Superman Movieverse Forum

Charlie had been gone for nearly a week. It was the first time he’d been gone for more than a day at work since they’d been forced into hiding. It had been strange, not having him around. As Lois Lane she’d always been independent, self-reliant. Even when she was living with Richard she hadn’t had the same connection she now had with her husband – Clark or Charlie or Kal, or whatever his name really was.

But she had missed him. Badly. She had missed his warmth in their shared bed, missed his strong arms around her when she woke from the nightmares she still had, missed his calm presence when Jay was being difficult.

“How did it go?” Laura asked.

“Good,” he said. She sensed he didn’t want to elaborate. She also knew he would tell her what happened, sooner or later.

She wasn’t disappointed.

“I was able to repair the damage Luthor did to the Fortress,” he said as he unpacked his travel case. “Everything works again. This new meta-human league will be using it as a headquarters, at least until they can build their own. There’s been a suggestion of putting it on the Moon.”

“Are you okay?” she asked. He’d been pensive ever since she picked him up from the airport.

“The Fortress’s medical scanners and databases are better than STAR Labs,” he said quietly. “But even the Fortress AI can’t say when, or if, I’ll ever get all my abilities back. It does confirm it’s a virus-like infection.”

“But, of course, there’s no treatment and no cure,” she completed for him.

He sighed and shook his head. “Maybe if I’d had access to the Fortress right after I was exposed, there may have been a treatment. But maybe not.”

She studied him for a long moment. They’d been together long enough that she knew his moods. There was something else he wasn't saying.

After another long moment he sighed and sat down on their bed. “The League representative was Wonder Woman,” he said so softly she might not have heard it if she hadn’t been watching him.

“You spent a week in the Arctic with Wonder Woman?” Laura wasn't sure how upset she was supposed to be, or who exactly she was supposed to be upset with – Bruce for setting it up or Charlie for going along with it.

“Nothing happened,” Charlie added.

“And I’m supposed to believe you?” Laura spat. “I mean, look at her. She’s every guy’s wet dream. Tall, gorgeous. Hell, she could poke a guy’s eye out with those…”

“I’m not every guy,” Charlie said gently. “And I’m not her type.”

“And what type is that?” Laura asked. Now she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel – angry at Charlie for getting into a compromising situation or relieved that Wonder Woman hadn’t wanted her obviously desirable – and taken – hunk of man.

Charlie took a moment before answering. “She’s a warrior, first and foremost. That’s how she’s been trained. She’s the Themysciran version of a Top Gun. That’s not a come-hither sway she’s got. That’s a swagger. There was only one man on the planet who might have been able to best her and that was Superman.”

“And he’s not around anymore.”

Charlie nodded. “He also wasn't a warrior and she doesn’t know what to make of someone who would walk away from his mission to protect his family. That isn’t the warrior’s way.”

“Return with your shield or on it,” Laura quoted.

“Exactly.”

Laura wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that he would honor his vows no matter what the provocation. But Diana of Themyscira was so damned gorgeous and Laura Kendall was so ‘average’ and now she was pregnant and moody and not at all sexy. She could understand how a man might be tempted to taste perfection.

And she knew how other women looked at Charlie. He didn’t see it, but she saw the looks he got when they were out together. Even as ‘plain ole Charlie Kendall’ he was tall and fit and gorgeous. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t want to jump his bones?

“Clark?”

His eyes widened at her using that name.

“I know I don’t say it very often, but I love you.”

“I love you, Lois. And I swear to you, nothing happened and nothing will.”

She wished she really believed it.



Spring turned into summer. Jay graduated first grade with As and Bs, even in gym. There was no longer any sign of the fragility he had when he was younger. Charlie finished his teaching degree and had interviewed with several of the nearest school districts. He was confident one of them would hire him even if it was part-time.

Martha and Ben moved into a small house a little ways out of town. Jay was spending a lot of time with them, which was good for all of them. Martha and Ben hadn’t really liked Minneapolis – Martha hadn’t been able to plant a garden. Now she had the space to plant a good sized garden and Jay loved to help.

Bruce arranged for secure email and phone communication so Laura could stay in touch with her parents and sister. Her mom was ecstatic over the possibility of another grandchild, even if she might never see him or her in the flesh. Laura’s parents didn’t know what her name was now, only that she was married and living somewhere in the U.S. Unless Richard told them, they didn’t even know the man she’d married was once known as Clark Kent.

“Clark, there is no way in hell I’m sitting through Thanksgiving dinner with my father and all the other crazies in my family without backup,” Lois told her partner of six months.

“But I…” Clark began to protest. Then he snapped his mouth shut and his shoulders sagged even further as if he had realized how futile his protest of other plans really was. “What time do you want me to pick you up?” he asked.

“I’ll meet you there at three,” she told him, handing him a Rolodex card with her sister’s address on it. “And don’t you dare be late.”

To Lois’s surprise, Clark was waiting in front of her sister’s house when she drove up. Adding to her surprise was the fact that Clark was actually dressed casually. Chinos and a heavy cable knit sweater that looked like it might even have been hand knit. In his hand he had a paper sack that looked like it might hold a wine bottle.

He hurried over to her as she struggled with the large bowl of salad that was her contribution to the Thanksgiving feast. It was all anyone in the family trusted her with.

She raised one eyebrow at the sack in Clark’s hand. She had told him he didn’t need to bring anything.

“I didn’t know what to bring,” he said. “So I brought some sparkling cider. It’s non-alcoholic. I hope that’s okay.”

She stared at him a moment. Sometimes Clark was just so strange. But then, maybe he remembered that her mother was a recovering alcoholic.

The front door opened to reveal Lois’s father standing there. Samuel Lane, General, U.S. Army. Even in civilian clothes he was stiff and looked like he’d rather be in uniform. Clark introduced himself and stuck out his hand to be shaken.

The General looked him up and down and simply walked away.

“Don’t mind him,” Lois ordered, following her father into the house. “He hates civilians. And left wing pinko journalists are the worst of the lot.”

“Is that why you…” Clark began.

Lois laughed. “No. But it’s definitely one of the perks.”

The rest of the family was already there. It was Lucy’s house so obviously Lucy, her husband, Ron, and their three kids were there. Lois’s mother, Elinor, was overseeing setting the table. Maman, Lois’s grandmother, was sitting in the recliner. Lois wasn't sure if she was watching the movie with the kids or not. Over the past few months Maman’s dementia had gotten worse. This was probably the last holiday she would spend with them. For now she seemed okay, but that could change at any moment when Maman forgot where she was and who the people around her were and panicked.

Lois took the salad into the kitchen. Her father followed her, glowering.

“Don’t tell me. Ron’s already filled you in on Clark,” Lois began. Sometimes a preemptive strike was best. “You hate him without even meeting him which is typical for you. But you didn’t have to be rude.”

“He’s a…” Sam started.

“He’s a what? A nerd? A geek? He’s put up with me for the past six months at work and I haven’t killed him and he hasn’t quit. That has to say something for him.”

She concentrated on tossing the salad. Thanksgiving was supposed to be a happy family get-together.

“It’s just that you can do better and you know it.”

“Better than what? Lucy told me to bring somebody so I did. I’m not running off to Vegas with him,” Lois told him. “And even if I did, it would be none of your business.”

Lois turned her back on her father. After a moment she heard him leave. Lois sighed. She had known her father wouldn’t like Clark and she had known that Ron would tell him all the newsroom gossip about the tall Midwesterner. Not that there was much to tell beyond the fact he had an obvious crush on Lois. Clark wasn’t gay. And although it wasn't something she would ever say aloud, he was one of the few people capable of keeping up with her.

“I’m sorry,” Clark’s voice intruded into her thoughts.

“Nothing for you to be sorry about, Clark,” Lois assured him. “It’s my dad who’s being a jerk. Ignore him. He’s an equal opportunity hater.” She gave a wry chuckle. “He’d hate Superman if I went out with him.”

“Why? Because he’s an alien?”

“Because even Superman isn’t good enough for Princess Lois,” Lucy said with a grin. “Don’t worry about the General. He’ll come around. Eventually.”

Only Sam Lane never did ‘come around’. He disliked everything about Clark – his quiet demeanor, the fact that he’d never joined the military, the fact that he disapproved of the U.S. government’s high-handed actions overseas. For Sam it was ‘My country, right or wrong’. Clark had a different view. It was something few people realized about quietly understated Clark Kent – he was a quiet, even shy, man, but there were things he believed in passionately, things he was willing to fight for. The biggest one was a person’s right to live free of want and free of fear.

Laura sighed. Look at them now – Laura, Charlie, and Jay. Their lives were circumscribed by fear. Fear of a madman. Even from his prison cell, Luthor’s threats laid a pall over their lives.

Laura doubted her father would understand even now. Running and hiding wasn’t in his vocabulary. Of course, it hadn’t been in Lois Lane’s vocabulary either. But Lois Lane was dead.



The summer days grew hotter and Laura’s pregnancy became more noticeable. Charlie was offered a job at the local high school. Things were looking relatively good. But things had been looking good before Christmas, too. Before they’d had to run again.

Laura’s boss, Max, was entertaining a group of visiting VIP’s from the East Coast, including Bruce Wayne. Of course Laura Kendall didn’t know Bruce Wayne.

She was working paperwork when her office door opened. “Can I help you?” she asked without looking up.

“Hello, Princess.”

Startled, she looked up to see a uniformed man standing in the doorway – General Lane, her father. Laura’s mind spun for a moment then she said, “General Lane, is there something I can help you with?”

He chuckled drily as he shut the door behind him. “Mister Wayne wanted to warn you. I But I… I wanted to surprise you.”

“You surprised me.”

He seemed disconcerted at her reaction. He studied her a long moment and she could see his eyes linger over her belly.

“Your mother told me you were expecting another child,” he said after another long moment. “I wasn’t sure I believed her.”

“Believe her,” Laura said. “The baby’s due the first week of September.” She studied him a long moment. He was thinner and much grayer than she remembered. Even his skin looked a little gray.

“What are you doing here? How did you find me?” she asked.

“A man in my position… I called in a few markers, found out who arranged for your disappearance.”

“And who else knows?”

He shook his head. “I’ve been working with classified and highly sensitive material most of my career, Princess.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

He smiled. “That’s my Princess. Always wanting answers.”

“Okay, here’s a question you should be able to answer. Why are you here?”

He actually managed to look worried. “I… This isn’t the place to discuss that. In a few minutes you’ll get a call from your supervisor that you and your family are being invited to have dinner with Mister Wayne and me to discuss some minor details in some military hardware WayneTech is designing for us. At some point before or during dinner, Mister Wayne will beg off. Then we can talk.”

There was something in his voice that worried her.  “Dad, what’s wrong?”

“What makes you think there’s something wrong?” he asked, opening the door to leave.

A sudden thought. “Did your sources tell you who I’m married to?”

Lane chuckled. “You’re married to your son’s father. I guess late is better than never. I’ve already been warned to keep an open mind about him.”

“By whom?”

Another chuckle. “Let’s just say that you and he have friends in some places I certainly never expected.”



As General Lane had predicted, Bruce Wayne invited the Kendalls to join him and General Lane at dinner at Angelino’s. Also as predicted, Bruce’s cell phone rang as they were placing their dinner orders. He apologized, arranged to take care of the dinner check, and hurried off.

To General Lane’s credit, he did a credible job of not recognizing Jay and Charlie when he spotted them coming into the restaurant.

They chatted for a few minutes after Bruce’s departure – Jay’s school, Charlie’s new job. It was Charlie who finally asked the question. “Why are you here?”

“I’m not allowed to come visit my daughter and her family?”

“You know what I mean,” Charlie said. “Your eldest daughter is listed as dead. We’re supposed to limit our contacts with the past.”

Lane sighed. “I know the drill. But I knew there was something ‘off’ with that car bombing.” He looked at Laura. “You’re too smart to get caught like that.”

“Nobody’s that smart,” Laura said. “We got lucky.”

Lane nodded. “Like you got lucky when the people who owned Harrington decided you were dangerous?”

“Maybe,” she said.

“You have powerful people looking out for you,” Lane said.

Laura didn’t comment but she was curious as to where her father was leading. Charlie looked worried and Jay was concentrating on his meal.

“You have no idea what I went through to get permission to come out here,” Lane continued. “Even your mother doesn’t know exactly why I decided to take up Wayne’s invitation to look over his factory here. I don’t normally do the glad handing thing.”

“So why did you?” Laura asked. “You know I’ve been in contact with Mom and Luce through email and phone calls.”

“This isn’t something I wanted to say over the phone or in a letter,” he said. His expression grew sad and distant.

Laura felt alarm bells going off in her head. It was like when she used to do interviews and the interviewee started waffling on her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Lane sighed heavily. “Isn’t it enough that I wanted to see my daughter and her family?” He turned to Charlie. “When White came back from that trip to Reno he told me Lois was married. I had a hard time believing him. Then he told me who it was and everything clicked together. You knew what that madman had planned but you put yourself in a front of a bullet that you knew could kill you. Everything fit, including why…” His voice trailed off as though he was afraid to vocalize the next part.

“Why what?” Charlie prompted.

“Why so many people have put so much into watching your back,” Lane said. “I seriously doubt they would have put as much effort into keeping just Lois safe.”

“You might be surprised,” Charlie said quietly.

“Maybe,” Lane said. “But I doubt it.”

“You didn’t go to all this trouble to let me know you know I’m married to my son’s father,” Laura pointed out.

Her father managed to look guilty. “The worst day of my life was when I thought we’d lost you. I always thought tomorrow would be there. And suddenly it wasn’t and I’d left so many things unsaid. You’d think a man in my profession would know better but we all think we’re immortal until it hits us between the eyes that nothing is immortal.”

“Dad, what’s wrong?” Laura insisted.

Lane shook his head. “Maybe I just wanted to see for myself that you were okay. Maybe I just want to spend some time with my daughter and her family before they disappear again.”

“And what makes you think we’re going to disappear again?” Charlie asked.

“That madman still has a contract out on Lois Lane, Clark Kent, and Superman. Even in a SuperMax prison he’s dangerous. And somebody might just mistake you for them.”

“We’re being careful,” Laura assured him.

“Good. Now let’s forget all this bad stuff for a while,” Lane said. “Jay, your grandma tells me you play soccer.”

Jay nodded. “And Dad’s the coach.”

“Really? Grandma didn’t mention that…”



“Do you believe anything he said?” Laura asked her husband after they were home and Jay was put to bed.  It had been a long day for all of them and Jay had actually fallen asleep in the car after they’d dropped Grandpa Lane at the airport.

“Oh, I believe everything he said,” Charlie replied. “But I also know he didn’t tell us everything.”

“Oh?”

Charlie paused, debating how much to tell her. She knew his powers were back for the most part, albeit at a fraction of what they had been, so she had to suspect he had checked her father over surreptitiously. “He’s right about Luthor having a contract out on Lane and Kent, but he didn’t mention the fact that the Feds know it and are taking extreme measures to make sure he isn’t sending or receiving messages from the outside. Luckily, one of the failures of a mind like Luthor’s is that they can’t grasp the idea that there are others out there with equally high IQs and even though they might be fooled once by someone like him, they won’t be fooled twice.”

Charlie sighed. “I’d feel sorry for him if he wasn’t such a monster. His mail is censored. He isn’t even allowed magazine subscriptions. If he wants something like that, they send someone out to a randomly chosen newsstand to pick it up for him. Same for books. He’s not allowed a computer but he is given a legal pad and a pencil. Those are removed everyday. The papers are scanned and destroyed. They might have some value someday, who knows? But they don’t want to run the risk of anyone making use of anything Luthor comes up with.”

“You haven’t told me what you know about my dad,” she pointed out. He smiled inwardly. Despite everything, she hadn’t lost her reporter’s instincts or how to stay on task.

“I scanned him as best I could,” Charlie admitted. “I’m not a doctor, but it looks like he has cancer and it’s metastasized.”

“No…” she murmured.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why didn’t he say anything?”

“Maybe it was like he said. He wanted to make sure you were okay, that you were as happy as you could be under the circumstances. I also think he didn’t want us to make a fuss. It would have raised suspicions.”

“How long before…”

“A few months, maybe. I’m not a doctor. I could be wrong.” But he knew he wasn’t wrong. Sam Lane had wanted to come and say goodbye to his daughter and grandson.
 


General Sam Lane’s funeral was one month later in Washington D.C. The various obituaries extolled a life of outstanding military service, mentioning his relationship to slain journalist Lois Lane only in passing if at all. They said he died after a ‘short’ undisclosed illness.

Laura, Charlie and Jay flew to D.C. for the funeral over the objections of both Bruce Wayne and the U.S. Marshalls handing their case.

“The Kendalls have no reason to go to General Lane’s funeral,” Bruce argued over the phone when Laura told him of her plans.

“Maybe Charlie served under him or something,” Laura suggested.

“Charlie was never in the military and you know it.”

“Then you find us a reason to be there,” Laura challenged. “Because I’m going whether you like it or not.”

Bruce finally conceded that it was possible that Charles and Laura Kendall had known General Lane sometime in the past. When and where was nebulous.

The funeral was at Arlington. The day was hot and muggy and Laura remembered why she hated the area around Washington D.C. She hated the sweltering summer heat. Being pregnant didn’t help at all. At least there were trees lining the road. They afforded at least a little shade for the people waiting for the procession to go by.

The band came first, followed by a platoon of marching soldiers and a color guard. Then came the chaplain, the caisson, and the riderless horse. The mourners were led by the family – his wife and surviving daughter and son-in-law and their children. There were a surprising number of mourners. Laura thought she even saw the vice-president in the group.

Laura didn’t dare approach her mother or sister.  Approaching Lucy’s husband, Ron, was completely out of the question. And to add more issues, Wonder Woman was there, walking beside Elinor Lane.

Charlie took Laura’s hand and led her and Jay to join the solemn group behind the caisson.

The interment ceremony was simple and conducted with a military precision Sam Lane would have appreciated. There was both a cannon salute and a rifle salute. The flag was folded and passed through several hands before being presented to Mrs. Lane. Finally, following a long standing tradition, one of the Arlington Ladies escorted by a tall young soldier presented a card of condolence.

“Was this what Superman’s funeral was like?” Jay asked quietly.

“A little,” Laura answered. “Only there were more people to say goodbye and instead of soldiers there were police and fire fighters.”

“Was that because more people liked Superman?”

Charlie answered, “I think it was more that more people knew about Superman than knew about General Lane. But that doesn’t mean the general was less important, or his job was less needed.”

“Well spoken,” Wonder Woman said.

She was as tall as Laura had imagined, as tall as Charlie in her heeled boots. Tall and beautiful and utterly, inhumanly, perfect.

“You are Laura,” Wonder Woman said, taking Laura’s hand in both of her own. “I grieve with you. He was a fine warrior. A fine man. You must be very proud.”

“Yes, of course,” Laura said. Maybe she was proud of her father but it wasn't anything she’d ever thought much about. The hurts of her childhood went too deep.

Wonder Woman was watching Laura carefully, weighing her next words. “I had the privilege of working with the General since my arrival in your country,” the tall woman continued. “He often spoke of his daughters. How proud he was of them, especially his eldest. She was a warrior for Truth.”

Charlie spoke for Laura. “It’s a pity he never once told her that.”