Before I begin, this is totally guilty pleasure fanfiction. I am writing this story as a fun little thing, whether you read it or not is up to you. I also have seen many fics during my time which are episode reaction fics, and this one is one of mine. It is a Lois and Clark fic with some Drop Dead Diva influence which takes place during the episode, "I've Got You Under my Skin". I've also changed it to take place in modern day with my own political changes. Again, this is for me.

Chapter One

Smoke filled the air which prevented the young reporter from being able to breathe. His eyesight was getting blurry and there was an unimaginable pain in his body. Wait, that didn't seem right? His body only acted like this with Kryptonite or Krypton virus. Yes, those things had prepared him for sickness, but there hadn't been anything like that. It was only when he looked up to see a blur of red and blue that he realized what must have happened.

His heart beat slowed, the gentle thump becoming more of a whisper than a loud and dependable thudding. He was trying to think through the facts logically. As more time passed though he couldn't think logically anymore. He felt movement, he felt his hand being held and someone trying to enter his body. He had to let him. He had to try to let him. Why wasn't this body letting him?

Clark realized too late that he was dead, it was true that the brain ran for a little longer once the heart stopped working. He only had strength enough to let seven words escape into the air that had been drained from his lungs.

"Tell Lois Lane that I love her."

With one last shallow breath, Woody Sams' body slumped and Clark couldn't do a single thing.

Then, all there was, was a cloud of white light.

…..

…..

Lois put one hand on her upper arm to steady herself as she watched the news report. Somehow this felt even worse than usual as if something had gone terribly wrong. It was an immediate response now to switch on the radio or the TV or even go online whenever Superman went to save the day. Too many things had attempted to separate them and if she knew, if she could remember every fact presented on the report, she had enough to act if something did happen.

Then why did something that she did so often carry such a weight with it? Why had her heartbeat turned painful? Why did she feel as if her entire body had been filled with cold shards of ice. She shivered as she continued to look at the TV screen. Somebody had been hurt, but that wasn't an unusual thing. Her husband would talk to her about that, she would see the guilt cross his face when he explained it to her, but he knew deep down that he couldn't save every individual. She would hold him that night, remind him of how good he was and how much better he made the world and then eventually he would agree with her and go to sleep.

His heart was his best feature. She had never met anyone as kind, honorable, caring, and moral as him. So, if what he needed was to be reminded of how loved he was, it was a request she would always ready herself for.

"There was only one casualty. A man, Woody Sams, is dead."

Lois breathed slowly. Okay, so somebody had died. She might see a report on him in the paper soon, but it was normal to have casualties. Now though, now was the time to save her husband. She hoped that the man who had taken over her husband's body was weak so that he could sneak inside and reclaim it. If there was any silver lining, she would be able to see the way Superman reacted to this death and she knew that that would make it easy to see who she was dealing with. She would know, in short, whether to defend herself or whether to defend her beloved husband's heart.

Lois reached for the remote, she needed to steady her mind and plan how to act. She smiled softly before her eyes widened. Before she had done anything, there was a picture of the man who had died next to the video of the body bag. Her hand slipped off the remote and it dropped to the floor as she looked at the image.

The last time she had seen her husband, that had been the body he was in. Putting a shaking hand to her lips, Lois felt herself attempt to understand the situation. She took deep breaths. No, her husband had escaped, he had managed to get out of that body. His soul was somewhere. It just had to be somewhere. Her husband had been caught in a nanosecond of time and still they were together. They were going to stay together.

Clark would never leave her. That was why he had to be alive. He was her hero, her Superman, he would come back to her. He would need her support tonight, but she would have his support and care for years. They would grow old together. This wasn't the time to say goodbye.

Lois turned immediately when she heard a less familiar whoosh from the window. She tried to smile with the tears in her eyes to look at her husband. Her smile slipped slightly when she saw the blonde girl next to him. Who was she? Why had he brought her back here? Surely this was an exposure of his secret identity. Lois didn't know how to react.

She looked at him confused before noticing there was something wrong here, something off. Superman didn't have his proper posture. His hands were shaking more and holding the shoulder of the girl with such tenderness. His face was pale and her eyes drew to the blood on his arm, the rip on his suit. Taking deeper breaths, she found herself looking up into his face.

That wasn't Clark.

His eyes held a certain disappointment in them, but it wasn't the same grief and compassion for the fallen. Yes, it was guilt, but it wasn't the deep guilt that he had in his eyes over a random death. He wouldn't look at her, his eyes roaming around as if trying to find something new in the room. Those were not her husband's eyes. Those were not Clark's eyes and this was not her husband.

"Where is he?" Lois asked as she tried to use her detective edge to study the man's body movements. In her head she knew the truth, but she would never accept the truth. "Tell me or I have ways of making you talk. Where is the man that I love?"

"Mrs. Kent," Becky said slowly, her voice quivering, "You have no idea how deeply sorry I am. I am so so sorry that Mr. Kent, that Clark…"

"Went somewhere?" Lois asked, she wrapped an arm around herself. She had the feeling that she would not want to hear the answer. "Where is he? He wouldn't have left…he's had moments of wanting to leave before, but after what we've been though he…"

"I know how you feel," Woody commented, "I could have used that old body of mine, it would have been pretty good to be back as myself. Maybe gone into the witness protection program or something."

"Daddy," Becky said, "It's not the same. You abandoned his soul in that body, his soul wasn't ready to support it."

Lois stared between the two of them. The words that she was hearing didn't make sense. "Where…is my husband?" she repeated.

"He's dead," Woody said bluntly as Lois rose to her feet. She lifted a hand and slapped Superman's body. Her heart broke a little as she saw pain and the red mark on his face.

"Don't you dare say that about him. He's not dead. I know him, I know the man that I married and he wouldn't leave me. He wouldn't just die. There is another way and you're going to help me find it. He's the strongest person I know. He'd fight. He always fights." Inside, Lois realized the truth, but realizing it and acknowledging it was different. She wouldn't allow herself to believe that she had lost the love of her life. She wouldn't let herself feel that her kind, smart, passionate, loyal, protective husband wouldn't be with her anymore.

She continued to look at the familiar face and her breath stopped. "Oh god," she said as she hung her head. "I want you to get out. Unless you have a plan to get him back or information that will help me either get out or kill me. Take me to wherever he is and I can get him safe."

"Are you asking us to end your life?" Becky asked innocently.

Lois glared, "The only thing that I want right now is my husband, cape or no cape. I want to be with him, to pull him into my lap, to hold him and never let him go, to protect him. You wouldn't even let me protect him. He's gone and I don't even want to imagine his fear at that time. I'm afraid you will never know how much that love means," she said bitterly. "He needs me and you being here isn't helping. You think that he just flies around helping people without feeling anything himself, if you think that then you disrespect him and a body that you disrespect isn't going to have you inside very long."

Woody sighed and went over to the window, he bent his knees but then looked around in confusion. "I can't fly." He closed his eyes and tried to hear but it wasn't working, he then tried to see with X-ray vision, test laser vision, but that wasn't working either. "I'm cut off from the powers of this body. I'm weak," he admitted.

Lois smiled to herself slightly, "That's because you're not him. It's because those powers are what keep him alive. They belong to him and he has the right to use them, only him." She punched Woody again before flipping him forwards and pushing him down to the ground.

"You're hurting your husband," Woody coughed

"When he returns Clark will thank me for getting his body weak enough for him to get it back and he will forgive me for the pain, if he feels any. I am willing to do anything to keep him safe even at the cost of my own life," Lois replied. "And if he can't come back, you have done the two worst things possible."

"Your husband had two personalities," Woody tried to reason, "but I am only responsible for one death."

Lois shook her head, "You're right. As you put it you are responsible for one death. You are responsible for the death of the legendary Superman, a great legend to a lot of people, but even worse you are responsible for the death of my husband, Clark Kent, who is the best man the world has known. Secondly though, you took his body and still continue to remain in it. You have made it impossible for me to grieve for him.

My husband deserves to be remembered, to be grieved for. The world deserves to grieve for Superman and I deserve to have my husband beside me. Clark Kent however, he was robbed the most because he has so many people who love him. There's no way that you can escape that. If my husband is watching, you stopped people showing how they care for him, for knowing him."

"Then don't grieve," Woody commented, "Grieving is unpleasant anyway."

"I don't care how unpleasant you find it. I am allowed to love him, to care for him, so get out because nobody will ever really care about you this much. Now, get out of my house. Now!"

Once left alone, Lois curled up on the bed, her heart breaking. "Please come back," she whispered.

Just as that was said a warm light basked her even though it was the middle of the night. She pinched herself before turning over to see the ghost figure of her husband. His usual business clothes but without his glasses. "C-Clark?" she gasped, "are you?"

"Dead," the ghost asked, "I am. I don't have much time, but I'm working on returning to you."

"Okay," Lois nodded as she touched the light he was made of, "I can't hold you."

"I know," he nodded, "I know that. I have to go, I just needed you to know that I love you."

"If you love me, you need to stay. I'll get you another body or you can have mine. I'll find some way, maybe Doctor Kline knows something," she reached for her phone.

"I'll do my best to come back, but right now I can't stay. I wish I could, but unless I go now then it will be impossible to return to you," Clark promised.

"Then," Lois wiped a few tears away, "Go now, because I know the sooner you go, the sooner you'll be back. I love you so much, Kal-el, Superman, my Clark." She reached out for him again but he had gone.