This chapter starts still with the flashback from the previous one, I hope it will clear where it ends and the story began again... Let me know if you like this story...

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Chapter 4

Everything seemed so calm. Time passed and her dress was drying. If only that leather strip wasn't tied around her head. It was still wet, it started to annoy her. Something about the taut feel of the belt against her skin prickled at her mind, the vague notion that she was in trouble, that something bad was on its way, but she couldn't focus on it, couldn't bring it close. It was too cold. She was too tired and she hurt too much.

-O-

Time passed very slowly. God. How much tighter was this damn strip going to get! She tried to push against the column in order to make it slip away, but it was useless. Her mind started to wander. Strange thoughts were overlapping in her mind. She couldn't avoid thinking about Superman, but she also couldn't avoid thinking about Clark.

Clark's gaze when she was under the spell of Miranda's perfume and Superman's when he was under the same effect and he declared his love for her. Clark's hug when that assassin tried to kill her in her apartment, the way Superman had rescued her from the vault where the invisible robber had trapped her. And then Clark's laugh and the austere distance Superman sometimes tried to keep from her.

'God, what a headache!!! Why was it hurting so much?'

The door opened suddenly, making her jump.

"Well then, have you decided to call your friend? Oh, the strip is still not tight enough?"

Lois was unable to figure out how they could know how tight it was.

The man approached her and touched the leather. Lois was unable to suppress a shudder.

"Well maybe... it's still too wet to hurt, you know? The more it dries, the tighter it will get around your little head; you'll think your head is going to explode. And then it will hurt more and more... and then more... always more; so why don't you avoid all this pain and tell us where we can find him?"

"I don't know how to contact Superman! I've never known how to do it and I don't know anyone able to do it!" The man punched Lois in the stomach once again. Lois wondered if she even still had one.

"We'll see how you'll think in a couple of hours."

"I don't know how to find him; I can't put myself in contact with him. I don't know anybody able to do it."

"Then why don't you ask for help? I'd guess one 'Help Superman!' would be enough."

Lois closed her eyes, trying to take a deep breath. The man gave her another blow with his hand in the same place where he had hurt her with the knife. Lois closed her eyes tight, trying not to feel the growing pain she felt in most parts of her body. The man went away without seeing the two big tears rolling down her face.

She had to slip the leather strip off her head somehow. It was now her only thought as it tightened more and more. She tried to exert leverage on the rope that was holding her against the column. She felt the rough plaster scratch her back, but it was nothing compared to the pain she felt from the strip. She had taken more than an hour to make it move a couple of millimeters, but she was already able to feel relief. The leather was now almost completely dry, but to her good fortune, it was also more rigid, so it was easier to move.

She could only move a few millimeters, the ropes were so tight around her. She spent what seemed like endless hours before she was able to slip the strip from her head. In this way, the rope holding her to the column also grew loose, not a lot, just millimeters, but it was enough it allowed her to breathe a bit easier.

Then, exhausted from the effort, she fell asleep, or maybe she fainted, she would never be able to say which it was.

-O-

When she woke, up she realized that it was already a new day outside. She saw both of the men standing just in front of her.

"Frankly, Miss Lane, I admire you. I would never have that imagined you would be able to slip that strip from your head, and I never bet that you would be able to resist this long. But how long do you think you'll be able to do that? We could torture you. Pull out your fingernails, burn you with hot irons..." Lois' eyes looked terrified. "Or maybe something like this,. but why don't you reflect on that for a little while? I'll give you another couple of hours... then we'll talk with you again. Perhaps you'll have found a little more of your memory of how to contact Superman."

The next hours were the longest of Lois' life. Any noise, no matter how small, made her jump. She was also very cold. She had hoped that the sun would warm the room as much as possible, but this was winter. How could the sun be so warm? What she wouldn't give if only Superman would come and take her away. But with all the Kryptonite, Superman would surely be dead before he would be able to take more than a couple of steps toward her.

When the door opened, she was ready to face the worst. This time, the younger man entered alone.

"So? Have you decided to help us?" Lois looked at him with hate in her eyes but did not speak. "I already told you not to look at me that way!" Lois turned her head away from him and at that same moment regretted it. She realized her little moment of weakness gave him a lot of power, for the first time since she was there she did what he asked. It was a little thing but she realized he noticed that too.

"You see, honey, if you want to you can be smart." The man was now in front of her, laughing, his gun pointed at her head. Lois thought that it was going to be the last thing she was going to see in her life. She tried to focus on Clark's image. For some moments Lois was too scared to close her eyes. She was desperately trying to hide her terror.

The man made the same request for the umpteenth time, "How can we contact Superman!"

Lois again opened her eyes, trying to be calm, and answered "I. Don't. Know. How. To. Contact. Superman!"

She saw the man move the gun a couple of inches, she heard the bullet move past her ear and penetrate the column behind her. She opened her eyes wide. The man moved the gun back to in front of her face.

"Now then, where is he? Please answer me, it would be a real pity to have to blast your pretty face."

Lois' voice trembled when she repeated, "I don't know how to contact Superman."

"OK, if that's what you want!" Lois could hear the shot explode. She saw all her life run in front of her eyes as if it was a movie, all in a single instant. It seemed an endless amount of time before she was able to once again open her eyes. She saw the barrel pointed at her. The man moved it and his face was barely an inch apart from hers.

"The next time, honey, the bullet may be real... are you wondering!?" He turned and walked away. This time Lois was unable to help herself and she started to sob. She cried for a long time, so much that in the end, in that position, she had trouble breathing. She felt like she might suffocate and it was long minutes later before she was able to draw an almost regular breath.

By now she had lost all sense of time. She was so tired. The door opened but she didn't have the strength to look up. There were two men, the same two as always, standing directly in front of her. The younger man inserted his arms between her and the column, Lois moaned. The man moved her wrists towards himself and cut the ropes that were holding them. Her arms slipped along her side while she took a deep breath, it turned out to be too deep though and she started to cough. The men looked at each other then the older one made a gesture. The younger one caught Lois' wrists again and tied them as tightly as they had been earlier, but this time they were in front of her. Then he made sure that Lois' right arm was turned so that the inner portion was exposed to them.

-O-

Kent's House - Smallville

Clark was sleeping deeply when a voice invaded his brain, waking him. Lois was singing, not loudly, just a little bit above a whisper. But it was late; why would she be singing at all? He was by her side in a flash. Her fever was again very high and in her delirium she kept singing and talking.

"Would you like to swing on a star
carry moonbeams home in jar
or be better off than you are
or would you rather be a mule
A mule is an animal with long funny ears
he picks up at anything he hears
His back is brawny and his brain is weak
he's just plain stupid with a stubborn streak
and by the way if you hate to go to school
You may grow up to be a mule…"

"Lois!" Clark called her.

/-/ The man approached her with a syringe in his hand.

Lois had been tied so long that she could feel her wrists burning. They had also started to bleed, but she preferred not to look at them.

"Are you going to tell us where we can find Superman or do we do this the hard way?"

'Hard way? They've only been hitting me since I got here!' "I already told you... I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CONTACT SUPERMAN! I've already told you!"

Another violent blow caused her to turn her head. How many blows had she already sustained? She had lost count.

"We'll see if you know what this is? A long time ago it was very common... but you know, sometimes the old ways are the best ways... it's fans call it truth serum."

Lois shivered. How could she fight this one. She had to think very quickly. the only thing she could do would be to keep her mind busy. She felt the needle penetrate her vein.

'God, help me! Help me not to betray Clark! I don't want to put him in danger!'

The older man stared at her for the longest time. Then with an icy calm, he approached to within a few inches from her ear and asked, "What's your name, darling.".

"Cat-woman!" she answered with disdain.

"Try again. What's your name?"

"C..." She wasn't able to complete that thought. "Lois" was all she was able to say.

"OK, now we try it with another question. Do you know how to contact Superman?"

"I already told you;. I know how to do it!" On her face was written panic, this was getting dangerous. What would Perry say to her in this situation? Surely he would tell her one of his Elvis stories... Elvis! HE was the answer!!!

"And now? If you want to be alive tomorrow, you'll have to tell me how we can do it."

Lois started to sing, not caring that the man in front of her was hitting her badly all over her body. She didn't sing loudly, it was barely a whisper, but she sang in order to keep her mind busy, so that the serum could not make her talk.

She sang for an endless time, after she finished with all the Elvis songs she knew, she moved on to other, more silly songs.

Would you like to swing on a star ()
carry moonbeams home in jar
or be better off than you are
or would you rather be a pig
A pig is an animal with dirt on his face
his shoes are a terrible disgrace
He has no manners when he eats his food
He's fat and lazy and extremely rude
But if you don't care a feather or a fig
you may grow up to be a pig
And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo
everyday you meet quite a few
so come on it's all up to you,
you could be better than you are
you could be swinging on a star,
you could be swinging on a star,
do do do do do do do dooooo

/-/

Clark was unable to make her stop. He dipped a towel into cold water and started bathing her face and arms. He held her close to him, trying to calm her down. He went to the bathroom many times for fresh water with which to bathe her fevered body. After a while Martha was woken by the sound of the running water.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to wake you, but her fever is high again..."

"It's not a problem, sweetie, you know that. Doc said this could happen. She is very weak and usually a fever rises during the night. I'll go get her medicine. We have to make her take it then she'll be better. By the way, Doc is going to come over here again tomorrow to check on her."

Whenthedayislongandthenight, thenightisyoursalone ()
Whenyou'resureyou'vehadenoughof thislife, wellhangon

Don'tletyourselfgo, everybodycries
andeverybodyhurtssometimes

Sometimeseverythingiswrong, nowit'stimetosingalong
Whenyourday isnightalone (holdon, holdon)

/-/

"You aren't alone, Lois, I'm here with you... for you..."

"Oh, Lucy, I miss Clark so much..." Lois whispered in her delirium.

"Honey... I'm here..."

"Clark... Clark... NO!"

/-/...and in that same moment Dillinger's gun roared. Lois saw Clark's expression change in wonder. She had heard about it, when you are shot, the pain doesn't come for a while. She saw him drop and tried to accompany his fall to the ground. Her tears helped her to see him clearly. She kept calling his name, not caring about what was happening around her.

A moment later those men were carrying him away without even giving her enough time to tell him she loved him. Not even giving her enough time to hold her dying friend's hand.

"Lucy! You don't understand!. I never told him, I never told him how much I loved him!!! And now it's too late...he died... and I couldn't even hold him in my arms when it happened." /-/

"Please! Lois, forgive me. I never meant it... I never wanted you to suffer... If only I could go back..." he said, holding her tightly. He understood that she was reliving his 'death'.

Martha and Clark had to force her to take her medicine. Lois, who seemed not to realize what was happening, rebelled with all her strength, almost as if she were being poisoned. She started to sing again and again it was barely a whisper. Clark held her in his arms the same way he had the previous night, cradling her almost like she were a child, whispering to her of his love and telling her of all the wonderful places he would take her. Several hours flew by before the fever broke and her delirium calmed. By the first light of the new day, she seemed normal again.

-O-

Lois tried to stretch herself and she smiled when, upon opening her eyes, she saw Clark sleeping close to her. She stared at him for a long while. His one arm was around her waist and the other one was buried in her hair. He was so gorgeous, but there was something different about his face. His glasses were twisted, they had probably moved while he was sleeping. She gently slipped them off, taking care not to wake him . She stared at him carefully then and suddenly her mind let her see the truth.

"Oh, my God!" she whispered. 'Clark is Superman, Clark is Superman!!'

This explained why he was so vague when she asked how they had gotten to Smallville. This also explained how Superman could be always in the right place at the right time and why Clark vanished so often and his lame excuses for his mysterious disappearances. 'Oh my! I really saved his life.' If they had caught him, they wouldn't have needed much time to figure out he was Superman with all that Kryptonite she knew those crazy men had. They wouldn't have had to make too much of an effort to kill him.

'And now? What am I going to do now?'

Clark breathed deeply for a moment before waking. Lois stared at him with a smile on her face.

"Hi. Good morning..."

"How are you?"

"A lot of better..."

"You had a high fever, you rambled all night..."

A mischievous light burned in her eyes. "I didn't let you sleep all night, did I? That's a pity; but that is not the way I had in mind to keep you awake, you know?"

Clark laughed, kissing her. "I adore you!"

"Me too. Even if... I don't know if I like you more with or without the glasses, but I'm sure I love you more with Clark's hat hair than with Superman's hair."

"Lois, when did you... I don't have hat hair!"

"Just a few minutes ago... and yeah, you have hat hair."

"Are you angry?"

"No... yes... I don't know... Probably I'm too tired to be angry. But, I know I love you... and oh my! it's so good it's scary..."

"What?"

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you... and that scares me."

"Lois, I've loved you since the moment I saw you. When you burst into Perry's office... I knew you were the one I wanted to spend my life with."

"Really?"

"Absolutely!"

"I have an excellent way to prove it..." Again that mischievous glint was in her eyes.

"Lois?!" His voice was half embarrassed, half amused.

"Well, it was just a suggestion..." she said, in the tone of a just rebuked child.

"I love your suggestions!" They started to kiss, but a moment later she stopped suddenly. "Clark, the article for the Planet!"

"I don't think I like your ideas anymore..."

"Come on, grab paper and a pen."

"Right now?!"

"Then we won't have any interruptions--later..." In less than a second Clark was again sitting next to her with a notebook and a pen.

"Wow!"

He smiled and kissed her again. "I'm a man who is full of surprises..."

"Wonderful."

This was, to be sure, the most pleasant article they'd ever written in their lives. It was almost a miracle that they managed to finish it. Every statement was punctuated by a kiss or a laugh or a caress.

"Clark? There is something I need to know. When you came to the cliff, you weren't wearing the suit... I mean YOU came, not Superman."

"I understand. You want to know how I realized it was a trap?" She nodded.

"When that man phoned me I heard you moan. I was so worried. I had been looking for you for a day and a half; I'd x-rayed all of Metropolis, but I hadn't thought about the old lighthouse. By the way, I didn't notice how strange that call was until I heard you moan..."

/-/ Lois looked at the men again coming toward her. Each step bringing them closer and closer to her. She wondered if he was really walking that slowly or if she were just too tired. 'Please, stop!!'

"Well, Lois? You still don't want to help us? However you prefer, but you will help us, sooner or later..."

Lois saw him pull out his cell phone and dial a number.

"One...two..." The man was counting the rings. "Three... Hello? Daily Planet?"

Lois heard her heart beat crazily, it seemed ready to explode.

"I need your help..." Lois could hear the false worry in his voice. "You are Mr. Kent, aren't you? They've caught Lois Lane! They are sure she can contact Superman!!! I know they are going to kill her! I don't know if you are able to contact Superman, but please do all you can. He's her only hope; and, Mr. Kent, you're the only one I can trust!"

Tears were rolling relentlessly down Lois' cheeks. 'Leave Clark out of this... leave him out!!' she begged mentally. 'I don't want him to feel responsible!'

The man was silent for a while, as though he was listening to what Clark was saying.

"Tell your friend that she is being held hostage in the old lighthouse keepers' cottage, 30 miles north of Metropolis. I haven't a clue about her current condition, but I do know this, they are unscrupulous people!!"

The man was a few inches from Lois and while his voice sounded really worried, he was caressing her hair. Lois tried to draw away but her ropes were too tight to allow much movement. The only sound she was able to mutter was a soft moan.

Lois stared at him through her tears. She saw him end the phone call and then he looked at her with a sort of smile. "It would have been easier if you had talked, you would be saving him a lot of pain." /-/

'"I couldn't cry out, They had gagged me, but he was so close... I was so scared! Clark, I didn't want you to feel guilty. Clark, I didn't want them to catch you too, and when I saw you..." Clark held her in his arms when he realized she was unable to continue.

"Honey, it's over... it's over! I arrived in a blur. I was going to enter, but I felt the Kryptonite... There was a lot of it, I guess. I saw you through a window and I tried to go in, but I was barely able to fly. I knew it was a trap. If I had come in, they would have killed us both. So I left so I could get my strength back. I needed more than half of an hour in order to recover enough to decrease the effect of that. I barely was able to walk for minutes. I lost completely almost every power. Then I thought that they were waiting for Superman, not Clark, so I slipped off the suit. Then I heard them take you out of the cottage and bring you to that bluff. They said they would make you cry out and that Superman would surely hear you, or that I would find him and he would be there anyway. I wanted to get you away from there a lot earlier, if only I had been able to, but I couldn't fly and..."

Lois caressed his cheek. "You saved my life, anyway I never would have survived that fall if you hadn't been there with me. Clark, I guess you haven't a clue how I felt as we were falling down..." then she added in a whisper, "I was so glad to be able to die in your arms." Clark kissed her and held her.

"Honey, you need your rest now. All you have to think about now is getting better."

To be continued