! :) Take care FoLCs! Genine SuperGem4@aol.com SuperGEM on IRC ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:02:59 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: sharper Subject: Masculine vs feminine writing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0018_01BF7C6B.FA8AAB80" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0018_01BF7C6B.FA8AAB80 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > I never asked the question directly, but I'd be very surprised to hear he's > actually a woman! His writing is definitely male. Hazel, I thought that was an interesting observation. What is it that = you (or any of us) see as particularly masculine or feminine in fanfic = writing? Sheila P.S. Sorry for the re-post. When I saw that Farah had declared the = previous thread dead, I changed the subject line, since this post = changes the topic to a writing discussion. ------=_NextPart_000_0018_01BF7C6B.FA8AAB80 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
> I never asked the question = directly, but I'd=20 be very surprised to hear
he's
> actually a woman! His writing = is=20 definitely male.

Hazel, I thought that was an interesting=20 observation.  What is it that you
(or any of us) see as = particularly=20 masculine or feminine in fanfic writing?

Sheila
P.S.  Sorry for the re-post.  = When I saw=20 that Farah had declared the previous thread dead, I changed the subject = line,=20 since this post changes the topic to a writing=20 discussion.
------=_NextPart_000_0018_01BF7C6B.FA8AAB80-- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 19:52:51 -0000 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: He or she?? Mobile Richard MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Oh and *he* or *she* certainly deserves all the praise you give him/her here! > Life in a Different world definitely is one heck of a series! IMO it has some > tough competition though: Yvonne's "Fear of Discovery" series. It's really > difficult to chose between those two! > /me blushes! I'll also add my voice to the recommenders - Mobile Richard writes very, very well, with vividly portrayed characterisations and an eloquent command of language. This is definitely a 'must read'. Yvonne (yconnell@ukf.net) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 19:58:30 -0000 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Life in a Different World MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Life in a Different world definitely is one heck of a series! IMO it has > some > > tough competition though: Yvonne's "Fear of Discovery" series. It's really > > difficult to chose between those two! > > > /me blushes! I'll also add my voice to the recommenders - Mobile Richard writes very, very well, with vividly portrayed characterisations and an eloquent command of language. This is definitely a 'must read'. Yvonne (yconnell@ukf.net) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 14:14:56 -0600 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: Fwd: site announcement MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------5A134AB0078AD7353F07EE79" --------------5A134AB0078AD7353F07EE79 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I also reread some of these stories, several of which have sequels which are wonderful. Neverending Story Sanctuary (NEBS) sequel Timeless is there. In the Beginning has a sequel Now the Serpent also. merry "Terry S. Horowit" wrote: > >Reply-To: > >From: "B. B. Medos" > >Subject: site announcement > >Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 14:12:22 -0600 > > >To all interested fanfic readers: My L&C fanfiction stories are now > >archived on my Book Sanctuary web and can be reached at the specific URL of > >http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/loisnclark/l&c_fanfiction.htm. This > >collection includes previously distributed stories reformatted as web pages > >plus works-in-progress of both continuations of existing stories and > >completely new ideas. (Or it will have some new material just as soon as I > >get my computer problems straightened out. Ever have one of those months? > >Well, I'm working on the second one in a row. ARGH!) While many of the older > >stories are already on the L&C Fanfiction archive, this is the only place > >you can read the "works-in-progress." Once I get them to a half-way > >presentable, beta-reader stage, that is. > > > >Also, anyone who is also a fan of other "partners-in-crime" type series > >similar to Lois & Clark might enjoy the trivia test on the home page of that > >website, http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/index.htm. Just look under > >the heading The Partners on that page and see if you can match up the > >partners with the appropriate partnerships, otherwise known as their > >television series titles. > > > >Enjoy reading and please let me know what you think, both of the stories and > >the website. And, thank you, Terry, for forwarding this announcement for me. > > > >Beverly :-) > >Beverly's Book Sanctuary http://www.booksanctuary.com > > I was delighted to read (and in some causes, re-read) these stories and > works-in-progress, and strongly recommend everyone to go immediately to > this site and enjoy!! > Terry --------------5A134AB0078AD7353F07EE79 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I also reread some of these stories, several of which have sequels which are wonderful.
Neverending Story Sanctuary (NEBS) sequel Timeless is there.
In the Beginning has a sequel Now the Serpent also.
merry

"Terry S. Horowit" wrote:

>Reply-To: <bbmedos@booksanctuary.com>
>From: "B. B. Medos" <bbmedos@booksanctuary.com>
>Subject: site announcement
>Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 14:12:22 -0600

>To all interested fanfic readers: My L&C fanfiction stories are now
>archived on my Book Sanctuary web and can be reached at the specific URL of
> http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/loisnclark/l&c_fanfiction.htm . This
>collection includes previously distributed stories reformatted as web pages
>plus works-in-progress of both continuations of existing stories and
>completely new ideas. (Or it will have some new material just as soon as I
>get my computer problems straightened out. Ever have one of those months?
>Well, I'm working on the second one in a row. ARGH!) While many of the older
>stories are already on the L&C Fanfiction archive, this is the only place
>you can read the "works-in-progress." Once I get them to a half-way
>presentable, beta-reader stage, that is.
>
>Also, anyone who is also a fan of other "partners-in-crime" type series
>similar to Lois & Clark might enjoy the trivia test on the home page of that
>website, http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/index.htm. Just look under
>the heading The Partners on that page and see if you can match up the
>partners with the appropriate partnerships, otherwise known as their
>television series titles.
>
>Enjoy reading and please let me know what you think, both of the stories and
>the website. And, thank you, Terry, for forwarding this announcement for me.
>
>Beverly :-)
>Beverly's Book Sanctuary http://www.booksanctuary.com

I was delighted to read  (and in some causes, re-read) these stories and
works-in-progress, and strongly recommend everyone to go immediately to
this site and enjoy!!
Terry

--------------5A134AB0078AD7353F07EE79-- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 15:24:56 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Hazel Subject: Re: Masculine vs feminine writing In-Reply-To: <001b01bf7ca6$a837ae60$c37faecf@net.cmn.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > What is it that you >(or any of us) see as particularly masculine or feminine in fanfic writing? A good question, Sheila, but a hard one! It's all so ambiguous. :) I don't know if I can point to any one thing and say, "This is the way a man writes," or "This is the way a woman writes." I think a lot of subtle details are involved: the way thoughts are portrayed, the way people are described, even the way stories are ended -- a heart-to-heart conversation vs the climatic scene, frex. (Although I've seen both types of endings from both genders!) But you also have to factor in the author's personal perferences (Phil and Wendy both love semi-colons, as another example) and their own "visions" of who and what LnC really are... so really, how can I define the vague pointers that tell me "male author" or "female one"? Getting to know someone through this list or the message boards can also be helpful, although I was *sure* Merry was a man until she mentioned something on Zoom's boards about giving birth or a pregnancy, I don't remember which. :) When the author doesn't use a nick, it's pretty easy to tell -- if the name is Sheila, Irene, or Wendy, it's easy to tell. Nicks can sometimes be confusing, though, especially when they're unspecific. (Raconteur, or however it's spelled, falls into this category -- another regular on the message boards.) Again, getting to know someone -- either through their posts or their fanfics -- helps immeasurably! As an example, I was *sure* Zoomie was a man until I started reading her fic. Then I said, "no way." OTOH, I initially thought that "Chris" stood for "Christopher" in the case of Chris Carr... I have *no* claim to infallibility! :) I think it all comes down to subjective reasoning in the end. I could say that women tend more towards romantic, WAFFy stories -- but authors like Phil and (though he'd roundly deny it) Tank prove that's not true. (I don't know about nfic, but surely there are male authors in that category as well?) I could say that men tend towards stronger A-plots, but not with a straight face -- some of the best stories (Debby's Carry Tiger to Mountain, frex, or *any* of Nan's, who has earned the moniker of "A-plot Queen" on the mb's) have A-plots every bit as good as their B-plots. So, to sum up this long-winded, meandering answer: Sheila, I don't know *how* I know. I just know. ;) Hazel ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 14:30:41 -0600 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: Fwd: site announcement MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------A523A8BE9C62FBB84A79CE7B" --------------A523A8BE9C62FBB84A79CE7B Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Beverly - your link is not taking me to lois and clark merry "Terry S. Horowit" wrote: > >Reply-To: > >From: "B. B. Medos" > >Subject: site announcement > >Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 14:12:22 -0600 > > >To all interested fanfic readers: My L&C fanfiction stories are now > >archived on my Book Sanctuary web and can be reached at the specific URL of > >http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/loisnclark/l&c_fanfiction.htm. This > >collection includes previously distributed stories reformatted as web pages > >plus works-in-progress of both continuations of existing stories and > >completely new ideas. (Or it will have some new material just as soon as I > >get my computer problems straightened out. Ever have one of those months? > >Well, I'm working on the second one in a row. ARGH!) While many of the older > >stories are already on the L&C Fanfiction archive, this is the only place > >you can read the "works-in-progress." Once I get them to a half-way > >presentable, beta-reader stage, that is. > > > >Also, anyone who is also a fan of other "partners-in-crime" type series > >similar to Lois & Clark might enjoy the trivia test on the home page of that > >website, http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/index.htm. Just look under > >the heading The Partners on that page and see if you can match up the > >partners with the appropriate partnerships, otherwise known as their > >television series titles. > > > >Enjoy reading and please let me know what you think, both of the stories and > >the website. And, thank you, Terry, for forwarding this announcement for me. > > > >Beverly :-) > >Beverly's Book Sanctuary http://www.booksanctuary.com > > I was delighted to read (and in some causes, re-read) these stories and > works-in-progress, and strongly recommend everyone to go immediately to > this site and enjoy!! > Terry --------------A523A8BE9C62FBB84A79CE7B Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Beverly - your link is not taking me to lois and clark
merry

"Terry S. Horowit" wrote:

>Reply-To: <bbmedos@booksanctuary.com>
>From: "B. B. Medos" <bbmedos@booksanctuary.com>
>Subject: site announcement
>Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 14:12:22 -0600

>To all interested fanfic readers: My L&C fanfiction stories are now
>archived on my Book Sanctuary web and can be reached at the specific URL of
> http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/loisnclark/l&c_fanfiction.htm . This
>collection includes previously distributed stories reformatted as web pages
>plus works-in-progress of both continuations of existing stories and
>completely new ideas. (Or it will have some new material just as soon as I
>get my computer problems straightened out. Ever have one of those months?
>Well, I'm working on the second one in a row. ARGH!) While many of the older
>stories are already on the L&C Fanfiction archive, this is the only place
>you can read the "works-in-progress." Once I get them to a half-way
>presentable, beta-reader stage, that is.
>
>Also, anyone who is also a fan of other "partners-in-crime" type series
>similar to Lois & Clark might enjoy the trivia test on the home page of that
>website, http://booksanctuary.com/partnersincrime/index.htm. Just look under
>the heading The Partners on that page and see if you can match up the
>partners with the appropriate partnerships, otherwise known as their
>television series titles.
>
>Enjoy reading and please let me know what you think, both of the stories and
>the website. And, thank you, Terry, for forwarding this announcement for me.
>
>Beverly :-)
>Beverly's Book Sanctuary http://www.booksanctuary.com

I was delighted to read  (and in some causes, re-read) these stories and
works-in-progress, and strongly recommend everyone to go immediately to
this site and enjoy!!
Terry

--------------A523A8BE9C62FBB84A79CE7B-- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 21:48:00 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: Re: Masculine vs feminine writing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------4417A2B23839B4817E2633F1" --------------4417A2B23839B4817E2633F1 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hazel wrote and Sheila answered: > > I never asked the question directly, but I'd be very surprised to > hear he's > > actually a woman! His writing is definitely male. > > Hazel, I thought that was an interesting observation. What is it that > you > (or any of us) see as particularly masculine or feminine in fanfic > writing? You raise a very interesting question here, Sheila. I have no idea why it is, but I also thought that Richard Mobiles style was very "male" even before Hazel mentioned it! IMO there's indeed a difference in male writing and female writing, I'm just not sure what causes it. If I dare a guess, I think the perspective seems slightly different, probably because the writers identify with the characters differently. For example, male authors seem to see Clark less romantic than female writers and women seem to see Lois less charming. If the writing is good though - as it is the case in "Life in a different world" or IMO, for example in all of Phil's stories - the perspective of each other is still the same. Lois still loves the same qualities in Clark as she did in the series and Clark still sees Lois with the same eye as he did in the series, but maybe the author sees them differently. Clark *is* a romantic guy, because that was established in the show, so both female or male author will write him as romantic if they want to write him in character, but maybe the male writer won't be as enthusiastic about it and maybe the female writer won't show as much understanding for Lois' sometimes foolishly headstrong behavior. It's the only explanation I'm able to come up with right now, but I do know, that I agreed with Hazel's observation very much. Also, I remember that I always used to think that Zoom was a guy and that I was totally astonished when I read my first story of her. My first thought was: "This Zoomway guy writes like a woman!" So, for me, there obviously *must* be a difference, I'm not quite sure what it is, though :-) Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC NKWolke@eifel-net.net Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain? And don't you have the time to go and find them? Here's your solution: Go to "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/Ckgroupie/ --------------4417A2B23839B4817E2633F1 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hazel wrote and Sheila answered:
> I never asked the question directly, but I'd be very surprised to hear he's
> actually a woman! His writing is definitely male.

Hazel, I thought that was an interesting observation.  What is it that you
(or any of us) see as particularly masculine or feminine in fanfic writing?


You raise a very interesting question here, Sheila. I have no idea why it is, but I also thought that Richard Mobiles style was very "male"  even before Hazel mentioned it!

IMO there's indeed a difference in male writing and female writing, I'm just not sure what causes it. If I dare a guess, I think the perspective seems slightly different, probably because the writers identify with the characters differently. For example, male authors seem to see Clark less romantic than female writers and women seem to see Lois less charming. If the writing is good though - as it is the case in "Life in a different world" or IMO, for example in all of Phil's stories - the perspective of each other is still the same. Lois still loves the same qualities in Clark as she did in the series and Clark still sees Lois with the same eye as he did in the series, but maybe the author sees them differently. Clark *is* a romantic guy, because that was established in the show, so both female or male author will write him as romantic if they want to write him in character, but maybe the male writer won't be as enthusiastic about it <g> and maybe the female writer won't show as much understanding for Lois' sometimes foolishly headstrong behavior. It's the only explanation I'm able to come up with right now, but I do know, that I agreed with Hazel's observation very much.

Also, I remember that I always used to think that Zoom was a guy and that I was totally astonished when I read my first story of her. My first thought was: "This Zoomway guy writes like a woman!"

So, for me, there obviously *must* be a difference, I'm not quite sure what it is, though :-)

Nicole
--
AKA CKgroupie on IRC
NKWolke@eifel-net.net

Are you always searching for news about Dean Cain?
And don't you have the time to go and find them?
Here's your solution: Go to "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/Ckgroupie/
  --------------4417A2B23839B4817E2633F1-- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:13:16 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks, Alexis. Glad you liked it. It was a fun trip for me. Enjoyed our get-together and look forward to next time. Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: Alexis W. To: Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2000 9:15 PM Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine > LOL! I loved it. What a great story to get your "feet wet" with. =) > > Alexis ;-.) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 13:48:26 -0800 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks so much for the feedback, Rose. I'm glad you liked my weird story. Jude ----- Original Message ----- From: Rose Cookson To: Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2000 7:25 PM Subject: Re: That Peanuts Gang of Mine > This story is absolutely adorable! I loved it! Great images :-) > > Rose ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 17:33:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: fchisham Subject: Re: Masculine vs feminine writing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII At 03:24 PM 2/21/2000 -0500, you wrote: >> What is it that you >>(or any of us) see as particularly masculine or feminine in fanfic writing? > Not that I'm trying to propel the thread into something very unwanted on this list (nfanfic), but I'm on this x-files fanfic list where I have read some "naughty" stories (/me blushes) by both male and female authors and I noticed a trend--not that all fit into this particular trend, I wouldn't want to generalize. The trend being when one character "loves" another in the story, the women use more flowerly language, while the male writers tend to use slang words when referring to *ahem* 'stuff' This is the only time I have noticed a difference between masculine and feminine writing. farah ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 17:31:08 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pat Subject: Re: Masculine vs feminine writing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sheila asked: Hazel, I thought that was an interesting observation. What is it that you (or any of us) see as particularly masculine or feminine in fanfic writing? I'm really glad that you started this thread, Sheila :) I've noticed some differences between male and female writers, and have been wondering, for quite a while, if other people did also. Any comments that I make on this are going to be generalizations, so I feel that I should apologize for that in advance. Also, because they are generalizations, there are always going to be exceptions. The difference that I've noticed most is the amount of description of things and people, and attention to fine detail that female writers tend to provide. Most likely this is because I'm a very detail oriented person, and I like that kind of background description when I'm reading. Being a very visual learner, if the writer paints me a picture, filling in all the details, I'm really happy An example might be that a male writer would describe a character a wearing a brown dress hat. A female writer seems more likely to tell us that the character is wearing a brown felt fedora, with three yellow-orange feathers in the hatband. If she tells me what kind of bird the feather came from, I've hit the jackpot ;) I've always enjoyed Agatha Christie's mysteries, partly because she strikes me as the master of the fine detail. In fact, her clues are often hidden what seems to be the minutae. Male writes, OTOH, seem more inclined to move the story along. A definite plus, I'm sure, for people who *aren't* particularly intrigued by the number of feathers in a hatband, or a paragraph long, very precise description of the print on someone's tie. Pat peabody@mcs.com pattijean@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 18:35:35 -0500 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: Masculine vs feminine writing Pat wrote: >>>Male writes, OTOH, seem more inclined to move the story along. A definite plus, I'm sure, for people who *aren't* particularly intrigued by the number of feathers in a hatband, or a paragraph long, very precise description of the print on someone's tie. <<< Made me smile, but I'm not sure I entirely agree. I've been trying to work this one out myself, and any stereotypes I might have initially come up with seem to be thrown out the window by some of the male writers we have in FOLCdom: for instance, any notion that men can't do WAFFy, romantic and deeply emotional stories is completely disproved by Phil, Mobile Richard and Tank Wilson, among others. As for Pat's point in relation to description, I'd have to disagree there too. I am frankly *terrible* at description - and before anyone who's waded through my long narrative passages complains, I mean *physical* description. Telling the reader what someone looks like, giving a detailed description of someone's clothes, describing a location and so on. I just can't do it. I can, on the other hand, write several pages explaining how a character *feels* at any particular moment... Dr Friskin would make a fortune if I was writing the characters in her consulting room! This is a difficult question. Outside FOLCdom I'd be pretty sure I could tell a male writer's work from that of a female writer: I do remember not being in the least bit surprised when a popular romance/saga writer over here, Emma Blair, was 'outed' as a man; 'her' writing had always seemed very masculine to me. Yet I know our Phil has been asked if his name's short for Phyllis; someone wondered whether Chris Carr was Christopher; Mobile Richard's stories don't appear to have any defining 'masculine' characteristics, either in narrative or in characterisation. So I think I'm with Sheila - I don't know! Wendy (who might consider outing her/himself as a man, one of these days!) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 18:39:46 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Masculine vs feminine writing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 02/21/2000 6:35:50 PM Eastern Standard Time, wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK writes: << As for Pat's point in relation to description, I'd have to disagree there too. I am frankly *terrible* at description - and before anyone who's waded through my long narrative passages complains, I mean *physical* description. Telling the reader what someone looks like, giving a detailed description of someone's clothes, describing a location and so on. I just can't do it. I can, on the other hand, write several pages explaining how a character *feels* at any particular moment... >> Yet we all know how many loyal fans Wendy has . When editing for Sandy for Season 5, I remember telling her I was always so amazed at how she painted pictures with words. I knew I could never do that. Of course, I can't write like Wendy either--that's why I'm a reader, not a writer. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 18:49:56 EST 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: Masculine vs feminine writing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 2/21/00 4:33:55 PM Central Standard Time, fchisham@CS.INDIANA.EDU writes: << Not that I'm trying to propel the thread into something very unwanted on this list (nfanfic), but I'm on this x-files fanfic list where I have read some "naughty" stories (/me blushes) by both male and female authors and I noticed a trend--not that all fit into this particular trend, I wouldn't want to generalize. >> Kudos on making it through them. I mean when it gets to the love scenes and they start shouting each others' last names, I start laughing. "Scully!!" "Mulder! Oh, God! Mulder, yes!!." It's an extra, secret reason I laugh at the scene in We Have a Lot to Talk About when Clark is trying to help Lois defuse the bomb and shouts, "Lane!" >>The trend being when one character "loves" another in the story, the women use more flowerly language, while the male writers tend to use slang words when referring to *ahem* 'stuff'<<< It might be that women traditionally are more likely to read romance novels (flowery language euphemisms for body parts ;) and men aren't. Romance novels, even with graphic sex scenes, are not like pornographic novels. Yes, I read a porno novel as a teenager (smack me ;) but never read a romance novel. In the porno novel, crude terms or outright profanity was used for body part euphemisms. I see very little of that in L&C nfic, thankfully, and also unlike XFic, there is almost no "slash" fic (usually Mulder paired with a male sex partner like Skinner or Krycek). Now, onto Pat Peabody's note. She said that female writers describe things in detail, but if anything, I'm very guilty of not describing things in very much detail. Well, not stuff like clothing unless that element helps define a character. If his clothing is ill-fitting, threadbare, dirty, his hair unkempt, etc., that can help define a character, or his mood at a given time, or even possibly his financial status. It can also be used as a paradox, as in "The man was shabbily attired, yet spoke in the manner of an English professor." There's a guy with a story behind him I very rarely describe what Lois or Clark is wearing, however, unless it's unusual for them, or if it will enhance a scene, like Clark noticing how a certain fabric clings to Lois. With surroundings, I generally am rather cursory, "junk-strewn vacant lot," "a forlorn landscape," "it was like God smudged the sky with His thumb," etc. But I do like writing action scenes with enough detail that the reader not be lost or confused, and hopefully can picture vividly what's taking place. Given that my favorite thing to write is dialogue, I readily admit I might shortchange other elements. This might come from writing screenplays for fun and it tends to make me a bit lazy in prose when it comes to giving extreme details of clothing and surroundings. In the end, though, that might be an issue of style or approach rather than male versus female. Zoom ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 19:30:07 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: fchisham Subject: reason for dead thread of MobileRichard In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Someone emailed me this question and I asked him/her if I could post their question and my response: > > Given what people are actually talking about in this thread - the writer of a very popular fanfic series, nominations for Best Series in the Kerths, and now masculine/feminine characteristics in fanfic writing, just what is it about the thread which you think is irrelevant to a list about L&C fanfiction? > > My response was simple, being that MobileRichard isn't on the list and the public musings on whether he is a male/female is not revelant to this list. I don't mind at all discussing male/female writing styles. I actually think it is rather interesting. On another note, I didn't just happen to pick something I felt was not relevant and decided on this thread to use as an example. I feel that some posts are becomming rather diversified and shouldn't be put here. I have emailed these people privately, because if I did so pubically, it may hurt their feelings. I'm not out to get anyone, I just want the rules of the FAQ to be followed. I have even pulled some people off recently for their blatant misuse of the list. A few have been added back on because of their reasons for said post. I'm not a mean person. If you do have questions, please email me, otherwise read the FAQ. If you see something in the FAQ that just plain isn't fair, I'll listen to ya. I'm proud to call you guys my friends. Eat, write, and be happy. Farah ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 19:37:14 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: kubitc Subject: Re: Masculine vs feminine writing Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >>>>The trend being when one character "loves" another >in the story, the women use more flowerly language, >while the male writers tend to use slang words when >referring to *ahem* 'stuff'<<< That reminds me of a psychology study performed at my school last year. The quiz asked men and women to list various words (scientific, euphamistic, etc) used to describe sex in different contexts (ie, with friends of the same sex, with opposite sex friends, with parents). Overwhelmingly the men used a more crude vocabulary in every context. >It can also be used as a paradox, as >in "The man was shabbily attired, yet spoke in the manner of an English >professor." There's a guy with a story behind him Sounds like every English professor I've had ;) <<< Outside FOLCdom I'd be pretty sure I could tell a male writer's work from that of a female writer: I do remember not being in the least bit surprised when a popular romance/saga writer over here, Emma Blair, was 'outed' as a man; 'her' writing had always seemed very masculine to me. >>> I wonder if masculine/feminine writing differences would be as apparent in non-genre fiction (ie not sci fi, romance, etc). I've taken 2 writing courses; in the first, I could always tell men from women because the men couldn't stop themselves from writing about sex, strippers, and alcoholism. In the second course (comprised of more experienced and serious writers), subjects and tone were fairly gender neutral. I could not have distinguised a male from a female writer, as I usually can't when I'm reading published non-genre writing. This topic is especially interesting to me because when I use my real name (Christiane) in writing, I am often mistaken for a guy. (Especially because, on standardized exams in school, the first name blanks would common fit only 6 letters - making me 'Christ' - or 9 letters - making me 'Christian.') I don't think my own writing is particularly masculine or feminine, and I sometimes enjoy the ambiguity; I don't want anyone assuming because I'm a woman I write 'women's' stories. Christy kubitc@kenyon.edu * * * * * * * * * * "Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply disgraceful." -Aldous Huxley ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 17:58:56 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sheila Harper Subject: Re: Masculine vs feminine writing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > This is a difficult question. > Mobile Richard's stories don't appear to have any defining 'masculine' > characteristics, either in narrative or in characterisation. The reason I asked the question in the first place was Hazel's assertion that Mobile Richard wrote like a man . . . because I'd been thinking that he wrote like me, and I always thought that I wrote sort of gender neutral--my PG stuff, anyway. It makes me wonder how much of our perception of a writer's gender comes from the name and how much from the actual writing. Sheila ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 20:14:09 -0500 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: Masculine vs feminine writing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Male writes, OTOH, seem more inclined to move the story along. A > definite plus, I'm sure, for people who *aren't* particularly > intrigued by the number of feathers in a hatband, or a paragraph long, > very precise description of the print on someone's tie. > Oh dear... that's definitely describing me ... Apparently I'm a man ... My husband's going to be most distressed about this -- ------------------------------------------------------- Pam Jernigan | jernigan@bellsouth.net ChiefPam on IRC | ChPam on AOL IM ------------------------------------------------------- "Was that a creak?" "Was what a creak?" "Thought I heard a creak." "I didn't hear a creak" "Could swear I heard a creak." "Wasn't a creak." "No creak?" "No creak at all..." _Dead Lois Walking_ ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 22:25:51 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Budmayes2@AOL.COM Subject: Michael Landes is Max Knight: Ultra Spy MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Just saw a commercial for UPN Friday night movie. "Jimmy" or rather Michael plays some kind of James Bond like Super Spy with lots of high tech gimicks. It airs on the 25th. budmayes2@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 22:48:25 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: Male vs Female authors MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I tend to agree with a lot of the people on this list. I'm in the midst of my first LnC fanfic (nfic). I tend to ignore some of the details and focus more on the dialoge (unless it's a love scene between Lois and Clark.. then I tend to focus more on the details. ) I really don't think writing has any gender. It is unisex. I mean people will write in the way they feel most comfortable with. =) Alexis ;-.)