Author: Adam Labotka
Email: alabot1@hotmail.com
Rated: PG
This is a rewrite of the end of Sex Lies and Videotape that asks the question, what if Clark had revealed himself to the world to explain the photos. For this story let’s say that the camera had never been dropped and the photos were indeed real. The rest of the story is the same up until the press conference.
Thanks to Cindy and Missy for their help editing and tweaking this story. Also thanks to Zoom’s boards for their feedback and letting me know things worked. The characters and ideas are not mine, they’re DC comics and Warner Brothers. I’m just borrowing them for a time.
Feedback is greatly appreciated at alabot1@hotmail.com
__________
Superman stood at the podium, facing the crowd, as he prepared himself for what he was about to do. Now that the time had come to reveal himself, he wasn’t sure where to begin. The crowd looked up at him expectantly, waiting for whatever he had to say. Attempting to swallow the lump in his throat, he began to speak, “Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for coming here today.”
Clark found himself at a loss for how to continue, should he blurt it out or build up to it? Pondering that, Clark suddenly had an idea. As the crowd waited with baited breath, he began to tell his tale. “It would probably be easiest for me to explain if I started at the beginning. A little over thirty years ago, a man named Jor-El discovered that his planet was going to explode. His wife, Lara, and he decided that they needed to save their son Kal-El from their world’s fate, so they began constructing a space ship for the infant.”
Clark paused, scanning the crowd; all he saw were expectant faces waiting for him to continue. Then he saw Lois, who was standing where he had set her down after rescuing her from Mr. Goode’s trap. She smiled at him supportively, conveying in that look that she would accept whatever came.
After a taking a moment to gather his composure again, he continued, “They didn’t have much time, but they worked diligently and tirelessly and succeeded in building a ship for interplanetary travel. The ship was small, just large enough to house a baby, but it was enough for their purposes.”
Remembering his natural parents, Clark’s eyes began to water slightly, but Lois’ support helped him to keep composure. In a strong, determined voice he continued his narrative. “Amazingly, they also found a planet sufficiently similar to their own that Kal-El would be able to survive there. Miraculously, the inhabitants of said planet were physically identical to them.”
Now Clark’s voice began to crack a bit, as he related the sacrifice his natural parent’s had gone through, to save his own life. “The little time they had drew to a close, and Jor- El and Lara placed their infant son into the ship and sent him on with heavy heart, only a few recorded messages to be remembered by.”
Clark then paused, on the verge of tears saying, “I’m sorry I need a minute; this is hard for me to tell.”
The crowd patiently waited as Clark collected himself again. He noticed a few of them even had moist eyes, obviously feeling sympathy for the couple and what they had gone through. He again sought Lois’ support and saw that her eyes were also filled with tears. Clark realized then that he had never really told her the full story like this, only bits and pieces at a time. Drawing his strength from some unknown reserve, he began again, “So as this tiny ship raced away from the doomed planet, it gave its last gasp and exploded. All that was left rested in one tiny spaceship hurtling across the galaxy.”
Taking a deep breath, Clark went on with his story. “The ship followed its course perfectly and came to the planet known as Earth. It’s journey nearly ended, it fell from the sky and crashed alongside a road in Kansas. A kindly couple, who were unable to have children of their own, saw the fireball and decided to check it out. They came upon a tiny capsule, which opened when they approached. Inside they saw a little baby boy, who was almost instantly endeared to their hearts. They decided to take him in and raise him as their own.”
Most of the crowd was obviously moved by this story, and a few even had handkerchiefs out and were wiping their eyes. Everyone was listening in rapt attention as the story unraveled. To avoid keeping them waiting too long, Clark kept his narrative going, “Now this little boy grew up much as any ordinary boy did, not knowing of his heritage at first. It wasn’t until he was about thirteen when his differences began to manifest themselves. At first, he began hearing things he shouldn’t have been able to, and to compound things, he began to see through some objects. All this scared him immensely, and he feared he was going insane. One day, he told his father about what was happening, and his father got this strange look on his face, before telling him to sit down. The boy then heard a fantastic story.”
Clark paused for a moment; the memories of this time coming back full force. It had been a very emotional time for him, and he was lucky to have had such great parents to help him survive it. When he felt composed enough, he returned to his story, “He was told about how he had been found one day in some strange object they thought to be a space ship. They didn’t know where it had come from, but they thought it might be a Russian experiment, or perhaps even one from the US. Maybe it was even an extra terrestrial. Afraid of what might happen, but concerned for the helpless infant, they hid the evidence and pretended the baby was the illegitimate son of one of their relatives, who left the baby in their care.”
“This was difficult for the boy to swallow, but it did help to explain what might be going on. Afraid of what might happen, his father having warned him that if people knew about him they might want to ‘dissect him like a frog’, he made the decision to keep everything a secret. After many experiments, they got him a special pair of glasses to help him learn to control his special vision abilities. Being different was never easy for him, and he often wished over the next few years that he was normal.”
Clark was amazed at how easily he had gotten through all that. It had been a very rough time for him. It had been very hard growing up different. By now he had come to terms with and even appreciated those differences, but back then he would have given almost anything to get rid of them. It was amazingly silent while he wasn’t speaking. Clark heard very little beyond people breathing and their hearts beating. He realized he had what was sometimes referred to as a captive audience.
As he continued to tell the story, it became easier and easier. The next set of words came out with almost no effort whatsoever, “As his abilities developed, the young man had to ask himself a question. ‘What was he going to do with these abilities?’ He made the decision to help people out whenever he could, because he was unable to sit by and do nothing when he could help. The problem with this was avoiding getting caught.”
Clark paused to take a breath again before continuing, “You see, he still was afraid of people finding out about him. He wanted to keep his abilities secret, but every so often he’d slip up and he’d move to another place where people didn’t know him. He traveled the world for many years, since graduating college, until one day he came to Metropolis.”
Taking another break for effect, Clark looked at all the people intent on him. This was it; he was now going to spell everything out for them. Sure they could have figured it out by now, but that wasn’t the same as actually telling them. But by now he had no choice but to continue.
“In Metropolis he found what he had been searching for nearly as long as he could remember. While he was at an interview for his dream job, this fiery, beautiful woman stormed in on the interview. He was instantly captivated and knew at that instant; he needed to find a way to stick around. The problem was how; he couldn’t just ignore people in need. Well, the very next day inspiration struck; on his way to work a man was trapped down a manhole in an explosion, without thinking he rushed to the rescue. His coworker, the woman from the office, upon seeing the state of his clothing remarked that he should do what she did, bring a change of clothes to work. This planted a seed for an idea. He discussed it with his mother and she designed a suit, which would function as a disguise when he went to help. And thus Superman was born.”
Taking one final break before making the final leap, he passed the point of no return. “That woman was Lois Lane, and the man was Clark Kent. So you see, I could not be having an illicit affair with Lois Lane, because Lois Lane is my wife.”
At this, the crowd erupted in questions, both directed at him and Lois. “So you’ve been hiding this from us all this time?”
“When did you plan on revealing this?”
“What does it feel like to be married to Superman?”
Superman raised his hand, calling for quiet, “Please everyone, calm down. If you will permit me a few more minutes, I will answer your questions one at a time.”
“First of all, I want to warn any criminals thinking of using my wife or parents to control me to forget about it. It’s been done before and frankly I’m getting sick of the attempts. I can’t promise to be as gentle as I have been in the past if it happens again.” Clark said somewhat menacingly, looking into the cameras with a cold hard stare.
“Second, I would like to remind everyone that I did this simply so I could have a life of my own, in private. I just wanted what every man wants, a job, and a family. Having these abilities, I feel I need to help out when I can, even when it’s meant sacrificing part of my own life. I ask you to please accept this. There was no ill will, and no one was harmed by my secret. I also would ask you to keep my private life just that private. When I’m in the Superman suit, at a rescue I’ll give interviews, but when I’m not, please leave my family, friends, and me alone.”
Having said what he wanted to, he then prepared himself to face their questions. “Ok, now I’ll take some questions. One at a time, please.” Pointing at one of the reporters he said, “Ok, you first.”
The reporter from the Star stepped forward a bit and asked, “So Diana Stride was right then? How do you explain both you and Clark Kent showing up at that press conference?”
Clark suppressed a sigh, he should have expected questions like this, in fact there were probably more along the same lines coming. Phrasing his response carefully, Clark replied, “Yes, Diana Stride was correct in her statement that Clark Kent and Superman were the same person. I held a press conference as Clark Kent and with the help of lasers I had a hologram of myself as Superman projected to come by and give a prerecorded speech. I didn’t enjoy bending the truth, but it was the only way, at the time, to keep my secret. I hope that satisfies your question, next?”
Clark called on another reporter, this one from LNN, who stepped forward and spoke, “Does this mean that you faked Clark’s death a few years ago at the hand of those rejuvenated gangsters as well?”
This time the sigh did escape Clark’s lips. So far people seemed to be concentrating on the times he had deceived them. He wasn’t sure this boded well for the future. He hoped they would eventually get beyond the fact he had deceived them.
“Yes. At the time, I was investigating a casino with Lois as Clark. When Clyde shot me, I didn’t have time to think, so I just played dead. There was nothing else I could do, unless I revealed my secret. I spent the time after the incident agonizing about my situation, for Clark Kent was dead as far as everyone was concerned. I didn’t think I could return to that life, and if I did reveal myself, my life as Clark wouldn’t be the same either. In the end, I was able to bring Clark back by claiming to have used Professor Hamilton’s methods. Thus I was able to return to my normal life, for which I was very grateful.”
“I hope I’ve answered to your satisfaction. Now I think it’s about time to end this as I have some peace talks to negotiate.” With that he flew off quickly, leaving a crowd of gaping reporters.
******
Jimmy watched Superman fly off, his mouth gaping open. Superman’s speech was still processing through his mind. He was having a hard time swallowing the idea that Clark and Superman were one and the same. Coming out of his daze, he turned to Lois.
“Whoa, that was really CK?” Jimmy said somewhat incredulously, and with a hint of awe as well, still having trouble reconciling the new information with his previous knowledge.
“Yes, Jimmy,” Lois said somewhat impatiently. “Look, we can discuss this later. But for now we better get out of here, before the others recover and realize we’re here. We’ll be mobbed soon if we don’t.”
Lois half dragged Jimmy along, trying to get a cab. Behind them, the crowd finally recovered and remembered that Lois and Jimmy were there. The reporters in the crowd began chasing after them, wanting questions answered. Lois managed to flag down a taxi, and they escaped from the mob of reporters, heading back for the Daily Planet.
******
Superman arrived at Randy Goode’s offices shortly after leaving the press conference. Squaring his shoulders, he prepared to enter, hoping that his explanation was enough to convince them to let him mediate the peace talks. After regaining his composure, having been fairly shaken by those questions, he entered the room.
President Kasparov and General Pamchenko looked up as Superman entered. They looked at him speculatively for a few moments, and Clark began to feel very uncomfortable. He feared the worst, that they would take the fact he kept his identity secret as reason not to trust him for the peace talks.
After a few interminable moments, President Kasparov began to speak, “Well Superman, this is a very interesting development. Now I can understand keeping a secret to protect. My people can understand this too, I think.I am actually sorry you had to reveal your private identity. I think the fact that you did, though, shows your commitment to peace. I can do no less, if General Pamchenko can agree.”
“If Kasparov is willing, then so am I,” General Pamchenko replied.
Inwardly, Clark breathed a sigh of relief. Revealing his secret had worked, and it looked as if the peace talks would go on. Clark began, “Good. Now if you’re ready let’s get started…”
******
After leaving the peace talks, Clark headed back to the Daily Planet. Amazingly, there weren’t any reporters surrounding the Planet, Perry must have done something about that, Clark thought. He noticed that a window was open on the newsroom floor, the one to the supply closet. Apparently it had been opened for him, so he quickly flew in and spun into his business suit, when he found the closet empty.
He felt a little strange leaving the supply closet after having not been in the newsroom earlier, but there seemed to be no purpose to keeping up the pretence anymore. When he entered everyone glanced up at him and looked for a moment, before returning to their work. Clark was uncomfortable; he didn’t know how people would treat him now that they knew the truth. As he was making his way across the floor to his desk, Perry stuck his head out of his office.
“Uh… welcome back son, I, uh, want to tell you that what happened doesn’t change anything here. Your job will be here,” Perry said. Then mock sternly he continued, “That is assuming you continue to meet deadlines.”
Clark chuckled softly, and replied, “Of course, Chief.”
When Clark reached his desk, Lois came over. “Hey, welcome back,” Lois said softly. “How’d it go?”
“Fairly well actually,” Clark replied. “They were willing to let me mediate after I gave up such a big secret for the sake of peace. Luckily, that seemed more important than the fact I had kept it secret to begin with.”
“That’s good,” Lois said, with a hint of sadness. “Too bad that it had to come to that though.”
After a brief pause Lois continued, “Oh, you should talk to Jimmy. He’s been a bit shell-shocked since the press conference. I think it’d help if you talked to him.”
Clark looked over at Jimmy and he seemed to be staring off into space, oblivious to the world around him. Clark sighed inwardly, feeling bad about Jimmy’s current state. “You’re right, I’ll go talk to him now,” he said.
Clark made his way to Jimmy, slowly. Around the newsroom he saw people looking at him, though they were trying to hide it. He felt like he was being examined. Shrugging off the feeling, he greeted Jimmy, “Hi Jimmy.”
Jimmy snapped out of his daze. “Oh, hi CK,” he said distractedly.
“Do you want to talk about it Jimmy?” Clark said quietly. “About what I revealed today,” he clarified.
“Yeah, I’m having a hard time reconciling things,” Jimmy said. “It’s hard to believe that I knew you all this time, and you were him and I knew him too, yet I never thought…”
Clark interrupted Jimmy, “Come on, Lois is supposed to be the babbler. Let’s go talk about this in the conference room.”
Clark led Jimmy to the conference room and closed the door behind them. Closing the blinds for some privacy, Clark turned to Jimmy, “Ok, now you can talk to me about anything that’s bothering you, and I’ll try to answer any questions to the best of my ability.”
“Well, uh, I guess I understand most of it, I just need time to come to terms with it. It’s just, well, I thought we were friends. Did you ever consider telling me?” Jimmy said, dejectedly.
“We ARE friends,” Clark reassured him. “I never really thought about telling you. Since I was a kid it had been drilled into me I had to keep my differences secret, to protect me and those close to me. I never really told anyone until now. I mean it took me nearly two years to try and tell Lois, and even then I botched it. Luckily she figured it out herself in the end, and later forgave me. But if I ever was to tell someone other than Lois, it probably would have been you.”
Jimmy sighed in relief, “I think I needed to hear that. I couldn’t be sure about anything where you were concerned anymore. I didn’t know how much of it was cover or real.”
“I’m still me, Jimmy,” Clark said. “I’ve always been Clark; I can just do some things no one else can. That’s why I invented Superman. He’s the fabrication. Clark is who I am. Superman is what I can do. It’s that simple.”
“Thanks CK, I think I’m ok now,” Jimmy said, relief obvious in his voice and posture. “This really helped. I should get back to work before the Chief has my hide.”
With that, Jimmy left the conference room. Clark was glad he managed to reassure Jimmy, but he wondered how many more people were having similar problems. He sighed; he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, he mused. ‘Time to get back to work,’ Clark thought. He exited the conference room.
Clark headed for Perry’s office, to check in and see what he should work on now. He knocked softly on the door and heard Perry say, “Come in.”
Clark entered the office slowly. He saw Perry sitting behind his desk, staring at a picture of Elvis, not really paying attention to anything else. Inwardly Clark groaned. It seemed Perry was having problems too. Quietly, he asked, “You ok, Chief?”
Perry looked up at Clark, “I’m just wondering if I’m worth my weight as a newspaper man anymore. I mean, look at all these people I’ve misjudged.” Perry sighed as he continued, “First there was my friend Bill Church, who turned out to be behind Intergang, but I didn’t see it. Then I defended his son when you guys claimed he took over Intergang, and well, I was wrong again. Then there was Senator Black, I never even suspected he could be a Nazi. And finally, I never even thought you might be Superman. Even when I had reason to suspect, I dismissed it.”
Clark looked at Perry. He was obviously depressed about this. Clark thought about it for a moment, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. An idea came to him, and he said reassuringly, “Perry, you have to remember in each of these cases, they were actively trying to prevent people from figuring it out. You knew these people, and you didn’t want to think bad things about them. In my case, well, I think my disguise worked mostly based on the fact that no one expects Superman to live like one of them. They definitely don’t expect to see him working for a living. Also, I’m very fast. It might seem as if Clark and Superman were in the same place at the same time. Even Lois, as close as she was to both sides of me, didn’t figure it out for a long time, and I had been trying to tell her by then so that might have helped her. You’re still a great newshound, you know. I have no idea how you know some of the things you do know. You just had a few blind spots that’s all, happens to everyone.”
“I guess you’re right son,” Perry replied, still somewhat depressed. “I’ll get over it. I’ll just doubt myself for a little while. Oh, I want you to write this story from your perspective, you and Lois. You know, the life behind the secret kind of thing, and what it’s like to BE Superman.”
“Sure Chief, I’ll get on it right away. Don’t doubt yourself; you’re one of the best,” Clark said with a grin as he exited the office. He went back to his desk and talked to Lois about the assignment.
******
After work, Lois and Clark decided to walk home rather than catch a cab because it was such a nice night. Lois entwined her fingers with Clark’s as they walked. After a while of walking in silence, Lois broke it by saying, “How do you feel with everyone knowing who you are, Clark?”
Clark sighed yet again; he had lost count of how many times he had done that today. “I’m not sure. A lot of people are treating me differently, and it seems to have really affected people close to me who didn’t know. I feel bad about the doubt I seem to have given them. On the other hand, it did clear up the problems due to that picture of us. Still, I wish there had been another way. It does make things easier by not having to make up excuses to get away,” he finished with a hint of humor.
“What about you? How is it with everyone knowing you’re married to Superman?” Clark asked, concerned.
“Well, it was nice when all those people who were so upset with me apologized. Of course some of the questions people ask… Don’t they know some things are private? Tabloids kept calling about stuff like our sex life at first, but after a while I think they realized it wouldn’t make much news. I mean you and me married isn’t much of a scandal,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “All in all it hasn’t been much different than before. People always knew I was close to Superman. They just know how close now.”
Clark chuckled slightly. “I guess so. Well, so far it’s been going ok. Hopefully things will continue to go well, and no criminals will try to use people close to me to control me – like you, my parents, Perry or Jimmy.”
“Well, it’s been done before and we’ve dealt with it,” Lois said. “I’m sure we can handle it again. In fact it might be even harder for them, seeing as everyone knows. Besides, that little speech you gave about it, if I hadn’t known you, I would have been very afraid. You were downright scary with that threat.”
They both lapsed into silence and continued walking, hand in hand, just enjoying being together.
After several minutes of walking, Clark felt a tugging on his pant leg and heard a little girl’s voice timidly say, “Excuse me, mister.”
Clark looked down and saw a little girl of about 6 with pigtails looking up at him. Squatting down to be on her level, he quietly said, “Yes, can I help you?”
She looked at him with a little awe as she cautiously said, “Well, umm, are you REALLY Superman?” When she finished asking, she ducked her head embarrassed.
Grinning at her, thinking she looked very cute doing that, he said, “Yes, I am.”
She looked up at him, eyes wide with awe and wonder. She said, a note of apology in her voice, “Sorry to bug you, but I saw you walking by and remembered what they said on the TV about you being Superman. Well, I wanted to tell you thank you.”
“For what?” Clark asked, curious.
“Umm, well, you see, my daddy was on this plane and it was gonna crash. You saved the plane so my daddy could come home to me. He told me about it, and how without you he would prolly be gone.” She gave him a little hug. “You are the most bestest person in the whole world, except for my daddy,” She finished giggling.
Clark smiled at her and was very glad he had managed to save that plane. Warmly he replied, “I’m glad I was of help. Hey, you want to see something cool?” Clark asked conspiratorially.
When the little girl nodded, Clark stepped back a few feet. Looking around to make sure nothing was in the way, he spun into Superman. The little girl stared at him; eyes wider then before, filled with awe and wonderment. “Wow,” she breathed.
Lois chuckled and decided it was time for her to chime in, “You know, that’s exactly what I said the first time I saw that,” she said, amusedly.
The little girl turned to Lois, as if noticing her for the first time. “Who’re you?” she asked.
“Hi, I’m Lois,” Lois said. “What’s your name?”
“Oh, I’m Claire,” the girl replied. “Hey, you’re Superman’s wife, aren’t you? That’s what the TV said.”
“Yes, I am,” Lois answered, carefully.
“Do you and Superman have any children?” Claire asked innocently.
“No, we don’t,” Lois said, quietly.
“Oh,” replied Claire, in a small voice.
“At least not yet,” Lois amended, smiling slightly to reassure Claire.
Clark chuckled as he watched the interchange. “Well, if you two ladies are done bonding, I think I’ll take Claire for a little ride,” he said, with a Superman grin.
Crouching down again, he instructed Claire to get on his back for a piggyback ride. “Hold on tight,” he cautioned her.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, honey,” he told Lois, slowly taking off.
“I know, have fun you two,” Lois responded.
Several minutes later, he returned with an even more wide-eyed girl than before. He carefully set her down.
“That was sooo cool,” Claire said after a moment of recovery. “Can we do it again?” she continued, excitedly.
Clark chuckled as he replied, “Not right now at least. I need to be going, but wait just a second.”
He suddenly vanished and mere seconds later, he reappeared in the same spot. He brought out a picture and signed it: “To Claire, It was a pleasure meeting you. Superman.” He then handed the picture to Claire. “Here you go; something to remember this by.”
“Wow, thanks,” Claire said. “Goodbye.”
Claire darted into the nearby apartment building, leaving Lois and Clark. Clark spun back into his business suit, and rejoined Lois. Holding hands again, they continued their walk home, smiling.
******
Later that evening, Lois and Clark turned on the TV. Flipping through the channels, they came to a news broadcast where the topic was Superman’s identity. Curious, they settled in to watch.
The news anchor announced, “Earlier today, the world watched in amazement as Superman revealed a secret. In response to the recent allegations he had been having an affair with Lois Lane, a married woman, he revealed that he was in fact her husband, Clark Kent. Here’s a clip from the press conference.”
They showed a clip from the news conference where Superman said, ” I could not be having an illicit affair with Lois Lane, because Lois Lane is my wife.”
Cutting back to the news anchor, “There you have it. In his own words. Now, we’ve decided to go out on the street and get reactions from the citizens of Metropolis. Here is what you said.”
Lois and Clark watched intently, wondering how people were reacting. The first interviewee was a young woman who said, “Well, I think it’s romantic. Against all odds, this tiny baby makes it to Earth, is raised by a caring family, and then manages to find love. I’m happy for him; everyone deserves to have someone. I wish everyone had as good a reason to tell lies. I hope they’re very happy together.”
Next, they had a middle-aged man in a business suit. “I guess you can’t blame him for trying to keep his private life secret. I mean, look at celebrities and how they get hounded all the time. Who wants to live like that? Plus, he has to worry about criminals trying to use people close to him to get him to do what they want him to. After all he’s done for the world, I think we should give him a break.”
Then they had a sleazy looking man, who kind of reminded Clark of Ralph, who said, “I don’t get it. I mean, here we got this guy, chicks fallin’ all over him and he goes and gets married? Well, he may be Superman but I don’t think he’s all that smart. Still, you can hardly blame the guy for wanting to keep his life a secret.”
The last person interviewed was an elderly, grandmother type, “I don’t know about others, but I respect Superman even more now. We take him for granted and seem to have thought helping is all he did, but now we know he has a life, from which he has to fly away in order to help others. The world would do well to learn from such a nice, self-sacrificing young man. We could use more people like him.”
“There you have it, real reactions from people on the street,” the news anchor said. “In a poll conducted by this news station, a whopping 95% of people agreed Superman had a right to keep his life private, and an additional 80% say he deserves to be allowed to continue to have a private life. I, for one, agree.”
As the news turned to other things, Lois turned off the TV and looked at Clark. “So,” Lois said with a pause. “What do you think?”
“I think this might turn out ok,” Clark said.
******
Several weeks later, Lois and Clark entered their brownstone after work. Lois tossed her purse toward the nearby end table and slumped onto the couch. Clark chuckled, “Tired honey?” he asked.
“Exhausted, Perry’s kept us so busy it seems we haven’t had time to talk. Between work and Superman, I feel as if I’ve hardly seen you these past few weeks.” Lois replied without even moving from where she lay on the couch.
“Want me to make dinner?” Clark asked quietly.
“Good idea, I’m famished,” Lois answered, sitting up a bit at the thought of food.
“Stir-fry ok?”
“Sounds great,” Lois said, mouth watering at the thought.
Nodding, Clark entered the kitchen. Checking the kitchen, he got out vegetables and some chicken for dinner. He began to chop them up quickly; faster then the human eye could follow.
Lois listened to the rapid sound of the knife on a chopping block from the couch. Yawning, she got off the couch and headed for the kitchen. As she entered the kitchen, she saw Clark at the stove, putting the food into a wok on the stove. Quietly, she slipped into the kitchen and walked behind Clark, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.
“Hi there,” Clark said, turning a bit and smiling at Lois. “I see you managed to get off the couch,” he teased.
Swatting Clark in the chest, Lois replied, “Oh you.” Lois laughed. “The lure of food brought me here.”
Clark chuckled, “Well it’ll be a few more minutes, you can set the table though,” he said with a grin.
Shaking her head, chuckling softly, Lois set the table.
A few minutes later, Clark dished out the stir-fry and they sat down to eat. Taking her first bite, Lois closed her eyes and let out a long, “Mmmmmm. Delicious as always Clark.”
Clark, a bit mesmerized watching her eat, recovered slightly, “Thank you, I try my best,” he replied with a grin.
After eating in silence for a while, Lois cautiously said, “So, how do you feel about everyone knowing about you, Clark? How have things been going now that people know?”
Stopping mid bite, Clark considered for a moment before replying, “It’s very strange. People sometimes come up to me in the middle of the street to thank me. While I like hearing from the people I help, it’s very disconcerting for it to happen to me when I’m not in the suit. I’ll get used to it someday I guess…” Clark trailed off, taking a bite of food distractedly.
“What I really don’t like is the way the press tries to hound me though. I’ll be doing just any ordinary thing, and they start coming up to me with questions, examining what I do. Thankfully that’s dying down. It seems my refusing to give them interviews as Superman if they bug me while I’m not in the suit is working. Overall, I’m learning to live with it, though I’d much rather not have everyone know,” Clark sighed.
Suddenly, Clark’s expression turned to worry as he asked, “What about you? How are you holding up with the whole world knowing your husband is Superman?”
Lois stared at her food for a moment, playing with it with her fork, before quietly saying, “I don’t enjoy being on the other side of the news. Suddenly every little thing I do seems to become vital news, sometimes. Though apparently our domestic life is pretty boring, as they’ve stopped being interested in what I buy at the store. Aside from what you do as Superman, not much interesting has been happening. Except for when that guy tried to kidnap me.”
Lois chuckled, as she continued, “I think he messed his pants when you came out of the building. I think he figured you’d be out and he could take me easily. You sure showed him, ” Lois finished smiling.
Clark, on the other hand, was frowning. “I don’t think it’s so funny. What if I had been out at a rescue? He would have had you! I had hoped no one would try to kidnap you, but it seems it was a false hope.”
Lois put her hand comfortingly on Clark’s arm. “Hey, I knew the risks when I married you. Besides, you were there, and after the way you handled him I don’t think anyone else will be trying to kidnap me anytime soon. So, yes, I’m doing fine. How are your parents coping, Clark?”
“Oh, they’re doing fine. The entire town is helping them out. Seems they’re really grateful for everything I’ve done there and help keep my parents from being bothered by reporters. Rachel’s been arresting reporters for loitering when they try staking out Mom and Dad’s place, so they’ve given up. Mom and Dad are having a much easier time of it then we are it seems.”
Lois got up and put her arms around Clark from behind. “Whatever happens, we’ll get through it together. We managed to get this far, and hopefully, things will only improve.”
Smiling up at Lois, Clark said, “You’re right. What happens will happen. We can’t change that everyone knows. I said it before and I’ll say it again, being with you is stronger then me alone. So together we can get through anything.”
As Clark leaned back into Lois, he thought maybe everything would be ok. Sure the reporters were still causing some problems and the criminal element wasn’t cooperating, but overall, people seemed to accept his secret. He smiled fondly as he remembered Claire, whom he met the night after the revelation. With people like her out there, everything will turn out fine.
The End
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