Chapter 40
Once the world starting moving in real time around her again, Lois was up and across the room in seconds, kneeling down beside Clark. Her focus had been all on him, and she'd lost sight of where the Kryptonite fragment had gone.
"Clark!"
His eyes were closed, as if to shut out the pain, and he was clutching his chest, his breathing coming in gasps. Just the sight of him lying there was enough to send her into panic mode. "No, no, no!" The single word was all she could utter as she tried to help him up, tried to look for the Kryptonite, tried to figure out how to—
"Lois!" His labored, weak voice cut through her frantic thoughts and brought her searching eyes to his. "Under… shoulder…"
With a terrific tug, she lifted him from the floor, found the green rock, and threw it behind her to the dark reaches of the loft. For the next few moments, her own breathing matched his as she watched the change in him.
It wasn't immediate, but it did happen quickly. The pain left his face, easing the lines between his eyebrows, erasing the fine sheen of sweat, and giving back to him his normal color. He began breathing through his nose again and she watched the tension leave his muscles.
Suddenly, he was standing and pulling her to her feet. "And I thought I was prepared this time," he laughed. Looking over at Shelby, he said, "Man's best friend indeed."
"Are…are you all right?"
"I'm fine." He almost laughed, but then he noticed she wasn't even looking him in the eye. Her eyes were focused somewhere to his right. "But…you probably should go look for that—"
"Right, right." Lois turned away from him to go look for the Kryptonite. "Don't worry. I'll find it."
"Lois, are you okay?"
She spun around, and he could see the look of concern written all over her face. "No. I am not okay." Her voice was low, almost inaudible. "I am definitely not okay."
He took a step towards her and she backed away from him. "Lois? Look…what is it?" He was at a loss. What was he missing here?
"Smallville…Clark… my god…you're Superman!" Now it was her breathing that was coming in gasps.
"Yeah?" When she hesitated, he continued. "You picked the name. I kind of remember." He smiled, trying to lighten her mood. Bobbing and ducking his head as he moved toward her, he raised his hands in expectation. "What is—"
"You're Superman and that was a little bitty, tiny piece of a rock!" She put a hand to her forehead as if she were trying to block out the thoughts that were speeding like lightning through her brain. "If I hadn't been here…How many people know about this?"
"Lois, if you hadn't been here, that Kryptonite would have been safely tucked away in that drawer. It was meant to be a demonstration after all."
"How many know?" she asked again and, this time, she was looking straight into his eyes.
"Not that many. Really. Lois, it's okay. One thing hurts me. There are a million things that could hurt you. You just can't go around thinking about it all the time. It would—"
"But you're Superman!" she reiterated. "You've got enemies. There's probably a ton of people who'd like to—"
"Lois, I'm not the one who's had to pretend to be dead the past few days to escape being the target of a hitman," he said reasonably.
"That was your idea, not mine! But if anyone finds out about this!"
"That's why I'd like you to keep it a secret."
"A secret that how many people know?"
"Okay. Mom knows…uh, Chloe…Pete…Lana, and, well…the Justice League…then there's…"
Lois groaned. "Okay, okay…this Justice League. That's a pretty vague group these days. I get that Green Arrow and probably Batman are members. But the roster isn't exactly clear. Who else is in that?"
"Lois, this is off the record? What we say here is—"
"Clark!"
"Okay! Right now, the group also includes Cyborg, Aquaman, the Black Canary, Impulse, Zatanna, and …well, one other member I am not discussing with you."
"Why not?"
"I'm just not."
For a moment, she felt like he'd laid down a gauntlet, but then she saw that steely glint in his eye and knew it would do no good to pursue the subject, so she filed the question away for later. If he thought she was going to drop it…
"Lois, the thing is, I trust all of them. You should too."
"What about Lex Luthor?"
"Lois, he's dead. I don't think it matters if he knew or not."
"Unless he isn't really dead. I've never been totally convinced."
"Well, I am."
"And you've never been wrong? Clark, if I had a nickel for every time you—"
"Yes," he relented, "Lex knew." He placed his hands on her shoulders and as they stood there quietly looking at each other, he let his hands slide down her arms, caressing them with his touch. "Lois…"
She stepped back and away from his touch. "I've got to go find that stupid green rock," was all she said before she turned to go do exactly that.
Author's note: Sorry for the delays in updates, folks. I didn't mean to mess up coffee breaks! I've got a few chapters written, but the playing dead bit kind of caught me by surprise, and now I've got to write a few chapters before I can get to the parts I've already written. Lois and her tendency to get in trouble has a way of taking over from the writer if you let her! LOL! Especially when you're not a planner, like I definitely am not. Bear with me, especially in the next week. I'm having to work more days and will have less time to write.
