Superman and Lex's second wish.

Superman rose up into the sky, moving fast enough that no one would see him leaving his Clinton street apartment. He was still a bit out of sorts -- Lois had been supportive as he left, but... they'd had a long night they expected to be a short night and even then it hadn't gone well. In their time together, Lois had never failed to reach orgasm -- at least, not on a night when her biochemistry wasn't out of whack for sex. Superman could see down to the cellular level with a glance -- he knew Lois's hormones were primed and her body was reacting in a healthy, sexual manner... but for some reason.

He had to clear his head. There was an emergency. He shot across the country, out over the Atlantic ocean. A ship was out there -- a cargo ship, foundering and listing hard to port. The people aboard were trying to reach the lifeboats, but--

Superman dove under the water, seeing where the hull had holed. He shifted against the ship, pushing it carefully until it was listing to starboard instead, the hole emerging into the air. He dove through it and began spinning -- pulling the water that had flooded into the lower hold out in a vortex and sending it far away from the ship.

The ship bounced upward, suddenly having its center of gravity change, but Superman had already flown out and around, pushing on the far side to keep it from going over, then flying back around to the hole. Bending metal and using heat vision he was able to seal the hole until it and the ship itself was water-tight, before righting the ship in the water. He flew up and over the ship, scanning the area with telescopic vision--

There! A number of sailors and workers in the water. Blurring, he got them back onto the deck alongside their lifeboats, and saved what cargo he could as well. He rose back up, scanning for other damage...

Superman's face broke out into a grin. Everything looked fine, now. He heard cheers from the deck. He gave the crew a wave even as he began to fly out over the ocean, back towards the United States...

«Clark!!!»

Superman suddenly spasmed in the air, hands clutching at his head. Sudden heavy telepathic waves intersected his brain -- but not just any telepathy... telepathy that was so familiar... so impossible...

«Clark! Please... oh please tell me you can hear me! After all this time please tell me--»

"Lori?!" Superman shouted -- scanning the oceans all around with X-Ray and telescopic vision. "Lori, can it -- is it you?"

«Yes! Oh Poseidon be praised yes! It's me! I'm here! If you... follow... I can't... can't hold the telepathic beacon long!»

Superman focused on the psionic impression he was feeling. He shot down into the waters of the Atlantic, diving deeper and deeper, feeling for the psychic touch he thought he'd never feel again... the touch of his great lost love of his youth...

When Clark Kent had been in college, he had gotten close to a fellow student named Lori Lemaris, a paraplegic who seemed unusually empathetic to Clark's sense of isolation from his fellow students. The pair had grown closer to each other over time, and even became a couple -- the first woman Clark got that close to since he and Lana Lang had broken up years before. After a while, they learned each others' secrets... that Clark was an alien from Krypton and that Lori was a mermaid from one of the lost cities of Atlantis. Her telepathy made the pair able to be closely connected, and even after she felt she had to return to her home they had shared a close bond.

Then, during a crisis across the world, Lori had died during a joint defense of the Atlantis nations coordinated with Mera of a rival Atlantian kingdom. Clark had felt Lori die in those brief seconds. He had felt a tearing out of a piece of his soul as the maiden of the seas was wrenched from where she had been a part of his thoughts... now, to hear even an echo of Lori...

There -- far below the waters... an underwater mount with a deep underwater cave! Superman swept down and up... surprised after a few moments to breach the water and rise into oddly fresh air, flying in deeply--

The cave was some kind of ancient temple, columns and shattered marble alongside jewels and golden fixtures of arcane might, scattered and broken. In its center, a huge pearl, crackling and glowing with silver lightning, and above that--

Wraithlike, nearly invisible, struggling to be seen and heard and perceived... gloriously nude, her tail curled, her brown hair spread out like she were in the water, arms open...

Lori.

"Clark!" Lori shouted, her voice a blend of telepathy and sound. "Clark, I'm here! Can you see me? Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you!" Superman shouted, getting closer -- the sparking electrical fire of the pearl driving him back, his cape being driven like there were a windstorm. "Lori! I can hear you!"

"Clark! Please... you have to help me! I can only try this once! Clark -- I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry but you're the only one who can save me!" Lori looked terrified, arms extended towards the hero.

"What do I have to do?!" he shouted back, reaching for her.

Lori's face twisted between hope and grief. "Help me! Bond with me! Anchor me, Clark!" Her body rippled, her tail shimmering and splitting, her scales shimmering over her body as human legs formed... Superman knew that she could adopt human form so long as she didn't touch significant water... but that she was still a mermaid, unable to touch the ground. And she had told him once... if she were to take a human lover, in human form... merfolk weren't like humans. She would bond eternally...

Superman kept reaching for her, even as emotion flooded through him. He was loyal to Lois, but this was Lori's life -- her existence. And everything -- all his senses -- swore that this was Lori Lemaris! And she had been torn from life so young, saving so many--

"Clark," Lori moaned, her thoughts and voice echoing through Superman's soul. "I... I understand... I know Lois... I understand... just seeing you... feeling life one more time... one more second..."

"No!" Superman shouted, pushing closer. "No, Lori! No, take my hand! I can save you! I will save you, Lori!!" He reached with all his strength, her hand reaching for his--

The two hands touched, and there was an explosion of light and electricity and silver fire. Superman's uniform was blown back against the wall, falling into the water, untorn and unneeded. Clark pulled the shimmering spirit closer, and her legs -- her legs wrapped around him, their every touch shooting through his nerv"ous system like Saint Elmo's Fire along a wire, their lips finding each other and their kiss searing through mind, body, and soul alike...

Clark moaned, shifting the spirit in his arms, feeling her part, shifting her into position...

"Clark... you can't go back from this... you know that... I would never blame you--"

"Lois would never forgive me if I failed you now," Clark said. "Lori... I have always loved you. Lois knows that. Lois will understand..." He pulled her closer. "Lois will forgive me, but you have to live first..."

Lori's eyes glistened... her lips parted... touching his, their tongues sparking as they played along each other...

...and somewhere far away, Ovyah slowly smiled....