Nocturne

by ShayneT <byron212@yahoo.com >

Rated: PG

Submitted: April 2006

__________________________________

Disclaimer: Rights to all recognizable characters in this story  belong to DC Comics and Warner Brothers, and no infringement is  intended by their use in this story. Other characters are mine.

Part 01

The world seemed to pass by in flashes, still images frozen in  time. The cold, dark merciless depths of space. The looming  mountain, death of the world hurtling toward the earth.

Pain, pain, pain. Suffocation, panic. Struggling for breath.

Fire, burning...something wrong. Nothing had ever burned like  this.

The earth flying toward him, instinctively heading for the one  person who'd been like home.

A crash, then darkness.

**********

Faces leaned over the crater, staring. Men and women in suits. He  could hear their whispers. "It's him. What do you want us to  do?"

Consciousness faded in and out. He felt himself being carried.  "Get him inside. It won't be long."

It was a long time before he woke.

***********

She stared down at him, the face that had haunted her dreams for  years. "What's wrong with him?"

"Given that his physiology is quite different than that of a  normal person, we can't be a hundred percent sure. It's fairly  clear that he has suffered a head injury. I can't be clear about  a prognosis yet."

Lois sighed, and slowly sat down by the side of the bed.  Everything that had been between them, all the guilt, the  recriminations, the anger. None of it meant anything.

The light of the afternoon sun made the room bright and cheery  when Lois's mood was dark.The rest of the world was celebrating,  but she was mourning. She'd lost him years ago, but it felt like  she was losing him all over again.

The bitterness of regret was like bile in her throat. She  couldn't change the past, no matter how much she wanted to. She'd  made her choices and now she had to live with them.

Not everyone was that lucky.

"Don't talk to the press," Lois said quietly. "The last thing he  needs when he wakes up is a circus outside the door."

Her life had been a circus for the past ten years, and his life  had been even worse. Much of that was her fault, and she couldn't  help but grimace as the familiar feelings of guilt rose to the  surface once again.

There was no point in wondering what her life might have been  like had she made different choices. All that existed was now,  and she had to make the best of it.

As the doctor left the room, Lois sat down slowly next to the  bed.

Her hand found his, and she sat still, a motionless figure lit in  the afternoon sun.

************

Waking was painful. Everything was confused, disjointed. Nothing  made sense. Then his eyes cleared and he saw her above him. She  was asleep.

"Lois?" he spoke quietly, and his voice rasped unexpectedly.

She woke, startled, and leaned forward quickly. "Clark! I was  starting to think you weren't ever going to wake up."

"What happened?" he asked slowly. Where was he? It wasn't a  hospital room. It looked like a private room, and a private bed.

He blinked. Lois looked...older somehow, as though the weight of  the world had finally wrung the last bit of innocence away from  her. He could almost believe that he was seeing some gray in her  hair.

"You don't remember?" Lois asked. "The doctors said you have a  concussion. You've been unconscious for a couple of days. I'd  better go get him."

Doctors? Clark felt a moment of panic. His secret!

"I don't need a doctor," he said quickly. "I'm fine."

She was silent for a long moment. "I'm sorry." she said at last.  "I should have said it a long time ago, and I know it's not  nearly enough."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about Lois." Clark smiled  hopefully up at her. "You've been the best partner any man could  have hoped for."

He must have been mistaken, but it almost seemed as though she  paled for a moment.

************

"What's the last thing you remember?" she asked cautiously.

"We were covering the Nightfall asteroid. The scientists were  telling us it was going to be a near miss." Clark frowned  slightly. "Why?"

"So you don't remember anything that's happened since 1994?"

"This isn't 1994?" The look of confusion on his face made the  dull ache in her chest even worse.

"No it isn't." She hesitated.

"The first Nightfall asteroid was ten years ago."

"First...?"

"We didn't get so lucky with the second one. Superman had to stop  it."

He leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment. "Is it going to  be ok?"

She nodded. "You...he saved us, Clark. Superman saved the  world."

"Is he ok?"

It startled Lois to hear him speak about Superman in the third  person. She'd never had to keep up the pretense, but she didn't  see any other choice now.

"Nobody has heard from him since he stopped the asteroid."

"Mom...I need to call my parents."

Lois froze, and she felt frozen and unable to move. A sick  feeling in her gut made her wish that she was anywhere else in  the world than where she was.

"You must feel tired. You've had a long day," she said at last.

He nodded. She could see that he was already sagging backward  onto the bed, his short period of alertness draining his  reserves.

She stared down at him for a moment. He didn't remember anything  about the past ten years. For a moment she almost envied him.

He was going to have to relive the pain soon, and she was going  to have to be there again, as she hadn't been the first time.

She slowly rose to her feet and headed for the door. The  immensity of the mistake she'd made all those years ago still  overwhelmed her at times.

The two men in black suits standing at attention by the door fell  in behind her as she entered the hallway. One remained behind to  watch over Clark. Lois wondered which one of them had the  kryptonite. She would have ordered them to put it away if she  could, but on matters of security they didn't have to obey her.

A third man joined them on their way down the hall.

"What do you want us to do, Madam President?" the third man  asked.

"Have the press secretary make a statement applauding Superman  and congratulating the country and the world. She can't say  anything about where he's at; officially he's still missing. Get  me the people at NASA. If there are any smaller fragments of the  meteor that are likely to hit populated areas, I want to know  about it first. "

She went over the list in her head. It was easier than facing  what she was going to have to face.

"I want the FEMA director to have a report ready by 0900 hours.  I'll talk to President Kushkarin after I get everything else  taken care of."

How do you tell the one man that you've ever loved that he has  every reason in the world to hate you?

"I'll take care of it right away President Luthor."

Nothing was the same as it was.

***********

When he woke again it was night. His head hurt, and he wondered  why he had been allowed to sleep. He blinked slowly and it took  him a moment to clear up enough to realize that he wasn't in a  hospital room at all.

It wasn't a hospital room, though there was some equipment in the  room beeping away. The hum was somehow soothing. It covered the  sounds of crickets from outside.

Ignoring the pain in his head, Clark shifted position, turning on  his side. He froze when he realized that the wall beside the bed  was all one window looking out over the mountains, the forest  laid out beneath. He recognized this mountain range; it was the  Rocky Mountains, and from the look of the forest, this was  somewhere in Colorado.

The view was beautiful.

The camera in the corner of the room was not. Clark froze,  realizing that he was being watched.

He heard the door open behind him. He shifted again, and he  realized that it was Lois, clad now only in a robe.

What had happened to them in the intervening years? Were they  somehow...together?

The pain in her eyes suggested that wasn't the case.

Clark found that he couldn't take his eyes from her. She was even  more beautiful now than when he'd first met her. There were lines  around her eyes, but her eyes were as bright as ever.

"Lois," Clark said. "I feel so weak."

"The doctors say you've been poisoned," Lois said. "You came into  contact with something that wasn't good for you."

****************

He'd known the meteor could kill him. She'd seen it in his eyes  when he'd stood beside the scientists as they'd explained their  plan. Unlike the last near miss, this rock was radioactive, at a  frequency so high that it wouldn't even affect humans. Scientists  had feared that he might not be so lucky, that the frequency of  radiation might be close enough to that of kryptonite to depower  him, to make him ineffective.

So they'd put him in a lead suit, knowing that it would be ripped  away on the moment of impact. The hope had been that this would  be just enough to let him split the rock in two, whatever might  happen to him.

Lois remembered vividly sitting and staring at the paper in front  of her, dreading what she was being asked to do. She'd signed it,  against everything she wanted, against everything she believed  because there was no other choice.

She'd lost her lunch violently after signing the order, retching  helplessly as she sent the man she loved to die.

It wasn't the first repugnant decision she'd had to make; the  office often demanded decisions that were painful. Yet this one  was different. It had been like she was closing a chapter in her  life. She'd always hoped for a reconciliation, and with this,  there never would be.

You could see it in his eyes on television, the knowledge that he  was a sacrifice, that he wouldn't be coming back.

And yet here he was, looking up at her in the moonlight. There  was an innocence in his eyes that she hadn't seen in so long that  she couldn't remember ever seeing it. It had been a simpler time,  and for a moment Lois imagined that she was facing a time  traveler, a Clark who hadn't had to go through the past years,  who hadn't faced a decade and more of disappointments and pain.

A Clark who hadn't seen her being forced to make compromises that  blackened her soul. Politics was a dirty business, and during the  few conversations they'd had over the years, he'd never  understood.

She'd done what she had to do.

She smiled down at Clark. "Are you hungry?"

**********

It didn't hurt like Kryptonite, but he wasn't healing like he  should. Clark blinked, then nodded, trying not to wince at the  pain in his head. For a moment he wished that aspirin would  affect him, but he'd tried it when he didn't have his powers back  in Smallville, and it hadn't worked.

Lois reached for him, and helped him sit up slowly. He groaned  involuntarily.

"Things are different between us, aren't they?"

"We're not partners anymore," Lois said quietly. "We both had  to...move on."

He sat up in the bed, and Lois stepped back and reached for an  intercom on the wall. "Bring us two roast beef sandwiches and  iced teas."

"You don't have to tell them to put the mayo on the side and to  make the lettuce crispy?" Clark asked, his lips quirking  slightly.

"They know how I like my sandwiches," Lois said shortly. She  pulled a chair from the wall and sat down beside him. "Listen,  Clark. Things have changed."

"This is quite some place," Clark said, turning his head to look  out the window.

It was almost as though he was afraid to hear the truth. Lois  could understand that. She was afraid to tell it.

"We're just here to ride out the storm," Lois said. "Until we get  the all clear that there won't be any meteor fragments hitting  any populated areas."

"I'd have thought you'd have been in the middle of it, reporting  on everything. The end of the world is just your sort of story."

Lois stared down at the blanket. "I haven't been a reporter in a  long time." Lex had insisted on that. She should have known  something was wrong then.

She glanced up to find Clark staring at her intently. She didn't  have the heart to tell him that he hadn't been either.

"I'd have thought that you loved it too much to give it up."

"I'm more of a newsmaker now," Lois said quietly. "Life didn't  turn out exactly how I expected."

Being the target of reporters instead of being one had been a  shock from the beginning. It hadn't taken Lois long to learn to  hate them. She'd hated her entire life and at times the only  thing that had kept her going was the memory of her time with  him.

They'd been partners, nothing more, but it had been the highlight  of her life.

She sighed finally. "We haven't been friends in a long time, and  I'm sorry about that."

**********

Part 02

Clark stared at her for a moment. Not friends? What had he done?

"Why?" he asked.

He loved her. He couldn't see any reason that might have  stopped.

"I got married," she said.

Oh.

"I shouldn't have done it. I knew it was a mistake the minute I  said ‘I do'. I kept hoping that you'd break in and save me, but  you never did."

Clark wondered why he hadn't. Surely he'd have done everything in  his power to stop her, to convince her that he loved her.

"It just wasn't the same after Jack and Perry died in the fire."

Clark froze. "Perry's dead?" It was a shock. Clark didn't even  know who Jack was, but that wasn't important right now.

Lois nodded soberly. "The Daily Planet went up with it.  Su...Superman was on the other side of the world, trying to deal  with oil fires in the Middle East." She chuckled bitterly. "Maybe  if Perry would have lived there might have been something to go  back to."

Clark glanced down at her hands. "You don't wear a ring."

"He died." she said shortly. "I kept his name for political  reasons."

"Political?" Clark found that his head was spinning. It was too  much change in too short a time. He was actually grateful when  the door behind Lois opened and a uniformed man slipped into the  door and set a tray next to the bed.

The next few minutes were occupied with the activities of  preparing the tray and eating. The food was good, almost as good  as his mother made.

**********

It was almost as though he knew, and just didn't want to ask.

"Clark, I..."

A knock at the door interrupted her. A woman in a black suit  stepped in. "Ma'am. It's time."

Lois glanced back at Clark, then said, "I have to go."

He didn't protest, and the drawn look on his face told her he  wasn't ready yet for the truth.

She stepped through the door, and the woman stepped through the  door. Her chief of staff was waiting.

"The fragments are starting to come down, and casualty reports  are coming in."

Lois glanced sharply back at the door behind her. "Not here.  We'll talk in the situation room."

Clark had stopped Nightfall. But he hadn't stopped the fragments  left behind.

*****************

All anyone ever saw was the power of the office. No one ever saw  the helplessness, the pain of the time when there was nothing you  could do but sit and wait.

News footage was on a dozen screens, with live video of a sky lit  by thousands of streaks of light. Thousands of fragments rained  down; most were incinerated as they entered the atmosphere, but  hundreds of larger pieces got through.

Colorado was safe, but even from here the sky was lit up like it  was dawn.

Reports began flooding in from the west coast. Fragments of the  meteor struck down like the judgment of God. Reports of fires, of  looting, of traffic jams miles in length as people tried to  escape the doomed areas. More people were dying from the panic  than from the meteors. Power lines were down and a dozen western  states were without electricity.

It was a nightmare, despite the low casualty count. So far it was  only in the double digits, but that number would grow.

Throughout it all, Lois felt dazed. She made calls, spoke with  governors and mayors and directors of Homeworld security. It was  important that she remained calm and in command. Lives were at  stake, and a failure here would cause panic and confusion down  the line.

The military was efficient at least. This wasn't the  confrontation they'd been preparing for, but they'd been looking  for trouble from the skies. The new air defense system was put to  its first real test. Eighty percent of the remaining fragments  were shattered long before they reached the Earth, as streaks of  fire shot up from military bases and population centers.

Despite everything they could do, there were too many fragments  and too few defense systems in place. Lois found herself cursing  under her breath, but it couldn't be helped. Dozens of large  meteors struck the Earth, at first in uninhabited areas, but  increasingly headed for metropolitan centers.

It was then that one of the agents entered at a run. He leaned  close to Lois and whispered.

Clark Kent had escaped.

*****************

There were flashes of the void, memories of pain and fear and  desperate loss. Seeing the sky, Clark knew instinctively what it  meant.

He felt a moment of fear, of hesitation. He was injured, and the  fragments were poison to him. Intervening meant he could die.

Dying would mean giving up on a chance with Lois, a chance to be  with her that apparently they'd missed the first time around.

The moment passed, and his purpose became clear. People were  dying, and he had a chance to stop that.  He couldn't simply sit  by and let them destroy everything that he loved.

He'd become Superman for a reason, and it wasn't for glory. It  wasn't for power. It was to make a difference, to leave the world  better than what he'd found it. He didn't have the suit, but it  didn't matter.

The shattering of the picture window was the only sign he left in  his wake.

***************

It was the news reports that clued them in first. The meteors  continued to fall, but reports of people being saved began to  trickle in, first as a few isolated reports, then as a flood.

People trapped on the freeway, trying to escape California, stuck  in cars that had become death traps. Miraculously, these people  began appearing at local shelters, appearing in a blur.

He wasn't slowing down at all, not stopping to accept thanks or  give any explanations.

People pulled from buildings. He wasn't stopping the meteors; he  must have learned already that they hurt him. His only concern  was human life.

The calls began to slow. Lois found herself drawn increasingly to  the screen, as millions of others must be. The damage to property  was incredible, but the loss of life was far less that Lois ever  would have hoped.

Scientists would later talk about the relatively small arc of the  shower as it hit Nevada and California. Within an hour, the  shower was striking the Pacific, the country being protected at  last by the curvature of the earth.

From that point in, the reports were all about the damage that  had been done. There were occasional reports of ships being saved  out in the Pacific, but as the last of the meteor fragments  landed, Lois was dealing with reports of deaths from the small  tidal wave that hit the California coast first, and then the  shores of Japan.

Fires too were taxing an already overstrained system.

The reports of deaths began again, and this time there were no  reports of rescues.

There were no reports of Clark at all.

Lois felt numb. She'd found him again only to lose him.

It was hours before the calls began to slow, before there were  moments of peace. The news channels were showing only repeats  now, the same footage over and over again.

One more scar on the psyche of an already damaged nation.

In the end, all she could do was stare numbly at her desk. At  this point, sleep seemed impossible, though she was desperately  tired. She wondered, not for the first time, why she'd ever  wanted the job.

Oh. Right. She'd wanted to make a difference.

*****************

He retched heavily, spewing water onto the deck. Dimly he could  see figures above him. He felt as weak as he'd ever felt, and he  retched again.

Squinting into the sky, he relaxed as he realized that no more  meteors were falling. The sky was finally at peace, and filled  with a sea of stars.

He slept. When he woke again, he realized he was on a stretcher.  He heard the familiar sound of flashbulbs, and he squinted,  realizing that there were photographers taking his picture.

"Are the rumors about you and the President true?" one of the men  shouted when he saw that Clark was awake. "Don't you think it's a  slap in the face of the country for you to carry on like that?"

Another man shoved him aside. "Is this the first part of another  attack by the New Kryptonians?"

Clark shook his head and was instantly hit with blinding pain as  he struggled against his restraints. A moment later he was out  again.

When he woke again, he was in a hospital, and he was in pain.

Lois was there.

***************

He looked worse than he had in the tabloid pictures. His face was  pale and white, and he looked almost gaunt. He'd been unconscious  for days.

Despite hard won knowledge of Kryptonian physiology, there had  been little the doctors could do other than remove the fragments  of meteorite that were poisoning him. And chelation therapy,  introducing substances into the body designed to bind with the  heavy metals in his bloodstream and help him excrete them.

It wasn't really designed for this sort of mineral, and the  doctors didn't hold out much hope.

The camera was up in the corner of the room, an ever present eye  waiting for him to lunge at her. Despite all her assurances, the  secret service took its work seriously. Lois was persistently  aware of the two agents waiting outside the door, and the others  at both ends of the hall. The agents on top of the roof, in the  basement, in the stairwells and on every possible entrance to  this place were an ever present nuisance.

They'd earned their right to be.

Clark stirred, and Lois felt her heart leap. There'd been some  fear that he was going to be comatose.

"Lo.."

"Don't try to talk," Lois said. She smiled down at him, trying  not to see the strain in her eyes. "I'm glad to see you back."

They sat together, and for now it was enough.

************

Her chief of staff was waiting for her. "You can't keep doing  this. The press is having a field day."

"I've done all the rejecting I can stand. He saved our lives and  he deserves anything we can give him." Lois scowled and slipped  into the long, black armored car.

"It's just going to bring up the old rumors," The older man  slipped into the seat beside her. "We can't afford to look  weak."

"His numbers are almost up to what they were before the war. The  people have forgiven him." Lois stared out the window at the  gathering crowds of people outside. She'd have to vary the timing  of her visits. It wouldn't do to be too predictable.

"That's today. What about tomorrow?"

"We'll deal with that when we come to it." Lois's voice curt, and  the older man immediately backed off. He knew when to push a  subject and when to drop it. It made him a valuable second in  command.

"The joint chiefs want to look into using the meteorite fragments  as a weapon."

Lois frowned. Supplies of kryptonite were intensely limited. It  would be best to get the fragments out of the hands of criminals  and into the hands of someone who could use it.

"Do it."

**************

Part 03

Lois stopped coming to visit him during the day.

He came to expect the sudden moments of awareness, of being  awakened to her presence, warm and comforting. The visits were  always in semi-darkness, the shadows cool and enveloping.

Often they just sat together, without words, taking comfort in  each other's presence. Clark had stopped asking questions; he  suspected that the answers would be too painful. The nights were  simply about being together.

Days passed. Days were different than nights, long, rarely  interrupted periods of boredom and pain. He was healing, but it  was glacially slow, painful. This was what it was like to feel  human.

During the day, the silent, efficient members of the secret  service were replaced with a heavyset security guard named Ed. Ed  was friendly enough, but prone to wander off at times. Clark  suspected that the free donuts in the staff room kept calling  Ed's name.

The nights were enchanted, dreamlike. The days were filled with  peeling plaster, sagging ceiling tiles and heavyset nurses who refused to look him in the eye.

The doctors were pleased with his recovery at least. He'd died  three times on the table.

When he'd been shot with a kryptonite bullet, he'd healed in less  than a minute. He might have been healing well by human  standards, but this was not normal for him. Clark began to become  increasingly impatient, to hope to go back to his life.

He only had three channels on his television. Lois never knew  because television was the last thing on their minds when they  were together.

Being unconscious, he'd missed the initial reports about the  meteor shower, and about the celebrations that had broken out all  over the world in the aftermath. His ego would have hoped to see  something about him, but the only shows on television were  endless rounds of soap operas, Judge Judy and infomercials.

Questions burned in his mind. The presence of the secret service,  and the indefinable aura of authority that had settled on Lois  like a mantle told Clark that she was important and powerful. How  she'd gotten into politics was still a mystery.

Clark began sleeping in the afternoons, so he'd be alert at  night.

************

It was the shadow over his bed that woke him. He smiled,  anticipating and opened his eyes, only to be confronted by an  unexpected figure.

The afternoon sun still spilled through the window onto him. The  figure beside his bed definitely wasn't Lois or even Ed.

It was a short, blonde teenager with a big smile and a fanny  pack. She had a cellular phone that she was pointing at him, and  a book in the other hand. "You won't believe who I've got on my  rounds. I'm sending a picture now!"

Clark blinked, confused.

"It's not every day that you get to meet a celebrity." The girl  smiled brightly. "Especially not a big hero like you! Saving all  those people...it just gives me chills."

Clark relaxed slightly. He'd dealt with fans, both as Superman  and less frequently as Clark Kent. He smiled at her. "I didn't  know they were letting volunteers work this section of the  hospital."

She wasn't a volunteer, of course. Liability laws had stopped  candy striping back in the sixties. Clark would play along,  however. Part of becoming Superman had been a commitment to  communicating with people, to making sure that they weren't  afraid.

"Well, technically I'm working in the wing next to here, but when  I heard that you were here, I just said to myself, wouldn't it be  great to meet the man himself?"

A headache was beginning to form in the center of Clark's skull,  but he didn't stop smiling. The least he could do for someone was  to give them the courtesy of listening. What else did he have to  do?

"Mr. Kent. Will you sign my book for me?" The girl flipped her  phone closed and slipped it into her pocket. "None of the gals  back home will believe that I met the one and only Superman."

Clark froze. Everyone knew? When had that happened?

Numbly he took the pen she was offering and quickly scrawled an  autograph. He frowned a moment, then closed the book.

The face of Jason Trask was on the cover. The book was entitled  "Invasion: An autobiography of an American hero." The line at the  foot of the page said, "The life and death of the man who  predicted the invasion."

He felt nauseous, and it took a moment to realize it wasn't just  the book.

"It's kind of ironic. That book is the last one you'll ever see."  The girl stepped closer to him, and reached into her fanny pack.  From inside it, she pulled a black piece of rock. "Did it feel  good, killing Jason Trask? He knew the truth about your dirty  little invasion."

It didn't hurt like Kryptonite had. It was a dull, debilitating,  nauseous pain.

"I've got friends out in California. One of them had this in his  back yard." The girl stared impassively down at the rock. "You  know what one of these goes for on e-bay? What with the military  trying to take it out of the hands of the people who need it?"

Clark grabbed for the call button, but the girl was quicker.  "Now, don't be a naughty boy." She slapped his hand away and  grabbed the unit herself, dropping it to the floor. "We've got a  little time here, and we don't want it to be interrupted by a  nasty old nurse."

"Why are you doing this?" Clark asked. The nausea even worse than  before. Now his stomach was cramping, and so were other parts of  his body.

"It's just sick, what you and that Lane woman are doing. I'd  never let some filthy Kryp touch me. There's a name for women  like that..." The girl hesitated, then scowled, a look of  distaste on her face. "What if you get her pregnant?"

"Wha...?"

"You think it hasn't happened before? It's all over the internet!  What your people did...you should be ashamed."

Clark tried to pull back, but the raised rails on the bed stopped  him.

The girl pushed several buttons on the monitor beside his bed.  There was a small alarm that disappeared a moment later.

"You've got a lot of people fooled," the girl said. "They think  that just because you do a few good things here and there, you  must be who you always said you were. Well, I know the truth."

The girl smiled and took another picture with her phone. "It's  sort of appropriate that people get to see your last seconds on  Earth."

"It's a good thing you've already had your bath for the day." The  girl lifted his blanket and her small hand slipped under the  cover. She dropped the rock into his lap, then patted him on the  thigh. "Nobody will think to look for it here."

The pain was overwhelming.

She took picture after picture.

***************

"I want him guarded." Lois said, scowling. If it hadn't been for  the security guard coming back from his extended "bathroom" break  and catching her in the act, Clark would be dead right now.

"That's going to make things look..."

"I don't care." Lois's voice was sharper than she'd intended. She  took a deep breath, and said, "You know what he's done for all of  us. He deserves better than this. He deserves to be treated like  a hero, not..."

Her hands were shaking. She put them behind her and leaned back  in her chair.

The older man sighed. "I'll pull the detail that watches over  foreign dignitaries."

"He's an American citizen." Lois said. Her lips tightened, and  she fought to keep her temper. "He's earned the right to be  treated like one. Do anything different, and it gives credence to  what the extremists are saying. Find a group that doesn't have  any...prejudices, and make it quick."

Nodding, the older man made a note in his personal organizer.

"Do we have anything on the girl?" Lois was pleased at how even  her voice sounded. Outbursts of anger could be tolerated in a  reporter. To a president, they were a liability.

If Lex had shown her anything, it was how to hide her feelings.

"She belongs to a number of conspiracy web sites. There's some  evidence that she's a member of an anti-Kryptonian extremist  group. We're tracking down the sites she sent the pictures to, to  see what we can find."

"If they've so much as dropped a piece of litter, I want them  hauled in," Lois said. "If we can prove that they conspired with  her...and somebody sent her that rock, I want them prosecuted to  the full extent of the law."

"Our lawyers say they might try to claim it's not a homicide, as  Kryptonians are by definition not human."

Letting that get by in court would be a disaster. The nation had  less than a generation to make up their mind about the status of  Kryptonians and those with Kryptonian blood.

The conspiracy sites were filled with hysterical rumors about  half-Kryptonian children being born. It was true. Lois had seen  the files on the children of the occupation. Within ten years, a  group of Americans would come into abilities that were more than  human.

Lois had fought too long and hard for women's rights to sit by  while a new group was made into second class citizens. If need  be, she'd turn Lex's entire fortune to stopping this.

He'd spin in his grave, but it was nothing more than he  deserved.

"He's an American. When we granted him citizenship, we gave him  all the rights and responsibilities that come with that."

"That won't be a popular stance."

"Have you seen his poll numbers? They're higher than mine." Even  after saving the world they weren't up to pre-war levels, but  neither of them had to say it. This was the world they lived in.

"That just makes the extremists more angry."

"It always does." Lois sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.  Suddenly she was tired, more exhausted than she'd been since the  night of the meteor strikes.

She'd chosen this, and there were miles still to go.

************

Scraping gently, the razor slid down the length of his throat,  rhythmically. It was intimate, almost uncomfortably so, but Clark  shut his eyes and endured it stoically.

It was warm here, almost uncomfortably so. Clark had been moved  out of the hospital and into a country mansion, with an open  window and ornate ceiling fans rotating sluggishly against the  high ceiling.

If he didn't know better, he'd think he'd been moved to some sort  of antebellum manor. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out before  they'd transported him.

He swallowed, and the blade at his throat hesitated. He looked up  at the all too young face above him, at the woman wearing the  classic secret service dress, and it brought back memories of  another young face.

She must have seen the shift in his expression, because she  looked him in the eye and said, "We aren't all fanatics."

He was having a hard time believing it. Everything he'd learned  about this new world had been negative. He and Lois, whatever had  happened to make that young girl hate him that much…the changes  just never seemed to stop. It was bewildering.

He struggled for a moment to remember her name before it came to  him. Tammy. Not exactly the name he‘d have expected from an  agent. "Do you know when Lois is going to come back?"

"She's in Kyoto, at a conference. She waited as long as she  could, but the peace talks couldn't wait."

"Is there any chance that I could get a newspaper, or at least a  television?"

Tammy shrugged noncommittally.

"I don't make those decisions. I just work here."

Clark smiled up at her. In the past, charming women had been  easy, though he was sure he looked far from attractive at the  moment. "Just a magazine or a book?"

It almost seemed as though they were deliberately avoiding  letting him know anything about the world around him.

Part of him didn't want to know. The rest of him felt compelled,  though. He'd felt the same need as a child to stare at an open  wound.

The people around him were nice, if ever present. It still felt  like nothing more than a prison,

The rhythmic scraping of blade on skin continued.

Clark wondered why they didn't trust any nurses to do this. Was he that hated?

************

Part 04

The sound of the wheelchair rolling against the gravel was as  sweet as the sweet breath of wind on his face. Clark closed his  eyes and allowed himself to relax, enjoying the warmth of the  sun.

He was rarely out of the sun these days, and he wondered for a  moment what his doctors knew that he didn't. Whatever it was, it  seemed to be doing him some good. He'd managed to stand up on his  own and had made it to the bathroom on his own last night. He  felt optimistic for the first time in a while. He still hadn't  seen Lois, and it had been almost a week now.

The thought that he might not be politically acceptable to visit  was an ugly one, but Clark had to reassure himself that the  office of president was a very busy one, and it wasn't something  that allowed much time off.

Footsteps behind him. Clark didn't open his eyes, though he  didn't recognize the sounds. He'd become familiar with Tammy's  footsteps, light and quick, and he knew Lois's by heart. These  were heavier and uneven.

They approached, and Clark slowly opened his eyes. He felt his  pulse racing, and his face brightened.

"Jimmy!"

Jimmy was wearing a tailored suit and had a cane and a briefcase,  but physically he'd changed a lot less than Clark would have  thought.

He still looked like a young man, and smile on his face was warm  and genuine. If there was a trace of maturity there that hadn't  been there before, it wasn't filled with the same sort of quiet  pain that he'd become used to seeing.

"You're a hard man to track down, CK." Jimmy lowered himself  stiffly onto the iron bench beside Clark. "The press has no idea  where you are, and they're looking. If I didn't still have a  little pull with the President, I never would have gotten in, and  I'm not exactly sure where we are."

"What are you up to these days, Jimmy?" It was difficult to keep  a note of melancholia from his voice. He'd lost so many memories,  missed on so much. Even though there was obviously a lot of pain  during those years, he was sure that there was a lot of good as  well.

"War correspondent," Jimmy said. "I've been all over the world,  and I've been published by pretty much everyone. I'm up for a  Kerth this year."

There was a quiet sense of pride in his voice, a satisfaction and  self confidence that had been missing from the boy Clark had  known. Clark glanced down at the cane.

Jimmy noticed and grinned. "Well, being a war correspondent can  be pretty dangerous…but I got this showing off for a girl. The  doc says I'll be good as new in six weeks."

Clark grinned back. Not everything had changed.

"Lois told me you've lost your memory."

Clark nodded slowly. "I had a pretty bad head injury. I've had  some concentration problems too." He'd had increased irritability  as well, though he'd kept that to himself.

Jimmy reached for his briefcase and slid it into his lap. "Well,  I've got something for you."

He opened the briefcase and pulled out a book. Clark winced. The  last book he'd been presented with had been Trask's biography.

"You gave me permission to do this before."

Clark took the book and stared at it. Superman was on the cover,  his cape whipping dramatically behind him. The title was "My life  with a Hero, by James Olsen."

"I've been trying to get this published for years, but nobody was  interested. With the whole Nightfall thing, though, you are  suddenly a hot commodity. They're working on a print run of  500,000 copies right now."

Clark flipped through the book. In the center, there were  pictures. Some were of him and Lois. Some were of Superman. A few  were of Jimmy himself. He recognized the occasions. Halfway  through, the pictures began to change. These were pictures of  things he didn't recognize.

His hand froze as he came across a picture taken from a  helicopter, of smoke over Washington D.C. The title below the  picture was simple and to the point. "The invasion."

"What happened?"

Jimmy coughed uncomfortably. "It turned out that you weren't the  last Kryptonian…and some of them weren't friendly."

It explained a great deal.

Clark turned the page and saw a picture of the White House  burning. "They did this?"

"After Luthor killed Nor, yeah."

"Lex Luthor?"

"President Luthor. I guess he'd hated you for a long time, so he  was ready when Nor and his men broke in making demands."

Lex would have had Kryptonite. The thought that he'd somehow  become President still stunned Clark. He would have thought the  American people would have had better sense.

"So they burned the White House."

"With the President in it." Jimmy's voice was grim, and he  reached over and turned the page. Clark winced. He continued.  "The secret service got Lois out, but…"

Clark froze as he stared down at a picture of Lex Luthor and Lois  standing together at a fund raiser.

She'd married Lex.

***************

It was night again. The days had begun to blur together, and  Clark had begun to regain his strength. He could walk now, though  he was restricted to certain parts of the house.

The doctors had suggested that exercise might be good for him,  and so he'd begun to take walks, accompanied by Tammy and a  rotation of other nameless agents.

They weren't nameless, but he had trouble caring what their names  were. He'd begun slipping into a bit of a depression.

The world wasn't what he'd thought it'd be.

He'd begun reading Jimmy's book, when he was able to concentrate  enough, and that was the one glimmer of hope that he had. Jimmy's  book was uniformly positive and upbeat.

A cynical mind might even call it a propaganda piece.

Clark returned to his room. He'd been moved to the first floor,  now that he was mobile and didn't have to be out in the sun every  moment of the day.

He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the shadowed figure  sitting in the chair by his bed. It began pounding as he realized  who it was.

Lois.

She was crying.

Quickly, he moved around the bed and dropped to one knee beside  her.

She seemed almost oblivious to his presence, but then she slipped  her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

Minutes passed before she could get control of herself. Finally,  she pulled away and spoke.

"I had to send people away to die again today."

He wasn't sure what she meant, but instinctively realized that he  didn't have to say anything. He stood up and sat on the bed.

"It doesn't get any easier…I wonder sometimes if getting into it  in the first place was even worth it."

Clark reached for the lamp beside the bed, but Lois shook her  head.

"I don't want the cameras to see me like this." Lois reached for  a tissue by the side of the bed. "I can't afford to look weak."

"It's not weak to cry."

"It is when you are President." Lois stared down at her hands.  "If Lex taught me anything, he taught me that."

It was time. There were too many things that had been unspoken  between them. Maybe it would be easier for her to talk under  cover of darkness, where she didn't have to look him in the eye.

"Tell me about Lex," Clark said.

*************

He knew.

What surprised Lois was the sense of relief she felt. She'd  thought of every way possible to tell him, but she'd never quite  had the courage. It was as though a weight had lifted from her  shoulders, one she'd become so accustomed to that she had barely  known it existed.

"It was a mistake," Lois said. "I knew it the moment I said ‘I  do'."

She'd felt sick the moment the words passed her lips, but by then  it had been too late. She still remembered the look of triumph on  Lex's face, and the thought made her shudder.

"I guess part of me was waiting for one of you to rescue me. You  or…him. It didn't matter which." It had been so long since Lois  had thought of them as separate people that it felt almost  quaint.

Clark was silent, his face enveloped in shadow. Lois wished she  could see the expression on his face. She wished she had a clue  as to what he was thinking.

"It was my reputation that helped him win the presidency." The  familiar, acrid bitter taste rose in her throat. "He had the  money, but he would have never survived the press poking around  in his secrets if they hadn't assumed that I'd have known about  anything."

"What was I doing?" Clark asked quietly. His voice was carefully  neutral, devoid of emotion.

"I think you were trying to find proof. Lex found out about it,  and it wasn't long before the story of your secret was public  knowledge." Lois hesitated, "That helped him out too. People were  so caught up in what was happening with you that the election was  almost an afterthought."

"And my parents?" If anything, his posture was even stiffer than  before. He had to know that something was wrong. His parents  hadn't even attempted to contact him, despite knowing that he was  injured and hurt.

"Your parents' farm was burned. I still haven‘t found out if it  was Lex‘s men or random crazies that did it. Lex had them put in  the witness protection program. He held it over your head…told  you it wasn't safe to see them, that they'd be at risk just by  your being there."

Lois sat up slowly and reached for a tissue.

"In the end, it saved them." Lois shook her head. "It's funny how  things turn out. He did a lot of bad things, but he died a  hero."

"So you…cared about him?" He wouldn't look at her. Instead he  stared off into the distance.

Lois chuckled bitterly. "It was a cold, empty marriage from the  beginning. Lex was always more interested in the pursuit of  something than in actually having it. I think the only reason he  kept 90 percent of his possessions was so nobody else could have  them."

"And us?"

"He knew how I felt about you, even before I found out your  secret. When you announced that you were leaving for your home  planet to fight in a civil war, he took great delight in seeing  me suffer."

Clark hadn't even stayed to see the results of the election. It  had hurt, but Lois had understood. He didn't have anything left  to hold him on Earth.

"I'm sorry."

"You were gone for three years. I guess you won, because Nor and  the remnants of his armies escaped, and they came here."

*************

Part 05

Clark remembered some of the pictures he'd seen, of buildings  burned, and bodies. He felt ill.

"So my people…people with abilities like mine came here and  invaded."

"If Lex hadn't been so paranoid about you, made sure that key  people in the military had Kryptonite, we'd have been lost." Lois  grimaced.

Jimmy had said the invasion lasted eighteen days. He hadn't  talked much about what had happened during that time, but Clark  could see it in his eyes. It had been bad.

Lois continued. "Eventually you returned and you rounded up most  of Nor's men."

"Most?"

"Some deserted before the end. We've spent the last few years  trying to round them up."

Aliens hiding in plain sight. Clark could see how that would  frighten people, keep them looking over their shoulder. The  thought that your neighbor, or the punk kid on the subway could  burn you to death by just looking at you...it would terrify  anyone.

Clark had traveled extensively when he was younger, and he knew  just how far people would go to feel safe.

Just what they would give up.

The hatred in the young girl's eyes as she dropped the meteor on  him...it was slowly becoming clear to him what it was about.

It was all about fear.

"The country wasn't the same after that. People were afraid. They  voted General Cash into office, and it only got worse. The things  he did...the things we did..." Lois shook her head. "I don't  understand how we could have..."

"So you decided to run."

"I had billions of dollars and the name of a martyred president.  Mostly, I didn't scare people as much as the other candidates  did. President Cash would have had us under martial law, and the  others were...weak. When people are afraid they avoid weakness."

She'd kept the money. Why that disappointed Clark he didn't know.  From the look in her eye he suspected that it was an argument  they'd had in the past.

Lois continued. "I promised to keep people safe without eroding  the liberties that make this country what it is today." She  looked down at the floor. "I wasn't always able to keep that  promise."

"I'm sure you've made a great president Lois."

"Two thirds of the voters didn't think so. I'm in the record  books as the only president to ever win with less than a third of  the popular vote. People didn't like my age, they didn't like my  sex...and they didn't like you."

**************

Lois closed her eyes. "The comedians were relentless. The jokes  they made...about us being together before Lex died...they were  cruel and painful."

The campaign had been hell, grueling and relentless. Her  opponents had hammered away at her qualifications, at her  character. They'd made her out to be inept, weak willed, a  whore.

The worst was that there had been a grain of truth to the  accusations. Lois had realized that she loved Clark early in her  marriage, and there were points where she had been tempted. But  Clark...he was too principled to even consider something like  that, whatever the temptation.

His parents had raised him better.

She was glad of it now. She'd have hated herself. Her father had  cheated, and she knew by example how empty, how damaging that  was.

Even after Lex died, it hadn't been the same. Lois had immersed  herself in political events, trying to stop President Cash's  worse atrocities. Rallies, fundraisers, lobbying. She'd fallen  into it with the same intensity that she'd used in her life as a  reporter. It had consumed her, left her with little time in her  life for anything or anyone else.

She hadn't even had much time for him.

And given their arguments about Lex's money, it hadn't been easy  to talk to Clark. He wasn't used to the sort of compromises that  politicians had to make every day. He tended to see the world in  blacks and whites.

It had been a luxury she couldn't afford.

The compromise she'd made to gain the presidency was still the  source of her greatest guilt.

"My advisors...they pushed me to do something I didn't want to  do." Lois felt a tear forming at the edge of her eyelid.

Clark leaned forward and said, "It's all right, Lois."

Pulling away from him, Lois said, "It'll never be all right. I  rejected you, and I did it publicly."

It was the lie that Lois hadn't been able to live with. Seeing  the pain in his eyes, even if only in the glaring lights of  television cameras had been a nightmare.

How much worse must it have been for him? He could have been a  king among his people, but he'd given it all up for a world that  didn't want him.

For a woman who couldn't admit that she did.

She'd looked in the mirror every day, and she'd seen the weight  of the world settling on her shoulders, the burden getting  heavier and heavier. It happened with everyone, but Lois had  hated the growing deadness in her eyes. She'd been alone, in the  one place where no one should ever be alone.

Maybe there was a reason that they'd almost all been married.  Everyone needed comfort, especially the holder of the office.

She jerked slightly as she felt his arms encircling her. It had  been a long time since she'd been touched by anyone, and Lois  felt herself sagging into his embrace.

The wetness of tears on her face surprised her, but they  shouldn't have.

She felt as though for the first time that she could remember,  she was coming home.

********************

The scent of jasmine was heavy on the wind. Clark smiled slightly  when he heard her stepping onto the veranda behind him.

Everything was so much easier now. In the days since Lois had  broke down and told him the truth, they'd rediscovered some of  their easy camaraderie that they'd lost somewhere along the way.  They'd laughed together, and Clark had begun to find some real  hope that they would finally have a chance to find each other.

She was quiet for a moment. "I hear the doctors say you are  ready."

Clark didn't look at her. He simply sat still, enjoying the  return of senses that he'd never realized were so much a part of  him. He didn't have to see her now to know she was there. He  could hear the sounds of her heartbeat, the sounds of the blood  rushing in her veins.

He could smell her sweet perfume, and beneath that, the scent  he'd come to recognize as being indisputably her.

Seeing and hearing everything for miles around, he wished for a  moment that he could share this with her, that she could see the  world as he did.

It was indescribably beautiful.

Hesitantly she stepped forward. "Things are going to be different  for you now."

Nodding, he said, "I know. I asked about my apartment, my things.  The agents told me what happened to them. Do I really live in the  artic someplace?"

"You still don't remember anything?" Lois moved beside him, and a  moment later she leaned against him.

"My burn healed in under a minute," Clark said slowly. The burn  on his thigh was the one injury that she hadn't seen. "And I  still don't remember anything. The doctors say there's a good  chance the damage may be permanent."

His brain was healed, but the information that had been in the  damaged parts might never be recovered.

Worse, he couldn't stay here forever, waiting for stolen moments  with a woman whose every waking moment was so busy that she  barely had time to think.

"I've got some ideas," Lois said. "About some things you might be  able to do..."

******************

"You want me to work for you?" Clark's expression was  incredulous.

"Technically you already work for me," Lois said. "When I signed  the order sending you to stop Nightfall, I made you an agent of  the United States government. That hasn't changed."

"I never wanted to play politics." Clark's expression was  troubled. "I always wanted Superman to belong to the world."

"Superman can belong to the world. I want to hire Clark Kent."

Lois called back into the darkened recesses behind her.  "Charlie!"

A young man in his early teens emerged with a briefcase. He  struggled slightly carrying it.

The briefcase was lined with lead.

"I need you to sign some papers for me." At his look, she hurried  on. "Non-disclosure forms. There are some things secret enough  that it would be illegal for me to talk to you about without  them."

Clark nodded shortly. He looked the papers over quickly, and  signed his name to the bottom of them.

Lois had Charlie put the briefcase on a small table. She began  her spiel.

"There were some unintended consequences to the occupation."

She pulled out several pictures, and she could see from his  expression that he was hooked.

"What would you think about becoming an uncle?"

**************

Clark straightened his tie and wondered for the thousandth time  if he wouldn't be instantly recognized.

Stepping through the doors, he was immediately assaulted by the  sounds of childhood. Laughing, running, the walls an explosion of  colors that matched the happy sounds.

He felt relieved. This wasn't the sort of place he'd feared.

Showing his identification to a smiling elderly woman at the  front desk, he was ushered back into a large room where dozens of  children were playing.

There was a lot of laughter in this room, and Clark felt  something within him easing a little. He'd imagined a place of  gloom and despair, something out of Dickens. At the best he'd  hoped to find a waiting area, a place where children were held in  limbo as they waited in the furtive hope that someone, somehow  would choose to love them.

This was a happy place, and Clark was glad to see that the staff  was obviously dedicated to their work.

With all the happiness in the room, there was one dark spot in  the corner. A single child sat alone. She was silent, watching  the laughter around her, and there was something about her that  simply cried out wordlessly.

Her face was heart shaped, and her hair was black. It would be  easy to imagine that this is what his child with Lois would look  like.

"Is Kara here?" Clark asked, even though he knew the answer. At  the sound of her name, the girl looked up, and for the first time  he saw a flicker of emotion.

The woman, Mrs. Crabtree by her nametag nodded and led her in the  girl's direction.

"This is Clark." She spoke softly to the girl.

For a moment, Clark wondered if the little girl was deaf. All  she'd done was stare up at him, as though she was fixated on his  face. He wondered if she felt it too, the instant feeling of  kinship that he'd felt with her.

New Kryptonians were telepathic with each other. Clark wasn't  sure that he had those abilities, but just in case he attempted  to project feelings of warmth and affection.

Clark lowered himself to one knee, bringing his face level with  hers, and he held out his hand.

"Hello, Kara. I think we've got a lot to talk about."

She took his hand in hers, and he knew he'd made the right  choice.

After this, thirty more to go.

***********

Part 06

Clark floated silently above the crowds. There were so many, each  with a different story. Some were in orphanages, some lived with  family members. Each was a testament to tragedy.

All of them were innocent, and each was a potential threat.

No one knew what would happen when the DNA of Earth and Krypton  combined. Perhaps they would all be human. Perhaps some would  inherit the legacy of their fathers.

Perhaps they all would.

There had been factions in the government who wanted to do  something monstrous, terrified by the prospect of thirty children  being abused and tormented and growing to hate the world.

What they'd wanted to do was monstrous.

The choice had been given to Lois. She'd sought out the help of  the only experts in the world who knew how to raise a superhuman  and turn him into a decent human being.

Their answers had been enlightening. Despite the risk, they'd met  with the people in power, and they'd laid out a plan that had  impressed and relieved the more reactionary members.

It thrilled Clark to know that his parents were still alive, and  it gratified him to know that they thought he was the best choice  to help carry out their plan.

They'd code named it Utopia.

Clark lay back staring at the stars, impatience thrumming deep  within him.

Finally it was time. He allowed himself to drop through the  clouds and into the night sky. The Pacific was beautiful this  time of year, even in the darkness.

Hawaii. He never would have suspected.

Within a moment he was landing on a deserted beach. Two figures  were walking from the opposite direction in the moonlight,  holding hands as though they were still the young couple in love  that they remembered themselves as.

They were tan, and his father had lost weight. He looked fit,  glowing with health and vitality. They hardly seemed older.

Retirement had been good to them.

Their steps faltered as they caught sight of him. A moment later  they were running toward him.

It wasn't until they reached him and he was deep in a double  embrace that he realized that something within him was beginning  to thaw.

The tears glistening in his eyes had never felt so right.

*************

It was night again. It seemed that night was the only time he saw  her anymore.

The fact that he was finally meeting her in her seat of power was  a sign of progress. The familiar bulk of the building behind him  was reassuring in a way. It had been rebuilt to match the old one  almost exactly, on the outside at least. The improvements were  unobtrusive and subtle.

He sat on the gentle slope of a hill, and he felt her walking up  behind him.

She placed her hand on his shoulder and lowered herself gently  onto the lawn, ignoring the likely grass stains on her pants  suit.

"You aren't afraid of the paparazzi seeing us here?" Clark asked  quietly.

"I'm counting on it," Lois said.

**************

"It took a long time for me to get here." Lois began. "Between  campaigning with Lex, being first lady and becoming an activist,  I've got nearly a decade invested here in Washington."

Clark didn't speak. He simply sat and watched her in the  reflected light of the moon.

"My people think I'm throwing it all away." Lois stared off into  the distance, silent.

"What do you think?" Clark found himself tensing in anticipation  of the answer.

"I think the people are bigger than that." Lois hesitated and  turned to him. "If I'm wrong...I'll deal with it."

Glancing back at the house behind him, majestic in its  reconstructed glory, Clark asked, "You'd give this all up?"

"It's a different world than it was just two years ago. People  aren't as afraid, and their minds are clearer. If I stepped down  tomorrow, I don't think General Cash would have a chance in the  next election."

"Lois," Clark began. "I couldn't ask you to..."

"Throw in the towel?" Lois's lips quirked. "I thought you knew me  a little better than that, Smallville."

In the distance, Clark could see the lights of camera crews  arriving. The distance and the screen of trees and shrubs would  make it hard for anyone not actually on the grounds to get a good  shot, but it wouldn't be long before someone found them.

"I've got at least another year before campaigning starts again,"  Lois continued. "I'm going to try to accomplish as much as I  possibly can."

Frowning, Clark said, "So where does that leave us?"

"It leaves us as the two most public people on the planet." Lois  sighed. "I can't lie to you, Clark. This won't be easy. The jokes  are going to be brutal, and the press is going to be  relentless."

"We could just wait," Clark said. As he said it, part of him  wanted to take it back. They'd lost so much time already, and he  didn't want to lose any more.

"You'd do that for me?" Lois asked.

Clark's face felt frozen, but he nodded.

Taking his hand in hers, Lois looked him in the eye and said,  "No. I've wasted too much time already. I'm not ready to wait  another minute."

She kissed him, and Clark could hear the distant sound of  flashbulbs.

**************

Being President had its benefits. One of these was being able to  make sure that people received honors they deserved.

Looking out over the sea of lights and faces, Lois smiled. She  began to speak.

"The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civil honor our  nation can bestow, and we award it today to 12 outstanding  individuals. The men and women we honor span the spectrum of  achievement. Some are fighters. Others are healers. All have left  an enduring legacy of hope and courage and achievement."

The twelve men and women in the chairs behind her shifted  slightly.

"It's my privilege to begin the evening by speaking about a man  who had a special place in my heart. Dedicated to truth and  justice and believing deeply in the highest principles of  America, Perry White was a forceful, courageous and deeply  principled reporter. He covered the civil rights movement,  assassinations of presidents and musicians and throughout thirty  years of service, he never lost sight of his deeply held belief  in the truth."

Lois glanced out over the crowd, catching the eyes of several of  the reporters who had known Perry personally.

"As an editor, he was demanding. He taught a new generation what  it means to stand up for what you believe in. He was my mentor,  and I only wish that he was here today so that I could present  this award to him. In his place, his wife will accept the  award."

There was movement behind her, and Alice stepped forward into the  limelight. The years without Perry hadn't been kind to her, but  there was an expression of gratitude in her eyes.

Lois handed her a box. Inside was a medal hung from a royal blue  velvet ribbon.

Alice embraced her, and there was a desperate strength to her  embrace. Lois struggled to keep tears from her eyes. She forgot  sometimes how much she missed him, and sometimes it almost seemed  as though he was only a phone call away.

When Alice returned to her seat, Lois began again.

"Our next candidate has been responsible for scientific advances  that have made our lives safer and better. He has been a  trailblazer on the frontiers of science, providing vital  inventions that helped with the Occupation, and with the  aftermath of Nightfall. It was his team who developed the weapons  systems that keep our skies safe, whether the danger is natural,  alien or manmade. Bernard Klein has been honored here before, but  it is time to be honored yet again."

The years had been good to Doctor Klein. Success and acclaim had  given him a new confidence that hadn't been there before. He  accepted his award with good humor, his smile letting Lois know  that he was solidly in her corner if no one else was.

Past Presidents had been content simply to list each award  winner's accomplishments and allow the military to actually  bestow the medals. Lois preferred the direct approach. She  preferred to look each recipient in the eye, giving them the  thanks of a grateful nation.

The others followed one after the other. Writers, artists,  journalists and inventors followed one after another. One  political prisoner and three activists.

It all passed by in a blur.

Finally, the last.

"Like the distinguished Doctor Klein, our last candidate has been  on this platform more than once before. The last son of a dying  planet, Kal El of Krypton was sent to the planet Earth. He was  raised by Americans to hold the American ideal to the highest  standard."

Lois glanced back at Clark, who looked as good as she could ever  remember seeing him, standing in his Tuxedo.

"He had abilities far beyond those of ordinary men, abilities  that we later learned could be devastating in the hands of lesser  men. Unlike those men, he refused to be corrupted, instead  dedicating his life as both Superman and Clark Kent to making the  world a better place."

Lois gestured, and Clark stepped forward to stand beside her.

"Despite every bit of ingenuity mankind had to offer, Nightfall  would have meant the death of the human race. Clark Kent chose to  sacrifice himself so the rest of us might live. Later, when  injured, he did it again, saving as many people as he could  before he was himself overcome. He has paid a price for this,  losing memory of years of his life, but if the need arose once  more, he would not hesitate to do it once more."

Turning to him, Lois reached in the box and removed the ribbon.

"It is my special pleasure to award the Presidential Medal of  Freedom to Clark Kent once again."

Being President had its privileges.

****************

Being in Clark's arms was like stepping back in time, especially  as they rose gently through the clouds. The sky opened up above  them, the stars brilliant and the moon luminous and huge.

Flying with him had always been her guilty pleasure, and yet  she'd forgotten just how much she'd enjoyed it. Here and now,  with him still in his tuxedo and without a secret left to hide  from the world, Lois felt content.

He was beautiful in the moonlight, seeming younger than he had  been in years. Lois felt a little guilty, as though she were  dating a younger man, one who was still innocent of all the world  had to offer.

Holding her tightly, he stared down at her for a long moment.  "Any regrets?"

Lois shook her head then smiled up at him. "I wouldn't have this  any other way."

When it all came down to it, she needed him. She needed his  uncomplicated view of the world, his ability to cut through all  the confusion and come to the truth of the matter. Lois lived in  a confusing world of grays, and Clark was there to remind her of  what was right from wrong.

"You don't think we're moving too fast?" Clark asked again.

"We've been dancing around each other for thirteen years," Lois  said quietly. "We have a lot of lost time to make up for."

If she'd learned anything over the last several weeks, it was not  to take time for granted. Somehow, she'd come to believe that he  was immortal, that he would always be there for her. She'd always  expected that some day they would be together.

She'd almost lost him, more than once, and it had frightened  her.

He kissed her gently, and the world seemed to spin.

The kiss seemed to last forever, and when it ended, Lois realized  they were no longer alone.

Three helicopters broke through the clouds around them, filled  with men in black suits.

Lois sighed, then giggled. There wouldn't be many of these times  alone with Clark now that she was president, but it wouldn't last  forever.

In the meantime, she'd grab every moment that she could and live  life to the fullest.

She kissed Clark again, then looked back at the men gesturing for  them to return to the white house. She sighed and nodded at him,  and they began to descend through the clouds.

Sometimes being President wasn't all it was cut out to be.

But whatever future they faced, they'd do it together.

Table of Contents

Nocturne

by ShayneT <byron212@yahoo.com >

Part 01

Part 02

Part 03

Part 04

Part 05

Part 06