From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG0006A" ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 17:31:24 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: When Lightning Strikes Twice: Part 08/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Title: When Lightning Strikes Twice Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG-13 Part: 8 of ? Comments: public or private ------------------------------------------------------------- The day had been a great success, Lex Luthor thought as he entered what he'd chosen as his new headquarters: a house he'd rented on the far side of the city. It wasn't exactly salubrious, but beggars - or, at any rate, those without credit cards - couldn't be choosers. It would do, for now. At least it was a roof over his head, somewhere to sleep. He'd noticed around mid-afternoon that tiredness was beginning to set in, which had surprised him. That irritating bluebottle with the red cape never seemed to tire, unless he managed with cat-naps; that was a possibility, Luthor supposed. At any rate, he'd taken a nap for an hour before setting out again, and he'd felt a lot better for doing so. The only fly in the ointment was his continued failure to locate either St John or Asabi; but he would remedy that omission soon enough. It was perfectly possible, after all, that either or both would start putting two and two together from the names of his victims and realise that their old employer would want them back again. Then they would emerge from whatever bolthole they had fled to. Nigel, especially, was essential to his plans. It was Nigel who had known about the Kryptonite cage with which he had tried and failed to kill Superman; Nigel, he presumed, had dismantled the cage and salvaged the Kryptonite. There had been no mention in the press of an attempt to kill the Man of Steel, nor of an unidentified green substance discovered in his wine-cellar, so it appeared likely that Nigel had done his job. And so Nigel must still have some Kryptonite; that would make the task of disposing of the flying alien even easier. This house was the perfect place for his woman. It had plenty of security: bars on all the windows to keep burglars out; six locks on all the external doors; and even sound-proofing - apparently the original tenants had got completely frustrated with the ghetto-blasters which played all day and all night in the neighbourhood. No-one would hear any strange noises which came from this house. No-one would notice any comings and goings. He would have all the privacy he wanted. Now, he just had to find Lois Lane. He'd flown over the Planet earlier just to catch a glimpse of her, but she hadn't been there. It was a shame; but on the other hand, she was probably out on assignment. In fact, she was highly likely to have been following up those unfortunate deaths... Lex's mouth curved into an amused smile as he wondered whether her intelligent mind would have made the connection yet. It wouldn't surprise him if she had; but she couldn't possibly know he was alive. His smile grew even broader as he imagined the look of surprise which would be on her face when she realised the truth. He couldn't wait to see her reaction: would she be delighted to see him? Or would she, perhaps, be afraid? Or displeased? He didn't know, and in fact he didn't care very much; he would take her for himself regardless of her reaction. But he was still going to enjoy seeing her face when she was confronted with him. Now, he just needed to stock up on essential provisions; and then he could go to fetch Lois. ***************** After another consultation with Inspector Henderson down at the precinct, Clark was finally able to head home; he desperately needed a shower and to change his Suit, and he also thought he should call his parents. They'd want to know what was going on, and he wanted to know how Lois was doing. Henderson had told him that he'd managed to persuade the police that the murders were not Superman's doing, despite appearances, which was an enormous relief to Clark. He had been very disconcerted at the reaction of those officers at Gretchen Kelly's apartment; it wasn't easy for him to forget that, after all he'd done for the police since arriving on the scene as Superman, they would suspect him of something as dreadful as that without any evidence whatsoever. The way that female officer had looked at him, as if she both loathed and feared him, would stay with him for a long time. He knew he'd over-reacted in his response to her, but he had been angry and hurt. On top of that, Clark had been unable to banish the image of Gretchen Kelly's body from his mind. It wasn't that he hadn't seen far more horrific sights, on a frequent basis; what disturbed him about this was the thought of Lois and the danger she could be in if Luthor found her. He'd wanted to own her before, to control her, to curb her independence, to have her as a trophy wife, chained to him in subservient obedience. That sort of life would drain all the life out of Lois: she would cease to be the vivacious, independent, fascinating woman she was today. She would stultify, even if she could cope with being married to a villain and a man she clearly now hated. And she would be lost to him for ever. Clark had, over and over, felt very thankful that she was out of Metropolis, safe where Luthor would never think to look for her. Although, of course, Luthor had wanted to marry her, had claimed to be in love with her; but Clark reminded himself that this was little guarantee of any degree of protection for Lois. After all, it was Gretchen Kelly who had given Luthor back his life, and had made it possible for him to have Super-powers. The man owed Kelly everything; and yet he'd murdered her. And even worse, he'd done so after sleeping with her. He was completely without scruples. So there really was no reason to suppose that Lois, his intended bride, would be safe from him. And suddenly, Clark remembered something else. The previous evening, when they'd been in her apartment, Lois had told him that she had said 'no' to Luthor during the wedding ceremony. He'd been taken aback by that at the time, and had determined to find out more about it some other time. But now the implication of that remark hit him forcefully. Lois had jilted Luthor at the altar. From what she said, it sounded as if that had already happened by the time the police had arrived. And Clark couldn't see Lex Luthor accepting rejection lightly. Lois's life would, therefore, be in every bit as much danger as anyone else's. Luthor would want revenge for what he was sure to consider a humiliating insult. Did Lois know that? Probably. She'd certainly gone very pale when he'd told her Luthor was alive, so it was entirely possible that she was well aware of the potential danger she was in. And though the thought made him feel guilty, he was glad that her reaction had been horror. Although he was Lois' s acknowledged best friend, she had never really talked to him about the whole Luthor thing. Even with all the times he'd been there for her when she 'd needed to be held, needed a shoulder to cry on or just someone to call up at three in the morning, she'd never really *talked* about it. He'd understood that she was glad the guy was dead, since that had meant she hadn 't needed to testify against him. He'd guessed that finding out the truth about Luthor had been an enormous shock to her and had probably caused her to reassess everything she'd believed about him. He hoped that she'd never really been in love with the guy, but that was probably wishful thinking on his part. The main thing was, though, that Lois no longer wanted to have anything to do with Luthor, and that was fine by Clark. He would make sure she was safe from him, and she wouldn't even have to see him if he could help it. Landing on the balcony of his apartment, he hurried inside and made straight for the shower. Less than a minute later he was by his phone, raking a hand through his hair. About to pick up the phone to call his parents, he saw the message light blinking and decided he'd better listen to those first. Lois's voice came straight at him. "Clark? Clark, where are you? I've been calling all over - the Planet, your cellphone, your pager! I need to speak to you - call me back, please!" He winced. That message had been left that morning, and she sounded worried. The next message was also Lois's voice. "Clark! Now I'm really getting worried - where the hell are you? No-one's seen you at the Planet all morning! Call me!" He sighed and was about to dial his parents' number when the answering machine beeped to indicate another message. The sound of his mother's voice, agitated, caught his attention. "Clark! Oh, Clark, I hope you get this - Lois has disappeared! She never said a word to us, just left a note that she couldn't find you and was going back to Metropolis to look for you! Please, if you get this, come and get her before she gets on the plane at Witchita!" With a cold dread in his heart, Clark noticed that the time-stamp on the message was more than six hours ago. Lois had returned to Metropolis... he began to think furiously. Where would she go? And why hadn't he realised that she might do something like this? He knew what Lois was like! Why hadn' t he anticipated that she might completely ignore his advice? He *knew* she hated being told what to do, or being treated like a helpless little woman. He should have known...! She was looking for him - would she have gone to the Planet, or simply called again? She would have come to his apartment, surely? But she wasn't there now, and he was pretty sure she knew where he kept his spare key. And anyway, old-fashioned locks like his were rarely a problem for Lois. He cast his gaze around the apartment, and wasn't surprised to see a sheet of paper on his kitchen table, weighed down by one of his coffee-cups. He picked it up. 'Clark, where are you? I've been calling all over, and now I'm getting worried. CALL ME!!! Lois.' No time on the note, but he guessed it would be a couple of hours ago at most. He should probably call his parents to let them know he'd got their message and was going to look for Lois, but he quickly decided that he couldn't wait. He was going straight over to her apartment; he'd fly over, he decided, but would knock on her door as Clark, since it was Clark she was worried about. Once he'd reassured her, he could come back as Superman and fly her straight back to Smallville. Two minutes later, Clark Kent was knocking on the door of Lois's apartment, rehearsing what he would say to her. He was furious with her for being so reckless as to leave his parents' place, no matter what the reason; but on the other hand, when Clark got angry with Lois it only put her back up. It would probably be better to save his anger for when he saw her as Superman. He knocked a second time, but there was no answer. Maybe she just wasn't there? Maybe she was out on the streets somewhere looking for him? He had to hope that would be the case.... Hoping over and over that she was safe, he discreetly lowered his glasses and scanned the interior of the apartment. What he saw made him take a sharp, appalled intake of breath. In under a second, he had reached the stairs leading to the roof and was flying down to Lois's apartment window as Superman. The damage was apparent. Her large living-room window was smashed to pieces, and glass lay all over the floor. An occasional table and the lamp which had stood upon it lay on the floor. One of her sofas had been pushed back haphazardly. And... and there was blood on the edge of the window-sill; he looked closer, and realised that it had dripped from a jagged edge of broken glass which still rested in the window-frame. And, caught on another bit of broken glass, were a couple of threads of black silk, exactly like those he'd found earlier. Lex Luthor had Lois. ***************** -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 12:43:58 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This is the sequel to "A Night at the Office". As was pointed out to me in an e-mail, "Night" was only half a revelation, and given that it came at a fairly crucial point in the Lois and Clark saga, what came next was important, too. As always, the familiar characters and settings in the story are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions, etc. and no infringement of their copyright is intended. The situations borrowed from the episodes "Barbarians at the Planet" and "House of Luthor" are credited to the writers of the show. The story, however, is mine. Strange Relationships by Nan Smith At three o'clock in the morning, Harry's All Nite Diner rarely had many customers and tonight was no different. Except for the few regulars who worked odd hours in nearby areas, the little establishment was nearly deserted. The one exception to the rule was the couple seated in a booth at the farthest corner of the room. The man wore jeans and a T-shirt, which showed a truly impressive set of shoulders. His dark, slightly wavy hair had been raked back carelessly with his fingers and one heavy lock fell across his forehead, giving him a somewhat piratical appearance. Yellow light from the ceiling fixture glinted from the lenses of a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. The woman, in contrast, was dressed in evening wear, but her hair was mussed, her makeup slightly smeared as if it had been some hours since she had availed herself of the opportunity to look in the mirror. Both were drinking coffee and Millie, the lone waitress, had just delivered an order to the surprised cook for two extra-large breakfast specials. Lois Lane relaxed back on the padded bench and for the first time in several hours felt the tension begin to leach from her body and mind. Clark sat across from her, both hands wrapped around his coffee cup, staring into the liquid. He almost looked as if he was half-asleep, but then he sat back and smiled at her. She smiled back, until the smile turned into a small yawn, which she covered with the back of her hand. "Sorry." "That's okay." He glanced at his watch. "In two hours I'll have been up a full twenty-four." "Me, too." She took a long swallow of coffee. "I plan on sleeping until noon, at least, when I get home, so I figured I'd better have breakfast first." He nodded. Lois sipped her coffee again, watching him. It was an almost dreamlike feeling sitting here in the little diner with Clark at such an early--or late--hour, she reflected. He looked up and met her eyes. "What?" "Nothing much," she said. "I was just thinking, you're my partner, and really my best friend, and I don't know that much about you. You probably saved a lot of lives tonight when you grabbed that bomb, and I don't even know what kind of music you like, what your favorite color is, what you like to read, or much of anything, really. All I know about you is what you're like to work with. I've never taken the time to get to know you better, and now I wish I had." Clark smiled a little. "My favorite color is blue, I like all kinds of music and I read just about anything. What else?" "Not that way, Clark. I found out tonight there was a lot more to you than I thought. You're kind of a surprising guy, you know? You're from a Kansas farm, but you prefer to live in one of the biggest cities in the world. You're a nice, trusting person, yet you're a successful investigative reporter who's traveled the whole planet." She smiled. "And you're a lot smarter than I gave you credit for in the beginning." "Thanks...I think," he said. "It was a compliment," she said. "I've gotten so I trust your judgement. That's why I wanted to ask you a question." "What kind of question?" She hesitated for an instant, inhaled deeply and took the plunge. "You've never liked Lex, have you?" His expression became slightly wary. "Do you want the truth?" "Yes, I do." "All right. No." "You don't trust him, either. I want to know why." He looked down at his coffee. "Lois--" "No, really. I know you wouldn't feel that way without a reason. You're not that kind of person. It's not just jealousy, is it?" He looked up at her, and his expression startled her. She had never before considered the possibility that Clark Kent could have emotions as strong as the ones that warred on his face at that moment. If she'd ever wondered about the strength of his feelings for her, that one look would have killed any doubts stone dead. She'd known he had a crush on her; she'd chosen to ignore it, but now it gave her a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach at the realization that the man from Krypton, the most powerful being on the planet, wanted her so intensely. Then the look was shuttered. He said mildly, "No, it's not jealousy, although I admit I am jealous of him, Lois--for having something I would give almost anything to have, myself. But, no, that's not why I don't trust him." "Will you tell me why, then?" He closed his lips together for an instant. "The problem is, I know certain things about him, Lois--things that scare the hell out of me when I see you with him. But I can't prove any of it--none! The hard evidence has all been destroyed. The rest is just--things I saw, or heard, which made sense in context with what I already knew. But there's no proof." "Why don't you tell me, anyway? I can make up my own mind, you know." "You won't like it," he warned her. "Tell me, anyway." She set down her cup. "I'm a big girl. I don't need to be protected from the truth--and I know you'll tell me the truth, Clark." He nodded. "The truth, then." He glanced sideways as the waitress arrived, a tray balanced on one hand. They waited in silence as she set their plates in front of them, made sure their coffee cups were filled, and left them to their own devices. Clark put his napkin into his lap. "You want the worst?" "Everything." "All right." He picked up a slice of toast and spread it liberally with butter and jelly. That figured, Lois thought. No wonder he could eat like an eight-year-old and look like Mr. Hardbody, as she'd once told him. Superman ate bombs, for heaven's sake! At the thought, the vision of her first meeting with Superman rose in her mind, how he had swallowed the detonator of that bomb in the Messenger rocket and saved her life. It had been Clark who had done that--the man who was casually sitting across the table from her, buttering his toast. "Well," he began, "do you remember the Messenger incident, and Space Station Prometheus? Luthor was behind the attempt to destroy it. Antoinette Baines was his partner. Together, they were responsible for the deaths of Commander Lattimer and Dr. Platt. He was almost certainly behind the death of Dr. Baines as well." "Do you know that for a fact?" "Some of it. The rest is a guess based on the evidence that no longer exists." Lois nodded. She could feel the blood draining from her face at the realization of what he was telling her. "Is there anything else?" He took a bite of toast, chewed and swallowed. "Plenty. Are you sure you want to hear this, Lois? It's not very pleasant." She nodded. "I want to know what you know about him." He shrugged. "All right. Do you remember the 'tests' someone subjected Superman to shortly after he arrived in Metropolis? Luthor was that someone. He almost succeeded in driving Superman away by threatening the lives of innocent people." "You know this?" "Luthor essentially admitted it to Superman, but hearsay isn't evidence." Clark took a mouthful of scrambled eggs while she thought that one over. "I see," she said. "Anything else?" "Do you want a list?" he asked, quietly. "He was behind the Mentamide 5 formula, too, Lois, and the experiments on the kids. And he very probably made sure the doctor couldn't talk, by--" "Overdosing him." Her lips twisted in distaste at the thought. There had been so much more going on than she knew. Clark hadn't told her, but even if he had, would she have believed him? Regrettably, the answer was probably "no". They ate in silence; Lois was aware that Clark was watching her with a concerned expression. At last she looked up and met his worried, brown eyes. "I'm all right, Clark. Really." "Lois, I was afraid to say anything. If you were in love with him--" "I'm not. And I never was." "Are you upset?" he asked, quietly. She gave him a little smile. "Only because I was so gullible." He closed his eyes and exhaled suddenly. "Thank God." "Why didn't you tell me before, Clark?" she asked, after a moment. "What could I say? I knew a lot of things but I couldn't prove them and I didn't want to lose your friendship over it. The only thing I could do was to try to get some hard evidence, something I could show you to prove what I said was true. But he's very good at covering his tracks." "Is that what you've been trying to do?" He nodded. "I was afraid for you. The man's a sociopath. He may say he loves you, but--" She nodded slowly. "But that can change in a second. I know." She reached across the table to touch his hand. "Thank you, Clark. For caring enough to try." For a second time, she caught that expression in his eyes, but the thought occurred to her that she had to move slowly. This time she would get to know the real man before she jumped into a relationship with him. Clark might be Superman, he might want her, but if he thought she wanted him because of his alter ego, she had the suspicion it could ruin things before they got started. Take it slow, Lane, she warned herself. There's a lot to lose on this one if you blow it. Clark is Superman, but Superman is also just Clark Kent, the country boy from Kansas. There were plenty of things she needed to think about and straighten out in her mind before she could make any progress. But one thing was clear. Whatever it was that Clark felt for her, it was far different from what others before him had felt, and that gave her a warm feeling that warred with the butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Well, first things first. She finished the last of her bacon and eggs with unladylike speed and swallowed the now tepid coffee. "Well," she said, noting in the corner of her mind that Clark's plate was also clear, "Let's go home. After I've had some sleep, we'll talk more about this. We have to decide what to do." Clark raised an eyebrow. "'Do'?" "Of course. You're trying to get evidence on him to expose what he's doing. We'll be more effective if we work together." "Lois--" "Do you want to bring him down or not?" "Well yes, but--" "Then, that's settled. I'm ready to go, Clark." She saw him smile and shake his head, then he picked up the bill, frowned thoughtfully for an instant and deposited a modest tip on the table. "All right. Let me just pay the tab and we're off." ********************* (continued in part 2) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 12:47:53 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY; Strange Relationships 2/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships Part 2 by Nan Smith "I'll see you this evening, Clark." Lois pushed open the door to her apartment and stepped inside. Turning to face her partner, she continued, "We need to talk more about this after I've had a little sleep." "You and me, both." He smiled at her. "I tell you what. Why don't I come by about six with some takeout, and we can hash it out. I can bring what little I *have* managed to find, and we can decide what to do next." "Sounds like a plan," Lois said. "I'll see you at six." She closed the door and listened to his retreating footsteps. Then there was a sound like rushing wind and a moment later a distant sonic boom. Slowly, she walked back toward her small bathroom and the lure of a hot shower, but her mind was on the sounds she had just heard. How often had Clark vanished from the newsroom and a few seconds later she'd noted the sonic boom that marked Superman in flight? And it had only served to perpetuate the illusion in her mind, she thought, ruefully. She gave a soft laugh. Simple country boy, hah! And yet, he'd told her he wasn't your typical male. She snorted to herself as she turned on the water and waited for it to warm. Getting to know Clark from this new perspective could be an interesting experience. And maybe she could figure out some of what really made him tick along the way. It wouldn't be boring, anyway. When she crawled into bed fifteen minutes later and closed her eyes she was still considering her partner, her mind casting back over the months she had known him, looking at each puzzling little incident. A lot of them were explained now, and she felt like kicking herself for not putting the clues together before. The evidence had been sitting right in front of her and she'd refused to see it, just as some of the things about Lex were sitting in the open as well, from her standpoint. Little pieces of overheard conversations, inconsequential actions, were beginning to make sense with her new knowledge, the most obvious his sheer love of playing with his power. Something he'd said when she'd first met him came to mind now--something about his home being at the top of the tallest building in Metropolis and how he liked it that when people wanted to see him they had to look up. She'd taken it for humor, but Lex had been deadly serious. Well, she wasn't going to miss any more clues. The conversation with Clark had opened her eyes. A small, irrational part of her mind still insisted she should be angry with Clark for not telling her about himself--it was embarrassing in a way to remember how she'd told him confidently that she'd figured him out. But another part, the part that insisted upon being annoyingly fair when she would have preferred to be as unfair as possible, brought up the counter arguments that she couldn't refute, the chief one being: Why should he have told her? They were partners and friends, sure; he was probably the best friend she'd ever had, but she hadn't told him all her own secrets, either, and this was a big one. Not to mention the fact that in dating Lex she had been closely associated with a man whom Clark knew, at least to his own satisfaction, to be a criminal. No, Clark had excellent reasons to keep who and what he was a secret even from her, as humiliating as the realization might be. But it didn't have to be that way. And, on that comforting thought, fatigue finally had its way and Lois slept. Clark arrived punctually at six that evening. Lois had resisted the impulse to set a formal table; she opted to dress casually and to greet her partner in the usual manner. He was carrying a large, cardboard box with Chinese characters on the sides, and several containers packed tightly therein were releasing aromas that made her mouth water. "Come on in." She inhaled deeply. "This smells wonderful, Clark. Just set it on the coffee table." He obeyed and Lois went to get the plates and silverware. When she returned, he had removed the smaller boxes and was opening them. "Here's a plate for you. Let me just get the glasses and the wine and we can sit down and eat." "I'll get them. Why don't you sit down?" Clark went past her into the kitchen and was back a moment later. "Here we go." "Okay." Lois leaned forward to serve herself from the little basket-like containers. "You always know the best places to go for food, Clark. This smells fantastic." "Thanks. It's a little family-owned restaurant I know." They ate in silence for a few moments. After the sharpest edge of her appetite had been blunted, Lois opened the subject that had been occupying her mind since that morning, and even invaded her dreams. "Clark, about Lex--you say you don't have any evidence?" "Basically, yes, except for some very minor stuff." He took a sip of the wine Lois had selected. "I have plenty of suspicions, and I've seen things with my own eyes, but hard evidence has a way of disappearing where Mr. Luthor is concerned." "Yeah." Lois frowned thoughtfully at her sweet and sour shrimp. "Clark, we need a way to get close to him, and I'm the way. I visit his penthouse regularly, and I do a certain amount of wandering around in there." Clark looked faintly alarmed. "Lois, do you know what would happen to you if he caught you spying?" "Yes. If he's done what you say he has, I have a pretty good idea. But Clark, if he's that good at covering his tracks, we're going to need to exploit any weakness he has, and it looks as if that's me. I can be careful, and I promise I will be. In fact, I've got an idea for gathering evidence. Do you think Superman would help us?" Clark raised his eyebrows. "Maybe. It depends on what you want him to do. Superman wants to expose Luthor as much as I do, but--" "Well, let me talk to Jimmy, first. I'm thinking about the possibility of a little electronic surveillance. If I can plant a bug in his office, somewhere..." "Lois--" "It'll be all right, Clark," she assured him. "I'm not going to take any stupid risks." His expression told her he wasn't so sure of that, but he nodded. "All right, I'll ask Superman. You're right that it's probably the only way we can get the goods on him, but I don't have to like it." "Good, then that's settled. I have a date with him this Friday night. We'll need to get everything ready by then." ***************** "Lois! Clark!" Perry White's voice echoed over the other sounds present in the Daily Planet newsroom on Monday morning. "There's been a bomb threat at the Metropolis Mercantile Bank. Get on over there, now!" "Right, Perry! Jimmy, grab your camera!" Lois jumped to her feet, wondering what Clark was going to do in order to slip away. She didn't have to wait long. As the elevator doors opened and she and Jimmy boarded, Clark snapped his fingers. "I forgot something. You go ahead; I'll meet you there." Lois looked after him, slightly bemused, as the doors closed. Then she laughed and shook her head. A lot of Clark's odder behavior was becoming perfectly clear to her, now. Jimmy looked at her questioningly, but she didn't explain. The scene in front of the Mercantile Bank was one of confusion, she saw as they stepped from the taxi some ten minutes later. She caught a flash of red and blue through the glass of the door and smiled. Superman was already in there, as she should have expected. She waved a hand at her companion. "Better get some background shots, Jimmy. Be sure to get some of Superman when he comes out, though." "Right." Jimmy lifted his camera and began snapping pictures. Lois moved forward to a police officer who was attempting to control the movement of the inevitable crowd of spectators. "Lois Lane, Daily Planet." She waved her press pass at him. "What's happened, officer? The man glanced over his shoulder at the bank. "Someone phoned in a bomb threat. It might be a false alarm; there's been a number of them lately, but naturally no one wants to take the risk." "I see..." She glanced past him as Superman and a single police officer emerged from the building. "Superman!" He glanced at her and smiled, continuing his conversation with the man. After a moment he nodded and strode over to her. "Hello, Lois." "What happened in there?" she asked. Looking at him now, it was incredible to her that she had never before noticed that this was Clark Kent. It was obvious, and yet no one else seemed to realize it. "Did you find a bomb?" "It was a false alarm." He shrugged. "This has happened several times the last couple of weeks. Someone evidently has a very twisted sense of humor." "That's disgusting," she said. "Yes, I..." He faltered and raised a hand to his eyes. "Superman, are you all right?" Lois put a hand on his arm. He shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Superman?" She saw him sway slightly. "Superman? What's wrong?" As abruptly as it had happened, he straightened. He rubbed his face. "I'm all right, Lois." "Are you sure?" she asked. He glanced around the area quickly as if looking for something, then back to her. "Yes, I'm fine. Excuse me, Lois, I'm needed somewhere else." He lifted into the air and was gone, leaving her blinking at his sudden departure. "Lois!" Clark came hurrying across the street toward her. "What happened?" "I'm not sure." She looked searchingly at his face, trying to see any sign of the distress that she was sure she had not imagined. There was no trace of it, but something strange had happened and she didn't like it at all. For just a second there, she had seen fear on Superman's face. "What's the matter?" he asked. "I'll tell you later. Do you see Jimmy anywhere? Superman said it was a false alarm." "There he is." Clark pointed with his chin toward the crowd of spectators that was just beginning to break up. Jimmy came trotting toward them, waving his camera. "I got some good shots, Lois," he called. "Did you get the ones of Superman?" she asked. "Yeah. I got everything." Jimmy nodded at Clark. "Hi, CK." "Good. Someone's been turning in fake bomb threats," Lois said. "I think we could do a good article on how it pulls the emergency services away from genuine emergencies, and sometimes costs lives. What do you think, Clark?" "Sounds good," he said, but his voice seemed distracted. He was surveying the departing crowd again, looking for something, Lois was sure. An idea hit her suddenly but she didn't voice it. Whatever had happened, it was obvious Clark wasn't eager for her to find out what it was. Well, two could play at that game. It wasn't until they had returned to the Planet and Clark was on the phone to his source at the police department that she was able to take Jimmy aside and speak to him privately. "Jimmy, you say you got pictures of the whole area?" "Yeah." "When you develop those prints, I want duplicates of them. In fact, I'd like you to blow them up for me." "Sure." Jimmy looked at her strangely. "Any particular reason?" "I'm not certain. Just do it for me, will you?" "No sweat. I'll have them finished later today." "Good. And when you finish, bring them to me, not Clark, okay?" "Sure." He turned his head as someone shouted for him. "Gotta go. I'll get them to you as soon as I can." Lois watched him thread his way through the maze of desks, chairs and other hazards to navigation in the newsroom, then turned back toward her desk. Clark had been looking for something--that much had been obvious. And whatever it had been, it had scared him. Maybe she could find out what it was. ******************** "What are you looking for?" Jimmy asked her a couple of hours later. Lois glanced up from the stack of photos that he had deposited on her desk a short time earlier. "I don't know, exactly." She laid the big magnifying glass that she had been using to bring small details into focus to one side and wiggled the fingers of her left hand. She hadn't realized how tightly she had been gripping the handle, or how tense her shoulders had become. "Jimmy, what do you know about electronic surveillance?" "Huh? What do you mean?" "Well--" She glanced over at Clark's desk. Her partner had run out of the newsroom approximately half an hour ago and she hadn't seen him since. "Suppose I needed to gather information on somebody--say, I suspected him of some sort of criminal dealings. How would I bug his office without him knowing it?" "Oh, you mean you want to bug somebody?" "I thought I said that." "Yeah." Jimmy frowned. "Would you want to listen in, or would you want to record conversations for evidence?" "I'd like to record it if I could," Lois said. "Clark and I are investigating someone pretty important. We suspect some of his business deals might be unethical. Anyway, I want to put a bug in his business office. How can I do it, and what do I need?" "Hmmm..." Jimmy frowned thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with a forefinger. "I think...look, I know this little novelty shop called 'Spys 'R' Us'--it sells all kinds of surveillance equipment. I know it sounds stupid, but some of the stuff is pretty good. If it works out, maybe we can get the Planet's discretionary fund to pay for it..." "Maybe. Clark and I will cover it in the meantime." "Sure," Jimmy said. "I'll give them a call and find out if they have what you need." Lois turned back to the pile of photos. When Jimmy said he had photographed the entire area he hadn't been kidding, she thought, but she was just as pleased that he'd been a little over-enthusiastic. With any luck, she might find what she was looking for. "What are you doing, Lois?" Clark's voice said behind her. She almost jumped out of her skin. "Clark, don't sneak up on me like that!" "Sorry." He glanced at the stack on her desk. "Are those the pictures Jimmy took?" "Yeah." She held up her magnifying glass. "While we were at the bank this morning something happened, Clark. It was as if something hurt Superman. I think he was almost frightened for a moment, and I could tell he was looking around for something. Anyhow, Jimmy took a lot of pictures. If he happened to catch it on film, and we can find it, maybe we can help Superman out." "Lois, are you sure?" Clark looked a little uneasy. "Did he tell you so?" "No, of course not," Lois said, impatiently, "but I'm not stupid. Look, Clark, I'm not going to splash it all over the front page. If this is something that can hurt him, the less people know about it the better. All I want to do is to try to help him." "Well..." Clark looked at her oddly. "You're probably right. Let's take them into the conference room. Maybe one of us will see something the other doesn't." A short time later, the photos were spread out on the table in the conference room. Lois pointed out the ones she had already checked and Clark bent over them, studying them intently. Watching him out of the corner of her eye, Lois noted how he lowered his glasses; evidently, his super-vision gizmo didn't work through the lenses, she concluded. Or, maybe it just didn't work as well. She'd have to ask him about that some time after she'd convinced him that her interest in him wasn't because of his incredible powers. The thought brought her up short. What was her interest in him? Was it the powers? No, she realized, the super powers didn't make Superman. Lex had tremendous power of his own, and look what he did with it. If he'd had Superman's powers...the thought made her shudder. It wasn't the powers; it was the man who had them. Even without the super powers, Clark would still be a decent, caring guy who would move heaven and earth to help people in need. And now that she was looking past the flashy suit to the man wearing it, it was a revelation to realize that. Clark would have been worth her attention whether or not he was Superman, and she'd been blind not to see it before. So much for her incisive reporter's instinct. She had the feeling she'd been staring at the photograph for several seconds before it registered. The tall, attractive woman in the photo was familiar. Now where... Then she had it. She had seen this person at Lex's penthouse. She was some sort of assistant to him--Ms. Fox or Cox or something. She was smiling, fondling a pendent that hung around her neck. Lois squinted at it. What was it, an emerald? If so, it was the biggest emerald she'd ever seen. Behind her she could see herself and Superman, and the Man of Steel's eyes were closed; this was the instant when whatever had affected Superman had, well, affected him. "Clark," she said, "come look at this. I think I might have found something." "What?" "This woman. She works for Lex. I've seen her at the penthouse." Clark picked up the photograph and lifted his glasses to examine it closely. "You're sure?" "Yes. Her name's Fox or Cox or Sox. She's an assistant, I think. I've never really been introduced to her. It just seems funny to me that she was there just at that minute. What do you suppose she did?" "I don't know. I'll tell Superman about it, though. If Lex Luthor is involved..." "Yeah." Lois bit her lip. One more little piece of evidence, as if she needed any more, that Lex wasn't the philanthropist he seemed to be, she thought. He was up to something that involved Superman, and she couldn't fool herself into thinking that he meant any good at all. She wondered for a moment if the phony bomb threats could be his work, too. Someone who would do the things Clark claimed he'd done wouldn't hesitate to pull the emergency services away from genuine emergencies in order to provide camouflage for himself. Well, at least Clark and she were now warned to watch for something, and if Jimmy could provide her with the things she needed for some electronic snooping, perhaps they could find out what it was. It wasn't until the next day that Jimmy appeared beside her desk with a small package in his hands. "Lois?" She looked up from her research on Lexel Real Estate Investments. "Yes, Jimmy?" "I think I've got what you need. The surveillance stuff." "Okay." Lois glanced at the paper-wrapped box. "Is that it?" "Yeah." Jimmy tore open the paper. "It comes in two parts. Here's your mike." She examined the little silver pen carefully. "A pen?" "Yeah. And it even writes if somebody happens to find it. It's actually a radio transmitter. It'll transmit to an earphone if you like, or..." with a flourish he produced a small, black box about four inches long by three wide, from the bag, "...to this. It's a tape recorder. The pen runs on a watch battery and lasts about a week without a replacement. The recorder is voice activated, but you need to replace the batteries about once a day, and it's only effective within about five hundred feet. It's the best I could do." "You mean the recorder has to be within five hundred feet of the pen?" "Yeah. Anything more powerful would have cost a lot more. Oh, yeah, and the pen will only pick up sounds within about twenty feet. Sorry." "That's all right." Lois regarded the items thoughtfully. "I think I can manage." When she told Clark her plan, she watched with interest as his thick, dark eyebrows rose incredulously. "You're going to bug Luthor's office?" Lois displayed the pen. "This is the microphone. The tape recorder has to be within five hundred feet of the pen, and I can't hide it inside the penthouse. I was thinking, do you think Superman could plant it somewhere on the outside of the building?" Clark frowned. "Maybe. With this sort of transmitter, it might be better if it was within line of sight, though. If you can plant your pen near a window, maybe he can put the recorder nearby. It's not very conspicuous." "Just as long as no one can see it without hunting for it." "I'll tell him. Give me the recorder. When do you want him to do it?" "Well, it won't do any good until I get the microphone planted. I'm having dinner with Lex on Friday night. I'll put it in his office then. Superman can place the recorder any time after that, unless I can find a reason to visit Lex sooner." Clark looked at the little recorder, then back at her. "Be careful, Lois--if he realizes what you're doing, I don't know what he'd do to you." "He won't realize it, Clark." She put a hand on his arm. "Trust me." Clark smiled crookedly at her. "I do, Lois. But I worry about you all the same. Luthor's smart. He didn't get where he is by being careless." "I know. I won't get overconfident, Clark. I promise." As it turned out, Lex called the next evening to invite her for lunch the following day. ******************* (to be continued in part 3) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 12:55:38 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships: Part 2/? (resend) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oops, sorry, that last part was slightly over 20 K. For those whose computers can't accept more, I'm going to do that again in slightly shorter form. Strange Relationships Part 2 by Nan Smith "I'll see you this evening, Clark." Lois pushed open the door to her apartment and stepped inside. Turning to face her partner, she continued, "We need to talk more about this after I've had a little sleep." "You and me, both." He smiled at her. "I tell you what. Why don't I come by about six with some takeout, and we can hash it out. I can bring what little I *have* managed to find, and we can decide what to do next." "Sounds like a plan," Lois said. "I'll see you at six." She closed the door and listened to his retreating footsteps. Then there was a sound like rushing wind and a moment later a distant sonic boom. Slowly, she walked back toward her small bathroom and the lure of a hot shower, but her mind was on the sounds she had just heard. How often had Clark vanished from the newsroom and a few seconds later she'd noted the sonic boom that marked Superman in flight? And it had only served to perpetuate the illusion in her mind, she thought, ruefully. She gave a soft laugh. Simple country boy, hah! And yet, he'd told her he wasn't your typical male. She snorted to herself as she turned on the water and waited for it to warm. Getting to know Clark from this new perspective could be an interesting experience. And maybe she could figure out some of what really made him tick along the way. It wouldn't be boring, anyway. When she crawled into bed fifteen minutes later and closed her eyes she was still considering her partner, her mind casting back over the months she had known him, looking at each puzzling little incident. A lot of them were explained now, and she felt like kicking herself for not putting the clues together before. The evidence had been sitting right in front of her and she'd refused to see it, just as some of the things about Lex were sitting in the open as well, from her standpoint. Little pieces of overheard conversations, inconsequential actions, were beginning to make sense with her new knowledge, the most obvious his sheer love of playing with his power. Something he'd said when she'd first met him came to mind now--something about his home being at the top of the tallest building in Metropolis and how he liked it that when people wanted to see him they had to look up. She'd taken it for humor, but Lex had been deadly serious. Well, she wasn't going to miss any more clues. The conversation with Clark had opened her eyes. A small, irrational part of her mind still insisted she should be angry with Clark for not telling her about himself--it was embarrassing in a way to remember how she'd told him confidently that she'd figured him out. But another part, the part that insisted upon being annoyingly fair when she would have preferred to be as unfair as possible, brought up the counter arguments that she couldn't refute, the chief one being: Why should he have told her? They were partners and friends, sure; he was probably the best friend she'd ever had, but she hadn't told him all her own secrets, either, and this was a big one. Not to mention the fact that in dating Lex she had been closely associated with a man whom Clark knew, at least to his own satisfaction, to be a criminal. No, Clark had excellent reasons to keep who and what he was a secret even from her, as humiliating as the realization might be. But it didn't have to be that way. And, on that comforting thought, fatigue finally had its way and Lois slept. Clark arrived punctually at six that evening. Lois had resisted the impulse to set a formal table; she opted to dress casually and to greet her partner in the usual manner. He was carrying a large, cardboard box with Chinese characters on the sides, and several containers packed tightly therein were releasing aromas that made her mouth water. "Come on in." She inhaled deeply. "This smells wonderful, Clark. Just set it on the coffee table." He obeyed and Lois went to get the plates and silverware. When she returned, he had removed the smaller boxes and was opening them. "Here's a plate for you. Let me just get the glasses and the wine and we can sit down and eat." "I'll get them. Why don't you sit down?" Clark went past her into the kitchen and was back a moment later. "Here we go." "Okay." Lois leaned forward to serve herself from the little basket-like containers. "You always know the best places to go for food, Clark. This smells fantastic." "Thanks. It's a little family-owned restaurant I know." They ate in silence for a few moments. After the sharpest edge of her appetite had been blunted, Lois opened the subject that had been occupying her mind since that morning, and even invaded her dreams. "Clark, about Lex--you say you don't have any evidence?" "Basically, yes, except for some very minor stuff." He took a sip of the wine Lois had selected. "I have plenty of suspicions, and I've seen things with my own eyes, but hard evidence has a way of disappearing where Mr. Luthor is concerned." "Yeah." Lois frowned thoughtfully at her sweet and sour shrimp. "Clark, we need a way to get close to him, and I'm the way. I visit his penthouse regularly, and I do a certain amount of wandering around in there." Clark looked faintly alarmed. "Lois, do you know what would happen to you if he caught you spying?" "Yes. If he's done what you say he has, I have a pretty good idea. But Clark, if he's that good at covering his tracks, we're going to need to exploit any weakness he has, and it looks as if that's me. I can be careful, and I promise I will be. In fact, I've got an idea for gathering evidence. Do you think Superman would help us?" Clark raised his eyebrows. "Maybe. It depends on what you want him to do. Superman wants to expose Luthor as much as I do, but--" "Well, let me talk to Jimmy, first. I'm thinking about the possibility of a little electronic surveillance. If I can plant a bug in his office, somewhere..." "Lois--" "It'll be all right, Clark," she assured him. "I'm not going to take any stupid risks." His expression told her he wasn't so sure of that, but he nodded. "All right, I'll ask Superman. You're right that it's probably the only way we can get the goods on him, but I don't have to like it." "Good, then that's settled. I have a date with him this Friday night. We'll need to get everything ready by then." ***************** "Lois! Clark!" Perry White's voice echoed over the other sounds present in the Daily Planet newsroom on Monday morning. "There's been a bomb threat at the Metropolis Mercantile Bank. Get on over there, now!" "Right, Perry! Jimmy, grab your camera!" Lois jumped to her feet, wondering what Clark was going to do in order to slip away. She didn't have to wait long. As the elevator doors opened and she and Jimmy boarded, Clark snapped his fingers. "I forgot something. You go ahead; I'll meet you there." Lois looked after him, slightly bemused, as the doors closed. Then she laughed and shook her head. A lot of Clark's odder behavior was becoming perfectly clear to her, now. Jimmy looked at her questioningly, but she didn't explain. The scene in front of the Mercantile Bank was one of confusion, she saw as they stepped from the taxi some ten minutes later. She caught a flash of red and blue through the glass of the door and smiled. Superman was already in there, as she should have expected. She waved a hand at her companion. "Better get some background shots, Jimmy. Be sure to get some of Superman when he comes out, though." "Right." Jimmy lifted his camera and began snapping pictures. Lois moved forward to a police officer who was attempting to control the movement of the inevitable crowd of spectators. "Lois Lane, Daily Planet." She waved her press pass at him. "What's happened, officer? The man glanced over his shoulder at the bank. "Someone phoned in a bomb threat. It might be a false alarm; there's been a number of them lately, but naturally no one wants to take the risk." "I see..." She glanced past him as Superman and a single police officer emerged from the building. "Superman!" He glanced at her and smiled, continuing his conversation with the man. After a moment he nodded and strode over to her. "Hello, Lois." "What happened in there?" she asked. Looking at him now, it was incredible to her that she had never before noticed that this was Clark Kent. It was obvious, and yet no one else seemed to realize it. "Did you find a bomb?" "It was a false alarm." He shrugged. "This has happened several times the last couple of weeks. Someone evidently has a very twisted sense of humor." "That's disgusting," she said. "Yes, I..." He faltered and raised a hand to his eyes. "Superman, are you all right?" Lois put a hand on his arm. He shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Superman?" She saw him sway slightly. "Superman? What's wrong?" As abruptly as it had happened, he straightened. He rubbed his face. "I'm all right, Lois." "Are you sure?" she asked. He glanced around the area quickly as if looking for something, then back to her. "Yes, I'm fine. Excuse me, Lois, I'm needed somewhere else." He lifted into the air and was gone, leaving her blinking at his sudden departure. "Lois!" Clark came hurrying across the street toward her. "What happened?" "I'm not sure." She looked searchingly at his face, trying to see any sign of the distress that she was sure she had not imagined. There was no trace of it, but something strange had happened and she didn't like it at all. For just a second there, she had seen fear on Superman's face. "What's the matter?" he asked. "I'll tell you later. Do you see Jimmy anywhere? Superman said it was a false alarm." "There he is." Clark pointed with his chin toward the crowd of spectators that was just beginning to break up. Jimmy came trotting toward them, waving his camera. "I got some good shots, Lois," he called. "Did you get the ones of Superman?" she asked. "Yeah. I got everything." Jimmy nodded at Clark. "Hi, CK." "Good. Someone's been turning in fake bomb threats," Lois said. "I think we could do a good article on how it pulls the emergency services away from genuine emergencies, and sometimes costs lives. What do you think, Clark?" "Sounds good," he said, but his voice seemed distracted. He was surveying the departing crowd again, looking for something, Lois was sure. An idea hit her suddenly but she didn't voice it. Whatever had happened, it was obvious Clark wasn't eager for her to find out what it was. Well, two could play at that game. It wasn't until they had returned to the Planet and Clark was on the phone to his source at the police department that she was able to take Jimmy aside and speak to him privately. "Jimmy, you say you got pictures of the whole area?" "Yeah." "When you develop those prints, I want duplicates of them. In fact, I'd like you to blow them up for me." "Sure." Jimmy looked at her strangely. "Any particular reason?" "I'm not certain. Just do it for me, will you?" "No sweat. I'll have them finished later today." "Good. And when you finish, bring them to me, not Clark, okay?" "Sure." He turned his head as someone shouted for him. "Gotta go. I'll get them to you as soon as I can." Lois watched him thread his way through the maze of desks, chairs and other hazards to navigation in the newsroom, then turned back toward her desk. Clark had been looking for something--that much had been obvious. And whatever it had been, it had scared him. Maybe she could find out what it was. ******************** (to be continued in part 3 ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 12:58:15 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY; Strange Relationships 3/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships: Part 3 by Nan Smith "What are you looking for?" Jimmy asked her a couple of hours later. Lois glanced up from the stack of photos that he had deposited on her desk a short time earlier. "I don't know, exactly." She laid the big magnifying glass that she had been using to bring small details into focus to one side and wiggled the fingers of her left hand. She hadn't realized how tightly she had been gripping the handle, or how tense her shoulders had become. "Jimmy, what do you know about electronic surveillance?" "Huh? What do you mean?" "Well--" She glanced over at Clark's desk. Her partner had run out of the newsroom approximately half an hour ago and she hadn't seen him since. "Suppose I needed to gather information on somebody--say, I suspected him of some sort of criminal dealings. How would I bug his office without him knowing it?" "Oh, you mean you want to bug somebody?" "I thought I said that." "Yeah." Jimmy frowned. "Would you want to listen in, or would you want to record conversations for evidence?" "I'd like to record it if I could," Lois said. "Clark and I are investigating someone pretty important. We suspect some of his business deals might be unethical. Anyway, I want to put a bug in his business office. How can I do it, and what do I need?" "Hmmm..." Jimmy frowned thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with a forefinger. "I think...look, I know this little novelty shop called 'Spys 'R' Us'--it sells all kinds of surveillance equipment. I know it sounds stupid, but some of the stuff is pretty good. If it works out, maybe we can get the Planet's discretionary fund to pay for it..." "Maybe. Clark and I will cover it in the meantime." "Sure," Jimmy said. "I'll give them a call and find out if they have what you need." Lois turned back to the pile of photos. When Jimmy said he had photographed the entire area he hadn't been kidding, she thought, but she was just as pleased that he'd been a little over-enthusiastic. With any luck, she might find what she was looking for. "What are you doing, Lois?" Clark's voice said behind her. She almost jumped out of her skin. "Clark, don't sneak up on me like that!" "Sorry." He glanced at the stack on her desk. "Are those the pictures Jimmy took?" "Yeah." She held up her magnifying glass. "While we were at the bank this morning something happened, Clark. It was as if something hurt Superman. I think he was almost frightened for a moment, and I could tell he was looking around for something. Anyhow, Jimmy took a lot of pictures. If he happened to catch it on film, and we can find it, maybe we can help Superman out." "Lois, are you sure?" Clark looked a little uneasy. "Did he tell you so?" "No, of course not," Lois said, impatiently, "but I'm not stupid. Look, Clark, I'm not going to splash it all over the front page. If this is something that can hurt him, the less people know about it the better. All I want to do is to try to help him." "Well..." Clark looked at her oddly. "You're probably right. Let's take them into the conference room. Maybe one of us will see something the other doesn't." A short time later, the photos were spread out on the table in the conference room. Lois pointed out the ones she had already checked and Clark bent over them, studying them intently. Watching him out of the corner of her eye, Lois noted how he lowered his glasses; evidently, his super-vision gizmo didn't work through the lenses, she concluded. Or, maybe it just didn't work as well. She'd have to ask him about that some time after she'd convinced him that her interest in him wasn't because of his incredible powers. The thought brought her up short. What was her interest in him? Was it the powers? No, she realized, the super powers didn't make Superman. Lex had tremendous power of his own, and look what he did with it. If he'd had Superman's powers...the thought made her shudder. It wasn't the powers; it was the man who had them. Even without the super powers, Clark would still be a decent, caring guy who would move heaven and earth to help people in need. And now that she was looking past the flashy suit to the man wearing it, it was a revelation to realize that. Clark would have been worth her attention whether or not he was Superman, and she'd been blind not to see it before. So much for her incisive reporter's instinct. She had the feeling she'd been staring at the photograph for several seconds before it registered. The tall, attractive woman in the photo was familiar. Now where... Then she had it. She had seen this person at Lex's penthouse. She was some sort of assistant to him--Ms. Fox or Cox or something. She was smiling, fondling a pendent that hung around her neck. Lois squinted at it. What was it, an emerald? If so, it was the biggest emerald she'd ever seen. Behind her she could see herself and Superman, and the Man of Steel's eyes were closed; this was the instant when whatever had affected Superman had, well, affected him. "Clark," she said, "come look at this. I think I might have found something." "What?" "This woman. She works for Lex. I've seen her at the penthouse." Clark picked up the photograph and lifted his glasses to examine it closely. "You're sure?" "Yes. Her name's Fox or Cox or Sox. She's an assistant, I think. I've never really been introduced to her. It just seems funny to me that she was there just at that minute. What do you suppose she did?" "I don't know. I'll tell Superman about it, though. If Lex Luthor is involved..." "Yeah." Lois bit her lip. One more little piece of evidence, as if she needed any more, that Lex wasn't the philanthropist he seemed to be, she thought. He was up to something that involved Superman, and she couldn't fool herself into thinking that he meant any good at all. She wondered for a moment if the phony bomb threats could be his work, too. Someone who would do the things Clark claimed he'd done wouldn't hesitate to pull the emergency services away from genuine emergencies in order to provide camouflage for himself. Well, at least Clark and she were now warned to watch for something, and if Jimmy could provide her with the things she needed for some electronic snooping, perhaps they could find out what it was. It wasn't until the next day that Jimmy appeared beside her desk with a small package in his hands. "Lois?" She looked up from her research on Lexel Real Estate Investments. "Yes, Jimmy?" "I think I've got what you need. The surveillance stuff." "Okay." Lois glanced at the paper-wrapped box. "Is that it?" "Yeah." Jimmy tore open the paper. "It comes in two parts. Here's your mike." She examined the little silver pen carefully. "A pen?" "Yeah. And it even writes if somebody happens to find it. It's actually a radio transmitter. It'll transmit to an earphone if you like, or..." with a flourish he produced a small, black box about four inches long by three wide, from the bag, "...to this. It's a tape recorder. The pen runs on a watch battery and lasts about a week without a replacement. The recorder is voice activated, but you need to replace the batteries about once a day, and it's only effective within about five hundred feet. It's the best I could do." "You mean the recorder has to be within five hundred feet of the pen?" "Yeah. Anything more powerful would have cost a lot more. Oh, yeah, and the pen will only pick up sounds within about twenty feet. Sorry." "That's all right." Lois regarded the items thoughtfully. "I think I can manage." When she told Clark her plan, she watched with interest as his thick, dark eyebrows rose incredulously. "You're going to bug Luthor's office?" Lois displayed the pen. "This is the microphone. The tape recorder has to be within five hundred feet of the pen, and I can't hide it inside the penthouse. I was thinking, do you think Superman could plant it somewhere on the outside of the building?" Clark frowned. "Maybe. With this sort of transmitter, it might be better if it was within line of sight, though. If you can plant your pen near a window, maybe he can put the recorder nearby. It's not very conspicuous." "Just as long as no one can see it without hunting for it." "I'll tell him. Give me the recorder. When do you want him to do it?" "Well, it won't do any good until I get the microphone planted. I'm having dinner with Lex on Friday night. I'll put it in his office then. Superman can place the recorder any time after that, unless I can find a reason to visit Lex sooner." Clark looked at the little recorder, then back at her. "Be careful, Lois--if he realizes what you're doing, I don't know what he'd do to you." "He won't realize it, Clark." She put a hand on his arm. "Trust me." Clark smiled crookedly at her. "I do, Lois. But I worry about you all the same. Luthor's smart. He didn't get where he is by being careless." "I know. I won't get overconfident, Clark. I promise." As it turned out, Lex called the next evening to invite her for lunch the following day. ******************* "Lois, be careful. If he even suspects your feelings for him have changed he'll be watching you like a hawk." Clark, Lois thought, was obsessing. Well, that was a good thing, wasn't it? It meant he was worried about her and therefore he cared about her. Of course, Superman cared about everyone in the abstract, but his feelings for her ran a lot deeper if she read the signs accurately. Only, how was she supposed to convince him that she was over her schoolgirl crush on Superman? For that matter, when was he going to stop hiding and tell her the truth? She was at an impasse. The unflattering comparisons she'd made of the two men within Clark's hearing back when they'd first met made her squirm now, even though she knew that he'd intended for no one to notice the resemblance between himself and Superman. They'd been unnecessarily cruel even then, when she didn't know him very well, but she'd been driven and very competitive--not that she was any less so now--and had resented Perry's foisting him on her as a partner. And, of course, she'd regarded the "country boy" from Kansas with contempt. It had taken a visit to Smallville and a meeting with Martha and Jonathan Kent to shake her smug convictions of superiority. Martha and Jonathan might be country folks, but they were anything but unintelligent. That was when she'd realized the fact that "from the country" did not automatically equate with "stupid". After all, how many complete idiots swarmed through the streets of Metropolis every day? "Lois, did you hear me?" She nodded. "Sorry, Clark, I was thinking. I promise I won't do anything careless. If we want to get the evidence we need I can't afford to get caught." "You can't afford to get caught, anyway!" She gave a slightly nervous laugh. "Sorry. You know what I meant. I've done dozens of undercover investigations before I met you. I'll be fine." He nodded, but still looked worried. "I know, and I do trust you, Lois. It's Luthor I don't trust." "Take it easy, Clark." She patted him on the hand and glanced at her watch. "Oops, gotta go. He's sending a car for me." ***************** (to be continued in part 4) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 13:01:54 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 4/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships Part 4 by Nan Smith Lunch in Lex Luthor's penthouse, at the very top of Lex Tower--as Lex had said proudly many times, "the tallest building in Metropolis"--was as usual, excellent. Lex's French chef had prepared a delicious, light meal with Lois's low calorie preferences in mind. If she hadn't known that Lex admired her trim figure, she would have suspected Andre of sneaking one of the luscious cream sauces for which he was famous into the dish. Lex's office, from which he conducted most of his business, was part of the penthouse--a luxury he could afford since all of Lex Tower below them amounted to the nerve center of his vast business empire. After the meal was finished, it took only an expression of interest from Lois for Lex to escort her to her goal. She didn't even have to simulate her awe; she stared around the room, wide-eyed. Even familiar as she was with the lavish penthouse and it's many treasures--Lex had hired only the best to decorate his home--the sheer size of the place took her breath away. After a moment of silence, she said lightly, "Wow, Lex. Your desk is almost as big as my living room." He chuckled indulgently. "I hardly think so. So, what do you think?" She moved into the room, admiring the objets d'art which were arranged tastefully here and there, and the brilliant Picasso which hung on one wall. "It's a little...overwhelming. You actually conduct business here?" "All the time." He looked amused at her wide-eyed astonishment. She glanced down. "I suppose this is a genuine Persian rug, too." "It is." He took her arm, steering her to the picture window to the left of and behind his desk. "And when I wish to I can look out over m...the city. The view from here is quite spectacular, don't you agree?" "Very," Lois said. "I can even see Centennial Park from here." "Yes, that was one reason for choosing this location for my office." Lex turned as someone came to the door. "Yes, Mrs. Cox?" "Oh, I'm sorry, Lex, I didn't realize you and Ms. Lane were here," a woman's voice said. Lois turned. The newcomer was the woman in Jimmy's photograph. Lex smiled and made introductions. "Lois Lane, Mrs. Cox. Mrs. Cox is my personal assistant, Lois." "Pleased to meet you," Lois said. Mrs. Cox nodded her head and her lips smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "I was only bringing you the report on the progress of the Series K project." She moved forward to lay a slim folder on the huge, mahogany desk. "Series K?" Lois asked. "Just one of LexCorp's many projects," Lex said. "Excuse me one moment, Lois." He moved to the doorway with his assistant. Lois couldn't hear what they said, but it looked as if now was the only chance she was likely to have. Standing next to the window was a tall, potted palm. Lois withdrew the slender metal pen, which was her bug, from her pocket and leaned forward as if looking down from the high window toward the sidewalk far below. With an apparently casual motion, she rested her hand on the edge of the pot and let the pen fall softly to the rug between the big container and the window, which reached from ceiling to floor. For once the Fates seemed to favor her, for the little cylinder rolled slightly when it struck the rug and stopped just beneath the rim of the wide dish which prevented water from leaking from the pot onto the expensive carpet. To all but the most careful of observers, the pen was out of sight. Slowly, she straightened and smoothed her skirt, then glanced up as a glimpse of motion beyond the window caught her eye. That hadn't been her imagination, she thought. The red and blue flash had been Superman, hanging around nearby, just in case. "What are you looking at?" Lex's voice said, behind her. Her heart leaped, but she maintained her position for another five seconds before she turned casually to him. "Just admiring the view. I hadn't realized how much higher Lex Tower is than even the Moritomi Building, next door." He nodded and smiled at her. "Lex Tower is the tallest building in the city. I like to be able to look down on the roofs of all my neighbors." "Well, it's a magnificent view." She glanced down at her watch. "Oh, heavens, look at the time! I'm going to be late getting back to work, Lex." "I'll have Nigel drive you back," he said easily. "It was a pleasure having you here today, Lois. I enjoyed it immensely." "So did I, Lex." She turned to survey the office one last time before preceding him out the door. "And the lunch was wonderful." He escorted her to the elevator. "Don't forget our date tomorrow night. I thought we'd make up for missing Madame Butterfly last week." "That sounds perfect," she said. It was only when the elevator door closed behind her that she exhaled a huge sigh of relief. ********************** "It's safely planted," she told Clark, twenty-five minutes later as they stood waiting for the elevator at the Daily Planet. "It's just under the rim of a big potted palm next to that enormous picture window in his office. Superman can put the recorder in place any time." "He already did," Clark told her. "He had an eye on you the whole time." "I guessed that when I saw him," she said, just a trifle smugly. "You saw him?" "Just a glimpse, but he was there. Lex didn't see him, though. He was talking to Mrs. Cox." "Oh. That's good, then." Clark looked relieved. "He didn't suspect anything?" "Not a thing," she said. "We're going to the opera tomorrow night." "All right, but be careful," he said. "I can handle Lex," she said, quietly. "You have to trust me, Clark." "I do," he said, as quietly. "I wish--" He broke off as the doors opened and they boarded. Two other newsroom employees raced to catch the elevator as well, and Clark politely held the doors for them. When the doors opened again on the newsroom and they exited, Clark spoke again. "I've had Jimmy doing some digging. We'll see if he has anything for us." "It seems to me that any evidence we get that way is going to be circumstantial at best," Lois said. "True. But considering who we're investigating, anything we can find to bolster our case, even circumstantial evidence, shouldn't be ignored. Besides," Clark added, "it might give us an idea where else to look." "That's true," Lois agreed. They descended the ramp, still talking. "There's also this," Clark said. "Superman tells me that just about every criminal element in the city pays protection money to a shadowy character they call 'The Boss'. Most of them have no idea who he is, and the ones who do are too terrified to talk. The rumor on the streets is that 'The Boss' is behind the recent spate of fire bombings and arsons of businesses on the south side. That's where Lexel Development is buying up all that property for its strip mall project. Lois, what if 'The Boss' is Lex Luthor?" "I guess it wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility," she said. "We'll probably be in a better position to judge in a day or two. In the meantime, let's see what Jimmy's got for us. And then, I'm going to get hold of Bobby Bigmouth." Clark raised an eyebrow. "Bobby Who?" "Bobby Bigmouth. He's one of my snitches. Since we're partners, I think it's about time I introduced you to him. Just be sure you always bring something for him to eat when you're looking for information. He's not called Bobby Bigmouth because of his chosen 'profession'." "Oh?" "Yeah. He must have a metabolic problem or something. He's skinnier than a rail and eats constantly. You pay him with food." "I'll take your word for it, but do you think he'll come through?" "Maybe," Lois said. "He has to watch out for his own skin, though. He doesn't want to end up at the bottom of Hobb's Bay." "That's for sure. Well, tell him we'll take whatever he can give us, but to be careful." Clark turned his head. "Hey, Jim! Did you get that stuff I asked you to look up?" "Some of it." Jimmy was headed across the room toward the Sports desk. "Just a minute and I'll show you." The information, Lois thought, looking at what Jimmy had found some time later, wasn't proof. But it was certainly consistent with the pattern that was beginning to emerge: lists of business contracts that had gone to LexCorp because of the sudden and convenient death of a business competitor, coincidental acts of sabotage against the rival, or fortuitous acts of nature; acquisition of land at reduced prices after the real estate value in targeted areas suddenly and inexplicably lost value--many, many coincidences that somehow always favored LexCorp, but no proof. She looked at Clark with a sick sensation in the pit of her stomach. "It's a definite pattern, isn't it?" "Yes." "What kind of a monster is he, Clark?" Her partner's expression was sympathetic. "I think you know, Lois." "And he likes to project this picture of himself as a philanthropist. It makes me want to throw up. Why didn't I see any of this before?" "Because he was very careful around you." Clark's tone was neutral. "He wants to impress you." "I'm impressed, all right," she said, dryly. "Thank you, Clark." "For what?" "For not saying 'I told you so'." "I didn't tell you so." "Well, yes and no. I knew what you thought of him. I just didn't know why." "Well, you know now." "Yeah, I guess I do." ******************** (to be continued in part 5) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 13:05:23 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY; Strange Relationships Part 5/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Strange Relationships: Part 5 by Nan Smith Friday afternoon, Clark appeared beside her desk with a microtape. "Here's the first recording. Superman told me he replaced the batteries and tape with new ones." Lois opened her desk drawer and removed her recorder. "Let's see what we've got." "Lois! Clark!" Their editor's voice cut through the noise that was constantly present in the newsroom. "Get over to Lex Tower! Lex Luthor is giving a press conference over his redevelopment plans for the south side business district in twenty minutes." Lois dropped the tape into her bag. "I guess we'll listen to this later. Let's go hear the latest." ******************** "So, as you can see from this model," Lex Luthor was saying, "The results of redeveloping the old business district with a modern, planned enterprise, will result in revitalization of a deteriorating area and thousands of new jobs for the citizens of Metropolis..." "Mr. Luthor!" Clark lifted a hand. "What about the business owners who are being displaced by this project? There have been rumors of coerced sales of some of the businesses as well as increased gang activity over the last few months that has resulted in lowered property values and therefore bargain prices for Lexel Development. Do you have any comment on that?" "I never listen to rumors, Mr. Kent." Lex smiled suavely. "Any more questions?" Several hands waved in the air and there were more shouted questions from other members of the press. Lois remained silent, watching Lex's performance as he smoothly handled the reporters, dodged inconvenient points, and emerged unscathed at the end. Everything he did seemed somehow...slimy, now that she knew, or had a pretty good idea, what lay behind that pleasant façade. He met her eyes through the mob of press and smiled, and she smiled automatically back. How could she not have seen his sheer arrogance before? Because she'd been dazzled by the attention of a man as wealthy and powerful as Lex Luthor, so dazzled that she had never once looked to see what lay behind the face he presented to the world at large. In a way, the situation was similar to the one with Superman. She had never looked past the super-hero to see the kind and decent man behind the flashy costume. She had been discovering a number of things about herself ever since last Saturday night, much of which she was not particularly happy about, but at least she could learn from it. She glanced sideways at Clark. He apparently loved her in spite of her faults, and he could hardly be unaware of them. He wasn't perfect either, by a long shot, but somehow that didn't seem to matter. Maybe that was something else she should think about. It might not be a case of finding perfection. Maybe it was more one of finding someone with the qualities that did matter and faults you could live with. When she looked at it that way, maybe some of the things she was beating herself with weren't as important as she thought, at least not to her partner. Maybe this time the right man had found her in spite of herself. It wasn't as if she hadn't tried to discourage him in every way possible and he still stayed, for some reason. Evidently, he hadn't given up hope. That must mean something. Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't try to change some of her more unpleasant characteristics. And she still had to convince him, somehow, that her interest was really in him and not the powers. She still had no clue how to do that, but she really hadn't had the time to think about it what with the investigation. Maybe something would come to her on its own. Lois Lane Kent. The name didn't sound so bad, come to think of it. "Lois?" Clark waved a hand in front of her eyes. "Are you all right?" "Huh? Oh, yeah. I was somewhere else. Are we done?" "We're done. Let's get out of here." He looked at her oddly. "You were looking at me with the strangest expression. Is something wrong?" "Sort of, but not really. I just have a small problem I'm trying to figure out how to fix." "Anything I can help you with?" She shook her head and smiled wryly. "Not this time, I'm afraid, but thanks for offering." ********************* "Good night, Lex. It was a lovely evening." At the door of her apartment, Lois looked up into Lex Luthor's handsome face. "I enjoyed it very much." The multi-billionaire looked earnestly down at her. "So did I, Lois. You *will* think about it, won't you?" She smiled at him, shyly. "Of course I will, Lex. It's just that it's such a big step. I need time to adjust to the idea." "I understand completely." He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Lois forced herself to accept the kiss, although every instinct she possessed urged her to pull away. Under no circumstances must she allow him to guess her true feelings. Let him believe her nervousness was due to the extra-ordinary proposal he had made to her this evening at dinner. Marriage? He was in love with her? A week before the idea would have dazzled her. Now it produced nothing but a sense of pure horror. Afterwards, she had smiled appropriately, laughed at his jokes and allowed him to display her on his arm as they made their appearance at the opera. If Lex chose to believe her slight abstraction was due to visions of a possible life with him, he was free to do so. She smiled warmly at him as he bade her a graceful good night and he waited until she had entered the apartment to turn and make his way back toward the elevator. Lois closed and locked her apartment door, then leaned back against it and closed her eyes. Now what was she going to do? After a time she straightened up and walked into the bedroom, pulling off her heeled shoes as she went. She tossed the footwear in the general direction of her closet and glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. The time was one-thirteen a.m. Slowly, she pulled the pins from her elegant coiffure and shook out the hairstyle. It was a relief to be able to relax after the evening with Lex. Her eyes fell on the bag she carried to work. The tape was still inside. She and Clark had been kept busy all afternoon and hadn't had time to listen to it yet. There was no time like the present. At least she could hear a sample of what they had managed to record. She extracted the microtape and recorder, inserted one into the other and punched the play button, then continued her preparations for bed. Five minutes later she was hovering over the recorder, finger on the rewind button. Biting her lip, she replayed the conversation, straining her ears to hear every word. "...Finished, Lex. The Kryptonite bullets are ready, and the cage is completed." Mrs. Cox's voice spoke with appalling clarity. "All we need now is the right man for the job." "I trust you have that person selected?" Lex's voice sounded faintly bored. "Someone who will do the job for a cash payment, and who won't be missed afterwards?" "Yes. His name is John Black. We've been employing him for a number of the arsons on the south side. Very useful man, no scruples to speak of and willing to do any job for the right amount of money." Mrs. Cox's voice sounded matter-of-fact. "It's unfortunate we'll have to sacrifice him, then," Lex's voice said. "But after this job he'll know too much for our safety." "There are plenty more where he came from," Mrs. Cox replied. "Shall I make the call?" "Yes. Be sure he understands that he is not to shoot to kill. A hit on the body anywhere should suffice to incapacitate Superman enough for our purposes." His voice dropped, and Lois felt a chill crawl up her spine at the sheer venom in it. "I want to watch him die." "I will, Lex. When do you want it done?" Something creaked. "Tonight." Whatever else might have been said after that, Lois wasn't listening. She grabbed the phone and dialed Clark's number with shaking fingers. She had to warn him before it was too late. The phone began to ring. "Come on, Clark, pick up the phone!" she whispered. The phone continued to ring. Nobody answered. ********************** The phone had rung twenty-five times by actual count before she put down the receiver. Clark manifestly wasn't home. Well, maybe there was another way to contact him. She walked to the window, opened it wide and shouted at the top of her voice. "Help! Superman!" And, she waited. After five minutes had passed, she was forced to acknowledge that he wasn't coming. She paced. The chances were good that nothing was wrong. He might be absorbed in some emergency situation where he couldn't break away. Except that when she'd yelled for help there had never before been a time when he failed to answer. She glanced down at herself. Clad in her night clothing, she really wasn't dressed for the cold weather if she were to decide to go out and look for him. The sheer impossibility of the task struck her forcibly, followed swiftly by an idea. She turned on the television and switched the channel to LNN. The irony of the situation would have made her laugh if she hadn't been so worried. While she waited for the commercial about the virtues and efficacy of the latest exercise machine to finish, she pulled on sweats and a pair of running shoes. When the news program returned, there was a spot report on the water main break in front of City Hall early that afternoon. Lois waited, biting her thumbnail. The picture finally shifted again and an announcer came on with breaking news about the fire bombing of a small mom and pop grocery store on the south side. The camera showed a blazing building and fire fighters in full gear, and the announcer's voice told her that it had taken place barely twenty minutes before. Lois scooped up her purse. It was a shot--not a good one, but at least it was a chance. She was at the door when her phone rang. She raced across the floor to the instrument and picked it up in the middle of the second ring. "Hello?" At first, there was only the sound of harsh breathing on the line. "Hello?" she repeated. More heavy breathing. A crank call. She had made up her mind that was all it was when she heard her name whispered. "Lois?" "Yes? Who's this?" The whisper was a little louder. "Super...man." A whistling, indrawn breath. "Need...help." "Where are you?" she demanded urgently. She could hear him panting with effort. "South...side." He breathed heavily for several seconds. "Fire." "You're near that fire on the south side?" He began to cough, but managed to rasp out one more word. "Evans." His voice dissolved into more coughing. "Hold on. I'll be there as fast as I can." She had no memory, later, of getting to the Jeep. She supposed she must have locked her apartment door, but that period was a blank in her mind. She probably broke every speed law on the books as well, and it was certainly a miracle that no traffic cop stopped her before she reached the south side. The fire was a brilliant blaze against the sky, a glory of red, yellow and gold, with glowing sparks rising on a cloud of smoke. Embers drifted across her windshield and white ash sifted down endlessly. The map Lois had extracted from her glove compartment told her Evans Way was two streets over to the east of the fire. Lois drove around the block, avoiding the blockades erected by the emergency services and the seething, shifting crowd of rubberneckers who had shown up even at this hour in the morning to gawk at the flames. The whole area had a scorched smell to it that made her wrinkle her nose. Evans was a narrow, brick street, one of the few such remaining in Metropolis. By day, the street would attract tourists to the quaint, old-fashioned stores and open-air markets where merchants sold overpriced souvenirs and other merchandise to the unwary. The street was part of Metropolis's Old Town, where the atmosphere of the city, as it had been a century ago, had been preserved by the residents as a monument to the past--and a lucrative tourist trap. Two blocks away, the sky was brilliant with the fire, but this area was dim and quiet. All those who might frequent Evans at this hour had gone to watch the show. She was directly opposite the fire, now, peering hopelessly around at the shadowy buildings. No sign of life greeted her eyes. No, wait--there was a phone booth. She pulled up next to it on the wrong side of the street, looking around. Nothing. Motion caught her eye; the ever so slight swinging motion of the receiver, dangling from its metal cord. Lois grabbed her map-reading flashlight and shone it on the booth. Ominous splotches of a rusty, red color dotted the sidewalk below the phone. Quickly, she flashed the light along the cement, following the trail left by those smears of drying blood that marked where someone had crawled. Some six feet away, an alley opened up between a souvenir shop and an old fashioned soda fountain. Cautiously, she flashed her light into that dark interior, and her heart leaped into her throat as it flickered over the toe of a very familiar red boot. (to be continued in part 6) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 13:07:50 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY; Strange Relationships 6/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships Part 6 by Nan Smith For an instant she was frozen in horror, then she acted. The time for nerves and hysterics could come later when she had the time. Right now, Superman's life might depend on what she did next. With a skill she didn't know she possessed, she backed the Jeep up to that narrow entrance and cut the lights. If someone was watching, she didn't want witnesses to see what happened. Quickly and precisely, as if the actions were programmed in, she unlocked the rear door closest to the spot where Superman lay, half-propped against the rough, brick wall. She opened her door and got out, glancing around warily in the darkness. Nothing moved. As her eyes adjusted to the much lower light level, she was more able to reassure herself that no one lurked in the darker shadows. In the quiet of the alley, she could hear Clark's harsh breathing which was a relief in a way because it told her he was still alive, but in another it was frightening to hear him in such distress. She swung the rear door open and hurried to kneel beside him on the cement. "Cl...Superman!" She kept her voice down, reminding herself sharply that this was *Superman* not Clark. "Can you hear me?" His eyelids fluttered and he raised his head with an effort. "Lois?" he mumbled indistinctly. "It's Lois. You have to help me. I can't lift you. Can you move if I help you?" "Try..." he managed. She got his arm over her shoulders and put one of hers around him. Her hand encountered something warm and sticky, and he gasped. Quickly, she adjusted her grip, fighting to control her fear. First things first. Superman obviously didn't want this incident to be known, but if he was hurt too badly, she intended to take him to the emergency room, objections notwithstanding. Somehow she got him on his feet, and guided his unsteady progress to the Jeep. Afterwards she couldn't have said how they did it but when she was finished, Superman lay on his face on the rear seat of the Jeep. There was nothing she could do at the moment and every reason to get out of the area as fast as possible. The shooter could still be around, possibly looking for his victim. Lois scrambled into the driver's seat and started the engine. A few moments later she was driving sedately away from the Metropolis gaslamp quarter, avoiding roadblocks set up by the emergency services. Behind her, the burning building sent black smoke and bursts of glowing embers into the sky. The thought occurred to her that something must be fueling the flames besides the material of the grocery store, and if the fire fighters didn't get the situation under control soon it could very well spread and Lex wouldn't have to negotiate prices very hard at all. She was willing to bet he was behind this as well as the shooting of Superman. It might even be what was used to lure him in. Why hadn't they taken time to listen to that tape sooner? She wasn't going to make that mistake again. Thank heavens tomorrow was her day off, and Clark's as well. Their absence from the newsroom wouldn't be remarked on at all. "Superman!" she called sharply over her shoulder. "Can you hear me?" A faint, affirmative mumble answered her. Lois checked her rearview mirror. There didn't appear to be anyone following her. The Jeep emerged onto one of the well-lighted main streets of the city, and she zeroed in on the parking lot across from Metro PD's headquarters. If anyone bothered her now she intended to blow her horn and scream bloody murder for help. There was no way she would allow the would-be killer, probably the "John Black" named on the tape, to complete his mission. She hoped it wouldn't come to that. If she could, she wanted to help Clark continue to conceal the existence of Kryptonite for as long as he could. Lex certainly wouldn't be doing much talking about it, or Mrs. Cox either. Of course, all that depended on how badly Clark was hurt. She cut the engine and squirmed around to look between the seats at her passenger. The red cape was blotched with darker red patches of blood, and she shoved it impatiently aside. The wound was high on his back, directly over the right shoulder blade. The bullet must have struck the bone, she thought. Was there anything vital in that area? She didn't know, even for a human. How was she supposed to have any idea for a man from another planet? "Lois--" The word was a breathy whisper. "Kryptonite...poison." He inhaled and seemed to gather his resolve. "You...have to take it out." *She* had to do it? "I..." "Please!" The word was spoken more strongly. She gulped. At least he didn't appear to be bleeding so heavily, now. Maybe he hadn't been hurt as badly as she first thought. Maybe most of the problems came from the poisonous nature of the bullet rather than the physical damage. Lex had seemed to imply that much in his order to Mrs. Cox. Drawing a deep breath, she made her decision. "We need to get back to my place. I can't do it here." "Hurry!" Quickly, she started the engine, put the Jeep in gear and backed out of the parking spot. The Metropolis traffic was at its lowest ebb right now, although there were still plenty of cars on the street. The trip to her apartment seemed to take forever, but it was actually less than fifteen minutes before she pulled the Jeep into a parking place behind her apartment building. There was a back entrance to the building, next to a big, utilitarian dumpster, although it was certainly locked at this hour. Taking Superman in by the front way hadn't seemed like a good idea, so she hoped she could pick this lock as easily as she had the ones on the handcuffs last Saturday night. Lois jumped out and hurried over to it. Picking the lock was easier than it had been for the handcuffs. As she ran back to the Jeep, she made a mental note to speak to Mr. Tracewski about building security. If she could pick the back door lock with her as yet new skill, what could an experienced burglar do? The struggle to get Superman into the building, to the elevator and up to her apartment was a nightmare. The Man of Steel leaned heavily on her and she could tell he was exerting all his willpower to stay on his feet but, for all that, they nearly didn't make it. When she kicked the door shut behind them, Superman collapsed forward onto the rug. All she could do was break his fall. "Superman?" He was breathing hard. "Help me, Lois." "Stay right there." She swallowed nervously. "I'm going to get some things." She turned and automatically slid the door chain into place, then half-ran into her tiny kitchen. What on Earth was she supposed to use to dig a bullet out of Superman? The whole idea made her stomach lurch, but he was counting on her. She couldn't fail him. The best candidate seemed to be a small paring knife. She swallowed nervously, selected a couple of clean dishtowels from a drawer and returned to the living area. He hadn't moved. He was lying on his face, eyes closed, his forehead resting on his left arm. His face was shiny with a light coating of perspiration. Lois dropped to her knees beside him. "Superman," she ventured, "can you hear me?" His eyes came open and he turned his head to look at her. "I'm going to try to take the bullet out, but it's going to hurt." He nodded, and she could see him shudder slightly. Carefully, she felt with her fingertips around the wound. She could *feel* the thing! It was lodged against his shoulder blade. It was something of a miracle in itself, she thought, that it hadn't broken the bone and damaged who knew how many vital things underneath, but maybe this wasn't going to be quite as bad as she'd first thought. With the tip of the knife she probed into the wound as carefully as she could, biting her lip at Clark's gasp of pain, and found the bullet. She slipped the point of her paring knife under the hard, little object and pressed gently upward. There it was. With one of the dishtowels, she picked up the bullet. It was stained with red, but when she wiped away the blood, it glowed green in the light of the apartment. Green--like that pendent worn by Mrs. Cox in Jimmy's photograph, when she and Superman had been talking in front of the bank. This had to be Kryptonite, the substance Jason Trask had believed would kill Superman. With a quick scramble she was on her feet, the only thought in her mind to get this stuff away from Clark as fast as she could. What could she do with it? She had no idea what distance was safe for him, and besides, she wanted to be sure that no one would ever find it again. Well, the best solution seemed to be the sewer system. The likelihood of its ever being found there seemed pretty remote. Lois flushed it down the toilet, and followed the initial flush with a second one, just to be on the safe side, then hurried back to Clark. The removal of the Kryptonite seemed to have improved the situation already. His breathing was easier and he was trying to push himself up on his arms. "Superman, don't move," she told him. "You're still bleeding. I'm going to bandage your shoulder, all right?" He nodded and lowered his head to his forearm again. Lois thought. Normally, her first aid supplies around the apartment consisted of a box of Band-Aids and a bottle of iodine. But a few months ago the local Cub Scouts had had a fundraiser, selling small, individual first aid kits, and Lois had been unable to resist the two young boys who had shown up at her door. The little first aid kit had gone into a closet, never to be thought of again until now. It was still there, sitting between a desk fan and the dust buster. Clutching it like a life preserver, she returned to Superman. The shirt was definitely ruined. Even if there was some reasonable way to patch spandex--and somehow the idea of Superman flying around in a patched uniform just didn't seem right--it was unlikely the blood would ever come out. She removed the cape and took a small pair of scissors out of the kit. "Superman, I'm going to have to cut this off," she said. "I can't get at the wound any other way." He nodded, eyes closed. She snipped away the cloth, trying to disturb him as little as possible. She had never seen Superman look so exhausted. The wound had begun to bleed sluggishly again when she removed the bullet. She blotted it up with the remaining clean towel and proceeded to bandage the damaged shoulder as well as she could. When she had finished, the result wasn't exactly the most professional in appearance, but she figured it would do the job. Superman was still resting his head on his good arm. She sat back on her heels and wiped away the perspiration that was running into her eyes. "Superman, are you all right?" "Yeah." The word was muffled and he didn't raise his head. "Thanks, Lois." "You're welcome. How do you feel?" He was silent for a moment and when he spoke his voice was stronger. "Better, actually. Where's the Kryptonite?" "In the sewer system by now." "Good." He seemed to relax a little. Lois checked her work on his shoulder. In spite of her amateur doctoring, it seemed to be holding well enough. "If I help you, do you think you can stand? I'd like to get you off the floor." "In a minute." "Okay." She continued to sit beside him, wondering what to do now, and what she would do if he fell asleep. She couldn't leave him on the rug. "Superman?" she said, finally. "Mm?" "Are you awake?" "Mm...yeah." He shook his head slightly. "Sorry." He had dozed off, then, she thought. "If I help you, can you get up? You can't sleep on the rug." "Yeah, I think so." "Put your arm over my shoulders." She braced herself to take his weight, but he was able to support himself better now. Lois glanced at her sofa and rejected that notion in the same instant. She was sure he would object but she realized, glancing at his strained face, that he was concentrating so hard on staying on his feet that he hadn't noticed where she was leading him. It wasn't until she was helping him to sit down on the edge of her bed that he seemed to become aware of the fact. "Lois, I can't..." "I'm not going to argue about this," she said, in her best no-nonsense voice. "You're in no shape to go anywhere tonight, and if you try to sleep on my sofa you'll probably get blood on it. Lie down. I'm too tired to discuss it at this hour." She pulled the sheet and blankets down. "Get in." He opened his mouth, closed it again and nodded. "Okay," he said, meekly, and let Lois help him to stretch out on the bed, face down. She pulled his boots off without getting an argument from him and pushed his feet fully onto the bed. "I probably should take you to the emergency room," she said, pulling the covers over him, but leaving the bandage exposed, "but I know why you don't want anyone to know. I warn you, though, if you get any worse during the night, I'm calling the paramedics. Is that clear?" He nodded, eyes closed. "Yes. Thank you, Lois. You saved my life." "We'll talk about it in the morning," she said, more gently. "Good night, Superman." ******************** (to be continued in part 7) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 13:12:18 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 7/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships Part 7 by Nan Smith Lois woke at nine the next morning, after a very disturbed night of repeated trips into the bedroom to check on her super-patient. She glanced at the clock, figuring she had probably managed to accumulate as many as five full hours of sleep over the night. Quietly, she tiptoed into the bedroom. Clark was sleeping soundly, his face all but buried in the pillow, and she took a moment to admire the torso now fully exposed from the waist up. Wow. And to think that was what her partner had been hiding under his suits with their flashy ties. Well, no more accepting people at face value for her. She'd thought that she knew better than that, too. Last Saturday night had been a wake-up call in more ways than one. She crept across the small room, collected clothing from her dresser and retreated to the bathroom for a quick shower, trying to make as little noise as possible. She must have succeeded for when she emerged ten minutes later he was still sleeping. She tiptoed past him into the living room. Clark liked tea better than coffee, she recalled. At least she could make that. It was a few minutes later that she heard him stirring around. She walked to the entrance of the bedroom and knocked softly. "Come in." If she'd heard his voice, not knowing it was Superman, the cat would have been out of the bag long since, she thought, as she entered the room. Clark was sitting on the edge of the bed, feeling his shoulder experimentally. "How do you feel?" she asked. He glanced up at her and smiled cautiously. "Better. You saved my life, Lois. Thank you." "You're welcome." She moved toward him uncertainly. "Do you need any help?" "Well--" He dropped his gaze. "I could use a hand to the bathroom." "Sure." She moved around the bed and helped him to stand. He staggered a little, and Lois put an arm around his waist. "Put your arm over my shoulder. I don't bite." Tentatively, he obeyed and rested some of his weight on her. "I appreciate this, Lois." "You don't have to keep thanking me," she said, quietly. "I'd have done it for anybody." "I know," he said. "But thank you, anyway." "No problem. Come on, now." She helped him the short distance to the little bathroom. "Do you think you can manage? There are plenty of things to hang onto in there." "Yeah." He was panting slightly. "I guess I'll just have to forego brushing my teeth this morning," he added with a slight smile. "There's a spare in the drawer," she told him. "It's still in the package. Go ahead and use it." "Lois, I didn't mean--" "Just go ahead," she said. "I can always get another one. I'll put something you can wear on the foot of the bed. I have a pair of Clark's sweats that he loaned me a couple of months ago and I forgot to give back." She pushed the bathroom door open. "There's towels on the rack. Yell if you need any help." After he had closed the door she went to the dresser and found the sweats. She glanced thoughtfully at the bathroom door as she heard the water come on. The situation was a delicate one. That was Clark in there, and she wanted badly to help him all she could. But, at the same time, fawning over Superman wouldn't be such a good idea, because it would reinforce his conviction that her crush on Superman was intact. Well, it would only be reasonable that she'd want to check his injury, wouldn't it? She returned to the living area and found the little first aid kit where she had left it last night. She would simply treat him the way a friend would treat any other friend, she thought. That decided, she spent the next twenty minutes trying not to fret and pace. The tea water boiled and she dropped in leaves, hoping that she didn't get it too strong or too weak for Superman's taste, and, as an afterthought, set out bowls, spoons and dry cereal. At least she didn't have to prepare that, so she couldn't ruin it. The creak of the bathroom door hinge--she really had to oil that thing, she thought, irrelevantly--alerted her to the fact that Superman was emerging from the bathroom. She knocked on the partition between the rooms. "Need any help?" "Um--no, I think I can manage." Superman's voice sounded slightly embarrassed. "Are these the sweats?" "Yeah. Right on the foot of the bed," Lois said. "Don't put the shirt on yet. I want to check your shoulder." "All right." She could hear him moving around, occasional muffled thumps and once a softly spoken exclamation that might have been a mild cuss word. She smiled to herself. One didn't think of Superman, or even Clark, as ever swearing but he probably did at least occasionally. He was just too much of a gentleman to do so in the presence of others, and she doubted he was much in the habit of it, anyway. Superman couldn't afford to accidentally let slip such language in the wrong company. "Lois," he said, finally. "Yes?" "I guess I'm ready for you." "Okay." She picked up the first aid kit and entered the room. He was sitting on the bed wearing the sweat pants. His feet were bare and so was the wide expanse of chest. She felt her eyes widen slightly at the sight but kept her voice steady. "So, how does the shoulder feel this morning?" "A little stiff." He moved it cautiously. "Everything seems to work, though, so I don't think any serious damage was done." "Well, I don't know if I'll be able to tell anything," she said, "but I'm going to take the bandage off and put a fresh one on, and in the meantime I might as well see what it looks like. Okay?" He gave her one of those beautiful smiles. "Okay." She sat down behind him and began to carefully remove the bandage. The whole area around the bullet wound was bruised and discolored. The puncture itself, however, appeared to have closed sufficiently and there didn't seem to be any signs of infection. Could Earth germs affect Superman? She didn't know, but considering all the bleeding he'd done last night, even if they could he'd probably washed them out of his system. "It's looking pretty good," she said, finally. "I'm just going to tape one of these big pads over it and I think it will be okay." "I'm sure it will." He turned his head to watch her work. "I really owe you a lot over this, Lois, but I didn't know anyone else to call that I was completely sure I could trust." "Thank you." She smiled a little. "I won't tell anyone about the Kryptonite, you can be sure of that. I tried to get hold of you last night, to warn you, but it was already too late." She patted the last piece of tape into place. "There, all done. You can put the shirt on now." "Thanks." He picked up the article of clothing and began to wiggle his way into it. "Uh, Lois..." "Hold still." She stood up and held the sleeves for him, and he slid his arms carefully into them. She pulled it down. "Okay?" "Yeah. Thanks again." He looked embarrassed. "Once my powers come back, this should heal up quickly." "You don't have any powers?" He shook his head. "Not right now. They should come back after while. I've only been exposed to Kryptonite once before and then it took a couple of days to get back to normal." "Oh. But they *will* come back?" "I'm pretty sure they will. I don't know for sure, of course." He looked very sober for an instant. "But, Lois, what did you mean you tried to warn me?" "Clark and I didn't have time to listen to that tape, yesterday--the one you retrieved for us? After my 'date' with Lex last night, I listened to some of it. I heard him tell Mrs. Cox to hire a hit man...let me play it for you." She went to pick up the recorder from her dresser, and rewound the tape. "The recorder's voice activated, so there isn't hours and hours of nothing...there." She pushed the "play" button and they listened to the critical section of tape. "I called for you, but it was too late," she said, when it had finished. "I'm sure there's a lot more on this that we should hear, too. I'm going to listen to the rest of it after breakfast. Speaking of which, I have it ready in the kitchen. Don't worry," she added, "I'm only serving cereal from a box." He chuckled. "I'm not worried, Lois." "Well, if you're not invulnerable, maybe you should be. Can you make it all right?" "I think so." He stood up carefully. "So what's on the menu this morning?" ******************* While they ate, Lois asked, "What happened to you last night? John Black was supposed to take you prisoner. How did you escape?" "Mostly luck." He took a cautious sip of tea. "Good tea, Lois. Anyway, I was over the south side. I've been doing more patrols of the area recently because of all the arsons, you know. I saw the fire literally explode, and figured it had to be a fire bomb." "Reasonable conclusion," Lois said. "Yeah. I flew down to investigate, and to try to put it out. I was in the air over the building when a cop came running up. I'd turned to get the best angle to blow it out when I heard the gun go off." "A *cop* shot you?" Superman grimaced. "I doubt he was really a police officer, Lois." "Probably not." "Anyway, I was hit, and started to fall." He took another sip of tea. "Let's say, I didn't have any illusions about what would happen if the guy got hold of me. I guessed Luthor had to be behind it when I realized the bullet was Kryptonite." "You knew that day in front of the bank." "I suspected it. Then you found that picture of Mrs. Cox with the pendant. Clark showed me what you'd discovered and I knew right away what it had to be. I'm sorry, Lois. I should have told you." "You're darned right you should have!" She glared at him for an instant. "You should know by now that you can trust me. Clark and I aren't going to do anything to hurt you!" "I realize that." He smiled apologetically at her. "I *am* sorry." "I guess I can forgive you, if you promise not to do it again. Anyway, after you were shot, how did you get away?" "I was still in the air," he explained. "I had a little power left and used it to get as far away as I could before I crashed. It was about two blocks." "Oh," she said. She swallowed. "Then," he continued, unaware of her reaction to his matter-of-fact recital, "I tried to make it to the phone, but it took a while. I had to hide once because he showed up looking for me. By the time I made it, I didn't have much strength left. After that, I hid, just in case he came back. That's all. You got there a little while later." She smiled briefly. "Well, let's hope I don't have to do that again. You heard what they're planning to do with John Black." Superman nodded. "We need to find him." Lois paused, spoon halfway to her mouth. "If we do, won't the information about the Kryptonite come out?" "Maybe. He isn't likely to admit what he did unless we bring it up, though." "Maybe not to the police, but he might brag to his friends," she pointed out. "Agreed, but we can't just let Luthor kill him. Besides, when his friends see that I'm alive and unhurt they probably won't believe him. It's pretty far fetched if you don't know the whole story." "True. And Lex and Mrs. Cox have good reasons not to admit anything," Lois added. "I have an idea. I'm going to phone Jimmy." ******************** "Yeah," she was saying to Jimmy ten minutes later, "the guy's name is John Black. He's been used to start a lot of the fires in the south side in the past few weeks, including the one last night. Do you think you and Jack can find him?" Jimmy sounded enthusiastic. "We can sure try! Jack's got the contacts for it." "The guy will do any job for enough money," Lois said. "We need some leverage with him. I'm trying to get evidence on the people who hired him--the ones really behind the arsons." "You mean Lex Luthor," Jimmy said, lowering his voice. "Jimmy, how did you--" "Let's say I've heard a few rumors," Jimmy said. "Besides, I know CK doesn't trust him." "Yeah, well don't say that out loud again if you want to stay healthy," Lois cautioned. "And be careful. There's a good chance Luthor may try to eliminate him after last night. He knows too much." "Gotcha," Jack's voice said. He was on the conference room extension. "Leave it to us, Lois. We'll call you back when we've got something. This is gonna be fun." ********************* (to be continued in part 8) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 13:16:18 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 8/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships Part 8 by Nan Smith The rest of the tape contained no remarks about Superman. There was one comment from Mrs. Cox indicating that Black had been contacted and had accepted the assignment, and Lex had authorized the release of four K-tipped bullets to him. Lois and Superman looked at each other at that revelation, but neither commented. Several other conversations were apparently in reference to various business ventures and tactics to use in securing the desired results. Lois took notes. Around noon, Lois gave her houseguest a lift over to Clark Kent's apartment. Superman hadn't wanted to impose on her a second night, and told her that Clark would let him stay at his place as long as he needed to. Lois, who had her own plans for the afternoon, was willing to oblige. "Are you sure you'll be all right?" she asked. He nodded. "Yes. The last time I ran into this stuff, it took about two days to wear off. Besides--" he looked at the tape recorder, "something tells me I should keep a low profile for awhile." "At least until we can get hold of the other three bullets," Lois agreed. "And Lex may have more Kryptonite, too. We don't know how much there originally was." She added, "There isn't any chance anyone can see the recorder, is there?" He shook his head. "No. Clark told me it had to be within five hundred feet on a line of sight from the microphone, if possible. I put it on the ledge that runs around the Moritomi Building, about ten feet down from the roof. It's completely out of sight, and only about four hundred feet away from Lex Tower. It'll be safe until I can recover it." "That's a relief," Lois said. "It's Saturday, so he probably won't conduct much business today, anyway." "Probably not," Superman agreed. "Lois, you *are* being careful around Luthor, aren't you? The man's perfectly capable of killing you if he thinks you've betrayed him." "Yes, I am," she said, reassuringly. "But we need to gather the information quickly." "Why?" "Well..." She glanced up at his face. Why, she questioned herself again, why hadn't she recognized him as Clark long ago? The half-comical, half-worried expression on his face at just that moment was so...so *Clark*! "He asked me to marry him last night." "*What*?!" "Yeah," Lois said. "You didn't accept, did you? I mean, in order to keep in contact with him or anything?" "Of course not!" she said, indignantly. "I don't think I could stomach it, to tell you the truth. I told him I needed time to think about it. But I won't be able to stall him very long." "No, I can see that." Superman frowned. "Well, Jimmy and Jack may come up with something, and you have those other leads, too. After tomorrow, we'll have the next tape. If we can pin these arsons on him we'll have a pretty good start." Lois nodded. "I agree. Well, are you ready?" He smiled wryly. "I guess." "We'll take it slow," Lois said. "If you need to, just hang onto me, Okay?" "Okay." "You're sure Clark won't mind if you come in while he's gone? I tried calling a while ago and got his answering machine." He hesitated, started to say something, and apparently changed his mind. "He won't mind. We're friends." I'll bet, she thought, but that hesitation and the look on his face stayed in her mind. What had he been going to say? She opened the door to the hall and they exited the apartment. One of the older tenants was passing by with a bag of groceries in her arms, and the once-over she gave Clark, then the one of combined envy and disapproval for Lois was one for the books, Lois thought. As they made their slow way toward the elevator, she couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. "What?" Superman asked. "Mrs. Adams," Lois said, by way of explanation. "She's the biggest gossip in the building." "Is my being here going to cause you trouble?" he asked, obviously concerned. "No. It may enhance my reputation, though. Did you see her look you over?" They paused by the elevator and Lois rang for the car. He glanced after the retreating tenant. "Don't worry about it," she said. "I'm of age. Who I have in my apartment is nobody's business but mine." The elevator doors opened at that moment and they boarded. Mrs. Tracewski, the manager's wife, was in the car. She glanced at Lois, then looked Clark frankly up and down. "Hello, Ms. Lane. Is this a friend of yours?" "Yes," Lois said. "Mrs. Tracewski, this is, um..." Clark stuck out a hand. "Kal," he told her. "Pleased to meet you." The plump, little woman shook Clark's hand and looked at Lois with a distinct twinkle in her eye. "He's a nice, big boy," she told Lois. "Good grip, too. I like him." Clark, Lois noticed, was rapidly turning an interesting shade of pink, which undoubtedly convinced Mrs. Tracewski of the truth of her assumptions. Well, after all, Clark *had* spent the night in her bed...alone, and definitely not in any shape to think of anything but sleep. Oh, well, maybe some day...Maybe she'd keep the toothbrush, just in case. ******************** After Clark entered his apartment, using the spare key that he kept on the ledge above the door, she returned to the Jeep. She had business to take care of, and Clark wasn't in any shape to help, even if he didn't object--which she was sure he would, if he knew about it. That was why she hadn't told him. She returned to her apartment for a change of clothing and the supplies she might need. The Moritomi Building was open on Saturday, although the traffic through it was considerably lighter than during the week. Getting in, wearing a generic, white coverall and cap, and carrying a toolbox, elicited no attention from anyone. She rode the elevator to the roof, stepped out onto the gritty surface and looked around. It was a cloudy day and rain had been threatening since last night. The breeze was damp this far up and brisk; occasional gusts threatened the hat she had jammed down tightly over her head. Orienting herself by the position of Lex Tower, four hundred feet away, she removed a small pair of binoculars from the toolbox. At the edge of the roof, she lifted the binoculars to her eyes and scanned the ledge running a mere ten feet below her for a small, black recorder. There it was, about forty feet to her right. She lowered the binoculars, unable to believe her luck. Superman had placed the recorder against the wall under a small, decorative protrusion, which rendered it virtually invisible to observers unless, like her, they were specifically looking for it. But, barely ten feet away, a fire escape ran down the side of the building. That made her job easier. She double-checked her pockets. The batteries and replacement tape were secure in one zippered pocket. She replaced the binoculars in the tool kit and removed a coil of nylon rope. This should do nicely. She'd figured she might have to do some climbing, but the fire escape's presence was a stroke of luck. Quickly and neatly, she descended the metal ladder until she was at the level of the ledge. Careful not to look past it to the drop below, she tied her rope to the railing of the fire escape, then knotted it a second time for security. The other end she looped around her waist and knotted it twice as well. Clark always complained that she took too many unnecessary chances. Well, this time he wouldn't be able to say that. Cautiously, she made her way onto the ledge. It felt narrower than it had seemed when looking at it from above. It must be, she assured herself, at least eighteen inches wide. If she was careful there should be no difficulty, as long as she didn't look down. The recorder was barely ten feet away. This should be a piece of cake. Well, she amended, a few minutes later and a couple of feet farther along the ledge, if not a piece of cake, at least not very hard. For a second she let her gaze slide past the ledge to the drop beyond. Hastily, she brought her focus back to the stone surface in front of her, breathing hard. She was still there! If she decided against this now, a small portion of her brain pointed out, she could back up, reach the safety of the fire escape, and then wait until tomorrow for Clark to retrieve the tape. But, another part pointed out, that might be too late. Even if she slipped, the rope would catch her, and her goal was now only eight feet away. She edged forward another inch, pressing hard against the wall to her left. Moving one hand or one knee at a time, she crept forward by inches, eyes fixed on the ornamental projection beneath which Superman had placed the recorder. One foot, two, three...She moved slowly, cautiously, making sure each hand and knee placement was secure before lifting the next to edge forward another fraction of an inch. It seemed to take hours, and the ledge seemed to grow narrower by the second, but her goal moved slowly but steadily nearer, and at last the projection was within reach. Moving slowly and with great care, she unzipped the pocket which held the new tape and batteries, then she slipped the tiny recorder from its hiding place and pressed the lever that popped open the top. Delicately, she removed the tiny microtape, slipped it into her breast pocket and zipped the pocket closed. Still moving by fractions of an inch, she substituted the new tape for the old and closed the little compartment. She drew a deep breath. Next, the batteries. The compartment that held the recorder's batteries stuck for an instant, and she felt perspiration break out on her forehead in spite of the chilly breeze, as she tugged one-handed at the catch. Her balance was precarious at best; she couldn't make any sudden move or she could upset it and fall. True, the rope was there, but this far above the street and this far from the fire escape, her trust in it was less complete than it had been on solid footing. Funny how much farther ten feet could seem from this position than from the safety of the fire escape. Besides, if she fell, she could lose the recorder. The catch came free. Drawing a deep breath, she removed the old batteries, stored them in the pocket, and took out the new ones. Batteries were small, but if one fell from this height anyone struck by the object could very well be seriously hurt or killed. One by one she slipped the new batteries into place and, with a gasp of relief, snapped the cover shut. In another second, the tiny recorder had been replaced beneath the projection. Now, to back up. She began her backward trip, moving a fraction of an inch at a time. Her heart was pounding suffocatingly in her chest. When she had planned this earlier, it hadn't seemed nearly as intimidating as the actual deed. Once more she made the mistake of looking down and froze in sheer terror. Quickly, she brought her gaze back to the ledge. She couldn't even look around to see how far away the fire escape was, for fear of upsetting her very unstable balance. All she could do was to back up, inch by agonizing inch. A drop of rain hit her cheek. That drop was only the precursor, for to her dismay, the drops began to patter around her, striking the ledge, the wall beside her, everywhere. Water hit her in the eyes and she didn't dare reach up to wipe it away. A gust of wind blew a flurry of drops into her face and she gasped, sucking in water. She choked, coughed... And felt herself slip. She grasped desperately for something to hold to and only succeeded in further destabilizing her position. Then she was falling. Only a tremendous exercise of will prevented her from screaming. She grasped the nylon rope with fingers gone stiff from the chill and tension, desperately hoping it would save her now. The last thing she saw was the fire escape coming at her like an express train, and then her head struck the metal railing with a burst of stars. The lights went out. ********************* (to be continued in part 9) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 13:18:24 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 9/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships Part 9 by Nan Smith The first thing Lois was aware of was a blinding headache. The fact that she seemed to be swinging back and forth in the air, and being splatted by large drops of water didn't help, either, and the ringing in her ears made it worse. Something about the situation seemed vaguely wrong, but with the pain in her head and the nausea roiling in her stomach, it was hard to think. She wasn't going to open her eyes yet, she decided, firmly, not until she'd figured out what she was doing here. If some villain was behind this...no, now memory was coming back between the waves of pain and nausea. She'd come up here after the tape, and there had been the ledge. She'd fallen, and the rope had saved her. That must be what was cutting painfully into her middle as she swung back and forth in the cold breeze. She'd hit the railing of the fire escape; that was it. Well, she'd certainly hit something. She opened her eyes, only to close them again at the sight that met her eyes. After a long count of ten, she opened them a second time. She was hanging by her waist from the twenty foot length of rope tied to the fire escape, and staring down at least fifty stories at the pavement so far below that the cars looked like toys and the people, ants. Her vision had a disturbing tendency to blur on her, but from what she could see, no one had noticed her; at least there was no crowd gathered below. She rotated slowly at the end of her rope. Something red ran across her face and dripped off her nose to fall like a scarlet raindrop toward the ground. Blood. She must have cut herself when she hit her head. Her body slowly rotated, and her hand struck metal. The fire escape. She grasped the railing and hauled herself toward the thing, hooked one foot on a rung and pulled herself upright. The sudden change of position caused her head to swim alarmingly and her stomach abruptly revolted. She began to retch, clinging desperately to the fire escape. When the waves of nausea receded, she looked cautiously up. Thirty feet above her was the roof. She had descended ten feet to the ledge, and the rope was a good twenty feet long beyond that. The distance looked impossible to her, but she couldn't stay here. Shaking in every limb, she began to climb. Her progress was painfully slow. She had to stop every few rungs to close her eyes against the dizziness, which accompanied every motion of her head, and her vision would blur, clear and blur again. Nausea made her stop several times to retch. Dimly, she recalled an article she had read somewhere that had detailed the symptoms of a concussion. They matched. Resting every couple of rungs, she climbed. Blood ran into her eyes, mixed with rainwater and she wiped it away. She must be a real mess, she reflected grimly. Well, one step at a time. First, she had to get her feet on solid ground, then she would deal with the other problems. At last, she crawled over the edge of the roof and sank down on the rough surface, resting her head back against the low wall that ran around the roof. The big drops of rain fell, not that it mattered. She couldn't possibly get wetter if she tried. Runnels of blood mixed with the water ran onto the saturated, formerly white coverall. Her vision blurred again, then cleared slowly. She began to shiver as the effects of her exertion started to wear off, now that she was safely on the roof. No matter how much she wished to simply stay here, she had to move. Slowly, she got to her feet, picked up the toolbox and started for the door to the elevator. A tug at her waist stopped her. She had completely forgotten to remove the rope. With fingers that felt like limp spaghetti, she tugged at the knot. The rope was wet and she had tied it tight in the beginning; at first, she made no progress at all. Finally, she recalled the pocket knife she kept in the tool kit, opened the box and found it. Getting it open wasn't easy. She had already torn two nails in her attempts to loosen the rope, but at last, and at the cost of a torn thumbnail as well, she managed to open the large blade and, after fumbling a little, the rope around her waist fell away. Not even bothering to close the knife, she thrust it back into the tool kit, closed it and started for the elevator again. If she ran into anyone, she'd just tell them she'd had an accident and was going to the emergency room. That was it. Something seemed wrong with that, but she was in no condition to think too hard about it. The elevator arrived at last, mercifully empty, and she boarded. The sudden cessation of the cold rain and gusts of wind was almost disorienting in itself; her head swam unpleasantly and she had to grasp the safety rail to stay on her feet when the car went into motion. The elevator went to the ground floor without pausing; that was strange, she thought, and glanced at her watch. It was half past six. The Moritomi Building had closed half an hour ago. Considering that she had arrived about one thirty, between the time on the ledge, the time she had spent unconscious and her slow climb up the ladder, almost five hours had passed. She only hoped she could figure out how to get out of here without much trouble. She wasn't in any shape for anything complicated. As it happened, an elderly janitor was in the lobby when the elevator arrived on the ground floor. He turned at the sound of the doors opening and stared at her in shock. "What happened?" "I was doing work on the roof," Lois said. Her voice sounded hoarse and cracked. "I slipped and knocked myself out. Can you let me out?" "Do you want me to call 911" the man asked, staring at her blood-streaked face in fascination. "No, thanks. I'm...my assistant is with the truck. He'll drive me to the emergency room to get this stitched up," she managed, aware of how strange she sounded. "It was my own fault. Would you please let me out?" "If you're sure you don't need help..." "It looks much worse than it is," Lois assured him. "Scalp wounds bleed a lot more than you'd think." "Yeah, I guess..." The old man went to the door and took out a big bunch of keys. "Okay, here you go. You go straight to the doctor, now." "I will. I feel so stupid about this." She made her way out the doors and down the steps, trying to walk as steadily as she could. The Jeep was parked around the corner and all she could think of was to get to it and sit down. If the guy had second thoughts and called the cops she didn't want to be anywhere they could find her. Her head was still swimming unpleasantly and the last half block was accomplished more by sheer determination than anything else. Her keys were in one zipped pocket and her fingers were so stiff she almost couldn't unzip it to get at them, then she almost dropped the ring while trying to fit the key into the lock. In a way, the rain was fortunate for her; between that and the dusk that was beginning to fall, no one gave her more than a cursory glance as she struggled with the lock. At last, the door swung open and she clambered inside. The cab of the Jeep was only marginally warmer than the air outside, but at least it was dry. She leaned forward, crossed her arms on the wheel and leaned her head on them. There was no way she could drive like this. Like it or not, she was going to have to call for help. Her cell phone was in the map pouch on the driver's door, close to her foot. She retrieved it with stiff fingers and pushed the speed dial for Clark's phone. If she had been thinking more clearly, she would probably have called someone else, but she wasn't. Her instinct when she was in trouble was to call him, whatever guise he happened to be in. After three rings her partner's voice answered. "Hello?" "Clark?" she rasped. "Lois? What's wrong?" His voice was instantly sharp with anxiety. "I need help," she whispered. "Where are you?" Her head was throbbing as if it were being beaten with a sledgehammer. "Moritomi...Building." "Stay where you are!" he commanded. "I'll be there as fast as I can!" She was awakened, sometime later, by someone opening her door. Clark's horrified face was staring at her. "Good Lord, Lois! What happened?" She blinked at him, dazed. "I...fell." "Off what? The building? No, never mind. Can you move to the other seat? No, let me help you." With his assistance, she moved clumsily into the passenger seat. Clark leaned across her and pushed the lever to tilt it back, then, when she relaxed back into a semi-reclining position with a sigh of relief, he pulled the seat belt across her shoulder and lap. "Sit still. I'm going to drive you to the emergency room. Where's your keys? Oh, wait a minute--" He retrieved them from the door lock. She heard the door slam and the engine start up, but was content to lie back in the seat, eyes closed against the anvil chorus playing inside her head, as the Jeep moved out into traffic. She was aware of the swaying of the vehicle and Clark's voice as he drove, speaking to her. "Lois, wake up! You mustn't go to sleep on me!" "Mm awake," she murmured. "My head hurts." "I'll bet." Her partner sounded scared. "Stay awake, okay? The traffic's pretty heavy. It's rush hour. What happened?" She didn't answer, preferring to lie back, eyes closed. "Lois!" "I'm awake," she managed, startled into full wakefulness by his voice. "Sorry, Clark." She opened her eyes and turned her head gingerly to see him squinting through rain-blurred glass at the oncoming headlights, distorted into multi-colored rainbow patterns by the pelting rain. It was dark. Where had the sunlight gone? "What happened to you?" he demanded. She closed her eyes again. "I went to get the tape," she said. "You *what*?" "I went to get the tape. Lex already tried to kill Superman once. I was afraid he'd try something else, so I went to get it. I tied a rope to the fire escape in case I slipped." "I guess you slipped," Clark said. His voice sounded shaken. She nodded, and winced at the pain that instantly shot through her head. "I must have hit my head on the fire escape. I sort of remember." "Good grief, Lois, what were you thinking?" Lois lifted a hand to feel her forehead gingerly. The skin was sticky with drying blood. "I needed to know what Lex was up to," she said in a small voice. "Lois, Superman can take care of himself. He wouldn't like you taking this kind of risk for him." "It's not just Superman," Lois said. "It's you, too. I don't trust Lex, Clark. I've only just begun to realize what he's capable of, and it scares me." She felt the tears she had suppressed until now begin to leak from her eyes. "Lois!" Clark's voice sounded horrified. "Don't cry! I didn't mean to upset you!" She wiped her face, opening her eyes to see his distressed expression. They were in a line of traffic stopped by a red light. Rain streaked the windows. "I'm sorry, Clark." She made an effort to reassure him. "I didn't mean to cry; it's just my head hurts, and I didn't get much sleep last night. Lex asked me to marry him at dinner, and I'm...I'm afraid of what he might do." "I understand," he said. "I won't say any more. Just lie back, close your eyes and relax, okay?" "Okay." She reached out and grasped his hand. "Clark?" "Yeah?" He still looked worried. "Thanks for coming." "You needed help," he said, quietly. "That was all that mattered." "Oh, Clark." She squeezed his hand lightly. "What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?" ********************** (to be continued in part 10) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 13:20:26 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 10/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships Part 10 by Nan Smith "I really think you should have stayed for observation," Clark protested for the fourth time as he helped her into the passenger seat of the Jeep, some three hours later. "Clark, it's nothing! You know how I hate people poking and prodding me," she replied. "I'll be fine." "Lois, you have a concussion!" Clark closed the door and hurried around to the driver's side. "That's hardly nothing! I'm going to stay with you until your mother gets there, anyway." She gingerly felt the place on her scalp where they had cut her hair in order to put in six stitches. "My mom's in Albuquerque, visiting her best friend from college." "But you told the doctor--" "Oh, that was so they'd let me go," she said, airily. "I'll be fine, Clark." "Lo-is!" Her partner looked sternly at her. "In that case, you're coming home with me. You've got to have somebody with you." She opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it. It might not be such a bad idea after all. "Okay," she said, meekly. He glanced sideways at her, and one dark eyebrow went up. "No arguments?" "No." She was careful not to shake her head. "You're right. Besides, I'd rather be with you than anybody else." He looked a little surprised. "Really?" "Sure." This time she wasn't even surprised at herself to realize that she meant it. "Okay. Then you just take it easy," Clark told her, sternly. "We'll go past your apartment and I'll go in and pick you up a change of clothes and something to wear tonight. You can tell me what to look for. As for you, you're not lifting a finger. Is that clear?" She smiled. "If you say so. Really, I'll be good, Clark." "See to it that you do," he said. "You really scared me this evening, Lois." No more than you scared me last night, she wanted to say, but didn't. She relaxed back into the seat. Her head still hurt, though not as fiercely as earlier, and she was just as happy she didn't have to move around much. Clark seemed to have improved a good deal since this morning, too, although she noticed he still moved his right shoulder with caution. The stop by her apartment didn't take long; he picked up jeans and a blouse for her, and even a change of underthings, although from his expression she expected to see Superman break a sweat when she mentioned her need for those. He also found her a pair of flannel pajamas, suitable for the chilly, fall weather, as well as a robe and the fuzzy slippers Lucy had given her for her last birthday. They stopped by his favorite all night deli to pick up thick sandwiches for dinner, then he drove them to his apartment. By that time it was past eleven, and Lois was half-asleep when they pulled up at the apartment house. Inside, he sent her into the bathroom for a hot shower to counteract the soaking she had experienced earlier, although she was long since dry, while he busied himself in the kitchen. When she emerged some ten minutes later, in pajamas, robe and slippers, he had the food and two tall glasses of milk ready for them both. Lois sank onto the sofa with a sigh of relief and picked up the hearty sandwich. Her stomach had been rumbling for the past hour. She was only glad that Clark's super-hearing was probably still not working, so he was unlikely to hear it. She sank her teeth into the sandwich and chewed rapturously. "This is good. Why do you always know the best places for food in Metropolis?" "Just lucky, I guess." He, too, took a large bite of sandwich. What was it Superman had told her once? "I don't have to eat, but I like to," or something like that. Well, judging from his appetite, he liked very much to eat. It was a good thing he was Superman or he'd have had weight problems by now. Clark was, in many respects, a very normal guy if you discounted the super powers, she reflected in sudden understanding. He wanted to be normal; that was why being his real self, as Clark Kent, was so important to him. Clark Kent was his key to fitting in, being like everyone else, rather than the alien who could lift rockets into orbit and swallow bombs. He was also the most fun to be around. How could you have a relationship with Superman, always serious, always with his mind on his duty? But Clark laughed and joked with her, teased her when she was feeling down; Clark was the real, three-dimensional person with strengths and flaws, and more humanity than some truly human men she knew. Falling in love with Clark Kent wouldn't be a difficult thing at all. Not when the job had already been mostly accomplished before she'd become aware of it. "What are you thinking about?" His voice broke through her thoughts. "Not much," she said, untruthfully. "Do you have a tape player around here, Clark? I'd like to hear what's on that thing I went through all this for." "Sure." He rose and disappeared into the bedroom. A moment later he returned with the requested item. "Will this do?" "Yeah." She produced the microtape. "Let's see what we've got." The first conversation revolved around some business venture, followed by another, which aroused more interest in both listeners. "What do you think," Mrs. Cox's voice said, "of using Black for the other assignment as well?" "That's a possibility," Lex's voice said, briskly. "As long as it's done quickly. There would only be one tool to dispose of afterward, and that much less inconvenience. Very well, do it." "Yes, sir." The ringing of a phone interrupted Mrs. Cox's voice. A moment later she said, "There's a Mr. Simon Truesdale on line two, sir." "Ah, yes. I'll take it here." A pause. "Mr. Truesdale, so nice to hear from you. Have you thought about my offer?" Another, longer pause. "I'm sorry to hear that." A faint chill had crept into his voice. "Are you certain you won't reconsider? I have had some information from a confidential source that the Planet's advertisers may soon be switching their accounts to other papers. I'd appreciate it if you'd think about it a little longer. Perhaps we can discuss this again in a couple of weeks. Excellent. I'll speak with you then. Goodbye." "The Planet?" Lois whispered. "What--" "Sh!" Clark leaned forward. "Listen." "What will you do if their Board of Directors won't cooperate?" Mrs. Cox's voice asked. "They will," Lex's voice said. "All I need to do is determine their price. Come, Mrs. Cox. I believe you and I had plans..." The voices faded away, and then there was a faint click on the tape, indicating that time had passed. Mrs. Cox's voice was speaking as the voices approached. "Black reports that he was definitely hit, Lex, but he apparently propelled himself for some distance before he came down. Black hunted, and the other team did as well, but they weren't able to find him. There was a good deal of confusion because of the fire. He may have dragged himself off somewhere." "But there's been no sign of him since." Lex's voice sounded faintly annoyed. "Well, if my informant was correct, it may not matter. Retain the cage, in any case. If he does survive, we may have a use for it yet." "Of course, Lex." Lex's voice became very businesslike. "Have the area searched again. Tell them to be sure they go over it inch by inch. In the meantime, I have other things to occupy my attention. What's the status report on Kent?" "He apparently didn't come home last night," Mrs. Cox said. "Hmm." There was a creaking sound as Lex apparently settled into his desk chair. "In that case he'll just have to try again. He's to be sure there are no witnesses. It must look like a suicide." "Of course, Lex. Or, it could be a mugging that turns fatal." "Only as a last resort," Lex said. "A mugging might be investigated more thoroughly by his partner. Ms. Lane isn't to be given any cause for suspicion, is that clear?" "Of course, Lex," Mrs. Cox's voice said, sweetly. "Tell me, is one woman really worth all this?" "One woman?" Lex's voice held a faint coldness. "No, of course not. But Lois Lane? Definitely. You needn't fear, Mrs. Cox. It won't change our relationship in the least. Lois need never know. Still, I must overcome her reluctance to accept my proposal, and that means I must remove my rivals in her affections as expeditiously as possible." "Superman?" Mrs. Cox asked. "Yes. As well as her partner, Kent. And the Daily Planet. Sometimes I think Kent may be the most critical of the three. Tell Black to report back to me at once when his assignment is completed, and then you know what to do about him." "Of course," Mrs. Cox murmured. The conversation shifted then, to a discussion regarding offshore accounts, but Lois was staring at Clark in sheer horror. "Clark! He's going to try to kill you!" Clark moved over beside her and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Lois. He won't be able to. Not now that we're warned." "He must have been watching your apartment!" Clark nodded. "I was out all last night," he said. "If he's watching tonight, he saw me come in with you. You heard what Luthor said. No witnesses. He won't do anything tonight." "He's going after the Planet, too," she whispered. "Yeah. He must be trying to destroy your support structure, so you'll go to him," Clark said, slowly. "That sounds like his style." Lois stared at him, stricken. "Maybe I should tell him I'll marry him. Then he'd stop." "I doubt it," Clark said. "I think he wants to be sure you don't have anything to go back to. Never underestimate him, Lois. I don't think I've ever met someone more completely evil in my life than Luthor." She shivered. Clark put his arms around her and held her close. "I won't let him harm you, Lois, no matter what," he said, quietly. "I promise." They sat there for some time, listening to the tape run through. There were more conversations, mostly regarding various business ventures, and one status report on the attempt to acquire the remaining property on the south side at fire sale prices, as it was humorously referred to. At last, Clark switched it off. "We'll listen to the rest tomorrow," he said, firmly. "You need your sleep. It's past one. I shouldn't have let this go on so long." "I don't think I'll be able to sleep," Lois said. "Clark..." "Yes, you will," he said. "You're sleeping in the bedroom tonight. I'll take the sofa, and if anyone tries to come in, I'll make him sorry he was ever born." He got to his feet, drawing her with him, and steered her toward the bedroom. "Come on, you're worn out." "Clark, I can't take your bed!" "Yes you can," he informed her, calmly. "Doctor's orders." "What doctor?" she asked suspiciously. "Dr. Kent. Don't argue. Besides, it'll be just as well if I don't sleep too soundly. I'll be coming in every now and then to check on you, to be sure I can wake you up. And nobody's getting in here without my knowing it." Somewhat reassured, she allowed him to lead her into the bedroom, and a short time later, the apartment lights went out except for a small, reading light in the living area. Lois lay back in Clark's bed, watching the multicolored lights from the window play across the ceiling. Her head still hurt, and the revelations on the tape churned about in her brain, but the pain was more a dull throbbing now than a heavy pounding, and Clark's words had insensibly reassured her. Together they would stop Lex before he could do what he was planning. She shifted about. Clark's bed was comfortable, but the aches and bruises kept her from relaxing completely. After a time, she drifted off into an uneasy slumber where once again she crawled along the ledge. Ahead of her was the recorder with the tape, which somehow suddenly became Clark, and behind her she knew that Lex waited, smiling, with a chunk of something green and glowing in his hands. She tried to reach Clark, but he retreated ahead of her, while behind her, Lex was coming closer, and she tried to hurry. Suddenly she was slipping, grasping for the ledge, which turned to nothing under her fingers. She felt herself falling and screamed... And was sitting up in bed in the dark with a cry of terror on her lips. Where was she? For a moment she was unable to separate the dream images from reality, and when a shadowy figure loomed in the doorway, she gasped. "Lois, it's just me," Clark said. "Clark?" "Yeah. You're at my place after your accident, remember? Are you okay?" She drew in a breath and tried to calm her pounding heart. "Yeah. I had a nightmare." "I figured. I was coming to check on you and heard you scream." He sat down on the side of the bed. "Are you sure you're okay?" "I think so," she said. "I was dreaming. I was trying to get to you on the ledge, I think. Lex was behind me, and I slipped..." She shivered. "It doesn't make much sense, now, but for some reason it scared me half to death." "Well, you're safe now. Lie back down; you need your sleep. It's nearly five. The sun will be up in another hour. I'll be right in the next room if you need me." "Clark..." She reached out and caught his hand as he started to stand up. "Stay here with me." "Huh?" He sounded slightly startled. "You want me here?" "There's room enough for both of us," she said. "I'll feel safer with you than by myself." "Are you sure, Lois?" "Yeah," she said. "I know it's silly, but..." -84-=][p "No, not silly." His voice was low. "All right." "Thanks, Clark." He lifted the edge of the blanket and slipped in next to her. "No funny business, now," he said, with a slight chuckle. "Just sleep." She found herself laughing softly. Leave it to Clark to defuse a potentially embarrassing situation. "I promise," she said, solemnly. "Just sleep. Your virtue is safe for now." She turned slightly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world and snuggled into the curve of his body. He was wearing sweats, she noticed as he put his arm over her. Naturally. He wouldn't want her to see the bandage on his back. The thought that she was cuddling up next to Superman--something she could only dream about a little over a week ago--crossed her mind briefly, only to be dismissed. Far more importantly, this was Clark, her best friend and trustworthy protector. Almost instantly, she felt herself relaxing and within less than a minute she was asleep. ****************** (to be continued in part 11) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 13:22:28 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 11/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships Part 11 by Nan Smith It was the sound of someone knocking on the door the next morning that woke Lois. She opened her eyes and glanced at the other side of the bed. Clark was gone, although the indentation of his head was still on the pillow. The alarm clock on his nightstand said 08:35. She smiled to herself. After Clark had gotten in with her, she'd slept soundly, and if there had been any dreams, she couldn't remember them. Maybe that should tell her something, she mused. The knocking came again, followed by Clark's quick, light footsteps across the living area and the sound of an opening door. "Hi, CK!" Jimmy's voice said. "We got it!" "Sh, Jim," Clark's voice was kept low. "Come on in, both of you, but keep your voices down. Lois is asleep." Silence. Clark added, quickly, "It's not what it sounds like. She was in an accident yesterday and I insisted she stay here in case she needed help." "Is she okay?" Jimmy asked. "Yeah. She got some bruises, but the doctors at the emergency room thought she'd be all right." There was the sound of a door closing quietly. "Just try to be quiet. She needs all the rest she can get." Lois got out of bed and grabbed her robe and slippers. Undignified or not, she wanted to hear this. Wrapping the robe around her and jamming her feet into the slippers, Lois padded out of the bedroom. "Clark?" she called, "is that Jimmy and Jack?" "Yeah." Clark turned as she entered the living area. "How do you feel this morning?" She rubbed a tender place on her ribs. "Sore. I never realized before how many muscles the human body has. I can count them individually, now." She caught Jimmy's stunned expression. "What's the matter?" "CK wasn't kidding! Wow!" "You have a black eye," Clark said, "and a bruise down the side of your face." "Not to mention six stitches in my scalp," Lois said, dryly. "I'm going to have to change my hairstyle until it grows out." "What happened?" Jack asked. "You get mugged?" "If I told you, you wouldn't believe it," Clark said. "Come on into the kitchen. You can have some coffee while we talk." "That's be great. It's a little chilly out this morning," Jimmy said. The four of them trailed into the kitchen and Clark poured coffee all around. "The cream's in the little pitcher," he told them. "Here, Lois." He handed her a small container. "I made a trip to the corner grocery this morning for your non-fat creamer and sweetener." "That was nice of you, Clark." "No problem." He finally sank into one of the kitchen chairs. "So, guys, what have you got for us?" "We found John Black this morning," Jack said. "He was coming back from somewhere. We talked to him and his brother, Pete, about a job, and Jimmy got it all on tape." Jimmy held up the tiny recorder. "You were right, Lois--they'll do just about anything that they're paid to do...break in, plant explosives...just like they've been doing on the south side for a woman named Mrs. Cox, in the last several months--burning out businesses. That includes the one night before last. A couple of transients died in that one. He even gave us her number as a reference." Lois's eyes met Clark's. "We've got her." "Looks like it. Good work, guys." Clark clapped Jimmy lightly on the back. "I want you to take this straight to Inspector Henderson. He'll be very interested in meeting Mr. Black and his brother--what's his name again...Pete?" "Yeah. He's about my age." Jack sounded disgusted. "What a loser!" "Assuming Lex doesn't have them killed before Henderson finds them," Lois said. "I doubt it. He hasn't killed me, yet," Clark said, calmly. "Superman and I listened to the rest of our tape this morning, Lois. There was one more conversation between Lex and Mrs. Cox--all about financial inducements to the Daily Planet's Board of Directors. I made a copy. I think Henderson should hear it, too." Lois nodded, and winced at the instant protest of sore neck muscles. "So do I." "I'll get it," Clark said. He returned with the microtape a moment later. "Here you are." Jimmy took it and stuck it in his pocket with the other one. "Was this what you wanted that stuff for, Lois?" "Yeah," Clark said. "Get it to Henderson, now. Lois and I need to see a certain Mr. Simon Truesdale as soon as he gets out of church, about Lex Luthor's offer to buy the Planet." When the two had gone, Lois said," Luthor wants to buy the Planet? Was that what that conversation with Truesdale was about?" "Yeah. It was made pretty clear in the last conversation. My guess is it's a step in one of his schemes. He did say he had to eliminate his rivals for you, remember." "How could I forget?" She shivered involuntarily. "I feel like I'm the prey in some kind of perverted hunt. We have to stop him, Clark." "We will," Clark said. "How's Superman, by the way?" she asked. "I forgot to ask yesterday, with everything that happened, but if you talked to him this morning you must know how he's doing. Have his powers come back, yet?" "Not yet, but he's feeling much better," Clark said. "In case you're wondering, it was his idea to send a copy of the tape to Henderson. There's that one, small reference of Mrs. Cox about Black shooting Superman, but they didn't name any names. I don't think it will give away anything." "I think you're right." She finished her coffee and stood up. "I'm going to shower and dress. I'd like to stop by my apartment for something a little more professional if we're going to call on Mr. Truesdale." "Sure. I'll finish getting breakfast in the meantime. Are bacon and eggs okay?" "Fine. And, Clark--" "Yeah?" "Thanks for being such a great friend." He smiled briefly. "You're welcome, Lois. Any time you need your big brother to help--" She turned, suddenly serious. "I haven't thought of you as any kind of brother for quite awhile. It's just as well I really *did* have a headache last night." And with that, she hurried toward the bedroom to hide her instinctive blush, leaving him staring after her with his mouth open. Breakfast was an uncharacteristically quiet meal. Clark seemed preoccupied, and Lois guessed he was thinking over her remark to him. She probably shouldn't have said it, but it was true and it was out, now. Maybe it would shake him out of his "best friend and partner" mode. She still remembered what she had seen on his face in one unguarded instant that morning he'd told her about Lex. If that was really how he felt about her, things could get very interesting if he decided to act on his feelings. The thought of marriage to Lex, before she had known about his true character, had crossed her mind occasionally, but it had never been accompanied by the thrill that ran through her when she contemplated that state with Clark. He might not be a billionaire, but she had no doubt how he felt about her, and it had been gradually dawning on her for some time now that she didn't want a life without Clark Kent in it. When they finished breakfast, Lois stood and gathered the dishes. "I'll take care of these while you change, Clark. It'll only take a few minutes. Then we can drive over to my place." He looked at her soberly. "Lois, did you really mean what you said awhile ago?" She glanced up at him and then back at the sink that she was filling with water. "Yes." He drew a long breath. "After we've spoken with Mr. Truesdale, you and I need to talk, too." "Okay," she said. She looked quickly at him and back at the sudsy water. "The quicker we get this done--" "Right." He turned and hurried toward the bedroom. A short time later, they were walking out to the Jeep. Clark offered her the keys. "Do you want to drive?" "You go ahead," she said. "I'm still pretty sore. Besides, the doctor told me I shouldn't drive for a few days after a concussion." "How's your head feeling?" he asked. "I didn't realize..." "Not bad. I still have a little bit of a headache, but it's much better than it was." "Good." He opened the passenger door for her, then went around to the driver's side. But, when he turned the key, the engine sputtered for a moment, and died. He frowned and tried again, with the same result. "That's odd. It was running fine, last night." He tried the key once more, with no more success. "I just had it in for a tune-up last week," Lois said. "If they messed with my car--" "If they did, they'll have to fix it," Clark said. "It's Sunday." Lois scowled, unhappily. "I'll have to wait until tomorrow to take it in." "I guess we call a cab," Clark said. "If you like, I can take a look at it later. I used to help Dad with the farm machinery. It it's something simple, I might be able to fix it." "Thanks, Clark. That's really nice of you." She felt her scowl melt. "We don't need to take a cab. It'll only take fifteen minutes if we take a shortcut through the park." "Okay," he said. "Why not?" *********************** (to be continued in part 12) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 13:24:52 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 12/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Strange Relationships: Part 12 by Nan Smith Centennial Park was brilliant with its autumn foliage this morning. The air was cool and crisp after yesterday's rain, and the sky was the almost impossibly clear blue that is only seen in late October. "In another week the ghosts and goblins will be out," Clark said. "Yeah," Lois said. "I guess I'd better stock up on Halloween candy pretty soon. I always wait until the last minute because if I buy it too early I always eat all the chocolate bars and then have to diet like crazy for months to lose the extra pounds. And since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, it's hard to do." Clark laughed. "How would you like to spend Thanksgiving in Smallville with me, this year?" he asked. She sneaked a glance up at him. He was looking apprehensive, but determined. She swallowed nervously and gathered her courage. "That sounds nice. But won't you want it to be just a family occasion?" "I'd love to have you there," he said. "I know Mom and Dad would, too. They really like you." "I'm glad they do," she said. "Okay." His face lit up in one of those brilliant smiles. "Good. I'll let them know I invited you." They walked along in silence for several minutes. From the direction of the children's playground Lois could hear the sound of young voices giggling and shouting, but the immediate area around them was deserted. The two masked figures that stepped out of the shrubbery took Lois completely by surprise. One was tall, about Clark's height, and burly; the other was shorter and, in his hand, he clutched a long, switchblade knife. By his skinnier build and long arms and legs, Lois guessed him to be a teenager. Lois and Clark froze, and Clark instantly pushed Lois behind him. "Give me your money!" The taller man's voice was a harsh rumble in Lois's ears. "Hurry up! You too, lady. Everything in your purse!" He approached several steps, waving a handgun. "Now!" Surprised, Lois saw Clark go deathly pale and begin to sway. He pulled out his wallet and held it toward the smaller man. Lois thrust her purse at him as well. What was wrong with... "Ten bucks?" The shorter mugger had ripped open Clark's wallet, scattering credit cards on the ground. "That's all?" The taller man raised his gun, and Lois knew all at once that this was the mugging Mrs. Cox had suggested to Lex. This had to be John Black and his brother, Pete, and somewhere on him, perhaps in a pocket, he carried three Kryptonite-tipped bullets. "No!" Almost before she thought, she reacted. They were going to kill Clark and he couldn't stop them. Lois was all that stood between him and death. She shoved the shorter mugger as hard as she could into his older brother. John Black staggered sideways and the gun discharged into the air. Pete Black scrambled to his feet and lunged at Lois. Clark lurched into his path, and the two men went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Lois knew her chances against a gun were slim; John Black wouldn't know who she was, or that Luthor wouldn't want her dead. She had only a tiny margin of time to act, and then it would be all over. As John Black staggered, trying to regain his balance, Lois kicked him as hard as she could on the knee, the only portion of his anatomy she could reach that might be vulnerable. She was only a few months short of a brown belt in Tai Kwan Do, and she had studied hard. The kick was perfectly placed. Black howled in agony as her foot connected with his knee, and he sprawled on the graveled walkway, clutching the injured member. Behind her, she heard Clark's cry of pain. She kicked again and Black's gun went spinning, to vanish into the tall hedge to their right. A third kick to the jaw finished the battle. For a split second, she hesitated, then she knelt by her victim, patting his pockets. It was in the back pocket of his dirty jeans that she found the three green-tipped bullets. Without hesitation, she removed them, ran to the duck pond, fifty feet away, and without a pause, hurled them into its center. When she returned to the scene of their mugging, she found that the character of the fight had changed dramatically in just those few seconds. Pete was on his face on the ground, and Clark knelt on his back, pinning his hands behind him. John Black still lay face down in the gravel, unmoving. Clark was breathing hard and one of his coat sleeves was torn and stained with blood. The back of his coat, in the area of his bullet wound two nights ago, was also blotched with red. Lois hurried to him. "Clark, you're bleeding!" He looked up at her with a grim smile. "It's nothing, Lois. Do you still have your cell phone in your purse?" "Yes." She bent to pick it up from the ground. "It looks as if Inspector Henderson will get to meet Mr. Black a bit sooner than we expected." "I guess so." His smile wobbled slightly. "And after that, I guess we really need to have that talk." "Yes, I guess we do." She looked him straight in the eyes. "I think it's time both of us explained a few things." ********************** The drive home from the police station in the back of a squad car was accomplished in silence. The cut on Clark's arm was a minor one that had already quit bleeding by the time the police arrived at the park in answer to Lois's 911 call, but while they were making statements at the police station Clark kept shooting questioning glances at her. Henderson had also delayed them somewhat. He called them into his private office and, after making sure that Clark didn't want medical attention, brought up the subject of the tapes delivered to him earlier in the day by Jimmy and Jack. The Inspector's dry voice had become almost animated when he referred to the imminent arrest of Mrs. Cox and Lex Luthor, and then cautioned them against printing anything prematurely in the Daily Planet concerning the case. They had helped him tremendously, he admitted, and would have first claim on any story, but Henderson had no intention of losing his quarry, or the D.A. his case, through giving their suspects advance warning. Clark opened the door of his apartment for Lois and followed her in. When the door closed behind them, they stood looking at each other. For one of the few times in her life, Lois felt tongue-tied. Something had to be said, but she had the feeling that if she didn't say it just right, the whole promising beginning of this morning could be destroyed. Clark broke the silence first. "Do you want some tea?" "Sure." "I'll make it. And you should sit down. You've had a rough couple of days." "Clark." She reached out and grasped his hand. "Forget the tea. Let's just sit down, okay?" He nodded. She led him to the sofa and seated herself beside him, looking into his worried face. At last, Clark broke the silence. "Thanks for getting rid of the..." "Kryptonite," Lois finished for him. "You're welcome. Black had the bullets in his pocket. I threw them in the duck pond." "I didn't see what you did with them," Clark said. "I only knew you must have gotten rid of the stuff, somehow." He slowly removed his jacket and regarded the bloodstains on the right shoulder. "So...how mad are you?" "Clark, I'm not mad." She searched his expression, trying to make sense of the question. Then the light dawned. He didn't know! He thought she'd just discovered his secret. For an instant, she was tempted to let him believe that, then she rejected the choice. It wasn't something she would be able to keep a secret forever, and if they were to have a future together, it must not be based on a lie. This wasn't the way she'd envisioned the moment of truth, but the moment was definitely here. "Take off your shirt," she said, suddenly. "I want to see how that thing on your shoulder is doing. You broke it open again." "Lois..." She looked at him in mild exasperation. "Look, let me fix it up for you, okay? It's the least I can do, after all the times you've saved me." "All right," he said, obviously puzzled at her attitude. He removed the shirt and turned slightly so she could check the damage. "Hmm," she said, after a moment. "I don't think it's too bad, but you've broken the scabs open. Do you have any first aid stuff around here? No, of course not. Why would you?" "Actually, I do," he said, unexpectedly. "But...you're..." "I bought a kit from a pair of Cub Scouts during a fund raiser a few months ago," he explained, looking sheepish. "I think it's in the top of my closet. What's so funny?" "I'll explain later," she said. "Stay right there." A few moments later, dabbing the wound with iodine, she began. "Clark, I need to explain something." "Don't you mean 'Superman'?" he asked, quietly. Lois winced at his tone. He was operating under a set of false assumptions, and she needed to correct them at once. "No," she said. "I don't mean 'Superman'. I mean Clark--my best friend, my partner, and the man I fell in love with months ago...if I'd only been willing to admit it. If he chooses to moonlight in blue tights every now and then, that doesn't make him any less Clark." "What?" he said. His voice sounded almost choked. "Clark, just shut up for a minute and let me explain, will you? This is hard enough without all the interruptions." "Okay," he said, softly. "I'm sorry, Lois. I should have told you before this." "Yeah, probably. Hold still while I tape this down." Obediently, he remained statue still while she smoothed the adhesive into place. "There. You can turn around, now." Slowly, he turned and met her eyes. She smiled at him shakily. "You better put your shirt on," she said, "or I'll be too distracted to concentrate." He picked up the torn shirt and slipped it on, then began to slowly button it up. "I don't understand," he said. "Aren't you angry?" Lois reached out and gently removed his glasses, shaking her head slightly as Superman's face emerged from behind the horn-rimmed spectacles. Still, it wasn't exactly Superman, either, because he had Clark's hair, and certainly Clark's expression. "You know, this explains how I could have such a mad crush on Superman, and yet fall in love with my partner at the same time," she said, thoughtfully. "Even though I didn't admit it to myself for ages." He opened his mouth, but she put her fingers to his lips. "Quiet. I have to say this now, before I lose my nerve. I first discovered the truth a little over a week ago, Clark--that night at the Daily Planet." His eyes widened slightly and he opened his mouth to speak. She held up a hand. "I'm not finished, yet. When I realized it, I *was* angry. And I was hurt, too. No, don't talk. But after that I had time to think, and I figured out a lot of the reasons you hadn't told me. I have to admit I was annoyed, too, that you let me make such an idiot of myself over Superman...but you never took advantage of me, and you could have--easily. I've watched you all week--both as Clark and as Superman--and I realized something I didn't understand before." "What?" "That my all-powerful, perfect idol, my 'god in a cape', was just a man. He wasn't anywhere near perfect." "Does it make a difference?" he asked. "Sure it does," she said. "It's a relief." "A *relief*?" The look on his face told her he hadn't expected that. She dropped her eyes to her hands, which were clasped almost painfully in her lap. "I started realizing that Clark Kent, my partner, was the real man behind Superman, and that he was a kind, decent guy who would have been an incredible person with or without Superman's powers." She glanced timidly up at him, then looked back at her hands. "When you called me for help two nights ago, I was terrified. The only thing I could think of while I was breaking every speed law ever written, was that if I lost you I'd lose everything that mattered to me. I don't want a future without you in it, Clark, whether your powers ever come back or not." She raised her eyes finally to meet his, steadily, fighting the butterflies that danced under her ribs. "I had a schoolgirl crush on the perfect hero that didn't exist," she said. "But that doesn't last. The person inside the suit is a man I like, and trust, and who's the best friend I ever had. He's not a bit perfect, and I'm glad. Though," she added, thoughtfully, "the fact that you look like every woman's fantasy in those tights doesn't hurt your appeal." He gave a small choke of laughter. "So, what *do* you want, Lois?" "I guess," she said, "I'm asking if we can start over, Clark--without Superman knocking out my good judgement this time." Clark shook his head. "I don't want to start over." Her heart dropped into her shoes at his reply, but he hadn't finished. "I don't want to go through all that again." He took her hands, gently separated the tightly laced fingers and held them in his. "But I would like to go on from here, if you can forgive me for not telling you the truth before now. Do you think you can do that?" She nodded, ignoring the tears that she could feel beginning to roll down her cheeks. "I'd like to try." He fished a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped them away. "Maybe we could try dating," he suggested. "And there's Thanksgiving in Kansas, too. My Mom's going to love talking to you...and probably embarrassing me half to death," he added, with a slight smile. "Lois, all I ever wanted was for you to care for me--for myself. None of the other things matter." "I'm not the easiest person to get along with," she warned him, determined not to gloss over the drawbacks. "We might decide it's a bust, or we could find out we're pretty good together. You never know." "I'll vote for the second option," he said. "But there's one thing I've been wanting to do again ever since we stayed in the Honeymoon Suite at the Lexor." "What's that?" "This." He leaned forward and kissed her. After her ears stopped ringing, she drew in a deep breath. "You know," she said, "I think I could get to like the new Clark Kent." Clark was smiling at her, and the sheer joy in his face couldn't be disguised. "I think we should give it our best shot, then." She nodded. "I agree. Let's try that again. We want to be sure to get it right." Clark pulled her into his arms. "They do say practice makes perfect, you know." And after that, neither one of them had anything to say for a considerable period of time. ****************** Epilogue The arrest of Lex Luthor, the billionaire owner of LexCorp, blared from the front page of the Daily Planet on Monday afternoon, accompanied by articles under the byline of Lane and Kent. The overwhelming evidence of his guilt in crimes too numerous and heinous to mention, supplied by his personal assistant, Mrs. Cox, led the judge to deny bail and bind him over for trial. It looked for once as if Lex Luthor's tremendous power, wealth and influence would not win his freedom. Two weeks after his arrest, he vanished from the cell where he was awaiting trial. Inside help was suspected, but nothing could be proven. The End ******************** (To be continued in the final story) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 19:42:29 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Dunn Subject: Re: When Lightning Strikes Twice: Part 08/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Diabolical! A Super-Lex! Keep up the good work, Wendy. LaurieD ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 20:34:46 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eileen Barnard Subject: Re: OT: It's me again! UK Dean fans, I need a volonteer! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In reply to Wendy's comments about taping stuff from Sky Moviemax: This should be okay if you subscribe to the sky package that includes the movie channels. I regularly tape stuff from Sky Moviemax and its always ok. However, I won't be able to tape the one on June 6th as I will be away on holiday at that time unfortunately and I have to bribe my daughters to tape it for me. I will, however, ask my son if he can make some copies when I return but as he is very busy as the moment, I can't promise when it will be. I will let the list know in the next couple of days whether he will be able to do it or not. Regards Eileen ----- Original Message ----- From: Wendy Richards To: Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 9:47 PM Subject: Re: OT: It's me again! UK Dean fans, I need a volonteer! ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 23:11:36 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Lorie Y. Crisp" Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 12/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Awww.....that was SOO good, Nan! SuperLorie :) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 00:13:45 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 12/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nan, I trust that you are already hard at work on the sequel, so we can find out if Clark gets his powers back and what Lex is up to. This was, as always, wonderful. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 07:14:54 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Lorie Y. Crisp" Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 12/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This story inspired me to go back to the fanfic archive and read most of Nan's stories again (i had not read her Dagger series before, and read those for the first time last night....excellent, by the way :) Then I read Priorities and Vanishing Act again, and I have to ask....Nan? when are we going to see a story about an older CJ? Maybe him growing up, the whole coming of age thing....finding out about his powers and origins? That would make a great series..... SuperLorie :-) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 07:43:13 PDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Camilla Hĺkansson Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 1/? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >This is the sequel to "A Night at the Office". As was pointed out to >me >in an e-mail, "Night" was only half a revelation, and given that it >came >at a fairly crucial point in the Lois and Clark saga, what came >next was >important, too. I haven't read "A night at the office" and can't find it on the archive, where kan I find it? I would really love to read it, since I've liked all of Nans fanfics so far /Camilla ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 07:49:04 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit A Night at the Office is on the archives for this list at: http://listserv.indiana.edu/archives/loiscla-general-l.html It's also on Zoomway's message boards under the working title: Fly Hard: The Alternate Version. It will also be on the Fanfic Archive pretty soon, although I'm not exactly sure when, since I don't know their schedule. Nan Camilla Hĺkansson wrote: > >This is the sequel to "A Night at the Office". As was pointed out to >me > >in an e-mail, "Night" was only half a revelation, and given that it >came > >at a fairly crucial point in the Lois and Clark saga, what came >next was > >important, too. > > I haven't read "A night at the office" and can't find it on the archive, > where kan I find it? I would really love to read it, since I've liked all of > Nans fanfics so far > > /Camilla > ________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 09:23:03 PDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Camilla Hĺkansson Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 1/? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >A Night at the Office is on the archives for this list at: >http://listserv.indiana.edu/archives/loiscla-general-l.html > >It's also on Zoomway's message boards under the working title: Fly >Hard: >The >Alternate Version. It will also be on the Fanfic Archive pretty soon, > >although >I'm not exactly sure when, since I don't know their schedule. > >Nan Thank you :) /Camilla ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 18:28:58 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 12/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lorie Y. Crisp wrote: > This story inspired me to go back to the fanfic archive and read most of > Nan's stories again (i had not read her Dagger series before, and read those > for the first time last night....excellent, by the way :) Then I read > Priorities and Vanishing Act again, and I have to ask....Nan? when are we > going to see a story about an older CJ? Maybe him growing up, the whole > coming of age thing....finding out about his powers and origins? That would > make a great series..... > > SuperLorie :-) Well, right now I have a sequel to "Vanishing Act", one for "Home" and the one for "Strange Relationships" to take care of. After that, we'll see. It's a good idea, and I probably will do a story about CJ sooner or later. Question: How do you tell a kid he's a clone of his dad, who happens to be Superman, and that he was originally created by Dad's arch enemy in order to destroy him? Now that's what I call an identity crisis. Nan ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 18:40:31 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 12/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii --- Nancy Smith wrote: > Lorie Y. Crisp wrote: > > > This story inspired me to go back to the fanfic > archive and read most of > > Nan's stories again (i had not read her Dagger > series before, and read those > > for the first time last night....excellent, by the > way :) Then I read > > Priorities and Vanishing Act again, and I have to > ask....Nan? when are we > > going to see a story about an older CJ? Maybe him > growing up, the whole > > coming of age thing....finding out about his > powers and origins? That would > > make a great series..... > > > > SuperLorie :-) > > Well, right now I have a sequel to "Vanishing Act", > one for "Home" and the one > for "Strange Relationships" to take care of. After > that, we'll see. It's a > good idea, and I probably will do a story about CJ > sooner or later. Question: > How do you tell a kid he's a clone of his dad, who > happens to be Superman, and > that he was originally created by Dad's arch enemy > in order to destroy him? Now > that's what I call an identity crisis. > > Nan Ooooh, Nan, I can hardly wait to read that one!! It sounds fascinating. Let me add my compliments to Lorie's re: Strange Relationships. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can hardly wait for the sequel. Irene ===== "All writing is essentially bricks of plagarism secured in place by the mortar of original thinking." --William Dukane __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos -- now, 100 FREE prints! http://photos.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 22:06:49 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 12/12 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 6/2/00 9:30:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time, deimos1@EARTHLINK.NET writes: << Question: How do you tell a kid he's a clone of his dad, who happens to be Superman, and that he was originally created by Dad's arch enemy in order to destroy him? Now that's what I call an identity crisis. >> That's the truth! But I'm sure you can do a wonderful job of handling it. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2000 10:39:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Felix E. Sung" Subject: NEW: John and Lois and Clark and Joan (16/?) (John & Lois & Clark & Joan, Part 16) Lois sniffed as she blinked away her tears. She was a little peeved -- how could she have lost control like that? She was an award-winning reporter who had *always* gotten out of trouble when it had come to her. Why was she giving up so easily? 'Okay, think rationally, Lane,' she told herself. She surveyed the situation. Her upper body was tied to the post, and her hands were tied together. Perhaps there was something on the post itself. Finding nothing but the smooth surface of the post at the top, she decided to try feeling around higher up. With renewed determination, she bent her knees and tried to move to a squatting position. She could barely move an inch upwards. Whoever had tied her to the post had tied her *tight*. Lois took a breath (she couldn't take a deep breath because she was tied from the waist up) and tried again. After a few tense moments, she was able to rise herself up a few inches. Her arms were getting sore quickly. She darted her eyes around, checking to see if anyone was around. 'If Dr. Baines decides to check up on me again she may not take any chances and just shoot me,' she reasoned. 'But if I don't do something, I'll end up dead anyway.' Now began the hard part: pulling herself up to a standing position. Lois took another deep breath and tried to pull herself up further. The tight bonds around her chest were making things difficult. Sweat glistened her forehead as she tried to raise herself up. After trying for a couple of minutes, she stopped. Seeing that she was close to hyperventilating, she tried to take slower breaths. Again, the bonds made it harder to breathe. 'You can do it, Lane.' Lois looked downwards and found that she was only a couple of inches higher than before. 'Okay, relax for a minute, and then try again,' she thought. Lois looked around again, checking if anyone was nearby. All she could hear was air coming in through the ventilation system. 'Assuming it *is* good, clean air and not gas,' she thought sardonically. She tried to get a sense of what direction she was facing. Okay, if the Messenger wreckage was in front of her, then one of the doors was on her right. That was the way she had come in. So a wise thing to do, Lois reasoned, was to face in the direction of the door. She was about to try moving around the post when she heard a clang to her left. Her heart was in her throat while she whirled to the source of the noise, expecting to see Dr. Baines, or worse, one of the henchman who decided to take advantage of his boss' captive. Unfortunately that had happened before, and those who had tried received a blow or a kick at the most sensitive part of the male anatomy. All she could see in the immediate vicinity was a table with two canisters. She saw a piece of metal on the ground, and assumed that it had just fallen off the table. Lois sighed in relief. She took a closer look at the two canisters on the table. Each had a spout on the bottom, almost like a beer keg. Each canister also had an electronic device attached to the top. For a minute Lois panicked. What if those devices were timers? What if these canisters are really bombs? She listened carefully for any clicks or beeps emanating from the devices. Nothing. She relaxed again. 'Maybe they are safety locks?' she asked herself. It did look as if each canister had a lip on the top, with the device on top of that Lois noticed that each of the two canisters had a white label on the side. One of them said, 'Monomethyl Hydrazine,' in big letters. The other one was labeled, 'Nitrogen Tetroxide.' Both labels also had something in smaller print under the names, but she could not read them. Oh, she wished she could remember that those chemicals were! But the last time she had seen Chemistry was during her sophomore year at MetroU, over six years ago, and she could not recall anything from that class. She heard another sound from her right. Footsteps. Now it was time to panic. If Dr. Baines saw Lois like this than it might be over for her. But wait, these footsteps were not as loud, and it sounded like more it could be from more than one person. It couldn't be Dr. Baines, could it? Were there people *sneaking* up to her? 'Could it be *Clark*?' Lois' hopes were raised, and then they fell immediately. There was no way it could be Clark. The last time he had seen her was yesterday in the late afternoon, before the interview with Lex. (And that was *not* an interview, Lois reminded herself.) 'He could have known if I only had left a message with that rude hotel manager who only barked at people,' she thought miserably... Wait a minute. Was she hearing *voices*? The hanger was immense in size, and so the acoustics were such that she could hear almost anything anywhere. Lois strained her head to listen. "Come on, my pet, we have to do this. We have to save her." That was a woman's whisper. "Of course, Darling, I'm just a little nervous. You know *who* she is..." A second voice, and it sounded like a man. "I know, Angel, I know," whispered the woman. "The sooner we do this, the sooner we can complete our assignment." Lois' forehead furrowed. It had sounded like those two were trying to decide whether to save her or not. But did Lois want to be saved by those two? Who were they? And what was this 'assignment'? Were they the good guys or the bad guys? Lois' mind raced. Maybe she would let these people rescue her, and when she had a chance, make a run for it. Her decision made, she tried to get the couple's attention, even though she couldn't see them. "Hello? Anyone there? Please, help me!" she said, in her best 'damsel-in-distress' voice. For a few tense seconds Lois heard nothing. There were no footsteps coming closer, but there were also no footsteps fading away, either. Then she heard some murmuring, this time unintelligible. Finally, someone sighed, and Lois could see a man walking out from his hiding place. Lois had never seen this man before. He looked young, probably in his early to mid twenties. A little on the thin side, he was not too tall, maybe a little shorter than Clark. He had a moustache, and he was blushing. '*Blushing*? Why was he blushing?' His eyes were looking at the floor in front of him. "Ms.... Ms. Lane?" the man stuttered. "Yes?" she said cautiously. "Wow, this is, ah, this is an honor," he said, gushing. "The great Lois Lane from the Daily Planet! Oh, I, I can't believe that I'm finally meeting you... Honey, come here." He looked in the direction of the hiding place. Moments later a young, blonde woman stepped out of the hiding place. She was considerably shorter than the young man, perhaps shorter than Lois, and her face was equally red. She too was someone Lois had never seen before. "Ms. Lane," the woman said with difficulty, "it's a, it's a pleasure meeting you at last." Lois could not believe her ears. Who were these clowns? It sounded like that these two were fans of hers of something. They looked awfully shy, and it didn't seem likely that they were planning to abduct her, were they? "Who are you?" Lois asked, her voice still on guard. The young couple jumped. After looking at each other (apparently for support), the man answered. "My name is, um, Timothy Lake, but you can call me Tim. And this is my, uh, my wife, Amber. We're, um, big fans of yours, uh, Ms. Lane." Lois tried not to raise an eyebrow at them. It wouldn't matter, because neither person was looking directly at her. *Fans* of hers? That didn't make any sense! Since when did fans follow their idols like this? "So why are you here?" she barked. "We, uh, we followed you," Amber replied. "Do you want us to get you out of here?" She darted around the room, looking extremely nervous. "Yeah, that would be nice," Lois said flatly. There were a lot of unanswered questions about Tim and Amber Lake, but it would be better to wait until she was out of danger. If they were here to save her, that is. If they were really here to kill her, well, there was nothing Lois could do. She was tied and at their mercy. But if they freed her, and if Lois found later that they had an ulterior motive, then she would be out of there as fast as she could. Unfortunately, her head and ankle would impair her mobility. Lois remained tense as Tim crouched behind her. She turned her head to see Tim pull out a Swiss Army knife and cut her free from the seat belts. The seat belts were difficult to cut through, but after a few tries, Lois was free. She was about to dart up and run when she heard a sound from her left. Lois looked and saw that on the table, the two electronic devices on top of the canisters were blinking. Chemicals were coming out of the spouts. Pools began to form on the floor, and they were heading towards a nearby drainage gate. Tim noticed the two canisters, and his eyes widened. "Oh, sh*t," he muttered. Amber saw the canisters too and read the labels. "Sweetheart!" she cried in alarm. "Monomethyl Hydrazine *and* Nitrogen Tetroxide? We've got to --" "-- get out of here!" Tim finished. He offered a hand to help Lois up. Lois batted Tim's arm away and got up herself. "What's going on?" she demanded. "Monomethyl Hydrazine and Nitrogen Tetroxide mixed together creates a big explosion!" Tim explained, pulling Lois' arm. "We've got to go!" Lois didn't have to be told twice. She saw smoke coming out of the two chemicals and began to run. Her ankle was screaming in pain, but she tried to ignore it. The three of them had just ran through the entrance of the hanger when the explosion came. A firestorm rushed though the building, igniting everything inside. Another explosion sounded, and its force set the three flying into a pool of muddy water. * * * * * * * * -- Felix E. Sung fsung@justice.loyola.edu ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 16:36:18 EST Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: -= LuC =- Subject: Lois Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Hey all, would i be right in thinking that Lois has a second name? I think i remember it from some episode but not quite sure. Can anyone confirm this, and if so, what is it? :) -Luc. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 02:37:17 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Christopher M Kiraly Subject: Re: Lois In-Reply-To: <20000604063618.22993.qmail@hotmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit According to DC Comics, It's Lois Joanne (I believe) -----Original Message----- From: Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic [mailto:LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU]On Behalf Of -= LuC =- Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2000 5:36 PM To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Subject: Lois Hey all, would i be right in thinking that Lois has a second name? I think i remember it from some episode but not quite sure. Can anyone confirm this, and if so, what is it? :) -Luc. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 04:37:52 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: "ADITLOM" (RPG) Thirthieth Installment, Week #31 (Part 1 of 1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This is the thirthieth installment of my rpg on yahoo called, "A Day in the Life of Metropolis." For more information, please go to: Yahoo! Clubs adayinthelifeofmetropolis Public and private feedback is more than welcomed! =) ===================== Cast List Clark Kent : Alexis W. (that's me!) Lois Lane: Alexis Cat Grant: Renda Dan Scardino: Renda Mayson Drake: Renda Perry White: Renda Bruce Wayne: Sam F. Sam Falcon: Sam F. ===================== WEEK #31 (5/15 TO 5/21) Re: Mayson gets a call Perry White looked at Catherine and replied, "Well, I have placed another call into one of my military sources, and hopefully that person will get back to me on this game and military component situation soon." Catherine nodded to the chief and looked around. "Scardino! Do you have any information on this situation?" Dan looked at her and said, "I can't tell you anything that I may or may not know about those components." Cat walked over to him. Staring him in the face, she reached for the rather large blade that Dan always keeps in his leg holder. Waving it around in front of Dan, she asked again, "Dan do you have any information that you'd like to share with the group?" Dan looked at Cat, the blade and replieed. "The military components are also thought to have been purchased by a LexCorp company here in Gotham City, but my office is still investigating it! That is all that I can tell you now, the rest you all ready know!" Dan told her and smiled. Cat handed him back his blade and walked over to Diego. "Okay El Zorro! We need a plan!" Diego smiled. "Si Senorita, we need a plan!" Ramone burst out laughing and replied, "Brother, it has been along time since anyone called you "The Fox!" >tbc< * * * * Re: The Shower Scene ;) Bruce quickly headed up to the second floor and started down the hallway. He saw two people standing outside the door to the room that Lois and Clark were supposed to be in. As he got closer he realized the back he was looking at belonged to Sam and the other was Clark, in only a towel and without his glasses on. "Do you always walk around strange hallways in a towel, Kent? You seem to have forgotten something else important." Sam turned around and blushed slightly. "I thought you were going to write." "I uhh . . .got lost." "Got lost?" "I was going to talk to Barbara and ran into Clark." "I guess I should be asking him why he's standing around one of my hallways, in only a towel." Clark winced as soon as he saw how mad Bruce was. This was just not his day! >tbc< * * * * Re: Mayson gets a call Diego looked up at Ramone and smiled. "Si, Bearnado!" Ramone blushed as Diego called him that, remembering times when they were small boys playing along the rolling California hills, their Father watching them and laughing as they asked him to tell them more 'Zorro' tales! Cat walked over to Diego and said, "Oh no Ramone, you have it wrong. I call Diego the fox alot!" They laughed at each other. Perry looked at them and said, "Okay, I know you all find your childhood amusing, but we need to press on with business." Cat looked at him and replied, "What no Elvis stories Chief?" Perry blushed and muttered something under his breath. Diego looked at Perry and Catherine. *I suspect that only Cat and Alice can get away with talking to Perry that way!* >tbc< ===== Trump! "Okay, so we now know which company stole the military components and now we need to know how far up the ladder it goes. Does Luthor know that this took place? Or is he in the dark about it and why?" Diego said as he wrote on a chart. Cat looked at him and spoke. "Diego, what makes you think that Luthor maybe in the dark on this one?" Diego looked at her and replied, "It would seem that someone in Gotham is moving in on LexCorp. It just seems like the take over may have inside help!" Perry looked up from his notes and asked, "So how do we find this out?" Diego smiled. "I am taking care of that end." >tbc< * * * * Re: The Shower Scene ;) "You can calm down now. It's not like we did this on purpose. He walked out of the room and I ran into him." "You what?" "Ran into him, like I just said. It's not like I've never seen a guy in a towel before. They weren't exactly him," she said pointing at Clark. "There's no one out there like Clark," she said with a smile, "especially with what I know." Clark blushed profusely at Sam's mention of his well-defined body. "What do you know?" "Why should I tell you? I finally get to be the one with a secret." "Let's not start this." "What's wrong with secrets, they are a virutal prerequisite in this house? Not that I like the secret all that much, it just would have been nice to know that the guy I care about was out, running around at night . . ." she stopped. >tbc< * * * * Re: Trump! Mayson walked over to the coffee maker and started making a fresh pot of coffee. "We need to gather as much information as possible before we proceed further." Cat nodded. "I agree with Mayson." Dan Scardino looked at them and replied, "Well you all know that this is extremely dangerous?" "Yes!" They all said in unison. >tbc< * * * * Re: The Shower Scene ;) Clark kept his mouth shut as he listened to Bruce and Sam argue. He didn't want to say anything in fears of setting something off. Also it was due to the fact that he WAS the problem they were arguing about. He was about to slink off into the corner of the bedroom, when he heard a noise. Someone was walking up the stairs and that someone was Lois! "Oh God! Someone's coming!!!" "Huh?" Bruce and Sam said in unison. "Someone's coming up the stairs and it's Lois!!! Oh man, oh man...." Clark frantically said as he ran his fingers through his damp hair. >tbc< * * * * Re: Trump! Dan looked at them and said, "I tried to infiltrate Luthor's web before I arrived here, but my every attempt was blown off by him or one of his henchmen. Cat looked at him and said, "Dan, Luthor isn't stupid. He can pull up who is an agent and who isn't in a heart beat." Dan smiled and nodded. "I suspected my cover was blown, especially when those guys stuffed me in that van. I still can't thank you guys enough for saving me!" Dan told Diego and the others as he blushed. >tbc< * * * * Re: The Shower Scene ;) "Just what I need," Sam said. "Hey, don't you need your glasses?" "My glasses?!? Oh my God, where the hell are my glasses?" Clark frantically asked. >tbc< * * * * Alice and Jerry Alice White was still feeling nauseated. Jerry White tended his Mother with care. He wasn't feeling too great either, but it was harder on Alice because of her arthritis in her back. Jerry wondered how his Dad and the others were, and wanted to know the details of what had happened at that Ball. He stepped into the living room of the suite and called Perry. "Hi Dad it's Jerry!" Perry smiled and said, "Hi Son! I was just about to call you and Alice. Are you both feeling better?" "Yes, Dad, Mom actually ate some broth this morning." Perry smiled. "Good Jerry, listen, I'll be busy here in Cat's Suite for awhile. We decided to move the command post here to discuss our next move. Well, Son you and Alice get some rest. Bye now." Perry hung up the phone and got back to business. >tbc< * * * * Re: The Shower Scene ;) Sam looked into the bedroom and saw the glasses sitting on a dresser. She reached into the room and grabbed them. "Here they are," she said as she handed them to him. "Thanks," he said as Sam helped him put his glasses on. Clark let out a small moan as he felt Sam's hand brush past his abs. Lois was just rounding the corner when she saw the visual display. "OH MY GOD!" >tbc< * * * * Diego and the other men check out... Diego got the call he had been waiting on. He turned to Catherine and Mayson and said, "Ladies, I need you to stay here and answer the phone because we shall get more information soon." Diego looked at Perry, Ramone and Dan Scardino. "Gentlemen would you like to join me in the tunnels below?" They all nodded and replied, "Yes!" So the men left the hotel and went into the drainage tunnels underneath Gotham. "Diego, what are we looking for now?" Diego turned as Perry asked the question and answered. "Perry we are looking for more of those silver devices that you and I found just before the quake hit the observatory," Perry smiled. "I hope no more rats." >tbc< * * * * Re: The Shower Scene ;) Sam immediately stepped back after she heard Clark moan. "I've got to go," she said as she turned and rushed down the hallway towards her room. "Wait a minute," Bruce said as he tried to grab her arm, but she was moving too fast. Lois felt Sam brush past her as she looked at Bruce and then Clark standing in a towel. "Kent? What the hell is going on here?" "Uhhh...um..." Clark stuttered. "Bruce?" Lois asked. >tbc< * * * * Re: Diego and the other men check out... Diego smiled and told Perry. "I shall take my rapier sword with us again in case we run into more rodants." Perry nodded and saidm "Thanks!" The four men went down to the ally and opened the drainage grat. They stepped into the unworld of Gotham one at a time. Battery operated lantern in hand, they walked slowly through the dank and musty tunnels; looking for evidence or more of those quake devices. Diego stopped and pointed down another tunnel at the end of it was a silver cyclinder device. "Well, we know that if we get too close it will sound off the alarm. So I suggest that we stay far enough away from it and Ramone you take the photos that we shall need for evidence." Ramone nodded and proceeded ahead to take photos of the device. "Diego, I think I see some numbers on it. I'll get a photo of those and perhaps we can deduce who purchased this thing." Diego nodded in agreement. >tbc< * * * * Re: The Shower Scene ;) "From what I heard they just ran into each other," Bruce said with an annoyed tone in his voice. "She helped him get his glasses too." >tbc< ======== In Her Room After getting inside her room, she quickly shut the door and leaned against it. "That was so awkward. Kent's nice and all, but I never want to go through that again. I'll be the first to admit, he's got a nice body." That's not what made her fall in love with Bruce. At first it was his looks, but right after running into each other, they'd eaten together and getting to know him made her love him even more. No one had ever made her feel so comfortable. She walked over to the closet, pulled out a suitcase and a couple of dresses. She flopped the suitcase on the bed and quickly opened it, then tossed the two dresses in. "He was so mad . . .well so am I. Why in the hell couldn't he believe me when I said it was nothing? Excuse me if my head gets turned by a nice body. He swivels necks when we're out and I don't yell at him. I've got to get out of here until he cools down." She walked over to the dresser and picked up her cell phone. She started to dial the airport, but hit clear and the number in the display cleared out. "I can't keep running away. Richard will probably take it the wrong way too." She went into the memory on the cell phone and picked out a number. She hit send and the phone dialed. She put it to her ear and after a minute or so, said, "Hi . . .I need to talk to someone . . .You've been in more relationships than I have, are they always so hard? . . .I just ran into a guy in only a towel . . .Would we be having this conversation if it was him . . .He was mad and I sort of understand why. I get jealous of him all the time, but I never tell him about it, I'm sure he knows, I've never been good at hiding stuff like that . . .I actually thought about getting on a plane to Seattle. My agent would love that, but I realized I can't run away . . .Don't rub it in! . . .You've never met Bruce . . .Sorry, you don't get to meet him until I'm ready to let you . . .Exactly . . .Oh, get off your high horse. You've broken up with more guys than I can count, at least we haven't broken up . . .I've got to go . . .I could send you a picture, but then that would just make you jealous. You know, I think I'll do that. Taking him to a high school reunion would be fun, but who wants to revisit that nightmare. Talk to you, sometime . . .You could call me. Bye." She hitend and closed the cell phone. >tbc< ======= Re: The Shower Scene ;) Clark shot Bruce a look. "Geez Kent, I think you're a big enough boy to get your own glasses! Sheesh! Also do you make it a habit to go walking around in only a towel??? I swear this is the 4th or 5th time I've seen you like that!" Lois remarked. Clark blushed. "I think I said that, or at least something like that," Bruce commented. "You know Clark, I have plenty of words to describe you right now..." "You do?" Clark gulped. "Oh yes..." Lois purred back. She walked up to Clark and started playing with the waist band of his towel. >tbc< * * * * Look for Week #32 coming to a PC near you! Enjoy! Alexis ;-.) {"ADITLOM" arbitrator} "Lois...well, she's complicated. Domineering, uncompromising, pig-headed...brillant...And we're not really going out. It's business." (Clark) "Uh, huh." (Martha Kent) {LnC, Pilot} ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 05:39:28 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: "ADITLOM" (RPG) Thirty-First Installment, Week #32 (Part 1 of 1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This is the thirty-first installment of my rpg on yahoo called, "A Day in the Life of Metropolis." For more information, please go to: Yahoo! Clubs adayinthelifeofmetropolis Public and private feedback is more than welcomed! =) ===================== Cast List Clark Kent : Alexis W. (that's me!) Lois Lane: Alexis Bruce Wayne: Sam F. Sam Falcon: Sam F. Dick Grayson : Dave ================= WEEK #32 (5/22 TO 5/28) Catching up... "Great..." Dick sighed as he looked around his room. He raised a hand to his brow, trying to wipe away his confusion. Where did she go now? Was she okay? Dick shook his head as he peered out of the doorway of his room and spotted Alfred tending to one of the numerous oil paintings. "Hey Al!" Dick's voice echoed through the massive hall. "Wake up the entire house why don't you", Dick mumbled. "Have you seen a young woman, long dark hair, really pretty, anytime this morning?" Even from a distance, Dick could see the twinkle in the old butler's eyes. "Master Grayson... you of all people should know of the petigry of young women that frequent this manor. Especially on this morning, there are many young women residing here that would fit your description." Alfred smiled up at him. "C'mon Al, you know who I mean" "Ah.. yes... perhaps you are refering to Miss Starr. I believe she has left a message for you, sir. I have placed it in the main lobby for you to retreave after you have taken your morning repast." Dick grunted. Alfred did an outstanding job tending to the residents of Wayne Manor, crimefighter or not, and he was adiment about each person under his care eating a good meal in the morning, much to Dick's dismay. "Where's Barb at?" "I believe Miss Wilson is still in her room, if you'd like to talk to her." "Did I miss anything this morning?" Alfred's smile widened. "Indeed you have, sir. Quite peculiar. You, perhaps, would know little of this, but Miss Vicki Vale was here a shant few minutes ago to see Master Bruce. Unfortunately, Miss Falcon answered the door." Dick winced when Pennyworth mentioned Sam's name. He wondered if his reaction was due to his relationship with her now, or the situation Sam found herself in. Alfred watched Dick's reaction. "Is there anything you'd like to, umm... discuss regarding your relationship with Miss Falcon?" Alfred's voice was carefully neutral. Dick blinked at him, and quickly covered his expression with a long yawn. "Nah... I'm good, Al. I'm gonna go find Barb, then catch something to eat. If you see Bruce or Clark, tell them I need to talk to them before I go out today." "I shall do so, young sir." "Thanks Al." Dick stepped off in the direction of Barbara's room. >tbc< * * * * Re: The Shower Scene ;) Bruce, pretty sure he didn't want to know what Lois meant, decided to interrupt. "Our lunch in Metropolis was interrupted. Did you get all your questions answered?" he asked. "What?" Lois said as her hands dropped from Clark's waist. "Did you get all your questions for the interview answered? We were interrupted and I thought if you had more questions, I could answer them over lunch." "Lunch? Oh yeah, lunch sounds nice..." Lois' voice trailed off as she turned her attention back to Clark. "I'll meet you in the main entry," Bruce said as he walked away. At the top of the stairs he stopped and looked further down the hallway. *Should I go to her room. I'd really like to know what all that was about, but I . . .* He sighed angrily and started down the stairs. >tbc< * * * * Barbara "I guess I must've fallen asleep while I was working in the cave last night... but I definately found something..." Dick was laying sprawled out on top of the bed, tossing a pen toward the ceiling as he yawned again. He could see Barbara combing her long blonde hair as she smirked at him through the mirror. "That probably went over real well with that girl you were with... whatever her name was... she woke up to an empty room, probably thought you ditched her or something." Barbara's voice was full of sarcasim. Dick suddenly sat up, concern creasing his brow. "You think?" "Yeah...", Barbara snorted, matter-of-factly. "I didn't mean it that way..." "Well, hopefully she didn't take offense." "She left some kind of message, so maybe she's not too mad at me. But I had to get this done. Clark wanted me to help him find out what was going on." "Clark?" Barbara's head turned to him. Dick watched as Barbara's expression brightened. He looked at her with mischief in his eye. "Yeah, Clark.. you know, the guy that's staying here, the one you met yesterday?" "Believe me... I know..." Barbara whispered. "Huh?" "Nothing!" Barbara turned back to her mirror, eyeing Grayson through the reflection. "So, can I help?" "Help what?" "Help you and Clark." "What? Why are you so interested all of a sudden?" "Not 'all of a sudden', little boy. I was at the ball, if you remember. Maybe I saw something." Dick smiled at her. "Whatever, 'little girl'. Just try not to tell Bruce. I'm not sure how he and Clark are getting along right now, and he's got his own problems. I suppose we can meet up after we go on regular patrol with Batman." Barbara placed her comb on the vanity, and made her way to the large oak desk on the other side of the room. reaching for her backpack and leather jacket. "You ridin' in?" "Yeah, I've got to go out soon..." >tbc< * * * * Re: The Shower Scene ;) Lois continued to tease Clark by playing with the waist band of his towel. She could feel his ab muscles tighten with every playful stroke of her hand. "You know, this changes everything, Clark..." "It does?" "Yes," Lois said as she pulled him around so his back was facing the hallway and her back was facing the bedroom. "It made me realize what a pig you are!" she yelled as she shoved him away. "Excuse me?!?" "You and Sam deserve each other so by all means continue to do what you do with her. Just be more considerate of Bruce and mine's feelings. Next time keep it to yourself!" "Lois..." "Don't you Lois me! You've made your choice and now I have to deal with it." "I didn't think we were competing here...is there something I don't know about?!?" "I don't mean THAT you lunkhead! I'm talking about the fact that you've chosen romance over your working partner! That is just something I'll have to live with! Maybe even talk with my therapist about!" "Lois, it's not what you think..." "And don't think this little intimate display won't effect our working relationship, because it does! Bruce and I are going out to lunch so Sam and you are free to do what you want!" "Lois!" "You deserve each other!" Lois yelled as she slammed the door in Clark's face. "Lois! Lois! Open up! LOIS!!!" Clark yelled as he banged on the door. "What?" Lois snapped back. "As you can you can see, I'm kinda naked here!" Lois grabbed his clothes and shoved them in his arms. "Here. Now goodbye!" she yelled as once again she slammed the door in his face. >tbc< ======= Re: The Shower Scene ;) Sam was in her room and heard a door slam. She walked out of her room and peeked around the corner. Clark was standing out in the hallway, with only the towel on, holding some clothes in his arms. Sam smiled slightly, but it faded when she realized this was partially her fault. * Damn it, it was an accident, I shouldn't feel guilty, but I do. I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but I've got to try and help.* She walked up to Clark. "Since you've obviously been locked out of your room, it looks like you need a place to change. Why don't you use the one I'm in," she said. She slowly started down the hallway towards her room. Clark followed her. There was nothing else he could do. He needed to change and he needed to do it fast! >tbc< * * * * Look for Week #33 coming to a PC near you! Enjoy! Alexis ;-.) {"ADITLOM" arbitrator} "Lois...well, she's complicated. Domineering, uncompromising, pig-headed...brillant...And we're not really going out. It's business." (Clark) "Uh, huh." (Martha Kent) {LnC, Pilot} ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 07:52:13 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/ Subject: Re: Lois MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > According to DC Comics, It's Lois Joanne (I believe) That's been my understanding, yes. However, the show never specified it one way or the other. Some smart alecks like to give her a middle name that starts with "O", 'cause then her initials would have us LOL... -- Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/rdu/j/e/jernigan/ God made you special, and He loves you very much. -- Veggie Tales theology The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. -- Henri Bergson ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 11:29:05 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: Lois and Clark Engaged part 1 You Forgot? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I am sending in four email parts the first part of my series of short stories loosely called Lois and Clark Engaged. Some have A-plots and others not. You Forgot? is strongly A-plot. Each subtitled story pretty much stands alone although sometimes the next one ties up some loose ends from the previous one. There are no cliffhangers per se. I don't mind messing with Lois and Clark but I try to at least have them back together by the end of each story. Currently there are 5 stories in the series, but the first is the only one currently revised to my satisfaction, so I am posting it now. The second, a sequel of sorts to the first, will be posted as soon as I revise the 'unsat - unsatisfactory" conclusion. Feedback is welcome, esp. grammer corrections, plot holes, etc. any suggestions which will improve the story as the feedback from this list improved IMHO my long Revealing Cruise. I will post here rather than on the message boards because my story has to be concluded successfully in my mind, before anyone gets to see it, even if I may revise sections afterword. Thank you all in advance for your feedback and thank you for your previous feedback on my earlier stories. I learned a lot about plotting, sequence of events, etc. Charlotte AKA Daydreamer80 - who's been hiding her daydreams from childhood and has no intention of changing now. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 11:35:03 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: youforgotpart1 of four MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lois and Clark Engaged PART 1 - You forgot? By Daydreamer80 (Note **text** indicates thought. *text* indicates bold) Summary: Supeman is captured by one of his and Lois's old nemesis And it is only with the help of Lois Lane that he escapes. Part 1 of 4 On a quiet residential street in one of the richer suburbs of Metropolis, a storage van started off slowly so as not to attract attention. The driver was particularly cautious as he drove past the opulent townhouse of wealthy builder Jack Marshall. To his relief no one from the house came to the door and flagged him down. Apparently those inside hadn't noticed when he and his five accomplices grabbed their quarry as he exited the house, then carried him to the van parked halfway down the block and threw him inside like a sack of potatoes before slamming the side door shut. The other five men sat on the metal floor in the back of the van surrounding their prisoner. The van's opaque sides concealed them from view as they secured him. To their relief, although unconscious, his breathing was steady and his heartbeat regular; *She* wouldn't be pleased if they delivered him dead. Leaving the manicured lawns and well-kept exteriors of the houses in that part of the city, the van proceeded quickly to a poorer section of town, the driver confident that he'd gotten away undetected. He never saw the silver Jeep Cherokee that had been parked in the shadows across from the townhouse and had no idea he'd been followed. The driver of the Jeep, an investigative reporter, had plenty of experience in covert tracking and knew just how far back to stay to remain undetected. **What if they drop him out of a false bottom like Luthor's attorney that time, ** the woman thought panicking. **Don't panic, Lois. You've got to stay calm. It's just another investigation. But that's Clark in there, ** her anguished mind screamed. Fifteen minutes later the van turned up a residential street located in a run-down part of Metropolis. Many of the homes sported 'For Sale' signs and weren't occupied. The van pulled up in front of a house in the middle of the third block and six men got out. Four of the men opened the van's side door, pulled out a still unconscious Superman and carried him into the house. After they closed the door behind them, Lois Lane quickly parked the Jeep and ran toward the house into which the love of her life had been carried. **They must have Kryptonite. Nothing else would've allowed Superman to be overcome so easily. But what do they want with him? I got to get him out of there! ** And Lois knew no matter what Clark did and no matter the cost to her, she would always love him, always need him, and always be there for him. SSSSSSSSSSS Earlier that same Friday, Clark Kent sat at his desk in the Daily Planet newsroom feeling absolutely wretched. He glanced over at his partner and the love of *his life,* Lois Lane. She appeared to the casual observer to be engrossed in a story she was writing, but Clark knew how untrue that was. For one thing, in spite of their recent problems, he and Lois still worked together so he was well aware that today had proven surprisingly uneventful on the news front. **Lane and Kent, the hottest team in town. ** He wondered if even that would still be true after tonight. How had everything gone so horribly wrong? Three weeks ago, he'd been on top of the world. In front of the fountain in Centennial Park, Lois Lane had asked *him* to marry her and he had joyfully agreed. They planned a trip to Smallville that weekend to tell his folks about the impending nuptials. On returning to Metropolis, they would let their friends at the newspaper and Lois's family in on the happy news. Two days later it all fell apart. Clark arrived at work late that day, blissfully unaware that his world was about to come crashing down around him. He'd spent most of the previous night in Argentina helping out at a major earthquake and he had a story ready for the afternoon edition of the Daily Planet. Lois was not at her desk. "Jimmy, where's Lois?" Giving Clark a curious look, Jimmy asked, "CK, are you and Lois okay?" "Sure, Jimmy. Why do you ask?" "Lois seems out of sorts. She's been yelling at everyone, even Perry, the way she did before you started working here. When I asked where you were she told me she wasn't your keeper so how would she know. She left about an hour later saying she had a lead to follow up on." **Oh. Oh. That doesn't sound good, ** a wary Clark thought. "Clark, get in here." Perry White too asked if things were okay between Lois and Clark. "I thought you two were . . . you know . . . a team. Well more than a team, if you know what I mean." When Clark confessed he hadn't seen his partner since early the night before, Perry gave him a piercing stare but decided not to pursue the subject. Clark would find out soon enough. **Please not like Norcross and Judd, ** Perry thought. Getting down to business he dictated, "Clark, get yourself over to City Hall. Rumor has it the DA's office is about to come down with some indictments in the Housing Department bribery scandal. Lois is there. She headed over to interview that new hotshot District Attorney they just hired." Clark sighed. **If only that had been the problem. ** When Clark arrived at City Hall, Lois was sitting with a group of reporters in a briefing room awaiting the arrival of DA Michael Clemmons, and John Travers, the head of the Housing Authority. Clark joined Lois, but her greeting was surprisingly businesslike. Her only words to Clark were that she had spoken to both of the men and was convinced that the rumors were unfounded. She'd suggested that Travers and Clemmons hold a press conference to clear the matter up once and for all. There was no time for further conversation because both men entered the room and the press conference began. Travers categorically denied involvement in the bribery scandal by anyone in his office. The DA smiled broadly, stating his office was gratified at the unexpected turn of events, although everyone in the audience knew that the new DA had egg on his face. And when Clemmons gazed covertly at Lois Lane, Clark could see that she'd made another enemy. SSSSSSSSS After the press conference, Lois was cold and withdrawn, saying little as she drove the Jeep back to the newspaper. She walked to her desk without a word to anyone and began to write up the story. When she LANed the story to Perry without even asking her partner to look it over, Clark was sure there was something wrong. "What is it Lois?" her concerned partner asked softly. She responded loudly, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "I suppose you have no idea?" Heads all around the newsroom turned toward the Daily Planet's star reporting team. "Not a clue." With a look of utter disbelief on her face, Lois thrust a copy of an advertising insert from the previous afternoon's edition of the Metropolis Star at Clark, then headed toward the newsroom's coffeepot. Now Clark was certain he was in deep trouble. He always got them both coffee and brought her cup to Lois's desk. When he dragged his eyes away from Lois's fleeing back and glanced down at the advertisement, his stomach plunged. Oh no! How could he have forgotten about that! Hurrying after Lois, he propelled her toward the conference room and shut the door so they could have some privacy. "Lois, I'm sorry. It was arranged almost a year ago." "Cancel it," she demanded. "I can't. Not this late, it's less than two weeks away. Lois," he cajoled, "They really need the money and, with Lex in jail, there's no one else." When she didn't unbend, didn't even respond, he tried again. "I'm really, really sorry. I forgot all about it," he admitted. "You forgot about it." Lois was incredulous. "It means that little to you; I mean that little to you." **Great, ** he thought. Not only was she angry, now she seemed more upset that he had forgotten then about the event itself. "Clark, we're engaged." "Lois, it's for the Coates Orphanage this year." Lois almost relented. The orphanage was a favorite charity of the two of them. Then she found herself wondering if he really had forgotten. She thought about the two years of lies and deceptions on his part and all her distrust of the motives of the opposite sex came rushing back in. "I don't care if it's to save your parents' farm. You're Superman. Surely you can find another way to raise money for charity." Even as she said that she knew his options were limited. He'd been scrupulously honest about not using his powers for monetary gain, even for the benefit of worthwhile causes. Lois had been particularly gratified when Superman ultimately turned down Murray Brown's offer to be his agent. At first entertaining Brown's proposal, Superman quickly learned that the expenses involved would eat away too much of the money that should go to the charities - much to Lois Lane's relief. **Superman shouldn't be sold like merchandise, ** Lois had thought even then. Ironically that had been two years ago during the first charity auction, an auction that seemed about to become an annual event and was the cause of the current rift. Lois herself had eagerly participated in the first two auctions before she gave up her Superman fantasy and allowed herself to fall in love with her partner and best friend Clark Kent. In the end, however, her fantasy love and the real one had turned out to be one and the same and therein lay the problem. 'Superman Auction' (The advertisement screamed.) This is your chance Ladies. Which one of you will be the lucky woman? Spend an evening of magic with the one and only Superman Have your purses open as you bid on a date With Metropolis's own Superman. The fortunate winner will be flown - flown To a romantic candlelit dinner at Maxims Treated to dancing at the Stardust Bowl And last but certainly not least Taken on a truly magical flight into the night sky. Remember ladies all proceeds go to charity. So bid generously and bid high. YOU could be the happy winner. Realizing he wasn't making any progress and seeing the combined eyes of the entire newsroom turned toward the conference room, Clark suggested they talk after work at her apartment. "We can discuss this whole thing calmly and rationally." SSSSSSSSSSSSSS **Yeah, right. ** Lois was anything but calm and rational that night. Before Clark was able to get a word in edgewise, she was off and running. She reminded him of how he pretended to be two different people, of his stupid excuses for running off, of his refusal to tell her he was Superman, of how she had to figure it out for herself and of how he even asked her to marry him before she knew he was Superman. "Although I did know - but you didn't know I knew and that's the whole point isn't it?" Clark was at a loss as to how to respond to this Lois, a Lois he hadn't seen in more than a year. "You stole my story, Clark." "What story, Lois?" "The Superman story." "Lois, I'm Superman." "What's that got to do with it? You sent me on a wild goose chase into the sewers of Metropolis and filed the story yourself." Clark was speechless. She was being completely irrational. When he said nothing, she nodded as if she'd made her point and continued. "You horned in on my story when I went undercover at the Metro Club and blew my cover." Clark knew she had a point this time and tried to apologize. "Lois, I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to get hurt." "Then why did you slap my backside and toss me into a trash bin full of old vegetables?" "I . . . I . . . " He had done that out of spite, he knew, to get a little back for all the times she'd hurt him that first year, sometimes without meaning to and sometimes deliberately. How could he tell her that? Lois Lane never apologized, never admitted being wrong and apparently never forgot it when she herself was hurt. **Like you didn't know that Kent. ** Almost as if she heard Clark's thoughts, Lois kept on. She'd never been able to trust any man. Her own father had an affair with Mrs. Belconte when she was still a child. Then there had been Paul Bender in college. He dropped her for Linda King and the story Linda stole from her, Lois. When she brought up Claude, Clark exploded. "Lois, I'm not Claude," he shouted silencing her. "I'm not Paul Bender or any of your other boyfriends and I'm certainly not your father. If you can't see that then I guess you're right - you can't trust me. And I can't trust you either Lois, to be there for me when I need you, to understand why I have to do the things I do and to love me." He walked out of her apartment, slamming the door shut behind him and it looked like out of her life. SSSSSSSSSSSS Now it was three weeks later. The auction had taken place a week ago. Lois had refused to cover it. "Let the society editor do it," she told Perry. "I'm a senior investigative reporter." At Perry's insistence, she attended the auction but didn't bid. It turned out to be a surprisingly subdued affair. Oh it was a financial success, so much so that the Committee had already approached Superman about the following year's auction. Clark wasn't even sure anymore why he was refusing to commit himself. **It's not as if I have anything better to do with my time, ** he thought bitterly. The bidding had been brisk and the resulting winning bid of $100,000 was more than he and Lex together had commanded that first time. The girl, nineteen-year-old Tiffany Marshall, was the daughter of a self- made man. Her father, a prominent real estate tycoon, purportedly had ties to Bill Church, Sr. at one time, but if he had, those ties had been broken long before both Churches went to prison. Jack Marshall had married a wealthy socialite and was now a respected businessman whose goal seemed to be to become a member of Metropolis's upper crust. Tiffany, his oldest child and only daughter, was a quiet, well-bred young lady, pretty but certainly no beauty. Clark had warmed to her after meeting her at the auction and was almost looking forward to his 'date' this evening. That is - he would have if he and Lois were still together. God, how he missed her. He missed his best friend. He missed his journalistic partner. Sure they saw each other every day at work, but, for all the good that did him, he might as well be living on Krypton. He fell in love the first time he saw Lois Lane and he still loved her. He always would. That first week after their fight, everyone, probably including Lois, expected Clark to make the first move toward reconciliation, but somehow he just couldn't. His Mom and Dad tried to tell him he was making a big mistake, but he wouldn't listen to them. Lois Lane would have to apologize this time, he told them. He had been the one who was hurt and he could be just as stubborn as Lois was. His parents just shook their heads. The following week, Clark tried to approach Lois, to tell her he was sorry for the things he said. But at work she was barely civil to him, adopting a strictly business attitude, and at home, she refused to answer his phone calls and messages, while Superman's taps at her now locked window went unanswered. **It's no use. ** On Monday, Clark decided, he would tender his resignation from the Daily Planet and build himself that 'lair' to live in somewhere, anywhere where he didn't have to see Lois Lane every day. Lois was just as miserable as Clark was, but she'd had years of practice at concealing her real feelings. Her colleagues at the newspaper, her friends, and even her family believed that she was once again the dedicated reporter with little interest in a relationship outside of the office. They were sorry for Clark but thought he should have known better than to try to get close to 'Mad Dog Lane.' Lois Lane worked alone and that was the way she liked it. Perry White knew better and he tried to get Lois to open up to him, to once more be the father to her that he had been this past year, but he found Lois closed off emotionally the way she'd been those years before she met Clark Kent. After Clark left work that Friday evening - everyone else except Perry had already left - Lois was still sitting at her console typing away. **Norcross and Judd all over again, ** Perry thought sadly as he got his coat and headed out. After Perry got into the elevator and left the newsroom, Lois turned off her computer and followed. Driving home, her thoughts turned to the Superman auction the previous week. Superman appeared unaffected by the proceedings - unemotional and uninvolved - but Lois knew him well enough now to see the hurt he was concealing. He hated this as much as she did - hated being sold like some child's toy to be played with for one evening then tossed aside and eventually discarded. **Oh, Clark. What have I done to us? ** Because of her anger fueled by jealousy at the thought of her Clark on a date, even a public date, with another woman, she wouldn't be there to comfort him tonight after the date was over. **But I do understand, Clark, and I love you, ** she thought. During the auction, she'd ached to take him into her arms right there in front of everyone and kiss away his sorrow, but she didn't dare. His secret had to be kept or he would have no private life at all. And Lois, understanding the burden that loving Superman would be, wondered if she was strong enough to carry it. **Maybe, it's better that we break it off now before it's too late for either of us, ** she thought, her heart filling with despair. Trying to be resolved, she'd distanced herself even further from her partner over the past week. Continued in part 2 of 4 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 11:38:21 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: youforgotpart2 (4) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lois and Clark Engaged PART 1 - You forgot? By Daydreamer80 Part 2 of 4 Lois sat inside her Jeep Cherokee in the shadows of some trees across the street from the home of Tiffany Marshall, Superman's date for the evening. She watched the front entrance, her presence concealed from the casual observer. She couldn't believe she actually followed Clark and his date from place to place earlier. She'd been part of the press hoard - she couldn't give the name of legitimate reporters to those tabloid sensationalists - which constantly dogged the steps of the couple throughout dinner and dancing. Fortunately the almost continuous flash of camera bulbs made it easy for her to watch them closely without being detected by Superman. Lois almost cried when she watched Superman share the chocolate cake with his date, feeding both of them from a single fork. Tiffany's father supplied the dessert, a special concoction prepared by his personal chef and one his daughter loved. Lois would have hated Clark for repeating that intimacy from their first date if she hadn't known he tried hard to refuse to eat anything. In the aftermath of the auction itself, Jack Marshall insisted that both participants partake of the entire repast. "You do eat, don't you Superman?" he asked. "I don't need to, but I like to," Clark admitted. It wouldn't be a truly romantic dinner if Tiffany and Superman didn't enjoy the meal and the dessert together and, after all, romance was what he'd bought his child with his contribution, Jack Marshall pointed out. With the Charity Committee members urging him on, Superman reluctantly agreed to the demand. But the proviso added yet another rift in Lois's mind to her rapidly deteriorating relationship with Clark Kent. When Superman finally flew off into the night with his date, Lois fully intended to drive back to her apartment, but instead found herself parked across from the Marshall's ostentatious townhouse. She watched as the Man of Steel flew into the downstairs window with his date in his arms. Still unable to leave, she waited across from the house for Clark to come out. She was confident of her ability to remain undetected by most people but Clark was a different story. Maybe he wouldn't notice her. She hoped so. How could she explain? "I'm on stake out. There are rumors that the people in this neighborhood have been hit by a series of burglaries." "Oh really Lois. And why haven't there been any police reports?" "Clark, you know how reluctant the wealthy are to contact the police." Yeah, right he'd really believe that. But somehow she couldn't leave. While Clark was still inside, Lois noticed a van pull up and park a short distance down the street from the house. Lois watched as six men got out of the van, walked stealthily toward the townhouse, and hid in the bushes outside. SSSSSSSSS Clark had no idea why he'd been feeling sick all evening. He hadn't even felt very much like flying. Maybe he was more normal then he thought, perhaps his turbulent emotions were causing the unfamiliar queasiness. **Finally the feeling seems to be dissipating, ** he thought as the maid escorted him to the door. As he closed the door behind him and prepared to fly back to his apartment, his mind concentrated on his problem with Lois. He'd made up his mind as he sat across the dinner table from Tiffany Marshall that there would be no more Superman Auctions. He just couldn't hurt Lois like that anymore. He only hoped it wasn't too late for them. Would she trust him again? He had to see her; they could work this out. He loved her, surely she still cared for him. Suddenly, six men jumped out of the bushes and surrounded Superman. **Only six? Who do they think I am? ** They threw a metallic net over Clark, then all six jumped on him. He tried to break their hold on him and discovered to his astonishment that his normal super strength was barely enough to rip a hole in the net. As Clark struggled to get free, one of the thugs hit him over the head with a sledgehammer. **What's going on?" It's not green like it would be if the net were made of Kryptonite, ** he wondered as he lost consciousness. "Get him in the van. He won't be out long. We need to get him to the house fast. She said the effects of the small amount of Kryptonite he ingested eating that chocolate dessert should last until tomorrow but who knows if she's right. It may not be enough to keep him from regaining his strength before long." "You wasn't supposed to hit him, Joe. She's gonna be mad." "Yeah. Well she'll be a lot madder if he gets away before she finishes with him. Come on let's go." They carried Clark to the van, threw him bodily through the open side door and drove off with Lois Lane following in her jeep. SSSSSSSSSSSS After Clark was taken inside, Lois walked around the exterior of the place. Even for this section of Metropolis, the house seemed unusually neglected. It desperately needed a new roof and paint was peeling off the eaves. The shrubbery surrounding the house was overgrown, providing numerous opportunities for concealment of unwanted intruders. Looking into the windows on the ground floor, Lois saw that the interior of the house was no better kept than the exterior. The furniture, what there was of it, was cheap. The kitchen table had one bent leg and only two chairs. The living room furniture's upholstery was badly worn. A few of the rooms were completely empty and all of them could do with a fresh coat of paint. Afraid Superman's captives would hide him in the basement or another secluded part of the house, Lois was almost relieved to observe him laying on the floor in the living room. The net was gone but... **They have him tied up like some kind of Christmas package, ** she reflected. **He doesn't appear to have regained consciousness yet. ** Lois crept up to the room's patio door and hid herself behind one side of the open drapes. **They must be pretty sure there's no one around to be so careless. In this area, I guess even thieves wouldn't bother with this place. ** The entrance into the room of a woman interrupted her musings. **Ariana Carlin. What's she doing out of prison? ** Not the meticulously dressed woman Lois remembered but acting in a manner decidedly Ariana Carlin, Ariana walked over to Clark and looked down on him. "Why is he still sleeping?" "We figured we needed a bit more insurance so I hit him." "With what?" "With a sledgehammer, Lady. He's Superman." Angry, Ariana retorted, "you fools. I told you not to harm him. I want the merchandise undamaged when my buyer gets here." Her words sent a cold chill down Lois's spine. "Besides I have my own insurance," she informed them. She retrieved a small lead-lined box from the fireplace mantel, then walked back to where Superman lay. Opening the box she took out a small piece of green rock, telling her cohorts, "This is the last piece of Kryptonite, but it should be sufficient to keep him incapacitated until my buyer is able to claim him." She placed the tiny crystal on the floor just out of Superman's reach. To anyone else on Earth, the tiny rock was just a pretty green gemstone, but to Superman it was deadly, so the sudden pain engendered by the nearness of even that small piece was sufficient to wake Clark. He groaned. "So Superman, you're finally awake." "Ariana?" Clark sounded weak and confused. Ariana taunted, "Yes, it's me Superman. I pulled a few strings to get out of the prison you sent me to. They took away all the money Lex left me after Lois Lane caused his death and you let him die. 'I wasn't entitled to inherit,' they told me before they gave it all away to those useless charities. It's all your fault and you're going to pay for it." "But Lex is alive and in prison. Gretchen Kelly brought him back to life." "The incompetent fool. That man in prison is not my Lex. He doesn't even have hair!" She screamed. In a soft, almost rational tone, she continued. "Lex is dead and his money's gone, but I'm getting it all back with interest. You're my goods, Superman. Intergang is paying me five million dollars to deliver you to them." "How?" Clark gasped. Ariana knew what her prisoner was referring to, so she said, "Traces of Kryptonite in the dessert. Not enough to kill you but sufficient to weaken you so you could be captured and tied up for delivery." She laughed - a bitter, evil sound that made even the six hardened men who were watching shudder inwardly. "And this little piece of Kryptonite will finish the job." Superman didn't need to ask what she meant. What little progress his physiology had made in getting back to normal after dinner had disappeared. What was worse, rather than just feeling queasy as he had earlier, he was in pain. He realized he would have a hard time moving even if he weren't trussed up like a turkey before roasting. "You see, Superman, some of my regular readers remain loyal. It was easy to persuade Jack Marshall that a date with you would convince his daughter that there are better fish in the sea then that do-good environmental lawyer she thinks she's in love with. When he never shows up again, Jack will think the plan worked. I insisted, too, that a romantic dinner would put the icing on the cake so to speak. The icing of course, which I supplied, contained Kryptonite unbeknownst to Jack Marshall. 'You need to make sure they eat it together,' I instructed. 'After all that's the way to any man's heart, even a Super one.'" Forgetting that she wanted her 'goods' delivered undamaged, Ariana screamed, "As if you're any kind of man, you freak," as she gave him a vicious kick in the groin. Superman just groaned again, but Lois was hard-pressed not to burst in and slug Ariana Carlin. Now she understood the phrase 'wanting to scratch her eyes out.' "Well enough of that. I'll soon be rid of you, Superman, and I'll be richer than I ever thought possible when I was writing that stupid column. As for you, you'll be dead or worse. Intergang has ways of handling those who disappoint it. I couldn't care less what they do with you once they have you. I'll get Lois Lane too and make her pay for driving my Lex to his death." Upon hearing her threat, Superman struggled against the bonds holding him but he was too weak to break them. Ariana headed toward the front door pointing. "You four come with me to meet the buyer. You two stay behind and guard my merchandise." "Wait a minute," Joe protested. "How come you're gonna take four of *my* guys with you. What do you need them for when Chuckie and I are supposed to guard Superman?" "Don't be an idiot. That's what the Kryptonite is for. Intergang is paying me to turn the captured alien over to their buyer. If he thinks we need six men to guard Superman, he may balk. But Joe wasn't convinced. "My boys ain't goin with you without my say so and I ain't sure that little piece of Kryptonite is enough." "Oh, all right," Ariana retorted. "I'll make sure it's enough." Picking up the sliver of Kryptonite, she lifted the top half of Superman's suit and placed it against his bare chest. Clark screamed from the pain, but Ariana only pulled the shirt down roughly and tucked it firmly into his tights, effectively wedging the poisonous rock in place. Clark desperately fought to remain conscious as the killer meteorite sapped his strength further while causing him unbearable agony. He didn't want them to know that a piece this small would, given sufficient time, kill him. "There that should hold him until we get back," Ariana concluded. "We'll be back inside of an hour and I better not see a mark on him when I return." "What about the guy tied up in the room down the hall?" Joe asked. "Oh, him. We'll dispose of him when we get back. A kind of added bonus for Jack Marshall." Ariana actually giggled. SSSSSSSSSSSSS As Ariana Carlin and four of the thugs left the house, Lois observed **Only two of them. Plan Lane! Don't go off half-cocked and blow it. ** But when she heard a groan escape from Clark's lips, she had to fight to restrain herself from breaking in and attacking Superman's captors right then and there. Going around to a broken window she'd noticed in the rear of the house, she pushed it open and climbed inside. Silently and agonizingly slowly, she made her way back to the room where Clark was being held. Concealed by the rear door of the living room, she stood and listened, waiting for an opportunity to present itself. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long. Clark was still conscious but neither captor seemed to care. "I'm hungry. Go get some burgers, two large orders of fries and two cokes," Joe ordered. "She ain't gonna like it, Joe." "She ain't gonna know. She won't be back for an hour. We eat and clean up. You be sure you're back in ten minutes." After the other man left through the front door, Joe walked over and looked down at Superman. He could see that Superman wouldn't be conscious much longer and he didn't want that. He lifted up the top half of the Superman costume, pulled out the Kryptonite, and set it on the floor nearby. The relief was so great it almost caused Clark to faint, but Joe, mindful of Ariana's threat, grabbed him before he could topple over and hit his head then shook him fully awake. Clark's relief was short-lived. "When we was tossing the net over you, Superman, you kicked me. Now you're gonna pay for that kick. You're about to learn what pain feels like to us humans, alien. I'm gonna burn you good with this lighter." He flicked a small cigarette lighter on. "The burns will be hidden under your suit, so she won't know until after I get paid for my work and get outta here and with the Kryptonite on the floor but not touching you, I'm gonna see that you remain awake to feel every touch of the flame. That's why I sent Chuckie away. I'm not really hungry and I doubt you will be when I'm through with you." As Joe brought the lighter close to Clark's vulnerable skin, Clark felt the heat and tried to pull away. "What no screams yet. Wait until the flame actually touches you, then we'll see if Superman can shout 'help'!'" the vengeful leader observed. **What's the use of yelling for help? There's no one around. I'm alone. I'll always be alone, ** Clark thought hopelessly. **What is it with these people? ** Lois mused as she crept stealthily into the room. **They either want to kill Clark or torture him. Well Joe's not gonna do either if I have any say in the matter. ** Coming up behind Joe, she tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around to see who was there, she drop kicked him and followed that with a Karate chop to the neck. Joe was down for the count. Hastily she closed the lighter so it wouldn't burn Clark, then, retrieving the lead-lined box, she placed the Kryptonite safely inside and shut the lid. "L-Lois?" "Yes, Clark, it's me." Lois was nervous. It had been so long since they had been together. **Does he still care? ** she wondered. Taking refuge in the only way she knew other than by getting angry, she babbled. "I don't suppose you can break those bonds. No of course you can't. Otherwise you would've by now. We have to get you free. There are so many knots, Clark. I can't untie them all. It'll take too much time. Should I check the kitchen and try to find a knife do you think? Will you stay here?" **Now that's a really silly thing to say girl. Where's he going tied up like that? ** "I'm not going anywhere, Lois," Clark confirmed, his voice slow and soft in sharp contrast to her babbling. "No, I guess you're not." She went into the kitchen and came back in a less than minute with a large butcher knife in hand. "This should do it." She slashed the bonds open and together they pulled the bindings off him. Helping Clark to his feet, she asked anxiously, "Can you walk?" He nodded shakily and they started down the hall, Lois pulling an unsteady Clark behind her. "We better get you out of here before the other guard gets back. That could be any minute now. He was supposed to be back in ten minutes. That's not very long." Lois was still babbling. Stopping, Clark said, "Wait, Lois," as he looked intently into her eyes. **She's so beautiful. Does she still love me, or is she just helping the world's Superman to escape? ** He had to find out now. Putting his whole life on the line, Clark lifted her hair and placed his large hand on her neck behind her right ear. Gently he ran his hand down the edge of her cheek in the familiar caress that he alone used. Lois closed her eyes, clearly savoring the moment, so Clark bent his head and pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss. She opened her eyes at the touch of his lips and pulled him into an embrace, returning his kiss with one of her own. **She still loves me. I haven't lost her, ** Clark thought as he felt the tensions of the last few weeks leave his body. SSSSSSS To be continued in part 3 of 4 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 11:42:30 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: youforgotpt3 (4) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lois and Clark Engaged PART 1 - You forgot? By Daydreamer80 Part 3 of 4 After both partners enjoyed a moment to affirm their mutual love, Lois pulled away and said softly, "We really have to go. We'll go out the back door and walk to the front of the house. The jeep's about a block away." Despite the lingering pain from his recent exposure to Kryptonite, Clark grinned happily. "Lead on Ms. Lane." Then he remembered something he'd heard Ariana say. "Lois, wait! What about the man they're holding in the back room?" "Don't worry, we'll get him on the way." She pointed to the knife still tucked into the waistband of her jeans. "I hope they haven't drugged him. I could use a little help with you, big guy." "Lois, I'm sorry," Clark responded contritely. "Lighten up, Clark. You're not responsible for your current weakness, Ariana Carlin is. Now get into Superman mode." After a short but draining walk for Clark, they found the room with the captive in it. The man was awake and straining at his bonds, far fewer than had been used on Superman. He was a tall, young blond fellow in his late-twenties. In spite of his ordeal, Lois was relieved to see that he looked fit and fairly strong. "It's okay," Lois assured him. "We're escaping ourselves and we're taking you with us." Just a few swipes with the knife soon freed him. "Thank you, Miss?" "Lane, Lois Lane. Come on, we don't have much time." "The reporter?" He remembered his manners. "Jim Richards," he told her holding out his hand, determined to be courteous even in these circumstances. He saw that she had a man with her. He was leaning heavily against the wall next to the door and was staring at Jim, who wondered what he was thinking. Then he noticed the outfit the man was dressed in. "Superman!" he cried out astonished. "Can you fly us out of here?" "'Fraid not. A little problem with Kryptonite." Clark had a sheepish grin on his face. Lois went over to Clark, threw the knife away, and handed the lead- lined box to him. "Superman needs our help right now. Can you lend a hand here?" Lois asked Jim Richards, as she placed her shoulder under Clark's right arm. Jim Richards got the idea right away and went over to Superman's left side to add his support. Together they were able to brace Clark sufficiently for the three of them to make their way outside and around to the front of the house. They stopped abruptly, still concealed by the overgrowth, as a car pulled up. The second thug got out laden with bags of food, the smell of which caused Lois's mouth to water. She'd been too busy spying - **Yes Lane, admit it, you were spying** - on Superman's date to eat anything since lunchtime. Fortunately neither of the others appeared to have the same reaction to the aroma. As soon as the man entered the house, Jim Richards whispered urgently, "Which way to this jeep of yours?" "About a block down that way," Lois told him pointing. Jim and Lois moved as quickly as they could while almost dragging Superman along between them and they soon reached Lois's jeep. The two of them had to practically push Superman up into the passenger side front seat, no easy feat. Clark was mortified at being so helpless. If he could at least levitate he could take some of the pressure off them, but even that simple power was temporarily beyond him. Lois noticed his reaction and whispered, "Hush, love. I told you it's not your fault." Grateful for her use of the word 'love,' Superman smiled tenderly at Lois Lane. Unfortunately, while the words were inaudible, the expression on the Superhero's face did not go unnoticed by Jim Richards, who gave him a started look. **Oh, great, ** thought Clark. **I just blew almost a year of distancing Superman from his alleged girlfriend, Lois Lane. ** In her rear-view mirror, Lois saw the two thugs race out of the house. Flooring the Jeep's accelerator, she drove off, tires screeching as she turned random corners in an attempt to elude pursuit. The Jeep was blocks away before their followers could even start the parked car. Slowing down once it became obvious they'd left the two thugs well behind, Lois headed for central Metropolis to drop Jim Richards off at his apartment near the Metropolis U. campus. Jim asked if they intended to call the police, but Lois and Superman both felt that it would be a wasted effort. By the time the police could get to the house, Superman told Jim, Ariana Carlin and her thugs, along with any evidence that the house had been recently occupied, would surely be gone. To their question as to why she had him kidnapped, Jim Richards had no answer. "I guess you're right. There's not much use involving the police," Jim agreed. "Thanks for saving my life, Superman." "Thank Lois," Clark responded with a grin. "She's pretty handy to have around." "Oh, you," returned Lois, hitting him on the arm. "Take it easy, Lois. That still hurt." "I'm sorry, Superman," Lois returned apologetically. Turning to Jim Richards, Clark said seriously, "Please don't tell anyone about tonight. It was tough enough protecting her when the papers kept speculating about Superman's girlfriend. If people knew how much I depend on her, I don't know what would happen." "I won't," Jim promised as he got out of the jeep. Not one to tell tales, he realized that, if there were indeed a relationship between these two, neither one of them wanted that fact spread around. He certainly wasn't going to be the one to do so, not after Lois Lane had, he knew, just saved his life. The woman who had him kidnapped had no intention of freeing him as she had promised once she was finished with her business. Lois decided to drive directly to Clark's apartment. "Wait in the jeep. I'll go inside and get you a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, black, preferably." "Third drawer from the bottom on the left." "Right." She was back in a short time, then drove to a nearby park. The park appeared deserted but Lois drove around cautiously until she came to a secluded area. She parked under some concealing trees while Clark changed out of the suit, then they returned to Clark's apartment. Lois put her arm around Clark's waist, supporting her still weak partner as they walked unhurried into his apartment as if returning from a night out. "Clark, lay down on the couch and rest. I'll make tea." "That would be great, Lois." "And if you don't mind, I'll make myself a sandwich. The smell of that takeout really got to me." She stopped abruptly wondering if she'd given anything away, but Clark didn't seem to notice. "Just tea for me, Lois, thank you. I'm not hungry." Actually he was pretty tired from the small amount of walking he'd had to do to get home. Lois came back into the room about ten minutes later carrying a tray laden with tea and crackers and a huge triple-decker sandwich. "You really are hungry. A person would think you haven't had a thing to eat since lunch," Clark laughed. Lois turned beet red and mumbled something about running around after stories giving one an appetite. Clark knew that was sometimes true but not today and he wondered what she was hiding, but decided not to pursue the subject. Their accord was too new, too fragile and he had no intention of shattering it. "Lois, I know we need to talk about the date thing and all, but not tonight, okay?" "Sure," she agreed almost too eagerly. "We need to get your strength back first, although it does bother me that Ariana Carlin got away Scot free and will probably be back again to trouble us further. SSSSSSSS In this however, Lois was wrong. When Ariana Carlin returned with the four thugs and the representative from Intergang, it was to a deserted house, Joe and Chuckie having fled rather than stay and face her wrath. Ariana was livid. "I'll get that alien freak and when I do . . . " The man from Intergang only said coldly, "You promised us Superman, delivered wrapped up and controllable with the chunk of Kryptonite I brought. That's why we arranged for your release." Frightened now, Ariana tried to run, but the other four, no dummies they, stopped her and brought her back to him. "Secure her," he ordered. One man, obviously the new leader of Ariana's former cohorts, gave instructions. "You, get the rope and tie her hands behind her back." The other thug pulled so hard that she screamed but the thug only secured the rope tighter around Ariana's wrists. "Wait," Ariana pleaded. "Don't you want to know how I managed to weaken and capture Superman? Surely that's worth something to Intergang." Looking around the room, the man from Intergang told her, "I don't see any Superman." "But I had him. Superman was weakened by the Kryptonite in his food. That's why he was so easily overcome and brought here where a tiny piece of Kryptonite held him captive. You saw that, didn't you?" she asked the new leader. He, however, decided that there was no future with Ariana Carlin and they'd better distance themselves from her. "Yeah, so *you* said. But maybe you was wrong. Maybe Superman was just playin' possum. You know - pretending to be helpless to find out who you was workin' with. Superman didn't have no trouble gettin' away and Joe and Chuckie are gone too." The man from Intergang became angry and apprehensive as well. He didn't know what to believe but he decided the less said to his superiors about Ariana's crazy scheme the better. Further if Ariana was wrong, the cops could be on their way right now so they'd better get out fast. He'd make sure neither Ariana Carlin nor the others involved in her plot would talk to the cops or to his superiors at Intergang. "You four will be welcomed into the Intergang family," he told the remaining thugs. "Bring her. Intergang has ways of handling those who disappoint it. When we get finished with you, Ariana, you'll wish you were back in that nice cozy prison cell." A cold chill similar to the one Lois had felt earlier went down Ariana's spine. The four thugs soon learned that working for someone who 'disappointed Intergang,' even if only for a short time, was definitely not good for their health. But for Ariana Carlin, Intergang had other plans. They spirited Ariana out of the US, stripped her of her identity and possessions, and sold her, like the merchandise she had tried to make of Superman, to the Madam of an Intergang connected 'House of Ill Repute' somewhere on the European continent. She was at first trained and used as one of the 'hostesses' but her personality soon proved unpleasant to the House's clientele and she was soon relegated to the position of servant to the other girls. She toiled long hours dressing and grooming them and was frequently beaten for being too slow or surly. She spent her one free hour a week writing psychological profiles of the women but no one ever read a word Ariana Carlin wrote. About a year later, Intergang contacted Lex Luthor through Nigel St. John and asked for ransom, but Lex told him he had no money and he really didn't care what happened to her anyway. She disappeared from the 'House of Ill Repute' and no trace of her was ever found again. Neither Ariana Carlin nor any one of the other four captors troubled Lois or Superman again. SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS "I sure wish we could've waited around and snatched whatever the Intergang contact was bringing, maybe another, larger piece of Kryptonite." "Are you crazy? I don't care about the Kryptonite. I don't care about anything except your safety. Clark, you're not leaving this house until you're fully recovered from that wretched stuff." Tired emotionally and physically from the event-filled day, Lois finally allowed herself to cry. Clark took her into his arms and sighed. "I have a feeling I won't be myself until sometime tomorrow at the earliest." "Well," she told him through her tears, "I'm not leaving you alone until you are. I'm staying here tonight." He never could stand to see her cry, so he gave in. "Okay, finish your sandwich. There's an oversized T-shirt in the bottom drawer of the bedroom dresser that you can put on. I'll sleep on the couch. You take the bed." But Lois had no intention of allowing Clark to sleep on the sofa. She finished the sandwich and cleared away the food. "I'm going to go get ready for bed now, but first . . ." She kissed him passionately and murmured, "I love you and I'm sorry for all the mean things I said at my apartment." "Lois, it's still this millenium," Clark countered alluding to Lois's often avowed promise not to apologize to anyone, particularly Clark Kent, 'not in this millenium.' Clark tried to laugh but, still somewhat weakened from the Kryptonite poisoning, he only wound up with a coughing fit. Lois stopped his coughing with another kiss, then went to the bathroom to prepare for sleeping over. She couldn't help wishing that they were already married so she could put on that black teddy he'd bought for her the day after she asked him to marry her. **Stop it girl. Even if the teddy was here, Clark's in no condition for that - not after Kryptonite. ** She was sorry that they had agreed to wait until after they were married to become lovers, especially since that day kept getting further and further away. To be concluded in part 4 of 4 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 11:46:06 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Charlotte Fisler Subject: youforgotpt4 (4) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lois and Clark Engaged PART 1 - You forgot? By Daydreamer80 Part 4 of 4 Conclusion "I'm ready now, Clark but first I want to make up the couch for you," Lois called from the bathroom door. "Lois, you don't have to do that." "Clark, you're not going to be doing any floating tonight. Without your powers you're bound to be uncomfortable on that short couch in a cold room without a blanket. Suppose you caught a cold. You could you know." Clark wasn't convinced her logic made a great deal of sense but he didn't want anything to go wrong between them now that they were together again so he agreed to her plan. **How long can it take her to make the living room sofa into a bed, ** he reasoned. "Extra sheets and a blanket are in the closet in the bedroom." "I can't find them," Lois called this time from Clark's bedroom. "They're right there on the top shelf." "I don't see them there," she lied. "You'll have to come in here and help me find them. Do you need my help?" "No, I'll be right there." He was tired of being practically carried around like a baby, so he determined to make it to his bedroom unaided. Getting up from the couch, Clark felt dizzy, but that soon passed. He was gratified to find that he could walk unaided, although he was still weak and none of his superpowers had yet returned. Grinning, he entered the bedroom. Lois was standing next to the bed wearing the oversized T-shirt and little else. Even in that, Clark thought she looked beautiful. Tearing his eyes away from Lois, Clark walked over to the closet but the blanket and linens he kept there were not on the shelf. The grin faded replaced by puzzlement. "I don't understand it, Lois. I'm sure they were here." "I have them Clark and I'll put them on the couch, but *you* are sleeping in the bed." "No, you are." This time he was firm. Smugly she told him, "you'll never get the rest you need on that small couch, but it fits me fine. You're sleeping here and that's final." She patted the bed as she said that and Clark was reminded of the time they stayed in the honeymoon suite at the Lexor Hotel and argued over who would get to sleep in that bed. He couldn't resist saying "It's a big bed. How 'bout we share?" To his astonishment, Lois responded, "Good idea, now get in here." Suiting her actions to her words, Lois crawled into the near side of the king-sized bed, pulling the covers up around her. "Clark," she told him exasperated when he wouldn't move, "We both need sleep and we're not going to get it if we keep arguing about who sleeps where. Besides what could happen with you still suffering from Kryptonite exposure and me tired too?" He couldn't argue with her about that, so he went over to the far side of the bed and crawled under the covers. "Goodnight, Clark," Lois told him. When he didn't respond, she repeated, "Clark, goodnight" and finally "Goodniiight, Clark." Sourly, he finally responded with, "Goodnight, Lois." After giggling uncontrollably for a minute, Lois closed her eyes and soon fell asleep. Clark, however, was not so fortunate. All his muscles seemed too weak to respond to his dictates with a singular exception. Prompted by the knowledge that he was in bed - in bed - with the woman of his dreams, that muscle promptly rose to attention. **Stop it Kent, ** he told his aroused libido. **Superman does not force himself on a woman who has declared herself not ready for intimacy. You're here to sleep - so sleep. ** He closed his eyes, turning away from Lois, and tried not to listen to the sound of her steady breathing. Gradually his traitorous body gave up the struggle and he fell asleep. As he drifted off, his last thought was **Good thing my super hearing still hasn't kicked in.** Shortly before daybreak, Lois awoke. Still troubled by a dream she had, she reached for Clark. "Clark, where are you?" She sounded disoriented. Clark immediately woke, sat up and pulled Lois on to his lap. "It's all right Lois. I'm here." "Clark, I had a terrible dream. You were in the van ahead and they were racing away and I couldn't catch them. Then the man kept hitting you with a sledge hammer and I tried to stop them but all six of them surrounded me and Ariana just laughed and laughed." "Hush" he soothed, pulling her tight against him. The nearness of Lois, clad only in a T-shirt and panties, soon had the same effect on Clark as earlier. This time Lois was awake and sitting on his lap and she felt his arousal. Clark tried to pull away, but Lois turned passion filled eyes on him and whispered, "I don't wanna wait, Clark. I want you. Make love to me now, please?" "Lois, are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure. You can, can't you? You're not too weak from the Kryptonite, are you?" "Lois, I may not have any super powers right now, but I'm not too weak for that." "Good, because I told you I would love you just the same if you were an ordinary man." Lois kissed him to prove her point and before long Clark proved he was indeed a man just like she was a woman. SSSSSSSSSSSSS Morning came and the sun's rays fell on Clark's face, as they had every sunny morning since his parents noticed its beneficial effect on their unusual child and moved him to a bedroom where he would receive full advantage from the morning sunshine. Lying in it always felt good, but this time it was heavenly because Lois was sleeping in his arms. Since she didn't seem inclined to wake early and it was Saturday so neither of them was scheduled to work, Clark pulled her closer and drifted back to sleep. A few hours later, Lois awoke, surprised to see by the clock on the dresser that it was almost eleven. She nudged her still sleeping partner. "Good morning, Lois," he said shyly. "Good morning, Clark. Hmmm, you look good in the morning." Clark blushed furiously as Lois watched delighted. **I'm gonna have to make sure that he does that on a regular basis after we're married, maybe just when we're alone, certainly not when he's in the suit. Superman blushing would really set tongues wagging. ** Visions of all the delectable ways she could arrange that soon led to other more erotic thoughts, but Lois pushed them firmly aside. **Now is not the time for that girl. ** "So, how about some breakfast?" "Good idea, Lois, but I'll fix it." He was well aware of his partner's lack of any culinary skills. "Why don't you shower in the meantime?" "I hate to put yesterday's clothes back on. Maybe we should just go back to my place right now." "I have a couple of clean things around that should fit you," Clark pointed out hastily. He didn't want her to leave and he couldn't very well fly her home to get clean clothes. "Go shower while I make us breakfast." "Are you okay with that? I mean you're still not too weak, are you?" "Nah. I should be able to get around," he told her getting out of the bed to prove it. **No dizziness, good! ** He glanced toward the kitchen and was able to see through the bedroom wall, but only for a short time before the power faded. "Looks like my powers are starting to return, but I probably won't be doing much flying until tomorrow. Maybe we could go to Smallville on Sunday. That is if you want to?" He was asking her about much more than just a visit and she hastened to reassure him. "I'd love to. I'll need to return my Jeep later, but until then let's spend today like an ordinary, practically engaged, couple." She gave him a quick passionate kiss filled with promises of more to come and went into the bathroom. Clark found a suitable T-shirt and a pair of old, but serviceable jeans. His mother left them behind the last time his parents visited. He'd taken his folks to the opening of the new children's center - no longer just called a playground - and Martha, to set an example she told Clark and his father, joined the kids in trying out all the equipment. Clark watched pleased, particularly when his usually more somber father broke down and joined Clark's mother. Since much of the play involved crawling around in the soft dirt and climbing up and down the playground equipment, their clothes got very dirty. Clark offered to wash and keep them at his apartment rather than have the filthy jeans and shirts carried all the way back to Kansas. "Who knows, maybe someone else will need a change of clothes someday," he told them little dreaming who that person would be. "If not you can get them the next time you're in Metropolis." **Thanks, Mom, ** he thought wondering if she hadn't left them deliberately for just such an opportunity. He wouldn't put it past her. SSSSSSSSSSSSS Lois and Clark spent Saturday together. 'Breakfast' or more accurately 'brunch' was eaten in the small outdoor patio behind Clark's apartment so he could continue to get the full effect of the sun's rays. "What about the story, Lois?" Clark was referring to Superman's ordeal the night before. "The Daily Planet isn't getting this one. The criminal world is not gonna know it can put Kryptonite in Superman's food and it will affect him." **Mad Dog Lane, ** he thought, but Superman had always been able to depend on her to keep information that could hurt him out of the newspaper. Now she knew his secret as well and he knew she would never divulge it, never betray him in any way even when she was angry with him. He trusted her completely and he was grateful. And he loved her with all his heart. After breakfast was over, Clark used the cell phone to let his parents know he planned to bring Lois for a visit the next day. "We should be there about one in the afternoon." Martha and Jonathan could tell by the excitement in their son's voice that the fight over the date auction between him and the woman who held his heart had been resolved favorably. "We'd love to see you both dear. I'll plan Sunday dinner for about two. I'll make fried chicken with pan gravy, the way you always like it, and homemade apple pie for dessert." Clark's mouth started to water at the thought of his mother's chicken. He hoped his powers would return in plenty of time for the trip. Not wanting to chance disappointing them though, he added, "better plan dinner for about five, that way we can call in case the flight is delayed or even cancelled due to 'technical difficulties.'" Martha knew this was her son's way of letting them know something had affected his powers and she waited for further elaboration. After a moment of silence, she sighed and told him they hoped that Clark and Lois would be able to come even if only for a short visit. After Martha hung up, she turned to Jonathan who'd been listening in on the portable phone. "I wonder what happened, Jonathan. Clark usually tells us about everything. Do you think it's so bad he can't discuss it over the phone?" "No Martha, he sounds much too happy. I think our boy has finally found someone else to share with. If I'm right, the visits and the phone calls are going to be much scarcer than in the past." "Oh." "Now, Martha," he told her tenderly. "Children grow up and they eventually find another for comfort and love. This is normal and we should be happy for Clark. Just think, you haven't lost a son, you've gained the daughter you've always wanted." "Oh, Jonathan, do you think so?" "Yes, I do." At least he hoped that his interpretation was correct. Well they would know on Sunday. SSSSSSSSSSSSS Lois and Clark spent the afternoon at Centennial Park. It was only ten blocks from Clark's apartment, so they walked, enjoying the sights of a city coming out of a long, cold winter. They wanted to maximize Clark's exposure to the healing afternoon sunshine, so they lay on a blanket in full sun for much of the time - near the duck pond, where they watched the aquatic birds at play. Lois was actually enjoying not being interrupted by Clark's super hearing picking up a distress call, but she hoped his powers would soon return. About four-thirty, Clark suddenly stopped and got a far-away look. "Do you have to - you know?" She made the flying gesture. "Not yet. But come, it's time to go. I need to try something." They walked out of the park and Clark steered them into an alley. He pulled down his glasses and looked around, then grinned. "Yep, X-ray vision and super hearing are both back. Nobody's around, so . . ." Stepping back from her, he levitated, then took off into the sky. Returning almost instantaneously, he grinned, "Looks like I'm fully functional once again." "That's wonderful," she started to tell him, when his face got that far-away look again. "Gotta go huh?" "Yeah, I'm afraid so. Sorry, honey." "It's okay, I understand." **She does understand. She always has. ** Lois Lane shared his need to make the world a better place, to help those in trouble and to protect the weak from those who would exploit them for their own ends. "How about I come over to your apartment when I'm finished?" "Good, go. I'll walk back to your apartment and get my jeep. I need to drive it back to my place anyway. Love you," she said giving him a quick kiss. "Now hurry." Superman took off and a few minutes later, Lois walked out of the alley and headed toward Clark's apartment. She drove home, stopping for Chinese - hopefully ordering two combos - and renting a selection of videos on the way. SSSSSSSSSSSSS Lois watched Lethal Weapon videos all evening, changing tapes frequently as her choices just weren't as much fun when she watched alone. Clark had been gone since before five and it was now almost midnight, so she decided to turn off the VCR and go to sleep. **Think I'll sleep out here, ** she thought, still hoping that Clark would stop by. She unlocked the living room window just before she fell asleep on the couch. About two hours later, Clark flew by her window. Seeing her sleeping, he was about to leave when he realized the window was unlocked - for the first time in three weeks. Joyfully, he tapped softly, awakening Lois. "Hi." "Hi, can I come in?" "Please," she invited. He stepped inside and floated to the floor. "Sorry I'm so late. Every time Superman isn't seen patrolling for a day or so, every petty crook in Metropolis comes out of the woodwork." "Poor baby. Had a busy night. Come over here and tell me all about it." Grateful to be able to unburden himself, Clark told her about his evening while she reheated the Chinese food. After Clark's hunger for both food and emotional support had been filled, Lois invited him to stay until daybreak. They made love slowly savoring the experience before Lois fell asleep again. Her happy partner lay in the dark, thinking over the events of the last two days. He had been wrong when he felt so alone Friday night. She had been there for him all along and once again she'd saved Superman's life. He hadn't been truly alone, he realized, since Lois Lane came into his life. She had acknowledged and accepted his alien nature right from the start. Many people would have reacted with fear or even revulsion to a strange being who could swallow bombs without ill effect, lift a space craft into orbit, and fly, but Lois Lane offered him admiration, friendship, and later even love. **Admit it Kent, you did steal her Superman story, even if your reasons were good, ** he thought. Because he'd made her think that he was two different people, he'd been hurt by her avowed preference for the Superhero side of him and had hurt her with that lead-lined robe remark, driving her right into the arms of Lex Luthor. He did have good reasons for his actions. Lois had hurt him as well, ignoring his Clark side so often in the early days of their relationship. They had been through so much to get to this point, but he knew it was not the end of their problems. Life is a process of self-discovery and he, an alien being who knew little of his origin, had an even more difficult time ahead of him. But with Lois beside him, he could do it. He could do anything. **I'm not alone anymore! ** The End Although the Engagement series continues in Lois and Clark Engaged Part 2 Are you Sure? Wherin a few loose ends from this part will be disposed of. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 14:49:56 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: When Lightning Strikes Twice: Part 09/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Title: When Lightning Strikes Twice Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG-13 Part: 9 of ? Comments: Public or private --------------------------------------------------------------- It was late afternoon by the time Lois managed to get back to Metropolis; there had been the two-hour - and very expensive - taxi-ride to Wichita, having sneaked out of the house without running into either Jonathan or Martha - she knew they would have tried to stop her, or somehow got hold of Superman to prevent her leaving. She=92d then had to wait around for a flight; in the end she=92d had to make a two-stage journey with an hour-long= delay in between. All the time she=92d been unable to keep the thoughts of what might have happened to Clark from her mind. She was dreading arriving back to find him already dead - like those former associates and opponents of Luthor who, she=92d discovered from the news broadcasts she=92d managed t= o catch en route, had been murdered. Luthor was on a killing spree, and she could only hope and pray that Clark was not going to be the next victim. She took a cab straight to his apartment, but he still wasn't there; or, at least, he wasn=92t answering the door. Visions of her partner and best frien= d lying dead or dying on the floor assailed her, and she rummaged frantically in her bag for her trusty lock-picking devices, otherwise known as hairpins. A few moments later, she was shoving open Clark=92s front door. There was no sign of him anywhere in the open-plan area immediately inside, so she hurried through the kitchen and around into his bedroom. That was also empty, as was the bathroom. Wherever Clark was, dead or alive, he was not in his apartment. Grabbing the notebook she always carried with her, she wrote a note and left it on the kitchen table, taking care to weigh it down in case it blew away, then hurried back to her own apartment to think about what to try next. He had to be somewhere... someone had to have seen him during the day! The alternative was too horrible to contemplate. She just couldn=92t cope with losing Clark again. If he had been killed... she swallowed, refusing to countenance that possibility even for a second. Back at her apartment, she quickly turned on her TV to watch LNN; she was just in time for an update on the murders, and she held her breath until the sixth victim was named. It wasn't Clark; she sighed with relief before allowing herself to think about who had been killed. She recognised all the names; some were even people she=92d met, one in the company of Lex Luthor himself. All were either ex-associates or rivals; she recognised one name as the CEO of a small construction company which had gained a contract Lex had wanted, during the period of her engagement to him. She=92d thought at the time that Lex=92s anger at losing out on the bid had seemed a little disproportionate; now, it was clear to her that he must have had some ulterior motive in wanting that contract. Again, with the benefit of hindsight, it amazed her that she had been so blind to the real Luthor which lay behind the suave, urbane businessman. So he was definitely bent on revenge, although Gretchen Kelly didn=92t seem to fit into that category - perhaps he=92d just wanted to shut her up? Lois had no doubt whatsoever, despite the police official line that no link had been confirmed between the Kelly murder and the others, that Luthor had killed the woman. Kelly had been Luthor=92s doctor, and Superman had told he= r how it had been Kelly who had engineered the Super-powers transfer. He=92d probably killed her to stop her trying to do it again, or trying to reverse it, or to stop her talking... knowing Lex Luthor, there were any number of possible motives. But his method was nothing short of gruesome. There had been a sexual assault - although the police had left open the possibility that it might have been consensual, the news reports had managed to ascertain that there had been violence. Okay, Lois reasoned, the man might not be fully aware of his own strength, but to sleep with a woman and not care about hurting her was as good a rape, in Lois=92s opinion. And then there had been the murder itself. The news reports had been very sketchy, and Lois was itching to call Henderson and demand more information; she would do so once she=92d managed to locate Clark, she decided. All she=92d been able to find out was that some insignia had been burned into Gretchen Kelly=92s body; the police weren=92t saying what the nature of that insignia was, claiming that it would damage their investigation. Lois wondered what Henderson made of all this; Superman had made it clear to Lois that he wanted no-one to know about Luthor=92s resurrection and acquisition of Super-powers, and yet it had to be obvious that there was something highly unusual going on here. Superman had attended the scene of each and every murder, too, from what she=92d been able to glean; that was also unusual. Could Superman have taken Henderson into his confidence? It was possible, she supposed. If Lex Luthor was on a killing spree, then Superman would feel honour bound to help the police in any way possible, and from what she knew of the Man of Steel she felt certain that he would be feeling bad about not having managed to prevent the murders - probably blaming himself for the fact that the transfer of Super-powers had happened at all. So there had been six victims so far... the question was: who was next? Lois was hoping and praying that it wouldn=92t be Clark, or Perry, or anyone= else she cared about. The sound of rushing wind outside her window made her swing around with an annoyed grimace: she=92d hoped that Superman would be too busy to catch up with her this soon. Martha and Jonathan must have had some means of contacting him, she realised. She felt a twinge of guilt for the way she=92d= treated Clark=92s parents: they=92d shown her nothing but kindness and conce= rn for her safety, yet she=92d sneaked out of the farmhouse behind their backs and left them nothing but a note. And now Superman was here to drag her back to Smallville - or somewhere else, if Clark=92s parents refused to have her back. She stood in the middle= of her living-room, waiting for the familiar blue suit and red cape to appear, resigned to Superman=92s interference; at least, she thought, she=92= d be able to ask Superman about Clark. If anyone knew where he was, it would be Superman. She only hoped it wasn=92t bad news - The sight of a black mass outside the window, accompanied by the violent sound of shattering glass, made her jump back in shock. This wasn=92t Superman! A tall figure, masked and dressed entirely in black and wearing an old- fashioned black cloak, the hood thrown back to reveal dark curly hair, stood in her living-room, a triumphant smile on his face. =93Lois, how charming you look, my love! Are you surprised to see me?=94 Silently cursing herself, Lois met his gaze with a challenging stare. =93Lex= - couldn=92t you have just knocked at the door?=94 she asked, her tone deliberately unimpressed. =93Ah, so our mutual friend in blue told you about my somewhat changed circumstances,=94 he replied smoothly. =93What a shame - he denied me the opportunity to be the gallant knight, catching the lady when she swooned in shock at the sight of me.=94 =93You should have stayed dead, Lex,=94 Lois told him bluntly, conscious tha= t she was probably doing the wrong thing by risking arousing his wrath; but she had no intention of pretending to be glad to see him. In fact, the sight of him was causing her to ask herself, in complete astonishment, how she could ever have considered marrying him. =93Ah, but that wouldn=92t have been as much fun, Lois,=94 he replied, tilti= ng his head sideways in the way she remembered. =93And you and I have some unfinished business: how could I not come back?=94 =93Any business between us is over and done with,=94 she said flatly. She wanted to turn on her heel and walk away, signalling the end of the discussion, but it was far too dangerous to turn her back on a Super- powered Lex Luthor. So instead she stood her ground, hoping that the growing fear she felt inside didn=92t show on her face. Where was Superman? Didn=92t he know she needed him *now*? All her instincts= were screaming at her to yell for him immediately, but her rational mind was pointing out that to do so could be fatal. Luthor could kill her instantly and be gone before Superman arrived. Or it could be that he intended to use her as a lure, that he *wanted* her to call for Superman, and that his real aim was to kill the Super-hero. Could he kill Superman? She=92d wondered that the previous evening, but when= she=92d tentatively asked Superman himself about the danger he might be in, he hadn=92t given her any indication at all, instead brushing aside her concerns. It was probably better to keep Superman away, for now. It was entirely possible that Lex wouldn=92t kill her, after all - she'd been his fiancee, for heaven=92s sake! Surely that meant he felt something for her still? But Luthor had always been impossible to read; he was perfectly capable of smiling charmingly at her while at the same time plotting her destruction, or intending to use her as a means of getting to someone else. She made her decision: she would not call for Superman. She would take the chance that Luthor didn=92t actually want to kill her, and deal with whatever threat he represented herself. =93Lois, my love, you cut me to the quick,=94 he drawled, taking a couple of= steps closer to her, the heavy cloak almost entangling itself in his legs as he did so. =93We=92re still engaged, as far as I=92m aware, and if we had= n=92t been so rudely interrupted on the occasion of our last meeting, you would be my wife.=94 thought Lois fiercely, at the same time wondering whether it was actually possible that Lex couldn=92t have heard her say =91no=92 during the= ceremony. But she dismissed that thought just as quickly: she remembered him staring at her and repeating that single syllable, a disbelieving expression on his face. Yes, he=92d heard all right. So either he was missin= g some part of his memories, or was deranged, or he was playing some sort of clever game with her. And since he remembered the police invading the wedding ceremony, she was more inclined to believe the latter. Deliberately relaxing her facial expression into a light smile, she shook her head. =93Lex, I know now that I should never have said I=92d marry you,=94= she told him, her tone regretful. =93I just don=92t think we=92d have been r= ight for each other.=94 =93Ah, but I disagree, my sweet Lois,=94 he replied smoothly. =93But it=92s = not too late. We have a second chance.=94 He smiled briefly, then sang mockingly, =93Come fly with me....=94 In a sudden blurry movement, he was gripping her, his hands like steel bands around her upper arms. She tried to struggle, but his strength was far too great for her; kicking at his ankles did nothing other than to wreck her shoes and hurt her feet. Instead she tried to make it difficult for him to grab her properly, by kicking out at the furniture and anything else in the way. He simply allowed her to do this for a few moments, then in another sudden movement scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder, one arm pinning her to him. Then he was flying out of the window with her. Her arm was dangling down behind his back; she felt a sharp pain as her hand scraped against the broken glass in the window-frame. She knew she was bleeding, but in her current predicament there was nothing she could do about it. But there was no way that she was calling for Superman - she still had no answer to her earlier fear that Luthor might kill him. She considered the available evidence. Luthor was as powerful as Superman; had all the same abilities. Luthor had no scruples at all about killing, whereas Superman did; but would Superman feel that killing Luthor in these circumstances was justifiable? She didn=92t know. Until recently, she=92d thought that Superman wouldn=92t do anything which was morally wrong; but then he had lied to her about Resplendent Man, so clearly there were some limits to his ethics. Would the existence of a completely conscienceless villain with powers similar to his be sufficient to overrule his scruples when it came to killing? Lois simply didn=92t know. So here she was being carried off somewhere by Luthor, possibly as bait for Superman or possibly because he wanted her for some other purpose - and that latter possibility was enough to make her feel very scared indeed. Her only consolation lay in the knowledge that, if Superman did go to her apartment looking for her, he would know that she had been abducted against her will. But what if this was precisely what Lex Luthor wanted him to think? In that case, in returning to Metropolis and as a result getting herself captured by Luthor, she might have succeeded in luring Superman into danger as well. **************** Clark forced himself to breathe calmly, normally. He would be of no use to Lois whatsoever if he started to panic; he was Superman, after all, and Superman never panicked! He had to think rationally, to figure out where Luthor could have taken Lois. And, he reminded himself, at least the man had *taken* Lois somewhere. If he=92d intended to kill her, why wouldn=92t he have just killed her on the spot? So all the indicators pointed to Luthor wanting Lois kept alive. Alive, but for what purpose? he asked himself as he flew carefully through the shattered window into Lois=92s apartment. Clark could envisage two possible reasons why Luthor might want Lois alive, and they weren=92t necessarily mutually exclusive. He could want to extract his revenge on her for jilting him at the altar; he had wanted to possess Lois, and now she was in no position to fight him off. Clark=92s blood ran cold again at the thought of Luthor using Lois as he had Gretchen Kelly; even if he didn=92t kill her in the same way, raping her would be bad enough. The thought of Lois suffering in that way, at the hands of someone it was clear now repulsed her - and whom she possibly feared - tortured him, and with the added possibility that the man might *hurt* her without either knowing or caring, because of his enhanced strength.... Clark forced himself to push those fears aside. Thinking about Lois=92s possible fate at Luthor=92s hands wasn=92t helping him to *help* her. He nee= ded to be rational, to think clearly. So, taking his revenge for being jilted was one possible motive Luthor could have for abducting Lois. He might want to frighten her, or hurt her, or merely to enjoy having her at his mercy. And the other motive wasn=92t too difficult to deduce. It was by now a well known maxim among the criminal fraternity that if Lois Lane was threatened Superman would come to her rescue. In fact, that fact was so well known, and had been acted upon so many times, that Clark was privately aware that one of his reasons for not telling Lois who Superman really was - that if she knew the truth she would be a target - was a complete fallacy. She was a target anyway. So Luthor could be using Lois as bait for Superman. If he was, then so be it. There was no way that Clark would just not attempt to rescue her; but he had every intention of being very careful about it. After all, remembering the last time he=92d encountered Luthor before the man=92s unfortunate resurrection, Clark knew that it was entirely= possible that Luthor could have Kryptonite. He had no idea what had happened to that cage; the following day, he=92d flown his father to Metropolis and had taken him down to Luthor=92s wine-cellar in an attempt to= destroy or otherwise dispose of the cage. But it had disappeared. Looking around Lois=92s apartment, Clark could find nothing in the way of clues. Lois had clearly put up a struggle, which gave him a guilty sense of gratification: she hadn=92t gone willingly with Luthor. But she=92d been hur= t: the blood on the windowsill and the glass told him that. It was possible, though, that it was the glass itself which had caused the injury - he Super-= sped over for a closer look. Use of his telescopic vision told him that there were fibres of skin on the jagged edge of glass; his bet was that Lois had caught her hand or her arm on the glass as she=92d been carried out= . That was something of a relief, since it indicated that Luthor hadn=92t deliberately injured her. However, since he'd allowed her to injure herself, it seemed he was indifferent as to her well-being - that in itself was worrying. So where could he have taken her? Clark restrained himself with difficulty from flying straight out the window in search of Lois and Luthor. After all, he had no idea where they could be, and he=92d just wasted a day flying aimlessly around the city in search of Luthor - when he hadn=92t been with the police or with murder victims, that was. So another such aimless flight would get him nowhere. It would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. he asked himself despairingly. But perhaps Lois hadn=92t had an opportunity to shout: Luthor could have prevented her easily enough. Or perhaps she too had guessed that her capture was a lure for Superman, and had refused to be used in that way. Either way, she hadn=92t called for help, and she still wasn=92t calling for= him, so he couldn=92t follow the sound of her voice. But if he couldn't follow the sound of her voice.... He stopped suddenly, his stance rigid as he thought through the idea which had just occurred to him. He had no idea whether it would work, but anything was worth a shot....= Superman quickly strode through to Lois=92s bedroom and began to sniff the linen on her bed, the clothes lying folded on the chair and her nightshirt, which lay under her pillow. He immediately recognised her unique scent, made up of her favourite soap and perfume, as well as the essence which was indefinably Lois. Now, all he had to do was follow his nose.... ****************** ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 13:46:17 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: StarKitty Subject: New: Threads of . . . Barbecue? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0042_01BFCE2B.41C04B20" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0042_01BFCE2B.41C04B20 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Ok, it's been a little while since I inflicted one of these companion = pieces to Threads, so I threw one together last night (wound up going to = sleep at about 230! ) So, here you go! Feedback of any kind is always = welcome, whether public or private :) Tara Threads of . . . Barbecue? Maggie hesitated, then turned and left the room. Lois pressed her face = against the cold window and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Clark." The words "Continued in Threads of Fate" faded in over the image as the = camera view panned back from the sorrowful form at the viewport. The = image faded out and was replaced by the credits scrolling upward. "Someone turn on the lights!" Kathryn Janeway ordered. "Computer, lights," Clark said. As the lights sprang back on, Kathryn gave Clark a sheepish smile. = "Thanks. I forgot we were on Voyager for a minute there." Chakotay, seated beside her, laughed easily. "I know what you mean. That = was pretty impressive, watching it from the outside. I just hope I'll = get a bigger part in the sequel." "Well, I, for one, am glad that Thread of Confusion's over," Tom Paris = volunteered from the back of the room. "Yeah, you got banged up a lot in that, didn't you?" Maggie agreed. She = was standing just a few feet away from the cocky pilot. "And how!" Tom said. He sniffed the air suddenly. "Is that . . .?" "Yep," Mary Sue said, materializing abruptly at the front of the room. = "Neelix has finished setting up the barbecue on the bridge. Go on and = eat!" Almost as one, the cast of the Voyager/Lois and Clark crossover stood = and hurried out of the briefing room that had been altered for this = viewing session and onto the bridge. Kathryn and Clark lingered behind, = obviously waiting to talk to the beautiful Mary Sue. She smiled jovially at the two as they tried to talk to her and put an = arm around both of their shoulders. "Well, how are two of my favorite = characters doing?" "We're doing fine, thanks," Kathryn said. "I'm just not so sure about = this whole barbecue on the bridge, though. It might be detrimental to = discipline." Mary Sue urged them through the doors to the bridge. Normally they would = only admit maybe two people through at a time, but this time they opened = a little wider to let all three through at once. "Don't worry about it, Kathryn," Mary Sue said, patting her shoulder = soothingly as she cuddled up to Clark. "Everything will be as good as = new for Threads of Fate." "Um, Mary Sue," Clark said uncomfortably. "Could you stop that, please?" "Stop what?" She gazed up at him through half closed lids. Then she = giggled at his expression. "All right, gorgeous. I'll stop making you = nervous." She stepped away from the two and looked around the room. The cast = seemed to be having a really good time. Tom and Harry (gorgeous guys, = both!) were talking animatedly with Jimmy Olsen from Metropolis. They = were probably telling him about some of their holodeck programs, judging = from their hand gestures. All three of them had cans of some drink and = were eating hamburgers. Beyond them, B'Elanna, Seven, Lois and Maggie = were chatting as well. Occasionally, one of them shot a look over at the = men, as if to keep tabs on what they were doing. Tuvok, the Doctor, Kes = and Dr. Klein were standing in front of the main viewer, which had been = deactivated for this party, and were talking quietly. Martha Kent, of = course, was by the barbecue with Neelix. Mary Sue chuckled softly at = that--they were undoubtedly exchanging recipes by now. Just a few feet = from them were Chakotay and Jonathon Kent. Some of the extras were there, too--including several of the reptilian = aliens, who weren't nearly as xenophobic as they had acted during the = filming. Abruptly the set rocked, throwing most of the cast staggering. Mary Sue = managed to fall directly into Clark Kent, who carefully set her back on = her feet. The Voyager cast ran for their bridge positions and the = Metropolis cast tried to get out of the way. Kathryn moved forward to stand beside Tom Paris, back in full captain = mode. "Mr. Paris, what was that?" Tom's hands flew over the console. "I don't know, Captain! That blast = took out our sensors and viewscreen!" Kathryn turned and shot Mary Sue a look. "What's going on? We're = supposed to be in break!" Mary Sue pursed her lips in annoyance. "I don't know what that was, but = I'm going to find out." She snapped her fingers and abruptly the bulkhead with the main view = screen in it disappeared. On the other side of the wall was another = bridge. One it was Q and a bunch of Metropolis reporters Mary Sue = recognized as the ones from the crater. All of them had camera's ready. "Oh, for casting's sake!" Mary Sue muttered under her breath. "Q, what = is the meaning of this?" "Oh, nothing much," Q smiled charmingly at her from the captains seat. = "May I say you look positively ravishing in that dress!" Mary Sue smoothed the fabric of her tight fitting garment against her = body and frowned at him. "No, you may not! What do you think you are = doing?" "I think the human term is "crashing the party"," Q told her. "We're = going to take a bunch of pictures of this party and send them back to = Starfleet Command for Kathy!" "What?" Kathryn yelped. "You can't do that!" "You're just mad because we forgot to invite you to this, aren't you," = Maggie said. "Well," Q looked uncomfortable. "Maybe." Kathryn turned to fix Mary Sue with an accusative glare. "Mary Sue?" "Oops!" Mary Sue said brightly. "I knew I was forgetting something!" "Mary Sue!" Clark said sternly. She pouted prettily at him. "Oh, all right!" She snapped her fingers at Q and a large white envelope marked = "Invitation" appeared in his hand. "Happy now?" Q looked sulky for a minute more then grinned broadly. "Yes, very." He snapped his fingers and the reporters vanished. Mary Sue rolled her = eyes and gestured. The viewscreen and bulkhead reappeared, the barbecue = set itself upright and stopped trying to set fire to the fire-proof = carpeting of the bridge and Q was suddenly standing directly in front of = Kathryn Janeway. Mary Sue nodded at Harry, who pressed buttons on his = console. Party music began playing over the bridge speakers. "Now that that's over, let's party!" Mary Sue said. She popped over = beside Harry Kim, the only currently available guy on the bridge whom = she was interested in (she wanted this party to go smoothly, without any = more ruffled feelings) and dragged him out from behind his station to = dance with. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw several other = couples--Kathryn and Chakotay, Tom and B'Elanna, Lois and Clark, and = Maggie and Jimmy, plus some of the extras--also start dancing. She = smiled and cuddled closer to Harry. Yep, this cast was the best! *********************** "Whoever said the human race was logical?" Gillian Taylor, Star Trek = IV: The Voyage Home =20 "We meet again, for the first time, for the last time!" Dark Helmet, = Spaceballs Always bet on stupidity and ignorance and you'll never lose.--unknown = (care to tell me who said it first?) ------=_NextPart_000_0042_01BFCE2B.41C04B20 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Ok, it's been a little while since I inflicted one = of these=20 companion pieces to Threads, so I threw one together last night (wound = up going=20 to sleep at about 230! )  So, here you go!  Feedback of = any kind=20 is always welcome, whether public or private :)

Tara

 

Threads of . . . Barbecue?

 

Maggie hesitated, then turned and left the room. Lois pressed her = face=20 against the cold window and closed her eyes. "I’m sorry, = Clark."

The words "Continued in Threads of Fate" faded in over the image as = the=20 camera view panned back from the sorrowful form at the viewport. The = image faded=20 out and was replaced by the credits scrolling upward.

"Someone turn on the lights!" Kathryn Janeway ordered.

"Computer, lights," Clark said.

As the lights sprang back on, Kathryn gave Clark a sheepish smile. = "Thanks. I=20 forgot we were on Voyager for a minute there."

Chakotay, seated beside her, laughed easily. "I know what you mean. = That was=20 pretty impressive, watching it from the outside. I just hope I’ll = get a bigger=20 part in the sequel."

"Well, I, for one, am glad that Thread of Confusion’s over," = Tom Paris=20 volunteered from the back of the room.

"Yeah, you got banged up a lot in that, didn’t you?" Maggie = agreed. She was=20 standing just a few feet away from the cocky pilot.

"And how!" Tom said. He sniffed the air suddenly. "Is that . . = .?"

"Yep," Mary Sue said, materializing abruptly at the front of the = room.=20 "Neelix has finished setting up the barbecue on the bridge. Go on and = eat!"

Almost as one, the cast of the Voyager/Lois and Clark crossover stood = and=20 hurried out of the briefing room that had been altered for this viewing = session=20 and onto the bridge. Kathryn and Clark lingered behind, obviously = waiting to=20 talk to the beautiful Mary Sue.

She smiled jovially at the two as they tried to talk to her and put = an arm=20 around both of their shoulders. "Well, how are two of my favorite = characters=20 doing?"

"We’re doing fine, thanks," Kathryn said. "I’m just not = so sure about this=20 whole barbecue on the bridge, though. It might be detrimental to=20 discipline."

Mary Sue urged them through the doors to the bridge. Normally they = would only=20 admit maybe two people through at a time, but this time they opened a = little=20 wider to let all three through at once.

"Don’t worry about it, Kathryn," Mary Sue said, patting her = shoulder=20 soothingly as she cuddled up to Clark. "Everything will be as good as = new for=20 Threads of Fate."

"Um, Mary Sue," Clark said uncomfortably. "Could you stop that, = please?"

"Stop what?" She gazed up at him through half closed lids. Then she = giggled=20 at his expression. "All right, gorgeous. I’ll stop making you = nervous."

She stepped away from the two and looked around the room. The cast = seemed to=20 be having a really good time. Tom and Harry (gorgeous guys, both!) were = talking=20 animatedly with Jimmy Olsen from Metropolis. They were probably telling = him=20 about some of their holodeck programs, judging from their hand gestures. = All=20 three of them had cans of some drink and were eating hamburgers. Beyond = them,=20 B’Elanna, Seven, Lois and Maggie were chatting as well. = Occasionally, one of=20 them shot a look over at the men, as if to keep tabs on what they were = doing.=20 Tuvok, the Doctor, Kes and Dr. Klein were standing in front of the main = viewer,=20 which had been deactivated for this party, and were talking quietly. = Martha=20 Kent, of course, was by the barbecue with Neelix. Mary Sue chuckled = softly at=20 that--they were undoubtedly exchanging recipes by now. Just a few feet = from them=20 were Chakotay and Jonathon Kent.

Some of the extras were there, too--including several of the = reptilian=20 aliens, who weren’t nearly as xenophobic as they had acted during = the=20 filming.

Abruptly the set rocked, throwing most of the cast staggering. Mary = Sue=20 managed to fall directly into Clark Kent, who carefully set her back on = her=20 feet. The Voyager cast ran for their bridge positions and the Metropolis = cast=20 tried to get out of the way.

Kathryn moved forward to stand beside Tom Paris, back in full captain = mode.=20 "Mr. Paris, what was that?"

Tom’s hands flew over the console. "I don’t know, = Captain! That blast took=20 out our sensors and viewscreen!"

Kathryn turned and shot Mary Sue a look. "What’s going on? = We’re supposed to=20 be in break!"

Mary Sue pursed her lips in annoyance. "I don’t know what that = was, but I’m=20 going to find out."

She snapped her fingers and abruptly the bulkhead with the main view = screen=20 in it disappeared. On the other side of the wall was another bridge. One = it was=20 Q and a bunch of Metropolis reporters Mary Sue recognized as the ones = from the=20 crater. All of them had camera’s ready.

"Oh, for casting's sake!" Mary Sue muttered under her breath. "Q, = what is the=20 meaning of this?"

"Oh, nothing much," Q smiled charmingly at her from the captains = seat. "May I=20 say you look positively ravishing in that dress!"

Mary Sue smoothed the fabric of her tight fitting garment against her = body=20 and frowned at him. "No, you may not! What do you think you are = doing?"

"I think the human term is "crashing the party"," Q told her. = "We’re going to=20 take a bunch of pictures of this party and send them back to Starfleet = Command=20 for Kathy!"

"What?" Kathryn yelped. "You can’t do that!"

"You’re just mad because we forgot to invite you to this, = aren’t you," Maggie=20 said.

"Well," Q looked uncomfortable. "Maybe."

Kathryn turned to fix Mary Sue with an accusative glare. "Mary = Sue?"

"Oops!" Mary Sue said brightly. "I knew I was forgetting = something!"

"Mary Sue!" Clark said sternly.

She pouted prettily at him. "Oh, all right!"

She snapped her fingers at Q and a large white envelope marked = "Invitation"=20 appeared in his hand. "Happy now?"

Q looked sulky for a minute more then grinned broadly. "Yes, = very."

He snapped his fingers and the reporters vanished. Mary Sue rolled = her eyes=20 and gestured. The viewscreen and bulkhead reappeared, the barbecue set = itself=20 upright and stopped trying to set fire to the fire-proof carpeting of = the bridge=20 and Q was suddenly standing directly in front of Kathryn Janeway. Mary = Sue=20 nodded at Harry, who pressed buttons on his console. Party music began = playing=20 over the bridge speakers.

"Now that that’s over, let’s party!" Mary Sue said. She = popped over beside=20 Harry Kim, the only currently available guy on the bridge whom she was=20 interested in (she wanted this party to go smoothly, without any more = ruffled=20 feelings) and dragged him out from behind his station to dance with. Out = of the=20 corner of her eye, she saw several other couples--Kathryn and Chakotay, = Tom and=20 B’Elanna, Lois and Clark, and Maggie and Jimmy, plus some of the = extras--also=20 start dancing. She smiled and cuddled closer to Harry. Yep, this cast = was the=20 best!

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

"Whoever said the human race was logical?"  Gillian Taylor, Star = Trek=20 IV: The Voyage Home
 
"We meet again, for the first time, for = the=20 last time!"  Dark Helmet, Spaceballs

Always bet on stupidity and ignorance and you'll never lose.--unknown = (care=20 to tell me who said it first?)

------=_NextPart_000_0042_01BFCE2B.41C04B20-- ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 14:40:29 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: JaT Subject: 7 days of Superman Groupies- I need your help! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I need a code name for a female Secret Service agent. The name will be suggested by a three year old boy who has a crush on the agent. James PS. the real name for the agent is one of you ladies... :) ===== The D8As - AIM id is mrd8astl Matthew 23:37-39, Romans 1:19-32, 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 Go to WWW.FREEWWWEB.COM for the best Free Internet access! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos -- now, 100 FREE prints! http://photos.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2000 14:55:36 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: Confused - need edification (Felix and other authors note especially) In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Please, is it 'Lois and Clark and John and Joan', as you started out with, or 'John and Lois and Clark and Joan', as you seem to be posting it now? I'm trying to straighten out my fic archives so I can read my awful backlog and actually give some FDK to you worthy authors out there, but am finding I'm missing parts etc. Am compiling a list of parts I need, and will de-lurk again long enough to ask about them, when I'm finished. But please know that I'm not ignoring you at all - just trying to deal with a lot of nasty real life situations, as well as trying to get my fic archive sorted out. Melisma (crawling back under her rock, back to the salt mines :) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 05:09:35 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Alexis W." Subject: "ADITLOM" (RPG) Thirty-Second Installment, Week #33 (Part 1 of 1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This is the thirty-first installment of my rpg on yahoo called, "A Day in the Life of Metropolis." For more information, please go to: Yahoo! Clubs adayinthelifeofmetropolis Public and private feedback is more than welcomed! =) ===================== Cast List Clark Kent : Alexis W. (that's me!) Lois Lane: Alexis W. Sam Falcon: Sam F. Jimmy Olsen: Tina T. ============ WEEK #33 (5/29 TO 6/4) Re: The Shower Scene ;) Jimmy heard Lois yelling from all the way into the dining room and decided to leave Lucy down there and go investigate. He walked upstairs and started going down the hall towards Lois' room when he saw Clark, only in a towel, go into a room with Sam. He wondered what they were doing or what they planned to do. He thought this was the reason why she was yelling. "Well I know they aren't going to be playing Scrabble." He decided to stick around so he could find Lois and see how she was doing after her ordeal. He couldn't believe Clark would do this to her. >tbc< ======= Re: The Shower Scene ;) Clark followed Sam into her bedroom. He went into her bathroom and started getting dressed. He had never been so happy in his whole life to feel the fabric of his shirt rub against his skin...not that the look on Lois' face when she saw him in a towel wasn't worth it though! >tbc< ======= Lunch Date Lois stepped out of the bedroom. She had enough time to take a quick shower and pick a dress that she thought would get Bruce's attention as well as Clark's! Since Clark was so into driving her wild, she decided to wear the dress that she bought in Smallville. So what if it didn't seem like "Gothamite" material, the look on Clark's face would be well worth it. Along with her dress, Lois' beautiful dark brown hair was pulled up in a bun. A couple of curly tendrals hung on both sides of her face. She had just shut the door behind her when she saw Jimmy in the hallway. "Jimmy?!?" >tbc< ====== Re: The Shower Scene ;) After Clark went into the bathroom to change, Sam was about to put the things in the suitcase away, when her cell phone rang. She opened it and said, "Hello?" "Hey." "Tom?" "Yeah, you sound surprised." "I am. I haven't talked to you since I was over there the last time . . .what's wrong?" "Why does something have to be wrong?" "Don't give me that. You either call to ask for money, you call when he's pulled something else, or you call when something's wrong. What is it?" "She's sick." "What?" "She's really sick, in the hospital." "Who . . .oh my god! How bad is it?" "Really bad and he's not lifting a finger." "So what else is new? How bad, really?" "The doctors aren't saying anything." "I've got to get out there, but I . . .I'll be there as soon as I can. You and Gary do all that you can for her. Tell her I'm on the way." "What about that boyfriend of yours?" "Bruce is very busy, he won't miss me for a week or so. Since when did my love life become your business?" "Since it looks like your wasting your time." "Don't you dare! It's none of your business. I'm happier than I've ever been and that's all you need to be worried about. If you ever say anything like that again or if I hear anyone else repeat it, this will be my last visit." "Hey, calm down. I'm worried about you." "I'm a big girl and your older sister. I can take care of myself." "You were never very good at that when we were younger." "My temper suited me just fine. Things were rough back then, but times have made up for it. Especially my current situation, I never thought I'd ever be this successful." "You've done really well. See you when you get here." "Don't tell him I'm coming. You should probably keep us apart. I'll call when I get into town. Let me know if he's there." "I doubt that will be a problem, but I'll keep your warning in mind. Bye." "Bye." She closed the phone and sat down on the bed. >tbc< ====== Re: Lunch Date "Um Lois, Hi How are you doing?" Jimmy didn't know if she knew about Sam and Clark, he thought that was the reason she yelled at Clark. "I heard you yelling and I thought I would come check up on you," he added. "I think I know why you were yelling now." "Oh...so you heard me yelling, huh? Well I don't care if the whole world heard me, Kent deserved it! I'm supposed to meet Bruce for lunch, have you seen him?" "Well I don't know about the whole world but the whole house heard you. Yeah I guess he did deserve it, I can't believe CK would do that to you. No I haven't seen Bruce. I will tell him that you are looking for him if I find him first." "I can't believe Kent would go out with her! I mean Bruce is wonderful and all but aren't Sam and Bruce sort of an item??? Clark pratically stole her from under Bruce's nose!!! Speaking of Bruce, I think I'll go to the front of the house, maybe Alfred will know where he is. If you see Bruce before I do, tell him that I'm waiting." "Um, Um" Jimmy didn't know quite what to say. Go out with her, he was doing more than going out with her from what he saw. "I saw Bruce and Sam together at the ball, they looked like they were an item but I am not sure." Jimmy didn't think that a person who supposedly was going out with someone else would take a guy to her room. "I will tell Bruce that you are waiting by the front door." Jimmy didn't know what else to say so he just waited >tbc< ====== Re: The Shower Scene ;) Clark walked out of the bathroom and saw Sam sitting on the bed. "Sam, are you all right?" he asked in his most concerned voice. "Fine, just tired. I hate fighting with him, especially since I have to go to Seattle," she replied with a dull tone to her voice. "I'm sorry. I'm not even romantically linked and considering the way I'm going, will probably never be romantically linked with Lois, and it still tears me up inside when we fight. Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Clark asked as he moved closer to her. >tbc< ======= Re: Lunch Date Lois left Jimmy and continued down the hall. On her way to meet Bruce, she kept thinking about Clark! *Arggh! Kent would have a field day if he knew I was thinking about him in this way! Why am I so attracted to that hick??? Why can't I stop thinking about that kiss...those kisses we shared??? Man this is bad...where's Superman when I need him? Where's Bruce when I need him!?!* >tbc< ====== Re: The Shower Scene ;) "Hm, hm," she replied as she flashed a fake smile. It disappeared seconds later. "Are you sure you're okay? We can talk about it if you'd like. I mean I'm a great listener...at least I try to be," he mumbled to himself. "Talk about what, there's nothing to talk about? Bruce and I need to talk when we get back, that's all." "Are you sure you don't want to talk? You don't look too happy and I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something else going on." "Unless you know something I don't, there is nothing else to talk about," she said getting somewhat impatient. "Sorry if I hit a nerve or something...I was just trying to be nice." *Ha!* he laughed to himself. *Lois and and Sam are a lot a like...more than they even know!* "You keep asking me if there's somthing to talk about and there isn't. If I didn't know better, I'd say I was home; I felt like I was constantly being nagged, that's all." "Well obviously I can see that I've overstayed my welcome, so I guess I'll just go now. Maybe I'll go find Lois and see what she's up to..." >tbc< ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 13:08:15 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carolyn Schnall Subject: Re: NEW STORY: Strange Relationships 12/12 In-Reply-To: <97.6281fc2.26688e79@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Nan, > >I trust that you are already hard at work on the sequel, so we can find out >if Clark gets his powers back and what Lex is up to. This was, as always, >wonderful. > >Ann Pretty please, can we have spoiler spaces in future? I have not yet read the story and this was more information than I wanted to know prior to reading:( Thanks in advance, Carolyn ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 13:42:22 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Dunn Subject: Re: When Lightning Strikes Twice: Part 09/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This is really great, Wendy. Well thought out, well paced.... Keep them coming! LaurieD ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 03:43:05 GMT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bethy Em Subject: Re: Bethy's Scavenger Hunt Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Well, it looks like everybody who's going to respond has done so. So, here are the answers: 1. A midnight excursion to Papua New Guinea -- Aliens and Strangers by Susan Stone 2. A blind German Shepherd -- Always Something There to Remind Me by Zoomway 3. A hologram only Superman can hear (and the second clue: a double dose of time travel) -- Top Secret by Julie L. Jekel 4. A quote from Genesis -- In the Beginning by B.B. Medos 5. "Metropolitan Catering Emporium and Bowling Alley" -- Three Capes to the Wind by IRC Round Robin and 6. Two Superheros in the wrong suits -- The Spider and the Fly(boy) by Robert Culpepper Irene is the winner with thirty points, corectly identifying numbers 1, 2, and 4. Pam (2 & 4), Christopher (2 &6), Camilla (5 & 6) and Jessi (2 & 5) got twenty each. Diyan got ten with question number 2. And, since I stumped y'all on number 3, I think I deserve points, too! Then again, since nobody's keeping score anywhere else, I guess it doesn't matter. Someone else's turn. Bethy PS I suggest, for those of you that haven't already, reading Top Secret. It is a three-universe crossover, which can get confusing, but it is *really* good. Even if you do learn correct English, whom are you going to speak it to? -- Clarence Darrow ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 09:28:26 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Organization: http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam/ Subject: Re: Bethy's Scavenger Hunt MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > 3. A hologram only Superman can hear (and the second clue: a double dose > of time travel) -- Top Secret by Julie L. Jekel > Ooh, good one ... I've actually read & enjoyed this story! :) I just wasn't bright enough to figure out the clue Great hunt, Bethy, thanks for doing it! :) -- Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/rdu/j/e/jernigan/ God made you special, and He loves you very much. -- Veggie Tales theology The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. -- Henri Bergson ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:19:57 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: JaT Subject: Fan Fic Recommendation - Universal Union 2 Comments: To: Jenni Debbage <106532.433@compuserve.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Jenni, awesome story. If there is a KNK category for K2K1 then Elisabeth and I are both going to nominate it for that category. If not we will nominate it for Elseworld! This is a must read. Is there a UU3 in the works? Or do we need to beg? s p o i l e r s p a c e You write a very realistic Clark/Kal-El in your stories. I also do not see Clark hesitating to kill if it was the only option left to him. I can also see him thinking that Ballen didn't deserve to live. Now, on to UU3. Enough time has passed that the Earth should be threatened by that NightFall Asteroid. Or are you just going to have try to get a fix on the Earth transmissions and find static? This enquiring mind wants to know. ===== The D8As - AIM id is mrd8astl Matthew 23:37-39, Romans 1:19-32, 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 Go to WWW.FREEWWWEB.COM for the best Free Internet access! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos -- now, 100 FREE prints! http://photos.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 15:28:34 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: NEW: The Darkest Hour part 31 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hi everyone ;) Here's the latest installment of 'Darkest Hour.' I actually had this done and ready to post several days ago, but RL intervened in the way of a kitchen sink pipe leak, which then led to cabinet full of water, which led to some water damage, which resulted in me cleaning, sanding, refinishing...sigh. And that was all inbetween normal kid stuff and little Trevor demanding to be fed/held/pampered. (Yes, there were several times when I was tempted to yell, "Help, Superman!" just to see what would happen... ;) Anyway, if I've missed anything in this installment in the way of grammar, punctuation or plot points, as always...let me know! I'd be forever grateful. ;) ********************************************************** The Darkest Hour (Before the Dawn) part 31 by Erin Klingler erink@ida.net Rated: PG-13 Feedback: all welcomed, private or public. ********************************************* "What do you mean, you want to shut us down?!" Perry exclaimed incredulously, staring back at the man standing in front of him. "We're a major metropolitan newspaper. We have a paper to put out. You can't just shut us down!" "Look, we've been searching for that virus since yesterday, and we haven't seen hide nor hair of it. And since we can't find it, we'll need to shut your systems down, just to be safe," Frank Robbins explained. "We can't risk having your computers spread a potentially dangerous virus, especially if we don't know what it does." Perry's eyes widened. "You can't just shut us down because you want to be safe! We're the biggest newspaper in the world. People are counting on us to report the news." "I'm sorry, but we may have no choice. We'll let our computer guys work on this for a few more hours, but if they don't find anything...." His voice trailed off, and he shrugged, then turned and wordlessly left Perry's office. When he was gone, Perry threw his hands up in exasperation and started pacing around his office like a caged tiger. "You've got to be kidding!" he ranted to Jimmy, who was still standing near the door looking shocked. "How can he shut us down? Doesn't he know how much we have riding on this on-line issue, not to mention all the hard copy subscribers that we have around the world?! This just can't happen!" "Well, what can we do, Chief?" Jimmy asked helplessly. "They're the FBI. It's not like we can tell them 'no.'" "Oh, I wish Lois and Clark were here," Perry spat out, stalking back to his chair and throwing himself down into it. Jimmy raised a confused eyebrow at Perry. "What could they do?" "What could they do?!" Perry echoed, his eyes widening as he looked up at Jimmy. "This is Lois and Clark we're talking about! I'd bet you anything they could track down some information on this Manny guy and find out who he's working with, and then drag the information out of him about how we can get rid of this virus." Jimmy looked doubtful. "You really think they could do all that?" "You're darned right they could!" Perry answered adamantly. "They're the greatest team since Woodward and Bernstein! They have a special knack for finding people who don't want to be found, for digging up dirt on people who are supposed to be squeaky clean. That's what they do! It's what they're best at. If anyone could find out how to get the Planet out of this mess, it would be them." Perry pushed his chair back from his desk and started pacing furiously again from one end of his office to the other. "Oh, man. I'd give anything to have them back here right now. They were supposed to check in this morning, but I've heard neither hide nor hair of them. Where *are* they?" ***** Clark helped Lois skitter gingerly down the side of the mountain until she was standing on the paved road next to him, then he peered cautiously up and down the road for signs of oncoming traffic. "Is anybody coming?" Lois asked as she gripped Clark's arm tightly to balance herself as he leaned forward to get a better look. He listened quietly for a minute in the still morning air, then shook his head. "My powers still aren't back, but I can't hear anyone coming. I think it's safe to hurry across. Let me carry you so we can get across quickly." For once, Lois didn't argue. She wrapped her arms around his neck as Clark lifted her into his arms, trying to stifle an unintentional groan as he did. Then he checked the road once again before hurrying across, his steps not slowing until they reached the graveled parking lot of the café. Though he'd only gone a short distance, Clark was out of breath from the exertion of hurrying across the road with Lois in his arms, and he set her down carefully near a little grove of trees along the side of the log building. As she steadied herself on his shoulder to take the weight off her aching leg, he leaned over a bit to stretch the stiffness out of his back and catch his breath. Just then Lois squeezed his shoulder urgently. "Clark, look!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Next to that blue pickup over there...that's a state trooper's car! Do you know what that means? We're saved!" Clark looked where she was pointing and saw that she was absolutely right. Never before had he been so happy to see a state trooper. He closed his eyes and heaved a thankful sigh of relief. Finally they were going to be able to get out of there and get the help they need. Beaming with relief, Lois gave his arm a quick, happy pat, then took two eager, limping steps toward the front of the café. But as Clark began to follow, his acute senses picked up the sound of an approaching vehicle. As if in slow motion, he turned to look over his shoulder and saw that a vehicle was turning into the café's parking lot. In that instant, he felt as if his heart stopped beating. A jeep. Soldiers dressed in camouflage uniforms. With his heart in his throat, he quickly lunged for Lois and grabbed desperately for her upper arm, nearly crushing it in his grip as he jerked her back and pulled her back toward the café's nearby dumpster. He felt a momentary twinge as she cried out in pain, but he knew he had no choice. If he didn't get her hidden that very instant, they were going to alert Trask's men to their presence and be recaptured. "Clark?!" Lois gasped, both startled and angered by his hasty action which sent a fresh bout of excruciating pain radiating through her leg. Tears sprang into her eyes as she grabbed desperately for her leg, hoping to squeeze it hard enough to take away the pain. But when Clark continued to drag her urgently along after him, she tried desperately to jerk away from his vice-like grip. "Clark, you're hurting me! What are you do-" But before she could finish, Clark clamped his hand over her mouth and pulled her into a squat behind the low dumpster, then pointed toward the café's parking lot. It didn't take long for Lois to realize why Clark was in such an obvious panic. Two of Trask's men had just driven into the parking lot in a jeep and pulled to a stop in front to the café. Clark's hand slid from Lois' mouth to her shoulder where his fingers tightened on her arm as the squatted next to each other in strained silence. Lois felt ready to jump out of her skin as she watched the man in the passenger seat lift the CB to his mouth and speak into it, obviously reporting back to Trask on the status of their search. When the man finished talking, he replaced the CB, and both men climbed out of the jeep, looking around intently at their surroundings. Lois and Clark watched in silence, hardly able to breathe as the men circled the parking lot, glancing through the windows of the parked cars before finally walking toward the café and climbing the wooden steps leading to the front door. Lois heard the bell on the door jingle as Trask's men went inside, and when she was certain they were out of earshot, she turned anxiously to Clark. "This is just great! What are we going to do? We haven't come all this way only to be caught again!" Clark set his jaw in determination. "We are *not* going to be caught again," he said adamantly. He was silent for another minute as he deliberated over their options. "Okay, here's what we're going to do," he said finally. "We're going to sneak over to that state trooper's car and climb into the backseat. Trask's men already looked in the back of it, so I doubt they'll check it again. Then hopefully the trooper won't realize we're in there until after Trask's men are gone." "But why should that matter?" Lois asked. "Surely they wouldn't mess with a state trooper if we're with him. Everything they've done is illegal. They'd all go to jail a long time for kidnapping." Clark looked at her solemnly. "Do you really believe that? Obviously Trask thinks he's above the law. Look how long he got away with his raid on Smallville! I wouldn't put it past him to barricade the road further down the mountain, or set a trap for the trooper. No, the best thing for us to do is to do this as inconspicuously as possible." After a few moments of considering what Clark had said, Lois nodded. "Okay, you're right. Just tell me when, and I'll do my best to hurry after you. Carrying me is the least inconspicuous thing you could do at this point." Clark nodded in agreement. He glanced at the windows of the café and saw that Trask's men were still in full view, so he kept an eye on them and waited for the perfect opportunity. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lois grimace and reach down for her leg. "Sorry I jerked you along like that," Clark whispered solemnly as he kept his eye on Trask's men as they continued to wander through the café, studying the occupants seated there. "I didn't mean to hurt you." "I know," Lois told him. "But you did what you had to do." Lois turned her gaze to the café and watched along with Clark for a moment. Finally, a break. They saw the driver gesture to his passenger to help him check the back, and Clark's hand tightened on her arm as they disappeared further into the café. In an instant, Clark was on his feet, pulling Lois gently but urgently to her feet. "Come on, Lois! They're in the back. This is our chance!" Lois nodded, bit her lip and got painfully to her feet. Clark grabbed her hand and made a quick dash for the trooper's car, and Lois did her best to ignore the surging pain in her leg as she hurried along after him. As they neared the café's front doors, Clark whipped his head around and gave her hand a quick squeeze. "Lois, keep down! Don't let anyone see us." With a surge of much needed adrenaline and her heart pumping furiously, Lois was able to force herself to hunch over and quicken her pace as she followed Clark, and it was only a few half-running, half-limping steps later when they reached the trooper's car. They collapsed in a squat next to it, breathing heavily from their mad dash and their hearts beating furiously. "Did they see us?" Lois asked anxiously as she strained to see the café's front doors through the windows of the blue pickup truck parked next to them. "I can't tell, can you?" Clark straightened a little from his squatting position and peered toward the front of the café. Then he shook his head. "I don't think so." He watched for another minute, then turned on his heels and gestured toward the trooper's back door. "Go on, get in." Lois reached for the car's door handle, and for a split second the frightening thought occurred to her that maybe the car's doors were locked. But when she lifted up on the handle the door opened easily. She said a quick prayer of thanks, but not before she heard the bell on the café's door jingle. With her heart rebounding into her throat, she heard Clark's urgent plea from behind her. "Hurry, Lois! Get in, get in!" Throwing caution to the wind and willing her ailing body to move, she threw herself into the backseat and quickly rolled to the passenger side floor as Clark scrambled in after her. She watched him squeeze his considerably larger body into the cramped floor space between the front and back seats, then pull the door shut behind him. When the door clicked shut, they both struggled to quiet their labored breathing and listen for any signs of Trask's men. Lois ignored her protesting lungs as she held her breath for what seemed an eternity, hardly daring to move, to breathe. Finally the sounds of feet crunching on gravel receded, and then the sound of an engine starting reached her ears. Clark slowly and cautiously straightened up and peered out the back window. "It's them," he told Lois in a hushed whisper. "They're both in the jeep, the one guy's radioing...they're backing out..." Lois waited breathlessly as Clark continued to fill her in, and a minute later she heard the sound of the jeep's engine revving up and tires crunching on gravel. "...and...they're gone." Lois let out her breath in a rush, but her heart was still pounding. "Are you sure?" Clark looked back out the window and watched as the jeep accelerated out of the café parking lot and sped away up the road. He nodded, more certainly this time. "Yeah, they're gone. But let's stay put for the time being in case some more of Trask's men are still lurking about." Just then the bell on the café door jingled again, and Clark jumped. He whipped around to see who was coming, but then breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was the state trooper. He sat up straighter and slid onto the backseat of the car as the trooper walked up to his door, and the motion caught the man's attention. Instantly the trooper was on alert. "Hey, what are you doing in my vehicle?" the trooper blurted, his tone harsh and commanding. Clark quickly opened the door and climbed out, startling the trooper and causing him to reach for his holstered weapon. Clark immediately held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Please, we need your help," Clark began, hurrying to reassure the officer. "My girlfriend and I were kidnapped. We escaped and made our way down the mountain, but she's badly hurt and in need of immediate medical attention." Instantly the trooper dropped his hand from his holstered gun and hurried up to the car. Clark moved aside as the trooper stepped around the open car door and leaned into the back seat. He immediately spotted the blood on Lois' leg and helped her onto the seat. "Lie back, Miss, and let me take a look at your leg here..." After asking several questions about Lois' injury, he directed Clark to get the first aid kit. Clark got it and handed it to the officer, who quickly opened it and set it on the seat next to him. As he pulled several items out of it and tended to Lois' thigh, he glanced back over his shoulder and met Clark's anxious gaze. "This will have to do for now, but we need to get her to a hospital as soon as possible." He tightened the new bandage on Lois' leg and secured it with a clip. "How are *you* doing?" he asked, glancing again at Clark. "Any cuts or broken bones?" "No, I'm okay. For the most part, anyway," Clark told him, looking past the officer to Lois and catching her eye. "I have some bruised ribs and am pretty tired, but other than that..." The officer nodded, then turned back to Lois. "There. That'll hold you until we get you to a hospital." "Thanks," Lois told him, her voice sounding tired and drained even to her own ears. The officer picked up on it and studied her ruddy pallor with concern. Then he looked back at Clark and studied his ragged, weary appearance for a moment before backing out of the car and standing next to Clark. "How long has it been since you two have eaten?" "A while," Clark admitted wearily. The officer put his hand on Clark's shoulder sympathetically. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you climb in there next to your girlfriend, and I'll go and grab you guys some food. You can eat it on the way to the hospital." Clark smiled gratefully as he slid in next to Lois and put his hand on her leg protectively. "That sounds wonderful." "But what about Trask's men?" Lois' weary voice interrupted their exchange. "They could come back any second, and if they find us..." The trooper hurried to reassure her. "Don't worry, Miss. I'll radio back to the station right now to let them know what's going on, and we'll have troopers up here in force within the hour searching the woods for the men who did this to you. The only thing you're going to need to worry about is getting better. Understand?" Lois nodded slightly and attempted to smile, but suddenly even those simple gestures seemed too much to manage now that she was lying down and safe in the back of a police officer's car. Two days of trying to hide her wide range of emotions, her almost overwhelming injuries, and her hunger and lack of sleep were finally catching up with her, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. All she wanted to do was go to sleep, knowing that she was finally going to be safe. Understanding what she was feeling, Clark reached out and swept his hand across her brow, brushing her dirty bangs back from her forehead before resting his palm against her cheek reassuringly. "We're going to be okay, Lois," he told her quietly. "You just rest and let us take care of everything." Lois reached up to cover his hand with hers, wrapping her fingers around his hand and giving it a grateful squeeze. Then she closed her eyes, too tired to fight sleep a moment longer. The trooper gave Clark's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, then shut the back door, climbed into the front seat and reached for his radio. In a matter of minutes, the officer had radioed in for backup, giving them the details that Clark fed to him from the back seat, then assured them he'd be back in a moment and hurried into the café for the food. Clark kept an eye out for Trask's men while the officer was inside and anxiously waited for his return. But it was only a few minutes later when he hurried back to the car with two large brown paper bags. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I just got an assortment," he told Clark when he climbed into the front seat and handed the bags over the seat to him. "Help yourself to whatever looks good." "I don't know how to thank you," Clark told him as he took the bags from him. The officer smiled. "Don't worry about it." As they rolled out of the parking lot, Clark opened the bags and immediately his stomach lurched hungrily as the smell of the hot food filled his nostrils. It seemed oddly strange to feel hungry, and he decided he didn't like the feeling of relying on food to keep up what little strength he had as a "normal" man. But, deciding he could dwell on that later, he reached out to give Lois' shoulder a gentle shake. "Lois, wake up. You need to eat something." Clark's gentle prompting and the lingering smell of fresh, hot food roused Lois from her sleep, and Clark helped her sit up. "Here, take this," he told her, handing her a styrofoam container and taking the lid off of it to reveal a large helping of scrambled eggs and sausage. Lois inhaled deeply and finally let herself realize just how hungry she was. She smiled at Clark as she took the fork he offered her. "Thanks," she murmured before hungrily scooping a mouthful of eggs into her mouth. She couldn't remember the last time food had tasted so good, and she quickly took another bite. Clark watched her eat with mixed emotions. He was glad she was finally able to eat after so long of going without food, but it also made his heart ache to know that his being Superman had led to the cause of her capture and hunger. She'd been through more than anybody should have ever had to go through, and it had al been because of him. Before he could dive into a fresh bout of self-destructing guilt, the trooper finished reporting to the station and glanced over his shoulder at them. "The APB is out on this Trask fellow, and hopefully they'll have him and his men in custody soon," he reported. "Is there anyone else you'd like me to contact on our way back to Metropolis?" Clark took the lid off another styrofoam container and reached for the other fork. "Yeah, could you contact Inspector Henderson of the Metropolis PD and tell him what's happened? And then could you have somebody get a message to Perry White at the Daily Planet? That's where this virus is supposed to be planted, and I'd like to warn them about it." The officer nodded and reached again for his radio. "Sure, no problem." By the time Clark had finished his tray of eggs and sausage and put the empty container back in the bag, the message had been relayed to Sergeant Henderson and Perry, and they'd both responded that they would be waiting for them at Metropolis Memorial Hospital to get all the details. "I guess all we can do now is wait," Clark said with a sigh. He turned to Lois to see that her own tray of food was near empty, and that her eyelids were once again getting droopy. "Do you want something else? A croissant or a piece of toast? There's more in here," he told her, motioning to the bag. But Lois shook her head as she leaned it back against the seat and closed her eyes. "No, thanks. I'm too tired to eat anything else. I just want to sleep." Clark's heart ached for her as he saw just how worn out she was. Setting his own aches and pains aside, he reached for her and guided her down until she pillowed her head in his lap. "Go ahead and sleep, Lois," he told her quietly. "I'll wake you when we get to Metropolis." Lois muttered something incoherent, and a moment later, Clark could tell she was fast asleep. He stroked her hair away from her face gently and studied her as she slept, marveling in the fact that they were both still alive, and would soon be free to focus on the other aspects of their newly developing relationship. Clark sighed and turned to look out the window at the passing scenery. There was just too much to think about, too much for his tired and weary mind to process. So, forcing himself to think of nothing for the first time in days, he leaned his head back against the seat and let his drift. Before he knew it, he was asleep. ********************************************** Erin :) __________________ erink@ida.net Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 18:49:45 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Dunn Subject: Re: NEW: The Darkest Hour part 31 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit S P O I L E R S P A C E Wow. Yay, Erin. I was worried about that cafe, but now that they're in the troopers car, well, phew. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 16:25:02 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: NEW: The Darkest Hour part 31 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thank you, thank you, thank you, Erin, for posting this! Bless you. Sorry about the plumbing problems. Irene ===== www.communities.msn.com/equestrianmusic __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos -- now, 100 FREE prints! http://photos.yahoo.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 19:03:10 -0500 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: Lois and Clark Engaged part 1 You Forgot? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Charlotte - just read "you forgot" and loved it - looking forward to more merry truitt22@flash.net Charlotte Fisler wrote: > I am sending in four email parts the first part of my series of short stories > loosely > called Lois and Clark Engaged. Some have A-plots and others not. You Forgot? > is strongly A-plot. > > Each subtitled story pretty much stands alone although sometimes the next one > ties up some loose ends from the previous one. There are no cliffhangers per > se. I don't mind messing with Lois and Clark but I try to at least have them > back together by the end of each story. > > Currently there are 5 stories in the series, but the first is the only one > currently > revised to my satisfaction, so I am posting it now. The second, a sequel of > sorts to the first, will be posted as soon as I revise the 'unsat - > unsatisfactory" conclusion. > > Feedback is welcome, esp. grammer corrections, plot holes, etc. any > suggestions which will improve the story as the feedback from this list > improved IMHO my long Revealing Cruise. > > I will post here rather than on the message boards because my story has to be > concluded successfully in my mind, before anyone gets to see it, even if I > may revise sections afterword. Thank you all in advance for your feedback > and thank you for your previous feedback on my earlier stories. I learned a > lot about plotting, sequence of events, etc. > > Charlotte AKA Daydreamer80 - who's been hiding her daydreams from childhood > and has no intention of changing now. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 22:13:01 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: NEW: The Darkest Hour part 31 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 6/6/00 5:34:12 PM Eastern Daylight Time, erink@IDA.NET writes: << Here's the latest installment of 'Darkest Hour.' I actually had this done and ready to post several days ago, but RL intervened in the way of a kitchen sink pipe leak, which then led to cabinet full of water, which led to some water damage, which resulted in me cleaning, sanding, refinishing...sigh. And that was all inbetween normal kid stuff and little Trevor demanding to be fed/held/pampered. (Yes, there were several times when I was tempted to yell, "Help, Superman!" just to see what would happen... ;) >> Boy I hate when that happens. I trust that you discovered the pipe leak before it had gone on too long. You're a better woman than I am, though. I just dried it as well as I could, got the pipe fixed, and closed the cabinet doors. I am glad, however, to see some more of this wonderful story. I do hope that Lois and Clark have seen the last of the bad guys in their (L & C) current state of weakness. My heart is having way too many palpitations with all the angst going around these days. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 07:49:11 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jo Murf Subject: Re: NEW: The Darkest Hour part 31 S P O I L E R S P A C E Yeah! They're safe!! Thank you!! Erin, I'm thoroughly enjoying this story and thankful for this next section!! One minor point: you typically cannot open the back doors of most sheriff cars from the inside. (No problem opening it from the outside, but they typically have a lock on it so arrestees cannot escape the backseat.) Sorry to hear about your plumbing problems! You're a stronger woman than I for dealing with all that PLUS posting a story!! JoMurf ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 17:19:08 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: When Lightning Strikes Twice Part 10/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Title: When Lightning Strikes Twice Author: Wendy Richards Rating: PG-13 Part: 10 of ? Comments: public, private... ------------------------------------------------------ >From Part 9: Superman quickly strode through to Lois=92s bedroom and began to sniff the linen on her bed, the clothes lying folded on the chair and her nightshirt, which lay under her pillow. He immediately recognised her unique scent, made up of her favourite soap and perfume, as well as the essence which was indefinably Lois. Now, all he had to do was follow his nose.... ****************** Now read on, in Part 10: It wasn't the flying so much as who you were flying with, Lois had concluded after barely a couple of minutes airborne with Lex Luthor. Not long after leaving her apartment he had shifted his hold on her so that he was carrying her, one-handed, clasped against his chest; she felt a little more stable in that position but otherwise didn=92t at all enjoy the experience. Even apart from wondering what Luthor planned to do with her, she knew that he was not the person with whom she wanted to fly. However, the flight didn=92t last very long and she was surprised when he drifted downwards in a neighbourhood the like of which she could never imagine Lex Luthor ever visiting, unless it was to see how the houses could be torn down and turned into luxury apartments. To her amazement, he flew into one of the houses through an upstairs window, which gave them access to a cheaply-furnished bedroom; before she=92d even had time to draw breath,= he=92d shut the window firmly behind them and was turning to face her, one hand clasped firmly and painfully about her wrist. His lips curved into a slow smile. =93My dear Lois - obviously you weren=92t= telling me the truth back there in your apartment. You really are pleased to have me back!=94 She glared at him, but was inwardly quaking, bearing in mind the possible implications of this line of conversation, given where he had taken her. =93Whatever gave you that impression, Lex?=94 =93Well, I didn=92t once hear you utter those revealing words =91Help, Super= man!=92 Clearly you=92ve decided that now you know I can do everything *he* can, you= much prefer me to the overgrown freak after all, Lois.=94 =93I wouldn=92t even mention you and Superman in the same breath,=94 Lois retorted, trying to pull her wrist from his vice-like grip. =93At least he has ethics - he would never do what you=92ve done today!=94 She was provokin= g him, she knew; but the alternatives were either to act terrified and call for Superman, which she was determined not to do, or to pretend to be delighted to see him and act as if she was still in love with him. She was pretty sure, from the mocking tone she=92d detected in his voice a moment or= two earlier, that he simply wouldn=92t believe it. =93Ah yes - your flying friend does have his scruples, doesn=92t he? He=92ll= find that a major handicap one of these days,=94 Luthor murmured smoothly. =93Sti= ll, Lois, my love, I think we really need Superman here if this party is going to be a success. So I would be most grateful if you would summon him.=94 Thi= s suggestion was accompanied by the slow stroke of the back of Luthor's free hand along her cheek; she had to steel herself not to recoil, in case he reacted violently. She stared at him instead, her expression deliberately disbelieving. =93*Summon* him? No-one summons Superman. And I haven=92t the faintest idea how to get in touch with him.=94 =93And yet, my dear Lois, he always does seem to turn up just when you need him. He appears to have a very strong sense of loyalty where you=92re concerned, you know. Did you know that he=92s in love with you?=94 In *love* with her? Superman? Of course he wasn=92t... he couldn=92t be... could he? But when she=92d told him she was so deeply in love with him, he=92= d rejected her. Although... now that she thought about it, he hadn=92t said that he didn=92t= love her, just that he couldn=92t believe her words about being in love with= him. So... maybe Lex was right? Superman *did* love her? But he=92d had so many opportunities to tell her, to show how he felt, and he=92d taken none of them. Because he didn=92t know how she felt? But that couldn=92t be true eit= her. She tilted her chin and gave Luthor a disbelieving stare. =93You have to be crazy. Superman isn=92t in love with me.=94 =93Oh? Then why did he come in answer to my summons, the night before our wedding? I told your friend Kent I wanted to talk to Superman about you, and he turned up - he even threatened me that if I ever did anything to hurt you he=92d be there to make me regret it. I could have sworn I was talking to a man deeply in love.=94 Luthor smiled again, clearly enjoying Lois=92s discomfiture. =93You talked to Superman about me, the day before our wedding?=94 Lois was incredulous. =93Well, it wasn=92t so much of a talk, really,=94 he conceded with a wry smile. =93More a conquest... or it would have been, if he hadn=92t managed t= o escape from my cage. But no matter - there=92ll be another opportunity,=94 Luthor finished elliptically. =93Conquest? Cage? What are you talking about?=94 Lois demanded, making anot= her attempt to shake her wrist free of his hand. But he had no intention of releasing her. =93Come, my dear, let me take you downstairs.=94 As he led the way out of the room, his grasp gave her no option but to follow. She looked around her incredulously as she followed him down the stairs: the house was filthy, the decor tasteless and the fittings were cracked, broken or otherwise in a bad state of repair. =93Oh, you=92re surprised that I should bring my fiancee to such a place?=94= Luthor asked, clearly noticing her disbelief. =93Do you think I can=92t affo= rd any better?=94 =93Well, since I=92m aware that the police froze most of your assets, and th= en your will dispersed whatever wasn=92t confiscated, I *could* assume that you=92re penniless,=94 she replied dryly. =93But I wouldn=92t be at all surp= rised if that bank robbery I read about last night was your doing.=94 =93How clever of you, my sweet,=94 he drawled, amused. =93Yes, I=92m certain= ly not penniless - but this house suits my purpose admirably, for the moment.=94 Leading the way into a sparsely-furnished sitting-room, Luthor then released Lois and instructed her to take a seat. Rubbing her bruised and painful wrist, she glanced around at the two chairs which, apart from a television, were the room=92s only furniture. The chairs were upright, as might be found with a dining-table, and one of them looked wobbly; she chose the more stable one of the two and sat down, watching her captor carefully. He took up a position between her and the door, though she guessed that even if he=92d been standing at the other side of the room she still wouldn=92t make it to the door before he caught her. A flash of red caught her eye: the back of her left hand, not the one Luthor had been holding, was bleeding. Vaguely, she remembered having scraped it against the broken glass in her apartment. Not having a handkerchief, she could only dab at it with the hem of her shirt, but the bleeding seemed almost to have stopped. She had to keep Luthor talking. That was the best way to deal with him, to try to find out what his aim was in bringing her to this place. Lex Luthor was not a man to be under-estimated; she would never make that mistake again. Before his downfall he had controlled a multi-billion dollar empire, as well as being one of the most dangerous criminals this century - even if hardly anyone had known it. She herself had known him to be ruthless, capable of stabbing someone in the back while simultaneously being charming to their face. But on the other hand, *then* he had enjoyed a large support network, of loyal employees and business associates. Now, he was alone. Whether Luthor had made any attempt to make contact with those of his former close allies who were still at liberty, Lois had no idea. The main thing, as far as she was concerned, was that right now he was alone. It was just him and her. Yes, he had Super-powers, which meant that there was absolutely no way that she would be able to get the better of him physically - even her Tae Kwon Do would be of no use to her. But she could use her intelligence, and her powers of reasoning and logic; true, Luthor was one of the most intelligent men she had ever met, but she felt reasonably confident that she could hold her own against him, especially as she was definitely beginning to wonder about his mental state. Keep him talking.... =93So you did rob that bank, Lex? Quite a come-down for you to have to do your own dirty work, isn=92t it?=94 She knew it was unlikely that she would gain his confidence, but she might just succeed in getting him to tell her enough about what he=92d planned to give her an opportunity to stick a spanner in the works. She was already sure that he had wanted her to call for Superman; his comment upstairs had only confirmed it. The fact that he hadn=92t made any attempt to prevent her from calling out when he'd captured= her, or during the brief flight, told her only too clearly that he wanted Superman. Which made her all the more determined that the Man of Steel was not going to turn up. Luthor smiled sardonically. =93I always believe in utilising the most effective means possible to achieve a given end, Lois. With my new... ah, *attributes,* it doesn=92t make sense to delegate, don=92t you think?=94 =93Ah, but you don=92t seem to have anyone to delegate to at the moment, Lex= ,=94 Lois observed with an amused smile, hoping that she was succeeding in hiding her fears about her situation. Although the fact that Lex had brought her downstairs had reassured her on another point: given their past relationship, she had feared that he intended to have sex with her - and she suspected that he wouldn=92t much care whether it was rape or not. Of course it wasn=92t necessary to be in a bedroom, or lying on a bed, in order= to have sex, but the Lex Luthor she had known had always been fastidious; she couldn=92t quite visualise him having his way with her on the faded, stained carpet on the floor of this room. So if sex was on his mind, it wasn=92t part of the immediate agenda. Which was a relief: remembering what she=92d heard about Gretchen Kelly, she had no illusions about her ability t= o withstand an assault of that nature by Luthor. Pushing aside that thought, she concentrated on what he was saying to her in response. =93Lois, my dear, this is between you and me,=94 he drawled. =93Why would I = need anyone else? Don=92t you believe that I just want to be alone with you, my love?=94 he enquired, lifting one eyebrow and at the same time allowing his gaze to rake her from head to toe. She suppressed a squirm of revulsion and ignored his remark; she had no intention of pursuing that line of discussion. Change the subject, Lois.... He=92d wanted to talk about Superman, that much was obvious, and he=92d given her the perfect opening by= dropping hints about something which had happened the day before their abortive wedding. It wasn=92t too difficult to put the clues together: he must have tried to harm Superman in some way, using her as bait. He might even have tried to kill the Super-hero: she wouldn=92t put it past Luthor to= be aware of the existence of Kryptonite, even to have obtained some. In fact... Lois bit her lip to prevent herself saying anything out loud... that could explain where Arianna Carlin came by the Kryptonite to make that bullet. She'd had access to LexLabs.... So Luthor had tried once before to kill Superman, and had failed. Had he had Kryptonite then? Did he have it now? Was this to be his second attempt at killing Superman, again using her as bait? She wasn=92t going to play along. Change the subject, Lois, she told herself= again. Distract him. She got to her feet and turned towards him, allowing her gaze to rake him slowly from head to foot. =93Just what *are* you wearing, Lex? Are you planning to go to a fancy-dress party later or something?=94 He fingered his black mask lightly, his expression contemptuous. =93It=92s a= lot less ridiculous than that outfit your Kryptonian friend flies around in. He looks like an escapee from a children=92s pantomime!=94 =93Maybe, but at least his Suit and the cape are aerodynamic,=94 Lois taunted. =93That cloak of yours just keeps getting in the way! And it looks heavy - it must create a lot of wind resistance.=94 She was playing a dangerous game, running the risk of angering him. But on the other hand, Lois was pretty sure that he would be instantly suspicious if she tried the other possible tactic, of being friendly, pretending she was delighted to see him - if she could even pull it off, which she very much doubted. He paced a little, which merely proved her point about the cloak: it swished about his ankles, but not in the way Superman=92s cape did. Superman=92s cape was made of a light unlined fabric - silk or a synthetic which had a similar feel, Lois had always thought. But this cloak, while possibly made of silk, was lined with a much heavier fabric. In fact, it looked as if it had been designed for warmth as much as for concealment, and it seemed to get in Luthor=92s way as he moved; she saw him kick it asid= e more than once. =93So what exactly *is* that thing you=92re wearing, Lex?=94 she asked, taki= ng care to tread a fine balance between curiosity and taunting. He sighed; she wished he wasn=92t wearing the mask so that she could see his= expression more clearly. Was he annoyed? Merely impatient? Humouring her? =93My dear Lois, I thought you had a better understanding of our planet=92s history and culture than that. This is a domino, the genuine article, dating from one of the more civilised periods in English history, the Regency period. The domino, together with the mask, would be worn to a masquerade by a lady or gentleman.=94 Lois stifled the urge to laugh. =93Lex, I never thought I=92d hear you referring to anything to do with the English class system as =91civilised=92= ! You know that if you=92d been around in eighteenth-century Britain none of those blue-blooded aristocrats would have given you the time of day! You=92d= never have built up an empire as powerful as LexCorp - not with your background.=94 =93Oh, you know I despise the class system, Lois,=94 he answered dismissively. =93The feudal aristocracy, at any rate - I do admire a class system built on courage, and fearlessness, and ruthlessness. A world in which only the strong survive, Lois, that would be the perfect world.=94 =93Survival of the fittest, Lex? How primitive,=94 she replied, this time allowing herself to laugh. Her choice of conversation was disconcerting him, she could see that; he didn=92t know what to make of her mood. And that= was just the way she wanted it. Now, if only she could work out a plan to get herself out of there *without* the assistance of Superman.... ***************** He couldn=92t work her out. She should have been pleading with him by now, begging his forgiveness for the humiliation she had caused him by jilting him at the altar, imploring him to spare her life. Instead, she was daring to laugh at him; she=92d had the audacity to question his choice of apparel and was scorning his opinions. Didn=92t the woman realise how much danger sh= e was in? Perhaps she simply didn=92t appreciate the seriousness of her position; mayb= e she hadn=92t heard about his victims of that day, those old enemies with who= m he=92d now evened the score - although she had referred to things she knew h= e had done today, which suggested that perhaps she did know. But perhaps she needed to be brought to an awareness of her fragile grip on life and of how completely she was at his mercy. He could, perhaps, turn on the television =96= assuming this place had cable or access to a decent TV news programme =96 and show her the fruits of his day=92s work. She couldn=92t fail to be intimidated by that, Luthor reasoned as he continued to stare, unblinkingly, at the woman who should have been his wife. But she wasn=92t his wife; and he felt now that she didn=92t deserve that status. It was strange: he had wondered how he would feel on seeing her again, and yet nothing could have prepared him for the sight of her in the living-room of her apartment, when he=92d burst through her window. Every bi= t as beautiful as he=92d remembered; he had wanted her all over again. Wanted her in his bed, to grace his home, to give him the stimulation he=92d found lacking in most of the other women he=92d bedded in recent years. Lois was not only pleasing to look at, but also intelligent =96 perhaps *too* intelligent, he=92d thought, but he could deal with that =96 and had never b= een sycophantic, which had a novel experience for him. Yes, he still wanted her; now, as his gaze wandered over her beautiful, slim body standing only a few feet away from him he found it incredible to believe that he=92d been foolish enough to go along with her request that they wait until their wedding night. It had seemed, at the time, an intriguing prospect: a test of his ability to control his desires. He=92d even thought that by heightening the anticipation their wedding night should be even more spectacular. Lois might appear to be cold, on the surface, but he=92d always felt that she was capable of vast reserves of passion. He=92d seen the way she behaved when she was hell-bent on a story, for example: she had passion in quantities then. And when she was angry... as she was now, to some degree; how he wanted to harness that anger in a different way! To run his hands through her sleek dark hair, to kiss her luscious lips in a way he=92d never allowed himself to before, and to... well, there would be time for that later. But she was certainly capable of passion. There had, of course, also been that memorable occasion at the airport when Mr Goody Two-Boots himself had unbent and kissed Lois with an unseemly display of ardour; she had kissed him back in a manner which =96 besides making him mad with jealousy =96 had,= in spite of his revulsion, delighted his heart, since it meant that he had been right to believe her capable of such passion. That had been the occasion on which he=92d begun to suspect that the irritating so-called Supe= r- hero=92s feelings for Lois were not as pure as the alien had pretended =96 h= e had a strong suspicion that Superman had not actually been affected by the pheromone at all, but was using that as an excuse to have his way with Lois. Lois=92s own reaction to his appearance had, he had to admit, surprised him.= He=92d expected her to show at least some fear: after all, his chosen mode o= f entrance would have scared most normal people, and he would have expected that the sight of one whom she had believed dead should have shocked her. But instead, coolly, she had told him that he should have stayed dead! The woman clearly had no manners, let alone any normal person=92s sense of self-= preservation. It was once again apparent that marriage to Lois Lane would have been a great mistake; he=92d had a fortunate escape. And, while she wasn=92t afraid of him, neither was she impressed by his new-= found abilities; he couldn=92t make sense of that either. He had noticed wit= h chagrin, early in their acquaintance, how quickly she had become distracted once that offensively-clad exhibitionist had arrived on the scene; and yet *he,* Lex Luthor, now had the same abilities as Superman, and she had shown a distinctly unflattering lack of interest. However, he mused as he watched her now, there was still the immediate question of what to do with the woman. She was being extremely unco- operative: she showed no willingness to call for that boring do-gooder friend of hers, which was most disappointing. After all, one of the reasons he had brought Lois here was to lure that so-called Superman here too. Though she would have other uses.... Seeing Lois again had told Lex that, however angry he might be with her, he still desired her. However, he was no longer so besotted that he was prepared to accept her back, make her part of his life once more. No; she had betrayed him and publicly humiliated him, and she would have to pay. Once Little Boy Blue was out of the way and his body dumped in the deepest part of the Atlantic, he could use Lois to his heart=92s content; that was the purpose of acquiring this house and stocking up with several days=92 worth of food and other essential items, after all. And then, when he=92d ha= d his fill of her=85 well, he=92d discovered today just how easy it was to get= rid of troublesome =96 vulnerable =96 humans But first, there was Superman to dispose of. Actually, Lex was somewhat surprised that Superman hadn=92t already caught u= p with him; there was absolutely no doubt that Mr Whiter-than-White would have known who was responsible for those deaths, and if Luthor knew anything about Superman he was sure that the Super-hero would be anxious to prevent him killing anyone else. In fact, the idiot no doubt wanted to find him anyway: having been so stupid in the first place as to allow his powers to be transferred, Lex was pretty sure that Superman would want to find a way to reverse the transfer at the earliest possible opportunity. Not that he would get the chance; certainly not if this plan worked. He turned back to Lois: she was still standing erect, gazing at him with a slightly scornful expression; she wouldn=92t be looking at him like that later if he had anything to do with it, he resolved. The immediate necessity was to ensure that she called for Big Blue, so he would simply have to frighten her a little more. With that in mind, he took a couple of slow, deliberate strides towards her, the domino swirling irritatingly around his legs again as he did so. She clearly needed to be shown just how much danger she was in, since she seemed unable to appreciate it on her own.= *************** ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 00:24:35 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Dunn Subject: Re: When Lightning Strikes Twice Part 10/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit S P O I L E R S P A C E This is what we've come to expect of you, Wendy. Coherent, well thought out, well paced, true characters, and a new view of something... this time Lex... and he still has the cage! I can't figure out how Lois and Clark will get out of trouble this time. Will there be a revelation, too? I've not seen any other comments on this one. Anyone else reading this? LaurieD