Sex, Truth and Revelation
by Adam Labotka alabot1@hotmail.com
Rated PG
Submitted April 2001
__________


This is a rewrite of the end of Sex Lies and Videotape that
asks the question, what if Clark had revealed himself to the
world to explain the photos. For this story let's say that the
camera had never been dropped and the photos were indeed real.
The rest of the story is the same up until the press
conference.

Thanks to Cindy and Missy for their help editing and tweaking
this story. Also thanks to Zoom's boards for their feedback
and letting me know things worked. The characters and ideas
are not mine, they're DC comics and Warner Brothers. I'm just
borrowing them for a time.

Feedback is greatly appreciated at alabot1@hotmail.com

__________

Superman stood at the podium, facing the crowd, as he
prepared himself for what he was about to do. Now that the
time had come to reveal himself, he wasn't sure where to begin.
The crowd looked up at him expectantly, waiting for whatever he
had to say. Attempting to swallow the lump in his throat, he
began to speak, "Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you
for coming here today."

Clark found himself at a loss for how to continue, should
he blurt it out or build up to it? Pondering that, Clark
suddenly had an idea. As the crowd waited with baited breath,
he began to tell his tale. "It would probably be easiest for
me to explain if I started at the beginning. A little over
thirty years ago, a man named Jor-El discovered that his planet
was going to explode. His wife, Lara, and he decided that they
needed to save their son Kal-El from their world's fate, so
they began constructing a space ship for the infant."

Clark paused, scanning the crowd; all he saw were
expectant faces waiting for him to continue. Then he saw Lois,
who was standing where he had set her down after rescuing her
from Mr. Goode's trap. She smiled at him supportively,
conveying in that look that she would accept whatever came.

After a taking a moment to gather his composure again, he
continued, "They didn't have much time, but they worked diligently
and tirelessly and succeeded in building a ship for interplanetary
travel. The ship was small, just large enough to house a baby,
but it was enough for their purposes."

Remembering his natural parents, Clark's eyes began to
water slightly, but Lois' support helped him to keep composure.
In a strong, determined voice he continued his narrative.
"Amazingly, they also found a planet sufficiently similar to
their own that Kal-El would be able to survive there.
Miraculously, the inhabitants of said planet were physically
identical to them."

Now Clark's voice began to crack a bit, as he related the
sacrifice his natural parent's had gone through, to save his
own life. "The little time they had drew to a close, and Jor-
El and Lara placed their infant son into the ship and sent him
on with heavy heart, only a few recorded messages to be
remembered by."

Clark then paused, on the verge of tears saying, "I'm
sorry I need a minute; this is hard for me to tell."

The crowd patiently waited as Clark collected himself
again. He noticed a few of them even had moist eyes, obviously
feeling sympathy for the couple and what they had gone through.
He again sought Lois' support and saw that her eyes were also
filled with tears. Clark realized then that he had never
really told her the full story like this, only bits and pieces
at a time. Drawing his strength from some unknown reserve, he
began again, "So as this tiny ship raced away from the doomed
planet, it gave its last gasp and exploded. All that was left
rested in one tiny spaceship hurtling across the galaxy."

Taking a deep breath, Clark went on with his story. "The
ship followed its course perfectly and came to the planet known
as Earth. It's journey nearly ended, it fell from the sky and
crashed alongside a road in Kansas. A kindly couple, who were
unable to have children of their own, saw the fireball and
decided to check it out. They came upon a tiny capsule, which
opened when they approached. Inside they saw a little baby
boy, who was almost instantly endeared to their hearts. They
decided to take him in and raise him as their own."

Most of the crowd was obviously moved by this story, and
a few even had handkerchiefs out and were wiping their eyes.
Everyone was listening in rapt attention as the story
unraveled. To avoid keeping them waiting too long, Clark kept
his narrative going, "Now this little boy grew up much as any
ordinary boy did, not knowing of his heritage at first. It
wasn't until he was about thirteen when his differences began
to manifest themselves. At first, he began hearing things he
shouldn't have been able to, and to compound things, he began
to see through some objects. All this scared him immensely,
and he feared he was going insane. One day, he told his father
about what was happening, and his father got this strange look
on his face, before telling him to sit down. The boy then
heard a fantastic story."

Clark paused for a moment; the memories of this time
coming back full force. It had been a very emotional time for
him, and he was lucky to have had such great parents to help
him survive it. When he felt composed enough, he returned to
his story, "He was told about how he had been found one day in
some strange object they thought to be a space ship. They
didn't know where it had come from, but they thought it might
be a Russian experiment, or perhaps even one from the US.
Maybe it was even an extra terrestrial. Afraid of what might
happen, but concerned for the helpless infant, they hid the
evidence and pretended the baby was the illegitimate son of one
of their relatives, who left the baby in their care."

"This was difficult for the boy to swallow, but it did
help to explain what might be going on. Afraid of what might
happen, his father having warned him that if people knew about
him they might want to 'dissect him like a frog', he made the
decision to keep everything a secret. After many experiments,
they got him a special pair of glasses to help him learn to
control his special vision abilities. Being different was
never easy for him, and he often wished over the next few years
that he was normal."

Clark was amazed at how easily he had gotten through all that.
It had been a very rough time for him. It had been very hard
growing up different. By now he had come to terms with and
even appreciated those differences, but back then he would have
given almost anything to get rid of them. It was amazingly
silent while he wasn't speaking. Clark heard very little
beyond people breathing and their hearts beating. He realized
he had what was sometimes referred to as a captive audience.

As he continued to tell the story, it became easier and
easier. The next set of words came out with almost no effort
whatsoever, "As his abilities developed, the young man had to
ask himself a question. 'What was he going to do with these
abilities?' He made the decision to help people out whenever
he could, because he was unable to sit by and do nothing when
he could help. The problem with this was avoiding getting
caught."

Clark paused to take a breath again before continuing,
"You see, he still was afraid of people finding out about him.
He wanted to keep his abilities secret, but every so often he'd
slip up and he'd move to another place where people didn't know
him. He traveled the world for many years, since graduating
college, until one day he came to Metropolis."

Taking another break for effect, Clark looked at all the
people intent on him. This was it; he was now going to spell
everything out for them. Sure they could have figured it out
by now, but that wasn't the same as actually telling them. But
by now he had no choice but to continue.

"In Metropolis he found what he had been searching for
nearly as long as he could remember. While he was at an
interview for his dream job, this fiery, beautiful woman
stormed in on the interview. He was instantly captivated and
knew at that instant; he needed to find a way to stick around.
The problem was how; he couldn't just ignore people in need.
Well, the very next day inspiration struck; on his way to work
a man was trapped down a manhole in an explosion, without
thinking he rushed to the rescue. His coworker, the woman from
the office, upon seeing the state of his clothing remarked that
he should do what she did, bring a change of clothes to work.
This planted a seed for an
idea. He discussed it with his mother and she designed a suit,
which would function as a disguise when he went to help. And
thus Superman was born."

Taking one final break before making the final leap, he
passed the point of no return. "That woman was Lois Lane, and
the man was Clark Kent. So you see, I could not be having an
illicit affair with Lois Lane, because Lois Lane is my wife."

At this, the crowd erupted in questions, both directed at
him and Lois. "So you've been hiding this from us all this
time?"

"When did you plan on revealing this?"

"What does it feel like to be married to Superman?"

Superman raised his hand, calling for quiet, "Please
everyone, calm down. If you will permit me a few more minutes,
I will answer your questions one at a time."

"First of all, I want to warn any criminals thinking of
using my wife or parents to control me to forget about it.
It's been done before and frankly I'm getting sick of the
attempts. I can't promise to be as gentle as I have been in
the past if it happens again." Clark said somewhat menacingly,
looking into the cameras with a cold hard stare.

"Second, I would like to remind everyone that I did this
simply so I could have a life of my own, in private. I just
wanted what every man wants, a job, and a family. Having these
abilities, I feel I need to help out when I can, even when it's
meant sacrificing part of my own life. I ask you to please
accept this. There was no ill will, and no one was harmed by
my secret. I also would ask you to keep my private life just
that private. When I'm in the Superman suit, at a rescue I'll
give interviews, but when I'm not, please leave my family,
friends, and me alone."

Having said what he wanted to, he then prepared himself
to face their questions. "Ok, now I'll take some questions.
One at a time, please." Pointing at one of the reporters he
said, "Ok, you first."

The reporter from the Star stepped forward a bit and
asked, "So Diana Stride was right then? How do you explain
both you and Clark Kent showing up at that press conference?"

Clark suppressed a sigh, he should have expected
questions like this, in fact there were probably more along the
same lines coming. Phrasing his response carefully, Clark
replied, "Yes, Diana Stride was correct in her statement that
Clark Kent and Superman were the same person. I held a press
conference as Clark Kent and with the help of lasers I had a
hologram of myself as Superman projected to come by and give a
prerecorded speech. I didn't enjoy bending the truth, but it
was the only way, at the time, to keep my secret. I hope that
satisfies your question, next?"

Clark called on another reporter, this one from LNN, who
stepped forward and spoke, "Does this mean that you faked
Clark's death a few years ago at the hand of those rejuvenated
gangsters as well?"

This time the sigh did escape Clark's lips. So far
people seemed to be concentrating on the times he had deceived
them. He wasn't sure this boded well for the future. He hoped
they would eventually get beyond the fact he had deceived them.

"Yes. At the time, I was investigating a casino with
Lois as Clark. When Clyde shot me, I didn't have time to
think, so I just played dead. There was nothing else I could
do, unless I revealed my secret. I spent the time after the
incident agonizing about my situation, for Clark Kent was dead
as far as everyone was concerned. I didn't think I could
return to that life, and if I did reveal myself, my life as
Clark wouldn't be the same either. In the end, I was able to
bring Clark back by claiming to have used Professor Hamilton's
methods. Thus I was able to return to my normal life, for
which I was very
grateful."

"I hope I've answered to your satisfaction. Now I think
it's about time to end this as I have some peace talks to
negotiate." With that he flew off quickly, leaving a crowd of
gaping reporters.

******

Jimmy watched Superman fly off, his mouth gaping open.
Superman's speech was still processing through his mind. He was having a hard
time swallowing the idea that Clark and Superman were one and
the same. Coming out of his daze, he turned to Lois.

"Whoa, that was really CK?" Jimmy said somewhat
incredulously, and with a hint of awe as well, still having
trouble reconciling the new information with his previous
knowledge.

"Yes, Jimmy," Lois said somewhat impatiently. "Look, we
can discuss this later. But for now we better get out of here,
before the others recover and realize we're here. We'll be
mobbed soon if we don't."

Lois half dragged Jimmy along, trying to get a cab.
Behind them, the crowd finally recovered and remembered that
Lois and Jimmy were there. The reporters in the crowd began
chasing after them, wanting questions answered. Lois managed
to flag down a taxi, and they escaped from the mob of
reporters, heading back for the Daily Planet.

******

Superman arrived at Randy Goode's offices shortly after
leaving the press conference. Squaring his shoulders, he
prepared to enter, hoping that his explanation was enough to
convince them to let him mediate the peace talks. After
regaining his composure, having been fairly shaken by those
questions, he entered the room.

President Kasparov and General Pamchenko looked up as
Superman entered. They looked at him speculatively for a few
moments, and Clark began to feel very uncomfortable. He
feared the worst, that they would take the fact he kept his
identity secret as reason not to trust him for the peace talks.

After a few interminable moments, President Kasparov
began to speak, "Well Superman, this is a very interesting
development. Now I can understand keeping a secret to protect.
My people can understand this too, I think.I am actually sorry
you had to reveal your private identity. I think the fact that
you did, though, shows your commitment to peace. I can do no
less, if General Pamchenko can agree."

"If Kasparov is willing, then so am I," General Pamchenko
replied.

Inwardly, Clark breathed a sigh of relief. Revealing his
secret had worked, and it looked as if the peace talks would go
on. Clark began, "Good. Now if you're ready let's get started..."

******

After leaving the peace talks, Clark headed back to the
Daily Planet. Amazingly, there weren't any reporters
surrounding the Planet, Perry must have done something about
that, Clark thought. He noticed that a window was open on the
newsroom floor, the one to the supply closet. Apparently it
had been opened for him, so he quickly flew in and spun into
his business suit, when he found the closet empty.

He felt a little strange leaving the supply closet after
having not been in the newsroom earlier, but there seemed to be
no purpose to keeping up the pretence anymore. When he entered
everyone glanced up at him and looked for a moment, before
returning to their work. Clark was uncomfortable; he didn't
know how people would treat him now that they knew the truth.
As he was making his way across the floor to his desk, Perry
stuck his head out of his office.

"Uh... welcome back son, I, uh, want to tell you that
what happened doesn't change anything here. Your job will be
here," Perry said. Then mock sternly he continued, "That is
assuming you continue to meet deadlines."

Clark chuckled softly, and replied, "Of course, Chief."

When Clark reached his desk, Lois came over. "Hey,
welcome back," Lois said softly. "How'd it go?"

"Fairly well actually," Clark replied. "They were
willing to let me mediate after I gave up such a big secret for
the sake of peace. Luckily, that seemed more important than
the fact I had kept it secret to begin with."

"That's good," Lois said, with a hint of sadness. "Too
bad that it had to come to that though."

After a brief pause Lois continued, "Oh, you should talk
to Jimmy. He's been a bit shell-shocked since the press
conference. I think it'd help if you talked to him."

Clark looked over at Jimmy and he seemed to be staring
off into space, oblivious to the world around him. Clark
sighed inwardly, feeling bad about Jimmy's current state.
"You're right, I'll go talk to him now," he said.

Clark made his way to Jimmy, slowly. Around the newsroom
he saw people looking at him, though they were trying to hide
it. He felt like he was being examined. Shrugging off the
feeling, he greeted Jimmy, "Hi Jimmy."

Jimmy snapped out of his daze. "Oh, hi CK," he said
distractedly.

"Do you want to talk about it Jimmy?" Clark said
quietly. "About what I revealed today," he clarified.

"Yeah, I'm having a hard time reconciling things," Jimmy
said. "It's hard to believe that I knew you all this time, and
you were him and I knew him too, yet I never thought..."

Clark interrupted Jimmy, "Come on, Lois is supposed to be
the babbler. Let's go talk about this in the conference room."

Clark led Jimmy to the conference room and closed the
door behind them. Closing the blinds for some privacy,
Clark turned to Jimmy, "Ok, now you can talk to me about
anything that's bothering you, and I'll try to answer any
questions to the best of my ability."

"Well, uh, I guess I understand most of it, I just need
time to come to terms with it. It's just, well, I thought we
were friends. Did you ever consider telling me?" Jimmy said,
dejectedly.

"We ARE friends," Clark reassured him. "I never really
thought about telling you. Since I was a kid it had been
drilled into me I had to keep my differences secret, to protect
me and those close to me. I never really told anyone until
now. I mean it took me nearly two years to try and tell Lois,
and even then I botched it. Luckily she figured it out herself
in the end, and later forgave me. But if I ever was to tell
someone other than Lois, it probably would have been you."

Jimmy sighed in relief, "I think I needed to hear that.
I couldn't be sure about anything where you were concerned
anymore. I didn't know how much of it was cover or real."

"I'm still me, Jimmy," Clark said. "I've always been
Clark; I can just do some things no one else can. That's why I
invented Superman. He's the fabrication. Clark is who I am.
Superman is what I can do. It's that simple."

"Thanks CK, I think I'm ok now," Jimmy said, relief
obvious in his voice and posture. "This really helped. I
should get back to work before the Chief has my hide."

With that, Jimmy left the conference room. Clark was
glad he managed to reassure Jimmy, but he wondered how many
more people were having similar problems. He sighed; he seemed
to be doing that a lot lately, he mused. 'Time to get back to
work,' Clark thought. He exited the conference room.

Clark headed for Perry's office, to check in and see what
he should work on now. He knocked softly on the door and heard
Perry say, "Come in."

Clark entered the office slowly. He saw Perry sitting
behind his desk, staring at a picture of Elvis, not really
paying attention to anything else. Inwardly Clark groaned. It
seemed Perry was having problems too. Quietly, he asked, "You
ok, Chief?"

Perry looked up at Clark, "I'm just wondering if I'm
worth my weight as a newspaper man anymore. I mean, look at
all these people I've misjudged." Perry sighed as he
continued, "First there was my friend Bill Church, who turned
out to be behind Intergang, but I didn't see it. Then I
defended his son when you guys claimed he took over Intergang,
and well, I was wrong again. Then there was Senator Black, I
never even suspected he could be a Nazi. And finally, I never
even thought you might be Superman. Even when I had reason to
suspect, I dismissed it."

Clark looked at Perry. He was obviously depressed about
this. Clark thought about it for a moment, trying to think of
a way to cheer him up. An idea came to him, and he said
reassuringly, "Perry, you have to remember in each of these
cases, they were actively trying to prevent people from
figuring it out. You knew these people, and you didn't want to
think bad things about them. In my case, well, I think my
disguise worked mostly based on the fact that no one expects
Superman to live like one of them. They definitely don't
expect to see him working for a living. Also, I'm very fast.
It might seem as if Clark and Superman were in the same place
at the same time. Even Lois, as close as she was to both sides
of me, didn't figure it out for a long time, and I had been
trying to tell her by then so that might have helped her.
You're still a great newshound, you know. I have no idea how
you know some of the things you do know. You just had a few
blind spots that's all, happens to everyone."

"I guess you're right son," Perry replied, still somewhat
depressed. "I'll get over it. I'll just doubt myself for a
little while. Oh, I want you to write this story from your
perspective, you and Lois. You know, the life behind the
secret kind of thing, and what it's like to BE Superman."

"Sure Chief, I'll get on it right away. Don't doubt
yourself; you're one of the best," Clark said with a grin as he
exited the office. He went back to his desk and talked to Lois
about the assignment.

******

After work, Lois and Clark decided to walk home rather
than catch a cab because it was such a nice night. Lois
entwined her fingers with Clark's as they walked. After a
while of walking in silence, Lois broke it by saying, "How do
you feel with everyone knowing who you are, Clark?"

Clark sighed yet again; he had lost count of how many
times he had done that today. "I'm not sure. A lot of people
are treating me differently, and it seems to have really
affected people close to me who didn't know. I feel bad about
the doubt I seem to have given them. On the other hand, it did
clear up the problems due to that picture of us. Still, I wish
there had been another way. It does make things easier by not
having to make up excuses to get away," he finished with a hint
of humor.

"What about you? How is it with everyone knowing you're
married to Superman?" Clark asked, concerned.

"Well, it was nice when all those people who were so
upset with me apologized. Of course some of the questions
people ask... Don't they know some things are private?
Tabloids kept calling about stuff like our sex life at first,
but after a while I think they realized it wouldn't make much
news. I mean you and me married isn't much of a scandal," she
said with a twinkle in her eye. "All in all it hasn't been
much different than before. People always knew I was close to
Superman. They just know how close now."

Clark chuckled slightly. "I guess so. Well, so far it's
been going ok. Hopefully things will continue to go well, and
no criminals will try to use people close to me to control me -
like you, my parents, Perry or Jimmy."

"Well, it's been done before and we've dealt with it,"
Lois said. "I'm sure we can handle it again. In fact it might
be even harder for them, seeing as everyone knows. Besides,
that little speech you gave about it, if I hadn't known you, I
would have been very afraid. You were downright scary with
that threat."

They both lapsed into silence and continued walking, hand
in hand, just enjoying being together.

After several minutes of walking, Clark felt a tugging on his
pant leg and heard a little girl's voice timidly say, "Excuse
me, mister."

Clark looked down and saw a little girl of about 6 with
pigtails looking up at him. Squatting down to be on her level,
he quietly said, "Yes, can I help you?"

She looked at him with a little awe as she cautiously
said, "Well, umm, are you REALLY Superman?" When she finished
asking, she ducked her head embarrassed.

Grinning at her, thinking she looked very cute doing
that, he said, "Yes, I am."

She looked up at him, eyes wide with awe and wonder. She
said, a note of apology in her voice, "Sorry to bug you, but I
saw you walking by and remembered what they said on the TV
about you being Superman. Well, I wanted to tell you thank
you."

"For what?" Clark asked, curious.

"Umm, well, you see, my daddy was on this plane and it
was gonna crash. You saved the plane so my daddy could come
home to me. He told me about it, and how without you he would
prolly be gone." She gave him a little hug. "You are the most
bestest person in the whole world, except for my daddy," She
finished giggling.

Clark smiled at her and was very glad he had managed to
save that plane. Warmly he replied, "I'm glad I was of help.
Hey, you want to see something cool?" Clark asked
conspiratorially.

When the little girl nodded, Clark stepped back a few
feet. Looking around to make sure nothing was in the way, he
spun into Superman. The little girl stared at him; eyes wider
then before, filled with awe and wonderment. "Wow," she
breathed.

Lois chuckled and decided it was time for her to chime
in, "You know, that's exactly what I said the first time I saw
that," she said, amusedly.

The little girl turned to Lois, as if noticing her for
the first time. "Who're you?" she asked.

"Hi, I'm Lois," Lois said. "What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Claire," the girl replied. "Hey, you're
Superman's wife, aren't you? That's what the TV said."

"Yes, I am," Lois answered, carefully.

"Do you and Superman have any children?" Claire asked
innocently.

"No, we don't," Lois said, quietly.

"Oh," replied Claire, in a small voice.

"At least not yet," Lois amended, smiling slightly to
reassure Claire.

Clark chuckled as he watched the interchange. "Well, if
you two ladies are done bonding, I think I'll take Claire for a
little ride," he said, with a Superman grin.

Crouching down again, he instructed Claire to get on his
back for a piggyback ride. "Hold on tight," he cautioned her.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, honey," he told Lois,
slowly taking off.

"I know, have fun you two," Lois responded.

Several minutes later, he returned with an even more
wide-eyed girl than before. He carefully set her down.

"That was sooo cool," Claire said after a moment of
recovery. "Can we do it again?" she continued, excitedly.

Clark chuckled as he replied, "Not right now at least. I
need to be going, but wait just a second."

He suddenly vanished and mere seconds later, he
reappeared in the same spot. He brought out a picture and
signed it: "To Claire, It was a pleasure meeting you.
Superman." He then handed the picture to Claire. "Here you go;
something to remember this by."

"Wow, thanks," Claire said. "Goodbye."

Claire darted into the nearby apartment building, leaving
Lois and Clark. Clark spun back into his business suit, and
rejoined Lois. Holding hands again, they continued their walk
home, smiling.

******

Later that evening, Lois and Clark turned on the TV.
Flipping through the channels, they came to a news broadcast
where the topic was Superman's identity. Curious, they settled
in to watch.

The news anchor announced, "Earlier today, the world
watched in amazement as Superman revealed a secret. In
response to the recent allegations he had been having an affair
with Lois Lane, a married woman, he revealed that he was in
fact her husband, Clark Kent. Here's a clip from the press
conference."

They showed a clip from the news conference where
Superman said, " I could not be having an illicit affair with
Lois Lane, because Lois Lane is my wife."

Cutting back to the news anchor, "There you have it. In
his own words. Now, we've decided to go out on the street and
get reactions from the citizens of Metropolis. Here is what
you said."

Lois and Clark watched intently, wondering how people
were reacting. The first interviewee was a young woman who
said, "Well, I think it's romantic. Against all odds, this
tiny baby makes it to Earth, is raised by a caring family, and
then manages to find love. I'm happy for him; everyone
deserves to have someone. I wish everyone had as good a reason
to tell lies. I hope they're very happy together."

Next, they had a middle-aged man in a business suit. "I
guess you can't blame him for trying to keep his private life
secret. I mean, look at celebrities and how they get hounded
all the time. Who wants to live like that? Plus, he has to
worry about criminals trying to use people close to him to get
him to do what they want him to. After all he's done for the
world, I think we should give him a break."

Then they had a sleazy looking man, who kind of reminded
Clark of Ralph, who said, "I don't get it. I mean, here we got
this guy, chicks fallin' all over him and he goes and gets
married? Well, he may be Superman but I don't think he's all
that smart. Still, you can hardly blame the guy for wanting to
keep his life a secret."

The last person interviewed was an elderly, grandmother
type, "I don't know about others, but I respect Superman even
more now. We take him for granted and seem to have thought
helping is all he did, but now we know he has a life, from
which he has to fly away in order to help others. The world
would do well to learn from such a nice, self-sacrificing young
man. We could use more people like him."

"There you have it, real reactions from people on the
street," the news anchor said. "In a poll conducted by this
news station, a whopping 95% of people agreed Superman had a
right to keep his life private, and an additional 80% say he
deserves to be allowed to continue to have a private life. I,
for one, agree."

As the news turned to other things, Lois turned off the
TV and looked at Clark. "So," Lois said with a pause. "What
do you think?"

"I think this might turn out ok," Clark said.

******

Several weeks later, Lois and Clark entered their
brownstone after work. Lois tossed her purse toward the nearby
end table and slumped onto the couch. Clark chuckled, "Tired
honey?" he asked.

"Exhausted, Perry's kept us so busy it seems we haven't
had time to talk. Between work and Superman, I feel as if I've
hardly seen you these past few weeks." Lois replied without
even moving from where she lay on the couch.

"Want me to make dinner?" Clark asked quietly.

"Good idea, I'm famished," Lois answered, sitting up a
bit at the thought of food.

"Stir-fry ok?"

"Sounds great," Lois said, mouth watering at the thought.

Nodding, Clark entered the kitchen. Checking the
kitchen, he got out vegetables and some chicken for dinner. He
began to chop them up quickly; faster then the human eye could
follow.

Lois listened to the rapid sound of the knife on a
chopping block from the couch. Yawning, she got off the couch
and headed for the kitchen. As she entered the kitchen, she
saw Clark at the stove, putting the food into a wok on the
stove. Quietly, she slipped into the kitchen and walked behind
Clark, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

"Hi there," Clark said, turning a bit and smiling at
Lois. "I see you managed to get off the couch," he teased.

Swatting Clark in the chest, Lois replied, "Oh you."
Lois laughed. "The lure of food brought me here."

Clark chuckled, "Well it'll be a few more minutes, you
can set the table though," he said with a grin.

Shaking her head, chuckling softly, Lois set the table.

A few minutes later, Clark dished out the stir-fry and
they sat down to eat. Taking her first bite, Lois closed her
eyes and let out a long, "Mmmmmm. Delicious as always Clark."

Clark, a bit mesmerized watching her eat, recovered
slightly, "Thank you, I try my best," he replied with a grin.

After eating in silence for a while, Lois cautiously
said, "So, how do you feel about everyone knowing about you,
Clark? How have things been going now that people know?"

Stopping mid bite, Clark considered for a moment before
replying, "It's very strange. People sometimes come up to me
in the middle of the street to thank me. While I like hearing
from the people I help, it's very disconcerting for it to
happen to me when I'm not in the suit. I'll get used to it
someday I guess..." Clark trailed off, taking a bite of food
distractedly.

"What I really don't like is the way the press tries to
hound me though. I'll be doing just any ordinary thing, and
they start coming up to me with questions, examining what I do.
Thankfully that's dying down. It seems my refusing to give
them interviews as Superman if they bug me while I'm not in the
suit is working. Overall, I'm learning to live with it, though
I'd much rather not have everyone know," Clark sighed.

Suddenly, Clark's expression turned to worry as he asked,
"What about you? How are you holding up with the whole world
knowing your husband is Superman?"

Lois stared at her food for a moment, playing with it
with her fork, before quietly saying, "I don't enjoy being on
the other side of the news. Suddenly every little thing I do
seems to become vital news, sometimes. Though apparently our
domestic life is pretty boring, as they've stopped being
interested in what I buy at the store. Aside from what you do
as Superman, not much interesting has been happening. Except
for when that guy tried to kidnap me."

Lois chuckled, as she continued, "I think he messed his
pants when you came out of the building. I think he figured
you'd be out and he could take me easily. You sure showed him,
" Lois finished smiling.

Clark, on the other hand, was frowning. "I don't think
it's so funny. What if I had been out at a rescue? He would
have had you! I had hoped no one would try to kidnap you, but
it seems it was a false hope."

Lois put her hand comfortingly on Clark's arm. "Hey, I
knew the risks when I married you. Besides, you were there,
and after the way you handled him I don't think anyone else
will be trying to kidnap me anytime soon. So, yes, I'm doing
fine. How are your parents coping, Clark?"

"Oh, they're doing fine. The entire town is helping them
out. Seems they're really grateful for everything I've done
there and help keep my parents from being bothered by
reporters. Rachel's been arresting reporters for loitering
when they try staking out Mom and Dad's place, so they've given
up. Mom and Dad are having a much easier time of it then we
are it seems."

Lois got up and put her arms around Clark from behind.
"Whatever happens, we'll get through it together. We managed
to get this far, and hopefully, things will only improve."

Smiling up at Lois, Clark said, "You're right. What
happens will happen. We can't change that everyone knows. I
said it before and I'll say it again, being with you is
stronger then me alone. So together we can get through
anything."

As Clark leaned back into Lois, he thought maybe
everything would be ok. Sure the reporters were still causing
some problems and the criminal element wasn't cooperating, but
overall, people seemed to accept his secret. He smiled fondly
as he remembered Claire, whom he met the night after the
revelation. With people like her out there, everything will
turn out fine.

The End
******