Lois

Now:

Lois Lane-White couldn't remember why she and Richard decided to accompany Perry to the cathedral this afternoon. Yes, she knew Perry had kept in touch with Clark. She knew that Perry still blamed her, at least a little, for driving Clark into moving to Chicago, losing him one of the best reporters he'd had on staff at the time. She didn't really care about that.

She decided that curiosity was the most likely reason. Clark Kent was getting married. Lois was curious as to what sort of woman Clark would ask to marry him. More than likely, she was the one who did the asking.

Lois was surprised to find the ushers were in Air Force mess dress, complete with sabers. Oh, yes, the bride's father was an air force general and the bride was a serving officer.

"Are you friends of the bride or the groom?" the usher asked.

"The groom," Perry answered for them. "Perry White, Metropolis."

"Perry!" a woman's voice called out. Lois looked over to see Cat Grant hurrying over to them. The woman was wearing a stylish formal pale blue satin dress. She gave Perry a peck on the cheek. "I'm so glad you could make it. Mike's seated over here." She gestured to one of the pews toward the front of the sanctuary, hooked her arm though Perry's and lead him away. The usher held out his right arm to Lois as they followed Cat and Perry to the pew.

"Where's the munchkin?" Cat asked, looking back at Lois.

"At home with my parents," Lois said. "I didn't want him to miss any school."

"You're kidding, right?" Cat looked astonished.

Lois caught the warning look Perry gave Cat.

"I've got to get back to my post," Cat said, patting Perry on the arm. "I'll see you at the reception, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Perry promised. He slid into the pew next to Mike O'Hanlon and his wife, Caitlyn.

"Glad you could make it," O'Hanlon said, shaking Perry's hand. "I know Clark was really pleased when you called and said you'd be flying in in time to make the wedding."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Perry told his old friend. "I'm glad he finally found somebody. So, how's Cat working out for you?"

O'Hanlon laughed. "Metropolis's loss is Chicago's gain. Took her a whole month to get up to speed and she hasn't looked back since."

Then:

It was a miserable Monday morning. Richard had taken the car to work, leaving her to take a cab. She was down to her last pair of nylons, she had a blister from her new pumps and Jason had a cold. And she was mad at Clark. For his dorkiness, timidity, brilliance, naïveté, boy scout outlook. Friday, he had scooped her again, on a simple church financial corruption scandal. Perry had assigned it to her, but she hadn't had time to work on it. Clark took it and ran with it, again.

She was still trying to figure out what had happened between Cat and Clark the previous Friday when Clark left work for the weekend. Lois had happened to look over to the elevator lobby in time to see Cat giving Clark a kiss on the mouth. It didn't look like a 'friend' sort of kiss, not that Cat would even know how to do that. Clark didn't even seem surprised.

Lois knew Cat was attracted to anything male, warm, and human. There were times she wasn't even sure if human was a requirement.

Lois was late getting to her desk, slipping in quietly, hoping Perry wouldn't notice. He looked out of his office at her, but he didn't seem to notice her tardiness. She looked over to Clark's desk, intending to ask him about Cat and what she saw. He wasn't there.

She worked on her newest article for a while, made a few phone calls, worked on another piece for the Sunday edition. She went to lunch with Richard and came back. Clark still hadn't come in.

She walked into Perry's office. "Perry, do you know where Clark is?"

Perry checked the clock on his desk. "Oh, about now he's probably having lunch with Mike O'Hanlon in Chicago."

"What's he working on in Chicago?" she demanded.

"I'll know that when I see it come over the news service," Perry told her. "Now, don't you have a deadline?"

Miffed at Perry's obvious lack of concern about what Clark was up to, she stalked over to Clark's desk. That was when she realized the one piece of personal property Clark kept at his desk, a family picture in a simple silver frame, was gone. Clark was gone, again. Without saying goodbye, again.

Cat Grant came over to her. "He's gone, Lois. And nobody noticed."

"You noticed. Everybody noticed you noticing," Lois spat out.

"I noticed," Cat admitted. "Because, no matter what you think of me, Clark is my friend, and I care what happens to him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a column to write."

It took a month for Metropolis to realize Superman was no longer responding to traffic accidents and muggings. By President's Day, it became apparent he'd stopped responding to anything but large-scale natural disasters, plane and train incidents. Superman was no longer making Metropolis his home and Lois knew she was to blame.

She tried to contact him, flying out to disaster sites where he'd been seen, been interviewed, but to no avail. If he knew she was trying to reach him, he didn't show it. He didn't contact her.

After a while, Perry forced her to give up. "Lois, Superman belongs to the world. And as much as I'd like to keep the Planet's relationship with him as close as it was, obviously he's got other ideas about what he wants to do with his time. I can't afford you flying around the country trying to talk to him and coming back with nothing."

That was when the dreams started. The dreams about Superman and about Clark Kent. About a crystal cathedral set in the snow. About a lover whose face she couldn't quite place.