Author: Misha (mhall@sound.net); zoomway (zoomway@aol.com); chrispat (cp12607@aol.com); CrystalW (JCWimmer@aol.com); Eraygun (Eraygun@aol.com); Lansbury (Lansbury1@aol.com); ChrisM (mulders@mindspring.com)
Rated: PG
An IRC Round Robin
Lois sat on the couch, turning the gift left by Lord Trey over and over in her hands, muttering to herself.
“Lois!” Clark called out from the kitchen.
“What is it, Clark?” Lois snapped, setting the thing down hard on the coffee table.
“You’re muttering about Krypton again.”
“And?”
“It doesn’t look like a Pulitzer.”
“I know.” Lois sighed and regarded it again. “More like a Kerth, I think, only chartreuse.”
“It doesn’t look like a…” A tray of snacks appeared in front of her on the table, bumping the object over a few inches. Clark was silent for a moment, his head settling next to hers.
“Well, okay, I guess it sort of does. Except for the Kryptonian lettering.”
Lois stared at the array of bean sprouts, celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and a few unidentifiable vegetables on the tray in front of her. She poked one crisp carrot with a sprout. “It’s healthy.”
Clark nuzzled her neck, oblivious to the censorious tone in her voice.
“It’s good for you and the baby.” He took a celery stick and stirred it in the dip. “Try it.”
“It looks like mud, Clark.”
“It’s hummus, and it’s really good.”
Lois turned to look up at him with disbelief. “You would choose to eat this over a bag of Twinkies?”
Clark flushed. “Well, ah…” He slid around Lois and sat down next to the couch. “Not really.”
“Ah-hah.”
“But if you eat it, I’ll show you what I got you for dessert.”
Lois groaned pitifully. “No chocolate?” she asked in a small voice.
“Better.”
“Clark, nothing is better than chocolate.” Lois looked up into her husband’s eyes. “Well, okay, one thing.” A smile escaped her lips.
Clark produced a small dish with dramatic flair, and lifted the lid to reveal a mound of dark brown chips. “Carob.” He smiled at the quizzical look on Lois’ face. “Fake chocolate.”
Lois gingerly took one of the innocuous little chips and sniffed it. Nothing. She nibbled on the edge, then popped several more into her mouth, closing her eyes and letting it melt over her tongue. “Not chocolate, but it’ll do.” She sighed and snuggled into her husband’s embrace, reaching for more carob chips. “You’re the best.
Clark laughed softly and held her close. “Only the best for you.”
* * *
The first change was a tiny one. A small beam of stray sunlight hit the object. The yellow-green crystal glowed in the sunlight, flashing red deep within it’s heart. The curtains fluttered, blocking the sun, and the glow died.
* * *
Lois stared at her closet, attempting to will her wardrobe to fit her expanding body. Finally, her telepathic command unheeded, she reached for one of her maternity suits. A sudden thought arrested her movement. She stared at the closet, puzzled.
“Clark?”
“Yes, honey?”
“What happened to all your ties?”
“What do you mean? They seemed a little bright, I wanted to tone down the color a little.”
“Tone down? But…”
“Car pile-up downtown. I’ll meet you at the Planet.” Lois felt the whisper of a kiss on her cheek as the curtains blew suddenly open and he was gone.
* * *
The morning sun slanted across the collection of crystals in the display cabinet, warming the collection of journalism awards and the Kryptonian curio. As the sunlight highlighted the dancing dust motes, the single green figure glowed faintly, growing in intensity until the sun passed overhead and the sunbeams cast their light elsewhere.
* * *
“You feeling okay, Kent?”
Clark looked up at his editor. “Fine, Perry, why?”
“This piece is not your best work. Re-write it.” Perry slapped down an article on the desk in front of him. From across the way, Lois’ eyes widened.
“What’s wrong, Chief?”
“It doesn’t sing, Clark. You’ve got a real handy way of making copy sing like the King, and this one’s got laryngitis.”
<zoomway>
Lois glanced at the copy Perry had returned. She shrugged. “Well, Clark, I have to agree with Perry. This is kind of … flat.”
Clark frowned. “It has all the facts.”
“So does a grocery list, Clark, but nobody wants to pay to read one.”
Clark seemed unconcerned, even a bit disinterested. “Mr. White told us three years and seven months ago that we need facts. Well, he has them.”
Lois leaned back and folded her arms. “You left out days, hours, and seconds, Clark, and it’s been about that long since you called Perry ‘Mr. White.’ Are you feeling okay?”
Clark thought a moment. “I did say ‘Mr. White,’ didn’t I?” He smiled, but it was the first time Lois could recall a smile looking out of sync with his face. Like it was an effort for him to conjure the expression. “Don’t worry, Lois, I’m fine,” he said, trying to sound reassuring. “Maybe I’m thinking a little too much about the baby, and not enough about work lately.”
That sounded reasonable to Lois. She had to admit thoughts of the baby would break her concentration. She stroked his shoulder. “Good,” she smiled. “I was afraid red Kryptonite had been slipped into your coffee.”
Clark laughed, but again, it was off somehow. It wasn’t *Clark’s* laugh. “Not that I’m aware of.” He then tipped his head to the side.
“What are you hearing?”
“Some type of traffic imbroglio,” he said, loosening his tie. “I won’t be long.”
“Imbroglio?” Lois repeated as he vanished.
She tapped a pencil absentmindedly as she stared off in the direction Clark had left. Jimmy dropped some files on her desk.
“Slow day?” he teased.
“Hm? Oh, hi, Jimmy,” she said, relieved that at least he didn’t seem to be a pod person version of himself. “Have you noticed anything different about Clark?”
“CK?” Jimmy thought a moment. “Just that his wardrobe is kind of … Wall Street today. I thought maybe he was going to a funeral or something.”
Lois sighed. “Maybe it’s just my imagination. I mean there’s no reason he wouldn’t use ‘imbroglio’ I guess.”
“Imbroglio?” Jimmy said, and smiled conspiratorially. “Isn’t that the new Italian cologne that makes women so wild they rip men’s clothes off in the commercials?”
Lois rolled her eyes. “Yes, Jimmy. I can barely keep my hands off of Clark.”
“Cool,” he beamed. “I’ll get some on pay day,” he said, and headed for the elevators.
Lois brushed a strand of hair back. “Maybe it’s the pregnancy. Hormones, mood swings, floating, and it makes men seem like idiots.” The phone rang. “Lois Lane. Superman did what? Oh, god, I’m on my way!” She slammed down the phone. “Hold the elevator, Jimmy!”
<chrispat>
* * *
Later that evening, Lois picked at the remains of a particularly unappetizing meal as she listened to her husband talk to his mother on the telephone.
“Yes, Mother. Everything is satisfactory here…Yes I know I haven’t called recently…There has been no logical reason to call.”
Lois sighed. She could imagine Martha’s response to that statement but after the way Clark had been acting for the last few days, it didn’t surprise her. She jumped when he appeared beside her.
“Here, Lois, you talk to my parent. She seems to be upset about something, and I hear a call for help.”
Lois rolled her eyes but took the phone. She listened for the familiar whoosh before she spoke.
“Martha! I am so glad you called. Clark has been acting really strange, and he’s getting worse.” Her eyes welled with tears, to her annoyance. She hated getting so weepy all the time. She brushed the tears away angrily. “It’s like I’m living with a stranger. First he started wearing depressing colors. Then his writing started to read like a textbook, and he didn’t seem to care. He cooks disgusting food and says taste doesn’t matter if it’s nutritious. And he hasn’t kissed me in three days!!!” she wailed.
Lois sniffled as she listened to Martha’s soothing reply. “But it’s not just Clark acting this way. It’s Superman, too. Today he told the police that he refused to handle any more traffic problems. If people couldn’t learn how to drive competently, that wasn’t his problem… Oh Martha, I hate to ask, but could you and Jonathan please come? Maybe you can figure out what I should do.”
<Eraygun>
“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Martha said soothingly. “I’m sure it’s nothing serious. Clark may be just overtired. But if it will make you feel better, Jonathan and I will be there on the first available flight. Now, why don’t you go get some rest. You’re sleeping for two after all.”
Lois chuckled. “All right, Grandma, I’ll do just that.”
“What was that all about?” Jonathan asked as Martha hung up the phone.
“I didn’t want to worry Lois, but something is seriously wrong with Clark. We need to get to Metropolis.”
“What’s the matter?”
Martha shook her head. “I don’t know, but something’s wrong with our boy and I’m going to find out what it is.”
* * *
Lois walked glumly into the newsroom the next morning. She had tried to wait up for Clark the night before, but had fallen asleep. When she woke up this morning it was clear that he hadn’t been home that night at all.
A quick scan of LNN showed that there were no disasters, natural or otherwise, requiring Superman’s assistance after the initial fire down on the docks of Hobs Bay. So where the heck was he?
As she sat down at her desk Jimmy walked by.
“Hey, Lois,” he said happily. “Where’s CK?”
“Oh, hi, Jimmy. Clark is… well…he’s… ” Lois hesitated.
“I had an appointment,” Clark said, suddenly appearing beside Jimmy.
“Cool, CK. Anyway, I was just wondering if we’re still on for the Met Nets game tonight?”
Clark grimaced. “The what?”
<Misha>
“The Metropolis Nets play the Gotham Goons tonight! Didn’t you say you’d gotten tickets from one of the players?”
“Ah. Yes, I had obtained a promise of the tickets, but when Charles called, I declined to pick them up.”
Jimmy just stared. “What is with you today, CK?”
“Why, nothing.”
Jimmy watched him for a long moment, then retreated, shaking his head.
“Clark?”
“Yes?”
“Are you feeling all right?”
“Physically, I am excellent, as always, Wife. Mentally, however, I have a conundrum with which I wish to present you.”
Clark took her elbow and pointed her in the direction of the conference room. Lois felt herself steered across the newsroom by an implacable force.
She’d never felt so out of control in her life, not even on one of the many occasions when she’d been thrown off a building. What was this ‘wife’ business, anyway? Conundrum? Clark was Mr. Encyclopedia, not Mr. Dictionary… Her thoughts looped in wild tangents as Clark guided her to a seat at the conference room table in complete silence. When he let go of her arm, she checked her elevation. Her feet seemed nailed to the floor, they felt so heavy.
“Clark, what the heck do you think you’re doing? You’ve been looking forward to the game for weeks now! You practically begged Chuck for three days straight to get those tickets, and now you’re just not going to pick them up? And what’s with this ‘wife’ crap? I have a name!”
Clark raised an eyebrow as her tirade halted with Lois standing braced against the table. “You are my spouse, are you not?”
“Well, yes.”
Clark gestured for her to take her seat again, and Lois slid back into a sitting position.
“As such, you have a vested interest in my future, a thing which I have spent many hours contemplating.”
“And?” Lois tried not to sound like her voice was a winter wind off the Arctic, but failed.
Clark seemed not to notice. “I wish to share the fruits of my contemplation with you.”
“I’m listening.” Lois’ voice warmed to the average temperature of Fairbanks in February.
“Well, after the fire by Hobs Bay, I attempted to lecture the inhabitants on proper fire safety procedures, but they simply failed to heed me, so great was the emotional impact of their gratitude. I instead retreated to a snowbank in Antarctica with which I am familiar.” A slight grimace betrayed Clark’s sober facade, but it was banished almost immediately. “I briefly contemplated constructing a retreat for myself on that spot. After careful consideration, I decided that it was an unwise course of action, considering our offspring’s Terran heritage and your own inability to handle extremes of temperature. Thus, too, the ideas of a retreat on the Moon or perhaps one in the Sun were discarded.”
“Retreat? What are you talking about, Clark?”
“Why, an answer to the cumbersome alias of Clark Kent, and a domicile for myself as Lord El, my spouse,” he gestured to Lois, “and our offspring.”
<zoomway>
Lois rose and placed her palms on the table. “Okay,” she said, with surprising calm, considering she expected Clark to grow antlers any moment. “This has gone on too long to be a gag, and I don’t think they’re casting for “Spock, The Musical”, so you can’t be auditioning. So *something* else is going on. What is it, Lord Clark-El?”
Clark blinked for a moment, as if he were a computer processing illogical and contradictory information. Lois could see the struggle. Something internal was consuming the man she loved. She walked around the table. Her tone softened.
“Clark, what’s *wrong* with you? There’s someone else looking at me through your eyes. Who *is* he, Clark? Let me help you.”
Clark shuddered for a moment. “Lois?” His eyes were warm, and deep, but only for a moment. They quickly returned to ice.
“I am in no distress,” he finally managed to say.
Lois swallowed hard. Clark was ‘missing,’ or ‘usurped’ was perhaps the better word. Someone or some *thing* was overpowering him, but not defeating him. He was still there, but she had no clue as to how to free him. She’d wait for reinforcements.
“Your parents are coming out for your dad’s birthday.”
“My adoptive father’s natal anniversary is five weeks hence, Wife.”
Lois closed her eyes a moment. She had an overwhelming urge to scream, but then her mother had warned her about aliens.
“True, Cl–Husband, but you have to consider the logic of the planting season. This time of year there is less work to be done.”
He nodded an acknowledgment. “Of course. Quite remiss of me to discount their agrarian career.”
“I’ll be working on a cake this afternoon. We celebrate ‘natal anniversaries’ with those.”
“Affirmative. I have no aversion to celebratory customs. They are a festive part of Krypton as well.”
Lois raised her eyebrows in recognition. Clark was having a ‘strange visitation’ from another planet. Now how to send the ‘intruder’ packing would be the hard part.
Lois faked her best smile. “So, you sound as if you remember Krypton. Funny, I thought you had no memories of living there.”
“I.. that is…”
Lois, seeing Clark struggling, took advantage of his confusion. She grabbed his lapels and kissed him hard. He moaned and seemed to respond, but then pushed her away.
He straightened quickly, trying to regain his breath. “You put your tongue in my mouth.”
Lois shrugged. “It was cold,” she said, and hurried from the room before he could deliver a treatise on lingual bacteria. She could only hope the Kents had arrived. If not, maybe she’d have to visit STAR Labs … or a witch doctor.
<chrispat>
Lois stood outside the conference room, thinking furiously. This was getting scary. She had to think of some reason that would sound logical enough to get Clark out of the Daily Planet for a while at least. There was no way people weren’t going to notice the change in him, and at the rate things were going, he wasn’t going to care about keeping his identity secret for much longer.
She looked back into the room. Clark had sat down again and seemed deep in thought.
“Clark?’ she called softly. He looked up at the sound of her voice, and for a second, his expression softened and he started to smile. Before she could even begin to smile back, all expression left his face again, and she found herself staring into a pair of icy brown eyes.
“Yes, Wife? Did you have something you wished to impart to me?”
Lois winced at the coldness in his voice but forged ahead. “Yes, Husband, I do. I think it might be logical for you to pick your parents up at the airport and leave the writing to me for today at least.”
That infamous eyebrow rose again. “Yes. Mr. White has not been pleased with my efforts lately. Perhaps you are right.
Lois breathed a sigh of relief. That had been easier than she had hoped.
“All right. I’ll see you back at the house.” She moved in for a goodbye kiss, but froze at the look in his eyes. “Bye,” she squeaked and left the conference room again.
<CrystalW>
* * *
Lois had some difficulty repairing Clark’s stories. Normally, she found the facts, and Clark added the emotions. She wasn’t used to changing roles with him. She reminded herself that she had won Kerths long before they had been a team, and dove into the stories with as much enthusiasm as possible.
More than two hours later, feeling emotionally drained, she managed to get away from the Daily Planet. Perry hadn’t been truly happy with the stories, but he hadn’t been able to find anything exactly *wrong* with them, either, so he had allowed her to leave and meet Clark as he checked on a lead. She wondered if she’d ever get good at the lies she had to use to explain her life.
Lois climbed the steps to the brownstone with as much energy as she could muster. She needed Clark, her Clark, on days like this. She needed his understanding, his support, and his love. With a sigh, she unlocked the door, and almost hoped that ‘Husband’ was busy this evening.
When she saw the lights were on, she assumed she would not get her wish. However, to her surprise, she found herself caught up in a warm hug as soon as she had closed the door.
“Oh, Honey, it’s worse than we thought,” Martha said, squeezing Lois’ hands gently. “He didn’t say two words to us before he left for an emergency…nothing!”
“I’ve never seen him so detached,” Jonathan added. “He kept calling me ‘Father’.”
Lois nodded, and to her dismay felt tears slip from her eyes. She had known that she was right, that Clark’s behavior was completely abnormal, but there had been a part of her that had hoped it was a case of prenatal hormones run amok.
Martha took Lois back into her arms and soothed her as she had Clark when he was a child. “We’ll get through this. We’ll get our Clark back. There’s nothing in this world that’s stronger than the love he has for you, and that will bring him back. I’m certain of it.
“I wish I could be as certain,” Lois said, wiping tears as she pulled out of her mother-in-law’s embrace. “He’s like a different person. I look into his eyes, and it’s like seeing into an arctic winter.”
Martha nodded her agreement. “He didn’t even say goodbye when he left. He just said, ‘I’m needed, Mother,’ and flew out the window.”
Lois sat and allowed Martha’s words to echo in her mind. Nothing in this world could keep her and Clark apart. That was the problem, though. She felt as though it was *his* world causing the problem. He was as cold and distant as Ching and Zara had been when they’d put him through test after test to determine if he was ‘worthy’ of New Krypton. It was almost as though he were turning into one of them.
She wondered briefly if it could be some latent Kryptonian virus that kicked in at this late date. No, she thought, there would be no way to confirm that without Dr. Klein’s assistance, and she couldn’t see Clark consenting to see a doctor when he felt as though nothing were wrong.
“There are times he slips through,” she said quietly. “Times that he’s almost himself.” She shook her head as though she was in pain. “I can’t keep him with me, though.”
Martha took Lois by the arm, and guided her over to the couch. While Jonathan made her a cup of tea, she and Martha went over the possibilities. By the time Jonathan joined them with three cups of tea on a tray, they were no closer to a solution.
Lois winced when she heard Clark’s entry through the window. She had never thought that she’d dread her own husband’s arrival. She corrected herself …this man was not her husband, but her Clark was in there somewhere, and she would find him.
As she heard him approach, she stood and faced him. Before he could say a word, she grabbed him by the front of his cape and pulled him in for a kiss. As before, there was a moment of response before the resistance. She held on, though, pressing her lips closer to his and sliding her arms around him beneath the cape, holding him tightly.
She kissed him until she was breathless, until her own light-headedness caused her to break the kiss so that she could gain some oxygen. She looked up into stunned brown eyes, and hoped for a miracle.
<Eraygun>
But there was no miracle tonight. The stunned look quickly faded and the ‘iceman’ was back. Lois’ heart sank as Clark disengaged himself from her embrace.
He arched his eyebrow again. “You must learn to control yourself, Wife,” he said, his voiced laced with disapproval. “Such emotional outbursts are not appropriate in front of my adoptive parents.”
Lois shuddered a bit at the chill in Clark’s voice, then turned to Martha and Jonathan.
“Honey, we’ve seen you and Lois kiss hundreds of times,” Martha interjected.
“That’s right, son…”
“That may have happened in the past, but such displays will not occur in the future. They are the reflection of an undisciplined intellect. One that is incapable of controlling its emotions.”
“Clark…” Lois began.
“Please, Wife, do not call me that.”
“What?!”
“And I request that you also refrain from using that name,” Clark continued, pointing at the Kents.
“Well, if we’re not to call you Clark,” Jonathan asked, “what are we supposed to call you?”
“Kal-El.”
Lansbury>
Lois excused herself to the kitchen. “I’ll make us something to eat. I know you both must be starved from your trip.”
As she moved past the phone it began to ring. She reached to pick up the receiver but a hand was quickly placed over hers.
“Do not bother with that, Wife. You are correct. My adoptive parents need nourishment. See to it immediately. I will take care of this.”
As she pulled her hand from under his, their eyes locked. What she saw sent a chill through her.
“I’ll do it now. Martha … Jonathon, would you like to come with me and give me some help? Cla–Kal-El is going to answer the phone.” The phone was on its fourth ring.
Clark picked it up. “Greetings. Kent domicile.”
On the other end of the line a chuckle could be heard. “Hey, CK, who you trying to impress, the Queen of England?”
“Master Olsen, why are you calling? Do you need assistance?”
“Where’s Lois? The chief wants me to verify a detail from the article she just wrote. Is she around?”
Clark stood rigid as he listened to Jimmy talk. “I will see if she can come to the phone.”
Clark placed the phone on the table and moved into the kitchen. All three occupants looked up as he entered.
“Wife, your presence is needed by the young Master Olsen. He is waiting to speak to you on the phone.”
“Thank you. I’ll get it in here.”
As Lois picked up the phone, Martha and Jonathon put the food they had prepared on a tray.
“Son, would you please carry this into the dining room for your mother? I’ll bring the coffee.”
Lois watched as Clark carried the tray through the swinging door. She heard him again remind his parents to call him Kal-El. Her eyes met theirs and they quickly moved from the kitchen.
She put the receiver to her mouth. “Hi, Jimmy. What’s up?”
On the other end of the phone a very confused Jimmy waited patiently. “Hi, Lois. Boy, what’s with CK? Has he been watching a Star Trek marathon or something? He sounds just like that Mr. Spock character.”
Lois chuckled. “That he does, Jimmy.” Trying to change the subject before Jimmy could make any more observations about Clark’s behavior, she quickly continued. “What can I help you with?”
<Misha>
“Well, Perry wanted to know if some of the statistics you quoted were correct.” Lois started to jump in with a justification, but he went on, “But I checked ’em myself. Y’know, I think he really wanted to know if Clark’s feeling okay.” He was met with silence. “Lois?”
“To tell you the truth, Jimmy,” now there’s a good one, she thought, “he’s not feeling quite like himself lately.”
“Hey- that reminds me- he’s not the only one. Did ya hear about Superman’s latest stunt?”
Lois heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. “Ah, no, Jimmy,” she managed through a suddenly dry throat.
“Oh, he showed up at the UN with a proposal for world order. The thing was an inch thick, dry as the Sahara, and basically spelled out… oh, man, what was the quote? Oh yeah- ‘proper positional strata for a logically organized society.’ He’s… hey- you think maybe one of those Kryptonians is back and trying to masquerade as Superman?”
“I don’t know, Jimmy.” Lois felt the receiver shake against her head, and she snugged it up with her shoulder, wringing her shaking hands in front of her. “What did the UN do?”
“Well, they’re still arguing over a response, but I heard Perry muttering something about proactive strikes and Kryptonite when he was on the other line just now.”
“Jimmy, were you listening at his door again?”
“Umm…”
“Good. Keep it up. If you hear anything- call me.”
“Sure thing, Lois.”
“Thanks, Jimmy.” Lois let the receiver slide from her shaking hands to the cradle. Silence, broken only by the muffled clink of silver on china from the dining room, settled over the kitchen. She angrily blinked away the tears welling in her eyes and reached for the phone again.
“Doctor Klein, please.”
<zoomway>
“Oh, Lois, it’s always good to hear from my favorite pregnant patient,” Klein said cheerfully. “Well, my *only* pregnant patient, actually–”
“Dr. Klein,” she said softly. “I need your help.”
“Though if I had other pregnant–”
“Dr. *Klein*!”
Lois heard a glass-breaking sound in the background and Klein sighing loudly. “There’s a stain that won’t come out,” he muttered.
“Dr. Klein, I *need* your help.”
“I’m sorry, Lois. I heard about Superman at the UN. I don’t mind him wanting to take over the world, really, but he sounded a little … well … nuts.”
“He’s not *nuts*. He’s just not … Clark.”
“Well, I can see what I can find out, but Ruth phoned and said he’s finally displaying messianic tendencies.”
Lois shook her head. “Maybe that’s what Clark *really* needs. A psychiatrist.”
“I’ll drop by as soon as I can get away. I’ll pick up Ruth on the way. She’s been counseling a basketball player with green hair who changed teams–”
“I’ll be waiting,” Lois interrupted, and hung up the phone. She took a deep breath and left the kitchen.
She entered the dining room to see a very unusual scene. Jonathan, the usually quiet, supportive man whose biggest concerns had been getting the crops in on time, and not being late for pie, was red-faced with anger.
Clark, placid in his new position as Lord Kal-El, regarded him with curiosity. “You are not my biological father, therefore I see no reason to address you as such.”
“Listen to me, Clark Jerome Kent,” Jonathan said, slapping his hand down on the table so hard the knives and forks jumped. “A man that diapered your pink behind, taught you right from wrong, took you fishing, and dried your tears when you cried about being ‘different’ *is* your father. Any other man responsible for you being here is a sperm donor!”
“Honey–”
“No, Martha, I’ve tried it his way, now he’s going to try it mine. I’ve had all I can stand of this nonsense. I’m a farmer, he’s a farmer’s son, and not some *Lord* of Krypton.”
“Dad, I…I’m…sor–” Clark immediately rose from the table. In a blur, he was gone.
<chrispat>
As the breeze from Kal-El’s departure died down, the three looked at each other in shock. Lois’ eyes filled with tears again, and Martha put her arms around her.
“Oh, Martha, what are we going to do? That isn’t our Clark.” Lois brushed at her damp cheeks almost angrily.
Martha patted her back and looked over at Jonathan. For once, she was at a loss.
Jonathan thought for a moment. “Maybe if we can figure out what’s causing this, we can come up with something. When did you notice Clark starting to change?”
Lois pulled away from Martha and sat down at the table. “Let’s see. I think I noticed he was acting a little odd shortly after the Kryptonians visited.”
Martha gasped. “Kryptonians?”
“Yes. Didn’t he tell you? Trey brought some New Kryptonian teenagers to see Earth, and he also brought Clark something that had belonged to his family…a crystal sort of trophy thing.”
She got up and led the way into the living room where she retrieved the strange looking object from the cabinet. “Here it is.” As Lois picked up the artifact it began to glow slightly and it hummed. “That’s odd,” she remarked. “It didn’t do that before.”
“It doesn’t look dangerous,” Jonathan remarked as took the object from Lois. As soon as the thing left her hands it fell silent and stopped glowing. “I guess it doesn’t like me,” Jonathan said with a wry smile.
Just then the doorbell rang, making them all jump. Lois looked a little more cheerful.
“That must be Dr. Klein and Dr. Friskin. Maybe they will have some ideas.”
She rushed to the door and opened it to find the two doctors locked in a fond embrace. “Ahem.”
The doctors jumped apart guiltily. “Oh! Lois…er, um…”
Lois smiled slightly and gestured for them to enter. Dr. Klein looked a bit startled when he saw the Kents. “Oh, I thought it was Superman who was having a problem. Where is he?”
<ChrisM>
“He is. That is, he was … here,” Lois assured him, stumbling over her words. Taking what she hoped would be a calming breath, she managed a smile. “I’m sure he’ll be back.”
Lois was frantically trying to figure out how to separate Dr. Klein from his ladylove, since she didn’t yet know about Clark’s secret. Apparently, however, Dr. Friskin sensed that the slightly distraught young woman in front of her wanted to speak to Bernie in private.
“Don’t you just hate guests who arrive and immediately ask where the powder room is?”
There was a half-hearted attempt at laughter from those gathered in the living room. As it died away, Martha stepped forward and offered to show the good doctor the whereabouts of the facilities.
Lois threw Martha a grateful look, but her attention was already on forming a coherent explanation for Dr. Klein.
As soon as Martha and Ruth had left the room, Lois grabbed Klein by the arm and practically dragged him over to one of the sofas, pushing him down onto it and then plopping down beside him.
“Dr. Klein, you’ve got to help us. Clark is getting further and further away from us, from himself, every time I see him.”
Jonathan stepped forward, holding the Kryptonian artifact by one end. “We think it might have something to do with this … thing.”
Klein took it from him and turned it all around, examining it from all sides. “Why?” he asked. “It looks harmless enough.” He shook it slightly and held it up to his ear.
“We’re not sure of anything, but Clark started acting weird sometime after the New Kryptonians left.”
Dr. Klein looked skeptical. “Lois, they’ve been gone for months–
“No, not those … the other ones.”
“What other ones?”
“It’s not that important.” Klein still looked confused however, so she decided to take the time to elaborate.
“So, you see,” Lois concluded, some few minutes later, “Clark didn’t start doing these bizarre, retro-Kryptonian things until after Trey and the others had left.”
“Well,” Klein admitted, scratching at his chin, “I can see that you have a point, Lois, but Clark’s behavior could have been caused by anything.”
“Like what?” Jonathan asked, impatiently.
“Well, did they give him anything to eat while they were here?”
Lois shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Did he go on their ship?”
“No. I wasn’t about to let him out of my sight this time,” Lois told him firmly.
Klein reached forward to pick up the object again. He held it for a while, just studying it. “The carving on the base is quite lovely,” he said, softly. “It kind of reminds me of some of the fertility totems I’ve seen,” he added as he began to stroke it.
“Dr. Klein!” Lois said sternly, hoping to recall his wandering attention. She didn’t want him bringing up chimps’ mating calls or anything like that. Things were complicated enough.
<Eraygun>
“Sorry, Lois, I do tend to lose focus sometimes,” Klein said with a shrug. “Let me take a took at these carvings.”
“I didn’t know you could read Kryptonian,” Jonathan interjected.
“Well, I’ve been studying the carvings on Cl–” he looked around nervously for Ruth, “I mean Superman’s ship. Maybe something will look familiar.” Klein took out a small jeweler’s eyepiece began to closely examine the artifact. “Yes, this one is the symbol for the family name – I recognize that.”
Suddenly a commanding voice rang out from the window.
“Put that down!”
In an instant Clark was at the sofa, and as he snatched the object from Klein’s hands Lois noticed that it had begun to glow again. But this time the glow was brighter and the hum was almost deafing. Giving Lois, Klein, and Jonathan a look of pure fury, he placed it back in the corner where it became dormant again.
That’s when Lois noticed that Clark was no longer wearing his regular Superman suit. Instead he was wearing a skin-tight black suit, similar to the one he had worn when he was with the New Kryptonians, but this time the outfit had a matching black cape and he had a blue metallic headband to match the blue bands on his wrists.
“Cl–Kal-EL, what happened to your suit?” Lois asked.
“The other costume was inappropriate.”
“Inappropriate?”
“Far too garish and outlandish.”
<Misha>
“Garish? You liked it just fine when I made it for you, Clark.” Martha stepped into the room, her cheeks burning.
Clark flinched minutely. “It was adequate for the time.”
Martha fairly growled, and Jonathan moved to her side. “Now, Martha…”
“Don’t you ‘Now, Martha’ me, Jonathan. Our son is behaving like a spoiled six- year-old and I won’t stand for it.” She reached for Clark’s ear and he backed off, fear and a silent plea flashing in his eyes.
“But, Mom…”
“Clark!” His head swiveled towards Lois as his body slowly floated into the corner. She placed a hand on her stomach. “You wouldn’t want your child to act like this, would you, Clark?”
His head swung from his wife to his mother and back. “No.” The whisper was dragged from his lips.
“You’re being affected by that trophy-thing, son. You don’t do this.” Jonathan stepped forward, and Clark shrank back another floated inch.
Clark closed his eyes. The three…four heartbeats that he knew so well were closing in on him, surrounding him. Part of him screamed tactical advice, logical arguments, but it was slowly being drowned out by three angry heartbeats and one steady, silent flutter. He shook his head, a small, helpless jerk.
Lois asked quietly, “Does it have an off switch, Clark?”
His voice was frozen, but he nodded. The heart rates surrounding him picked up.
Her beloved voice, quiet despite her racing heartbeat, the steady flutter underlying her desperation, asked, “Where, Clark?”
He shook, but found his voice. “Press the ‘el’ sigil on the under side.”
He listened to the rush of footsteps toward the precious object, trembled violently as he heard the base scrape as someone picked it up, and slumped to the ground as the tiny crystal flashed red/white again and then dulled.
He didn’t hear Lois’ strangled ‘Clark!’ and he didn’t feel her arms cradle his head close to her. He didn’t smell her sweet fragrance or taste the silent tears that dropped to his pale face. But the tension in his body and the lines on his face were erased as if they had never been.
Silence reigned for several long seconds, each of the occupants of the room listening to the sound of their breathing and their racing hearts. Then a flush echoed through the townhouse.
Ruth reentered the living room with a smile and a hesitant, “Is it safe to come out now?”
She saw that Clark had appeared out of nowhere while she was gone, and now rested on the couch, his glasses askew, his hair mussed and the afghan pulled up to his chin. Lois sat with his head in her lap, cradling him carefully.
“Oh my, is Clark all right?”
“He’s fine, Ruth,” Martha assured her. “He’s just had a long day.”
“Oh.” Ruth’s voice sank to a whisper. She turned to Klein. “Did you see Superman, Bernie?”
Klein nodded, finding his voice. “Oh, yes.” He showed her the thing in his hand.
“I didn’t know they gave out awards for superheroism.”
Jonathan snorted, coughed and excused himself from the room.
“It’s a Kryptonian artifact, Ruth. It was somehow affecting Superman’s behavior.”
She nodded, her forehead creasing. “There certainly are a lot of Kryptonian things that affect the mind. It suggests a high degree of telepathic activity.”
Klein nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve often thought that, Ruth. In some of the tests I’ve performed, Superman has shown a remarkably high level of upper alpha waves, much more than is normal in humans. The pattern is just slightly different from a normal level of alpha waves…”
“So he’s on a different wavelength? Is that why he hasn’t demonstrated obvious telepathic abilities?”
“Exactly! It’s probably a wavelength unique to Krypton, and I’ll bet it was duplicated here as a means of mental data transfer.” Klein waved the object, and Martha removed it gently from his hands.
“Whatever do you mean, Bernie?”
“Well, cupcake, you know I’ve been studying Superman’s spaceship, and based on the technology I’ve examined there I think that this device was meant to be benign. It’s probably some sort of repository of Superman’s family history and was meant to link up telepathecally with him and provide information — guidance perhaps, except…”
“Except here on Earth something made it malfunction,” Lois interrupted.
Klein nodded. “Exactly. Maybe exposure to the sun gave it a *super* charge, so that instead of just imparting information it actually tried to take over and control Superman. This is pure speculation on my part and I really need to study it some more to make sure.” Klein’s gaze wandered off into space. “This technology could revolutionize the telecommunications industry!”
Ruth pointed him towards the door. “I’m going to take him back to his lab before he thinks to start testing that.”
They left, Klein muttering something about ‘highlevelalpha-pathictranscommunicators.’ Silence descended on the Kent household once more.
* * *
Clark swam out of choking blackness and opened his eyes with a gasp. Above him, Lois slumped in the corner of the couch, her eyes closed, her breath feathering the strands of hair in her face. He reached up a trembling hand to cup the side of her face. Her eyes fluttered open.
“Hi, honey,” he whispered up at her, and she leaned into his hand.
“Hi.”
“I’m sorry.”
Lois shook her head slowly. “It’s not your fault, Clark.”
“I almost moved us to the Antarctic, honey!”
“You couldn’t make me move if you tried, superpowers or no.”
Clark grimaced. “True, but I would have tried, if…”
“If?”
He shrugged. “Under all that logic, that emotional straitjacket, there was one thing that I couldn’t do.”
Lois shifted a little, and Clark floated up a tad to let her settle into a more comfortable position. “What’s that?”
“I couldn’t keep you out of my thoughts.” Clark reached for her hand. “You’re my wife, my other half, and no matter what else I wanted to do, I couldn’t do it without you.” They laced their fingers together.
“Not even rule the world?”
Clark wrinkled his nose. “Oh god, I’m gonna have to apologize to the UN, aren’t I?”
“You’d better apologize to your mother first.”
Clark nodded. “She deserves better than I treated her. Her and Dad.”
“And the UN?”
“They can wait until I give *you* a proper apology.” Clark smiled up at his wife.
Lois arched an eyebrow. “Oh? I was hoping for something more along the lines of an improper one.”
“As you wish, Wif-mmmff!”
THE END