The Accident -- Epilogue

By Tank Wilson <tankw1@aol.com>

Rated: G

Submitted: May, 2011

Summary: Clark and Lois have a heart-to-heart talk after Clark's
accident.

***

Lois stared at Clark as he made his way into the kitchen and
began to make some coffee. Her mind was in turmoil. It had been
such a crazy day that she could hardly believe that everything
had happened in just the few hours that had elapsed since she got
up this morning.

First, she'd been dealing with her fear for Clark. Was he
healing properly? Was he still in life-threatening danger? Could
she ever forgive herself if he didn't recover fully? Her gut had
been twisted in knots for the last two days.

Then she'd gotten the call from the doctor telling her that
Clark had checked himself out of the hospital and that she was
worried that he could relapse without proper medical
observation.

Lois had hurried over to find Clark casually sitting on his sofa
reading a book -- like it was no big deal that he'd just
undergone major surgery and was lucky to be alive. She was
practically in a panic over his well-being and he shrugged off
her concerns with a simple 'I'm fine'.

Then came the biggest shock. She had pulled up his T-shirt to
give him a harsh jolt of reality by showing him his fresh
surgical incision. But it wasn't there. Only the faintest scar
still existed on Clark's abdomen. She was at a loss for how that
could be.

Now he was making coffee for the two of them, in advance of the
'conversation' they were going to have: a conversation that was
supposedly going to explain his remarkable recovery.

Lois sat, shredding a tissue she'd somehow come into possession
of, as she watched Clark pour the coffee into mugs and bring them
over.

A slight smile creased her worried expression as she noted that
he'd already added the low fat creamer and sugar substitute
sweetener to her cup. He knew how she liked her coffee and he
even kept those ingredients at home for when she dropped in. She
took a sip. It was perfect.

She set her cup down and looked up at Clark expectantly. "So?"

Clark fidgeted, then ran a hand through his hair, a sure sign
that he feeling ill at ease. She reached over and took one of his
hands, giving it a squeeze, and smiled at him.

"You know you can tell me anything, don't you, Clark?"

"It's not even a matter of trust anymore, Lois; I do trust you.
After these last few days, it's become a matter of what you
deserve. You deserve to know the truth."

"The truth?"

Clark stared at his hands for a moment, then raised his eyes to
meet Lois's. "I don't know how you are going to react to this,
but I want you to know that I treasure our friendship, and
working with you these last several months has been the best
experience of my life."

Lois frowned. "Clark, you sound like you're saying goodbye."

He smiled. "I hope not, Lois; that will be up to you." Clark
took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "No use beating around the
bush. Lois, the reason why I've healed so quickly is because ...
I'm Superman."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Clark, Superman is invulnerable. I've
seen you beaten on by that maniac Trask, and I saw you seriously
injured from our accident. Doctors had to perform emergency
surgery to repair internal bleeding. I think they would have had
a hard time doing that if their scalpels bent when they tried to
make their incisions."

Clark sighed. "Lois, you remember the kryptonite Trask had?"

"You mean that rock that Trask imagined would kill Superman?"

"It's real."

"It's real?"

"Yes, I was exposed to it that first night we were in
Smallville. You remember how my folks tried to explain it off as
allergies." Lois nodded. "Well, I wasn't exposed for a very
long time, but when I was, the pain I felt was excruciating and
after that I lost my powers."

Lois bit her bottom lip. "I remember thinking that you reacted
rather oddly to getting a paper cut."

He grinned. "Yeah, I'd never seen my own blood before. Anyway,
I regained my powers just in time to save my folks and Wayne Irig
from the fire Trask set in the barn. Trask found out that I was
Superman then and used the kryptonite on me again. I managed to
toss the rock into the pond, but the powers had gone again. They
only recently came back when I woke up in the ICU unit. I knew I
had to get out of there before they realized that I wasn't
exactly your typical patient."

Lois's forehead creased with frown lines as she stared at Clark
intently. "So, you're really Superman?" He nodded, then
allowed himself to float a few feet off the ground. He grinned as
he saw Lois's eyes widen.

She stared at him for several moments more. "Lois?"

"So, Clark Kent, my partner and my best friend is also Superman
... that is so cool!"

"Lois?"

She jumped up and began to pace around the living room. "This is
going to be great. No one will be able to stop us now." She
glanced at him. "I think I understand now how you inexplicably
were able to escape from ropes and chains, and how you were able
to figure out impossible security door codes." She resumed her
pacing. "Now that I know, we should really be able to bust the
bad guys. No more trying to hide your powers from me. We'll be
able to get into any room, check out what's behind any of those
locked doors, and let's not forget about your special hearing,
that should ... "

Lois's babble was cut off by Clark capturing her and placing a
finger across her lips.

"So, you are okay with this?"

She smiled as he pulled away his finger.

"One more thing, then I'll know for sure."

Clark looked confused. "What's that?"

Lois placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled his head down to
hers. She pressed her lips to his somewhat shyly, but increased
the pressure when it was obvious that he wasn't going to pull
away. They shared the taste of each other for several moments
before they finally broke contact.

Lois patted Clark's cheek. "Yeah, I'm okay with this."

THE END