Epiphany
Folc4evernaday
Part 2
Notes: So, early Christmas present for everyone....I finished part 2. Yay!!! I hope everyone has a great Christmas, Hannukah or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year. Have fun with the family and enjoy. I'm fixing to head out of town this week so I probably won't have the next part up for a few weeks but
feedback is always welcome. I promise I'll respond when I get back.
***
Part 2***
***
Monday morning at the Daily Planet Clark couldn’t help but notice the cool tone Lois took with him. She was going out of her way to avoid him. He still hadn’t had a chance to tell her about Fuentes being released from custody or about Superman. He needed a way to break the ice with her but right now she was going out of her way NOT to talk to him.
Jimmy and Perry walked past his desk discussing the damage to Perry’s office, “Well, I guess the place needed a lift,” Perry said with a sigh in defeat. His attempt to bring humor to the situation was met with forced smiles among the five of them.
A messenger came in with a large arrangement of flowers. As soon as he saw them he knew who they were for. There was no one else they would be for. Lois. It had Lex Luthor’s hand writing all over it. It made him sick to his stomach to know Lois was still dating Luthor. He watched her read the card and couldn’t help himself. He peeked at the card that read, ‘Love, Lex,’ and grimaced. He didn’t notice Lois looking back at him. Did she love him? He didn’t think so, but…. He shook his head in disgust, trying to keep his emotions in check. That was what had gotten him into this predicament in the first place.
Cat walked in all smiles and he couldn’t help but frown, recalling how she’d left them at the Planet, ignoring their pleas for help. She had been oblivious to their plight.
“Send yourself flowers again, Lois?” Cat sneered as she took a seat at her desk. Lois cast Cat a dirty look but didn’t say anything. “Whew! What a weekend. I know he may not look it, but under that mild-mannered façade, George is a wild man,” Clark caught Lois’ gaze when she cast a sideway glance at him. What was that about?
Cat continued, “I spent most of the weekend in handcuffs. So, what did you guys do this weekend?” They all glared at her with dirty looks. She seriously didn’t know? She shrugged, “Sorry I asked,”
He saw Jack in the corner of his eye and nodded to him. Jack came over to greet him. He seemed to sense the tension in the air and whispered, “If looks could kill,”
Clark nodded. “Superman took Denny and his foster family out of town for now. He can fly you out to visit if needed but for now….”
Jack smiled in agreement. “Tell him I said thanks,”
Clark sighed, watching Jack head back to his desk with Jimmy then glanced at Lois. She could barely look at him. Making up his mind, he decided the best way to get to talking again was to get on the same page about work. She may not want to talk to him right now but he hoped she’d listen long enough for him to tell her about Fuentes.
Lois was typing away at her computer. He didn’t dare tell her he knew she was trying to avoid him. He could read the gibberish she was typing. He stood by her desk for a moment, contemplating how to begin when she jerked her head at him and snapped, “What is it? You didn’t get enough slander in this weekend?”
Clark sighed, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything like that to you,”
‘At least not out loud… ‘ Lois stared at him for a moment. He watched her apprehensively, unsure if she’d forgive him or not. “I really am sorry, Lois,” He continued, trying to squash his inner voice.
Her facial expression seemed to crack ever so slightly and she turned briskly, “Don’t ever let it happen again,”
Clark nodded, “Okay,” He took a seat next to her. “I do need to talk to you…. I wanted to tell you….”
He stopped when he heard a cry for help. Cursing his luck, he noticed the annoyed look on her face. “Lois, I left a…. file at….” He couldn’t seem to think of a place that would sound believable and she just gave him an incredulous look.
“Home??” She guessed.
“Yes!” He said backing away from her desk. “I left a file at home and I’ll be right back. It’s really really important.” With that, he disappeared.
***
Lex Luthor sifted through the articles in front of him, “Our man of steel has been quite busy this year, hasn’t he?”
“Yes,” Nigel nodded. “Appearances from saving Prometheus to appearing at children’s schools to speak about safety… Quite a variety of appearances,”
“Is it just me or does it seem like a lot of these exclusives come from the Daily Planet?” Lex pulled out the article on Nightfall recalling the coverage shown of Lois Lane kissing the man of steel goodbye. It still made his blood boil to imagine that….Lois Lane in his enemy’s arms.
“Yes, it seems Ms. Lane has gotten just about every exclusive along with her partner, Clark Kent,” Nigel said with an amused smile. “With one exception…”
“What is that?” Lex asked intrigued.
“This,” Nigel placed the article about Superman’s return after his first attempt to stop Nightfall.
“’Superman Came Home. Now Where Is He?’ By Lois Lane,” Lex read the title with the byline.
“…and James Olsen,” Nigel pointed out.
Lex laughed, “So, obviously we know the man of steel has a soft spot for the Daily Planet….and Lois Lane.” His face flickered with anger at the last statement. “I want to know why….get the background on Lois Lane and start surveillance on her. Someone close to her either is our famed man of steel or is connected to him somehow. We’re going to find out who,”
“Yes, sir,” Nigel nodded.
A knock at the door announced Asabi who stood quietly by the door, “Mr. Luthor?”
Lex looked to Asabi and smiled, “Yes, Asabi?”
“A Mr. Fuentes is here to see you,”
“Show him in,” Lex nodded at Nigel, “We’ll finish this later,”
Nigel grabbed the files and headed out. “I’ll get on this right away,”
***
Lois fumed angrily as she watched Clark leave before her eyes. She’d spent most of the weekend crying. It had surprised her how much it had hurt to see a man she respected so much stoop so low as to slander a good man like Lex. She hadn’t realized how much she cared about him until she was faced with seeing a side of him she never knew existed. She would never have thought Clark was capable of slander before.
Who did he think he was kidding? Trying to convince her Lex Luthor was some criminal? She’d spent almost a year with him, getting to know him….well, parts of him. She didn’t know him as well as she’d like but she thought she knew him well enough to know whether he was a murderer.
She’d been prepared not to talk to Clark at all. When the flowers from Lex had arrived she’d cast a sideway glance at Clark. She wasn’t sure why she’d done it. The look on his face was pure devastation. It hit a nerve with her when she saw that look on his face. She wasn’t sure why it affected her so much.
When he’d approached her this morning she’d been determined to give him the cold shoulder, going so far as to begin typing gibberish on her computer to make it look like he was interrupting her. It wasn’t like he could see her screen. Then he’d done something she hadn’t expected. He’d apologized.
When it came to Lex Luthor Clark never apologized. They normally just ignored each other until they were forced to work it out by Perry and would just agree to disagree and move on. This time was different. Clark had apologized. It had surprised her. She’d seen the sincerity in his eyes and she could feel her defenses melting away when she saw how devastated he seemed to be. He seemed to be the only person that could drive her crazy in one minute and then make her want to hug him the next.
They were just getting back on track and then Clark got that look on his face that he got when she knew he was going to run away from her …. again. She still didn’t understand why he did that. He was the most wonderful person in the world one moment and the next he was gone.
Lois sighed in frustration as she glanced at the card Lex had left. Why had he signed it ‘love?’ She didn’t think they were that serious. It was companionship, friendship … neither knew enough about one another to warrant either one falling in love. She sighed in frustration. Many women would have given anything to have Lex Luthor send flowers with a love note but not her. Why? Maybe she just needed to talk to Lex about what he meant?
She gathered her purse and headed toward the elevator. Not looking where she was going she bumped right into Jack as he was stepping onto the elevator with files in hand. “Whoah!”
Lois winced when she saw all the files fly all around. “Sorry,” She knelt down to help him pick up the files that had flown all over the place.
“It’s okay,” Jack sighed. “Just one of those days,”
She picked up the last file and caught the name ‘Fuentes’ on it. “Jack, why are you researching Fuentes?”
Jack shrugged. “Jimmy said Clark asked for everything on the guy. Apparently, he got released less than twelve hours after he was arrested and no one can find him. Jimmy and I were told to find everything we can on Fuentes and his gang and anything relating to ‘the boss,’” Jack explained.
Lois handed the file back to Jack in shock, “How did Fuentes just….I mean, there were witnesses against him….more than one….a video surveillance….” Lois stammered in shock.
Jack nodded, “That’s what Clark’s trying to find out.” Lois’ eyes widened as the wheels began to turn in her head and Jack looked around the newsroom, “By the way where did he go?”
***
“Mr. Fuentes, so good of you to stop by,” Lex said with a smile, welcoming the man in. He smiled smugly when he noticed the brace on the man’s hand where he’d broken a few fingers. “I expect Nigel has been taking care of you?”
Fuentes nodded, “It appears your kid Jack is a bit of a rabbit. He didn’t go home all weekend. We tried his brother’s foster home and the family’s been on vacation as of Saturday afternoon.”
Lex leaned back, “Well, I must say this is an interesting development. It appears we’ve underestimated him.”
Fuentes looked at Lex nervously, “I can keep a tail on him if you’d like, but so far there has been no sign of him outside of the Planet. Unless you want me to…”
Lex shook his head, “No, nothing too direct. Jack is nothing….a nobody…making a hit on him so direct would draw too much attention. I don’t need anyone asking questions. Keep on Jack but until you get an opportunity to take care of him I want you to work with Nigel on setting up surveillance on Ms. Lane,”
“Surveillance?” Fuentes asked skeptically, looking at Lex disapprovingly. “On your girlfriend?”
Lex sneered, “Just do it. I’m not paying you for your judgments,” Fuentes nodded and left, leaving Lex to stew over his next move. A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
“Lex? A call for the boss is on line three,” Mrs. Cox said with a smile.
He nodded, reaching for the phone. He turned on the voice distorter and spoke, “This is the boss,”
***
“Ms. Lane,” Nigel nodded seeing Lois step on the floor of the penthouse. “Can I help you?”
Lois smiled, “Yes, I’m looking for Lex,”
Nigel nodded. “Yes, right this way,” He knocked three times in a pattern on Lex’s door then opened it for her.
“Lois!” Lex cheered happily when he saw her. “So good to see you,” He gave her a peck on the cheek.
She smiled, “Lex, hi,” She brushed a stray hair behind her ear and turned away from him for a moment.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” He asked, taking her hand and kissing it.
She pulled her hand back nervously, “Lex, I got the flowers…”
“…and you wanted to thank me in person?” He asked with a smile. “I have a few meetings but I’ll clear my afternoon for you…”
“No,” Lois shook her head, taking her hand back from his grasp. “I wanted to talk to you about this note…” She pulled the note out of her pocket. “Did you write this?”
“Yes,” He said with a smile. “I know it seems sudden, but these last few weeks…”
“It just seems so….sudden….” Lois began. “I mean, I….”
“You don’t feel the same way?” He asked.
“I…I don’t know how I feel…” Lois said softly.
Lex looked down for a moment, but recovered quickly, “Well, maybe I jumped the gun a bit…after everything that happened this weekend I thought we’d grown closer…”
Lois frowned slightly, “I’m still ….working through everything….” She said softly.
<< “He’s a murderer!”>>
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>Why did she keep thinking about Clark’s warning about Lex? He wouldn’t hurt her…
“Maybe we can work through it together.” He said softly kissing her hand.
“I think this is something I need to work through on my own,” Lois said softly. “I need some time….to think…”
Lex smiled, “You just need to get back in your routine. It’s not easy dealing with a hostage situation like that…”
<< “He’s a murderer!”>>“You don’t seem to be affected by it…” Lois pointed out. “I don’t know. I think I just need some space…”
“Space?” He laughed, “Lois, you can’t get any more space than I’ve already given you…Come on, I think I’ve been more than understanding…” He took a step toward her.
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>She took a step back, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” He shook his head, pasting a charming smile on his face. Lois looked at him warily and he said, “Let me take you to dinner tonight and we’ll talk,”
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>Clark’s warning continued to echo in her mind. There was something about it…. “I…” Lois began but was interrupted by Nigel.
“Mr. Luthor a call on line three for you. It’s urgent,”
Lex turned to the phone and said, “I’ll see you tonight,”
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>“Fine,” She said curtly, unsure of what had just happened. She took a step out of his office and headed back to the Planet. How had it gone from her trying to distance herself from Lex to her having dinner with him? What had just happened?
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>
***
Clark sighed as he took his seat at his desk, looking around the newsroom for Lois. He didn’t see any sign of her. Her purse was missing. Where could she have gone? He scanned the conference rooms and spotted her in there with a stack of files and Jack and Jimmy leaning over her shoulder.
File. He remembered he was supposed to be bringing a file. He grabbed the file he had brought in from Henderson on Saturday and knocked at the door, opening it. Lois looked up, “Hey, Clark, why didn’t you tell me about Fuentes?” She pointed to the stack of files on the table.
“I was going to but….” He trailed off remembering why he hadn’t told her. Their fight. She seemed to recognize the expression on his face and didn’t press. She looked down at the file in front of her quietly and he took a seat next to her, “So, what is all this?”
“Everything that could be remotely related to Fuentes and his gang,” Jimmy pointed to one small stack to the left.
“Everything related to anyone called ‘the boss’ for the past five years,” Jack said pointing at the several stacks of files to the right.
“Yikes,” Clark muttered.
“Yeah,” Lois nodded. “What’s the deal with this ‘boss?’”
Clark shrugged, “I don’t know. Inspector Henderson said he heard some of the members of Fuentes crew talking about ‘the boss’ as the one that got Fuentes out. First time I’ve heard of him…”
“…or her,” Lois smirked. “Women can be crime lords too,”
“…or her,” Clark nodded.
“This is some scary stuff,” Jimmy said as he handed them a stack of police reports. “Everything the police think is connected to ‘the boss’ in the last year.”
Clark let out a low whistle and his jaw dropped. There had to be at least five hundred crimes on this report. He knew as Superman he couldn’t save everyone but it frustrated him to no end knowing there was so much crime going on right under his nose.
“Impressive resume” Lois said taking the report from Clark. Her nose crinkled slightly and she grabbed him by the arm, “Clark!”
“What?” He asked, trying to pull his arm back from her death grip.
“Look!” She pointed to the very top of the list where the death of Dr. Baines was listed. “I knew Baines was involved in something big….I can’t believe you trusted her….”
“I never said I trusted her…” Clark tried to interject but was cut off by her continuing her tirade.
“Yeah, sure. She was SO unprofessional….sizing you up like a piece of meat and…. I mean….that was my first sign that something was off…Who did she think she was?” That statement surprised him. He glanced at her questioningly. Jack and Jimmy were wearing equally amused expressions on their face. She seemed to notice the looks and changed her tone. “It just kinda bothered me.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I wonder how many stories we covered this year are on this list…”
Clark wore an amused expression as she did her best to cover up the slip of tongue. It was moments like this that gave him hope that she might be noticing him, Clark Kent as more than just her partner and friend. “I’m sure a lot of them are on there,” He tried to mention casually.
Jack was looking at the list now reading off the top, “Double suicides, Carlin building bombing, Toasters destruction of Suicide Slum….”
Lois’ eyes widened. “Do you know what this means?”
Clark smiled, knowing full well what was coming next. Jack shrugged, “No, what?”
“Pulitzer!” Lois cheered happily. She shoved a stack in Clark’s arms, “Let’s get digging,”
***
Later that evening Lois and Clark were among the last in the office as they finished up the research on everything they knew about ‘the boss’. Clark was relieved it had been fairly quiet this afternoon. He didn’t want to have to make up another excuse to leave …. Again. He knew he needed to tell her but right now he just couldn’t figure out HOW.
Lois rolled her neck, trying to work the kinks out of it as she stared at the file in front of her. “Here, let me,” Clark offered. She nodded and leaned back against him as he gently massaged her neck muscles. He gave a quick blast of heat vision to the area his hands were massaging to relieve some of the tension and she groaned in approval. He bit his lower lip as she leaned up against him.
“That feels great,” Lois sighed as he worked on the knots in her shoulder. She was really tense. He wasn’t surprised. They’d been working in here most of the day. He glanced at the files on the table that they had sorted through. They had made some progress in sorting the list of crimes that were associated with the stories they had covered and categorized them by importance. They had begun a map on the wall to keep track of who was connected to who. Mostly small time criminals seemed to be in the system but everyone knew not to name names.
Lois leaned back against him, staring at the wall for a moment as he continued to massage her shoulders. He caught her gaze and frowned, “Depressing, isn’t it?”
Lois nodded, “Yeah, I just don’t get how we missed….this much,”
Clark sighed, “Me neither. I wish we had more than ….this…” He gestured to the poorly formed map on the board. “There are still way too many holes,”
“Who do you think is behind all this?” Lois wondered aloud. He knew better than to say what he thought. After this weekend, he didn’t dare breathe a word of what he suspected until after he told her about Superman. Lois cast a glance at him and sighed, “Oh, I forgot. You think Lex is a murderer so it’s not a giant leap to think HE is the boss,”
Clark sighed when she pulled away from him, “I didn’t say anything,”
“But you’re thinking it,” Lois snapped.
“I am not,” Clark argued.
‘Liar,’ His conscience chided him.
“Oh, really?” Lois challenged. “I think your face disagrees.” She pointed at him.
He sighed. How was it she could tell when he was lying as Clark but couldn’t figure out he was Superman? He didn’t dare say anything else for fear they’d end up in another fight.
“I don’t know why I even bother,” She muttered under her breath, unaware that he could hear her.
He let out a long sigh and stood up. “I think I’m gonna call it a night,”
Lois nodded, “Of course, run off like you always do when we’re having a discussion…”
Clark gave her a sideway glance, “I am NOT always running off…”
“Oh, really?” She challenged, standing to her feet to confront him. “Every time I turn around you are running off….to a…a…barber…or dentist….or …or sometimes you don’t even give an excuse!” She jabbed him in the chest repeatedly. “Always when we’re having an important discussion…you disappear…”
“It is not like that…” He began. This was it. She had laid the perfect groundwork for him to tell her. He just had to…
“What the hell is wrong with you anyway? Throwing accusations like that? That is so low…”
“Wrong with ME??” He couldn’t believe she’d just said that. Look at who SHE was dating. He did his best to control his temper. He didn’t want to end up in another fight, but if she kept pushing him. “I..I thought we weren’t going to talk about this,”
“Well, I changed my mind!” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I am just so….sick and tired of the digs and the ….jealous tantrums I could scream…”
“Jealous???” He scoffed. She thought he’d said what he’d said from jealousy? It wasn’t a far cry from the truth but that had nothing to do with…
“Are you denying it?” She challenged.
He was about to open his mouth to argue but thought better of it. Anything he said would just make her angrier. Truth be told he couldn’t deny he was jealous. He was jealous of Superman. He was threatened by Luthor. She never looked at Luthor the way she looked at Superman but he’d give anything for her to look at him, Clark Kent the way she looked at his alter-ego. He’d never know if she would after he told her.
He wanted to tell her. He needed to tell her so he could warn her but here in the middle of the office…even if everyone had left…it wasn’t exactly the right place.
“See? You’re not even denying it!” Lois snapped jabbing her finger in his chest once more.
Without thinking, he threw caution to the wind and leaned in to kiss her, really kiss her…just like he had as Superman before stopping Nightfall….and at the airport after dealing with the pheromone fiasco. Almost a year of frustration fueled the hunger behind this kiss. Every other time he’d kissed her as Clark he’d had his guard up, not wanting to reveal how much he cared…how much he wanted her…afraid of scaring her off. This…this was different.
***
Outside the conference room, Perry White was busy gathering his things before heading out for the evening. It had been a long day. Machinery had broken down on the printing press and they’d had to negotiate getting the part sent same-day with Accounting. The guys just didn’t seem to understand why it mattered if the printing press was down for the afternoon. Luckily he’d gotten the board to pull their weight on the issue and force the Accounting department’s hand.
Now, here it was nearly nine o’clock and everyone had gone for the day. Well, everyone but Lois and Clark. He was mildly surprised to see them standing in the conference room. They didn’t normally work this late but it looked like they were working on something big. It didn’t surprise him to see them arguing. Lois was jabbing Kent in the chest as she fumed at him angrily and he stood there with his arms across his chest just taking it.
What did surprise him was what happened next. His eyebrows rose when he saw Clark grab Lois and kiss her. He thought for sure she was going to fight him off but she didn’t. Instead, she’d kissed him back. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize there were feelings festering between the duo. They were like fire and ice at times which made for some pretty big fights between the two of them, but it also made for some great stories…and from the looks of things…a blossoming romance.
“Good for you, son,” Perry smiled as he stepped into the elevator. “Fight for her,”
He knew Lois had gone on a few dates with Lex but after spending the evening with the man…he began to realize the ‘golden child’ of Metropolis wasn’t all he seemed to be. There was definitely a lack of spark between him and Lois. There also seemed to be something superficial with Lex Luthor that didn’t jive right with his reporter’s instinct. It was something that guy Fuentes had said that perked his interest.
<< “From what I’ve heard, I’d be better off out there with the cops on my tail than you, Mr. Luthor,”>> Maybe one day they’d figure out what that meant. It was late. He smiled to himself as he stepped off the elevator, giving a quiet yodel to himself. Things would definitely be different around the Planet. That was for sure.
***
At first, Lois seemed too shocked to respond but then something changed. To Clark’s surprise and delight she kissed him back. He groaned inwardly as he deepened the kiss, cupping her face with both hands as he continued the kiss. The spark he felt when he’d kissed her. He didn’t care how much she tried to deny it. He knew she felt the same way about him as he did her. She just would never admit it to herself….until now. Every fear he’d had about their very complicated relationship seemed to subside and he let out a soft moan as her hand moved to the back of his neck, running her fingers through his hair.
‘You have to tell her…’ His conscience chided him, reminding him of the dilemma at hand.
He slowly broke off the kiss, moving his hand to wrap around her wrist that rested on his shoulder. She had a slightly dazed expression on her face. He smiled to himself. It was obvious she’d felt that spark too. She seemed to break out of her reverie and he was afraid she was going to lash out at him for kissing her but instead he saw an emotion he hadn’t expected. Fear.
“I have to go…” She mumbled incoherently, pulling away from him and running out the door, leaving him to stare after her numbly in shock as she hurriedly grabbed her purse from her desk and ran up the ramp to the elevator.
***
Unnoticed by Lois, Perry, or Clark was Fuentes in a disguise. He had the cleaning equipment with him as he made his way through the newsroom. He’d spotted the steamy kiss between Lois and Clark as he placed a camera at the window. As long as the blinds to the conference room were open then the camera would pick up any activity. Confident that they wouldn’t notice him he continued to move throughout the newsroom and place cameras on Lois Lane’s desk and computer. He added a recorder to her phone then headed for the elevator. He discreetly placed a micro camera above the call button for the elevator as he pretended to be cleaning and pressed the call button to leave. He was surprised when Lois Lane stepped on the elevator with him. He was sure she would recognize him, but she didn’t. She seemed flustered. Looking straight ahead at the elevator doors until they opened on the Lobby floor and he slipped a camera on the wall of the elevator before leaving.
She offered to hold the doors for him to roll the cleaning cart out with him. He smiled to himself. It was amazing how little she paid attention to him.
***
Lois approached her apartment building and was surprised to find a limo sitting outside waiting. The wheels began to turn in her head and she realized she’d completely forgotten about her dinner date with Lex. He stepped out of the limo as she approached, “Lois, darling,”
Lois felt her insides cringe for a moment, cursing her luck. “Lex, hi,” She pushed a stray hair behind her ear, “I’m sorry, I completely forgot about dinner,”
“Not a problem,” Lex smiled back, guiding her toward the limo, “I had them hold the reservation…”
The last thing she wanted to do was go to dinner with Lex. “Lex, I’m really not in the mood right now,”
“Very well,” His tone was sharp and she turned to look at him. There was a flash of something in his eyes. She just couldn’t place it. “Tomorrow then?”
Would she feel like spending the evening with Lex tomorrow? No, she really didn’t see this as something she’d work out in her head in less than twenty-four hours. She hadn’t really wanted to have dinner with him tonight but somehow she’d gotten talked into…
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>“Lex, I really….”
“Something wrong?” He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
She let out a long breath. What wasn’t wrong? “I appreciate you waiting for me and I’m sorry I forgot about dinner…”
She was flattered by the attention but right now she wanted to get as far away from him as possible so she could figure things out. Clark had kissed her….not as a ruse…but really kissed her…She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but she knew she’d felt something…something big…something MORE….More than she’d ever felt with Lex…More than she’d ever felt with Claude….
“But?” Lex prodded. “What’s wrong, Lois?”
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>“I…I…” She began shakily, “I can’t do this anymore….I told you this morning…I just need some space….I need to figure out some …..things….”
Lex’s face fell slightly but he recovered quickly, “Space?” He looked around on the street, “Are you seriously breaking up with me in front of ….”
Lois sighed, “I know it’s not the best place or time, but I really just…can’t deal with this right now…” She backed away from him.
“Can’t deal with what?” He demanded, confused. There was a flash of something she didn’t recognize on his face. A darkness she’d never seen before. It frightened her.
<< “From what I’ve heard, I’d be better off out there with the cops on my tail than you, Mr. Luthor,”>>
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>She was a bit taken aback by his abrasiveness and took a step toward her apartment. “I can’t deal with ….this….whatever it is….It just isn’t ….I can’t do this anymore….” She said carefully.
He took a step toward her, “No, you are obviously just confused about something. Let me take you to dinner and we’ll….”
Lois pushed him away angrily, “No!” He reached out to grab her arm and she glared at him, “Let go of my arm….”
<< “From what I’ve heard, I’d be better off out there with the cops on my tail than you, Mr. Luthor,”>>
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>“No, no,” Lex looked around at the bystanders on the street and seemed to regain control of his emotions and he let go of her arm. She watched him uneasily. She’d never seen this side of him before. “You said you need space and I’ll respect that,”
Lois shook her head shakily. Something was seriously wrong. She knew what she’d seen and it scared her. “No, I don’t need any space anymore…I think we just shouldn’t see each other anymore….” Before he could respond she raced up the stairs.
<< “From what I’ve heard, I’d be better off out there with the cops on my tail than you, Mr. Luthor,”>>
<<”Be careful with Lex. You don’t know him like I do,”>>Lex slipped back into his limo, “Were you able to set the cameras up?”
Asabi smiled back from the driver’s seat, “Yes, Mr. Fuentes has them placed in her apartment and at the Daily Planet,”
Lex nodded, “Good. I want to review what happened tonight at the Planet. There is no way she came to this realization about needing….space…on her own.”
Asabi nodded, “Yes, sir,”
TBC...
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