Who Says It's Never Too Late?

By Wendy Richards wendy@kingsmeadowcr.freeserve.co.uk and Tank Wilson TankW1@aol.com

Rated: PG

Submitted: August 2000

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Authors' notes: Wendy: After I requested the right to provide a happy  ending to Tank's Just Another Revelation Story, Tank posted a public  challenge on the boards: when was I going to post a half-story which he  could finish? Well, I felt that was throwing down the gauntlet in no  uncertain terms. So the first half of this story was born. I then  disappeared off on holiday for two weeks, leaving it entirely up to my  evil co-conspirator to rescue our favourite would-be couple from the  mess I'd left them in. Tank: I have this unwarranted reputation for  being cruel to my characters, when in all truth I'm really just a big  softy. If you want to see someone who is cruel to their characters,  well, can you say For the Greater Good? As you will see in this little  collaboration, Wendy went out of her way to inflict pain and suffering.  So it was up to me to be the one to come up with the happy ending. Was  I successful, or did Wendy's evil machinations prove to be too much to  handle? That judgement, gentle readers, I leave to you.

Comments more than welcome at either or both of the addresses above!  All characters are copyright their respective rights-holders, and no  infringement is intended by their use in this story.

Minor editorial comment: for any eagle-eyed readers who notice spelling  differences between Tank's part and Wendy's, that's because he writes  in US English and she writes in UK English. And since there was  (intentionally) no collaboration in the writing of this story, we have  decided not to harmonise our spellings. ________________

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

- Who says it's never too late? -

Clark surveyed the mess which was in reality his apartment and, for  about the twentieth time since his parents had left, wondered whether  he was doing the right thing. He suspected that Martha and Jonathan  thought he should have stayed, gone to Lois and told her everything,  and then left her to make her choice. But he just hadn't wanted to do  that.

For one thing, Lois had already made her choice. She'd told him  herself, earlier that day, in court; well, okay, she'd been talking to  Superman, but the message had made sense to Clark too. She'd made her  choice. She'd finally come to a decision between the three men who  seemed to mean something to her. And she'd told Superman that he was  out of the picture, except as a friend.

She hadn't told Clark anything, but... well, he and Lois weren't really  speaking much at the moment. It hadn't been for want of trying; he'd  desperately needed to talk to her last night, desperately wanted to try  to break through all the misunderstandings and confusion and just  *tell* her how he felt about her. But her phone line had been engaged,  and when, in frustration, he'd flown over to her apartment, he'd seen  her sitting outside on the steps of the building.

With Dan Scardino.

They'd been sitting close together, heads almost touching, bodies  pressed against each other's, indicating an intimacy which was all too  clear. He'd felt the knife twist in his stomach at that moment; a blade  of pure Kryptonite slicing through his guts. Lois and Dan.

He hadn't been able to stay more than a few moments; even the Arctic  Sea hadn't been cold enough to take his mind off that sight. And even  the worry about the court-case today hadn't helped him forget the image  of Lois and Dan together.

Was this how it was going to be in the future? he'd asked himself as  he'd flown slowly home afterwards. Lois would marry Scardino, and he  would be expected to carry on working with her, good old Clark, her  best friend and partner.

Well, it just wasn't going to be like that! he'd decided angrily as  he'd landed on his balcony. He just couldn't stick around and watch  Lois become Mrs Daniel Scardino, have to work with her every day and  pretend that he wasn't hopelessly in love with her. He just couldn't do  it.

As to why he couldn't go and tell her everything, it was just too late  for that. If she'd given up Superman for Scardino, why would telling  her that he, Clark, was Superman and that in both guises he was in love  with her make any difference? Besides, there was still that nagging  thought that he'd wanted her to love *him,* Clark - not the Super- powers, not the heroics, not the flying and other flashy activities.  Just Clark. And if he told her he was Superman, and she then told him  she loved him, how would he ever know whether she really loved *him*?

So this was the only option, really, he considered as he surveyed the  packing cases which littered every available surface. It was time to  move on; and why he'd ever thought he could make Metropolis his home  was now a mystery to him. There was nothing here for him now. Lois was  not his and never would be. The Planet... well, it was a great place to  work, but without Lois it would be just another newspaper. And he  couldn't carry on working there anyway, not now that she'd chosen  Scardino.

He could be Superman anywhere; he certainly didn't need to live in  Metropolis for Superman to cover Metropolis as part of his  guardianship. He could do that from Smallville, or another big city if  he wanted to start again somewhere else... or he could do as he'd  suggested to his father - in one of his more defeatist moods - and  build himself a lair somewhere, becoming Superman full-time.

Either way, he would never see Lois again.

Resuming packing, he caught sight of a flat rectangular object on the  top of one of the packing cases. It was a framed photograph; he picked  it up and gazed at it for a long moment. They'd been so happy that  night, he and Lois. Okay, he'd won the Kerth Award she'd coveted, but  she'd been genuinely delighted for him. She'd been there as his date;  and okay, she wasn't really his date, and she'd gone on to flirt with  Superman later that night, but for a couple of hours she'd been his.

Memories... it was going to be so hard to forget her.

He swallowed, choking back the hot tears which threatened to overwhelm  him. This was doing him no good at all.

A determined burst of Super-speed got the remaining boxes packed, and a  few minutes later he straightened to look at the results. All ready to  be collected, once he organised shipment to Smallville. But before he  did that, he thought, he could really do with some fresh air.

Turning on his heel, he walked out of the apartment, not bothering to  lock the door behind him.

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

Lois rapped sharply on the door of Clark's apartment. Now that she was  finally here and the moment of truth was almost upon her, she found  that she was even more nervous than she'd expected. It had been quite a  day, with one thing and another; not only had Superman been exonerated  in that stupid law-suit, but she had dumped Dan and told Superman that  she finally recognised that they could only be friends.

Now, there was only Clark left. It had taken her long enough, but she'd  finally admitted that he was what she wanted - *who* she wanted. Clark.  Okay, Superman was exciting - he took her breath away. But she'd known  for a long time that she was whistling into the wind where he was  concerned.

And in the meantime, Clark had always been there; loyal, supportive,  kind, generous, good-humoured, genuinely caring... loving. She thought  he loved her - well, she hoped he did; and she had finally acknowledged  what she felt for him. She loved him, and she needed to tell him that.

It would have been a lot easier, of course, if he hadn't kept running  off just as soon as things started to get intimate, or any time she  started to talk about commitment or where their relationship was going.  That was so weird - after all, Clark had been the one to ask her out in  the first place, and he'd put pressure on her to go ahead with their  date when she'd been skittish. After she'd slammed the door in his  face, he'd been the one to tell her not to let it happen again.

And he'd kissed her; well, they'd kissed each other, and it had been...  wonderful....

But he kept running off.

She sighed heavily and acknowledged that it wasn't all Clark's fault.  She hadn't helped matters by going out with Dan Scardino, and whether  she'd done it because she really liked Dan or because she was just  trying to make Clark jealous was... a question she didn't really like  to answer. Clark *had* been jealous: he'd told her that. Her seeing Dan  bothered him. No, it was worse: it was obvious that he hated it. He'd  been very hurt when she'd gone off with Dan during their date at the  carnival. But, darn it, he'd been the one to run off in the first  place!

No, that wasn't why she was here, she reminded herself sternly. She  wasn't looking for recriminations; what she needed - what they both  needed - was an open, honest and frank discussion of their feelings for  each other. Someone had to step up and say the scary words; that was  what Dr Friskin had told her. And the psychiatrist was right: someone  had to do it, and it looked like that person was Lois.

So here she was, waiting to say those scary words, and... where was  Clark? He hadn't answered her knock, and it was beginning to look like  he wasn't in. Her heart sank. She'd got herself motivated to come over  and have this discussion, and she really didn't want to put it off.

She tried the door; it was unlocked. "When will you learn that  Metropolis is not Smallville?" she sighed in frustrated amusement as  she entered the apartment, closing the door behind her.

Then she stopped dead and simply stared at the sight which met her  eyes.

At least two dozen packing cases dotted the living area. *Full* packing  cases. And as her gaze swept the apartment, she noticed that none of  Clark's personal possessions were on display: the ornaments and  keepsakes which had been on the cabinet in the seating area, the  crockery in the kitchen... it was all gone.

Packed. In boxes. Ready for removal.

So... either Clark was moving apartment - which he hadn't mentioned to  her - or, more likely, he was leaving town. And he'd apparently  forgotten to mention that to her, too.

She couldn't believe it. After a *lot* of soul-searching, she'd finally  dug up the courage to come and tell Clark how she felt about him,  taking the risk that he might not feel the same way... and he was about  to skip town without even telling her? Well, okay, he might have  intended to come and say goodbye, but it was a bit late at that stage!  She was supposed to be his partner, his best friend... even, she  thought, his girlfriend. And yet he was walking out on them without  even discussing it with her.

All her good intentions disappeared, leaving her deeply hurt and  furiously angry.

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

His walk hadn't done much for his mood, Clark realised as he climbed  the steps up to his apartment again half an hour later. Not that it  mattered. Nothing had changed, and he was still leaving. He had a few  more things to do tonight, including writing a couple of letters, and  then, he thought, he'd fly to Smallville. His folks would be back there  by the time he arrived, and he could stay the night before returning to  supervise the removal of his belongings the next day.

Pushing his door open, he suddenly realised that something was  different. There was the scent of a familiar fragrance in the  apartment... a *Lois* fragrance. And there she was, sitting forlornly  on top of one of the packing cases.

This wasn't how he'd intended her to find out, he thought guiltily.  <Oh? And how did you mean her to find out?> his conscience pointed out.  He'd been going to write her a letter. <Oh, sure - a great way to say  goodbye to your best friend and the woman you *kissed*!>

"Lois." He spoke softly, sadly, and she swung around to face him;  clearly she hadn't heard him come in.

"Clark - what the heck's going on?" she demanded. "You're leaving,  aren't you? And you never even told me...."

"Lois, I'm sorry," he said heavily. "It was kind of a spur of the  moment decision, and... and I was going to tell you...."

"Oh sure! Right after you'd made the call to the removal people," she  retorted, anger flashing in her eyes. "That's okay, Clark Kent - now I  know exactly what I mean to you! Zip!"

She got to her feet and stalked towards him; he stared at her in  confusion. "Lois - what are you talking about? Don't you know how  much..." He stopped himself before he let slip his feelings for her;  she loved Dan Scardino, and so there was no point humiliating himself.

She marched straight past him and got to the door. Suddenly, he  realised that he didn't want their relationship to end like this, and  he hurried after her. One hand on the door-frame, preventing her  opening it, he gazed down at her, seeing the unshed tears shimmering in  her eyes and the bitter anger in her face.

"Lois," he choked out. "I... I didn't intend it to be like this. But I  just couldn't..." He broke off, the lump in his throat making it  impossible to continue.

She stared back at him, shaking her head slowly as if she didn't know  what to say. Eventually, she whispered, "I came here to tell you that I  gave up Superman... and Dan and I - "

"I don't want to hear about you and Dan!" he yelled at her, hurt beyond  bearing.

But she stared at him in puzzlement. "Clark..." she began, but then  stopped as her gaze fell over the packing cases again. "You're leaving.  It's... it doesn't matter. It's over."

As he stared at her in confusion, she grabbed hold of the doorhandle  and managed to make her escape before he could react.

Clark stood there for a moment, unmoving, trying to make sense of what  had just happened. Had she been telling him that their relationship,  whatever it had been, was over? But he already knew that. He'd figured  it out for himself - that was why he was leaving, for heaven's sake!

But why was she so upset that he was going? It seemed to be more than  just the fact that she hadn't told him.

Was there the faintest possibility that he'd got it all wrong?

He didn't know. And he wasn't really sure how he could have; but that  didn't matter. He was about to leave Metropolis for good - as Clark  Kent, anyway. This was probably the last time he'd see Lois, unless he  saved her life as Superman some time. He didn't want his last memory of  her to be the sight of her fleeing from his apartment in tears.

He had to go after her. Maybe they could talk, if they could get beyond  her betrayal of what they could have had and his failure to tell her he  was leaving.

Resolutely he ran down the outside steps of his building, searching the  road for her. Her Jeep was still there, and it had only been a couple  of seconds. She couldn't have gone far.

She hadn't. Instinct more than sight found her; she was a few yards up  the road, running. He began to run after her, calling her name. But she  ignored him; if anything, his pursuit seemed to spur her on with  greater determination. Suddenly she veered out into the road...

...and he stared in horror at the car which was directly behind her,  the driver blaring the horn.

Uncaring whether anyone could see him, he shifted to Super-speed. It  was a race against time, and he flew faster than he'd ever managed in  his life before.

It was still too late. He could hear the dull thud, less than a second  after Lois's crazy dash into the road, and under a second before he  reached her.

He was conscious of blood, that sickening sound of impact, Lois's white  face, her crumpled body, the shocked expression of the driver; and his  own reaction, the ice-cold hand of dread which was closing about his  heart, the punishing blow to his gut which was preventing him  breathing, thinking, speaking, doing *anything* except stare at Lois,  lying bloodied on the ground....

He fell to his knees beside her, tears streaming from his eyes.

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

Clark felt, rather than heard, the driver coming up behind him.  Instinctively he knew that the man was agitated and scared, but Clark  didn't have any time for him.

"Hey, mister, she just ran out in front of me. I had no chance to  stop."

Clark threw him a quick glare over his shoulder. "Call 911."

The hapless driver stammered a bit. "I ain't got no phone in my car."

"Then find one!" Clark spit out the words savagely. He needed the man  to go away.

As soon as the fellow turned his back and began to hurry down the  street toward the nearest pay phone, Clark carefully picked Lois up and  disappeared into the darkness of the moonless night sky. He didn't even  bother to take the time to change into the suit.

Landing in the shadows next to Metropolis General, Clark quickly  carried his charge through the emergency room doors. In seconds the  hospital staff mobilized and Lois was taken from Clark's arms and  placed on a gurney as a doctor began an immediate examination. He shot  question after question regarding the accident, at Clark. Clark  answered him mechanically as his focus stayed on Lois.

On the way to the hospital Clark had done his own x-ray assessment of  Lois' injuries. She had several cuts and bruises. A couple of her ribs  were cracked and her left hand was broken. Those injuries didn't cause  Clark excessive concern, they might be painful but they would heal. It  was the head trauma that he'd seen that worried him. She must have hit  the pavement very hard because she had a definite skull fracture, but  Clark hadn't been able to ascertain the extent of the damage. Not only  was he not a doctor, but there had been so much blood.

Clark was jolted out of his reverie by the motion of the gurney. Lois  was being wheeled out of the receiving area. Clark made to follow along  when he was intercepted by an officious nurse who led him over to the  admitting desk, where she grilled Clark for whatever pertinent  information he could provide. It was hard for him to let her out of his  sight but he was still rational enough to know that he couldn't do  anything else for her now. He took a breath as he tried to concentrate  on helping the admitting nurse by giving her what information he could.

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

Clark paced the waiting area like a caged tiger. It had been several  hours since he had last seen Lois. She had looked so frail, and  helpless, as they wheeled her away. She had been so still! Clark  clenched his fists tightly at his side as he fought to push negative  thoughts out of his brain. She was going to be all right, she had to  be!

Clark sat down heavily in one of the uncomfortable chairs provided.  Apparently the hospital didn't think it was necessary to provide a  comfortable place to sit since most of the people stuck in the waiting  area tended to pace. Clark stared down at his feet, fighting to keep  the tears in check.

He hadn't called Perry because it was late and Clark wanted to know  something more definite before he woke the chief up. He didn't know how  to get hold of Lois' parents, and Clark wasn't even sure what state  Lucy was in now. He'd only made one call. It had galled him to do it,  but under the current circumstances he felt he had to.

In a perverse sort of way it bothered Clark that he knew Dan's number  but not Lois' folks'. Of course, Clark still remembered it from the  time when they, sort of, worked together on the Resurrection story. Dan  hadn't been home, but Clark left a cryptic message stating that Lois  had been in an accident and was in the hospital. Upon reflection, Clark  wondered if it meant anything that he forgot to mention which hospital.  He shrugged off the thought. Dan was a resourceful fellow, he'd find  the right hospital... eventually.

A sudden change in the air pressure in the room caused Clark to look up  and see the very weary looking doctor enter. Clark was on his feet  instantly, and in front of the doctor in another heartbeat.

"Mr. Kent?" the tired doctor asked. "You are the one that brought in  Ms. Lane?"

Clark's heart threatened to pound its way out of his chest. "Yes,  doctor, how is she? Will she be all right?" It worried Clark that the  doctor wouldn't meet his eyes.

"It's too soon to tell. We had to take her into emergency surgery to  relieve pressure that was building in her brain." The doctor scrubbed  his hand through his sparse hair. "Aside from the her other injuries  which will heal in time, she suffered a pretty severe head trauma. We  were able to relieve the pressure, and the tissue damage looks  minimal."

"But..." Clark grabbed the doctor's arm. "Is she - will she - be okay!"

"It's just too soon to know. She has slipped into a coma, which isn't  unusual in a case like this. The next twenty-four hours are critical.  All we can do right now is watch and wait." The doctor gave Clark a wan  smile. "We've done all we can, the rest is up to her."

"Can I see her?"

The doctor paused, as if considering it. "Sure," he said, and he led  Clark out into the hallway.

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

Clark sat at Lois' bedside, holding her hand as he stared into her  composed but unresponsive face. She was so pale, and frail looking,  like a fine porcelain doll that had been broken. Her head was wrapped  in surgical bandages and most of the rest of her body seemed to  disappear into the bed due to the monochromatic nature of the sheets  and blanket. If it weren't for the slow steady rhythm of her breathing,  and the slight movement of her chest that he could focus on, Clark  would have lost it completely. As it was, hot tears again streamed down  his face.

"Oh Lois, I'm so sorry." He didn't feel at all awkward about talking to  her. He'd read somewhere that you were supposed to talk to coma  patients. "I'm here, Lois, you are going to be okay, do you hear me?  You are going to be okay." He shook his head, and wiped at his face  with his free hand.

"I'm not completely sure what you were doing at my place tonight, but  please believe me, I didn't mean for you to find out like that. I was  going to tell you." Clark had to stop to swallow a sob, and his guilt  over the fact that he had intended to write her a letter. "It's just  that I didn't think I could stay around any longer. I didn't think I  could stand to see you and Dan together. I admit that it was selfish of  me, to be willing to throw away our friendship just because you chose  Dan over me, but it's not like we had been getting along all that well  lately either." Clark rubbed his thumb up and down the back of Lois'  hand. "The simple truth is, Lois, I just love you too much to be able  to stand back and see you with another man. There was a time when I  thought that being your friend would be enough. If that's all that you  could offer, then I would be satisfied with that, but that's no longer  true." Clark allowed a sour chuckle to escape.

"Of course, I know I didn't help matters any with all my disappearing  acts. If I'd only had the guts to tell you the truth. Tell you why, so  that you'd know that I wasn't running out on you." Tears began to roll  down Clark's cheeks again. "I guess I let my pride rule my head, and my  heart. I wanted you to love me for me, Clark, not the flashy suit, or  the incredible powers. I wanted you to know, and love Clark Kent before  you knew he was also Superman." Clark gently kissed Lois' hand. "Was  that too much to ask?" Apparently so, he thought silently.

"I really thought for awhile that you were coming around. That your  feelings for your friend and partner were more than that of just  friends. But I was still afraid, and I wound up just complicating  things. Dan was there for you when I wasn't, I can't hate him for  that." But, god help me, I do, Clark thought. "Once you told me you  realized that you couldn't love Superman, and just wanted to be  friends, that there was someone else who needed you, I knew then that I  had lost you. But I also knew that I wasn't strong enough to stay  around and watch you and Dan together. My love for you will never fade,  but the pain of seeing you with him... " Clark had to stop because his  throat was constricted by another uncontrollable sob. He took a moment  to gather himself again.

"Lois, it's imperative that you get better. Even if you aren't going to  be a part of my life, you *are* a part of me. I don't think I could go  on if I knew you were gone. I can live with the fact that you have  chosen Dan, if that will make you happy. As long as there is Lois Lane  in the world, I think I can find the strength to go on, but we can't  leave things the way they are. I need to explain myself to you, make  you understand why I did what I did. I need to make you see that it was  never you, it was always about my mistakes and my failings. Once the  air is cleared, then I can go, and leave you to make a new life with  the man you love." Tears flowed freely now, cascading from his cheeks  to stain his shirt front.

Suddenly Clark's heartfelt confessions were interrupted by someone  bursting into the room. He was tall, with an unruly mop of dark hair,  and under normal circumstances, most would consider him a good-looking  fellow. Right now he was a mess. His clothes were disheveled, as if  he'd thrown them on in a hurry, and his face had an almost haunted look  to it.

"Kent, I just got your message! How is she?" Daniel Scardino came up  alongside Clark.

Clark kissed Lois' hand and placed it gently on her chest. He rose  slowly and faced Scardino. Dan's sharply indrawn breath was enough of a  clue to tell Clark how he must look.

Clark guided Dan into the bedside chair that he had recently occupied.  "Take care of her." He didn't notice the startled look on Dan's face as  Clark turned to face the sleeping beauty who was the love of his life.  "Goodbye, Lois, please get well."

Clark slowly walked away but couldn't quite force himself to leave. At  the doorway he turned toward Scardino. "I'll be home, please let me  know when the doctors know something. I have to know that she will be  all right." Before the bewildered government agent could respond, Clark  had gone.

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

Lois felt light-headed. Like when you had been bent over for a while  and suddenly stood up straight. She rubbed at her eyes, everything was  a bit blurry, like looking through a very sheer curtain. She was  confused, her surroundings seemed wrong somehow. It wasn't until she  looked down that it struck her. She was floating!

She was clearly several feet above the floor looking down on some poor  person in a bed in what was obviously a hospital room. Abruptly, it all  came rushing back. She had been hit by a car, she didn't feel anything  but she knew she had been hurt bad. Another look down at the occupant  of the bed and it was horribly clear.

Oh my god, that's me! I look terrible! Lois tried to get closer but for  some reason she didn't seem to be able to move about. It was like she  was frozen in this one spot, hovering over the bed. Am I dead? she  wondered, but rejected that notion when she noticed the fact that her  supine body was definitely breathing.

This is weird. Maybe I'm having some sort of strange dream or  something. Lois' attention was drawn to a pair of men just entering the  room. One was dressed in typical hospital greens, probably her doctor  or something, the other was... Clark!

She watched as the doctor left Clark there and he pulled a chair up  close to the bed. He picked up her hand and just stared at her face for  the longest time. Her heart ached to see him. His face was red and  blotchy, and tears were falling from his eyes. Oh Clark! After a couple  of deep breaths he began to speak.

Lois focused her hearing on the tortured words of her best friend and  partner. On the man she had finally admitted to herself that she loved,  and had hoped had loved her in return. She smiled a sad smile at first  when she heard him tell her that she was going to be okay. She could  tell he was lying. He was saying it to hear it for himself. It was  obvious that he was greatly affected by her injuries. She continued to  listen to his words and became appalled by what she heard.

He thinks I'm in love with Dan? That I chose Dan over him? Lois wanted  to scream but strangely she had no voice. The big idiot! Why didn't he  say something? Lois suddenly flashed back to pieces of their earlier  conversation, when she had surprised him at his place. She should have  realized something was wrong when Clark got so angry at the mention of  Dan's name. Of course, she had reacted in kind, gotten angry herself  and stormed out of his apartment. He had followed her and in a  typically brilliant move Lois had tried to run away by darting out into  the street and getting mowed down by some unfortunate motorist. Shaking  her head, she turned her attention back to what Clark was saying.

He loved her! He was saying that he loved her, but what was that other  stuff? That he wished he had told her? That he wasn't running off on  her, but he was too scared to tell her the truth? What truth? Lois  frowned as she concentrated more. He wanted her to love him as Clark?  Of course she loved him as Clark?" Lois figured that she was actually  some sort of dream persona but she suddenly found it hard to breathe.  What was that he had said? That he wanted her love as Clark and not  as... Superman! Clark was Superman!

A thousand things flashed through Lois' mind but she came to a stop  when one particular conversation came into play. Her discussion with  Superman earlier in the day, at the courthouse. She had told him that  she couldn't love him, that she only wanted to be friends. She had told  him that there was someone else who needed her. In retrospect his  answer to her had seemed a little funny. Ohmigod, he thought I meant  Dan. No wonder things got all mixed up. Clark was going to leave town  because he thought I was in love with Dan.

There was a little voice in the back of her mind that was telling Lois  that Clark was just like all the other men in her life. He was keeping  secrets from her. They were partners and best friends yet he hadn't  told her that he was Superman. Lois firmly crushed the tiny voice.

Listening to this gentle, caring man pour his heart out to her comatose  form, basically telling her that he would step aside for her happiness  even if it was tearing him up inside. No, whatever his reasons were for  not telling her his secret, it wasn't because he didn't love her. It  was only too plain that he did.

Besides, it was too big a situation to deal with now. That was for  later, after she got better, and she would get better, she had decided.  The important thing now is to find a way to convince this lunkhead that  *he* is the one I love, not Dan.

Lois saw Clark react to someone coming into the room. When she focused  her attention there she saw that Dan had come. He looked a bit  frazzled. Lois was touched by the look of concern for her on his face  as he asked Clark about her.

Lois watched in horror as Clark stood and allowed Dan his seat by her  bedside. She felt an icy hand squeeze her heart as she heard Clark's  pained 'goodbye' and watched as he left the room. No, Clark, don't go!

Lois understood that Clark thought he was leaving her with the man she  loved, but he was wrong. It was Clark that she wanted, that she needed.  Clark, come back, please come back. Clark!

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

Dan Scardino watched in dismay as the delicate form of the woman he  loved began to twitch as if in the throes of a bad dream. The minor  detail, that Lois didn't reciprocate his love, didn't stop him from  loving her. His dismay turned to alarm as Lois began to thrash around  in the bed.

Dan was just about to call out to someone for help when abruptly Lois  sat straight up in the bed.

"Clark!" Her voice was relatively weak but there was no mistaking the  anguish behind her cry.

It took Lois several moments to regain awareness of herself and her  surroundings. It was the same room she had seen in her dream vision.  She noticed a thunderstruck Scardino sitting on the chair next to her  bed. It was all true, it had to have been!

She reached out her hand and grabbed Dan's unresisting one, and gave it  a squeeze to focus his attention. "Clark? He was here?" Dan just  nodded, completely bewildered by the turn of events. "Get him for me,  Dan, please! I have to see him."

"He left here about twenty minutes ago," Dan answered woodenly. "I  guess he went home."

Lois' gaze held so much intensity that there was never any doubt that  Dan would do as Lois asked. "Find him for me! Bring him back here,  please!"

Dan nearly fell over the chair as he hurried to comply with Lois'  wishes. He stopped briefly as he reached the doorway. "I'll let the  doctor know you are awake." He left.

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

Clark sat on his couch staring at the collection of packed moving  boxes, but not really seeing them. He had thought about calling Perry,  or his folks, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to even  pick up the phone, let alone dial it. He was content to be alone  wallowing in his grief and his fear. That was why the pounding at his  front door was at first ignored.

When it became obvious that the disturbance wasn't going to go away  Clark gave his front door a peek with his X-ray vision. It was  Scardino!

Clark quickly got up and opened his front door. He didn't speak, but  the confusion on his face was more than enough to convey his  puzzlement.

Scardino just shrugged. "Lois is awake, and she wants you, *now*."

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

Clark was restrained by Scardino's presence, so he had to get back over  to the hospital by conventional means. He met the doctor in the hallway  just outside her room. He grabbed the man's arms.

"How is she?"

The doctor favored Clark with a tired, but sincere, smile. "She is  going to be all right. She needs some time to heal, but she will be  fine."

"Thank you." Clark didn't waste any more time in the hallway.

Dan stayed out in the hallway as Clark threw himself through the open  doorway and into Lois' room. She was sitting up in the bed, staring out  the window. She must have become aware that someone had entered because  she turned toward the door.

"Clark!"

Clark was at her side in an instant. He cupped her cheek in the palm of  his hand. "Lois, I'm so glad you are going to be all right. I was so  afraid that... "

"Shut up."

Clark was momentarily taken aback by Lois' words but he didn't resist  when she reached up and with her finger under his chin drew his face  down to hers. Their lips met in a kiss that started out a bit tentative  but quickly escalated into one of heat and passion.

They reluctantly broke and Lois smiled a sly half smile up at Clark.  "You, my friend, have been laboring under a misconception."

Clark grinned back at her. "It seems so."

Lois traced his lips with her finger. "We need to have some serious  conversation - soon." Lois licked her lips. "But for now, all you need  to know is that I love you."

"And I love you, Lois."

"Promise me you aren't going to leave?"

Clark's grin got even wider. "Oh, I think I can guarantee that now."

Clark leaned back down and captured Lois' lips again.

Dan had looked into Lois' room just in time to catch Lois and Clark's  second kiss. Shrugging, and with a resigned smile on his face, Dan  stepped back into the hallway and headed for the elevator that would  lead him to the front entrance. He figured he'd call up his director  tomorrow and ask for a transfer to D.C. There was no longer any reason  to stay around Metropolis.

fin.

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