Rules of Trust
Folc4evernaday
Chapter 5
***
Jimmy Olsen sifted through the files on his desk. It was getting close to the end of the day. Perry had him working late to help Lois and Clark find everything he could on Professor Emil Hamilton. He didn’t mind helping them out, but he was exhausted and it had been a weird day all around.
He still couldn’t believe what he’d witnessed in the conference room earlier. Things had been complicated between Lois and Clark over the past few months. He and the rest of the staff had done their best to stay out of whatever was festering between them. On the outside things seemed to have gone back to normal after Mr. Stern had bought and rebuilt the Planet, but to someone that knew Lois Lane very well and had observed her for the last few years Jimmy knew better.
Lois had been hurting. It was clear Clark had been upset too. Everything seemed to have come to a head when Lois had enlisted his help in setting Clark up on a date after Mayson Drake had started throwing herself at Clark. It had been clear the ADA was interested, but what Jimmy couldn’t understand was why Clark had never pursued her. She was beautiful, smart and she liked him. What more could a guy ask for? When he walked in the conference room this afternoon everything clicked into place.
The flirtatious smile on Lois Lane’s face. The half-grin on his friend’s face as he’d leaned in to kiss her. It was more than flirting. More than testing the waters of dating. Something big had changed between the two of them. After his accidental intrusion, he’d observed them from a distance. He’d seen the way the two of them kept exchanging looks. He’d seen the way Lois’ eyes lingered on Clark when she thought no one was looking. Things had definitely changed between the two of them. Why they felt the need to hide it in the newsroom he wasn’t sure.
“Sure, Ms. Drake, he’s in the conference room.” Jimmy heard Scott say from a few cubicles over.
Jimmy looked up and saw Mayson Drake walking toward the conference room with a determined look on her face. The conference room where Lois and Clark were working. Recalling what he’d witnessed earlier he decided to intervene, “Mayson! What are you doing here?” he said a few octaves too loud.
Mayson looked at him with an odd expression, “You feeling okay, Mr. Olsen?”
“Never better!” Jimmy practically shouted as he followed Mayson to the conference room.
"Uh-huh. Well, I need to talk to Clark." She eyed the conference room door then Jimmy. He got the message, but didn’t budge. “Jimmy, do you think you could…” she motioned toward the conference room door and then back at Jimmy’s desk for him to leave.
“Absolutely!” Jimmy grinned, opening the door for her.
“Not exactly what I was trying to say…” Mayson muttered under her breath as Jimmy followed her in the conference room.
***
Lois stared blankly at the pages in front of her. “Blah, blah, blah, DNA Modification.” She muttered, tossing the journal to the center of the table. She stared at the stack of books in front of her with an annoyed expression. “I do not understand a single thing I just read.”
“They lost me when they started going into DNA molecular restructuring.” Clark muttered, rubbing his forehead with a weary expression as he laid another book down on the table.
Lois folded her arms over the table, resting her chin on them as she let out a long sigh. “I think I’ve hit a wall.”
“Tell me about it.” Clark muttered, setting another book down after speed-reading through it.
“Okay, so three hours. What have we learned?” Lois asked, tapping her pen on her notepad.
“Dr. Emil Hamilton. Age forty-three. No family. No friends. Spends every waking moment in his lab where he spends every cent he has on his experiments.” Clark listed off.
“How do you think this DNA modification works?” Lois asked with a frown.
“The closest thing I found was the article about him being booted out of the scientific community. It’s still hard to understand what exactly he was trying to do but from the sound of it…” Clark pointed out, turning the book in his hand to the page he was referring to. “Hamilton believed he could restructure DNA and stop aggressive and anti-social behavior.” Clark laid the article down.
“This article details Hamilton's proposed experiment to the warden at New Troy's Correctional Facility. There's nothing on what the decision was.” Clark pulled out another Science Journal from earlier, “It sounds like he was wanting to experiment on prisoners and that got shut down.”
Lois grew thoughtful for a moment, “What if he found a way around that though? I mean, he couldn’t experiment on the prisoners, but he pulled the DNA from dead criminals. What if…”
“You think he brought the real John Dillinger, Bonnie Parker, and Clyde Barrow back to life to prove his theory right?” Clark guessed, following her train of thought. “How?”
“Well, we know cloning exists…It’s not a huge stretch to think he’d try to clone the DNA and experiment on them to prove his theory right.” Lois guessed. She saw the skeptical look on Clark's face, “Oh come on, it's not that far-fetched.”
Clark shook his head, “Unfortunately you're right, but the only person that's had any fraction of a success in cloning was Dr. Fabian Leek and he's dead. How'd Hamilton get his hands on the research? There's still a lot of holes.”
“I know. So far it's just conjecture. We don't even know what the decision of the warden was on Hamilton's proposal, or if he knew anything about cloning.” Lois rubbed her temples wearily.
“Not directly.” Clark shook his head, “But he did say he’d found a way to accelerate the maturation process of the embryos.”
“Yeah, I found a similar article…” She reached over and grabbed the book she’d been reading earlier, “Here.” She pointed it out to him, “The article said his theories outraged the scientific community. Could be why he dropped out of sight.”
“Experimenting with cloning and genes never wins you any friends.” Clark added with a half-smile.
“Well, it’s something, but probably not enough for Perry to print.” Lois sighed, tapping her pencil against her notepad irritably. Her stomach growled and he chuckled. “I guess picking up something to eat while we finish going through this stuff wouldn’t be a terrible idea.” She admitted sheepishly.
Clark smiled good-naturedly at her, “What do you feel…?” An all too familiar expression washed over his face.
“What is it?” She asked.
Clark chuckled, “It's Jimmy.” He looked toward the newsroom where Jimmy was following Mayson to the conference room. “I guess after this morning, he thought we needed a bull horn to warn us when someone was coming in here.”
“Oh, well that's…..
sweet of him.” Lois grinned, recalling the flirting and kissing from that morning. Her expression changed when she saw Mayson walking with Jimmy toward the conference room. “Mayson? What’s
she doing here?”
“No clue.” Clark shrugged.
“Not exactly what I was trying to say…” Mayson said as she entered the conference room with Jimmy in tow.
“Here you go, Ms. Drake. Door to door service!” Jimmy said a few octaves louder than necessary.
Lois suppressed the need to burst out into laughter, biting her lower lip as Mayson glared at poor Jimmy. She looked back at Clark and saw he was having the same problem. Jimmy trying to cover for them was hysterical.
“Is that really necessary?” Mayson asked, looking at him dumbfounded.
“Jimmy, were you able to find anything out from STAR Labs?” Lois asked, taking pity on him and hoping to get him out of Mayson’s wrath.
The Assistant District Attorney seemed to be abnormally irritable today. She had directed it at the crowd of reporters at the press conference and at Lois after the bank robbery. What had caused this change in attitude she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want Jimmy taking the brunt of it for trying to help keep her and Clark’s relationship hidden from the public.
“Right,” Jimmy snapped his fingers. “I should get check on that.” He darted out the door and headed to his desk.
Mayson watched Jimmy leave with a confused expression, “Is there something wrong with him?” she asked in hushed whisper.
“What do you mean?” Clark asked, acting as if nothing strange had occurred.
“What do I mean?” Mayson echoed, pointing toward Jimmy’s desk. She wanted to say something. It was apparent on her face but she stopped herself. “You know what. It’s not important. What is important is….” She looked around the conference room nervously, “I was hoping to catch you after work.”
Lois and Clark exchanged a look, “Well, we’re kinda under the gun right now.” Clark said uncertainly.
“Yeah, I guess Perry’s got you two working long hours on this Dillinger case, huh?”
“What can we help you with, Mayson?” Lois asked impatiently, tapping her pen on her notepad. “Is there something new we should know about?”
“Not exactly.” Mayson looked around, “I actually stopped by to talk to Clark about….”
Another faraway look crossed Clark’s face. Lois looked back at him and he motioned with a flying hand to her. She nodded, looking at her watch, “Clark! You should get going.”
“I should?” he looked at her with a quizzical look as he stood up.
“Right. That takeout isn’t going to pick itself up.” She grinned at him.
“Of course, Little Italy?” he looked at her for confirmation and she nodded, “Just let Lois know what you need and we’ll get right on that.” He said hurriedly, rushing out the door.
Mayson watched Clark leave and then turned to Lois accusingly, “Why did you just do that?”
“Do what?” Lois asked, uncertain what Mayson was so upset.
“Send Clark to go pick up takeout???” Mayson shot back irritably. “I was trying to talk to him and you just….” She stopped, “Do you have any idea how long it took me to drag myself down here to have this conversation??”
“Have what conversation?” Lois asked, not following.
“You
cannot be that oblivious!” Mayson shot back irritably.
“Well, apparently I can since I have no idea what you’re talking about. Little Italy doesn’t remake the orders if you’re late. No offense but eating cold spaghetti isn’t exactly something I’m willing to do for someone that’s spent all day treating me like dirt.” Lois shot back irritably. “What do you want? What are you even doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to Clark.” Mayson said irritably, “but I guess I won’t get a chance to do
that anytime soon.”
“Clark?” Lois echoed, uneasily. “What do you need to talk to him for?”
Mayson rolled her eyes, “Not really any of your business.”
“Well, given that you’re showing up here…at the Planet….where he and I
work. I’d say it just
became my business.” Lois said, trying her best to keep the bite out of her tone.
She knew she didn’t have to worry about Mayson being a threat to her relationship with Clark but something about the woman just rubbed her the wrong way. She didn’t like the way she looked at him or the way she just showed up unannounced. Granted she hadn’t done that since before she and Clark’s relationship had changed, but it still made her uncomfortable.
“Why does that bother you?” Mayson asked, narrowing her eyes at Lois. “It’s not like I’m keeping you from doing your job. From where I stood last week, Clark needed an escape.”
Lois’ eyes flashed in anger, suppressing the urge to prove Mayson wrong and give her a good idea of exactly how much of an escape Clark
didn’t need from her. She didn’t do it though. Opening up that can of worms with the Assistant District Attorney wasn’t something she envisioned going well. She didn’t know how Clark had left things with Mayson and she knew he probably wouldn’t appreciate her rubbing their relationship in Mayson’s face either—even if she was asking for it. Everything was still so new for both of them. They were still figuring out how to act around one another at work with their budding relationship and manage to string together enough coherent thoughts that would resemble a story. Adding a fight with Mayson into the mix didn’t appeal to her in the slightest.
“You don’t know
what you’re talking about.” Lois huffed.
“No? He seemed to be in quite a hurry to get away from you.” Mayson added airily.
Lois bit her lip, suppressing the urge to throw back a dig, snide remark at the woman. She wasn’t going to stoop to that level. “My relationship with Clark is none of your business.”
“And
my relationship with him is none of
yours.” Mayson said a bit too smugly for Lois’ taste.
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Lois said, tapping her pen on her pad. “You’re the one that showed up here to talk. What’s so important it couldn’t wait?” She motioned to the chair in front of her.
“You’re joking, right?” Mayson asked with a light chuckle.
“You showed up here.” Lois pointed out, glancing at her watch, “At almost eight o’clock at night.”
“I had a late deposition and thought I could catch Clark here…
alone.” Mayson corrected, giving Lois an annoyed look. “I
wanted to talk to him about why he…” she stopped herself. “Never mind. I don’t even know why I’m talking to you about this.”
“Why he what?” Lois arched her eyebrow at her.
“Fine,” Mayson crossed her arms over her chest, taking a seat across from her. “You want to talk. You want the dirt. Here it is. Your partner is nothing but a scumbag that doesn’t know how to treat women.”
“
What!?” Lois shot up out of her chair angrily. “How dare you? Clark is ….”
“A rotten jerk!” Mayson corrected, cutting her off. “I mean, I guess I should have put two and two together. I mean, I was practically throwing myself at him…”
Lois snorted, “
Practically?”
“Fine. Whatever.” Mayson huffed, “I was throwing myself at him. You happy?”
Lois couldn’t suppress the grin from her face. “Very.”
Mayson snorted, looking away for a moment before snapping back angrily. “Anyway, it’s not like it did me any good. Weeks of throwing myself at him and still couldn’t get him to agree to even a cup of coffee with me let alone…”
“What does this have to do with anything? So, he wouldn’t go out with you? Big deal.” Lois snorted irritably. “That doesn’t make him a jerk. That doesn’t warrant you throwing around remarks like that.”
“No?” Mayson shot back. “How about him agreeing to have lunch with me and then bolting with no explanation other than ‘I can’t do this’ before we’ve even been seated? He left me standing there like an idiot. Then all weekend I waited to hear something…
anything. You know what I got? Nothing. No explanation. No apology.” Mayson said angrily. “Then I come here to confront him and clear the air after seeing him at the press conference and
you send him for
takeout.”
Lois looked away, uncertain how to respond. Had Clark really done that?
“I’m sure there’s an explanation. I’ve known Clark for a long time and he would never…”
“Yeah, of course you’re defending him.” Mayson muttered under her breath, reaching for a notepad to jot something down. “When he gets back give him this. Tell him to call me.”
Lois nodded, watching the Assistant District Attorney get up from the table and head out the door. She glanced at the notepad and frowned when she read the note,
‘You owe me an explanation. Call me. – Mayson’Lois threw the note across the table. “You’ve
got to be kidding me.”
***
Clark finished clearing the scene of the accident and ensuring the bearing that had cracked was secure enough that the construction crew could safely work without endangering anyone. The road blocks had been put up and the car that had almost gone off the side was safely parked on the other side of the bridge with an EMT, checking for any injuries.
After ensuring he wasn’t needed any longer, he headed back. It was strange today, being around Mayson again after so much had changed between Lois and him. He hadn't talked to her since he’d left her at lunch…if you could call it that. He’d left before they’d even had a chance to sit down.
He’d called to apologize for leading her on and for leaving before all hell had broken loose with Ryan Wiley and the Hawkeye, but hadn’t received a call back. He actually hadn’t expected a call back at all given his behavior. He felt horrible about using her to avoid dealing with his anger at Lois. It wasn’t his proudest moment. Mayson didn’t deserve that.
Even though he didn’t look at her the same way she looked at him, he still cared for her. She was a good person and had a strong moral compass he could respect. It was clear she thought his activities as Superman were questionable-an opinion that made him ponder whether he should show up to every rescue he was called for. Many situations didn’t require Superman’s presence at all. Of course, he didn’t hold her opinions about Superman against her. She had valid arguments. Arguments he didn’t necessarily agree with her on. Arguments that festered Lois’ anger at the ADA. It was just one of the many things that drove home why he couldn’t see himself pursuing anything more than friendship with Mayson Drake.
The most important point being, she wasn’t Lois.
Lois stood by him through thick and thin without even knowing the man behind the cape. She’d been his biggest ally and toughest defender throughout the past year. Now that she was in on the secret it felt like he could finally be himself with her. What he’d thought would be hard or awkward between the two of them had become second nature. She anticipated his need for an excuse and helped him come up with believable excuses for him to leave on a rescue. It made him love her even more.
Still, he knew he owed Mayson more than a voicemail message with a lame apology. He needed to talk to her face to face. He needed to clear the air, no matter how uncomfortable that made the both of them.
He flew by downtown Metropolis and spotted the neon sign for ‘Little Italy’ down below. He landed in the small ally behind the restaurant and changed, heading inside to pick up the order that surprisingly had already been called in for him. He couldn’t help but smile as he carried the food with him back to the Planet. The closer he and Lois got the more she surprised him.
***
‘Personal.’ The word rang in Lois’ ears on repeat as she tried to distract herself with the translated journals Jimmy had brought her from STAR Labs.
‘Babe’ Jimmy’s word of choice to describe Mayson earlier that morning echoed in her mind.
“Lois?”
Lois looked up to see Clark setting the two bags of food down in front of her. “You’re back.” She forced a smile, “Good. I’m starved.”
“Did you make any headway while I was gone?” Clark asked, pointing to the stack of books on the table before carefully removing the takeout containers from the first bag.
“No, not really. I got distracted.” Lois gave him an apologetic smile, allowing the sweet aroma of the marinara sauce to hit her nostrils. She was starving.
“Cream soda.” He said, handing her a can.
“Thanks.” She said, popping the top and taking a sip.
“What did Mayson want?” Clark asked, taking a seat next to her.
“Oh, nothing.” Lois said uncertainly. “She wants you to call her.”
“Okay.” He shrugged, opening up the foil to reveal the garlic bread, pushing it in front of her. “Here. Eat.”
Grateful for the distraction she took a piece and bit into it. “Mmm…I love their bread.”
He smiled back at her, “I know.” He took a bite of his pasta before reaching over to grab the stack of papers Jimmy had brought her from STAR Labs. “These from Jimmy?” he asked.
“Yeah, I… haven’t had a chance to go through them yet.” Lois said evasively, looking down with a frown.
“Something bothering you?” he asked, setting his fork down.
“Fine. I’m fine.” Lois said, poking her pasta with her fork a little harder than necessary.
“No, you’re not.” He observed, taking her hand in his. “What’s wrong?”
“Just mulling over some things.” She said, forcing a smile. “Everything go okay with your…?” she did a flying motion with her hand.
“Yeah, the bearing on the Metropolis bridge cracked and there was a car caught in the collapse, but everyone’s fine.” He reassured her, looking at her in concern, “Lois, what’s wrong?”
“It’s not important.” She said hurriedly.
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that? Come on,” Clark pressed.
She pivoted herself toward him as she spoke, “Fine. Mayson came in here spewing a bunch of accusations….which
really made me want to drop kick her down the elevator shaft.” She bit out irritably. She saw the amused expression on Clark’s face and added, “It’s not funny.”
“I didn’t say anything.” He added sheepishly.
“You were smirking.” She corrected and added softly, recalling her conversation with Jimmy that morning, “Then this morning, Jimmy was telling me I needed to be a good friend and let you be happy with…
Mayson.” She spat out irritably, allowing the acid in her tone to linger on Mayson’s name.
“Lois, there has never been any… Mayson and me.” He said, taking her hand in his. She closed her eyes, feeling the relief wash over her as she heard Clark confirm her suspicions about his and Mayson’s
‘relationship.’ He tilted her chin toward him, forcing her to look at him. “You’re the only one I want to be with. The only one I could even entertain the thought of sharing this secret with.”
“Really?” she asked cautiously.
“Really,” he moved his hand to cup her cheek. “I love you, Lois. I always have and I always will. I never saw Mayson as anything more than a friend.”
“Does
she know that?” Lois asked, biting her lower-lip.
“Well, I’ve never gone on a date with her if that’s what you’re asking.” Clark edged cautiously, moving closer to her.
She smiled, feeling the warmth from his hand against her cheek. How was it that he could make her weak in the knees with just a touch?
“Well, she seemed to be under the impression there was more than friendship going on.” Lois pointed out cautiously, placing her hand over his. “Showing up at the Planet, your apartment, and the night of the Charity Ball…”
“One dance.” He said with a small smile, holding her hand in his as he removed it from her cheek, intertwining his hand with hers, “And you were the one that agreed for her to cut in.” She gave him a half-smile and he added, kissing her palm with his lips. “Then you disappeared on me and made me go hunt you down at your apartment.”
“As Superman.” She whispered.
“I
am Superman.” He whispered back. “And you, Lois Lane, are the only one I want to be dancing with.” He leaned into her, tightening his hand on hers.
“Good.” She finished with a smile, “I don’t share well with others.”
Clark laughed, “I’ve noticed.” He reached up to cup her cheek. “Now, where were we?” Unable to suppress the urge any longer she leaned forward, capturing his lips with hers. He moaned against her, tracing the outline of her lips with his tongue as his hand cupped her cheek, “We’re going to get caught.” He whispered against her lips.
“I think we agreed that was a dumb idea, right?” Lois teased, running her hand up his shoulders.
“So you don’t want me to pretend I don’t want to do this every time I see you?” he leaned in to kiss her, “Or this?” He kissed her again.
She giggled against him. “Every time?”
“Every time.” He repeated, leaning in to kiss her once more.
***
TBC…
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