"I know," Lois replied. "I wanted to as well - it was very hard pretending just now. But we can do this! We just need to be patient. I promise you we'll come up with a way for you to come back." She placed her hand on his arm briefly, but was careful to do no more than that, aware that the blinds were open and anyone could see in.

Clark took a deep breath, and when he spoke again he was calmer. "You're right, Lois. We'll find a way. And we need to get on with things right now. What do you suggest we do first?"

"I want to speak to Detective Wolf down at the precinct," Lois answered. "See if he's found out anything more about where the mob are hiding out - and I need to ask about you." She looked at Clark, hoping he'd understand. "He's investigating the shooting - to make this look right, I should be hassling him to find your body."

Clark nodded; it made sense. "Fine," he said. "When Jimmy brings us the list of sightings, I can take a look and see whether there're any common patterns. Then I can go and take a look around and check the buildings in the areas."

"You?" Lois challenged. "You mean *we* can. You promised me we'd do this together."

Reluctantly Clark nodded. "When it's safe," he qualified.

Lois began to protest at this. "Clar-mmf!" She stopped abruptly as Clark super-sped to her side and clamped his hand over her mouth. "You can't call me that!" he muttered.

She nodded, and he quickly released her. "Sorry, Superman," Lois said. "But I really don't see why I can't go -"

They were interrupted by a tap on the door, heralding the entrance of Jimmy with a pile of computer printouts. "These were all I could come up with, Lois, Superman - there doesn't seem to be any connection between the sightings of any of the mobsters as far as I can tell." He dumped the papers on the table and paused before leaving. "Superman, can't you use your X-ray vision to find them?"

Clark felt annoyed at this suggestion: did Jimmy think he hadn't thought of that? "X-ray the entire city, Jimmy? Have you any idea how long that would take?"

Jimmy flushed, but persisted. "Wouldn't it be worth it to find Capone?"

Irritated, and feeling guilty about it because he knew Jimmy was only trying to help, Clark replied, "I'd prefer to see whether we can narrow the options down a bit first." He strode towards the conference room window. "Lois, I'll be back in a few minutes - there's something I want to check out."

Lois watched him go. She was well aware of Clark's sense of frustration, stemming from not being able to be himself in the newsroom, and also from worry about whether he would be able to be himself, Clark, ever again. She hoped that getting away for a few minutes would help Clark calm himself down.

"Say, Superman's a bit moody, isn't he?" Jimmy commented. "I don't think I've ever seen him so touchy."

"He's upset about Clark as well," Lois excused Clark's behaviour. "Remember, they were pretty close."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jimmy responded. "Anything else I can do, Lois? You know I want to see CK's killers behind bars as much as you do."

"I know you do, Jimmy," Lois replied. "The best thing you can do for me is to make sure that no-one disturbs us in here unless it's a matter of life and death, or someone's found Capone."

*****************

Clark returned to the Planet shortly afterwards to find Lois on the telephone. He had, while he'd been flying, admitted that he had been very unfair to Jimmy. It wasn't the young photographer's fault that Clark's entire life was in pieces. Nor was it Jimmy's fault that no-one, not even Superman, was able to find Capone.

Clark mimed a drinking motion at Lois, to ask whether she wanted a coffee; when she gave him a thumbs-up he exited the conference room and went in search of Jimmy. He found the photographer using the computer at Lois's desk. Jimmy seemed surprised to see the super-hero and began to apologise for attempting to tell Superman what to do. Clark interrupted him and apologised for his curtness, assuring Jimmy that he and Lois very much appreciated his help and ideas.

Returning to the conference room to find Lois had finished her phone conversation, he set down the coffee and told her about his exchange with Jimmy. Lois was relieved, though she didn't say it, instead filling Clark in on her conversation with Detective Wolf. Unfortunately, the police still had no idea where Capone was hiding out, and it appeared that he had attempted to bribe a local Congressman earlier that morning. The police were also trying to locate Professor Hamilton, the author of the scientific papers on reconstructing cell structures from DNA who, it was thought, might have had something to do with the reincarnation of the gangsters. Unfortunately, Hamilton had been missing from his home address for over a week, and since his discrediting within the scientific community, no-one knew where he worked. Lois and Clark themselves had had no success in attempting to find him.

Clark explained to Lois that while he had originally left to escape the atmosphere in the newsroom, he had actually gone to the gambling club. "I remembered Capone saying last night that Georgie Hairdo was dead and that the club was now Capone's. So I X-rayed it, but there's no sign of any secret hideout and no-one was there just now." He sounded disappointed, and Lois couldn't blame him.

*****************

"And you really can't find them anywhere?" Jonathan asked, amazed.

"No, Dad - it's as if they've disappeared into thin air," Clark replied. "I flew around all the areas of the city where any of them have been seen, and X-rayed buildings and basements, but there's no sign of them anywhere." He sighed, and continued pacing his parents' kitchen while Martha looked helplessly at Lois. "What's so frustrating," Clark continued, "is that Bonnie and Clyde held up another bank today. I heard the alarm and went to investigate, but I had to stop a runaway truck and by the time I got to the bank there was no sign of them."

After their fruitless day at the Planet, Clark had suggested to Lois that they visit his parents for dinner. He'd wanted to bring them up to date on their plans anyway, and he also thought that it might help Lois in coming to terms with the 'new' Clark she was now getting to know if she had an opportunity to speak to his parents. Lois had been happy to agree, particularly since it meant an opportunity to travel by Superman Airways, as Clark referred to his own personal mode of transport.

Martha and Jonathan had been very supportive of Lois's determination to find a way of bringing Clark back from the 'dead', though as yet no-one knew how this could be achieved. All of them agreed that catching Capone and his mob was more important for the time being, and so the Kents and Lois spent some time discussing options. Jonathan pointed out that Dillinger had originally been caught by the FBI coming out of a cinema; while Clark agreed that this was worth considering, there were hundreds of cinemas in Metropolis, each with several showings per day.

Finally, after a couple of hours, Clark suggested that it was time for he and Lois to leave. On the return flight, Clark risked Lois's wrath by saying that he intended to check on the gambling den to see whether any of the gang had made a return visit; and that he was going to drop her off at home first. Uncharacteristically for her, Clark thought, Lois agreed that she shouldn't come.

Lois, unknown to Clark, had plans of her own.

******************

Several hours later, Clark let himself in the window of Lois's apartment, tired and frustrated. He had hovered just out of sight above the club for almost all the intervening time, to no avail. Not one of the gangsters had turned up.

The apartment was in darkness. Clark assumed at first that Lois was asleep, but then realised that he couldn't hear her breathing. He scanned the apartment, and quickly found the note she had left for him.

<Oh no! Lois!!!> Clark screamed inwardly, and rushed back out of the window, the resultant breeze sending several items flying.

*******************
For about the hundredth time, Lois desperately tried to chew at the rough gag tied around her mouth so that she could scream for help. <How do I get into these situations?> she asked herself. <Here I am, trussed up like a chicken and almost up to my neck in liquid concrete. And this time I can't even call 'Help, Superman!>.

It had all *seemed* like such a good idea at the time. Talk to a few of her contacts on the street - some of the more disreputable ones, not just Bobby Bigmouth - and find out if anyone knew where Capone was hiding out. She had dressed casually in jeans and a old overcoat, and visited a couple of bars in Suicide Slum. Disappointingly, no-one was willing to talk. Lois guessed that people were afraid. It was entirely possible that Capone already had a protection racket going.

As she had exited the third bar, she had come face to face with two 1920s guns, held by Capone and Dillinger.

And one thing had led to another, and now here she was, facing a cold, wet death by drowning in cement. Capone, it turned out, had not taken kindly to anyone asking questions as to his whereabouts, and while Dillinger had suggested that 'the good-lookin' broad' might have her uses, Capone had over-ruled that idea. Lois had been gagged and tied up, thrown into the back of a vintage car, and taken to a deserted building site. After issuing a few threats against the Daily Planet and Perry White in particular, Capone had pulled the lever on the cement mixer and departed.

Miserably, Lois continued to struggle as the seemingly inevitable termination to her life approached. <I can't even count on Clark coming to rescue me!> she thought in despair. <He hasn't a clue where I am!>

Just as the cement began to get up her nose, she heard a familiar sonic boom overhead, and the next moment Superman was bending over the vat, pulling her out. "How is it you always manage to get into a sticky situation as soon as my back is turned, Lois?" he chided her with a wry smile as he focused his heat vision on her in an attempt to warm her up and to get rid of some of the excess cement.

As soon as Clark had freed her from the ropes and gag, Lois choked, "Oh Clark - thank God you found me! I really thought..." She broke off and hugged him. Clark hugged her briefly in return, but quickly scooped her up and flew them back to Lois's apartment.

Setting her down in her living-room, Clark faced Lois and spoke in a level but very angry tone, "Lois, don't you *ever* do that to me again! How do you think I felt when I came back, expecting you to be here, and found you gone? Especially considering the circumstances in which I eventually found you. I hope you realise that if I'd only been a couple of minutes later, it would have been too late." Clark was white-faced, apart from a few streaks of cement where Lois's hair had brushed his face. He was finding it hard to control his emotions: his feelings upon finding Lois missing had been... indescribable, and during the brief flight back to the apartment all he had been able to think about was what had almost happened to Lois; how he would have felt if he *had* arrived too late; blaming himself for not taking proper care of her.

"I hadn't a clue where you were!" Clark almost yelled. "Have you any *idea* how helpless that made me feel? As for that note of yours... huh! 'Gone to ask around about Capone - back soon'... what use was that?" It was just fortunate that Clark had heard her screams... or was it that he was becoming attuned to her heartbeat, and this head made it easier for him to find her? He wasn't sure.

"Clark, I'm sorry," Lois said penitently. "I went out to see if I could dig up any information about Capone. He found me and that was that. I did try to yell for help, but that gag was pretty effective."

Clark shot her a scpetical glance.

"Clark, it might have worked," Lois protested. "And I understand how you feel, but you can't wrap me in cotton wool. I'm an investigate journalist - I investigate!" She moved closer to Clark and placed her hand on his arm. "I really am sorry I frightened you, and I'm very grateful to you for saving my life."

Clark smiled at her reluctantly. "Lois, my saving your life is nothing new, though I've never begrudged it. I don't want to wrap you up in cotton wool! I just want you to... be more careful. And please, let me know where you're going, so that if you do get into trouble I can find you." He stroked Lois's hair lightly, letting her know that he wasn't angry with her any more, then added, "You'd better go and get washed before that cement dries and turns you into a statue."

******************

Lois emerged from her bathroom, dressed in her towelling robe, to find Clark in the kitchen making coffee. The living-room carpet was now spotless, the cement drips having disappeared. He had clearly gone somewhere else to clean up - as it was now dark, she wondered if he'd risked visiting his own apartment - and was now dressed in his jeans and a cotton shirt he had collected earlier that evening from Smallville. His hair was in a less formal style than usual, and it flopped forward over his forehead. Something else was different, and Lois realised that he wasn't wearing his glasses. Noticing this made Lois recognise two things. First, Clark had clearly decided that he no longer had any need to adopt one or other of his 'disguises' around her any more, and this made her feel... privileged, somehow. But second, she realised with a feeling of awe that she was also finding it easier to reconcile in her mind the two parts of his identity. Just now, when she'd first noticed the absence of Clark's glasses, her i
Still feeling guilty about the worry she had caused him, Lois went over to Clark and slipped her arms about his waist from behind, leaning her head against his broad back.

Clark turned around, wrapping his arms around Lois to prevent her from moving. "What was that for?" he enquired lightly.

"Oh, just saying 'thank you', and 'sorry', I guess," Lois responded. "After what I went through over you yesterday, I wouldn't willingly want to put you through anything similar."

Clark bent his head and kissed her brow. "I appreciate that, Lois. I really was worried, and even knowing that I got there in time doesn't altogether help." He sighed, and slid his hand up to stroke her hair. "I guess what really worries me is that one day there'll be a time when I may be too late." He fell silent then, lost in his thoughts, apparently content just to hold her.

Lois, her head tucked into Clark's shoulder, watched her partner and friend's face, seeing the uncertainty and residual concern there. She was very much enjoying being held in Clark's arms like this. It was by no means the first time they'd hugged or been physically affectionate towards each other. But something about this felt different.

She decided to take a chance and say the words which Clark, it appeared, would not say.

"Clark - you really care about me, don't you?"

Shocked, Clark stared at Lois. <She doesn't know, does she?> was his first panicked thought. <She can't - I've been careful. No, she only means that I care as a friend>. His confused thoughts were interrupted by Lois's quiet prompting, "Clark?"

"Lois - of course I care about you," he replied quietly. "You know that. I care about you very much. You're my best friend."

That wasn't quite the answer Lois had been looking for, she thought to herself. But she was capable of being patient, and she wasn't an investigative journalist for nothing. She tried a different approach to the question.

"Clark, yesterday you said that if I'd only paid attention to you, I could have had you *and* Superman. What did you mean by that?"

Taken aback, Clark pulled away from Lois. He wasn't sure that he was ready to answer that question. He *loved* Lois; that was beyond dispute. But what if she still couldn't return that love? How could they possibly continue to work together - always assuming they managed to find a way to 'resurrect' him. He stared out of the window, not seeing the clear night sky or the stars. Why was Lois asking these questions?

"Clark?" Lois's voice was a little uncertain. What if she was wrong? What if Clark really didn't love her?

He turned around, and Lois saw the multitude of emotions on his face: uncertainty, nervousness, tension, fear... and she knew that she had been right. Stepping closer to Clark, she said, "Maybe it'd be easier if I told you something."

"What?" Clark asked, nervously. What was she up to now?

"Just that I hope you love me, Clark Kent, because I love you. Not just as a friend. I'm in love with you, Clark." Lois took a deep breath. She had said it. One of them had had to. Now what?

But before she had a chance even to draw breath, she was in Clark's arms again, and he was holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. "Lois, oh Lois," he murmured against her hair. "You're really in love with me?"

"Yes, Clark," she gasped. "But you've got to let me breathe!"

"Sorry," he apologised, having the grace to look shame-faced. He loosened his grasp on her, then floated them both over to the sofa, sitting down with her on his lap.

"I've wanted to tell you for such a long time, Lois," Clark said, stroking her hair again.

"You did tell me - before I got engaged to Luthor," Lois pointed out. "You told me after all that business was over that you hadn't meant it -"

"I lied," Clark interrupted, looking slightly ashamed. He was very relieved to be able to confess *that* at last. Lois gave him a hard stare at that, making him squirm a little. Perhaps she was really annoyed that he'd lied? He was about to apologise, but Lois spoke again, pre-empting him.

"I guessed you lied, Clark," she told him, smiling. "Yesterday, after... when I thought you were dead, my mind was going back over all the things we'd done together, almost everything you ever said to me. I remembered you telling me you loved me, in the park - and the way I treated you. I must really have hurt you, giving you the brush-off and telling you that Superman was the only person whose opinion counted." She flushed, remembering her behaviour on that day. Knowing that Clark was Superman made it absurd in retrospect, as well as highly insulting to Clark. In particular, her remark that she would love Superman even if he was just an ordinary man now appeared very childish and silly, and she couldn't at all blame Clark for the way in which he'd instantly dismissed her claim.

Clark was remembering that day as well. He *had* been very hurt by Lois's behaviour. It had felt like a betrayal, and he had thought at the time that he couldn't suffer any greater pain than see Lois married to Luthor. Instinctively, he now realised that Lois's silence was due to embarrassment at her own behaviour, and he shook her lightly. "Lois - don't. Forget it. We were both a little... crazy, I guess. I said and did some things I regret too. There's no point in beating ourselves up over it."

She smiled weakly into his face, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "I was so cruel to you..."

"I was cruel to you too, Lois," he replied. "We both made mistakes. And I guess I've a lot more to be forgiven for when you look at everything we've done and said to each other. You've forgiven me for not telling you about Superman. Let's forget that time, OK?"

Lois nodded agreement, but said, "I wouldn't have married him, Clark. I'd already said 'no' before Perry and Jimmy arrived with the police."

Clark stared at her, then simply hugged her tighter. "I didn't know, Lois," he whispered. Remembering something else then, he asked, "How did you know I'd lied about not loving you?"

"It was the only way it all made sense, Clark," Lois told him. "You... I guess I've known, or suspected, for a long time, that you had... feelings... for me. But your denial that day outside the Planet made it easier for me to pretend I didn't know." She gave him an apologetic glance. "I've always had difficulty trusting my own judgement where men are concerned, Clark - and, let's face it, my past experiences haven't exactly been brilliant. It was easier to pretend that there was nothing between us than to risk getting hurt again."

"I'd never hurt you or let you down, Lois," Clark promised in an intent voice. "Never willingly. You have to believe that." He focussed his gaze on her face, trying to impress on her that he meant every word he said. He was no Claud, aiming to use Lois, or Luthor, wanting her as a possession.

"I do believe it," she whispered. "Yesterday, I - finally came to my senses. I'm sorry it took you dying... or me thinking you were dead - to eventually make me see the truth. I think I've been in love with you for a long time. I don't know when it started, but... *you* were the reason I couldn't go through with the wedding to Luthor." Clark stared at her in amazement. He stroked her face tenderly with his fingertips, worshipping her with his soft brown eyes.

Returning Clark's intent gaze, Lois continued. "I don't quite know how it happened, but one minute I was in my wedding dress, ready to go ahead, and then next all I could think about was you." She gave a self-deprecating laugh. "If it wasn't for your *stupid* lie outside the Planet, we could have had this conversation months ago, Clark!"

He blinked. "How?"

"That might teach you to let me go first!" she retorted. "I was going to say that I'd realised that I felt more for you than I'd thought, and that maybe we should see each other - see whether a relationship would work. But you insisted on going before me, and you told me that you would have said anything to stop me marrying Luthor!"

Grimacing at his stupidity, Clark defended himself. "That was just because I was afraid -"

"That we wouldn't be able to work together as partners, I know," Lois finished for him. "Like I said, I figured it all out yesterday. It's just a pity I wasn't able to figure everything else out - like your extra-curricular activities!" She gave him a playful punch in the ribs, and instantly regretted it since it was only her fist which felt any pain. "I've been thinking about that since yesterday, and remembering all your dumb excuses, and... and kicking myself for not working out the truth. It's all so *obvious* now that I know!"

Clark grinned, taking Lois's maltreated hand and kissing it gently. "Obvious now, yes; but even with all of my excuses, could you ever seriously have thought that your partner was Superman? I was very careful to hide my tracks, to appear a bit other-worldly, so that people who knew me would think I couldn't possibly be Superman. Anyway, the most obvious solution is often the one which seems least credible, isn't it?" He wrapped his arms around her again.

"Oh, stop boasting!" Lois exclaimed in mock impatience. "Isn't it about time you kissed me?"

He obliged, sliding his hand along her jaw-line to bring her face to him and bringing his lips to hers. Lois had been kissed before, certainly, by both Clark and Superman. But this was somehow... different. Superman's kisses had rarely been in any sense passionate or romantic, apart from the occasion when he had appeared to be affected by the pheromone compound. When Clark had kissed her, he had been tentative, anxious not to overstep the boundary of what was acceptable from a friend. *This* kiss was... everything a lover's kiss should be, and Lois felt her insides melting as she responded to him. No-one had ever been able to make her feel like that before, she realised. How on earth had she managed to resist Clark for so long? And why?

They kissed and held each other for a long time, until reluctantly Lois decided that they had to get some sleep, and she padded off to her bedroom after several long drawn-out goodnight kisses and 'I love yous'

Spending his second night floating above the sofa in Lois's apartment, Clark reflected that if he *had* to be presumed dead, there were worse circumstances in which it could have happened.

***************

Lois rushed out of her bedroom early the next morning, to find Clark already up and making breakfast. He smiled and wished her 'good morning', only to break off when he noticed her expression. "What's wrong, Lois?"

"Clark!" Lois exclaimed anxiously. "I told you last night that Capone threatened Perry and the Planet! Perry's life could be in danger, Clark!" Agitatedly, she paced around the kitchen area. "I should have called him and warned him! What are we going to do? Clark, we've got to stop Capone!"

"OK, Lois, OK," Clark soothed her, holding her upper arms gently. "You know I'll do everything in my power to prevent something from happening to Perry."

"But we still don't know where Capone and his gang are," Lois protested.

"I've had an idea," Clark replied. "I was going over everything in my mind last night, trying to work out whether we'd missed anything. All the leads seemed to come back to Professor Hamilton. He's the one missing link in all this, and he's vanished too. He *must* be connected to them, and he has to know where Capone's hiding out!"

"But how can we find him?" Lois groaned.

"Yeah, I know," Clark replied, moving away to set the table for breakfast. Lois, seeing what he was doing, interjected. "Clark, how can you think of food? We have to find Capone before he does any more damage!"

"We can talk while we eat," Clark pointed out, taking Lois by the shoulders and making her sit down. He sped away and, in a blur, returned with coffee, eggs, croissants (straight from France, he confessed when Lois enquired) and orange juice. Lois simply shook her head slowly in disbelief. Was she ever going to get used to this new side of Clark?

"Now, let's look at this logically," Clark argued, wolfing down a croissant so swiftly Lois could have sworn he'd inhaled it. "Hamilton's got to be alive still. I mean, he's the only one who understands his methodology, and I doubt if Capone's going to let an asset like that slip through his fingers. He's probably got plans for Hamilton to regenerate a few more dead criminals -"

"Clark!" Lois interrupted excitedly, her eyes shining.

"What?"

"It's been staring us in the face, Clark! It's Hamilton!"

Puzzled, Clark met Lois's eyes. "I don't follow."

"Clark, Hamilton brought Capone, Dillinger and the others back to life -"

Clark interrupted, "By regenerating their DNA -"

Lois continued, "And we could say that Superman found your body -"

"And froze it - to preserve the tissue -"

"And took it to Professor Hamilton's laboratory and followed his procedure!" Lois concluded in triumph.

"And that since Superman found and froze me very quickly after I was 'killed', there was very little degeneration of tissue or cells, and so it was a relatively simple process, and it's as if I've never been dead!" Clark added exultantly. "Lois, you're fantastic!"

Lois grinned at him, pleased. "That's what partners are for, Kent!" Clark pulled her out of her chair and swung her around, delighted at her solution to what had seemed an impossible situation.

"So," Lois continued, "Superman would have had to have found your body quite quickly - why didn't he tell anyone?"

Clark considered. This was an obvious question, especially since the police had been searching for the 'body' of Clark Kent since the night before last. "I got it!" he answered at last. "He knew what Hamilton had done, and he hoped that there might be a way to bring me back to life. He wasn't sure it would work and didn't want to get anyone's hopes up before he'd found Hamilton or a full description of his methods. Which wasn't until..."

Lois thought quickly. "*We* found Hamilton? Which we will do... we've *got* to!"

*****************

At the Planet an hour or so later, Lois found Jimmy and asked him to find anything else he could possibly come up with on Professor Emil Hamilton, "especially his whereabouts, Jimmy - that could well be the clue to finding Capone!"

Clark, in the meantime, was X-raying and examining the Planet building, to ensure that Capone hadn't already put in place a plan to destroy it. Lois notified Detective Wolf and Perry of Capone's attempt on her life the previous evening and of his threat to harm Perry. She assured Perry that Superman had promised to do his best to protect the Chief, but added that he couldn't be around all the time.

"I understand, Lois honey. I'll be careful," Perry assured her. "But Lois, I know you want to see Clark's killers in prison - we all do, honey, but you've got to be careful too. One of my journalists killed by this mob is enough. I don't want to be writing your obituary as well."

Superman appeared outside Perry's office at that moment. "I don't want that either, Mr. White, and I can guarantee that I'll do my best to protect everyone at the Planet."

Jimmy came racing up at that point. "Superman, Lois! You'll never believe this!"

"What's happened, Jimmy?" Lois demanded.

"Well, you were asking me to find Professor Hamilton, right? Well, get this: one of my old schoolfriends is working as a motorbike courier, and he was delivering a package on North Road this morning, and he saw this old guy waving at him from a window. He went up, and the man shouted at him that he was Professor Hamilton, and that he was being held prisoner and needed help." Jimmy paused for breath, but continued before his listeners could question him. "Anyway, Chris didn't know what to make of it - he said the old guy looked like a bit of a screwball, but then the guy told him to go to the Daily Planet and tell Perry White that his life was in danger. Well, obviously Chris knows I work here, so he decided to come and tell me about it." The young photographer beamed at his audience.

"Jimmy, that's great!" Superman exclaimed. "Do you have an address - is your friend still here?"

"No, he had to go," Jimmy replied. "I can call him if you need him, though."

"Not if you have an address," Lois prompted Jimmy impatiently. "You said North Road - where?"

"1500," Jimmy said. "Chris was pretty definite about that - he was delivering to 1498".

Clark turned to his companions and said, "I have to go- "

"Superman, I'm coming too!" Lois interjected.

Clark faced her down for a moment or two, then, seeing her determination, gave in. He knew very well that if he didn't take her, Lois was perfectly capable of getting there under her own steam and getting into trouble. He felt that he would rather know where she was, so he scooped her up and prepared to fly them both out of the Planet window.

"Hey, wait a minute," Perry objected. "Shouldn't we call the cops?"

Clark paused in mid-air. "Not just yet," he replied. "I want to check the place out first - make sure Capone's actually there. If so, Lois can phone the police." With that final remark, he and Lois disappeared.

"Wow," Jimmy breathed. "Chief, call me a cab. I'm getting my camera and following them!"

Shaking his head in bemusement, Perry did as Jimmy asked. "Great shades of Elvis," he muttered. "The Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet calling a cab for a junior photographer. What is the world coming to?"

**************

Landing silently behind 1500 North Road, Clark deposited Lois on the ground and surveyed the building. Then he nodded, with a broad grin on his face. "They're here," he murmured. "Call the police, Lois; I'm going to make sure they can't get away."

With that, he rose into the air again. Lois dug for her mobile phone and called Detective Wolf. As she finished the call, Clark returned with what looked like a number of steel girders, and proceeded to secure the exits to the building with them. He hesitated then for an instant, then picked Lois up again - he knew very well that if he left her behind she would simply follow him, and he reasoned that he would prefer to have her where he could see her. Wrapping his cape around Lois to protect her, he flew through a window, shattering the glass, and landed in the room beyond it. It wasn't a particularly large room, Lois noticed; it just held some chairs and a TV set, and there appeared to be another room off to the right. Getting used as she was by now to Clark's powers, she was pretty sure that he knew who or what was in that other room.

Inside, Capone and his colleagues spun around, bewildered. "What's he doing here?" Clyde demanded.

"What a body," Bonnie crooned. "Even better than the first time I saw him."

Dillinger pointed at Lois. "You're dead - you're supposed to be in the centre of a block of concrete!"

"That just goes to show that you shouldn't leave a job half-done, gentlemen," Superman observed in ironic tones, setting Lois down and standing in his trademark arms-crossed pose. "Now, if you don't mind, the police will be here any minute and I'm sure they'd be grateful if you just gave yourselves up quietly."

"Nobody tells Al Capone what to do," the scar-faced gangster declared, swiftly producing a gun.

"Now, now, Mr. Capone, I thought you'd have spent enough time in the 1990s to know that those toys just don't work on me," Superman drawled. He didn't move from his position, not wanting to give any of the others a chance to grab Lois. Instead, he focused his heat vision on Capone's weapon, and in a very short space of time the gangster dropped the gun with a startled yelp. Before any of the others had a chance to draw a weapon, Clark shot around the room at super-speed, and when he stopped Lois could see that all four mobsters were securely tied to each other.

"Where's Professor Hamilton?" Lois demanded.

"Why should we tell you anything?" Bonnie retorted, spitting in Lois's direction. Superman fixed her with a glare.

"I'm in here!" a voice called from the room at the side. Lois hurried over and found that the door was bolted. She pulled the bolt back to reveal Professor Hamilton in a room set up as a laboratory.

In the meantime, the police had arrived and Superman let them in. The mobsters were quickly handcuffed and put into vans to be taken to the precinct. Lois, busy asking Hamilton why he had regenerated the criminals and what had been happening to him since, looked up to find Detective Wolf standing in the doorway of the laboratory.

"Professor Hamilton, I presume?" the detective enquired. "We're going to want to ask you some questions - if Lois will let the police get in the way of her exclusive, that is."

Hamilton, who, it transpired, had been kept a prisoner by the mobsters for the past several days and who had been forced to agree to rejuvenate further Mob members, quickly agreed to answer any questions the police might have. "But first, please, there's something I must do," he protested. "This laboratory, my research documentation - I've got to destroy them all before anyone else gets their hands on them and causes further trouble."

Clark had been taking a look around the laboratory. Picking up a manuscript, he flicked quickly through it and then came to stand in front of the professor. "If you'll trust me to destroy everything, I'll make sure it's done very soon. There's just something I want to do first." He gave Lois a meaningful look. This was their 'proof', if it was needed.

She nodded almost imperceptibly. "Professor Hamilton, if Superman says he'll destroy it, he will."

The professor agreed, and left the laboratory, followed by the detective. Pausing in the doorway, Detective Wolf turned to Lois. "At least we'll be able to charge Clyde with Clark Kent's murder on your evidence, even though we still haven't found his body." He shook his head. "I'm really sorry that we haven't found it yet. I spoke to his parents, and I have to warn you as well that it may never be..."

Superman signalled the officer to silence. "I may be able to help there, Detective. Give me some time, and I'll be in touch."

**************

Back at the Planet, the newsroom was upbeat. Jimmy had arrived in time to get some shots of the police bundling the mobsters into their vans, and those, together with Lois's front page exclusive of the discovery of Capone's hideout, would ensure that the Planet outsold any other paper that day.

"I hope the Planet gets your story as well, son," Perry said to Superman when he had returned from giving his statement down at the precinct. Clark smiled at the editor. "I can't think of any other paper I'd want to have it," he assured Perry.

Clark had spoken to Professor Hamilton as well, and had ascertained that there had indeed been plans to kill Perry, as a consequence of the editor's refusal to take Capone's bribes. Capone had planned to ambush Perry as he left the Planet that night, and then threatened to kill other Planet reporters unless the paper's owners accepted a Capone stooge as editor,

Clark allowed it to appear as if Lois had 'interviewed' him, much as he wanted to write the story himself with a Lane and Kent byline. When Lois delivered the finished copy to Perry, with Superman accompanying her, the editor was delighted. "Lois, this is great stuff. I just know Clark would have been real proud of you, honey. His parents called, and they're flying in this afternoon - I'll show this to them, and I'm sure they'll appreciate it too."

"You caught his murderers too," Jimmy added from the doorway of Perry's office. "Smooth."

Lois met Clark's eye. He nodded slightly, and coughed to attract attention. "I have to go now. But about Clark - I do have a surprise for you. I'll have to leave Lois to fill you in on the details, though." With that cryptic comment, he swiftly left Perry's office and flew out of the Planet window again.

"Gee, I hate it when he does that," Perry groaned, trying to catch the papers which had fluttered into the air in the wake of Clark's backdraught. "Lois, you think you could tell him to be a little more careful in future?"

"Hey Lois, what did Superman mean about CK?" Jimmy demanded curiously.

No-one noticed the figure, dressed in a charcoal business suit and a strangely-patterned tie, emerge from the stairwell and make his way down the ramp. The rest of the newsroom staff were busy getting on with their work. Jimmy and Perry's attentions were focused on Lois. The voice, therefore, took everyone by surprise.

"Hi Lois! Did I miss all the excitement again?"

"CK!" Jimmy staggered backwards in shock.

"Kent! What in the Sam Hill... How can this be?" Perry stared at his recently-departed, but suddenly resurrected, staff reporter, who had strolled up to the group. Lois was the only one who wasn't surprised, and she greeted Clark with a kiss on the cheek.

"Yes, Superman's just left, and the story's ready to run. Oh, I guess now that you're here, you could do a sidebar on your reappearance," she observed, enjoying her friends' confusion.

Jimmy flung his arms around Clark. "CK, I don't know how you're alive or what happened, I'm just so glad to see you. You don't know how much we've missed you!"

"You don't know how much I've missed you all," Clark murmured softly, returning Jimmy's hug.

The four of them went into Perry's office, and Clark and Lois delivered the explanation they had rehearsed to cover Clark's reappearance. To their relief, the story was accepted without query, and Clark's return announced to the newsroom at large. Clark assured them that he'd spoken to his parents and they were also aware that he was alive, and that he'd decided to go out and see them for a couple of days, instead of Jonathan and Martha coming to Metropolis. Perry was happy to give Clark a couple of days off so that he could go to Kansas.

The police had to be informed, and Detective Wolf arrived at the Planet a short time later, "just so I could see it with my own eyes," he announced. "That Hamilton guy assured me that it was perfectly possible if Superman *had* followed his techniques, but I still wanted to be sure." He clapped Clark on the shoulder. "Congratulations. You're my only homicide case that ever solved itself."

"Great line," Jimmy observed after the detective had left. "Can I use it as the caption for a photo of you in the evening edition?"

************

"Ready to go home, partner?" Lois asked later that afternoon, stretching.

Clark rose from his desk and came to stand behind Lois. He began massaging her shoulders, and replied, "If you are."

"Sure. Want to walk me home?"

"Sure you want to *walk*, Lois?" Clark teased. "You wouldn't want to..." he glanced around to ensure that no-one else was within hearing distance, "*fly,* would you?"

Lois grinned. "You know how to tempt a girl, Clark Kent."

"You know I don't want to tempt just any girl, Lois," Clark assured her, holding her coat as she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

"That's fine with me, as long as I'm the only one you want to tempt," she grinned at him.

They decided to walk home; Clark was relishing the freedom to be himself again.
"You've no *idea* how good it feels to be back, as me," he told her as they strolled.

"I think I do, Clark," Lois assured him. "I've spent most of the last couple of days with you, watching you... I could see how frustrated and unhappy you were at having to pretend to be someone else the whole time, and have Perry and Jimmy talking about you in front of you. I think I understand now how you must have felt when I kept brushing you off in favour of Superman, and telling you how much I wanted to be with Superman. It must have been very difficult not to confess that you're really Clark."

"To confess to you months ago, Lois, or to Perry and Jimmy over the last couple of days?" Clark queried softly.

Lois flushed. "Both, I guess."

"Oh, Lois, there were so many times when I was tempted to tell you the truth. But something always held me back. I wanted- "

"To be loved for yourself, not for what you can do," Lois finished for him. "Do you think I don't understand?" Clark gave her an amazed look. Lois continued, "I've had plenty of time over the past couple of days to think about our relationship, and the way I treated you before I knew the truth - or knew that I loved you. If you'd told me the truth before, you'd never have known whether it was Clark or Superman I loved."

"I used to think that, Lois," Clark replied slowly. "Now I realise that they're both a part of who I am. Why should I object to your loving Superman? He's part of me, after all. I certainly wouldn't want you to love Clark and hate Superman. They're both me, and we both love you."

Lois reached up and kissed him tenderly, before they continued walking. As they neared her apartment building, she observed, "It's a shame you're able to go back to your apartment now - I've got kind of used to you staying at my place."

Smiling, Clark asked, "Is that an invitation?"

Grinning, Lois replied, "Maybe. Is that an acceptance?"

"Maybe."

Laughing, they joined hands and ran up the steps into the building.

- THE END -