The Next Day: A Not So Merry Christmas.

By Tank Wilson <TankW1@aol.com>

Rated: PG

Submitted: December 2010

Summary: After the "Season's Greedings" episode, Lois hears
that a plane with a stop in Wichita has crashed, and she fears
the worst.

***

Lois Lane still had a smile on her face as she slipped under the
covers and made ready to finally call an end to this magical
night. It had been the one of the best Christmas Eves she'd ever
had... no, it had been *the* best. Nothing had gone as she had
planned, but it couldn't have gone better.

She'd went to a lot of trouble cooking a big holiday turkey
dinner. Something that was a major undertaking for her. She'd
been disappointed that Clark had plans to go home for the Holiday
but was hardly surprised. If Jonathan and Martha were her
parents, she'd look forward to visiting them too. She also knew
that her own family was out of the question. She wanted to enjoy
this Christmas Eve, so even if her parents had been available,
she'd have never thought to invite them. She was a bit sad that
Lucy wasn't going to be able to come, but she had some new boy
toy that she planned to spend Christmas with.

Still, she had looked forward to having a great time at dinner
with Perry and Jimmy. They were her family anyway, her Planet
family. Then, as the day progressed, those plans had begun to
fall apart. Perry's family had suddenly appeared in town, and
Perry's true Christmas dreams had come true. Unfortunately, that
meant that he'd had to skip her dinner. She had understood
completely and was happy for him. Jimmy was still ready and
actually was looking forward to the dinner, but in her young
friend's case, Lois had sabotaged herself.

She had taken it upon herself to patch up the misunderstanding
between Jimmy and his latest object of desire, Angela. So,
instead of coming over to sample her big-deal meal, Jimmy was
spending his Christmas Eve with Angela.

So, despite all her advanced planning and the work she'd put in,
it had looked like it was going to be just Lois and some tired
old Christmas special on television... again. But then there had
been a knock on her door, and everything had changed. Clark had
come by.

When she'd asked, he had made some lame comment about the
airport being snowed in. Of course, there hadn't been any snow.
Clark was just being Clark. He'd found out that her dinner plans
had fallen apart, so he'd showed up... and the night had been
wonderful.

Lois reached up and turned out the light on her bed stand, but
the smile was still on her face as sleep finally claimed her.

***

Lois stepped off the elevator and moved leisurely toward her
desk. She was a few minutes late but wasn't concerned about it.
It was only going to be her covering the city desk today. Even
Perry wouldn't be in on Christmas day. The assistant editors all
took turns covering the various holidays, and this day, she would
be reporting to Dave Majors. He was a nice enough guy, but
someone with very little actual experience. It was his turn.

A skeleton crew of reporters and staff was responsible for
putting together the stories that Dave would have to assemble
into something resembling an issue from a major metropolitan
newspaper. Even though it was Christmas, the definition of a slow
news day, the Daily Planet would still hit the newsstands
tomorrow morning.

Due to her situation with her family, Lois often volunteered to
take the Christmas shift. It allowed many of her colleagues the
opportunity to spend the day with their families and loved ones.
In the past, it had never made any difference to her since most
of the time she'd just be sitting home being bored by bad
television and the continual assault of Christmas music on the
radio.

Luckily, the after-holiday sales ads took up a large amount of
the space in the paper, but she was still expected to fill her
share of column inches. Often, this was accomplished by pulling
stories off the newswires and rewriting them to show a local
perspective. Lois had been running late, so she hadn't watched
any news on LNN as she got ready, nor had she listened to the
radio on her way over. She just couldn't take any more Christmas
carols blaring out of her car stereo.

Lois booted up her computer and was getting ready to scan the
news feeds when Dave stuck his head out of the office. "Lane,"
he shouted. "What are you doing here?"

Confused, Lois met his irritated gaze. "I'm looking for
something to write about."

"Well, I don't know how you missed it, but get down to
Metropolis International. A passenger jet crashed shortly after
take-off about an hour ago. See what you can find out."

"I'm on it." Lois leapt out of her chair, and grabbing her bag
and coat in one motion, she headed for the elevator.

Traffic was light, and the highways were in decent shape, not
having had any appreciable snowfall in several days. Metropolis
International Airport was located a few miles outside of the
downtown area, on the edge of a first-ring suburb called
Blakesborough. Blakesborough had started out as a refuge for the
noveau riche, and like so many other areas which had started out
the same, it had almost immediately begun its slow, steady
decline. It was now considered a suburb "in transition."

Before she was close enough to see the tower and the main
terminal buildings of the airport, Lois saw the smoke that marked
the site of the crash. It took several minutes to get her Jeep
close to the scene. As it was, she still had nearly a half-a-mile
hike to get to where onlookers and other members of the media
were constrained by hastily erected barriers and security.

"Have they given out any official statement yet?" Lois grabbed
the first shoulder she came upon. The man turned and frowned at
her. He shook his head.

After working her way toward the front of the crowd, she could
see fire-fighting and other emergency vehicles surrounding the
still-flaming, broken fuselage of the 727 jetliner. They were
quite a distance away, so she couldn't see anything in any
detail. Lois made a bit of a pest of herself by asking questions
of everyone around her. Apparently, things were finally starting
to calm down. The last of the ambulances left about a half an
hour ago. The emergency crew was letting the fuel burn itself out
and was concentrating on keeping the blaze contained within a
secured perimeter. Since the plane had just taken off, it had
full fuel tanks. The plane had been burning for over an hour, but
now it looked like the fire fighters would have it totally under
control within a few more minutes.

Lois saw an official-looking man approaching a portable stage
that had been put up by several men wearing FAA coveralls. There
was no electricity available to set up microphones, so the
gentleman waved his hands, asking for quiet. Surprisingly, he got
it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have a brief statement to make." He
paused for a moment and consulted a piece of paper in his hand.
"Metro Air flight 731 from Metropolis to Los Angeles, with a
stop in Wichita, suffered some sort of, as yet undetermined,
mechanical failure and went down six minutes into its flight. As
soon as it's safe to do so, crash investigators from the FAA
will examine the wreckage and try to determine the cause of the
crash."

"Were there any survivors?" Someone to Lois' left shouted out
the question. She saw the grim look on the man's face.

"You can understand that we can't release the names of anyone
on the flight until next of kin can be notified, but as far as we
can tell, there were no survivors amongst the passengers or the
crew." He crumpled the paper in his hand. "There will be a
formal press conference back at the main terminal in one hour.
Any questions you have will be answered at that time, but please
realize that there probably won't be much information we can
give you."

Lois' lower lip had been tightly pinned between her teeth ever
since she heard the word "Wichita" come from the mouth of the
airline official. A cold fist currently held her heart in its icy
grip. She needed to get to the main terminal as soon as possible.
She had to know how many flights to Kansas had been scheduled to
leave Metropolis that morning.

***

After a call to Dave, to let him know that she was waiting for
the official press conference, she moved over to stand with her
fellow reporters. On her way to the area set aside for the
conference, she had scanned as many departure video screens as
she could. No plane that she saw, other than Metro Air 731, was
scheduled to be going anywhere near Wichita, or even Kansas.

She'd tried calling Clark at home a couple of times, only to get
his machine. She didn't have the nerve to call his folks in
Smallville. What if he wasn't there?

She knew that Metro Air wasn't the only airline to use
Metropolis International, but it was the largest. M.I. was a
Metro Air hub, so they had the most flights. Still, she knew that
Clark would have had other options, so she made the effort to
check the departures on all the other airlines while she waited
for the press conference to begin. No one else had any flights to
Kansas on Christmas day. With each screen Lois checked, the fear
in her heart grew a little stronger, and her hope a little
dimmer.

Her attention was drawn back to the podium that had been erected
at one end of the concourse. A different gentleman from the one
who had addressed them at the crash site walked up to the
microphone. Lois quickly pushed her way up near the front.

"Ladies and gentlemen, while it's still early in the
investigation into the crash of flight 731, we do have some
information to impart." This man, like his predecessor, paused
and consulted a piece of paper he held in his hand. "It appears
that the crash was precipitated by mechanical failure to the
starboard engine due to the ingestation of foreign matter causing
irreparable harm to that engine."

Lois frowned along with all the others standing near her. Someone
off to her left shouted his frustration at the official. "What
the blazes does that mean?"

"A flock of birds crossed the flight path of Metro Air 731, and
several were sucked into the engine, causing the critical
damage."

Lois heard a low chuckle next to her and looked over to see who
would think such a catastrophe was funny. It was Leo Nunk, the
bane of all legitimate news people. She glanced down at his
notepad and scowled. Nunk had written in large quotation marks,
"Flock of Seagulls brings down Jet". She was tempted to cause
the man bodily harm, but it would only encourage him.

Her attention was drawn back to the podium when someone called
out a question regarding any survivors. Lois allowed herself a
glimmer of hope, only to have it dashed by the look on the man's
face.

"I'm sorry to say that the entire passenger list and crew have
been accounted for... and there were no survivors."

Lois felt herself go numb all over; she was finding it hard to
breathe. This couldn't be happening. Not now, not when she was
just beginning to realize just how much...

She shook her head. She wasn't going to go there; not now. It
had to be a mistake. Clark must have missed his plane. But then
why hadn't he answered when she called? She had to know. She had
to find out. She turned her attention back to the man.

"It's company policy not to release the names of the victims,"
he continued, "for at least twenty-four hours. This will give us
time to notify all the next of kin." He folded the paper and
slipped it into his pocket. "That is all for now. We will let
the media know if there is any new information to be
disseminated." He began to walk off the impromptu stage.

Lois rushed up and grabbed him by the arm. "Excuse me. I know
you can't release the passenger list, but I think my partner
might have been on that plane. I just have to know if he was on
board."

He stopped and faced her, his expression grave. "I'm sorry,
Ms..." he looked at her press pass, "Lane, but even if I was
allowed to give you that information, I can't help you. I don't
have it."

Lois was about to plead her case, but the man shook off her grasp
and strode quickly away. In a few moments, she found herself
standing in the crowded concourse... alone.

***

It had been a frustrating hour for Lois since the press
conference. She had called in the story, such as it was, and Dave
had told her that he'd prep an informational piece in case
nothing new came up before press time, but that she should stay
there and follow up any leads she could find.

Lois had leads to follow, all right, but they tended to be more
focused. First, she canvassed the various airlines, checking and
double-checking their schedules. She confirmed that there had
been no flights scheduled to land anywhere near Kansas in the
last twenty-four hours. If Clark had planned to fly out to see
his parents today, as he had told her he was going to, then he
had to have been on that flight.

She no longer had any choice. She had to call Clark's folks.

It was with a growing sense of dread that she approached a pay
phone in the concourse. She had the Kent's phone number written
down in the little address book she kept in her bag. Her hand
shook ever so slightly as she dialed the numbers. It only rang
twice.

"Hello. Kent residence."

"Hel-lo," Lois' voice cracked. "Martha, is Clark there?"

"Oh, hi, Lois. No, Clark's not here. He--"

A sob escaped from Lois' throat as she slammed the phone down.
Oh, God. It was true. Clark had been on that plane. It was the
only explanation.

***

Lois sat in one of the chairs in one of the departure lounges,
staring out the window. She didn't really see any of the
activity that was going on out on the tarmac; she didn't really
see anything. Her focus was inward. It was on the ever-deepening
pain that assaulted her heart, on the cruel mockery that the
fates had decided to make of her life.

All her life, Lois had been a strong-minded, independent woman.
She had never needed a man to "complete" her or to fulfill her.
But like most people, she did crave companionship. It was just
that those few times she had allowed herself to be vulnerable to
someone, it had wound up as a federal disaster. She had convinced
herself that all men were like her father, and if that was the
case, then she would be fine all by herself.

Then Clark had come along. She couldn't really pinpoint the
exact time when he had changed from the annoying hack from
Nowheresville that she had been saddled with to her trusted
colleague and friend. But he had. He was her best friend... and
maybe something more. But now whatever promise their relationship
might have once held was gone. Clark was gone, and she didn't
know what she would do without him in her life anymore.

Suddenly, her tears burst forth, as if the crumbling earthen dam
that had been her emotional bulwark could no longer hold back the
tide that had been threatening its defenses for so long.

***

Martha Kent hung up the phone, her face a mask of confusion.

"Hey, Ma, what's up? Who was that on the phone?"

She looked over at her son, her bewilderment still evident.
"That was Lois. She asked to talk to you. I told her you
weren't here, but before I could tell her you were out in the
barn with your father, she hung up." Martha frowned. "She
sounded really upset about something."

Now Clark was frowning as he walked over and picked up the phone.
"I hope nothing is wrong."

He dialed the number and waited until her machine answered.
"Lois, this is Clark. Mom said you called. I'm sorry I wasn't
available, but I was out in the barn with Dad. Call me back." He
turned to Martha. "She's probably at the Planet. I should have
thought to call there first." He dialed a number as familiar as
his own. It rang several times. Clark was just about to hang up
when someone answered.

"Lois Lane's phone, this is Lacy Prescott. Can I help you?"

Clark had to wrack his brain to remember that Lacy was a new
researcher hired only a few weeks ago. "Lacy, this is Lois'
partner, Clark. Is she there?"

"No, she left a couple of hours ago. I think Dave has her
covering the big crash."

"Crash?"

"Yeah, a jetliner crashed shortly after take-off from Metropolis
International this morning. I think she's there. Can I take a
message?"

Clark ran his hand through his hair. "Just tell her I called."

Clark strode into the living room and turned on the television.
He flipped through the channels until he came across LNN news.
Martha followed him.

"What is it?" She asked. Clark held his hand up as he
concentrated on what the anchor Barbie was saying.

"...officials still refuse to release any names of the victims
from Metro Air flight 731, but they have admitted that there were
no survivors. Now turning to international news..."

Clark flipped off the set and moved over to the small corner desk
where his laptop sat. It took a few moments to boot it up, but
the screen soon came to life. After connecting to his folks'
internet provider, Clark spent the next several minutes scanning
page after page of information. Finally, he shut the computer
down.

Martha, who had been standing, watching her son with growing
concern, could contain herself no longer. The look on Clark's
face scared her. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"There was a plane crash out at Metropolis International."

Martha reached out and placed her hand on her son's shoulder.
"Oh, honey, that's terrible. But you do know that you couldn't
have done anything about it? Even if you'd been in Metropolis,
it's highly doubtful that you'd have found out about it until
it had already gone down."

Clark shook his head. "I know, Ma. I've learned to accept that
I can't be everywhere. But that isn't what I was checking into.
You said Lois sounded upset, so I looked up some information on
that flight." Martha nodded. "Apparently, the main destination
of Metro Air flight 731 was Los Angeles, but they had a stop
scheduled for Wichita."

Martha held her hand to her mouth. "Oh, my."

"I told Lois that I was taking an early flight out to here,
after I left her last night."

"You don't think... Do you think that she thinks you were on
that flight?"

Clark shrugged. "I don't know. It's possible. You did say she
sounded upset."

Martha slowly walked over and sat down at the kitchen table. Her
eyes were misted. "Oh, Clark, you can't let her think that."

"So, what can I do? Lois doesn't have a personal cell phone,
and I know her beeper still hasn't been replaced from when she
lost it during our last investigation." Clark sat down next to
his mother.

She grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Honey, you know
what you have to do."

Clark grimaced. "You're right." He stood and spun into the
suit. "I'll call you and Dad tonight."

"Just make sure that Lois is all right."

He nodded, and then in a red-blue blur, he was gone.

***

Lois was still sitting, staring out the window at the airport. A
few tears still rolled down her cheeks, but not enough so as to
draw any attention from the folks seated nearby. She had chosen a
seat away from the main body of passengers waiting for their
flight to be called.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Lois, can I take you home?"

She turned and found herself staring into the bright blue
spandex-covered chest of her oft-time savior. Unfortunately, for
all the occasions he'd been in the nick of time to save her
butt, he hadn't been there this time. She stood and threw her
arms around him.

"Oh, Superman, he's gone. Clark is gone." The waterworks
started in earnest anew as she buried her face into his chest,
soaking the iconic red and yellow shield.

He gently stroked her hair. "Shhh, it will be okay. Let me take
you home." He felt her nod.

While hundreds of thunderstruck airport patrons watched, Superman
gently guided the distraught Lois through the airport and out
into the clean, crisp air.

Superman wrapped her close to his body to provide additional
protection against the cold, but the flight was a short one, and
in only minutes, they were landing on the front steps heading
into Lois' building.

As if in a trance, Lois walked up and let herself into the
building. Superman followed. Another minute later, she had
managed to unlatch all the locks to her door and was stepping
into her foyer. She didn't look behind her, as she just dropped
her bag and coat on the floor. She was hardly aware that Superman
had closed the door behind them.

Lois stared listlessly into her apartment. It seemed suddenly
cold and empty of life. The little tree that she and Clark had
laughed about stood forlornly in the corner. The bright star on
its top was the only thing that didn't appear gray to her eyes,
and even that had lost much of its brilliance from the night
before.

The only thing that hurt worse than the fierce ache she felt in
her heart was the knowledge that it would never go away. In so
short a time, Clark Kent had become her best friend and maybe
something more, and she wasn't looking forward to a life that
didn't include Clark in it.

The blinking light on her answering machine caught her attention.
If this had been a short time earlier, she might have felt a
surge of hope that it was Clark calling after receiving one of
her messages. But the certainty of her despair had quashed that
hope. It was probably just Dave wondering where the heck she
was.

She pushed the button and nearly fainted when she heard Clark's
voice coming from her machine. She turned toward Superman, her
eyes wide in wonder. "He's... that's... that's Clark?"

Superman nodded. "That's what I came to tell you, Lois. Clark
was never on that plane." Superman looked nervous. "Lois...
I--"

"You?" She walked up to him and put her hand on his chest.
"Oh, of course. Why didn't I think of it as a possibility
earlier? You're his friend; you probably flew him out to the
farm." She flailed one hand about, as if it could help her
think. "What... was it like some sort of Christmas present?"

Superman stepped back and stared at her like he did when he had a
hard time following her leaps of logic. Clark did that, too. She
blushed.

"Um... yeah, I guess you could call it that." He began to raise
his hand toward his hair and then stopped himself. "I, um, gave
him a ride to his folks' place. After I heard that he'd stayed
in Metropolis to attend your dinner party, it was the least I
could do. It's what friends do."

Lois slowly sauntered back close to Superman, and using her
finger, she traced the "S" on his chest. "Am I your friend?"

A wary look came over the Man of Steel. "You know that you are,
Lois."

She bowed her head and whispered into his chest, knowing that he
could hear her. "Could I get a ride... somewhere?"

"Sure, Lois." He smiled at her. "Where would you like to
go?"

"Smallville. More specifically, the Kent farm. I need to see
Clark."

"I can do that."

fin

THE END