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Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Tank Wilson <tankw1@aol.com> and Wendy Richards  <wendy@lcfanfic.com>

Rated: PG-13

Submitted: March 2002  -------------

Authors' notes: Tank:  I give up!  Wait, I think I've said that before, but  this time I mean it.  I pushed the limits of Lois and Clark  credibility to come up with a goofy, fun, yet still evil  challenge for Wendy.  I thought I might have had her this  time.  I thought that I had most of the easy solutions  accounted for.  I had hoped that she would have to rack her  brains to be able to come up with a solution to the problem  I set up.  I even thought I had forced her into giving Lois  a haircut! <g>.  But, alas, once again I failed to even  challenge her.  She defused all my devious plot set-ups and  resolved the situation without breaking a sweat.  She even  saved Lois' hair.  I can't win,  I give up.

Wendy: Without breaking a sweat?! Are you kidding?! This  one was *not* easy. (And I confess that I ignored Lois's  hair... read on to see what we mean. <g>) I sweated blood  over this. Had nightmares. Sighed and tore my hair on IRC.  And then - I confess. I cheated. This is not all my own  work. Sarah, thank you for some excellent ideas, which I  adapted and turned into this solution. See, Tank? There's  no need at all to give in! Because, really, you won this  time. You stumped me. <g> So, you see, you have no excuse  to retire!

Oh, look for another surprise Tank Ending to this story,  from another mystery guest writer... someone who claims not  to be into writing evil scenarios. Well, see for yourself  if s/he deserves the tag of Evil Writer! <g>

All rights in recognisable characters in this story belong  to either DC Comics, Warner Bros, December 3 Productions or  whoever owns them. No infringment of these rights is  intended by their use in this work of fanfiction.

~ Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind:  A Wendy & Tank Challenge.  ~

Gretchen Kelly rolled over in bed and groaned. She would  never be without pain. But the daily agony caused by the  electrical burn scars that criss-crossed her back was  nothing compared to the suffering she continued to go  through every time she remembered Lex's betrayal of her.

She had loved Lex, and she had brought him back to life. So  how did he repay her? By tossing her against some high  voltage cables so she couldn't keep him from trying to  rescue that witch, Lois Lane, from the pit of rats she'd  tossed her into.

Over a year spent in that prison hospital recovering from  the burns suffered in her electrocution. She should have  died but she hadn't. Her desire for revenge kept her alive.  Now it was two years later and she was ready to act. She  would see Lois Lane destroyed. A nasty smile crept over her  face. Her plan to get back at Lane was particularly  delicious. And the side benefits to the plan were  particularly interesting... and ironic.

It was a risky plan, and one which the outcome was far from  certain, but if it worked the payoff would be worth it.  There was a hint of madness in Gretchen Kelley's look as  her smile got bigger and an evil laugh escaped from her  lips. Lois Lane's days were numbered. And with any luck,  the number would be quite small.

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

Lois Lane was dragged out of bed by the smell of wonderful  things coming from the kitchen. Throwing her robe over her  nightgown, she flew down the stairs, zombie-like, and into  the kitchen to be confronted by the smiling personage of  her husband.

"I thought this might get you up." He laughed as he pointed  to a chair at the table. A plateful of breakfast delights,  and a steaming cup of coffee was already there. "I wanted  to, at least, have breakfast with you since I won't see you  again for two whole weeks!"

Lois took a long sip of her coffee, then turned and gave  her husband a look of sympathy. "I know, it's going to be  tough for me too, you know. But we discussed this and if  I'm ever going to get that stupid novel finished, I have to  lock myself away and just do it. Perry's cabin upstate will  be just the place. It's quiet, and it's isolated. He  doesn't even have a television set."

Clark gave Lois his best lost puppy dog look. "Yeah, but  why do you have to shut yourself away? Why can't I come and  visit once and a while? It's not like it would be any  hardship for me." Clark came over and sat next to Lois.

Lois reached over and gently caressed his cheek. "I know,  but it will destroy my concentration. All I'll be thinking  about is your next visit. Besides," Lois giggled. "How can  I write a romance novel filled with lover's angst and  emotional travails if I'm a happily sated wife." Lois  leaned in and kissed Clark on the nose. "The isolation and  deprivation will keep me in the right frame of mind."

"Maybe... but I still think that I..."

Lois swatted Clark on the hand. "Oh stop it. You know one  of the reasons we chose this time is because you have three  charity appearances, two fund raising events for the  Superman Foundation, and that thing you are doing with  EPRAD coming up."

Clark smiled. "You mean the repair and realignment of the  Hubble space telescope."

Lois waved her hand in the air. "Yeah, whatever." She  gulped down a couple of bites of toast and took another sip  of her coffee. "As busy as you are going to be over the  next couple of weeks, we probably wouldn't see that much of  each other anyway."

Clark sighed. "I guess, but I'm going to miss you."

Lois leaned in again, and Clark captured her lips with his.  It was a long, loving kiss. "I'm going to miss you too,"  she said, breathless.

Clark frowned and looked at his watch. "Speaking of missing  you, I'd better get going. I'm due at the Planet for a  staff meeting in about thirty seconds." Clark leaned in for  another quick kiss. "Gotta go. Good luck with the book, and  if you decide that you need a break give me a call. I'll be  there in seconds. Love you."

Lois laughed. "I have no doubt. Bye, love you too."

Clark was gone in a gust of wind. Lois leaned back and  leisurely finished her breakfast. She'd clean up the  kitchen, then she had some packing to do. There was no  denying that she was going to miss Clark, but a part of her  was excited to get this project started. She'd been working  on her novel in a hit and miss fashion for years. She  finally decided that if it was ever going to happen, she  would have to set aside some significant time to do nothing  but concentrate on it, to see if there was any real promise  there. She was under no delusion that she could finish it  in that time, but by the end of this imposed exile she'd  know if such a thing was possible for her.

With a last drink of her coffee, Lois got up and headed  back up the stairs to the bedroom. Time to get dressed and  get this show on the road she thought.

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

Gretchen took the phone call while going through yet  another painful bout of rehabilitation exercises. Despite  the pain, the call put a smile on her face. Who would have  thought that the dedicated pursuer of truth, the most  determined investigative reporter in the city, Lois Lane,  would actually be taking a two week vacation. And alone, no  less.

When Gretchen began to plan her vengeance, she thought it  prudent to subvert a member of the Daily Planet staff. Some  well spent money kept her informed as to the activities of  the paper's fiercest reporter and her extrodinary husband  and partner. Today the money had proved to be well spent.  Things were looking up. It was time to spring the trap.

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

Lois took her last suitcase from the Jeep into the cabin.  It was a cozy place. Not too big, just two small bedrooms,  a tiny bathroom, and one great room that was a combination  kitchen and living room. One end of the great room  contained a small stove, a sink, and a few cupboards for  storage. The other end was dominated by a large fireplace.  Lois smiled when she saw the ample stack of wood piled next  to hearth and a note taped to it. It was instructions from  Perry as to how to light the fireplace and operate the flue  for the proper air flow.

Lois, leaving her suitcases in the middle of the floor,  walked over to the south wall which contained a sliding  glass door that led out to a small porch which overlooked  the picturesque lake and surrounding pine forest. Next to  the door was a large, old fashioned, wooden desk. Lois  rubbed her hand along the desktop. She could feel the years  worth of impressions pressed into that wooden surface. Her  smile was content as she set her laptop down next to the  antique cup that Perry used as a pencil and pen holder.  There were even a couple of blue pencils in the cup. Lois  nodded to herself. This was going to work, she just knew  it.

A knock at the front door broke into her musings. She was  confused. Who would be calling on her here? She peeked out  the window as she approached the door. She saw a 'Flowers  'R Us' van out front. She smiled as she reached for the  front door knob. Clark must have sent them, she reasoned.  What else could it be? She opened the door.

"Lois Lane?" A bored looking fellow stood at the door.

"Yes." Lois had a hard time holding back her grin.

The bored fellow pulled a small aerosol can from his pocket  and gave Lois a faceful of some noxious fumes before she  even realized what was happening. Within a few seconds she  slumped to the floor, unconscious.

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

Clark looked up at the clock on the wall for the umpteenth  time. It was still a couple of hours before he could  reasonably excuse himself for the day, and it had been a  long boring day without Lois around. Not that he was in any  hurry to get home, since she wouldn't be there anyway.  Clark figured his best bet would be a flight home to  Smallville. Seeing his folks would help ease his missing of  Lois.

Clark shook his head as he stared blankly at his computer  screen. It had only been part of one day and already he  missed her tremendously. He had to think that, more than  the actual hours, it was the knowledge that he wouldn't see  her for two weeks that depressed him so.

"Hey, CK, how are you doing? Now that you have some time  away from Lois, you got any 'big' plans?" Jimmy used his  fingers to make quotation marks when he said big.

Clark raised his brow at the young man. "I don't think I  want to know what you mean by that, Jimmy. I'm just going  to be a lonely husband, trying not to get too depressed  while waiting for his wife to come home."

Jimmy grinned. "Well, I suppose you could always call her."

Clark shook his head. "No, I promised Lois I would leave  her alone, completely. She really wants a chance to work on  this novel, and I'm going to honor her wishes, no matter  how hard it will be."

Jimmy laughed. "Boy, you really are married aren't you."

Clark gave the young man a knowing wink. "Someday, you'll  understand Jimbo, someday."

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

Lois was slow coming back to consciousness. It was like  trying to swim to the surface of a thick, dark liquid  trying to pull you back under the whole time. Her head  ached fiercely and, as much as she wished to, she wasn't  able to rub her temples with her fingers.

The light was blinding, but she finally managed to force  them open enough to get a take on her situation. She was  seated in a wheelchair in some sort of white room. Off to  one side were tables full of what seemed to be medical  equipment, and even what appeared to be an operating table.  The reason she couldn't rub her aching head was because her  hands were tied tightly to the arms of the chair and her  legs secured to the footpads.

Suddenly a door only a few feet away from her opened and a  woman entered the room. "You!" Lois gasped.

"Well, I'm glad you've finally decided to join us, Lois. I  can call you Lois, can't I? After all, we're old friends."

"But, but," Lois sputtered. "You're dead. You were  electrocuted."

Gretchen favored Lois with an evil grin. "Electrocuted,  yes, but as for being dead, no. Fortunately, I survived."  Gretchen's smile was replaced by a look of pure hatred. "No  thanks to you."

"Me? It was Lex who threw you into those power cables."  Lois struggled briefly against her bindings but they were  too tight.

"Oh, Lex may have done the deed, but it was your fault."  Gretchen's voice rose, taking on a slightly hysterical  quality. "You bewitched him. He loved you, yet you betrayed  him. Lex Luthor was a great man, but you destroyed him!"

Lois shook her head sadly. She almost felt sorry for the  woman's delusions. "Lex was a psychopath. He was incapable  of feeling anything but greed and ego."

Gretchen strode over and slapped Lois soundly in the face.  "Don't talk like that." The predatory smile returned.  "Besides, we don't want to be wasting time bickering. Not  when there are much more important things to be attending  to."

Lois frowned at her kidnapper. "And just what would that  be?"

Gretchen's smile became downright scary. "Why, the  resurrection of Lex Luthor, of course."

Lois stared in shocked incomprehension at the demented  woman. Lois knew that Gretchen Kelly had been Lex's  personal physician. She also knew that she had been behind  the original theft of Luthor's body and had somehow managed  to revive him from 'death' that first time years ago. But  Lex had been crushed under the cave-in of an old abandoned  subway tunnel. There was no way Gretchen could revive that  crushed and broken body a second time, supposing she even  had it. Lois wasn't one to be easily shaken by things, but  staring into the eyes of Gretchen Kelly caused her to  shudder.

"That's madness," Lois said, trying to keep her voice calm.  "Lex's body was destroyed. There is no way you will be able  to revive him this time. There's nothing left to revive."

Gretchen stepped close and patted Lois on the cheek. "Oh,  but there is. Yes, it's true that his body was crushed in  that cave-in, but his mind, or more accurately, his brain  has survived." She gave Lois a mocking smile. "By some  miraculous twist of fortune, Lex's head was pinned between  a couple of large chunks of the fallen masonry and was  protected in a manner that the rest of his body was not."

"But, but..." Lois could only shake her head in helpless  wonderment.

"How did I end up with it?" Gretchen laughed. "Even given  Lex's misguided obsession with you, when I was the one who  really loved him, I kept track of him during my long stay  in the hospital. Or, I should say, I had him kept track  of." Gretchen shrugged. "When you betrayed him yet again,  my man was there to pick up the pieces."

Lois was astounded. She couldn't believe what she was  hearing. "So - what? Do you have Lex's brain in a jar  somewhere?" Lois retorted snidely.

"No, actually, it's in a cryogenic container being kept  alive by occasional, minute electrical charges to stimulate  it. That is, it was. Now it's being carefully thawed out  for the upcoming procedure." Gretchen returned Lois'  snideness with a mock smile of her own.

"What procedure?"

Gretchen affected the look of an impatient teacher with an  especially slow student. "Why, the transfer of Lex's brain  into another body, of course."

Lois couldn't help herself, she burst out laughing. "Now I  know you're insane. It's impossible! No one can transfer a  living brain into another body. Medical science isn't that  far advanced."

Gretchen put her hand to her chin to create an affected  look of hard thinking. "Well, it's true that *conventional*  medical science isn't up to such a procedure... but that  doesn't mean *unconventional* science can't accomplish the  *impossible*."

Lois just kept shaking her head in amazement. "You're  insane, that's all there is to it."

Gretchen snorted. "Really, Lois, I'm surprised at you.  Forgetting for the moment your intimate association with  fully realized clones, aren't you the one who broke the  Love Fortress scandal." Gretchen nodded as if remembering.  "If I'm not mistaken, didn't a Dr. Piscato successfully  perform transplants of complete heads from one body to  another? Now I'll grant you that *I* don't have the  particular expertise required to perform such an incredibly  difficult transplant, but that doesn't mean that I haven't  hooked up with someone who can."

Lois felt herself slipping from simple astonishment at  Gretchen's madness to a chilling revulsion at the thought  that such a thing might actually be possible. What Dr.  Kelly said was true. Lois had seen some pretty incredible  things over the last year or so. Things that she would  never have believed possible had she not been an eye  witness to it. But, really, a brain transplant?

"So, you've managed to find someone who does brain  transplants as what, a side job... a hobby?" Lois' voice  betrayed her skepticism.

Gretchen's smile was mockingly patronizing. "Oh, I'm under  no delusions as to this procedure. It's highly  experimental, it's dangerous, and the chances for success  are not the best. In all honesty, the procedure has never  been tried on a human before." Gretchen sighed, and stared  off to the side. "But I think the possible rewards are  worth the risk." Gretchen turned her gaze back to Lois.  "Don't you?"

Lois felt an icy finger of fear touch her soul. The idea of  Lex Luthor being revived, no matter how unlikely, or how  fantastically it would be achieved, was just too horrible  to contemplate.

"So why am I here?" Lois asked, her voice conveying a  contempt for the other woman. "Do you think it would be  some sort of fitting punishment for me to see such an  abomination of nature be attempted? Do you need an audience  for your 'wondrous achievement'?" Lois grimaced in  distaste. "Who's the poor sap that you've shanghaied to be  your body donor? Some poor homeless man?"

Gretchen's smile was frightening. "Oh no, Lois, nothing so  *common* as a homeless person." Gretchen walked over to an  intercom located on the wall near the door. "Palmer, would  you come in here and get Ms. Lane. It's time to prepare her  for surgery."

Lois' eyes grew ever wider as the import of Gretchen's  words sunk in. Gretchen walked over and patted Lois on the  cheek once again. "Oh yes, Lois, don't you just love the  irony. It was Lex's love for you that led to his downfall  and his eventual death. It's only fair that you be the  vehicle for his resurrection. You, Ms. Lane, will provide  the host body for the miraculous rebirth of Lex Luthor!"

Lois was stunned into silence. Suddenly she felt her chair  being pushed from behind. Enough was enough, she thought.  Gretchen Kelly was obviously quite mad, but it was a  madness that could get Lois killed. No more time to humor  the woman to find out what she was up to. It was time to  call in the cavalry.

Lois took a deep breath, ready to shout out for her  personal superhero at the top of her lungs, when she felt  the prick of a needle on her arm. Before she could say  anything her thoughts became fuzzy, and she had a hard time  focusing on what it was she had just planned to do.

"Just a little sedative to prepare you for the procedure,  Lois." Gretchen turned to the large fellow who had the  handles of Lois' wheelchair in his hands. "Oh, and Palmer,  after prepping Ms. Lane for the surgery, save the hair.  We'll use it to make a wig for Lex."

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

Pain! Crushing pain, and choking dust everywhere. Lex  Luthor felt his life being painfully squeezed from his  being. Thankfully the intense agony was short lived and the  blackness of eternal oblivion soon overtook him.

But Lex was confused. Why was he feeling that pain again?  No, not feeling it... remembering it? But he was dead. He  remembered his injuries from the weapon that he'd secured  to kill Superman, and the cave-in in the abandoned subway  station. He hadn't escaped... had he?

Something strange had happened... was happening. He was  breathing again. Breathing without the choking dust, or the  impossible weight on his chest. Yet his breathing felt -  wrong somehow. It fact, he felt... wrong. Warily he opened  his eyes.

The brightness was a piercing pain stabbing into his eyes.  He half-closed them again, and it was several moments until  his eyes accustomed themselves to the light such that he  could keep his eyes open enough to actually see. He was in  a bright, white room. Obviously some kind of hospital, or  laboratory. His gaze rested briefly on a man in medical  dress, complete with face mask. Lex didn't recognize him.  Shifting his gaze, his look alighted on a more familiar  face. He couldn't stop his gasp of surprise. Gretchen Kelly  was dead. He had accidentally killed her himself - hadn't  he?

"Welcome back, Lex." Gretchen's voice was sweet, and  sympathetic, yet couldn't hide a note of mocking, and  bitterness.

With a great deal of effort Lex levered his body to a  sitting position. It was then that the cover sheet slid  down and he got the first good look at the body that felt  so strange to him. His gasp was clearly audible as he ran  the hands that obeyed his mental commands over the foreign  body that clearly was now his own. But... he was a woman!

The astonished eyes searched out and locked onto those  belonging to his former physician, Gretchen Kelly. "What  have you done to me!"

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

He was still missing Lois. Desperately, in fact. Even a  congenial evening spent with his parents hadn't managed to  take Clark's mind off his wife - not for one second.

He couldn't really understand why he was missing her so  much; they'd been apart before, so it wasn't as if he  simply wasn't used to getting by without her. But the  difference this time was that he wasn't allowed to see her  or contact her in any way. That was the rule: no surprise  visits, no phone calls, no emails - just complete peace and  quiet to allow her to get her novel finished.

So, despite the temptation to fly up to Perry's cabin and  persuade her to let him stay the night with her - or even  just five minutes - he'd just have to go home to an empty  house and a lonely bed.

Clark sighed, shifting to a slow cruising speed as he drew  closer to New Troy. What was the point in hurrying home  when there was no Lois there to welcome him?

The cabin lay north of his current position.

If he flew past; if he hovered overhead for a few minutes  and just watched her, drew some comfort from being able to  see her, that would be okay, wouldn't it? After all, Lois  would never know, not if he didn't let her see him.

A few seconds later, he was flying over the cabin. But, as  he searched the place with his Super-vision, Clark realised  that the building was empty. His first thought was that  maybe she'd gone for a walk - but it was eleven o'clock at  night and it was dark. Lois would never go out alone in an  unfamiliar area - especially in the middle of nowhere -  after dark. Not unless it was a life-and-death situation,  or she was on the trail of a story, he thought ruefully.

Coming down to land so that he could check out the  situation, Clark noticed tyre-tracks outside the cabin. Not  from Lois's Jeep, he realised at once. The cabin door was  standing open. And... a bouquet of flowers lay abandoned on  the threshold.

Curiouser and curiouser... or perhaps downright worrying,  he accepted, walking over to take a closer look. Then he  sniffed... and recognised a faint trace of a knockout gas.

Lois had been abducted! That was the only possible  explanation. But who by?

He took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down  so that he could think clearly. Who might she have annoyed  this time? Who knew where she was?

There wasn't a great deal to go on. But Clark didn't intend  to let anything stand in his way. He would find Lois, and  if she was harmed in any way, then heaven help the person  who'd hurt her.

*********

Lex paced up and down in front of the mirror, her rage  increasing by the second. "Gretchen, what the *hell* did  you think you were doing?" she demanded, the high-pitched  voice which emerged from her body making him shudder.

"Lex, darling, I thought you'd be grateful to be alive - "  she began, but Lex wouldn't allow her to finish.

"Alive? You call this being alive? I'm... I'm a freakin'  *woman*!" she exclaimed, Lex Luthor's old habitual coolness  deserting her completely.

"You're Lois Lane, Lex," Gretchen pointed out. "As I  understand it, you've always admired her - "

"I *wanted* Lois. I didn't want to *be* her!" Lex  thundered, though the effect was rather lacking given the  limits of Lois's voice. She winced at the pathetic result.

"Oh, quit griping, Lex! You're alive. Now, make the most of  it! You should also note that I've ensured that you have a  body which is about twenty years younger than your own was,  so your life expectancy has been enhanced too. I'd think  you might want to express some gratitude for all that I've  done..."

"Gratitude?!" Lex glared at Gretchen. "You're fortunate  that I don't have you killed!"

"Don't forget that I'm the only one who can prove who you  are," Gretchen said, a warning, even threatening, note in  her voice which would not have been there had she been  talking to the old Lex Luthor.

"That might not be such a point in your favour," Lex  commented dryly. After all, if no-one knew, then she could  simply assume Lois Lane's life... well, except for that  husband of hers, of course. The thought of having to endure  Clark Kent's kisses - or even worse - made Lex nauseous.  And yet, unless she was going to reveal the secret of who  she really was, she might have to tolerate the idiot's  company, at least as for long as it took to arrange a  divorce -

But then, there was something Lex knew about Clark Kent...

"I can't think what possessed you to choose Lois's body for  this," she repeated angrily. "Why not that husband of  hers?" The thought that she could so easily have had  Superman's body... Lex Luthor's genius combined with  Superman's physique and powers - now that would have been  an unbeatable combination! But, of course, Gretchen had  failed to think of the possibility.

"Clark Kent?" Gretchen looked cautious.

"Yes, Kent! You do know who he is?" Lex demanded.

Gretchen made a flying movement with her hand.

Lex nodded. "And it didn't occur to you that he would have  been a far better choice?"

"And how do you propose that I should have kidnapped him,  let alone allowed Palmer to do the surgery?"

"You *have* heard of Kryptonite?" Lex asked dryly.

Gretchen was about to respond when suddenly Lex halted in  her pacing, grimaced, and almost doubled over. She clutched  onto the edge of a chair, then sank into it, her expression  contorted and one hand pressed against her lower abdomen.  "What the...? Gretchen, you did something wrong! I'm  dying!"

"What's wrong?"

"My stomach! The pain... it's excruciating! Do something!"

Gretchen frowned momentarily, and Lex glared furiously at  her. The woman wasn't taking her predicament seriously at  all! "I'm dying here, Gretchen! Do something!"

Gretchen gave her a look which, to Lex's astonishment,  seemed to verge on contempt. "Is it a kind of cramping  sensation?"

"Yes, something like that," Lex gasped.

To Lex's fury, Gretchen turned away and started rummaging  through what looked like Lois's purse. "Hey! Leave that  stuff alone! I told you, I need help!"

Gretchen turned and tossed a small packet, which she'd  taken out of Lois's purse, in Lex's direction. "Pamprin.  That'll sort you out."

"What...? Huh?"

"You're not dying, Lex. You've got your period," Gretchen  said sarcastically.

Lex stared at Gretchen, disbelief mingled with loathing.  She'd always known that women tended to make a song and  dance about menstruation, but they exaggerated; of course  they did. There was no way that any normal bodily function  could be as unpleasant and painful as women claimed; they  only made it sound worse than it was so they could take  time off work or evade their conjugal obligations.

This... this was torture!

*********

Clark swooped down low over the building. She was there!  With her, he noted with chilling fury, was a woman he'd  thought dead.

Gretchen Kelly.

Well, however it was that she'd survived, she'd be facing a  long spell in prison if he had any say in the matter.  Especially considering the way Lois looked. She was slumped  over in a chair, arms wrapped around her midriff, and she  appeared completely miserable. Knowing Lois, she had to be  in a lot of pain; his Lois would be doing her utmost to  fight her way out of captivity, otherwise.

She wasn't restrained in any way, he noted, and that  surprised him. Why hadn't she called for him? Lois knew his  abilities well enough to be aware that he'd be there in  seconds. She knew how attuned he was to her - he'd hear her  calling from many miles away.

He'd have to ask her that later. For now, he had a rescue  mission to undertake.

In the blink of an eye, he had crashed through the roof of  the low building. Standing on the floor below, his body  placed between his Lois and that of the Kelly woman, he  favoured the doctor with an ice-cold glare.

"I don't even begin to know why you kidnapped Ms Lane, Dr  Kelly, but you've gone too far once again. I'm taking you  into custody." Glancing around, Clark noticed the medical  equipment and, resting on what appeared to be an operating  table, some straps, clearly for tying a patient down. At  Super-speed, he used the ties to restrain Kelly.

Then he was able to go to Lois. Clark had been taken aback  that she hadn't flown into his arms as soon as he'd crashed  into the room, but she was probably being circumspect, he  told himself. After all, he was here as Superman and not as  her husband. Still, there was nothing wrong with Superman  embracing a friend, he decided firmly, turning to take her  into his arms.

And she resisted. To his shock, she pushed hard at his  chest, shoving him away.

"Get *away* from me!" she shouted. Clark stared at her in  disbelief.

"Lois? What's wrong?" She didn't answer, instead giving him  a look of thorough dislike.

In the background, Gretchen Kelly laughed manically. "Oh,  Superman - or may I call you Clark? - you really have no  idea, do you?"

She knew who he was. But how - ?

"I don't know what you're talking about," Clark said  coldly. "Clark is Lois's husband. I'm just a friend of  theirs."

"You can stop pretending, Clark," Kelly said, laughing  still. "We know the truth - don't we, Lex?"

"Lex?" Clark spun around, half-expecting to see his  greatest nightmare - Lex Luthor - come through the doorway.  But there was no-one there. Using his X-ray vision, he  could see that there was a man in theatre scrubs in the  next room, but that was all.

"Yes, Lex. Oh, but please let me introduce you," Gretchen  continued. "Lex's body didn't survive the tunnel collapse,  Clark, but his brain did. And, given the latest advances in  transplant surgery, I was able to give him a new body. Your  wife's."

Clark felt his entire world collapse about him.

His wife - Lois - was now Lex Luthor?

No - she had Luthor's brain. But she was still Lois, wasn't  she?

But with his brain... what was there of Lois left? Lois  wasn't just a body. She was a person; a human being with a  brain; a living, walking, speaking, thinking person who  loved him. But if the brain in her body was no longer hers  - if, instead, it was Lex Luthor's, then did the person  standing in front of him and looking at him with  undisguised loathing have anything at all in common with  his beloved Lois?

No. No, this wasn't Lois.

Which meant... Clark buried his head in his hands. It meant  that Lois was dead.

But, what was even worse than that, her body was still  alive. He couldn't even bear to look at the Lois-lookalike  in front of him, knowing that this wasn't his wife any  more. The shell was her, but everything that was Lois was  gone - dead. Instead, the shell was inhabited by the one  man he hated; a man he'd thought had no power to harm  either of them any more.

Lex Luthor had killed Lois, and had taken her body for  himself, in the cruellest act that anyone could ever do to  another person.

A tear slowly rolled down the Man of Steel's face as he  sank to his knees in despair.

********

"You shouldn't have told him!" Lex exclaimed angrily. "If  I'm to have any kind of a life, it has to be as Lois Lane!  That meant having Clark Kent's co-operation, at least until  I could divorce him. Now he'll tell everyone that I'm not  Lois!"

"And what exactly is he going to tell them?" Gretchen  demanded sardonically. "Who'd believe him?"

She had a point, Lex conceded reluctantly. "He can still  make things very difficult for me," she said sulkily.

"And? You're still Lex Luthor, woman's body or not! You're  twice the brain he is! Now, are you going to untie me, or  are you just going to stay there and complain?"

Lex sighed and dragged herself to her feet, giving the  crumpled form of Superman a sideways kick as she walked  past. The knots he'd tied proved to be very difficult to  undo, and she broke several nails in the process. Cursing,  she gave one of the straps a sharp tug.

"Ow!" Gretchen yelled angrily.

"Keep your hair on!" Lex said coldly. "I'm trying to untie  you!"

"You don't have to act like you're enjoying it so much!"

"Keep still and shut up!" Lex demanded.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Gretchen bent and head-butted  Lex, sending the other woman flying across the room.  Hopping awkwardly within the confines of her binds, she  followed Lex over and rammed the smaller woman with her  body.

"I always hated you, did you know that?" she spat.

"You loved me!" Lex sneered. "You could never accept that I  didn't want you!"

"You betrayed me!" Gretchen ranted. "First it was that  Ariana woman, and then Lois Lane. Oh, how sick I got of  hearing about how wonderful Lois Lane was! Why do you think  I had your brain transplanted into her body, Lex? I thought  that if you were so obsessed with her you might as well  *be* her!"

"You bit - " Lex began, but was cut off by Gretchen kicking  out at her. The smaller woman went thudding into one of the  tables, sending it and its contents tumbling down on top of  the two women.

There was a loud, keening cry, and then silence.

********

It couldn't be too late, Clark told himself, desperately  clutching at straws. If it was possible to transplant Lex  Luthor's brain into Lois's body, then it had to be possible  to reverse the operation and put Lois's brain back. Unless  it had been destroyed... but surely they wouldn't have?  Clearly the operation hadn't been all that long ago anyway  - they were still in what looked like an operating theatre!

That was it; he'd *make* Kelly operate again and give him  back Lois!

He dragged himself to his feet, intending to grab Kelly and  tell her exactly what she was going to do. But then he  became aware of a crashing noise from the other side of the  room. Seeing the two women half-buried under a pile of  heavy medical equipment, he rushed over and began to lift  the pieces off them. Gretchen Kelly was dead, he realised  very quickly; stabbed in the heart by a long piece of  shattered glass.

Then he halted, aghast, as he saw Lois - no, Lex Luthor -  lying there, staring vacantly upwards, blood smeared all  over her face. Something very heavy had fallen on her head,  and it wasn't a pretty sight. Clark knew without needing to  use his special vision that her skull was smashed.

She was dead.

There would be no reverse brain transplant. That was  obvious; there was too little of the top of Lois's head  left for anything like that to be possible. And, he knew,  the fact that her heart had also stopped beating meant that  her body was less likely to be viable, even without the  damage to her skull.

Lois was lost to him for ever.

Choking back tears, Clark dropped to his knees beside the  body of the woman he loved, and lifted her battered,  bleeding body onto his lap as he mourned.

********

"Uh... Superman?"

A tentative voice from the doorway made Clark look up.  "What do you want?" he barked icily, wanting to be left  alone in his grief.

"My name's Palmer," the man, who was dressed in scrubs,  said. "I performed the surgery for Dr Kelly."

Clark got to his feet, a red mist of anger coming over him.  "*You* destroyed my wife?!" he thundered.

"No!" the surgeon squeaked. "Dr Kelly wanted me to. But  I... Superman, I've always admired Ms Lane's work. I was  delighted when she and her partner, Clark Kent, kept on  exposing what Lex Luthor did after his fall from grace. You  see, I hated Lex Luthor... really, really hated him. He  killed my girlfriend. Or, at least, someone working for him  killed her. She knew too much."

Confused, Clark could only stare at the man. "Why are you  telling me this?" he choked out at last. "I don't..."

"That's not Lois Lane!" the surgeon exclaimed, pointing to  the battered body on the floor.

"I know," Clark bit out. "It's Lex Luthor."

"That's not what I mean! I didn't perform the surgery on Ms  Lane! I couldn't do that - no matter what Dr Kelly told me.  That - " he pointed to the body again " - is another of  Luthor's clones. I found the vial and Dr Mamba's notes, and  grew the clone myself. A Type B, too - it wouldn't have  lived more than two weeks anyway. I thought that even if I  was powerless to stop Luthor getting a new body, at least I  could prevent someone I admired being killed as a result."

Barely able to believe what the doctor was telling him,  Clark gasped, "So... where's Lois?"

"She's in there," the doctor explained. "I had to keep her  sedated or else Dr Kelly would have found out. But she's  perfectly all right... Superman?"

But Clark had already flown through the door. As Dr Palmer  had said, Lois lay on a table inside the room. She was  sound asleep, but breathing perfectly normally. She was  untouched; unharmed in any way, as far as he could see.

She was alive!

Sobbing tears of relief and joy, Clark fell to his knees  beside his wife.

********

"Finished!" Lois exclaimed gleefully, spinning in her chair  to grin at her husband. "See? I just typed 'The End'!"

"So you did," Clark said, laughing as he came to look over  her shoulder. Tugging her to her feet, he wrapped his arms  around her and held her close. "So, do we get to go  together to hand it in to your agent tomorrow, then?"

"Well, seeing as how you've refused to let me out of your  sight over the past couple of weeks, I'd say there's a  pretty good chance of that," she told him, softening the  words with a wink.

She felt Clark shudder in her arms. "I don't think I'll  ever want to let you out of my sight again," he said  shakily. "When I think what could have happened..."

"It was pretty scary," she agreed. "But we survived it  together, Clark. I'm fine. Nothing happened to me, beyond  being terrified out of my wits," she confessed wryly. "But  waking up to see your face and feel you holding my hands  made it all worth it. I missed you more than I could  imagine, even just for those few hours."

Clark turned her around to face him. "I love you. I can't  imagine what my life would be without you."

"And I hope you'll never have to come that close to finding  out again, honey," Lois told him softly, knowing her  husband's capacity for obsessing.

"Yeah, well..." he said, smiling ruefully, which told her  that he was beginning to get over the experience - which  was just as well, since, much as she loved Clark, he  couldn't play watchdog twenty-four hours a day! "You'll  just have to put up with me X-raying your brain every once  in a while - particularly when you do something out of  character," he finished with a grin."

"Out of character?" she questioned, indignant.

"Yeah. Like not yelling at me for coming to check up on  you, even though we agreed that I wouldn't," he pointed  out, a teasing note definitely present in his voice.

"And you thought I believed you when you said you  wouldn't?" she threw back at him, grinning. "I knew you  wouldn't be able to keep away."

"You did?"

"Oh yeah. In fact, I even packed your favourite negligee,"  she pointed out.

"Oh?" Now his smile was even wider. "Want to show me which  one? Upstairs?"

"Race you!" Lois shouted, pulling away from him and  flinging herself towards the stairwell. Clark followed  behind, laughing.

~ The End ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And a Tank Ending by a special mystery guest writer, Paul- Gabriel Weiner <pgw@mit.edu>

Clark looked up from his desk. He had the strangest feeling  that something was going on with Lois. He told himself that  he was just missing her, his mind making up excuses to go  check on her. Check on her... there was a thought. Lois had  said that she didn't want to be distracted. If he was to  peek in on her with his x-ray vision, though, she wouldn't  see him. So, no distraction. It would be tough seeing her  without being able to get closer, to touch her. Still, it  was better than nothing.

The decision made, Clark flew out to the cabin. It didn't  take him long to realize that Lois had been kidnapped.  Again. Clark sighed and looked around for clues. The tire  tracks. He could see them clearly in the dirt, and when  they hit pavement, he'd be able to follow the trail of dirt  along the road. Reflecting once again on the usefulness of  super-senses, Clark began following the tracks.

*****

Lex stared at Gretchen. "What happened? Why? How?" The  questions poured out as... Alexandra tried to make sense of  the situation.

"I brought you back, Lex. Your body was crushed, but I  found a new one for you! I know how much you liked it  before...."

Lex continued to stare at her.

"And now, you're a woman! And since constantly moving from  one mate to the next is a man's trait, I'm sure you'll  never leave me again!"

"Have you gone insane???"

Before Gretchen could answer that question, however,  Superman crashed through the walls of the laboratory.

"You're too late, Superman! I've already put Lex's brain  into Lois's body, and now he's all mine! ... I mean, now  she's all mine!"

Superman stood there, stunned. "Lex?"

"Yes."

"She put your brain in Lois's body?"

"Yes."

"That's wonderful!"

"What?!" exclaimed Gretchen.

"Lex, I've been strangely attracted to you ever since we  met in Smallville. It always confused me because you were a  man. Now... now, you're a woman, and we can be truly  happy!"

"What about Lois?"

"Oh, I just fixated on her because she had your initials  and a very sexy body."

"And I was fixated on her because I was jealous of the  attention you were giving her!"

"You were?"

"Yes! I remember now! Your rejection was the whole reason I  became so bitter and power-hungry in the first place! It  was so traumatic that I repressed all memory of ever being  in Smallville."

"Oh, Lex. I'm so sorry."

"Well, it's okay now! You like me in this body, and we're  even married already!"

Clark and Alexandra embraced each other, then flew off into  the night sky.

"Well," said Gretchen, "that was completely unexpected. I  guess it's just you and me now, huh?"

The container holding Lois's brain beeped loudly in  response.

"Fine, Lois. Be that way. Hmm... I wonder if I can find  someone to make me a good clone...."

--------------------

Feedback welcome!

Tank Wilson <TankW1@aol.com> Wendy Richards <wendy@lcfanfic.com> Paul-Gabriel Weiner <pgw@mit.edu>

Table of Contents

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

~ Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind: A Wendy & Tank Challenge. ~

And a Tank Ending by a special mystery guest writer, Paul- Gabriel Weiner <pgw@mit.edu>