Superman's Destiny

[TheEradicator6]

To Dodden

This is actually in response to Dodden's lengthy review at LaneKent.com , but I thought that yall would benefit from my synopsis of my journey through the book with the different characters.

*Note: MY words are in BOLD*

Dodden: Gotta love Jimmy. Now that he's not your typical happy go lucky photgrapher, it's interesting to see how his character could be viewed should action and tradegy arise. It's not often that someone involves Jimmy in the meat of a story. Usually he's just a backround character with a pippy attitude. Well done on creating a solid story for the man.

A very touching scene with April in the hospital room. My lord, how one comes out of an ordeal like that is beyond me, but here's hoping that he turns evil...well, maybe not. Can't wait to see what comes to follow since there really isn't any indication of what could possibly happen. I think that open sense of future is what really has me most drawn into the Jimmy storyline. It's very unique. I would have cried because of that scene at the hospital, but like I have said before, I'm emotionless and cold.

so far, Jimmy seems the most open-ended character right now. He has so much angst tugging at his heart like an anchor, and, yet, we have had glimpses of him still being a little carefree at work (chap 1)... and still we can see that the events of the past year have been traumatic to say the least. I continue to enjoy writing his story.

Dodden: This Jordan characer is very very peculiar. You gave us a great first glimpse into her earlier, but we finally got to learn a little more about her. Is she a meteor freak? I wouldn't begin to speculate because there could be so many reasons for her abilities. It's good to know that she can affect Clark. An impenatrable Clark Kent is much too boring. It's good to see that he still somewhat human. The involvment between Donovan and the woman is something I'm looking forward to knowing more about.

"Dr." Jordan Welles is something of a mystery... including Donovan, who apparently shares some link between her AND Lex. I have them both pinned down to long archs, but sadly memory "restoring" is not one of Jordan's powers... so no instant fix for Clark OR Lex. I guess the questions right now about them... 1) What is Jordan's agenda with Donovan, Lex, Clark and Lois? 2) What is Donovan's agenda pertaining to Clark and Lex and Luthorcorp and Level 33.1? 3) How did Donovan and Jordan come to be connected in this timeline?
Those are major questions that will come into play further along in this and the other books.

Dodden: Lois and Cark. Now there are some answers that were given, but there are sill a lot of questions hanging in the air. There seems like there is a lot more angst to come, and personaly, I can't wait for it. I'm sure that one of your next chapters will explore that more thuroughly, althought the last few paragraphs with Lois and Clark seemed to relay a lot of what is to come. I'm a little hesitant with Lois blaming herself. It seems she has pulled a Clark Kent guilt routine. I'm not saying that it isn't her fault, but I just hope she doesn't hit the floor sulking. It can be expected though, she inadvertanly caused him to forget their relationship. Sad, but very interesting.

What I love is that even though the characters tend to lose memory frequently on the show, Clark is usually the only one who gets those memores back. In your fic it seems as if that might not be possible. Living a long period of time without certain memories is more captivating to me than him getting them back instantly. As much as I would love to see him remember it all again, I just find the fact that he can't, and he might not ever be able to, so much more intriguing.

I don't see Lois as the type to blame herself for what happened, but I'm sure she's going to be upset no matter what. Jordan really ripped one of the happiest (albeit violent periods) chunks of Clark's memory away: being with Lois. She still has no clue how much was taken and if it's permanent. According to Jordan or her thoughts on Lex, it seems VERY permanent.

Dodden: Lana it seems is finally gone. I can't say that I'll miss her, but there will be a small emptyness were I won't be able to feel distain towards the woman anymore. Her ghost drove Lex to madness, and I only hope he doesn't suddenly go all soft. "Always a Luthor" Are the words I like to hear. 7 years completely gone, yikes.

Yes, Lana is gone. She won't be coming back... which marks my transition from Smallville-esque book style to the Clark as Superman style. Lana, in my mind has always been Smallville and now that this book is definitely away from Smallville (aside from mother Martha) she's finally getting the boot. The mental instability of Lex was really just a catalyst to show his true nature. Now... it's as if he never had that second chance at life that Season 1's pilot episode had given him. He hasn't learned a lesson from Clark saving him from the porsche crash. He's very much a wild card right now- will he act like season 6 Lex? like season 1's Lex? or maybe something completely different?

Dodden: On a side note...I can personaly do without Chloe. It's important to make sure Clark and Lois is the main attraction.

I do understand about Chloe. She still has a major part to play, but her storyline is less of an importance than previously. Her questions are less about what she's doing and more about who she will end up with. She thought Bruce was for her, but the break up has her facing important questions. She's already figured out what she wants to do with her life and how she's going to do it (journalism, the daily planet) and now it's more of finding the different pieces of her personality/fulfillment.


AUTHOR'S NOTE
This next chapter will be back at our present time- the year after Revenge... which i'm now referring to as Present Time and then i give the number of days from that point onward. Their maybe a few more flashbacks ahead in the book, but the major ones i've gone through and they've now dealt with the major questions.

Thanks for your awesome review, Dodden/Verk
Merry Christmas everyone!

[super12]

Yes That was great.

Can't wait for more!!!

[Sakura]

great update

[TheEradicator6]

Chapter Three, part 1

*A/N: This is part one... part 2 is still being written

*Also want to say that I've taken bits and pieces of THE MAN OF STEEL comic in here so props to Byrne/Giordano for their work on that comic and a lot of those lines are verbatim from the comic (especially in the space plane scenes). I take no credit for that writing other than the adaption of it to more recent times and a few slight modifications to it.

*the block of italicized text is a flashback in the section with Clark and Martha.

*/Chapter Three (Full PDF/DOC Version): http://www.sendspace.com/file/2u7dl2 (ADDED 12/30/2006)*


Chapter Three “SUPERMAN”
Metropolis. PRESENT TIME. Third Day. 10:00 AM.

The space plane had successfully taken off to the fanfare of an entire city half an hour ago. Clark stood atop Luthorcorp’s tower, the highest point in the city, to keep an eye on the festivities. It seemed impractical to him to be doing a test in late fall with the threat of unknown weather conditions, but then again he was no expert on the matter. The plane had gone around to circle the city and then come back to the airfield.

Clark would’ve probably been less worried if he didn’t know Lois was on board. There were a few others standing with him on the roof: mostly tourists. He scratched at his collar around his tie: the suit always itched him there. He fixed his glasses and pretended to be taking pictures of the city like the other tourists.

The city felt alien to him, and, yet, still familiar. Something warm and comfortable was resonating throughout the city. He felt welcome, invited. Or was that his other half? He had been struggling with the idea of keeping two personalities in check for the past year. Clark Kent had taken a backseat to his alter ego. Saving people all over the world was exhilarating, but there were certain things that Clark Kent had questions about. How was his mom? Why had Lois been crying the other night? What was that look she had given him at Belle Reeve?



All of his questions went unanswered as he was called all over the world, continually beckoned to save. He had accepted this burden, accepting his questions as unanswerable, but that was only before he had been driven to Lois’s apartment the other night. Those sobs of pain had shaken his soul into a storm of incomprehensible anxiety. Why would Lois, of all people, be crying out of loneliness?

Clark shrugged off the question burning in his mind, and he took a few more snapshots. He felt almost arrogant that he thought he could fix her problems. Why did he want to? He knew that Lois and he were friends, but he felt unnerved by the flutter of butterflies in his stomach when he thought of her. That was not friendship and it scared him. Stop thinking about it, Kent, Clark thought and he stopped to take another photo.

In a world full of problems, Clark’s felt miniscule by comparison. Bridges collapsed, volcanoes erupted, planes crashed, hurricanes devastated entire regions, and Clark Kent was worried about Lois Lane? He felt selfish. So many people need him and all that his brain could think about was Lois, who he was surely he didn’t even remotely like.

Clark watched the Mercury V space plane come around towards Metropolis International, with a full fighter jet escort. But something happened that Clark barely had time to respond to. A civilian craft commercial jet came flying through past the security jets and collided with the back wing of the Mercury V and actually got itself stuck in the space plane! They were going down fast.



Mercury V. SAME TIME.

The planes were fused together, free falling. The pilots were just as worried as the terrified reporters in the cockpit. Jasmine was feverishly writing notes and getting down every minute detail. Lois had no idea what was going to happen, and she was terrified.

“What’s happening?” Lois asked, realizing how dumb she sounded. The pilot turned back as they fell.

“Well… uhh… you came on board to,” the pilot grunted, “Get a story, Miss Lane…” he wrenched at the instruments, trying to find a way to get the ship level. “Looks… umf… like you’re gonna’ get a big one!”

“If I survive to turn it in, skipper,” Lois said sarcastically, “Isn’t there… umf… anything you can do?”

“We can make a very large hole in downtown Metropolis…” the pilot said sarcastically, but the threat was a clear danger to them all. Lois began to sweat. She looked and saw the look of panic in Jasmine’s eyes. They were going to die. “unless you know some prayers that come with instant answers, Ms. Lane, this things gonna’ drop like a freakin’ brick… and it’s going to hit like a…”



Something happened. Lois gasped, the air pulled right out of her lungs. She wheezed as the Mercury V began leveling itself to the pilots’ amazement.

“Wait a minute!” the pilot exclaimed with his mouth wide open in wonder.

“What?” Lois asked, confused by the bombardment of astronomically inexplicable events.

“We’re leveling, slowing down, and I haven’t done a dang thing. And I know for a fact that the plane that hit us was too far-gone to help us in that department. I don’t know what’s…”

The ships navigator butted in. “I do,” she said, her eyes wide with shock. She looked back at her monitor rig of cameras, “I’ve got it on our belly cam, but I don’t believe it for a minute!”



Kent Farm. Third Day. 6:00 PM.

Martha sat at the kitchen table, a glass of green tea in one hand and a pen in the other. She was wearing her “cheater” glasses and finishing up the crossword from the Smallville Ledger. The phone rang. Martha walked over and picked it up, with her glass of green tea still in her hand. It was Chloe.

“Chloe, it’s so good to hear from you,” Martha said with a smile. It had been rare to get a phone call of late unless the Talon was in need of something. It was even more rare that the phone call would come from Chloe.

“You’re not going to believe it, Martha.”

“What is it, Chloe?” Martha asked, a little concerned that Chloe might’ve gotten herself into trouble again, “What did you get yourself into this time?”

“Oh, no, it’s not that at all. Turn on channel 4.”

Martha switched on the TV and took a sip of her green tea. It was mostly commercials for different products, half of them backed by Luthorcorp, which made Martha a little aggravated and impatient.

“Okay, what am I looking for, Chloe?”

“Just wait,” Chloe said.



Martha’s glass fell out of her hand and shattered on the hardwood floor, splattering the contents everywhere.

“Oh my gawd,” Martha couldn’t help but say. The smoking plane landed and a swarm of people surrounded a caped figure. Clark Kent was back.

When her glass shattered, Martha heard a noise coming from upstairs. Clark? She ran up the stairs, dropping her phone in the process.

“Martha? Martha?” Martha heard from the phone, as it lay muffled, nestled in the couch. The noise came from Clark’s room. She opened the door. It was pitch black in the room with plaid wallpaper and wooden…everything. Martha leaned in and saw the pale moonlight light up a man’s silhouette. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and jeans.



“S-son…?” Martha heard the word escape her as if by some ghostly apparition’s will. The figure didn’t look up at her. He was staring intensely at the floor of the doorway and its soft auburn light. Martha couldn’t tell if his eyes were open because his eyes were shrouded in black shadow. He breathed in wearily and exhaled as if lifting some heavy, invisible mass over himself.

“They wanted a piece of me, ma. They all wanted a piece of me…” Clark said softly, absorbed with the vision of what he had seen that morning. His mind wandered as he explained.



“I took off,” Clark said. They were now sitting at the kitchen table. “I brought the Mercury V down to the smoothest landing I could manage. And before I could decide what to do next…



“Hold it right there, Buster!!!” Lois shouted at Clark from the hatch of the Mercury V. She had a fire in her eyes he had never seen before.



“I knew I couldn’t escape her questions,” Clark explained to Martha and she nodded. “And… somehow I didn’t want to.”



Lois moved forward towards Clark, her fiery temper had given way to shock. The transformation was still a shock to her. He was a completely different man. She had read all of the articles on what he had been doing, but it was different to experience such a miracle firsthand. She grabbed him by the arm to keep him from flying away.



“For just a moment it seemed as if something passed between us. A spark… Whatever it was, neither of us had an opportunity to react to it,” Clark explained to his mother, who was listening intently.



They swarmed the two people: the reporter and the super-man. They screamed and shouted, pulling at the man of steel, who coincidentally, felt more like play dough at that moment. The buzz and commotion was just too much. Clark lowered himself and took off into the skies.



“I flew away. They all had demands… Everybody had something they wanted and I was supposed to give it to them. My first official public appearance unleashed the worst, greediest nature in them. So I flew away from it all. I sat on a mountain top in the Himalayas for hours just trying to shake the images from my head,” Clark said to his mom. She had listened through the whole thing without so much as a peep. “They’d taken everything you’ve ever taught me and ripped it apart.”

Martha reached out and cupped his clenched fists, which dwarfed her hands.

“People will always want something from Superman, Clark, but they’ll never haggle with Clark Kentfor a miracle,” Martha said.

“’Superman’?” Clark said, confused. Martha turned her laptop around and showed Clark the Daily Planet’s front-page article: Mysterious Superman Saves Space Plane.

“Guess who named you.”



The Daily Planet. PRESENT TIME. Fourth Day. 9:00 AM.

Lois sat marveling at her masterpiece work. Almost half of the office had already congratulated her for it already. Perry, however, was uncharacteristically silent, still sitting in his office. Lois was praying that it had nothing to do with her… or her piece. The only problem Lois had was that every other newspaper and news station had picked up on the name she coined: SUPERMAN.

However, there was another problem she was trying to forget altogether. The biggest problem surfaced when a slouching, nervous 6’2” man walked into the newsroom clutching his briefcase with a shy smile. Lois dropped her mug, which bumped on her desk and spilled hot coffee onto her lap. She jumped up, yelping at the pain, and she immediately ducked behind her cubicle divider when Clark looked in her direction.

There she was kneeling like an idiot in a wet spot on the newsroom carpet when Clark Kent looked at her from over the cubicle divider with a goofy grin.

“Lois?” Clark asked.

Lois looked up with a dumb, embarrassed look that she knew she’d catch hell for. “Hi,” she said, her mood quickly turning to irritation. He was the reason she had cried herself to sleep. No Mercy, Lois, she thought. Clark’s smile faded when he saw she was upset.

“So another short visit before you’re gone for another year, Smallville?” Lois asked angrily.

“Lois, I –.”

“Kent? Great Caesar’s Ghost, where have you been, son?” Perry was standing in front of Lois’s desk watching the mess unfolding. Clark looked up at Perry and straightened the glasses on the bridge of his nose with a nervous twitch.

“I was…” Clark was a deer caught in headlights. What is Perry talking about, Clark thought quizzically.

“…Backpacking through Europe,” Lois blurted out, and she looked up at Clark with a grimace. “He was backpacking through Europe, Chief.”

Perry looked up at Clark for confirmation. “I was backpacking through Europe,” Clark said uneasily.

“Well, you’ve missed a lot of news, Kent. I gave your sports column to Olsen,” said Perry with a grumble, “I suppose you’ll work under Lane here for awhile. After all, she’s just sold the most copies of one issue of the paper in one day. By the way, I’m proud of you, Lane. Keep it up,” Perry winked at her like a proud grandfather and gave her a ‘thumbs up’.

“Will do, sir,” she smiled and saluted like she used to do to her father. Perry motioned to Clark.

“We’ll put you over her in Lane’s cubicle. Sullivan’s over there,” Perry pointed. Chloe saw Perry pointing and saw… Clark? She had her mouth open. Clark looked out at the surroundings and assessed the situation.



The cubicle dividers separated the different departments of the newsroom. The business section was surrounded by one large cubicle divider of which Lois was up against the back end. Jasmine was a row ahead of her with Dee’s desk being the start of the arts & cultural section. The divider blocked off half of Jasmine’s desk from Dee’s, but she could still talk to Dee. Next to Dee’s desk was Jimmy’s desk. He still had not been moved to the sports section. Chloe was a row behind Jimmy.



“Wait, what do you mean my cubicle?” Lois asked. “There’s no more room.”

“He’s going to take your desk, Lane,” Perry said.

“What?” Lois asked angrily. She had been working for a year and had just established the Daily Planet as THE paper in Metropolis. Clark had been in town for a total of ten minutes, and he was already taking her desk.

“Lane. Calm down. I can see you’re reaching meltdown. I’m moving you in there,” Perry pointed over to the wall to his right. Along the sidewalls were offices that faced out at the busy streets below. Lois could barely contain her glee. She was getting an office! Clark looked over to his right and saw an unsavory glare from his new supervisor, Jasmine, was being directed at Lois. Apparently jealousy is a very real issue in the newsroom, Clark thought. Jasmine turned, and she saw Clark and faked a smile. Clark looked away abruptly.

There was this weird feeling Clark kept having when he looked at anyone in the newsroom. He got his vibe like they knew him or they had been talking about him before they stopped to give him uncomfortable glances. Clark cleared his throat when he saw the woman turn back to her friend. He used his superhearing and heard Jasmine whisper, “Dee, I think that’s Clark Kent.”

[neildingley]

Great update, can't wait for more.

LOL, angry/mad Lois as Clark superior, this should be interesting.

PPMS!

[Dodden]

Can't wait for more. Next part is going to just as enjoyable for sure.

[TheEradicator6]

part 2 of chapter 3 should be up tomorrow night or friday during the daytime

[jmf1]

This is just awesome. You've got us addicted. You have to post more NOW!!!

[wski440]

great update, keep up the good work

[TheEradicator6]

Chapter Three, part 2

Author's Note: This is part 2 of chapter 3... not sure how many parts of #3 there will be yet... it's a long chapter. The rest should be up by saturday/sunday
/Chapter Three (Full PDF/DOC Version): http://www.sendspace.com/file/2u7dl2 (ADDED 12/30/2006)




Daily Planet. PRESENT TIME. Fourth Day. 9:10 AM.

Jimmy slipped into his desk and sat down as quietly as he possibly could, exhaling a sigh of relief as he did. Someone over in the business department distracted Perry, so he had slipped in late, undetected. Little April had slept uneasily all night, waking him up at the most peculiar hours.

Jimmy rubbed the cavernous circles under his eyes and opened up his briefcase. He pulled his photos out and put them in his top desk drawer without even so much as looking at them. He was getting situated for the morning crunch, when he looked over and saw Dee leaning on the edge of his desk, eyeing him with a smug grin.

“Hi, Jimmy. Late again, I see,” Dee said cheerfully. Jimmy shushed her as Perry turned back towards his office door.

“Olsen, my office… now!” Perry shouted, pointing to his office door as he entered it himself. Jimmy turned and looked at Dee with an annoyed grimace.

“Thanks,” Jimmy groaned sarcastically and gave Dee a lingering look of exasperation. She just smiled back.

“Don’t mention it,” Dee said with a sly smile, and Jimmy rolled his eyes.

“OLSEN!”

Jimmy jumped at the volume of Perry’s voice. He looked at Dee again angrily. “Coming, Chief.” Jimmy walked in to see Perry sipping his morning cup of black coffee. “Look, Chief, I’m sorry I was…”



“Late?” the chief was fast and on the ball this morning. He put down his cup of coffee and glared at Jimmy passively, “Oh, I knew you were late ten minutes ago, Olsen. That’s not why you’re in here, kid. I need more of these,” Perry held up the front page of the paper.

Jimmy was proud of the photo, which was probably the luckiest piece of work to happen to him in months. The moment felt straight out of a movie. He was in the press section at Metropolis International, waiting for the Mercury V space plane to arrive again. It had happened so fast. The roar of the crowd as its hopes were dashed and brought back from the brink in just a few minutes. Jimmy had watched in wonder as a man… a MAN… had leveled the plane onto the airfield safely.

Jimmy got the perfect snapshot: Superman holding the plane in mid-air. It was the front-page photo of the most popular issue of the DAILY PLANET EVER. Perry knew that, and he wanted more. Perry knew this ‘Superman’ was going to be big news for a long time to come. People would flock to read ‘The Adventures of Superman’, which the Daily Planet would chronicle. Perry knew it couldn’t be just about selling papers. No. He wanted the truth about this Superman character. Who was he? Where did he come from? What did he stand for?

“Uh, Chief,” Jimmy said, waking Perry from his thoughts.



“Olsen, I want you to live and breath Superman. You hook up with Lane and put something together, okay?” Perry said, and Jimmy nodded. Jimmy got up and walked to the door. “Oh, and Olsen, don’t be late again.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~



Lois sat at her new desk getting everything situated in different drawers and shelves. There was a tap at the door. She could see a tall figure standing at the glazed-over glass window.

“Come in,” she said, and Clark reluctantly entered. Seeing her had been a rude awakening for Clark. She was wearing a button down shirt and a dressy skirt… a skirt. She seemed very cold, having endured some unbearable catastrophe. She was a phoenix: not of fire and stone, but of hardened ice. Her brown eyes seemed dull… tired. She looked at Clark as if from a seat of passive judgment.

“So I guess you’re my boss now,” Clark said, pushing his glasses to his brow. Lois put down a notepad she had been jotting notes on with a heavy slam. The impact made a loud thud on her wooden desk.

“I guess so. Is that going to be a problem, Smallville?” She asked coldly.

“N-no… that’s fine… it’s fine… I’m fine,” Clark said nervously, clutching his briefcase with a feeble grip. Lois shifted her computer monitor on her desk, finding a set-up to her liking.

“You can cut the nerdy reporter act around me, Smallville. We’ve been friends for years,” Lois said, realizing she had never really taken much time to tell Clark how much their friendship had meant to her before all… this. Lois looked to him for some change in demeanor. What she saw was a quizzical, confused look from a nervous, twitchy farm boy turned reporter.



“I know, Lois,” Clark finally said and Lois breathed a subtle sigh of relief. He hadn’t forgotten everything. “But people change, ya’ know.”

“Boy, do I… but then again: sometimes they don’t,” Lois’s voice trailed off as Jimmy poked his head in the office, not giving Clark enough time to respond to what sounded like a very open-ended problem.

“Hey, Lois, I… uh… Oh, hi, CK. Long time, no see,” Jimmy held out his hand with a grin and Clark took it nervously. There was something different in the way Jimmy shook hands. Something serious. Something tragic. Lois cleared her throat and looked at Jimmy with a coaxing gesture. “Right. Chief wants us to get a scoop on Superman.”

“Oh is that all?” Lois asked sarcastically, “I’ll get right on that.”

“Superman?” Clark said, feigning confusion. “Oh, Superman, riiight.”

“Yeah, the big boy in blue. Flies around Metropolis doing good. Where have you been?” Lois asked, condescendingly. She actually hoped for a real reason from Clark, but such explanations, especially in front of Jimmy, were hopelessly impossible to attain. She sighed as Clark looked to her and then to Jimmy.

“I was backpacking through Europe,” Clark said, as if the idea seemed completely foreign to him until that moment. He swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away from both of them.

“Well, that’s good, CK. Out in the world, figuring stuff out,” Jimmy said.

“Yeah… stuff,” Clark said wearily, and he looked at his watch. “I’m sorry, I didn’t call anyone,” Clark interjected suddenly. “I meant to. It’s been pretty hectic.”

“Must’ve been pretty hectic not to even leave a message,” Lois said under her breath, so only Clark could hear her. He looked back at her and then at Jimmy, rolling his eyes.

“Oh and Chief wanted you to follow up on this lead, CK,” Jimmy handed Clark a folder with a few sparse notes.

“Jordan Welles?” Clark read quizzically off the top label of the folder. He read farther below: Amnesia Research? Clark thought anxiously. Perhaps she could help me? He scrolled further down the page and saw her picture, and Clark dropped the folder, watching it slowly float to the ground. Lois scrambled to help him pick up the pieces of paper. She came across the photo, putting her hand on it at the same time as Clark, and she looked up at him like a deer caught in headlights.

“Are you two okay?” Jimmy asked, with a tinge of concern in his voice. Clark was a vast, empty jar of loneliness, but when he touched Lois’s hand on the photograph, something in him felt full… real… alive. He backed up and stood to gather himself. He shoved the papers back into the folders as Lois rose with the photograph in her delicate hands. She seemed to intensely study it for a few moments and then look away as if broken from some dream-like trance.

“Lois?” Clark looked at her with a concerned look that looked more like a look Superman would give. His shoulders had risen back to their right level and towered over Jimmy and Lois. Had they looked at him, they would’ve seen a very damning portrayal of the man of steel. However, Jimmy was more concerned by Lois ‘Mad Dog’ Lane’s complete drop in reserved calculation. Her somewhat thick skin that had been shown lately was dropped to vulnerable layers. She shivered.

“Are you okay, Miss Lane?” Jimmy finally asked and Lois shook her head. Lois turned to Clark, who had taken the time to slouch again to keep up the façade.

“Can I help you with this one?” Lois asked, holding up the picture to make her point. Clark nodded hesitantly.

“S-sure, Lois,” Clark stammered, the lump in his throat gurgling the vowels out through their thin opening in his mouth. She bit her lower lip and put the photo back into Clark’s folder.

“Let’s go.”



The Daily Planet. PRESENT TIME. Fourth Day. 11:00 AM.

Chloe sat typing up her column piece about the Thanksgiving festivities that were soon approaching: the decorations, the food, and the families. She had really found her niche in the Arts & Cultural section of the paper, but she still had that investigative itch to scratch every once in a while. She had fought her curiosity and let Clark and Lois leave unscathed by herself. To see Clark at all could arguably be called a miracle. Granted, Superman had just taken Metropolis by storm, but she had not attributed Clark with enough courage to face Ms. Lane in her own bullpen. But there he was – his goofy, bumbling-reporter self was falling all over Lois – and it painted a big smirk all over Ms. Sullivan’s face.

“Sullivan,” Perry called out from his office doorway. Chloe looked over from her computer screen and saw Perry motioning for her to walk over. She obliged him and sat down across from his desk. “Sullivan, I need a big favor from you.”

“Sure, anything, Chief. You know I’m good for it,” Chloe smiled. It wasn’t a lie. Chloe respected Perry for his tenacity and bluntness.

“I’m not really one for these high society events: not like you. I was informed today that they’re holding an art exhibition at the Metropolis Art Center, and their curator gave me two passes. Now if I don’t hate high society – you know I hate art shows. But I digress…” Perry rubbed one of his suspenders at the shoulder, trying to get his mind back on track, “So like I was saying, I think you should go. Have some fun. Cut loose as best you can do at these sorta things. You earned, Sullivan.”

Chloe smiled a toothy grin, “Thanks, Chief. I’d love to.”

Perry handed her both passes, and she exited the office. She looked down at the two tickets… two tickets? Crap, she thought, Who am I going to take?




to be continued in part 3 of Chapter 3...

[super12]

Great post.

[TheEradicator6]

Chapter Three, part 3

Author's Note: Here's the FINAL part of chapter 3. Anyways, here it is and I'll start working on chapter 4 right away.

/Chapter Three (Full PDF/DOC Version): http://www.sendspace.com/file/2u7dl2 (ADDED 12/30/2006)




Lex Luthor Senate HQ. PRESENT TIME. Fourth Day. 4:00 PM.

Lex was seething over the Daily Planet’s front-page article. Who the hell does he think he is flying into my city? Lex thought angrily. The blue Boy Scout had grabbed the headlines of every major paper in the state, leaving Lex’s big news in the dust. LUTHORCORP RENAMED LEXCORP. It paled in comparison. Did anybody tell him? Did anyone let this blue Boy Scout know that he was encroaching on Luthor territory? Apparently not.

Lex pushed the paper away in disgust. He had gotten the bill passed so he could own his business again, having it ride on a unanimously approved bill for child safety laws. It was within his power to control LEXCORP. He loved the sound of the name. It bore away any family problem associated with his father, and it wore the new savior of Metropolis’s moniker. Metropolis was saturated with Lexcorp subsidiaries. From clothing, to groceries… even transportation. It was all LEXCORP.

He was also narrowing down the prospects of the potential rat, which was prying up the floorboards of his house. “Mr. Luthor,” his secretary, Jessica, said with a smile. Lex smiled back weakly and readied himself for more of her ditzy, annoying voice. “Mr. Windgate is here to see you.”

“Bring him right on in, sweetheart,” Lex said condescendingly and she exited, Lex watching her with a detached attraction to her young, beautiful frame.

Donovan came through the doorway with a cool swagger that unnerved Lex at times. He put up a fake smile and motioned for Donovan to sit down.



“Donovan, to what do I owe this special visit?” Lex asked, and you swiveled his laptop out of the way so that he could talk to Donovan.

“I can’t get into my office,” Donovan said with a rude tone in his voice. Lex looked up with an eyebrow raised.

“Oh?”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t know. You’re taking it back aren’t you?” Donovan asked coldly. Lex leaned in and looked Donovan in the eye.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Donovan asked, but he knew why.

“It was never my intention for you to guard my company for long, Donovan. To be honest, I don’t trust you,” Lex said plainly and Donovan rolled his eyes and chuckled.

“You don’t trust anybody,” Donovan said.

“That may be, but the point of the matter is: you don’t belong with Lexcorp anymore,” Lex said coldly, “Now please get out of my office and leave me be.”



You’ve bitten off more than you can chew, Donovan thought as he left with a smug look on his face. Lex clicked his intercom button and spoke to Jessica, “Jessica, I need you to call my driver. It’ll take forever to get to the Arts Center in this traffic.”



The Daily Planet. PRESENT TIME. Fourth Day. 2:00 PM.

Jimmy had taken a late lunch and came back from the daycare with a sense of resolve to get his work done early so he could get out early and take April home. Every waking moment seemed to revolve around her. Was this what parenting was? Jimmy shrugged it off and checked his e-mail. He felt someone standing next to him so he spoke without looking.

“Dee, I don’t have time for one of your daily rants,” Jimmy said, looking over to see, not Dee, but Chloe. “Oh, sorry, Chloe. I thought you were Dee.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Chloe said, not really caring that he had blurted it out. She leaned on his desk and tried to look him in the eye, but Jimmy was back to work on his computer. “Whatcha doing?”

“Working so I can get April home early today,” Jimmy said, “It takes her forever to get to sleep at night.”

“I see,” Chloe said, “Look, I have an extra pass to art exhibition at the Arts Center and I thought I could use a photographer. You interested?”

Jimmy turned and looked at her, “I would love to Chloe, but I don’t have a sitter or anything.”

“Oh,” Chloe said. Jimmy had so many more responsibilities now. He barely seemed like the same carefree guy Chloe had dated before. She felt sorry for him.

“I could watch her,” Dee piped in from her desk. Jimmy looked over with an eyebrow raised. Dee: help me? Jimmy thought.

“Really?” Jimmy asked with a squeaky voice of shock. Dee nodded at him like he was a goof.

“Sure. I don’t have anything to do tonight. I can be over at 5. Is that okay?” Dee asked and Jimmy nodded, his eyes wide-opened. Was Dee just nice to me?

“So you’re coming?” Chloe clarified, and Jimmy nodded vaguely to her as well.

“I…uh. Yes. I can go then,” Jimmy said. Chloe smiled her toothy smile and walked back to her desk gleefully. Dee looked at her with a jealous gaze, and then back to Jimmy with a smile. “Thanks, Dee.”

“Don’t mention it.”



Metropolis Sanitarium. PRESENT TIME. Fourth Day. 11:30 AM.

Lois sat in her uncomfortable lobby chair, squirming around. Clark pretended not to see her open display of impatience. He cleared his throat a few times, hoping that maybe it would give her the clue. It didn’t. She kept squirming and fiddling with her purse and whatever she carried in it. Clark finally cleared his throat loud enough that it actually made their chairs shake. Lois grabbed her purse as the contents wobbled from the thunderous shake. She looked up at Clark and he coughed a weak, mousy cough.

“You okay there, Smallville?” she asked with a chuckle, fully aware that he had only been trying to get her attention.

“Oh, I’m fine,” Clark said, and he pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. A doctor in a white lab coat walked up to them with a straight face.

“Mr. Kent, you can see the patient now,” the doctor said. Clark looked at Lois quizzically.

“Patient?” he said to her and she shrugged her shoulders. The doctor led them into a padded room where Jordan was sitting, cuddled like a cat in the corner.

“Ms. Welles, you have visitors,” the doctor said, “Clark Kent and Lois Lane.”



Clark heard a raspy voice, “Kent.”

The doctor cleared his throat and tucked his clipboard under his armpit. “Well, uh, I’ll leave you three to converse.” The doctor left the room and shut the door behind him.

“Jordan,” Clark said softly, and she turned her back to look him in the eye.

“You’re inside my brain,” she said in protest. “I can’t get you out like the others.”

“What?” Clark was confused, even by his standards, “Others?”

“There were others,” Jordan said plainly, and she sighed deeply as if giving up her breath into the air. She pushed her head into the padded wall and looked back at the two reporters. “It shouldn’t have been you. I was going to do it to her.”

Lois felt her bottom lip quiver. Had she taken the blow, Clark would at least remember what they had together. She felt as if she had betrayed herself and the man she loved.

“Why?” Clark asked. The hole in his mind felt swollen with pain. It had become a biting thorn in his side.

“It is not for you to know,” she said, and then she spoke so softly that only Clark could hear her, “Some things happen to protect you, Kal-El.”

“Excuse me?” Clark asked. She knew his name. How did she know? She looked at him with a sly smile. She wasn’t crazy. Something had been burning a hole in her brain, and she hadn’t been able to scratch that itch. Clark leaned closer to her. “I need to know what you took from me.”

“That I cannot do,” she whispered and then spoke plainly, “Leave us.”

Lois cleared her throat and folded her arms, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I didn’t mean you,” Jordan said and she looked back at Clark, “You.”



“What?”

“Again with that question. Just step outside, Clark, and no funny business,” Jordan said, and she spoke softly again so Lois couldn’t hear, “No superhearing, Kal.”

Clark reluctantly nodded and stepped outside. The door shut with a loud metallic clank as it locked back up. Lois reluctantly stepped closer and knelt beside Jordan, who was starting to sit back up. Jordan folded her arms over her knees and pushed them to her chest.

“Much has been lost, Miss Lane,” Jordan said quietly, “Clark has lost you.”

“What do you mean?” Lois asked, tears welling up inside of her, threatening to blow the dam.

“I took precious memories from him.”

“Then give them back,” Lois ordered her, much like she heard her father do to his unruly colonels. She bit her lower lip, trying to fight the urge to smack the woman upside the head.

“I can’t.”

“Why?” Lois pled.

“It’s not within my power,” Jordan said wearily. “I only have the power to take.”

“How much did you take?”

“Clark has no memory of saving you from Dr. Black or anything after that,” Jordan said. Lois gasped. How did she know? “I have his memories, but I can’t simply give them back. To try and jog his memory could quite possibly do more damage than could be healed. You have to promise me, you won’t tell him anything. If he can get his memories back, he must do so on his own. To open his mind to that part could permanently affect him. It might even kill him.”

Lois felt tears trickle down her face, warming her cold cheeks. She wanted to hurt Jordan for what she had done. She had stolen the memories from Clark that Lois most wanted him to remember.

“Why did you want to wipe my mind?” Lois asked uneasily, not sure she wanted the answer to her question.

“That is something I cannot tell you,” Jordan said, “That is only for Clark to know.”

“So I’m just supposed to wait around and hope that Clark’s memory gets jogged into remembering how much he loves me?” Lois asked, speaking as if it was such a ludicrous idea. Jordan smiled.

“You’d be surprised how hard it is to forget how much you love someone,” Jordan said with a sly smile, and she looked beyond Lois. Lois turned to where she was looking and saw that Clark was staring at her through the window. He quickly looked away and fussed with his hair nervously. Lois turned back with a smile on her face. “See.”

Lois gave her a smirk and walked back to the door, but, to her surprise, Clark was no longer there. “Wha-? Clark! Clark…”

[super12]

Great post.

He went to save the day again. Can't wait for more!!!

[Sakura]

great update

[cloisdestiny]

oh dude, whats gonna happen

is clark gonna remember

is lois gonna freak and tell him

Is superman gonna show soon

is Chimmy gonna reuntie

ppms so i can find out all of my answers