By Alicia U. <alicia3456@aol.com> or <lxu2@po.cwru.edu>
Rated PG
Submitted January 2000
Summary: Superman leaves a fire scene when … his beeper goes off? Just what is more important than helping at an emergency?
I wrote this in 15 minutes after we talked about this in my biomedical engineering class.
***
"Okay, thank you, Dr. Cechner," Lois Lane said as she walked out of the doctor's office.
"Just remember to give your husband that beeper," the tall doctor replied with a smile, in a voice that reminded her somewhat of Peter Jennings. "You don't want all my hard work to go to waste."
"Don't worry, I won't. I just hope it doesn't go off when he's in some strange place," Lois replied, giggling silently.
What if the little beeper went off when they were at a restaurant, or while he was being Superman? That would certainly make for an odd situation. According to Dr. Cechner, they would have to drop everything they were doing to answer the beeper's call.
Lois walked out of the office with a little hop in her step — because this device would work; it just *had* to, after everything they'd tried. She reached her hand up to her ear to feel the area where the doctor had inserted the little device. It was an interesting feeling, almost like her ear was plugged up, but it was not a painful feeling at all. Hopefully, the device would work the way the doctor said it would.
When Lois got home, Clark was waiting for her on the couch. As she walked in the door, he jumped up and met her. "What did the doctor say, honey?" he asked with a concerned expression on his face.
"Well, he gave me this beeper for you to wear. When the device he implanted in my ear sends it a signal, it will beep, and you have to come find me," Lois said with a sly grin on her face. "And then you'll know what to do."
"Do you think it will work?"
"I hope so."
In the next few days, both waited on edge for the beeper to sound, but when it hadn't sounded for over a week, they pushed all thoughts of it to the backs of their minds. Clark still carried the beeper at all times, and Lois still felt the little device in her ear, but they didn't realistically believe it would ever beep. Neither said anything, though, because they didn't want to destroy the other's hopes that this would turn out successfully and they would finally get exactly what they had wanted for so long.
One afternoon, Clark heard a fire siren and had to leave the newsroom to be Superman. He got to the scene and, after he ascertained that there was no-one left in the building, he began helping the firefighters control the blaze.
Suddenly, a beeping sound emanated from Superman's cape. Clark gasped. Did this have to happen *now?* Even though this was what he had wanted his whole life, he hadn't expected it to come while he was Superman. What was he going to do? How was he going to explain this?
The answer was obvious. He had to go get Lois and take her home. They would think of an explanation later, and that was the least important thing on his mind as he flew away.
The people nearby all stared at Superman, with the strange beeping coming from his cape, while Clark wondered why he hadn't asked Lois to get a beeper that had a vibrate setting on it.
It was obvious to Clark what he had to do. He mumbled a quick regret and flew back to the Planet as quickly as all the super-strength in his body would let him. Lois was already waiting for him on the roof.
"It went off," Clark said, blushing a bright crimson.
"I know. I felt the vibrations in my ear."
The grin on Lois' face grew as Clark asked, "Why did *you* get the vibrating one?"
Lois hopped into his arms and kissed his neck. "Let's stop talking and get home. We have to do this now."
During the short flight home, Lois waited with bated breath for what would happen when they finally got home.
***
An hour later, Lois leaned into Clark's bare chest and yawned lazily. Clark's hands instinctively wrapped around her small body, and he kissed the back of her neck. "That was wonderful."
"I know."
"Yeah."
"Clark, who knows, maybe this temperature monitor worked. Maybe we'll have some good news in a few weeks."
"I hope so. We've been trying so hard."
"Who would have thought you could tell when a woman is ovulating by putting a thermometer in her ear?"
"Yeah, and who would have thought you would ovulate when I was trying to put out a massive fire?" Clark smiled to show he was only kidding, and that he was, indeed happy that the beeper had finally gone off.
"Oh, did people hear it?" Lois said softly, a hint of laughter in her voice.
Clark laughed harshly, "Um, yeah. I think they thought it was a little strange that Superman started beeping, and then he flew away without any explanation."
Lois joked, "Well, you could always freak them out and tell the world that you had to leave because your wife was ovulating."
Clark turned Lois in his arms and kissed her passionately. In between kisses, he managed to say, "Do you want to do something about it again?"
THE END
(Okay, it's probably not perfect. It only took 15 minutes…)