Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you've seen on TV, and the basic idea for this story was taken from a situation in the episode "Seconds".
This is the immediate sequel to "Just Like That...?". I owe thanks to all
of the regulars on Zoomway's fanfic boards http://www.zoomway.com/boards, and I owe an extra debt to my volunteer editors: Chris, Wendy, Marnie, Joy, Julie, and Merry. Thank you all.
For all three of you who will notice g I used different symbols to break
up scenes: *** indicates a scene change; * indicates a POV shift within a
scene. Comments always welcome, good, bad, or indifferent.
______________
BEING LOIS LANE
by Pam Jernigan jernigan@bellsouth.net
Rated PG
Submitted November 1999
______________
Lois woke slowly, aware of a blessed sense of safety. For the first time
in weeks, she could relax. Lex could no longer hurt her, and Clark ...
well, she suspected he might believe her now. She had a vague memory of
him carrying her to the bed, sometime after she'd fallen asleep in his
arms. And he'd stayed in bed next to her through the night, holding her
close, keeping her safe.
She opened her eyes, confirming that she was lying in Clark's bed. It
seemed to be fairly early in the morning, judging by the angle of the sun,
but then, she'd fallen asleep pretty early the night before. She turned
her head to see Clark lying next to her, and had to smile. Even the back
of his head was adorable. She wished that she felt confident enough of him
to cuddle up behind him, but she just couldn't take the risk of rejection.
He had every reason to think she was crazy. She looked nothing like
herself, anymore -- this clone body was fair-haired and blue-eyed, and
looked barely old enough to have graduated college. And this business of
transferring a person's soul from one body to another ... well, if she
hadn't experienced it personally, she wouldn't have believed it either.
He'd seemed sympathetic enough last night, on the street, after Lex had
tried to kill her. Of course, some of that was probably just his Superman
persona at work ... but he had seemed to enjoy taunting Lex. And since Lex
had also been in a clone body, wouldn't it follow that if Clark had
believed Lex, he should also believe her? Too, he had acted differently,
back at the apartment ... but then again she'd been just about to fall
apart at the time; she didn't really remember much of what he'd said, and
she couldn't trust her impressions.
She rolled her eyes, disgusted at herself. Speculation never got anyone
anywhere; she needed to go to the source. Even if he didn't believe her
yet, he was probably well on his way, so she had nothing to fear. Right?
Right. She propped herself up on one elbow, facing Clark, and nerved
herself to shake his shoulder.
He rolled over towards her, his eyes opening slowly. As he focused on her,
he frowned briefly in confusion, then smiled sleepily. "Morning, Lois."
His matter-of-fact tone momentarily robbed her of speech. She bit her
lower lip in wonder and relief. "You called me Lois."
He propped his head up on his elbow. "Well, that's who you are, isn't it?"
He grinned wryly. "The packaging is a little different, I grant you...."
She managed to smile at that, both elated and humbled that he had made this
leap of faith. At his comment about her appearance, a new worry surfaced.
"Yeah, about that ... what do you think? I'm sure it'd look better with
some decent makeup; I'm kind of a wreck right now..."
He traced a finger lightly over her nose and jawline, then smiled. "You're
beautiful," he replied firmly. "Yeah, you've changed ... but it's still
you, inside ... and that means you're beautiful."
Lois blinked back tears. "I love it when you lie to me," she said softly,
a smile playing around her mouth.
He leaned over and put his arm around her waist, gently dragging her across
the bed towards him. When she arrived at his side, giggling softly at his
strong-arm tactics, he grinned, then leaned down to kiss her. She returned
the kiss with all the pent-up passion of the last few days, reveling in the
ability to express her love for him once more.
Eventually, they parted, and Clark looked down at her with a slightly
unfocused gaze. "Wow. Oh, Lois, I missed you." He rolled onto his back,
pulling her head down to rest on his shoulder. "And it feels so good to
hold you again..."
*
They stayed like that for some time, as they wordlessly reconnected, but
Clark couldn't help worrying about the future, trying to work his way
around the many obstacles they still faced. Surely they didn't want to
publicize the clone story, so they were stuck with her new identity as
"Paula Bainbridge" and yet, none of their relatives or friends would accept
that Clark had fallen for someone else this quickly. Maybe he could just
announce that he was taking off to tour the world, and come back a few
years later with a new wife ... or maybe he should know better than to try
to make decisions for Lois. They needed to talk about this.
Clark pulled back just far enough to be able to see her face. "Lois, it
was a miracle that I got you back, and believe me, I'm grateful ... but
where do we go from here?" He shrugged helplessly, waving a hand to
indicate the rest of their lives. "What's our game plan?"
"Always with the sports metaphors." She grinned, briefly distracted.
"Good to know *some* things don't change."
Clark smirked. "Just trying to make you feel comfortable."
"Oh, thanks so much..." she rolled her eyes, but couldn't disguise a smile.
"Actually, I've been thinking a lot about plans." She sighed. "I hate
having to plan. Mostly, I was figuring out how to survive without you, but
now that I don't have to worry about that ... you're right, we have some
choices to make. For one thing..." she trailed a finger along his arm, not
meeting his eyes, "physical appearances can be changed. I mean, I could
dye my hair brown, and get colored contacts ... They're doing amazing
things with plastic surgery, even -- remember the time Ariana Carlin had
that girl made to look just like me? It would cost a lot of money, but..."
her voice trailed off uncertainly.
Clark leaned back, so he could get a good look at her. While his heart was
certain that this was Lois, and his brain agreed, his eye was still
surprised with every glance, and part of him desperately wanted everything
to go back just the way it had been. Her new appearance would be a
constant reminder of their ordeal. But could he ask her to go to so much
trouble to change her appearance? She would, in effect, be in disguise all
the time. As if her new body were somehow inferior. Sooner or later, that
would have to affect her -- make her feel as if *she* were inferior. Clark
had a sudden flash of how he might feel if he were to become Superman
full-time, never able to show his true face to anyone. He couldn't do that
to her.
"Well," he replied slowly, choosing his words carefully, "if you *want* to
do any of that, I guess you can. But ... it seems to me that it'd be an
awful lot of trouble to go to -- not to mention the physical risks of
surgery -- when the results would almost certainly not be worth it. Lois,
I love you because you're smart, and determined, and fiercely loyal, and
have so much love hiding inside ..."
He tipped her chin up so that he could see her eyes. "That's the sort of
thing that matters. I admit I liked the brown hair and fantastic body," he
grinned slightly, trying to lighten the moment, and she had to smile in
return. "But this new body of yours really isn't bad at all, and you know
I've always had a weakness for blondes...."
Her smile broadened to a grin at that, and she playfully smacked his shoulder.
"But it's your decision," he hastily concluded, "because it is your body."
She shrugged, smiling just a little. "You're the one who has to look at
it. And if you don't mind that ... then I guess I'm okay with it too."
She paused. "I might try dyeing my hair, for a while. Although on the
other hand, I tried that when I was younger, and it was an incredible pain
-- always worrying about my roots, and having to re-color it every month or
so -- and then if you want to grow it out, it just looks really weird for
months. Not to mention that it's bad for your hair, and I haven't even had
this hair very long yet, so I don't even know what kind of care it needs
when it's *not* color treated."
Clark controlled a smile. As she said, it was good to know some things
didn't change. "Whatever you decide is fine with me, Lois. As long as
you're healthy." He paused, as doubt assailed him. "You are healthy,
right?"
"I'm a little malnourished right now, but I'm really in excellent shape."
She grimaced. "Lex chose our new bodies carefully. In fact..." she
hesitated, and ducked her head, addressing her next remark to the sheets.
"He was planning to marry me when we got to Switzerland, you know."
Clark felt himself tense, but willed himself to remain calm. This was all
past history. It was just that the thought of Lex touching Lois -- in any
body -- was enough to make him angry and sick all at once.
She seemed to understand his distress, and hastened to reassure him, laying
a comforting hand on his chest. "It's okay, Clark. See, the thing is,
with these new bodies ... we were both ... well, technically, anyway ... we
were virgins again. Not that I ever had sex with him in my old body
either," she added quickly.
"I know, you told me," he affirmed. "But what does that have to do with it?"
"Well, see, the idea of being a virgin on his wedding night -- for once in
his life, he said -- it amused him. He was looking forward to it ... and
it's a good thing, too, because *Wanda* didn't care...." she shuddered.
"But anyway, I don't have any really horrible memories to deal with."
"So you mean, you and he...?" he asked, delicately.
"Didn't do anything," she replied firmly.
"Thank God," he breathed, holding her a little closer. "I would have
understood, you know, and we would have dealt with it ... but I'm *really*
glad we don't have to."
She snorted agreement. "You and me both. But the rest of that story is,
this body is supposed to be fully functional, according to Lex. I should
have a normal lifespan." She paused as a huge yawn overtook her. "Longer
than before, actually, since physiologically I'm now 22 again."
He raised an eyebrow. "As long as you don't plan on ditching me in favor
of Jimmy."
She laughed at that. "In his dreams!"
The sound of a distant siren caught Clark's attention, and he raised his
head to try to listen for more details. When he looked down at Lois again,
she was smiling faintly.
"What is it?"
"Warehouse fire down by the harbor." The fire department might be able to
handle it themselves, he supposed.
"I guess you'd better go, then." She shrugged philosophically. "I bet it
won't take you long."
Clark still hesitated, reluctant to leave her. "Promise you won't go
anywhere?"
She smiled serenely. "I may not even leave the bed."
Another siren joined the first, and Clark had to go, but he took the time
to kiss her goodbye on his way out.
*
Lois watched him streak away, and grinned. All was normal in her world ...
well, almost all. And it was too early in the morning to be awake by
herself, so she rolled over and tried to recapture sleep.
Half an hour later she conceded failure, and sat up. She stretched, and
was reminded that she was still wearing last night's clothes. She decided
to take advantage of Clark's absence to take a shower -- it had been a
little too long since her last one.
She took her time in the shower, enjoying the unlimited hot water. When
she finally emerged from the bathroom, she found him in the kitchen, with
some promising white paper sacks, which claimed her immediate attention.
"Ooh -- are those from that little French place?"
"Yep, I thought you'd recognize them," he chuckled, leaning against the
countertop. "They're not quite as fresh as I'd like -- after all, it's
afternoon in Europe now -- but the one I had was pretty good. I got an
assortment for you."
She crossed the kitchen and indulged in a quick hug and kiss. "Mmm, they
smell great." She started to reach for the closest bag, but stopped, as the
too-long sleeve of the robe flopped down past her fingertips. "Let me get
dressed." She frowned, and sighed. "I hope you don't mind me borrowing
your clothes again, because I sure don't have anything clean to wear."
He grinned. "You do now. I picked up two sets of clothes that should fit
you. They're in the bedroom."
She beamed up at him. "Have I ever told you you're my hero?"
Clark chuckled at that, and kissed her again. "Frequently. But don't feel
you have to stop."
"Nothing is going to stop me, Clark; you should know that by now." Smiling
serenely, she ducked into the bedroom and quickly dressed. She ran her
hands through her hair once more, but then gave up the attempt at
hairstyling -- Clark obviously didn't have a curling iron or blow dryer.
Although, she grinned, he'd probably dry her hair with heat vision if she
asked him. Never mind. She'd do fine with the natural look.
She hastened back out to the kitchen and joined Clark at the table,
devouring two croissants and a pastry in short order. At Clark's inquiring
glance, she mumbled defensively, "I was hungry. Besides," she continued
caustically, "I spent way too much time dieting and denying myself in my
other body, and look where *that* got me." Judging by the faintly alarmed
look on Clark's face, he was picturing not only a young blond wife, but a
young blond *fat* wife. She grinned, then relented. "I'm going to take
care of myself, Clark. As soon as I get a moment, I'll get a checkup,
cholesterol check, and all that stuff. Heck, I don't even know what my
blood type is now. In the meantime, though, I just want to recover from
the last few weeks."
"What?" He looked puzzled. "I didn't mean -- I just want to make sure
you're okay," he explained. "But you're right; I thought you looked pretty
worn out when you first showed up ... what was it, just yesterday morning?
Seems like so much longer than that, somehow."
"Well, a lot's happened." She sighed, and slumped back in her chair. "And
there's still a lot to do."
Clark moved his chair around to her side of the table and took her hand in
a comforting grip. "We can do it; together we can do anything."
She smiled at him. "I know. And it won't get any easier by putting it
off, worse luck. So ... we have to decide what to do about work."
"I've been thinking about that," Clark offered. "We could leave
Metropolis, and get jobs somewhere else. Philadelphia, maybe; it's close
enough that Superman wouldn't have to move the same time we did. You've
lost your resume, unfortunately, but the Inquirer's been wanting to hire me
for a while now, and I could probably slide you in as my partner."
"That rag?" She stared up at him in amazement.
"What? Oh, not the National Enquirer, Lois," he laughed. "The
Philadelphia Inquirer, which is a very respectable paper; they win Kerths
and Pulitzers almost as often as the Planet."
"Oh, right. Well, I guess we could do that ... but I think I'd like to try
talking to Perry, first." She squeezed his hand. "I know I can't just get
my old life back ... everyone knows I'm dead, or thinks so anyway. And
they're probably going to think *you're* on the rebound, to hook up with
"Paula Bainbridge" so quickly. But I want to talk to Perry, and Jimmy, and
maybe one or two others, and try to convince them. They deserve to know.
And maybe Perry'll hire me, as Paula, to be your partner."
"Hmm ... it's worth a try. It might be rough, at first; people might not
like you trying to replace the great Lois Lane."
She sighed. "I know. But heck, none of them really *liked* me anyway,
back from when I was horrible to everyone. If I'm nicer this time, maybe
they'll forgive me. And I know I can do the work, so that's not a problem."
"Hey, hey, it was never that bad." Clark reached out to give her a
one-handed neck rub. "A lot more people liked you than you think. The
turnout at your funeral was very impressive," he added with macabre cheer.
She had to chuckle at that. "Sorry I missed it."
"It would have been a lot more fun with you there," he admitted, then
firmly left the topic behind. "Whether we go back to the Planet or
somewhere else, I'm with you all the way."
She smiled up at him. "Good to know. And speaking of knowing things," her
smile faltered, "I don't know if you know this -- I got the impression that
you didn't -- but while I missed the funeral, I was there for the wedding."
She reached out to touch his leg lightly. "They snatched me at the
reception, and when I first woke up, my memory was fuzzy -- Lex told me
that he'd done the switch before the ceremony, so maybe they told you that,
too ... but later, I remembered walking down the aisle with Daddy, and
Perry doing the ceremony, and taking all those pictures afterwards...." her
voice trailed off as her eyes searched his for reaction.
Clark felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. For weeks, he'd
agonized over how he could have taken hours to notice that Lois was gone --
how he could have kissed the clone and not instantly realized the deception.
"Clark?" Lois asked softly, and he started, realizing that she was still
watching him in concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm not sure ... I think so." He smiled wryly. "I wasn't quite as stupid
as I thought, which is always good to know."
"Don't beat yourself up, Clark," she advised with a hint of laughter in her
voice. "It took me two *years* to figure out what Superman did in his
spare time."
Clark chuckled at the unexpected comparison, as some of his guilt slipped
away. "Well, I guess it doesn't make any difference, legally, but my
memories of the ceremony will be a lot more pleasant now, I can tell you."
"Yeah, I know." A look of mischief crossed her face. "Did you get the
wedding portraits back yet? We should hang one in the living room. We can
tell people that was your first wife, and make up stories about what a
witch she was."
"Lois!" A choke of laughter escaped him before he sobered. "Does this mean
you forgive me for letting you go through all this?"
"You didn't do it all yourself, Clark -- and there were a few things I
should have handled better, myself." She grinned suddenly. "When you
think about it, a lot of it was my fault, for having written such a
horrible novel."
He shook his head at that, but she held up a hand to forestall any comment.
"It's okay, Clark. We're together again. That's all that really matters.
So let's just forgive ourselves and each other, and go on from here, okay?"
He sighed, considering this. He was amazed at how quickly she seemed to
have recovered ... then again, she'd had a head start on him. And if she
could forgive his blunders, perhaps he should forgive himself too. It
certainly wasn't a topic he enjoyed thinking about. "Okay, it's a deal.
So what do you say -- let's get married."
Lois grinned at him. "Now, that was a lovely proposal."
"Hey, I did the down-on-one-knee thing and you turned me down flat!" Clark
laughingly protested.
"I didn't say no, I said not yet; get your facts straight, Kent, or I'll go
to work for the Star and beat you out of next year's Kerths."
"No, no, don't do that! Perry would kill me -- and *I* haven't got any
spare bodies lying around!"
She rolled her eyes, enjoying the banter. "Excuses, excuses. But I'll
take pity on you ... I'll marry you. Again."
"Married out of pity," he moaned, clutching his heart dramatically. "How
can I stand it?"
She lifted an eyebrow at his theatrics. "Well, if you'd rather not--"
"No, no," he interrupted, smoothing his face into a parody of seriousness,
with just a hint of lechery thrown in. "I'll take you any way I can get
you."
"Ah, that's the attitude I like to see," she grinned. "So ... know anybody
who could fly me to Las Vegas? We could get a mariachi band, a few amiable
passers-by ... I can see it now." She pantomimed gesturing to unknown
persons across the room. "Hey, you, wanna come to a wedding? Yeah, I'm a
clone, and he's an alien; it should be fun!"
Clark laughed. "Obviously we were made for each other."
"Yeah, we were..." she paused, watching him, feeling a wave of love towards
him that almost choked her in its intensity. He caught the look, and
returned it. She leaned forward, and he met her halfway for a long, sweet
kiss.
Clark eventually drew back, taking a deep breath and blinking. "Well.
Where were we?"
She thought back for a moment. "On our way to Vegas, I think. If you're
sure...? It'll look awful for you to marry again this quickly, you know.
I saw some of the tabloid coverage..." There had been some fairly lurid
and horrible stories covering the Clark-Lois-Lex debacle.
Clark shook his head firmly. "Let them say what they want. I know I'm not
doing anything wrong, so the worst they can say is that I'm being an idiot.
Which is none of their business. And there is nothing I'd like more," he
reached over to cup her face with his hand, "than to marry you. We can
have a reception with our family and friends later, after we've told them
about you, but I don't want to wait."
She smiled helplessly, tilting her head into his palm, unable to argue
this. "Let's go, then."
"Okay." He spun into his Superman suit, and scooped her up. "On the way,
we can decide what sort of chapel we want. Any preferences?" He floated
her over to the balcony, paused to lock the door behind him, and lifted off
slowly.
"No, not really, anything will do." She broke into a sudden grin. "As
long as it's *not* Blue Suede Deliverance!"
***
Late that night, Lois lay in bed cuddled next to her new husband, wearing
nothing but a wedding ring and a pensive expression. "Does this seem a
little unreal to you? I spent the last two weeks trying desperately to get
here -- but I never really thought further than that. So now ... it's like
I've stepped off a cliff -- I don't know what's going to happen next, and
it's making me feel very unsettled."
His arms tightened around her. "You know I'd never let you fall."
"I know." She fell silent for a moment, awash in contentment. "It's very
liberating, in a weird way. I could leave my old life behind altogether,
or pick and choose who to reconnect with ... like I've been reborn."
"I'm glad you picked me." Clark murmured, kissing her hair. "Who else are
we going to tell?"
"Well, Perry and Jimmy, at least," she replied, slowly. She was not yet
tired enough to sleep, but enough that her brain felt as if it were running
in slow motion. A very comfortable state indeed, after the past few weeks
of necessary hyper-alertness. "And we have to tell your parents -- I was
thinking of telling them earlier, actually." She turned her head to search
for his face in the dim room. "Can we fly out there tomorrow?"
"I'm supposed to go back to work..." He chewed his lip, considering it.
"But I don't have anything urgent waiting for me, and Perry keeps urging me
to take 'time to heal,' so he wouldn't mind if I took a sick day."
"You can play hookey, then," she concluded in satisfaction. "You always
said you wanted to."
He laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess I did. But it's a lot more fun with a
friend." That called for a few friendly kisses.
Clark laid back against the pillows, cuddling her close to his chest. "So,
that's my parents ... how about yours?"
Lois frowned, contemplating the unhappy state of her relationships with her
family. "I really don't want to."
"I didn't figure you did," he stated neutrally.
"You think I ought to, though, don't you?"
"I'm not going to tell you what to do." He hesitated, then continued, "I
just don't want you to have any regrets, later."
Lois sighed, and thought about her mother. The most annoying,
exasperating, crazy-making ... Ellen had made her life a misery as a
teenager -- having to deal with her mother's alcoholism had been fairly
awful. She was on the wagon now, thankfully, but still as neurotic as ever.
"And then, too," Clark continued, "once you start keeping a secret from
someone, you're stuck. As time goes by, the secret gets harder and harder
to tell."
Lois grinned and turned to look at him. "Speaking from personal
experience, are we?"
"Painful experience," he affirmed, smiling wryly.
She acknowledged the truth of that with a noisy sigh. "Okay, point taken.
I'll think about it."
Clark hugged her. "That's all I'm asking."
***
"Okay, honey, we'll be expecting you. Love you!" Martha smiled as her son
said goodbye. She hung up the phone and turned to her husband. "That was
Clark," she reported. "He's coming to visit this morning, he said."
"Good," Jonathan said, taking another sip of coffee. "He's been working
much too hard lately, especially as Superman."
"Well, he sounds much better," she replied, sitting at the table and
watching Jonathan finish his breakfast. "Not so lost -- almost cheerful."
"Good. Although--" Jonathan frowned briefly. "I hardly saw any sight of
Superman yesterday. The newsgroup usually picks up his major appearances,
but nothing yesterday. Well, there was one possible sighting in Nevada,
but it was unconfirmed."
"When did you have time to read the newsgroups?" Martha asked, amused by
her husband's cyber-savvy.
"Checked it this morning right after downloading the current beef prices."
"Ah, I see. I'll take a look after breakfast, then." Her amusement faded
away as she turned to a more worrisome topic. "I wonder what made him
sound so cheerful, though."
Jonathan looked up. "Why does it matter? Isn't it a good thing? He was
so torn up after Lois -- well, I didn't think I'd ever see him smile again."
"Of course I want him to be happy again, Jonathan," she snapped, restlessly
twisting the edge of the tablecloth. "But don't you think it's too soon?
She's only been gone for six weeks!"
"Martha, now, don't fret yourself," he soothed, standing and moving behind
her to rub her neck. "I'm sure Clark knows what he's doing. He's a
sensible boy, and he's old enough to handle himself."
She sighed, relaxing into the neck rub. "I know. I just wonder, is all."
"Well, we'll find out soon enough," Jonathan pointed out prosaically. "But
I've got to go let the cows out to pasture. I'll be back in an hour."
He kissed her goodbye and made his way out the door, leaving her in the
kitchen with her thoughts. The loss of Lois had devastated her son, she
knew, and while she was glad he was sounding better, she was consumed with
curiosity as to the cause of his improvement. Grief took time, and six
weeks seemed hardly enough. Not that she wanted him to suffer, of course,
but if he tried to ignore his feelings, it would only come back to hurt him
even more, later. "Well, no point sitting around stewing about it," she
spoke aloud. She stood, suiting actions to words, and started busying
herself with her normal household chores.
***
Lois woke up to the smell of French toast and black coffee. She smiled,
contemplating her newly married state. Would it be strange to face him
now, in the daylight? Only one way to find out. With butterflies in her
stomach, she slipped on some clothes, and emerged into the kitchen, where
Clark had breakfast nearly completed. "Morning, husband."
He smiled at her over his shoulder as he flipped the last piece of toast.
"Morning, wife. You looked so cute, sleeping in my bed, that I didn't have
the heart to wake you."
She smiled back as the butterflies evaporated, and walked over to embrace
him from behind; he turned his head for a brief kiss. He was still Clark,
and all was right with her world. "Enjoy it while you can; I'm usually up
at dawn. But I guess I was still tired."
"And probably still malnourished," he added, finishing with the stove. She
reluctantly let him go and followed him over to the table. "So I made you
a big breakfast."
"Have I mentioned that I love you?" She kissed him, hard, to prove it.
He returned the kiss with enthusiasm, smiling warmly at her as they
disengaged. "Not since yesterday. But the evidence yesterday was pretty
convincing."
She giggled. "Hey, when I do something, I don't kid around."
"Too true. Well, I called Perry this morning, and told him I wouldn't be
in today. Then I called my folks, and told them to expect me."
She glanced up at him. "Did you mention me at all?"
He shrugged helplessly. "I didn't know what to say."
She nodded rueful agreement. "I don't even know what I'll say when I see
them."
"We'll think of something. Just think positive."
"Right. Think positive. I can do that." She finished her breakfast with
swift efficiency. "So, when do we go?"
A rush of wind filled the kitchen, and when it subsided, she saw that all
the dishes were put away, the stove and counters cleaned, and Clark was in
his red-and-blue travelling outfit. "Anytime you're ready."
She stood. "Let's go then."
***
Martha had just finished unloading the dishwasher when movement in the
front yard caught her eye. She glanced out the window and saw her son --
still in his Superman outfit -- and an unfamiliar blond woman. Martha
frowned. Who was this? And why on Earth would Clark endanger his secret
identity by bringing her here, where Superman had no reason to visit?
She watched them for a moment. Perhaps Superman would soon fly off, and
Clark would come walking downstairs. In that case, she'd have to pretend
that he'd been here already, though for how long she didn't know. She
wished that Clark would have told her what her lines should be.
As Martha waited for Clark to make his move, she studied his guest. The
woman seemed young, and she was standing much too close to Superman for his
mother's comfort -- Clark was relaxed in her presence, though. Now she was
gesturing towards the S-shield and smiling ... Clark looked down, and then
stepped back, spinning into a multi-colored blur. When he slowed down
again, he was dressed in jeans and a casual shirt, with Clark's glasses.
Martha gripped the edge of the counter, trying to imagine what this might
mean. Clark must be on very intimate terms with this strange woman, who
was fidgeting nervously -- they were standing close together again, and he
was leaning in close to speak softly in her ear. And now he was holding
her hand! How could he even *think* of another woman this soon after Lois'
death! Martha frowned. Time to sort this out.
With a determined look, she emerged from the house. "Hello," she greeted
them, unable to come up with anything more creative, and unwilling to use
Clark's name in the faint hope that this woman didn't know his real
identity.
They looked up at that, and the woman quickly -- guiltily -- pulled her
hand away from Clark's. "Hi, Martha," she responded, sounding awkward and
unsure.
"Hello," Martha said again, looking back and forth between them, and
finally staring at her son, willing him to explain himself. "What are you
doing here?" she prompted.
"Hi Mom ... uh, we have some news. I didn't know how to say it over the
phone." He shifted uneasily, glancing around the yard. "Is Dad around?"
"What sort of news?" she demanded, both alarmed and annoyed at her son's
inexplicable behavior. And this blond thing seemed to know far too much.
She glared at them both in turn. "Would one of you please tell me what's
going on?"
"That's why we came here, Mom," Clark said. "Why don't you and--" he
stopped himself, gesturing to his friend, "you two go on inside, and I'll
get Dad." He pulled down his glasses and scanned the fields.
"Your father's putting the cows out to pasture," Martha informed him,
feeling a sense of disastrous inevitability about the whole morning. "Come
on in, then, Miss--?"
The blonde started at that request, and looked quickly towards Clark,
asking some sort of silent question. He shook his head no, and added
aloud. "Not just yet."
"Okay," the blonde replied, somewhat reluctantly, then turned back to
Martha. "Call me Paula."
Martha gestured for Paula to enter the house, rolling her eyes at this
crack-brained conversation. She couldn't imagine what Clark could be up
to, but it couldn't be good.
"Won't you please have a seat, Paula?" Martha's question died away as she
saw that the woman had already made herself at home at the kitchen table,
instead of the more formal living room that Martha had had in mind. "Can I
get you a drink?" she asked, out of habit.
Paula smiled nervously. "Ice water would be great, thank you." She
hesitated, picking at the edge of the tablecloth, then continued. "I'm
sorry we startled you today. It's just that Clark didn't know how to even
approach the topic over the phone; we thought it'd be best to do it in
person."
Martha poured her guest a glass of water. "You needn't apologize for him,"
she commented, aware that it came out sounding rather curt. She admitted
she was feeling more than a bit hostile towards Paula, and she wasn't even
quite sure why. Except that she was starting to fear that Clark had fallen
for this .. this ... teenager! It was a betrayal of Lois, and it could not
possibly be healthy. For either of them.
She seated herself, and looked up to see Paula watching her.
"I know what you're thinking," she said quietly. "But I'm not what, or
who, you think I am."
Martha bit back an ugly retort, struggling to hold her temper. If this was
Clark's decision, she'd have to respect it. And stay in contact with him,
so that if -- when -- it went horribly wrong, she could help him pick up
the pieces. Again. "All I ever wanted was for him to be happy," she
finally managed.
For some reason, that elicited a glimmer of a smile from across the table.
"Yeah, I remember him telling me that, last fall."
Martha raised an eyebrow, wondering what that meant, but was heartened to
hear that Clark had, after all, known this woman for more than a few days.
Maybe this wasn't as impossible as it seemed.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of her son and her husband,
who arranged themselves around the table. "All right, son," Jonathan said,
with a curious glance at Paula, "you wanna tell me what's going on here?"
Clark and his friend exchanged glances, then both broke into speech.
"She's not really Paula--"
"--I'm really Lois Lane. And I know I don't look like Lois--"
"--but that's because Lex Luthor cloned her. Remember how someone cloned
me, two years ago?"
"We don't know if that was Lex, but it probably was, and he had this
servant, Asabi--"
"--who could do *soul* transfers -- weird, huh, and anyway--"
"--he transferred my mind, my soul, into this new body, but it's really me."
They trailed to a stop, and Clark looked at his parents imploringly. "Mom,
Dad," he tried again, "this is Lois, *my* Lois. I didn't believe her at
first, but part of me always knew."
Martha shook her head in bewilderment, looking to her husband for support.
He was frowning in concentration. "Do you think you could run that by me
again? Slowly? Not leaving anything out?"
Clark started from the beginning, much more coherently this time.
Occasionally, Lois would add in her perspective or commentary, until they
had the complete picture. Martha sat back in her chair, stunned by the
weight of revelation.
"Oh, my lord," Jonathan said, with a note of wonder in his voice. "Lois?"
Martha looked at her pragmatic husband in surprise. She could barely make
sense of it all, but he seemed to be taking things in his stride.
The woman across the table looked at Jonathan and nodded. "Yeah -- it's
me. We're trying to get our lives back ... and I know how important you
guys are to Clark's life." She laughed briefly. "Not to mention to mine."
She looked at Martha. "How about you, Martha? Can you accept this? We
can give you time, if you need it...."
Martha just shook her head helplessly, and glanced at her son, who was
silently pleading his case, then looked at her husband again. Her head was
spinning from all this talk of clones and soul transfers, but Jonathan ...
well, of course. Jonathan wouldn't be bothered by the things he didn't
understand, as long as there was something he did. He knew Clark -- and so
did she. The thought steadied her. And if Clark believed this ... "Well,
honey," her hands fluttered briefly, before she brought them back down on
the table. "I guess it's not the strangest thing I've ever encountered!"
***
"Are you sure about this, honey?" Clark asked, as they stood outside Ellen
Lane's upstate apartment building.
Lois took a deep breath, wishing the knot in her stomach would go away.
"You're the one who wanted me to do this, Clark, don't go changing your
story now."
"I don't want you to do it just for me, you know that."
"I know." She had thought long and hard about this. Her mother drove her
crazy on a regular basis, true, but she only had one mother. "You know,
right before the wedding, we had some good moments," she said, more to
reassure herself than to convince Clark. "We bonded when we were shooting
clones -- hah, now that's ironic. But I think we could have a better
relationship." Besides, whatever her faults, Ellen didn't deserve to think
her oldest daughter had died young.
"All right, then." Clark opened the door to the lobby, and ushered her
inside. He'd called ahead, and Ellen was expecting him. Within moments,
she was opening her apartment door to them.
"Hello, Clark."
Her mother looked terrible, and she'd obviously begun drinking again. Lois
sucked in her breath, overwhelmed by a flood of bitter memories.
"Hello, Ellen ... are you okay?" Clark couldn't help asking.
"Am I okay?" Ellen found that question funny, but her laugh betrayed her
inebriated state. "Of course not! My Lois, my favorite daughter ... she's
dead! Didn't you know?" She looked up at him owlishly, swaying a bit as
she held onto the door jamb. Her head slewed to the right as she noticed
Lois. "And who's this?" Her voice roughened with hurt and anger. "I knew
you couldn't be trusted. My baby's barely in the grave, and you're taking
up with another woman! Men! You claimed you loved her! What has this --
this *floozy* got that my daughter doesn't have?"
Feeling angry and betrayed, Lois couldn't help herself. "A pulse?" she
murmured bitterly, but she managed to keep the observation quiet enough
that Ellen didn't catch it. Clark sent a brief reproving glance her way.
"Ellen, I do love your daughter, very much. You have to listen to me."
Ellen shook her head decisively. "I'm not ever gonna listen to a man
again. They're all cheats, and liars. Don't you ever come around here
again, either." She backed away, and slammed the door shut.
Clark raised his hand to knock again, but Lois caught his arm mid-way.
"Don't bother. She's drunk. There's no point in talking to her now." She
closed her eyes, caught between bitter memories and painful reality.
"We'll have to try again, but ... not now. Dammit, why did she start
drinking again? She'd been doing so well!"
Clark reached out and pulled her into a hug. "She's had a tough time,
Lois. She's just ... not so strong, under pressure. We'll talk to her
later ... maybe we can talk to Lucy, first, and have her help us."
Lois nodded, absorbing much-needed support. "Yeah, that's a good idea."
She sighed. "Is it worth it?"
He hesitated a long moment. "I think it could be, eventually."
"Yeah. I hope you're right." She squared her shoulders. "But in the
meantime--"
"The Daily Planet."
***
In the Chief Editor's office, Perry scowled at Lois. "A new body? Back
from the dead? Tell me, darlin', did you see Elvis anywhere along the way?
Judas Priest!" His expression softened fractionally as he turned to Clark.
"Son, don't tell me you fell for this malarkey. I said I wanted you to
heal, but this was *not* the sort of healing I had in mind! I know you
miss Lois, but this isn't how to deal with it."
"I can't believe you, Clark," Jimmy added bitterly, a note of confused
betrayal in his voice. "I know you loved Lois since the moment you saw
her. How can you *do* this? And how dare you bring *her* around here,
around us. We knew Lois longer than you did, you know -- we loved her too!"
Clark sighed, and glanced at Lois, who was clearly unsure of how to
respond. They'd known that their friends might not react well, but it was
still disheartening to face. "Jimmy ... Chief ... this *is* Lois. I didn't
believe her at first, either, but--"
Perry threw up his hands. "Clark, this woman is deranged, or worse, and
she's taking advantage of you in your grief."
"I am not!" Stung, and probably grateful for a target, Lois went into
attack mode. "Perry, I know you think you're good at judging people, but
the plain fact is, you're lousy at it. I mean, look at Bill Church -- a
lifelong friend, and you still managed to overlook his little Intergang
hobby."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Perry spluttered, his face reddening, but Lois refused to
stop.
"And how about your golfing buddy the Senator, who turned out to be a Nazi?
Or your friend from the Men's Club who was running a slave labor ring in
Chinatown? Face it, Chief -- I love ya -- but your character judgement
sucks. So don't dismiss me so quickly."
Clark winced and rubbed a hand over his face. "Lois, this is *not* the way
to--"
"Yeah, Clark, I know, I'm ticking him off. But you know I'm right. He was
totally fooled by that clone of me, wasn't he?"
Perry, now with a firmer grip on his temper, turned to Clark and asked, in
a deceptively mild voice. "What clone?"
Clark shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, Chief, Lois was kidnapped
right after the wedding. For the next few days, the woman you thought was
Lois was really ... a clone. I was fooled by her, too," he admitted.
Jimmy stirred at that, leaning forward to rejoin the conversation. "Lois
did act kinda strange those last couple of days."
Perry fixed him with a severe glance. "How d'ya mean?"
Jimmy squirmed. "She, ah -- it was like she didn't know me. And then she
was practically coming on to me!" He glanced uneasily towards Clark, then
away again. "I didn't do anything, 'cause, I mean, it was *Lois*, but ...
it was way weird."
Clark just shrugged, unsurprised by the tale. "It's okay, Jimmy," he added
quietly. "She did a lot of weird things."
"Now you're telling me that *that* was a clone?" Perry demanded incredulously.
"Yeah. She eventually told me all about it."
"See?" Lois turned on Perry with a note of triumph in her voice. "How can
you expect to know when it *is* me, when you didn't know when it *wasn't*
me. And it definitely wasn't me, because, Jimmy, you're a good friend, but
there is no *way* I would ... I mean, I know you had that dream and all,
but that's all it was *ever* going to be--" She stopped. "What is it?"
Jimmy was staring at her, his face drained of color. "You know about -- no
one knows about that!"
Clark frowned in confusion, looking at both of them. He noticed Perry was
looking similarly bewildered.
Lois clapped a hand over her mouth in dismay, then immediately removed it
again. "I'm sorry, Jimmy, I said I'd forget all about it, and I did,
really, until just now -- I never even told Clark." She glanced his way
sheepishly.
He shrugged. "I have no idea what she's talking about."
"Never mind that," Perry interrupted brusquely. "What is all this supposed
to mean?"
Jimmy visibly composed himself. "Chief, I once told Lois -- and *only*
Lois -- about--" he shot a belligerent look towards his boss. "Never mind
what it was about."
"I think we can guess," Perry commented dryly. His face had softened into
a thoughtful look as he studied Lois. "All right, whoever you are, you
just bought yourself some time."
For the next half hour or so, Perry grilled Lois mercilessly, interrogating
her about events in their shared past -- with an emphasis on the time
before Clark had joined the Planet, no doubt to eliminate the possibility
that Clark had been coaching her. Eventually, however, the old newsman
stopped the questions. He sat back in his chair with a suspicious glint of
moisture in his eyes, and said gruffly, "Welcome home, honey."
*
Lois collapsed back into her chair as his meaning sunk in, and she was
choked by a sudden wave of emotion. She hadn't realized how much she'd
missed her job, her friends, until they were restored to her. "Thanks,
Perry," she managed to whisper. She turned. "Jimmy?"
"Oh, don't worry, Lois," he grinned broadly. "You had me at the dream.
But the less said about *that*, the better!"
She grinned, regaining some of her equilibrium, and squeezed Clark's hand,
looking up at him in wonder. "They believe me!"
"Of course they do, honey," he replied, reassuringly. "Just like my folks
do. And like your mother will, once we can explain it to her."
Perry coughed, drawing their attention. "I, uh, hate to interrupt," he
drawled sardonically, "but what did you two plan to do now?"
Clark tilted his head. "We don't quite know," he admitted with a lopsided
smile. "Lois has identification that she's named Paula Bainbridge ... you
could hire her, maybe?"
"Oh, yeah," Jimmy enthused, "that's a great idea! You know, you guys could
pretend you'd only just met, and get to know each other, and Paula could
soothe your broken heart, Clark. It oughtta take a while, though." Jimmy
saw Clark's look of dismay, and hastily added, "Hey, it'd only be in
public! Don't you think it'd be fun? I always thought a secret identity
would be cool..." his voice trailed off as he became aware that Perry was
frowning at him.
Lois carefully held back a grin at that, and glanced at Clark. He was
keeping a poker face as well, but his eyes were dancing. "A secret
identity, Jimmy?" Clark asked, successfully keeping all laughter out of his
voice. "I just don't think that would be very practical. Plus I only just
got Lois back -- I don't want to have to stay away from her for any length
of time at all."
"In fact," Lois put in helpfully, "we got married yesterday, in Vegas --
you'd have loved it, Chief, more Elvis impersonators than you could shake a
stick at."
Perry waved this aside. "Impersonators don't do the King justice. And
don't distract me from the point, which is ... well, it's not going to look
good for you two to be married."
"Why not?" Clark demanded, leaning forward. Next to him, Lois sank back in
her chair, briefly weary of the never-ending battle, willing to let Clark
take this one.
"Well, you see, a good deal of a reporter's job -- especially for you,
Clark -- depends on his credibility," Perry explained. "People talk to you
because they know your reputation; you're honest and loyal and trustworthy.
And everyone in the city knows how hopelessly in love you were with Lois."
"How in love I *am* with Lois," Clark instantly corrected.
"From their perspective, though, it's were," Jimmy spoke up, frowning over
the problem. "And if they see you take up with some blond bimbo--"
"Jimmy!"
"Sorry, Lois, but that's what they'll say."
Clark shook his head. "What I do in my personal life shouldn't have that
big of an impact -- maybe they'll think I'm a fool for love, but--"
"And then there's a problem with hiring her," Perry continued
remorselessly. "I doubt 'Paula' has any experience or training on her
resume ... and she won't have any of her old sources, either. It'll take
years to build up a network."
"Chief, Lois and I shared our sources, you know that; we haven't lost any.
Are you saying you don't *want* to hire her?"
"Of course not, Clark," the editor reassured them gruffly. "But I do have
bosses to answer to. What do I tell them?"
Lois sat in her chair and listened to the three of them talk strategy, not
really liking any of the proposed alternatives. None of them felt right,
none of them were really *her*. Of course, she wasn't quite herself
anymore, but she still *felt* like Lois Lane ... at that rebellious
thought, new possibilities began to blossom, opening up new choices. At
last, a course of action that felt right.
She held up a hand, gesturing for silence, and announced, loudly enough to
be heard, "This is ridiculous. I'm going public."
They looked at her in varying degrees of surprise and shock. She stared
back challengingly. "What? It solves a lot of problems if everyone knows
that I'm me. Clark doesn't look like he's betrayed me, and I get my
resume, my life, and my *name* back."
Perry was the first to regain his voice, frowning in consternation.
"That'll be a tough sell, legally -- there aren't any precedents."
Lois shrugged. "I don't know how far I'll want to take it, but I can at
least change my name back to Lois."
"How are you going to explain your illegal ID?" Clark asked quietly, no
doubt knowing that she wouldn't want to betray the man who'd helped her
with it.
She grinned. "I'll tell them Lex Luthor did it, and they should take it up
with him. But I, of course, have no idea where he is."
Slowly, he smiled back. "Of course not."
"Anyway, that's for a lawyer to settle."
"I can give you the name of a good lawyer," Perry offered. "Just remind
me, later."
Lois considered that -- given Perry's record, taking his advice on a lawyer
could be disastrous. Then again, he'd hired her, and Clark ... so he
wasn't wrong all the time. "I'll do that, Perry." And interview several
others, too, just to be on the safe side. "This case will probably be
nationwide news, actually; lawyers might be lining up to work for free,
just to build their reputations." It was an unappealing thought, but she
resolutely brushed it aside.
"Oh yeah," Jimmy said, in a tone of dawning realization, "this is going to
be all over the tabloids."
"Good," Lois stated brightly. "If they're getting the word out, that's
fewer people I have to tell about it myself. Although I'd better tell my
mother before she reads it in the paper." She frowned briefly, then
resolutely continued. "Besides, the Planet will have the story first -- I
assume you want the story, Chief?"
Perry stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. "If this is what you
want to do, darlin', then the Planet's going to cover it. Jimmy! Get STAR
Labs on the phone, I want to talk to them about these clones." Jimmy
nodded, and hurried out of the office. Perry turned his attention back to
his star reporters. "I'm going to write this story myself. Clark, I'm
sure you want to, but you're too close to it."
Clark shrugged. "Yeah, maybe."
Something in his tone caught her attention, and belatedly, Lois realized
that if she did this, she'd be plunging Clark's life into chaos, too.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. She chewed her lip in sudden
indecision. "You need to interview me, Perry?"
"Not right away -- I'll get the background material together first."
"Good. I need to talk to Clark -- can we use the conference room?"
The editor looked back and forth between them. "Sure, it should be free
... and while you're there, start making up rough notes ... all the
corroborative evidence you can think of, that sort of thing. Now, get! I
have work to do."
Trying to ignore a fit of nerves, Lois stood, and led Clark out of the
office and across to the large conference room. She turned to face him,
waiting until he'd closed the door behind them. "Clark ... are you okay
with this? The tabloids will be all over us, and we won't have a normal
life for a long time -- I never wanted to ruin your life." A new worry
presented itself. "Do you think your secret would be safe?"
A look of surprise crossed his face, followed by a faint smile. "I'm not
worried about me, Lois. I was through this a few weeks ago, when Lex and
your bodies were found." He reached for her, and looped his arms around
her waist. "As long as I've got you, I can handle anything. Besides,
they'll be too busy watching you to pay any attention to me." He
hesitated, then continued. "Are *you* sure you want to do this?" he asked
quietly, searching her face, looking for any trace of doubt or fear.
"Going public might be our best option, but it will be a long, hard ordeal."
Lois looked back at him, searching for the words to reassure him, and
express her instinctive conviction. "Clark ... this will be tedious, but
an ordeal? An ordeal is waking up in Italy and trying to get back home on
stolen money and a traceable passport. Been there, done that. I faced Lex
Luthor and lived." She leaned forward, growing more sure of herself, more
passionate as she spoke. "I've traveled through time, I've been to an
alternate universe and back. More people have tried to kill me than I can
even *count*. This?" She laughed. "This will be a minor annoyance."
Clark reluctantly had to smile. "I can see your point."
"Besides," she added thoughtfully, "this way, I get to be myself. I won't
have to hide, or pretend..." She watched realization dawn in Clark's eyes
as that hit home.
"Ah. Yeah, I see. Okay." He bent down slightly, and she leaned in,
closing her eyes as their foreheads touched, and they drew strength from
each other.
"I love you, Clark," she whispered, pulling back just far enough to see him
properly.
"I love you, too, Lois," he replied quietly. "Let's do this." And with
one final kiss for luck, they settled down to the business of getting their
lives back -- together.
THE END
This is the immediate sequel to "Just Like That...?". I owe thanks to all
of the regulars on Zoomway's fanfic boards http://www.zoomway.com/boards, and I owe an extra debt to my volunteer editors: Chris, Wendy, Marnie, Joy, Julie, and Merry. Thank you all.
For all three of you who will notice g I used different symbols to break
up scenes: *** indicates a scene change; * indicates a POV shift within a
scene. Comments always welcome, good, bad, or indifferent.
______________
BEING LOIS LANE
by Pam Jernigan jernigan@bellsouth.net
Rated PG
Submitted November 1999
______________
Lois woke slowly, aware of a blessed sense of safety. For the first time
in weeks, she could relax. Lex could no longer hurt her, and Clark ...
well, she suspected he might believe her now. She had a vague memory of
him carrying her to the bed, sometime after she'd fallen asleep in his
arms. And he'd stayed in bed next to her through the night, holding her
close, keeping her safe.
She opened her eyes, confirming that she was lying in Clark's bed. It
seemed to be fairly early in the morning, judging by the angle of the sun,
but then, she'd fallen asleep pretty early the night before. She turned
her head to see Clark lying next to her, and had to smile. Even the back
of his head was adorable. She wished that she felt confident enough of him
to cuddle up behind him, but she just couldn't take the risk of rejection.
He had every reason to think she was crazy. She looked nothing like
herself, anymore -- this clone body was fair-haired and blue-eyed, and
looked barely old enough to have graduated college. And this business of
transferring a person's soul from one body to another ... well, if she
hadn't experienced it personally, she wouldn't have believed it either.
He'd seemed sympathetic enough last night, on the street, after Lex had
tried to kill her. Of course, some of that was probably just his Superman
persona at work ... but he had seemed to enjoy taunting Lex. And since Lex
had also been in a clone body, wouldn't it follow that if Clark had
believed Lex, he should also believe her? Too, he had acted differently,
back at the apartment ... but then again she'd been just about to fall
apart at the time; she didn't really remember much of what he'd said, and
she couldn't trust her impressions.
She rolled her eyes, disgusted at herself. Speculation never got anyone
anywhere; she needed to go to the source. Even if he didn't believe her
yet, he was probably well on his way, so she had nothing to fear. Right?
Right. She propped herself up on one elbow, facing Clark, and nerved
herself to shake his shoulder.
He rolled over towards her, his eyes opening slowly. As he focused on her,
he frowned briefly in confusion, then smiled sleepily. "Morning, Lois."
His matter-of-fact tone momentarily robbed her of speech. She bit her
lower lip in wonder and relief. "You called me Lois."
He propped his head up on his elbow. "Well, that's who you are, isn't it?"
He grinned wryly. "The packaging is a little different, I grant you...."
She managed to smile at that, both elated and humbled that he had made this
leap of faith. At his comment about her appearance, a new worry surfaced.
"Yeah, about that ... what do you think? I'm sure it'd look better with
some decent makeup; I'm kind of a wreck right now..."
He traced a finger lightly over her nose and jawline, then smiled. "You're
beautiful," he replied firmly. "Yeah, you've changed ... but it's still
you, inside ... and that means you're beautiful."
Lois blinked back tears. "I love it when you lie to me," she said softly,
a smile playing around her mouth.
He leaned over and put his arm around her waist, gently dragging her across
the bed towards him. When she arrived at his side, giggling softly at his
strong-arm tactics, he grinned, then leaned down to kiss her. She returned
the kiss with all the pent-up passion of the last few days, reveling in the
ability to express her love for him once more.
Eventually, they parted, and Clark looked down at her with a slightly
unfocused gaze. "Wow. Oh, Lois, I missed you." He rolled onto his back,
pulling her head down to rest on his shoulder. "And it feels so good to
hold you again..."
*
They stayed like that for some time, as they wordlessly reconnected, but
Clark couldn't help worrying about the future, trying to work his way
around the many obstacles they still faced. Surely they didn't want to
publicize the clone story, so they were stuck with her new identity as
"Paula Bainbridge" and yet, none of their relatives or friends would accept
that Clark had fallen for someone else this quickly. Maybe he could just
announce that he was taking off to tour the world, and come back a few
years later with a new wife ... or maybe he should know better than to try
to make decisions for Lois. They needed to talk about this.
Clark pulled back just far enough to be able to see her face. "Lois, it
was a miracle that I got you back, and believe me, I'm grateful ... but
where do we go from here?" He shrugged helplessly, waving a hand to
indicate the rest of their lives. "What's our game plan?"
"Always with the sports metaphors." She grinned, briefly distracted.
"Good to know *some* things don't change."
Clark smirked. "Just trying to make you feel comfortable."
"Oh, thanks so much..." she rolled her eyes, but couldn't disguise a smile.
"Actually, I've been thinking a lot about plans." She sighed. "I hate
having to plan. Mostly, I was figuring out how to survive without you, but
now that I don't have to worry about that ... you're right, we have some
choices to make. For one thing..." she trailed a finger along his arm, not
meeting his eyes, "physical appearances can be changed. I mean, I could
dye my hair brown, and get colored contacts ... They're doing amazing
things with plastic surgery, even -- remember the time Ariana Carlin had
that girl made to look just like me? It would cost a lot of money, but..."
her voice trailed off uncertainly.
Clark leaned back, so he could get a good look at her. While his heart was
certain that this was Lois, and his brain agreed, his eye was still
surprised with every glance, and part of him desperately wanted everything
to go back just the way it had been. Her new appearance would be a
constant reminder of their ordeal. But could he ask her to go to so much
trouble to change her appearance? She would, in effect, be in disguise all
the time. As if her new body were somehow inferior. Sooner or later, that
would have to affect her -- make her feel as if *she* were inferior. Clark
had a sudden flash of how he might feel if he were to become Superman
full-time, never able to show his true face to anyone. He couldn't do that
to her.
"Well," he replied slowly, choosing his words carefully, "if you *want* to
do any of that, I guess you can. But ... it seems to me that it'd be an
awful lot of trouble to go to -- not to mention the physical risks of
surgery -- when the results would almost certainly not be worth it. Lois,
I love you because you're smart, and determined, and fiercely loyal, and
have so much love hiding inside ..."
He tipped her chin up so that he could see her eyes. "That's the sort of
thing that matters. I admit I liked the brown hair and fantastic body," he
grinned slightly, trying to lighten the moment, and she had to smile in
return. "But this new body of yours really isn't bad at all, and you know
I've always had a weakness for blondes...."
Her smile broadened to a grin at that, and she playfully smacked his shoulder.
"But it's your decision," he hastily concluded, "because it is your body."
She shrugged, smiling just a little. "You're the one who has to look at
it. And if you don't mind that ... then I guess I'm okay with it too."
She paused. "I might try dyeing my hair, for a while. Although on the
other hand, I tried that when I was younger, and it was an incredible pain
-- always worrying about my roots, and having to re-color it every month or
so -- and then if you want to grow it out, it just looks really weird for
months. Not to mention that it's bad for your hair, and I haven't even had
this hair very long yet, so I don't even know what kind of care it needs
when it's *not* color treated."
Clark controlled a smile. As she said, it was good to know some things
didn't change. "Whatever you decide is fine with me, Lois. As long as
you're healthy." He paused, as doubt assailed him. "You are healthy,
right?"
"I'm a little malnourished right now, but I'm really in excellent shape."
She grimaced. "Lex chose our new bodies carefully. In fact..." she
hesitated, and ducked her head, addressing her next remark to the sheets.
"He was planning to marry me when we got to Switzerland, you know."
Clark felt himself tense, but willed himself to remain calm. This was all
past history. It was just that the thought of Lex touching Lois -- in any
body -- was enough to make him angry and sick all at once.
She seemed to understand his distress, and hastened to reassure him, laying
a comforting hand on his chest. "It's okay, Clark. See, the thing is,
with these new bodies ... we were both ... well, technically, anyway ... we
were virgins again. Not that I ever had sex with him in my old body
either," she added quickly.
"I know, you told me," he affirmed. "But what does that have to do with it?"
"Well, see, the idea of being a virgin on his wedding night -- for once in
his life, he said -- it amused him. He was looking forward to it ... and
it's a good thing, too, because *Wanda* didn't care...." she shuddered.
"But anyway, I don't have any really horrible memories to deal with."
"So you mean, you and he...?" he asked, delicately.
"Didn't do anything," she replied firmly.
"Thank God," he breathed, holding her a little closer. "I would have
understood, you know, and we would have dealt with it ... but I'm *really*
glad we don't have to."
She snorted agreement. "You and me both. But the rest of that story is,
this body is supposed to be fully functional, according to Lex. I should
have a normal lifespan." She paused as a huge yawn overtook her. "Longer
than before, actually, since physiologically I'm now 22 again."
He raised an eyebrow. "As long as you don't plan on ditching me in favor
of Jimmy."
She laughed at that. "In his dreams!"
The sound of a distant siren caught Clark's attention, and he raised his
head to try to listen for more details. When he looked down at Lois again,
she was smiling faintly.
"What is it?"
"Warehouse fire down by the harbor." The fire department might be able to
handle it themselves, he supposed.
"I guess you'd better go, then." She shrugged philosophically. "I bet it
won't take you long."
Clark still hesitated, reluctant to leave her. "Promise you won't go
anywhere?"
She smiled serenely. "I may not even leave the bed."
Another siren joined the first, and Clark had to go, but he took the time
to kiss her goodbye on his way out.
*
Lois watched him streak away, and grinned. All was normal in her world ...
well, almost all. And it was too early in the morning to be awake by
herself, so she rolled over and tried to recapture sleep.
Half an hour later she conceded failure, and sat up. She stretched, and
was reminded that she was still wearing last night's clothes. She decided
to take advantage of Clark's absence to take a shower -- it had been a
little too long since her last one.
She took her time in the shower, enjoying the unlimited hot water. When
she finally emerged from the bathroom, she found him in the kitchen, with
some promising white paper sacks, which claimed her immediate attention.
"Ooh -- are those from that little French place?"
"Yep, I thought you'd recognize them," he chuckled, leaning against the
countertop. "They're not quite as fresh as I'd like -- after all, it's
afternoon in Europe now -- but the one I had was pretty good. I got an
assortment for you."
She crossed the kitchen and indulged in a quick hug and kiss. "Mmm, they
smell great." She started to reach for the closest bag, but stopped, as the
too-long sleeve of the robe flopped down past her fingertips. "Let me get
dressed." She frowned, and sighed. "I hope you don't mind me borrowing
your clothes again, because I sure don't have anything clean to wear."
He grinned. "You do now. I picked up two sets of clothes that should fit
you. They're in the bedroom."
She beamed up at him. "Have I ever told you you're my hero?"
Clark chuckled at that, and kissed her again. "Frequently. But don't feel
you have to stop."
"Nothing is going to stop me, Clark; you should know that by now." Smiling
serenely, she ducked into the bedroom and quickly dressed. She ran her
hands through her hair once more, but then gave up the attempt at
hairstyling -- Clark obviously didn't have a curling iron or blow dryer.
Although, she grinned, he'd probably dry her hair with heat vision if she
asked him. Never mind. She'd do fine with the natural look.
She hastened back out to the kitchen and joined Clark at the table,
devouring two croissants and a pastry in short order. At Clark's inquiring
glance, she mumbled defensively, "I was hungry. Besides," she continued
caustically, "I spent way too much time dieting and denying myself in my
other body, and look where *that* got me." Judging by the faintly alarmed
look on Clark's face, he was picturing not only a young blond wife, but a
young blond *fat* wife. She grinned, then relented. "I'm going to take
care of myself, Clark. As soon as I get a moment, I'll get a checkup,
cholesterol check, and all that stuff. Heck, I don't even know what my
blood type is now. In the meantime, though, I just want to recover from
the last few weeks."
"What?" He looked puzzled. "I didn't mean -- I just want to make sure
you're okay," he explained. "But you're right; I thought you looked pretty
worn out when you first showed up ... what was it, just yesterday morning?
Seems like so much longer than that, somehow."
"Well, a lot's happened." She sighed, and slumped back in her chair. "And
there's still a lot to do."
Clark moved his chair around to her side of the table and took her hand in
a comforting grip. "We can do it; together we can do anything."
She smiled at him. "I know. And it won't get any easier by putting it
off, worse luck. So ... we have to decide what to do about work."
"I've been thinking about that," Clark offered. "We could leave
Metropolis, and get jobs somewhere else. Philadelphia, maybe; it's close
enough that Superman wouldn't have to move the same time we did. You've
lost your resume, unfortunately, but the Inquirer's been wanting to hire me
for a while now, and I could probably slide you in as my partner."
"That rag?" She stared up at him in amazement.
"What? Oh, not the National Enquirer, Lois," he laughed. "The
Philadelphia Inquirer, which is a very respectable paper; they win Kerths
and Pulitzers almost as often as the Planet."
"Oh, right. Well, I guess we could do that ... but I think I'd like to try
talking to Perry, first." She squeezed his hand. "I know I can't just get
my old life back ... everyone knows I'm dead, or thinks so anyway. And
they're probably going to think *you're* on the rebound, to hook up with
"Paula Bainbridge" so quickly. But I want to talk to Perry, and Jimmy, and
maybe one or two others, and try to convince them. They deserve to know.
And maybe Perry'll hire me, as Paula, to be your partner."
"Hmm ... it's worth a try. It might be rough, at first; people might not
like you trying to replace the great Lois Lane."
She sighed. "I know. But heck, none of them really *liked* me anyway,
back from when I was horrible to everyone. If I'm nicer this time, maybe
they'll forgive me. And I know I can do the work, so that's not a problem."
"Hey, hey, it was never that bad." Clark reached out to give her a
one-handed neck rub. "A lot more people liked you than you think. The
turnout at your funeral was very impressive," he added with macabre cheer.
She had to chuckle at that. "Sorry I missed it."
"It would have been a lot more fun with you there," he admitted, then
firmly left the topic behind. "Whether we go back to the Planet or
somewhere else, I'm with you all the way."
She smiled up at him. "Good to know. And speaking of knowing things," her
smile faltered, "I don't know if you know this -- I got the impression that
you didn't -- but while I missed the funeral, I was there for the wedding."
She reached out to touch his leg lightly. "They snatched me at the
reception, and when I first woke up, my memory was fuzzy -- Lex told me
that he'd done the switch before the ceremony, so maybe they told you that,
too ... but later, I remembered walking down the aisle with Daddy, and
Perry doing the ceremony, and taking all those pictures afterwards...." her
voice trailed off as her eyes searched his for reaction.
Clark felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. For weeks, he'd
agonized over how he could have taken hours to notice that Lois was gone --
how he could have kissed the clone and not instantly realized the deception.
"Clark?" Lois asked softly, and he started, realizing that she was still
watching him in concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm not sure ... I think so." He smiled wryly. "I wasn't quite as stupid
as I thought, which is always good to know."
"Don't beat yourself up, Clark," she advised with a hint of laughter in her
voice. "It took me two *years* to figure out what Superman did in his
spare time."
Clark chuckled at the unexpected comparison, as some of his guilt slipped
away. "Well, I guess it doesn't make any difference, legally, but my
memories of the ceremony will be a lot more pleasant now, I can tell you."
"Yeah, I know." A look of mischief crossed her face. "Did you get the
wedding portraits back yet? We should hang one in the living room. We can
tell people that was your first wife, and make up stories about what a
witch she was."
"Lois!" A choke of laughter escaped him before he sobered. "Does this mean
you forgive me for letting you go through all this?"
"You didn't do it all yourself, Clark -- and there were a few things I
should have handled better, myself." She grinned suddenly. "When you
think about it, a lot of it was my fault, for having written such a
horrible novel."
He shook his head at that, but she held up a hand to forestall any comment.
"It's okay, Clark. We're together again. That's all that really matters.
So let's just forgive ourselves and each other, and go on from here, okay?"
He sighed, considering this. He was amazed at how quickly she seemed to
have recovered ... then again, she'd had a head start on him. And if she
could forgive his blunders, perhaps he should forgive himself too. It
certainly wasn't a topic he enjoyed thinking about. "Okay, it's a deal.
So what do you say -- let's get married."
Lois grinned at him. "Now, that was a lovely proposal."
"Hey, I did the down-on-one-knee thing and you turned me down flat!" Clark
laughingly protested.
"I didn't say no, I said not yet; get your facts straight, Kent, or I'll go
to work for the Star and beat you out of next year's Kerths."
"No, no, don't do that! Perry would kill me -- and *I* haven't got any
spare bodies lying around!"
She rolled her eyes, enjoying the banter. "Excuses, excuses. But I'll
take pity on you ... I'll marry you. Again."
"Married out of pity," he moaned, clutching his heart dramatically. "How
can I stand it?"
She lifted an eyebrow at his theatrics. "Well, if you'd rather not--"
"No, no," he interrupted, smoothing his face into a parody of seriousness,
with just a hint of lechery thrown in. "I'll take you any way I can get
you."
"Ah, that's the attitude I like to see," she grinned. "So ... know anybody
who could fly me to Las Vegas? We could get a mariachi band, a few amiable
passers-by ... I can see it now." She pantomimed gesturing to unknown
persons across the room. "Hey, you, wanna come to a wedding? Yeah, I'm a
clone, and he's an alien; it should be fun!"
Clark laughed. "Obviously we were made for each other."
"Yeah, we were..." she paused, watching him, feeling a wave of love towards
him that almost choked her in its intensity. He caught the look, and
returned it. She leaned forward, and he met her halfway for a long, sweet
kiss.
Clark eventually drew back, taking a deep breath and blinking. "Well.
Where were we?"
She thought back for a moment. "On our way to Vegas, I think. If you're
sure...? It'll look awful for you to marry again this quickly, you know.
I saw some of the tabloid coverage..." There had been some fairly lurid
and horrible stories covering the Clark-Lois-Lex debacle.
Clark shook his head firmly. "Let them say what they want. I know I'm not
doing anything wrong, so the worst they can say is that I'm being an idiot.
Which is none of their business. And there is nothing I'd like more," he
reached over to cup her face with his hand, "than to marry you. We can
have a reception with our family and friends later, after we've told them
about you, but I don't want to wait."
She smiled helplessly, tilting her head into his palm, unable to argue
this. "Let's go, then."
"Okay." He spun into his Superman suit, and scooped her up. "On the way,
we can decide what sort of chapel we want. Any preferences?" He floated
her over to the balcony, paused to lock the door behind him, and lifted off
slowly.
"No, not really, anything will do." She broke into a sudden grin. "As
long as it's *not* Blue Suede Deliverance!"
***
Late that night, Lois lay in bed cuddled next to her new husband, wearing
nothing but a wedding ring and a pensive expression. "Does this seem a
little unreal to you? I spent the last two weeks trying desperately to get
here -- but I never really thought further than that. So now ... it's like
I've stepped off a cliff -- I don't know what's going to happen next, and
it's making me feel very unsettled."
His arms tightened around her. "You know I'd never let you fall."
"I know." She fell silent for a moment, awash in contentment. "It's very
liberating, in a weird way. I could leave my old life behind altogether,
or pick and choose who to reconnect with ... like I've been reborn."
"I'm glad you picked me." Clark murmured, kissing her hair. "Who else are
we going to tell?"
"Well, Perry and Jimmy, at least," she replied, slowly. She was not yet
tired enough to sleep, but enough that her brain felt as if it were running
in slow motion. A very comfortable state indeed, after the past few weeks
of necessary hyper-alertness. "And we have to tell your parents -- I was
thinking of telling them earlier, actually." She turned her head to search
for his face in the dim room. "Can we fly out there tomorrow?"
"I'm supposed to go back to work..." He chewed his lip, considering it.
"But I don't have anything urgent waiting for me, and Perry keeps urging me
to take 'time to heal,' so he wouldn't mind if I took a sick day."
"You can play hookey, then," she concluded in satisfaction. "You always
said you wanted to."
He laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess I did. But it's a lot more fun with a
friend." That called for a few friendly kisses.
Clark laid back against the pillows, cuddling her close to his chest. "So,
that's my parents ... how about yours?"
Lois frowned, contemplating the unhappy state of her relationships with her
family. "I really don't want to."
"I didn't figure you did," he stated neutrally.
"You think I ought to, though, don't you?"
"I'm not going to tell you what to do." He hesitated, then continued, "I
just don't want you to have any regrets, later."
Lois sighed, and thought about her mother. The most annoying,
exasperating, crazy-making ... Ellen had made her life a misery as a
teenager -- having to deal with her mother's alcoholism had been fairly
awful. She was on the wagon now, thankfully, but still as neurotic as ever.
"And then, too," Clark continued, "once you start keeping a secret from
someone, you're stuck. As time goes by, the secret gets harder and harder
to tell."
Lois grinned and turned to look at him. "Speaking from personal
experience, are we?"
"Painful experience," he affirmed, smiling wryly.
She acknowledged the truth of that with a noisy sigh. "Okay, point taken.
I'll think about it."
Clark hugged her. "That's all I'm asking."
***
"Okay, honey, we'll be expecting you. Love you!" Martha smiled as her son
said goodbye. She hung up the phone and turned to her husband. "That was
Clark," she reported. "He's coming to visit this morning, he said."
"Good," Jonathan said, taking another sip of coffee. "He's been working
much too hard lately, especially as Superman."
"Well, he sounds much better," she replied, sitting at the table and
watching Jonathan finish his breakfast. "Not so lost -- almost cheerful."
"Good. Although--" Jonathan frowned briefly. "I hardly saw any sight of
Superman yesterday. The newsgroup usually picks up his major appearances,
but nothing yesterday. Well, there was one possible sighting in Nevada,
but it was unconfirmed."
"When did you have time to read the newsgroups?" Martha asked, amused by
her husband's cyber-savvy.
"Checked it this morning right after downloading the current beef prices."
"Ah, I see. I'll take a look after breakfast, then." Her amusement faded
away as she turned to a more worrisome topic. "I wonder what made him
sound so cheerful, though."
Jonathan looked up. "Why does it matter? Isn't it a good thing? He was
so torn up after Lois -- well, I didn't think I'd ever see him smile again."
"Of course I want him to be happy again, Jonathan," she snapped, restlessly
twisting the edge of the tablecloth. "But don't you think it's too soon?
She's only been gone for six weeks!"
"Martha, now, don't fret yourself," he soothed, standing and moving behind
her to rub her neck. "I'm sure Clark knows what he's doing. He's a
sensible boy, and he's old enough to handle himself."
She sighed, relaxing into the neck rub. "I know. I just wonder, is all."
"Well, we'll find out soon enough," Jonathan pointed out prosaically. "But
I've got to go let the cows out to pasture. I'll be back in an hour."
He kissed her goodbye and made his way out the door, leaving her in the
kitchen with her thoughts. The loss of Lois had devastated her son, she
knew, and while she was glad he was sounding better, she was consumed with
curiosity as to the cause of his improvement. Grief took time, and six
weeks seemed hardly enough. Not that she wanted him to suffer, of course,
but if he tried to ignore his feelings, it would only come back to hurt him
even more, later. "Well, no point sitting around stewing about it," she
spoke aloud. She stood, suiting actions to words, and started busying
herself with her normal household chores.
***
Lois woke up to the smell of French toast and black coffee. She smiled,
contemplating her newly married state. Would it be strange to face him
now, in the daylight? Only one way to find out. With butterflies in her
stomach, she slipped on some clothes, and emerged into the kitchen, where
Clark had breakfast nearly completed. "Morning, husband."
He smiled at her over his shoulder as he flipped the last piece of toast.
"Morning, wife. You looked so cute, sleeping in my bed, that I didn't have
the heart to wake you."
She smiled back as the butterflies evaporated, and walked over to embrace
him from behind; he turned his head for a brief kiss. He was still Clark,
and all was right with her world. "Enjoy it while you can; I'm usually up
at dawn. But I guess I was still tired."
"And probably still malnourished," he added, finishing with the stove. She
reluctantly let him go and followed him over to the table. "So I made you
a big breakfast."
"Have I mentioned that I love you?" She kissed him, hard, to prove it.
He returned the kiss with enthusiasm, smiling warmly at her as they
disengaged. "Not since yesterday. But the evidence yesterday was pretty
convincing."
She giggled. "Hey, when I do something, I don't kid around."
"Too true. Well, I called Perry this morning, and told him I wouldn't be
in today. Then I called my folks, and told them to expect me."
She glanced up at him. "Did you mention me at all?"
He shrugged helplessly. "I didn't know what to say."
She nodded rueful agreement. "I don't even know what I'll say when I see
them."
"We'll think of something. Just think positive."
"Right. Think positive. I can do that." She finished her breakfast with
swift efficiency. "So, when do we go?"
A rush of wind filled the kitchen, and when it subsided, she saw that all
the dishes were put away, the stove and counters cleaned, and Clark was in
his red-and-blue travelling outfit. "Anytime you're ready."
She stood. "Let's go then."
***
Martha had just finished unloading the dishwasher when movement in the
front yard caught her eye. She glanced out the window and saw her son --
still in his Superman outfit -- and an unfamiliar blond woman. Martha
frowned. Who was this? And why on Earth would Clark endanger his secret
identity by bringing her here, where Superman had no reason to visit?
She watched them for a moment. Perhaps Superman would soon fly off, and
Clark would come walking downstairs. In that case, she'd have to pretend
that he'd been here already, though for how long she didn't know. She
wished that Clark would have told her what her lines should be.
As Martha waited for Clark to make his move, she studied his guest. The
woman seemed young, and she was standing much too close to Superman for his
mother's comfort -- Clark was relaxed in her presence, though. Now she was
gesturing towards the S-shield and smiling ... Clark looked down, and then
stepped back, spinning into a multi-colored blur. When he slowed down
again, he was dressed in jeans and a casual shirt, with Clark's glasses.
Martha gripped the edge of the counter, trying to imagine what this might
mean. Clark must be on very intimate terms with this strange woman, who
was fidgeting nervously -- they were standing close together again, and he
was leaning in close to speak softly in her ear. And now he was holding
her hand! How could he even *think* of another woman this soon after Lois'
death! Martha frowned. Time to sort this out.
With a determined look, she emerged from the house. "Hello," she greeted
them, unable to come up with anything more creative, and unwilling to use
Clark's name in the faint hope that this woman didn't know his real
identity.
They looked up at that, and the woman quickly -- guiltily -- pulled her
hand away from Clark's. "Hi, Martha," she responded, sounding awkward and
unsure.
"Hello," Martha said again, looking back and forth between them, and
finally staring at her son, willing him to explain himself. "What are you
doing here?" she prompted.
"Hi Mom ... uh, we have some news. I didn't know how to say it over the
phone." He shifted uneasily, glancing around the yard. "Is Dad around?"
"What sort of news?" she demanded, both alarmed and annoyed at her son's
inexplicable behavior. And this blond thing seemed to know far too much.
She glared at them both in turn. "Would one of you please tell me what's
going on?"
"That's why we came here, Mom," Clark said. "Why don't you and--" he
stopped himself, gesturing to his friend, "you two go on inside, and I'll
get Dad." He pulled down his glasses and scanned the fields.
"Your father's putting the cows out to pasture," Martha informed him,
feeling a sense of disastrous inevitability about the whole morning. "Come
on in, then, Miss--?"
The blonde started at that request, and looked quickly towards Clark,
asking some sort of silent question. He shook his head no, and added
aloud. "Not just yet."
"Okay," the blonde replied, somewhat reluctantly, then turned back to
Martha. "Call me Paula."
Martha gestured for Paula to enter the house, rolling her eyes at this
crack-brained conversation. She couldn't imagine what Clark could be up
to, but it couldn't be good.
"Won't you please have a seat, Paula?" Martha's question died away as she
saw that the woman had already made herself at home at the kitchen table,
instead of the more formal living room that Martha had had in mind. "Can I
get you a drink?" she asked, out of habit.
Paula smiled nervously. "Ice water would be great, thank you." She
hesitated, picking at the edge of the tablecloth, then continued. "I'm
sorry we startled you today. It's just that Clark didn't know how to even
approach the topic over the phone; we thought it'd be best to do it in
person."
Martha poured her guest a glass of water. "You needn't apologize for him,"
she commented, aware that it came out sounding rather curt. She admitted
she was feeling more than a bit hostile towards Paula, and she wasn't even
quite sure why. Except that she was starting to fear that Clark had fallen
for this .. this ... teenager! It was a betrayal of Lois, and it could not
possibly be healthy. For either of them.
She seated herself, and looked up to see Paula watching her.
"I know what you're thinking," she said quietly. "But I'm not what, or
who, you think I am."
Martha bit back an ugly retort, struggling to hold her temper. If this was
Clark's decision, she'd have to respect it. And stay in contact with him,
so that if -- when -- it went horribly wrong, she could help him pick up
the pieces. Again. "All I ever wanted was for him to be happy," she
finally managed.
For some reason, that elicited a glimmer of a smile from across the table.
"Yeah, I remember him telling me that, last fall."
Martha raised an eyebrow, wondering what that meant, but was heartened to
hear that Clark had, after all, known this woman for more than a few days.
Maybe this wasn't as impossible as it seemed.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of her son and her husband,
who arranged themselves around the table. "All right, son," Jonathan said,
with a curious glance at Paula, "you wanna tell me what's going on here?"
Clark and his friend exchanged glances, then both broke into speech.
"She's not really Paula--"
"--I'm really Lois Lane. And I know I don't look like Lois--"
"--but that's because Lex Luthor cloned her. Remember how someone cloned
me, two years ago?"
"We don't know if that was Lex, but it probably was, and he had this
servant, Asabi--"
"--who could do *soul* transfers -- weird, huh, and anyway--"
"--he transferred my mind, my soul, into this new body, but it's really me."
They trailed to a stop, and Clark looked at his parents imploringly. "Mom,
Dad," he tried again, "this is Lois, *my* Lois. I didn't believe her at
first, but part of me always knew."
Martha shook her head in bewilderment, looking to her husband for support.
He was frowning in concentration. "Do you think you could run that by me
again? Slowly? Not leaving anything out?"
Clark started from the beginning, much more coherently this time.
Occasionally, Lois would add in her perspective or commentary, until they
had the complete picture. Martha sat back in her chair, stunned by the
weight of revelation.
"Oh, my lord," Jonathan said, with a note of wonder in his voice. "Lois?"
Martha looked at her pragmatic husband in surprise. She could barely make
sense of it all, but he seemed to be taking things in his stride.
The woman across the table looked at Jonathan and nodded. "Yeah -- it's
me. We're trying to get our lives back ... and I know how important you
guys are to Clark's life." She laughed briefly. "Not to mention to mine."
She looked at Martha. "How about you, Martha? Can you accept this? We
can give you time, if you need it...."
Martha just shook her head helplessly, and glanced at her son, who was
silently pleading his case, then looked at her husband again. Her head was
spinning from all this talk of clones and soul transfers, but Jonathan ...
well, of course. Jonathan wouldn't be bothered by the things he didn't
understand, as long as there was something he did. He knew Clark -- and so
did she. The thought steadied her. And if Clark believed this ... "Well,
honey," her hands fluttered briefly, before she brought them back down on
the table. "I guess it's not the strangest thing I've ever encountered!"
***
"Are you sure about this, honey?" Clark asked, as they stood outside Ellen
Lane's upstate apartment building.
Lois took a deep breath, wishing the knot in her stomach would go away.
"You're the one who wanted me to do this, Clark, don't go changing your
story now."
"I don't want you to do it just for me, you know that."
"I know." She had thought long and hard about this. Her mother drove her
crazy on a regular basis, true, but she only had one mother. "You know,
right before the wedding, we had some good moments," she said, more to
reassure herself than to convince Clark. "We bonded when we were shooting
clones -- hah, now that's ironic. But I think we could have a better
relationship." Besides, whatever her faults, Ellen didn't deserve to think
her oldest daughter had died young.
"All right, then." Clark opened the door to the lobby, and ushered her
inside. He'd called ahead, and Ellen was expecting him. Within moments,
she was opening her apartment door to them.
"Hello, Clark."
Her mother looked terrible, and she'd obviously begun drinking again. Lois
sucked in her breath, overwhelmed by a flood of bitter memories.
"Hello, Ellen ... are you okay?" Clark couldn't help asking.
"Am I okay?" Ellen found that question funny, but her laugh betrayed her
inebriated state. "Of course not! My Lois, my favorite daughter ... she's
dead! Didn't you know?" She looked up at him owlishly, swaying a bit as
she held onto the door jamb. Her head slewed to the right as she noticed
Lois. "And who's this?" Her voice roughened with hurt and anger. "I knew
you couldn't be trusted. My baby's barely in the grave, and you're taking
up with another woman! Men! You claimed you loved her! What has this --
this *floozy* got that my daughter doesn't have?"
Feeling angry and betrayed, Lois couldn't help herself. "A pulse?" she
murmured bitterly, but she managed to keep the observation quiet enough
that Ellen didn't catch it. Clark sent a brief reproving glance her way.
"Ellen, I do love your daughter, very much. You have to listen to me."
Ellen shook her head decisively. "I'm not ever gonna listen to a man
again. They're all cheats, and liars. Don't you ever come around here
again, either." She backed away, and slammed the door shut.
Clark raised his hand to knock again, but Lois caught his arm mid-way.
"Don't bother. She's drunk. There's no point in talking to her now." She
closed her eyes, caught between bitter memories and painful reality.
"We'll have to try again, but ... not now. Dammit, why did she start
drinking again? She'd been doing so well!"
Clark reached out and pulled her into a hug. "She's had a tough time,
Lois. She's just ... not so strong, under pressure. We'll talk to her
later ... maybe we can talk to Lucy, first, and have her help us."
Lois nodded, absorbing much-needed support. "Yeah, that's a good idea."
She sighed. "Is it worth it?"
He hesitated a long moment. "I think it could be, eventually."
"Yeah. I hope you're right." She squared her shoulders. "But in the
meantime--"
"The Daily Planet."
***
In the Chief Editor's office, Perry scowled at Lois. "A new body? Back
from the dead? Tell me, darlin', did you see Elvis anywhere along the way?
Judas Priest!" His expression softened fractionally as he turned to Clark.
"Son, don't tell me you fell for this malarkey. I said I wanted you to
heal, but this was *not* the sort of healing I had in mind! I know you
miss Lois, but this isn't how to deal with it."
"I can't believe you, Clark," Jimmy added bitterly, a note of confused
betrayal in his voice. "I know you loved Lois since the moment you saw
her. How can you *do* this? And how dare you bring *her* around here,
around us. We knew Lois longer than you did, you know -- we loved her too!"
Clark sighed, and glanced at Lois, who was clearly unsure of how to
respond. They'd known that their friends might not react well, but it was
still disheartening to face. "Jimmy ... Chief ... this *is* Lois. I didn't
believe her at first, either, but--"
Perry threw up his hands. "Clark, this woman is deranged, or worse, and
she's taking advantage of you in your grief."
"I am not!" Stung, and probably grateful for a target, Lois went into
attack mode. "Perry, I know you think you're good at judging people, but
the plain fact is, you're lousy at it. I mean, look at Bill Church -- a
lifelong friend, and you still managed to overlook his little Intergang
hobby."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Perry spluttered, his face reddening, but Lois refused to
stop.
"And how about your golfing buddy the Senator, who turned out to be a Nazi?
Or your friend from the Men's Club who was running a slave labor ring in
Chinatown? Face it, Chief -- I love ya -- but your character judgement
sucks. So don't dismiss me so quickly."
Clark winced and rubbed a hand over his face. "Lois, this is *not* the way
to--"
"Yeah, Clark, I know, I'm ticking him off. But you know I'm right. He was
totally fooled by that clone of me, wasn't he?"
Perry, now with a firmer grip on his temper, turned to Clark and asked, in
a deceptively mild voice. "What clone?"
Clark shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, Chief, Lois was kidnapped
right after the wedding. For the next few days, the woman you thought was
Lois was really ... a clone. I was fooled by her, too," he admitted.
Jimmy stirred at that, leaning forward to rejoin the conversation. "Lois
did act kinda strange those last couple of days."
Perry fixed him with a severe glance. "How d'ya mean?"
Jimmy squirmed. "She, ah -- it was like she didn't know me. And then she
was practically coming on to me!" He glanced uneasily towards Clark, then
away again. "I didn't do anything, 'cause, I mean, it was *Lois*, but ...
it was way weird."
Clark just shrugged, unsurprised by the tale. "It's okay, Jimmy," he added
quietly. "She did a lot of weird things."
"Now you're telling me that *that* was a clone?" Perry demanded incredulously.
"Yeah. She eventually told me all about it."
"See?" Lois turned on Perry with a note of triumph in her voice. "How can
you expect to know when it *is* me, when you didn't know when it *wasn't*
me. And it definitely wasn't me, because, Jimmy, you're a good friend, but
there is no *way* I would ... I mean, I know you had that dream and all,
but that's all it was *ever* going to be--" She stopped. "What is it?"
Jimmy was staring at her, his face drained of color. "You know about -- no
one knows about that!"
Clark frowned in confusion, looking at both of them. He noticed Perry was
looking similarly bewildered.
Lois clapped a hand over her mouth in dismay, then immediately removed it
again. "I'm sorry, Jimmy, I said I'd forget all about it, and I did,
really, until just now -- I never even told Clark." She glanced his way
sheepishly.
He shrugged. "I have no idea what she's talking about."
"Never mind that," Perry interrupted brusquely. "What is all this supposed
to mean?"
Jimmy visibly composed himself. "Chief, I once told Lois -- and *only*
Lois -- about--" he shot a belligerent look towards his boss. "Never mind
what it was about."
"I think we can guess," Perry commented dryly. His face had softened into
a thoughtful look as he studied Lois. "All right, whoever you are, you
just bought yourself some time."
For the next half hour or so, Perry grilled Lois mercilessly, interrogating
her about events in their shared past -- with an emphasis on the time
before Clark had joined the Planet, no doubt to eliminate the possibility
that Clark had been coaching her. Eventually, however, the old newsman
stopped the questions. He sat back in his chair with a suspicious glint of
moisture in his eyes, and said gruffly, "Welcome home, honey."
*
Lois collapsed back into her chair as his meaning sunk in, and she was
choked by a sudden wave of emotion. She hadn't realized how much she'd
missed her job, her friends, until they were restored to her. "Thanks,
Perry," she managed to whisper. She turned. "Jimmy?"
"Oh, don't worry, Lois," he grinned broadly. "You had me at the dream.
But the less said about *that*, the better!"
She grinned, regaining some of her equilibrium, and squeezed Clark's hand,
looking up at him in wonder. "They believe me!"
"Of course they do, honey," he replied, reassuringly. "Just like my folks
do. And like your mother will, once we can explain it to her."
Perry coughed, drawing their attention. "I, uh, hate to interrupt," he
drawled sardonically, "but what did you two plan to do now?"
Clark tilted his head. "We don't quite know," he admitted with a lopsided
smile. "Lois has identification that she's named Paula Bainbridge ... you
could hire her, maybe?"
"Oh, yeah," Jimmy enthused, "that's a great idea! You know, you guys could
pretend you'd only just met, and get to know each other, and Paula could
soothe your broken heart, Clark. It oughtta take a while, though." Jimmy
saw Clark's look of dismay, and hastily added, "Hey, it'd only be in
public! Don't you think it'd be fun? I always thought a secret identity
would be cool..." his voice trailed off as he became aware that Perry was
frowning at him.
Lois carefully held back a grin at that, and glanced at Clark. He was
keeping a poker face as well, but his eyes were dancing. "A secret
identity, Jimmy?" Clark asked, successfully keeping all laughter out of his
voice. "I just don't think that would be very practical. Plus I only just
got Lois back -- I don't want to have to stay away from her for any length
of time at all."
"In fact," Lois put in helpfully, "we got married yesterday, in Vegas --
you'd have loved it, Chief, more Elvis impersonators than you could shake a
stick at."
Perry waved this aside. "Impersonators don't do the King justice. And
don't distract me from the point, which is ... well, it's not going to look
good for you two to be married."
"Why not?" Clark demanded, leaning forward. Next to him, Lois sank back in
her chair, briefly weary of the never-ending battle, willing to let Clark
take this one.
"Well, you see, a good deal of a reporter's job -- especially for you,
Clark -- depends on his credibility," Perry explained. "People talk to you
because they know your reputation; you're honest and loyal and trustworthy.
And everyone in the city knows how hopelessly in love you were with Lois."
"How in love I *am* with Lois," Clark instantly corrected.
"From their perspective, though, it's were," Jimmy spoke up, frowning over
the problem. "And if they see you take up with some blond bimbo--"
"Jimmy!"
"Sorry, Lois, but that's what they'll say."
Clark shook his head. "What I do in my personal life shouldn't have that
big of an impact -- maybe they'll think I'm a fool for love, but--"
"And then there's a problem with hiring her," Perry continued
remorselessly. "I doubt 'Paula' has any experience or training on her
resume ... and she won't have any of her old sources, either. It'll take
years to build up a network."
"Chief, Lois and I shared our sources, you know that; we haven't lost any.
Are you saying you don't *want* to hire her?"
"Of course not, Clark," the editor reassured them gruffly. "But I do have
bosses to answer to. What do I tell them?"
Lois sat in her chair and listened to the three of them talk strategy, not
really liking any of the proposed alternatives. None of them felt right,
none of them were really *her*. Of course, she wasn't quite herself
anymore, but she still *felt* like Lois Lane ... at that rebellious
thought, new possibilities began to blossom, opening up new choices. At
last, a course of action that felt right.
She held up a hand, gesturing for silence, and announced, loudly enough to
be heard, "This is ridiculous. I'm going public."
They looked at her in varying degrees of surprise and shock. She stared
back challengingly. "What? It solves a lot of problems if everyone knows
that I'm me. Clark doesn't look like he's betrayed me, and I get my
resume, my life, and my *name* back."
Perry was the first to regain his voice, frowning in consternation.
"That'll be a tough sell, legally -- there aren't any precedents."
Lois shrugged. "I don't know how far I'll want to take it, but I can at
least change my name back to Lois."
"How are you going to explain your illegal ID?" Clark asked quietly, no
doubt knowing that she wouldn't want to betray the man who'd helped her
with it.
She grinned. "I'll tell them Lex Luthor did it, and they should take it up
with him. But I, of course, have no idea where he is."
Slowly, he smiled back. "Of course not."
"Anyway, that's for a lawyer to settle."
"I can give you the name of a good lawyer," Perry offered. "Just remind
me, later."
Lois considered that -- given Perry's record, taking his advice on a lawyer
could be disastrous. Then again, he'd hired her, and Clark ... so he
wasn't wrong all the time. "I'll do that, Perry." And interview several
others, too, just to be on the safe side. "This case will probably be
nationwide news, actually; lawyers might be lining up to work for free,
just to build their reputations." It was an unappealing thought, but she
resolutely brushed it aside.
"Oh yeah," Jimmy said, in a tone of dawning realization, "this is going to
be all over the tabloids."
"Good," Lois stated brightly. "If they're getting the word out, that's
fewer people I have to tell about it myself. Although I'd better tell my
mother before she reads it in the paper." She frowned briefly, then
resolutely continued. "Besides, the Planet will have the story first -- I
assume you want the story, Chief?"
Perry stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. "If this is what you
want to do, darlin', then the Planet's going to cover it. Jimmy! Get STAR
Labs on the phone, I want to talk to them about these clones." Jimmy
nodded, and hurried out of the office. Perry turned his attention back to
his star reporters. "I'm going to write this story myself. Clark, I'm
sure you want to, but you're too close to it."
Clark shrugged. "Yeah, maybe."
Something in his tone caught her attention, and belatedly, Lois realized
that if she did this, she'd be plunging Clark's life into chaos, too.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. She chewed her lip in sudden
indecision. "You need to interview me, Perry?"
"Not right away -- I'll get the background material together first."
"Good. I need to talk to Clark -- can we use the conference room?"
The editor looked back and forth between them. "Sure, it should be free
... and while you're there, start making up rough notes ... all the
corroborative evidence you can think of, that sort of thing. Now, get! I
have work to do."
Trying to ignore a fit of nerves, Lois stood, and led Clark out of the
office and across to the large conference room. She turned to face him,
waiting until he'd closed the door behind them. "Clark ... are you okay
with this? The tabloids will be all over us, and we won't have a normal
life for a long time -- I never wanted to ruin your life." A new worry
presented itself. "Do you think your secret would be safe?"
A look of surprise crossed his face, followed by a faint smile. "I'm not
worried about me, Lois. I was through this a few weeks ago, when Lex and
your bodies were found." He reached for her, and looped his arms around
her waist. "As long as I've got you, I can handle anything. Besides,
they'll be too busy watching you to pay any attention to me." He
hesitated, then continued. "Are *you* sure you want to do this?" he asked
quietly, searching her face, looking for any trace of doubt or fear.
"Going public might be our best option, but it will be a long, hard ordeal."
Lois looked back at him, searching for the words to reassure him, and
express her instinctive conviction. "Clark ... this will be tedious, but
an ordeal? An ordeal is waking up in Italy and trying to get back home on
stolen money and a traceable passport. Been there, done that. I faced Lex
Luthor and lived." She leaned forward, growing more sure of herself, more
passionate as she spoke. "I've traveled through time, I've been to an
alternate universe and back. More people have tried to kill me than I can
even *count*. This?" She laughed. "This will be a minor annoyance."
Clark reluctantly had to smile. "I can see your point."
"Besides," she added thoughtfully, "this way, I get to be myself. I won't
have to hide, or pretend..." She watched realization dawn in Clark's eyes
as that hit home.
"Ah. Yeah, I see. Okay." He bent down slightly, and she leaned in,
closing her eyes as their foreheads touched, and they drew strength from
each other.
"I love you, Clark," she whispered, pulling back just far enough to see him
properly.
"I love you, too, Lois," he replied quietly. "Let's do this." And with
one final kiss for luck, they settled down to the business of getting their
lives back -- together.
THE END