Previously on Lois & Clark:

Lois quickly hurried into the room and grabbed her son. Instantly little Lane quit crying. But as she turned around, she felt something sharp in her back. The guard had returned and now he had a gun pointed at her. Tempus was there also and he walked over and took the baby away. "What are you going to do to us, Tempus?" H.G. Wells asked. "Well, duh! I'm going to kill you. Shoot her!" A loud BANG!!! rang throughout the castle as the gun went off. Lois let out a little shriek as she slowly fell to the floor.

Episode 5-2

"Dream Catcher"

written by Joyce Scott

Suddenly, Lois felt as if she were in a tunnel. The tunnel was dark and flooded with water and she was swimming in it. The water wasn't cold though. In fact, it didn't really feel like water at all. It was too warm and too thick. In the distance she could see a circle of light and somehow she knew she had the choice of going toward it or turning and going in the other direction where there was also light, but of a dimmer, less welcoming kind. She wasn't frightened. It was simply a matter of choice. Either way would be fine.

Then she heard a voice. It was coming from the place where the light was dimmer. She couldn't see who it was, but the voice sounded like Clark's. She tried to move toward the voice, but the water was too thick. It was like glue, she was swimming in glue and it wouldn't let her through. She tried to cry out for help, but she couldn't find her voice.

Then she heard her name. "Lois, Lois, wake up, sweetheart," said the voice. She gave one final effort to get out of the tunnel. Suddenly she flickered her eyes. Her lids were so heavy. She couldn't hold them up. But she had seen something, a person. She flickered her eyes again. It was Clark. Clark was standing over her, telling her to wake up. She tried to call out to him. Finally she managed to whisper his name. He squeezed her hand, "Don't worry Lois, I'm here. You're going to be okay." She suddenly found a new source of energy and weakly thrust her eyes open.

There was her beloved Clark. Standing above her with a frightened, yet, relieved look on his beautiful face. Lois summoned all of her remaining strength, "Clark," she whispered. "Oh, Lois! Thank God! You really had us worried," Clark said. His voice was thick with the relief that was surging within him.

Lois closed her eyes, exhausted. "Now, you just get some rest. I'll be right back. I'm just going to tell everybody that you're awake, okay?" Clark bent over and kissed her on the forehead.

Lois was physically exhausted, but she could not sleep. Memories came gushing back to her as if some dam had collapsed within her brain. She remembered her wedding, she remembered her little baby, Lane, but most of all, she remembered that Clark had been killed. But in the brief time that she had been able to hold her weak eyes in focus, she had concluded that she was in what appeared to be a hospital room, and Clark appeared to be alive and well. She just didn't understand.

But before she could ponder these recent events any longer, she fell into an confused and exhausted sleep.

Lois was awakened the next morning by a nurse who had a tray of the most disgusting food that she had ever seen.

However, she had considerably more strength than she had had the day before and with the nurse's help and several flawed attempts, she managed to arrive in an upright position. The nurse helped her to get a few bites of the distasteful food into her mouth, but before long, the nurse realized that she was attempting an impossible task and walked out. Around the same time, Clark walked into the room. He had a look of sheer ecstacy at the sight of Lois.

As soon as she saw him, the recollections of the night before rushed back to her. "Clark, you're alive!" she screamed. "Of course I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be?" he questioned, shocked by her sudden outburst. She frantically told him of her most recent memories. "Lois, you have to calm down. It must have been a dream. I'm right here. I'm perfectly healthy. And we don't have a baby. We're not even married yet." Clark was desperately trying to quiet her, but she was rambling on and he was unable to make any sense of what she was saying. "Lois, don't you remember what happened?

Finally Lois took at deep breath and settled down a little. "Lois, don't you remember? Lex kidnaped you just before our wedding. He replaced you with an identical clone. Then, when he tried to get that money from the bank account that he made for you, the clone rebelled. You kicked Lex and jumped out of the car. But while you were running away, you fell and hit your head. Somebody at the scene called for Superman. When I got there, I grabbed Luthor and the clone and handed them over to the police. Then I flew you to the hospital. You've been in a coma ever since." Clark slowly explained the events which led up to the present.

"Wow, what a dream," Lois said in an astonished tone. "I remember the clone and Lex, but it seemed like so long ago. So much has happened, or at least I thought has happened, since then." "Well, don't worry. The doctor says that if you keep getting better as fast as you are right now, you'll probably be able to go home tomorrow afternoon." Clark tried to reassure her and get her to forget her baffling dream. "But for right now, you need to get some more sleep. You've got quite a herd of visitors coming later." Clark leaned over and kissed her before he walked out. Lois was still baffled by the recent occurrence, but she was also very tired. She quietly snuggled down into her very uncomfortable hospital bed and drifted back into the slumber world where things seemed to make a lot more sense.

The Next Day

"Okay everybody, let's clear out. Lois needs her rest." Clark had been trying unsuccessfully for the past fifteen minutes to herd the large crown out of Lois' small apartment. Friends and family had rushed over from all directions, it seemed, as soon they heard that Lois had come home from the hospital. And now, it seemed, they didn't want to leave.

But finally, some of them had begun to listen to him. Martha and Jonathan were leaving with Perry and Jimmy in tow. Each of them were also attempting to drag a couple of the less cooperative visitors with them.

Everyone recited their "goodbye"'s and "get well"'s as they left, but Lois hardly heard a word that anyone said. But eventually it was all clear. Clark walked over to Lois. He knelt down beside her on the bed. She snuggled up against him and fell into a quiet sleep.

Clark awoke a couple of hours later. He had dozed off. He looked down. There was Lois laying beside him, just as beautiful as ever. He carefully inched out from under her and went into the kitchen. He put some coffee on and turned on the TV.

Apparently, the noise from the television woke her, because she came stumbling into the living room a few minutes later. "Lois, you shouldn't be out of bed," Clark exclaimed when he saw her. "Don't worry, I'm alright. I needed to stretch my legs." Lois walked over to the couch and plopped down next to Clark. Clark put his arm around her and hugged her close to him. "You really scared me. When I flew up, you were just laying there, unconscious. I didn't know what had happened. You really scared us all," Clark gave a gentle smile and hugged Lois tighter.

"So when can we finish this wedding thing?" Lois asked. We'll just have to see," Clark looked lovingly at Lois, "But you know that nothing, not even Lex Luthor, will keep me from marrying you." He kissed her gently as they cuddled up together on the couch.

When Clark awoke the next morning, he found himself in that sane spot, cuddled up on the couch next to Lois. He stood up carefully, so as not to wake Lois and went into the kitchen. He quietly put some breakfast on. He walked back into the living room and carried Lois back to bed. Then he fixed her breakfast neatly on a tray and carried it to her.

"Oh Clark, you didn't have to do all this," she exclaimed at the site of him carrying the tray of eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, and coffee into her bedroom. He just smiled at her comment as he went back to the kitchen to get his breakfast and settled down next to her.

Unfortunately, about halfway through the wonderful meal Lois saw that look on his face. "Go," she said. He smiled apologetically, and spun around before he flew out the window to, once again, save the day.

It turned out to be an earthquake in California and it took a couple of hours. He arrived back at Lois' apartment about 1:00, only to find that she had showered and changed while he had been gone and was anxiously waiting for him to accompany her to the Daily Planet. "Lois, its too soon. You haven't gotten all of your strength back yet," Clark said in a persuasive manner. "Clark, I feel perfectly fine. And you know very well that the best energy builder is a good story, so stop whining and lets get going." Clark quickly spun back into his suit and tie and followed Lois out the door, knowing a losing battle when he was in one.

A few minutes later, Clark and Lois walked into the newsroom. Perry spotted them instantly. "Lois, honey, I told you not to come back to work until you were one hundred percent!" Perry exclaimed. "Oh Perry, I'm fine. And I'll be even better if you'll just give us a good story." She stomped over to her desk to check her e-mail. Perry walked over to Clark and asked, "You think she's okay, son?" "Well, she seems like the old Lois to me." "Well, I do have a story that I could really use you on." "Okay chief."

Perry walked over to Lois' desk with Clark close behind. "If you're sure you're up to it, Lois, then I've got a story for you." "Perry!" "Okay, okay. You know that there's always been a group of looneys who were fascinated with Lex Luthor, even after all that happened. Well, lately, there's been a dramatic increase in the number of members of that group. It started with the usual scum of the Earth down there in Suicide Slum, but its slowly moving up in class. Ever since he kidnaped you. Now, Lois, I know that this hits home pretty hard, so if you're too close to it, just say so." "Chief, this is Lois Lane that you are talking to." "Okay, okay. Just find out what's up down there. With Lex, you never know."

"We're on it, Chief!" Lois grabbed her briefcase and headed for the elevator with Clark in tow. "Lois, you've got to take it easy or you're going to get yourself in worse shape than you started in," Clark pleaded once they were alone in the elevator. She turned and looked at Clark. "Clark, I am perfectly fine! I just want everybody to stop huddling around me like I'm going to break, okay!" She took a deep breath then spoke in a calmer and quieter voice. "I just really need to get back my normal, old, dangling-just-above-the-jaws-of-death-life, okay." She turned her back to Clark in an attempt to end the conversation with that. Clark put his hand on her shoulder. "Lois, you know that we're just worried about you. I want everything to settle down too, including us." She turned around and he gave her a little smile. "And as long as you think that you're ready to get back to work, then I'll be right there beside you." Lois smiled and kissed him. Then she grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the car.

About Four Hours Later

"Wow, what a story," Lois said sarcastically, "this is getting us absolutely nowhere!" They had been driving around Metropolis all day and had come up with nothing. Then, suddenly Lois' cell-phone rang.

"The governor is giving Lex a pardon. They just released him," Lois told Clark when she got off the phone with Perry. "What! But the governor has always hated Luthor." "I know. Perry says that it might have something to do with our story," Lois replied. "Well, let's go pay the governor a little visit."

Clark cranked up the car and they were off. It took about thirty minutes to get to the governors mansion and another thirty to get to the governor, but finally they found themselves sitting right in front of the governor's desk when he walked into the office.

He held out his hand in greeting, "Ms. Lane, Mr. Kent, what can I do for you?" "Well, we'd like to question you concerning your recent pardoning of Lex Luthor," Lois said. "Yes, I figured I'd be hearing from you about that." "Well, Mr. Governor, it does seem rather strange. After all, you have made several public appearances concerning your sincere hatred of Lex Luthor. So, why did you do it?" Clark questioned. "I honestly don't know. In one sense I know what a fiend Luthor is, but for some reason my mind just told me that I had to pardon him no matter what. It all started last night. It was about 11:00 and I had sat down to watch television when all of a sudden I got really tired and fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later and called my advisor and told him to have the pardon written up and on my desk in the morning. I know that this sounds crazy, but it was almost as if I had had a dream while I was asleep. You know how you can wake up and know that you had been dreaming and you can still feel the mood of the dream, but you can't for the life of you remember what the dream had been about. Well, that's what it felt like. It was as if I had had a dream that told me to pardon Luthor. I just don't understand it. I'll help you with this story in any way that I can. I want to figure it out just as much as you do."

"Thank you," Lois said as they left. "I think we should head over to Star Labs," Clark told Lois once they were in the car, "maybe Dr. Klein will be able to figure some of this out.

They drove over to Star Labs and walked into Dr. Klein's lab. They relayed to him all of the information that they had uncovered, which didn't take very long. "Well, I do remember something, but I'm not sure whatever became of it. Hold on," Dr. Klein walked over to his computer. "Ah ha! Here you go. Among other things, Lexcorp studied the human subconscious. Just a couple of months before, uh, Luthor jumped off the building, they had a breakthrough. One of their top scientists, by the name of Henry T. Jackson, discovered that the human brain is left completely vulnerable to foreign suggestions when in REM sleep. And he hypothesized that if a device could be created which could actually invade a person's dreams, then they would be completely under their control. There was some money allotted for research into the creation of this device, but according to these records, it was never completed." "Thanks Dr. Klein!" Lois and Clark ran out of the building, jumped in the car, and headed straight for the Daily Planet.

"Jimmy!" Clark shouted as he ran into the newsroom. "Yeah, CK?" "Get me everything that you can find on a Henry T. Jackson. He was a scientist with Lexcorp." "Sure thing CK."

Clark looked around for Lois. She was sitting at her desk with her head in her hands. He walked over to her. "Lois, are you okay?" he asked as he gently laid his hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm just tired. I guess I'm not as up to par as I thought." "Do you want me to take you home? This story will be here tomorrow" "No, I'm alright. I just need a breather. What did you find Jimmy?" she asked as Jimmy walked up behind Clark. "Henry Jackson was a scientist at Lexcorp. He started about the time it opened. He got laid off when it went under. He studied neurology. He worked on a project called 'Dream Catcher' with two other scientists, David Washington and Jonathan Adams. The project was based on creating a device that actually invades your dreams in order to subject you to foreign suggestions which would put you totally and completely under their control. They never finished the device, and they've basically been ghosts since the end of Lexcorp. They've all had a few little nick-nack jobs, but never stayed with them long. Washington and Adams don't have any current address listed. Jackson was in the Metropolis State Penitentiary up until about a month ago. No address after that." "Thanks Jimmy!"

Lois laid her head back on her desk with a deep sigh. "Lois, are you sure you're okay?" Clark asked. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, but her voice gave her away. "No you're not. Come on, I'm taking you home. You're still sick and you should be at home in bed before you really do hurt yourself." He helped her up and over to the elevator. For once in her life, she gave in willingly. Once the elevator doors shut, she fell weakly into Clark's arms. "Lois..." "Don't worry, Clark. I'm just really tired. Take me home."

By the time they arrived at Lois' apartment, she didn't even have the energy to walk. Clark carried up the stairs and tucked her away in bed. The minute she fell asleep, Clark heard a cry for Superman. He spun around and flew off. Someone was falling off of the Empire State Building.

When Clark returned about two hours later, Lois was tossing and turning. He ran over and began to shake her. "Lois, wake up!" he screamed. Suddenly her eyes popped open. She shook her head. "Clark, what happened?" she asked, obviously confused. "It was just a dream. Don't worry," he assured her. "A dream, oh my God! Clark, it was Lex! It was that machine. Lex was trying to get me to go back to him through my dreams!" "But Lois, the governor said that he couldn't remember his dream." "Yeah, but he didn't have anyone wake him up in the middle of it. Haven't you ever heard about dreams. They say that you have hundreds of dreams every night, but you only remember them if you wake up in the middle of them. Clark, I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't waken me up when you did. He was telling me that Clark and Superman were evil and that he was the only person that really loved me. And then I would argue with him, but he was winning. Oh, Clark! It was terrible!" She leaned over and hugged Clark up close to her. "But Clark, how did he get to me with it?" "I don't know, but let's go over to Star Labs and see what Dr. Klein makes of it."

About a half hour later, they arrived at Star Labs. "Okay Lois, do you remember anything in particular about what Lex said, maybe something about where he was?" Dr. Klein asked. "No. The only thing that he talked about was Superman, Clark, and himself. All I remember were his words. I don't remember a place or any pictures or anything." "Well, we now know a lot more about the device. If you are awakened before the end of the dream, it has no effect and it loses effect once you have completed the request," Dr. Klein concluded. "Unfortunately, we don't know where Luthor and the Dream Catcher are," Clark added. "Well, why don't you two go home. I'll keep working on collecting information on the device and by tomorrow Lois should be back to full strength and you can work on finding Luthor." "Okay. Thanks for your help, Dr. Klein," Clark said as they were leaving.

Once they were back at Lois' apartment and Lois was back in bed, Clark asked, "Lois, do you think you'll be alright for about thirty minutes while I go see if I can find Luthor?" "I'll be fine," she replied. So, he spun around and flew out the window.

About fifteen minutes later, Lois jumped out of bed. She through on some clothes, grabbed her keys and headed to her car. She suddenly remembered what Lex had said in her dream. He said that he was in his old hideout under Hobb's Bay. And, as usual, she just couldn't wait around for Clark to come back. She had to check it out. It was about a ten minute drive out to the bay. Luckily, she remembered the secret entrance, even though Lex had only taken her down there once before. She hopped out of the car and ran to the entrance.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her shoulder and she spun around. There, standing in front of her, was Lex Luthor. "Hello Lois, I'm glad you decided to join me." He dragged her down into his hideout and tied her up to one of the columns. "You know that I don't like to do this to you, my dear, but you leave me with no other choice. Now your little boyfriend will be here in no time, and of course, I have a little surprise waiting for him. And this time, he won't get away."

Lex walked over to some sort of control panel and flipped a switch. Lois could see Superman wondering about just outside of the passageway to Lex's hideout. He felt his way around the wall, and suddenly let out a strong, well-placed punch the door caved in and in walked Superman. Lex ran over to the control panel, reached behind it and pulled out a gun. Lois could see the bright green, Kryptonite bullets. "Superman, No!" she screamed. She knew she had to do something. Suddenly she remembered, her engagement ring. Diamond would cut anything. She quickly sawed away at the ropes tied around her hands. Lex was steadily walking around Superman, enjoying this short-lived triumph. Lois grabbed a chair that was sitting close by and hammered him over the head with it. He fell to the ground. Superman flew over and hugged Lois. "Lois, why do you do this to me. When I got back to the apartment and you weren't there...Could you at least try and limit your normal, dangling-just-above-the-jaws-of-death-life, to once a week? I just can't take it." She gave a short little laugh. Lex began to stir, so Lois kicked him on the head as she kissed Clark.

Clark grabbed the rope that Lois had been tied up in, tied up Lex, and flew him to the police station.

Superman came back and carried Lois to her apartment. Superman spun back around into Clark, kissed Lois and left.

Lois went into her room, changed, and fell into bed, exhausted. "Wow! What a nightmare!"