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Clark dressed as Superman nodded to Albert and rose into the air. He scanned the side of the building with his x-ray vision. The facility had looked so much smaller from the ground. When Lois was lost to him somewhere inside it was enormous. It seemed to take him forever to find Lois, although less then a second past before he located the sound of her racing heart beat.
What he saw stopped him cold. "Oh no." he moaned. Peter's naked body was holding Lois up against a wall. Her clothing lay shredded on the ground.
Superman rocketed through the window so fast that a sonic boom rattled the building. He yanked Peter back, away from Lois, smashing him through the newly shattered window and out of sight.
There was a small, still rational portion of his brain counseling Superman to restrain his power. He knew he had used too much force on a human being. Superman ignored the pang of conscious for the first time in his life. He would think about that later. One glance at Lois was enough to make all other thoughts flee his mind.
Superman caught Lois before she could slide to the floor. He sank to his knees with her, cradling her carefully against him. He rocked absently, trying not to look too hard at the tattered shreds of her clothing, but unable to stop his mind from dwelling on it. Silent tears streamed down his face.
He was horrified that he had allowed her to walk away with Peter without a fight. He had allowed this happen. Then he recalled Lois' words. We'll all die if you get killed. It only takes one bullet, Clark. What hope do I have of avoiding him then? Peter was gone and he was here. He tried to fight down the sob that was building in his chest; he didn't want to add to Lois' pain.
It took Superman a moment to realize that she was fighting him, whimpering as she pushed blindly against his chest.
He loosened his hold, murmuring. "Lois, love, I've got you. You're safe." His voice was deep and gravely with emotion.
"Clark?" Lois tried to sit up, blinking frantically and then she looked at him with unfocused eyes. Worry shot through him. Couldn't she see him?
"I'm so sorry, Lois."
She gave a short laugh that nearly broke his heart. She said with false bravado. "I was just about to make my move. In another minute I would have bested him." Her voice trembled on the last word.
He chuckled in relief and the vice loosened around his lungs. She would be all right. No matter what had happened to her physically, she was still his Lois inside. Most women would have broken by now, but she never quit fighting.
Superman, brushed the strands of hair away from her eyes trying to ascertain if her optic nerves had been damaged. They seemed intact. Superman said with utter sincerity. "You saved my life today. I figured it was time I did my part."
Lois chuckled half-heartedly and lightly slapped his arm. "I guess I can share the glory. Just don't let it get to your head, flyboy."
He did a quick scan to assess her condition. He didn't see any broken bones or internal bleeding. She had blood seeping from a cut on her scalp, and from the way she moved her neck, he guessed that her head was wounded. He gently probed the back of her scalp. From the size of the knot he found and from her dilated eyes, he guessed that she had a concussion.
"I'm going to take you to a hospital." She was still in her underwear, he noted with relief. Lois shivered. He tore the crimson cape from his shoulders and wrapped it around her body.
Her shivering stopped, and she took his hand. Her eyes darted around the room. She must have been able to see somewhat because her gaze fixed on the gaping hole through the wide plate-glass window. It was the hole he had created when he plowed through the side of the building as if he were diving through tissue paper. Her eyebrows rose and she asked, "What about Peter? What happened to that man?"
He felt the shame of it and wondered how Lois would react when he admitted the truth. He'd have to go to the police and tell them everything once he got Lois to safety. "I don't know. I think . . . It's possible I might have killed him, Lois. I wasn't . . . myself."
"Good. Saves me the trouble." She shuddered, and blinked rapidly. He could see that reaction was setting in. The adrenalin was beginning to ebb, and she was starting to shake. He needed to get her away from this place.
"He was so strong." Lois' voice caught.
Her words touched a fear so deep within Superman that he hadn't even openly acknowledged its existence before. Lois had been terrified of Peter's strength. Granted, the man was trying to violate her, but he couldn't help but wonder if any woman could truly be at ease with a truly powerful man. Someone like Superman.
"Shhhh." He kissed the top of her head. "It's over."
Superman caught her up into his arms. She felt so light and fragile against him. He maneuvered them carefully passed the jagged shards of broken window.
They were hovering outside when Lois repeated. "He was so strong."
His heart began to pound in dread. He closed his eyes for just a moment, feeling as if his hopes for the future were fading away. "He had your strength." Lois was reliving the trauma, and reaffirming his fear that she could never be truly comfortable with him. Lois buried her nose into his neck. "He said he had Superman to thank for that."
His stopped in alarm as his perceptions shifted. She wasn't wallowing in fear; Lois was trying to warn him. His grip tightened infinitesimally around Lois, on alert. He remembered hearing Victor say to Peter that he had the antibodies. In order to have the antibodies, he must have been exposed to the virus that had his DNA embedded within. Was Lois trying to tell him that Peter had some of his powers?
Superman searched the area with narrowed eyes, calculating where Peter should have fallen. He wasn't there. Instead of experiencing relief that he hadn't killed a man, his worry over Lois' safety made him uneasy.
Where had Peter gone? Had he escaped? Then Superman noticed something that made his blood turn to ice. Peter was in the air, flying unsteadily toward them. He had blood streaming from his nose. He was wearing a pair of torn pants; his pasty-white chest was bare.
Lois craned her head and saw who was rapidly flying toward them. "Oh no."
The sound of her moan tore through him. He couldn't fly her quickly enough out of the vicinity before Peter reached them, and with her recent head injury, he didn't want to risk moving her too rapidly. Superman needed to end this here and now before Peter had a chance to harm Lois again.
He spied a crowd forming in the front lot of the Genetech building. There were parked police cars around the entrance with their lights flashing. People milled about in confusion, some wearing lab coats. A uniformed officer was putting Victor into the back of one of the squad cars. Albert stood on the side, watching everything with wide, dark eyes.
Superman descended quickly and deposited Lois next to the elderly man. Then he pivoted rapidly to intercept Peter. Even if the man possessed all of his powers, he didn't have the years of experience that Superman had using them. This was the man that Perry White had said was a mob boss, who exploited a number of communities in the area. This was also a man who enjoyed exerting power over others. And this was the man who had tried to rape the woman he loved.
Superman punched Peter so hard that the man catapulted high into the sky and out of sight. Superman rocketed by the man and caught him hard before he could leave the atmosphere. He wondered if he had overestimated the man's strength, but the pale man pulled viciously away.
Peter spun to face him standing on the air. He spit blood out of his mouth and grinned. The short white hair on Peter's head looked almost translucent in the thin air of the mesosphere. The blood at the man's nose dissipated without enough gravity to keep it on his face. His body was covered in a myriad of scars and Superman wondered how many of them had been left by his victims.
"Is that the best you've got big guy?" Peter mocked.
Superman gave him an answering smile that made the humor disappear from the pale man's face.
"I haven't even gotten started." His fingers curled into a tight fist.
Superman was almost going to enjoy this.
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Lois teetered on unsteady legs while Superman flew to intercept her super-powered assailant. When they came together there was a resounding clash overhead.
The clicking sound of a camera brought her to awareness of her immediate surroundings. Jimmy stood just a few paces away, his camera aimed at the airborne battle. His face showed a certain manic glee.
Two uniformed police officers gaped up at the sky. Lois wondered if they had never seen Superman in action before or if the sight of another man keeping up with the superhero was enough to astonish them.
Superman and Peter disappeared in a crack that was more felt than heard. One moment they were there, and the next, they were gone.
An Asian man in a lab coat watched the sky with obvious pride and Lois realized it was the man who'd been the driver of the truck the other night at the community center. He was also the same man that had tried to dissuade the Valentinos from terminating Clark.
A familiar voice insisted. "Give the lady your coat."
Lois turned to see Albert, gesturing to the Asian scientist, Jon, his name tag indicated. Everyone was watching for the sky in rapt attention waiting for the two combatants to reappear, only Albert seemed more interested in her than the conflict overhead.
Jon seemed startled and then his eyes grew wide and even a bit guilty when he saw Lois grasping Superman's cape like a large towel around her shoulders. He shrugged out of the white lab coat, and Lois managed to slip it on under the crimson cloth.
"How's you're arm?" She asked Albert, once she fastened the ties of the coat at her waist.
Jimmy lowered his camera reluctantly, realizing he wasn't alone.
"Oh, hey, Ms. Lane. Nice coat." He said obliviously. "I brought the police, just like you asked."
"Thanks, Jimmy." She said, and she meant it.
The police officers noticed her for the first time as well. "Do you need some assistance."
"Where were you twenty minutes ago?" She muttered under her breath.
Her head ached, and she was still having trouble with double vision, but she wasn't ready to go to the hospital just yet. She said louder for his benefit. "Later." She waved away their concern and turned to the scientist, "How did you do it?"
At first, he didn't respond. Lois could see the man considering what was wise to reveal, and then he realized that everyone had already seen Peter with super-human powers. His gaze settled on the back of Victor's head as he sat waiting to be escorted to the police station. Tension eased out of the lines in his face and he turned back to his attentive audience. "We managed to use a virus to take bits of Superman's DNA and transfer it into a human."
"A virus?" Lois prompted.
"Yes, you see a virus' sole purpose is to survive and multiple. It's actually a fairly primitive form of replicating DNA. We just added additional DNA to its makeup. A virus can't exist on its own. It needs to replicate inside the cells of a living host. It makes the perfect transport mechanism for altering someone's DNA."
"And if this DNA happens to be Superman's?" Lois asked pointedly.
"You can see the possibilities." Jon gestured up toward the clouds.
"Yeah." Lois said dryly, gripping the lab coat closer around her body.
Jon grimaced. "I hadn't considered what might happen if the wrong person were to be enhanced. Exposure to a certain form of radiation negates the effect."
"Kryptonite radiation?"
His eyebrows rose in respect. "That's right."
"How long does this effect last?"
"Once the powers are lost they don't return. They usually fade away in time anyway. The body's natural immune system flushes out the virus along with the meta-human DNA."
Her vision was beginning to clear and she met Albert's gaze with ease. They both understood. Peter wasn't the only one that had been changed. They had seen the man on the treadmill and the girl with the enormous weights. Given time, they would lose these powers.
Just then, Peter returned. He landed on the ground next to Lois and she stumbled back. By the malevolent look on his face, Lois feared that he intended to abduct her. Where was Clark? Had this man managed to hurt him?
Clark, still dressed as Superman without his cape, dropped down next to them. He said in a commanding voice. "Excuse us."
He grabbed Peter's hands and restrained them behind his back. Lois could see that he was about to fly Peter away from her.
"Wait." Lois said.
Peter was struggling against Superman's iron hold to no avail.
Superman's eyebrow rose. He looked so much like Clark right then that she couldn't help but smile.
"Thank you." She said.
A warm smile illuminated his face with life, and Lois felt her heart pound at the look in his eyes. He seemed to realize they had an audience, and his face went carefully neutral. "You're welcome, Ms. Lane."
Lois hurried to explain before he took off with his captive. "Kryptonite exposure will take his powers away permanently."
Peter protest, "You bitch. I won't forget how you betrayed me."
"Do you read the paper much? Because I won't forget you either." Lois retorted.
Superman pivoted so that Peter wasn't facing them anymore. It was obvious that it was an effort for him to maintain his hold on the man's hands.
One of the officers had listened to this entire exchange, and got an intent look on his face. "Can you keep him restrained?"
"He's not going anywhere." Superman said firmly. Peter finally slumped forward, giving up the struggle.
"Where is this kryptonite?" The officer turned to the scientist.
An ashamed look crossed his features as he said, "Right this way." Jon led them back into the building.
Lois' head was throbbing and she was so tired. Lois tried to follow them, and felt the world tilt at an odd angle.
"Lois!" Superman's deep voice exclaimed in concern.
"It's okay. I've got her." Albert came up to steady her and said, "Let them go, Lois. You've got your story. It's time someone took care of you, young lady."
It was a testament to her condition that she didn't have the strength to protest. Young lady, indeed.
What happened from that point forward became a blur. Lois remembered hearing Clark's voice in her ear reassuring her and she could feel that he was nearby.
She could hear Clark talking to someone, but she was too tired to see who it was. She must have fallen asleep. Lois winced as she sat up, but at least her head didn't hurt as much. Clark was beside her in an instant.
She was in a hospital room, there was no mistaking that medicinal smell. Clark was kneeling next to her bed so that his face was on level with her. He was dressed in his brown plaid shirt and he had recovered his glasses. His hair looked like he had run his hands repeatedly through his hair.
Clark's blue eyes were watching her so intently she wondered if he could read her thoughts. Lois reached out to touch him, and realized that she was still clutching the cape in cramped hands. She glanced down at the crimson cloth and slowly released her death grip on it.
"I guess now isn't the time to give this back to you." She said softly.
"Keep it. I have another one." He whispered softly. "How are you feeling?"
"Good enough to leave."
Clark chuckled and clasped her hand. "How are you feeling, really?"
"Like my head's at least twenty pounds too heavy." Lois relented.
She could see he was struggling with so something, weighing whether or not to ask.
"What is it, Clark?"
"Did Peter ever . . . ?"
"No!" Lois answered quickly.
Clark lapsed into silence. He seemed content to just gaze at her. His eyes roamed over her features and for some reason it made her eyes water. Why would she feel like crying now? It didn't make any sense. She sniffed lightly, trying to conceal her reaction, but he knew.
She gave him a wobbly smile.
His grip tightened on her hand. "The doctor said that you have a concussion, but aside from some bruises and lacerations, you're in remarkably good shape. You're just here for observation."
"There's got to be some advantages to having such a hard head." She agreed. "So when do you spring me out of here?"
"There's something I have to tell you first."
"Is it Albert? Is he . . ."
"He's fine." Clark quickly reassured her. "He fractured his arm, and they had to put it into a cast. Last I heard he was telling one of the nurses that he'd broken it skydiving."
Lois breathed a sigh of relief.
Clark's eyes grew shuttered and Lois felt her breath catch in her chest. He leaned back and she felt as if a barrier were being raised between them. She noticed then that neither of them were wearing the wedding bands anymore.
"What is it, Clark?"
Richard's voice interrupted them. "Lois, my God, they contacted me when you were admitted." He rushed over to the side of the bed. Clark rose to his feet and backed away.
Lois wanted to protest, her gaze went from Clark's to Richard's face. Clark wasn't surprised. He had known that Richard was here. This was what he'd been trying to tell her. Did Clark think that she would rather find comfort with another man?
Clark backed away, he was almost out the door. The expressionless face made Lois feel as if Clark was retreating. He was leaving her so that she could be alone with Richard.
"Clark . . . ?" She said but was cut off when Richard asked, "Where's Jason?"
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