Apparently the cave swallows that make my apartment building their summer nesting site choosing to make a racket at 2am in the morning made my muse annoyed in a good way (good in that I wrote... perhaps not so good in *what* I wrote, certainly a bit more on the rant side than I necessarily like).
Fair warning: there is no dialogue in this piece, it's all just Lois' introspection and there are definitely equal hints of my dislike of good old Dan and my general loathing for 'season finale' angst/drama mongering that's only gotten so much worse since the Luthor/Lane wedding, the proposal with no answer, the random other Kryptonians and the magically appearing baby.
Finale Anniversary
by Lieta
Disclaimer: This is a fan work based on “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” All rights to the characters belong to DC Comics and Warner Bros. No profit was made off this work.
Lois Lane stared down at her phone in frank disbelief. She could not *believe* how much fate had to be laughing at her right this minute.
Lois growled under her breath and grabbed her full suitcase, flinging it onto her bed. She then stalked into her kitchen and pulled out her ubiquitous carton of ice cream and a spoon, and carried them over to one of her love-seats.
As she dug into the frozen comfort she contemplated what had gotten her to this point.
Mere months ago her life had finally stabilized after the disaster that was her 'almost wedding'. She winced as she recalled another 'almost' that had turned into its own sort of disaster. But, back on track, she had had her job, her friends and, most significantly, the most important relationship of her life had also healed: her friendship with one Clark Kent.
Then her best friend had to push the boundaries once again.
Granted, this time she'd been smart enough to not cut off her nose by trying to steer him back to the safety of platonic friendship like she had in the limbo between the Planet's death and her, thankfully temporary, stint as society matron-to-be.
But all the little things that she'd let slide as part of their friendship suddenly became gaping chasms she had no idea how to bridge once they'd had their first *real* date. She had been terrified of loosing his friendship if this fledgling relationship hadn't turned out like he (they) hoped it would. His not-dating but more-than-friends relationship with Mayson Drake, underscored as it was by her death literally in his arms, had also kept it's not insignificant hold on her thoughts during that date and in the days leading up to and following Drake's funeral.
And then there were his *constant* disappearances.
It was one thing when he'd disappear on her and come back with a story or, better yet, quotes or an epiphany for *their* story...
But to leave in the middle of a date? Or when they were trying to hash out their relationship?
Suddenly these were no longer the actions of a possibly scatterbrained reporter or just getting the job done... these were giant red flags signaling her to beware.
Finally, she'd made the only decision she'd thought she could: she'd cut him loose and made an exclusive commitment to Dan.
Lois glared through her open bedroom door at her suitcase. And hadn't *that* decision turned out great?
She'd chosen the guy who could tell her clearly and emphatically that he wanted a relationship with her. The one who commiserated with her about all Clark's shortcomings in the dating department. The one who'd stood up for her against Clark to show how badly he'd been treating her with his inconsistencies and letting her down by constantly bailing on her.
The guy who'd apparently forgotten he should be even less sure he could honor his own commitments.
They were *supposed* to be going away together for a weekend alone, hopefully moving their relationship into new territory away from their jobs and the shadow of her own previous entanglements.
Instead Dan had been sent out on an undercover operation in California that could take *months* to complete.
She'd given up the guy who, on the one hand, constantly vanished for unknown reasons throughout the day, but, on the other, was still by her side day in and day out in a job that guaranteed he'd be tied to her side for the foreseeable future. Then chosen the guy who talked a great game about commitment while at the same time never considered how transient *his* life necessarily was due to his profession.
At least she'd still hedged her bets somewhat, she'd told Clark that she felt she had to give Dan a fair shot or she'd regret it... hopefully he'd be willing to listen when she shared that she was instead regretting not telling him to take a hike the first time he'd disparaged her best friend.
As she retrieved her phone to call her best friend to, hopefully, correct a few of their mistakes, she hoped she wasn't going to be making a tradition of sabotaging her life around this time of year...
The End
