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File:  "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L
LOG0004D"

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Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 02:20:44 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         "Alexis W." <LoisLane9397@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: 2 FanFic Questions are holding up 7DoS-part 10!
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LOL! I was like most of you...I saw Jonathan with that painting and I
thought, now how in the heck did he get it all the way to Metropolis?

Alexis ;-.)

"Who's the new tight end?" (Cat Grant)
"Why don't you throw your usual forward pass and find out?" (Lois), {LnC,
Pilot}
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 08:06:24 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         "C.C. Malo" <Ccmalo@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: SIP: Connections - part 29 of 30 (final)
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Nan wrote: <<One of these days I'll get together the ambition to write a
story this long and this exciting.>>  Thanks for the compliment, Nan. :) but
you're certainly no slouch in the "exciting story" department.  And look at
the number of them!

Lara, thanks for pointing out the parts you liked -- this is a story in
progress and, as I revise it now, it's helpful to know which parts to leave
as is.

Carol
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 13:34:23 +0200
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Nicole Wolke <NKWolke@EIFEL-NET.NET>
Subject:      Re: Connections (Final)
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Dear Carol,
I'm late again, I know, but I want to let you know that I loved the final
parts
of "Connections" as much as I loved the whole story. I love Alt-Clark
stories
and yours had me hooked the whole time you posted the parts to the list!
Thank you!
Nicole

P.S. Do you remember what you wrote to me about "last sentences" when you
gave
us Feedback to "Heartache Tonight"? I smiled, when I read yours in
"Connection", because I loved it so much!
--
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:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 09:15:23 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         SUBSCRIBE Lab Rat <labrat@CABLEINET.CO.UK>
Subject:      Re: 2 FanFic Questions are holding up 7DoS-part 10!

On Fri, 21 Apr 2000 19:05:18 EDT, Ann E. McBride <Aerm1@AOL.COM> wrote:

>Maybe he bought it a ticket. <G>  Or put it in one of those boxes they have
>for golf clubs and such .
>
>Ann

LOL. I dunno, the mental picture conjured up first time I saw him produce
it in Clark's apartment of him carrying the thing through airports and onto
planes just tickled me somehow. ;)

Oh, and wave to Merry. :)

LabRat :)
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 10:26:17 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Charlotte Fisler <Cdfisler@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: SIP: Connections - part 29 of 30 (final)
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Carol.

I loved it.  As I said in my previous comment, it all works together.

S
p
o
i
l
e
r

s
p
a
c
e

<< It's odd how Trask
turned out in the story --in my original rough outline, he was definitely
one
of the villains.>>

One personal IMHO note and certainly no criticism.
 As I have said before, Trask is my most hated villain
even over Lex Luthor,
so I wish you hadn't made him so likable in this story.
Darn you for being such a good writer as to turn that around.

Charlotte
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 08:03:12 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Kimberly Thomas <kthomas@QNET.COM>
Subject:      Re: Connections (Final)
In-Reply-To:  <39018E3F.5833E6EB@eifel-net.net>
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Carol,

I usually lurk here, but I just had to step out of the shadows and let you
know
how much I loved this story.  I am a perpetual member of the short
attention-span club, usually sticking to the shorter stories, but
"Connections"
kept my interest.  I was on the edge of my seat, always anxiously awaiting
the
next part.

It was definitely interesting how you mingled New Krypton and Jason Trask
into
the same plotline, and even moreso that you turned Trask into a sympathetic
character!  But then, I suppose anything is possible in the alt-world.
Actually, that's another thing: I'm not usually someone to even *read*
stories
about the alt-world (yes, I know; short stories, no alt-world...leaves my
options a bit limited  *L*).  But I dunno..I just might have to broaden my
horizons a little bit after this one!

Thanks for the great read!
Kim
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 13:19:00 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         "Ann E. McBride" <Aerm1@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: SIP: Connections - part 29 of 30
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In a message dated 4/19/00 4:43:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Ccmalo@AOL.COM
writes:

<< "This
 must've been some fight," he said wistfully.

 "Yeah," Lois looked at the shambles.  "Guess Clark's gonna lose his
deposit."
  >>

LOL!  This has to be one of the funniest throwaway lines I've ever read.

Ann
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 19:36:16 +0100
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Jenny Mills <j.mills@NETCOM.CO.UK>
Subject:      OT: Wedding Vows and 'Lewis & Clark'!
In-Reply-To:  <33.1e9d3bc.25edf71f@aol.com>
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All

Well, it takes something to get me out of lurkdom, but 2 items this week
did it......

I was on a Computer course organised through 'Learning Tree' (a US company,
I think); well, we had to enter mock data to test a database, and they
instructed we enter 'Lewis & Clark' - luckily my deskmate knew me well
enough not to be thrown when I mis-typed!

Closer to home, my daughter Nikki, is getting married next month - she is a
FoLC and has converted her fience too. She read her post-ceremony speech to
me as a try-out, and she has included the phrase 'He's my best friends' -
well, at least Rob and I will understand, and try and keep a straight face.
 JacMac:  if you're still with this list, she promises not to do it as you
would <g>

Hope to see some of you soon, if I get to LAFF

Love

Jenny

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------
Jenny Mills             j.mills@netcom.co.uk / jmills@ccta.gov.uk

JO: Looks like it's rush hour on the Super Information Highway.
LL: Yes, and I'm stuck in traffic                                       -
Mme Ex

LL: Clark, you're my best friend.....                                   -
STGTTWNK
Sgt. Buzz Thomas (DC): To undying friendship            -  Best Men
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 19:31:44 -0600
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Debby <Debby@SWCP.COM>
Subject:      Re: 2 FanFic Questions are holding up 7DoS-part 10!
In-Reply-To:  <a6.3521d8f.26323535@aol.com>
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At 06:50 PM 04/21/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>That's weird......it never occurred (occured?)  to me to wonder how Jon got
>the painting on the plane. I must have a very accepting nature, or
>something....
>
>SuperLorie:-)

You know, I can see it this way: the frame was one that can be broken down
and
reassembled easily. Such a frame would be cheap and of course easy to
transport. Artists in the wilds of Kansas, working in Smallville, would not
be
able to afford large, expensive frames for every picture. If Martha thought
about getting one ("Now where did I put that picture...?") she hadn't done
so
yet (or hadn't built one yet). So the frame could be knocked down
(disassembled
for shipping), and the canvas rolled up and transported easily that way
(though
I suspect Jon stuck it under his seat in coach). Then he gets to Clark's
place,
hunts around for and finally finds a hammer and has just finished one of the
hardest jobs in his life, putting that frame together and tacking the canvas
into it--when the lights go out. A metaphor if I ever heard one :)

Debby
Debby@swcp.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 22 Apr 2000 19:39:56 -0600
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Debby <Debby@SWCP.COM>
Subject:      Forget me not" rewrites (was Re: Question)
In-Reply-To:  <cb.491ca28.2632386a@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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At 07:04 PM 04/21/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>In a message dated 4/21/00 6:49:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>starkitty__@HOTMAIL.COM writes:
>
><< "Forget Me Not"....Hmm, I smell a rewrite!  Someone want to take a stab
at
>this one?  Someone  probably has already done this, but I don't know who?>>
>
>I know that Debby Stark rewrote the whole Argh.The stories used to be on
her
>site, but they weren't the last time I was there.  They are on the
Fanfiction
>Archive, though.
>
>Ann

They're there... I think. I took off Dawning as I'm revising it as I reread
it.
The Argh rewrites are in 5 parts (like the Argh itself):

         I'll Knot Pronounce You
         Double Entendre
         Seconds Helping
         I'll Second That; and
         Long Dazed Journey From The Night

         (and each part has other [funnier?] titles,
          but these above are the primary ones)

I may have named them something AltArc1,2,3, etc, or just used the above
titles
but shortened to, for example, Illknot.txt, double.txt, etc.  I just can't
remember at the moment. I'll have to check. If they're *not* there, I'll put
them back up as txt documents, probably zipped, and easy to identify :)

Debby
Debby@swcp.com
ftp://ftp.swcp.com/pub/users/dstark/Stories

also, scripts available
write for info...
=========================================================================
Date:         Sun, 23 Apr 2000 07:06:26 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         "C.C. Malo" <Ccmalo@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Connections (Final)
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Nicole, Charlotte, Kim, Ann -- I really appreaciate your feedback. Thanks!

Nicole, I do remember what I wrote about last sentences --   So thank -you
for commenting on mine. :)  I had it written for some time before I finished
the story, in fact.

Charlotte : <<Trask is my most hated villain even over Lex Luthor,  so I
wish
you hadn't made him so likable in this story.>> Interesting -- why more than
Luthor?

Kim, I'm glad you stepped out of lurkdom and set aside a couple of your
reading rules. :)   I know what you mean, though, about having likes and
dislikes about certain genres.  I'm not that crazy about crossovers and yet
I
loved Becky's Timeless.

Ann -- Glad you liked the line -- Renters have to be careful about who they
invite over. <g>

Carol
=========================================================================
Date:         Sun, 23 Apr 2000 07:06:43 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "C.C. Malo" <Ccmalo@AOL.COM>
Subject:      OT: message to Labrat
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Hi Labrat,

I tried sending the story to each of your addresses yesterday but both
attempts bounced.  I've just tried the hotmail address again this morning so
I'll cross my fingers.

What have you done to so offend the ether bunny?

Carol
=========================================================================
Date:         Sun, 23 Apr 2000 23:47:59 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Melisma <melisma@INTERGATE.BC.CA>
Subject:      going no-mail
In-Reply-To:  <4.0.2.20000422193157.008e96b0@mail.swcp.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I'm sorry about this - you have no idea... But I'm having a terrible
time with my intergate address (got absolutely NO mail today) and I'm
sure the posts are all piling up. So until I get things straightened
out, I'm gonna have to go no-mail and read/post from the archive
site. If you want to contact me privately, you can use my secondary
address, dlgray@usa.net. It doesn't have enough server space for all
my list mail, but is alright for individual mail.

Melisma (extremely frustrated, here under her rock)
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 10:09:47 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Daddy James Tull <mr_d8a@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      New-7 Days of Superman Parts 10 & 11
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: PARTs 10 & 11

Archive: Yes

E-mail address for feedback:mr_d8a@yahoo.com

Series/Sequel: 7 Days/l&c:tTNAOS Crossover

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.

Summary:Superman fails to stop the nuking of
Washington DC and gets some help from Frank B. Parker
from Operation Backstep.

Author's Note:  I am re-releasing 10 as it has had
some changes made to it.

_______________________________________________________
Part: 10 Sent

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Saturday, October 9, 1999
11:55am MST
Never-Neverland
Operation Backstep
+++++++++++++++++++++++

Frank walked to the Sphere.  It stood nearly three
stories tall and was just as wide.  Its royal blue
color had a disarming quality to it, but Frank knew
better.  That thing had killed him, split him in two,
stuck him in a temporal loop, and hurt like nothing he
could describe.  But every time he went back, *he*
made a difference.  Sometimes he felt like running,
but after all these months he had come to accept the
fact that he could make a difference.

**Besides, how many people could say they saved
Superman?**

Dr. Mentnor turned to Dr. Ballard and asked, "When
will he arrive?"

"We're sending him back the full seven days, Sunday,
October 2, at 12:00pm MST.  That should give him time
to find Clark Kent and get Olga off to Cuba."

"Reactor at 60%," Olga reported.

"Hey, Ballard.  Did you get a chance to work on the
guidance system, yet?  I would like to at least end up
in the same state as my target this time."

"I tweaked it in the opposite direction this time.  It
makes no sense to go that direction in the schematics,
but then I don’t understand why half the things we try
end up not working.”

“You fill me with such confidence.”

"Reactor at 70%."

"I'm hoping to land in the city park.  I figure that
that will get his attention."

"Reactor at 80%."

"Frank, we just got report of communications across
the globe going out.  Something about cities
disappearing in balls of white light.  We have got to
get Tempus back here alive to find out what he did."

"Reactor at 90%."

"Not to worry, sir.  I'll bring him home.

"Reactor at 100%! Engage!"

Frank hit the red engage button and every nerve ending
in his body lit on fire.  He watched the clock unwind
time as he fought the joystick to stay within the
guides.  As the clock backtracked to Wednesday,
October 6, 1999, 6:17pm MST the power readouts
momentarily dipped, the lights flickered, and for just
a moment he felt like his brain was going to shut
down.  Then the temporal readout began to crawl.
Instead of hours passing like seconds, they where
taking tens of minutes and with each passing moment
the moments took longer and longer to unwind. The
sphere was easier to handle but it was like it was
mired in temporal molasses.  Frank looked at his
oxygen and power gauges and began wondering which
would run out first.

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Monday, October 4, 1999
8:03am EST
Metropolis
Centennial Park
+++++++++++++++++++++++

Frank started to see gray around the edges of his
helmet's visor.  He'd drifted back in time for more
than a day.  The reactor was going to outlast the
oxygen by enough to suffocate him.  He was in
Metropolis, like he'd planned.  Had been there for
nearly a day.  He saw people and things pass by the
sphere in reverse, slow motion as time tried
desperately to unwind itself.  The Sphere was sitting
in the park, across from the Hall of Justice.  It was
still trying to accomplish the end point of the
journey, Sunday, October 3, and so was still
immaterial.  But it would never arrive.  It had take
over a minute for the clock to change from 10:03:24am
to 10:03:23am MST and Frank wished that the last thing
he saw wasn't a dog un-taking a leak on a nearby tree.

Olga came, unbidden to his mind.  **I'm sorry I never
got a chance to convince you how much I really loved
you.  Goodbye….**

Warning bells started going off and the sphere's
reactor readings dropped to zero.  The last message he
saw before the door popped open said something about
'Running out of virtual memory.  Shutting down
temporal program before critical memory failure.'

**Thank you, Ballard!**

Frank stumbled out of the sphere and ripped off his
helmet.  He sucked long drafts of air into his
desperate lungs.  His oxygen-deprived blood soaked the
much needed air up and gave his brain a buzz that
forced him to sit for some time.  He wasn’t sure how
long he’d sat before he realized that someone was
trying to get his attention.  It was a twelve-year-old
boy.

“Hey, mister!  Are you alright?  Where did you come
from?”

“**Well, it worked before.**  “It’s alright.  It’s
just a promotional for a movie.”

“If this is for a movie promotion, then where are the
cameras?”

Frank put on his best smile and tried to come up with
a plausible reason for the lack of camera.  A woman
came over and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Herb!  Stop bothering the man.  Do you want him to
have to do that all over again?”

**Herb!**

“But!  But…!”

“I’m sorry sir.  Herbert is always asking questions
and challenging things.”

“That’s quite alright ma’am.  It’s people like your
son that keeps the rest of us on our toes.  You
wouldn’t happen to know the location of the nearest
payphone, would you?”

She pointed over his right shoulder and bid him a good
day.  She then started to lecture her son on the finer
points of not talking to strangers.  Frank grinned and
made his way to the phone.

Frank’s arrival was observed by more than the people
in the park.  Across the street a pair of
bespectacled, aging, eyes watched the whole thing
happen.  The years had not been kind to this
individual.  But events had nearly come full circle.
It was time to make one last stop before the circle
was complete, or at least they hoped so.  It was time
to go to Smallville.

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Monday, October 4, 1999
10:03am MST
Never-Neverland
Operation Backstep
+++++++++++++++++++++++

Olga was talking to Frank about his latest medical
result’s when he disappeared into thin air.  Warning
alarms started going off.  A back step had happened.

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Monday, October 4, 1999
8:24am EST
Metropolis
Centennial Park
+++++++++++++++++++++++

Frank stopped at a vending machine and picked up a
copy of the Metropolis Star.  The main heading
intrigued him.  'President Acknowledges Posing For
Nude Art.'  **I don't remember that from the last
timeline.**  Mentally shrugging he looked at the date.
 As he knew it would, it read October 4.  He had
little over two days to stop the destruction of
Washington, save Superman, pick up the time traveler,
and find the location of the bombs planted in hundreds
of major cities across the globe.

Frank muttered to himself, “No problem,”  and shook
his head.  It was going to be a long day.  Especially
since he’d been up for the last thirty-six hours.  He
dialed the switch-board for Operation Backstep.

"How may I direct your call?"

"This is Conundrum.”

Part: 11 Sent

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Monday, October 4, 1999
8:00am EST
Metropolis
Hyperion Ave.
+++++++++++++++++++++++

Lois was feeding Mickey, their four-year-old
Pomeranian, when the phone rang.  She yelled down the
hall,  "I'll get it!"

The voice on the other end of the line was deep and
husky, "Hey, babe."

Lois' voice turned silky and seductive.  "Hello
yourself; tall, dark and muscular.  So when are you
coming to see me?  My husband's out of the house, and
I can put the watchdog outside for a while."

"Poor guy.  Does he know that you're seeing a guy in
spandex and a cape?"

"Oh, no.  He's the sweet, innocent type.  I have him
wrapped around my finger."

"Oh, really?"

"Completely."

A young African-American man popped his head into the
bedroom.  He was holding a squealing, squirming,
nearly naked, three-year old in his hands.  Mickey
started running around the both of them.  "I caught
this one trying to make a break for it, ma'am.  What
should I do with him?"

"What do you think, Keith?  Boil him in oil?  Dangle
him over a pit of hungry T-Rexes?  Or have him spend
the day at my Mother's?"

"Who are you trying to punish?  Me or him?  Do you
realize that since we started protecting your extended
family, I've had to swap out your mother's agent every
week?  She goes through them like Kleenex.

Lois' mouth started to curl and she began to giggle.
"I'll let his father handle this.  Come here, little
man."

Keith let the tike go.  The little boy came running
over to his mother and jumped into her lap.  She
handed the phone to him.

"Alex, do you remember what you are supposed to do
when I'm not at home?"

"I'm to keep an eye on Mommy and do whatever Mommy or
Mr. Jackson says, sir."

"That's my little man!  Now give Mommy a kiss, and get
ready to go.  We don't want Uncle Perry to get mad at
Mommy, do we?"

"No, SIR!"  He hopped off Lois' lap and made for the
door.  About halfway there, he heard his Mommy clear
her throat.  He did an about face, ran back,  kissed
her, and bee-lined it out the door.

"I'll keep an eye on him."

"Thanks, Keith."  She was talking to thin-air, as he
had already taken off after his other charge.

Lois turned back to the phone, "So, when are you
coming home?"

"I should be finished cleaning up the nuclear accident
here in Japan by lunch, your time.  I'll meet you at
The Planet."

"I'll see you there."

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Monday, October 4, 1999
10:33am MST
Never-Neverland
Operation Backstep
+++++++++++++++++++++++

"Go ahead, Conundrum."

Frank's voice came droning out of the speaker phone,
in the main conference room.  "A time-traveler, by the
name of Tempus, is going to nuke Washington D.C. in
two days and take Superman out with it.  And then,
just for kicks, he will blow up nearly every major
city on the face of the planet."

Talmadge looked at the phone like it bit him.  "A
time-traveler!"  Then the true situation hit him.
"Two days!  Why did we wait so long to send you back?"

"You didn't.  You sent me off at 12:00pm, October 9.
When I hit October 6, at 6:17pm, the Sphere started to
slow down.  It took me nearly thirty hours to get back
this far."

Olga exclaimed, "You must have been running very low
on oxygen by then!"

"You ain't just whistling Dixie, Olga.  By the way,
Ballard, your virtual memory failsafe was what finally
kicked me out of the chrono-stream.  If it hadn't been
for that, I'd be a corpse right now.  We need to put
in a panic switch which will do the same thing.  I was
sucking trace particles at the end.  Oh, yeah.  The
changes you made to the guidance system worked like a
charm."

"So, tweaking it in the opposite direction did the
trick.  It doesn't make sense to do that in the
schematics, but then most of the things we try that
end up working don’t make sense.  Your rate of speed
may be another factor.  I'll see about intentionally
slowing the trip down for the next back step.  Do you
know what caused the Sphere to slow down?"

"Haven't a clue.  I figured you could get that out of
the telemetry when you pick it up.  It's across the
street from the Metropolis Hall of Justice, in
Centennial Park."

"Were there any other unusual effects, Conundrum?"

"I still seem to have my top layer of skin, and I'm
not bleeding anywhere.  As soon as I hit the slow
lane, the pain dropped down to practically nothing."

"We should definitely see about slowing his rate of
travel.  It could be a key factor in allowing others
to backstep, should the need arise."

"Gee, Olga, trying to get rid of me so soon?"

"I was only looking after the project's well being."

"Su-ure. Whatever you say.  Where's Nate?  He's being
awfully quite.  It's not like him.  Especially
considering how he feels about Superman."

Everyone turned and looked at one another.  Talmadge
was the first to speak,  "Nate who?

"What do you mean 'Nate who?'  You know, Nathan
Ramsey, head of security."

"Conundrum, you know very well I've been head of
security here since this project started.  Really, now
is not the time to play games."

"Who was that?"

"That was Jason, Jason Trask."

=====
Mr. D8a -
Colossians 3:2 - Set your minds on things above not on earthly things.

Go to WWW.FREEWWWEB.COM for the best Free Internet access!

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Subject:      NEW:  Basketball-- Clark's Side of the Story (1/1)
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This story is a companion to my story =93Basketball-- A Lois and Clark
Valen=
tine.=94  Since the first story is told by Lois, I thought this story
should=
 be told by Clark.  I hope it works the way I want it to. :)=85
"Basketball=
" is on the archive under AliciaU.=20

Basketball-- Clark=92s Side of the Story (1/1)
by Alicia U.  alicia3456@aol.com or lxu2@po.cwru.edu

    As I flew away from the fire I had just helped put out, I did a few
barr=
el rolls in the air.  Nothing could dampen the feeling of contentment I
was=20=
feeling at that moment.  Lois had told me that she loved me.  She loved me
f=
or the whole me, not just for Clark, her partner at work, or for Superman,
t=
he man she had worshipped for over a year, but for me, the amalgamation of
b=
oth of my personalities.  Lois didn=92t find out about my secret exactly
the=
 way I had planned, but now that she knew about it and was okay with it I
wa=
s overjoyed. =20

    It all started yesterday morning.  It was unseasonably warm for a
Februa=
ry morning in Metropolis, so my buddy, Jimmy, and I planned to play a
quick=20=
pick-up basketball game after work.  We have played basketball once a week
w=
henever it has been warm enough ever since I started at the Planet, and it
i=
s something both of us look forward to.  The two of us hardly have any
time=20=
to spend together; we both lead atrociously busy lives, but we try to make
t=
ime for, as Lois puts it, =93male bonding.=94  I always let Jimmy win,
thoug=
h, because if I exercised my true abilities people would, quite possibly,
ma=
ke the association between Clark Kent and Superman.  To prevent this, I
hide=
 my powers from everyone, especially when it comes to sports.  I have to
pre=
tend to be the most uncoordinated man alive.  In fact, Jimmy can=92t
believe=
 that I played college football for a division one college.  But even then
I=
 hid my true abilities, and only performed to a level where no one would
be=20=
hurt. =20

    When Jimmy and I were by my desk planning to meet for our game, my
girlf=
riend, Lois, overheard our plans and invited herself to play with us.  I
did=
n=92t mind, of course.  Lois and I hardly get to spend any time together
awa=
y from work because of our demanding jobs and my Superman activities.  I
cou=
ld tell already that it was going to be time to tell her about Superman.
In=
 the few weeks that we had been dating, I could feel her growing
exasperatio=
n with my frequent disappearances.  Unfortunately, I usually heard calls
for=
 Superman while we were in the middle of important discussions or out on
dat=
es.  I wanted to get on her good side before I sprung the news on her, so
I=20=
had been going along with everything she suggested for the past week or
so,=20=
no matter how outlandish it seemed to me. =20

    I immediately agreed to let Lois join us for our game, but I could
tell=20=
that Jimmy was less than enthusiastic about the situation.  However, he
kept=
 his thoughts in check until after Lois had left.  But after she was out
of=20=
earshot, Jimmy snapped. =20

    He paced around my desk while ranting, =93CK, why did you invite Lois?
=20=
Come on, this is supposed to be guys only.  Have I ever invited one of my
gi=
rls to play with us?  No.  Why should Lois get special treatment?
Besides,=20=
have you ever seen Lois do anything athletic before in all the time
you=92ve=
 known her?=94

    I shook my head wondering where Jimmy was going with that statement.
I=20=
didn=92t care, though.  Lois wanted to play basketball with us, and far be
i=
t from me to deny her, especially with the news I was about to spring on
her=
.

    Jimmy continued, in an even more hostile voice, =93You know why
you=92ve=
 never seen Lois doing anything athletic?  A few months before you came
here=
, we had a picnic for all of the Planet employees and their families, and
th=
ere we had a big softball game.  Lois obviously hadn=92t played softball
for=
 a very long time because she wasn=92t even sure which hand the glove went
o=
n.  But you know Lois, she tried to hide her ignorance, and she dove right
i=
nto the game.  In fact, she somehow managed to convince people that she
was=20=
a shortstop.=94 =20

I laughed, picturing Lois playing shortstop with the mitt on the wrong
hand.=
 =20

Jimmy continued, =93The first play of the game, Perry hit a screaming
liner=20=
right toward the shortstop, and Lois stuck her glove out, trying to
protect=20=
herself from the ball.=94  Jimmy acted out the scene as he spoke.  He
moved=20=
his left hand protectively in front of his face and his eyes looked like
tho=
se of a deer caught in headlights.  =93The ball hit her in the glove, but
sh=
e had it turned the wrong way.  And then SMACK!=94  He used his right hand
t=
o illustrate the trajectory of the ball.  =93It hit off her glove, and
then=20=
it hit her square in the cheekbone.=94

    I grimaced with pain as I recalled a similar thing happening to me
when=20=
I was six years old.  =93Ouch, that had to hurt.=94

Jimmy nodded solemnly.  =93Yeah, but you know Lois.  She never even
admitted=
 that she had gotten hit.  We tried to make her go to the doctor to see if
s=
he had a concussion, but you know Lois.=94

I groaned, since I knew exactly what he meant from first-hand experience.
=20

Jimmy perched on the corner of my desk as he finished the story.  =93You
kno=
w how stubborn she can be when she=92s trying to prove a point, so she
staye=
d in the game, but she never tried to field another ball.  That bruise
sure=20=
turned into a monster shiner, though.  Every time one of us tried to ask
her=
 if she was okay, she would just glare at us and snarl.  That=92s when we
le=
arned never to invite Lois to do anything athletic again.=94

I rolled my eyes.  I couldn=92t believe they would exclude Lois from all
of=20=
their activities just because of one mistake on the softball field.
=93Jimm=
y, maybe softball=92s just not her game.  I remember her telling me that
she=
 was on the tennis team in college, so she probably has skills in other
area=
s.=94

Jimmy rolled his eyes and walked back towards his own desk.  He turned
aroun=
d and shouted, =93Don=92t say I didn=92t warn you, CK.  She=92s not my
girlf=
riend.=94

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

    After work, Jimmy and I changed into our athletic clothes and met at
the=
 court across the street.  Jimmy had brought the ball, and we started to
war=
m up as we waited for Lois.  After fifteen minutes, both of us were
consider=
ing starting without her.  Actually, Jimmy had wanted to start without her
a=
s soon as we got there, but I convinced him to give her a chance. =20

    As soon as Jimmy and I had given up on her, I spotted her walking
toward=
s us.  She was dressed in a pair of jogging pants and a tight tee shirt
with=
 a long sleeved shirt underneath.  Her hair was tied back with a few stray
w=
isps flying awry around her face.  Those locks surrounded her soft face
and=20=
accentuated her beautiful eyes.  I froze as soon as I saw her, and I could
h=
ave sworn my heart skipped a beat.  She looked so beautiful, almost
angelic.=
  Her form-fitting tee left little to the imagination.  That shirt
accentuat=
ed her luscious, womanly curves so well, when I looked at her, I had to
use=20=
all of the Superstrength in my body to control the urges I felt when I saw
h=
er.  In fact, I wasn=92t sure if I would be able to walk without having to
h=
unch over, or even talk in complete sentences around her, let alone play
bas=
ketball with her.  I had to pinch myself because I couldn=92t believe she
wa=
s really my girlfriend.  I wasn=92t sure what I had done right, but I sure
h=
ad done something for Lois to even give me a second look.  In fact, I
think=20=
a little ball of drool might have been hanging from the corner of my mouth
a=
s I watched her beautiful body slink towards the court. =20

    I fleetingly wondered if Lois noticed I was staring at her not really
ca=
ring, though.  Jimmy obviously had both noticed her outfit and that I was
st=
aring.  He let out a low whistle, and his chin dropped.  He whispered,
=93Ho=
ly cow!  CK, you=92re too lucky.=94

    I ignored Jimmy=92s comment because I probably wasn=92t meant to hear
it=
, instead I directed all my attention towards Lois.  She had stopped cold
al=
so, and seemed to be undressing me with her eyes, not that I minded.  She
se=
emed frozen in place just like I had been a few seconds before.  I have to
a=
dmit, I had probably made a mistake in my choice of attire.  It was only
50=20=
degrees outside, but since I don=92t feel the extremes of hot and cold, a
ta=
nk top and a pair of shorts were my clothing of choice.  I had realized
that=
 I had made a mistake when I saw that Jimmy was dressed in a sweatshirt
and=20=
a pair of jogging pants.  However, it was too late for me to run back to
my=20=
apartment to grab some new clothes, even if I could have made it there and
b=
ack in a matter of a few seconds.
    When I could control my body again, I approached Lois and wrapped my
arm=
 around her shoulders.  It felt so good touching her; even though I=92d
touc=
hed her like this more times than I can count, somehow this time it felt
dif=
ferent, almost like both of us knew that this was where we wanted to spend
t=
he rest of our lives. =20

    Lois looked up at me with a confused look in her eyes.  I wondered
what=20=
I could have done wrong or what she could be worried about.  That look
passe=
d as soon as it came, so I forgot about it until later that night. =20

    When Lois smiled up at me, I exclaimed, =93Lois, you came!=94  Then I
le=
d her over to the court where Jimmy was making a show of shooting lay ups.
=20=
It was almost as if he wanted to impress Lois with his basketball prowess.
=20=
Either that or he wanted to show Lois just what she was up against,
possibly=
 to make her consider leaving.  I knew that I=92d have to make this up to
hi=
m soon.  I feel bad for Jimmy sometimes, it seems like he feels like an
outc=
ast sometimes, and I sure know what that feels like.  So I usually make
spec=
ial time for him, and I tried to spend a lot of time with him.  But now
Jimm=
y had to understand that I might not have as much time for him because
Lois=20=
is a big part of my life, and I=92ve fought so hard for her.  Jimmy is a
gre=
at friend.  The two of us have spent some good times together, but Lois is
s=
omething more.  She=92s my best friend, and she=92s also the love of my
life=
. =20

    When we got to the court, I turned to Lois and smiled.  =93Okay, Lois,
y=
ou're on my team, I guess.  You and me versus Jimmy, okay?"  As she
nodded,=20=
all of my senses were assaulted by her closeness.  I breathed the scent of
h=
er shampoo, I felt the soft, smooth skin of her neck against my bare arm,
an=
d I was still awed by the sight of her in that outfit.  I was on such a
sens=
ory overload, a comment slipped out of my mouth that I would have never
dare=
d say except in such a relaxed atmosphere.  =93Even though I want to play
yo=
u man-to-man."  I could tell that Lois was taken aback by my comment, and
I=20=
immediately regretted saying anything. =20

Lois, however, recovered quickly and seemed to find it humorous.  She
quickl=
y retorted, =93You'd better watch yourself, Kent," and then she giggled
coqu=
ettishly.

She had tilted her chin up and opened her lips in an open invitation for
me=20=
to kiss her.  Jimmy noticed this too, and he coughed audibly trying to
tell=20=
us that he was still able witness everything that was going on.  When Lois
a=
nd I turned to look at him, he said, "Well, Lois, CK's not that good.  I
alw=
ays kick his butt, so he probably needs your help."

I could tell that Lois wanted me to defend myself to Jimmy, but he and I
bot=
h knew that he was right.  Instead, I grinned widely at Lois and merely
nodd=
ed in response.  "I know, I'm pretty bad.  But together we're going to
win.=20=
 Because now I have my secret weapon."  I know it sounded corny, but I
wante=
d Lois to know that I really wanted her on my team.

Lois rolled her eyes in response, probably seeing the cornyness of my last
f=
ew remarks.  Sometimes I can=92t believe how tongue-tied I get around her.
=20=
It=92s like my brain turns into mush and my mouth becomes full of cotton.
L=
ois almost didn=92t catch the pass Lois threw to her, and then he said,
"Her=
e, Lois, take a shot from anywhere.  Let me see what I'm up against."
Then=20=
he winked at me, almost like this was going to prove to me that I shouldn=
=92t have invited her.

To Lois=92 credit, she took a challenging shot.  She shot from behind the
th=
ree-point arc, but that didn=92t make her shot look any prettier.  I had
nev=
er seen someone shoot with two hands before.  Well, I had, but it was when
I=
 was in the third grade.  She pushed the ball with both of her hands up
and=20=
towards the basket.  Jimmy laughed and I stared in disbelief when the ball
d=
idn=92t even get half way to the basket.  I thought I sucked it up well,
tho=
ugh, when I said, =93Thank God she's on my team, Jim.  You're in trouble
now=
!"  Then I grabbed her hand pulled her close to me.

I am not very competitive, and I believe that everyone should get a fair
cha=
nce to play, so when we played, I passed the ball to Lois at every
opportuni=
ty.  I didn=92t care that Jimmy stole the ball from her every time, I
could=20=
tell she was having fun planning how to get by Jimmy.  Every time she
caught=
 the ball, she got this look of determination in her eyes, almost like she
h=
ad a fool-proof plan to get past Jimmy, and nothing was going to stop her.
=20=
Unfortunately, every time, Jimmy was able to stop her well thought out
plans=
.

The game had been going well, or as well as it could possibly go with
Jimmy=20=
leading 10-2.  Lois had started to get a lot more confidence in her skills
b=
ecause she had scored our two points, and she had made a successful move
one=
 Jimmy.  Now I guess she thought she was indestructible.  That was when it
h=
appened.  I passed her the ball, and she was in a good spot at the top of
th=
e key.  Jimmy was giving her a little room to dribble and she had a free
pas=
s back to me.  Unfortunately, Lois decided that she wanted to take it
hersel=
f.  She turned around and dribbled, but then her foot got caught with Jimmy=
=92s.  I had a pretty good look at it from where I was, but it happened in
a=
 split second, so I didn=92t have enough time to help her.  She screamed
as=20=
her foot turned almost upside down and I was at her side almost before she
h=
it the ground. =20

I immediately yelled to Jimmy to get some ice.  I knew that we had to
contai=
n the swelling, and the ice would help with that and it might numb some of
t=
he pain away.  I needed to find out if her ankle was broken so I=92d know
wh=
at to do for it.  I panicked and pulled my glasses down to x-ray it.  I
brea=
thed a sigh of relief as I muttered, "Not broken, thank God.=94

Lois gave me a strange look, even through what I thought was her pain
induce=
d haze.  Her face was twisted in pain and tears flowed openly.  I knew
that=20=
she had to be in horrible pain for her to show her pain.  In the year and
a=20=
half that I=92ve known her, this was the first time I=92d ever seen her
admi=
t defeat so easily.  That=92s when I knew something was terribly wrong.

Soon, Jimmy ran back to us with the ice, and I gently helped her take off
he=
r shoe and sock, then I packed it around her foot.  I tried to be as
gentle=20=
as possible, but I could tell it still hurt so badly.  Every time I
touched=20=
her, her face screwed up in pain and she let out a soft yelp that was
probab=
ly inaudible to anyone without Superhearing.  Every time she grimaced, it
fe=
lt like my heart was tearing in two, almost like it was being torn from my
c=
hest.  It I had never invited her to play, this would have never happened.

"Clark, it's not your fault," she said with pleading eyes.  "You're making
m=
e feel worse when you blame yourself."

I couldn=92t help it, though.  She would be fine right now if I had never
de=
cided to play basketball today.

I used Lois=92 sock to tie the ice to her ankle, and she sighed when the
col=
d ice hit her throbbing foot.  I hoped the ice would do its job and numb
her=
 foot.

 "CK, shouldn't we take her to the hospital to get it x-rayed?"  Jimmy
wonde=
red.  He was obviously blaming himself too. It was his foot that had
caused=20=
her to trip, but he had also warned me that Lois was not the world=92s
best=20=
athlete. =20

I nodded slowly, not wanting to blow my cover.  "Maybe we should, Jimmy.
I=20=
don't think it's broken, but we can never be too careful."

"I'm so sorry, Lois.  I didn't mean to trip you," Jimmy said with a
pleading=
 look in his eyes begging her to forgive him.  I hoped she would forgive
him=
 quickly and put him out of his misery.  But I knew that I would never
live=20=
this down.  Jimmy would tease me forever about bringing Lois to play
basketb=
all with us.  Oh well, I wasn=92t really concerned with Jimmy at that
point.=
  My entire mind was focused on Lois and getting her somewhere that could
ma=
ke her feel better.

Lois seemed almost fed up with Jimmy when she growled, "It's not your
fault=20=
Jimmy.  Don't worry about it any more. Let's just get this ankle x-rayed
and=
 get it over with." =20

I nodded, wanting Jimmy to leave us alone.  He had done enough damage, and
I=
 didn=92t want Lois to kill him.  "Yeah, Jimmy why don't you just go home.
=20=
I can drive Lois over to the hospital for the x-rays."

Jimmy seemed as anxious to get out of there as we were to have him leave,
bu=
t he still looked like he wanted to show that he was a good guy.  He said,
"=
Okay, CK, just let me help you get her to the car  It's a pretty long walk
b=
ack to the parking garage."

Lois jumped in to the conversation at this point.  "It's okay, Jimmy.  I
fou=
nd a meter on the street.  See I'm parked right up there.  I think I can
hob=
ble up there if you guys just help me up." =20

I could tell from her subtle arm movements that she wanted me to scoop her
i=
nto my arms and carry her up to her car.  And I was all too happy to
oblige.=
  I said, "No, Lois, I don't want you to put any more weight on that
ankle.=20=
 I'll carry you to the car.  You're not heavy."

Jimmy's eyebrows nearly jumped to the top of his forehead. "Are you sure
abo=
ut that, CK?  Sometimes you have trouble carrying your own briefcase."  I
ha=
d to laugh at that comment.  Maybe my act really was working.

For some reason, Lois also giggled at that comment.  I don=92t know why,
tho=
ugh.  It was like she had some secret joke that no one understood but her.
=20

I answered, "It's okay, Jimmy.  She's not heavy.  Could you just grab the=20
ball?"

    Then I bent down and scooped her into my arms effortlessly.  It felt
so=20=
good to have her in my arms, but I would have enjoyed it so much more if
it=20=
were under different circumstances.  Still, I had trouble concentrating
whil=
e I was walking.  I wanted to plant kisses all over her face, so I
satisfied=
 my urges temporarily by planting a soft kiss on her cheek and saying,
=93It=
=92s okay, Lois.=94=20

    As I slowly made my way to her Jeep, I had to concentrate very hard
just=
 to make it all the way to the Jeep.  She breathed softly on my neck, and
I=20=
thought I would go wild.  Her soft skin rubbed against my bare arms, and I
t=
hought I my knees would collapse from under me.  Then when she shifted in
my=
 arms, I hoped she wouldn=92t be able to feel just how excited her
movements=
 made me.  I was ashamed of it actually because here she was, hurt in my
arm=
s, and all I could think about was how good she felt in my arms. =20

    Our walk was over too soon because we reached her Jeep in a matter of
se=
conds.  She handed me her keys and I helped her into the back seat.  I
helpe=
d her elevate her ankle on her gym bag, and when I was sure she was
comforta=
ble, I climbed into the driver=92s seat and we were off.  I wondered,
=93Loi=
s, are you okay?  How are you doing back there?=94

    I turned to look at her.  Her ankle had swollen to the size of a
grapefr=
uit and it had turned at purplish-red color, but she valiantly nodded her
he=
ad and smiled a smile that I knew was forced.  She said, =93Sure, Clark,
I'm=
 doing as well as can be expected," through gritted teeth.  I took that as
m=
y cue not to speak the rest of the ride to the hospital.  However, I did
ext=
end my hand back to her and she grabbed it like a life preserver, and she
cl=
ung to it the rest of the ride.
=20
    The whole time we waited for Lois to get her x-rays, I couldn=92t
leave=20=
her side.  I wanted to make sure she was comfortable and that she had
someon=
e to talk to and wasn=92t bored out of her mind.  I tired to keep her in a
l=
ight mood by telling her jokes and stories because I knew how impatient
she=20=
was, and this hospital was taking forever.  Okay, maybe it wasn=92t
forever,=
 but I know that Lois thought every minute felt like an hour because she
tol=
d me that more than once. =20

    When they finally took Lois back for her x-rays, I decided that it
would=
 be a good idea to change back into my work clothes.  People had started
to=20=
look at me strangely because I was dressed in a tank top and shorts in the
m=
iddle of winter.  In fact, Lois had looked at me strangely, too.  I darted
i=
nto a nearby bathroom and changed back into my pants and dress shirt. =20

    An hour later, when we could finally leave the hospital, we found out
th=
at Lois=92 ankle was, indeed, as I had suspected, not broken.  It was,
howev=
er, a nasty sprain, and the doctor recommended that she see an orthopedic
sp=
ecialist to make sure she hadn=92t torn any ligaments.  They gave her a
pair=
 of crutches, which they told her to use for a week, and an air cast,
which=20=
they told her to use until the swelling subsided.  But, knowing Lois, I
knew=
 that as soon as she got home, the air cast would come off.

    Lois=92 face fell when the doctor told her not to go to work for the
nex=
t two days.  I knew this hurt her almost more than the sprain did.  We
were=20=
in the middle of a big story, and we had been so close to getting the
story.=
  If I hadn=92t been there, I know she would have neglected the doctor=92s
o=
rders and gone to work tomorrow.  But I hope she knew that I=92d do
everythi=
ng in my power to let her into the action with me, even from her
immobilized=
 position.

    When we got back to her apartment, I helped her as she walked on her
uns=
teady crutches.  I wanted so badly to scoop her into my arms and carry
her,=20=
but I realized that I would not be there for her all the time, as much as
I=20=
wanted to be.  She was going to have to be able to walk around on those
crut=
ches by herself. =20

    After Lois collapsed onto her couch, I hurried into her bedroom and
gath=
ered a few pillows and her down comforter.  Then I made her a bag of ice,
an=
d I helped her get settled into the couch.  Her foot was elevated on two
of=20=
the pillows, and I helped wrap her up in the blanket.  Then she begged me
to=
 keep her company on the couch.  She said that the ice was making her cold
a=
nd she wanted me to warm her up.  I didn=92t need any more invitation than
t=
hat, so I gently lifted her upper body up and slid underneath.  She used
my=20=
lap and chest as a pillow, and we lay like that for a long time.  I=92m
not=20=
sure exactly how long, but it seemed like an eternity.  Neither of us
wanted=
 to move from that spot for anything.  It was so cozy and loving, we
wanted=20=
to stay that way for the rest of our lives.

    Finally, Lois broke the silence, "Clark, tomorrow's Valentines' Day.
Ev=
erything I planned is going to be ruined because I can't walk.=94  I
pushed=20=
a lock of hair out of her eyes and shook my head.  But she continued,
=93It=20=
was going to be so perfect.  We were going to have a romantic dinner at La
T=
ratoria, and then I was going to invite you back here.  Then I was going
to=20=
tell you exactly how I feel about you."

I swallowed audibly.  She was going to tell me how she felt about me.  I
hop=
ed the she felt the same way about me the same way I felt about her.  But
it=
 would be almost too good to be true.  I took a deep breath and whispered,
"=
Exactly how you feel about me?  How **do** you feel about me?=94  I hid a
sm=
ile when I said, =93Lois, don't worry about it.  My perfect Valentines Day
i=
s one that I spend with you."  I wondered if she knew just how true those
wo=
rds were.

I nearly jumped for joy when Lois whispered, =93"Oh, Clark, I've been
wantin=
g to tell you this for so long, but it's just never been the right time."
I=
 wiped away a tear that had fallen down her cheek, and our eyes met.  Then
a=
nd there when I looked into her eyes, I realized that she loved me just as
m=
uch as I loved her.  She loved me with all her heart, her soul, and every
mu=
scle in her body.  She looked at me with suck love radiating from her eyes
t=
hat I thought ew would both explode.  She finally whispered huskily, "I
love=
 you, Clark Kent.  I think I've loved you for some time now, but I was
tryin=
g to fight it so hard."

If Lois had looked into my eyes, she would have seen a stray tear fall.  I
h=
ad waited so long to hear her say those words, the words I never
realistical=
ly believed she would say.  I=92d been waiting for her to say those words
si=
nce the first time I=92d laid eyes on her.

I bent down and captured her lips with my own.  Our kiss started out
timidly=
, but then it erupted into the most passionate kiss I had ever shared with
a=
nyone I felt a bolt of electricity pass between us as soon as our lips
met.=20=
 She opened her lips slightly, inviting my tongue to enter her mouth.  We
ex=
plored each other=92s mouths for a long time, getting to know each other
in=20=
new ways.  Our hands explored each other=92s bodies, finally having the
chan=
ce to do what we=92d both been longing to do for such a long time.  I
slippe=
d my hands under Lois=92 shirt and came in contact with the smooth, silky
sk=
in of her stomach, and at the same time, she started to unbutton my shirt.
=20=
Warning bells went off in my head as soon as she opened the first button.
I=
 wanted to tell her about Superman, but I didn=92t want her to find out
this=
 way.  Lois stopped when I laid my hand on top of hers.  She covered my
hand=
 with her other hand and said quietly, =93It=92s okay, Clark, I know=94

My breath stopped in my chest.  I didn=92t know what I should say.  What
did=
 she know?  Did she mean what I thought she had meant?  I backed away
defens=
ively, knowing that she would probably get the wrong idea.  =93You know?
Kn=
ow what?=94

Lois reached up and pulled my glasses off my face.  Then I knew that she
kne=
w my secret.  Now I wondered just how she would react.

She kissed the tip of my nose and whispered, =93I know you=92re Superman,
Cl=
ark.=94

I pleaded, =93Lois, I was going to tell you tomorrow=85=94 knowing I
sounded=
 pitiful and insincere and praying that she would forgive me someday.

Lois cut me off and flashed a lopsided grin.  =93Clark, I=92m not mad.  I
re=
alize you have your reasons for not telling me.  In fact, some of the ones
I=
've come up with make sense.  I mean, if I knew, I'd automatically become
a=20=
target, someone else to use to get to Superman.  And before you got to
know=20=
me, I was just another reporter who would stop at nothing to get the
Superma=
n story.  It makes perfect sense."

I stared at her slack-jawed.  She had taken the words right out of my
mouth,=
 but those words sounded so insignificant and stupid coming from Lois.
Now=20=
I wondered just what I had been thinking keeping this wonderful woman out
of=
 my life.  I should have let her in on my secret so long ago.

I shook my head violently.  =93Lois, you were never just another reporter.
=20=
I always knew you were the woman for me.  I've loved you since the moment
I=20=
set eyes on you, and I knew you'd be the one I'd tell about myself.  I'm
jus=
t sorry you had to figure it out on your own."

Lois interrupted me with another kiss, and I was all too happy for the
inter=
ruption.  I still couldn=92t believe how rationally Lois was behaving with
t=
his new information.  I always thought that she would take the secret the
wr=
ong way, that she would be upset with me for not telling her sooner.

For the rest of the night, we alternated between kissing and telling
childho=
od stories.  Each time our lips met, I could swear that I heard fireworks
in=
 the background.  I knew this was where I needed to be for the rest of my
li=
fe.

Much later, I heard a fire alarm, but I didn=92t really want to leave.  I
re=
alized that the fire department needed help, so I reluctantly broke away
fro=
m Lois  This time I was finally able to tell her the truth about where I
was=
 going.  After I changed into the suit, and was about to fly out the
window,=
 Lois called me back, and we shared a soul-shattering kiss.  I promised I
wo=
uld be back to check on her tomorrow, Valentines=92 Day.  As I flew out
the=20=
window, I heard her whisper, =93I love you, my love my Valentine.=94  I
hid=20=
a smile as I quickly flew to the fire scene.

The End.
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 15:14:06 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "Felix E. Sung" <fsung@JUSTICE.LOYOLA.EDU>
Subject:      NEW: L&C&J&J (7/?)

Somewhere over Metropolis

"What have I done!?!?!?!?"

For the millionth time Clark asked himself that question as he floated among
the clouds high above Metropolis late at night.  He was still wearing his
tuxedo -- instead of going back to his hotel room after the White Orchid
Ball he had ducked into the nearest alley and flew straight up -- and his
glasses were safely tucked away in his breast pocket.  In the past, Clark
would at night fly up into the sky and just drift.  That way he wouldn't be
part of the stars, or part of the earth.  It was here that Clark had often
wondered where would he fit in, if ever.  But this time, tonight, he was
asking himself an entirely different question.

It was obvious what Clark had done.  He had betrayed Joan.  Completely and
undeniably betrayed her.  And in the process, he had destroyed Lois and
John's relationship.  No if's, and's, or but's about it.  For a moment Clark
wished he didn't have any powers, so that he could inflict physical pain on
himself, to punish himself for what he had done.  In his 27-1/2 years of
existence (that is, assuming that his birthday was February 28th -- his
parents had had to make a guess not long after they had found him), he had
never done something like this.

Of course, there hadn't been many opportunities to do something like this,
kissing a woman who wasn't his girlfriend.  Before Joan, Clark had been in
only two relationships, both during high school: he had been with Lana Lang
for almost two years and Rachel Harris (now *Sheriff* Rachel Harris, he
remembered with a smile) for a year and a half.  At Midwest State, he had
been on a few dates, but none of them progressed into anything serious.
Then followed about five years of traveling around the globe, where he
hadn't dated at all.

Clark had been seeing Joan for a month now, and again, he had no idea how to
describe the relationship.  They had been on dates, they had been to each
other's apartments (when they were in France), and they had shared some
kisses.  But neither had asked the other that they see each other
exclusively.  Clark was sure that Joan hadn't been seeing anyone else, and
neither had he.  He had no reason to.  Until now.

His thoughts returned to the kiss with Lois.  All of his previous kisses had
been simple pecks, until one evening in France, when Joan had had one drink
too many.  She had concluded that Clark was a lousy kisser and that she
would teach him how to kiss properly.  Those kisses from that night were...
nice.  Interesting.  Awkward.  Unnatural.  At least, they were to Clark.
Joan had said later, however, that he had deserved an A+, with extra credit
for the use of his hands.  He wasn't going to ask what she meant by that.

But then he had kissed Lois tonight, and what a kiss!  Clark felt that
before this evening, he was in hibernation, and that kissing Lois awoke
something inside of him.  And much to his embarrassment, for the first time
in his life, a kiss had elicited a response in other parts of his body as
well.  He had felt lightheaded.  He had felt warm.  And... 'Let's just hope
Lois had not noticed his reactions after that kiss,' Clark thought,
blushing.

So yes, the kiss was wonderful.  It was beyond everything Clark had
imagined.  But it was also so *wrong.*

What was he going to do?

Well, Clark knew what he had to do.  He had to tell Joan.  Right away.  She
of course had to know.  And she should have the right to decide the future
of their relationship.

Or should she?  And idle thought entered Clark's head.  He recalled the
conversation he had with Lois when she had asked him to the White Orchid
Ball.  "I had plans with my, um, girlfriend," he had said.  He had hesitated
before saying, 'girlfriend.'  Why?  Why did it feel weird to refer to Joan
as his 'girlfriend'?  At first, Clark had thought that it was because he had
just met Joan a month ago.  It was different than when he was with Lana or
Rachel, for they had been friends long before he had started dating either
of them.  But was this the real reason?

So what did this all mean, then?  Did this mean that there would be perhaps
no future between Clark and Joan?  Should Clark also suggest that they stop
seeing each other?  Oh, he wished he knew the answers!  Briefly Clark
considered calling his parents, or better yet, flying to Smallville.  But
the last time he checked his watch it was after midnight in Metropolis,
which meant that it was after eleven in Smallville, which meant that his
parents were in bed.  Clark had always admired his parents for being able to
wake up at four in the morning every day and to begin the work at the farm.

Well, tomorrow, he would visit his parents for supper, and he would ask them
for advice regarding Joan and Lois.  He would also tell Joan about the kiss.
 *After* she got better from the flu.  It would be heartless to tell her
while she was still sick, of course.  But that left Lois.  What was he going
to do tomorrow morning at work?

On one hand, how could possibly work with her after the kiss this evening?
While Clark knew that Lois was a consummate professional and so was he, what
had happened was something that they could not ignore.  He knew that he
would be very uncomfortable working with her, and she probably would feel
the same way.  That is, if she wasn't contemplating killing him first.
Probably the best thing to do was to ask Mr. White to take him off the story
and perhaps concentrate solely on the adoptive kids story.  On the other
hand, Mr. White assigned the stories at the Planet, not the reporters.
Clark's assignment -- his *first,* he reminded himself -- was to help Lois
on the Messenger story, and he would do this to the best of his ability.

Furthermore, he should not be a coward; he should talk to Lois about the
kiss instead.  He should apologize for allowing it to happen, and he should
promise that it would never happen again.  Easier said than done.  With a
heavy sigh Clark floated downwards, and then flew towards the Hotel Apollo.

* * * * * * * *

With much difficulty and impatience, Lois unlocked all four locks on her
apartment door.  Slamming the door shut, she stumbled to one of her couches,
plopped down, and burst into tears.

It had taken all of her will not to break down and cry at the White Orchid
Ball, after what had happened to her less than four hours ago.  That was
Lois Lane, always in control of her emotions.  It had helped, of course,
that for the past three months she had a place where she could let
everything out after bottling in her emotions all day.  That place was
called John Bialzek.

"Oh, John... how could I have done this to you?" she cried.  Then again, it
was partially his fault.  After all, wasn't it he who, after pulling out of
their date at the White Orchid Ball, suggested that she ask someone else?
But John didn't know that this someone else would be kissing her as if there
was no tomorrow.  So all right, it wasn't John's fault.

"No, it was Clark's fault!"  He had a girlfriend, right?  And he knew that
she had a boyfriend, sort of!  How dare he kiss her like that!  How dare he
come between her and John!  How dare... *she* come between *him* and
*Joan*... oh God, what had she done?

Yes, it was Clark's fault, but it was also her fault.  *Hers*.  True, Lois
and Clark had been working together for only two days, but from what she
could tell, his relationship with Joan was a happy one.  'At least he
referred to Joan as his girlfriend,' Lois thought sardonically.  For some
reason she had problems thinking of John as her boyfriend, even though she
had treated him that way the past couple of weeks.  But that didn't give her
any excuse to lock lips with her coworker.

Lois was very appalled at her behavior this evening.  She had *never* done
this before, kissing a guy that belonged to someone else.  It was just as
bad, if not worse, as stealing a boyfriend from another woman.  And she knew
how it felt to have someone steal a guy from her -- that was the reason why
she was no longer talking to Linda King, her ex-best friend at MetroU.  And
now, not only had Lois stepped into Joan's territory, she had done so while
she had someone else!  What would people think?

What would people think?  'Oh my God!  Perry!  Jimmy!  Cat!'  Lois jerked up
in her couch, feeling panicked.  She had no idea if anyone she knew had
witnessed her betrayal to John.   She had kissed Clark on the dance floor,
in front of all the rich and affluent of Metropolis, and in front of a lot
of the press.  She could see herself on the front page of the Metropolis
Star: Planet Reporter Cheating on Lawyer Boyfriend.  Lois grabbed a couch
pillow and wailed into it.

She had been fortunate that, right after the kiss, Lex Luthor had made the
announcement regarding Space Station Luthor.  'Space Station Luthor, my
foot,' she thought, recalling his plans for a privately owned space
laboratory.  It was way too convenient for Lex to make the announcement when
Space Station Prometheus was in danger of cancellation.  If the space
station was cancelled, and if the Congress of Nations accept Luthor's
proposal for an alternate laboratory, then he stood to make a lot of money
out of it.  Could it be possible that Luthor had a hand in the destruction
of the Messenger, to force the Congress of Nations to cancel Prometheus?

Oh it was crazy!  Was it?  Lois had a strong reporter's intuition about
things, and in too many instances her hunches were dead on.  Her last story
on the million-dollar car theft ring was proof of that.  Something about Lex
Luthor didn't add up.  She knew that Luthor was ruthless -- a person doesn't
become the third richest man in the world by being a Boy Scout.  But would
he resort to sabotage to get his way?  Could he be involved?

With a start, Lois jerked her head up again from the pillow.  She was doing
it again, she realized.  She was circumventing her personal problems by
thinking about her work.  And this was a problem she couldn't ignore.  Oh
Lord, what was she going to do?

It was no question that Lois would have to tell John.  She owed him that
much.  But John was out of town, at his grandmother's funeral.  It wouldn't
be nice for her to call him and give him the 'Dear John' routine.  It would
be better to wait until John returned to Metropolis Saturday night.  So that
gave her less than 48 hours.  But was Lois waiting because she felt John
deserved better by talking to him in person, or was she waiting because she
wanted to stall for time?  "Heck if I know!"

And what about Clark?  Tomorrow was Friday, and most definitely they would
have to continue the investigation on the Messenger explosion.  Then an idea
came to her.  Lois had found out yesterday that EPRAD was planning to move
the wreckage into one of the hangers tomorrow morning, but she didn't have a
chance to tell Clark yet.  Well, what she would do was to 'forget' to tell
him, and visit EPRAD tomorrow morning.  Sounded like a good idea.

Lois realized what she was doing, and sighed.  *Now* she was stalling.  But
it was late, and she had an early day tomorrow.  Wobbly, she stood up, and
made her way to the bedroom.  She passed the vanity table on her way to the
bedroom closet, and noticed her reflection on the mirror.  Her mascara was
ruined from the tears, and her lipstick was smudged from the kiss.  The
*kiss.*  Wordlessly she touched her lips with her fingers.  It was such a
powerful kiss, a kiss in that *both* partners took part.  Never had she
thought that a kiss could change anything.  But this one had.

And it scared her.

* * * * * * * *

--
Felix E. Sung
fsung@justice.loyola.edu
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 14:44:16 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of
40)
Comments: To: LoisLane9397@aol.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Oh this is sooooo GOOD!!  Where is the next part?  :)  I'm not good at being
patient!! :)  Keep It coming!

Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: LoisLane9397@aol.com [mailto:LoisLane9397@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 9:43 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of 40)

PART 18
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 15:10:44 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of
40)
Comments: To: LoisLane9397@aol.com
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Alexis,

I feel so special! :)  The next part... just for me??  I really am enjoying
this story immensely.  I love the interaction between Lois and Clark, and
the ever changing emotions they are feeling!!  :) And, I'm sure more people
are appreciating the story than you think, and just don't have the time to
comment!

-----Original Message-----
From: LoisLane9397@aol.com [mailto:LoisLane9397@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 7:47 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: RE: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of 40)

Thank you for being so enthusiastic!  At least some people appreciate the
story. <G>  Just for you, I might end up mailing out the next part.  Just
give me a few more hours. =)

Alexis ;-.)
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 15:13:40 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of
40)
In-Reply-To:  <LOBBLGPGIFOIJKBMLCPKEEBMCCAA.creolel@ca.freei.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Gosh, now I'm calling you Alicia!!  What is the matter with me today???
ALEXIS, I am sorry!  :)  Forgive me?  And after you forgive me, you can get
that next part out!! :)

Lori (on her knees begging for the next installment!! :)

-----Original Message-----
From: Lori Llorence [mailto:creolel@ca.freei.net]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 3:12 PM
To: LoisLane9397@aol.com
Subject: RE: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of 40)

I'm sorry Alicia!  I keep accidentally sending these messages to your
private e-mail also!  My mistake!

Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: LoisLane9397@aol.com [mailto:LoisLane9397@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 7:47 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: RE: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of 40)

Thank you for being so enthusiastic!  At least some people appreciate the
story. <G>  Just for you, I might end up mailing out the next part.  Just
give me a few more hours. =)

Alexis ;-.)
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 15:07:31 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         StarKitty <starkitty__@HOTMAIL.COM>
Organization: Federation of the Hub
Subject:      Re: New-7 Days of Superman Parts 10 & 11
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Cool story!

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

S

P

A

C

E

   Ack!  Not Trask!  They're all doomed, now!

Did I mention I love this?  :)

Tara
----- Original Message -----
From: Daddy James Tull <mr_d8a@YAHOO.COM>
To: <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 10:09 AM
Subject: New-7 Days of Superman Parts 10 & 11

> Title:Seven Days of Superman
>
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 17:57:42 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Amy Lauters <alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU>
Subject:      New Fic: Time Elapsed (1/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
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This is part one for a fic. I hope to post one piece a day until it's over.
It takes place in the same universe as my first fanfic, Night Terrors, as a
sequel, but you don't need to have read that one to understand this one.
WARNING! It starts with a WHAM.

Feedback appreciated!
Amy

Time Elapsed

by Amy Lauters

 Lois Lane watched the second hand on her kitchen wall clock make its way
slowly around the clock face. When it hit the twelve, she sighed, watching
yet another minute disappear, lost forever to time. One minute, added to the
last 17 minutes she'd been waiting for her husband, made it at least 18
minutes since he'd run out the door promising a quick rescue and Italian
take out upon his return.

 She couldn't shake her nagging feeling that something was wrong.

 'Well,' she thought. 'Watching the clock will get me nowhere.' Briskly, she
got up and headed for the sink, grabbed a dishcloth and started busily
wiping down the stove, the counters, the front of the cabinets and the
table.

 The shrill ring of the phone grabbed her heart and made it stop. Racing to
the phone, she grabbed the receiver and breathlessly asked, "Hello?"

 "Honey, it's me." Clark's voice came over the line.

 "Clark, what's wrong?" Lois asked, instinctively knowing it was bad. "Why
aren't you home yet?"

 Slowly, he answered, "I just rescued your mother from a four-car crash. I
didn't think I should leave her."

 Lois dropped her dishcloth. "Where are you?"

 "St. Mary's."

 "I'm on my way," she said, then hung up the phone, grabbed her purse and
marched out the door.

***

 Clark Kent rubbed his eyes under his glasses. For every rescue he made that
saved a life, it seemed there was always one where he was too late, he
thought. He hoped Ellen would be all right.

 He hated just calling Lois instead of going to get her, but he really didn'
t see a choice. Someone had to stay with his mother-in-law, and he was
already there. As Superman, he had explained to the nurses who his charge
was, and told them he'd get Clark Kent to the hospital right away. Clark was
nearby, he'd said. When Clark had made his appearance just seconds later,
the staff was ready for him,k paperwork in hand. He'd filled it out as best
he could, and called Lois and Sam

 Maybe it was cowardice, he thought, that kept him from flying to Lois. He
still felt a chill when he thought of Ellen's torn, bloody flesh, the
fractured skull, the broken arm. He'd known the minute he saw her that Ellen
would need immediate medical attention if she was to survive. Clark had
xrayed Ellen's neck and spine to see if she could be moved, then sped her to
the hospital, his cape wrapped around her head to stem the flow of blood.

 More chilling, he thought, was the fact that had been plainly obvious to
him: Ellen had been drinking. And she had most likely caused the crash.

 The sound of Lois badgering staff at the nurses' station broke Clark from
his reverie.

 "What do you mean, you can't tell me?" Lois' voice, made strident with fear
and anger, rose above the murmured hospital noises. "I'm her daughter. I
have a right to know!"

 "Mrs. Lane is in surgery," the head nurse, a statuesque blond named
Barbara, said soothingly. "We don't have any information to give you."

 Clark stepped forward and caught Lois' arm, giving her a reassuring
squeeze. "Come on, honey, I'll fill you in," he told his wife. "Thank you,"
he added, directing his thanks to Barbara.

Barbara smiled. "You're welcome. As soon as we know anything, we'll let you
know."

Clark led Lois into the waiting room, then pulled her to him for a
reassuring hug. He dropped a kiss on her hair, then stepped back and lifted
her chin. Her eyes told him. Lois knew something was desperately wrong.

"It's bad, isn't it?" she whispered. "You would have flown to get me, if it
was minor."

Clark sighed deeply, then led her to a brown, battered seat. He knelt in
front of her. "Yes, it's bad." He stopped, and clearing his throat,
carefully went on. "When I got there, her car was at the heart of the crash.
I heard bystanders say she'd been weaving erratically before speeding
through a red light, causing a chain reaction crash. I didn't know it was
Ellen until I had moved some of the other cars out of the way. Very few
others involved were injured, Lois. We can be grateful for that. But I saw a
skull fracture, a broken arm, an a number of cuts on your mother. I got her
here as fast as I could."

Tears standing in her eyes, she raised a hand to his cheek. "I know." The
other hand furiously wiped her eyes dry. "She was drinking, wasn't she?"

Clark hesitated before answering. "I think so, Lois."

"Lois? Clark?" Sam Lane stormed in. "What's wrong? What's happened to
 Ellen?"

Right behind Sam, a battle-worn woman in scrubs walked into the room. "Ellen
Lane?" she asked. Three pairs of eyes went to the doctor. "I see."

"I'm her husband."

"-her daughter."

More softly, "-her son-in-law."

"I'm Dr. Waters," she smiled tiredly. "Ellen is in critical condition. If
not for Superman's quick intervention, she'd be dead of the skull fracture.
We've tried to repair most of the damage to her head; we sutured her cuts
where necessary and put a cast on her left arm." She paused, then gently
continued. "Even so, I'm sorry, but she may not survive. The damage to her
brain has been extensive. Even if she lives ."

Sam finished her sentence. "She may not be our Ellen anymore." Suddenly
gaunt, Sam sat abruptly down.

Dr. Waters continued. "I'm sorry there's no better news I can give you. She'
s in intensive care."

"Thank you, doctor," Clark said softly.

Dr. Waters nodded, then gently said, "The police have asked for a blood
alcohol level. I think it's important you know."

Sam sat as if turned to stone. Lois covered her mouth. Only Clark could
speak. "Again, thank you, doctor." Waters nodded again and left. For a
moment, there was silence.

Lois broke it with a mumbled, "Why?" Gathering strength, she began to raise
her voice. "Why would she start drinking again?" Lois rounded on her father.
"Did you have something to do with this?"

Sam choked, then started to speak, his voice cracking. "Princess, I don't
know. I've been working a lot lately; we've had a great infusion of money
from a think tank. Your mother and I haven't spent as much time together
lately as we had been." He inhaled deeply. "I hope to God I'm not the
reason."

Clark broke in. "But you're afraid you are." He put a calming hand on Lois'
shoulder. "Sam, I noticed you called Ellen your wife. Not your ex. But your
wife."

With weary eyes, Sam looked at his son-in-law. "She's always been my wife. A
piece of paper might have legally dissolved our marriage, but in my heart,
she's always been - " He broke down, tears falling down withered cheeks, as
Lois hurried to put her arms around her father.

As she rocked him, tears filled her own eyes. Since she married Clark, Lois
had come to realize the importance of maintaining family ties. With her
father in her arms, she couldn't help but remember years of fights and
silences, widening gulfs and burned bridges. But Lois remembered, too, the
days he'd called her princess, and the times he'd helped her. She remembered
the time he'd saved Clark's life, and fresh tears spilled as she realized
her mother had helped then, too. And now? Now her mother wouldn't know how
much she'd mattered.

Looking up, she met Clark's tender eyes. 'Please,' she begged silently.
'Please help me.'

Stepping toward them, he put his arms around them both, wishing he could fly
the pain away.

***
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 16:33:03 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         StarKitty <starkitty__@HOTMAIL.COM>
Organization: Federation of the Hub
Subject:      Re: New Fic: Time Elapsed (1/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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Ouch!  I'd say the WHAM warning was needed!  You've got me on the edge of my
seat waiting for more, though!  :)

Tara
----- Original Message -----
From: Amy Lauters <alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU>
To: <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 5:57 PM
Subject: New Fic: Time Elapsed (1/?)

> This is part one for a fic. I hope to post one piece a day until it's
over.
> It takes place in the same universe as my first fanfic, Night Terrors, as
a
> sequel, but you don't need to have read that one to understand this one.
> WARNING! It starts with a WHAM.
>
> Feedback appreciated!
> Amy
>
>
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 17:02:35 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of
40)
Comments: To: Wendy Richards <wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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OK I am totally confused!  I am sorry for any problems.  I did not know that
I was even subscribed to an nfic list, and therefore do not even have the
address for the nfic list to send mail to it.  I know I am on Debbys list,
but I did not think the story was coming from there!  I am really confused
now!! I had been receiving this story in my mailbox and assumed it was
coming from the general list! I am so sorry guys!  And I didn't receive any
comment from Kathy.  If I did, I did not see it, and I apologize again.  Can
anyone point me in the right direction as to the address for this nfic list
so I can post the replys in the correct place?

Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: Wendy Richards [mailto:wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 8:23 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: Re: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of 40)

Lori: will you *please* watch which list you post to! Alexis' story is
being posted on the NFIC list, *not* the Loiscla-General-L list! Not
everyone on the (PG) fic list is on the nfic list, and so it's pointless
posting comments about an nfic story which is being posted on the *other*
list to the fic list. I saw Kathy mention this to you last week.

Wendy Richards
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 17:03:49 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of
40)
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Alicia,
I have been informed that this story is nfic, and I didn't even notice it!
Sorry for the confusion!!

Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: Alicia3456@aol.com [mailto:Alicia3456@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 8:22 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: Re: [LnC-N-fanfic] New: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR (18 of 40)

What is this story you keep commenting on?  I am so confused!  Is this story
being posted to the list?  Or is it a nfic?  If it's an nfic I think you
should post your comments to the nfic list.  Thanks.

Alicia
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 17:13:05 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Sincere Apology
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I had to write this to let everyone know how stupid I feel about right now!
I was not even realizing that the subject had LnC-N-fanfic before the story
name!  I really feel foolish!  I really am sorry for any confusion I have
caused because I realize that I have been sending my comments about the
story (“Be Careful What You Wish For”) to this list!  You all probably feel
like killing me about right now!! :-)  I guess that’s what I get for coming
out of lurkdom and telling you all how wonderful I think your stories are!
Once again, I apologize, and I will try not to let it happen again.  Oh and
Kathy, I have gone back to the archives and found your post about me posting
to the wrong list. I apologize for not seeing it!

Lori

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<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>I
had to write this to let everyone know how stupid I feel about right =
now!<span
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I was not even realizing that =
the
subject had LnC-N-fanfic before the story name!<span =
style=3D"mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp; </span>I really feel foolish!<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: =
yes">&nbsp;
</span>I really am sorry for any confusion I have caused because I =
realize that
I have been sending my comments about the story (&#8220;Be Careful What =
You Wish For&#8221;)
to this list!<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>You all =
probably
feel like killing me about right now!! </span></font></span><span
class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack face=3DWingdings><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings=
;
mso-ascii-font-family:"Comic Sans MS";mso-hansi-font-family:"Comic Sans =
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mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'><span =
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symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'>J</span></span></font></span><sp=
an
class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'><span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; =
</span>I
guess that&#8217;s what I get for coming out of lurkdom and telling you =
all how
wonderful I think your stories are!<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: =
yes">&nbsp;
</span>Once again, I apologize, and I will try not to let it happen =
again.<span
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Oh and Kathy, I have gone back =
to the
archives and found your post about me posting to the wrong list. I =
apologize
for not seeing it!<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
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!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Lori<o:p></o:p></spa=
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=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 17:28:30 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Story: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR and apology
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Hi everyone sorry for bothering again, but I promise this will be the last
time!  I have realized that I did already have the address for the nfic
list, and I will be posting to it for comments about the story from now on.
I really just didn’t realize that it was nfic!!  Thanks to everyone who was
concerned!! :-)

Lori

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color=3Dblack
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Hi
everyone sorry for bothering again, but I promise this will be the last
time!<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I have realized =
that I did
already have the address for the nfic list, and I will be posting to it =
for
comments about the story from now on.<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: =
yes">&nbsp;
</span>I really just didn&#8217;t realize that it was nfic!!<span
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Thanks to everyone who was =
concerned!! </span></font></span><span
class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack face=3DWingdings><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings=
;
mso-ascii-font-family:"Comic Sans MS";mso-hansi-font-family:"Comic Sans =
MS";
mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'><span =
style=3D'mso-char-type:
symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'>J</span></span></font></span><sp=
an
class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D3 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle15><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Lori<o:p></o:p></spa=
n></font></span></p>

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------=_NextPart_000_0008_01BFAE12.82119D20--
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 17:31:28 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
              boundary="----=_NextPart_000_000C_01BFAE12.EBF96E20"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_000C_01BFAE12.EBF96E20
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        charset="iso-8859-1"
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Tara,
Thanks for the response!  I felt terrible!! Maybe that’s the reason I didn’t
realize I was reading an nfic story-there hasn’t been any so far!! :-)

Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: StarKitty [mailto:starkitty__@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 10:23 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: Re: Sincere Apology

Since you didn't post any of the nfic itself, I don't think anyone would
have any serious objections.  :)  I wouldn't worry about it if I were you :)

Tara
----- Original Message -----
From: Lori Llorence <mailto:creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU
<mailto:LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 5:13 PM
Subject: Sincere Apology

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style=3D'tab-interval:.5in'>

<div class=3DSection1>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle19><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dnavy
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Tara,<o:p></o:p></sp=
an></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle19><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dnavy
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Thanks
for the response!<span style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I felt
terrible!! Maybe that&#8217;s the reason I didn&#8217;t realize I was =
reading an nfic
story-there hasn&#8217;t been any so far!! </span></font></span><span
class=3DEmailStyle19><font size=3D3 color=3Dnavy face=3DWingdings><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings=
;
mso-ascii-font-family:"Comic Sans MS";mso-hansi-font-family:"Comic Sans =
MS";
mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'><span =
style=3D'mso-char-type:
symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'>J</span></span></font></span><sp=
an
class=3DEmailStyle19><font size=3D3 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle19><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dnavy
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle19><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dnavy
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Lori<o:p></o:p></spa=
n></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><span class=3DEmailStyle19><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dnavy
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DTahoma><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original
Message-----<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> StarKitty
[mailto:starkitty__@hotmail.com]<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Monday, April 24, =
2000 10:23
AM<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> =
creolel@mail.ca.freei.net<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: Sincere =
Apology</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D4 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]></span><o:p></o:p></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Since =
you didn't
post any of the nfic itself, I don't think anyone would have any serious
objections.&nbsp; :)&nbsp; I wouldn't worry about it if I were you =
:)</span></font><font
size=3D3 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New =
Roman"'>&nbsp;</span></font><font
size=3D3 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'margin-left:.5in'><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Tara</span></font><font
size=3D3 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<div style=3D'border:none;border-left:solid black 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in =
0in 4.0pt'>

<p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:39.75pt;border:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid black 1.5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>----- =
Original
Message ----- </span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack =
face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;mso-color-alt:win=
dowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:39.75pt;background:#E4E4E4;border:none;mso-border-left-alt:so=
lid black 1.5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'><b><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>

<div style=3D'font-color:black'>From:</span></font></b><font size=3D2 =
face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <a
href=3D"mailto:creolel@CA.FREEI.NET" title=3D"creolel@CA.FREEI.NET">Lori =
Llorence</a>
</span></font></div>

<font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>=

<p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:39.75pt;border:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid black 1.5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'><b><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>To:</span><=
/font></b><font
size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> <a
href=3D"mailto:LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU"
title=3D"LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU">LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSE=
RV.INDIANA.EDU</a>
</span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span=
></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:39.75pt;border:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid black 1.5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'><b><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span=
></font></b><font
size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> Monday,
April 24, 2000 5:13 PM</span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack =
face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;mso-color-alt:win=
dowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:39.75pt;border:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid black 1.5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'><b><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Subject:</s=
pan></font></b><font
size=3D2 face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> Sincere
Apology</span></font><font size=3D2 color=3Dblack face=3DArial><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;mso-color-alt:win=
dowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal =
style=3D'mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:39.75pt;border:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid black 1.5pt;
padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'><font size=3D3 =
color=3Dblack
face=3D"Comic Sans MS"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"'><![if =
!supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]></span></font><font
size=3D3 color=3Dblack><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

</div>

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</body>

</html>

------=_NextPart_000_000C_01BFAE12.EBF96E20--
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 19:25:39 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: New Fic: Time Elapsed (1/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

This is very good Amy-keep it coming!

Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: Amy Lauters [mailto:alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 8:57 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: New Fic: Time Elapsed (1/?)

This is part one for a fic. I hope to post one piece a day until it's over.
It takes place in the same universe as my first fanfic, Night Terrors, as a
sequel, but you don't need to have read that one to understand this one.
WARNING! It starts with a WHAM.

Feedback appreciated!
Amy

Time Elapsed

by Amy Lauters

 Lois Lane watched the second hand on her kitchen wall clock make its way
slowly around the clock face. When it hit the twelve, she sighed, watching
yet another minute disappear, lost forever to time. One minute, added to the
last 17 minutes she'd been waiting for her husband, made it at least 18
minutes since he'd run out the door promising a quick rescue and Italian
take out upon his return.

 She couldn't shake her nagging feeling that something was wrong.

 'Well,' she thought. 'Watching the clock will get me nowhere.' Briskly, she
got up and headed for the sink, grabbed a dishcloth and started busily
wiping down the stove, the counters, the front of the cabinets and the
table.

 The shrill ring of the phone grabbed her heart and made it stop. Racing to
the phone, she grabbed the receiver and breathlessly asked, "Hello?"

 "Honey, it's me." Clark's voice came over the line.

 "Clark, what's wrong?" Lois asked, instinctively knowing it was bad. "Why
aren't you home yet?"

 Slowly, he answered, "I just rescued your mother from a four-car crash. I
didn't think I should leave her."

 Lois dropped her dishcloth. "Where are you?"

 "St. Mary's."

 "I'm on my way," she said, then hung up the phone, grabbed her purse and
marched out the door.

***

 Clark Kent rubbed his eyes under his glasses. For every rescue he made that
saved a life, it seemed there was always one where he was too late, he
thought. He hoped Ellen would be all right.

 He hated just calling Lois instead of going to get her, but he really didn'
t see a choice. Someone had to stay with his mother-in-law, and he was
already there. As Superman, he had explained to the nurses who his charge
was, and told them he'd get Clark Kent to the hospital right away. Clark was
nearby, he'd said. When Clark had made his appearance just seconds later,
the staff was ready for him,k paperwork in hand. He'd filled it out as best
he could, and called Lois and Sam

 Maybe it was cowardice, he thought, that kept him from flying to Lois. He
still felt a chill when he thought of Ellen's torn, bloody flesh, the
fractured skull, the broken arm. He'd known the minute he saw her that Ellen
would need immediate medical attention if she was to survive. Clark had
xrayed Ellen's neck and spine to see if she could be moved, then sped her to
the hospital, his cape wrapped around her head to stem the flow of blood.

 More chilling, he thought, was the fact that had been plainly obvious to
him: Ellen had been drinking. And she had most likely caused the crash.

 The sound of Lois badgering staff at the nurses' station broke Clark from
his reverie.

 "What do you mean, you can't tell me?" Lois' voice, made strident with fear
and anger, rose above the murmured hospital noises. "I'm her daughter. I
have a right to know!"

 "Mrs. Lane is in surgery," the head nurse, a statuesque blond named
Barbara, said soothingly. "We don't have any information to give you."

 Clark stepped forward and caught Lois' arm, giving her a reassuring
squeeze. "Come on, honey, I'll fill you in," he told his wife. "Thank you,"
he added, directing his thanks to Barbara.

Barbara smiled. "You're welcome. As soon as we know anything, we'll let you
know."

Clark led Lois into the waiting room, then pulled her to him for a
reassuring hug. He dropped a kiss on her hair, then stepped back and lifted
her chin. Her eyes told him. Lois knew something was desperately wrong.

"It's bad, isn't it?" she whispered. "You would have flown to get me, if it
was minor."

Clark sighed deeply, then led her to a brown, battered seat. He knelt in
front of her. "Yes, it's bad." He stopped, and clearing his throat,
carefully went on. "When I got there, her car was at the heart of the crash.
I heard bystanders say she'd been weaving erratically before speeding
through a red light, causing a chain reaction crash. I didn't know it was
Ellen until I had moved some of the other cars out of the way. Very few
others involved were injured, Lois. We can be grateful for that. But I saw a
skull fracture, a broken arm, an a number of cuts on your mother. I got her
here as fast as I could."

Tears standing in her eyes, she raised a hand to his cheek. "I know." The
other hand furiously wiped her eyes dry. "She was drinking, wasn't she?"

Clark hesitated before answering. "I think so, Lois."

"Lois? Clark?" Sam Lane stormed in. "What's wrong? What's happened to
 Ellen?"

Right behind Sam, a battle-worn woman in scrubs walked into the room. "Ellen
Lane?" she asked. Three pairs of eyes went to the doctor. "I see."

"I'm her husband."

"-her daughter."

More softly, "-her son-in-law."

"I'm Dr. Waters," she smiled tiredly. "Ellen is in critical condition. If
not for Superman's quick intervention, she'd be dead of the skull fracture.
We've tried to repair most of the damage to her head; we sutured her cuts
where necessary and put a cast on her left arm." She paused, then gently
continued. "Even so, I'm sorry, but she may not survive. The damage to her
brain has been extensive. Even if she lives ."

Sam finished her sentence. "She may not be our Ellen anymore." Suddenly
gaunt, Sam sat abruptly down.

Dr. Waters continued. "I'm sorry there's no better news I can give you. She'
s in intensive care."

"Thank you, doctor," Clark said softly.

Dr. Waters nodded, then gently said, "The police have asked for a blood
alcohol level. I think it's important you know."

Sam sat as if turned to stone. Lois covered her mouth. Only Clark could
speak. "Again, thank you, doctor." Waters nodded again and left. For a
moment, there was silence.

Lois broke it with a mumbled, "Why?" Gathering strength, she began to raise
her voice. "Why would she start drinking again?" Lois rounded on her father.
"Did you have something to do with this?"

Sam choked, then started to speak, his voice cracking. "Princess, I don't
know. I've been working a lot lately; we've had a great infusion of money
from a think tank. Your mother and I haven't spent as much time together
lately as we had been." He inhaled deeply. "I hope to God I'm not the
reason."

Clark broke in. "But you're afraid you are." He put a calming hand on Lois'
shoulder. "Sam, I noticed you called Ellen your wife. Not your ex. But your
wife."

With weary eyes, Sam looked at his son-in-law. "She's always been my wife. A
piece of paper might have legally dissolved our marriage, but in my heart,
she's always been - " He broke down, tears falling down withered cheeks, as
Lois hurried to put her arms around her father.

As she rocked him, tears filled her own eyes. Since she married Clark, Lois
had come to realize the importance of maintaining family ties. With her
father in her arms, she couldn't help but remember years of fights and
silences, widening gulfs and burned bridges. But Lois remembered, too, the
days he'd called her princess, and the times he'd helped her. She remembered
the time he'd saved Clark's life, and fresh tears spilled as she realized
her mother had helped then, too. And now? Now her mother wouldn't know how
much she'd mattered.

Looking up, she met Clark's tender eyes. 'Please,' she begged silently.
'Please help me.'

Stepping toward them, he put his arms around them both, wishing he could fly
the pain away.

***
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 21:52:12 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Amy Lauters <alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU>
Subject:      New fic: Time Elapsed (2/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

An hour later, Lois sat next to her mother's bedside. She had five minutes
to look at the woman who bore her, who raised her, who - despite a tendency
to meddle - loved her. And who, Lois could now admit, she loved, too. 'It's
too late,' Lois thought despairingly. 'It's too late for me to tell her.'

As if he were in the room, she could hear Clark's voice in her head. 'It's
never too late,' she could hear him say. 'It's the moments .'

Lois leaned forward, and carefully took her Ellen's good hand in her own.
Quietly, she started to talk. "Mother," she started. Then stopped. When she
started again, her voice was no more than a squeak. "Mom, I love you. I've
always loved you. Sometimes, I've been disappointed in you. Sometimes, I've
been angry with you. I wanted you to approve of me, my choices, so much! It
never seemed I was good enough. I wasn't good enough to keep you from
drinking; I wasn't good enough to keep you and Daddy together. I tried so
hard, Mom.

"And now all I can think about is how somehow, I failed you. I don't know
what happened to start you drinking again. I'm ashamed I didn't even know
you'd started. I haven't even talked to you in weeks. I've been so busy."
Lois choked, the tears streaming down her face. "And that's no excuse. Why
didn't you call me, Mother? Why didn't you tell me things had gotten so bad?
I could have helped. I could have tried. And now, now I'm afraid it's too
late." She stopped, and stared at the clock on the wall. Just one minute
left, Lois thought.

Her voice hardened. "But I can do this much, Mother. I can tell you that I
love you. I've always loved you. And I will find out what happened to you.
And I will try to set it right, somehow." Lois raised a hand to her mother's
cheek, carefully avoiding the bandage on the right side of her face and
head. "I love you, Mom," she whispered.

And then Lois left the room, her face set. She went straight to her husband,
and one look at her had Clark on his feet. "Come one, partner," Lois told
him. "We've got investigating to do."

Clark smiled. "Let's go."

***
Just outside the hospital doors, Lois stopped short. "Did anybody call
 Lucy?"

 Clark took her hand. "Sam called her. She can't get away until this
evening; Superman plans to go pick her up to save her the fare from
California."

 Lois smiled thinly. "That's nice of Superman."

 "It's the least he can do," Clark said. As they headed toward the Jeep, he
asked, "How are you holding up?"

 "Better not to ask, not now, not with Mother - " Lois stopped, and hardened
her voice again. "I'll be fine, just as soon as we figure out what's been
going so wrong in my mother's life that she'd start drinking again."

 Clark's voice was quiet. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

 Angrily, she turned on him. "I promised her, Clark. It's little enough,
after virtually ignoring her for the past year. She's my mother, and I let
her down. Well, not now. We're going to find out what got her drinking
again, and we're going to fix it."

 He pulled her toward him, cradling her in his arms. "You've got it, honey.
Tell me what you need."

 Lois clung to him for a moment, then pulled away. "We need to start with a
look at her activities over the last few weeks. And my father's. He'll
probably help us with that. And I want to know what her BAC was. And what
she was drinking. I want to know how that crash happened." Her eyes
narrowed. "I want to know everything."

 "Tall order," Clark commented as he took her keys and unlocked the
passenger door for her.

 "Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Kent," Lois warned him. "You
don't want me driving right now."

 "Sue me," Clark said as he held the door. She hesitated a minute, then got
in. "I love you, I want you to be safe. Driving's not a good idea when you'
re this upset."

 "You're probably right," Lois said reluctantly. "Why do you have to make so
much sense?"

 "Must be a Kryptonian thing," he said as he got in the driver's seat and
started the car. "Planet, or home?"

 "Planet," Lois decided. "We can enlist Jimmy and fill Perry in."

 As he drove, Clark started thinking aloud. "There's no story in this, so
Perry's not going to want us to devote Planet resources to it."

 "We can do a piece on alcoholism, on drinking and driving, something like
that," Lois said determinedly. "We can convince him there's a story here
somewhere."

 "Why don't we just tell him the truth?" Clark asked.

 "He'll try to make me take time off," she complained.

 "Maybe," Clark said slowly. "Maybe not. Maybe he'll offer you the chance to
look into this. He knows you, Lois. He'll know you need to investigate this,
for your own peace of mind. He might as well give you the help you need; not
giving it to you won't stop you."

 "Got that right," Lois said.

 As it turned out, Perry was more than willing to offer his top team the
chance to do some personal investigation. Even though the hour was close to
10 p.m., the office still hummed with quieter night activity, and Perry, as
usual, walked through its center.

 "Lois, Clark, what're you doing here?" he asked in surprise as the pair got
off the elevator and headed toward his office.

 "Can we talk in your office for a minute?" Lois asked.

 This is serious, Perry thought. "Sure, honey, let's have a seat." As they
seated themselves, Perry closed the door. "What's up?"

 "Perry, my mother's in the hospital," Lois said, as calmly as she could
manage. "She was in a car accident, and the doctors don't think she'll make
it. If she does - " She couldn't continue.

 "Ellen will likely be a vegetable, Perry," Clark picked up from there. "But
there are some odd circumstances surrounding the crash that Lois wants to
investigate."

 Grateful for helping her get back on an even keel, Lois squeezed Clark's
hand. "She was drinking, Perry. She apparently instigated the crash. But she
's been on the wagon for years, now, and I don't know why she'd be drinking,
let alone driving. One thing she never did, even when she was drinking all
those years when I was growing up, was drink and drive. She was a nurse. She
knew how dangerous that would be. I can't imagine her doing this now."

 Suddenly restless, Lois got up and paced. "I don't know if there's a story
in this or not, Perry. All I know is I've got to have some answers."

 Perry thought for a minute. "I think you should take some time off."

 "Perry!" Lois flashed Clark an I-told-you-so glance.

 "Now, let me finish!" Perry said gruffly. "Take some time off from your
other regular duties, and devote yourself to this. If there's a story, it's
ours. If there's not, well, we'll just treat this as dead-end investigation.
Both of you can work on this, but if something major comes up, one of you
will have to step up to the plate. Sound fair?"

 "More than fair, Chief," Clark said.

 "Thank you, Perry," Lois added softly. She stopped pacing, and gave Perry a
hug. "You don't know how much this means to me."

 "I have a good idea," Perry said. "Take your time. And don't worry about
the story. If there is one, great. If not?" He shrugged. "You two are the
best reporting team I've ever seen. You've pulled in our top stories, won
three Kerths between you. If I can't cut you some time for a personal
investigation once in your career here, then I'm not doing you justice. But
keep it between us, OK?"

 Lois frowned. "What about Jimmy?"

 "Let me make myself clear, Lois," Perry said. "You've got your own time to
work on, and Clark's. I can't devote Jimmy's, too. Now, if he wants to help
you, on his own time, well, I can't stop him."

 "Thanks, Perry," Clark said. "We'll manage." He looked at his watch.
"Honey, it's time to pick up Lucy."

 "Oh, OK," Lois said, a little flustered.

 "Her plane lands soon," Clark explained to Perry.

 "No problem, son," Perry opened his office door and walked the pair to the
elevator. "Take care, Lois. Let me know when there's word about your
 mother."

 "I will," Lois said.

 ***
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 23:55:55 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Alicia Utowski <Alicia3456@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: New fic: Time Elapsed (2/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Amy,

This is so interesting.  I have never read a story that deals with this kind
of situation.  I can't wait until the next part!  (For some reason I seem to
like stories that deal with hospitals <g>)

Alicia
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 23:05:51 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Kathy Brown <kathybrown91@HOME.COM>
Subject:      Re: Way OT: Welcome back, LabRat

On Fri, 21 Apr 2000 15:29:27 -0500, SUBSCRIBE Lab Rat <
labrat@CABLEINET.CO.UK> wrote:

>I'm slowly getting the idea of working the list through the archive pages
>instead of through my mail...was a bit of a culture shock at first, but I
>think I've got it sussed. ;)

I will be interested to see if, after several days of reading the list on
the
website, if you will go back to getting it in your mailbox every day.  After
going nomail while I was gone for month over Christmas and catching up via
the website, I realized that I actually prefered reading the listserv that
way, and have never gone back!  I find it so much easier to keep up with
threads, since all the posts are organized for me by subject.

The only minor inconvenience is that when posting via the website, I have to
recreate my own signature, instead of letting Eudora add it for my
automatically.  Other than that,  I'm sold!

Kathy
kathybrown91@home.com (and yes, I know I'll mis-type that one of these days
and not catch it. <g>)
=========================================================================
Date:         Mon, 24 Apr 2000 22:03:26 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Thanks Jessi,
I'm glad you enjoyed your peek into the nfic world!  :)  But, believe me it
won't happen again! :)  I'm sure glad that the installments I posted on
weren't too "nficky" !!! LOL!!  I know that's not a word, but I couldn't
think of anything else!!! :)

Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: Jessi Mounts [mailto:jessi914@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 1:28 PM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: Re: Sincere Apology

Well, for the record, I don't feel like killing you.  I'm not on the nfic
list (not old enough, darn it ;) so I liked a little peek into the nfic
world.  And at Alexis' that she's been talking about for ages, no less.  I'm
not encouraging you to post your nfic replies to the regular list, of course
(I don't think Kathy would like that. <g>) but I enjoyed it, anyway.

Jessi
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 06:38:47 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         SUBSCRIBE Lab Rat <labrat@CABLEINET.CO.UK>
Subject:      Re: Way OT: Welcome back, LabRat

On Mon, 24 Apr 2000 23:05:51 -0500, Kathy Brown <kathybrown91@HOME.COM>
wrote:

>>I will be interested to see if, after several days of reading the list on
the
>website, if you will go back to getting it in your mailbox every day.
After
>going nomail while I was gone for month over Christmas and catching up via
>the website, I realized that I actually prefered reading the listserv that
>way, and have never gone back!  I find it so much easier to keep up with
>threads, since all the posts are organized for me by subject.
>

Jury's still out. <G> Mostly, it is quite fun doing it this way, rather
than from my mailbox. I was a bit disconcerted about missing posts at one
point, but I've since worked out that if I set it to 'sort by posting date'
they all show up and I don't miss anything. Although, having said that, it
still managed to list Lori's reaction to Tara's response to Lori's apology
(still with me?) the wrong way round. <G>

Think, on balance, would still go back to the mailbox though. If only for
the fact that if my server is a little slow (which it still can be
frequently at the moment) it takes an age to trawl through webpage after
webpage to see each message.

LabRat :)
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 08:18:59 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Wendy Richards <wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK>
Subject:      Posting to appropriate lists - to Lori

Lori, I would appreciate it in future if you would not copy what was a
private email from me to you to this listserv.

Thank you,

Wendy Richards
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 13:17:40 -0400
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Pam Jernigan <jernigan@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/
Subject:      Re: Way OT: Welcome back, LabRat
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

> Although, having said that, it
> still managed to list Lori's reaction to Tara's response to Lori's apology
> (still with me?) the wrong way round. <G>

That wasn't just you, Labbie, they came in my mailbox that way too :)

Btw, did you know that on my screen, your "sender" name shows up as
"SUBSCRIBE Lab Rat"? :)  Don't know how that happened...
--
---
Pam Jernigan  / ChiefPam  /  jernigan@bellsouth.net
http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam

"Why else do all the stories *end* when the Count's daughter gets
married?  Hasn't that ever struck you as a bit sinister?  I mean, have
you ever read a folk tale where the Princess's mother gets to do
anything but die young?  I've never been able to figure out if that's
supposed to be a warning, or an instruction."
--A Civil Campaign, by Lois McMaster Bujold.
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 10:29:01 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: NFIC List
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Ray,
I don't think it would be appropriate for me to post about this to the list,
but I will be happy to help you if you e-mail me privately and send me your
e-mail so I can respond to you!  I tried to respond, but there is no return
e-mail!

Thanks,
Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: Reynolds [mailto:Reynolds]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 11:48 PM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: NFIC List

Lori Llorence,

I saw your posting on the Lois-Clark general list and you seem to have
signed up for an nfic list too. I'm interested in signing up for that list
could you please send me whatever information you have on how to do that?
I'd appreciate it very much.

Thanks,

Ray Reynolds
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 15:23:42 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         SUBSCRIBE Lab Rat <labrat@CABLEINET.CO.UK>
Subject:      Re: Way OT: Welcome back, LabRat

Pam wrote:

>Btw, did you know that on my screen, your "sender" name shows up as
>"SUBSCRIBE Lab Rat"? :)  Don't know how that happened...

I do! <g> When I had to start using the archives when my mailer went down,
I had to login. I put in my nick, just as I had when I subscribed to the
list first time around, but listserv rejected it and came back with a
message saying it meant put in subscribe *and* my nick. Or words to that
effect. That was the only way I could get it to accept the nick. I remember
mentioning to someone at the time that it seemed very odd, but there you go.

LabRat :)
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 15:42:12 CDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Jessi Mounts <jessi914@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

>Thanks Jessi,
>I'm glad you enjoyed your peek into the nfic world!  :)  But, believe me it
>won't happen again! :)  I'm sure glad that the installments I posted on
>weren't too "nficky" !!! LOL!!  I know that's not a word, but I couldn't
>think of anything else!!! :)
>
>Lori
>

Lori, could you be a little more careful about keeping straight what's
private and what's list mail.  I've noticed you've gotten a couple of other
people's private emails mixed up too.  I wasn't really planning on
announcing to the whole entire list (including the list mom <g>) that I
liked watching you break the rules. <g>

But as long as I'm at it, I thought of a real word to replace nficky.
Risque.

Jessi
jessi914@hotmail.com

(And now I'll be good and mind my own business in the gfic section for a
while.  I promise!)

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 15:52:34 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Dennis A Arendt <d.arendt@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Subject:      Re: Newfic: Time Elapse
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Amy,
This is really good.  It is different from anything I have read so far.
I wanted to to know that I liked it and please - more!!!!!

Brenda
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 18:17:51 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Amy Lauters <alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU>
Subject:      New Fic: Time elapsed (3/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Wow. I didn't anticipate so many nice comments! Thanks for reading, and
here's the next part.
Amy

***
As Clark got back behind the wheel of the Jeep, he asked, "Where to, honey?
I'll drop you off, then go get Lucy."

 Thoughtfully, Lois said, "I think I want to go back to the hospital."

 "There's not much you can do there, honey," Clark pointed out gently. "Your
mother can only have visitors five minutes every hour. Your dad is there
with her. Lucy will be there soon."

 "I know, I just feel like I should be there, Clark," she said. "Besides, I
might be able to find out more about the crash."

 "I've been thinking about that," Clark said. "What do you say to me getting
hold of Henderson and investigating the accident itself? That would give you
some time to check on your mother's condition, and talk to your father about
the last few weeks. It'll give us a place to start."

 Lois thought that over. "OK. You'll probably get more out of Henderson,
anyway." Slowly, Lois said, "I'm not sure I'm up to this, Clark."

 Without taking his eyes off the road, Clark laid a hand on his wife's
thigh. "I know it's hard, sweetheart. If you don't want to do this, you know
I'll understand. So would your mother."

 "It's just so frustrating," Lois twisted her wedding ring around her finger
as she spoke. "I can't imagine my life without her, Clark. And I feel so
helpless."

 "Lois, you are anything but helpless," Clark reassured her. "I know how you
feel. You feel like you can't do enough to help." He pulled into the
hospital lot and took the first empty space. Turning to Lois, he stopped the
fidgety ring twisting by capturing her hands in his own, raising the ringed
finger to his mouth for a kiss. "Let me give you some advice I got from
someone I consider to be a very wise woman. She told me, more than once,
that whatever I can do to help, helps. Whatever I can do, it's enough. And
now, I'm telling you the same thing."

 "Oh, Clark," Lois whispered. "You know I hate it when you throw my own
words back in my face."

 "I do," he smiled gently and gathered her up for a hug. "But you're so
right, sometimes, you just need to hear it again."

 Lois buried her head in his shoulder and cried.

 ***

 A subdued Clark Kent left his wife in the company of her father, and
explaining he needed to go back to the Planet to tie up some loose ends, he
left. In the dark alley next to the hospital, he spun-changed into the Suit
and took to the air, heading to California and Lucy Lane.

 On the way, he flew over Kansas, and remembered suddenly he hadn't called
his folks about Ellen. With a whoosh and a thud, Clark stopped on his
parents' front porch. Inside the house, he could hear the low hum of the
television set and the clank of beaters against the sides of a glass bowl.
As he walked in the front door, his mother hurried out to meet him, beaters
in hand.

 "Clark!" Martha Kent exclaimed. "What brings you out here at -" She checked
her watch. "10 p.m., Kansas time?"

 "I wasn't sure you'd still be up, but I had to stop. I'm on my way to
California to get Lucy Lane," Clark explained.

 "Oh, your father's in bed, but I had a dozen cakes to finish before
tomorrow's church bake sale and I'm on the last one. What's wrong? Why are
you getting Lucy?" Martha asked.

 "I can't stay long, Mom, but I need to let you know that Ellen Lane was in
an accident tonight. She's in intensive care with a skull fracture and the
doctors don't know if she'll make it," Clark ran a hand through his hair,
then remembered he was in the Suit. Carefully, he slicked it back again.
"Lois is holding up OK; she's channeling her frustration into investigating
the accident and how it happened, but Sam's a mess. I thought you'd want to
know."

 "Oh, honey," Martha set down the beaters in the bowl and put them both on a
side table as she reached for her son. "How bad is it?" she asked as she
hugged him.

 He squeezed his mother briefly, then stepped back. "I got her to the
hospital in time to save her life, momentarily. Even if she lives, though, M
om, they say she's had enough brain damage that she might be a vegetable.
They really don't know, yet."

 "Do you want us to come out?" Martha asked.

 "I think Lois would like that, if you guys can take time from the farm,"
Clark replied. "I know I could use the support."

 "We'll have to finish some things up here tomorrow, but we should be able
to come out for a few days, anyway. Since we sold off the cattle, it's
really just a matter of crop tending, and we laid the corn by last week,"
Martha thought aloud. "If we can get Wayne to keep on eye on things, we
should be free by tomorrow night. Can you come and get us about 5, our time?
I'll fix dinner when I get to your place."

 Clark protested weakly, "You don't have to do that."

 "We're family, honey, and we'll do what we can," she admonished him. "And
you'll let us."

 "Yes, ma'am," Clark said quietly. He hugged his mother again. "I've got to
get going. I'll see you tomorrow."

 "Good night, Clark," Martha said, as her son stepped out the door and took
flight.

 On his way to California, Clark took some time to rethink the accident. He
tried to remember every detail. He remembered hearing the squeal of tires
and the crash of metal, then swooping onto the scene. He remembered the
twist in his gut when he saw the destruction, and how the bottom dropped out
of his chest when he realized the twisted silver metal at the core of the
accident was his mother-in-law's car. He remembered the acrid, tangy smell
of blood seeping into upholstery and onto pavement. He remembered, over all,
the scent of rich bourbon whiskey.

 Clark slowed as he neared Lucy's apartment window, and floated to hover in
front of it. Inside, he saw Lucy grab a duffle bag and turn off a light as
she came to the window. She gestured for him to move to a balcony on the
other side of the apartment, then climbed out on the balcony, where Clark
scooped her up and started the trip back to Metropolis.

 They made the trip in silence,  and as they neared the hospital, Lucy
suddenly spoke.

 "Thank you for trying to save my mother, Superman," she said.

 Surprised, Clark looked down at her. "You're welcome. I'm sorry I could get
there to prevent the accident."

 "You couldn't have," Lucy said. "How could you have known that would
happen?" She hesitated. "But I appreciate your getting her to the hospital
as fast as you could. Dad said it might have saved her life."

 "I hope so, Miss Lane," Clark adopted the formal tones of his alter ego.

 Lucy closed her eyes. "Me, too."

 Clark set her down at the deserted hospital entrance. "Good night, Miss
Lane," he said, drifting away.

 Lucy looked at him. "Good night, Clark," she said softly.

 Clark stopped short. "Miss Lane?" he questioned.

 "It's OK, Clark, I've known for some time. I haven't told anyone, and I won
't. But I wanted to let you know you don't have to pretend with me," Lucy
said.

 No use pretending, Clark thought. She's my sister-in-law, and a Lane. "But
how did -"

 "I figure it out?" Lucy sighed. "I know my sister, and I know she fell hard
for Superman, and then with you. And then, somehow, Superman wasn't even in
the picture anymore. It was just too sudden. All I had to do then was take a
good look at the two of you."

 Clark smiled ruefully. "Well, I know I don't have to tell you to keep this
under your hat. Give me a minute, and I'll walk you inside." He ducked into
the same dark, deserted alley he used before, changed, and was back in front
Lucy in seconds. "Shall we?" he offered his arm.

 Lucy smiled up at him. "Thanks, big brother."

 ***
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 16:30:45 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: New Fic: Time elapsed (3/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Very sweet end to this installment Amy!  Keep it coming!

Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: Amy Lauters [mailto:alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2000 9:17 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: New Fic: Time elapsed (3/?)

Wow. I didn't anticipate so many nice comments! Thanks for reading, and
here's the next part.
Amy
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 21:11:32 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "Lorie Y. Crisp" <SuperLorie@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 04/25/2000 3:42:42 PM Central Daylight Time,
jessi914@HOTMAIL.COM writes:

<< Lori, could you be a little more careful about keeping straight what's
 private and what's list mail.  I've noticed you've gotten a couple of other
 people's private emails mixed up too.  I wasn't really planning on
 announcing to the whole entire list (including the list mom <g>) that I
 liked watching you break the rules. <g> >>

poor Lori......everyone keeps picking on you.....lol. As a fellow-Lori(e), i
sympathize with ya! :-)

SuperLorie
=========================================================================
Date:         Tue, 25 Apr 2000 20:27:44 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Oh Lorie that made my day!  You actually brought a smile to my face!
Someone actually sympathizes with me!  I did feel kind of picked on, but I
guess I deserved it!!  LOL!!  Thanks Lorie!!

Lori (we Lori(e)'s have to stick together!!! :))

-----Original Message-----
From: Lorie Y. Crisp [mailto:SuperLorie@AOL.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2000 11:12 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: Re: Sincere Apology

In a message dated 04/25/2000 3:42:42 PM Central Daylight Time,
jessi914@HOTMAIL.COM writes:

<< Lori, could you be a little more careful about keeping straight what's
 private and what's list mail.  I've noticed you've gotten a couple of other
 people's private emails mixed up too.  I wasn't really planning on
 announcing to the whole entire list (including the list mom <g>) that I
 liked watching you break the rules. <g> >>

poor Lori......everyone keeps picking on you.....lol. As a fellow-Lori(e), i
sympathize with ya! :-)

SuperLorie
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 02:45:44 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "Lorie Y. Crisp" <SuperLorie@AOL.COM>
Subject:      an fanfic question
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I'm enjoying the 7 Days of Superman thingy, and it brought to mind a
question: Did anyone ever write a crossover fic with Lois and Clark/ Quantum
Leap? If not, it's a good idea....I loved that show when it was on.

SuperLorie :-)
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 08:31:51 -0400
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Genevieve <nightsky@EROLS.COM>
Subject:      L&C/QL crossovers WAS an fanfic question
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

"Lorie Y. Crisp" wrote:
>
> I'm enjoying the 7 Days of Superman thingy, and it brought to mind a
> question: Did anyone ever write a crossover fic with Lois and Clark/
Quantum
> Leap? If not, it's a good idea....I loved that show when it was on.
>
> SuperLorie :-)

Leanne Richard Shawler wrote a great one: "Leaping for the Answer" which
was nominated for a 1998 Kerth award.  It's set at the end of the second
season and is available on her website at
<http://www.znet.com/~volterra/fanfic/fanfic.html>

I know of two others which should be on the archives.

   Lois&Clark/Quantum Leap Crossover by Michael Chary

   Top Secret by Julie Jekel -- which crosses over with X-Files too.

There may be more....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Genevieve
<mailto:NightSky@erols.com> <http://users.erols.com/nightsky/>

The World Wide Web has made it possible for anyone to find in five
hours what a competent librarian can find in five minutes. :-)
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 10:43:01 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Charlotte Fisler <Cdfisler@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Connections (Final)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 4/23/00 11:07:43 AM !!!First Boot!!!, Ccmalo@AOL.COM
writes:

<<
 Charlotte : <<Trask is my most hated villain even over Lex Luthor,  so I
wish
 you hadn't made him so likable in this story.>> Interesting -- why more
than
 Luthor?
  >>

I stated this once before, but it is my reaction to Jason Trask and I will
repeat it.

Because Jason Trasks acts out of prejudice - quite simply he's a bigot in
the
series.  At least Lex had a reason to want to kill Superman, (he was a
threat
to his power and public standing) but Trask just plain hated the alien ("I
don't want to study him, I want to kill him.")

Oh yes, he claims he wants to protect the world from an alien invasion, but
Trask's reason for fearing such an invasion, in the absence of any 'hostile'
actions, (his existence is hostile) is based on the simple fact that
Superman
is not from here, not one of us.  So he thinks it's okay for him - Trask -
to
kill Clark Kent and "the human traitors who sheltered him all these years,"
not to mention his superior at Bureau 39 and anyone else who gets in the
way.
 Such people have killed more innocent people throughout recorded history
than a thousand Lex Luthors.

and, IMHO, your story not withstanding, that is the worst reason - if there
is ever a 'reason' and I don't believe that there is - one BEING (note I do
not say human being) could have for wanting to kill another.

Charlotte
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 10:43:14 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Charlotte Fisler <Cdfisler@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Between Floors 7 and 8 Part 2
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Thanks Jessi.

As they say, it's an ill wind.  I'm pleased to see the changes.

Really great.

Charlotte
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 12:21:21 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         No Name Available <MPSL27@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Lori, we still luvya!  I make even bigger mistakes than that, like, every
day...no, okay, every hour of every day<g>.  Just a thought though...when I
clicked REPLY to your list message just now, it put your personal email
address in the TO section instead of
"LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU"
like it usually does when I hit REPLY to reply to a list message.  So I
tried
it on a half a dozen other people's posts from today, and when I hit reply
on
THEIRS it did the "LOISCLA...." address.  I tried it on some of your posts
from earlier this week and hit reply and it put in your personal address!
You're the only person it does this with.  It's a very weird thing, and I'm
wondering if it's my (or AOL's problem) or if there's something wrong with
your email address or the list itself...who knows?  Sigh.
Molly:)
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 12:32:22 -0400
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         kubitc <kubitc@KENYON.EDU>
Subject:      From Personal Address (was RE: Sincere Apology)
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

>when I
>clicked REPLY to your list message just now, it put your personal email
>address in the TO section instead of
"LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU"
>like it usually does when I hit REPLY to reply to a list message.  So I
tried
>it on a half a dozen other people's posts from today, and when I hit reply
on
>THEIRS it did the "LOISCLA...." address.  I tried it on some of your posts
>from earlier this week and hit reply and it put in your personal address!
>You're the only person it does this with.

Actually, Lori's not the only one whose posts contain her email address
instead of the list address in the "from" space. A few others' addresses do
this. I can't think of who (maybe Nan??) but I know because when I've
attempted to respond to them personally I didn't have to change the address,
and when I've attempted to respond to them on-list, I did have to change the
address.

Christy
kubitc@kenyon.edu

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."
-Michaelangelo
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 12:41:30 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Molly,

Thanks, I KNEW I wasn't going crazy!!!  What you described, is my problem!!!
I was trying to explain it, but it ALWAYS does this to me.  When I click on
reply, it ALWAYS puts the persons personal address in the TO section instead
of LOISCLA-GEN... no matter where the message is coming from.  This ALWAYS
happens to me.  That is why when I hit reply  I always go back and change it
so that it gets sent to the list.  This is where I got myself into trouble.
I know when I comment on a story that I want it to go to the list, so I put
the LOISCLA-GEN... in the TO field.  Well last week, people sent me personal
e-mails, and I didn't know they were personal, so when I replied, it pulled
up their personal names in the TO field like always, and I changed it to the
list address!  OK so this is my problem.  Even when someone sends me
something that was sent to the entire list, when I hit reply their personal
address comes up in the TO field instead of the list address.  Does anyone
know how to fix this.  I cannot tell when I get a message whether it is
coming from someone as a personal message, or whether it went to the entire
list!!  Can anyone help me? Or did that even make sense? <g>  I don't think
there is anything wrong with yours Molly-I think its me!!  HELP!!  :)

Lori (who just checked to make sure Molly's message went to the entire list,
and not just to me!! :)

-----Original Message-----
From: No Name Available [mailto:MPSL27@AOL.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2000 2:22 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: Re: Sincere Apology

Lori, we still luvya!  I make even bigger mistakes than that, like, every
day...no, okay, every hour of every day<g>.  Just a thought though...when I
clicked REPLY to your list message just now, it put your personal email
address in the TO section instead of
"LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU"
like it usually does when I hit REPLY to reply to a list message.  So I
tried
it on a half a dozen other people's posts from today, and when I hit reply
on
THEIRS it did the "LOISCLA...." address.  I tried it on some of your posts
from earlier this week and hit reply and it put in your personal address!
You're the only person it does this with.  It's a very weird thing, and I'm
wondering if it's my (or AOL's problem) or if there's something wrong with
your email address or the list itself...who knows?  Sigh.
Molly:)
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 12:44:03 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: From Personal Address (was RE: Sincere Apology)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Christy,
When I hit REPLY on yours just now, it gave me your personal e-mail.  So did
Molly's!!   I had to change it to the list address!  I'm so confused!! :)

Lori
-----Original Message-----
From: kubitc [mailto:kubitc@KENYON.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2000 2:33 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: From Personal Address (was RE: Sincere Apology)

>when I
>clicked REPLY to your list message just now, it put your personal email
>address in the TO section instead of
"LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU"
>like it usually does when I hit REPLY to reply to a list message.  So I
tried
>it on a half a dozen other people's posts from today, and when I hit reply
on
>THEIRS it did the "LOISCLA...." address.  I tried it on some of your posts
>from earlier this week and hit reply and it put in your personal address!
>You're the only person it does this with.

Actually, Lori's not the only one whose posts contain her email address
instead of the list address in the "from" space. A few others' addresses do
this. I can't think of who (maybe Nan??) but I know because when I've
attempted to respond to them personally I didn't have to change the address,
and when I've attempted to respond to them on-list, I did have to change the
address.

Christy
kubitc@kenyon.edu

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him
free." -Michaelangelo
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 22:53:47 +0100
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Marianne King <mking@MKING10.FSNET.CO.UK>
Subject:      NFic List
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
              boundary="----=_NextPart_000_020A_01BFAFD2.4842E600"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_020A_01BFAFD2.4842E600
Content-Type: text/plain;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Hi everyone,

Later I've heard talk of NFic lists and a NFic archive.  I'd love to =
subscribe to these but I don't know how.  I would appreciate it if =
someone could give me a gentle shove in the right direction.  (I'm over =
18).

Thanks
Marianne.

PS  Whilst I'm timidly stepping out of lurkdom, I want to express my =
amazement at the sheer amount of fabulous FOLC talent out there.  =
Please, please, please keep writting.  I enjoy every story posted.

------=_NextPart_000_020A_01BFAFD2.4842E600
Content-Type: text/html;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Hi everyone,<BR><BR>Later I've heard =
talk of NFic=20
lists and a NFic archive.&nbsp; I'd love to subscribe to these but I =
don't know=20
how.&nbsp; I would appreciate it if someone could give me a gentle shove =
in the=20
right direction.&nbsp; (I'm over 18).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Thanks</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Marianne.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>PS&nbsp; Whilst I'm timidly stepping =
out of=20
lurkdom, I want to express my amazement at the sheer amount of fabulous =
FOLC=20
talent out there.&nbsp; Please, please, please keep writting.&nbsp; I =
enjoy=20
every story posted.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_020A_01BFAFD2.4842E600--
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 14:58:39 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Wendy <princesaazul2000@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: NFic List
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Me too.

Wendy

--- Marianne King <mking@MKING10.FSNET.CO.UK> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> Later I've heard talk of NFic lists and a NFic
> archive.  I'd love to subscribe to these but I don't
> know how.  I would appreciate it if someone could
> give me a gentle shove in the right direction.  (I'm
> over 18).
>
> Thanks
> Marianne.
>
> PS  Whilst I'm timidly stepping out of lurkdom, I
> want to express my amazement at the sheer amount of
> fabulous FOLC talent out there.  Please, please,
> please keep writting.  I enjoy every story posted.
>
>

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 15:13:10 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "Irene D." <sirenegold@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: NFic List
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi Marianne,

I'd like to suggest that you visit the official Lois
and Clark nfic Directory at

www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/nfic.html

It gives you directions as to how to access all of the
nfic out there.

Irene

--- Marianne King <mking@MKING10.FSNET.CO.UK> wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> Later I've heard talk of NFic lists and a NFic
> archive.  I'd love to subscribe to these but I don't
> know how.  I would appreciate it if someone could
> give me a gentle shove in the right direction.  (I'm
> over 18).
>
> Thanks
> Marianne.
>
> PS  Whilst I'm timidly stepping out of lurkdom, I
> want to express my amazement at the sheer amount of
> fabulous FOLC talent out there.  Please, please,
> please keep writting.  I enjoy every story posted.
>
>

=====
"All writing is essentially bricks of plagarism secured in place
by the mortar of original thinking."
--William Dukane

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:26:27 +0200
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Kaethel <kaethel@CLUB-INTERNET.FR>
Subject:      New Story: Naked Truth (intro)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
              boundary="----=_NextPart_000_031D_01BFAFDF.3A2F2800"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_031D_01BFAFDF.3A2F2800
Content-Type: text/plain;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

This story was written last summer after I'd been goofing around with an =
online friend about playing some games with Clark <G> The idea wouldn't =
leave me until I'd put it on paper, so here it is. It's set during =
Season 2, after TOGOM but before The Phoenix, and it's dedicated to all =
the gutter minds I know (and there's a lot of them!!) ;-p~

This is the very first fanfic I'm daring to post, so feedback and =
constructive criticism is more than welcome either publicly on the list =
or privately at kaethel@club-internet.fr. If you want to do some =
editing, go ahead, but please do it privately so that we don't crowd the =
list with it.

A big thank you goes out to Susan, LabRat and Elena for their editing =
and suggestions, and to my test-readers Chiara, Sarah and Nicole. You =
guys all provided great encouragement :)

Helene :)
------------------------------------------------------
Kaethel on irc / Kaethel79  on AIM
kaethel@club-internet.fr
"I said nine I thought you'd be naked... er... ready!"

------=_NextPart_000_031D_01BFAFDF.3A2F2800
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        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
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<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV>This story was written last summer after I'd been goofing around =
with an=20
online friend about playing some games with Clark &lt;G&gt; The idea =
wouldn't=20
leave me until I'd put it on paper, so here it is. It's set during =
Season 2,=20
after TOGOM but before The Phoenix, and it's dedicated to all the gutter =
minds I=20
know (and there's a lot of them!!) ;-p~</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>This is the very first fanfic I'm daring to post, so feedback and=20
constructive criticism is more than welcome either publicly on the list =
or=20
privately at <A=20
href=3D"mailto:kaethel@club-internet.fr">kaethel@club-internet.fr</A>. =
If you want=20
to do some editing, go ahead, but please do it privately so that we =
don't crowd=20
the&nbsp;list with it.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>A big thank you goes out to Susan, LabRat and Elena for their =
editing and=20
suggestions, and to my test-readers Chiara, Sarah and Nicole. You guys =
all=20
provided great encouragement :)<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Helene=20
:)<BR>------------------------------------------------------<BR>Kaethel =
on irc /=20
Kaethel79&nbsp; on AIM<BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:kaethel@club-internet.fr">kaethel@club-internet.fr</A><BR>=
"I said=20
nine I thought you'd be naked... er... ready!"</DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_031D_01BFAFDF.3A2F2800--
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:26:49 +0200
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Kaethel <kaethel@CLUB-INTERNET.FR>
Subject:      New Story: Naked Truth (1/2)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
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NAKED TRUTH
By Kaethel
kaethel@club-internet.fr
Rated PG-13

"Clark, I'm terribly bored." Lois slapped shut the magazine she'd been =
flipping through without really reading it.

Her partner looked up from the surveillance equipment he'd been checking =
on for the fifth time that night. "What is it, Lois? You don't find..." =
he cocked his head to the side to read the headline of her magazine "... =
'Spice up your love life: 100 tips to seduce him' interesting?" he =
teased.

She gave him a wrathful look. "This article is completely worthless," =
she growled. "The woman who wrote that gives all the cliches, from the =
good ol' strip-tease to the 'buy him a whip for his birthday' trick. The =
whole magazine isn't worth anything, anyway. I'm sure it's not a good =
way to seduce your lover." =20

"I know what you mean, Lois, and I agree with you on the whip part. But =
the strip-tease can be a good idea if you want to throw some fantasy in =
your relationship."

"It's not one of *your* secret fantasies, is it, Clark?" Lois grinned =
smugly, wondering if she could embarrass her partner - who looked *so* =
adorable when he was uncomfortably shifting like he was just now.

"Well... I... no!" Clark tried to ignore his sudden interest in the =
scene he had pictured in his mind: Lois, dancing in front of him - and =
only him - and slowly and sensually peeling her clothes off, throwing =
them at him while moving her body temptingly . He mentally slapped =
himself and ordered his brain to take a cold shower.

"See? Told you they were writing stupid stuff. If I did a strip-tease in =
front of you just now, you wouldn't be turned on at all," she said =
mock-innocently, watching his every reaction from beneath her lashes. =20

Clark struggled, close to surrender. Make that a *freezing* shower. His =
breathing began to be shallow and rough. Pearls of sweat appeared on his =
forehead.

Lois understood perfectly the trouble she was causing Clark, and she =
purposefully ignored it. "I wonder if this stupid woman has ever met a =
*real* man. You know what I think? I think you should write to her, tell =
her what seduces you."=20

<Okay, Clark, calm down and think. Lois is up to something and I *know* =
I don't like the looks of it.> He took a deep breath and tried to get =
back under control, to ignore the effect this woman could have on him.

Lois was struggling not to giggle. Her partner had the cutest confused =
look she had ever seen on him. But she decided to give him a rest for a =
while, just to allow him to catch his breath. Besides, she preferred not =
to push the game too far, because she knew she was playing with fire =
here, that she shouldn't tease him the way she was. She should remain =
the cold partner she'd always been to him during the first months of =
their partnership.=20

But she'd come to realize Clark had found his way into her heart, and =
he'd quickly become a real friend to her, someone she really cared about =
- maybe more than she'd first imagined, she thought, remembering her =
distress when she'd thought he was dead.=20

She shifted her attention back to the building they'd been watching from =
the hotel-room and wondered if they'd come for anything at all. Maybe =
their source had been wrong in assuming there would be a drug deal that =
night. "I wonder why nothing's happening. Think they called it off?"

"I don't know," Clark finally uttered, resurfacing from a near-drowning =
state. "I think it might be a while before they show up, it's not even =
ten yet. Maybe they set up a later meeting, so that they could be sure =
nobody would see them..." Clark trailed off, realizing that Lois was =
once again lost in thought and certainly not listening to what he was =
saying. "You're still bored, huh?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"Oh yeah, bored to death..." She sighed, wondering why they'd come here =
in the first place. The atmosphere strangely reminded her of the =
previous stakeout they'd had in a hotel room, when they'd been spying on =
the corrupt Senator Harrison. <Except that it was a luxurious suite in =
the most beautiful hotel in town, with a Jacuzzi, satin sheets and a =
comfortable couch> she corrected with another heavy sigh. A sudden =
playful grin spread on her face and she switched her attention back to =
her partner. "Clark, have you brought the cards this time too?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to play poker with me."

"I thought you never played on assignment."

"Poker isn't about playing, it's about winning or losing."

"I'm not sure I see the difference."

"Nevermind, give me your cards."=20

He complied and observed her as she shuffled and dealt them. Clark shook =
his head. This woman would never cease to amaze him. But after all, =
contradiction wasn't something that easily bothered Lois - and he loved =
her all the more for that fact.

After fifteen minutes of play, Clark was already losing badly. Lois took =
one look at his frustrated face and took pity on him. "Clark, I know =
what you need. You need motivation, something to make you want to win."

He raised a doubtful eyebrow at her. "Lois, I don't have any money with =
me."

"You mean you brought a set of cards but *not* your wallet?"

"Well, I... yeah," he admitted.

"Oh-kay. We'll have to bet on other things, then."

"Like what?" he asked warily. She had that look on her face that said =
she was determined to get something, no matter the cost. The look of a =
cat ready to pounce on a mouse. And he hated being the mouse.

"I don't know... stuff... things you'll do if you lose."

"Ah, okay," he said, slightly reassured. "Feeling playful tonight, =
Lois?"=20

"Maybe..." <If you only knew, buddy!>

<Two can play this game.> he thought. "So if I win, let's say you'll =
come to my place tomorrow night. I'll be waiting for you, everything'll =
be set..." he hesitated and observed her carefully. She didn't seem =
taken aback or scared by what he was saying, much to his surprise, so he =
went on with a husky voice "I'll be lying on my bed, so all you'll have =
to do is..."=20

<All I'll have to do is what?> she thought wildly <Jump on you? Strip =
you? Kiss you all over?>

"... do my laundry," he finished with a mischievous grin.

She gasped. Now that was something that didn't fit too well with the =
thoughts she'd been having just now. Laundry? Who did he think she was? =
His wife?

Clark was broadly smiling at her.

She chuckled, deciding it was part of the game and it was only fair, =
after all. "Okay," she said slowly. "And if *I* win, you'll..." <Spare =
him for now, Lois, this'll make the feeling of victory even better> "... =
bring me home-cooked meals for two weeks." <That's already good, let's =
play harmless first>

********************

Clark had lost twelve games of poker, and he didn't see what else he =
could bet. He already had to do her laundry for two months, her cooking =
for three years, wash her dishes for six years... At this rate he would =
have to live with her full-time to do so... which wasn't such an =
unpleasant prospect after all.

"Okay," Lois interrupted his train of thought. Now it was time for step =
two - stop the harmless part of the game. "I don't know what else you =
can bet now, except this shirt of yours." She paused, taking a few =
seconds to undress him with her eyes. "You know, I really like that =
shirt. How about if I win, you'll give it to me? I like your shirt," she =
gestured toward the denim garment to illustrate her point. <Yes, I like =
it - and what's beneath it,> she mentally added.

Clark sucked in his breath. What?! Had he *really* heard what he'd =
heard? She wanted him to bet his shirt? What *was* that? Strip-poker? =
Ah... maybe it was... No. That couldn't be, she couldn't be thinking =
about *that*... could she? As he watched her grinning but =
somewhat-short-of-confidence face, he began to have some doubts. What if =
she really was serious about this? What if it meant something more than =
just a way for them to occupy themselves? He wanted to find out. Even if =
it killed him. "Okay." he warily answered after an awkward silence =
during which Lois had done all she could to keep staring right at his =
face. "But if *I* win, you'll..." <you can't say *that*, Kent!... sure I =
can.> "... kiss me," he said daringly.=20

------------------------------------------------------
Kaethel on irc / Kaethel79  on AIM
kaethel@club-internet.fr
"I said nine I thought you'd be naked... er... ready!"

------=_NextPart_000_0323_01BFAFDF.47584C00
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV>NAKED TRUTH<BR>By Kaethel<BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:kaethel@club-internet.fr">kaethel@club-internet.fr</A><BR>=
Rated=20
PG-13</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Clark, I'm terribly bored." Lois slapped shut the magazine she'd =
been=20
flipping through without really reading it.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Her partner looked up from the surveillance equipment he'd been =
checking on=20
for the fifth time that night. "What is it, Lois? You don't find..." he =
cocked=20
his head to the side to read the headline of her magazine "... 'Spice up =
your=20
love life: 100 tips to seduce him' interesting?" he teased.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>She gave him a wrathful look. "This article is completely =
worthless," she=20
growled. "The woman who wrote that gives all the cliches, from the good =
ol'=20
strip-tease to the 'buy him a whip for his birthday' trick. The whole =
magazine=20
isn't worth anything, anyway. I'm sure it's not a good way to seduce =
your=20
lover."&nbsp; </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"I know what you mean, Lois, and I agree with you on the whip part. =
But the=20
strip-tease can be a good idea if you want to throw some fantasy in your =

relationship."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"It's not one of *your* secret fantasies, is it, Clark?" Lois =
grinned=20
smugly, wondering if she could embarrass her partner - who looked *so* =
adorable=20
when he was uncomfortably shifting like he was just now.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Well... I... no!" Clark tried to ignore his sudden interest in the =
scene=20
he had pictured in his mind: Lois, dancing in front of him - and only =
him - and=20
slowly and sensually peeling her clothes off, throwing them at him while =
moving=20
her body temptingly . He mentally slapped himself and ordered his brain =
to take=20
a cold shower.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"See? Told you they were writing stupid stuff. If I did a =
strip-tease in=20
front of you just now, you wouldn't be turned on at all," she said=20
mock-innocently, watching his every reaction from beneath her =
lashes.&nbsp;=20
</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Clark struggled, close to surrender. Make that a *freezing* shower. =
His=20
breathing began to be shallow and rough. Pearls of sweat appeared on his =

forehead.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Lois understood perfectly the trouble she was causing Clark, and =
she=20
purposefully ignored it. "I wonder if this stupid woman has ever met a =
*real*=20
man. You know what I think? I think you should write to her, tell her =
what=20
seduces you." </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&lt;Okay, Clark, calm down and think. Lois is up to something and I =
*know*=20
I don't like the looks of it.&gt; He took a deep breath and tried to get =
back=20
under control, to ignore the effect this woman could have on him.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Lois was struggling not to giggle. Her partner had the cutest =
confused look=20
she had ever seen on him. But she decided to give him a rest for a =
while, just=20
to allow him to catch his breath. Besides, she preferred not to push the =
game=20
too far, because she knew she was playing with fire here, that she =
shouldn't=20
tease him the way she was. She should remain the cold partner she'd =
always been=20
to him during the first months of their partnership. </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>But she'd come to realize Clark had found his way into her heart, =
and he'd=20
quickly become a real friend to her, someone she really cared about - =
maybe more=20
than she'd first imagined, she thought, remembering her distress when =
she'd=20
thought he was dead. </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>She shifted her attention back to the building they'd been watching =
from=20
the hotel-room and wondered if they'd come for anything at all. Maybe =
their=20
source had been wrong in assuming there would be a drug deal that night. =
"I=20
wonder why nothing's happening. Think they called it off?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"I don't know," Clark finally uttered, resurfacing from a =
near-drowning=20
state. "I think it might be a while before they show up, it's not even =
ten yet.=20
Maybe they set up a later meeting, so that they could be sure nobody =
would see=20
them..." Clark trailed off, realizing that Lois was once again lost in =
thought=20
and certainly not listening to what he was saying. "You're still bored, =
huh?" he=20
asked with a knowing smile.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Oh yeah, bored to death..." She sighed, wondering why they'd come =
here in=20
the first place. The atmosphere strangely reminded her of the previous =
stakeout=20
they'd had in a hotel room, when they'd been spying on the corrupt =
Senator=20
Harrison. &lt;Except that it was a luxurious suite in the most beautiful =
hotel=20
in town, with a Jacuzzi, satin sheets and a comfortable couch&gt; she =
corrected=20
with another heavy sigh. A sudden playful grin spread on her face and =
she=20
switched her attention back to her partner. "Clark, have you brought the =
cards=20
this time too?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Yes, why?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to play poker with me."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"I thought you never played on assignment."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Poker isn't about playing, it's about winning or losing."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"I'm not sure I see the difference."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Nevermind, give me your cards." </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>He complied and observed her as she shuffled and dealt them. Clark =
shook=20
his head. This woman would never cease to amaze him. But after all,=20
contradiction wasn't something that easily bothered Lois - and he loved =
her all=20
the more for that fact.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>After fifteen minutes of play, Clark was already losing badly. Lois =
took=20
one look at his frustrated face and took pity on him. "Clark, I know =
what you=20
need. You need motivation, something to make you want to win."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>He raised a doubtful eyebrow at her. "Lois, I don't have any money =
with=20
me."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"You mean you brought a set of cards but *not* your wallet?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Well, I... yeah," he admitted.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Oh-kay. We'll have to bet on other things, then."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Like what?" he asked warily. She had that look on her face that =
said she=20
was determined to get something, no matter the cost. The look of a cat =
ready to=20
pounce on a mouse. And he hated being the mouse.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"I don't know... stuff... things you'll do if you lose."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Ah, okay," he said, slightly reassured. "Feeling playful tonight, =
Lois?"=20
</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Maybe..." &lt;If you only knew, buddy!&gt;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&lt;Two can play this game.&gt; he thought. "So if I win, let's say =
you'll=20
come to my place tomorrow night. I'll be waiting for you, everything'll =
be=20
set..." he hesitated and observed her carefully. She didn't seem taken =
aback or=20
scared by what he was saying, much to his surprise, so he went on with a =
husky=20
voice "I'll be lying on my bed, so all you'll have to do is..." </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&lt;All I'll have to do is what?&gt; she thought wildly &lt;Jump on =
you?=20
Strip you? Kiss you all over?&gt;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"... do my laundry," he finished with a mischievous grin.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>She gasped. Now that was something that didn't fit too well with =
the=20
thoughts she'd been having just now. Laundry? Who did he think she was? =
His=20
wife?</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Clark was broadly smiling at her.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>She chuckled, deciding it was part of the game and it was only =
fair, after=20
all. "Okay," she said slowly. "And if *I* win, you'll..." &lt;Spare him =
for now,=20
Lois, this'll make the feeling of victory even better&gt; "... bring me=20
home-cooked meals for two weeks." &lt;That's already good, let's play =
harmless=20
first&gt;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><BR>********************</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Clark had lost twelve games of poker, and he didn't see what else =
he could=20
bet. He already had to do her laundry for two months, her cooking for =
three=20
years, wash her dishes for six years... At this rate he would have to =
live with=20
her full-time to do so... which wasn't such an unpleasant prospect after =

all.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Okay," Lois interrupted his train of thought. Now it was time for =
step two=20
- stop the harmless part of the game. "I don't know what else you can =
bet now,=20
except this shirt of yours." She paused, taking a few seconds to undress =
him=20
with her eyes. "You know, I really like that shirt. How about if I win, =
you'll=20
give it to me? I like your shirt," she gestured toward the denim garment =
to=20
illustrate her point. &lt;Yes, I like it - and what's beneath it,&gt; =
she=20
mentally added.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Clark sucked in his breath. What?! Had he *really* heard what he'd =
heard?=20
She wanted him to bet his shirt? What *was* that? Strip-poker? Ah... =
maybe it=20
was... No. That couldn't be, she couldn't be thinking about *that*... =
could she?=20
As he watched her grinning but somewhat-short-of-confidence face, he =
began to=20
have some doubts. What if she really was serious about this? What if it =
meant=20
something more than just a way for them to occupy themselves? He wanted =
to find=20
out. Even if it killed him. "Okay." he warily answered after an awkward =
silence=20
during which Lois had done all she could to keep staring right at his =
face. "But=20
if *I* win, you'll..." &lt;you can't say *that*, Kent!... sure I =
can.&gt; "...=20
kiss me," he said daringly. </DIV>
<DIV><BR>------------------------------------------------------<BR>Kaethe=
l on=20
irc / Kaethel79&nbsp; on AIM<BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:kaethel@club-internet.fr">kaethel@club-internet.fr</A><BR>=
"I said=20
nine I thought you'd be naked... er... ready!"</DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_0323_01BFAFDF.47584C00--
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:27:11 +0200
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Kaethel <kaethel@CLUB-INTERNET.FR>
Subject:      New Story: Naked Truth (2/2)
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The playful grin disappeared off Lois's face to be replaced by a blank =
expression. It was her turn to be embarrassed . That was practically a =
declaration. <Well, isn't it what you were looking for?> her little =
nagging voice enquired dryly. <No, no, no, don't start imagining things, =
Lois. Take a deep breath - make that two breaths - where's the risk, =
anyway? He's a lousy player, you'll win, he'll have to take off his =
shirt.> "It's a deal," she finally said, forcing the grin to reappear on =
her face.=20

Clark was delighted - and suddenly very worried. What if he won? Or =
worse, what if he lost? His palms were beginning to sweat and he had =
difficulty concentrating on the game. If he won, she would kiss him, but =
he wasn't sure he'd be able to stay in control and keep the kiss just =
friendly. And if he lost, he'd be half-naked in front of her, which =
would make feel him very vulnerable. He wouldn't feel comfortable and...

"Clark, it's your turn to play," Lois interrupted his reverie.

They played on and he lost again. Lois smiled broadly. "Give me your =
shirt, buddy!"

"Do you want it now?" he asked reluctantly.

She rolled her eyes. "No, you'll just give it to me next year... of =
course, I want it now. Tomorrow you'll have forgotten and you won't give =
it to me."

<How could I *ever* forget that? Even in fifty years I'll remember this =
moment.> He began to unbutton his shirt, slowly, revealing another piece =
of naked flesh with each second that passed.

Lois's breathing accelerated. The silence in the room was unbearable, =
the air was suddenly hot and moist, and she was feeling a lot warmer =
than a few minutes before. One last button and he peeled it off, handing =
it to her matter-of-factly. She couldn't help but gasp at the sight of =
his perfect body, and she absently took the shirt while her eyes traced =
a path from his shoulders  down to his nipples and firm belly muscles =
while unconsciously pressing Clark's shirt to her breasts.

Clark was looking at her, a concerned look on his face. "Lois?" he =
hesitantly asked "Are you feeling okay?"

"Never better," she whispered huskily, still not taking her eyes off his =
chest. This guy had the finest male figure she'd ever seen. <Clark, why =
are you hiding beneath a suit?> He could walk into the office =
stark-naked and she wouldn't mind - if she survived the sight. She shook =
her head to try and get back some composure. "Okay, where were we?"

"What's your next bet?"

"Your pants."

"My WHAT?!"

Lois slapped her hand on her mouth and opened her eyes wide, realizing =
she'd been speaking out loud. "That is... if you want. It's just a game, =
Clark, and you've got nothing else to bet. If you want, we can play =
another game, or just forget about the bets, or we can just concentrate =
on the stakeout and get bored."=20

"You actually want to play strip-poker with me?" Clark asked doubtfully.

"Yes. I mean no. I mean yes. I mean if you want. It's just something to =
keep us occupied."

"Okay." He grinned.

"Okay." She smiled back, slightly calming down.

"So, in that case, I'm going to bet on your t-shirt."

"My t-shirt, mmm, mmm... my t-shirt?"

"My pants against your t-shirt, fair enough?" This could actually be =
fun, Lois was trapped by her own trickery. Plus, if she wanted to play =
such games with him, that probably meant she thought of him as more than =
her best friend - or was she just attracted to his body? No, that wasn't =
like Lois... or, was it? But the teeny tiny part of his brain that told =
him to run away as fast as he could was overwhelmed by his eagerness at =
the chance to finally become more than a friend to her. He put all =
thoughts of running away aside and concentrated on the game instead.

But once again, he lost... and had to take off his pants, which was =
making him rather uncomfortable. *Really* uncomfortable.

"Get up, big guy!" Lois laughed nervously.

He obeyed and reluctantly fumbled with his belt. Lois's gaze darkened in =
anticipation, but he suddenly stopped, looking down at her. "What if you =
did it yourself, Lois?" he playfully asked, knowing full well that she =
would feel outraged and call it off, which would save him - if he could =
still be saved.

But she didn't yell. Nor did she say a word. She just got up and stood =
very close to him, forcing herself to look into his eyes as she =
unfastened his belt and unbuttoned his pants, which fell to his feet.=20

Clark was dazed. The only things he was aware of were her lips and the =
sudden urge he felt to forget about everything and give in to the =
temptation of kissing her.=20

But she pulled away before he had the chance to do it and she sat back =
on the floor without saying anything. He sat back down in front of her, =
missing the fact that her hands were trembling. =20

"So, you only have your boxers left, but I know you won't take those =
off, so I'm going to bet on your glasses."=20

"My..." he trailed off, an appalled look suddenly crossing his face. =
<I'd almost rather take off my boxers than my glasses.>

"Yes, your glasses, you know, those things that are constantly on your =
face!"

"But..."

"Your glasses are no big deal, Clark."

"Lois, maybe we should just..." <just what? Call it off? Kent, are you =
*insane?* The woman you love wants to see you naked, and that's one of =
the most exciting things you've ever done, if not *the* most exciting =
thing.>

"Maybe we should just what?"

"Nothing. Okay, my glasses." <Not your glasses, you idiot!> "And if I =
win..."

"Clark, you won't win."

"I said, if *I* win..." <your only solution is to spoil her =
concentration, come on, say it!> "... you'll take all your clothes off."

She gasped in surprise at Clark's sudden boldness and paused for a few =
seconds, trying to decide if she liked that. This had all started as a =
game, and it had stayed that way as long as she'd been in control. But =
now that Clark was playing with her nerves as much as she was playing =
with his; this was turning more into a seduction. <And? Isn't it about =
time? Maybe it would be a good idea to start admitting there's something =
more than friendship here.> Okay, she could do that. Maybe it would lead =
them to talk. They had let things wear off after Clark had gone back on =
his declaration of love, but now she was pretty sure he'd been lying =
back then. A slow but timid smile crept up on her face. "So you want me =
to strip, huh? That's been on your mind from the beginning, hasn't it?"

"Yup," he answered with a mischievous grin while trying to hide the =
flush that was creeping up his face.

"Your glasses against my clothes, don't you think it's a bit... unfairly =
matched?" she asked, another wave of worry washing over her.

"Nope, but like you said, I won't win."

"True... okay, let's play," she said, dealing the cards, more to =
distract herself from the worry in her than for the actual purpose of =
playing.

And much to her relief, she won again. But as she looked up, Clark was =
so pale she thought he was about to faint. She rushed on his side. =
"Clark, are you okay? Are you feeling dizzy? Do you have hypoglycemia? =
Maybe I've got some sugar in my purse, let me look..."

He looked up at her, and, on impulse, reached up and kissed her. She =
kissed him back, letting months of pent-up passion overwhelm her. After =
a few intense minutes, he shifted, scooped her up and gently deposited =
her on the bed before laying atop her to continue what they had begun on =
the floor.

But she put her hand on his chest, stopping him. "Clark, take your =
glasses off, you can't cheat."

He tensed.

"Don't be afraid, Clark, I won't hurt you," she added, reaching up to =
take them off his face. "See, it wasn't that difficult. You could have =
done that sooner, it would have been a lot easier. I wouldn't have =
yelled at you. Naked truth sure is better."=20

"You *know?*"

She just smiled and kissed him. Her Clark... her own private Superman... =
And he was a lot better at that than at playing poker...

THE END <eg>

------------------------------------------------------
Kaethel on irc / Kaethel79  on AIM
kaethel@club-internet.fr
"I said nine I thought you'd be naked... er... ready!"

------=_NextPart_000_0329_01BFAFDF.54817000
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<DIV>The playful grin disappeared off Lois's face to be replaced by a =
blank=20
expression. It was her turn to be embarrassed . That was practically a=20
declaration. &lt;Well, isn't it what you were looking for?&gt; her =
little=20
nagging voice enquired dryly. &lt;No, no, no, don't start imagining =
things,=20
Lois. Take a deep breath - make that two breaths - where's the risk, =
anyway?=20
He's a lousy player, you'll win, he'll have to take off his shirt.&gt; =
"It's a=20
deal," she finally said, forcing the grin to reappear on her face. =
</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Clark was delighted - and suddenly very worried. What if he won? Or =
worse,=20
what if he lost? His palms were beginning to sweat and he had difficulty =

concentrating on the game. If he won, she would kiss him, but he wasn't =
sure=20
he'd be able to stay in control and keep the kiss just friendly. And if =
he lost,=20
he'd be half-naked in front of her, which would make feel him very =
vulnerable.=20
He wouldn't feel comfortable and...</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Clark, it's your turn to play," Lois interrupted his =
reverie.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>They played on and he lost again. Lois smiled broadly. "Give me =
your shirt,=20
buddy!"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Do you want it now?" he asked reluctantly.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>She rolled her eyes. "No, you'll just give it to me next year... of =
course,=20
I want it now. Tomorrow you'll have forgotten and you won't give it to=20
me."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&lt;How could I *ever* forget that? Even in fifty years I'll =
remember this=20
moment.&gt; He began to unbutton his shirt, slowly, revealing another =
piece of=20
naked flesh with each second that passed.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Lois's breathing accelerated. The silence in the room was =
unbearable, the=20
air was suddenly hot and moist, and she was feeling a lot warmer than a =
few=20
minutes before. One last button and he peeled it off, handing it to her=20
matter-of-factly. She couldn't help but gasp at the sight of his perfect =
body,=20
and she absently took the shirt while her eyes traced a path from his=20
shoulders&nbsp; down to his nipples and firm belly muscles while =
unconsciously=20
pressing Clark's shirt to her breasts.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Clark was looking at her, a concerned look on his face. "Lois?" he=20
hesitantly asked "Are you feeling okay?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Never better," she whispered huskily, still not taking her eyes =
off his=20
chest. This guy had the finest male figure she'd ever seen. &lt;Clark, =
why are=20
you hiding beneath a suit?&gt; He could walk into the office stark-naked =
and she=20
wouldn't mind - if she survived the sight. She shook her head to try and =
get=20
back some composure. "Okay, where were we?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"What's your next bet?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Your pants."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"My WHAT?!"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Lois slapped her hand on her mouth and opened her eyes wide, =
realizing=20
she'd been speaking out loud. "That is... if you want. It's just a game, =
Clark,=20
and you've got nothing else to bet. If you want, we can play another =
game, or=20
just forget about the bets, or we can just concentrate on the stakeout =
and get=20
bored." </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"You actually want to play strip-poker with me?" Clark asked=20
doubtfully.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Yes. I mean no. I mean yes. I mean if you want. It's just =
something to=20
keep us occupied."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Okay." He grinned.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Okay." She smiled back, slightly calming down.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"So, in that case, I'm going to bet on your t-shirt."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"My t-shirt, mmm, mmm... my t-shirt?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"My pants against your t-shirt, fair enough?" This could actually =
be fun,=20
Lois was trapped by her own trickery. Plus, if she wanted to play such =
games=20
with him, that probably meant she thought of him as more than her best =
friend -=20
or was she just attracted to his body? No, that wasn't like Lois... or, =
was it?=20
But the teeny tiny part of his brain that told him to run away as fast =
as he=20
could was overwhelmed by his eagerness at the chance to finally become =
more than=20
a friend to her. He put all thoughts of running away aside and =
concentrated on=20
the game instead.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>But once again, he lost... and had to take off his pants, which was =
making=20
him rather uncomfortable. *Really* uncomfortable.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Get up, big guy!" Lois laughed nervously.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>He obeyed and reluctantly fumbled with his belt. Lois's gaze =
darkened in=20
anticipation, but he suddenly stopped, looking down at her. "What if you =
did it=20
yourself, Lois?" he playfully asked, knowing full well that she would =
feel=20
outraged and call it off, which would save him - if he could still be=20
saved.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>But she didn't yell. Nor did she say a word. She just got up and =
stood very=20
close to him, forcing herself to look into his eyes as she unfastened =
his belt=20
and unbuttoned his pants, which fell to his feet. </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Clark was dazed. The only things he was aware of were her lips and =
the=20
sudden urge he felt to forget about everything and give in to the =
temptation of=20
kissing her. </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>But she pulled away before he had the chance to do it and she sat =
back on=20
the floor without saying anything. He sat back down in front of her, =
missing the=20
fact that her hands were trembling.&nbsp; </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"So, you only have your boxers left, but I know you won't take =
those off,=20
so I'm going to bet on your glasses." </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"My..." he trailed off, an appalled look suddenly crossing his =
face.=20
&lt;I'd almost rather take off my boxers than my glasses.&gt;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Yes, your glasses, you know, those things that are constantly on =
your=20
face!"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"But..."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Your glasses are no big deal, Clark."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Lois, maybe we should just..." &lt;just what? Call it off? Kent, =
are you=20
*insane?* The woman you love wants to see you naked, and that's one of =
the most=20
exciting things you've ever done, if not *the* most exciting =
thing.&gt;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Maybe we should just what?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Nothing. Okay, my glasses." &lt;Not your glasses, you idiot!&gt; =
"And if I=20
win..."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Clark, you won't win."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"I said, if *I* win..." &lt;your only solution is to spoil her=20
concentration, come on, say it!&gt; "... you'll take all your clothes=20
off."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>She gasped in surprise at Clark's sudden boldness and paused for a =
few=20
seconds, trying to decide if she liked that. This had all started as a =
game, and=20
it had stayed that way as long as she'd been in control. But now that =
Clark was=20
playing with her nerves as much as she was playing with his; this was =
turning=20
more into a seduction. &lt;And? Isn't it about time? Maybe it would be a =
good=20
idea to start admitting there's something more than friendship here.&gt; =
Okay,=20
she could do that. Maybe it would lead them to talk. They had let things =
wear=20
off after Clark had gone back on his declaration of love, but now she =
was pretty=20
sure he'd been lying back then. A slow but timid smile crept up on her =
face. "So=20
you want me to strip, huh? That's been on your mind from the beginning, =
hasn't=20
it?"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Yup," he answered with a mischievous grin while trying to hide the =
flush=20
that was creeping up his face.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Your glasses against my clothes, don't you think it's a bit... =
unfairly=20
matched?" she asked, another wave of worry washing over her.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Nope, but like you said, I won't win."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"True... okay, let's play," she said, dealing the cards, more to =
distract=20
herself from the worry in her than for the actual purpose of =
playing.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>And much to her relief, she won again. But as she looked up, Clark =
was so=20
pale she thought he was about to faint. She rushed on his side. "Clark, =
are you=20
okay? Are you feeling dizzy? Do you have hypoglycemia? Maybe I've got =
some sugar=20
in my purse, let me look..."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>He looked up at her, and, on impulse, reached up and kissed her. =
She kissed=20
him back, letting months of pent-up passion overwhelm her. After a few =
intense=20
minutes, he shifted, scooped her up and gently deposited her on the bed =
before=20
laying atop her to continue what they had begun on the floor.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>But she put her hand on his chest, stopping him. "Clark, take your =
glasses=20
off, you can't cheat."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>He tensed.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"Don't be afraid, Clark, I won't hurt you," she added, reaching up =
to take=20
them off his face. "See, it wasn't that difficult. You could have done =
that=20
sooner, it would have been a lot easier. I wouldn't have yelled at you. =
Naked=20
truth sure is better." </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>"You *know?*"</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>She just smiled and kissed him. Her Clark... her own private =
Superman...=20
And he was a lot better at that than at playing poker...</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>THE END=20
&lt;eg&gt;<BR><BR>------------------------------------------------------<=
BR>Kaethel=20
on irc / Kaethel79&nbsp; on AIM<BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:kaethel@club-internet.fr">kaethel@club-internet.fr</A><BR>=
"I said=20
nine I thought you'd be naked... er... ready!"</DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_0329_01BFAFDF.54817000--
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 18:51:25 -0400
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Genevieve <nightsky@EROLS.COM>
Subject:      Re: From Personal Address (was RE: Sincere Apology)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Lori Llorence wrote:
>
> Christy,
> When I hit REPLY on yours just now, it gave me your personal e-mail.  So
did
> Molly's!!   I had to change it to the list address!  I'm so confused!! :)
>

Unlike you, I usually reply only to the sender, not the whole list,
especially if it's my comments on their fanfic.  And as someone who has
embarrassed myself thoroughly (more than once!) by sending private posts
to the entire list, I definitely appreciate the way the reponse function
on this list is set up.

When you want to respond to the whole list, try "Reply All" instead of
just reply.  You can then delete the individual's address if you need
to.  (Otherwise the individual gets two copies of your response, which
is not necessarily a bad thing.)

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Genevieve
<mailto:NightSky@erols.com> <http://users.erols.com/nightsky/>

The World Wide Web has made it possible for anyone to find in five
hours what a competent librarian can find in five minutes. :-)
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 18:48:21 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         SUBSCRIBE Lab Rat <labrat@CABLEINET.CO.UK>
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (2/2)

Wonderful, Helene. Waffy, sweet, cute and funny with some nice touches on
characterisation. What more could you want? Brava!

More! (Just decided what more I could want. <G>)

LabRat :)
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 19:48:28 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Amy Lauters <alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU>
Subject:      New Fic: Time Elapsed (4/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

 ***

 Lois greeted her sister with a hug. "Hey, Luce," she said.

 "Hey, yourself," Lucy said, releasing Lois and drawing back to look her in
the eye. "How's mom?"

 "Still hanging in there," Lois responded with more than a trace of concern.
"Dr. Waters came by a little bit ago and told us the next 24 hours will be
crucial."

 "Where's Dad?" Lucy looked around the battered waiting room.

 "He went to get some coffee," Lois said. "He's not dealing with this well."

 Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Really? Somehow, that surprises me."

 "Lucy, he's really tried to make an effort the last few years," Lois gently
chided her sister. "He and Mother, well, they've been seeing each other
again."

 Lucy shrugged. "Well, good for them, I guess. I hope he treats her better
this time around."

 "So do I," Lois said softly. "And I hope he gets the chance."

 "We all do, honey," Clark chimed in, putting an arm around her shoulders.
Clearing his throat, he added, "Lucy and I have something to tell you,
 Lois."

 Lois whirled around to look at him. "You and Lucy have something - well?
What is it?"

 "Let's just say I figured out he has a second job - and you did find your
'super' guy," Lucy said, her eye on the nurses' station just outside the
door to the waiting room.

 "You told her?" Lois hissed.

 "No, she figured it out," Clark said reasonably. "I didn't think there was
any point to denying it."

 "You didn't think, period," Lois railed.

 "Lois, you know I can be trusted," Lucy said quietly. "Don't you?"

 Lois looked at her sister for one long moment, then sighed. "Of course I
do, Luce. You were the only one I trusted for such a long time. Of course I
trust you. I just - it's just - well -"

 "-it's dangerous," Lucy finished. "I know. But don't worry."

 "Lucy!" Sam exclaimed as he walked into the room. He carried two steaming
Styrofoam cups to a nearby table, then enveloped his youngest daughter in a
hug. "I'm so glad you're here."

 "Again with the surprises," Lucy said as she gingerly returned her father's
embrace.

 Sam ignored the snide comment. "It's good to see you, kitten."

 "I wish I could say the same, under better circumstances," Lucy said. "You'
ve looked better." Looking at Sam, Lucy suddenly remembered her father was
more than sixty years old. And tonight, he wore every year - and then some -
on his face. She pulled him back into a hug. "She'll be all right, Daddy,"
she whispered.

 "Thanks, kitten," Sam buried his face in his daughter's dark hair, then
straightened up. "Well," he said heartily. "Together again. For the first
time in a long time."

 "Except for mother," Lucy said. "What can you tell me, Daddy?"

 Sam sat down, and Clark, Lucy and Lois took seats nearby. "From what I can
tell, her skull was fractured and the brain damaged in areas that affect
motor skills and speech. It's not as bad as the doctors first feared, but
she's still critical." He looked directly at Lois. "Her BAC was .2."

 "That's twice the legal limit!" Lois jumped up.

 "Yeah," Sam rubbed a hand over his face.

 "Superman told me he smelled bourbon at the scene," Clark said. Lucy gave
him the ghost of a smile.

 "Bourbon?" Sam asked. "But Ellen doesn't drink bourbon."

 "No," Lois said thoughtfully. "When we were teens, she drank vodka. Drowned
it in orange juice, but that was her drink of choice."

 Lucy leaned forward. "But, after you left the house, Lois, she drank
whatever she could get her hands on. Whiskey, brandy - I never knew what I'd
find her with when I got home from school. She was always passed out, with
some bottle in her hand." She massaged her temples. "It wasn't always
 vodka."

 "If she started drinking again, would she have picked up where she left
off? Or relied on an old favorite?" Clark asked. "I think that's a question
we need to find an answer to."

 "We also need to know why she started drinking again," Lois said. She
turned to Sam. "Daddy, I need to talk to you about the last few weeks. I
need you to remember something, anything, that can help us figure that out."

 "He's not going to be much help to you in the shape he's in," Lucy pointed
out. "And you're not going to make much sense of what he's saying, either,
in the shape you're in, Lois." Lucy stood up. "Both of you go home, get some
sleep. I'll stay here with Mom."

 "We can't leave you here by yourself," Sam protested.

 "Of course you can," Lucy said. "Look, I'm here. Take advantage of that. I'
m still on California time. Take advantage of that, too. You guys go, catch
some sleep, and Daddy, you come relieve me in the morning."

 Lois sighed. "Daddy, she's right. You'll be no good to us if you don't get
some rest."

 Weary, he looked from one daughter to the other. "I know when I'm beaten,"
Sam mumbled.

 Clark jumped in. "Why don't you come home with us? We'll put you up in our
spare room, and that way, we can all get an early start in the morning."

 "Fine," Sam said. "Lucy, are you sure?"

 "I'm sure, Daddy," she replied. "When is her next visitation?"

 Sam checked his watch. "In twenty minutes."

 "All right." Lucy grabbed her duffle bag and started making herself
comfortable on one of the stained brown sofas. "See you guys in the
 morning."

 "Lucy, if you need anything, holler, OK?" Clark asked.

 "I will," she said with a twinkle.

***
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 17:49:11 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         creolel <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology and personal address
MIME-Version: 1.0

Hi Irene and Genevieve,

Thanks for the reply, I thought that would work too, but when I click REPLY
TO ALL, it
shows your e-mails and my personal e-mail in the TO field-not the lists!!!
Anymore
suggestions? <g>

Lori (the confusion only gets worse!!) :)

-----Original Message-----
From: Irene D. [mailto:sirenegold@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2000 8:10 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: Re: Sincere Apology

Lori,

What you might try is the 'Reply All' key.  If the msg
went to the list, your reply should end up cc'd or
bcc'd back to the list.  The only downside is the
originating person might get two identical msgs from
you.

Irene

--- Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET> wrote:
> Molly,
>
> Thanks, I KNEW I wasn't going crazy!!!  What you
> described, is my problem!!!
> I was trying to explain it, but it ALWAYS does this
> to me.  When I click on
> reply, it ALWAYS puts the persons personal address
> in the TO section instead
> of LOISCLA-GEN... no matter where the message is
> coming from.  This ALWAYS
> happens to me.  That is why when I hit reply  I
> always go back and change it
> so that it gets sent to the list.  This is where I
> got myself into trouble.
> I know when I comment on a story that I want it to
> go to the list, so I put
> the LOISCLA-GEN... in the TO field.  Well last week,
> people sent me personal
> e-mails, and I didn't know they were personal, so
> when I replied, it pulled
> up their personal names in the TO field like always,
> and I changed it to the
> list address!  OK so this is my problem.  Even when
> someone sends me
> something that was sent to the entire list, when I
> hit reply their personal
> address comes up in the TO field instead of the list
> address.  Does anyone
> know how to fix this.  I cannot tell when I get a
> message whether it is
> coming from someone as a personal message, or
> whether it went to the entire
> list!!  Can anyone help me? Or did that even make
> sense? <g>  I don't think
> there is anything wrong with yours Molly-I think its
> me!!  HELP!!  :)
>
> Lori (who just checked to make sure Molly's message
> went to the entire list,
> and not just to me!! :)
>
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 20:24:36 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Pat <peabody@MCS.COM>
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (2/2)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

LabRat wrote:

> Wonderful, Helene. Waffy, sweet, cute and funny with some nice
touches on
> characterisation. What more could you want? Brava!

Absolutely!  This was *almost* as good as finding a never before
watched scene of L&C.  Your characterisation and dialog was so
perfect, I could even picture the expressions on Teri and Dean's
faces.  The teasing was absolutely on target for second season Lois
and Clark; my favorite season for the show and for fanfic.  Thanks for
reminding me why I loved L&C so much!

> More! (Just decided what more I could want. <G>)
>
> LabRat :)

If she gives us any more, Labby, she's going to have to move the story
to the nfic list! <beg>

Pat

peabody@mcs.com
pattijean@aol.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 22:25:16 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Kathy Brown <KathyBrown91@HOME.COM>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

  Lori, when you receive mail from the listserv, each piece of mail should
have
  headers that identify it as list mail.  While the "From" field will be
that
  of the poster, the listserv address will appear as well.

  For example:

  Date:         <date>
  Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
                <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@ LISTSERV .INDIANA.EDU>
  Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
                <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@ LISTSERV .INDIANA.EDU>
  From:         Kathy Brown <kathybrown91@HOME.COM>
  Subject:      Re: <subject>
  To:           LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@ LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU

  The date and subject field (and From) would be filled in accordingly, but
the
  rest should be the same for each post.  Take a look at your list posts
from
  today. Do they have this information?  If not, check to see if your email
  program is set to suppress them somehow.  The information is there; you
just
  need to look at it to see who the post is from.

  Another thing to look into is whether your email program allows you to
filter
  or sort your email.  If you set your program to automatically filter all
your
  listserv mail into a special mailbox, you'll always be able to tell
exactly
  where the post came from.

  If it turns out that, for some reason, you truly can't figure out the
  difference between personal mail and list mail, then you'll need to start
  reading the list mail via the website.  That way, you'll know exactly what
  messages are listmail.

  Kathy
  LIST MOM

--
______________________
Kathy Brown
kathybrown91@home.com
kathyb@lcfanfic.com
KathyB on IRC
______________________
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 21:46:19 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Kathy,

Thank you for trying to help.  As of right now I am in the process of trying
to figure this whole thing out.  I am going over everything tonight to see
if I am doing something wrong!!  The lists posts that I received today are
not showing all of that information, so maybe it is disabled somehow?  For
some reason I can only see the DATE, FROM, TO, CC and SUBJECT fields.  No
REPLY TO or SENDER fields are present.  When I hit reply on this message
Kathy, it brought up your personal e-mail address, and I know that you sent
this to the entire list, because I checked!  I am using Microsoft Outlook,
and maybe there is someone else out there that is using this same e-mail
program that can give me some tips?

Thanks again,
Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: Kathy Brown [mailto:KathyBrown91@HOME.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2000 1:25 PM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: Re: Sincere Apology

  Lori, when you receive mail from the listserv, each piece of mail should
have
  headers that identify it as list mail.  While the "From" field will be
that
  of the poster, the listserv address will appear as well.

  For example:

  Date:         <date>
  Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
                <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@ LISTSERV .INDIANA.EDU>
  Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
                <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@ LISTSERV .INDIANA.EDU>
  From:         Kathy Brown <kathybrown91@HOME.COM>
  Subject:      Re: <subject>
  To:           LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@ LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU

  The date and subject field (and From) would be filled in accordingly, but
the
  rest should be the same for each post.  Take a look at your list posts
from
  today. Do they have this information?  If not, check to see if your email
  program is set to suppress them somehow.  The information is there; you
just
  need to look at it to see who the post is from.

  Another thing to look into is whether your email program allows you to
filter
  or sort your email.  If you set your program to automatically filter all
your
  listserv mail into a special mailbox, you'll always be able to tell
exactly
  where the post came from.

  If it turns out that, for some reason, you truly can't figure out the
  difference between personal mail and list mail, then you'll need to start
  reading the list mail via the website.  That way, you'll know exactly what
  messages are listmail.

  Kathy
  LIST MOM

--
______________________
Kathy Brown
kathybrown91@home.com
kathyb@lcfanfic.com
KathyB on IRC
______________________
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 02:58:05 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "Alexis W." <LoisLane9397@AOL.COM>
Subject:      The Naked Truth
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

WoW...i really liked this story!  Let's just say my temperature in my
bedroom
rised a few notches as i continued to read!  i sure wish this story had been
made into an ep! I don't think i would of been able to peel myself off the
floor, but it would of been all worth it! LOL!  I love the title too! Very
appropiate! <VBEG>

Alexis ;-.)

"Who's the new tight end?" (Cat Grant)
"Why don't you throw your usual forward pass and find out?" (Lois)
{LnC, Pilot}
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 08:35:17 +0100
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Phillip Atcliffe <Phillip.Atcliffe@UWE.AC.UK>
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (2/2)
In-Reply-To:  <003a01bfafe7$5abe7280$725ffdcd@pavilion>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII

On Wed, 26 Apr 2000 20:24:36 -0500 Pat <peabody@MCS.COM> wrote:

Quoting the LabRat:
>> More! (Just decided what more I could want. <G>) <<

> If she gives us any more, Labby, she's going to have to move the
story to the nfic list! <beg> <

And this is a _bad_ thing? <g>

Phil
------------------------------------------------------------
"Sic Transit Gloria Barramundi"
   (Or, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!)
   -- not Douglas Adams, but me: Phil Atcliffe
                         (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk)
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 04:38:36 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         No Name Available <Larus2407@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Sincere Apology
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

This is quite interesting. On Kathy's message the reply to is listed as the
list, but on Lori's response that field is listed with Lori's address, so
when I hit the "reply to" button I get different responses. I always
wondered
why some mail worked one way and some the other and it seems that's the case
from the same listserv! Since I'm sure AOL has no way of adjusting this, I
have to assume the difference lies somewhere in how your messages get to the
list...

--Laurie
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 11:06:59 +0100
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Wendy Richards <w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK>
Subject:      OT: Viewing mail under Outlook
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Lori (and anyone else who may find this useful):

I also use MS Outlook Express to read mail, and no, I don't get the same set
of headers as Kathy does. But try this:

Instead of reading mail in the window at the bottom of the screen, try
clicking on each message as you read it: that way, the message will appear
in a separate window. When you do that, you will see, in the grey area at
the top of the window:

FROM:
DATE:
TO:
SUBJECT:

When I get listmail - and that goes for mail from you as well as from
everyone else on the list - the FROM field has your name in it. The TO
field, on the other hand, has the *list address* in it. That way I know it's
not personal mail to me, but mail to the list.

(And yes, when I clicked reply on *your* message, the TO field brought up
your private address, but when I did the same on Kathy's, it brought up the
list address).

Actually, I've only been using Outlook at this address for a couple of
weeks, and my previous - prehistoric <g> - mailer used to give me two 'FROM'
fields at the top of the email, one of which was REPLY-TO, as Kathy
indicated.

Hope this helps!

Wendy
--------------------------
Wendy Richards
w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 11:16:19 +0100
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Wendy Richards <w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK>
Subject:      Re: New Fic: Time Elapsed (4/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hey Amy!

I'm really enjoying this - you're handling the emotions very well, and the
interpersonal relationships and coping strategies are very credible.
Remembering Night Terrors, I have a sneaking suspicion where you might be
going with this, but at the moment I'm very happy to buckle in for the ride!

Just one tiny point: you've used the acronym BAC a couple of times. I
suppose it's common currency in the US? I had to stop and think both times I
saw it; over here, we'd tend to refer to the 'blood-alcohol level,' and if
there is a medical/forensic abbreviation, it's not in common usage. Okay,
Sam's a doctor and I imagine he *would* use medical abbreviations, but
perhaps the first time you use the acronym you could explain it for us
non-US ignoramuses. <g> You could turn it into a piece of dialogue - have
someone look puzzled, and another character spell out the phrase in full.

Looking forward to more!

Wendy

--------------------------
Wendy Richards
w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 11:28:22 +0100
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Wendy Richards <w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK>
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (2/2)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
              boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0394_01BFB03B.B215DEC0"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_0394_01BFB03B.B215DEC0
Content-Type: text/plain;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Helene, wow!!!!!

This was fantastic!!!

You've been mentioning this story to me in passing for a while, but I =
had no idea it was this good! Wonderfully funny, sexy, so well written, =
and you built the tension up just perfectly, with just enough light =
relief along the way to make me smile but keep me waiting to see what =
would happen next.

s
p
o
i
l
e
r

s
p
a
c
e

There were so many lines I loved in the story, but this one made me =
laugh most:

>>>I'd almost rather take off my boxers than my glasses<<<

I love the way you ended it as well; I'll treat it as a fantasy, since =
I'm not entirely sure Clark would be so bold as to carry her to bed and =
start making love to her - but it's a great fantasy, and so well =
written. I love the low-key revelation, and his shocked response.

And yes, you could write more without taking it to the nfic list - =
they've got to talk, after all! How did she find out? How does he feel =
about her knowing? Where do they go from here?

(Though, of course, if you did want to take it to the nfic list, I =
wouldn't complain...!)

Now, I want to see more from you!

Wendy

--------------------------
Wendy Richards
w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk

--------------------------
Wendy Richards
w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk

------=_NextPart_000_0394_01BFB03B.B215DEC0
Content-Type: text/html;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Helene, <EM>wow!!!!!</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>This was =
<EM>fantastic!!!</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>You've been mentioning this story to me =
in passing=20
for a while, but I had no idea it was this good! Wonderfully funny, =
sexy, so=20
well written, and you built the tension up just perfectly, with just =
enough=20
light relief along the way to make me smile but keep me waiting to see =
what=20
would happen next.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>s</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>p</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>o</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>i</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>l</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>e</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>r</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>s</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>p</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>a</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>c</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>e</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>There were so many lines I loved in the =
story, but=20
this one made me laugh most:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>&gt;&gt;&gt;I'd almost rather take off =
my boxers=20
than my glasses&lt;&lt;&lt;</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I love the way you ended it as well; =
I'll treat it=20
as a fantasy, since I'm not entirely sure Clark would be so bold as to =
carry her=20
to bed and start making love to her - but it's a great fantasy, and so =
well=20
written. I love the low-key revelation, and his shocked =
response.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>And yes, you could write more without =
taking it to=20
the nfic list - they've got to talk, after all! How did she find out? =
How does=20
he feel about her knowing? Where do they go from here?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>(Though, of course, if you <EM>did</EM> =
want to=20
take it to the nfic list, I wouldn't complain...!)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Now, I want to see more from =
you!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Wendy</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>--------------------------<BR>Wendy =
Richards<BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk">w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk=
</A><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>--------------------------<BR>Wendy Richards<BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk">w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk=
</A><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_0394_01BFB03B.B215DEC0--
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 06:35:13 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "C.C. Malo" <Ccmalo@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Naked Truth
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Helene,

A fun & waffy interlude. :).   Love the way it escalated into more than just
a game.

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

SPACE

I especialy like this line about Clark's shirt -- << "No, you'll just give
it
to me next year... of course, I want it now.>>  Very funny and also so
symbloic of Season 3 . <g>

& this line, too <<"Yes. I mean no. I mean yes. I mean if you want. It's
just
something to keep us occupied.">>

You built the tension so nicely. :)

Carol
=========================================================================
Date:         Wed, 26 Apr 2000 19:42:57 -0600
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Debby <Debby@SWCP.COM>
Subject:      Re: NFic List
In-Reply-To:  <020d01bfafc9$fc0904c0$24c5883e@default>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

At 10:53 PM 04/26/2000 +0100, you wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> Later I've heard talk of NFic lists and a NFic archive.  I'd love to
> subscribe to these but I don't know how.  I would appreciate it if someone
> could give me a gentle shove in the right direction.  (I'm over 18).
>
> Thanks
> Marianne.
>
> PS  Whilst I'm timidly stepping out of lurkdom, I want to express my
> amazement at the sheer amount of fabulous FOLC talent out there.  Please,
> please, please keep writting.  I enjoy every story posted.
>

To join the hand-run L&C Nfanfic list (as opposed to the computerized egroup
one), email Debby@swcp.com stating firmly that you:

         Are +17.99 years of age (an "adult")
         Understand the nature of the stories (sexually explicit/graphic)
         You will not distribute any stories you get or information about
them.

All this is to protect the authors and distributors from Congressmen with
nothing better to do than harrass L&C fans...

Debby :)
Debby@swcp.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 07:21:49 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "Ann E. McBride" <Aerm1@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (2/2)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

In a message dated 4/27/00 3:33:19 AM Eastern Daylight Time,=20
Phillip.Atcliffe@UWE.AC.UK writes:

<< Quoting the LabRat:
 >> More! (Just decided what more I could want. <G>) <<
=20
 > If she gives us any more, Labby, she's going to have to move the
 story to the nfic list! <beg> <
=20
 And this is a _bad_ thing? <g>
  >>

I've got to go with Phil on this one. <G>  I'm sure you can do it,
H=E9l=E8n=
e. =20
Care to take it to the next level?

BTW, this was a wonderful, WAFFY scene.  I loved it.

Ann
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 07:25:06 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "Ann E. McBride" <Aerm1@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: OT: Viewing mail under Outlook
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I had one other thought re: sending replies to the list or to an individual.
Why not be sure to read the address in the box at the top of what you are
sending?  that way you can check to see that you are in fact sending it to
the proper address and make any necessary changes if your email program is
bringing up one you don't want.

Ann
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 09:48:24 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: OT: Viewing mail under Outlook
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Wendy and Ann,

Ok Wendy, you have made me see part of the problem.  You say your TO field
lists the list address right?  Well mine has my personal address in the TO
field.  I'm assuming somewhere in my settings something is wrong.  I'm going
to have to go back and find out what.   I have no problem sending the mail
where I want it to go, my problem is seeing where the mail CAME from.  I
can't tell whether it is coming from the list, or private e-mail address.
My mail, whether coming from the list or not, replies to the persons
personal e-mail address.  I have to go to the list archives to see if the
message is posted to the entire list before I respond.  Like right now, I
don't know whether you sent this specifically to me, or to the entire list,
so I have to go check.  I see you sent this to the entire list, but when I
hit reply, your personal e-mail comes up, so I change it!  I sure hope I can
find out what's wrong-it's driving me crazy!! LOL!!

Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: Ann E. McBride [mailto:Aerm1@AOL.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2000 9:47 PM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: Re: OT: Viewing mail under Outlook

I had one other thought re: sending replies to the list or to an individual.
Why not be sure to read the address in the box at the top of what you are
sending?  that way you can check to see that you are in fact sending it to
the proper address and make any necessary changes if your email program is
bringing up one you don't want.

Ann
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 11:20:14 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Test
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
              boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0024_01BFB03A.8F5705E0"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_0024_01BFB03A.8F5705E0
Content-Type: text/plain;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Test

------=_NextPart_000_0024_01BFB03A.8F5705E0
Content-Type: text/html;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=3D4>Test</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_0024_01BFB03A.8F5705E0--
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 11:51:07 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         creolel <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      test
MIME-Version: 1.0

test
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 12:26:38 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      TEST-DELETE
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
              boundary="----=_NextPart_000_002D_01BFB043.D5B57680"

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_002D_01BFB043.D5B57680
Content-Type: text/plain;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

TEST

------=_NextPart_000_002D_01BFB043.D5B57680
Content-Type: text/html;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=3D4>TEST</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_002D_01BFB043.D5B57680--
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 17:23:32 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Kathy Brown <kathybrown91@HOME.COM>
Subject:      Re: NFic List

On Wed, 26 Apr 2000 19:42:57 -0600, Debby <Debby@SWCP.COM> wrote:

>To join the hand-run L&C Nfanfic list (as opposed to the computerized
egroup
>one), email Debby@swcp.com stating firmly that you:

To clarify the difference for those who aren't aware, Debby's fanfic list is
a forum for story distribution only, not for discussion.  Back before we had
an nfic listserv or nfic MBs or even Anne's nfic website archive, Debby
generously created a manual mailing list so authors could advertise their
stories.  Through Debby's list, readers receive "advertisements" of nfic,
written by the author.  The ad specifies how to obatain the story: by
writing
to the author privately, by accessing a particular website, etc.

Joyce runs a story distribution system in connection with Debby's ad list.
Early on, authors usually distributed their own stories, responding to
private emails.  But as the list of readers grew (from maybe 50 of us at the
beginning, to several hundred now), Joyce offered to act as a distributor
for
stories.  Thus, many of the ads direct people to write her.  To save time
and
email, Joyce does give people the option to be added to her "permanent" list
-- people on that list get all the nfics advertised, without having to
request them individually.  People not on Joyce's list can still pick and
choose which stories to request, based on the advertisement.

The nfic discussion listserv (the computerized egroup one which Debby
mentioned) and the MBs and Anne's nfic archive are all relatively new forums
in FoLCdom.  They have become very popular, but in the early days, while the
show was still on the air and authors were very hesitant to give their nfics
out to "just anyone", Debby's list was where all the action was. (Heh heh,
in
more ways than one. <g>)

Kathy
kathybrown91@home.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 17:36:35 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Kathy Brown <kathybrown91@HOME.COM>
Subject:      Re: OT: Viewing mail under Outlook

On Thu, 27 Apr 2000 09:48:24 -0700, Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
wrote:

 I
>can't tell whether it is coming from the list, or private e-mail address.
>My mail, whether coming from the list or not, replies to the persons
>personal e-mail address.  I have to go to the list archives to see if the
>message is posted to the entire list before I respond.

But if you can't, remember that you can reply via the website as well.  You
need to register for that option, but it will take only a few seconds, and
you'll be ready to go.  You can then go NOMAIL on the listserv, and read
exclusively via the website.  That way, you'll always know exactly where the
mail came from.

Good luck figuring everything out.  Thank you to everyone who also uses
Outlook for their assistance.

Kathy
kathybrown@home.com
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 18:42:19 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Amy Lauters <alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU>
Subject:      New Fic: Time Elapsed (4/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Thanks for all the great comments. Wendy, thinking about it, I don't know if
BAC is common parlance here. I used it because of my own experience, but I
think your suggestion is great. Thanks for pointing that out!
Part 4 starts now.

***
Exhausted, Lois climbed up the stairs to bed the minute she walked in the
townhouse door. Clark took only a few minutes to show Sam the guest room and
make sure it was tidy. Still, by the time Clark stepped into his own bedroom
door, his wife was sound asleep. Quietly, he slipped out of his own clothes
and into bed, wrapping one arm around his wife.

But sleep eluded him. Clark thought about the pieces of the emerging puzzle.
Bourbon - but vodka was Ellen's drink of choice? Even in the days when she
drank steadily, Ellen hadn't driven drunk - that Lois knew of, Clark
reminded himself.

So what would inspire a recovering alcoholic - with years of sobriety - to
not only start drinking again, but to start drinking a different kind of
alcohol and add driving to the list of hazardous activities? Deep within
Clark, a bell started to ring. Lois' recent run-in with a pair of scientists
who had the means to control dreams had helped to remind him not to take
things at face value. Granted, face value, as he often told Lois, was face
value. But too many unlikely coincidences too often lead to some sort of
criminal activity, Clark thought.

If it hadn't been for the fact that he and Lois had seen to it that Drs.
Mortenson and Soppeland had been taken into custody for their activities,
Clark might have suspected the pair of having a hand in Ellen's accident.
Mortenson and Soppeland had specialized in controlling people's behavior
through their dreams, and they had done it well. But they hadn't done their
homework; Soppeland assumed Clark would force Lois to seek psychiatric care
after her nightmares, not realizing the pair's history with criminals and
deep, loving bond would result in investigation, not therapy. At least,
Clark added silently, not immediately.

So, he thought. Step one: Check on the whereabouts of Drs. Mortenson and
Soppeland. Step two: Check on Ellen's activities over the last several
weeks, starting by interviewing Sam. Step three: Superman needed to take a
look at Ellen's apartment and the crushed remains of her car for physical
evidence.

Too many questions begged for investigation. Maybe, Clark thought, as he
drifted off to sleep, they would find some answers.

***

A nurse showed Lucy her mother's bed in the intensive care unit, and left
her alone. Five minutes, Lucy thought.

Ellen looked tiny and battered, surrounded by the hulking medical equipment
that monitored her vital signs and helped her breathe. Her head, swathed in
bandages, seemed much larger than the rest of her body. Carefully, Lucy
seated herself next to the bed, and reached for her mother's undamaged right
hand, taking it in one of her own.

"I'm here, Mom," she said simply. "I'm here."

Lucy looked at the clock. Four minutes. How can one put a lifetime of love
and conflicted feelings, hurt and anger, into words? She wondered whether
Ellen could even hear and understand her.

Three minutes.

She remembered, the year Lois left the house, coming home to find her mother
passed out in the living room. Ellen had gone through what looked like a
bottle of vodka and a gallon of orange juice, then collapsed on the couch.
Lucy woke her, as best as she could, and half-dragged Ellen to the master
bedroom. Lucy cleaned her up, tucked her in, and made her own dinner.

Lucy had been 16. And after that first afternoon, coming home to find Ellen
passed out on the couch became commonplace.

Two minutes.

"Mom, I just don't know what to say," Lucy whispered. "You've hurt me - you'
ve hurt us all - more than I can ever tell you. But you're still my mother,
and I love you."

Tears started rolling down Lucy's face. "Sometimes, I resented Lois for
leaving me with you. She did it because she had to; I know that. She even
tried to make up for it later by taking me as her roommate the minute I beca
me old enough.

"But it wasn't Lois I really resented, Mother, it was you. For making me
grow up too soon. For making me deal with a drunk when I should have been
out with my friends."

She looked at the clock. One minute.

"I've learned a lot since then, Mom," Lucy continued quietly. "And one of
the things I've learned is that I can't let the past control me. I can't let
the anger, the hurt, the resentment and the pain rule me. I have to let it
go."

The nurse came to the door, beckoning Lucy to leave. Lucy let go of her
mother's hand, and stood up. Softly, she added, "I'm letting it go, Mom. I
forgive you. And I forgive myself for resenting you." Lucy turned to the
door, then turned back. "I love you."

Quickly, Lucy left the room. She didn't notice the tear that escaped from
the bandages to land on a bruised cheek.

***

At 7 a.m., Sam got up, showered, and prepared to leave the townhouse. He was
reaching for the phone to call a taxi when Clark came down the stairs.

"Good morning, Sam," Clark said. "Need a ride to the hospital?"

"Ah, yes, Clark, that would be nice," Sam cleared his throat. "I didn't mean
to wake you."

Clark smiled easily. "You didn't. I normally get up around now. Lois is
still sleeping, though." Actually, Clark had heard his father-in-law
stirring and got himself ready at superspeed. "I left her a note, and I'll
come right back after leaving you at the hospital."

"She was tired," Sam said.

"She was," Clark agreed. "Shall we?"

"All right."

In the Jeep, Clark glanced over at Sam. Though gaunt, Sam looked a little
better than he had the day before. "How are you doing, Sam?" Clark asked.

"Well, I'm beating myself up for not noticing Ellen's return to drinking. I'
m worried about whether she'll survive this. The doctor in me says now that
she's survived this long, it's likely she'll live, but I'm worried about
how. And I wonder what I could have done differently, the last few weeks,"
Sam eyed his son-in-law. "Is that what you wanted to know?"

"Sam, I just wanted to know how you're holding up," Clark said. "I know you
love Ellen. You share two children with her, and you have a history. This
can't be easy."

"It's not," Sam said. "I know I've made mistakes, Clark. I alienated my wife
by cheating on her. I still don't know why I did that. I alienated my
daughters and left them with an alcoholic mother." He stopped abruptly. "I
usually don't waste time worrying about past mistakes. But now Ellen's lying
on what may be her death bed, and I should have been able to prevent it. It'
s making me question myself. It's making me wonder what I could have done
differently."

"What could you have done, Sam?" Clark questioned cautiously.

"I could have been around more for her. I could have stopped letting my work
be my life. I could have showed her how much I love her. I could have
listened to her," out of energy, Sam stopped, then slowly went on. "How many
times did I just ignore what Ellen had to say, just because I couldn't
handle her nagging any more? How many times did I just pretend she wasn't
talking? The least I can do is admit it. I didn't see she had a problem
because I didn't want to see it."

Clark pulled into the hospital lot. "Maybe what you need to do is focus on
what you can do for her now. You're a doctor, Sam, and a good one. Be there
for your wife."

Sam looked at his son-in-law. "Lois is lucky to have you, son." Quickly, he
got out of the Jeep. "I'll send Lucy out."

Minutes later, Lucy, eyes rimmed red and trimmed with dark circles, took the
spot Sam left. She looked at Clark. "Just find me a bed, bro," Lucy said,
then shut her eyes.

A quiet ride home later, Clark carried Lucy up to the other guest room and
laid her down. Thinking hard, he went to his own room to find his wife
putting on her makeup at the adjoining bathroom sink. Clark watched her for
a moment, then wrapped his arms around her from behind, bending to press his
lips to her neck.

"Hi, sweetheart," he murmured.

Lois turned around to put her arms around his neck. "Hi, yourself. Did you
get Daddy to the hospital OK?"

"Yes, and Lucy's already asleep in the other guest room," Clark said. "I
didn't get a chance to tell you last night, but you should know my folks are
coming tonight. They want to help."

"Oh, Clark, that's sweet," Lois said, pressing herself closer to him. "I
feel better just knowing they're coming to lend their support."

Clark held her for a long moment, then scooped Lois up and carried her to
their bed, laid her down and joined her there. She turned to put her head in
the curve of his broad shoulder, and his arms tightened around her. Lois
sighed.

"I needed this," she said.

"I know," he replied.

"I'm sorry," Lois whispered.

Surprised, Clark put a hand under her chin and tilted her face up. "For
what?"

"For being so nasty to you last night when you told me Lucy had figured out
the secret," Lois explained. "I've just got so much on my mind right now:
Mother, the investigation. It was just one more thing. I'm sorry, honey."

"It's all right, Lois, I knew that," Clark said. "If it helps, I think I
know where we should start."

Lois raised herself up to look at him, her palm placed flat against his
chest. "You've been thinking?"

"Well, it seemed like the thing to do." At the soft punch Lois gave him in
the shoulder, Clark grinned. "I think we should check on the whereabouts of
our dream controllers. Something just isn't right about this whole accident,
and I want to check that out first."

"Are you suggesting someone is controlling my mother?" Lois asked.

"Not necessarily. But too much doesn't add up." Clark settled Lois against
his chest. "Here's what I was thinking. First, we check to see where
Soppeland and Mortenson happen to be in the legal system right now. Second,
we try to map out your mother's activities over the last several weeks.
Third, Superman checks Ellen's house and car for any possible physical
evidence."

"Sounds like a good place to start," Lois said. "Let's get going."

"Now?" Clark started trailing his lips down her neck.

"Well, I suppose it could wait for, mmmmm, an hour," Lois gasped as his
hands started to follow his lips. "Or so."

"Maybe a little relaxation therapy?" Clark asked hopefully.

"Definitely in order," she agreed, and turned her lips to his.

***
=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 18:43:31 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Amy Lauters <alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU>
Subject:      New Fic: Time Elapsed (5/?)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Oops, I goofed in the numbering. This is part 5.
***
Exhausted, Lois climbed up the stairs to bed the minute she walked in the
townhouse door. Clark took only a few minutes to show Sam the guest room and
make sure it was tidy. Still, by the time Clark stepped into his own bedroom
door, his wife was sound asleep. Quietly, he slipped out of his own clothes
and into bed, wrapping one arm around his wife.

But sleep eluded him. Clark thought about the pieces of the emerging puzzle.
Bourbon - but vodka was Ellen's drink of choice? Even in the days when she
drank steadily, Ellen hadn't driven drunk - that Lois knew of, Clark
reminded himself.

So what would inspire a recovering alcoholic - with years of sobriety - to
not only start drinking again, but to start drinking a different kind of
alcohol and add driving to the list of hazardous activities? Deep within
Clark, a bell started to ring. Lois' recent run-in with a pair of scientists
who had the means to control dreams had helped to remind him not to take
things at face value. Granted, face value, as he often told Lois, was face
value. But too many unlikely coincidences too often lead to some sort of
criminal activity, Clark thought.

If it hadn't been for the fact that he and Lois had seen to it that Drs.
Mortenson and Soppeland had been taken into custody for their activities,
Clark might have suspected the pair of having a hand in Ellen's accident.
Mortenson and Soppeland had specialized in controlling people's behavior
through their dreams, and they had done it well. But they hadn't done their
homework; Soppeland assumed Clark would force Lois to seek psychiatric care
after her nightmares, not realizing the pair's history with criminals and
deep, loving bond would result in investigation, not therapy. At least,
Clark added silently, not immediately.

So, he thought. Step one: Check on the whereabouts of Drs. Mortenson and
Soppeland. Step two: Check on Ellen's activities over the last several
weeks, starting by interviewing Sam. Step three: Superman needed to take a
look at Ellen's apartment and the crushed remains of her car for physical
evidence.

Too many questions begged for investigation. Maybe, Clark thought, as he
drifted off to sleep, they would find some answers.

***

A nurse showed Lucy her mother's bed in the intensive care unit, and left
her alone. Five minutes, Lucy thought.

Ellen looked tiny and battered, surrounded by the hulking medical equipment
that monitored her vital signs and helped her breathe. Her head, swathed in
bandages, seemed much larger than the rest of her body. Carefully, Lucy
seated herself next to the bed, and reached for her mother's undamaged right
hand, taking it in one of her own.

"I'm here, Mom," she said simply. "I'm here."

Lucy looked at the clock. Four minutes. How can one put a lifetime of love
and conflicted feelings, hurt and anger, into words? She wondered whether
Ellen could even hear and understand her.

Three minutes.

She remembered, the year Lois left the house, coming home to find her mother
passed out in the living room. Ellen had gone through what looked like a
bottle of vodka and a gallon of orange juice, then collapsed on the couch.
Lucy woke her, as best as she could, and half-dragged Ellen to the master
bedroom. Lucy cleaned her up, tucked her in, and made her own dinner.

Lucy had been 16. And after that first afternoon, coming home to find Ellen
passed out on the couch became commonplace.

Two minutes.

"Mom, I just don't know what to say," Lucy whispered. "You've hurt me - you'
ve hurt us all - more than I can ever tell you. But you're still my mother,
and I love you."

Tears started rolling down Lucy's face. "Sometimes, I resented Lois for
leaving me with you. She did it because she had to; I know that. She even
tried to make up for it later by taking me as her roommate the minute I
became old enough.

"But it wasn't Lois I really resented, Mother, it was you. For making me
grow up too soon. For making me deal with a drunk when I should have been
out with my friends."

She looked at the clock. One minute.

"I've learned a lot since then, Mom," Lucy continued quietly. "And one of
the things I've learned is that I can't let the past control me. I can't let
the anger, the hurt, the resentment and the pain rule me. I have to let it
go."

The nurse came to the door, beckoning Lucy to leave. Lucy let go of her
mother's hand, and stood up. Softly, she added, "I'm letting it go, Mom. I
forgive you. And I forgive myself for resenting you." Lucy turned to the
door, then turned back. "I love you."

Quickly, Lucy left the room. She didn't notice the tear that escaped from
the bandages to land on a bruised cheek.

***

At 7 a.m., Sam got up, showered, and prepared to leave the townhouse. He was
reaching for the phone to call a taxi when Clark came down the stairs.

"Good morning, Sam," Clark said. "Need a ride to the hospital?"

"Ah, yes, Clark, that would be nice," Sam cleared his throat. "I didn't mean
to wake you."

Clark smiled easily. "You didn't. I normally get up around now. Lois is
still sleeping, though." Actually, Clark had heard his father-in-law
stirring and got himself ready at superspeed. "I left her a note, and I'll
come right back after leaving you at the hospital."

"She was tired," Sam said.

"She was," Clark agreed. "Shall we?"

"All right."

In the Jeep, Clark glanced over at Sam. Though gaunt, Sam looked a little
better than he had the day before. "How are you doing, Sam?" Clark asked.

"Well, I'm beating myself up for not noticing Ellen's return to drinking. I'
m worried about whether she'll survive this. The doctor in me says now that
she's survived this long, it's likely she'll live, but I'm worried about
how. And I wonder what I could have done differently, the last few weeks,"
Sam eyed his son-in-law. "Is that what you wanted to know?"

"Sam, I just wanted to know how you're holding up," Clark said. "I know you
love Ellen. You share two children with her, and you have a history. This
can't be easy."

"It's not," Sam said. "I know I've made mistakes, Clark. I alienated my wife
by cheating on her. I still don't know why I did that. I alienated my
daughters and left them with an alcoholic mother." He stopped abruptly. "I
usually don't waste time worrying about past mistakes. But now Ellen's lying
on what may be her death bed, and I should have been able to prevent it. It'
s making me question myself. It's making me wonder what I could have done
differently."

"What could you have done, Sam?" Clark questioned cautiously.

"I could have been around more for her. I could have stopped letting my work
be my life. I could have showed her how much I love her. I could have
listened to her," out of energy, Sam stopped, then slowly went on. "How many
times did I just ignore what Ellen had to say, just because I couldn't
handle her nagging any more? How many times did I just pretend she wasn't
talking? The least I can do is admit it. I didn't see she had a problem
because I didn't want to see it."

Clark pulled into the hospital lot. "Maybe what you need to do is focus on
what you can do for her now. You're a doctor, Sam, and a good one. Be there
for your wife."

Sam looked at his son-in-law. "Lois is lucky to have you, son." Quickly, he
got out of the Jeep. "I'll send Lucy out."

Minutes later, Lucy, eyes rimmed red and trimmed with dark circles, took the
spot Sam left. She looked at Clark. "Just find me a bed, bro," Lucy said,
then shut her eyes.

A quiet ride home later, Clark carried Lucy up to the other guest room and
laid her down. Thinking hard, he went to his own room to find his wife
putting on her makeup at the adjoining bathroom sink. Clark watched her for
a moment, then wrapped his arms around her from behind, bending to press his
lips to her neck.

"Hi, sweetheart," he murmured.

Lois turned around to put her arms around his neck. "Hi, yourself. Did you
get Daddy to the hospital OK?"

"Yes, and Lucy's already asleep in the other guest room," Clark said. "I
didn't get a chance to tell you last night, but you should know my folks are
coming tonight. They want to help."

"Oh, Clark, that's sweet," Lois said, pressing herself closer to him. "I
feel better just knowing they're coming to lend their support."

Clark held her for a long moment, then scooped Lois up and carried her to
their bed, laid her down and joined her there. She turned to put her head in
the curve of his broad shoulder, and his arms tightened around her. Lois
sighed.

"I needed this," she said.

"I know," he replied.

"I'm sorry," Lois whispered.

Surprised, Clark put a hand under her chin and tilted her face up. "For
what?"

"For being so nasty to you last night when you told me Lucy had figured out
the secret," Lois explained. "I've just got so much on my mind right now:
Mother, the investigation. It was just one more thing. I'm sorry, honey."

"It's all right, Lois, I knew that," Clark said. "If it helps, I think I
know where we should start."

Lois raised herself up to look at him, her palm placed flat against his
chest. "You've been thinking?"

"Well, it seemed like the thing to do." At the soft punch Lois gave him in
the shoulder, Clark grinned. "I think we should check on the whereabouts of
our dream controllers. Something just isn't right about this whole accident,
and I want to check that out first."

"Are you suggesting someone is controlling my mother?" Lois asked.

"Not necessarily. But too much doesn't add up." Clark settled Lois against
his chest. "Here's what I was thinking. First, we check to see where
Soppeland and Mortenson happen to be in the legal system right now. Second,
we try to map out your mother's activities over the last several weeks.
Third, Superman checks Ellen's house and car for any possible physical
evidence."

"Sounds like a good place to start," Lois said. "Let's get going."

"Now?" Clark started trailing his lips down her neck.

"Well, I suppose it could wait for, mmmmm, an hour," Lois gasped as his
hands started to follow his lips. "Or so."

"Maybe a little relaxation therapy?" Clark asked hopefully.

"Definitely in order," she agreed, and turned her lips to his.

***
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 11:40:56 +0200
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Kaethel <kaethel@CLUB-INTERNET.FR>
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (2/2)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
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Hey everyone!

First of all, a big thank you to all the people who commented on my fic =
:)

S
P
O
I
L
E
R

S
P
A
C
E
=20
Labby, Pat, Phil and Ann, no, I don't think I'll continue it on the nfic =
path... *especially* for a vignette <g> Nfic requires a special talent =
to be well-written, and as some of you already know, there are very few =
nfics that I enjoy. I really don't feel up to this challenge, but thanks =
for suggesting :)

Wendy wrote:
>>>I love the way you ended it as well; I'll treat it as a fantasy, =
since I'm not entirely sure Clark would be so bold as to carry her to =
bed and start making love to her <<<

lol! What made you think he'd make love to her? <bg> Actually, have to =
admit it really looks like it <g> However, I think that if I had =
continued this, I'd made him stop and they would have talked about the =
secret and what it implies ;)

Many thanks to you all again for your comments and nice words :)

Helene :)
------------------------------------------------------
Kaethel on irc / Kaethel79  on AIM
kaethel@club-internet.fr
"Clark, you have a little... schmutz on your... S"

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Hey everyone!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>First of all, a big thank you to all the people who commented on my =
fic=20
:)</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>S<BR>P<BR>O<BR>I<BR>L<BR>E<BR>R<BR><BR>S<BR>P<BR>A<BR>C<BR>E</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Labby, Pat, Phil and Ann, no, I don't think I'll continue it on the =
nfic=20
path... *especially* for a vignette &lt;g&gt; Nfic requires a special =
talent to=20
be well-written, and as some of you already know, there are very few =
nfics that=20
I enjoy. I really don't feel up to this challenge, but thanks for =
suggesting=20
:)</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Wendy wrote:</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>&gt;&gt;&gt;I love the way you ended it as well; =
I'll=20
treat it as a fantasy, since I'm not entirely sure Clark would be so =
bold as to=20
carry her to bed and start making love to her &lt;&lt;&lt;</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>lol! What made you think he'd make love to her? &lt;bg&gt; =
Actually, have=20
to admit it really looks like it &lt;g&gt;&nbsp;However, I think that if =
I had=20
continued this, I'd made him stop and they would have talked about the =
secret=20
and what it implies ;)</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Many thanks to you all again for your comments and nice words =
:)</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Helene=20
:)<BR>------------------------------------------------------<BR>Kaethel =
on irc /=20
Kaethel79&nbsp; on AIM<BR><A=20
href=3D"mailto:kaethel@club-internet.fr">kaethel@club-internet.fr</A><BR>=
"Clark,=20
you have a little... schmutz on your... S"</DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 11:30:31 +0100
Reply-To:     LabRat <labrat@cableinet.co.uk>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         LabRat <labrat@CABLEINET.CO.UK>
Organization: LabRat
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (2/2)
MIME-Version: 1.0
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  Helene wrote:

  Labby, Pat, Phil and Ann, no, I don't think I'll continue it on the =
nfic path... *especially* for a vignette <g> Nfic requires a special =
talent to be well-written, and as some of you already know, there are =
very few nfics that I enjoy. I really don't feel up to this challenge, =
but thanks for suggesting :)

  ***Actually, although I would have no objections whatsoever to =
continuing NT as an nfic <g>, or even expanding it into a full length =
fic, I should perhaps clarify here that when I said I wanted more, I was =
referring to those other fic you're currently holding, Helene. ;) You'll =
be posting that long, angsty one soon, right? Huh? Yeah? ****

  LabRat :)

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2314.1000" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE=20
style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: =
0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px">
  <DIV>
  <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Helene wrote:</FONT></DIV>
  <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV>Labby, Pat, Phil and Ann, no, I don't think I'll continue it on =
the nfic=20
  path... *especially* for a vignette &lt;g&gt; Nfic requires a special =
talent=20
  to be well-written, and as some of you already know, there are very =
few nfics=20
  that I enjoy. I really don't feel up to this challenge, but thanks for =

  suggesting :)</DIV>
  <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>***Actually, although I would have no =
objections=20
  whatsoever to continuing NT as an nfic &lt;g&gt;, or even expanding it =
into a=20
  full length fic, I should perhaps clarify here that when I said I =
wanted more,=20
  I was referring to those other fic you're currently holding, Helene. =
;) You'll=20
  be posting that long, angsty one soon, right? Huh? Yeah? =
****</FONT></DIV>
  <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
  <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>LabRat=20
:)</FONT></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

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=========================================================================
Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2000 18:18:25 -0600
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Debby <Debby@SWCP.COM>
Subject:      Re: NFic List
In-Reply-To:  <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L%2000042717233314@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Yes. I was going to say that... ;)

PS: don't write to Joyce (not that I'd give out her email). Would be new
members have to go through me :) I can't do much but I can protect her from
nonmembers pestering her :D

Debby
Debby@swcp.com

At 05:23 PM 04/27/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>On Wed, 26 Apr 2000 19:42:57 -0600, Debby <Debby@SWCP.COM> wrote:
>
>>To join the hand-run L&C Nfanfic list (as opposed to the computerized
egroup
>>one), email Debby@swcp.com stating firmly that you:
>
>To clarify the difference for those who aren't aware, Debby's fanfic list
is
>a forum for story distribution only, not for discussion.  Back before we
had
>an nfic listserv or nfic MBs or even Anne's nfic website archive, Debby
>generously created a manual mailing list so authors could advertise their
>stories.  Through Debby's list, readers receive "advertisements" of nfic,
>written by the author.  The ad specifies how to obatain the story: by
writing
>to the author privately, by accessing a particular website, etc.
>
>Joyce runs a story distribution system in connection with Debby's ad list.
>Early on, authors usually distributed their own stories, responding to
>private emails.  But as the list of readers grew (from maybe 50 of us at
the
>beginning, to several hundred now), Joyce offered to act as a distributor
for
>stories.  Thus, many of the ads direct people to write her.  To save time
and
>email, Joyce does give people the option to be added to her "permanent"
list
>-- people on that list get all the nfics advertised, without having to
>request them individually.  People not on Joyce's list can still pick and
>choose which stories to request, based on the advertisement.
>
>The nfic discussion listserv (the computerized egroup one which Debby
>mentioned) and the MBs and Anne's nfic archive are all relatively new
forums
>in FoLCdom.  They have become very popular, but in the early days, while
the
>show was still on the air and authors were very hesitant to give their
nfics
>out to "just anyone", Debby's list was where all the action was. (Heh heh,
in
>more ways than one. <g>)
>
>Kathy
>kathybrown91@home.com
>
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 08:32:20 -0400
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Pam Jernigan <jernigan@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (1/2)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hey Kaeth,

I told you on the message board that I thought this was delightful, but
it's easier to quote the best lines here, so I had to mention a few...

> He mentally slapped himself and ordered his brain to take a cold shower.

That line had me laughing out loud.

> Lois understood perfectly the trouble she was causing Clark, and she
purposefully ignored it.

Evil woman <g>  But we all enjoyed it...

> Her partner had the cutest confused look she had ever seen on him.

Someone else who loves Clark's confused looks as much as I do!! :)  He
does look adorable when he's struggling to catch up...

> "I don't know," Clark finally uttered, resurfacing from a near-drowning
state.

Nice metaphor.

I have to say, during the poker game, I kept expecting him to be at
least *tempted* to cheat ... he could see right through her cards if he
wanted to.  Okay, so he'd give himself another mental slap but that'd be
fun, too :D

> Clark had lost twelve games of poker, and he didn't see what else he could
bet. He already had to do her laundry for two
> months, her cooking for three years, wash her dishes for six years... At
this rate he would have to live with her full-time to
> do so... which wasn't such an unpleasant prospect after all.

<snicker>  I can see it now ... "Okay, Lois, you won me fair and square
-- when do you want me to move in?"

> Take a deep breath - make that two breaths - where's the risk, anyway?
> He's a lousy player, you'll win, he'll have to take off his shirt.

I don't know anything about poker, but mightn't he win just once or
twice, by sheer luck?  Just enough to make Lois nervous <g>

>He could walk into the office stark-naked and she wouldn't mind

Yeah, but I bet she wouldn't get any work done! lol

Ooh, the image of laying on a bed with a nearly naked Clark Kent... I'm
all flushed! <g>

As I said, great job, I really enjoyed it :)  And here I thought English
wasn't your first language!  If it's not, you'd never know it by this
story.

So what else have you got hiding on your hard drive? :)
--
---
Pam Jernigan  / ChiefPam  /  jernigan@bellsouth.net
http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam

"Why else do all the stories *end* when the Count's daughter gets
married?  Hasn't that ever struck you as a bit sinister?  I mean, have
you ever read a folk tale where the Princess's mother gets to do
anything but die young?  I've never been able to figure out if that's
supposed to be a warning, or an instruction."
--A Civil Campaign, by Lois McMaster Bujold.
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 08:36:56 EDT
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Charlotte Fisler <Cdfisler@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (1/2)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 4/26/00 10:26:58 PM !!!First Boot!!!,
kaethel@CLUB-INTERNET.FR writes:

<<  New Story: Naked Truth (1/2) >>

I loved it.  Need I say more.

<<
And this is a _bad_ thing? <g>

Phil>>
---------------

Nope  - Phil has the last word as usual.

Charlotte - LOLing for sure.
=========================================================================
Date:         Sat, 29 Apr 2000 14:41:21 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Dennis Arendt <d.arendt@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Subject:      Off Topic   " It was really bad"
MIME-Version: 1.0
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They may call it chernobyl but trust me it was more like hiroshima.  =
Yes, I got the dreaded big one. :(

So, if anyone has tried to contact me in the last day and half please do =
so again.

Also, I am in need of a new screen saver.  Please contact me privately =
and thanks.

Brenda

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<HTML>
<HEAD>

<META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type>
<META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=3DGENERATOR>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>They may call it chernobyl but trust =
me it was=20
more like hiroshima.&nbsp; Yes, I got the dreaded big one. =
:(</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>So, if anyone has tried to contact me in the last =
day and half=20
please do so again.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>Also, I am in need of a new screen =
saver.&nbsp;=20
Please contact me privately and thanks.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Brenda</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

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=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 14:26:43 -0500
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         "Alexis W." <LoisLane9397@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Off Topic   " It was really bad"

Ew! I'm sorry Brenda. :(  I think i've gone through that at least twice
during my 3 year run so far in college!

Alexis ;-.)
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 12:42:22 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Nancy Smith <deimos1@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      NEW STORY:  A Night At The Office  Part 1 of 5
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
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I got to thinking.  The way things worked out in "Fly Hard" depended a
good deal upon the timing of events.  What if Cat and George had arrived
slightly later than they did, or what if the terrorists had been a few
minutes sooner?  I decided to change the timing a little and see what
happened.  Here is the result.

This story first appeared on Zoomway's Fanfic Board under the working
title of Fly Hard: The Alternate Version.  I've finally thought of a
better title, so here it is under its new name.  I hope you like it.

As always, the characters and recognizable settings in this story are
the property of D.C. Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions, et
cetera, and no copyright infringement is intended.  Large parts of the
story are adapted from the episode "Fly Hard" and they are hereby
credited to the writers of the show.  The changes are mine.

A Night At The Office
By Nan Smith

Lois Lane couldn't believe it.  She had been ready to leave for an
evening at the opera as the date of Lex Luthor when she had discovered
that her source for the headline story that would appear on the front
page of the Daily Planet tomorrow morning had been arrested.  So instead
of arriving early, as they had originally planned, she and Lex were
riding the elevator to the newsroom of the Planet building so she could
make a quick change to her article.  So much for her being ready in
plenty of time.

The elevator dinged, the doors slid aside and she hurried down the ramp
to the Pit with Lex following in her wake.

"Lois, the opera begins in thirty minutes."  Lex's voice sounded
annoyed.

Well, it wasn't his story.  "How was I supposed to know one of my
sources would get arrested?  I have to rewrite my lead."  She headed for
her desk through the darkened newsroom and paused in surprise.  The
light was on in Perry's office and outside the door reposed a pile of
items, some of which she had seen sitting about in her editor's office
for as long as she had worked here.  Moreover, Clark was stationed at
his desk, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, scowling over papers that
littered its surface.  Beside him Jack sat, feet propped on a corner of
the desk, apparently engrossed in a hand-held video game.

Lex stopped as well, glancing around in mild surprise at the sight.

"Don't you people have homes?" he inquired.

Clark glanced up.  "Evening, Lois," he said, ignoring Luthor.

"Clark, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Taxes," Clark said.

"It was supposed to be a movie," Jack added.

"We can still make the late show," Clark said, unperturbed.  He surveyed
Lois's outfit.  "Aren't you a little over-dressed for a night at the
office?"

Reminded of her mission, Lois sat down at her desk and turned on her
computer.

"We were on our way to Madame Butterfly," Lex said.

"Ten minutes," Lois said.  "All I need is ten minutes."  She brought up
the story and began to type.

She was barely aware of Perry's voice as her editor emerged from his
office, followed by Jimmy.  She mentally revised her lead-in and
rewrote, hurrying to finish.  Lex didn't like arriving fashionably late
anywhere, she knew, but it wasn't his reputation as a reporter that was
on the line, either.

The doors to the elevator slid open.

"What's going on here?"  Willie, the Planet's night watchman, stepped
out.

"Hey, Willie," Clark said.  "It's just us."

The old man glanced around the room, disconcerted.  "But, you're not
supposed to be here, now."

"Everything's fine, Willie," Perry said.  "Don't worry about a thing.
Keep up the good work."

Willie bobbed his head.  "Yes sir, Mr. White."  The watchman turned and
shuffled back into the elevator.  Lois brought her attention back to the
article.

"Anybody want a pizza?" Jack asked.  He picked up the phone.

Jimmy had vanished back into Perry's office, but now he reappeared
again, carrying a life-size cardboard cutout of Elvira, Mistress of the
Dark.

"Sure," he said.  "Fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, olives…"

"Hey," Jack said, "if it goes on a salad, it doesn't go on a pizza."  He
started to dial.

Perry turned and saw Jimmy's burden.  He grinned.  "Elvira, Mistress of
the Dark.  This one is definitely a keeper."

"I dunno, Chief."  Jimmy turned Elvira around and surveyed the slinky
form of the cutout.  "She looks kinda scary to me."

"Not to me, son," Perry said.  "She's the reason I've seen Godzilla a
hundred and sixteen times.."

As he spoke, the door to the stairs banged open and Lois glanced up at
the sound.  Her jaw dropped slightly.

Cat, clasped in the arms of a man whom Lois had never seen before in her
life, lurched into the room.  The two of them were kissing passionately,
and the spectacle seemed to strike the observers dumb simultaneously.
It took the engrossed couple several seconds to realize they had an
audience and Lois had no doubt of what would have been taking place
minutes from now if the room had been untenanted.  As it was, they
became aware of the other people present suddenly, and the unknown man
rather hurriedly released Cat, who quickly smoothed back her hair.

"Uh…hi, everybody," she stammered.  "This is--" She paused, fumbling for
a name.  Her companion whispered and Cat continued, "Uh, George."

George waved, looking embarrassed.

"What are you doing here?" Lois asked, although she was in no real
doubt.

"I was going to show George how we put the paper to bed," Cat said.  She
turned to George.  "Come on.  I think the observation deck of the
Metropolis Tower is still open…"  They started back toward the stairs.

Jimmy, on his way to the storage room with his arms full of junk,
glanced sideways at them.  "I could have lived without hearing that."

Cat ignored him, hurrying up the ramp with George.

"Hey!"  Jack's voice rose in annoyance.  "All right, who cut me off?"

Lois found herself staring at a blank computer screen.  "I just lost my
story!"

The lights flickered suddenly and the elevator dinged.  Four men and one
woman, carrying what looked like automatic weapons, burst out.  The lead
man seized Cat and thrust her roughly backwards into George, who
promptly fell over.  The invaders spread out into the Pit, and the woman
let loose a blast of automatic fire into the ceiling.

"What in the Sam Hill is--"

One of the men grabbed Perry, cutting him off.  The tall man remaining
by the elevator raised his weapon and fired into the ceiling, showering
them with debris.  Cat cowered back against George, who put an arm
around her, looking expressionlessly past her at the leader of the
invaders.

"The Daily Planet building is now ours," the terrorist announced.  "I
suggest you all cooperate and everything will go smoothly."  He nodded
at Perry.  "Let him go.  You two…down there."  He gestured with the
muzzle of his weapon.  Cat and George obeyed silently.

Lois glanced wildly around.  Jimmy was nowhere to be seen.  Movement
among the invaders drew her attention once more.  The woman tossed the
leader a small bag.  The man unzipped it and removed a black device,
which resembled, to Lois's eyes, a cellular phone.

"And, in case any of you feel the need to contact the authorities or
your friend, Superman--" He pushed a button.  Lights began to blink on
the face of the object.  "You can tell him I'm holding a small, but
dirty nuclear device, and if I catch so much as a glimpse of a red cape,
this building, and the gene pool of Metropolis will pay the price."

Lex's arm settled around her shoulder.  Lois glanced up at him, then
back at the men.

The leader smiled humorlessly.  "So relax," he said.  "By morning this
will all be over, one way or another."

***********************
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 12:42:37 -0700
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Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Nancy Smith <deimos1@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      NEW STORY:  A Night At The Office  Part 2 of 5
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A Night At The Office  Part 2
by Nan Smith

Lois paced back and forth in the limited confines of the conference room
of the Daily Planet.  The terrorists were moving about beyond the
window.  Their leader and his female sidekick had set up a portable
computer on one of the desks and were conferring over it.  A beefy guard
with an automatic rifle stood guard, just outside.

Clark stood silently by the door, watching everything through the
window, his glasses pushed down his nose.  It was a habit Lois had
noticed before over the months she had known him, and something about
his appearance when he did it always gave her a vague sense of déjà vu;
something tugged at her, the feeling that she was missing something she
should be seeing, but it was only Clark, after all.  He seemed to sense
her watching him, for he casually pushed his glasses into place and
turned to meet her eyes.

"I'm far-sighted," he explained.

"Trying to see what they're doing?"

He nodded.  "They've got some sort of floor plan there.  I can't make it
out clearly."

"Mr. Kent's eyes must be exceptional to see even that," Lex's voice
said, contemptuously.

Clark didn't answer.

Lois glanced at Lex, but saw him looking at Clark with something close
to a sneer on his lips, an expression that vanished almost instantly as
she saw it.  She looked back at Clark, but her partner had turned and
was peering out the door again.  She tapped him on the shoulder.

"Clark, what they're doing doesn't matter.  It's what they're going to
do when they're finished."

"Yeah," Jack said.  "We've seen their faces.  They aren't going to leave
us alive."

"We don't know that," Clark said.  "I think the safest thing we can do
is wait."

Lois glanced around at the others.  Perry was trying to look out the
window at the street below.  Cat sat in one of the chairs at the
conference table, George beside her.  Jack and Lex moved restlessly
about the room.

Lois said, "We have to try to do something.  We can't just sit here and
wait for them to kill us."

George spoke up for the first time.  "Mr. Kent is right.  If we don't
provoke them into anything we're more likely to last longer.  And the
longer we live, the more likely something is to happen that we can use
to get away.  How about the young man who was in the storeroom?  Is it
possible he might get away and find help?"

"How did you know about him?" Jack asked, sharply.

"I saw him go into the storeroom just before the men came out of the
elevator," George explained simply.

"Then Jimmy might be able to save us!" Lois said.

Perry turned from the window.  "Jimmy couldn't save baseball cards,
Lois!"

"I know these kind of people," Lex said.  "We should consider ourselves
dead.  In that regard we have nothing to lose.  We must take the
offensive."

"Luthor," Clark said, with uncharacteristic emphasis, "he may be holding
the lives of thousands of people in his hand.  Don't do anything to
provoke him."

Lex looked contemptuously at Clark.  "Well, now that we know what Mr.
Kent is made of, it's obvious we need someone with a cool head and a
keen sense of judgement to take charge."

One of Clark's eyebrows went up.  "You?"

"I have thousands of employees--"

"Now, just a doggone minute here," Perry interjected.  "This is my ship
and I'm still the captain."

"Yeah," Jack said.  "The Exxon Valdez."

Perry scowled at him.

George said, "Mr. Kent is right.  These people are going to be
preoccupied with their mission, whatever it is.  If we give them no
cause to worry about us, we may find an opportunity for one of us to
escape and call for help."

"And I suppose you're an expert?" Lex said.

George smiled without humor.  "I used to negotiate hostage situations
for the Metro SWAT Team."

"Used to?" Lois asked.

He shrugged.  "Now I teach criminology at Metropolis City College."  He
glanced briefly at Lex.  "You must admit that gives me some claim to
expertise, Mr. Luthor."

Lex simply raised his eyebrows and smiled derisively.

Lois came to a decision.  "Lex is right.  We need a plan."

"Lois, it's too risky!" Clark protested.

"We're wasting time," Lois said, before she could change her mind.
"I'll create a diversion.  You hit him with a chair."

"Lois--"

Lois pushed Perry into a chair.  "Sit down, Chief.  You're having a
heart attack."

"What the--"

Lois spun to the window and pounded on it with both fists.

"Help!  Help us!  He's having a heart attack!  Quickly!  He needs a
doctor!"

The guard pushed the door open and pointed his weapon directly into
Lois's face.

"Do something!" Lois demanded.  "He's going to die and then where will
you be?  On trial for murder, that's where!"

The leader and his female henchman stepped through the door.  He pointed
his weapon at Perry, and for a split instant Lois thought she'd gotten
her boss and friend killed as the gun chattered furiously.  When it
stopped there was a neat semi-circle of bullet holes around his feet.

For a second no one moved, then the leader smiled.  "A nine millimeter
automatic.  Better than a triple bypass."

Perry nodded, his face ashen.

The leader turned to Lois and looked her straight in the eyes.  "No more
tests of my patience.  Understand?"

Lois glared back defiantly.  "I…"

"She understands," Clark said quickly.

Lois shifted her glare to Clark as the three terrorists exited the
conference room.  The guard shut the door decisively behind them.

"Lois," Perry said, his voice shaking, "if you ever rope me into
anything like that again, you'll be writing recipes for the food
section!"

Looking at her boss's face Lois felt a tug of remorse, but everything in
her rebelled against admitting she was wrong.  "There isn't going to be
a food section if we don't do something to stop them!"

George had gotten to his feet.  He put a hand on Cat's shoulder and
whispered to her, then stepped quietly to the window next to Clark.
"What's going on, Kent?"

Clark nodded toward the Pit.  "A minute ago a couple of them brought up
some heavy machinery.  It looked like something they might use for
demolition."

"Where is it now?"

"The leader ordered them to take it down a floor."

"How do you know?" Lois demanded, piqued.  "You read lips now, or
something?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."  Clark turned back to George.  "It looks to
me like they're planning on knocking down a few walls."

"They're looking for something," George said.

"That'd be my guess."

"But what?"

Lois squinted out into the Pit, but only the backs of the leader and his
lieutenant were visible.  Their guard had apparently been drafted to
help with the machinery.  Frustrated, she flounced back toward the
table, trying to suppress the feeling of chagrin that her escape attempt
had backfired so badly.  Clark and George continued to watch through the
door, speaking to each other in low voices.

She flopped into a chair next to Lex.  "Superman will save us," she
said, finally.  "He probably knows what's happening right now and is
waiting for his chance."

Lex raised his eyebrows.  "I wouldn't count on it, Lois.  Even Superman
has his limits.  A nuclear bomb could be as deadly to him as to the rest
of us."

"That won't stop him," Lois said, confidently.  "I know it."

Clark glanced at her briefly.  Her partner's face was
uncharacteristically grim.  He might be angry with her for her abortive
escape attempt, she thought, or just worried about their situation.
Whatever it was, it didn't matter.  Clark was something of a lightweight
in her opinion.  He had earned her grudging respect some months ago when
he had paid her back in spades for stealing his story, but she didn't
have much confidence in his ability to get them out of the current
trap.  No, she decided.  If they were going to get out of this, and if
Superman didn't show up, she was going to have to rely on herself.

*********************
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 12:44:11 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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Subject:      NEW STORY:  A Night At The Office  Part 3 of 5
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A Night At The Office  Part 3
by Nan Smith

"It's been almost two hours," Cat murmured, after a glance at her
watch.  "What on earth are they doing?"

Clark hadn't stirred from his post by the door.  He was watching the
movement of the band's leader, glasses shoved down his nose once more,
Lois noted.  For herself, she couldn't see much.  After another glance
at the terrorist leaning over his portable computer, she went to the
coffee station to get herself a glass of water.  It was after eleven and
she had been up since five.  Now that the adrenaline rush had died down,
she was beginning to feel tired.

"I wonder if they'll let us go to the bathroom," Jack said.

Suddenly aware of discomfort, Lois set the cup down.  She shifted around
indecisively for a moment, then spoke.

"I have to go," she said.

Jack looked up from his video game.  "Okay.  See you tomorrow."

Lois glanced at him in annoyance.  "No, I mean I have to go!"

Jack raised his eyebrows.  "All of a sudden?"

"No!  Just since you mentioned it, thank you very much!"

"They have to provide for basic human needs," Lex said.

"I don't think anyone told them that!"

Perry jerked his head in the direction of the newsroom.  "I think you
should tell Miss Congeniality out there that you need to use the Ladies'
room."

"Or," Lex said, "you can hold it, indefinitely."

Lois turned without a word and hurried to the window beside Clark.  She
hammered on the glass.  After a second, the female invader yanked open
the door.  "What?"

"I have to go to the bathroom," Lois explained.

"Too bad."  The woman started to close the door.

"You can't treat us like this!" Lois protested.

The leader walked over.  "I thought I told you not to make trouble."

Lois glared at him.  "Evidently my bladder didn't hear you."

The leader looked at her for a moment, as if trying to ascertain if it
was a trick, then gestured abruptly.  "Take her.  I'll watch them."

The woman seized Lois by the arm and pushed her roughly across the Pit
toward the Ladies' room.

She was drying her hands when the yells of alarm and fury reached her
ears, followed almost immediately by the sound of a gunshot.  Dropping
the paper towel, she hurried to the door.

The fire sprinklers were in action, and Lex was getting painfully to his
feet, aided by Clark.  With one hand he clutched his shoulder, and from
under his fingers a red stain was spreading across the cloth of his
jacket.

Lois hurried to the two men.  "Are you all right, Lex?"

He glanced reassuringly at her.  "It's nothing.  I'm fine."

The leader was glowering at the three of them, gun pointed directly at
Lex's face.

"No more chances," he said.

*************************

A short time later, they discovered what he meant.  Lois found herself
sitting in a straight-backed chair, cuffed to Clark.  Lex had been
fastened to Cat, Perry to George, and Jack to a chair.  The leader stood
before them, supervising the new arrangement.  When the woman, whom he
had called Remy, finished, he smiled mirthlessly.

"We are now on the buddy system," he announced.  "If one of you is
missing or tries anything heroic, Remy gets to do things her way and
your buddy dies.   She wants you all dead, anyway."  He gave them that
humorless smile again.  "I hope that's clear enough for everyone to
understand.  Don't give me any more trouble, or else."

Clark twisted around, trying to see the others; he was facing the
windows to the newsroom.  Lois protested.  "Clark, you're pulling!"

"Sorry."  Her partner straightened up and she watched the terrorists
depart.  Remy shut the door behind them,

For several long moments no one said anything.  Then Cat lifted the
wrist, which had been chained to Lex's.

"I was planning on wearing handcuffs this evening," she remarked, "but
not this way."

Jack reached into a pocket with his free hand and as Lois watched, the
boy produced a paper clip.  Slowly, one-handed, he straightened it and
inserted it into the lock on the cuffs.  Perry had seen him, too, Lois
noted, but he said nothing.

"What are they doing?" she asked, finally.

Her partner answered her.  "It looks like they're trying to rescue their
blueprints.  Everything's pretty wet."

"What happened, anyway?" she asked.

"The sprinklers suddenly came on for no reason," Cat said.  "Lex tried
to escape, and the leader guy shot him."

George had also seen what Jack was doing, Lois noticed, but he made no
comment either.  The ex-cop must be getting worried about their
prospects for escape.

"You know," Lois said, trying to look on the bright side, "this is going
to make an incredible story, Clark.  I mean, how many journalists have
this kind of opportunity?  To be in the belly of the beast--part of the
event, not just a casual observer?  Just like those guys in the Baghdad
Hotel!"

Jack had undone the lock, she saw.  The boy quietly opened the handcuff
and slipped free.  One finger to his lips, crouched low so as not to be
seen by the occupied terrorists, he crept to the door.

"Lex!"  Cat's voice brought her attention around.  Lex had appeared to
be resting, his head lolling against the back of the chair and on Cat's
shoulder, but now, as she watched, he slumped gradually sideways and
collapsed to the floor, half dragging Cat with him.

"Lex!  Ohmigod!"  Lois struggled to her feet.  Clark was forced to stand
as well and the two of them hurried to the fallen man.  Clark bent over
him and pulled open his jacket.  The white shirt underneath was drenched
with blood.

"The bullet went right through," he said after a quick examination, "but
he's bleeding pretty heavily.   We've got to get it stopped."

The next moments were a little confused as they followed Clark's terse
instructions, and when Lois had the presence of mind to check again,
Jack had disappeared.

**********************

"I can't believe it."  Lois eyed her partner with a feeling close to
awe.  Clark's "voodoo" mixture appeared to have stopped the bleeding.
Lex looked woozily up at them and then down at his shoulder.  He and Cat
were seated on the floor, and they had braced him against the wall.
Clark sat back and wiped both hands on his jeans.

"You'll be okay now," he told Lex.  "Just sit still and take it easy."

A jolt shook the conference room and Lois grabbed Clark's shoulder to
steady herself, surprised to feel the slabs of hard muscle under her
fingers.  Clark was such a mild-mannered guy that she tended to forget
how strong he was.  Of course, she had seen his build once, unhampered
by clothing, the time he'd answered the door in nothing but a towel that
morning at the Apollo Hotel, but that had been nearly a year ago.

"What was that?" Cat asked.

"An earthquake?" George guessed.

Another jolt.  Lois looked over at the terrorist leader, who was
speaking furiously into a walkie talkie.

"I don't think so," Clark said.  He was looking at the floor, Lois
noticed, glasses pushed down his nose again.  "They must be using that
machinery we saw earlier."

"Why?" Perry asked.  "Why come in here and try to destroy the Daily
Planet?"

"I don't think they're trying to destroy it, Chief," Clark said.
"Remember the blueprints?  They're looking for something, like we said
before."

Remy and the leader were arguing vigorously.  Now he shoved his
lieutenant roughly aside and fired four shots into the hapless computer.

"I guess they didn't find it," George said into the silence that
followed.  "Nice to know our pals out there are so cool under pressure."

The two terrorists argued some more.  Clark was staring at them, Lois
noted, his glasses lowered slightly.  She saw her partner frown.
"Dragon--" she heard him say.

"Dragon--what?" she asked.

"They said 'Dragonetti'."

She shook her head.  Clark could be strange, sometimes.  "How do you
know?  Oh, that's right.  You read lips."

"Yeah."  He glanced around suddenly.  "Where's Jack?"

"He took off while you were working on Mr. Luthor," George said.  "I
didn't think it would be smart to make a fuss, considering."

"The boss is headed this way," Cat said.  "Let's hope he doesn't notice
Jack's missing."

A moment later the door swung open.  The head terrorist looked in at
them.  "The system's locked up.  Who can get me online with the
computer?"

"I--" Lois began.

"I can help you."  Clark cut her off.  "What file do you need?"

"That's not your concern.  Just get me onto the Metro-Comp data base."

Lois saw her chance.  "Metro comp?  That's the old system.  We updated
three years ago.  He won't know how to use it.  You'll have to take
me."  She cast a look of triumph at Clark as Remy unlocked her cuff and
fastened it to one of the chairs.  Honestly!  This old-fashioned
chivalry of Clark's could really be annoying!  Then the worried look on
her partner's face made her soften.  "Don't worry, Clark.  But
somebody's got to find out what they're doing here."

**********************
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 12:44:19 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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Subject:      NEW STORY:  A Night At The Office  Part 4 of 5
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A Night At The Office   Part 4
by Nan Smith

"They had me call up the old building plans to the Daily Planet," she
was saying to them fifteen minutes later.  "They're looking for money."

"I figured that out as soon as Clark said 'Dragonetti'," Perry said.
"Dragonetti was a high profile gangster in Metropolis during the
Prohibition era.  Like a lot of them he came to a violent end, but while
he was in power he and a few others like him actually built the Daily
Planet building.  In those days it was his headquarters, and there was
even a Speakeasy in the basement, where the cafeteria is now…anyway, the
legend has it that his vault is somewhere in the building, with
something like thirty million dollars in it."

"Thirty million!" Cat said.  "And you never thought about looking for
it?"

Perry gave a reluctant grin.  "I never really believed it, and besides,
who'd think it would still be here?"

"Obviously these guys," Cat said, glumly.  "I'd rather we'd found it."

"Yeah," Perry admitted.  "Me, too."

"I stole this from them."  Lois tossed a wadded up ball of paper to
Clark and watched as he unfolded it.  "What is it?"

"It's a diagram of these offices," Clark said, slowly.  "There it is.
Look."

Lois bumped heads with George as they all crowded together to see what
Clark was pointing out.

"Dragonetti's vault?" Lois said.  "But that's…"

"In my office," Perry said.  "I've been sitting on thirty million
dollars for--"  He broke off as the elevator opened and the remaining
three male terrorists wrestled the heavy equipment out onto the newsroom
floor.  As they watched, the men hauled it through the Pit and into
Perry's office.

"Oh, no!"  Perry jumped to his feet. "Not my Elvis box!" The terrorists
were dragging the machine across his office, paying no attention to the
damage they caused, and Lois winced involuntarily as Perry's Elvis box
met its fate. Her editor covered his face with both hands.

It was at that moment that she saw her partner's expression change.  He
turned his head toward the windows of the room that overlooked the
street in front of the Daily Planet, and carefully lowered his glasses
just far enough to look over them.  She frowned.  Why did Clark do that?

On impulse she went to the windows and looked out.  Clark followed,
perforce.

It was past one a.m.  The air was misty, with early morning fog blurring
the yellow light of the street lamps, and for a moment she saw nothing.
Then a flicker of motion caught her eye.

There were men down there--men in the gear of SWAT officers.  Somehow
Clark had known they were there, but how?  She had been aware for some
time that his hearing was acute, but that acute?  It was impossible.
Nobody had hearing like that.

Except Superman.  The thought popped unbidden into her mind.

She was vaguely proud of herself for concealing her reaction as well as
she did when the realization dawned in her brain.   Her heart was racing
as fast as her thoughts and she felt slightly light-headed, but she
continued to look down into the street while she fitted the pieces
together hoping to disprove what she had guessed, but only managing to
confirm her suspicion.

Clark's mysterious disappearances--always just before the appearance of
Superman at some disaster or other.  The sprinklers that inexplicably
came on in the Pit while she'd been in the Ladies' room.  Clark had been
trying to get them out of this situation without revealing his secret.
Lex must have fouled that up somehow with his escape attempt.  There had
been that time a few weeks ago when he'd stood up to the Superman clone,
to protect her--what a chance he'd taken, then, if what she thought was
true!  And there had been the incident around Christmas when he'd shoved
her down on the steps of her apartment and insisted someone had been
shooting at her.  She hadn't believed him, but Sebastian Finn had
probably tried to kill her that evening, and Clark had saved her life.
He must have caught the bullets, she thought, feeling unnaturally,
almost hysterically calm.  He had had something in his hands after all.

Superman had appeared for the first time in Metropolis just days after
Clark had been hired at the Planet, too.  He'd flown her back to the
office after the Messenger incident and set her down right next to her
desk.  That made sense.  Clark, of course, knew which desk was hers.
The clues were everywhere, she thought with a strong sense of chagrin,
if only she'd had the sense to look.  But why would anyone in his right
mind even think of quiet, modest, unassuming Clark Kent as a super
hero?  That was almost certainly why the disguise worked so well.  She
had probably prevented him from saving them again when she'd
outmaneuvered him a short time ago.  He'd tried to volunteer and she'd
taken his place.  Well, if she'd known then what she knew now, it
wouldn't have happened!

Staring down at the activity in the street, as the shock began to wear
off slightly, she was first aware of anger and a deep sense of
betrayal.  How could he not have told her--his partner?  This was a
secret that could be life-altering!  She'd known he had a crush on her;
she'd chosen to ignore it, but if she'd known…!

And that brought her up short in dismay.

Why would he do that?  He had to know how she would react to him if she
knew his secret, and yet he hadn't told her.  Which had to mean…

Lois felt a hot flush of embarrassment beginning to creep up her
collarbone.  How would she feel in his place to have someone fawning
over her because she was--oh, say, a beauty queen or movie star or
something, and not because she was Lois Lane?  She had gushed over
Superman because he was a flashy, flawless super hero and ignored the
very human man who was her partner, even though they were one and the
same.  What did that say about her?  Nothing good, she thought, with an
inner grimace.  No wonder he hadn't told her.  But he had saved her life
numerous times--probably more times than she knew.

The sense of betrayal was still there, but now it was blunted with the
knowledge that she had been partially responsible.  She would have to
think about this for awhile.  But if the terrorist leader set off that
bomb she'd never have the chance.  Clark might survive it, but the rest
of them wouldn't.

"What are you looking at down there?" Perry asked.

"A SWAT team, I think," Lois said.  "Jimmy or Jack must have gotten
through.  But if they notice--"  She inclined her head slightly toward
Perry's office where the sound of heavy machinery was making the room
vibrate.

"I hate to say this," Cat said, "I mean I'm all for peace and
non-violence and all that, but I think we need to do something.  If that
guy notices, and sets off that thing he's got strapped to him before the
police can stop him, we're all going to be in a lot of trouble."

"I guess that's one way of putting it."  Lois glanced around.  Jack had
used a paper clip to unlock the handcuffs and she'd gotten lessons from
Jimmy some time back on the esoteric subject of picking locks, on the
grounds that it was something a good investigative reporter should
know.  She hadn't actually had the opportunity to try it yet, but maybe
now would be a good time to put the knowledge to use.

There it was.  She tugged on the cuffs, pulling Clark with her, and bent
to pick up the little piece of twisted metal.  "Sit down, Clark," she
commanded.  "Let's see if I can do as well as Jack."

"What are you going to do?"

She inserted the paper clip into the lock.  "If we try to do something,
we'll be a lot more effective with the handcuffs off," she said.  "Jimmy
showed me how to do this.  I hope it works as well for real as it did
when I practiced."  Feeling around carefully, she identified the inner
workings of the lock as Jimmy had showed her, and such were her
co-worker's teaching skills that less than a full minute later the lock
snapped open and Clark was free.

"There," she said.  "You're next, George…what should I call you?"

"George will do."  The man smiled at her.  "Considering first
impressions, I imagine that's as formal as I need to get."

Lois couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped her at the truth of the
statement.  George had a wry sense of humor that she found likeable.
Maybe Cat's taste in men wasn't always so terrible after all.  Well, it
couldn't be, really.  She found Clark attractive, didn't she?

Her work went faster this time.  The handcuff popped open and Lois moved
from George to Lex and Cat.  Lex was paler than he had been, but he
smiled grimly at her as she undid the cuffs.

"Good work," he murmured in her ear.  Lois smiled sideways at him.

"Thanks.  How's your shoulder?"

"I'll live," he said.

Clark's remedy had worked on Lex, she thought suddenly.  But had it
really been the remedy or an application of Superman's super powers?
She hadn't considered that before.  And that brought up another
thought.  Clark…Superman…disliked Lex.  Why?  Jealousy?   Over her?
Would Superman, in his guise as Clark, actively dislike a man over
something as petty as jealousy? Well, she didn't consider herself a
petty reason, but that was something else she needed to think about,
maybe even ask Clark once they were out of this.  The discovery she had
made a short time ago was bringing up a whole slew of other questions
that had never occurred to her before.

The cuffs came free.  Cat rubbed her chafed wrist, and said with
uncharacteristic gratitude, "Thanks."

"Okay, we're out of the cuffs," Perry said.  "Anybody got any ideas what
we should do now?"
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 12:44:28 -0700
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From:         Nancy Smith <deimos1@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      NEW STORY:  a Night At The Office  Part 5 of 5
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A Night At The Office  Part 5
by Nan Smith

She heard the elevator doors slide open on the words and then a gasp
from Clark.  She turned.

Jimmy Olsen emerged from the elevator, hands held carefully in sight.
And behind him…

"Willie?" Lois whispered.

The old night watchman held his sidearm in one shaking hand, directed
straight at Jimmy's back.  As they watched, the terrorist leader crossed
the Pit and pointed to the room where they had been confined.

Willie escorted Jimmy down the ramp and to the conference room.  The
leader opened the door and raised his eyebrows in mock surprise at the
sight of the prisoners now lined up shoulder to shoulder inside, hands
carefully out of sight.

"Since we found what we wanted," he said mockingly, "I thought I should
introduce you to the mastermind behind this little operation."

"Willie," Perry said.  "It was you?  How could you do this to us?  I
trusted you.  I even recommended you for the job."

Willie straightened up slightly.  "Would you have recommended me if
you'd known I had a prison record?"

Perry stared at him, speechless.

The old man nodded.  "I was Pino Dragonetti's partner," he said.  "Half
of the money in that vault was mine, but he framed me for murder and put
me in prison.  I just got out ten months ago."

"But…you'll go back to prison for what you've done to us," Clark said,
quietly.  "Did you think of that?"

"None of you were supposed to be here!" Willie protested.  "And you!"
He turned to the leader.  "You said no guns!"

The leader smiled, and Lois knew all at once what he had in mind.

"I lied," he said.  "About a lot of things."

Before Willie could move, the man reached out and deftly removed the .38
from Willie's hand.  "Sorry, Pops.  This is where we part company."

"But--"  Willie stared at him as if he couldn't believe his senses.
"But I told you about Dragonetti's vault!"

"And I'll always remember you fondly for it," the other man said.  "But
we need to make a clean escape, and you're not exactly at your physical
peak."  He glanced over his shoulder.  "Move it out!"

The three men were carrying something Lois couldn't see clearly toward
the elevator.  The leader looked at Remy, who was standing in the
doorway of Perry's office.  "Remy, I've begun to come around to your way
of thinking about our uninvited guests."

The woman's lips split in a malicious smile.

"Take care of it."  The leader reached out to grasp Lois by the wrist.
"Except her.  We'll take Miss Lane along in case we need insurance."

Lois saw Clark glance furtively at the door to the stairs, then he
lifted his glasses.  She tensed.  Superman was about to go into action.

The man holding her screamed in what was unmistakably pain and tried to
fling his weapon away, but it stuck to his hand.  Remy screamed in the
same instant.  Clark dived for the leader, bearing him to the ground and
shoving Lois to safety in the same movement.  With one hand he tore the
bomb free from its harness.  Lois was dimly aware of George going past
her in a rush, toward Remy.  Then men in military garb were charging out
of the stairwell, others were coming through the Planet's windows, and
from somewhere below she heard a burst of automatic gunfire.

Clark must have known, she realized then.  The SWAT team had been about
to attack and he had acted at once to get rid of the bomb.

She picked herself up from the floor, conscious of Perry's helping
hands.  The terrorist leader was curled into in a ball on the ground,
sobbing and clutching his hand.  Shocked, Lois saw angry, red burns on
the palm.  Blisters were already rising.

Clark hadn't had the leisure to be careful, she thought abstractedly,
even as the members of the SWAT team converged on the man.  His entire
attention had been focussed on getting his hands on the bomb.

George surrendered Remy to another pair of officers, and Lois could see
scorch marks on the woman's hands as well.  If she'd needed any more
proof, there it was, she thought.  She and Clark would have  to have a
talk…much later, after she'd sorted everything out in her mind.

"What happened?" Lex was saying.  He moved forward gingerly and put a
hand on her arm.

Lois turned and spoke to a man with the band of a paramedic on his upper
sleeve.  The medics had appeared magically on the scene now that the
action was over.  "He's hurt.  Please help him."  To Lex she said, "I
think I was right."

"Right?"

"Superman knew all along.  He couldn't show himself, but he helped when
he was able.  I knew he would."

Lex nodded slowly.  "I guess he must have."  He smiled at her as two of
the medics lowered him to a chair and one of them began to examine the
gunshot wound in his shoulder.  He winced as the man probed at the
damage, but resolutely kept his attention on her.  "That was some date."

"Yes," she admitted.

"And we even got to spend the night together."

"Yes, I guess we did," she agreed.

"I didn't think you were that kind of girl."

"Oh, I'm just full of surprises," she said, and moved away to let the
medics do their work.

Clark was standing a short distance away, watching her, his expression
hard to read.   He had gotten rid of the bomb, she noticed, for his
hands were empty.  She approached him slowly, examining his face.  How
could she not have noticed the resemblance before?  The thick, black
hair, the brown eyes which were obscured by those horn-rimmed
glasses…but the chin was Superman's, and so were so many other things
that were obvious, now that she was really seeing her partner clearly
for the first time.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing.  It's been a rough night," she said.  "Thank you, Clark."

He didn't answer at once.  "You're welcome," he said finally.  "Are you
all right?"

"Yeah.  I'll probably have a bruise or two by tonight."  She rubbed the
wrist which still showed chafe marks from the handcuffs.  "I told you
Superman wouldn't let us down."  She watched his expression.

He smiled briefly.  "I'm sure he always had his eye on us."

"You didn't let us down either, Clark."

A slightly wider smile.  "Thank you, Lois."

She shook her head.  "You know, it's times like these that I think maybe
I should get a regular, boring job, settle down with a guy who sells
insurance and have two-point-four kids."

They looked at each other for a second or two.  Clark's eyebrows climbed
nearly to his hairline.

"Nah!" they said together.  Lois laughed.

"Let me say goodbye to Lex, then you can walk me home, if that's all
right."

He looked surprised.  "Sure.  Lois--"

"Yes?"

"Be careful with Luthor.  You don't know him like I do."

There it was again.  She hesitated, then nodded.  "Be right back."

They were lifting Lex onto a stretcher in preparation for transporting
him out of the Daily Planet to a waiting ambulance.  She bent over him
and kissed him lightly on the cheek.  "Get well, Lex.  And thank you."

He smiled at her.  "I'll call you tomorrow."

She stood watching as they rolled him into the elevator, thinking. She
had learned something tonight--that even she could be deceived by
superficial appearances.  Lex had never been anything but charming when
in her company.  But Clark--Superman--didn't like him or trust him.  It
was time to find out why.  And after that--well, she had some thinking
to do:  when and if to tell Clark she knew his secret, or whether to
wait for him to tell her the truth.  That last might be the harder
choice.

Slowly, she walked back to where her partner waited for her, looking
somehow alone among all the persons milling about.  He was alone she
thought, with a perception that she had not possessed before, perhaps
more alone than anyone she had ever known.

Well, that was going to change if he would let her change it.  It was
time to grow up, to get over her hero-worship and take the time to learn
more about the man as he really was.  She had the feeling that there
might be more unexpected things to find out about him, even knowing what
she knew now.

Cat and George walked by them, arm in arm.  Cat threw her a wink.  "See
you Monday, Lois," she said.  "George and I have some quality time to
make up for."

Lois smiled, surprised at the feeling of real friendship for the woman.
"So do I, Cat."

She slid her arm through Clark's.  "Let's go, partner.  Maybe we can
stop somewhere for breakfast.  I have some questions I need to ask you…"

The End.
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 22:55:59 +0200
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Kaethel <kaethel@CLUB-INTERNET.FR>
Subject:      Re: New Story: Naked Truth (1/2)
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S
P
O
I
L
E
R

S
P
A
C
E

Pam wrote:
> I have to say, during the poker game, I kept expecting him to be at
> least *tempted* to cheat ... he could see right through her cards if he
> wanted to.  Okay, so he'd give himself another mental slap but that'd be
> fun, too :D

You know, the funny thing is that I can't remember it even occuring to me
while I was writing it... go figure <g> He could have done that, you're
right. But I think he was too engrossed in what she was asking him to bet
on, and too worried to actually think about anything <g>

> <snicker>  I can see it now ... "Okay, Lois, you won me fair and square
> -- when do you want me to move in?"

LOL! Yup, that's a nice thing he could say... but wouldn't Lois be mad and
call it off? Or maybe in this case she would say something to make him
understand she wouldn't object... remember she's starting to feel something
for him. How would he react in this case? IMHO, he'd probably start talking
with her about something else than poker <g> Problem is that I wanted them
to keep playing all along, until Lois dropped the bomb <g> I'll think about
this, though, this line is very funny :)

> I don't know anything about poker, but mightn't he win just once or
> twice, by sheer luck?  Just enough to make Lois nervous <g>

One of my editor asked this to me, too, when I first submitted it to her,
and it made me think about this. The first (and main) problem is that I've
never played poker in my life and I absolutely have no idea how to play this
game <g> Besides, Clark is a very lousy player, as we saw in... uh... I
think it was in "Requiem for a Superhero" but I may be wrong on that. And
another problem is that I wanted Lois to be confident till the end of the
game. I thought that making her win all the time would make her accept more
easily to bet her t-shirt, and finally all her clothes, which is the only
way Clark found to break her concentration. Wouldn't it spoil her mood to
lose? Remember how she refused to lose in HIM. Here she's *almost* totally
in control... although not totally, and I hope you didn't get the impression
that Clark was totally under her spell. He may be a lousy player and feel
confused about where's she heading with this, but he tries to play with her
nerves as much as she is, to make her feel as if she's losing control...

> And here I thought English
> wasn't your first language!  If it's not, you'd never know it by this
> story.

Thanks for the compliments, but those should be directed at my editors. They
accomplished a huge work on this story, correcting my spelling and grammar
mistakes, and helping me to find phrases that would sound more English. I
really owe them one! :)

Thanks again!

Helene :)
------------------------------------------------------
Kaethel on irc / Kaethel79  on AIM
kaethel@club-internet.fr
"And I always thought that it would make me smarter
 But it's only made me harder
 My heart thrown open wide
 In this near wild heaven"
                            R.E.M. -- "Near Wild Heaven"
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 16:04:59 -0700
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Amy Lauters <alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU>
Subject:      New Fic: Time Elapsed (6/?)
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Lois agreed with Clark's reasoning; although Mortenson and Soppeland were
but the last in a series of criminals who'd tried to tamper with their lives
in some way, their involvement was the most recent. At her agreement, Clark
flew off to check Ellen's crushed car for physical evidence, and Lois headed
for the office.

As Lois stepped off the elevator and into the waiting offices of the Daily
Planet, some of the tension balled up between her shoulder blades eased. The
hour she'd spent with Clark before they split up to work the investigation
had helped immensely. But the route she took to the Planet this morning
passed by the intersection where her mother had had her crash, and Lois
realized all over again that her mother lay in hospital bed, in critical
condition, and that all obvious signs pointed to Ellen's drinking again.

Just being in the office gave Lois a sense of purpose. So her relationship
with her mother hadn't been as close as it could have been, Lois reasoned.
Ellen had always been there, in the background. Since she'd stopped
drinking, Ellen had been a force to reckon with that Lois knew she could
count on in a pinch. Lois still felt guilty she hadn't been the same force
for her mother in the last few weeks. But that didn't matter right now, Lois
thought. What mattered now is she could help her mother by finding out what
happened.

Lois marched to her desk, pulled out her phone book and started dialing. By
the time Clark showed up at the office, about an hour later, Lois had some
of the answers she sought.

"Hey, sweetheart," Lois rose to greet her husband. "Guess what I found out?"

Clark kissed her. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he said
suggestively.

"Conference room?"

"Conference room."

They pulled the door shut behind them as they went into the conference room.
"OK," Lois started. "First of all, Mortenson and Soppeland were judged
flight risks, which we knew, and they're still cooling their heels in the
Metropolis City Jail, waiting for their trials to start. Since their
arrests, several young co-eds have come forward to implicate them both for
sexual harassment, and the DA tells me we might find more charges filed
against them as that investigation progresses. Anyway, they've been in jail
for six weeks now, and I doubt they had anything to do with my mother's
accident."

"Wow," Clark said. "Sounds like a good follow-up."

"Yeah, it should make Perry happy, and it won't take me long to write up,"
Lois said. "What did you find out?"

"First of all, Ellen's car sustained some serious damage in the accident.
Being at the center of a four-car crash, there's a lot of body damage. I
took a look inside, and I found the remains of crushed bottle of bourbon,
and I found this." Clark pulled out a small gadget in a plastic bag. "It was
attached to her accelerator."

"To her accelerator?" Lois looked at the black plastic object. "Why her
accelerator?"

"I don't know, but if I had to guess, I'd say it controlled her accelerator,
somehow." Clark handed her the bag. "I think we should take it to Dr. Klein,
see what it really does."

Lois sat abruptly down. "Someone probably was controlling her accelerator.
Why, Clark?"

"Who knows, honey?" Clark sat next to her. "But at least it means your
mother was not driving, and she can't be held responsible for the accident."
He hesitated. "We should turn this over to the police, Lois."

"I'm not going to stop my investigation," Lois warned him. "Correction. Our
investigation. But I think you're right. I don't want Mother held
responsible for something she didn't do. Let's take this to Dr. Klein, find
out what it's for, then turn it over."

"How about, we tell the police we turned it over to Dr. Klein to find out
what it was for?" Clark countered. "They'll need to get on this if they want
to investigate further."

"I hate it when you're right," Lois muttered, "but that's only because it
happens so frequently." She heaved a sigh. "Since it's my mother's life we'
re talking about, here, I'll agree."

"Let's call the police, then head to Dr. Klein's. Then we can go to your
mother's house and see what we can uncover about her activities the last few
weeks," Clark suggested.

"Sounds good," Lois stood, then leaned over to brush a kiss on his cheek.
"Thanks, partner."

***
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 14:51:50 -0700
Reply-To:     creolel@ca.freei.net
Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
              <LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
From:         Lori Llorence <creolel@CA.FREEI.NET>
Subject:      Re: NEW STORY:  a Night At The Office  Part 5 of 5
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Loved it NAN!!  So...where's the sequel?  :)
Lori

-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy Smith [mailto:deimos1@EARTHLINK.NET]
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2000 5:46 AM
To: creolel@mail.ca.freei.net
Subject: NEW STORY: a Night At The Office Part 5 of 5

A Night At The Office  Part 5
by Nan Smith
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 18:18:16 -0400
Reply-To:     "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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Sender:       "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic"
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From:         Gerry Anklewicz <gerry_anklewicz@NYNET.NYBE.ON.CA>
Subject:      Re: NEW STORY:  a Night At The Office  Part 5 of 5
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Nan, that was a wonderfully rewritten story.  I also like the new title.
I have to compliment you once again on how beautifully you express your
ideas.  Your stories are always a pleasure to read.
S
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
p
a
c
e
I liked Lois's revelation.  It was smoothly done, but it wasn't overdone.
She figured out he was Superman, quietly checked her evidence and kept it
all together.  Good for her.
One question:  Remy is a hench"man"?
Thanks again Nan.  I can always depend on you for a good read.
Gerry
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 18:20:18 EDT
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From:         Mary Scibetta <Meg4076@AOL.COM>
Subject:      New Story
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In memorium of the 25th anniversary of the fall of Siagon, I am going to
posting a time travel story that I wrote awhile back after researching some
on Vietnam.  Thanks to the people who read it and have suggested changes to
tone it down, which I will, but I am writing the warning that it's NOT nfic
but realistic.  All comments are welcome, public and private.  All English
corrections please send them private.

Thanks, Mary
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 18:33:20 EDT
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From:         Mary Scibetta <Meg4076@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Saving Private Kent - Part 1
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    "Clark Kent here.  Sure.  Thank you Dr. Klein."  Clark hung up the phone
and walked over to his wife's desk.  "That was Dr. Klein; he said that he
would run another set of tests on that transmitter we found.  What do you
have?"  Lois leaned in closer to her husband and slightly pulled on his tie.
He smiled and did it up tighter.
    "Well, seems that the Newtrich sisters has a little brother that was
just
picked up by the police - some car painting incident, nothing they need
Superman for."  Clark looked at the copy that was Lois was printing out for
the evening edition when he heard a scream from across town.
      "Go."  Clark smiled and started off when his phone rang.  "I'll get
it."  Lois walked over to get the phone.  "Lois Lane," she answered as
normal
when she picked up the phone.  Clark looked back quickly before walking to
the outside stairs and saw Lois nearly drop the phone.  Holding up the
receiver, Lois pointed at Clark as she turned white.  Clark ran back down
the
ramp and over to his desk.
    "What is it Lois?"  Clark looked worried and seemed to forget about the
person hollering for help.  Lois handed him the phone and sat down in the
seat next to his.  Clark took the phone carefully, still looking at Lois.
    "Clark Kent."  Clark could hear someone whimpering slightly on the other
end of the line and realized that his mother was in pain of some sort.
"Mom...what's wrong?"  Clark sat silent listening on the phone to his mother
for several minutes, turning whiter with every word.  Lois pulled her chair
over and sat next to him.  She attempted to not show pain at Clark's
squeezing her hand.  The rest of the newsroom by now had stopped; Perry
stood
in the doorway of the office waiting for the worst.  "Ok, I'll be there as
soon as I can."  Clark hung up the phone and sat at his desk.
    "Clark...honey.  You're scaring me - what's happening."  Lois turned him
to face her.
    "My father's ill.  Not just sick; they don't know what it is.  He's in
hospital, but they don't know what's going to happen.  Lois...my dad....."
Clark let go of her hand and picked up his keys.
    "Clark...wait...."  Lois ran over to her desk and gathered her things
and
took a quick glance over at Perry, who said nothing but waved them on.  Lois
caught up with Clark, who was all out of sorts.  Around the corner of the
Planet, Lois stopped him.  "Don't you think we should...you know.." She
signaled for them to fly.  "It would be faster."
    Clark stopped and leaned against the wall, looking up in the sky.  "I
have always been able to save all these people..Metropolis...Earth...New
Krypton, but I can't do anything for my father.  Mom said they think it's
something that has been slowly bothering him over the last few years.  He
never wanted to tell me; he was worried I wouldn't leave him.  The doctors
think it's something from the war."
    Lois looked at her husband, "You never told me that your father was in
the military."  Lois pulled him along, trying to get them to the car.  Once
in the car, Clark completely broke.  Lois had never seen her husband this
way
before - this was beyond anything superpowers could do for them. Clark
leaned
up against the window and undid his tie. At that moment, he could care less
who he really was and if anyone knew.  He covered his face with his hands
and
kept saying no, no, no to himself.  Lois pulled his hands away and to feel
them wet with tears.  She put her arms around him as he continued to stare
out the window and mumble to himself.  Lois tried everything not to butt in
and help out.  Lois left Clark well alone while she was driving.  Clark
continued to sit completely sit and cry into his hands.  He had known for
several years that his dad actually had been in the military.  His father
had
told him never to speak of it.  Clark couldn't imagine what could have
happened there that would have caused him so much pain.  In fact, he was
never even allowed to ask what war it had been, but he had found out later
while looking for the family estate papers. Thinking through all the times
he
tried to talk to his father about it, he could feel Lois tugging on his
shoulder.
    "Do you want to talk about it?"
    "Not really.  It's really not something I even understand."  Clark wiped
his face again.
    "Ok."  Lois stared back at the road and tried to concentrate on other
things.  She felt Clark shift in the seat and sigh harder.
    "He was on the list.  The country at the time was under the impression
that the mission there was nothing like a war.  They had been promised that
Korea would not happen again.  They decided that he was good to go on the
mission since it would be back in the same time his time was up.  Besides
the
preparation to get there and what the return trip was like, they had never
told any details of the plight my father had."
    Both Lois and Clark had studied about it in college but never had been
so
close to the situation.  Now Clark wished that his parents had been more
honest with him when he was younger.
    Getting out of the car, Clark patted his now year old daughter on the
head.  Lois followed close behind and watched Clark walk up the stairs to
their room.  "Ms.  Fairchild, we have a family emergency that we need to go
out of town for.  Will you be ok here alone with Kally?"  The nanny shook
her
head yes and Lois ran upstairs after Clark.  When Lois got in the bedroom,
he
was already stuffing things into a suitcase, still crying and mumbling to
himself.  "The nanny is staying here with Kally; she just left to take her
to
the park while we get ready."  Clark looked up and took off downstairs.
Lois
ran to the window and saw Clark stop Ms. Fairchild and Kally.  Clark had
become the most protective father she had ever seen and more human every
day.
 Lois started crying finally after seeing him pick up Kally and kiss her
gently.  Little did she know what was tearing her father apart at that same
time.  Next time Lois looked down, Ms. Fairchild was heading down to the
park
and Clark was back in the room, continuing to pack.
    "Are you going with me?"  Clark didn't look up but continued to put
things together.
    "Of course, why would you ask that?"  Lois had been packing since he had
left but was a bit behind her husband.  "Clark, you're my husband...this is
my family too." Lois held his shoulders as he looked over her into space.
    "I'm sorry Lois.  I'm just real bothered by all of this."  Lois picked
up
her bag and put it next to Clark.
    "Then, let's get going."  She pulled his shirt open to reveal the S on
his chest and waited.  Letting out a deep breath, Clark contained himself
and
took off with Lois.
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 18:46:12 EDT
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Ok, I goofed.  Saving Private Kent was the wrong name.  It is now called and
from this point further  WORKING AGAINST TIME.
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 18:47:26 EDT
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Subject:      Working Against Time Part 2 (Saving Private Kent)
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    Arriving at the hospital in Smallville, Clark was still not speaking to
Lois.  The whole trip, short as it was, seemed to take forever.  The last
time he had been this silent was when they fought over her editor's
position.
 She followed Clark into the hospital and up to the front desk.  "Jonathon
Kent's room please."  The nurse walked around the corner of the desk and
asked them to follow her.  They went through doors that said personnel only.
Clark and Lois both knew that could be a bad sign.  The nurse stopped
outside
a ICU room and then pushed the door open.
    "Your mother has not gone home for three days Mr. Kent.  She needs some
rest."  Clark nodded and followed Lois into the room.  Lois quickly turned
into Clark's chest when she saw his father.  Clark stood in the doorway and
stared at his father.  Hooked up to every machine possible, his father was
struggling just to breath regularly.
    "Mom."  Clark stirred her out of her light sleep.  "Is it any better?"
Clark pulled the other chair over by her and sat down where he could still
reach his father's free hand.  He was careful to not grip him too tight
since
any strange sensations could lead to drastic results.  Lois walked around to
the other side of the bed and leaned up against the wall.  She couldn't
believe how hurt her husband was.  She had seen pain before but her parents
had never had anything like this happen.  Lois didn't know what to say or to
do.
    "Clark, I don't know...they won't tell my anything.  Everything's so
secretive when the military is involved."  Martha was having a hard speaking
about anything herself.  For so long, the Kents had never been in danger
with
Clark being Superman but couldn't avoid what was happening.  Lois just
continued to look on and cry.  She looked over and couldn't hear what Clark
and Martha were talking about.
    "I need some air Clark."  Lois said quietly.  Clark shook his head and
watched as Lois left.  She walked around the ICU area until she got to a
waiting room.  She sat down next to a little gentleman that seemed to be
intrigued in Lois.  Lois picked up one of the more recent medical journals
and tried to seem interested in the stories.
    "It's hard to imagine that bad things can happen when everything is
going
so smoothly for so long."  Lois just glanced at the man and turned back to
the magazine she was reading.  "Lois, you now need to be the strong one, for
Clark's thoughts are clouded.  He has never had to endure such pain."  Lois
looked back at the man and started shifting in her seat.
    "Who are you?"  Lois moved further away.
    "Lois my dear, I felt after all the good work you and Clark have done
for
the future, I could repay you.  I just wish the circumstances could be
better.  H.G. Wells."   Lois suddenly beamed with a smile.
    "Where's the garb you usually wear?  Why are you here?  I mean, it's
nice
to see a friendly face, but this isn't the time really to be yanking us away
from here."
    "I improved the time traveler.  I am able to change to look presentable
in whatever time.  As for you and Clark, I am here to help you - there is no
Tempus, no Lex, no villains this time dear.  I am here for Clark, for
Clark's
father."  Lois' mouth dropped open and looked keenly interested.  "You see.
I
have become something of your guardian angel and the guardian of the status
of Utopia.  Martha at this exact time is telling Clark about your father's
illness and how they have known of it for some time.  Jonathon was in the
wrong place at the wrong time.  Clark can change....Lois?"
    "Just a minute."  Lois rushed across to the room and barged in on Clark
and Martha.  "Clark, can I speak you?"  Clark looked at his mother and
followed Lois back over to the waiting room.  "Clark, sit down here and talk
to this man."  Clark looked at Lois puzzled.
    "I'm not really in the mood for games."  Clark tried to get up but the
little man stood in his way.  Clark, though, went with it and looked over at
a little man dressed out of sorts for his age waiting for what he didn't
know.
    "H.G.Wells, Clark you do remember me."  By the look that Lois got, Clark
remembered.  "Now Clark...you have important mission that Lois and I think
you can take."
    "Please, I have enough to worry about here.  Please, no changing history
or saving the world right now."  Clark stood up and started off when Wells
took him by the arm.
    "What if it would save your father?  I have a solution."  Clark turned
and looked at Lois and then at the little man.  Lois smiled halfway and
signaled Clark to at least give Wells the benefit of an explanation.  "It
does have quite a risk involved but I think we may be able to pull it off."
Seeing that Clark was interested, H.G. went on.  They sat together and spoke
for almost an half an hour before they broke for a break.
    "I need to speak with Lois and my mother."  H.G. excused himself and
went
over to talk to the nurses on their break.  "Lois, this is a huge chance.  I
could keep my father from here."  Lois could tell he was ready to go.  "I
need to go explain what I can to my mother."
    "What do you need to explain?"  Martha walked into the waiting room and
touched her son on the shoulder.  Clark turned around and signaled for Wells
to return.
    "Mom, you remember H.G. Wells?  He has a way for me to help dad.  I have
to at least try"  Martha looked at the little man and her son as she
squeezed
his and Lois' hands.  She couldn't believe that her son was ready to walk
out
on his father and possibly miss him fade off to death.  "Mom, I really need
to try."
    Martha sat still and listened to all the pleas and ideas of the little
man in awe.  Finally she interjected, "Clark, you heard him though.  He
doesn't know if you would be able to come back if you were to be wounded or
killed.  You won't have any of your powers - you'll be like all the other
men
that went to Vietnam.  Powerless."  Clark hugged Lois and his mom when they
both started crying.
    "I know, but there's a chance that even if I was wounded, I could get
back to this time before history changed.  I would come back to you, I
promise.  The only difference here from me leaving for New Krypton is its a
different war."
    Lois suddenly got angry, "No...it's different.  We weren't married.  You
weren't leaving your daughter and I high and dry.  And what happens if he
dies."  Martha tried to calm Lois down.  She felt about saying her patented,
'it's something to think about it,' but chose to stay out of the argument.
She had to worry about her husband.  Lois pointed at Mr. Wells, who of
course, stated he would have to go with Clark.  "You would never get back
then.  Mr. Wells...come here."  He returned at Lois' request.  Clark was
just
waiting to get started.  "If you died, could Clark get back?"
    "Clark, I know you will decide what you think is best, but if your
father
turns for the worst, you come back.  Remember we need you here also."  Clark
hugged his mom before she headed off into the ICU again.  Clark knew inside
that he was hurting his mother with all the commotion over a chance to save
his father and lose his own life.  He also knew his mother knew he would try
to set everything right.
"I suppose I could teach Clark to use the controls also.  But in all cases,
it would be better if I just stay alive.  As for your daughter and Lois, if
you were to not come back, Kally would simply not exist and no one would
have
heard of Clark unless he appeared at the Planet the next time he came back.
Clark, you would have to remember to return to the Daily Planet because Lois
would remember everything."
    "I would remember him but we would have to start over?"  Lois was scared
and Clark knew she didn't want him to go.
    "In a sense, yes.  You would have to find each other again.  Shall we be
going?"  Mr. Wells looked at Clark who hugged Lois.
    "Don't do it.  Clark, your parents can't live forever."  While Lois
continued pleading for Clark to listen to reason, he kissed Lois gently on
the mouth and rubbed his hand down her face.
    "But this isn't the way.  I can save him.  I want to see Kally when I
return.  I love you Lois."  Clark started walking away with Mr. Wells.
    "Clark..."  But they had already disappeared into the hospital walls.
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 18:59:44 EDT
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Subject:      Working Against Time Part 3
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Lois stood there in the waiting room entrance with a blank look on her face,
not seeing Martha walking up to her.  "Where's Clark ?  Jonathon is awake
for
a few minutes and can talk to him."
    "Martha, let me come sit with you and Jonathon. I have something real
difficult to explain to you."  Lois had Martha sit down with her in the room
and began telling her everything else from the conversation that she had
missed.  Jonathon was not as coherent but also could tell from the
conversation that Clark had left to save him.  He knew a little of Wells
from
their last time they had met but never realized that Lois and his son had so
many dealings with the man.  Lois went on and told them of many of the
adventures they had with Wells.  Through the stories, Martha looked more and
more confused but could believe anything after what Lois and Clark had been
through in the past.
    "So Lois, this Mr. Wells took Clark with him to save me?  Lois, we have
no idea really when I became ill."  Martha was not crying, not doing
anything, just staring into space while Jonathon weakly spoke to Lois.
    "I'm pretty sure that if Clark can find him and get him out of his
situation that when they return, you won't even be here in the hospital.
Every other time this has happened, we usually end up reliving the same few
moments again."  Lois held onto Martha's hand and prayed together as both
hoped that Clark would be successful, but more, just to return.

****************

    In another time, Clark and Mr. Wells arrived at the beginning of their
journey into the unknown.
    "Now, you cannot be Clark Kent, so when we arrive, we can decide on a
new
name for you.  You may keep Clark but the last name must change."  Clark
shook his head in affirmation and gave a name as he watched the lights
around
them slow to a stop.
    He and his Mr. Wells looked around and suddenly felt the sensation of
sinking.  Looking down, Clark saw his new name on already wet fatigues,
Jorel.  It wasn't spelled the way he had hoped but would do.  Looking down
at
his feet, he could see that it had been raining for awhile wherever they
happened to be at that moment.
    "Mr. Wells? Where did you go?"
    "I am right here but I need to go back to Lois.  I am much too old to be
here for any length of time, but I have put you in the same platoon as your
father.  Just do not slip and call him father.  I will return to you later
tonight.  You will be on duty alone and that will be the best time."  Before
Clark could say anything, the little man had disappeared again.
    Looking around, Clark noticed that he was standing now between several
other young men in this swamp.  Then he noticed an officer standing in front
of him.  Clark looked around, it appeared he was at some sort of airbase.
There were about 5 helicopters behind him.
    "We're waiting on you.  Do you need a written invite?"  The officer
looked at Clark and asked again, "Jorel, Private Jorel."
    Clark stood up straighter, "Jorel sir."  Clark responded surprised
someone knew his name, 'Mr. Wells is good.'    The officer looked at him
again funny as the rest of the kids standing next to him tried not to
snicker.
    "Jorel, grab that ruck sack and get your green little butt on Chopper
3."
    Clark grabbed the large green backpack at his feet and threw it on his
back, almost falling over.  Without his powers suddenly little things seem
to
hurt.  As he ran over to the third chopper and got handed a M16 and four
magazines of ammo.
    "Here's your new girlfriend kid," the sergeant said to him.  Taking the
piece of steel in his hands, Clark's mind wandered past the word
'girlfriend.'
    "Lois," he mumbled to himself as he got in the chopper.
    "Already gotta a name for her already.  You're going to be just fine
here," the sergeant patted him on the back as the other two people in the
chopper looked on.    Before leaving Clark and the other men waited until
another three people joined them on the chopper.  None talked to each other,
most likely nervous about what was going on.  Clark noticed that everyone on
the chopper had one stripe on their sleeve except for the man setting up the
machine gun on a post in the doorway.
    Sitting in the middle of the chopper, Clark could see out the open door.
He watched as the first and second chopper took off and instinctively took
hold of the metal seat before their chopper began to lift off.   Clark,
still
not used to not flying himself, did not look out the windows to see around
him.  He noticed the other men also sat straightforward and did not look
around, and no one spoke.  The only man that was speaking was the machine
gunner that was leaning out the door.  After several minutes of flight, the
pilot stuck his finger up and waved his arm to the left.  The men on the
chopper looked over at the gunner as he stood up and pulled the lever on the
gun, which made a loud sound.  After a few more seconds, Clark got the
courage to look out the doorway and saw them barely missing the treetops
with
the chopper base.  Looking out the other doorway, he saw something more
horrific.  Clark saw a puff of black smoke coming out the rear of chopper 1
and then saw the chopper fall through the trees in a blaze.  Breathing hard,
Clark sat back, holding his head.  Suddenly grabbing the seat, he felt the
chopper pull a hard right as the machine gunner started shooting into the
trees.  The sound was deafening as Clark strained to not look and put his
hands over his ears.
    Clark then looked around, still covering his ears and heard firing
coming
up to the chopper.  Suddenly he saw the man across from him grab his foot
and
start yelling.  Next to him, the man looked as if he was slumped over asleep
on the man with the foot.  With the sharp turn toward the left by the
driver,
the pool of blood from the man's foot ran down next to Clark's boot.
Looking
out the doorway, Clark could now see straight to the ground.
    ***POP POP***  "ARRGG"  The gunner instantly screamed, clutching his
chest as he leaned over fell out of the door.  Clark stared in horror,
unable
to move.  Looking around the chopper, Clark saw the blood from the gunner
and
noticed three holes the size of nickels in the steel wall.  The last hole
was
some six inches from Clark's head.
    Once in a clearing, Clark could feel the chopper coming down to the
ground.  The canopy opened up on the side that had been shot and saw several
men with stretchers running out to the chopper.   Pushing past Clark, the
medics pulled out the man with the injured foot and put him on the
stretcher.
 The other man slumped over was thrown on another stretcher and carried off.
As the men were removed, Clark noticed the seat across from him was covered
red.  Clark shook his head as he got out of the chopper and threw his gear
on
the ground.
    "Hey Jorel!"  Clark heard someone call his name and looked around.
Looking across the landing strip, he saw a man with a black bar on his
uniform.  Trying to think back to the Operation Blackout, he saluted the
officer as the man headed over to him.  "Private Jorel, reporting sir."
    Grabbing Clark's wrist hard, he yanked his arm down and got in his face.
"I would really hate to die today, so don't you be saluting an officer in
the
field.  Ever."
    "Yes sir," Clark answered.
    "Ok, I'm Lt. Patterson - your platoon leader.  Welcome to Bravo Company,
3rd Platoon.  Where you from kid?"
    "Kansas sir," Clark responded as he walked with Patterson.  Clark tried
to hide the pain of the rucksack and other equipment he had to carry.
    "Well, you ain't in Kansas anymore Dorothy."
    "I can see that."  Clark dropped his gear outside the tent the
lieutenant
entered.
    "Hey Dorothy, you seem like a pretty big guy - you going to be my new 60
gunner."  Lt. Patterson handed him a large machine gun like the one in the
chopper and two green metal boxes.  "These are yours, let me have the 16 and
that ammo."  Clark handed him the other gun he had been handed earlier.
"Come on, get your stuff and I'll show you the squads tent. "
    "Squads tent?"
    "Your group."  Lt. Patterson walked in and Clark saw all the men in the
tent stand.  "Guys, this is your new man.  Private Jorel - meet the guys.
He's from Kansas boys."  Clark started to say hi and instead was answered
first.
    "Dorothy!" The men all yelled in unison.
    "Well, I'm sure that Sergeant Kent is gonna love you.  Quiet and big."
Lt. Patterson started to turn and leave.
    "Who's Sergeant Kent?"
    "He's your Platoon Sergeant,  you'll meet him tonight before ya'll
leave.
 Guys - you make sure you gone from here by 2300 where you get some rest
before tomorrow."  The lieutenant left, and the other men started gathering
around Clark.  He noticed that as they introduced themselves, many of them
had better nicknames than he did.
    "What's up with your nicknames?"
    "Dorothy, that's your green name.  You want something better - earn it,
like trying not to get shot," Snake answered.  Clark found his cot and
decided to lie down as the other men went back to talking.  After putting
the
overweight machine gun down, he suddenly felt dead.  Lying down, the voices
in the tent seemed to disappear as he fell asleep.
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 19:48:15 -0400
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From:         kubitc <kubitc@KENYON.EDU>
Subject:      Re: A Night At The Office
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*
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
*
S
P
A
C
E
*

Great story, Nan! It was quite clever to manipulate the plot to allow Lois
to
be the one getting the revelation (rather than Jack, whom some think figured
it out in FH). I'm usually not a big fan of revelation stories, but I like
when they're placed in the context of pre-existing episodes. I just have one
question:

>George smiled without humor.  "I used to negotiate hostage situations
>for the Metro SWAT Team."

When George said this I thought he'd take charge of the hostages, at least
tell people to calm down and give him some time to assess the situation.
But,
by the end of the story, I was a little confused as to why you would make
George an ex-SWAT team member; he never really takes control.There are a few
times when he and Clark appear to confer about the terrorists, but there
were
many situations where I thought a stern word from George could've gone a
long
way. Lois et al. pull lots of unwise stunts: Perry's heart attack, Lex's
attempted escape, Jack's real escape. These probably happened too quickly
for
George to stop, but I'm surprised he didn't warn them afterwards, saying,
"Okay, no more of that. It isn't going to get us anywhere and will only
anger
the terrorists."

Christy
kubitc@kenyon.edu

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."
-Michaelangelo
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 19:05:15 CDT
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From:         Jessi Mounts <jessi914@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Between Floors 7 and 8 Part 2
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>
>Thanks Jessi.
>
>As they say, it's an ill wind.  I'm pleased to see the changes.
>
>Really great.
>
>Charlotte

Thanks Charlotte.  I'm really glad you liked it. :-)

Jessi
jessi914@hotmail.com
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
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Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 17:43:56 -0700
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From:         Nancy Smith <deimos1@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: NEW STORY:  a Night At The Office  Part 5 of 5
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Hi, Gerry.  Remy is a *female* henchman!  I said so in the story!<g>  Glad
you liked it.  Now I just have to figure out how I want to do the sequel.

Nan

Gerry Anklewicz wrote:

> Nan, that was a wonderfully rewritten story.  I also like the new title.
> I have to compliment you once again on how beautifully you express your
> ideas.  Your stories are always a pleasure to read.
> S
> p
> o
> i
> l
> e
> r
> s
> p
> a
> c
> e
> I liked Lois's revelation.  It was smoothly done, but it wasn't overdone.
> She figured out he was Superman, quietly checked her evidence and kept it
> all together.  Good for her.
> One question:  Remy is a hench"man"?
> Thanks again Nan.  I can always depend on you for a good read.
> Gerry
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 28 Apr 2000 20:01:55 -0500
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From:         "Felix E. Sung" <fsung@JUSTICE.LOYOLA.EDU>
Subject:      NEW: L&C&J&J (8/?)

(Lois & Clark & John & Joan, Part 8)

[Somewhere in the Suburbs of Metropolis]

A man and a woman were sitting in the living room of their house, drinking
coffee.

"So what do you think, Darling?" he asked.

"I still think it's unusual," she answered.  Then she grimaced at coffee,
and, reaching forward, spooned some more sugar into her cup and started
stirring.  "I mean, they're not married.  They're not even dating!  All of
the previous assignments were on married couples, you know!"

"Actually, that's not completely true," he reminded her.  "In a few cases
the couples were not married but dating."

"Oh, that's right, Angel!"  She beamed at him.  "I completely forgot!  Leave
it to you to remember everything!"

"That's right, heart of my heart," he said as he helped himself to some more
coffee.  "But still, this was what he wanted, so we should do it if we want
to stay on his good side."

"Of course," she agreed.  In fact the two of them always agreed.  They never
fought, and they thought exactly alike.  They simply adored each other.

"Any ideas on how we're going to do this?" he asked.

"Not yet," she admitted.  "But I'm sure we'll come up with something.  We
always do, my love."  They sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying each
other's company and sipping their coffee.

"Can you believe that I still remember *that* day?" he asked, giving her a
knowing smile.

There was that smile of his, she noticed.  The smile that always made her
melt.  With a loving smile of her own, she said softly, "I do, too."  She
then set her coffee cup on the table and snuggled closer to him.  "Have I
told you lately that I love you, my pet?"

"Not in the last thirty seconds, light of my life, and that's thirty seconds
too long," he remarked.  He too placed his coffee cup on the table and took
her into his arms.

"Why don't I show you instead, lover man?" she purred, pulling his face
towards hers.  The rest of breakfast was quickly forgotten as they
concentrated on each other.

* * * * * * * *

Metropolis, Daily Planet
August 20, 1993

Clark was a little angry with himself as he waited for the elevator to take
him to the newsroom.  He was also a little shaken.  He was angry because
today was only his third day at the Daily Planet, and he was late to work.
Fifteen minutes late.  The reason he was late was also the reason why he was
shaken.

For the first time in his life, Clark had overslept.  In his distress over
what had happened the previous evening, he had forgotten to set the alarm.
He also had not slept well, obsessing on what was going to happen with him
and Lois.  Despite oversleeping, he, with his powers, could have still made
it to the Planet with time to spare.  But then there was the manhole
incident.

Clark had been walking to the Planet (he had flown part of the way to save
time) when there was an explosion underground, beneath the sidewalk.
Whatever had happened had also trapped a worker in the manhole.  Slipping
away from the crowd, he went to another manhole, checked to see if anyone
else was watching, and quickly went in.  Within seconds, he was able to free
the trapped worker underground and simply handed him over to the other
worker standing above.

He then made his way back to the manhole slipped out.  He walked away from
the crowd, but then his super-hearing kicked in.  He had heard the man say,
"That man... that man saved me, that man..."  Glancing towards the scene,
Clark had found to his horror that the injured man was looking at him and
gesturing wildly towards him.  Before everyone else turned to look at Clark,
he was gone in a flash.  He had ducked into a nearby alley to calm down.

He had dangerously came close to giving his secret away.  He should have
known better than to pull a stunt like that.  What if someone had videotaped
the incident, for goodness sake?  If the tape became public, how would he
explain himself?  His chance for a normal life would be completely ruined,
and the lives of Joan and his parents would drastically change.  No longer
would they have any privacy.

But what would the alternative have been?  A man would have died, trapped in
a manhole, had Clark not saved him.  Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he
sighed.  It was starting to get real difficult to hide.  How long would he
have to do this, the hiding, the controlling of his powers?  He was
fortunate that he didn't have to hide in front of his parents or in front of
Joan.  There had to be a way, though, that he could be Clark Kent and still
use what he'd been given to do some good.

He then had looked at his watch, and had found to his dismay that he was
late.  Looking around, he had also found that in his haste, the 'nearest
alley' in which he had ducked was in fact twenty blocks away from the
manhole, which was right near the Daily Planet building.  Again he had to
combine flying and speed walking to get to his destination.

The elevator dinged, bringing Clark back to the present.  'Okay, here goes
nothing,' Clark thought, as the elevators opened to the Daily Planet
newsroom.  Hesitantly he walked into the room, feeling as if he was dragging
himself with every step, not knowing how would Lois greet him when she saw
him.  Making his way down the ramp, he passed Lois' desk, only to stop and
stare at it.

Lois wasn't there.

For a split second Clark felt relieved, that he didn't have to face Lois
just yet.  But that feeling of elation quickly eroded.  She might have been
somewhere else in the newsroom, or she might be in the ladies room.  With a
start, Clark realized that he was babbling, in his head.  He groaned
inwardly.  There was no choice in the matter; he and Lois *had* to talk
about last night.  Before he could think about where Lois was, he saw Jimmy
walking towards him.

"Morning, CK," Jimmy greeted Clark.

"Hey," Clark said, but then noticed that Jimmy was leaving; he was wearing a
jacket and he was making his way towards the ramp.  "Where're you off to?"

"Lois sent me to pick up that report from Platt," Jimmy answered.  "He
called this morning, said he hopes we can read it. She also told me to take
a copy over to my friends at STAR Labs to analyze."

"So Lois is here, then?" Clark asked nervously.

"Yeah, she was.  You just missed her; she left saying something about going
back to EPRAD.  I don't why she left alone, though.  I though you were
working with her on this story?"

"I was."  Clark then quickly corrected himself.  "I mean I am.  She didn't
tell me about it."

"Lois must have 'forgotten'," Jimmy remarked, emphasizing on the word
'forgotten.'  "That's what the Chief thought, and he's not pleased."  Then
he pointed towards Clark's jacket.  "What happened to your suit?"

"Don't ask," Clark replied flatly, not wanting to explain to anyone what had
happened.  Then out of a corner of his eye, he saw that the elevator doors
were opening.  Gesturing towards them, he said to Jimmy, "See you later."
After watching Jimmy run to the elevators, Clark went in the direction of
the men's room.  He definitely did not want to explain his disheveled
appearance to Mr. White.

For the next hour and a half Clark alternated between working at his desk
and poking around the Research department.  After cleaning himself up the
best he could, Mr. White came up to him and ordered him to work on the
'Adopted Kids Looking for Their Birth Parents' story since it was obvious
that Lois had abandoned Clark for the moment.  Clark was only too happy to
oblige.

And he had been right; it was an easy story to do.  Search for roots,
emotional roller coaster, unrealistic expectations, and tear-jerking
reconciliations.  It was taking him longer than expected because Clark was
making extra sure not to use his powers, now that he was feeling a little
more paranoid following the manhole incident.  He had just finished a draft
of the story, and was about to edit it when he heard the elevator ding.

* * * * * * * *

After prolonging it as long as she could, Lois finally returned to the
Planet.  The visit to EPRAD was didn't shed any light on her investigation.
 She had hoped that putting the conversation off would give her time to
think about what she would say, but the only thing she could think about was
remember how wonderful Clark had kissed her.  She walked down the ramp
towards her desk, and glancing up, she saw Clark rising from his desk.
Immediately she tensed, and avoided his eyes, as she reached her desk and
turned on her computer.  Then she finally felt his presence.  Taking a deep
breath, she looked up.

Clark simply stood there, in front of Lois, and for a moment did not say
anything.  He looked very uncomfortable.  Lois sighed and looked away.  She
knew that this conversation had to take place.  But someone had to initiate
it.

Finally, Clark cleared his throat and said softly, "Good morning, Lois."

For a split second Lois felt warm.  The way Clark said "Good morning"
sounded so nice.  So caring.  So loving...  She immediately tried to clear
her head.  Unfortunately, just the mere presence of that man made her do
something that she had always felt embarrassed doing.  She began to babble.

"Maybe for you, I've been at it for hours," she started.  Lois removed her
jacket.  "I went back to EPRAD to follow the truck with the wreckage of the
Messenger inside. They brought it into this hangar. I tried to get in but
your friend, Dr. Baines, threw me out." Then she reached into her bag and
pulled out some folders.  "So far I must have called fifty ex-employees that
worked at EPRAD the same time Platt did. And none of them are talking. I
don't know, maybe there's nothing to talk about." She shrugged and sat down
at her desk, still avoiding his eyes.

Clark blinked at the whirlwind called Lois Lane.  Well, at least he knew why
Lois visited EPRAD this morning.  To temporarily avoid him.  He could
forgive her for not letting him tag along.  He probably would have done the
same.

It was also obvious that Lois was not ready to talk about last night.  Clark
also felt like kicking himself; he should have known better than to want to
talk about this at work.  Talking about personal matters at work?
Especially for a person who had been working for only two days?  Bad idea.
Instead he asked, "So what do we do now?"

But Lois started to panic.  What did Clark mean by that question?  What
should they do about the story, or what should they do about last night?
Lois then forced herself to relax.  She'll assume he meant the former; it
was much safer.

"Well, first we piece together Platt's report, if that's possible," Lois
answered in a nonchalant manner.  "Then we try and figure out a way to prove
that Dr. Baines got a copy of it.  And if there's any written evidence that
Platt found coolant devices and Baines ignored it... I hope you didn't make
dinner plans," she finished.  Right away she wanted to cover her mouth.  Why
on earth did she make that remark on dinner plans?

At first Clark did not answer.  He tried not to give her a remorseful look.
 As it turned out, he *did* have dinner plans; after all, he had wanted to
visit his parents and talk about the problem sitting in front of him.  But
the Messenger investigation was important.  Lois and Clark had to stop
whoever was behind this from further sabotaging the Prometheus project.
Sitting down on the chair besides Lois' desk, he replied, "I am all yours."
 He gave her a brief and sad smile.

Lois smiled sadly at Clark in return, knowing that the talk was to be
postponed again.

* * * * * * * *

--
Felix E. Sung
fsung@justice.loyola.edu