From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG0104C" ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 03:21:18 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jo March Subject: Re: NEW: He Came Back (1/1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Pam, thank you - I'm glad you liked it. :)) I appreciate the comment. I hope you had a nice vacation! JoMarch :) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 12:36:28 -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: OT: Heads-up re a virus Comments: To: afolcslife@egroups.com, diabeticlist@yahoogroups.com, hmshipper@egroups.com, IMZADI_ALL@egroups.com, Imzadi_Pro@egroups.com, JAG-XFshippers@egroups.com, JanewayChakotay@egroups.com, lcnfanfic@egroups.com, LoisandClarkNAOS@egroups.com, organchat@egroups.com, ptfever@egroups.com, PCOS-CANADA@yahoogroups.com, shipperhm@egroups.com, -1mature_xfiles_fans@egroups.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" First of all, folks, I apologize for the crossposting, especially if you should receive more than one copy of this. You should know that I'm not the type to spread the word about computer viruses. However, today one of my friends from another list reported that she had been infected with this Badtrans virus that seems to be making the rounds. So I thought I would let you know about it so you can check your systems. The Symantec site that tells you about it is http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.badtrans.13312@mm.html - also, you can do a file search on any one of the following attachments that is known to carry the virus: Pics.ZIP.scr images.pif README.TXT.pif New_Napster_Site.DOC.scr news_doc.scr hamster.ZIP.scr YOU_are_FAT!.TXT.pif searchURL.scr SETUP.pif Card.pif Me_nude.AVI.pif Sorry_about_yesterday.DOC.pif s3msong.MP3.pif docs.scr Humor.TXT.pif fun.pif So far my system is clean, and I hope to keep it that way. Good luck! Visit my rock at http://www.intergate.ca/personal/melisma/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 21:59:35 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Question for fic: high school graduation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Yup, we Brits just can't get enough information about the US education = system . These are the questions: what do you actually have to do to graduate = from high school? Pass some exams? Attend the right classes? = Accumulate points? And if it's exams you have to pass, and you're = incapacitated during the exams so that you miss them, how does the = system give you a second chance? Finally, if you don't graduate from = high school, how much of a bad thing is it for your employment = prospects? Oh, and how difficult is it to graduate from high school; = for example, what percentage of the population is expected to graduate? Thanks, Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 18:58:03 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: Question for fic: high school graduation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 4/15/01 5:13:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time, yvonne@YCONNELL.FSNET.CO.UK writes: > These are the questions: what do you actually have to do to graduate from > high school? Pass some exams? Attend the right classes? Accumulate > points? And if it's exams you have to pass, and you're incapacitated > during the exams so that you miss them, how does the system give you a > second chance? Finally, if you don't graduate from high school, how much > of a bad thing is it for your employment prospects? Oh, and how difficult > is it to graduate from high school; for example, what percentage of the > population is expected to graduate? > Yvonne, it depends on the state in which one lives. Every state has different laws and different requirements, although there are some similarities among the states. In Kentucky, where I live and teach, for example, all students are required to pass (70% for the year average) the following courses to graduate from high school: English -- 4 credits Science -- 3 credits Mathematics -- 3 credits (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II ) Social Studies -- 3 credits ( US History is required as is some course which includes geography and economics ) a fourth credit is required in one these fields: math, science, social studies Health -- 1/2 credit P.E. -- 1/2 credit (Physical education is usually taught pass/fail, but not in all schools ) Fine arts/ humanities 1 credit Electives 7 credits Total credits -- 22 Beginning in 2004 2 credits of a foreign language will also be required. Students in public schools are required to take a battery of tests as juniors (second to last year in high school) but are not required to pass them. The tests (CATS) are used to evaluate the schools. The above list of classes is probably fairly typical for most states with minor variations. Some states, such as Indiana and Ohio, do have tests of basic skills that all students must pass to graduate. From what I have heard and read, these tests are at the 9th grade level (14-15 year olds, first year in high school) and a bright child could probably pass them at 11. If you are sick or otherwise absent when the tests are being given, there are make-up dates. If you don't graduate from high school in the US, your prospects for future employment are severely limited, unless you are a creative genius and can become a successful artist or musician or entrepreneur. Actually, since over half the kids in the US go on to university studies, if you don't go to college or technical school, your employment prospects are fairly limited. In many schools, graduation is extremely easy. Just showing up for class can do the trick. In other high schools, the academic programs are extremely rigorous. Nevertheless, most kids who want to can graduate. If you don't, there is always the G.E.D. - General Equivalency Diploma - which is a test that supposedly gives one the equivalency of a high school diploma. Many employers won't hire you with them, though, and many universities won't accept you with a G.E.D. Most colleges and universities require applicants to take standardized aptitude tests, the SAT or the ACT because of the disparity between high school programs. Hope this helps. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 20:49:15 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Cindy Leuch Subject: Re: Question for fic: high school graduation Yes requirements vary from state to state and, within the state, from district to district. My high school requirements were something like this: Math: 2 years Science: 2 years Social Studies: 1.5 years U.S. History, one government class, and one class from a couple of different categories English: 9th grade english, 1 class U.S. lit, 1 class world lit, speech, and one other class (writing?) PE: had to take and pass it every semester I forget the particulars of the rest of the requirements. My school district also made you pass a test taken in 11th grade (it was really easy - gagued common sense and basic skills more than anything). We took standardized tests throught the time I was in school - in elementary school we took the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) every year, I think, and in 9th grade we took the ITED (Iowa Test of Educational Development), but those were used to judge your progress. I'm of the opinoin that high school graduation is very easy, but if you don't graduate it's very hard to find meaningful employment. Even a high school degree doesn't mean much anymore. There is always the option of getting a GED if you didn't graduate and you want to. I hope that helps. It's a been a few years.... -Cindy ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 22:56:32 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gerry Anklewicz Subject: Fic Question: Med School MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I have a question about a fanfic in progress (and which may always be in progress). For a student who is going to Metropolis U, what are the requirements of getting into med school. Would he have to take a Bachelor of Science degree and then get into med school or would he have to go directly into a pre-med course? Could he take a degree in any course as long as he had the science prerequisites or would he still have to go through pre-meds? BTW, is Metropolis U a private university or a state run one? Thanks, Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 23:56:00 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: Fic Question: Med School MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 4/15/01 10:58:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Gerry.Anklewicz@NTEL.TDSB.ON.CA writes: > ). For a student who is going to Metropolis U, what are the > requirements of getting into med school. Would he have to take a Bachelor > of Science degree and then get into med school or would he have to go > directly into a pre-med course? Could he take a degree in any course as > long as he had the science prerequisites or would he still have to go > through pre-meds? BTW, is Metropolis U a private university or a state > run one? > To get into medical school, one has to take the required pre-requisite courses and usually, but not always, have a bachelor's degree in something. (Some programs will take students after their third year of college if they have all the required courses) Probably the majority of medical students have a degree in biology or chemistry, but not all of them. My brother used to be on the admissions committee at a medical school and told me that pre-med was not a great major; that one was better off majoring in chemistry or biology. So you could major in English, take the right science courses, and then go to med school. I have no idea if Metropolis U was supposed to be public or private. Names don't really tell you. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 00:11:34 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Karen Ward Subject: Re: Fic Question: Med School In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Gerry asked: >For a student who is going to Metropolis U, what are the >requirements of getting into med school. Ann responded: >To get into medical school, one has to take the required >pre-requisite courses and usually, but not always, have a bachelor's >degree in something. Having recently looked into this procedure here in Canada, I know that what Ann said here is true. These pre-requisite courses usually include a couple of credits in the biological/life sciences (i.e., biology, chemistry, etc.). Quite often, organic chemistry is one of these required courses. Now, I'm not totally sure how things work in the States, but most medical schools (about 90% of them, I'd say) require applicants to write the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) and attain some minimum standard score in order to be considered for admission. I think I've heard that the States have a similar, if not identical, test. Anyhow, one of the beauties of fanfic is that it doesn't really matter what RL dictates; you can pretty much make up whatever entrance requirements you see fit. ;) Good luck with you fanfic, Gerry. Take care, Karen :) -- http://www.geocities.com/kamikaze_karen ward8120@mach1.wlu.ca KamikazeK on IRC ICQ #32238251 "The word genius isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." -Joe Theisman, NFL quarterback and sports analyst ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 23:25:47 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Adam Labotka Subject: Re: Fic Question: Med School MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ok, here;s my little story to show about what isn't necessarry for medschool ;). My dad, who is a MD, was a Physics major in college. He went on to premed never having taken a biology course in college, by taking proficency exams for some biology courses. They required a year (two one semester classes) of biology to get in, in addition to a degree I think. Admittedly this was a few decades ago, but from what I understand it's much the same. While pre med is available it is not necessary at all. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 08:03:13 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Fic Question: Med School MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/15/2001 10:58:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Gerry.Anklewicz@NTEL.TDSB.ON.CA writes: << BTW, is Metropolis U a private university or a state run one? >> I would have assumed it's a public university (state run, I suppose). --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 08:28:27 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: Question for fic: high school graduation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Whatever you do, don't use Virginia state requirements. A few years ago, we issued SOLs (standards of learning), that have mucked up everyone's lives. The kids are required to pass a 3rd grade exam (math, language arts), 5th grade exam (math, science, social studies, language arts), and 8th grade exams (science, social studies, math, language arts, technology [computers]). After this, they must pass 12 of their high school exams (4 science, 4 social studies, 8 language arts, and 8 math... one given each semester, I believe)... this requires them to not only take the class, and PASS the class (because credits are still in effect... so there's electives as well), but also take and pass the standardized state examination as well. This is all for a STANDARD high school diploma... Do you really wanna hear honors diploma and Special Ed. diplomas, as well as certificates of completion?? Crys (who THANKFULLY is teaching K-1 this year, and doesn't have to deal with the SOLs, except to teach the K-1 ones ) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 08:31:04 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey there... Okay, my betas made me PROMISE to warn everyone... MAJOR TEARJERKER ALERT!!! There is a character death in this story, two actually... but one is a tough one. It is not all sunshine-and-roses, as you know from my writing in the past. It's long, it's sad, and hopefully it's worth your time. That said , I hope you like the story! -Crys- Full Circle: Book 2 by Crystal Wimmer Author's Note: As with the original Full Circle, this story contains a massive WHAM. Perhaps the most painful WHAM of all... the loss of a parent. I warn you now, because this is a subject that many people don't wish to read about, and I don't want anyone to be hurt by it. I don't consider this to be a "deathfic", because the main focus in the story is life, not death. Unfortunately, people do die, it is a natural progression of life, and it is something we are never truly prepared for. Losing a parent, whether you are 6 or 60, is traumatic. But, it is through life's struggles that we are strengthened, and that is the purpose of this story. If there is more autobiography here than I intended, I am truly sorry, but that's what happens when you write from the heart. I lived through most of this. That's what makes it real. This began as a very short story, entitled "Holes in the Floor of Heaven." It "morphed" during the writing process, at one time planned to be as lengthy as the original, and eventually became what you see before you (which is somewhere in between). It became a merging of two stories, each traumatic in it's own right, but together they prove that life has no mercy when it tries to slam you down. What began as a little self-analysis/catharsis type thing, has become a full scale story (for better or for worse), and I feel that it may even be fit for reading. I hope that you agree, but I make no promises . Final warning: as with the original Full Circle, CJ and Kat play a prominent role here... it is not *only* a Lois and Clark story. Special thanks to all my Betas... Kath, Merry, Carol, Mark, Irene, Joy, Missy G. This story is dedicated to the wonderful people who spent far too much of their lives in a waiting room on the third floor of Duke University Medical Center... I give my grateful thanks to Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Tipton, and the Bellamy Sisters. May there lives be smoother now that they are off the board. With all that said, it's on with the story... Chapter 1 CJ gulped heavily as he glanced around at the people he loved most on this Earth. His grandparents were seated across the table from him - his father's parents - and his mom and dad on either side. They were just finishing a Sunday dinner that had been particularly good. Grandma Martha had spent hours in the kitchen laughing and joking with his mother, and the result of their escapades had been fantastic. Lois was still not as adept at potroast and vegetables as CJ would have liked. Perhaps that was why he didn't mind the fast food that had become his habit since moving into the dorms of Midwestern University. It wasn't that he didn't like home cooking, just that *his* idea of a home-cooked meal usually involved both a fire truck and a pizza delivery boy. Still, his mother tried, and he had to give her credit for that. He certainly remembered what life had been like without her, and this was something he chose not to dwell on. His eyes wandered the table a while more, before finally settling on Kat. She met his eyes with a simple smile, and a gentle nod. She was so different, now... so graceful and pretty... there were times that he nearly forgot the rough-and-tumble tomboy that she had once been. Still, she was his best friend, and amongst all the life changes that had bombarded him in the last few years, this was one constant... He loved her. He truly loved her. With a final deep breath, and a glance at Kat for strength, he stood and faced his family. "Mom, Dad," he squeeked. Clearing his throat, he began again. "Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa... Kat and I have something to tell you." Lois held her breath as she waited for the bomb to drop. She would have clutched Clark's hand if he had been seated a little closer, but instead she folded her hands tightly in her lap and waited for the worst. Clark had a small smile on his face, as though he knew what was happening, but he didn't say a word. "Kat and I have decided to get married," CJ finally finished in a rush. His glance at Kat showed that she was smiling carefully, as unsure of what the response would be as he was, and his glace at his parents' faces was even less productive. CJ wondered for a moment if he could just sit down and reach for the apple pie, and maybe the last few seconds would disappear as though they hadn't happened. Finally, Jonathan's voice, uncharacteristically gruff, broke the strained silence of the room. "Well, it's about damn time." Jonathan rarely swore, so his choice of words broke the tension in the room. Lois laughed, Clark reached to his side to hug Kat, and CJ found himself bombarded with well-wishes from his grandparents. It was several minutes later, still numb with relief, that he realized that he hadn't been breathing. Clark finally pulled CJ up out of the chair and into a super-hug. CJ hugged back, with equal strength. There was a moment of silent communication, a realization of what CJ had truly found, that passed between the men. Clark knew that CJ was different, as he was, and to find your soulmate was an amazing thing. He had expected CJ and Kat to marry, just as he had always believed that he and Lois belonged together... but knowing what should be and living with what was were often worlds apart. With a final clap on the back, Clark pulled back from his son. He really was a man, now, and it was more than his living away from home. CJ was twenty-three, and nearly as strongly built as his father. The two men looked remarkably alike, and they shared the same unique abilities as well as a strong sense of family and values. Clark was certain that CJ would make a wonderful husband, and someday a father as well. CJ glanced at his father briefly, then turned to face his mother. If he had been nearly brought to tears by his father's pride, then his mother's love completed the job. He wrapped his arms around her as she reached up on tip-toe to kiss him gently on the cheek. "I love you," she whispered into his ear, as he lifed her slightly from the ground with his hug. Kat was dealing with an overwhelming welcome to the Kent family. She had been hugged first by Clark, and then Lois, and finally by the oldest Kents. They had congratulated her, and smiled at her, and given her a feeling of belonging that she had only experienced in this house. She supposed she should regret that her own father was not here for her, but the void was minimal. Clark had been more her father than anyone, and being allowed to become a real and true part of this family was so much more than she had ever dreamed was possible. When they were finally seated back around the table, with dessert plates and glasses of champagne that Martha insisted would go wonderfully with the apple pie, Clark proposed a toast. "To CJ and Kat," he said firmly. "You've been through a lot," Clark said as he faced the couple, "but you'll make it." Everyone drank, and the discussion ranged for awhile from dates to churches to gowns. There was some confusion regarding Kat's lack of a ring, but she assured them that it was merely being sized and would be ready by the end of the week. "Do you have a date picked out?" Martha finally asked seriously. "I mean, it would be nice if you could have the wedding here, but I know you have your studies..." CJ smiled at Kat, then at Martha. "We were thinking about a June wedding, right after we graduate. That gives us almost six months to plan, and by then we may have enough money to pay for it." The family laughed at CJ's choice of words. Both he and Kat had insisted on working while at college, and as a result neither had managed to complete their degrees within the four years that their scholarships dictated. The consequence of this had been a rough fifth year for the two of them. They were each juggling a couple of jobs along with their senior classes, and having to manage tuition and dormitory expenses in addition to clothes and groceries. CJ accepted little financial help from his parents. He knew that they were still dealing with medical bills that were almost a decade old, and helping his grandparents with their bills as well. A fixed income simply wasn't enough to manage in Metropolis, and Clark insisted on pitching in where he could. He had made the decision to attend Midwest University, while there were many schools both closer and less expensive, and he felt that the money was his responsibility. Kat had graduated with an excellent scholarship to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. It had a wonderful nursing program, and she loved being only a few hours from CJ, and yet not right in his hip pocket. They had spent enough time apart over the last four years to know that they wanted to be together, and it seemed that this time his parents agreed. Kat couldn't help but smile as she remembered the Kent's reaction to CJ's first marriage proposal. They had gone ballistic! Granted, CJ had been only eighteen, and still uncertain of where he would attend college and what he wanted to be. He loved journalism, but wasn't sure that he wanted to do it forever. Kat had known she wanted to be a nurse, but she hadn't been accepted into a program, yet. Their lives had been in chaos, and they had been frightened that a separation would destroy their love. They had never been apart, before, and they didn't know how to deal with the possibility. Clark had begged them to wait one year. One year apart would tell them if the relationship was based only on familiarity or something more. They had reluctantly aggreed, but it had not been a happy concession. Finally, the location of the schools and the demands of their education had taken over their time. This, combined with the ever present need for money, had forced them to apply themselves to their own resources, rather than relying on one another. The result had been worth the pain of separation. Despite being hundreds of miles apart, they had grown closer. CJ had finally chosen Journalism as his major, with a minor in Secondary Education. It was his hope to secure a job in a high school teaching others how to do what he loved to do: writing. Kat had worked as a Nurse's Aide, and then as a Vocational Nurse as she approached her Batchelors. Her goal was to be an RN, and she was almost there. Finally, they were secure enough in their individual lives that they were ready to begin a life together. It had been a long road, filled with all the personality conflicts, jealousy, and frustration that most young couples face... but it had brought them to a place in their lives where they couldn't be closer. *** "That went well, don't you think?" Kat asked as they walked back into the yard, surrounded by trees. It was cold, and she was bundled in a heavy coat while CJ walked next to her with short sleeves. "Mmmm, yeah," he mumbled as he slipped his arms around her and brought her body against his. Kat smiled, and kissed him quickly in the moonlight. There was no snow on the ground, which was unusual for this time of year. Kat wondered vaguely if there would be snow for Christmas, and hoped that there would be. Of course, there was plenty of snow on campus... snow that blocked her driveway and inconvienced her at every turn... but that wasn't the same. She was home for Christmas for the first time in two years... there should be snow. "Are you going to sleep at Grandpa's apartment, or here with me?" CJ asked her quietly. He didn't know which he preferred. He wanted to spend the time with her, and his parent's didn't seem to mind them sharing his bedroom, but the temptation was killing him. "Could I stay with you?" she asked him softly. CJ looked down into her huge green eyes and nearly lost his balance. They were the same eyes he had turned to since he was five years old, and he could deny her nothing. "Stay with me," he answered her. She stepped forward again, wrapping her arms around him, and held him tightly. She loved sleeping in his arms, and rarely missed the opportunity. He made her feel safe, and loved, and cherished. The temptation was always there, and it had been for years, to break their word to one another, but so far they had survived it. Six more months, she thought... six more months and we can both give in. After nearly twenty years, the last ten of which had tested their resolve, the wait was almost over. CJ stood behind Kat with his arms around her, cuddling her, and began counting backwards from a thousand in Latin, wondering if the water here was any colder than it was in his own shower in Kansas. *** Clark rested back against the pillows of his bed. There was a part of his mind that was concerned about his son sleeping in the same bed with his fiancee, but he tried not to let it show. However, CJ was an adult, and the choice was his. In any case, they often stayed together in the same dormitory and Clark could only imagine what went on there. It seemed rather ridiculous to keep them apart when they visited the house. The man was twenty-three, after all... it wasn't as though he were a child. "It bothers you, doesn't it?" Lois asked him. She had her head pillowed on his chest, prepared to sleep. Clark didn't pretend to misunderstand. "It shouldn't," he answered. "But, yes, it does." She lifted her head and smiled at her husband. He was still so old-fashioned in some ways, and she found it charming. "Don't worry too much," she told him. "I don't think that anything is really going on except some sleeping." "What?" Clark said, startled. "What makes you say that? I mean, they're *engaged*. I remember how hard it was to keep my hands off you during that time, and CJ's only human." "He's *not* only human," she said with a smile. "Besides, I saw his face tonight, and he had that look." "That look?" "Yes, that 'how am I going to make it through another night', completely frustrated look. Like the one you used to have before we were married." She smiled at her husband's amused glace. "As opposed to that very satisfied look you had *after* we were married." Clark shook his head, clearly amused with his wife. "You think so, huh?" "A mother knows these things," Lois told him as she lowered her head to his chest. "They just do," she concluded sleepily. Clark smiled down at his wife, and kissed the top of her head as she relaxed into sleep. She was probably right, he decided. CJ certainly did seem tense around Kat, and Lois's explanation would definately make sense. He wrapped his arms more firmly around her, and closed his eyes to sleep. *** CJ sighed as he waited for Kat to finish in the bathroom. She'd let him go first, because she always took longer getting her makeup off and brushing her hair. At least her hair was short, now, and he didn't have to wait while she braided it to keep it out of his face while they slept. They slept together every chance that they got, and had for the last few years. That was a surprisingly rare event. The universities that they attended didn't follow the same schedule, so they normally missed out on Spring Break and three-day weekends due to holidays. It was simply too far for either of them to drive, nearly a thousand miles, when they had less than a week to be together. This time, their schedules happened to coincide, but CJ had still assumed that he would be sleeping alone. While his mother had offered them the chance to share a room on their previous visits, this was the first time that he hadn't taken the couch instead. It was more a matter of appearances than actual activity. He and Kat hadn't done anything more than heavy petting, even alone in one dorm room or the other, but his parents didn't know that. The engagement changed that, marginally. Not that what they were doing had changed, but the impression he had of his parents speculating. It didn't bother him the way it had before they'd decided on marriage. His mind was still wandering when Kat returned from the bathroom, her face glowing and her short brown hair brushed back from her face, making her green eyes seem huge. "You okay?" she asked softly, getting into the single bed next to him. He scooted over towards the wall, giving her a bit more room. "I'm fine." "You're quiet," she explained. "Just thinking," he told her. "And watching the scenery." Kat sat up and smiled, mimicked modeling the borrowed flannel that she was wearing. "Oh yes," she told him. "The latest in Metropolis fashions." "You look good in my shirt," he said, blushing slightly. "Nice legs." "That's all you can see," she told him sarcastically, then reached for the light on the nightstand. It took them a moment to get settled, not surprising as they rarely spent the night in one another's arms. When CJ was finally still, with Kat's head in the crook of his shoulder and her arm resting across his chest, he spoke again. "You tired?" "Exhausted," she answered, then laughed. "And completely wide-awake. I hate this." "Me, too," he told her. "The drive wears me out, but being here revs me up. I can't sleep." "So talk," she advised. "Are we going over to see your grandfather tomorrow?" "No," he answered. "We probably should, but I have so many other things to do that we won't have time." "Maybe Tuesday," she offered. "That should work," he agreed. "Mom's going over in the morning, so if you want to send a note or something, you can." "Nah, that's okay. I don't know him that well." "Me, neither," CJ told her, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Grandpa Sam's always been out of the country on one thing or another. He's been working overseas to develop the medical techniques in third- world countries. The only reason he's back is because he's sick." "Your mom seems to be taking it okay," Kat remarked. CJ tightened his hold on Kat, then answered, "I guess so. She gets quiet sometimes, like she's thinking about him. I don't think they got along very well when she was a kid. I know he and Grandma Ellen divorced for a while, because she was drinking and he was cheating, but they got back together before I can remember very much. I know they were married by my fourth birthday, and that's just about the first thing I remember." "The birthday you got your bike," Kat smiled. "Yeah," he told her. "They gave me the coolest bike. Grandma Martha gave me one the same birthday, so we decided to leave that one in Smallville at the farm. It was pretty fun having two bikes, even if I couldn't ride the one in the city." "It was a great bike," Kat agreed. "We used to ride together all the time." Kat snuggled closer, and CJ did the same. Her leg bent, coming to rest atop one of his thighs, and his hand descended to her bottom. She leaned up slightly, kissed him gently, then smiled at the silhouette of his face that was visible from the moonlight in the window. "You like this, don't you?" he asked honestly. "I'd like this forever," she answered honestly. "I don't get to spend nearly enough time with you." "Agreed, but it's been good, don't you think?" Kat was silent long enough that CJ started to worry, but eventually she spoke. "Sometimes it was good," she admitted. "It gave me time to work on my degree, and I know that I would have hated my job if it had kept me on a different shift from you. Still, I'm pretty tired of being alone. I think we could have made it work at the same school." "SIU doesn't have a journalism program," he reminded her. She sighed. "I know, and even if it did, you didn't have a scholarship there." "Exactly. We went where we had to. It's just a few years, and we may be running a little behind, but at least we're running together." "We need to start looking at apartments," she said softly. "I assume you want to be here, don't you?" "There are a lot of hospitals in the area," he said casually. "Metropolis General, the Claremont Clinics, and a bunch of others. They all need nurses, so you could pretty much pick and choose." "True," she agreed. "And the Planet's here as well." "It does help having a dad on the staff," he grinned. "I'd like to get back into writing. I plan to teach, and Claremont High has several openings in their English Department for next year, but I would like to get back into the paper as well." "I don't see why you couldn't do both," she told him. "Depends on when you want to start our family," he said, trying to keep his voice casual. "Anytime's fine with me," she said with a grin, leaning forward and kissing him suggestively on the lips. As she pulled back, she added, "It's not like we don't know one another." "I wasn't sure how much time you wanted to spend as a couple before we started trying," he told her. "Babies are a pain in the butt." "I'm twenty-six," she said simply. "If we're going to have more than one, we need to get started. I don't want to be trying to put kids through college when I'm seventy." CJ laughed at that. "My grandparents were older when they found Dad," he told her. "They did okay." "Let's get through the wedding, then we'll deal with the kids," she suggested. "If it's just a question of having your baby, I don't have any desire to wait. Still, we can talk about how long I need to work to establish some seniority before trying to take maternity leave." "I should have a decent income between the high school and the Planet," he offered. "Maybe you won't have to go right back to work." Kat laughed outright, then punched CJ in the chest. "We're not even married and you're trying to get me barefoot and pregnant," she joked. "I didn't mean it that way," he said, his voice showing his embarrassment. "I know that," she admitted. "But I do think we should take it one step at a time. We got love, now let's get married, and then we'll talk babies." "Sounds good. You tired?" "Getting there," she admitted with a sigh, resting her head back on his chest. "Yeah, me too. Night, Kat." "Night, CJ. I love you." "Love you, too, Kat." (end chapter 1) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 08:37:50 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oops! Having looked at the way that formatted , let me recommend reading that story on my site . Eeks... what a mess! Chapter 1 is up as a teaser, but I'll update that link daily with what's been posted. Today, I'll put through chapter 2 up there. Sorry for the messy formatting... aol and the lists have never gotten along . -Crys- www.geocities.com/cryswimmer/CrysMain.html ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 09:46:51 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/16/2001 8:38:12 AM Eastern Daylight Time, JCWimmer@AOL.COM writes: << Having looked at the way that formatted , let me recommend reading that story on my site . Eeks... what a mess! Chapter 1 is up as a teaser, but I'll update that link daily with what's been posted. Today, I'll put through chapter 2 up there. Sorry for the messy formatting... aol and the lists have never gotten along . >> wait a minute!!! Does this mean that you aren't going to send along the sections to the list? PLEASE!!! ('course I'll wait till I have all the pieces before reading anyway) --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 10:35:18 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gerry Anklewicz Subject: Re: Fic Question: Med School In-Reply-To: <34.13bcd9da.280c3981@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Thank you Ann, Karen, alabot, and Laurie. I got the information I need to continue writing. Actually, Karen I knew what the Ontario requirements were, I was just curious if the same requirements existed in the States. It looks like we're all basically doing the same thing. If Metropolis U is a public university, then I guess tuition is lower. Thanks for your help. Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 10:34:04 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 Looking good so far, Crys! I always wanted to read more about CJ and Kat. I have a couple of questions, though: s p o i l e r s p a c e Can CJ not fly? I don't remember him not being able to in Full Circle, though he was something like 16 or 17 when that story ended and I may have assumed that that aspect of his powers would develop. You haven't said that he can't fly, but then you refer to driving 1000 miles to be with Kat since their universities are so far apart. Second, I don't remember Kat being three years older than CJ. You say that he's 23, but later Kat says that she's 26. If she was older than him, she'd already have finished university and be working. Looking forward to more - though if you're not going to post to the list, I may just wait until it appears on the Archive. :) Wendy ---------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 12:30:33 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/16/2001 9:47:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Larus2407@AOL.COM writes: > > wait a minute!!! Does this mean that you aren't going to send along the > sections to the list? PLEASE!!! ('course I'll wait till I have all the > pieces > before reading anyway) Yes, I'll still send it to the list... I know some people have trouble negotiating the web, and I respect that. Still, a cleaner copy is available if you choose to read it on the site... it will have the italics, spacing, and such that make the story just a little easier to read. If you want to read it in one piece, I recommend going there once the final part is posted, and downloading it as a whole (it's a long one... 12 parts). On the other hand, a couple of my betas have been grateful for the day between chapters... it can be fairly draining in the sadder parts. The choice is yours... I just like to give options :) -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 11:44:26 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: OT: Heads-up re a virus There is also one called "Is_Linux_Good_Enough!.txt.pif" that is making the rounds. It's classified as a low-threat virus, but any virus is one too many. Just thought I'd give you the heads-up on this one as well. I received it from my uncle who is oh-so-careful and used to run the computer network for a major university. So I figured he apparently wasn't aware that he had it. Of course I emailed him back and let him know to check his system. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 11:49:39 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 Oh goody! A grown-up CJ and Kat story. Since reading "Full Circle: Touch Football" many moons ago, I've wanted a sequel and now it looks like I'm getting my wish. Clark's worries about CJ and Kat sleeping together are just so "Clark." And Lois's comments about "the look" are hilarious. I'm looking forward to this. I wondered about CJ and flying too. I just figured the reason he didn't fly to see Kat every weekend was that it might raise too much suspicion if he was there all the time without a car. That would mean he had to fly commercial and that's not cheap. And if he's working his way thru college, then airfare isn't high on the priority list -- even if it IS to go see the woman you love. I didn't catch the age thing. But now that Wendy mentions it, it does seem odd. I remember them being the same age. Perhaps it was just a typo -- the 6 is just above the 3 on the numeric keypad and then that got translated into the written-out version of twenty-six. Just a guess. ;-) Marilyn AKA Supermom Write on! ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 09:57:52 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Vicki Krell Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I also caught the age thing, and was wondering...:) Vicki ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 12:08:00 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: Question for fic: high school graduation Since I have a son who will graduate (I hope -- keep your fingers crossed) on May 24, I know a little about this subject. ;-) Alabama has what is referred to as the 4 by 4 curriculum: you must have 4 years of english, math, science, and social science. There is some flexibility built in there (i.e. you must take Algebra I and Geometry I but your other 2 maths are your choice; you must take Bioloty and a physical science, but the other 2 are your choice). The english and social science classes are all laid out for you. You also must have 1 Physical Ed credit, 1/2 credit of health education, 1/2 credit of fine arts (my son is taking Crafts this semester since he inherited his mother's definite lack of artistic ability rather than his father's gift as did his older brother who is majoring in architecture), 1/2 credit of computer applications, and 5 1/2 credits of electives for a grand total of 24 credits. We have different types of diplomas. My son will earn the standard Alabama High School diploma because he did not take 2 years of a foreign language and an advanced math. My older son earned the Alabama High School Diploma with Advanced Academic Endorsement because he had 2 years of German, also took Algebra II/Trigonometry, and had Human Physiology as one of his other science classes. Alabama also offers an Occupational Diploma for students with disabilities. Then in addition to the 24 credits, a student must pass the AHSBSEE -- Alabama High School Basic Skills Exit Exam. Additionally, since my son is an athlete, he must meet certain academic elibility requirements to remain on the team. This is commonly called the "No Pass No Play" rule and was put into effect to remind coaches that these children are STUDENT athletes, not the other way round. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 13:26:51 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/16/2001 11:34:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time, wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK writes: > Looking good so far, Crys! I always wanted to read more about CJ and Kat. I > have a couple of questions, though: > > s > p > o > i > l > e > r > > s > p > a > c > e > > Can CJ not fly? I don't remember him not being able to in Full Circle, > though he was something like 16 or 17 when that story ended and I may have > assumed that that aspect of his powers would develop. You haven't said that > he can't fly, but then you refer to driving 1000 miles to be with Kat since > their universities are so far apart. > He started flying late, around mid-twenties, but it's not something he does a lot. He's got an ethical dilemma as he's not using the powers to "save the world", so he frequently just doesn't use them. Also, Clark's knowlege of geography and such is far superior to CJ's... he can't just fly off to another country... he wouldn't know how to find it . He hasn't asked Clark to teach him because he's been too busy with his studies, and work, and Kat, and everything else... so no, he can't just fly off to meet with her, but he can fly (I suppose he could follow the freeway in an emergency, but he'd have to be fairly low for that, so he wouldn't risk detection)... I address it in later chapters, but I didn't want to leave you hanging ;) > Second, I don't remember Kat being three years older than CJ. You say that > he's 23, but later Kat says that she's 26. If she was older than him, she'd > already have finished university and be working. > Ack...good catch... that should read twenty-four. I'll go back and fix it. She's only 6 months older :) I had originally started this two years ago, at a different point in their lives, and I thought I got all the glitches out. Apparently not . > Looking forward to more - though if you're not going to post to the list, I > may just wait until it appears on the Archive. :) > Fear not... it'll come to the list as well as to my site... and eventually the archive (editors willing). ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 13:56:42 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/16/2001 12:50:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, no1supermom@HOTMAIL.COM writes: > Oh goody! A grown-up CJ and Kat story. Since reading "Full Circle: Touch > Football" many moons ago, I've wanted a sequel and now it looks like I'm > getting my wish. Clark's worries about CJ and Kat sleeping together are > just so "Clark." And Lois's comments about "the look" are hilarious. I'm > looking forward to this. Just get the kleenex ready... seriously... I even debated posting this after all the list and board discussion about angst. It gets bad... worse than I'd planned, but that's just how it happened. My apologies in advance :) -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 14:24:43 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Full Circle Series... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi there... My apologies for the full mailboxes today, but I needed to make a minor announcement. I've already received a number of e-mails regarding the story, the series, and so forth. It's wonderful to have received so many complementary notes on my writing. In all the comments I've received, and discussion, several people have mentioned Touch Football. Today alone, I've received half a dozen e-mails asking me where to find it. I'm going to respectfully request that discussion of this story be moved to the nfic list, where it belongs. All of my stories are adult, whether nfic or not... FCII is definately adult, dealing with topics like death and recovery from loss. I'm a grown up, therefore what I write is "adult" in nature.... that's simply the perspective from which I write. Still, if I remember the rules correctly, discussion of nfic isn't supposed to take place on the list. I may be wrong... I've been off the lists for a while. Any of my stories can be found on my site: www.geocities.com/cryswimmer/CrysMain.html I don't have ratings there, as nothing I write is any more "hard core" than you'd find in adult mainstream fiction that lines the shelves of Barnes and Noble. If you're looking for something I've written, it's there... whatever the fandom. If any of the information here is wrong, I'm sure the "list mom" will let me know. I just don't want the discussion getting anyone in trouble, and I know there are minors on this list. Thanks for your time, Crys ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 14:00:17 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 Don't apologize. Life ain't always pretty. And I think we all came to the conclusion that forced angst is what we all disliked. Sounds you have something planned that is a part of what we all go through at some point. Write on! And I'll continue reading -- kleenex in hand! Marilyn AKA Supermom ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 20:16:33 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: Question for fic: high school graduation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Many thanks to everyone who replied so helpfully to my questions. I have one supplementary, which will earn you 3 credits . Grades mean zilch to me, as a Brit, so how old, for example, is an 8th grader? Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 12:31:56 -0700 Reply-To: ardchem@earthlink.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lisa Ramirez Subject: Re: Question for fic: high school graduation MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Yvonne, Students in the 8th grade are about 13-14 years old. Students start high school (9th grade - freshman year) at about age 15, graduate from 12th grade (senior year) at about 18. Lisa M. Ramirez ardchem@earthlink.net ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 13:30:54 -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: FanFic Recommendation: Lois.Doc MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Whoops, this was supposed to go here and to SuperMom. __________________________________________ Good read. Nice EpAdpt. Very touching. But, from an Information Services perspectiv, it begs the question, when are you going to write Jimmy.Doc where Jimmy tells Clark that he wrote a worm virus to destroy all copies of his e-mail that would naturally pop up on the Daily Planet Mail Server, the E-Mail Admins backup, the Hot Swap E-mail Server and, of course, the RAS-500 tapes. James the techno geek. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 17:11:17 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: Fic Question: Med School MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 4/16/01 10:37:28 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Gerry.Anklewicz@NTEL.TDSB.ON.CA writes: > If Metropolis U is a public university, then I guess tuition is lower It would be lower for a resident of New Troy. For students who are from other states, tuition would be significantly higher. Out-of-state tuition at state universities usually rivals the tuition at private universities. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 16:36:24 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Adam Labotka Subject: Sex, Truth and Revelation (part 2/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Ok, since Marnie begged here it is, still working on the final little = bit though so I had to make it 3 parts. Public and private feedback = welcome.=20 ******=20 Jimmy watched Superman fly off, his mouth gaping open. Superman's speech = was still processing through his mind. He was having a hard time = swallowing the idea that Clark and Superman were one and the same. = Coming out of his daze, he turned to Lois.=20 "Whoa, that was really CK?" Jimmy said somewhat incredulously, and with = a hint of awe as well, still having trouble reconciling the new = information with his previous knowledge.=20 "Yes, Jimmy," Lois said somewhat impatiently. "Look, we can discuss this = later. But for now we better get out of here, before the others recover = and realize we're here. We'll be mobbed soon if we don't."=20 Lois half dragged Jimmy along, trying to get a cab. Behind them, the = crowd finally recovered and remembered that Lois and Jimmy were there. = The reporters in the crowd began chasing after them, wanting questions = answered. Lois managed to flag down a taxi and they escaped from the mob = of reporters, heading back for the Daily Planet.=20 ******=20 Superman arrived at Randy Goode's offices shortly after leaving the = press conference. Squaring his shoulders, he prepared to enter, hoping = that his explanation was enough to convince them to let him mediate the = peace talks. After regaining his composure, having been fairly shaken by = those questions, he entered the room.=20 President Kasparov and General Pamchenko looked up as Superman entered. = They looked at him speculatively for a few moments, and Clark began to = feel very uncomfortable. He feared the worst, that they would take the = fact he kept his identity secret as reason not to trust him for the = peace talks.=20 After a few interminable moments, President Kasparov began to speak, = "Well Superman, this is a very interesting development. Now I can = understand keeping a secret to protect. My people can understand this = too, I think. I am actually sorry you had to reveal your private = identity. I think the fact that you did, though, shows your commitment = to peace. I can do no less, if General Pamchenko can agree."=20 "If Kasparov is willing, then so am I," General Pamchenko replied.=20 Inwardly, Clark breathed a sigh of relief. Revealing his secret had = worked, and it looked as if the peace talks would go on. Clark began, = "Good. Now if you're ready let's get started."=20 ******=20 After leaving the peace talks, Clark headed back to the Daily Planet. = Amazingly, there weren't any reporters surrounding the Planet, Perry = must have done something about that, Clark thought. He noticed that a = window was open on the newsroom floor, the one to the supply closet. = Apparently it had been opened for him, so he quickly flew in and spun = into his business suit, when he found the closet empty.=20 He felt a little strange leaving the supply closet after having not been = in the newsroom earlier, but there seemed to be no purpose to keeping up = the pretence anymore. When he entered everyone glanced up at him and = looked for a moment, before returning to their work. Clark was = uncomfortable; he didn't know how people would treat him now that they = knew the truth. As he was making his way across the floor to his desk, = Perry stuck his head out of his office.=20 "Uh. welcome back son, I, uh, want to tell you that what happened = doesn't change anything here. Your job will be here," Perry said. Then = mock sternly he continued, "That is assuming you continue to meet = deadlines."=20 Clark chuckled softly, and replied, "Of course, Chief."=20 When Clark reached his desk, Lois came over. "Hey, welcome back," Lois = said softly. "How'd it go?"=20 "Fairly well actually," Clark replied. "They were willing to let me = mediate after I gave up such a big secret for the sake of peace. Luckily = that seemed more important then the fact I had kept it secret to begin = with."=20 "That's good," Lois said, with a hint of sadness. "Too bad that it had = to come to that though."=20 After a brief pause Lois continued, "Oh, you should talk to Jimmy. He's = been a bit shell-shocked since the press conference. I think it'd help = if you talked to him."=20 Clark looked over at Jimmy and he seemed to be staring off into space, = oblivious to the world around him. Clark sighed inwardly, feeling bad = about Jimmy's current state. "You're right, I'll go talk to him now," he = said.=20 Clark made his way to Jimmy, slowly. Around the newsroom he saw people = looking at him, though they were trying to hide it. He felt like he was = being examined. Shrugging off the feeling, he greeted Jimmy, "Hi Jimmy." = Jimmy snapped out of his daze. "Oh, hi CK," he said distractedly.=20 "Do you want to talk about it Jimmy?" Clark said quietly. "About what I = revealed today," he clarified.=20 "Yeah, I'm having a hard time reconciling things," Jimmy said. "It's = hard to believe that I knew you all this time, and you were him and I = knew him too, yet I never thought."=20 Clark interrupted Jimmy, "Come on, Lois is supposed to be the babbler. = Let's go talk about this in the conference room."=20 Clark led Jimmy to the conference room, and closed the door behind them. = Closing the blinds for some privacy, Clark turned to Jimmy, "Ok, now you = can talk to me about anything that's bothering you and I'll try to = answer any questions to the best of my ability."=20 "Well, uh, I guess I understand most of it, I just need time to come to = terms with it. It's just, well, I thought we were friends, did you ever = consider telling me?" Jimmy said, dejectedly.=20 "We ARE friends," Clark reassured him. "I never really thought about = telling you. Since I was a kid it had been drilled into me I had to keep = my differences secret, to protect me and those close to me. I never = really told anyone until now. I mean it took me nearly two years to try = and tell Lois, and even then I botched it. Luckily she figured it out = herself in the end, and later forgave me. But if I ever was to tell = someone other than Lois, it probably would have been you."=20 Jimmy sighed in relief, "I think I needed to hear that. I couldn't be = sure about anything where you were concerned anymore. I didn't know how = much of it was cover or real."=20 "I'm still me Jimmy," Clark said. "I've always been Clark; I can just do = some things no one else can. That's why I invented Superman. He's the = fabrication. Clark is who I am. Superman is what I can do. It's that = simple."=20 "Thanks CK, I think I'm ok now," Jimmy said, relief obvious in his voice = and posture. "This really helped. I should get back to work before the = Chief has my hide."=20 With that, Jimmy left the conference room. Clark was glad he managed to = reassure Jimmy, but he wondered how many more people were having similar = problems. He sighed; he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, he mused. = 'Time to get back to work,' Clark thought. He exited the conference = room.=20 Clark headed for Perry's office, to check in and see what he should work = on now. He knocked softly on the door, and heard Perry say, "Come in."=20 Clark entered the office slowly. He saw Perry sitting behind his desk, = staring at a picture of Elvis, not really paying attention to anything = else. Inwardly Clark groaned, it seemed Perry was having problems too. = Quietly, he asked, "You ok, Chief?"=20 Perry looked up at Clark, "I'm just wondering if I'm worth my weight as = a newspaper man anymore. I mean, look at all these people I've = misjudged." Perry sighed as he continued, "First there was my friend = Bill Church, who turned out to be behind Intergang, but I didn't see it. = Then I defended his son when you guys claimed he took over Intergang, = and well, I was wrong again. Then there was Senator Black, I never even = suspected he could be a Nazi. And finally, I never even thought you = might be Superman. Even when I had reason to suspect, I dismissed it."=20 Clark looked at Perry. He was obviously depressed about this. Clark = thought about it for a moment, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. = An idea came to him, and he said reassuringly, "Perry, you have to = remember in each of these cases, they were actively trying to prevent = people from figuring it out. You knew these people, and you didn't want = to think bad things about them. In my case, well I think my disguise = worked mostly based on the fact that no one expects Superman to live = like one of them. They definitely don't expect to see him working for a = living. Also, I'm very fast, it might seem as if Clark and Superman were = in the same place at the same time. Even Lois, as close as she was to = both sides of me, didn't figure it out for a long time, and I had been = trying to tell her by then so that might have helped her. You're still a = great newshound, you know I have no idea how you know. You just had a = few blind spots that's all, happens to everyone."=20 "I guess you're right son," Perry replied, still somewhat depressed. = "I'll get over it, I'll just doubt myself for a little while. Oh, I want = you to write this story from your perspective, you and Lois. You know, = the life behind the secret kind of thing, and what it's like to BE = Superman."=20 "Sure Chief, I'll get on it right away. Don't doubt yourself; you're one = of the best," Clark said with a grin as he exited the office. He went = back to his desk, and talked to Lois about the assignment.=20 ******=20 After work, Lois and Clark decided to walk home rather then catch a cab, = because it was such a nice night. Lois entwined her fingers with Clark's = as they walked. After a while of walking in silence, Lois broke it by = saying, "How do you feel with everyone knowing who you are, Clark?"=20 Clark sighed yet again; he had lost count of how many times he had done = that today. "I'm not sure. A lot of people are treating me differently, = and it seems to have really affected people close to me who didn't know. = I feel bad about the doubt I seem to have given them. On the other hand, = it did clear up the problems due to that picture of us. Still, I wish = there had been another way. It does make things easier by not having to = make up excuses to get away," he finished with a hint of humor.=20 "What about you? How is it with everyone knowing you're married to = Superman?" Clark asked, concerned.=20 "Well, it was nice when all those people who were so upset with me = apologized. Of course some of the questions people ask. Don't they know = some things are private? Tabloids kept calling about stuff like our sex = life at first, but after a while I think they realized it wouldn't make = much news. I mean you and me married isn't much of a scandal," she said = with a twinkle in her eye. "All in all it hasn't been much different = then before. People always knew I was close to Superman, they just know = how close now."=20 Clark chuckled slightly, "I guess so. Well, so far it's been going ok. = Hopefully things will continue to go well, and no criminals will try to = use people close to me to control me - like you, my parents, Perry or = Jimmy."=20 "Well, it's been done before and we've dealt with it," Lois said. "I'm = sure we can handle it again. In fact it might be even harder for them, = seeing as everyone knows. Besides, that little speech you gave about it, = if I hadn't known you, I would have been very afraid. You were downright = scary with that threat."=20 They both lapsed into silence and continued walking, hand in hand, just = enjoying being together.=20 After several minutes of walking, Clark felt a tugging on his pant leg, = and heard a little girl's voice timidly say, "Excuse me, mister."=20 Clark looked down and saw a little girl of about 6 with pigtails looking = up at him. Squatting down to be on her level and quietly said, "Yes, can = I help you?"=20 She looked at him with a little awe as she cautiously said, "Well, umm, = are you REALLY Superman?" When she finished asking, she ducked her head = embarrassed.=20 Grinning at her, thinking she looked very cute doing that, he said, = "Yes, I am."=20 She looked up at him, eyes wide with awe and wonder. She said, a note of = apology in her voice, "Sorry to bug you, but I saw you walking by and = remembered what they said on the TV about you being Superman. Well, I = wanted to tell you thank you."=20 "For what?" Clark asked, curious.=20 "Umm, well, you see, my daddy was on this plane and it was gonna crash. = You saved the plane so my daddy could come home to me. He told me about = it, and how without you he would prolly be gone." She gave him a little = hug. "You are the most bestest person in the whole world, except for my = daddy," She finished giggling.=20 Clark smiled at her, and was very glad he had managed to save that = plane. Warmly he replied, "I'm glad I was of help. Hey, you want to see = something cool?" Clark asked conspiratorially.=20 When the little girl nodded, Clark stepped back a few feet. Looking = around to make sure nothing was in the way, he spun into Superman. The = little girl stared at him; eyes wider then before filled with awe and = wonderment. "Wow," she breathed.=20 Lois chuckled, and decided it was time for her to chime in, "You know, = that's exactly what I said the first time I saw that," she said, = amusedly.=20 The little girl turned to Lois, as if noticing her for the first time. = "Who're you?" she asked.=20 "Hi, I'm Lois," Lois said. "What's your name?"=20 "Oh, I'm Claire," the girl replied. "Hey, you're Superman's wife, aren't = you? That's what the TV said."=20 "Yes I am," Lois answered, carefully.=20 "Do you and Superman have any children?" Claire asked innocently.=20 "No, we don't," Lois said, quietly.=20 "Oh," replied Claire, in a small voice.=20 "At least not yet," Lois amended, smiling slightly to reassure Claire.=20 Clark chuckled as he watched the interchange. "Well if you two ladies = are done bonding, I think I'll take Claire for a little ride," he said, = with a Superman grin.=20 Crouching down again, he instructed Claire to get on his back for a = piggyback ride. "Hold on tight," he cautioned her.=20 "I'll be back in a few minutes, honey," he told Lois, slowly taking off. = "I know, have fun you two," Lois responded.=20 Several minutes later, he returned with an even more wide-eyed girl then = before. He carefully set her down.=20 "That was sooo cool," Claire said after a moment of recovery. "Can we do = it again?" she continued, excitedly.=20 Clark chuckled as he replied, "Not right now at least, I need to be = going, but wait just a second."=20 He suddenly vanished and mere seconds later, he reappeared in the same = spot. He brought out a picture and signed it, 'To Claire, It was a = pleasure meeting you. Superman.' He then handed the picture to Claire, = "Here you go, something to remember this by."=20 "Wow, thanks," Claire said. "Goodbye."=20 Claire darted into the nearby apartment building, leaving Lois and = Clark. Clark spun back into his business suit, and rejoined Lois. = Holding hands again, they continued their walk home, smiling.=20 ****** ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 19:34:46 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jessi Mounts Subject: Re: Question for fic: high school graduation Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >I have one supplementary, which will earn you 3 credits . >Grades mean >zilch to me, as a Brit, so how old, for example, is an 8th >grader? The average eighth grader would be thirteen when the school years starts and turn fourteen sometime during that year. Jessi ______________________________________________ FREE Personalized Email at Mail.com Sign up at http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 02:21:11 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: FanFic Recommendation: Lois.Doc Oh puhleeeeeeeeeeeze. Don't even mention the word "virus" around me or I might just go ballistic and you'll all think I'm the villain in Tank's newest story! It's now 2:20 am and I have just spent the last 5 hours installing a new virus scan program on my computer and then completely reinstalling Windows. This is the second virus that I've gotten in the past 2 weeks and I'm SICK of them. I have a really nasty idea of what should be done to people who write these things. So I'd never have Jimmy do anything that evil. If he did, and Lois got the virus on her PC, Jimmy would definitely be one dead duck! I'm glad you like the story though. I've never been the subject of a Fanfic Recommendation before. Golly! Marilyn AKA Supermom ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 02:22:25 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: OT: Heads-up re a virus Low-threat my eyeballs. It attackes your Windows files and leaves you dead in the water! I've now installed a brand spanking new virus scanner and completely reloaded Windows. I'm gonna kill my uncle! ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 02:45:29 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: Fic Question: Med School "Out-of-state tuition at state universities usually rivals the tuition at private universities." Not necessarily. It all depends on the state. My oldest son pays about $13000 per year as an in-state student at a state university here in Alabama. My younger son will be paying about $13000 as an out-of-state student at a state university in North Carolina next year. Then if we can get him qualified for North Carolina residency, his costs will drop to about $6500 per year. Weird, huh? Marilyn AKA Supermom ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 07:15:03 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: New Fic: Full Circle, book 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 4/16/01 11:34:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time, wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK writes: > Second, I don't remember Kat being three years older than CJ. You say that > he's 23, but later Kat says that she's 26. If she was older than him, she'd > already have finished university and be working. > I thought I remembered them being in the same grade at school. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 07:58:50 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: New Fic: FCII, chapter 2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Once more, special thanks to: Anne, Carol, Irene, Joy, Kath, Mark, Merry, and Missy G... my betas :) Also, a reminder that the story can be found (formatted) on my site: www.geocities.com/cryswimmer/CrysWimmer.html Thanks for reading :) -Crys- Chapter 2 Lois walked up the few steps to her parent's condo. They had moved back to Metropolis several weeks ago, when Sam had become ill, and had decided to stay. After a few weeks of testing, Lois's father had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and Ellen had decided that staying in Metropolis was the best idea. Lois used her elbow to ring the doorbell, carefully holding on to the casserole that Martha had sent with her. "Lois," Ellen said with a smile as she opened the door. Lois passed her the casserole, and gave her a hug as she entered the living room of the condo and closed the door against the cold outside. She would need to go outside to get the Christmas presents that she had brought along, but she could do that later. "How's Daddy?" she asked quietly. "Your father is asleep at the moment," Ellen answered, nodding to the hospital bed that had taken up residence in the living room, over by the television. Lois felt a pang of guilt for using the doorbell. She hadn't expected her father to be sleeping in the middle of the day. She had also been surprised by the hospital bed, a new addition to the living room's decor. She sighed sadly, realizing once more that the doctor's were not wrong... her father was terribly ill. She walked over to the bed quietly, taking in her father's gray tinge, and frail body. He wasn't the strong, vital man that she had always known, and that frightened her. "Hi, Daddy," she whispered as she placed a soft kiss on his cheek. His eyelids didn't even flicker, but she was reassured by his gentle breathing. After a moment more, she turned and followed her mother into the small kitchen. Ellen's eyes were suspiciously moist as she spoke quickly. "I certainly hope that Martha made this. Not that Sam will eat it. He hasn't been able to keep down anything but strawberry milkshakes for a week, and he can't finish one of those. I don't know how he expects to fight this if he won't even eat." She paused a moment, taking a deep breath, and keeping her tears at bay. "I'm sorry we didn't make it to dinner, last night. When CJ called and told us that he wanted us there, I really wanted to come, but your father just wasn't up to it." "I know, Mother. CJ understood." "So," Ellen said, once again bringing herself back from the edge of tears. "What was CJ's big news?" Lois couldn't help but smile as she shared her son's joy. "He and Kat have decided to get married." Ellen smiled. She had always liked the feisty Kat, probably because the girl reminded her so much of Lois. "That's wonderful. When will the wedding be?" "They are planning a June wedding," Lois told her. Ellen smiled again. "That will be beautiful." Lois tried to return the smile, but found it difficult. She was happy for her son, truly happy, but she was just coming to the realization that her father would not be attending the wedding. Suddenly, Lois felt trapped, confined. Falling back on the old defense mechanism of avoidance, she babbled quickly for the next few moments, and finally went to her car to get the Christmas gifts. The fresh, cold air relieved some of the panic, and she was able to return to the condo long enough drop off the gifts and give her mother a quick hug. She knew she was avoiding the situation as she got in her car to leave, but she wasn't ready to deal with the implications of her father's illness. In a big way, she felt as though she had just got her father back, and she wasn't ready to give him up yet. Unfortunately, life wasn't known for giving people what they were ready for. *** Christmas was a happy time. As always, they were up early to see what "Santa" had brought the kids. Martha and Jonathan were at the house before five, cooking a country breakfast for everyone. They enjoyed the meal, then settled in to open gifts. For the next couple of hours, the Kent's took turns opening presents, and thanking the givers. It stretched out the bounty beneath the tree, and made the morning more enjoyable. Once the bottom of the tree had no more to offer, CJ presented Kat with her engagement ring, assuring her that it wasn't a Christmas gift, but that it had been the first opportunity he'd had to present it to her since the jeweler had resized it. Martha and Lois sighed over the beautiful solitaire, knowing why CJ's budget had been so very tight this year. Still, it was a beautiful ring, and Kat would wear it with pride. The day was quiet and relatively uneventful until Lois called her family. Ellen had told her that they would not be attending the Christmas celebration, but it wasn't until nearly dinner time when Lois finally called them. Sam was sleeping, and was too weak to talk even when he was awake. Ellen was quiet and subdued, very much different from her normal personality. As Lois hung up the phone, she felt as sense of dread. It wasn't something she could define, but rather a lingering sense of uneasiness. It worried her. Soon, though, she was swept up in the celebration of the day, and found herself enjoying a wonderful meal. Lois was thrilled that CJ and Kat would be able to stay through both this week, and the following week as well. Christmas break had been extended for both universities, due to the unusual amount of snowfall that the Midwest had received, and they were all going to take advantage of the situation. If there was a feeling of sadness over the family, they tried not to allow it to show. The finality of life was death, and each was facing the possibility in their own way. *** Lois couldn't help but smile as her future daughter-in-law chatted constantly on the way back from the department store. After hours of searching, they had finally found just the perfect dress for Kat's wedding, and a willing seamstress that assured them it would fit her perfectly on her wedding day. Actually, Lois was thrilled that Kat's mind was moving a mile a minute. The kids would be returning to school in the next few days, and this presented Lois with a sadness that she didn't want to face. She loved having CJ home, and she missed it. Knowing that this was probably the last time he would live under their roof was a frightening proposition. He hadn't truly lived with them in years, but the possibility was there, and this was what she felt she had lost. Still, he was growing up, and if she had to entrust his heart to anyone, she was thrilled that it was Kat. They were still laughing and joking about a saleswoman's unusual tactics when they pulled up to the house. Entering through the side door, they bustled the shopping bags into the home with less than efficient enthusiasm. Kat was the first to realize that something was wrong. Clark and CJ were sitting at the kitchen table, and both rose to meet the women. Clark stepped forward to face Lois, her smiling face crumbling as she saw his expression. Something was wrong. CJ escorted Kat from the kitchen with an arm around her shoulders, giving his parents some privacy. His eyes were moist, but he remained composed. "Honey, your mother called," Clark began. He got no further. Lois could tell by the look on his face, and the expression in his eyes that her father was dead. She took a step towards the door, intending to head for the stairs at a dead run. She had taken only a couple of steps when her world crashed in on her, and went black. Clark caught Lois as she crumpled. She wasn't entirely conscious or unconscious. She was trembling and crying, and this shook him more than anything ever had. Swiftly, he whisked her upstairs, courtesy of a little super speed. After laying her on their bed, he retrieved a wet washcloth from the bathroom, and went back to place the cool cloth on her head. As Lois once more became aware of her surroundings, she began to cry. It was not hysterical sobs, but rather a quiet flow of tears that was infinitely more disturbing to her husband. Clark held her as she clung to him, having no words that would offer her comfort. He hoped his presence would be enough. It was he who had spoken with Ellen a few moments ago, listening to the tightly controlled voice that normally rambled with such animation. He had promised to deliver the news gently... and he wasn't sure he had managed that. He wasn't sure *he* had delivered the news at all. It was several minutes later when Lois began to calm. "What happened?" she asked him. Clark sighed, and attempted to relay the events as his voice cracked. "He passed away in his sleep," he explained. "Your mother said he was just sleeping, and then his breathing stopped. The respite nurse took care of the paperwork, and making the calls." Lois nodded, absorbing the information. At least he had not been in any pain. He had hurt so much, for so long, that she was still grateful for this much. Pulling herself together, she sat back from her husband and wiped her face with her hands, brushing the tears away. With her best "reporter" stance, she stood and walked to the telephone. She took a couple of deep breaths before dialing her parent's - her mother's - number, and waiting for the answer. *** The funeral took place on a dark and rainy day. The sky was fitting for the gloom that Lois was feeling. It wasn't that she was particularly sad, she decided, but rather that she wasn't. She wasn't hurting. She wasn't angry. She was... numb... for lack of a better word. She was surrounded by love and support as she sat in the second pew of the church, her husband next to her, his arm around her. CJ and Kat were next to Clark, and both Jonathan and Martha were on her other side. Her family was with her. Ellen Lane sat in the first pew. Lucy and her son, Daniel, had flown in from California for the funeral. Each sat on one side of Ellen, offering words or tissues as the moment demanded, providing the same comfort that she provided to them. Sam had actually been closer to Lucy and Daniel than he'd been to the Kent families. Daniel had spent his graduation summer in Brazil, working with Sam in one of the small mission clinics, trying to decide if he wanted to go keep his medical major in college after all. The two had grown very close. Close enough that Sam had taken the time to fly back for Daniel's college graduation, and probably would have done the same when he graduated from Medical School. Unlike CJ, who had started school in the same year, Daniel had skipped two elementary grades. He was a perfectionist, and had managed to finish medical school in only three years, by earning scholarships that allowed him to go to school year-round. Sam and Daniel were two of a kind, each wanting to help others by fixing their bodies. Lucy was so proud that she could bust, and Lois knew that the closeness between her Daniel and his grandfather had brought Lucy closer to Sam as well. Any doubts that the Lane family might have had about Lucy's ability to be a single mother had been erased years before. Lois had never been terribly close to her father. She had been angry with him in her youth, almost violently so. She had seen his infidelity as the reason that Ellen drank, the reason she lost her mother to alcoholism. His perfectionism had destroyed her confidence, while his eventually leaving them had rebuilt it anew. Lois had been mother, father, and breadwinner for the Lane family, long before she'd been old enough to understand what it meant. What she had understood, was that it was Sam's job, and she was doing it. She was taking Lucy to school, she was wiping up the mess when Ellen was sick, and she was making sure that the house was clean and dinner - such as it was - was on the table. She hadn't had a great deal of support in those years. Lucy hadn't been old enough to help, and Ellen had most often been beyond noticing the situation. Every crisis, whether it was small or large, had fallen to Lois. Thankfully, that was no longer the case. Lois had received endless support from her friends and relatives, most sending cards and flowers that even now decorated the front of the church. She had a kitchen full of casseroles and desserts from people who were concerned that she was too grief stricken to eat, and wanted to help out her family. Most of the people who had sent flowers and food had never even met Sam Lane. It was all very sweet, if she stopped to think about it. She wondered if Clark had received this same support when she had been so ill years before. Still, she felt that it was all a wasted effort. She was really okay. She knew she was. Very little had changed in her life. Her father had always been frequently absent, and now he was permanently absent. It wasn't a great deal of change. She felt a great deal more guilt than grief, that she wasn't more affected. The bottom line was that his life had ended, and hers hadn't changed. The small church was amazingly full, but only a small fraction of the people in attendance knew the deceased. Sam had been out of the country for more years than not, so his colleagues had long since forgotten about him, as well as his patients. Similarly, her mother had few acquaintances in the area, and chose to have the funeral in Metropolis more out of concern for Lois than because it was where their friends were. Again, for Lois. She felt the pangs of guilt once more. Lucy had flown over three-thousand miles, and Daniel was missing vital classes in his third year of medical school. They were sacrificing parts of their lives to be here, whereas Lois was only missing a day of work. Was she a horrible daughter to not even be inconvenienced by her father's passing? She couldn't help but wonder. The funeral was lovely. Daniel gave the eulogy, telling funny stories of the time he had spent in Brazil with his grandfather, the love and generosity that Sam had demonstrated, the understanding of foreign cultures. The music was grand and soothing, the Bible verses comforting. Lois recalled vaguely that her parents had never been particularly religious, but the minister preached anyway, on heaven and hell and better places. By the time they stood at the graveside, huddled under large umbrellas and hugging their raincoats against the chill of the January shower, Lois was nearly in tears. She should feel something, shouldn't she? Some sense of loss? Some sense of pain? She felt sorry for her mother, sorrier for Daniel and Lucy, but she felt nothing for herself. What kind of a daughter was she? "Are you okay?" Clark asked her, his arm around her, for perhaps the tenth time. "I'm fine," she told him, her whisper holding much of the frustration she felt. Clark heard the emotion, but couldn't fathom its cause. As the casket lowered, he steered her away from the waiting limousine, and towards their SUV. Lois didn't resist. Once they were in the quiet interior of the vehicle, the heater dissipating the relative cold of the unusually warm January day, Clark spoke again. "Do you want to go home?" he asked. "No, we need to go to the apartment for the reception. There's a ton of food, and I need to help Mom go through all the cards." "If you're not up to it," Clark began, but Lois cut him off. "I'm fine!" she declared in exasperation. "Clark, nothing has changed. I'm fine! He was gone to his mistress, then he was gone to his patients, then gone overseas, and now gone to heaven. Dad's gone. He was, he is, and he will be gone! Why does everyone think I should fall apart?" "I don't think you'll fall apart," he told her softly. "I just wanted to make sure you were coping." "There's noting to cope with," she said, mindful now of her tone of voice. "Once all the hoopla dies down, nothing will have changed. Not really." She turned to her husband, brown eyes pleading. "Does that make me a bad person? That my life won't change?" "No, Honey," he said, taking her into his arms, wiping away the tears that slipped from her eyes even as she denied their presence. "You're a good person." "I should be sad," she explained with sniffle. "I just don't feel anything, Clark. Nothing. No anger, no pain. What about those seven stages of grief that they're always whining about? I don't feel anything." "Denial?" he asked, his voice amused. Lois got the joke. "That is the first one, isn't it?" she said with a small smile. "I don't think I'm denying it, though. I just don't feel it. I want to feel something, Clark. Even anger would be better than this numbness." "Give it time, Honey," he said softly. "It's only been a few days. It hasn't all sunk in yet." "He was sick for weeks," she argued. "Did you really believe that?" Lois sighed. "Yes," she said, then met Clark's eyes. "No. I thought he'd get better. People don't die of cancer, Clark. They have chemo, and radiation, and they get better. Even at Christmas, I honestly thought he'd pull out of it." "Parents aren't supposed to die," Clark agreed. "Right now, I'd say you're still in shock. Don't let it tear you up. You'll feel what you're ready for, when you're ready for it. Nobody experiences grief in the same way as anyone else, so you can't hold yourself to what is happening to others. Just feel what you feel. It isn't like you get a choice, you know." Lois nodded. "I feel hungry," she admitted reluctantly. "As much as I'm not looking forward to this reception, I am looking forward to the food. I saw a rhubarb pie on the stove, this morning." "Then, let's go eat," Clark smiled. "You can help your mom, and if everyone gets on your nerves you can hide at the back of the apartment. No one will question why." Lois sighed. "That sounds good." Clark took off the parking break, preparing to follow the limousine that was already pulling out. "Just don't stop talking to me," he advised. "Whatever you feel is okay, but it's a hell of a lot easier if I know what it is." "I promise," Lois smiled, closing her eyes and resting her head on the back of the seat. "I'm tired." "You should be," he agreed. "Rest some. I'll wake you when we get there." "Thanks, Hon," she murmured, already drifting to sleep. She felt better, she realized drowsily. At least she didn't feel like she was an awful person, anymore. *** A holiday. A death. A funeral. It had all happened so fast. There were times when Lois felt that it was all a bad dream, that her father was just out of the country once more, but then reality would remind her that he would never be with her again. Life had resumed. Lois faced an entire world of guilt when her life was so unaffected by it all. She felt that she should be falling apart, dying herself. Her father was gone, and it had barely made a ripple in her life. Shouldn't his life have meant more? Ellen Lane had flown back to California with Lucy. All had agreed that a change of scenery would do their mother good, and it had made the transition much easier on Lois. Truthfully, she'd had a more severe reaction to CJ and Kat going back to school than she had to her father's passing and her mother's leaving the area. That was another cause for guilt. Shouldn't she miss them? She honestly didn't know what she felt. Gradually, life had fallen back into its usual pattern. Clark pulled double-duty as both Editor in Chief of the Daily Planet and Superman. She had never bothered to reclaim her position after he'd assumed it years before. She spent time reporting, but spent more time simply helping with the day-to-day operation of the newspaper. It was a big job, and it required as much of her as investigative reporting ever had. Her battles were with sponsors and advertising idiots, rather than the bad-guys of Metropolis. She didn't spend as much time with her life in jeopardy, but she'd come to see that as a relief. She'd celebrated her fifty-second birthday with her family around her, minus one father. It was no different than forty-eight of her other birthdays, and yet it had felt horribly final. Lois had taken CJ and Kat to spend a day going though the mall just before the kids had returned to school. It had been a wonderful day of shopping and laughing, mother-child bonding. They had embarrassed CJ at every turn, leaving the boy to blush over his mother and fiancee while they ransacked Frederick's of Hollywood and joked over the many uses of massage oil in Spencers. When they had wandered past the department store where Kat had tried on her dress the week before, Lois had become strangely silent. CJ had made a couple of comments before being shushed by his fiancee. He hadn't understood, but he'd guided them over to the food court anyway. His mother's grateful look had been thanks enough for his actions. He wouldn't learn until much later that Lois and Kat had been in that store even as his grandfather died. They'd had a fun day, and the joy of it almost overshadowed the sorrow when Kat had packed up her bright-red Volkswagen Beetle and the two young adults had climbed in to leave. Kat would drive CJ to the university, where he had left his own car, and then continue across Highway Sixty-four to Illinois. They were going back to school, and the house seemed unbearably large and quiet. Clark tried to help. He flew her to China for dinner three nights in one week before she realized how worried he was. She was normally faster on the uptake, but she had been distracted by her loss. She missed her boy. "You know, when I left the first time, my mother was miserable," Clark mentioned one evening, after bringing her back a bag of authentic Mexican Tamales he'd picked up following a short rescue mission in South America. "What did she do about it?" Lois asked softly. "Well, she cried a lot. When I found out about that I started coming home more often." "That's an option," she'd told him sarcastically. "Actually, it is," he'd told her with a smile. "I don't cry often," she'd responded wryly. "Not that part, but CJ visiting. He's almost as fast as I am, so flying home isn't too much of an effort." "I hadn't thought of that. Still, he's busy with his studies. I don't want to ask that. Besides, he still doesn't use his powers very often. I think he's still afraid of them. If he wanted to, he could spend every weekend with Kat, but he waits until he has time to drive." She never had understood that particular piece of logic. "He hasn't decided if he wants to join the family business," Clark had said with a smile. "Until he does, I think the powers make him just a bit guilty. He's not comfortable enough to use them in helping, so he doesn't want to use them for his own convenience. I don't understand it very much, but I can agree with him in principle." You're two of a kind, all right," she had joked. "But, that's okay. I love you both, anyway." Clark still brought her special meals, still paid her a little more attention, but he realized that she was healing from the loss of her son. Umbilical cords were long, but they had raised their son right, and it was time to let him go. It was time for his life to get back to normal, as it was time for her to do the same. Life was back on an even keel for Lois Lane Kent. She was busy preparing for her son's wedding in June, and glad that life was giving her something to enjoy. After all, she'd been through a rough beginning to the year, and she felt that she deserved something better, or at least calmer, after suffering such a loss. Yes, Lois was ready for some good. She wouldn't feel guilty about it either, she decided firmly. Everyone deserved a bit of good in their life. She had earned hers. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 05:43:41 -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: Re: FanFic Recommendation: Lois.Doc In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sorry, I forgot that you have been having 'issues' with viruses. I hope everything will start working out for you and your computer. I know what it is like to have to get everything just the way you want it. James ===== World's Wisdom (a bumper sticker): He who dies with the most toys wins. God's Wisdom (Luke 12:15b): Be careful and guard against all kinds of greed. Life is not measured by how much one owns. NCV WIP - 7 Days of Superman - Author's Cut http://www.geocities.com/mr_d8a/7dos.htm WIP for Elisabeth: Story of a Lifetime-TOC http://www.zoomway.com/boards/ubbhtml/Forum5/HTML/003563.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 09:16:03 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Natascha Kortum Subject: Re: Fic Question: Med School Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed >"Out-of-state tuition at state universities usually rivals the tuition >atprivate universities." I can only agree. ;) I attend a state college (Technical Institute)in New Hampshire as an out-of-state (out-of country) student. And my tuition is more than twice as much as that of a NH resident. $264 per credit compared to $121... Natascha _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 19:09:46 -0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Missy Gallant Subject: Federal vs Local Criminal Custody Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Hi everyone! If a criminal is arrested by Federal agents, where are they taken? Is there a chance that the local law enforcement will have custody, or is this out of their jurisdiction? Are there any instances where the criminal is held in the local jail? I remember Barney Fife watching over a bad guy in Mayberry's jail until the Feds arrived, but I'm not certain how accurate that would be. Would it be better to have the local police make an arrest and wait for the Feds to arrive, and is there some processing to do until the prisoner is transported? Lots of questions here. Hopefully, someone can answer them :) Thanks for your help! Missy _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 14:20:48 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Dennis Arendt Subject: Re: FanFic Recommendation: Lois.Doc MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I' with you there, Marilyn....I've had six in one year. What I would really like is 15 minutes alone with the vermin who starts these viruses. I'd bet a thousand dollars, he wouldn't do it again. Brenda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marilyn L. Puett" To: Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2001 12:21 AM Subject: Re: FanFic Recommendation: Lois.Doc > Oh puhleeeeeeeeeeeze. Don't even mention the word "virus" around me or I > might just go ballistic and you'll all think I'm the villain in Tank's > newest story! It's now 2:20 am and I have just spent the last 5 hours > installing a new virus scan program on my computer and then completely > reinstalling Windows. This is the second virus that I've gotten in the > past 2 weeks and I'm SICK of them. I have a really nasty idea of what > should be done to people who write these things. > > So I'd never have Jimmy do anything that evil. If he did, and Lois got the > virus on her PC, Jimmy would definitely be one dead duck! > > I'm glad you like the story though. I've never been the subject of a > Fanfic Recommendation before. Golly! > > Marilyn > AKA Supermom ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 21:24:30 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kaethel Subject: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universities MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey guys :) I'm working on a new project, or rather, I dug up an old WIP from my hard drive because the Muse suddenly decided to work on it . So I just needed to know a few things to get me started. :) First, at what age got Lois hired at the Planet? And did she start as an assistant researcher, or a reporter? If so, at what age did she write her first article that got published in the Planet's pages? I know this question was already raised on the list, but I can't remember the answer. Clark started flying at 18, but when did he start developing his powers, and when did he start being aware that he was different? Also, does anyone know if Clark went to the university in Kansas City, or Witchita, or anywhere else, or if there was a Smallville U? And finally, what kind of classes are you supposed to take if you want to be a reporter? Do you need a degree before entering a journalism school? If so, I'm guessing you'd have to get an English major? And if not, do journalism schools work in the same way as universities, with dorm rooms and such? Thanks a lot for any help :) Helene :) (trying to jog her butterfly-Muse back into work) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kaethel Kaethel@wanadoo.fr ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 15:25:21 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: FanFic Recommendation: Lois.Doc Gee Brenda, put them in a room with both of us and they probably wouldn't live to tell about it! Marilyn AKA Supermom ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 16:26:24 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: Re: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universi... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well I'm no expert but I am a journalism student. I'm taking a break though from school for the rest of the year, but my understanding was that once you got your journalism degree at a university you could then apply for a job at a paper! I know that major universities are known for their journalism schools (ie: Columbia and maybe Princeton?) but these schools are located on campus. Usually they are a building that is named the School of Journalism or whatever...at least that was how it was at my university. Anyway, you can probably say that Lois came from any of one of universities out there (unless a university was already named in the comics. I don't remember one being mentioned on the show, but I could be wrong). Probably nothing I said will help, but hey it was worth a try! LOL! Alexis ;-.) "What do you know about Superman?" (Lex Luthor) "Man, he can jump really jump...for a white guy." (Jules) {LnC, Neverending Battle} ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 19:37:39 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: The Case of the Disappearing Clark, 7/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well, here is the next part. I hope that part 8 will come sooner, but Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Clark and all of them aren't returning my calls so I'm not sure what's going on. I apologize for the time between posts. Usually I either have a good buffer or it is a quick write and I post as I go. Unfortunately, this is turning out to not be a quick write like I thought it would be. FDK is always appreciated! CM ***** Lois sank into the chair at her desk. She sat there with her eyes closed, trying to hold back the tears. She and Jimmy had looked at all of the warehouses on 5th near the pier, just like Bobby had to told them to and they had found nothing. Not a darn thing. It was closing in on 48 hours since she had last seen Clark. They had left the warehouse just before six a.m. on Tuesday and it was now almost five in the morning on Thursday. She couldn't do this much longer. She hadn't slept in almost 24 hours and she was just plain exhausted. Maybe she'd just close her eyes. Just for a minute. Clark would understand if she was a few minutes late finding him. It was just that she was going to close her eyes, just to rest for a minute... She jerked her head up - she wasn't going to fall asleep. Just clo...se... her... eyes... for... a... minu.... "LOIS! LINE 1!" came a call from across the room. Lois jerked straight up in her seat. "Wha...? Huh?" "Line 1." Lois rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. 8:09. How long had she been asleep? And how had she missed the paper waking up? She reached for the phone, trying to stifle a yawn. "Lois Lane." "Lois, it's Bobby. You didn't hear this from me and if you ever tell I'll deny it and you'll never see me again. *I'll* never see me again. Got it?" Lois was instantly wide-awake. "Of course. Spill it, Bobby." "There's an abandoned warehouse on 7th and Pine in the Hobbs Bay area. It belongs to a company called Computer Corp. There's no reason for a small upscale computer company to have a warehouse there, or a warehouse of that size at all. Joe was seen there last night. That's all I know. And that is another three ten course meals. Giving you info on this guy could get me killed." "It's yours. As soon as I get all of this straightened out." "Any word on Supes yet?" "I still haven't talked to him, but I've been busy. He's probably helping out in Europe somewhere or something." "Sure, Lois. Remember, I get Superman protection on this deal." "I know. I'll talk to him as soon as I see him." Lois hung up the phone. "JIMMY!" The bleary-eyed young man slowly stood up from his desk. "What, Lois?" Lois stood up and grabbed her purse. "I need you to find out everything you can on a computer company called Computer Corp. They have a warehouse on 7th and Pine." Jimmy sat down slowly. "Sure, Lois." "Now, Jimmy. I'm going down there. Call my cell phone when you have something." A new voice joined the conversation. "Slow down there, Lois. You're not going down there by yourself." "But, Chief..." Lois started to protest. "No buts, Lois. You're not going down there by yourself and that's final. Now, you can wait for Jimmy or you can take Ralph. Your choice." Lois sat down, grumpily. "I'll wait." "Get some work done while you're waiting." "Yes, sir." Lois wasn't happy that she was being kept from this. Perry started to walk towards his office but stopped and turned. "And, Lois, honey." His voice was softer than it had been. "We'll find him. You and Jimmy bring me whatever you find and we'll figure it out together." Perry would do anything for her, she knew that, but she was too worried about Clark to appreciate it. Two big tears came and sat in her eyes for a moment, but were persuaded with a determined effort to sink back again into those unfathomable wells that lie in the depths of a woman's eyes. She managed to squeak out her thanks. She turned on her computer and waited for it to boot up. "Jimmy, I'll see what I can find on the Internet. You work your magic elsewhere." "Gotcha, Lois." ***** I have to give credit where credit is due. I "borrowed" the following line from Grace Livingston Hill's Marcia Schuyler. I think it is my all-time favorite line from anywhere so I had to use it! "Two big tears came and sat in her eyes for a moment, but were persuaded with a determined effort to sink back again into those unfathomable wells that lie in the depths of a woman's eyes." ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 23:01:50 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: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universi... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 4/17/01 3:30:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Kaethel@WANADOO.FR writes: > First, at what age got Lois hired at the Planet? And did she start as an > assistant researcher, or a reporter? If so, at what age did she write her > first article that got published in the Planet's pages? > I don't think that the show ever mentions when Lois was first hired at the Planet. I know that I have read fanfics that indicated that she had been hired right out of college and others that implied that she had worked as an intern during college at the Planet. So, if she worked as a college intern, it is higly likely that she had her first article published then, when she was probably about 20 years old. If she didn't get hired until she had graduated from college, she would have been 21 or 22 (21 if you go by the October birthdate) when she had her first article published. > I know this question was already raised on the list, but I can't remember > the answer. Clark started flying at 18, but when did he start developing his > powers, and when did he start being aware that he was different? > In Chip off the Old Clark, Martha says that he first starting developing his powers when he was in junior high school. That means he was 12 or 13. And I 'm pretty sure that Martha says that he was 13 when he started lifting heavy stuff. In WHALTTA, Martha tell Lois that Clark was 13 when he realized that he was different and decided not to let anyone know about his powers. > Also, does anyone know if Clark went to the university in Kansas City, or > Witchita, or anywhere else, or if there was a Smallville U? > Clark went to Midwest or Midwestern U according to the football he has in ASU. I don't think anyone ever says where it is located, but the name implies that it was in the Midwest somewhere (which is a very large area encompassing Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota. There is no mention of a Smallville U, and realistically, most universities in the US are either named after famous dead people, the state or region they are in, or the city they are in. Ones named after cities tend to be in fairly large cities, so there is a University of Louisville, but the university in Lexington is the University of Kentucky and the university in Charlottesville, Virginia is the University of Virginia. Smallville is way too small to have a university named for it. > And finally, what kind of classes are you supposed to take if you want to be > a reporter? Do you need a degree before entering a journalism school? If so, > I'm guessing you'd have to get an English major? And if not, do journalism > schools work in the same way as universities, with dorm rooms and such? > If you want to be a reporter, you might major in journalism (I always got the impression that Lois did) or you might major in English or business or political science and take English or journalism classes and work on the university newspaper. Journalism schools are just part of a university, and the students would live in the same dorms as the English majors and biology majors, etc. It is also possible to get a Masters in Journalism. Most students these days also try to get a summer internship at a newspaper in a large city if they want to be a reporter. Some people will double major, choosing journalism and a field that they would like to report, like economics or science. Hope this helps. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 23:35:03 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universi... There actually is a Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. For some reason, though, I always got the impression that the college Clark attended was in Kansas. I'm guessing that the Kent family didn't have a lot of money for college and that Clark went to a state school, most likely with the help of academic scholarships. I think that even though he played on the college football team, he would have felt guilty accepting an athletic scholarship because of his special "gifts" and the advantage they could give him. So my feeling was that he probably played as a "walk-on." Of course, these are just my opinions and not supported in any way by the show, but just based on Clark's character and the family's financial circumstances. Marilyn AKA Supermom ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 07:32:58 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Few Fic: FCII, chapter 3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey there... WHAM ALERT... it's coming, so if you aren't ready for it, don't read. Thanks again to my Betas - Anne, Carol, Irene, Joy, Kath, Mark, Merry, and Missy G. -Crys- Chapter 3... May Clark charged through the hospital corridor as quickly as he could without calling undue attention to himself. He'd been in a panic since he'd found Lois' message for him on the kitchen table. He had promised himself years before that he would never set foot inside this hospital again. It had been a foolish ambition, but given both the length of his involvement when Lois had been sick, and his sense of helplessness at the time, it had seemed the best idea possible. Despite his promise to himself, he'd spent two other bouts in this building. Neither of the times had been pleasant. The first had been when Lois had needed some testing. She had spent three days admitted, and each one had been an individual terror to both of them. Fortunately, the results of the testing had been a relief, and she hadn't been back. The second time had been tragic, as Lois' father had been diagnosed with cancer. Aside from those times, Clark Kent had not entered Metropolis General Hospital. Of course, Superman still made the occasional appearance to drop off an accident victim or an unusually ill person that could not wait for the Emergency medical system, but he kept even those visits to an absolute minimum. Now, he was shaking from head to toe as he used both his hearing and vision to track down his wife. He finally located her in the waiting room on the third floor, and it had taken all of his control to resist the use of super-speed or flight to reach her. The moment he left the elevator, her head popped up and she met his eyes. He could see the fatigue and worry there, the strain of facing this without him. It hadn't been his fault. No one could have anticipated the earthquake that had shaken Japan on the previous weekend. As he had so many times before, Clark had gone on assignment while Superman worked around-the-clock to save lives. They'd had little time to prepare, but this wasn't unusual either. Martha had just come down to spend the week with them, so it had been with some sense of relief that he'd kissed his wife and told her to take care of his mom. It had never occurred to him that she might really have to do so. Lois' arms went around his neck as she greeted him. She didn't try to stand, but instead she tugged him down next to her. "I should have been here," he began. Lois cut him off with a firm shake of her head. "You couldn't have done anything," she reassured him. "The doctors are doing everything possible." Clark sighed, putting his arms around his wife, oblivious to the eyes of the others in the waiting area. "I should have been here," he repeated. Lois didn't bother to argue, but instead she held him and allowed some of the tension of the last few days to dissipate. She wasn't alone now, and the decisions from this point would be shared as a family. She had seen the pain and fatigue in her husband's eyes when he'd rushed into the room, so she didn't bother to explain. She held him tightly, allowed him to hold her, and she loved him. After several silent moments, during which they only drew strength from one another, he raised his eyes to hers. "What happened?" he asked softly. Lois closed her eyes and composed herself. The last week was a blur, but she tried to sort it out and remember. *** It had begun on a Wednesday. She and Martha had spent the day shopping and eating, eating and shopping. They'd tried on clothes, sampled perfumes, and left no store in the Metropolis Mall untouched. It had been a long day, so when Martha had declined dinner, Lois hadn't worried. She hadn't been terribly worried later, when Martha's indigestion had kept her awake and walking the floors. The true worry had started when Martha began to complain of chest pain and numbness in her left arm. Lois hadn't played around, but instead had called the Claremont Rescue Squad over Martha's protests. They had been quick, and thorough, and Martha had been in the Claremont Regional Hospital emergency room for most of the night. When Martha had been transferred to a room a little after seven on Thursday morning, Lois had driven home for a change of clothes and a much needed shower. She'd picked up the phone, called Jonathan and told him not to worry, and promised she'd keep him informed. Lois returned to the hospital before noon, feeling clean if not rested. She'd kept Martha company even as she got sicker throughout the day. That evening, Martha had experienced a heart attack, and was moved into the intensive care unit. Lois had been evicted to the family waiting area. By morning, when the doctors decided to do a cardiac catheterization, CJ had driven to Smallville to pick up his grandfather. Kat had joined Lois in the wait. Messages had been left for Clark in every possible location, but they all knew it was unlikely that he would check in with them until every emergency in Japan was dealt with. The cardiac cath had revealed three total blockages to Martha's heart. She was flown to Metropolis General on Friday afternoon, and the waiting began all over again. The weekend had been a blur of illness and Martha's irrepressible sense of humor. She'd badgered the nurses, grumbled about the food, and whined incessantly that she wanted to go home. Lois had stayed by the side of her mother-in-law, trying to give Jonathan the support he so desperately needed. She had worried, cried, and even laughed with the older woman. She had fielded calls from half of Smallville as Martha's friends expressed their concern. It didn't seem like much, but it was all she could do for the parents that were even closer to her than her own had ever been. Monday morning had brought the physician's decision to operate. A triple-bypass was Martha's only chance of ever leaving the hospital, and they had to take it. Jonathan had been worried, but optimistic. Lois had been terrified. Martha Kent went to the operating room on Tuesday morning. CJ and Kat had stayed with Lois and Jonathan, reminding them to eat and making sure they took care of themselves. The surgery had gone well. While it had been difficult to see Martha on the respirator, she'd seemed to bounce back. They'd taken out the breathing tube on Thursday morning, and had even set Martha up in a chair for a while. Lois had teased her about the hoarse, "Daffy Duck" voice with which she'd argued with her nurses and complained about the oxygen mask. But, despite Martha's spunk, her body was weak. Her heartbeat increased and became irregular, and her blood pressure dropped. By evening, she was back on the respirator, weaker than she had been before. On Friday, Lois went from nervous to terrified. Martha no longer responded to her voice, and hadn't even the strength to nod or squeeze her hand. Lois sat for hours in the waiting area, trying desperately not to lose hope. Jonathan stayed at his wife's bedside, speaking little and refusing to eat. Just as Lois' heart had reached it's lowest ebb, she had seen her husband's face. His warm brown eyes at once relieved her and filled her with guilt. He'd asked her to take care of his mother. While it was a fairly normal request, one he'd made a dozen times in the past, this one time it hadn't worked out. She felt guilty about everything from taking Martha out to eat, to not having been able to contact Clark, to not being able to console Jonathan or protect CJ and Kat from her worry. Lois had never been one to relax and let matters take care of themselves. Although she had slowed her pace considerably since her own illness years before, her worrying nature had remained persistent. Clark glanced through the walls and encountered nothing except blackness. "X-ray machines," he commented dryly, recognizing the lead walls from his frustrating experiences in the emergency room. "I'll take you back," Lois told him softly. She walked over to an intercom panel on the wall, and pressed one of the two buttons. After a short wait, the impersonal, disembodied female voice asked her what she wanted. "Martha Kent's family would like to see her," she said clearly. "One moment," was the sterile reply. It was more than a moment, but several minutes later the voice returned. "You can come back, now." Lois took him by the hand and led him down the hall. She tapped a metal button on the wall to open the double-doors. She led him to a sink, and he followed her example of hand washing before trailing behind her to his mother's room. "They just moved her to her own room," Lois said softly. "It looks like we're going to be here awhile." Clark tried to listen to his wife's words, but his eyes were glued to the form in the bed. He stood frozen until Lois moved to his mother's side and took a swollen hand in her own. "Honey, Clark's here," she told her, stroking the hand and arm gently. Clark tried to move closer, but found himself pinned in place. His father was sitting silently on the far-side of the bed, and had yet to acknowledge him. The woman in the bed did not look like his mother. She barely looked human. Her face and body were swollen, her skin pierced by dozens of tubes and wires. A plastic tube extended from her mouth, facilitating the artificial looking breathing of the respirator. Her eyes were open, her hands and feet moving in jerky, disconnected motions. She didn't respond to Lois' words or actions beyond increasing the agitated movement. Clark had dealt with hospitals. He'd seen his wife incapacitated for more than a year, comatose and frighteningly still. Yet, he'd never seen this. Three months before, his father-in-law had battled cancer and he had lost. It had been painful, but they had seen it through as a family. The cancer that had killed Sam Lane had been mercifully quick and ruthlessly inoperable. The time from diagnosis to death had been less than two weeks. Aside from on oxygen cannula, a clear tube that fed oxygen directly into Sam's nose, they hadn't dealt with medical equipment much more invasive than an IV. Lois' father had passed quickly, quietly, painlessly, and with more dignity than Clark could have imagined. The loss had hurt, and Lois was still not back to herself, but the his had become bearable over time. Clark and Lois had leaned one another, and he knew that Lois had become closer to his mother during that time. His trips home had become even more frequent, and gradually the shared grief became shared remembrance of a life that was long and productive. Sam might have been related to him only by marriage, and certainly wasn't often around, but Clark had suffered a measure of grief in losing him. He had shared the grief with Lois, but only his mother was able to aide him without her own emotions to deal with. His mother had shared her strength with him, and now he wondered where that strength could be. His mother was pale, weak, and frail. Her thin body was swollen from the fluids they had given her, and his father was offering little help to the situation. Clark had no idea what to do. Lois saw his discomfort and reached back for Clark's hand. He stepped forward tentatively, knowing that this was his mother, but not knowing how to handle this particular situation. Lois spoke gently. "Clark's here now, Mom. He's been out saving the world again." Stepping up behind his wife, Clark looked down into his mother's eyes. He couldn't stop the tremor in his voice as he spoke. "I love you, Mom." Martha's eyes opened widely and she began to struggle against the restraints that were around her wrists. Her lips moved around the intrusive plastic tubing as if she wanted to speak, but there was no sound. "Mom?" Clark squeaked. Then he turned and fled the room. *** She had fluid in her lungs. Her heart was weak and irregular. She was retaining so much fluid that her kidneys were in danger of failing. Martha Kent was a very, very sick woman. The physicians were guardedly optimistic, but Clark Kent was petrified. He had never seen anyone so deathly ill; not his wife, and not Lois' father. The worst part was that even with all his powers, all his gifts, he could do nothing to save her. The helplessness and guilt that he had learned while Lois had recovered from CJ's birth, the dread that had been pounded home when Sam Lane had died, was back in his life full-force. The emotions were complicated by the added guilt of having been unreachable when his presence might have made a difference. "Is she in any pain?" he asked softly. His gaze was unfocused as he stood before the glass walls opposite the main elevators. He saw nothing of the dazzling sunset before him. "No," Lois answered as she slid her arms around his body and rested her cheek against his back. "The medications are tricky because they make her blood pressure even lower, but they make sure she doesn't hurt." He nodded his understanding, but didn't risk speech. He wasn't fond of emotional scenes in public, but he was very close to being in the middle of one. Closing his eyes, he tried to eliminate the vision of his mother as he had just seen her. "Can we talk to a doctor?" he finally asked. Lois sighed and tightened her arms around his body. "We can ask," she told him. "Unfortunately, as much care as they give her is also as little care as they her relatives. Last night they kept us out here for four hours. It was all I could do to keep your father calm. They kicked us out at five o'clock, and didn't let us know what was going on until after nine." "What was going on?" "Blood pressure, heart rate... you name it. They defibrillated her twice, and they didn't tell me there was a problem until it was over and she was stable." He turned in her arms and pinned her with angry eyes. "Don't sugar coat this," he said sarcastically. She placed her hands on his cheeks and met his angry gaze, knowing his anger was at the situation but not at her. "I won't lie to you about this," she explained. "It's too important, and I love you too much." Closing his eyes, he rested his forehead against hers. Tears slipped through despite the effort he made to stop them. They had been building from the moment he had read Lois' note hours before: Martha has had a heart attack. We're at Metropolis General. Come quick. It's bad. Clark had followed the instructions, nearly causing a sonic boom despite his fatigue. Unfortunately, he still felt that it had been too little, too late. "What else?" he asked softly. "She's running a fever," Lois said more gently. "That indicates infection. She's not really aware, either. She doesn't know or respond to your dad and I. The epinephrine is messing up her pancreas, so they're having to give her insulin. I guess the worst is that they can't sedate her with her blood pressure this low." "What do the doctors say?" "Not much," Lois answered bitterly. "They're mostly absent. The nurses seem optimistic, but I can't tell when they're honest and when they're trying to protect us." She met his gaze squarely once more. "Maybe that's why I was too blunt, but I'm so sick of being placated that I'm ready to throw up! I won't put you through that; you'll get enough of that here from the staff." He nodded his understanding, his apology for his anger in the lines of his face. "I don't know what to do," he explained. "Whenever I feel this lost, I call my mom." Lois held him more tightly. "It's just waiting," she explained. "The doctors are doing all they can." *** The next days took on a routine of waiting and wondering. While Martha responded some to Clark's presence, her condition only remained stable. There seemed to be times when she wanted to talk to Clark. Her lips moved around the plastic tube, but she was unable to make sounds. Frequently, Martha became so frustrated with the lack of communication that she refused to even look at Clark. These were the times that he found the most frustrating. Each day seemed to bring a new concern. Her body remained swollen, her blood pressure remained low, and her frustration seemed to mount. Clark and Jonathan remained at the hospital almost constantly. CJ and Lois continued their vigil in the shifts that had become routine to them. Lois had been at the routine long enough that she remembered the little things: meals, resting, and keeping something in her hands to occupy her mind and ease the waiting. Clark was out of practice, so he let his worry overwhelm him. Lois reminded him to eat and showed him the best places to get away from the constant buzz of the busy hospital. Lois didn't realize how tightly strung her husband really was until they had dinner Monday night in the Cafeteria. Clark finally placed his hands over his ears with every evidence of pain. "You okay?" she asked softly. "I don't know," he replied. "I can't seem to tune out sounds, and those beepers are giving me a headache." "You're tired," Lois reasoned. "We'll start sitting outside for meals, tomorrow. You need the sunlight." "I guess I have been spending too much time in the artificial lights," he admitted. "You need some sleep, too," Lois added. "When I was sick, you used to sleep in my room. I know you can't do that now, but you have to let your body rest." "Lois, I don't..." "Need as much sleep as I do," Lois finished for him. "I know that. Hell, after twenty years I know more about what you need than you do! My point is that you're so worried about your mom that you're not taking care of yourself. She wouldn't want that." Clark considered arguing, but just then another pager sounded. He misjudged the strength necessary to hold a paper cup, and crushed his coffee in his grip. Lois handed him several napkins and didn't bother to say another word. Clark sighed as he realized that she didn't have to. *** Lois put her arms around CJ and held him as he cried. The day had begun with such promise. The sun was high and bright, giving warmth to the May morning. They had arrived for nine o'clock visiting hours and had been elated to see Martha without the noisy ventilator that they had all begun to hate. Their high spirits had plummeted when Martha's disorientation had become apparent. At first, they had been able to laugh when Martha rolled her eyes and asked where the baby was. Giggling, they had explained that she'd had heart surgery and not a c-section. Martha had laughed with them. Later, when Martha had called a nurse by Lois' name, asked Clark to fix dinner for his father, and not recognized CJ at all, the humor was harder to see. When CJ had kissed his grandmother on the cheek and told her that he loved her, Martha had bluntly responded, "Who are you?" CJ had made it to the waiting area before he had broken down. Martha and Jonathan had always been more than special to CJ. They had nurtured him as an infant, named him, and cared for him whenever his parents were unable. It had been their love and support that had anchored him when his powers had begun to manifest themselves. His parents had wanted to help, but it was Jonathan who had explained and Martha that had accepted when his parents had been too buried in their own crises to see into his. When Jonathan had strained his back the summer before, CJ had moved in with his grandparents, commuting the distance to Midwestern University, having to assure himself daily that the two of them would be okay. By the time CJ had neared his graduation, he and his grandparents had been virtually inseparable. And now, Martha had no clue who he was. Lois rubbed his back, wishing she had the words to offer some hope. The truth was, she had no idea what was causing the disorientation. Martha had been on more medications and in poorer health the first time she'd been extubated, yet she had been lucid at that time. She had been tired and weak, but she'd known who she was, where she was, and knew who was with her. Now, she knew none of these things. "The nurses are running some tests," Lois murmured to comfort herself as much as her son. "This is probably temporary." "I know, Mom," he said quietly, finally calming some. "It just hurts. It's bad enough that Grandpa is so quiet, but I really thought Grandma would get better." "I know, baby," she answered softly. "She will. You just have to keep believing it." (end chapter 3) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 07:50:17 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: New Fic: FCII, chapter 4 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey again... 3 and 4 very much go together, so I'll send out both today. Once more, in case you haven't been paying attention... MASSIVE WHAM WARNING!! Accurate medical details, illness/hospital alert... you get the picture. Don't read it if you're sensative to such things. Find all this neatly formatted (thank you, Anne) at: www.geocities.com/cryswimmer/CrysMain.html (click on L&C fanfic, then on the FCII link, upper right hand to your screen) Enjoy :) -Crys- Chapter 4 Days turned into weeks. Martha had good days and bad days, and at some point the days began to seem more good than bad. Jonathan relaxed as Martha improved, still demanding his place at her side, and yet becoming easier to manage as well. He ate occasionally, left the hospital long enough to shower and get clean clothes, and once in a great, great while he smiled. It was a long road. There were no quick-fixes for someone as ill as Martha. Every step forward had at least one step back. She was moved from ICU twice, and twice she returned due to additional complications. As the first of June approached, she finally seemed to be on the road to recovery. Just as everyone began to feel a sense of relief, Martha required another surgery. The doctors placed a tracheostomy tube in her throat, allowing the respirator to be attached there, rather than through her mouth. It was a mixed blessing. Martha could mouth words now, could have her teeth brushed and suck on flavored, glycerin coated swabs to keep her mouth moist. She could not, however, eat or drink anything. Her nutrition came from the nasogastric tube which was inserted through her nose and descended to her stomach. A feeding pump regulated the rate at which her liquid diet was delivered. She mouthed the word "coffee" over and over. It became an unwritten rule that no one was to come into the room with a cup of coffee in hand. The subject was skirted, the beverage was never mentioned in her private room in ICU. Once, CJ dipped a dry cotton swab in his coffee and let Martha suck on it a while. The physicians had a fit, but Martha smiled for the first time in weeks. It was amazing what a little coffee could accomplish. Just as quickly as Martha had turned her body towards recovery, her body turned back. The medications to rid her body of fluid caused her potassium to drop, and this precipitated a rapid and irregular heart beat. The medications to control her heart both lowered her blood pressure and stressed her kidneys. The medications to relieve her kidneys were ineffective, and blood transfusions, while increasing her blood pressure, caused her body to become jaundiced. Gradually, her liver failed, her kidneys failed, and even her digestive system began to fail. She didn't have the strength to digest food, so she was started on TPN, an intravenous nutrition. This, in turn, stressed her kidneys further, requiring dialysis to purify her blood. Each treatment initiated another ailment, and each ailment required treatment. The rollercoaster roared on, and it was Martha and her family that were left stunned and frightened. There were times when Martha Kent seemed to be no more than a bundle of diagnoses, a collection of various illnesses were kept alive by needles and tubes. She wasn't the Martha that they knew and loved, wasn't the devoted mother, the understanding grandmother. She wasn't the artist or the friend, the neighbor or the farmer's wife. She was simply a patient, property of the hospital, and there appeared to be no end in sight. *** Lois found Kat in the dining room, staring out the far window at the trees that were beginning to blossom. Pink and white flowers seemed out of place in the dim hospital setting, but life went on. Even when it didn't. She didn't see the tears on Kat's face until she had taken a seat, placing a glass of sweet tea in front of the younger woman. It was her favorite. "Thanks," Kat whispered. She sniffled, wiped ineffectively at tears, then sniffled again. "Are you okay?" Lois asked. It seemed a stupid question. None of them were okay. The world was falling apart and they were at the still center of the tornado. "I'm fine," Kat said. "Just being stupid." "There's nothing 'stupid' about being upset," Lois corrected. "I'm not upset about Martha, though," Kat whispered. At Lois' raised eyebrow, Kat clarified. "I mean, of course I'm upset. I love Martha. She's as much my grandma as CJ's, but that wasn't why..." Her voice trailed off. Lois thought a moment, then dug in her purse for some Kleenex, offered them to Kat. "You know," she said absently. "I was thinking last night that you were supposed to get married next week. I was wondering if that might have you just a little upset." "It shouldn't," Kat said, her tears flowing once more. "There's so much more to think about, worrying about a wedding just seems stupid." "It wouldn't be stupid to Martha," Lois told Kat firmly. "She loves weddings. I remember how excited she was when we were planning mine. She wasn't as forward as my mother. In fact, she's all that kept my mother in line, but she was so excited that you could just feel it coming off her in waves." "I don't want to have the ceremony without her," Kat explained. "Even if I did, I don't think CJ would leave long enough to do it. He's so worried about Jonathan." "He has good reason," Lois agreed. Jonathan hasn't been handling any of this very well." "I know that, and I'm not upset that CJ wants to stay. I mean, his professors have been really good about letting him do his assignments and send them in, and he's going to be able to graduate, if he wants to. I think it's wonderful that he can stay here, even when I can't. But I'm upset, too. We have our whole lives ahead of us, and as selfish as it sounds, I want to get started." "That isn't selfish," Lois assured her. "It's human. You and CJ have waited six years for this wedding, and you have every right to expect it to happen. I remember what that feels like. Clark and I planned and planned, and everything that could go wrong did." "You didn't give up." "We thought about it," Lois admitted. "More than once, as a matter of fact, but we just couldn't let go of one another. You and CJ are the same way. You're soul mates, and you belong together. The longer it takes to get there, the better it will be when you manage it." "Nice words," Kat said wryly. "But the bed's still cold at night." "I hear ya," Lois grinned. "The most important things in life are worth waiting for. That doesn't make the wait easy. It's fine for you to feel cheated, feel angry. You're right, this was lousy timing. Still, Martha didn't plan it, and I know she'd be miserable if she realized that her illness was turning our lives upside down." "She'd kick us out," Kat said, blowing her nose and taking a deep breath. "She would," Lois agreed. "So, are you going anywhere?" Kat asked with a smile. "Of course not," Lois said with a grin. "I'm as stubborn as she is. And she *is* stubborn, Kat. She never would have made it to eighty-five if she weren't. She can still pull through this. The doctor's haven't given up on her, and I won't until they do." Kat nodded. "Thanks, Mom," she smiled. Lois did a double-take, then grinned broadly. "You're welcome," she said. Then, after a pause, "I always did want a daughter. I'm sure glad I got you." "I love you," Kat said softly. "You, too, Kat." *** "Happy Mother's Day," Clark said softly as he placed a small teddy bear next to his mother's frail body. The bear wore a "prayer ribbon", made by Mrs. Tipton in the family waiting area. Clark had found that the area was just that. A waiting family. The Kent family was one of about fifteen families that inhabited the room. They knew one another's names, their family situations, and their loved-one's illness facts. Mrs. Johnson had been the first friend that they had seen lose the fight. Her husband had received a new heart, and his body had never fully accepted it. For the first three weeks that they had spent in the waiting area, Mrs. Johnson's smile had given them all hope. She hadn't given up, not even at the last, when the man that she had been married to for over thirty years didn't know her name. The night he died, Clark had held her for more than an hour while she waited for her children to come and get her. She'd no longer had a reason to stay. She'd been back to visit twice, bringing donuts and jellybeans to share with the new families that had taken her place. She brought her smile with her, every time. Mrs. Tipton was a newlywed. Married only four months, her husband had entered the hospital for a lung transplant almost three months before. He was not doing well. The man was combative, when conscious, and his ups and downs were as frequent as Martha's had been. Gail Tipton had begun to weave ribbons into lapel decorations. The "prayer ribbon" was a reminder. When you accepted one, you promised to pray for every person who wore one, whatever their need might be. It didn't matter if you knew who had them, because God did. Clark had loved the idea, and had immediately joined the assembly line of people weaving ribbons into the decorations. He had found it interesting that you could identify a third-floor family member by their ribbon. People who had never been in a church wore them, and remembered to pray. Nothing brought you closer to God than the possibility of sending a loved one to be with him. The family waiting room contained a variety of people with frighteningly similar situations. Third floor ICU was primarily for heart and lung surgeries, so they all had a great deal in common. Mr. Bellamy was in for his new lungs, and his sisters were well known for their cheery personalities, informal prayer circles when anyone took a turn for the worst, and their failure to arrive before noon each day. Even though their brother had been moved to another area of the third floor, the sisters still remained in the waiting area, answering the phone there and taking messages for the board. The message board was another thing Clark had grown to love. He frequently found himself in the big chair by the phone, jotting down messages for family members that had taken a moment to go for lunch or grab a shower. The huge dry-erase board was their only way to receive messages regarding who had called them, and leave messages regarding where they had gone. It was a simple system, based on families helping one another out, and it worked surprisingly well. It also provided him an outlet for his mind, as the phone was always ringing. In between the infrequent visits to his mother, the telephone occupied him. The families provided one another with prayers, love, and most of all, understanding. They translated the cryptic words of doctors and nurses with their own experience to guide them, and clarified instructions that made no sense. They used their own loved-ones as a guide, and aided others through the process of pre-op and post-op routines as though they were the professionals. They took care of one another. When a family's name was erased from the board, it meant one of two things. It meant that either the family was moving down from ICU into a step-down unit, or that a loved one had lost their battle. When a family member passed on, they all felt it. When a family member moved on, they all rejoiced. Twice, the Kent name had been removed from the board in ICU, with prayers of praise offered all around. Twice it had returned. The first prayer ribbon that Clark had made was now worn by the small teddy bear he had found in the gift shop. It seemed a small thing, but the hand-blown glass hummingbird that he had chosen for her was back in Claremont, and he didn't have the heart to leave and get it. Flying with it might break it, and the drive was too long to contemplate. He decided instead to give her the cuddly bear with it's knitted blue sweater, and the uneven ribbon that he had woven himself. The ribbon was just a symbol, but it was important one. Religion aside, it stood for hope, and hope was in short supply. This was not the Mother's Day that Clark had planned. His father had been unusually surly, and it had taken both CJ and Clark over half an hour to get him out of the room for linen changes. It was the one time of the day that the nurses would not tolerate families in attendance, and Clark could understand why. At seven in the morning, and again at seven at night, the nurses did a full bed and dressing change on each patient. They physicians came through to do "rounds", and discuss the prognosis of each patient. Breathing tubes were suctioned, orders were written, and gowns were changed. It was a full two hours in the morning, from seven to nine, and a single hour in the evenings, only seven to eight. Every family member was evicted, despite their worry and the illness of their loved one. It was hospital policy. Jonathan Kent had no tolerance for policy. It had been almost eight o'clock before Clark had convinced his father to leave, and even so he had sent CJ to accompany him and ensure that he did eat something and take a shower before returning. A nap would be good, as well, but Clark didn't bother hoping for the impossible. The only way Clark had managed to get his father out of the room was to promise that he would stay. He had done so, first in the waiting room, and now he would stay here, by his mother's bedside, and spend some quality time. He turned the television channels until he found a home-improvement program. While he didn't have any interest in putting in a new bathroom sink, he knew his mother would prefer this program to the soap operas and game shows that dominated the morning lineup. He settled into the surprisingly comfortable chair that was next to her bed, and waited. He was just beginning to doze when Kat walked in. A glance at the wall clock told him that it was almost eleven, and he was stunned that he'd been sitting for so long. Kat smiled, walked over to his mother, and said a few soft words before taking her hand and glancing over her shoulder at the television. "How is she?" Clark asked. They all trusted Kat's impressions far more than the floor nurses. Kat was honest to a fault, knowing that they needed the truth over placation. "Stable," Kat said with a smile. "Blood pressure looks good, and heart rate, too. Urine's a little dark, but that's not unusual. Oh-two sats are stable, the pressure's up a bit on the respirator, but the oxygen's down. Looks pretty good, actually." Clark nodded, then gestured to the dialysis unit that had taken up residence next to the bed. It was an annoying machine, with its clicks and whines, and the constant need to change the large bags of fluid with which they filtered his mother's blood-waste. Martha's blood pressure was too unstable for regular dialysis -- the type that was done in an hour or two a day -- and required constant filtration. The unit clicked and hummed twenty-four hours a day, its fluid bags requiring hourly changes. Clark appreciated the necessity of the machine, but when added to the respirator and oxygen machines, it still bothered him. Martha's breath suddenly took on a wheezing quality, and she began to struggle. Kat calmed her expertly even as she reached for the nurses' call-bell. When the nurse stuck her head into Martha's room, Kat requested that Martha be suctioned. The nurse agreed, and came in to perform the procedure. Salt water was dribbled down the tracheostomy tube, and a long tube was lowered and used to remove any fluid and mucus that was causing Martha distress. The procedure took only a moment, but the relief that she received was total. She could breathe again. The nurse nodded in approval, then made an adjustment to the respirator. As the nurse left the room and closed the curtain, Kat sighed. "I'd rather just do it myself," she commented. "But I know they'd have a fit." "You do half their job," Clark said with a grin. "Everything from bed baths to linen changes." "I do what I can," she admitted. "But it's their job, and they're the best at it. I've never worked in ICU, so most of this I'm learning as I go." "I'm glad you learn fast." Martha coughed. The plastic connection between the respirator and the trach popped apart, and the woman began to struggle. Kat reacted quickly, grabbing the call-button with one hand, then re- attaching the respirator with the other. She said nothing as she waited for the nurse's return, but her face was tense. When the connection popped again, this time without even a cough to precipitate it, she gestured for Clark. He had already stood nervously, and when Kat waved him over he followed her instructions and held his hand over the connection to keep it in place. Kat disappeared quickly though the curtain, leaving Clark standing there, holding his mother's life in his hand. She returned seconds later with a nurse in tow. It wasn't Martha's nurse, but Clark didn't particularly care. The nurse apologized profusely as she tied a cloth ribbon to one side of the respirator, then slipped it behind Martha's neck to tie it to the other side. The ribbon effectively kept the respiration connection from separating. "We've increased the pressure so that her oxygen could be decreased a little more. Apparently that's a little more pressure than the connection can take. Instead of pushing the air into her lungs, it pushed the respirator off. This should take care of it." "How dangerous is that?" Clark asked, but his eyes were on Kat rather than the nurse who had begun the explanation. "It's not," Kat replied softly. "She could be without the respirator for several minutes before her sats even drop. There's no damage done. It was just a little frightening for her." "She's not the only one," Clark complained. The nurse watched the interaction between Clark and Kat, but didn't offer any additional explanation. Apparently, Kat's diagnosis was close enough that she didn't feel a need. Instead, she promised to relay the incident to Martha's regular nurse, who was caring for another patient at the time. Clark watched the woman leave. He had to keep his glare in check, as he didn't want to set the flowered scrubs ablaze. "Everything's okay," Kat told Martha, her voice pitched so that Clark heard the words clearly. She showed no awareness of the words, but Kat continued talking anyway. "I know it all seems scary, and that you just want to go home, but they're taking good care of you, here." "Are they really?" Clark asked, his voice soft, uncertain. "They're doing everything they can," Kat told him honestly. "Absolutely everything." *** CJ took a deep breath as he walked out of the transportation tunnel that connected the parking garage with Metropolis General Hospital. Perhaps it was the lack of sunlight in the underground transport, or maybe it was just the gloom of the hospital environment, but the tunnel always made him uncomfortable. They had rented a small apartment across the street from the parking garage. It wasn't much, only one bedroom and a kitchenette, but it was a place that they could rest and shower when they were taking shifts at the hospital. Oddly, Martha required very little of their attention. The doctors and nurses were able to care for her adequately. The person that needed the most effort was Jonathan. CJ had always loved his grandparents. They had been as important to him in his growing up as his parents had been. While Lois and Clark had set the limits and enforced the rules, it had been Martha and Jonathan that had given him the other comforts of home. Pot roast and love... there was little more that a growing boy needed. Martha had given him understanding and compassion, as well as a good swift kick in the pants when he needed it. She had been his rock. It wasn't that Lois and Clark were inferior parents, just that they were both new at the job, and dropped in head-first without the usual nine months of preparation time. Martha and Jonathan had been there, done that, and had washed the T-shirts several times. They were old-hands at all of it, from middle-of-the-night feedings to manifesting powers. They had done it all, and were more than willing to share their knowledge. They baby-sat, gave advice, and offered their home as a refuge against the world. Dad flew off to save the world, Mom drove off to report it, and it was Grandma and Grandpa that stayed at home with CJ. Now, he couldn't decide which was more difficult. Seeing his grandmother so close to death, or his grandfather so despondent and ready to follow. They were not young. As vital as each seemed, they had been in their thirties when Clark had been found, and had been in their sixties when he had been born. Now, as Martha approached her eight-sixth birthday and Jonathan looked forward to his eighty-fifth, they were no longer young. They had battled through various ailments through the years, but never before had they reached a point this low. CJ loved his grandparents, and he found himself afraid. It wasn't just for his grandmother, although he was terrified of what life would be like without her, but rather losing both of them that worried him. Martha was so sick, looked so bad, that he could almost see her passing as a blessing. Jonathan on the other hand was essentially healthy, or had been before he'd stopped eating and moving around. Some days he looked more ill than his wife, and that frightened CJ as well. He didn't want his grandma to die. He did want the hurting to stop, the waiting to stop. It seemed to be a never-ending ride, and he didn't know what to do about it. He was tired of the ups and downs, the bad outweighing the good. He was tired of the hope being crushed, and the good news being tainted with bad. He was just plain tired. They had been at Metropolis General for almost six weeks. It was exhausting. He was doing most of his course work by correspondence due to the light class load he was carrying and a group of very understanding professors. Still, he seemed to spend almost all his time sitting, rather than studying or helping out. The sitting was more tiring than working. CJ had just made it the distance from the transportation tunnel to the elevators when they opened before him. Kat stepped out, looking tear- stained and tired, giving him a weak smile. "Hey," she said softly, stepping into his arms for a quick hug. "Hey, yourself," he replied. "You okay?" "Hanging in," she told him. "Did you get Jonathan to take a nap?" "Yeah. He sat down to watch a few minutes of the news and he was out." He looked at her closely, the puffy eyes and tired smile. "What's wrong? Is Grandma worse?" "Same," she assured him. "They increased the respirator pressure and it kept popping off, so your dad had a bit of a scare, but otherwise everything's just like it was." "Is that serious?" "No," she assured him. "It just looks bad. They did decide to take her down to CT scan, though. Her lungs have so much resistance to the respirator that they're worried about pneumonia again." "So, what else is new?" he asked sarcastically. "Yeah," she agreed. "Your dad went with her, but the waiting room's packed so I decided to try and find you." CJ put his arm around Kat and steered her back towards the transportation tunnel. "You mean, Grandma's inaccessible, Dad's okay, and Grandpa's sleeping? And you and I are in the same place at the same time?" "It's a miracle," she agreed with a laugh. CJ laughed too, albeit a rusty one, then turned to give her a hug. He took a quick peek over her shoulder, then his, and finally leaned down to kiss her. Being in love while your life was in turmoil was not a fun experience. Every moment they spent together was shadowed by the situation, by their worry, and by their family's constant presence. Moments when they could just be together were rare. Moments that they could be *alone* together were nonexistent. Kat leaned into the kiss, wrapped her arms more tightly around him, and just held on. He could feel some of the desperation in her kiss, the worry for the future and the fear for the present. More than that, though, he felt her love. CJ startled as he heard voices just beyond the ramp to the tunnel. He pulled away reluctantly just as the voices became clearer and a woman pushing a stroller came into view. He focused his attention on that stroller, trying to get his mind off the disappointment at being interrupted during even such an innocent kiss. The child was bald. Older than the usual baby found in a stroller, perhaps six or seven, the child was not recognizable as a boy or girl. Long and thin, wearing a nasal cannula and leaning against the oxygen tank that was propped next to her. CJ knew they were headed to the fifth floor, the one with the huge aquarium that dominated the lobby. The aquarium that had fascinated him until he realized that he was on the floor for pediatrics. As one of the largest medical centers on the east coast, and one of the most open to experimental treatments, the pediatric ward was a haven for children with cancer. CJ saw them every day, in the cafeteria and the parking garage, both inpatient and outpatient: Children who might never get the chance to live. For some reason, he found them far more upsetting than his own grandmother's illness, and this was the root of immeasurable guilt. "I'm thinking about ice cream," Kat said softly, watching CJ's eyes and understanding what he would never say. That was one reason that he loved her so much. She knew his thoughts, even when he didn't speak them, and she never judged. "Chocolate?" he asked gently. "Always." (end chapter 4) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 08:26:09 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universities MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > First, at what age got Lois hired at the Planet? And did she start > as an > assistant researcher, or a reporter? If so, at what age did she > write her > first article that got published in the Planet's pages? > Hey - just was watching S2E1 and Perry mentions that he's worked with Lois for about 5 years, so read into that what you will. Hope it helps. CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 09:03:37 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Kryptonite question - series MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay - so Ariana tried to kill Supes this morning and of course Lex did earlier this week. Both mention that Lois named Kryptonite. Well, this is only my 2nd time through the series, but I only remember K showing up one other time and that was in the GGGH in which Lois had no clue and Clark is the one affected by it. (Okay, so it's semantics, but you know what I mean). What other ep is it in (prior to Lex getting it)? When does Lois name it? Etc. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks! CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 09:18:09 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Adam Labotka Subject: Re: Kryptonite question - series MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit She names it in GGGOH in the article about the "mysterious" rock that Trask thought would hurt Superman, but she thought it was a figment of his imagination because it couldn't be found, perry insisted on a name for it, Lois thought Kryptonium Clark said Kryptonite cause it was a meteorite, and that's how it got named Kry[ptonite and since Lois wrote the article it was assumed she named it (Clark didn't want to be involved in writing it, too close to the story ;) ) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 15:31:33 +0100 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Kryptonite question - series MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol wrote: > Okay - so Ariana tried to kill Supes this morning and of course Lex did > earlier this week. Both mention that Lois named Kryptonite. Well, this > is only my 2nd time through the series, but I only remember K showing up > one other time and that was in the GGGH in which Lois had no clue and > Clark is the one affected by it. (Okay, so it's semantics, but you know > what I mean). What other ep is it in (prior to Lex getting it)? When > does Lois name it? Etc. > > Any help would be appreciated! > It was named in the end scene of GGGoH. From the script (or version thereof ;) ) PERRY Well, then, Lois, I just got one note for you. This rock that Trask convinced himself was gonna hurt Superman. What's it called? LOIS Called? You want a name? Nobody can even find it. Even the sample Irig sent to the lab disappeared. I'm not sure it existed anywhere but Trask's mind. PERRY Even so, this copy'd sing a lot sweeter if you gave it a name. LOIS Trask thought it was from the * planet Krypton... I don't know... * Kryptonium? * PERRY Okay by me. CLARK Wait. It's a meteorite. What * about... Kryptonite? Perry hands the copy back to Lois, heads for his office. As you can see, Clark actually named it...but Lois had the byline, so I guess she got the credit. ;) LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 09:54:30 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Corporation questions MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay, so I'm posting a lot today! I was hoping that my absolutely incredible BR (Yes, Missy that's you!) for this story would be able to help, but she knows about as much as I do. If Jimmy and Lois are looking into a company and eventually it is going to be controlled by a Lex company (who everyone still thinks is dead, but really isn't), how would they find that out? How does the whole corporate red tape/dummy corporation so-we-can-trace-it-back-to-Luthor-eventually thing work? If anyone can help, I'd appreciate a PM so that we don't gum up the list! Thanks! CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 09:31:23 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: Kryptonite question - series MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks to Adam and Labby! They answered the question, but that was an ep that I missed the last minute or so of. I have exactly 6 hours per tape so I try to get only the ep. However, it seems that every week, the time changes by 30 seconds or so. Occassionally, I miss half the intro or the very end. I must have missed that part! Thanks for the help! Just one of those things that bug you until you have to ask! CM On Wed, 18 Apr 2001 15:31:33 +0100 LabRat writes: > Carol wrote: > > > Okay - so Ariana tried to kill Supes this morning and of course > Lex did > > earlier this week. Both mention that Lois named Kryptonite. > Well, this > > is only my 2nd time through the series, but I only remember K > showing up > > one other time and that was in the GGGH in which Lois had no clue > and > > Clark is the one affected by it. (Okay, so it's semantics, but you > know > > what I mean). What other ep is it in (prior to Lex getting it)? > When > > does Lois name it? Etc. > > > > Any help would be appreciated! > > > > It was named in the end scene of GGGoH. From the script (or version > thereof > ;) ) > > > PERRY > Well, then, Lois, I just got one > note for you. This rock that Trask > convinced himself was gonna hurt > Superman. What's it called? > > LOIS > Called? You want a name? Nobody > can even find it. Even the sample > Irig sent to the lab disappeared. > I'm not sure it existed anywhere > but Trask's mind. > > PERRY > Even so, this copy'd sing a lot > sweeter if you gave it a name. > > LOIS > Trask thought it was from the * > planet Krypton... I don't know... * > Kryptonium? * > > PERRY > Okay by me. > > CLARK > Wait. It's a meteorite. What * > about... Kryptonite? > > Perry hands the copy back to Lois, heads for his office. > > > As you can see, Clark actually named it...but Lois had the byline, > so I > guess she got the credit. ;) > > LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 13:27:39 -0400 Reply-To: nightsky@erols.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Subject: Re: Kryptonite question - series MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol L Moncado wrote: > > Okay - so Ariana tried to kill Supes this morning and of course Lex did > earlier this week. Both mention that Lois named Kryptonite. Well, this > is only my 2nd time through the series, but I only remember K showing up > one other time and that was in the GGGH in which Lois had no clue and > Clark is the one affected by it. (Okay, so it's semantics, but you know > what I mean). What other ep is it in (prior to Lex getting it)? When > does Lois name it? Etc. > > Any help would be appreciated! I put this list together of the uses of Kryptonite in the first two seasons of L&C a while ago. Hope it helps! ====================== Season 1 In "Green Green Glow of Home," Kryptonite appears for the first time. Everyone is surprised by it, although Trask makes the connection immediately between Smallville and Superman. Clark finds out that Kryptonite is dangerous to him. The sample sent to Washington is declared missing, no one can find it. Only Clark and his parents know that the rock is dangerous. We find out in "Barbarians at the Planet," that Bureau 39 got their hands on the piece that went missing in GGGOH. The foolish "gentleman" who stole it from the Government warehouse, and attempted to sell it to Luthor said that all the research concerning the rock had been destroyed. In "House of Luthor," Luthor tests the kryptonite out. He fashions a necklace for Mrs. Cox, and she wears it near Superman. He visibly weakens, much to Mrs. Cox's delight. Later Clark is on the phone to his mother. He has recognized the symptoms, and mentions that it took him hours to return to full strength. The Kryptonite Cage that Luthor constructs obviously weakens him, so much that he can't catch Luthor when Luthor falls from the penthouse (and why would he want to?). Still, we don't know who discovered the cage in the wine cellar, or what they made of it. It's hard to believe that Superman would have explained it. Season 2 In "Madame Ex," Ariana breaks into Lex's penthouse and gets her hands on the Kryptonite. She then makes the Kryptonite bullet. Both Perry and Lois believe at this point that nothing can kill Superman. After he is shot, Lois is able to cut the bullet out with a letter opener, and then the wound closes like it was never there. He is able to leave under his own power, but he is weakened by the kryptonite. He has trouble flying, a car knocks him backward, and then he almost doesn't manage to stop a run away truck. This is when Lois learns about the Kryptonite, but she keeps it a secret. The Vale's use Kryptonite to power Metallo. They used to work for LexLabs, and got the piece of Kryptonite there. It is interesting to note that they have no idea why Metallo is able to defeat Superman; Clark recognizes Kryptonite for what it is; Lois is probably able to make the assumption. Jimmy sees a weakened Superman for the first time. Although Perry berates Jimmy for not taking pictures of Superman "down on his knees," it doesn't appear that the Daily Planet realized the effect of Kryptonite. Most people probably just assumed what the Vales did; that Metallo was a very strong robot. At the end of "Metallo," Rollie Vale takes the Kryptonite from Corbin. In "The Phoenix," Luthor gets this chunk of Kryptonite back from Vale. At the end, though, Nigel betrays Luthor, and flees with the Kryptonite. In "Top Copy," Diana Stride has heard rumors of a substance that is poisonous to Superman. She says: "There's been a rumor about a substance that can kill him... a chunk of meteor Lex Luthor got a hold of." When Intergang gets the rock, they admit that what they know about Kryptonite is kind of sketchy. But after Diana grinds it into a paste and uses it anyway, she discovers that it is very effective. Lois helps Superman get to the hospital, and she tells the doctors about Kryptonite. We have to assume that at that point it becomes public knowledge that Superman is not invulnerable. Tempus knows about Kryptonite in "Tempus Fugitive," of course, and finds a number of chunks with the spaceship. In Individual Responsibility, Gene Newtrich was commissioned by Intergang to try and find some Kryptonite. He used data from Bureau 39 to discover where Superman's spaceship crashed, and finally found the Red Kryptonite. He is surprised when they discover Red Kryptonite; Bill Church Jr says to Newtrich, "Kryptonite? I thought it was green. This is red. Is there a difference? What can it do?" Like Lex and Diana before them, they experiment with the Kryptonite to discover exactly what its powers over Superman are. Nigel returns in "And the Answer Is," and the piece of Kryptonite that the Vales used in Metallo. At the end of that episode I would assume that the Kents take possession of it and do something with it -- possible drop it off in the Bermuda Triangle. Season 3 In "Ordinary People," Spencer Spencer berates his Spanish Doctor. "Fool! Haven't you ever heard of Kryptonite?" So by now, it is common knowledge. He doesn't seem to have much difficulty getting a chunk, so I would guess it is also easily available in the criminal marketplace. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Genevieve The World Wide Web had made it possible for anyone to find in five hours what a competent librarian can find in five minutes. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 13:34:11 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universi... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit For some reason, though, I always got the impression that the college Clark attended was in Kansas. I'm guessing that the Kent family didn't have a lot of money for college and that Clark went to a state school, most likely with the help of academic scholarships. With a combination of academic scholarships and need-based financial aid, Clark probably could've gone to college just about anywhere. As was mentioned a few days back, in-state public schools are the least expensive. However, getting academic scholarships can even things out. And, if the Kents didn't have much money, Clark could've added need-based scholarships to the academic ones, further increasing his possibilities. For example, I went to a fairly expensive private college and had a friend who received both academic and need-based scholarships. Taken together, they actually decreased the cost of the private college to less than in-state public schools! This was because our school was small and most of its students could pay the tuition. So there were more people needing need-based aid at the in-state public university than the out-of-state private one. It actually cost her less to go to a $30,000/year school than a $7000 per year one! If you give Clark good grades and financial need, he could probably get a good financial aid package in most schools. Christy attalanta@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 20:54:23 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kaethel Subject: Re: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universities MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey guys :) Alexis, Ann, Marilyn, Carol and Christy, thank you so much for your answers, they were extremely helpful. :) Alexis, thanks for the info about the journalism school. I didn't know these could be on campus and worked in the same way as regular universities. Actually, I didn't know there was a journalism degree at all, but that's great for my plot. ;) Is it available in every university, or just in the biggest ones? Marilyn and Christy, thanks a lot for the info about scholarships and the possibility that Clark might go to an out-of-state university. However, I'd rather he attend classes at the university in Smallville, if possible, and if not, close enough to Smallville. So if it's possible that his hometown has a campus, it'd be great. And okay, Ann, I won't name it Smallville U . Ann and Carol, thanks a bunch for the info about Lois's age when she got hired at the Planet. I take it that at the age of 19, she could be working for her university paper, for example. And Ann, thanks for the details about Clark's powers. I didn't remember when he'd developed his powers. But he didn't fly before he was 18, right? Thanks again to you all for your help! Now if anyone knows how to get a butterfly-Muse under control... Helene :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kaethel Kaethel@wanadoo.fr ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 15:31:03 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: Re: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universi... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 4/18/01 1:57:24 PM EST, Kaethel@WANADOO.FR writes: << Is it available in every university, or just in the biggest ones? >> It's available at most schools, you just have to learn how to find it. ;) I'm glad my info helped! :) Alexis ;-.) "What do you know about Superman?" (Lex Luthor) "Man, he can jump really jump...for a white guy." (Jules) {LnC, Neverending Battle} ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 15:41:31 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Adam Labotka Subject: Sex, Truth and Revelation (part 3/3) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Ok here's the end, hope you enjoy it. Public and private feedback = welcome. ******=20 Later that evening, Lois and Clark turned on the TV. Flipping through = the channels, they came to a news broadcast where the topic was = Superman's identity. Curious, they settled in to watch.=20 The news anchor announced, "Earlier today, the world watched in = amazement as Superman revealed a secret. In response to the recent = allegations he had been having an affair with Lois Lane, a married = woman, he revealed that he was in fact her husband, Clark Kent. Here's a = clip from the press conference."=20 They showed a clip from the news conference where Superman said, " I = could not be having an illicit affair with Lois Lane, because Lois Lane = is my wife."=20 Cutting back to the news anchor, "There you have it. In his own words. = Now, we've decided to go out on the street and get reactions from the = citizens of Metropolis. Here is what you said."=20 Lois and Clark watched intently, wondering how people were reacting. The = first interviewee was a young woman who said, "Well, I think it's = romantic. Against all odds, this tiny baby makes it to Earth, is raised = by a caring family, and then manages to find love. I'm happy for him; = everyone deserves to have someone. I wish everyone had as good a reason = to tell lies. I hope they're very happy together."=20 Next, they had a middle-aged man in a business suit. "I guess you can't = blame him for trying to keep his private life secret. I mean, look at = celebrities and how they get hounded all the time. Who wants to live = like that? Plus, he has to worry about criminals trying to use people = close to him to get him to do what they want him to. After all he's done = for the world, I think we should give him a break."=20 Then they had a sleazy looking man, who kind of reminded Clark of Ralph, = who said, "I don't get it. I mean, here we got this guy, chicks fallin' = all over him and he goes and gets married? Well, he may be Superman but = I don't think he's all that smart. Still, you can hardly blame the guy = for wanting to keep his life a secret."=20 The last person interviewed was an elderly, grandmother type, "I don't = know about others, but I respect Superman even more now. We take him for = granted and seem to have thought helping is all he did, but now we know = he has a life, from which he has to fly away in order to help others. = The world would do well to learn from such a nice, self-sacrificing = young man. We could use more people like him."=20 "There you have it, real reactions from people on the street," the news = anchor said. "In a poll conducted by this news station, a whopping 95% = of people agreed Superman had a right to keep his life private, and an = additional 80% say he deserves to be allowed to continue to have a = private life. I, for one, agree."=20 As the news turned to other things, Lois turned off the TV and looked at = Clark. "So," Lois said with a pause. "What do you think?"=20 "I think this might turn out ok," Clark said.=20 ******=20 Several weeks later, Lois and Clark entered their brownstone after work. = Lois tossed her purse toward the nearby end table and slumped onto the = couch. Clark chuckled, "Tired honey?" he asked.=20 "Exhausted, Perry's kept us so busy it seems we haven't had time to = talk. Between work and Superman, I feel as if I've hardly seen you these = past few weeks." Lois replied without even moving from where she lay on = the couch.=20 "Want me to make dinner?" Clark asked quietly.=20 "Good idea, I'm famished," Lois answered, sitting up a bit at the = thought of food.=20 "Stir-fry ok?"=20 "Sounds great," Lois said, mouth watering at the thought.=20 Nodding, Clark entered the kitchen. Checking the kitchen, he got out = vegetables and some chicken for dinner. He began to chop them up = quickly; faster then the human eye could follow.=20 Lois listened to the rapid sound of the knife on a chopping block from = the couch. Yawning, she got off the couch and headed for the kitchen. As = she entered the kitchen, she saw Clark at the stove, putting the food = into a wok on the stove. Quietly, she slipped into the kitchen and = walked behind Clark, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.=20 "Hi there," Clark said, turning a bit and smiling at Lois. "I see you = managed to get off the couch," he teased.=20 Swatting Clark in the chest, Lois replied, "Oh you." Lois laughed. "The = lure of food brought me here."=20 Clark chuckled, "Well it'll be a few more minutes, you can set the table = though," he said with a grin.=20 Shaking her head, chuckling softly, Lois set the table.=20 A few minutes later, Clark dished out the stir-fry and they sat down to = eat. Taking her first bite, Lois closed her eyes and let out a long, = "Mmmmmm. Delicious as always Clark."=20 Clark, a bit mesmerized watching her eat, recovered slightly, "Thank = you, I try my best," he replied with a grin.=20 After eating in silence for a while, Lois cautiously said, "So, how do = you feel about everyone knowing about you Clark? How have things been = going now that people know?"=20 Stopping mid bite, Clark considered for a moment, before replying, "It's = very strange. People sometimes come up to me in the middle of the street = to thank me. While I like hearing from the people I help, it's very = disconcerting for it to happen to me when I'm not in the suit. I'll get = used to it someday I guess." Clark trailed off, taking a bite of food = distractedly.=20 "What I really don't like is the way the press tries to hound me though. = I'll be doing just any ordinary thing, and they start coming up to me = with questions, examining what I do. Thankfully that's dying down. It = seems my refusing to give them interviews as Superman if they bug me = while I'm not in the suit is working. Overall, I'm learning to live with = it, though I'd much rather not have everyone know," Clark sighed.=20 Suddenly, Clark's expression turned to worry as he asked, "What about = you? How are you holding up with the whole world knowing your husband is = Superman?"=20 Lois stared at her food for a moment, playing with it with her fork, = before quietly saying, "I don't enjoy being on the other side of the = news. Suddenly every little thing I do seems to become vital news, = sometimes. Though apparently our domestic life is pretty boring, as = they've stopped being interested in what I buy at the store. Aside from = what you do as Superman, not much interesting has been happening. Except = for when that guy tried to kidnap me."=20 Lois chuckled, as she continued, "I think he messed his pants when you = came out of the building. I think he figured you'd be out and he could = take me easily. You sure showed him, " Lois finished smiling.=20 Clark, on the other hand, was frowning. "I don't think it's so funny. = What if I had been out at a rescue? He would have had you! I had hoped = no one would try to kidnap you, but it seems it was a false hope."=20 Lois put her hand comfortingly on Clark's arm. "Hey, I knew the risks = when I married you. Besides, you were there, and after the way you = handled him I don't think anyone else will be trying to kidnap me = anytime soon. So, yes, I'm doing fine. How are your parents coping, = Clark?"=20 "Oh, they're doing fine. The entire town is helping them out. Seems = they're really grateful for everything I've done there and help keep my = parents from being bothered, by reporters. Rachel's been arresting = reporters for loitering when they try staking out mom and dad's place, = so they've given up. Mom and dad are having a much easier time of it = then we are it seems."=20 Lois got up and put her arms around Clark from behind, "Whatever = happens, we'll get through it together. We managed to get this far, and = hopefully things will only improve."=20 Smiling up at Lois, Clark said, "You're right. What happens will happen, = we can't change that everyone knows. I said it before and I'll say it = again, being with you is stronger then me alone. So together we can get = through anything."=20 As Clark leaned back into Lois, he thought maybe everything would be ok. = Sure the reporters were still causing some problems and the criminal = element wasn't cooperating, but overall people seemed to accept his = secret. He smiled fondly as he remembered Claire, whom he met the night = after the revelation. With people like her out there, everything will = turn out fine.=20 The End ****** ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 13:48:00 -0700 Reply-To: ardchem@earthlink.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Lisa Ramirez Subject: Re: Corporation questions MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Hi Carol, You Asked: If Jimmy and Lois are looking into a company and eventually it is going to be controlled by a Lex company (who everyone still thinks is dead, but really isn't), how would they find that out? How does the whole corporate red tape/dummy corporation so-we-can-trace-it-back-to-Luthor-eventually thing work? You asked about corporations. There are books in the reference section of libraries - and I can't remember the name of them at the moment - that list a company name. address of corporate offices, its CEO, subsidiaries, what it manufactures, its parent company, number of employees, who's on the board of directors etc. I know these books exist for public companies, but I'm not certain if they list private ones. I would imagine that Lex Corp might be a private company. If you ask a reference librarian, they will know for certain. Hope this helps a little. Lisa M. Ramirez ardchem@earthlink.net ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 19:27:06 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: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universi... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 4/18/01 2:57:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Kaethel@WANADOO.FR writes: > And Ann, thanks for the details about Clark's powers. I didn't remember when > he'd developed his powers. But he didn't fly before he was 18, right? > > In one episode, he said he started flying at 18. But in Just Say Noah, he said he'd "been doing this since high school." So if both statements are true, he started flying in the second semester of his senior year in high school. As for the location of Clark's college, I always figured that he went to a university located at most a couple of hours away from Smallville. If you want Martha and Jonathan to be able to go see him fairly frequently (or vice versa) that would work. If he had gone to college in or very close to Smallville, I think it would have been mentioned in the show. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 21:14:52 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Gerry Anklewicz Subject: Re: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universi. In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Ann writes: >As for the location of Clark's college, I always figured that he went to a >university located at most a couple of hours away from Smallville. If you >want Martha and Jonathan to be able to go see him fairly frequently (or >vice >versa) that would work. If he had gone to college in or very close to >Smallville, I think it would have been mentioned in the show. Ann, he can fly. So he could be anywhere in the world and still be minutes away from Smallville. He didn't have to be close to home. A state university would make sense since money was probably tight, although Martha and Jonathan would have been sensible about saving for their son's education. Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 22:31:14 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: Timeline question, details about the show, and question about US universi. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 4/18/01 9:19:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Gerry.Anklewicz@NTEL.TDSB.ON.CA writes: > Ann, he can fly. So he could be anywhere in the world and still be > minutes away from Smallville. He didn't have to be close to home. A > state university would make sense since money was probably tight, although > Martha and Jonathan would have been sensible about saving for their son's > education. > Gerry, I know that Clark can fly. Martha and Jonathan, however, cannot. I would think that if he was playing football, they would have liked to go see his games. And in all probability that would mean a university within the state of Kansas or in a nearby state. I would think that they would need to drive to see him in order to keep his secret. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 01:58:00 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jill Melena Subject: Re: Kryptonite question - series MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Labrat quoted; LOIS Trask thought it was from the * planet Krypton... I don't know... * Kryptonium? * PERRY Okay by me. CLARK Wait. It's a meteorite. What * about... Kryptonite? Perry hands the copy back to Lois, heads for his office. But... you left out the good part! Quoting (incorrectly, I'm sure) from memory, Lois replies, "Always editing my copy," to which Clark responds; "Fine. Next time *you* fight the bad guys, and *I'll* write the story." Lois gives in and agrees to the name Kryptonite, obviously. :) -Lena _______________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.ca address at http://mail.yahoo.ca ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 07:38:44 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: New Fic: FCII, chapter 5 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Same WHAM warning as before, but this is a lighter chapter... I consider it a breather ;) I'm going to try to fix at least some of the formatting here, but it's still more easily read at: www.geocities.com/cryswimmer/CrysMain.html (click on the link for L&C fanfic, then click on the link for the story) Enjoy, Crys Chapter 5... June CJ watched as Kat swirled her dessert around in it's bowl. Double fudge brownie ice cream mixed with hot fudge and chocolate chips. He had the feeling the she would have ordered chocolate whipped cream if it had been available, but thankfully it wasn't. She must have sensed his gaze, because she looked up with a sheepish expression. She shrugged, then took another bite of ice cream. "Marry me," he requested softly. Kat smiled at him, turned her left hand, which was still holding her spoon, and flaunted the diamond he had given her. "No," he said suddenly. "I mean now. Today. Marry me." "What?" she asked, actually sounding stunned. "I know the wedding is off, or at least postponed," he explained. "But I'm sick of waiting. I've known that I wanted you as my wife for the last ten years. There's no reason to wait." "Your grandmother..." she began. "Will understand," he finished for her. "Hell, she'd probably insist. You know what a romantic she is, and she loves you." "It's mutual," Kat reminded him. "That's why I'm so confused. Yes, I want to have married you. I want to marry you five years ago! But, with everything that's going on..." CJ sighed, trying to collect his thoughts. He didn't know where his sense of urgency was coming from. Maybe it was losing his grandfather six months before, or the possibility of losing his grandmother now. Life was too short, too unpredictable. "We've had the blood tests," he reasoned. "We were supposed to get married next week, anyway. I know that. The big wedding is on hold, because Mom's too busy to put it together, but we can still go to a Justice of the Peace. I don't care, Kat. I want to marry you. I want you to be my wife." He looked her directly in the eyes, and told her, "I want to sleep with you, and *not* sleep!" She laughed softly and took his hand in hers. She petted his left hand, tracing the fine hairs that grew there, lacing her fingers with his until they were palm to palm. "I love you," she told him. "And it's not that I *want* to wait, but I don't want you to regret this. If Martha's out of the hospital in a few weeks, I don't want you upset that she missed it." "We can have a ceremony later," he reminded her. "But I want the piece of paper, Kat. I want permission to be your husband." "If she doesn't make it," Kat said gently. "Will you be able to look back on the wedding with more than grief? This will be one of the most important days in our lives, and I don't want it clouded." "Will it be for you?" he asked. He hadn't considered her feelings on the matter. She was as close to Grandma Martha as he was. "No," she finally answered. "I've been yours for years. Probably my whole life." "I'd like to be able to look back on this summer and remember some good," CJ told her. "Nothing will take away how awful it was, but it will be that much worse if I think of it as the time I was *supposed* to get married, and didn't." Kat just waited, considered. She didn't speak. "Kat, I love you," he told her again. "I'll love you whatever you decide. But I want to do this. I want you to be my wife. Now." "I love you, too," she reassured him. "My worries aren't because of that." She released his hand and went back to her melting bowl of chocolate. "If I marry you," she told him. "I want to make love. Are you going to be thinking of your grandmother?" CJ laughed at that. "I don't think I'll be thinking much of anything," he said with a smile. "Except how gorgeous you are, and how lucky I am, and how much I love you." "She's fairly stable," Kat reasoned aloud. "There hasn't been any significant change in her condition in the last week." They sat there together for several minutes, looking at one another, thinking and considering and wondering. Up until three weeks before, even after Martha's surgery and first tentative steps towards recovery and descent back into illness, they had planned for the wedding to occur. No one had imagined that Martha's illness would go on for so long. One way or another, they had both thought it would be over before this. Only after the first return to ICU, following a cardiac arrest in the step-down unit, had Kat and CJ decided to postpone the wedding. There had been no formal decision, but rather a mutual, unconscious decision. "I canceled the band," CJ had told Kat, regret in his eyes. "We got most of the deposit back." "Good," she had replied. "As long as we give another date, we can move the restaurant reservations without losing anything. I told them August, but we can move it from then if we need to." One by one, each of their carefully made plans had been changed. No apology was given, and no explanation was needed. The wedding had simply taken a back seat to Martha's needs. Kat had finished the last of her classes in January, and was only waiting on the results of her State Nursing Boards to upgrade her status from Licensed Vocational Nurse to Registered Nurse. She had finally resigned her position at Emmingham Convalescent Hospital in order to look for work closer to Metropolis. The job search had been curtailed by her need to support CJ as he looked after his grandfather. She hadn't found an apartment, but instead moved into CJ's room in Claremont when she wasn't at the hospital with him. For a change, money wasn't a real problem. No tuition and no rent, meant that there was money to spare from her savings. CJ had gratefully sent in the last of his take-home final exams. His professors had been understanding enough to wave the requirement of attending the final lectures, based on letters from Martha's physicians coupled with CJ's record of good grades. He would graduate cum laude, regardless of the last several weeks. He hadn't decided whether he would return for the formal ceremonies, as he didn't know what his grandmother's condition would be at that time. "The JP is open until five," CJ finally prodded. "I checked." "Witnesses?" Kat asked. "Uncle Jim only lives ten minutes from City Hall. I'm sure he has a friend or two he could bring along." Kat thought a minute more, then smiled. "Your parents will kill us," she added, shaking her head. "Nah. After what they went though to get married, I'm sure they'll understand. I'm surprised that they haven't suggested it, as a matter of fact. Besides, we can always have the big ceremony later, after everything's sorted out." Kat looked down at her watch. "Three-fifteen," she muttered. CJ just smiled in what he hoped was a most persuasive manner. Finally, Kat laughed. "Call Jim," she told him. "Let's do it." *** They stood outside the judge's chambers for almost an hour before he opened the door. A small, balding man, he seemed rushed. He escorted them in, gestured for the witnesses to sit, then stood them in front of his desk before grabbing a little book and taking his place behind it. "I'm used to kids," he murmured with a small smile. "Okay, let's get to business. Do you have rings?" CJ looked at Kat in a moment of panic, at which she smiled. She slipped off her engagement ring and handed it to him. "We'll pick up the bands when we get home," she said softly. The judge nodded his approval, and began reading from his book. It was short. There was no "dearly beloved", there were no bible verses or songs, and there was no request for a person to object. He had CJ put the ring on Kat, mentioned that it was a symbol. After having them say some simple vows, to love and respect one another, the judge paused. "Would you like to make your own vows?" he asked gently. CJ nodded, then cleared his throat. "I don't sing," he began. "But there's this song. Let me see if I can remember the words... ~"I could never promise you, on just my strength alone, ~That all my life I'd care for you, and love you as my own. ~I've never known the future. I only see today. ~Words that last a lifetime would be more than I can say. ~But the love inside my heart today is more than mine alone. ~t never changes, never fails, and never seeks it's own. ~And by the God who gives it, and lives in me and you, ~ know the words I speak today are words that I will do. ~And so I stand before you now, for all to hear and see. ~And promise you in Jesus' name the love He's given me. ~And through the years on Earth, and as eternity goes by ~The life and love He's given us are never going to die." Kat smiled, wiped a tear as it left her eye, and looked at the judge. "What he said," she whispered. The judge nodded, smiled, and finished the marriage. "Clark Jonathan Kent and Kathryn Lynn Anderson, I now declare you husband and wife," he said. Then, to CJ, "You may kiss the bride." CJ looked at Kat, at her puffy eyes and shaky smile, and he fell in love all over again. She wasn't cute when she cried. Her nose ran, and her face got puffy. She sniffled, and her red face all but hid the freckles that he so loved to look at. CJ reached forward, put his arms around his bride, and kissed her gently. "I love you," he reminded her. "I love you, too," she sniffled. James Olsen began applauding quietly, and his example was followed by the two friends he'd brought along. CJ didn't know them, but he recognized their faces as men who worked at the Planet. CJ turned to face them, and smiled with embarrassment. He couldn't have said why. "Thanks, Uncle Jim," he finally said. "Anytime," James told him as he stood. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Kat, you look beautiful." He leaned forward and kissed Kat's cheek. "We've been waiting for this since the two of you were old enough to be legal." "Us, too," Kat assured him. "Congratulations." One of the men that had accompanied James stood and offered the word, then moved to the desk where the judge was arranging paperwork. "You'll need to sign here," he was saying. "And then the happy couple will sign just above that." The judge waited while CJ and Kat did so. "That's it," he said with a smile. "Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I hope you have many happy years together. Be sure and come back for the hard-copy of this in three to five days, and you can take that documentation to the DMV and Social Security offices, down on the first floor, if Kathryn should choose to change her name." "Thanks," Kat said with a smile. "I'll be sure I do that. I've been trying to get into this family for twenty years, and I want all of it." Everyone in the room laughed at that. Kat and CJ took their copy of the documents, and were led from the room by the Judge, who had resumed his rushed demeanor. "Well, we're married," CJ said, his voice a bit stunned. "Weddings are quick and easy," James assured them. "It's the divorces that cost a fortune and take two years." "I don't think we'll worry about that," Kat said softly. "As long as we've been together, if it were going to fall apart, it would have already happened." "I know you're right," James allowed. He leaned forward and hugged Kat again, then shook CJ's hand. "I'm sorry your folks couldn't make it," he said gently. "It'll be a good surprise," CJ reassured him. "We all need a good surprise about now." James nodded his agreement, then said good-bye. CJ and Kat watched him go, talking and joking with his friends as he did so. "I'm sorry he never found Miss Right," Kat said thoughtfully. "He did," CJ told her. "And she took him for all he was worth. He told me a couple of years ago that he'll never remarry, he'll just find a woman he hates and buy her a house." "That's sad," Kat decided. "What's worse is that he meant it," CJ agreed. "As for us, though," he said with a smile, slipping his arms around her. "I'm going to take my wife to dinner, then take her home and make love to her, thoroughly, from head to toe." Kat kissed him. Long, passionate, and loving. "Can we skip dinner?" *** Candle light. Soft kisses. Exploration. Above all, the absolute sense of belonging to another person. Kat was no stranger to the male form. She'd been nursing for the better part of five years, taking care of every physical need that male anatomy could conjure. She'd inserted catheters, irrigated and dressed abscessed groin injuries, and given more enemas than she cared to count. She was not inexperienced in viewing the male body. She was stunned at the difference when it was someone she loved. She and CJ had gained more than a little physical experience with one another over the years. They had slept in the same bed, touched and played... explored. For years they had been learning one another's bodies, but nothing had prepared her for this night. Her wedding night. She'd asked him to keep the lights on. He had blushed. He was still blushing when he rose over her, still blushing as he made her his, and only in the final moments did the blush recede, replaced by a passion that she could never have imagined. Kat had been CJ's best friend for twenty years. She was his confidant, then his girlfriend, and finally his fiancee. Tonight, she was his wife, and his lover. The words sounded as wonderful as they seemed strange. Too many times, she had wondered if they would ever reach this point. They'd had their struggles; that much was certain. She had wondered if she'd ever accept his father's heritage. It had been frightening, loving someone from another planet. It had been more terrifying that she'd felt betrayed by his silence. Only time had shown her that he had been as afraid as she was, as unsure of himself as he was of her. Later, they had faced separation, absence. Learning to live independently had been harder than living together, and they had adjusted once more. There had been petty jealousies, meaningless arguments, and more doubt than either of them had been prepared for. The end result had been a stronger love, a better love. The end result was now. "What are you thinking?" he asked softly. His body was warm around hers, still just a little sweaty, but his breathing was normal once more. Hers was still getting there. "That I love you," she said with a smile. He threaded his left hand though hers, looking at his own gold band and the matching ones that were on either side of her engagement diamond. The rings had been hidden in a little box, folded into a pair of burgundy socks that he never wore. Kat hadn't seen them until they'd returned to his room after their wedding, bags of food from a local takeout restaurant in hand. It was a lovely set. She wondered if he'd chosen it himself, or if the salesperson had helped. Not that it mattered. She loved them, and she'd told him so in no uncertain terms. That was what had led to the hugging, and the hugging had led to that first kiss. The kiss had led them here, and the bags of food were still sitting on his dresser, cold and forgotten, and not really all that important to Kat at the moment. "I love you, Mrs. Kent," CJ said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. She turned herself over, enjoying the feeling of being next to him with no material in between for the first time in her life. "Mmm," she mumbled as she kissed him. "Say it again." "Mrs. Kent," he muttered, but his lips were otherwise occupied to the point that he really didn't make an intelligible word. She understood him anyway. She kissed him again. Deeper. Longer. *God, this is amazing.* Her head popped up, and she looked him in the eye. "What did you say?" she asked frantically. "I didn't say anything," CJ told her, his face showing his confusion. "I heard you," she said firmly. "You said, 'this is amazing'. I know you did." CJ frowned slightly. "I thought it," he clarified. "I never..." "You were kissing me," she interrupted. "You couldn't have said it." "That's what I said," he murmured slowly, but she could see that he was thinking. He traced a finger along the side of her face, looked into her eyes. * Tell me what I'm thinking, now.* "That you love me," she said with a grin. CJ's surprise was clear. "I didn't say that, did I?" "Not out loud." *Count to ten,* he requested. "One, two, three..." She couldn't finish because of the smile on her face. "You really hear that," he murmured in wonder. "Tell me this is another Kryptonian power," she requested. "Otherwise I'm going to think I'm insane." He shook his head. "Not that I know of," he explained. "Dad had some telepathy with the other Kryptonians, but I don't think he had it with Mom. If he had, they wouldn't have argued so much." "Do you think it's because we..." "No," he answered. "I think it's because you know me so well. It's because I love you, and because you *want* to know what I'm thinking.* She shook her head in wonder. "You sound awfully sure." *I'm sure I love you,* he thought. *Right now, that's all I want to know.* *** CJ couldn't seem to get himself awake. His only awareness was of the warmth in his arms, and the contentment that was stealing through his entire body. Then the ringing came again. It took all the control he possessed to keep from destroying the telephone as he reached for it. Somehow, he got his hand around the receiver and brought it to his ear without causing any permanent damage. "Hello?" "CJ, it's Dad." He didn't have to hear the next words. He could tell by his father's voice. "How bad?" he asked, sitting up and nearly dislodging his wife in the process. Kat shifted with a grumble, using his legs as a pillow, rather than his chest, and drifted back to sleep. "Bad," Clark said simply. "The doctors want to talk to us about where we go from here. I think you should be here with us." "What time is it, now?" he asked groggily, looking for the clock that he'd knocked off the table in his haste to silence the telephone. "Almost eight. Visiting hours are in an hour. The doctors will see us around noon." "Yeah, right," CJ said sarcastically. The doctors had *never* done anything when they said they would. "Well, I'd like you here, anyway." "I'm on my way, Dad," CJ said quickly. "Drive safe," Clark said simply. CJ sat there a moment, feeling his whole world shift for the second time in twenty-four hours. The doctors wanted to talk. Given the condition that his grandmother had been in on the day before, it wasn't likely that the news would be good. "Kat," he called softly. "Hmmmph." "Kat, it's time to wake up." "Why?" she asked, her voice decidedly grumpy. It didn't surprise him. She had never been a morning person. "The doctors want to see us about Grandma," he said simply. "If you want a shower, you need to take one. We leave in an hour." Kat sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Should I skip the shower?" she asked. "Nah, we've got some time." "You can fly if you need to," she offered. "I won't go without you." Kat nodded, then rubbed her eyes again. As she did so, CJ reached over and touched the wedding rings that were on her left hand. "Good morning, Mrs. Kent," he said softly. Kat smiled in return. "I love you, Mr. Kent." "Ya know," he told her, his voice serious. "We can shower in half an hour." "So, what do we do with the other half?" she asked coyly. He reached for her, tugging her down into his arms, blocking out the real world for just a few moments more. He needed the oblivion that her arms offered, and just this once he would let himself indulge. "We'll think of something," he told her. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 08:56:34 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: WOT: Finished - Two Super Skins for Winamp users For those of you that use WinAmp and would like a new Skin I have two out on NullSoft. Lord Kal-El http://www.winamp.com/skins/detail.jhtml?componentId=54281&componentFlag=S This is for all FoLC who like the Lord Kal-El look. Made with SkinAmp. For Lois and Clark: The New Adventure of Superman fans everywhere. This is my First Skin. Superman's WinAmp http://www.winamp.com/skins/detail.jhtml?componentId=54283&componentFlag=S A skin for the more Traditional FoLC. Made with SkinAmp. For those Fans of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman who are of a more traditional bend. My Second Skin. Please let me know what you think, either here or even better leave a review on the site. James ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 07:31:25 -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: WOT: Finished - Two Super Skins for Winamp users MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey, James, I just downloaded both of them so I can have some variety. Cool skins! Nan James Tull wrote: > For those of you that use WinAmp and would like a new Skin I have two out > on NullSoft. > > Lord Kal-El > http://www.winamp.com/skins/detail.jhtml?componentId=54281&componentFlag=S > > This is for all FoLC who like the Lord Kal-El look. Made with SkinAmp. For > Lois and Clark: The New Adventure of Superman fans everywhere. This is my > First Skin. > > Superman's WinAmp > > http://www.winamp.com/skins/detail.jhtml?componentId=54283&componentFlag=S > > A skin for the more Traditional FoLC. Made with SkinAmp. For those Fans of > Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman who are of a more > traditional bend. My Second Skin. > > Please let me know what you think, either here or even better leave a > review on the site. > > James ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 16:43:54 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Tessena, Kelly" Subject: Looking for A Beta Reader MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Hi! I'm new to the list, and I'm looking for somebody who would be willing to read over a story I'm working on and offer suggestions. I've done other kinds of writing and written fanfic about other shows, but this is my first Lois & Clark fanfic, so I'm a little nervous about how it's going to turn out. Thanks lots. :) -Kelly ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 08:04:06 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: New Fic: FCII, chapter 6 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey there... once again, WHAM warning... this chapter is as bad as it gets, but you need to be warned. Sad chapter... Kleenex alert ... whatever. I promise the story starts moving up after this. Once again, a cleaner copy is available for your reading pleasure at: www.geocities.com/cryswimmer/CrysMain.html (click on L&C fanfic, then click on the story... top one, right column) -Crys- Chapter 6 CJ didn't remember her looking this bad. Her skin was darker, almost bluish, and she had no life at all in her eyes. "I should have stayed," he murmured softly. Lois reached forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "There isn't much difference," she explained. "You've just been away from it. We forget how bad it looks." He nodded, reached for the gray hand nearest him. She seemed so much more fragile than he remembered. Had it really been only twenty-four hours? "I should have stayed," he repeated. "No, Honey," she corrected. "You shouldn't have." She reached for his hand, noted the gleam of gold that hadn't been there before. "It looks to me like you were right where you should have been." He smiled softly at that. "Are you mad?" "I probably will be when I think about it," she said with a grin. "But for now I'm just happy for you. The two of you deserve this." "We got tired of waiting," he admitted. "But if I'd known how serious things were getting..." "It would have happened, regardless," she explained. "How's Kat?" "She's beautiful," he said softly, and his smile told Lois all she needed to know. "The doctors are late again," Lois murmured as she glanced at her watch. "That isn't much of a surprise, is it? Why don't you sit here with your grandma, and I'll go ask what's taking so long." CJ nodded, taking the seat by the bed, keeping Martha's hand in his. Lois looked back at her son as she walked past the curtains on her way to the door. He was growing up so quickly, she thought. *** "How's married life?" Clark asked softly. Kat's head flashed up, her eyes going instinctively to the new rings on her finger. She was sitting with Clark in the ICU waiting room, and for a change they were the only two there. CJ had gone in to see his grandmother, and Lois had followed. Only two people were normally allowed at the bedside at a time. "We wondered how long it would take everyone to notice," she said with a smile. "I was kind of looking for it," he admitted. "CJ has a lot better sense than I ever did." "He mentioned that you'd understand," Kat told him. Clark nodded. "Lois and I had to reschedule the wedding more than once," he admitted. "Looking back, we should have just gone ahead and seen a Justice of the Peace and worried about the ceremony later. It would have been easier." "I was afraid you'd be upset," she said quietly. "Because we did it without the family, I mean." "You'll have the rest of your lives to put up with us," Clark told her. "Besides, I'm sure my wife will manage to get you two into a church for the formalities." "I do want to wear my dress," she said , considering the matter. "But I'm not taking the rings back off." Clark looked down at his own ring, a gold circle that was dulled by wear. What little texture the ring had been designed with had long since worn smooth. Still, despite it's age, it was as solid as the love he had for his wife. "It doesn't come off," he said thoughtfully. "Not for anything. I even have a pocked sewn into my suit for when the world can't see it. It may not be on the finger, but it's always on *me*." "I feel the same way," Kat told him. "It's just a symbol," Clark said absently. "It has nothing to do with the actual relationship. Kind of like the marriage license. But, you know, for me... it was more. The symbols have power because we let them. If I lost the ring, it wouldn't destroy my marriage." He paused a moment, turning the ring on his finger, then raising his eyes back to meet Kat's. "But I'd buy a new one, probably the same day." Kat nodded her understanding. For a while longer, they sat together in silence. "It's after two," Kat finally said. "Surgery went over," Clark told her, as though it explained everything. And, as usual, it did. *** "As we've told you before," Doctor Frederickson said in a practiced voice. "The longer that Mrs. Kent remains on the respirator, the less likely it is that we'll be able to wean her off the device. At this point, she has not been breathing independently in almost seven weeks, and she requires more oxygen on a daily basis. This, combined with the ineffectual dialysis and repeated defibrillation, indicate that her recovery from this illness is unlikely." Clark looked at the man blankly, unable to take in the information. Lois took his hand, and squeezed gently in support. Kat had tears on her face. "Can you say that again," Jonathan requested. "In English, this time." "She can't breathe on her own," the doctor explained. "She simply isn't getting better. Her body is old, and it's weak. She just doesn't have the strength to recover from the surgery." "You said the bypasses had been a success," Clark argued. "They were," Frederickson agreed. "But she isn't healing. Her body just isn't strong enough to heal." "Why not?" CJ asked, although he suspected the answer. "To begin with, she's eighty-five years old," the doctor said. "In addition, she's too weak to digest food, which causes her to become weaker yet. It becomes a cycle, each illness precipitating another, which complicates the first. There's always the possibility that she'll recover, but at this point it's a very remote possibility." "So, now what?" This from Lois. They were seated around a long rectangular table in the ICU conference area. It was the room used for the beginning and ending of physician rounds, nurses' report, and meeting with the families of exceptionally ill patients. It was not a room that the Kents wanted to be in. Rarely was good news given in the conference room. It was reserved for meetings like the one that was currently taking place. "We have two options," the doctor told them. "We can continue as we have been, provide support measures, and wait. That's one option. The second is to withdraw our support measures, and let her body shut down." "Turn off the respirator?" Kat asked. She didn't like the option. Several times it had been attempted, in an effort to get Martha to strengthen her own breathing, but it hadn't been successful. Martha had struggled, fought, and become so tired that they had to turn the machine back on. Watching her die this way was not something Kat was ready for. "No," the doctor corrected. "The respirator is the one thing I don't recommend discontinuing. The respirator works on her effort, though. When she takes a breath, it augments the breath and oxygenates it. I would recommend discontinuing the medications that are stabilizing her heart rate and blood pressure, stopping the dialysis, and then waiting for Mrs. Kent to do the rest." "So, she would breathe with the respirator until her body stops naturally?" Kat asked. "Exactly." "So, we wouldn't be killing her," Jonathan asked. "We don't have to pull the plug?" "No, Mr. Kent," the doctor said gently. "If or when she stops breathing, it will be her body's decision, not ours." Jonathan thought for a moment, then looked to his children, and his grandchildren, for guidance. "Do you think she'd want this?" he asked uncertainly. "She asked us to let her go for weeks," CJ reminded them softly. She hadn't been able to speak, but she had mouthed the words constantly for the first three weeks on the respirator. When they had deliberately ignored her, she had often become angry, refusing to look at them. She had tried to pull out the respirator as well, which had only resulted in her arms being restrained. "I know she wouldn't want to be the way she is now," Clark added. "I've never seen her on her back for more than a day or two with the flu. She hates to slow down." "Yes," Jonathan murmured. "She does." He looked up at his son, his eyes pleading. "What do I say? I feel like I can't live without her, but it isn't *her* anymore." Clark turned to the doctor and quietly agreed to the second option. "Can we stay with her?" he requested, unable to keep the emotion from his voice. Lois and Kat were already crying openly, and CJ wasn't far behind. His father was still and quiet. "Absolutely," the doctor said gently. "I'll speak with the nurses. You can stay with her constantly, if you like." Clark nodded, then reached for Lois. She crumbled into his arms, sobbing and shaking. He felt the same way. The doctor told them that they could stay in the room for as long as they liked, then went to write the orders that would limit the life support that Martha received. The Kent family remained there for almost an hour. They emptied the tissue boxes that were left on the table for their use, and every one of them was exhausted by the time that they walked back to Martha's room to sit with her. *** The Kents had gathered around the bedside, each saying a word or two to Martha. She was still unresponsive. A nurse dressed in a surprisingly cheery flowered smock came in, turned off several of the IV drips, and then backed away. The dialysis machine ceased its noise. Only the sound of the respiration broke the tense silence as they waited. For a few moments everything stayed stable. Suddenly, Martha's blood pressure began to fall, and her heart rate increased. They watched the systolic pressure, the number that the doctors had strived to keep at one hundred, as it plummeted. Ninety. Eighty-one. Seventy-three. Seventy. Sixty-one. "No," CJ called out. "It wasn't supposed to happen this fast!" He moved towards his grandmother, only to be restrained by his wife. He put his arms around her, closed his eyes, and tried to ignore what was happening around him. He was twenty-four years old, and he felt like a baby. Her pressure stabilized at thirty-four, her heart rate leveled out at over two-hundred and irregular. CJ took a deep breath as he looked up from Kat's shoulder. His father's arm hand was on his shoulder. Jonathan moved closer to CJ, then took him in his arms. The waiting began. *** Twenty-two hours. The ordeal that had begun at three-forty on Wednesday afternoon didn't end until after one-thirty on Thursday. Martha was strong, she was stubborn, and she was too sick to beat death. Her body remained stable through the night, through the next morning, but as noon neared the numbers once more began to drop. Heart rate and pressure both slowed until the alarms became a constant companion. They were able to turn off the pulse oximeter that warned them of the low amount of oxygen reaching her extremities, but the respirator itself was safeguarded. The alarm was turned to its lowest level, but it was still audible. Each time Martha waited more than a minute to breathe, the machine would alarm until she took a breath. The last ten minutes were the worst. Death was nothing like it was shown in the movies. There were no last words, no pleasant expression, no reassurances for her tired family. She simply breathed less often, and then finally she stopped. Her heart rate slowed after that, finally grinding to a halt. They said their good-byes, told her how much she was loved, and then groaned as her heart began once more, and she took another breath. As they stood around her, Jonathan suddenly laughed. They looked at him in shock, but he spoke through the tears. "She would have really hated this," he said with a sad smile. "Wouldn't she?" "Yeah, Dad," Clark said, putting an arm around his father's shoulder. Martha never took another breath. It took a few minutes longer for her heart, the same heart that had gotten her into this situation, to finally give up and stop. A nurse stepped forward, turned off the respirator, and went to get the doctor. Clark hadn't heard her come in. They stayed a while longer. They spoke in soft tones, cried together, and finally wiped the tears and stood to go. They left the ICU for the last time, walking through the large double-doors that they hated, and down the hallway towards the elevators. While they were waiting for the doors to open, CJ turned and walked back to the waiting room. Kat followed her husband, worried, then stopped as she saw him erase his grandmother's name from the board. Mrs. Tipton stood and wrapped her arms around CJ. He hugged her back, said good-bye, and turned to see Kat watching. She wiped a tear from her face as he walked back to her, put his arm around her, and gave her a similar hug. Finally, he released her, and they walked back towards the elevator that Clark was holding for them. *** The casket was simple, polished pine. The lid was closed, and a picture of Martha sat on the lid, surrounded by a profusion of wildflowers. Hymns played in the background, the piano gently bringing music to the somber occasion. Smallville Community Church was overflowing with men and women who had come to pay their last respects to a lovely woman who had been a great contribution to their lives. Children played towards the back of the church, dressed in their Sunday best and not able to understand why their moms and dads were so sad. Jonathan sat towards the front of the church, but not in the front row as everyone had expected. Wayne Irig sat next to him, a frail skeleton of a man who now walked with a cane. Clark sat on his other side, eyes finally dry after days of tears. Lois was next to Clark, her hand in his, her eyes as wet as his were dry. CJ sat in the back row of the church. He knew he should be with his family, but he couldn't bring himself to walk past the people who were hurting as badly as he was in order to get there. He wanted to be near an exit, where he could escape if necessary. Hell, who was he kidding? He wanted to be a thousand miles away, and it took every bit of restraint not to take to the sky and fly as far, as fast, as he could. Instead, he was here. He was watching the majority of the residents of Smallville congregate in a church to show support, to say goodbye, and to grieve. He'd been doing a lot of that, himself. "Hanging in?" Kat asked softly, her head on his shoulder. "Doing my best," he answered, trying very hard not to start crying again. He'd cried for most of the last three days, during the funeral preparations and the logistical arrangements that were unavoidable following a death. He remembered the process from when his grandfather had died, but Ellen Lane had taken care of the majority of the details with little assistance. Jonathan Kent wasn't capable of handling a funeral, much less arranging it, so the task had fallen to Clark. Clark had done the best he could, but when it got to be too much it passed to Lois. From Lois, it came to CJ. From CJ, it passed to Kat. Kathryn Lynn Kent had spent the week following her wedding arranging a funeral for a person that wasn't even related by blood. They had all contributed, of course, but the final decisions had been Kat's, because she was the only one who could manage to go ten minutes without collapsing into tears. It hadn't all been sorrow. There had been light moments, too. They had all laughed when they tried to pick out a dress for Martha to be buried in, and couldn't find a single thing in her closet that was plain or dark. Martha wasn't a boring person, so her clothes weren't sedate. CJ had finally pointed out a lovely, soft-pink silk dress that Clark had found for her in Japan. It was cheery and bright, and they had all agreed that it was perfect for her. The laughter, morbid though it might have been, had started anew when Clark reminded them that the funeral was to be closed-casket. They had spent three hours going through her closet, and no one would ever see the dress. For some reason, they had all found that irresistibly funny, and they had laughed themselves silly. CJ was sorry his grandmother had missed it. She would have loved the joke. Laughter had turned to tears in the blink of an eye. Most days had been similar. A moment of stolen laughter was followed by sorrow that it could not be shared with Martha. A memory that was good became shadowed by a memory of their time in the hospital. Every moment of relief was chased away by pain, and CJ didn't know how much longer he could handle it. He hurt, and he couldn't make it go away. The reason for his pain was simple. Martha had always "fixed" whatever was wrong with his heart, and sent him away healed. Now, because she wasn't here to fix it, her own death was tearing him apart. He knew what was wrong. He just couldn't do anything about it. Kat threaded her fingers through his as the minister stepped up to the pulpit. He gripped her hand hard, heard a faint indrawn breath, and loosened his grip. She would have a bruise from that, he realized. "Sorry." "I love you," she whispered in his ear, then she moved more closely against his side as he watched the service. He managed to keep the tears in check through the hymns that Rachel sang. Just a Closer Walk with Thee and I Walk in the Garden Alone filtered through his mind long after her steady alto voice faded. Many of Martha's friends stood to say a few words, and even Jonathan stood to talk about his beloved wife of fifty-six years. CJ managed to keep the tears at bay until after the minister had sat down, and a song began. Children laughing, playing, singing Jesus Loves Me, and then Steven Curtis Chapman began to sing... ~This is not at all how we thought it was supposed to be ~We had so many plans for you, we had so many dreams ~And now you've gone away and left us with the memories of your smile. ~And nothing we can say, and nothing we can do ~Can take away the pain, the pain of losing you, but... ~We can cry with hope. ~We can say goodbye with hope. ~'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no. ~And we can grieve with hope ~'Cause we believe with hope ~There's a place where we'll see your face again. ~We'll see your face again. ~And never have I known anything so hard to understand ~And never have I questioned more the wisdom of God's plan ~But through the cloud of tears I see the Father smile and say well done. ~And I imagine you where you wanted most to be. ~Seeing all your dreams come true, 'cause now you're home ~And now you're free, and... ~We can cry with hope. ~We can say goodbye with hope. ~'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no ~And we can grieve with hope ~'Cause we believe with hope ~There's a place where we'll see your face again. ~We'll see your face again. ~We have this hope as an anchor '~Cause we believe that everything ~God promised us is true, so... ~We can cry with hope. ~We can say goodbye with hope. ~'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no ~And we can grieve with hope ~'Cause we believe with hope ~There's a place where we'll see your face again. ~We'll see your face again. ~We wait with hope, and we ache with hope. ~We hold on with hope. ~We let go with hope. CJ listened as the last few notes of the song faded, leaving him winded. Every thought had been his own. He looked over at Kat, knowing she had been the one to choose the music for the funeral. "Thanks," he whispered. "Welcome," she answered. *** "Your grandmother was the dearest woman." "Martha was so sweet." "I'm going to miss her so much." The comments went on and on. By the time they had everyone out of the farmhouse, CJ was ready to crawl into bed and stay there a week. They had enough food for an army, two freezers, and every tabletop in the place. It was a house full of memories. Years before, when Lois had been gravely ill, the Kents had attempted to sell the farmhouse, moving into an apartment just outside of Metropolis to be closer to CJ. No one had been upset a year later when the buyers had defaulted, and Martha and Jonathan had been able to reclaim their property. In most loans, the bank would have been the winner, but not this time. The Kents had chosen to sell to a couple who couldn't get bank backing, bond for deed, so the only inconvienience had been moving their possessions back "home". That is what the little house represented to them... home. They had long since given up actually working the farm, leaving that to CJ and Kat when they visited in the spring and summer, but it was paid for, and Martha had always considered it the best home in the world. Kat was wrapping up leftover food and trying to find a place to store it. Jonathan was asleep on the couch, as he couldn't bring himself to sleep in his own bed without his wife. Lois and Clark had gone for a walk, eager to get away from the chatter that had filled the house since the funeral had ended several hours ago. CJ was seriously considering going crazy. "Huge turnout," Kat commented, trying to get his attention. "Yeah," he agreed. "Everyone who was anyone was here." "Can you put this on the fridge for me?" She was holding a tray of cookies, and it looked heavy. CJ walked over to her, took the tray, and levitated until he could set them easily on the top of the refrigerator. As his feet touched the floor once more, he saw Kat's smile. "What?" "That's just pretty cool," she said with another grin. "You don't fly very often." "It's not exactly flying," he denied. "Damn close." "Maybe," he said, a smile slipping onto his face. "Want to try it?" She looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. "I know you're not that comfortable with it," she admitted. "I don't do it at all in Metropolis," he told her. "Not often in Claremont, either. But here's different. I've always flown here. Dad does it, too. There's no one to catch you, and no one to watch." She looked uncertain, so he took her hand and walked her to the door. "Are you sure?" she asked, her voice almost childlike. "I've taken you flying, before," he said quizzically. "Not in years," she reminded him. "You never asked." "You never offered," she countered, but she was smiling broadly. "I'm offering, now." "I accept." Once they were outside, he put his hands at her waist and lifted into the air. When Kat squealed, he tightened his grip on her. His aura would keep her in the air so long as he was touching her, but she wasn't familiar enough with flight to realize that. Besides, it gave him an excuse to hold her, and he wasn't above taking an opportunity. He headed directly up, the way his father had taught him. Once they were into the low-hanging clouds, hidden from the ground, he slowed and turned her in his arms. They floated there for a long time. When her arms became chilled, he surrounded her with his. When she sighed at the sunset, he echoed the sentiment. As the darkness descended on the night, he finally began to feel a little more like himself. "Better?" she asked him gently. *You know I am.* "Yeah, I do," she answered. She slid her arms around him, rubbed his back up under his shirt, and rested her head on his chest. "I wonder if we could make love this way?" she thought aloud. "What?" "You never asked your dad if he..." "No way!" CJ declared, his face going a dark shade of pink, visible even in the limited light. "I don't think about my parents that way." "They had *you*," she reminded him. "You don't think they still..." "We have got to change the subject," he told her adamantly, then laughed. "That sounds good," she said softly, putting her head back on his chest. "What?" "You," she responded. "Laughing. I guess I needed to hear that." He took a deep breath, then leaned his forehead against hers. "I'll be okay, Kat," he said gently. "I just... I thought I was ready, and I really wasn't. I didn't think it would hurt this much." "I know," she told him. "I get a lot of thoughts from you, now," she explained. "Not just the ones that you send, but the ones that are really strong. Some of the things have been bothering me." "Such as?" he asked, but he already knew. "Such as feeling like it's your fault," she told him. "Or that your grandfather is your responsibility." "They're passing thoughts, Kat. I know that Grandma's getting worse had nothing to do with our getting married. I know Grandpa doesn't begrudge us a few hours alone, away from it. I know he's not my responsibility. He's eighty-five, and he's able to take care of himself. It's just... sometimes I have weird thoughts. I'm sorry they worried you." "I'm not," she told him. "It got you to talk to me. That's a pretty big job, lately." "I am sorry for that. Dad always said talking was the most important part of a marriage." "It is. If we don't talk, we can't take care of one another." He sighed, cuddled her tighter. "You sure took care of me today," he said. "Thanks, Kat." "Anytime, CJ." "I love you." "You, too." (end of chapter 6) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 08:58:16 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: New Fic: FCII, chapter 6 (repost) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay... in fiddling around with stuff to get the formatting right on the message boards, I seem to be on to something. Let me know if this is clearer :) -Crys- Chapter 6 CJ didn't remember her looking this bad. Her skin was darker, almost bluish, and she had no life at all in her eyes. "I should have stayed," he murmured softly. Lois reached forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "There isn't much difference," she explained. "You've just been away from it. We forget how bad it looks." He nodded, reached for the gray hand nearest him. She seemed so much more fragile than he remembered. Had it really been only twenty-four hours? "I should have stayed," he repeated. "No, Honey," she corrected. "You shouldn't have." She reached for his hand, noted the gleam of gold that hadn't been there before. "It looks to me like you were right where you should have been." He smiled softly at that. "Are you mad?" "I probably will be when I think about it," she said with a grin. "But for now I'm just happy for you. The two of you deserve this." "We got tired of waiting," he admitted. "But if I'd known how serious things were getting..." "It would have happened, regardless," she explained. "How's Kat?" "She's beautiful," he said softly, and his smile told Lois all she needed to know. "The doctors are late again," Lois murmured as she glanced at her watch. "That isn't much of a surprise, is it? Why don't you sit here with your grandma, and I'll go ask what's taking so long." CJ nodded, taking the seat by the bed, keeping Martha's hand in his. Lois looked back at her son as she walked past the curtains on her way to the door. He was growing up so quickly, she thought. *** "How's married life?" Clark asked softly. Kat's head flashed up, her eyes going instinctively to the new rings on her finger. She was sitting with Clark in the ICU waiting room, and for a change they were the only two there. CJ had gone in to see his grandmother, and Lois had followed. Only two people were normally allowed at the bedside at a time. "We wondered how long it would take everyone to notice," she said with a smile. "I was kind of looking for it," he admitted. "CJ has a lot better sense than I ever did." "He mentioned that you'd understand," Kat told him. Clark nodded. "Lois and I had to reschedule the wedding more than once," he admitted. "Looking back, we should have just gone ahead and seen a Justice of the Peace and worried about the ceremony later. It would have been easier." "I was afraid you'd be upset," she said quietly. "Because we did it without the family, I mean." "You'll have the rest of your lives to put up with us," Clark told her. "Besides, I'm sure my wife will manage to get you two into a church for the formalities." "I do want to wear my dress," she said , considering the matter. "But I'm not taking the rings back off." Clark looked down at his own ring, a gold circle that was dulled by wear. What little texture the ring had been designed with had long since worn smooth. Still, despite it's age, it was as solid as the love he had for his wife. "It doesn't come off," he said thoughtfully. "Not for anything. I even have a pocked sewn into my suit for when the world can't see it. It may not be on the finger, but it's always on *me*." "I feel the same way," Kat told him. "It's just a symbol," Clark said absently. "It has nothing to do with the actual relationship. Kind of like the marriage license. But, you know, for me... it was more. The symbols have power because we let them. If I lost the ring, it wouldn't destroy my marriage." He paused a moment, turning the ring on his finger, then raising his eyes back to meet Kat's. "But I'd buy a new one, probably the same day." Kat nodded her understanding. For a while longer, they sat together in silence. "It's after two," Kat finally said. "Surgery went over," Clark told her, as though it explained everything. And, as usual, it did. *** "As we've told you before," Doctor Frederickson said in a practiced voice. "The longer that Mrs. Kent remains on the respirator, the less likely it is that we'll be able to wean her off the device. At this point, she has not been breathing independently in almost seven weeks, and she requires more oxygen on a daily basis. This, combined with the ineffectual dialysis and repeated defibrillation, indicate that her recovery from this illness is unlikely." Clark looked at the man blankly, unable to take in the information. Lois took his hand, and squeezed gently in support. Kat had tears on her face. "Can you say that again," Jonathan requested. "In English, this time." "She can't breathe on her own," the doctor explained. "She simply isn't getting better. Her body is old, and it's weak. She just doesn't have the strength to recover from the surgery." "You said the bypasses had been a success," Clark argued. "They were," Frederickson agreed. "But she isn't healing. Her body just isn't strong enough to heal." "Why not?" CJ asked, although he suspected the answer. "To begin with, she's eighty-five years old," the doctor said. "In addition, she's too weak to digest food, which causes her to become weaker yet. It becomes a cycle, each illness precipitating another, which complicates the first. There's always the possibility that she'll recover, but at this point it's a very remote possibility." "So, now what?" This from Lois. They were seated around a long rectangular table in the ICU conference area. It was the room used for the beginning and ending of physician rounds, nurses' report, and meeting with the families of exceptionally ill patients. It was not a room that the Kents wanted to be in. Rarely was good news given in the conference room. It was reserved for meetings like the one that was currently taking place. "We have two options," the doctor told them. "We can continue as we have been, provide support measures, and wait. That's one option. The second is to withdraw our support measures, and let her body shut down." "Turn off the respirator?" Kat asked. She didn't like the option. Several times it had been attempted, in an effort to get Martha to strengthen her own breathing, but it hadn't been successful. Martha had struggled, fought, and become so tired that they had to turn the machine back on. Watching her die this way was not something Kat was ready for. "No," the doctor corrected. "The respirator is the one thing I don't recommend discontinuing. The respirator works on her effort, though. When she takes a breath, it augments the breath and oxygenates it. I would recommend discontinuing the medications that are stabilizing her heart rate and blood pressure, stopping the dialysis, and then waiting for Mrs. Kent to do the rest." "So, she would breathe with the respirator until her body stops naturally?" Kat asked. "Exactly." "So, we wouldn't be killing her," Jonathan asked. "We don't have to pull the plug?" "No, Mr. Kent," the doctor said gently. "If or when she stops breathing, it will be her body's decision, not ours." Jonathan thought for a moment, then looked to his children, and his grandchildren, for guidance. "Do you think she'd want this?" he asked uncertainly. "She asked us to let her go for weeks," CJ reminded them softly. She hadn't been able to speak, but she had mouthed the words constantly for the first three weeks on the respirator. When they had deliberately ignored her, she had often become angry, refusing to look at them. She had tried to pull out the respirator as well, which had only resulted in her arms being restrained. "I know she wouldn't want to be the way she is now," Clark added. "I've never seen her on her back for more than a day or two with the flu. She hates to slow down." "Yes," Jonathan murmured. "She does." He looked up at his son, his eyes pleading. "What do I say? I feel like I can't live without her, but it isn't *her* anymore." Clark turned to the doctor and quietly agreed to the second option. "Can we stay with her?" he requested, unable to keep the emotion from his voice. Lois and Kat were already crying openly, and CJ wasn't far behind. His father was still and quiet. "Absolutely," the doctor said gently. "I'll speak with the nurses. You can stay with her constantly, if you like." Clark nodded, then reached for Lois. She crumbled into his arms, sobbing and shaking. He felt the same way. The doctor told them that they could stay in the room for as long as they liked, then went to write the orders that would limit the life support that Martha received. The Kent family remained there for almost an hour. They emptied the tissue boxes that were left on the table for their use, and every one of them was exhausted by the time that they walked back to Martha's room to sit with her. *** The Kents had gathered around the bedside, each saying a word or two to Martha. She was still unresponsive. A nurse dressed in a surprisingly cheery flowered smock came in, turned off several of the IV drips, and then backed away. The dialysis machine ceased its noise. Only the sound of the respiration broke the tense silence as they waited. For a few moments everything stayed stable. Suddenly, Martha's blood pressure began to fall, and her heart rate increased. They watched the systolic pressure, the number that the doctors had strived to keep at one hundred, as it plummeted. Ninety. Eighty-one. Seventy-three. Seventy. Sixty-one. "No," CJ called out. "It wasn't supposed to happen this fast!" He moved towards his grandmother, only to be restrained by his wife. He put his arms around her, closed his eyes, and tried to ignore what was happening around him. He was twenty-four years old, and he felt like a baby. Her pressure stabilized at thirty-four, her heart rate leveled out at over two-hundred and irregular. CJ took a deep breath as he looked up from Kat's shoulder. His father's arm hand was on his shoulder. Jonathan moved closer to CJ, then took him in his arms. The waiting began. *** Twenty-two hours. The ordeal that had begun at three-forty on Wednesday afternoon didn't end until after one-thirty on Thursday. Martha was strong, she was stubborn, and she was too sick to beat death. Her body remained stable through the night, through the next morning, but as noon neared the numbers once more began to drop. Heart rate and pressure both slowed until the alarms became a constant companion. They were able to turn off the pulse oximeter that warned them of the low amount of oxygen reaching her extremities, but the respirator itself was safeguarded. The alarm was turned to its lowest level, but it was still audible. Each time Martha waited more than a minute to breathe, the machine would alarm until she took a breath. The last ten minutes were the worst. Death was nothing like it was shown in the movies. There were no last words, no pleasant expression, no reassurances for her tired family. She simply breathed less often, and then finally she stopped. Her heart rate slowed after that, finally grinding to a halt. They said their good-byes, told her how much she was loved, and then groaned as her heart began once more, and she took another breath. As they stood around her, Jonathan suddenly laughed. They looked at him in shock, but he spoke through the tears. "She would have really hated this," he said with a sad smile. "Wouldn't she?" "Yeah, Dad," Clark said, putting an arm around his father's shoulder. Martha never took another breath. It took a few minutes longer for her heart, the same heart that had gotten her into this situation, to finally give up and stop. A nurse stepped forward, turned off the respirator, and went to get the doctor. Clark hadn't heard her come in. They stayed a while longer. They spoke in soft tones, cried together, and finally wiped the tears and stood to go. They left the ICU for the last time, walking through the large double-doors that they hated, and down the hallway towards the elevators. While they were waiting for the doors to open, CJ turned and walked back to the waiting room. Kat followed her husband, worried, then stopped as she saw him erase his grandmother's name from the board. Mrs. Tipton stood and wrapped her arms around CJ. He hugged her back, said good-bye, and turned to see Kat watching. She wiped a tear from her face as he walked back to her, put his arm around her, and gave her a similar hug. Finally, he released her, and they walked back towards the elevator that Clark was holding for them. *** The casket was simple, polished pine. The lid was closed, and a picture of Martha sat on the lid, surrounded by a profusion of wildflowers. Hymns played in the background, the piano gently bringing music to the somber occasion. Smallville Community Church was overflowing with men and women who had come to pay their last respects to a lovely woman who had been a great contribution to their lives. Children played towards the back of the church, dressed in their Sunday best and not able to understand why their moms and dads were so sad. Jonathan sat towards the front of the church, but not in the front row as everyone had expected. Wayne Irig sat next to him, a frail skeleton of a man who now walked with a cane. Clark sat on his other side, eyes finally dry after days of tears. Lois was next to Clark, her hand in his, her eyes as wet as his were dry. CJ sat in the back row of the church. He knew he should be with his family, but he couldn't bring himself to walk past the people who were hurting as badly as he was in order to get there. He wanted to be near an exit, where he could escape if necessary. Hell, who was he kidding? He wanted to be a thousand miles away, and it took every bit of restraint not to take to the sky and fly as far, as fast, as he could. Instead, he was here. He was watching the majority of the residents of Smallville congregate in a church to show support, to say goodbye, and to grieve. He'd been doing a lot of that, himself. "Hanging in?" Kat asked softly, her head on his shoulder. "Doing my best," he answered, trying very hard not to start crying again. He'd cried for most of the last three days, during the funeral preparations and the logistical arrangements that were unavoidable following a death. He remembered the process from when his grandfather had died, but Ellen Lane had taken care of the majority of the details with little assistance. Jonathan Kent wasn't capable of handling a funeral, much less arranging it, so the task had fallen to Clark. Clark had done the best he could, but when it got to be too much it passed to Lois. From Lois, it came to CJ. From CJ, it passed to Kat. Kathryn Lynn Kent had spent the week following her wedding arranging a funeral for a person that wasn't even related by blood. They had all contributed, of course, but the final decisions had been Kat's, because she was the only one who could manage to go ten minutes without collapsing into tears. It hadn't all been sorrow. There had been light moments, too. They had all laughed when they tried to pick out a dress for Martha to be buried in, and couldn't find a single thing in her closet that was plain or dark. Martha wasn't a boring person, so her clothes weren't sedate. CJ had finally pointed out a lovely, soft-pink silk dress that Clark had found for her in Japan. It was cheery and bright, and they had all agreed that it was perfect for her. The laughter, morbid though it might have been, had started anew when Clark reminded them that the funeral was to be closed-casket. They had spent three hours going through her closet, and no one would ever see the dress. For some reason, they had all found that irresistibly funny, and they had laughed themselves silly. CJ was sorry his grandmother had missed it. She would have loved the joke. Laughter had turned to tears in the blink of an eye. Most days had been similar. A moment of stolen laughter was followed by sorrow that it could not be shared with Martha. A memory that was good became shadowed by a memory of their time in the hospital. Every moment of relief was chased away by pain, and CJ didn't know how much longer he could handle it. He hurt, and he couldn't make it go away. The reason for his pain was simple. Martha had always "fixed" whatever was wrong with his heart, and sent him away healed. Now, because she wasn't here to fix it, her own death was tearing him apart. He knew what was wrong. He just couldn't do anything about it. Kat threaded her fingers through his as the minister stepped up to the pulpit. He gripped her hand hard, heard a faint indrawn breath, and loosened his grip. She would have a bruise from that, he realized. "Sorry." "I love you," she whispered in his ear, then she moved more closely against his side as he watched the service. He managed to keep the tears in check through the hymns that Rachel sang. Just a Closer Walk with Thee and I Walk in the Garden Alone filtered through his mind long after her steady alto voice faded. Many of Martha's friends stood to say a few words, and even Jonathan stood to talk about his beloved wife of fifty-six years. CJ managed to keep the tears at bay until after the minister had sat down, and a song began. Children laughing, playing, singing Jesus Loves Me, and then Steven Curtis Chapman began to sing... This is not at all how we thought it was supposed to be We had so many plans for you, we had so many dreams And now you've gone away and left us with the memories of your smile. And nothing we can say, and nothing we can do Can take away the pain, the pain of losing you, but... We can cry with hope. We can say goodbye with hope. 'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no. And we can grieve with hope 'Cause we believe with hope There's a place where we'll see your face again. We'll see your face again. And never have I known anything so hard to understand And never have I questioned more the wisdom of God's plan But through the cloud of tears I see the Father smile and say well done. And I imagine you where you wanted most to be. Seeing all your dreams come true, 'cause now you're home And now you're free, and... We can cry with hope. We can say goodbye with hope. 'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no And we can grieve with hope 'Cause we believe with hope There's a place where we'll see your face again. We'll see your face again. We have this hope as an anchor 'Cause we believe that everything God promised us is true, so... We can cry with hope. We can say goodbye with hope. 'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no And we can grieve with hope 'Cause we believe with hope There's a place where we'll see your face again. We'll see your face again. We wait with hope, and we ache with hope. We hold on with hope. We let go with hope. CJ listened as the last few notes of the song faded, leaving him winded. Every thought had been his own. He looked over at Kat, knowing she had been the one to choose the music for the funeral. "Thanks," he whispered. "Welcome," she answered. *** "Your grandmother was the dearest woman." "Martha was so sweet." "I'm going to miss her so much." The comments went on and on. By the time they had everyone out of the farmhouse, CJ was ready to crawl into bed and stay there a week. They had enough food for an army, two freezers, and every tabletop in the place. It was a house full of memories. Years before, when Lois had been gravely ill, the Kents had attempted to sell the farmhouse, moving into an apartment just outside of Metropolis to be closer to CJ. No one had been upset a year later when the buyers had defaulted, and Martha and Jonathan had been able to reclaim their property. In most loans, the bank would have been the winner, but not this time. The Kents had chosen to sell to a couple who couldn't get bank backing, bond for deed, so the only inconvienience had been moving their possessions back "home". That is what the little house represented to them... home. They had long since given up actually working the farm, leaving that to CJ and Kat when they visited in the spring and summer, but it was paid for, and Martha had always considered it the best home in the world. Kat was wrapping up leftover food and trying to find a place to store it. Jonathan was asleep on the couch, as he couldn't bring himself to sleep in his own bed without his wife. Lois and Clark had gone for a walk, eager to get away from the chatter that had filled the house since the funeral had ended several hours ago. CJ was seriously considering going crazy. "Huge turnout," Kat commented, trying to get his attention. "Yeah," he agreed. "Everyone who was anyone was here." "Can you put this on the fridge for me?" She was holding a tray of cookies, and it looked heavy. CJ walked over to her, took the tray, and levitated until he could set them easily on the top of the refrigerator. As his feet touched the floor once more, he saw Kat's smile. "What?" "That's just pretty cool," she said with another grin. "You don't fly very often." "It's not exactly flying," he denied. "Damn close." "Maybe," he said, a smile slipping onto his face. "Want to try it?" She looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. "I know you're not that comfortable with it," she admitted. "I don't do it at all in Metropolis," he told her. "Not often in Claremont, either. But here's different. I've always flown here. Dad does it, too. There's no one to catch you, and no one to watch." She looked uncertain, so he took her hand and walked her to the door. "Are you sure?" she asked, her voice almost childlike. "I've taken you flying, before," he said quizzically. "Not in years," she reminded him. "You never asked." "You never offered," she countered, but she was smiling broadly. "I'm offering, now." "I accept." Once they were outside, he put his hands at her waist and lifted into the air. When Kat squealed, he tightened his grip on her. His aura would keep her in the air so long as he was touching her, but she wasn't familiar enough with flight to realize that. Besides, it gave him an excuse to hold her, and he wasn't above taking an opportunity. He headed directly up, the way his father had taught him. Once they were into the low-hanging clouds, hidden from the ground, he slowed and turned her in his arms. They floated there for a long time. When her arms became chilled, he surrounded her with his. When she sighed at the sunset, he echoed the sentiment. As the darkness descended on the night, he finally began to feel a little more like himself. "Better?" she asked him gently. *You know I am.* "Yeah, I do," she answered. She slid her arms around him, rubbed his back up under his shirt, and rested her head on his chest. "I wonder if we could make love this way?" she thought aloud. "What?" "You never asked your dad if he..." "No way!" CJ declared, his face going a dark shade of pink, visible even in the limited light. "I don't think about my parents that way." "They had *you*," she reminded him. "You don't think they still..." "We have got to change the subject," he told her adamantly, then laughed. "That sounds good," she said softly, putting her head back on his chest. "What?" "You," she responded. "Laughing. I guess I needed to hear that." He took a deep breath, then leaned his forehead against hers. "I'll be okay, Kat," he said gently. "I just... I thought I was ready, and I really wasn't. I didn't think it would hurt this much." "I know," she told him. "I get a lot of thoughts from you, now," she explained. "Not just the ones that you send, but the ones that are really strong. Some of the things have been bothering me." "Such as?" he asked, but he already knew. "Such as feeling like it's your fault," she told him. "Or that your grandfather is your responsibility." "They're passing thoughts, Kat. I know that Grandma's getting worse had nothing to do with our getting married. I know Grandpa doesn't begrudge us a few hours alone, away from it. I know he's not my responsibility. He's eighty-five, and he's able to take care of himself. It's just... sometimes I have weird thoughts. I'm sorry they worried you." "I'm not," she told him. "It got you to talk to me. That's a pretty big job, lately." "I am sorry for that. Dad always said talking was the most important part of a marriage." "It is. If we don't talk, we can't take care of one another." He sighed, cuddled her tighter. "You sure took care of me today," he said. "Thanks, Kat." "Anytime, CJ." "I love you." "You, too." ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 16:57:57 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Kraz Man Subject: A Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (10/13) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit >From part 9... “Now, now. Can’t have you coming back now, can we. That would just ruin all the fun of the whole plan. The blue buffoon’s is just causing way to much havoc with the future. I mean, it’s just so boring with everyone idolizing him and you. Can’t have that.” With that, he held a small metal device to her neck, and a small ‘sfft’ sound was heard in the silence of the night. “Well, that takes care of you and the super brat. Let’s see what we can do about hubby now.” With that, he took a hunk of glowing red rock out of his pocket and proceeded to hide it under the seat. “Won’t Clarkie be surprised when he finds you here shortly. But, I can’t stick around. Must be off. Ta ta for now.” With that, another gold flash of light was seen, and the figure seemed to step through it. -------------------- And now... part 10... It took Clark 3 hours to finally be able to land on his back porch. He was rather tired from his rescue in Canada. But at least he was able to save the village from its icy predicament before any lives were lost. Plus now, they’ ll have time to shore up and fix the dam while the entire lake and river were frozen solid. Clark entered his dimmed home quietly, not wanting to disturb his wife. As he entered, he cocked his head, listening for a familiar sound, but not hearing. Looking around the house, he found a note sitting next to the answering machine, as well as the blinking message light. Clark replayed the messages and read the note. Clark shrugged his head at his mother-in-law’s logic. ‘No matter, I’ll head out and find Lana and help her home. Maybe a super lift will speed things along.’ Clark left the same way he entered, and took off into the crisp night air. He calculated the distance driving to Wichita, and flew straight there, hoping to catch Lana before she left the airport. Arriving at the airport, he hovered above, examining the building looking for Lana. Not finding her there, he flew through the parking lot, looking for their car. After examining both of the local structures twice, and not finding the car, Clark started to worry. Flying above State Route 54 on his way back home, trying to see if he could see his wife driving home. Right as he approached State Route 283 turn off, he noticed the police lights. His heart leapt into his throat as he approached the scene and saw their car in the ditch. Immediately he realized there was no way he could land and maintain any type of impartiality, and flew to his parent’s farm. Thirty seconds later, Clark pulled up to the median on the opposite side of the road by the State patrol cars. He jumped out of his father’s truck, and ran to the scene. The patrolmen on the scene quickly approached Clark. “Excuse me, sir. But this area is off-limits right now.” “That’s my car.” Clark looked very stony-faced. Clark heard the quick intake of breath from the younger patrolman. Clark stated getting an odd, tingly sensation in his head as he approached the scene. He looked questioningly at the patrolmen. “Mr.…?” “Kent.” “Mr. Kent, I hate to do this to you, especially during this season, but…” Clark had already taken off towards the car, yelling Lana’s name. The car door was already open when Clark got to the car. His wife was sitting very still, with her head slightly leaning away from the door, and down. She had frozen blood on her forehead, and Clark new immediately that she was dead. Tears fell from his face, as he grabbed her hand and knelt next to her outside the car. He was swaying on his knees, willing her to open her eyes, and smile at him. Clark’s inner voice kept telling him over and over ‘This is Superman’s fault.’ Clark kept calling Lana’s name, hoping this was just a nightmare, and he’d wake up and it would be Christmas morning. But he realized it wasn’ t a nightmare, it was just his dreams shattering. ---------------- Jonathon awoke to the ringing of the phone. Wondering who could be calling at this hour, he grabbed it roughly. “Kent residence.” Jonathon Kent’s face went ashen as the voice of the patrolmen on the other end was talking to him. Martha slowly rolled over to look at him, and was shocked by the look on his face as tears started to stream from his eyes. Jonathon slowly hung up the phone, almost as if he was not even aware he was doing it. “Martha, get dressed. Clark needs us.” “Jonathon, what is it?” Jonathon looked straight into his wife’s eyes to find the strength he needed to tell her the hardest thing he’d ever said in his life. “Lana’s dead.” ---------------- Another patrol car stopped by and picked up Clark Kent to take him to Smallville. An ambulance arrived while they were loading Clark into the patrol car. Clark watched helplessly as they lifted his wife’s body from their car, and placed a white sheet over her. Tears again started flowing. All of his fears recently about not being able to save his wife came true. And it was all Superman’s fault. As the ambulance was taken away, and the patrol car slowly made it way from the scene, no one noticed the odd reddish glow coming from underneath the front seat of the car. ---------------- To be continued... ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 16:57:58 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Kraz Man Subject: A Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (11/13) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit >From part 10... Another patrol car stopped by and picked up Clark Kent to take him to Smallville. An ambulance arrived while they were loading Clark into the patrol car. Clark watched helplessly as they lifted his wife’s body from their car, and placed a white sheet over her. Tears again started flowing. All of his fears recently about not being able to save his wife came true. And it was all Superman’s fault. As the ambulance was taken away, and the patrol car slowly made it way from the scene, no one noticed the odd reddish glow coming from underneath the front seat of the car. ---------------- And now on to part 11... Christmas morning arrived, and while the rest of the world shared a blissful holiday, the Kent farm was very despondent. Clark didn’t want to seem to talk to anyone about what had happened the night prior, and was very sullen and unresponsive. About mid-morning, Lana’s parents arrived, believing it to be any other Christmas morning. Clark’s parents knew that Clark was in no shape to do this, but he wouldn’t let them take the burden. Stealing himself up for the encounter, Clark spoke with Lana’s parents. “Dr. Lang, Mrs. Lang. Lana was in a car accident last night. A fatal one.” Carol Lane burst into tears. The color drained from her husband’s face. Over the next half hour, Clark explained what little he knew about the accident. “Why was my baby girl in the car, Clark? Where were you? Why weren’t you in the car? Why was she even there at all? Why?” A bleak expression appeared on Clark’s face as Lana’s mother tore into him with her accusations. Each one ripping open his heart a little more. ‘She’s right. Why wasn’t I there? I was off playing hero to a bunch of strangers, while I let my wife die.’ Seeing the look on his son’s face, and knowing the truth about Clark’s activities the night before, Jonathon Kent spoke up. “Carol, Clark was here helping me last night. He had no idea Lana had even left until he got home.” Jonathon bit his tongue, not letting his own accusation about why Mrs. Lang would even try to force her way into Wichita with the weather like it was. But he knew it wouldn’t help here. Knowing what Jonathon was trying to do, Lawrence Lang grabbed his wife. “Clark, we’ll be at the Smallville Inn. Please contact us when you’ve made the arrangements.” He looked at Clark with sympathy, and nodded, attempting to convey to Clark that he realized Clark was not to blame for what had happened, and that them staying would not be healthy for anyone involved. ---------------- Lana’s funeral was held three days later. Every single person who attended their wedding came to offer their condolences and sympathies to Clark. While Clark was quiet and polite with every one of the attendees, he couldn’t help but be desolate. Warring in Clark’s head was every accusation Carol Lang made, over and over again. And behind it all, the mental commentary that Superman was to blame for this tragedy. ---------------- Martha Kent was in town to buy some extra supplies. Clark had been living with them since Lana’s death, and while Clark had hardly eaten anything during that time, other various supplies were running low. While shopping at the pharmacy, Martha overheard Loretta, the clerk, and Doctor McDonald in a conversation. “I can’t believe what happened to that poor girl. So young, and so happy. And she just couldn’t wait to give Clark the good news.” Doctor McDonald gave Loretta a funny look at her comment. “Oh, she was in here a couple days before… the accident and bought a certain card, and we had a nice laugh over it.” Doctor McDonald nodded. “I just pray that she never told Clark. It was hard enough to lose Lana like that, but to lose the baby as well. He’s been so despondent since the accident. I truly hope,” the doctor paused as he heard something hit the ground behind him. Both the doctor and Loretta looked up to see a wild-eyed Martha Kent standing there. “Oh, Lord. Martha.” Loretta ran over and gave Martha a hug. Doctor McDonald got a chair and brought it by the counter, and helped Martha sit down. Martha was getting over her initial shock, and tears were running down her face. “Lana was pregnant?” Doctor McDonald simply nodded. “For how long?” “She found out just after Thanksgiving. She was about 5 weeks along at that time. She wanted me to keep quiet about it because she wanted to surprise Clark for Christmas.” “Does anyone other than the two of you know about it?” “Other than the nurses at my office, no one knows about it from me” Mary looked ashamed. “I… I told Maisie.” Martha realized with that comment, that anyone and everyone who dined at Maisie’s between the couple of days that Mary told her and Christmas eve, and knew about Lana and Clark, knew about the baby. However, while the news spread like wildfire about Lana’s condition, small towns take care of their own. Clark never learned about his wife’s condition from anyone who knew. ---------------- Finally, after spending a couple of weeks at his parent’s house, Clark returned to the house that he and Lana had lived in. He knew he would only stay here long enough to pack everything for sale. Mrs. Lang refused to talk to Clark about the house, but Mr. Lang assured Clark that the house was given to Lana for her and her husband, and the Lang’s had no wish to have it back, or any of the proceeds from it. Martha, during the time Clark had lived with them, had come to the house and gathered all the unopened Christmas gifts, and returned them to the stores. She and Jonathon had removed all the Christmas decorations, so that the house wouldn’t sharply remind Clark of that fateful morning a few weeks ago. During that time, she was able to tell Jonathon about what she learned from her trip into town a few days ago. Clark, slowly, normally, packed up the entire house. The process took several days, in which Clark never stopped to rest or eat. Finally, on the morning of the third day, Clark got to the master bedroom. He packed up the clothing and furniture, and finally went to tear the bed down. As Clark lifted his pillow, he found a green envelope lying under it. Curiously, he opened it. ‘So, you’re going to be a father…’ Clark’s hands started trembling as he read the contents of the card. Tears flowed freely down his face as he read what Lana had written to him. ‘My darling, loving, soon-to-be daddy – I can’t begin to describe how happy I was when I found out that we are going to become parents. I knew immediately how much this would mean to you. You are no longer alone. There is a part of you in me, growing and nurturing. And in about thirty weeks or so, he or she will be apart of our lives. My love, words fail me when I try to relay how filled with joy this makes me. Clark, your dreams are coming true. And honey, so are mine! With all my love (and baby’s love too)… - Your soon-to-be mommy.’ Clark couldn’t speak as he read. He was only able to silently mouth ‘No’ over and over again. Until finally, unable to take it anymore, he screamed. ---------------- Martha and Jonathon pulled up to ‘the house’ as Clark referred to it. They knew that Clark was going to sell the place. They had a realtor come and do the inspection and handle all the selling, as they knew that Clark was in no mental condition to handle the process. And this way, they were sure Clark would get a fair price for the house, and not just give it away due to the anguish he felt about the place. They knew while they were all saddened by the loss of Lana, that one day Clark would live his life again, and that he may wish to purchase a house. The proceeds from this sale would be there for him in his future. Martha and Jonathon would see to that. As they got out of the truck, they heard an anguished yell pierce the dull gray day. A few seconds later, they saw the glass in the upper bedroom windows shatter. They ran into the house, calling for Clark. When Clark never answered, the quickly made their way upstairs to the master bedroom. Entering the room, they found Clark on the floor, unconscious. In his hand, they saw the surprise card Lana had left for Clark to find Christmas morning. “Oh, my poor boy.” Martha and Jonathon quickly gathered Clark’s unconscious form, and placed him on the bed. -------------- To be continued... ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 16:57:58 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Kraz Man Subject: A Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (12/13) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit >From Part 11... As they got out of the truck, they heard an anguished yell pierce the dull gray day. A few seconds later, they saw the glass in the upper bedroom windows shatter. They ran into the house, calling for Clark. When Clark never answered, the quickly made their way upstairs to the master bedroom. Entering the room, they found Clark on the floor, unconscious. In his hand, they saw the surprise card Lana had left for Clark to find Christmas morning. “Oh, my poor boy.” Martha and Jonathon quickly gathered Clark’s unconscious form, and placed him on the bed. -------------- And Now... Part 12... Clark awoke from his mental shutdown and sat up. He looked around, trying to orient himself to his surroundings. The room he was in was dark, even for his vision. He stood up, and found a wall close by. He felt his way around the corners of the room, until he ran into a door. Opening the door, he looked beyond. What he saw frightened him. His mom and dad were laying on operating tables, with examiners standing over them, cutting into them. After pulling out various organs, the examiners looked to each other. “Well, these subjects appear to be human. Apparently they were just harboring the alien, and not aliens themselves.” One of the attendants looked up at Clark. “Perfect, your awake. Now we can examine you.” Clark’s face drained of color. “What? What have you done to my parents?” “We did nothing to them, Alien. They were killed by some burglar while you were out gallivanting around, trying to play at being a hero. They died because you weren’t there to save them.” “No… It can’t be.” “I’m afraid it is, Alien.” “Why do you keep calling me an alien?” “I’m not calling you an alien, I’m calling you Alien. You don’t deserve a proper name. You let your precious wife die. She was supposed to be the answer to all your dreams. She was carrying your child. The hope of your entire existence. And you let her die, because you wanted to help a bunch of strangers. Strangers who were supposed to die.” “I… I was just trying to save lives.” “Awww… I was just trying to be a hero…”, the attendant said in a whiny voice. “Well, Alien. Haven’t you ever heard of natural selection? People who live in stupid places are supposed to die stupid deaths. While you were playing hero to a bunch of people who were supposed to die, you let the most precious things in your existence die. And for what, so a bunch of villagers can die a week later?” “Huh?” “You didn’t even pay attention to them, did you? You sacrificed your wife and child for them, and didn’t even follow up on what happened. Yep… Alien is the right name for you. None of the villagers took your saving them as a warning. They assumed it meant they were protected. Guess what happened to them? The whole village was washed away when the ice melted. You sacrificed everything that meant something to you for a bunch of stupid people who threw away the second chance you gave them.” A look of absolute horror washed over Clark. “And you didn’t even learn from that. Couple of months later, you felt you had to be a ‘hero’,” the attendant said, forming quotation marks with her fingers. “So, back out you go to rescue mountain climbers caught in an avalanche. You have to go be the big blue Boy Scout. While you were out being a ‘hero’,” she made the quotation marks again, “some dumb schmuck broke into your beloved adopted parents’ home, and gunned them down. Once again, Superman costs you your loved ones. Apparently, you didn’t learn either, so we are here to learn about your powers. Once we learn about them, we will be able to give them to somebody who can at least learn from their own stupidity.” Clark slumped against the wall in shock and pain, when a gray box was opened, and a sinister green light bathed the room. The group of examiners lifted him onto an operating table behind him, and tied him down. Using scalpels, they began to cut the spandex off his body. The head examiner lifted a device Clark had never seen before. “This will cut away your breastbone, so we can examine your lungs and heart.” He began to find the right place to begin the procedure. “Oh, you may want to brace yourself, Alien. I’m sure this is going to hurt quite a bit.” Clark felt the pointed end of the device cut into his skin, and screamed. ---------------- Martha and Jonathon were getting increasingly worried. Clark was tossing and turning while unconscious. They were used to his floating, not this. He seemed to be getting more distressed, and finally screamed while bolting upright in bed. Martha immediately grabbed her son’s hand. “Clark, we’re right here sweetie. You were having a nightmare, nothing more.” Clark’s eyes focused and his mind cleared, as he awakened from his nightmare. He hugged his mother tightly. “Oh, mama. What have I done?” ---------------- ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 16:58:00 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: The Kraz Man Subject: A Brand New Start I - Shattered Dreams (Finale) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit >From part 12... Martha and Jonathon were getting increasingly worried. Clark was tossing and turning while unconscious. They were used to his floating, not this. He seemed to be getting more distressed, and finally screamed while bolting upright in bed. Martha immediately grabbed her son’s hand. “Clark, we’re right here sweetie. You were having a nightmare, nothing more.” Clark’s eyes focused and his mind cleared, as he awakened from his nightmare. He hugged his mother tightly. “Oh, mama. What have I done?” ---------------- And now, the conclusion to Shattered Dreams... Clark’s grief continued to run its course. During the next couple of weeks, he remained a hermit at his parent’s house, while they aided in the sale of his house. Finally, realizing how unhealthy his seclusion was, he began to make his way into Smallville for an occasional item or two. However, the looks he got in town were difficult to deal with. The community’s sympathies were never disguised, and they all wanted Clark to know that he was still a loved member of the community. Having spoke with his mother regarding the issue, he went to see Doctor McDonald. The nurse at the front desk gave him a kindly look when he arrived. “Good afternoon Clark. Doctor McDonald is expecting you. Just head down to left, and his office is on the right.” “Thank you.” Clark headed into the doctor’s office. “Hi Clark. Come on in and sit down. And close the door, will you please?” Clark complied, and then sat down. “So, Clark, what can I do for you today?” “Well, Doctor McDonald, I know now that Lana was pregnant.” With this comment, the doctor’s face paled. “I guess I want to know why you felt it necessary to exclude me from that information?” “Well, Clark. When this all started, Lana was very excited about the pregnancy, and she wanted to keep it a surprise for Christmas. I certainly could understand that. However, when the accident occurred, I had a decision to make. Do I tell you about the baby, and make you even more desolate, or not tell you, and allow you to recover from your wife’s death. I can understand you being mad at me for withholding this information, but as the cause of death was obvious, there was no reason to do an autopsy. I simply wanted to spare you the additional anguish of dealing with both deaths. If you feel that I was wrong in doing so, I apologize. But I believe that additional stress at that time would have been devastating. Plus it would have increased your sense of guilt in a situation where you shouldn’t have been feeling guilty.” A confused expression appeared on Clark’s face. “What do you mean, feeling guilty?” Clark knew why he was feeling guilty, but wanted to know what the doctor knew. “Well, Clark, Smallville is, well, small. I know all about it.” Clark became more concerned. “All about what?” “Carol Lang’s blaming you for her daughter’s accident. Like you had anything to do with it. I’ve been through similar things with other people, Clark. I can understand how you can blame yourself just because one person irrationally points the blame to you. I know you were not at fault, and that it was simply an accident. And you must believe that as well.” A slight smile appeared on Clark’s face. He understood what the doctor was trying to do, but the doctor didn’t know what he did. However, it wouldn’t do to let the doctor know there was more to the situation than what he believed. Clark realized that Doctor McDonald was doing what he felt was best for Clark. And Clark was even able to admit that if the situations were reversed, he would do the same. Rising from his chair, he shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you, Doctor McDonald. I appreciate what you tried, but unfortunately, Lana left a card for me regarding it, and my parents weren’t able to find it to keep me from seeing it. I guess I can say I wish I didn’t know, but on the same token, I’m glad I do know.” Clark left the doctors office glad that he had dealt with the issue of Doctor McDonald withholding information from him. But again, as he thought inside with the doctor, had the roles been reversed, he probably would have done the same. As Clark headed to his car, he still noticed some of the pained looks he received, and he realized he would continue to receive them. He would just have to deal with them. After a month of the guarded looks he received, he realized he had had enough. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do at first, but he knew he could no longer live in Smallville. There was simply just too much pain here. ---------------- Clark awoke to his shoulder being shaken. He looked up with a confused look on his face. “Hey son, we’ve stopped one last time for a meal and bathroom break before heading into Metropolis. Did you want to get out and stretch a bit?” The older bus driver looked upon Clark with a kindly face. “Yeah, sure. I think some fresh air would be good.” Clark got out of the bus and stretched, walking around the bus depot. The driver had told him they were stopped for an hour, so he decided to walk around away from the depot for a while. While he was wandering around, he heard a song come over the radio. He had heard the song a few times in Smallville, and it always struck a chord within him, so this time he concentrated to listen to the song’s lyrics. I was so afraid, of spending just one day knowing you were gone I watch the mornin' rise, and my heart just slowly dies, through the break of dawn Waking in the morning, I turn to see your face, staring back at me But as the picture clears, through the drying tears, it was only just a dream And I've been dreaming through the night, praying everything's all right Tryin' to go a night without you, is driving me insane And I've been walkin' through the day, and there's nothing left to say I just can't go on living this way The light begins to fade, and through coming haze, the darkness seems so long Spending every night, tossin' 'til the mornin' light, baby I was oh, so wrong Waking in the morning, I turn to see your face, smiling back at me But as the picture clears, through my runnin' tears, it was only just a dream And I've been dreaming through the night, praying everything's all right Tryin' to go a night without you, is driving me insane And I've been walkin' through the day, and there's nothing left to say I just can't go on living this way As the song finished, Clark realized it struck a chord with him. It fit his own feeling about what happened to Lana and their child. Clark mentally reviewed his decision about leaving Smallville. He didn’t think that he was running away. He knew that there was nothing left for him there. And everything and everyone reminded him of what he no longer had. No, it was time to make a brand new start of it. Clark realized that his parents didn’t understand his decision to come to Metropolis, but Clark had this feeling that maybe the big city would be the best place for him to deal with his guilt and the death of his family. Besides, at least he had a shot at a job here. Having met Perry White as Super… no, his other self, he knew that Perry was a man of integrity. And working for the Daily Planet might not be so bad, if he could only get the job. Sure he had a great recommendation from Mr. Williams, the owner of the Smallville Post. That at least got him the interview. Hopefully, he could land an assistant editor position. But he would even take just a plain research position. Clark wasn’t even sure why he was doing this. At first, he simply wanted to get away. He was thinking of just disappearing, and not dealing with anyone. But then he realized that was the coward’s way out. No, other people lost loved ones, and even at their own fault, they had to accept their losses and move on. And while there would be no more Superman, Clark Kent owed it to the memory of Lana and his unborn to child to attempt to rebuild some semblance of a life. With that, Clark headed back to the bus, and soon it was on its way, resuming its trip to Metropolis. THE END FOR NOW - TO BE CONTINUED IN A BRAND NEW START 2 - GREAT EXPECTATIONS ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2001 06:41:20 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: New Fic: FCII, Chapter 7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Chapter 7 Graduation arrived. It wasn't the event that had been so eagerly anticipated, but rather a letter received from each of two universities, signifying completion and invitation to the final ceremonies. "It all seems kind of stupid," CJ muttered quietly to his wife. "Didn't you think it would be a bigger deal?" Kat looked over his shoulder at the letter, so like the one she had received a week earlier, while they'd still been in Metropolis. Clark had flown back to pick up mail each day since they'd come to stay in Smallville. "It *is* rather anticlimactic," she remarked. "Five years of work, and it all comes down to a piece of paper." "Just like us," CJ said with a grin. "Twenty years of being friends, and it all changes with a piece of paper." Kat returned his smile, then kissed him long and thoroughly. She moved to sit beside him on the porch swing. "Worth the wait," she added. "Just like the piece of paper." "Maybe I should have them mail it," CJ said with a shrug. "I look stupid in robes." "Not a chance," she declared adamantly. "You worked too hard for this. Your parents too," she explained. "They've put up with a lot. They deserve to see you walk across that stage and get your silly piece of paper." CJ's face became serious. "You didn't." Kat shrugged. "Martha was just too sick," she reminded him. "Besides, that wasn't the piece of paper that I wanted. All a diploma allows me to do is take State Boards, and I've done that already. It's the license that I'm waiting on." "But the ceremony, the recognition..." "Being here was more important," she told him, kissed him again. "Besides, I don't have a family that's been waiting five years to see it happen." "Your dad," CJ began, but Kat cut him off. "My family is here," she said firmly. "The man who got my mother pregnant and let me stay in his house has been out of my life since I turned eighteen and he could legally walk out." "I'm sorry, Kat," he told her quietly. "I'm not," she assured him. "It's the best thing he ever did for me. I had you, and your folks, so I didn't really need him anyway." CJ put both arms around Kat, tugging her onto his lap. They were sitting together on the porch swing that CJ had assembled a few summers before. It had been a gift to his grandmother, who had loved to sit outside and watch the sunsets. Most of the morning had been spent cleaning up the mess from the evening before. Several families in the area had helpfully decided to treat Jonathan to a barbecue, bringing all the fixings for the event and effectively taking over the kitchen. He had seemed to appreciate the gesture, but Jonathan hadn't joined into the fun. Clark and Lois both had used the time to thank the friends that had done so much for all of them since Martha's death, but the oldest Kent had still not been ready. While the younger Kents had spent time talking and laughing about previous barbecues, Jonathan had retired to his room for a nap. He hadn't come back out for the rest of the night. At bedtime, Clark had found him asleep in the rocking chair, the bed still made. He had escorted his father to the couch, where he could be more comfortable, and had headed back to the guest room to hold his wife. CJ was worried about his grandfather. He was more depressed now than he had been when Martha was ill. For CJ, there was a measure of relief in his grandmother being out of pain. Her life had been long and full, charged with energy right up until the last few weeks. If he had one regret, it was that she should suffer such pain and not recover. A part of him wished she hadn't chosen the surgery, that she had passed without the physicians turning her into a collection of medical treatments rather than a person. Still, the choice had not been his. He was grateful for that as well. Martha had made her own decision, after finding out that she could not leave the hospital without the surgery. Her heart simply wasn't strong enough following the heart attack. She had chosen the surgery, so she had been responsible for its aftermath. CJ was startled from his thoughts as Kat shifted position and cuddled closer on his lap. His arms were already around her, but he still hugged a little tighter, acknowledgment of her presence and pure enjoyment of the same. "I need a nickname," she said with a giggle. "Huh?" "Your dad always calls your mom "Honey", or something like that. I need a nickname. You just call me Kat." "Okay," he agreed, getting into the spirit of the game. "Pick one, and I'll use it." "Oh no," she corrected. "You have to pick it. That's half the fun." "How about 'Pushy'," he suggested. "There's a name." "Seriously," she argued, punching him in the arm. "I don't know," he admitted. "I've always called you Kat. Even when you were little, and everyone else was calling you Katie at school. Maybe that *is* my name for you, and everyone else just borrows it." "That's a cop out," she argued. "Sweetie?" "Too common. Try again." "Nutcase comes to mind," he said dryly. "You think about it," she advised. "I want a pet name." He nodded, and they sat their together for a few minutes. "You need to go to graduation," Kat finally said, again. "If nothing else, it will get your grandfather out of here for awhile. He could stay in Claremont with your parents until after the ceremony." CJ nodded, liking the idea of changing his grandfather's scenery, even if the idea of walking across a stage in front of a couple thousand people didn't appeal. "Okay," he said. "I'll send back the letter and check 'attending'. Will that get you off my back?" He said the last with a smile on his face. "For the moment," she clarified. "I can be a very demanding wife, though." "Is that so?" "Yeah," she agreed, leaning forward to gently nibble him on the ear. "Very." *** The auditorium was filled with a sea of blue hats and robes. Lois couldn't see her son through the crowd, but she knew he was there. A part of her could feel his presence, much the same way that she felt when Clark was near. She was so glad that her son had decided to go ahead and participate in the graduation ceremony. She had been worried that the loss of his grandmother would steal this from him, as it had stolen the formal wedding that they had been planning. Even though Kat assured her that they would still have the wedding, eventually, she couldn't bring herself to believe it. In retrospect, it didn't matter. Her son had married the woman he loved, and that was what was important. Lois grabbed Clark's arm and gestured to the sea of blue before them. "Where is he?" she asked anxiously. Clark glanced over the crowd, slid his glasses down, and looked again. "Down by the door," he answered. "All the way over to your left, about three rows back, maybe ten seats over." "All I see is a hat," she said in disgust. "That's him." "I can't see him, either," Kat told her with a grin. "This place is huge." "It's nothing like when mom..." Clark began, then his voice trailed off as his gaze flashed to his father. "No, it isn't," Jonathan said, his smile soft and full of memories. "But Midwestern Community College wasn't a university, and it's fairly small. Still, Martha was so proud of that Associates Degree in Fine Arts. She'd stuck with the program, and she finally got it." "How about you?" Clark asked gently, sensing his father's need to talk, despite the noise around them as the graduates found their places and their families took their seats. "Was it worth learning to cook for yourself?" Jonathan laughed at that. "Well worth it," he agreed. "She was so proud of herself, and finally convinced that she was more than a farmer's wife. She was so young when we married, Clark. The farm was tough, and at first all she wanted was a family. After we found you, she put everything she had into being a mother. When you left home, she didn't think she had anything left. The farm didn't need our constant attention, and she felt empty. I think she needed to prove that she could do something for herself." "I understand that," Lois admitted, resting a hand on Jonathan's forearm. "I have a career already, and it's still hard seeing CJ leave the house." "CJ left years ago," Kat said quizzically, finally taking her attention from her husband and focusing it on the conversation at hand. "He's been at M.U. for five years." "It's different," Jonathan offered when Lois couldn't seem to find any words. "It didn't bother Martha when Clark was looking over the world. He came home every few weeks, and called us at least every couple of days. When he settled in Metropolis, we took that in stride as well. I think she started getting antsy though when he rented the apartment. He'd never committed to a single place before that, and it made a difference. A statement." "I never knew that upset her," Clark murmured. "Of course you didn't," Jonathan said, the smile reappearing. "She would have done anything to keep you from knowing. She was so proud of you. We both were. She didn't want to spoil it with missing you." "You know," Kat said thoughtfully, "We'll actually be living closer to you now than he did for college." Lois looked over at Kat, her eyebrows raised in silent query. "He's already put in his application at Claremont High, and another at the Planet. We'll start looking for an apartment as soon as we get settled from the graduations." "Why didn't he say anything?" Clark asked, taking his wife's hand when he saw her eyes filling with happy tears. Kat shrugged. "I guess he figured that you knew." "We thought he'd settle in Kansas," Clark said, his face showing his confusion. "He was always talking about how he liked the slower pace when he was at the farm. I guess we just assumed that the two of you would move there, especially since you work so close." Kat shook her head. "SIU isn't all that close," she clarified. "It's almost three hours to drive to the farm from there. I liked my job, but I'd rather be closer to you guys." "Have you already resigned your position?" Jonathan asked. "I took a leave of absence the beginning of May," she answered, not elaborating on the reason that they were all too familiar with. CJ had been upset about his grandmother, and she'd felt a need to be closer to him. She had completed her final classes in December, and had only stayed because the job was good, and she had built up a level of seniority. Once Martha had become so much worse, being with her family seemed more important than her job, and she'd requested the time away. "I'll take my resignation in when I clean out my apartment," she added. "I'll have to get that done by the end of June, when the rent runs out." "That's right, you did move out of the dorms," Clark said. "Had to. I finished my classes in December, then couldn't take the boards until March." "They're starting," Jonathan interrupted, pointing to the stage where the lights had dimmed. The Kent family watched as the valedictorian gave his speech, and as the president of Metropolis University encouraged each of the graduates on to their full potential. They checked their programs periodically as each of the separate colleges introduced their outstanding students, presented their diplomas, and gave their various speeches. The College of Business was first, followed by the College of Engineering. Towards the middle, the Dean for the College of Education presented its diplomas. CJ's was presented in the middle of the group. He walked across the stage, accepted his diploma in Secondary Education with a handshake and a smile, then moved his blue tassel from one side to the other, leaving a gold tassel hanging by itself. He then walked from the stage. He didn't go back to his seat, but rather to another seat several rows back that had yet to be called. Over thirty minutes later, the Dean for the College of Communications presented him with his diploma for Journalism. He accepted this diploma with a smile as well, placed it in the hand with his first, and shook the Dean's hand before moving his gold tassel to hang beside it's blue companion. He glanced out at the audience, towards his family, and smiled brightly before walking from the stage. The remainder of the ceremony was short. In total, ten different "Colleges" had presented their diplomas, all in the same ninety minutes. Lois felt that if she heard another name called, she just might scream. Several names had been called more than once, the graduates rotating seats in the same manner that CJ had. It had been a very long ceremony, and Lois was elated that it was over. By the time that the final words were said, and the hats were thrown in exhausted relief, the Kents were more than ready to get out of the stuffy auditorium. They walked outside, surrounded by the crowd of friends and family that had come to cheer on the other graduates. If it hadn't been for CJ's vision, so like his father's, they might never have caught up with one another. The crowd was loud and boisterous, excited for good reason. Years of work and worry were over, and the relief was pervasive to the atmosphere. "I want out of this monkey suit," CJ said brightly, his robe already unzipped and his hat long lost. He held his two tassels in one hand, and the diplomas in the other. "We're going out to dinner," Jonathan announced. "You pick the place." CJ looked at Kat, then at his parents, before smiling. "Taco Bell," he declared with a grin. "What?" The gasp was collective, and came from most of his family, Kat excluded. "Fifty cent tacos," Kat said with a grin. "A college student's staple diet." "Two tacos and a large Coke are only two-forty-five," CJ added. "It's a way of life. I want one last dinner there, then I'll never eat another taco again!" They all laughed, and Kat moved over to insinuate herself into CJ's arms. "Someplace good," she requested. "I want champagne." "You pick," he suggested. "I got the ceremony. You can have the dinner." Kat's grin reached from ear to ear as she whispered in something to CJ. *** CJ pushed back from the table with a groan. "That was way too good," he declared, to the laughter of those around him. "Better than tacos?" his mother asked, grinning. "Absolutely. I'll give up tacos for a steak, any day." "You should have had the shrimp," Kat argued as she pushed around the tiny pieces of white in the lemon and garlic butter on her place. "The scampi was amazing." Lois reached for the basket in the middle of the table, snagging another of the garlic rolls that remained. If her count was correct, this would make six. She didn't want to know how many hours she would have to spend exercising to make up for it. "I'll stay with the bread and salad," she joked. "I can always take the rest of my meal home for lunch tomorrow." "It's almost as good as Holsteins, in Smallville," Clark admitted. "The prime rib is better there, but the steaks here are a good rival." "Prime rib is great," CJ commented. "Just don't order it by the pound." His face could have been serious, but his voice was sarcastic so the rest of the family laughed. "How's your steak, Jonathan," Lois asked softly. He shrugged, pushed around the meat that he had cut and not eaten. His baked potato was similarly abused, as well as the salad. He simply wasn't eating. He'd finished a glass of the champagne, but only because of the number of toasts that the family had offered, and that wouldn't account for his being too full to eat. "Everything okay, Dad?" Clark asked with concern. "Steak's fine," Jonathan said gruffly. "I need to use the restroom. Excuse me." With that, he left the table. Clark started to rise, but CJ stopped him with a hand to his arm. "Let me, Dad," he requested softly. Clark nodded, and CJ followed his grandfather. As he'd half expected, he found the older man drying tears in the restroom, not using the facilities. "It's okay, Grandpa," he told him softly. Jonathan shook his head in denial. "This is your night," he said gruffly. "You don't need me messing it up." "You aren't," CJ assured him. "You couldn't. I miss her too, you know. I feel it when she's not here. If it's that bad for me, I can't even imagine how you must be feeling." Jonathan wiped tears again, then splashed cold water on his face and dried it with a paper towel. "She talked about this," he said at last, his voice barely audible. "How we were going to celebrate when you finally graduated. It just doesn't seem right that she isn't here." "She is," CJ said softly, and that got his grandfather's attention. "What?" "She's always here," CJ said, pointing to his chest. "She raised me, as much as my parents did. She taught me and cared for me. She loved me. Everything I learned from her is still in me, and nothing can take it away." He moved towards his grandfather, looking into the sad brown eyes that had always given him such comfort, but now seemed so lost. "She's in you, too," he said quietly. "You can't live with a person for fifty years and not have them *in* you. Hell, Kat's in me, and we've only been married a few days." "You've known her your whole life," Jonathan argued, not commenting on the rest of what his grandson had said. "Most of it. Enough to know how she'll answer me before I ask, and what she'll think of something even when she's not there. Just the same way I know that Grandma would be so happy tonight, *is* so happy, even if she isn't here with us." Jonathan nodded brusquely, then took a final sweep at his eyes with the towel before tossing it into the trash. "I guess we'd better get out there before they send Clark in after us," Jonathan concluded, meeting his grandson's eyes with a little more strength than he'd had before. "Good idea," CJ agreed. "I'm about ready for dessert." "You're going to eat more?" Jonathan asked with a laugh. "Sure," CJ answered with a smile. "Like you said, this is my night. Kat's going to want chocolate, but I'm thinking about that cheesecake." "Strawberry pie," Jonathan interjected. "Huh?" "Fresh strawberry pie," Jonathan repeated. "I saw it on the dessert cart. It was your grandmother's favorite." "Almost like having her with us," CJ said with a soft smile. "Almost," Jonathan agreed. "Except I'll get to eat it without the chocolate sauce." "Women and chocolate," CJ said with a laugh, oblivious to the fascination that the flavor had to females. "I don't get it." "You don't have to," Jonathan told him. "Just don't get between them and their chocolate. It's a dangerous thing, my boy. Most men don't survive a mistake like that." *** "Is he okay?" Kat's question was soft, too quiet to be heard by anyone without super hearing. She didn't have to specify who she was talking about. She and CJ were getting ready for bed back at the Kent house. Jonathan was sleeping in the guest room, so Kat was staying with CJ in his room. As she thought about it, it was the first night that they'd spent here as husband and wife since their wedding night. "I think he will be," CJ answered. "I can't even imagine what he's going through." Kat folded back the covers, and placed his pillow back at the head of the bed. "Me, neither," she answered. "Sometimes it still doesn't feel real, even after how long it went on." "Like tonight?" he asked softly. She nodded reluctantly. "Do you believe in angels?" CJ sighed, took a seat on the edge of his bed, and gestured for Kat to sit next to him. "Angels," he wondered aloud. "I don't know. I believe in God, though. Dad says that too much in this world is orchestrated perfectly for it to be chance. That makes sense to me. And, if there's a God, then there are probably angels, too." "Did your grandmother believe in God?" "Yeah, she did," CJ told her. "Probably in a more concrete way than the rest of us. She took a lot of comfort from religion and from prayer. I think even more in the last few years. She wasn't real obvious about it, but it was there." "So then, she might be an angel?" "I think so," CJ answered honestly. "I kind of like the idea that she watches over us, you know?" "I do too," Kat agreed, pulling her legs up onto the bed and slipping beneath the covers. "Your light," she said with a grin. CJ glared at her, but it wasn't serious. He closed his eyes and floated himself over to the light switch, then flipped off the light before floating back to the bed. "You don't even get your feet cold," she complained. "I think turning the lights off should always be your job." "Nope," he argued. "Whoever comes to bed last. We both have to do our parts." "Marriage is a partnership," she recited. "We share the responsibilities." "Exactly." They rested in bed, secure in one another's arms for several minutes. CJ rubbed her back and arms gently, tender and loving rather than sexual. Kat smiled as she cuddled against his chest, just enjoying his touch. "When do you think we'll have the wedding," Kat asked after a few moments of silence. "I don't know," he murmured. "We kind of have to start all over with the planning." "Not all of it," she corrected. "The dresses are bought, and we've picked out the tuxes. We know everything we want, so we just have to give everyone the replacement dates, like the caterer and band." "New invitations," he added. "Make sure the church is free." "Before we can do anything, we need a date," she reminded him. He sighed at that. He hated picking a date. September ninth," he finally said, then turned to look at her. "You won't forget it that way," she said with a smirk. "But I'm not sure I like the idea of only getting one present." "I'll get you two," he promised. "One birthday, and a second for anniversary." "That's you," she groaned. "Everyone else will combine them." "So you get one good gift," he agreed with a smile. "If you don't like it, pick a different one," he told her. Kat thought a moment. "It *is* on a Saturday this year," she admitted. "That would be convenient. "September ninth," he said again. "We'll start calling people tomorrow." "Sounds good." They were silent for a moment more. "Kat?" "Hmmm?" "How tired are you?" Kat rose up on one arm. "It was a long day," she admitted. "Why?" CJ fumbled around for a minute, then finally slipped his hand up beneath her tank top and changed his caress from gentle to sensual. Kat grinned. "I'm not *that* tired," she told him softly. "Just checking," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. (end of chapter 7)