Author's note: Okay, folks, this is the chapter that created a little firestorm on another site when I posted it, so I thought I'd give an advance warning that there may be a line in this one (Lois', of course!) that might offend some people's delicate sensibilities. I thought it was funny and do I hope it doesn't upset anyone here.

Chapter 31

Superman arrived at the site of the multiple car crash before any rescue crews could even make it there. Within minutes he had assessed the situation. Two men were dead in the cabs of their eighteen wheelers, three people were in critical condition, and about fifteen would need to, at least, be seen my medical personnel. The destroyed cars and trucks covered almost a mile of road, and it would be difficult for the ambulances to even access the people, so he decided it would be best to just fly the rescue vehicles to and fro from the scene himself. Flying back and forth between the wreckage and the hospitals gave him entirely too much time to think.

Two dead.

And all he had been doing was sitting in a chair kissing Lois – canoodling, as she had called it. She'd even told him to go "on patrol" before that, and he'd not done it. This could have all been prevented. His old mental, self-blaming chorus of "it's all my fault" was beginning to seep back into his brain.

Part of him knew that he couldn't prevent every death. He was not a god, even though his powers elevated him to one in the minds of so many. Death was a necessary part of life. He'd heard his father say those very words, surely. Still…

It was hard not to accept some blame. How much time did he really need to devote to saving lives every day? Was his life as a reporter interfering with his destiny as the hero he was meant to be? These were questions that came to him every day. The answers to those questions kept eluding him.

As he set another ambulance down in front of the emergency entrance to Metropolis General, the face and voice of Lois cut through it all. "Smallville, you'll burn out if you don't live your own life too!" She'd said it with her usual one-hundred-percent confidence.

He smiled grimly as the five-year-old blonde headed girl was lifted onto a gurney. Her broken leg would heal, but all the people around her couldn't even tell she was in pain, because the smile she shot at Superman was blinding.

Superman had saved her.

Standing back to let the orderlies do their job, he saw her crook a little finger at him and smile mischievously, so he stepped back toward where she lay.

"Don't worry. These people will help you. You're going to be okay," he reassured her with a smile.

But she still beckoned him closer, so he leaned his head close to hers. With the assurance of a grown-up Lois Lane, the little girl smacked him on the cheek with a wet, very squeaky kiss and gushed, "Superman, you're awesome!"

Everyone standing around laughed. The girl's mother just mouthed a silent "Thank you" to him, and a very embarrassed, but smiling, Superman took to the sky without saying another word.

********

"I'll go with you," Lois said with determination as Clark got up from his desk. His appointment was in thirty minutes, and even an afternoon spent saving lives had not gotten his mind off the dreadful experience that he had coming up that evening.

"NO!" Clark had to calm his own reaction to the suggestion. There was no need to hurt her feelings. "No. I think it would be better… I mean, there's no need… I think—"

"Got it, Smallville. You'd rather do this without me there." Lois held up her hands in surrender. "I understand. I do. I was just offering my support if you need it." When he just stood there, not moving toward the door, she asked, "Are you going as you or, you know, him?"

He let out a big breath. "Him. I have to…Dr. Klein doesn't know…"

"Right." She watched as he sat back down and stared at his own hands. "Clark, you're not going to back out on this, are you?"

"Huh?"

"Even super-hearing is worthless when you tune someone out, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, Lois. It's …this is not going to be easy."

Lois began laughing so hard, she had to cover her whole face. "Smallville, you're going to have sex with a plastic specimen cup. It's not as if they are going to ask you to fly to the moon!" She noted the shocked look on his face, but she still couldn't help it. He was just too easily embarrassed by, well, by everything. "Come to think of it, you could probably do that more easily." Wiping at her eyes, she continued, "You just have to, as Jimmy would say, man up and go do it." Then she started laughing again.

"Oh, you're a great help, Lane. Remind me of this moment someday when you're nervous about doing something." He got up again and headed for the skylight, this time with a bit more conviction in his step.

She chased after him, saying, "Smallville, I'm sorry."

But he'd already gone.