THE ALMOST REVEAL

Lois clicked on the 'ispottedsuperman dot com' bookmark for the 29th time that day. There were still no new posts. She sighed in frustration.

Clark watched her out of the corner of his eye. He knew she was worried about him… about Superman. She had had no word from or about Superman since he slammed her car door and flew off. He hadn't even come to visit Jason.

Not that he had been neglecting Jason. His gaze shifted over to Richard's office. Jason was sitting at a little desk in the corner doing schoolwork. Lois and Richard had decided to keep Jason out of school for the time being. Clark agreed it was a good idea, not that they had bothered to ask him. Until they knew more about what Luthor was up to, it was prudent to take precautions. Jason glanced up from his work and noticed Clark was looking at him. He grinned and gave Clark a 'thumbs up.' Clark grinned and returned the gesture. What a great kid!

A wave of nausea swept over him as his thoughts returned to Linda. He looked away from Jason, hoping his son hadn't noticed the change in his demeanor. He had never before experienced nausea except from Kryptonite poisoning. But in the last few days, the uncomfortable feeling barely left him. He had been dividing his time between searching for Linda, and checking in on Jason and Lois. Finding Linda was more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. Luthor could have taken her practically anywhere on the planet. Clark had flown in a search pattern all over the planet, stretching his senses to the max, hoping to pick up the distinctive vibrations Linda emitted. He knew it was probably an exercise in futility. Her signals were too weak to travel more than a few feet. He returned to Metropolis to focus his search there. But he had not found one trace of either her or Luthor.

He would have to wait till Luthor made his next move.

Lois let out another frustrated sigh, banged her mouse on her desk – as if that would help – and muttered under her breath "Come on… where are you?"

Truth is, even though Superman had been busy with searching for Linda, that wasn't the main reason he hadn't been in contact with Lois. He was putting off continuing the conversation they started in Lois's car, about how he always – almost always anyway - knew what trouble she was getting herself into, always saving her in the nick of time. And now, he had all but admitted to her that he only found out about Linda through her.

He knew he had to tell her his secret… eventually. And he knew the longer he put it off, the worse Lois was going to take it. He had started to tell her many times, only to chicken-out at the last second. It wasn't just worry over how Lois would react that gave him pause. OK, he had to admit, it was mostly that. But as he had admonished her in the car, she was far too confident in his ability to swoop in and save her every time she got herself into trouble. What if she knew she had his phone number? How much more reckless would she be?

But now that they knew Luthor was back, and that he might target Lois and/or Jason, maybe it was finally time to tell her. Maybe it would be a good idea for her to know how close of an eye Superman was keeping on them. Maybe it would be a good idea for her to be able to contact him, not by phone, though. That could create its own problems.

Lois refreshed the 'ispottedsuperman' tab. There was new post! "I spotted myself meeting you on the roof," it read. Huh? Lois looked up from her computer and scanned the newsroom. When her gaze met Clark's, he gave her an exaggerated grin. She furrowed her brow and turned back to her computer and refreshed the page. "Don't look for me in the newsroom. I said I'd meet you on the roof," read a new post. Clark had created an anonymous account on 'ispottedsuperman' a couple of years ago just for amusement. It would probably be suspended now for violating the terms and conditions. But he didn't really need an account anyway. He always knew where Superman was.

Superman was waiting for Lois on the roof by the elevator. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm sorry. I've should have checked in with you before this."

"I was worried you found Luthor." Lois buried her face in his chest and immediately regretted it when she suddenly felt flushed and her heart started racing. He could still have that effect on her.

"I've been trying to find Luthor."

"I mean I was worried that's why nobody's seen you." He could probably hear her heart racing, but she didn't want him to see her blush. She pulled away and turned around in one maneuver and pretended to look out over the city. "Emil told me about the chemicals he found in the shrapnel. You're not invulnerable anymore. Anyone with bullets laced with that stuff or a bomb…"

"I'm still way faster than a speeding bullet. I'm on my guard now. What happened in Midvale won't happen again. That stuff will make things harder for me, but not more dangerous."

Lois hadn't thought of that way. She hadn't really been thinking straight at all the last few days. She thought he had regained her composure, so she turned to face him.

Lois noticed for the first time how tired and… sickly Superman looked. He actually looked sick, even in the sunlight on a bright late-spring day. "Are you alright?"

"No," he said flatly.

"You need sun…"

"No"

"You're worried about Linda." Lois stated the obvious.

"I'm worried about you and Jason. I'm nauseated about Linda."

"I'm sorry. You've probably been searching for her non-stop. I won't keep you."

"Actually, I'm out of places to look. I'm all out of ideas. You have any ideas?"

"I've been looking too."

"I know, and I know Richard and Clark have had to stop you more than a dozen times…."

"I'm an investigative reporter…"

"You'll have to investigate from within the confines of this building for the time being. I can't keep an eye on both you and Jason if you're constantly sneaking out and not telling anyone where you're going."

"I would tell them where I'm going if I knew they weren't going to stop me," Lois pointed out.

"This conversation isn't going anywhere."

"OK, fine. Let's go back to the conversation we didn't finish in the car. How are you keeping an eye on me and Jason?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Are you just hovering over the Planet…"

"No. I'm not. I'm actually… watching you …from the inside." Clark hesitated, as usual.

"What does that mean?"

"Lois, this isn't easy for me to show you this, and it not going to be easy for you to see." Clark reached under his cape and fetched his glasses.

Just then, Lois's phone started vibrating. So cliché! Interrupted by a phone call! Clark hesitated again. "Never mind that," Lois waved her hand dismissively. "Show me."

But it was too late. Clark had lost his nerve again. "No, go ahead and answer it. Anyway, something just came up. I have to go." He floated upward and away, feeling like a coward.