This is the second part of chapter 6. I broke it into two parts because I realized how long it was.

[ Disclaimer: Superman: Man of Steel belongs to the Warner Bros. and whoever came up with DC Comics. The song "Kiss It Better" is owned by the duo He Is We. I own nothing ]

Kiss It Better

"Now he sits behind prison bars,
25 to life and she's not in his arms.
He couldn't bring her back with a bullet to the heart
In the back of the man who tore his world apart."

BANG!

It had all been over in an instant.

BANG!

He was finally even; he had repaid his debts.

It all had seemed like a dream—he was there but he wasn't completely there—and for a long while he thought it was. He could imagine it all-too-clearly: the moonlight sillouheting the world around; of the cold, rainy night; and the man's head explode out in front of him. Of his crimson blood and insides flying into the air, outlined by the moon's light, as the bullet came out between the man's eyes.

BANG!

Everything had changed forever.

His fingers dug into his scalp. He squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to take back that moment, to make the loud noise stop echoing in his head.

His eyes stung at the start of tears, and the thought of his father and the hope he envisioned for him came to mind.

His body shuttered. And he rubbed his face tiredly as his fingertips rose to rest under his chin, his hands still together as if in prayer as he stared up at the white jail ceiling.

This is how Clark is where he is now, how he had steeped so low. He was miserable. For the last 15 hours, he's sat on this hard ass bed in this pitiful-looking jail cell.

At least he was better now that Eve wasn't trapped here as well any longer.

Eve...

After that night, the night he didn't worry so much about restraint, when he finally showed her just how much he loved her, they'd finally made love and not "just fucked." That night he had finally gathered the courage to tell her he was an alien superhero. He'd rehearsed it over and over in his head, smiling at the shock she'd have and her look as it all sunk in. And then, maybe, he just might have, he would have gotten on one knee right there in front of her...

But no, that wouldn't happen. Not at all now. He was a criminal after all. An outsider. An oddity, a demon.

He was a freak. And freaks don't get happy endings.

The guard outside his cell refused to avert his glare from Clark, and he had to restrain himself from burning the fat man to a crisp. Eve might have left the premises, but still, she wouldn't have wanted that even if she knew he could do it...

That night, almost twenty-four hours ago, she too had been arrested right in her apartment. Clark remembered the look of shock and fright on her face as the officer slammed his car's door and drove off. They had been together that night and he knew she must be hurting inside, thought he didn't know if she'd show it on the outside.

...She wouldn't forgive him.

Eve Lancaster... She had been his hero. If Clark was a devil, then she was the angel that pulled him from his mental-hell he'd been sinking in for so long.

They had been questioned separately hours ago before she was released. The detectives figured out that she'd had nothing to do with the crime nor knew what had happened. She'd just been a worried and scared mess. For him—he'd listened in on her questioning. Clark had refused to speak much when it was his turn, he just gave short, one-word answers or a shrug of his shoulders.

He felt even worse now.

"Miss Lancaster. Do you know anything about the event that took place around 1:45am on October 23?"

"Um n-no." She'd twiddled her fingers in the manner that always made Clark smile, thinking how cute she looked nervous. "What had happened? Is it about Clark, because the police had called for him? I-is he alright?!"

"Yes, he's fine, Miss Lancaster," one had said. Pause.

"Is he your boyfriend, Eve? Are you both in some sort of relationship?" the other had asked, trying to be friendly to her to make her more at ease.

The question had made Clark's heart skip and he jerked his head up. The guard had raised an eyebrow at his sudden reaction.

Eve had looked down. Usually she would have smiled nervously and fidgeted more, but instead, this time her face remained grim.

"Um," she paused. Her eyes darted, trying to find an answer.

The two men in suits became suspicious. The man who was the more abrasive of the two stated a similar question, harshly.

Clark's heart hammered in his chest.

Eve barked a laugh. "Under normal circumstances I would have let him answer that, more because..." She paused, feeling tears choke her. She was about to voice her feelings for the first time in and about their relationship.

"Honestly," her voice cracked. "...I love him. I do, I really do, and for so long. Although I'm not sure of what he'd say, because its never been finalized like that. We didn't have...a typical relationship. ...At least, I'm not even sure if he sees it as that."

She stopped to wipe her face with her robe's sleeve. It still smelled like him from that night after he stayed over and had used her shower...

"I-I'm sorry." She sniffed. "It just hurts, so much, because he'd probably never know...c-'cause I'll never be able to tell him," and she had bursted into tears after that.

If Clark had been able to see himself, he'd see his skin had paled.

And after that, he didn't have much to say. He answered all of the authorities' questions when he had been called in, and sat threw their threats. But there was no way he could counter Eve. How could he?

He wanted to punch himself. He wanted to send himself hurtling thru buildings for his stupidity. 'How could I not have picked that up earlier?' he thought to himself. ...Because he had still been hung up on Lois, letting reality sink in that she was actually gone. He had used Eve, abused her kindness and generosity. ...He'd taken advantage of her—that thought literally making him sick.

Clark sat his head back against the wall. It felt cool to the touch.

He liked to think that he'd done all those bad things in the beginning as he picked himself up, at least not done them on purpose. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized he had begun to crave Eve's free-spirit-like personality and honest words of advice increasingly. The more eager he had become to go along with her invites for lunch in the park, or roll down the hills after work just for the heck of it to go home itching all over afterward. The more he realized she hadn't just submitted to him out of sympathy, but she'd actually gave herself to him—she gave him her first time because she loved him. And he to her. He'd give his all to let her know .

But she loved Clark Kent. She had no idea that Kal-El and Superman too were the same person and, therefore, she loved neither. Would she, Clark wondered. Would she even accept it? Him?

His worst fear is that she wouldn't. That is what scared both Superman and Clark Kent.

"Kent! Get your ass up." The guard banged his baton on the cell bars while bellowing loudly.

Clark loved his "nice" personality.

One of the detectives stepped into view in front of the metal bars, the same detective who had quizzed him yesterday. Clark looked, seeing it was the nicer of the two, who had asked if he and Eve were in a relationship.

"Mister Kent..."

He didn't like the edge to his voice.

"We need you to come with us for some more questioning."

Clark didn't resist as the guard, whose nametage apparently read Logan, swung the door wide, literally grabbed Clark's collar and hauled him to his feet. Neither did he wince when Logan twisted his beating stick into Clark's back before roughly shoving him down the hallway because, well, it didn't hurt him. (He has much tougher skin than humans, remember.)

But he was indeed becoming weaker, and not just because he hadn't gotten any yellow sun's light. He felt it as Logan ordered him to sit in one of two lone chairs, aside from an empty table, in the interrogation room and grabbed his shoulders to roughly pull him down to sit.

The reason he was becoming weak is also the reason for so long he hadn't cared about anything at all. Clark's mind went back to the night after the incident on October 23rd. Of days later when he woke up groggy headed, confused, dreary and with an excruciating pain in his side. After he had pulled the shrapnel out, he was surprised to find a large reddish bullet.

Bruce had yelled at him when Clark finally told him, but he knew the billionaire was only concerned—it had been Red Kryptonite. Bruce had made immediate arrangements to have Clark "checked," but Clark hadn't gone thru with it. He now knew it was an effect of the kryptonite that made him avoid Bruce until it had worn off on its own months later. It had all begun because of the kryptonite.

Never had Clark been so glad to have been around the poisonous stone. Because he knew if he had never been shot with it, leaving it in his body for the amount of time, its apathetic effects would not have lasted for so long. If it hadn't, he would have never went to that bar that night or kissed Eve in the back of that taxi cab. He wouldn't have been riding on its negligent waves afterwards, because he knew if otherwise, he wouldn't have spent so much time around her. He wouldn't have never really gotten to know her.

He would have never fallen in love with her.

Clark's hands rested heavily, and still handcuffed, atop the table and watched quietly as Officer McGriffe, as his badge said, sat down across from him. (Think of in the movie when Supes was arrested, minus the suit and Lois.)

McGriffe opened his mouth to begin question but Clark interjected.

"Don't I get one phone call or request first? I hadn't since," he blurted.

McGriffe let his jaw hang open for moments before closing it and asking, "who would you like to call?" He sighed, annoyed.

"Eve Lancaster. My girlfriend."

The lanky redhead man grinned. It looked sick on his face. "Well you're in luck." He motioned to the reflecting window covering the entire right wall, that hid the onlookers. "She's right here, listening."

The chair protested as Clark stood. "I know."

The camera and microphone were on and Clark knew those behind the glass must have heard him mumble.

The officer, who was the more burly of the three behind he window, glanced at Eve. She had cleaned up and now wore casual jeans and a shirt, no longer in a house robe. Her hand was gripping her chest.

Clark didn't break the cuffs this time—he wasn't going to tell just yet. He stood at the mirror as if he really was in front of her. He could see her just as clearly.

Eve tilted her head in the way he loved when she began thinking or noticed something. She saw Clark's eyes dilate as he saw passed their barrier, and squinted hers slightly.

"I know that you must be...more than enraged by all this. I was going to tell you, honest Eve, I was. But I didn't mean for any of this to happen. It... ...it wasn't me, not really, mentally.."

"Didn't mean for any of what?" Clark read her lips more than hearing her whisper.

"I didn't mean for this," he indicated to the jail around them, "to happen. Really."

She frowned.

She'd witnessed Clark's dramatic persona change several times and knew how he could be. His attitude would change as easily as flicking a light switch. She'd seen it more times than he probably noticed. It was like he had little triggers—his expression would become hard hearing someone yell for help, or he'd become angry when a lot of personal questioning was directed at him. He's stormed out during many of their arguments, or even when she was just trying to reason. She didn't know that that was all because of the kryptonite still in his blood.

Eve's lip quivered.

"But with you, it all was true. That was me."

Clark looked down. Suddenly he couldn't look her in the eye. Silence followed for several minutes.

"Eve, this is hard for me. Probably harder than anything I've ever had to say, but I need to let you know..." He looked her in the eyes.

Her eyebrows crinkled together worriedly. She didn't speak any further so he continued.

"I love you, Eve Lancaster. I love you greatly and I always have."

She remained frozen for many moments, her eyes widening. Then her hand raised to to cover her mouth, now in a wide "O" shape. But she still looked very worried.

"No, I never expected to fall in love with you at first, but I have. Hard. And there is no denying that."

His chest felt a little lighter now with just seeing her hand lower a fraction and her eyes watering as a grin twitched her lips.

"I would spend the rest of my life with you... But that isn't it." He paused, considering the rest of their onlookers. He finally decided to go for it. "Remember that time you said you noticed, with the newspaper dispenser? And those other times I lied that you were going crazy (he joked, smiling a little) that you hadn't seen me move something too heavy or move too quickly than should be possible?"

He waited until she nodded her head 'yes,' but it was faint.

"That all really happened; you had been right, Eve. But that's because...I'm...not... ...human..."

The entire room was so quiet, a rat's scampering could have been heard.

He stammered a little and Officer McGriffe motioned to the camera to bring the crazy papers in for Clark.

Clark turned from her again. His heart was beating very fast now. "That's because...I'm...I'm Superman."

Silence again. For a long while.

"Prove it."

Clark jerked his head up.

She had her arms folded. Eve glared up at his shocked expression. She repeated herself: "prove it. Prove that you're...that you really are..."

"Well," he began nervously, "how else could I see that you're wearing that blue shirt from that boutique you like? Or that your hair's in a messy bun? Or even hear you, for that matter?"

Her arms instinctively covered her chest defensively, but Eve's eyes narrowed more. "You could have already saw, a lucky guess."

She still didn't believe him. She didn't want to, almost.

Clark looked back at McGriffe. He motioned to his handcuffs. "Could there be another pair of these?" He didn't want to get in any more trouble.

After neither McGriffe nor those behind the microphone spoke, Clark turned back to the window. He sighed, holding his wrists right in front of Eve, his face saying "see?" The metal snapped like straw.

Everyone remained silent. Her look of shock slowly increased as the information sunk in—she saw it now. Eve grabbed her stomach; and then her expression turned into fear, and eventually horror. And with every change on hers, his face fell even more.

This is not how Clark wanted her to find out, nor the reaction he hoped. He looked down, ashamed. His voice now barely above a whisper, "I'm so sorry..."

Eve did back up a few steps, her hand not leaving her open mouth. She was beyond stunned; it had never occurred to her. Of those times he suddenly had to leave or blow her off—he indeed had her steamed in the beginning, but still. She never thought.

Clark is Superman.

The two had never even been in the same thought together. She had never paid much attention to the man clad in blue and red, not as much as Lois or many others had.

Kent equaled Superman.

The man she had been infatuated with for so long had also saved countless lives, including her own. The one she had given her all and heart to was also America's greatest hero.

Supes.

Clark.

They were one and the same person. ...He could have crushed her and killed her at anytime, on purpose or accident, that is what scared her. He could have let the information slip out so easily, but hadn't. With everything he'd done, he had remained kind and gentle. Her soft giant, as Alice had joked of their heights. The man she loved had a dangerous double life.

She'd kissed an alien, she realized. Eve had slept with Superman.

She felt dizzy and had to brace herself on the wall. It was all like something in a dream, her breathing now irregular.

Clark felt the edges of his eyes sting. But he stuck his chin out and straightened his posture instead of slumping down he so much wanted to do. He eyed the remaining people in charge behind the glass. "My origin is from a planet called Krypton," Clark turned briefly to the camera. All of it has been recorded so far, so he thought that he'd might as well explain it all. "It doesn't exist anymore because it disintegrated the day of my birth and I had been immediately sent on a crash-course for a stable planet far off—that happened to be Earth." He tried to add a small laugh but it came out more as a cough. "And from then...you already know the rest."

Silence seemed to like this surrounding the most; minutes ticked by with them all doing nothing but stare at him, letting the pieces come together. Clark felt as uncomfortable as an oddball experiment in an observatory.

Officer Hunt was the first to break the long quiet. "You do realize that this doesn't change the situation, Superman—- Mr. Kent—-whoever. You will still stand before a judge and be trailed, perhaps charged, and most certainly have to spend some time."

Clark clenched his jaw. Eve rubbed her arms like she was cold, looking at the officer. Her fingers fidgeted with the bracelet still around her wrist.

"Superman or not; hero or regular person, you still have to abide by the law as any other citizen."

Clark nodded. "Yes officer."

Eve opened her mouth, probably to defend him, but Clark interjected purposely, again. "But in defense, may I point out that it had not been by my own doing, and that I had been under the influence of kryptonite?"

"Kryptonite...?" Hunt raised his brow like he wasn't believing what he was hearing.

"Yes sir. Red kryptonite."

"Red huh?" Hunt repeated over-drastically. "Ain't that stuff suppose to kill you? ...Thought it only came in green."

"There is also green, sir. Um, and that one can kill me...if I stay in close contact with it for too long. ...The red does not have any specific effects, and all its cause are wide ranged and unpredictable."

Eve was rubbing the front of her neck, a habit she does when she's frightened or nervous. Clark heaved a sigh.

Hunt rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. "Save it for the judge, Kent. That's all I can tell ya." He sounded almost apologetic.

Eve saw Clark clench his jaw again. He didn't like that answer—no one would have—but there was nothing she can do. What could she do? It suddenly dawned on her that not even Superman can get out of every pinch and bad situation. She knew the thought was inappropriate in this situation, but still couldn't help but notice the irony.

She turned toward Hunt, apology in her eyes. "Could I have a moment with him?"

The balding man eyed her for some time, jaw clenched. He'd seen this quite a few times—two lovers, it was worse if they were young, one convicted of a crime that would separate them for years to come or even a lifetime. He'd seen the heartbreak and felt sorry for them every time, watching their last goodbyes even if the convicted turned out to be innocent. Hunt finally granted her access inside the room.

The door clicked shut behind her as she backed up and leant against it. Eve just stood there. She looked at Clark, and he stared back at her. The silence that drew out was long, uncomfortable and excruciating. She knocked the wind out of him when she suddenly flew across the room and collided into him to bury her face in his chest. She sobbed uncontrollably. Clark rested his hands on her shoulders to reassure, then all too suddenly her hand came across his face. Rage and betrayal was so clear on her face, a shiver ran down Clark's spine.

She knew the slap didn't hurt him, but still.

"How could you." It wasn't a question but a shaky-voiced accusation.

Clark's brows knitted together, unsure of how to answer.

"You don't think that that is something to... After all I... I wouldn't, didn't, do such a thing to you, s-so why... Just because you're...you're... ...you think that you can just...just...just..." She couldn't form words. Anger, hurt, and tears jumbled up her sentences and blames.

Clark hung his hands at his side now, just staring down at her hair, with her face now soaking his shirt. He was frozen in his spot. Her fist pounded his chest once.

"...I... I...hate you. So much right now." She hiccuped and sniffed. Her small hands fisted the back of his shirt as more tears ran down her face, her shoulders racking in silence. Never had he seen her cry before, so he felt horrible not only seeing but knowing that he is the one to cause it. "...But I can't. Not completely for long..."

If he didn't have enhanced hearing, Clark would have missed that whisper into his shirt.

Eve reached up to wipe her face, but stopped feeling Clark's already there. Her eyes remained closed relishing the feel of his thumbs wiping away the salty tracks on her face. She felt like a little baby sniffing like that, and tried to look away from him, but couldn't.

Clark's hands slid to cup her face and then prevented her from turning her head. As he stared into her reddening eyes, Eve wondered how she could have been so stupid to never have noticed his alter ego sooner—they looked so similar up close. She wondered how in the world she could have fallen in love with him—literally an alien—in the first place. She remembered the day Jimmy had first introduced her to Clark after he'd came back from a business trip, when she'd first met Clark. But the day she began having feelings that weren't friendship-like, it was impossible for her to pinpoint.

She wondered why such a marvelous person—as many fangirls have categorized him—why, as the last of his unique species, he'd chosen to fall in love with her? 'An ordinary, weak human,' she thought to herself.

Clark inched their faces closer. And their lips collided together in bittersweet passion. It was perfect.

No matter what title he carried, Eve thought, this was the same man. The same man she'd fallen in love with, no matter if he wore glasses or a cape. He's the same man who whispered against her lips that he'd spend the rest of his life with her until it killed him. He whispered that he loved her, that he apologized for the way he acted and not saying so until so late, that he'd always be in love with her.

Clark straightened, and Eve stood on tiptoes to try to remain near his lips, wanting to hear him once more, to tell her it was all going to be alright. But she failed, and watched his expression become hard again. He was in hero-mode now, she now picked up. His ears perked like a hound, picking up a sound she could not.

Clark leaned down to her, taking her chin in his fingers, and kissed her agonizingly slow. When he pulled away, her eyes snapped open at his whisper:

"Leave now."

Eve stared bewildered, in his eyes hearing his whisper. That blue will forever be her favorite color.

He pulled away fully. "You must leave. Now." He ushered her to the door, knocked on it harshly.

"Wh-what? Wait!"

"You all have to get out of here! Now! GO!"

He was yelling now. Clark had already put Eve back behind the glass.

"Why? What is it!? What's coming? ?" She yelled at his back. He walked to the opposite wall and stood ready, leaving her. Ignoring her.

The booming sound came closer. It was breaking through the walls of the jail coming closer and closer. It would be coming from the opposite way to the direction they were in.

Eve probably wouldn't listen, this he knew. Also that the cops would stay to hopefully help, so there was no hope in one of them taking her to safety.

...If anything happened to her...

Clark turned to call over his shoulder to tell her what destruction was coming, hoping that would make her understand that she needn't be here and would leave. He turned his sight away at the wrong time.

Before a sound passed his lips, the wall fell away, the trespasser knocking Clark flat on his face. And Eve did want to flee but was rigid to the spot by shock and fear.

aaaand CLIFFHANGER! I think... You asked for more so can I get any reviews for this long chapter?

This chapter had been especially difficult for me to write, so please leave a review. You still like the story thus far? Are you starting to become frustrated and/or disappointed? Is it too much? PLEASE tell

(And if you hadn't gotten it, this chapter takes place after the very first chapter.)

There might be a special (I guess you could say) announcement next chapter. I hope this chapter's length makes up for the long weeks I've been away :) Just 1 review is all