Chapter 24 - Return of Old Friends
The next morning, Clark awoke to Brit staring at him in the face. "Daddy, why are your eyes red?" Clark pulled Brit off of his chest and went to the restroom. Sure enough - he had never had a blemish but now this.
"This is perfect. What is wrong with me?" He tried his x-ray vision and heat vision but nothing. His superhearing was still out also. "Start breakfast." He walked into the living room to see that Lois had already taken off. "She stuck around to help, didn't she," he mumbled to himself remembering the night before. He looked down at Brit who at the kitchen table waiting patiently for dad to come up with breakfast. He cooked up some eggs and tried to pick up the pan. "Damn."
"Daddy?" Brit raced over to help pick up the mess on the floor. "Are you ok?" Clark headed back to the bathroom.
"I'll be fine." He started running water over his hand, cringing at the touch. He heard the main door slam and Lois appeared ready for work.
"I went and checked in at work. I got some breakfast for us and what happened?" She walked in and saw Brit cleaning the floor when Clark walked in. Clark showed his hand to Lois. Knowing his secret , she could tell that he was not used to pain.
"I think the pan was a little too hot." Lois took his hand and ran it under water. "I already did this once." Lois nodded. She pulled a towel off the rack to wrap his hand in.
"Clark, since when did you think you became Superman?" Lois smiled at him.
"I don't usually have this prob...Ouch."
"Sorry, Come on, I have surprise for you." She took Clark's good hand, handed him his glasses off the table, and walked him back in the living room. On the floor, he saw Brit and another woman. She looked up and smiled.
"Chloe? You look prettier than ever." Clark was partly happy to see her. She got up and gave Clark a hug.
"Good to see you. I was just thrown when Lois said that you two were still working together. How have you been?"
"Pretty good until lately. I have been real sick lately." Brit walked everyone in the kitchen and started on the muffins that Lois had brought. "But Lois has been good to me."
"Speaking of me, I have to get somewhere, but I'll be back. Chloe, can you watch them please. Keep that on his hand because he'll probably take it off as soon as I leave. Clark, here's some information from those labs we visited yesterday." Clark sat at the table looking through the charts and started to sweat from just thinking that Kryptonite could be produced from mass elements.
"So Clark, I met Brit here." Chloe looked over at Brit and smiled. Brit smiled back and then got up to put her things away. She stopped and whispered something to her dad that made him smile. "I came in early to help with the wedding and heard you were in the wedding party. Talk about weird. I still can't believe my cousin found anything remotely desirable about Lex Luthor." Chloe stopped when she saw that Clark suddenly went into a trance. "I didn't mean to..."
"It's ok...ouch." He looked again at his hand.
"Let me help you." Chloe smiled as she pulled apart the muffin for him. "So what have you been up to? What are you working on?" She looked sideways at the report, "Wouldn't something like this kill Superman - a mix of strained Plutonium and Krypton."
"Well, we're not sure except there is something about it that is bothering him."
"Why do you say that? You know him?"
Clark looked at Chloe and gave her a friendly jab. He remembered when she had figured out who he was and how she had always protected his secret – to the point of disappearing for the years after he and Lana married. "You could say that he's pretty tight with Lois and me."
"So let's go check it out." Chloe got up from the table and went into Brit's room to get her dressed, knowing it would convince Clark to get ready too. A few minutes later she and Brit appeared in the living room waiting for the father who was taking his own time. Clark came out not able to do his tie.
"Chloe, could you?"
"Hold still and don't breathe in. Just makes your neck small so then I won't choke you. There. Let's drop her off and get going. I know my sister and she has to be getting herself into trouble."
"Tell me about it, you have a car?"
"Sure." With that, Clark and Brit followed her and then Clark continued on to the address that Lois had left in the car.
"So, have you gotten that important matching tux for the wedding?" Chloe was determined to have Clark fight for Lois.
"No, I just found out awhile ago. I might go by and check it out today. Are you ready?"
"Mostly, but I still can't believe that she is still marrying Lex. He's a real fake, not genuine like you."
"I feel the same way - every time I think of being in the wedding party."
"I know. I thought that was cruel, especially since you are still in love with her." Clark looked at her in shock. "She told me about last night. If I had been there, I would have said yes."
"She told you everything?" Clark had to know.
"About you asking her again and the dream. And that ya'll shared the bed. Was there more?"
"It's ok. I know that she still loves me still deep in her heart. But if she chooses Lex, I hope they are happy together. I just don't want to lose her as a friend." Chloe looked at Clark funny hoping he didn't mean what he had just said. "Besides, she probably wouldn't want a ready made family anyway." Chloe stopped abruptly and grabbed Clark by the arm.
"Clark look at me. I would have killed to be with you years ago and even still now. I know you had to have your go with Lana and I am really sorry that didn't work out – I even gave you room to make it work. But you can't let Lois get away so easily. Lex and she will end up moving away and you'll never see her again. She'll end up pregnant and divorced and looking for you or running for her life from the snake. Do you want that to happen?" Clark looked at her and shook her head.
"No?"
"That's right. Now, let's go get your future wife out of whatever trouble she has gotten herself in." She got out of the car and signaled Clark to follow her. They snuck around the corner of the building and found Lois. Not the way they had hoped though.
"Think we should call for Superman?" Clark smiled at Chloe when she winked at him and smiled.
"That could be possible." He looked into the room where Lois was being held and listened. It was a trap for Superman. He could be putting himself into a bad situation but needed to get to Lois. "Seems like old times. I'll be back. Stay here." Clark saw her smile as she followed his directions and waited to see where she was needed. While she was still watching, Chloe heard a crashing through the wall. She watched as Superman ran for the men holding Lois.
"Superman...stay back, they have something that can..." Lois was too late. Two men suddenly shot Superman with what looked like toy guns. Standing in front of Lois, he made a tragic mistake.
"Come on Berny, let's get out of here." Running past Chloe, Lois and Superman both looked up as Chloe took one man out by a knee to the groin. From across the building, Lois yelled for her as Chloe smacked the other in the back and stepped on his knee before checking on Lois.
"No, help him. What is this stuff on him?"
"Lois, he doesn't look good. We gotta get him in the Jeep."
"Let's go - I know someone." Chloe and Lois dragged Superman to the Jeep and set him in the back. Chloe drove by the directions while Lois sat in the back and tried to scrape what she could off his body but was afraid that she was just rubbing it in more. Superman touched her face.
"Where am I?"
"You're in my car. It's Lois. The guys that were holding me had something that put you out like a rock. You just dropped to the floor. How are you feeling right now?" Superman sat up a bit next to her.
"I feel weak, but not sick like before."
"I don't know if you remember yesterday at the lab, but the substance that made you fall was a gel. Looked a lot like this." Lois continued to try to pull the gel off when Superman leaned back again.
"Where are we going?" Chloe asked from up front.
"Here. Stop Chloe." Lois felt Superman's hand.
Chloe and Lois helped Superman out of the Jeep. Doctors and assistants were already huddled to assist him in the building.
"I have it." He stumbled on his own into the doctor's main office and sat down. The doctor took a sample of the gel and sent it to the lab to compare to the other substance form the day before.
"Superman, I know you are not accustomed to getting undressed but we really need to get you out of this suit before more seeps into the skin. There is a shower and some clothes over there for you." Chloe looked strangely at Lois who was fixed on Superman. He left toward the showers and returned several minutes later in plain pants and a pull on.
Sitting next to Lois, Superman took her hand as she smiled. "You've got me out of a lot of jams. I always thought it was supposed to be the other way around." Dr. Martin returned. "Find anything?"
"They got the samples back and the comparisons are the same. It's not true Kryptonite, but still obviously has some effects on you. I want to run some other tests on you Superman."
"Sure, whatever it takes. Like I said, I don't feel any different but just not myself." Dr Martin left and returned and hooked Superman up to a treadmill. He looked at Lois and Chloe and hoped he wouldn't run it into the ground. To his surprise, he only completed a few miles in a minute. The doctor then took a blood sample. Lois had known his skin was invincible but this gel must have really done something strange. Lois couldn't believe that Superman was in such a helpless situation. Who was she kidding, this was Clark. That made it harder.
"Is he going to be ok?" Lois asked Chloe, who was poking through the medical files while Clark sat exhausted.
"I sure hope so."
"Let me go run a look at the sample." Dr Martin took off out of the room again.
"I'm sorry you have to see me like this Lois." He put his face in his hands. Chloe noticed that he didn't say her name. For a moment she felt like she was back in high school and had a crush on him. But looking at her cousin and him, she was happy that he was finally happy with someone right even if it was never her.
"It's alright. It's ok; I just want you to get back to yourself where we can just get these men and get me married." She put her arms around him.
"You know I really owe you for all of this. I swear I just wanted to get you out of there." They felt their eyes burn into each other as they recalled the night before when the truth came out, but were interrupted.
"Superman, I have some bad news or good news depending on how you take it." Lois could feel his grip tighten in her hand but not like a Superman's grip.