From: "L-Soft list server at Indiana University (1.8d)" To: "ARTF@MemoryAlpha.nil" File: "LOISCLA-GENERAL-L LOG0109C" ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 08:31:59 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: lcfic Subject: Message Board Index Update through September 14 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi FoLCs, This has been a shocking and tragic week for the world. But the world, and our segment of it, have come together and provided support and comfort for each other. The concern and caring shown for friends many of us haven't meet face to face has been tremendous. Several folc have expressed their grief and sorrow through the power of the written word, using our fictional universe as the catharsis. And so, in an effort never to forget but to remember, we present this week's board updates. Links on the L&C Message Board Index and Links page at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/lnc.html New stories this week: NO REAL CHOICE COMPLETE VIGNETTE TANK WILSON REVELATION – NO ANGST COMPLETE VIGNETTE TANK WILSON SEPTEMBER 11 COMPLETE VIGNETTE CINDY LEUCH SISTER SWITCH: CAROL MONCADO UNDERCOVER AT BUREAU 39: SARAHLDY New part(s) posted: ALL STIRRED UP: MEREDITH DUET: SHAYNE TERRY FEAR OF DISCOVERY IV: YVONNE CONNELL HEARTS DIVIDED: PAM JERNIGAN IMBALANCE: PHIL ATCLIFFE AND WENDY RICHARDS IN CAT'S CORNER: IRENE DUTCHAK LOIS AND THE PSYCHIC: RILEY PHOENIX REBORN, THE: JILL PURPLE CHAOS: EMILY H SECOND THOUGHTS: WENDY RICHARDS SURVIVAL OF THE SIGNIFICANT: MANOFSTEEL30 UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES: NAN SMITH Completed stories this week: none New TOC's none Added to the Archive this week: Clone by Any Other Name, A by Tank Wilson Enemy Within, The - A Tank and Wendy Challenge by Tank Wilson and Wendy Richards Lex Letters, The by Various (previously posted under Fascination Information) My Friend, part 2 by Hazel Question of Trust, A by Raconteur Strangers and Friends by The Hawk and The Wolf (Shidrati Ali and Jon Wolff) Dawn & the Index Crew __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 08:41:52 -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: STORY: Code of Honor (9/9) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii TITLE: Code of Honor PART: (9/9) AUTHOR: D. Field RATING: PG13 FEEDBACK: Comments welcome PUB/PRIV. Editing PRIV. SUMMARY: LnC/JAG crossover – Lois and Clark find themselves assigned to the same case as Mac and Harm. Previously on JAG/LnC - Sarah was interrupted by a scream piercing the night. And now the conclusion. Part 9 Final ~~~ Lois had left the office after being discovered, trying to figure out a way to get back in without getting caught this time, or what other approaches she could take. She wondered how Clark was making out. She missed working side by side with him, bouncing ideas back and forth. They worked best that way. But she’d understood why they’d had to approach this from different angles. They would definitely write the story in their usual way, each bringing their unique perspective to write one terrific, coherent piece. Perry would be pleased, she was sure. This might get them another Kerth. They were close to solving this one, she could feel it. Her reporter’s instincts told her this case would break wide open and soon. With all of these thoughts running through her head, Lois momentarily neglected to be on alert for the person who had followed her earlier. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard the soft footfalls behind her until she’d felt the strong grip on her arm. Startled, she took a deep breath to confront whoever it was, only to take in enough chloroform to cause her to pass out. ~~~ The room started to come into focus. Taking in her surroundings, she realized she was in the boiler room in the basement just off the tunnel. She didn’t think she’d been here long since she wasn’t too stiff yet. Her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were bound to the legs of the straight back chair she was sitting in. The figure with his back to her across the room was definitely a man. But she couldn’t tell what he was doing. Her eyes widened in horror as he turned towards her and she realized what he had in his hand. “Ah. I see you are awake. I’m sorry you had to go through what you did, Petty Officer White. But I promise you, it will all be over soon. Soon the pain will be gone,” he said as he approached her with a syringe. Fortunately for her, he hadn’t expected her to wake up before he was ready so he hadn’t gagged her. She seized the opportunity. “Help, Superman!” ~~~ Clark had been patrolling the skies over Metropolis, not wanting to be home without his wife, but also not wanting to go too far in case she needed him. Fortunately he hadn’t been needed elsewhere, so when he heard Lois’s scream he dove toward the VA. ~~~ Harm and Mac drew their guns and ran into the building, heading in the direction the scream had come from. As they approached the room, Harm motioned that he would enter first. “Watch my six.” Mac nodded, poised to confront whatever situation they encountered when Harm kicked open the door. What they saw wasn’t what they had expected. Each quickly swept the room, lowering their weapons after taking in the scene before them. A man, whom Harm recognized as Lt. Bowles, was tied up on the floor. Superman was untying Harm’s other interviewee from earlier today, Petty Officer White. Superman walked over to the dazed officers and handed the syringe to Mac. “You might want to have this checked out. He was going after her with this when I heard her call. It may prove to be the murder weapon in the other cases. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta fly.” Clark wanted to leave as Superman and return as himself. This had been a close one, and Superman couldn’t very well take his wife into his arms and comfort her, and himself, that all was okay. “Thanks,” Sarah mumbled, carefully taking the needle. “Lois!” Clark ran back into the room to take his wife in his arms. He’d changed into a casual shirt and jeans, though not in his Tom Scott disguise. Harm and Mac exchanged a questioning glance. Lois? Wasn’t her name Becky? “I’m okay.” “I think you have some explaining to do,” Harm interrupted. Clark released Lois as they turned to acknowledge the room’s other occupants. Lois held out her hand and approached Harm. “Cmdr. Rabb, ma’am,” she’d never gotten the female lawyer’s name, “Lois Lane, Daily Planet. And this is my partner and husband, Clark Kent. Our paper sent us to uncover what was behind these deaths.” Harm was impressed with how quickly Lois seemed to recover from her near death experience. And she had a direct line to Superman; at least he sure arrived quickly. She must find herself in need of his service frequently in her line of work. “So you have,” Harm acknowledged as he nodded toward the man tied up against the wall. “As this is a military matter, we’ll take care of him. And that,” he nodded at the syringe, not wanting to give these reporters any more. He couldn’t order them not to write the story, but he could keep as much confidential as he could. “You mean the cetabarbital?” Clark asked. Lois threw her partner an approving look. That bit of information would add a lot to their copy. “How did you … ?” Mac began. “We have our sources,” Clark replied with a smile. “Did your sources also tell you why he was doing this?” Mac asked. “Well, before he came after me with that syringe, he apologized for what I’d been through, and said that my pain would be over soon,” Lois supplied. “Any idea what he meant by that, honey?” Bowles had remained quietly on the floor since Superman had apprehended him. Lois walked over to him “Why did you do this to me? Why kill those others?” As expected, Bowles refused to answer or look at her. “I don’t think you are going to get anything out of him. Cmdr. Rabb and I will take custody of him from here and see how the Admiral wants us to proceed. We may never know why he did this, but that he did isn’t in doubt.” Mac indicated for Harm to help her assist Bowles to his feet to take him with them. Once they’d left the room, Lois turned to Clark. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t satisfied to let it drop. She confirmed it. “Clark, I have an idea.” “I’m not sure I like it.” “You haven’t even heard it yet.” “Yes, but I know you.” He took her in his arms to soften his words. “Okay,” he sighed, “what’s your idea?” “I think I need to get back into Dr. Christoph’s office. I’m sure the answer is there, and I would have found it if I hadn’t been interrupted earlier.” Clark was momentarily alarmed. “Bowles grabbed you there?” What might have been, with her in the hands of a killer for that length of time, frightened him, even though he knew she was safe. “No, no, honey. He caught up with me in the tunnel. That female lawyer walked in on me.” Knowing Lois like he did, he knew she’d do it with or without his support. “Okay, but I’m coming with you.” “I was hoping you would.” She smiled up at him. A short while later Lois was again picking the lock on the office door, not surprised that lawyer must have locked it back after catching her earlier. “Okay, what are we looking for?” Lois pulled out her penlight, careful to avoid shining it towards the door and window this time. “You remember what Cmdr. Rabb told me. I had just started going through patient files when I was interrupted. There must be something in Bowles’s file that’ll tell us why he did this.” The file they found was thick with several months of sessions recorded. Clark quickly read through the notes. “Look at this.” He showed her a note made a few days before the murders began. “ ‘PO Bowles seemed more agitated than usual. Hypnosis revealed extreme concern for service personnel from his unit who witnessed war atrocities,’ ” he quoted. “What’s his diagnosis?” Clark flipped back to the beginning of the notes. “Severe post traumatic stress disorder with delusions.” “Wonder what triggered him to start murdering?” “Could have been anything.” “But something had to push him over the edge.” She dug through a stack of files until she’d pulled out the three victims’ and her own. “Maybe the answer is in one of these.” She began leafing through the files as Clark continued with Bowles’s. The next sheet in Bowles’s file was a list of the unit members with a note from Dr. Christoph to prompt during hypnosis to ascertain source of increased agitation. “Clark, what was the date on that first note?” He showed her. “Look, that’s the day after the second victim was admitted.” “And here’s the list of his unit.” “But that’s not enough. We need to find some hard evidence to link all of this together. We need to search his room.” “Lo-is.” But, even as he said it, he knew she was right. Turning back to the front of the folder where the basic patient information was kept to look up the room number, Clark made another discovery. “He worked for the janitorial staff.” “Which gave him access to the drug.” Putting the files back in order, they hurried to the patient ward. As a staff member, Clark had been given a key that would open most doors that staff were allowed access to, which included patient rooms. They encountered no one on their way through the tunnels, and Clark had X-rayed the floor the room was on to make sure they wouldn’t run into anyone there. Once they reached Bowles’s room, he quickly unlocked the door and let them in. Using his x-ray vision, he scanned the room for clues while Lois used her penlight to search the bookshelf. With the way Bowles had obviously felt about war, she was surprised to see a copy of War And Peace on his shelf. Picking it up, she leafed through it and it quickly fell open to a well-worn, folded piece of paper. Carefully opening it, she saw it was a copy of the list from his file, with four names crossed off, including B. White. She held it up to show Clark. “I think we have our story.” “Should we tell those JAG lawyers what we found?” “Let them read it in the Planet.” ~~~ Perry walked out of his office, head shaking. “This is the damndest thing,” he said, reading the copy in his hands. Lois looked up as her chief stopped between her desk and her partner’s to discuss their story. “Best we can figure, he was doing what he thought he should, upholding the military code. Never leave a man behind and stick together. In his own warped way he thought he was helping the others by relieving them of the memories they had of the atrocities of war they’d witnessed.” “Good work, you two.” Lois and Clark smiled at their boss. ~~~ 1315 Zulu JAG Headquarters Falls Church, Virginia The following day Harm walked into Mac’s office, laying a copy of the previous day’s Daily Planet evening edition on her desk. “Have you seen this?” “Actually, neither of us should read this until we know if we’ll be assigned this case.” As if on cue, Tiner poked his head in the door. “Colonel, Commander, the Admiral wants to see you in his office ASAP.” Mac threw Harm an I-told-you-so-look which he returned with a grin. End TBC? __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 12:01:13 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: The Author's Mind... updated :) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello FoLCs... First of all, my thanks to all of your for your patience in the last several weeks. This is the first weekend I've been home in a while, so I was eager to get caught up on the site. Your patience during this time was greatly appreciated. Next, a sincere apology. As I'm sure you all noticed, Jenni Debbage was supposed to be featured on the 9th, and I was nowhere near my keyboard. She has been wonderfully patient, and I am truly sorry that her page was not available on the day promised. I will try to do better! Due to the few responses I've received in the last week, I'm afraid we'll be going to every-other-week with new authors. I'd be happy to ammend that if I have a sudden rush of essays . Finally... the announcement! This week's featured author is Jenni Debbage, and her wonderful story: The Huntress' Revenge. It's an amazing story, and the story-behind-the-story is just as interesting. Come by and read all about it at The Author's Mind. Sincerely, Crys Wimmer Manager, The Author's Mind www.geocities.com/authorsmind/main.html ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 18:02:01 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Meredith Knight Subject: All Stirred Up, part 6/10? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 All Stirred Up Chapter 5 : Phantoms Superman swooped down to land on the stage in front of the cheering crowd. A handsome man in a business suit, whose welcoming smile didn't quite reach his eyes, stepped forward to shake hands with Superman and hand over a huge golden key. Then the businessman stepped forward to the microphone, and the crowd subsided. "Let the games begin," said the businessman. An eerie hush fell. Everyone was looking expectantly at Superman, but his prepared speech had vanished from his mind. The crowd began to shuffle closer, and hands reached out to clutch at his cape. He retreated a pace and the crowd muttered, the mood turning ugly, threatening. Superman turned and tried to lift off into the sky, but found he couldn't fly. The businessman stood looking at him with a mocking smile. Suddenly, pain lanced through Superman's fingers. He lifted his hand and found the golden key had turned a nauseous, glowing green. A sickening ache spread through his body. He fell to his knees, and the businessman roared with derisive laughter. The business suit turned into a military uniform and the man's features changed, becoming coarser. A feral gleam shone in his eyes. He lifted a revolver and shot Superman through the chest. Superman fell back into the crowd; hands reached for him and ripped at his costume, tearing it away to reveal nothing inside. Superman had disappeared. ***** Superman sat up abruptly, fighting to escape from the last lingering shreds of the nightmare. Slowly his breathing calmed and the peace of the apartment seeped in to soothe his fears. He lay back on the bed and reached out for his lost memories. He closed his eyes and tried to picture his mother. She was probably dark, like him. He tried to conjure up a comforting, beloved, dark- haired image... and found himself thinking of Lois. A wry smile curved his lips, and he held onto the image for a moment. In his vision his hand came up to cradle Lois's cheek, just as it had in the kitchen yesterday evening. Only now, he bent to brush his lips softly against hers, and then stood up. "Goodbye, Lois." His eyes flew open. Was that a genuine memory? It didn't seem to fit in with anything Lois had told him. He would have to remember to ask her about it. He closed his eyes and reached out again for his childhood. He tried to imagine being a small boy, waking in the morning, full of anticipation for the exciting day ahead - <-- He ran down the stairs and erupted into the kitchen, still buttoning his shirt. Mom was standing at the counter making pancakes, and there was a delicious smell of new bread in the air. "Mom, where's Dad? He said I could help him with the ploughing this morning!" "He's just gone out to see to the fence, honey, there's plenty of time..." But he was running again before she had finished. Dad was in the yard, fixing the fence where the wind had blown it loose. He had just put a nail in position and was reaching for his hammer. "Let me help, Dad!" he cried, and struck the nail with his fist, driving it deep into the wood. Dad stood up and grabbed his wrist, looking at him grimly. "How many times must I tell you not to do that, son?" he asked sternly. "If people find out about you, they'll put you in a laboratory and dissect you like a frog!" "Breakfast time, boys!" Mom called from the kitchen door. He trailed glumly behind Dad, wishing he could remember not to use his powers. As Dad got to the door, Mom reached out and gave him a swift hug, and they looked lovingly at each other for a moment in the warm Kansas sunlight. --> Superman opened his eyes and frowned. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, and reached for the photograph of Clark's parents on the bedside table. Sure enough, the faces matched those in his daydream. He wasn't recovering his memory; instead, his subconscious was building phantom memories around what he had heard about Clark's childhood. Superman's lips set grimly; he put the photograph down and dropped his face into his hands. Was he ever going to be a whole person again? After a minute, he got up and padded quietly through to the kitchen to get a drink. He splashed some water on his face and ran his wet hands through his hair to smooth it back, then filled a glass from the tap. Leaning against the counter to drink, he looked over to the couch. All he could see of Lois was a huddle of blankets and a tousled mop of dark hair. He smiled, remembering how she had been yawning by the time he had finished the washing up. She had refused to go home, insisting that he shouldn't be left alone; but she had also refused to take the bed, pointing out that she was much smaller than he was, and could sleep more easily on the couch. Superman reflected that it could have been awkward if Clark had come home in the middle of the night and found her in his bed. However, Clark was evidently still missing, although the sky was nearly light outside. The phone shrilled, startling him. He put the glass down quickly and strode over to answer it before it could wake Lois, but she was already stirring. "Hello, uh... Clark Kent's apartment." A woman's voice responded. "Clark, is that you, honey? We were worried when you didn't phone back last night..." "I'm afraid Clark isn't here right now," he replied, awkwardly. "Can I give him a message?" There was a pregnant pause, and then the woman spoke hesitantly. "Clark, what... is there someone there? Are you okay?" "I'm not... Clark is... I'm just a friend," he stammered, thoroughly confused. Lois sat up and reached a hand out for the phone, hissing at him, and he handed it over thankfully and retired to the kitchen in disarray. Lois spoke smoothly into the receiver. "This is Lois Lane, Clark's partner. Clark is out at the moment. Can I help you?" "Lois! This is Martha Kent. I was just... is Clark... who was that who answered the phone?" "That was Superman, Martha. We, uh, he stayed here last night. Clark isn't here at the moment. In fact, Martha, I'm really worried about him..." And somewhat to her own astonishment, Lois found herself pouring out the story of Clark's accident two days before, his headache the day before, and his disappearance without his personal belongings. Martha took the recitation surprisingly calmly. "I'm sure Clark is fine," she assured Lois. "But if you're really worried about him, why don't you ask Superman to look for him? I'm sure he could find Clark quickly enough." "He, uh, well, he can't..." Lois tailed off, thinking furiously. What possible excuse could she give for Superman's incapacity? And indeed, she had finally succeeded in alarming Martha. "Whatever do you mean?" demanded the older woman, her voice sharp with worry. "Is there something wrong with Superman? He didn't sound like himself when he answered the phone just now. Is he hurt?" There was an awkward pause. Lois briefly considered telling Martha that Superman had searched for Clark and failed to find him, but that would only serve to alarm her further. Lois sighed and spoke hesitantly. "Superman's not hurt, exactly. Martha, I probably oughtn't to be telling you this, because it could be dangerous for him if the wrong people found out... He has amnesia. He can't remember anything from before the accident, including how to use his special abilities." "Oh my, Lois," Martha exclaimed, clearly more shaken by this than by anything Lois had said about Clark. "What is he... what are you going to do?" Lois told Martha about bringing Superman to Clark's apartment, and the information she had managed to gather about amnesia. Martha was relieved to hear that Superman wouldn't need to consult a doctor, and thoroughly approved of Lois's plan to have him stay at Clark's place until his memory returned. She seemed a little surprised, though, when Lois expressed her hope that Clark would be able to tell Superman more about himself. It was almost as though she didn't know the two men were close friends - or perhaps she didn't think Lois knew. "I'm quite sure you don't need to worry about Clark," she said firmly, when Lois reiterated her concern about Clark's disappearance. "He was supposed to go out and see someone - an old friend - last night. They probably went on talking late, and Clark stayed over. You just stick to worrying about Superman. Clark will turn up soon enough." By the time Lois hung up, most of her anxiety had been assuaged. It was quite a relief to be able to share the tale with someone, she reflected, and she couldn't help remembering what Superman had said about how lucky Clark was. She couldn't have spoken to either of her own parents about her concerns, and if she had, she would never in a million years have got the kind of support that Martha had given her. Nevertheless, there had been an odd undertone to the conversation that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Her train of thought was interrupted by Superman coming through from the kitchen and handing her a cup of tea. It wasn't the strong cup of coffee she really needed to jolt her into life at this time of the morning, but not having to get up and get it herself more than made up for that. He had even remembered to put a spoonful of honey in hers this time. She wrapped her hands around the cup and smiled warmly at Superman. "Thanks." She got a small smile in return. "You're welcome," he said, dropping into the armchair. He was looking tired and strained, and he had a distinct five-o'clock shadow. He was wearing a pair of Clark's sleep shorts with last night's T-shirt. Trying not to stare at his muscular legs, Lois felt a warmth creeping over her that was not wholly due to the tea. Superman leaned back and stretched out his legs. "How did you sleep?" he enquired. "Okay, I guess." Actually, the narrowness of the couch and the unfamiliar noises in the apartment had kept her tossing and turning for much of the night, and she had a bit of a stiff neck, but she wasn't about to admit that. She ran a self-conscious hand through her hair. "And you?" "Quite well, thanks. I had some strange dreams." He paused, then veered off at an apparent tangent. "Do I know Clark's parents?" "I shouldn't think so. I don't think they've been to Metropolis since Clark moved here. I suppose you could have visited the farm with Clark." The phrase "take you home to meet his parents" flashed into Lois's mind, and she frowned. Where had *that* thought come from? Superman nodded. He was having difficulty concentrating on anything except the way Lois looked. Last night, dressed in bulky, nondescript street clothes, she had been attractive enough. This morning she was sitting up in her blanket, still sleep-tousled and wearing an over-large borrowed T-shirt and shorts, and she looked perfectly adorable. Superman was trying not to look her way, lest he give in to the temptation to go over to her, gather her into his arms, and kiss her into oblivion; but he could still see her in his mind's eye, and his resolution was being sorely tested. He drained his cup with sudden decision and stood up. "Why don't I get dressed, while you finish your tea in peace?" he suggested. "Then I'll make you some breakfast, if you like." Not waiting for a response, he vanished in the direction of the bathroom. Lois blinked. Everyone seemed to be behaving strangely this morning: first Martha, and now Superman. She snuggled back into her blanket and tried to make sense of their odd reactions, but found herself dozing over her tea instead. ***** By early afternoon, Lois had still had virtually no time to think. Days off were evidently overrated, she mused wryly, as she put the finishing touches to her hastily-written article on the EPRAD press conference and emailed it to Perry. She sat back in her chair and savoured another mouthful of strong Daily Planet newsroom coffee. Coffee and artificial sweetener had been at the top of her shopping list when she had sallied forth this morning. True to his word, Superman had cooked a delicious breakfast of bacon and cheese omelette, but it had left precious little food in Clark's kitchen. She had also needed to buy Superman something to shave with, because a search of Clark's bathroom had turned up nothing whatsoever in the way of shaving kit. The only convincing explanation appeared to be that Clark had taken it with him, although why he should do that and yet leave his toothbrush behind was yet another in the long list of puzzles that had surfaced in the last day. Lois frowned across at her partner's empty chair. She had still heard nothing from him; although when she had gone home to change into business clothes before the press conference she had discovered that she had left her answering machine turned off, and her cell phone battery was still flat, which could explain why he hadn't been able to reach her. It wouldn't have occurred to him to call his own apartment. But Lois was discovering that in addition to being puzzled and worried by Clark's disappearance, she was also quite simply missing her partner's cheerful presence. The news at the EPRAD conference, that a large chunk of the Nightfall Asteroid was set on a direct course for Metropolis, was extremely disquieting for someone who knew there was no guarantee that Superman would be able to help out this time. She would have given a lot just to be able to discuss the situation with Clark and get his creative input on how to solve the problem of restoring Superman's memory. Besides, although Superman had shown the occasional gleam of an unexpected sense of humour, on the whole he was worried and withdrawn; and although it was entirely understandable in the circumstances, Lois could have used a little of Clark's unfailing optimism and supportiveness. The door to Perry's office opened, and the editor leaned out. "Lois, my office, please." Lois got to her feet and drained the last of her coffee. "Coming, Chief!" As she walked into the office, Perry motioned her to a seat. He was looking grave. "This is bad news we got from EPRAD, Lois. How is Superman? Any better?" Lois shook her head. "He doesn't seem to be, Chief. I got him some press cuttings to read through this morning, and I called Jimmy and asked him to get together a tape of all the video footage he could lay his hands on. I'm hoping that'll trigger Superman's memory. I just wish Clark would turn up - I'm sure he knows more about Superman than we do." "I'm sorry, Lois, I thought you knew already, or I would have told you sooner," Perry said, looking uncomfortable. "Clark's mother called earlier. Clark went to visit some old family friends last night, and one of them had a heart attack while he was there. He's been at the hospital with the family, and he isn't going to be able to get away for a while." "He *what*?" exclaimed Lois indignantly, all her pent-up worry turning quickly to exasperation. "Didn't Martha tell him about Superman? He's a good deal more important right now than some... some sick person in a hospital! Where can I get hold of him? I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!" "Now, calm down, Lois," said Perry firmly. "Mrs. Kent didn't say what hospital they're at, and I'm sure Clark is doing his best in the circumstances. His parents are flying to Metropolis as soon as they can, and no doubt once they arrive he'll be able to come and talk to Superman. If you need some help looking after Superman in the meantime, I can tell Jimmy to give you a hand..." Lois brushed off the suggestion hastily. "No, no, Chief - I'll be fine on my own. It's no trouble at all." "Glad to hear it," Perry declared. "Off you go, then, Lois. Remember, we're all depending on you." And he ushered Lois out of his office. Jimmy was nowhere to be seen, but Lois decided to wait for the video tape before she went back to Clark's apartment. It would give her a chance to sort through her thoughts a little. She went back to her desk, and started to make list of odd things that needed explanation. First of all, she had noticed again this morning how very familiar Superman seemed to be with Clark's kitchen. He must spend a lot of time in Clark's apartment; and yet Clark never mentioned it. Then there was the fact that Superman couldn't remember anything about Clark. Could it be that there was something he didn't want to remember, that he was repressing? She had also noticed that Martha had seemed surprisingly concerned about Superman, as though she knew him well. Lois's eyes narrowed. Being able to fly to Smallville any time he liked would explain why Clark didn't need to take weekends off to see his parents. And that habit Clark had of disappearing at a moment's notice - Superman's schedule would no doubt be totally unpredictable. Finally, there was something which had puzzled Lois for a long time: everyone else that Miranda had sprayed with her perfume had fallen for *somebody*, but Clark alone had seemed completely unaffected. Lois sat back and looked at her list in dismay. All the evidence was pointing to a single conclusion. A bitter ache was settling around her heart, but she couldn't give way to her feelings; everyone was depending on her, even if most of them didn't know it. She had to face up to this bravely. When the crisis was past, when Superman was back to normal and the danger from the Nightfall Asteroid had been eliminated, she would be free to indulge her emotions. The question was, should she confront Superman with it? If he was suppressing this part of himself, it might be a terrible shock for him. On the other hand, he needed to know as much as possible about himself if he was going to get his memory back quickly. The Nightfall Asteroid was not going to wait. Lost in her dismal thoughts, Lois was almost shocked when Jimmy bounced into the newsroom, whistling cheerfully. He trotted over to Lois's desk and gave her a big grin. "Why the long face, Lois? You're not worrying about that old asteroid, are you? Superman will sort it out in no time!" Lois made an effort to shake off her gloom. "Oh, hi, Jimmy. No, it's nothing." "What have you got for me?" "I got the tape you asked for. All the TV news coverage of Superman I could lay my hands on. I went over to LNN to use their archives, and guess what?" Jimmy's grin became positively beatific. "I met their new assistant, and I asked her out, and she said yes! I've got a hot date tonight!" And he waved cheerily and trotted away again. "That's nice, Jimmy," Lois said lamely. She wanted to put her head down on her desk and howl. Instead, she carefully tore her list of clues into tiny pieces and dropped them into the bin. Then she put the video tape into her bag and headed for the lift. -- Meredith Knight "All the pebbles had fat smiling faces, and the anemones had mad bright eyes above their frills." ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 19:54:19 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: All Stirred Up, part 6/10? Ah, now we're really moving! Very nice segment, Meredith -- lots of great stuff in here. Spoiler space s s s s s s s s s s s The dreams Superman had were very poignant, and I really enjoyed Martha's phone call conversations with both Superman and Lois. It was nice of her to cover for Clark at work as well, and now we know they are indeed coming. The pace is picking up! <<>> Oh, I can't wait for this conversation. LOL!! Poor Lois, adding 2 and 2 and getting ... well, more than 4. I'm enjoying this immensely, Meredith! Kathy (who keeps laughing at all the images that must be going through Lois's mind right now ) ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 03:30:31 -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: The Author's Mind... updated :) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi Crystal, I'd just like to say that how could I be anything else but patient in the= terrible week the US has gone through. Real patience is waiting in hope for word of a love one missing in the holocaust of Tuesday the 11th. I'm quite sure that reading about the inspiration for my story comes way down the list of important things to do. Yours Jenni ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 02:18:43 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Melisma Subject: OT: Film Rec Comments: To: crystalship@egroups.com, hmshipper@egroups.com, JAG-XFshippers@egroups.com, JanewayChakotay@egroups.com, diabeticlist@yahoogroups.com, afolcslife@egroups.com, ptfever@egroups.com, shipperhm@egroups.com, -1mature_xfiles_fans@egroups.com, organchat@egroups.com, IMZADI_ALL@egroups.com, Imzadi_Pro@egroups.com, PCOS-CANADA@yahoogroups.com, piano-teachers@yahoogroups.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I'm currently watching 'A Thousand Men and a Baby' on one of my local CTV affiliates. Man, is it good so far! If you want a family-type movie that's uplifting, see if you can find it in your rental store... (Sorry, I tuned in a little late, and so I don't have names of actors or directors and stuff like that. But I'm sure the IMBd will have that info for you, if you want it :) Melisma (charmed under her Rock, even though she should be in bed...) Visit my rock at http://www.intergate.ca/personal/melisma/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 08:22:37 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: The Author's Mind... updated :) Jenni, as I think you know, The Huntress' Revenge is my favourite of your stories, and I really enjoyed reading about your inspiration in terms of the 'Three Witches' attacking Clark. Thank you for sharing this with us; I certainly needed something different to read about yesterday. I'm looking forward to more Universal Union too. :) Wendy ----------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 14:10:24 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: StarKitty Subject: Re: Fw: WE STAND UNITED MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Don't worry, I won't do it again. Tara > >Ok, I normally don't forward things in this manner, but I figured this was > >more important than the usual mass forwarding. Apologies if you get this > >more than once. > > More than once? How about 27 times? :P > > Yes, I know the cause is a good one, but this thing is worse than any virus > warning I've seen. I just posted about mass distribution emails -- please > ask next time! > > Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 13:40:55 -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: WTC and Heroes In-Reply-To: <001e01c13bdc$60503e40$ecfbfd3f@v1t9j4> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Thanks, Jude, for that extremely apt quote, Carolyn >Over the last 36 hours we have seen incredible bravery in the face of >incomprehensible acts of evil. Several posters here have said that we need >Superman. That brought to mind Superman's remarks as he prepared to leave >for New Krypton in BGDF. I think they are particularly appropriate for us >now. > >"I ask each one of you to look to yourselves for the strength, decency and >compassion that I know each of you has inside. Emerson said self trust is >the essence of courage. Inside each of you is a hero. And so I leave >knowing that a world full of heroes has nothing to fear." > >Jude ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 21:17:21 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: What *can't* Kryptonians do? OK, this one has been simmering in the back of my mind for some time now and I haven't come up with a good answer yet. So I thought I'd turn it over to the rest of you creative FoLCs to see what you have to say. We know from the NK arc that Kryptonians are telepathic, but other than that, it seemed they were pretty much the same as humans. (Other than having superpowers under a yellow sun, of course, but those would disappear back on NK.) They were more logical and less emotional, but that seemed to be more in the way they were raised than any genetic trait -- even if Clark is an anomaly, Lord Nor certainly had a lot of emotion in him, negative though it was. So what *can't* Kryptonians do? Are they everything humans are plus telepathy and super-powers? Does this make them a "superior race"? Personally, I'd prefer it if they were not superior, just different. So what can Earthlings do that Kryptonians can't? What advantage might Clark have had on New Krypton, being more human than Kryptonian in his personality, had he gone off to fight with them? Ideas? Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 20:16:48 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eowyn Akra Subject: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > So what *can't* Kryptonians do? Are they everything > humans are plus > telepathy and super-powers? Does this make them a > "superior race"? Well, its implied that Kryptonians need sunlight as much as humans need food and water. That's a weakness that humans don't have. Then there is, of course, Kryptonite... Other than that, I don't know. Eowyn PS Another perk about being a Kryptonian might be that they are smarter or learn quicker. For example, CK knows so many languages. Is it his heritage or is he just smarter than average? Why is it that all Kryptonians seem to know English when they came to Earth? Did they learn it really quick or have some sort of translating device? That always bugged me. __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 02:55:28 -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 *can't* Kryptonians do? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi Kathy, I've thought about Kyrptonians a lot when writing my Universal Union seri= es and though I've taken my foundations from the TV series, I have developed= my own characterisations for Kryptonians. As with Clark in the series I'= ve explained the 'English' speaking question by suggesting that Kryptonians have a 'gift' for learning other languages... and that is before they eve= r visit Earth and the influence of the yellow sun. So I suppose that could= mean that they are a very intelligent race in one sense, but they're certainly more narrow-minded when it comes to imaginative and creative ideas and their politics are from what we would call the dark-ages. = Certainly, the ordinary people of Krypton have accepted the yoke of, if n= ot oppression, at least something that is rather like the fuedal system... s= o that might suggest that they're not very spirited or intuitive. Of cours= e, on NK it's more or less suggested that the people are looked after well enough - - after all, Zara comes looking for Kal-El because she and the council are worried that Nor will take over and be a cruel master for his= people. Which brings me to another point about the NKers... they don't seem to be= very good judges of character and you could even say they were bigoted an= d distrustful. Trey was very quick to believe in Nor and go against Kal-El= , simply because, in my opinion, he was familiar with Nor while Kal was an unknown qaunitity... and Trey was the leader of the council of Elders. Y= ou would think that someone in his position would have acted more wisely and= responsibly. Their legal system also seemed to leave a lot to be desired... Kal and Zara's trial was hardly a fair hearing. As to what New Kryptonians can't do physically, especially on Earth, I would say that they could probably do all that Superman can, but they don= 't have his deeply caring and unselfish nature. Like you, Kathy, I believe that's because they haven't been brought up in a society that is taught t= o love and care for each individual. They do try to do what's best for the= common good but in a very cold and unemotional way. Back under a red sun, they must have very similar physical abilities as t= he people of Earth except for being telepathic. And, though they might be = a more technologically advanced race - -probably they've been around longer= than the people of Earth - - they are not a superior race, at least not i= n my opinion. So to answer your question about what advantages Clark might have to figh= t Nor on NK, I think that he'd be more inventive in his planning and more adaptable to change tactics if the need arose. He'd also be more willing= to take advice. I also think that, given a chance, Clark's friendliness,= honesty and compassion would win over the ordinary people of NK,; that th= ey would believe in him and follow him with more commitment than they would the other leaders and having the people behind him would be a very great asset. I'm not sure if this will help at all but it's just a few of my conclusio= ns on the question of New Krypton. Yours Jenni ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 08:19:03 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 *can't* Kryptonians do? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 9/17/01 11:17:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time, eowyn_akra@YAHOO.COM writes: > Another perk about being a Kryptonian might be that > they are smarter or learn quicker. For example, CK > Well, we know that Clark's mind works faster (though he once said his eyes work faster, it's actually that his brain could process the information that was presented at a higher speed), but this may be a function of just having super speed so that he could learn faster. --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 08:40:42 -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 *can't* Kryptonians do? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit It's my theory that faster processing speed does *not* necessarily equate to higher intelligence. My computer can "think" a lot faster than I do, but it's limited to what I give it for input -- bad data in, bad decisions out -- and how it's programmed (just try doing something Microsoft didn't think you'd want to do!). I'm sure Debby can give us many examples of Clark acting like an idiot -- not because his processor was slow, but because he was overloaded by emotions, hampered by bad data or reacting to faulty programming. His programming was pretty good, thanks to Martha and Jonathan, but it included ingrained attitudes like "never tell anyone about the powers" or "must protect Lois above all else." Luckily for him, he was capable of reprogramming, given sufficient motivation. Not sure how that relates to your question, Kathy but it was an interesting diversion for a few minutes, anyway! Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / ChiefPam@nc.rr.com http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam **note new address** "The EU is a noble attempt to fulfill the age-old dream of having a country of English cooks, German lovers, French defense forces and Italian efficiency experts." --P. J. O'Rourke ----- Original Message ----- From: "No Name Available" To: Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 8:19 AM Subject: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? > In a message dated 9/17/01 11:17:26 PM Eastern Daylight Time, > eowyn_akra@YAHOO.COM writes: > > > > Another perk about being a Kryptonian might be that > > they are smarter or learn quicker. For example, CK > > > > Well, we know that Clark's mind works faster (though he once said his eyes > work faster, it's actually that his brain could process the information that > was presented at a higher speed), but this may be a function of just having > super speed so that he could learn faster. > > --Laurie > ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 13:08:39 +0000 Reply-To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yael Kfir Subject: Happy New Year... I Think Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Dear FoLCs, '...and they shall beat their swords to plows and their spears to scythes, and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they will not learn war anymore.' (Isaiah, 2:4). Shana tova, Yael. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 09:51:43 -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: Happy New Year... I Think MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > Dear FoLCs, > > '...and they shall beat their swords to plows and their spears to > scythes, and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they will > not learn war anymore.' (Isaiah, 2:4). I'm looking forward to that myself, Yael, but sadly I don't think we're there yet. Isaiah 2: 2-4 "And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." I love the word of the Lord, but you gotta take it in context. Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / ChiefPam@nc.rr.com http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam **note new address** "The EU is a noble attempt to fulfill the age-old dream of having a country of English cooks, German lovers, French defense forces and Italian efficiency experts." --P. J. O'Rourke ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 09:14:52 -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 *can't* Kryptonians do? The Kryptonian skill with languages is likely a function of two things; the ability to read and process at superhuman speeds, and the ability to use telepathy at low levels to get an underlying sense of what words mean. Even Clark could have been using those abilities without knowing it. Kryptonians don't seem to be any more intelligent that human beings; presumably on their own world, without the supercharging effects of a red sun, their mental abilities are similar to those of normal humans (except for the telepathy, of course.) It's possible that Kryptonian culture tends to be somewhat rigid and inflexible. The NKers certainly seemed to have trouble adapting to new circumstances with any sort of rapidity. They seemed to have a tendency to turn to tradition when feeling confused. They certainly didn't seem to have the same sort of intuitive leaps of logic that Lois had. Clark presumably has depths of power unreached by any other NKer. He's absorbed 30 years worth of solar energy, and would doubtlessly have reserves for quite some time. He'd have the advantage of Lois's training; while he's not a very mentally flexible person, it's possible that he'd be more flexible that the NKers. He's probably more resistant to the effects of Kryptonite as well. He lost his powers for at least a full day after his first exposure, but his powers recovered much more quickly on later exposures. Given that he had access to superhuman regenerative abilities, he might have developed at least a partial tolerance. Also, presumably, the power stored in his cells might have something of a protective effect. That might be the real explanation of why Nor died and Clark didn't. Clark presumably has access to millenia of human history; knowledge of military tactics, guerilla warfare and political history that the NKers don't. While the Kryptonians undoubtedly have their own military knowledge, it is certainly possible that as an "enlightened" society, that they might have forgotten or left behind much military history. Also, the NKer's don't necessarily have access to the full sum of Kryptonian knowledge, either military, historical or technological. They are a colony with limited resources; the computer records may have been limited to what they thought they needed at the time they left Krypton. In that case, the New Kryptonians would be just rediscovering the art of war, being gifted amateurs. Most likely, without their abilities, they'd have their hats handed to them by any professional military types on earth. Given their limited population, and the barren nature of New Krypton, their manufacturing base may be relatively small as well. They could be a group of people living off the last remnants of technology from their homeworld, repairing things as well as they can. Things break down, and some things are manufactured anew (such as guns), but for the most part, they are a people in the twilight years. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 09:35:18 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Wendy Richards Subject: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? What occurs to me in response to this question is that we appear to be judging the abilities and talents of all Kryptonians on the basis of what we know about a very small number of them - chief of all, Kal-El. We wouldn't assume that all humans share abilities, talents, interests and attitudes equally, so why make that assumption about Kryptonians? The physical powers seem to be a given; we saw all Kryptonians on Earth gain these. So they were certainly stronger and faster than humans, but were they all as strong and fast as each other? And remember, with the exception of Zara, all the Kryptonians who came to Earth were soldiers; highly-trained and presumably very physically fit. How do we know that there aren't slob-like Kryptonians who don't have Clark's kind of good metabolic rate? Leaving aside the Super-powers - after all, that's only something they gained on Earth; what other advantages did Clark and the other Kryptonians have? We know that Clark had a keen intelligence and a facility with languages; but is that necessarily to do with his being Kryptonian, or is it something specific to him? He's the son of a Kryptonian ruling house, so he has some 'quality' genetic material to begin with. )And, given the advanced science on Krypton, what's to say that his genetic mix wasn't 'helped along' in some way? So he could have a higher than average IQ because of genetic engineering techniques, not merely because he's Kryptonian.) I suspect that it's quite possible that Kryptonians had as much variation in factors such as fitness, intelligence, abilities and so on as humans do. However, there may be more similarities among New Kryptonians, on the basis that it's very possible some sort of screening exercise was involved in selecting those who got to go - though even that could have resulted in a mix of 'classes' and talents. After all, not everyone can be a ruler or an army officer; some people have to do the menial work too. So, Kathy, I think we could see New Kryptonians as not necessarily all having the same advantages that Clark or Ching or Zara and the others have. Wendy ---------- Wendy Richards wendy@lcfanfic.com ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 15:54:05 +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: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? In-Reply-To: <200109180255_MC3-E015-DD1C@compuserve.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Kathy, I have to go along with Jenni in that I suspect that the biggest differences between Clark, as a "humanised" Kryptonian, and "home-grown" NKers, will be social rather than physical -- but not all, as I'll discuss later. Jenni has discussed a lot of examples of that sort of thing, but one other idea which came to mind was one that JMS used to good effect in Babylon 5. In Joe's universe, Humanity's great gift, one that no other race, however technologically advanced they are, shares to anything like as great an extent, is the ability and desire (or even need) to form communities -- kinda like FoLCdom . When needed, or even just (?) in case of need, humans form groups of all sizes to better support one another and to enable us to do things that we can't do alone or in smaller groups. This has a lot of ramifications, especially when compared to the rigid, stratified, compartmentalised structure that could be inferred from what little we saw of NK society. We can have a lot more flexibility, for one thing; NK society could well be so caste-ridden that they can't conceive of say, a "citizen's army", because non-soldiers don't fight, they just get shot at. We know better, by painful experience, and it's no surprise to us that a "non-combatant" can pick up a weapon and fight back. This attitude would fit the contrast in Clark and Zara's respective attitudes to the map in the newsroom scene in BE; Zara sees the map as a representation of somewhere to fight, but Clark sees it as ground that will be fought over -- a subtle, but important difference. Physically, or physiologically, differences between Clark and NKers will most likely be ones of degree rather than of kind, and most of them are probably attributable to Clark having grown up on Earth, under its yellow sun, thereby effectively being "super-charged" since the age of about 3 months. He is therefore possibly in better-than-perfect health for a Kryptonian, and may exhibit small but notable physiological differences resulting from this. The first of these is simply that he will be that bit stronger and tougher than an NKer, regardless of whether he is super-powered or not; on Earth, he will be slightly _more_ super than an NKer -- though the difference will be hard to tell in comparison to us mere humans -- and when not super, he will be a superior specimen of Kryptonian manhood (kinda gives the title "Mr Universe" a whole new meaning, doesn't it? ) with above-average strength and endurance, especially the latter. This has implications. For instance, all Kryptonians will be affected by Kryptonite, but Clark will be less incapacitated by the stuff because he's dealt with it before and could either have a little more resistance to it for that reason (a very small immunity due to repeated exposure -- it'll still kill him, but not as quickly as someone from NK) or he's simply better prepared to deal with its effects; add to that the strength of will he demonstrated in GGGoH and Kryptonite is going to knock out an NKer far more readily than it will Clark (humans, of course, are immune to the stuff). The comics used this idea a few times back in the pre-Crisis era. One story featured a mass break-out from the Phantom Zone, and the mastermind behind it intended to use her additional psychic powers to rule the escapees -- and through them, an empire; only one "escapee" was not affected by her powers, and that turned out to be a disguised Superman, who was able to resist her powers because he had been super almost all his life. Speaking of psychic powers, Clark's ability with languages could also be put down to his brain working faster and more efficiently because it was energised by yellow solar radiation for most of his life -- and especially during his early years when he was developing language skills and his brain was "hard-wiring" itself (growing all those internal connections, a process that is known to continue for some time after birth) -- or it could be a function of his having telepathic abilities (or both). Since they are telepathic, one might expect Kryptonians to have _bad_ language skills since they don't need to use the spoken forms much; by contrast, Clark was raised to communicate as a human does, which could have meant that his unused telepathic abilities, backed by a super-efficient language processing centre in his brain, enabled him to pick up new languages and methods of communication very quickly (cf. Tirla in Anne MaCaffrey's Pegasus series). Clark may also be somewhat empathic (which could also help with communication), his frustrated telepathy converting itself into partial empathy since it had no-one to communicate with (except, maybe, Lois, and they didn't meet until Clark was about 27), which NKers would not seem to be (cold-hearted bunch of so-and-sos... ). Other differences possible in NKers, both from Clark and us humans, might relate to their being brought up on a world under a red sun, the light from which will be low in the upper frequencies of our visible spectrum and higher bands, and high in IR and nearby frequencies. For a start, NKers, when not super, may well be very vulnerable to UV radiation (NK sunburn is no laughing matter! ), whereas humans (and Clark, who's used to it -- hence Dean's skin tone) can just shrug it off, especially if black, or at most get out the sun-block and anti-sunburn treatment. Therefore, NKers may be incapacitated by UV "weapons", or would require bulky protective gear where a human could get by in ordinary clothing, or even nothing . Similarly, NKers may have trouble perceiving the upper end of the visible spectrum -- blues and purples, even some greens. I know that we saw NK clothing and paraphenalia with these colours, but it's possible that the NK people didn't see them as we did. The blue shield, etc., on Lord Kal-El's black suit may have looked merely shiny to them, a subtle black-on-black contrast that expressed authority without being garish -- or perhaps it was obviously there, and looked similar to the silvery shields we saw Jor-El and Lara wear in the Globe messages. If this is the case, then humans (and Clark) can use these "invisible" colours to hide things, make signs, pass messages, all in plain sight to them but unseen to the NKers; of course, except for Clark, they could be fooled by NK use of different shades of IR "colouring" for the exact same reason -- unless they had thermal NV goggles. The big problem with humans on NK is likely not to be the sunlight -- okay, they may have to worry about vitamin deficiencies if they're there for too long (some months, say) -- but the other environmental conditions like gravity, air pressure, etc. Once upon a time, Krypton was a heavy-gravity planet, so humans had a problem there, but that's mostly been disregarded since the Crisis. Heavy gravity means dense air, so humans might have to worry about nitrogen narcosis, too. But overall, that sort of problem will either incapacitate them, or they'll be fine -- in which case, the NKers may have a problem or two on their hands... Any help, Kathy? Phil ---- Gravity is a Downer... So let's go flying! -- so sayeth Phil Atcliffe (Phillip.Atcliffe@uwe.ac.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 11:36:09 -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: Music Industry Does anyone know what the average time is between the time a CD is recorded, and the time it hits the stores? ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 11:39:32 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? Thanks to everyone who has responded so far ... this is very interesting; lots of good stuff here. Shayne wrote: >Clark presumably has access to millenia of human history; knowledge of > military tactics, guerilla warfare and political history that the NKers > don't. > In that case, the > New Kryptonians would be just rediscovering the art of war, being gifted > amateurs. This is an interesting point, Shayne, partly because it's almost the opposite of what I'd been thinking. The way I've written the story so far, Clark was pushing negotiation because that's his strength and how his mind works, while the rest of his 'support system' (Zara, Ching, etc.) kept insisting that war was the only option. Clark finally has to accept this and does his best, but he's really leading from behind because being a soldier does not come naturally to him. It's just not in his nature to think in terms of military tactics and guerilla warfare, so he learns to respect Ching and Zara's talents in these areas. I do believe that Clark was a history buff and would have a lot of this knowledge. But I can't help but believe he'd have to be dragged into actually applying any of it, which would compromise his abilities in a war situation. Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 12:39:39 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Laurie Dunn Subject: Re: Music Industry MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit This can easily be 3-6 months, Shayne. LaurieD ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 15:40:45 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Chris Carr Subject: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? Well, I drafted my answer to your question this morning, Kathy, but then couldn't post it because my computer decided to throw a fit of temperament. Now, having read the later postings, I wonder how much my comments will have to add to what others have said. Still, for what they are worth, here they are. I agree with much that Jenni said, especially the point she makes about the New Kryptonians being narrow-minded when it comes to using their imagination or being creative. Whether their lack of creativity is cultural or genetic, I don't know, but it might *possibly* be the latter. I say that because I suspect that Clark, also, has problems in this department. I don't mean this in any nasty way, of course. That he has so much *factual* knowledge, and can assimilate it at such speed -- that he is capable of acquiring so much knowledge, be it languages or whatever -- makes it more than apparent that he is extremely clever. However, I've always suspected that Lois is the inspiration in that partnership. Lois was the creative spark he needed to become Superman, for e.g. She was the one who helped him see that whatever Superman can do, that is enough (or, whatever the precise words were); he couldn't see that he didn't have to do everything until she pointed that out to him. And so on. Clark, IMVHO, sometimes seems to have problems making intuitive leaps. Of course, he seems more creative (and, yes, I appreciate that the fact he writes suggests a degree of creativity), than the NKers, but I suspect that he struggles when it comes to producing genuinely original ideas out of thin air, with no real evidence to hand upon which to build them. Note that he writes nonfiction, not fiction (although, I know in the comics universe he is also a bestselling novelist). Given that Clark, who has been surrounded by humans all his life (and Martha in particular) has this kind of problem, and from what we've seen of the NKers, I suspect that the NKers would have the same problem in spades. As for how the Kryptonian's acquired English, I assumed that they had picked up radio transmissions etc, and had learned it. This makes me wonder what other languages they'd studied at the same time, though. Did they also learn French, German, Mandarin, Urdu? Again, that they were *all* so good at English does suggest a remarkable ability to acquire language skills. However, we also know that Jor-El, at least, had been observing Earth for a long time, and was informed enough to know to send Clark to Kansas. What else did he know about Earth, then? And what did the NKers know? They could have had years to acquire the language. (This also raises the question, when did the New Krypton colony come into being? Clearly there must have been contact with Krypton, itself, up until the latter exploded. If not, how could Zara and Kal have been betrothed?) I also suspect that the NKers are arrogant and bigoted. They *only* see their super abilities, and don't see the value of humans. Finally, while, clearly, some NKers do have the ability to love (Zara and Ching), that they attach so little value to the emotion seems to me to be a flaw. Moreover, they do not share Superman's respect for life. What can't NKers do? That's difficult -- I suspect they could do most things if they set their mind to it, at least when they are on Earth. I suspect that their differing set of values may be their biggest 'flaw'. However, this is more a cultural problem than a biological one. (And as Wendy pointed out, humans show a remarkable range of cultural and other variations; why shouldn't Nkers show a similar variety?) Does that help at all? And, Phil! Whew! I'm amazed at how inventive your post was! Chris ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 19:53:20 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: Happy New Year... I Think MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 9/18/01 9:09:26 AM Eastern Daylight Time, mulleins@HOTMAIL.COM writes: > '...and they shall beat their swords to plows and their spears to > scythes, and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they will > not learn war anymore.' (Isaiah, 2:4). > > Sounds like a good idea to me, Yael. Too bad the whole world doesn't feel that way. Happy New Year. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 20:03:00 EDT Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Ann E. McBride" Subject: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 9/18/01 12:40:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, kathybrown91@HOME.COM writes: > I do believe that Clark was a history buff and would have a lot of this > knowledge. But I can't help but believe he'd have to be dragged into > actually applying any of it, which would compromise his abilities in a war > situation. > Clark was definitely knowledgeable about military history. He showed that in his first encounter with Lex Luthor in the Pilot. He "surprised" Lex with his knowledge about Alexander the Great and Darius. (I must admit that I am not sure why Lex was surprised -- surely any well-educated American would have studied that particular bit of world history in either high school or college.) Now as for remembering the details, I would imagine only a history buff would have been able to cite them as Clark did in that encounter. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 20:04:42 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: What *can't* Kryptonians do? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 9/18/01 12:40:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, kathybrown91@HOME.COM writes: > But I can't help but believe he'd have to be dragged into > actually applying any of it, which would compromise his abilities in a war > situation. > Sheesh. I meant to discuss this too. I agree, Clark would have to be dragged into war, not because of his lack of understanding, but because of his basic desire to do good, not bad. He was raised to not hurt others; even in a "just war," people get hurt. Clark would have wanted to negotiate to prevent loss of life. Ann ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 21:06:15 -0500 Reply-To: jessicam@mail.sgcl.org Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jessi Mounts Subject: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Ann said: >Clark was definitely knowledgeable about military history. He showed that in >his first encounter with Lex Luthor in the Pilot. He "surprised" Lex with >his knowledge about Alexander the Great and Darius. (I must admit that I am >not sure why Lex was surprised -- surely any well-educated American would >have studied that particular bit of world history in either high school or >college.) But how many well-educated Americans could calmly recite that bit of world history with a sword to their throat? Jessi ________________________________________________________________ Sent via the Springfield-Greene County Library system at mail.sgcl.org ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 03:40:42 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi Kathy, I'd agree that Clark's first choice would be to negotiate and he would pu= sh for that for as long as he could. Clark would always go for the non-violent path, but he's also knows reality when he sees it. He'd realise that Nor is not someone with whom you can reason. In the beginning, Clark was an idealist and a bit of an innocent - - and he'll always retain some of that - - but I think Lois taught him to accept life= as it was, that sometimes the bad guys are just that... they don't really= have a good side and they just don't want to listen to reason. = Once Clark realised that on NK, especially if Nor was acting like a terrorist and killing innocent people, I think he'd finally realise that = he had to fight. So I'd agree with you that he'd accept war with great reluctance, but once he'd reached that conclusion, I think he'd want to get the job done as quickly and as efficiently as possible, granted with = as little loss of life as he could make it. In other words, he'd target the= enemy and try to take them out without killing innocent Kryptonians and I= 'm not sure that the expedient NK leaders would worry about that. This too might be an asset, as the ordinary people would be unused to being considered in this way and they might desert Nor and give their support t= o Kal-El. I'd also agree with the point that Clark knew a great deal about history and the 'art of war', but he also had some practical experience, if not with war, but with terrorist and hostage situations. He constantly dealt= with police forces, emergency services and probably with the military too= , and so he must have picked up some of their expertise. We're given to believe that over Clark's time spent as Superman he had become quite adep= t at assessing a situation and working out the best way to deal practically= with the emergency. Nor, on the other hand, was unstable and believed in= his own superiority - - he would be inclined to underestimate his rival..= . not a good trait in a commander at war. = So, Kathy, in my opinion, Clark would first seek other options than to fight, but if he had no choice he would try to finish a war as quickly an= d painlessly as possible and he would use all his knowledge and skills to d= o so. He wouldn't like it and it would effect him greatly. Then, I think,= he'd want to try to reform the NK government so that the common people would have a better life and then he'd want to get back home to Earth and= to Lois. And that's when I think Clark would have the hardest time of all - - to come to terms with what he'd had to do on NK; what he'd seen in the horro= r of war - - in other words, the loss of his innocence and the breaking of his ideals. I think that he'd be a very wounded human being, if not physically then certainly mentally. He would most definitely need his Lois. Kathy, I'm hoping that your questions mean that you are writing the prequ= el to 'Winners'. Yours Jenni = ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 08:49:18 +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: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII On Tue, 18 Sep 2001 15:40:45 -0500 Chris Carr wrote: > Well, I drafted my answer to your question this morning, Kathy, but then couldn't post it because my computer decided to throw a fit of temperament. < You, too? [Snip] > However, this is more a cultural problem than a biological one. (And as Wendy pointed out, humans show a remarkable range of cultural and other variations; why shouldn't Nkers show a similar variety?) < Physical variations, yes -- compare, say, Trey to Clark and there's definitely a difference -- but I wouldn't be so sure about cultural variations. As I understand it, NK has a relatively small population living on a "barren rock", which would tend to mitigate against a wide variety of cultures; originally, they were too busy with the business of survival to bother much with that sort of thing, and now the noble families see it, if the question ever arises, as potentially threatening -- unsettles the peasants, don't y'know. What you might get is _sub_-cultures, possibly aligned with a caste system; so, warriors do things this way, farmers do it that way, factory workers do it another way; there are some things that they all have in common, but there's very little intermingling. Possible examples of something like this idea might be the Minbari with their 3 castes, or mediaeval Japan -- limited population, limited resources, kept in as strict isolation as the shoguns could manage. > And, Phil! Whew! I'm amazed at how inventive your post was! Thanks, Chris; it's fun to put the brain into speculation/free association mode and see what it comes up with. Phil, who is fully aware of all the potential double meanings in the above post, but is not going to say any more -- so don't you, either! ---- "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: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 08:06:22 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 *can't* Kryptonians do? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 9/18/01 8:14:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Aerm1@AOL.COM writes: > He "surprised" Lex with > his knowledge about Alexander the Great and Darius. (I must admit that I am > not sure why Lex was surprised -- surely any well-educated American would > have studied that particular bit of world history in either high school or > college.) Um, well, my high school is considered one of the top in the nation and I certainly did NOT learn that... Of course that was many many years ago... --Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 08:11:42 -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 *can't* Kryptonians do? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit And I'm not sure that even those who knew about Alexander the Great would necessarily recognize the sword :) > In a message dated 9/18/01 8:14:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Aerm1@AOL.COM > writes: > > > > He "surprised" Lex with > > his knowledge about Alexander the Great and Darius. (I must admit that I am > > not sure why Lex was surprised -- surely any well-educated American would > > have studied that particular bit of world history in either high school or > > college.) > > Um, well, my high school is considered one of the top in the nation and I > certainly did NOT learn that... Of course that was many many years ago... > > --Laurie > Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / ChiefPam@nc.rr.com http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam **note new address** "The EU is a noble attempt to fulfill the age-old dream of having a country of English cooks, German lovers, French defense forces and Italian efficiency experts." --P. J. O'Rourke ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 09:27:31 -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: Unforeseen Consequences: 6/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sorry it's been so long. It's taken me longer than usual to write, due to a lot of factors, including the minor fact that I've had a virus that lasted over two weeks and I've only started feeling moderately normal in the past day or so. I got inspired about midnight last night, and here is the result. Unforeseen Consequences 6/? by Nan Smith "Are you feeling better now, Linda?" Sandi asked. Linda nodded. Her thin, freckled face had lost its scared expression, though she stayed close to CJ, as if for reassurance. Perry seated himself in the chair vacated by Jimmy Kent and cleared his throat. "Linda," he said, "do you have any idea what was going on, this afternoon?" Linda didn't answer, but the hunted look returned. CJ frowned and shifted a little closer to her. "You're scaring her, Uncle Perry." Perry decided not to pursue that line of questioning for the moment, but maybe another approach would yield better results. "Can you tell us your mom's name and where you live? If we can get in touch with her, we can get the two of you back together as soon as possible." Linda shook her head and looked more scared than ever. "They'll hurt my mommy," she said. "Ben will hurt my mommy." "Who's Ben?" CJ asked. "Ben's my stepfather," Linda said. "He's mean." "Was that him that you were with, today?" Jim asked. He was leaning against the kitchen island, listening to the conversation. Linda nodded. "He doesn't like me." "Why not?" Jim asked. "I don't know," Linda said in a soft voice. "He says I'm disgusting. Mommy and Ben fight about me all the time. They don't think I know, but I do." This was spoken in a quiet, resigned tone. Perry turned to look at Jim. "I think we better let this go, for now. Somethin' real funny is going on here. I don't like it a bit." "Neither do I," Jim said. "Linda, just one last thing. Was your stepfather really taking you to see the dentist, this afternoon?" Linda shook her head. "He said he was taking me where I belonged," she said, very softly. "He said he was going to get rid of me for good." "Did your mom know?" CJ burst out. The boy sounded angry. "Did she let him?" "Mommy didn't know," Linda said. "He said the people he was taking me to would hurt her if I told her." "Your stepfather is nasty," Wyatt said, in the direct way of a child. "You oughtta tell the cops." Linda shook her head, and Perry could see tears standing in her eyes. "Ben said he was taking me to the police," she whispered. "He said no one else would want me when they knew what I was. He said I was dirty and disgusting, and an abmi--abomnishon, or something...." She began to sob. "He said I wasn't even a girl! He said mommy only kept me because no one else wanted me. He said I was a monster!" Perry got to his feet so quickly he nearly upset the kitchen chair, surprised to find that he was clenching his fists in anger. He thought he'd heard everything, and that nothing could outrage him like this, but in a way, he was glad to discover that he was wrong. This kind of thing should infuriate any decent human being. "You listen to me, Linda," he said, fighting to control his voice, "you're not an abomination, or a monster, or anything else. If anyone's a monster, *he* is." "That's for sure." Jim's voice was trembling with what Perry could see was pure, unadulterated fury. He had never seen Jim Olsen so angry. "Don't worry about Ben, Linda. He isn't going to hurt you or your mom. We won't let him. And no police officer in his right mind would believe that stuff. This guy is sick!" Sandi glanced from Jim to Perry and back, then went to stand by Linda's chair. "Linda, did he ever...did he ever--*do* anything to you that he shouldn't? Did he ever touch you somewhere that--" Linda shook her head. "No. He said I made him want to throw up." She sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. Sandi's face had gone white with anger. "What's Ben's name, Linda? It isn't Lennox, is it?" "No." Her voice was almost inaudible. "It's Ben Abernathy. He wouldn't let me use it when he married Mommy. He said--" "It doesn't matter what he said," Perry broke in, gruffly. "I've heard enough about this guy. Linda, I'd like to call a friend of mine. He used to be a policeman, but he isn't anymore. I think he might be able to help us. And I promise he won't hurt you. He's got two little girls of his own. Will you let me call him?" "Henderson?" Jim asked. Perry nodded, never taking his eyes from Linda. "I won't call anyone, if you don't want me to, honey, but I really think my friend can help you and your mom." CJ had moved to stand next to Linda, and now he took her hand in his. Perry blinked, but said nothing. "I know who he's talking about, Linda. Mr. Henderson is nice. He's a friend of my mom and dad, too." That seemed to do the trick. Linda nodded slowly. "Okay." ********** Clark followed the progress of the men he had dubbed Goon A and Goon B. The two exited the elevator into the basement of the old warehouse-which didn't look nearly as old or run-down in here as it did, upstairs. The place had been arranged, through the use of thin, metal paneling, like an office. Various persons, men and women, moved about, apparently intent on their tasks. The office that seemed to be reserved for the mysterious Colonel was actually completely enclosed--evidently, rank had its privileges here, too, he thought. Goon A paused for an instant, took a deep breath and knocked gently on the door. A voice, tinged with a slight southern accent, answered him. "Come." Clark wrinkled his brow. He'd heard that voice somewhere before, but where? He trained his x-ray vision on the room and the walls dissolved before him. His eyebrows shot up. Well, well, that explained a number of things. Goon A and Goon B entered to the room. Seated behind a heavy, utilitarian desk, Colonel Rudy Cash, formerly of the U.S. Army, looked up from the paper he had been reading and slowly removed the cigar from his mouth. "Well? What happened to Superman?" "Um...he, uh--left." "Superman left?" "Yes, sir. Straight up." The former officer surveyed his two subordinates with a bland expression. Casually, he placed the paper he had been reading down onto the surface of his desk and almost absentmindedly set a paperweight, carved into the shape of a coiled serpent, on top of it. "Did he know you were followin' him?" "It isn't likely, sir." Goon B spoke up. "He spoke to us a short time before, and didn't seem suspicious. He even stopped at a sidewalk stand for a cappuccino." "Hmm." Cash laid his cigar down in the ashtray that sat on one corner of the desk. "No sign of the girl?" "No, sir. But we did identify one of the men who abducted her. It was the editor." "White," Cash said. He stuck out his lower lip for a moment, obviously thinking. "You said there were two men?" "Yes sir. I didn't recognize the other. It might have been one of his reporters. I got the car's license number." "Did you, now?" Cash said, genially. "Find out who it belongs to," he added. "I want that girl." "Sir, what do we do if she talks?" Goon B was obviously worried. "If the alien finds out--" ""She can't tell what she doesn't know." Cash picked up the cigar and took a deep drag. "The mother can." "She can be--influenced not to talk." Cash didn't seem worried. "Find out about that car and who owns it. I don't want to deal with Superman, but White has family and friends we can work through. There's a good chance they'll just return her to her mother, though. If they don't, there are other avenues to explore." Goon A spoke up. "You don't think it was deliberate?" "Nah." Cash crushed out the stub of the cigar and leaned back in his chair. "I think they were bein' good citizens." He gave an amused snort. "They'll probably take the kid back to her ma and congratulate themselves for doin' a good deed." "The mother could be a stumbling block. If the girl tells her it was Abernathy that--" "I'll handle that. We'll take care of the problem she represents just as soon as we have the girl. I'd already scheduled it. We'll just have to push up the timetable a little." Goon B looked relieved. "How about Abernathy?" "Taken care of." Cash leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk. "He wasn't reliable. If the wrong people were to get wind of this, we'd be shut down overnight. That fool, Trask, jumped the gun and nearly destroyed the whole agency. I've worked too long and hard to bring it back after he screwed up so royally. Now, at last, we have the chance to present convincing evidence of the aliens' real plan and show those idiot bureaucrats that the danger is real." He leaned back in his chair. "Get movin'. We've got a limited window of time and I don't want to waste it." "Yessir." Goon B turned and departed. Goon A hesitated for a long moment. Cash produced another cigar and took his time clipping the end, lighting it and taking his first long drag. At last, he looked up at Goon A. "Yeah, Jones? Is there somethin' else?" "Yeah." Jones seemed to be examining the corner of Cash's desk with undue interest. "Sir, what if we're wrong? She's just a little kid." "She ain't a little kid. She's a monster--a thing. Don't go soft on me, Jones." "No, sir. I just wondered." "Well, stop wonderin'. I'm an expert in tactics. Nor and his buddies were just the sacrificial goats--the distraction to keep our minds off the real danger, the real invasion. I tried to stop 'em back then. Without Superman, the plan wouldn't have had the ghost of a chance of succeeding, but somehow he managed to survive. The girl may be the first of this new batch, but she can't be the only one. We've got to find out all we can about the critter before it's too late for the human race." "And Superman, sir?" "You let me worry about him. STAR Labs ain't the only place that had a piece of Kryptonite." He picked up the oddly shaped paperweight and held it to the light. Even from his point in the air, high above the city, Clark could see the little, carved stone glowing a sickly green and felt a chill crawl down his back. "That alien's been a spy for his people for all this time, but we're gonna break his cover when we show those pea-brained bureaucrats what we found." ********** Lois Lane walked slowly out of the lab, one hand pressing down on the gauze bandage that adorned the inner side of her left arm. Considering how much blood the technician had taken, it was doubtful that she had much to spare, she reflected, grimly. Every vampire that inhabited this place must be getting his very own cocktail. Preliminary tests, hah! If these were preliminary, by the time Bernie Klein was done, she wouldn't have any blood left. A glance at her watch informed her that it was six-fifteen. There was no sign of Clark in the waiting room, so he must still be involved in whatever he'd called her about. Briefly, she considered calling him, and rejected the idea. He'd sounded as if whatever he was doing was pretty important, so she slipped into her coat and headed for the parking lot where they had left the Jeep. A familiar whoosh greeted her ears when she was almost to the vehicle and an instant later, she wasn't surprised to see Clark standing beside it, holding the door for her. "Your place or mine?" he inquired, with a lift of his eyebrows. "I guess we'd better go to yours," she said. "I have a very jealous husband." "What a coincidence," he replied. "I happen to have a very jealous wife. I guess we'll just have to run away together." "Sounds good to me," she said, tilting her face up for a kiss. He obliged her with a more thorough one than was strictly proper in an open parking lot, but no one saw them. After giving her a hand into the passenger seat, he closed and locked the door and went around to the driver's side while she was fastening the safety belt. "So what happened?" she asked, as he was starting up the engine. "I gathered it was pretty important." "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He seemed to be concentrating solely on getting them out of the parking space, but Lois recognized the pattern. Whatever had happened, it was bothering him a good deal and he was trying to organize his thoughts before he spoke. She waited, trying to be patient. "I ran into some old friends of ours," he began at last. "The two guys who were chasing Perry and Jimmy. I'm sure you haven't forgotten Bureau 39?" It was just as well, she thought, that she wasn't driving when he dropped that particular bombshell. They would probably have gone off the road. "Bureau 39--you mean *Trask*?" "Well, no, not Trask. He's still dead, as far as I know, but it's interesting that you should mention him. I ran into somebody else who came pretty close to killing Superman. Do you remember Colonel Cash?" "What is this? Old home week for bad guys?" Lois asked. "That," Clark said, "is a good question. Let me tell you what happened...." ********** By the time he had finished, Clark was turning the Jeep Grand Cherokee onto Hyperion Avenue. Lois was silent as he pulled up before the townhouse and cut the engine. Sandi's little compact car was parked just ahead of them, tight against the curb. They really had to work out a better system, she thought absently. Their garage held two vehicles, but it was most inconveniently situated behind the townhouse, which meant that to park in it, you had to drive down half a block, turn into the alley and swing around to the rear of the place. The garage was where they usually parked the minivan that Jimmy's birth had forced them to buy. Her Jeep was still her favorite, but you simply couldn't fit four kids, two of them in safety seats, into it with any kind of legality. What they were going to do when the triplets arrived was anybody's guess. Buy a bus, maybe. A sudden thought occurred to her. "Alice!" "Huh?" "They were going to check up on Perry! Did you warn Alice?" "Oh, yeah, I phoned her," Clark assured her. "She promised she wouldn't open the door without checking, and would set off the house alarm if anyone she didn't know tried to get in. I doubt there's much danger to her, anyway. They're trying to be subtle, difficult as it is to believe. Trying to break into the house of the Planet's editor might draw attention." "To say the least of it." Lois undid her seatbelt and turned to unlock the door. Then, she noticed the expression on Clark's face. "What's the matter?" "Nothing, I guess," he said, doubtfully, "but it looks like we've got quite a party going on in our house." "A party?" "Yeah. Sandi's there, and the kids, but so are Perry, Jimmy, Bill 'Deputy Mayor' Henderson, and a little girl with red hair and freckles, who I think is the one Cash is after. They seem to be eating pizza. I guess we better find out what it's all about." ********** (tbc) ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 12:37:16 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: What *can't* Kryptonians do? On Wed, 19 Sep 2001 03:40:42 -0400, John Debbage <106532.433@COMPUSERVE.COM> wrote: >I'd also agree with the point that Clark knew a great deal about history >and the 'art of war', but he also had some practical experience, if not >with war, but with terrorist and hostage situations. > We're given to >believe that over Clark's time spent as Superman he had become quite adept >at assessing a situation and working out the best way to deal practically >with the emergency. Agreed. Remember, though, that as Superman he is used to being able to diffuse a situation with his superpowers -- I'm sure he has negotiated with terrorists and in hostage situations, but just as often, if not more often, he has simply flown in, scooped up whoever (or whatever, in the case of weapons) needed to be scooped up, and flew out again. I'm sure he has picked up skills from the millitary but I'm still not convinced to what extent compared to a professional soldier, or even one who is motivated to learn such a "craft" as the art of war. I can see Clark learning from Zara and Ching once he's there, once he is motivated to get the war over as quickly as possible. But I'm not sure that there would be a lot of "raw talent" to build on in that area, simply because it's so distasteful to him. >And that's when I think Clark would have the hardest time of all - - to >come to terms with what he'd had to do on NK; what he'd seen in the horror >of war - - in other words, the loss of his innocence and the breaking of >his ideals. I think that he'd be a very wounded human being, if not >physically then certainly mentally. He would most definitely need his >Lois. > >Kathy, I'm hoping that your questions mean that you are writing the prequel >to 'Winners'. Well ... *writing* might be too strong a term. I really want to get WLBM finished first. But then I would like to get back into the Winners universe, yes, with this story ("Coming Home") and the sequel as well (which has no title yet ... it's called W2 on my hard drive; how original.) So for now, call it "percolating". Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 21:12:53 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Meredith Knight Subject: All Stirred Up, part 7 In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 All Shook Up, by Meredith Knight Conclusion Lois stood trembling outside Clark's apartment, wondering whether she should confront Superman with her newfound knowledge. As she hesitated, wrestling with the decision, the door suddenly opened. Clark stood there, blinking at her through his glasses. His hair was tousled, and his shirt was buttoned awry. "Clark!" Lois exclaimed. "I didn't think you'd be back from the hospital yet. I guess you got your priorities straight after all, huh?" Clark fell back as she advanced through the door. "I... my friend was discharged from the hospital. He's a lot better." He shut the door behind her, and went down the steps towards the kitchen. "Would you like a drink?" "Coffee, please," said Lois. Her eyes were sweeping the apartment. "Where's Superman? And how is he?" "I'm here, Lois." Superman walked through from the bedroom, to join Clark in the kitchen. He also looked somewhat rumpled, and seemed a little embarrassed. Lois noticed that he didn't quite meet her eyes. "Clark and I had, uh, a talk, and he filled me in on some things, and, well, I've got my memory back." "That's good," said Lois tautly. "What about your powers?" "All back to normal," said Superman. He took a mug which Clark had just filled with water, and gazed into it briefly. The water simmered and steamed as he handed it back for Clark to add the coffee. Lois heaved an enormous sigh of relief. "I'm so glad to hear it," she said. "Did you know..." "About the Nightfall Asteroid?" said Clark, handing her her mug. "Yes, we saw the news flash. Superman thinks he'll be able to deal with the last piece of it without any trouble. He'll go later tonight." He handed another mug to Superman, who smiled at him and then motioned to Clark's shirt. Clark looked down, blushed, and quickly buttoned it correctly. Lois looked at the two men consideringly over the rim of her mug. This was the first time she could remember actually seeing them together. As she had thought, Superman was a little taller, but they were both very well-built. Of course, there were obvious differences between them - Superman was very dark, while Clark had blue eyes and Martha's strawberry-blonde hair. Lois frowned as she experienced a sudden fleeting sense of incongruity - hadn't Clark had dark hair once? She dismissed the strange flight of fancy. What she couldn't dismiss was the intense desire to know whether her deductions this afternoon had been accurate. From the way the two men were behaving, it seemed very likely, but she didn't know how to go about finding out. And it didn't seem as though she was very welcome just at the moment. "Well, if everything's back to normal, I guess you don't need me any more," she said brightly. "I'll just finish my coffee and go, shall I?" Superman walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, turning her towards the living area. "Lois, why don't you come and sit down?" he suggested. "You've been a very good friend to me over the last day, and I think I owe you some explanations." Lois allowed herself to be seated on the couch, with Superman next to her. Clark sat in the armchair, behind Superman. Superman hesitated, clearly at a loss as to how to start. "Why don't you tell me your name?" asked Lois. "My Kryptonian name is Kal-El," Superman replied. "I was sent to Earth as a baby, and a human couple found me and brought me up. On Earth, I'm known as Jerome..." He met Lois's eyes with trepidation. "Jerome Kent." Lois nodded, without surprise. "Clark's brother?" "Yes," Superman confirmed. Behind him, Clark looked shamefaced. "I'm sorry, Lois," he said. "I couldn't tell you at first... and, well..." "I think I can appreciate why you kept it quiet," Lois interrupted. Her gaze returned to Superman... Jerome. "But you're more than just brothers, aren't you?" His eyes held hers. "Yes, Lois, we are." She nodded, not trusting her voice. Her heart was breaking, but she hoped she could keep a brave face until she could get away from here and howl out her agony. He was still speaking: "But, Lois, there's more to it than that. I want - Clark and I want you to understand." He took her hand. "You're very special to us, Lois - to both of us. We'd like to know if there's any way the three of us could be together." Lois could hardly believe her ears. Could he really be asking what she thought he was... ? She glanced at Clark, who was nodding at her and smiling encouragingly. "Such arrangements are not uncommon on Krypton," Superman added. "We'd be very happy if you'd consider it, Lois." Her heart was singing joyously. They really did mean it! She finally found her voice. "I just have one question -" The two men looked at her enquiringly. "Do you think... would you mind if I were to... if I cut my hair short?" They smiled. Jerome lifted a hand and ran his fingers under her hair, brushing it back from her neck. "I think that's a wonderful idea," he said in a deep voice, and dropped his head to brush a kiss over her shoulder. Lois closed her eyes and felt Clark come over to sit on the other side of her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Suddenly, Lois had a dreadful sense of danger. She shuddered and opened her eyes. "What is it?" Jerome asked. "I just had a horrible thought," Lois gasped. "It's too good to be true! Doesn't this mean we're all about to die?" Clark smiled. "Not this time, Lois," he murmured. "Not this time." He kissed her lovingly. And they all lived happily ever after. Except for Lex, who was bitten by an alligator the next time he went hunting in the Everglades. Both parties died an agonising death from the bite. THE END. -- Meredith Knight "All the pebbles had fat smiling faces, and the anemones had mad bright eyes above their frills." ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 15:30:22 -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: All Stirred Up, part 7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit S P O I L E R S P A C E Meredith - except for the Lex part - that better not be the real end! Somehow, I have my doubts - intriguing though it might be... in some ways... Get us the real ending soon would ya?!*BG* CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 16:03:16 -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: Re: All Stirred Up, part 7 I just read Carol L Moncado's responce and it made me curious. This can't be the ending. Know I have to go back and read the rest. James ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 22:07:11 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Meredith Knight Subject: All Stirred Up, the real part 7b/10? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 cont'd from part 7a... Superman was feeling thoroughly confused. When Martha had first seen him, her face had lit up and she had hastened towards him. For a moment he had expected her to hug him but, to his disappointment, she had contented herself with clasping his hand warmly between both of hers and introducing herself. Now, in spite of his natural inclination to conceal himself from strangers, he was experiencing a strong urge to confide completely in Martha. He compromised by answering her questions truthfully but briefly. She seemed pleased at the news that he had succeeded in retrieving a few facts from his memory, and delighted that he had worked out how to fly again; and she expressed her firm conviction that the rest would follow soon. As Lois joined them, Martha turned to her. "I'm sorry I couldn't get hold of you earlier, to give you the good news about Clark," she said. "We were in such a hurry to pack and go that I only had time to speak to Mr. White." "Oh, that's no problem," Lois reassured her. "You must be very worried about your friends. I thought you'd go straight there." "They're still at the hospital," Martha explained. "George is in intensive care. Clark said we should come here, and he'll come and pick us up later, when he can get away." Her face was slightly flushed, and she stood up to take off her coat and scarf. She handed them to Jonathan, who had just finished putting the suitcases in Clark's bedroom. Jonathan hung Martha's things up and then brought a dining chair over to sit on. He was looking grave. "Tell us about this asteroid," he requested. "Are you going to be able to do anything about it, s... Superman?" "I hope so," Superman said. He hesitated, wondering how much to say, and Lois took over, telling the Kents about the plan to use nuclear warheads to break up the asteroid, and the risk of fallout. "At least Superman's worked out how to fly," she concluded, "but I don't know what else he'll need to deal with the asteroid." Jonathan grunted thoughtfully. "When are they planning to launch the rocket?" he asked. "Tomorrow evening," Lois answered. "So you'll have to go some time tomorrow," Jonathan said. "How long will it take you to fly up there?" There was an uncomfortable pause. "I've no idea," Superman said. "Well, how long did it take yesterday?" Jonathan asked. Superman looked helplessly at Lois. "About three hours," she said. "But he didn't take a straight course. He had to go round the side to get to its weak point." "Well, say one to two hours, then," Jonathan said. "That means it'll take at least half an hour each way tomorrow. You'll need oxygen." "Good point," said Superman. "Lois, where can I get oxygen from?" Lois was staring at Jonathan with astonishment and dawning respect, but she quickly pulled herself together. "EPRAD gave you a tank yesterday," she said. "I suppose we could just get a scuba tank somewhere, but it would seem a bit odd." Jonathan nodded. "Then you'd better go to EPRAD in the morning," he said. "I can't very well go to EPRAD looking like this," Superman pointed out. "I need to find out how to shave first. I can't use a normal razor," he added, for the Kents' benefit. "My stubble seems to be invulnerable." An odd silence fell. Looking up, Lois noticed Martha and Jonathan gazing fixedly at each other. If it was a battle of wills, Jonathan evidently lost, because he finally sighed softly and looked at Superman. "You use your heat vision to shave," he said. "You bounce it off a mirror onto your chin." Lois's jaw dropped. "Superman has stayed with us at the farm," Martha said, almost apologetically. "That's how we know." "I'm going to have to learn how to use my heat vision before tomorrow, then," said Superman, filing that snippet of information away for later. "But I'm also going to need a costume to wear." "Why, what happened to the one you were wearing yesterday?" asked Martha. "It's filthy, and the cape is half burned away," Superman explained. Martha and Jonathan exchanged another look. This time, Martha's eyes dropped first. "Well, we can wash the suit," she said. "And I'm sure we'll be able to find a cloak somewhere. If necessary, we can hire one from a fancy-dress store." She got up resolutely. "I'll put the suit in the wash now. Jonathan, why don't you see if you can help Superman with his heat vision?" Over the ensuing couple of hours, Lois was deeply impressed at the efficiency with which the Kents organised matters. Martha put on a load of washing and inspected the cape, declaring it a write-off. Then she unearthed a can of red shoe-polish from somewhere in Clark's kitchen, and succeeded in restoring a passable shine to Superman's boots. After that she turned her attention to the subject of food, and in no time at all had whipped up an amazingly delicious vegetable soup from the contents of Clark's fridge, followed by a couple of pizzas that Lois had bought frozen that morning. Meanwhile, Jonathan took a large cooking pot with a couple of inches of water in it and placed it on the floor on a layer of newspaper; then he patiently coached Superman in trying to heat the water up with his heat vision. It took some time before anything happened, but when Jonathan suggested he think angry thoughts the water finally hissed and sent a small geyser shooting up to soak the newspaper. Shortly after that, Superman was able to turn his heat vision on at will, and Jonathan set him to lighting a candle and then toasting a slice of bread, to practise his focus. Finally, with the aid of a small mirror that Martha located somewhere, Superman managed to give himself a respectable shave. Lois had offered to help Martha with the food, but when she confessed to very little cooking ability Martha laughed and suggested that Lois help by talking to her while she worked. Lois asked her about George and his family, but Martha said very little about them. Instead, she drew Lois out on the subject of how she had found Superman the previous evening, and then encouraged her to talk about her work with Clark. "Clark tells us about his work, but it's interesting to hear your perspective," she explained. When Lois asked her about Superman's visits to the farm, though, Martha grew uncomfortable. "We don't talk about it much," she said awkwardly. "If it gets to be known who Superman's friends are... well, anyone who's close to him would be at risk from people who want to hurt him." Lois nodded. "I know - I've been thrown out of a plane by someone who wanted to trap him," she pointed out. "But I'd already worked out that Superman must fly Clark to the farm sometimes. It explains why he never takes a weekend off to go to Kansas." Martha eyed her with respect, and a hint of alarm. "I see," she said. Lois screwed up her courage, checking that Jonathan and Superman were still absorbed in their experimentation. "Martha, is Clark gay?" she asked. "Are he and Superman... a couple?" Martha's jaw dropped, and she stared at Lois with wide eyes for several seconds. Her mouth quirked, but if she was tempted to laugh then she managed to suppress it. She shook her head vehemently. "No, Lois, they aren't," she said firmly. "I can see why you might think that, but they definitely aren't. And he isn't." "Oh," said Lois, embarrassed. She couldn't think of anything to add. There was a silence, then Martha reached out and took Lois's hand. "Lois," she said, and waited until Lois met her eyes. "You bring your children up as best you can," Martha said. "But when they're grown up, they make their own decisions. And you have to support them, even when you don't necessarily think they've made the best decision." Lois waited for her to continue, but she seemed to have finished. "I don't think I have the faintest idea what you're talking about," Lois said apologetically. Martha laughed, and patted Lois's hand. "I don't suppose you do," she said. "But I think one day you will, and then I hope you'll remember what I said." She stood up abruptly and started serving dinner. By the time everyone had eaten, Lois was feeling physically and emotionally exhausted. It seemed as though, with the Kents' help, Superman would be able to tackle the asteroid in the morning; and there was no telling when Clark would arrive. Yawning, Lois announced her intention of going home to get a good night's sleep. It seemed almost as though Martha and Jonathan were relieved at the idea, but Lois decided her imagination must be playing tricks on her. Martha hugged her warmly and promised that either she or Clark would call Lois in the morning to let her know what was going on. Jonathan forestalled Superman's offer to walk Lois to her car, pointing out that he might be recognised. Superman was disappointed by the lack of opportunity for a few moments alone with Lois, but he contented himself with smiling warmly at her as she said good night. As the front door closed behind Lois and Jonathan, Superman thanked Martha for the meal and began to clear away the dishes. Martha sat quietly, her tension almost palpable, until the door opened to readmit Jonathan; at his nod she finally relaxed slightly and spoke. "Superman, would you mind leaving those dishes a minute?" she asked. "Come and sit down again." Superman obligingly came back to the table, looking curiously from Martha to Jonathan. Jonathan cleared his throat. "We have something to tell you, son..." -- Meredith Knight "All the pebbles had fat smiling faces, and the anemones had mad bright eyes above their frills." ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 22:06:14 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Meredith Knight Subject: All Stirred Up, the real part 7a/10? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Oh, all right then! All Stirred Up Chapter 6 : The Return of Superman Superman was dozing in the sun on Clark's balcony when a familiar sound slowly penetrated his consciousness. Rhythmic and soothing, it would have been instantly recognisable among a thousand others. Lois's heartbeat. Reluctant to wake completely, Superman put his hands behind his head and stretched, arching his back. The heartbeat accelerated rapidly, then settled back to a new, faster rhythm. Superman opened his eyes. At once, the heartbeat faded and disappeared. Now, all he could hear was the usual background noise of the city: the distant hum of traffic, children playing in the alley, an advertising jingle from the landlord's television set. Superman sat up on the lounger and looked towards the apartment. Lois was standing inside, looking through the picture window. He smiled a greeting, and Lois lifted a hand in response. A flash of colour in the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he suddenly remembered he had taken his shirt off to catch some extra sun. He picked up the shirt from where it was draped over the back of the lounger and shrugged it on, then retrieved Lois's scrapbook from the ground next to him and went inside. "Hi, Lois," he said, shutting the door. "How -" He completely forgot what he was going to say as he took in her appearance: tailored black jacket and crisp white shirt, short black skirt, and long, slender, nylon-clad legs. He dragged his gaze back to her face with an effort. "Wow. You look... Wow." "Thank you." Lois gave him a tight-lipped smile. A few hours before she would have been ecstatic at the compliment, and even now she had to fight against a traitorous weakness. "I can't quite believe you were sunbathing at this time of year. It can't be over forty outside! But I suppose that doesn't bother you." Superman's brows drew together. Judging from her clipped tones, Lois was pretty upset about something. Before he could formulate a response, however, she was speaking again, eyes fixed on his chin. "You haven't shaved. Is there a problem with the razor?" Superman looked guilty and embarrassed, like a small boy caught stealing apples. "Oh, that. I, uh, broke it." "Broke it?" "It wouldn't cut my stubble. The blade broke." "Oh." She grimaced. "I suppose we should have expected that. I wonder how you shave normally? I guess we'll have to wait till your memory comes back to find out." Her gaze dropped to the scrapbook in his hand. "Did the newspaper articles help at all?" He shrugged. "The stories all seemed familiar, as though I'd read the articles before. But they didn't trigger any memories. I can see what you mean about your and Clark's writing styles, though. His style is more emotional, yours is more logical and hard-hitting. The pieces you write together are brilliant." This conversation was rapidly getting to be too much for Lois. She turned away and started to fill the kettle. "I'm going to make some coffee, want some?" "Yes, thanks. Lois, are you okay? You seem upset." "No, I'm fine. I just had a bit of a tough day. I'll tell you about it later." She finished putting the kettle on and then walked over to where she'd left her bag on the coffee table. She fished the video tape out. "I got Jimmy to collect some of the news footage about you from the last year. Why don't you watch it while I make the coffee?" Superman would rather have found out what was bothering Lois, but she didn't seem in any mood to talk, so he sat down obediently in front of the television. He seemed unimpressed by the first few video clips, although Lois saw him wince at the explosion of the remote-controlled bomb. But when Lois brought the two mugs of coffee over and sat down in the armchair, Superman was sitting hunched forward with his eyes riveted on the screen. The clip was showing Superman receiving the key to the city of Metropolis. As it ended Superman picked up the remote to rewind a couple of minutes. "Lois, who's this guy who had the key before me?" "That's Lex Luthor," Lois answered, sipping cautiously at her coffee. "Do you remember him?" Superman shut off the tape and muted the television set. "Lex Luthor. Let's see: head of Luthor Industries, millionaire businessman, philanthropist and playboy - if I remember what I read in your scrapbook this morning?" Lois nodded. "That's right. What about him?" "He's your mystery crime boss." Lois nearly choked on her mouthful of coffee. She set the mug down carefully. "What do you mean by that?" "He's the one behind those time trials, with that woman 'falling' from the roof, and the bomb that was set as a trap for me. He's also behind most of the organised crime in the city." Lois shot to her feet. "But, Superman, he funds half the charities in Metropolis... and most of the research, too!" "I'm sure it comes in very handy for him, Lois. It keeps the press off his back, for a start." Lois winced. Clark had warned her against Luthor before, but she had always dismissed his words as blind prejudice. Could she have been the one who was blind? Of course, he hadn't actually said, 'Lex Luthor tried to kill Superman.' But would she have listened even if he had? "You can't remember anything else. What makes you think you're remembering this correctly?" "I remembered you as soon as I heard your voice, and I knew I could trust you. I'm just as certain about Luthor. I remembered as soon as I saw his face." Her eyes wavered, and she sighed. "Do you have any proof?" "If I had proof, I imagine I'd have done something about it before now. But there's no doubt in my mind." Lois nodded, and sank back into her chair. "Well, we'll have to get proof." She picked up her coffee again. "Is there anything else you want to set me straight about?" she enquired, with an acid edge. Superman eyed her cautiously. "Well, I had a dream last night," he said. "I'd forgotten about it until now. Luthor was in it, and so was someone else; and there was a glowing green substance, which made me weak and ill. It must have been that kryptonite you wrote the article about. It must be real." He picked up the scrapbook and flipped through it at a remarkable speed. "Here it is," he said. He peered closely at the grainy photograph of Jason Trask. "This looks like the guy. In my dream, he shot me." He looked at Lois, and was alarmed to see that she had buried her face in her hands. He dropped the scrapbook and leaned over to place a gentle hand on her shoulder. "What is it, Lois?" She lifted her face and drew a ragged breath. "I'm just... having to rethink one thing after another. For a hot-shot reporter, I seem to have been incredibly blind over the last few months." There was a pause while he digested her words. "This isn't just about Luthor and the kryptonite, is it?" he hazarded. Lois grimaced. He was altogether too perceptive. "No, it isn't," she admitted. "I worked something out today, that I should have realised long ago." She stood up again restlessly, refusing to look at him. "The thing is, I think it may be a memory you're repressing, so perhaps I shouldn't tell you - it might be too much of a shock. On the other hand, it might have the opposite effect, and bring your memory back - so I don't know what to do." By this time she was pacing back and forth, wringing her hands together. Superman got up and stood in her way, forcing her to halt, and grasped her shoulders with both hands. "Just tell me, please," he requested. "Well, it was obvious when you were cooking how well you know Clark's kitchen. You clearly spend a lot of time here. It explains why the two of you are close. And it explains why Clark is always running off like that..." "Lois!" Lois sighed and fixed her gaze on the middle of his chest. "I think he goes to meet you," she said haltingly. "I think the two of you are... a couple." "A couple." "Yes." She couldn't bear to look at him. How would he take it - blank denial? Calm agreement, spelling the final end to all the hopes she had cherished of a relationship between them? Or - perhaps worst of all - the same stricken look she had seen on his face last night? "You mean, I'm gay?" Lois nodded, finally lifting her gaze to meet his. To her astonishment, his face was alight with warm laughter. "Lois, I'm *not* gay," he said, with complete conviction. "How can you be so sure?" she challenged. The amusement left his face, though the warmth remained. "Because of this," he said. His right hand left her shoulder to cup her cheek, and he lowered his face to hers. The first brush of his lips was feather-light, and he raised his head briefly to gauge her reaction. Wide-eyed, she lifted her face for his second kiss. This time his mouth was warm and firm on hers, exploring and tasting her sweetness. All conscious thought fled from her mind, and she wound her arms about his waist and arched her body against his. His left hand caressed her back gently, and she shivered. Her mouth opened beneath his, inviting him to deepen the kiss, and he responded with enthusiasm. Greatly daring, she slipped a hand beneath the hem of his shirt to caress the warm, soft skin of his back, exploring the steel-hard muscles beneath. He growled deep in his throat and stroked his hand down the side of her neck to push her jacket collar aside; then his mouth left hers to trail fiery kisses down her neck and into the hollow of her shoulder. At her gasp of protest he lifted his head instantly and released her. He would have moved away, but she held onto him and lifted a hand to his cheek. "We have to do something about that stubble," she said huskily, her eyes still dark with passion. He smiled with mingled relief and apology. "I'm sorry," he murmured, capturing her hand and kissing her fingers gently. "Don't be." She snuggled her cheek into his chest, closing her eyes blissfully, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her in a close and comforting embrace. As Lois became aware of their surroundings once more, it occurred to her to wonder why she was lying on top of him, when previously they had been standing. She lifted her head to look about her, and saw the couch several feet below them. "Oh my God, we're flying!" she exclaimed. The next moment the room was whirling about them as they plummeted to the floor, landing heavily in a tangle of arms and legs. Superman lay stunned for a moment before he collected himself and scrambled to his feet, bending solicitously over her. "Lois, are you all right?" he asked urgently. Lois flexed her limbs one by one, expecting the pain to hit her at any moment, but everything seemed normal. "I seem to be fine," she said, sitting up cautiously. "That's an impressive party trick, Big Guy." She started to get up, and he quickly helped her to her feet. He would have lifted her into a chair, but she waved away his assistance. "I'm fine, Superman, really." Nevertheless, she found her legs were rather shaky, so she subsided into the armchair, picking up her coffee. She sipped it and made a face. "Ugh, it's cold." "I'll heat it up for you," he offered immediately, taking her cup and picking up his own. It took him a few moments to work out how to do that: the microwave, of course. When the coffee was hot he tasted his and added a couple of extra spoons of sugar before carrying them back to the living area. The pause had given Lois a chance to collect her thoughts. The fall had brought her back to earth in more senses than one. She had just shared what was probably the most passionate kiss of her entire life with the man she had been fantasising about ever since she first laid eyes on him; yet now that fantasy seemed to be becoming reality, she wasn't sure she was ready for it. Besides, a few minutes ago she had been convinced that he was having an affair with her partner and best friend. A sense of helpless confusion welled up inside her, and she had to quell a moment of blind panic. There was still too much at stake to lose control. Superman handed her her steaming mug and seated himself on the couch close to her. He met her eyes uncertainly. "Lois -" he began and stopped, not sure how to proceed. She spoke quickly to forestall him. "Superman, this probably isn't the right time to be talking about ... our feelings. Let's wait till you have your memory back." She smiled slightly. "After all, I still don't even know your name!" He nodded his agreement. "I wanted to say something like that. Thank you, Lois." As he leant back and took a gulp of coffee, the television caught his eye. A news broadcast had just begun and, inevitably, the first item was about the Nightfall Asteroid. Superman reached for the remote and turned the sound on. His face turned grim as he absorbed the news that the threat from the asteroid was far from over. When the announcer went on to the next item, he turned the television off. "So that's what your news conference was about," he said heavily. Lois nodded, and filled him in on the details. "They mentioned that they hadn't heard from you since you got back. But they think they can handle it without you this time. They're modifying an Asgard rocket to take a nuclear bomb up and destroy it." Superman shook his head angrily. "That's no solution," he said. "The whole earth will get showered with radioactive fallout. They just want an excuse to test their nukes." Lois smiled. "You refused to use nuclear charges yesterday because of the fallout risk," she said. "I agree with you completely. The question is, what are we going to do about it?" He shrugged. "I guess the first thing is to find out whether I can fly when I put my mind to it. If I can't fly, there's not much I can do." He stood up and walked to a clear area of floor. Then he took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes and tried to levitate. Nothing happened. He tried again with his eyes open, with as little result. He glanced self-consciously at Lois, who was watching him with interest. Looking away again, he let himself remember what it had felt like, kissing her earlier. Almost at once, he was suffused with a feeling of joy and lightness. He bent his knees, and his feet lifted clear of the floor. "So much for jumping off," he commented, grinning. "Now what do I do?" Lois had been holding her breath, but she laughed at that, and applauded. It broke his concentration and he dropped to the floor, but this time he was able to lift off again with little trouble. He managed to push himself off and float up to the ceiling, where he pushed himself down again. He spent a little while getting used to floating back and forth, then concentrated on trying to move under his own steam. Remembering the gesture he had seen repeatedly on television, he thrust one fist in front of him, and was barely able to stop himself smashing into the far wall of the living room. As it was, several flakes of paint fell. "Oops," he said. "Clark's not going to like me destroying his apartment. Have you heard from Clark, by the way?" As Lois told him about Martha's phone call to Perry, Superman continued to exercise his newly-rediscovered skills. By the time she concluded, he was able to control his movements reliably, and could turn and stop in mid-air. A few minutes later he discovered he could walk upside down on the ceiling, and Lois couldn't help but chuckle at the expression of innocent glee on his face. He turned and flashed a mischievous smile at her. "This is great fun, you should try it," he said, walking over to a point above the couch and extending a hand down to her. "Want a hand up?" Lois laughed. "Not in this skirt, I think!" she exclaimed. Superman's smile faded. "No, you're probably right," he replied, and turned to give his attention to walking down the wall, but not before Lois had seen the colour creeping into his cheeks. As he successfully negotiated the last step from the wall to the floor, the doorbell rang. They both froze for a moment, then Lois got to her feet. "I'd better answer it," she said. "It could be Clark at last." When she opened the door, however, Martha and Jonathan were standing there, both looking tired and strained. "Hi, Martha," Lois said in surprise. "Perry said you were coming to Metropolis, but we didn't expect you so soon!" "A lot of people cancelled their flights to Metropolis after EPRAD released the latest news about the asteroid," Martha explained, giving Lois a swift hug. "The plane was half empty." She swept past Lois and paused at the top of the steps as she saw Superman standing in the living room. Then she headed down the steps towards him. Behind Lois, Jonathan cleared his throat. Lois turned to greet him, suddenly realising that, laden down with two large suitcases, he couldn't get past her. By the time Jonathan had manoeuvred the suitcases through the door and Lois had closed it, Martha had seated herself and Superman on the couch, and was asking after his progress. cont'd in part 7b... -- Meredith Knight "All the pebbles had fat smiling faces, and the anemones had mad bright eyes above their frills." ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 16:29:49 -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: All Stirred Up, the real part 7a/10? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit S P O I L E R S P A C E And then I go read part b first.... Much better!!!!!!!!!!!! (though I still like the Lex alligator part!) Now for Martha and Jonathan to convince him that he really is Clark... CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 16:54:31 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Elisabeth A. Tull" Subject: NEW--Blackmail Material, part 1 of 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Since I can't get to the cotton pickin' board, I thought I would post this here first. Blackmail Material By Elisabeth Tull Lois was stressed. Not the usual dangling-over-the-jaws-of-death-waiting-for-the-villain-to-tell-his-evil- plot stress, but the insidious kind that nags on a woman, raising her blood pressure and denying her sleep. Three cups of coffee hadn=92t made matters any better, either. She needed to try a different approach. She needed to share her stress with a good friend. As luck should have it, her unsuspecting best friend was just now making his way across the newsroom. She grabbed hold of his arm, dragging him to a quiet corner of the room. Her head swiveled back and forth while she examined her surroundings for possible eavesdroppers. =93Tell me the biggest secret you have,=94 she insisted. =93What?=94 he mumbled, trying to catch up with the whirlwind with which he partnered. =93Tell me the biggest secret you have,=94 she demanded, =93something you=92d never reveal to another soul.=94 Clark looked dubious. =93Why?=94 =93Because,=94 Lois explained quickly before she lost her nerve, =93I=92m about to tell you the biggest secret I have, and I need blackmail material.=94 Clark squirmed inside. This wasn=92t exactly how he=92d planned to tell her. But he wasn=92t about to look a gift-horse in the mouth. =93I=92m glad you asked me, Lois. There=92s been something I=92ve wanted to tell you for a long time.=94 He looked to her eyes for confirmation, but Lois was too keyed up for a solemn, soul-shattering moment. She gestured for him to hurry it along. He took a deep breath. =93Lois, I=92m Superman.=94 Lois let out an exasperated breath, rolling her eyes. =93Never mind! If you=92re not going to take me seriously, I=92ll go tell Perry.=94 She turned on her heal and marched off in a huff, mumbling under her breath. =93Yeah, right! Clark Kent is Superman. And, I=92m the queen of Spain.=94 ______________ Hope you like it. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 15:04:11 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eowyn Akra Subject: Re: All Stirred Up, the real part 7b/10? In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Merideth, I love your story! I can't wait until you get the next section done. I really like you bringing in the Kents. Also, I found your false part 7 to be funny. Eowyn __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 15:06:40 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Eowyn Akra Subject: Re: NEW--Blackmail Material, part 1 of 1 In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii All I can say to this is: heh! Eowyn __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 23:06:33 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Meredith Knight Subject: Re: NEW--Blackmail Material, part 1 of 1 In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 >Hope you like it. LOL!!! I certainly do! -- Meredith Knight "All the pebbles had fat smiling faces, and the anemones had mad bright eyes above their frills." ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 17:19:00 -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--Blackmail Material, part 1 of 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit On Wed, 19 Sep 2001 16:54:31 -0500 "Elisabeth A. Tull" writes: > Since I can't get to the cotton pickin' board, I thought I would post > this > here first. At least I'm not the only one!!!!! Loved it and now Lois has no one to blame but herself... CM ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 18:59:12 -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: All Stirred Up, part 7 For crying out loud, Meredith! We're gonna have to put you in the same cell with Pam. Writing such trash...making such insinuations...why, it's...it's.... See how much you've affected me? ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 20:06:42 -0400 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Pam Jernigan Subject: Re: NEW--Blackmail Material, part 1 of 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit LOL, Elisabeth! Lovely use of the set-up ... and someday Lois is going to look back on this and kick herself Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam / ChiefPam@nc.rr.com http://www.geocities.com/~chiefpam **note new address** "The EU is a noble attempt to fulfill the age-old dream of having a country of English cooks, German lovers, French defense forces and Italian efficiency experts." --P. J. O'Rourke ----- Original Message ----- From: "Elisabeth A. Tull" To: Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 5:54 PM Subject: NEW--Blackmail Material, part 1 of 1 Since I can't get to the cotton pickin' board, I thought I would post this here first. Blackmail Material By Elisabeth Tull Lois was stressed. Not the usual dangling-over-the-jaws-of-death-waiting-for-the-villain-to-tell-his-evil- plot stress, but the insidious kind that nags on a woman, raising her blood pressure and denying her sleep. Three cups of coffee hadn't made matters any better, either. She needed to try a different approach. She needed to share her stress with a good friend. As luck should have it, her unsuspecting best friend was just now making his way across the newsroom. She grabbed hold of his arm, dragging him to a quiet corner of the room. Her head swiveled back and forth while she examined her surroundings for possible eavesdroppers. "Tell me the biggest secret you have," she insisted. "What?" he mumbled, trying to catch up with the whirlwind with which he partnered. "Tell me the biggest secret you have," she demanded, "something you'd never reveal to another soul." Clark looked dubious. "Why?" "Because," Lois explained quickly before she lost her nerve, "I'm about to tell you the biggest secret I have, and I need blackmail material." Clark squirmed inside. This wasn't exactly how he'd planned to tell her. But he wasn't about to look a gift-horse in the mouth. "I'm glad you asked me, Lois. There's been something I've wanted to tell you for a long time." He looked to her eyes for confirmation, but Lois was too keyed up for a solemn, soul-shattering moment. She gestured for him to hurry it along. He took a deep breath. "Lois, I'm Superman." Lois let out an exasperated breath, rolling her eyes. "Never mind! If you're not going to take me seriously, I'll go tell Perry." She turned on her heal and marched off in a huff, mumbling under her breath. "Yeah, right! Clark Kent is Superman. And, I'm the queen of Spain." ______________ Hope you like it. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 22:27:02 -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: NEW--Blackmail Material, part 1 of 1 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Elisabeth, cute- nice of Lois not to believe him. merry "Elisabeth A. Tull" wrote: > Since I can't get to the cotton pickin' board, I thought I would post this > here first. > > Blackmail Material > By Elisabeth Tull > > Lois was stressed. Not the usual > dangling-over-the-jaws-of-death-waiting-for-the-villain-to-tell-his-evil- > plot > stress, but the insidious kind that nags on a woman, > raising her blood pressure and denying her sleep. > Three cups of coffee hadn’t made matters any better, > either. She needed to try a different approach. She > needed to share her stress with a good friend. > > As luck should have it, her unsuspecting best friend > was just now making his way across the newsroom. She > grabbed hold of his arm, dragging him to a quiet > corner of the room. Her head swiveled back and forth > while she examined her surroundings for possible > eavesdroppers. > > “Tell me the biggest secret you have,” she insisted. > > “What?” he mumbled, trying to catch up with the > whirlwind with which he partnered. > > “Tell me the biggest secret you have,” she demanded, > “something you’d never reveal to another soul.” > > Clark looked dubious. “Why?” > > “Because,” Lois explained quickly before she lost her > nerve, “I’m about to tell you the biggest secret I > have, and I need blackmail material.” > > Clark squirmed inside. This wasn’t exactly how he’d > planned to tell her. But he wasn’t about to look a > gift-horse in the mouth. > > “I’m glad you asked me, Lois. There’s been something > I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.” > > He looked to her eyes for confirmation, but Lois was > too keyed up for a solemn, soul-shattering moment. > She gestured for him to hurry it along. He took a > deep breath. > > “Lois, I’m Superman.” > > Lois let out an exasperated breath, rolling her eyes. > > “Never mind! If you’re not going to take me > seriously, I’ll go tell Perry.” She turned on her > heal and marched off in a huff, mumbling under her > breath. “Yeah, right! Clark Kent is Superman. And, > I’m the queen of Spain.” > > ______________ > > Hope you like it. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 22:28:39 -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: All Stirred Up, the real part 7b/10? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Meredith good segment Now Martha and Jonathan can talk to Clark. more soon please merry ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 22:42:37 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Liz Berard Subject: Re: All Stirred Up, part 7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Meredith Knight wrote: > > All Shook Up, by Meredith Knight > Conclusion Ohhh, you are *evil*.....but I must be too since as I read it I was thinking--this is getting interesting.... LizB ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 22:42:27 +1000 Reply-To: jenerators@optushome.com.au Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jen Stosser Subject: This newspaper cartoon might be of interest to you MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable =20 =20 = http://thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=3Dthestar/Layout/Arti= cle_Type1&c=3DArticle&cid=3D1000504962720&call_page=3DTS_News&call_pageid= =3D968332188492&call_pagepath=3DNews/News ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 07:59:00 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: "Marilyn L. Puett" Subject: Re: This newspaper cartoon might be of interest to you Jen, The URL isn't working. :( ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 09:39:17 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: This newspaper cartoon might be of interest to you MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit http://thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Typ e1&c=Article&cid=1000504962720&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492& call_pagepath=News/News Here is the complete url.......it went way out to the side on the original email from Jen. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 13:45:54 +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: Zoom's Boards Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Hey Troops! Anyone else having trouble this morning getting in there? This is worse than a coffee addiction -- I need my morning fix! :dizzy: Missy _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 08:54:35 -0500 Reply-To: jessicam@mail.sgcl.org Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jessi Mounts Subject: Re: Zoom's Boards Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Missy said: >Anyone else having trouble this morning getting in there? This is worse >than a coffee addiction -- I need my morning fix! :dizzy: > I've been having problems for the last couple of days. Glad to hear it's not just me. Jessi ________________________________________________________________ Sent via the Springfield-Greene County Library system at mail.sgcl.org ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 06:52:50 -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: Zoom's Boards In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Yep. Me, too, Missy. Frustrating! I can get in - sometimes - but then it's so painfully slow that I don't really want to spend much time there. ARGH! Irene --- Missy Gallant wrote: > Hey Troops! > > Anyone else having trouble this morning getting in > there? This is worse > than a coffee addiction -- I need my morning fix! > :dizzy: > > Missy > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ===== sirenegold@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 07:30:47 -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: Zoom's Boards MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Does anyone think it might be time to switch to the emergency boards for awhile? I can't get in either, this morning. I need my fix, too! Nan Missy Gallant wrote: > Hey Troops! > > Anyone else having trouble this morning getting in there? This is worse > than a coffee addiction -- I need my morning fix! :dizzy: > > Missy > > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 08:23:35 -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: Zoom's Boards-fixed (maybe) In-Reply-To: <3BA9FD97.515E518@earthlink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii It just started to speed up. I think that the Nimda virus scare caused the provider to run a scan on all files which chews up a lot of resources. Hopefully they're done now. James --- Nancy Smith wrote: > Does anyone think it might be time to switch to > the emergency boards for > awhile? I can't get in either, this morning. > I need my fix, too! > > Nan > > Missy Gallant wrote: > > > Hey Troops! > > > > Anyone else having trouble this morning > getting in there? This is worse > > than a coffee addiction -- I need my morning > fix! :dizzy: > > > > Missy > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ===== The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools[morally deficient people] despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7 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 __________________________________________________ Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help? Donate cash, emergency relief information http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/ ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 10:35:36 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: NEW--Blackmail Material, part 1 of 1 Very cute, Elizabeth! I remember that scene and always thought it would have played out exactly like that had Clark actually gotten up the nerve to confess. LOL! Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 10:36:00 -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: Re: Zoom's Boards-fixed (maybe) Of course now that I've said that... James, who will swear that when he finally got there it wasn't too bad, honest :( ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 15:40:12 +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: Zoom's Boards-fixed (maybe) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed They were up for a while :( I got in there too! Missy >From: James Tull >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: Re: Zoom's Boards-fixed (maybe) >Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 10:36:00 -0500 > >Of course now that I've said that... > >James, who will swear that when he finally got there it wasn't too bad, >honest :( _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 10:42:52 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: All Stirred Up, part 7 OMG!!!!! I am laughing so hard I may just have hurt myself! Oh, Meredith, this is just priceless ... it's like a Tank Ending on steroids. You shouldn't have put "the end" though -- this should be worked into the story as a nightmare Lois has right before the next chapter. ROTFLMAO!!!! I love it! Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 10:59:12 -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: All Stirred Up, part 7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > You shouldn't have put "the end" though -- this should be worked > into the > story as a nightmare Lois has right before the next chapter. > I must admit that was my first thought except that it said "conclusion" at the beginning. You could still do it... and she could tell Clark about it later or something! CM ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 09:13:09 -0700 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: peabody Subject: Re: Zoom's Boards-fixed (maybe) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain I can get to the board, and the list of posts under each topic, but when I try to access the posts, it times out, (and I'm using the high speed connection from my office) I miss my fix, too. Maybe the boards will be working better this afternoon Missy wrote: >They were up for a while :( I got in there too! Pat peabody@ameritech.net pattijean@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 11:31:54 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: All Stirred Up, the real part 7b/10? Argh! I don't want to wait for the next segment! Can't you just post it all now? Wonderful, as always, Meredith. I am enjoying this just so gosh darn much. :) s s s s s s s s s The two conversations Lois had about her "theory" were both wonderful. I'm glad both Superman and Martha were able to set Lois's mind at ease -- and she shouldn't be embarrassed when she does learn the truth. As Martha said, all the clues were there and her conclusion was logical. It all made perfect sense, though I'm sure Clark is going to get a laugh out of it. I'm sure he'll be *really* relived that his mom was able to reassure Lois. The kiss between Superman and Lois was really something; good for her on taking it slow, though. Could she be realizing she has feelings for Clark, now that it seems like her fantasy of being with Superman isn't so impossible to reach anymore? I loved that Superman figured out how to fly by thinking about kissing Lois, and his joy at walking on the ceiling was wonderful. That scene definitely left me with a smile on my face. :) I also loved seeing Martha and Jonathan educating Superman about his powers - - "think angry thoughts at the water"; LOL!! I also loved how Martha and Jonathan communicated silently about what to tell about their "relationship" with Superman -- shades of L&C. :) Keep it up, Meredith -- I can't wait until I get to read more! :) Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 13:18:27 -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: Happy New Year... I Think In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Shana tova to you too, Yael, Carolyn >Dear FoLCs, > >'...and they shall beat their swords to plows and their spears to >scythes, and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they will >not learn war anymore.' (Isaiah, 2:4). > >Shana tova, >Yael. > >_________________________________________________________________ >Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 18:40:10 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Meredith Knight Subject: Re: All Stirred Up, part 7 In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Marilyn L. Puett writes >For crying out loud, Meredith! We're gonna have to put you in the same >cell with Pam. Is that supposed to be some sort of threat??? ;D I nearly didn't post it, so I'm very relieved y'all liked it! Meredith -- Meredith Knight "All the pebbles had fat smiling faces, and the anemones had mad bright eyes above their frills." ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 12:51:35 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Liz S Subject: Re: Zoom's Boards-fixed (maybe) Yes, I've finally been able to get in after 2 hours of trying sporadically. Hopefully, there won't continue to be problems. The sad thing is, if we're having problems, everyone else is too, and it's slower for new story parts to be posted. :( Liz ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 13:03:27 -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: Re: Zoom's Boards-fixed (maybe) Ok, I just tried it again and it seems fine. James, who has stopped holding his breath on these things. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 13:19:53 -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: All Stirred Up, part 7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > Is that supposed to be some sort of threat??? ;D If I were you, I'd probably take it as more of a promise!:D > > I nearly didn't post it, so I'm very relieved y'all liked it! Liked it might be a bit strong.... *BG* Except the Lex part - that was great!!!!!!!! CM ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 13:38:28 -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: Sister Switch, 4a/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sorry this wasn't up on Monday. Everything's been crazy for everyone this last week or so and then apparently the boards have had some issues too. *sigh* Anyway here it is. MEredith, here's the change from part 1 with HG. Is it better? Does it make more sense? I put it on the boards too, but in case you can't get to it... Thanks - comments appreciated! CM ***** Part 1 rewrite: Clark sighed as he exchanged a look with Lois. "So what do we have to do this time? Reverse another spell?" "No. In this particular incarnation, over 200 years ago, you were to marry Lois' sister. She ran out on you before the wedding and her father gave you Lois to marry instead. Unfortunately, my soul tracker went a bit, ah, wacky on me and I stopped her sister from leaving. You married her instead. Her name is Lara and that is part of the reason for the confusion. Clark, you've switched sisters." Lois rolled her eyes. "Right." "I'm quite serious, Miss Lane, and that is why everything has changed. In order to fix things, I need to take the two of you back with me. To the time before Lara left. She has to leave, you see, or Clark's persona won't marry Lois'. We have to go to two days before the wedding and allow things to play out from there, only this time I will make certain that I don't interfere and keep Lara from leaving the night before the wedding is to take place. "Clark, you are Caleb, or Cal, an early newspaper reporter, with a secret identity, of course, but I am not certain what it is. And Lois, you are Leah, younger sister of Lara. The big catch here is that neither one of you will remember any of this like you did last time. It will be as though you had been there forever, until you fall in love. I don't know how long that will take, for you are not in love when you marry. Once you fall in love, you can come back and things will be as you remembered them yesterday. I can't make you go with me, but it is the only way to fix this. Will you come?" ***** >From Part 3: She blushed a bit and turned away from him. "I don't know much about being a wife, but I'll do my best and I do know that you shouldn't get sick." He swung his legs under the covers. "I think you know more than you realize, Leah." He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on the side of her head. "Get some sleep. I have a feeling we won't be able to leave tomorrow either and we'll have to face the rest of the family again." Leah nodded. Her heart had stopped momentarily when he leaned over. She nodded when he suggested that they get some sleep and was grateful when he lay on his side, facing away from her. "Good night, Cal." "Good night, Leah." ***** Part 4: Leah woke the next morning unable to place her surroundings. She had never slept in this particular room before and so it wasn't surprising that she wouldn't recognize her setting immediately. Even stranger, however, was the weight around her waist. She moved slightly and realized that something - or someone - was right behind her. Cal. He had rolled over in the middle of the night and now his arm was around her holding her firmly against his chest. The covers were pulled up under her chin and even with the ample blankets, she had to admit that it was decidedly warmer than sleeping alone. She closed her eyes and recalled the sight of that chest the night before. Cal's beautiful chiseled features stood out in her mind's eye. She hadn't known that a man's body could be so well defined. Cal was still in a dream world. In his dream he could see himself and a beautiful woman, who looked much like Leah, stood in front of him. He didn't recognize the surroundings. They seemed familiar, but there were things he had never seen before. Stairs leading to a door with windows in it and a couch of some kind next to some kind of candle or lantern with a cover over it. The woman had short dark hair and wore a short orange dress and a big smile. Cal looked at himself and realized that he was wearing a very tight fitting bright blue outfit with some kind of red garment on the outside and something pulled at his shoulders. he heard himself say. He picked up the woman and they floated towards a bed. He looked down. Yes, they were floating. Hawaii? What - or where - was that? He kissed the woman in orange and then... A knock at the door woke Cal. He was as surprised as Leah had been to discover that he was holding her close to him, but it felt right and comfortable, like he had done it before. He felt her stir, obviously trying not to wake him as she went to answer the door. He tightened his arm around her just a bit. He fought the urge to kiss the back of her head. "I'm awake. I'll get it." She nodded, but stayed under the covers, facing away from him and the door. He rose and pulled on a shirt as he crossed the room. He shook his head as he tried to understand what that dream had been about. He opened the door slightly and had a short conversation with whoever was on the other side. He went and sat back down on the bed. "That was your mother. The rest of the family is staying for a while at least, and so will we." Leah had rolled towards him while he was talking, but looked out the window as he nodded towards it. The snow was coming down hard again. "I guess the rest of the family has been told that plans for me to marry you rather than Lara were made several months ago, when Lara and I realized that we weren't right for each other and that I had fallen in love with you. So, they expect that we had planned on spending most of today, ah," he looked uncomfortable as he ran a hand through his hair, "alone. She's sending our breakfast up in a few minutes and said that we should spend most of the day alone together. If the weather breaks, a drive in the snow might be nice." Leah nodded. How could her mother do this? She knew that she and Cal barely knew each other well enough to put on a pretence and perhaps that was part of the reason why her mother wanted them to spend the day alone together. She must have seen how awkward they looked in front of the family yesterday and decided that it was better to just let them be alone together and the family could think whatever they wanted. "A sleigh ride sounds nice," she finally said, "if there is a break in the storm." She sat up, holding the covers close to her. "I don't mean to sound ignorant or awkward, but what are we supposed to do the rest of the day?" She blushed. "I know we're not a regular newlywed couple, but wouldn't it be a stretch even for normal newlyweds to spend all day alone in their room?" She picked at the quilt, unable to look at her husband. Cal smiled and turned her face to look at him. "I know we're not what you'd consider normal, but I want you to know, I'd never hurt you and I promise we won't do, ah..." It was Cal's turn to blush and look away. "Ah, things that married people do so soon." Leah giggled just a bit. "It seems we're both a bit uncomfortable around each other." Cal laughed with her. "It does. What if we made a pact?" "A pact?" Cal nodded. "A pact. We will tell each other everything and not be embarrassed, especially if we're not sure about something. And we'll never pick at each other about something that we wouldn't want to be picked at about and we'll never tell anyone else. It is going to be a long lifetime if we don't learn to communicate and trust each other." "All right. A pact then." She looked at him, aware of his closeness and was almost overcome with the desire to kiss him. "Good." There was a knock at the door. Cal opened it and took a tray with some pastries and a cup of coffee and a glass of milk on it. "Breakfast is here. Where would you like to eat it?" "Um, by the fire, I think. Where it's warm." Cal nodded and moved that direction, grateful to whoever had rebuilt the fire earlier that morning. He noticed that the same person had left enough wood next to it so they would not need any more if they didn't leave the room for the rest of the day. Leah was glad when Cal turned his back to her. She quickly stood and pulled the robe she had discarded the night before around her. She tied it tightly and walked towards the fire. He turned and smiled at her. "Do you drink coffee?" She shook her head. "Then the milk must be yours." She sat in one of the chairs. Cal took a quilt and tucked it gently around her. "Can't have you catching cold either." He handed her the glass of milk. She took a sip and set it on the little table in between the chairs. "Which one would you like?" "You pick first. I know my mother's pastries and they are all delicious." Cal nodded and sat in the other chair. He helped himself to one of the pastries and then offered another to Leah. "Thank you." They ate in silence. When they finished, Cal put the tray outside the door and turned to talk to Leah. As he did he was struck again by her beauty and wondered why he hadn't seen it before. In some ways, she was even lovelier than Lara. She turned to him. "What do we do now?" She looked at him with an almost fearful glint in her eye. "I suppose we should dress. The storm looks like it is letting up some and perhaps we can go for that ride soon." A look of horror appeared momentarily on Leah's face. Dressing in front of this man was something she hadn't considered. Cal smiled gently at her. "Your mother said your things are in the room next door. If you want to, change in there." Leah nodded and practically fled to the other room. She shut the door behind her and leaned against. She closed her eyes and tried to find courage deep inside herself. There were so many aspects of married life that she had never considered. And what about children someday? She knew instinctively that he would want children. She had seen him play with her younger siblings on several occasions and knew that he would make a wonderful father. She stood there for a few moments until she regained her composure and then she changed slowly into an outfit suitable for an outing in the cold weather. She sat on the bed in the other room for long moments after she finished getting ready, tears slipping silently from her eyes. She didn't know how to face the man who waited for her in the other room or how she would get through the rest of the day. A knock on the door that led to the room she shared with Cal brought her out of her reverie. "Yes?" "May I come in?" She wiped at her eyes, trying to get rid of any signs that she had been crying. "Yes." The door opened and Cal entered. His face grew concerned as he noticed the tear tracks she hadn't been able to wipe away. "What is it? What's wrong?" He sat next to her and cradled her face in his hand as he had the night before. "Please tell me." "It's nothing. Honest. I'm a little overwhelmed is all." The tears threatened again. "Shh." He pulled her closer until her head rested on his shoulder. "This is overwhelming for both of us. But we'll make it through somehow, I promise. I think we'll be able to leave tomorrow and then we won't have to pretend to be the happy newlyweds for anyone, at least for a while. My family had some things planned for us for when we return, but I don't know how the delay of our return will affect those plans. Now how about that sleigh ride? I went down while you finished dressing and everything is ready for us." He looked at her earnestly. "If you still want to go." Leah nodded. "It's better than staying here. I don't really want to face anyone just yet. At least not for very long." "I don't either. What do you say we sneak out the back door?" "I think I'd like that." "Good. Your things are downstairs ready for you. Your father is keeping everyone out of the kitchen so that we can leave undetected. Are you ready?" "Yes." She looked up at him almost shyly. "Thank you, Cal." He smiled at her and her heart did flip-flops again. "Then let's go." ***** ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 13:38:52 -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: Sister Switch, 4b/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit A few minutes later they were outside. Cal tucked the blankets and furs in around her, making sure that there were warm bricks at both of their feet. The day wasn't bitterly cold like he had expected, but there was a definite chill in the air. He sat next to her but not as close as he had the day before when they had had an audience. Leah was disappointed, but not surprised when he sat farther away. After they were some distance from the house, he spoke. "Leah, there is something I need to tell you. Something you can never tell anyone else." "You can trust me, Cal. I'll never tell anyone." He looked at his hands as he began his story. "I don't know how much you know about the unrest in the colonies." "Father discusses it with me. I read his papers to him." "And what does he say?" "He says that this rebellion was inevitable. That it was only a matter of time before England pushed the colonies too far and they pushed back. He feels the war will change the face of the continent forever, that we will be our own country soon." "And you?" "I think he is right. I think the taxes were and still are, too much. I think that if England is going to tax anything, we should be allowed to represent ourselves in Parliament. And if we are not, we should be allowed to set up our own government. We've read John Locke's works, as well, you know." Leah gasped as she realized what she said. Women weren't supposed to have political opinions, but she did. She had never voiced them to anyone besides her father, who encouraged her to think for herself, but keep her opinions silent. "I apologize. It's not my place to say anything and I'll never embarrass you by speaking out in front of others." Cal laughed. "No, Leah. I'm glad you have opinions and I don’t want you to be afraid to share them with me. In fact, maybe you'll be able to help me." "Help you?" "Yes. Tell me. What publications does your father read?" "Why, he reads the 'English Review', of course. Especially since you began seeing Lara." She couldn't look at him as she said her sister's name. "The other paper he reads is... I promise I won't tell anyone what it is that you have to say, but you have to promise that you won't tell this to anyone either." "I won't tell. I promise." "He also reads 'The Colonial Times'. I know it's illegal and he could get in all kinds of trouble..." She was cut short by Cal's laughter. She looked at him in shock. "It's not funny, Cal. He really could, but you have to know that." "I know, but I haven't told you my secret yet. When I do, you'll understand. You see, I have a kind of a secret identity." Leah raised an eyebrow at him. "A secret identity? Like Robin Hood?" Cal laughed again. "Kind of, but I don't ride around in tights or steal or anything." Leah laughed with him. "I suppose that's a good thing to know." "I don't have some kind of second outfit I change into or anything, but rather some people know me as a different person." At the perplexed look on her face, he smiled. "I mean I write as me in the 'English Review', but I also write as someone else in another publication." "You do?" He nodded. "I am the one who publishes 'The Colonial Times'. I write all of the articles and print it from the basement of my house." "Oh. Father would love to know that, you know." "I know, but we can't tell him. You're my wife now, and you needed to know because things could get dangerous. Especially now." "Why? Are things more dangerous simply because you're married?" "No," he shook his head. "It's not that. It's because of who your sister married." "Mr. Lenox?" "Yes. He's a very rich, very powerful man who is loyal to the English crown. He will stop at nothing to shut down my paper and take me out in the process. The only good thing is that he doesn't know that I am the one behind the paper. I see him occasionally on business for the 'English Review' - he owns it you know - and we get on well enough, but he has made no secret of his hatred for the traitor who prints 'The Colonial Times'." A shocked Leah repeated what Cal had just said. "Traitor?" "Well, that's what I am you know," Cal said with a smile. "And so is your father, for reading what I've written." "I know that, it just doesn't seem real. Traitor is such a strong word." "But it's true. And if Langston ever finds out who is behind 'The Colonial Times', he *will* kill me. Only four other people know that I am the one behind it." "Who else knows? Lara?" Leah turned to him, her eyes full of concern. "You don't think she'll tell Mr. Lenox, do you?" "She won't." "How can you be so sure?" "She doesn't know. I was going to tell her today, but well, that's not going to happen now. Obviously." "You never told her?" "No." "You didn't think that she had the right to know what kind of danger she'd be putting herself in? Or the children you'd have someday?" "It's not that. I thought I could trust her and that she'd understand. We had a couple of conversations about the possibility of an uprising against England and she didn't seem that she was against it. It must have been your father's influence." Leah shook her head. "No. Father never discussed these things with Lara. I don't think he's ever discussed them with Mother, unless it was after we were all in bed. Lara doesn't know that he reads your paper, and we burn after we've read it a couple of times." "Your father is a smart man. And he has a smart daughter." "Lara was always the smartest out of all of us." Cal looked at her with an almost tender look in his eyes. "I wasn't talking about Lara. It's obvious that you have a quick mind, Leah. I hope that you can be a helper to me with the paper. Would you like to?" Leah's face took on a new shine. "To help you? Do you think I could maybe write some? I love to write, but it's always been things that would be politically acceptable, should anyone find them, not what I really think." "I think that would be wonderful. And we wouldn't want to do it too soon, but maybe someday you could write about what the women think. If we let you start writing about things like that too soon, someone might start looking around to see who had recently married and I wouldn't want to put you in any more danger than you'll already be in." "I don't mind the danger. I think it will be a rather exciting life." "Exciting? Hiding from the red coats? I've never heard that called exciting by anyone." "Who else knows, Cal? If it's not Lara." "My editor at the 'English Review', Preston Adams - he's related to both John and Samuel Adams - and a young man who helps with distribution and getting information to me. His name is Jamison and he has contacts all over. And my parents, of course. However, I'd rather you not discuss this even with them, unless I'm around. Promise me." "I promise, Cal. I'll never tell a soul." "Now, why don't we just enjoy what has turned out to be a beautiful day?" Leah decided to ask the question she had been wanting to for some time. "Cal?" "Yes?" "Would you mind if we did something a little silly?" "Silly? Like what?" "Well, I haven't made a snowman in years and every year I want to but Mother insists that I'm too old. There's no one around to see us. Please?" She looked up at him, pleading with her big brown eyes. "Oh, don’t look at me like that!" She instantly deflated. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Cal laughed. "No. What I meant was if you look at me with those big eyes, I would probably sell my soul, if that's what you wanted. Don't tell me you've never used those eyes on anyone before." Leah sat wide-eyed. "I'd never try that." Then she ducked shyly. "But I might now. Sometimes." Cal laughed again. "How about that clearing up ahead?" "What about it?" "Does that look like a good place to make a snowman?" Leah looked at him with undisguised glee on her face. "You mean it? We can build a snowman?" "Why not?" Cal expertly brought the team to a stop out of the way of any other traffic that might come along the little road. "Wait here. Let me help you down." He quickly went around the sleigh to help her. "The snow is deeper than it looks. Are you sure you want to do this?" She nodded. "I can't wait!" She took his offered hand and stepped down, stumbling just a bit. Cal caught her in his arms. As he helped to right her, their eyes met and for a moment time stood still. Cal longed to pull her closer and kiss her, but the moment passed and they stood awkwardly. Cal was the first to recover. "Shall we?" Leah nodded, unsure of what had just happened between them. "Now, Leah, I haven't built a snowman in years. How do you suggest we begin?" The next half-hour was a pleasant one for both of them. They laughed as they built a respectable sized snowman. As they neared completion, Leah realized she didn't want their time together to end. She was enjoying the time alone with Cal, with no pressure from outside, no pretending, just being together. She wouldn't admit yet, even to herself, but she was falling in love with him. He knelt to pat a little more snow into place on the bottom part of the snowman. Leah, even later, didn't know what came over her, but suddenly she reached out with both hands and shoved him hard. She laughed as he fell into the snow. His startled expression was more than Leah could take. She practically doubled over, laughing so hard she could hardly speak. "So that's how it's going to be, is it?" He stood. "You have two seconds and then it's your turn." Leah squealed and began to run as fast as she could in her long skirt and the deep snow. "One. Two." Cal stopped brushing himself off and started after her. He knew that he could have caught her in just a few seconds, but what was the fun in that? He scooped up some snow and formed it into a ball as he ran. He tossed it softly at her and laughed at her startled squeal as it hit her in the back of the head. He quickly caught up with her and swept her up in his arms. Suddenly, he had the strangest feeling of déjà vu. He could see himself, and Leah, with much shorter hair, wearing a pair of pants made of some blue material and a short-sleeved shirt of some kind. He could tell that he was wearing spectacles and was chasing her through a green, grassy area. He shook his head to clear and focused on the struggling woman he was holding now. "CAL! Put me down!" "Oh, you want down now? Okay." He carried her to a large snowdrift near the edge of the clearing. "I'll put you down." "CAL!" This time it was Leah who remembered something vaguely, as though from a dream. She could see Cal with shorter hair and spectacles holding her in his arms. He was holding her over a fountain and laughing. The smile was the same one she could see on Cal's face here and now. They exchanged another phrase or two that Leah couldn't hear and then he dropped her into the water. But it wasn't water. It was snow. "Cal!" "You had it coming and you know it." He put a stern look on his face. "Can you be good now?" A devious plan formed in Leah's mind. In her mind, she could see it played out in that fountain before she put it into motion here. "Yes, I'll be good." She reached up a hand. Cal good-naturedly reached down to help her up only to get a big surprise. Leah pulled hard on his hand and he found himself tumbling face first into the snow next to her. He came up sputtering to find that she had dissolved into a fit of giggles. He picked up a handful of snow, fully intending to wash her face with it, but stopped when he looked at her. She was so beautiful. He could see that now. Why hadn't he seen it before? He dropped the snow and reached out to caress her face. Her cheeks were red from the exertion and the cold and her face absolutely glowed. He brushed a loose strand of hair from her forehead. Leah saw how he looked at her. She had dreamed of this. The tender look in his eyes was just as she had imagined it. She reached up and touched his cheek, looking straight into those deep brown eyes. She watched as he leaned in and then hesitated slightly just before his lips touched hers. Her eyes closed and her hand automatically reached around to pull his head closer to her. She felt his lips part slightly to take hers into a gentle caress. Cal couldn’t believe the feelings that overwhelmed him as he kissed her and he felt her respond to his kiss in a way that Lara never had. Lara. The love of his life was Lara, not Leah. He pulled back and stared at her regretting what he had done. Perhaps given her false hope that someday he could love her like that. "I'm sorry, Leah. I shouldn't have done that." He stood and reached out to help her to her feet. He brushed the snow off of his clothing and watched as she did the same. "We better be getting back, Cal." She looked at him with her trusting brown eyes and knew that, somehow, things had changed. ***** TBC ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 20:44:34 +0100 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Meredith Knight Subject: Re: All Stirred Up, part 7 In-Reply-To: <20010920.132114.-250733.2.cmoncado@juno.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Carol L Moncado writes >> I nearly didn't post it, so I'm very relieved y'all liked it! > >Liked it might be a bit strong.... *BG* All right, let me rephrase that... I'm glad I haven't been lynched (yet!) Meredith -- Meredith Knight "All the pebbles had fat smiling faces, and the anemones had mad bright eyes above their frills." ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 07:21:35 +1000 Reply-To: jenerators@optushome.com.au Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Jen Stosser Subject: Re: This newspaper cartoon might be of interest to you In-Reply-To: <103.960e202.28db4b85@aol.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Then there's this: http://thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1000678179043&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=96833 2188492&call_pagepath=News/News a letter to the editor about it... 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 Kate Crane Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2001 11:39 PM To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Subject: Re: This newspaper cartoon might be of interest to you http://thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1000504962720&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=96833 2188492& call_pagepath=News/News Here is the complete url.......it went way out to the side on the original email from Jen. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 16:19:41 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Carol L Moncado Subject: Re: All Stirred Up, part 7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >Liked it might be a bit strong.... *BG* > > All right, let me rephrase that... I'm glad I haven't been > lynched > (yet!) Hmmm - I haven't been a part of a good lynching in a while... CM(who may want to be lynched in about a month when she hasn't had any sleep in 2 weeks! Probably 2 1/2 weeks till this baby comes!) ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 19:01:07 -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: Boards - again MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Anyone else getting an internal server error - or is it just me? CM ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 19:17:25 -0500 Reply-To: peabody Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: peabody Subject: Re: Boards - again MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol asked: > Anyone else getting an internal server error - or is it just me? The boards were working when I accessed them from the office about 1-1/2 hour ago, but I got an internal server error when I tried to connect just now. My browser seemed to lock up, too, but that might be due to some new software that I'd just updated. Does anyone know if the mirror-site at redboots.net is working? I didn't realize how much I missed those boards until I couldn't get to them. Hope this isn't causing Zoom more headaches :( Pat peabody@ameritech.net pattijean@aol.com ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 19:13:59 -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: What *can't* Kryptonians do? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Despite the fact that, to me, they came off as very Mickey Mouse, Kryptonians (i.e., Clark/Superman and the "New" Kryptonians) could not stand against Disney Corporation. Indeed, I didn't find any of them particularly bright (that would have required more clever writing--but I've harped on that before, way back during the show itself). What alarmed me most about the NKers was that, despite being a civilization (or remnants thereof) that could travel in deep space, their political organization was based on houses with lords and ladies (we'll overlook about their cold, Vulcan-like exteriors--giving them more emotional depth might have made them more interesting--and required them to be paid more!). Worse yet, Kal-el (you know, ole "truth, justice and the American way") (don't look behind the curtain and see the CIA helping, say, Bin-Laden a few decades ago) didn't play the role of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, or even any of the modern-day freedom fighters. He didn't tell take them aside and give them a little document called the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights (amended to change any reference or preference for men, race or land-owning status to include everyone regardless of sex, race, religion, etc.). He didn't tell them to study that and get back to him with questions. He didn't tell them to "grow up!" Or rather, Lois didn't. Finally, despite being gung ho for some form of oligarchy, when it came right down to it, did any of the "good guy" New Kryptonians sneak out of the barracks to help Kal-el turned Superman? Nope, in the end he had to fight the bad guys, who most certain (as he should have known!) would not play by any set of rules. What was this, High Noon? If his so-called supporters had broken ranks and helped him, I would have believed there was the chance they could break out of their decrepit old political system and shown some maturity. But, nope. Can you tell I did and do not think much of the whole concept of "New Kryptonians"? I understand why we were given the episodes--they had to be incredibly easy to write, being full of tired cliches and telegraphed scenes. I wish it had been different and clever. Imagine... Superman having to somehow get rid of a boatload of his own people who come to earth to help him out but turn out to be as helpful as five year olds let loose in a kitchen? Can he turn his own people away? Will he break their hearts? Will he leave with them to help them find new lives--elsewhere? Will they go? Will they insist on staying and trying even harder to be helpful--only to make things even worse? etc., etc. Now there's an arch I would liked to have seen! Debby :) dls@thuntek.net ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 08:50:16 +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 29 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII [After all the hullabaloo of the last few parts, things are a little quiet at present. Trask has disappeared (for the moment), as have Lois & Clark -- at least as far as anyone knows, or is prepared to admit . Having "vanished", our favourite reporters are marking time, waiting to meet Jimmy's dad and learn more about the mysterious Mr Trask. So, with a chance to relax available... naturally, they're going to indulge in dramatic revelations! Or, in other words, The Talk -- which Clark has suggested could take place at a *beach*... Now read on:] ***** The beach in question turned out to be... well, Lois wasn't sure *where* it was, only that it was somewhere in the Pacific, on a small, uninhabited island. Not that that mattered; it was a beautiful place, something out of a travel agent's most dream-like holiday brochure -- a long stretch of clean white sand, gleaming in the bright sunlight, leading down to almost impossibly clear blue-green water which lapped at the edges of the beach in little waves. At the top of the dunes were several palm trees providing welcome shade from the high sun. The weather couldn't have been better: the sky was a cloudless azure deeper than anything Lois had ever seen, and yet, with the help of a gentle breeze, the temperature was no more than pleasantly warm. If they were here for long, she might have to worry about sunburn, but not heat-stroke. Lois and Clark were lying at either end of a large blanket stretched out in the shade of the palms. Between them were the remains of an impromptu meal that had consisted of finger-foods from all over the world -- in concept, at least; Clark had actually got most of them, he said, from various markets in San Francisco. Haute cuisine, it was not, but neither reporter minded; it had tasted great, and wasn't horribly unhealthy or disgustingly fattening (it helped when one of you could heat food without needing oil or fat), and that was what mattered -- even if Lois was still trying to work out how many hours she'd need to spend in the gym to make up for everything that Clark had coaxed her into eating this week. And so now they faced one another across what had been dinner, washing it down with icy mineral water, both conscious that This Was It. They'd eaten, they'd chatted, they'd relaxed in the beautiful surroundings... they'd run out of distractions. It was time to bite the bullet: Clark knew he had to tell Lois more about himself and his origins; and Lois was wondering what he could possibly say that would account for the mystery -- not to mention the way in which he had justified his refusal to tell her before now. What could possibly be so unbelievable, if it wasn't that he was from another planet? Clark opened his mouth to begin... and was suddenly assailed by a wave of doubts. What if she didn't believe him? What if she thought he was trying to make fun of her with a nonsensical story? It wasn't as though he had any evidence to back up what he was about to say; after all, this wasn't a science fiction story in which he could ask a friendly android to check his "quantum signature" to provide proof that he wasn't from this universe originally, and he sure couldn't produce Mr Wells on request. But his most pressing worry was that he might be putting Lois in danger by telling her. It was risky enough for her to know that he was Superman, but she *had* to know that -- if not now, then in the future if they were ever to have the relationship that he wanted, and he'd decided that it would be better to be honest with her right from the start. But this extra knowledge, with all its potential... He got to his feet and strode down the beach for a short distance, suddenly unable to deal with the awful possibilities that his mind insisted on conjuring up. Lois wasn't expecting that, so she let him go and stayed on the blanket for some moments, silently watching him and trying to work out what was wrong. *Something* was wrong, that was for sure; he was clenching his fists and even shaking slightly... She stood up and followed him, but didn't approach closer than a few paces -- just close enough to hear his anguished, venom-filled whisper: "*Damn* Trask!" His tone was so unlike what she'd come to expect from him that Lois was startled -- he hadn't sounded *that* angry even when she'd told him about the Prometheus explosion, or when he'd overheard Everett and co. insulting her in the newsroom. "Clark..." she said, holding one hand out to him instinctively, "What's the matter? I mean, Trask is a nut, but we got rid of him this morning, and there's no way he can know where we are now... Why are you still so mad at him?" At her first word, Clark wheeled as if someone had fired a gun at his ear. When he saw that it was Lois, he blushed and looked away, and it was a few moments before he could meet her eyes. When he did, the concern in them began to calm his anger almost instantly. "Oh, Lois..." he said haltingly, "I'm sorry... it's just that... I had this all planned. I was going to tell you more about myself tonight, start to answer those questions that I've been stonewalling you on... but I wanted to do it in my-- *our* own good time, so that you'd know that I always meant to tell you, that I keep my promises... that I trust you. "But I can't shake the feeling that Trask turning up this morning *has* to have something to do with Superman. I know we don't know that for sure, but all my reporter's instincts are screaming it at me." Lois nodded; she'd been thinking much the same thing herself -- what *else* could Trask have wanted to "compel testimony" about from *Lane and Kent*? What other story was big enough to provoke a fake raid like this morning's, *and* had been worked on by the both of them? If Trask had only been after her, it might have been something else, but Clark, for all that he was a good reporter, just hadn't worked on anything even remotely rivalling Superman for importance -- yet, anyway. "Which means," he continued, now sounding more and more distressed went on, "that, after this morning, you really *need* to know... but you'll always wonder if I wasn't forced into telling you! And, at the same time, with that maniac and his goons on the loose, I'm not sure it's *safe* to tell you! Trask didn't strike me as the sanest person I've ever met, and if he knows the *truth*, he could go berserk! You might be better off *not* knowing..." Lois could see that he was sincere in what he said and, somewhere in the back of her mind, she was touched by his concern, but there was no way she was letting him get away with *that* one! "Oh, no, you don't, Kent!" she snapped. "I don't care about Trask and his tree-full of nuts; we took care of them this morning, and we'll take care of them again -- *if* they have the guts to show their ugly faces. I wanna know what you promised you were going to tell me, and I wanna know *now!*" Clark couldn't help it; he laughed. Lois was so... so *Lois!* How could he possibly have thought that he could keep anything from her, even -- or especially? -- if it was for her own good? Smiling broadly at her unquenchable, unconquerable spirit, he stepped over to her and, greatly daring, put his arms around her for a very brief, but intense hug. ***** "Hug." A warm-sounding word, with multiple overtones -- closeness, comfort and joy; even a sort of fuzzy happiness, or a certain element of danger, as may both be found in the term "bear hug." Whatever the usage, it was totally inadequate to describe what Lois and Clark found themselves in as his arms closed around her small form. Not that any other word, in English or any other language, was any more useful, for what happened between the couple was unlike anything they had ever experienced before, or even imagined. All they knew, or felt, or could remember later, was that for an instant/eon/eternity, there were no longer two souls attached to the bodies briefly pressed against each other in what had begun as a gesture of mutual support and delight; instead, there was *one*, a single being formed from Clark and Lois, two parts that fitted perfectly with one another to form a seamless whole. But, while this was new to the man and the woman, it was not to the being that they had "created". This being knew that it was a combination of two others, and it recognised each of them with a self-knowledge as intimate as that of any religious adept -- for had it not resulted from their union, time and time again? The road leading to this moment had been longer than most, and rather unusual in where it had led, but, once again, its parts had come together and it *was*, and that was a cause for rejoicing. It could also feel that the bodies of its "halves", driven by the unprecedented merger of their souls -- to these incarnations, at least -- were reacting to one another equally strongly; they had not moved, but every sense of either one was hyper-aware of the presence of the other. This was not something that should continue at present, although both the man and the woman wanted it, even if they had not admitted as much to themselves, much less each other, yet. Still, the being was certain that these feelings were, as they had been in the past, harbingers of something wonderful that would come in the fullness of time, and it could only be elated at the prospect. But, even as it delighted in its existence -- how and why it came to be, what it meant, what the future held -- it knew that, for now, it must dissolve itself. But not completely; the bond between its halves that called it into being would now always be there, and so a small part of itself would continue to exist, dormant but nonetheless *there*, and that was sufficient. The separation of the unified soul into Lois Lane and Clark Kent was a shock to the unsuspecting couple, one so great that much of what they had learned from the experience, about themselves and each other, was lost as they regained their individuality. The entire experience seemed to have lasted barely a second, and faded into unconscious memory almost as quickly. ***** Clark released Lois and stepped back from her. "Thanks, Lois," he murmured as he backed away from the startled woman. A flood of memories, of what they had been discussing before he'd touched her, swept into his mind, and he spoke as if nothing had happened in that timeless instant. "I guess I was starting to obsess a little. I'm lucky I have you around to give me a sense of proportion." He sat down on the blanket, and she followed suit after a few moments. The scene was quiet for a while; had they but known it, each of them was coming to terms with the effect that that brief physical contact had had on them: Clark was mulling his reactions over, amazed at the magnitude of his response to her; and Lois was trying hard to force the lingering sensations of his touch into her memory and *out* of her consciousness, so that she could think about this, and what he'd said, later -- but not *now*; now, there were more important things to think, and talk, about. Lois seemed to recover herself first. "It's okay, Clark," she said softly, wanting to reassure him. "I know that you were going to tell me yourself -- we were going to have dinner last night, remember? And you arranged that before we'd ever heard of Trask; it was only that fire that stopped you from telling me this stuff yesterday. So don't worry -- but thank you for even caring about it. I *don't* think that you're being forced into this, and I do know that you trust me... and thank you for that, too." And then, her curiosity finally got the better of her, and she half-barked, half-implored, "So *tell* me already! With all the veiled hints you've been dropping, I'm *dying* here!" Clark laughed again, and she joined in as she recognised the humour in what she had just said. Once they'd calmed down -- at least to the point that only the occasional giggle or chuckle came out when their eyes met -- Clark leaned back on his elbow and began, "Okay... I guess it's more than time that I kept that promise -- before your curiosity eats you from the inside out. How's your physics?" Lois thought about a rejoinder for a brief moment, but settled for a friendly glare; she was preoccupied with a sudden surge of confusion at the introduction of science into the discussion. "My what?" "Physics -- as in quantum mechanics... and parallel universes." "What?" "Have you heard of the concept? I thought you might have some idea of it when you quoted Zaphod Beeblebrox at me, the night we met." "Who?" "Zaphod Beeblebrox -- you know, the guy with two heads from 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy'?" Lois just looked at him, and he could almost hear her thoughts: 'Two heads, huh? Okay, why not -- I already got a guy who can fly...' "It's a radio show," he explained, "and a series of books, and a TV show -- and I think they even made a play out of it, a couple of times. It's a British comedy, very funny stuff. It's just that you said something that night that was almost a direct quote from one episode, so I thought you must have heard it. I guess not, huh?" "Uh... no." "Okay, it's not important. What about parallel universes? Ever hear of them, or read about them?" "I don't think so... oh, hey, wait a minute! One of my room-mates at college was a big Star Trek fan, and she used to go on about it all the time... Wasn't there an episode that talked about a 'mirror' universe or something?" "Yes, that's right -- although let me say right now that I don't come from a twisted world like that!" He paused and waited for her agile mind to take the obvious step. That didn't take long; her eyes narrowed almost immediately, and she frowned and stared at him. He met her gaze calmly and openly, inviting her to say what she was thinking -- and eventually, after a long silence, she did. "You... *don't* come from a world like that..." He nodded, but said nothing. "...but does that mean that you're saying that you *do* come..." "From another universe -- another Earth? Yes, Lois, that's exactly what I'm saying. And that's why so many things that I've told you have seemed to be wrong, or contradictory... but have been the truth. "I *was* born on Krypton and sent to Earth as a baby -- but not *this* Earth, or the Krypton of this universe. I was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent as a baby and raised by them, as their son, until they were killed in a car accident when I was ten -- but if you go to Kansas, I don't know if you'll even find the Kents; and if you do, they'll be alive. One thing that *won't* have happened is their raising as their son a baby that they found in a spaceship -- and yet, here I am. "I did work for the Daily Planet, just the way I told you -- but not *our* Daily Planet. The Planet I worked for was pretty much like the one we were in this morning, but with a few differences. Perry White isn't the editor there any more; he was persuaded to go into politics, and now, he's the Mayor of Metropolis. The paper isn't owned by Mr Stern and the other major stockholders that you know of; it's owned in its entirety by a young financial entrepreneur who took the world software market by storm a few years ago, and has since become a major mover and shaker in the Metropolis stock market -- Mr James Olsen." Lois had been listening, not saying a word as Clark trotted out these... *weird* ideas, but this was too much. Perry leaving the Planet to become Mayor was crazy enough, but... "Jimmy?" she blurted, half laughing, half appalled. "*Jimmy Olsen* owns the Daily Planet? Are you *serious?*" Clark just smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'm serious -- and that's *James* Olsen, if you please. He doesn't like 'Jimmy'; he said that it was fine when he was a kid, but once he'd made his first hundred million, he adopted the more formal version so that the big money-men would take him seriously, and he found that he preferred it." Lois found it hard to decide what was stranger -- that "James" could make so much money as a computer whiz-kid, or that he'd prefer his full name to the friendly, informal "Jimmy" that he'd always been known by, ever since she'd met him. Clark, meanwhile, had become a little nostalgic, judging by the tone of his voice: "He was a good friend. A little pushy at first -- James ran Perry's mayoral campaign, and I lost count of the number of times Perry asked himself how on Earth he'd let himself be talked into this, but he had trouble saying no to the guy." "You gotta be kidding... Perry, having trouble saying no to Jimmy? Oh, doesn't Jimmy wish!" "Maybe, Lois, but *James* is a very persuasive person when he wants to be. I mean, look at what he did to me! Once my secret came out -- that's a long story, and I'll tell you some other time -- I couldn't go on working as an investigative reporter; who'd let Superman interview them? He didn't want to lose me, though -- too much good PR to be made out of having Superman work for the paper -- so he made me an Assistant Editor, complete with a pushy Personal Assistant to keep people off my back while I was out helping people!" Clark's mouth quirked, and he muttered a few low words that Lois couldn't quite hear, but sounded very much like something to the effect that he wished that she'd practised what she preached. She filed that away for further investigation at a later date, and kept listening; Clark seemed to have realised, or remembered, something. "Lois, do you remember writing about Mayson Drake's murder?" he asked suddenly, surprising her. She nodded, and he continued, "Well, there's another difference: in my old world, *Mayson* was my P.A., and she was still alive and well when I left." Lois said nothing. Her instinctive reaction was to reject the whole idea as insane, but that had been what she'd thought of the idea that Kent was from another planet, and she'd come to accept *that* over the last two weeks or so. Assuming that he wasn't lying -- and once again, she reminded herself, she had yet to catch him in any sort of lie, even when what he told her seemed unbelievable -- then his "explanation", however fantastic, did answer a lot of questions that were raised by what he'd told her previously. It was just... could this *possibly* be true? She decided to leave that for the moment. Whether it was true or whether it wasn't, Kent obviously wanted her to believe it, and, if she did, then there was one question that inevitably arose from what he'd said. She asked it. "So... if you're from another universe... why are you *here?*" "I'm... here to help, like I said. I... decided to leave my home universe; my job there was done, and I... lost someone dear to me. I didn't really want to stay, and they didn't need me..." "So you just took off and came here?" Lois asked, shocked. "Are you telling me that you can not only fly, you can pop in and out of *universes*, any time you like?" "No!" he cried in surprise. "No, Lois. To get here, I had help -- help from... another friend. I won't tell you his name -- yet -- but you might meet him some day. He was the one who told me that other universes existed, and that this world needed a Superman, but didn't have one. When he also said that I could help my old world one last time by leaving it in a certain way, I thought coming here would be a chance for a fresh start. I could really be of use here, and I wouldn't have... memories to deal with -- not in the same way." "Oh." Lois looked more than a little stunned and cast her eyes around the beach as she tried to think of what to say. So much for trying to make sense of this by asking the obvious questions. This was mind-boggling; after his answer, she had so many *more* questions, but she couldn't think where to start. Eventually, her mind seized on something: it wasn't anything important -- or was it? -- but it was small enough for her to focus on just then. She swallowed, took a deep breath and, summoning what resolve she could find, asked hesitantly, "Did you... did you know... *me*... in your... home universe?" "No," he responded softly -- and, she thought, sadly. What did *that* mean? "No, I never met the Lois Lane of that universe." Then, suddenly, he grinned and his voice brightened. "But I did meet another one." "What?" "I met another Lois Lane -- from a third universe. Remember when I said that I'd known someone very like you? Well, that's who it was. She'd been kidnapped from her own world and dumped in mine as part of... oh, heck, it's very complicated; let's just say for now that there was this guy who wanted to wreck the future in both our worlds, and she was part of his plan." "Wait!" Lois interrupted, almost desperately. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait..." She got up and began to pace, hands on her head as she seemingly tried to stop her brains from leaking out of her ears. She stopped after a few moments and turned to face him again, her expression one of almost total disbelief, with just a trace of hostility. "Are you telling me that you never knew... me... in your own world, but you met... *another* me, from somewhere else?" "Yep," Clark agreed. Then, concerned, he said, "Look, Lois, do you want to talk about something else for a while? Or maybe we should go back to the hotel. I did warn you that this was going to be hard to accept. Believe me, I know *exactly* how you feel; I can still remember how I felt when *I* had to deal with this stuff for the first time..." "No, no, no..." was the determined reply. "No, you stay *right* there and tell me about this other Lois Lane. There's no way I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight if I don't get this sorted out in my head, so tell me!" ***** [Oh, he will, Lois... but you mightn't like what you hear. Why? Ah, well, that would be telling... Interested readers (any of those here? ) will just have to wait until next time to find out. See you then.] 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: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 09:24:52 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Tempus Fugitive Rewrites? Hi everyone, Well, they aired Tempus Fugitive today on TNT -- I have no idea why it's so out of order! But of course I did enjoy it. Amy watched the last 10 minutes or so and liked it, too. I told her I had it on tape if she wanted to watch from the beginning and she was quite pleased by that idea. The oddest thing though? She said, "Oh, look, a time machine!" How in the world did she know it was a time machine?!?!? LOL!! Watching made me think of something, though -- was there a (relatively recent?) fanfic that rewrote TF with Lois being in on the secret? My mind is telling me that there was, and that I'd like to read it after seeing the episode, but I can't recall a title or author. Any help?? Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 10:29:24 -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: Tempus Fugitive Rewrites? In-Reply-To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Hi Kathy: Perhaps Amy saw that wonderful 1950's film of the HGW's Time Machine with Rod Taylor? I am also curious about the fanfic, Carolyn >Hi everyone, > >Well, they aired Tempus Fugitive today on TNT -- I have no idea why it's so >out of order! But of course I did enjoy it. Amy watched the last 10 minutes >or so and liked it, too. I told her I had it on tape if she wanted to watch >from the beginning and she was quite pleased by that idea. The oddest thing >though? She said, "Oh, look, a time machine!" How in the world did she know >it was a time machine?!?!? LOL!! > >Watching made me think of something, though -- was there a (relatively >recent?) fanfic that rewrote TF with Lois being in on the secret? My mind is >telling me that there was, and that I'd like to read it after seeing the >episode, but I can't recall a title or author. Any help?? > >Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 09:49:09 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: OT: Premature Baby Resources? I was wondering if anyone could suggest any resources on-line -- message board forums, perhaps? -- for premature babies. As some of you know, my best friend has been in the hospital off and on for the last few weeks, trying desperately to hold onto her baby. She lost a son in January due to PROM (premature rupture of membranes -- her water broke way too early) and while this pregnancy had been progressing worry-free until last month, she was only able to make it to 6 months due to an incompetent cervix. Despite all the caustic drugs they pumped into her and having her lie upside down for days, she delivered yesterday afternoon, a day shy of 27 weeks gestation. It's another boy. :) (When her husband rushed to the hospital from work, he arrived in time to see them wheel a tiny baby in a bassinet down the hall. The nurses said "Here's your son!" and he did a double take. "You must have the wrong father; we're having a girl!" So much for ultrasounds. ) The little guy (no name yet; they were thinking girl!) is 2 lbs, 1 oz and 12 inches long. The neo-natologist said he was breathing extremely well for a baby this size/age, and his color and heartbeat were both good. Needless to say, I am desperately hoping the doctor is right and he will ultimately be very healthy. Does anyone know of any forums where I could ask some questions and hopefully hear some success stories? She had a brutal emergency c-section and is not going to be able to get up for awhile, so I'm hoping to print off things to send her. I looked a bit in the forums at about.com, but didn't see anything specific to premature babies. The ironic thing was that Donny and I were supposed to be leaving today for Wash DC to be with her -- she'd been on full bedrest at home and needed help, and Jim and I decided that I should leave Amy with him and take Donny to DC. She went into the hospital not long after the bombing (her husband is a diplomat with the State Dept and we were very nervous while he was un- accounted for) which put everything on hold. The only positive thing about the bombing, I guess, was that her husband canceled his next two business trips (London this month, Morocco next month) and can now be with her. Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated. :) Kathy (who didn't cry last night for the first time in days. :)) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:22:35 -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 29 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > [Oh, he will, Lois... but you mightn't like what you hear. Why? Ah, > well, that would be telling... Interested readers (any of those > here? ) will just have to wait until next time to find out. See > you > then.] There might be one or two out there! There's one right here. Nice segment, bit less action, but that's alright! CM (Who's wondering just how much Clark is going to tell Lois about the *other* Lois - and Clark, of course.) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:58:36 -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: OT: Premature Baby Resources? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Oh Kathy, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I remember you telling us about her on IRC the day of the NYC/DC bombings. I guess I'm surprised that after an earlier PROM they didn't do a suturing of the cervix to keep her from dilating too soon. That's water under the bridge right now, but info she might want to keep in mind if she decides to get pregnant again. My own experience is a little similar. I had PROM, but at 34 weeks. So my son was seven weeks further along and weighed a whopping 5 lbs. and 1 oz. He just turned 23 two days ago. I did a little searching and you might try this: http://fertilethoughts.net/infertility/interact/bb3/messages/25628/25628.html It's a "Parenting Preemies" message board, and oddly enough there's a post there from today about a 27 week-er who will turn 2 on Sunday. There's photos of him in the hospital and photos of him as a very cute little boy. http://fertilethoughts.net/infertility/interact/bb3/messages/25628/67482.html?1001079803 There will be success stories there as well as ones that didn't turn out so well. Many hospitals have support groups for the parents with babies in the NICU. Years after Ryan was born and we'd moved back to the states (he was born in an army hospital in Germany -- the ONLY military hospital in the european theater with a NICU), John had a co-worker whose wife gave birth to one even earlier than 27 weeks. Once they were home, I went for a visit, and she was so delighted to have someone who could relate to what she'd been through. She said that even though her mother had been supportive, mom really didn't understand the helplessness you feel and the sense of personal failure even when your head (and the doctors) are telling you it's not your fault. LOL at the ultrasound! I've never quite trusted those things even though they didn't use them for sex determination when I had my babies. I guess I've heard too many stories of baby boys coming home to pink nurseries cause the ultrasound said a girl was on the way! It's important, though, for them to name him and bond with him. I remember having feelings that I didn't want to waste a good name on a baby who might die. And I also resisted loving him cause I felt that if I didn't love him, then it wouldn't hurt so much if he didn't make it. But your heart takes over (after the shock of seeing your baby with an IV in his head and tubes and wires everywhere wears off) and you love them beyond belief. Oh lordy, I'm getting all teary-eyed here remembering the events of just 23 years ago. Please tell your friend that I am remembering her in my prayers. Marilyn AKA Supermom >From: Kathy Brown >Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" > >To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU >Subject: OT: Premature Baby Resources? >Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 09:49:09 -0500 > >I was wondering if anyone could suggest any resources on-line -- message >board forums, perhaps? -- for premature babies. As some of you know, my >best >friend has been in the hospital off and on for the last few weeks, trying >desperately to hold onto her baby. She lost a son in January due to PROM >(premature rupture of membranes -- her water broke way too early) and while >this pregnancy had been progressing worry-free until last month, she was >only >able to make it to 6 months due to an incompetent cervix. > >Despite all the caustic drugs they pumped into her and having her lie >upside >down for days, she delivered yesterday afternoon, a day shy of 27 weeks >gestation. It's another boy. :) (When her husband rushed to the hospital >from work, he arrived in time to see them wheel a tiny baby in a bassinet >down the hall. The nurses said "Here's your son!" and he did a double >take. >"You must have the wrong father; we're having a girl!" So much for >ultrasounds. ) > >The little guy (no name yet; they were thinking girl!) is 2 lbs, 1 oz and >12 >inches long. The neo-natologist said he was breathing extremely well for a >baby this size/age, and his color and heartbeat were both good. Needless >to >say, I am desperately hoping the doctor is right and he will ultimately be >very healthy. > >Does anyone know of any forums where I could ask some questions and >hopefully >hear some success stories? She had a brutal emergency c-section and is not >going to be able to get up for awhile, so I'm hoping to print off things to >send her. I looked a bit in the forums at about.com, but didn't see >anything >specific to premature babies. > >The ironic thing was that Donny and I were supposed to be leaving today for >Wash DC to be with her -- she'd been on full bedrest at home and needed >help, >and Jim and I decided that I should leave Amy with him and take Donny to >DC. >She went into the hospital not long after the bombing (her husband is a >diplomat with the State Dept and we were very nervous while he was un- >accounted for) which put everything on hold. The only positive thing about >the bombing, I guess, was that her husband canceled his next two business >trips (London this month, Morocco next month) and can now be with her. > >Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated. :) > >Kathy (who didn't cry last night for the first time in days. :)) _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 20:57:04 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Nicole Wolke Subject: Re: OT: Premature Baby Resources? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kathy, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I don't know much about premature Babies, but a friend of mine had twins, one that was only 2 lbs and 8 oz and the other one 2 lbs 4 oz. They are almost a year now, still tiny, but healthy. I think they were born at the beginning of 31st week. I hope everything turns out well for your friend and her little boy! take care Nicole -- AKA CKgroupie on IRC/AIM NKWolke@t-online.de "The Dean Cain News Page" http://members.tripod.de/CKgroupie/index.html ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 15:37:20 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: OT: Premature Baby Resources? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kathy, I don't offhand know of any resources -- I'd do a search, myself. The CDC site usually has good information on just about every health issue there is. For what it's worth, I have friends whose children were born at 24 weeks and are fine. One is a senior varsity soccer player. So, if the baby makes it through the first few weeks, generally speaking, no big problems down the line. If you want some more details from a mother who has been there (although not quite *that* premature(, we could take it to private email. Ann (who found the hardest part of all was leaving the baby in the hospital and going home) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 14:45:15 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Kathy Brown Subject: Re: OT: Premature Baby Resources? On Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:58:36 -0500, Marilyn Puett wrote: >Oh Kathy, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I remember you telling us >about her on IRC the day of the NYC/DC bombings. I guess I'm surprised that >after an earlier PROM they didn't do a suturing of the cervix to keep her >from dilating too soon. Thanks, Marilyn. Actually, they did do a cerclage (sp) -- that's why she's been on bed rest at home for the last few weeks. But a few days ago she woke up bleeding and had an ambulence take her to the hospital. The cerclage had completely ripped out while she slept -- the high risk specialist said he'd never seen anything like it, that her cervix must have been under tremendous pressure to break the thick band he had put in. So at that point, they were stuck -- they couldn't do another cerclage, nor could they try to manipulate the sack any more; they just had to tip her bed back to prevent gravity from doing any more harm and pump her full of meds to help mature the baby's lungs and to stop her from having any contractions. > It's important, though, for them >to name him and bond with him. I remember having feelings that I didn't >want to waste a good name on a baby who might die. And I also resisted >loving him cause I felt that if I didn't love him, then it wouldn't hurt so >much if he didn't make it. But your heart takes over (after the shock of >seeing your baby with an IV in his head and tubes and wires everywhere wears >off) and you love them beyond belief. Yes, I'm sure they will name him, though Kath has always felt that she's wanted to get to know a baby before picking a final name, so who knows how soon it will be. :) The baby they lost to PROM was delivered just this past January, right after Xmas. She delivered him stillborn, and they named him and held him for a long time afterwards. He was only a little over a pound, so ironically, this one will probably seem big by comparison. :) But I know she was deeply affected by that and I have the phone bills to prove it. Three hours at a time of us crying long distance -- AT&T loved us, I'm sure. Thanks for the URLs -- I will check them out! And Nicole and Ann, thanks so much for the encouraging stories! Ann, wow, 24 weeks?! It's amazing what modern medicine can do. :) Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 14:50:18 -0500 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: LaNita Cornwall Subject: Re: OT: Premature Baby Resources? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" My ex-mother-in-law was 2 1/2 pounds when she was born over 70 years ago. Believe me she's made up for it since. :) I hope your friend has one of the happy endings. LaNita LaNita Cornwall Library Systems Assistant Weatherford College Library 225 College Park Drive Weatherford, TX 76086 817 594-5471, ext. 456 http://www.wc.edu/library -----Original Message----- From: Kathy Brown [mailto:kathybrown91@HOME.COM] Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 2:45 PM To: LOISCLA-GENERAL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU Subject: Re: OT: Premature Baby Resources? On Fri, 21 Sep 2001 11:58:36 -0500, Marilyn Puett wrote: >Oh Kathy, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I remember you telling us >about her on IRC the day of the NYC/DC bombings. I guess I'm surprised that >after an earlier PROM they didn't do a suturing of the cervix to keep her >from dilating too soon. Thanks, Marilyn. Actually, they did do a cerclage (sp) -- that's why she's been on bed rest at home for the last few weeks. But a few days ago she woke up bleeding and had an ambulence take her to the hospital. The cerclage had completely ripped out while she slept -- the high risk specialist said he'd never seen anything like it, that her cervix must have been under tremendous pressure to break the thick band he had put in. So at that point, they were stuck -- they couldn't do another cerclage, nor could they try to manipulate the sack any more; they just had to tip her bed back to prevent gravity from doing any more harm and pump her full of meds to help mature the baby's lungs and to stop her from having any contractions. > It's important, though, for them >to name him and bond with him. I remember having feelings that I didn't >want to waste a good name on a baby who might die. And I also resisted >loving him cause I felt that if I didn't love him, then it wouldn't hurt so >much if he didn't make it. But your heart takes over (after the shock of >seeing your baby with an IV in his head and tubes and wires everywhere wears >off) and you love them beyond belief. Yes, I'm sure they will name him, though Kath has always felt that she's wanted to get to know a baby before picking a final name, so who knows how soon it will be. :) The baby they lost to PROM was delivered just this past January, right after Xmas. She delivered him stillborn, and they named him and held him for a long time afterwards. He was only a little over a pound, so ironically, this one will probably seem big by comparison. :) But I know she was deeply affected by that and I have the phone bills to prove it. Three hours at a time of us crying long distance -- AT&T loved us, I'm sure. Thanks for the URLs -- I will check them out! And Nicole and Ann, thanks so much for the encouraging stories! Ann, wow, 24 weeks?! It's amazing what modern medicine can do. :) Kathy ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 21:44:31 +0100 Reply-To: Yvonne Connell Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Yvonne Connell Subject: Re: All Stirred Up, part 7 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Brilliant, Meredith!!! Gave me a much-needed smile :). Yvonne (yvonne@yconnell.fsnet.co.uk) ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 15:58:11 -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: Sister Switch, 4b/? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Carol, I'm loving this please continue this story quickly merry ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2001 00:40:32 +0200 Reply-To: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" Sender: "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Fanfic" From: Ursula Bento Subject: Imbalance part 29 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Phil wrote: "No, no, no..." was the determined reply. "No, you stay *right* there and tell me about this other Lois Lane. There's no way I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight if I don't get this sorted out in my head, so tell me!" Oooh, I know exactly what you mean Lois, I feel the same! This is a wonderful story Phil. Could feel the ocean breeze... Can't = wait for the rest. Unlike Lois I have to go to bed now being none the = wiser. So I'm going to dream up my own version of how this conversation = will continue. And see if it will differ greatly from your version when = I read your next part! Ursie