Chapter 19 - Confirmation
Lois groaned and swore under her breath as she saw the blood covering her shirt. The ringing in her ear had faded, giving way to heavy throbbing. She could have sworn that her heart had relocated to her head.
She didn't know whether psychos were good shots or bad ones. If he had intended on taking a chunk of flesh out of her right ear, then Tony's aim was marvelous. Who would have thought that much blood could come from an ear? On the bright side, it had stopped bleeding.
She struggled to loosen her hands to no avail.
"One thousand and one uses for duct tape, and it just so happens that I get tied up with the stuff," she muttered to the empty room.
The tape around her ankles had been looped around the legs of the chair. She could release her legs if she could get tilt the chair far enough back.
"Aw, hell. This is going hurt."
Rocking from side to side, she managed to gain enough momentum to get the chair to briefly balance on the two left legs. With a fierce lean, she rocked the chair to the right, sending it – and her – crashing to the floor.
She held her breath as her shoulder took the brunt of the fall. Finally she was able to kick her legs free from the chair, although they were still bound to each other. Rolling free from the chair, she maneuvered into a position that allowed her to work her bound hands beneath her thighs and legs, and eventually pull them in front of her.
Having accomplished that, she was able to use her teeth to rip the tape around her wrists. When her hands were free she attacked the tape around her ankles.
Standing, she gingerly felt her ear and scowled. The amount of flesh that was missing wasn't large, but that fact didn't lessen her anger. Turning, she scanned the room for something to use to pick the lock on the door.
Clark fought to keep down the bile that threatened to defy gravity. Tony didn't deserve to live. He pressed a little harder, watching as his victim's face turned red.
Suddenly, he pulled back, throwing Tony to the side as he released him.
"She wouldn't have wanted me to…" he said, a memory of Lois at the caves entering his mind.
Tony's arms flailed as he landed on the table, causing it to splinter and break apart. The motion sent both him and the briefcase to the floor, its contents spilling as it tumbled.
He reached for the gun as it skidded across the floor with one hand, using the other to massage his bruised neck.
"Then you're the fool," he spat, pointing the gun at Clark.
To his surprise, Clark instantly fell to the floor, grimacing in pain.
Tony frowned and walked over to his adversary, confused by the sudden turn of events. Tony reached down and picked up one of the green rocks that had fallen from the briefcase.
"It's this rock, isn't it?" he asked, smiling at the tortured expression on Clark's face.
Tony shook his head as he began to piece together the information he'd acquired over the past few minutes.
"Amazing. Utterly amazing," he mumbled. Bending down, he placed the meteor rock on Clark's chest, still aiming the gun at his head.
Tony's eyes went wide as Clark wrenched and screamed in pain.
Hearing the shriek, Lois forgot about trying to be quiet, and upgraded her trot to a full out sprint. She stopped just as she reached the doorway leading to the room that the noise had come from. When she saw Tony holding a gun to Clark's head, her stomach flipped.
It was time to let Tony collect on her earlier promise.
The first kick sent the gun flying across the room, unreachable by either of them. Having the advantage of surprise gave her the upper hand initially, but Tony had the benefit of psychotic energy.
Blocking a blow to the head, Lois braced herself as one landed in her abdomen. She responded with a roundhouse kick that sent Tony into a wall. She followed with chop to his already sore Adam's apple; a hit that sent him to his knees, coughing.
He dodged her next kick, using a kick of his own to take out her balance leg. As Lois fell onto her back, using the momentum to roll backwards, Tony scrambled for the gun. He was still fighting to breathe as he picked it up and backed toward the exit.
Lois hopped to her feet, getting some satisfaction in the fact that he was barely able to stand. When he stumbled backwards through the door and turned to hobble away she was tempted to give chase. Instead she ran over to where Clark was laying and snatched the Kryptonite rock from his chest.
Gathering all of the scattered pieces, she stuffed them into the case and shut it, setting it as far away from Clark as she could get without leaving the room. She rushed back and knelt by his side.
"Come on, Smallville," she whispered, placing a hand on his forehead.
His skin was clammy and damp, but his breathing seemed to calm more as every second passed. Changing her position to sit on the floor, she pulled his head into her lap. Idly, she began running her fingers through his hair.
After a few minutes, she was relieved to see his color return. She kept stroking his hair, knowing logically that her ministrations weren't the reason for his recovery, but needing to maintain contact nonetheless.
Without opening his eyes, he spoke. "I thought… I was coming… to save you," he said, attempting to catch his breath.
Lois smiled in relief, and grabbed one of his hands. "Yeah, well. The next one's all yours."
She supported his arm as he struggled to sit up.
"Tony?"
She shook her head. "We'll find him later."
Clark took in her appearance, from the bruise on her forehead to the blood that covered her shirt. The images that Tony had somehow transmitted to him earlier surfaced, making him shudder. So much of it matched with what he now saw that he needed proof that she was real… that she was there.
Reaching out, he ran a hand up her arm. When he reached her shoulder, he squeezed it lightly, and sighed.
"I thought you were… I saw you… the gun, the blood…"
Lois inched closer and put her hands on his arms. "It's okay. Clark, It's okay. I'm right…"
Her sentence was cut off as he pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn't a passionate kiss; missing the heat they had created the first time. It was soft and relenting, a message of relief and confirmation being communicated through each caress.
The kiss ended, but they didn't pull away, their foreheads joined and gazes locked. Clark trailed his fingertips along the side of her face.
"I was going to kill him," he said, his voice low and barely audible. "I wanted to. I kept thinking that he'd… taken you and…"
He traced the red stain that had created a path from her right ear to her shirt.
"Shh… it's okay," Lois repeated, placing a hand on his chest.
"No." His brow creased, and he pulled back so he could see her face. "I was angry, and I almost let it control me. It was scary. It wasn't me… and the only thing that I could focus on was you. I didn't think I'd get the chance to tell you… to touch you…"
"Clark, look," she instructed, taking his hands in hers. "I'm right here. Everything's okay."
As she met the intensity of his gaze, the adrenaline rush that had carried her throughout the entire ordeal began to wane. There was something about their nearness to one another that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. The emotions that were threatening to surface were not ones that she was prepared to deal with. If she gave in, she wouldn't be able to control where they took her – and Lois Lane was always in control.
He had just kissed her. Well, technically, she had reciprocated… so it wasn't all one sided. But it wasn't that kind of kiss… was it? Lois mentally smacked herself. Of course not. It was a life affirming kiss- the kind you have after realizing that the last thing you confronted didn't take you out. That was it.
Besides, it was too early in her life to start getting misty eyed and weak. Love made you do stupid things. Wait- scratch that- not love… something else.
Clark was a friend, a very good friend, something she didn't have very many of. Her dad had dragged her around the world like a spare piece of luggage, never stopping in one place long enough to grow roots. She'd learned that if you didn't let your guard down, you wouldn't get hurt.
She forced herself to smile and took a deep breath. Clark's eyes were so beautiful… expressive, she corrected her traitorous thoughts. She could tell he would fall if she let him. She wouldn't.
"Lois, I…"
"Need to get out of here," she finished for him, pulling her hands away and standing up.
Clark frowned, confused with the change in demeanor. "Huh? No… I was going to say…"
"We need to call the police," she interjected, putting her hands on her hips and turning away from him. She needed to break the spell of his gaze. "But not until I take a look around this place to see what Tony was into."
The mention of the man that had started this drew him out of his reverie. Clark jumped to his feet.
"We should just let the police handle him. If we wait too long he'll get away."
Her composure regained, Lois turned to face him. "Tony was convinced that you had some type of secret. I just want to look around to make sure that all he had was a hunch. Then I'll call the police." The loss of adrenaline was allowing the first hints of pain to surface. She needed to get moving again before it became full blown.
"I'm coming with you."
"No. We don't know if there's anymore of that Green Death laying around," she said, gesturing toward the silver case on the other side of the room. "So it would probably be best if you get out of here. Plus, you said yourself that the cops get suspicious when they find you at a crime scene. It's okay, go on."
Clark ran a hand through his hair as he contemplated their options. She was right about both the Kryptonite and the police. He didn't know how long it would be before Sheriff Adams decided to start her own investigation of his family simply because he was suspiciously alwaysin the right place at the right time. He couldn't let that happen.
Then again, they had no idea if Tony would be coming back or not. Now that she was back where he could see her, he didn't plan on letting Lois out of his sight any time soon.
"I'll stay here until you're done looking around, then when you get ready to call, I'll go across the street somewhere out of sight."
"Fine," Lois sighed, aggravated that he wouldn't just listen to her but realizing that further argument would waste time.
"Fine."
tbc
