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Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found Here

Where we left off in Part 45 …

Kent looked at him as if the inspector had offered to sell a bridge in New York to him. “Superman also mentioned that Luthor practically admitted to the one of the Beckworth smart kids in his presence to being the money behind Dr. Carlton’s research,” he said.

“Hearsay. Kent, you know that if it can’t pass the Daily Planet’s legal department, it won’t pass my legal department. What you’ve brought me so far doesn’t amount to a hill of beans, let alone a search warrant. We aren’t going to be able to issue a parking violation on this man without a mountain of proof. You and I both know that Luthor isn’t a shiny penny, but until we have proof he’s all snake oil and lacks authenticity, he’s going to continue be sitting pretty,” Henderson told him, before adding, “I’m sorry.”

Kent nodded. “Me too. I hate thinking that what happened to Ms. Kahn could just as easily happen to Lois,” he murmured with a frustrated sigh. “I’d like to bring her into our investigation.”

“That’s up to you and White, Kent. Me, I’m just a sounding board at this juncture,” Henderson explained. “If you think her relationship with Luthor has been damaged enough by that bullet for her to believe you, it might do your investigation to have a man – so to speak – on the inside.”

“I don’t want her on the inside. I don’t want her within a hundred miles of Luthor,” Kent said.

Henderson cracked a smile. “You have met your partner, haven’t you, Kent?”

***

Lois looked around the Top of the Towers restaurant. She had never before been invited to eat here, or ever wanted to use a sizeable chunk of her Tahiti fund to take herself. It was just as elegant and awe-inspiring as the rumors, and this was at mid-day. She could only imagine these views of Metropolis with a backdrop of stars. No wonder it was voted ‘Best Place to Propose’ in Metropolis magazine for the last ten years.

The maître d cleared his throat and raised a scornful brow at Lois’s appearance. “May I be of assistance?” His words might have been polite, but his tone indicated his belief she was but a tourist from the country come to gawk.

She glanced down at her perfectly styled pale grey business pantsuit with her deep dusty pink blouse, and straightened her spine, more than willing to wipe the man’s expression off his face with her words. “I have a twelve o’clock luncheon with Lex Luthor.”

*

Part 46

Lex shut the file that his very personal executive assistant had prepared for him. “This will do, Mrs. Cox.”

Mrs. Cox set her hand on his. “Lex, I usually have lunch with you at The Top of the Towers.”

He smiled indulgently at her. “This is strictly business, my dear. A means to an end, I assure you,” he said. What he didn’t mention was that she was also that – strictly business. All his liaisons were, only Mrs. Cox didn’t know that he had lumped her in with the others. He had learned that lesson with Arianna, and he was still paying for it. Never again would he allow himself to become emotionally involved; it was a weakness.

He glanced up to see Lois Lane being led towards him. Case in point. Superman’s emotional connection to this woman was his weakness. Unfortunately, it was the only one Lex had discovered so far, besides Superman’s penchant for following the law and caring about not killing people, but one flaw was better than none in one’s enemies.

Mrs. Cox stood up and let go of his hand, letting it linger there long enough for Lois to catch sight of it.

“Thank you, Mrs. Cox. That will be all,” Lex said, making sure his tone left no other interpretation than that of boss and employee. He made a mental note about reminding his assistant about their public demeanor. Perhaps she was beginning to like his punishments. Time to tweak it up a notch, he thought as he smiled at her.

Mrs. Cox returned his smile with one of her own. Oh, yes, she was definitely game.

Lex stood up and held out a hand to Lois. “Hello, Lois,” he said, remembering what she had said to him about endearments. “You are looking lovely as always.” He took her hand in his and pulled her close enough to kiss her cheek. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you, Lex,” Lois replied, stiffening a bit at his kiss, before sitting down.

A waiter appeared out of nowhere and poured Lois a glass of white wine from the bottle chilling next to the table before disappearing again.

“I appreciate you meeting with me,” she said. “Please…” She paused a moment as if making a decision. “No matter how many red roses you send me, Lex, you’ll never be able to buy my affection.”

A challenge! “Oh, how gauche of me, Lois. I didn’t realize…” Of course, he had. He had sent those on purpose to remind her that he had bought her once and that he could do so again. “I’ll have them replaced this afternoon.” He had already placed the order when she called earlier.

“That’s not necessary, Lex,” Lois reassured him. “I’ve moved forward, past it. I hope we can remain friends, though.”

Ah, he had made progress since he shot her. Good. “Of course,” he replied. “After your call this morning, I had Ms. Kahn’s personnel file pulled.” He pushed the fake employee file Mrs. Cox had prepared across the table to her. “Such a shame about her death. As I told you over the phone, we’d never had the pleasure of meeting. Apparently, she worked in the LexLabs weapons division. She was working on an armor-piercing bullet.”

This information clearly caught Lois’s attention, as he knew it would. “Why would anyone want to develop such a thing?”

“Special request from our friends over at the Gotham City Police Department. Unlike Metropolis, the city across the bay has to deal with more organized and, shall we say, prepared criminals,” Lex explained, taking a sip of his wine. Plus, the more criminals the GCPD killed, the more opportunities for expansion opened up for him. “This, of course, is strictly confidential, you understand. We wouldn’t want the criminal element to get wind of it.”

“I understand,” Lois replied, opening the file on Ms. Kahn. “You can count on me.”

He planned on doing more than counting on her. “After Ms. Kahn’s suicide attempt, neither her coworkers nor human resources were all that surprised when she ran off.”

“You believe it was a suicide attempt?”

“It’s always possible she developed a crush on Superman and jumped merely to get his attention, but if you ask me that’s a poor plan. Apparently, her behavior became more erratic that following week, and termination was considered due to the nature of her work. If he had rejected her advances, it could explain her behavior.”

Lois nodded, accepting this explanation. “Was she successful? With her work? Was she able to come up with the armor-piercing bullets before her death?”

Yes, of course she had. It would be a waste of money to kill someone off before they finished what they were hired to do. “Sadly, no. It seemed we’re still quite a ways away from even the testing phase,” Lex told her.

The waiter returned and slipped a bowl of cream soup in front of each of them. Another waiter arrived with a huge pepper mill.

Lex waved him away. “I told Chef Andre, if it needed pepper then he should include it in the kitchen. At these prices, guests shouldn’t have to season their own food at the table.”

The waiter gulped and disappeared again.

Lex saw Lois staring at him aghast, and he realized that his words probably seemed rude to her. He smiled reassuringly. “I own this restaurant, Lois,” he explained. “I come in for lunch on the last Monday of every month, when the restaurant is normally closed, to give my opinion on the next month’s new menu.”

Lois’s mouth closed, she looked around the restaurant, and nodded. “I wondered why it was so empty. I thought…” She blushed, shook her head, and picked up her spoon.

“Thought what?” he prodded.

“Thought you had bought out the entire restaurant for us,” she admitted in the most darling of ways.

Lex leaned close to her and smiled. “If I were going to buy out the place for us, my dear, I’d do it at night, so that you could be closer to the stars.”

Her cheeks turned rosy at the compliment as she focused on her soup. He glanced up to see a familiar man in blue and red hovering by the windows long enough to catch his eyes before disappearing into a blur again.

This day was getting better and better, Lex thought with a grin.

***

Clark was in a near panic when he had returned to the office to find that Lois had gone off without even leaving him a note as to where. He had specifically told her to ‘stay there’. That woman never listened.

Luckily for him, although unluckily for the armored car, he was called away. As he flew across the city to the scene of the holdup he heard Lois’s heartbeat. The strange thing was that it didn’t seem far away, but almost close to the sky. He stopped and realized he was parallel to the Top of the Towers restaurant.

There was Lois demurely blushing as Lex Luthor leaned towards her. Clark hadn’t heard the conversation; he hadn’t needed to. An image was worth a thousand words.

Luthor raised his gaze and smirked in his direction.

The armored car guards were waiting, so Clark flew off. He refused to allow himself to think about what he saw or what it meant, until he had returned to the Daily Planet.

Instead of zipping down the stairs from the Daily Planet’s roof, as was his norm, Clark slowly walked down step by step.

He didn’t know what had happened. Their first date had gone well, so he had thought. Why was she now simpering for Luthor again? The man had shot her, for goodness sake, and bought her as if she was for sale. Was it because Clark had cried? He should have known Lois needed an emotionally strong man like Superman or Luthor. He hadn’t meant to cry. Clark had thought that confessing the reason behind his flaw had brought them closer together; now he wasn’t sure.

He walked across the newsroom to his desk. He knew he should write up about Superman saving the guards from the holdup at the armored car, but he was numb.

Hadn’t it only been the night before that Lois had been in his arms, kissing him? What had happened? How had he screwed up their relationship already? Did this have to do with him being upset that she rubbed it in his face that she was nominated for yet another Kerth and wasn’t even willing to share the ceremony with him, let alone the nomination or the award?

Perry walked by, and then turned around and walked back. “Kent? Are you okay?”

Clark raised his eyes to Perry, and shook his head. “Colonel, I need some advice,” he mumbled.

“Colonel?” The Chief looked at him like he had gone insane for a moment. “Oh! The Colonel. Of course, of course. Why don’t you come into my office, Kent?”

Behind closed doors, Clark explained briefly and without much specific detail about how he had gone on a date with Lois the night before, including a first date kiss or two, then summarized everything that had happened between them this morning. “I went to check on some details of my story and told her in no uncertain terms that she had to ‘stay here’ for her own protection. When I returned, I find that she’s not only gone out, she’s having a romantic lunch with a homicidal killer!” Clark finished, flinging a hand out towards the bullpen.

“Uh-huh,” Perry responded with a nod of his head. He was leaning up against the corner of his desk.

“I don’t know what to do,” Clark said, running both hands through his hair in frustration.

“You told Lois to ‘stay’?” his boss asked with a slight chuckle. “Kent, Mad Dogs don’t ‘stay’. Ever. And they most certainly don’t ‘stay’ when they’re feeling vulnerable, they attack, and then they run!”

Clark raised an eyebrow. “Vulnerable? Lois?” He couldn’t believe they were speaking of the same woman.

Perry nodded. “You’ve broken through her tough outer shell, Kent. You’ve made her feel something, and that scares her. Last man that made her feel anything, broke her heart and ran off with her story, almost ruining her career in the process, which is why she built up that tough shell in the first place.”

“Claude,” Clark mumbled.

Perry nodded again. “Then she comes into the office this morning, let’s assume high off of the endorphins from your date last night, and suddenly she realizes everything has changed. She doesn’t know how to act around you, or how you’ll act around her, and, son, one thing Lois hates is walking into a situation where she doesn’t know how to act.”

“Lois? Lois hates that?” Clark questioned again. Were they talking about the same woman?

“Professionally speaking, yes, Lois loves that very scenario. Personally speaking though, it terrifies her,” Perry said. Clark must still have had a perplexed expression on his face, because Perry held up both of his hands. “Okay, okay. Let’s look at this from another angle. Lois came into the office this morning, feeling great about your date from last night.”

“I hope so,” Clark said doubtfully.

Perry raised a hand, asking him to wait. “And instead of everything being hunky-dory, she starts fighting with you. Then she learns that you brought another woman into the equation.”

“I most certainly did not!” Clark exclaimed.

His boss looked at him skeptically. “Cat Grant did not then take you shopping for a new suit and some ties in preparation for your date with Lois?”

“We’re only friends!”

“Yes, but you and Lois were only friends at some point as well, were you not?” Perry asked.

Technically, not. Clark had been in love with Lois since long before he ever arrived in this dimension. He decided not to nitpick and shrugged non-committally.

“On top of all that, Lois discovers that you’re trying to steal away her thunder by wanting to share the Kerth nomination with her,” Perry said.

“A credit that I earned!” Clark said, pointing at the Chief. He skipped the details about how he had earned the award by saving both Lois and Jimmy from the hanger. “She should’ve asked me to be her date for the awards. Was that too much to ask? To at least attend the ceremony?”

Perry set his jaw in the palm of his hand. “Actually, I believe she made a very valid point, even if it was poorly executed. Jimmy worked hard on the Messenger story too. You should be happy for the kid that Lois remembered his contribution at all.”

“I agree that all three of us should go,” Clark conceded.

“Don’t take this slight from the Kerth Committee personally. You’re young and an excellent investigator. I’m sure the Kerth Committee will recognize your efforts in the future,” Perry reassured Clark.

The Kerth Committee’s snub hurt less than Lois’s.

“Unfortunately, tickets are only available to Kerth nominees, their editors, and their dates,” Perry said, moving around to his chair.

Clark raised a brow. What was Perry suggesting?

“I tried to explain to the Kerth Committee that two of my reporters worked on the Messenger story, but they said that they don’t give awards to ‘and associates’. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks for going to bat for me,” Clark replied, moved by Perry’s efforts on his behalf.

“Now, let’s look at this morning’s happenings from Lois’s point of view. She’s vulnerable and confused on how she should act, and suddenly the man who made her vulnerable is trying to steal credit for her Kerth-nominated story. I’m sure those parallels haven’t been lost on your partner,” his boss explained.

“I wasn’t trying to steal her glory,” Clark said with a sigh.

Perry held up his hand again. “I’m not the one you need to convince, here, Kent.”

Pleading his case with Lois would be like arguing with a brick wall.

“It turns out that Gladstone was a bit of lone wolf,” Perry continued, steepling his fingers.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“Brian Gladstone, the reporter nominated for his photographs. He was an only child. He wasn’t married. No girlfriend. His father’s dead, and his mother told me flat out that she wants nothing to do with the career that she blames for her son’s death,” his boss explained.

Clark’s brow furrowed. Was Perry comparing the two of them? “I’m sorry I never had the chance to know him.”

“Don’t be,” Perry said. “He was a world class jackass, may God rest his soul, but his Kerth nomination did include two tickets to the ceremony.”

“Sir?” Clark’s brow furrowed with confusion.

“Do you think you could find someone willing to help celebrate this honor for the Daily Planet with you?” his boss asked, holding out the two tickets to Clark.

“I happen to know just the person to invite,” Clark said with a sly smile, sliding the tickets into his inside breast pocket. “Thank you, sir.”

“Now, the reason your partner is having lunch with Luthor is a simple one. You told her to ‘stay’; he gave her a valid excuse to ‘go’. Can you explain why you consider Luthor a ‘homicidal killer’? Do you have proof of this?” he asked.

Clark looked up at the ceiling. Proof. Proof didn’t exist in Luthor’s world.

He explained to Perry Lois’s theory about someone performing tests of Superman’s abilities, and how Henderson had linked the explosion at the Carlen building to Lois’s extra-creepy stalker. Then Clark linked Ms. Kahn to Lois’s test theory, which led him to the fact that the jumper was killed by the same person who was stalking Lois.

“Now, you see why she’s the best investigator I’ve ever seen, her leaps of logic. You think this stalker is Luthor?” Perry asked.

Clark nodded. “I just came from Henderson’s office. We decided that since Lois was no longer enamored with Luthor, it was time to bring her in to the fold, only now…” He lowered his head.

“Okay, Kent, let’s do this,” Perry said. “Why don’t you throw out a feeler to Lois, and see where she stands on the Luthor issue? My hesitation for not including her earlier still stands. If she’s friendly with him, she’ll balk at any suggestions of impropriety on his part, I guarantee it. You cannot teach Lois something she is not ready to learn.”

***

After his conversation with Perry, Clark made a few phone calls and ran out to stop a holdup or two. Lois’s desk was still empty by the time he came back. He didn’t even want to think about what she was doing with Luthor for that length of time.

Cat came up to his desk. “What’s the matter, honey. Mad Dog got you down?” she asked.

Clark shot her a terse look and stood up. “Conference room.”

“Scrumptious, you can take me anywhere, anytime,” she purred.

He rolled his eyes. She never let up. As soon as they were behind closed doors, he asked, “How’s your investigation on Lex Luthor’s sex life going?”

“It’s hit a wall. I never see him leave events with anyone. The rare times he arrives with someone, it’s on the up and up. None of the doormen of Luthor’s building ever saw Toni Taylor…”

“Are you nuts? You talked to Luthor’s doormen about Toni? I knew this was a bad idea. It’s going to get back to him that you’ve been poking your nose about and you’re going to end up like Monique Kahn,” Clark growled. “You promised me you would be discreet.”

“Who’s Monique? And what happened to her?” Cat asked, sitting down at the table to hear his answer.

Clark went through the story again. “Her dead mutilated body was found in the woods outside of Gotham City last month.”

“Do you have a photo of her?” Cat asked.

“My story!” he repeated for what felt like the tenth time that day.

“Nope. Not anymore, bub. If you tied her to Luthor, that aspect is part of my investigation.”

Clark groaned and sat down, burying his face in his hands. “Ask Jimmy.”

She nodded and stood up, before sitting back down and placing a hand on his shoulder. “What happened, Clark?”

“Superman saw Lois having an intimate lunch with Luthor at the Top of the Towers,” he grumbled.

She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and squeezed. “Does Superman know she’s been going around kissing you, too?”

He pressed his lips together. Very funny. “They weren’t kissing,” he snapped.

“Did Lois see you?”

“No, I don’t think so, but Luthor did,” Clark groaned. “He knows. He must know.”

Her eyes widened. “Luthor knows that you… and Superman…” she sputtered.

“I hope not. He knows that I care for Lois.”

“Clark, everybody and their infant cousins know that,” she replied dryly.

“Luthor knows that Superman cares,” he clarified.

“How? You’ve been doing so well, lately,” Cat said.

“I have?” Clark asked, gazing up at her with hope. Just his luck. Then he sighed. “When she got shot, Superman… er… lost control and pinned Luthor to a wall,” he admitted sheepishly.

Cat applauded, kissing his cheek. “About time! That man deserves to be smeared on a wall.”

Clark buried his head again. “You’re a bad influence on me.”

“You’re just figuring that out?” She howled with laughter.

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks, Cat.”

Cat patted his shoulder. “Don’t let Lois know how jealous you are. Act aloof.”

Clark stared at her in bewilderment. “I thought jealousy was the key. You’ve been saying that for months.”

She rolled her eyes. “To make Lois jealous, not to be jealous.” She winked and turned towards the door, before stopping. “Did you say that Monique was found outside of Gotham City?”

Hope sprung in his heart. “Yeah. Does that mean something?”

“It could be nothing, but Luthor has a country house somewhere between Metropolis and Gotham,” Cat said.

Clark jumped to his feet in excitement. “I could kiss you!”

Cat grinned and opened her arms. “My lips and bed are always available to you, hot stuff,” she said.

He grabbed her in a hug and kissed her cheek. “Never happening, Cat.”

She opened the door to the conference room, laughing. “Tease!”

Lois was just putting her briefcase under her desk when she turned and caught Clark coming out the door after Cat. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she snapped at Clark, patently ignoring Cat.

Clark was tempted to tell her that she needn’t look for him at the Top of the Towers, because he’d never eat there. “Well, I’ve been interviewing people for my story. Where did you hightail it off to? I asked you to stay here,” he retorted.

“Asked? You didn’t ask, you demanded, ordered me like a dog. I’m no dog, Chuck. One date doesn’t make you my master, and doesn’t give you the right to tell me what to do!” Lois said, pointing her finger in his face.

Clark noticed that she was avoiding telling him about lunching with Luthor; she almost seemed defensive. “I wanted to check out a few details. If that stalker who bugged your apartment is the same guy who murdered Monique Kahn you could be in real danger. I asked you to stay here for your protection,” he explained, trying to stay calm.

“Protection?!” she snarled. “My stalker was over last month, Clark. I’m fine. I walk around town all the time by myself. Nobody is after me anymore.”

“We don’t know that,” he countered. “According to Brigitte Kahn, her sister was dating someone high up at LexCorp.” The words slipped out before he could stop them.

Lois rolled her eyes. “You think it was Lex, don’t you? You would just love it if he was this horrible monster that you always paint him to be,” she said.

“No, I’d love it if he was just what he said he is: a billionaire with a heart of gold. I don’t trust him,” Clark said, adding a silent for good reason.

She scoffed with a shake of her head. “Well, it wasn’t him. He’s never met Ms. Kahn.”

Clark had her now. “How do you know that?” he asked.

“I asked him,” Lois replied.

“In person?” he couldn’t help saying the words through clenched teeth.

Beyond Lois, he could see Cat shake her head and whisper, “Aloof, Clark. Aloof.”

Damn. He screwed that up, didn’t he?

“Over the phone, as a matter of fact. Not that it is any of your business,” she said.

“My business? It’s my story!” Clearly, this was a losing argument.

“Our story, Chuck!” Lois said, pointing at him again. “Monique Kahn was the jumper from your Superman story, and if the test she was referring to included the bombing of the Carlen building, which was my story, especially since we’ve tied via the cameras to the bugs in my apartment.”

Clark threw his hands into the air. “Once again, you’re right.”

Lois grinned and patted his cheeks. “I’m always right, Clark; accept that fact now and your life will be much easier.”

He crossed his arms. “Then where were you?”

She froze.

Gotcha!

“Lunch,” Lois replied vaguely, sitting down at her desk.

Aloof. “Really? Where did you go?”

“Um… just this hole in the wall,” she said, sitting down at her desk. “Nothing too remarkable.”

Clark raised a brow at that blatant lie. “What kind of food was it?”

Lois coughed. “French.”

“A hole in the wall French café here in Metropolis? Wow. Was it any good?” he asked, stepping closer.

“Yes, as a matter of fact.”

“Really? Hmm. Maybe you should take me there sometime,” Clark suggested with a grin.

“What’s with the third degree, Clark?” Lois asked, spinning around to face him. Unfortunately she also didn’t agree to his date idea.

“No third degree. Just wondering how your lunch was,” he said smugly.

“And what were you doing in the conference room with Cat?” she asked, pointing towards said room.

“Talking. We’re friends, and I value her opinion,” he replied, just as vaguely as her solo lunch at the unnamed hole in the wall French café. He smiled. Aloof. “Why? Are you jealous?”

Lois’s eyes narrowed, but before she could speak a delivery man stepped up to her desk with a bouquet of flowers.

Clark waited as she signed for them, wondering who else was sending Lois flowers. She set down the flowers on the shelf between Cat and her desks.

“Don’t you want to look at the card and see who they’re from?” Clark asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“I know who they’re from,” Lois replied, sitting back down.

So did he, Clark decided as his stomach fell another notch. He tilted down his glasses and glanced at the card to confirm his suspicions.

Next time let me show you the stars, Lex.

She might not be jealous, but he sure the hell was. He tossed up his hands and returned to his desk.

Lois followed him. “You’re jealous.”

“I thought we were done playing games,” he said.

“Games?”

He looked at her, surprised that she couldn’t see it as clear as the glasses on his face. “Playing the two of us off each other,” he replied. “I’m so glad you have found it in your heart to forgive a man who not only shot you, but tried to make you into a whore, Lois. I, myself, am finding it difficult to be that generous.”

“How did you…?”

“I saw you.”

Her teeth ground together. “What about you and Cat?”

“We’re only friends. We’ll only ever be friends. I’m not going to give up my friendship with Cat because it makes you uncomfortable. Either you trust me, or you don’t.”

Lois put her hands on her hips. “Thank you for stating my argument so clearly.”

“I trust you, Lois. It’s him, I don’t trust,” Clark replied.

She pointed a finger at him. “Clearly…”

“Happy birthday to you…” Jimmy said, bursting into song, approaching her with a candle covered cake and a crowd of their fellow workers.

Clark needed some fresh air and this seemed to be the perfect moment to take it. The last thing his stomach needed was the smell of frosting on top of Lois’s horse manure. He turned on his heel and left the office, his aloofness used up for the day.

***

Lois had returned from her lunch with Lex feeling more confused. She had certain feelings for Clark; that was true. She was beginning to wonder if she had been rash in her decision to push away from the billionaire. He had shot her by accident while trying to protect her. He had ‘rescued’ her from the Metro Club more than tried to buy her body, and he had informed her about Clark’s lack of a history. These acts, no matter how poorly thought out, showed that Lex had her best interests at heart.

Before she had left the restaurant, Lex had asked how her investigation on Clark’s past was going. She had told him ‘slowly’, not wishing to discuss how stymied she was. He suggested that Perry might be able to focus the light on the truth by giving Lois access to Clark’s personnel file. Lois balked at this strategy because that it would mean bringing in her boss, and possibly costing Clark his job for lying on his application. She liked Clark and was sure that he had a darn good reason for hiding his past. If she got him fired, she was liable to lose him forever, which was the opposite of her intention. All she wanted was the truth; was that too much to ask for?

At first she didn’t see Clark in the office, nor were there any phone messages from him on her desk. She figured he was being a typical male, telling her to wait, while he went off and had fun investigating, at the same time as expecting her to sit around and actually wait. The feeling made her more and more glad that she had eaten lunch with Lex.

Then Clark had come out of the conference room, not only with Cat, but laughing. They were enjoying each other’s company, and that made Lois envious. She wanted to return their relationship to where it had been when he had kissed her the night before. Only she didn’t know how.

Lois knew what was going on. A part of her was pushing Clark away on purpose. She liked him so much that she had broken rules for him, and that scared her. Whenever they were together there was attraction between them, this draw. It was all she could do to stay in control. After months of having to be in control of her feelings whenever she saw Superman, she was so tempted to give in and let go of her control and do something spontaneous with Clark. Something about him was like an aphrodisiac. That was probably why he reminded her of chocolate ice cream.

But she had installed those internal walls for a reason, to protect her from creeps who lied to her to get what they want from her. She was one step ahead this time, already knowing that Clark was keeping something from her, but to what ends? He didn’t seem like a creep. What did he want from her? Besides trying to make her happy and spend as much time with her as possible, that was. Except when he was worried about her safety or she ticked him off, causing him to storm from the newsroom.

Lois sighed, feeling humiliated that Clark thought she was dating Lex again, and had caught her in a lie. Clark must have seen Lex walk her out of Lex Towers and to a cab, kissing her cheek before she got in, and got the wrong impression. No matter how charming Lex Luthor was, she honestly didn’t enjoy his company as much as Clark’s. True, Lex was older and, as such, more mature and serious, but he wasn’t fun. Lex may have been charming and suave, but with Clark she had chemistry. Only with Lex she rarely argued, while she and Clark rarely agreed.

Take this morning for example, with Clark trying to ride her shirttails to the Kerth ceremony. Part of her regretted that spur of the moment decision to invite Jimmy. Clark had been an enormous help to her story, not to mention saving her and Jimmy’s lives in the Messenger hanger.

“Lois,” Perry said, taking his slice of cake and waving her into his office. She walked into the Chief’s office with her own piece. He shut the door behind her and asked her to sit down.

“What’s going on, honey?” Perry asked, leaning against his desk.

“Clark doesn’t like sweets,” she said, by way as an excuse for Clark’s behavior.

“Excuse me?”

“His folks died when he was young, and birthday cake reminds him of losing them,” Lois said, trying to muddy up the details as much as possible.

“Okay,” Perry responded hesitantly. “I meant professionally.”

“Oh,” Lois said, her cheeks turning rosy. “Clark and I are working on this brutal murder of a woman Superman rescued a couple of months ago.”

“You’re working on that together?”

Had Clark accused her of stealing his story to Perry? Wouldn’t that be symmetry? “We’re partners.”

“Are you?”

“Why? Did Clark say something?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder and out the glass walls to Clark’s desk. It was empty.

“You aren’t acting like partners. You threw it in his face that he wasn’t nominated for a Kerth, when you were,” Perry explained. “And then refused to even let him share in your glory as your date.”

“Jimmy worked hard on that story as well,” Lois said, knowing her excuse was weak.

“But I want you to understand why Clark was bent out of shape. I don’t want my reporters arguing on the newsroom floor all the time. You need to fix this.”

“Me? He’s the one who ordered me to ‘stay put’ like I was some child or helpless female,” she said, picking at her cake.

“Clark was unnerved to find you gone, when he returned. He thinks this murderer might be the same fellow who was fixated on you this summer.”

Clark thought Lex was her stalker? Well, that explained his paranoia. No wonder he had been upset, but that was ridiculous. Why would Lex do such a thing? It didn’t make sense. “Clark’s chasing windmills,” Lois replied. “There’s no concrete proof that the two events are related.”

“He’s worried about you, and so am I.”

Great, and she thought Superman was paranoid about her safety? “I’m fine.”

“Are you?” Perry asked.

The overwhelming burden of Clark’s lack of a history loomed over her. “No.”

Her boss raised an eyebrow and waited.

“Do you remember a while back when I came to you and said that I wanted to investigate Clark because I thought he was lying to me?” she asked warily.

Perry groaned. “Don’t tell me you want to break off the partnership again?”

“No, no, it’s not that. I like working with Clark,” Lois said, the honesty of that statement hitting her between the eyes. She pressed her lips together. How could she phrase her concerns in a way that didn’t send Perry into a blind panic and fire Clark? “He’s just so guarded about his past. Getting him to talk about it, I feel like I need a crowbar. It took me months for him to tell me that he had been orphaned as a child. I was just wondering if you could point me in a direction to help Clark loosen up. Maybe someone from his past, someone who knows him better and would be able to help me get him to open up more. Which reference did you talk to?”

“Clark’s journalism professor. Professor Carlton from Midwest U. He had nothing but raves about the man,” Perry said. “That Carlton is a character. We were war correspondents together…” He looked up the ceiling as he thought back. “— eons ago.”

Lois exhaled in relief. Clark did exist. Perry had checked his references and talked to somebody who knew him from college. Her brow furrowed. She thought Clark had said something about Kansas State? She shook her head. No, she must have misremembered that. She’d stop this stupid dead-end investigation into Clark’s past.

Lex had sent her on a wild goose chase, for some unknown reason. Could he have been trying to scare her away from Clark out of jealousy? She almost laughed out loud at that thought. The man had shot her; he couldn’t expect that she’d still be interested in him in that way. Not that she had ever been, but he didn’t know that.

True, she hadn’t found any information on Clark either, but clearly he existed if Perry knew the man who recommended him for the job.

“I’m glad to hear it, Perry. Maybe talking about college will be just the key I need to get Clark to open up,” Lois said, standing up and tossing what was left of her cake in the trash. White cake. Who would buy her white cake for her birthday? It must have been Jimmy.

“Lois, Clark isn’t an investigation. He’s your partner. For that to work properly, there needs to be a certain amount of trust,” Perry reminded her.

“Clark trusts me enough for the both of us,” she replied with a grin.

Perry harrumphed.

***End of Part 46***

Part 47

Now, you've heard both sides of the argument, who do you side with? Team Lane, or Team Kent? Or do you think they both need to be hit across the face with a wet fish? Place your answers here .