Time stands still, beauty in all she is
I will be brave, I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath, every hour has come to this
-Christina Perri, "A Thousand Years"
The next morning found Clark with his laptop at the small table in the middle of his kitchen. He tapped his feet impatiently on the floor, trying to craft a difficult sentence for next week's article, when he heard a knock on his door.
"Coming," he called, closing the laptop and moving to the door. He was surprised to see Lois standing there, her hands buried in her sweater pockets; she was pale, too, and looked like she hadn't slept well last night. She said nothing until he'd closed the door behind her.
"Clark, I have a confession to make," she said.
That was even more startling that her woebegone appearance. "What kind of confession?"
Lois opened her mouth, shut it, looked away. Clark put one hand on her arm and tilted her face back towards him with the other.
"Tell me everything," he said. "What's wrong? Problems with your mother?"
"She's part of it." Lois closed her eyes, concentrating, and without any other introduction took him back a year and a half.
"When I saw my mom for the first time after the battle I was still pretty rattled. All I could think about was the battle and the death toll and my reports . . . and you. I was an absolute mess, looking back on it."
She paused and opened her eyes, but didn't look at him; she stared instead at her hands and started picking at her nails, a nervous habit he first noticed in General Swanwick's interrogation room.
"Remember how Glen Woodburn published that whole article about us?" she asked. "The one right after the battle . . . the one about our 'star-crossed romance?' "
He nodded. "Of course."
"Well, my mom took me to task for it. She demanded to know if you'd really kissed me like the article claimed. And that's when I snapped."
Now Clark frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I told her everything we'd been through together." Lois pushed her hair back with a shaking hand. "I told her how I thought you were dying aboard Zod's ship . . . how you rescued me from that escape pod . . . working together with the baby shuttle . . . all that. I asked her what she expected us to do after all we'd gone through. Oh, and I refused to promise her I'd never have a romance with Superman."
"I appreciate that," he teased gently.
Lois didn't smile. She looked straight at him now and he saw fear in her eyes.
"My mother told Lex Luthor about what happened to you aboard Zod's ship."
Clark immediately stiffened, an instinctive move of defense-not against her, but against the sudden threat. Lois bit her lip, lowered her voice.
"He confronted me at the theater last night. He wanted me to tell him more and I didn't. But he told me to tell you he's going to prove that you don't have any power . . . that he's in control of this city . . . that he'll make you-" She stopped, caught her breath. "He says he'll make you get down on your knees in front of him and beg for mercy. He's got to be using the scout ship ruins to make something that'll hurt you, Clark. That's got to be what he's doing."
He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "And if you come after him, he'll go after my friends and my mother. He said so."
"You think he's capable of harming them?" Clark demanded.
"Anyone with that kind of power and no principle is capable of anything." She rubbed her forehead wearily. "He mentioned Mom and Perry . . . and my boyfriend from Kansas. Mom told him about that, too. So now both your alter egos are on his radar."
Clark suddenly felt sick to his stomach. It was one thing to have Lex Luthor watching Kal-El. But if Luthor took more than a second look . . . if he ever followed the timeline of Clark Kent's work for the Planet, if he traced him back to Smallville, if he learned how much an insignificant stringer really meant to a world-famous reporter like Lois Lane . . .
The whole world might know in a matter of hours.
"I'm sorry," Lois moaned. "I've brought you nothing but trouble since the minute we ran into each other in that glacier . . . "
"Don't start that," he snapped. "I don't blame you for this."
"But if he realizes Clark Kent and Kal-El are one and the same? What then?"
He hesitated, bracing himself for the only response he could imagine. "I'll just have to disappear, like I used to."
As soon as the words were out, Lois' face changed. She'd only been afraid before; now she looked absolutely horrified. Clark turned from her, not wanting to meet her gaze, and moved back to the table.
He didn't have to go too far into his memory-no more than a couple of years-to feel again the constant fear of discovery. He remembered the despair he always felt the moment someone figured out he wasn't normal, that he was a freak. A desperate need to protect himself and his family from the world's cruel scrutiny spurred him to take the necessary steps and vanish from whatever community he'd just settled into.
It hadn't been all that hard to leave those places, though, because he was being drawn north to something that would-hopefully-shed some light on his origins. Now that motivation was gone. He had roots, friends, a job he actually enjoyed. To return to the darkness, and without Lois . . .
Oh dear God, not that. Anything but that.
He felt Lois' hand on his back, heard her soft voice. "If you're forced into that corner, I'll disappear with you."
"No," he said with an effort. "I can't let you do that. I can't drag you all over tarnation for God knows how long-"
"You can and you will. I'm not letting you bury yourself in oblivion without me. If you tried, I'd track you down. You know I can do it."
He clenched his teeth, shut his eyes. "You only found me because I let you. Please, Lois, don't make this harder than it has to be."
"Oh, don't be an idiot, Clark!" she snapped.
At that, he opened his eyes and turned them on her in a fierce glare. Lois returned it defiantly. It didn't really surprise him, but it did make him angrier, and the fact that he knew he was being irrationally angry made him angrier still.
"So you'll give up everything here?" he retorted. "Your job? Your influence in this city? You work for the only newspaper that doesn't pay tribute to LexCorp and you're its most respected writer. Not only that, but you're a heroine of Metropolis in your own right. You'd throw that all away for-for what? An alien?"
"Has that ever made any difference to me?" she shouted. "Darn it, Clark! The job, the influence, the heroine status . . . I'll throw every bit of it away and with a smile on my face if it means we stay together-and we are staying together because I'm not leaving you!"
He stared at her, not sure how to respond. Lois gasped, took a step back, plunged both hands into her hair.
"I'm sorry . . . I didn't mean to shout at you, I just . . . I had to say all that."
He looked away; she whirled and rushed out of the kitchen, sinking to a seat on the couch in the next room and covering her face with her hands. Clark leaned his straightened arms against one of the metal chairs around the table and tried to gain control of his thoughts.
She wants to do it. She's the only girl you've ever known who'd give up everything for you. You can either turn her down and convince yourself you're denying yourself for her sake . . . or you can accept the gift she wants to give you.
He clenched the back of the chair and suddenly realized he'd twisted its back like it was made of Play-Doh. Irritated by his own strength, he shoved the chair hard against the table. Lois lifted her head at the sound. The look in her eyes settled the question once and for all.
I'll go back to the shadows if I have to . . . but not without her. I can't. I won't. I couldn't.
He cleared his throat and slammed his hands into his pockets. "If I have to disappear, I don't want to disappear with Lois Lane."
"No?" she asked, the hurt palpable in her voice.
"No," he repeated, looking her in the eye. "I'd much rather walk headlong into the dark with Lois Kent."
She stared at him like she wasn't quite sure what he meant by that. Then her lips parted and she sat up ramrod-straight. "Wait a minute . . . was that a proposal?"
He forced a sheepish grin. "Well, there's nobody I'd rather be hiding out with for the rest of my life."
A brilliant smile of disbelieving joy broke out over her tired face. Before he could say anything else she leaped to her feet and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck so tightly it might've half-strangled an ordinary man. Clark laughed and held her against him, rubbing her back, and when she drew far enough away to look at him he leaned forward and kissed her.
I'll never lose her . . . not if I can help it.
She wrenched her head free, her face flushed now with happiness and relief. "Did you mean it?"
"Of course I meant it! What more do you need to convince you I meant it?"
She shook her head with shining eyes. "Nothing. Nothing at all . . . "
He laid a hand against her cheek and looked hard at her. "It won't be easy. Even if we can stay here we won't be able to act like a normal couple. If Luthor or your mother or even the people at work found out Lois Lane had married right now-"
"I know, I know, they'd start asking unfortunate questions and it would be all over Metropolis in twenty-four hours," she finished. "But we can make it work, even if it means keeping the secret forever. It'll be worth it."
"Well worth it," he said firmly.
She smiled, then dropped her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. He hadn't felt so content since Independence Day.
When Lois headed to work the next morning, it was with her head held high and her clear blue eyes sweeping fearlessly over Metropolis. She wasn't anything like the pale, grim woman who'd headed to Clark Kent's apartment yesterday, nor the blushing, lovesick girl who left that same place a few hours later. She was still very much lovesick but she hid it well, along with a lingering fear that she was being watched. She felt and looked ready to take on the world. Being head over heels in love did give you a huge boost in courage.
"Good morning!" Jenny called as Lois strode into the bull-pen. "How was your weekend? Ooh, you went to that opera on Saturday night, didn't you? How was it?"
"My weekend was fantastic," Lois said, unable to hold back a smile. "The opera-meh. I'm not too keen on all that screeching. Is Perry in?"
Jenny rolled her eyes. "Yes, and he's in a foul mood. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I guess."
"Maybe I'll liven him up a bit," Lois said. She left her laptop into her cubicle and gave Perry's closed office door two sharp raps.
"Who is it?" Perry called gruffly.
"Lane speaking!"
"Come in, then."
Lois opened the door and shut it again behind her. Perry was at his computer, typing away at something like his life depended on it; he turned in his swivel chair and removed his glasses.
"What do you know about Lex Luthor suing the Planet for libel?" he demanded brusquely.
She froze, stunned. "When did that happen?"
"Just this morning. I got the news from the publishers about thirty minutes ago."
Lois wasn't sure what to say. Perry leaned forward, his elbows on his desk, and eyed her.
"I heard you were at the Opera Hall with him on Saturday night."
"And for good reason," Lois replied, a little defensive. "I've been following an interesting lead."
"What kind of lead?"
Lois thought fast, glanced around. This once, she'd throw Luthor's threats to the wind.
"I have reason to believe Lex Luthor poses a physical threat against Superman," she whispered.
Perry's eyebrows shot up and he let out a scornful laugh. "That shrimp? Against Superman? You've got to be kidding me."
"Luthor has his hands on material that could possibly do him serious damage. The problem is, I don't have solid proof-yet-that Luthor's using it for that purpose. I have only bits of evidence and some hints that Luthor gave me himself. I don't dare expose him until . . . until I know we can do something about it."
"Does Superman know about this?" Perry asked.
"Yes," Lois said quickly. "But it's between the three of us. Don't repeat it outside this office, Perry, please."
He sat back, scowling. "Well, your lead's down the toilet if you'd hoped to sweet-talk him into giving you information. Luthor's suing us on account of our rebuttals to his recent op-eds. Your rebuttal and mine are mentioned specifically, so he's got it out for us."
"No surprise," Lois said quietly; she was thinking of Luthor's threat of pressure.
Perry removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't even want to know how much he's suing us for. And, of course, with half the papers in the city in his back pocket and money to pull strings in court if he wants to . . ."
"We'll fight the suit on a 'freedom of the press' platform," Lois said. "The Planet has been through the wringer before. We can get past this!"
Perry didn't argue, probably preferring to keep his best fighter in high spirits. He leaned his head back. "What did you want to see me for, anyway?"
Lois took a deep breath. "I'd like a Friday off on the second week of March and the Monday following."
Perry pulled out a calendar from his desk and tossed it to her. "Long weekend?"
Lois took the calendar and sat down in the rickety wooden chair he kept in front of his desk. She looked intently at him. "Actually, Perry . . . it'll be my honeymoon."
He sat bolt upright. "You're pulling my leg, Lane."
She smiled, shook her head. "No, I'm not."
Now it was his turn to glance around, cautious. "Is it who I think it is?"
Her face flamed and she nodded again. Perry rubbed his chin.
"You two have maintained a pretty low-key relationship here at the office. No one would ever suspect you've got a thing for each other beyond a light crush. Good job."
"Thanks," Lois murmured.
"On the other hand," he went on, "if Lois Lane marries a tall, dark, handsome stringer who looks like he's been hitting the gym everyday for fifteen years, every reporter from here to Timbuktu will be on your case in hours. Especially after what happened two weeks ago at the LexCorp office. Clark Kent and Lois Lane may be under the radar. Superman and Lois Lane aren't."
"I know," she whispered.
"Lex Luthor knows it, too."
"I know he knows it," she said firmly. "Which is why we're not announcing anything. We'll be married in Kansas, at his mom's house-and then we're going to live like nothing's changed."
Perry raised an eyebrow. "You're not moving in with each other?"
Lois was sure she'd turned about the same color as a stop sign. "Umm, yes and no . . . he's keeping his flat, but he'll come by my place in the evenings."
Perry smirked and chuckled, much to her embarrassment. He added, however, in a much more serious tone, "And what about your mother?"
"I wouldn't tell my mother if she offered me all the tea in China," Lois muttered through her teeth. "She's not trustworthy. But you are . . . and he wants me to thank you for keeping our secret."
"Well, give him my compliments." He glanced at his watch, and Perry the Counsellor became Perry the Editor once again. "Get lost, Lane. Make sure you send me your copy for tomorrow's article by one o'clock or your head's gonna roll."
Lois flashed him an arch smile and turned on her heel. "Yes, sir. On my way, sir."
In the vast cave on the old Wayne estate, Clark told Bruce everything Lois had said about Lex Luthor. Bruce listened in silence while he sharpened the blades on his long black gloves. Clark's voice, the grating of the sharpening block, and the roar of the waterfalls were the only sounds in the cave at this time of day. The bats were asleep. Neither man wore their suits.
"So now we know he definitely wants to harm you," Wayne said as soon as Clark was done. "He couldn't be trying to rebuild that ship, could he?"
"Not in a laboratory," Clark said. "It was too big-and anyway, why would it pose a threat to me? I'm the one who took it down. He's got to be studying the material itself . . . or the technology inside the ship that wasn't damaged in the wreck."
"And you have an allergic reaction to anything from your planet?"
Clark folded his arms over his chest, thinking. "I had a violent reaction to its atmospherics aboard Zod's ship. And I can't destroy Kryptonian armor or metal as easily as I can anything made on Earth, either. It took me a while just to smash a helmet. The armor and metal didn't actually hurt me, though."
"Maybe because you weren't wearing it. If you were wearing it, do you think-?"
"My suit would bother me in that case," Clark argued.
Bruce raised his eyebrows. "Touché."
"But my suit had been here on Earth for a long time," Clark said quietly. "Same with the old ship. It didn't have Kryptonian air in it anymore. That's where I found the suit, in fact . . . I spent several weeks aboard it with my father."
"Your father?" Wayne demanded, lifting his head in surprise.
Clark smiled wanly. "It was a holographic recording of him . . . not the real thing."
Whether or not Bruce Wayne's analytical mind could accept such a fantastical idea, Clark couldn't tell. Wayne held up his glove with a critical frown and ran his thumb carefully over the edge of the shining blades.
"If all that bothers you is your native planet's air, then Luthor's project shouldn't harm you."
"And you think the solution is that simple?" Clark asked.
Wayne looked hard at him. "I was fooled twice by men who were far smarter than I gave them credit for. One was a master of illusions, the other a lunatic who only wanted to watch the world burn. I paid for not thinking like my enemy. In the second instance, it cost me something very precious."
Clark saw a wave of pain pass over Wayne's features. He had no idea what could've happened to cause such deep regret and sadness, but the words were enough to make him think of Lois and his mother. He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"Luthor won't waste anymore time than he has to, and then he'll test this weapon against me, whatever it is."
"You ought to take it out now before he gets to that point," Wayne said.
Clark clenched his hands. "I can't do that! I'm different than you, Wayne. You slip through the night unseen and send a message that everyone recognizes in the morning. No one ever has to see you. And even if they're intimidated by you, they aren't petrified because you're a human. I'm not, and it makes people afraid. I need to keep this planet's trust, but I'll lose it in a heartbeat if I lay a finger on Luthor before he strikes at me first."
"I'm not asking you to beat Luthor to a pulp, Boy Scout," Bruce snapped. "Even I wouldn't do that. Just take out the weapon, whatever it is-or the whole lab, while you're at it."
"I'm telling you, I can't. Luthor is already trying to convince the people of Earth that I'm not the noble knight I want to be. He wants everyone to believe I'm hiding some evil intention to take over the planet, or that I'm a disaster waiting to happen. If I go down there in anger and destroy his property, what kind of message will that leave? I'll either be villified as a bully or a weapon of mass destruction-and I tend to think it would be the latter."
Wayne made no argument to this. Clark sighed, slammed his hands in his pockets, stared at the thundering waterfall up ahead. He felt helpless and didn't like it.
"Selina and I are returning to Italy over the weekend," Wayne said abruptly.
Clark looked at him, surprised. "When are you coming back?"
"After the baby is born." Wayne leaned back, his expression softening. "Selina has a . . . well, a less-than-pleasant past. She's still nervous about people recognizing her here. That's why she keeps to our apartment most of the time, unless she's coming here. She'd be more comfortable having the baby in Italy where no one really knows her."
Clark tried to hide his disappointment; he'd appreciated having an ally. Aloud he said, "For my sake, I'm sorry to hear you're leaving. Lois and I are getting married-secretly-in a few weeks. We would've liked to see you in Smallville."
Wayne chuckled ruefully. "If you want to keep it a secret, then you don't need me attracting any attention to you or your town."
Clark smiled. "I guess you're right . . ."
"You'd better take some steps towards family planning, too, if you want to keep the secret air-tight."
Clark raised an eyebrow, his smile turning wry. "No family until things have settled down. We've talked about that already. Besides, we don't even know if we're . . . capable."
Wayne gave him an incredulous look. "What, you don't think you and Lois can-"
"I'm not worried about that," Clark interrupted. "I just don't know if we can . . . I don't know, 'interbreed,' or whatever you want to call it. She's still human. I'm not."
Wayne nodded slowly. He didn't have an answer and Clark didn't expect one. He hadn't come up with any sure answer since he and his dad discussed the possibility years ago, when Clark was still a teenager grappling with his unknown origins. Fathering a child with a human woman might be impossible. He'd accepted that long ago.
"I'll keep in touch with you . . . give you what help I can," Wayne said, holding out his hand. "Call Blake if you need a man with sharp ears and eyes."
Clark grasped his hand firmly. "Take care of yourself-and come back as soon as you can."
Wayne nodded gravely. "I'll be leaving the Twin Cities in your hands. I can't think of anyone more worthy of the responsibility." He hesitated, letting the momentous words sink in, then added with a wry grin and a nudge of Clark's arm, "Don't let it go to your head."
I've been very excited about posting this chapter for several weeks, so I hope everybody enjoyed it! Many thanks to eagle219406 for giving me some feedback about Kryptonian atmospherics; it was very helpful. As I'm continuing to write this story and learn more about the Superman canon, I think I've come up with a pretty good idea of a fearsome enemy/challenge for Clark. (Don't freak out, I won't kill him.) But Clark and Lois are getting married so I'm not completely sadistic to my favorite characters ;)