CHAPTER 9 - SAVING LOIS

Lois felt herself waking up. She couldn't remember when or where she fell asleep, but she knew one thing: she had a splitting headache. She went to raise her hand to her head, but something was restricting her arm from moving freely. She opened her eyes slowly. Panic immediately sent her heart racing when she looked at the scene before her. She was lying in a bed inside of a free-standing jail cell. The jail cell which contained her seemed to be inside of a very large warehouse. The bars of the jail cell were all glowing an eerie green color. Her hands were handcuffed to the headboard of the bed on which she lay. And the handcuffs were glowing an eerie green color. "Oh my God," she whispered to herself as she sat up a little straighter and fear rose inside of her. "It's Kryptonite."

"Oh, good, you're finally awake," Aaron Jacobs said, unlocking the cell and walking over to her. He sat at the foot of the bed, facing towards her.

Lois tried making sure her voice sounded unwavering before speaking. "Why am I here? What do you want with me?"

"To lure your husband, of course," Aaron replied.

"Clark?" she asked innocently. "What on earth would you want with Clark?"

"Oh, don't play dumb, Lois," Aaron said. "He's an evil, threatening, alien menace to our world, and he will die!"

"Clark?!" Lois asked in a shrill voice. "Listen, Aaron, I don't know what kind of special brownies you've been eating, but Clark is a mild-mannered reporter who wouldn't hurt a fly. You, on the other hand, knocked me unconscious with who-knows-what, dragged me out of the Daily Planet, and handcuffed me to a bed inside a free-standing jail cell, so who's the evil threatening menace now?"

Aaron slapped her cheek at that comment. "I WILL NOT BE TALKED TO LIKE THAT!" he yelled. "I am a brilliant scientist! Once I figured out that it was Lana Lang who was coming in regularly to get treatment for her Kryptonite poisoning, it was so easy to hack into Dr. West's files, trace Lana's roots back to Smallville where all weird meteor freaks originate from, and eventually put two and two together - that Clark Kent is really Superman. I really knew that I struck gold when she found you two a couple of days ago walking out of the Daily Planet. Then I knew she was here to warn you about me, and I really had solved the mystery of Superman's identity." Zac shook his head and put his hand on top of Lois' knee. "Man, it must have been hard seeing your husband's ex-love-of-his-life come back into the picture. No wonder you two have barely seen or spoken to each other over the past 48 hours. I mean, Lana's hot, she has the same powers as him, she's cured of her Kryptonite poisoning, no wonder you're feeling like the third wheel." He leaned in closer to her. "It's because you are." Lois shuddered at his touch and the close proximity.

Lois spoke shakily. "Do NOT make assumptions regarding Clark's and my relationship. And do NOT ever touch me again."

"Oh, Lois," Aaron said. He got up and slowly paced. "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"Be like what?" Lois asked. "You can still make this right. Just let me go, and we'll pretend this whole thing ever happened. Just stay far away from Clark, and I'll never tell anyone about you."

"Ha!" Aaron laughed. "No, Superman, or Clark, or whatever you call him will die. There's no question about it." Lois gulped in fear as Aaron continued to pace. "No, this -" Aaron motioned to Lois and then himself. "-this wasn't ever supposed to happen. We weren't supposed to fall in love."

"What?"!" Lois shrieked. "Aaron, I don't love you."

"Of course you do," he said. "I've seen the way you look at me. I know how all women look at me. I took care of you when you injured your hand and your husband was too busy helping other people to save his own wife. I tended to you! And then earlier today at the lake. You were concerned for my well-being. When I held your hand, we both felt that spark. That's why you drew away so quickly. You felt guilty because you're married." He stopped pacing and walked over to Lois and cupped her cheek. Don't worry, my love, when Superman is out of the picture, no one will keep us apart."

Meanwhile, Clark landed at the first address on his list. It was a dilapidated motel that stood in the middle of nowhere. Clark cued in his super hearing and thoroughly scanned the area. He sped in and out of every room in the motel. When he was satisfied that Lois wasn't here, he flew off to the next address on his list.

Back in her cell, Lois wasn't sure how to assess her situation. She wasn't even sure how long ago she had been abducted since she had been knocked out. She was sure by now Clark would have discovered that she was missing from the Daily Planet, but would he have figured out that Zac Easton was really Aaron Jacobs? Did she even want him coming to find her? With the amount of Kryptonite surrounding her, it would severely weaken him and kill him in just a matter of minutes. On the flip side, she knew that Aaron was very attracted to her, and didn't want to stick around long enough to find out what his intentions for her were. With her right hand still injured from the brick falling on it the day before, she wasn't sure she could take him all on her own, but she was willing to try if need be. All she knew is that she had to keep Aaron away from Clark. When Aaron wasn't in her cell, he would disappear for quite awhile. She wasn't sure where he was going or what he was doing, but she had to stall for time. The only plan of attack she thought had the slightest chance of working was making him start thinking she was interested in him, get her to take the handcuffs off, take him down, and make a run for it. When safely away from the Kryptonite, she would call for help.

"Hey Aaron," she called out when he came back in the warehouse. "I was hoping that you would uncuff me?" She was using her sweetest voice to lure him into a false sense of security. "My hand is still pretty bruised up from the brick landing on it yesterday, and it's really starting to hurt."

"Not going to happen," Aaron said. "You've already told me that you have a black belt in karate. I may not be a karate kung fu master, but I'm definitely not stupid."

"No, you're not. Lana told us that Dr. West said that you were brilliant," Lois said, playing a different angle. "Since I'm not going anywhere for awhile, maybe you could enlighten me on all the brilliant things you've done."

"Glad to know that good-for-nothin' doctor appreciated me for my brilliance," Aaron scoffed. "My brilliant plan started a couple of weeks ago when I saw the Daily Planet was looking for a new photojournalist. I knew I had to take that job to get close to you and Clark. I had no credentials for the job, so I found someone who did." His eyes narrowed and Lois shuddered on the inside at the sound of his voice. "Zac Easton. Poor Zac. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"He was found a week later at the after his body washed up from Lake Metropolis!" Lois gasped in horror. "What did you do?!"

"I needed to take his place," Aaron said. "Obviously, we can't have 2 Zac Easton's, so I just - got rid of him." Aaron sat down on the bed beside Lois and put his arm around her. "Don't worry, my darling. I would never lay a hand on you."

"Really? And that slap to my cheek earlier was just a little love pat?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Before she could think about what she had said, Aaron's elbow swiftly met her upper cheek bone.

"Ow!" she yelled out with tears stinging her eyes.

"I will never lay a hand on you if you DON'T MAKE ME!" he yelled.

Lois wiggled her jaw, and once she was sure she would just have a black eye and nothing more serious, she continued trying to get on his good side. "I'm sorry," she told him, lying through her teeth. "Continue. What other brilliant plans put you where you are?"

"Well, once we had our very first assignment, I had no idea how to take good pictures, so I just had to guess in the beginning. And then later, I stepped away to search the Internet for how to take professional pictures. Then when I went back to the Planet, and you were at the ER, and your good-for-nothing husband was out doing Superman activities, I had to search how to edit pictures to a professional level." He let out a vain laugh. "The Internet makes everything so easy. That's why it took me until the next day until I finished my pictures and submitted them to you. When you told me how good the pictures were later, I knew that my cover was still in tact. My confidence was a little shaky earlier today when I found out that Zac Easton's body had washed up. I knew that my cover was going to be uncovered, and I just knew that it would be uncovered by you, gorgeous. You've got brains and beauty."

Lois managed a little half smile. "Wow, Aaron, you - you really went to a lot of trouble."

"And I'm just getting started," he said. "Once that disgusting alien comes in, he'll die a slow and painful death. And then you and I can be together forever." He planted a kiss on Lois' forehead. Her stomach churned at his touch. A tear slid down her cheek as his words plagued her mind. 'Once that disgusting alien comes in, he'll die a slow and painful death.'

Lana had crossed three of the five locations off her list. 'Only two more to go. I have to find Lois before Clark does,' she thought to herself.

Clark was searching through the fourth building on his list. He was getting antsy and frustrated at the fact that he wasn't finding her. After a thorough search that once again turned up empty, he sped towards his last address: an old music warehouse way out in Star City.

"Hey good-looking," Aaron said, opening Lois' cell and bringing in a big plate of food and water. "It occured to me that you've been here for several hours and you're probably getting hungry and could use a bathroom break. I'll uncuff you from the bed, but I still don't trust you enough to uncuff your hands. You need to earn my trust before that happens."

Lois smiled gratefully as he unlocked the handcuffs from the bed and she was able to stretch and stand up. "Where's the ladies' room?"

"Follow me," he said. He walked her down a small corridor to a bathroom. "I'll be waiting here." He narrowed his eyes and pulled out a gun. "Don't try anything funny. You might have a black belt in karate, but I'm an excellent shot."

Lois' eyes widened and she swallowed hard. She nodded fearfully to show she understood what he had told her. She slipped in the restroom and locked the door behind her.

"OK, Lois, think," she whispered to herself. She had to come up with a plan of attack. Her hands were still handcuffed together, so some of her mobility and defensibility was hindered by that. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head. She did her business in the bathroom and washed her hands to make Aaron think she was doing what he took her in there for, and then jiggled the doorknob, and pretended that it was stuck. "Aaron?" she called out. "I think there's something stuck in the lock. I can't open the door."

"Dang old building," Aaron muttered under his breath. She heard him jiggle the knob from the outside. She heard his voice come from midway down the door and she knew he had stooped down to try and see if he could see anything inside the pinhole lock on his side of the door. Once she knew his face was level with the door knob, she had to make her move. She quietly unlocked the door and opened it with all her might, successfully jabbing Aaron in the eye with the door knob. "Ohh!" he yelled out in pain grabbing his eye.

Lois didn't stop. She didn't think. She just took off running towards the doors as fast as she could.

She was still 30 feet away from the doors of the warehouse when she saw the doors being thrown off their hinges. She was both horrified and relieved to see Superman fly inside.

"Clark! GET OUT!" she screamed as she raced towards him.

"Lois!" Superman said as he super sped to her, ignoring her warning. He scooped her up quickly and just as quickly fell to his knees, Lois coming down with him.

"Lois?" he groaned as he crumpled to the floor. He looked at Lois' hands. They were handcuffed - in green, glowing handcuffs.

"Clark, you have to get out of here," she said with tears streaming down her face. "Get away from me. I have on Kryptonite handcuffs."

"Lois -" Superman groaned. "I - I could never - do that." He studied her face. "He - he - hit you?" Superman asked.

"I'm OK," Lois whispered as the tears kept falling. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"What a sweet picture of irony," Aaron said smugly as he sauntered onto the scene. "The very woman you came to rescue is the very woman that you can't go near." He gave Superman a hard kick in the ribs. "This is for being the evil alien menace that you are!"

"Ohhh!" Superman moaned in pain.

"Stop it!" Lois screamed.

"And this one -" Aaron kicked Superman again. " - is for the shiner your stupid whore of a wife gave me!" Aaron yelled. He left Superman in a heap on the floor and grabbed Lois away from him. He pulled her, by her legs as she wiggled and fought, across the floor back towards the jail cell she was originally locked in. "Come on, sweetie, it's back to bed for you."

"No!" she yelled as she kicked and wriggled as much as she could.

"I think it's about time we consummate our relationship," Aaron said. "Superman's time is just about up anyways."

"Like hell it is!" Superman groaned as he used what little strength he had to jump on top of Aaron and tackle him to the ground. He punched Aaron in the face while Lois moved far away from him. "This is for hurting my wife!" He punched Aaron again. "This - " he could feel himself weakening from the physical strength he was exerting. " - this is for - thinking you're going to - to - have sex - with my wife."

Aaron noticed Superman's fading strength and was able to roll over so that Aaron was on top of Superman. "Good try alien. There's so much Kryptonite in here it's amazing you were able to muster that amount of strength to take me down. Maybe you actually love this human WHORE! Too bad she's mine." He delivered a solid punch to Superman, and Superman went unconscious.

"CLARK!" Lois screamed with tears running down her cheeks. Aaron turned around with a smug look on his face, and strolled back to Lois. She was crouched on the floor, crying. Once Aaron approached her, she leapt up and used her handcuffed hands to punch him in the face. "Ugh!" she yelled, letting out a groan, using all her strength to deliver a swift blow. He was knocked down.

Behind her, Lois heard a female voice. "Do you even need super-human help, or have you got it?" Lana asked.

Lois looked up, breathless, and panicked. "Lana, thank God you're here. We have to get Clark out of here,"

"She was actually talking to me," Aaron chimed in. "She's not here to help you….or your precious husband. We've been in this together from the get-go." He smiled smugly at Lois.

Lois stared at Lana in a horrified manner. "You - you completely betrayed us?"

Lana's eyes widened at the accusation. "What are you talking about? I've been here to help the whole time. I'm the one who even told you about Aaron in the first place."

"I read Dr. West's files. Chloe and Clark convinced me that it couldn't be true. There was somebody who Dr. West was concerned about having an obsession with Superman. It was Lana Lang," Lois informed her.

Lana's eyes narrowed. "Lois, I thought you trusted me. I would never hurt Clark. He and I may not have worked out in a romantic sense, but I still consider him my friend, and I would absolutely never do anything to hurt him. Or you. Don't believe Aaron. He had to have planted that evidence to make you lose trust in me."

"What would he gain by doing that?" Lois asked pointedly. She heard a gun click behind her head and felt the barrel at her temple.

"Because now I have you right where I want you," he hissed in her ear. "My plan is working out far better than I ever imagined. Superman is dead. His wife is mine. The only person who can stop me is surrounded by Kryptonite, and I already know from your previous Kryptonite experience, if you touch it, you become poisoned by it. Only this time, Dr. West isn't around to cure you."

Lana and Lois' eyes met each others. He didn't know! Aaron had misunderstood Dr. West's files! When he read that Lana had absorbed Kryptonite and needed to be cured of it, Aaron understood it to mean it was like a lethal poison to her body. He had no idea that it wouldn't affect her.

"Dr. West told me that you were brilliant," Lana said, walking a slow circle around Aaron, and whispered in his ear. "But even the brilliant people make mistakes." She walked over to Lois, and yanked the handcuffs off of her. At her touch, the handcuffs also changed from green to metal. Lana smirked at Aaron as she held the metal handcuffs up. "You see, Kryptonite doesn't poison me. It's neutralized by me."

"No….." Aaron said. Lois waited until she felt Aaron lower the gun, and delivered a solid elbow punch to his rib cage and he fell to the ground.

Lois kicked him in the ribs. "This is for holding me hostage!" she yelled. She kicked him again. "This is for hurting my husband!" She kicked him again. "And this is just because you've pissed me off!"

"Lois!" Lana yelled. "We need to get rid of the Kryptonite!" She touched her hands to the Kryptonite jail cell bars and it immediately changed from green to a regular metal. "I have to get out of here for Clark to recover. I have to go to the sun. Are you OK if I leave you?" She looked at Aaron who was still in a heap in the floor.

"Yeah," Lois said. "I'll take him down if I need to."

"OK," Lana said. "I'll be back as soon as I can." She flew away from the warehouse and Lois ran to Superman's side. He was starting to stir.

"Lois?" he groaned.

"Shhh, I'm right here," Lois said, taking his hand and leaning down to kiss him. "Are you OK?"

"I'm weak," he answered. "But I'll be OK." He took his hand to her bruised cheek and eye. She flinched, even at his gentle touch. "Are - are you OK? Did he hurt you in any other way?"

"No, no," she reassured him. "This is it. And it's only because of my big mouth. Well, that, and the guy's got a few screws loose."

Superman managed a laugh before Lois saw his eyes widen in horror. She turned around and saw Aaron standing up with the gun in his hand. Before she had time to think, she was covered by Superman's cape as Superman quickly covered her body with his own. She heard the gun shot. Superman got off of her quickly and stood up, still staggering with weakness.

"Clark?!" she exclaimed. "Are you -?" And then she saw it. Aaron was slumped on the floor in a pool of blood with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his temple. "Oh my God," she sighed.

"It's over," Superman said wrapping her in a hug. "It's all over."