He'd kicked off his shoes when they'd come into the room and stepped closer to her, nuzzling her hair. He brought his hand under her chin, lifting her face, preparing to capture her mouth with his own.

"Stand still," she ordered. He gave her a puzzled look and she smiled at him. She took his glasses off his face, folded them up and placed them on the night stand. His eyes were so blue. It was a shame to have them hidden by lenses.

She unbuttoned his shirt, gently pushing the fine cotton fabric off his shoulders. One of these days I'll have to ask him how he hides the Suit. He stood, quietly waiting for her, shivering a little as she kissed his chest, running the tip of her tongue over his nipples. He was warm. That was one of the first things she had noticed about him the very first time they met – at least the very first time she met him in the blue tights. He radiated heat.

She loosened his shirt from his waistband, reaching her arms around him as his shirt fell to the floor.

"Lois, what are you doing?" he wondered aloud. He started to turn to follow her as she moved behind him. She stopped him, placing her cheek against the smoothness of his back. She clasped her hands over his belly, moving them lower to unbuckle his belt, then the hook on his waistband. This time he made no move to stop her.

She unzipped his fly and hooked her thumbs over the waistbands of both his slack and briefs, pushing them both down to his knees. She planted a delicate kiss just above the bony arch of his pelvis and ran her hands over the muscles of his thighs, moving up to his buttocks.

"Lois, have you any idea what you're doing to me?" he breathed. Somehow he'd managed to get his slacks, briefs and socks off – on of the advantages of super speed, no doubt. Or maybe she'd simply been too preoccupied. He was, simply put, gorgeous. The Suit left little to the imagination, but what it did leave – she stifled a self-satisfied chuckle.

"Oh, yes, I know," she told him, eyeing his erection.

She knew what her female co-workers speculated was beneath the red briefs Superman sported. Some of the fantasies were beyond fantastic. He was an alien so he had more than one, or it was super-sized, or since there was no photographic evidence of erections showing through the tights and briefs he had no interest in human women, or men for that matter.

She knew better. He was perfect – everything proportioned properly to a man his size – neither too big nor too small, but just right. The chuckle finally managed to escape her lips as she took his hand and led him to the bed, indicating he should sit on the edge of the mattress.

He was watching her, eyes dark. "Is there something I should know?"

She shook her head. "You do know the speculation around the office about what you're hiding in those red briefs?"

"I try not to listen to the fantasies of overly imaginative and sexually frustrated co-workers," he replied.

"Good." She spread his knees further apart to give herself room to stand between his legs then bent down to kiss him on the mouth. His breath was hot against her face, and he tasted of wine.

"Aren't you a little over dressed?" he managed to murmur. She pulled back and undid her own belt, slapping his hand when he reached out to help. She slowly undid the waistband and zipper on her own trousers, swaying her hips teasingly as she pulled them down and off. Underneath she was wearing a thong in purple silk. She watched him through half-closed eyes as she swayed to music only she could hear, arms reaching for the ceiling in near abandon.

He reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to him. He ran his hands over her belly then up under her blouse, undoing her bra then caressing her breasts. She trembled at his touch so light against her skin. He drew his hands down her body again, pushing aside her thong to give himself access. One hand on her buttocks, he explored her secrets once again. He planted soft kisses on her belly, working his way downward with his mouth.

"You keep that up and I won't be able to finish what I started," she moaned.

"And what was that?" he asked with seeming innocence, but she caught the devilish glint in his eyes.

"This," she announced as she moved first one leg, then the other to the outside of his thighs and moved closer. She grabbed his shaft with one hand, kneading it with her fingers, caressing the head. She watched his face. His eyes were closed, his breathing ragged. A faint sheen of sweat covered his body.

"Scoot back," she ordered. He followed her instructions without opening his eyes. She climbed onto the bed, staying on her knees so she was still above him. He was still hard and she settled over him eagerly, feeling him penetrate her to her innermost core. She felt the teasing tickle of his pubic hair against the inside of her thighs and let out a long, shuddery sigh. Oh God, I've missed this.

She placed her hands to either side of his body, hands flattened against the softness of the mattress. His hands were on her hips as she lifted and lowered herself on him in a steady rhythm, losing herself in the delicious slide of her flesh over his. She could feel him beneath her, struggling to stay in control, to let her be the one in control, setting the rhythm. She gave herself to the sensations – the delicious paradoxe of being the one in control when the man beneath her was the most powerful being on the planet.

She felt her orgasm building, ready to break loose. He had started to move his hips beneath her, staying in rhythm with her like a dancer. He lifted his head away from the mattress and captured her mouth. She could sense rather than taste the musky sweetness of his arousal on his tongue as he explored her mouth. Inside, she felt her inner muscles contract, grabbing him, squeezing down in rhythmic contractions as she convulsed in an explosion of pure pleasure.

He thrust harder as she stopped moving against him and she felt a pulsing against the inside of her flesh as he shuddered, moaning in an animal cry of release as he bit down on his lower lip.

"God woman, you are evil…" he managed to murmur, finally opening his eyes to look at her. She knew her expression was satisfied, triumphant, exultant. Richard had told her more than once that he could always tell when she was happy after their love-making. She looked like the cat that ate the canary – all she needed was feathers at the corners of her mouth.

"One nice thing about marrying a widow is," she told him conversationally, "chances are she already knows exactly what she wants and generally how to get it."

With a quick shimmy, she rolled off to lie beside him. She propped herself up on one arm, watching him. "You are so beautiful. You know that, don't you?"

"So are you," he replied.

He rolled over to face her, propping himself up.

A cell phone chimed. "Yours or mine?" Lois asked.

"Mine," Clark answered, getting up and grabbing his phone from the bedside table. He sat back on the bed as he opened his phone, placing it to his ear. "Hello Chief," he greeted his caller. He glanced at the clock beside the bed, doing a quick calculation of the time zone difference. "Isn't it a little late for you?" As he spoke he pulled the sheet around himself.

"Very funny, Kent," Perry groused. "I just got word that the prosecutor in the Church trial wants to call Superman tomorrow to testify."

"I'll let him know as soon as I see him," Clark promised. "What time should I tell him to be at the courthouse?"

"Nine AM. That's when the trial is scheduled to reconvene," Perry told him. Behind Clark, Lois had climbed closer, snuggling up against his back. Clark shivered as she ran her hands down his back.

"Lois…" he hissed, taking the phone away from his ear.

She ignored him. "Perry, do they want me or Clark there?" she said loudly enough to be heard over Clark's phone. Clark hit the speakerphone switch on the phone so they could both hear Perry.

"Not as far as I know," Perry answered. "If they need you they'll call you directly."

Lois grabbed her own phone and checked for messages – nothing. "I haven't gotten anything yet," she told him.

"Have you got anything more on the attack at the gallery?" Perry asked.

"Lois and I gave our statements to the local police this morning and we've been told that the county sheriff and the state police are involved, but nothing more. We're not exactly a known commodity around here, so we don't have any ins with the local cop shop. Heck, they don't even trust Superman enough to let him in on what's going on."

"Anything more on the lab she must have been using?"

"Lois and I were thinking of checking out some of the labs nearer town tomorrow. See if we come up with anything, but I think it's a real long shot. I think the attack at the gallery was a test run and they were ready to move as soon as they had an idea of the results."

"But a move where?" Perry asked.

"Chief, if we knew that, I think Superman would already be on top of it, don't you?" Lois said, pausing in her nuzzling of Clark's neck.

"I should hope so," Perry stated. "And you're sure Superman wasn't affected by the poison the same way everyone else was, and Lois wasn't exposed?"

"Yeah, we're real sure about both of those," Lois said.

"Glad to hear it," Perry said. "By the way, Joel is looking forward to your article on Napa."

"We'll do our best," Clark promised.

There was a pause as they waited for Perry to speak again. "How are you two doing?"

"Fine, Perry," Lois answered for them. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just wondering," Perry said. "You weren't too thrilled with the whole thing when you left."

"No, we're just fine," Clark assured him.

"Good," Perry responded. "Glad to hear it. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He rang off and Clark closed his phone.

"He suspects."

"Are you kidding?" Lois asked "He knows. He planned this."

"So, what do we do now?"

"I vote we let him stew," Lois said. "However, we should probably tell your mom and my dad."

"What about Lucy and your mom?"

"If we tell Mom or Lucy, Lucy will tell Ron and Ron will tell everyone at work," Lois said. "We'll never live it down."

"We have to tell them eventually," he reminded her.

"Clark, you've met my mother," Lois said. "The first thing she's going to do is start planning a reception so she can show you off to her friends while wondering what the hell I see in you. Then she'll start speculating, loudly, as to why we even bothered."

"I see your point," Clark conceded. "Considering the time, we should do it in the morning. You call your dad, I'll call my mom."

"Sounds like a plan. In the meantime, how about dessert?" Lois asked.

"I doubt there's any place open around here," Clark pointed out.

"Who said anything about going out?"

Clark slipped out in the wee hours of the morning to do his patrol. Lois was asleep, sprawled across the bed in complete abandon. If he was quick, she wouldn't even realize he'd left.

He did feel guilty that he hadn't been able to patrol the previous night but monitoring Lois's condition had taken precedence.

'…temptations will come, my son, not only to the flesh but also to the spirit. Remember, never put one above all. Rather, love all humanity… so, the virtuous spirit has no need for thanks or approval, only the certain conviction that what has been done is right…' Jor-El's words echoed in his mind. You sent me to Earth knowing I would become one of them, he told the ghost of his long dead father. You sent me to Earth to save my life, yet you would deny me a future? Lois is right. If you wanted me to be separate and above them, you should have told me to become a priest.

The world was relatively quiet. A flood in Bangladesh, not really serious but threatening to overtake the people carrying all their worldly goods to higher ground. Not much he could do about the rising water – the early rains weren't something he could stop, even if he wanted to. But he could help the evacuees get to higher ground.

It was still early when he got back to their room, but Lois was already awake. She was sitting up in the bed, the cotton sheet pulled around her waist. She seemed completely unconcerned that she was naked, her breasts sagging a just a little, her nipples rosy against the ivory of her skin.

"I woke up and you weren't here," she said, but there was no accusation in her voice. "I assume the world is still there."

"The rains came early in Bangladesh. There's some flooding already," he told her. She nodded.

"Think they've got coffee ready yet?" she asked. "I'm not talking to my dad without some fortification and it's much too early to start drinking."

He grinned at her and super sped into jeans, t-shirt and glasses. "I'll go see," he told her as he headed for the door.

Coffee was ready when he walked into the breakfast room. The breakfast crew didn't seem too surprised to see him walk in. No doubt they had enough east coast visitors to be used to people maintaining early hours.

He grabbed two mugs, fixing the coffee for them both – hers with a packet of sweetener and his with his usual sugar and cream.

Lois was curled up in one of the wing chairs with her phone in her hand when he walked in with the coffee. She'd thrown on her robe, belting it loosely around her hips. He set her mug on the little nook table. She smiled at him, picking up the mug and taking a sip. She sighed in appreciation. "I needed that," she told him, keying a number into her phone.

"Dad? It's me," she said into the phone. "I've got some news, but you've got to promise not to tell Mom or Lucy yet, okay?"

"Okay, pumpkin," Clark overheard Lois's father say over the phone. He took a sipped of his own coffee before grabbing his own cell phone. "What's going on?"

"Clark and I… well, we're on an assignment in California, and one thing led to another. We went to Reno yesterday and got married."

"I can see why you don't want me to tell your mother," General Lane said with a resigned sounding chuckle. "I'm not going to ask if you're sure about this. So, I'll just say 'congratulations.' Is Clark there with you?"

"Yes, he's right here," Lois told him then handed her phone to Clark.

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't you ever hurt my daughter, you hear me, boy?" Lane said.

"Yes, sir. I hear you," Clark told him. "And I have no intention of ever doing that."

"Good. We understand each other."

"Yes, sir." He handed the phone back to Lois. She spoke a few more words to her father before hanging up.

"I'm still not used to him not hating me," Clark commented. "I still haven't figured out how that happened."

"It happened right after you got shot," Lois told him. "I'm afraid to ask what Henderson or Hodgekiss told him about what happened, but he did a complete about-face about you."

"You don't think he's figured out…?"

Lois shook her head. "If he has he certainly hasn't dropped any hints about it."

Clark heaved a sigh of relief. He found his mother's number in his phone list and selected the number. "Mom…? Um, I've got some news for you."

"What is it, Clark?" Martha Kent asked.

"Uh, Lois and I are in California on assignment and things got a little complicated."

"How complicated?" There was a wary undertone in her voice.

He swallowed hard, taking a deep breath before continuing. "We went to Reno yesterday and got married."

"I thought the two of you had decided to wait," she told him.

"Uh, yeah, we did," he admitted. "But things got complicated and we changed our minds."

"Well, if you're sure…" the wariness was still there but not as strong as it had been.

"I'm sure, Mom," he assured her. "Something happened that made it pretty obvious that waiting wasn't as good an option as we thought it was."

She chuckled. "You know you're going to have to bring her and Jason to Smallville so I can show off my daughter-in-law and grandson."

"I'll check and see when we can get away," Clark promised.

"Shouldn't be that hard since you and Lois know Superman," she told him.

He glanced at the time. "Um, speaking of him, he needs to be in Metropolis in about ten minutes. Love ya, Mom." He rang off, gave Lois a quick kiss and sped into the blue and red uniform.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised.

"Can I come with you?"

"Lois Lane isn't supposed to be within a thousand miles of Metropolis, remember?"

"But Laura Landers can visit Metropolis." She grinned at him as she got up and grabbed her 'Laura' costume. She headed to the bathroom.

"You have five minutes," he warned.

"I only need three," she said.

She was in the jeans, boots and halter top within two minutes. She came out of the bathroom tucking her hair under the blonde wig. She shrugged into the black leather jacket and grabbed her purse, dropping her cosmetic bag and cell phone inside. "I can put on the makeup when we get there," she told him.

It took them less than five minutes to cross the country. Again she wondered at how she could be breathing when they were traveling at such speeds. She reasoned that his aura protected her somehow.

They come to ground in an alley near the courthouse where Church's trial was being held. He set her gently on her feet.

"Try to stay out of trouble," he warned.

"Always," she came back.

He crossed his arms across his chest and tried to look stern as he stared down at her. "I should have left you tied to the bed again."

"Don't even think about it, flyboy," she warned then shooed him away. "You're going to be late. I'll meet you outside the courthouse when you're done."

He nodded and launched himself into the sky, hoping she had the sense to stay out of trouble.

He landed again, this time in front of the courthouse, into the middle of a media circus. Linda King and WGBS cameras were waiting for him, along with reporters from all the major east coast papers. He spotted Gil Truman and Roberta Evans from the Daily Planet in the crowd but didn't acknowledge them. He recognized several others as well, having met them as Clark.

Superman strode through the crowd and started to climb the stairs to the main entrance where uniformed officers stood guarding the doors. Linda King ran to catch up with him, shoving her cordless mike into his face.

"Superman. Is it true that D.A. Griffin has requested you stay away from Metropolis until the Church trial is over?" she demanded.

He paused and looked down at her. "The District Attorney's office has not spoken to me about that, no." Strictly true – the message had been passed to Perry White.

"Then where have you been the past three days?"

"The Earth is a large place, Ms. King. And occasionally other people need my assistance, too."

"What happened in Napa?"

He gave her a stern look. "Ms. King. I'm sure you're aware that I cannot comment on an ongoing police investigation… Now if you've excuse me, I have an appointment, and I'm running late."

King stepped back and let him pass. He didn't let her see the sigh of relief that escaped him as he entered the main hall of the courthouse. Dealing with Linda King wasn't as bad as dealing with kryptonite, or an angry Lois Lane, but it was close.

"Trial's upstairs, big guy, room two-oh-four" one of the officers told him. He nodded to the officer and sped up the marble steps to the next floor.

The upper hallway wasn't quite as congested as the main floor or the entrance stairs. He spotted Amanda Church, the defendant's step-mother, standing with a woman with a wide hat. Mrs. Church was the very young widow of Bill Church's father. Lois was convinced that Mindy was involved in Intergang, had probably arranged her husband's murder while he was in prison serving a conviction on racketeering. But nothing could be proven against her, so far.

He saw Inspector Bill Henderson speaking with one of his officers. The detective gave Superman a polite nod when he caught sight of him. Perry White was waiting with Jimmy Olsen – Jimmy had won the lottery to be one of the two news photographers allowed to cover the trial. The WBGS video crew was not allowed on the upper floor.

"Mister White, I'm surprised to see you here," Superman said, coming over and shaking the older man's hand.

"That makes two of us," Perry responded. "I got a call from Griffin's office asking me to be here today, but nobody seems to know why."

"That's odd," Superman commented. He took a moment to look over the building. Nothing unusual as far as he could tell and he'd gotten pretty good at identifying such things as bombs while using his x-ray vision. However, the building was old enough that some rooms still had lead paint on the walls. "I don't see anything unusual in the areas I can see, and I assume the police have been keeping an eye out to prevent anything 'untoward' from happening."

"I would assume so," Perry agreed.

Superman leaned closer to the older man. "How's the trial going?" he asked, keeping his voice very quiet.

"Impossible to say," Perry admitted. "Griffin's just… it's not going as well as it should, considering the amount of evidence that ties Church to Intergang's recent resurgence. It may well depend on how convincing you and Henderson are."

"I see," Superman said, straightening up.

One of the courtroom doors opened and a bailiff came out, looking around. He stared at Superman for a moment. "Superman…?"

Superman nodded ever so slightly in Perry's direction then walked into the courtroom.

District Attorney Matthew Griffin smiled when he caught sight of Superman walking down the center aisle towards the prosecution's table.

Griffin stood. "Your honor, we call Superman to return to the stand."

Superman strode up to the witness stand then turned, facing the audience.

Judge Jane Page looked over at him. "Just a reminder that you're still under oath, Superman," she said.

"I understand, your honor," he said. He'd been warned on previous court appearances to not cross his arms and to keep his expression as neutral as possible. It was difficult. The crossed arm stance was second nature to him while wearing the Suit, as was staring down offenders. Instead he forced himself to keep his hands at his waist, hands folded. He was less intimidating that way.

She gestured for him to sit down. He arranged his cape, sat, and waited for the defense attorney to begin. The man's name was Cross and he'd represented crime bosses all up and down the east coast. He had a reputation for ruthlessness that was matched only by his clients.

Superman had given most of his testimony on the previous Friday, when he'd been sworn in, gave his name for the record as Kal-El of Krypton to the apparent amusement of both Cross and Church.

More questions covering the same material. How had he known to look for William Church? Why had he been looking for evidence against Church? What gave him the right to look into Church's affairs? The defense didn't seem interested in what Superman had uncovered, only why Superman had been involved at all. He rubbed his temple absently, his elbow resting on the chair arm.

"Something wrong, Superman?" Cross asked. There was an unpleasant edge in his voice that hadn't been there earlier. "Feeling a little stressed?"

Superman froze. Then he straightened up in his seat. "Your honor, there's kryptonite in here."

The judge leaned closer to him. "You're sure?"

Superman nodded. "Yes, your honor."

Page's lips thinned. "Bailiff, I want this courtroom cleared and I want this place searched until the kryptonite is found. This court is adjourned until tomorrow morning pending assurances that this room is clear of poison."

"Your honor," Cross protested. "This is extremely irregular! How can you accept the word of this… alien who could well be trying to postpone this trial for his own purposes?"

A hush fell over the courtroom at Cross's words.

"Councilor, I suggest you rephrase that last statement," Judge Page warned. "I will not have people in my courtroom subjected to your blatant racism. Kal-El is a guest in this country, on this planet. And if he says there's a dangerous substance in this building, I, for one, am not about to say he's wrong."

She turned and Superman was gratified to see sympathy in her eyes. The kryptonite was giving him a headache as well as making him nauseous and he knew it wouldn't be long before he broke into a fever. He already wasn't sure about his powers.

"Clear this courtroom now!" Page ordered crisply as she got out of her own chair and headed out of the room herself.

The courtroom started to empty, the observers and witnesses congregating in the hallway outside. He noticed that Perry and Jimmy were waiting, letting others leave before them. He made his way toward the hallway, past the bailiffs and guards. The Daily Planet editor and photographer fell into step on either side of him.

"How are you feeling, son?" Perry asked.

"I've felt worse," Superman admitted. "But I'll be okay." Outside the courtroom doors he paused, taking a moment to recoup his strength.

"Why would anyone want to put kryptonite in the courtroom?" Jimmy asked. "You've already testified."

"I know," Superman said. "It doesn't make a lot of sense. Kryptonite isn't that dangerous to humans, at least not on the short term." He looked around at the crowd. Lois was there, wig in place, purse slung over her shoulder. She was scanning the crowd. Suddenly she stopped. Her body was still, eyes narrow as she sighted whatever she'd been looking for.

Superman followed the path of her gaze, catching sight of a slender woman wearing a large hat that hid her face. But it was what was in the woman's hands that made him move. She had an ornate cobalt blue bottle with an atomizer and she was heading towards him and Perry. Miranda Miller. So that's what she's after. Get everyone outside so she can get to them.

"Miller's here," Superman murmured to Perry then moved away from the older man, staying close to the wall. Miller followed him, instead of Perry. Then he spotted Nigel Smith, also holding a cobalt blue bottle. Smith was heading toward Lois and Bill Henderson. Lois was concentrating on Miller. He doubted she saw Smith moving toward her through the crowd and no one else understood the danger.

"Bill, Smith is heading your way!" Superman said loudly enough to be heard over the crowd. He was gratified to see the uniformed officers, Henderson, and Lois all moving into action. Several uniformed officers moved closer to Henderson to protect him while Lois scanned the throng for Smith.

Superman was still watching the crowd. Smith seemed to falter, turning to head back into the mass to disappear. He lost sight of Miller, swinging his head around to look for Perry and Jimmy, making sure they were still safe. They were, for the moment. Then he felt spray on his face. Without thinking he turned to see who was beside him – and got a face full of the smelly aerosol. Miller was beside him and he hadn't heard her, hadn't seen her.

His eyes were stinging and started to water and he could feel his throat constrict, his breath being cut off. He blinked to clear his eyes and spotted Miller moving away from him, toward Perry. He could see the bottle in right hand, her left poised over the atomizer bulb. He hurriedly wiped his hand over his eyes to clear them. There was an annoying buzzing in his ears. Miller was getting closer to her target and he was finding it harder and harder to breathe.

Perry had spotted her and was herding Jimmy away from the woman.

"Miranda, you don't want to do this!" Superman managed to choke out.

She stopped and looked back at him, disdain and hatred written across her fine-features. "You have no idea what I want to do, you flying interfering freak!"

He narrowed his eyes and concentrated a beam of heat vision at the bottle in her hand. It exploded in her hands and she screamed as she was sprayed with scalding liquid and burning alcohol.

The buzzing in his ears grew louder and he realized he was wheezing, fighting for each breath, fighting to get any air into his lungs at all. He felt the wall against his back as the room started spinning. He started sliding down the wall, unable to hold himself up any longer. Then he felt a warm body beside him, a hand pulling his arm over a man's shoulders, keeping him from falling.

"Olsen, give me that inhaler." It was Perry's voice coming from very close to him. "Okay son, I need you to open your mouth." Open my mouth? He felt something plastic go between his teeth. "Breath in as deep as you can…" An odd tasting spray entered his mouth. Oddly enough, the constriction in his chest began to ease.

"Again…" Perry's voice commanded. He obeyed, taking the mist into his lungs once more.

"Is it working?" Lois's voice said. He felt her arm go around his waist, moving him forward. He managed to open his eyes. Lois and Perry were on either side of him, guiding him through the crowd.

"I think so," Perry told her. "His color's better… Let's get him into the restroom."

"What happened?" Superman managed to croak out. Jimmy held the men's restroom door open for them. He then closed it behind them, staying outside.

"Henderson's people grabbed Smith before he could spray anybody," Lois explained. "But Miller got you right in the face."

He tried to straighten up, to get away from them. "I've got it on me… I could transfer it to you…" He was still wheezing, but not as bad as before.

"It's only effective in aerosol form," Lois said. "Once it hits skin it starts to break down, fast. Friedman thinks it's the skin's acidity that does it. You're not contagious, but you are allergic." She grabbed several paper towels, dampened them then hit the soap dispenser before handing the towels to him. "Wash your face," she ordered.

He used the soapy towels to get the poison off, then splashed fresh water on his face to rinse the soap and poison down the drain. "That was why Miller wasn't affected when she demonstrated the scent in her shop," he realized. "It wasn't an aerosol."

"You told Doctor Langdon you'd had a reaction when exposed to someone who had it on their skin, but they weren't showing any symptoms. That got him thinking so he passed that information on to Friedman who did some more testing on the poison," Lois told him. "Doctor Faulkner called and let me know so I could pass it on to you and to the police." She paused, brushing his hair out of his face as he leaned over the sink.

He looked at his own reflection. He was still pale and there was a greenish cast to his cheeks.

"How are you feeling?" Lois asked.

"Better, thank you," he said. "What made you think an inhaler would work on me?"

"It works on Jason," Perry told him.

The restroom door opened and Bill Henderson walked in. "You've got quite a guard dog out there," he joked, pointing his thumb at the door. He looked hard at Superman. "Are you okay?"

Superman nodded. "I will be. Miller's poison is laced with kryptonite and I don't react very well to it."

"Well, she's screaming bloody murder that you attacked her without provocation," Henderson told them.

"No provocation? How does she explain the kryptonite that has to be all over her?" Lois asked. Her voice was harsh with anger. "And he just happens to go into bronchospasm after she sprays him in the face with the same crap she used to poison those people in Napa?"

Henderson raised his hands, palms out, as if in self-defense. "There happen to be photos of her spraying him and his reaction immediately after. We also know she got onto the floor using a pass Cross gave her, although he denies it. And we don't have proof yet that it's the same stuff. But as soon as we do, Napa County, California, has first dibs on her and Smith, thanks to Lane and Kent.

"What about Smith?" Perry asked. "He was carrying another one of those bottles, wasn't he?"

"Uh huh. Same thing as Miller. Used a pass he claims he got from Cross, only Cross denies ever having met him. Either way, it's an interesting turn of events," Henderson reported. "By the way, you didn't hear any of this from me."

"Of course not," Lois replied. "Besides, Perry White, Laura Landers, and Superman are not reporters for the Daily Planet."

There was a knock on the door and Jimmy stuck his head in. "Judge Page has officially postponed the trial until tomorrow," he reported. "She wants to make sure Superman is fully recovered from the attack and the building is clear of kryptonite and the pheromone poison. The bomb squad would like us out of the building and there're some EMTs out here in case Superman needs them."

Superman straightened up, squaring his shoulders, steeling himself for the ordeal to come – facing the press. It was something he always dreaded in spite of being a member of the press himself as Clark Kent. He saw Lois run her eyes down his body and he felt naked again. This time he knew it was the poison in his system that was causing his arousal and the Suit hid very little. Everyone was going to know that the poison affected him too.

"I can't go out there like this," he murmured. He felt his face growing warm. "I should have more control than this."

"Do you normally?" Perry asked.

"Yes," Superman told him, not sure if the older man was being sarcastic or not.

Lois reached up to his shoulders and grabbed his cape, pulling it forward over his chest. "Hold it together," Lois instructed. He grabbed both edges of the cape in one hand, allowing the rest of the crimson fabric drape over his body, protecting what was left of his dignity.

"Henderson, can you get us out the back way?" Perry asked.

"Not a problem," he told them. "Follow me." He turned to look back at Lois. "By the way, nice ring. Is it new?"

"Uh, yes," she admitted with an uncharacteristic giggle.

Perry peered up at Superman, a wry smile on his face. "Congratulations?"