From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG0107D" ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 02:01:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Adam Labotka Subject: Re: Don't Tug ON Superman's Heart 1/1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Heh short comment there, but of course still appreaciated. Glad you = enjoyed it. ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Carol L Moncado=20 To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU=20 Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2001 6:30 PM Subject: Re: Don't Tug ON Superman's Heart 1/1 Hey Adam I enjoyed this! CM ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 02:12:15 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Adam Labotka Subject: Don't Tug On Superman's Friends 1/1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Don't Tug On Superman's Friends By Adam Labotka This is a companion piece to Don't Tug On Superman's Heart, which deals = with Clark's feelings during the time he thinks Lois is dead in Don't = Tug On Superman's Cape. The blame for this one is on Tank and all the = people who jumped on the bandwagon wanting a companion piece, so for = spite to Tank we have Jimmy's thoughts as well as Perry's ;). Thanks to = Missy and Cindy for their wonderful beta reading yet again, and thanks = to Cindy for the title. You can find the story about Clark's feelings here: = http://www.lastson.com/boards/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=3Dget_topic&f=3D5&t=3D00= 0751 Public and private feedback welcome at alabot1@hotmail.com ****** Jimmy had been surprised to see a strange, bald man sitting by Lois' = desk, and assumed she had just forgotten to cancel an appointment when = she had left town to lay low for a few days. He had been even more = shocked and dismayed when Lois had shown up in the newsroom shortly = thereafter. Didn't she realize she was still in danger? Shaking his = head, he went about his work. He'd never understand why Lois took so = many risks. It was a miracle she was still alive, mused Jimmy. Well, not so much now = that Superman was around, but still, she'd been getting into tough = situations as long as he had known her. Lois must lead a charmed life to = have lived through it all. He just hoped that luck never ran out. Almost an hour after Lois had left the newsroom; Jimmy noticed a = videotape lying on a desk that hadn't been there before. Curious he = checked it out and found a note saying, "Here's something Superman = should be interested in - Bad Brain Johnson." Jimmy swallowed, almost = fearful of what might be on the tape. He found no indications of where = it had come from so he decided to bring it to Perry so he could decide = what to do with it. Sighing, Jimmy headed to Perry's office hoping he wasn't in a bad mood. = Hesitantly, he knocked on the editor's door. ****** Perry was upset after finding Lois in the newsroom. Boy did that girl = infuriate him sometimes. She had little regard for her own safety, and = someday it would catch up with her. Thank God for Superman, Perry = thought, without whom that day would already have come. Here she was = again, ignoring the danger this Bad Brain posed. He loved Lois like a daughter, but all this worrying wasn't good for his = health. Perry had hoped Clark would have a settling influence on her, = his natural caution balancing out her recklessness. Sadly though, it = wasn't working out quite the way he hoped. Lois still got into far too = much danger. When he expressed concern for her, by asking about her = bulletproof vest, she had just made a joke about his tie. Sure, Alice = had strange taste in ties, even stranger then Clark's, but he was trying = to make her happy. Still, he smiled slightly, it had been funny. Perry was still lost in thought, worrying about Lois, when he was roused = by a soft knock at his door. Glancing up, he saw Jimmy waiting anxiously = on the other side. "Come in," Perry commanded. Perry watched as Jimmy carefully opened the door. Man, that boy could be = so timid at times, always afraid of upsetting him. Someday he'd manage = to teach that boy to be more confident. "Uh, chief, I found this tape out here. There was a note saying, 'Here's = something Superman should be interested in,' and it's signed by Bad = Brain. I didn't know what to do with it so I brought it to you," Jimmy = explained quickly. Motioning Jimmy in, "Bring it over here son," Perry said, dismay in his = tone. Perry wondered what this was all about. Why had Bad Brain brought a tape = for Superman here? What could be on the tape? Whatever it was, it = couldn't be good. It was an ordinary VHS tape, no markings to indicate = anything out of the ordinary other than the note. "Jimmy, set up a VCR = in the newsroom. It won't hurt to find out what this is about," Perry = said, morbid curiosity getting the better of him. Several minutes later the whole newsroom had gathered around to find out = what was on the mysterious tape for Superman, from Bad Brain. Normally = Perry wouldn't allow such an occurrence in the middle of a workday, but = he didn't feel he could deny them, after all it was his own curiosity = that brought him here. When everyone had quieted down, Perry nodded to = Jimmy to start the tape. Perry watched the television and felt his heart drop when he saw Lois = appear on the screen. A feeling of dread took him, and he couldn't shake = it. He watched horrified as she cried out Bad Brain, and Perry knew he = was watching her death. It took all his reserve not to break down as he = watched Lois disintegrated by the electro-whammy, but he couldn't allow = himself to break down in front of the newsroom. Perry barely registered it when Jimmy began to rewind the tape. He was = brought out of his reverie when Superman rushed in, asking worriedly, = "Where's Lois?" "Superman," Perry managed to get out, more of habit then anything else. He watched as the superhero made his way through the crowd. Perry didn't = have the heart to tell him what had happened. Lois was Superman's best = friend, aside from maybe Clark, and he would be beating himself up = inside about not having been there. He just couldn't crush the young = man. No one deserved to feel like Perry did right now. "What's happened?" Superman asked, concerned. Perry decided to let Superman see for himself what had happened. Jimmy = started the tape up, and it wasn't easier to watch the second time then = it had been the first time. Perry watched Superman's face fall, emotions = showing through the mask he normally kept in place. As bad as he felt, = watching the proud superhero's face fall made it even worse. The = sarcastic comment from Bad Brain, "Oh, don't look so shocked, on second = thought..." cut into him like a knife just like last time. He watched as = Superman's composure failed him and he shattered the television in one = blow, screaming out, "NOOOO!" Perry watched as Superman fled out of the newsroom, as if fleeing from = the knowledge of Lois' death. He felt the need to flee as well. To get = out of the newsroom so he could let go his thin veneer of control. As = quickly as he could without giving himself away, Perry went to the = safety of his office. Once inside his office, Perry let go and all the hidden grief came = rushing out. Tears were in his eyes as he thought of Lois. She was so = young and vibrant; she didn't deserve to be snuffed out so soon. He = remembered thinking about her tendency to danger catching up with her = earlier and felt even worse. Why hadn't he kept a better eye on her? He = should have sent her back to Kansas as soon as he saw her in the = newsroom, gone with her personally to make sure she went. He had been = too lenient on her, letting her take these risks for the stories they = brought, so when the time came to make her be careful, he just hadn't = been able to do it. Perry considered notifying Clark, but he just couldn't handle it right = now. Clark would be devastated far worse then anyone else, except maybe = for Superman. That boy had loved Lois since the moment he laid eyes on = her, and just when she was starting to return that love he had lost her. = Oh, Perry knew Superman loved Lois as well - he wasn't very good about = hiding it at times - but he hadn't been able to pursue a relationship = with her. She meant so much to both men, and now she was gone. And Perry = was without his daughter. Unable to face telling Clark and unwilling to even try and move on, = Perry lay his head upon his desk and let the tears flow. Soon he knew he = would have to get back to work, the news stopped for no one, not even = Lois' death. But for now he needed the release. ****** Jimmy watched as his shell-shocked boss almost ran into his office. = Others might have been fooled by Perry's facade, but he had known him = long enough to know how deeply Perry cared for Lois. Jimmy noticed = everything around him with a strange detachment, feeling completely = numb. Lois had been a good friend of his, and he had even had a little crush = on her. And now she was gone, Jimmy just couldn't bring himself to = believe it. Any minute, she'd come into the newsroom, back from wherever = she went and laugh at them for believing the tape. Fully in denial, = Jimmy mechanically dismantled the television and moved it back to its = normal place. Once Jimmy had finished the routine tasks, he sat down and suddenly the = enormity of what he had seen hit him. Lois was dead, gone forever. He'd = hear her voice again as she yelled at him to do research, her laugh when = Clark teased her, something he'd never heard before Clark had come into = the newsroom. That thought brought him to his friend, Clark. He would be absolutely = devastated when he found out. Clark had been so patient, waiting for = Lois to notice him as more then a friend. Everyone in the newsroom knew = of the torch he carried for her. And just when his patience had paid off = and Lois was with him, her life was snuffed out cruelly by a mad man. It = just wasn't fair. Jimmy grieved doubly, both for his own loss and that of his friend. Part = of him felt he had jinxed Lois with his earlier thoughts about her luck = running out. He just sat there in a daze for several minutes, totally = dejected. He barely noticed when Perry stuck his head out of the office = and said quietly, "Jimmy, son, can you come in here a minute?" Jimmy stood up and mechanically walked to Perry's office, almost = zombie-like, heedless of most of what was happening around him. Perry = closed the door by Jimmy, then stood beside him, and put his hand on = Jimmy's shoulder comfortingly. "She's gone, Jimmy. I'll never get used = to that either," Perry said, trying to sound comforting but mostly = concerned. Keeping a quiet, concerned tone Perry continued, after a brief pause, = "Now have we heard from Clark?" "No," Jimmy replied, his voice breaking from the emotional strain. He = knew Perry was trying to help him, but he wasn't in the mood. And he was = glad Clark hadn't called, because then he'd have had to tell him about = Lois. That's the last thing Jimmy wanted to do. Jimmy barely registered that Perry took his hand of his shoulder. He was = too caught up in sorrow to notice much around him. "Why couldn't she = have just stayed hidden?" Jimmy mused aloud. Perry smiled briefly and said, "Lois is a very..." Perry stopped, and = Jimmy watched his face fall. "Was a very headstrong woman," Perry = concluded. As Perry turned and walked away, shoulders slouched slightly, Jimmy felt = the need to try to comfort Perry. Following him, Jimmy said the first = thing that came to his mind that might help, "Chief, Superman will find = Bad Brain, but when he does I'd hate to be in his shoes." A mental image = of Superman grinding Bad Brain into pulp flashed through Jimmy's mind, = and it felt good. "But I'd love to be there to see Superman kick his = butt," Jimmy finished. "Yeah, but where is Superman? I mean, is he even on the case?" Perry = said sounding somewhat disgusted. Jimmy was a bit surprised to hear that tone from Perry. "You want my = guess?" Jimmy said, remembering how much the superhero cared for Lois, = "Superman is somewhere bumming big time." Just like us, Jimmy thought. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Perry said shortly, "Don't come = in here unless you've got good news." "Package for you, Mr. White," the Frank, from the mailroom, said, = bringing in a white box. Jimmy wondered what could be in it, but also = was afraid considering how the day had gone so far. "Oh," Perry said, unenthusiastically. "Thank you." The man set down the box on Perry's desk and left quickly. Perry opened = the box and inside, Jimmy was shocked to see a dark red cape, obviously = Superman's. What could this be? "What's this?" Perry said, reaching into the box and pulling the cape = out. As he pulled the cape out, Jimmy looked in the box, waiting to see what = else would be revealed. Inside was a chunk of Kryptonite with a note = saying ' Bad Brain Johnson - Third times a charm.' Jimmy went cold. This = could only mean one thing. "Oh my God," Perry said in shock and a bit of disbelief. "He's dead," Jimmy said, shocked to the very core for the second time in = one day. "Superman is dead." It was impossible, Superman couldn't die, but the evidence was right = before his eyes. Bad Brain had won; he had gotten Lois and Superman. = Jimmy knew his life would never be the same, he had lost two friends on = the same day. Clark would probably soon follow too. Jimmy had to get out = of there and he ran from Perry's office. ****** Perry watched Jimmy flee, and he couldn't blame him. Heck, he felt like = doing the same thing, but he knew that he had to hold together, that = breaking apart would do no one any good. He felt very bad for being = slightly angry at Superman before, but he couldn't help it, part of him = wanted to blame Superman for Lois' death. Oh, he knew that Superman = would have been there if at all possible. Superman would have given up = his life for Lois if necessary, Perry was certain of that. But still, = part of him had wanted to lash out at Superman. Now that Superman was dead, guilt tugged at Perry for having wanted to = blame him instead of putting all the blame on Bad Brain, as he should = have. With Superman gone, what was going to happen? The world needed = Superman. He had saved so many lives, but in the end he couldn't save = his own. And of course, Bad Brain would probably get away now that = Superman was out of the picture. Perry sat down in his chair with a thump. Despite his determination not = to fall apart, all Perry did was stare off into space. ****** Several hours later, Perry was still staring off into space when = suddenly there was a large commotion from the newsroom. Just as he was = beginning to wonder what was going on out there, Jimmy stuck his head in = the office, smiling widely. Perry was shocked by Jimmy's expression, in = fact his whole being seemed lighter now. What could possibly have = happened? Excitedly, Jimmy said, "Chief, you have got to come out and see this for = yourself." Curious, Perry forced himself to rise and left his office. The sight = that greeted him was unbelievable. Everyone was clustered around two = figures in the middle of the newsroom, two very recognizable figures. = Lois and Superman were standing there accepting welcomes and the general = joy everyone expressed at seeing them alive. Perry felt a weight lift = off his shoulders, and joy filled him. Heedless of keeping his composure, Perry rushed to them and hugged Lois, = so happy to see her alive he didn't care what people thought. "Darlin' = I'm so glad to see you. I'm happier then a preacher in a month of = Sundays," Perry said, his voice filled with joy. "But what happened? We = all thought both of you were dead. In fact, we saw you die Lois. Where's = Bad Brain?" Perry questioned them, all in a rush. "Mr. White," Superman said formally. "If you don't mind, I'll let Lois = tell you all the details while I go get Clark. He's probably worried = sick by now." Perry looked closely at the superhero at his words. He was definitely = back to his old self as far as Perry could tell for which he was glad. = Only Superman would think of his friend like that at a time like this, = Perry thought as he nodded. "Go ahead, I'm sure Clark has been fretting = over Lois ever since she came back here. I'm just surprised he hasn't = called." Lois and Superman shared a strange look, full of worry and perhaps a = touch of conspiracy. Did they know something about Clark that he didn't? = Had Bad Brain injured Clark and they kept it from him? Perry was just = about to demand to know what was with Clark when Lois said, "Oh Clark = probably didn't want me to think he was trying to wrap me in cotton = again. I've certainly complained to him about it enough. I bet he = figured you'd call if there was any news." Perry considered what she said, and it did make some sense, but he = didn't completely buy it. Something was fishy here, but for lack of a = better explanation, he accepted it. Maybe he could find out the truth = from Clark. Superman left quickly, heading to pick up Clark. As soon as he had left, = Perry turned on Lois. "Ok darlin', time to spill. What really happened? Lois explained to Perry and the rest of the newsroom about the Lakes and = how they planned to kidnap, and hold, Superman for their collection, = using her to keep him there. As Perry listened, he thought how = intelligent the plan was, and how glad he was that it had failed. He = wasn't at all surprised to learn that Superman had decided to give up = his life to stay and make sure Lois would live; it was just like him. = Perry had known that Superman still loved Lois, and this just proved it. = The sacrifices that man must go through for the rest of the world. Several minutes later, Lois finished her explanation of events, though = Perry felt she had left some parts out. They were probably too personal, = and he didn't begrudge her keeping some secrets. If she hadn't known = before, she had to realize now how much Superman loved her. She had = given Superman up for Clark, but she probably still felt something for = him too. "Think you'll be able to write this one up? Or maybe I should let = someone else do it, Ralph maybe?" Perry asked, a twinkle in his eye, = teasing her slightly. "Of course I can Perry," Lois huffed indignantly. "As soon as my partner = gets here. I'm sure Superman will fill him in on what happened." Perry chuckled. Yep his old Lois was back, spitfire and all. Of course, = now she actually wanted to write a story with a partner. Shaking his = head amusedly, Perry went back to his office. Who would have thought = Lois Lane would want a partner two and a half years ago? She certainly = had changed since Clark came on, for the better Perry was sure. He = watched from his office as Clark entered the newsroom from the elevator = and ran over to Lois, hugging her fiercely. Lois was clinging to him = just as hard, obviously they were relieved to see each other. Lois and = Clark, Perry mused, partners in work, maybe soon, partners in life. He = was proud. His newsroom family was whole again. ****** Jimmy, too, watched Lois and Clark embrace. Today had been a big day = emotionally, going from low to high. Lois was alive, Superman was alive, = and everything was right in the world. As he watched them embrace, Jimmy = was reminded of how much Lois had changed since Clark joined the = newsroom. She was generally happier. Much more social then she had been = in the time Jimmy had known her before Clark. Sometimes she seemed like = a different woman. But every once and a while Mad Dog Lane would return = to remind them that she was indeed the same woman. Feeling perhaps a bit alone and ignored, as he often did, like a = secondary character not needed at the moment, Jimmy was nevertheless = content. Whatever tomorrow would bring, whatever horrors might come, now = was a time to rejoice. The impossible had happened again. Suddenly, he heard Perry bellow, "JIMMY!" and knew it was time to get to = work. Yes, everything was right in the world today. ****** The end ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 09:31:04 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Question for a fic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have a couple of questions for a fic I'm writing. Does anyone out there know -- can a seventeen year old be charged as an adult for car theft and / or attempted murder? Also, who would determine what criminal charges to file -- the police or the DA's office? Thanks a million. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 14:47:08 +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: Re: Charade: Part 23 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nan, that's CRUEL!!! Nic ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 10:20:06 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: Question for a fic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/22/01 9:31:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Aerm1@AOL.COM writes: > Does anyone out there know -- can a seventeen year old be charged as an adult > for car theft and / or attempted murder? > > Also, who would determine what criminal charges to file -- the police or the > Probably but more likely for attempted murder than car theft. May depend on the laws of the state and I'd guess it was up to the DA--isn't that who files the charges? --Laurie (who is not a lawyer) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 10:32:38 -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: Don't Tug On Superman's Friends 1/1 In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Nice writing Adam. I think you dealt with Perry and Jimmy's perspectives well. I especially liked the last two paragaphs, "Feeling perhaps a bit alone and ignored, as he often did, like a secondary character not needed at the moment, Jimmy was nevertheless content. Whatever tomorrow would bring, whatever horrors might come, now was a time to rejoice. The impossible had happened again. Suddenly, he heard Perry bellow, "JIMMY!" and knew it was time to get to work. Yes, everything was right in the world today." They fit so well into the canon. Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 15:34:44 +0100 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Question about Law Enforcement/FBI MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hey, guys :) Yes, I'm back again. The muse seems hot to trot at the moment, so I'm = taking advantage of her enthusiasm while she's keen. ;) What I need to know is who is responsible in a Sheriff's department for = hiring and firing deputies and other staff. Would the Sheriff be able to = fire a deputy? Or would that be something the local elected body would = have responsibility for? Or would it depend on the state in question and = each is different? Also, if there was a chance or suspicion that a kidnapping victim was = about to be taken over the US/Canadian border would that mean that the = FBI would be brought into the case? If so would FBI involvement be = mandatory? Or would the local police have jurisdiction and it would be = their decision whether to call them in or not? And is it only that = border that would make kidnapping a federal offence or would taking the = victim across a state boundary make it FBI jurisdiction also? I know that the death penalty is still in force in Montana (thank you, = Tasha and Laurie :) ), but does the death penalty only apply to murder? = Or would kidnapping and/or other crimes also be a capital offence? I know....don't ask for much, huh? But any and all help gratefully = received, as ever. :) Thanks! LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 17:14:48 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: Wal-mart versus KMart In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 08:45 PM 07/20/2001 -0400, you wrote: >LOL! This was cute. > >Ann Thanks :) Debby dls@thuntek.net ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2001 17:16:07 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: Wal-mart versus KMart In-Reply-To: <9c.10f7b06b.288a1157@aol.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 06:57 PM 07/20/2001 -0400, you wrote: >ROTFL!!! > >Loved this! > >-Crys- Thanks :) Debby dls@thuntek.net ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 13:05:09 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 fic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/22/2001 9:31:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Aerm1@AOL.COM writes: << Does anyone out there know -- can a seventeen year old be charged as an adult for car theft and / or attempted murder?>> Depends on the state, and the crime. I know we have a guy out here that is being treated as an adult for carjacking and murder... so it can be done in VA, and I know they did it in CA as well. I have no clue about the other question ;) -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 13:23:39 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Cindy Leuch Subject: Re: Question about Law Enforcement/FBI Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I'm stretching my memory back to the one law class I took while in college, and I think I can answer one of the questions. The death penalty: I know that once a crime goes outside of state lines, federal law can apply over state law. The federal government does have a death penalty as well (Tim McVeigh was executed after being conviced in federal court). The local DA decides which court he/she wants the case tried in. Sometimes it's tried in both state AND federal courts (see the Terry Nichols case in Oklahoma - the DA didn't get the sentence he wanted out of the federal courts, namely, the death penalty, and is considering trying Nichols in Oklahoma state courts). Outside from criminal charges, the defendant can face CIVIL charges as well, which is a whole different set of courts (OJ got smacked in civil court after getting off in California criminal courts). As for capital crime, I think just murder and espionage apply, but don't take my word on that. It differs from state to state and and to the federal government. I'm not sure how the law applies in international cases, though I think the US and Canada have a treaty somewhere that deals with legal issues. Hope I haven't steered you wrong. Someone else out there might want to back me up.... GO CYCLONES! Cindy Leuch isuleuch@hotmail.com >Also, if there was a chance or suspicion that a kidnapping victim was about >to be taken over the US/Canadian border would that mean that the FBI would >be brought into the case? If so would FBI involvement be mandatory? Or >would the local police have jurisdiction and it would be their decision >whether to call them in or not? And is it only that border that would make >kidnapping a federal offence or would taking the victim across a state >boundary make it FBI jurisdiction also? > >I know that the death penalty is still in force in Montana (thank you, >Tasha and Laurie :) ), but does the death penalty only apply to murder? Or >would kidnapping and/or other crimes also be a capital offence? > >I know....don't ask for much, huh? But any and all help gratefully >received, as ever. :) > >Thanks! > > >LabRat :) _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 14:53:11 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: Question about Law Enforcement/FBI MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh, one other thing, I don't think that the FBI can operate outside of the US, so if someone took a kidnapping victim across the Canadian border, the FBI would have to contact the Royal Canadian Mounted police. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 12:06:26 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Betty Cheng Subject: Re: Question about Law Enforcement/FBI In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >I'm not sure how the law applies in international cases, though I think the >US and Canada have a treaty somewhere that deals with legal issues. Well, I don't know anything about the U.S. law system, but I know there is a treaty between Canada and US concerning legal issues. In regards to the death penalty, the treaty prevents US fugitives who have fled to Canada from being turned over to U.S. custody if they have been charged with a crime punishable with death penalty. This was featured in one episode of Law and Order where a fugitive charged with multiple murders, kidnapping, and car theft, fled to Canada to escape arrest. He was caught shoplifting by Canadian police on his first day in Canada. A U.S. district attorney had to have a hearing (or trial?) in the Supreme Court of Canada to try to claim custody of the fugitive. The D.A. claimed that the fugitive is only charged with $5000 car theft, while the defense argued that the fugitive will be charged with murder punishable with death penalty as soon as he returns to the U.S.. In the end, the court ruled in the D.A.'s favour, saying that the defense's argument is only an hypothesis and may not occur. In actuality, it was to discourage US criminals from fleeing to Canada to escape the law. This doesn't really answer any of your questions, LabRat, but ... oh well, another piece of trivia. Cheers, Simba ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 14:24:24 -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: Don't Tug On Superman's Friends 1/1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Loved it again!*BG* CM ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 14:15:36 -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: Question about Law Enforcement/FBI MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Not sure about hte other stuff, but I am almost positive that the FBI gets involved in a kidnapping case as soon as there is a suspicion of - not necessarily evidence of - being taken across state borders. A current example is the CHandra Levy disappearance. No one has any clue if there actually was any foul play but because it is a possibility, the FBI is involved. Otherwise it would be just a DC police case. Oh, as for the death penalty extradition thing - I think it's with France (not sure) right now there is a guy who they are extraditing on the condition that he won't be given the death penalty even though it is an option. The DA or whoever has agreed to seek life in prison instead because otherwise the guy won't get sent back. Anyway - hope that helps. CM ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 15:42:13 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Annette Ciotola Subject: Where are they now? Comments: To: lcnfanfic@egroups.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey gang! Just posting an announcement about a new Writer's Showcase feature! Have you ever wondered what happend to your favorite writers? Are they still a part of FoLCdom? Have they moved on to bigger and better things? Are they still writing at all? Well, look no futher ... At the beginning of each month we will feature a previously showcased author, beginning with those authors who were interviewed by Annie Lansbury when she founded the idea and web site of The Writer's Showcase. So head on over to see who we're revisiting this week at: http://www.annesplace.net/showcase/showcase.html Anne ;) Visit the Lois & Clark Nfic Archive www.annesplace.net "If something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and talks like a duck ... chances are pretty good it is a duck." - Lois Lane; Strange Visitor From Another Planet "...Grab a bottle, hunker down and pray for daylight!" - Karen Walker; Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 13:16:29 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Judith Williams Subject: Law enforcement questions MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit If a criminal activity crosses state lines, it is a federal crime and the FBI comes in. Sometimes there may not be proof that state lines have been crossed, but after, I think, 48 hours an assumption may be made to that effect. Local law enforcement can, of course, ask for FBI help at any time. Crossing international borders is tricky and the fact that many of our states have the death penalty for egregious crimes is a problem for many other countries in extraditing back to U.S. In a recent case here in Washington, 2 young boys allegedly killed the parents of one and fled to Canada. Canadian authorities apprehended them as requested by the U.S. but refused to return them unless the local prosecutor agreed not to seek the death penalty. They did cross an international border but local not federal jurisdiction prevailed in charging and trying them for the crime. It took a long process of negotiating before the local authority agreed to no death penalty. In another case, the son of a well-regarded family torched the family warehouse and at least 1 possibly 2 firefighters were killed in the ensuing firefight. The culprit fled to Brazil, which would not send him back even though the local authorities were adamant that he should receive the death penalty. There was a lot of harsh community feeling about letting him get off with less, but he finally was sent back with the understanding that there would be no death penalty. Local prosecutors tried to find a loophole but to no avail. The feds did get involved in this one but I forget to what extent. Anyway,capital crimes are determined by the laws of each state, but pretty much follow the lines of something cold bloodedly planned and executed. Killing a policeman, a firefighter, torturing and murdering a child, killing in a particularly brutal manner, rape and murder - all of these might also be considered capital crimes in various states which then have their own methods for 'humane' execution. Sorry to have gone on and on. For whatever reason I have a perverse fascination with this kind of thing. Hope it wasn't too boring and that my memory was reasonably accurate. :) Jude ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 20:03:02 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Elizabeth Rowe(Juliet)" Subject: Re: Question for a fic MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/22/01 9:31:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Aerm1@AOL.COM writes: << I have a couple of questions for a fic I'm writing. Does anyone out there know -- can a seventeen year old be charged as an adult for car theft and / or attempted murder? Also, who would determine what criminal charges to file -- the police or the DA's office? Thanks a million. Ann >> In the state of Virginia, yes, a seventeen year old can be charged as an adult for any felony up to and including murder. As for the other question, I have no idea. Juliet ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 20:06:42 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Elizabeth Rowe(Juliet)" Subject: Re: Question about Law Enforcement/FBI MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/22/01 2:53:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Aerm1@AOL.COM writes: << Oh, one other thing, I don't think that the FBI can operate outside of the US, so if someone took a kidnapping victim across the Canadian border, the FBI would have to contact the Royal Canadian Mounted police. Ann >> The FBI helped with those bombings a few years back, so yes, they can operate outside the US. But they would have to cooperate with the authorities in that country. Juliet3:16 ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 21:54:01 -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: OT: New Music Video! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone :) Thought I'd list this email subject as OT since it really doesn't have to do with fanfic, but I know many of you (like me :)) draw inspiration from these LNC music videos, so I figured I wouldn't get in too much trouble posting the info here. :) I just finished a new LNC music video to Faith Hill's 'There You'll Be,' and was pretty happy with how it turned out. (However, saving it to the Real Video format left a lot to be desired. :P I might just start posting these in the Windows Media Player format. It's much better quality, with no real size difference.) Anyway, for those of you interested, I'd love for you to check it out! It can be accessed through my webpage by clicking on the 'music videos' link, or by going directly to my multimedia page: www.ida.net/users/davek/multimedia.html Hope you enjoy it a little LNC nostalgia as much as I do. :) 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: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 21:38:26 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Charade: Part 24 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Warning: some violence in this section. Charade: Part 24 by Nan Smith Lois couldn't believe how quickly things had gone from perfect to disastrous. They had neglected to think of the possibility that Lex might have resources off the island as well as on. Once they registered at the motel, their whereabouts were known, and Lex had never been quite as pragmatic where she was concerned as he was about everything else. Clark lay crumpled on the floor with Lex standing over him, smiling coldly. "Get that away from him," Lois said. Lex caressed the stone of his ring, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't think so, Lois. Does your husband know about your little liaison with Superman? I always thought the relationship you and he had was closer than the compliant Mr. Kent realized. I have to admire your...cold-bloodedness. It might even rival my own." "My relationship with Superman is none of your business!" Lois pushed back the blanket, in disregard of the fact that she wore only Clark's shirt. Lex's gaze flicked briefly to the long, bare length of her legs, but she ignored it and slid to the floor beside her husband. "What do you want, Lex?" Lex smiled ironically and gestured very slightly with the little, black semi-automatic. "You, my dear. You were always mine, you know. You accepted my ring, and I gave up everything for you." Lois was careful not to look at the green stone that had brought Clark down. Let Lex believe what he wished, but she had to get that thing away from Clark, not matter what the consequences were to her. "Does Arianna know about this?" she asked. "I thought she was your wife." Lex chuckled. "Perhaps in name," he admitted. "But in spirit, you've always belonged in my heart. I've been trapped on that island for nearly three years. I really have to thank you, you know. This whole situation has allowed me the chance to escape. You'll come with me, Lois. And without Superman to hunt us down, we'll be safe." "The only way I'll come with you is if you get that...*thing* away from him!" Clark twisted his face toward her. "Lois...no." The words were barely audible but Lex heard them. He laughed softly. "Oh, don't worry, Superman. As much as I love Lois, there was never that option. I never let emotion get between me and what I want." "Love!" Lois knew that the effort was fruitless, but the urge to protect her husband was strong. She tried to place her body between the green stone and her husband. "You don't know what love is!"0 Lex gripped her by the arm and yanked her aside. "Oh, no you don't, Lois. Tell me, when you refused me during our engagement, were you giving yourself to this alien? Or to Kent--or both? I wondered about that while I was in prison, you know. I was too trusting, but no more. This time, I intend to make *sure*." Lois acted on instinct. Lex had a gun, and he might shoot her, but he was killing Clark. She'd always known that if it came down to it she would be willing to die for him, and now, she didn't hesitate. She struck at the weapon with her free hand. It flew sideways onto the rug and she flung herself after it. Lex dived for her at the same time, tackling her and pinning her to the rug with his greater weight and strength. Lois's flailing hand struck the pistol and it slid farther away from her groping fingers. She writhed under her assailant, striking backwards with an elbow at his face. She heard Lex's gasp of pain as she connected with his cheekbone and then he rolled sideways, yanking her around. His expression of fury would have frightened her if she hadn't already reached her limit of fear anyway. Clinically, he drew back his hand and slapped her, hard. Her cry of pain coincided with a crash, as the door slammed open. Lex yelled in anger and released her, instinctively scrambling to his knees to meet the new threat. Lois had a confused impression of Jimmy's white face, and of a lamp in his hands, followed by a shattering sound. Half stunned, she lunged single-mindedly for the pistol where it lay partly under a small table, seized it and twisted around--only to find herself staring at Lex Luthor, face down on the floor with a wide trickle of blood seeping from a deep gash on his temple and soaking the carpet. Jimmy knelt beside the unconscious man, a grim set to his mouth and jaw, yanked the cord from the lamp and proceeded to lash Lex's hands tightly together behind his back. When he had finished, he looked up at her. "Where is it?" he asked, and she could hear his voice shaking. "The ring," she whispered. Her ears were still singing from the force of Lex's slap. Not entirely sure of her balance, she remained sitting on the rug, trying to focus her eyes. Jimmy didn't hesitate. He yanked the ring, with the large, uncut, green crystal, quite ungently from Lex's hand, examined it for a split second and nodded. "Stay here," he said. "I'll be right back." Gripping the ring tightly in his fist, he left the room, pulling the door shut behind him. Clark moaned softly, trying to push himself upright. After a moment, he succeeded. He looked first at Luthor, then at Lois. "Honey, are you okay?" Lois found her hands shaking. Carefully, she set the pistol on little ornamental table, and closed her eyes for a long second. "Lois?" Clark's voice was stronger, and sounded more concerned. "Are you all right?" She opened her eyes. Clark's face was a little blurry, still and her head was throbbing from the blow. "I think so." "Sit still." Clark began to work his way across the floor on hands and knees. "He hit you." "I'm all right. But, Jimmy..." "Yeah." Clark made it to her side, carefully avoiding Luthor and the puddle of blood that was soaking the carpet. "I guess better try and stop the bleeding." There was a soft knock on the door. Jimmy's voice said, "Can I come in?" "Uh--yeah." Clark's voice sounded uncertain. Jimmy opened the door quietly, stepped within and closed it. Lois couldn't read the expression on his face. He glanced clinically at Luthor. "I guess we should call your friend, Rene, huh?" "Uh--yeah. Jimmy--" Jimmy shook his head. "I better stop that bleeding," he said. "There's towels in your bathroom, right?" Without waiting for an answer, he disappeared into the bathroom and re-emerged a few seconds later with a thick bath towel. He knelt beside Luthor and pressed the terrycloth to the freely bleeding gash. "Um--Jimmy," Clark said, again. Jimmy glanced at him, and Lois was surprised to see a nervous smile on his face. He was still pale and looked a little shaken, but his voice was steady when he answered. "Why don't you make that call? We can talk about it when he--" he glanced distastefully at Luthor. "--When he's gone and I can afford to have my nervous breakdown." He looked at Lois. "Are you okay, Lois? Your face is bruised." She was careful not to move her head. Any motion made the throbbing worse. "I think so." She was surprised to hear the uncertain waver in her voice. "You're a little blurry." Jimmy looked worried. "You might have a concussion. Maybe you should see a doctor." "We'll deal with that too, after we've taken care of Luthor." Clark was sounding stronger by the minute. He reached for the cell phone that lay on the little table next to the gun. "Then, we owe you an explanation." Jimmy reached over to put a hand on his arm. "You guys are my friends," he said. "You don't have to explain anything. It doesn't matter what that low-life thinks." He gave Luthor a venomous look that surprised Lois. "I just want to see him back on Stryker's Island where he belongs. I've had enough of Mr. Luthor." Clark began to punch a number into the phone. "I think we all have." ********** Rene St. Cloud watched the van bearing Alejandro de Los Rios, a.k.a. Lex Luthor, pull away from the motel, then turned and re-entered the room where Lois Lane still sat in an armchair, an ice pack held to her bruised face. His friend, Clark Kent, was seated next to her on the arm of the chair, a concerned look on his face. Kent's young colleague, James Olsen, was perched across from them on the foot of the bed. The young reporter hadn't said much, other than to explain that he'd heard what was happening in the room and seized the opportunity provided by Ms. Lane's distraction to hit Luthor with a lamp. They had called Superman, and Rene's people at once. Superman had left within a few minutes of Rene's arrival, and a short time later, Clark had appeared with the ice pack for his wife's bruised cheek. Rene shook his head. He'd liked Raoul Desrosiers when they first met, and lamented slightly the fact that when Kent had decided to become a reporter, the world had lost a true culinary artist. Now he approached the trio, turning a concerned look on Ms. Lane. His friend's wife was a very beautiful woman, he thought, and he briefly envied Kent his good fortune. "Luthor's on his way," he reported. "How are you feeling, Ms. Lane?" "All right." She smiled carefully at him, wincing slightly. "This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened." "Your doctor said she has a slight concussion," Clark said. "He gave me a list of symptoms to watch for." Rene nodded. "I'm truly sorry that this happened, Ms. Lane. If there's anything more that I can do, you only need to ask." "That's all right," she said. "Just make sure the Planet gets the exclusive on this story, that's all." Rene laughed. "You have my word," he said. "My bosses may not be too happy, but I can live with it. I'll be in Metropolis in a couple of weeks' time. Perhaps I could drop by and we can have a long talk?" "That would be fine, Rene," Clark said. "Maybe you can teach me your secret to that great souffle you made the first night I was on the island. You know, the world lost a great chef when you decided to become a cop." "I was thinking the same of you, my friend," Rene said. He reached out to take Lois Lane's hand and lifted it to his lips. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Lane. I wish it could have been under better circumstances." He turned to shake Olsen's hand, and Clark's. "Until later, then." ********** When Rene's people had departed, Clark closed the motel room door and fastened the chain lock. He turned to look at Jimmy. Their friend hadn't said much since he'd rescued them from Luthor, and Clark was a little uncertain what to say. "Um…" he began, "Jim--" Jimmy, laughed nervously. "Clark, you don't have to explain. I already know why you didn't tell me about Superman." "You do?" He nodded. "Sure. I figured it out a few months ago. Protecting people is what Superman does." Clark looked wordlessly at Lois. It seemed that their underestimation of Jimmy Olsen had been even greater than they'd realized in the last few days. Lois fixed Jimmy with a stern glare. "How long have you known?" He shrugged. "I don't know. I'd been noticing things for a long time, and a few months ago I sort of realized that I knew. I wasn't going to tell you." "Why not?" His gaze dropped to his hands, which were folded tightly in his lap. "I didn't want you to worry." Clark stared at him in surprise, then he laughed softly. "I thought Superman was supposed to protect other people. I didn't realize you thought he needed to be protected, too." "No," Lois said, suddenly. "He's right, Clark. Superman can't do everything. At least he's got friends who can protect him when he needs it." She looked directly across at him. "Thanks, Jimmy." She stopped. "Or," she added, "would you rather I called you Jim?" "Jimmy's all right," he said. "I'd feel funny if you changed it now." Clark was silent, watching the two of them. Jimmy had come through when they needed him most. It was the final proof, as if he needed it, that his young friend had quietly grown up in front of his eyes and he hadn't noticed. It was, in a way, a shock and he felt a curious sense of loss, as well. Jimmy, the boy was gone, and he would never be back. In his place was a strong and very competent young man. A young man that he was proud to call his friend. "Are you okay, Clark?" Lois asked. "Sure," he said. He glanced at his watch. "Well, I guess our chance to get a little rest is over. We've got about and hour and a half to catch our plane." He got to his feet. "I think Perry owes us a few days off after this. Would you like to come to Smallville with us for a short visit, Jim? I think we all could use it." He added with a slight grin, "Superman Express, of course." Jimmy's worried expression vanished. "That sounds great, CK. I remember your mom's cooking from the last time I was there." "Good. Then it's settled. Why don't you call a cab while I pay the bill?" ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:16:32 +1000 Reply-To: jenerators@optushome.com.au Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jen Stosser Subject: Re: New Music Video! In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit What a great video, Erin! I don't often have time to read much of the proliferating fanfic these days, but it was nice to be able to take a few minutes out for a great reminder of some wonderful times from the show. (BTW I think we're going to see Pearl Harbor - finally! - tomorrow.) Jen jenerators@optushome.com.au -*- This message is umop ap!sdn -*- -*- Jenerator or Some1Else on IRC) -*- JenerEight on AIM -*- Photos of David (9) and Megan (6) on the Stosser Family HomePage: http://www.geocities.com/j_stosser -*-Please sign our guestbook! -----Original Message----- From: Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic [mailto:LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU]On Behalf Of Erin Klingler Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 1:54 PM To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Subject: OT: New Music Video! Hi everyone :) Thought I'd list this email subject as OT since it really doesn't have to do with fanfic, but I know many of you (like me :)) draw inspiration from these LNC music videos, so I figured I wouldn't get in too much trouble posting the info here. :) I just finished a new LNC music video to Faith Hill's 'There You'll Be,' and was pretty happy with how it turned out. (However, saving it to the Real Video format left a lot to be desired. :P I might just start posting these in the Windows Media Player format. It's much better quality, with no real size difference.) Anyway, for those of you interested, I'd love for you to check it out! It can be accessed through my webpage by clicking on the 'music videos' link, or by going directly to my multimedia page: www.ida.net/users/davek/multimedia.html Hope you enjoy it a little LNC nostalgia as much as I do. :) 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: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 00:24:13 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: OT: New Music Video! Oh Erin! You ARE a hopeless romantic. Or maybe that should be hopefull romantic. ;-) Don't know where I've been, but I heard this song for the first time on the radio today, driving back from Tennessee with my husband, and thought what a beautiful song it was. Then I check the Listserv, and you've turned it into a beautiful video. WOW! And thanks! ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 00:32:14 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: Question for a fic I think a lot has to do with the local judicial officials, but wasn't there a case recently where a 13 year old boy was charged as an adult for murdering a little girl? Often it depends on the severity of the crime, the circumstances, and I'm sure public opinion often sways a DA to handle a case one way or another. We had a case here several years ago where a young man went off the deep end and bludgeoned his mother, father, and three of his siblings with a hatchet. Then he led police on a wild car chase all over our part of town before finally being stopped and arrested. The parents died, and the siblings were severely injured. A fourth sibling was visiting friends when all this happened. He would have been 17 or 18 when the offense occured. And he was tried as an adult. He recently plead guilty and received 2 consecutive life sentences for his parents' murders and then 3 concurrent life sentences (to be served after the consecutive ones) for the attacks on his siblings. The only reason they didn't go after the death penalty was because of the medicines he was taking at the time of the crime -- Prozac, Ritalin, and Klonopin. Sounds like a lousy excuse to me cause I've taken all three and haven't killed anybody yet. Hope that helps. Marilyn AKA Supermom ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 01:18:25 -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: Questions about furniture and fun fairs In-Reply-To: <006f01c11053$4fe4a8c0$ea19fac1@oemcomputer> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 03:04 PM 19/07/2001 +0200, you wrote: >Hey guys :) > >I have a couple of questions for a fanfic I'm trying to work on, and I was >hoping that you guys would know the answers. :) > >First, I was wondering if there was any equivalent of Ikea in the US. Here, >Ikea is a Swedish brand of cheap furniture that you can fix by yourself. I >suppose it exists throughout Europe, but I'm not sure for the US. I know Ikea is here in Canada, Helene... Melisma (scuttling back under her Rock to try and catch up with the load of email that was posted between Thursday of week before last week and today, but that mostly didn't go through to her box until yesterday and today, due to Yapoo stupidness and possibly a fire in Baltimore? she thinks it was, that fried all the internet lines through this train tunnel and screwed up a lot of her lists...) Visit my rock at http://www.intergate.ca/personal/melisma/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 11:22:58 +0100 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: Question about Law Enforcement/FBI MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks to everyone who responded to my questions both here and privately with such detailed information, websites and all. It was all extremely helpful. And, best of all, provoked no need for a massive rewrite of my plot. Thank you all! LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 11:58:09 +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: OT: New Music Video! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ERIN!!! Thank you! I was hoping someone would make a video to 'There You'll Be'! I even suggested it to a couple of people - you included, I think! Every time I heard that song, all I could think of was Lois thinking of Superman 'soaring above the sky' and watching him leave for NK. I can't watch it here, but as soon as I get home I'll be going to watch it immediately! Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 07:28:36 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Annette Ciotola Subject: Re: OT: New Music Video! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Erin!! Totally awesome. I'm glad you did this one, too. Anne (who wonders if Erin tied up her kids to get this done ) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 22:35:10 +0930 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jill Kaye Subject: Re: Episode Question In-Reply-To: <200107192347.f6JNlEu47133@mail2.thuntek.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >At 06:47 PM 07/17/2001 +0000, you wrote: >>Here's another question to test your knowledge of series canon. ;-) I was >>wondering: in which episode does Clark dump Lois 'for her own good'? And >>what was the event that spurred that action? >> >>Thanks!!! >> >>Bethy > >Depending on what you mean by "dump" the first episode I thought of wherein >this happend was season one's "I've Got a Crush on You", where CK dumped Lois >in a Dumpster to protect her because he knew that Lex had recognized her >despite her being disguised in a revealing evening gown. > >Debby >dls@thuntek.net I think you mean "Contact" :) ~Larissa~ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 22:36:06 +0930 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jill Kaye Subject: Re: Episode Question In-Reply-To: <200107192347.f6JNlEu47133@mail2.thuntek.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >At 06:47 PM 07/17/2001 +0000, you wrote: >>Here's another question to test your knowledge of series canon. ;-) I was >>wondering: in which episode does Clark dump Lois 'for her own good'? And >>what was the event that spurred that action? >> >>Thanks!!! >> >>Bethy > >Depending on what you mean by "dump" the first episode I thought of wherein >this happend was season one's "I've Got a Crush on You", where CK dumped Lois >in a Dumpster to protect her because he knew that Lex had recognized her >despite her being disguised in a revealing evening gown. > >Debby >dls@thuntek.net Sorry, forgot to tell you the reason. It was because Lois was hurt when he was saving some bad guys. He still saved her life but failed to keep her from being hurt. ~Larissa~ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 07:52:38 -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: Charade: Part 24 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit YEAH! More charade! More soon! Loved Jimmy! CM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 06:22:50 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Smith Subject: Re: Episode Question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit That was "Contact". Nan Jill Kaye wrote: > >At 06:47 PM 07/17/2001 +0000, you wrote: > >>Here's another question to test your knowledge of series canon. ;-) I was > >>wondering: in which episode does Clark dump Lois 'for her own good'? And > >>what was the event that spurred that action? > >> > >>Thanks!!! > >> > >>Bethy > > > >Depending on what you mean by "dump" the first episode I thought of wherein > >this happend was season one's "I've Got a Crush on You", where CK dumped Lois > >in a Dumpster to protect her because he knew that Lex had recognized her > >despite her being disguised in a revealing evening gown. > > > >Debby > >dls@thuntek.net > > Sorry, forgot to tell you the reason. It was because Lois was hurt when he > was saving some bad guys. He still saved her life but failed to keep her > from being hurt. > ~Larissa~ ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 23:00:10 +0930 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jill Kaye Subject: Re: OT: New Music Video! In-Reply-To: <008501c11366$5c2b0640$916105a0@hrm.keele.ac.uk> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I also thought this song was great for LnC. I love this song and am downloading the music video as we speak! ~Larissa~ >ERIN!!! Thank you! > >I was hoping someone would make a video to 'There You'll Be'! I even >suggested it to a couple of people - you included, I think! Every time I >heard that song, all I could think of was Lois thinking of Superman 'soaring >above the sky' and watching him leave for NK. > >I can't watch it here, but as soon as I get home I'll be going to watch it >immediately! > > >Wendy >-------------------------- >Wendy Richards >w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 09:42:25 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: OT: New Music Video! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/23/2001 12:04:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time, erink@IDA.NET writes: << I just finished a new LNC music video to Faith Hill's 'There You'll Be,' and was pretty happy with how it turned out. >> Erin, this is amazing! Okay... I had to download and install realplayer , but it was completely worth it! You did a remarkable job with it. This must have taken you ages to complete! Most of the videos I've seen (no offense) seem like them come from only one point in L&C, one or two episodes... I wonder if you *missed* an episode with this one. It brought tears to my eyes... so beautiful. This reminded me of why I feel in love with L&C in the first place. Thanks so much for sharing it with us :) -Crys- (who wants to know if she can place her altkerth nomination a little early ) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 10:18:16 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sharon Gilbert Subject: Re: OT: New Music Video! In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU writes: >Erin!! > >Totally awesome. I'm glad you did this one, too. > >Anne (who wonders if Erin tied up her kids to get this done ) where can this be found? Sharon L. Gilbert, Ph.D. Center for Community Inclusion University of Maine at Orono 5717 Corbett Hall Orono, ME 04469 207/581-1219 Properly presented, science is our friend. It's the secularists who have the most to fear from what science reveals -- whether it's the humanity of the unborn child or the evidence that points toward a divine Creator. The facts always point toward moral truth. ~Chuck Colson ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 10:18:08 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: OT: New Music Video! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/23/2001 10:13:25 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Sharon_Gilbert@UMIT.MAINE.EDU writes: << where can this be found? >> http://www.ida.net/users/davek -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 09:12:22 -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: OT: New Music Video! In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wow, thank you!!! I woke up this morning and went to check my email, and was I ever surprised and thrilled to hear from so many of you, saying that you enjoyed this! You've just made my week. :) >From the very first time I heard this song (about 2 months ago, I think--it was a couple of weeks before Pearl Harbor even opened; I heard it on the radio and immediately rushed to call my local music store to find out where I could get this song, and they told me the soundtrack hadn't even hit stores yet! ), it brought such tears to my eyes, and it just hit me as the perfect song for an LNC music video. Yes, Marilyn, I'm a completely hopeless romantic. So glad you noticed. And thanks so much for the kind words! :) Jen wrote: >>(BTW I think we're going to see Pearl Harbor - finally! - tomorrow.) << Oh, do! It was a fabulous movie. But even as I heard this song at the end of the movie, I'm sorry, I still could only relate it to LNC. :) and Wendy commented: >>I was hoping someone would make a video to 'There You'll Be'! I even suggested it to a couple of people - you included, I think! << Nope, you didn't, but I'm glad to hear you agree with my choice. of songs. ;) >>I can't watch it here, but as soon as I get home I'll be going to watch it immediately!<< LOL! Hope it lives up to your expectations. And Anne said: >>Anne (who wonders if Erin tied up her kids to get this done ) << ROTFL! Yeah, you'd think. But actually, I did this one night after my kids went to bed; stayed up until 3:30 in the morning putting it all together. So while I didn't get much sleep that night , at least I was able to do it in peace. :) from Crystal: >> Most of the videos I've seen (no offense) seem like them come from only one point in L&C, one or two episodes... I wonder if you *missed* an episode with this one. It brought tears to my eyes... so beautiful. This reminded me of why I feel in love with L&C in the first place. << Awww, thank you. :) I'm so thrilled that it touched you! As for covering so many eps: Well, I really wanted this to be a music video that was nostalgic of the whole series, so I made sure to include of much of the series as I could. :) Anyway, thank you all SO much for making my week with all your wonderful responses. I'm just tickled pink that you enjoyed it so much! I really did it mainly for myself, but figured if at least one person other than me enjoyed it, it would be worth posting on my site. :) Also, I have a few other music videos coming, now that I've got the hang of this new program I'm using. I'm working on one to a beautiful ballad by Collin Raye called 'In This Life I Was Loved By You,' one to the upbeat one by Faith Hill 'The Way You Love Me,' plus a couple of others. So if you like music videos, maybe you'll like these, too. :) Thanks again! You all made my day. :))))) 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: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 11:41:52 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: OT: New Music Video! An *exceptionally* well-done video, Erin! The scenes fit the music beautifully, from first to last. I love it when Clark snuffs out the candle - the perfect ending to a fantastic video! :) Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 11:39:36 -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: Valley of the Shadow, 4/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Extra special thanks goes out to Nan who was completely invaluable for this part of the story. This part wasn't easy to write and may not be easy to read, but hopefully worth it in the end. Thanks always to my beta readers! Comments appreciated. CM ***** It was almost eight o'clock by the time they got back to their apartment. The bad guys had been taken away and Clark had been told to take it easy for a few days, but that he'd be fine. They managed to keep him out of the hospital, which they felt was a very good thing. They didn't know if or when his powers would come back and if they did, if it was like someone who had been crippled temporarily - if he'd have to learn to use them all over again, just like someone with a spinal injury had to learn to walk again. Lois managed to catch a couple hours of sleep on one of the couches in the brownstone while the police were talking to Clark, Perry and Jimmy. She never left her husband's side, stretching out so that he cradled her head while he answered the questions. By the time they made it home, Clark was past exhaustion and he collapsed onto the bed he shared with Lois. Lois struggled to take his shoes off and help him get comfortable. They had both been through so much in the last few days, but Clark even more than she had. It was amazing that they had gotten out at all. And they had gotten the Kryptonite from whoever it was that kidnapped them. Lois was sure that California Breezes Imports Limited was the actual power behind the kidnapping and the attempt on Superman's life. Good thing they didn't know how close they had gotten to the superhero. Clark moaned as he rolled over. "It's okay, Clark. It's all over. We're home." Lois covered him with the sheet. "I'm going to turn the ringer off so that you can get some sleep." Lois smiled as she realized that her husband was already asleep. As she trudged back through the apartment, that was rapidly becoming littered with the things their growing household needed, reminding her of the fight they were having. It had started two weeks earlier when they had gone house hunting. Or apartment hunting. Or anything bigger than this apartment that they could actually afford hunting. Or whatever. Lois knew that she and Clark had been raised in very different homes with very different parents. She wanted to live in Metropolis, close to the action. Clark wanted to live in the suburbs, arguing that if he really needed to, he could have them in town in matter of seconds. Besides, he had pointed out, it would be better for the baby to grow up with the green space and room to play without his or her parents worrying about the cars in the street. Clark did have a small point, Lois would admit. The homes they could afford in the suburbs were much larger and nicer than the townhouses they could afford in Metropolis itself. That would be nice, the more room that is, but Lois couldn't imagine living outside of the fast-paced city. And the commute would take forever without using the S-express on a regular basis and that was dangerous. She sighed as she touched a cape in the secret hiding spot in the front closet. She was almost beginning to hate the idea of Superman. It was Superman who took Clark away from her and her baby so often. She could never hate Clark, but she could hate that he was gone so much. Lois sighed once again as she picked up her keys. Her doctor's appointment was in two and a half hours and she had errands to run. She was exhausted, though the nap had done her some good. Taking care of the beat-up Clark hadn't been an easy task either. He tried to be a good patient, but since he wasn't used to being sick, it didn't work very well. Lois was grateful that he had fallen asleep so quickly. ***** She waited impatiently until well after the time of her scheduled appointment. She used the extra wait time to brood, turning over in her mind any and all arguments she could use to convince Clark that the city really was the best place for them. She also worried about what had happened right after she left home that morning. Fortunately, she hadn't cleaned her purse out in forever and had what she needed to take care of the problem - for now. She didn't even want to think about it. She'd tell the doctor, but until then she pushed it out of her mind. To tell or not to tell. That was the question. She and Clark had argued endlessly over whether or not to tell the doctor that Clark was from Krypton. Clark himself hadn't even known until about a month ago when they were investigating a rogue government agency and he had found this globe thing. It had told him about his past, some of it anyway, and how he came to live on Earth. It was one of the investigations that had led to her sitting behind a desk most of the time. She wanted to tell the doctor in case there was something different about the baby, but Jonathan had pounded into Clark's head over and over since he was a child that if anyone found out that he was different, they would take him away and dissect him like a frog. He didn't want that to happen to him or to their baby. It seemed they just couldn't agree on anything these days. Well, at least about the important things. Lois understood why she needed to take it easy - her current predicament was an indication that Clark and Perry were right - but the house and the baby were something else. They couldn't agree to disagree, like they did with simple issues - which ice cream was their favorite, or whether Mel Gibson was a better action hero than Bruce Willis - because these were things that they had to deal with soon. And Superman wasn't going anywhere. Finally, her name was called. ***** Lois followed the nurse to the exam room. She grimaced when her favorite nurse, Amber, told her that she had gained four more pounds. Amber laughed and said that was about right for this far in her pregnancy. "I still don't have to like it." "I know. Dr. Moore will be in to see you in just a minute." "Thanks, Amber. You're the best." Amber smiled as she shut the door behind her. Four and half minutes later, according to Lois' watch, there was a knock at the door. "Good morning, Lois." "Hi, Dr. Moore." "How are you doing? Are you taking it easy?" "I'm trying to, but..." Lois was hesitant to mention what she had noticed. The implications scared her, but she knew she had to tell her doctor. "That's not good enough, young lady. Now what aren't you telling me?" Dr. Moore's face looked stern. "I'm spotting. Heavy. Really heavy." Dr. Moore's face immediately became concerned. "When did this start?" "A couple of hours ago. It started kinda light and has gotten heavier since." Lois took a deep breath. "And I've been having some cramps." Dr. Moore looked grim. "Please tell me." "Lois, I don't know that anything is wrong. Not really. We need to do some tests to see for sure. Can you call your husband? I'd rather you weren't alone." "Dr. Moore, did you hear about the attempt to blackmail Superman?" "Of course. It was all over the news yesterday. What about it?" "It was Clark. After we got home this morning, I turned the ringer off, so I couldn't call him if I wanted to." "Is there anyone else you can call?" "I can try." "Okay. I'm going to leave you alone for a minute. You'll need to get ready for the exam." He handed Lois a sheet and she grimaced. "I know it's uncomfortable, but we have to make sure the baby is okay." "Okay." ***** Lois slammed her cell phone shut in frustration. Of course Clark couldn't hear the phone, but she had to try anyway, hoping that he had woken up and turned it on. She had tried her neighbors and her super to see if they would go wake him, but no one was home. Finally, she called her sister. If Clark couldn't be here with her, maybe Lucy could. "Hi. You've reached Jimmy and Lucy. We're not..." Lois stifled a scream as she punched the "end" button. Who else could she call? She didn't want to go through this alone, but Perry or Jimmy just didn't fit the bill. There was a knock and then the door opened. Dr. Moore and Amber came in. "Lois, I know this is going to be uncomfortable, but we have to do this." Lois nodded understanding at Dr. Moore's words. Amber stood by Lois and held her hand. A few minutes later it was over. "Why don't you get dressed and we'll talk about it, okay?" Lois nodded again. As the door shut behind them, Lois struggled against the tears that threatened to overflow her eyes. Why wasn't Clark here when she really needed him? Once again, the fact that he was Superman and from another planet was keeping him from being there for her. If he wasn't, the Kryptonite wouldn't have had an effect on him at all, just like it hadn't affected her. In fact, if he wasn't from Krypton, he wouldn't be Superman in the first place and they wouldn't have tried to blackmail him. Surely, Dr. Moore would have told her if it was good news. Only bad news would have to wait. ***** Amber came in with Dr. Moore this time as well. Lois thought that couldn't be a good sign. Dr. Moore pulled the stool up to sit by Lois. Amber stood behind her. "Lois, I have some bad news." That was all Lois could take. Until he had uttered those words, she could convince herself that maybe everything was really all right, but now... Now... her world was shattering. Silent tears began to stream down her face. "Lois, this isn't easy to tell you, but you are miscarrying your baby." Amber stepped a little closer and put her arms around Lois' shoulder. "Because of how far along you are in the miscarrying process, we need to do a dilitation and cutterage, or D and C, to empty your uterus before other problems occur. Amber is going to take you to another part of the hospital where the procedure can be done." Dr. Moore hesitated. "Lois, this isn't easy. I know that. I wish Clark could be here with you. He wants this baby as badly as you do; I could see that when you came for your last appointment. Take some time off work, spend it together and grieve over the child you've lost. There doesn't seem to be any damage, so you should be able to conceive again whenever you are ready to try. But don't push yourself until *you and Clark* are ready. I have a break from appointments, so I'll be down to do the procedure myself." Dr. Moore stood to leave. "I'm sorry, Lois. I really am." Lois turned to Amber and let herself weep. ***** Amber pushed the wheelchair with Lois in it down the hall towards another part of the hospital. "Lois?" A worried voice shook Lois out of her deep thoughts. "Mom." Lois reached up for the hug that was coming. "What are you doing here?" "I was visiting a friend of mine who had surgery. What's wrong, Lois? What is it?" The tears had begun streaming down Lois' face again. "I lost the baby, Mom." It was all Lois could do to get the words out - almost as if she felt it wasn't real until she said the words aloud. "What? Where's Clark?" "He doesn't know. He spent the weekend kidnapped and I turned the ringer off so he could sleep. I couldn't find anyone to wake him up." "That bastard! Letting you come here by yourself." Ellen had never been fond of her son-in-law and never missed a chance to let Lois know how she felt. "Mom, there was no way he could have known." "Well, I'm staying with you." "It's okay. You don't have to." "I'm staying." Ellen was adamant. "Fine." Lois didn't have the energy to fight anymore and anyone was better than doing this by herself. ***** Five hours later, Ellen helped Lois out of the car. "I want to go home, Mom." "Honey, they said that you need to have someone with you at all times for the next few hours. Clark is obviously in no condition to take care of you right now." A few choice words were mumbled under her breath. "Mom. Please. I've been through enough today without dealing with your hatred for Clark." "Fine. Now let's get into my apartment and let you lay down." Ellen helped Lois into the apartment and into the spare bedroom. Lois lay down on the bed and curled up into a little ball. A minute later, Ellen came back into the room with a glass of water and some medicine. "Here. The doctor said for you to take this to help you sleep." Lois obediently swallowed the pill and laid her head back down. "Please get a hold of Clark for me. Try anywhere. Get Jimmy to go to the apartment and get him or something, but I need Clark. Please, Mom. I know you don't like him, but I need him right now." Ellen put a reassuring hand on her daughter's back. "I'll do my best," she said, glad Lois wasn't looking at her. If she had been, her intuitive offspring would have known that Ellen had no such intention. ***** TBC ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 12:33:38 -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: A Friendly Little Game of..., Epilogue MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay this is for all of you who requested this! Comments appreciated! CM ***** "Clark, dinner was delicious." "I'm glad you enjoyed it." Lois placed a kiss on his cheek as they flew through the air over the Pacific. "And dessert was out of this world." "I'm glad you suggested we try out that perfect date of mine." "Who am I to turn down dinner in Milan and dessert in Belgium?" "And a trip to a deserted island with a certain, ah, super hero?" "Exactly." Clark landed them gently on the sandy beach of a small island. Lois watched as he spun back into his civies. Clark grinned at her and pulled her into his arms. "I hope not." "I said that out loud, didn't I?" Lois smiled back up at him. "You did." He kissed her and then took her hand and they walked down the beach. For an hour they talked, sometimes walking, sometimes sitting close on the beach, sometimes with their arms wrapped around each other. There were gentle kisses interspersed with their words. "So, uh, Lois. There's something I want to talk to you about. "So, um, we've been dating for a while now." "And you know how I feel about you." He looked at his feet, drawing circles in the sand with his bare toes. "And I think I know how you feel about me." <...until you met Clark.> Clark turned and looked deep in her eyes. "I love you, Lois. Very much." "And I love you, Clark." Suddenly, the skies opened and rain poured down on them. Lois looked up and laughed, opening her arms as though embracing the downpour. Clark looked up in annoyance. "Come on! Give me a break!" Lois laughed, enjoying the look on his face. "Do you want to go back?" "If the earth opened up at my feet, I wouldn't move until I'd said this," Clark said. He knelt in the sand. "Lois." He pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it. "Will you marry me?" Tears were mixed with the rain running down Lois' face. "Lois?" "Huh?" She shook herself out of her trance and looked at Clark. There was water dripping from his hair and glasses. She thought he looked like a little puppy. "I just asked you to marry me." She smiled at him. "I will." "Do you mean that?" Lois laughed. "Would you rather I said no?" Clark laughed with her. He picked her up, arms wrapped around her waist. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as they laughed together in the rain. His lips found hers. She pulled back from Clark, only to find they had floated out over the ocean. "What is it?" The look on Clark's face was priceless and sent Lois into another fit of giggles. "What?" "You looked like you were afraid I had changed my mind." She could see Clark swallow hard. "No, that's not it at all." "Right. I was just wondering..." She held out her left hand. "Isn't something missing?" Clark smiled at her. "You mean something like this?" He gently placed the ring on her finger. "Exactly. Now if you wouldn't mind floating us over to the beach, we can kiss again." "What's wrong with kissing here?" "I know that when we kiss, you tend to be a little distracted and I don't want to fall in the ocean." "The only way you'll end up in the ocean is if I drop you there on purpose." "You wouldn't!" "Wouldn't I?" Lois pulled Clark's face down to hers and made him forget all about dropping her in the ocean. There was no reply. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 14:20:54 -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: A Friendly Little Game of..., Epilogue Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed LOL, and awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww :) Very swwet and waffy. Thanks Carol, I really appreciate the epilogue. It is exactly what I was looking for and more. It was a great ending to a wonderful story. I loved every minute of it! _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 19:24:32 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable OK, where do I start? The question is this - what are the essential characteristics a person = must have before you'll accept that he's Clark Kent, or at least, a = version of Clark Kent? What can you change about his history, his = character, his friends and family etc, and still end up with a person = who is recognisably that guy who was sent out into a space by his = Kryptonian parents in a tiny capsule destined for Earth. Or is it = possible to change even some of those details and still end up with a = Clark Kent? You can answer the same question for Lois Lane if you like . I'll keep this short by not going into a long explanation as to why I'm = posing the question, but if you want to know, just ask :) Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 13:43:07 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: A Friendly Little Game of..., Epilogue MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Awwwwwww! That was so cute, Carol! I loved what Lois was saying to herself while Clark was working up to his proposal. :) I loved this whole story - it was so sweet! Already one of my favorites; I=92ve re-read it several times and I know I=92= ll keep on re-reading it! The dialogue was very funny; I love it when the writer doesn=92t spell everything out, but lets the reader figure out what=92s going on by the speakers=92 conversation. It reminded me a little bit of Debby Stark's wonderful Dawning series. Loved the part where Lois called Clark back into the apartment when he was about to leave. She didn't want him to go, but she couldn't tell him that directly since she wasn't ready yet to forgive and forget. So she used the game they were playing as the excuse to get him to stay. By playing the game, she avoided direct discussion of the issue but still managed to find out everything she wanted to know (after first assuring herself that Clark wasn't going to win any more hands, of course, LOL! I could just see Clark sitting there, losing hand after hand and answering all the questions Lois put to him.) Loved the endings, too; =93finally we agree on something.=94 LOL! Fantasti= c! And the epilogue ending, too. :) Shadowfax =93. . . evidence is sometimes all that separates the criminal from the successful businessman.=94 - Lex Luthor ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 13:59:20 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On Mon, 23 Jul 2001 19:24:32 +0100, Yvonne Connell wrote: >OK, where do I start? > >The question is this - what are the essential characteristics a person must have before you'll accept that he's Clark Kent, or at least, a version of Clark Kent? Thought-provoking question! Clark Kent: - has all the powers of Superman; - is basically decent and caring - although his background (if it was bad) may cause him to submerge those traits in favor of characteristics more conducive to survival. - is low-key and laid-back. Tolerant, compassionate, slow to anger, quiet and self-effacing, thoughtful, and intelligent; - loves Lois Lane. And, oh, yeah, he looks like Dean Cain. ;-) Shadowfax =93. . . evidence is sometimes all that separates the criminal from the successful businessman.=94 =96 Lex Luthor ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:15:47 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 story: CHOICES (part 1b) Comments: To: lncfanfic@yahoo.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable (continued from part 1a) Clark stood before the elevator for a moment, wondering at the look that had= =20 been on Perry's face. The man loved his job, and Clark had to wonder if he=20 realized that in taking the new one he would be leaving the old one. His musings were interrupted as Jimmy came up behind him and spoke with some= =20 urgency. "Hey, C.K., you're okay, right? I mean, with Lois and everything?= " Clark swallowed a sigh, and spoke his thoughts aloud. "Why's everyone askin= g=20 me that? Of course!" "Good," Jimmy said swiftly, "'Cause I need your help. See that girl by the=20 vending machines?" Clark took a moment to refocus his attention. Apparently, Jimmy's agitation= =20 hadn't been regarding Lois' new position after all. He followed Jimmy's=20 glance, and took in the pretty young woman that the photographer was=20 indicating. Clark smiled at Darlene, one of the newer copy-girls at the Planet. She was= =20 young, and had a bright smile and beautiful eyes. She was waving sweetly at= =20 them. Jimmy returned her smile and wave, but he didn't look like his heart=20 was in it. "Darlene. She works in Research," Jimmy told him. "We went out once - I=20 didn't want to go out twice - and now every time I turn around, there she=20 is." He looked up at Clark with a seriously worried expression. "Ever see=20 Fatal Attraction?" Clark tried to suppress a grin, but wasn't entirely successful. Jimmy was a= =20 great friend, but he did have a tendency to think the world revolved around=20 him. It was a common flaw of youth, and Clark knew that he would outgrow it= ,=20 but it was still rather amusing. "C'mon, her?" he asked, the grin once more= =20 slipping through his efforts to take Jimmy seriously. "She looks so sweet." "No," Jimmy said adamantly. "There's something seriously wrong with her. I= =20 got dead roses delivered to my place, okay? Do me a favor. Make it look=20 like you're ordering me to do something. Maybe she'll give up and go away." Clark was about to try once more to reassure Jimmy, but the shrill tone of a= =20 fire alarm invaded his hearing. Immediately he began to triangulate the=20 position of the alarm by it's pitch and intensity, and his response to Jimmy= =20 was absent at best. "Uh, I gotta go. Sorry." Tugging at his tie, he didn'= t=20 wait for a response as he headed for the stairwell. Jimmy was left standing by himself next to the elevator. On a flash of=20 inspiration he called out, "Yeah, yeah, okay. I'll get right on that for yo= u=20 Mr. Kent." He forced another smile at Darlene, and then took off in the=20 opposite direction. Superman landed with more speed than grace in front of Star Labs. There wer= e=20 dozens of people running from the Advanced Strategies Labs, scrambling acros= s=20 the street heedless of the darkness around them. He couldn't blame them as=20 he smelled the noxious smoke that was billowing from the open doorway. He=20 grabbed one of the Researchers as he ran past to ask what was going on. "Superman," the man breathed, then coughed once more. "Thank God!" "What happened?" he asked briskly. The sooner he had his answers, the soone= r=20 he could handle the situation in an informed manner. "Our computers have gone haywire!" the man said frantically. "They opened al= l=20 the safety valves on the nitrogen tanks. People are still inside, Superman,= "=20 the man pleaded. "It could blow any second." In a blink, he decided the no nitrogen meant no cooling, and the researcher=20 was indeed right about the ramifications of the situation. In a blur, he=20 moved towards the building. The world seemed to slow around him as he locate= d=20 two semi-conscious scientists in the smoke and moved instantly towards them.= =20 He slowed himself minutely so that he wouldn't snap their spines as he lifte= d=20 them into his arms, and then he dashed for the most direct exit. On the=20 second floor, the straight line didn't lead to the door, but rather a window= .=20 He took the direct path, deposited his charges carefully, and then headed=20 back into the building to search for more survivers. Ethan press touched a couple of buttons on the computer and then glanced at=20 the monitors before him. Superman's strengths and weaknesses were clearly=20 delineated on the right side of the monitor, while the left contained an=20 anatomical diagram that illustrated the findings. At twenty-three, Ethan was one of the richest men in Metropolis. He liked t= o=20 spend that money, too. He didn't mind paying for the best in technology. =20 Yes, he enjoyed his money, and the wealth had done him good, as his plush=20 surroundings indicated. From the outside, his lab appeared to be a standard= =20 motor home, but the inside was packed with comfortable furniture and=20 state-of-the-art technology.=20 Ethan also liked to have a good time. Rather than working, or even=20 supervising others as they worked, he chose to find solutions to what he fel= t=20 were problems. That was what he was working on now. He glanced to his right= ,=20 at the live video feed that showed him what was happening at Star Labs.=20 "Look at Superman. What a show off! I hate him," he muttered to himself,=20 even as an evil smile crept over his face. "I wish I could blow him up. Oh= =E2=80=A6=20 wait," he said gleefully. "I am going to blow him up. That's why we're=20 here, right Eric?" Over his left shoulder, Ethan grinned at his less than willing companion. =20 Bound and gagged, Eric Press struggled against his bonds. Though only=20 nineteen, the kid was a miracle when it came to computers, and that was=20 exactly what he needed. Unfortunately, the kid couldn't be bought, so he'd=20 been stolen instead. Even at that, Ethan didn't pay him very much attention= ,=20 instead turning back to his monitor. "Alright, Blueboy," Ethan mumbled. "Let's see how invulnerable you really=20 are!" He moved his hand back to the keyboard and tapped a single key. Superman felt the explosion before he saw the flash. His sensitive hearing=20 picked up the high-pitched sound of glass hitting concrete, and his body=20 absorbed the blast of heat that engulfed him. He spared a grateful thought=20 that he'd already cleared out the survivors before going back in to try and=20 remedy the situation with the nitrogen tanks. He was stumbling by the time he reached the doorway, dark smoke surrounding=20 him and making his enhanced vision a necessity. As he left the gutted=20 building, he saw several bystanders that had been tossed to the ground by th= e=20 explosion, and he hoped that none had been critically injured. Truth be=20 told, he didn't really feel up to flying at the moment. "Woah, are you okay?" The man speaking to him was the Researcher he had singled-out earlier that=20 day. "Yeah," he answered, feeling the sun restore his body's energy even as he=20 stood there. "Good think nobody else was in there, though." The researcher nodded, and Superman took a moment more to regain his strengt= h=20 before walking towards the survivors to see if anyone had been hurt badly=20 enough to require transport to the hospital. Ethan watched the infrared depiction of Superman on the right side of his=20 monitor. He frantically tried to enter information on the keyboard, but his= =20 mind was faster than his hands. "I can't tell if the blast affected him," he muttered. He tried again,=20 tapping more keys in rapid succession. "Man, I don't know how to work this=20 stuff! You're the computer wiz," he accused. "You do it!" Ethan reached=20 over and absently removed the gag from his prisoner's mouth. "You kidnapped me, Ethan!" Eric shouted accusingly. "So=E2=80=A6?" "So=E2=80=A6? I'm your brother! You can't kidnap your brother!" "I always used to tie you up when we were kids," Ethan reasoned. "What's th= e=20 difference?" "The difference is you're forcing me to help you kill Superman!" the younger= =20 boy argued. "Need I remind you, little brother, that he silenced the single greatest=20 voice who ever spoke, our childhood hero - Lex Luthor? Eric sighed as he glanced at his insane brother. After years of making=20 excuses, he just didn't have it in him any longer. Desperately, he tried=20 reason. "Ethan, Lex died like a year ago. You're just getting around to=20 this now?" "It's taken that long to find Superman's Achilles Heel," Ethan explained. =20 "The chink in his impenetrable armor. And now, thanks to you, we know what=20 it is." "Wait a minute!" Eric demanded. "I only hacked into STAR Labs' computr as a= =20 prank!" "Nevertheless, you got Superman's confidential medical files and, with them,= =20 we know the key to his powers lies in his vast energy reserves." Ethan=20 stumbled a moment, his effort to remember obvious. "How'd you put it? He's= =20 like one big battery, right?" Eric silently chastised himself for attempting to share any information with= =20 his brother. "Yeah," he admitted. "But=E2=80=A6" "So," Ethan continued with a grin, in his most reasonable tone. "All we hav= e=20 to do is figure out a way to drain that battery, and make him vulnerable." =20 Ethan's voice trailed off, his words not directed at his brother, but taking= =20 on a sinister tone. "Then, after he's dead, we won't be remembered just som= e=20 spoiled rich kids. We'll go down in history like Brutus, Booth, and Oswald=20 before us. The names Ethan and Eric Press will live in infamy!" Eric finally spoke his greatest fear aloud, realizing that it was indeed=20 reality. "You're sick." Ethan shrugged. "I take after Dad's side," he reasoned.=20 "You don't have a chance, Ethan. Even a blast that big hardly put a dent in= =20 Superman's bioelectric aura." "Ah, so it did affect him," Ethan realized with glee. "Barely," Eric admitted, once more trying to reason with his brother and=20 distract him from what he knew as a particularly bad idea. "Look=E2=80=A6 It= dipped=20 for like a nanosecond. It's gonna take a radical force to really drain him.= =20 And, even then, you're gonna need an incredibly powerful weapon to take=20 advantage of it before he rejuvenates." The screen before them rewound under Eric's control and the bright red aura=20 briefly turned blue. Eric froze the image at that point, showing how minute= =20 the change had been, and how impractical it would be to attempt to exploit i= t. Ethan tossed his arm around his brother with a rare affection. "No problem,= "=20 he decided. "You tapped into the Pentagon once, you can do it again." Clark unlocked the front door to the townhouse and moved into the living=20 room. Lois nearly ran over him, one arm into her coat, as she frantically=20 moved towards the door. "Where are you going?" Clark asked in confusion. "I have to get down to the office," Lois explained. "Tomorrow's lead just=20 fell through. Sorry about tonight=E2=80=A6" A flash passed through his mind of the date they'd planned. It was just=20 dinner and a movie, his cooking and her choice of VCR tape, but he'd really=20 been looking forward to it. "Oh, I understand," he said with a small smile. Lois paused as she moved through the doorway and considered him for a moment= .=20 "You look a little pale," she stated. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I just got blown up, no big deal." The look of concern she gave him=20 caused him to regret his sarcasm. She hadn't known, he realized. She=20 couldn't have known. "I'm fine, really," he assured her. "Go." Lois paused a moment more. "We'll talk more about it when I get back," she=20 promised. "Okay, good." =20 Lois gave him a quick kiss, and moved out the door. "Bye." Clark stood there a moment, and then opened the door and rushed after her.=20 When he touched her arm, she spun around in surprise. "You're not okay?" sh= e=20 asked, her voice nearly frantic. "I knew you looked so pale," she began, bu= t=20 he stopped her with a finger to her lips. "I'm fine," he told her again. "In fact, I'll prove it to you. How about a= =20 lift to the Planet." "No, Clark. You're tired. You got blown up," she said with a small smile.=20 "You should rest." "I will rest," he said with a grin. "With you. Let me go spin, and then=20 I'll fly you to work. I have a dozen things I should have done before I lef= t=20 anyway. I'm only half way through my research on that nitrogen leak, and I=20 could use the time to play catch-up." "You're behind?" she asked skeptically. "I was trying to get home to my wife," he admitted, placing a hand against=20 her face, gently tracing her cheekbone with his thumb. "We had this hot dat= e=20 planned." "I'm so sorry, Clark," she told him again. "So make it up to me," he offered, his grin open and loving. "Let me take=20 you to work." Lois finally gave in, grinning. "I'd like that," she told him. "Me too," he agreed. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 14:29:17 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Adam Labotka Subject: Re: Don't Tug On Superman's Friends 1/1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Thanks for the comments Carol and Gerry, glad you liked this one too. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:31:53 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 story: CHOICES (part 1a-a) Comments: To: lncfanfic@yahoo.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable My apologies for these stupid little-bitty parts, but aol hates me today! I'll be honest with you, FoLCs=E2=80=A6 I never liked Stop the Presses. To=20= me,=20 Clark's jealousy and lack of support were entirely out of character. With=20 that in mind, I decided to try this using the Clark I know and love, rather=20 than the one imposed by this episode. Yes, Clark does have a history of=20 being a bit childish, but I think he'd be a little more understanding in thi= s=20 particular situation. So, if he were - if he made the choice to be=20 supportive, rather than critical - how might the episode have been changed? The first part of this will look awfully familiar=E2=80=A6 I've taken it alm= ost=20 directly from the script, with a few interpretations thrown in. Bear with=20 me, though=E2=80=A6 I have modified quite a lot as the story progresses. Choices A rewrite of Stop the Presses By Crystal Wimmer Lois and Clark left the elevator briskly. She shifted a cup of coffee to he= r=20 opposite hand and glanced at her husband as they continued their=20 conversation. "Well, who was the last person to see Eric Press before he=20 disappeared?" Clark glanced down at the notes in his hand before answering. "His parents,= "=20 he told her. "Sunday night." Lois allowed the information to blend with what she already knew about the=20 case. "That eliminates kidnapping," she thought aloud. "They would've=20 gotten a ransom demand by now." She considered a moment more before asking,= =20 "The police don't have any leads?" Clark shook his head. "No. Something tells me computer hackers aren't=20 exactly a high priority for them." Lois shook her head in aggravation. She knew that the Metropolis Police=20 Department was overworked, but that didn't excuse some of the prioritization= =20 that they had been using since their staff became so low. Every person had=20 value, and they deserved to be searched for regardless of city budget=20 restraints. She saw Jimmy stepping down into the bull pen, and called out quickly. =20 "Jimmy, hang on!" Glancing over his shoulder, the made an immediate about face and tucked the=20 material he was delivering under one arm as he approached the Kents.=20 "Jimmy, you're a cyber-guy. Ever hear of Eric Press?" Jimmy's face immediately changed from one of inquiry to one of delight. He=20 never minded talking about his computer interests. "Eric Press, are you=20 kidding? He's like the Michael Jordan of Hackers. Last year, he tapped int= o=20 the pentagon's main frame, pulled off the totally coolest prank! It was=E2= =80=A6"=20 His voice paused as he took in the clear disapproval of his friends. =20 "Childish," he finally continued. "Really immature. Frankly, I was appalled= =E2=80=A6" Clark shook his head and focused his mind back on the matter at hand. "See,= =20 if you can break into the Pentagon's computer, he can break into anyone's." "And that kind of access can be pretty valuable, especially in the wrong=20 hands," she agreed. Her thoughts were interrupted as Ralph slithered his way through the=20 newsroom. Lois instinctively stepped a bit closer to her husband, still=20 unable to forgive the man for his advances while Clark had been away, and=20 uncomfortable with his presence. "Hey, Ralph," Jimmy called out. Lois resisted the urge to muzzle her friend. She couldn't blame him for=20 being friendly, nor did she have any desire to explain to him why she=20 couldn't stand one particularly slimy member of the Planet's reporting staff= ,=20 but that didn't mean she wanted him near her. "Hey, hear what happened?" Ralph said with a typical leer. Oh great, gossip= .=20 It was just what she needed to hear when she should be concentrating on a=20 story. "Perry got promoted," he continued, his expression suggestive. "Get out!" Jimmy said with a smile. "Swear to God," Ralph elaborated. "Corporate job. He's upstairs right now=20 getting his stripes." "You're kidding!" Lois added, at the moment allowing her excitement for her=20 editor and mentor to overcome her abhorrence of the messenger. "When did al= l=20 this happen?" "This afternoon," Ralph answered, moving slightly closer to Lois. "Right=20 after they let Old Man Rosen go. Circulation problems, apparently." "Heart?" Jimmy asked with concern. "No. Subscriptions. They're down eight percent," Ralph answered with more=20 enjoyment than he had a right to. Ralph did love his gossip. Lois cringed=20 again. "Hey, well good for Perry," Clark interrupted. Lois marveled at how good he= =20 was at steering conversation away from the inappropriate. "He really=20 deserves it." "Yeah, but who's going to replace him?" she asked with concern. "He's the=20 best editor there is." "Scuttlebutt is, it's gonna be one of you two," Ralph put in, his voice=20 vaguely conspiratorial. "One of=E2=80=A6 us?" Clark asked, doubt clear in his voice. Lois had to ag= ree with=20 his skepticism. "Uh-huh," Ralph confirmed. "But we're not even department heads," Lois wondered aloud. "How is that=20 possible?" "Believe me, I've been asking myself the same=E2=80=A6" Ralph must have caug= ht Lois's=20 glare, because he seemed to change his mind about continuing that train of=20 thought. "I mean, I think either one of you would make an excellent choice,= "=20 he corrected. "Sure be interesting on the marriage, though." "I'm gonna go see what I can find out about this," Jimmy muttered. =20 Thankfully as he left Ralph followed, and Lois unconsciously relaxed her=20 stance. She really hated that man. "Wow." Clark's voice stunned her back into the moment, and away from errant thought= s=20 of locking Ralph in a closet only to leave him there to rot. "Wow is right," she agreed. "What're we going to do?" "Do about what?" her husband asked in confusion. "About what Ralph said," she clarified. "What if one of us does get the job= =20 over the other. How are we going to handle it." Clarks expression clearly stated that he didn't see a problem. "Aren't we=20 jumping the gun here? I mean, maybe they'll pick somebody else." "Or maybe not," Lois thought aloud. She might not like Ralph, but he did=20 have an unerring tendency to be in the right place at the right time for=20 gossip. The man was worse than Cat Grant. "I just wouldn't want it to=20 affect our relationship, that's all. We've been through enough." "Hey," Clark interrupted, his expression soft. "Look, if it'll make you fee= l=20 any better, I'll take myself out of the running right now. It's not that=20 important to me=E2=80=A6" "No, no," Lois pleaded. "I wouldn't want you to do that, especially since=20 you'd make such a great editor." She meant it. He had a head for details,=20 and a mind that was able to organize things almost unconsciously. She could= =20 imagine him detailing schedules, managing deadlines, and keeping the Planet=20 on top of the news community. "Me?" Clark asked, his expression puzzled. "What about you? You're the one= =20 with all the Kerth awards. You deserve it." Lois grinned at his praise, blushing a bit. She loved it when he pointed ou= t=20 her accomplishments. Hell, she loved it when anyone recognized the hard wor= k=20 and dedication she'd put into her career. He was right, she was very good a= t=20 what she did. She grinned up at him and used made a mockery of modesty. "I=20 don't know=E2=80=A6 what does deserve really mean? At his matching grin she= sobered=20 slightly. "Let's make a pact. No matter what, we're going to be okay. Okay= ?" Clark looked down at her and she could see the love in his eyes, the=20 understanding of her concerns, and the tolerance for her need to be=20 reassured. "No matter what," he told her softly. She smiled as his lips descended and met hers. For just a moment, she lost=20 herself in the sensation of his kiss, the magic that was always there just=20 for her. She shifted closer, feeling his arms surround her. Abruptly, Clark's grip released as the elevator doors opened and Perry exite= d=20 to the shouts and cheers of the City Room. Lois moved out of the circle of=20 her husband's embrace to greet the man who she still felt was her father,=20 regardless of who had participated in her creation. She tried to balance he= r=20 joy for him with her own excitement of what his promotion might mean for her= ,=20 along with her natural concerns regarding the changes that were already in=20 motion. She wanted the editorial position. She really wanted it, and felt=20 that she could do a terrific job. All she needed was the chance to prove it= . "Lois, Clark=E2=80=A6" Perry called out, moving towards them with intent. Clark stepped forward and grabbed Perry's hand in a firm handshake. "Hey,=20 Perry, we just heard." "We're so happy for you," Lois added, moving in to hug her mentor. He'd=20 given her every chance in this business, and made her career a possibility.=20= =20 He'd also given her faith in the male of the species, even when she'd doubte= d=20 that she'd ever find anyone for herself. Perry returned her hug, his grip enthusiastic. "Thanks," he said. "I uh= =E2=80=A6=20 everything's happening so fast! My head's spinning like an old forty-five." Jimmy laughed at the expression. "I'll bet!" Lois had to wonder if the=20 younger man even knew what a forty-five was. After all, he'd grown up in th= e=20 age of cassettes and compact disks. He leaned forward just then and added=20 mischievously, "What's a forty-five?" "Very funny," Perry said with a grin. "Look, I've got to get back upstairs.= =20 Still trying to figure out what the hell my new job is." The comment was me= t=20 by laughter, and then he continued. "But we gotta keep the presses running,= =20 and you al need an editor to do that. Now, this is just temporary, mind you= ,=20 until we all have a chance to sit down and make sense of things." Lois and Clark exchanged anxious looks as their former editor continued. =20 "That said, it was a difficult decision to make=E2=80=A6 one of the most dif= ficult=20 I've ever had to make, actually. So, anyway, without further ado, the new=20 Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet is=E2=80=A6" Lois held her breath as Perry spoke. Yes, she had more experience at the=20 Planet, but Clark's experience had been editorial, albeit as an editor of th= e=20 Borneo Gazette. As Perry's attention focused on her, she became so excited=20 that she almost hyperventilated. "Lois," Perry concluded, his smile both proud and happy. "Yes!" Lois called out, before realizing how that attitude could be=20 misconstrued. I mean, wow," she corrected. She spared a glance at her=20 husband, who was both applauding with the rest of the newsroom and smiling a= t=20 her with approval. She could do this, she decided. She could really do thi= s. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:33:08 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 story: CHOICES (part 1a-b) Comments: To: lncfanfic@yahoo.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Clark followed his wife, who was following Perry, into the Editor's office.=20 The former editor was talking a mile a minute, briefing Lois on the=20 essentials of the job. Clark couldn't help but be amused at the expression=20 on Lois' face. She really hadn't had any idea of what she was getting into.= =20 He had known, however, both the demands on the job and that he couldn't have= =20 possibly managed it and still accomplished his "second" job. It had been one= =20 of the reasons he'd offered to decline even the consideration of promotion,=20 second only to his wife's legendary competitive nature. She wanted it more=20 than he did, therefore she should have it. Perry grabbed a half-filled box and gegan to toss in a few items from his=20 desk. His personal phone book, Day Planner, and several items of Elvis=20 memorabilia disappeared into the cardboard confines. "Printing'll tell you they need copy by eight to make deadline," Perry was=20 saying, "but don't be afraid to switch out your lead up 'til ten-fifteen if=20 you have to=E2=80=A6" "Right," Lois mumbled, adding this instruction to the growing list in her=20 notebook. "And don't let the sales people bully you around, either," Perry told her=20 firmly. "Remind 'em we're a newspaper, not a bus bench. Ditto for=20 Classifieds=E2=80=A6" "Okay," Lois agreed, making another note. "Oh, and watch your overtime sheets," he added. "Especially with the Art=20 Departments, or the bean counters'll swallow you up faster than the King=20 could down a T-bone." "Got it," Lois said as she completed a note and then looked up. "I think." "You're gonna be a terrific editor," Perry reassured her. "I know you will.= " Lois smiled softly at the praise. "I'd better," she said softly. "I've=20 learned from the best." They looked at one another for a moment, and Clark fought the urge to leave=20 the room and give them some privacy. He knew how much Perry meant to his=20 wife, the role he'd played in her career and her life, and he knew this=20 moment must be very special for both of them. Perry's expression was the=20 same that his father's had been on the day Clark had graduated high school= =E2=80=A6=20 pride flowing off him in waves. He saw that Lois' eyes were looking damp, so he leaned in and placed her=20 nameplate on the large desk, right next to Perry's. He knew she hated to=20 cry, felt it was silly, and he could see that she was teetering on the edge=20 of tears. "Ta-da!" he said grandly. Perry reached for his own nameplate and tossed it into the box. "I'll just=20 get this out of the way." Lois glanced around the office, and finally met her husband's eyes. She was= =20 positively glowing, but he could see the uncertainty there as well. He=20 wished that she had the confidence in herself that he had always felt. She=20 could face down an armed killer for a story, so she could easily do this. "My wife," he said fondly. "The boss." Lois grinned at that. "I can't believe this is really happening," she=20 admitted. "Listen," Perry interrupted. "Are you two going to be all right with this?=20= =20 I mean, I don't want to ruffle any feathers=E2=80=A6" "Don't worry," Lois assured him. "We've already talked about it. We're=20 fine, really." "Okay," Perry conceded, but he didn't sound certain. "You're sure?" "Positive," Clark added. "Besides, I'm kinda looking forward to sleeping=20 with the boss." Perry grinned and reached down for the box. "Alright, I'm outta here. C'mo= n=20 Clark, let's let the lady get to work." Clark flashed Lois an encouraging smile, and then followed Perry out of the=20 office, closing the door behind them. He peeked back through the glass to=20 see Lois standing alone by the desk, her excitement as obvious as her=20 uncertainty. She eased herself down into the large leather chair, and he=20 heard her take a deep breath and calm her racing heart. Just as she had=20 leaned back and propped her feet up on the desk, Clark saw a group of bodies= =20 descend on her like a flock of seagulls to the ocean. "Which story am I on?" "I thought I had column one?" "Can I take the=20 afternoon off?" The voices seemed to blend into one another until even=20 Clark's super-hearing couldn't distinguish them. Over the din, he heard=20 Lois' heart rate increase, then heard her voice as she instructed them to=20 slow down and she would answer them one at a time. She was going to do fine, Clark realized. With a smile on his face, he=20 turned to follow Perry's retreating form to the elevator. "I'll be back and forth, picking up stuff, checking on Lois, you know. I'll= =20 be around," Perry told Clark as they stepped up to the closed elevator doors= =20 and the younger man reached for the button. "Okay," Clark answered, sounding unconcerned. "Listen Clark," Perry began carefully. "I want you to know that if I=20 could've, I would've picked both Lois and you to run the deal, but the=20 problem was, it's really just a one person job." "It's okay, Chief," Clark assured him. Still, Perry wasn't convinced. "I mean, right down the line, you two were neck and neck in every category.=20= =20 It came down to who had more experience, that's the only way I could make my= =20 decision." "Believe me," Clark said with a smile. "You've made the right choice." Perry finally nodded, fairly sure he'd explained himself. Of course, he=20 could have told Clark that he knew about his moonlighting in tights, or that= =20 he was afraid Superman wouldn't be able to give the dedication to the job=20 that was absolutely necessary, but he didn't bring that up. Lois and Clark=20 had both worked so hard to conceal their secret, he had no desire to spoil=20 their illusion. He wouldn't mention it until the couple brought it up to=20 him. Then, of course, he'd be more than willing to let them know how he'd=20 figured it out long before. "Alright," Perry said, even as the elevator doors opened. He stepped into=20 the small space, his box held firmly in his arms. He gave a last glance to=20 the newsroom, his newsroom, and then looked back at Clark. "Hard to believe= =20 that after thirty years in the newsroom, I won't be hanging my hat here=20 anymore." Clark gave him an understanding look, and it was almost too understanding fo= r=20 his present nostalgia. He shifted his eyes down to his nameplate even as th= e=20 doors were closing. It wasn't his anymore, he realized. He'd given it to=20 Lois, and now it would be hers. Slowly, a smile curved his lips. He had=20 trained her, so in a way it would remain his after all. He just hoped that=20 he liked his new job as much as he'd loved the old one. (continued in part 1b) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:34:37 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carolyn Schnall Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ; format="flowed" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit >I like your reply too:) Carolyn >On Mon, 23 Jul 2001 19:24:32 +0100, Yvonne Connell > wrote: > >>OK, where do I start? >> >>The question is this - what are the essential characteristics a person >must have before you'll accept that he's Clark Kent, or at least, a version >of Clark Kent? > >Thought-provoking question! > >Clark Kent: >- has all the powers of Superman; >- is basically decent and caring - although his background (if it was >bad) may cause him to submerge those traits in favor of characteristics >more conducive to survival. >- is low-key and laid-back. Tolerant, compassionate, slow to anger, >quiet and self-effacing, thoughtful, and intelligent; >- loves Lois Lane. > >And, oh, yeah, he looks like Dean Cain. ;-) > >Shadowfax >“. . . evidence is sometimes all that separates the criminal from the >successful businessman.” – Lex Luthor ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:35:50 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carolyn Schnall Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" >OK, where do I start? > >The question is this - what are the essential characteristics a >person must have before you'll accept that he's Clark Kent, or at >least, a version of Clark Kent? What can you change about his >history, his character, his friends and family etc, and still end up >with a person who is recognisably that guy who was sent out into a >space by his Kryptonian parents in a tiny capsule destined for >Earth. Or is it possible to change even some of those details and >still end up with a Clark Kent? > >You can answer the same question for Lois Lane if you like . > >I'll keep this short by not going into a long explanation as to why >I'm posing the question, but if you want to know, just ask :) > >Yvonne >(yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) A fascinating question, Yvonne, and one I have thought a great deal about. I would argue that there is little you could change about him or L&C canon or LL, that would be acceptable to me as the characters and situations we all fell in love with. I recently argued with another FoLC way into the night that if you change too many things about the situation, you are merely borrowing the characters and setting them where you want them to be, but that something essential would therefore be missing. There is a ton of fanfic just like this and I am not discounting it in any way. But when you change something about Clark or Lois from the formative years, experiences, and setting, you are changing something important about the character (s), and who that character is, and how the character would deal with a situation, etc. Perhaps many fanfiction writers would argue that this is too limiting, but I feel that I must be able to suspend my disbelief and sometimes find fanfiction that is far afield of the production version of L&C, is not always believable to me. And these stories are often extremely well written. I find the challenge for me is to tell a good story well but not to change canon or characters irrevocably in the telling. I thought this was particularly well illustrated when we are introduced to Alt-Clark, and Lois discovers that Alt-Clark lost Martha and Jon at age 10. She wonders who he is, because he may be CK, but he is a different version of CK than her husband, and was meant to be different in some very important ways. Off my soap box now:) Carolyn ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 13:19:40 -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: Charade: Epilogue MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit As I said on the mbs, I guess the title says it all. If anyone spots any loose ends, let me know and I'll tie them up before I send it to the Archive. Any and all suggestions for improvement are welcome. Nan Charade: Epilogue by Nan Smith Epilogue "More pie, Jimmy?" Martha Kent asked. "There's one more piece of lemon meringue and a whole apple pie left." "Sure." Jimmy held out his plate. Clark's mother shoveled a generous piece of pie onto it. "It's nice to see a young man who enjoys his food, " Martha said, happily. "Mom, I always eat everything you cook!" Clark protested. "You eat bombs, too," Martha said, with a grin. She patted her son's knee. "Don't worry, Clark, no one else will ever be in your pie-eating class--at least until CJ and Marta hit their teens." She turned and took the apple pie from the sideboard. "Would you like a piece of apple pie?" Clark allowed her to deposit a large wedge of pie on his plate. "Thanks, Mom." He grinned at Jimmy. "It's probably just as well that I do have a Kryptonian metabolism. If I didn't, I'd be fat by now." Jimmy, his mouth full of lemon meringue, nodded. He swallowed manfully. "Now I know where you got your cooking talent, CK. This is great, Martha." "So, anyway," Jonathan interjected, drawing the conversation back to the previous subject, "what happened to the Kryptonite ring?" "I smashed it," Jimmy said. "I didn't want anyone else to ever find it, so I took it outside and hit it with one of the rocks they had around their flower bed. It sort of exploded. Then I threw the ring and the powder that was left down the toilet." Jonathan nodded satisfied approval. "Good job," he said. "And Luthor is out of circulation, so that's the end of Caribbean Imports." "Not quite," Lois said. "They never found Arianna. They're still hunting for her, but so far, she just seems to have disappeared. And we still don't know what her 'special project', that Clark heard those two clone-makers talking about, was. Rene told us that they found one of the cloning cylinders in a separate room, all hooked up, but without anything in it. I hope there's no relation." "So do I," Martha said. They were all silent for a few moments, eating the pie and contemplating the possibilities of Arianna Carlin's "special project". "Well," Clark said, at last, "she's without her usual resources. It will probably take a while to build them up again, so we have some time, anyway. And there's always the possibility that she'll be caught." "There's that," Lois agreed. "At least we don't have to worry that there's a full-grown clone of Clark running around somewhere. I worried about that for awhile, you know, after I realized the man I saw that night wasn't him. It turned out he was one of Rene's men. Once I saw him up close, when they came to get Lex, I realized he didn't look anything like Clark. Actually, he looked more like Dan Scardino." "I think I've been insulted," Clark said. "Oh, Clark, don't be silly," Lois said. "Dan was never really in your league, you know, and if you hadn't been so lunkheaded about the whole thing, you'd have realized it." Jimmy listened to the banter going back and forth between Lois, Clark and Clark's parents. Watching them, he knew why Clark had grown up to be the person he was. The world owed almost as much to Martha and Jonathan for the character of the man who had become Superman as it did to the man, himself. Then he forgot about it as CJ, clad in Superman pajamas, toddled into the room. Clark moved to pick him up. "Hi there, pal. Don't tell me you climbed out of your crib again," he said. "Pie!" CJ announced, confidently. Jimmy began to laugh. The End ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:25:45 -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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay - I have been wondering the same thing myself for an idea that won't let go, but won't fully form itself so I can write it. > Clark Kent: > - has all the powers of Superman; Is it possible for Clark to be Clark without the powers? Still everything else and even a desire to help whenever possible, but just no Superpowers? And I don't mean like in Myxsplit or whatever it was where Clark and Superman became two different people because of the whole wish thing. Any takers? > And, oh, yeah, he looks like Dean Cain. ;-) *BG* What if he was a blond? With blue eyes? Could he still be CK?*BG* CM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 16:42:04 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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/23/01 4:33:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time, cmoncado@JUNO.COM writes: > What if he was a blond? With blue eyes? Not with blond hair. Maybe blue eyes. :) Ann ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:55:06 -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: Charade: Epilogue MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit S P O I L E R S P A C E Not that there's much to spoil, but... (Not because it's not good, but all the plot stuff is taken care of!) So - left this wide open for another sequel did we?! Loved the part with CJ! Especially the jammies! He'll be eating lots of pie, I'm sure! CM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:58:08 -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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > What if he was a blond? With blue eyes? > > Not with blond hair. Maybe blue eyes. :) Ann I always preferred blond/blue eyed guys, till I met my hubby (who has dark hair, but still has the blue eyes). Oh, well! CK/Superman stays a brunette!:o) CM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 19:05:30 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: CHOICES, part 2a MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable (continued from part 1b) Clark sighed as the elevator opened on the City Room, and stepped out. =20 Thanfully, he ran almost immediately into Jimmy, the one person he wanted to= =20 see. "Jimmy, can you do something for me?" The look on Jimmy's face was priceless, and if he'd been less distracted by=20 his own story he might have pursued it. "Anything," the younger man said=20 with relief in his voice. "Name it." Clark followed Jimmy's gaze to Darlene and had to smile. The kid just didn'= t=20 give up when it came to paranoia. He was reminded of the movie he'd watched= =20 the night before, the VCR procured from an upper floor and set up in Lois'=20 office. "You think everything's a conspiracy, Hippy," the heroine had said.= =20 The reply had been point blank. "Everything is." Dragging his attention back to the story, he focused back on Jimmy. "I need=20 you to get a list of Eric Press' last outgoing calls from his modem line as=20 soon as possible." Jimmy's tone remained grateful. "Gladly." Clark shook his head and he watched Jimmy walk away, casting a last nervous=20 glance at him as he passed by the lovely little lady in question. Jimmy=20 jumped as Darlene opened the manila envelope she was carrying, panic flittin= g=20 over his features. Clark had to grin. He had spent time working the night before, as he'd told Lois he needed to,=20 but as the night began to drag he'd moved himself into Lois' office with a=20 bag of microwave popcorn and a movie he'd snagged from the only rental place= =20 that was still open down the street. Lois had seemed annoyed for the first=20 few minutes, but aside from answering questions and then waiting to answer=20 more, she really wasn't able to do very much. Her answers were urgent, and=20 she did have to be there, but having a video running didn't disrupt the=20 situation very much. Eventually, she had pulled her chair up next to his an= d=20 gratefully nibbled popcorn in between crises. It hadn't been the ideal date= ,=20 but it had been better than nothing. Clark stopped by his desk and saw the note on his Day Planner that there=20 would be an early staff meeting that morning. Rather than waiting for=20 Perry's ten o'clock time, she'd moved the meeting up to nine so that she'd=20 have a little more time before the noon deadline that dictated the afternoon= =20 edition. He tapped the note in an unconscious manner and checked his watch. It was=20 half past nine, and he had plenty of time to fix them both a couple of coffe= e=20 and steal a kiss or two before the meeting. "Annie, how's that subway hijacking story coming?" Lois fired out. "Fine," Annie answered quickly. "Snagged an interview with the suspect. I'= m=20 meeting him at three. Shouldn't have any trouble making deadline." Lois nodded and made a note on her clipboard. "Okay, good." Clark slipped into the room as quietly as possible, sharing a quick smile=20 with his wife. Coffee had been sidetracked when sirens outside had begun=20 screaming, but he was fairly sure that Lois would forgive him when she=20 received his report of the fire and Superman's rescue efforts. Easing back into his chair, Clark enjoyed the sight of his wife at her most=20 intent. Pacing the front of the conference room, she was working the staff=20 like a pro. He seriously wished that Perry could be here to see this. Whil= e=20 the rest of the staff munched their breakfast, pastries and bagels that Lois= =20 had ordered from a local bakery, she was commanding the room. "Harry, your Metro lead?" Harry looked up at her to answer. "The O'Connor murder," he said swiftly. =20 "Got a tip the wife's gonna confess. I oughta have a copy for you by six." "Perfect," she replied with a small smile. Clark didn't think anyone else=20 caught the mild uncertainty in her expression, but he certainly did. He kne= w=20 her that well. She wanted so much to be a success in this job, and=20 unfortunately that was as dependent on the staff as it was on her. While sh= e=20 could badger and harass, Lois couldn't control the news of the day. Clark=20 knew that lack of control was bothering her, and was glad to see that she wa= s=20 holding it well in check. He caught a look of doubt on her face as she=20 continued, "Ralph?" "I think we're talking column one," he bragged shamelessly. Somehow, Clark=20 really didn't think so. The man couldn't find a story if it was handed to=20 him on a silver platter, and his sources were worse than unreliable. =20 "Everything I've got says the mayor's definitely having a affair with that=20 call girl." Lois all but rolled her eyes. "Sounds more like a tabloid page one to me,=20 though." "Agreed, except for Hizzonor's pillow talk apparently spills the beans on=20 some major corruption. I'm just waiting for my source to confirm it." Lois nodded, her expression both doubtful and surprised. "That's great, kee= p=20 me posted." Clark was so busy admiring the way she'd tolerated Ralph's=20 response that he nearly missed the question she directed at him. "Oh, Clark=E2=80=A6 are you any further along on that missing hacker story?" He was initially surprised that she questioned him. After all, she knew he'= d=20 worked on the research the night before. She'd watched him do it. Still, h= e=20 supposed she couldn't single him out without taking flack from the rest of=20 the staff. "Further along=E2=80=A6? He questioned, not sure what answer she was looking= for. "I mean, do you have any new leads?" Of course, he realized. She didn't know what had kept him away from the=20 office earlier that morning. It was a legitimate question. "Uh, well,=20 nothing concrete, but I think I'm getting close. The lab explosion looks=20 like it was caused by somebody tapping into their computers. It could've=20 been him." Lois nodded eagerly. "Can you prove a connection?" "Not yet," Clark admitted. "But I've got Jimmy following up on something=20 that might." "Okay, good=E2=80=A6 Um, could I talk to you outside? Just take a sec." Th= en, she=20 turned to face the staff, "Be right back." As they moved outside, Lois closed the door. Clark looked at her, confusion= =20 clear on his face and some irritation evident. She'd embarrassed him by, an= d=20 she wasn't making much sense. How could she treat him as she did everyone=20 else and then single him out in the next breath? The staff was peering at=20 them through the window, and he felt decidedly uncomfortable under her=20 critical gaze. "Lois, what's going on?" "What do you mean?" "I mean, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to kill my=20 story in there=E2=80=A6" He looked at her a moment more, the guilty express= ion and=20 the way she wouldn't meet his gaze. "Wait a minute, you are killing my=20 story!" "Clark, I'm sorry, but I don't have a choice. You don't know the pressure=20 I'm under to generate good stories." "Lois, listen to me. It takes time to build good stories. You know that=20 better than anyone..." He was interrupted as Carly stuck her head out the door. "Excuse me, Ms.=20 Lane, but Copy Department's on line two-five." "I'll be right there," she said swiftly. Once Carly's face had disappeared behind the door, Clark resumed his point.=20 "You thought there was a story there when we were working on it", he reminde= d=20 her. "That was when I only had one story to worry about, now I've got fifty!" Carly's head popped out the door once again. Clark was really getting sick=20 of her. "They said it's really important=E2=80=A6" "Let's talk about this later=E2=80=A6" she said, dismissal clear in her voic= e. "In=20 the meantime, I'm gonna team you up with Ralph on the mayor story, okay?" "No," he answered honestly. When she began to follow Carly through the=20 doorway, he reached out and took her arm, preventing her from moving. "I'll=20 work with Ralph," he told her, "but I can easily do two things at once. =20 Right now you're handling ten! I'll let you know if anything else comes up=20 on it." Lois looked as though she was going to argue, but Carly tugged her through=20 the doorway before she had the chance. Maybe the girl wasn't so bad after=20 all. =20 Just as Clark was beginning to feel a bit of relief in the situation, he=20 glanced over and caught Ralph in his vision, waving at him. The sleezy=20 reporter must have heard Clark's concession to work with him, and he was=20 going to milk it. Great - just what he needed - a leech to keep an eye on=20 him while he tried to juggle one more thing. He and Lois were definitely going to have to talk. Carly followed Lois into her office, a Planet day planner in one hand and a=20 pencil in the other. "You've got an editorial at five," she said briskly.=20 "The printer's union rep at five-thirty, and Phil needs you to approve an=20 orthopedic chair for him." "Orthopedic chair?" Lois asked, exasperated. =20 Carly just shook her head and grinned, then headed for the door. "Copy=20 Department," she said once more over her shoulder. Lois groaned and moved towards her desk. She was almost half way there when= =20 Clark walked into her office. "Lois=E2=80=A6" "One sec," she called out. The look on his face was almost enough to make=20 her reconsider: hurt, angry, and just a little sad. Still, she had a job to= =20 do, and the job had to come first. She picked up the receiver and gave Clark a guilty smile. "Hello=E2=80=A6 I= mean,=20 Lane here." She stood there for a moment, listening to the ramble of the=20 person on the line. God, she hated to be rushed. "No, I don't know what my=20 lead is yet," she answered. "Better prep the subway story as backup, okay?"= =20 She listened a moment more, then thanked him and hung up. Perry was right,=20 you had to keep on Copy all the time, or they would try to run over you. Putting the phone down, she gazed past Clark's shoulder and wondered aloud,=20 "Did I eat lunch?" "Lois, you've got to slow down a little. Delegate. Trust me, you can only=20 go at superspeed for so long." Lois had to grin at that. If anyone knew it, that he did. "I know, I know,= "=20 she muttered as she sat down to begin work on one more story that had landed= =20 on her desk while she'd been at her last meeting. "It's just that I want to= =20 do a good job, you know. I mean, Perry's put a lot of faith in me and I=20 really don't want to blow it." Clark eased around the desk and took her hand. "You won't blow it, honey,"=20 he told her softly. "It's not your style. As for lunch, I picked up a=20 chicken salad sandwich when I went out, light mayonnaise. It's in the fridg= e=20 with your name on it." Lois gave a grateful smile, squeezing his hand in return. "Thanks," she tol= d=20 him softly. "Part of my job," he answered, gently kissing her hand. "Along with=20 babysitting Ralph and saving the world." "I know he's green, Clark=E2=80=A6" she began. How did she explain that she= had no=20 choice but to give him credence? She loathed the man, but if his sources -=20 by some miracle - actually panned out, they would have one hell of a front=20 page. "He's a sleeze," Clark corrected. "And he can't be trusted. I know that,=20 too. I'll keep an eye on him." "Clark, you're the best reporter here. I can't afford not to have you on=20 what might be our best story. Besides, Perry used to mix us up all the time=20 and you never objected to him." "He never paired me with Ralph," Clark reminded her, but there was enough=20 humor in his voice that she knew he understood. "I need your support," she said softly. "You have it," he answered. "One hundred and ten percent, and you know it.=20 But, I need yours too. I'll work with Ralph, but I can't drop the kidnappin= g=20 story. There's something there, and I feel it. It won't interfere, but it'= s=20 something I have to do." Lois thought about arguing, but she knew he was right. If anyone could find= =20 the connection, it was Clark. She'd back him on this, even if she did it=20 silently. She gave a nod, and she knew she'd made the right decision when=20 his face softened and his eyes closed in relief. God, had she really been=20 that bad? "Hey, no currying favor with the boss lady," Ralph said, sticking his head=20 through the open door. Why hadn't she thought to close it, lock it, and eat= =20 the key? "What is it, Ralph?" she asked, irritation clear in her voice. "Staff meeting," he said. "Are we through?" "Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot." She stood and began to walk around Clark to=20 head back to the conference room. "Honey?" he asked softly. "Do you want me to take care of dinner?" "I'll just eat that sandwich," she told him with a smile. "Okay. I'll let my folks know you're working late." "Oh, right," she wanted to hit herself in the head. How could she have=20 forgotten. "No," she finally said. "I'll figure something out. I'll make=20 it out of here." She gave Clark's arm a pat as she headed for the door,=20 wondering how on earth she was going to get everything done in order to have= =20 dinner at a reasonable time." She eased past Ralph, making sure that they made no contact, and then throug= h=20 the doorway. As she moved away she heard the grin in Ralph's voice as he=20 said, "Put 'er there, partner." She didn't have to turn around to know that Clark had taken the offered hand= .=20 Her husband really was super. (continued in part 2b) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 19:07:09 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: CHOICES: part 2b MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable (continued from part 2a) The Colonel clutched the gray metal briefcase close to his body, doing his=20 best to conceal it. The dim lighting of the alley worked to his advantage.=20 As he approached the partially obscured figure before him, he drew himself u= p=20 to his full height. "You Press?" he asked. "That's me," came the cocky reply. =20 As he approached, he saw that his "buyer" was little more than a teenager,=20 blond and rather silly looking. He glanced around furtively to see if anyon= e=20 was watching. or if this might be a setup. God, the last thing he needed wa= s=20 to get caught. Granted, selling military secrets to the highest bidder migh= t=20 be considered treason, but it was better than watching his little girl go=20 hungry. Besides, the military hadn't done jack-shit for him in years. They= =20 lost more benefits with every passing year, and a man had to provide for his= =20 family. He could die for his country, but he couldn't afford his house=20 payment and still put food on the table. No, he didn't owe the government=20 anything, least of all his loyalty. "You're the one that contacted me?" he asked, skepticism clear in his voice.= =20 This kid was too young to be a terrorist, and far to clean cut. "Actually, that was my brother," the kid answered. "He's the one with the=20 high level=E2=80=A6 access." The Colonel dismissed the man's explanations. He really didn't care. He=20 just wanted this over and done so he could get the hell out of here. =20 "Whatever," he snapped. "Just so we're clear; we're not having this=20 conversation, this weapon doesn't exist, and I'm not really here." The kid smiled. "I understand." He knelt and released the catches on the case. Slowly, he removed the weapo= n=20 and raised it for display. Similar to a bazooka in shape, the weapon was th= e=20 most powerful in United States history. "What you're looking at is the most= =20 deadly weapon on Earth, the Quantum Disbander, a new and improved version of= =20 the Quantum Disruptor. It's lighter and more energy conscious than it's=20 predecessor, yet still more than capable of long range target annihilation."= =20 The speech was practiced, given on multiple occasions to multiple funding=20 groups and Military Approval committees. The kid looked suitably impressed.= =20 How in hell did that kid have enough money for this, brother or no? The kid just stood there and smiled. "Cool." "A lightning blast of supercharged particles blasts the selected target," he= =20 continued his speech, "departiculizing its molecular structure until it=E2= =80=A6=20 disappears. Forever." The kid looked serious now, and stepped closer. "May I?" he asked. The Colonel had his reservations about handing over the weapon to a kid that= =20 should be at a malt shop somewhere with his girl instead of sneaking around=20 back alleys buying government secrets. Still, this is what he had come for.= =20 This was what would pay off the house and leave enough left over for Marie t= o=20 go to college. This was what would take care of all those expenses he'd=20 incurred when cancer had decimated his life, and taken away his wife. "Mind if I ask what you're going to use it for?" he asked. Okay, so he was=20 feeling guilty. He might not care for the government, but he had no desire=20 to send a psycho out there to take out a school. "Actually, I'm testing to see exactly how much force it requires to drain=20 Superman's super reserves which would, according to my theory, render him=20 vulnerable, which would then, in turn, create a brief window of opportunity=20 for me to be able to kill him." The kid looked up at him, finished with his= =20 inspection of the weapon, and added, "And, from everything you've described,= =20 this weapon sounds like it'll do just the trick." No, he thought. This was a psycho. He'd just handed the most powerful=20 weapon on Earth to someone who wanted to kill the most genuinely good person= =20 in the world. He wanted to take it back. He wanted for this night never to= =20 have happened, for it all to be a horrible dream. As he prepared to take a step forward to try and retrieve the weapon, he=20 heard the kid's voice again. "Oops, I forgot. You're not really here." He saw the energy beam come towards him. The ball of electricity it him, an= d=20 systematically broke him apart into a billion bits, falling to the ground=20 like fairy dust. Oh God, Marie, I'm sorry. He never saw the satisfied expression on Ethan Press's face, nor did he hear= =20 the awe struck words, "Totally cool!" Clark was in the process of laying down place settings when Lois burst out o= f=20 the kitchen with both hands full of steaming hot packaged entrees. She cut=20 open one packet, and dumped it into a plate on the dining table. She had an= =20 apron over her business suit, and she looked as tense and rushed as she had=20 the entire day. "I can't believe how late I am," she muttered. "Think they'll realize=20 it's frozen?" She glanced up at Clark, and he carefully schooled his=20 features into neutrality. "Of course they will," she answered herself. "I=20 cooked it." "Hey, were you supposed to pick up the dry cleaning or was I?" Lois looked up at him, her brown eyes huge and apologetic. "Oops." He was saved from a reply when the doorbell buzzed. Before either of them=20 could turn, the telephone began to ring. Lois looked at him, panic clear in= =20 her features. Well, he decided, this was one decision he could make for her= .=20 "You get the phone, I'll get the door." Clark shook his head on the way to the door, trying desperately not to laugh= .=20 The last couple days had been entirely too hectic. As he opened the door,=20 his parents looked up at him with smiles that he needed desperately. "Hope we're not late," Jonathan said as he offered Clark a bottle of wine. "No, you're fine. Come on in." His mother engulfed him in a much-needed=20 hug, and he did his best not to cling. He missed them so much some days, an= d=20 this had definitely been one of them. "Lois is on the phone," he explained. Lois walked into the room with the cordless phone in one hand. His mother=20 waved to her and smiled, and Lois did her best to return it. Poor Lois. Sh= e=20 was so tired. As much as he knew he couldn't take the editorial position fo= r=20 her, he wished he could do something to lighten the load. "We've got to get the Evening Edition out there somehow! Can't we rent a=20 truck?" His mother looked at him with a grin. "What, is she running the paper now?"= =20 she joked. Clark didn't really find the situation humorous anymore. "Actually, yeah," he admitted, somewhat embarrassed that he hadn't called=20 them to give them the news. "Temporarily, anyway. Perry got promoted. Loi= s=20 is the new editor." "That's great!" Jonathan exclaimed. Then, looking at Clark's expression and= =20 Lois' frazzled movements as she argued with the telephone, he asked, "Isn't=20 it?" "Oh, yeah," Clark answered, his voice carefully void of any judgment, any=20 anger, and any joy. His voice, in fact, was completely empty.=20 Martha grinned over at Lois, and whispered a fervent, "Congratulations." Lois smiled back, but her mind was clearly on the phone call. "Yes, fine,"=20 she was saying. "Just do it=E2=80=A6 Yes, you've got my approval. Bye." She hung up the phone and crossed to the table where Clark had seated his=20 parents for the meal. "Sorry, delivery truck broke down." "We're so happy for you, Lois," Jonathan said, his voice genuinely=20 congratulatory. Clark felt a moment of guilt that his feelings weren't so=20 benevolent at the moment. "Thanks," Lois said with a grin. "It's exciting. Let's eat!" Clark noted=20 that her voice wasn't as excited as her words. In fact, her fatigue was=20 becoming more prevalent than any other emotion. He hadn't noticed before sh= e=20 slowed herself down just how tired she looked. Her eyes were puffy, and the circles under them were dark. Her hands had a=20 fine tremor, and he wondered if she'd ever managed to eat the sandwich he'd=20 bought her for lunch. Somehow, he didn't think so. Before he could ask her= =20 how she really was doing, the phone rang again. Lois dropped the spoon into= =20 the entr=C3=A9e she'd just begun to serve and grimaced. =20 "Sorry," she said, her voice more tired than it had been before. "Just=20 start=E2=80=A6" "Do you want me to get it?" he asked. "Why bother," she said, and at least then her grin was real, if a bit=20 frustrated. She crossed the room to pick up the receiver. "Lane here=E2= =80=A6 I=20 see, how long will it take=E2=80=A6" His observation of his wife was interrupted as his father spoke. "Look son,= =20 if this is a bad time we could=E2=80=A6" "No, no," Clark corrected. "It's just=E2=80=A6 it's a little=E2=80=A6 crazy= , that's all." Lois' yell cut across his words. "Forget it! It's not worth the overtime= =E2=80=A6"=20 Clark felt a little bit sorry for the person on the receiving end of Lois'=20 wrath - almost as sorry as he felt for himself. "Well, that's to be expected," Martha said as she patted her son's arm. Mom= s=20 always had the right words. "It's perfectly understandable." "I told them no more calls. Martha?" She offered the dish of food,=20 stroganoff Clark thought, to his mother. "Mmm, this looks delicious," his mom exclaimed. Yeah, right. It looked lik= e=20 a mound of pasty brown goo, and that was an optimistic estimate of it's=20 flavor. "Did you make it?" Lois didn't get a chance to answer. The phone was ringing again. Lois=20 avoided Clark's eyes as she stood and walked back to the phone. "I'd better= =20 get that," she said softly. Too softly. "I guess it's your turn to watch her take off on a moment's notice, huh?"=20 Jonathan joked. Clark wasn't smiling. "It's going to take her awhile to figure things out, you know," she offered.= =20 Her hand found it's way to his arm, that famous "mom" comfort again, and he=20 took a deep breath. "I know, it's just that=E2=80=A6" He was interrupted as Lois hurried back and sat down at the table. She=20 picked up her fork, exclaiming, "I'm back, let's eat!" Just as things were calming down, and Clark discovered that the goo didn't=20 taste nearly as bad as it looked, he heard the police call. Lowering his=20 head, he began to rise from the table. =20 "What is it, son?" his father asked with concern. "A bridge collapsed," he explained. "I'd better=E2=80=A6" "Of course," Martha said quickly. "Go!" "I'm sorry," he said softly, loosening his tie and heading towards the glass= =20 doors at superspeed. Lois looked up with a sheepish smile as the phone rang again. "Excuse me= =E2=80=A6"=20 she said again, and with a look of shame she crossed to the phone once more. Martha looked over to her husband, and then down at the cooling food on her=20 plate. With a genuinely amused grin she suggested, "let's eat." (continued in part 3a) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 18:44:02 -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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Clark is Clark. And aren't we glad I gave him long hair and scars but the sweetness and caring that (imho) makes him Clark was still there. I don't think looks matter. Just the man beneath the looks Brenda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ann E. McBride" To: Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 1:42 PM Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? > In a message dated 7/23/01 4:33:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time, > cmoncado@JUNO.COM writes: > > > > What if he was a blond? With blue eyes? > > Not with blond hair. Maybe blue eyes. :) > > Ann ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 18:56:56 -0500 Reply-To: bbmedos@booksanctuary.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "B. B. Medos" Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carolyn wrote: << Perhaps many fanfiction writers would argue that this is too limiting, but I feel that I must be able to suspend my disbelief and sometimes find fanfiction that is far afield of the production version of L&C, is not always believable to me. And these stories are often extremely well written. I find the challenge for me is to tell a good story well but not to change canon or characters irrevocably in the telling. >> Okay, this one drew me out of deep lurk mode. I don't think wanting the characters to remain within series canon is too limiting from a reader's point of view. However, from a writer's viewpoint it's sometimes very enlightening to "play" with the characters just to feel out the possibilities. Do I really want to read about a Clark who never made it to Earth? Probably not. OTOH, seeing "Earth" through his eyes might be an interesting experience and really put the impact Lois Lane has on who he is into perspective. And in response to something somebody else said, I've always wondered if just because he wasn't raised on Earth by the Kents, would he become a completely different person. Different, yes, possibly in certain mannerisms and behaviors but not necessarily unrecognizably so. Why do I say this? Because I can't quite get out of my head Jor-El's reference to Earth being "a planet physically and biologically compatible with Krypton whose inhabitants resemble ours and whose society is based on ethical standards which we too embrace in concept if not always in deed." So, maybe being on Earth with the Kents would make him "better" and maybe it would only enhance something that was already there or would've been there if Jor-El had lived to pass on his own beliefs about what Krypton was or maybe should've been. Food for thought. Beverly :-) bbmedos@booksanctuary.com http://www.booksanctuary.com BookNotesPlus: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookNotesPlus Mysterious Romance: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysteriousromance Romance Books & Readers: http://www.writerspace.com/mailinglist.html#rbr ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 18:28:04 -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: CHOICES: part 2b MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit So do we get 3a soon? I am enjoying this, but can't wait for the really new stuff. I've liked the changes you made so far - that is if I remember the ep right - it's entirely possible that I have the flying door in the wrong spot in my head! Either way... Slight nitpick - there's a lot of stuff that's showing up as weird characters on my screen. I think it's ellipses and entree (or something like that) that has an ' over one of the letters. Random question - anyone know who played Ethan Press? More soon! CM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 19:16:46 -0500 Reply-To: Samantha Kegan Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Samantha Kegan Subject: Re: Valley of the Shadow, 4/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ddaaaaaaahhhhh ... shoot! I don't know what to say. wow. sami ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carol L Moncado" To: Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 11:39 AM Subject: Valley of the Shadow, 4/? > Extra special thanks goes out to Nan who was completely invaluable for > this part of the story. This part wasn't easy to write and may not be > easy to read, but hopefully worth it in the end. > > Thanks always to my beta readers! > > Comments appreciated. > > CM > > ***** > > It was almost eight o'clock by the time they got back to their apartment. > The bad guys had been taken away and Clark had been told to take it easy > for a few days, but that he'd be fine. They managed to keep him out of > the hospital, which they felt was a very good thing. They didn't know if > or when his powers would come back and if they did, if it was like > someone who had been crippled temporarily - if he'd have to learn to use > them all over again, just like someone with a spinal injury had to learn > to walk again. > > Lois managed to catch a couple hours of sleep on one of the couches in > the brownstone while the police were talking to Clark, Perry and Jimmy. > She never left her husband's side, stretching out so that he cradled her > head while he answered the questions. > > By the time they made it home, Clark was past exhaustion and he collapsed > onto the bed he shared with Lois. Lois struggled to take his shoes off > and help him get comfortable. They had both been through so much in the > last few days, but Clark even more than she had. It was amazing that > they had gotten out at all. > > And they had gotten the Kryptonite from whoever it was that kidnapped > them. Lois was sure that California Breezes Imports Limited was the > actual power behind the kidnapping and the attempt on Superman's life. > Good thing they didn't know how close they had gotten to the superhero. > > Clark moaned as he rolled over. > > "It's okay, Clark. It's all over. We're home." Lois covered him with > the sheet. "I'm going to turn the ringer off so that you can get some > sleep." Lois smiled as she realized that her husband was already asleep. > As she trudged back through the apartment, that was rapidly becoming > littered with the things their growing household needed, reminding her of > the fight they were having. It had started two weeks earlier when they > had gone house hunting. Or apartment hunting. Or anything bigger than > this apartment that they could actually afford hunting. Or whatever. > > Lois knew that she and Clark had been raised in very different homes with > very different parents. She wanted to live in Metropolis, close to the > action. Clark wanted to live in the suburbs, arguing that if he really > needed to, he could have them in town in matter of seconds. Besides, he > had pointed out, it would be better for the baby to grow up with the > green space and room to play without his or her parents worrying about > the cars in the street. > > Clark did have a small point, Lois would admit. The homes they could > afford in the suburbs were much larger and nicer than the townhouses they > could afford in Metropolis itself. That would be nice, the more room > that is, but Lois couldn't imagine living outside of the fast-paced city. > And the commute would take forever without using the S-express on a > regular basis and that was dangerous. She sighed as she touched a cape > in the secret hiding spot in the front closet. She was almost beginning > to hate the idea of Superman. It was Superman who took Clark away from > her and her baby so often. She could never hate Clark, but she could > hate that he was gone so much. > > Lois sighed once again as she picked up her keys. Her doctor's > appointment was in two and a half hours and she had errands to run. She > was exhausted, though the nap had done her some good. Taking care of the > beat-up Clark hadn't been an easy task either. He tried to be a good > patient, but since he wasn't used to being sick, it didn't work very > well. Lois was grateful that he had fallen asleep so quickly. > > ***** > > She waited impatiently until well after the time of her scheduled > appointment. She used the extra wait time to brood, turning over in her > mind any and all arguments she could use to convince Clark that the city > really was the best place for them. > > She also worried about what had happened right after she left home that > morning. Fortunately, she hadn't cleaned her purse out in forever and > had what she needed to take care of the problem - for now. She didn't > even want to think about it. She'd tell the doctor, but until then she > pushed it out of her mind. > > To tell or not to tell. That was the question. She and Clark had argued > endlessly over whether or not to tell the doctor that Clark was from > Krypton. Clark himself hadn't even known until about a month ago when > they were investigating a rogue government agency and he had found this > globe thing. It had told him about his past, some of it anyway, and how > he came to live on Earth. It was one of the investigations that had led > to her sitting behind a desk most of the time. She wanted to tell the > doctor in case there was something different about the baby, but Jonathan > had pounded into Clark's head over and over since he was a child that if > anyone found out that he was different, they would take him away and > dissect him like a frog. He didn't want that to happen to him or to > their baby. > > It seemed they just couldn't agree on anything these days. Well, at > least about the important things. Lois understood why she needed to take > it easy - her current predicament was an indication that Clark and Perry > were right - but the house and the baby were something else. They > couldn't agree to disagree, like they did with simple issues - which ice > cream was their favorite, or whether Mel Gibson was a better action hero > than Bruce Willis - because these were things that they had to deal with > soon. > > And Superman wasn't going anywhere. > > Finally, her name was called. > > ***** > > Lois followed the nurse to the exam room. She grimaced when her favorite > nurse, Amber, told her that she had gained four more pounds. Amber > laughed and said that was about right for this far in her pregnancy. > > "I still don't have to like it." > > "I know. Dr. Moore will be in to see you in just a minute." > > "Thanks, Amber. You're the best." > > Amber smiled as she shut the door behind her. > > Four and half minutes later, according to Lois' watch, there was a knock > at the door. > > "Good morning, Lois." > > "Hi, Dr. Moore." > > "How are you doing? Are you taking it easy?" > > "I'm trying to, but..." Lois was hesitant to mention what she had > noticed. The implications scared her, but she knew she had to tell her > doctor. > > "That's not good enough, young lady. Now what aren't you telling me?" > Dr. Moore's face looked stern. > > "I'm spotting. Heavy. Really heavy." > > Dr. Moore's face immediately became concerned. "When did this start?" > > "A couple of hours ago. It started kinda light and has gotten heavier > since." Lois took a deep breath. "And I've been having some cramps." > > Dr. Moore looked grim. > > "Please tell me." > > "Lois, I don't know that anything is wrong. Not really. We need to do > some tests to see for sure. Can you call your husband? I'd rather you > weren't alone." > > "Dr. Moore, did you hear about the attempt to blackmail Superman?" > > "Of course. It was all over the news yesterday. What about it?" > > "It was Clark. After we got home this morning, I turned the ringer off, > so I couldn't call him if I wanted to." > > "Is there anyone else you can call?" > > "I can try." > > "Okay. I'm going to leave you alone for a minute. You'll need to get > ready for the exam." He handed Lois a sheet and she grimaced. "I know > it's uncomfortable, but we have to make sure the baby is okay." > > "Okay." > > ***** > > Lois slammed her cell phone shut in frustration. Of course Clark couldn't > hear the phone, but she had to try anyway, hoping that he had woken up > and turned it on. She had tried her neighbors and her super to see if > they would go wake him, but no one was home. Finally, she called her > sister. If Clark couldn't be here with her, maybe Lucy could. > > "Hi. You've reached Jimmy and Lucy. We're not..." > > Lois stifled a scream as she punched the "end" button. Who else could > she call? She didn't want to go through this alone, but Perry or Jimmy > just didn't fit the bill. > > There was a knock and then the door opened. Dr. Moore and Amber came in. > > > "Lois, I know this is going to be uncomfortable, but we have to do this." > Lois nodded understanding at Dr. Moore's words. > > Amber stood by Lois and held her hand. > > A few minutes later it was over. > > "Why don't you get dressed and we'll talk about it, okay?" > > Lois nodded again. > > As the door shut behind them, Lois struggled against the tears that > threatened to overflow her eyes. Why wasn't Clark here when she really > needed him? Once again, the fact that he was Superman and from another > planet was keeping him from being there for her. If he wasn't, the > Kryptonite wouldn't have had an effect on him at all, just like it hadn't > affected her. In fact, if he wasn't from Krypton, he wouldn't be > Superman in the first place and they wouldn't have tried to blackmail > him. Surely, Dr. Moore would have told her if it was good news. Only > bad news would have to wait. > > ***** > > Amber came in with Dr. Moore this time as well. Lois thought that > couldn't be a good sign. > > Dr. Moore pulled the stool up to sit by Lois. Amber stood behind her. > > "Lois, I have some bad news." > > That was all Lois could take. Until he had uttered those words, she > could convince herself that maybe everything was really all right, but > now... Now... her world was shattering. Silent tears began to stream > down her face. > > "Lois, this isn't easy to tell you, but you are miscarrying your baby." > > Amber stepped a little closer and put her arms around Lois' shoulder. > > "Because of how far along you are in the miscarrying process, we need to > do a dilitation and cutterage, or D and C, to empty your uterus before > other problems occur. Amber is going to take you to another part of the > hospital where the procedure can be done." Dr. Moore hesitated. "Lois, > this isn't easy. I know that. I wish Clark could be here with you. He > wants this baby as badly as you do; I could see that when you came for > your last appointment. Take some time off work, spend it together and > grieve over the child you've lost. There doesn't seem to be any damage, > so you should be able to conceive again whenever you are ready to try. > But don't push yourself until *you and Clark* are ready. I have a break > from appointments, so I'll be down to do the procedure myself." Dr. > Moore stood to leave. "I'm sorry, Lois. I really am." > > Lois turned to Amber and let herself weep. > > ***** > > Amber pushed the wheelchair with Lois in it down the hall towards another > part of the hospital. > > "Lois?" A worried voice shook Lois out of her deep thoughts. > > "Mom." Lois reached up for the hug that was coming. "What are you doing > here?" > > "I was visiting a friend of mine who had surgery. What's wrong, Lois? > What is it?" > > The tears had begun streaming down Lois' face again. > > "I lost the baby, Mom." It was all Lois could do to get the words out - > almost as if she felt it wasn't real until she said the words aloud. > > "What? Where's Clark?" > > "He doesn't know. He spent the weekend kidnapped and I turned the ringer > off so he could sleep. I couldn't find anyone to wake him up." > > "That bastard! Letting you come here by yourself." Ellen had never been > fond of her son-in-law and never missed a chance to let Lois know how she > felt. > > "Mom, there was no way he could have known." > > "Well, I'm staying with you." > > "It's okay. You don't have to." > > "I'm staying." Ellen was adamant. > > "Fine." Lois didn't have the energy to fight anymore and anyone was > better than doing this by herself. > > ***** > > Five hours later, Ellen helped Lois out of the car. > > "I want to go home, Mom." > > "Honey, they said that you need to have someone with you at all times for > the next few hours. Clark is obviously in no condition to take care of > you right now." A few choice words were mumbled under her breath. > > "Mom. Please. I've been through enough today without dealing with your > hatred for Clark." > > "Fine. Now let's get into my apartment and let you lay down." Ellen > helped Lois into the apartment and into the spare bedroom. Lois lay down > on the bed and curled up into a little ball. > > A minute later, Ellen came back into the room with a glass of water and > some medicine. "Here. The doctor said for you to take this to help you > sleep." Lois obediently swallowed the pill and laid her head back down. > > "Please get a hold of Clark for me. Try anywhere. Get Jimmy to go to > the apartment and get him or something, but I need Clark. Please, Mom. > I know you don't like him, but I need him right now." > > Ellen put a reassuring hand on her daughter's back. "I'll do my best," > she said, glad Lois wasn't looking at her. If she had been, her > intuitive offspring would have known that Ellen had no such intention. > > ***** > > TBC > ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 19:26:47 -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: Episode Question: Witness MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Can anyone help me out with the name of the man, the recluse, who Lois was "exploiting her femininity" to get an interview with? The one who was murdered while she was in his bathroom. His name simply refuses to come to my mind. 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: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 21:35:46 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kate Crane Subject: Re: Episode Question: Witness MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey Erin, I just happened to be sitting here at my computer with my handy episode guide in the drawer.....Elliott Gould played Vincent Winninger ;). Kate who is now very curious.... ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 18:46:28 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Betty Cheng Subject: Re: Episode Question: Witness In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit His name is Dr. Vincent Winninger. Cheers, Simba -----Original Message----- From: Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic [mailto:LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU]On Behalf Of Erin Klingler Sent: July 23, 2001 6:27 PM To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Subject: Episode Question: Witness Can anyone help me out with the name of the man, the recluse, who Lois was "exploiting her femininity" to get an interview with? The one who was murdered while she was in his bathroom. His name simply refuses to come to my mind. 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: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 19:39:58 -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: Episode Question: Witness In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > I just happened to be sitting here at my computer with my handy > episode guide > in the drawer.....Elliott Gould played Vincent Winninger ;). Thanks, Kate and Simba! I appreciate the speedy answers. I was stuck. > Kate > who is now very curious.... Curious about what? Can't be about my lack of memory, since that's definitely nothing new. 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: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 21:58:34 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: CHOICES: part 3a MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable (continued from part 2b) Lois crossed the City Room to fill up her coffee cup. As she approached, sh= e=20 heard several of her friends laughing and joking. Looking for something to=20 break up the monotony of her silent office, she stepped towards them. =20 "Morning guys," she said brightly. "What's so funny?" She was totally unprepared for their response. The laughter halted, guilty=20 expressions appeared, and everyone had an excuse to be somewhere else. "Nothing Ms. Lane," Candy finally answered. As she moved to rejoin her=20 friends, she added, "Just having some coffee." Lois sighed, finding herself alone by the coffee pot. Was the joke about=20 her, she wondered? She had never joked about Perry, but that was because sh= e=20 admired and respected him. Were they just afraid she was there to reprimand=20 them? Perry had certainly done that enough, sending them all scrambling bac= k=20 to their desks with a roar of, "This is no way to run a news room!" "Everyone's gonna look at you differently now that you're the boss, Lois,"=20 Perry said as he stepped up from behind her as though conjured from her=20 thoughts "Even though you're the same person you were yesterday. She smiled faintly, and reached over for another Daily Planet mug, offering=20 it to Perry. =20 "Don't mind if I do," he smiled. Lois filled his cup, and then her own, before turning back to him. "Don't=20 they have coffee upstairs?" she asked gently. "Aw, all they've got is that fancy designer expresso junk," he told her. =20 "Tastes like sludge." He took a sip of the coffee Lois had handed him and=20 sighed in contentment. "Ahhh, nothing like the taste of good ol' newsroom=20 java." Lois smiled and began walking towards Perry's office=E2=80=A6 her office=E2= =80=A6 the=20 office. God, would she ever get used to this? "How's it going?" he asked her softly. "You doing okay?" She started to lie - to give him her standard peppy response. Something=20 stopped her. Maybe it was the genuine concern in his eyes, or just the=20 familiarity of her old boss that she'd never lied to unless it was to get a=20 story, and even then she'd apologized later. "Let's just stay I had no idea how much stuff you juggled every day," she=20 said sheepishly. "You made it look so easy." Perry shook his head in denial. "You didn't see me when I first started," h= e=20 reminded her. "I was running around here like a roof rooster." "Glad to hear that," Lois admitted sheepishly. If only she knew what a roof= =20 rooster was. "Oh, hell yeah," Perry elaborated. "It's a ton of responsibility, you get=20 squeezed from every angle, and it all rests on your shoulders." He looked a= t=20 Lois pointedly. "That's the worst part. The job can be very isolating at=20 times." He walked towards the office door, but paused before leaving. "Giv= e=20 yourself some time, Lois," he said softly. "You've got the brass to do this= =20 job. I wouldn't've picked you if you didn't." Lois smiled as Perry left, grateful for his encouragement. He might never=20 know how much she had needed it at precisely that moment. As he moved to=20 close the door, she had an errant thought and called out to him. "How're you doing with your new job?" she asked. "Do you like it?" He shrugged, and gave her a look that she couldn't place. "It's nine to=20 five, more money, less hours," he said. "What's not to like." He smiled=20 again, but this time his heart didn't seem to be in it. "I, uh, better get=20 back=E2=80=A6" Lois watched him go, concern written on her features. Perry didn't seem any= =20 happier than she was, and that surprised her. Promotions were supposed to b= e=20 a good thing, weren't they? More money, more respect, and the potential to=20 move up even further. Shaking her head at the unpredictability of life in general, she glanced=20 around the newsroom, surveying the reporters in the manner that Perry had=20 always used. Inevitably, her eyes traveled to her own desk, and then to=20 Clark's. He was standing there, facing off Ralph it appeared, and his eyes=20 locked with hers for just a moment. She hated teaming him with Ralph - knew that he hated it as well - but she=20 had no other way to cover the potential story without having it sloppily=20 done. Ralph couldn't handle a real story, and even if the story had credenc= e=20 he'd probably get them all sued by making something up. No, she'd had to pu= t=20 Clark with him, if for no other reason than the inscrutable ethics that her=20 husband possessed. His eyes met hers for a moment, but he didn't smile. He didn't frown either= .=20 Somehow, he just looked at her, and the only thing she saw in those=20 beautiful chocolate eyes was pure longing. She must be tired, or in need of= =20 bifocals, she reasoned. Why on Earth would Clark be longing for anything? "Here's what I got on the mayor," Ralph said as he plunked the box down in=20 front of Clark. "Just to get you up to speed=E2=80=A6 Interview notes, corr= oborating=20 witnesses, the works." He held out a bagel that was missing a few bites. =20 "Want some?" Clark's stomach rolled and he glared at the offending bread. "No thanks," h= e=20 replied, using every bit of manners his parents had ever taught him to keep=20 from stepping away from the repulsive reporter. "Suit yourself," Ralph replied with a shrug. "Lemme know when you're caught= =20 up." He made a show of making himself comfortable on the edge of Lois' desk= ,=20 settling in for the duration. Clark had no intent to allow him to park himself for that long. A superspee= d=20 glance through the file revealed more inconsistencies than he could count, s= o=20 he chose the most obvious one to point out. "I notice some of the witnesses' testimonies seem to contradict each other,"= =20 he said, making the comment sound casual rather than accusatory. Again, his= =20 mother's insistence on appropriate manners was coming into play. "Huh?" Apparently Ralph's mother hadn't bothered with the same instruction. =20 "Especially the interview with the call girl," he elaborated. "It almost=20 reads like she's setting him up." "Well, yeah," Ralph admitted. "But=E2=80=A6 you read that stuff already?" "Speed reading classes," Clark improvised. "I thought you said you had=20 incriminating photographs?" Fate seemed to be smiling on Ralph as the phone on his desk began to ring.=20 "That's probably my source now," Ralph said, the lie clear in his voice. =20 "Uh, you better let me talk to him alone. You know, he trusts me. Just sit= =20 back, watch a real pro go to work here." He gave Clark a thumbs-up, and the= n=20 spoke into the receiver. "Ralph here=E2=80=A6 Yeah, I've been waiting for y= our call.=20 Whadya got=E2=80=A6? Uh-huh=E2=80=A6 Uh-huh=E2=80=A6 Interesting=E2=80=A6" Clark didn't buy any of it. He concentrated a moment, hearing an agitated=20 woman on the asking why he never called, and whether or not he knew what his= =20 father had done. Disgusted, but not really surprised, Clark focused his hearing on another=20 sound in the background. An alarm was blaring at the rocket test site, and=20 he knew that was where he needed to be. Reaching up to his tie, Clark headed for the elevator. Half way there,=20 Ralph's voice stopped him. "Just a second," he said into the phone. Then,=20 to Clark, "Hey, where're you going?" "I, uh - Left my wallet in the car. Be right back." He took two more steps= =20 and then he couldn't resist any longer. Calling back over his shoulder, he=20 added, "Say 'hi' to your mom for me." "Yeah, sure, oh=E2=80=A6" Ralph broke off, probably wondering how Clark cou= ld have=20 known. "=E2=80=A6 kay." Jimmy stepped into Lois' office with a stack of printouts in his had. She=20 seemed to be buried in paperwork, but she spared a smile for him when he=20 walked in. "Lois, seen C.K. around?" he asked. "I've got the phone records he asked me= =20 for." "Phone records?" she asked curiously. =20 "Yeah, you know, on the hacker story he's working on." Lois jumped as Carly added another stack of paperwork to the mound already=20 covering her desk. "I'd forgotten he was still working on that," she=20 admitted. "Just leave it here and I'll give it to him when he comes in." "You're the boss," Jimmy said with a grin, depositing the additional papers=20 on an already teetering pile. Superman landed amidst chaos. The high security subsidiary of what had=20 formerly been a part of LexCorps Science and Avionics Division. The fire=20 alarm was screeching, warning lights were flashing everywhere, and=20 technicians were running from the horizontally mounted rocket engine in the=20 center that was currently firing at full throttle. Only two technicians had remained at the computer, trying desperately to=20 override whatever had gone so horribly wrong. "Forget it," Clark heard one=20 say to the other. "Let's get out of here!" "What's wrong?" he called out urgently. It was enough to get the=20 technicians' attention, even over the roar of the engine. "We can't shut it down?" One man answered. "The computer's actually forcing= =20 the engine to overheat!" Another computer fiasco, he thought frantically. This had to be related to=20 the missing hacker. There were just too many incidences for this to be=20 coincidence. Still, he had more urgent matters to deal with at this precise= =20 instant. =20 "Can you cut off the fuel supply?" he asked quickly, going over the most=20 obvious solutions in his head. "The only way is to fuse the internal pump," the technician called out. =20 "Superman, we've got a nuclear warhead in the silo. If this thing explodes= =E2=80=A6" "I understand," he yelled quickly. "Go!" =20 The technicians left in a blur of speed that rivaled Superman on a good day.= =20 He was far to busy to notice, however. He had more important things to deal= =20 with. (continued in part 3b) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 22:00:52 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: CHOICES, part 3b MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable (continued from part 3a) Ethan sat at before the monitor in his motor home, holding the Disbander=20 before him as though it were a child. Truthfully, he was holding it with fa= r=20 more affection than a child, because he really didn't like children. They=20 were loud, and they smelled bad, and they always tried to take away his=20 things. Once Superman was out of the way, perhaps he would work on ridding=20 the world of children as well. "Alright," he muttered to his brother, who he liked only little more than=20 most children. "The moment it blows, we crash through the gate and zap him.= " On the monitor, only Superman's legs were visible, pushing his body through=20 the rocket blast. =20 "What's he doing?" Ethan wondered aloud. This man simply would not do the=20 expected, and it was making him very, very testy. =20 He watched as Superman disappeared into the exhaust port and apparently did=20 something. The rocket flame immediately shut off. As the alarms wound down= ,=20 Ethan watched Superman step away from the rocket and turn instinctively=20 towards the sun. "How'd he do that?" Ethan asked his brother, shock evident on his face. "He= =20 wasn't supposed to be able to do that!" Eric looked at the monitor and pointed out the bar graph on the monitor. =20 "Yeah, but look how much it drained him." As Ethan looked, he realized that the infrared depiction was indeed Showing where the graph had dipped into the red, while now it was glowing in= =20 an irritating blue. With a look of pure glee, Ethan moved swiftly to the=20 wheel of the motor home. "Alright," he declared triumphantly. "That's it!" "Wait=E2=80=A6" Eric cautioned. =20 Glancing back at the monitor, Ethan gasped as the bar graph quickly pulsated= =20 back up into the yellow range, and then into the green. "How is that=20 possible?" he asked with irritation. "The sun recharges him," Eric explained. "It's the source of his powers." "So, wait," Ethan thought aloud. "If we drain his reserves and keep him out= =20 of the sun, that's our window of opportunity to kill him?" Eric shook his head, realizing that this was more than a theoretical=20 discussion. Ethan fully intended to kill Superman. "Stop saying we and us,= =20 Ethan. What am I doing?" he asked himself. Then, moving swiftly, "I'm outt= a=20 here." Before he made it to the door, he realized that Ethan had aimed the Disbande= r=20 directly at him. He stopped, then turned to face his brother. "Come on=E2= =80=A6 you=20 wouldn't kill your won brother, would you?" he asked, his voice a long way=20 from certain. "No?" Ethan inquired. "Remember Sunday School? Cain and Abel?" He grinned= =20 evilly, and then told him, "I always liked able." He turned the weapon over= ,=20 flipped the power switch, and then pointed it at Eric once more. "Sit down.= " Eric wasted no time. He sat. "This sucks." "Jimmy, how you doing on those phone records?" Clark asked as the younger ma= n=20 passed by him. "Finished, C.K.," he called out, not slowing. "I left them in Lois' office.= " Clark nodded and stood to go ask his wife about the records, and also to=20 update her on his new findings. He didn't see Jimmy step into the elevator,= =20 or Darlene jam her arm in the elevator to reopen the doors and get in next t= o=20 Jimmy. He didn't see Jimmy avoid the pretty girl's glance, or her hand goin= g=20 into a pocket as though she was reaching for a gun. He didn't see Jimmy's=20 relief as Darlene pulled a lipstick from her pocket and ran it across smilin= g=20 lips. Clark did not hear Jimmy when he softly whispered, "This is nuts." Clark was busy trying to decide how Lois was going to take the news that=20 Metropolis had almost been annihilated by a nuclear accident, compliments of= =20 whoever had been hacking into Metropolis' computers. His guess was Eric=20 Press, but he didn't have any hard proof. It wasn't a story yet, but it was= =20 getting there, and getting there quickly. Now he just needed to put the=20 pieces together before this prankster destroyed the city. He found her admiring her first masthead. LOIS LANE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, it=20 read, and he couldn't help but be distracted as he watched his wife's smile=20 appear. He was proud of her, whatever the chaos that the job had wreaked on= =20 their lives. She deserved this. "Got a minute, Lois?" he asked with a grin. =20 "Sure, yeah=E2=80=A6 Just checking typesetting." She tucked the incriminati= ng paper=20 into the drawer and faced him. "What can I do for you?" He grinned once more. "Don't ask what you can't deliver," he joked, and was= =20 pleased to see a faint blush find it's way to her cheeks. It wasn't much,=20 but it was more prominent than the one he'd seen when she was admiring her=20 own name. "I'll deliver," she promised. "Maybe not right at the moment, but I'll=20 deliver." "I'll just bet," he agreed, this time flashing a full smile. He wasn't=20 oblivious to what that smile did to her, and with the time they'd spent apar= t=20 he wasn't above using any weapon at his disposal. Weapon. There was a reason he was here. "Seriously, I need to grab those phone=20 numbers." "Mmm," she mumbled, reaching behind her to the chair that had taken up=20 residence in the back corner of the office. "I stuck them over here so they= =20 wouldn't get approved and returned before you saw them," she admitted. "I'm=20 not sure if I'm coming or going." "I know the feeling," he admitted. "Superman just kept a rocket from settin= g=20 off a nuclear weapon. Getting that close to being blown up can throw off=20 your whole day." Lois looked around quickly to see if anyone was paying attention. =20 Thankfully, everyone in the City Room seemed otherwise occupied. "Is=20 Superman okay?" she asked urgently. "A little dusty, but otherwise fine," he assured her. "It's noting he's not= =20 used to." Clark gave a soft laugh before adding, "It's amazing what a perso= n=20 can get used to." Lois looked at the mounds of work surrounding her. "I certainly hope so,"=20 she said a bit desperately. "I can imagine," he agreed. "Is it getting any easier?" =20 "Let's see," she said thoughtfully. "It started out as impossible and now=20 it's down to highly unlikely. Do you think that's an improvement?" "I think you're doing great," he told her, taking the files she offered. "I didn't feel great at dinner last night," she admitted. "I'm sorry this=20 job keeps following me home. Your parents must hate me." "My parents love you," he assured her. "The same way I do." He reached bac= k=20 and closed the door to her office, then made his way around the desk to knee= l=20 in front of her. =20 "Lois," he began. "We knew this wouldn't be easy. We made a pact, remember= ?=20 We're going to be okay. It's just going to take some time for us to get=20 used to this." She nodded, but she didn't look convinced. Clark reached forward and rested= =20 his forehead against hers for a moment, closing his eyes and just absorbing=20 her presence. "God, I've missed you," he said softly. "Honey, if anyone=20 knows about running out on your home life, it's me. You've put up with it=20 for months. Okay, so now it's my turn. I'll deal with it." "You don't mind?" she asked softly. "Of course I mind," he told her, but the smile was back. "I miss my partner= .=20 Ralph's an idiot at the best of times, and a hazard the rest. I don't dare= =20 tell him anything about a real investigation for fear he'll botch it beyond=20 saving. I'm back to making stupid excuses every time Superman's needed, and= =20 the man has taken over your desk." He glanced up at her, giving his most=20 pained expression. "I look at the desk out of habit, and I see him, so yeah= ,=20 I mind." Lois giggled softly, a sweet sound from such a hardened professional. Clark= =20 loved that he could give her this, even when he only passed her occasionally= =20 at work. =20 "We'll be okay," she said softly. "We'll make it okay." "Yeah, we will." Carly chose that moment to pop her head into the office, closed door or not.= =20 "Lois, Distribution is still having a fit about that truck being out, and th= e=20 guys upstairs don't want to approve a second rental without a written okay=20 from you." Lois sighed, and then looked up towards the heavens even as the door closed=20 once more. "I couldn't manage without her," she said, referring to the=20 ever-efficient secretary that structured her every breath. "But I really=20 hate her." "I know," Clark said with a grin. He placed a soft kiss on her lips, then a=20 second one when she responded so sweetly to the first, and then he stood. "= I=20 need to get to work," he admitted. "This stuff just doesn't come together=20 without that mind of yours." Lois looked at the barrage of paperwork that was even now obscuring the=20 entire top of her desk. "I really wish I could help," she told him, and he=20 believed her. She preferred rapid thinking and dangerous stakeouts to=20 paperwork any day of the week. "Beware of paper cuts," he threw over his shoulder as he shut the door on hi= s=20 way out. Even without super hearing he could have recognized the sound of a= =20 book hitting the door two seconds after he closed it. (continued in part 4) ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 22:30:33 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: CHOICES MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/23/2001 8:14:22 PM Eastern Daylight Time, cmoncado@JUNO.COM writes: << Slight nitpick - there's a lot of stuff that's showing up as weird characters on my screen. I think it's ellipses and entree (or something like that) that has an ' over one of the letters. >> Sorry about that! For some reason, my cut and paste seems to convert a simple "..." into that odd little figure you see. In addition, my scene breaks have disappeared as well... I put in ***, and all you get is an extra return. I really wish I understood why everything wasn't just the "same" so you could get away with learning it once. I adore MSWord's spellcheck and grammarcheck (because it tells me when I'm writing that something looks fishy), but I can't get used to the changes it makes in my text. I'm going to go ahead and upload these first 3 chapters, neatly HTML formatted, to my site. If you're frustrated with the list, please go there for a cleaner read. I should finish it tomorrow (keyboard willing). Once again, I'm sorry for the inconvienence, and THANK YOU so much for reading it anyway :) -Crys- Come visit my site at: www.geocities.com/cryswimmer/CrysMain.html ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 22:45:12 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > >Is it possible for Clark to be Clark without the powers? Still >everything else and even a desire to help whenever possible, but just no >Superpowers? And I don't mean like in Myxsplit or whatever it was where >Clark and Superman became two different people because of the whole wish >thing. Any takers? *Lois* thought that Clark was still Superman even when he didn't have his powers, as evidenced by what she said to Woody Samms when he took over Clark's body. My *personal* preference in a fanfic would be for him to have super powers, though. Feeling "different" - and therefore alienated from everyone else - was part of what made Clark who he was. > > >*BG* What if he was a blond? With blue eyes? Could he still be CK?*BG* Blond-haired and blue-eyed. Hmmm . . . no, I don=92t think that would work for me . Although technically CK would still be CK even if he looked like Woody, I prefer stories where the physical descriptions of Lois and Clark match those of Dean and Teri because that helps to bring the show back to me. That=92s just my personal preference, of course. This is *sort* of related to the topic: I used to think that the Earth's yellow sun was responsible for Clark=92s nice-looking body, just as it gave him his super powers and his ability to eat junk food without clogging arteries, but when the NKers came to Earth I found out differently, alas. (I also used to think that in the future humans will find a way to render all women young, beautiful, and well-built enough to be able to look good running around in skimpy outfits all day. Hey, just watch the original Star Trek. ;-) Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 23:05:15 -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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > *Lois* thought that Clark was still Superman even when he didn't > have his > powers, as evidenced by what she said to Woody Samms when he took > over > Clark's body. My *personal* preference in a fanfic would be for him > to > have super powers, though. Feeling "different" - and therefore > alienated > from everyone else - was part of what made Clark who he was. Hmm - good point with the Woody Samms thing. Would it be possible for CK to feel different because of something else? Widespread knowledge he was the illegitimate offspring of his mother's cousin in a tightknit small conservative community? Certainly kids don't need to be from another planet to feel different. Just about anything will do. > > > > > >*BG* What if he was a blond? With blue eyes? Could he still be > CK?*BG* > > Blond-haired and blue-eyed. Hmmm . . . no, I don’t think that would > work > for me . Although technically CK would still be CK even if he > looked > like Woody, I prefer stories where the physical descriptions of Lois > and > Clark match those of Dean and Teri because that helps to bring the > show > back to me. That’s just my personal preference, of course. Oh - I know. Supes looks like Dean Cain, not Christopher Reeves! *BG* > > This is *sort* of related to the topic: I used to think that the > Earth's > yellow sun was responsible for Clark’s nice-looking body, just as it > gave > him his super powers and his ability to eat junk food without > clogging > arteries, but when the NKers came to Earth I found out differently, > alas. But they hadn't been exposed to the yellow sun as long. If they grew up there... maybe it would be different! > (I also used to think that in the future humans will find a way to > render > all women young, beautiful, and well-built enough to be able to look > good > running around in skimpy outfits all day. Hey, just watch the > original > Star Trek. ;-) DIdn't you just hate that?! Like any self-respecting woman from any planet would fall all over herself to get to William Shatner (especially after the Priceline commercials!). Sorry - personal pique there! CM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 23:21:27 -0500 Reply-To: jessicam@mail.sgcl.org Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jessi Mounts Subject: Re: OT: New Music Video! Comments: To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii >Faith Hill 'The Way You Love Me,' plus a couple of others. So if you like >music videos, maybe you'll like these, too. :) Finally! I've been hoping for a music video to this song ever since I heard it for the first time. I'll be first in line to watch, Erin. :) Jessi ________________________________________________________________ Sent via the Springfield-Greene County Library system at mail.sgcl.org ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 14:51:11 +0930 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jill Kaye Subject: Re: OT: New Music Video! In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" More, more, more!!! Please!! I loved this video. I love it that although Lois and Clark has been finished for around 4 years that there are still so many fans out there making new webpages, music videos, etc. It makes it impossible to fall out of love with the show! I love that! ~Larissa~ Also, I have a few other music videos coming, now that I've got the hang of >this new program I'm using. I'm working on one to a beautiful ballad by >Collin Raye called 'In This Life I Was Loved By You,' one to the upbeat one by >Faith Hill 'The Way You Love Me,' plus a couple of others. So if you like >music videos, maybe you'll like these, too. :) > >Thanks again! You all made my day. :))))) > >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: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 09:23:44 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: NEW: Imbalance Part 13 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII [So, Clark has a job -- for the moment -- as Lois' partner. Hmmm... So far, so good, but now, I guess, he gets to find out what that *really* means... and so does she. Now read on:] ***** "What you working on, partner?" Lois' head jerked around at this interruption; she'd been so absorbed in her task that she hadn't noticed Kent emerging from the stairwell, carrying the usual new-employee pile of bumf. "Follow-up to my Harrington story. I assume you've read either yesterday's evening edition or this morning's, so you're familiar with it?" He perched himself on the corner of the desk least piled high with papers. "Yeah, I read it. So, you going to spill all the beans on the guy's private life?" She fancied that she could hear a judgemental note in his voice, and that raised her hackles. She glared at him and launched into attack: "The guy was the *Mayor*; he was planning on running for Congress; and all the time, he was taking backhanders and making very dodgy IRS returns. *And* he was screwing around behind his wife's back, but do you know something? That's one I'll leave to the muck-rakers. I don't approve of his sleeping around, but I've got more important things to write about than yet another story of a man who can't control his libido." "Hey, hey, hey!" He held up his hands in a classic 'hold your fire' movement. "I wasn't criticising. And, as it happens, I agree with you: the guy treated his wife appallingly. Oh, she might have acquiesced, but willingly? How much did she stand to lose if she tried to divorce him?" Lois could see from Clark's expression that he really did seem to mean what he was saying, and that surprised her. Didn't all men stick together when it came to women and sex? He was a strange one, indeed... Maybe it was because he was from outer space. Perhaps all men on-- where was it he said he came from? Krypton? -- were equally abnormal. 'Always assuming that he *is* from outer space,' she reminded herself. "Anyway," he added, "since we're now apparently partners, I need you to bring me up to date on what you're working on. And Mr White said I should use one of these desks--" He gestured to Lois' three-desk workspace. "--for now, at any rate, until it's decided whether I'm staying permanently." 'One of *my* desks!' Lois was practically incandescent. Didn't Perry realise that she *needed* that space if she was going to maintain her position as the Planet's top reporter? She'd fought damn hard for that space, too. It wasn't the number of desks, as such; it was the distance which it allowed her to preserve between herself and the rest of her colleagues, most of whom never gave her the time of day to her face, but who discussed her ad nauseam behind her back -- and sometimes even when they were aware that she was within earshot. But Kent was still sitting on the edge of one desk, looking like an eager puppy. She sighed heavily, gestured towards the desk he was sitting on, and said, "You might as well take that one. As for what I'm working on, a few of them aren't worth your while getting familiar with -- they'll be finished soon. The big one is Intergang." His eyebrows went up. "The Churches?" She stared at him. "How do you know about them?" He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "The same way I know about lots of things you didn't expect me to know, Lois. Remember I told you last night that I used to work at the Daily Planet? I told you I'd explain that when you're ready to hear it and believe me -- which you're not, yet. Let's just say, for now, that I know the Churches are behind Intergang. As to how we're going to prove it -- I'm not sure. But if we're going to, I need you to show me your files." She gestured towards two large boxes. "All in there, and a couple more here. Help yourself." "Thanks. But I'd like you to talk me through some of it. And--" He stood up. "--can we commandeer the conference room again?" "Why?" That just didn't seem necessary; and anyway, she wanted this unsettling man just to sit down and occupy himself in something which didn't require her to give him any attention. "Because..." He sighed, then explained, "Lois, I can do things that I don't want anyone but you to know about, okay? If we go into the conference room and close the blinds, then I can use my powers to get through some of this stuff quickly." He was right, she supposed, and so she collected the loose files, leaving the boxes to Clark. Once inside, and with the blinds closed, she turned to lay her files on the table... only to stare in amazement as she saw him riffle at lightning speed through the first of the boxes. When he'd finished, most of the papers were back in the box, but a small pile lay in front of him. Then he did the same to the second box. "That's... you're... incredible!" she exclaimed softly, so as to ensure that she couldn't be overheard. He glanced her way, giving her a wink and a grin. "Comes in handy sometimes, wouldn't you say? Like it did yesterday, in the morgue, when I read everything of yours that the Planet has ever printed. And, as I told you last night, I can do a lot more than that." He glanced at his watch. "Right, we need to discuss this and share what we have, but it's lunchtime. Why don't I go get us some sandwiches and bring them back here so we can talk while we eat?" ***** Discussing Intergang took them up to mid-afternoon as they talked through the various strands of possible evidence Lois had managed to accumulate so far. Clark didn't have very much to add to her suppositions, though he agreed with her that Mindy Church was undoubtedly not the bimbo she pretended to be. However, he was still very concerned about the attempt on her life the previous night; both of them agreed that Intergang was most likely behind it -- which meant that Lois was getting too close. "That's *good*, though, Clark," Lois insisted. "That suggests they consider me dangerous. Now, if I just carry on what I'm doing -- investigating them, asking questions of the right people -- they're bound to try again--" "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of!" he pointed out crisply. "Lois, you were almost killed last night. If I hadn't been there, you *would* have been killed. I don't want that to happen to you." She turned and favoured him with a wide smile, one which he instinctively distrusted. "But it won't, Clark. You'll be looking out for me. Won't you?" He closed his eyes briefly in despair, then returned his gaze to hers. She was still giving him that look; the one which said that she just *knew* that she could take whatever risks she wanted, and he would be there to save her. "Lois, I can't be everywhere at once. I'm fast, but not *that* fast." She just grinned. "I'll trust you." 'Would that that were true,' he mused silently, collecting up the papers and re-filing them. "You going somewhere?" she asked. "I need to find somewhere to live," he pointed out to her. "I'm staying in a hotel at the moment, but that won't do on a long-term basis. And you've got stories to write up, so you don't need me." Suddenly seized with an inexplicable desire not to let him out of her sight, Lois asked, "Do you need any help? You don't know Metropolis, so you wouldn't know the kind of areas to avoid." She was puzzled by the faint smile he gave in response to that. "Yeah, if you don't mind, that'd be great. Look," he added, "why don't I go and get some details, to begin with, and then maybe we could go through them together? Over dinner?" Dinner? Was he making a move on her, after all? Instantly, Lois' alarm bells started ringing; perhaps, despite all his promises and play of treating her with respect, he really was like every other man she'd known. She was shaking her head, beginning to turn away, when he laid his hand on hers. "Wait." "What?" "Lois, I can almost see the wheels turning in your head. It's *just* dinner. I have to eat-- well, I *like* to eat, and while I'm staying in a hotel, I have to eat out. You're offering to help, so the least I can do is buy you dinner -- and you'd be doing me a favour there, too, by keeping me company. So... dinner, your choice of venue?" His smile was disarming, and she found herself wanting to trust him despite herself. Maybe he really did mean his offer at face value. She raised an eyebrow sardonically. "It'd serve you right if I suggested McDonald's," she told him. He shrugged lightly. "If that's what you want. But, somehow, I got the impression that you prefer to eat more healthily than that." He was right, and that bothered her, too. Just how did this stranger from outer space know so much about her? But she kept those thoughts to herself, instead suggesting a wholefood vegetarian restaurant not too far from the Planet, arranging to meet him there in a couple of hours' time. ***** Lois got her articles written and sent to Perry in advance of her deadline but, for much of the time, she was working on auto-pilot. It was proving impossible to stop thinking about the mysterious stranger who had invaded her life the previous evening, and whose life, now, seemed inextricably entwined with hers. He'd saved her life, but had confessed to being at the Planet the previous day solely to investigate her, and to having come to Metropolis solely to work with her. The obvious reasons for his actions just didn't seem to fit here. Last night, she'd suspected him of being in league with Intergang: how else would he have known to be in that precise place at that precise time? Saving her life didn't mean he was innocent; he could have done that simply to gain her trust. And yet, it seemed too incredible to be true. If Intergang really had someone with Clark Kent's-- Superman's -- powers working for them, wouldn't they make use of him? She couldn't believe that his ability to fly, to move at super-speed, to lift or move anything almost regardless of its weight, would not have been put to good use by Bill Church and his acolytes. So, maybe not Intergang; but there were still too many unanswered questions. He'd refused to explain his reference to working for the Daily Planet. He claimed to come from a planet which no astronomer had ever identified. He knew things about her, about the Planet, about this city which a stranger like him should have no idea about. He'd somehow convinced Perry that he'd worked for a defunct newspaper in Gotham City, and Perry even believed he'd seen articles written by Kent. Did these incredible powers of his include mental abilities? Did he have the ability to brainwash people, and if so, why was she exempt so far? *Was* she exempt? Just what was his interest in her? Much though she was well aware that she was one of the best journalists-- no, *the* best journalist -- in Metropolis, somehow she just couldn't believe that his only motive could be to use her as a stepping-stone to success. Someone with his abilities didn't need to work as a reporter. Although... he *had* told her, the previous evening, that he wanted to live a normal life, where no-one knew his secret. Could it be as simple as that? She just didn't know. There were far too many mysteries where Kent was concerned, so it was a good thing that she'd agreed to have dinner with him later. She wasn't yet prepared to give up all her suspicions about his motives and just accept him at face value. ***** "So, what do you think?" Clark had spread out details of several apartments and a couple of townhouses over the table while they waited for their food to arrive. Lois glanced at the brochures. One thing was evident, and that was that Kent wasn't short of money. Most of these places cost more to rent than her apartment -- oh, she could certainly afford a more expensive place if she wanted, but she'd been there a few years now and liked it. Or she would if she spent more time there, she conceded. But Kent claimed to have been made redundant when his last paper closed, and to be freelancing. So he should have been living on savings to a degree, which made it surprising that he would be able to afford the deposit on any of these places. And yet his attitude seemed to suggest that, whatever else guided him in a choice between apartments, money would not be a factor. "Well, I wouldn't recommend Milton Heights," she observed, indicating one brochure which depicted an apartment in a purpose-built modern block on the other side of the city. "It's a long way from the Planet, for one thing; and for another, just about everyone who lives out there is either a lawyer or an accountant. *Not* people I'd want as neighbours," she added, recognising the irony of her comment as she said it. She'd lived in her apartment building for five years, yet had hardly ever spoken to any of her neighbours; she simply wasn't there often enough, and usually came home long after they got home from their own jobs. He nodded, as if he'd already decided himself to rule out that apartment. "How about this place?" he asked, picking out another brochure. Lois looked at it, and was immediately taken aback. This was not the sort of place she'd expect Kent to choose; instead of a modern apartment, it was an old-fashioned loft in a district not too far from her own home, but with a more run-down reputation. She gave him her opinion of the district, but admitted that the description of the apartment itself appealed. It wasn't the kind of place she'd want to live herself -- it sounded too open-plan for her liking -- but it seemed spacious, and the photographs gave it a welcoming appearance. It was also considerably cheaper than most of the others he was considering. "That's what I thought," he said, agreeing with her. "In fact, I liked the details so much that I've already arranged to go over and view it tomorrow morning." He didn't say that he already knew what it was like, because he'd checked it out the previous day; it was, of course, 344 Clinton Street. His gaze met and held hers across the table. "Come with me?" Lois gasped silently; she didn't know what was happening to her. Never before had she felt so... *stunned* by someone simply looking at her. There was something about his gaze... She must have been right earlier, she told herself. He had to have some sort of mind-altering abilities. At the very least, he must have hypnotic powers. How else could he hold her gaze like that and make her feel strange sensations in the pit of her stomach, make her feel as if he could see directly into her soul? Almost without volition, she replied in a whisper, "Yes." "Good." He smiled, breaking their eye contact. "I've made an early appointment, so, if you like, I'll pick you up at your apartment." Winking at her then, he added, "I'll even buy you breakfast, as a thank-you for the benefit of your opinion." Trying desperately to swallow the unfamiliar butterflies in her stomach, Lois quipped, "What, no French pastries this time?" His smile was amused. "I didn't say *where* I'd take you for breakfast. How about the Left Bank?" "The... huh?" He grinned. "The Left Bank of the Seine. In Paris. Ever been there?" ***** [I dunno about hypnosis or telepathy, but Clark's sure having an *effect* on Lois... But then, Mad Dog Lane has been known to have an effect of her own on people she encounters... And next time, you'll get to see this effect on a poor, unsuspecting real estate agent. Oh, and Nigel's still out there, thinking hard...] Phil ---- "Sic Transit Gloria Barramundi" (Or, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!) -- not Douglas Adams, but me: Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 11:39:51 +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: CHOICES MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Crystal said: > Sorry about that! For some reason, my cut and paste seems to convert a > simple "..." into that odd little figure you see. In addition, my scene > breaks have disappeared as well... I put in ***, and all you get is an extra > return. I really wish I understood why everything wasn't just the "same" so > you could get away with learning it once. I adore MSWord's spellcheck and > grammarcheck (because it tells me when I'm writing that something looks > fishy), but I can't get used to the changes it makes in my text. You need to go into Autocorrect and remove the automatic formatting it's doing to your typing, Crys. Under Tools, select Autocorrect, and you'll have to look under each tab. Take out things like 'convert *bold* and _italics_ to real formatting - that's why your *** don't show. And look in the 'replace'... 'with' boxes and you'll find an ellipsis. Word turns these into three dots very close together, and as soon as you paste those into any kind of plain-text display they turn into just one dot. Make sure you take out these automatic formattings in both places - the autoformat and autoformat as you type tabs. And take out anything else which annoys you! ;) I'm posting this to the list, by the way, rather than privately to Crystal because I suspect a few people may have these settings still in place in their Word software. And I know how irritating it is until you find out how to stop it happening! Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 07:08:07 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: CHOICES MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/24/2001 6:41:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time, w.m.richards@HRM.KEELE.AC.UK writes: << I'm posting this to the list, by the way, rather than privately to Crystal because I suspect a few people may have these settings still in place in their Word software. And I know how irritating it is until you find out how to stop it happening! >> THANK YOU!! I appreciate the help... I've always worked with MSWorks, and an old version at that, so the default settings were a little more understandable. Also, there was a lot less you could change! And I hope you're right, that I'm not the only one having these problems... because if I am I'll feel real stupid (like that's a first) . Thanks again :) -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 12:25:12 +0100 Reply-To: LabRat Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LabRat Organization: LabRat Subject: Re: CHOICES MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Crys wrote: > And I hope you're right, that I'm not the only one having these problems... > because if I am I'll feel real stupid (like that's a first) . > Oh boy, no, Crys! That endearing little habit of WORD's in converting ellipsis in particular drove me insane for over a year before I figured out how to stop it doing it! LabRat :) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 06:20:20 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: Episode Question In-Reply-To: <3B5C252A.A3749E66@earthlink.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" So much for a sense of humor and creative play on words... Debby dls@thuntek.net has other things to do At 06:22 AM 07/23/2001 -0700, you wrote: >That was "Contact". > >Nan > >Jill Kaye wrote: > >> >At 06:47 PM 07/17/2001 +0000, you wrote: >> >>Here's another question to test your knowledge of series canon. ;-) I was >> >>wondering: in which episode does Clark dump Lois 'for her own good'? And >> >>what was the event that spurred that action? >> >> >> >>Thanks!!! >> >> >> >>Bethy >> > >> >Depending on what you mean by "dump" the first episode I thought of wherein >> >this happend was season one's "I've Got a Crush on You", where CK dumped Lois >> >in a Dumpster to protect her because he knew that Lex had recognized her >> >despite her being disguised in a revealing evening gown. >> > >> >Debby >> >dls@thuntek.net >> >> Sorry, forgot to tell you the reason. It was because Lois was hurt when he >> was saving some bad guys. He still saved her life but failed to keep her >> from being hurt. >> ~Larissa~ and >I think you mean "Contact" :) >~Larissa~ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 22:27:40 +1000 Reply-To: jenerators@optushome.com.au Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jen Stosser Subject: Re: Imbalance Part 13 In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ack! I've just realised that when part 15 comes out I'll be on the plane to LA, with no way to access it, and I don't know if I'll have internet access for part 16 either! Must... get... someone... to ... printitoutatLAFF and share it around! Very much looking forward to parts 14 and onward, Jen jenerators@optushome.com.au -*- This message is umop ap!sdn -*- -*- Jenerator or Some1Else on IRC) -*- JenerEight on AIM -*- Photos of David (9) and Megan (6) on the Stosser Family HomePage: http://www.geocities.com/j_stosser -*-Please sign our guestbook! -----Original Message----- From: Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic [mailto:LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU]On Behalf Of Phillip Atcliffe Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 6:24 PM To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Subject: NEW: Imbalance Part 13 [So, Clark has a job -- for the moment -- as Lois' partner. Hmmm... So far, so good, but now, I guess, he gets to find out what that *really* means... and so does she. Now read on:] ***** "What you working on, partner?" Lois' head jerked around at this interruption; she'd been so absorbed in her task that she hadn't noticed Kent emerging from the stairwell, carrying the usual new-employee pile of bumf. "Follow-up to my Harrington story. I assume you've read either yesterday's evening edition or this morning's, so you're familiar with it?" He perched himself on the corner of the desk least piled high with papers. "Yeah, I read it. So, you going to spill all the beans on the guy's private life?" She fancied that she could hear a judgemental note in his voice, and that raised her hackles. She glared at him and launched into attack: "The guy was the *Mayor*; he was planning on running for Congress; and all the time, he was taking backhanders and making very dodgy IRS returns. *And* he was screwing around behind his wife's back, but do you know something? That's one I'll leave to the muck-rakers. I don't approve of his sleeping around, but I've got more important things to write about than yet another story of a man who can't control his libido." "Hey, hey, hey!" He held up his hands in a classic 'hold your fire' movement. "I wasn't criticising. And, as it happens, I agree with you: the guy treated his wife appallingly. Oh, she might have acquiesced, but willingly? How much did she stand to lose if she tried to divorce him?" Lois could see from Clark's expression that he really did seem to mean what he was saying, and that surprised her. Didn't all men stick together when it came to women and sex? He was a strange one, indeed... Maybe it was because he was from outer space. Perhaps all men on-- where was it he said he came from? Krypton? -- were equally abnormal. 'Always assuming that he *is* from outer space,' she reminded herself. "Anyway," he added, "since we're now apparently partners, I need you to bring me up to date on what you're working on. And Mr White said I should use one of these desks--" He gestured to Lois' three-desk workspace. "--for now, at any rate, until it's decided whether I'm staying permanently." 'One of *my* desks!' Lois was practically incandescent. Didn't Perry realise that she *needed* that space if she was going to maintain her position as the Planet's top reporter? She'd fought damn hard for that space, too. It wasn't the number of desks, as such; it was the distance which it allowed her to preserve between herself and the rest of her colleagues, most of whom never gave her the time of day to her face, but who discussed her ad nauseam behind her back -- and sometimes even when they were aware that she was within earshot. But Kent was still sitting on the edge of one desk, looking like an eager puppy. She sighed heavily, gestured towards the desk he was sitting on, and said, "You might as well take that one. As for what I'm working on, a few of them aren't worth your while getting familiar with -- they'll be finished soon. The big one is Intergang." His eyebrows went up. "The Churches?" She stared at him. "How do you know about them?" He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "The same way I know about lots of things you didn't expect me to know, Lois. Remember I told you last night that I used to work at the Daily Planet? I told you I'd explain that when you're ready to hear it and believe me -- which you're not, yet. Let's just say, for now, that I know the Churches are behind Intergang. As to how we're going to prove it -- I'm not sure. But if we're going to, I need you to show me your files." She gestured towards two large boxes. "All in there, and a couple more here. Help yourself." "Thanks. But I'd like you to talk me through some of it. And--" He stood up. "--can we commandeer the conference room again?" "Why?" That just didn't seem necessary; and anyway, she wanted this unsettling man just to sit down and occupy himself in something which didn't require her to give him any attention. "Because..." He sighed, then explained, "Lois, I can do things that I don't want anyone but you to know about, okay? If we go into the conference room and close the blinds, then I can use my powers to get through some of this stuff quickly." He was right, she supposed, and so she collected the loose files, leaving the boxes to Clark. Once inside, and with the blinds closed, she turned to lay her files on the table... only to stare in amazement as she saw him riffle at lightning speed through the first of the boxes. When he'd finished, most of the papers were back in the box, but a small pile lay in front of him. Then he did the same to the second box. "That's... you're... incredible!" she exclaimed softly, so as to ensure that she couldn't be overheard. He glanced her way, giving her a wink and a grin. "Comes in handy sometimes, wouldn't you say? Like it did yesterday, in the morgue, when I read everything of yours that the Planet has ever printed. And, as I told you last night, I can do a lot more than that." He glanced at his watch. "Right, we need to discuss this and share what we have, but it's lunchtime. Why don't I go get us some sandwiches and bring them back here so we can talk while we eat?" ***** Discussing Intergang took them up to mid-afternoon as they talked through the various strands of possible evidence Lois had managed to accumulate so far. Clark didn't have very much to add to her suppositions, though he agreed with her that Mindy Church was undoubtedly not the bimbo she pretended to be. However, he was still very concerned about the attempt on her life the previous night; both of them agreed that Intergang was most likely behind it -- which meant that Lois was getting too close. "That's *good*, though, Clark," Lois insisted. "That suggests they consider me dangerous. Now, if I just carry on what I'm doing -- investigating them, asking questions of the right people -- they're bound to try again--" "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of!" he pointed out crisply. "Lois, you were almost killed last night. If I hadn't been there, you *would* have been killed. I don't want that to happen to you." She turned and favoured him with a wide smile, one which he instinctively distrusted. "But it won't, Clark. You'll be looking out for me. Won't you?" He closed his eyes briefly in despair, then returned his gaze to hers. She was still giving him that look; the one which said that she just *knew* that she could take whatever risks she wanted, and he would be there to save her. "Lois, I can't be everywhere at once. I'm fast, but not *that* fast." She just grinned. "I'll trust you." 'Would that that were true,' he mused silently, collecting up the papers and re-filing them. "You going somewhere?" she asked. "I need to find somewhere to live," he pointed out to her. "I'm staying in a hotel at the moment, but that won't do on a long-term basis. And you've got stories to write up, so you don't need me." Suddenly seized with an inexplicable desire not to let him out of her sight, Lois asked, "Do you need any help? You don't know Metropolis, so you wouldn't know the kind of areas to avoid." She was puzzled by the faint smile he gave in response to that. "Yeah, if you don't mind, that'd be great. Look," he added, "why don't I go and get some details, to begin with, and then maybe we could go through them together? Over dinner?" Dinner? Was he making a move on her, after all? Instantly, Lois' alarm bells started ringing; perhaps, despite all his promises and play of treating her with respect, he really was like every other man she'd known. She was shaking her head, beginning to turn away, when he laid his hand on hers. "Wait." "What?" "Lois, I can almost see the wheels turning in your head. It's *just* dinner. I have to eat-- well, I *like* to eat, and while I'm staying in a hotel, I have to eat out. You're offering to help, so the least I can do is buy you dinner -- and you'd be doing me a favour there, too, by keeping me company. So... dinner, your choice of venue?" His smile was disarming, and she found herself wanting to trust him despite herself. Maybe he really did mean his offer at face value. She raised an eyebrow sardonically. "It'd serve you right if I suggested McDonald's," she told him. He shrugged lightly. "If that's what you want. But, somehow, I got the impression that you prefer to eat more healthily than that." He was right, and that bothered her, too. Just how did this stranger from outer space know so much about her? But she kept those thoughts to herself, instead suggesting a wholefood vegetarian restaurant not too far from the Planet, arranging to meet him there in a couple of hours' time. ***** Lois got her articles written and sent to Perry in advance of her deadline but, for much of the time, she was working on auto-pilot. It was proving impossible to stop thinking about the mysterious stranger who had invaded her life the previous evening, and whose life, now, seemed inextricably entwined with hers. He'd saved her life, but had confessed to being at the Planet the previous day solely to investigate her, and to having come to Metropolis solely to work with her. The obvious reasons for his actions just didn't seem to fit here. Last night, she'd suspected him of being in league with Intergang: how else would he have known to be in that precise place at that precise time? Saving her life didn't mean he was innocent; he could have done that simply to gain her trust. And yet, it seemed too incredible to be true. If Intergang really had someone with Clark Kent's-- Superman's -- powers working for them, wouldn't they make use of him? She couldn't believe that his ability to fly, to move at super-speed, to lift or move anything almost regardless of its weight, would not have been put to good use by Bill Church and his acolytes. So, maybe not Intergang; but there were still too many unanswered questions. He'd refused to explain his reference to working for the Daily Planet. He claimed to come from a planet which no astronomer had ever identified. He knew things about her, about the Planet, about this city which a stranger like him should have no idea about. He'd somehow convinced Perry that he'd worked for a defunct newspaper in Gotham City, and Perry even believed he'd seen articles written by Kent. Did these incredible powers of his include mental abilities? Did he have the ability to brainwash people, and if so, why was she exempt so far? *Was* she exempt? Just what was his interest in her? Much though she was well aware that she was one of the best journalists-- no, *the* best journalist -- in Metropolis, somehow she just couldn't believe that his only motive could be to use her as a stepping-stone to success. Someone with his abilities didn't need to work as a reporter. Although... he *had* told her, the previous evening, that he wanted to live a normal life, where no-one knew his secret. Could it be as simple as that? She just didn't know. There were far too many mysteries where Kent was concerned, so it was a good thing that she'd agreed to have dinner with him later. She wasn't yet prepared to give up all her suspicions about his motives and just accept him at face value. ***** "So, what do you think?" Clark had spread out details of several apartments and a couple of townhouses over the table while they waited for their food to arrive. Lois glanced at the brochures. One thing was evident, and that was that Kent wasn't short of money. Most of these places cost more to rent than her apartment -- oh, she could certainly afford a more expensive place if she wanted, but she'd been there a few years now and liked it. Or she would if she spent more time there, she conceded. But Kent claimed to have been made redundant when his last paper closed, and to be freelancing. So he should have been living on savings to a degree, which made it surprising that he would be able to afford the deposit on any of these places. And yet his attitude seemed to suggest that, whatever else guided him in a choice between apartments, money would not be a factor. "Well, I wouldn't recommend Milton Heights," she observed, indicating one brochure which depicted an apartment in a purpose-built modern block on the other side of the city. "It's a long way from the Planet, for one thing; and for another, just about everyone who lives out there is either a lawyer or an accountant. *Not* people I'd want as neighbours," she added, recognising the irony of her comment as she said it. She'd lived in her apartment building for five years, yet had hardly ever spoken to any of her neighbours; she simply wasn't there often enough, and usually came home long after they got home from their own jobs. He nodded, as if he'd already decided himself to rule out that apartment. "How about this place?" he asked, picking out another brochure. Lois looked at it, and was immediately taken aback. This was not the sort of place she'd expect Kent to choose; instead of a modern apartment, it was an old-fashioned loft in a district not too far from her own home, but with a more run-down reputation. She gave him her opinion of the district, but admitted that the description of the apartment itself appealed. It wasn't the kind of place she'd want to live herself -- it sounded too open-plan for her liking -- but it seemed spacious, and the photographs gave it a welcoming appearance. It was also considerably cheaper than most of the others he was considering. "That's what I thought," he said, agreeing with her. "In fact, I liked the details so much that I've already arranged to go over and view it tomorrow morning." He didn't say that he already knew what it was like, because he'd checked it out the previous day; it was, of course, 344 Clinton Street. His gaze met and held hers across the table. "Come with me?" Lois gasped silently; she didn't know what was happening to her. Never before had she felt so... *stunned* by someone simply looking at her. There was something about his gaze... She must have been right earlier, she told herself. He had to have some sort of mind-altering abilities. At the very least, he must have hypnotic powers. How else could he hold her gaze like that and make her feel strange sensations in the pit of her stomach, make her feel as if he could see directly into her soul? Almost without volition, she replied in a whisper, "Yes." "Good." He smiled, breaking their eye contact. "I've made an early appointment, so, if you like, I'll pick you up at your apartment." Winking at her then, he added, "I'll even buy you breakfast, as a thank-you for the benefit of your opinion." Trying desperately to swallow the unfamiliar butterflies in her stomach, Lois quipped, "What, no French pastries this time?" His smile was amused. "I didn't say *where* I'd take you for breakfast. How about the Left Bank?" "The... huh?" He grinned. "The Left Bank of the Seine. In Paris. Ever been there?" ***** [I dunno about hypnosis or telepathy, but Clark's sure having an *effect* on Lois... But then, Mad Dog Lane has been known to have an effect of her own on people she encounters... And next time, you'll get to see this effect on a poor, unsuspecting real estate agent. Oh, and Nigel's still out there, thinking hard...] Phil ---- "Sic Transit Gloria Barramundi" (Or, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!) -- not Douglas Adams, but me: Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 07:56:13 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >Would it be possible for CK >to feel different because of something else? Widespread knowledge he was >the illegitimate offspring of his mother's cousin in a tightknit small >conservative community? Certainly kids don't need to be from another >planet to feel different. Just about anything will do. > For me, if Clark didn't have super powers, then he wouldn't be Clark. If you write a story like that, I'll read it anyway, just as I'll read anything that Yvonne writes, but I can't vouch for what other fans will do. Carolyn mentioned that she prefers stories where the characters' backgrounds don't deviate from LnC canon, and I suspect that a lot of FOLCs share her feelings. A reader poll once indicated that Elseworlds are among the less popular LnC stories. >> > >> > >> >> This is *sort* of related to the topic: I used to think that the >> Earth's >> yellow sun was responsible for Clark=92s nice-looking body, just as it >> gave >> him his super powers and his ability to eat junk food without >> clogging >> arteries, but when the NKers came to Earth I found out differently, >> alas. > >But they hadn't been exposed to the yellow sun as long. If they grew up >there... maybe it would be different! Good point! > >> (I also used to think that in the future humans will find a way to >> render >> all women young, beautiful, and well-built enough to be able to look >> good >> running around in skimpy outfits all day. Hey, just watch the >> original >> Star Trek. ;-) > >DIdn't you just hate that?! Like any self-respecting woman from any >planet would fall all over herself to get to William Shatner (especially >after the Priceline commercials!). Sorry - personal pique there! > >CM ROTFL!!! Well, Captain Kirk looked pretty good to me when I was fourteen! ;-) Doesn't this whole thread make you wonder what project Yvonne is planning?? Come on, Yvonne, out with it! What are you going to do with/to the characters? Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 09:31:23 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: CHOICES, part 4a MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable (continued from part 3b) Clark reentered consciousness to the sound of a blaring alarm clock. With=20 more restraint than he would have liked, he leaned over and shut off the=20 device. In his younger years, he would have pulverized it, but since he=E2= =80=99d=20 been married he had found that mornings weren=E2=80=99t as bad as had been w= hen he=20 slept alone. Rolling over carefully, he moved to wrap his arm around his sleeping wife. There was no one there. He opened his eyes, focused on her side of the bed, and realized that she=20 hadn=E2=80=99t come to bed at all. Not only was her side of the bed empty,=20= but the=20 covers were still smooth and tucked in. =20 She hadn=E2=80=99t come to bed. Confusion warred with fear in his mind and heart. Was she okay? Had she=20 gone back to the Planet? Had she ever made it home from the planet? God, h= e=20 never should have laid down without her! He had just been so tired, so worn= =20 from the encounters with explosions and renegade rockets, that he=E2=80=99d=20= been=20 unable to stay awake. Even Superman needed some rest, and he=E2=80=99d spen= t the=20 previous night at the Planet, with Lois, and hadn=E2=80=99t been able to rec= over. =20 Yesterday had been worse, at least physically, and he=E2=80=99d actually nee= ded the=20 sleep. Still, Lois was his priority, and he should have made sure she was=20 safe first! As something at the back edges of his mind finally registered, he calmed=20 himself down. A heartbeat. Her heartbeat. She was in the house. A quick=20 scan with x-ray vision confirmed that she was downstairs, and her slow and=20 regular pulse assured him that she was sleeping. The backwash of fear was anger, or at the very least irritation. He grabbed= =20 his robe from the bathroom and was still tying it as he moved down the=20 stairway, consciously forcing himself not to stomp. What had she been=20 thinking? There was no reason on Earth for her to spend the night on the=20 couch and leave him alone in their bed. Their marriage bed! Even on the=20 nights that he was out saving the world, if he made it back to the house he=20 came to bed. Even if it was only for a few minutes; even if it was only to=20 let her know that he was okay. As he rounded the turn in the stairway, he finally got a look at his sleepin= g=20 wife. All anger, all worry, and most everything else immediately faded from= =20 his mind. =20 Lois was laying on the couch, sound asleep and nearly buried under half a=20 dozen printouts. She was still sitting up, her head fallen back to rest on=20 the back of the couch. She looked absolutely awful. Clark walked towards her slowly, shaking his head in frustration. All she= =E2=80=99d=20 needed to do was ask for help. She didn=E2=80=99t have to do this alone! H= e was=20 here, there were dozens of capable employees at the planet, and her job was=20 more than one woman could ever hope to accomplish. Hell, Perry had been=20 doing it for twenty years and still spent twelve hours a day to manage it! =20 She couldn=E2=80=99t keep this up. Her face was relaxed in sleep, the frown and worry lines less evident. The=20 circles under her eyes were still there though, so he didn=E2=80=99t imagine= she=E2=80=99d=20 been asleep for long. He glanced over the printout in her hands - its=20 timestamp just after two a.m. - and realized the she couldn=E2=80=99t have b= een out=20 for more than an hour or two by simple logistics. It was a careful task to extricate the papers from her grip, and then to lif= t=20 her into his arms without waking her, but once he had done that he sighed as= =20 she snugged herself into the curve of his body and nuzzled her face into his= =20 neck. =E2=80=9COh Lois,=E2=80=9D he whispered. =E2=80=9CWhat am I going to do wit= h you?=E2=80=9D She didn=E2=80=99t answer him, thankfully. She remained in a blissful sleep= . =20 Knowing that was the best thing for her, Clark hovered his way up to their=20 room and settled her into his side of the bed. It was just because those=20 covers were pulled back, he reasoned, not because he loved to watch her=20 snuggle down deeply into his pillow and sigh in contentment. It wasn=E2=80= =99t=20 because he wanted her to be where he had been, or even to help him resist th= e=20 temptation to crawl back into the warm nest with her. It was just=20 convenience, he assured himself. Clark grabbed his toothbrush from their bathroom, then walked downstairs to=20 the small half-bath to clean himself up. He didn=E2=80=99t want to wake her= with the=20 shower. Clark managed to get himself cleaned up in record time, and even though he=20 would have loved a hot shower he didn=E2=80=99t feel like he was missing out= on much.=20 Once he was out, he shrugged his robe on and moved into the kitchen. He use= d=20 the blueberries that they=E2=80=99d bought for his parent=E2=80=99s visit=20= =E2=80=93 the fruit salad=20 had never come to pass =E2=80=93 and made a very quick batch of blueberry pa= ncakes. =20 A glare at the pan brought it to the right temperature, and he was able to=20 get breakfast done in a reasonable period of time. When he had a plate filled with the steaming, fragrant pancakes, he grabbed=20 the little plastic bear that held Lois=E2=80=99 honey and set it next to the= plate on=20 the edge of the counter. He didn=E2=80=99t have to leave a note there=E2= =80=A6 if Lois knew=20 anything, it was how to warm food in the microwave, despite her general lack= =20 of culinary skills. It took him only a few more minutes to dress in his business suit and choose= =20 a tie, even though he moved at regular speed and with as much stealth as=20 possible. Lois slept on, oblivious to his movement. When Clark was ready t= o=20 leave, he carefully disconnected both telephones so that Lois wouldn=E2=80= =99t be=20 awakened, and pulled the shade down to block out the morning light that woul= d=20 soon come streaming into their room. He kissed her on the forehead, smiled=20 when she murmured sleepily, and then left for work. His last thought as he left their townhouse was that she was going to be=20 furious that she was late for work. He could live with that. *** As Lois entered the Planet newsroom, certain guilt was written all over her=20 features, she was amazed that everything seemed to be in full swing even=20 without her presence. She passed by her husband=E2=80=99s desk, hoping to c= atch him,=20 but he wasn=E2=80=99t there. She caught a glimpse of the picture he kept th= ere, and=20 lifted it to look at her own smiling face as she surrendered to his her=20 husband=E2=80=99s embrace. The picture had been taken back when they were t= rying to=20 act normal, sneaking away for a vacation and the time alone that they=20 desperately needed. It was a souvenir of a time when everything was right=20 with her world, just before everything had crashed down and their work had=20 caught up with them. That seemed to happen a lot. Her memories were abruptly disturbed as Ralph plopped a large brown box down= =20 on her desk with a distinctive clunk. =E2=80=9CMorning, boss,=E2=80=9D he s= aid in a=20 cheerful voice. =E2=80=9CHope you don=E2=80=99t mind me taking your old des= k. Gotta be=20 close to Kent now, you know.=E2=80=9D Lois watched, vaguely stunned, as a bowling trophy was given a place of hono= r=20 in her personal space. No, it wasn=E2=80=99t her space. Her space was an i= solated=20 office with glass walls and a desk full of paperwork. The desk next to her=20 husband=E2=80=99s now belonged to Ralph. =E2=80=9COh=E2=80=A6 sure. No pro= blem,=E2=80=9D she told him=20 softly, her mind not really on what she was saying. =E2=80=9CWhoop, I=E2=80=99d better go,=E2=80=9D Ralph declared. =E2=80=9CDo= n=E2=80=99t want to get a late start=20 and keep my new partner waiting.=E2=80=9D Lois bristled at his implication, but she didn=E2=80=99t say a word. He was= right.=20 She was late. If that happened to be the fault of her husband, then that=20 really wasn=E2=80=99t the issue. She was halfway to Perry=E2=80=99s office=20= =E2=80=93 her office =E2=80=93=20 whatever, when she walked back and picked up the picture she=E2=80=99d retur= ned to=20 Clark=E2=80=99s desk. He=E2=80=99d made her blueberry pancakes. With a sigh, she walked into the office and cleared a small place for the=20 picture. Having moved one stack of paperwork, she decided she might as well= =20 start on it, so she grabbed a red pen and set to work. She was only an hour= =20 late after all, although she=E2=80=99d planned to come in an hour or two ear= ly, so=20 she could make up the time. Somehow. =E2=80=9CHi!=E2=80=9D Lois looked up into her mother-in-law=E2=80=99s smiling face and had to retu= rn the=20 grin. =E2=80=9CMartha, hi! What a surprise.=E2=80=9D She laid down her pe= n, and then=20 paused. =E2=80=9CWhat=E2=80=99re you doing down here?=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CI just happened to be in the neighborhood,=E2=80=9D she said sweetl= y. =E2=80=9CThought=20 maybe I could buy you a cup of coffee.=E2=80=9D Lois returned the smile. She really had lucked out when she=E2=80=99d marri= ed into=20 Clark=E2=80=99s family. =E2=80=9CThanks, I=E2=80=99d love to,=E2=80=9D she=20= said with regret. =E2=80=9CBut I was=20 late getting in, and I was behind before that. I really can=E2=80=99t leave= right=20 now=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D When Martha grinned again, Lois knew where Clark had found that expression.=20 =E2=80=9CThat=E2=80=99s what I figured,=E2=80=9D Martha admitted, the smile=20= widening. She entered=20 the office fully to reveal a brown paper bag. Setting it on the corner of=20 the desk, she reached inside and pulled out two cups of Starbuck=E2=80=99s c= offee and=20 offered one to Lois. =E2=80=9CSugar, no cream, right?=E2=80=9D Lois met her mother-in-law=E2=80=99s grin gratefully. =E2=80=9CThanks, mom.= =E2=80=9D *** Clark tugged on a clean sport coat over his clean shirt and took another=20 glance at the trash bag. Another suit to the cleaners =E2=80=93 and even th= en he=20 didn=E2=80=99t know if it was salvageable. Lois was not going to be happy.=20= This=20 time, he couldn=E2=80=99t blame the suit=E2=80=99s loss on Superman, but rat= her a very=20 irritating truck driver and a particularly muddy puddle. A knock at the door caught him off guard. Normally, neither of them were=20 home during the day, so he couldn=E2=80=99t imagine who would be coming by.=20= He=20 tugged the door open, not even bothering to glance through it first, and met= =20 his father=E2=80=99s smiling face. =E2=80=9CDad=E2=80=A6? What=E2=80=99re you doing here?=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CI called the office,=E2=80=9D Jonathan admitted as he stepped into=20= the townhouse.=20 Clark moved back to allow him access. =E2=80=9CThey said you were here.=E2= =80=9D He=20 proudly displayed a white Dunkin=E2=80=99 Donuts bag with a grin. =E2=80= =9CPlane cake=20 donuts, right?=E2=80=9D Clark couldn=E2=80=99t help but match his father=E2=80=99s smile. *** =E2=80=9CYou look like you=E2=80=99re buried,=E2=80=9D Martha said with a gr= in as she pulled a seat=20 up to the immense desk. =E2=80=9CNow will you get through all this?=E2=80= =9D Lois surveyed the work before her and glanced at the clock once more. She=20 only had two hours to deadline, and at least four stories to choose and clea= n=20 up. =E2=80=9CI have no idea,=E2=80=9D she admitted. =E2=80=9CLemme guess,=E2=80=9D Martha requested. =E2=80=9CCan=E2=80=99t sle= ep, can=E2=80=99t concentrate, got a=20 knot in your stomach=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D *** (continued in part 4b) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 09:32:23 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: CHOICES: part 4b MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable (continued from part 4a) *** =E2=80=9C=E2=80=A6 the size of an anvil,=E2=80=9D Jonathan suggested. =E2= =80=9CAnd you=E2=80=99re constantly=20 fighting the urge to do it all for her, because you know she=E2=80=99s in ov= er her=20 head. But, you can=E2=80=99t do it because it=E2=80=99s her job and not you= rs. Am I=20 getting warm here?=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CMore like white-hot,=E2=80=9D Clark admitted. =E2=80=9CI can=E2= =80=99t believe how hard this is.=20 =E2=80=9CI mean, we can do anything together, but I barely see her anymore.=20= I know=20 she wants to do it all herself, but even Perry delegated some of it. It=20 still destroyed his marriage. I don=E2=80=99t want to fall into that trap.= =E2=80=9D Jonathan nodded his understanding. =E2=80=9CSometimes you have to give the p= erson you=20 love some room to grow,=E2=80=9D he said softly. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s not=20= easy. You=E2=80=99ve gotten=20 used to making all your decisions together =E2=80=93 and that=E2=80=99s a go= od thing =E2=80=93 but=20 you=E2=80=99re married, not joined at the hip.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CI just worry about her, dad. She=E2=80=99s not =E2=80=98super=E2= =80=99. She can=E2=80=99t keep this up.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CDid I ever tell you about the time I bought a new truck=E2=80=A6= =E2=80=9D Jonathan began. *** =E2=80=9CI couldn=E2=80=99t believe he did it,=E2=80=9D Martha added with a=20= grin. =E2=80=9CI mean, we=E2=80=99d=20 only been married a few weeks, and we didn=E2=80=99t have very much money. =20= But he=20 was still used to making his own decisions and he thought it was too good a=20 deal to pass up.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CDon=E2=80=99t you have to make some of your own decisions in a marr= iage?=E2=80=9D Lois=20 asked softly. =E2=80=9CI mean, we=E2=80=99re two different people, raised t= wo different=20 ways. We compliment one another =E2=80=93 and we do have a lot in common=20= =E2=80=93 but we=20 don=E2=80=99t have to share a brain.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CYou=E2=80=99re right,=E2=80=9D Martha said. =E2=80=9CBut, do you k= now why he bought the truck?=E2=80=9D=20 she asked suddenly. Lois didn=E2=80=99t see how it could matter, but she asked anyway. =E2=80= =9CWhy?=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CHe was worried about me,=E2=80=9D Martha told him with a soft smile= . =E2=80=9CI was still=20 working at the diner in town, especially that first winter when money was so= =20 tight, and he was terrified the car would give out on me or get bogged down=20 in the snow.=E2=80=9D She began absently flipping through some of the paper= s at the=20 edge of Lois=E2=80=99 desk. =E2=80=9CWe didn=E2=80=99t have cell phones bac= k then, and he was too=20 busy with work to be with me for the trip to and from work.=E2=80=9D Martha= looked=20 up and locked eyes with Lois. =E2=80=9CIt was his way of taking care of me.= He=20 didn=E2=80=99t ask permission, because love gave him that permission.=E2=80= =9D =E2=80=9CWhy do I think you didn=E2=80=99t feel that way at first?=E2=80=9D=20= Lois asked quietly. =E2=80=9CBecause I was furious,=E2=80=9D Martha admitted with a laugh. =E2= =80=9CAll that money on=20 something we could do without. But Jonathan told me it was all about=20 choices. He chose to keep me safe, and after that I had to choose how to=20 feel about it=E2=80=A6 whether to be angry, or to be grateful.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CYou made the right choice,=E2=80=9D Lois told her. =E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99ve always thought so,=E2=80=9D Martha grinned once more,=20= holding up one of the=20 papers she=E2=80=99d been glancing at. =E2=80=9CThis one looks pretty good,= =E2=80=9D she suggested.=20 =E2=80=9CInteresting, and it doesn=E2=80=99t have many grammar errors.=E2= =80=9D Lois took the paper from Martha and glanced over it. She was right; it was=20= a=20 good story. The spelling and grammar were acceptable, the form correct, and=20 the size just about right for the space she was looking to fill. =E2=80=9CTh= anks,=E2=80=9D=20 she said with a grin. Martha shrugged. =E2=80=9CDid I tell you that I spent a couple of years as=20= class mom=20 for Clark=E2=80=99s class? Oh, I didn=E2=80=99t do a lot, but the teacher l= oved to have me=20 grade papers, especially the essays. I got to be pretty handy with a red=20 pen.=E2=80=9D Lois raised her eyebrows, and realized she faced a choice. She could accept= =20 help from someone who was offering it with genuine interest, or she could=20 forge alone until she finally fell on her butt. With a sheepish smile =E2=80=93 because accepting help went against everythi= ng Lois=20 believed in =E2=80=93 she passed the red pen to Martha. *** =E2=80=9C=E2=80=A6I had the best of intentions, Clark. But I missed one of=20= the steps. I=20 didn=E2=80=99t tell her what I was doing it for.=E2=80=9D Jonathan laughed=20= as he took=20 another bite from his donut and then finished his story. =E2=80=9CWe didn= =E2=80=99t speak=20 for five days. I really thought she might leave me.=E2=80=9D He leaned for= ward=20 then, the fear still in his expression after more than thirty years. =E2= =80=9CI had=20 a choice to make, Clark. I could hang on to my pride, or I could explain=20 what I was doing, and why.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CYou chose to tell her,=E2=80=9D Clark thought aloud. Jonathan shrugged. =E2=80=9CShe had a point. She thought she could keep he= rself=20 safe, and that she could should be responsible for herself. Me=E2=80=A6 I s= aw us as=20 a team, even that early in the marriage. I guess I=E2=80=99m a little old f= ashioned=20 that way, but it didn=E2=80=99t make sense for her to try to do it alone.= =E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CHow=E2=80=99d mom feel about it?=E2=80=9D Clark asked. =E2=80=9CWell, she didn=E2=80=99t exactly agree, but she did understand. Sh= e=E2=80=99s a reasonable=20 woman when she=E2=80=99s given a chance.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CThe problem is, I don=E2=80=99t have any idea how she=E2=80=99ll ta= ke it.=E2=80=9D He sat down=20 and gave a derisive laugh. =E2=80=9CI don=E2=80=99t know much the last few=20= days. I can=E2=80=99t=20 put the pieces together, and she=E2=80=99s not there to help me. I know she= =E2=80=99s under=20 a lot of pressure, and I need to be supportive, but I just want to ask her t= o=20 slow down and be my partner again.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CYou=E2=80=99ve gotten used to batting ideas around with her,=E2=80= =9D Jonathan said. =E2=80=9CIt=20 makes sense that you=E2=80=99d be out-of-practice in doing it for yourself.=20= You just=20 need to find someone to pick up the slack.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CLike Ralph?=E2=80=9D Clark said sarcastically. =E2=80=9CI don=E2= =80=99t think so.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CHe can=E2=80=99t be the only reporter in the place,=E2=80=9D Jonath= an suggested. =E2=80=9CYou=20 like Jimmy, and I know you=E2=80=99ve worked with Hank and that other guy= =E2=80=A6 What was=20 his name?=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CEvan,=E2=80=9D Clark said thoughtfully. =E2=80=9CHank and Evan wor= k in the National News=20 section.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CYou might check with them,=E2=80=9D he suggested. =E2=80=9CThe wor= st they can do is turn=20 you down. Or, you can do it all yourself.=E2=80=9D He looked at his son wi= th a=20 small smile. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s your choice.=E2=80=9D *** Lois looked around and the diminished piles around her. =E2=80=9CI miss Cla= rk,=E2=80=9D she=20 said softly. =E2=80=9CHe could edit at superspeed.=E2=80=9D Martha looked up from what she was working on, then removed the red pen from= =20 where she had been holding it in her teeth. =E2=80=9CHave you told him that= ?=E2=80=9D Lois shrugged. =E2=80=9CI don=E2=80=99t like to admit that I can=E2=80=99t=20= do it alone,=E2=80=9D she said=20 softly. =E2=80=9CEspecially when he=E2=80=99s more qualified for this job t= han I am.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CPerry chose you,=E2=80=9D Martha reminded her. =E2=80=9CThat shoul= d tell you something.=E2=80=9D Lois shrugged. =E2=80=9CIt tells me that I had more seniority,=E2=80=9D she= admitted. =E2=80=9CBut=20 I=E2=80=99ve never edited. I=E2=80=99m really not even that good at it. Cl= ark=E2=80=99s always=20 going over my copy before I send it to Perry.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CSo, you=E2=80=99re afraid to ask him for help because he can do the= job?=E2=80=9D Martha=20 asked in confusion. =E2=80=9COr is it because you need to prove that you ca= n?=E2=80=9D Lois thought a moment before answering. =E2=80=9CMaybe both,=E2=80=9D she a= dmitted. =E2=80=9CI=20 really wanted this job =E2=80=93 the recognition and the prestige =E2=80=93=20= but I miss=20 Clark, and I miss the big stories, and I hate having to ask for help.=E2=80= =9D =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s part of the job, Lois. Do you think Perry did all of=20= this himself, or=20 did he hire the best people to depend on?=E2=80=9D Lois didn=E2=80=99t answer, but she did start to think about it. =E2=80=9CYou have to give yourselves some time,=E2=80=9D Martha told her. =20= =E2=80=9CThis is a big=20 change for you two=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D *** =E2=80=9C=E2=80=A6 You can=E2=80=99t expect to figure this out overnight,= =E2=80=9D Jonathan reminded his=20 son. =E2=80=9CBut you can do it.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=9CI guess=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D Clark said doubtfully. Jonathan leaned forward and waited until he had his son=E2=80=99s full atten= tion. =20 =E2=80=9CYou can=E2=80=99t do it if you don=E2=80=99t talk to each other,= =E2=80=9D he said softly. =E2=80=9CAnd=20 with everything you two=E2=80=99ve been through, you oughta know that better= than=20 anybody.=E2=80=9D Clark finally gave a small smile and nodded. =E2=80=9CYou=E2=80=99re right.= =E2=80=9D *** =E2=80=9CYou=E2=80=99re right,=E2=80=9D Lois conceded. Then, looking at the= empty cup on her desk=20 =E2=80=93 a desk that held considerably fewer piles than it had before =E2= =80=93 she added,=20 =E2=80=9CThanks for the coffee. And the help. Martha grinned, but then her voice became tight with emotion. =E2=80=9CYou=20= know,=20 I=E2=80=99ve always wanted the best for my son, and now I want the best for=20= my=20 daughter, too.=E2=80=9D Lois=E2=80=99 smile crumpled slightly as tears came to her eyes. It really=20= was nice=20 to have someone to talk to. Clark might not be here, and she might not have= =20 the job down pat, but she knew she had the support of everyone around her. =20 If that many people honestly believed that she could do the job, then they=20 couldn=E2=80=99t all be wrong. Lois put her arms around Martha and accepted the hug that was always there=20 for her, and the acceptance that went with it. Somehow, she was sure=20 everything was going to work out okay. (continued in part 5) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 09:37:43 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: Re: CHOICES, part 4a MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay... this is worse ... now the appostrophe's are going insane. Y'know, I'm really starting to hate the list ... none of it looked like that when I clicked "send", I swear it!! -Crys- (who is beginning to doubt the wisdom of loading MS Office 2000) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 09:50:07 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Annette Ciotola Subject: Re: CHOICES, part 4a Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Wendy, thanks for informational email. Crys, it's AOL that's doing that crap, not the list. AOL, like Word, likes to take over eveything you do. You can do one of two things: 1: Copy and paste your Text into Notepad for a simple conversion since notepad is not fancy. Then copy and paste from there to AOL email. 2: Save your file as TXT ONLY or PLAIN TXT, close your document and re open it. It usually works for me. If I don't do either of those I noramlly end up with run on word andnoton purpose. ;) Anne ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 15:06:52 +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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A very interesting question, Yvonne, and one which still has me thinking today! While I enjoy a lot of elseworlds, and am therefore not as resistant as some people to changes in canon or the personalities of our characters, I do have my limits. I've read - even written - stories which change some elements of Lois or Clark's histories. And I've read and enjoyed stories which had them following careers other than reporting - eg Raconteur's Lifeflight and Chris Carr's wip in which Alt-Clark is a lawyer, for example. And I wrote a story in which the characters were actors, not reporters, and in which their backgrounds were different so their characters were, correspondingly, a little different - though I made sure that there were references to the original Lois and Clark, and later had those two characters meet the originals. Does that mean that a writer can put either or both lead characters into any job they like, and give them any family background they like, and give them any personality traits they like, and I'd still be happy to accept them as Lois and Clark? Well... no. I can accept a Clark who is changed in his personality by the nature of his upbringing - Mobile Richard's great Life in a Different World series is a great example of that. A Lois who is not scarred by an unhappy family life and relationships which went sour can also be interesting; Pam did that nicely in In Any Universe. As far as careers are concerned, I *prefer* my Lois and Clark to be reporters; it does take quite a leap to get me to accept them in different roles. Much as I enjoyed Lifeflight, it took a while for the story to grow on me. Likewise, Duet, an elseworld which Shayne is now posting on the message boards, took a couple of sections to grow on me as I was beta-reading. I think I can take different careers so long as the basic character traits which define the Lois and Clark I know and love are more or less intact. Without those, the story could be written about any two people, to whom the author has simply ascribed the names Lois and Clark. Superman has to be integral to the character of Clark, too, and be meaningful to Lois; and Clark has to want to use his powers to do good, whether or not he's already invented the character. A mere mention of powers just in passing isn't enough to convince me that this is Clark. So, yes, there are some changes which could be made to either or both characters which are a step too far for me. But yet for other people the changes I can't accept are perfectly reasonable. And, as we've seen, some readers can't accept the kind of changes to the characters which I'm happy with. So I suppose that, in general, there isn't really a definitive answer to your question, Yvonne! Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yvonne Connell" To: Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 7:24 PM Subject: What makes Clark Clark? OK, where do I start? The question is this - what are the essential characteristics a person must have before you'll accept that he's Clark Kent, or at least, a version of Clark Kent? What can you change about his history, his character, his friends and family etc, and still end up with a person who is recognisably that guy who was sent out into a space by his Kryptonian parents in a tiny capsule destined for Earth. Or is it possible to change even some of those details and still end up with a Clark Kent? You can answer the same question for Lois Lane if you like . I'll keep this short by not going into a long explanation as to why I'm posing the question, but if you want to know, just ask :) Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 14:32:08 +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: Re: A Friendly Little Game of..., Epilogue MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Awwwww. That was so sweet! Nic ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 15:06:45 +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: Re: CHOICES MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Great story, I can't wait to get to the really *really* new stuff. (As opposed to the *really* new stuff, or the just plain new stuff ). Nic ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 15:11:16 +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: Re: Charade: Epilogue MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I see a loose end! Arriana! That is one heck of a loose end... Good ending, I loved CJ's appearance. Nic ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 15:21:56 +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: Re: NEW: Imbalance Part 13 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Great installment, as usual. > [I dunno about hypnosis or telepathy, but Clark's sure having an > *effect* on Lois... But then, Mad Dog Lane has been known to have > an effect of her own on people she encounters... And next time, > you'll get to see this effect on a poor, unsuspecting real estate > agent. Oh, I can't wait! > Oh, and Nigel's still out there, thinking hard...] Good. It would be terribly awkward if he had dissappeared in a puff of blue smoke... Nic ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 11:54:37 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: CHOICES: part 5a MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable (continued from 4b) Clark exited the elevator with Ralph, who was talking a mile a minute about=20 something that Clark couldn't care less about. He really had to talk to Loi= s=20 soon. Ralph's monologue finally came to an end as Clark split away to head=20 for his wife's office. Her head came up just as he approached the doorway, almost as though she wer= e=20 the one with super senses. He smiled softly as he met her eyes, mouthed a=20 silent "I love you", and then moved into the office behind Jimmy and Kevin. Clark actually liked Kevin. He was young, but his energy was sensible and h= e=20 wasn't over-eager. =20 "... I'm not saying the bridge collapse isn't news, it's just not column one= ,=20 that's all," Lois was explaining. "Personally, I'd go with the subway story. I mean, It's local news, and we=20 are a commuter paper..." Jimmy added as he filled Lois' cup with coffee from= =20 the pot he'd brought in. "'Course, nobody asked me." Kevin looked over at Lois, who had focused her attention on Clark as he=20 entered. "Lois...?" "Hmm? Uh, the subway?" She thought a minute, then continued. "No, it was=20 all over last night's TV news. It's ancient history already. What else do=20 we have?" As the men argued over what was the best idea, Lois focused her attention=20 once more on Clark. "Anything?" she mouthed to him. He shrugged, and she finally just stood up and walked over to him while the=20 men wrestled with ideas. "Hey, you," she said softly. "Thanks for the pancakes." "You're welcome." "Anything on the kidnapping or the computer incidents?" He shrugged again. "Maybe," he admitted, but I can't quite pin it down. Ca= n=20 I borrow Kevin for a few minutes?" Lois looked startled. "What about Ralph?" she asked, some humor slipping=20 into her voice. "I think he's ready to work on his own," Clark suggested a little too=20 seriously. "How about we send him to meet a source of mine." "Source?" she asked. "Yeah, source. Poor guy hides out in the sewers. Tough to find, though," h= e=20 said with a sly grin. "Might take him all day to do it, if the source can b= e=20 found at all." Lois grinned widely. "Main and fiftieth?" she asked, trying to keep the=20 laughter out of her voice so she didn't disrupt the heated discussion=20 occurring over her desk. "Right under the sewage processing plant," he agreed. "Lucky Mel likes to=20 hide out there." "Lucky Mel?" she asked. "You'd like him," Clark told her. "He's evasive, but worth the effort." The gleam in Clark's eye was almost enough to set Lois off in a fit of=20 giggles, but she managed to restrain herself. "Kev," she called out over th= e=20 discussion. "I need you to back Clark on something. Jimmy, I need to you=20 deliver a message to Ralph." *** "Ms. Lane?" Kevin called out softly. Lois pulled her attention from the typeset before her and smiled at the=20 reporter. He was a good worker. "Didn't I send you off with Clark?" she=20 asked in confusion. "Yeah. He had to take off and do something, so he sent me back here with a=20 message. We think we found a way to connect the kidnapping with the compute= r=20 accidents." Lois stood up, hoping this really was a message from Clark, rather than just= =20 wishful thinking on the part of a desperate editor. "How's that?" she asked= =20 as she walked towards Kevin. "Eric Press called STAR Labs' confidential modem line from his computer the=20 day before he disappeared," Kevin told her. "I don't understand." "I don't either, really," Kevin admitted. "But Clark has Jimmy trying to ge= t=20 into Press' home computer to find out what he wanted from STAR Labs." Before he'd finished his sentence, the photographer in question squeezed=20 around him and through the doorway. "Hey, Lois. I checked the recently=20 downloaded programs that Clark wanted to know about," he began. Kevin nodde= d=20 for him to continue, letting him know silently that he'd already filled thei= r=20 boss in on the situation. "What did you get, Jimmy?" she asked urgently, not even trying to keep the=20 worry out of her voice. *** Superman had set down into another bout of chaos at the Weapons Center. The= =20 running technicians, screaming alarms, and warning lights all gave him the=20 distinct feeling of d=E9j=E0 vu. He hadn't really wanted to leave Kevin to follow up on his suspicions, but=20 he'd learned long ago that when alarms were sounding, Superman was=20 desperately needed. Kevin was a good kid, and he knew that he would bring=20 Lois up to date on what they'd found. Meanwhile, Jimmy was tackling the=20 research end of the investigation, and he was fairly sure it would all work=20 out. Clark was reminded that while he could do it all alone, it was a lot=20 easier to have help along the way. *** Ethan Press smiled at action on the monitor before him. "This looks like a=20 job for Superman to me! Now remember, Eric, our timing must be very precise= .=20 The window of opportunity..." Ethan's voice trailed off as he caught movement from the corner of his eye.=20 Eric was headed out of the motor home. Ethan reached over and yanked this=20 brother back inside even as he slammed the door shut. "I thought we discussed this already, Eric," he began. "Wait," the younger man interrupted. "Ethan, I can explain..." Ethan didn't wait for an explanation. He tossed his brother's form onto the= =20 floor of the motor home with a decisive thump, and instantly pounced on top=20 of him to pin Eric's arms and legs. "No, Ethan," Eric called out as his brother moved into the familiar position= .=20 "Not the typewriter!" "'Fraid so," Ethan informed him as he began to mime speed-typing on Eric's=20 face while making typewriter sounds. =20 Eric turned his head from side to side in a futile attempt to escape. "No!"= =20 he called out. "Not the carriage return!" "Ding!" Ethan sing-songed as he smacked his brother upside the head, as=20 though he were indeed hitting an old-fashioned carriage return. "Ouch!" Eric cried out. "Knock it off!" Eric wriggled his arms free and=20 managed to shove Ethan off him, then scrambled away. Ethan pushed himself immediately to his feet, but was surprised to find Eric= =20 was already standing in front of him and pointing the Disbander towards him=20 at point blank range. "I've had it, Ethan," Eric said loudly. "I'm tired of you beating me up and= =20 telling me what to do. No more!" "C'mon Eric," Ethan cajoled. "Just put that down..." Eric brandished the weapon excitedly. "I swear to God, Ethan. I'll shoot=20 you. I will!" Ethan smiled. "Really?" he inquired. "Okay, go ahead. Shoot." He put his= =20 hands up in the traditional stickup position. "I dare you." "Don't tempt me," Eric muttered. "Oh, but that's exactly what I want to do," Ethan admitted. "Tempt you. Se= e=20 what you're made of. See if you've got the Press Family Spine, or if you're= =20 still just the weak runt of the litter I could've snuffed out in your crib=20 any number of times." He took a step closer to the armed man. "C'mon. Be=20= a=20 man," he taunted. "Pull the trigger. Chicken." A look of regret crossed Eric's face as he carefully aimed the weapon. =20 "Good-bye, Ethan," he said softly. To Ethan's utter surprise - and delight - Eric pulled the trigger. =20 Nothing happened. Eric tried to fire it again and again, but still nothing. He looked down at= =20 the weapon in panic, and then back up at his brother. Ethan was smiling=20 widely, holding a plug-in micro-chip with his fingers. "I disarmed it," Ethan explained. "You know, just in case." With that, he=20 jerked the weapon from his brother's hands. "No, no, don't feel bad Eric.=20 You point was, nevertheless, made. You turned an emotional corner; it was=20 cathartic. You stood up to me. You rose to the challenge. You've graduate= d=20 to be my equal." He swung an arm around his brother and hugged him with=20 pride in his voice. "Try that again, little brother," he explained. "And=20 I'll rip you to shreds and turn you into shark bait." =20 Ethan released his brother, and then turned back to the monitor. "Now," he=20 said with finality. "Let's go kill Superman, shall we?" *** (continued in 5b) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 11:55:36 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: CHOICES, part 5b MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit (continued from part 5a) *** "He has Superman's medical records," Jimmy said urgently. "All Dr. Klein's classified files on how his powers work." Lois looked at Jimmy in shock. "Why would he want that?" she asked ominously. Jimmy shrugged, but his urgency didn't diminish. "I don't know," he admitted. "But it can't be good for Superman, that's for sure." Lois jerked her eyes to Jimmy's as she though aloud. "The lab explosion... The rocket... What if those were all test to see if..." She glanced at Jimmy's shocked expression, then the matching one on Kevin's face, as her fears were confirmed. "Oh my God," she said dramatically. "Clark was right all along..." Lois grabbed her purse and headed for the door to her office without preamble. As she squeezed between Jimmy and Kevin, she was digging for her keys to the jeep. "Where's Clark," she asked urgently. "I'm not sure," Kevin admitted. "He just said something about the Rocket center or something, I don't know..." But, Lois did. "Clark," she whispered softly, bolting towards the elevator. *** "Superman, it's happening again," the technician called out frantically. Clark heard the scream even over the din of the alarms, and turned to face the person yelling at him. "Only this time it's the nuclear warhead!" he added as he pointed towards the building. "In the silo!" Clark suddenly new why the scene was even more chaotic than it had been previously. "Alright," he concluded. "I'll fly it into space." The technician shook his head emphatically. "Wait, no! It's pressure sensitive. As soon as you hit the stratosphere, she'll blow!" Clark thought a moment more. If he couldn't take it up, he'd have to take it down. "Where do you put your nuclear waste?" he asked quickly. Containment facilities were built to the stringent standards. Built to house nuclear was for the hundreds of years necessary for it to lose it's deadly characteristics, the concrete walls were several feet think, radiation absorbing material formed the lining, and hopefully it would have enough strength to withstand an internal nuclear blast. "In the silo," the technician told him. "There's a mile deep well. If it's all the same to you," the man added, "I'd like to run for my life now!" As the technician took off, Clark wondered how a man so intelligent could be such an idiot. If he wasn't able to contain it, this blast would take out everything for ten miles in any direction, and poison the air and water for another hundred. There would be no running from this, only stopping it. Clark entered the concrete silo to see the rocket sitting ominously on it's pad, pointing up at the sky which was visible through open hatch doors. Maybe it would explode at the stratosphere, he thought, but that very well might be worse. The last thing that they needed was a radiation-poisoned atmosphere that would kill every living thing around the world, rather than just here on the East Coast. A computerized voice counted off the liftoff sequence even as Clark examined the nitrogen tanks that were spewing coolent out of their hoses. He moved around the cloud of nitrogen, using super vision to locate the vault-sized well hatch. He worked his way over to the hatch and spun the wheel to open it, then he moved towards the rocket. It took some careful manuvering, as well as all his considerable strength, to remove the rocket from it's launching platform. Once that was done, he flew the rocket carefully into the tube, making sure that despite his speed he didn't touch it into the walls of the cavern. As the world slowed around him, he negotiated the deadly projectile far into the underground chamber. He delivered the rocket to the end of the cavern, and then sped back out to the silo, slamming the hatch closed. He had seen the light before he felt the wave of heat that seemed to move through him and up towards the surface. He pressed all his weight against the closed hatch, forcing it to remain closed against the explosion even as the silo rumbled around him. And he said a silent prayer that the hatch he had closed would be strong enough to withstand the blast. Oh God, he thought suddenly. If it didn't, Lois would die. His parents would die. It had to hold. This had to work. He pressed his body closer to the metal hatch that separated all of Metropolis from certain death. Clark was so intent on his task that he didn't notice the darkening of the silo. Finally feeling the vibration end, he pulled back enough to see the hatch doors at the top of the silo closing, only to plunge the silo into total darkness until the emergency lights flashed on. It must be a safety feature, Clark thought as he gazed around the concrete space that was lit with only the red glare of the lights. Still, the light was enough that he saw the figure of a man without the assistance of his super vision. "See, Eric," the man said as he brandished what appeared to be a high-tech weapon. "Didn't I tell you that he'd save the day." The man faced him, a slightly off center grin on his face, as he spoke clearly. "Superhero's are so predicable." Perhaps it was the fatigue from his mental and emotional task of holding the explosion at bay, or perhaps it was simply the lack of sunlight above him, but Clark began to feel slightly uneasy. Crossing his arms in front of him, taking up the characteristic Superman pose, he faced stood before the man with the weapon even as his gaze traveled to a younger, less confident form. "Eric?" he asked. "As in Eric Press?" "I swear, Superman," the man exclaimed. "I never wanted anything to do with this." "Oh stop groveling. Anyway, you're wasting your mea culpas on him; he won't be around long enough to exonerate you. To wit..." The man who had spoken turned the weapon towards him and fired, blasting him with a bolt of electricity that enveloped him and then began to slowly tear him apart. He grimaced as the pain ripped through his body, but as soon as the blast stopped his body seemed to come together back into its original form. He felt dazed then, off balance, but he was still alive. "Totally cool," his shooter said with a grin. "I wonder if there's a video game in it..." The man aimed the weapon a second time. "Now, lets see if you can handle a second blast." *** Just before the weapon fired, Clark shot a small beam of heat vision at the nearest red emergency light. It wasn't much, but it was all the energy he had. The room fell into darkness, and he threw himself to the side. Clark watched as a beam of energy lit up the darkened silo, dissipating into nothingness. "Did you hit him?" the youngest man, Eric Press if Clark's unanswered question was correct, called out into the room. His voice echoed wildly in the confined, darkened space. Clark spared a thought that concrete walls shouldn't echo, and realized how depleted his reserves of energy must be if his mind was wondering this badly. "I don't know," the shooter called out, bringing Clark back to the moment. "I think so." Clark used what little x-ray vision he had to see them straining to find him. Eric panicked as a shadow seemed to move, and called out frantically, "Over there!" The shooter fired again. *** Lois pulled the Cherokee to a stop in front of the Rocket Center and jumped out frantically. "Clark..." she yelled. Her head swung sideways as a muffled blast seemed to come from inside the structure. She ran towards it and tried to lift the roll-top entrance to the silo. As another blast seemed to shake the walls of the building, she struggled with the door with more urgency. She had to get it open. She had to! Something told her that her Clark was in there, and she had to get to him somehow. *** Ethan and Eric moved cautiously around the silo. They couldn't see anything, nor could they hear anything besides an inconsistent rattling of the main silo door. "I think I got him," Ethan said hopefully. "You sure?" Eric didn't sound as optimistic. Suddenly, Superman dropped down from directly above them, arms folded, and a very angry expression on his face. Ethan's gulp was audible. "Nope." Superman grabbed the Disbander and flung it out of Ethan's hands. It slammed into the wall of the silo, clattering as it fell to the ground. "Looks live you boys've got a lot... of explaining... to do." Superman staggered slightly, reeling from the force he'd been hit with. He sagged against a pillar, drained. "Well, well look at this, Eric," Ethan said with a smile. "It worked after all." He turned to Superman before continuing. "I'll give you credit, though, Supes. Nuked at point blank range, took all those blasts... and look at you, you're still kicking... barely." Ethan moved cautiously toward the fallen Superhero. "'Course, the bad news is that your super reserves are all but tapped out, and it's not exactly sunny in here, is it?" Eric cut across his brother's words. "Ethan, c'mon, we can't let Superman die!" "Sure we can," Ethan corrected with a shrug. "And the best part of it is, we get to watch?" Ethan moved towards the weapon that Superman had taken away from him as he continued. "Amazing, isn't it? Of all the villains who've wanted you dead, I'm going to get the one to pull it off - a spoiled dilettante with too much time on my hands." He looked over at Superman with a final smile. "Lex would be so proud." Superman's eyes left Ethan long enough to send a beam of heat towards the switch to the silo doors. Sparks flew in every directions as the room became more light. Above them, the silo hatch moved to open, flooding the room with sunshine "Oh, no," Ethan muttered softly. Superman moved in superspeed, wrapping a pipe around the brothers to immobilize them, and then he came to a stop in front of their bound bodies. "Oh, yes," he told them firmly. All heads turned towards a loud revving sound, then Lois' jeep came blasting through the roll-top door and slid to a stop. Lois jumped out of the jeep, her expression concerned, frightened, excited, and probably a few other things as well. "Lois, what are you doing here?" Superman asked, shock clear in his voice. "I came to," she began, and then she looked around. "Save you?" "Does this mean you're caught up at work?" he asked with clear affection. Lois nodded, and then her face became serious. "Are you okay?" Superman looked at her for a moment before answering, then finally said, "Now I am." As they shared a smile, Eric glared at his brother. "Great, wait'll Dad finds out about this. He's gonna kill us!" (continued in part 6) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 08:56:56 -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: Episode Question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit LOL, Debby. I imagine the dumpster episode wasn't exactly the kind of "contact" that Lois appreciated. Nan Debby wrote: > So much for a sense of humor and creative play on words... > > Debby > dls@thuntek.net > has other things to do > > At 06:22 AM 07/23/2001 -0700, you wrote: > >That was "Contact". > > > >Nan > > > >Jill Kaye wrote: > > > >> >At 06:47 PM 07/17/2001 +0000, you wrote: > >> >>Here's another question to test your knowledge of series canon. ;-) I > was > >> >>wondering: in which episode does Clark dump Lois 'for her own good'? > And > >> >>what was the event that spurred that action? > >> >> > >> >>Thanks!!! > >> >> > >> >>Bethy > >> > > >> >Depending on what you mean by "dump" the first episode I thought of > wherein > >> >this happend was season one's "I've Got a Crush on You", where CK dumped > Lois > >> >in a Dumpster to protect her because he knew that Lex had recognized her > >> >despite her being disguised in a revealing evening gown. > >> > > >> >Debby > >> >dls@thuntek.net > >> > >> Sorry, forgot to tell you the reason. It was because Lois was hurt when he > >> was saving some bad guys. He still saved her life but failed to keep her > >> from being hurt. > >> ~Larissa~ > > and > > >I think you mean "Contact" :) > >~Larissa~ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 12:21:17 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: CHOICES, part 5b MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit YIPPEE YIPPEE YIPPEE IT WORKED!! IT WORKED!! IT WORKED!! So, now we know... Save in txt, close MS Word, open in notepad, THEN copy and paste :) Gee... wonder why THAT was so hard to figure out :/ Enjoy! And thanks to EVERYONE for all their help! Now I know :) -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 11:18:27 -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: CHOICES MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ditto Nic!!!!! CM On Tue, 24 Jul 2001 15:06:45 +0100 Nicola Baker writes: > Great story, I can't wait to get to the really *really* new stuff. > (As > opposed to the *really* new stuff, or the just plain new stuff ). > > Nic ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 11:19:34 -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: NEW: Imbalance Part 13 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > > Oh, and Nigel's still out there, thinking hard...] > > Good. It would be terribly awkward if he had dissappeared in a puff > of blue > smoke... But life would be so much less complicated... Wonderful as always! More soon please Phil!!!!!!!! CM(who's glad Phil is posting on tues!) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 12:07:52 -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: CHOICES, part 5b MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh much better Chris! Can't wait to see what you've got planned next! CM ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 13:26:00 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: CHOICES: part 6 (conclusion) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit (continued from part 5b) Lois lane smiled as she read the advance copy of tomorrow's Daily Planet. Above the brilliant photo of Superman escorting Ethan and Eric Press out of the bunker, the headline read, "SUPERMAN STOPS THE PRESSES". There was a subheading below that announcing, "BROTHERS CHARGED WITH MURDER, ESPIONAGE." The by-line read: By Clark Kent and Kevin Reynolds. Jimmy looked over her shoulder, a smile on his face. "Looks like a lead story to me," Lois admitted. "So, no corrections?" Jimmy asked, his eyes flashing up to hers. "Wait, shouldn't the by-line have Lois' name on it too? She did put together some of the pieces." Lois shook her head. "No," she said firmly. "Kevin backed you up on this one. I may have put two and two together, but he's the one that found out we were working with twos in the first place." Clark glanced sideways to Kevin, who was staring at the ground and trying desperately not to blush. He wasn't terribly successful. "I think it was kind of a team effort," he said, his voice quiet but clear. "That's how we do things at a Major Metropolitan Newspaper, Kevin," she said in her best imitation of Perry White. "We all work together, and we get it done. No one can do it alone." Then, glancing at Clark she added, "Not even me." Handing the page back to Jimmy, she nodded her approval. "Let's get this down there by deadline," she told him firmly. He grinned at her, then rushed to comply. "Uh-oh," Kevin said carefully. "I'm gonna go make myself scarce." He slipped out of the room before Lois could see what he was talking about. Even at that, she smelled the intrusion before she saw him. Ralph entered her office slowly. His feet squished, his clothes were filthy, and what little was left of his hair was plastered around his face. "I had a little trouble finding your source, Kent," he said as he brushed at his ruined plaid jacket. "Apparently he knew that the sewage plant made their dump right at the time I was scheduled to meet with him." Ralph looked over at Lois, who had given Jimmy the message that had sent him to wallow in the sewers for the better part of four hours. "Imagine that," he said sarcastically. "These things happen, Ralph," Clark told him with a falsely regretful look. "It's all a part of looking for a story." "The legwork of reporting," Lois agreed, trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. "Yeah," Ralph said, but it didn't sound like agreement. "Y'know, Ralph," Clark said thoughtfully. "You really should keep a spare set of clothes in your locker." He looked over at Lois and winked. "It's what I do." Ralph glared once more as he turned his back and squished out of the office. Clark managed to reach over and shut the door before he and Lois dissolved into peals of laughter. "I can't believe you did that," Clark said as he tried to bring himself under control. "I got the idea from you," she admitted. "At least he didn't spend the entire night at the Metropolis Sewage Reclamation Facility. I thought those mosquito bites would never heal up." "You didn't wear pantyhose for a week," he remembered aloud, his expression softening. "Hey, it was your life lesson," she told him. "You can be just as devious as I am. Besides, you're the one that suggested I get him out of your way. You even picked the place, so you can't blame me." He looked at her solemnly for a moment, and then they both burst out laughing once more. "He really deserved it," Clark decided. "The sewers aren't as slimy as he is," Lois agreed, and once more they were laughing. "Hey, am I interrupting something?" Perry asked as he ducked his head in the door. "Not a thing, Chief," Clark said with a grin. "What are you doing down here?" Lois asked in delight. "I just thought I'd stop by, see how things were going..." He looked away for a moment as his voice trailed off. "God, I love the smell of ink in the morning." Lois and Clark just smiled. It didn't matter if it wasn't morning, or if the office had Lois' things instead of Perry's, he was still the Chief, and this was still his place. "Look, Perry..." Lois began. "Now, Lois..." Perry said at the same time. The laughed a moment, deferred to one another, and then Lois said, "Please. Go ahead." "Aw, look, I won't beat around the bush here, Lois. Truth is, I miss the newsroom something awful. After thirty some odd years of being down here, I guess it's just become a part of me..." "Perry..." Lois began again. Perry's voice didn't halt. "Now, I don't want you to think I'm asking you to step aside, because I'm not. I'm just saying, speding the last coupla days upstairs with all them fancy suits, sipping lattes and taking lunches, is not my style." "Chief, let Lois..." "Now, what I'm proposing here is this..." he put in, railroading over Clark's objections as well. "Lois, you and I both run the paper together. Partners, Editors-in-Chief. What do you say?" Lois looked a moment at Perry's hopeful face, then she locked gazes with her husband. She smiled, he returned it, and then they both faced Perry. "I say..." Lois told him, looking back over at Clark for support, "I've already got a partner, Perry." Perry's face fell, but he forced a smile. "Okay, well, it was worth a shot..." "You don't understand," she interrupted. "I don't want to be Editor anymore." "No," he told her. "I understand, it's... what?" "I mean, you can have your old job back," Lois clarified, glancing once more to Clark for encouragement and approval, "If I can have mine back, too. I think I missed being a reporter as much as you missed being in the newsroom." "You're sure about this?" Perry asked, excitement replacing the doubt in his voice. "Positive!" "Deal!" Perry said enthusiastically. The thrust out his hand to shake Lois', then Clark's as well. Ralph burst into the office, drawing the attention of all three people there by both his voice and his stench. "Lois, I gotta talk to you! I got this killer scoop, guaranteed headline. Even better than the mayor story..." "What the Sam Hill..." Perry asked, his gaze flashing from a filthy Ralph to his two best reporters. "Don't tell me, tell Perry," Lois instructed. "He's the editor." With that, Lois grabbed her nameplate in one hand, and her husband's hand with the other, and quickly exited the office with Clark close behind. "What..." Ralph said, looking dazed. After a moment, he turned back to Perry at full throttle. "Perry, swear to God, you're really gonna love this..." Perry rolled his eyes heavenward as he sat down behind his desk and made a quick mental list of what had to be done. He didn't even bother listening as Ralph droned on, because he'd heard it all before. Lois set her nameplate on her desk, and then glanced over at Clark's desk and the nameplate that matched hers. "Can we go home and talk?" she asked. Clark followed her gaze to the namplates, his and hers, on matching desks, as it should be. "Sure," he said softly. He picked up his coat, and moved to follow his wife, who had done the same. With his hand at the small of her back, an unconsciously protective gesture, they moved towards the elevator. "Hey, C.K., check it out," Jimmy said when the elevator doors opened and he moved out towards his friends. "Looks like Darlene wasn't out to get me after all." He gestured to the vending machines where Darlene was talking with one of the copy boys, his arm around her shoulders. "Guess I was a little paranoid, huh?" he admitted. "I think you've seen too many movies," Clark agreed. Jimmy laughed lightly as he watched them step into the elevator he'd just exited. "Good night, guys." The doors closed and Jimmy began to cross the newsroom. He passed by Darlene and the boy that was apparently her new boyfriend as they moved towards the elevator. "Don't forget to lock your doors at night," Darlene recommended as she passed him. Jimmy turned to look, but she and her companion were already in the elevator with the doors closing. His face fell as he was left staring at the elevator doors. Lois leaned on the banister railing, looking up at the night sky. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been home before midnight. Had really only been a few days? Clark was next to her, leaning backwards against the rail and smiling softly as he watched her. God, she had missed this. "Kinda scary, huh?" she asked him. "How quickly things can seem to fall apart." "I don't know," he offered, taking her hand. "I think we did okay, all things considered." She smiled at him, then lowered her eyes. "I really wasn't ready for it, Clark," she admitted. "I thought I could manage it, but it was so..." "Huge?" he supplied. "Yeah," she agreed. "I was afraid that if I asked for help it would be seen as a weakness, so I just kept getting deeper and deeper into it." "You would have pulled it together," he assured her. "It was a big change in a short time, and you really didn't give yourself the benefit of the doubt." "Maybe," she admitted, begrudgingly. "But I'm glad we don't have to find out. That job destroyed Perry's marriage. I don't want to risk ours." "We would have been fine," Clark said as he eased her into his arms. "As long as we keep talking to each other, keeping one another in mind, there isn't much that can tear us down." "I missed you," she told him softly, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. "Mmmm," he purred. "I missed you, too. Things just didn't come together without you being there." "That's why we make a great team," she told him. "I think, and you do." "Kevin was a decent thinker, too. In a few years he'll make a hell of a reporter." "Yeah," she agreed. "I'm sorry I gave you someone to babysit instead of someone to work with. I don't know what I was thinking." She closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest. "I even wanted to take you off the story," she added. "You were looking out for the paper," he acknowledged. "I should have been looking out for you." "Isn't that what you're doing now?" he asked with a smile as his hands crept up her back. "Does this mean things can get back to normal?" she asked hopefully. "Yeah, I think it does," Clark said between small kisses that he placed on her cheek, her nose, the base of her throat. "Mmmm" she moaned. "Right there." His hands had moved up to rub her back, strong fingers gently kneading the knots that days of tension had caused. "Anybody watching?" he asked softly, his words a mere breath in her ear. Lois reluctantly lifted her head, glancing around, then laid it back on his shoulder. "No," she told him. "Why." He kissed her then, really kissed her, and then lifted her into his arms. Before she realized his intention, he swept her inside at superspeed, the door slamming shut behind them. The night eased down over Metropolis, a city that was once more able to go one about it's business because a Superhero and a tenacious reporter were willing to watch out for them... and willing to watch out for themselves. THE END Author's notes: After a bit of research, I wound up back at the Pilot script. Yes, Clark was the editor of the Smallville Press, not the Borneo Gazette, at least according to the script. Thanks to everyone on IRC for helping me figure that out! ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 13:44:20 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Annette Ciotola Subject: Re: CHOICES: part 6 (conclusion) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This was really terrific, Crys! Although, the other writers probably need to teach you a few more tricks ... like how to post a story to ready draaaaaaaaaag out the suspense ... I'll nominate Wendy, Erin, and Zoom for *that* job .. /me runs out of their reach Anne ;) Just remember, it's all fun and games until someone in the peanut gallery get's hurt. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 13:58:02 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: CHOICES: part 6 (conclusion) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/24/2001 1:44:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time, AMCiotola@AOL.COM writes: << Although, the other writers probably need to teach you a few more tricks ... like how to post a story to ready draaaaaaaaaag out the suspense ... I'll nominate Wendy, Erin, and Zoom for *that* job .. >> No thanks... I'll settle for having it done and overwith so I can do something else . I have an x-men editor that wants me to do a L&C/X-men crossover... can we say OY!! I swear if anyone else suggested I'd run screaming, but this turkey has me actually considering it! What is life coming to :/ -Crys- (who will someday get Min for this) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 18:43:36 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bethy Em Subject: Re: Episode Question Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Thank you Juliet, Adam, Laura, Natascha, Debby, Larissa, and Nan for all your help. Yes, Contact was the episode I was looking for. And Debby, I did get and appreciate your play on words. :) That wasn't exactly the kind of 'dumping' I intended, but, LOL. Thanks! Bethy _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 18:53:07 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bethy Em Subject: NEW: And by the way... (1/2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed And by the way... By Bethy Rated PG FDK welcome on the list or at bethyem@yahoo.com. Recenty Christy posted a story on the message boards based on the song Austin, by Blake Shelton. I loved her story, but my mind also immediately headed into 'what if?' territory...The result? What you know hold in your hands...er, see on your screens. The story starts after the episode Contact, in which Clark dumps Lois, “for her own good.” I would like to thank Christy, because without her original take on the song, this idea would never have even entered my mind. So, thank-you, Christy. (And yes, I already asked her and she gave me permission to post this. So thank-you again, Christy!) Oh, and thanks for all that encouragement to make me write! I’d also like to thank my mom and Heather for editing this. They made a few very good points about details I had missed. Without any further ado, here’s the story. And By The Way... Part One Lois banged some pots and pans down on the stove and wished she knew something productive to do with them. Since she didn’t, she settled for slamming and banging them some more. Instead of relieving her frustration though, it only served to build some more. Exasperated, she filled one pan with water, flipped on the burner, and set about looking for something to eat. A quick search through her sparse foodstuffs, however, proved fruitless. She sighed and reached into the freezer to find her trusty stash of ice cream. After turning off the stove and grabbing a spoon, Lois went into the living room and curled up on the couch. There, while stuffing her face with cold comfort, she cried the hot tears she had fought so long. Anger was easy. Though she’d never admit it, that was why it was her emotion of choice. It was defensive, protective. It cast blame and kept others out. It served as material to build up her protective wall. And kept the hurt at bay. Because hurt was different. It was sneaky. It ignored her protective walls, shot right through and went for the jugular. It brought forth insecurity, a sense of loss, and taunted her with memories of what had been and what might have been. For a brief second, anger resurged. How could he do this? Didn’t he know how much it would hurt her? Break up ‘for her own good.’ The lack of control on her part made her furious. She jabbed the spoon into the carton and savagely scooped out a giant bite. That creep. That jerk. Scuz-faced, monkey-brained nincompoop! She bit her lip and fought a new onslaught of tears. Because he was also a kind, loving, generous, honest gentleman. The ice cream was gone but her tears were not. She dazedly went into her bedroom, put on an old sweatshirt of his that still smelled like him and curled up with the teddy bear he’d won for her in Smallville. He was everywhere. He was nowhere. She cried herself to sleep. * * * The next morning, Lois applied her make-up carefully and practiced a carefree smile. She wouldn’t let him know how much he hurt her. She wouldn’t show him how much power he had over her. She couldn’t. But when she arrived at the Planet, Clark was nowhere to be seen. She assumed he was out on a rescue. After getting her own coffee, she went straight to her desk to bury herself in work. That had always been her method of dealing with pain. It had worked in the past, and it would work again. She hoped. “Lois!” Perry called. “In my office. Now.” She sighed. Why now? He hadn’t even let her turn her computer on. Perry could always see through her masks. Though he meant well, and really tried to help, she didn’t feel like facing him today. But she had no choice. Gripping her coffee cup as if it could sustain her, she went into his office. “What is it, Perry?” Better to be on the offensive, try and get him off track. “I really need to call Henderson on the Cooperton murder. He was tied up at the crime scene all day yesterday, but promised he’d talk to me today. So could you make this quick?” “Shut the door, honey, and sit down.” He acted as if he hadn’t even heard her. “Why don’t you tell me what happened between you and Clark yesterday.” She affected a confused expression but inwardly she groaned. What did he know and how could he have found out so fast? And aside from that, what business of his was it? “I don’t know what you mean, Perry.” He stared at her and she knew he knew she was lying. “I mean,” he said with exaggerated slowness, “what happened between you and Clark yesterday to make him leave me a letter of resignation, on my desk by the time I got here, so that I didn’t even have a chance to talk him ou--talk to him about it.” Lois’s eyes widened as her heart broke. He wouldn’t have, he couldn’t have...but he did. In a strangled voice she replied, “I can’t talk about it, Perry. Please.” Oh, no, here came the tears. She tightened her grip on the coffee mug and forced them back. “Don’t make me,” she whispered. His gaze softened and so did his voice. “Lois, honey, I want to help. But I can’t if I don’t know what’s going on. Talk to me!” “I can’t, Perry. I just can’t.” She looked into his eyes and pleaded with him silently. He sighed. “All right. But if you need to talk, my door’s open, okay?” She nodded and stood to go. “And, Lois? If you need any time off to work things out, just give me a holler.” “Thanks, Perry. But I’m fine.” Blindly, she left his office and returned to her desk. Clark left? She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as if that could block the pain. It didn’t work. She managed to call Henderson, get some quotes and write the story. Fortunately, it was an open-shut case -- a jealous husband murdered his cheating wife and her lover. Sad, but easy to write. She didn’t get much else done that day. * * * One week passed. Then another. And another. Each day, she expected to hear from Clark. She eagerly checked her e-mail, many times a day. The first thing she did when coming home was to check the mailbox. And when she entered her apartment, she begged the answering machine to be blinking with a message from Clark. But nothing ever came. After a few days, she swallowed her pride and called his parents. “I’m sorry, Lois,” Martha said, with what sounded like genuine regret in her voice. “He calls and checks in, sometimes flies in, too, but he won’t tell us anything about where he’s staying or what he’s doing.” “Thanks, anyway.” On the upside, though, Martha proved to be a source of strength and encouragement along the way. She may not have been able to talk any sense into Clark, but each time Lois called, she always knew the exact right thing to ease the pain. And despite the hurt it caused, Lois made Martha tell her everything about Clark’s visits and calls. “I just miss him so much, Martha.” “I know, honey, I know. I’ll tell him.” “Thanks.” And she’d hang up and cry. Her life maintained some semblance of normalcy. She went to work everyday, buried herself in her stories. She came home and ate take-out. She’d watch some TV or go to the gym to wear herself out. And every night, cuddled with her bear, she’d go to sleep with thoughts of Clark. She tried to fool people into thinking she was fine, but everyone at the Planet noticed the missing spark. Mad Dog Lane was gone because she didn’t have the energy anymore to keep up the anger. Letting in the hurt was painful, but it brought with it bittersweet memories of Clark. And for her, that was worth it. * * * Clark hung up the pay phone and looked at it with disgust. His prepaid phone card had worked wonderfully and kept his costs to a minimum, but now there was an added charge of six units just to connect. What a rip-off! Maybe he should just take a quick flight to Kansas... He sighed. Since he had left Lois, life felt empty. He didn’t have the heart to start again at another paper. In the past two years at the Daily Planet it had become home; the staff, family. He knew his resignation had hurt and baffled Perry, and probably Jimmy (unless Lois had concocted some story, which she could no doubt do better than he), but he couldn’t stay there and keep his resolve to end it with Lois. He knew that the constant bombardment of her look, her scent, her laugh, her yells, her eyes, her love, her fury...just her presence would prove him weak. Far better to avoid temptation altogether. That way she could forget about him, get on with her life (*safely*), and maybe even fall in love with someone else (oh, how that thought hurt). Definitely better for her this way. As for himself...well, Clark was content in the knowledge that she was safe. As lonely as he was, as much as he missed her...as much as it hurt, he knew her safety outweighed that small price. In the six months that he had been gone, he’d slowly expanded Superman’s daily activities to span the globe. After all, with no steady job, he had all the free time in the world. He had quit eating, since it wasn’t necessary, and usually only got an average of an hour’s sleep per twenty-four hour period. But he was still healthy and functioning fine. Except for that hole in his heart... Periodically he would stop in some rural area and get a temporary job on a farm or something else that was easy to walk away from. The money covered phone bills and clothing expenses. He didn’t need much else. He might not be living the high life, but it was living. Or at least surviving. And now, once again, as usual, his thoughts returned to Lois. He wondered what she was doing at that moment...it was late evening in Metropolis, so she was probably out on a date. *Or staying late at the Planet obsessing about a story,* a wry voice said in his head. *Or off on some dangerous, foolhardy, crazy undercover assignment,* another voice remarked. *Or sitting home crying into a carton of double chocolate brownie ice cream,* yet a third said. He told them all to shut up. That was *not* a good direction to let his thoughts wander. Instead he thought of his parents. Every time he called or returned home, his parents urged him to contact Lois (there he went again, thinking of Lois), Jonathan subtly and Martha bluntly. “You’d better hurry before she gets on with her life, Clark. She won’t wait forever,” Martha admonished over and over. “That’s what I want, Mom. For her to get on with her life. It’s better for her that way.” *And I just have to live with that.* Sometimes Martha was gentle. “But what about you, Clark? What’s better for you?” Other times she got angry. “Better for her that way, huh? Well, what does she have to say about that? Doesn’t she get any say regarding her own life?” No matter what approach she took, though, Martha always pushed him. Pushed him to go back. To Lois. But he couldn’t! Why couldn’t his mother understand that? He couldn’t. And he couldn’t stand the temptation and desire that surfaced every time she brought it up. So he cut back on visits and mostly limited himself to short phone calls. It hurt him, it hurt his parents, but it seemed to be the only way. Besides, he’d hurt Lois badly and she never took kindly to that. Even if she hadn’t moved on to another man, he doubted she would take him back. Once burned, twice shy. Well, Lois had been burned many a time and each time served as more material with which to build a protective wall around her heart. It had taken him two years to break through that wall once; he didn’t think she would let him in again. Especially since this time he had helped build the wall around a wound he had also caused. She would probably never even speak to him again, let alone love him. “Hey, buddy, you gonna use the phone or not?” Clark’s head jolted up and he realized he’d been staring at the phone for ten minutes without moving. He smiled wryly. As always, thoughts of Lois managed to block out the rest of the world for him. In an instant, he decided. “Yes, yes I am.” He picked up the receiver and began dialing the long string of numbers for his phone card. * * * “Hi, you’ve reached Lois Lane. I may be out, or I may be screening calls, you never know.” A quick laugh, then the voice continued. “If you’re calling about a story, you can get a hold of me at the Planet. If you’re a salesperson, don’t bother, I’m stingy. Anyone else, leave a message after the beep. And by the way, if this is Clark, I still love you.” Perry sighed. It had been over six months and no matter how many times she changed the message on the machine, Lois always ended with the same phrase. “And by the way, if this is Clark, I still love you.” So far, no response from Clark. As much as Perry had loved Clark during the younger man’s time under his tutelage, anger still swelled every time he thought about Clark’s actions against Lois. Lois never ventured an explanation, never even said a single word against Clark. It worried Perry. For so many years, any time she was hurt, Lois reacted with anger. It was unhealthy, but it was normal for her. This, though, this...passivity. Acceptance. This was unusual. And it scared him. Was the anger buried? Waiting for a small spark in order to erupt into flames, consuming everything about her and around her? Or was it the opposite -- the anger wasn’t even there? Someone had finally hurt her so deeply that there was no longer any room for anger. After her father, she had been wary. The hurt kept building, but so had the anger. And the anger protected her from allowing anyone to get close enough to cause serious harm. Then someone would cause a flesh wound and she felt vindicated in her protective stance. But her relationship with Clark was different. Clark broke through the barriers, helped deal with and dissipate the anger. So when he hurt her, there was no longer any scar tissue to protect her heart. The depth of her trust and love was what allowed her to be hurt so badly. And yet, she still loved him. She still waited. She still hoped. He didn’t understand it. “Hi, honey, this is Perry.” He waited a second to see if she was just screening calls. She didn’t pick up, so he assumed she was out. Good for her. “It’s Jimmy’s birthday Tuesday and Alice wanted to give him a little party. It’ll be the two of us, Jimmy, and a couple close friends from the Planet. If you are interested in coming, it’ll be Sunday night at 6:30. Feel free to bring a date.” He didn’t know why he added that last part. He knew she wouldn’t, but he felt, as her surrogate father, that he needed to remind her of her options. Remind her that there could be life after Clark. * * * When the phone rang, Lois ran to the machine. She had virtually quit answering the phone, choosing instead to screen calls and only answer those that she wanted. She knew her friends found it annoying, but she couldn’t help it. She hated to get her hopes up, only to hear a mechanical voice spouting some stupid spiel. Her recorded message finished and Perry’s voice came on. “Hi, honey, this is Perry.” He paused and she knew it was to see if she was screening calls. Well, she was, and she didn’t feel like picking this one up. Let him assume she was out. If nothing else, it might cheer him up to think she was out having a night on the town. After all, that’s what young, single women were supposed to do on Friday nights, right? “...Sunday night at 6:30. Feel free to bring a date.” Now why did he say that? He knew she wouldn’t. But she would probably go. If not to please Perry, then at least to show Jimmy she still cared about him. She sat down and started making a list of possible gifts when the phone rang. She held her breath until the machine finished speaking and started recording. Then she sighed and bit her bottom lip. Another hang-up sales-person. * * * “Hi, you’ve reached Lois Lane. I may be out, or I may be screening calls, you never know.” That was his Lois. Keep ‘em on their toes, never do what they expect. On the other hand, he’d heard it wasn’t a smart idea to let people know you were gone, in case it was a burglar trying to determine if the house was empty and ripe for the taking. With this message, you’d never know if she were home or not. A quick laugh, which pierced his heart -- maybe nobody else heard it, but he could tell it was forced -- then her beautiful voice continued. “If you’re calling about a story, you can get a hold of me at the Planet.” Naturally, work concerns came first. “If you’re a salesperson, don’t bother, I’m stingy.” Yeah, right. Lois wasn’t afraid of spending money, but she always wanted to know she was getting her money’s worth and the best product available for her money. But he had to admit, he’d be afraid to try and sell her something on the phone after that statement. “Anyone else, leave a message after the beep. And by the way, if this is Clark, I still love you.” His heart stopped, he forgot to breathe and his hand tightened to where he almost crushed the receiver. Not a moment too soon he regained enough presence of mind to loosen his grip, which allowed him to slam the phone back on it’s hook. Why had he done that? It didn’t matter, it was too late now. He fought to catch his breath as he slowly walked away from the pay phone. There was a slight line forming, so he would let them have their turns while he regained control over his wildly vacillating emotions. She still loved him! * * * TBC in Part Two, which will (hopefully) be up tomorrow or Thursday. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 20:41:11 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks for all these fascinating responses. They're really, really helped me to get straight in my mind what's important to include in Clark's characterisation. What seems to be emerging is a consensus that the following are needed: - superpowers - a need to use those powers for the good - a sense of alienation; of feeling 'different' - a strong tendency to put other people's needs before his own - a sense that his powers are an integral part of his being Circumstances may conspire to knock some of the above out, but the potential to develop these traits still needs to be present. Do you all think that's a fair summary? Is anything missing? Also, one person said to me privately (only because of an email glitch!) that they thought he needed to be a little perplexed by the evil that he discovers; that he needs to retain a certain innocence. I think I like this :) At a more physical level, we seem to prefer him dark-haired, brown-eyes, and exceedingly good-looking . We also require him to originate from Krypton. A couple of us would prefer him to be a reporter, but most of us can cope with an alternative occupation if everything else is in place. Carolyn would prefer everything to be exactly as in LnC canon, and I can identify strongly with this one myself. It's taken me a long time to start enjoying Alts and Elseworlds, and I probably still prefer my L&C as per the TV series - preferrably married :) Beverly made an interesting point about Jor-El; essentially that Clark would come with certain in-built characteristics whether or not he was raised by the Kents. This is the old nature/nurture question, I think - and I believe it's currently being proved that quite a lot of a person's personality traits are supplied by their parent's genes, so maybe she's right. Finally (if anyone's made it down this far ), Shadowfax said: ***Doesn't this whole thread make you wonder what project Yvonne is planning?? Come on, Yvonne, out with it! What are you going to do with/to the characters?*** No devious project, I'm afraid...yet . Part of my motivation was to do a reality check with my own altClark in FoDIV. He's not a very nice person to know at the moment, and I was beginning to wonder if I was straying too far from the core of his character. These answers have really helped with that :)) Oh, and thanks for the compliment, Shadowfax :) Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 16:11:07 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carolyn Schnall Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? In-Reply-To: <00c001c11478$b90c32e0$237186d9@91bb00j> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Thanks for the recap, Yvonne, and as I mentioned to you already, it is nice to know I wasn't the only one who prefers canon. :) I was just wondering if crossover stories are considered alt or what if stories or elseworld stories? I've written a couple of those myself but I hope not in such a way as to alter L&C canon:) Carolyn >Thanks for all these fascinating responses. They're really, really helped >me to get straight in my mind what's important to include in Clark's >characterisation. > >What seems to be emerging is a consensus that the following are needed: > >- superpowers >- a need to use those powers for the good >- a sense of alienation; of feeling 'different' >- a strong tendency to put other people's needs before his own >- a sense that his powers are an integral part of his being > >Circumstances may conspire to knock some of the above out, but the potential >to develop these traits still needs to be present. Do you all think that's >a fair summary? Is anything missing? > >Also, one person said to me privately (only because of an email glitch!) >that they thought he needed to be a little perplexed by the evil that he >discovers; that he needs to retain a certain innocence. I think I like this >:) > >At a more physical level, we seem to prefer him dark-haired, brown-eyes, and >exceedingly good-looking . We also require him to originate from >Krypton. > >A couple of us would prefer him to be a reporter, but most of us can cope >with an alternative occupation if everything else is in place. > >Carolyn would prefer everything to be exactly as in LnC canon, and I can >identify strongly with this one myself. It's taken me a long time to start >enjoying Alts and Elseworlds, and I probably still prefer my L&C as per the >TV series - preferrably married :) > >Beverly made an interesting point about Jor-El; essentially that Clark would >come with certain in-built characteristics whether or not he was raised by >the Kents. This is the old nature/nurture question, I think - and I believe >it's currently being proved that quite a lot of a person's personality >traits are supplied by their parent's genes, so maybe she's right. > >Finally (if anyone's made it down this far ), Shadowfax said: > >***Doesn't this whole thread make you wonder what project Yvonne is >planning?? Come on, Yvonne, out with it! What are you going to do with/to >the characters?*** > >No devious project, I'm afraid...yet . Part of my motivation was to do a >reality check with my own altClark in FoDIV. He's not a very nice person to >know at the moment, and I was beginning to wonder if I was straying too far >from the core of his character. These answers have really helped with that >:)) > >Oh, and thanks for the compliment, Shadowfax :) > >Yvonne >(yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 16:51:46 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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/24/01 3:39:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time, yvonne@YCONNELL.FSNET.CO.UK writes: > Part of my motivation was to do a > reality check with my own altClark in FoDIV. He's not a very nice person to > know at the moment, and I was beginning to wonder if I was straying too far > from the core of his character. These answers have really helped with that > :)) > Yvonne, I think your altClark is fine, in terms of being in character, as long as he is nice by the end of the story. He has been through so many negative experiences in his life, starting with his parents' deaths when he was ten (Lana's rejection of the real him, the attraction to Lois followed by her loss and the realization that she is some other Clark's wife, the complete loss of his private life, and then the attack by Luthor on him coupled with the emotional trauma of finding "his Lois" only to discover that she has been used and abused by Lex for 2 years) that I think it's understandable that he's not too nice right now. It's a wonder that he's able to function right now, if you think about it. And everyone that should care about him seems to think that he should be emotionally complete and whole, when in reality he's been very damaged. This goes back to my feeling that he should be a bit perplexed by the evil he sees around him. Since he didn't have Martha and Jonathan all his life, he hasn't learned how to cope with it as well as our Clark has. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 18:31:57 -0500 Reply-To: bbmedos@booksanctuary.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "B. B. Medos" Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? In-Reply-To: <00c001c11478$b90c32e0$237186d9@91bb00j> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Yvonne wrote: << Beverly made an interesting point about Jor-El; essentially that Clark would come with certain in-built characteristics whether or not he was raised by the Kents. This is the old nature/nurture question, I think - and I believe it's currently being proved that quite a lot of a person's personality traits are supplied by their parent's genes, so maybe she's right. >> Hmm, yes, but I wasn't referring to genes there so much as the fact that Jor-El sure sounded like he knew what "type" of environment he wanted to send his son into and was actively looking for something specific in terms of belief structures as well as biology. Because of that globe message, I've often questioned the assumption that morally Kal-El would've ended up so far removed from what Clark became. Now whether those goals in finding his son a home made Jor-El a typical Kryptonian or a "rebel/revolutionary" is another discussion entirely. More to the point of this thread, though, would it be possible for a Kal-El raised on Krypton to become Superman? Maybe. Maybe not. He wouldn't be exactly like Clark's Superman, but it's possible that he could be an interesting version of Superman . . . especially once he ran into a couple of people on Earth and there I don't just mean Lois. That's where an alternative version could very easily cross that imaginary line between staying true to the series or not for me personally. I believe strongly that the Kent's influence can't be discounted in terms of whether he'd end up a "true" Superman because they are a large part of what goes into making Superman who he is in the L&C version. So for an alternate Kal-El to truly understand what Superman is about, he'd almost have to have some interaction with the Kents at a crucial point in the story. But wasn't the original question in this thread about what makes Clark into Clark and not what makes Superman into Superman? It does sound strange but I'm not sure a Clark without powers would be Clark to me at the same time that I know him being Superman isn't about the powers. That is a puzzler. Beverly :-) bbmedos@booksanctuary.com http://www.booksanctuary.com BookNotesPlus: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookNotesPlus Mysterious Romance: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysteriousromance Romance Books & Readers: http://www.writerspace.com/mailinglist.html#rbr ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 19:02:03 -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: St. Louis question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay - folcs! I know there's some of you from St. Louis. I've lived there for a time myself, but that was a couple of years ago and I've never been to the place in question. Does anyone actually take the Metrolink to and from the airport if their catching a plane (or getting back?) And the hotel at Union Station (there is a hotel and its not just my imagination right?) is pretty ritzy if I remember right. Also what's the name of the seafood restaurant at Union Station? Can someone verify for me? It's for a story I'm working on. Thanks! You guys are the best! CM ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 20:33:27 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: St. Louis question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/24/2001 8:10:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, cmoncado@JUNO.COM writes: << Does anyone actually take the Metrolink to and from the airport if their catching a plane (or getting back?) And the hotel at Union Station (there is a hotel and its not just my imagination right?) is pretty ritzy if I remember right. Also what's the name of the seafood restaurant at Union Station? >> 8 years in Belleville Illinois, and I can only answer one question. I never took the Metrolink (preferred to drive myself), but the airport is really good about shuttle service to nearby locations... so that's what we used. Of course, that was when all of Lambert Field was TWA, which is now out of business, so that may be way outdated as well. Yup, the hotel's amazing... cathedral ceilings, art all over the place, and the concierge (or however you spell it... heck, I can't even pronounce it) looks at you like you're a bug . Lots of red curtains, too... don't ask me why I remember that. I was more interested in the Train store, the Store for Lefties, and watching the guys sing "We all need some fudge to eat on!" Gosh I loved Union Station . No clue about the restaurant... we filled up on fudge and then ate a bit of chinese at that little place next to the Fudge Factory. Yeah... you see a trend... think Chocolate :) Not very helpful, but fun to remember :) Now ask me about Children's Hospital, Barnes Medical Center, Shriner's Hospital, or Jewish Hospital... those I can tell you about from the amazing Rubens that they grilled fresh while you watched at Childrens to the really icky green jello at Shriners... you can tell where we took our meals when we were on that side of the river ;) -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 19:33:38 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? On Tue, 24 Jul 2001 18:31:57 -0500, B. B. Medos wrote: > >But wasn't the original question in this thread about what makes Clark into >Clark and not what makes Superman into Superman? It does sound strange but >I'm not sure a Clark without powers would be Clark to me at the same time >that I know him being Superman isn't about the powers. That is a puzzler. Interesting paradox, isn't it? I feel the same way. To me, Clark's strength of character is what makes him a Superman; he doesn't need the powers. But Superman's powers are partly what make Clark who *he* is. So . . . although Superman doesn't need the powers to be Superman, Clark can't be Clark without them. Confused? I am. Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 21:16:08 -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: What makes Clark Clark? Comments: To: yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk In-Reply-To: <00c001c11478$b90c32e0$237186d9@91bb00j> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk writes: >What seems to be emerging is a consensus that the following are needed: > >- superpowers >- a need to use those powers for the good >- a sense of alienation; of feeling 'different' >- a strong tendency to put other people's needs before his own >- a sense that his powers are an integral part of his being I've had the opportunity to read two fanfics that are both in beta-reading stage where Clark has no superpowers. Surprisingly because of the characters' compassion (two separate stories, two separate Clarks) and attitude toward Lois, the stories work. So, the man does not have to have superpowers. Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 20:05:05 -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: St. Louis question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks Crys! i guess most people wouldn't take the Metrolink unless they lived right near a station (for those unfamiliar - it's a train-type deal that runs from the airport through downtown next to the sports arenas/arch etc and just over the Mississippi into Illinois, only one line, no branches anywhere else). I guess what i really want to know, is if someone was staying at the hotel at Union Station, would they take the Metrolink? Especially if they aren't incredibly wealthy (I remember calling and the jacuzzi suite was like 200 a night or something) and someone else is putting them up. Thanks for the details - I may use a few! Right now it just says "plush surroundings".*BG* CM On Tue, 24 Jul 2001 20:33:27 EDT Crystal Wimmer writes: > In a message dated 7/24/2001 8:10:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, > cmoncado@JUNO.COM writes: > > << > Does anyone actually take the Metrolink to and from the airport if > their > catching a plane (or getting back?) > > And the hotel at Union Station (there is a hotel and its not just > my > imagination right?) is pretty ritzy if I remember right. Also > what's the > name of the seafood restaurant at Union Station? > >> > > > 8 years in Belleville Illinois, and I can only answer one question. > I never > took the Metrolink (preferred to drive myself), but the airport is > really > good about shuttle service to nearby locations... so that's what we > used. Of > course, that was when all of Lambert Field was TWA, which is now out > of > business, so that may be way outdated as well. > > Yup, the hotel's amazing... cathedral ceilings, art all over the > place, and > the concierge (or however you spell it... heck, I can't even > pronounce it) > looks at you like you're a bug . Lots of red curtains, too... > don't ask > me why I remember that. I was more interested in the Train store, > the Store > for Lefties, and watching the guys sing "We all need some fudge to > eat on!" > Gosh I loved Union Station . > > No clue about the restaurant... we filled up on fudge and then ate a > bit of > chinese at that little place next to the Fudge Factory. Yeah... you > see a > trend... think Chocolate :) > > Not very helpful, but fun to remember :) > > Now ask me about Children's Hospital, Barnes Medical Center, > Shriner's > Hospital, or Jewish Hospital... those I can tell you about from the > amazing > Rubens that they grilled fresh while you watched at Childrens to the > really > icky green jello at Shriners... you can tell where we took our meals > when we > were on that side of the river ;) > > -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 23:42:41 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel White Subject: Fic: In His Arms MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey everyone. This is my first time doing this, so just bear with me. I'm sorry if there are any weird symbols in this. I'm new @ writing Lois and Clark fan fics (But not @ Buffy!), but here we go! Description: How does Lois feel about her partner, friend and husband, Clark Kent? Find out in this short vignette. Title: In His Arms By: Rachel White (LuVnAnGeLNBuFfY@aol.com) Rated: G Submitted: July 2001 This is from Lois' POV about Clark sometime in late fourth season or sometime after. Feedback and comments (but no flames please) are much appreciated at LuVnAnGeLNBuFfY@aol.com Disclaimer: Oh yes...they are ALL MINE! (sarcastic) Haha, right...like I would have the show canceled after only FOUR seasons! No, seriously though, they aren't mine. Author's note: This was originally set up to be a companion to "My Definition of Bliss." But a reader can read this as a stand-alone and not be confused. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ If you had told me five years ago that I would be where I am today, I would have laughed. I would have called you insane and simply walked away from you. If you had told me that I would have the top and best partner of the Daily Planet, and that I would be married to and totally head-over-heels in love with the man, there would have been no way I would have believed you. Not to mention the *Super*man included in the package. Yeah, I pretty much would have said you were crazy. But now, I sometimes wonder how I lived before he came along. He, of course, is the love of my life and my husband (finally), Clark Kent. There's not a thing about him that I don't love. However, there are simply endless things about him that I just can't get enough of. I love the way his black hair shines and how an occasional lock of hair may fall over his forehead. I love how his eyes are so deep. They're just like chocolate pools. If I stare into his eyes too long, it's as though I could simply drown in them. And don't even get me started with his smile. Whenever he smiles Clark manages to just light up the entire room. It brightens up my day instantaneously. And then I find that smile contagious and I just can't help but smile along with him. I don't even know where to begin describing him. Clark is just perfect. Being with him is like being in heaven. And then there is the whole Superman thing. But now...well, even that part about him makes me love him a million times more. The way he cares for everyone is a true gift and indescribable. A gift that I am lucky enough to know about and see every day. I know that he loves the people of this world and they love him. Seeing his face after he has helped someone is worth it to me. And even when he doesn't return home until 3 or 4 a.m., I know that he is coming back to *me*. After all, he *always* comes back to me. Clark has such strength- that's obvious since he *is* Superman. I still watch him in amazement as he pulls a whole ship out of the water or swallow bombs in a single breath. And yet, he can treat me with such gentleness. He can comfort and caress me with such kind-hearted grace that I forget the fact that he has all of those super powers. He is simply breathtaking. I'm so lucky to have him. Before Clark came into my life, I was a get-it-done type of reporter. I didn't have a life because I was so wrapped up within my work. But then Clark came along and uncovered the love that was buried deep inside of me, as though he taught me how to love. The love that now burns for him and him alone. But when he takes me into his arms, helping me wash away the stresses of the day, I just go limp. The worries in my life simply disappear when Clark holds me, and all I feel is his passion for me. His strong and muscular, yet soft and smooth, arms engulf me and then...I'm home. I'm captivated by his eyes. When I hear his voice I feel shivers run down my spine. I'm helplessly in love with this man, and don't want to feel any other way. And as long as I am safely wrapped in his arms, I will be forever loved by Clark Kent. T H E E N D! ~*Rachel*~ Member ofThe BtVS Writers' Guild: Because fan fiction makes anything possible. A.K.A. Soul4Angel @ Fanfiction.net ~Visit my sites: Angel Forevermore~ http://angel4e_more.tripod.com/ Still: A Buffy and Angel clique~ http://iwill_still.tripod.com/ The Forever and Faithful Awards~ http://4everfaithful.tripod.com/ ~Join my E-groups @ Angel4Evermore-subscribe@yahoogroups.com "I can stay in town. As long as you want me." ~~~Angel "How's forever? Is forever good for you?" ~~~Buffy in "Forever" "You know, even when I feed off other girls, the name I call out...is yours." ~~~Angelus in the original "Passions" script "And when we were together? It was all right but it didn't hold a candle to Buffy, it never could and it never will." ~~~Angel in the original "Dear Boy" script "Strong is fighting. It's hard and it's painful, and it's every day. It's what we have to do, and we can do it together. But if you're too much of a coward for that, then burn. If I can't convince you thatyou belong in this world then I don't know what can. But do not expect me to watch, and DON'T expect me to mourn for you because...." ~~~Buffy in "Amends" Angel: "You still my girl?" Buffy: "Always." ~~~"Enemies" ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 23:59:25 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Rachel White Subject: Fic: My Definition of Bliss (Companion 2 "In His Arms") MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit here's the companion to the fic I just sent out. Description: How does Clark feel about his partner, friend and wife, Lois Lane? Find out in this vignette, a companion piece to "In His Arms" Title: My Definition of Bliss By: Rachel White (LuVnAnGeLNBuFfY@aol.com) Rated: G This is from Clark's POV about Lois sometime in late forth season or sometime after. Feedback and comments (but no flames please) is much appreciated at LuVnAnGeLNBuFfY@aol.com Disclaimer: Oh yes...they are ALL MINE! (sarcastic) Haha, right...like I would have the show canceled after only FOUR seasons! No, seriously though, they aren't mine. Author's note: This was originally set up to be a companion to "In His Arms." But a reader can read this as a stand-alone and not be confused. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Do you have any idea what she does to me? When she touches me, I go limp and feel helpless in her embrace. Her touch gives me life and keeps me going day after day. The simple way she runs her fingertips down my arm or caresses my cheek feels like lightening bolts across my face. Her eyebrows - I even love them. Whenever she talks her eyebrows are just so expressive, as though they have a life of their own. They move as she passionately talks about a new report or case and suddenly I'm in love with her all over again. When she smiles at me, I feel like a shy schoolboy with a huge and never-ending crush. Her smile brightens my day, immediately lifting my spirits. Her lips - I could go on and on talking about how perfect they are. The way they contour to mine as we kiss. How her warmth in her lips still has that effect of sending continual chills down my spine. And when we kiss...I can feel her arms wrap around my neck and pull me closer. Her soft moans and whispers of "I love you" are like music to my ears. Being this close to my wife - this amazing woman - is remarkable. Other than that, I don't know how to describe it any further. All I can say is that being with Lois Lane is just pure ecstasy and bliss. Before her, my life was meaningless. I had no one but my parents. Because of who and what I was, I never thought that I could ever be with anyone the way that I am with Lois. But then I came here - to Metropolis - and met Lois Lane. I think that I fell in love with her about 35 seconds before Perry introduced us. And from that day on, my living has been because of and completely *for* her. I never thought that I could find anyone as...loving and caring as Lois. I never thought that I could ever find anyone who would accept me - all of me. And of course, I never thought that she could know me - the real me with superpowers and unimaginable strengths - and ever have feelings for me. And then later on, as Superman, I never thought that she would be able to look past the cape. Constantly, I thought that she would never be able to understand that underneath the suit I was just a normal man who was crazily in love with this woman. But Lois amazed me, just like she always has and continually does to this day. She gave me the greatest gift of all - her love. She took me in and opened up to me. She did the unbelievable. Lois Lane loved me - all of me. She loved the normal Clark Kent and the powerful Superman. She knows me in ways that I never thought possible - better than anyone else possibly could. She laughs when I do something crazy and unexpected. She comforts me when I feel as though I've failed and grieves with me when I feel hopeless and is always there for me. Lois is my other half. She's the part of me that I always felt was missing. She completes me in every single way possible. After all, we *are* soulmates. She brightens my day. She heals me to the depths of my soul. Lois Lane *is* my soul, and I love her with every particle of my being. This is my definition of bliss. It must be, because if it's not then I don't know what bliss is. T H E E N D! ~*Rachel*~ Member ofThe BtVS Writers' Guild: Because fan fiction makes anything possible. A.K.A. Soul4Angel @ Fanfiction.net ~Visit my sites: Angel Forevermore~ http://angel4e_more.tripod.com/ Still: A Buffy and Angel clique~ http://iwill_still.tripod.com/ The Forever and Faithful Awards~ http://4everfaithful.tripod.com/ ~Join my E-groups @ Angel4Evermore-subscribe@yahoogroups.com "I can stay in town. As long as you want me." ~~~Angel "How's forever? Is forever good for you?" ~~~Buffy in "Forever" "You know, even when I feed off other girls, the name I call out...is yours." ~~~Angelus in the original "Passions" script "And when we were together? It was all right but it didn't hold a candle to Buffy, it never could and it never will." ~~~Angel in the original "Dear Boy" script "Strong is fighting. It's hard and it's painful, and it's every day. It's what we have to do, and we can do it together. But if you're too much of a coward for that, then burn. If I can't convince you thatyou belong in this world then I don't know what can. But do not expect me to watch, and DON'T expect me to mourn for you because...." ~~~Buffy in "Amends" Angel: "You still my girl?" Buffy: "Always." ~~~"Enemies" ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 23:02:45 -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: Fic: My Definition of Bliss (Companion 2 "In His Arms") MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey Rachel! I enjoyed both of these! Hope we hear more from you soon! CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 10:17:36 +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: Re: CHOICES: part 6 (conclusion) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Brilliant! Loved sending Ralph to the sewers, he deserved that! Nic ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 11:29:15 +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: Fic: My Definition of Bliss (Companion 2 "In His Arms") MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rachel, those two vignettes were very sweet and WAFFy. Just lovely! :) I do hope that you're sending them to the Fanfic Archive too. Wendy (amused by the fact that Rachel's signature is as long as the vignettes!) -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 07:42:30 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Crystal Wimmer Subject: Re: CHOICES: part 6 (conclusion) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/25/2001 5:28:24 AM Eastern Daylight Time, nicola@NJBAKER.FREESERVE.CO.UK writes: << Brilliant! Loved sending Ralph to the sewers, he deserved that! >> I'm so glad you did... I really wish I could have thought of something more devious for him . While I have you all here , I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the wonderful feedback! Writers outside the L&C realm have no clue what they're missing. It really does make a difference to know that someone not only reads what you slave over, but also enjoys it. You know... I'd probably write anyway, just because I love it, but I don't think I'd finish a darn thing . I do my best to answer every piece of feedback, but this week that's been an impossibility... between writing, playing single-parent while my hubby is at his mom's house, and trying to keep up with the house... well, let's just say it hasn't gotten done in a way I feel is acceptable. So, again, let me thank each and every one of you that has commented - here, on the boards, or to me privately. You can have no idea how much it means to me - the acceptance and warm-fuzzies I feel from all of you - and also how much it matters. You are the best!! -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 18:28:40 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: Episode Question In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 06:43 PM 07/24/2001 +0000, you wrote: >Thank you Juliet, Adam, Laura, Natascha, Debby, Larissa, and Nan for all >your help. Yes, Contact was the episode I was looking for. And Debby, I >did get and appreciate your play on words. :) That wasn't exactly the kind >of 'dumping' I intended, but, LOL. Thanks, Bethy, for having a sense of humor :) I look forward to your story. > >Thanks! > >Bethy Debby dls@thuntek.net crotchety at times ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 18:31:36 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Debby Subject: Re: Episode Question In-Reply-To: <3B5D9AC8.CF91CCF7@earthlink.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" At 08:56 AM 07/24/2001 -0700, you wrote: >LOL, Debby. I imagine the dumpster episode wasn't exactly the kind of "contact" >that Lois appreciated. > >Nan One wonders if Clark had been a little bit wiser or at least taken her flowers (or, better, consulted her and thereby let her share in the scoop) asap, Lois wouldn't have been so charmed by Lex when he expressed his charming sympathies... Debby dls@thuntek.net who wonders if anyone has made a list of "Clark's Blunders that Helped Lex"...? ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 06:19:28 -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: St. Louis question In-Reply-To: <20010724.190208.-316579.11.cmoncado@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hope this helps. James --- Carol L Moncado wrote: >> Does anyone actually take the Metrolink to and from the airport if their catching a plane (or getting back?)<< Yes. Here's the link for schedules and the like. http://www.bi-state.org/ http://www.bi-state.org/lightmp.htm http://www.bi-state.org/MetroLinkmapNew.html >> And the hotel at Union Station (there is a hotel and its not just my imagination right?) is pretty ritzy if I remember right. << Yes, it is. It's the Hyatt Regency. http://stlouis.hyatt.com/stlou/ >>Also what's the name of the seafood restaurant at Union Station?<< Landry's Seafood House http://www.dinestlouis.com/unionsta.html ===== For the time will come when [people] will not put up with sound [teaching]. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 09:01:40 -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: Fic: My Definition of Bliss (Companion 2 "In His Arms") MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rachael, I agree with Wendy. Your 2 stories were sweet and waffy. continue to write merry ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 09:29:12 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: James Tull Subject: Question for Fic: Too big for one brain to think about. What do you think would be the response of the UN/world governments if, on March 1966, 60 million refugees from the planet Krypton showed up? I'm figuring about 17 Noble houses, each having between 2.6 and 4.4 million members. Also, what might happen between then and 2000? Know you understand the subject line. I just want some ideas and possibilities to bounce around in my head for a fic that I am working on. I have already postulated that the Houses of El, Lo, and Ra will land in the US and that Martha Kent will win the Nation wide design contest. James ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 09:41:53 -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: Question for Fic: Too big for one brain to think about. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have no clue but I am smiling at the Martha line! What about the house of Nor? Or is he one of the three mentioned and I just don't remember his "last" name. Just curious - where did you come up with the numbers? CM (Who thanks James for the St. Louis websites!)f On Wed, 25 Jul 2001 09:29:12 -0500 James Tull writes: > What do you think would be the response of the UN/world governments > if, on > March 1966, 60 million refugees from the planet Krypton showed up? > > I'm figuring about 17 Noble houses, each having between 2.6 and 4.4 > million > members. > > Also, what might happen between then and 2000? > > Know you understand the subject line. I just want some ideas and > possibilities to bounce around in my head for a fic that I am > working on. > > I have already postulated that the Houses of El, Lo, and Ra will > land in > the US and that Martha Kent will win the Nation wide design contest. > > > > James ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 11:01:09 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sharon Gilbert Subject: choices feedback In-Reply-To: <7f.17aa1327.288f9e1d@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit i'm really enjoying choices. i think they could have had a much better and more realistic blowup than the one they had in "meet the presses". there's so much L&C could have fought over besides something silly like that. thanks for the re-write. i'm looking forward to more. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 08:38:38 -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: Question for Fic: Too big for one brain to think about. In-Reply-To: <20010725.094158.-191725.1.cmoncado@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii I based it on a planetary population of 6 billion with only about 1% of the population being able to be saved. The number 17 came from asking my wife to pick a number between 1 and 20. She chose 17 which is the number that I had already picked! The range came from calculating a +/- 25% of the total divided by 17. I am debating sticking Nor in either Central Africa, the Sahara, Siberia or the Antartic. James --- Carol L Moncado wrote: > I have no clue but I am smiling at the Martha > line! What about the house > of Nor? Or is he one of the three mentioned and > I just don't remember his > "last" name. Just curious - where did you come > up with the numbers? > > CM (Who thanks James for the St. Louis > websites!)f > > On Wed, 25 Jul 2001 09:29:12 -0500 James Tull > writes: > > What do you think would be the response of > the UN/world governments > > if, on > > March 1966, 60 million refugees from the > planet Krypton showed up? > > > > I'm figuring about 17 Noble houses, each > having between 2.6 and 4.4 > > million > > members. > > > > Also, what might happen between then and > 2000? > > > > Know you understand the subject line. I just > want some ideas and > > possibilities to bounce around in my head for > a fic that I am > > working on. > > > > I have already postulated that the Houses of > El, Lo, and Ra will > > land in > > the US and that Martha Kent will win the > Nation wide design contest. > > > > > > > > James ===== For the time will come when [people] will not put up with sound [teaching]. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 11:53:24 -0500 Reply-To: bbmedos@booksanctuary.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "B. B. Medos" Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Gerry wrote: << I've had the opportunity to read two fanfics that are both in beta-reading stage where Clark has no superpowers. Surprisingly because of the characters' compassion (two separate stories, two separate Clarks) and attitude toward Lois, the stories work. So, the man does not have to have superpowers. >> Just out of pure curiosity, what were the explanations for why he didn't have superpowers? That would probably make all the difference in whether I could accept the character as actually being version of the Clark of the series and not another character entirely, I think. Beverly :-) bbmedos@booksanctuary.com http://www.booksanctuary.com BookNotesPlus: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookNotesPlus Mysterious Romance: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysteriousromance Romance Books & Readers: http://www.writerspace.com/mailinglist.html#rbr ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 11:53:27 -0500 Reply-To: bbmedos@booksanctuary.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "B. B. Medos" Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Shadow Fax wrote: << Interesting paradox, isn't it? I feel the same way. To me, Clark's strength of character is what makes him a Superman; he doesn't need the powers. But Superman's powers are partly what make Clark who *he* is. So . . . although Superman doesn't need the powers to be Superman, Clark can't be Clark without them. Confused? I am. >> And it goes even deeper than that, too. Ask oneself this - if one ran across a character in a work of fiction that could fly without the use of any external gadgetry, would that character automatically be a rip-off of Superman in everyone's mind? Flying as he does is an extremely distinctive "power" that can't be easily applied to a character or explained. Beverly :-) bbmedos@booksanctuary.com http://www.booksanctuary.com BookNotesPlus: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookNotesPlus Mysterious Romance: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysteriousromance Romance Books & Readers: http://www.writerspace.com/mailinglist.html#rbr ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 11:32:50 -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: Question for Fic: Too big for one brain to think about. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > I am debating sticking Nor in either Central > Africa, the Sahara, Siberia or the Antartic. I vote for Antartica! But that's just MHO! CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 14:13:51 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: No Name Available Subject: Re: Question for Fic: Too big for one brain to think about. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/25/01 10:29:51 AM Eastern Daylight Time, mr_d8a@YAHOO.COM writes: > What do you think would be the response of the UN/world governments if, on > March 1966, 60 million refugees from the planet Krypton showed up? > Remember the state of the world at that time. In school, we were still ducking under our desks and crouching by the walls in the hallway in drills out of fear of nuclear war! --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 11:19:56 -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: Question for Fic: Too big for one brain to think about. In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii That's the problem. At the time I was only one year old! James --- No Name Available wrote: > In a message dated 7/25/01 10:29:51 AM Eastern > Daylight Time, > mr_d8a@YAHOO.COM writes: > > > > What do you think would be the response of > the UN/world governments if, on > > March 1966, 60 million refugees from the > planet Krypton showed up? > > > > Remember the state of the world at that time. > In school, we were still > ducking under our desks and crouching by the > walls in the hallway in drills > out of fear of nuclear war! > > --Laurie ===== For the time will come when [people] will not put up with sound [teaching]. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 14:23:19 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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh drat! Bev seems to have that Yvonne problem of replies not going to the list. just noticed as it was being sent. :P --L Subj: Re: What makes Clark Clark? Date: 7/25/01 2:18:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: Larus2407 To: bbmedos@booksanctuary.com In a message dated 7/25/01 12:54:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time, bbmedos@BOOKSANCTUARY.COM writes: > And it goes even deeper than that, too. Ask oneself this - if one ran across > a character in a work of fiction that could fly without the use of any > external gadgetry, would that character automatically be a rip-off of > Superman in everyone's mind? Flying as he does is an extremely distinctive > "power" that can't be easily applied to a character or explained. > Ah, but I can think of an example that not only is not a Superman ripoff but the influence never crossed my mind! Written quite some time back. The author is now dead. Though, probably what appealed to me about these stories is also what appealed to me about Clark. --Laurie (wondering if anyone knows what stories I'm talking about.) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 14:28:23 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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Okay... interesting question. IMO, Clark is the sum of how he was raised and what he believes... I think the Kryptonian part is irrelevant to who *Clark* is. Yes, he saves the world, but I honestly believe that had he not had special powers, he would have been a policeman or a fireman... something vaguely heroic, just because he *has* to do all he can. OTOH, if he'd been raised on Krypton, by Jorel and Lara... he wouldn't be Clark. He might have some of the same ideas, but without Martha and Jonathan he wouldn't be "our" Clark. People are a product of their genetics AND their environment, and if you change either there will be some result... but I truly believe environment is the deciding factor. Now... who is Clark... what defines him. Hmmm... sounds like a WAFFy fanfic possibility to me . I'll get back to you tomorrow ;) -Crys- ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 19:47:47 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bethy Em Subject: NEW: Alien Gift (5/?) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Thank you, Carol, for your comments. My cushions is quickly dwindling, but hopefully I'll be able to stay on schedule a little while longer. ;) Comments welcome here or at bethyem@yahoo.com PART FIVE She awoke to silence. After the chaos she remembered from before, the silence was certainly welcome, but at the same time it felt odd. Almost as if something important was missing. Something she was supposed to remember, but that kept itself hidden in the corners of her mind. She chose not to open her eyes at first -- perhaps a bit scared of what she might find when she did. Instead she concentrated on listening. Bright colors danced about the insides of her eyelids, distracting her with their energy, their chaos, their beauty. They almost seemed alive, somehow, friendly in this strange place. She wasn't sure how she knew it was strange, though...it was funny, but she just had this sense of wrongness. Listening brought no clues at first. Instinctively, she knew she had a high psi-rating, but she couldn't quite grasp the importance of it. All she knew what that she *should* be hearing something, anything, but nothing was there. What was going on? Where was she? How long had she been there? Why couldn't she *hear*? This was so FRUSTRATING! But wait! What was that? She could just barely make it out; it had crept in almost unnoticed. It was the sound of...something. She couldn't quite tell what it was...wait! It was a man...talking with a woman...she could *al*most make it out... There! Now she could hear it! It was as if all she had to do was tune in to the right frequency, and everything got better. {It would probably be difficult to do in the apartment, don't you think?} she heard the woman ask. The man replied in a thoughtful tone. {You're right. I don't think the landlord would be too happy about it. I mean, it's not exactly the kind of improvement that is going to add to the value of the place. Nobody'd want it but us.} {So what are we going to do? I mean, should we try and convince him it's a worthwhile investment, especially as we'd be the ones investing our money? Or should we buy a house? But if we do that, we'd have to come up with a down payment, and then figure out what would be the best style for Dr. Klein to work with, and then check out school districts and travel options, and distance to the planet, and...} The voice kept babbling -- she sure was fun to listen to, but Elsha tuned out for a moment. Dr. Klein. That name sounded familiar, but...she just couldn't place it. And what planet was she talking about? And why would she even want to go to another planet? It wasn't as if Home didn't have everything a being could want! She was so confused. She tried to roll over and gasped in pain. What had happened to her? Her whole body felt like it was on fire, as if someone was poking every nerve ending with fierce bits of flames. She tried to suppress the pain, but it was coming from all around her. Everywhere, pain. Her legs, her stomach, her arms, her shoulders, her *head.* Oh, her head. She could hear them taunting (but who was it that was taunting?). She could see their leering faces (or could she? She couldn't quite see their eyes. She knew the eyes were important. But she couldn't see the eyes!). She could feel the blows as they hit her, again and again and again (or could she? A corner of her mind said she couldn't, but the rest overruled that small traitor). She felt the wetness of blood as it coursed over her body. Oh, it hurt. It was too much. It hurt! She cried out silently and then passed out, escaping into the silent, dark recesses of peace. * * * "Elsha!" Clark cried out her name in the middle of a Lois-babble. "What?" She looked up, surprised at his outburst, and maybe a little hurt that he wasn't paying attention to her. He loved her babbling, he'd told her so many a time, and it was a rare event that caused him to interrupt so callously. But by the time she'd even formed her question, he was gone. A small gust of wind was all that marked his passage. Confused, Lois turned to follow him upstairs -- presumably where he had been headed. She walked in to see Elsha, sprawled out across the bed, an expression of intense pain on her face, and Clark kneeling beside her, staring at her and clenching his jaw. His expression reminded her of a little kid, concentrating hard on a difficult new task. She almost expected to see his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. But his expression was grim. "Clark?" She asked hesitantly, not sure of the effect spoken voice had on telepathic communication. Anyway, she didn't even know if he was in contact with Elsha or not. He looked silently up at her, then stood up and exited the room, motioning for her to follow. "I heard a scream, in my head," he explained once they were in the hall, the bedroom door closed softly behind them. "I knew it was her, but by the time I got up here, she'd passed out." He sighed and shoved his hand through his hair. "I tried to reach her, but she's out. Her vitals look pretty stable, though -- from what little I know of what her vitals are supposed to look like," he added with a wry grin. He quickly sobered though. "I don't know what could have caused her to cry out like that." "Voices in her head, like last time?" Lois offered. "No, there aren't enough people in this near vicinity to have that much of an effect. And, thought I can't be positive, I doubt that the animals would be a problem. And even though it looks like she'd tried to move, her injuries aren't serious enough for the level of scream I heard." "Her expression looked like she was still in pain." "Yeah, but the sense I was getting from her mind was that she was calming down, and I get the impression she'll be sleeping normally in a few minutes." "Well, then, is there anything we can do?" "I'm not sure it'd be a good idea to wake her, no telling what psychological reaction that could cause. I guess I'll just check in a few minutes and make sure she's really sleeping, and then keep checking periodically like we have been." "Good idea." Lois could tell he needed reassurance. "Clark, we're doing the best we can here. We simply don't know enough about her to know everything we ought to do, but that's not your fault! Don't beat yourself up over it, okay?" He half-nodded. "Clark, I mean it. If you're hard on yourself, it will interfere with your care of her -- especially since, as we've just found out, you can hear her much better than I can -- and it will interfere with our capability to make the necessary adjustments to take care of her for the long term." "Okay, Lois, okay." He smiled at her and she returned it. "I acknowledge your point, and cede the round." He held up his hands in a gesture of defeat, but then gave her an almost imperceptible wink. "I'll just wait to win later." "Why you little--" "Shh!" He pointed to the closed door and whispered, "Sleeping child in there." "I'm gonna get you, buster," she called in a stage-whisper. "You'd better run." Suppressing laughter, he darted down the hall to the stairs, with Lois in full pursuit. * * * She awoke to a low murmur of noise. Not enough to hurt, but just enough to reassure her, to give her that feeling that things were 'right.' Truthfully, she could tell that a lot of stuff was still out of whack, but as long as she could hear, she felt calmer, more in control. She quickly realized that, while she was in pain, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had seemed the last time she woke. Should she open her eyes this time? Movement had caused pain last time, but opening eyes wasn't *really* moving. Was it? Maybe she should risk it. But she was afraid. What was there to be afraid of? She didn't know, but she still felt fear. Should she do it? Yes, she should. She was so busy internally arguing with herself that she failed to notice the change in the voices she heard. The tone had become different, then both speakers hushed. And then the presences behind the voices began approaching. But she didn't notice. She finally gathered enough courage to open her eyes... Only to be disappointed by the complete lack of view. Everything was pitch black. It must be night, only...she never remembered night being *so* black before. There were always waylights or stars or every now and then transport lights. So why was it so dark? Suddenly a light burst in on her musings, shooting its rays across the rooms and straight into her sensitive eyes. Unprepared, she flinched and slammed her lids shut to block the offending brightness. Without the light or her previous thoughts to distract her, she noticed that the man and woman from earlier had entered the room. She could feel it. Cautiously, she opened her eyes to see them peering worriedly at her. Instinctively, she tried to retreat, but there was nowhere to go. {NO! No more! Please! Leave me alone!} she screamed out, terrified once again. {Shhh...it's okay. We won't hurt you} the man's voice came through, soft and reassuring. But it wasn't him that scared her. It was...the woman. The woman, so like those who had beaten her. So like those who had taunted her, and humiliated her, and taken her from Home, and given her so much pain. It wasn't the man, it was the woman. {Make her go away! Please. I'm scared.} She realized she sounded pitiful and terrified, but she couldn't help it. The woman scared her. "Lois, would you mind leaving for a minute?" The man's voice sounded apologetic. "I'll see if I can calm her down, and then we can try again." Elsha could feel Lois's internal protest, her anger and frustration at Elsha's fear, but none of it came out in words. Instead she simply said, in a resigned voice full of sadness, "Fine. I'll go downstairs, okay?" The wave of sadness hit Elsha and, involuntarily, she glanced up at the woman. There was something there... {Wait!} Elsha looked into the woman's eyes and sighed with relief. She wasn't sure how she knew, but this woman's eyes told her. She was different. She wasn't the same as the others. {I'm sorry. You're okay. You just reminded me of...someone.} "Who? The people that hurt you? Do you know who they were? Or where they came from? Are they telepathic, like you? Sorry, I don't have this whole talking in your head thing down. I'm kinda used to my voice, you know? Oh, boy, I'm babbling. I'm sorry, this is just something I do. I can't seem to help it. Clark, shut me up!" She finished on a wail as Elsha and Clark just looked on, grinning. {She's a lot of fun to listen to.} After that amusing tirade that had been allowed to burst forth, Elsha wondered how she could ever be afraid of this woman. Somehow she could just *sense* that Lois meant her no harm. With Clark, though, there was not even a question. He exuded trustworthiness ever since the first time she saw him. He just had this aura of 'goodness' about him. Unlike... Them. She shivered at the thought. But no, she wasn't going to think about them now. She noticed the couple staring uncertainly at her and realized her emotions must have shown on her face, or leaked through her mind. {I'm okay. Honest.} She smiled to reassure them, then frowned at the growl emanating from her stomach. {Maybe a little hungry, though} she continued with a light laugh. * * * "We need to talk to her soon, before *we* get too settled with this idea." Clark interrupted their game of checkers. He didn't want either of them to get too attached to Elsha, only to find out it would be easy to send her home, or that she didn't want to stay with them. After she had eaten, Elsha was worn out, and so went back to sleep. Lois and Clark putzed around, ending up playing games yet again. Lois sighed and glanced towards the ceiling, above which Elsha was still sleeping soundly. "I know. But I'm afraid it's too soon. I mean, she woke up terrified once -- so terrified that she ended up fainting. Then last time she was so afraid of me. We seem to have crossed that bridge, but I'm afraid of shaking her up too much. Because there's really no way to ask her any questions without bringing up the attack. And I don't know if she can handle that right now." "Hmph. Good point." Clark was having the same thoughts, himself, but it was nice to have Lois bring them up, reassure him that he wasn't being 'too cautious,' as Lois was constantly berating him about. "I agree. But on the other hand, if we don't bring it up soon, we may lose any chance of catching her abusers and possibly getting her home, if we haven't already." "Well, since she still seems to be a little more comfortable with you, maybe you should be the one to bring it up." "Okay. Do you want to be there? You often come up with questions I wouldn't even think of asking. I'd hate to lose your point of view." Lois thought for a second, then agreed. "I guess I can always leave if she seems to be getting too uncomfortable." Clark heard a noise, and quickly x-rayed through the ceiling. "Well, speak of the devil. She's awake." A determined expression on her face, Lois stood up. "May as well get it over with before we chicken out." Clark wondered why she was so apprehensive about this confrontation -- which wasn't even exactly a confrontation. More along the lines of an interview. Which she was perfectly capable of handling, and of which she should have no fear. Maybe it was because this time, it was going to affect her life. And in a way more permanent that a simple kidnapping or death threat. Or maybe it was just her woman's intuition (or reporter's -- the two often overlapped with Lois) warning her about possible deleterious results. Well they'd made their decision, no backing out now. He stood and followed her up the stairs, passing her in order to be the one to knock on Elsha's door. "Elsha? Are you awake?" he called softly. {Yes. Come in.} He looked at Lois and nodded, opening the door as he did so. * * * TBC _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 17:00:34 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: Question for Fic: Too big for one brain to think about. On Wed, 25 Jul 2001 09:29:12 -0500, James Tull wrote: >What do you think would be the response of the UN/world governments if, on >March 1966, 60 million refugees from the planet Krypton showed up? 1. Nuke 'em! or 2. Turn them away. or 3. Shunt the Kryptonians into refugee camps while they engage in endless debate on who will undertake the responsibility of incorporating them into their own countries. Questions: Do the Kryptonians contact Earth before they land or will they just land their spaceships somewhere? (and if so, where? How many ships of what sizes are needed to house 60 million people?) The answer will help to determine how Earth reacts to the invasion. Will the Kryptonians become citizens of the respective countries they land in and abide by the laws of those countries, or do they expect to maintain their autonomy? Do any of them (Krytonians or Earthlings) know that the Kryptonians will have super powers? I'm assuming that the Kryptonians are not coming with the intention of enslaving Earth people! > > >Also, what might happen between then and 2000? See Number 3 above . > Intriguing idea, James. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 19:46:39 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? On Wed, 25 Jul 2001 14:28:23 EDT, Crystal Wimmer wrote: >IMO, Clark is the sum of how he was raised and what he believes... I think >the Kryptonian part is irrelevant to who *Clark* is. Yet there are some who say that Clark is driven to help Earth people *because* of his Kryptonian heritage. IIRC, the Superman movie that Nic Cage was going to star in was going to explore the premise that Clark feels like an outsider on Earth, and so he tries to gain love and acceptance by driving himself to perform endless acts of selflessness. I'm not sure I like that premise - I prefer to believe, as you do, that Clark would want to help, regardless - but I do see his Kryptonian roots as contributing to who he is. >Yes, he saves the >world, but I honestly believe that had he not had special powers, he would >have been a policeman or a fireman... something vaguely heroic, just because >he *has* to do all he can. Yes, I agree that Clark would want to do all he can to help. But for me, his powers are so much a part of who he is that I don't think I could accept that he was Clark Kent without them. That does not mean that I wouldn't read a story where Clark doesn't have powers, or that I wouldn't enjoy it! It just means that I wouldn't think of him as CK. He would just be a really, really, really nice guy with similar temperament and personality. > >OTOH, if he'd been raised on Krypton, by Jorel and Lara... he wouldn't be >Clark. He might have some of the same ideas, but without Martha and Jonathan >he wouldn't be "our" Clark. People are a product of their genetics AND their >environment, and if you change either there will be some result... but I >truly believe environment is the deciding factor. > I agree that the Kents were very important in shaping Clark's personality. I think that even if the Kents didn't raise him, though, he would still have basically the same easy-going temperament. He would still be Clark to me. (Realistically, that's assuming that he had a good environment during his critical early years. From what I've read about childhood development, a good environment is *crucial* in the early years.) In fanfic, though, anything goes, as far as I'm concerned. I've read some riveting stories that gave Clark a very bad early childhood and yet when it was over, he was still Clark. I guess this means that who raises Clark isn't important to me in a fanfic, as long as he still displays Clark- traits when he grows up. ;-) Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 16:37:51 -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: NEW: Alien Gift (5/?) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Bethy!!!!!!!!! More soon please!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see what she says!!! CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 21:17:53 -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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Whew, I go away for five days or so and come back to 140+ messages on this list! But it was sure fun going through them ;) I especially liked this discussion... it's reassured me about my own elseworld-story-in-progress, wherein Kal-El had been raised Kryptonian, but nonetheless managed to come to Earth and meet Lois Lane, who is in the process of helping him be all that he can be Upbringing does make a very big difference, but I do believe Kal/Clark would have to be compassionate at heart... Shadowfax, your original description had me LOL Especially the part about how he has to look like Dean Cain ;-) I do agree that the powers are an important aspect of Clark's character; they're such an unusual characteristic (he's usually the only one with those powers) and they've had a huge influence on his life and thinking (secrecy & hiding on the one hand, ability to *really* help on the other) ... I'd be willing to read a story where he didn't have them, but it would be an uphill battle for the author to convince me that this was still Clark, and not just some Dean Cain-lookalike ;) Which is not to say that it can't be done, so I'm looking forward to the two stories Gerry mentioned! Anyway... I'm back, so now everyone has to post new installments Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ ~~God answers knee-mail~~ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2001 22:06:46 -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: What makes Clark Clark? Comments: To: bbmedos@booksanctuary.com In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit bbmedos@booksanctuary.com writes: >Gerry wrote: ><< I've had the opportunity to read two fanfics that are both in >beta-reading stage where Clark has no superpowers. Surprisingly because >of >the characters' compassion (two separate stories, two separate Clarks) and >attitude toward Lois, the stories work. So, the man does not have to have >superpowers. >> > >Just out of pure curiosity, what were the explanations for why he didn't >have superpowers? That would probably make all the difference in whether I >could accept the character as actually being version of the Clark of the >series and not another character entirely, I think. I'd rather not say because it isn't my work and I'm not sure how much the author wants the information to go around before she "publishes". Suffice it to say that in one of the stories Clark is just an earthling like the rest of us, born and bred. Powers aren't an issue. Pam wrote: I'd be willing to read a story where he didn't have them, but it would be an uphill battle for the author to convince me that this was still Clark, and not just some Dean Cain-lookalike ;) Which is not to say that it can't be done, so I'm looking forward to the two stories Gerry mentioned! I easily accepted Clark as our Superman even without the powers. Part of it was his compassion; another part was his connection to and relationship with Lois. It worked for me. (Other parts of the story didn't so the author is reworking and rethinking her work.) I can't talk about the other story because I don't want to give anything away. I hope it will be "published" soon. Can we talk about "publishing" our work once we make it public on the msb, list or archives? Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 08:41:46 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? On Wed, 25 Jul 2001 14:28:23 EDT, Crystal Wimmer wrote: > >OTOH, if he'd been raised on Krypton, by Jorel and Lara... he wouldn't be >Clark. He might have some of the same ideas, but without Martha and Jonathan >he wouldn't be "our" Clark This raises another question for me: what would Lois and Clark be like if their backgrounds had been reversed? What if Sam and Ellen Lane were farmers in Kansas and Jonathan Kent the brilliant surgeon in Metropolis? What would Clark be like if he had grown up with a father who didn't have time for his family and who was disappointed in his son for some reason? What if he had grown up in an urban environment where it was every man for him- or herself? What if Clark had been let down or betrayed by virtually everyone he got close to? (Or *would* Clark be betrayed by his friends in the same way Lois was? It seems to me that Lois's problems with her friends resulted at least in part from her own behavior, including her poor choices of people to be friends *with*: Linda King, the editor of her college paper, and Claude, among others - and I won't even mention Lex Luthor .) Has anyone every written a fanfic reversing their backgrounds? Ben Pistorius did some interesting things with canon in his poignant story "When a Great Man Loves a Super Woman," but IIRC, his changes to canon weren't in line with what I'm talking about here. Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 09:14:49 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shayne T Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? I've really been enjoying this thread. Someone asked about role reversals in fanfics. I started working on a story in which Lois and Clark had each been born as members of the opposite sex. The story is tabled for the moment, but the implications for both their personalities can't be denied. Even given being raised within the same families, it would stretch the very definition of what makes Clark Clark (or in theis case Claire, and what makes Lois Lois,(or maybe Louis). That's not exactly the rural/urban reversal you are looking for, but it's the closest that I have. Personally, I tend to believe that there are a few characteristics that make Clark Clark. 1) at the core, he must be a good person. He can try to deny it, or even have a crusty outer shell 2) he must want to help, even if only secretly 3) he must have some feeling of responsibility because of his abilities. I have trouble imagining a normal person as being Clark Kent because he isn't. Clark Kent's abilities give him options that the rest of us don't have. Most people don't have the luxury, for example of having an absolute rule against killing. In situations of self-defense, or defense of a child, during times of desperation those options may not exist. His abilitites give him options, but they demand his attention as well. 4) He must feel alienated to at least a degree from his fellow man. A human Clark Kent wouldn't have any legitimate reason for that except perhaps the reasons the rest of us might have- and given his looks and talents, probably less. Those are my main criteria. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 10:44:38 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Cindy Leuch Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I tend to agree with what Shayne said. When you write Clark, you have to try and get into his head and ask yourself what motivates him to do what he does. The more you look at him, the more you see that the presence of his powers has greatly affected his personality. Clark, as a rule, tends to be a cautious person, and worries a lot. I think that stems directly from his powers - because of them, he has been overly protective of his own privacy and of the safety of those around him. If he didn't have his powers, he wouldn't have that part of his personality. There is also a certain innocence to him that a lot of writers contribute to his midwesterm upbringing, and that might be true to an extent, but I think a lot of the idealism and innocence comes from the fact that he has the ability to become the "ideal" hero in many ways. He can use his gifts to make certain things in the world right. Again, this is a theme that many authors have delved into - the loss of that innocence and the realization that he can't fix everything, etc. But again, I think he would be a little more cynical without the powers. What Shayne said about the feeling of alienation is very true as well. Clark knows he doesn't fit in, and that shapes him. Changing any of these parts of his personality by taking away the powers has the effect of changing the dynamic between him and Lois, as well. The story "When a Great Man Loves a Super Woman" was mentioned - I've read that story, and it was a very interesting concept (and I'm all about authors exploring these new concepts). HOWEVER, it just didn't work for me because the dynamic had changed so much. There's a lot of balance in the relationship between Lois and Clark, and shifting the powers to Lois gave me the feeling that she was holding all the cards. I could go into it more, but I don't think that's necessarily the point. My personal feeling on the characters is that I like to see them portrayed more or less as they were in the show, but, as an author, I understand the need to change things from time to time, just to make things interesting. My enjoyment of those stories with the altered Lois and/or Clark is directly related to how believable I find the new characters to be, but on the whole I like to read elseworlds. In fact, I'm writing one where Lois is not a reporter, so.... My motto is, write what inspires you. If individual authors have a certain vision for Lois or Clark, by all means write it and try to bring us around to your POV. I'll look forward to whatever story comes out of this discussion. Thanks for listening! GO CYCLONES! Cindy Leuch isuleuch@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 11:10:19 -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: Valley of the Shadow, 5/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >From Part 4: "Please get a hold of Clark for me. Try anywhere. Get Jimmy to go to the apartment and get him or something, but I need Clark. Please, Mom. I know you don't like him, but I need him right now." Ellen put a reassuring hand on her daughter's back. "I'll do my best," she said, glad Lois wasn't looking at her. If she had been, her intuitive offspring would have known that Ellen had no such intention. ***** Part 5: "Can I help you?" Ellen answered the door. "I am looking for Ms. Lane." "And you are?" "Lex Luthor, ma'am. A friend of Ms. Lane's." Ellen almost tripped over herself trying to let the man in. "I... I know who you are, Mr. Luthor. Please come in." Luthor entered the tastefully decorated apartment. "Is Ms. Lane in?" "She's sleeping right now. She's had a difficult day." "So I heard. That's why I'm here. A, ah, friend of mine from the hospital knew that Ms. Lane and I are close and informed me of the tragic news. Is her husband around?" "No, the S. O. B. didn't even have the decency to go with her to the doctor's office when she was having problems." Ellen's eyes flashed fire. Luthor smiled to himself as he sat on the couch. "I'm sure he would have been there, had he known." "Oh, probably not. He was too busy sleeping." Ellen sighed. "Lois wants me to call him, but I don't want him anywhere near my daughter." "Perhaps you have another plan?" "I don't know. As soon as she wakes up, she'll call him herself." "Unless..." "Unless what?" "Well, I'm not usually the devious type, but it seems that if Lois thinks that Clark knows..." Luthor trailed off. Ellen's eyes lit up. She stood and started pacing. "If she thinks that Clark knows and doesn't want to be here for her, she'll kick him to the curb." "Perhaps. But how to make sure that Clark doesn't come looking?" "Well, I could leave him a message that she has decided to stay with me and that she doesn't want him to call. She'll call him sometime soon, after she sorts some things out." "It could work." Luthor smiled. He held the bag in his hand out. "This is for Lois, as soon as she's up to it. Antonio's. I know that she loves their fettuccini alfredo and chocolate cake." "I'll put it in the fridge for whenever she wants it." Ellen took the bag and walked into the kitchen. When she returned, her guest was standing. "I must go, Mrs. Lane." Luthor held out his hand. When she took it, he held it to his lips. "Until next time..." Ellen was speechless as he walked out the door. Why couldn't her daughter have picked a man like him? ***** Clark listened to the message for the fifth time, the look of disbelief still evident on his face. "... and Lois doesn't want you to call or come by. She needs some time to sort some things out. She'll call you in a couple of days. Please, respect her wishes." Clark pushed the stop button. He couldn't believe what his ears had heard over and over. Ellen's voice telling him his wife didn't want anything to do with him. He swallowed hard, wishing he could call his own mother and get some advice, but he couldn't. His parents were on safari in Africa and he was still suffering the effects of the Kryptonite he had been exposed to over the weekend, so he couldn't fly to them. He didn't even know if his powers would come back. He sighed. He wondered what could have happened to make Lois want nothing to do with him. He reached over and turned the computer on. Maybe he could get some work done. Maybe he should go over there anyway. Why should he trust Ellen? She had never made a secret of her feelings for him. He clicked on the email icon. Maybe there was a lead on who was really behind the kidnapping and attempted extortion of Superman. He was shocked when he saw an email from his wife. He didn't understand why she would email him instead of just calling him or coming home. He looked more closely at the address. It wasn't her work email, but one of those free ones on the Internet. He clicked on the open icon and read the words that appeared on the screen. Clark - This is difficult for me to say. We've been having some problems lately - you know what they are - and I need some time to sort things out. I am staying with my mom for right now. I can't get to my Planet email from her computer so I had to set up another account. Please don't try to come by or contact me. I'll get in touch with you again soon. I won't be at work for a while, so don't look for me there either. Lois Clark sat stunned. It was true. Lois didn't want anything to with him. ***** Lois woke crying to find her mother rushing into the room. "Lois? Are you okay? You were screaming?" Lois couldn't speak through the sobs. Ellen sat down and gathered her daughter in her arms. A few minutes later, Lois was able to talk. "Mom, where's Clark?" "He never came, honey." "What?" "I left him a message, tried everything, but he never came." Lois sniffed back some more tears. "It's all true, isn't it? The baby's gone?" "Yes, Lois." Ellen had never been the world's best mother, but she did love her daughters in her own way. "Here." She held out another pill and a glass of water. "Not yet, Mom. I'm hungry." "Well, that nice Mr. Luthor came by and dropped off some Antonio's for you." "Lex?" She hadn't seen him much since he had shown up at her apartment and been thrown out by Superman. "What was he doing here?" "He has a friend who works in the hospital who heard about what happened and contacted him. He came by while you were sleeping." "Oh." Lois sat down at the kitchen table as her mother reheated the pasta. Pasta. Oh, if only Clark was here. He loved pasta and she loved what pasta did to him. That wasn't really an option now, but she still needed her husband. They didn't see eye to eye on everything but she loved her husband and knew that he loved her. There was no way that she would ever doubt that. She really needed to be held in his arms right now, to cry and to know that he was crying with her. He would be just as devastated as she was when he found out. He had wanted the baby even worse than she did. It was something he had wanted his whole life. A family of his own. And now it wouldn't happen anytime soon. It would be a long time before Lois was ready to try this again. She knew that this wasn't something she'd just "get over". She would need the love and support of Clark and he would need hers. If only he was here now... He would have heated the pasta up a lot faster, too. Lois sighed. She missed him desperately and she wasn't even sure why. ***** Clark spent an uneasy night tossing and turning in the bed he normally shared with Lois. Man, he missed her. Whatever was wrong they could work it out together. They were stronger together than either one of them were alone, even him. He had spend most of his life alone and, until he met Lois in Washington D. C. the summer after his senior year in high school, he hadn't been sure that he would ever find the *one*. The first time he saw her in that hotel he knew that he would find her again and someday they would be together. And it had been even more wonderful than anything he had ever dreamed of. Being with Lois was magical, it was... *right*. Something had clicked between them. He would always love her, no matter what they went through, nothing would ever change that. There was nothing she could do, nothing anyone could do, to make him stop loving her - and he knew she felt the same way. He wondered if she was missing him like he was missing her. He wished he could spin into the Superman suit and fly away for awhile - maybe go down to the Caribbean and sit on the sand and think, but that was not to be. He couldn't even float at the moment, much less fly off. He rolled over again, punching the pillow with his fist. The tears finally started to flow as the feathers flew around the room. ***** "What in the name of Elvis are you doing here?" "I thought I'd get some work done, Chief." Clark sat at his desk, trying desperately not to look towards Lois'. "We just finished unkidnapping you 24 hours ago and..." "It's been a little longer than that, Chief." "But you still look exhausted. Besides, shouldn't you be with Lois?" "Isn't she here?" Clark didn't really expect her to be, but tried to look incredulous anyway. "No, of course not." "She, uh, wasn't at home when I woke up this morning. I figured she'd be here getting some work done, trying to find out who kidnapped me." "Well, she's not. And if you know what's good for you, you'll get out of here and get some rest." "Sure, Chief." Clark sat there for a few more minutes and finally walked slowly to Lois' desk. He sat there and then opened the top drawer, just wanting to see some of her things. He was surprised at what he found there. He pulled out the pamphlet about Metropolis Reproductive Services and Clinic. He opened it, idly wondering what story Lois was on with this particular group. Maybe there was some illegal stem cell research or selling of fetal material that she was set to expose. The pamphlet boasted about all of the services that were provided at Metropolis General Hospital, including information about contraception, annual exams, and family planning, but Clark knew it was a thin cover for what was essentially only an abortion clinic. He didn't agree with the philosophy of or theory behind abortion on a personal level, but he guessed he understood a woman's right to choose, especially if the father didn't want the child either. In reality, of course, it wasn't that simple. The theory of choice was fine, but his mother couldn't have children and if it hadn't been for the destruction of Krypton, they would probably have never had any. There weren't enough children up for adoption in the public system and there was no way his parents could have afforded a private adoption. He knew there were many sets of potential parents out there who were in similar situations and he just figured that maybe adoption would be a viable option instead of abortion for those women. It was one of the biggest gripes against the Reproductive Clinic - they counseled for abortions, not options. He shrugged. Whatever Lois was looking into could wait. He was glad that he wasn't faced with the reality of the mother of his child struggling with that decision. Lois wanted their baby as badly as he did. For that he was truly grateful. Clark took the pamphlet and walked towards the office of his editor. "Hey, Perry, do you know what Lois was investigating at the Reproductive Clinic?" Perry looked puzzled. "I have no idea, son. She hasn't mentioned anything to me about it if she is investigating them. There's all kinds of seedy things they *could* be involved in, but I don't remember them ever doing, or even being seriously looked at, for any kind of illegal activity. Why?" "Oh, I just found a pamphlet in her desk and figured it was the beginning of some research she was doing." "Sorry, son. Nothing that I know of. Now get out of here and get some rest." "Yes, sir." Clark stuck the pamphlet in his pocket and headed out of the newsroom. For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He wished he could go check out Ellen's place as Superman and check on Lois, but his powers weren't back yet. His hearing seemed to be improving and that was a definite plus, but there was no sign of x-ray vision, floating or flight, and he couldn't believe how long it took to make coffee without heat vision. He sighed. There really wasn't much he could do except wait for Lois to respond to the email he had sent her. ***** "Hi, Mom!" Lucy breezed into the living room the next morning. Ellen tied her robe around her. "What are you doing here, Lucy?" "Just wanted to see my mom. What's so wrong about that?" "Nothing." Ellen cursed mentally. Lucy wasn't supposed to be here. What was she going to tell her younger daughter? "Isn't that Lois' purse?" Ellen sighed. So much for hoping Lucy wouldn't notice. "Yes, it is." "Where is she?" Lucy looked around the room. "I haven't seen her in ages." "She's sleeping." Lucy became concerned. "What? Is everything okay?" "She's fine." "Then why is she here and not at home?" "She and Clark have been having some problems." Ellen knew this from Lex, who she had been in contact with several times in the last couple of days. The man had friends everywhere. "Oh?" Lucy had heard something from Jimmy, who was in on the office gossip, but neither one had paid much attention to the rumors. Ellen took a deep breath. She had to phrase this carefully. "When she went to the doctor the other day, she had a D and C. Clark didn't want anything to do with it so she went by herself. I ran into her and I couldn't let my baby be alone." Lucy was confused. She thought she knew what a D and C was but she wasn't sure. She'd have Jimmy research it for her. If it was what she thought it was, it wasn't good. For Clark, Lois or the baby. "Lucy, I hate to be abrupt, but I have some things that I need to do and Lois really doesn't want to be disturbed." "Oh, okay. I'll, uh, see you later." Lucy walked out the door and went straight to the Planet. ***** "Jimmy, I need to talk to you now." Lucy wasted no time finding her boyfriend. Jimmy looked up. "Hey, sweetheart." He put one arm around her waist. "What a great surprise. I love seeing you." "Now, Jimmy. Is there somewhere we can go to talk in private?" Jimmy was stunned by the intensity in Lucy's voice. "Sure. The conference room." He took her hand and led her across the room. Lucy quickly told him what she had learned that morning. Jimmy sat at the rarely used computer in the conference room and quickly tried to find the information on a medical web site. "A D and C is a dilitation and cutterage most commonly used to empty the contents of the uterus after an abortion. Could also be used after an incomplete miscarriage." Jimmy read the description off the screen. "Do you think that Lois lost the baby?" Lucy's head fell back over the top of the chair and she let out the deep breath she had been holding. "That's not what it sounded like. It sounded like the procedure was optional. Mom said that Clark didn't want anything to do with it so Lois was by herself." "But that doesn't make any sense. Lois wanted the baby as badly as Clark did." "I know. Maybe it has something to do with the rumors you said had been flying around here. You said at least one of the fights they've been having had something to do with the baby." Jimmy sighed. He looked out the window of the conference room and saw the dejected Clark Kent sitting at his desk. It was his first day back after being kidnapped in an effort to get to Superman. Clark was reading what appeared to be an email. He abruptly stood and walked aimlessly toward the conference room. Lucy and Jimmy shared a look. Whatever he had just read, it didn't look good. ***** TBC ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 13:30:14 -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: Valley of the Shadow, 5/? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Carol! Wasn't the last WHAM enough? ;) This is bad, really bad. :( I can't believe you have Lex and Ellen plotting like that. And who planted that brochure in Lois' desk?? Here we have Lois thinking Clark doesn't care for her (or maybe even that he hates her for losing the baby), and poor Clark thinks that Lois aborted the baby (maybe because of their differences). And with everyone conspiring it doesn't look like they will be able to get together to work things out. Classical case of miscommunication. Help Superman! Natascha PS. BTW, the writing is very good and makes the whole story even more heartwrenching. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 13:29:53 -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: Valley of the Shadow, 5/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol, I have one thing to say. FIX IT FAST. Don't let this miscommunication caused by others drag out. merry ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 18:03:59 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Elizabeth Rowe(Juliet)" Subject: I need a beta reader. MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I need a beta for a story I'm doing that presents a different way that life after Superman killed Doomsday in the comics could've gone, but using L&C canon (for the most part). Anybody wanna help an author? Juliet ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 18:22:01 -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: LC Adoption question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit An idea for a vignette is popping around in my head, but I need some information so I can write it. In Family Hour (I think) when the adoption lady is talking to Lois and Clark and telling them what their scores are, does anyone know what the scores were and what they were for? I remember Lois got 5 points for being a US citizen - was anything else specified? If not, then I guess I just need the total scores. Thanks so much for helping out everyone! CM(Who knows she's asked more than her fair share of questions lately, but thanks the folcs for their help just the same!) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 09:59:31 +0930 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jill Kaye Subject: Re: LC Adoption question In-Reply-To: <20010726.182209.-174581.5.cmoncado@juno.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >An idea for a vignette is popping around in my head, but I need some >information so I can write it. > >In Family Hour (I think) when the adoption lady is talking to Lois and >Clark and telling them what their scores are, does anyone know what the >scores were and what they were for? I remember Lois got 5 points for >being a US citizen - was anything else specified? If not, then I guess I >just need the total scores. > >Thanks so much for helping out everyone! > >CM(Who knows she's asked more than her fair share of questions lately, >but thanks the folcs for their help just the same!) Correct me if I'm wrong, people, but I think Clark got 98 and Lois got 19! ~Larissa~ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 19:38:13 -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: LC Adoption question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Correct me if I'm wrong, people, but I think Clark got 98 and Lois > got 19! > ~Larissa~ Thanks Larissa. I was thinking it was something like that, but I've only seen the ep 1x and don't have it on tape. Missed it the time before. Any confirmation? CM ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 01:14:37 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Bethy Em Subject: NEW: And By The Way... (2/2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed And By The Way... By Bethy Comments welcome publicly or privately Previously: “Anyone else, leave a message after the beep. And by the way, if this is Clark, I still love you.” His heart stopped, he forgot to breathe and his hand tightened to where he almost crushed the receiver. Not a moment too soon he regained enough presence of mind to loosen his grip, which allowed him to slam the phone back on it’s hook. Why had he done that? It didn’t matter, it was too late now. He fought to catch his breath as he slowly walked away from the pay phone. There was a slight line forming, so he would let them have their turns while he regained control over his wildly vacillating emotions. She still loved him! * * * PART TWO “She still loves me, Mom!” It was a few hours later and Clark was pacing agitatedly around the kitchen as his mother calmly filled her freshly made piecrust. “Do tell,” she said as she opened the oven door and slid the pie in. He chose to ignore her sarcasm and focus on the issue at hand. After he hung up, he had taken a couple turns around the world, alternating between positive and negative, joy and remorse, elation and regret, excitement and fear. Joy, because she loved him! Despite what he had done to her, the pain, the waiting, the loss; she still loved him! She was waiting for him, willing to endure the teasing and embarrassment that had to come with that public message. And all for him. For love of him. Her love was strong enough to overcome the hurt and anger that had to have resulted from his stupidity. She would forgive him! On the heels of joy came remorse for wasted time. In his arrogance, his belief that his superstrength entitled him to control over her life and her safety. Yet, though he saw the arrogance of his attitude, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that her safety was his responsibility. And because of that, he couldn’t continue his relationship with her. That was the whole purpose of leaving -- his presence, combined with the widespread knowledge of her close relationship with Superman, was a danger to her. He couldn’t stand to be the cause of any injury to her. Then remorse tagged elation, cried, “You’re it!” and fled. His heart welled with the wonderful prospect of seeing Lois again. Hearing her voice. Smelling the wonderful scent of her shampoo mixed with faint perfume. Feeling her body beneath a tight hug, knowing that she would never let go. Immediately, common sense (at least, his version of it), spoke, tinged with regret. He couldn’t go back. Just because she still loved him didn’t mean the danger was gone. She would still be known as one of Superman’s best friends, and the one he rescued the most often. She would still be a target. If he lost her, especially as a result of someone trying to control him, he couldn’t bear it. It didn’t matter that she was essentially lost to him now, at least this way he knew she was alive. She was safe. And if it meant he had to stay away forever, he would do it. Despite his reasonings, excitement couldn’t help but surface. He could see her again. He could go back, and she would accept him. The prospect of once again having a home, having a life, and having her back in that life was both tempting and thrilling. But he was afraid. She said she still loved him, but would they really return to a trusting relationship? Could they? And what about the paper? Would Perry let him back? And what about the risk to Lois? His mind just kept coming back to that same factor. He couldn’t risk her. That was just too much. “I can’t risk her safety,” he said decisively. “I just can’t.” “Clark, listen to her. Listen to your heart.” Martha wasn’t trying to push, but she was tired of Clark’s misguided nobleness. “She’s willing to take the risk, and really, it’s more her choice than yours. Go to her. Talk to her. Try and work things out. And give *her* a chance to participate in the decision making process.” She brushed her hands off on her jeans and looked Clark straight in the eye. “But be careful. If you break her heart again, I don’t know if she’ll let you back in.” He nodded miserably. “But what if I lose her? I couldn’t stand that, Mom. It’d kill me.” “Haven’t you lost her now? And, remember, she’s lost you, too. And she had no choice in the matter. Did you ever think what this did to her? It’s like you’re dead, but she can’t properly grieve because you’re not. Not really. She has no reason to hope for your return, yet she does. Go to her,” Martha finished in a whisper. “And be prepared to grovel!” She tried to lighten to mood to cover her own emotion. Clark nodded and turned to go. He was still fearful for Lois’s well-being, but maybe his mom was right, and Lois did deserve to be involved in the decision making process. This separation was hurting him beyond what he could have imagined, and obviously it was hurting Lois, too. Maybe they could reach a compromise. Maybe. It was such a cruel and wonderful word, one that could get hopes up and restore dreams, but one that also left room for indescribable agony. He’d already faced incredible anguish and survived. He only hoped he could survive what came next, and learn to live again. As he left he heard Martha call his name and turned questioningly. “Do you want to stay for some pie? It’ll be ready in less than an hour.” There was such hope in her voice. In his obsessing over Lois, he had managed to forget the cost of his self-imposed exile on his parents. “Sure,” he replied, for what else could he do? “I’ll go see if Dad needs any help with that fence and then we’ll both come in.” “Okay.” Martha smiled and reached out to hug him. He hugged her back, trying to hold back tears. He could have his life back. It might not be easy, but it could happen. Unfortunately, a major earthquake hit California later that evening. With aftershocks, fires, and clearing rubble in search of bodies, three days passed before he even had a chance to think of calling Lois. * * * “Hi, you’ve reached the boogey-man. I’ve taken over all electronic appliances at the home of Lois Lane, so if you’re trying to reach her, leave a message. I may or may not deliver it to her, depending on my mood. And by the way, if this is Clark, she still loves you.” Beep. Click. Another hang-up. Lois had to laugh as she heard the message for the first time. She knew Jimmy had been up to something, seeing as he hadn’t been able to keep a straight face at work all day. Periodically, he’d sneak into her desk, computer or apartment and leave a small prank to give her a laugh. She knew it was all in fun, and he was doing it to cheer her up, so she went along for the ride. But she always knew when to expect one, because Jimmy had absolutely *no* skill in keeping a straight face. Good thing he always declined invitations to play poker. This prank was a perfect idea. Jimmy knew that she screened her calls, and in the process heard her own message endless times throughout the evening. And that gravelly voice! She wondered how he managed that one... There were all sorts of voice synthesizers on the computer, she knew -- he’d shown her one earlier that week. But how had he managed to transfer that to the answering machine? She mused on that problem as she played back the rest of the messages from earlier. The three hang-ups were easy to deal with -- delete message. The two from her mother were a bit more difficult. In the first Ellen demanded to know who had put that ‘simply ridiculous’ message on there. “You have respectable people calling you, Lois; this is no place for some silly, juvenile joke. You really ought to change that. Immediately.” Lois smiled. Of course her mother would never understand. She toyed with the idea of leaving it, just to annoy her mother...nah, it wouldn’t be worth it. The second message was much like the first, wanting to know where Lois was, why she hadn’t fixed that message yet and ordering her to call the *minute* she got back home. Well, that could wait. If all else failed, she could at least tell her mother she was out working late. Then there was one from Jimmy, proclaiming, “Happy Monday! I just thought I’d give you a laugh. Did it work?” The last message was from Lucy. “Hey, Lois. It’s your long-lost, dearly beloved sister.” She could hear the exuberance and zest in her sister’s voice. She wished she could feel that way again. It wasn’t that she didn’t try, but there just never seemed to be any point to it anymore. It was like she’d been deaf all her life, and Clark restored her hearing and introduced her to the beauty of music. Then when he left, all the music went out of tune. “Long time, no talk to, huh? Well, I can fix that! I’m coming to Metropolis for a conference that starts next Monday, but my flight comes in Friday night. So, I was thinking I could stay at your place, we could spend a couple of nights on the town and have some good ol’ sister bonding time. Whaddya say? I’m on flight 1492 -- easy to remember, isn’t it? ‘1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue’ -- with CrossCountry. It arrives at 6:12 PM. Anyway, just give me a call, let me know if this will work or not. Talk to you later, love ya, bye!” She searched out Lucy’s newest phone number, which was quite a process involving three separate address books and a few old e-mails, and gave her a call. Three hours later, after confirming plans, reminiscing, catching up, and avoiding questions about Clark, Lois hung up. She got up to prepare for bed when the phone rang. It was almost 11, who could be calling her? No salesperson -- it was too late. Perry? Only if it was an emergency, and then he probably would have tried her beeper first. Her mother? Heaven forbid. With that thought in mind, she quickly switched the answering machine to pick up after two rings and waited to see who it was. “Hi, you’ve reached the boogey-man.” Oh, no, she had forgotten to switch that message. Too late now. She smothered a giggle, anticipating her mother’s peeved voice. “And by the way, if this is Clark, she still loves you.” Beep. “Um...hi, Lois.” She knew that voice. That was...oh, my gosh, could it be? “This is Clark.” It was. She tried to swallow, but suddenly her mouth was filled with a large, dried out sponge. Her nails dug into clammy palms as she waited to hear what he would say. For some reason she was incapable of reaching out and picking up. “Uh, I’m not sure what to say here. I rehearsed a whole speech, but now it sounds stupid. I, uh, noticed you changed the message.” She grinned. She couldn’t wait to tell Jimmy that after all this time, Clark responded to *his* message. He said he planned what to say, which implied he planned to call, but it was still funny. “Anyway, if you and the boogey-man are still serious, and you’re willing to give me a second chance, call me at my parents. I’ll be waiting.” Wait! Don’t go! Her hand shot out and picked up the phone, but all she heard was the dial tone. She had missed him. She was tempted to call him right back, but then an idea struck. She would wait. She would see if Lucy were willing to help her with the plan already forming in her head, and then she would return his call. * * * Clark checked his watch for the third time. He knew he was early, but he couldn’t quell his anxiety. Wednesday evening, when he was in town doing some shopping with his dad, she had called back. He’d moped around the house all day Tuesday and Wednesday, waiting for Lois’s call, and had just about given up hope. What if she’d changed her mind? Decided he wasn’t worth the pain anymore? Not that he could blame her... Finally, as nervous as he and exasperated to boot, Martha had ordered him out of the house. “If by some chance she calls while you’re gone, I’ll give you a message! Believe me, after all this time, a few more hours won’t kill you.” Sure enough, when he got home, there was a sticky-note attached to the microwave above the phone. “Lois called. Meet her at *The Velvet Lounge* (she said you’d know where it’s at), Friday night at 9:15.” Naturally he’d wanted to rush to the phone and call her back, but Martha blocked him. “She said not to call back. Just meet her there. She has her reasons, and frankly I agree with her.” Obviously Martha was now firmly on Lois’s side. And now here he was. Friday night, barely nine o’clock and he’d already been waiting for almost a half an hour. He couldn’t help it if he was a little over-eager. A band was on stage playing some upbeat dance music and people were scattered all over the floor, dancing. Some in pairs, some in groups, some alone. Tables formed a half circle around the dance floor and people sat and talked, or listened to the music. It was an all ages bar, so alcohol wasn’t served. He remembered reporting on the uprising of this new kind of club, geared toward all ages and promoting fun without alcohol. Those who wished to drink could still go to bars, but this one was firm in its no-alcohol policy. The band finished their song and an MC got up announcing open mike night. There was a list of performers who’d signed up earlier, but there was room for more. If anybody wanted to participate, all they had to do was go to the table by the bar and sign up. No previous experience necessary. The first singer was pretty good. In her late teens, she sounded like she could go far if she got a little more training. Another plus was that she had written her own song. As much as he enjoyed writing, and as much as people told him that he had a very poetic, lyrical style to his journalism, Clark had never had much success with real poetry or songwriting. The next act, a guy-girl duo, needed some more polishing. But they definitely had enthusiasm and stage presence, singing to the audience and to each other, making good use of the stage. Then the lights dimmed and the band began playing the intro music to the third singer. It was much softer than the previous two and Clark had a hunch that it would be a love song. He glanced down at his watch. 9:17. Where was Lois? He happened to glance to the side of the stage and saw a woman exiting that looked almost exactly like Lucy, Lois’s sister. Wait a minute, it was Lucy! Now what was she doing here? And why did she have that incredibly smug look on her face? And then he saw *her*. Lois walked out on the stage, dressed in a beautiful burgundy dress -- his favorite color on her. In an instant he discovered the reason behind Lucy’s smug look. She started singing and he was mesmerized both by her voice and by the words she sang. “Before the pain could die, I had to learn to cry. Tears were trapped Behind a frozen stare.” He felt like she was speaking about their own lives. Despite the pain in her life, Lois rarely, if ever, gave in to the healing power of tears. She always locked them inside, refusing to deal with them at all. But if what his mom said was true, then this time she had allowed the tears to come, to wash away the anger and pain of all her relationships. “I kept it all inside, I took my life in stride.” That was Lois. Never give in, never give up. Keep fighting, keep moving on. If you don’t let it get to you, eventually it will go away. “It's not easy to share When there’s no one to care.” Oh, Lois. What must her life have been like? Nobody cared enough to see the true woman inside, the passion, the love, the hurt, the fire. And then he came along and earned her trust, only to throw it in her face. “But your love was so strong Gently proved I was wrong It’s so good to know you’re always there.” Oh, the guilt. What had he done to her? Always there, what a joke. She was singing this after he’d left her? Was she trying to punish him? Throw what he had done back in his face? But no, he knew she wasn’t. Watching her up there, singing with such love in her eyes. She was telling him what she had felt, and what she still felt now. “You hold me when I’m lonely.” Images flashed through his mind. Hugging her, loving her, protecting her from the world. Kissing her, playing with her, working with her. “You take away the pain, You have never let me down.” Well, he’d let her down this once, but inside, he vowed never to do it again. Especially when he heard her next words. “I know if I could only be able to explain The way it makes me feel Just knowin’ you’re around.” *Lois, I’m here. I’ll stay forever.* “You made it clear to me That you’d be near to me When you said that you would never leave.” *And I won’t. Never again, Lois.* “Still every now and then I feel alone again. It’s so easy to be Feeling sorry for me.” He could see the tears in her eyes. She wasn’t just singing this song, she was living it. He wanted to restore the happiness that had shone through in the chorus. He wanted to go up there and comfort her. Let her know that he was here to stay. “But when you take my hand Somehow I understand That your love is all I really need.” *And yours is all I need, Lois.* The joy was back, for both of them. She lit up as she sang, the love she felt obvious in her every expression, her every move. Was it as obvious to the rest of the audience as it was to him? “You hold me when I’m lonely You take away the pain You have never let me down.” Never again would she feel loneliness or pain because of him. He would do anything to protect her, but now he knew that she needed to have a choice. It was her life, she needed to live it. But if she’d let him, he’d be there to hold her, to ease the pain. He wouldn’t let her down. “I know if I could only be able to explain The way it makes me feel Just knowin’ you’re around.” Her voice softened as she repeated the last two lines to fading music. “The way it makes me feel Just knowin’ you’re around.” The music ended and she looked him straight in the eyes. She whispered into the microphone. “And by the way, Clark, I still love you.” THE END Song Credits: “Knowin’ You’re Around” by Twila Paris. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 20:30:46 -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: NEW: And By The Way... (2/2) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh Bethy - I got chills and tears. Way to go! CM (Who wouldn't have minded seeing a little more of the make-up!) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 18:41:07 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Gentle readers: Please know that this is my first attempt at fanfic. My husband has been a good audience, but he thinks I'm a little nuts, so I'm looking for feedback from folcs like myself. I'll be starting a new job in a few weeks and I'm not sure how much time I'll be able to devote to this little story. We'll see! Diane Weekend Feature Clark cut in around the windowsill with a small paintbrush, making a precise border between the wood and the wall. Lois, meanwhile, was struggling with a sopping roller full of amber paint. “I’m so glad you came over to help, Clark,” Lois said as she painted nearer to him. “Like I said, Lois, I really don’t mind painting,” Clark replied, dipping his brush in white paint and running it along the windowsill. “It reminds me of home. Living on the farm—something was always in need of painting. I find it kind of relaxing.” Lois made a face. “Relaxing? You’ve got to be kidding me.” She shook her head and slapped amber paint on the wall. “I hate it! I just can’t stand it!” Squish, squish. Lois pressed the paint-soaked roller against the wall and showered in a fine mist of latex paint. She looked over at him, calmly painting a fine line between the wall and the woodwork. His laid-back manner sometimes made her rants even worse—like now. “Look at you!” Lois spat. “You look like you’re having fun!” She made another face and pressed the roller even tighter against the wall. Squish. “I don’t have the patience for it.” Clark smiled to himself. No, Lois certainly wasn’t a patient person. “I’m taking a break,” Lois announced, sitting down on a stool. The late-afternoon sun glimmered between the amber paint flecks in her hair. Clark glanced over at her, following the graceful outline of her lean body with his eyes, fighting off the urge to use his super-vision. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from her. She was beautiful. Clark brought himself back to reality. “I’m sorry, Lois. What did you say?” “I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be terrific to be able to do everything at super-speed, like Superman does?” Lois said. Clark put his paintbrush down and slowly walked over to her, a playful smile on his lips…and a glint of desire in his eyes. “Well, Lois,” Clark said in a low, sexy voice, “I’m not sure that everything should be done at super-speed.” His tall frame towered over her as she sat on the stool. Their bodies were so close that Lois tingled from the heat arching between them. Surprised by his comment, Lois suddenly felt her mouth go dry. She licked her lips. “I meant painting. Painting should be done at super-speed.” Clark leaned toward her, cupping her cheek gently in his hand. Lois shivered as his touch sent an unexpected thrill through her body. Then her voice of reason kicked in. This was Clark, for God’s sake! Why was she responding to him like this? Suddenly, he stood up straight. “Lois,” he said, his voice full of urgency. “I’ll be right back. I’m, uh, going for take-out.” Then, he was out the door and gone. Lois sat on the stool, dumb-founded. “Take-out food!” she shouted in fury. Had she not been so stunned, she might have heard the whoosh that indicated Superman was taking off somewhere nearby. However, Lois’s mind was too busy spinning over its latest upset. She and Clark were sharing an intimate moment, and, as usual, Clark ran off right when…things were getting emotional. Lois slid off the stool and started to pace. Ah-ha. Every time we start to share an intimate moment, Clark runs off. At the Planet, when news came in over the wire of a disaster, Clark would disappear. Yep. The rookie was too sensitive. How many times had her partner, when they were both in trouble, run for help instead of standing up for himself (and her) and fighting? Or, how many times had he wanted to call the police instead of investigating hot tips? Lois shook her head. Unbelievable. She, Lois Lane, award-winning investigative reporter at The Daily Planet, never made the connection. Her partner and best friend, who was always running out on her, had trouble facing his emotions. And she was falling for him? How did she pick these guys? Well, that was it. If he showed up again, she would confront him. Really, it was for his own good. None of this, of course, was helping to paint the room. With a sigh, Lois picked up her brush and choked more paint out of the roller. An hour later, Clark knocked on the door, interrupting her thoughts. “Come in!” Lois called, not bothering to put down her brush. She wasn’t going to stop what she was doing for him. No, she had said she was going to paint, and that’s what she intended to do. Squish, squish, squish. Clark entered the apartment with cartons of take-out food. Lois continued to paint, her back to him. “Lois, please don’t let someone just enter your apartment—it’s not safe! You had no idea who was behind the door,” Clark said, approaching her from behind. She dipped her roller in the pan. Clark should have recognized the warning signs of her temper—but they had been so close to kissing—he still couldn’t think straight yet. Clark didn’t realize his sudden departure had caused Lois’s irritation. He set the food down on the sheet-covered coffee table and moved to put his arms around Lois’s waist. “You should have locked the door when I left and…” Lois spun around and glared at him. “Lock the door? Every time you run out on me? I’d never get anything done, Clark!” She paused and acted as if she just had a brilliant idea. “I know,” Lois began, her voice laced with sarcasm. “How about I just wait by the door until you show up again? Better yet, why don’t I just open the door for you to leave?” She started for the door, but Clark stopped her. “I brought take-out,” he explained as he opened up a carton of food. “It’s pasta.” That had been a good choice. He’d been gone fighting an apartment fire, saving three families and one cat. Without a word to reporters, he took off for Italy to his favorite restaurant. Alessandro had the best sauce. Still angry, but also hungry, Lois softened a little. “Is that from my favorite place? With that really good bread?” she asked. Clark flashed her a grin, sat down on the couch, and started distributing the plasticware. “Lois, why do you think I left? I wanted to get you the best!” Lois looked at him sourly—that grin wasn’t going to melt her icy mood. Pasta, however, might. Reluctantly, she put down her brush and sat down next to him. “Clark, don’t let my eating fool you,” Lois warned, taking a carton. “This is not over. Even if you do bring me…”she looked in the carton. “Mmmm. Mostaccioli.” A dim light of realization went off in her head. “You must have called the restaurant ahead of time. Mostaccioli takes at least…”her voice trailed off as she looked into his deep brown eyes. “…an hour to prepare.” Clark smiled at her, mentally patting himself on the back for having had the sense to call the Italian restaurant before the apartment fire. “Still mad?” Clark asked gently, not wanting the fury to return. She took a fork full of the pasta and ate it, while assessing if she was indeed still mad. “A little,” Lois replied, never one to give up the power position prematurely. She took another bite. “Have some bread,” Clark offered. “Mmmm,” Lois sighed. “It’s still warm.” She took a bite. “I love this bread! Clark, you have to tell me where this restaurant is so I can get take-out from there all the time!” Success! Satisfied that Lois was once again content, Clark sat back on the couch and stretched his arms out on the sofa. “I’m not telling you, Lois,” he said smugly. “Anytime you want this food, you can have it, but you’ll have to eat it with me!” Lois put her empty carton back on the coffee table and inched toward him on the couch. “You know, I kind of like that idea.” She snuggled up against his shoulder, looked up at him and batted her eyes playfully. “My very own delivery boy. How romantic!” Clark grinned. He liked it when she flirted with him. He liked it even more when she snuggled against him. Clark’s eyes darkened as he looked at her. “At your service, ma’am,” he said in a seductive voice. He was playing, too, but the underlying sincerity of his voice caught Lois off guard and left her speechless. “Why did I put you off for a year?” she wondered. Lois put her arm around Clark’s chest. Rock hard pecs. What a body. She closed her eyes and held him. Her mind wandered to recent times when she had admired his physique in stolen glances. When did she first start to notice him? Her mind was clouded. She was trying to recall something very important, but her brain was keeping it just out of her grasp. “What’s the matter, Lois?” Clark asked softly. He had been enjoying their closeness when Lois seemed to tense up. She looked at him puzzled. “I don’t know.” Lois said, sitting up. “Lately, it seems like I’m trying to remember something, something really important, but I just can’t.” She looked at him, and then stared at his face, hard. She scrutinized his features, as if looking for some clue that would help clear her mind. Clark shifted uncomfortably and pushed up his glasses. “I can’t shake the idea that somehow you’re in the middle of this memory lapse,” Lois said, looking down at her socks. She shook her head. “I know it’s silly.” Clark touched her chin and gently turned her head to look at him. Their eyes met. “Lois, nothing about you is silly,” Clark said, rubbing his thumb on her cheek. “You are the smartest woman I know and you have the best instincts of anyone I’ve ever met. That’s what makes you such a terrific reporter. I think you should listen to yourself and try to figure out whatever your mind is trying to tell you.” “You do?” “Definitely.” Clark gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “Do you want to start painting again?” “No.” Lois frowned, got up from the couch, and picked up the paint roller. “But I’m going to anyway.” Clark turned on the stereo and went back to his windowsill. They listened to music and talked companionably as they painted. The news came on over the radio that a large oil tanker, three miles off of Metropolis’s coast had caught fire. Damn. Couldn’t he get one night off? “Um, Lois…” She glared at him, recognizing the signs of his departure. “Don’t tell me. You forgot to return a video? Cheese-of-the-month Club? Dry cleaning?” He stared at her, helpless and mute, his eyes apologetic, but his whole body tense with the urgent need to leave. “I’m sorry, Lois.” He ran out the door, grabbing his coat on the way. Yep. Lois, you can really pick ‘em. So much for the intimate conversation and the possibilities that their friendship might become something deeper and more meaningful. What was she thinking, anyway? Lois Lane, independent career woman of the nineties, was not going to fall for any man, let alone a farmboy from Kansas. Sure, he may be sensitive; yes, he was a gifted writer, but they were partners, professionals. Romance shall not and will not enter into her work environment. She had made that mistake in the past and she wasn’t about to let herself fall into that trap again. No, despite his good looks and boy-next-door attitude, Clark was not the man for her. Best friend, yes, but otherwise off-limits. Rule number three: never get involved with a co-worker. She sighed and turned on the t.v. LNN was showing footage of the oil tanker fire. Superman was there, flying personnel off of the doomed ship and dousing the flames. She watched as the camera showed him losing the battle with the inferno. She held her breath as he dove underwater only to resurface in moments, holding the entire ship above his head. Superman flew off with the flaming oil tanker over his head, depositing the flaming mass far offshore. Moments later, Superman was back on the scene, holding a press conference for reporters. Now, there was a man. Good, kind, courageous, honest, and my, what a body. Bet he wouldn’t run out on her like someone else…bet he wouldn’t what? She frowned. There it was again. That nagging feeling that she ought to remember something, but couldn’t. “Clark’s right,” she thought. “I need to trust my instincts.” Heading for the kitchen, Lois looked for a pad of paper and a pen. “I’m just going to write these things down until I figure it out,” Lois thought. “Maybe once I get a list going, I’ll remember.” Clark keeps running out on me. Superman runs out on me, too. What is with me? Terrific. This was going nowhere. More specifics, that would help. Maybe dates and times and what was going on—a chart. She ripped of the sheet, crumpled it, and aimed for the wastebasket. Miss. Turning back to the paper, she divided it into sections: thought, situation, date, time, excuse. thought—Clark runs out on me, situation—painting, date—4/20, time—6:30, excuse—dinner (he brought pasta) thought—Clark runs out on me, situation—painting, date—4/20, time—8:20, excuse—none thought—Superman rescues oil tanker crew, situation—painting, date—4/20, time—8:25 thought—Superman would never run out on me, situation—watching LNN, date—4/20, time—8:40 Hmmm. I wonder…I bet that little cheat has a story about the oil tanker fire tomorrow morning. Her eyes narrowed. Maybe they have some beeper system or something. That would explain Clark’s easy access to the super-hero. She left her list in the kitchen and sought out the roller. The room was nowhere near completion. In fact, with dinner and the conversation, she and Clark had only painted one-quarter of the room, if that. Doggedly, she began to roll, or slop, the paint on the walls. By 10:30, she had finished one wall, but still had to cut in around the ceiling, baseboards, and window. “Man!” Lois said aloud. “This is going to take me all night. I wish I could finish this at super-speed.” Moments later, there was a rush of air outside of her window. The Man of Steel was hovering just outside, his arms folded across his chest and a smile on his lips. “You called, Lois?” She blushed, looking down at her rumpled painting outfit and tucking a few stray hairs behind her ear. “Well, not exactly, Superman. I was wishing I could finish this quickly, but I never intended…” Superman entered her apartment and stood close to her. “It wasn’t like a cry for help or anything…” He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “I’m at your service, ma’am.” He could see the shock in Lois’s eyes as he said the words. Did he just say what I think he said? She looked at him, confused. “I…uh…” she sputtered. Clark released her. He walked around the room, studying the paint job. “I think I can have this done in a few minutes.” “Really, you don’t have to do this. I can manage. I’m just ticked off with Clark again, that’s why I was complaining. I didn’t mean for you to…” “Lois. I’m offering. The city’s quiet tonight, with the exception of that tanker fire, so I have some time on my hands.” She looked doubtful. He took a couple of steps toward her, put his hands on her shoulders, and guided her to the center of the room. Clark made eye contact with her, lending his next words importance. “Please don’t move. I’m gonna be fast and I don’t want you to get hurt.” Lois still couldn’t believe he was really going to help her. Not able to form any words, she met his gaze and nodded. The next few minutes were a blur, or at least he was. Clark painted with just as much care at super-speed as at human speed, but Lois couldn’t see any of his movements. She only saw streaks of red and blue as her room began to take shape around her. First she noticed the windows were finished, then the walls. The next thing she knew, she was sitting on her sofa and her coffee table was in front of her. When the movement died down, she noticed a cup of hot tea steeping on the side table and Superman in front of her, grinning. Fighting the overwhelming awe she felt, Lois picked up the cup and acted like the last few minutes were the most normal ones of her life. “Hot tea. Nice touch.” She smiled at him, then moved a critical eye around the room. She walked over to a window, his window. “Hmm. Very straight lines. You cut in like a master. No drips, either.” Clark crossed his arms across his chest and tilted his head a little. “Many years of practice, Lois. Many years.” That was it. There was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard, right on top of the most outrageous evening. Really. Superman painting her living room. Superman painting for years. Try as she might, Lois couldn’t stop the ludicrous images from filling her head. That cape, those briefs, hovering around with a paintbrush. Painting houses, painting buildings, painting offices. Superman painting professionally! Working for the Thrifty Painter Company—it was too much. She looked at him, fighting the laughter, fighting so hard that tears were in her eyes. Clark was confused. What had he said to make her want to cry? What could he… “Bah!” Lois’s laughter escaped with a blast. She shook as the giggles bubbled forth. “Oh! Cape…paint…” She was helpless now, and Clark reached for the mug she was holding. “Oh, sure. Practice! Ha!” The giggles forced her to double over now, and she clutched her sides. “Oooh. That hurts! Hee, hee!” Her laughter ebbed and she tried to focus on the Man of Steel. He was standing in his “hero” pose, legs apart and arms folded across his chest. He was so… “Serious!” The giggles shook her again. Lois just couldn’t force the picture of Superman, painting for a living, out of her head. Did he just roll his eyes? She struggled to regain control, clamping her mouth shut and choking back the laughter. Clark just watched her. If he lived to be an old man, he would never understand her. Just 10 minutes ago, she was miserable and grumpy, now she was drunk with mirth. Oh, well, it was better than her being in awe of him. “You’re laughing at me,” Clark pointed out. Serious. Calm. In control. Lois chanted these words to herself, pursing her lips to keep them from making that goofy smile. “Nooo. Not exactly…” She pursed her lips some more. Sober. Cool. Collected. Clark raised an eyebrow. “Well, at least you’re in a better mood.” He moved toward his window, preparing to exit. “No! Wait!” Lois rushed over to him. “I’m sorry.” She grabbed his arms and faced him. “Thank you. My place looks terrific and I am definitely in a better mood. Heck, I’m not even mad at Clark anymore!” “You’re not?” Clark squinted at her. “Ok, maybe I am a little, but I’m getting over it,” she admitted. “Anyway, I really owe you. You’re always rescuing me and now you’ve painted my living room—is there anything I can do for you?” She still had her hands on his arms and she didn’t seem to want to move them. He didn’t want her to, either. “Lois,” Clark began in a husky voice. Their eyes met for a brief moment. Clark moved his head down as if to kiss her, then cleared his throat. What was he thinking, coming on to her as Superman? He, Clark, wouldn’t stand a chance with Lois if she thought that the guy in tights had the hots for her. He then backed away from Lois and floated out the window. “I, uh, I’d better be going.” Clark turned and flew off before his poor judgment could get him any further with Lois. Lois stood in her living room in shock. What the heck kind of night was this? Her partner came over to paint her living room, and then he ran out on her. Superman finished painting her living room, and then he ran out on her, too. What was with her? She shook her head and went into the kitchen. Grabbing a spoon from the drawer and the tub of rocky road ice cream from the freezer, Lois comforted herself right from the carton. No, it wasn’t she—it was they. O.K., maybe laughing at him had something to do with it…no. He didn’t seem angry; he seemed shocked. Well, so he’d never seen that side of her—the funny, impulsive Lois Lane. Then he seemed like he wanted to kiss her—but he’d left instead. She took another spoonful from the ice cream carton. “Hmmmph,” she muttered, as her list of male frustrations caught her eye. Hmm… might as well add a couple of others to the list. thought—Superman is great guy—but strange, situation—he paints my apartment, date—4/20, time—10:30 P.M. thought—Superman is attracted to me/rejects me, situation—flies off, date—4/20, time—10:55 P.M., excuse—none Well, maybe he did have an excuse. Maybe someone needed him somewhere. She flipped on LNN and leaned her elbows on the countertop. Nothing. Not a flash of cape anywhere. She scowled. Coward. Superman didn’t want to face her or his feelings for her. He was emotionally insecure. Lois threw her head back and stared at the ceiling in disbelief. Both of the men in her life were running from their feelings for her. Well, she wasn’t going to be left standing in their wake. No. Lois Lane was a woman of action. She liked them both as friends, and possibly more, but she wasn’t going to put up with men who couldn’t deal with their emotions. ****** The elevator doors opened at the newsroom of the Daily Planet. Lois stepped out just as the bells of a nearby church tolled 8 o’clock. She was reading an article from the folded copy of this morning’s Planet while carrying her briefcase and gripping a cappuccino cup with her teeth. Without looking up from the paper or spilling a drop of coffee, she wound through the maze of desks over to her own. Clark looked at her with admiration. He could tell that Lois was already in full tornado mode, juggling three things at once and thinking about work. His eyes widened, however, when she set everything down at her workspace, put her hands on her hips, and turned on him with a full glare. “Clark Kent. You ran out on me last night.” He was stunned. From what she had said last night, she had almost forgiven him. But, she had said all those things to Superman, not to Clark. He stared at her, thinking for the thousandth time that he wished he didn’t have to pretend to be two different people with Lois. That maybe his life would be easier if she just knew the truth. “Earth to Clark. You ran out on me. Where were you?” “I, uh…well, I…” She frowned at him, grabbed her coffee and the morning edition of the Planet. She shook the paper at him and turned on her heel. “Conference room,” Lois ordered over her shoulder. Clark snapped back to reality and hurried after Lois. Terrific. She hadn’t forgiven him—she had just glossed over her irritation for Superman’s sake. Hate to show the super hero your human side, eh, Lois? Not like Clark, he mused, who only sees the human side. When he arrived at the conference room, Lois was waiting for him, hands on her hips and hardness in her eyes. He sat down. She slammed the door and closed the blinds. “What in the hell is this?” she demanded, throwing the newspaper on the table in front of him. He decided to play innocent—maybe it would work this time. “That,” he began, his eyebrows up and above suspicion, “is this morning’s newspaper.” Her nostrils flared as her temper boiled. Through pursed lips, she began to spit out words. “I…know…that.” She closed her eyes and struggled for control. Control lost. Lois grabbed the paper and shook it at him. “The article about Superman. You…left…my…apartment…No! You abandoned me last night…to…get…an…exclusive interview…with…Superman!” She leaned over and looked him straight in the eye. “I…am…furious!” Lois was in a full rant now, pacing the room and gesturing with her hands. “You rat!” she accused, “You offer to help me and then, somehow, you figure out that Superman is taking care of a disaster and you take off to scoop me—scoop ME—without even an explanation.” She turned on him, “We were supposed to be partners. Part-ners. You know, work together, share leads, share bylines, share awards?” “But…Lois, you….” Clark reached for her hand, but she yanked it away from him, not about to let him control the argument or her. She slapped the newspaper on the table and grabbed a chair, sitting down forcefully, and of her own volition. Clark continued, “You have to know that I would never do anything to hurt you. I value our partnership, our friendship, more than anything.” She looked at him, still angry, but her eyebrows knit with pain. “Then why, Clark? Why do you keep leaving me? Why do you keep scooping me on Superman stories? I want to believe you, but…” “Lois. Superman and I are friends, very good friends. He sees me when he’s on the way to a rescue and sometimes takes me with him. Not all the time, but sometimes.” Clark searched her face to see if she was buying this lie. Lois’s head was cocked a little to the side and some of the tension had left her eyes. Clark reached for her hand. “I told him last night that I had left you in the middle of a painting job and I felt really badly about it—did he come to see you?” “Yes,” Lois said, a little softer. She looked down at her hand in his. “It was very thoughtful of you to send him by.” He gave her hand a little squeeze, released her, and smiled. “Well, I know the big guy has a soft spot for you. I think he might even feel badly that he gives me so many exclusives. Painting your place probably helped him with his guilt!” Clark made a mental note to take Lois with him to his next rescue. Make that the next two rescues. She stiffened and looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. She hadn’t told him that Superman had painted her apartment—did the Man of Steel tell Clark that, too? “Um, Clark, when did you see Superman last?” “Last night at the oil tanker fire,” Clark said. “Why?” “Hmmm,” Lois murmured, “just wondering.” “Are you still mad at me?” “Hmm?” Lois refocused on him. “Not really. Well, you never did tell me why you ran out on me, but I have a working theory.” “You do?” Clark asked, nervously straightening his tie. Lois regarded him with an innocent look, while mentally leading him into a trap. “You said you haven’t seen him since last night. Have you talked with him? E-mailed him? Faxed him?” “No-o.” A little frisson of dread ran down Clark’s spine. Maybe she didn’t know something, but whatever her working theory was made him sweat, and he was invulnerable to heat. “Hmmm.” Lois was silent for a few moments, and then said, “Well, Clark, let’s go find out what our assignment is for today.” She rose abruptly from her chair, opened the blinds and left for the editor’s office. Clark let out his breath. For someone who was no longer on the hot seat, he didn’t feel that much more comfortable. Working theory. Why did that sound ominous? He pushed in his chair and followed Lois to Perry White’s office. **** Lois, sitting on the only chair in Perry’s office that wasn’t heaped with files, books, or papers, glared at her editor, then at Clark. “You can’t be serious,” Lois said, struggling to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Lois Lane, award-winning investigative journalist, had better things to do this weekend—like start on the walls in her kitchen. “I am serious, Lois,” said Perry in a gravelly, no-nonsense Southern drawl. “I think you and Clark would be perfect for this assignment.” Lois could see that Clark was loving this. She narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to grin. Clark’s eyes danced mischievously and a smirk appeared on his lips. “Um, Chief, Lois is right. Interior decorating—it’s really not her thing.” Lois flushed scarlet and she grasped the chair’s armrests with both hands. Should she launch herself out of the chair and wring his neck or should she remain cool and not let him irritate her? Cool. Calm. Collected. She was not going to let her partner, her friend—make that former friend—get the best of her. She took several deep breaths. Ooooh. How dare he? Run out on her in the middle of painting and then insinuate that she was not a good painter—well, she wasn’t, but he still didn’t need to insinuate it. Her eyes narrowed at him and his smirk. No, she had to take the high road, ignore her partner the rat, and try to persuade Perry. She’d get even with Clark later. “Chief,” Lois said, turning her attention to Perry and her back to Clark. “Tell me again why the Belle Society’s Home Show is a city desk assignment.” “Truth is, darlin’, it’s not,” Perry said. “Lois, the features writers are at a conference. Until they return, we’ll all have to pitch in and help out.” Perry made eye contact with Lois. “Now, are you going to be a team player or not?” “Yes, Perry, I’ll be a team player,” Lois said, rolling her eyes. “And you?” Perry said, looking at Clark. Clark grinned. “There is no ‘I’ in team, Chief,” he said, earning him a fresh flash of anger from Lois’s eyes. “You know I’m up for any assignment.” Lois fumed. Oh, that shameless suck-up. He’d managed to completely tick her off and act the boy scout in front of Perry. Clark glanced over at Lois, his super eyesight and hearing told him her pulse was well over 150. He grinned even more. She was so beautiful when she was irritated. “Fine. The Planet is sponsoring the event, so you two can pick up some materials from those folks in Marketing,” Perry said. “On it, Chief,” Clark said, leaving the office as if going to Marketing was the most important thing in the world. Actually, self-preservation was really the most important thing. Teasing Lois in the boss’s office was only safe if they were still in the boss’s office. Outside that safe-haven it was open season on Clark, and he knew it. He’d have to get a head start on Lois if he were to dodge that bullet. “Oh, and, Lois, could I have a word with you?” said Perry. “Sure, Chief, anything,” Lois said without enthusiasm. “Honey, he can’t get your goat if you don’t show him where it’s tied,” Perry said. Lois just looked at him, thinking that she was the only sane person for miles. “Right, Chief. I’ll keep that in mind.” Lois left and stomped off for her desk. She sat down and reached for the phone, absently entering the code to check her voice mail. She scowled as she noticed Clark’s latest peace offering at her keyboard: a big-as-your-fist muffin and cappuccino from the bakery down the street. Her scowl deepened as she heard her one and only message: Mother. Pressing *33 and *7 to get rid of that one, Lois reached for the muffin. “Don’t think this gets you off the hook, Kent,” she muttered to herself before taking a bite. “So, how’s your Mom?” Clark asked conversationally, sitting down on the corner of Lois’s desk. “How did you know my Mom called?” Lois asked, narrowing her eyes once more. Clark nervously straightened his tie. “Uh…you didn’t take down any phone numbers—lucky guess, I suppose?” Clark said. “Well, it just so happens…”Lois began, but then noticed Clark playing nervously with his tie. “What’s bothering you now?” “Uh, Lois, I have to go,” Clark said and hurried over to the stairwell. ***** Nationally-known author, TV personality, and gourmet chef Juliette Brioche shuffled into her spacious, modern kitchen. Juliette opened the curtains to reveal the morning sun beaming through her French doors. She put water on to boil for her tea and wondered aloud to herself. “Hmm,” the elderly lady intoned throatily, peering into her stainless-steel refrigerator. “Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise sauce, I think.” As she was assembling the ingredients, a figure quickly darted across the patio, just beyond the French doors. The uninvited guest, wearing dark green camouflage and a leafy hat, found a hiding place in the bushes, leaving only a small device visible—a black box with a miniature satellite dish on top. Slowly, the satellite dish began to spin. In Juliette’s professional kitchen, there was chaos. The pots, which were hanging on a cast-iron rack above the central workstation, leapt from their practical hooks and began beating Juliette senseless. The octogenarian bravely fought the assault with a spatula and knife, but finally cried out for help as she collapsed to the floor. Superman arrived at the Brioche home and forced open the patio doors leading to the kitchen. The pots are lifeless now, but surround Juliette’s crumpled body on the floor. Using his super-hearing, Clark detected a Juliette’s faint heartbeat. Quickly scanning her body for fractures and finding none, he lifted her into his arms. “Ms. Brioche, I’m going to take you to the hospital now. I think you’ll be O.K.” he said in his Superman voice. Superman flew off for Metropolis General Hospital and a dark figure re-appeared from its the hiding place in the bushes, silently making its getaway. *** When Clark returned to the newsroom, he found Lois at her desk noisily paging through decorating magazines. Flip. Flip. Flip. She studied an advertisement for wallpaper and then flipped some more. “Hey, partner!” Clark said brightly, “I have take-out.” He placed the white deli bags on Lois’s desk and pulled up a chair. She took her bag without comment and continued to flip through the magazine. “So, what’s this Home Show all about?” Clark asks in between bites of his steak sandwich. Lois put down her magazine and gave into her hunger, opening up the bag of chips and munching a couple. “Well, the Belle Society holds the Home Show as its annual charity fundraiser,” Lois said, unwrapping her turkey-and-tomato-on-rye. “All of the big names in this town want their homes on the Belle Society’s tour list. It’s really competitive. The event lasts all weekend and attracts people from all over the tri-state area. I have no idea what they make on the event, but I imagine it’s a successful fundraiser—they charge $25 per person to see the houses.” Clark took the last bite of his sandwich and crumpled the wrappers into a tight ball. “We just go from house to house, right? Maybe get a few quotes from the owners?” He launched the wad toward his wastepaper basket, 20 feet away. It wasn’t going to make it, so he let out a quick burst of super-breath and sank the wad in the basket. Lois looked at him. “Nice shot,” she said and stared at him strangely. “What?” “Nothing,” she said, looking at him thoughtfully. She took another bite of her sandwich. “Sooo…it sounds like a nice weekend to me, Lois,” Clark said softly. Spending the entire weekend with his partner made him warm inside. “Oh yeah, terrific,” Lois said, making no effort to hide her sarcasm. She wadded up her wrappers and tried to sink them in Clark’s wastebasket, but missed. “Aerodynamics, Lois,” said Clark. “Aerodynamics?” “Yeah, that’s my secret—aerodynamics and practice, many years of practice,” Clark said smugly. There it was again—that nagging feeling that she was forgetting something or missing something. Lois stared at Clark. “What?” he said, straightening his tie again. She studied him. “Nothing.” But the way she said “nothing” made him squirm. ***** --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 19:28:43 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Irene D." Subject: Re: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? In-Reply-To: <20010727014107.95573.qmail@web13304.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii S P O I L E R S P A C E Diane, this is truly excellent. I do enjoy a story that is full of humour and well written. I loved the scene of Lois and Clark painting her living room, and then Superman finishing it up for her. I enjoyed the way Superman said the same things as Clark inadvertently and the way the wheels are starting to turn in Lois's head. Looking forward to more, Irene ===== sirenegold@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 21:30:16 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I read this on the boards a few minutes ago and I wanted you to know here that I enjoyed it! (Especially the hard returns here!:o)) CM ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 22:40:30 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: LC Adoption question MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit The 98 and 19 are correct. Lois got some points for being a college graduate to, if I recall correctly. The score was based on 100 pts. and was used to determine suitability to be adoptive parents. I'm not sure whether or not real adoption agencies have actual score sheets, but I know that they do thoroughly investigate prospective parents and all kinds of things are taken into account (like Lois's tendancy to dangle over the jaws of death like an hors-d'oeuvre). Age is a big factor, and of course things like alcholism or drug use would be too. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 19:45:31 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? In-Reply-To: <20010727022843.63606.qmail@web10903.mail.yahoo.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Irene: Thank you so much! As I said on Zoomway's boards, praise coming from you, one of my all-time favorite authors, is tremendous encouragement! Diane "Irene D." wrote: S P O I L E R S P A C E Diane, this is truly excellent. I do enjoy a story that is full of humour and well written. I loved the scene of Lois and Clark painting her living room, and then Superman finishing it up for her. I enjoyed the way Superman said the same things as Clark inadvertently and the way the wheels are starting to turn in Lois's head. Looking forward to more, Irene ===== sirenegold@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 19:46:54 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? In-Reply-To: <20010726.213019.-46521253.0.cmoncado@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Oh, good! The hard returns showed up on the e-mail? I'm relieved. I'll have to figure out how to make them appear on the boards... Thanks again for the encouragement! Diane Carol L Moncado wrote: I read this on the boards a few minutes ago and I wanted you to know here that I enjoyed it! (Especially the hard returns here!:o)) CM --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 23:38:58 -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: LC Adoption question In-Reply-To: <20010726.193815.-174581.6.cmoncado@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Confirmed Clark got 98 and Lois got 19. Gerry ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 23:42:11 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nice work, Diane! This is a great subtle progression of Lois actually paying attention to the clues that fly thick and fast around her :D (Sorry, I'm short on sleep this week, and it's nearly midnight, and I'm punchy ) Best line in the whole thing: >>"Honey, he can't get your goat if you don't show him where it's tied," Perry said. ROFL! Don't know why, but that one just tickled me... the rest of the humor is great, too... especially the Cape Paint So have you written this whole thing? If so, why not go ahead and post the rest right now? Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ ~~God answers knee-mail~~ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 23:21:12 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Shadow Fax Subject: Re: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On Wed, 25 Jul 2001 21:17:53 -0400, Pam Jernigan wrote: > >I especially liked this discussion... it's reassured me about my own >elseworld-story-in-progress, wherein Kal-El had been raised Kryptonian, but= >nonetheless managed to come to Earth and meet Lois Lane, who is in the >process of helping him be all that he can be I'm sure it will be credible . . . as well as exciting, humorous, and WAFFy, as are your other stories, Pam. I personally don't have a problem with Clark being raised somewhere other than Earth. We've had some good stories that presented a believable Clark raised on Krypton - What If I Never Left Krypton and The Universal Union among them. Realistically speaking, a Clark raised elsewhere might be quite different from our Clark, but fanficly speaking, a talented author can make it believable. > >Shadowfax, your original description had me LOL Especially the part >about how he has to look like Dean Cain ;-) Thank you. :) And thank you also for putting into words *my* feelings about why Clark needs super powers. I knew I believed that his character needs them but I couldn=92t explain why. (And the same goes for Shayne and Cindy, too. You are all so gifted with words!) >>Shayne T: Someone asked about role reversals in fanfics. >>I started working on a story in which Lois and Clark had each been born as= >members of the opposite sex. The story is tabled for the moment, but the >implications for both their personalities can't be denied. Even given being= >raised within the same families, it would stretch the very definition of >what makes Clark Clark (or in theis case Claire, and what makes Lois >Lois,(or maybe Louis). That's not exactly the rural/urban reversal you are >looking for, but it's the closest that I have. No, this wasn't what I had in mind. Sounds like an intriguing premise, though . . . and one that=92s going to present special challenges for you, talented writer that you are. For example, would Lois have as big a chip on her shoulder if she were male? Her personality was shaped to a certain extent by her father's disappointment in not having a son, and by her attempt to succeed as a woman in a man's world. I think she felt that she had to repress her (traditionally - and sometimes annoyingly - called) "feminine" traits in order to have credibility in her chosen field. If she were male, she wouldn=92t have the added strain of suppressin= g characteristics that were natural to her and so might lose some of that edge to her personality. Also, how would her relationships with her colleagues be different if she were a man? Would her fellow journalists be more tolerant of her aggressive behavior? At any rate, I guess we wouldn't hear any rants from her about "typical male" or "testosterone surplus." I=92ll be interested in seeing what you come up with on this. >>Cindy Leuch: There's a lot of balance in the relationship between >>Lois and Clark, and shifting the powers to Lois gave me the feeling that >>she >>was holding all the cards. Yes, it takes a man with super powers to keep up with Lois Lane, doesn=92t it? Seriously, I agree that the dynamics of the relationship change if Clark doesn=92t have super powers and therefore the ability to provide a unique service to the world. Lois is a powerful character and she needs to have someone equally powerful opposite her in order to not overwhelm him. There were some instances in the first season where Lois=92s behavior toward= s Clark would have seemed almost mean and bullying if he hadn=92t been the mos= t powerful man in the world. As it was, it was merely poignant/funny . . . like watching a belligerent Yorkie terrier yapping at a sleepy Saint Bernard. I'll be interested in reading stories that explore all these issues. Regardless of whether they "work" for me as Lois and Clark stories, I'm sure they'll provide interesting reading in their own right. Shadowfax ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 01:30:47 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Merckle Subject: Dean Cain on Fox News Live In-Reply-To: <20010726.203050.-174581.7.cmoncado@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII I've seen two advertisements for Dean to be interviewed on Fox News Live, but can only tell you it is supposed to be tomorrorw between 9AM and 4PM EDT. According to the ad, he is promoting a Ripley's believe it or not program. Fox news Channel does have a website, but it still had items for Thursday. So you might want to check http://www.foxnews.com/live/ before you head out so you can set your VCRs. That site should provide link to Guests and topics with an approximate timeline. And of course breaking news could postpone or otherwise delay the interview. Certianly has been a while since I've seen him on TV (outside LNC!) Nancy -------------------------------------------------------------- nancym@charm.net ..... (future) http://www.charm.net/~nancym/ The Kitties Page ........... http://members.aol.com/Mysnats/ My Sister's Karaoke Site ............ http://karaokeklub.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 10:12:43 +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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nice work, Diane! This is very enjoyable, and the subtle - and not so subtle - humour is great! As Pam said, Perry's line about the goat is hilarious; I had to read that three times before I could read on. And Clark unconsciously echoing Superman's lines and vice versa... very nice work. :) Very mid-late second season kind of humour and carelessness, and I love it. I do hope you have more of this written, so that you can post regularly! By the way, I think you need to turn off some of Word's AutoFormatting; all your ellipses have turned into full stops, which is a little distracting. I think it may also be doing something to your dashes, because they're all hyphens instead. If you don't know how to get rid of the auto-format, email me privately and I'll explain. One tiny nit; I wouldn't bother, but you did it twice. If you have a character say 'I feel badly', you're actually telling us that they have a poor sense of touch. If you want your character to imply that he/she feels guilty about something, then you need to have them say, 'I feel bad about...' MORE! And SOON!! Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 10:27:38 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Phillip Atcliffe Subject: NEW: Imbalance Part 14 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII [Last time, you may recall, Clark had decided to go look at 344 Clinton Street with a view to moving in there -- again. He asked Lois to come and look at it with him -- something that, as we'll see, he may live to regret... -- promising to take her to breakfast by way of thanks for her help. We left them as Clark dropped *this* little bombshell...] His smile was amused. "I didn't say *where* I'd take you for breakfast. How about the Left Bank?" "The... huh?" He grinned. "The Left Bank of the Seine. In Paris. Ever been there?" [Now read on:] ***** "Umm... no, never," she stammered. This was unreal; it just wasn't happening. She knew he could fly, *and*, thanks to his gift that morning, she was aware that he could fly long distances at, presumably, high speed. But offering to fly her to *Paris* for *breakfast*...? The thought occurred to her that she could get used to this; that if Clark Kent really wanted to be her friend, as he claimed, that she should take advantage of what he offered. But the instincts which had been honed over too many years of knowing men who proved themselves to be untrustworthy refused to allow her to accept him at face value. Clark recognised the precise moment at which he'd lost Lois. Somehow, he'd trespassed; moved too far, too soon, and allowed her to retreat back into the hard shell behind which she hid her real feelings. He grimaced inwardly, reminding himself that he'd only known her for a day. It was far too soon to expect any real progress. This Lois Lane had, as Wells had pointed out to him, had very different experiences from the Lois Lane who was married to his other-world counterpart, and even that Lois hadn't been easy to win. He'd gathered, both from the other Clark and from Lois herself, that their courtship had taken two years and had many ups and downs along the way. Could he have the patience to wait two years for this Lois? The answer came to him immediately: he would wait as long as it took. He just needed to get her to trust him; that was the first, and perhaps the biggest, hurdle. Once he'd broken down that barrier, he could persuade her to accept him as a friend. From friendship to, he hoped, love, might take some time, but her friendship alone would be well worth having. He needed to get her to open up to him again. The interruption of their meals being served gave him some thinking time, and then an idea came to him. He needed to understand more about what lay behind her attitude to men in any case, and once she knew what he'd been told about her, she might well just be angry enough to talk to him... Assuming a concerned expression, which wasn't too difficult, he leaned across the table towards her as she took the first bite of her spinach cannelloni. "Lois, something Cat told me today is that everyone's really amazed that you're working with me -- and vice versa. They seem to think that you chew men up and spit them out. She even claimed that you got some guy fired." Her head shot up, and her face paled; instantly, he felt an enormous sense of guilt and regret for having asked the question, but he reminded himself that he needed to know her side of the story. And anyway, he was sure that she needed to talk about it. "How dare you discuss me behind my back!" she hissed at him, keeping her voice low, clearly remembering that she didn't need to shout for *him* to hear. "Lois," he murmured softly, his tone deliberately gentle, trying to soothe rather than enflame, "I didn't. Remember, I told you that Cat engaged me in conversation? And that I encouraged her to talk, so that she'd believe I might be amenable to... well, anyway, I told you about that. I let her talk a little about you, because I wanted to know why people like Everett and Friaz treat you the way they do." He paused, taking a sip of the wine he'd ordered with the meal. "And remember, I told you I made it clear that I didn't approve of malicious gossip about you -- ask Cat yourself if you don't believe me. I'm on *your* side, Lois," he told her quietly. Several expressions seemed to war with each other on her face: disbelief, anger, outright cynicism, and something which might have been yearning. Yearning to trust him? he wondered. Then she sighed, took a bite of her cannelloni, and met his gaze again. "Yes, I got someone fired." "Why?" She shrugged. "You really want to know? Why don't you ask Cat, or Eduardo? I'm sure they'd be only too happy to give you all the gory details." He shook his head. "I want the truth, Lois, and something tells me that I'm only going to get that from you." Lois felt her heart quicken at his words. Did he mean it, or was this just a very practised chat-up line? But, on the other hand, if she *did* tell him about Claude, perhaps it would also serve as a warning to him to watch his step. Considering the circumstances of Claude's departure from the Planet, after all... "Okay." Unconsciously lifting her chin, her gaze was challenging. "You want to know about Claude Robert? Fine." Clark's eyes narrowed. "I think I've heard of him. Doesn't he work for a Parisian paper?" 'At least,' thought Clark, 'the man did in my *old* universe.' "Used to," Lois answered. "About four years ago, he got a job at the Planet -- working the city beat, same as me. I wasn't impressed with him; he seemed far too confident of his own attractiveness," she drawled sardonically. "Men like that revolt me." Perhaps that was a bit strong, she conceded, but, on the other hand, as long as Kent got the message, it didn't matter. "He was attracted to you?" Clark enquired, to her surprise seeing beyond her deliberate challenge. She shrugged. "Could be -- or, more likely, he wanted to cling to my coat-tails. Anyway, I wasn't interested." "And... he didn't take no for an answer?" Clark prompted. "Something like that. Oh, at first, it was just irritating: little notes left on my desk signed with endearments; touching me when he talked to me; continually asking me out, even though I said no." She paused, and Clark remained silent, waiting. "I don't think he was even that interested in me, really," Lois continued, her voice growing distant, as if she was talking more to herself than to him. "It was the challenge -- I think I was the only women who'd ever turned him down. It must have been the first time his famed charm had failed to work. And," she added bitterly, "I can't prove anything, but I *know* there were bets in the newsroom as to whether or not he could get me into bed. So he had something to prove." Clark regarded her thoughtfully. "Why you?" She shrugged. "Simple enough reason. You know -- well, if you don't, you'll be told soon enough -- that they call me the Ice Maiden. It's a challenge for them to try to shatter that. They're not used to a woman turning them down -- *and* beating them in the work environment, too. Though," she continued idly, "I don't think they're interested in trying to 'melt' the Ice Maiden any more. They've probably decided that I'm a dried-up, spinsterish prune that no man could want. Which suits me," she concluded dryly. Clark desperately yearned to tell her that she was wrong, that *he* wanted her very much -- not just sexually, but in every possible way. As a friend, as a lover, as a life partner. But, knowing that she simply wasn't ready to hear that, he confined himself to the discussion at hand. "And... Claude?" "He got desperate, I think," Lois said. "Didn't want to admit that there was a woman he couldn't succeed with; that annoyed him. So he started turning up at my apartment, late at night. I wouldn't let him in. Once, I threatened to call the cops, which I would have, only he decided it was probably sensible to leave. Then, one day, he caught me in the basement, looking up some archive material for a story. Stupidly, I'd brought my notes with me and left them on a desk. Anyway, I didn't notice they were missing until afterwards." "Afterwards?" Clark prompted. "Yeah. He cornered me -- trapped me between a wall and a rack of shelving, so there was nowhere to go, and he started to grope me." Pausing, Lois noticed that Clark was clenching his fists; his knuckles were actually white, and she realised that he was angry. Since he couldn't possibly be angry with her, that only left Claude Robert... Another clue, which didn't seem to fit with her hypotheses about this strange alien... "What did he do to you?" Clark's voice was harsh and low-pitched, and Lois decided that she would never want to be on the opposing side to this man when he lost his temper. "Not as much as he wanted," she answered with a sense of satisfaction. "He got one hand down my blouse -- and I only let him get that far so I could see exactly what he intended. What he didn't know is that I take lessons in Tae Kwon Do for self-defence. He didn't know what hit him." Clark raised an eyebrow in enquiry, and she grinned suddenly. "Put it this way: he was walking funny for the next couple of days." Her companion winced -- then grinned back. "No wonder they're afraid of you." Lois started. "Afraid? They can't stand me, I know that. And they laugh at me behind my back." 'And you pretend you don't care, but inside, it hurts like hell,' Clark thought, but didn't say aloud. "Yeah, they're afraid. That's what it seems like to me, anyway. Otherwise, why should they care what you do? You're a threat to them. You're a better reporter than they are, and you're not susceptible to them sexually. Some men find it hard to deal with strong, independent women like you." He paused, wondering whether to add a rider, then decided it was worth it. "But men like that have never figured out that a woman like you is far more attractive than someone like Cat, who trades on her sexuality -- or the docile type who wants a man to look after her all the time." That made her blink, but she didn't comment. Instead, she finished her tale. "Anyway, I went straight to Perry once I'd got away from him. It had nothing to do with telling tales -- I just think sexual harassment has to be stamped out. Perry dealt with it -- and then we discovered, the next day, that Claude had found my story notes; he wrote them up and submitted it as his own work. I only found out because Perry called me in for a discussion about Claude's disciplinary hearing, and he had the draft on his desk for editing. So Claude was out, both for sexual harassment and professional misconduct." "Good," Clark said emphatically. "I hope he didn't get another job at a reputable paper." Lois shrugged. "I think he probably went back to France. I've never heard from him since." "But Friaz and the others haven't forgotten about him," Clark mused aloud. "Did any of them give you any trouble?" "Oh, a few of them have hit on me at one time or another," she said, apparently casually. "Ralph Naylor's the only one who just never got the message." "Persistent?" Clark enquired. "Stupid," she answered. "It's as if the brain's switched on, but just not receiving any input. Even though I got him where it hurts once, too. Anyway, Ralph's a sleaze. No sensible woman would look twice at him." "No?" Clark was amused; he wondered what reason she'd give. "Well, apart from his sheer stupidity... well, let's just say that Ralph's the kind of guy who thinks 'safe sex' means a padded headboard." Lois was taken aback to discover how much she liked Clark's laugh; she wanted to say something else to make him laugh again, but couldn't think of anything remotely funny. She had to be tired, she thought; she wouldn't normally react to anyone the way she was reacting to this man, and it was unsettling. It was a relief, therefore, when they both agreed to forego coffee and they left the restaurant together. He insisted on seeing her home, but very properly left her at the steps of her apartment building after reminding her that he would pick her up at seven in the morning. ***** Nigel couldn't help it; he *had* to grin. It was all he could do not to burst out laughing, but both his British upbringing and his SIS training -- not to mention the desire to not call attention to himself in a public place -- kept him silent. But really, the irony was staggering: he'd been feeling frustrated all morning as he first concocted and then had to discard plan after plan, so he'd taken a short walk to a local store to get a newspaper and some fresh air -- and there, sitting in a budget video rack, was just the inspiration he needed! On seeing the cover of the tape, the perfect plan for the demise of Miss Lane -- and, for that matter, of the Daily Planet, a bonus which should please the Churches -- sprang, full-blown and complete, into his mind in an instant, as Athene leapt from Zeus' forehead. 'Well, almost,' he mused. 'There are a few small details to sort out, but even the goddess of wisdom must have needed a few minor additions to her armour and weapons when "born" in such a manner... 'Ah, the joys of a classical education,' he thought as he left the shop with a new sense of purpose. 'Now, the first thing I need to do is a little reconnaissance.' ***** Getting ready the following morning, Lois again tried to make sense of the puzzle that was Clark Kent. *Could* she take him at face value? In his favour was the fact that he had, actually, passed just about every test she'd set him so far, and more she hadn't thought of -- when he'd overheard whatever it was Friaz and Everett had been saying about her, he had been angry. That, she had not expected. He'd also been angry when she'd told him about Claude, and she'd had the distinct impression that, had Claude been anywhere in the vicinity, he could have found himself getting a no-harassment lecture from a *very* high altitude. Against trusting him... well, she'd never yet met a man who could be trusted. Perry White came closest, but he was different; he'd been a surrogate father to her for years. If it wasn't for the flying and the other stunts, Kent could be just another ambitious pretty-boy. 'But he *isn't* just another ambitious pretty-boy!' that irritating internal voice insisted. Kent was nothing like any other man she'd ever met. 'Face it, Lois, when did you last meet a Kryptonian?' True, but he was still a man. Which made her think... perhaps it was time for another little test. Perhaps later. Clark arrived promptly at the prearranged time, and Lois was ready to go; she'd decided she didn't want him invading her personal space again. They walked to the apartment he'd arranged to see, since Clinton Street was only about half a mile from Carter Avenue. Kent seemed disgustingly wide awake, despite it only being seven-thirty, but he told her, when she asked, that another benefit of his alien origins was not needing much sleep. The realtor met them at the apartment and showed them around, earning Lois' ire by his automatic assumption that she was Clark's girlfriend; Clark looked apologetic, but Lois decided it wasn't worth making a fuss over, since she was unlikely to see the man again. When the unfortunate salesman insisted on addressing Lois rather than Clark when showing them around the kitchen, she had to bite back her fury, however. Clark diplomatically took the realtor by the arm and asked him to show him the bedroom area. "I'm sorry about that, Lois," he muttered to her a few minutes later when the realtor left them to go into the small bathroom alone. She shrugged, but said quietly, "If he made one more smart-ass comment about the 'little lady,' I'd have kicked him somewhere painful!" He grinned. "I know. Didn't you realise I was rescuing *him*, not you?" Clark then asked the realtor to wait outside while they had another look around the apartment alone. He stood in the centre of the living room and imagined himself living there; not hard, because, in a way, he had *already* lived there! Even without the memory of his old home, this place had a lot of advantages, including plenty of space and its proximity to Lois' place -- not that he would tell *her* that he was taking that into consideration! "So... what do you think?" he asked her, more to see what she'd say than from a need for her opinion. Clark was remembering choosing this apartment in his original world, and living in it, and those memories were pretty powerful. She gave a non-committal smile. "It's not my kind of place, but I think it might suit you. It needs a lot of repair work, though. You don't mind that it's not modern?" He snorted. "I *hate* modern apartments! But this -- do you see all that wonderful wood?" She frowned, and he knew what her objection would be. "But it's dirty and stained, and pretty beaten-up in places." "Sure, but nothing that can't be cured with a good sanding down and a few coats of paint. Look at the floor, too. That's real wood, and it'll look great when it's properly treated." It was clear that Lois considered such activities a waste of time. She wrinkled her small nose and objected, "But that'll cost a fortune to get done properly, and you won't be able to move in for ages!" Clark laughed, shaking his head at her. "Lois, aren't you forgetting something? My powers -- *and* the fact that I grew up on a farm, where we always did our own painting. I'll have this place looking perfect in a few hours." Most of which would elapse while the paint dried. He came to stand beside her, taking her arm lightly. "Come over here: there's something I want to show you." Leading her to a decorative wine-rack by the kitchen wall, he indicated it. "Behind there, it's hollow," he explained. Lois frowned, clearly not understanding. "I've no idea why it was built like that, but trust me, it's hollow." He touched the frames of his glasses, waggling them a little so that Lois would understand that he'd used his special vision to see. "The perfect place to hide my suits, don't you think?" "I guess," she agreed cautiously. She still didn't seem convinced. "Come on; through here again," he encouraged, leading her into the bedroom. "See that window seat? Okay, forget the dirt. Imagine the window's clean and the seat's painted and covered with cushions. Can't you imagine sitting here and looking out over the city while you read?" She grunted. "I'm not the one who's going to be living here, Clark," she reminded him. Shaking his head, he suggested, "But what if I invite you over for dinner?" Lois glared back at him. "And dinner would be served in your *bedroom*?" Clark threw his hands in the air. "Lois! The apartment's open-plan! Okay, you have to walk through the bedroom area to get here, but... oh, never mind," he added, laughing. "Come and see this." "This" was a door in the bedroom wall, next to the window; he led the way through it, and Lois realised that outside was a balcony. As he'd pointed out, the view was attractive, though the balcony wasn't high enough for it to be really impressive. "Okay, nice balcony, but...?" He made a motion with his hand. "Imagine how easy it's going to be for me to get in and out when flying? No-one's going to know that Superman lives here." She had to concede that that was a particularly good point. "So you've decided, then?" He nodded. "Just need to negotiate with our friend out there..." ***** [Okay, here's something to think about over the next few parts: what video did Nigel see that gave him the inspiration for his latest assassination plot? You'll have to wait until part 17 to see it in action, so just keep it in mind until then... And, next time, Lois and Clark in _Paris_... ] Phil ---- "If you let a smile be your umbrella... you'll get wet teeth!" -- a forgotten comedian, quoted by me: Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 07:31:34 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: NEW: And By The Way... (2/2) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lovely story!! ENCORE!!! (I wanna know what happens when they actually *talk*, and maybe even after that ;) Details... give me details!!) Thanks for the story, J CrysJ Come visit my site at: www.geocities.com/cryswimmer/CrysMain.html ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 12:49:50 +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: Re: NEW: And By The Way... (2/2) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh, I *loved* Jimmy's message! Nic ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 13:04:40 +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: Re: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Oh, ROTFL! I love this! The cape paint and Perry's goat line. And the fact that Lois is suspicious, and the fact that Clark keeps saying the same things as both of him. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants a little MORE! Nic ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 06:35:32 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? In-Reply-To: <00ff01c1164e$1f164d60$96a0d6d1@oemcomputer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Pam: Thanks for the encouragement! No, I don't have more written yet, but I'm thinking I will soon! I'm glad you liked the goat line. I wish I could claim it, but I picked it up while living in SE Texas. It just sounded like something Perry would say. Diane Pam Jernigan wrote: Nice work, Diane! This is a great subtle progression of Lois actually paying attention to the clues that fly thick and fast around her :D (Sorry, I'm short on sleep this week, and it's nearly midnight, and I'm punchy ) Best line in the whole thing: >>"Honey, he can't get your goat if you don't show him where it's tied," Perry said. ROFL! Don't know why, but that one just tickled me... the rest of the humor is great, too... especially the Cape Paint So have you written this whole thing? If so, why not go ahead and post the rest right now? Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / jernigan@bellsouth.net http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam http://personal.rdu.bellsouth.net/~jernigan/ ~~God answers knee-mail~~ --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 06:36:24 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? In-Reply-To: <089901c1167c$4af1c940$916105a0@hrm.keele.ac.uk> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thanks, Wendy for the feedback and formatting/grammar advice! Diane Wendy Richards wrote: Nice work, Diane! This is very enjoyable, and the subtle - and not so subtle - humour is great! As Pam said, Perry's line about the goat is hilarious; I had to read that three times before I could read on. And Clark unconsciously echoing Superman's lines and vice versa... very nice work. :) Very mid-late second season kind of humour and carelessness, and I love it. I do hope you have more of this written, so that you can post regularly! By the way, I think you need to turn off some of Word's AutoFormatting; all your ellipses have turned into full stops, which is a little distracting. I think it may also be doing something to your dashes, because they're all hyphens instead. If you don't know how to get rid of the auto-format, email me privately and I'll explain. One tiny nit; I wouldn't bother, but you did it twice. If you have a character say 'I feel badly', you're actually telling us that they have a poor sense of touch. If you want your character to imply that he/she feels guilty about something, then you need to have them say, 'I feel bad about...' MORE! And SOON!! Wendy -------------------------- Wendy Richards w.m.richards@hrm.keele.ac.uk --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 06:37:22 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? In-Reply-To: <004d01c11694$888e90e0$5789883e@mcbaker> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Nicola: Thanks for the feedback. I really wasn't sure about the cape-painting-fit-of-laughter scene, but I'm glad it was well received! Diane Nicola Baker wrote: Oh, ROTFL! I love this! The cape paint and Perry's goat line. And the fact that Lois is suspicious, and the fact that Clark keeps saying the same things as both of him. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants a little MORE! Nic --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 10:00:35 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nancy Merckle Subject: Re: Dean Cain on Fox News Live In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Fri, 27 Jul 2001, Nancy Merckle wrote: > I've seen two advertisements for Dean to be interviewed on Fox News Live, > but can only tell you it is supposed to be tomorrorw between 9AM and 4PM > EDT. According to the ad, he is promoting a Ripley's believe it or not > program. It is now listed for 11:48AM Nancy -------------------------------------------------------------- nancym@charm.net ..... (future) http://www.charm.net/~nancym/ The Kitties Page ........... http://members.aol.com/Mysnats/ My Sister's Karaoke Site ............ http://karaokeklub.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 06:07:39 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? In-Reply-To: <089901c1167c$4af1c940$916105a0@hrm.keele.ac.uk> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >One tiny nit; I wouldn't bother, but you did it twice. If you have a >character say 'I feel badly', you're actually telling us that they have a >poor sense of touch. If you want your character to imply that he/she feels >guilty about something, then you need to have them say, 'I feel bad >about...' > >MORE! And SOON!! > > >Wendy Wendy, I do agree with you about which one is correct; it's also a pet peeve of mine. However, people in North America *say* it, at least, with increasing frequency. So if your character is saying it, s/he is only reflecting what is currently in accepted practice. I wouldn't accept it in prose: Lois felt badly. But I'd grin and bear it if Lois said it: Lois said, "I feel badly." Just MHO... On the other hand, I agree with the last statement. Hurry with more of this, please! Melisma (ducking back under her flame-proof Rock :) Visit my rock at http://www.intergate.ca/personal/melisma/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 14:36:27 +0000 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Missy Gallant Subject: Re: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed FIRST ATTEMPT!!!!! Wow! This is wonderful, Diane!!!! I loved the humor and Lois's grumpiness and the way Clark is being lax around her. He's in for it when she finally figures it out!! MORE!!!! Soon! Missy _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 07:45:57 -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: NEW: Weekend Feature--1/? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Oh, Missy! Thanks for the feedback! You know how I wait impatiently for each new installment for "Strangers III"! Which brings me to my question/nagging--when will we see part 14? Send the kids outside and start typing! Diane (who is leaving her job at the newspaper in 7 days and wants to work on her fic instead of finishing--let's see--six features. Anyone want to work on a five-part Bill of Rights series? Neither do I...) P.S. Really, Missy, it was your initial nagging a week or so ago that started me thinking of posting in the first place. Thanks! P.P.S. Lois's grumpiness--I'm thinking I need to tone that down a bit and channel her energy into some good ol' investigative journalism...:) Missy Gallant wrote: FIRST ATTEMPT!!!!! Wow! This is wonderful, Diane!!!! I loved the humor and Lois's grumpiness and the way Clark is being lax around her. He's in for it when she finally figures it out!! MORE!!!! Soon! Missy _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 09:19:57 -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: NEW: Imbalance Part 14 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey Phil! (and Wendy by extrapolation) Enjoyed the LC time together, though Lois manages to misinterpret things a lot - it's understandable. More soon! CM ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 18:16:45 +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: Question about what a newsroom could look like a few years back MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey guys :) Yup, I'm gonna need your help again. I was just wondering how the reporters typed their stories BBG (before Bill Gates). The fanfic I'm working on is set in 1984, so the question is for that time period. Did reporters for a major newspaper type on the old typewriters (or even those electric typewriters that preceeded word processors) back then, or did they already have a complete computer equipment that, although it would seem completely prehistorical today, was pretty useful to them and pretty modern for the mid-eighties? Helene :) (suddenly realising that there was a life before Windows ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kaethel Kaethel@wanadoo.fr ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 10:31:46 -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: Question about what a newsroom could look like a few years back In-Reply-To: <00ff01c116b7$d55aabc0$5b6cfac1@oemcomputer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hélène: Since I work at a newspaper (for 7 more days--but who's counting?), I can tell you that back in 1984 we did have computers, but not the Windows-type. We used ugly old green screen wordprocessors. These computers were dedicated to "the Harris system" for layout. When someone would type on the Harris system, he or she would indicate the column width (in inches) at the top, along with other codes (like point size for the size of the font, bold, etc.). <> These old computers would not allow a person to do any true desktop publishing. They outputted to an image setter that printed on glossy, camera-ready paper. These glossy proofs were what we used in the paste-up department for the layout of the edition. I hope that made sense. Honestly, we still use some of the old Harris sytem computers (we keep them just in case of a crash and use them for archiving articles in the libary). The newsroom now has Windows (comme toute le monde), but they still use the Harris system--just an updated version. Here's the problem--and I'm sure we're not the only paper facing it--our computer systems in different departments are not compatible. For graphics, Macintosh is the industry standard. So, our information graphics artists in the newsrooms, the photographers, marketing and advertising departments are on Macs. The reporters are on the Harris system. The copy editors use Macs for pagination (layout). What a mess. Sometimes the systems don't communicate well. We either have to double-burn negatives (another long explination) or paginate on a hard card (something which causes wide-spread panic in these days. We no longer have anyone who does this on a regular basis.). As for typewriters, I went and asked my friend Kris if we even have any around. The administrative assistant for the editor has one, but no one else does. She said it was the same in the 1980's. Again, information overload, but I'm so thrilled to be able to contribute. Diane --- Kaethel wrote: > Hey guys :) > > Yup, I'm gonna need your help again. I was just > wondering how the > reporters typed their stories BBG (before Bill > Gates). The fanfic I'm > working on is set in 1984, so the question is for > that time period. Did > reporters for a major newspaper type on the old > typewriters (or even those > electric typewriters that preceeded word processors) > back then, or did they > already have a complete computer equipment that, > although it would seem > completely prehistorical today, was pretty useful to > them and pretty modern > for the mid-eighties? > > Helene :) (suddenly realising that there was a life > before Windows ) > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Kaethel > Kaethel@wanadoo.fr __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 20:30:53 +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: Question about what a newsroom could look like a few years back MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hey again :) Diane, thank you so much for the information! Very complete and very helpful, as it gives me a more accurate idea of how a newsroom could work back in the mid-eighties. Thanks a lot for the help, appreciated, very appreciated. :) Helene :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kaethel Kaethel@wanadoo.fr ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 14:35:52 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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/27/01 12:34:42 AM Eastern Daylight Time, shadowfax27@HOTMAIL.COM writes: > As it was, it was merely poignant/funny . . . > like watching a belligerent Yorkie terrier yapping at a sleepy Saint > Bernard. > LOL! That is so true. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 14:39:42 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: Question about what a newsroom could look like a few years back MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/27/01 12:19:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Kaethel@WANADOO.FR writes: > Did > reporters for a major newspaper type on the old typewriters (or even those > electric typewriters that preceeded word processors) If you want someone to use a typewriter, the typewriter of choice in 1984 would have been the IBM Selectric II. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 15:52:55 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Marilyn Puett Subject: Re: Question about what a newsroom could look like a few years back Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed I have a Selectric II in very good condition if anyone wants to buy one! Marilyn AKA Supermom >From: "Ann E. McBride" >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: Question about what a newsroom could look like a few years > back >Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 14:39:42 EDT > >In a message dated 7/27/01 12:19:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >Kaethel@WANADOO.FR writes: > > > > Did > > reporters for a major newspaper type on the old typewriters (or even >those > > electric typewriters that preceeded word processors) > >If you want someone to use a typewriter, the typewriter of choice in 1984 >would have been the IBM Selectric II. > >Ann _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 17:07:35 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Sharon Gilbert Subject: Re: Question about what a newsroom could look like a few years back MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit I will be out of the office until august 6th. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2001 18:14:04 -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: Re: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Thank you for the compliment and for referencing my story, Shadowfax! :) [I'll be interested in reading stories that explore all these issues. Regardless of whether they "work" for me as Lois and Clark stories, I'm sure they'll provide interesting reading in their own right.] And I agree with you here. I've been following this thread with great interest and it has the potential to generate some intriguing fanfic. Thanks again :) Dawn __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 04:18:48 -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: What makes Clark Clark? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >>We've had some good stories that presented a believable Clark raised on Krypton - What If I Never Left Krypton and The Universal Union among them. Realistically speaking, a Clark raised elsewhere might be quite different from our Clark, but fanficly speaking, a talented author can make it believable.<< I'll agree with all the other posters to say that this has been a very interesting topic. I just wish I'd had more time to add my comments to t= he discussion but what with getting ready for my holiday and the builders taking over my house, I've hardly spent anytime this week at the keyboard= . I'd also like to thank Shadowfax for mentioning Universal Union and hop= e that she's enjoying it. I certainly hope that I've succeeded in making m= y character of Kal in UU beleivable. Of course, as Kal-El has had a totally different upbringing, and is just= now arriving on Earth as the leader of his people, he never will be Clark= Kent. However, he is Kal and has many of the same intrinsic values and qualities as Clark. These values might be protrayed slightly differently= because Kal has been brought up to lead his people and to take responsibility for the contiuned wellbeing of his planet. and so he is perhaps more self-assured than Clark Kent. That said, his position has= led him to feel slightly set apart from the rest of his people, and it's only in finding Lois that he now feels less alone. Lois completes Kal as= much as she does Clark. = Oh, and I do admit that the physical picture in my mind when writing UU i= s that of the black-suited Clark in the NK arc, but hey, I'm only human. Yours Jenni ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 11:00:39 -0500 Reply-To: bbmedos@booksanctuary.com Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "B. B. Medos" Subject: Re: Question about what a newsroom could look like a few years back In-Reply-To: <00ff01c116b7$d55aabc0$5b6cfac1@oemcomputer> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Helene wrote: <>> Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. This reminds me of my son looking at a sci-fi series the other day that was made in the eighties - can't remember which one at the moment - and commenting that the technology didn't look all that advanced. Which is doesn't . . . NOW! But for the time, it was pretty imaginative technology. I couldn't decide whether to laugh, cry or banish him to his room until he's forty or so. Good thing that some things like Superman are timeless. Beverly :-) bbmedos@booksanctuary.com http://www.booksanctuary.com BookNotesPlus: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookNotesPlus Mysterious Romance: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mysteriousromance Romance Books & Readers: http://www.writerspace.com/mailinglist.html#rbr ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 15:26:02 -0600 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: April Sycamore Subject: How did you become a FOLC?? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Hi everyone! I just thought it might be fun to know where everyone is from, how old they are, and what it was that made them a FOLC! Like what do you like about it, what made it catch your attention, etc... I'm from Utah, I'm 17. I used to watch Lois and Clark sometimes at my grandma's on Sunday during the last year. Last summer I had to get up early to babysite and was flipping channels when I saw that it was on! I remembered that I used to watch it and liked it, and I've been hooked ever since!! I just think it's so romantic and Clark says the sweetest things. It's so funny to see how Lois' character changes!! So---how about you??? _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 18:06:42 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Betty Cay Stanford Subject: Re: How did you become a FOLC?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi everyone. I am from South Florida, I'm 53 and have watch Lois and Clark since its premiere and I also use to read the comic when I was younger. I've also seen all of the Superman movies but I thing Dean Cain is the best Superman ever and I love the romantic interaction between Lois & Clark. ----- Original Message ----- From: "April Sycamore" To: Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2001 5:26 PM Subject: How did you become a FOLC?? > Hi everyone! I just thought it might be fun to know where everyone is from, > how old they are, and what it was that made them a FOLC! Like what do you > like about it, what made it catch your attention, etc... > > I'm from Utah, I'm 17. I used to watch Lois and Clark sometimes at my > grandma's on Sunday during the last year. Last summer I had to get up early > to babysite and was flipping channels when I saw that it was on! I > remembered that I used to watch it and liked it, and I've been hooked ever > since!! I just think it's so romantic and Clark says the sweetest things. > It's so funny to see how Lois' character changes!! > > So---how about you??? > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 17:03:09 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: NEW: Point System MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Special thanks to Missy for her incredible help with the categories and encouragement. Comments appreciated! CM(who hopes the lists at the end work for everyone) ***** "I don't believe this." Lois paced angrily around the conference room. "This is ridiculous." Clark had learned through years of hard experience that it was best to just let Lois rant until she was willing to listen to reason. He wasn't sure she'd ever be ready this time. She waved the paper under his nose. "A 19. I got a 19 on this stupid scale." "Lois..." "No, Clark, I am not going to calm down. This is absolutely crazy. I DO NOT dangle above the jaws of death like an hor-d'oeuvre." "Lois, you *do* have a penchant for getting in trouble." "It looks for me - I DO NOT look for it. I get 5 points for being a U. S. citizen. I get 2 more points for being a college graduate, 4 for having a steady job, 2 for being married, 3 for being in the 'prime age range', 2 for income level - which is one more than you got by the way - and 1 for having *good posture*! This is absolutely crazy!" "Lois, honey..." "Don't 'honey' me, Clark. What if we took a look at your list? Hmmm?" "Lois..." "No, seriously. You got points for being a U. S. citizen." She raised an eyebrow at him. "You, technically, can NOT be a U. S. citizen. You weren't born here and your parents certainly aren't U. S. citizens. Heck, they aren't even citizens of the world." "Lois..." "I wonder how many other points you'd lose, if they knew all about you." She picked up the other sheet of paper off the table. "Eagle Scout is worth 2 points, but they don't allow aliens, so you couldn't have really done that." "Lois..." "No, Clark. I'm going to look at this." She quickly perused the piece of paper. "I CAN'T believe some of the stuff you got points for. Digging for worms - 1 point. Boiling water and knowing how to use a toaster - 1 point each. Ability to deal with delicate conversations - 3 points. And do you want to know what the note about that says? Grew up on the farm and is more likely to tell the truth about the birds and the bees." "Uh, Lois - I *have* seen cows and other animals give birth." "So what? You also won't cheat at games with child - 2 points. Like I would?" Clark raised an eyebrow. "How exactly do you cheat at hopscotch? I mean really. What like I'd play favorites playing red light/green light? Or mother may I?" "Well, you have been known to cheat at solitaire." "So what? It's SOLITAIRE, for crying out loud!" She looked back at the list. Her voice grew in volume. "You get FIVE points for not dangling above the jaws of death?!!!! It's an actual category?! If only they knew what Kryptonite does to you!" Clark cringed and looked around nervously. "Uh, Lois. Would you mind keeping it down? The deaf man down the street heard you." The only reply he got was a glare as she continued. "Six points for travelling the world." She began mumbling under her breath. "Wonder if they checked old airline logs to see exactly how you got there." "Lois..." "Three points for being a good dresser and two more for taste in clothes. The note says you have excellent taste in ties. Wonder if she actually looked at any of them?" "They aren't that bad!" It was Lois' turn to raise an eyebrow. "What? They're not." "You get four points for multiple languages." More mumbling. "Like you'd be able to pick them up if you were actually human." "Lois..." "You get 3 points for compassion based on your articles and crusades for the underprivileged. I can see that. Two points for being adopted. I guess that's understandable. Two more points for perfect teeth." She stood in front of Clark's chair and stuck her face in his. "What's wrong with my teeth?" "What?" "I didn't get points for perfect teeth. Why not?" "Do you have cavities?" "A couple." "There you go." He smiled. "No cavities." "Even your teeth are invulnerable! And the smile? Ready smile that lights up a room gets you another point." She rolled her eyes. "What is it with women and your smile? It'll be legendary before long." "It already is." "WHAT?!" Clark shrugged. "I overhear things." Lois wasn't paying attention. "ORGANIZED SOCK DRAWER?! You get TWO points for sock organization? What's the deal?" "I do have very organized socks." She ignored him as she went on down the list. "And you can do laundry without turning everything pink. That gets you another 3 points. Like I can't do laundry? Who turned all of his white shirts pink by washing his cape with them? Sure wasn't me! In fact, I didn't even know you were Superman yet." "Lois..." "Isn't bitter gets you 3 points. OH, and not only did you get points for being able to boil water and use a toaster, but you get 2 MORE points for being a good cook." Clark tried to pull her into his lap to settle her down, only to have her wrench her arm away. "REMEMBERS TO WEAR PANTS?!" "I get points for that?" "You get points because you wear pants." She threw her hands up. "I give up." Clark took the paper from her and looked at it more carefully. "Lois, it says 'remembers to water plants', not 'remembers to wear pants'. Three points." "Oh." She grabbed the paper back and looked at it. "Right. Water plants. Facial expressions - total of 4 points. Two for being a 'god in glasses' and 2 for having big puppy eyes the color of chocolate. It also says 'see smile notes'." She rolled her eyes before she started shrieking again. "Doesn't leave nasty notes on badly parked cars - 3 points. I have left a nasty note on a badly parked car in..." "Lois..." There was a warning in Clark's tone. She rolled her eyes. "At least a week." "That's better." "No baldness on your side of the family gets you one point. But you're adopted so it really doesn't matter. Uses exceptional vocabulary including not making up words like 'chumpy' is worth another 2 points. 'Chumpy' should be a word, you know. If someone is a chump then he is chumpy. That's all there is to it." Clark just sat there and rolled his eyes. He'd been keeping track of the points and they had to be almost done. "Well, here's poetic justice." "What?" "You didn't get any points for eyesight. Perfect eyesight was worth two points and you got none. If they only knew..." Clark sighed. "You get ten points under toleration. Three points for working well with difficult people," her voice rose an octave. "...like his wife! I am *not* difficult to work with." "Uh, not for me to work with but you do have a habit of making life difficult for others." She glared at him. "You also get 3 points for a high level of toleration of nincompoops like Ralph." Clark raised an eyebrow. "It actually says nincompoops?" She glared at him again. "No, it says toleration of coworkers. I inserted the nincompoops like Ralph part. The other four points come for a generally sunny disposition. You're starting to sound like Mary Poppins you know. 'Practically perfect in every way'." "Lois, this is just one person's interpretation." "I'd like to get her tape measure to use on you. And to think - you wouldn't even need the umbrella to fly." "Lois..." "You also get two points for 'watching macho Mel Gibson movies without turning all macho and willingness to watch chick flicks'. And 2 more points for admitting to displaying awards. I admit to displaying my awards." Lois was indignant. "Only under duress." "Well, okay." "Lois, what this lady says doesn't really matter. I know that you'll make a wonderful mother someday and that's all that really matters, isn't it?" Lois looked at the last item on the list and spoke softly. "Five points for coming from a non-dysfunctional family." Tears welled up in her eyes. "I know my family isn't the best, but can't I learn from their mistakes? Why does it have to be something negative?" Clark wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her close. "I know, honey. You'll be great, I promise." "Thanks, Clark." She wrapped her arms around his waist. "And thank you for being there for me. And loving me." "I'll always love you, even if we never have children, naturally or adopted." "But it's my fault we can't adopt." "And it's mine that we can't have kids. So we're even." "It's not about being even." "I know. I love you, Lois, and that's all that really matters." "I know, Clark. And I love you, too." They stood there for a long time before turning to face the rest of the world. Together. And that was all that really mattered. ***** Point breakdown - for those who care! I'll let you figure out whose list is whose. 5 citizen 5 citizen 4 steady job 4 steady job 2 married 2 married 3 age 3 age 1 income 2 income 1 posture 1 posture 2 college 2 college 2 eagle scout 3 compassion 2 adopted 4 languages 3 work with difficult people 2 perfect teeth 1 easy smile 2 sock organization 3 laundry 6 travelling 2 god in glasses 3 no nasty notes on cars 2 eyes - puppy dog, chocolate 2 admits displaying awards 2 not cheat at games 3 level of toleration 5 no dangling above the jaws of death 1 no baldness 1 toaster usage 2 vocabulary - no words like 'chumpy' 3 communication on delicate matters - grew up on farm 4 sunny disposition 3 good dresser 2 taste in clothes/ties 2 general cooking ability 3 toleration of coworkers 1 ability to boil water 2 macho movies/chick flicks 1 dig for worms 3 remembers to water plants 0 perfect eyesight 5 non-dysfunctional family ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 00:16:03 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Elizabeth Rowe(Juliet)" Subject: Re: How did you become a FOLC?? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 7/28/01 5:46:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ape130@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << Hi everyone! I just thought it might be fun to know where everyone is from, how old they are, and what it was that made them a FOLC! Like what do you like about it, what made it catch your attention, etc... I'm from Utah, I'm 17. I used to watch Lois and Clark sometimes at my grandma's on Sunday during the last year. Last summer I had to get up early to babysite and was flipping channels when I saw that it was on! I remembered that I used to watch it and liked it, and I've been hooked ever since!! I just think it's so romantic and Clark says the sweetest things. It's so funny to see how Lois' character changes!! So---how about you??? >> I was one of those who watched the original run on ABC, I initially flipped back and forth between L&C and Seaquest(I was flipping back and forth the night both second season finalies aired wondering if Clark was going to propose to Lois and if the SeaQuest crew would ever make it out of Hyperion alive), so I've been an unofficial FOLC from the beginning. I say unofficial because I didn't have net access yet and didn't know there were all these wonderful people who supported them like I did or wrote wonderful stories about them. I finally found L&C archive and the FOLC about middle of '99 when I started College. I was using the school computers and stumbled onto the Archive and started reading the stories. Around the time of the Melissa Diss scandal I discovered the message boards and registered at the new one, then a couple weeks after I registered for the boards I signed up for the list. The only reason I haven't joined chat yet is because my computer will only allow me to do the Yahoo chats thus far. I'm currently in the process of writing my first L&C fic. So you could say I've been a FOLC from the beginning. I just didn't become active in it before now. Juliet