DISCLAIMER: I do not own any DC comics characters, and I make no money from this fan fiction.
The Man in the Red Cape
by
Rhonnel Ferry
Raven-haired retired journalist, Lois Lane-Batteux wakes up at noon in the bedroom of their secluded, lavish French chateau. She is young, beautiful, extremely wealthy, and right now, all she wants is to go back to sleep, so she can continue dreaming about the man in the red cape.
She closes her eyes, hides under the blanket, and desperately tries to recapture the dream. Then, to her annoyance, she hears her husband call from downstairs.
"Lois?!" Dr. Baptiste Batteux lovingly sings.
"Coming!" Lois sings back, disguising the irritation in her voice.
She sighs, puts on a short robe and slippers, exits the bedroom, and walks downstairs to welcome her husband home.
She finds him in the kitchen, dressed in a blue collared shirt, khaki pants, and casual shoes. He brought her flowers, and is currently arranging them on the dining table vase. He is handsome, lean, successful, romantic. They have been married for four years, and she does not love him.
"Aw, so sweet," Lois croons.
"Did you just wake up?" he asks, surprised.
"Yea. I couldn't even make you lunch. I'm such a bad housewife."
She sits, places an elbow on the table, lazily rests her chin on her palm, and watches the flowers. He walks behind her, places his hands on her shoulders, and gives her a kiss on the cheek.
"You make your husband happy," he tells her in a comically strong French accent. "That is the only measure of a good housewife. I will make lunch."
He goes to the kitchen counter, and expertly selects the ingredients he will need from the cupboard above. He is an excellent cook.
"You're home early," Lois observes. "No appointments today?"
"Nothing my staff can't handle," he answers, his back to her, as he puts on an apron. "They'll call if they need me."
Then his wife hesitantly adds, "I dreamed about him again."
Baptiste's body stiffens.
"Who?" he asks.
"You know who."
"The man in the red cape."
The doctor returns to the table, and takes a seat next to his troubled wife.
"I'm sorry," she says. "I'm not trying to make you worry or jealous or anything-"
He just laughs. "Lois, I am not jealous of a man in blue and red tights, who doesn't even know that the underwear should be worn on the inside. Your parents probably took you to the carnival once, and the circus strong man must have left an incredibly good impression. Maybe he was your first crush. That's all."
"I just hope I'm not going crazy. Or worse, having another breakdown."
Lois remembers her nervous breakdown a year ago which ended a promising career in journalism.
"Don't worry about it," her husband reassures her. "Just don't forget to take your medication."
She nods.
He kisses her. But while his kiss is tender, it is unfamiliar. While his touch is warm, it is unwelcome. And that night, when he makes love to her, he does so gently. Yet she feels violated.
Afterwards, while he sleeps peaceably at her side, she has her back to him. She clutches a pillow in her arms, and weeps softly.
#
She knows she can't stay. It's unfair to him. It's unfair to her. She packs only the things she absolutely needs, resisting the urge to cram all her expensive shoes in her luggage. Then, she quietly descends the steps, and tiptoes to the front door.
"Lois?" her husband suddenly calls, turning her blood ice cold. "Where are you going?"
She turns to face him, and is instantly assailed by an intense wave of shame, at the sight of the hurt in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," she tells him sadly. "I'm leaving you."
"But why? After all these years together, don't you-? Don't you love me anymore?"
"It's not that I've stopped loving you, Baptiste. Because I don't think I have ever loved you!" A tear rolls down from her husband's eye, but Lois continues. "I have years worth of memories and the experiences we shared together in here!" She points to her temple. "But I don't feel any of it here!" She points to her chest.
Baptiste reaches for her shoulders, and says, "Can we talk about this, please-?"
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Lois screams, startling her husband, who suddenly jerks his hands back.
He opens a drawer, and quickly takes out a syringe and a medicine bottle.
"What is that?!" Lois yells in panic, taking a fearful step back.
"It's just something to help you relax-"
"NO! Get that thing away from me!"
Baptiste fills the barrel of the syringe with the unusual liquid from the bottle, then carefully walks towards his wife.
"Lois, you're having another psychotic break. Let me help you..."
Now, in complete terror, Lois screams at the ceiling, "Help me! I know you're out there! I know you're looking for me! I'm right here! I'M RIGHT HERE!"
"Lois, stop it! He's not real! You made him up!"
"No! He's real!" she sobs stubbornly. "I know it! In my heart, I know it!"
"You're being crazy! I'm real! I'm right here! He doesn't exist!"
"He does-!"
"He doesn't! Just stop it! STOP IT! THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS SUPERMAN!"
Lois momentarily stares at him in quiet shock, her eyes wide and wary.
"What did you say?" she asks.
"I SAID THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS-!"
Dr. Batteux stops himself, realizing his mistake.
"I never said his name was Superman."
"Y-Yes, you did," the doctor stutters. "Y-You mentioned it b-before..."
"No. I just call him the man in the red cape. I couldn't bring myself to say his name. It was too painful." She glares at him now. "These memories, our marriage, the nervous breakdown, giving up my job,... It's all fake, isn't it? Was it you? Did you put them in my head?! What the hell kind of a doctor are you anyway?!"
"Lois, calm down-"
The front door explodes inward, reduced to wooden splinters. And through the entrance, Dr. Baptiste Batteux fearfully beholds the powerfully built frame of a tall man with glowing red eyes. A man in a flowing red cape.
"I can make her happy," he explains to Superman. "In time, she will be happy. I love her..."
But even with his super hearing, the man of steel could not hear the doctor's words, too deafened by his own rage. He knocks the doctor out with a single blow. Not wanting to seriously injure the man, he had pulled his punch, but he was very tempted not to.
Lois rushes into the mighty arms of her rescuer. She should be furious at the unconscious Dr. Baptiste Batteux. He had kidnapped her, drugged her, tricked her, used her. But anger is not what she feels right now. Not in Superman's embrace. She feels relief, safety, and of course, love.
And before she deeply kisses him, she stands on her toes, and whispers into his ear, "Dreams do come true."
END