Thanks for posting it here, Genevieve :)  We've been discussing it
on the fanfic boards, in this thread:
http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000573

I'm actually mentioned in there too, but not by name. ;)


Wendy  :)

--- In LCFic@yahoogroups.com, The Nightsky <TheNightSky@c...> wrote:
> I haven't seen it mentioned here yet, but the archives and Yvonne
get
> mentioned in this article on fanfiction in the Toronto Star.
>
> <http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?
pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1085049205610&cal
l_pageid=970599119419>
>
> It's a really long address; watch out for wrapping.
>
> --
> Genevieve
>    My web page: <http://home.comcast.net/~thenightsky/>
>
> "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary
> safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin

The Hottest Team in Town: 19/22
by Nan Smith

"There wasn't any sign of videocameras this time," Clark said. "I think
it was a genuine accident, but that doesn't mean he won't try again."

"Or, he could have already learned what he thinks he needs to know,"
Lois said. She glanced at the elevator's level indicator. This thing was
moving with its usual speed, or lack thereof. The Planet really needed
to upgrade its elevators, she reflected with a touch of impatience. "I
hope he thinks he knows a lot more about you than he really does," she
continued. "So, do I get another exclusive Superman interview anytime soon?"

Clark grinned. "We've been promising Perry something for a while. Give
him the quotes I gave you on the subway thing and tomorrow we can do
another one -- not that we have a lot more information to put in the
interview."

"We'll wing it," Lois said. "Just the name of your home planet will pack
a wallop -- Superman tells the public he isn't from here, you know."

Clark grimaced at the thought. "Admitting Superman's a little green man?
After Bureau 39?"

"Well," Lois pointed out, "Trask is locked up in a mental ward. There
are probably other nuts out there, but not too many with his level of
firepower. We'll just re-emphasize the fact that you're here to help.
Besides, you're neither little nor green."

"Luthor assumed Superman was an alien," Clark said. "I guess most people
probably do. Still, it's another thing to confirm it." He shrugged. "Oh
well, as long as no one finds out *all* the things about him ..."

"They won't," Lois said. She squeezed his arm lightly. "There's no way I
want the media interfering with our lives that way. There are limits."

He gave her a crooked smile. "You're not going to get any argument from
me." She felt his hand slip around hers for an instant. "I've waited my
whole life for you. I want our life together to be private."

The expression in his eyes made her cheeks burn. It was an incredible
thing to mean so much to a man, especially this man. She started to
speak but the elevator groaned to a stop and he released her hand as the
doors slid open.

A glance at the clock told her that she had less than fifteen minutes
before deadline. She headed for her desk at a half-trot and dropped into
her chair, kicking her bag under the desk with a careless foot. "I have
to hurry. I need to be ready by six. Luthor is sending a car for me."

Clark nodded. "Be careful," he said, softly. "I still don't trust him."

She patted his hand. "Neither do I."

She finished the short article just under the deadline and LANned it to
Perry. Ralph was watching them and as she shut down her computer he
strolled with elaborate casualness up to her desk. "Um ... Lane."

She glanced up. "Yes, Ralph?"

"Just wanted to apologize if I've said anything to offend you," he said,
almost offhandedly. "I didn't mean anything by it. I was just joking."

She glanced sharply at him. "Apology accepted," she said. "Just don't
let it happen again."

"It won't," Ralph assured her. "Uh ... how's the Superman story coming?
Did you get a chance to interview him?" He glanced at the folder in her
hand labeled "Superman" and then back at her face.

Over Ralph's shoulder, she saw Clark's eyebrows fly up. "As a matter of
fact, I did," she said.

"Oh." Ralph nodded. "Good work. I guess I'll uh ... see you tomorrow."

"I guess so," Lois said. She watched him curiously as he walked away.

Clark was also looking after him. "What do you suppose that was all about?"

"Well ... he apologized, I think."

"Maybe Perry finally managed to get through to him," Clark said.

"Maybe." Lois frowned after her coworker. "Jimmy!"

Their junior colleague appeared by her desk in less than a minute. "You
bellowed?"

"What's with Ralph?"

Jimmy snorted. "Perry reamed him up one side and down the other. I ...
uh ... happened to be in the conference room next to his office when the
Chief let him have it."

"Maybe that will end the whole thing," Clark said, hopefully.

Jimmy gave a short laugh. "Don't count on it. He was grousing to me
about how you seem to think Superman's your personal property." He
hesitated. "You didn't leave anything important on your desk a while
ago, did you?"

Lois shook her head. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Well, I was eating lunch at my desk and Ralph sort of strolled up to
your cubicle and I saw him kind of leafing through the notepad you had
lying there."

"He *what*?" Lois consciously kept her voice low, but she saw Jimmy
wince. "Sorry. You think he was snooping in my notes?"

"He might have been. He saw me looking at him and put it down."

"Why that ..." She broke off. "There wasn't anything important there,
actually, but ..."

"Maybe it wasn't what it looked like," Clark suggested. "It's hard to
believe that he'd try to steal your notes. It isn't exactly ethical."

"It's happened before," Lois said.

"Yeah." Clark bit his lip. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Lois said. "Maybe it was innocent, but if he's snooping in
my stuff ..."

"I have an idea," Jimmy said. "If he isn't trying anything shady it
won't matter, but if he is ..."

Lois raised her eyebrows. "What do you have in mind?"

***********

Lois dabbed Chanel No.5 behind her ear and drew a deep breath, glancing
at her watch. It was two minutes to six. Time to meet the car that
Luthor was supposed to be sending for her, down at the entrance of the
apartment house. She slipped into her coat -- too light, actually for
the temperature outside, but the only one appropriate for the opera --
picked up the elegant little bag and left the apartment, locking it
behind her. After all, she reasoned, she wasn't likely to be in the open
long enough for the cold to become a significant factor.

Her timing was almost perfect. As she stepped into the lobby, she saw
Luthor's long, black limousine pull up in front. Trying to appear casual
and unhurried, she opened the door and descended to the street, but her
heart was thumping harder than usual. She was literally walking into the
lion's den. Clark had stated that he was going to keep an eye on her and
she'd told him, with a good deal of, she now admitted privately, false
bravado, that she was a big girl and could take care of herself. She'd
finally compromised in view of his obvious worry for her safety, and
agreed that he should check on her every thirty minutes. Now she
secretly wished that she had gone along with his wish to watch the
entire date from a distance, but it wasn't something that she would ever
admit to anyone else.

An older man, dressed in a neat dark suit, stepped onto the sidewalk.
His hair and beard were silver, his expression that of the perfect
servant but his dark eyes seemed to regard her closely. As skilled as
she was at reading expressions, Lois could decipher nothing of the
thoughts behind that bland mask, but his scrutiny gave her the impulse,
rigorously suppressed, to squirm uneasily. She smiled at him, but didn't
speak. Without changing expression, he silently opened the rear door for
her. She thanked him politely and stepped into the car. He closed the
door gently behind her, still without a word, and a moment later she saw
him get into the driver's seat. The vehicle pulled away from the curb
with the silent, ponderous grace that somehow only seems to apply to the
most luxurious of vehicles. Lois sat back in the seat, looking around at
the elegant interior with a touch of envy. It seemed terribly unfair
that someone like Lex Luthor got to enjoy all this stuff, while a (more
or less) law-abiding citizen like herself had to exist on a far more
modest income. Still, there was nothing to say that she couldn't enjoy
it temporarily, even while she planned to bring the owner of all this
luxury to face the justice that he so richly deserved.

"Are you comfortable, Ms. Lane?" The courteous voice of the driver
startled her out of her thoughts. The cultured, British voice tugged at
her memory, although she couldn't quite place it, and its clipped accent
was as elegant as her surroundings.

"Yes, thank you," she answered.

"Very good. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," the voice
said. "My name is Nigel St. John, and I am Mr. Luthor's butler."

"Thank you," Lois said. The voice was maddeningly familiar. She had
heard it before, and recently, but the occasion eluded her. Where had
she been in a position to hear a British accent? She hadn't been to any
upscale social functions in the last ... With a jolt, the memory came
back with chilling clarity. In Joey McPherson's apartment, the Boss's
representative had spoken with just such an accent. Now she was alert.
This might easily be the same voice. He worked for Lex Luthor, after
all. Was it possible that Luthor would enlist his butler to do his dirty
work?

Well, why not? It would certainly be an asset for someone in Lex
Luthor's business to have a trusted servant as ruthless as he was himself.

Through the glass that separated the rear of the car from the driver's
seat she could see only the back of his head but in the mirror she saw
him glance at her and she thought again that he was looking at her as
she might measure someone of whom she was not quite sure. Sizing her up,
she thought. This man was no mere butler. The cold, clinical examination
was that of an opponent, not a servant. She smiled at his image in the
mirror, a bright, innocent smile that she had carefully cultivated,
designed to keep the persons she interviewed off their guard and more
likely to say things that they might not if they thought she was at all
dangerous.

The butler's expression didn't change, but she saw him return his
attention to the street ahead. A slight mist had begun to collect on the
windshield, the natural result of the icy, winter air outside as it
contacted the warmer windshield. She turned to look out the tinted
windows, noting that the streetlights were coming on. The sun had almost
set and it was growing more difficult to make out details through the
darkened glass. There was nothing really to see, anyhow, but if Nigel
St. John was watching her she didn't want to seem at all on her guard.
She continued to look out the window, trying to seem relaxed. A little
nervousness was probably appropriate, she thought. She'd had dinner with
Luthor only once and the fact that he had asked her to the opera might
indicate to an outside observer that he was showing an interest in her.
It was natural that she would be on her best behavior in such a
circumstance.

The ride to LexTower seemed to her to take longer than usual, and she
was conscious, although she took care not to look again, that the butler
was still glancing occasionally at her reflection in the rearview
mirror. Was he suspicious of her, she wondered, or was he simply
comparing the woman sitting here with her journalistic reputation and
wondering if there was any reason to worry? She didn't see how he could
have any concrete suspicions of her but it would be natural for someone
who served the Boss to be suspicious of an investigative journalist who
had become even loosely acquainted with the kingpin of such a criminal
organization.

Well, tonight she would attempt again to interview Luthor and would
accompany him to the opera and be her most charming self. He would
expect her to try for that exclusive interview, she thought. She was
known to be tenacious, so not to do so would be out of character.

At last, the limousine pulled up to LexTower's main entrance. A doorman
stepped forward to open her door and give her a hand to help her from
the depths of the limousine. Nigel St. John turned the vehicle over to a
uniformed man who was evidently a valet or chauffeur or something, and
led her into the lobby, past the elevators intended for the public and
to Luthor's private elevator. She had come up this elevator for the
first interview with the billionaire, but her escort then had been the
slender, dark man with the turban, who always seemed to her to hover
unobtrusively in the background. Lois glanced at the impassive butler
standing beside her in the elevator. "I'm hoping that Mr. Luthor will
give me a more complete interview this time," she said. "Did he say
anything about it to you, Mr. St. John?"

The man's face didn't change. "No, madam."

"I thought maybe he would have told you," Lois pressed.

Still the man's expression didn't change. "What Mr. Luthor does or does
not do is no business of the help, madam."

"Oh," Lois said. She fell silent.

The swiftly moving elevator deposited them on the top floor of the
penthouse this time, and St. John stood back to let Lois exit first. Lex
Luthor was awaiting her as she stepped into the thickly carpeted
hallway. "Lois, my dear, you look lovely." He took her hand and raised
it to his lips. "I trust Nigel was a satisfactory escort from your
apartment this evening." He seemed to take her smile for assent, for he
turned, tugging her hand into the crook of his arm. "I'm having dinner
served on the terrace this evening. Now that the storm is over, it will
give us a marvelous view."

Recalling the heat lamps when they had danced during her previous visit,
Lois had no doubt that she would not need to fear being cold, and her
guess proved to be correct. Luthor escorted her past the doorway to his
luxurious study, through an elegant sitting room and opened the French
doors that gave onto a wide, tiled terrace.

Where the heat source was she had no idea, but the temperature was
pleasantly warm when they stepped into the open, and she had no
hesitation in removing her coat when a liveried individual appeared to
take it. Lex Luthor held her chair while she took her seat and a moment
later Nigel St. John appeared in a black coat with tails to serve cocktails.

As Lois had expected, Luthor expertly dodged her questions while
appearing to answer them willingly. She elicited very little information
that she didn't already know, and nothing of use. As an interview, this
dinner was a miserable failure, but as a meal it was better than the
dishes served at some of the best restaurants in the world. A dinner
such as this would have taken a large chunk of her paycheck, she
thought, savoring every bite. She wasn't likely to eat food like this
very often, unless Clark was a gourmet cook. Of course, he might be for
all she knew. That dinner he'd cooked the other night had been pretty
good; not in this category, of course, but still a lot better than
anything she could make. Besides, there was plenty about him that she
still didn't know. If he learned at super speed, maybe one of the things
he had learned was how to cook.

"Have I lost your attention?" Luthor asked.

"No, of course not," Lois said. "I was just savoring the food. You have
a wonderful cook, Lex."

He smiled. "Andre is worth every penny of his salary. I wouldn't want to
do without him. So, last time we had dinner together, you said you
wanted another, more in-depth interview with Superman. Did you ever
manage it?"

"Not yet," Lois said. "I talked to him today, though, and he's promised
to try to make time in the next couple of days."

"I hope he keeps his promise," Luthor said. "I want to know more about
someone as powerful as he seems to be. Is he human, do you know?"

Lois shrugged. "He looks human, but those powers of his sure aren't.
That's one of the things I intend to try to find out when I talk to him
again."

"I'm sure that if anyone can, you will," Luthor said, smiling. "I've
seen a small sample of your determination already."

"Oh, I'm not done with you yet, Lex," Lois said. "I'm going to get a
decent interview from you before I'm through."

He smiled. "I suppose the easiest way would be for me to capitulate and
give you your answers. I'll think about it ... if you'll have dinner
with me again."

"That's an easy condition to meet," Lois said. "Dinner with you isn't
exactly torture."

He chuckled. "I'm happy about that. How about next Friday night? The
Metropolitan Ballet is giving a Christmas Eve performance of the
Nutcracker."

"I'd love to," she said, "but I won't be in town. I'm flying out that
evening for a family Christmas get-together."

Luthor smiled. "One has those obligations," he agreed. "The New Year's
Eve Ball at the Lexor will be the following Friday. Perhaps I could
prevail upon you to allow me to be your escort?"

She hesitated. "It would be wonderful, but I would think you'd take
someone more socially important than a mere reporter."

He smiled slightly. "The conventions of society don't trouble me
greatly. I shall certainly enjoy the evening considerably more if you
are my companion rather than some feather-headed female without a
thought in her head beyond her latest hairstyle. I prefer a woman with
both independence and intelligence, such as you."

It was hard not to feel flattered at his practiced compliments. In
person, the charm and mystique of Lex Luthor had its effect, but knowing
the kind of person with which she was dealing, Lois was in no danger of
losing her head. Still, there was the old saying "Keep your friends
close and your enemies closer". For a moment, she wondered if that was
what he was doing as well. "In that case, how can I refuse?"

"Excellent. Then it's a date." He raised his wineglass to her in a
half-toast.

Nigel St. John had appeared beside the table while they talked. Luthor
glanced casually at him. "Yes, Nigel?"

"You have a phone call, sir." The butler's face was as impassive as
ever. "From France." He presented a cellular phone to Luthor.

"France?" The billionaire frowned slightly. "I don't recall ..." he
shrugged and picked up the phone. "Luthor." He listened for several
seconds, spoke several sentences in French and snapped the device closed.

Lois raised her eyebrows at his expression. "Is something the matter?"

He handed the phone back to his butler. "Apparently a wrong number.
Someone wished to speak with a Yvette. He was under the impression that
I was her father."

"You're joking," Lois said. "How did he get your number?"

He gave a small chuckle. "It doesn't happen often, but sometimes they
filter through," he said. "No matter how many layers separate one from
the ordinary, nothing protects one completely from Murphy's Law."

"That's for sure," Lois said. "Murphy's Law has interfered with plenty
of my investigations. Sometimes I think the old guy has me on his list
for special attention. For instance," she said daringly, "I'd barely got
my car back from the repair shop and this afternoon the electrical
system developed a short. Clark -- that's my reporting partner -- fixed
it for me, but it just goes to show."

"What was the problem?" Luthor asked. In spite of its tone, the question
was not an idle one. Lois sipped from her wineglass.

"Clark's had some experience fixing engines on the farm, I guess," she
said. "He discovered somebody had planted a bug in my Jeep and the wire
had come partly loose. It was shorting out other parts of the system. It
wouldn't be the first time."

"You've had spying devices placed in your Jeep before?" Luthor asked.

"Oh, not in the Jeep," Lois said, off-handedly. "Once in my apartment,
and a couple of times on my computer. Perry figures it's probably the
Whisper or the Dirt Digger again."

"Does this kind of thing happen often?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Not too often, but sometimes. It's one of the hazards of
journalism."

"You don't seem upset."

She smiled. "You didn't hear me earlier when Clark found it. They were
probably trying to dig up information about Superman. That's the only
really big story I'm working on at the moment, but since I've already
printed everything I know, they can't have got much."

He smiled. "Well, it's just as well in that case. But don't tell me that
a journalist like you is only working on one story."

"No, but none of the others is anywhere as big as the Superman story,"
she said. "Clark and I were thinking of doing an expose on the way the
city has been scrimping on infrastructure maintenance, but we're only in
the information gathering stage at the moment."

"I see." He glanced up as the dark, turbaned man appeared to remove
their dinner plates. "I know you normally don't have dessert, but my
spies tell me that you like chocolate. I'm sure you won't want to hurt
Andre's feelings by turning down his Italian chocolate mousse?"

**********
(tbc)



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The Hottest Team in Town: 22/22
by Nan Smith

"You know," William Henderson said, in his most expressionless voice,
"when I brought you into this case, I hadn't quite expected that you'd
throw yourself into it literally. Mud wrestling?"

"Watch it, Henderson," Lois said. She picked straw from her hair and
wiped at her face, but only succeeded in smearing the dirt a little
further. Flakes of drying mud flicked off onto the carpet. "My sense of
humor doesn't extend to ruined dresses and shoes. This thing cost me
nearly two hundred dollars."

Clark, still in his Superman guise, intervened hastily. "If you're
finished, Inspector, I thought I'd give Ms. Lane a lift home."

"I'm finished for now." The corners of Henderson's mouth quivered
infinitesimally. "And Lois ..."

She scowled at him. "Any more mud jokes and you're a dead man."

His expression dissolved into a slight smile. "After seeing Joey, I
might take you seriously. Actually, I was going to say thank you ... and
I'm glad you're alive." His smile widened slightly, an expression that
for Henderson was the equivalent of a broad grin. "Joey is going to be a
big help, since he seems to realize that the only chance he has of
surviving now is to cooperate fully. We've already got a full
confession, and he was talking up a storm when I left. I have the
feeling we're going to be listening to him in shifts."

"Are you sure you can protect him?" Lois asked. "I mean, if Luthor has
his spies in the Department ..."

"Let the DA and me worry about that," Henderson said. "We're holding him
as a material witness for the moment, but the thing Joey is really
afraid of is Luthor finding out where he is. As for Luthor's tentacles
in the Police Department, let's say I've recently received some new
information about who to watch and it fits with what I've suspected for
some time. The fellow who brought it to me said you'd vouch for him. Do
you know a Bobby Bigmouth?"

Lois gaped at him and then nodded. "I certainly do. Bobby'll eat you out
of house and home but he's completely reliable."

"I can handle that," Henderson said. "We have a small discretionary fund
for informants and such. I'm glad to know you trust him and as a matter
of fact, I owe him a Chinese dinner. Needless to say, however, he
doesn't want his name connected with this thing." A corner of his mouth
turned up. "Go home and get a shower, Lois. And thanks."

Lois nodded and turned toward the door. A thought made her pause and
turn back. "How's Luthor doing? And any word on the chauffeur?"

"Luthor will recover," the Inspector said. "Joey came close but he
wasn't a good enough shot. The bullet nicked a major blood vessel. They
took him into surgery to stop the bleeding right after Superman got him
to the hospital and he'll be there for a few days, but it takes more
than a bullet in the shoulder to kill Luthor. We're going to have to
take him down the conventional way." He shook his head. "As for the
chauffeur, we found him. As far as we can tell, he wasn't involved in
it. He'd been hit over the head, tied up, gagged and stuffed in a
cleaning closet in the Opera House basement. He was treated and released
down at the emergency room."

"Lucky for him," Superman said. "I'd hate to be in his spot if he'd had
anything to do with it."

"You mean, Joey was the chauffeur after the performance -- and neither
of us noticed?" Lois gave a disgusted snort. "But why didn't he just
wait for us and kill us when we got out of the car? Why all the dramatics?"

"The interrogator asked him that," Henderson said. "Apparently he'd
stashed the rifle in the orchard. He couldn't carry it with him for
obvious reasons, and the rear windows of the limo -- and the partition
itself -- are bullet proof, anyway. Luthor may be a crime boss, but he's
not a fool."

"No, he isn't. He's a sociopath, who doesn't mind risking other people's
lives, but he's very careful of his own." Superman turned to Lois. "If
you're ready, Ms. Lane ..."

"I guess I am." Lois glanced back at the Inspector. "See you later,
Henderson."

"You'll be hearing from me," Henderson said. "But for the sake of my
grey hairs, try to be careful, will you?"

**********

"Are you warm enough?" Clark held his partner close to his chest as he
flew her through the night air toward her apartment.

"More or less." Lois wiped at her face. "I wish I'd had a chance to wash
the rest of this off. Things have been so busy I barely had time to grab
a paper towel and get the worst of it off my face."

"We'll be back at your place in a couple of minutes," he said. "Lois,
how do you suppose Bobby knew that Henderson was our contact? And how
did he know Henderson was trying to figure out which cops were on
Luthor's payroll? And," he added for good measure, "how did he know who
they were?"

Lois shrugged and dried mud cracked and crumbled from her clothing.
"Bobby somehow always knows these things, Clark. It's why he's worth a
dozen ordinary informants. Sometimes I think the man's psychic." She
scowled at him. "And by the way, *Superman*, how did *you* know I was in
trouble? I thought we'd agreed that you'd check on me every half hour or
so."

"I have a sort of sixth sense about you," he said. "Besides, I was
worried. You were right, though. You handled it without my help."

The scowl disappeared. "Actually, I was awfully glad to see you," she
conceded. "And besides, you flying us in the limo was the easiest way to
get us all back to Metropolis at the same time."

As she spoke, they approached her fifth floor window and Lois reached
out to slide it open. Clark set her carefully on the rug and stepped
through after her. "I guess I'd better go and let you take your shower,"
he said, "your sister will be back any time."

"No she won't," Lois said. "I didn't get a chance to tell you. She's in
Italy with Brian Chow until after Christmas."

His jaw dropped. "Are you kidding?"

"No." She reached up to pat his cheek. "Thanks for coming after me,
Clark. Why don't you make some tea while I get cleaned up? We haven't
really had a chance to talk about what happened. Besides, I haven't had
you to myself since you proposed to me last night."

His face lit up with that smile that always seemed to brighten the room.
"Okay. I'll have it ready when you're done."

**********

Lois spent longer in the shower than she had intended. The hot water
felt unbelievably good after running around in the cold and mud for half
the night. She washed her hair three times before she was satisfied and
soaped every inch of her body twice. Feeling clean at last, she stepped
out of the shower and toweled off while examining her face in the mirror.

Except for a small bruise on one cheek, she looked all right she
decided, and she'd got more than bruises at one time or another in
pursuit of a story. She towel-dried her hair and combed it out, and
decided that if Clark didn't like her without her makeup, he'd have to
lump it.

In her bedroom, she located a set of flannel pajamas and a thick robe
and completed the ensemble with the bunny slippers that Lucy had given
her as a joke birthday gift two years ago. These were necessary, as her
feet were scratched and bruised from the rocks and other hard or
stickery objects that she had encountered in the field when she had
bested Joey McPherson. Ready at last, she walked into the small living
room, to find her partner reclining on his back in the air in front of
the television, watching a football game, his feet propped up on nothing
exactly as if he were seated on a completely substantial piece of
furniture. Judging by the colors of the uniforms, she thought, it was
probably the game that the Metropolis Tigers had played against whoever
this evening.

"Who's winning?" she asked.

He glanced around, caught sight of her and promptly fell two feet to the
rug. She hesitated. Maybe the outfit hadn't been such a good idea after all.

"Wow!" he said. "You look incredible!"

It was hardly the remark that she'd expected from him and she was
momentarily struck speechless; then she began to giggle.

He got to his feet, still staring at her. "What?" he asked.

"You!" she said. "Not too many guys would think much of this outfit." An
instant's doubt struck her. "You're not using your x-ray vision, are you?"

He blinked. "Of course not. I wouldn't do that. You look great, honey,
honestly. I just ..." He broke off and to her surprise blushed dark red.

"You just what?" she asked, very curious now.

"Well ... It just sort of flashed through my mind that you looked really
comfortable in those ... even with me here. Almost like we were already
married," he explained. "You have no idea how much I've hoped that would
happen, someday. Not that I don't want to see you in a few of those
other outfits, like the ones at Frederick's of Hol --" He broke off and
went even redder.

It was reassuring to know that he thought of her that way, too. "And you
will," she said, "on our wedding night. In the meantime, you'll just
have to put up with these."

"I can do that," he said with a grin. "How about some hot chocolate? I
figured it would be more appropriate than tea at this time of night so I
made a quick run to a market that I know for supplies."

"There are markets open at two-thirty in the morning?" she said, a
little surprised.

"It isn't two-thirty in the morning in London," he explained. "Why don't
you sit down and I'll get you a cup."

She limped over to the sofa and sat down. He frowned. "What's wrong with
your feet?"

"I was running around in that field barefoot," she said.

"Oh. Let me get the hot chocolate and then I want to look at them."

"Clark, it's nothing."

"Maybe, but a friend of mine got a splinter in his foot when I was a kid
and nearly died of blood poisoning. I want to be sure your feet are okay."

He looked so worried that she gave in. "Okay."

Which was how she ended up sitting on the sofa, sipping a cup of hot
chocolate while he intently examined the soles of her feet.

"You've got some splinters here," he said. "Hold still. I'm going to get
them out."

"Let me finish the hot chocolate first," she said. "This is bound to hurt."

"Okay," he said. "It won't hurt, though. I'm going to chill the surface
first and then take them out with a pin and microscopic vision. You
won't feel a thing."

"Really?" She swallowed the last of the chocolate. "What do you want me
to do?"

"Lie down on your stomach," he instructed, "and just hold still."

"Not on this couch. Is it okay if I sit on the floor?"

"Sure. Just a minute while I get a blanket and pillow."

"Clark, I can --"

"I can do it," he said. A split second later he was spreading a blanket
on the floor. While she was arranging herself comfortably, he whisked
away and returned with a straight pin. "Okay, I've sterilized this with
my heat vision. I'm going to chill the bottoms of your feet. Just hold
still."

Five minutes later, he was dabbing the tiny cuts with hydrogen peroxide.
"There, that should do it. I zapped each cut with a little heat vision
to kill the bacteria, just for good measure. You shouldn't have any
trouble."

"If I do I'll call you, Doctor Kent," she told him. "You did a 'super'
job. It didn't hurt a bit."

He gave her a boost to her feet and a few seconds later all the signs of
his work had disappeared. "There. Now, since it's nearly three AM, I
think I'd better let you get some sleep. Is Perry expecting us in early
tomorrow?"

"I called from the Precinct and told him we'd be in about one. I also
phoned in the story about the attempt on the life of Metropolis's most
honored philanthropist and businessman, so we're all set."

"Good." He wrapped his arms around her and for several long seconds
there was no sound in the apartment. Then he let her go. "I'll be by
about noon with some breakfast for both of us."

"That sounds good, but ..."

"I'll let myself out." He nodded at the window. "Good night, honey."

She slid her arms around his neck. "You don't get away that easily,
buster. I'm tired, but I'm not sleepy yet. How about you sit with me for
a little while? I'm sure we can think of something to do to pass the time."

"Are you sure you don't want to get some sleep?"

"In a little while." She tugged him down on the sofa. "I went to dinner
with Luthor, but that was business. My sister is in Italy having the
time of her life and the guy I really wanted to date is standing right
here, and I'm going to make the most of it ..."

**********

Perry White looked up as the elevator doors opened in time to see the
reporting team of Lane and Kent emerge. Lois was wearing flat shoes for
the first time that he could ever remember, and looked absurdly petite
beside the large form of her partner. It was hard to believe that the
night before she had disabled a man who had tried to kill both Lex
Luthor and her.

Kent held her desk chair for her as she sank into it, moving with
slightly more caution than she usually did, and Perry recalled the brief
explanation of her evening's activities that she had given him the night
before. The look she cast at Kent as he bent over to ask her a question
made Perry raise his eyebrows. Lane and Kent? Well, there was no law
against office romances, but he hoped it wouldn't ruin a reporting
partnership that was already showing signs of being one of the most
successful in the history of the Planet.

Jimmy Olsen crossed the office to Lois's desk and the three of them held
a short conference. Lois said something that made Kent's eyebrows fly up
and Jimmy nodded and made a thumbs-up gesture. For a moment Perry
frowned. The gleeful expression on Olsen's face was a sure sign of
trouble for someone.

Olsen turned and headed for his own small desk and Perry saw him
rummaging through a drawer. He returned to Lois's desk with a sheet of
paper, which he ostentatiously laid in front of Lois, and the three of
them bent over it. Lois nodded and put it in the folder that Perry knew
she had been using to amass her information on Superman then made
several notes on the writing pad on her desk. The three of them
continued to speak for another minute, and he could almost sense the
excitement in their attitudes.

What were they up to, he wondered. It boded well that Lane and Kent were
so enthused about whatever Jimmy had given them. Hopefully, it would
translate into a headline for the paper in the near future.

He wasn't the only one who had noticed the excitement of the Planet's
top reporting team. Ralph was watching them from his favorite spot by
the water cooler, and Perry sighed. Ralph was a decent reporter when he
was willing to put the effort into his work, but he was no Lane or Kent,
and he should just stick to what he did best. Trying to do what Lane and
Kent did was bound to get him into trouble. Not too many could handle
the stuff they had managed to get their teeth into in the short time
Kent had been here. He and Lois just seemed to complement each other's
style in a way that led to the big stories. Like Lois, Kent must have
reporting in his blood.

Well, someone needed to follow up on last night's little adventure.
Hopefully, Lois had enough of an in with Luthor that she could wangle an
interview. He went to the door of his office and opened it. "Lane! Kent!
In my office, now!"

**********

"We're going to follow it up," Lois said a little belligerently. "But ..."

"An attempt on the life of Metropolis's most prominent citizen is news,
Lois," Perry said. "People are going to want to know what happened. I
want all the background on this material witness that Jimmy can find,
and a statement from the DA ..."

"Chief, you'll get a follow-up." Clark cast a hasty glance at Lois.
"It's just that we need to be careful. Joey's in danger after what
happened."

"In danger?" Perry's eyebrows rose. "Why?"

"We can't talk about it," Lois said. "It will all come out eventually,
and we've been promised an exclusive when it does, but if we screw up
what Henderson's trying to do, it could all come crashing down. We'll do
a general follow-up but any specifics on Joey have to be kept out of it."

"I don't suppose this has anything to do with that business corruption
deal you were talking about?" Perry raised an eyebrow at them.

"Yes, it does," Lois said. "And you still don't want to know about it,
Chief. It's not safe." She glanced at Clark. "Besides, we have an
appointment to interview Superman again, and we don't want to be late."

Perry sat up straight. "Why didn't you say so? Get goin'!"

"On our way." Clark opened the door for his partner and Lois breathed a
sigh of relief. Clark looked down at her as they left their editor's
office and the door swung shut behind them. "Where do you want to go for
this interview?"

"Your place," Lois said as they headed for the elevator. "Besides," she
added, keeping her voice low, "we need to get out of here to give Ralph
his chance. And then we might see if Luthor's official spokesperson has
any comment about last night."

"Two to one he'll tell you that 'Mr. Luthor is resting comfortably'."

"Which gives us no information at all but we can't expect anything more
than that," Lois said. "We'll just have to write something about how Mr.
Luthor is expected to make a full recovery and the police are
investigating or something like that. I'll get hold of Henderson for an
official statement, but for now, the less said, the better."

"I agree," Clark said. He rang for the elevator. "This investigation
isn't going to be over for a while yet, but it definitely got a big
boost last night. We'll ..." He broke off, raising his head. "Oh oh."

"Let's go," Lois said at once. "The interview can wait for a little while."

Together, they ducked through the door to the stairs.

**********

The morning edition of the Daily Planet lay on Lois's desk. The headline
read: "He's Here to Help" by Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and splashed
across the front page was a spectacular photo of Superman holding up the
front end of an eighteen wheeler with one hand as emergency workers cut
the occupants of a small car free of the twisted mass of metal that had
been their vehicle a short time before.

Below was a vivid account of the rescue, and beside it the interview
with Superman, by Lois Lane. Perry White tapped the paper with one
finger. "This is great, kids. I had a feeling about the two of you when
I partnered you up. Glad to see I was right."

"This is nothing, Chief," Lois said. "Before we're done, we're going to
be the hottest team in town. Wait and see."

Their editor grinned. "I'm glad to see that a lack of confidence isn't
going to get in your way. You two keep this up, and I might have to
agree with you." He clapped Clark on the back. "Good work, both of you."

As the editor headed back toward his office, Jimmy picked up the paper.
"I like the quote," he said. "'Let there be no mistake. Metropolis is my
home now. I'm here to stay.' That should make life interesting."

"Speaking of interesting," Lois asked. "Did Ralph bite?"

Jimmy shrugged, looking innocent. "Well, he wandered over to your desk a
little while after you left. I didn't dare watch him too closely, but
before he took off last night he was bragging about having a big
surprise for us today, so I think he might have. I haven't seen any sign
of him so far this morning."

"He's probably still wandering around the sewage reclamation facility,
looking for Superman's ship," Lois said. "I was there once a few years
ago, and I can tell you it's easy to get thoroughly lost there. With
luck, he'll be scratching mosquito bites for a while."

Jimmy snorted. "Maybe it'll teach him something about ethics."

As he spoke the elevator doors opened. Ralph Finkelstein stepped out and
it was immediately apparent to Clark that he was not happy. His clothing
was filthy and stained and he was carrying a dirty, plastic bag in one
hand.

Clark's sensitive nose picked up the smell long before any of his
colleagues did. Ralph came down the ramp with a purposeful stride,
straight toward Lois's desk. Clark straightened up. The expression on
Ralph's face bordered on the murderous, and if he was angry enough to do
anything stupid, Clark wanted to be ready to intercept him.

Ralph marched up to Lois's desk and slapped the item he was carrying
onto its surface.

"I hope you got a good laugh out of this," he snarled, "because it
wasn't funny!"

Lois stared at him, the picture of outraged innocence. "What the devil
are you talking about?" she demanded. "Get that *thing* off my desk!"

"You know damned well what I'm talking about!" Ralph's voice rose to a
level of the near-hysterical, oblivious to the fact that everyone in the
newsroom was staring at him. Even Perry had paused in the door of his
office to watch. He ripped open the plastic bag to produce an object,
which he shoved within an inch of Lois's nose. It was a plastic Godzilla
doll with a red "S" painted on the chest. "It wasn't *funny*!"

Clark grinned. "Oh, I don't know, Finkelstein," he drawled. "It looks
pretty funny to me."

Jimmy underlined the comment with a cough that sounded suspiciously like
a laugh.

Ralph turned to glare at him. "You were both in this," he said. "Just
wait, Kent. You're going to be sorry."

"I wouldn't," Clark said. He let his grin diminish until it was only the
faintest of smiles. "If you brought that back, then I know where you got
it, and there's only one way you would have found it. And after all, we
didn't mean anything by it. We were just joking."

Ralph opened his mouth to speak but Perry's voice cut across whatever he
had been about to say. "What's goin' on here?"

"Nothing, Chief," Lois said. "We were just having a little discussion.
Right, Ralph?"

Ralph glared at her, closed his mouth and nodded. "That's right. A
little discussion."

"Hmm." Perry looked sharply at Lois and back at Ralph. "Well, go get
cleaned up. You smell to high heaven." He turned and headed back toward
his . As the door closed behind him Clark heard his boss laugh.

"You really do smell, Ralph," Lois said, kindly. "You'd better do what
Perry said. And next time, keep your hands off my Superman folder. You
never know what you might find in it."

Ralph continued to stare at his three colleagues for the space of twenty
seconds, then he appeared to wilt. Without a word, he turned and
shuffled toward the elevator.

**********

Epilogue

Lex Luthor reclined in his luxurious king-size bed in the penthouse
apartment of LexTower. His shoulder throbbed dully, and he glanced at
the clock by his bedside table, mentally counting the moments until it
was safe to take another dose of the pain medication that the doctor had
prescribed for him.

It would be only a few minutes. He lay back against the mound of pillows
and glanced at the morning edition of the Daily Planet that lay on the
table's surface.

Lois had scored her interview, as she had told him she would. The woman
was remarkable -- incredible. Never before had he met someone like her.
She was beautiful -- perhaps not so beautiful as some of the lovelies
with whom he had associated in the past, but the character in her every
expression made up for that.

She had saved his life.

He was very glad now that his assassin had not succeeded in killing Lois
Lane. If he had, Luthor would have missed the opportunity of meeting
this astounding woman. She attracted him as no other woman ever had in
the past, with her intelligence, her drive, her character, her beauty
and her spirit. She might be a little too independent, but given time he
could probably manage to bring that under control. It would add spice to
the chase, in any event.

Making up his mind, he pushed the call button beside his bed. A moment
later, Nigel St. John entered. "You wished to see me, sir?"

"Yes," Luthor said. "Has there been any progress?"

"No, sir. Apparently the police are holding someone as a material
witness, but our people haven't been able to identify this person."

Luthor frowned. "I trust you haven't given up."

"No sir."

"Good. Now, I believe you told me that Ms. Lane's clothing was ruined
after the events of night before last. I want you to replace it. And
send a bouquet of two dozen red roses to her at her office."

"Very well, sir. Do you wish to send a card?"

"Yes. Bring it to me so that I can write her a private message. See to
it personally, Nigel."

"Yes sir. Will that be all, sir?"

"Has there been any progress on that other matter?"

"No sir. The boys have apparently gone to ground, somewhere. All of our
people are looking for them. As soon as one of them surfaces, we'll be
notified."

"And the diary?"

"No sign of it at all, sir. It may be considered too hot to handle."

"Keep looking, Nigel. If the boys have it, all to the good. If someone
else has it and is holding onto it for insurance, find him and dispose
of him. I want it back."

"Yes sir," Nigel said.

Luthor leaned his head back against the pillow. "Send the nurse in when
you leave."

"At once sir." Nigel inclined his head slightly, turned and silently
left the room.

The End

(To be continued in the next story. Stay tuned.)

-


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Forever and All Eternity: Lullaby

©Laura Davies 2004 brightfeather1.geo@...

Disclaimer: Lois and Clark belong to Warner Brothers and DC comics,
not me.  Kiley and Joseph, however, *are* mine.  The song, "Godspeed"
also does not belong to me; it belongs to the Dixie Chicks.  Any
copying of this story will not be tolerated.  This story takes place
sometime before Forever and All Eternity I: Fate.

Author's Note: My thanks to my beta readers, for looking at this
little piece of life at the Kents' house.

~*~*~*~

Clark finished tucking a very sleepy Kiley into bed.  "Daddy?" she said.

"What is it, baby?" he asked.

The child yawned.  "Love you.  Can we go flying, Daddy?"

"Tomorrow, sweetheart," he promised.

"Okay," she said with another yawn, then snuggled down into the soft
bed.  Clark gave the blankets a final tug, kissed her on the cheek,
then turned on the nightlight and left.  He lifted himself into the
air and floated down the hallway.  He could hear Lois singing softly
to Joseph, so he floated noiselessly down the hall to the little boy's
room.

Clark went inside and stood behind the rocking chair to listen.

"The rocket racer's all tuckered out, Superman's in pajamas on the
couch…" Lois sang quietly as Joseph's eyes finally drifted shut for a
final time.

Clark leaned over the arm of the rocking chair.  "No he's not," he
whispered into her ear.  "Superman's right here, watching his
beautiful, gorgeous, sexy wife sing their son to sleep."

Lois smiled.  "Why don't you put him to bed," she suggested.  "It's
getting harder to lean over the crib again."

Clark carefully picked up the sleeping toddler and snuck in a kiss.
"Sure," he said as he walked over to the crib and laid Joseph in it.
He covered the sleeping child with a quilt that Martha had made for
him, then rejoined Lois.

Lois stood up, then leaned against him to watch Joseph sleep.  "It's
still hard to believe that we're going to have a new baby so soon,"
she said with a sigh.

"I know," Clark admitted.  "It would've been nice if Joseph had gotten
out of diapers before we got pregnant again."  He laid his hand on her
stomach.

Lois covered his hand with hers as the baby kicked.  "Sometimes it
feels like we've been on diaper duty forever," she admitted.

Clark grinned and caressed her stomach.  "It's only another two years
or so," he said teasingly.  "Luckily, we have Superman's superspeed
diaper changing service."

Lois reached for his hand and led him towards the stairs.  "How did
Henderson take it when you told him that Superman is cutting back
more?" she asked.

Clark laughed.  "He said that he hoped that Ultrawoman and I were
having fun raising kids," he said.  "He said that he figured that if
Kryptonian babies were as much of a handful as human kids, then he
wished us luck."

"Umm--Clark?   We've been so careful since the tabloid scandal; how
did he figure…"

Clark blushed.  "I kind of forgot to take off my ring one day, so he
asked if I was married.  I *couldn't* lie to him, so I told him that I
married Ultrawoman, and since she's *you*…" He picked Lois up and flew
downstairs.

"Clark!" she protested.

"Well, it seemed like the safest thing to do," he said defensively.

Lois sat down on the couch and pulled him down next to her.  "I can
walk downstairs by myself, Clark; I'm not complaining about the
other."  A mischievous gleam came into her eyes.  "Actually, that's a
good way to keep all those crazy women from attacking my husband," she
said with a grin.  "After the baby's born, we get Dr. Klein to
transfer some of your powers temporarily to me, and Superman and
Ultrawoman appear in public as a couple.  *Then* all those women out
there who seem to like chasing you will leave you alone," she said
with a grin.

Clark drew her close to his side and wrapped his arm around her.
"Doesn't matter," he said, his voice growing husky.  "I'm taken--I've
got the only one I want; I married the most beautiful, gorgeous, sexy
woman in the world."  He captured her lips with his in a sweet kiss.

"Clark," Lois breathed as she came up for air.  "Even though I'm fat?"

"You're even more beautiful when you're pregnant," he said as he
caressed her slightly-swollen tummy.

Clark stood up and pulled her into his arms.  He gave her a lascivious
smile and leaned in for another kiss.  "Want me to prove it to you?"
he asked with a grin as he picked her up and started walking towards
the stairs.

Lois laughed and tugged his head down to kiss him thoroughly.  Clark
hurried up the stairs and into their bedroom.  The door shut behind
them with a soft click, leaving the house in the peaceful silence of
night, interrupted occasionally by the sound of soft giggles, gasps,
and groans that emanated from the closed door.

(Never) The End.

Hi FoLCs!

Here is this week's update of new fic (gathered
typically through Thursday evening)!  Links on the L&C
Message Board Fanfic Index page at
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/lnc.html


New stories:
The Towel! by Chaabreh


New part(s) posted:
Bolt, From Dubuque by Cindy Leuch
City by the Sea by StopQuitDont
The Hottest Team in Town by Nan Smith
Long, Strange Trip by Thirtysomething (AKA Leela)


Completed stories:
City by the Sea by StopQuitDont


New TOCs for Current Stories:
None


New/Revised TOCs for Completed Stories including
Comments folders:
None


Added to the Archive:
None

There will be no update next week, but we'll be back
the following week with a complete listing.

Enjoy!
Dawn & the Index Crew





__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Friends.  Fun.  Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger.
http://messenger.yahoo.com/

Hi FoLCs!

Here are this week's updates of new fic (gathered
typically through Thursday evening)!  Links at
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/mbindex.html



New stories:
Don't Be a Stranger by Wendy Richards
Fanfic Bloopers That You Make Up by Various
The Lover After Me by Saskia
The Towel! by Chaabreh


New part(s) posted:
City by the Sea by StopQuitDont
Getting to Know Them by Caryn Dunsmore
The Hottest Team in Town by Nan Smith
Just One Bad Day Away by Michael
Long, Strange Trip by Thirtysomething
The Longest Road: The Roads They Walk Alone by
Raconteur


Completed stories:
City by the Sea by StopQuitDont
The Lover After Me by Saskia


New TOCs for Current Stories:
Don't Be a Stranger by Wendy Richards
The Lover After Me by Saskia
The Towel! by Chaabreh


New TOCs for Completed Stories including Comments
folders:
None


Added to the Archive:
Image by Meredith Knight
That Blind Sister of Mine by Tank Wilson

There will be no update next week, but we'll be back
the following week with a complete listing.

Enjoy!
Dawn & the Index Crew





__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Friends.  Fun.  Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger.
http://messenger.yahoo.com/

Hi,

Does anyone know what has happened to the L&C Fanfic Archive?  It seems to
have disappeared.

Yours Jenni

Jenni

The Archive seem to have been down for several days. Notified Labby. No
response.

Take care.

Phil

John Debbage wrote:

>  Hi,
>
> Does anyone know what has happened to the L&C Fanfic Archive?  It
> seems to
> have disappeared.
>
> Yours Jenni
>
>                    Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
                         ADVERTISEMENT
                          [click here]

>
>     ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>    * To visit your group on the web, go to:
>      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LCFic/
>
>    * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>      LCFic-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>    * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
>      Service.
>
--
________________________________________________________________________________\
___

Disciplining children is a lot like taking out the garbage. If you don't
do it, you have no right to complain later when something smells.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the info.  I didn't realise until this morning that it was down.
  It does seem a bit worrying that there has been no response.  I hope that
we haven't lost all those great stories.

Mind you, I have every faith in LabRat & Co, I'm sure they're busy sorting
things out.

Yours Jenni

Yeah, the site's down... Lauren posted on the fanfic message boards, so I'll
just quote her:

>>Hi, Folcs,

A lot of you have noticed that the archive is not up right now. According to
the tech support guy I talked to at Interland, our "IP address has become
unbound from the server." It's not something he could fix right away, but he
started a support ticket on the problem and said it might be fixed sometime
on Sunday.

In the meantime, we've dusted off the old mirror, so you can get this week's
update, along with the last few months' worth of stories. Here's the URL:

Lois & Clark Fanfic Mirror - http://www.win.net/lcw/fanfic

Apologies to those who wanted to read older stories today. Here's hoping the
site is back up by the time you read this.

Best wishes,

-- Lauren <<


Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam@...
http://www.lcficmbs.com

"They didn't go for it!"
"What didn't they go for?"
"The name I suggested."
"For the ship?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah.  Sir... we *can't* call it the Enterprise."
--O'Neill & Carter discuss Earth's first starship
--Stargate SG-1, "Unnatural Selection"
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Debbage" <106532.433@...>
To: <LCFic@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2004 4:57 AM
Subject: Re: [LCFic] The Fanfic Archive


> Hi Phil,
>
> Thanks for the info.  I didn't realise until this morning that it was
down.
>  It does seem a bit worrying that there has been no response.  I hope that
> we haven't lost all those great stories.
>
> Mind you, I have every faith in LabRat & Co, I'm sure they're busy sorting
> things out.
>
> Yours Jenni
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

Thanks for the update, Pam. :)
And this is a reminder of all the hard work Lauren has put in to keep the
Archive up and running.   We'll wait patiently, and thank-you for all your
efforts, Lauren. :)

carol

Hi FoLCs!

Here is the update of new fic (gathered typically
through Thursday evening)!  Links on the L&C Message
Board Fanfic Index page at
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/lnc.html


New stories:
Forever and All Eternity: Lullaby by Laura Davies
Three by Wanda Detroit
Twins by Nan Smith
What a Fish Sees by Anna B the Greek


New part(s) posted:
Bolt, From Dubuque by Cindy Leuch
The Hottest Team in Town by Nan Smith
Long, Strange Trip by Thirtysomething (AKA Leela)
The Towel! by Chaabreh


Completed stories:
Bolt, From Dubuque by Cindy Leuch
Forever and All Eternity: Lullaby by Laura Davies
The Hottest Team in Town by Nan Smith
Three by Wanda Detroit
The Towel! by Chaabreh
What a Fish Sees by Anna B the Greek


New TOCs for Current Stories:
None


New/Revised TOCs for Completed Stories including
Comments folders:
None


Added to the Archive:
Fly Hard - Stuck with a Vengeance: Plot Untwist by
Jill  (Posted Under Plot Untwist Challenge)


Enjoy!
Dawn & the Index Crew




__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Friends.  Fun.  Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger.
http://messenger.yahoo.com/

Hi FoLCs!

Here are this week's updates of new fic (gathered
typically through Thursday evening)!  Links at
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/mbindex.html



New stories:
Lois' Little Problem (Posted under Story Idea) by Tank
Wilson
One Strange Year by Queen of the Capes (aka Mary
Potts)
Our Lady of Ni by Shadow (aka Jen)
1,000 Words (A Drabble Fic Challenge) by Wanda Detroit

Three by Wanda Detroit
Touring Clark's World by Tipiwoman (aka Nancy V. Sont)

Twins by Nan Smith
Wanda and Kent (Sequel to Kent Stu) by Emily H
What a Fish Sees by Anna B the Greek


New part(s) posted:
Don't Be a Stranger by Wendy Richards
Getting to Know Them by Caryn Dunsmore
The Hottest Team in Town by Nan Smith
Long, Strange Trip by Thirtysomething (AKA Leela)
The Longest Road: The Roads They Walk Alone by
Raconteur
The Towel! by Chaabreh


Completed stories:
The Hottest Team in Town by Nan Smith
Lois' Little Problem (Posted under Story Idea) by Tank
Wilson
Our Lady of Ni by Shadow (aka Jen)
1,000 Words (A Drabble Fic Challenge) by Wanda Detroit

Three by Wanda Detroit
The Towel! by Chaabreh
Wanda and Kent (Sequel to Kent Stu) by Emily H
What a Fish Sees by Anna B the Greek


New TOCs for Current Stories:
One Strange Year by Queen of the Capes (aka Mary
Potts)
Our Lady of Ni by Shadow (aka Jen)
1,000 Words (A Drabble Fic Challenge) by Wanda Detroit

Touring Clark's World by Tipiwoman (aka Nancy V. Sont)

Wanda and Kent (Sequel to Kent Stu) by Emily H
What a Fish Sees by Anna B the Greek


New TOCs for Completed Stories including Comments
folders:
None


Added to the Archive:
Death of Luthor by Mary Potts
Double Whammy by Jill
Find Clark Kent: An Experimental Poll-Driven Story by
Paul-Gabriel Wiener and the FoLCs of the L&C Fanfic
Message Board
Forever You by Anna Botsakou
Puppy-Dog Eyes by Wendy Richards


Enjoy!
Dawn & the Index Crew





__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Friends.  Fun.  Try the all-new Yahoo! Messenger.
http://messenger.yahoo.com/

I'm so glad to see some correspondence on here.  I had a question.  I wanted
to know if anyone knows of a story that runs the line of what would have
happened if superman had proposed to Lois after she rejected Clark in
Barbarians at the Planet?

Thanks,
Nancy

There is one on that very topic being posted on LcFic boards right now.
It's called "A Future for Us" by Tipiwoman
(http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002116).

Cheers,
Simba

Graduate Student
Language Technologies Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
School of Computer Science

-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy V. Sont [mailto:nancyvsont@...]
Sent: June 13, 2004 5:45 PM
To: LCFic@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [LCFic] BATP alternate story?


I'm so glad to see some correspondence on here.  I had a question.  I
wanted
to know if anyone knows of a story that runs the line of what would have
happened if superman had proposed to Lois after she rejected Clark in
Barbarians at the Planet?

Thanks,
Nancy






Yahoo! Groups Links

Hi, Nancy :)

This is on my list of stories to write, but that won't happen for some
time. :)  In the meanwhile, I'm looking forward to reading yours.

Mere


Nancy V. Sont <nancyvsont@...> writes
>
>I'm so glad to see some correspondence on here.  I had a question.  I wanted
>to know if anyone knows of a story that runs the line of what would have
>happened if superman had proposed to Lois after she rejected Clark in
>Barbarians at the Planet?
>
>Thanks,
>Nancy

--
Meredith Knight

I have the vague feeling that Wendy Richards did one along these lines...
"Second Thoughts"?  I know that's a rewrite of BaTP, anyway.  I may be
confusing it with "Green Card" in which Superman marries Lois to keep from
getting tossed out of the country <g>

Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam@...
http://www.lcficmbs.com

"They didn't go for it!"
"What didn't they go for?"
"The name I suggested."
"For the ship?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah.  Sir... we *can't* call it the Enterprise."
--O'Neill & Carter discuss Earth's first starship
--Stargate SG-1, "Unnatural Selection"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nancy V. Sont" <nancyvsont@...>
To: <LCFic@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2004 5:45 PM
Subject: [LCFic] BATP alternate story?


>
> I'm so glad to see some correspondence on here.  I had a question.  I
wanted
> to know if anyone knows of a story that runs the line of what would have
> happened if superman had proposed to Lois after she rejected Clark in
> Barbarians at the Planet?
>
> Thanks,
> Nancy
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

Twins: 1/?
by Nan Smith
Rated: Probably G

Disclaimer:  The familiar characters and settings in this story are not
mine.  They belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions
and whoever else may have any legal right to claim them, nor am I
profiting by their use.  The story is based on the Lois and Clark script
"Vatman" and all parts taken from that script are hereby credited to the
writers of the show.  Any new characters, settings, and any changes in
the story, belong to me.

**********

March had come in like the proverbial lion, Lois Lane thought as she
made her way to the front door of the Daily Planet.  She clutched at the
collar of her coat against the powerful wind that gusted down the
street, whipping the skirt of the garment stingingly against her
calves.  It was nearly the middle of the month and it wasn't showing any
signs at all of going out like a lamb, at least yet.

She glanced at her watch as she hurried across the lobby toward the
elevator, trying not to look at the various snack stands that populated
the place.  She was ten minutes early but what with leaving time for the
creaky elevator and the inevitable lengthy stop on Second before it
reached the newsroom, her margin of time was probably just about right.
Maintenance really needed to see what was wrong with the thing.  It
seemed to get slower and slower every day.  Maybe, she thought, she
should just climb the stairs.  It might make it easier to keep her
figure.  Of course if she did that, she would have to wear jogging
shoes.  Heels just weren't made for serious stair-climbing.  On the
other hand, maybe that was how Clark managed to maintain his level of
physical fitness.  She had noticed how often he seemed to take the
stairs instead of waiting for the elevator.

Oh brother; there she went again.  She really had to get this babbling
thing under control.  She even did it in her head.  She had begun to
become aware of her tendency to babble recently when she had noticed her
partner grinning slightly in the middle of one of her monologues and
challenged him on it.  He'd just grinned more widely and said he liked
to listen to her when she went off on one of her weird tangents.  She'd
done some sputtering, while he'd chuckled openly at her, but the tangent
*had* been a little weird, although she would never have admitted it to
him.  They had been talking about Perry's grumbling over his doctor's
insistence that he lose thirty pounds and somehow the subject had
shifted to a dissertation (from her) over the fact that the office
Christmas party, now two and a half months past, had been a potluck and
Patty Shumacher had been stupid enough to ask her to bring a mint pie.
She had hunted through half the bakeries in the city, only none of the
people who worked at the places had ever heard of it.  They had inquired
if she meant grasshopper pie, but she had been sure that Patty had said
mint pie.  She had ended up bringing pumpkin pie.  How had she been
supposed to know that the request had been for *mince* pie (which she
had never heard of, either)?  Her mother had never served it at home
(Mom had never been much of a cook) and she'd never bothered to ask
about it at various social occasions where it had apparently been
served.  Anyway, she'd had that bad cold for a week before the office
party, and her ears had been stuffed up the day Patty had asked her, and
she hadn't thought about checking the list, and ...

And that had been when she'd noticed Clark grinning at her.

She hadn't really minded, although honor had demanded that she take him
to task for it.  He'd taken that with an equally disconcerting grin,
too.  Still, his attitude was a sharp contrast to that of Lex's.  Lex
always seemed to enjoy her company, but she couldn't go off onto strange
tangents with him.  The only time she had done that, he had given her
the oddest look and she'd trailed off in embarrassment.  She supposed
that should have told her something about him before she had found out
the rest.

Of course, now the only reason Lex Luthor's opinion mattered to her was
the fact that she needed to continue to date him.  Ever since the
incident in November when Miranda had exposed the entire newsroom to her
pheromone-laced perfume and Lois had discovered Luthor's connection to
it, she had been dating him irregularly.  She had made a number of
unexpected discoveries during that highly embarrassing episode, one of
them the fact that her partner was one of the few true gentlemen that
she had ever encountered, and nowhere near the dunce that she had tried
to think that he must be, with his country-boy background.  She hadn't
really believed it, at least underneath, but it had been much easier to
tell herself that he wasn't worth her time than to become consciously
aware that she actually was attracted to him.  The pheromone incident
had made that a lot harder to ignore as well.  The fact was that Clark
Kent was a very likeable, kind and charming man who was a lot smarter
than she had ever been willing to admit.  And he was a darned good
journalist, too.  The trouble was, it made her much more conscious of
him as a man these days and that she would have been happy to ignore.
She couldn't pretend that it wasn't true anymore -- at least to herself
-- but she could still pretend it was so to everyone else, including
Clark.  She treated him as a good friend and partner and tried not to
let the attraction she felt make a difference.  In the meantime, she and
Clark investigated Lex Luthor.

And of course, there was Superman.  She still had a terrific crush on
him of course but her meetings with him were usually short and
unsatisfactory, as if he were making some kind of effort to keep them
that way.  Sort of like Pete and Wally avoided her as much as was
possible ever since the pheromone episode.  Still, she had asked Clark
point blank if she had made a fool of herself in front of Superman, and
he had said that Superman had been much too busy trying to keep people
from getting into trouble for that to have happened.  Besides, he
wouldn't have blamed her for something she couldn't help any more than
Clark would have.  That had been somewhat reassuring, but hadn't
entirely laid her fears to rest.  It would have to do, though, because
she couldn't quite work up the nerve to ask him, herself.

"Are you going to get in this elevator or are you going to just stare at
the wall all day, Lois?" a voice inquired, breaking into her
ruminations.  Eduardo Friaz was holding the elevator door and looking at
her with raised eyebrows.  She stepped into the car with a muttered word
of thanks and he released the door, which closed at once.  The elevator
began to rise.  To her amazement it didn't stop on Second this morning.

She definitely had to learn to control this babbling thing, she told
herself, trying to look casual and unselfconscious.  Eduardo was
watching her and at last he ventured to ask a question.  "Is anything
wrong, Lois?  You look a little preoccupied."

She shook her head.  "No, not really.  I just have a lot to think about."

"Oh.  Sorry."

"Thanks for asking," she added.  The door opened at that point and he
let her precede him out of the car.

Clark wasn't here yet, she saw.  Most of the staff had arrived, but
Clark often seemed to arrive late or just under the wire.  Perry never
appeared to mind however, because he more than held up his end of the
Lane and Kent team.

Jimmy Olsen was already there, as usual.  She had noticed some time ago
that he somehow always managed to be an early bird and usually stayed
late, just like Perry.  The kid was probably practicing to be an editor
someday, she thought whimsically.  He was dumping coffee into the
machine as she watched.  She had to give credit where credit was due.
Jimmy knew how to brew reasonably good coffee, at least within the
limits available.  The people in the coffee pool always seemed to buy
the cheapest coffee they could find in bulk and as a result, if it
hadn't been for Clark, Lois wouldn't have had a decent cup of coffee in
months, if ever.  Her own style was to buy instant for her use at home
because it was difficult to ruin it.  On the other hand, it was never
very good, either.  Clark always made excellent coffee at his place and
it had become her habit, on those occasions when she dropped by in the
morning, to help herself to a cup just, as she had explained to her
partner, to get started on the right foot.  He never seemed to mind in
any case.

She was babbling in her head again.  Maybe getting out of the habit
wasn't going to be as easy as she thought.

A few minutes later she had booted up her computer and readied her
workstation for the day.  The coffee should be almost ready, she
thought, and suiting the action to the word, headed over toward the
machine with her mug.

The television was on, as usual, tuned to LNN for the morning report.
Lois was pouring herself a cup of the freshly brewed coffee when the
voice of the woman who gave the morning weather report was abruptly cut
off by the voice of an announcer.

"We interrupt this program for an LNN special news bulletin."

Lois turned, the mug in her hand, as another voice, this one male, cut
across the newsroom.  "We are now getting a report that a 797 is making
its last circle before attempting a landing at the Paris International
Airport."

"Chief!" Jimmy shouted.

"What's happening?"  Perry hurried across the Pit.

"There's an airliner coming down in France.  You gotta look at this!"

"What?"

"It's on the TV!"

"Oh, okay.  Get me Kaplan in the Paris Bureau ..."

"I'm reminded of the vigil for Charles Lindbergh not so far from this
spot," the speaker on the screen said, "only now it's a giant airliner
with both its wing flaps and landing gear inoperative and instead of a
lone American pilot there are a hundred and twenty passengers and a crew
of ten living this last hour in the cold fear of possible violent
death.  There are only ..."  The voice hesitated, "there are only three
minutes from touchdown.  We have an LNN reporter on the scene.  Let's
see if we can go and pick up that satellite feed now."

The sound shifted to a third voice, obviously that of the LNN reporter.

"Oh his last circle, the pilot used up all but enough fuel to complete
the landing ..."

"What's going on?" Clark's voice asked.  Lois glanced distractedly over
her shoulder to her partner, who had entered the newsroom unobserved.

"We got a serious situation at Orly," Perry's voice said.  "Plane's
trying to come in without any landing gear."

"I just remembered," Clark said, hastily, "I left my story notes in the
car."

"Clark, you don't have a car!" Lois said, struck by the oddness of the
remark, even as her gaze returned to the scene on the television screen.

"In the taxi," Clark corrected hastily.  Lois was marginally aware of
her partner making a hasty retreat toward the elevator.  The screen
showed the plane, buffeted by rain and wind and illuminated by
occasional lightning flashes as it made its approach.  Then motion at
the bottom of the screen, silhouetted by the lightning flashes, caught
her eye.

"Look!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"I don't believe it," Perry's voice said as the LNN reporter's voice cut
across the voices of the audience.

"This just in.  The famed Man of Steel from Metropolis ..."

"It's Superman!" Lois said.  "He's there!"

"What's he doing in France?" Jimmy asked.

"In Paris!" Lois added.

"Great shades of Elvis!" Perry exclaimed.

Lois could agree with the sentiment.  The relief was overwhelming at the
realization that they weren't going to witness a fiery crash after all.
The newsroom erupted in cheers as they watched Metropolis's most famous
resident perform yet one more spectacular rescue for the whole world to
see, but even through all the excitement she was aware of her partner
standing by the steps, his eyes fixed on the television and a look of
stunned disbelief on his face.

**********

That look stayed with her the rest of the day.  Clark was unusually
quiet when they went to attend a press conference by Lex Luthor
concerning the project being undertaken in one of the older business
sections of the city by Luthor Redevelopment Corporation, and she
couldn't quite understand why.  The plane had come in safely with no
serious injuries.  Superman had saved the day again, and although she
was curious to know what had taken him to Paris, she couldn't see any
problem with the event.  Something, however, wasn't right.  She knew
Clark well enough for that.  Why had he looked so surprised, even
shocked, at the sight of Superman doing what he had done?  It was
literally as if he couldn't believe his eyes.  There was some mystery
here, she thought, one that he didn't want to talk to her about.  Her
first instinct was to try to hammer him into telling her but for reasons
she couldn't explain even to herself she didn't.  Clark could be
stubborn at times and she had the feeling that this might be one of
those times.  Maybe if she kept quiet and watched him closely, she could
figure it out for herself.

**********

"Want a ride home?" she asked, as they walked out of the building later
that evening.  She wasn't surprised at his answer.  Something was
definitely up.

"Not today.  I think I'll walk."

"Clark ..."  She hesitated and then plunged ahead.  "I don't know what's
wrong, but I'd like to help."

He smiled just slightly.  "Thanks, Lois.  Believe me, when I know enough
to ask you for help, I'll ask.  See you tomorrow, partner."  And with
that cryptic comment, he turned and began to stroll down the sidewalk in
the direction of his apartment, which was at least three miles away.
Lois stared after him, more puzzled than ever.

After a moment she started toward her Jeep, parked across the street,
but before she had gone three steps she stopped, turned and went back
into the building.  It was time to do a little detective work.

Jimmy was still at his desk when she arrived in the newsroom a couple of
minutes later.  He glanced up as she crossed the Pit to his desk.
"Forget something?"

"No.  Jimmy, I need to know how many appearances Superman has made in
the last couple of days, and where they were.  Can you find out for me?"

"Huh?  Sure," Jimmy said.  "Any particular reason?"

"I don't know.  Yet, anyway.  How long will it take for you to dig that
up for me?"

"Not long."  Jimmy turned back to his computer and began to type.  "Do
you have any idea what was up with CK today?  He seemed kind of upset."

Lois shrugged.  "I noticed but he's not talking about it, whatever it is."

"Hope it's not anything serious," Jimmy said.

"So do I.  Maybe he'll say something to me tomorrow."

In less than five minutes Jimmy handed her a sheet of paper with the
information that she had requested.  In the last twenty-four hours,
Superman had been busy.  He had saved the airliner in Paris, of course,
righted a sinking ship in Rio, saved a busload of schoolchildren in
Surinam and rescued a trio of trapped Alpine climbers in Switzerland.
The only recent documented appearance he had made in the United States
had been thirty-one hours ago in northwestern Kansas, where he had
prevented the crash of a train into a passenger car that was stuck on
the train tracks.

Lois read the list over twice before she folded the paper and stuck it
into her purse.  She wasn't really sure if it meant anything, but she
had the feeling that it did.  For some reason, that incident this
morning had upset Clark.  Maybe if she did a little snooping around, she
could find out why.

**********
(tbc)

Well, I finally did it.  I just finished putting up a website to store
*all* of my fic on.  <g> Not suprisingly, I even found some stuff on
my hard drive that I'd forgotten I wrote.  It's not just my L&C stuff,
but also Pretender, Forever Knight, and JAG...

http://bratling.topcities.com

Laura

Okay, here is my latest brainchild. My muse grabbed me by the throat
this morning, dragged me over to the computer and wouldn't let me go
until I had finished this. There are probably lots of grammatical
mistakes, but what the heck. Comments and constructive criticism invited.

Disclaimer: The familiar characters and settings in this story are not
mine. They belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions
and whoever else may have any legal right to claim them, nor am I
profiting by their use. The story is based on the Lois and Clark script
"House of Luthor" and all parts and ideas taken from that script are
hereby credited to the writers of the show. Any new characters,
settings, and any changes in the story belong to me.


Wedding Day
By Nan Smith

"I now pronounce you man and wife."

Lois closed her eyes as the words sounded in her ears and her heart.
Goodbye Clark. Goodbye Superman. She had made her decision with her
head, not her heart, and her future was linked to Lex's now.

It was safer, she told herself as Lex kissed his bride, and made herself
respond appropriately. Clark could have hurt her -- *had* hurt her
terribly when he'd declared his love and then turned his back when she
had refused him. He could have at least respected her decision. Instead,
he had insisted that she was marrying a monster, that Lex was a criminal
of hideous proportions, which was clearly ridiculous. How could he
possibly know more about Lex than she did? And Superman had coldly
rejected her when she had declared her love.

None of her friends were here. None of them. Not Perry, not Jimmy ...
nobody from the Daily Planet. Why were they all siding with Clark? She
had been at the Planet longer than he had. Didn't that count for
something? Could it be that they believed Clark? That they thought he
was right and she was wrong? Why would they do that? They knew that she
was the better journalist, even if Clark hadn't turned out to be the
hack that she had assumed he was in the beginning, didn't they know that
she knew Lex best, that he couldn't be what Clark had claimed?

How had they got out of the church so quickly? She didn't even remember
walking out the door, and yet they were getting into the limousine, on
their way to the huge wedding reception that Lex had arranged. Oh God,
what had she done? She was married -- married to Lex -- married to the
wrong man. She couldn't do this. She had made a mistake, a horrible
mistake. She had married a man she didn't love for the safety, and had
thrown away any chance there might have been for happiness.

Clark, where was Clark? He wasn't here, of course, had said he wouldn't
be here to see her married and now she would never see him again. How
was she going to live, day after day, without Clark? No more pizzas at
his apartment, no more joking and laughing with her best friend, no more
happiness. Just formal courtesy between Lex and her, formal dinners, no
love, no happiness, no fun, no living. Her, playing the dutiful wife.

Oh God, she had really done it this time. She had jumped in again
without checking the water level and now there was no one to save her.
No Clark; no Superman. No Perry or Jimmy, even. She had finally taken a
step too far, she had done something irretrievable. How could she have
been so stupid?

Maybe she could tell Lex she had made a mistake, that she wanted an
annulment. One glance at him and she shrank from the thought. Lex
wouldn't let her go. Somehow that was beyond doubt in her mind. Lex
hadn't got where he was by admitting defeat, admitting he was wrong. She
was bound to him for the rest of her life, and she had no recourse.

The limousine was pulling up to the Lexor now. Why had it taken such a
short time? They were racing toward the future, which she now looked at
with dread. Why had she been so stupid to think that she could do this?
How could she have been so blind to the love she had for Clark? How
could she have believed that her relationship with Lex was enough to
base a marriage on?

They were in the elevator, now. How had they got here? The enormous
reception hall on the fortieth floor was fabulous, elegant, glittering.
Waiters in formal suits, an orchestra that rivaled the Philharmonic ...
Oh God, this was going to be her life from now on. Glitter and elegance,
no pizza with Clark, no investigations in the worst parts of Metropolis,
no excitement, no thrill of the chase or the knowledge that she had
exposed wrongdoing, no Mad Dog Lane ... No Daily Planet ... No Perry ...
No Clark. Oh God, no Clark, ever again.

She wanted to run screaming, but instead she nodded and smiled at her
well-wishers, a false smile plastered on her painted mouth. All
artificial, nothing real. Clark, get me out of this! Help, Superman!
Somebody help me! I've made a mistake, I've done something stupid; why
didn't I listen when Clark told me he loved me? Now that possible future
was gone. I could have had Clark and a little house in the city; instead
I have thirty mansions in fourteen different countries and a twelve-car
garage. I have butlers and servants and cooks. No take-out Chinese, no
pepperoni pizza on a stakeout. Help, somebody! Help me, I can't do this!

The musicians are playing and Lex is leading me onto the floor for our
first dance. I'm smiling at him and letting him guide me around the
floor and he's smiling back. Why isn't it Clark leading me out? Why did
I do this? Why did I have to be right every step of the way? Why didn't
I listen to my heart?

What is Inspector Henderson doing here? And those police -- and Perry,
Jimmy ... Jack. They came after all, but not Clark. Clark isn't here,
never will be here ...

What is Bill saying? Arrest? Lex is under arrest for crimes too numerous
to mention ... and Mrs. Cox in handcuffs. Clark was right. Clark was
right all along and I couldn't see it because I had to be right. I
couldn't admit he knew what I didn't.

"... Sorry Lois. ... rain check ... Something has come up ... "

What is Lex saying? Lex is gone with the police in pursuit and Perry has
his arms around me but Clark isn't here. "Where's Clark?"

"... Haven't seen him since yesterday ..."

Clark is gone. Clark wouldn't see me married to Lex. No, what is Perry
saying?

"... Wouldn't give up ... determined to prove what Luthor was ..."

But it's too late. I married him anyway ... wouldn't listen ...

How had they reached the sidewalk so fast? Perry's arm around her, and
people pointing up, and screams. Oh God, a body hurtling down. It's Lex.
Lex falling ... Where's Superman? No sign of Superman anywhere. No sign
of Clark ... Clark! He looks ill, what have I done to him? "Oh, Clark!"

His arms around her and somewhere behind her a dull, meaty sound. He was
leading her away, and somehow nothing else mattered. Not the sirens, not
the commotion, not the voices and whistles and the official voices ...

"Clark." All she could say was his name. "Oh, Clark ..."

"Come on, Lois. This is no place for you ..."

"... Sorry ... so wrong ... knew it the minute it was done ... glad you
came ..."

"Don't talk, Lois. We'll talk later. Come on, get in Perry's car. I'm
taking you home."

Home. But I am home, she thought. The first clear thought she had had in
hours. Clark has always been home since we became friends. Clark will
always be home.

The End



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

You had me worried there for a bit, Nan <g> but you pulled it out in the
end!  Good thing Lois realized where she was meant to be, even if she did
leave it a little late... but not too late, thank goodness.

And now she's a wealthy widow! :)  Though once the lawyers get through with
Lex's estate there might not be much left.  No matter.  At least she's
gotten safely home.

Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam@...
http://www.lcficmbs.com

"They didn't go for it!"
"What didn't they go for?"
"The name I suggested."
"For the ship?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah.  Sir... we *can't* call it the Enterprise."
--O'Neill & Carter discuss Earth's first starship
--Stargate SG-1, "Unnatural Selection"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nancy Smith" <hachiban@...>
To: "Lois and Clark Email List" <LCFic@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2004 1:38 PM
Subject: [LCFic] Wedding Day: 1/1


>   Okay, here is my latest brainchild. My muse grabbed me by the throat
> this morning, dragged me over to the computer and wouldn't let me go
> until I had finished this. There are probably lots of grammatical
> mistakes, but what the heck. Comments and constructive criticism invited.
>
> Disclaimer: The familiar characters and settings in this story are not
> mine. They belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions
> and whoever else may have any legal right to claim them, nor am I
> profiting by their use. The story is based on the Lois and Clark script
> "House of Luthor" and all parts and ideas taken from that script are
> hereby credited to the writers of the show. Any new characters,
> settings, and any changes in the story belong to me.
>
>
> Wedding Day
> By Nan Smith
>
> "I now pronounce you man and wife."
>
> Lois closed her eyes as the words sounded in her ears and her heart.
> Goodbye Clark. Goodbye Superman. She had made her decision with her
> head, not her heart, and her future was linked to Lex's now.
>
> It was safer, she told herself as Lex kissed his bride, and made herself
> respond appropriately. Clark could have hurt her -- *had* hurt her
> terribly when he'd declared his love and then turned his back when she
> had refused him. He could have at least respected her decision. Instead,
> he had insisted that she was marrying a monster, that Lex was a criminal
> of hideous proportions, which was clearly ridiculous. How could he
> possibly know more about Lex than she did? And Superman had coldly
> rejected her when she had declared her love.
>
> None of her friends were here. None of them. Not Perry, not Jimmy ...
> nobody from the Daily Planet. Why were they all siding with Clark? She
> had been at the Planet longer than he had. Didn't that count for
> something? Could it be that they believed Clark? That they thought he
> was right and she was wrong? Why would they do that? They knew that she
> was the better journalist, even if Clark hadn't turned out to be the
> hack that she had assumed he was in the beginning, didn't they know that
> she knew Lex best, that he couldn't be what Clark had claimed?
>
> How had they got out of the church so quickly? She didn't even remember
> walking out the door, and yet they were getting into the limousine, on
> their way to the huge wedding reception that Lex had arranged. Oh God,
> what had she done? She was married -- married to Lex -- married to the
> wrong man. She couldn't do this. She had made a mistake, a horrible
> mistake. She had married a man she didn't love for the safety, and had
> thrown away any chance there might have been for happiness.
>
> Clark, where was Clark? He wasn't here, of course, had said he wouldn't
> be here to see her married and now she would never see him again. How
> was she going to live, day after day, without Clark? No more pizzas at
> his apartment, no more joking and laughing with her best friend, no more
> happiness. Just formal courtesy between Lex and her, formal dinners, no
> love, no happiness, no fun, no living. Her, playing the dutiful wife.
>
> Oh God, she had really done it this time. She had jumped in again
> without checking the water level and now there was no one to save her.
> No Clark; no Superman. No Perry or Jimmy, even. She had finally taken a
> step too far, she had done something irretrievable. How could she have
> been so stupid?
>
> Maybe she could tell Lex she had made a mistake, that she wanted an
> annulment. One glance at him and she shrank from the thought. Lex
> wouldn't let her go. Somehow that was beyond doubt in her mind. Lex
> hadn't got where he was by admitting defeat, admitting he was wrong. She
> was bound to him for the rest of her life, and she had no recourse.
>
> The limousine was pulling up to the Lexor now. Why had it taken such a
> short time? They were racing toward the future, which she now looked at
> with dread. Why had she been so stupid to think that she could do this?
> How could she have been so blind to the love she had for Clark? How
> could she have believed that her relationship with Lex was enough to
> base a marriage on?
>
> They were in the elevator, now. How had they got here? The enormous
> reception hall on the fortieth floor was fabulous, elegant, glittering.
> Waiters in formal suits, an orchestra that rivaled the Philharmonic ...
> Oh God, this was going to be her life from now on. Glitter and elegance,
> no pizza with Clark, no investigations in the worst parts of Metropolis,
> no excitement, no thrill of the chase or the knowledge that she had
> exposed wrongdoing, no Mad Dog Lane ... No Daily Planet ... No Perry ...
> No Clark. Oh God, no Clark, ever again.
>
> She wanted to run screaming, but instead she nodded and smiled at her
> well-wishers, a false smile plastered on her painted mouth. All
> artificial, nothing real. Clark, get me out of this! Help, Superman!
> Somebody help me! I've made a mistake, I've done something stupid; why
> didn't I listen when Clark told me he loved me? Now that possible future
> was gone. I could have had Clark and a little house in the city; instead
> I have thirty mansions in fourteen different countries and a twelve-car
> garage. I have butlers and servants and cooks. No take-out Chinese, no
> pepperoni pizza on a stakeout. Help, somebody! Help me, I can't do this!
>
> The musicians are playing and Lex is leading me onto the floor for our
> first dance. I'm smiling at him and letting him guide me around the
> floor and he's smiling back. Why isn't it Clark leading me out? Why did
> I do this? Why did I have to be right every step of the way? Why didn't
> I listen to my heart?
>
> What is Inspector Henderson doing here? And those police -- and Perry,
> Jimmy ... Jack. They came after all, but not Clark. Clark isn't here,
> never will be here ...
>
> What is Bill saying? Arrest? Lex is under arrest for crimes too numerous
> to mention ... and Mrs. Cox in handcuffs. Clark was right. Clark was
> right all along and I couldn't see it because I had to be right. I
> couldn't admit he knew what I didn't.
>
> "... Sorry Lois. ... rain check ... Something has come up ... "
>
> What is Lex saying? Lex is gone with the police in pursuit and Perry has
> his arms around me but Clark isn't here. "Where's Clark?"
>
> "... Haven't seen him since yesterday ..."
>
> Clark is gone. Clark wouldn't see me married to Lex. No, what is Perry
> saying?
>
> "... Wouldn't give up ... determined to prove what Luthor was ..."
>
> But it's too late. I married him anyway ... wouldn't listen ...
>
> How had they reached the sidewalk so fast? Perry's arm around her, and
> people pointing up, and screams. Oh God, a body hurtling down. It's Lex.
> Lex falling ... Where's Superman? No sign of Superman anywhere. No sign
> of Clark ... Clark! He looks ill, what have I done to him? "Oh, Clark!"
>
> His arms around her and somewhere behind her a dull, meaty sound. He was
> leading her away, and somehow nothing else mattered. Not the sirens, not
> the commotion, not the voices and whistles and the official voices ...
>
> "Clark." All she could say was his name. "Oh, Clark ..."
>
> "Come on, Lois. This is no place for you ..."
>
> "... Sorry ... so wrong ... knew it the minute it was done ... glad you
> came ..."
>
> "Don't talk, Lois. We'll talk later. Come on, get in Perry's car. I'm
> taking you home."
>
> Home. But I am home, she thought. The first clear thought she had had in
> hours. Clark has always been home since we became friends. Clark will
> always be home.
>
> The End
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

I enjoyed this, Nan - and I must say, I'm very glad to see fic (or anything
else for that matter) posted to this list. I don't have time to go to the
boards these days, and I miss contact with the FoLCs, not to mention all
that great LnC fic!

Melisma (diving back under her Rock, hoping to see more traffic on this list
soon)

~ Only Yesterday ~


Only yesterday, you were here. You sat beside me. You brought me
coffee. You made me go to lunch with you because, you said, if I
didn't then I wouldn't eat at all.

How well you kno - knew me.

Only yesterday, we were in search of the gangsters together. Working
together as a team, as always. You and me. The hottest team in town,
as the marketing department's posters insist. Lane and Kent, chasing
after a scoop. And this was a big one, wasn't it? Resurrected 1920s
gangsters... it was like something out of a weird Hollywood movie.

Except that in Hollywood movies the good guys aren't usually the
ones who get killed.

Only yesterday, I could still see you. I could still touch you. Only
yesterday, we stood so close to each other that I could have reached
out and put my hand in yours.

But I didn't. I never did.

I've always been an idiot where you're concerned, Clark. I'm finally
seeing that - but far too late.

I've been running away from you for as long as I've known you. And
right now I just don't know what I was running away from. Except
that I was running from the best thing that ever happened to me.

You. You were the best thing ever to come into my life. And now
you're gone; left my life as suddenly as you entered it. And yet
much more painfully.

So much more painfully.

I can still see it, you know. The moment when Clyde Barrow fired and
I knew that you were going to be hurt. Or worse.

I can see it all. It replays inside my head like a video on endless
loop. Dillinger ogling me, making his interest clear. You stepping
in front of me to protect me, as you always do. Did.

You always protected me, Clark. Who's going to do it now that you're
gone?

And then Barrow. Appearing out of nowhere. Pulling a gun. Me warning
you. Trying to pull you to one side. You staggering, falling,
clasping your chest, your expression startled... and then you fall
to the ground.

I see you lying on the floor. Your glasses are askew and your
face... I can see it contorted with pain. Did it hurt, Clark? When
the bullet hit you? Did it hurt? Did you feel it slamming into you?
How horrible was it? Did you know anything at all?

I hope it was painless. Please, please let it have been painless...

I can't bear the thought that you might have been hurt. That you
were conscious of the pain, conscious that you were dying.

They dragged you out then, Clark. I hope you didn't know that. They
dragged you out of the den, and the police haven't found your body
yet. Superman's looking too - at least, I hope he is. I tried to get
a message to him, but I haven't seen him since you were... killed. I
don't know if he got my message. When I tried to contact him, I
suddenly remembered how I'd always done it before. You. You always
contacted him for me. I never knew how you did it. You never told
me.

Not that that matters now. There's so much we never told each other,
isn't there, Clark?

And that, I guess, is why I'm writing this letter to you now. Even
though it's too late. Even though it will always be too late -
nothing's going to bring you back now. I know that. I'm trying to
resign myself to it. But it isn't easy. I keep remembering things...

I keep thinking that only yesterday I still had you.

How could I have been so careless? How could I have taken you so
much for granted?

I thought we had so much time, Clark. I guess I was behaving as if
we were immortal. Which is crazy, when you think about it - Superman
has to save my life on a weekly basis, and you've done it yourself
lots of times. Yet I still acted as if I had all the time in the
world to spend with you. All the time in the world to tell you...

To tell you something I should have told you long ago. Something
I've known for longer than I admitted to myself.

The only thing I never told you that really matters.

I love you, Clark.

There. I've said it. At last.

I had so many reasons not to say it. Or at least I thought I did. I
didn't love you, I protested... even when I knew it wasn't true. I
loved someone else, I thought - and yet that was never anything more
than a chimera. He was right: I didn't know him. I still don't know
him. I love him still, but he's not real, not like you are - were.
And then, even when I admitted to myself that I loved you, I still
didn't say it.

I was so jealous of Mayson, Clark! I wanted to scratch her eyes out.
She had you and I didn't. You always seemed so happy to be with her.
When she cut in on my dance with you, I was furious - but you didn't
seem to mind. And then when I came to your apartment and saw you
kissing her... I knew I'd lost then, Clark. That you were hers. Not
mine. And I... I was devastated. Not that I ever let you know that,
of course - but then, that's just the way I am, Clark.

I would never have told you how much it hurt me. Perry knew. But
nothing would drag it out of him.

But then you seemed to gravitate to me again. At Christmas. You
pretended that you couldn't get a flight to Smallville and you came
to me. You spent Christmas Eve with me. Then, if I'd only had the
courage, I could have had you. I know it. I knew it at the time. We
were standing there, beside my Christmas tree. You'd given me that
beautiful star. And all I had to do was reach up and kiss you.

Or even later, as we were listening to the carollers. We held hands,
Clark. And I rested my head on your shoulder. I knew that if I
turned to look at you at that moment you'd have kissed me. I knew it
would happen. It was there - the atmosphere between us was sparkling
with it at that moment.

But I didn't do it. And because I didn't, you didn't.

I know why you didn't. I freeze men out. I know I do it. I did it to
you right from the moment we met, and I kept on doing it until the
moment you died. I froze you out when you showed me that you found
me attractive. I froze you out when you asked me out to dinner. And
I definitely froze you out, though I tried to be nice about it, when
you told me you loved me.

Why would you lay your feelings on the line yet again? For someone
who made it clear that she didn't want you? Even if she was lying,
to herself as well as to you.

And yet I love you, Clark. I just wish I'd had the courage to say it
to your face while you were alive, instead of in this letter to you
that you'll never read, because you're dead.

I keep thinking... only yesterday. Only yesterday you were right
here beside me. I could see you. I could hear your voice, that
beautiful, beloved voice, as you teased me, brainstormed with me,
planned with me, chided me, argued with me, talked to me... listened
to me.

Only yesterday.

And now it's today, and you're not here any more. You'll never be
here again.

And I am... lost.

Who would ever have believed that Lois Lane could be bereft without
a partner? And yet I am. But then, you were so much more than a
partner. You were my best friend. My pillar. My stability. You kept
me grounded - and kept me sane.

You were the man I loved. You were... oh, Clark, I think you were my
soulmate.

And you're gone.

Gone forever.

And I never... oh god, I never told you...

When they find your body, Clark, and Jonathan and Martha arrange
your funeral, I'm going to ask them if I can put this letter inside
your coffin. Since I can't ever give it to you myself, it's the next-
best thing. That way I'll know you have it, even if you'll never
read it.

I love you, Clark. I will always love you.

And I wish it were yesterday once more.


Lois.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wendy Richards 2004
wendy@...


Huge, huge thanks to Kaethel for ultra-speedy beta-reading.

<sob!>

Well done, Wendy.

Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam@...
http://www.lcficmbs.com

"They didn't go for it!"
"What didn't they go for?"
"The name I suggested."
"For the ship?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah.  Sir... we *can't* call it the Enterprise."
--O'Neill & Carter discuss Earth's first starship
--Stargate SG-1, "Unnatural Selection"

<sob>

I can't believe I've forgotten why I love Wendyfic so much! Well, this just
reminded me. Please keep going, Wendy - and post here...

Melisma (crawling back under her Rock to find the Kleenex)

Pam, Mel, thank you very much!!! Glad you liked it.

Wendy  :))

--- In LCFic@yahoogroups.com, "Pam Jernigan" <chiefpam@n...> wrote:
> <sob!>
>
> Well done, Wendy.
>
> Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam@n...
> http://www.lcficmbs.com
>
> "They didn't go for it!"
> "What didn't they go for?"
> "The name I suggested."
> "For the ship?"
> "Yeah."
> "Yeah.  Sir... we *can't* call it the Enterprise."
> --O'Neill & Carter discuss Earth's first starship
> --Stargate SG-1, "Unnatural Selection"

~ Yesterday Once More ~


Lois,

I've just read your letter. The one you wrote when you thought I was
dead. Yes, I know, you never intended me to see it. But it fell out
of your purse tonight when you got into your car to drive me home. I
was going to give it straight back to you, but then I saw the name
on the front.

Clark.

Just my name. Nothing else. I didn't know what it was, of course. So
I put it in my pocket, meaning to ask you about it later, when you
dropped me off. But I fell asleep in your car, remember? And when
you woke me up to let me out I forgot all about it.

And then I found it when I was getting ready for bed. You hadn't
sealed it. And... well, I couldn't resist.

Oh, god, Lois, what I put you through! How much I hurt you!

You cried over me. Even if the letter hadn't made that clear, the
tearstains on the paper would have told me. It kills me to think of
you crying, Lois - and it's even worse to know that I was the cause
of it.

And I had no idea.

But that's no excuse, Lois, and I know it.

I'm your best friend. I didn't have to know that you're in love with
me to know that you'd be devastated to think I was dead. I knew you
love me. You told me so, remember? And I knew it anyway. You love me
like a brother. Of course you were going to be distraught. Just as I
would be if you died.

Your letter made me cry, Lois. It also made me feel very, very
guilty - but more of that later.

I'm so glad I read it, all the same. First, because I needed to know
what you went through. How much you were hurting. You'd never have
told me yourself - I know that. I know you only too well, my best
friend and my partner. And my love. You wouldn't have told me.

Perry told me, a little, before we left the Planet. And my parents
told me how sad you'd sounded on the phone.

I'm sorry that I caused you so much pain. I wish I could have spared
you that. If I could give you what you wanted, if I could have made
it yesterday once more for you, I'd have spared you all that grief
and torment. I know that my being alive has taken away the grief,
but nothing erases the memory of the pain you went through.

I wish I could have been there to hold you when you cried. I know
I'm almost the only person you trust enough to let see you cry.
Perry and me, I think. Though I don't know... the thought of
comforting you when it's all my fault you were so upset seems...
wrong, somehow. Unfair. Getting to hold you under false pretences -
very much false pretences, as you'll see when you read on.

Anyway. The other reason I'm glad I read your letter is because of
what you told me in it. I don't know if you would ever have told me.
Even now, now that I'm not dead, would you have, Lois? Or were you
going to go back to freezing me out?

I don't think you are freezing me out, by the way. I think - no, I
know - that you're scared. Scared of being hurt again. Scared that
I'll turn out to be like all the other men who've hurt and abandoned
you. Scared of laying your feelings on the line. Scared of trusting.

Lois, I love you too. I have always loved you, from the moment we
met. I have waited for you for a year and a half, and I will wait
for you for as long as you want. As long as you need. If you're not
ready to love me back yet, I'll carry on waiting. But know that I
love you with every breath in my body, with every single beat of my
heart. With everything that I am and ever can be.

I never loved Mayson, Lois. She's a friend, that's all. I know that
she wants more, but I can never give it to her. How can I? You're
the one I love. The one I've always loved.

I could no more abandon you than I could stop breathing.

Yet, I know, you'll say that I did both, won't you? I died. I
abandoned you.

I could add `willingly' to my promise above. That would be true. But
the real truth is... something else.

Lois, you're not the only one who had secrets. Yes, there are a lot
of things we never talked about - you mentioned one in your letter.
And I have one really big secret that I never told you. And right
now, after reading your letter, I am feeling so guilty, so angry
with myself for never having told you that I can barely breathe.

You were angry with yourself for never telling me that you love me.
That pales into insignificance next to my omission. My lie. The lie
that made you believe that I was dead.

Writing it like that, it seems so bald, so... cruel. And that's
exactly what it was, Lois: cruel. I allowed you to believe that I
was dead. I did it knowingly, consciously, in full knowledge of the
consequences. And it's no excuse to say that I had no idea just how
much it would hurt you; if I'd thought about it for just one second,
I would have known how much it would hurt you. And I'm finding it
very hard to forgive myself for that. I could understand it if you
never wanted to forgive me.

Right now, I am so furious with myself that I can barely find the
words to tell you.

You see, Lois... I was never dead.

Yes, you saw me shot. You saw me fall to the ground right in front
of you. You saw me not moving, not breathing. You saw the gangsters
dragging my body away.

But you didn't see me murdered - because I was never dead.

The truth is, Lois, that I can't be killed. Well, not with an
ordinary bullet, anyway. There's only one way to kill me - you know
what it is, but you don't associate it with me because I never
allowed you to. Self-preservation, in so many ways, where you're
concerned.

I should have trusted you with this long before now, though. And I
keep thinking that, if only I had trusted you, you would have been
spared the pain you went through. You wouldn't have suffered.

I should have told you. Lois, I am so sorry that I didn't tell you.

I am Superman.

There. I've said it. At last.

Yes: the hero in the blue and red Spandex is me. Only me, after all.
Just a farmboy from Kansas, dressed up in a home-made Superhero
costume and flying around saving people. It's a secret identity.
Without it, I wouldn't be able to have a normal life. I could never
have stayed in Metropolis more than a couple of months or so - just
like everywhere else I've lived since leaving college, sooner or
later I'd be careless, or someone would notice something they
shouldn't, and I'd have to move on.

You were the one who invented Superman, you know. It was all your
idea. Remember the first week we met? There was a man trapped down a
manhole - there'd been an explosion. He was babbling something about
a man who'd rescued him. And he was pointing at me. I... I managed
to say that he had to be delirious, imagining things. And you
noticed how dirty my suit was, and you told me that I should do as
you did and bring a change of clothes to work.

That's how Superman was born, Lois. He's really just a change of
clothes I bring to work.

So, I'm not actually human. I'm really from a planet called Krypton.
I was sent here by my Kryptonian parents as a baby, because Krypton
was about to explode and they wanted to save me. Jonathan and Martha
Kent found me and brought me up as their own son. They had no idea
who or what I was, or how I'd got into the spaceship they found me
in, or who had put me there. And I seemed perfectly normal. It
wasn't until I got older that we started to notice stuff about me
that was different. I could run faster. See further. Hear things
from longer distances. Jump higher. And then, when I became a
teenager, things got more scary: I started seeing through things,
and I discovered that I could set things on fire just by looking at
them. That's why I wear glasses, Lois - I'm not short-sighted. It's
so that I can't accidentally use my vision powers. And then, when I
was eighteen, the scariest of all: I found that I could fly.

Almost all my life I've been different. And you've seen how some
people can react to those differences - remember Jason Trask? So I
wanted a normal life. That's why Clark Kent is such a determinedly
normal guy. And so different from Superman, who is anything but
normal.

Why didn't I tell you? There've been so many reasons. And even when
there were no more reasons there were excuses.

The first reason... I was afraid that you'd expose me. That you
would use the Superman story to get yourself another award to add to
your collection. Superman is Clark Kent... yeah, that'd be a pretty
impressive headline, wouldn't it? And I think you would've done that
if you'd found out the truth in the first week or so of Superman's
existence. In the first few weeks we knew each other.

Don't get me wrong, Lois - I understand completely. If our positions
had been reversed, I guess I would've done it too. We're both
reporters. We've both been there - chasing the scoop, trying to get
the exclusive ahead of everyone else. If Superman were someone else,
not me, sure: I would have wanted to get the story. So don't think
I'm blaming you for that, because I'm not.

I stopped believing that you'd expose me over a year ago. You came
to see Superman as more than just a story. You saw that what he - I -
  could do to help people was more important than anything else, and
I think that you'd have protected the secret for that reason alone.
After all, you've guarded the truth about Kryptonite for a long
time. But also, you came to see Superman as a friend, and no-one
knows better than I do how loyal you are to your friends.

So I knew you wouldn't expose me. But I still used it as an excuse.
I'm sorry for that, Lois.

The next reason was... well, it was sheer jealousy. Would you
believe that I went through months of being jealous of myself? You
see, you were always so nice to Superman. You admired him. You
smiled at him the way I wished you would smile at me. You hung on
his every word. You made it clear that he was important to you.

Whereas I... wasn't.

Okay, I wasn't exactly pond scum where you were concerned, but I
wasn't much more than the partner you tolerated and occasionally
gave some signs of liking. So, yes, I was jealous.

It took me a while to get over that and to realise that I could
hardly expect you to treat Clark the way you treated Superman when
you had no idea that we were the same man. And I was still angry
over that when I rejected you as Superman - and that's another
apology I owe you. Not for rejecting you - you know I was right to
do that - but for the way I did it.

And that's why, when I told you - as Clark - that I loved you, last
summer, and you made it clear that you wanted to speak to Superman,
I didn't tell you the truth then. Yes, it was jealousy. It was also
pretty stupid, really. I wanted you to love *Clark*, not Superman -
and yet I am both Clark and Superman. I wanted you to reject
Superman in favour of Clark, and then I would have told you that I
am both. Stupid, huh?

Why didn't I tell you more recently? After we put all the stupid
things we did then behind us and became better friends than we ever
had been?

I could tell you that I still wanted you to love Clark first and
Superman second, and that would be part of the truth. But that's an
excuse, and has been for ages. I could tell you that I was
protecting you, that this secret is dangerous and that by telling
you I'd be putting your life at risk. But that's not true anyway:
your life is already at risk because Superman has shown - too much -
that he cares about you and will always save your life when it's
threatened. If you were to know my identity, who would know that
anything's changed?

No, the real reason I haven't told you more recently is because I'm
scared too.

I'm terrified, Lois. Scared stiff that you'll be furious because
I've kept this from you for so long. That you'll accuse me of lying
to you, deceiving you. That you'll hate me for it. That you'll never
want to speak to me again.

I've been scared for so long. And now... now it's even worse.
Because now I've let you think that I was dead. Because you didn't
know that I'm Superman, you thought I'd been murdered - that you'd
lost me.

If you'd known the truth, you'd have known that I couldn't be dead.

I'm so sorry, Lois. I've caused you unnecessary pain, all because I
was too scared to be honest with you.

That's why I'm telling you now.

You need to know. You deserve to know. And I want you to know.

I love you, Lois. And I'm Superman. And those are the two most
important things that I never told you.

You're at home - I know, because I checked. And so I'm going to push
this letter under your door. When you've finished reading it, look
out through your window. You'll see me, waiting for you. If you're
not too angry to talk, please open your window and let me in. If you
don't want to talk to me, I'll understand. Just pull the curtains
closed and I'll go away and leave you alone. But I won't give up
hope that you'll forgive me.

You might ask why I'm telling you this in a letter, rather than face
to face. Isn't writing to you a bit cowardly? Yeah, maybe it is. But
then, like I said, I'm scared. This is the most terrifying thing
I've ever done - even more terrifying than stopping Nightfall, if
you believe that. I have no idea how you're going to react. Okay,
sure, I know you'll be mad, and you have every right. After all,
I've kept this from you for so long, and because of my deception I
made you go through torment thinking I was dead. I have no idea
whether you'll ever be able to forgive me - but that's your decision.

So, because I'm terrified, I'm not sure that I could tell you this
face to face. The thing is, Lois, I've tried before. There were
times when I thought that I should tell you, or when there just
seemed to be a golden opportunity... and the words just wouldn't
come. Or I'd start to tell you, but I'd end up saying something
completely different. Usually something completely lame. Yeah,
Superman's a coward and an idiot!

Writing you a letter seemed to be the easiest way out - for both of
us, actually. For me, it's a way to make sure that I've said
everything I want to say, without getting defensive or leaving stuff
out because I'm nervous about your reaction. Even though this is
about the twelfth draft, and I'm still not happy with it. And for
you... well, it means that you don't have to face me now that you
know. Unless you want to.

So... I'm waiting. And I'll wait as long as you want.

If I could do just one thing, Lois, I would make it yesterday once
more. And I would tell you that I'm Superman before we ever went
into that gambling den. And you would never have been hurt.

But I can't do that. All I can do is tell you that I'm sorry and
that I love you. And that, if you give me a chance, I will never
hurt you again. I will love and cherish you for the rest of our
lives.

Be my love, Lois. Come fly with me.

Clark.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Wendy Richards 2004
wendy@...

Nice!

Some standard-issue angst stuff <g> but he had to go through it in
confessing everything.  Besides, it's not standard-issue for him, because,
unlike me, he hasn't read all of Wendy's previous TOGOM rewrites :D

So where's the next one???

Pam Jernigan / ChiefPam@...
http://www.lcficmbs.com

"They didn't go for it!"
"What didn't they go for?"
"The name I suggested."
"For the ship?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah.  Sir... we *can't* call it the Enterprise."
--O'Neill & Carter discuss Earth's first starship
--Stargate SG-1, "Unnatural Selection"

Hi FoLCs!

Here is this week's update of new fic (gathered
typically through Thursday evening)!  Links on the L&C
Message Board Fanfic Index page at
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7378/lnc.html


New stories:
Catch of a Lifetime by Wanda Detroit
Silence by Shayne Terry


New part(s) posted:
Twins by Nan Smith


Completed stories:
Catch of a Lifetime by Wanda Detroit
Silence by Shayne Terry


New TOCs for Current Stories:
Twins by Nan Smith


New/Revised TOCs for Completed Stories including
Comments folders:
None


Added to the Archive:
Heaven by Raquel Guimaraes


Enjoy!
Dawn & the Index Crew




__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail