"I need answers, Jor-El!" Clark shouted. "Why did my son die?"
"Had you chosen to learn all the knowledge of the universe and complete your training, you would know."
"Just give me a straightforward answer for once."
"When you made your fruitless journey through the universe, you brought back an alien parasite."
"What? What parasite?"
"You passed through the galaxy that contains this dark creature. It looks to be nothing more than an oddly shaped shadow. It feeds off the pain of losing others from death, but it can only feed off the person who passed through. It searched Metropolis until it found flesh of your flesh. It can only come out at night. It passes through its victim, leaving them stunned and cold briefly, then the next day when the sun reaches its highest point, the victim's body completely shuts down."
"Then it's my fault he's dead. How will Lois ever forgive me? How can I forgive myself? At least Jason is my only biological family member. It will have to go back now."
"Not so, Kal-El. It will seek out the people related to Jason, and on Earth, everyone can be traced back to one man and one woman. It will become stronger and faster until it has wiped out the entire human race."
"How can I stop it?"
"It has came and gone for the night. It goes beneath the earth's surface until the sun sets. If you could somehow expose it to the sun, it will dissolve, but the creature is as intangible as a real shadow. The task is an impossible one. Other than the animals, you will be the only one left alive on the planet."
"No. There has to be a way to stop this before it claims another life."
"It has already passed through the body of Lois Lane."
Clark couldn't speak. He was too horrified. He left the fortress as fast as he could go.
sss
Lois was sitting up in bed when he got there.
"I couldn't sleep," she said. "I felt weird and cold all at once and then the sleeping pill stopped working."
He hugged her. "That's okay."
"Not so tight. I'm not going anywhere. Did you find anything out?"
"You remember the alien story we were working on?"
"Yeah..."
Clark told her what Jor-El had told him except the part that she was going to die next. "I understand if you hate me now."
"I don't hate you. You didn't know, but we can't talk about this now. We have to find a way to stop it before it takes another innocent life."
Clark nodded and tried to choke back the tears that were threatening to fall.
"There's something else, isn't there? Please don't keep anything from me. We know how well that worked in the past."
He took a deep breath. "I was only trying to protect you from the truth, but you have the right to know. That strange feeling you got was the creature passing through. You have until this afternoon to live."
Lois simply said, "Oh."
"Oh?"
"I know this sounds bad, but I'm not terribly disappointed. I want to see my son again."
"Lois!" Clark said in tears and disbelief.
"I'm sorry that I'll be leaving you behind, but there's nothing we can do now but accept it. Why don't we spend the last few hours of my time here, living life to the fullest?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're Superman. We can go anywhere in the world. We can have breakfast in France and see the Eiffel tower. Have lunch in Italy. After that we can come back here and sit on the porch swing until it's time. You'll still have time to think up a way to stop that evil being. I know you can."
He put his head down, and Lois wrapped her arm around him. "It'll take our minds off things for a while. You don't want to sit around here and mope, do you?"
Clark made himself smile for her. "Let's go see Paris."
"That's the spirit."
sss
Lois made a lot of her funny and sarcastic remarks about Paris and Rome in an effort to keep him smiling, and they truly had a wonderful time together. It almost made Clark forget until they sat down on the swing and just held onto each other. Shelby, who was still alive, came out and laid on the porch with them. He whimpered as if he somehow knew that Lois' time was drawing short. Lois looked glad to see the old dog giving him a few good pats.
"It's a pretty day, isn't it?" Lois said, breaking the silence.
"Is it? I hadn't noticed."
"Will you make me a promise?"
"Anything."
"I know life will be hard, but you have to keep going. I meant it when I said the world needed Superman. Keep being Superman, no matter what. Don't think of this as the end. Think of it as a see you later. Life is a bus station and my bus came in a little early, but we'll all arrive home one day. That sounds cheesy, doesn't it? I never was good at metaphors."
"I like it. It makes sense."
"I don't regret our relationship. I just regret the way it played out. How could a love that brought Jason into the world be bad? I think eventually, had I lived, we would've gotten back together. I love you."
"I love you too."
They spent their last moments together in silence. They didn't need to say anything else. Clark heard when the last breath escaped from her lips and her heart ceased to beat.