Ambivalence

By Elizabeth Frerichs

Summary: Ambivalence—noun 1: simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action; 2: continual fluctuation (as between one thing and its opposite). What if Clark escaped from Luthor’s Kryptonite cage just a few seconds earlier, and it forced both Lois and Clark to face up to how broken the events of “Barbarians at the Planet” and “House of Luthor” left them?

Rating: PG-13

Story Size: 76,590 words

Disclaimer: Obviously, the Lois and Clark TV show characters, etc. do not belong to me.

Part Two

The next morning Clark woke up feeling somehow different. Better. He lay there for a minute, trying to pinpoint what exactly it was, and then realized that he was floating. For the first time in months, he spun into the Suit and took off from his balcony to do a patrol. Superman was back! He’d barely started his regular route when his super-hearing cut in. Someone was falling. He bit back a grin. This time he could actually do something about what he heard. It was like having an amputated limb suddenly regrow. He swerved and poured on speed, catching the falling construction worker with plenty of time to spare.

“You okay?” he asked the construction worker, as he set the man down.

“Yeah. Thanks, Superman,” the man said.

Another man stepped out of the crowd that had gathered below the falling worker. He glared at Superman, then put his hands on his hips. “Well, isn’t this just dandy? Superman finally shows up and saves the day again!” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Is there a problem?” Superman asked, folding his arms across his chest in his hero stance.

“Yeah! You!” the guy responded.

The construction worker stared at the man. “What, are you nuts? Superman’s the greatest!”

“Oh yeah, well, if he’s so great, why didn’t he save Lex Luthor?”

“I wanted to,” Superman said.

“Wanted to?” The man gave him a look that could peel paint. “Wanted to’s not good enough. Lex Luther did a lot of good for this city, and you let him die.”

Clark’s thoughts raced. He’d read the polls. He knew that hostility towards Superman had increased, but this was ridiculous. Luthor had been exposed as a criminal—he of all people knew that fact because he’d written a majority of the articles on Luthor, in addition to gathering the evidence in the first place—yet there were people who actually preferred Luthor to Superman. And it was Luthor’s fault in the first place that Superman couldn’t save him, not that Clark was going to let any hint of that get out.

He raised his hands placatingly. Maybe he couldn’t fix Luthor’s death, or the hostility other people felt, but he could try to reach this man. “There’s more to it than you know, but, believe me, I didn’t want him to die.”

The bystander sneered. “Why should I believe you? You’re nothing but a freak in a blue suit. You know what I think? You save who you want to save. You call yourself Superman? I think you think you’re super god.”

Clark had no idea what to say to that. He looked at the man for a moment, then said, “All life is valuable. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere else I need to be.” He didn’t wait for a response before taking off and heading towards the Daily Planet.

Clark landed in the deserted alley behind the Planet and spun out of the Suit. Should he write up the story of Superman’s return? It was big news, and there hadn’t been a single reporter on site. However, Clark Kent had been the one to write up the story of Superman’s absence. He wasn’t sure he could afford to solidify that connection in people’s minds by writing up the story of Superman’s return. No, he’d wait. Word would get out, and at one of his rescues the press would be all over him. Having settled that, he walked into the Planet’s lobby.

The second he walked through the revolving doors, he saw Lois, talking to the vendor and pouring a box of chocolate bars into her bag. “Am I still getting the bulk discount?” Clark heard her ask.

“Oh sure. By the way, I’m with you one hundred percent. Go get ‘em,” the vendor replied.

Lois seemed confused by that, but merely agreed with the man, then walked over the elevator.

As much as she tried to pretend she wasn’t stressed, Clark had never seen her go through as much chocolate—her drug of choice—as she had in the past two months. He sighed. If only he knew what to do about any of their problems—or could at least decide if he even wanted Lois in his life. He walked over to wait for the elevator by her.

“Morning, Lois,” he said.

“Morning, Clark,” she replied.

They waited in awkward silence until the elevator doors opened. No one else stepped in with them. Was it that obvious that things were tense between them?

“Clark, do I look okay to you?” Lois asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“People are looking at me funny.”

“I see,” he said, staring determinedly at the elevator doors. Chocolate. Paranoia now. If only she’d just talk to someone. Get some stuff off her chest.

“Any luck at the police station last night?” Lois asked.

“Not really. I stayed there while the detectives interviewed that homeless guy, but he didn’t tell them anything new.”

“So am I on my way to the big house then?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Clark said quietly.

“Well, you’ll never guess what I turned up last night,” Lois said, sounding like the cat who got the canary.

“What?”

“Well, I took a little stroll down to Dr. Heller’s office and—”

Clark whipped around to face her. “Lois! What were you thinking? I thought we were going to go back and—” he began, then swallowed his ire. He couldn’t let her see how much she’d gotten to him, how much he worried about her. Telling her the secret of his feelings for her had been one of the many bombs that had destroyed their relationship. He had to remain professional. He forced himself to relax, then asked in a cool tone, “Did you find anything?”

Lois’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, I did. I copied his year-to-date file. The most recent surgery he performed was a full-facial reconstruction and had no patient name on it. And he billed them for five times as much as the other facial reconstruction surgeries in the file.”

“Sounds promising. Who paid for it?”

“ACL Corporation.” She shook her head. “I’ve never heard of them.”

“Neither have I. Guess we should get Jimmy to look into them.

She tapped her foot. “I hope he’s not still behind.”

“Me too.”

Just then the elevator doors opened. Lois was halfway into the bullpen before Clark had even made it out of the elevator. And people think Superman is fast, he thought sourly.

“Jimmy!” she yelled as she strode towards her desk.

Jimmy was already headed towards her. He glared at her. “I just want you to know. What you did took a lot of guts,” he said in a low growl.

Lois stopped dead. She’d never heard Jimmy sound this upset with her. “Uh—”

Perry and Dr. Carlin walked up. “Lois, what in the Sam Hill was that stunt you pulled last night?” Perry demanded. “Our publisher’s been all over me like a bad rash.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Chief,” she said with a blank stare.

“I’m talkin’ about your virtuoso performance on the late news,” Perry said.

Clark frowned. “You were on the news?”

“Y’know, if you have an opinion to express, you might consider usin’ our editorial page,” Perry suggested.

“I wasn’t on the news.”

“Are you saying you weren’t at that anti-Superman demonstration last night?” Dr. Carlin asked, an eyebrow arched up.

“What? Course not! I was home eating chocolate. Cottage cheese. Chocolate-flavored cottage cheese. It’s a new flavor. I was doing my laundry,” Lois babbled and looked at Clark as though he could confirm where she’d been.

Clark glowered. He couldn’t exactly tell everyone that she’d been breaking into Dr. Heller’s office, and anyway, he hadn’t actually been with her since she hadn’t bothered to tell him what she was up to.

“Lois, you come with me,” Perry said firmly and led her into one of the conference rooms. Clark followed them. Perry turned on the TV and began to play a video of the late news.

The video showed Lois standing in front of the courthouse steps at what was clearly a protest against Superman. She brushed her hair out of her face, then said, “I was there when Lex Luthor died. I prayed Superman would save him, but for some reason he decided not to. I think the citizens of Metropolis have a right to ask: isn’t Lex Luthor’s blood on Superman’s hands?”

Clark felt the breath whoosh out of his lungs as though someone had punched him in the gut. It was one thing for twenty percent of the city to be anti-Superman—it was another thing entirely for Lois herself to be anti-Superman. He’d never have expected this in a million years. She must have loved Luthor far more than he’d realized.

The video ended, and Perry turned to Lois. “Now, I could be wrong. I mean I’ve only worked with you for about five years, but I’m seein’ some remarkable similarities here.”

Lois walked towards the television, then turned back. “That’s not me! It’s some kind of sick joke.” She shot Clark another look.

Clark looked away. He didn’t know what to make of the whole thing, but he knew Lois had been suppressing a lot of her feelings.

“It’s no joke, Lois; it’s a cry for help,” Dr. Carlin said. “What you’re demonstrating are signs of post-traumatic stress: short-term memory loss, erratic behavior. But I can help. If you’ll let me.”

Lois crossed her arms. “No, thank you.”

Perry put a hand on her arm. “Now, Lois, you know I’m not one to meddle in the lives of my reporters, but I would strongly suggest that you take the good doctor up on her offer.”

Lois’s arms slid to her sides. “Perry!”

Perry gave her a stern look.

“Well, I can’t right now! We have to attend Lex’s will-reading. It’s part of our series on the break-up of Lex Corp,” she said obstinately.

“Yeah, but that’s not ‘til this afternoon. That gives you plenty of time to have a nice little chat with Dr. Carlin,” Perry said.

“Yes, but I’m supposed to meet Bobby this morning, because the will-reading is this afternoon. Look, Perry, can I talk to you for a minute in your office?”

Perry gave her a measuring look, then acquiesced.

Lois dropped her purse off at her desk, then headed in to Perry’s office and shut the door. Perry was already sitting at his desk, but Lois refused to sit. “Perry, I know you’re just worried about me, but that really wasn’t me. I know where I was last night, and it wasn’t at an anti-Superman demonstration.”

“And can anyone else verify that?”

She made a face. “Well, not exactly—although I do have the copies to prove it. I was trying to avoid being seen, if you know what I mean.”

Perry’s eyebrows shot up. “Ah. Somethin’ I don’t really want to know about, huh?”

“Exactly.”

“Then why wasn’t your partner with you?”

“He was busy at the police station. We split up, okay?” Lois said defensively.

“I thought I told you to work on this story together,” Perry said, tapping a pencil on the desk.

“We are! It’s just a—distribution of duties. I did some looking around somewhere, and Clark checked out another lead at the police station.”

“I still think you should talk to Dr. Carlin.”

“Perry, don’t you think I should be investigating who was actually at that Superman demonstration? After all,” she paused as a sudden thought hit her, “after all, we are investigating the murder of a plastic surgeon. What if this ties in?”

“Honey, how do you know you’re not actually sufferin’ from post-traumatic stress?”

Lois gave him a hard look. “Perry! How many dangerous things have I been through and not once have you sent me to a shrink!”

“Now, Lois, honey, you know there’s no comparison. You almost married the man. Danger in your personal life is different from danger in your professional life.”

“I said ‘no,’” she said quietly.

“What?”

“I said, ‘no,’ to Lex. I wouldn’t have married him.”

“When?”

“At the altar. Look, Perry, you’re right that I don’t really want to talk about it, but even though I didn’t realize that Lex was a criminal, I did realize that I didn’t love him and didn’t want to marry him, before you showed up. Yes, the aftermath has been”—she took a deep breath—”far from pleasant. But I was not on the news last night. How could you think that I’d say something like that about Superman?”

“Maybe because he didn’t save Luthor?”

“Perry, I didn’t want the man to die, but I’m not grieving his loss. I didn’t love him. I didn’t want to marry him. I just—didn’t know how to handle things with the Planet was gone.” She shrugged. “I’ll be fine, Perry.”

He gave her a long look. “All right—for now. But if anything else happens, you will talk to Dr. Carlin.”

She shook her head. “If you’re going to make it a choice between keeping my job and talking to a shrink, I’ll talk to a shrink, but really, I’d rather talk to someone other than Dr. Carlin. There’s something about that woman that just strikes me the wrong way.”

“We’ll see,” Perry said. His look softened. “If you need a friend, you know I’m always here for ya, darlin’.”

“Thanks, Perry.”

“Now go finish that story with your partner.”

Lois gave him an ironic salute. “Yes, sir.”

***

Clark watched Lois head into Perry’s office. He hoped Perry would be able to talk some sense into her. She had to know that bottling everything up wasn’t good for her. Although this was Lois—she’d spent her whole life bottling things up. He just didn’t know how much longer she could continue. He shook himself. If he didn’t find something else to do, he’d end up listening in on Lois’s conversation with Perry, and that was the last thing he wanted right now; he didn’t think he’d ever want to listen to her talk about Luthor.

“Jimmy!” he called, walking over towards the young man’s desk.

“What’s up, CK?”

“I need everything you can find out about ‘ACL Corporation.’”

Jimmy dutifully wrote down the name. “Okay, but I still haven’t gotten to Dr. Heller’s finances yet.”

“That’s okay. I’m sure you’re doing your best. Just get it to us when you can.”

“Sure, CK.”

Clark patted his friend on the shoulder. “Thanks, Jimmy.”

As he headed back to his own desk, Clark tried to decide what their next step should be. They’d both called their sources. Maybe he’d check back with Henderson in case anything new had turned up.

By the time he’d finished checking his voicemail and talking to Henderson, Lois was back from Perry’s office. She grabbed a folder of papers out of her bag and brought it over to his desk.

“This is everything I copied last night. I think we should still go back to Dr. Heller’s office this morning in case there are any regular employees we can talk to there.”

Clark stilled. “I thought Perry said you had to talk to Dr. Carlin.”

Lois shook her head. “Not anymore. Anyway, Clark, I think we should look into that too.”

“Look into what?”

“Who was at the demonstration last night!” she said as her eyes flicked heavenward.

“Lois—”

“It wasn’t me, Clark. You know where I was.” She tapped the folder. “So that means there’s someone out there who looks just like me who’s spouting off nonsense about Superman. If these people had any sense at all, they’d realize that Superman can’t be everywhere,” she said matter-of-factly.

Clark just stared at her. He had no clue how to reconcile the grieving almost-widow with this woman.

Lois sighed gustily. “Clark! We’re investigating the murder of a plastic surgeon. I don’t know that these events are connected, but my gut says there’s something there, so let’s start with this folder, and then we can get in a trip to Dr. Heller’s office before we have to be at Lex’s will-reading.”

“Okay, Lois.”

Lois sat down in Clark’s extra chair and flipped open the folder. Just then she noticed Dr. Carlin headed her direction.

“On second thought,” Lois muttered, and closed the folder. “I’m in the mood for some real coffee, Clark. Let’s take this with us.”

“All right, Lois,” Clark said.

“Lois!” Dr. Carlin called.

“Sorry, Dr. Carlin, we’re on our way out,” Lois said sweetly.

“I thought you were going to come talk to me.”

“Not today,” Lois said firmly. “Or any other day,” she muttered under her breath as she walked away.

Clark gave Dr. Carlin a weak smile, noticing that she was actually watching Lois with a hard look on her face. Clark grabbed his jacket. “We’ll see you later, Dr. Carlin.”

Dr. Carlin just nodded.

***

“There is seriously something wrong with that woman,” Lois said as they exited the Planet.

“Like the fact that she’s a doctor or something else?”

“Something about her just seems off. Psychiatrists aren’t usually that saccharine. Haven’t you noticed it?”

Clark shrugged. Dr. Carlin’s face when she’d been watching Lois had seemed out of place, however, he wasn’t going to jump to any conclusions yet—merely keep his eyes open.

Lois’s hands clenched into fists. She just wanted to reach over and strangle him. It was like trying to talk to a brick wall! “Well, since you’re my partner right now,” she said, forcing her voice to sound bright, “it’s your job to trust my instincts, and my gut says there’s something wrong with her.” Lois just hoped that her instincts hadn’t gone on permanent strike. They hadn’t gone off around Lex. If they started going off around people without a reason, she’d never live it down.

Clark’s jaw clenched. Trust her instincts? Right. Like the way she’d trusted his instincts when he’d talked himself hoarse trying to warn her about Luthor for months before she’d almost married the man. This was exactly why partnership with Lois didn’t work, why a relationship with her would never work. Not only did she refuse to deal with the reality of her situation by talking to someone about all the feelings she was bottling up, but she never listened to him and always expected him to listen to her. Real equal. He snorted. She’d told him when they’d first met that she was top banana, and, even after all these months, nothing had changed.

“What?” Lois demanded, noting that the tick in his jaw had begun to pulse.

“What what?” Clark asked in a cool tone.

“You snorted. What?” she repeated.

“Nothing,” he said evenly. “Where do you want to get coffee?”

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you thinking?”

“Lo-is. I’m thinking about where we’re going to get coffee.”

She halted. “You don’t believe me that something’s wrong with Dr. Carlin, do you?” she challenged, her hands going to her hips.

“I didn’t say anything,” Clark said.

“You didn’t have to. I could hear you thinking it from all the way over here.”

Clark took a deep breath, visibly calming himself. “I haven’t known her long enough to form an opinion. Do you want to get coffee and look at the folder now or shall we get a cab to Dr. Heller’s office first?”

Lois glared at him. “I want to know why you snorted.”

Clark stared back for a moment, then relaxed. The past couple of months had given him plenty of practice at keeping things on a professional level. He just hadn’t had to spend as much time in close proximity with Lois as he’d done the past couple of days. If nothing else, he knew he could out-wait Lois any day of the week and twice on Sundays. “Lois, that has nothing to do with work,” he said in a colorless voice. “Now, coffee or Dr. Heller’s?”

Lois held her ground, silently refusing to move on until he gave.

Clark stood there too, then glanced at his watch. “If you want to stand here for a while, maybe we should plan to split up,” he said politely. “We probably won’t have time to do coffee and Dr. Heller’s before the will-reading unless we get going now.”

Lois growled. “Fine! But don’t think I’m going to just drop this! We will come back to this later!”

“Which coffee shop do you want to go to?” Clark asked again.

“Sally’s.”

“All right.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Lois was still fuming. She’d been patient with Clark for months, and he still refused to let her in. Even if he’d never loved her or had fallen out of love with her, that didn’t mean they couldn’t go back to being friends. She’d thought they were best friends, and now they barely talked. She slowed as the sense of loss hit her once more. He’d been right there for just a second. She had felt him thinking at her, just like in the old days. Yes, he was upset, but he’d been there. And now he was gone again. She didn’t know what to do. Maybe this wasn’t fixable.

Clark was forcing himself to focus on the little things around him. The sun was warm against his face. The sky was blue. He could hear children playing in the distance and the dull roar of the city. He watched the people walking past them. A man rushing by wearing coveralls—a laborer late for work? A woman, paper in hand, studying the street signs and building numbers. A teenage boy with a backpack slung over his left arm. The boy reminded Clark of Jack. He wondered how his young friend was doing. Jack had left to attend college upstate about three weeks ago. Clark made a mental note to write him on one of his evenings off. The sights and sounds were soothing, reminding him that there was more going on in the world than him and Lois, and making sure there wasn’t any space in his brain to think about what had happened between them.

They both ordered their usual, then sat down in a booth. Lois pulled out the folder and opened it. “Do you want the most recent half or the older half first?” she asked.

“I’ll take whichever half you’re not starting with.”

She scowled at him. “Fine. Take the old half then,” she said and slapped half the stack in front of him.

“Thanks,” he said.

Before long they were both engrossed in the paperwork.

“Clark, look at this,” Lois said suddenly. “I was comparing the other facial reconstructions to that recent one by ACL, and I just noticed the patient’s physical characteristics.”

Clark held out a hand for the page in question, then skimmed through it. “So?”

Lois rolled her eyes. “So, female, my height, my weight—it all adds up!”

Clark’s eyebrows shot up. “You think someone created a double of you?”

“Well, I know I sure wasn’t at that demonstration last night and whoever it was on the tape looked an awful lot like me.”

“Hmm.” Clark replayed the tape in his mind. “You might be right! She used her left hand to push her hair out of her face. You’re right-handed.”

“I told you it wasn’t me! Now we just need to figure out who’s behind ACL. Then we’ll have our killer.”

“Because the homeless guy saw ‘you’ dumping the body.” Clark smiled. “So do you want to call Henderson or shall I?”

“Why would we call Henderson?” Lois said scornfully.

“Lois, if there’s a double of you out there committing murders, don’t you think someone in the police department should know about it—preferably before you get arrested for something she does?”

“Fine, Mr. Always-By-the-Book, we talk to Henderson—but only if he agrees to give us the exclusive.”

“So do you want to call him or shall I?” Clark repeated.

“Why don’t we just go down there? Maybe he’s found out something more by now.”

Clark glanced at the clock hanging on the shop’s wall. “He hadn’t as of an hour ago. I talked with him on the phone this morning, and he said nothing new had turned up.”

“You already called him?”

“Yes, while you were talking to Perry.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t get a chance to. I’m telling you now. Do you still want to go down there?”

Lois sighed. “No, I guess not. Let’s just call him on our way to Dr. Heller’s office. I’m sure there’s a payphone somewhere along the way.”

“All right. I didn’t see ACL on any of the other invoices. How about your half?”

“No,” Lois said shortly, then shoved the papers back in the folder and got to her feet. “Coming?” she threw over her shoulder.

“Right behind you.”

***

Henderson had asked them to bring in their copies of the invoice and suggested that Lois be a little extra careful in the foreseeable future. They’d told him they’d head to the station after finishing up the will-reading. The temp was again the only one in the office, so Clark gave her a business card and politely asked her to have a member of the staff call them whenever they got in. They’d grabbed a quick sandwich and were about to head to the will-reading when Clark’s super-hearing cut in: a mugging, not too far from where they were.

“Lois, I just remembered I need to pick up my dry cleaning real quick. I’ll meet you at LexCorp,” he said and bundled her into a cab.

Lois rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said to the closed door. Actually, even though she was annoyed that Clark was running off, she could do with the break. She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. It had been a long day. Finding out about that double. Having to deal with Dr. Carlin and convince Perry that she didn’t need to see a shrink. It said something about her apparent emotional stability that people were more willing to believe she’d cracked up and started attacking Superman than that someone had created a double of her. She knew she had days where she was falling apart, but she hadn’t thought it was apparent to anyone else—except maybe Lucy, and maybe Clark, although lately he seemed willfully oblivious to her emotional well-being.

***

Clark finished dealing with the mugging, and then made his way over to LexCorp where the will-reading had just begun. He slid into a seat beside Lois.

“Did I miss anything?” he asked in a whisper.

“Not really,” she replied.

They both tuned back in to hear Sheldon Bender, Luthor’s lawyer, listing off the various beneficiaries. Suddenly, Mr. Bender looked right at Lois and smirked. “Proceeds will go to the ACL Corporation which administers an annuity to his ex-wife, Mrs. Luthor,” he said and then looked back down at the paper in front of him.

Clark looked at Lois. She sat there, gaping at the lawyer. “Are you okay?” he asked in an undertone.

“I can’t believe it! He never said a word about—That lying, no-good—” she exploded in a fierce whisper.

Clark could see several journalists turn towards the disturbance. The last thing Lois needed was to have her reaction splashed across all the papers. He put a hand on her arm. “Shhh, Lois! Do you really want everyone to hear this?”

“He was married, Clark. All those times he told me I was his first true love,” she hissed.

In a whisper, he replied, “Lois, maybe we should just try to find her. Wait, Lois! ACL!”

Lois’s eyebrows shot up. “Lex Luthor’s ex-wife is out to get me? Why? It’s not like I stole him away at the homecoming dance,” she said.

“Who knows? Let’s just find her.”

“Yeah, I’d like to meet the woman that said I do, before I did,” she said savagely, then shook her head. “Almost did. Didn’t.”

“Let’s go,” Clark said and steered her towards the door, figuring they could at least get out before the journalists swarmed around them.

Clark could hear Lois’s heart rate headed through the roof as they rode the elevator down. Tremors passed through her body every so often. Thankfully, they made it out of the building without a single person stopping them.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly.

“He lied to me, Clark!”

Clark’s mouth twisted. “Lois, you knew he lied to you.”

“Not about this. He didn’t need to lie about this,” she said in a forlorn voice.

Clark pulled her hand through his arm and rubbed her hand soothingly. “You’re right. He didn’t.”

“I thought he was at least telling the truth about the way he felt about me,” she said with a slight catch in her voice.

“Lois, did you—” Clark began, intending to ask if she’d really loved Luthor, but then decided he couldn’t handle hearing her say that she had loved him. “Did you want to head over to the MPD now, or do you need some chocolate ice cream first?” he finished.

“Ice cream,” she said, sounding like a little girl.

“Okay, let’s get you some ice cream then.”

Clark took Lois to Fudge Castle and bought her some chocolate ice cream. Lois ate about half her ice cream, then gave the rest to Clark. Clark polished it off in silence. Now that they were sitting here, he realized he couldn’t make himself finagle her around to opening up about Luthor and his ex-wife. A part of him was blazingly angry that she’d been so devastated over Luthor’s lies—that he had yet another confirmation that she’d actually cared about Luthor and a reminder that she’d refused to listen to her “best friend.” He forced his jaw to relax before he left bite marks in the spoon, instead concentrating on the taste of the ice cream and finding pictures in the random sprinkling of glitter on the Formica tabletop.

Clark set his spoon down with great care and leaned back in his seat. “So where do you want to start?” he asked Lois.

Lois took a deep breath. “Well, we’ve got two angles—ACL Corporation and Mrs. Luthor. Let’s go see Henderson, and then why don’t you head back to the Planet and see if you can find out anything else about ACL? I’ll go over to the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Maybe I can get a lead on Mrs. Luthor.”

“Okay. Sounds like a plan,” Clark agreed.

“Have Jimmy check into Mrs. Luthor while you’re at it,” Lois ordered.

“Yes, Lois,” Clark said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice but failing.

She glared at him.

Clark stood and held out her coat to help her into it, then gestured for her to precede him out of the shop.

***

They took a cab to the MPD. Lois sat perfectly straight in her seat, making sure that she didn’t even brush up against Clark. It reminded her of when she and Lucy were young, and they’d draw imaginary lines down the middle of the car’s backseat, proclaiming that neither could cross. She was pretty sure she’d fall apart all over Clark if he touched her, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. It was obvious that he didn’t want her to open up to him. He hadn’t said a word at Fudge Castle. She needed to focus on the story. She was Lois Lane, a professional from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. And she needed to prove that she still had it. If it turned out that she and Clark couldn’t work together, she had no intention of being the one to leave the Planet.

***

Henderson was his usual enthusiastic self when they sat down in his office. “So who’s after you today, Lane?” Henderson asked sardonically.

Lois smirked. “Evidently Mrs. Luthor.”

Henderson’s eyebrows shot towards his hairline. “Mrs. Luthor?”

“We get the exclusive, right, Henderson?” Lois asked pointedly.

“Of course,” he replied in a monotone.

“Well, like we said, we found out that ACL Corporation paid for the last surgery Dr. Heller performed, and if you look at this”—Lois pulled out the invoice in question and set it in front of him—”you’ll see that he billed them for five times his usual amount. The patient stats also match mine—same height, same weight. And that homeless guy said he saw ‘me’ dumping the body. And ‘I’ was supposedly on the news at an anti-Superman demonstration last night.”

“What’s that got to do with Mrs. Luthor?”

Lois glared at him. “I’m getting there! We attended Lex’s will-reading today and ACL Corporation also administers the fund set up for Mrs. Luthor’s annuity. So there you go. Find Mrs. Luthor and you’ll bag Dr. Heller’s killer. You’re very welcome.”

Henderson gave a slight grimace. “So why are you sharing these wonderful gems of information with me?”

Clark leaned forward. “We figured if someone is impersonating Lois and going around murdering people, someone in the police department should know about it.”

Henderson nodded. “Glad to hear one of you has some sense.”

Lois made a small sound of annoyance, but Henderson ignored her.

“I know it’s a waste of time to tell you to be careful, but have you considered what you’re going to do about an alibi, Lane?” Henderson asked.

“Alibi?”

“Y’know, that thing where someone else can verify your whereabouts during the time a crime was committed?” Henderson leaned back in his chair. “I’d say we should avoid tipping our hand just yet, and that means giving the double enough rope to lead us back to her boss, whoever that is—which means you’ll need to be able to prove that you haven’t committed whatever crimes she does. And, if you do get arrested for something she does, call me, and I’ll take care of it.”

For a split second, Clark thought about suggesting that Lois stay the night at his place. But then reality set in. They hadn’t spent time together outside of work in months, and there was no way he wanted to change that. Not after the strain the past two days of just working together had put on him. Plus, if he had to run out for Superman duties, he wouldn’t be able to be her alibi anyway. But if he didn’t offer … Perry. He could mention it to Perry, and maybe Perry could talk Lois into staying with him and Alice.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine, Henderson,” Lois said.

“Riiiiight. I’m just trying to make my job easier, Lane.”

“Fine. I’ll think about it. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have our own job to get back to.”

***

Outside of the MPD, Lois and Clark stood in awkward silence for a moment.

Clark ran a hand through his hair. “So, I guess you’re headed to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, and I should get back to the Planet.”

Lois nodded. “Yup. Don’t forget to ask Jimmy about Mrs. Luthor.”

Clark didn’t even bother to respond to that. He wasn’t sure he could refrain from sarcasm or from commenting on how she’d reverted back to babysitting him through investigations. “I’ll see you later,” he told her, then turned to walk back towards the Planet. Once she was out of sight, he ducked into an alley and changed. He needed to take a quick side trip to Kansas to give his parents the good news in person, before Superman’s return got out. More than that, he needed a break from everything Lois Lane-related.

***

When Clark arrived, his dad was on a ladder painting the barn. Clark suppressed a sigh. He kept telling his parents to save jobs like those for when he came to visit. “Hi, Dad!” he said, hovering next to him.

Jonathan started and almost fell off the ladder.

Clark steadied him. “Sorry.”

“Give me a little warning next time, son,” Jonathan said, mopping his brow. He smiled. “I take it your powers are back.”

“Yup,” Clark said with a grin.

Martha came hurrying out, a huge smile on her face. “Was that our son that I just heard?”

“Hey, Mom!” Clark landed and gave her a hug.

“I’m so glad you’re better, honey,” his mom said.

“So how are things going at the Planet? You said you were going to be back in the building earlier this week?” Jonathan asked.

“Yeah. Yesterday. It’s okay,” Clark said slowly. “Perry partnered Lois and me again.”

“How’s that going?” Martha asked.

Clark made a face. “About how you’d think.”

“That bad, huh?” Martha said. “You both just need to talk to each other.”

“I don’t think I’m ready to, Mom. And I know she’s not ready.”

“How do you know that if you won’t talk to her?” Martha demanded.

“Mom, you don’t know Lois. She’s a master at bottling things up. It takes some serious skill and patience to get her to open up.”

“So?”

“So, I just don’t have that right now.”

“Clark, you were her best friend. How do you expect her to get through this without your support?”

Jonathan began to descend the ladder, recognizing this was shaping up to be a lengthy discussion.

“Oh, Dad, here. Let me,” Clark said, taking the paint and paintbrush from his father. He began to paint the barn at super-speed, finishing it up only seconds later. “Anything else you need me to do while I’m here?” he asked.

Jonathan shook his head. “Thanks for offering though.”

“I know someone else who’s pretty good at bottling up their feelings,” Martha said, giving Clark a pointed look.

Clark threw his hands in the air. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it. I just don’t know what to say. Lois doesn’t want me right now. I know she’s having a hard time. Today we found out that Luthor had been married before, and she broke down over the fact that he’d lied when he’d said she was his ‘first love.’ I took her out for ice cream. I did what I could, okay?”

“Did you talk to her?” Martha asked, her arms crossed.

“Um, well, not exactly.”

“Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.” She dropped her arms to her sides and took a step closer to Clark. “Honey, I’m just worried about you. I know you miss her, and you can’t fix your relationship without talking.”

Jonathan nodded. “She probably needs someone to talk to right now.”

“You’re probably right,” Clark agreed, figuring it was the quickest way to end the conversation. His parents just didn’t understand how resistant Lois was to talking or how heartbroken he was. Most days equal parts of ice and rage burned through his veins. He was almost positive he wouldn’t be able to say anything nice, so it’d be far better just to say nothing at all.

Martha gave him a long look. “You said you bought a journal. Are you still writing in it?”

“Yeah.”

“Has it helped at all?”

Clark considered. “I think so. I can’t say that it’s helped me sort through my feelings exactly, but at least I know why I’m feeling what I’m feeling. And I have a little more sympathy for where Lois was coming from.”

Martha patted his arm. “You just keep at it, honey.”

“Thanks, Mom. Well, I should get back to Metropolis. I just wanted to drop in to let you know that I’m back before you saw it on the news.”

“We’re glad that you’re better, son,” Jonathan said, squeezing Clark’s shoulder.

“Stop by for dinner sometime soon,” Martha said and gave her son a quick hug.

***

By the end of the workday, Clark had accomplished absolutely nothing. He’d asked Jimmy to follow up on Luthor’s first wife, but Jimmy was still swamped. He’d spent a frustrating couple of hours trying to find anything at all on ACL Corporation, but had been completely unsuccessful, and he’d called Sheldon Bender’s office several times, trying to get past the receptionist and actually talk to the lawyer; Mr. Bender’s office was no longer taking his calls. He’d passed Henderson’s concerns about an alibi for Lois along to Perry, but he wasn’t sure Lois would even be back in the office. He decided to give it up as a bad job and head home for the night. Just as he was shutting down his computer, he heard a bulletin on someone’s radio about a fire going on at one of the chemical plants near the waterfront. It sounded like a job for Superman.

***

When Lois got back to the Daily Planet, Clark had already left. Perry called her into his office right away.

“Lois, Clark filled me in. I’m sorry I didn’t realize that woman was a double.”

“It’s okay, Chief. I know I’ve been kinda stressed lately,” she said magnanimously.

“How are things goin’ with you and Clark?” he asked.

Lois stilled. She wasn’t even sure how to answer that question. Apparently, they were both professional enough to work together. There’d been several—no, make that “many”—tense moments, but they were still making progress on the investigation. And hopefully, eventually, Clark would let her back in. “Okay, I think.”

Perry gave her a long look. “You let me know if there’s a problem, y’hear?”

Lois nodded.

“Now, where are you stayin’ tonight?”

“At my apartment. Why?”

“I thought Henderson told you to make sure you had an alibi.”

“Chief, Henderson is just overreacting.”

“Why don’t you stay at my place? We’ve got a guest room, and Alice would love to have you.”

Lois actually considered it for a moment, but then decided that she wasn’t up for hours of Elvis, and she did not appreciate Clark or Perry trying to babysit her. “That’s okay, Chief. I’ll be fine.”

“Lois—”

Jimmy burst in the door. “Chief! It’s Superman!”

“Jimmy! What have I told you about bargin’ in—what? Superman? Where?”

“There’s a fire at one of the chemical plants on the bay!”

“We’ll finish this later. Lois, get down there and get me that story! Olsen, go with her and get me some good photos!”

“On it, Chief,” Lois said as she and Jimmy headed out the door.

***

The next morning Superman was on the front page of both the Planet and the Star. Clark hadn’t been too surprised to see Lois at the fire. She’d stuck around until almost midnight when things had finally died down enough for Superman to answer questions. Several other journalists were on site, and he’d been asked all the questions he’d expected: Where were you? Why did you go? Are you back to stay? Where were you when Lex Luthor died? And on and on. He’d simply told everyone that he’d been called away and detained longer than he’d expected, that he still cared about Metropolis, that all life is valuable and he regretted that he hadn’t been able to save Lex Luthor, but that he’d had to accept early on that he couldn’t be everywhere and save everyone, as much as he might wish that he could. He refused to give out information on where he’d been or what he’d been doing on the basis that it involved other people than just himself. And then he’d excused himself to continue helping the firemen make sure the fire was completely out. It had only taken about another hour or so before he’d finished up at the fire. After that he’d done a quick patrol, and then he’d gone flying. Of all the things he’d missed, he’d missed flying the most. He’d spent hours reacquainting himself with all his favorite haunts and drifting above the clouds. It had been exactly what he’d needed after two grueling days spent with Lois.

Clark glanced down at the papers in his hand. The Metropolis Star had written their piece in such a way that Superman looked completely irresponsible. The Planet had, of course, been kinder. Lois had managed to convey the idea that Superman was but one man trying to plug thousands of holes in a dam. He did what he could when he could. Clark read through her article a couple of times, still not sure how he felt about it. Contemplating Lois’s obvious sympathy for Superman felt like wiggling a loose tooth. How could the one woman who understood that side of him so well be so horrible to the rest of him?

***

Lois was already at her desk by the time Clark walked in. He’d done another patrol that morning before coming to work and was running late. It was amazing how quickly he’d gotten rusty at the skills needed to juggle his dual personas.

“Morning,” Lois said as he walked past.

“Morning.”

“Any luck on your search for ACL?” Lois asked.

Clark sat down and began booting up his computer. “None. It’s not listed anywhere. Now Luthor’s lawyer won’t return my phone calls. You?”

She sighed. “I spent three hours at the Bureau of Vital Statistics yesterday. There’s no marriage certificate on Lex in this state or any other.”

Just then Jimmy walked past, laden down with a stack of files.

“Jimmy? Find anything on Luthor’s marriage?” Clark asked.

Jimmy stopped, a grin on his face. “You bet I did! Turns out he was married on a ship in the Caribbean.” He dug through the pile of folders he was carrying and pulled out a paper. “I found this wedding announcement that ran in the Planet ten years ago,” he said, handing the paper to Lois.

Clark walked over and glanced at the paper Lois held.

“No picture. No maiden name,” Lois said.

Jimmy nodded. “Yeah, I know, but I’m gonna try to track down that ship’s captain as soon as I deliver these,” he said, shifting the pile of folders.

Just then an older man with thinning hair and wearing a police badge stepped over to where they stood. “Lois Lane?”

Lois turned to face him. “Yeah?”

“Detective Ryder, Metropolis PD. You want to tell me where you were last night around one o’clock?”

“I’m not sure—probably on my way home from covering that fire,” she said with a shrug. “Why?”

The detective frowned. “Can anyone verify that?”

“Which part? That I covered the fire? You can read the Planet’s front page for that.”

“What’s this about detective?” Clark asked.

“At 1 a.m. last night a guard was assaulted outside Lex Luthor’s penthouse by a woman he’s identified as Miss Lane.”

Lois gave Clark a quick glance. They did want to catch the double’s boss, which meant reacting exactly as she would have if she hadn’t known about her double. “Well, that’s ridiculous,” she protested.

“This picture was taken by a security camera outside the penthouse. As far as we can make out, the only item taken was an engagement ring Mr. Luthor had given Miss Lane worth a half a million dollars.” The detective pulled out handcuffs. “Miss Lane, you’re under arrest.”

Lois arranged her face in a portrait of shock. “What?”

Detective Ryder proceeded to put the handcuffs on Lois. “For aggravated assault, breaking and entering, and grand theft,” he said, and led her away.

***

Lois sighed as she waited in the holding cell. She really should have spent the night at Perry’s. It had just been the last straw having Perry call her in and tell her that Clark had tattled to him about Henderson’s need for an alibi. She didn’t need to be babysat. After all, it wasn’t as though she were completely helpless. Ever since she’d almost married Lex, people had been watching her, waiting for her to make another mistake. And then seeing Superman last night. Not that she’d really seen him that closely. He hadn’t even answered all that many questions before returning to the fire. But just knowing that he was back …. Well, she’d gone home to a hot bath and some cold ice cream. She hadn’t felt up to packing the things she’d need to stay at the White’s. At least Henderson already knew about the double. Hopefully, he’d get her out of here before too much longer.

***

The police station was full of anti-Superman protestors as Clark and Perry waited for Lois to be released. Clark had called Henderson right away, but they’d still had to get Lois out on bail for now.

Perry looked around in disgust. “This resentment with Superman is gettin’ out of hand! What these people need is a good swift kick in the rear.”

Clark nodded. He had to admit that the resentment had felt bad when he hadn’t been able to be Superman—now that he was having to deal with people’s ire even in the midst of rescues, he wasn’t sure how to handle it. Would it be like the heatwave where the city drummed him out of town?

“Thanks for getting me out so fast,” Lois said, walking up to where Perry and Clark stood. “Another minute and I would have been judging a best tattoo contest. So, what’d Henderson say?”

Clark glowered. “He wanted to know your alibi. I won’t repeat what he said when I told him that I wasn’t sure that you had one.”

“Lois, honey, you okay?” Perry asked.

“Fine.” She sighed. “Let’s just find this woman and whoever’s behind her.”

“You go get ‘em! I need to head back to the Planet. I’ll leave you two to plan your strategy. Oh, uh, we’re keepin’ this double business between the three of us and Henderson, correct?” Perry asked in an undertone.

“I think that’d be best, Chief, although maybe we should let Jimmy know. You never know what he might be able to dig up,” Clark said, then added, “And if Lois or I run into Superman, I think we should let him know as well. Just in case.”

“Dr. Carlin’s gonna be after you to talk to her, y’know? And if I really believed you were the one doin’ these things, I’d be orderin’ you to talk to her in a heartbeat,” Perry said.

Lois rolled her eyes. “I am not going to talk to that woman. I know you two don’t believe me, but there’s something wrong with her. Anyway, I’ll just make sure I’m not in the office today.”

Perry nodded. “Sounds good. Be careful, darlin’.”

“Okay. I have to go sign for my purse,” Lois said and walked towards the counter.

“Keep an eye on her,” Perry said to Clark.

“I will, Chief.”

“I know you will, son,” Perry said, then left.

It took Lois a few minutes to sign all the necessary paperwork and for the police to find her purse. As they walked out the door to the station, Clark’s jaw was beginning to ache. He couldn’t believe that Lois had once again gone against everything people told her—Henderson, himself, Perry. They’d all tried to make sure that she was safe, that she had an alibi, but no, the great Lois Lane knew better than all of them. It was just like Luthor all over again. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but the words burst out of his lips of their own accord. “I thought you were going to make sure you had an alibi!”

Lois glared at him. “Clark, we just need to find the double. Don’t get so worked up.”

“Lo-is! What if we can’t find the double? What if whoever’s behind her simply kills her and disposes of her body before we can prove that she exists?”

“I know she exists!”

“I get that! What I don’t get is how you think you’ll be able to prove that you didn’t commit these crimes come trial time! You knew someone was after you, and you didn’t do a single thing about it! You aren’t invincible!”

“I know that!”

“Do you? Have you even considered that the plan might be for her to just kill you and take your place? You never—” Clark forced himself to break off there. He strode ahead a few paces. He couldn’t let her get to him. Worrying about her safety was just another road back to being helplessly in thrall to her. He took several deep breaths and counted backwards from one hundred in Arabic at super-speed a few times. Once he felt calm enough, he waited for Lois to catch up.

“So what do you want to do now?” he asked in an even tone.

Lois threw her hands in the air. “What do I want to do now? I want to talk to my best friend! I want you to stop this nonsense and actually talk to me. Yes, I probably should have gone to the trouble of making sure I had an alibi—which I would have done, if you hadn’t butted in and talked to Perry yourself last night.”

Clark’s eyes widened.

“Yes, I know what you did, buster”—she poked her finger into his chest—”and I didn’t appreciate having Perry call me in and tell me that my ‘partner’ had filled him in on how much danger I was in. Danger, ha! Clark, this woman has just been trying to discredit me. She’s not going to kill me. I wish you would just trust my instincts!”

Clark took off walking down the sidewalk again. He was fairly certain that Lois was just desperate to prove that it had been Luthor at fault rather than her instincts, but that didn’t help how he felt. She wanted him to trust her instincts and completely ignored his. She wanted him to go back to being her best friend—barely an apology from her, no acknowledgment of the hell she’d put him through—just c’mon, Clark, why can’t you just be good old best friend Clark? Well, he couldn’t do it anymore! He couldn’t!

A beeping intruded into his consciousness, and he realized that his beeper was going off. He slowed and checked it: Jimmy. A payphone stood a few yards away so he went over and called Jimmy. Lois followed him.

Jimmy’s cheerful voice came through the wire. “Hey CK! Good news! I found the ship’s captain who married the Luthors. He’s at the, uh, Queensland Retirement Home.”

Clark forced his voice to sound cheery back. “That’s great! Thanks, Jimmy!”

“Yeah, anytime. Just put in a good word for me with Perry.”

“Sure thing,” Clark said and hung up the phone.

“Well?” Lois said, tapping a foot.

“Jimmy said he found the captain who married the Luthors. Sounds like our next move is to interview him, unless, of course, your instincts have something else they’d rather do,” he said sardonically.

“No. Talking to the captain is a good next move.”

“I’m so glad you approve,” Clark muttered under his breath.

“Clark, don’t start with me!” Lois said.

Clark swallowed back all of the retorts that sprang to mind, annoyed that he’d let her get to him so far as to forget his politeness. The rest of their trip was made in stony silence.

***

“Captain Keene?” Lois asked, walking up to the portly gentleman sitting on a park bench the staff had pointed out to her.

The man looked up and smiled broadly. “Yes!”

“Hi, I’m Lois Lane, and this is Clark Kent; we’re from the Daily Planet.”

“Nice to meet you both.”

“Can we talk to you for a minute?”

Captain Keene chuckled. “Hey, I’m retired. You can talk to me for a year! Oh, please, sit down,” he said, motioning to the chairs opposite him.

“Captain, it was our understanding that you performed the marriage of Lex Luthor,” Clark began.

Captain Keene nodded. “Yeah, I married him. Some kid called and said you’d be coming by. Course Luthor wasn’t anybody then, but I could tell he was a comer. And that bride of his—she was—”

“Something like me?” Lois broke in.

“No, much prettier. And really built.” He frowned. “Now, what do you suppose would make a fella like that jump off a building? You’d think with all of his money, he’d have come up with a better escape plan. Still don’t understand why Superman didn’t save him.”

Clark cleared his throat. “Captain, do you remember the name of the bride?”

“Sure! Mrs. Luthor!” he said and laughed heartily.

Neither Lois nor Clark laughed.

The captain looked at both of them. “Hey, that’s a joke. I’m retired, I ain’t senile. Kid said you might want to see a wedding picture.” He picked up the photo album sitting on the bench beside him, and began to thumb through it. “I got pictures of everybody I ever married. Oh, ah ha! Here you go!” he said and handed them the album.

Lois and Clark bent eagerly to look at the photo, then stared. Neither of them had seen this one coming.

“Lex Luthor and Ari Carlin. Married October 8, 1984,” Captain Keene said.

“Arianna Carlin is Mrs. Luthor!” Lois said triumphantly, relief spreading through her body. It was Lex at fault, not her instincts. “Clark, I hate to say I told you so, but—” she broke off, remembering that Captain Keene apparently liked Dr. Carlin.

“That guy in the alley! He thought he heard ‘Harry.’ It was ‘Ari’!” Clark said.

“We’ve got her!” Lois exclaimed.

Clark stood and offered his hand to Captain Keene. “Thanks a lot, Captain Keene. You’ve been a lot of help.”

Lois stood too. “Yes, you have,” she added.

“No problem at all. Nice chatting with you folks,” the captain replied.

***

They’d borrowed a phone to call Henderson—who had said that he’d send someone to the Planet and put out an APB on Dr. Carlin if she wasn’t there—and were now headed back to the Planet themselves.

“I told you there was something wrong with that woman,” Lois crowed as they walked out of the retirement home. Clark barely kept from rolling his eyes. “Yes, Lois.”

“You just need to learn to trust my instincts, Farmboy.”

The muscles around his eyes tightened. “Yes, Lois,” he said. Much more of this and he was going to start sending out resumes, he told himself.

***

As the taxi pulled up to the Daily Planet, they could see smoke billowing out of the newsroom windows and filling the globe. Clark immediately ran into the building, yelling “Somebody call the fire department!” Lois started to run after him, but caught sight of her double opposite her in the revolving door and instead ran after her.

***

Clark made his way up to the newsroom floor, changing into the Suit as soon as he could find a secluded spot. Upon reaching the newsroom, he realized it was filled with tear gas rather than smoke. Fortunately most of the gas was still in the newsroom, rather than dispersed throughout the whole building. The canister must have just been opened. “Everybody get down and remain still!” he commanded. “I’m going to neutralize the gas.” He blew freezing breath through the air, and the gas turned to snow.

Superman walked over and helped Perry up. “What happened?”

Perry glanced around the newsroom. “Have you talked to Lois or Clark?” he said in an undertone, his lips barely moving.

Superman nodded slightly.

“It was Lois! She came in here, and she threw a tear gas canister,” Perry said loudly.

Superman gave him an almost imperceptible wink. “Did you see which way she went?”

“Yeah, back down the elevator.”

Clark immediately flew out the window and scanned the street surrounding the Daily Planet. A tan purse in the deserted alley beside the Planet caught his eye. Lois had been carrying this just five minutes before. He picked it up, then changed out of the Suit and headed into the Planet, his heart in his throat. Hopefully, Lois had somehow dropped this on her way in, and he’d find her up in the newsroom.

As he stepped out of the elevator, Perry looked up. “Clark! Where’s Lois?”

So she wasn’t here already. He held up her purse in answer. “I don’t know. Where’s Dr. Carlin?”

“She left before it happened. Why?” Jimmy asked.

Clark grimaced. “Arianna Carlin was married to Lex Luthor.”

Perry stared at him. “I don’t believe it! She was the one who created the double?”

“Yeah. And I bet she has Lois now,” he said grimly.

“I can’t believe that woman pulled the wool over my eyes like that,” Perry lamented.

Jimmy put a hand on Perry’s shoulder. “Don’t feel so bad, Chief—she wrote the book on it.”

“What?” Clark asked.

Jimmy picked up a book off his desk and held it up. “This is her book on subliminal advertising. I was going to ask her to sign a copy to give to my mom for her birthday.”

“That’s it!” Clark exclaimed and strode into the conference room Dr. Carlin had appropriated as her office. Perry and Jimmy followed him.

Jimmy frowned. “What is it, CK?”

Clark pointed to a stack of papers on Dr. Carlin’s desk. “These are all of Dr. Carlin’s latest columns.”

Perry peered over his shoulder. “Exactly what is it that you’re lookin’ for?”

“Subliminal messages,” Clark said and began scanning the page. He’d noticed that subliminal messages didn’t have the same effect on him as they did on normal people. Moments later, the pattern jumped out at him. “I’ve got it! When you link together the first letter of each one of these paragraphs, it spells the message ‘Superman is evil.’”

Perry shook his head. “Well, I’ll be.”

Clark handed the top sheet to Perry, exposing the one underneath it. “Man of steel wicked.” He flipped to the next. “Superman must die.” He turned to look at Perry. “It’s no wonder that twenty percent of Metropolis is suddenly anti-Superman,” he said, warmth spreading through his chest as he realized the dislike had been artificial.

“Yeah, well, the doctor’s got a loyal followin’.” Perry grabbed the stack of columns. “Let’s see what she’s got planned for tomorrow.”

“Lane murder of Superman good?” Jimmy read. “Is that really what it says?”

Perry’s mouth swung open. “That lunatic’s plannin’ on having Lois’s double kill Superman?”

“She’ll tear the city apart over Lois’s trial,” Clark said.

“Well, now we know she’s one brick shy of a full load. Nobody can kill Superman,” Perry said.

Just then the phone began to ring, and Jimmy picked it up. The color drained from his face, and after a moment, he squeaked out a “Let me get him.” He hit the hold button, then turned to Clark. “CK! It’s Dr. Carlin. She’s on line two.”

Clark immediately picked up the phone. “Dr. Carlin?” He turned to Jimmy and Perry and grimaced. “Where are you? … Yes, I see. I’ll do my best to find him.”

Perry and Jimmy waited with ill-concealed impatience for Clark to finish.

“Well?” Perry said as soon as Clark hung up.

“She’s at Luthor’s penthouse, and she has Lois. She says Lois ‘dragged her there and is now threatening to kill herself unless she can speak to Superman.’”

“Sounds like a set-up if I ever heard one,” Perry said. “I wonder what she thinks she can accomplish.”

Clark shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don’t want Lois to get into any more trouble than she’s already in. I’d better go try to find Superman. I’ll tell him to look things over before he goes in. Jimmy, call Henderson and tell him about Dr. Carlin and where she is.”

With that Clark took off for the stairs, and then super-sped up the empty stairwell to the roof.

***

Lois glared at Dr. Carlin as the woman replaced the receiver on the phone. Once again she had jumped in without checking the water level. When she’d seen her double leaving the Daily Planet, she hadn’t been able to resist following her. Unfortunately, the double and Dr. Carlin had caught her, held her at gunpoint, and brought her to Lex’s penthouse—which was why she now found herself sitting on a couch in Lex’s office, trussed up like a chicken and gagged.

Dr. Carlin turned to Lois. “Perfect. Clark will testify at your trial that I was only concerned with your well-being. The helpful therapist to the end. Of course, you’ll tearfully insist that you’ve been framed—that it was actually me who brought you here and killed Superman. Classic guilt transference.”

Lois shook her head back and forth until she managed to work the gag down off her mouth. “Why are you doing this?”

Dr. Carlin gave her an extra sweet smile. “Everyone knows how much you love Superman—several of your colleagues confirmed that you and he are very ‘close’ friends”—the smile slid from her face—”and when he dies, you will know the pain I felt when you drove the love of my life to his death.”

Lois shook her head in disbelief. “You’re the one who needs help! Nothing can kill Superman.”

Dr. Carlin held up a green glowing bullet. “You remember Kryptonite? You were the one who named it, and this gun”—she picked up a gun off the desk and showed it to Lois—”that you bought, will kill him with it.”

“I didn’t drive Lex to his death.”

“You’re in a state of denial Lois. Too bad we don’t have time to explore that.” Dr. Carlin turned slightly to yell into the adjoining room. “Hurry up! He’ll be here in a minute!”

Lois’s double walked into the room.

“Who are you?” Lois asked the woman.

The double grimaced. “Let’s just say I was an accident victim in the right place at the right time.”

Dr. Carlin picked up a syringe and a bottle. “Lois, you look a little stressed,” she said, her voice dripping with mock concern. “As your doctor, I’m going to prescribe a light sedative.” She walked over and, with the double’s help, injected the drug into a struggling Lois.

***

Once he got to LexCorp, Clark carefully x-rayed the penthouse. Lois lay on a couch in front of a fish tank, tied up and apparently unconscious. Dr. Carlin stood in the adjoining room, talking to Lois’s double. He surveyed the place. No lead boxes. No sign of the cage Lex had made—although he trusted that Henderson had taken care of it. Dr. Carlin held a gun, but surely she wasn’t naïve enough to think that guns worked on him. He made another sweep of the place, and, still finding nothing, he cautiously moved closer, alert for any hint that the ex-Mrs. Luthor had acquired some of her husband’s Kryptonite. Nothing. He landed on Luthor’s balcony and strode in to where Lois lay. He x-rayed her bones, trying to make sure it was safe to move her.

“Superman, we’ve been expecting you,” Dr. Carlin said, walking into the room. “Don’t worry about Lois. I’d much rather have her suffer for the rest of her life. I never wanted to kill her.”

Superman automatically crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “No, just frame her for my murder. I really thought you were smarter than this.”

Dr. Carlin smiled at him and raised her gun. “I really am,” she said, and then she shot him.

Superman didn’t even flinch—until he saw that the bullet was Kryptonite. He couldn’t completely avoid it, but he managed to shift so that it hit his left shoulder instead of his heart. Even so, the pain was incredible. He fell to the ground and lay there, trying to breathe in spite of it. Having the Kryptonite actually inside of him was so much worse than the cage had been.

Dr. Carlin walked over to him. “I can imagine what’s running through your head right now: shock, confusion, outrage.” Her voice hardened. “The same emotions I felt when you let Lex die.”

She moved to place the gun in Lois’s limp hand, saying, “You’ll wake up in a few minutes, although I’m sure you’ll wish you hadn’t.” And then she and Lois’s double left.

Clark forced himself to think. He couldn’t dig the bullet out himself, which meant that he needed Lois. “Lois! Lois! Can you hear me?”

Lois remained limp on the couch. Clark just hoped that Dr. Carlin had been telling the truth when she’d said that the sedative would wear off shortly. He tried to roll over so that he could crawl towards Lois, but it was no use: the Kryptonite inside had rendered him practically immobile. He looked back over at Lois. Why hadn’t she just stayed right behind him when he’d run into the Planet? Or waited in the lobby? She knew people were after her! He gritted his teeth—partly in pain and partly to keep from gnashing them in frustration.

“Lois!” he tried again. If only he had some water or something to wake her with. Wait a minute! The fish tank! He focused the flickering bits of his remaining heat vision at the fish tank behind Lois and managed to make a hole in it. Water spurted out onto her face. She stirred.

“Lois!”

Lois sat up and looked around her. Horror spread over her face as she took in Superman on the floor. Dr. Carlin had been right about the Kryptonite. “Superman?” She walked towards him, then clutched her middle as she saw the bullet hole in his shoulder. “Superman! I’ll call an ambulance!” She began walking towards the desk, still feeling a bit unsteady from the sedative.

“No! Too long!” Superman said, gasping in between words. He groaned. “It has to come out. Now.”

“I know it has to come out, but I’m just not sure I’m the best person to do it,” she said, keeping a tight grip on the terror trying to find its way into her voice.

“Please, Lois, please.”

Lois nodded resolutely, and then looked around for something to use as a lever. A dagger-shaped letter opener caught her eye. She grabbed it and knelt beside Superman. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably, but she tried to still them, at least long enough to dig the bullet out. Carefully, she inserted the dagger and felt around for the bullet, trying to avoid breaking any of it off in the wound. Superman writhed as she moved the dagger around in his wound, but Lois forced herself to look only at the bullet hole. She could feel the bullet. She managed to slide the dagger underneath it and pushed up. The bullet, following the course of least resistance, popped back out of the hole. She grabbed it and held it away from Superman. Her eyes widened as Superman’s shoulder immediately healed up.

“Get that away from me, please,” he said, still gasping for breath.

She backed to the far side of the room, and Superman grabbed hold of a chair and pulled himself to his feet. “Thanks, Lois.” He glanced down at his shoulder, marveling that it had healed so quickly—maybe being directly in the sun’s rays had helped, or the smaller size of the Kryptonite piece had made it easier for his body to heal, or maybe he was starting to build up an immunity. Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He looked back at Lois. “If you don’t mind putting that in a lead box, I’ll come by later tonight to pick it up. I’d better go collect Dr. Carlin and your double now. Clark said he had Jimmy call Henderson, so I imagine the police should be here shortly. Will you be all right?”

Lois nodded.

“See you later,” he said and lifted off.

***

Clark barely had the strength to fly and he could tell that he wasn’t going to be doing anything strenuous for a while, but his powers were all there, and he wasn’t about to let Dr. Carlin get away. Who knew what else she had up her sleeve? But this time, he was going to go about it the smart way. He x-rayed the cars and managed to figure out which vehicle she was in. Then he welded the doors shut from 1,000 feet up, just in case she had any more Kryptonite on her. And finally, he blew out the tires to make sure she wouldn’t be going anywhere. Flying closer, he realized he couldn’t feel any Kryptonite, so either she didn’t have any more with her, or it was shielded. He zipped home and changed Suits—no point in giving anyone else ideas about Kryptonite bullets—then returned for the car and flew it back to LexCorp and the waiting police.

As soon as he set the car down, Superman told Henderson that Dr. Carlin and Lois’s double were in the car and asked for a private word. When he agreed, Superman flew him to the top of a nearby building. It was the first time Clark had ever seen the inspector look truly surprised.

Clark assumed his hero pose, then asked, “Inspector Henderson, are you aware of Dr. Carlin’s identity?”

“Mrs. Luthor, yeah. Jimmy filled me in.”

“She had Kryptonite.”

Henderson shook his head. “Those Luthors. We didn’t find any more than just the cage, by the way.”

“Thanks. I appreciate you taking care of the cage and keeping an eye open. I’ve already taken care of the piece she used on me just now, but she may have more. I’d prefer not to get publicly exposed to it—that’s why I brought her car to you. The doors are welded shut, so she shouldn’t be escaping any time soon.”

“I see. Would you mind opening at least one of them before you go? It’d save us quite a bit of time.”

Clark hesitated. If Dr. Carlin did have Kryptonite with her …. “I’ll try it, but if I feel Kryptonite, I’ll have to excuse myself.”

Henderson nodded once. “Fair enough.”

***

Fortunately, Dr. Carlin didn’t have any more Kryptonite, so Superman was able to free her into the waiting hands of the police. Lois carefully kept far away from him—a fact that Clark was very, very grateful for on many levels. He hadn’t thought he could get more conflicted, but now he knew he’d been wrong. Lois had saved his life. He’d seen how scared she was of digging the bullet out, and she’d done it anyway—done it because she loved Superman. It was yet another instance where in one fell swoop she’d managed to be absolutely wonderful to him and yet break his heart. Fortunately, Clark hadn’t been at LexCorp at all, and since Lois was carrying Kryptonite around, there was no way he was going to show up there as himself. So, he’d have at least a couple of hours before he’d have to talk to her.

Superman left, and Clark went back to the Planet. He didn’t plan on staying long in case Lois showed up with the Kryptonite. Happily, by the time he’d gotten back, Lois had called in the story and told Perry she’d be out of the office for the rest of the day—something about needing to run errands. Clark was guessing that meant she was out looking for a lead box. He definitely needed to get that Kryptonite away from her. If she ever found out that he was Superman, he didn’t want her to have access to Kryptonite. Clark looked over their story, and then sent it on to Perry. Sometimes he hated doing stories this way—having to act like he was clueless about the resolution of their investigation and letting Lois tell her side and her side alone—but that was the reality of his double life. And, after living without Superman for two months, he found himself much more willing to put up with those difficulties. He finished up his stories for the day and headed home.

***

After picking at his dinner and performing a sedate patrol of the city, Clark turned his flight path towards Lois’s apartment. He’d been procrastinating, and he knew it. Lois had been in danger once again today. She hadn’t been kidnapped or attacked since the Luthor fiasco. He’d almost forgotten how his stomach tied in knots whenever he went to her rescue. And now, Superman had to pick up the Kryptonite bullet from Lois, and he owed her a huge thank you, but he still wasn’t sure how to handle what would most likely be an awkward meeting. He’d managed to control his frustration, but then he’d remembered that this would be the first time Superman would really talk to Lois since she’d almost married Luthor. He could see her window now. The window. The last time Superman had entered that window Lois had been wearing a satiny blue nightgown. His jaw tightened. Lois had been dressed for seduction—as though she could force Superman to love her or to confess his love for her—even though she’d rejected Clark’s declaration of love mere hours before.

Clark felt his chest grow tight, despite his invulnerability. Lois had always been able to affect him, make him breathless, make him sweat, make him lose control. She was like Kryptonite. He didn’t know why he put himself through this, why he couldn’t just leave her and never look back. How could she have been such a tease? How could she have dressed in that, that thing, for Superman? Clark let out a ragged breath. How could she be so beautiful, but only for other men? For Superman and then for Luthor. Never for Clark.

He paused midair and concentrated on regulating his breathing and slowing his racing heart. Lois had saved his life today. Superman should be grateful. He was grateful. Lois had been a good friend to Superman. Strange that it felt more like rubbing salt in a wound than being saved. He’d written their story from both their perspectives as far as the night of her declaration of love, but he’d gotten stuck trying to write that section from Lois’s perspective. He still didn’t understand what exactly it was about Superman that she loved—at least if you got rid of the powers and flashy suit. She’d said that she would love him even if he were just an ordinary man living an ordinary life, and he believed she’d meant it. What was it that she saw in Superman that she didn’t see in Clark? He had no idea. And he wasn’t sure what the best way to get that information from her was. Should he ask her as Clark? Should he ask her as Superman?

Tonight Superman needed to mend his bridge, or burn it. But which did he want to do?

Lois had been pretty wonderful to Superman today, digging that bullet out, disposing of the Kryptonite. He stared up at the stars, thinking hard. Journaling had made him realize that maybe he was being unfair to her. Lois didn’t know that he was Superman. Maybe, just maybe, it was time for Superman to be a friend to her. He hadn’t been much of a friend, he realized. He’d been so cautious of destroying his chances as Clark that he’d been careful to keep their interactions to a minimum. Lois was definitely pouring more into their relationship than he was. His lips curled in a wry smile. Lois was putting all the effort into their relationship as Superman. He was putting all the effort into their relationship as Clark. The perfect phantom love triangle.

He forced himself to stop and examine that conclusion. What effort had he put into his relationship with Lois as Superman? He saved her life, but he saved everyone he could. She’d saved Superman during the heatwave and defended him regularly. It was one of those facts of life you could count on—the sun would come up tomorrow, and Lois Lane would defend Superman from any criticism she heard.

He hadn’t told her about Luthor as Superman—partly because she’d been so adamant when he’d tried to talk to her as Clark, partly because it would have hurt too much if she’d dropped Luthor on Superman’s word alone, and partly to protect her. But, if he’d really loved her, maybe he should have put his hurt and pride aside and just done it—gone to her and told her that her boyfriend was a crime lord. He’d been terrified to put her in even more danger—what if she’d asked Luthor about Superman’s suspicions? She’d been in danger either way though, and by not telling her, he might have caused her greater pain; he was sure that her heart had been broken and her self-confidence severely shaken.

If he apologized for not telling her and for his completely unnecessary crack about her robe, it might help with the awkwardness between them, and it might show her that her hero wasn’t perfect. It might help her to see the man under the Suit. And it really was her due, considering what a good friend she’d been to Superman. He still couldn’t believe that he’d been so rude that night. Yes, one part of him had wanted to see just how far her Superman crush extended—she’d have slapped anyone else who implied they would take advantage of her, but with Superman she’d just blushed and continued on with her spiel. Yes, his heart had been broken. Yes, she’d been unknowingly pouring gallons of salt on his broken heart. But his mother would have had his hide if she’d heard him.

Clark set his face, and Superman tapped on Lois Lane’s window.