Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found
HerePart 225Part 226
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Smallville Promises
*****************As they hovered in the clouds over Kansas City, waiting for the darkest moment of dusk before they landed, Lois gasped, piping up, “We should’ve flown!”
Once again, she had made him speechless. Clark knew it was difficult for her to see the ground through the clouds, but he didn't want to remind Lois of the obvious, mostly because she hated to be corrected. “Uh… Lois?”
She nudged his shoulder. “In a
plane, Chuck,” she clarified.
“Oh,” he said, understanding, yet without comprehension. “Why?” One of the things he loved most about Lois was her utter lack of fear of flying Superman style.
“What if someone is following us?”
Clark glanced around the steel grey clouds, swirling with snow. Even without his x-ray vision, he could tell nobody was there. The closest plane at their altitude was a hundred miles to the west and by the time it reached their current location, Lois and Clark would’ve landed. He decided to see where her newfound paranoia was coming from. “Nobody’s following us,” he reassured her.
Lois gave him a sour look. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, if anyone ever checked the flight logs to see which flight we took to Kansas…”
Ah, now he understood. “And why would anyone care?” he asked slowly, not wanting to tell her again that they weren’t landing in Kansas.
“I could see Luthor caring.”
“He’s in prison.”
“
And?”
Yes, Clark knew that meant nothing with Luthor’s money and influence. “Do you think Luthor is having you followed?”
Again.“He is the stalker sort,” Lois reminded him. “And the jealous type. He’s more likely to follow
us than just me.”
“As far as Luthor knows, we’re curled up on my sofa watching a movie,” Clark said as he landed in dark area of the airport’s parking garage. He set her on her feet and then spun out of his uniform and into comfy jeans and heavy coat.
“But if he hears about our trip, he’ll make inquiries and then when he doesn’t find our flight but sees that we’ve rented a car, he’ll get suspicious.”
Clark held up a hand before picking up their suitcases. “Let me get this straight. You think we should endure how many hours in a sardine can instead of five minutes in the fresh air just in case someone decides to check on our travel arrangements?” he inquired.
Lois lifted her chin. “It could happen. I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
He kissed her cheek. “Which I appreciate, but…”
“
Or,” she continued, interrupting him as if she were just struck with a brilliant idea. “We could just rent the car under another name!”
Clark nodded slowly. “Yes. Yes, we could do that.” Better that than spend even one hour in a plane. “But they require a credit card and a driver’s license to rent cars, and all mine say ‘Clark Kent’.”
She shrugged as if that didn’t matter. “Easily fixed. I know a guy who knows a guy…”
How could he have forgotten? “That’s right. I have you to thank for my current driver’s license, don’t I?”
Lois blinked her eyelashes innocently at him all the while grinning enormously. “I have no idea to what you could be referring, Mr. Kent.”
Plausible deniability. He didn’t blame her.
“Or
you could just rent the car next time,” he suggested. Or one of her many aliases.
“Well, I do like to drive more.”
Debatable. Neither of them was keen on giving up control. He was tempted to remind her that with all of his senses he was the better driver, especially in snow, but decided it wasn’t worth the cold shoulder all the way to Smallville.
“Being that we were seen leaving the Daily Planet less than an hour ago,” he said. “I doubt anyone would look for us to be picking up a rental car in Missouri tonight.”
She frowned in that manner she did when logic ruled against her. “I guess that makes sense… Oh, shoot!” Her face screwed up in a grimace and she slammed her fist into her palm.
“What?” he asked, and then added, “Did you forget that black teddy?” He grinned at that thought.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Chuck!” Lois said with a nudge. “And it isn’t black.”
Clark’s eyes widened and he stopped breathing almost as if time froze.
He had only been kidding.
Lois.
In a negligee.
A swirl of color options blurred his vision as he could no longer think of anything else.
“Are you feeling okay?” she asked. “You’re sweating and it’s ten below.”
Clark drew in a slow, deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. “Now who’s being ridiculous,” he said, his voice wavering. “It’s no colder than twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit.”
“Which is ten below freezing last time I checked.”
“Right.” He cleared his throat as they stepped into the empty parking garage elevator. He let go of his suitcase and caressed her shoulder. “So, what did you forget?” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. “I can zip back to Metropolis…”
She set her hand over his. “It’s too late now, but I was going to suggest we go via Philadelphia, so you could meet my grandmother. It totally slipped my mind or I would’ve let her or Lucy know we were coming. Now, the Kents are waiting for us, so we can’t double back.” She shook her head and sighed. “We’ll just have to go sometime in January, then.”
Clark raised his brows. “Wow. You want me to meet your family? We must be getting serious.” He said this last in a teasing tone, despite his heart soaring into the clouds with happiness.
“You’ve met Lucy and my father. My mother… Well, her opinion doesn’t matter. Mother Arnold will
love you,” Lois said, wrapping her arms around his waist with a hug.
“And your mother won’t,” he stated, reading between the lines. He wished he hadn’t thought the words, let alone spoken them. His heart crashed back down into his chest. Thankfully, Lois was already holding him to keep it together.
“Well, she doesn’t have good taste in men. She married my father, after all.” Then she looked away, mumbling, “And
adored Luthor.”
Clark rolled his eyes. Yes, how could a Kansas farm boy compare to Luthor and all his mill…
billions, despite the fact he was a criminal mastermind who killed people and treated Lois like a worthless possession?
“Didn’t you say something about them getting back together?” he asked and then clarified after seeing her horrified expression, “Your mother and father?”
Lois threw her hands into the air. “See! No taste whatsoever!”
Case closed, apparently.
They stepped off the elevator and back into the cold air. As they crossed over to the arrivals area to wait for the rental car shuttle, Clark’s mind was once again awash in trying to guess the color of Lois’s nightie. He was reminded of the light blue negligee she wore when she had been drunk on pheromones and crawled across his apartment towards him on her hands and knees.
Then, he recalled the black teddy she had brought along with her when they spent those nights at the Luxor. The one she said she had wanted to wear for him. Not Superman. Clark. The person who had planted the bomb had torn it to shreds. He swallowed. Yes, he could see why she hadn’t bought another black one.
There was always that one she had hinted about back on his birthday. The one she had debated about giving him instead of the space pen. The one hidden in her lingerie drawer. She had never said what exactly it had been, other than it was a gift for him that was more for her.
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. It was a long drive still to Smallville. Although, with a little super help…
“Penny for your thoughts,” Lois said, bending down to pick up a penny from the ground and handing it over to him.
Clark looked at the penny, in all its tarnished dullness sitting in the center of his gloved hand. He cleared his throat again, wrapping his fingers around that penny. “Promises,” he murmured. “And keeping them.”
“Oh,” she said dejectedly. “I understand.”
His brow furrowed.
“If you have to go, you have to. I won’t hold it against you.”
He pulled Lois into his arms, pressing her to his chest and causing her to tilt her head back to look up at him. “And if I have to stay?” he asked, brushing her lips with his. “All night long?”
“Oh!” she breathed more than spoke. Her eyes dilated with possibilities. “That’s being a tad presumptuous, isn’t it?” she finally replied.
He smiled. “Is it,
minha?”
She turned and looked over her shoulder. “Where is that van?!”
He nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck. Yes, the hours until bedtime would be some of the slowest in his life.
***
The door opened and Martha pulled Lois and Clark together into one of her hugs. Lois had forgotten what it felt like to be welcomed so warmly.
“I’m so glad you came!” the older woman said. “Christmas isn’t Christmas without kids around.”
“We’re hardly kids,” Lois replied, shaking snow off her jacket before stepping inside.
“Oh, hush!” Martha softly scolded, moving away from the door so they could enter. “Don’t ruin my first Christmas with our son!”
“Aw, Ma!” Clark said good-naturedly, kissing Martha’s forehead and wrapping his arms around her once more. “Merry Christmas!” He wiped away what Lois was sure wasn’t a snowflake from his cheek before whispering, “I wouldn’t want to spend it anywhere else.”
Martha nudged him and eyed Lois. “Hogwash!”
Jonathan rolled up to the door at that moment, greeting them and trying in vain to take the suitcases from Clark. It seemed almost as if some ritual Lois didn’t quite grasp. It wasn’t as if Jonathan could take the suitcases upstairs. Must be some kind of Midwestern thing.
Lois turned to take in the living room. It was decked with garlands of pine branches and lights intermingled, leading towards a tree sparkling in the far corner. There was a small pile of gifts under the tree. Platters of various cookie treats covered a side table. It smelled of pine, cinnamon, and cloves.
“Your house looks great,” Lois said, her voice hoarse. It felt as if she had stepped into
It’s a Wonderful Life. Did people actually celebrate holidays like this?
“I hope you don’t mind, Jerome, but we left the star for you,” Martha said, wrapping her arm around his waist and leading him further into the room.
Clark grinned childishly with mirth as if he were given first choice of the Christmas candy. “Oh, you didn’t have to.”
“Of course, we did,” snickered Jonathan. “We can’t reach it.” He elbowed Lois as she removed her coat. “Thomas came by a couple days ago and set up the tree. He and Wayne are coming for Christmas lunch tomorrow, if that’s okay. That’s why I told Jerome to rent a car. Thomas was going to bring his girlfriend. She was bound to notice if you didn’t have a car, but she broke up with him a couple days ago.”
“Oh, no!” Clark replied, his face falling. “I’m so sorry. Thanks for telling us. We’ll be sure to avoid the subject.” He gave Lois a warning glance. As if she were one to purposefully remind people of horrors of her Christmas past.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she murmured loud enough for Clark’s ears alone to pick up.
“Let me take the bags upstairs,” Clark suggested, swooping up their suitcases and a bag of packages that she hadn’t recalled bringing with them.
“You’re in the same rooms as your last visit,” Martha called out to him as he went up the stairs.
He paused and glanced down at Lois. They hadn’t discussed bedroom options and thankfully, he hadn’t mentioned anything about sharing a room with Lois to the Kents.
“Unless…?” Martha looked back and forth between them.
“Okay. Thanks!” Lois said as brightly as her cheeks were probably glowing and she informed Clark nonverbally to continue up the stairs. She didn’t want to discuss it
now, either.
Martha grabbed her arm and whispered conspiratorially, “Has something changed?”
Jonathan rolled into the kitchen chuckling.
“No!” Lois gasped. She certainly didn’t want to talk about her and Clark’s sex life, or lack thereof, with the woman Clark called ‘Ma’. “Nothing’s changed. We’re fine!”
Martha patted her hand softly and eyed her with an expression that told Lois she knew that Lois was lying. “Nothing’s changed?” she questioned.
Okay. So,
everything had changed since she had first returned from space.
Lois shrugged. “Maybe a few things,” she admitted.
Martha grinned. “Good for you. You two deserve some happiness! Would you like some wine?”
“Yes,
please!” Lois replied, perhaps a tad more forcefully than necessarily.
Martha nodded and went to retrieve a couple of glasses of wine.
“Chicken is almost done!” Jonathan called from the kitchen doorway, wiping his hands on a dishcloth.
“Chicken?” Lois said. It seemed a bit ordinary for Christmas Eve dinner.
“We used to drive into town and go to the Christmas party at the church, watch the Christmas pageant, and attend late night services. Since Jonathan’s accident, it’s more hassle than it’s worth,” Martha said softly, handing her a glass. “Anyway, tonight we have guests!”
Clark returned and took the second glass of wine from Martha when she offered it to him.
Lois wrapped her free arm around Clark’s waist and squeezed. She hadn’t thought of how much Jonathan’s plight might have changed the Kents’ holidays. She had forgotten that he had been in the chair less than three years as he had been in it since they first met. Her and Clark’s visit must have meant as much to the Kents as it meant to Clark to feel wanted, more than just needed. As much as it meant to her to come to this house full of love. To feel wanted and cherished by friends as well as one’s significant other was just as important.
Clark kissed her cheek. “Let me help!” he called, heading towards the kitchen.
“Always the hero,” Lois teased, and Martha laughed.
Martha sat down on the sofa and patted the spot next to her. “Come on! How often do us womenfolk get to enjoy a night off from the kitchen?” she asked.
“Most every night, actually,” Lois said. “I’m no cook.”
Martha nodded as if recalling that fact. “Actually, Jonathan’s been cooking more lately, since I’ve started working in the fields.” She waved a hand dismissively towards the kitchen. “I’m making Christmas dinner tomorrow, so the boys can handle tonight.”
“Fine by me,” Lois said with a grin.
“Me, too,” Martha laughed.
“Clark’s a wonderful cook. He said he used to stand on a stool and help his mom peeling vegetables and rolling out pastry dough,” Lois said, taking a sip of wine.
Martha’s glass had stopped an inch from her face as she stared at Lois.
Lois wondered what she was thinking.
With a quick glance over her shoulder, Martha leaned close and whispered, “Does he speak often of his folks?”
Lois shook her head. “No. Rarely. He loved them very much and misses them terribly. They died when he was a boy. From what I gather, he had it rough after that, traveling from home to home, never fitting in or becoming close with anyone.”
Until his fiancée. Lois’s brow furrowed as she glanced over her shoulder towards the kitchen to where she could hear Jonathan and Clark’s low voices. She took another sip of her wine. “He was engaged shortly before he came here,” she said. “Apparently, she dumped him at the altar.”
Martha nodded. “Yes, he told us.”
“It was a good thing for him, as she wasn’t very nice,” Lois said as if she were an expert on this woman whose name Clark had never even told her. “She tried to control him.”
Martha patted her hand and took it in hers with a squeeze. “You make him happy, Lois.”
“Well… I…” Lois had no response to that.
“No, you do,” Martha reassured her. “Since we first met him…” She shook her head. “Jerome practically walks on air around you.”
Lois chuckled, taking a sip of her wine. “I hear he can do that.”
“That’s not what I meant!” Martha laughed. They were quiet a minute. “So, any big news?”
Lois considered that question before answering. “The last big story we worked on wasn’t really a story. The Superman Foundation sort of adopted a man and his sister. The man had been struck by lightning and among his injuries, he had lost his memory. He was unable to financially care for his older sister, who was mentally…” She stopped herself from using the phrase
mentally unstable. There was something unseemly about it that gave her the heebie-jeebies. “— confused.” She nodded to herself. Yes, that was better. “The Foundation will be covering their expenses until the man is well enough to support them again.” She pressed her lips together thinking about any other interesting stories she and Clark were exploring. “Luthor’s trial has been postponed
again. I’m not looking forward to testifying against him. Like Clark, I’m ready to move forward with my life and put that man behind us at last.” She glanced up from her wine glass and saw that Martha was staring at her once more.
“I see,” Martha finally replied after drinking some of her wine. “Any plans for the New Year?”
Lois and Clark were lucky to sneak in a day off together every week. Planning with their busy schedules was a luxury they could not afford. One never knew when the next big news story would break. She took a sip of her wine. “Nope. How about you?”
Martha sighed. “Just planting and harvesting as usual. We sold off some of our acres to Wayne and Thomas last summer while you were… ahem… away, so the farm isn’t so hard to manage any longer.”
“Well, Clark thinks of himself as a farm kid. So, if you ever need any help, I’m sure he’d be out in an instant.”
“Oh. We wouldn’t want to be a bother,” Martha said. “We can manage just fine on our own.”
“It’s no bother, Mom!” Clark called from the kitchen.
“It’s not polite to listen in on other people’s conversations, Jerome!” Martha scolded back.
“A hazard of our profession, I’m afraid,” Lois chuckled. A private conversation was another luxury Lois had gone without lately. Not that she had many secrets from Clark any more.
Martha shook a finger at Lois. “Don’t you let him use his powers to get the upper hand with you,” she warned.
Lois grinned.
He isn’t the only one who knew how to eavesdrop. “Oh, he doesn’t.”
Not if he wanted to see that nightie she brought, he wouldn’t.
***
After washing up the dishes, Clark went out and checked on the animals after dinner, allowing Martha and Jonathan an early night. He suggested that Lois take a warm bath and relax, so that he would have time to buzz over Metropolis to make sure the mischief makers weren’t ruining anyone’s Christmas.
He rescued a few stranded travelers stuck in the snow, stopped a couple of Christmas burglaries, ferried more than one drunk reveler home, and helped a woman change the tire on her car. He swung by his apartment and picked up the French pastries he had bought earlier in the day for Christmas morning at the farm. As he flew up high enough to see the curve of the Earth, he glanced down towards Brazil. He felt bad about not visiting Padre Carlos recently. A part of him tried to convince himself to stop by with some of the French pastries. However, he knew, it was the same part that was scared about what lay ahead that night.
As he shifted his sights back to Kansas, he recalled Lois was waiting for him. He had promised her a night to remember. He didn’t want it to be because he had ditched her out of fear and with a ladle full of pathetic excuses.
He landed in the snow at the backside of the barn and quickly changed back into his Clark clothes. He stomped his boots on the back porch, clearing off most of the snow from them before removing them. He floated inside so as not to track puddles of melted snow through the kitchen. Setting his boots on a mat by the back door, Clark hung his coat up and left the bag of pastries on the kitchen counter, before floating out into the living room. The fire had died down to embers. He could hear the soft breathing of Martha and Jonathan from their bedroom and guessed that they were already asleep.
That had been his main goal for doing this patrol before bed. He didn’t want to woo Lois and be overheard by the Kents. No, he didn’t need that kind of mortification in his life. That was not how he wanted to remember Christmas Eve.
He floated up the stairs to his bedroom and grabbed his bag of gifts. Two instants later, he was back downstairs adding to the small piles of presents and filling the modest stockings hanging on the mantle. He was about to ball up the paper sack and throw it into the fire, when he decided instead to fold it up neatly to gather up wrapping paper the next morning. Then, he bolted back up the stairs.
Clark hesitated on the landing between the two bedrooms, not sure what he should do next. He turned toward his own room, where he grabbed his pajamas, before stealing into the bathroom for a quick shower. Afterwards, he rinsed out his Suit and hung it to dry.
Exhaling a deep breath, he knew he couldn’t dawdle any longer. Either Lois would love what he had planned or they would never speak of it again.
As long as she didn’t laugh.
He swallowed.
No pressure.
He knocked softly on her door. “Lois?” he called, opening her door a crack.
She lay in her bed, reading a novel. Seeing him, she lowered her book and smiled.
So far, so good.
“Wow. You’re back soon. I didn’t expect you for another hour, at least,” she said, setting her book on her bedside table.
Soon? He had been gone for over an hour, hadn’t he? She must have been teasing him.
Lois stretched out her hand to him. “Did you come to kiss me goodnight?” she asked.
He took her hand and brought it up to his bare chest, unable to speak the words in his heart.
Sure. Kiss goodnight. Yeah. One could call it that.Her hand started to caress his chest, breaking the spell, and he shivered in anticipation.
“You poor fellow. It must be freezing outside,” Lois said, scooting over. “Why don’t you warm up next to me?”
She didn’t need to ask him twice.
Clark slid under the covers and pressed his lips to hers as his arm glided over the satiny cloth of her navy negligee.
Navy. Darker than his uniform. Lighter than black. The very color of the midnight sky.
Oh, God, give him the strength to be patient.
“Bad night?” she asked, between kisses.
“What?... No.”
Lois moved back slightly. “You seem a bit nonverbal.”
She wasn’t ready. Okay. He pulled back his desire. His hand glided up the silky material to the spaghetti thin strap over her shoulder. “I’ve been thinking about this teddy all night,” he admitted.
Amongst other things.“You peeked!”
“I did not!” Clark said, sitting up.
“Then how did you know what it looked like?” she asked.
“I happen to have an active imagination,” he said in his defense.
She pointed at him. “You knew it would be blue, didn’t you?”
“Had no idea. Thought it might be maroon, actually,” he murmured, his finger tracing the neckline.
She reached down to the hem. “I’ll just take this off then.”
“No!” he gasped, staying her hand. “I like the navy.”
Lois smiled.
Vixen! She knew he was going to stop her.
“It’s not technically a teddy,” she corrected, lifting the covers to show him her leg. “More of a nightshirt, see. Teddies are shorter.”
His focus shifted to her long leg, partially covered by the dark material. “So I’ve heard,” he murmured.
“From whom?”
“It’s a figure of speech.” He moved his hand to her thigh.
“It’s lead lined,” she said.
What? He recovered quickly from her joke. “Don’t tempt me to test that.”
“Would you like to?” she asked.
He answered her question by placing his mouth to hers.
“Clark?” she went on as he started kissing down her neck.
“Hmmm.”
“Tell me about the woman you almost married.”
***End of Part 226*** Part 227 Please throw your tomatoes at the Evil Writer
here
