Northern Lights

by Gerry Anklewicz <gankle@rogers.com>

Rated: PG-13

Submitted: October 2005

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The usual disclaimer: This is a fanfic based on the television  show, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. No  copyright infringement is intended. I'm borrowing these  characters for a little fun and not for any profit.

This fic takes place not long after Lois and Clark get married,  but the New Krypton arc never happened in this universe.

I'd like to thank my beta-readers, ML Thompson for her keen eye  for story-telling and pacing, Jude Williams and Carol Malo for  their nitpicking of all the small details that help make me a  better writer. My thanks also to a great GE, Sherry.

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

Part 01

Algonquin Park, Ontario

Jeremy Hamilton paused for a moment. He wiped his brow and  removed his jacket. Even though it was very cold out and he could  see frost starting to settle on the ground, digging had made him  hot. He took another moment to look over the lake at the moving  patterns of light that curtained the black sky. He had heard of  the aurora borealis, but he'd never seen it before this night. He  promised himself to bring his sons to see nature's spectacular  light show.

He listened carefully. All he heard were the peaceful night  sounds of the country: a chirping cricket, a flutter of wings, a  breath of wind whispering through the trees, the lapping of the  lake water against the shore.

But he couldn't allow himself to dwell on the magnificence of  nature. He had to keep digging a little deeper to bury his  package before he and it were found. Jeremy knew he was being  followed; he just didn't know who or where the hunter was. He  kept digging until he heard the clang of metal against solid  rock. He tried two more shovelfuls, but once again, he hit the  ungiving Canadian Shield. He bent down, placed the package in the  ground, shook his head in disgust, got up and began shovelling  dirt over it. When the hole was filled, he patted down the mound  of earth and brought the ubiquitous leaves and twigs to  camouflage his work. He noted and memorized the formation of  trees and rocks, but he hoped nobody would ever find the package  again. It was more trouble than it was worth. Damn his brother.  Why did he always manage to get himself in trouble?

He picked up the shovel, his jacket, his bottle of water and  walked toward the lake, a hundred and fifty yards away. Once  again, he looked around and listened. He sensed he was alone. He  walked out to the end of the dock that no one had removed from  the lake. They would have to do it soon, before the lake froze  over, but he decided not to bemoan his good fortune. He stood on  the end of the dock and with the shovel in his right hand, he  began to swing it overhead--not quite a shotput, but the training  was good enough for his purpose tonight. With one loud grunt, he  heaved the shovel far into the lake. He watched as it sank  leaving only large concentric circles moving away from the  centre. When the ripples died down, Jeremy stood a little longer  and watched the peaceful lake and the dancing lights to the north  of him. He then picked up his jacket which he had left on the  sand and jogged the two miles back to his car.

By the time he'd reached the rented vehicle, he was breathing  hard and sweating more than he had earlier. He leaned against the  driver's side and waited until his breath subsided to a normal  rate. He was in good shape, but he had also exerted himself too  much. It was all right now. He'd go back home and forget about...

The sounds had changed. Slowly, he turned around one hundred and  eighty degrees until he saw a large shadow coming towards him. He  stepped away from the car and began running in the opposite  direction he had come from. He heard the footsteps of the shadow  growing louder and speeding up. He ran. Not quite sure where he  was going, Jeremy sensed rather than saw an opening in the brush  that hugged the road. He turned sharply and ran down the dirt  path, but the road was uneven and he stumbled several times. Even  after the road ended he kept running, tripping over underbrush  but getting up and continuing. He jogged left and then right,  trying to get away from the shadow before it overtook him. He  hoped that he would find somewhere to hide. In the morning, he  would get his bearings, find the car and head home.

He heard the shadow before he felt the blow to his head.

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

Metropolis, New Troy

Clark Kent stood at the kitchen counter chopping carrots for the  stew he was preparing.

"It's a good thing that you learned how to use one of those slow  cooker things, Clark," Lois shouted from the living room where  she was dusting the bookshelves. "It would be a shame if you  didn't know how to use it considering we got two of them as  wedding gifts."

"No problem, Lois. All I had to do was read the instruction  booklet and follow the recipe. And you don't have to shout, I can  hear you perfectly."

"I forgot," she said, her voice quieter. "When we're this  domestic I don't think of you as being 'super,' and it's so  natural to raise my voice when you're in another room. I'll learn  eventually." Lois had moved from the living room into the doorway  of the kitchen as she was speaking. She liked to watch her  husband work in the kitchen of their new home. He seemed so much  more at ease in that room than she ever would be.

She moved toward his back and put her arms around his waist. "You  are so good at this cooking stuff. I think that's the real reason  I married you."

"Oh, I thought it was my country boy charms." He turned around to  kiss her, but in mid-motion, he stopped.

"What?"

Clark was quiet for a few seconds. Lois recognized what she  called his listening stance. He kissed her quickly and stepped  away. "Neighbour's radio. Earthquake in a remote province in  China. It sounds pretty bad."

"Then you better go." She motioned with her fingers for him to do  his "spin thing". In less than a second, Superman stood in front  of her.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Just add the carrots and some  soup stock and turn the knob on the cooker to low. Put the lid on  and don't touch it until I come back."

Four hours later, Lois lifted the lid on the slow cooker and  stirred the ingredients in the pot. The vegetables and the beef  looked pretty much the same, and then she remembered that she was  supposed to add some soup stock. She wasn't quite sure where to  find that. She looked in the fridge, but she didn't see it there.  On a whim, she looked in the freezer. Martha had filled the  freezer as a going back to work present for the newlywed couple,  but there was nothing labelled as stock. That left the pantry.  Cans of soup? She checked the labels wondering if consomme was  the same as soup stock. Deciding to be brave, she opened a can  and filled a measuring cup with the clear liquid, but it looked  like more than some. She dumped half the stock into the sink and  the rest into the slow cooker. She mixed the ingredients  thoroughly, surprised at how little liquid was absorbed into the  food. She covered the pot, and because she was hungry, she made  herself a cheese sandwich.

After another four hours, Lois turned off the TV. Superman was  still busy in China. The earthquake had caused major destruction  in a fairly large village leaving too many homes demolished with  their owners buried deep underneath the rubble. LNN was reporting  that Superman had been zeroing in on areas where he could hear  survivors and either help dig them out or instruct rescue workers  where to dig. Reports were coming back about the many lives  Superman was saving.

Lois went into the kitchen and looked at the stew in the slow  cooker. Where were the enticing aromas that Clark managed to  elicit when he was cooking? There was no aroma; there was no  colour. The stew was still raw. She couldn't understand it. She  checked the knob which was set at low, exactly as Clark had told  her. The lid was on. She had put some liquid in the pot and  stirred. Then she saw her problem. The plug was not in the  socket. Simple. She plugged the cooker in, poured herself a glass  of wine and returned to the TV to see what LNN was reporting on  the earthquake.

When Clark returned, ten hours later, he was tired, dirty and  excited. Sniffing the air, he wandered into the kitchen. The slow  cooker was on Low, but when he lifted the lid, the ingredients  were dried out and burned around the edges. Not enough soup  stock, he thought with a smile.

He approached Lois who had fallen asleep on the couch watching  the news. He kissed her gently on the forehead. "Definitely  didn't fall in love with you for your abilities in the kitchen,"  he whispered.

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

Huntsville, Ontario

Dr. David Morrow sped down the isolated concession road heading  back towards town and the calm of his apartment. It had been a  long night sitting up with Alice Kelly until she finally gave  birth to her fourth child, a strapping nine pound boy. He would  have preferred taking her to the hospital in town, but she  refused adamantly, saying that she had given birth to her first  three boys at home and she would do the same for her fourth. It  wasn't her fault that Shawna Steeles, the midwife, had decided to  go to her son's wedding in Toronto.

On his drive home, when David had seen the calm lake and swirling  lights of the aurora borealis beckoning to him, he decided not to  drive on, but to pull over. It was three in the morning. He  didn't have anything more important to do, and he knew he was too  pumped up to sleep after such an exciting night. Delivering  babies and drinking lots of coffee did that to him. He parked the  car. On a whim, he took out a beach towel that he kept in the  trunk and took it to the flat rock beside the lake. He sat down  to watch the lights.

He wasn't sure what had originally brought him to this summer  town in Central Ontario, what kept him here: the lakes, the tall  pines and the dancing lights...and the beautiful police sergeant.  He sat down on the rock and watched the water undulate against  the pebbly shore, and saw the muted greens, reds and purple  flicker across the night sky. In the distance, other rocks jutted  over the lake, the background silhouetted by the tall pines whose  spicy aroma filtered by his nose like freshly perked coffee.  Except for the occasional bird, the only sounds were the gentle  wind and the lapping of the water.

Deciding to ignore the brisk fall weather, he gave into the urge  to strip off his clothes and, with a yelp, he ran into the cold  lake. Swimming with strong, sure strokes to the buoy, he touched  it, then turned around and headed back to shore. He waded back to  the rock where he had left the large beach towel to wrap around  himself.

"Cold...cold...cold," he muttered and allowed himself to shiver,  but the towel was doing its job and he huddled inside just  watching nature at its most quiet. He scanned the peaceful  panorama. In the distance, on top of one of the outcrops, a very  large bird was taking flight. But as he strained his eyes, he  realized that it wasn't a bird, it was a person, a woman who  stretched her arms out at her sides, leapt up and then began the  most graceful dive he had ever seen. Mesmerized, he watched the  swirling lights accentuate her exquisite form as she brought her  arms over her head and she plunged into the water. He looked for  her, but he couldn't see her; instead, he only heard a muffled  sound as if someone was vigorously stroking the water. Within  seconds, the sound disappeared only to return again. He looked  into the lake, trying to find some movement so that he could  ascertain that she was fine. And then he saw the splash of a  swimmer moving quickly toward the shore, turn around and head  back to the other side of the lake outside his view. Was that  her? It couldn't be. Not even an Olympic swimmer could move that  quickly. But the streaks in the water kept returning, and as if  transfixed, David could not move his eyes. Finally, the figure  floated out of the water until it reached the peak of the outcrop  where she set herself down. Incongruously, David thought, she  picked up something, floated in the air, shook out her long hair,  and covered herself.

"Wow," he said out loud. And the figure disappeared.

David sat back and tried to figure out what he saw. Was she an  apparition? He'd heard the story the children told of Farmer  Meyerson coming back from the dead to make sure that his wife  never used his old barn. Maybe she was the stork celebrating the  safe delivery of Baby Boy Kelly. Or maybe she was an angel trying  out a human pastime? An angel, that was a nice thought.

"That's right, Morrow, now they'll all know you've completely  gone 'round the bend," he said.

"Which bend?"

The voice was a whisper, a feathery, silky, erotic whisper.

He turned to look at the owner of the angelic voice.

"Don't turn around," the voice ordered, never changing its pitch.

"I'd like to see you," David said.

"Not possible."

"How did you know I was here?"

"I heard you."

"Oh!" That surprised David. He didn't think he had spoken that  loudly. "Who are you?"

"A dream."

"Yours or mine?"

"Maybe both."

David sensed her move towards him, stand behind him. He stood up,  keeping his back to her, afraid that if he turned around, she  would disappear and leave him with so many questions. She took  another step closer to him, putting her hands on his shoulders.  He could feel her heat through the damp towel covering him.

"You're wet," she whispered. A shiver ran up David's spine.

Suddenly, he felt the towel dry and warm up. She had a magic  touch; she really was an angel.

"I don't understand..." he mumbled.

"There's nothing to understand. When you wake, this will all have  been a dream. You decide what kind of a dream you want."

"This isn't right," he protested as felt her hand glide over his  shoulders and her lips place a feather- light kiss on the back of  his neck.

"I can leave." She pulled back a step.

"No. Don't go." He paused a moment, reaching back to hold her  hand. David knew he should tell her to leave, but what did he  think was going to happen here? He wanted her to touch him, to  continue pressing her lips on the back of his neck. He couldn't  understand the frissons of heat running through his body. But he  wanted to know her, understand her, even if she was dream.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Sometimes, it's better not to ask, better not to talk," she  said. Her sultry voice made him shiver. "Look, the lights are  fading. The show is over for tonight."

"Don't go." David heard the pleading in his voice. He couldn't  let her go.

She placed her hand on his face and stepped around to look at  him. He strained to see her, but her long, damp hair and the  night's shadows created a veil that hid her from him. She placed  her other hand on his cheek, gently pulling his face toward her.  He allowed her to draw nearer, her lips coming closer to his. The  kiss was tentative at first, two lips meeting for the first time,  touching, withdrawing and touching again. He felt his heart beat  faster as he, this time, kissed her demanding more than just a  gentle encounter. He sought her hungrily, passionately and he  breathed a sigh of relief when her tongue met his ready to  explore new territory.

He didn't understand what was happening to them, but he felt a  craving, a longing for this woman, whether real or not, that he  had never experienced before. He knew in his heart that the love  he wanted in a relationship wasn't there, he didn't expect it to  be. And he, who had never condoned sex without love, felt a  summons from this corporeal apparition that reached into the  centre of his being drawing him to her. Even if he had wanted to  move away from her, he couldn't have. While his mouth and hands  touched her, his legs felt the same as the immovable Canadian  Shield beneath him.

And so they stood there, beside the lapping lake under a moonless  sky, the dancing lights having faded, sharing kisses and touches  first slowly, then more frantically as they revealed new parts of  their bodies to each other. He long ago had dropped the towel  that had warmed him, for he no longer needed the outside warmth.  She had undone the belt to her long robe which he then removed  from her shoulders and let fall on the ground. They stood there  facing each other. He couldn't believe that a woman could be so  magnificent, that her satiny skin could give off a radiance that  made him crave just for a touch of her.

She took his hand, leading him to a grassy patch not far from the  rocky lakefront, and kneeling down on the grass, pulled him to  her. He obeyed. In the darkness, they joined together, the only  sounds their husky moans of satisfaction, their cries of  pleasure, the laughter of delight.

When they were sated, she lay in his arms as he stroked her dry  hair and planted random kisses on the top of her head. Heedless  of the hard rock beneath him, he dozed off for a short while and  when he awoke, she was beginning to rise.

"Where are you going?" he asked, not wanting to let her go.

"It's almost morning. I have to."

"No, please stay. Just a little longer."

"I can't. I'll turn into a pumpkin if I stay any longer." She  bent over and placed a final kiss on his lips. "Good night,  Prince Charming," she said and streaked into the sky.

"Who are you?" David whispered as he watched her silhouette  disappear in the cold predawn air, and he shivered.

He reluctantly got up, dressed in the clothes he had so  carelessly removed so long ago, picked up his towel and found the  cloth belt of her robe lying on the ground. "Cinderella's glass  slipper," he said to the air around him. He brought it to his  nose; it smelled of her freshness.

He got into the car heading for town, wondering if he would ever  find his Cinderella and return her belt.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep, he drove into the local  donut shop for a cup of coffee and a muffin. It wasn't worth  going home to sleep at 5:30 in the morning.

"Mornin', Doc," said Sheila Johnson. "You're up early, this  morning."

"No, Sheila, I haven't been to bed yet. Alice Kelly had her  fourth son early this morning."

"Well then, Doc, the coffee's on me. What else will ya have?"

"A blueberry muffin looks good and filling."

"Sure thing. They're fresh outta the oven."

Sheila poured the coffee and placed a muffin in a bag.

David turned when he heard the door open. "Hey, Anna, how come  you're in so early this morning?" he asked his part-time boss.

"Hmmpff."

"Sheila, quick, a coffee for Anna before she bites all our heads  off and gives us all parking tickets."

David was blessed with an infamous Anna scowl. He put his hands  in front of him, palms outwards showing that he was backing off.  The last thing he wanted this morning was to face Anna when she  was in a nasty mood. He didn't want anything to ruin his  afterglow. Picking up his coffee and muffin, he headed out the  door toward his clinic.

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

Part 02

Smallville, Kansas

"Son, tell us again how you found this spaceship," said Jonathan  Kent as he stood with his wife, son and daughter-in-law in the  barn staring at a spaceship that was similar in size and shape to  the one he had found thirty years earlier.

"I was flying in concentric circles outward from the epicentre of  the earthquake looking and listening for signs of life, for  anyone who needed help. I often do that during a disaster.  Sometimes, someone gets trapped further away from where most of  the damage occurred. I hadn't seen or heard anything for a few  minutes, so I was thinking about heading back to speak to the  rescue workers.

"For some reason, probably like when you hear your own name  spoken by people far away, something caught my attention. The  greyish, metallic hues seemed incongruous in the brown earth,  like high tech in the middle of a rocky wilderness. When I flew  in closer, I recognized the shape and then the etchings which  were the same as the glyphs I had seen on my own spaceship. At  first, I tried to figure out what my spaceship was doing in  central China, but as I got closer, I realized that it wasn't the  same. It didn't have the S-shield on it. Otherwise, you can see  for yourselves, it's exactly the same."

Lois brushed her hand over the writing on the ship. "Do you have  any idea of what it says?"

"No." He put his hand on Lois's and squeezed gently. They turned  simultaneously and looked each other in the eyes.

"What does it mean?"

Martha's question snapped him back to the object of their  discussion. "That I wasn't the only one who came here. I might  not be the only one."

"Maybe there's some clue inside like the globe Clark found on his  own spaceship," Jonathan suggested.

Clark stood staring at the miniature-sized capsule a few seconds  longer. Everyone else stood by silently, waiting patiently for  Clark to unveil some clue that he wasn't alone in this world.

His hands lovingly examined the spaceships surface, searching  every inch carefully for a latch or a handle that would open the  hood. He remembered that his proximity to his own capsule had  opened it. Nothing was budging.

"Mom. Dad. Do either of you remember how my capsule opened?"

"No dear," Martha said. "It was open when we first saw it and  there you were, so beautiful, wrapped in your blue blanket..."

"Martha! Not now, dear."

Clark ignored his parents, once more running his hand over the  hood of the capsule. He looked at Lois hopefully; she nodded to  him. As his fingers felt the smooth surface, it went over a  small, almost imperceptible gap. He pressed gently around the  gap, and slowly, he heard a pop of air.

He stepped back and watched as the hood lifted.

"Oh my goodness," Martha gasped as she moved closer.

Lois, grasping Clark's hand, moved closer to her husband.

As Clark stood and stared at the opened space capsule, Martha  broke the silence. "You'd think we would have known if there was  someone else like you out there."

"Maybe not," said Clark as he stared inside the ship. "It looks  like this person didn't make it." He touched the fragile blanket  that covered the skeletal remains of what must have once been a  baby.

"He wasn't as lucky as I was."

Martha and Jonathan stepped forward to put their arms around  their son.

"Instead of becoming a life raft, the ship became a coffin,"  Martha said. "Poor child. Probably never knew what happened."

The family stood around the small ship, each mourning the child  who never had a chance to live.

Lois was the first to move, searching the ship for some kind of a  clue to what happened. "Is there something like the globe here?"

Clark used his x-ray vision to scan the inside of the cradle.  "No. Nothing." His voice was barely a whisper.

Once again the Kent family stood staring at what could have been,  looking for answers to questions that wouldn't be available to  them, which had been buried and would have to remain buried.

"What are you going to do with this now?" asked Jonathan. "Do you  want me to help you bury it?"

"No. Maybe there's still more to learn," Clark said looking at  Lois.

"Dr. Klein?" asked Lois as if she was reading Clark's mind.

"He'd be able to give us more information about the remains. At  least he'd be able to tell us if the baby had Kryptonian DNA,  maybe how the baby died, and how long it's been on Earth."

"Clark, if you take this to Dr. Klein and he finds out that this  baby arrived here thirty years ago, he may put two and two  together and realize that you've been on Earth much longer than  he's suspected," Martha said.

"That's right, Clark. Dr. Klein is a very bright man," his father  added.

"I know. Dad, Mom. Lois and I have talked about letting Dr. Klein  know who I am, and it may be something he'll need to know. I..."  he took Lois's hand, "...we trust him."

"He's a scientist son..."

Clark heard the old fear in his father's voice. 'He'll dissect  you like a frog.' "Dad, there's nothing to worry about. Dr. Klein  knows a lot about Superman and only does what I ask him. He's  never let me down before."

Jonathan nodded his head. "If you trust him, son, then I do,  too."

Once Clark and Jonathan had put the coverings back on the tiny  spaceship, Clark cradled it gently and took off into the sky.  Within a half an hour, he returned.

"I've left it with Doc Klein. He says that it will take time to  run tests on it. I'll get in touch with him to find the results."

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

Metropolis, New Troy A Week Later

Clark spun out of his Superman suit and entered the Daily Planet.  Glancing around the bullpen, he spotted Lois in the conference  room with a woman who was in tears. Lois caught his eye and  motioned for him to come into the conference room.

"Clark, this is Shelley Hamilton. She's a college friend of  mine," she explained as soon as Clark closed the door.

"Ms Hamilton." Clark held out his hand, but Shelley was too  distraught to notice.

"Shelley came to see me because her husband's been missing for a  week, and she doesn't know what to make of it."

"Did she go to the police?"

"She went to Missing Persons. They took the pertinent  information, but they keep on hinting that maybe he took off with  another woman and he doesn't want to be found."

"Why would they think that?"

"Because he packed to go away for the week-end, and he hasn't  come back."

"Would you mind going over your story for me one more time?"  Clark asked.

Shelley Hamilton glanced over at Lois and then at Clark. "If it  will help finding Jeremy, I don't mind. It's just so  frustrating."

Lois patted her friend's hand and nodded. "Go ahead. I'll take  notes while you tell us."

"Jeremy packed up a bag with a few overnight items and said that  he'd be back in a couple of days. He occasionally had to go out  of town for a few nights on business, but he had more time to  prepare than he did this time. The other major difference was  that he only packed pyjamas, underwear and toothbrush,  toothpaste, things like that. He wore jeans, a plaid flannel  shirt and a lightweight ski jacket. Usually when he goes on  business, even overnight, he wears a business suit and takes a  couple of extra shirts."

"What does Jeremy do for a living?" Clark asked.

"He's an accountant." Shelley waited for a moment to see if Clark  wanted any additional information related to Jeremy's work, but  when she saw that he wasn't asking anything, she continued. "He  told me that he'd be back in a few days, and that he'd call me if  he could. He never called, and he never came back."

"When did you start to get worried?"

"He left on Thursday night. On Monday, our son, Matthew, had an  important basketball game and Jeremy promised to be there at the  game. Jeremy always made it to games and recitals and plays for  the kids. If he couldn't make it, he usually phoned to let us  know what was happening. He didn't this time."

"So what did you do?"

"I phoned Denise, his secretary, and asked if she knew how to  contact him. She said that she didn't. He had let her know on  Thursday that he wouldn't be at work on Friday and that he'd be  back on Monday. She didn't have a clue where he went. She thought  he was having a long week-end at home because he'd put in all  those extra hours a few weeks back for an important client."

"Who was the client?"

"I don't know. Jeremy didn't talk about the specifics of his job  with me. He wanted to forget about work when he came home."

"Was anything bothering him? Were you fighting or anything?"

"No. We get along really well." Shelley stilled. Then tears began  flowing down her cheeks. It was the first time that she had  broken down in front of the two reporters. "The police," Shelley  hiccoughed, "also wanted to know if we were fighting or if we had  a bad marriage." She dug in her purse and pulled out a tissue.  "You have to believe me. We're happy. We love each other. There  is nothing wrong with the marriage. Sometimes we disagree with  the way one of us handles a situation with the children or about  some financial issue, but we generally don't have major fights."

"Was anything upsetting Jeremy before he disappeared?" Lois  asked.

"Nothing unusual. His brother was calling more often than he had  in the past, but he tended to do that when he got one of his  harebrained ideas into his head." Shelley fiddled with her purse.  "Jeremy did seem to get annoyed…no, not annoyed…agitated after he  spoke to Emil."

"Emil? Emil Hamilton?" Lois and Clark both asked at the same  time.

"Do you know Emil?"

"We came into contact with Emil years ago when he was cloning  gangsters."

"Not one of his finest hours," said Shelley.

"Not one of mine, either," replied Clark, looking regretfully at  Lois.

"We dealt with that a long time ago, honey," she said as she  squeezed his hand. "Who knows what Emil is up to these days?  Where can we get in touch with him?"

"It won't help. He's in Met General. He had a stroke and right  now he can't speak or move his left side. The doctors say there's  a good chance that he'll recover his speech, but it may take  several months."

"Why do I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that this  involves Emil?" asked Clark.

"We'll do what we can, Shelley, but we can't promise anything,"  offered Lois.

"Meanwhile keep reminding the police and keep in touch with us.  If we find anything out, we'll let you know."

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

Part 03

Algonquin Park, Ontario One Month Later

Loon's Road, a paved two lane road ended and forked in three  different directions, each dirt road, whose tracks had been  carved by years of summer vacationers heading toward cabins and  cottages, led to Loon Lake. In the summer months, the lake,  surrounded by tall pine trees, was a busy place with children  splashing and screaming in the water, motor-boats dragging  athletic water-skiers, wind-surfers skimming the lake and the  occasional fisherman hoping for a bite in the early morning  hours. Once the summer season ended, the boats were pulled in and  the docks were taken apart until the following spring. The lake  froze over and the paths leading from Loon's Road were abandoned  to the falling leaves and then the accumulating snow.

Sergeant Anna McLaren of the Ontario Provincial Police drove up  to the fork in Loon's Road and found the rusty Honda Civic  sitting exactly where Shawna Steeles had told her it would be.  Shawna had reported that she had seen the car when she drove out  to the Bryson place over the course of the month. Nancy Bryson  was pregnant and due to give birth. When she mentioned the Honda  to Luke Bryson, he agreed that the car hadn't moved in a month,  but he didn't think too much of it. Neither Shawna nor Luke had  any idea who the car belonged to or how long the car had been  sitting there.

When Anna reached the car, it was covered in browned maple leaves  that had fallen and then been plastered down by the first  snowfall. She took out the Polaroid camera from her car and began  to snap pictures. She then put on a pair of surgical gloves,  methodically cleared away the debris and opened the driver's  side. The car wasn't locked. Surprisingly, the key was still in  the ignition. The gas tank was three-quarters full and there was  no indication that there was anything wrong with the oil. She  started up the engine. No problem. The car ran smoothly.

Anna took Polaroids of the interior of the car which had personal  items--- a toothbrush, toothpaste, a pair of men's pyjamas size  large, a razor--- scattered on the front seat, but no suitcase,  backpack or even a plastic grocery bag. As she continued to  search, she found a few gas receipts and a mixture of Canadian  and American coins that had fallen between the cushions of the  seat .

According to Shawna, the car hadn't moved in at least four weeks.  Anna called Hank Jenkins to tow the car to the OPP's back lot for  the time being. While she waited for Hank to appear, she bagged  the contents of the car, then walked around the car to write down  the license plate number.

However, there were no plates on the car, either on the front or  the back. She peered closely at the front. No discoloration or  evidence that a license plate was ever on the front. That meant  that the car was out of province since Ontario cars carried  plates on both the front and the back of the car.

The back area of the car had evidence of wear and rust where  there had once been a license plate. Anna brushed away the snow  from the bumper and found a bolt. She held the lone bolt in her  hand, tossing it lightly in the air. If there was one, there must  be more. She looked around the snow covered ground, then bent  down sweeping away the accumulated layers of snow. More nuts and  bolts. She figured the plate had been taken after the car had  been abandonned.

Well, even if there were no plates, there should be a  registration number. The glove compartment was empty. Not even  the ubiquitous owner's manual was there. To her frustration, the  registration number etched in the car had been filed away.  Nothing.

Back in her office, Anna decided that, for once, doing the paper  work might help her figure out what the story behind the  abandonned Civic was. But first, she told her assistant, Pete  Byford, to check with the auto theft database if any cars were  reported missing in the area.

Organizing the facts and evidence as she knew it, along with the  Polaroids she had taken, was like shovelling snow in a blizzard,  as soon as one patch was cleared up it was covered in snow again.  Anna was sure that whoever abandonned the car didn't want its  owner to be found. No plates, no registration number, no  ownership papers.

She stared at the bags on her desk. Crest toothpaste, Gillette  shaving cream, a Bic razor, Head and Shoulders shampoo. The guy  she was looking for had dandruff...or according to the  commercials, no longer had dandruff. She smirked at the  ridiculousness of her observation.

But something drew her to the items...something not right. She  flattened the bag of coins on her desk and, keeping the money in  the bag, began to separate the American from the Canadian coins.  "Damn those pennies," she said aloud.

Anna leaned back, replaiting her single, dark brown braid and  letting it fall down to the middle of her back. She kept staring  at the toothpaste. "That's it! There's no French." She stood up  and went to the door of her office.

"Pete," she called.

"Yes, Sergeant."

"Expand your search for missing vehicles into the States."

"Why ma'am?"

"The driver was American," she said lifting the bag of toothpaste  in front of his eyes.

"American?"

"No French on the packaging...on anything."

Pete smiled at his superior. "I'll expand that search  immediately."

Anna returned to her desk, picking up the coins and shaking them  up. She wondered how much it mattered that the driver may have  been American. Probably complicated everything more.

"Boss," the familiar voice of David Morrow interrupted her  thoughts which, she thought weren't going anywhere in particular.

"Dr. Morrow, I'm not your boss. How many times do I have to tell  you? You're an independent contractor hired by the police  department."

"And you hired me, Boss."

"No. I didn't. The province of Ontario did."

"Represented by you" Ignoring her sneer, he sat down on the chair  facing her desk. "And in this envelope I have..." He drummed his  fingers on the desk, a poor imitation of a drum roll. "...Jesse  Sherman's death certificate." He placed the envelope on her desk.

"Heart attack, right?"

"I'm wounded. You didn't have to slave over the medical books,  hours of interning, residency..."

"The whole town knew that Jesse was a walking time-bomb, a heart  attack waiting to happen."

"And your point is?"

Tired of the silly bantering, Anna waved the envelope at David.  "You didn't have to bring this over personally. You could have  sent it over with your receptionist."

"I needed a break, and I was hoping that you'd come out for  dinner with me. Swiss Chalet is offering a Toblerone chocolate  bar with a quarter chicken dinner for only $6.95."

Just as Anna was going to remind him that she had told him at  least a dozen times that she wouldn't go out on a date with him,  David said, "It's not a date. It's business."

"What kind of business?"

"Maybe I can help you figure out who the Honda Civic belongs to."

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

Huntsville, Ontario

As they sat in a quiet corner of the busy Swiss Chalet  restaurant, Anna couldn't figure out how David always managed to  insinuate himself into her life rather than take the hint that  she didn't want to date him. Hint! There was no hint. She had  told him directly, more than once, that she wasn't interested in  dating, so he came up with all different kinds of lame plans,  ones she couldn't resist, to spend time with her. Talking about  the Honda Civic was one of them. She'd reminded him of his  purpose a few times already, but he had been avoiding the issue,  using the time instead to talk about everything and nothing. Now  they were ordering coffee, and he still hadn't mentioned the car.

"Morrow, do you know anything about the Civic or is this your  slimy way of using this meal as a tax write-off?"

"Anna, I'm wounded that you'd even think that way. If I wanted to  write off this meal, I would've talked to you about all the  plaque I found in Jesse Sherman's arteries."

"Do you know anything about the Civic? Have you seen it before?"

"No."

"Then what kind of games are you playing?"

"I'm not playing games. I have some ideas that I thought I'd  share with you."

"Such as..."

"Such as have you thought of checking through Wrecks For Lease."

"Why?"

"No one reported that car missing, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Well, then maybe an individual didn't lose his car, but then  maybe because the body was in such lousy condition, maybe he got  it from a Wreck For Lease..."

"So that he could dump it?"

"That's where I'm having problems. I can't figure out why he  dumped it here, in the middle of nowhere..."

"And took off with the plates? So all I need to do is check out  the Wrecks For Lease places..."

"You know, we do work well together."

Anna rolled her eyes. "You haven't helped me out that much. I've  got Pete looking into car rental agencies."

"Well then, maybe you should stop using these stupid work excuses  as a reason to spend time with me. After all, Anna, I wouldn't be  completely adverse to taking you out on a proper date. You know.  We dress up, go somewhere nice. I tell you you're handsome, and  you say I'm beautiful. Things like that."

"What's your point?"

"Go out with me."

"I told you, I don't date."

"That makes no sense at all. You're single, you're  beautiful...now don't make that face...and you're smart. I'm  single, a professional and my mother says that I'm good-looking."

"David, I'm not interested." She took out her wallet and threw  some money on the table. "That should cover my half."

"You know there's something between us," he said to her back.  Anna stopped for a nanosecond, then stood taller and headed out  the door.

He leaned back in his seat. There was something between them, he  knew it and he knew that she knew it. He'd never met such a  desirable woman before, and it wasn't just because she didn't  want to have anything to do with him. He'd wear away at her  slowly and hope that no competition would show up.

As he waited for the credit card receipt, his mind drifted, as it  often had over the past month, to his Cinderella he'd met so many  nights ago. It was interesting how time put things in perspective  and, at the same time thwarted reality. Time had told him what  he'd only suspected then: he'd been dreaming, well, except for  the belt that he kept in his night table. The moment he had had  with Cinderella was just that--a moment, an early morning fantasy  surrounding him in a heavenly aura. He didn't want her back. He  wanted Anna. If only...Sighing, he signed the receipt and  followed her out of the restaurant.

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

Part 05

Metropolis, New Troy

When Clark returned to their Hyperion Avenue home, Lois was at  her desk talking on the phone. He was surprised to hear her  speaking soothingly. She waved him over, and as he perched  himself at the edge of her desk, he listened as she placated the  caller. How unlike his Lois, who had no patience for most people  and who had one of the most abrupt telephone personas he'd ever  encountered.

It didn't take him long to figure out why her tone was so  understated. She was talking to Shelley Hamilton, who was doing  everything to maintain her own calm and keep her family going. He  glanced at the calendar on his wife's desk. Three months had  passed since Jeremy Hamilton had gone missing. Lois and Clark had  turned over every possible stone without finding anything that  would help. Clark still believed that the answer lay locked  inside Emil Hamilton who had been moved to a nursing home. The  doctors said that his speech would probably never return. At this  point, he was disoriented and only made sounds that didn't seem  to have any logical meaning.

Lois clasped Clark's hand as she promised for the hundredth time  that she would let Shelley know if she heard any news. As she  hung up the phone, Clark signalled her to follow him to the couch  in the living room. He wrapped his arms around her allowing her  to snuggle into him as he soothed her.

"It's awful, Clark. How can she carry on?"

"She's got two young children. She has no choice."

"If you disappeared like that I'd shut down completely."

"So would I." He brought her closer to him, placing light kisses  in her hair. He wasn't so sure that Lois would shut down. Knowing  his wife, she'd probably move heaven and earth to find out what  had happened to him. But he knew that this wasn't about Lois and  him, it was about Lois empathizing with Shelley.

They sat in silence for a short time just feeling better that  they could be in each other's arms.

"Bernie's finished all the tests," Clark finally said.

"He did? Why didn't you say something sooner?" Lois sat up  straight, looking her husband in the eye.

"I thought you needed me to hold you for a while...and I think  that I needed it, too."

"I did. We did. But now I want to hear what he had to say."

"Well, first of all, the remains belonged to an infant girl.  Kryptonian."

"You weren't the only one who landed on earth!"

"So it seems. He also said that the baby wasn't related to me.  DNA didn't match."

"What else did he say?"

"The space ship has been on earth for approximately thirty  years..."

"The same length of time that you've been here..."

"And it's made out of the same material as my space ship." Clark  got up and began to pace.

"Clark? Maybe you weren't supposed to be alone all those years.  Maybe she was supposed to be with you?"

Clark stared at Lois. "It would've been nice to have someone like  me while I was growing up, but I believe that you are my soul  mate. No one else could take your place."

"But you've lost someone here."

"Maybe a sister. Maybe a friend. I did lose someone I never knew  I had to lose." He sat beside Lois again, and this time she held  him in her arms, trying to make up for this impalpable loss. "For  a moment, I wasn't the only one here, and now, once again, I'm  the only Kryptonian on earth."

Lois pulled him closer to her, settling light kisses on his head.  "Which makes you even more special since you've traveled" a long  way to be with me." She turned his face towards her. Looking  intently into his eyes, she moved her lips toward his.

Their lips touched tenderly. She brushed her tongue over his lips  until he opened his mouth. Surrounded by his scent and taste, she  became enveloped in his kiss, letting him linger for a while.

As they kissed, Lois tried to show her love that she would never  let him be alone again. And she thought about the baby whose  parents tried to save her.

"Did you ever think of doing a search for someone who would be  like you?" Lois asked.

"I tried, but the kind of information that I had wasn't helpful.  Would he have been adopted or are there other ways a child could  be hidden in a family? Would he even be the same age as me? I was  around three months old when my parents found me. What if the  child was older? I found the space ship in China. It could have  landed anywhere in the world. A ship could've landed in the ocean  and sunk. I even looked in newspapers to see if there was a light  phenomena such as the one in Smallville when my space ship  crashed to the ground. Nothing."

Lois shrugged her shoulders. "Let's keep looking. Maybe there's  some chance."

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

Huntsville, Ontario

Anna McLaren stood over the remains, scanning the area around  her. This looked like the big case she'd always hoped for, but  the decomposed body in front of her reminded her of the old  saying: be careful what you wish for.

"Call Doc Morrow," she said to Pete Byford. "Tell him we've got a  body that needs a post mortem."

She then turned to Luke Bryson. "Tell me again how you found the  body."

"Like I said, I was comin' over to the summer camp. I do this  every May. I clean up the outside, rake the leaves, pull weeds,  you know, and when the weather gets warm enough, I put in the  docks. I was comin' over behind their dining hall to pick up some  tools I left in the shed when I tripped over this bump on the  path. It was all covered in leaves and twigs. I looked down at  it, and I saw that hand. Then I took this here shovel and scraped  some of the coverin' off and I saw the head. That's when I called  your office."

"Do you usually clean up after the camp is shut down?"

"Yup."

"When did you do that?"

"Last October."

"Do you remember the date?"

"Nope. Just that it was right after Thanksgivin' cuz the  counsellors come up for the week-end and after that I shut down.  I don' like waitin' long after that cuz the frost can warp the  dock."

"Anybody been up here between shut down and today?"

"Not that I know of. Maybe a hunter or somethin'. I could see if  anyone was in any of the buildin's."

"Go ahead and do that, but if you see something different, don't  touch anything. Call one of us."

Anna watched Luke stride off toward the camp buildings. This was  a summer camp for kids. Why would there be a body buried under a  pile of leaves and twigs? Someone didn't have time to dig a grave  or didn't care to.

"Damn," she said to no one in particular.

Within a half an hour, David Morrow had driven up in the town  hearse. Working in tandem with the police, he prepared to move  the body to the morgue. As he worked, he made off-handed  observations to Anna.

"There's been decay here which means that he was here before the  cold weather really set in."

"Can you give me a date?"

He smiled impishly at her. "Are you asking me for a change?"

"Come on, Morrow. You know what I mean."

"If you want an approximate date, I'd say before the middle of  November, but you'd have to check a calendar for the first frost  and the last warm day. I can't tell from looking how many days he  was decomposing."

David scraped away the covering of leaves and twigs from the  body, trying to loosen ones that had stuck to the decomposing  flesh. "Come here. Look at this," he said to Anna. As she  crouched down beside him, her foot slipped on a wet leaf, and she  teetered to the side. He reached out, placing his hand on her  elbow to brake her fall. As he held onto her, ensuring that she  was maintaining her balance, he noticed her eyes avoiding his.

"I'm all right," she said shrugging his hand off her elbow.

He stared at her a moment longer and then turned his attention  back to the body in front of them. "Look," he said. "There's an  indentation at the back of his skull. He may have been hit with  something. I'll need to get the body back to the morgue before I  can let you know more."

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

Metropolis, New Troy

Clark shut down the computer and joined Lois in the living room.

"Anything?" she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "There really isn't too much  information. Basically, I've been looking for someone in the US  who was adopted around May 1966." He shrugged again. "And then  that really isn't enough because the baby, if it even existed,  could have been older or younger, or not even adopted. Look how  obscure my papers are."

"So look for unaccounted super saves."

"I'm not sure that will help. My early saves went unreported."

"I'll help."

"Thanks, honey." Clark moved closer to Lois, enfolding her in his  arms. "I have to admit that I believe that the only other  spaceship that landed was the one I found in China. I can't  understand why someone who also has the same, or even some of the  same powers, wouldn't have contacted Superman once he appeared.  It's been four years now."

"If it were me, I'd be curious to meet the person who was related  to me. You're probably right, but I think that you have to turn  over every stone before you give up."

"You actually want me to obsess about something?"

"Sometimes, my love, obsession pays off."

"Like my obsession for you?"

"Exactly." She reached up and brought his face toward hers,  luxuriating in the softness of his kiss.

The ringing of the phone separated them. Lois reluctantly got up  from the couch, heading toward the phone. "It must be Jimmy."

Laughing, Clark reached for his wife's hand as she picked up the  receiver.

Lois's end of the conversation was a series of single word  replies and a final, "I'll go with you."

"That was Shelley Hamilton," she explained to Clark. "Missing  Persons called her, saying that a body of a man who fits Jeremy's  description was found in Canada. They're not sure if it's him,  but she wants to go up and see what they have. I told Shelley I'd  go with her."

"Do you want me to come along? I mean, if it's Jeremy, then  Shelley might need more help…"

Lois thought for a minute. "No. Don't come up with us. I'll call  if I need you and you can..." She made a wave motion with her  hand indicating their signal for flying.

"Are you sure?"

"I think that Shelley needs a friend and not a reporter right  now. The trip will give us a chance to talk."

"All right. When do you plan to leave?'

'As soon as possible. Shelley's making arrangements for her  kids."

"I'll let Perry know. You go pack."

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

Part 06

Huntsville, Ontario

Early the next morning, Lois and Shelley, each carrying an  overnight bag, walked into the local provincial police station.  The officer at the front desk escorted them to a small office and  offered them coffee after telling them that Sergeant McLaren was  expected back soon.

Lois sat beside Shelley, holding her hand. It had been a while  since they had spoken. Lois let Shelley sit with her grief, not  sure if she wanted Jeremy's body to be the one that they found or  not. She wondered which she would choose: to know definitely that  her husband was dead, or to live for months with hope that he  could still be alive somewhere. It wasn't an easy choice.

Lois looked around the room. It resembled many other police  offices that she had seen. In the center of the small room, there  was a desk with a computer. One comfortable chair rested behind  the desk while two other chairs flanked the other side. Along one  wall was a credenza piled with an assortment of papers and  folders. Two filing cabinets were on the opposite wall. A  Canadian flag hung limply in one corner. Several pictures were  hanging on the wall: a group picture of officers in uniform, some  newspaper stories framed with pictures of an attractive woman,  about her age, wearing a police uniform. Lois assumed that was  McLaren. Another wall held three citations for acts of bravery  and two university degrees.

Lois leaned over and picked up a photograph from the desk. Unlike  the ones on the wall, this one was a group shot of a family, the  middle-aged parents flanked by their adult children. One female  in the group stood out. Unlike the other members of the group who  either had light brown or blonde hair, the woman had dark brown,  almost black, hair that cascaded past her shoulders. Her olive  complexion contrasted with the fair-skinned family.

Lois looked up and saw the same woman, this time wearing the  uniform of the Ontario Provincial Police, her hair neatly  controlled in a single French braid, walk forward, extending her  hand to Lois.

"Anna McLaren," she said.

"Lois Lane, Daily Planet," Lois said, returning McLaren's no  nonsense handshake. "This is Shelley Hamilton."

Shelley looked up and reached for McLaren's hand.

"I guess you want to know what we found, Mrs. Hamilton," McLaren  said, not wasting any time.

McLaren sat down next to Shelley. She ignored Lois, focussing  completely on the woman beside her. "The body of a man,  Caucasian, six feet tall, approximately 200 pounds was found near  the Loon Lake Road last week," she said, in a hushed voice. "The  man, according to the coroner, has been dead since the middle of  October of last year. He was hit on the back of the head by what  appears to be a shovel. This blow to the head killed him. The  coroner believes that the impact was so hard that death was  instantaneous. There is no evidence that the body was moved so  we're assuming that he was killed there. "

While McLaren was speaking, Shelley sat rigidly, a few tears  flowing from her eyes. The police officer handed her a tissue and  then got up to pour her a glass of water. She waited a few  seconds as Shelley sipped the drink.

"We're not sure that this is your husband, Mrs. Hamilton.  Identification of the body isn't going to be easy." McLaren  paused looking at Shelley and Lois. "It's been out in the open  for seven months so it doesn't look like..." McLaren paused when  Shelley inhaled. "Look, Mrs. Hamilton, I'm sorry but there's no  easy way to say this." She looked over at Shelley who nodded  understanding. "It's next to impossible to recognize the body as  anyone. We're going to have to look at the clothes that he was  wearing or DNA..."

"Do I have to look at the b...at it?" Shelley asked in a tiny  voice.

"Not yet. Maybe not at all."

"Can we get to the point here, Sergeant?" Lois interrupted. "Is  there something that you have to go on or are you just..."

"No, Ms Lane. First of all, even though generally the body fits  the description sent out by the Metropolis Police, it may not be  him. So there are also some questions that I have to ask." She  turned away from Lois. "Why would Mr. Hamilton be up here?"

Shelley looked at McLaren incredulously and shrugged her  shoulders. "I...I...have no idea."

"Has he ever been in this area before?"

"Yes, a few times. The last time was a few years ago. We came up  to Loon Lake Lodge for a week. We were talking about sending the  boys up here to summer camp."

"Did your husband talk to you about visiting this area?"

"We talked about taking another holiday here."

"Why?"

"Because we liked the countryside, the peacefulness. It was so  unlike the rush in Metropolis. Jeremy felt like he could slow  down. He even wanted to buy a cottage on a lake here, but I  didn't want to. It was too far from home, too isolated."

"Did he have a specific cottage in mind?"

"No. He just wanted to be on one of the lakes."

McLaren paused as Shelley Hamilton wiped her tears, then she  reached into her desk drawer and brought out an evidence bag. She  placed it in front of Shelley.

"Do you recognize these?" she asked, her voice softer, more  sympathetic than before.

Shelley gasped. Then the tears flowed unchecked. She attempted to  get words out, but she only choked out incomprehensible sounds.

Lois, who had been standing at the side, approached Shelley and  put her arms around her friend. The reality of Jeremy Hamilton's  murder and Shelley's loss were visible in front of her, in the  form of the evidence bag containing a man's watch and a wedding  band.

Lois heard McLaren quietly leave the office. In a way, she wished  that the police officer hadn't because she wasn't sure how she  could help her friend. So she just sat there and held her hand as  Shelley's tears rolled down her cheeks.

Later, when the first onrush of tears had slowed down, Shelley  whispered hoarsely, "What am I supposed to do now?"

"I'm not sure. Let me go check." She left Shelley's side, heading  toward the door. "Or do you want me to stay?"

"No. Go find out. Please."

"You'll be all right alone?"

"I guess."

Lois left the office and found Sergeant McLaren talking to  another officer. When she saw Lois, she came toward her.

"Shelley wants to know what she's supposed to do now."

"We're not going to ask her to identify the body, but we'd like  to do some DNA tests just to be sure it's him. Either some hair  follicles from a hair brush or a blood sample from one of the  children…"

"She brought his hair brush just in case you needed it." Lois  handed McLaren a baggie with the brush in it.

"We'll also need to keep the body here until we're sure, but Mrs.  Hamilton can start making arrangements for the remains with our  local undertaker." She handed Lois a business card. "There is  also some paperwork that needs to be done."

She called a civilian worker over and quietly instructed the  woman to make Mrs. Hamilton another cup of coffee and to help her  fill in the forms.

"Sylvie, put a temporary flag on the file with Jeremy Hamilton's  name, and take this hair brush to the lab."

Lois turned back towards McLaren's office.

"Ms. Lane," McLaren said, placing her hand on Lois's shoulder,  "before you go I'd like to talk to you."

"Sure."

"Are you here with Mrs. Hamilton as a friend or a reporter?"

Lois searched McLaren's face to find the right answer to the  question, but all she met was the police officer's neutral gaze.

"I'm Shelley's friend, but I'm also a reporter. I don't see that  one excludes the other."

"I'd like to ask you not to report on what has gone here, at  least not right now."

"Why?"

"There're too many unanswered questions. If information becomes  public, it may hamper the investigation."

"But Jeremy Hamilton was murdered..."

"Ms. Lane, we're not even sure it is Jeremy Hamilton...not until  we've done some more testing."

Lois heard the polite veneer in McLaren's voice leave as the  woman slowed her speech and emphasized her words.

"But there's a story here."

"Probably. But there are too many unanswered questions. If your  suspicions become public, it may hamper my investigation."

"What I do in Metropolis, where this story probably originates,  has nothing to do with you here."

"It has everything to do with what we're doing here. I assume  that you'd like to find out what happened to Hamilton and if  there has been any wrong doing, the perpetrator found and  convicted."

"Of course."

Even though McLaren was only a few inches taller than Lois, her  solid frame made Lois feel as if the police officer loomed over  her.

"Then once again, Ms. Lane, I'm asking you not to print  anything."

"Are you going to be releasing the victim's name?"

"The official statement will be that a body was found on Loon  Lake. There will be an investigation into the death. At this  point, the story shouldn't be newsworthy in Metropolis."

"And if I write what we know at this time?"

"Then I'll make sure that you aren't privy to any more  information."

"Shelley could fill me in on the details."

"She could if she knew any, but at this point she knows all that  she has to. Anything else is a courtesy."

"Sergeant, I have a job to do and that's to report the truth, not  to cover it up."

"Do you always print everything, or do you keep some of the so- called truth covered up?"

"My editor and I decide what's newsworthy and what isn't."

"And I'm sure you know things that you don't even tell your  editor." McLaren's eyes seared through Lois in a way that made  her heart skip a beat. "This isn't a cover up," McLaren said  quietly. "This is a police investigation. Don't get in the way,  or I'll arrest you for obstruction of justice."

"Haven't you heard of the First Amendment? Of freedom of the  press? You can't shut me out of this story."

"This is Canada. We don't have a First Amendment." McLaren turned  abruptly and walked toward one of the other officers, dismissing  Lois as she did.

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

"You're bristling, Lois," Clark said as he shifted the receiver  to his other ear.

"Bristling? What does that mean? You're in Metropolis. I'm 500  miles away in Nowheresville. How do you know I'm bristling?"

"Because I know you."

"Do you have a new power like supertelescopic vision?"

"No, honey." He chuckled amazed that her sense of the ridiculous  was heightened when she came across a situation that set the  hairs on her beautiful, long neck off in some direction. "I can  hear it in your voice, the pauses, the way you described your  talk with the police officer."

"She made me so angry," Lois said, a bit petulantly.

"What she said made sense...well, for a cop it did. Henderson  would have said the same thing."

"I know that. It's just..." She paused. "It's just that she was  so condescending. No. that's not right. I just got the feeling  that she knows something I don't, and she's not going to tell me.  I don't think I like her."

"About Jeremy's murder? Do you think she knows why he was up  there?"

"I don't know. There's this air about her that she's laughing at  me, and that I'll never be let in on the joke. Like when she said  there's no First Amendment. There has to be. Canada is a  democracy."

"Technically, Lois, freedom of the press is ensconced in their  Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There is no First Amendment."

"Why that…She knew exactly what I meant." She lowered her voice.  "Clark, I miss you."

"I miss you too, honey. The bed's so empty without you."

"Mine, too."

"I can be there in two minutes if you want."

"I want, but don't come. I'm sharing the room with Shelley...and  as much as I need you, I think she needs me more."

"How's she doing?"

"As well as can be expected. Dealing with the details has given  her something to focus on rather than her grief. She hasn't told  the kids yet."

"How long can she keep quiet?"

"We're flying back to Metropolis in the morning. She'll tell them  when they confirm it's Jeremy's body." She sniffled.

"Lois, honey, are you all right?"

"Yeah. It's just that sometimes I can't stop imagining how I'd  feel if it were me, and you were missing, or even worse...Clark,  I couldn't survive without you."

"It's not me. That can't happen. Don't worry about the  impossible."

"In my head I know you're right. It's my heart." She sniffled  again and took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I'll see you tomorrow  around noon. I'll come directly to the Planet."

"I love you, Lois."

"I love you, too, Clark."

Each held onto the phone for a moment longer, listening to the  other breathe. Then, they each hung up.

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

"I miss you," she said. She traced the outline of his face with  her finger, lingering over his neatly trimmed beard.

"I hear you finishing my sentences. Our plans. Your laughter."  She touched his lips. "We laughed so well together. Especially  when our plans fell into place." Her fingers caressed his cheek  and outlined his brown eyes.

"Soon we'll laugh together. This plan will work. We've had a  little set back. Soon we'll be back together again."

She raised the picture frame and placed her lips on the cold  glass.

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

"The trail leads to Metropolis," Anna explained to her superior,  Inspector Joe DeSantos, who was absently flipping through the  file she had placed on his desk. "DNA evidence confirms that the  victim was Jeremy Hamilton, a resident of Metropolis, New Troy."

"So we'll turn the investigation over to the Metropolis police  and you can get back to your normal duties."

"No sir, I was hoping I could follow up in Metropolis. I have a  few leads. His brother..."

"Sorry Sergeant, it doesn't work that way." DeSantos stood up and  handed the file over to Anna.

"But sir, this is a murder investigation, a murder that took  place in our jurisdiction."

"I know, but it's no longer in our jurisdiction."

"Then let me connect with the MPD, go down there and..."

"Make the connection by phoning down..."

"Inspector, I really want to follow this through. It's important  to my career that I have a challenging homicide investigation  under my belt."

"Is that why you want to go?"

"Yes. No. I want to follow through with this. It's personal."

"You're not listening, Sergeant. You can't go to Metropolis." De  Santos walked around his desk. "If you think that we need someone  down there, I'll tell Dr. Morrow to contact the MPD."

"Morrow? Why him?"

"He's in Metropolis anyway --for that forensic seminar. He can be  the liaison."

"But sir, he's a doctor, not a police officer. I don't think  he'll know what to do."

"According to this file," he said pointing to the file in Anna's  hands, "he has had input in this case."

"Yes, but that was medical input."

"Look Anna," he said, his voice softening, "We simply can't  afford to send you. I realize it's an important case for you, and  I want it solved just as much as you do..."

"But?"

"But there's no money for this."

"Money?"

"The cutbacks have made it impossible for me to subsidize this  kind of expenditure."

"You sound like a bureaucrat now."

"Whether I like it or not, I am a bureaucrat...and you're  whining."

Anna hung her head like a child being scolded. She was quiet for  few seconds, then raised her head defiantly. "I think I'll take  some of my vacation time and fly down to Metropolis."

"Nice place to visit. And while you're there, you can drop in on  an old buddy of mine, Bill Henderson."

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

Part 07

Metropolis, New Troy

Anna heard the sonic boom as she entered the cab at Metropolis  airport. She shielded her eyes from the sun and watched the caped  hero fly across the sky.

"Pretty amazing, isn't he?" the cab driver said.

"Yes," she answered following the superhero as he wended his way  over the city.

"You must be new in town."

Anna grumbled in response.

"I can tell. I get a kick out of newcomers watching Superman.  They're the ones staring up at the sky open-mouthed." Not hearing  any response from his passenger, he continued. "We're immune to  it. We know he's here."

"I don't think that I could ever become immune to that," she said  as she turned her attention to the cab driver. He was in his mid- fifties, speaking with what sounded like an eastern European  accent.

"He saved me once back when he first came to Metropolis," the man  continued. "I was making a run to Suicide Slum, not a very good  area, but the fare gave me a big tip, up front, so I took  it...and him. After I let him out, I drove a few blocks and all  of a sudden there was these punks in front of me...I had no  choice. Slammed on my brakes. I rolled up the windows quick, but  not before one grabbed the door handle...I couldn't drive...Then  a gun appeared. I thought it was the end of my life. In my mind,  I started saying good-bye to my wife and my kids...and just then,  he was there, in front of me...and the punks, they just ran off.  They knew what he could do to them."

"So, he's a deterrent..."

"No, it's more than that. When I was saying good-bye to my  family, I swore I would do more for the community, to make  Metropolis a better place. Sounds corny, no?"

"Not really," Anna said politely.

"Well, I did do something. Now, I volunteer at an inner city  school. I coach soccer. I give back."

"So, Superman rescuing you made you into a soccer coach?"

"Think about it. He doesn't get paid for what he does. He just  does it. Whenever someone needs help, he's there."

"Always?"

"Probably not always...but he gives us hope. He shows what can be  done if you care. He shows one person can make a difference." The  cabby looked in the mirror. "Look, with all the powers that  Superman has, he could probably take over the world, get really  rich, and turn us into his slaves." He turned his attention back  to the road. "But he doesn't. He doesn't ask for anything."

"But he gets money from endorsements and royalties from action  figures and t-shirts."

"Sure, the money goes to the Superman Foundation. That money goes  straight to charity. I don't think he gets any of it." The driver  pulled the cab over to the curb. "You see, miss, Superman gives  us much more than we give him. Metropolis and the world are  better places to live because of him. That's the bottom line." He  lifted the meter's handle. "This is it, miss. We're here."

"Thank you," Anna said, handing him payment for the ride. "You've  given me much more than a ride."

Anna pulled her duffel bag out of the cab and headed toward the  reception desk.

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

David Morrow nursed his scotch on the rocks in the  hotel bar while watching the comings and goings in the front  lobby. The forensics course was interesting, but what really  peaked his interest was his talks with Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

They were beginning to make inroads on the Jeremy Hamilton  murder. He had spent the previous evening sharing information  with the reporting team.

Lois Lane had told him about Emil Hamilton and his cloning  experiments. The scientist was hoping to see if there was a way  he could genetically change criminal behaviour, to make it more  socially aware. In order to do this, he used technology to clone  gangsters and bring them back. But before he was able to start  his experiments, the clones returned to their natural criminal  behaviour: robbing banks, stealing cars, attempting to bribe  officials, and killing people who got in their way.

"In the end," Lois had said, "Superman stopped them."

"With Lois's help," Clark added.

"What happened to Hamilton's experiment?" David had asked.

"Nothing. He destroyed it and that was that," Lois added, taking  Clark's hand and squeezing it.

David noted that something private passed between the husband and  wife team, but he didn't feel comfortable pursuing it. Instead,  he had asked what the connection between Jeremy's murder and Emil  was.

"That's harder to explain because here we're going on instinct."

"You have to realize, though," Clark had added, "that Lois's  instincts are 99% right on."

Lois smiled at Clark's comment. "According to Shelley Hamilton,  Emil had been phoning his brother almost daily a few weeks before  his stroke. Jeremy was agitated after he spoke to his brother,  mumbling about his harebrained schemes getting him in more  trouble than any scientific discovery was worth. Although Emil  was older, Jeremy seemed to be the pragmatic one, the one who  kept his older brother grounded, so to speak. After Emil's  stroke, Jeremy had visited his brother's office. When he got  there, it had been ransacked. "

"It made sense to us," Clark had continued, "that Emil was the  link. So we followed up on his clones. When we last saw them,  they were in prison again for the crimes they committed their  second time around. They're still there now."

"We checked Hamilton's visitors and phone calls. The lab he works  for now keeps a record of visitors. The name that kept coming up  was a Vic Newbury."

David stared at his empty glass. Tomorrow he was meeting with  Bill Henderson of the MPD who was going to apprise him of what he  had found out about Vic Newbury. Would they find a connection  with Emil Hamilton and then with Jeremy? It could be a long shot.

He debated ordering another scotch when he looked out into the  lobby. Now he knew that his mind was playing tricks on him. If he  didn't know any better, he'd think that Anna McLaren was standing  at the reception desk in the lobby.

The woman drove him crazy. He had moved to Huntsville to get away  from a relationship he felt was getting out of hand. The last  thing he had wanted was another relationship, especially with a  strong-willed, opinionated, stubborn woman, but somehow just  being around her, watching her graceful movements, her  compassionate handling of people in trouble, her problem solving,  he felt himself falling uncontrollably under her spell.

To no avail, he thought. She wasn't interested in him, and yet he  couldn't explain the palpable attraction that suffused his body.  He knew that she felt it too. As much as she tried to hide her  interest, he knew that the sarcastic gruffness he heard in her  voice and the controlled body language were forced, an act she  put on just for him, to scare him away. Or so he told himself.

He stared at the woman's back. So like her, he thought. The same  height, the same strong shoulders, the same dark brown braid. And  then she turned around...

David took a final sip of the melted ice cubes, placed the glass  on the table and headed into the lobby.

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

"Anna!"

Surprised to hear her name called, she spun around. David. She  knew he was registered in the Metropolis Grand, but hearing his  voice calling her name startled her. She straightened her  shoulders, and cleared the surprise from her face.

"Morrow?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Vacation."

"You? On vacation?" He stared in disbelief. "What are you really  doing here?"

"Following up on the Hamilton murder."

"I'm doing that."

"Is that why you're in Metropolis?"

"No. I'm here for the forensic conference, but the Inspector  suggested I check in with MPD."

"Well, you can go back to your conference, now. I'm here and can  take over."

"Sorry, I'm not giving this up. You wanna work with me, you're  welcome. If not, go vacation somewhere else."

David glared at Anna daring her to gainsay him. One part of her  wanted to. Working with David was dangerous, affecting her core,  an area that she wanted left in peace. The other part of her  enjoyed the sparring, the interplay, the physical desire she  worked so hard to keep hidden.

And yet, he might know something that would help her  investigation. And she had to admit he had been more than helpful  leading up to his trip to Metropolis. He'd spent more time than  necessary on the autopsy. He'd helped her focus on the abandonned  car. She raised her eyes from the room card in her hand. He was  standing still, his eyes boring adamantly into her.

"I'll meet you in the restaurant for breakfast at 7:30," she  said. She turned towards the elevator. "And don't smirk, Morrow."

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

Anna lay on the bed, her novel spread open across her chest. She  had read the same sentence over and over without grasping its  meaning, but after the second or third word her mind returned to  David standing in the lobby.

She hadn't expected to see him…Who was she kidding? When she had  asked Pete Byford to book her in a hotel, he had mentioned that  he'd booked her in the same hotel as David, muttering something  about it being nice that at least she'd know someone in the big  city. She hadn't objected. Let's face it. It made sense…didn't  it?

He looked good standing there with that look of utter  surprise...a pleased surprise, she noted...on his face. Her first  impulse was to rush up and kiss him the way she would an old  friend or her brother, or her lover. But before she could move or  say anything, common sense prevailed, thank goodness, and shook  her back to reality. She'd meet him for breakfast. She'd be  professional about the whole thing.

Luckily, her brains were working harder than her hormones. She  couldn't understand why seeing him always set her heart beating  loudly in her ears. No other man had ever been able to distract  her from her goals, from the reality she lived with. Somehow,  David Morrow had crept right in and insinuated himself in her  mind whether she wanted him to or not.

Not in her mind, she reminded herself, in her hormones. Her  brains turned to mush whenever he was around. The only part of  her body that worked was her heart, and maybe, she admitted to  herself, another part she wasn't willing to name. She also  conceded that her defence against him was a veil of anger she put  on whenever he was near. Easier to deal with him that way.

He turned her on. No man had ever done that. She'd been mildly  attracted to some men in the past, but it was more intellectual.  He'd be a nice guy or a good-looking one, and she'd go out on a  date or two with him, but there was no magic, no chemistry. That  was good. She didn't want either the magic or the chemistry, both  of which would get her in deeper than she wanted.

But she had gotten in deeper than she had ever expected. And for  the millionth time, she chastised herself for her stupidity that  night at Loon Lake. She should just have taken off and ignored  his voice and his shivering, naked body wrapped in that old  towel. He would have decided that what he had seen was simply a  mirage; instead, she had approached him, unashamedly seduced him,  and made love...no, had sex...with him.

And that had made her angry because if he was so interested in  her the way he said he was, how could he make l...have sex with a  woman whom he didn't even think was real. Moreover, if he found  out who that woman was, he'd be angrier than a grizzly bear.

But now, whenever she saw him, all she could think about was how  he felt, his lips on hers, his hands touching her body. If she  closed her eyes, she could feel him thrusting inside her until he  peaked, and then she shuddered with her desire for him. She had  hoped that if she had sex once with him, it would be enough to  quench her curiosity; instead like taking a small sip of water on  a hot day, she wanted more.

She tried to clear her mind. He had no right invading her  thoughts this way. She knew she had to stop before she did  something stupid.

She lifted the book from her chest, snapping it shut, then turned  off the light. She wasn't going to allow Morrow to turn her to  mush.

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

Part 08

Lois saw Anna McLaren when she entered the lobby  restaurant. Henderson had called the night before and had invited  her and Clark to join Morrow and him the next morning to share  information. She hadn't expected to see McLaren as well.

She looked different than she had in Huntsville, softer, more  relaxed. Instead of the blue police uniform weighted down with a  utility belt, she wore a light blue silk blouse with a pair of  black cotton slacks and black sandals. She carried a black blazer  on her arm. As she walked toward the table her facial expression  kept changing: first she frowned, then nodded her head with a  slight smile and finally startled, she stared. Lois followed the  gaze and realized that she was looking straight at Clark. Lois  slid her right hand under Clark's left one. In her mind she sent  the signal to McLaren: Wedding band. He's taken and he's mine.

When McLaren reached the table, the men stood up. Morrow  introduced her first to Henderson, who shook her hand and  muttered something like, "Nice to meet you." Then Morrow  introduced her to Clark. He also shook her hand, but they held on  just a fraction of a second too long. Clark looked surprised by  McLaren's intense scrutiny.

Morrow must have seen the connection that passed between Clark  and McLaren because he abruptly sat down, gulped some coffee and  started talking. "Yeah. Right. We're here to...uh...put together  our information about Hamilton."

"Exactly," said Henderson. "Lane, you may be on the right track  looking at Vic Newbury."

"I've been racking my brains trying to remember why I know that  name. Give me a minute," Lois said.

"Wasn't he involved with the Churches?" Clark asked.

"Are you thinking of the guy who ran the Church vigilante group?"  Lois asked.

"That's the one. He turned to petty crime and Superman  discouraged him."

"Sounds like the right guy," said Henderson. "He spent a short  time in jail and now he's on parole."

"You're kidding?"

"Have you ever seen me kid, Lois?"

"No. Never."

"It seems to me," McLaren said, "we need to connect Newbury to  Jeremy Hamilton, or at least to place him in Huntsville at the  time of the murder. Inspector?"

"I wonder if Newbury visited Hamilton when Jeremy was there?"  Lois asked.

"Newbury visited Emil Hamilton several times in the hospital. We  looked at his phone records as well. He had called Hamilton..."  Henderson flipped open his notebook. "...frequently both at his  home and in his office.'

"Do you have a picture of him, Inspector? Lois and I could visit  the nursing home and his former office," Clark said. "Meanwhile,  Inspector, you could check Newbury's phone records."

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

Lois didn't know exactly how it happened, but she  and Anna McLaren were walking up the steps to the Renaissance  Nursing Home. As they sat around the breakfast table earlier in  the day, they had decided a visit to Emil would be the next move  on their list. But Henderson had received a message calling him  away to a more urgent case. Once they had decided to go to the  nursing home in the morning, Morrow had to beg off, saying the  day's seminars at the Forensic Conference were too important for  him to miss. Lois had hoped that McLaren would have some excuse  not to join her, and when she turned to look at her, she noticed  McLaren staring off into space. Great, Lois thought, she had to  deal with an air head.

But Lois's thoughts had been interrupted by Clark, who rose from  the table saying he just remembered he had an appointment with a  source, and if he didn't get there soon...And in very typical  Clark style, he didn't end the sentence but rose from the table  and headed for the door. Although his back was to her, in her  mind's eye she could see him tugging at his tie. She smiled, not  understanding how she hadn't seen through Clark's excuses in the  past.

Unfortunately, she had realized she was left with McLaren. She  glanced over at the woman whose eyes were following Clark out the  door of the restaurant. She had better find some time when the  two were together to let her know how unavailable Clark was.

Now, standing in front of the information desk at the Renaissance  Nursing Home, an old Victorian mansion turned into a nursing  home, Lois asked the receptionist about Emil Hamilton.

"He's on the second floor, east wing," she said. "I'm sure he'll  be glad to see you since he hasn't had a lot of visitors lately.  His sister-in-law and nephews haven't been here since his brother  went missing. I read in the paper that he's dead. It's been hard  for them."

"Has Professor Hamilton had any other visitors?" Anna asked  taking advantage of the woman's willingness to prattle.

"He did for a while. There was this woman a few months ago. She  never said her name or anything, just that she was a friend of  the professor's.

"What did woman look like?" Lois asked.

The receptionist shrugged her shoulders. "Like a regular woman  except her hair was awful. It was dyed. I can't understand why  women want to dye their hair an unnatural colour. It looked  bright orange to me. I suppose it was supposed to be auburn, but  it was awful."

"Was it long or short?" Lois asked.

"Short."

"Do you remember her height, weight, age? Anything like that,"  Anna added.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. She was about my height, five-four,  heavier than me, looked around thirty or forty, but I'm not good  with age."

"Did she wear a lot of make-up?"

"Yeah, it was plastered on like she was a clown. She had pale  skin, but the make-up didn't cover the wrinkles or lines. I  remember thinking that I'd like to take a cloth and wipe off all  the blush. It was too much."

"You've got a good memory."

"I remember her because she looked so odd to me."

"Do you remember seeing this man?" Lois pulled out a picture of  Newbury.

"Sure. He came with her a few times. You could tell she was boss.  Kept giving him orders. He'd follow her up to Emil's room, and  she'd be talking at him the whole time."

"Thank you for your help. Come, Lois. Let's visit Emil," Anna  said, leading Lois down the hall.

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

Emil Hamilton sat in a high-backed chair staring at the wall in  front of him. Lois tried getting his attention, touching his arm,  waving her hands in front of his face. She even yelled at him,  but Emil didn't move or blink. He kept staring at the wall.

Lois grumbled in frustration. "I don't know if I should hate this  man for what he did or be thankful to him for the rest of my  life."

"I don't understand," said Anna, looking at the small, grey man  in front of her.

"It's a long story," Lois paused. She didn't like the way McLaren  looked at Clark. Maybe using her story with Hamilton could let  McLaren know, without any doubt, how taken Clark was.

Hamilton was still staring straight ahead, oblivious to the two  women, mumbling incomprehensibly.

Lois, seeing that they weren't going to make sense of what  Hamilton was saying, began her story. "Two years ago, old  gangsters began appearing on the streets of Metropolis."

"Had they been released from prison?"

"No. Old, dead, gangsters. Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone,  Dillinger...those kinds of gangsters."

"Really!" said Anna, her eyes wide open.

"They began to terrorize the city. Clark and I learned that  Professor Hamilton here had been experimenting with cloning. He  wanted to learn if resocializing criminals would change their  behaviour. Before he could begin his experiments, the clones had  run amok.

"While uncovering what happened, Clark and I followed them to a  gambling den. There, Dillinger raised a gun at me, and Clark  stepped in front of the bullet...which hit him in the chest."  Lois hiccoughed. "He was dead, and at that moment, I realized  that my best friend, the man I loved, was gone."

"But he didn't die."

"No. Not exactly." Lois realized that even though she knew the  truth about what happened to Clark, she was telling the public  story. "He was dead, but Superman got hold of Hamilton's notes  and used them to resurrect Clark."

"Convenient," Anna muttered.

"What did you say?" asked Lois.

"Lucky that Superman was able to save him."

"More than lucky. In some ways, he saved my life as well. During  those long hours when I thought Clark was dead, I thought I had  nothing to live for. I had made the biggest mistake of my life  not acknowledging to myself and to him that I loved him. I didn't  realize the feelings I had for Clark, for my partner and best  friend, were so strong because I loved him." Lois paused for a  moment remembering those moments.

"So after he was resurrected you told him you loved him and you  became a couple."

"Not exactly. Several months before, Clark had told me he loved  me, but I was blinded by a lot of things, and didn't think I  reciprocated his feelings."

"He told you first?"

"Yes, of course. Why?"

"Well...I...uh...I got the feeling he was... a... reticent guy,  shy maybe."

"He's quiet, but he's not afraid of showing his feelings." This  was Lois's opportunity to let Anna know exactly what the score  was. "Once we were completely truthful with each other, Clark  told me he had loved me from the moment we met, that his dream  was to make a future with me." Lois glared directly at Anna. "We  are very much in love, and nothing will change that."

"Clark was the one who wanted to get married?"

"Yes." Lois glared at McLaren. "Why would you ask that?"

McLaren paused. Lois thought she was at a loss for words. Did  McLaren think Lois was unlovable, unmarriageable?

"It was a question coming from...uh...personal experience.  I...uh...I thought men...uh...didn't want commitment."

"Not all men. I used to think the same until I met Clark. He made  me believe that there are some men out there who want commitment,  who want to attach their lives to another person. I'm lucky  enough to have found one."

Once again, McLaren didn't say anything, as if she was mulling  over all that Lois had told her.

"And so now it's happily ever after, living the perfect life..."

"It hasn't been smooth sailing if that's what you mean. We have  our problems, our ups and downs, our disagreements. But we work  at our relationship and it's good, very good." Lois turned on her  heels. "There's nothing we can do here. Let's check out  Hamilton's papers."

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

If there had been any clues in Hamilton's papers,  they had vanished long ago, Lois and Anna had decided after  having visited Hamilton's office and apartment. At least, with  the receptionist's observations, they had more than a tentative  connection between Newbury and Hamilton.

Anna had called her office and requested customs and immigration  to find if Newbury had crossed the border around the same time as  Jeremy Hamilton. If that connection could be made, then obtaining  a search warrant became a likely possibility. The problem was  that if the two men had crossed by automobile then only the  license plates would have been registered, unless the customs  officials found something suspicious with either of the men or  cars. One problem was that they didn't have a license plate for  what they believed was Jeremy's car.

Meanwhile, Anna had time to kill. She and Lois had parted company  a half hour earlier. Lois had returned to the Daily Planet while  Anna decided to spend some time exploring one of Metropolis's  shopping districts. She was standing in front of a hair salon  looking at a picture of a woman, her hair falling softly on her  shoulders. What she wouldn't give for a professional hair-cut,  for layers of hair instead of the monthly blunt zapping the ends  her hair got. She shrugged her shoulders, feeling the weight of  her braid running down her back.

On the other hand, she knew she shouldn't complain about her  hair. In the end, it had given her a cloak to hide behind, a veil  that David couldn't see through. At least she had had that one  night with him.

At the time, she had believed it was only one night, that there  was no future for them, but maybe she was wrong. If Clark could  find a woman who could accept him, then perhaps David would  consider her...until he found out.

The conversation with Lois had been strange; they'd spoken at  cross purposes. Lois had interpreted Anna's interest in Clark as  a romantic one rather than the more clinical interest in learning  what made him tick, how he functioned as two different people.  Instead of her words becoming a warning against moving in on  Clark, her words gave Anna a glimmer of a hope that a semblance  of normalcy was a possibility.

Anna was fascinated by Clark Kent because he didn't keep his  skills and talents hidden, as she had for so many years. She  remembered clearly the day she learned about Superman. It had  been four years earlier. She'd been on a training exercise for a  number of days, having no communication with the rest of the  world. When she got home, her mother's voice on the answering  machine told her to get a newspaper, check the news and call her  back...immediately.

She had done as she was told, and when she opened the newspaper,  she saw the picture of the good-looking man wearing the red, blue  and yellow costume. She quickly scanned the Lois Lane article  that had been picked up by most English language newspapers. What  struck Anna was that this Superman had all the same talents as  she had. He called them powers. He had enhanced hearing and  vision, extraordinary strength, invulnerability and he could  fly...just like her.

Following her mother's orders, she had called home. Her mother  was excited. Anna wasn't alone in the world. There was someone  just like her. She had to contact him. He could answer her  questions, explain what she didn't know. Anna had promised her  mother she would find him, but in the end she'd procrastinated.

At first, she had decided to find out more about him, so she kept  reading the newspapers to get as much information as she could.  Within a few weeks, she learned that he was from a planet called  Krypton. She had looked at herself in the mirror. Could an alien  look and feel as human as she did?

She had always believed that she was human, some kind of human  experiment gone awry. How or why she wasn't sure. She, along with  her parents, worried that if someone found out about her, they  would take her away from the only family she knew. So, together,  they had decided to keep her developing talents a secret. They  had decided if she needed to tell someone, one of her brothers  was always available, but, in the end, she didn't want to burden  any of them. Being a sister to four brothers was difference  enough.

As far as Superman was concerned, she had to learn more about him  before she admitted they were the same. Most first-hand reporting  about the new superhero, as he was called, came from Metropolis.  She began reading the Daily Planet on a regular basis and became  familiar with the names Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Those two  seemed to get most of the more substantial interviews with  Superman.

Anna also wondered if this Superman was really like her. She  didn't walk around in a flashy costume saving people. She always  used her talents in a natural and unobtrusive way. She was  satisfied being a tad faster or stronger.

Four years had passed since she'd learned about the existence of  Superman, and in that time, she'd never tried to contact him.  She'd figured out, by trial and error, that Superman was a  disguise for Clark Kent, the reporter at the Daily Planet. On  reading the Lois Lane and Clark Kent exclusives in the paper, she  decided to do a background check on the reporting team. The broad  strokes of Clark Kent's life paralleled her own. Age, adopted,  athletic, bright. Too coincidental. Then she looked for pictures  of Clark Kent. There weren't too many available until the Planet  started advertising the Hottest Team in Town with a large, one- page spread of Lois Lane and Clark Kent. At the time she thought  that it was a stupid move on the paper's part, giving faces to  its top investigating team, but it became possible for her to  place a picture of Superman beside Clark Kent's. There was no  doubt in her mind afterwards.

Once she knew who he was, she thought about meeting him, but what  would she say? Hey! I'm Kryptonian, too. No. She wasn't even sure  she was Kryptonian. All she knew was she could do what he could,  and they shared the same talents. And anyway, she was too busy.  Up until now. She had actually met Clark Kent and they were in  the same city. Now she had no excuse. Yes, she would tell him who  she was...as soon as she found the right time.

Meanwhile, she had a case to solve, Jeremy Hamilton's murderer to  find. The clues, at the moment were circumstantial, but she could  use the time to follow up on one of the leads. Vic Newbury.

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

Part 09

After leaving Anna, Lois returned to the Daily Planet where she  found Clark sitting at his desk typing up his notes. She quickly  filled him in on her morning with Anna McLaren.

"Is Anna McLaren still getting on your nerves?"

"Yes...no...Sort of...."

"Sort of?" Clark asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I think I let her know that you're off limits, but sometimes,  there're things she says or looks she gives me that send shivers  up my spine."

"Shivers? Like she scares you?"

"More like Twilight Zone shivers where she knows something I  should, but I don't."

"I could talk to her. Maybe I can get a handle on what bugs you."

"Just remember to let her know that you're mine."

Clark put his arm around his wife and planted a soft kiss on her  lips. "Absolutely and forever yours," he said. "By the way,  Henderson called. The other phone number calling Emil belongs to  a Marcy Turcovic. He says she's a personal assistant at TAL Inc."

"Never heard of it."

"Neither have I. Henderson is looking into it and so is Jimmy.  But we do have an address for TAL Inc."

"I think I'll find this Marcy Turcovic," she said to her husband.  "I'll follow her, see where she goes, get a sense of who she is."

"Good plan. Do you need any help?"

"I know how to get hold of you if I do," she said taking her cell  phone out of her purse.

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

With time on her hands and little patience for shopping, Anna  found Newbury's address in the phone book and, with a map of the  city in her hand, headed in his direction. Within a short time,  she stood across the street from a small brick house in an older  working class neighbourhood. Her eyes swept the house. No one was  home. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she felt  confident that when she found it, she'd know.

The interior of the house was sparsely decorated, if decorated  was the right word. A sofa with a mismatched easy chair, a TV set  and a boom box, a small kitchen table with three chairs, a bed, a  dresser and a night table. Not much furniture but every piece  covered in clothes, papers or half- empty take-out containers.  She zoomed into each room. The stove was greasy, the fridge empty  except for some basic condiments, a few bottles of beer and soda.  Dirty dishes, a frying pan and several pots lay piled on the  counters. Obviously, the man didn't bother cleaning up. The  cupboards under the sink were cluttered with bags, garbage and  cleaners...never used she noticed.

Anna refocussed on the outside. No one seemed to be around, but  just in case she looked suspicious, she bent down and massaged  her ankle. If someone came by, they'd assume she was exercising  and had strained something. In the crouching position, she  examined the other rooms. Newbury's home was a mess, but unless  she wanted to sift through the pile of clothes and other of his  belongings which were strewn all over the bedroom floor, she  wasn't going to find anything. Anna was disappointed that her  search, so far, had come up with nothing.

As she got up and stretched her arms and legs, a Jeep drove into  Newbury's driveway. A good- looking man, about thirty, sandy- haired, six feet tall, got out of the vehicle. He picked up the  mail, unlocked the door and went in the house, locking the door  behind him. After he checked the mail, he aimed it at a table,  but only a few envelopes made it to their destination. The rest  fluttered to the floor. He went into the kitchen, took a bottle  of beer, and headed for the bedroom. Chugging some beer, he  slipped off his shoes and then placed the bottle on the night  table. Use a coaster, Anna thought. Then she laughed at herself.  Too little, too late.

Newbury took off his trousers and began unbuttoning his shirt.  Standing in his briefs, he walked to the shower, turned it on and  began to lower his briefs.

"That's more than I want to see," Anna whispered, shaking her  head. It was time to leave. As she headed away from the house,  she decided to take one quick look at the Jeep. It was an older  model, red, rusty in spots, a few dents on the sides. She peered  into the back where there were two grungy gym bags. Clearly  sticking out of one bag was a license plate: New Troy 324 AXY.  She memorized the number. In the same bag as the license plate,  she saw a shovel. Zooming in on the shovel, she saw traces of  mud, leaves and grass.

Anna had to find a way to legally get hold of the license plate  and shovel without tainting the evidence. Not wanting to stand  out in full view, Anna walked down to the donut shop on the  corner. After ordering a coffee, she sat beside the window  keeping an eye on Newbury's house. She might be wrong in her  assumptions, but if she wasn't then the evidence which could  further their case was sitting in the back of the vehicle and she  had to get it.

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

The sun had set by the time Newbury walked out  of his front door. He jumped into his Jeep and headed past the  donut shop where Anna had already consumed several cups of  coffee.

She left her seat and walked out the door as soon as she saw  Newbury leave his house. Slinging her purse over her shoulder,  she started walking in the same direction as the car was headed.  She picked up her pace.

She wasn't quite sure what she hoped to achieve, but she knew  that following Newbury on foot was not a good idea, even though  she could travel as fast if not faster than he could. There were  no cabs around to hail, but she had an idea how to get hold of  the license plate and shovel legally, and that meant that she had  to know where Newbury and his vehicle ended up. If only...

What the heck! she thought. This is Metropolis and no one even  notices. Searching the area, Anna found a mini-park bordered by a  cluster of trees. She walked to the trees, tucked her hair into  the collar of the blazer then pulled it tightly around her neck  so her light-coloured blouse wouldn't show. Then looking around  making sure no one could see her, she leapt into the air.

Flying above the cloud line, she found the vehicle and followed  it from above.

She just hoped that no one noticed her, or if they did, they'd  think Superman was dressed in black rather than in his suit. The  words of the Metropolis cabby when he had dropped her off at her  hotel rang in her ears. The people of Metropolis were used to  Superman in the skies so they wouldn't think to look up. That  gave her the confidence to take off in the middle of the city.

And she had to admit, as she followed Newbury along the road, she  liked the freedom to just take off anywhere, using her talents  more freely.

The Jeep pulled into a parking lot. Newbury left the car and went  into the building. Anna scanned the area. No one was around. She  landed quietly, a short distance from the vehicle. Walking  cautiously among the cars, she approached the Jeep and using her  laser vision, quickly zapped the back tire enough to create a  pinhole. She then leaned on the tire, letting enough air out to  partially deflate it. Her next step was to make the spare  unusable. She located it on the hatch at the back, zapped a  larger hole in it and let it deflate completely. She walked away  from the car and sat, inconspicuously, on a curb in the shadows  waiting for Newbury to leave.

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

The seats in Sykes Bar and Grill were  beginning to fill more quickly now, Lois observed, sitting in a  booth just behind Marcy Turcovic who had consumed two martinis in  the last hour. Lois had followed the woman earlier to the bar and  was waiting to see who she was going to meet. She'd left a  message with Clark telling him to meet her there. Now she also  sat nursing a drink, keeping her wits about her, as she watched  the orange-haired woman nervously checking the door and glancing  at her watch.

Her hunch paid off when a man she recognized as Vic Newbury sat  down beside Turcovic who was angrily pointing at her watch.

"You're late," Turcovic said. Lois had no trouble hearing her,  but then Turcovic leaned toward Newbury and the two began to  whisper. Even though the two were very animated, and no matter  how much she strained, she couldn't overhear their conversation  which lasted fifteen minutes. Where was Clark when she needed  him?

When Newbury finally got up, he looked down at Turcovic and  sarcastically said, "You're not asking a lot, are you?"

"Just do it," Turcovic said.

Lois debated whether to stay with Marcy Turcovic or follow  Newbury out the door. She had given him orders to do something,  so Lois decided following him was her best bet. She put money on  the table and followed Newbury into the parking lot. As she  unlocked her car door, watching Newbury approach a red Jeep, she  was startled by a voice behind her.

"Do you have a cell phone on you?" Anna McLaren asked.

"What are you doing here?" Lois asked.

"Followed Newbury. I was waiting for him to come out." Anna  hopped into the passenger side of Lois's silver Cherokee.

"Why the cell phone?"

"He's going to have a problem soon. Thought we'd let Bill  Henderson know."

"You look like the cat who swallowed the canary."

"You think?"

"Well?"

"I checked out where Newbury lives and while I was there, he  arrived home. I decided to follow him. That's how I got here. I  looked over his car and he seems to have some tire problems."

Lois opened her eyes. "You know, McLaren, I might get to like  you." "What were you doing here? Not following Newbury."

"No. Turcovic."

"Interesting."

"Definitely. They had a meeting. Unfortunately, I wasn't in a  good position to hear what they said."

"Where's Clark?"

"Clark's working on another story." Lois turned her head to see  her passenger. That McLaren was definitely a strange one. Why  would she bring up Clark just when Lois mentioned that she  couldn't hear what Newbury and Turcovic were saying? Didn't she  think Lois could do the work herself? Giving her the benefit of  the doubt, Lois decided she had probably meant to change the  subject...or she wanted to talk about Clark. Hadn't she gotten  the hint yet?

"Slow down. He's pulling over to the side," Anna said. "Pull over  and turn off your engine."

The two women watched as Newbury got out of his car and kicked  the flat tire in frustration. Lois reached for her binoculars to  get a closer look at Newbury while he opened up the hatch and  threw out a few bags.

"He's looking for something," Lois said.

"Call Henderson," McLaren said.

"McLaren, you are really bad," Lois said spying the very flat  spare. "How did you manage to do that?"

"Trade secret. Call Henderson and tell him to drive over here.  There're some very interesting items on the side of the road."  Anna pointed to the license plate sticking out of the gym bag.

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

The next day, David Morrow accompanied Inspector  Henderson on a search of the TAL offices and warehouse, where  Newbury and Turcovic were employed.

"Now remember," Bill Henderson instructed "you're here to  observe. That means you, Lois. Don't touch anything. Kent, keep  an eye on her. And McLaren, you don't have jurisdiction here.  You're a visitor. You, too, Morrow."

David noticed that Lois was about to protest, probably something  in the order that it was she who had found and reported the  disabled vehicle on the road to Henderson. He and his men had  arrived on the scene a few minutes after Lois placed the call.  Anna had explained to David that, while a couple of uniform  officers were helping Newbury get towing assistance, one of  Henderson's men had spotted a New Troy license plate sitting in  an open gym bag that Newbury had earlier taken out of the vehicle  while looking for the jack. Henderson had casually asked Newbury  if the bag belonged to him. When Newbury answered in the  affirmative, Henderson went to check the license plate as well as  the plate on Newbury's jeep. As per procedure, the officer called  in the loose license plate which they learned belonged to a Paul  Simmons .

Interestingly, Newbury's New Troy plate was owned by TAL Inc.  Because they were trying to link Turcovic and Newbury to Jeremy  Hamilton's murder, Anna had suggested she run the two plate  numbers by Canada Immigration and Customs. She had found that the  plates had passed the US- Canada border on October 6. Two days  later, the New Troy license plate on the red Jeep had crossed the  border back into the US. It was enough information for the police  to obtain a search warrant for TAL Inc's warehouse and offices  where Marcy Turcovic worked.

That was where they were standing now, Bill Henderson holding a  search warrant in his hand for the office and warehouse. David,  knowing that reporters and out of town guests didn't often join a  police team searching the premises in a murder investigation,  grinned when Henderson reminded Lois she was there to observe. He  knew he would stay out of trouble, and he knew that Anna was  professional enough not to contaminate evidence. The four  observers followed Bill Henderson and some of his officers into  the front section of the warehouse which housed several offices.

David leaned against the door jamb, leaving the search to the  police. Henderson and two officers led the inspection team  through the office, collecting papers and turning artifacts  upside down. But in the end, all they were looking at was an  expensively furnished office of a successful import/export  business with little of any value for the police. David followed  the officers deeper into the warehouse behind the office and once  again, the police looked through boxes of expensive pottery,  household furnishings, and paintings. Nothing that would explain  a connection to the murder.

Lois and Clark followed the officers. Clark glanced around the  room, often tipping his glasses. David thought about suggesting  that Clark go to a competent optometrist to get a new pair of  glasses.

Anna walked around the warehouse with her hands behind her back.  She seemed to try to sweep over the room with her eyes, but, like  the rest of them, didn't find anything helpful.

Lois Lane walked over to a far corner of the warehouse toward an  elegant bookcase filled with books and more decorative artifacts.  She asked, "Henderson, what's behind door number three?"

"Door number three? Where?"

"Here," Lois said, as she pulled at a hook on one side of the  shelf.

To David's surprise, he saw the book shelves begin to move and  revolve around. "Wow!" he said. "A real secret compartment."

"How did you know?" Henderson asked Lois who was nodding her head  at Clark.

"A hunch that paid off. My father had the same set-up in his  office when he worked for Max Mencken a number of years back."

When the book shelves had finally slid open, David followed the  team into a cavernous room looking like a museum with large  paintings hanging on the walls and objects d'art placed on  pedestals around the room. The centre of the room was filled with  crates and cardboard boxes, many with the word FRAGILE written  across them. David wondered if the more expensive goods, or the  illegal goods, were kept here.

While Henderson and his officers began to sift through some of  the artifacts, Anna put on surgical gloves and headed to a corner  where David could see leather-bound books. At the same time,  Clark , walking toward one of the crates in the same area, placed  his hand in front of Lois, stopping her. She was about to protest  this restriction of her movements, but then she seemed to see his  expression and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Almost  immediately her expression changed to alarm as she stared at her  husband. Without leaving his side, she began looking frantically  around the room.

David was entranced by their ability to communicate by touch and  facial expression.

Suddenly, Clark bent over, seizing his mid-section. He grimaced  in pain. Lois nodded, put her arm around her husband and helped  him out of the room. The whole charade took less than thirty  seconds.

David was about to follow the couple, to see if he could help,  when he heard a thud. He turned toward the noise: Anna lay on the  ground, a vase overturned beside her. She clutched her stomach  and groaned. David rushed over to her. He laid her flat on the  floor.

"She all right?" Henderson asked, leaning over David who was  taking Anna's pulse.

"Pulse is racing. She has a fever. Pain, but not localized."

"I'll call an ambulance."

"No," Anna whispered. "No...ambulance."

"I'll take you to emergency, to a hospital. They'll take care of  you," David said. He used his training to keep his personal  anxiety out of his voice.

"No," Anna growled. "No hospital." She winced.

"Anna, don't be stupid. You're sick and you've got a fever.  You're shivering."

She grasped David's hand, leaned closer to him and whispered,  "Please, David...no hospital." She closed her eyes and took a  shallow breath, once again wincing at the pain. "No hospital.  Aspirin. Fluids."

"Has this happened before?"

"No. I'll be fine. Just get me outta here. Please?" she pleaded.

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

Clark accepted Lois' help as she led him out of the hidden  compartment toward the front of the building.

"Kryptonite?" she whispered in his ear.

He nodded his head. As they walked toward the front door, he  stood up straighter. "I'm all right now."

"Your powers?"

He levitated off the ground a few inches, felt dizzy and stepped  back onto the firm floor. He then pushed his glasses down to the  tip of his nose, glaring over top. "They're just a bit woozy. Out  of focus a bit, but I'm sure I'll be fine in a few minutes."

"Come outside. We'll walk around the front of the building and  then go to the Jeep."

"Why do you think Kryptonite was there?"

"I don't know, but we'll have to get rid of it..."

"And find out what it was doing there."

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

Anna lay on the bed in her hotel room. She was thankful that  David hadn't coerced her into going to a hospital. Instead, she  lay on the bed in her bathrobe, a wet cloth on her forehead, a  couple of extra-strength aspirin travelling uselessly through her  system. She had no strength to argue when David made her swallow  the two pills or when he undressed her…he was a doctor after all.

Her eyes were closed, but she could sense him sitting across from  her in the arm chair. She had no idea how she was going to  explain this to him, or to anyone else. She hoped that the excuse  of some random bug that caught her off guard would be a  sufficient answer.

She'd never been sick before, never felt pain or nausea before.  It was all new to her. She wondered if it was that Kryptonite  she'd read about in the newspaper. From what she had seen, she  had never been sure whether Kryptonite really existed or if  criminals wanted to believe that if they had it they could stop  Superman. There was never any evidence he'd been affected by it.  She tried to remember, but thinking was too hard. She just wanted  to doze.

She shivered. Cold! It was a new sensation. She felt someone pull  a blanket up around her chin.

"David?"

"I'm here. How're you feeling?"

"Cold."

He sat on the edge of the bed. "Here. Take a drink of tea." She  lifted herself up while he placed the cup along her lips. "Sip  slowly. It's hot." She did as she was told. The sweet, hot tea  felt good as she drank it.

"Thanks."

"How're you feeling?"

"Better. Just tired. A bit achy."

"That's okay. Go back to sleep." David stood up, tucked the  blankets around her shoulders, and placed a kiss on her forehead.  "I'm going out for a while. I'll be back soon."

Anna closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift into sleep.

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

Part 10

David sat in the cab, worried about Anna. First, the  unexplained episode in the warehouse and then her uncompromising  stance on going to the hospital scared him, partially because,  even as a doctor, he didn't know what was wrong with her, and  therefore didn't know how to help. And then, on top of everything  else, when he had helped dress her for bed, he had fought to keep  thinking of Anna as a patient and not as the beautiful woman he  was in love with.

It rattled him more than he'd like to admit. Putting Anna's robe  on her reminded him of that one night, it seemed so long ago now,  where he had let passion override his reason. When he wrapped  Anna into the robe, he felt guilty having made love to one woman  while being in love with another. He knew it wasn't logical...but  what about that night was rational? Even though his heart had  made a commitment to Anna, he had never shared it with her, and  she had made no promises to him. Far from it. She would have  given him her cynical permission to have a meaningless fling with  whoever flew into view. Nonetheless, he felt as if he had cheated  on her.

"348 Hyperion Avenue, sir," the cab driver said.

David paid the driver and headed for the door. He was hoping that  Clark Kent would be able to answer some of his questions.

It was Lois Lane who answered the door and ushered him into the  living room.

"I know you said you wanted to see Clark when you phoned, but  something came up and he had to step out for a few minutes. He  should be back shortly. Did you get anything more at the  warehouse after we left?"

"No. That's really why I wanted to talk to you...why you left."

Lois's eyes opened wide.

"We just wanted to check the perimeter."

"I don't think so. I saw..."

Just at that moment, Clark walked in carrying a grocery bag.

"Lois, I thought I'd pick up some cookies as well as the  groceries so we could offer David something with his coffee,"  Clark said as he pulled out a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

"Coffee...right," Lois mumbled.

David watched her follow Clark into the kitchen. Her back was to  him, but he could see that she was gesticulating, soundlessly,  communicating with him much the same way as Clark had with her in  the warehouse.

Clark rolled his eyes and made his way over to the couch. "How  can I help you, David?" he asked.

"When we went into the secret compartment, just as you and Lois  were crossing the threshold, you signaled her, grabbed onto your  abdomen, and she escorted you out. What happened?"

As David was talking, he noticed Lois come up and sit beside  Clark. Their eyes met for a moment, then turned back to David.

"I don't remember him grabbing his abdomen," Lois said. "We just  left to check the outside."

"I watched you for a while," David said. "Clark was in pain, but  it seemed to me that you were familiar with it." He stared at the  couple intently, then added. "I'm a doctor and I've seen people  in pain before."

"Whatever it was," Clark said, "I'm fine now. Thank you for your  concern."

"That's not why I'm here." Once again, David noticed Lois looking  wide eyed at Clark.

"Why are you here?"

"Anna."

"Anna?"

"Anna McLaren."

"Yes, but I don't understand why?"

"I saw you almost double over in pain and Lois take you out of  the room. I was going to see if I could help you when I heard  someone fall. It was Anna."

"She tripped?" Lois asked.

"No. She was doubled over in pain. When I got to her, her  breathing was erratic and she had a fever. I wanted to take her  to the hospital, but she wouldn't let me. By the time, I got her  back to the hotel, she said she was feeling better, the pain was  gone, but she felt weak and tired. She wouldn't let me take her  temperature, but I could tell she had a high fever."

Clark slipped his hand into Lois's. She squeezed it lightly, then  her fingers intertwined with his.

"Do you think it's something catchy," Lois asked guilelessly.

"No. At first I thought it was a gallstone attack, but then I  remembered Clark. All I could think of was some kind of allergic  reaction, but the symptoms don't match. I thought that Clark  might have the answer."

Clark, hearing his name, turned to David. "I don't think I can  help you out here. You probably need to talk to Anna."

"She didn't know what happened to her, but she wasn't too  interested in pursuing it either."

"I'm not surprised," Lois whispered.

"What?"

Lois gasped. "Oh...um...well, she's a woman and you're a man and  I don't think she sees you as a doctor so...um...she doesn't want  you...you know..."

David sighed. "Unfortunately, Lois, Anna only sees me as a  doctor."

"Oh!"

"Look, David," Clark said, getting up from his seat. "I'm sorry  that we can't help you out with this one, but I'm sure Anna will  take care of herself and get any necessary help."

"Thanks for your time." David got up and followed Clark to the  door. "I'll check in with Henderson and find out what he found  after I left with Anna."

Clark walked David to the door and let him out.

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

"Clark, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lois asked after  Clark closed the door.

"Yeah," he said heading straight for the computer. "Let's see if  our theory works."

They both stared at the computer screen watching Google open up.  Clark quickly typed in Anna McLaren's name and waited.

"Do you think she was affected by the Kryptonite?"

"Symptoms sound similar to the ones I had the first time I was  exposed."

"Maybe that's why she kept staring at you. She knows."

"How would she?"

"Same way we're going to find out now. Working backwards from the  information we have on you. Well..." Lois tapped her foot.

"Patience, Lois. This modem doesn't work at superspeed."

Clark scrolled through the listings on Anna McLaren. "There's  more than one Anna McLaren," he said before finally stopping on  an article in the Huntsville Standard when she was transferred to  the town. He quickly read through it.

"She was born in Huntsville, 1966. Parents are Pauline and Brad  McLaren. He's a police officer with the Toronto force. She's got  four older brothers. Two are police officers. One's an  accountant. The other's an architect. She's got a university  degree...Anthropology...and one in criminology. Spent her summers  in Huntsville."

"Nothing there except she was born the same year as you, but then  so were millions of other people. Anything else?"

"No. I'm going back to the search page."

"Open this up." Lois pointed to the computer screen.

Clark followed his wife's direction. "It's a letter to the editor  she wrote to the Huntsville Standard." He skimmed through it.  "She's responding to an article on adoption. She believes adopted  children need to know as much as they can about their birth  parents. She writes, 'Not knowing eats away at one's sense of  self and worth.'"

"She's adopted?"

"It's strongly implied."

"Okay. 1966. Adopted."

"We're still talking in the millions."

"Go to that page...'Matt's Wedding'."

"Pictures."

Lois edged closer to the screen. "Nice family shot. She has a  similar one on her desk."

"Definitely looks different than her brothers."

"Doesn't look like either of her parents." Lois took the mouse  and scrolled down the page. "Or her Uncle Harry."

"Adopted."

"I'd say so."

"I think it's time for a more in-depth search. We'll need the  Planet's computer for that. Are you coming?"

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

Anna lay on the bed. She didn't feel as tired or  drained as she had a few hours before, but she was reluctant to  get out of bed, reluctant to try out her talents. She couldn't  make up her mind if she hoped they would just go away, or if she  would miss them.

Being like other women would allow her to have a relationship.  She berated David for his stubborn wooing of her, calling it  foolish and hopeless, but his persistence made her realize how  honest his feelings were. And as much as she told him that she  couldn't have a relationship with him or any man, she very much  wanted to have one. Except that no man would want her the way she  was.

Now, if she stayed normal, a relationship with David was a very  real possibility. And she wouldn't have to tell him about  herself...or that night...

There was a knock on the door. Pushing away the temptation to try  and look through the door, Anna ran her fingers through her  loosened hair, maybe, if she was normal, she could get a stylish  cut. Wrapping her cozy robe around herself with the mismatched  belt, she answered the door.

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

David stared at Anna. Standing in front of him,  wearing the robe, her loose hair falling down her shoulders, she  was so sexy. He remembered helping her undress and not finding  her pyjamas. He wondered what she was wearing under the robe now.  He found the image of her nude under the robe was exciting him  more than he'd like to admit.

"Where did you go?" she asked.

"What?" he asked, taking a deep breath, hoping it would bring him  back to reality. "To the Kents' place. Mind if I sit down?"

"No. Go ahead." She waited for him to sit down. "Did they find  anything at the warehouse?"

"No. I don't know. I went for another reason."

Anna raised an eyebrow. David had seen her use the technique with  others. She wasn't going to ask what the other reason was; she'd  wait for him to tell her on his own. Which he would.

"Kent doubled over about the same time you did. I thought it  might be a shared allergic reaction." He waited for some  response. When none was forthcoming, he continued. "He said  nothing was wrong with him, but, to tell you the truth, I don't  believe him. He was in some pain, if only for a short time."

"You told him what happened to me?"

"Yes...Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"How are you feeling now?"

"Normal. I was going to shower and go out."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! I'm fine."

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

Lois signalled Clark to follow her into the  conference room.

"Did you get the kryptonite from the warehouse?" Clark asked.

"Yeah. I got rid of it the usual way."

"Good."

"What did you find?" Lois asked her husband.

"Anna's parents filed adoption papers in Huntsville where they  own a summer cottage."

"Huntsville, not Toronto?"

"Small town, less hassle, fewer questions, I guess, especially  when they come back to the city for the winter."

"Any record of her birth parents?"

"No. Just legal mumbo-jumbo burying their identities. There's a  statement of live birth, but I can't find a trace of the doctor  who signed it."

"Hmm." Lois skimmed the pages Clark had printed up. "I looked at  the weather and satellite conditions for May 1966. On May 19,  1966 there was unusual activity in the sky creating a seasonally  early aurora borealis."

"Northern lights?"

"Yeah. It was preceded by a flash of light streaking across the  sky. Meteorologists determined that a meteor had passed over the  area, but they searched the Algonquin Park area and couldn't find  any evidence of it crashing to earth."

"How did they explain it?"

"It disintegrated before it hit land." Lois placed her hand on  Clark's cheek. "You realize what this means, don't you?"

Clark nodded.

"You're not alone anymore," she whispered.

Clark took Lois's hand and moved it to his lips. "Lois, honey,"  he said, pausing to kiss her slender fingers, "I haven't been  alone since I met you."

"Lois. Clark." It was Jimmy. Realizing that he was interrupting a  private moment, he blushed. "Don't you guys get enough of that at  home...and where do I get some for myself?"

"You gotta find the right person, Jimmy," Clark said with a smile  on his face. "What's happening?"

"I got some more information on Anna McLaren for you. Her old  high school went on line with a big who's who project and there's  the write up on McLaren. She was a jock in her high school days  playing mostly on boys' teams. She was a top athlete, having  played house league as a little kid and then moving on in high  school."

"She's built like an athlete," Lois said. "Doesn't look like  there's any fat on her."

"Well, what's interesting is that she quit all sports in her  senior year. She said she wanted to focus on her academics to get  a university scholarship, which she ended up getting."

"Interesting, Jimmy," said Clark. "You can stop looking for now."

"Why do you want to investigate a cop? Do you think she's  crooked?"

"No. Absolutely not," said Clark.

"We just want to know who we're dealing with," said Lois.

"I...uh...think we have enough information now. Thanks, Jimmy."

Once Jimmy had closed he door behind him and moved further into  the newsroom, Lois turned to her husband. "Wouldn't an academic  scholarship be harder to get than an athletic one. She's the  youngest of five kids. I'm sure they could have used the money."

"If she was anything like me, she would have been nervous about  giving herself away in a game. It's easy to get caught up in the  excitement and want to win for your team, especially when you  know you could help them so easily."

"You got an athletic scholarship and played football."

"I did, but I had put a lot of thought...and I must  admit...practice into it. I used it as a test of my control to  play not quite as well as the better players but well enough to  get the scholarship."

"Must've been frustrating at times."

"It was...and to be honest, I was glad when I could afford to  stop playing football. I loved the game, but the stress wasn't  worth it."

"You think that McLaren didn't want that stress?"

"Maybe."

Lois took her husband's hand. "Clark, do you think she's  Kryptonian like you?"

"I think so, honey."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Go and talk to her."

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

Anna stepped out of the hairdresser's tossing her head. She felt  like a TV commercial for shampoo, and she loved it. The stylist  had cut her hair just above her shoulders and layered the sides  so that her thick brown hair fell loosely around her face. She  ran her fingers through her hair, no hair spray for her. She gave  it one final toss. How long had it been since she was able to go  with her mother to the hairdresser for a proper cut? She couldn't  recall. The only memory she had was the frustration she felt  before she figured out how to use her vision, like a knife, to  cut her hair. And even then she had to leave it long so her eyes  could see where she wanted to cut it. She would bring the braid  over her head and zap the ends straight across.

As a teen, she so wanted to wear her hair in the latest styles,  but she was always stuck with the same blunt cut she put into a  braid and wore almost all the time. She looked at herself in the  window of the store. There she was. Her hair flowing softly  around her face. She giggled at her reflection. Then she looked  beyond her reflection and saw a dress. Black. Spaghetti straps. A  flowing knee length skirt. Not something a police sergeant would  wear to a business dinner, but then she really didn't feel like a  police sergeant today.

She wondered where she could find a piece of this Kryptonite for  herself.

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

Part 11

You've been awfully quiet since you've come  home," Lois said to Clark as he looked absently at the plate of  pasta salad Lois had prepared for dinner. "It is one of the few  recipes I can make successfully...and there's very little cooking  involved."

Oblivious to Lois's comments, Clark separated the pasta from the  vegetables, making neat little piles of green and red on his  plate.

"Clark?" Lois asked. She was ready to question whether the  honeymoon was really over when Clark became aware of her  presence.

"Sorry, honey. I guess I was preoccupied."

"About?"

"Remember I said that I'd talk to Anna McLaren."

"Yes."

"So I keep mulling over how to approach her, and I'm not sure  that I know what the right way would be."

Lois nodded her head.

"Like who do I go to her as...Superman or Clark?"

"Good question. What are your thoughts?"

"Superman could come swooping down at her and start talking to  her. That's the identity that she seems to be denying. Maybe if  they'd talk...And then if she hasn't figured out my identity,  you'd be safe."

"I'm not worried about that, but I'd think Clark is more  accessible since she doesn't have a super- persona."

"But are you sure she's made the connection with Clark. You say  she stares at me, and she asked you if there were secrets that  you never published, but what if she was just being difficult?"

"If you look at each thing she said separately, then I wouldn't  think she knew, but when you put them together...well, I think  she's on to you. When I told her about you being killed by  Dillinger, she found it 'convenient', to use her word, that you  were resurrected. Strange word in those circumstances."

"When you put it that way..."

"And she was surprised that you were the one who told me you  loved me rather than the other way around."

"Why would that matter?"

"I didn't think too much of it then, but after David came to us  it made sense. If she's Kryptonian like you, and she sees herself  first as an alien, then having a relationship with a man may  frighten her..."

"Or she may think it's impossible."

"Exactly. I don't know if you've noticed, but David is crazy  about her and she keeps pushing him away....but, if you watch her  carefully, she's not immune to his advances."

"Like someone else we might know?"

Lois rolled her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about,"  she whispered innocently. "Anyway, she probably thinks that, as a  Kryptonian, she can't have a relationship with an earth guy..."

"Until you started telling her about us."

"Yes!"

"So, it makes perfect sense to me."

"What does?"

"You've started talking to her, why don't you make the first  approach? Non-threatening. Woman to woman. Talk to her about  David."

"I'm not good at playing best friend and confidante."

"Actually, my love, you're very good at," he said and kissed her.

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

David couldn't believe the telephone message.  Anna's voice. "If you're interested in joining me for dinner,  call."

Of course he had called. In fact, the speed with which he'd  picked up the receiver could have rivalled Superman. Even if he  had had another engagement, he would have broken it to be with  Anna. And seeing her now, sitting beside him, her hair flowing  softly around her face, the very sexy black dress and those  strappy high-heeled sandals...Wow! There was nowhere else he  would rather be.

When he had learned she hadn't made a reservation, he phoned Lois  Lane at the Daily Planet. He had tried to sound casual, but he  knew he hadn't been successful when, after asking for a nice  restaurant for dinner, Lois had asked, with a light chuckle,  whether he was looking for something 'romantic'. Lois's tone of  voice definitely suggested she knew his mission that night was to  woo Anna McLaren. She had steered him to Angelina's, where, she  told him, she and Clark had had their first real date. She had  promised him that the place was magical.

Several hours later, dressed as nicely as possible, considering  he was not at home, he had waited for Anna in the lobby listening  for the elevator's ding, hoping Anna would come out of the  sliding doors. Surprisingly, as excited as he was to see her, he  couldn't help staring at an extraordinarily beautiful woman who  exited the elevator. She had checked the lobby over before  walking over to him. It took him a few seconds to realize that  the beautiful woman was Anna, and she was standing in front of  him.

"Wow!" he had said.

To his amazement and delight, Anna had burst into giggles.

"What did you do to your hair?"

Anna fluffed her hair. "I went to a stylist. Do you like it?"

"Looks good." He had paused and slipped his fingers through a  lock. "You look beautiful."

Anna had shifted shyly, unable to meet his eyes, but David was  more than a little surprised when she hadn't pushed him away.  Still, he would have to move very slowly . If what he thought was  happening was actually happening, he certainly didn't want to  spook her. "You ready to go?" he had asked, allowing his hand to  fall back to his side. Then, he offered her his arm. He smiled  when, after hesitating only slightly, she slipped her arm through  his, and they headed out of the hotel.

It wasn't long before he was sliding in beside Anna who was  already sitting on the semi-circular bench. They sat side-by-side  in the dimly lit restaurant Lois had recommended. She had been  right. The place was magical. The maitre d' had seated them at a  quiet table away from most of the other dinners. They were able  to speak quietly without having to hear other conversations.  Around them, people were enjoying their dinners, but David could  only see the woman beside him who, surprisingly, was more relaxed  than he'd ever seen her before.

"So, you finally gave in."

"Gave in? What do you mean?" she asked.

"We're on a date, just you and me."

Anna looked at the other couples enjoying their meals. "Not  really. This isn't a date. It's dinner."

"Right. Dinner," David said, keeping just a smidgen of doubt in  his voice.

"Exactly. Two friends..."

He revelled in the playfulness in her voice.

"So we're friends now. That's up a notch..."

"Acquaintances. Two acquaintances."

"I like friends better." David decided to be brave. He placed his  hand on top of Anna's. When she didn't pull back, he gently  enfolded her fingers in his.

"Anna..."

"You know, this wine tastes different than other wines. It has a  tingle to it I've never felt before. Makes me feel a bit light- headed. I wonder if it's because we're in a different city..."

Anna's chatter didn't register on David who was only aware that  Anna hadn't moved her hand. With his other hand, he ran his  fingers through her hair, then rested his palm on her cheek.

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner," he said.

"Not a problem," Anna said, "I had this new hair-do and new dress  and I didn't want to waste them sitting in my room or going out  to dinner alone and you were the only one in town who I really  know so it seemed like the obvious thing to do and I knew you  could make yourself look decent..."

"Like a date."

Anna rolled her eyes.

"Anna, I want to date you. I like you. A lot. There's something  that happens to me when I'm with you that's so special. Why have  you been fighting me so much?"

Her excited smile turned down a bit as she gazed at the bread  basket in front of her. She removed her hand from his and reached  for a roll in the basket. "David, it's complicated."

"Life is complicated, but if we talk about it, unravel it, I'm  sure it will make sense."

"Not now, David. Not here. Let's just enjoy dinner." She put a  piece of bread in her mouth. "Mmm, it's warm."

As if the waiter had sensed the change in mood, he arrived at the  table and placed their dinners in front of them and refilled  their wine glasses before he left.

David wanted the easygoing Anna back. Once they tasted their  entrees and commented on the luscious meal, Anna started  chattering about her foray into Metropolis's shopping district.  She giggled as she told him about her hair-cut and about her  reaction every time she saw herself in a mirror.

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

Bill Henderson knocked on the door of the small bungalow on a  modest street in eastern Metropolis. The address, as well as New  Troy license plate number 324 AXY, belonged to Paul Simmons, a  teacher at a local elementary school. Henderson was hoping that  Simmons had some answers about the license plate that would link  Jeremy Hamilton to the Honda Civic which had crossed the border  just ahead of Vic Newbury's Jeep. Hamilton's wallet, which they  found in the gym bag containing the license plate and the shovel  in Newbury's car was a good piece of evidence, but he'd like  more.

A man in his early thirties answered the door. When Henderson  flashed his badge, the man walked onto porch.

"Inspector William Henderson, MPD, Homicide."

The man looked puzzled. "How can I help you, Inspector?"

Henderson opened his notebook. "Do you own a Honda Civic with  license plate number 324 AXY?"

"I did. Sold it about eight months ago."

"Do remember the exact date?"

"Not exactly, but it was early October, last year. I'd been in a  bad accident, still having trouble with my leg, and the car got  wrecked. The motor was okay, but my wife felt the car was jinxed  so I advertised to sell it. Someone came and bought it.

"Do you remember who?"

"I have his name written down. Come in and I'll look for it."

Simmons led Henderson into the kitchen, offering him a seat while  he looked through papers in a drawer. While he looked, Simmons  talked.

"I'd had a number of small accidents in the Honda and my wife  kept saying it was jinxed. After the last accident, I couldn't  argue with her. This guy called me up the day the ad came out. He  asked to see the car. It didn't bother him that the body looked  like the day after demolition derby. He didn't seem to know about  cars much, but trusted that the engine was fine. No, not in this  drawer. Hold on a sec."

Simmons went to the kitchen entrance and called, "Honey, do you  know where I put the papers I had in the kitchen drawer are?"

"In the filing cabinet in your office," a voice called back.

Simmons excused himself and returned within a minute.

"Here it is. Jeremy Hamilton and his phone number." He handed the  card to Henderson. Taking a step back, remembering, Simmons said,  "Jeremy Hamilton. Isn't that the guy who was killed in Canada? I  read about it in the paper, but I didn't make the connection..."  Simmons stood opened mouthed looking at the card in Henderson's  hand.

Henderson glanced at the paper. "Did you write this or did  Hamilton?"

"He did."

"Why was the license plate still in your name?"

"I don't know. He asked if I would mind letting him use the  plates for the week-end and he would register the plates on  Monday. I hadn't heard anything, but I assumed he would."

"He probably didn't get a chance."

"This is awful. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Tell me about what happened when Hamilton came for the car."

In the end, Henderson hadn't learned anything new about Hamilton  except for his state of mind, agitated and in a hurry to purchase  the car. When Henderson left the Simmons' home, he had another  connection to build a case on. He could go home for dinner now.

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

Anna couldn't believe she had been talking so much. The meal had  been first class, the taste of the chicken piquante still  lingered on her lips. David had moved away from the uncomfortable  topic of dating and talked about the difference between living in  a big city and that of a small resort town. Anna, who had also  grown up in Toronto, shared her experiences with him. They found  they had a lot in common, crossed paths at times without meeting.  They even had some acquaintances in common.

David talked about growing up as an only child while Anna babbled  about growing up in a home with four brothers. She had to hold  her tongue more than once not to tell him what it was like  growing up with the special talents she kept hidden from everyone  except her parents. For the first time in her life, she wanted to  share some of who she really was with another person, to tell him  what it was like to soar into the air or dive off a steep cliff  into a cold lake.

She almost asked David to dance with her. She had been watching  some couples swaying closely to the soft piano music. She wanted  to be in David's arms again, moving together with him, feeling  his touch on her. When dinner was served, he had released her  hand, and she missed his touch on her skin.

Finally, when the waiter had left with their dessert order, David  stood up, took both her hands and gently tugged her to the dance  floor.

"They say I'm good at this," he said as he pulled her into his  arms.

"Who are they?"

"My mother..."

"And?"

"My mother."

Anna punched David's arm lightly, but she couldn't help smiling.  "I think I have to meet this mother of yours and set her  straight. She has too high an opinion of you."

David chuckled softly in her ear sending shivers up her back.

"I thought you were shorter," he said nuzzling her neck.

"I am, but tonight I'm wearing these heels."

"Sexy."

When the music ended, Anna was disappointed.

"Our dessert's on the table," she murmured.

"I'm not ready to let go of you yet," he said as the pianist  began the next melody. "Let's just dance."

Anna's head rested at his lip level, and she could sense David  placing kisses in her hair. At the same time, she felt his left  hand move higher on her back, just above where the dress plunged.  His fingers traced a pattern on her bare skin. Anna never wanted  to move from that position again. She couldn't quite believe she  was letting him hold her so intimately. Who knew how long her new  reality would last? She was playing with fire, but then, she  remembered her appeal to the powers above when she'd left the  message for him to have dinner. Surely they wouldn't punish her  for forgetting who she was for one night. She pushed away her  memory of the one other time she'd allowed herself to do that.

"I never want to move from here, ever," she said almost to  herself. Anna looked up at David who was grinning broadly.

"Me neither."

She saw the grin disappear slowly as his lips pursed. He slowly  leaned forward.

Ohmygod, Anna thought, he's going to kiss me. "Dessert," she  said. "It's on the table. Let's eat." She stepped out of his arms  and headed for the table.

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

Part 12

Lois snuggled up to Clark, running her hand lightly over his bare  chest.

"Mmmm," she murmured. "This married life is really, really nice."  She placed a big kiss on his chest.

"I'm not complainin'," he said and pulled her closer to him.

"And the reason we waited so long for this is...?" she asked  playfully.

"So our love making would be even more special?"

Lois smiled. It was more than special, and she was glad they had  waited. She lay wordlessly beside him, knowing that they were in  the right place for them. It had taken a long time to get to this  point, to be married and living in their own home, but they had  arrived. What was most important to her, she realized, was that  no matter what lay ahead of them, what they had to endure, they  would do it together. And that made everything possible.

She ran her hand over his muscular abdomen, running her finger  lightly in a circle over his navel. He sighed, the one that told  her that he was happy and content. And she knew that she was  happy and content as well. Even working out the day-to-day living  with a superhero wasn't as onerous as she had feared it might be.  This was their life together.

And it was a better life, she had learned over the last year,  than life alone. She remembered how she had hesitated going out  on their first date. The evening had been spectacular. Dinner at  Angelina's, the soft music, easy-flowing conversation, dancing in  Clark's arms. She reached over and placed a kiss on Clark's lips.  She could tell he had been dozing off, but once she kissed him,  he rolled over onto his side and began returning the kisses.

"I sent David and Anna to Angelina's for dinner tonight."

No answer. Clark was now nibbling at her ear.

"I hope they find the magic we did. You should have heard him  when he called me earlier today. He was so excited, like a little  kid who'd learned he was going to Disneyland. Mmmmm….He said Anna  had asked him to dinner and he wanted to take her somewhere  special, really special. I thought of Angelina's and how romantic  it was...Clark, are you listening?"

Clark, whose nibbling had brought him close to Lois's mouth,  stopped. "And why am I supposed to be interested in David and  Anna's dinner date?"

"Because they're in love," Lois said, swatting him playfully.  "And tonight will be very important to them. She's been fighting  him all along because she's scared of what a commitment might  mean to her life. Maybe she's scared about what he'd think when  he found out she's Kryptonian..."

"I can understand that."

"Of course you can, and so can I. That's why I'm cheering for  them."

"Well, I hope he has an easier time than I did saying good-night  at the door."

"You'll never let me forget that, will you?"

"Never. Now let me show you what really should've happened." He  looked at her lips and very slowly moved in for a kiss...

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

He had been so close, and she backed away. David could kick  himself. Everything was going so well. She was so content in his  arms, at least that's the way it seemed. So, why did she get so  skittish?

David pressed the button for the ninth floor. After they had sat  down at the table, Anna ate her dessert in silence, and when they  had finished, she said she was ready to go back to the hotel.  Walking back, she hadn't pulled away when he'd put his arm around  her waist, but she hadn't moved closer either.

He knew Anna would be very happy if he said nothing and let the  whole incident drop, but he needed to understand why she was  being hot and cold with him. The evening had been perfect, almost  perfect, and he needed to know why. They were standing in front  of Anna's hotel room door. If he didn't ask now, he might not get  another chance.

"Anna, I don't understand what happened while we were dancing. I  thought you liked where we were going."

"David, it's complicated."

"You've said that before."

"And I'll say it again."

He put his hand on her arm, stroking it gently. "Explain it to  me, please. I need to understand," he said softly.

"How can I explain something I don't totally understand?" She  paused, staring at her free hand playing with his lapel. "I like  you, David... A lot. I'd like to be with you...the way you want."  Her hand stopped moving. It lay flat on his chest. "But I know,  for so many reasons that it won't happen...can't happen."

What Anna was saying to him didn't make sense, but it didn't  matter. He could hear the tension in her voice, the tears she was  choking back as she talked. All he wanted to do was take her in  his arms and let her know that there was a safe place in the  world where all those 'many reasons' didn't really make a  difference. And all he could think about was how to show her  that, no matter what, he would accept her and protect her.

Anna stepped away from David, who hadn't stopped stroking her  arm, and turned to open her room door. David didn't want to see  them separated by a door, not without letting her feel what he  felt, so he decided to take a chance.

"Before you go in, I just want to kiss you good-night. No. Don't  shake your head. Just listen." He looked into her eyes. "This was  a perfect date...Don't interrupt… For me, it was as perfect a  date as I'd ever had. You are beautiful, intelligent,  charming...now you can object..." He chuckled when Anna smiled.  "And I'd like to end this perfect night, close to perfect night,  with a kiss." He leaned in closer as he spoke. As long as Anna  didn't put up a stop sign, he would continue.

He focussed on her mouth. Her tongue flickered over her full, red  lips and then she bit her lower lip. Not a stop sign.

He touched her soft curls around her face and leaned in closer.  Anna hadn't moved. He gently brushed his lips against hers and  pulled back. She still didn't move. This time he let his mouth  linger longer on hers, and without drawing back, deepened the  kiss.

And then he felt her reach behind his neck and pull him in closer  to her while her lips pressed harder against his, slowly opening  allowing his tongue to enter. The moan that escaped her throat  sent a shot of heat through his body.

"Anna," he whispered and returned to kiss her. Too soon, he took  a step away from her. "I better leave before I...we...get carried  away."

"Yes. Good idea. It wouldn't be good to get carried away." She  leaned forward and kissed him gently.

Reluctantly, David turned around and headed for the elevator.

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

Anna smiled. She couldn't get rid of the silly  grin plastered on her face. She didn't recognize the woman she  was becoming. First, she giggled all afternoon and evening  whenever she thought of her new hair-do, and now she was wearing  this imbecilic grin on her face.

Next she'd float in the air and do somersaults...and as she  visualized the actions, she realized that she was floating. She  grimaced. She was back. Just to make sure, she x-rayed the bureau  in her room and clearly saw her clothes neatly folded.

And she didn't care. She wanted to take off into the sky, do  loop-de-loops and yell at the top of her lungs, I love David  Morrow. All right. She wouldn't do that, but felt she wanted to.

She wasn't sure what had happened to her that evening, but being  with David was magic, and for the life of her she couldn't figure  out why she had been trying to push him away. All the reasons she  had given herself for not having a relationship just didn't make  sense. So what if she was from another planet. So what if she  wasn't human. And considering that Lois and Clark got married,  she couldn't think of what kind of complications there were. She  was a fairy princess and he was her Prince Charming.

She did a long twirl in the air before heading to the washroom  where she quickly showered and put on her robe. She doubted she  could sleep tonight, but that didn't matter because she could  stay awake and think about the kiss.

She was in the middle of brushing her wet hair when there was a  knock on her door.

"Who is it?"

"David."

Anna checked herself in the mirror one more time before opening  the door and letting David in.

"We forgot to make..." David stopped in mid-sentence staring at  Anna. She quickly reviewed her status. She was dressed, her robe  done up, her hair combed...why was he staring?

"Is everything okay?"

David shook his head as if to throw off something bothering him.  "We forgot to make plans for tomorrow. Breakfast. My plane's  leaving at 10:30."

"You could have phoned me."

"I thought of that, but then I couldn't kiss you good night  again."

"Good thought. Breakfast. What time?"

"Seven."

"I'll meet you downstairs."

David reached for Anna and held her in his arms. "Good night," he  said, kissing her.

They held each other a little longer, exchanging short, sweet  kisses. Once again Anna felt like a fairy princess who had  finally met her Prince Charming. He didn't have a white horse,  but maybe, maybe they might try the living happily ever after  stuff.

As good as Anna felt, she knew that the evening had to end. "I  think it's time for you to go," she said.

"Good night, my beautiful Anna." He kissed her one more time.

"Good night, Prince Charming," she said, and as the words echoed  in her head, she slapped her hand over her mouth. "Ohmygod."

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

David stood on the spot for a moment, her sultry voice and the  words echoing in his head, knowing he'd heard that sound and  those words before. And he had met that woman standing in front  of him before, wearing that same robe with her wet hair hanging  down--and she wasn't Anna McLaren.

When he had first entered Anna's room, he had thought he was  experiencing one of those elusive deja vu moments, but it was  Anna who was standing in front of him, not the woman he had  dubbed Cinderella who was as ephemeral as a memory, something  that slipped through his fingers like gossamer and was lost. She  wasn't real. Anna was.

But that slip of the tongue and her reaction afterwards... His  head began to pound as he felt the blood coursing to his temples.  She had been playing games with him all along. Using him. How  could she?

"I can't believe you did that to me?" Words that had been stuck  in his throat began to tumble out.

"David, I'm sorry..."

"What kind of games have you been playing with me? You tell me  you don't date, but you seduce me?"

"David, I'm so sorry..." Anna stepped forward reaching for him,  but the last thing David wanted was to be touched by her. He  waved her hands away and stepped back.

"I know there's no excuse...but let me explain."

"Explain? There's no explanation."

"Please!" Anna sank down on the bed, her face in her hands. David  could see her shoulders shaking. He heard her sobbing, but he  refused to let her tears move him. She was the one who snuck  around, took advantage of him, lied to him.

"What am I? An easy lay?"

Anna gasped. "David, please. It's not that. It's anything but  that."

"How many other guys have you done this to?"

"You're the only one," she whispered.

"You expect me to believe that when you've lied to me from the  beginning. Who are you, anyway? What kind of a person does this?"  He strode around the room, flailing his arms in the air. "You're  a witch casting spells on unsuspecting dupes. And I'm the biggest  one of all because I let you lead me on...and turn me on."

Her sobs grew louder, but he wouldn't let them influence him. He  refused to look at her in fear that she had some magic formula to  sway him from his anger. She used her powers to influence him, to  manipulate him to be attracted to her--twice. And she was  probably using the tears to make him pity her when really she was  laughing inside.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," she murmured into her hands.

"You expect me to believe that after you seduced me and then told  me over and over again that you don't date. What are you,  anyway?"

Anna gasped.

David ran his hands through his hair, trying to control the angry  tears forming in his eyes.

Once again he was at a loss for words. All he wanted to do was  curse and scream at her. He noticed the tray of drinking glasses  on the table and, unable to stop himself, swiped the glasses off  the table and watched as they shattered onto the floor. Surprised  by the vehemence he felt, he took one last look at Anna who was  staring at the shattered glass, and walked out of the room. Just  before he slammed the door behind him, he heard Anna sob and  whisper, "I knew you wouldn't understand."

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

Part 13

Lois, curious to know what happened after Henderson searched the  TAL warehouse and offices, walked straight towards Henderson's  desk in the MPD precinct office. Instead of the laconic  Henderson, she found Anna McLaren sitting at his desk. Anna  looked pale, staring off into the distance, not seeming to focus  on anything, Lois thought.

"How did your date go last night?" Lois asked.

Anna didn't say anything for a moment. Then, as if she finally  processed what Lois had said, she answered in a monotone, "It  wasn't a date, just dinner."

Something went bad, Lois thought and then remembered her first  date with Clark. She had slammed the door on him when he'd said  good-night, but neither she nor Clark had been as destitute as  Anna looked. In fact, looking back now, Clark probably saw her  rejection of him as another hurdle he had to jump. Thank goodness  for Clark's tenacity. If not for him and his belief in her, in  them as a couple, they wouldn't be married today.

"McLaren, line 1," someone called.

Anna picked up the phone in front of her, identified herself, and  nodding her head, scribbled notes on a pad of paper and  interjected an occasional "Uh-huh" into the conversation. When  she hung up the phone, she looked at Lois.

"It's in the hands of the provincial crown attorney," she said.  When Lois raised her eyebrow in question, Anna added,  "Prosecution. District attorney in this neck of the woods. She's  starting the extradition work so we can bring Newbury to Canada  for trial."

"How did you get to this point overnight?" Lois asked.

"Henderson did the work. He brought Newbury in for questioning  about the license plate, wallet and shovel."

"What did he find out?"

"I can't tell you. You're a reporter, Lois."

"I've been working on this with you from the beginning, even  before Henderson got on board."

Anna stared at Lois.

Lois shrugged her shoulders. "You know you can trust me."

Anna stared for another second. "Remember, all of this is off the  record."

Lois nodded in agreement.

"Henderson interrogated Newbury last night." Anna seemed to come  back to life as she spoke. "He had the license plate which he  traced to Hamilton and, of course, Hamilton's wallet. I called  Canada Immigration and Customs and found that the Honda Civic and  Newbury's Jeep had crossed the border within ten minutes of each  other."

"That's still circumstantial, isn't it?"

"Yes, but that's for a court to decide. It was enough to bring  Newbury in. Furthermore, Newbury was quite nervous while he  crossed the border, so the customs official recorded his name and  driver's license number. That means there's a record at the  border of Newbury in his vehicle."

"No record of Hamilton?"

"No. He mustn't have aroused the guard's suspicions." Anna paused  when Henderson arrived at his desk.

"McLaren?"

"The crown attorney has begun the necessary paperwork."

"When are you going back to Canada?" Henderson asked.

"I just have to make the arrangements."

"Wait a minute," Lois interrupted. "Can you two fill me in here?  McLaren was at the part where Newbury crossed the border."

"Once Henderson spoke to the registered owner of the plates, he  learned that Hamilton had bought the car from him. Then Henderson  arrested Newbury. And here we are."

"Bill, did you interrogate the man? Learn anything from him?"

"Yes, I did Lois. I know my job." Henderson began riffling  through some papers on his desk, as if his conversation with Lois  was at an end.

"Well?" Lois dramatically crossed her arms and tapped her toe.

"Newbury, without a great deal of persuasion, admitted that he  followed Hamilton into Canada. He was supposed to knock him  around a bit and get a notebook that he had."

"What kind of notebook?" Lois asked.

"He didn't know. He was just told that he needed to bring back  this notebook to Metropolis. He had lost Hamilton in the woods  for about a half hour, but picked up his trail when Hamilton was  tossing something that looked like a shovel, into the lake. He  started chasing Hamilton. When he finally caught up to him, he  wanted to slow him down, so he whacked him on the head with his  shovel. He says he didn't mean to kill him."

"And you believe him?" "Surprisingly, I do."

Lois eyed Henderson suspiciously.

"Newbury's not too smart," Henderson said.

"Anyone who leaves the victim's wallet and license plate lying in  his car after he murders him, isn't working with a full deck,"  Anna said.

"I remember," Lois said, "after the Church vigilante group was  disbanded, Newbury held me up in an elevator in the Daily Planet.  Like he could get away with it."

"What happened?" Anna asked.

"Superman rounded up a couple of MPD's finest and was there when  the elevator doors opened.

"Like I said, not too smart."

"Meanwhile the crown attorney," Anna added, "is deciding whether  to lay charges for murder or manslaughter. Perhaps she could lay  a second charge for stupidity."

"So who told him to go after Hamilton in the first place?" Lois  asked.

"Newbury admitted that it was his boss, Marcy Turcovic, but she  never told him why she wanted the notebook."

"Do you have evidence, other than Newbury's word, to link the  two?"

"Some," said Anna. "Henderson's people found payroll statements  in the TAL office for both Newbury and Turcovic, and Newbury's  vehicle was registered to TAL."

"Has Turcovic talked?"

"Lawyered up," Henderson said.

"The problem is that there's no motive. Why were they after  Hamilton? What was in the notebook?"

"I still think Emil knows what this is all about," Lois said.

"Very possibly," Henderson concurred. "But he isn't talking."

"Can I tell this to Shelley Hamilton?" Lois asked.

"I'll let her know we have Newbury and Turcovic in custody. And  Lois, don't print any of this until you get the go ahead from  me," Henderson warned.

"Got it."

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

Lois leaned against her Cherokee, waiting outside the police  station for Anna and Henderson to finish the paper work that  would expedite Newbury and Trucovic's extradition. She saw the  two police officers shake hands at the front door before Anna  left the building and headed out. Lois took two steps toward  Anna.

"I was hoping we could talk," Lois said.

Anna didn't seem surprised. She probably knew that David had told  Clark and her about Anna's episode in the TAL warehouse, and that  Clark and she must have figured out who Anna was.

"I guess it's time that we spoke," Anna said.

"I spoke to David yesterday," Lois began as the two women got  into the Cherokee. "He was really excited about taking you to  dinner, asked me to suggest a romantic restaurant..."

"Is this about David?"

"In part. There're other things I want to talk to you about, but  I thought we'd go back to my place. Clark is waiting there."

"I don't think my relationship with David is any of your  business."

"Probably not, but I think I have some experience here that may  change your perspective on David."

"Lois, our perspectives aren't the same and neither are our  experiences." Anna refused to look at Lois. Instead, she stared  out the window.

"My first date with Clark was...well, it was incredible. Easily  the best date I'd ever been on. At least until he walked me back  to the door of my apartment."

Anna turned to look at Lois, who could tell that something in  what she'd said had caught Anna's attention, so she pushed on.  "He went to kiss me good night and I actually slammed the door in  his face."

Anna looked back at the window. Okay, so maybe that wasn't what  had happened. But whatever had, it had happened when David had  taken her back to the hotel.

"Of course, our whole relationship was complicated by the fact  that…" Lois hesitated. She'd not yet confirmed that Anna knew  about the connection between Clark and Superman. After a moment,  she realized that she had absolutely no doubt that Anna knew.  "…that he lied to me for so long about Superman."

Anna snorted. "Well, at least that's not going to be a problem  for us," Anna muttered.

'Right on!" Lois thought. Either she had told David that she was  Kryptonian or somehow he had figured it out. Lois instantly  changed tracks. "When I first learned the truth about Clark, I  was really angry at him because he'd kept the fact he was  Superman from me. That was an important issue we had to deal  with."

"It bothered you that he was Kryptonian?"

"No, not at all. That was amazing. No. What angered me was that  he had lied to me for close to two years."

"So you got over it and everything was fine..."

"You're not listening," Lois said. "Because he's Superman, we had  a lot of relationship and role issues to deal with. We always  talked...well, not immediately, but we talked and we worked  things out. You and David need to talk. Tell him, if you haven't  already..."

"I don't think it matters anymore. He's figured out who I am, and  he doesn't like it."

"He loves you."

"Loved me. I know he did, but not anymore. Even if I could offer  him a normal life..." Anna sighed, "he...wouldn't want  it...anymore."

"You don't know that, not until you've talked," Lois said,  patting Anna on the shoulder.

"He left this morning. No word. No message. Just checked out and  left on the first plane out. Earlier than he was scheduled to."

"You had a fight?"

"You could call it that."

Lois stopped the car. "We're here," Lois said.

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

Clark placed the cookies on a platter and  headed for the living room. To be honest, he was a bit nervous  not knowing how to begin the conversation with Anna. For the  first time in his life he was going to meet someone who was like  him, who had experienced many of the same highs and lows of  having superpowers. But up until now, this woman hadn't wanted to  meet him, and that worried him.

Lois and Anna were sitting together on the sofa drinking their  coffee when he entered the living room carrying a plate of  cookies.

"Anna, talk to David," Lois was saying. "I'm sure that whatever  happened between you can be overcome."

"I'd rather not talk about David. You said you had something else  to talk to me about. I assume, from the way you mentioned  Superman earlier, that you've figured out who… or what I am." She  nodded to Clark as he entered the room. "I'm probably Kryptonian  the way you are."

"Probably?" Clark asked.

"The only reason I think that I'm Kryptonian is that I have the  same talents as you do, but I have no proof that I'm from  anywhere but earth."

"But Kryptonite affected you."

"Yes, it did."

"How?"

"I wasn't my normal self. I was vulnerable."

"Yes, I noticed. Nice hair cut," said Lois.

"Thanks. I didn't think I'd ever be able to have my hair cut and  styled professionally."

"Why not?" Lois asked.

"Can't see what I'm doing at the back."

"You can't? That shouldn't be a problem. I use a mirror to  reflect my x-ray vision and use it to cut my hair, and to shave,"  Clark said.

"A mirror? Never thought of that."

"See, that's why you two need to talk. It would be like having a  brother you could bounce ideas off. You wouldn't feel so alone,"  Lois said.

Anna laughed in response. "What I don't need, Lois, is another  brother. I have four of them already. And alone is something you  don't feel in my family."

Lois looked puzzled. Clark knew that the idea of not being alone  in a family setting was something Lois was just learning. Clark  always had his parents, but he missed having anyone his age to  share the changes he was undergoing as a teenager.

"We're like threads in a sewing kit," Anna continued. "We start  off separate, but as you reach deeper, we're tangled and knotted,  and it's next to impossible to separate us."

"Not much privacy."

"No. But it's also soft and cozy." Anna took a sip of her coffee.  "Now that we've found each other, Clark, what are you looking  for?"

"I thought my parents and Lois were enough, but then, around  eight months ago, when I was helping out at a disaster in China,  I found a small space ship similar to the one I was found in. We  took the remains to Star Labs where Dr. Klein, a friend of ours,  found it was a Kryptonian baby girl."

Anna gasped. "Another one?"

"Yes. Before that I had accepted I was the only one; afterwards,  I hoped there were more of us. I liked the idea of having a  sister. Lois and I tried finding if anyone else was like me, but  I had no luck. Not enough information. And then David came to us  and said that you were ill, and..."

"We put two and two together," Lois said. "You had to be  Kryptonian so we did a search, and we found out you had a similar  background to Clark's."

"When did you figure out I was Superman?" Clark asked.

"A few months after Superman appeared. His talents were too  similar to mine for us not to be the same. So I did some  detective work, and it made sense that you were Superman."

"Why didn't you contact me?"

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

David breathed slowly, trying to let the hum of the airplane's  engines lull him to sleep. His body and mind were tired, but he  felt his muscles tense up in spite of the fact that he wanted to  relax. He hadn't slept the night before; instead, he'd paced the  small hotel room until the room was a nauseating blur. He played  the scene over and over in his mind. He was right to be angry  with her. She had made an idiot out of him. Using him like a  piece of meat when she needed to be serviced, then playing hard  to get. She had said he was the only one, but how could he  believe her when she had lied right from the start? The smartest  thing he could do was get back to Huntsville and send out  resumes. There was nothing keeping him there now.

When the clock had struck five, he decided to shower, dress and  check out. With nothing else to do, he took a cab to the airport  and wandered the empty corridors until it was time to board his  flight. And his mind had continued to thrash over the events of  the last night. She really played him for a fool telling him she  didn't date, she didn't have relationships with men.

She was a slut. That's what she was. She didn't need long term  relationships when she could have little anonymous intrigues on  the side.

She was a sorceress, making him think she could do those high  dives. The cliff probably wasn't as high as he had thought it  was, and it was closer to where he sat on the rock than he had  originally thought. She just walked over and tapped him on the  shoulder. It had taken longer than he'd thought. How could she do  this to him? How could he have been so stupid to think he was in  love with her?

That was his problem. He thought he was in love with a woman who  couldn't love back. She was probably having a good laugh right  now while he hadn't slept a wink. He felt like there was a void  in his gut.

David closed his eyes as he felt the plane build up speed on the  tarmac and then lift into the air. He pictured the nose cutting  through the air, lifting the plane higher and higher. And in its  place he saw the magnificent figure of a woman cut into the sky,  jack-knife and dive, her strong muscles controlling the speed of  her downward descent...and that perfect dive. She arose from the  water soaring straight in the air, and he heard her sultry voice,  felt her soft touch on his naked shoulder.

"No!" he said, and shook his head.

"Pardon me?" the man beside him asked.

"Sorry." He leaned his head against the window and once again  closed his eyes, discouraging the man beside him from talking.

Why couldn't he get her out of his mind? He needed to remember  how perfidious she was. Yes, good word. That described her to a  tee. She knew exactly what she was doing and she used him,  tricked him into making love to her. What did she want to prove?  That all men were ruled by their hormones rather than their  brains...or their hearts? Well, he sure fell into that one. His  hormones were raging that night, and he didn't even try to find  out who that woman was. A night of pleasure, a one night stand  and he didn't even try to find out who she was.

He wondered if she had left the belt as a clue. Go around all the  houses of young women in Huntsville and find out whose robe  matched the belt. He hadn't. The fairy tale had ended when the  sun came up that morning. And the fairy tale with Anna, he  thought, ironically ended when that same sun came up this  morning.

She wasn't a sorceress as he had thought. She was just a woman  who, wrapped in the glowing aurora borealis, created an  unbelievable dream that he had read too much into.

Time to go home. Back to reality.

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

Part 14

Why hadn't she contacted Clark? The question wasn't a new one for  Anna. She had thought about contacting Superman, Clark, from the  first time she read about him, but something had stopped her.  Over time, she began to identify the reasons she avoided meeting  Superman. Now she debated which reasons to tell him. She didn't  want to be an alien from outer space. No, she'd save that one.  Clark was too comfortable with the Kryptonian part of himself,  and he probably wouldn't understand. But then since he was  comfortable as Superman, he probably wouldn't understand any of  her reasons.

"Can I ask a question first?"

"Sure."

"Why did you become Superman?"

"That's easy. I wanted to help."

"Can't you help without adopting a secondary persona?"

"Before I became Superman, I did little rescues, but there were  times when I couldn't help out because it would give away my  secret. I knew that I had these powers for a reason, and I felt  that I could do more if I used them openly. I was stuck with how  to do it...how to help and still keep my secret hidden. Then one  day, when I first met Lois..." He reached over and held onto his  wife's hand. "...she mentioned bringing a change of clothing to  work. And the idea of an outfit to hide who I was just formed. My  mother made the suit. Her rationale was that the bright colours  and unconventional style would detract from my face."

"And she was right...that and a pair of glasses," Lois said. "I  can't believe I let a pair of glasses fool me for so long. Duh!"

"There you go. I don't wear glasses," Anna said.

"No one asked you to take on a secret identity," Clark said.

"Nonetheless, that was one of the reasons I didn't contact you. I  didn't want to become the centre of attention. I use my talents  whenever I can, in the best way possible for me."

"Interesting that you call them talents while Clark calls them  powers."

"My mother started that. As a teenager, as I gained these skills,  I was devastated after each one developed. I wanted to go  somewhere to hide just in case my friends found out I was so  different. It took me a while before I even spoke to my parents.  My mother, once she understood how unhappy I was, started calling  them talents. 'You see,' she had said, 'everyone has a special  skill they can do. And these talents are very different. Nancy is  an accomplished dancer. Joe plays the drums. Annabelle has a  beautiful singing voice. Bonnie is brilliant at mathematics. Each  one is special. If they squander their talents, then they don't  benefit from the richness and the world around them doesn't  benefit from what they can give the world. You have that kind of  talent.'

"Because of my parents, I accepted who I thought I was, but I  decided that, unlike my friends, I had to keep these talents a  secret, use them in secret. Let's face it, these so-called  talents were really weird." Anna opened her eyes wide and  grimaced. "I helped out, but in the background. It was a  challenge to see how much I could do without being exposed.

"So, I didn't contact you because I didn't want to be discovered  as another superhero. I didn't want to wear a brightly coloured  uniform and be on the front pages of international newspapers and  television. I'm far from being a superhero or any kind of hero.  I'm a cop who does her job as best she can…well, maybe a little  better than others."

"You could've contacted me and not go public."

"Maybe. Maybe not. The other reason was public reaction. One  superhero is great. But two? That can be an alien invasion. Then  all the good Superman has done is nullified because people begin  to see him, and another Kryptonian, as threats. I didn't want to  ruin what you had going for you. You've done a lot of good for  the world."

"I'm not sure you're right."

"I'm not sure I'm wrong. Think about it. You're a man, I'm a  woman. Next someone gets the idea that we'll procreate and with  our children we'll take over the world. That can be pretty  scary."

"Actually, that's pretty scary for me," Lois said. "Any  procreating he does will be with me only, thank you very much."

Anna nodded her head and chuckled. "However, they don't know that  Superman is Clark Kent and married to Lois Lane. What they would  see are two aliens. You two are in the newspaper business. Think  about what fun the tabloids would have."

Lois patted Clark on the arm and stood up. "Since Anna isn't a  danger, then I'm going to leave the two of you. I'm sure you have  a lot to talk about." She kissed her husband on the cheek and  went upstairs.

"You're lucky."

"Yes, I believe I am," Clark said, his eyes following Lois up the  stairs. "A few years ago, I wasn't sure that I could live a  normal life, have a permanent job, a home, a wife. But Lois made  it all possible...well, Lois and Superman."

"I'm afraid I won't have a normal life. I'll never have a husband  and a family. there'll just be me and when I die,--oh, god please  let me be able to die-- there will be nothing left, no one to  mourn."

"But you have parents and all those brothers..."

"Blood links. No children." Anna closed her eyes and shook  herself. "I've never said that to anyone. Maybe I didn't want to  meet you because I'd start saying things to you that I don't want  to say to myself. Being normal was so important that I shut  myself off from a lot of experiences."

"Like David?"

"Especially David. He used to think I had no patience for him.  Now he just thinks I'm a hormone- driven freak. Oh, I really hate  that word."

"Does he know you're Kryptonian?"

"He saw me do some ..."She indicated quotation marks. "...super  things, and we had a fight and I don't know what kind of  connections he's made...and if he makes connections about me,  he'll make connections about you."

"If he knows the truth and you talk about it, it'll work out. I'm  sure you can trust him."

"He might figure out that you're Superman."

"I think we can rely on him to keep it a secret. If it becomes a  problem, I'll have to deal with it. More importantly, you have to  deal with David knowing that you're Kryptonian."

"Doesn't it bother Lois that you're Kryptonian?"

"No. Not at all. In fact, she had a crush on Superman long before  she fell in love with me."

"It bothers me. Maybe that's another reason why I never contacted  you. I was mad at you when I figured we were the same."

"Mad at me?"

"My parents and I had believed I was some kind of medical  experiment. They figured the capsule they found me in was  something a government was trying to launch into space, but  failed. They adopted me because they were afraid I would be  abused or sent into space alone. They kept me hidden inside a  very warm family.

"When you appeared and I realized we had the same powers, I lost  my mythology. I wasn't a human experiment, a human being.  Instead, I was an alien from outer space. I was a little green  man...okay, woman. There was nothing my parents could say or do  to make me see that I was the same person after that revelation.  How could I be? I wasn't me anymore."

Anna stood up and began to walk around the sofa, her hand  brushing its back. "Eventually I was going to contact you. I was  waiting for the right time." She stared at the family pictures on  the wall. Lois and Clark's wedding picture, his parents, her  parents. "How do you know you're Kryptonian?"

"Not long after Superman appeared, I was tracking down a story  about a rogue government agency, Bureau 39. Lois found their  warehouse filled with so-called UFOs. I found my space ship there  with the S-shield on it. Inside the capsule there was a globe. We  believe it was the guidance system, and somehow, it told me,  Krypton. I was from Krypton. I took the globe home.

"A number of months later, the globe lit up and projected a  series of holographic images of my birth parents explaining who I  was and where I came from."

"Wow! I've seen the capsule that my parents found me in, but  there was nothing there to indicate where I came from. Not even  any writing."

"The space ship I found in China didn't have a globe or anything  else that might indicate where it came from. It didn't have the  S-shield."

"Neither did mine." Anna returned to the couch. "Where are the  remains of the baby you found?"

"After Dr. Klein finished his tests, I flew the capsule and the  remains to my parents' farm where I buried it deep in the  ground."

"I'd like to visit it. Pay my respects."

"I'll take you, anytime you want."

Anna paused and thought about it. She did want to pay her  respects to someone who was connected to her.

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

David didn't remember what led up to the waters parting, but he  did know the exact moment. The car clock had read 3:03 p.m. He  had been driving home from the airport, and when two and two  suddenly made four, he felt as if he had been sucker punched. His  breathing became so irregular, he had to pull over to the side of  the road to catch his breath. When his mind was on his breathing,  he was fine, but when he began to rethink his conclusions, he  began gasping.

His mind clung to the moment when Anna's hand had covered her  mouth, and he had realized that she was his Cinderella floating  up in the air, away from him, then quickly darting away. He  looked at the clock. 3:03 p.m. He knew that Anna was like  Superman. She had the same powers as the superhero did. He'd seen  her use them at the lake. She had swum faster than any human  being could. She had floated up into the air. Wasn't that like  flying? She was fast, and she had used her eyes to warm and dry  him. Anna wasn't a witch; she was a superwoman.

David leaned his head against the steering wheel and just  absorbed that information.

No wonder she always wore her hair the same way. She was  invulnerable...except she had gotten a hair cut in  Metropolis...after she had been sick.

"Okay. Good. That means she's not Kryptonite. She just got sick."  he said out loud.

No. Not Kryptonite. Kryptonian. Kryptonite was that rock he'd  read about. The rock that could hurt Superman. Too much of it  could kill him. A little made him vulnerable...vulnerable enough  for a hair cut?

David felt his chest tighten and his heart beat faster. Rubbing  his temples where he was beginning to feel a headache coming on,  he pictured the afternoon at the TAL warehouse where first Clark  Kent wasn't feeling well, and then Anna...

"Oh...my...god." David's heart jumped into his throat. "Breathe.  Slow down. Count to ten..." David listened to his heart slowly  return to its normal rhythm. "Clark Kent is Superman," he  whispered. "I don't think I'm supposed to know that." He shook  his head.

David waited for his hands to stop trembling, then very  methodically, pulled his car onto the highway and carefully drove  to the first coffee shop on the road. There was no way he could  drive home now.

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

Lois sat at the kitchen table with her laptop typing a follow-up  on the Hamilton murder. Clark and Anna had said they were flying  to Smallville to see the grave where the baby remains and space  ship were buried. Lois, lost in her work, had no idea of how long  they were gone when she heard Clark's characteristic whoosh. She  sat back from her computer, waiting for her husband to join her.  It didn't take more than a few seconds.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Hard to describe," he said hesitatingly. "We'd spent a lot of  time talking about our childhood, especially what it was like  getting our powers, but when we visited the grave, neither of us  had anything to say."

"That's understandable."

"Then I showed her the globe. I felt bad for her. She'd never had  any sign from her birth parents. She had no idea about the world  she came from."

"It's the not knowing..." Lois said remembering the time when  Clark was writing a series about adoption.

"And she really didn't know. It came as a shock to her to realize  that the mythology she and her parents had created was the wrong  one."

"How did her parents feel about her coming from another planet?"

"She said they were fine with it. She was their daughter, and all  that mattered was that she had come into their lives."

"Sounds like they're nice people."

"I think they are. What I don't understand is why Anna's so hard  on herself."

Lois didn't answer immediately. Instead, she saved what she was  working on and led Clark into the living room where she sat on  sofa, patting the seat indicating that Clark should sit beside  her.

"I've thought about this. I think that Anna's problem is that  she's female."

"Female? How does that make a difference?"

"I may be projecting my life on her, but I can see connections.  When I was a teenager, I was pretty smart..."

"One of the many qualities I love about you."

"Thank you, dear," she said placing a small peck on his cheek,  "but I'm not sure I would have believed you when I was fifteen or  sixteen. I wanted to be the same as all the other girls around  me, and I didn't want the boys to be intimidated by me."

"So what did you do?"

"I got 90 on the math test instead of 100, or I let Tommy Winters  beat me at chess when I knew I could beat him."

"That's not the Lois Lane I know."

"You're right. At some point I understood that I wasn't pleasing  anyone, especially not myself. If I wanted to get ahead in the  world, I had to be myself and not hide my abilities."

"Which I personally find very attractive."

"But for Anna, I think as a teen-aged girl, she had more to hide  than I did. Those superpowers developing made her faster,  stronger, tougher than all the other kids around her. Boys would  find her pretty intimidating."

"She hid it, though."

"How did you feel when you couldn't get a touchdown each and  every time you were out on the field?"

"Frustrated."

"I'd think so. Then, why did you play football, or any other  sport, as a teenager?"

Clark thought a moment before he spoke. "I enjoyed being part of  a team. It didn't make me feel so different, so nerdy, and I  liked the challenge of trying to control my abilities on the  playing field." He paused. "And, to be honest, I had to be better  than a decent player in order to get an athletic scholarship. We  needed the money."

"Anna gave up sports before she went to college."

"Actually, we talked about that. Canadian universities don't have  athletic scholarships. She needed to work on her academics."

"But did she say why else she gave up sports."

"She mentioned that as she got older and stronger, the level of  competition in girls' leagues wasn't as high as in boys', and she  didn't want to stand out playing better than boys."

"She didn't want to be different than her friends...her  girlfriends. Clark, what was the first thing Anna did when she  felt better after the Kryptonite exposure."

Clark glared at Lois, not following where she was going.

"She got a haircut," Lois said. "Now, when I had my hair cut  short, it wasn't a big deal. I made a decision that I would look  more stylish with shorter hair, and then I followed through."

"I don't understand."

"I can get my hair cut whenever I want. Anna could never have  what other women think nothing of like the latest hair style or a  simple manicure or pedicure..."

"She couldn't be the same as her friends..."

"Exactly. And what is important to teen-age girls is that they  fit in with their friends."

"But she's not a teenager anymore."

"Who knows how seemingly unimportant ideas influence us as we  grow older?"

"They'll dissect me like a frog," Clark muttered.

"What?"

"My dad used to warn me not to say anything about myself or bad  men would come and take me away and dissect me like a frog. That  image has always stuck with me, made me afraid to tell anyone the  truth about myself. That's why it was so hard for me to tell you,  who deserved to know more than anyone else, the truth about  myself."

"You had problems being truthful with me, but unlike Anna, you  decided that you wanted to have a family life. Anna, I believe,  has decided that a family life isn't in the cards for her. So,  rather than having a relationship with David, it's easier to push  him away. That way she doesn't have to tell him and possibly be  rejected."

"You are a brilliant woman, Lois Lane," Clark said, placing his  wife on his lap and kissing her warmly on the lips. They sat  together, Lois nibbling gently on Clark's neck, wordlessly,  enjoying their time together. But Lois's mind returned to the  article she had been finishing when Clark came home.

"Honey, would you mind looking at the article I was writing.  Something seems to be missing."

"Do I have to move?" Clark asked.

"Yes. The laptop won't come to you unless telekinesis is one of  your powers."

Clark wrapped his arms around Lois. "Just a couple of more  minutes," he drawled as he returned to kiss her.

The couple of minutes turned into a few more. As Clark's hands  began to creep under her shirt and begin to stroke her back, she  knew that if she didn't stop him immediately, she wouldn't want  to stop him at all.

"Clark," she whispered in his ear, "Please. I promise we'll  finish what we've started here later."

"Prolonged foreplay?"

"Something like that," she said, reluctantly sliding off his lap.

Clark followed her to the desk, sat down in front of the screen  and began to read.

"Good. Good," he mumbled as he scrolled down the page,  occasionally typing in a change. When he finished reading, he  leaned back in the chair. "It's good, but something's missing."

"I know. That's what's bothering me, but I think we have  everything. The 'who', 'what', 'where', when'..."

"No 'why'."

"Why Jeremy Hamilton was murdered."

"Exactly," Clark said.

"Newbury admitted that he worked for Marcy Turcovic, but Turcovic  hasn't told the police who gave her orders to hire Newbury. Why  is she willing to take the fall for someone else?"

"Money?"

"I don't think there's enough money to compensate for living  fifteen or twenty years in prison."

"We need to look closer at Marcy, who she works for, where she  gets her money?"

"We should look around Huntsville where Jeremy was killed. Maybe  Anna missed something."

Clark saved the story, and shut down the computer. "We can't do  anything tonight. Let's talk to Perry about going up to  Huntsville for a few days and look around. Meanwhile, I think  this foreplay has been going on long enough." He effortlessly  swept his wife in his arms and carried her upstairs.

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

Part 15

Huntsville, Ontario

A week had passed since his discovery, and there were times when  David stopped dead in his tracks. Thoughts of Clark Kent or  sightings of Superman on the news reminded him of his discovery.  He thought about the modest man who let his dynamic wife appear  to overshadow him in their daily life. And in that modesty, there  was a strength that David tried to comprehend. What difficulties  did that man have? He'd always assumed that Superman arrived on  earth four years earlier when he made his first appearance saving  the Messenger, but now he thought Superman, or rather Clark Kent,  must have grown up on earth, had a family history, parents,  siblings, much like Anna. What was it like for him to grow up  knowing he was so different? How did he manage to be so normal,  for if there was any word to describe the Clark Kent whom he'd  met in Metropolis, it was normal. He liked the man. What had made  Clark choose to become Superman? To expose himself to the world  that way?

And there were times when he stopped as he thought about Anna,  who had the same abilities as Superman, as Clark Kent, but had  chosen another road to travel. Or had she? Who was she really?  How much did he know about her, and how much did she keep hidden?

The woman he had fallen in love with was beautiful, headstrong,  compassionate, determined, and intelligent. Did knowing that she  was from Krypton, a different planet, a different species change  her? He thought about that for a while, but it didn't. She was  the same person she had been last week. But, perhaps, her being  Kryptonian explained why she kept telling him that it was  impossible for them to date...the complications she referred to.

He knew a little about her family background, but it must have  been difficult for her to grow up knowing she was so different  from her parents and her brothers. He thought about his cousin,  Simone, a very bright, talented girl, who struggled through  adolescence, becoming anorexic, shutting off her parents and  friends who tried to help her. Simone had only seen how  overweight she was, how unacceptable her body was, and she  believed that others saw the same image.

Did Anna worry about her image as well? David wondered how  similar Anna's physiology was to human women. Outwardly, she  looked the same. He definitely had had no suspicious that she was  different when they had made love.

He had so many questions.

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

The cold lake water washed over Anna's skin as  she plunged deeper into the lake, the early morning sun's rays  illuminating the murky bottom. For the past several mornings, she  had awakened early, leaving her home for Loon Lake where she had  carefully explored the lake bottom looking for answers. Newbury  had said that he had seen Hamilton throwing something into the  lake. She thought an archaeologist would have an interesting time  interpreting what she had already found: a punctured water-wing,  a pair of sunglasses, a wallet and more than a few condoms. On  her last dive, she had pulled up a camping shovel, the kind that  folded over at the blade. But the shovel didn't hold the answer  of what Hamilton was doing at the lake.

And that was what was bothering her. Even though Newbury and  Turcovic were in the process of being extradited to Canada, Anna  still wanted to know why they had killed Hamilton. Where was the  notebook he was after, and what was in it?

Anna got out of the water and wrapped herself in a large towel.  She wasn't sure if she was so keen on finding some evidence in  the lake or she was hiding from her own thoughts about David.

She couldn't blame David for what had happened; she could only  blame herself. After all, she was the one who had tricked him  that night last fall. She had always known that when he found out  about who that 'woman' had been, he would be mad at her. She  wanted to be able to regret that night, but she couldn't. She had  made love with David, something she had only dreamed of doing,  something she believed would never be repeated.

Now, he avoided her...and she was always conscious of where he  was so she could get out of his way.

At least when she was searching for clues under the cool water,  she concentrated on something other than David Morrow. And she  did want to solve the mystery. The one thread hanging loose  bothered her.

After a quick shower at home, Anna decided to get a coffee and  muffin at Timmy's. The swim and fresh air had made her hungry.  She was surprised to see Lois and Clark at a table having a cup  of coffee. They waved her over.

"You were the last people I expected to see here," Anna said as  she approached their table.

"We were just waiting for a decent hour to visit your office,"  Clark said. "Join us and we'll tell you why we're here."

Anna sat down with them.

"Good coffee," Lois said.

"The best," Anna said lifting her large cup to show them how much  she liked Timmy's coffee. "I come here at least once a day."

"I can see why," Lois said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"So why are you two here? Summer cottage season doesn't start for  another month or so. Now all we're famous for is our black  flies."

"Not pleasure, Anna, business," Clark said.

"We're not satisfied that we've told the whole story of Jeremy's  murder," Lois said. "It's a senseless killing without a  motive..."

"Why was Jeremy up here?" Clark asked.

"And why did Newbury follow him?"

"I've been thinking of the same thing," Anna said. "I've spent a  few mornings sifting through the rocks, sand and pop-culture  debris at the bottom of Loon Lake looking for some indication of  why Hamilton was up here. I haven't found anything."

"Maybe we can work on this together," Clark said. Then he lowered  his voice. "We can double our special efforts."

"Why don't we go back to my office where we can come up with a  strategy," Anna said.

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

Anna's office hadn't changed since she was  last there, Lois thought, except that in the middle of it lay a  nondescript camping shovel in a large plastic bag.

The three stood around Anna's computer where she had called up a  topographic map of the area. Lois had moved away from the screen  knowing that staring at a map wasn't going to help her think.  She, personally, would prefer to see the actual area, the twigs  and leaves covering the earth, the naturally worn pathways, the  lake where Anna had found the shovel. Then she would scour every  inch...

"Let's assume that these are areas that Hamilton visited." Anna  used her finger to point on her screen. "His car was found here,  this is the end of the dock, and this is where his body was  found. I'd recommend that we use those three areas as the  perimeter of a triangle and search for the notebook."

"If there even was a notebook," Lois said a bit cynically.

"We have to assume there was; otherwise, we'd have nothing to go  on," Anna said.

"I assume the two of you are going to use your vision gizmos to  find it."

"Gizmos?" Anna asked.

"Lois sometimes has a funny way of describing some of my powers."

"Then gizmos it is."

Once Anna had made arrangements for her absence in the office,  she drove Lois and Clark in her patrol car to Loon Lake.

"Do you use your powers a lot in your job?" Lois asked.

"Whenever I need. I don't not use them. In fact, other than  flying, I use my talents, my powers, whenever I need to. I'm not  going to waste them; that's for sure. I just use them as  surreptitiously as possible. Using my x-ray vision here will be  easy."

"How will you explain it if we find something?"

"Simple. Either excellent police work or dumb luck. We started  digging in the right place."

Lois nudged Clark. "At least she thinks about her excuses ahead  of time."

Anna parked the patrol car in almost the same spot where  Hamilton's Honda was found. She flattened the topographical map  on the hood of the car as she and Clark decided on where to  begin. Lois, not having x-ray vision, chose to wander down to the  lake and enjoy the scenery, and see if she could see anything in  the brush that might be a clue.

Several hours had passed before Lois heard Superman's whoosh.  Clark was in front of her.

"Anna found something. You wanna come and watch?"

"Sure."

Clark picked her up and floated her about a mile from where she  had been enjoying the serenity of the lake waters lapping up  against the narrow sandy shore.

"It's about three feet down," Anna said staring at some twigs and  leaves. "Shall I do the honours?"

"Go ahead," Clark said.

Anna took the shovel she kept in her trunk and quickly dug a  small hole in the ground. She bent down and retrieved a plastic  bag containing a package. Wearing gloves, she carefully undid the  brown wrapping paper.

Clark put on the gloves Anna had handed him and removed a three- ring binder from the paper. He flipped through the pages. After a  pause, he handed the notebook to Anna. "These are Emil Hamilton's  notes for cloning," he said sadly.

"Are you sure?" Lois asked.

"I've read them before." "But he said he'd destroyed them," Lois  said petulantly.

"I guess he didn't."

"Is this the cloning you told me about, Lois?" Anna asked.

"Yes. But Emil had told us that he'd destroyed his notes," Lois  answered. "He lied."

"Someone must have known the notebook still existed and that the  cloning worked, but who?" Clark said.

"We wrote a follow-up article about the destroyed notes," Lois  said.

"Several possibilities," Anna said. "Hamilton might have told  someone or someone never knew he had destroyed the notes."

"Who?" Lois and Clark asked in tandem.

"Whatever happened to the gangster clones?" Anna asked.

"They went to prison. As far as I know those who are alive are  still there," Clark said.

Lois pulled out her cell phone. "No reception here," she said  tapping at the device in her hand. "If they're smart enough to  design cell phones, shouldn't they be able to work when you need  them? It's no big deal when it works in the city where there are  phones at every corner and in every store. You can borrow  anyone's phone or drop a quarter in a pay phone, but out here, in  the middle of nowhere, where you really need a phone? Nothing.  Nada..."

"And the ability to babble without taking a breath, Anna McLaren,  is one of Lois Lane's superpowers," Clark said giving his wife a  playful hug.

"Clark, this isn't funny. I wanted to call Jimmy to research the  clones, see who they've been in contact with."

"You can use my satellite phone in the car," Anna said, pointing  Lois toward the car..

Lois asked Jimmy to search the clones while Anna and Clark did a  final search of the area, just in case they had forgotten  something. Finding nothing else, they then returned to town.

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

Anna had invited Lois and Clark back to her home nestled among  white birch and tall evergreen trees, facing Loon Lake. The home,  a summer cottage, had been enlarged and modernized over the years  to accommodate the growing McLaren family. When Anna had decided  to move to Huntsville, the house was winterized. Anna explained  all of this to Lois and Clark, who were sitting in the large  living room on the well-worn sofas. "My brothers come up over the  summer months with their families. On busy week-ends the place is  overflowing with their kids."

When Anna had suggested bringing in Chinese food from the local  take-out, Clark volunteered to bring food from his favourite  Chinese restaurant. When he left to pick up the order, Lois had  told Anna that he flew to Shanghai regularly for the most  delicious dumplings she'd ever had.

After dinner, Anna set up her laptop in the living room and let  Lois navigate to her e-mail to download the information Jimmy had  sent her.

"I'm rather impressed with the Daily Planet's databank," Anna  said as she perused the files on the screen.

"That's not from the Daily Planet. It's from Jimmy Olsen who does  a little bit of everything. He knows his way around cyberspace  better than most professionals," Clark said.

"He's rarely disappointed us," Lois added.

Lois looked over the list of infamous gangster names who were  imprisoned after their capture. In the last three years, they had  spent most of their time in different prisons, separated from  each other. Basically each had remained in the same cell with a  little movement for hearings. Few of them had had visitors except  for their lawyers and psychologists who were trying to  rehabilitate them. Three had died of heart failure due to  inadequate cloning procedures.

"There has to be a lot of money behind this," Clark ventured.  "Otherwise, how would Turcovic and Newbury have gotten paid?"

"But the contacts these gangster clones had were very limited.  The lawyers and psychologists were appointed by the courts, and  even if they hadn't, the clones don't have contacts in the  outside world anymore," Lois said.

"So we look for another angle..." Anna said.

"Wait a minute," Lois interrupted. "This might be something."  Clark stood behind Lois and looked over her shoulder to where she  was pointing on the screen.

"They let Bonnie Parker work in the prison infirmary?" Anna asked  after she'd come closer to the screen.

"I guess..." Clark started scrolling down the page quickly and  speed reading. "And look who was in the infirmary."

"Amber Lake? Who's that?" Anna asked.

"Tim and Amber Lake are a rich couple, now in prison for killing  Bad Brain Johnson and kidnapping Lois and Superman..."

"Clark! Tim and Amber Lake. T...A...L. That must be them." Lois  got up and went to the phone. After punching in the phone number,  she stood, tapping her toes, waiting.

"Finally," she said into the mouthpiece. "Jimmy, I need you to  look up and see if you can find a link to Tim and Amber Lake."  She hung up the phone after telling Jimmy where he could contact  her, then joined the others.

"The Lakes are a possibility. They had stolen Kryptonite from  STAR Labs." Clark remembered the Kryptonite Tim and Amber had  sent Perry along with Superman's cape to prove that the superhero  was dead. "He must have kept some back and that's what affected  us in the warehouse."

"But didn't Tim die a year ago or so?" Lois opened her eyes wide  and stared at Clark. "That's it!"

"Lois, find the date when Amber was in the infirmary and check it  against the date when Tim had died," Clark said.

The only sound in the room was the tapping on computer keys...and  then silence.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Lois squealed.

"Way to go, Lois," Clark said patting her back then bending over  to give her a kiss.

"I'm glad you two are having a good time. Would either of you  care to let me join the party?"

"Sorry," said Clark. "We got carried away. Let me explain. Tim  and Amber Lake were very wealthy. Tim had inherited a lot of  money from his father, and then he and Amber had invested it  wisely. The two were obnoxiously in love."

"Being in the same room with them could make you throw up," Lois  added.

"The two were inseparable. I'm sure they were both devastated  when they ended up in different prisons."

"... with no conjugal visits."

"This is what I think happened. When Tim died, Amber must have  been heart-broken. My guess is that she ended up in the infirmary  where she met Bonnie Parker. The two of them spoke, and Bonnie  told Amber she was a clone, but she was still Bonnie Parker."

"So Amber decided she had to get Tim back...no matter what the  cost?" Anna asked.

"Exactly," Lois and Clark said at the same time.

Their conversation was interrupted by the phone. When Anna  answered, she immediately handed the phone over to Lois who  nodded and smiled as she listened to Jimmy. "Yes!" she said as  she hung up the phone. "That was Jimmy. He was able to find a  connection between the Lakes and TAL. Once he knew what he was  looking for, it was easy. He's sending us the information as we  speak."

"And now we have a motive." Anna picked up the phone and called  the prosecutor.

A few minutes later, she joined Lois and Clark on the sofa. "We  can now leave the details in the hands of the lawyers, she said.  "There's just one thing I'd like to know."

"Sure, anything," Lois said.

"Do you two always work like that? It was something else to  watch."

"It took us a while, but we learned that together we're stronger  than one of us alone," Clark said.

"Thanks for dinner," Lois said, getting up. "It's time for us to  go home now. We have a story to write." She stepped over to Anna  and hugged the woman. "Stay in touch, Anna. You're family to  Clark and me now."

"I will. It's been a pleasure meeting both of you." She hugged  Clark and kissed him on the cheek. "Before you go, there's a rock  on the other side of the lake. Check out the Northern Lights from  there. The show should begin shortly."

Anna stood at the door. Clark walked down the stairs and spun  into his Superman suit. He then lifted Lois in his arms and the  two took off, heading to the rock.

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

Part 16

Lois and Clark sat on the rock overlooking the  lake. In the distance, over the darkened trees, a green light  rippled over the night sky like a flag waving in the wind. Awed  by the green lights turning luminescent blue and then pink, Clark  put his arm around Lois, drawing her closer.

"Nature always amazes me," Clark said.

"Me too."

They leaned into each other while watching the spectacle for a  few minutes before Lois broke the comfortable silence.

"Feels good to tie up the ends of a story."

"Feels good just sitting here with you in my arms."

"Do you think we'll hear from Anna, again?" Lois asked.

"I don't know. She said she'd keep in touch." Clark pulled his  wife closer and placed a kiss on her head. "She said she was  thinking about the superhero business, but she wasn't sure she'd  feel good in a pair of primary-coloured tights."

"I got the feeling she started liking the freedom of using her  powers more openly."

"I did, too. Now all she needs is a reason to get her going."

"Did you have a reason for becoming Superman other than wanting  to help without losing your life as Clark Kent?"

"Definitely. I wanted to stay in Metropolis, near a certain  beautiful, pushy reporter."

Lois placed her hands on her husband's face and kissed him  gently. He, in turn, held her closer and deepened the kiss.

"Let's go home, my beautiful, pushy reporter."

Clark, with Lois in his arms, rose into the shifting colours of  the night and headed south for Metropolis.

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

Anna took her time dusting the books one at a time. Now that the  Hamilton case was solved, keeping busy, filling her day with work  and then inventing household chores kept her mind off David. When  she had returned to Huntsville, two weeks earlier, she had a lot  of paper work to catch up on. It was that and the small details  of her job that kept her occupied. At home, when she decided to  come home rather than go for a beer with her fellow cops or a  movie with friends, she had managed to clean her house  thoroughly. She had dug up new flower beds, even though she  really didn't care for gardening, cut down some trees in the  brush behind her home, put in the dock for the summer and  repainted the outside of the house.

As she dusted the knickknacks on the shelf, she debated  rewallpapering the kitchen. The door bell ringing came as a  surprise in the quiet house, especially since her hearing hadn't  registered anyone coming to the door. Wondering who was visiting  her so late in the evening, she peered through the door.

David.

He stood nervously hopping from one foot to the next, fiddling  with a large... a very large bouquet of flowers. What was he  doing at her door? And how could she open it wearing a pair of  scruffy cut-off jeans and an old t-shirt?

"Just a minute," she yelled out and quickly flew up to her room,  spun into a pair of slacks and a blouse, pulled her hair out of  the knot she'd made with a scrunchie and let it flow onto her  shoulders. Before going downstairs, she checked her face in the  mirror. A little eyeliner and some blush. "Good enough," she said  to her image.

Thirty seconds later she was downstairs, opening the door.  "David," she whispered, "What are you doing here?"

"Do you mind if I come in?"

When Anna nodded her head and opened the door wider, David  followed her into the house. He handed her the flowers.

"Are these for me?"

"Yes."

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I. That's why I'm here." He shrugged his shoulders as  if he didn't quite understand what he was doing.

Anna, not clear what she was supposed to say or do, fidgeted for  a second, and then took the flowers into the kitchen. David  followed wordlessly watching while she found a vase, filled it  with water and arranged the flowers inside it. Anna knew David  was directly behind her. She wondered if he could hear her heart  pounding or see her hands shaking. David's visit was a mystery to  her, but she hoped that the flowers meant something positive.

"Coffee?" Anna asked.

"No. Not now. We need to talk."

Anna took the vase of flowers into the living room where she sat  down on the sofa. To her disappointment, David sat on the chair  facing her.

"David, I feel terrible about what happened. You've every right  to be mad at me. I know I was wrong."

"Anna, I need to know why?"

Staring at the pattern on the pillow she had placed on her lap,  she said, "Nothing noble about why I came to you at the lake."

"Tell me."

She had a choice. Up until this point, by not telling David who  she was, she had lied to him causing their fight in the hotel.  She could continue to lie, which definitely wouldn't make matters  better, or she could tell him the truth. Their relationship  couldn't get any worse than it was now. They were avoiding each  other, not speaking. But was she ready to tell someone about  herself? David sat across from her, his eyes boring into her. It  was obvious that he'd figured out, at least part of who she was  already. She closed her eyes and for a brief second, Lois and  Clark, sitting together on their sofa, flashed through her mind.

Anna sighed. "It wasn't anything I'd planned. I like to swim  through the lakes at night when no one's around. It's quiet and  peaceful...and I don't have to control myself, pretend I'm  someone I'm not."

"That makes sense."

"That night, everything was fine until I realized that someone  was watching me. It scared me at first..." Anna began pulling a  thread in the pillow. "...until I realized it was you. I  recognized your voice. And, for some reason, it didn't bother  me." Anna bit her bottom lip in concentration. "When I saw you  sitting on the rock in nothing but a towel, my imagination went a  little...wild. I got this idea that I would come to you and we'd  make love.

"Of course, my sensible voice started a major argument,  but...have you ever looked at something you're not allowed to do  or have, like a piece of rich, dark chocolate cake, and you know  it's not good for you and you know it's wrong, but you eat it  anyway? Well, you were that chocolate cake. I knew it was wrong,  that I wasn't being fair to you, but I'd…never made love with  anyone...I was curious...and I thought I could get away with  it..."

"You could have gone with anyone? Why me?"

"I trusted you..."

"Trusted. Hmph!"

"I wanted you. I wanted to make love to you. I've had other  opportunities, but I wasn't...compelled in the same way I was  that night. The chocolate cake wasn't from a mix and it was made  of the freshest ingredients and the icing was awfully, awfully  tempting."

"Nice metaphor, but in the end you deceived me."

"I know. And you have every right to be angry with me. There is  no excuse for what I did, but you asked me why and I'm trying to  explain."

"So, let me see if I get this right. You saw me at the lake and  decided that you wanted to have sex with me because you'd never  had sex before."

Anna could see David squeezing the arms of the chair he was  sitting in. The colour on his face was deepening, and she could  hear the tightening of his voice. How was she going to explain it  all to him, and make him understand? She swallowed hard. Maybe it  was too late to make him understand. Maybe all she could do was  tell him the truth.

"It wasn't as simple as you make it sound. You were right in some  ways back in Metropolis. I was playing games with you."

"Hmph!"

Anna hugged the pillow to her chest and buried her chin in it. "I  love you," she murmured, "but I knew that because I was so  different, I couldn't have a real relationship with a man. Who  knew what was going to happen to me tomorrow... or what I had to  offer? I didn't want to lead you on, to date you, to let you fall  in love with me...to let me fall in love with you. I wasn't real,  after all. But that one night, I thought I could be invisible. It  wouldn't be me, but I could have, if only for a few minutes, what  others had."

The room was silent.

"It was too late," David said softly. "I'd fallen in love with  you already. That's what made that night so awful."

"Awful?" Anna sucked in her breath. "I thought it was good…" she  whispered.

"Anna, the sex was good. But I felt like I was cheating on you.  And as much as I rationalized it, that feeling never went away."

David looked so pale. Anna wanted to touch his arm, but was  afraid he would back away. Not knowing what else to say but what  she felt, she murmured her mantra, "I'm so sorry, David. You have  every right to be mad at me."

"I have another question."

"Go ahead."

"Who are you?"

Anna moved the pillow to the sofa and sat up straighter. "I'm  Pauline and Brad McLaren's adopted daughter. I'm a university  graduate and an officer in the Ontario Provincial Police...."

"No. I mean who are you really?"

"That's who I am. I haven't lied to you about that. Who've you've  seen is who I am."

"And you're not hiding anything about yourself?" David probed.

"Well, of course I am. Aren't we all? We hide our fears and our  insecurities..."

"Anna, please." David raised his arms in frustration. "You're  playing games, again. I know who you are."

"Do you? Do you really?" Anna felt her voice get louder. "Or have  you made some generality about who you think I am and what that  means?"

"I just want to understand..."

"What? That I'm not human. That I'm some extra-terrestrial? An  alien? Well, that may answer your questions, but it has nothing  to do with who I am." Anna threw the cushion on the floor and  stood up. David had finally admitted the real reason for his  visit. She wasn't surprised. "I guess you've heard what you want  to. Now you can take your flowers and go." Anna's chest was  heaving as she began to remove the flowers from the vase.

Anna felt his hand on her arm. She wanted to swat it away, but  she held back. He turned her around until she was facing him.

"Don't put words in my mouth," he said.

"That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"

"Listen. You have to listen to what I'm saying." He stared at  Anna waiting for an answer. She felt her breathing subside and  she nodded at him. "Good. I came here tonight because I realized  that I could be angry with you, very angry, but I couldn't live  without you in my life. I love you..."

Anna gasped. "You still love me even after what I did?" she  whispered.

"Yes." He took her hands in his. "Anna, these last few weeks have  been very difficult knowing you were around the corner, but I  wouldn't talk to you or even argue with you. Are you listening?"  Anna again nodded her head. "I love you, and the idea of you not  being a part of my life is scary."

Anna lowered her head, feeling the tears well in her eyes.

"But I need to know...to understand...who you are. We can't have  a relationship if you keep part of yourself a secret..."

"Relationship?"

"Anna, who are you?" David whispered.

Anna clenched her fists. Her mouth felt dry. The whole truth, she  thought.

"My parents found me in a capsule. We thought I was an  experiment, but now I guess I'm Kryptonian. I have what the  newspapers call superpowers, but I'm just Anna McLaren...Sergeant  Anna McLaren who I've always been."

David turned away from her, holding onto the back of the  armchair.

"If that disgusts you, then...too bad. That's who I am, and you  wanted to know."

David turned around and looked at her. "Disgusts me? Whatever  gave you that idea?"

"You turned away from me. You can't look at me."

"No. Don't read your agenda into what I'm doing. As a matter of  fact, I was digesting what you'd just told me. I guessed, more or  less at the hotel, but I didn't quite believe it. Now I do.  Anna," he said, turning back to her and gently grasping her  shoulders, "I was entranced by this fairy princess at the lake,  but I fell in love with Sergeant McLaren. This just means that I  can have my fairy princess, too."

Anna wasn't clear about what she was hearing from David. He had  said he loved her. He had said he accepted the fairy princess as  well, but she wasn't a fairy princess, she was a space alien.

"I'm not a fairy princess. I'm not a storybook character. I just  want to be a normal person, but I'm not."

"You are very normal, Anna, very human."

"I don't know if I can have a normal life."

"Clark thinks he can. Why can't you? At least he's trying."

Anna gasped. He knew about Clark. "What do you mean, 'Clark  thinks he can'?"

"I figured out that Clark is Superman. The kryptonite. It  affected you, and it affected him. I saw it."

"It's not good for you to know that. It's dangerous."

"I'm not planning on telling anyone other than you, I promise.  But the point is that he fell in love and got married. He's  having a normal life. So can you."

David gently rubbed his hands on Anna's arms. She could feel her  body relaxing. Maybe there was hope for her. She'd been trying to  convince herself that she had the right to love and to have a  lover. Knowing Clark had married a woman who accepted him as he  was told her that there could be a man who could love her, and  she did want that man to be David. He was intelligent, made her  laugh, wasn't frightened off by her, and if anything, he was  persistent. He knew exactly what he wanted and went after  it...her.

His hands left her arms and caressed the back of her neck. He  leaned in closer.

Anna felt her heart beat louder. He was going to kiss her. If she  wanted him to be a part of her life, she couldn't stop him this  time. She could feel his warm breath. Maybe this wasn't the time  to think. Now was the time to feel. She closed her eyes and let  David draw towards her. When his lips touched hers, warmth  rippled through her. And she needed more. She wrapped her arms  around him and let herself drown in his kisses.

They would work everything out. There was time to talk, to  understand, to explore. As their kisses deepened, she knew  instinctively that this would work.

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

Part 17

Six Months Later

As soon as Superman heard about the mudslide in Peru, he soared  into the air. It didn't take him long to reach the devastated  area, but the sight in front of him stopped him dead in his  aerial tracks. A flying person, covered from head to foot in  black was plucking individuals from their mud and water drenched  homes and flying them to safety. He flew to her and asked how he  could help. The new superhero pointed to an area where Superman  could see a number of people waving at him. He swooped down,  lifted two up and flew them to safe ground.

Several hours later, all the inhabitants of the small village  were safe in a make-shift hospital tent outside of their village.  Superman and the other superhero had flown in enough water, food  and medicine to keep the villagers for a day. Rescue workers had  taken charge of the work that still had to be done.

The two superheroes accepted thanks from the villagers, and then  Superman signalled his counterpart to follow him. The two took  off into the sky and flew until they landed hundreds of miles  away on an uninhabited island in the middle of Duck Lake.  Superman sat down on a rock overlooking the lake and invited Anna  to sit down beside him.

"What made you change your mind?" he asked skipping over any  preliminaries.

"I always wanted to use my talents to help. This was the right  time."

"How did it feel for you?"

Anna thought for a few moments before she answered Clark's  question. "I'm having trouble sorting out the emotions.  Exhilarating. Being able to fly there and help without keeping my  talents hidden was freeing. I could do so much more than I'd ever  done before."

Clark, understanding exactly how she felt, nodded his head. He  remembered clearly the time he had saved the Messenger from  exploding. Thinking back now, swallowing the bomb was a bit  dramatic, but the freedom of showing Lois what he could do had  been electric.

"But, on the other hand, the despair of the people...they'd lost  everything. Some of them were so close to death, to being buried  under the heavy mud... I felt heart broken."

"You saved them. That was the important part. Without you, many  would have died."

"I have a lot to learn about this superhero work, don't I,  Clark?"

"You have to learn it on the job...but it helps to have friends  to talk to. I had my parents and Lois. You can always come to  us."

"Thanks." Anna looked at her suit. "Look at this. It's so muddy.  So's yours. Wanna take a quick swim around the lake?"

Clark got up. "Race 'ya."

Faster than lightning, the two rushed into the water and swam  several laps around the lake. They then landed back at the rock  and spun themselves dry.

"Nice suit you've got," Clark said.

"I made it myself," Anna said proudly, "Although David had some  input on the design. Actually," Anna chuckled, "he wanted it  tighter, but I said, 'absolutely not'."

"I knew you didn't like the primary colours on my suit, but why  black?"

Anna blushed. "Black is always more slimming."

Clark laughed, until he realized that Anna was looking at him  quizzically. "Don't let anyone tell you that you're not a human  woman. You definitely think like one." Once Clark settled down,  he asked, "Do you have a name?"

"That was a hard one for a while. I didn't want to be Superwoman.  And then one night as I was looking into the sky, I decided on  Aurora."

"Nice. That's the reason for the blue, green and pink stripe  running across your chest and down the side of the pant leg?"

"Yes."

"Anna, can I use some of what you've told me for an article in  the Planet to introduce you?"

"I really don't want media attention. I don't want to give  interviews or appear at public functions..."

"You do as much as you want, but we can't keep you a secret now."

"I know, but I want you to understand that I'm not doing the  crime fighting. That I leave to Sergeant Anna McLaren. Aurora  will only help out at disasters."

Once again, Clark guffawed. "Welcome to my world."

Seeing Anna's bewilderment, he explained, "Referring to yourself  in the third person. It's an occupational hazard."

Anna chuckled when she realized what she had done.

"As far as helping out only at disasters, that's your choice. As  much as you do is enough. It's the idea of someone helping that  gives people hope."

"I'll remember that." Anna stood up and faced Clark. "By the way,  Clark, thank you for allowing me to tell David about the globe  and your birth parents."

"No need to thank me, Anna. It's all you have for a Kryptonian  history, and it isn't much."

"No it's not. For you either."

Clark nodded his head in agreement.

"David and I tried to come up with who my parents were, and who  the baby's parents were."

"And?"

"We figure that the technology had been developed and known on  the planet. And more people than Jor-El must have been worried  about the survival of the planet. Maybe there were some other  scientists who were trying to save their children."

"Possibly. I don't think we'll ever know," Clark said.

"Neither do I, but it's nice to have a history."

They stood, looking over the lake for a few moments.

"I guess it's time to go home, now. David and I have plans for  tonight." "Speaking of David, Lois and I are looking forward to  your wedding."

"We're really happy that you can come. You're very special to us.  Family."

The two superheroes hugged each other before taking off into the  evening sky together and then separating, each heading home.

The End.

Additional Thanks:

Thank you to Lynn M. While I was posting Northern Lights, I was  rereading The Butterfly Legacy. In it she spoke of Clark's powers  as talents. I hadn't realized that the concept had stuck in my  head and wiggled out while I was writing.

Thank you to Chris Mulder for the name, Angelina's, for the  romantic restaurant where Lois and Clark, and then Anna and David  ate.

Table of Contents

Northern Lights

Part 01

Part 02

Part 03

Part 05

Part 06

Part 07

Part 08

Part 09

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

Part 17