Chapter 22: Revelations

Mercy Graves found an email in her inbox; it was from her source on the inside of Lexcorp. It was about time that things started to come together. She clicked message and opened it up on her Laptop screen. It was mostly an update on what's been happening. Operation Dustcloud was nearing completion, but Miss Lang was starting to question the operation. Mercy knew General Lane well enough that he was not going to stop the operation no matter what Miss Lang did; she was a weakling, unworthy of her title.

Thanks to another source, she had found a way to make Operation Dustcloud a major failure; she was not about to let any harm come to Zod, the one man who can kill Superman. The plan that she had devised would not only stop Operation Dustcloud, but give the new Kryptonian more strength to stand up against Superman.

She was about to close the email until she noticed the attachment icon at the top of the message. She clicked on it to see a PDF file was attached to the email. Her source said that he had found notes hand written by Lex Luthor. He had found these notes hidden in the old top-story office and scanned them into the PDF file. He promised that he had not read the notes, but figured that she would want to take a look at them. She had no idea if he was telling the truth, but that was a matter for a later time.

She opened the PDF file and read through the notes. What she found in the notes was an answer to her prayers. It was the one piece of information that would prove her loyalty to the hostile Kryptonian. Somehow, Lex Luthor had discovered the secret identity of Superman, and it was the last person on Earth whom she thought it would be. Superman was none other than Lex's former best friend, Clark Kent. With this information, Zod could not only draw Superman to him, but have the advantage over him in battle.

Lois could not come up with one good answer as to why she still felt the need to follow Clark around. After his dinner ended abruptly, she knew that the relationship between him and Lana was over. The way it ended and the way Clark was acting, there was no doubt about it. She was plagued with guilt for feeling a little relieved that it was over. She never did like Lana Lang in the first place.

She supposed that a part of her wanted to see if he was going to be alright. She followed him as he took a solitary walk through the park. After suffering such heart ache, he obviously wanted to walk out some of his frustration. She can see the stress he was under through his mannerisms as he walked.

As he walked through the park, he came to a water fountain. It was a three layer water fountain with a naked cherub at the very top. Clark stopped at the fountain where he sat down on the lip of the bottom level. Lois remained well hidden as she continued to watch over him. "Lois, you are pathetic," she whispered to herself.

She had come to the end of her insanity. She could just sit here and spy on him any longer; it made her feel dirty. Instead, she wanted to do something that was equally crazy; she wanted to go to him, confess, and console him. These games had to end. She had to stop lying to herself and face the truth; she was in love with him. She was in love with Clark Kent of Smallville.

She was at a lost at what to do first; she was completely out of her comfort zone. She had never fallen for anyone in her life; how to act was something she had never learned, especially being raised by a military father. She has always had men salivating around her, but even in high school, her desire to be the best reporter in the world came first. She never had time for romance.

As she fought with her conflicting emotions, she could sense Clark's growing frustration in his body movement. The frustration boiled over and he pounded his fist on the stone lip of the fountain. The stone cracked and nearly shattered underneath his fist.

"What the…" Lois stumbled backwards, and tripped on her own feet. She found herself sitting the grass in shock. Did she just see what she thought she saw?

Clark realized the mistake he had just made and quickly jumped to his feet. He quickly departed the scene, pretending as if nothing had happend. He made his way out the park, figuring he needed to blow off some steam somewhere else.

With Clark gone, Lois came out of hiding and rand straight for the fountain to inspect the damage. There was no question about it: this damage was new. Sweeping her hand across the crack, she knew that this was real stone; impossible to break by a mere mortal pounding a fist on it.

Could it be him? All this time, could Superman really pull of a clever second identity like Clark Kent? Clark was nearly the polar opposite. While Clark walked with a slight curve in the lower back, which was typical for your average male, Superman's back was perfectly straight. The slight hunch actually made Clark look smaller in comparison.

If Clark Kent was Superman, then it was the perfect disguise she had ever seen. Not once did she ever remember him slipping out of character, but Superman mental capacity may be greater than the normal humans. Perhaps, his disguise was not all that hard for him.

More and more questions flooded her brain. She had no idea what to make of all of this. She had no idea whether to be angry with Clark or not. A part of her wanted to be, for all the lies he told her. The other part of her felt guilty. As Clark Kent, she had been rather dismissive of him. He was inept, kind of nerdy, and socially awkward; he was the type of person that most people would ignore. As Superman, he was the type of man that all women dreamed about meeting. If he had Superman, why did he even need Clark Kent in the first place? The more she asked herself that question, the more she began to wonder: was it because of her?

Lois was in her skyrise apartment; her mind was still reeling about what she had seen a few hours ago. How to handle the discovery was a decision that still eluded her. She was contemplating if she should tell Clark that she knew the truth or if she should wait for him to tell her when he was ready. She had never been so confused about anything, in her life.

From the corner of her eye, she could see a figure standing on the balcony porch. There was no mistaking who it was. He stood there with his red cape flapping in the light breeze but a warm, gentle smile on his face.

She decided to pretend as if nothing happened. Perhaps she could encourage him to tell him the truth. Trying to walk with a slight agitated tinge to it, she went to the wall made completely of windows, and opened the glass door leading to the balcony. "So, you finally have the time to see me. For a while, I thought you were intentionally trying to ignore me."

"I apologize for making you feel that way, Lois," he replied in a soft toned voice. "I must admit, that I have been rather distracted as of late."

"I bet," Lois replied, unable to get the image of Lana Lang out of her mind. "Let me guess… you've been busy tracking this rogue Kryptonian and this crazed robot from hell."

"I have; that is not what has kept me distracted," he replied. "I have had a lot on my mind, lately. I am not used to being so uncertain about things."

"You are human, aren't you… sort of speaking?" Lois replied. "Who hasn't been confused at one point or another? My life hasn't been a bed of roses lately, recently, either."

"Really? I always took you for an extremely decisive woman," he replied with a playful smirk on his face.

Lois quickly became defensive. "And I am… normally."

"Then perhaps we should do something that may clear our heads a bit," he replied, stretching his hand out.

Lois looked down at his hand, and knew what he was suggesting. "Are you serious?" For some reason, it did not feel appropriate to take a flight with him at this time. Her instinct was to sit alone in a quite atmosphere, when she needed time to sort things out. Going out on another flight with Superman seemed more of a distraction from her problems; and she was not one who allowed herself to get distracted until her problem was solved.

"I find a good night-time flight through the country is good at clearing the mind."

She took his hand, having learned to trust him on a countless number of times. At the very moment, she wanted to desperately tell him that she knew his identity. Has he gently guided her to his side, his presence again was enough to make her tremble. Even knowing that he was Clark Kent did not subside the intimidation of being in his presence.

"Hold on."

He held her firmly into his side with his left arm as stretched his right arm up above his head. This was not her first flight with him, but the sensation of her feet lifting off the balcony was just as unsettling as the first time. After the initial takeoff, however, the fear subsided and the enjoyment began.

Superman started their flight slightly above the city of Metropolis. They were low enough to see the lights of the cars driving through the streets, but high enough so no one the ground could identify her with him. It was amazing how beautiful Metropolis was at night in comparison to the day time. The city lit up was very impressive display which adequately hid the filth and despair of the city.

As they flew out of the city, everything went dark. She could barely see the outline of the forest below her. Their only light was from the bright and sparkly stars on this perfectly cloudless night. It felt almost as if she was flying in space; it was a magical feeling that was made even more special by knowing that she was sharing it with not just Superman, but Clark Kent.

The forest gave way to a large lake, which made the journey even more spectacular. She had no idea if they were heading north or south. Determining how fast they were going was impossible when flying over a body of water, but that did not matter to her at that moment.

She had no idea how long they had been flying, or where he was taking them; their final destination was no longer important. She was more than happy just being held by him. In his arms, all her troubles seemed to be trivial. All she knew was that this felt right.

Their final destiny was revealed as they were speedily approaching Mount Rushmore. She held tightly on to him as he hovered slowly downward onto the head of George Washington. When their feet touched the stone, Lois gained enough courage to let go.

Lois shielded her eyes from the spot lights that illuminated the Presidents' faces. It was a majestic sight standing on top of one of the heads of the famous American landmarks. Superman smiled as he watched her enjoy the scenery around them. He always did enjoy sharing these moments with her… allowing her to see the world as he saw it. "What do you think?"

"It's absolutely beautiful up here!"

"No, you're absolutely beautiful." Superman did not mean to be so forward, but seeing her highlighted by the spot lights from the ground caused him to forget himself. She was the most exquisite woman he had laid his eyes on. His heart, truly, belonged to her.

Lois smiled. She was madly in love with him, both as Superman and Clark Kent. Trying to hide it was now nearly impossible. He is the first man that had won her heart. "You were right; this did clear my mind."

"My mind has never been any clearer," He responded, as his eyes gazed deeply into hers.

She found herself being drawn towards him like a piece of metal to a magnet. She could not look away even if she wanted to. She pressed her body into his, and before she knew it, they had each other in a tight embrace. She looked up into his handsome blue eyes as he lowered his face towards her. She closed her eyes as his lips pressed against hers.

She found herself swept away into euphoria. Pressed against her own, his lips felt better than she could have ever imagined. The passion between them exploded like a nuclear explosion that had been contained for way too long. It was the moment both of them had dreamed about for months, and at long last, had finally become a reality.