"How do you think Superman knew I was in France?"
Clark's fingers stilled on the keyboard as he looked over at Lois, who had of course dismissed their boss's suggestion of taking some time off. The jet-lag was plainly visible in her face, but nevertheless, she seemed determined to spend what was left of the day writing up her encounter with the art forgers -- all of whom had ties to Lex Corp, of course, but clearly that was just coincidence and he was an imbecile to suggest otherwise.
"I mean, it wasn't like I called for him," she continued, pushing away from her desk and turning in her chair to face him fully. "And even if I did, he's usually in Metropolis, right? That's got to be a stretch even for *his* hearing..."
"He does get around," Clark mumbled, returning his eyes to his own story. In fact, Superman had gotten a "call" of sorts from a friend who wanted to reassure him that his "girlfriend" was alright and could he please rescue their lab assistant from her rather intense questioning.
Lois stared up at the ceiling. "Do you think that maybe there are...certain people...that he just...knows where they are? What they're up to?" A dreamy smile crossed her face. "Like a mental bond, maybe?"
Clark emphatically said nothing.
His partner continued to contemplate the ceiling for a while, then suddenly closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples.
"Lois?"
She snapped out of...whatever she was doing, and gave him a sheepish smile. "Just an idea," she mumbled.
Clark shook his head, smiling to himself as he tweaked a sentence in his article. It would certainly be interesting if he and Lois could communicate the way he could with Michel, although "interesting" didn't necessarily imply "good". The secret identity thing would soon be up in smoke, for starters.
Michel seemed to be in a good mood today, given the faint sense of sheer happiness in the back of Clark's mind which his own exasperating day wouldn't account for. He leaned back and shut his eyes. 'Michel?' he thought out. 'How are things going?'
There was no reply.
Clark frowned. 'Michel?' he tried again, but his head remained silent. Had he misjudged the feeling? He mentally reached for the humming current that he was still certain had to be happiness. 'Mi---?'
Music spilled through him, beating in time with his heart, almost unheard over soft moans as perfume flooded his every gasping breath. Clark barely heard a faint 'not now!' in his head before his chair slid out from under him.
"Clark?!" Lois abandoned her computer and quickly knelt beside him. "Are you all right? What happened?!"
"Nothing," he squeaked out, reluctant to trust a tongue that was still confused as to whether it currently had company. Mental bonds, he decided, were definitely not an inherently good thing.
TBC...
