From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG0104D" ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 12:10:22 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 8 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I won't get a chance to post this to my site or to the MB until later today, but I wanted to post here quickly for anyone who may be waiting for it. Yeah... I'm hopeful . -Crys- Chapter 8... July Clark finished looking over the preliminary draft for the lead story and groaned. His editors were good, but this was ridiculous. The story was there, but the reporting was poor at best. He was going to have to have it completely rewritten, rather than merely edited. Standing, he left his office and walked out into the City Room of the Planet. As always, the hustle of the room energized him, made him feel just a little more alive. "Jimmy," he called out. James Olsen looked up from his computer with a grin. "Yeah, Chief." "Don't go there," Clark said with a smile. "I'll send your butt back to New York." "No thanks," the younger man said adamantly. "My ex lives there, and I'd rather be shot than stay in the same state with her." "That bad?" Clark asked softly, gesturing for Jimmy to follow him back to the office. Jimmy sighed, then shook his head. "Probably not," he admitted. "I'm sure Penny has some wonderful qualities. Unfortunately, she doesn't show them to me anymore. My lawyer speaks to her lawyer, and frankly anything said loses a lot in the translation." "I'm sorry," Clark said. It seemed lame, but it was all he had. "How's Amy?" "She's sweet," Jimmy said with a grin. "Trying to get her mother to pay her way through college. Smart little brat, and too cute for anyone's good. I do miss being around her, but it's a lot easier on her if I just stay out of their way when I'm not writing checks." "That can't be fun." "I'm good," Jimmy shrugged. "At least I've got a job. I didn't get a chance to thank you for that, did I?" "I should be thanking you," Clark said, taking one of the seats in front of his desk and gesturing Jimmy towards the other. He considered getting behind his desk, but it just didn't feel right with Jimmy. "Thanks," he said, taking the seat. "What did you need?" "A writer," Clark groaned. "I just got back another story from Shugart," he explained. "The guy has great potential as a reporter, very good instincts, but his reporting style is horrible. I can't even give this to the editors without feeling guilty." He passed the printout to Jimmy. "The traumatic accident was worse but it could have happened without the police involved," Jimmy read with a smile on his face. "I think I know what he means, but I'm not certain." "Exactly," Clark agreed. "He doesn't need an editor, he needs a partner to write for him." "Like you used to do for Lois?" Jimmy asked. "More or less," Clark said. He glanced down at the sheet Jimmy had returned to him, read a few more lines. "Make that more," he admitted. "I haven't done reporting in years," Jimmy hedged. "Are you sure this won't be a conflict of interest or something? I mean, I was hired on as primarily an editor, with a little freelance thrown in. I don't want to ruffle any feathers." "To begin with, that was almost six months ago," Clark reasoned. "And you've both reported and written for the Planet in the past. Just because you were working out of our New York office, you don't lose your seniority with me." "Fair enough," Jimmy allowed. "But how will you explain it to Shugart?" "I'm thinking, 'hey Rich, this is your new partner, Jimmy. Like it or lump it'." Jimmy laughed at that. "Sounds like the way Perry introduced you to Lois," he remarked. "Just about. The thing is, Shugart has some amazing instincts, and he finds some great stories. You just can't read them when he's written them, and no one can figure out how to edit them. If you're with him, *you* can write the story, and the editors will sing your praises to the heavens." "As long as jumping up on the totem pole doesn't make me public enemy number one, then I'm cool with it." "Good. I'll introduce you as soon as he comes in." "Sounds good," Jimmy said with a grin, and stood to leave. "By the way," Clark added. "Thanks for what you did for CJ." Jimmy looked over his shoulder, the guilt clear on his face. "He was going to do it anyway," he explained. "I thought it would be better if the witness was someone you knew." "They should have done it years ago," Clark admitted. "I'm starting to see that life is way too short for waiting when you don't have a good reason." Jimmy nodded, then left his office. Clark sat still for a moment longer, then reached for his cell phone. Pushing a button for speed dial, he patiently waited for his wife to answer. "Lois," she announced without preamble. "Hey, you," he said quietly. "Hi," she said, excitement in her voice at the unexpected phone call. "What are you up to?" "Just matched Jimmy up with one of our weaker writers," he explained. "Your staff is going to love me." "Lord, that would have to be Rich, wouldn't it?" "Bingo." "Good match," Lois agreed. "I miss seeing Jimmy's writing down here." "How's your day going?" he asked. "Slowly," she admitted. "We got a virus in the main computer, so we're formatting everything over to the old one. It takes forever to do it by hand, but the program keeps printing over the pictures." "Need me down there?" he asked, but he knew she didn't. "Nope," she confirmed. "Unless you want to type this all in by hand." "If we get near deadline, call me back," he told her. "I have to rewrite Rich's latest blunder, but other than that I'm fairly open." "I may take you up on that. At the moment, I have four different secretaries typing from hard-copies because the old computer doesn't want to cut and paste." "Yuck," Clark told her. "I'll leave you to it, then. Are you going to get out of here tonight?" "In theory," she answered with a laugh. "The computer geeks are tearing apart the main computer and trying to debug or rebug or something. If they can manage to get it up and running, we'll be ready for the morning edition." "Sounds like it's under control," he agreed. "I'll see you when you get home, then." "Okay." "Lois," he asked, his finger hovering over the end button on his cell phone. "Yeah?" "I love you," he told her. She knew it, but for some reason he needed to let her know. "You too," she agreed. "Don't forget to eat dinner tonight." "I will. See you later." "Bye." Clark punched the end button, then slipped the phone into it's holder on his belt. They had only been back at work for a week, and already he missed his wife. They might work in the same building, but half the time their duties kept them at opposite ends, if they managed to stay that close. When Lois had been ill years before, her job had fallen to the two deputy EIC's that she had appointed. It had worked well, allowing him time to be with her and yet still keeping the paper running, but her recovery had complicated matters. Clark had always shunned the Editor in Chief position, feeling that Superman would take too much time away from the paper. Still, when Lois had come back to work he had wanted to stay close, and Pat's retirement had been a wonderful opportunity to slip into his job. No one had questioned his assumption of the role of Lois's right-hand man, because he'd been with the paper almost as long as Lois, and certainly longer than anyone else at the Planet. Gradually, they'd reformed the position to be a two-person job, and together they kept the paper running. They still had several subordinates that handled a great number of the details, allowing them time together as well as the ability to take time off, but for the most part, they ran the paper. Superman did far less than he had when he'd arrived in Metropolis. Part of that was due to his obvious aging. Clark appeared to be a man in his late forties, with gray hair and the occasional wrinkle. Unfortunately, Superman also appeared to be aging, and at the same reduced rate. The less he was seen, the better it was. He still made the occasional rescue, worked far more in foreign affairs than he liked, but he did his best to stay out of the public eye. Clark Kent did the same, hoping no one would make the connection that they had managed to hide for so many years. Dr. Klein knew. As Superman and CJ's physician, he had to. Perry had figured it out years before, telling them that had not become the editor of a major metropolitan newspaper because he could yodel. Jimmy had figured it out as well, nearly twenty years before, proving that he was a better reporter than Lois and Clark had given him credit for. A few other miscellaneous people had suspected, but so far none had been able to confirm it. Clark wanted to keep it that way. He took his time cleaning up his desk and double checking that things were ready for the following day. He rewrote Rich Shugart's story, then LANned it down to Lois, in printing. By the time he was ready to leave, the clock told him that it was after six, and that the paper had long since gone out. Shaking his head at his loss of concentration, thinking he was slowing down in his old age, he locked his office and headed for the parking garage. The July day was hot and muggy, the air dripping with humidity. They needed a good rain, Clark thought, to clear the air and lower the temperature. He climbed into his jeep, started the engine, and headed out of the garage. He hadn't realized how tired he was. The drive to Claremont was tedious in late-evening traffic. What would normally take him an hour could often become two or more. He turned on the radio and played with the station until he found a report on the traffic. As he'd anticipated, there was an accident on the expressway, with traffic stopped in both directions while they awaited LifeFlight intervention. He considered getting off the road and lending a "super" hand, but he was at a full stop half a mile from the nearest off ramp. He stayed in his Jeep, waited until there was a second report on the accident, and finally pulled the vehicle over onto the side of the freeway. He got out, carefully locked his doors, and then flew to the accident site, his takeoff hidden by the dense foliage near the freeway. When he arrived at the accident site, he was glad that he had followed his instinct instead of waiting in the Jeep. The ambulances had not been able to get through the dense traffic, despite knowledge of the accident from various traffic helicopters. Three police officers had managed on motorcycles, but they were able to give only rudimentary first aid. Whether it was luck, impatience, or something more, he found that the situation was far more grave than the radio station had portrayed in their traffic report. There were several injuries, some of which were quite serious, the result of a single drunk driver and a van full of teenage students that had collided at an on ramp. It took Superman only a few minutes to transport the most seriously injured teen to the trauma center. He cringed as he walked into the Emergency Room of Metropolis General, but beyond that he seemed to have no reaction. He was there to do a job, and to do it quickly. He delivered his charge, and then returned a physician and his equipment to the accident site. Moments later he transported another teen, returning later with the additional equipment -- a back board and spinal supports -- that the doctor had requested. Clark worked for the better part of an hour before he had the accident effectively cleared. It had been emotionally exhausting, the frequent trips into the hospital and exposure to medical equipment taxing his strength far more than the flying had. When it was over, he managed to move the vehicles before leaving the traffic management to the police officers that were on the scene. He landed back in the trees that had provided him cover earlier, and spun back into his suit and tie. He was still straightening the tie when he arrived at his Jeep and discovered that the officers who could not reach the accident had left him a ticket for illegal parking. He laughed at the irony, climbed into the SUV, and started the engine. He had forgotten that his radio was turned up, and tuned to an unfamiliar station for the news report rather than for the music. The commercials sounded unfamiliar, and the music had a distinctive country twang, but he was too keyed up from Superman's activities to care. A few songs played just on the edge of his consciousness as he waited for an opening in the traffic and merged carefully. When the words to a song finally registered, he froze, stunned by the emotions that the lyrics invoked. One day shy of eight years old, When grandma passed away, I was a broken hearted little boy Blowing out that birthday cake. How I cried when the sky let go With a cold lonesome rain. My mom smiled, said "Don't be sad child, Grandma's watching you today." 'Cause there are holes in the floor of Heaven And her tears are pouring down. That's how you know she's watching, Wishing she could be here now. Sometimes if you're lonely Just remember she can see. There are holes in the floor of Heaven, And she's watching over you and me. Seasons come and seasons go, Nothing stays the same. I grew up, fell in love, Met a girl who took my name. Year by year we made a life In this sleepy little town. I thought we'd grow old together. Lord, I sure do miss her now And there's holes in the floor of Heaven Where her tears are pouring down. That's how I know she's watching, Wishing she could be here now. Sometimes when I'm lonely I just remember she can see. There are holes in the floor of Heaven, And she's watching over you and me. Well my little girl is twenty-three, I walk her down the aisle. It's a shame her Mom can't be here now To see her lovely smile. They throw the rice, I catch her eye, As the rain starts coming down. She takes my hand says, "Daddy, don't be sad, 'Cause I know Mama's watching now." There are holes in the floor of Heaven, And her tears are pouring down. That's how I know she's watching, Wishing she could be here now. Sometimes when I'm lonely I just remember she can see. There are holes in the floor of Heaven, And she's watching over you and me. Clark finally gave up the battle, and pulled the Jeep back onto the side of the road. He put his head down on his arms, and just wept. *** Lois cursed the traffic, cursed the Planet computers, and generally cursed the world as she crawled along on the Metropolis Expressway. The only thing worse than leaving work late, in her opinion, was leaving work late and hitting traffic. Her Jeep was moving along at the grand pace of fifteen miles per hour, and her patience was rapidly coming to an end. At this rate, it would be after eight before she made it home. She hadn't eaten, was completely exhausted, and had no patience for the mess that some careless driver had wrought on the rest of Metropolis. If she hadn't been moving so slowly, she might have missed the Buffalo Bills bumper sticker on the back of the black Jeep. It was a twin to hers, albeit a few years older because Clark hadn't wanted to spend the money on a new vehicle for himself. More curious than concerned, Lois worked her way through the traffic and came to a stop in front of her husband's SUV. Clark was known for leaving his Jeep wherever he could when Superman was needed. More than once she'd run across the vehicle while on her way to a story, although she kept that running around to a minimum these days. It wasn't until she was at the passenger side door that she realized he was in the vehicle, slumped over the steering wheel. Lois moved quickly. Thoughts of Kryptonite bullets and old enemies flashed through her mind as she fumbled on her key ring for the keys to his Jeep. She banged on the window, called out Clark's name, but he didn't respond. By the time she slid the key into the lock and released the door, she was frantic. "Clark," she called out, her voice showing her panic. "Clark, answer me!" He shook his head vaguely, but didn't raise it. Seeing the movement, a part of her relaxed. If it was Kryptonite, he wouldn't be able to move around. He'd be in clear pain, groaning or something. Lois changed her tactic somewhat and slid over next to him. She put a hand on his back, then spoke softly. "Clark, honey, I need you to talk to me." Once again he shook his head, but what drew her attention was the movement in his shoulders. It was the distinct motion of a suppressed sob. She had done it enough in her own past to recognize it. She put her arm around her husband, and just sat with him. She didn't speak, and didn't try to comfort him. She waited. The sun set before them, an orangish-red as it passed out of their vision. She watched the show, but didn't remark on it. Gradually she noted that the traffic to her left was moving more fluidly, and she absently considered that they might be able to get home tonight after all. Lois gently rubbed his back, and eventually noticed the unfamiliar voice of a country singer on the radio. She scrunched up her nose as she turned the radio off. She'd never particularly liked country music. Neither did Clark, for that matter, and she wondered about his choice. Lois didn't know how long they'd sat together before Clark raised his head. His face was surprisingly clear for the tears that covered it. No blotches, no puffy eyes. Lois couldn't help just a little bit of envy for the evidence of his invulnerability. She looked like a wreck after a crying jag. "Better?" she asked softly. He shook his head. "It was a stupid song," he explained, leaning his head back on his arms, but this time he was facing her as he did it rather than hiding his tears. "A song?" "About a kid whose grandmother died," he explained. "It just... I..." "It hit a nerve," Lois reasoned, leaning into Clark's side, giving and taking comfort in an unconscious manner. "Yeah." Lois remained quiet, but stayed close to Clark. His control didn't often falter, and when it did she always retained the right to worry. She considered it a wifely prerogative, a privilege that came from folding his socks and sharing his bed. She was allowed to be concerned, and he would just have to deal with it. "I thought I was over it," he finally offered. "It's been over a month." "You don't' *get* over it, Clark," she explained. "There will always be a hole where she was. It'll always hurt just a little bit." "Thanks," he said dryly. She shook her head. "I didn't mean that as gloomy as it sounded," she clarified. "I just mean that you won't forget her. You don't get over losing someone that your life revolves around, but you do get to where life is easier. You get where it doesn't hurt all the time, and you can move on." "I thought I had," he said in confusion. "I mean, I've accepted it. She's gone. She had a long, full life, and now it's over. I *know* that. But, all of a sudden, I just..." "Had to deal with it all over again?" "Not exactly," he said. "But it just started hurting." Lois reached across him, locked the door on the freeway side of the vehicle. "Come with me," she requested. "Huh?" "You can't drive this way," she said simply. "You need to come home, to rest a while. Come with me. I'll drive." He looked as though he might argue, then his face changed. He nodded his acceptance, and moved past the gear-shift to follow her out. He checked the door, made sure it was locked, then shut it as he exited the vehicle. Clark followed Lois quietly to her Jeep, and got in on the passenger side after she had done the same. He watched as she scooted over into the driver's seat, slipped her keys into the ignition, and started the vehicle. Lois merged back into traffic, which was moving far more steadily than it had been when she had stopped. A glance at her watch showed that it was ten minutes until nine. They had been sitting in his Jeep for more than an hour. She glanced over at Clark and noted that he was resting his head against the glass of the door, his eyes closed. She hoped he would sleep. Clark didn't cry often, but when he did it was frightening for her. His emotions tended to be total, whether pleasure or pain, and he reacted accordingly. He didn't do things half-way. He had been upset following his mother's death, but she hadn't seen his emotions turn loose this way. Part of her was worried, but another part was relieved. He couldn't keep it all inside. It couldn't be good for him. By the time they reached the house, Clark was breathing deeply and steadily. Lois was fairly certain that he was asleep. Momentarily, she was thankful for the same invulnerability that had annoyed her earlier, because she didn't want CJ to worry the way she had. Clark's face looked relaxed in sleep, with no trace of the tears that had covered it earlier in the evening. She eased out of the driver's door, and went inside to find her son. She wasn't looking forward to interrupting him, but there was no way she would be able to get Clark into the house by herself. CJ would understand. ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 09:34:33 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: lcfic Subject: Message Board Index Update through April 20 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi FoLCs! Posting on the list and both boards to catch everyone. Two new stories begun, two vignettes, lots of new story parts, a completed story, and a couple of new tocs all this week on Zoom's message boards! Links at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/lnc.html New stories this week: CHARADE: NAN SMITH CHOCOLATE PICNIC: EASTER VIGNETTE COMPLETE VIGNETTE BRENDA ONE MAN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD: COMPLETE VIGNETTE GERRY QUESTION OF TRUST, A: RACONTEUR27 New part(s) posted: CASE OF THE DISAPPEARING CLARK, THE: CAROL MONCADO FUGUE II – FUSION: SHAYNE TERRY FULL CIRCLE – BOOK 2: CRYSTAL WIMMER HAND THAT ROCKS, THE: PINTOFOLC IMPERFECT HERO, THE: CHRISH PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY, THE: ZOOMWAY PURITY:PARTS THIRTY – THIRTY-TWO: YVONNE CONNELL SERIAL VENGEANCE: TANK WILSON SURVIVAL OF THE SIGNIFICANT: MANOFSTEEL30 Completed stories this week: SEX, TRUTH AND REVELATION: THANATOS New TOC's FULL CIRCLE – BOOK 2: CRYSTAL WIMMER SEX, TRUTH AND REVELATION: THANATOS Added to the Archive this week: Lois.doc by SuperMom The Marriage Pact by Erin Klingler The Wet White Shirt by Carol Moncado Enjoy! Dawn & the Index Crew __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 16:36:07 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rowan Fuller Subject: OT how does blocking whole domains affect This List MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone Due to the high volume of pornographic emails I receive from yahoo members - always yahoo members! I finally snapped this evening and blocked the entire domain of yahoo.com. I therefore was wondering how this affects the mailing lists I'm on. Will I receive mail from yahoo members still via the list as that is coming from the listserves as opposed to yahoo? I don't want to target yahoo folcs. Its just those disgusting people who in my opinion should be locked up. I don't want children reading about some of the things I'm receiving and they always give sneaky headings these days and its only when you open the email do you realise you have got yet another disgusting email. Often I'm fooled into thinking it is listmail until I open it. Please advice as I don't want to disrupt anyone on this list. Thank you for your time. Rowan :) -- -- -- LaneKent@aol.com website homepage: http://members.aol.com/lanekent ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 16:36:31 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Amy Lauters Subject: Re: New Fic: FCII, chapter 8 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Crys, I just wanted you to know I'm following this story closely, and I appreciate your posting it here. S P O I L E R S P A C E I think what's touching such a chord with me on this story is that my family is going through some of the same things with my grandmother right now, and it's been hard. I'm finding this so believably written, insightful and just plain wonderful that I look forward to it; it's acting like a catharsis for me. I also like your interpretation of Lois and Clark, years later, and I'm enjoying the interactions of CJ and Kat. It's a great story, worthy of the series you've written around it, which is excellent. Thank you. Amy ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 23:09:25 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Liz S." Subject: Re: New Fic: FCII, chapter 8 Comments: To: Crystal Wimmer Crystal, This continues to be a beautiful story--I could just hear that song myself, and feel Clark's tears. I liked that section at the paper when Clark was bemoaning the quality of writers and remembering how he partnered with Lois years ago, and changed her type! Liz S. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 06:34:56 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 9 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Chapter 9 Lois curled up next to her sleeping husband, grateful for his warmth. She and CJ had managed to get Clark to bed without waking Jonathan, but his sleep was still unnaturally deep, and he appeared troubled. She wished that they had been able to talk more before he'd shut down. CJ and Kat had gone to retrieve Clark's Jeep from its place on the side of the expressway. They hadn't minded, and had even seemed eager for the opportunity to get out of the house. Lois was just grateful to have one less thing to worry about. The Jeep was now parked safely behind her own. Months earlier, Lois had coped with the death of her father. She remembered vividly the guilt when her life hadn't changed, hadn't fallen apart as she was sure it was supposed to after losing a parent. She wished desperately for that consistency now. Martha's death had shattered her world, and she was still trying to recover from it. Jonathan was sleeping in the guest room. He still didn't want to go home, to the memories and "helpful" neighbors that had bombarded him after Martha's funeral. He kept making excuses, most of them pretty pathetic, but neither Lois nor Clark had pushed. To begin with, they enjoyed having him here. He was a sweet and loving man, and they had always gotten along well. In addition, Clark was still worried about his father's state of mind. He wasn't himself yet, and it seemed cold to turn him out when he was so uncertain. CJ and Kat were staying in his room for the time being. They had looked briefly for an apartment, but Lois had to admit that she had done everything except forbid it. It wasn't that she didn't want them to leave. She knew that they deserved time to themselves, deserved to live their lives, but her world had changed so much in the last few months that one more alteration just might split her universe apart. Martha Kent had been one of the main reasons that Lois had fallen so hard for Clark. There was something unusual about a man in his late twenties that still called his mother a couple of times a week. Lois remembered thinking it strange, and even that it might be worthy of a referral to the nearest shrink. Later, as she'd gotten to know Martha, she'd realized why Clark was so attached. Lois had come from a family where love was in short supply. Oh, it had been there, but it hadn't been shown. Lois had learned to fend for herself at an early age, both physically and emotionally. Often she'd had to be more mother than child, and she'd learned to deal with it. Clark had learned the opposite. His parents were strong, loving, and provided a support that Lois could barely believe, even after being in its presence for almost thirty years. They didn't judge, they didn't condemn, and they always showed love for their children. She was both awed and honored to be accepted into that family, to be considered one of their children. Even as Lois had been learning independence, Clark had been reaping the benefits of unconditional love and acceptance. It had made him stronger than she could have imagined. Instead of taking, Clark gave until there was nothing left, and then he gave some more. It wasn't his Kryptonian nature, as they'd learned the hard way just before their wedding, but rather his upbringing. He'd been nurtured with love, and so he showed love. It was as simple, and as amazing, as that. Martha had become an integral part of Lois' life very early in the marriage, if not even before the marriage had taken place. Gradually, it was Lois that picked up the telephone to see how the older Kents were doing. It was Lois that found birthday gifts and Christmas presents that were appropriate. It was Lois that needed the support and wanted the help. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Clark's parents became hers. It hadn't been overt, but rather a natural progression that came from time spent together, shared interests, and more of that unconditional love that Lois had learned from Clark. She had been a part of a *real* family for the first time in her life, and she was loathe to surrender that privilege. Martha was gone. It hit her several times a day, in varying degrees and forms. When she had found a particularly nice painting that she knew Martha would love, she'd put her hands on it before remembering that there was no reason anymore to buy a gift. When she had watched her son walk across the stage at his graduation, she had actually reached out before remembering that Martha's hand was not where it could be grasped. When she had watched the sunset earlier that evening, her hand had itched to grab the cell phone and let her mother-in-law know that she was loved, that she was thought of. It was becoming a hard habit to break. Occasionally it occurred to her that she had never missed her father this way. She had never reached for him, never wondered what he would think about something. For all his biological contribution to her genetic makeup, he had never been a part of her life. Even at the end, when he had wanted to know her, his ambitions had placed her at the end of a long list of priorities. She missed him, certainly, but it didn't leave the same gaping loss in her life that Martha's passing had. She knew that Clark's difficulty must be even more acute. He had known her longer, had relied on her more. He had loved his mother with all that was in him. She knew it, and a part of her hurt more for him than it did for herself. Early in their relationship, Lois had wondered about Clark's devotion to his parents. She'd known nothing like it in her life, and seeing it seemed vaguely unusual to her. She'd wondered if she was first with him, or if his parents were. At that point she hadn't even been sure that it mattered, but she'd been curious. Clark had faced losing his parents. At one point, he'd even been forced to choose between Lois and his parents, the choice no man should ever have to make. She had found a compromise, of course. She had been frozen and revived, and his parents had been freed, but there was a part of her that always marveled at his insistence that she run, that she stay safe. She knew he had no intentions of sacrificing his parents for her, but that wasn't the point. As much as he loved them, he loved her as well. It had been the first time she'd felt anything so strong, so pure, and so good. It was no small wonder that she had fallen in love with him. Marrying Clark had meant marrying the Kent family. When they had first been married, she'd almost resented that every holiday was spent in Smallville. She'd wanted a fancy vacation, an exciting opportunity, and she had found herself sitting on a farm. When she'd finally told Clark about her feelings, several years into their marriage, he had been immediately contrite. She hadn't known until then that he had gone home as much for her as he did for himself. She hadn't told him any different, and for all his gifts, he wasn't a mind reader. Ironically, once they'd begun to spend their vacations at Disneyworld or in Hawaii, she'd longed for the slower pace and loving atmosphere of Smallville. Life was funny that way. The previous six months had been the most exciting and depressing in her life. Her son had graduated college, gotten married, and was preparing to start his life as an adult. Her father and her mother-in-law were both dead. Her mother had moved to California. All of the changes left Lois feeling more than a little lost, and the grounding factor in her life was less stable than she was. If she was feeling rocked by the events, then how much worse must it be for Clark? Nothing seemed to be working out the way that it had been planned. Perhaps that sounded juvenile, but it was how she felt. Nothing was balancing out the way it was supposed to. She felt angry, cheated, and very hurt by it all. Her son was married, and she hadn't been there to see it. She hadn't seen Clark walk Kat down the aisle, or seen her son fumble to untie the ring from a heart-shaped pillow. She hadn't seen him lift the veil, kiss his bride. His life had altered, and she hadn't been there for it. She was supposed to have been there, damn it! She wasn't angry that they were married. On the contrary, she was thrilled that they were so happy, and that they had taken an initiative that she and Clark had not. She wished them only happiness, and she truly believed that they were meant for one another. Still, she was hurt that she hadn't been there when it had begun. She had watched as her son met Kat, had seen their first kiss, and yet she had missed one of the most important moments in their lives. She wasn't a voyeur, but there were some things that a mother had the right to see, and her son's wedding was one of them. Okay, maybe she was angry. Just a little. What made her feel the worst though, was that she couldn't imagine what they could have done differently. There was simply no easy "fix" for the situation, and that bothered her. Kat and CJ would have a wedding. They were already making plans for early September. They had ordered invitations, called their caterer, and arranged for another band because their first choice was unavailable. Lois would see the ceremony, get back that little bit of history she had missed, and the world would go right on turning. Without Martha. She was back to that, her thoughts coming full circle. God, she missed that woman. A remark that Clark had made in the hospital came back to her. He didn't know what to do when he was in pain, because he'd always gone to Martha for support. Lois was feeling the same way, now. She wanted more than anything to pick up the phone and call her, to ask her what to do, to be sure that her feelings were normal and right. She wanted to apologize for always taking that love and support for granted. Lois reached beneath her shoulder and tugged the long braid of her hair out. She fiddled with the strands below the rubber band that secured it for the night. Martha had been the one to tell her that long hair was less trouble than short. She'd been right about that as well. Lois normally kept the waist-length strands either braided or in a bun, casual or professional as the occasion demanded. More gray than brown, her hair was a reminder that she too was aging. She too would die. She would leave her son, just as Martha had left hers. She left the braid lying along her back, where she wouldn't strangle herself in the night or wake up with Clark laying on it, then cuddled up against his back. When she put her arm over his body, he covered it with his own and brought her fingers to his lips for a kiss. "You're awake? she asked in surprise. "In and out," he murmured. "My head hurts." "That's the crying," she told him. "I don't think aspirin would work for you, though. Sleep is the best thing." He nodded, then threaded his fingers through hers. "You wanna tell me how I got here?" "I drove us home," she answered. "CJ brought you in, then went back for the Jeep." "Tell me he's not the one that stripped me," Clark requested, a bit of life coming back into his voice. "That was me," she admitted. "I didn't think the suit would be comfortable to sleep in." "Thanks." Lois shifted, and Clark rolled onto his back, letting her rest her head on his chest. His arms came around her automatically, and she sighed in contentment. "Nice," she said softly. "Yeah." "I heard that Superman was busy tonight," she mentioned. "You do good work." "Just transport," he admitted. "Although being in the hospital brought an awful lot back. I felt the same way right after you got out. I just couldn't stand to be there." "Hospitals are lousy places," she agreed. "They all smell the same." "Pagers," he muttered. "Pardon?" "The pagers all sound alike. I can hear them a block away, over and over. I think a pager goes off every second in that hospital." "Probably does," she agreed. Lois kissed him lightly on the shoulder, felt his arms squeeze tightly, just short of pain. "It's okay to cry, you know," she said almost absently. "There are supposed to be hormones in tears that make you relax, or something like that." He laughed softly. "Sounds like a convenient excuse," he told her. "Crying is worse than Kryptonite, though. At least with that damn green rock I can get away. This just throbs and lingers." "The headache?" "Yeah," he admitted. "I don't have much of a pain threshold. I don't usually feel pain, so I never had a chance to get used to it." "You don't get used to pain, Clark. You just get through it. Let me try something." She lifted her body from his chest and sat up to straddle him. She might have reached fifty-six with her last birthday, but she still exercised enough to maintain her muscle tone and flexibility. With a leg on either side of his body, she put her hands to his temples and began to rub. "Close your eyes," she told him. "Relax. Let me take care of you for a change." Clark closed his eyes and stopped moving. His body was a long way from relaxed, and she had a good idea that his tension was more responsible for the headache than his crying had been. Still, he didn't cry often, so it was hard to know how it affected him. She rubbed his temples in tiny circles, the same way she would do for herself if she'd had a headache. Gradually, his body relaxed some. Lois moved her hands down, rubbing his cheeks, behind his ears, down to his neck. She shifted herself back so that she could massage his shoulders lightly. She'd learned long ago not to use any strength with her massages, because it would only cramp her fingers without denting his muscles. She used warmth and gentleness in place of brute strength, and over time her patience was rewarded. As her hands moved down to his chest, his eyes opened and his hands came up to cover hers. "Thanks," he said softly. She leaned down and gently kissed his lips, her braid hanging over one shoulder and coming within his reach. He tugged on the cord as though it were a tail, bringing her closer for another kiss. "I thought you had a headache," she said with amusement. "I did," he agreed. "Now I have something else in mind." Lois giggled softly as she lowered herself into her husband's embrace and they both were able to stop thinking for a while. *** Clark walked in the back door of the house carrying a handful of letters, reading through them with a frown. "That bad?" Lois asked softly, knowing the mail was retrieved from his father's house in Smallville. "Bills," he mumbled, tearing open a familiar envelope. He'd dealt with hundreds of them over that last several years, mostly from Lois' illness and CJ's birth. HMO's were far from perfect, and there were always charges that fell through the cracks. When a death was involved, the hospitals had no tolerance for grief or final expenses. They were a business, and they wanted their money. "How high?" she asked, biting her lip nervously. "It's itemized," Clark said with an ironic grin. "$176,400 for the ICU room, $4,780 to X-ray, nursing care, physicians, various departments..." "Bottom line?" Lois asked. "Before insurance, close to a million," he answered. "But they're only holding Dad responsible for about eight thousand." Lois' eyebrows rose. "That's the deductible?" "No, that's the co-pay. Mom went over the catastrophic cap that they placed, so everything over he's liable for. The deductible is another $250, but we've already paid that." Lois took the sheet out of his hand, looked at the staggering figures, and handed it back. "Five dollars a month," she grumbled. "As long as we're paying it, they can't start legal action. It's a law." "True," he agreed, putting the bill back in its envelope. "It's not like they can repossess Mom." Lois looked up at her husband, at his totally straight face, and broke into laughter. Clark shook his head and joined her. After all they had been through, the bills were adding insult to injury, and they deserved to be laughed at. "I'll make some calls," Clark finally said, once he'd regained some control of himself. "I don't want Dad to see this and panic. He's having a rough enough time." "He went for a walk this morning," Lois told him. "That's a good thing." "Yeah, it is," Clark agreed. "What brought on the change? All he's done is sleep." "I'm not sure. He got up early, asked where you were, then grabbed a pack of Pop-Tarts and said that he was going for a walk." "It's gorgeous out there," Clark commented. "The humidity's down for a change, and it isn't as hot." "Sounds like a good day for a walk," Lois smiled. "CJ and Kat went apartment searching, again. Oh, and CJ got his contract for Claremont High. He's so excited that he gets the summer off." "Wow, some good news," Clark said with more sarcasm than he would have liked. "Are you sure I'm in the right house?" Lois laughed lightly, a sound he hadn't heard enough of lately. "We hit rock-bottom, Honey. It has to come up from there." "I guess so," he agreed. "I'm just constantly stunned by how *low* low can be." Lois reached up and kissed him on the cheek, placed a slightly charred Pop-Tart in his hand, then turned back to the dishes she was washing. Clark looked at the pastry and smiled. Some things in life were constant, and Lois' cooking was one of them. "You didn't cook Dad's, did you?" he asked. "No, he wanted it cold," she answered. "I guess he knows me pretty well." "That he does," Clark agreed, breaking the burned edge off his pastry, dropping it in the trash, and then taking a bite. "What's on the agenda today?" "Dishes, laundry, dusting," she said with a smile. "The usual stuff." "It is too glorious out there to waste a Saturday inside," he argued. "Let me take you flying," he asked, his arms slipping around her waist from behind and bringing her body closer to his. Lois smiled as she leaned back into her husband. "I like to fly," she admitted. "I'll do the housework," he suggested. "It'll only take me a minute. Why don't you go get some clothes on?" "You don't like my fuzzy slippers?" she asked plaintively. "I love your slippers," he said with a grin. "The robe's a nice touch, too." He absently traced his fingers around the "S" shield on its lapel. CJ had found the nightclothes in a comic book store a couple of years before, and the gag gift had become a private family joke. "I'll get dressed," she conceded. "In a minute." With her arms still buried in sudsy water, she leaned back and puckered her lips for a kiss. Clark was more than willing to oblige her. That was the way CJ found them when he and Kat entered the kitchen. "You see where I get it from," he said to Kat, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. Lois and Clark jumped apart, more startled than embarrassed at being caught by their kids. "You two need to knock," Lois grumbled, giving them a smile to take the sting out of the words. "You two need a room," CJ countered. "That works, too," Clark admitted, waggling his eyebrows at Lois. She only punched him playfully and reached for a towel to dry her hands. "Clean my house," she told him. "Then we fly." With that, she left the room and headed upstairs. "Looks like I have maid duty," he admitted. "Want to help me out, son? We can get it done in half the time." CJ wavered, but then his wife pushed him. "Help your dad," she said with a smile. "Then maybe we can all go flying," she said hopefully. "You can't super-speed laundry," CJ told her with a shrug. "Can you put in a load of whites?" "You got it," she grinned, kissing him on the cheek. "Goober," he muttered as he slapped her bottom lightly while she turned away. "Goober?" Kat looked back over her shoulder, her eyebrows raised in question, without turning around. "It's a little peanut," he explained, his eyes crinkled with laughter. "Ask and you shall receive," she said, shaking her head and laughing. "Goober?" "My Goober," he corrected, and kissed her once again. Clark watched them a moment longer, unable to keep the grin off his face, then turned to begin the cleanup that he'd promised Lois. *** Clean air, blue skies, and fluffy clouds. Kat would remember this day forever. CJ didn't often take her flying. He seemed almost embarrassed about his powers most of the time, and she wondered if it was because she'd had so much trouble accepting them when they were teens. The suggestion by Clark had been inspired, and Kat didn't even mind that CJ had been railroaded into both cleaning and taking her on the flight. Clark was holding Lois against his chest, one arm behind her back and the other beneath her knees. They were talking, but far enough away that Kat couldn't hear their voices clearly over the noise produced by their motion. CJ was holding her as he always did, hands at her waist, her body aligned full-length against his. He spoke occasionally into her ear, telling her where they were or what she was seeing, but remained quiet most of the time. She turned her head so that she could face him, looking back over her shoulder into brown eyes. "Why don't we do this more often?" she asked softly. He shrugged, but didn't offer an answer. "CJ?" He sighed, then blushed slightly. "I'm not very good at direction," he finally admitted. "My dad has a knack for it, but it seems to have skipped a generation. I can fly, but I never wind up where I plan to. One day I got lost over the ocean and it took me over an hour to find land. I kept flying in circles, I guess. Anyway, I don't take off much on my own anymore." "Why didn't you tell me that?" she asked gently. He shrugged again, and she felt the movement along her whole body. "So much for my son-of-Superman status," he admitted wryly. "Grandma used to say I couldn't find my way out of a paper bag. She was joking, but there was just enough truth to it for it to be funny." "I thought you just weren't ready to follow in his footsteps." He shook his head. "Not exactly. I mean, I don't have that same need to help that he does. He hears something, and it's like he can't *not* help. That's just how he is. I kind of see people as needing to help themselves. I do some stuff, when I can manage without being caught, but I don't have any desire to wear the suit." "I'm glad," Kat admitted. "It would be worse than being married to a cop or a fireman. I remember how your dad was always taking off when we were kids. I just didn't know then that it was literal." CJ shifted his grip on her, pulled her closer to him and wrapped an arm around her waist so that he could point with his free hand. "That's Mount Rushmore," he told her softly. "We're too far up to see the faces, but that's where it is." She leaned her head back against this chest, watched the scenery and enjoyed being in her husband's arms. Lois and Clark were still ahead of them, but Clark had brought himself to a stop to allow them to catch up. "Did you want to grab lunch somewhere?" he asked casually, as though their impulsive flight had been no more than a Saturday afternoon stroll around the block. "Whatever you decide," CJ said, and only Kat seemed to be aware of the man's discomfort. Clark nodded, then began to descend towards a heavily wooded area that would conceal their landing. CJ followed, close but not too close. They landed almost a quarter mile into the trees, both concealed and yet close enough to walk to the edge. Clark insisted there was a wonderful restaurant nestled near the ranger-station, so they were taking him at his word. As expected, they found a small lodge next to the ranger-station, and had no difficulty getting seated. They enjoyed sandwiches and all the fixings, as well as a simple bottle of wine. It still surprised Kat when Clark ordered wine for all of them, as she had been a "kid" around him for so long, but he took the change in stride. She wondered if she'd ever see him as more than CJ's father first, and everything else second. They walked back into the woods for takeoff once their lunch was done. CJ had been unusually quiet during the meal, although neither of his parents had commented on it. "Are you okay?" Kat finally asked. "Do you ever wonder," he began, but didn't finish. "Wonder what?" "If I should be following in Dad's footsteps?" "Why? Do you think you should?" She turned her head once more so that she could watch his eyes. She saw a lot of confusion there, and apprehension. "I just can't see myself in the suit," he admitted. "I don't mind helping out. I've been in the right place at the right time more than once, and I love being able to do some good. But, sometimes, I just don't see the difference. Dad comes in totally exhausted, miserable because he can't do enough. It all seems to be as much a curse as a blessing." "I guess in a way it is," Kat agreed. "But isn't it also a responsibility?" "That's how Dad feels." "How do *you* feel?" she asked carefully. He paused for a long time, his head resting against hers, his breathing soft in her ear. *All the powers in the world couldn't save Grandma,* he thought -- she heard. *I guess I just don't see a point.* "Give it time," she suggested. "You have a lot going on in your life now, even without the issue of your powers. You make good decisions, and I know you'll make the right one for you. For us." "I wish I was so sure," he admitted. "I have enough faith in you for both of us," she said with a grin. "After all, you're holding me a couple of hundred feet in the air with no safety net. If that isn't total trust, I don't know what is." (end of chapter 9) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 12:43:10 -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, 9/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lois and Perry sat in silence, listening to Clark's now even breathing, each contemplating this revelation. Perry felt badly for Lois. He knew this was harder on her than it was on him, no question about it. She had been in love with Superman forever. Clark had been her best friend almost as long. She was feeling hurt and betrayed and he didn't blame her. He heard her soft sobs through the darkness. Perry moved to sit closer to his star reporter. He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her head to his shoulder, holding her as she cried. "Why didn't he tell me? How could I be so stupid? How could Clark - Superman - be so cruel?" Perry had no answer for her, so he did the only thing he could do. He held her a little closer. ***** "Lois?" The voice startled her. It was weak and barely made it into her consciousness. "Clark?" she murmured. "Where are you, Clark? I can't find you anywhere. I've looked everywhere and I can't find you." "Lois?" The voice was a little louder this time, but not much. Lois finally realized where she was. "Clark! You're awake!" She squeezed the hand that had somehow found hers. "Lois, help me." "I'm right here, Clark. Perry and I are right here." "Kryptonite... Superman..." "I know, Clark. We closed the case. You're going to be okay." "They want to kill Superman." "I know, Clark." "They'll do anything to you to get to..." Lois' eyes watered as she realized that he was trying to protect her. "I know, Clark." "Be careful." "Always." "It's me they want, not you." "I know, Clark." Clark finally opened his eyes and stared into the black space as he realized what he had just said. And what Lois had said back. He struggled to sit up. Lois gently held him down. "Just rest, Clark. I know the Kryptonite has really drained you." "What do you mean?" "I know you're Superman, Clark. So does Perry." "What?" "We figured it out, Clark. We could see the effect that the Kryptonite had on you." Clark sighed. "You must hate me." "No, I don't hate you." "You probably never want to see me again." "I don't mind seeing you, as long as it's not in here. I'm ready to get out of here." "I'm sorry I can't get us out." "It's not your fault, Clark. You're hurt." "I'm Superman, I don't get hurt. I can always save everyone, remember?" "No, you can't. Sometimes you just can't get there in time. You couldn't save Lex, for example." "I wanted to, you know." "You were with me. How could you have..." Something clicked for Lois. "Why were you with me instead of saving him?" "I lost my powers, Lois. He locked me in a cage made of Kryptonite and put a speaker in so that I could hear you marry him. He left a key behind, thinking that I wouldn't be able to reach it. Somehow I managed to get out and change and meet you outside just as he fell. I tried to fly, but I couldn't. I couldn't save him." "He locked you up?" Clark nodded and then realized that she couldn't see him. "Yes." "So you couldn't have saved him?" "No. I could barely walk, much less fly." "It wasn't your fault then. If he hadn't exposed you to the Kryptonite for so long, you would have been able to save him." "I should have saved him." "You can't blame yourself, Clark. You aren't perfect." "No, I'm not. I'm Superman and Superman can do anything remember?" "I used to think that, too, Clark. You were always the one telling me that maybe he wasn't the demi-god everyone seemed to think." "And now?" "Now I know better, and you do too, if you'll admit it to yourself." "I know that, but remember everyone's attitude's after I didn't save Luthor? And now, how many people have I not been able to save in the last - how long have I been in here anyway?" "It's sometime Friday night. You disappeared Tuesday morning." Clark groaned. "So Superman hasn't been seen in almost a week. The criminals must be ecstatic." "Bobby said they were starting to wonder if you were gone," Lois admitted. "Great." Clark sounded almost despondent. "You can't be everywhere at once." "I know that and you know that, but most everyone else doesn't." Lois and Clark sat in silence, listening to Perry snore, for several minutes. "How mad are you, Lois?" "I was pretty mad." "Was?" "I've had some time to think about it. I guess I understand why you didn't tell me at first - no matter how infatuated I was with Superman, I would have written the story." "And I was just some hack from Nowheresville, so you wouldn't have cared less what it did to me." "True." They sat in silence again. "But, Clark, you know me better than that now. You are my very best friend in the whole wide world and I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that. So why didn't you tell me?" "I wanted to Lois. You have no idea how badly I wanted to tell you. My dad has pounded into my head since I was little that if I ever told anyone they would come and dissect me like a frog. It's hard for me to even think about telling anyone. I wanted to tell you but how? I'm over at your apartment for dinner one night and between dinner and desert I just blurt out, 'Lois, I'm Superman'? Come on. You'd have been pissed - if you even believed me. You are the best friend I have ever had, ever and I don't want to lose you. I knew that the longer I waited the worse it was going to be, but I was afraid of what would happen - no matter what." "You're not going to lose me, Clark. I might have gotten mad for a while, but you have found a way to make yourself indispensable to me and I can't imagine my life without you." "You can't imagine what it means to me to hear you say that." ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 23:53:44 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 10 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Chapter 10: August CJ couldn't stop his smile as he lifted the picture up so that he could look at it. His father must have been all of three years old when the photo was taken, smiling at Grandma and doing his best to wiggle away in the tub. The look on Martha's face was priceless, captured for all eternity by the lens of the old camera. His dad had been a scamp. It was one photo of thousands that they were going through. Once more, CJ was grateful that his teaching responsibilities wouldn't begin until late August, leaving him three weeks in which he could help his grandfather sort through years of history. Kat was here in Smallville with them, having decided to wait until the nursing students had gone back into class before accepting a shift at a local convalescent hospital. While she could take a job now, and the money wouldn't hurt, it would have to be a night or evening shift, and she didn't want to work opposite CJ's schedule. Once you accepted a night job, she'd told him, getting back to day shift was nearly impossible. When the summer was done, and any local students went back to school, a few daytime positions should open and her chances were better for the preferred shift. So, with a few weeks to use, and an intense desire to spend some time together, CJ and Kat had accompanied his grandfather to Smallville to sort through memories before selling the farm once and for all. CJ had some definite concerns about losing the farmhouse, but he respected his grandfather's wishes. Jonathan wanted to move closer to his family, and away from Martha's dear, if smothering, friends. He couldn't take the constant compassion, or the carefully diverted conversations. He had been married for more than fifty years, and he refused to pretend that Martha hadn't existed. The situation had come to a head when one bold friend had the nerve to ask him why he still wore his wedding band, and CJ had honestly thought that his kind and gentle grandfather was going to hit the woman. Instead, he'd simply walked off and slammed a few doors. CJ thought he had handled it pretty well. The difficulty of living in a small, rural community was that everyone knew everyone's business. While it could be comforting in the right circumstances, at the moment it was just plain stifling. Everyone knew Jonathan's business, and wanted to offer a helping hand. He wasn't ready to accept help, and might never be, but they wouldn't allow him any time or space to make that decision. On the practical side, CJ was thrilled that his grandfather would be closer to them. It would allow him more opportunities to drop by, and more of a chance to spend time with him. He didn't object to having Jonathan close at all. It did hurt, some, that they would have to lose the farm. He'd even considered buying it for himself, until the practicalities of the situation had registered. He still had school loans to pay off, so getting a new loan for the farm would be almost impossible. Also, he and Kat had planned their lives to be just outside of Metropolis, so the logistics of moving it all to Smallville would have been difficult. Finally, he and Kat had no desire to farm. She might plant a kitchen herb garden when they found an apartment, but that was the extent of their need to see nature grow. The farm was special to them because of it's place in their lives, not because of their agricultural needs. The Kent farm had been a stable force in CJ's life. It had been where the vacations were spent, where he was sent when things got too rough in Metropolis, and where he had learned to control most of his powers. It was more than a building and some land. It was home, in every sense of the word. Every wall had a memory attached, every doorway a story. There were marks on one wall -- dated -- that showed Clark's height at various ages, and CJ's, and even one line a year for Kat when she had begun spending her summers with CJ. Jonathan and Martha had tried selling the farm once before. Thankfully, the deal had fallen through and they'd been able to spend the last ten years in the home that they loved. This time, Jonathan had gone to the bank, rather than selling the farm to an individual. Banks were less likely to default, so the sale this time was final. He'd gotten a fair price, and he was able to pay off both Martha's final expenses and to have enough to tuck away for emergencies. Moving into an apartment in Claremont wouldn't be difficult monetarily. Emotionally, however, CJ had his concerns. CJ put the picture of his father in the "keep" box, then dug around some more in the box of photos that had never made it into albums. Kat had offered to organize them, but first they had to determine which pictures should be kept, and which were too far gone from age and neglect to be worth saving. He grabbed another handful of pictures, tossing them quickly into one box or the other, and then stopped as another one caught his eye. He'd grown used to seeing pictures of the farm, rather than pictures of people. Many of the shots were of crops ready to be harvested, or new equipment that they had been so proud of. This one was not. This one was precious. His grandmother seemed so young. Her smile was genuine and loving, but the child that she posed with was not himself, or his father. The little girl was eight years old, and had been spending her first summer at the Kent farm. To look at her glowing face, CJ wouldn't have imagined that this was the same girl who had watched her mother die only weeks before. Dressed in some of CJ's outgrown clothes, Katie Lynn had turned into a tomboy that summer. She'd discovered that there was more to life than tea-parties and pretty clothes, fathers that didn't want children, and moms that didn't get well. CJ wondered if that had been the summer when he'd truly fallen in love with her. Martha and Jonathan had never questioned the tagalong that CJ brought with him for his summer visits. They had merely thrown a sleeping bag on the floor in Clark's old room for CJ to use, and suggested that Kat take the bed. She had been fragile that first summer, still reeling from her mom's death and her dad's anger over the situation. Eight years old, and her world had been upside down. When Lois had suggested that Kat accompany CJ on his vacation, Kat had jumped at it like the lifeline it was. CJ had been just as thrilled, because leaving his best friend was the only down side to being with his grandparents. It hadn't taken much effort to convince Will Anderson. He hadn't really wanted his daughter around, anyway. Scared and lonely, half afraid to talk to them, Kat had arrived at the Kent farm with a tiny suitcase and a lot of tears. Only when she'd been introduced to the animals -- a couple of goats, one cow, and more chickens than she could count -- had Kat relaxed. She hadn't had any play clothes, only the dresses that her mother had loved. Martha had first put her in some of CJ's old things, and had eventually taken her shopping. She'd worn her first pair of jeans, marveled at the T-shirt with pictures of her favorite cartoon characters, and had finally had the opportunity to be a kid instead of a little lady. "You're not sorting," Kat said accusingly. "What did you find this time?" CJ smiled and surrendered the photo, then watched his wife's stern face go soft with memories. She settled down beside him, cross legged on the attic floor. "Gosh, I was little," she commented. "You were adorable," he corrected, kissing her quickly on the cheek. "Martha looks so young," she said softly. "I thought the same thing. I never noticed how old she'd gotten until I started looking at these." "Well, it didn't happen overnight," Kat grinned. "No, it didn't. It was so slow that I didn't see it." He looked at Kat for a few moments while he considered his next words. "Grandpa looks older now, too." "Yes, he does." "He'll likely be next," CJ added. Kat just nodded. Mortality was a tricky issue. Once the protective bubble had popped, illusions that you wouldn't have to deal with death were shattered. CJ had found this out years before, when his mother had been so ill. Still, he'd never lost anyone, and it kept hitting him in usual ways. "Kat?" "Hmmm?" She was already sorting the pictures that he'd put in the "save" box, and had to look up from her task when he called her name. "How long does it take to get over it?" He knew he didn't have to elaborate. She paused, as if thinking. She looked back down at the picture taken of her the summer after her mother died, and a sadness crossed her face that he hadn't expected. Desperately, he wished he could call the words back. "You don't," she finally answered. "Not completely. After awhile, the memories fade a bit and you fill your life with other stuff, but there's always a hole where someone you love used to be." She met CJ's eyes as she concluded, "I don't think that was what you wanted to hear, was it?" "You've always been honest with me, Goober," he grinned, trying to lighten the moment. He could tell from her tentative smile that he'd succeeded. "I don't ever expect less from you." "A little peanut?" she complained, but her heart wasn't in it. "Well, it's chocolate, too," he informed her. "Chocolate covered peanuts. Does that help?" Kat didn't bother to answer. *** Kat wrapped the plate in a dish towel and tucked it into a box marked "Kitchen". It wasn't easy sorting out the things that Jonathan would need in a one-bedroom apartment from what was necessary to run a complete household, but they were finally managing to get it done. The bank had several prospects for the farmhouse, but even if the sale had been in question, Jonathan had been adamant about moving as soon as possible. She had begun to understand his need to move earlier that morning. The previous day, two older women had dropped by with fresh cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and Kat had thought Jonathan rude not to stay and speak with them. That afternoon, another older woman had come by with a basket of sandwiches. Again, Jonathan had made himself scarce, and Kat had been confused. This morning, one of the women had returned, this time with fresh blueberry muffins and a pie, and she hadn't been as casual about her motives. After Jonathan had left, she'd talked to Kat for several minutes regarding her frustration. "Someone has got to take care of that man," Mrs. Flood had said in exasperation. "He won't do it himself, and with Martha not here he'll waste away to nothing without good food." "Jonathan's quite a good cook," Kat had remarked, but she'd been cut off. "Nonsense. Every man needs a woman, and it's just practical that he needs someone who's spent her life running a farm. Why, until my Elmer died a few years ago, I was known for my jams and pies at the Smallville Corn Festival. If he were with me, he wouldn't have to worry about cooking. Why, Martha -- God rest her soul -- was no more than a burden to that man..." Mrs. Flood had finally trailed off at the expression on Kat's face. "Martha was never a burden," Kat had corrected. "She was the other half of him. And, if you think that he'll forget her in a matter of weeks, you're sadly mistaken." "Of course he won't forget," Mrs. Flood had remarked, blushing slightly. "I'll never forget my Elmer, either. But a man shouldn't be alone, nor should a woman. It only makes sense that we come together." "Maybe it makes sense to you," Kat had reasoned, trying to be mindful of the older woman's feelings. "But it's still very fresh in Jonathan's memory. I don't know if he'll ever be ready to be with another woman." "He was married for fifty years. How would he manage alone?" "He's never alone," Kat informed her. "He has his family." Mrs. Flood had huffed off after that, and Kat had been relieved. Suddenly she understood the impact of a widower living among the people who had known him. A widower was fairly rare in this small town, with women statistically outliving the men around them, which left his as the only fish available in a very large pond. Until he was out of the area, he would be a target. She knew he wasn't emotionally ready for that. Kat placed the last plate in the box, then closed it and taped it shut. A glance around the kitchen showed that she was nearly finished. The dishes were packed, the glasses, and soon she would have the silverware put in boxes as well. Unfortunately, this would relegate them to paper plates and plastic utensils for the remainder of their stay, but she wanted to have the packing done. The practical matters hadn't been nearly as difficult to sort as the emotional ones. It was fairly easy to decide to take the newer sheets rather than the old ones, the newer towels instead of the ones with holes. They packed the fax machine, the laptop that Clark had bought his mother a few years back, and the useful appliances from the kitchen. It was more difficult to determine what to do with fifty years of accumulated memorabilia. There were more books and photographs than could fit in a tiny apartment, and while Lois and Clark would store a good deal of the boxes, some of it had to be eliminated for the sake of good sense. Jonathan hadn't been as helpful as Kat would have liked. He kept to himself most of the time, taking long walks or longer naps. He seemed to be saying goodbye to his life, as well as to the memories that the farm represented. Kat knew this was hard for him, remembered how miserable he'd been when he and Martha had moved briefly to Metropolis years before, but at least then they'd had one another. Now, Jonathan had nothing except a few miscellaneous boxes and more memories than he could sort through. "Kitchen done?" CJ asked, walking into the room with a box marked "Books". "Mostly," Kat told him. "I still have to get the pots and pans put in some boxes." "I'll get them," CJ offered. "How many boxes will we need?" "Just one. We'll keep it simple." CJ nodded, and returned a moment later with a medium-sized box that he'd marked appropriately. He opened the bottom of the electric stove, and began sorting through to make sure he chose the pots and pans that were in the best shape. The rest they would leave to be picked up by the Salvation Army. There was simply no reason to take all four sets of cookware. By the time he had finished, his wife was standing in the doorway looking out. He sat there on the kitchen floor and just watched her, his mind drifting from their past to their future, trailing along a dozen different paths as it did so. When she finally turned at caught him watching her, a strange expression on his face, she gave him her most beautiful smile. "What?" she asked, already blushing. CJ shook his head and laughed softly. "I'm allowed to look at my wife," he told her. "Right?" "Something about that look I just don't trust," she admitted, her grin still firmly in place. "What were you thinking." *Not telling,* he insisted. "You know I can't take any more than you give me," she reminded him. "The telepathy, if that's what it is, is yours. I can't read your mind." "I tell you everything that's important," he said with another of his patented grins. "Define important." He shrugged at that. "Having anything even remotely to do with reality," he admitted. "I was just daydreaming, Kat. Nothing more exotic than that." "And I'm expected to believe this?" she asked as she took a seat next to him. He tugged her from the floor up onto his lap, wrapped his arms around her. "I don't lie," he told her firmly. "I get the honest streak from my dad." "You also don't tell me everything," she reminded him as her arms went around his neck. "You've always had this silly idea that I'm fragile or something." "You are *not* fragile. But maybe I do try to protect you. You can't blame me for that, can you? I just want to be sure you're happy." "If you want me happy," she informed him. "Then tell me what you were thinking that put such a sappy grin on your face." He took a deep breath, and blushed. "I was wondering how much stuff I'll have to sort through when we're old," he said softly. "And then, I got to thinking about how much fun it will be accumulating that stuff. The places we'll go, the thing's we'll do." He moved his hand to her stomach, rubbing gently. "The kids we'll have." "I like those thoughts," she admitted, blushing slightly herself. "I wonder how long..." His voice trailed off as he continued to rub her tummy. "No way to know," she said softly. "Just because we aren't trying to prevent it, we can't expect it to happen quickly. Some people are lucky, and it happens right away. Some couples try for years. You remember all that went on with your parents." He nodded, then met her eyes. "Dr. Klein said I shouldn't have the same trouble." "Well, no more than any other couple," Kat told him. "It's kind of an individual thing. Chemistry and pH levels and such. We'll have to wait and see. But, I'll tell ya, if I don't get pregnant it certainly isn't for lack of effort." "Are you complaining, Mrs. Kent?" he asked with a smile. "Not a bit," she denied. "Just commenting." He nodded, then kissed her. The kiss threatened to get out of control, as was common of late. He couldn't remember for the life of him how he had managed to control himself for so many years. Now just seeing her, much less touching her, was enough to send his body into overdrive. He imagined that he'd been successful only because his body really hadn't known what it was missing. Now it did, and it didn't want to miss a thing. "Mmmph," she murmured, her head coming up and her eyes popping open as she clearly remembered something. "We need to find your grandpa," she said. "The bank guy is supposed to come by and check out the remaining farm equipment. That's why I was looking for him." CJ took a deep breath, then another, and finally succeeded in getting his body back under control. He shifted Kat off his lap, groaning slightly as he moved to stand, and then he frowned as he saw the amused expression on his wife's face. "What?" he asked, the irritation clear in his voice. "You," she answered, not backing down an inch. "I don't like being interrupted," he complained. "I'll make it up to you later," she promised. "If you'll help me find your grandpa." "I'll find him," CJ promised. "You just start thinking of how you'll make it up to me." (end of chapter 10) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 23:08:17 -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: Beta Reader needed - First Night sequel MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone! I am beginning to work on the sequel to First Night - just sent Missy - my current ever wonderful BR - a rough outline. It probably won't go into full swing until July when I finish my Master's (WOOHOO!), but I would like to line up at least one more person to bounce ideas off of when I need a break from my Capstone (which is like a 70 page paper or something - can't wait to work on it *sarcastic grin* The thought of it makes me want to curse!) Anyway - if anyone would care to volunteer, I would appreciate it! It is going to contain some pretty heavy stuff, so beware. I'm sure Missy would appreciate the help too as I don't know if even the two of us brilliant people :o) can pull this off! It's gonna be a doozy! (Or so the plan goes!) If anyone is interested, please send me a private email! Thanks! Carol ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 04:59:29 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Universal Union Book3/Part14 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Title: Universal Union Book3/Part 14 Author: Jenni Debbage Rating: PG-13 ~~~~~~~~~~ Lois had never been in this part of the castle before and she was astounded by the starkly- lit warren-like passages. Here, there were no modern lighting panels and older, single spotlights had been inserted, at= close intervals, into the solid rock roof, giving the place a harsh, cold= glow. Her guide's footsteps never faltered, however, as he made their wa= y determinedly through the maze. = "I'm glad you know where you're going, Kal. A person could easily g= et lost in this rabbit- warren. And is it my imagination or is it colder an= d draughtier down here?" = And with that she shivered, causing Kal to stop and, divesting himse= lf of his surcoat, he draped it around her shoulders. "I'm sorry Lois, I should have sent one of the servants for your cloak, but, to tell the truth, I was so anxious to find out what's happening that I didn't think,= and, besides, I'd rather no-one knows that we're down here." Kal pulled the collar up closer to Lois' chin. "But you're right; this is hardly th= e salubrious part of the castle. In fact, when this place was built, it w= as distinctly bad for your health to be incarcerated down here; these were t= he dungeons and many a poor soul spent their last days in these cells. When= the castle was renovated, they decided to place the security departments down here; not my idea, as it all happened before I was born. Zor did ha= ve them modernised and made more comfortable; put in airconditioning and kryptonium heating, but, if you ask me, they'll never be anything other than draughty caves. Thankfully, though, the military don't seem to mind= . = And if you do get lost . . . ." The First Lord moved over to a small, brightly lit panel embedded in the smooth wall. "You'll find these all along these corridors -- press the green button and, hey presto . . . ." The slightly monotone voice of an artificial-intelligence-machine issued from a hidden speaker and enquired if it could be of any service. = Forbearing to answer, Kal pressed the button again and the little panel returned to standby mode. "Just tell it where ever you want to go and directional arrows will appear on the floor to lead you to your destination." "Cool!" This was Lois' first thought. "This castle is amazing! = Ancient dungeons turned into high-tech offices!" Then a second, more horrifying thought struck. "Kal, you mentioned confinement chambers; you= know, the things where you're held as a mass of molecules. There not dow= n here, are they? Sort of modern-day-type dungeons?" "No, sweetheart!" Kal grinned sympathetically at his wife. "I told you -- that sentence hasn't been used on Krypton for years. But we do ha= ve a couple of correction centres; I suppose they would be the equivalent of= your Earth prisons, except more emphasis is placed on rehabilitation than= punishment and crime is fairly rare here on Krypton, so neither have many= inmates. But both establishments have confinement chambers and, I believ= e, one is in current use. When I was a child, one of Kryton's allies was attacked by an unknown force of aliens. They were not genetically human,= though that wouldn't have precluded them from our alliance. But they wer= e a vicious, evil breed who sought the destruction of any who did not confo= rm to their idea of a life force. They totally wiped out the planet they first attacked and continued their march across our galaxy, intending to ravage everything in their path. It was then that Lord Dax-Ver led a combined spaceforce from the Planetary Federation and, thankfully, manage= d to destroy the enemy. But to this day a few of the captured aliens are held in those chambers." "So that's why everyone has such faith in Dax-Ver's abilities . . . = ." "I should have told you, Lois, but there's been so much going on . .= . and you seemed to have such an aversion to our capital punishment." "I understand, but I want to know everything-- not just the things that you think I'd like to hear." Lois placed a reproving hand on Kal's tense arm. "And, Kal, even though these aliens are evil, does that give you the right to imprison another species -- and in that horrible manner?= " "Lois, we did try to communicate with them first," Kal explained, somewhat aggrieved. "But they refused all our efforts -- not to mention the fact that they kept trying to escape and if we got too close, they tried to kill us. We couldn't reason with them and we couldn't turn them= loose to go on killing; so we did what we had to do. I'm not too happy about it either, but remember they had murdered a whole planet without a trace of mercy." "Good old Kryptonian pragmatism!" But realising she had upset her Lord with her sarcastic outburst, Lois added with some sympathy. "I'm sorry, Kal. I don't suppose your people had much choice; but," and Lois had reached the point which really upset her, "just how long will you kee= p these aliens floating about like that?" "Lois! We're not inhumane and we did re-integrate them after a numb= er of years, to see if they were willing to listen to reason; but this speci= es seems intent on killing and devastation. The only safe method of containment was to de-materialise them again. But they won't be around forever; even in a suspended state their molecules will eventually die at= the end of their normal life span." = "Wouldn't it have been better just to execute them?" "Lois! Kryptonians don't believe in needless killing! = De-materialisation might seem pretty drastic but it is reversible! And it's no different from suspended animation; the participant feels nothing= . . . no pain . . . ." "Huh! I suspect they feel a whole lot when they know what's about t= o happen to them!" "No more than a prisoner on your world going to the electric chair, = or the gas chamber, or whatever method of execution your people have devised= . . . ." "Touche, Kal!" Lois had the grace to blush and she found herself studiously staring at Kal's chest. Kal's hand stretched out and lifted Lois' chin till she returned his= gaze. "Lois, I'm not really in favour of our ultimate penalty either, bu= t there are so many other worthy matters I'd rather attend to first, and I need your help. So please let's not quarrel about this," Kal almost pleaded. = Under the stare of those beautiful sherry-hued eyes, Lois' aggravati= on faded -- what was the fate of a few murderous monsters compared to the troubled shade in her husband's eyes. Moreover, they had their own present-day devils to fight. "You're right, Kal. There are more importa= nt affairs to settle; Jen-Mai and Rad-Nor, and I shouldn't have distracted you. Now, where will we find Commander Jace?" "You can distract me anytime you want." The tension eased, Kal's voice took on a teasing note. "In fact, I insist on it," and he quickly snatched a kiss, but just as quickly he turned to business. "Come on, it= 's not far." = = In a small private office, they found Commander Jace, sitting before= a large console and a wall of holoscreens. Still displayed on one of the screens was the now deserted conservatory, but the others showed much busier scenes; the outer courtyard and main gateway of the castle; the streets below the great rock and finally various views of the section of city where the Mais' mansion was situated. Lois had never visited this particular home before, the Mais not bei= ng on her calling-card list. So she was surprised to find the edifice in a less affluent district than she had conceived, and that it should be so small and inconsequential -- nonetheless, the crest above the door was unmistakable. = "That's the Mais' house!" She couldn't contain her shock. "Somehow = I pictured something larger!" "Well, honey, traditionally the Mai family isn't rich . . . ." "Maybe they married into money," Lois suggested helpfully. "No! None of the richer families ever looked very favourably on the= Mais and Minerva's family might be old but it's pretty impoverished." "Didn't the Mais support the Nors during the Civil War?" Commander Jace asked deferentially, but with the certainty that his leader was not unapproachable. "I know it was a long time ago since I read the history = of Krypton at school, but I distinctly remember there was some connection." "You're right, Jace," Kal answered simply. He had learned to know this officer and to respect and admire him. One positive aspect of adversity was that you discovered who were your true friends. "The then Lord Mai was married to a cousin of the Nors, but, even then, the family had a healthy respect for their survival and they hurriedly switched side= s when it looked like the Els were going to win. Since then, they've developed an uncanny knack of insinuating themselves into positions of power; mostly by means of flattery and manipulation. But, let's hope th= at this time, Mai has out-reached himself . . . ." A buzz of static interrupted Kal and another holoscreen flickered to= life, showing the personage of a stern yet confident Security Chief. "My= Lord Kal-El, I'm glad to see you're with Commander Jace. As we surmised,= Jen-Mai has just arrived home and in a state of excitement. He entered t= he house moments ago; unfortunately the house is protected by a forcefield, which I haven't yet been able to deactivate, but I will continue to monit= or the situation very closely." "Commander Medi is at the house?" Lois sounded a little put out by this piece of information. "Won't the Mais know they're being watched?" "I doubt it, Lois. They really don't suspect that we're onto them, though the fact that they're using such a complicated protective device proves that they're being very cautious." "And that they have something to hide!" "That too, Lois, but don't worry -- the commander is hidden in the house across the street, which is not only shielded but is projecting it'= s normal image . . . ." "You can project images?" "Yes, Milady," Jace smiled amiably at this inquisitive Earth girl. = Like many of the Kryptonians who had come into close contact with Lois, h= e appreciated her eager interest and, more importantly, her quick understanding. "Of course, the programme wouldn't really stand up to a technological probe, but it's definitely enough to fool the unsuspecting.= " "And the Mais think they have us fooled . . . ." The First Lady's voice trailed off as she stared at the closed facade of the crumbling townhouse. = "I'd stake my leadership on that, Lois." "Well, let's hope that you don't have to." Lois replied with a slightly worried grin and a squeeze of Kal's hand. "And Commander Medi is a very experienced man," the seated Jace assured the couple as he scanned the various views before him. "He'll be= extremely careful." "Do you think that Mai will try to contact the Taureans telepathically?" enquired the now thoughtful girl. "Wouldn't do him any good; the Taureans aren't telepathic." Kal sho= ok his head. "And I doubt whether he'd send a thought message to an intermediary from his home, or from anywhere in Elvar. Remember, all thought transferences are monitored and even coded messages can be broken= ." "But you can't pinpoint their exact spot?" Lois recalled the conversation she'd had with Kal and Zor-El when she'd first found out tha= t the authorities spied on their peoples' thoughts; she had not been amused= . "Normally, we just scan the overall area, record and, in most cases,= delete messages; thoughtwaves are too ethereal to trace back to source,= " the communications expert restated. "However, with the house under close= surveillance, we could prove that the message was sent from within." "But the Mais don't know they're under surveillance, so they could t= ry to make contact that way." "I suppose. Yet, I agree with Lord Kal-El; I doubt they'd be so foolish to risk such an important communique to telepathy or any other medium that could be traced back to this district." "You tap phones as well?" Lois' sarcasm displayed her continuing disapproval of this practice, even if it was for the public good. "Lois, you know we don't have phones; why would we? But our compute= rs do talk to each other. And you've watched enough broadcasts to know that= we transmit holograms both publicly and privately. And, by the way, you'= re right, all forms of communication are monitored." Kal spoke huffily, sti= ll a little peeved that Lois should be so sensitive about such things. Yet,= honesty compelled him to admit that, had he not grown up with this modus operandi, he too might find it difficult to tolerate. Was it another Kryptonian usage that needed changing? Lois' next statement, however, quickly brought Kal's concentration back to the present task. "So if the Mais don't use any of the normal communication methods, what do you think they'll do?" For some seconds the threesome exchanged puzzled glances, then a slight action drew their attention back to the holoview of the townhouse and Commander Medi's voice could he heard, whispering conspiratorially. "A small transporter has driven up in front of the house -- can you see it?" "Yes," Jace found himself replying in stealthy tones. "Is anyone inside it?" On one of the holoscreens, the watchers saw the commander raise a spy-viewer to his eyes. "No," came the quick answer from Medi and Lois = at once assumed that the spyglass must enable the commander to see through t= he surface of the transporter, for the top looked solid to her. But the man= was talking again and she returned her attention to the screen and his words. "They must have sent for a hired-transporter because there are no= markings or crests on the bodywork . . . ." "They evidently want to remain anonymous . . . ." Kal's hushed statement was broken into by the furtive opening of the scarred wooden do= or and the two Mais, their respective blond and black heads covered by hoode= d cloaks stole swiftly to the waiting vehicle and slipped inside -- the taller of the two carrying a dull metal box. "What was in the box Medi?"= "I'm sorry, My Lord. The x-ray device couldn't penetrate the box; i= t must have been lined with lead." "It could have held some kind of transmitting device," Commander Jac= e suggested. "It's the right size." Under the watchful gaze of those in the communications room and the security chief's on the site, the transporter rose from the ground and to= ok off towards the nearest boulevard which would lead it into the hills beyo= nd the city. "Shall I follow them, sire?" asked Medi in hurried tones. "Yes, as we arranged. But, Medi, stay well back; don't give yourse= lf away," The First Lord instructed. "It's imperative that we don't alert them to our presence." "I understand, My Lord, but what if I loose them?" While he spoke the commander was getting into his own fast transporter, which was also devoid of any markings, and heading out in th= e direction of his quarry. "That's not so important," Kal reaffirmed the well rehearsed plan. = "We never intended to apprehend them at this time. If you can give us t= he general direction then Commander Jace can scan the area for any covert transmissions." Medi nodded his understanding and proceeded to concentrate on keepin= g the Mais within his range while the three followed the action closely; th= e pictures relayed to them by a camera mounted on the commander's vehicle. = Momentarily Lois enquired in some exasperation. "Don't you have the streets monitored by hidden cameras?" "No, Lois!" Kal's exasperation matched that of his wife. "And I'm= surprised that you would ask that question, since you disapprove of our checking oral and thought messages. Long ago most of the public areas of= the city were kept under surveillance, but that was to catch criminals, a= nd when we more or less eradicated criminal activity and violence, the camer= as were no longer needed. As they broke down we just didn't replace them. = We'll just have to rely on Commander Medi." "Oh, okay! I'm sure he'll do a thorough job. And I wasn't complaining; I'm glad that our people don't have big brother' breathing down their necks at all times." Sending his Lady an apologetic look Kal admitted ruefully. "Actuall= y it would make our task easier at a time like this, but I'm glad too that our people are free." For quite some time silence pervaded the room as the three concentrated on the action on the holoscreens. Commander Medi proved his= experience as he followed at a discreet distance, keeping other transporters between himself and the Mais, yet never losing sight of his goal. Whilst in the city, it was easy to hide amongst the other traffic,= but as the two vehicles drove on into the suburbs and the buildings grew more sparse and the amount of traffic lessened, Medi found he had to drop= further behind. tbc in Part 15 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 04:59:00 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Universal Union Book3/Part13 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Title: Universal Union Book3/Part 13 Author: Jenni Debbage Rating: PG-13 Comments: I missed last week's post because I was away for the weekend. = So for anyone who was waiting for this, I'm sorry. I hope that you enjo= y this chapter of the story as I had a lot of fun in writing this part. As= this is a longer chapter I've split it into 3 parts. Again, please let = me know your comments as feedback is appreciated. ~~~~~ Chapter Seven To Catch a Mai Within days of the meeting at Ro-Ellion Dax-Ver's flight was duly commissioned and sent into the wide galaxy to search out and hopefully apprehend the marauders. There had never been any real doubt that the Council would dismiss this well respected veteran's request and neither t= he First Lord nor the two councillors who had joined his conspiracy, needed = to exert much influence to sway the hastily convened cabinet meeting. As wi= th the general populous of Krypton, the government was extremely distressed = by the continued attacks and was willing to try any new strategy to bring th= e perpetrators to justice. The very latest vessels that the security fleet= had to offer were placed under Ver's command and a roving commission' was= granted without much opposition. In an uncharacteristic blaze of publicity, the task force had taken off from Elvar's spaceport. Amazingl= y, the worldly Kryptonians placed a great deal of faith in this experienced officer and the mood of the small crowd who had gathered to wish the departing ships farewell, showed a cautious optimism. And now that the first stage of the plan was underway, the arrangements for the latest trading convoy could be placed before the Security Council for ratification. All went smoothly; Lord Kal-El's proposal on naming a trusted officer to deal with all communications with= the convoy and a tightening of all protection systems were readily agreed= upon. The deputy Prime Councillor, Lord Jen-Mai, speedily seconded his superior minister's recommendation that Commander Jace should be nominate= d Space-traffic Controller for the outbound fleet. He had even gone furth= er and suggested that an additional protection frigate should join the convo= y; the man was playing the role of a concerned minister to the hilt. = The obvious question of whether Dax-Ver's force would be offering assistance in guarding the convoy, was raised, and again by Lord Mai. Th= e First Lord had been tempted to answer that question, but instead had allowed the Commander-in-Chief of the military to inform the group that Dax-Ver had been informed of the time and co-ordinates of the convoy, through the restricted channels, of course, and that Ver had promised to attack the enemy with lethal force when and if they showed up. Lord Ver's wording of his communique brought a small smile to Kal's lips -- the man hadn't exactly said which convoy he would be protecting, but no-one attending the meeting seemed to notice. Relieved, Kal sat bac= k into his chair as the final orders for the convoy's departure were rubber= stamped. He had been right to allow his assistants to deal with most of= the points raised, and, as Trey wound up the meeting with a reminder that= the safety of the spaceships' crews was dependent on the integrity of al= l those present, the First Lord was satisfied that all pieces of the puzzle= were falling into place. Now it only needed Lois to do her part and the trap would be set -- just who would be caught when the trap was sprung would answer the most important question. And would the net they cast b= e wide enough to catch the biggest fish? A few days later, while the Commander-in-Chief informed a small and more buoyant gathering of councillors that the merchant fleet was now one= third of the way on its journey, and was, as yet, unmolested, the ladies = of the court sat in the glassed in rampart of the castle. In the cool days = of early spring it was one of the First Lady's most favourite spots. She could enjoy the sunshine without the chill from the still cool air, and here, in the heated environment, there were always some flowers in bloom.= = But on this occasion, her choice had a more covert reason; the leafy arbours provided a certain amount of privacy, and an even greater opportunity for any eavesdropper to find a safe hiding spot. Zara and Gellis sat near the outer wall of glass, chatting on inconsequential matters while they waited for Lois to join them, as was h= er custom when Kal attended to affairs of state. Both girls shared an amuse= d grin as they noted that, also as usual, they had acquired a certain = shadow, if the term shadow could be applied to a vision of brightly coloured silk and shining blonde tresses. = Lady Minerva-Mai had paid close attention to the habits of her quarr= y and she waited in anticipation for the naive Earthling to show up. She agreed with her husband's suggestion that sticking close to the silly gir= l would, at sometime, prove profitable. It was a commonly known fact that= the equally foolish and love-struck youth who sat on the throne, confided= all his state business to his wife, and it was only a matter of time befo= re the girl screwed up. And the Mais would be there to see that the two undeserving children= would pay dearly for their folly of believing that they could preside ove= r the world of Krypton. Then, with their assistance, the rightful and more grateful ruler would take the throne. Minerva-Mai envisioned that her husband's role of king-maker would bring them vast rewards. And it would= not be long now before all their scheming came to fruition; the people we= re sick of the present leader's inability to thwart the mysterious enemy and= soon would look elsewhere for succour. = Dax-Ver's interference had been unexpected and worrying but Jen and his master were confident that their allies could outfight the new threat= , and the result could be turned to their advantage. The loss of the popular hero could be the final nail in Kal-El's coffin. Minerva was so lost in her contemplation of riches and power that she almost failed to notice Lois' arrival. Fortunately for the envious Lady's expectations, Lois seemed overly excited and her entrance could hardly be ignored. = "Zara! Gellis! You'll never guess what I've just heard!" Seeming t= o recall her public whereabouts, Lois lowered her tone. "It's amazing, mind-blowing and, if I don't say so myself, it's something that I had a hand in." The First Lady looked around her surreptitiously, almost grinning in relief when she spotted Minerva-Mai hovering nearby, with all= the innocence of a baby -- a baby piranha. Good! Today the fish were biting! "But it's a little too open here, perhaps we should go over ther= e by the pond." Lois led her little band of conspirators towards the leafy bower. A= small pond filled with golden carp (well Lois thought that was what they were) had been built in a corner of the glasshouse and comfortable benche= s had been placed by the edges to accommodate those who wished to sit in tranquillity to watch these graceful creatures swim amongst the waterlilies. Trees and bushes bordered the secluded area, screening it from public view, but Lois knew that it provided a determined eavesdropp= er with the perfect hiding place. It had been from these same bushes that Etta had witnessed Rol-Fre's sexual assault on Lois when he had followed her into the conservatory. Was that a year ago? And now both Rol-fre a= nd Etta were gone. = Giving herself a mental shake Lois-El focussed her attention on the present. Their attempt at play-acting had to be convincing and Lois was prepared to give it all she had. "Sit down, sit down," she breathlessly instructed her companions as she sank gracefully onto the pillowed bench, dragging in her flowing skir= t to allow Gellis to sit by her side and beckoning Zara to pull up another chair. = The three girls allowed some moments to pass while they settled themselves comfortably, and in doing so, gave the 'pink shadow' the opportunity to insert herself amongst the thick greenery. "I must tell you my news," Lois burbled on eagerly and with a great deal of self- satisfaction. "But, ladies, this was my idea, so I tell yo= u, I should get the credit when everything works out right!" A stealthy rustle of leaves could be heard which was quickly stilled= . = For a swift second the eyes of the three young ladies were irresistibly drawn upwards to the hidden camera buried deep amongst the foliage of a climbing plant which in turn, clung to the side of an old stone watchtowe= r that buttressed the newer glasshouse. Late last night Ching, Jace and Ka= l had crept into this room and fitted the tiny surveillance module and now Commander Jace was monitoring the events beneath its watchful eye. Almost with a start of shock, the Lady of El placed a hand on her newly acquired jewelled necklace as it vibrated gently beneath her finger= s. It was the pre-arranged signal from Jace, confirming that their spy was = in place and he was ready to record the action. The game could begin. = Gellis fired the opening salvo. "Do tell us, Lois! Don't keep us i= n suspense!" "Gellis, our lady will tell us in her own good time! Don't be so demanding." It was a well known fact that Zara was a serious-minded youn= g woman and she was determined to play her role to the hilt. Yet she drew her chair a little closer to the others in preparation of hearing a momentous snippet of information. "Oh, I couldn't keep this a secret if I tried," Lois cooed, "and I know that I can trust you both. But you have to promise me that this is just between ourselves." "Of course!" "We promise!" Zara swore emphatically. "Good! Because Kal would never forgive me if word of this got out. = I'd probably be sent back to Earth in disgrace." Lois looked a little doubtful for the moment. "Perhaps it'd be best if I didn't tell you." "No! Lois-El, that's not fair!" The lady-in-waiting pouted in beautiful pique. "You can't begin to tell us something then stop before you give anything away." "It's not nice to tease, Lois," Zara remonstrated but more gently. Far below in a private communications room, Jace sat before a holoscreen, grinning at this performance; these girls were good. = Minerva-Mai was so eager to egg Lady Lois-El on that she was almost falli= ng out of her bush. Quickly Jace checked to see that the scene was recordin= g; it would be a tragedy if all this acting talent went to waste. Satisfied that the evidence was being documented, the officer turned with interest = to the proceedings. With great dignity, Lois allowed herself to be cajoled. "All right! = But remember no telling tales!" The listening Lady Mai snorted in derision, silently. Didn't the stupid Earthling realise that she was warning her ladies against the very= thing that she was about to do. Not that Minerva was complaining; this w= as evidently just the thing that she and Jen had been waiting for. Seeming to come to a decision, Lois folded her hands in her lap, the= very picture of a demure First Lady. "You know how the latest convoy lef= t Elvar a few days ago." Lois paused to acknowledge the girl's nods, then she dropped the tone of her voice without diminishing its range. "Well, that's not the *real* convoy!" "No!" Both girls cried in hushed shock. But after a moment, Zara came back. "I don't understand! What isn'= t the *real* convoy?" "Stupid! The cargo fleet that left the other day isn't the real one= ," Gellis crowed, showing off her superior understanding. "Yes that's right!" Moving to the edge of her chair, the noble tale-bearer hurried on. "It's a decoy! And it's empty! When the pirate= s show up they'll discover that the cargo bays are full of empty crates. = Well, not empty, just filled with worthless gravel." "So there won't be anything for them to steal," announced a delighte= d Gellis. "Oh I like it!" "And that's not all. Lord Dax-Ver is shadowing the convoy and whenever these pirates show up, he'll pounce and then we'll see just how good these killers are at fighting." "They'll be annihilated! My father is the best commander there is and he'll destroy them!" Gellis believed that a little crowing would not= seem out of place at this point. But Zara was not to be outdone in the thespian stakes. "On no, I ha= te fighting," she moaned horror stricken. "Somebody you're friendly with always gets killed. And you know that Captain Ching, my brother's former= bodyguard, is on board, and it'll upset Kal terribly if anything should happen to him." = "Well, I don't like to say I told you so, not in a case like this, b= ut I did think it was pretty insensitive of Ching to up and leave Kal in the= lurch like that. And all because he has more hope of advancement on acti= ve duty." Lois felt justified in spreading the false notion that she was displeased with the Captain, aware that Minerva-Mai was probably gloating= at the thought of dissent in the El household. Then giving an airy toss = of her head, the First Lady dismissed the fate of the erstwhile bodyguard an= d continued with her story. "Of course, the crews don't know about the switch because it was done in secret. Kal couldn't risk the chance of it= getting back to the enemy. And there's more! And this is the really clever bit and it was mostly my idea!" "What was?" Gellis impatiently asked. With a furtive glance over her shoulder, Lois beckoned her enthusiastic listeners closer. "The ship carrying the real cargo is leaving Veren's spaceport even as we speak, secretly. Hardly anyone know= s about it, so it should be able to reach its destination safely. And even= if anyone did find out about it, no-one would pay it any attention. I mean, who would suspect that a solitary ship would be carrying anything o= f value, especially in these dangerous times." "And that's what you thought of?" Zara shot her sister a sceptical stare. The first lady of the land gave an emphatic nod of the head. "I'll admit that it wasn't easy to convince Kal that my plan could work, but . = . ." and here Lois grinned slyly, throwing herself into the role of manipulative minx " . . . when I really set my mind to it, Kal is like putty in my hands. He saw the sense of it eventually. The bad guys will= be so busy chasing down the decoy fleet and fighting off Dax-Ver's troops= , that the real cargo will sail safely on its way. And then Kal-El will te= ll his stuffy council and everyone else just how clever his wife is, and the= n they'll have to allow me a seat on the council." = Lois clapped her hands in triumph. Privately, she hoped that she hadn't overdone it with her last ad lib. Yet Jen and Minerva-Mai expecte= d her to be a silly, over-ambitious egghead and she'd decided to give them exactly what they'd looked for. = And yet, if she were honest, even deeper in her heart of hearts that= was precisely what she wanted; to work alongside Kal as an equal partner;= to share in the troubles and the triumphs. But she didn't want it for the= recognition, well only a little. Like Kal, she wanted to make a differen= ce in this world; to make it a better place for all Kryptonians. If this scheme worked and Krypton was finally rid of the threat posed by Nor, the= n she and her husband could concentrate on bringing a more open and liberal= society to Krypton. = "Wow!" An awed exclamation from Gellis brought Lois back to the tas= k in hand. "And you did all that by yourself?" "Nnoo, not all by myself," Lois admitted grudgingly. "I thought up the idea but Kal and Lord Trey worked out the details." There had been some question about whether Trey should be mentioned = in the girls' conversation, but the Prime Councillor had been adamant on his= inclusion. Clearly, if the plan were to be believed, then the First Coup= le would surely have needed assistance in setting the whole thing up and som= e very high-powered aid at that. And it was also felt that Jen-Mai's insidious envy of his senior would provide him with added incentive to bring the plotters to their knees. Now the act was drawing to a close; Lois had detected another furtiv= e rustling of branches, as if their audience was eager to leave. Time to wind up this playlet. "Remember, Ladies, you promised me faithfully that you'd repeat this= to no-one. I'm sure you both realise that my Lord would be mad as fire i= f he found out we'd been discussing the plan. I dread to think what he'd do," Lois added on a quiver of fear. The Mais obviously thought Kal too= mild-mannered for his own good and that should give them something to thi= nk on. "Oh, I understand, Lois, sometimes Kal has a temper that hardly anyo= ne suspects," Zara followed her sister-in-law's lead, deciding happily that= she had an unexpected penchant for playacting. "But you can rely on us. = We would never tell a soul." = "Good! Now we just have to wait and see our enemies humbled!" Lois= sat back in her seat once more and clasped her hands in satisfaction. = Was that a sarcastic laugh, quickly smothered, that drifted through the dense greenery behind them. Evidently Minerva was contemplating the same scenario but with a different prey in mind. A smooth swish of a distant door reached the group by the pond, and, seconds later, Lois' necklace gave another tremble, confirming the fact that Lady Mai had left= . ***** In the audience hall, Lady Lara was conversing with a more elderly group of ladies when the portal leading from the conservatory slid open a= nd an excited, pink vision came hurrying through. Lara could not resist the= temptation to enquire. "Lady Mai, good morrow to you," Lara called. As she greeted the startled woman, she glided across the room with stately dignity, satisfie= d to see a shadow of annoyance cross Minerva's face. "I see that you're still with us here in Elvar." = "As you see, Lady Lara-El," Minerva-Mai could barely hide her exasperation at being stopped in her tracks, yet she could barely snub su= ch an important Lady. Well, that fact was soon to change but for the presen= t she had to go carefully. "My husband deems it important to lend his support to your son at such a difficult time and my place is with my Lord= ." The dowager Lady El inclined her gracious head. "I commend your husband and yourself for your diligence. Times are definitely difficult for my son, but with such stalwart support from councillors as dedicated = as Lord Jen-Mai, I'm sure things will improve very soon." "I'm sure they will, my Lady." It took all of Minerva's will to kee= p a smirk from appearing on her face. Things were certainly about to improve, but not for the Els. Meanwhile, she could turn this chance meeting to her advantage. "May I crave a favour of you, Lady Lara." = Placing her hand on the older woman's arm she drew Lara a little aside. = "The thing is, I'm feeling a little unwell and I've decided to return to = my townhouse . . . ." "Unwell?! Nothing too serious I hope. Would you like me to send fo= r a physician?" = "Oh no! There's no need for a physician and I don't want you to trouble yourself over me. It's just a slight indisposition . . . you kno= w, a woman's problem." Minerva confided. "Men don't understand, because if= they had to put up with what we women go through every month, then the scientists would soon have found a cure. I'll be better if I can lie dow= n for a little while." Lara smiled sympathetically; she might not agree on many topics with= Lady Mai, but, in this case, the woman had a point. "I'm sorry, Minerva.= = What is it you want me to do?" = "Jen-Mai is at the council meeting and Zor knows when it will break up, and I don't feel well enough to wait here. Could you tell him that I've gone home and that I expect him to follow me as soon as possible." "Off you go home," Lara instructed. "And don't worry; I'll see to i= t that Lord Jen-Mai follows directly the meeting closes." = Minerva thanked her helper with one of her sweetest smiles and, with= a hand raised to her head, she drifted wraith-like from the hall. And peop= le were of the opinion that Lady Lara-El was an intelligent woman! Hah! = She'd just recruited the woman in a plot against her own son! Were the E= ls genetically stupid? Rad-Nor certainly thought so, and she was beginning = to discover that the man who sought to usurp the throne was correct. The scheming woman would have been disconcerted to read the mind of the Lady she left behind. Lara too smiled as she watched the 'invalid' leave the room. That woman had probably never experienced a 'feminine' problem in her life; under the syrupy-sweet exterior beat a heart as hard= as ice. And she expected me to aid her plotting! Well, this time Minerv= a would have her wish, but, hopefully, the outcome wouldn't please the blon= de witch. Moments later, Lois, Zara and Gellis appeared and the four moved away from the other women gathered in the hall. = "Where's she off to?" the First Lady asked edgily. "Home!" Lara confided to her girls. "The poor lady isn't feeling s= o well and I've been instructed to send her Lord home immediately." "You think they'll contact the enemy fleet from their townhouse?" = Lois lowered her voice. Lara offered a troubled shrug. "It seems pretty risky to send a message from here in Elvar, but they must have a way of getting the information out." "Well, Commander Medi has the house under surveillance and Jace is monitoring all transmissions from that quarter, so we should be able to discover whatever method they use." = "Commander Medi?" Gellis asked in some surprise. "I thought that Poli was going to be recruited to watch the Mais." Once more, Lois shot her Lady-in-Waiting a considering look. Was Gellis interested in Poli? Kal and she had discussed this possibility and= yet both were convinced that there was no romantic connection between the= young people. However, Gellis did often speak of Poli so perhaps she and= Kal had missed something. = Somehow the prospect of a love affair between the two didn't fill Lo= is with pleasure, and she couldn't be sure of why that should be. Gellis ha= d four elder brothers and sisters, and as the Vers were in no need of furth= er alliances, the baby of the House of Ver had not been contracted in an arranged betrothal. So there was no impediment to an attachment from tha= t quarter. And it certainly wasn't because of the differing backgrounds; Lois had worked tirelessly to unite Zara and Ching. She'd have to keep a= close watch on Kal's remaining bodyguard and her Lady-in-Waiting. = Meanwhile, Gellis was awaiting an answer. "Commander Medi is head of security. Zor-El trusted him completely and Kal has found him to be very dedicated and efficient. And besides, K= al doesn't want to involve Poli in anything that could backfire." Lois laid= a warning hand on the younger girl's arm. "We've embarked on a dangerous course of action and if, by any chance, we're wrong in our suspicions, th= en we could all end up in deep trouble. But most of us have the security of= a noble house behind us, Poli has not. Even the two Commanders are high ranking and have long and distinguished careers to support them and Ching= 's family is highly regarded in military circles. Kal decided it was best that Poli knew nothing about our scheme and I have to insist that his wishes are obeyed." = Suddenly Lois was as autocratic as her husband could be on occasion and all three women quickly gave their promises. Gellis was a little red= of face, but Lara looked with admiration and some amusement on her daughter-in-law; Lois was growing into her role of First Lady with a grea= t deal of aplomb. Within minutes of Lois' warning, the gentlemen of the council, led b= y the First Lord, joined their womenfolk in the audience chamber. Clearly the security meeting had terminated and, from the untroubled expression o= n Lord Kal-El's face, the little female group deduced that everything had gone as planned. The Dowager-Lady of El, at once, passed on Minerva-Mai'= s message to the second councillor, and, with abject apologies, Jen-Mai quickly took his leave. Those left in the hall watched him go with varyi= ng degrees of interest. Kal took his wife's hand, his expressive eyebrows lifting inquisitively, but, for the sake of those listening, he enquired loudly, "My Lady, have you had a good morning?" "Oh yes! I spent sometime in the conservatory, My Lord. You know h= ow I enjoy sitting amongst the beautiful plants; I find them very conducive = to contemplation," Lois informed her husband with a knowing smile. "But thi= s morning I was joined by Zara and Gellis and we had a very fruitful conversation. However, I'm a little worried about Lady Mai; perhaps we should send someone to enquire as to the state of her health." "That's very thoughtful of you, Lois," said Kal, smiling down on his= wife. "Perhaps some of your lovely, hothouse flowers would be an appropriate gift for the poor Lady. Shall we go and see t o that?" And with that announcement Lord Kal-El swept his lady from the hall.= = The courtiers gazed approvingly on the young couple; their First Lord and= Lady were indeed a caring and compassionate couple. But once outside, all thoughts of flowers and best wishes for Minerva-Mai were forgotten, as Lois recounted the happenings in the glasshouse. While they conversed, Kal led Lois to the bank of elevators and, entering the one reserved for the use of members of the royal family= , they were carried speedily and smoothly to the very bowels of the castle.= = Buried deep in the bedrock, the technological and communications departments could be found and the couple hurried to the security section= . = tbc Part 14 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 04:59:42 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Universal Union Book3/Part15 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Title: Universal Union Book3/Part 15 Author: Jenni Debbage Rating: PG-13 ~~~~~~~~~~ The Mais in the hired transporter headed out into the countryside, completely oblivious to the fact that they had acquired a tail. It was a= pretty risky undertaking, travelling to the contact spot in broad dayligh= t, yet Jen-Mai conceived that the overheard information was too important to= ignore. Between them, he and Minerva would bring all of the 'goody-goody= ' Lord El's planning to nought. Their Taurean allies would ambush this single merchant-ship and, using the stolen high-tech artillery, they woul= d attack and destroy the original convoy and Dax-Ver's support fleet. Mai laughed aloud at the irony of it all; using Kal-El's own plan to ruin him= .. The Els would be discredited and the council were bound to look favourab= ly on Lord Rad-Nor's bid for the throne. Minerva's girlish giggle joined that of her husband. "Aren't you pleased that the Earthling's stupidity should lead to our triumph?" "Yes, indeed, my pet. I never was a supporter of the notion that Earth was our sister planet; they're a much too backward race," Jen-Mai chortled, "but I might borrow an Earth cliche and say 'poetic justice', m= y dear, 'poetic justice'. And, since we've delivered the boy- king into Rad-Nor's hands, Nor is bound to show us his gratitude and give us the position we deserve." For a fleeting moment the blond beauty looked doubtful. "You don't think we should've contacted Lord Rad first?" Did Minerva place a specially husky intonation on the name of their master? It was a well-known fact that Nor appreciated sexy women and his= wife certainly qualified in that category -- she was also not averse to flattery. Jen-Mai promised himself to pay close attention to his wife's conduct when dealing with Lord Nor. It wasn't that he was jealous or tha= t he wouldn't countenance a discreet connection, especially if it meant advancement for himself . . . yet, at this moment, it was a complication = he wasn't ready to deal with. = "No! There's no time, Minerva! And I'd much rather present the destruction of the fleets as a fait-accompli -- that way no-one can steal= our thunder." "Good thinking, my husband. And won't Rad be forever grateful to us= ." Minerva-Mai oozed satisfaction -- the cat who had received more than her= fair share of the cream. It was a good thing for her husband's peace of mind that he was too preoccupied to trouble to search her thoughts. = Minerva-Mai was picturing herself as the woman behind Nor's throne. Of course, Rad-Nor already had a wife but that plain, pasty-faced Keira-Nor would be no match for a woman of her talents and attractions. But word h= ad it that the dull female was pregnant at last and that might prove a stumbling-block to her plans, specifically if the child were a boy. And yet stumbling-blocks could be removed -- just as the rather large one sitting in the transporter by her side would disappear in time. = Minerva-Mai instinctively knew that Rad- Nor was just as predatory as she= in dealing with unnecessary minions -- that was why they would work with each other so very well. But that was for the future; meanwhile, she needed Jen-Mai to pave her way into Rad-Nor's bed; well not exactly his b= ed -- she'd already been there -- but into the position of Lady Nor, First Lady of all Krypton. = The approaching hills brought an end to the Lady's meditation; very soon now they would send the message and begin the chain of events that would lead to the realisation of her every dream. And judging by the self-satisfied look that adorned Jen-Mai's countenance, he too was thinki= ng similar thoughts. Evidently he had no notion of her future betrayal and= that was the way she wanted it to remain -- for now. She would have to = go carefully. Pasting a glowing smile on her normally pouting lips, Minerva smoothed a soft hand sexily up and down his arm. "Soon, my Lord, soon all that we have worked for will be ours." = Her suggestive touch rose goosebumps on Mai's skin, along the path h= er fingers wandered. He really was a very lucky man; he had a beautiful wif= e who would do anything for him and soon he would have more power than he ever dreamed and riches too. Life was looking very good. What a gloriou= s thought, to finally lord it over his superior, that pompous, priggish Tre= y. The Prime Councillor had never made a secret of the fact that he mistrusted and disapproved of his deputy. = In a very short time Trey, along with any other member of the counci= l who supported Kal- El, would share in the foolish First Lord's dishonour and the thought of turning the tables on a man who had spurned his every offer of friendship was particularly pleasing. = And the money! Rad-Nor had been paying him well for his services th= us far, which had been extremely fortunate for both Minerva and himself had expensive tastes. But even the current remuneration fell short of his requirements; the bankers and moneylenders were beginning to bay at his heels. Mai desperately needed the large sums of money and land that had been promised him on the fall of the House of El. Soon those greedy, trumped-up financiers would be at his beck-and-call and he would make the= m pay for their presumption. The hovercraft bore its agreeably daydreaming passengers to their prearranged contact point and the two exited quickly, almost falling over= themselves in the desire to set in motion the path to their dreams. = The situation, however, was not quite so satisfactory for the securi= ty officer who was tailing them. On the main hoverways he had managed to remain some distance back and blend in with the other travellers whilst still keeping the Mais in view, but since they had turned off and headed for the hills Commander Medi had had to move up for fear of losing them i= n the winding forest-lined hoverpaths. At one point he had gotten too clos= e and turning a sharp corner had practically tail-ended them. Dropping bac= k, he had warned himself to be more careful. Of course, it would have helpe= d if he could use his scanning device, but the group had decided it was mor= e prudent that his transporter remained cloaked and it was not possible to activate both facilities together. It was highly unlikely that a hired transporter would actually have a scanner onboard, though not impossible.= = So it was felt it was better to be safe than sorry and rely on Commander Jace in the distant communications centre to follow the progress of the Mais by satellite. The two floating vehicles flew deeper into the low rolling hills unt= il the lead transporter swung sharply onto an old dirt-track road, which was= really not much more than a break in the tall trees. Medi, not realising= that his quarry had turned off, had gone some way when he was alerted by Jace and he quickly backtracked till he reached the only opening that wou= ld afford the passage of a hovercraft. By the side of the track was an old faded sign, bearing the crest of the House of El and beneath the crest th= e words stating the entrance to the Kan-El Kryptonite Mine. = Back in the control room, Kal grunted as he watched the action unfol= d. "They're using one of our redundant kryptonite mines for the rendezvous.= = That place has been abandoned for decades -- it ran dry during my grandfather's reign. The warehouses and powerhouse were dismantled years= ago, though I believe there's an administration block still standing. T= he mineshaft itself was made safe, though I'm sure some enterprising crimina= l could have found a way inside. " "Actually, it's a pretty clever ploy. While they can transmit on a preset wavelength there's probably enough residual kryptonite there to disrupt our scanning satellite. Even if I were to get a fix on it in tim= e, I doubt we'd pick up more than just static." "And Commander Medi can't get close enough without risking exposure = . . . ." Lois exclaimed with vexation. "And we must let them send that signal!" Kal's irritation matched that of his wife. "Jace, do your best; anything we can discover about th= at transmission might be important." Then Kal turned his attention to his field operative. "Commander Medi, I think that you've done all that can = be expected without actually confronting them and we definitely don't want that. The Mais and Nor must be allowed to think that they've got away wi= th their treason -- we have to know if the decoy ship will be attacked. Wai= t undercover and then follow them back to Elvar." "Then I continue with my surveillance." It was a statement rather than a question. Everyone of Kal's recruits knew their roles well. "Yes! But if you believe that they're beginning to suspect anything= then pull back. Jace can keep them under surveillance from here." The First Lord finalised his instructions; then with a smile that was both appreciative and filled with boyish charm, "and Commander Medi, thank yo= u for a job well done. My wife and I are grateful beyond words." = Watching Commander Medi's gruff yet pleased response to his First Lord's words as the connection was closed, Lois realised that it was this= natural candour and respect that Kal showed for his people which bound th= em to his side. As Kal-El settled into the role of the ultimate leader of Krypton, and as those under his command learned to know him well, more an= d more Kryptonians fell under his spell. And with a secret smile, Lois admitted that she was no different -- she had already travelled the gala= xy to be with him. Commander Jace's voice broke into Lois' thoughts. "I'll continue monitoring the area with our spy satellites and who knows I may get lucky and pick up something we can use when Mai is brough= t to trial." "That would be good! But even if we can't decode the message, at least, we can prove that they're somewhere where they shouldn't be . . . = ." "And acting very suspiciously . . . ." Lois added helpfully. "But that's not a crime, Lois," Kal pointed out. Jace cleared his throat and offered some consolation. "But I will b= e able to document a time for an unlicenced transmission and if I can get a= fix on its destination, then that could be corroborating evidence." "Whatever you can do, Jace will be a great help." Kal offered the commander his clasped hands and the man quickly got to his feet and accepted the unexpected gesture with deep feeling. Normally First Lords did not offer such an intimate show of friendship to their military personnel. It was another example of Kal's instinctive flare for leadership -- now there were two high-ranking security officers who were not only firm supporters of the House of El but of the young man who was its leader. Kal began to escort his Lady from the office, but turned before they reached the door. "Jace, we're having a meeting at Ro-Ellion= this evening to discuss the progress of our plans and afterwards a small supper will be served. Lady Lois and I would be very pleased if you woul= d join us." Commander Jace flushed a dull red; he had expected to report to his superiors but to be considered a fellow conspirator was more than he'd looked for. "Thank you, sire, and let's hope I've something worthwhile t= o report." The couple returned the man's optimistic salute then left. Looking around at the various banks of equipment that kept watch over these lands= of El, Jace acknowledged with a wry grin that his little domain seemed duller for the lack of the vibrant presence of the First Lord and Lady. = Shrugging off an unusual surge of emotion, he settled down to his task of= tracking an elusive and covert signal. His position of Security Commande= r of Communications was important and one he'd always taken great pride in= doing efficiently, yet never had he been so determined to aid his young ruler. Jace would do his uptmost to make sure that this diabolical plot = to usurp the throne would fail. ***** = At the appointed time all members of the secret conclave gathered on= ce more at Ro- Ellion. No one was late -- everyone was aware of the importance of the plot and all were anxious to learn of the success of th= e various stages of the mission. Jor-El, who had been at the site of the decoy-craft's take off and h= ad returned poste-haste by orb-ship from the lands of Veren, opened the meeting. "My friends I'm relieved to report that the merchant ship is safely = on its way to the rendezvous with Dax-Ver and no one seemed to suspect any hidden agenda regarding its launch. Lord Ver's security officer kept watch for any intruders but there were no unexpected visitors to the spaceport." Trey was nodding his head in satisfaction. "Good! Good! And just = as we surmised, Jor, your absence wasn't remarked by anyone at the castle an= d even if you were missed, then I'm sure the courtiers would think you at home in your laboratory, studying an experiment or writing a thesis or so= me such thing." = "I'm glad my eccentricities come in handy on occasion!" The mild-mannered Jor poked a little gentle fun at his well-known unconventional behaviour. And the lighter note continued while Commander Jace replayed the recorded holovid of the scene in the conservatory to the accompanying laughter and kudos from the rest of the group. However, a more serious note developed as the two Commanders related the accounts of their subsequent investigations. The older and heavier Commander Medi was the first to step forward. "My Lords and Ladies, I followed our suspects out of the city and in= to the hills to the north of Elvar, to the old Kan-El mine. Not wishing to alert the suspects to my presence, I waited in the background for some considerable time until they re-emerged and then followed them back to th= e city, where they remained in their townhouse for the rest of the day. I activated the surveillance holo-cameras while I came here to Ro-Ellion an= d I'll check up on them later tonight." "Thank you, Medi. You've done everything we have asked of you and i= t would be providential if you kept the Mais under watch until this thing breaks. Knowing what they are up to in the meantime would be a bonus and= we don't want them escaping when we mean to arrest them," Kal stated as t= he others nodded sagely. "My Lord, if I may speak, I have some good news to report." Jace noted his leader's approval and quickly continued. "After you left my office, I continued to try to tune into the signal which we were expectin= g the Mais to send and, as we suspected, within minutes a message was transmitted from the inside of the Kan-El mine. Regrettably, I was unab= le to actually decipher the message due to the kryptonite radiation, but I w= as able to home in on its target -- Spacestation Caytan. They were rather clever, bouncing it through a couple of satellites, but its final destination was Caytan and that I can prove." "Can you monitor the movements of ships in and out of Caytan? Or ev= en messages that might be relayed to the enemy fleet?" Kal's sharp-edged questions betrayed his anxiety. "My boy, you know that's impossible," Remy remonstrated kindly. = "Caytan is a freeport and we're bound by the Federation's treaty not to interfere." "So that means that any criminal can just operate out of Caytan without fear of reprisals?" Lois' disgust with that set of circumstances= shone clear. She'd never been to the place, but since Etta had related i= ts existence while they'd been imprisoned on the mountain, Lois had instinctively hated and feared it. "Why doesn't the Federation just clos= e the hell-hole down?" "I'm afraid that's not an option," explained Trey with uncharacteristic patience. "When the Planetary Confederation was first proposed during the reign of Kan-El, not all worlds wished to join or to assume the high ideals which the Federation sought to promote. Some civilisations came reluctantly to the union and others refused point blan= k to join and were even prepared to resist with force. It seemed that for = a time there would be galactic war -- the very thing that we'd most hoped t= o avoid in forming the Federation. There were a number of very worrying skirmishes and bloody acts of terrorism; it was a dreadful time and Krypt= on and its allies sought for a way to end the escalating mayhem. Eventually = a compromise was reached with these opposing planets that allowed them to co-exist with the members. Quadrants on the boundaries of the galaxy wer= e set up as free zones where any planet or people could pursue its business= without interference by others. In return these nonmembers agreed to desist in their attacks on the budding Federation and signed up to a certain code of practise -- as long as they don't openly persecute any innocent world then space-stations like Caytan will be left alone." = = "Convenient for Taureans and this bunch of pirates . . . and Nor!" = Lois derided but she understood that the Federation had made the best dea= l possible so she refrained from further comment. "Besides, even I doubt that the enemy fleet is openly working out of= the space-station," the First Lord admitted. "That would break the code = of practise and leave them open to a raid by the Federation's Security Force= . = The directors of Caytan wouldn't put up with that. But, clearly, there = is a contact base on the station and it would be to our advantage to know wh= at was going on." "That won't be a problem, sire. I can monitor all transmission and,= believe me, they'll never trace the surveillance back to Krypton," Commander Jace announced with pride. "Good! Then we rely on you, Jace! And, gentlemen, I'm sorry if thi= s line of investigation doesn't sit well with your principles . . . ." "Kal, dear boy, don't worry so! When fighting with devils like thes= e sometimes it's necessary to dirty one's hands -- even noble Kryptonian hands," counselled wise Uncle Remy. . "And I agree with my friend . . . we need to defeat Rad-Nor and his gang of thugs by any expedient, otherwise he will reek havoc on this worl= d. And don't fear that you're alone in this, Kal; any good-thinking Krytponian will know that you're the rightful leader and the best they could ever hope for." Trey spoke from the heart and throughout the room heads nodded in accord. "Now, it appears that we need only to wait to see if our fish take t= he bait." The dowager Lady El at last joined the conversation. "And then, hopefully, Lord Dax will play his part and finish off these marauders; we= can arrest the Mais and to save themselves, they will implicate Nor and life can return to normal. So let's all go into supper." The Lady forbore to mention that which was uppermost in her mind -- then she would get her daughter back, if fate was kind and Rad-Nor wasn't= so vile as to threaten the life of his wife and child. = ***** tbc in Part 16 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 21:31:55 +1000 Reply-To: "jenerators@optushome.com.au" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jen Stosser Subject: Charmed In Joke? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Watching Charmed tonight (not sure of the ep title) but there's an interesting in-joke... Shannen Doherty's character is described as once having dated a guy who was on the football team, and did his knee in about three weeks into the training season, so he had to quit. The guy has dark hair like you know who, but nothing else similar. His manager recruits him to become a demon, and his mother is instrumental in bringing him back to humanity. LOL! Jen Please note my new email address: jenerators@optushome.com.au -*- This message is umop ap!sdn -*- -*- Jenerator or Some1Else on IRC) -*- JenerEight on AIM -*- Photos of David (8) and Megan (5) on the Stosser Family HomePage: http://www.geocities.com/j_stosser -*-Please sign our guestbook! ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 14:54:01 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicola Baker Subject: BR needed for Flying Lessons sequel MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi, This is the first time I have sent anything to the list, so I hope I'm = doing this right. That fact also explains why if you only read fanfic = from here you haven't heard of Flying Lessons. I posted it to = Zoom's MBs and I'm currently working on the sequel. I really need a BR = to basically bully me until I get it finished. ;-) It's not going to be = a very long fic, and isn't the most serious in the world. If you'd like to help, please email me privately. Thank you! NicNacs ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 10:57:23 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: Charmed In Joke? On Tue, 24 Apr 2001 21:31:55 +1000, Jen Stosser wrote: >Shannen Doherty's character is described as once having dated a guy who was >on the football team, and did his knee in about three weeks into the >training season, so he had to quit. >The guy has dark hair like you know who, but nothing else similar. His >manager recruits him to become a demon, and his mother is instrumental in >bringing him back to humanity. Oh, I don't know about that, Jen ... we could have lots of fun finding similar people in Dean's life that tried to turn him to the dark side. There was a particular country singer, if I remember correctly, and -- er, never mind. Very funny catch, Jen! Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 11:00:56 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: OT how does blocking whole domains affect This List On Sun, 22 Apr 2001 16:36:07 EDT, Rowan Fuller wrote: > Will I receive mail from yahoo members still via the list as >that is coming from the listserves as opposed to yahoo? I don't want to >target yahoo folcs. I'm afraid I have no idea, Rowan. Maybe someone here with a Yahoo account can send a test post, and see if Rowan gets it? > I don't want children reading about some of the things >I'm receiving and they always give sneaky headings these days and its only >when you open the email do you realise you have got yet another disgusting >email. Often I'm fooled into thinking it is listmail until I open it. Does your email program do filters? What I did when I was set to MAIL on this list was to filter everything from the listserv address into a separate mailbox. That way, the porn spam won't sbow up there, and you can identify it more easily. That doesn't prevent the kids from opening it, though! Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 15:06:45 -0400 Reply-To: "Heidi A. Bingham" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Heidi A. Bingham" Organization: Militant Breastfeeding Cult Subject: Re: OT how does blocking whole domains affect This List MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit My guess would be yes, since it does track the incoming mail as being from yahoo. :-( But not necessarily. You should forward the junk back to the Yahoo customer service people. They should have a department to handle violations like that. ~ Heidi ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 13:12:58 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Test Yahoo Post ( Was Re: OT how does blocking whole domains affect This List) In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Testing to see if Rowan gets this email. Um, someone else may have to check with her to see if she got it, because if she didn't get it, she wouldn't know that she didn't get it... :) Irene --- Kathy Brown wrote: > On Sun, 22 Apr 2001 16:36:07 EDT, Rowan Fuller > wrote: > > > Will I receive mail from yahoo members still via > the list as > >that is coming from the listserves as opposed to > yahoo? I don't want to > >target yahoo folcs. > > I'm afraid I have no idea, Rowan. Maybe someone > here with a Yahoo account > can send a test post, and see if Rowan gets it? > > > I don't want children reading about some of the > things > >I'm receiving and they always give sneaky headings > these days and its only > >when you open the email do you realise you have got > yet another disgusting > >email. Often I'm fooled into thinking it is > listmail until I open it. > > Does your email program do filters? What I did when > I was set to MAIL on > this list was to filter everything from the listserv > address into a separate > mailbox. That way, the porn spam won't sbow up > there, and you can identify > it more easily. That doesn't prevent the kids from > opening it, though! > > Kathy __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 20:12:32 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: Looking for an editor/website info Comments: To: afolcslife@yahoogroups.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone! I'm looking for an editor who can get back to me in a timely manner, to help me with my ADITLOM RPG. I'm already the editor of it as well as the arbitrator, but I need a co-editor to work with me, just in case if I miss anything when I go over it myself. ;) The person who applys for this job will have to be someone who can get back to me with their comments as soon as they can. Just as a warning, the file I will send you is kinda big, but I think it's an easy read. As long as I have your attention, I was wondering if anyone out there could help me with finding a good website to set up shop in. I'm preferably looking for a website provider that is free and that allows you to click on pictures or links to get to written works. I'd like to use this website to showcase some of my writings but I really don't know how to go about this. Anyone who can help me with any of this, is encouraged to email me privately, at LoisLane9397@aol.com Thanks for your time! Alexis ;-.) ""Faster than a speeding bullet." (Luthor) {LnC, Neverending Battle} ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 19:34:18 -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: Another Kryptonite question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay - me again! Thanks goes out to merry, Liz, Kelly and Amber who have graciously offered to help Missy BR and me hash this thing out! On another note - is there any hard fast rules on how Kryptonite would affect LC's unborn baby? I don't think there are, I think it's up tot he author, but I want to check. The other question I have is this - If LL is pregnant with CK's child, could the K affect her? I know (I think?) that the blood of the mother and baby don't mix together so she couldn't have some kind of - I think it's called the "K" factor - in her system, but could it affect her. What I'm thinking is that she is carrying the baby and is exposed to K and it affects her mental capabilities/personality, kind of like red K did to Supes the first time. Does that sound feasible or is it out in left field? (Like a guy in tights who flies is normal!:o)!) Thanks! CM ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 21:19:51 -0500 Reply-To: truitt22@flash.net Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: timothy truitt Organization: tnt technical services Subject: Re: Looking for an editor/website info MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Alexis - I don't know about websites. I do know a lot of authors set up shop at Anne Ciotola's site. You can click on the author and the name of their stories come up - and then click on the story and the story itself comes up. ADITLOM - - I've read all you have written on this. I'd like to help. On you story - Be Careful What You Wish For - I've read it the first time. I'm waiting until the changes etc... and it's all posted before reading it again. If you want me to help let me know. merry truitt22@flash.net "Alexis W." wrote: > Hi everyone! > > I'm looking for an editor who can get back to me in a timely manner, to help > me with my ADITLOM RPG. I'm already the editor of it as well as the > arbitrator, but I need a co-editor to work with me, just in case if I miss > anything when I go over it myself. ;) > > The person who applys for this job will have to be someone who can get back > to me with their comments as soon as they can. Just as a warning, the file I > will send you is kinda big, but I think it's an easy read. > > As long as I have your attention, I was wondering if anyone out there could > help me with finding a good website to set up shop in. I'm preferably > looking for a website provider that is free and that allows you to click on > pictures or links to get to written works. I'd like to use this website to > showcase some of my writings but I really don't know how to go about this. > > Anyone who can help me with any of this, is encouraged to email me privately, > at LoisLane9397@aol.com > > Thanks for your time! > > Alexis ;-.) > > ""Faster than a speeding bullet." (Luthor) > {LnC, Neverending Battle} ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 23:06:53 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: Test Yahoo Post ( Was Re: OT how does blocking whole domains affect This List) On Tue, 24 Apr 2001 13:12:58 -0700, Irene D. wrote: >Testing to see if Rowan gets this email. Um, someone >else may have to check with her to see if she got it, >because if she didn't get it, she wouldn't know that >she didn't get it... :) OK, I'll respond to it, and Rowan can let us know if she got the original or not. Ball's in your court, Rowan! Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 06:25:49 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rowan Fuller Subject: Re: Test Yahoo Post ( Was Re: OT how does blocking whole domains affect This ... MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Irene Thank you very much. I did get it. So obviously I'm not going to jam the list. Currently I'm trying to work out AOL's filter procedures so I can perhaps reinsert Yahoo members - I don't appeqr to be getting anything from them on their own, so haven't any rude mail since. Thanks everyone for your advice. Oh and I have now forwarded a whole lot to Yahoo. I won't hold my breath though. I think the problem is with those yahoo group mailing lists, anyonoe can go down and see members of groups and get addresses like that. When it was Onelist and Egroups you used to be able to block the information individually. However since it has been yahoogroups I haven't found a way and there must be some shortcut for Yahoo subscribers to really access whose with yahoo or not. I've only noticed this influx since Yahoo took over Egroups. Well thanks again. Rowan :) -- -- -- LaneKent@aol.com website homepage: http://members.aol.com/lanekent . ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 07:15:43 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: New Fic: FCII, chapter 11 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Chapter 11: September Kat put her head on her arm and took a deep breath. The arm rested on the seat of the toilet. The toilet was painfully cold, and had been her constant companion for the last three days. It was one of those cases, Kat decided, of the cure being worse than the disease. She'd come down with a virus the week before, running a high fever and developing a cough. When she didn't improve over the next few days, she'd gone back to the doctor only to find that she had a mild case of pneumonia. Unfortunately, the antibiotics had not stayed down and her condition had not improved. CJ had finally taken her to the Emergency Room. After two liters of fluid and a dose of IV antibiotics, the fever had finally come down within reason and he'd been allowed to take his wife home. Now, two days later, Kat was actually better. She was so much better, in fact, that she'd stopped taking the Phenergan that the doctor had prescribed to alleviate the nausea that went along with the antibiotics. She wouldn't make that mistake again. "Better?" CJ asked softly, offering her a cool washcloth and a glass of water. Kat looked up from her perch on the floor and tried to smile, failing miserably. "Just ducky," she muttered, taking a sip of the water and rinsing her mouth with it. He sat down beside her and put his arm around her, pulling her towards him. She rested her head on his shoulder, instead of the cold porcelain. "How many more days of antibiotics?" he asked gently. "Another week. They want me to go the full ten days." "There isn't another one they could use?" She shook her head, knowing he could feel the motion even if he couldn't see her face. "Not for pneumonia. They use the mildest thing available, and that's Amoxocillin. Believe it or not, the other stuff is worse." CJ sighed as he rubbed her arm and gave her time to rest. Several minutes later, when her breathing was steady and quiet, he lifted her into his arms and carried her back to bed. He placed the big bowl beside her, just in case, and went to get her some juice. When he returned a few minutes later, a glass of apple juice and a little pink tablet in hand, Kat had to smile. "Thanks," she said after taking the medication with the juice. "You're welcome," he answered softly. "What?" she asked. His voice had held more uncertainty than the reflexive response should have. "Should we put off the wedding again?" he finally asked, clearly reluctant. "No!" "But, if you're not feeling well..." "I'll be fine by Saturday," she insisted. "Ceej, we worked too hard for this. I'm not going through all the rescheduling again, even if I have to go down that aisle in a wheelchair. CJ smiled at her, his expression showing that he agreed with her urgency, if not her judgment. Kat finally mustered a reassuring smile of her own. She snuggled into the pillow, and relaxed into CJ's bed. She still didn't think of it as theirs, even though they'd been sharing it for the last nine months, off and on. They still hadn't managed to find an apartment. Well, they'd found several, but none that had been within reasonable driving distance and without bugs. Kat didn't mind staying at the Kent household, as it had always been her second home, but she was looking forward to having a place of her own. Jonathan had found a one-bedroom apartment in record time, both clean and furnished, but larger apartments seemed to be harder to come by. As a final resort, she and CJ had begun looking at homes in the area. More expensive by far, they offered an alternative to the simple two or three bedroom apartment that they had originally been searching for. With the rent so high, Kat had to wonder if actually buying one would be that much worse, but she hadn't yet broached the subject to CJ. It was several more minutes before CJ spoke. He'd taken the spot next to her, sitting up against the headboard. "Better?" "Yeah," she told him, and she was telling the truth. The Phenergan worked quickly, and the debilitating nausea was receding. Unfortunately, she was also getting very sleepy, which was the reason that she'd tried to go without the medication. "Ready to sleep?" he asked gently, already tugging the covers up over her. "Yeah," she murmured softly. She felt the pull of the medication, the lack of awareness, and began to struggle against it. She hated to be out-of-it. Just as she began to panic, realizing that the medication was stronger than she was, she felt CJ's arms go around her. He gave her some of his strength, and all of his love. "In sickness and in health," he reminded her. She took a deep breath, calming herself. "I love you," she said with a sigh, finally relaxing into sleep. "I love you too, Goober." *** Lois smiled as she set the bowl on the table. It was takeout from their favorite local oriental restaurant, and it was as close to home cooking as she was going to attempt. She'd learned long ago that her family appreciated good food far more than her fumbling efforts with the culinary arts. Most of them were still at the church, hashing out the details of who would stand where and what music would be played when. While Lois certainly had an interest in the events, she didn't have a need to be there. After more than an hour of watching the discussion, she'd finally decided that she and Jonathan had done their part in the ceremony and were ready to come home. They had done so by way of the restaurant, and soon the rest of the family would arrive for dinner. In retrospect, Lois figured it wasn't the usual after-rehearsal dinner, with it's gifts and toasts, but she didn't think that the kids would mind. They were practical almost to a fault, and far more than any newlyweds their age had a right to be. They were living in CJ's room, they were preparing for stable and rewarding lives, and they were doing everything they could to make everyone else's life easier. It had Lois worried. What normal twenty-three year old boy lived at home with his new bride and parents without complaint? What type of woman willingly moved into her new husband's home and then took a job while he waited for his? They were good kids, and they always had been, but Lois was beginning to worry that if they didn't take some initiative for themselves, they wouldn't have the opportunity to be independent. A more maternal part of her was just glad that she hadn't lost her son when he graduated after all. She had expected to have him move away, not have him move back in. In the process, she'd gained the daughter that she'd always wanted, and while thrilled she still was expecting the other shoe to drop. Apartment hunting was difficult this close to Metropolis. Less then an hour away when traffic was agreeable, the community of Claremont was inundated with commuters who were looking for a suburban home, much as Lois and Clark had almost twenty years before. The result had been a distinct lack of available, reasonable housing. The couple hadn't given up, though. They still checked the classifieds daily, and had contacted more than one local Realtor. The problem in Claremont wasn't the lack of housing, but rather the lack of apartments. There were a few studio-style places, such as her father-in-law had found, but not much in the way of family apartments. The few that had been around had been bought by a large corporation a few years back. Now those apartments were condos, and they were far outside the price range of a young couple for no more than they were. Recently, CJ had begun asking about houses. There weren't any in the area to rent, but there were a few for sale. It would be hard managing a mortgage, car payment, and paying off their student loans with a first-year teaching position and a new job at a hospital, but they might just make it if they tried. It would allow them a yard, as well as a larger living space. On the other hand, it would also give them more rooms to clean and a lawn to keep up, but that was the tradeoff. Lois' head came up and she had to smile when her husband's hands slipped around her waist and he placed a gentle kiss on her neck. "Mmm, you're back." "Can't get anything past you," he murmured in her ear. "The starving heathens are parking the car. I flew ahead." "Why would you do that?" she asked with a smile. "To get a minute alone with my wife," he admitted. "It may be the last one for quite a while," she agreed. "My mom's supposed to come in tonight." "Yeah," he said softly. Lois heard the regret in his voice. "Let me guess. She's not coming." "She didn't think we'd be home, so she called the church. Something about an airline strike. She'll try to get out early next week." Lois rested her head back on her husband's shoulder. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes, but she couldn't figure out why. She'd never been fond of her mother's company, and yet she *had* been looking forward to this visit. "How are the kids taking it?" she asked. "They're fine with it," Clark admitted. "CJ said that as long as we're there, and his grandpa, then he doesn't need anyone else." Lois sighed, finally letting the tears slide free to make wet tracks down her cheeks. "I'll get her here if you want," Clark promised. Lois shook her head in denial. "No," she said firmly. "It isn't my day. It's Kat's." "But..." "But, nothing," she said, standing and wiping her cheeks with her hands. "I'm fine. And the kids will be here in a moment. You said so yourself." "Honey..." "I'm fine," she said again. Clark didn't get another chance to reply, because Kat and CJ were indeed coming through the front door, laughing and shoving as they did so. Clark sighed as he watched his wife wipe her face with her fingers once more, and then go to meet them. *** CJ looked over the church, took a deep breath, and tried to keep his knees from shaking. He was already married, he reasoned. There was absolutely no reason for him to be this nervous. Hell, he hadn't been *this* nervous when he'd gone to the Justice of the Peace. "You're looking green," his father commented wryly. "Thanks," CJ muttered. "That makes me feel a lot better." Clark laughed, the sound drawing a few curious looks from the audience. "You're fine," he said, reaching over to pat his son on the back. "Just take a deep breath and remind yourself that this doesn't change anything." CJ nodded, took a deep breath and held it, then released it slowly. He *did* feel calmer, he decided. Maybe there was something to the relaxation techniques that his father was always recommending. He felt relaxed, ready, calm... Then his heart flipped over in his chest. He saw his grandfather appear, wearing a tuxedo with cream colored bow tie and cumberbun to match Clark's. CJ's tuxedo was white on white, just as Kat's dress was. Then, he saw Kat. He'd seen her in the dress before. Despite all the superstitions to the contrary, she'd wanted his opinions on the bridal pictures that had been taken. He'd thought she looked lovely, if almost too pretty to be true. Seeing her in person, the effect was devastating. He couldn't breathe. He felt his father's hand on his back again, showing his presence as well as support. CJ spared a moment to think that if he passed out, at least his father would catch him. The evening before, during the rehearsal, he'd managed to get Kat laughing every time she looked at him. For this reason, he didn't bother to try to see her face, veil or not. He didn't want to embarrass the both of them by another fit of giggles. He watched her move, instead. Graceful as she walked to stand at the back of the church, she tilted her head to the side as she listened for the wedding march. As the piano began the song, his mother was the first to stand, causing the rest of the observers to do so as well. They stood, but even their motion couldn't distract him from seeing Kat begin to move towards him. He took a breath, then another, but for the life of him he couldn't manage to get enough air in to keep his head from swimming. There was a knot in his throat that made breathing difficult, and he had the strangest suspicion that he was about to cry. Looking at Kat's face didn't become an option until she had stopped before him and turned to his grandfather for the veil to be lifted. Jonathan did so almost reverently, then she turned back to him. He did cry. The tears wouldn't stop. Kat's face was drenched as well, her smile tremulous. Never one to wear much makeup, she had gone against her usual pattern and the result was a pool of damp mascara that made her look vaguely like a raccoon. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. They said their vows quietly, more concerned with one another than the church full of people that watched them. Kat's voice broke as she said "I do," and he had to stop twice as he spoke his vows, unable to get any words past the knot that simply wouldn't go away. They didn't exchange rings, neither willing to remove their wedding bands even for the few minutes before the ceremony, but no one seemed to notice the absence of that particular part of the ritual. Vows complete, they joined hands for the remainder of the ceremony. They lit a unity candle together, knelt as a friend of his mother sang The Lord's Prayer, and then finally CJ was allowed to kiss the bride. It had been a long week. Kat had been recovering from a mild case of pneumonia, and had spent most of the week in bed. He'd wanted very much to join her, but instead he had started teaching. It was exhausting work, confusing and exciting all at once, and nothing like he had expected. He had yet to decide if he really liked it or hated the bureaucracy of it. Looking into his wife's face, none of the struggles of the week seemed to matter. He leaned forward, touched his lips quickly to hers, and then pulled himself away. It wasn't the kiss that he wanted to give, but he wasn't willing to share at the moment. His true feelings could wait until they didn't have an audience. The twinkle in his wife's eyes told him that she understood, and agreed. They were presented to the church, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, and neither could hold back a smile. More than one person in the church applauded, his grandfather and father among them, and soon the entire congregation was cheering wildly. With a final grin, CJ decided to give them what they came for, and he tugged his wife into his arms. He dipped her and joined his lips to hers in a laughing kiss. After he had returned her to an upright position, he lifted her up and raised her high into the air, twirling her slowly around for all to see. As he brought her down into his arms, her breathless laughter making it impossible to erase his own smile, he just stood there and held her. It was done. She was his wife, before God and everyone, and nothing could have made him happier. *** Some time later, after taking pictures of the small wedding party and greeting each guest in the reception line, that Kat finally managed to sit down. CJ had prepared her a plate from the buffet table and left it with her as he was swept onto the dance floor by another of his mother's friends from the planet. He wasn't much of a dancer, but he took the insistence with good humor. Kat settled in next to Jonathan, comparing her full plate to his half-emptied one. "It must be good," she commented. "It's not Martha's," he began, but then his voice trailed off. Kat took a bite of the chicken wing that Jonathan had been referring to, and nodded her agreement. "Yeah, she made a lot better." "I'm sorry," he said softly. "Why?" Kat asked solemnly. "Martha made great wings. It was one of the things she'd planned to do for the reception. I don't mind you mentioning her." "It's a day for happy things," Jonathan told her softly. "Every thought I have of Martha *is* happy," Kat assured him. "Do you think she would have approved of the ceremony?" Jonathan watched her for a moment, then seemed to decide that Kat was serious. "She would have loved it," he admitted. "My mom, too," Kat said with a soft smile. "She always loved weddings. I remember once when I was really little that I got to be a flower girl. She worked for weeks to sew the dress for me, and I thought the day would never come when I'd get to wear it. Anyway, the day of the ceremony she spent an hour curling my hair and ironing out the wrinkles from the dress. It was all so much bigger than I could understand, of course, but I could see how excited Mom was and that made it special for me." "Your mother sounds like a lovely person," Jonathan commented. "She was. You know, after she died, I think the reason that I enjoyed being in Smallville so much is because Martha was the only person that didn't tiptoe around her death. I needed to talk about my mother, needed to remember her while it was all still fresh. If I'd waited, I'm afraid I would have forgotten, but Martha didn't let me. She was so gentle about it, asking me if my mom had ever braided my hair, or if she wore jeans. But she brought her up, brought her back, and I will always be grateful for that." "Everyone seems so sad when I mention her," Jonathan admitted. "I don't know if they're mourning her, or if they're pitying me, but either way it's uncomfortable." "It's healthy for you to remember her," Kat said gently. "It would be abnormal if you spent fifty years with someone and then went on without their name coming up." "She was my life." "A big part of it, anyway. You shouldn't have to panic every time you mention her name." Jonathan smiled softly and nodded. "Thank you." "Don't thank me," Kat said with a grin. "My motivations are totally selfish. I wanted her here as much as anyone, and if the only way I can have that is to remember her, then I'll have to settle." "Did I ever tell you about our wedding?" Jonathan asked suddenly. "No," Kat admitted. "Tell me now." He shook his head. "I don't want to keep the guest of honor from her dinner," he said, gesturing to her still full plate. "You need to eat something, and then get out there and enjoy your party. It's your day." She smiled, then blushed slightly. "All the attention makes me nervous," she admitted. "I'm not one for being in the middle of things." "You're a beautiful centerpiece," Jonathan told her. "And I'm not the only one who thinks so." Kat turned to look over her shoulder, where Jonathan's gaze had risen to. She smiled when she saw her exhausted husband moving towards her. "I know you haven't eaten," he admitted. "But please come dance with me. I haven't had my hands on you since the first song, and I'm tired of being groped by strangers." "Are they groping you?" she said with a giggle, setting her plate on the chair beside her. She wished there were a table nearby, as she didn't want anyone sitting in her dinner, but she could always get another plate. "Miserably," he elaborated, but he was grinning all the while. "I can't have that," she said as she stood. Turning back, she asked Jonathan, "Is it okay if I desert you? I promise we'll talk later." "It's fine," he said with a gentle smile. "Just don't expect your plate to be here when you come back." He reached over and snagged the last chicken wing from her plate and moved it to his own with a wink. She laughed, leaning down and kissing him on the cheek before joining her husband on the dance floor. When she looked back at him a moment later, he was stealing a couple of meatballs from her plate as well. She was glad. This was the first time she'd seen him really eat well since they had begun a vigil at the hospital months before. He had needed to lose some weight, granted, but she didn't want to see his health jeopardized by the rapidity of his weight loss. What was more significant to her though, was that he honestly seemed to be enjoying himself tonight. He was smiling, eating foods he loved, and talking to those around him as though he was going to be fine. While it was what she had been telling herself for weeks, it was a good thing to see. He was going to be okay after all. Slipping her arms more tightly around her husband as the music changed from fast to slow, she realized that soon they would all be just fine. Martha would have wanted it that way. *** CJ looked at the piece of white-frosted chocolate cake that was coming at him, and had the distinct desire to duck. Instead, he opened his mouth, prayed that the rented tux would survive the onslaught, and hoped for the best. Most of the cake made it into his mouth. Most. The rest was on his face, but it wasn't too big of a mess. This was saying quite a lot as he looked at his wife's smeared face. He knew he deserved what he had gotten, but the temptation to go after her with the cake had just been too strong. She had washed her face and reapplied her makeup after the ceremony, a necessary step before they'd taken the photographs. The wedding party was small, as most of her friends lived in Illinois, and most of his were back in Smallville, or returned to their origins after graduation at the end of the Spring. He really didn't have many friends in Metropolis or Claremont anymore, most of them having gone away to school and not returned afterwards, but the few he had were here. They had forgone the usual entourage, and kept the wedding simple. His father had stood as his best man, and his grandfather had walked Kat down the aisle. His mother had set in the front row, grinning throughout the whole ceremony instead of crying as was expected, and the simplicity of the service had been both a relief and a surprise. Kat's family hadn't attended. She hadn't spoken to her father in years, and she had no brothers or sisters. If she felt their absence, she wasn't showing it. She basked in the love of his family and his parent's friends, and she seemed to be genuinely happy despite how ill she had been during the week. The Daily Planet crew had definitely monopolized the guest list. He had all but grown up in the news room, so they all knew and loved him. Friends of his parents, mentors to him, the majority of the staff had been in attendance as his life changed, officially, forever. Most of them didn't know that a JP had already taken care of the legalities, but CJ didn't care. He was married, twice for good measure, and he was thrilled about it. (end of chapter 11) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 07:52:40 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: Book 2 - complete MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi there... For anyone who's really anxious to read the end of the story, the complete version is now up on my website (still awaiting final edit, but that's mostly minor after making it's way through 4 full betas). www.geocities.com/cryswimmer/CrysMain.html click on the link for L&C fanfiction, then click on the story link Enjoy :) -Crys- PS... the final installment will be posted here tomorrow, as scheduled. Thanks much :) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 08:08:31 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Subject: New: Hearts Divided (1/?) [PG-13] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lemme see if I can figure out how do do one of these fanfic headers... I started posting this on Zoom's new message boards (http://www.lastson.com/boards/ultimatebb.cgi) on Saturday and posted again today. I'm posting this as I write it, but I have a buffer built up. I'll try not to go more than a week between posts, but if I write faster, I can post faster. :) Title: Hearts Divided Part: 1/? Author: Pam Jernigan (jernigan@bellsouth.net) Rating: PG-13 (mild language) Feedback: All comments welcomed, either public or private. Summary: An Elseworld tale about the conflict between competing loyalties, duty and love. **** Lois marched into the small family-style restaurant and surveyed the room. The lunch hour had not yet arrived, and the place was nearly deserted. Which made it easier for her to spot her target. The manager took one look at her crisp uniform and faded into the kitchen. She strode across the room to confront the rail-thin man eagerly devouring a plate-full of food. "Bobby Bigmouth?" He glanced up, his fork suspended in midair. "Who wants to know?" "I am Lieutenant L.J. Lane, US Army Intelligence," she announced, wondering which of two predictable come-backs this would elicit. Usually they either snorted at the perceived oxymoron, or-- "Lane, huh?" he replied, arching a speculative eyebrow. "First initial L? It's not Lois is it, like in the Superman comics?" He had been quick to pick up on that; good, that meant he was somewhat intelligent. "I'm afraid I don't read comics," she replied dampeningly. "I'm here today to ask you what you know about a local fire hazard called the Toasters." West River had erupted into flames in the past few days; several properties had burned down, injuring several people, including one off-duty corporal. The fire chief wasn't commenting, but rumor had it that the arson was gang-related. The brass at Fort Truman had no desire for the fires to spread to nearby army property, or to affect any more personnel, so they'd sent Lois to see what she could find out. She had no real jurisdiction, but she had no intention of letting the informant know that. Bobby's face took on a cunning expression, as he dipped his fork again for another bite, and proceeded to talk around it. "I see my reputation precedes me -- so you gotta know, I don't give this stuff away for free." He looked around, rapid calculation in his eyes. "I mean, this place is okay, but what I could really go for is--" Lois was in no mood to make concessions. Leaning forward, she grabbed his plate and spun it towards the other end of the table. Grabbing his lapels next, she pulled him forward. "I want to know what you know. And if you don't tell me, let's just say you'll spend the next month eating through a straw." She projected as much menace as she could muster, feigning an anger she didn't feel. She needed this information, and all indications were that this lowlife had the answers; threats seemed the most direct method of obtaining them. His eyes widened as he stared at her, and for a long moment he hesitated, and she wondered if he was thinking of calling her bluff. Then he sagged, and raised his hands in a universal gesture of surrender. "Okay, already, I give." Abruptly, she released him, letting him fall back into his seat. He fussed with his clothing, trying to regain whatever dignity he could muster, and she waited patiently. He glanced up, a spark of resentment in his eyes, and commented, "You know, I love my country, but that was a bit much." "Yeah, well, I'd feel guilty about it if I thought you ever paid your taxes." Bobby put on a deeply wounded look, and opened his mouth, but Lois spoke first. "Never mind, never mind. That was insensitive of me." She smiled briefly and insincerely. "Now, what do you know about the fires?" *** "We're entering the target solar system, m'Lord Ching," Sev reported. "We should make planet-fall in approximately twelve more hours." "Very good," Lieutenant Ching replied, tired of correcting Sev's incorrect use of the honorific. New Krypton was such a class-conscious society, especially in the lower classes, that some of the enlisted men tended to call all of their commanding officers Lords. As soon as a real Lord took command of the ship, they could transfer their blind worship to him. Ching would not miss it; being mistaken for higher rank only served to remind him of what he could not have. Zak, the young tactical officer, looked up from his console. "What's Earth like, sir?" "I've only been there once, Zak," Ching replied, not unkindly. "Haven't you read the reports?" Zak blushed. "Um, I've been -- well, no, sir, I haven't." "Well, there's a little time left," Ching allowed. "Look, this is a peaceful system -- you're relieved of bridge duty; go back to your quarters and study up, before we get there." He supposed the boy had been busy with the universal pastime of young men everywhere ... day dreaming about women. Ching could hardly blame him; it had been a long time since they'd left home, and although their previous mission was nearly over, new orders had just arrived, to make this pick-up and deliver a sealed message. There was no telling when they would return to New Krypton. "I've read the reports," Sev mentioned, glancing slyly at his crewmate. "It's a nice ripe little world, Earth is. All sorts of amenities. They're kryptonoid there, so we'll blend right in with the natives." "Sev!" Ching spoke sharply, wanting to nip this thought pattern in the bud. "This will not be shore leave. We are going to make one short stop, to retrieve our local agent. At that point, he will be in command, and since he's been marooned there for three years, I expect he'll be in a hurry to leave." Depending on the contents of the message, of course, but the packet had been marked urgent, so haste was likely whether their destination turned out to be New Krypton or elsewhere. "Besides, the people of this planet have no idea there are other occupied worlds in the universe; until the Lords of New Krypton decide to reveal themselves, we *will* keep our existence a secret. Is that understood?" Ching fixed Sev with a severe glare, until the helmsman's smile wilted. "Yes, sir," he mumbled, then reluctantly added, "M'Lord." "Good. I will take the helm for the next duty cycle. You are both relieved until the next cycle." The two younger Kryptonians saluted smartly and filed off the bridge, leaving Ching to the solitude of the stars. He leaned back in the captain's chair, taking a deep breath. He had known this part of the mission would be unpleasant, but duty was duty. He would need the next few hours to gather his composure; he would need all his control to once again face the man who would one day marry the woman Ching loved. *** First Lieutenant L.J. Lane entered the bar with an appearance of bravado she did not entirely feel. She touched the neckline of her skimpy dress, feeling naked not only at the change from her usual uniform, but also because she had left her pistol behind. She hated feeling vulnerable, but she would be outnumbered and outgunned regardless, so subterfuge was her best chance. She forced herself to relax. Bobby's information had pointed her to the Metro Club, but a change of tactics had seemed appropriate. She knew she looked good in the outfit; if she could sing and dance to the manager's satisfaction as well, she would be in. She looked around the dimly lit bar, and spotted a lone bartender, polishing glasses. Attempting a sultry walk, she approached him. "Hey, there." He looked up, briefly glancing at her face before his gaze drifted lower. "What can I help you with?" She took a deep breath to calm herself, then immediately regretted it as the movement only called attention to her cleavage. 'Work with it, Lane,' she ordered herself. She smiled. "I was wondering if the club had any openings for a singer?" The bartender looked up again. "Maybe. Talk to Johnny, over there." "Thanks. See you around." Slowly, deliberately, she swung around on one heel, and walked towards the man the bartender had indicated, who was sitting near the side of the stage. "Hello," she called out, as she spotted the manager. "My name is Lola, Lola Dane, and I'm here to be your new singer." He lifted his head to meet her gaze, then let his eyes wander freely. Lois waiting, feigning boredom. Johnny Taylor -- owner of the Metro Club, and quite likely, the head of the Metro Gang -- smiled. "We've already got a singer, hot cakes, but we could use legs like yours in the chorus." Lois shrugged as nonchalantly as she could. She was in. *** Kal Lewis slouched back in his chair, contemplating his sterile apartment. It was small, and its West River location couldn't be called good, but it had served his purposes for the past three years. He vaguely regretted, now, that he'd never fixed it up -- with the powers this world's yellow sun had bestowed upon him, it would not have been difficult -- but in the end it made no difference. He had thought he would want to spend tonight at a party, making the most of his last night on Earth. Now that the moment was upon him, he was suffused with melancholy, instead. Only a football game on television kept him company. It wasn't as if he had any true friends, he admitted, not here. There were various friendly acquaintances, of both genders, but he'd never allowed himself to be close to any of them. None of them knew of his alien origin. So none of them would understand that he was going back home. He had no strong desire to return to New Krypton, but there was no reason to stay. He'd served his three-year tour, living unobtrusively among the humans, learning their cultures, and now it was time to report back. After the isolation of old Krypton, the new colony had a much more proactive approach to interstellar relations -- they wanted to know their neighbors, whether openly or through stealthy observation. The physical similarities between Kryptonians and humans had made this one of the easier posts available -- some observers were stuck on a small satellite for years at a time, watching a pre-spaceflight world. Kal had been able to blend in. That similarity was the reason he'd given, in requesting this assignment. He didn't think the Council would understand the way he'd felt drawn to it from his first glimpse. Adjusting to Earth's culture had been a shock, at first, but once he'd gotten used to it, he'd decided that he liked this world. It was chaotic and over-emotional, true, but the abundant natural resources had granted humans luxuries that New Kryptonians professed not to want. And in the constant din and clatter of Metropolis, the restlessness that had gnawed at Kal ever since he could remember had been easier to bear ... though it had not vanished. Perhaps it was just as well that he would be going home. It was time to grow up and stop longing for something he didn't have, and couldn't even name. He had responsibilities to his world, and it was time to stop running away from them. Tonight or tomorrow morning, the transport ship would arrive, and his officers would contact him, telepathically. He'd already made all the preparations necessary for their landing. The journey home would be short and uneventful, and Zara would be waiting for him. Their wedding would probably follow in short order, assuming she hadn't found a better candidate in his absence. He held out little hope of that; the selection of eligible nobles was, like everything else on New Krypton, limited. His musings were interrupted by a special bulletin interrupting the game. He frowned as the reporter told of yet another fire, this time only a block away, at the West River Garment Company. A worker was trapped in the burning building, and the local fire fighters lacked the equipment to safely retrieve him. Kal usually let humans deal with their own problems -- the Council had been very strict about him not revealing his presence in any way -- but this was happening right in his own neighborhood. He couldn't ignore this. There had to be something he could do. Moving quickly through back streets, he arrived at the scene of the fire in less than a minute. Using his enhanced vision, he scanned the area. It had been quite startling to him when these abilities had begun manifesting themselves, shortly after his arrival on Earth. Nothing in his mission briefing had prepared him for this, but his military training had given him the tools necessary to painstakingly discover the various fantastic things he could now do. Many hours of surreptitious practice had let him master his new skills. And he might need a few of them today, he realized. The trapped man was on the uppermost floor, and the nearest stairwell was blocked by both flames and debris. Kal could probably lead him safely to the roof, but he wasn't sure that would help anything -- the fire department still didn't have long enough ladders, and the building was beginning to collapse internally as walls and floors burned. The worker was going to have to jump -- with a little invisible help. Kal slipped around the corner, past an unmanned barricade, searching for an unobserved entrance. He found an emergency exit door propped open, and with a last cautious glance around he slipped into the building. The air was thick with smoke, and Kal could feel the heat. He worried, for a moment, that his clothing would catch fire, but his t-shirt and jeans both fit rather snugly, so they might be protected. Using all his senses to navigate, he plunged into the gloom, locating a back stairwell that seemed clear, apart from smoke -- too bad he wouldn't be able to bring the worker back this way, but the fumes would probably kill him. As he reached the top floor, he wondered why the local firemen hadn't tried this route -- until he opened the stairwell door. A wall of flames roared towards him, bringing heat, light, and crashing noise. He ducked, for a moment overcome by the memory of a childhood accident, feeling once more the sting and the throb of that long-ago burn. He shook himself out of it. In this time and place, he was invulnerable, and someone needed him. Determined, he moved forward again, unharmed. This level was burning merrily, producing a deafening cacophony of roars and hisses. As he crossed the first room, a half-heard groaning sounded, and before he could pinpoint the source, the floor beneath him collapsed. He fell halfway to the next level before his addled brain remembered that he could fly. Careful to avoid dislodging any more of the structure, he floated up again on his own power. Half walking, half flying, he passed through the worst of the blaze to reach the relatively cool front of the building. The worker was sitting slumped by an open window, his breathing noisy -- he had passed out from smoke inhalation, most likely. Kal felt almost guilty with relief; this rescue would be easier if he didn't need worry about being seen or recognized. There was no time to waste. After a quick scan to verify that there were no broken bones, Kal scooped the man up and headed for the nearby stairs -- the stairwell was acting as a chimney to draw smoke upwards, but Kal moved so quickly his passenger had no time for more than a breath or two before they emerged onto the roof with its relatively clear air. A quick glance verified his bearings, and Kal carried his burden to the edge of the roof and walked along it until he was above the deserted alley he'd found earlier. Gripping his passenger securely, Kal stepped off the building. They descended as rapidly as he dared, slowing only at the last moment. The worker began to cough as Kal laid him down across from the partly-open door. Then he walked, at fast but human speed, around to the front of the building. "Help! Some guy just staggered out of the building and collapsed!" Several firefighters followed him, and began attending to the worker, who was coughing more by now. Kal faded into the crowd, hiding a satisfied smirk. It had felt surprisingly good to be able to help -- he ought to do it more often. His elation faded as he remembered that he wouldn't have the chance. *** "When you're not on stage, you'll be serving drinks," Tanya informed Lois. "If you hold your tray like this," she demonstrated, bracing one edge against her black-clad hip, "you'll always have a free hand for defense." At Lois's inquiring look, she grimaced. "Eyes aren't the only thing that wander around here." Tanya illustrated her 'defense' move with an alarming amount of enthusiasm. Lois faked a smile. Lovely. Not only was she wearing a skimpy black body-suit, accessorized with a choker-like bow-tie, but she would be fending off groping hands all night. Well, at least she would blend in. Across the room, she noticed several men heading through an interior door. Tanya followed her gaze and exclaimed, "Oh, my -- I'd better get in there with something to wet their whistles, or I'll be back at the truck stop, slinging hash!" Lois made a grab for the tray. "Oh, let me. I could use the practice." Tanya smiled tightly, refusing to let go. "They tip big." It was on the tip of Lois's tongue to offer a twenty for the opportunity, but reluctantly, she released the tray instead, letting Tanya go about her business. Lois wanted in on that meeting, but not badly enough to risk raising suspicions. Still, there was more than one way to skin a cat. A little skulking around in the back-stage warrens led her to a storage closet. Shelves full of spare dishes lined the wall that she hoped backed onto the meeting room. Lois got her ear as close to the wall as she could, and concentrated on listening. The voices were indistinct at first, but then became louder as they were raised in anger. Johnny Taylor claimed that he would take care of the fires. Lois's eyebrows shot up at this -- maybe the Metro Gang wasn't behind this wave of arson, after all. A woman's voice cut in at that point, demanding to know *how* Johnny planned to take care of the fires. He angrily told her not to talk in meetings, and Lois wondered who this woman was, and why she was there in the first place. "Pop would be the first one to tell you to get married and have babies," Johnny sneered, answering that question -- this must be his sister Toni. Lois felt a moment of sisterly solidarity with her. It wasn't easy for a woman to make a mark on a man's world; and she supposed that organized crime was about as male a world as any, even more so than the military. A sudden commotion in the next room caught her attention, and then a bullet whizzed over her head. Startled, she dropped flat on the floor, as two more shots exploded. Through faintly ringing ears, she heard Toni sneer, "Just what we need. A cool head in charge." That seemed to bring the meeting to an abrupt end. After a few moment, Lois cautiously picked herself up, and inspected the wall. The bullet holes were perfectly placed for a view into the adjoining room. Looking around the room, she found some large metal bowls, which she stacked neatly in front of the newly-created peepholes. No sense advertising their presence. She wasn't entirely happy with her progress -- so far, all she'd gathered was negative data: The Metros were *not* coordinating the fires. But considering their status in West River, and the protection racket they ran, they would undoubtedly be putting a lot of effort into discovering the arsonist. And there was also the possibility that someone was using these fires as a form of pressure against Johnny, for whatever reason -- the culprit could even be one of Johnny's staff, anxious for a promotion. So this was still a good place to be. Well, if she wanted to remain here, she'd better get back to work. She checked for dirt smears from her dive to the floor, and wiped off a few patches of dust. Satisfied that she was presentable, she quietly slipped back into the corridor. *** Kal let himself back into his apartment, and realized that he reeked of smoke. He stripped on his way to the bathroom, and took a long hot shower, pondering his options for the evening. The football game was nearly over, and while he might be able to find another one, he was too restless to stay in tonight. He'd already packed the few things that he would be taking with him; all that was left was the waiting. He supposed he'd better get himself a good dinner somewhere, and then find some entertainment. He felt more at loose ends than usual, and it reminded him of how lost he'd felt when he'd first arrived. He had chosen this apartment more or less at random, taking advantage of the area's lower rents. The Council had supplied him with a handful of Kryptonian crystals which closely resembled Earth gems; once he had figured out how best to exchange them for cash he'd not needed to save money on rent anymore. By then, however, he had discovered that the neighborhood suited him. People had learned not to ask too many questions here -- they minded their own business and expected him to mind his. He'd kept his head down, made some useful acquaintances and settled down to the serious business of attempting to understand an entire culture in three short years. Kal smiled, thinking of some of the more pleasant lessons he'd learned. Very well then, he could end his tenure where he'd begun it, at the Metro Club. **** -- Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ The difference between journalists and other people is that other people spend their lives running from violence, tragedy, and horror and we spend ours trying to get in on it. --P.J. O'Rourke ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 08:08:44 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Subject: New: Hearts Divided (2/?) [PG-13] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Title: Hearts Divided Part: 2/? Author: Pam Jernigan (jernigan@bellsouth.net) Rating: PG-13 (mild language) Feedback: All comments welcomed, either public or private. Summary: An Elseworld tale about the conflict between competing loyalties, duty and love. **** "A chicken outfit. I can't believe it." Lois stared at the getup in dismay, but business was business and orders were orders, so, grumbling, she began changing. The evening had finally arrived, and at least the bright yellow body suit, amply supplied with feathers, was a change from the waitress get-up. "Honey, it could be worse," one of the other chorus girls replied in good humor. "At least it's a job in show business. Hi, I'm Brenda." Lois smiled, offering the black woman a handshake. "Hi Brenda, I'm Lola. And don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have the job ... but it's a pretty far cry from a hit musical." Brenda snorted. "You ain't kidding. But it's a step, see. You get experience here, it can lead you to other things--" "Don't believe it," an older, blonde woman interrupted, while skillfully applying make-up to conceal the lines of age and disappointment on her face. "Brenda's been saying that for months, but she's still here." The younger woman frowned. "Hey, Francine, at least I have a plan. And it doesn't involve sleeping my way to the top." Francine snorted. "That must be why you're still on the bottom." Brenda rolled her eyes and turned back towards Lois. "Like she's got a career we should envy. Never mind. My main point is, it's not so bad working here. And it could lead to better things -- you never know." On that incontrovertible point, she cast a smug look at Francine and walked out of the shared dressing room, her head held high. Lois watched her go, then turned her attention to the other dancer. "So, um ... hello, Francine." "Hello, Lola," Francine replied, still concentrating on her make-up. "Welcome to show business. Did you audition?" "Actually, Johnny just said he liked my legs," Lois admitted, somewhat uncomfortably. "Does he always do that?" "You mean hire dancers without knowing whether they can dance?" Francine sighed. "Yeah, that's Johnny all over. It'd ruin him, but he does have a good eye. So, do you dance?" "I've done some dancing, yeah." Okay, so it was mainly in her high school musical and in base skits, but she knew she was in good shape; she was dedicated to keeping up her martial arts training. "I was kind of hoping to get a gig singing, though," she admitted. "I'm better at that." "Well, we'll whip you into shape this afternoon -- in between making us wait tables they do give us a little time to rehearse. Assuming Melanie ever gets here, that is." "Melanie?" "Our fourth dancer," Francine explained, putting the finishing touches on her costume. "She just started two weeks ago, and she's always late. If Johnny weren't trying to get in her pants, she'd have been fired a week ago. He'll fire her pretty soon anyway, whether he sleeps with her or not." "But that's sexual harassment," Lois protested. Francine snorted. "Nope, that's life. At least in this part of town." She stood, and moved towards the door. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to check something." Without waiting for a reply, she left. Alone, Lois blinked at the unexpected undercurrents. Not that any of this back-stage wrangling was likely to be connected to the fires. Making her way in the Army had been difficult, but nothing like this. Never mind, she told herself. This wasn't getting her anywhere. She firmly directed her attention back to figuring out the chicken costume. This case was important to the base commander, and if she was able to crack the case for the local police, it might be the key to her promotion to Captain. There were a number of things she would refuse to do for a promotion, but singing and dancing in a chicken costume, while undignified, was not one of them. *** Kal entered the Metro Club with a faint smile. He'd spent quite a few evenings in this plushly-decorated club, and realized that he would miss the company here. He spotted Toni Taylor across the room, and saw her notice him. With a wide smile, she crossed the room to greet him. "Toni, how are you?" They exchanged cheek kisses. "I've had better days, Kal," she admitted with a wry smile. "Do you want your usual table?" "If it's available, thanks." Smiling, she led him across the lightly-crowded room. Their relationship had briefly been intimate, three years ago, but the illusion of closeness had only served to emphasize Kal's loneliness. He'd admired Toni for her drive and directness, and it had been a novelty to begin a relationship with a social equal, but she hadn't touched his soul. With considerable trepidation, then, he'd broken things off. On New Krypton, rejection often had a devastating effect on a concubine. Earth women, though, seemed made of stronger stuff. After some awkwardness, his relationship with Toni had settled into a warm, if superficial, friendship. He seated himself and gestured for Toni to join him, which she did with a smile. "Bad day, you said? Let me guess, you argued with Johnny again," Kal commented casually. He was fairly certain that Johnny Taylor was the head of the Metros, and that Toni was also connected with the gang, but he had never brought it up; he didn't think it was any of his business. As gangs went, the Metros were fairly tame, running numbers and a protection racket, so it wasn't difficult to obey the Council's prohibition on interference. Toni's smile tightened. "He's just so stuck in his ways. But I'll get what I want, in the end." The determined glint in her eyes left him in no doubt of that. "I'm sure you will," he replied, tempted to confide in her, at least partly. "Um, Toni ... don't spread it around, but this is my last night here -- I'm going home." She just looked at him for a long moment, and Kal thought he saw a flash of pain in her eyes. Then she forced a smile, and reached out to touch his hand. "I'll miss you, Kal. I won't ask where home is, either -- you haven't told me in three years, why should you tell me now. You, ah, need a lift to the airport?" Kal smiled at her, remembering how helpful she'd been to him, back when he'd been so confused about local transportation. "No, thanks. I've got some friends giving me a ride. They'll be here later tonight." "Well, bring them in, when they get here, Kal -- any friends of yours are welcome here," Toni assured him. "Ah, thank you, Toni," he replied, mentally discounting the idea. The ship would put down in the early morning dimness, he would board, and they would leave; there would be no time for such frivolities. Besides, if his fellow Kryptonians spent any amount of time on Earth, they would also develop powers; Kal would have to reveal something of that sort to the Council, but he did not want it to become common knowledge, for Earth's protection. Toni eyed him shrewdly. "I'll leave it up to you, Kal, but they're welcome if you want to bring them. I'll even let them slide on the dress code," she teased, "if they behave themselves." "No need to worry," he promised ambiguously. "Thanks, Toni." "Not a problem." With visible reluctance, she stood. "Sorry, Kal, but I'm working; I've got to keep moving." He nodded, well used to her dedication. "I'll see you around, okay?" "Sure -- and you'd better see me again before you leave -- no sneaking out on me, you hear?" She caressed his arm lightly as she left. "Yes, ma'am." Kal smiled as she left, then let his gaze drift to the rest of the club. It was still early, and the room was only half full. Other acquaintances would probably come in a bit later, but he wouldn't miss them if they didn't. He had no unfinished business, and no future here. He'd end his term as he began, an outsider and observer. The stage lights dimmed, signaling an imminent live performance, tempting Kal out of his melancholy. Perhaps he should try to appreciate the show -- it was valuable if only because of it's rarity; there was nothing like *this* on New Krypton. Women there were either cherished daughters, dignified wives, or private concubines ... they certainly didn't dance around publicly in skimpy costumes. That was one of the things that Kal intended to try to change when he returned home. New Krypton couldn't afford to throw resources away on entertainment, of course, but it had occurred to him that they were probably squandering one of the resources they *did* have. Zara, for instance, possessed great managerial talents, which were mostly wasted. There had to be a way to remedy that situation. The band's flourish announced the new performance, and Kal looked up, determined to enjoy himself. He usually enjoyed Tanya's singing, and although the dance lineup changed frequently, Johnny did have a good eye for talent. Tanya pranced out on stage first, dressed in a red-and-white checked low-cut blouse, with short blue shorts; from his reading Kal recognized it as a parody of a farmer's wardrobe. The song was new to him, something about the tension between economic/agricultural necessity and self-indulgent pleasure-seeking. It hardly seemed like a dilemma to him; nobles did their duty and commoners followed orders. But Tanya shimmied appealingly, so he set aside his internal critique and resolved to be more shallow. As if to reward him, the dancers came out to join Tanya on stage. The costumes were new, he noted, and so was one of the dancers. She was slim and dark, with legs that went from here to there. Her dance moves were somewhat awkward, and out of step with the others, but she was obviously putting all her concentration into the effort, and the end result was strangely charming. She had an appealing face, as well ... he couldn't quite pinpoint the attraction, but there was something.... A commotion in the back of the room startled him, and he, along with most of the patrons, turned to see four men in silvery costumes. One of them stepped forward, yelling dramatically, "Johnny! You're dead!" Kal assessed the situation in a blink; Johnny Taylor was seated near the entrance with several of his cronies, gaping in shock at the intruders. The silver-clad men pulled out some sort of weapons, aiming them at the hapless club owner. Moving before he thought to restrain himself, Kal launched himself across the room, dragging Johnny down to the floor behind a nearby table. A jet of fire streamed overhead, dissipating almost instantly, leaving only a fleeting impression of intense heat. Around him, Johnny's pals were setting the tables on end, using them as cover. Pulling out no-doubt-illegal hand guns, they sprayed the fire-bugs with a different, equally deadly form of fire. The intruders quickly turned and fled. Johnny stirred beneath him, and Kal quickly moved aside, beginning to regret his actions. None of this was his concern ... even if he was fond of the man's sister. If their positions had been reversed, Johnny would certainly not have thought to worry about him. He scooted into a sitting position, surveying the room. For the first time, he was grateful for his imminent departure; this slip would come to nothing. Johnny looked up. "Kal? Thanks, man! Lemme tell ya, anything you want, it's yours..." He was practically shaking with relief at the close call, and Kal hid a derisive smile. He'd seen Johnny promise people the world before; his generosity generally faded within a few hours. "Just consider it payback for all the free drinks I've gotten, over the years," he replied dryly. Johnny's brow clouded a little at that, but Kal was distracted by the sudden realization that the room was on fire. He stood in one fluid motion, roughly pulling Johnny to his feet as well. "Get out of here," he ordered, giving the man a helpful push towards the main entrance. Across the room, he saw Toni also ushering her guests out, as quickly as possible without a panic. There were really only a few small fires, and one smoldering wall. If all these people would leave, he could take care of this himself, he realized. He debated the prospect for a moment. The Council was already going to have his head for interfering and endangering his cover as much as he had. So what was one more infraction? He grinned. After all, he owed these people a debt, and he was leaving. They'd accepted him with no questions asked, and taught him quite a lot that he hadn't found in reference books. Very well then. Toni was just shooing the last of the patrons out, and starting across the room for him. "Get out of here, Toni!" he called across the floor. "I'm fine -- you go call 911." With one long last look, she turned and scurried out. Kal turned back toward the stage, breathing in and thinking cold thoughts. Then he saw her. Her hat had gone missing, but the bright yellow feathers attached to the form-fitting bodysuit made it impossible not to recognize her; she was one of the dancers. And from somewhere, she'd found a fire extinguisher, and was coolly putting out a fire that had started licking at the base of the drapes near the stage. In a few strides, he crossed the room to her. Grabbing her shoulder, he pulled her around to face him. "Are you crazy?" She looked up at him defiantly, a dark soot smear across one cheek. "This whole neighborhood is going up in smoke -- you think the fire department is gonna get here in time? We've got to stop this, now." Kal stared at her, suddenly unable to speak as something deep inside him came alive. When he'd first seen her, he'd thought her moderately attractive ... but now, even in her disheveled state, he knew her to be the most beautiful woman on two planets. He gradually became aware that she was scowling at him. "Don't just stand there! Grab a fire extinguisher, or get out." She turned back to the drapes, and gave them one last smothering blast of gas. The noise broke his strange trance, and he regained control of himself. "You get out," he insisted, grabbing her and pushing her towards the door. "I'll handle it." She resisted, which shouldn't have surprised him, but did. "Don't give me that macho crap; I can do this." Kal thought frantically. "Not in this get-up you can't," he finally offered, reaching out to flick at the wildly bobbing feathers. "These things could catch fire pretty easily, and then you'd be in trouble." She frowned at him, which he took as a good sign. "One spark, and you're a roast chicken." Her eyes narrowed. "Listen, you--" He held up his hands, hoping to pacify her. "Look, I'm sure you're capable, but you can't risk yourself. Give me the fire extinguisher. I can handle this, but not if I'm arguing with you!" They were nearly nose to nose, exchanging heated glares, but then she glanced around the room and sighed. "Okay, fine. you win. Whoever you are. Here." She thrust the metal canister at him, then turned and darted towards the front entrance. Kal kept a wary eye on her, and this time, he was not surprised when she turned. Her eyes widened as she stared at a back wall, and he followed her gaze. On the wall, in large letters, was the word, "Toasters." When he turned back towards the entrance, she was gone. Quickly, he scanned the whole building with his special vision, and was relieved to see that no one was left inside. He inhaled and then gently blew super-cold air across the room. It wasn't quite as effective as the chemical mixture the dancer had been using, but it served the purpose, and one by one the fires went dead. He surveyed the room in mingled dismay and satisfaction. The building wouldn't burn, but the room was a horrendous mess. No more shows tonight, and the thought of not seeing the dancer again brought a distinct pang of disappointment. **My Lord Kal-El.** Automatically, Kal stiffened to rigid attention, closing his eyes and lifting his face slightly, devoting all his concentration to the telepathic link. **I am here.** Lack of practice made the communication something of a strain. **Your ship awaits. I am Lieutenant Ching. I am here to retrieve you, and to deliver a message.** **Very good. I have prepared a landing zone, with homing beacon.** Earlier in the day, he'd placed the beacon in the empty parking lot of a warehouse. He didn't own the structure, but he knew it would be undisturbed for the time being. **Wait six hours before landing. Air traffic will be at its lightest.** There was a tinge of doubt in Ching's reply. **Earth detection systems are primitive.** **They probably won't detect you,** Kal agreed, **but they might run into you. Wait six hours.** **It will be as my Lord commands.** **Very well. I await your coming.** Kal terminated the connection. **** -- Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ The difference between journalists and other people is that other people spend their lives running from violence, tragedy, and horror and we spend ours trying to get in on it. --P.J. O'Rourke ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 08:28:11 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wanda McCants Subject: Re: New: Hearts Divided (1/?) [PG-13] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Pam, Great story idea, Lois as an army investigator. What a nice way to start my day finding one of your stories waiting in my box. "What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" ......Langston Hughes Wanda ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 13:08:01 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Subject: Timeline Question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have yet another timeline question, and would greatly appreciate any input. About how many months had Lois and Clark been working together when 'A Bolt from the Blue' happened? Thanks! Rachel ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 12:39:50 -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: Timeline Question Rachel, if we assume that a full year passed between the period of the Pilot and Madam Ex (as I do), then I would guess that they'd been working together around 14 or 15 months, since BftB was right after TOGOM. Wendy ---------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 14:02:56 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel Subject: Re: Timeline Question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Wendy Richards To: Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 1:39 PM Subject: Re: Timeline Question > Rachel, if we assume that a full year passed between the period of the > Pilot and Madam Ex (as I do), then I would guess that they'd been working > together around 14 or 15 months, since BftB was right after TOGOM. > Thanks, Wendy! It's a minor part of the story, but I didn't want to throw people off :) Rachel ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 16:50:19 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 12 & epilogue MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Chapter 12 Christmas. On the surface, it was a happy time, but statistically there was more depression at this holiday than at any other time of the year. Ironically, Clark had discovered that there were no more suicides, despite the increased incidence of low-level and mid-level depression. The article he'd written a few years back had concluded with his impressions that there was more knowledge of depression at this time of the year as well, so while the rates went up the deaths did not. People were expecting it, therefore they were prepared to battle it. Perhaps he was wrong, but it seemed to make sense. As the holiday approached, this first year after losing his mother, Clark knew that he was depressed. Unfortunately, there was no way for Superman to see a psychiatrist or be placed on a medication to alleviate the symptoms. He was just lower than usual, a little melancholy, and he would have to deal with it. One of the reasons that Clark had been so interested in alternative medicine in his youth was because he was indeed aware of his own tendency toward depression. There were too many things that Superman couldn't do, too many things that he saw which no one man should have to be exposed to. Just as he knew that kava leaves could reduce stress and place a person in a meditative state, he also knew that sunshine and activity could relieve mild depression. He was taking advantage of that knowledge, along with the understanding that Lois was his center, the force that kept him stable. Ironically, his father seemed to be handling the holiday with more grace than he was. While the single-bedroom apartment held no holiday decorations or fancy foods, his dad had a smile that was unmistakable. It was a small boost to Clark's mood, but a boost just the same. "What do you have for me, tonight?" Jonathan asked as Clark stepped through the doorway. "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," Clark grinned, catching his father's contagious smile. "And double-butter popcorn." Jonathan laughed, and brandished his bag of Milk-Duds. It was movie-night for the Kent men, and it was going to be a good time. "Let's get to it! CJ is going to be a little late, but he promised he'd make it by intermission." Clark nodded, tossing the first of the bags of popcorn into his father's microwave. Jonathan was already moving to the VCR, putting in the classic movie. "What's CJ's holdup?" Clark called over his shoulder. He glanced at the readout on the microwave, and tapped his fingers as he began to wait the four minutes required. He could always do it himself, but the popcorn tended to be dryer when he used his heat vision. The slow way tasted better. "He didn't say, but I got the feeling it was something with Kat," Jonathan answered. "I think she might have finally picked out her Christmas tree." "I've never seen a woman so picky about trees," Clark added with a smile. "We must have looked at two-hundred of them on Saturday, and she couldn't find one that fit her mood." "It's her first house," Jonathan reasoned. "She wants the first Christmas there to be perfect. Your mother was the same way." Clark took a seat on the arm of the couch, looking down at his father. "Was she really? She always seemed so relaxed about it to me." "By the time you remember, she was. Those first years, though, when the house was new and she had nothing else to concentrate on, she just loved to decorate for Christmas. All the holidays, really. Halloween meant pumpkins and haystacks everywhere, and then on Thanksgiving she made these huge cornucopias and put them everywhere. Christmas was the worst, with a huge tree and wreaths all over the place. And the mistletoe! You couldn't walk three feet without having to kiss her. I think she did that on purpose." Jonathan chuckled at the memories. "That's so weird," Clark said softly. "I don't remember her decorating very much." "Well, she got out of the habit when you came along," Jonathan explained. "You put everything in your mouth, so the mistletoe was the first thing to go. Ribbons, too. You pulled them apart. We had to get a smaller tree and put it up on a table to keep it away from you. I've never seen a more curious child." "I wasn't that bad when I was older," Clark said. "No, but by then she was out of the habit. She had other interests as well." Clark nodded his understanding. As the FBI warning against duplication went off the screen, Clark watched the previews for movies that he'd seen decades before. "I thought about decorating," Jonathan said softly, almost absently. "But I didn't keep much of that stuff. I never thought it was practical to keep things all year and only use them for a few days." "That's why you spent so much on the harvester?" Clark asked dryly. Jonathan had to laugh. "That's different, son. That's work. This is just pretty stuff. I thought about getting something, but I figure that Kat will put enough up for all of the rest of us, and then some. This way, I can look at hers, and not have to clean up the mess myself." "That's sneaky," Clark said with a smile. CJ's knock at the door was expected, but neither of the older men went to answer it. By long-standing tradition, CJ knocked once, then opened the door and entered. "Hey, what did I miss?" "A few credits," Clark informed him. "Everything okay?" "Fine," CJ said, placing a six-pack of cola on the table in the living room and taking a second six-pack to the refrigerator. "Kat had some stuff she wanted on the east wall, and I didn't want her on a ladder for it." "Decorating?" Jonathan asked innocently, but the wink he gave Clark eliminated any pretense of doubt. "Yeah. You know women in a new house. It's like this nesting thing. She wants everything all homey." He took the bag of popcorn out of the microwave and tossed in another from the box left on the counter. "Makes for a nice place to live," Clark agreed. "Even Lois got a little bit domestic when we bought the house. I did most everything when we were on Hyperion, but she helped with the house. Thank God she never got into Tupperware parties." "Tupperware's nothing," CJ said with a grin, seating himself and handing his father the bag of popcorn after taking a handful for himself. "They have this stuff called 'Home Interiors', and you can't even cook with it. It just takes up space." "We had some of that," Clark remembered with a smile. "Until Lois got tired of dusting it." Clark laughed at his memories, then stood to go get the second bag of popcorn out of the microwave. Glancing back at his father and his son, sitting next to one another on the couch and settling in to watch Mel Gibson's rampage, Clark suddenly didn't feel quite so depressed after all. Maybe Christmas wouldn't be so bad. *** Kat finished hanging the last stocking and couldn't keep the grin off her face. She moved back to survey the wall, now adorned with a wreath and three green Christmas stockings, along with simulated holly leafs and bright white snowflakes. It looked exactly like the wall in the interior design book that CJ had bought her for her birthday. Looking over the room, she saw that the tree was still tilted slightly, but CJ could help her take care of that when he returned. He was off playing cards and watching movies with his father and grandfather, and she didn't want to interrupt that time. Their weekly get-togethers were becoming infamous among the Kent women, but no one had the heart to complain. Jonathan had experienced a lot of difficulty adjusting to life alone. After more than fifty years of sharing space, he'd withdrawn from all of them when he'd first moved in to the new apartment. Clark had been the first to notice, and suggest the episodes of "Male Bonding" that had worked such miracles. CJ had loved the idea, excited to spend time with his father and grandfather without the influence of the Kent women. Kat and Lois hadn't complained. In fact, they each found that they liked the Thursday night event. Kat especially enjoyed having a little time to herself. She loved marriage, was thrilled with her husband, but she didn't mind having a few hours when she could take a bubble bath, read a book, or just take a nap without feeling as though she needed to be paying attention to CJ. Some of the evenings she and Lois got together for a sappy girlie movie - a hopeless romance that the men would never sit still for - but most nights she just enjoyed the silence in her home. Her home. CJ's home. Their home. The grin split her face once more. They had gone back and forth for two weeks over buying the three-bedroom ranch style house only half a mile from the elder Kents. The mortgage was high, but within their budget if they were careful, and the neighborhood was older and friendly. The house needed a little work, but it's roof and foundation were stable, so CJ felt that he could keep up with most of what was in-between. They had finally come to the conclusion that if they wanted to remain in Claremont, they would have to either buy the house or buy a condo. That decision made, the house was an easy choice. They had a small front yard, a larger back yard with a few fruit trees, and enough room that they weren't tripping over one another. They'd moved in mid-October, which had been a mistake. It had been unseasonably hot in the daytime, with typical temperatures at night. The result had been a sweaty move that prompted them to start up the air conditioner, and a house so cold that first night that they nearly froze because CJ was clueless how to light the pilot on the heater. Since then, Clark had helped them out with regulating the temperature, but it had shown them just how little they really knew about managing on their own. Home ownership, it appeared, was a good deal more than making a payment. Kat had spent the last ten weeks turning the house into a home. She'd used a lot of Martha's artwork to accomplish this, enjoying the few paintings that CJ's grandmother had completed, along with the sculptures. They had teased her mercilessly, but Martha did have a degree of artistic talent, and the touches made her home feel special. Kat was grateful that Jonathan hadn't minded. Actually, the eldest Kent had been very pleased when Kat had requested the items, knowing how much time that Martha had devoted to them. He had told Kat this very thing, and given them with his blessing. Kat had been honored to find a place for the items in her home, and so far everyone seemed to like the results. The furnishings were still sparse, courtesy of a limited budget, but the house was livable. Rather than buying the pressed-board furniture that was inexpensive and disposable, CJ preferred to buy older items and refinish them. They had spent a long weekend finishing the entertainment center that now housed a fairly powerful stereo system, and another week sanding and sealing a lovely bedroom set that CJ had found at a yard sale. The dining room still contained two card tables that they'd been given for their wedding, and all eight matching chairs. They would make great spares someday, but for now they were all she had. She hoped it wouldn't look too tacky to serve Christmas dinner on card tables, and that the tablecloth she'd found would make them passable as decorative. It was Christmas eve. CJ had offered to stay home with her, but she'd sent him to be with his father because he really did enjoy the time. She had the tree set up, the good dishes washed and ready, and all of the ingredients set out for tomorrow's dinner. They would spend Christmas morning at the big house - Lois and Clark's house - then would come back here to open presents and enjoy a nice dinner. Lois had been more than happy to pass that particular chore to Kat. They hadn't spent a lot of money on Christmas gifts. They didn't have it to spend. They had found a dark blue robe with the S-shield emblem for Lois, to add to her collection. Superman memorabilia had become harder to find since the merchandising had become not-for-profit, but both CJ and Kat kept their eyes open for potential gifts for his mother, who still found it all quite amusing. Kat had found Jonathan's gift in a small smoke shop down at the waterfront of Metropolis. When she'd been to visit him, he had given her the "grand tour" through the small apartment. She'd commented when she'd seen Martha's small gold wedding band sitting on the night stand. Jonathan had explained that he couldn't sleep without it being close, and had quickly changed the subject. Kat had found a him tiny wooden box with gold trim that would be perfect to hold the ring and keep it safe. Shopping for Clark was always the hardest. The reality was that if he wanted something, he could have it. He flew all over the world on at least a weekly basis, even with Superman making fewer public appearances. If he wanted an item, he was able to find it easily, and money wasn't really much of an issue since the final hospital bills had been paid for Lois. Kat knew that the couple was conserving money once more for Martha's final hospital expenses, but they hadn't stopped buying entirely. Given that there was nothing that Clark really wanted, nor anything he needed, they were left to their own creativity. Kat had finally gone through the boxes of pictures that Martha had hoarded away over the years and CJ and she had elected to keep rather than throw away. Finding a group of postcards that Clark had sent to his parents in the earliest years of his travel, Kat had put them together into a collage of sorts. It had made a lovely presentation, and CJ had taken the time to build a frame for them as well. Kat had decided it was a good thing that CJ was invulnerable, as he'd had more than a little difficulty with getting the glass into the frame and probably would have cut off a hand without his special gifts. Kat had the presents wrapped and under the tree. She'd put CJ's there as well, taking this evening as an opportunity to wrap the two new pairs of dress slacks and neutral tan blazer that CJ had asked for to teach in. The wrapping was a formality, as he could easily see right through it, but she was fairly sure he'd learned his lesson about that as a teen. The first Christmas after discovering his powers, he'd checked every last one of his gifts before Christmas morning, and he'd been miserable when there had been no mystery left. She didn't think he'd done it since. There was one small gift under the tree for her. She was fairly sure that it was a ring, as CJ had done enough hinting and sideways suggesting that she'd eventually told him both her ring size and favorite stones just to get him off her back. It didn't matter to her, though. She had her gift within her, and it was more than enough. Kat smiled as she heard the front door open. CJ had promised her that they'd read The Night Before Christmas as soon as he returned, so she'd left the book on the chair near the fireplace. She wanted to start her holiday traditions early in the marriage, and this was one that she had kept even after her father had fallen into a drunken haze. Every Christmas eve, she read the Night Before Christmas, and each Christmas morning, she read the Bible story from Luke. It was a tradition she wanted to share with her children. "Hey," CJ called softly. "The house looks good." "Thanks," she answered, giving him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek when he came near. "The tree is still at a slant." "I'll fix it," he assured her. Then, glancing at the wall, he grinned. "You think anyone will notice the third stocking?" "If they don't, we'll just tell them anyway," Kat said with a smile. "You think my mom's gonna be okay with it? She's probably the one woman over the age of fifty that isn't begging for grandkids." "I think she'll be fine," CJ smiled. "She just wants us happy." "I'm happy," Kat said, looking around at her home and slipping her hand into her husband's. "Me, too," he said gently, reaching over with his free hand to pat Kat's tummy carefully. "You happy in there, Kiddo?" Kat giggled, but CJ didn't look the least bit embarrassed. "You ready to read that story?" she asked. "Bring it on," he told her with a grin. "'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and all though the house..." *** Jonathan smiled as he watched his grandson tear into the large package that he'd brought over this morning. He'd kept it under his bed, already wrapped, since long before the move. It had been tricky slipping it into a suitcase when the kids had been helping him pack, but he'd finally managed it. He and Martha had agreed on the gift months before, and he hadn't bothered to take her name off the tag that she'd taped in place. CJ had been startled when he read it, and then he'd smiled, and the paper had begun to fly. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed. Turning the box reverently in his hands, CJ raised grateful eyes to his grandfather. "This is way too much," he said, the reluctance clear in his voice. "It's far too late to take it back now," Jonathan said with a laugh. "Your grandmother got a bargain on it, and we've kept it hidden for most of the year. It's probably obsolete by now." "Hardly," CJ said softly. He turned the laptop computer over in his hands, reading the specifications listed on the side of the box. "It's wonderful." "Well, if you're going to be juggling two jobs, and still find some time to write, you're going to need that." "Yes, sir," CJ said with a smile, old habits still so ingrained that they were unconscious. "Thank you *so* much." "You know he's been drooling over one of those since he started college," Kat told Jonathan covertly. He nodded, patted his granddaughter's hand. "Martha wanted him to have it," he said simply. Kat nodded, then went back to watching the opening of the gifts. She'd already opened hers, exclaiming over the simple emerald ring that CJ had found on sale, and hugging both Lois and Clark when she'd opened a box full of hospital scrubs in various colors and patterns. Jonathan had given her a gift-certificate to a local beauty salon, and a note that she really didn't need it, that she was pretty enough. In time, all the gifts were opened and paper tossed all over the room. It was a homey kind of clutter, and Jonathan didn't mind it. It was the kind of mess that Martha would have enjoyed cleaning up, complaining good-naturedly the whole time. God, he missed her. They always said that the "firsts" were the worst. The first birthday alone, the first Easter, the first Christmas or Valentine's Day. He'd handled Martha's birthday less than a month after he'd lost her, and had still been so numb that he barely noticed. Thanksgiving had been lively, with CJ getting just a little time away from his job and Kat insisting it was the perfect time for them to shampoo the carpets in his little apartment. Granted, they hadn't been very appealing, but he'd never expected the fun they'd all had trying to get them clean. What should have been pure work had become a joy, and he remembered it fondly. Afterwards, he'd gone with CJ and Kat to serve a turkey dinner at the convalescent hospital where she was working, and he'd been so caught up in the memories of others, and the pure joy of caring for someone besides himself, that the day had flown by. "Um, before we do anything else, Kat and I have one more Christmas present. Kind of." CJ looked decidedly ill at ease, and it reminded Jonathan of the evening he'd announced his engagement to Kat. Shuffling his feet, CJ reached a hand out to his wife and she came to stand beside him. With the blinking Christmas tree in the background, the couple announced what Jonathan had already half expected. "I'm pregnant," Kat had laughingly said, clearly frustrated with CJ's mumbling efforts. "Kat!" Lois squealed, and immediately rushed to hug the woman. "Congratulations, Son," Clark said as he clapped CJ on the back, then gave up on his emotions and tugged the boy into a firm hug. The cheering and questions went on and on. When was it due? Was everything okay? Did they know if it was a boy or girl? Jonathan sat and watched the interaction through a veil of numbness. He could see and hear, but for the moment he couldn't really feel. Kat knelt down before him, taking his hands in hers, smiling widely. "You're already a great grandpa," she told him. "Now we're making it official." Jonathan nodded, tried to smile, and felt a tear slip down his cheek. Kat didn't seem to mind, but instead reached forward and hugged him. "I wish she were here, too," Kat whispered in his ear. Jonathan nodded, hugging his granddaughter, and hoping that the rest of the room wasn't paying him too close attention. Fortunately, when he was able to regain his composure, Lois and Clark were still quizzing CJ on dates and plans for the future. Taking a deep breath, Jonathan stood and gave Kat a hug, then reached for his grandson. "Are you excited, Grandpa?" CJ asked, and his emotions were bubbling over into his voice. "You know I am," Jonathan said with a laugh. "It's been too long since we've heard little Kent feet." "Five more months," Kat laughed. "The baby's due in May. We've known for a couple of months, but we wanted to make sure everything was okay before we announced it." "So everything's okay?" Lois asked, her voice slightly shadowed by memories of her own pregnancy. "Everything's wonderful," CJ assured his family, his arm going protectively around Kat. "Absolutely perfect." Epilogue... May "One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine...ten," CJ counted. He barely had time to catch Kat as she collapsed back into his arms, breathing heavily. "No more," she begged. "Please, no more." Kat was lying on a bed in the delivery suite of Metropolis General, where she had been pushing for almost an hour. The labor itself had been fairly quick, only about four hours from the time her water broke until they had wheeled her in for delivery, but it had been inense. Natural childbirth hurt, and she wasn't willing to receive any medications to alleviate the discomfort. "Just a couple more like that," Dr. Castille said encouragingly. "We're almost there, Kat. I can see the head." Dr. Klein had retired years before, his arthritis eliminating even the minimal clinical work that he'd agreed to do for the Kents. He'd offered them a successor, a family practice physician that had a special interest in Superman. The young doctor's wife and child had been saved years before from a doomed private plane, and he felt an allegiance to the superhero for the rescue. Dr. Castille was friendly and outgoing, and well able to keep a secret. He'd worked with Klein for years during and after his residency, so the older man was convinced that he was a competent physician. Kat had just been happy to find a doctor that could know about CJ and her child's lineage. He had monitored the pregnancy, made all her delivery arrangements, and so far everything had gone well. "One more time, Kat," CJ begged. "Hang in there. It's almost over, Goober." "I'm tired," she complained. "No more. No more. SHIT!" "Okay Kat, here it comes. Deep breath and hold it." The doctor's command didn't leave any room for argument. "One... two... three... four," CJ began. "Hold it," the doctor said quickly. "Stop pushing, Kat. Breathe through it. Pant. No pushing." "Look at me," CJ told her, meeting her tired eyes with his own. "Breathe, real quick. Pant. Come on, you can do it." He glanced down between his wife's legs, trying to see if there was a problem. She was laying on a birthing table, her legs in the frog position, and the nurse hadn't bothered to drape her. What CJ saw astounded him. There was a head, round and fuzzy and almost blue. The doctor suctioned the mouth and nose quickly with a blue bulb syringe, wiped slime away from the puckered face, and then turned to Kat. "Okay, you can push again. Once more will do it." "Kat, look!" CJ said, the awe clear in his voice. "It's a baby." "It hurts!" she told him in no uncertain terms. "Push for me, Kat," the doctor said once more. Turning the baby to the side, the doctor slipped one shoulder free, then the other. The baby slid easily from there, caught by the physician and placed immediately on Kat's abdomen. Kat had groaned with her final effort, and now sighed in relief. She was still uncomfortable, but the insistent pain was finished. She looked down at her belly, just a little smaller than it had been, and saw the baby laying there. "Oh, God," she said softly. "You're here." "It's a girl," CJ said with a grin. "She's a girl." He leaned over and kissed his wife, his hand resting on the baby's small back as though he was afraid she would get away. He didn't bother to try to hide the tears. There was no need. "A girl," Kat said softly, laughing and crying at once. "We have a girl? Are you sure?" "I can tell," CJ said wryly. "You don't have to be a doctor to tell some things," the physician agreed. "Just relax for a minute, Kat. We have some repair work to do down here." "How bad?" CJ asked, finally turning his attention from his new daughter to his wife. "Nothing to worry about," the doctor assured him. "Just a few stitches. The little one was just a bit bigger than your wife was." Kat's attention was riveted to the baby. A nurse was rubbing the little girl with a towel, and she didn't like it. Scrunching up her face, the baby let out a howl that could probably be heard out into the family room, where the elder Kents were waiting. "She's got a voice," CJ said with a laugh. "She's beautiful," Kat added. "I love you." "I love you, too, Goober," he said softly. There were a few moments of silence while the doctor did his work, and Kat managed to calm the upset baby. The nurse clamped and cut the cord, then tossed a pink blanket over the messy baby for warmth. CJ watched his wife and baby girl, a smile covering his face. "Kat?" "Hmmm?" Her eyes raised to his. "Name?" he asked gently, the hope evident in his eyes. They had talked about it, but as they hadn't known if the baby was a boy or girl, they hadn't come to a firm decision. "Martha," Kat told him with a smile. "Definitely Martha." CJ nodded, a few more tears coursing down his face, dropping unnoticed to the covers. "Welcome to the world, Martha Kent," CJ said softly. "You've got a lot of name to live up to." "She can do it," Kat assured him. And so she did. The End (again, for now ;) Song Credits: I Could Never Promise You written by Don Francisco / NewPax Music Press / ASCAP Available on the CD: Don Francisco: The Live Concert With Hope Written by Steven Curtis Chapman / Peach Hill Songs Available on the CD: Speechless Holes in the Floor of Heaven Recorded by Steve Wariner Available on the CD: Burning Down the Roadhouse ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 17:55:08 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Heather Whalen Subject: Hi all! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Hello! My name is Heather and I've been reading LCfanfic for sometime now. I'm also an English major with a writing concentration. I'm taking a class called Literary Marketplace and we had a few classes on fan fiction. As the semester is coming close to an end, I'm thinking about writing about writing about fanfiction in my final paper. What I might do is write my paper on a specific LC story (with permission with the author of whatever LC fanfic I choose to write on). It might also help if I ask all you guys questions. Is that alright with everyone? Heather _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 16:08:44 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Re: Hi all! In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Welcome, Heather! It's always great to have a new fan around these parts. :) > I'm also an English major with a writing concentration. I'm > taking a class > called Literary Marketplace and we had a few classes on fan > fiction. As the > semester is coming close to an end, I'm thinking about writing > about writing > about fanfiction in my final paper. What I might do is write my > paper on a > specific LC story (with permission with the author of whatever LC fanfic I > choose to write on). It might also help if I ask all you guys questions. > Is that alright with everyone? It's fine by me, and I'm sure it will be with everyone else. We're a pretty friendly bunch, and always happy to help another FoLC. :) Again, welcome! Erin __________________ erink@ida.net erink@lcfanfic.com Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 18:16:30 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: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 4/25/01 6:05:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time, irishflour@HOTMAIL.COM writes: > ). It might also help if I ask all you guys questions. > Is that alright with everyone It's all right with me. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 15:20:35 -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: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It's fine with me, too. Nan Heather Whalen wrote: > Hello! My name is Heather and I've been reading LCfanfic for sometime now. > I'm also an English major with a writing concentration. I'm taking a class > called Literary Marketplace and we had a few classes on fan fiction. As the > semester is coming close to an end, I'm thinking about writing about writing > about fanfiction in my final paper. What I might do is write my paper on a > specific LC story (with permission with the author of whatever LC fanfic I > choose to write on). It might also help if I ask all you guys questions. > Is that alright with everyone? > > Heather > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 19:03:03 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Hi all! Hi Heather, and welcome! Re. your email address, are you from Ireland too? Anyway, yes, do please feel free to ask any questions about fic you want! After all, it's one of our favourite subjects... ;) Wendy --------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 20:01:13 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Amy Lauters Subject: Re: New Fic: FCII, chapter 12 & epilogue MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Crystal, this was a beautiful way to end this story. Thank you so much for this gift!! Amy ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 21:27:33 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey, Heather :) Go for it -- ask your questions. Most of us love talking about ourselves :D and we all enjoy discussing fanfic. -- Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ The difference between journalists and other people is that other people spend their lives running from violence, tragedy, and horror and we spend ours trying to get in on it. --P.J. O'Rourke ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 21:17:16 -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: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey Heather! I reiterate all the other comments! Nice to have you! CM On Wed, 25 Apr 2001 17:55:08 -0400 Heather Whalen writes: > Hello! My name is Heather and I've been reading LCfanfic for > sometime now. > I'm also an English major with a writing concentration. I'm taking > a class > called Literary Marketplace and we had a few classes on fan fiction. > As the > semester is coming close to an end, I'm thinking about writing about > writing > about fanfiction in my final paper. What I might do is write my > paper on a > specific LC story (with permission with the author of whatever LC > fanfic I > choose to write on). It might also help if I ask all you guys > questions. > Is that alright with everyone? > > Heather > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 21:23:54 -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: Hi all! Ask away! Though I'm not as accomplished a writer as many of the others, I'll be happy to help. Marilyn AKA Supermom ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 20:28:39 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Question for a Fanfic: HiM ep MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone :) Okay, I'm finally getting back to work on a fic that I started a while back (mostly because Wendy believes in it and in my ability to write it--though, *why* I don't know --and she simply refuses to let me delete it entirely from my hard drive ), so I needed a little trivia information from an ep. Can anyone tell me the date of Lois and Clark's stay at the Lexor Hotel in the ep 'Honeymoon in Metropolis'? I can't remember if there was ever a date mentioned, so if not, does anyone have a guess at the month in case I have to make up a date? Thanks in advance, Erin __________________ erink@ida.net erink@lcfanfic.com Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 01:26:57 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Heather Whalen Subject: Re: Hi all! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Wow! I wasn't expecting so many responses and welcomes especially so quickly! I first have to make sure my teacher's alright with my idea for a final paper, then I'll come up with some questions for you all. As for me, being Irish...Well, I have some Irish ancestory but I'm American. My email address is Irishflour because I was named after an Irish flower :) Heather _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 03:19:49 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi Heather, I'd like to add my welcome to all the others and say that I'd be happy to= answer any questions on fanfic. Yours Jenni Debbage ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 10:42:50 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi again Heather! > As for me, being Irish...Well, I have some Irish ancestory but I'm American. > My email address is Irishflour because I was named after an Irish flower If you mean 'heather', the Scots might have something to say about that, hey LabRat and Jenni?! I'm from Ireland, and there's certainly a lot of heather about, but the plant is generally considered Scottish in origin. Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 11:33:08 +0100 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > If you mean 'heather', the Scots might have something to say about that, hey > LabRat and Jenni?! I'm from Ireland, and there's certainly a lot of > heather about, but the plant is generally considered Scottish in origin. > Fight you for it. Yes, did wonder where the Irish connection came from. ;) Never mind, Heather, no matter where you hail from, Scots, Irish or American, welcome to our playground. Hope you have fun here. :) LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 06:56:22 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 a Fanfic: HiM ep MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/25/2001 10:29:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time, erink@IDA.NET writes: > > Okay, I'm finally getting back to work on a fic that I started a while back > (mostly because Wendy believes in it and in my ability to write it--though, > *why* I don't know --and she simply refuses to let me delete it entirely > from my hard drive ), so I needed a little trivia information from an > ep. > Wendy's not the only one that believes in you . You've always written some great stuff, and I'm thrilled to see you with something in the works. If you ever get stuck, just e-mail me... we'll figure something out, even if we have to bat it back and forth for a while :) The script for HiM has the date October 29, 1993. I'm not sure if that's the air date or the filming date, but there are no other dates mentioned in the dialoge. I usually assume that the date a show originally airs is when it's intended to have happened. Does anyone have the original air-date? -Crys- (Who will always be grateful that Erin didn't let Circle of Life die on the hard drive, even though that was my original intent.) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 06:59:52 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: FCII, chapter 12 & epilogue MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/25/2001 8:55:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time, alauters@CSD.UWM.EDU writes: > Crystal, this was a beautiful way to end this story. Thank you so much for > this gift!! Amy Thank you so much for the feedback! It's what I live on . Well, that and antibiotics (lately), but that's another story. I'm glad that you enjoyed the story. I really had feared that I'd lose most of my readers around chapter 6, so I'd also like to thank you for sticking around till the end. See... I always give a happy ending. Otherwise it's just life, and what's the point of that? -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 07:15:51 -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: Hi all! In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Not a problem! ===== 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 Finished! - 7 Days of Superman 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: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 11:02:11 -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: New Fic: FCII, chapter 12 & epilogue Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Crystal, Thank you for such a wonderful ending to the story. :) It was simply beautiful. I really liked your characterizations. You chose a tough topic but handled it very well, with so much grace. I am so glad the Kents will be ok. Natascha _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 11:31:46 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: Another Kryptonite question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit << The other question I have is this - If LL is pregnant with CK's child, could the K affect her? I know (I think?) that the blood of the mother and baby don't mix together so she couldn't have some kind of - I think it's called the "K" factor - in her system, but could it affect her. >> Carol, I would say that it's not probable that Kryptonite would affect a pregnant Lois, but it is possible. (Other than any effects the Kryptonite would have on the fetus that could be felt by Lois, such as increased activity.) However, if you think up a plausible scenario and explain it, you could get away with just about anything. For example, a mother's and baby's blood do not mix during pregnancy (but can during delivery). However, it may be possible that a half-kryptonian baby would metabolize nutrients differently, somehow. So maybe the end products of the baby's metabolism are different from normal end products, and maybe the baby's end products effect the mother's body in some way. << What I'm thinking is that she is carrying the baby and is exposed to K and it affects her mental capabilities/personality, kind of like red K did to Supes the first time. Does that sound feasible or is it out in left field? >> As you mentioned, this sounds like a job for red kryptonite, not green, since red can affect Clark's personality but green does not. I would say it's less likely for green kryptonite to affect Lois's brain than other organs that are more directly involved in pregnancy (since her brain would have to be changed in some way by her pregnancy for its function to be effected by kryptonite). But since the effects of red kryptonite are so varied, you could make a stronger case with it. Hope that helps. Christy attalanta@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:08:58 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Heather Whalen Subject: Re: Hi all! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Yeah, I know. There is also I kind of Mexican Heather I'm told. My parents were a little mistaken in the origin of Heather when they named me! I grew up thinking it was an Irish flower, I learned differently after getting instant messages on the aim! But still, I'm not going to change my email and screen name! :p Heather _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:49:27 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Ren Carr Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Heather: I wouldn't worry about Scottish heather or Irish Heather, because both places have it, so My way of looking at it is this. If Heather made your parent's think of Ireland and they named you Heather because of Heather and it's link to Eire, then you are named for "Irish Heather!" It doesn't matter if it was transplanted by Scots moving to the Emerald Isle or Birds carrying seeds in their beaks. If the Heather is on Irish soil then it is Irish heather, LOL! If it is on Mexico's soil it is Mexican, and so on and so on. I mean my State's flower if the Camellia, but you can find Camellia's all over the States and I am sure that you can find the Camellia in other parts of the world as well. So Welcome Heather, named for Heather growing in Eire! Ren C. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:01:35 -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: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Welcome Heather and ask away. Brenda ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Debbage" <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> To: Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 12:19 AM Subject: Re: Hi all! Hi Heather, I'd like to add my welcome to all the others and say that I'd be happy to answer any questions on fanfic. Yours Jenni Debbage ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 20:08:57 +0100 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Yeah, I know. There is also I kind of Mexican Heather I'm told. My parents > were a little mistaken in the origin of Heather when they named me! I grew > up thinking it was an Irish flower, I learned differently after getting > instant messages on the aim! But still, I'm not going to change my email > and screen name! :p > > Heather LOL. No reason why you should, Heather. LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 13:42:55 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Re: Hi all! In-Reply-To: <003301c0ce84$582e2d00$897f1f3e@land> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Yeah, I know. There is also I kind of Mexican Heather I'm told. My > parents > > were a little mistaken in the origin of Heather when they named me! I > grew > > up thinking it was an Irish flower, I learned differently after getting > > instant messages on the aim! But still, I'm not going to > change my email > > and screen name! :p > > > > Heather And LabRat responded: >> LOL. No reason why you should, Heather. << Exactly! I mean, sheesh, look at the screen names we have around here: a driven fanfic-writing rodent >, and my own nick "ELK"--my initials--but indicating I'm some strange deer that makes strange noises and is hunted for their stack. Great. And who else do we have here we could pick on? :) So don't you dare think you have to change your screen name! I'd say it's one of the more normal ones we have around here. Erin (Back to writing, before Wendy starts cracking the whip ) __________________ erink@ida.net erink@lcfanfic.com Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 16:21:07 -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: Hi all! On Thu, 26 Apr 2001 12:49:27 EDT, Ren Carr wrote: > [snip] Heather growing in Eire! Just curious... I wonder why people, when writing in English, say 'Eire'? It's the Irish-language name for Ireland, in the same way as Espana or Deutschland are the Spanish and German-language names for Spain and Germany. We wouldn't say '...the beer festival in Deutschland'. So... anyway, that's puzzled me for a while, because quite a lot of people in Britain do it as well. (Actually, hearing them try to pronounce 'Eire' can be quite funny! ) Wendy ---------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 17:34:43 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: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/26/2001 5:21:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time, wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK writes: << (Actually, hearing them try to pronounce 'Eire' can be quite funny! ) >> So are you going to tell us the correct pronunciation? --Laurie (curious as this name comes up in crossword puzzles a LOT) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 22:45:15 +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 It's been a while since I've been around, and I can't remember whether I thanked everyone who replied to my question or not. In case I didn't, I'll say it again . Thank you, everyone - I'm working up a new story, and your answers were very useful. Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 15:46:23 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Re: Question for fic: high school graduation In-Reply-To: <004c01c0ce9a$5f5279e0$85b3883e@91bb00j> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > It's been a while since I've been around, and I can't remember whether I > thanked everyone who replied to my question or not. In case I > didn't, I'll > say it again . Thank you, everyone - I'm working up a new story, and > your answers were very useful. > > Yvonne Yay, Yvonne! I can hardly wait to read whatever it is you're working on. Consider this an official plea for you to post it here, in case you haven't already planned on doing that. :) Anxiously waiting... Erin __________________ erink@ida.net erink@lcfanfic.com Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 22:53:23 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Adding my voice to everyone else's - ask away, Heather :) > --Laurie (curious as this name comes up in crossword puzzles a LOT) > Because it's got a funny spelling, I reckon, and it probably fits into lots of awkward corners when you'r compiling crosswords ;) Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 22:56:53 +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 > Yay, Yvonne! I can hardly wait to read whatever it is you're working on. > Consider this an official plea for you to post it here, in case you haven't > already planned on doing that. :) Erin, that's a great idea! I hadn't thought of posting here, but it will be resoundingly non-nfic and so eminently suitable for this list. And when do we get to see yours? Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 16:00:50 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Re: Question for fic: high school graduation In-Reply-To: <00ee01c0ce9b$ce3052a0$85b3883e@91bb00j> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yvonne wrote: > Erin, that's a great idea! I hadn't thought of posting here, but > it will be > resoundingly non-nfic and so eminently suitable for this list. > And when do > we get to see yours? LOL. Well, I can't guarantee everyone will like it , but I'll hopefully be done with it and posting it by early next week. If you hate the story, throw your cyber tomatoes at Wendy. Erin __________________ erink@ida.net erink@lcfanfic.com Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 19:00:40 -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: Hi all! On Thu, 26 Apr 2001 17:34:43 EDT, No Name Available wrote: ><< (Actually, hearing them try to pronounce 'Eire' can be quite funny! ) >> > >So are you going to tell us the correct pronunciation? LOL Laurie! Well, it's something like Ehh-ra. I suppose the 'eir' is pronounced similarly to the first syllable of 'Erin', and the stress is on the first syllable. Wendy (hoping she hasn't confused everyone hopelessly!) ----------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 19:11:43 -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: Re: Hi all! In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >LOL Laurie! Well, it's something like Ehh-ra. I suppose the 'eir' is >pronounced similarly to the first syllable of 'Erin', and the stress is on >the first syllable. > >Wendy (hoping she hasn't confused everyone hopelessly!) OMG! I've always *wondered* how to say it - thanks Wendy! Melisma (under her Rock, admitting that she, in her ignorance, has always pronounced it EYE-er... but will retrain her tongue now that she knows!) Visit my rock at http://www.intergate.ca/personal/melisma/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 21:41:46 -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: Hi all! Nicknames! I always picture Pam in a huge feathered headdress and in my mind, Eileen has this big, Buck Rogers ray gun in her hand. As for me, the only blue and red I wear is jeans and a t-shirt. ;-) Marilyn AKA Supermom ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 23:18:16 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Diyan Subject: Re: Question for a Fanfic: HiM ep >> Okay, I'm finally getting back to work on a fic that I started a while back (mostly because Wendy believes in it and in my ability to write it-- though, *why* I don't know --and she simply refuses to let me delete it entirely from my hard drive ), so I needed a little trivia information from an ep. >> You'd better not let it die! Er...please? *I* believe in you. And I'm looking forward to reading it. > >The script for HiM has the date October 29, 1993. I'm not sure if that's the air date or the filming date, but there are no other dates mentioned in the dialoge. >Does anyone have the original air-date? The original US air date is 12 December 1993 (thanks to Jeff Sykes http://www.neumedia.net/~sykes/lc/index.html) -Dia ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2001 22:20:15 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sara Miller Subject: OT: Proof reader needed for some non fanfic writing MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for interrupting your reading of fanfic and great conversations, but I need help with something that's completely off topic. I'm a junior in high school and we have a huge documented essay that is more than half our grade, so we need to do good to pass the class. The topic is Stalin and how he was the most damaging dictator during World War II (I got to pick it too! . . I need a life! :-) ) with some references to Lenin and Stalin, technically an okay read, but not fanfic! I was just wondering if anyone, it doesn't even matter if you know about the subject or anything, that has time this weekend could possibly read through and catch any mistakes that I've made. Usually you don't realize that you've made them until the 15 points have been knocked off. Email me at astro_dwarf@hotmail.com and tell me if you can take attachments . . . or however you want me to send it, at the moment with a couple of my supporting statements missing, it's about 2.75 pages long. Thank you so much in advance if you can even help a little bit (Even people not from the US can help a lot! There are enough mistakes to go around to everyone! :-) ) Sara (who is going back to all of her research and trying to find that last little bit to tie the paper together!) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 16:33:53 +1000 Reply-To: "jenerators@optushome.com.au" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jen Stosser Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Amazing! I had always assumed it was pronounced the same way as the word "ire". Wonder why? Jen Please note my new email address: jenerators@optushome.com.au -*- This message is umop ap!sdn -*- -*- Jenerator or Some1Else on IRC) -*- JenerEight on AIM -*- Photos of David (8) and Megan (5) on the Stosser Family HomePage: http://www.geocities.com/j_stosser -*-Please sign our guestbook! -----Original Message----- From: Wendy Richards [SMTP:wendy@KINGSMEADOWCR.FREESERVE.CO.UK] Sent: Friday, April 27, 2001 10:01 AM To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Subject: Re: Hi all! On Thu, 26 Apr 2001 17:34:43 EDT, No Name Available wrote: ><< (Actually, hearing them try to pronounce 'Eire' can be quite funny! ) >> > >So are you going to tell us the correct pronunciation? LOL Laurie! Well, it's something like Ehh-ra. I suppose the 'eir' is pronounced similarly to the first syllable of 'Erin', and the stress is on the first syllable. Wendy (hoping she hasn't confused everyone hopelessly!) ----------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 06:22:44 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Nicknames! I always picture Pam in a huge feathered headdress LOL! No, no, no, it's Chief as in Chief Editor, like Perry... way back when, I was a sysop on CompuServe, in charge of the L&C section, including the chatroom, which was called the Daily Planet ... and if I were in charge of the Daily Planet, obviously I must have been the Chief Editor... or so the guy who gave me the nickname suggested. That rationale doesn't fit anymore, really ;) but what the heck, everyone knows me by this nick now, and I'm too lazy to come up with a new one -- Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ The difference between journalists and other people is that other people spend their lives running from violence, tragedy, and horror and we spend ours trying to get in on it. --P.J. O'Rourke ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 06:42:05 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: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/27/2001 2:34:14 AM Eastern Daylight Time, jenerators@OPTUSHOME.COM.AU writes: << Amazing! I had always assumed it was pronounced the same way as the word "ire". Wonder why? >> Much like Melisma. Okay, I admit I thought this too... Must be us non Irish... See, that's why I asked! I knew Wendy would set us straight. ;) --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 06:56:34 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: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/27/2001 6:42:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Larus2407@AOL.COM writes: > > << Amazing! I had always assumed it was pronounced the same way as the word > "ire". Wonder why? >> > > Much like Melisma. Okay, I admit I thought this too... Must be us non Irish.. > . Okay... WAAAYYYY off topic, but beings the discussion has drifted into pronunciations... I have a student in my class named Aiden, and even his parents can't decide how to pronounce it . His mother insists it's a long-a (A-den)at the beginning, whereas his father pronounces it as a long-i (I-den)(and I wonder if this argument is an example of why they are now divorced... anyway ), but I'm curious as to which is the "Irish" pronunciation. I'm told the name has it's origin in Ireland. -Crys- (who is amazingly fascinated by all things Irish) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 07:36:28 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: OT--Irish pronunciation (Was: Hi all) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/27/2001 6:56:59 AM Eastern Daylight Time, JCWimmer@AOL.COM writes: << Okay... WAAAYYYY off topic, but beings the discussion has drifted into pronunciations... I have a student in my class named Aiden, and even his parents can't decide how to pronounce it . His mother insists it's a long-a (A-den)at the beginning, whereas his father pronounces it as a long-i (I-den)(and I wonder if this argument is an example of why they are now divorced... anyway ), but I'm curious as to which is the "Irish" pronunciation. I'm told the name has it's origin in Ireland. >> Well, there's a St. Aiden's School here on Long Island. I think I've heard it the way the mother pronounces it... --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 08:35:05 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Ren Carr Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Probably the same reason that Irish American's spell Eithne pronounced "Enya" the Galic spelling "Eithne". I think it is probably the love of the old language. I know that I just love to see Eire for Ireland meself! Ren C. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 08:37:58 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Ren Carr Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Actually pronouncing Eire is different in Ireland's different Counties. Cork would say it a wee bit differently than say someone from Derry and so on and so forth. Eire just this Irerah or Eraha. Me I just say Eire "Ire" ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 08:48:33 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Ren Carr Subject: Re: OT--Irish pronunciation (Was: Hi all) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Aiden, another form of Arthur is pronounced much like it looks by the Irish people that I know and converse with. Ofcourse once again you have that whole concept of each county in Ireland pronouncing words slightly differently from their neighboring counties. Ren C. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 06:43:00 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Diane Trim Subject: Re: OT: Proof reader needed for some non fanfic writing In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sara: I'm an English teacher here in the U.S.--a true vigilante grammarian. I'll help you out. Please don't send Mac documents--Word for Windows or a .txt document is best. Diane --- Sara Miller wrote: > Hey everyone! > I'm so sorry for interrupting your reading of fanfic > and great > conversations, but I need help with something that's > completely off topic. > I'm a junior in high school and we have a huge > documented essay that is more > than half our grade, so we need to do good to pass > the class. The topic is > Stalin and how he was the most damaging dictator > during World War II (I got > to pick it too! . . I need a life! :-) ) with some > references to Lenin and > Stalin, technically an okay read, but not fanfic! I > was just wondering if > anyone, it doesn't even matter if you know about the > subject or anything, > that has time this weekend could possibly read > through and catch any > mistakes that I've made. Usually you don't realize > that you've made them > until the 15 points have been knocked off. Email me > at > astro_dwarf@hotmail.com and tell me if you can take > attachments . . . or > however you want me to send it, at the moment with a > couple of my supporting > statements missing, it's about 2.75 pages long. > Thank you so much in > advance if you can even help a little bit (Even > people not from the US can > help a lot! There are enough mistakes to go around > to everyone! :-) ) > > Sara > (who is going back to all of her research and trying > to find that last > little bit to tie the paper together!) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 15:07:26 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ren wrote: > Probably the same reason that Irish American's spell Eithne pronounced "Enya" > the Galic spelling "Eithne". Eithne is pronounced Eth-na, and is spelt 'Eithne' in both Irish and English. :) I'm not sure where 'Enya' comes from, because it's not a name I ever came across apart from the pop singer. Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 15:15:04 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Crys! > Okay... WAAAYYYY off topic, but beings the discussion has drifted into > pronunciations... I have a student in my class named Aiden, and even his > parents can't decide how to pronounce it . His mother insists it's a > long-a (A-den)at the beginning, whereas his father pronounces it as a long-i > (I-den)(and I wonder if this argument is an example of why they are now > divorced... anyway ), but I'm curious as to which is the "Irish" > pronunciation. I'm told the name has it's origin in Ireland. Yes, Aiden is an Irish name - the correct spelling is Aidan, in fact. And, like 'Eire', the 'I' sound is not pre-eminent; it's pronounced Ay-dan, with stress on the first syllable. In relation to Ren's suggestion, the name is not an Irish form of 'Arthur'; the Irish form of Arthur is Artur, with a fada (accent) on the 'u'. I don't think there is an English equivalent of Aidan. Wendy (not an Irish name! ) -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 10:52:48 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Ren Carr Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Eithne is from Irish folk lore, she was a Queen and it is Eithne spelling in Galic and pronounced Enya. The Singer Eithne Ni Brenish/Enya Brennan was named by her Grandfather. Ren ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 10:55:14 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Ren Carr Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Well according to the Baby book from Ireland it says that Aiden, Aden are forms of Arthur! Ren ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 11:15:17 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Ren Carr Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit PS: Correction in her name it is Eithne Ni Bhraonain, and I got this spelling from Shepherdmoons.net They also have clips of sounds where Enya is saying her name. :O) Ren C. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 16:34:49 +0100 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Well according to the Baby book from Ireland it says that Aiden, Aden are > forms of Arthur! > > Ren The only input I can bring to this one is that one of my favourite series of SFantasy novels is the Keltiad series by Patricia Kennealy. The basis of these is that Brendan left Ireland not in ships but spaceships and centuries later the descendants of Brendan and King Arthur are discovered living on the planet Keltia in another solar system. I know, I know...there is a point - such as it is - I'm getting there. Arthur is referred to by the Kelts as Artur Hawkwing and their language is almost purely derived from Irish Gaelic. So there you go. For what it's worth. Not quite sure where that comes in the grand scheme of things, but I know that the author did a lot of research into Irish history, folklore and language for the novels. Maybe both interpretations are correct. Wouldn't be the first time. ;) LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 15:31:59 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Friend searching for a fanfic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi guys :) I got an email from someone today looking for a particular fic, and though I know which one she's talking about since I do remember reading it, I can't remember what the title is or who wrote it. Anyone know the details? >>The situtation involved Lois in trouble (again) and the need of a bodyguard. Because Superman following her around in all of his glory would have been a bit obvious, Clark decided to go in "plainclothes" he wears a Superman t-shirt and tight jeans with no glasses and his hair slicked back. << Like I said, I remember reading it, and I remember it was good. Other than that, I can't remember title, etc. Help? If you let me know, I'll pass the info along to her. Thanks! Erin __________________ erink@ida.net erink@lcfanfic.com Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 22:34:23 +0100 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Fwding for Ren :) LabRat :) Exactly my point! If you research say my middle name "Marlaine!" It = is=20 derived from Mary, Marian, Maire and so on and so forth!=20 The same I found with Aidan, Adan, Aedan, and so on and so forth, = derived=20 from Arthur. =20 I was merely relaying research that I'd come across.=20 Ren C.=20 ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 17:30:23 -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: Friend searching for a fanfic I remember that fic - and I loved it, too! Actually, *Clark* was the one who was supposedly at risk, and Lois asked Superman to pack him off to Smallville; in the meantime, Clark became Superman in a disguise to help Lois with her investigation. The story is Clark Stays Over, by Melissa Dore. :) Wendy ----------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 19:26:16 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: Hi all! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit LOL! When I read the nickname, ChiefPam, it made me think of Perry too! ;) Alexis ;-.) ""Faster than a speeding bullet." (Luthor) {LnC, Neverending Battle} ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 21:46:38 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Heather Whalen Subject: I got the okay! Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I talked to my professor and she really likes the idea. Fafiction is of interest to her too. I showed her the site (lcfanfic.com) and she was impressed by it. Since she was really interested in the 'it could have happened like this' catagory, I'm going to read one and write on it. I just don't know what one to pick. Any ideas? I also need to make sure I can get in touch with the author because I want to have his or her permission. Heather _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 19:08:16 -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: I got the okay! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi, Heather, There are a lot of possibilities to choose from. Some of the ones that come to mind are "Tales Out of Church" by Irene Dutchak, "When Lightning Strikes Twice" by Wendy Richards, "Trust Me, I'm a Reporter" by Yvonne Connell, the "Recognition" series by Carol Malo, and (by me) "A Night at the Office" and it's sequels. There are a tremendous number of possibilities to choose from. These are just a very few examples. Nan Smith Heather Whalen wrote: > I talked to my professor and she really likes the idea. Fafiction is of > interest to her too. I showed her the site (lcfanfic.com) and she was > impressed by it. Since she was really interested in the 'it could have > happened like this' catagory, I'm going to read one and write on it. I just > don't know what one to pick. Any ideas? I also need to make sure I can get > in touch with the author because I want to have his or her permission. > > Heather > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 19:35:28 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: I got the okay! In-Reply-To: <3AEA2610.B5001885@earthlink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Heather, I'm glad that your professor liked the idea. And I'm impressed that she likes fanfiction, too. There are all sorts of stories that you could pick for your category. Wendy Richards is one of the more prolific writers and has many stories that would fit the category. I've written a few. Pam Jernigan, Yvonne Connell, Hazel, Tank, Nan Smith and more are all very friendly people who have stories that fit the category. (I know I'm leaving out a ton of others who have written this type of story but I can't name everyone!) Best of luck, Irene > Heather Whalen wrote: > > > I talked to my professor and she really likes the > idea. Fafiction is of > > interest to her too. I showed her the site > (lcfanfic.com) and she was > > impressed by it. Since she was really interested > in the 'it could have > > happened like this' catagory, I'm going to read > one and write on it. I just > > don't know what one to pick. Any ideas? I also > need to make sure I can get > > in touch with the author because I want to have > his or her permission. > > > > Heather > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 20:49:00 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Erin Klingler Subject: Grammar Question: Earth MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay, grammarians, yet another grammar question When is "Earth" capitalized? I know it's a proper name, and when using it as such, you would capitalize it. And when one is talking about the earth (as in the dirt or ground under one's feet), it wouldn't be. But what about in expressions like, "How on earth did you do that?" etc. Thanks in advance for clearing this up for me. :) Erin (Btw, thanks for those who recommended getting the "Chicago Manual of Style" for a reference book. My hubby thinks I'm nuts when I crack it open for a half hour of reading, but I don't care. It's great to be learning. ) __________________ erink@ida.net erink@lcfanfic.com Visit my LNC/Kerth Website: www.ida.net/users/davek ***** "It's not the years that count, it's the moments...right now, as they happen." __________________ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 05:49:17 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "C.C. Malo" Subject: Re: I got the okay! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Good luck with your project, Heather -- it sounds like a lot of fun. :) you wrote: <> Now why was your prof interested in this particular category? What's "it"? -- the L & C relationship? the revelation? the development of the A plot? the use of action? I'm wondering if an episode rewrite might be a good choice because that way you would have a specific episode of the show to compare the fanfic to. There are several rewrites of TGoM:) but a great many of the other episodes have been 'rewritten':) I'm always wondering about the first 'episode' in either of fanfic's "fifth seasons" -- TUFS or S5. Either would fit the 'it could have happened like this' category since each picks up after the last episode of the TV series. Just be careful you don't get addicted to LnC fanfic in the process Carol ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 06:30:20 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: I got the okay! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 04/28/2001 5:49:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Ccmalo@AOL.COM writes: << I'm always wondering about the first 'episode' in either of fanfic's "fifth seasons" -- TUFS or S5. Either would fit the 'it could have happened like this' category since each picks up after the last episode of the TV series. >> That's where I was going with this.... S5 (bet you couldn't stop at just one, though) --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 09:17:54 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Genevieve Subject: Re: I got the okay! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit "C.C. Malo" wrote: > I'm wondering if an episode rewrite might be a good choice because that way > you would have a specific episode of the show to compare the fanfic to. > There are several rewrites of TGoM:) but a great many of the other episodes > have been 'rewritten':) That's an excellent idea -- but since all the recommendations given so far have been for "modern" stories, may I suggest a classic? Tempus Fugitive Revisited, by Kaz. Kaz's story is just so much ... umm... more logical than what happened on the screen. She wrote this during the summer between the second and third season, so you could also look at a story that was written during the series, instead of after it's over, when All Is Known. Kaz's story is at the archives, at > I'm always wondering about the first 'episode' in either of fanfic's "fifth > seasons" -- TUFS or S5. Either would fit the 'it could have happened like > this' category since each picks up after the last episode of the TV series. Well, speaking as someone who worked on TUFS, and who is quite proud of many of the stories on TUFS, please don't take this the wrong way, when I suggest that anyone starting to read TUFS, starts with the second story. The first one isn't ... representative of the whole. But I've often thought it would be interesting to compare the virtual seasons (and there are many -- Highlander has one, Forever Knight has one, I think they did one for the Sentinal, and there are probably lots more), to an actual television series. Writers have so much more freedom than script writers. ("No stinkin' budget!" "What do you mean Tracy Scoggins isn't available? I want Cat Grant in this episode?" "Special effects can't figure out how to make it look like the whole world is imploding?" "I *have* to have a Martha and Jonathan scene in this episode, because their contract says they have to be used a certain number of times each season? Why would Martha and Jonathan be in Tahiti with Lois and Clark?"). > Just be careful you don't get addicted to LnC fanfic in the process Oh, I think that's a given. I'm just wondering if her teacher won't get addicted as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Genevieve The World Wide Web has made it possible for anyone to find in five hours what a competent librarian can find in five minutes. :-) ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 09:50:22 -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: Grammar Question: Earth In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Erin, I would only capitalize "earth" when it is used as a proper name for the planet. The rest of the time it would not have a capital. Therefore, you were correct when you wrote, "How on earth did you do that?" I don't think there's a rule that covers this. It is more an accepted convention of writing. Enjoy your reading. I'd rather read fanfic than the Chicago Manual of Style. Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 10:55:29 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Demona (Angel Of The Night)" Subject: [Article] Stranger Than Fiction Comments: To: lcnfanfic@yahoogroups.com In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed This was posted to another list I belong to, and I *know* it'll receive a response here, so I'm passing it along... Cheers all** Demi -------------------------------------------------------------------- [fanlaw] Article from the globeandmail.com Web Centre The Globe and Mail, Thursday, April 26, 2001 Stranger than fiction When fans write stories based on their favourite movies or TV shows, it's out of love. Did they ever hear of copyright? By Mike Doherty TORONTO -- It is a truth universally acknowledged: No matter how much one is obsessed with something, one can always find someone more obsessed -- and increasingly that person can be found on the Internet. The World Wide Web has, of course, become the medium of choice for myriad subcultures, and one of the most impressive -- and bewildering -- is the Internet community of fan-fiction writers. Mostly ignored by the mainstream press and operating under pseudonyms, these authors are inspired by their obsession with certain books, TV shows and other creative works. They toil away at their computers without hope of remuneration or fame. Often the only recognition they receive comes in the unwelcome shape of a lawsuit. Their task is quite literally (and literarily) a labour of love -- in most cases, love for people they've never met and will never meet, but with whom they feel they have deep, personal relationships. Nonetheless, fan fictioneers produce great quantities of work, and in the process raise questions about appropriation of voice, authorial integrity, the validity of copyright, the point at which private creation becomes public property. Anyone seeking a window into the world of fan fiction will find it by visiting http://www.fanfiction.net, a huge archive of stories, poems, novels and screenplays. Enchanted by Monty Python but unhappy with the ending of Holy Grail? Three fans have come up with alternate endings. Impressed with Nintendo's video games but never thought Super Mario's brother Luigi got the attention he deserved? Several stories set out to redress this wrong. Passionate about Dawson's Creek but upset that Dawson and Joey aren't together? Various authors set out to fulfill your wishes. Of course, some fan writers exalt the more obscure. Remember the 1980s spy show Scarecrow and Mrs. King? Fanfiction.net boasts close to 600 stories based on its characters. Author Kim D., who describes herself as "a stay-at-home mom with a love for writing," asks: "Ever wonder about the scenes we didn't see during The Legend of Das Geisterschloss?" Perhaps a more pertinent question comes to mind: Why should anyone care? Jennifer Hale, who has written pseudonymous biographies of Xena's Lucy Lawless and Buffy's Sarah Michelle Gellar for Toronto's ECW Press, has come across quite a bit of fan fiction over the course of her research. Her theory is as follows: "Some people have always written, whether it be poetry or short stories, but when they discover a show like this that really changes their life (and when it comes to shows like Xena or Star Trek, the fans live the shows as much as watch them), it inspires them to use those characters in their stories. And in many cases, they may be frustrated with the way the plots are going on the shows, so they write them differently, learn to control the characters, and make the plot go the way they wish it had on television." The work itself "ranges from practically unreadable to so good you wonder why the head writers on the shows aren't hiring these people." In a recent survey of visitors to fanfiction.net, 70 per cent of the 56,000 respondents claimed to be between the ages of 10 and 19 -- no stay-at-home moms these. Many, it seems, are aspiring writers. Sixteen-year-old Gareth Owen Jones, for instance, has posted his full-length screenplay Honey, I Shrunk the Kids -- Again! There is, admittedly, a limited audience for such pieces (one reviewer on the site comments, "Do you have a life?"), but Jones writes that he has the "ambition to become actor and screenwriter." Writers like Jones attempt to hone their craft by having their stories reviewed, and sometimes workshopped, on the site. A number of columns and forums deal with issues such as character development, research and even grammar -- the site seeks to provide what schools do not. "Jekkal," a high-school student from the southern United States, writes both fiction (based on the science-fiction book and TV series Animorphs) and a column for fanfiction.net. She remembers how she began writing fan fiction: "It was spontaneous. . . . A great deal of my school writing assignments before I discovered the Internet was fan fiction, albeit done in such a way that most people wouldn't recognize the true source." Much fan fiction is explicit in revealing its sources, and the copyright issues involved are heating up. In some ways, the debate resembles a literary cross between the decade-old war on hip-hop sampling and the current Napster controversy. Jekkal writes a column called "Corporate Bandwagon," in which she regularly takes corporations and writers to task for banning fan fiction and shutting down Web sites devoted to it. "My opinion," she states, "is that most fan works are for personal use, and thus do not infringe on a trademark/copyright as long as the work is not made for monetary profit (feedback and praise is technically 'profit'), and the fan does not make a claim to the trademark." Jekkal's column provides a list of companies that she believes "stomp on personal statement and imagination," including Fox, which is trying to shut down a popular science Web site called The Why Files, and Warner Bros., which appears to be busy stamping out Harry Potter fan sites. She also mentions authors, such as Anne Rice, who forbid fan fiction -- and it's here that the issue gets complicated. It's one thing to write stories based on characters created by a long-dead author. Martin Amis once mused, after reading Pride and Prejudice: "I found myself thinking I could do with a 20-page sex scene, with D'Arcy acquitting himself uncommonly well." Although the Jane Austen-based stories at http://www.pemberley.com are unfortunately not very lascivious, there's little stopping one from fulfilling Amis's literary desire. When it comes to living authors, however, some feel it imperils the source of their livelihood. American fantasy writer Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, for instance, has been embroiled in legal battles surrounding her St. Germain series of historical vampire novels. "I have absolutely no sense of humour about copyright infringement," she writes. Yarbro has dealt with four instances of infringement during her career, including one where a fan story was printed in a magazine against her express wishes and the writer even mentioned as much in an introduction. Although Yarbro has managed to settle these issues out of court, she points out that in the U.S., "willful infringement, meaning you know the writer has said no and you do it anyway, carries with it a maximum federal fine of $250,000 and a maximum of five years in a federal penitentiary." When asked whether non-profit on-line fan fiction constitutes at least a grey area, she responds: "I think it is nonsense -- and that is a mild word for the one I would prefer to use -- and that fans who do it show a profound disrespect for the writer and the work they misappropriate in such cases. If fans want to write, they should make up their own stories with their own characters. That's what fiction is all about." Even more potentially litigious are stories concerning real people. For instance, the "slash" variety of fan fiction deals with homoerotic relationships between characters or people who often are ostentatiously, even vociferously, straight. Many of these stories are written as fantastic pornography for and by women, and many are amusing, whether intentionally or not. Consider the following passage from the story Silent Tears by "Chaos," about Eminem and Fred Durst (of Limp Bizkit infamy): "Em could feel tears building up in his eyes. Fred saw it also and hated himself for causing Em pain. 'Fred, can't you see I love you? What do you want me to do? I love her and I love you, she gives me the chance to be with both of you but, no, you don't like that idea,' Em said and let the tears fall. Fred could see the tears falling from Em's face and couldn't help but take him in his arms. Shhh . . . I'll try it okay? But if I don't like it then I'm sorry.' " Touching as the story is, Yarbro's comment about making up one's own characters can be a point well taken. Some fan writers have branched out: Jekkal, for instance, is "currently attempting to write an original novel using the most difficult and time-consuming method I know -- writing by hand." Then again, one can always "discover" one's own author, which is what the Emily Chesley Reading Circle has done. The group, based on-line at http://www.emilychesley.com, is dedicated to the promotion of the work of a "little-known" early 20th-century writer of "speculative fiction" in London, Ont. The site provides biographical details, academic insight, and even unpublished manuscripts by a forward-thinking (but somehow unrecognized) author. Mark Rayner is the group's "acting secretary" and a lecturer at the University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Information and Media Studies. He and his London colleagues have crafted an impressive on-line compendium of Chesley's bawdy adventures and literary endeavours, and even provide some of "her" writings on their site. The group has put out a call for Chesley-inspired academic papers on the Internet, but Rayner cautions those interested in writing fan fiction based on the work of an author who may herself be fictional. "One thing we have learned about the Chesleyan oeuvre is that it is volatile stuff, not to be trifled with by the 'unlearned' scholar. That said, we can imagine that Emily would have no compunctions sanctioning whatever consenting adults decided to do in the privacy of their own homes (electronic or otherwise)." It seems the Reading Circle is well-placed to put the whole issue in perspective. As Rayner notes, "Emily wrote an interesting novel called The World Wide Waste that hypothesized a world devoted to an electronic device (fancifully termed, IntraVision) in which the population of the world was hypnotized by its own incipient dreams of banality. "Predictably, this story was not a roaring success." Sites galore While http://www.fanfiction.net is a good starting point, here are more choice sites to explore: Wrestling Slash http://www.wrestlingslash.co.uk Several "slash" (i.e. homoerotic relationship) stories involving the WWF's finest lumbering combatants. So much for subtext. Diana Memorial Fiction Library http://www.mmjp.or.jp/amlang.atc/fiction/index.htm As if Elton John's rewrite of Candle in the Wind weren't enough . . . some revisionist history in which Princess Di goes to the Winter Olympics, meets Karen Carpenter, and has an affair in Tasmania. Beatles Fan Fiction Directory http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/1623/directory.htm Many fun snippets of dubious literary value (and no, we're not referring to McCartney's poetry). ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 08:04:22 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: lcfic Subject: Message Board Index Update through April 27 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi FoLCs! Posting on the list and both boards again this week to catch everyone. Three new stories begun, lots of new story parts, a completed story, and three new tocs all this week on Zoom's message boards! Links at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/lnc.html New stories this week: HEARTS DIVIDED: PAM JERNIGAN OUT OF AFRICA: CHRISH STRANGERS III: MISSY GALLANT New part(s) posted: CASE OF THE DISAPPEARING CLARK, THE: CAROL MONCADO CHARADE: NAN SMITH FUGUE II: FUSION: SHAYNE TERRY HAND THAT ROCKS, THE: PINTOFOLC PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY, THE: ZOOMWAY PURITY: YVONNE CONNELL QUESTION OF TRUST, A: RACONTEUR27 SERIAL VENGEANCE: TANK WILSON SURVIVAL OF THE SIGNIFICANT: MANOFSTEEL30 UNIVERSAL UNION: JENNI DEBBAGE Completed stories this week: IMPERFECT HERO, THE: CHRISH New TOC's HEARTS DIVIDED: PAM JERNIGAN OUT OF AFRICA: CHRISH QUESTION OF TRUST, A: RACONTEUR27 Added to the Archive this week: The Devil's Bargain by Wendy Richards Sex Changes Everything by Chris H When I was Twelve by JoMarch Enjoy! Dawn & the Index Crew __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 10:20:41 -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: [Article] Stranger Than Fiction MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay, so anyone know what the LC powers that be have said about the topic of fanfic? CM On Sat, 28 Apr 2001 10:55:29 -0400 "Demona (Angel Of The Night)" writes: > This was posted to another list I belong to, and I *know* it'll > receive a > response here, so I'm passing it along... > > Cheers all** > Demi > > snip article< > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > [fanlaw] Article from the globeandmail.com Web Centre ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 12:30:42 -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: I got the okay! That's great news, Heather! Good luck with the assignment. :) Yes, there are so many stories to choose from - and everyone who's responded to you so far has written some great stories. :) Do take a look at Carol (CC) Malo's Connections, for example, for a story with just about every element you could think of: Alt-Clark and Alt-Lois, a revelation, Jason Trask hunting down Superman *and* the New Kryptonians, all in one fantastic story. There are also lots of episode rewrites/spin-offs, so if that's what you mean by the 'it could have happened this way' category, why not follow the Archive link to the Kerth Awards, and take a look at the shortlisted stories in the Episode Adaptation category over the past four years of the awards? That way you know you'll be choosing one of the stories which FoLCs in general considered to be among the best. And in that category (adaptation) I'd personally recommend stories like LabRat's Are You Lonesome Tonight, Chris Carr's Learning Curves, Yvonne Connell's Trust Me, I'm A Reporter, Hazel's The Mirror Crack'd and A Certain Point of View, and Irene Dutchak's Church of Metropolis - and one of Irene's which didn't get nominated, Taking Responsibility. I hope you're going to share some of your thoughts with us, Heather! :) Wendy --------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 17:32:55 -0700 Reply-To: supertlc Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: supertlc Subject: New: Dance With Me (1/1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Okay, this is the first time I've posted anything to the list...I hope I = do this right . This little vignette is a rewrite of the end of 'Church of Metropolis'. = Suffice it to say that I wanted to see more of what went on at Bill = Church's little party, and I was never happy with that Lois/Superman = dance, as beautiful as it was. So, once again, I did things my way . = Thanks to Helene for beta-reading for me--her comments and suggestions = were awesome! Usual copyrights apply: characters are property of DC = Comics, TNT, etc., and any reference to any other story is accidental on = my part. Comments welcome, public or private. Dance with Me By Tracey =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D "Here you go." Lois turned, immediately recognizing the voice of her partner and best = friend, Clark Kent. She smiled at him, watching him as he slid into the = space beside her and handed her a glass. She accepted it with a murmured = thanks, then raised the tangy punch to her lips. They sipped their = drinks together before Clark spoke again. "It's nice, isn't it?"=20 She looked over at him. "The party or the punch?" "Both." He grinned, waving his arm in an absent gesture towards the = dance floor. "I mean, everything. It's nice." "Mm-hmm," she agreed, surveying the open ballroom, the twinkling lights, = and the coterie of well-dressed partygoers. The dance floor was crowded, = the food delicious, and the night clear and bright. Everyone looked as = if they were having a great time. Even her Uncle Mike was here tonight; = he had been asked by Perry and Bill Church to cater the charity ball = that was being co-sponsored by the Daily Planet and Costmart. Even = though Lois didn't trust Bill Church as far as she could throw him, she = had to admit that the party was doing wonders for her uncle's business. "Your Uncle Mike looks like he's really having a good time," Clark = commented, almost as if he were reading her thoughts.=20 "Well, after everything he's been through the last few weeks, I'm glad = things are starting to look up for him," Lois replied, observing her = uncle as he chatted with several well-known businessmen on the other = side of the room. "He deserves it."=20 "He certainly does," Clark agreed, lifting his glass to his lips. It was = clear by the expression on his face that he was remembering their recent = run-in with Baby Rage and Intergang. Thankfully, Baby Rage was now in = jail; however, Lois and Clark still had not been able to collect enough = evidence to take down the newest crime organization in Metropolis. Lois = was convinced that it was just a matter of time, though. A comfortable silence fell between the two partners as they stood next = to each other, watching the couples on the dance floor move in gentle = time to the music. The hum of chatter from the crowd floated around = them, snatches of phrases and conversations drifting to their ears. Lois = sighed, for a moment forgetting about the stress of the past few days, = namely their suspicions about Bill Church and the introduction of Mayson = Drake into their lives. She wasn't sure quite why, but just the mention of that woman's name put = her in a bad mood. Okay, so that wasn't totally true; she did know that = it had a lot to do with Mayson's interest in Clark, but what she didn't = know was why that bothered her so much. She kept trying to convince = herself that it didn't matter that Mayson liked Clark, but so far, it = wasn't working.=20 Craning her neck, she found herself searching the room to see if Mayson = had arrived yet. Her eyes finally came to rest on the beautiful blonde = woman that was just entering the room. Suddenly, her peaceful, restful = mood from before was broken, and her back stiffened unconsciously. Clark must have sensed the sudden shift in her mood; he looked over at = her, her name a question on his lips. "Lois? Are you okay?" She only vaguely heard him; she was instead concentrating on Mayson, who = had apparently spotted them and was now making her way across the room. = Knowing her, it probably wouldn't be long now before she ran right up to = Clark and asked him to dance. "Lois?" Clark asked again, concerned now. She snapped to attention, and the next words out of her mouth had barely = had time to form into a thought before they were thrust into the air. = "Dance with me." "What?" He looked slightly taken aback and more than a little surprised. She rolled her eyes. "What, am I speaking another language? Come on, = let's go." Lois reached out, and he took her hand quickly, almost as if = he was afraid that she would change her mind. He set his cup down, and = they made their way onto the dance floor. Lois didn't stop to analyze the reasoning behind her sudden decision to = ask Clark to dance; she didn't have time to anyway, for in the next = instant, the music began again, and she was being swept into Clark's = arms. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a disappointed Mayson Drake = stop her advance, abruptly turning and heading toward Bill Church, who = was standing along the sidelines.=20 Just then, Lois felt Clark's right arm come around to encircle her = waist, while his left hand reached and clasped her own. She gasped = softly as the movement drew their bodies closer together--then quickly = disguised it as a cough and hoped that he hadn't noticed. She didn't = want to admit it, but it felt really good to be held against him this = way.=20 She looked up at him, noticing that his eyes were bright behind his = glasses, and he looked as if he was truly having a good time. His = happiness must have been contagious, for soon she found herself smiling = broadly back at him, unable to take her eyes from his. Anyone observing = them would have immediately assumed that they were a couple, simply from = the way they were looking at each other. Lois tried to bring her lips = back into a straight line, but the smile on her face wasn't about to = budge. Moments passed as he held her; just how much time, Lois wasn't sure. = They danced together, no words between them, with only the warm melody = of the music surrounding them. It occurred to Lois that she rarely had = the chance to be this close to Clark; now that she was, she took the = opportunity to study him in way that she couldn't during the course of a = workday.=20 Tonight marked the second time she had seen him in a black tuxedo, and = the effect was no less stunning the second time around. Not that she = would ever admit it to him, of course. As she had told Perry earlier in = the week, Clark was her best friend, and she wouldn't do anything to = wreck that. But as she herself had once said, he was a man, and she was = a woman. She was allowed every now and then to appreciate her partner's = obvious good looks.=20 Just as she was in the process of appreciating them, however, she felt a = tap on her shoulder. Lois finally tore her eyes from Clark's. Mayson. "Excuse me, Lois, but do you mind if I cut in?" It took an immense amount of self-control not to turn her head and = completely ignore the woman. That was Lois's first impulse, and oh, how = she wished she could. Immediately following that, her next impulse was = to tell Mayson, "yes, I absolutely do mind," and then dance away with = Clark still firmly planted in her arms.=20 Unfortunately, she knew that neither of those scenarios was likely to = happen. She had no claim on Clark whatsoever, and because of that very = reason, she couldn't turn Mayson down without arousing suspicion about = the nature of her feelings for Clark. This charity ball was full of = reporters anyway, and the last thing that Lois needed was to have = everyone gossiping about her and Clark's relationship.=20 Clark can dance with anyone he wants; Clark and I are just friends, she = chanted over and over in her mind. Resolutely, she thrust his hand = toward Mayson's--figuring that the faster she let go of him, the easier = it would be--and began to back away. "Of course not," she forced out, = pasting a smile on her face. It was small consolation that Clark's arm = lingered on her waist, as if he wasn't really too keen on letting her go = either. She caught his gaze one last time before she let go of him = totally, finding the same regret and disappointment in his eyes that she = was sure was evident in her own, no matter how hard she tried to hide = it. Lois nodded almost imperceptibly, telling him without words that she = understood, and that it was okay. *They* were okay now, and that was the = important thing. She took a few more steps back, turning her head so she = wouldn't have to watch as Clark took Mayson in his arms. She was thinking of heading over to talk to Uncle Mike for a little = while, but before she could even take her first step in that direction, = she found herself being swept up into another pair of arms. "I must warn = you--I dip suddenly, and I dip deeply," came a low, gravely, very = familiar voice. Lois laughed out loud as she looked up at her editor in chief. "I'll = stay alert." She grinned; leave it to Perry to know just when she needed = a little cheering up. Knowing him, he had probably been watching the = entire scene between her, Clark, and Mayson. "Are you two all right?" he asked as he twirled them in time with the = music.=20 Yup, he had been watching her and Clark. "We're fine," she replied. = "Mayson's not really so bad. She's a little pushy, but she's obviously = so desperate, who can blame her." Lois finally found the courage to peek = over Perry's shoulder and glance at the dancing couple. Mayson was = leaning into Clark, her eyes almost closed and her cheek very near to = his.=20 Lois couldn't help herself; that piercing feeling of jealously was back. = She wanted to look away, but for some reason, she couldn't. She watched = as Clark took the lead, moving the two in a small circle and swaying = slowly to the music.=20 Then, almost as if he had sensed her watching him, Clark glanced up and = met Lois's eyes across the dance floor. Locked in that connection, the = world around them dimmed for a moment, and all they saw was each other.=20 "I'm sorry."=20 In reality, it was only his lips that had shaped the phrase, but, lost = in their connection the way she was, she heard his voice as clearly as = if he had been standing beside her. She knew that he was apologizing for = Mayson's interruption of their dance, but there was really no need. She = shook her head slightly and gave him a small smile, which he returned. = He held her gaze for another instant, then almost by mutual agreement, = both partners broke away at the same time.=20 Lois closed her eyes for a briefly, amazed at the power of simple eye = contact. She focused her attention back on Perry, a smile on her face. = "I think what you said is right; no matter what happens, I'll never lose = Clark." And she knew that it was true, too; even with Mayson Drake in = the picture, Clark would never stop being her friend and her partner.=20 She squealed suddenly as Perry chose that moment to dip her to the = floor. "I warned you," he reminded her, smiling. Lois giggled in return, = momentarily forgetting about her previous thoughts of Clark and Mayson.=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D "Are you sure that I can't coax you into one more dance?" "No, thank you, David. Really, I think I'm going to sit this next one = out," Lois said as she gracefully bowed out of the embrace of David = Wellington, a young executive at LNN. "Thank you for the dance, = however." "It was my pleasure," he replied, and she tried not to notice that his = hand lingered on hers just a second longer then necessary. She gave him = a quick smile and slid away; David was a nice guy, but she just wasn't = interested in him in a romantic way.=20 She turned and walked back towards the table where Perry and Jimmy were = seated. Spying an open seat beside Jimmy, she slid into it with a = grateful sigh.=20 "What's wrong, Lois? Too many dances?" Jimmy asked, grinning. "Yes," she groaned, reaching down to rub her tired calf muscle. "Must be nice," Jimmy grumbled, more to himself than to her. "I mean, = sheesh, you and Clark haven't sat down all night." Lois closed her eyes briefly at the mention of Clark's name. She had = been trying all night not to look in his direction; that was one of the = reasons that she had accepted the invitation of anyone who had asked her = to dance. Her philosophy was that if she kept herself busy--kept = talking, kept dancing--maybe she would forget that he was even in the = room. Yeah, right.=20 How could she forget? No matter where she turned, he was always in her = line of vision. Her eyes seemed to gravitate toward him, finding him = wherever he was on the dance floor. And each time, try as she might, she = couldn't stop the pang that shot through her heart at the sight of = Mayson in his arms. Was it wrong to feel this way? she wondered for what seemed like the = thousandth time tonight. Was it wrong to wish that, just once, he would = stop dancing with Mayson and walk back over to her? They hadn't spoken = since the dance that the assistant DA had interrupted, and that had been = a couple of hours ago now. She couldn't even count the number of times = that she had been tempted to cut in on Mayson and Clark's many dances = since then, but there was just something that wouldn't let her--maybe it = was pride, or maybe it was fear of rejection. What if she asked to cut = in and Clark told her he'd rather dance with Mayson? She couldn't even = imagine how much that would hurt. "Well, I think I'm going to call it a night," Jimmy said, interrupting = her thoughts. "Yeah, me too," Perry agreed, and they both rose from the table. Perry = looked over at Lois. "Honey, do you have a ride home?" Lois gave one last glance at Clark. Mayson was leading him towards an = empty table, and Lois had a feeling that they would probably be there = for a while--and then probably leave together. That horrifying thought = was the last straw, and she stood quickly. "Well, I came with Clark, but = I don't think that he's ready to go just yet. So if you wouldn't mind = taking me home..." "Of course not," Perry told her. "You just go get your coat, honey, and = we'll be waiting by the car." "Thanks, Perry." She smiled at him, but she knew her smile didn't reach = her eyes. He just nodded, and she watched for a moment as the two men = walked off. Lois sighed and began walking towards the coat check. She wasn't more = than halfway there when she suddenly realized that her feet had veered = off course, and she was making her way directly toward Clark and Mayson. Clark looked up when she came near. "Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt," = she rushed ahead before he could say anything. "I just wanted to say = good night." "You're leaving?" Clark sounded surprised. "Yeah, I'm pretty tired, so I'm just going to go home and go to bed," = she told him.=20 Clark glanced at his watch. "I hadn't realized it was getting that = late," he said, looking over at Mayson. "I should really be going, too." "Clark," Mayson started to object, but Lois cut her off. "No, it's okay, Clark. Perry and Jimmy offered to take me home, so you = can stay if you want." The words almost stuck in her throat. She didn't = want Clark to stay here with Mayson, but she certainly wasn't going to = let him know that. "Well, it is late, and we do have to work tomorrow," Clark said, = flashing Mayson an apologetic smile. "I think I'm going to go home, too. = I enjoyed tonight, though. Thank you." "I did, too," Mayson responded, looking adoringly at Clark. Lois = clenched her teeth and turned resolutely away so she wouldn't have to = witness the rest of this oh-so-touching good bye. "Good night, Mayson," she heard Clark say. Mayson returned the farewell = in that same sweet voice, and Lois was glad when they were finally able = to walk away from the table.=20 Once they had made their way across the room, Clark turned to Lois. "Can = I walk you home?" he asked softly, almost hesitatingly. "Oh, no, you don't have to." She knew if she met his eyes he would be = able to tell that she was lying, so she kept her eyes on the floor. "No, I want to," he insisted. "Okay," she said, pretending to relent. He smiled at her, and, on = impulse, she slipped her arm through his as they walked out onto the = street.=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D "Well, we're here. I still don't know why you feel the need to walk me = all the way to the door. You and your gentlemanly behavior," Lois teased = as she inserted her key and unlocked her apartment door. "I've told you before that when I walk a woman home, she gets door to = door service," Clark reminded her, giving her a sweet smile. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please." She walked inside, flipping on the = light. She had just deposited her bag on the living room table when she = noticed that he was no longer following behind her. "Clark, is there a = reason you're still standing in the hallway?" He scuffed the toe of his shoe along the carpeted hallway. "I just = wasn't sure if.well, you know." "You could come inside?" Funny, she'd just assumed that he would. It = wasn't like this had been a date or anything. And since he'd been such a = good friend, walking her home like he had and everything, didn't he = deserve to come inside for a minute? And they really hadn't spent much = time together at the party, so she had been hoping that he wouldn't rush = off.. "Oh, Clark, of course you can. Do you want something to drink?" He took a tentative step inside. "Yeah, that'd be great" She gestured toward the couch in the living room. "Make yourself = comfortable. I'll just be a sec." It felt kind of strange, telling him = that. Wasn't that something she would usually say to a date? Of course, = there hadn't been many of those lately.. To stop that train of thought, she slipped off her high heels and ducked = into the bedroom to put them away. When she reappeared in the kitchen, = she saw that Clark was sitting on the couch. "What do you want?" she = called, praying that she actually had something to offer him. "Whatever you have," Clark called back, and Lois had to smile. How well = he knew her. And whether she gave him wine or water, she knew that he = would accept it graciously and not say anything; it was just the type of = person he was. She opened the refrigerator, her face screwing into an interesting = expression as she inspected its contents. "Well, you have your choice: = cream soda or cream soda," she sighed, laughing at herself.=20 "Hmm." He pretended to be deep in thought. "It's a tough choice, but I'm = going to have to go with cream soda," he told her in a very serious = voice, somehow managing to maintain a straight face. She had to giggle at his antics. She knew that cream soda was more her = favorite than his, but it was just another testament to their friendship = that he was willing to drink it because she liked it. "Okay."=20 Lois was just pulling the glasses from the cabinet when she heard his = voice. "I had a good time tonight," he commented, his head turned toward = the kitchen. She nodded, signaling that she had heard him, but she couldn't really = agree. She had spent most of the night dancing with old businessmen and = watching Clark and Mayson, so it wasn't exactly the best time she'd ever = had. "Yeah, it was okay. The band was good," she offered, glad she could = say that truthfully. "Yes, they were," he agreed. Then he paused, as if thinking. "Do you = remember when they played 'Fly Me to the Moon'?" he asked. Lois glanced at him curiously as she poured the bubbly gold liquid into = the glasses. "I remember. Why?" "No reason, really," he started, then stopped, as if afraid to go any = farther.=20 "Clark." she warned. He knew that she couldn't stand when people started = to tell her things and then stopped like that. It was the reporter in = her; she always needed to know the rest of the story. He cleared his throat. "Well, I was thinking about you while it was = playing, that was all. I remember once that you told me that it was one = of your favorite songs." "You remember that?" Lois couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. = It felt good, though, to know that he remembered those little things = about her. He probably did know her more intimately--not intimately in = that way, of course, Lois corrected with a faint blush--but he knew her = in a way that no one else did. Even Lucy didn't know some of the things = that she had shared with Clark.=20 "Aren't best friends supposed to know all sorts of little things like = that about each other?" he asked, grinning. "I suppose," she answered, a smile playing across her mouth. After the = rocky week they'd had, she loved hearing him acknowledge the closeness = of their relationship. She brought the glasses of cream soda back into = the living room and handed him one.=20 "Thank you," he said as he took the glass. "You're welcome," she replied in return. She straightened, standing by = the couch awkwardly, unsure of her next move. Should she sit down beside = him? With Clark's large frame, though, the couch suddenly looked awfully = tiny and way too intimate. But if she didn't sit there, she would have = to go and sit on her other loveseat--then it would be obvious to him = that she was uncomfortable sitting next to him. How should she handle = this one?=20 But if she sat next to him, as she had hundreds of times before, would = she truly be uncomfortable? Finding the answer surprisingly easy, she = slipped by the coffee table in one decisive move and sat down beside = him.=20 There was a moment of silence as they each sipped their sodas. "Hey, = Clark." Lois turned to him, reaching down to place her glass on the = coffee table in front of her. "What?" "I was just thinking that we could listen to 'Fly Me to the Moon' while = we finished our drinks," she told him. "I have the CD, and anyway, after = you mentioned it, I'm in the mood to hear it again," she added. "Sure," he agreed, and she rose from the couch to find the music. Within = minutes, the first few strains of the familiar, beautiful song began to = float through the air of her apartment. She returned to her seat next to = him on the couch, her mission now accomplished. Lois took a deep breath, = letting the notes that she had grown to love wash over her, seeping into = her skin like warm sunshine. Clark must have heard her contented sigh because he answered her with = one of his own. "You know, I love this song," he murmured, more to = himself than to her specifically. "Do you?" It seemed right to her, somehow, that he would love the same = song that she did. Funny how she'd never known that before. She wondered = for an instant what other things she had failed to discover about the = man who was sitting so peacefully beside her.=20 "I was just thinking," she began, the words flowing from her before she = could stop them, "that for all the time that we've spent together, I = really don't know that much about you. What kind of music you like, what = your favorite color is." She sat up straighter, wondering where these = thoughts were suddenly coming from. Clark smiled at her, a little secret tug at the corners of his mouth. = "There are definitely things about me that you don't know yet, Lois." "Then tell me," Lois whispered, surprising even herself with the = request. Her words had been just a bit more passionate than she had = intended, but she could do nothing about it now. What was it about Clark = that made her want to know everything there was to know about him?=20 Clark looked at her a little strangely for a moment, almost as if he = were making up his mind about some big decision. "Clark?" she asked = hesitantly. "I mean, if you don't want to, it's no big deal. I really = shouldn't have asked. You have a right to your privacy--I was just." She = trailed off, unsure now and hoping that she hadn't made him = uncomfortable. "No," he assured her quickly. "I'm really.I mean, I'm glad that you want = to know." His brow was still furrowed, however, and he looked deep in thought. = "What are you thinking about?" she asked softly. "It's nothing," Clark answered, clearing his features until they were = back to the wide, open expression to which she was accustomed. "I mean, = I guess I was just thinking about the evening, was all." "Oh," was all Lois could think to say. Here he was, in her apartment, = talking to her, and all he could think about was how he spent the = evening dancing with Mayson Drake? The thought made her almost sick to = her stomach. She refused to let that bother her, though, and set out to = correct the conversation. "I wish that we could have gotten the chance = to dance more than we did," she casually added, hoping to steer his = thoughts back to her and the dance that they had shared.=20 "Yeah, I wish we could have, too," he agreed, and his tone was just a = little wistful, a fact that Lois was quick to catch. It was that touch of wistfulness that made her next move easier. She = couldn't believe she was going to do this. "Well, you know, since we = didn't get to dance much earlier, and we do have the music here." He looked up sharply. "What?" She blushed, suddenly embarrassed at her suggestion. "I mean, if you = want.we could." Lois couldn't finish the sentence. What was she doing? = Practically begging Clark to dance with her, right here in her living = room? She was going crazy. That was the only explanation--temporary = insanity. "Never mind. It was a dumb idea." Without meeting his eyes, = she brought her glass to her lips and concentrated on sipping the cream = soda. It was her turn to look up sharply, though, when she felt him lay his = hand softly on her arm and heard his quietly spoken answer. "Lois, I = want to." "You what?" She wasn't even sure that she had heard him correctly. Did = he even know what she had almost suggested? Did he mean what she thought = he meant now? Lois pressed her fingers to her temples. Oh, boy--she = really was crazy. She wasn't even making sense to herself. All this = thinking in circles was beginning to hurt her head. She repeated her = question, as if needing reassurance of his intentions. "You what?" "I want to dance with you." Clark smiled and set down his cup. "Here, = now--to this song." He stood, reaching for her hand in much the same way = that she had reached for his earlier in the evening. Wordlessly, she followed. As soon as she was on her feet, she lifted her = eyes and her gaze collided with his. She shivered in anticipation, eager = to feel his arms around her. She remembered all too well the way it had = felt earlier at the party, and she wanted that feeling again. She took a = step closer to him, forgetting now that she was only supposed to be his = best friend. Lois knew that her face was flushed, but she couldn't do = anything about it. The air seemed thicker to her, too, making it more = difficult to draw a proper breath. Or perhaps it was just the fact that = her hand was still enfolded in Clark's.. He reached for her again, pulling her, and her breath caught in her = throat. Just a little closer and she would be pressed fully against = him.. Then, suddenly, he stopped. Confused, she searched his face. As she = watched him, his eyes seemed to unfocused slightly, taking on an almost = faraway quality, and he took a step back. Oh, no. Her first thoughts were scrambled into one embarrassed heap, = blazing across her mind and heating her face. She should have known = better. Because she was his best friend, he was just being nice when = he'd said that he wanted to dance with her. Humiliated and blinking back = tears, she shrank back from him as well, dropping his hand--which had = become slack on hers anyway--and moving towards the couch. "Lois? What's the matter?" She heard the questioning note in his voice, = and she felt like screaming. Now he was going to act like she was the = one backing away? No way--he had been the one to step away first. "Look, Clark, if you didn't want to, you could have just said no," she = told him flatly. "It's no big deal." "Oh, no." She saw realization dawn in his eyes. "No, that's not what I = was doing!" he exclaimed. "I was just going to start the song again. = See, it's over now," he explained, motioning towards the stereo. They = both listened as the last few notes died away, and then the room fell = silent. "Oh," she whispered, feeling a bit sheepish and more than a little = foolish. She had been so caught up in the prospect of dancing with him = again that she hadn't even noticed that the song was almost over. With = relief, she watched him now as he crossed the living room and bent over = the stereo to start the song again. He did want to dance with her; in = fact, he wanted to make sure that they had a full dance together. The = thought warmed her heart, and she smiled shyly at him when he appeared = in front of her once again. "Dance with me," he whispered huskily, echoing her words from earlier in = the evening. She knew instinctively that he had chosen those words for a = reason, and the meaning they carried was not lost on her. It was almost = as if by reiterating her words, he was bringing them back in time, to a = place where Mayson had not yet interrupted them, erasing those memories = and asking her to start over with him.=20 Won't you fly me to the moon? "Yes," she whispered back, stunned by the look she saw in his eyes. He = took her in his arms the same way that he had before, but there was = something different about this dance; Lois could feel it. This time the = romantic tension between them was more potent than it had ever been, and = even Lois couldn't deny that. Yes, two best friends danced to this song, = but as the lyrics whirled throughout the living room, passion grew from = friendly affection and merged into one even stronger feeling. Lois could = almost feel it spreading through her body, down through her limbs and = settling, finally, in the deepest part of her heart. It was then, as she melted into his gaze, that she realized that she has = been deceiving herself for a long time now. This is what she had wanted = from Clark all along; this was why she had been so critical and so = jealous of Mayson. She didn't want another woman to touch Clark the way = she was; she didn't want to see anyone else hold his hand or slip one = arm around his shoulders the way she did now. Their bodies fit together = as if made for each other, and Lois couldn't help wondering if the = feeling would carry over to the molding of their lips. Darling, kiss me. Did she dare? How much would a bold move like that change their = relationship? But, she considered, hadn't their relationship already = been permanently altered by this dance? She knew that she would never = think of him in the same way, and she was pretty sure that his = perception of her had been changed as well. So, if they couldn't go = back, didn't it make sense that they move forward instead? "Clark," she whispered, intending to tell him about her newfound = musings; however, in the instant his eyes met hers again, she saw that = there was no need. He was thinking the same thing, and he wanted it just = as badly. Taking one deep, fortifying breath in an effort to calm her = racing heartbeat, she slowly raised her face to his. In other words, I love you... The music was still swirling around them, draping both bodies in a = blanket of romance that only served to enhance the wondrous feeling of = his lips caressing hers. Their kiss was warm and gentle and infinitely = sweet; she smiled softly against his lips when she realized that he = tasted mostly of the cool cream soda he had been drinking moments = before, mixed with his own unique flavor. She knew now with absolute = certainty that cream soda would remain her favorite for the rest of her = life, for she would always associate it with this moment and the taste = of Clark's mouth. The kiss continued, passionate, but not overly so, = heady without being overpowering. Long moments passed before they finally relinquished their hold on each = other, pulling apart slowly. Lois ran her hands across the width of his = shoulders, wondering just when she had put her arms around his neck. She = pressed her lips together and took a deep breath, praying that she would = find the right words in this situation. Just how did one go about = telling her best friend that she loved the way he kissed? Lois was relieved to see that Clark seemed to be having a similar = reaction. "That was." He cleared his throat, seemingly at a loss for = words, and Lois sympathized with him. She knew exactly what he was going = through. She grinned, wanting to break the tension. "Well, that was another thing = that I didn't know about you," she teased, catching her thoroughly = kissed bottom lip between her teeth. Her teasing tone had been just the right thing to do. He broke into a = smile, and the small amount of awkwardness between them dissipated. = "See, you learned something new," he murmured, tightening his arms = around her, a move that had Lois anticipating another experience much = like the first. He didn't disappoint. This time his kiss was more assured and confident, = and Lois sighed a little against his mouth, trying to remember why in = the world she had fought this for so long. "Hmm, anything else you would = like to tell me about yourself, Mr. Kent? So far, I've thoroughly = enjoyed this little lesson," Lois murmured, pressing little butterfly = kisses against his lips. "Well, let's see." His answer was slow in coming because he was so = caught up in return each and every one of those pleasant kisses that she = had given him--not that she was complaining, of course. "What if I told = you that I knew an even better way to dance?" he finally managed to get = out. His question, instead of making her curious, suddenly struck a nerve. = She pulled back from him, a little ashamed of herself. "You know, I = didn't even know that you could dance. I never bothered to ask," she = admitted sadly, her eyes downcast. There had been so many times in the = last year and a half that she had just dismissed him as a country hack = from Nowheresville. She had never taken the opportunity to learn more = about him. She was sorry for that, but before she could tell him, he was = already reaching for her again. His eyes twinkled as he tucked his finger under her chin and tilted her = face up to his. "Well, Lois, to tell you the truth, this isn't dancing." "It's not?" There was laughter in her voice, along with a little = disbelieving. What in the world had he meant by that statement? "No," he emphasized, still smiling. "*This* is."=20 And then she was floating--not just metaphorically this time, as she had = when he'd kissed her, but quite literally! Both of her bare feet were a = good six inches off the floor, and she wiggled them experimentally, her = confused mind wondering for a split second just how he had managed to = pull off a trick like this. She looked down at her feet, then back at him in complete amazement. = "Clark!" This was no trick at all! They were really floating in mid air, = right in the middle of her living room! Her jaw dropped as everything = fell into place, and although she tried, her thoughts were not turning = into coherent sentences. "We're.we're...and you're.you're." "Yeah," he answered, somewhat sheepishly, and he looked like he was = bracing himself for something. "I am." "But.but." Oh, this was just no good at all! How was she going to talk = to him if she just kept repeating the same words over and over? He seemed to understand her dilemma, and he leaned over to whisper in = her ear. "Lois, I've dreamed of dancing with you like this for so long. = Just finish this dance with me, please?" he pleaded softly. "Then we can = talk." He nipped gently at her earlobe. "I promise." Lois shuddered at the feeling of his mouth and the sound of that deep = voice vibrating against her ear. This man certainly didn't play fair, = that was for sure. Although, what he'd said did make sense.surely it = wouldn't hurt just to finish this dance? It seemed so important to him, = and if she was honest with herself, she loved the feeling of being = suspended in the air like this, knowing that his arms would never let = her fall. She wanted this dance to continue as much as he did. She = nodded slowly. He started to lean down to kiss her, but Lois eluded him, finally = finding her voice. "I suppose you're going to tell me that this is just = another one of those new things that I learned about you tonight, huh?" "You did say you wanted to know." He grinned playfully at her and placed = a kiss on her cheek. "And I did warn you." She wanted to give him a fierce look to let him know that he wasn't off = the hook just yet, but he was too fast for her. His lips closed over = hers, and upon that first contact, Lois decided that they could discuss = this newest development later--much later. She moaned softly as their = kiss became more intimate. She had more important things to concentrate = on right now. Fly me to the moon... =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=20 The End ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 23:47:02 +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: New: Dance With Me (1/1) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I see Tracey is suffering from the same list glitch as LabRat and Erin - the reply seem to go to her eddress instead of the list, if you don't change the email address. Anyway, on to this absolutely terrific vignette. :) S p o i l e r S p a c e Tracey, you already know how much I love this. It's so absolutely waffy and sweet and makes me sigh in happiness. I'm getting a heartache at Lois's observation of Mayson and Clark dancing together and spending the evening in each other's arms, I'm holding my breath at the intensity of the moment when they decide to dance, back at Lois's apartment, and finally, I'm melting with the sweetness of the revelation in the end, and the kisses... Happy waffy sigh... Thank you for sharing this beautiful fanfic with the rest of us, Trace! :) Helene :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kaethel Kaethel@wanadoo.fr