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

Where we left off in Part 112 …

Clark’s phone rang, and he went to answer it. “Clark Kent, Daily Planet.”

“I hear you want to know about that missing doctor,” a man’s voice said on the other end of the line.

“Dr. Brenda Muldoon?” Clark asked.

“Tall, red-hair, knock-out?” the man described the woman in the photo that Mrs. Dawson had shown him and Cat.

“That sounds like her,” Clark said. “Who is this?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am. What I’m telling you is the doc split. I don’t know where she was going, but she ain’t coming back,” the man said. “She burned that bridge.”

Clark’s brow furrowed, tapping his pencil. “Which bridge would that be?”

“Met Gen. They know she was stealing. They don’t want her back, and they don’t want any publicity about it neither,” the man said.

“What was she stealing?”

“Drugs. Bunches of them. She must have been selling them on the black market or something. That’s all I know,” the man said.

“Wait! Do you know the names of any of the missing drugs?” Clark said, writing down a list of hard to spell drug names as the man rattled them off. “Can you tell me who you are? I won’t put it in the article. Just in case I have any more questions?”

The man didn’t answer. A moment later, the phone clicked as he hung up. Well, it had been worth a shot.

Clark picked up the list and sidled up to Cat’s desk. Perry hadn’t been thrilled to pull Cat from gossip, so he insisted that Clark take the lead on the Muldoon disappearance. Cat could work on it as long as she didn’t leave Cat’s Corner in the lurch. Clark glanced at Lois, who was on her phone. He had never had a chance to tell her about Cat’s undercover role as “Lois Lane” on this assignment. He lowered his voice anyway, so she wouldn’t overhear. “I just got a tip on Dr. Muldoon from an anonymous source, who says that the doc was stealing drugs.”

Cat pinched her lips together. “Well, that’s disappointing. What kinds?”

Clark handed her the list, and she perused it.

“Nah, I’m not familiar with most of those. Penicillin, but who would steal that unless she was going somewhere she couldn’t get it over the counter,” Cat finally said.

“I’m going down in the stacks to do some research on what these different pills are used for,” he said. “Why don’t you see if you can find out from her sister anything about the good doctor’s financial status?”

Cat started flipping through her rolodex. “I’ll also call Dr. Muldoon’s office manager again, and see if there was something that she forgot to mention about her boss.”

Clark nodded, and headed towards the stairs with one final parting glance at Lois.

*

Part 113

Lois watched Clark leave for the stairwell. Good, she’d have some time to talk to Cat without his prying ears around. She hung up the phone after it rung off the hook, realizing that Jimbo’s classes at M.U.T. had started up again this week and he’d be more difficult to reach, let alone use to gather information. She would have to have Jimmy follow Lena to see if she took any more three-hour lunches at the Regency, and with whom it was she was ‘doing the deed’. Lois stood up to discuss this idea with Jimmy, when she heard Cat’s voice.

“Mrs. Dawson? It’s Lois Lane at the Daily Planet. Hi, how are you doing?”

Lois stiffened, and dropped back into her chair. Why was Cat impersonating her?

“No, I’m sorry, we still haven’t found any clues on the whereabouts of your sister,” Cat went on. “Have you heard anything?”

Picking up a pencil, Lois noted, sister?

“I don’t want to raise your hopes, but Clark is checking out a new lead. Were you able to get the post office to forward her mail to you?” Cat asked.

Clark! Lois wrote next. What were Clark and Cat working on together? She underlined his name several times, causing a hole to develop in her scratch paper.

“Uh-huh… Do you know what the status is on her student loans?” Cat asked.

Student Loans? What was this case? Why hadn’t Clark brought Lois in on it? Then she pressed her lips together, remembering that Cat was impersonating her. Apparently, Lois had been brought in.

“She didn’t have any? How was that possible?... Oh, I see. The policies on your parents were enough to cover medical school. Wow,” Cat said, before clearing her throat. “So, she didn’t have any outstanding debt of which you were aware?”

Medical school? Doctor? Lois jotted down. Missing woman doctor? Dr. Brenda Muldoon! She recalled vaguely seeing an article about a doctor who went missing on Impact Day, but she hadn’t thought anything about it. It sounded like a non-story to her. People disappeared in Metropolis all the time. Apparently, Cat and Clark were working on that missing person’s case investigation together. Why?

Lois drummed her fingers on her desk. It was nice of Clark to inform her that he was shopping around for a new partner. Oh, wait, he hadn’t. When Lois had said that their personal relationship was on hold, she had specifically told him that their partnership would go on as usual. Clearly, he must be thinking that for her safety he needed even more distance between them.

Did Lois even have a right to be jealous of Cat? She knew that Clark would be loyal. She wasn’t quite sure how she knew, but from the moment she learned Clark was also Superman, she just did. If the superhero was terrified of making love to her, there was no way he would become intimately involved with Cat and her wild ways. On the other hand, Lois had gone out with Lex twice – that Clark knew about, actually three times – since Nightfall and their supposed break-up… but only as friends, associates really. She knew that Clark and Cat would never be more than friends. No, she could trust Clark to be romantically faithful.

Still, it irked her that Clark would partner up with someone else professionally. Clark Kent was hers, and she didn’t want to share. Maybe she had been petty, and should have called Clark in the middle of the night after Superman caught the kidnapper. Perhaps that was why Clark had edged in on her interview with Lena. He missed working with her and needed some kind of reassurance that Lois still needed him.

She missed Clark too, but her current assignments were: first of all, there was Eugene Laderman, escaped felon hiding out in her apartment. She couldn’t see Clark being thrilled about that. Secondly, there was Professor Daitch’s data mishap with the Nightfall trajectory. She wanted to discuss that development with Clark… well, Superman, before she made any decisions on whether she wanted to bring this information to Perry’s radar. Finally, there was Clark’s abduction and Lex’s attempts to kill him. She had to verify if the hideous watch Lex gave her at Christmas really was made of Kryptonite. If it was still at the bottom of the bay by the docks where Clark was dragged from the water, she needed to find a way to find it and have it analyzed. No, she couldn’t have Clark involved in that investigation, at least not until she had the Kryptonite secured.

Lois would have to tell Clark about Eugene Laderman. It would prove to him that she needed and trusted Clark without any danger to him or Superman’s reputation. She sighed. How would she have revealed such a big secret as hiding an escaped felon in her apartment to Clark before knowing that he was Superman? Would she have?

Cat got off the telephone, and Lois heard the ding of the elevator a second later. As Lois instinctively glanced up, an evil smile spread over her lips. This would be too easy.

“Is that Arthur Chow? What’s he doing here?” Lois said in a loud voice.

Cat ducked behind her desk. “Where? Did he see me?” she hissed.

Lois giggled. “Gotcha!”

“Very funny, Lane,” Cat said, standing up and glowering at her.

“Oh, like you wouldn’t have done the same thing to me about Superman last summer?” Lois returned. Actually, now that she thought about it, Cat had.

“Last summer?” Cat grinned, coming over to Lois’s desk. “I still could get you with that one. You’re goo-goo for the hero, and everyone knows it.”

Lois shot her a glare. Saying things like that wasn’t helping matters any.

Cat raised her hands in fake surrender. “Fine. You’re never goo-goo over any man,” she amended, rolling her eyes.

“Cat…” Lois said, lowering her voice and glancing around. No, she couldn’t tell her here at her desk; if Lex had someone plant bugs there, again, it would destroy her whole investigation. She would have to find a way to get Cat to meet her elsewhere. “Have you been impersonating me? Is that the reason for the new duds? I didn’t know you wanted to be me so badly. I could give you tips on how to be a better reporter, if you really wanted to…”

“Oh, get off your high horse, Lois. It’s not as if I did it on purpose. It was just a case of mistaken identity,” Cat said, and then pointed at her. “And don’t you go spreading that around. It wouldn’t be good for my reputation.”

“And which reputation would that be? Your old one or the one of being a starched maiden?” Lois retorted.

“Touché. Well, if the description fits…” Cat said, raising a brow and gazing over Lois’s tan skirt and vest combo with a feminine maroon tie and a white blouse. “I didn’t realize that ascots were back in… for women.”

Lois pinched her lips together. She had thought this was a cute outfit. It definitely wasn't skintight or revealing, but at least it was professional. She picked up her notepad and wrote down: Meet me in the restroom in five minutes. She tore off the note and handed it to Cat. “This is what I think of your fashion advice.”

Cat glanced down at the note before crinkling it into a ball and tossing it at Lois. “Really, Lois, such language is unbecoming a woman. Anyway, didn’t hanging out at the gym with your father as a child teach you anything? Swearing sounds much better said out loud. Come on, Lois, don’t be shy,” she taunted.

Lois stuck the note ball into her skirt pocket, and then waved her away. “If you don’t mind, I have real work to do.”

Cat arched an eyebrow. “So, do I. As you well know, we Lois Lanes can never stop to chat with lesser reporters.”

Lois pinched her lips together and waited until Cat had left for the restroom. Then she unfastened her new LoLex watch, leaving it at the bottom of her briefcase, next to Eugene’s stolen gun. She really needed to do something about that thing. S.T.A.R. Labs hadn’t found an audio bug on the watch, but Lois wasn’t taking any chances. She used the excuse of her hand being in her briefcase to remove her purse, and then followed Cat one minute later. Walking inside the restroom, Lois checked each stall to make sure that she and Cat were alone. As soon as she was sure, she flushed the note she had given Cat down the toilet.

“Paranoid much?” Cat inquired, leaning up against the restroom vanity and waiting.

“I was being tailed last week, and who knows if he’s reinstalled the surveillance at my desk, or hired a mole within the Daily Planet to spy on me,” Lois said, unzipping her purse and removing her lipstick to apply quickly should someone else enter.

“So, yes?” Cat said, answering her own rhetorical question.

Lois ignored her. “Do you know any local deep-sea divers?”

Cat laughed. “Interesting segue, but yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Why?”

“I figured if anyone at the Planet would know one, you would,” Lois said vaguely.

“Clearly, but why do you need one? Doesn’t Clark…” Cat shook her head as if deciding that lewd joke wouldn’t work. “Of course he could.”

“This guy you know is he trustworthy? Would he be willing to look for something for me with no questions asked?” Lois inquired.

Cat smiled. “No matter how deep he searches, I doubt he’ll find anything but… damn, you know, it was much easier to tease you when I thought of you as an ice queen.” She flipped her hand towards Lois. “All of your and Clark’s global warming is throwing off my game.”

Lois waited, shaking her head, while Cat got it out of her system.

“He’s trustworthy,” Cat finally continued. “Simon does underwater work for the MPD, and he’s my brother-in-law.”

“So, he’ll ask questions?” Lois said, scowling.

“No, it means he’ll do anything, whatever and whenever I ask,” Cat replied. “I’m the one with the questions. What are you looking for?”

“A clunky watch with red and green jewels on the band. I dropped it off the docks at Christmas,” Lois said, removing a piece of paper from her purse and handing it to Cat. “Here’s the address.”

Cat glanced down at the paper. “Why do you suddenly want it back?”

“I realized it might be more valuable than I previously had thought, and now I want it back,” Lois said, pausing. She had obtained a small lead lined bag from Dr. Klein to put it in to neutralize the radiation. She pulled it out of her purse and handed that to Cat as well. “If he finds it, don’t bring it here…Um… it will need to be repaired. He’ll need to take to…” She cleared her throat. “Uh…S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“I’m not an idiot, Lois,” Cat said, crossing her arms. “I know that S.T.A.R. Labs doesn’t do jewelry repair. What’s with all the cloak and dagger subterfuge?”

“No, no. Of course, they don’t, but a friend of mine there does watch repair as a hobby and…” Lois started.

Cat held up a hand. “How about we skip all the B.S.? You just tell me the straight up facts, and I’ll tell you whether or not I’ll help you.”

“The less you know the safer you’ll be,” Lois replied, staring her in the eye.

“Been taking lessons from Clark, have you? I may not be a black belt in karate…”

“Taekwondo.”

“Whatever. I can still take care of myself,” Cat said, looking Lois up and down. “So, first, your stalker boyfriend, the Voyeur’s back?”

Lois nodded, a bit surprised that Cat remembered what had happened to Lois’s privacy the previous summer. “Yes.”

“And he’s still obsessed with you?” Cat went on.

“More than ever,” Lois grumbled. “So much so, I think he was behind Clark’s abduction. He was afraid we were getting too close and wanted to eliminate the competition.”

A light came on in Cat’s eyes. “That’s why you broke up with Clark, or pretended to in public, so the Voyeur would back off.”

Lois shrugged.

Cat scrutinized her. “What’s with the watch, then?”

“A hunch.”

“Why did you drop it off the…?” Cat started before cutting herself off and pointing at Lois. “You lied to me. It was your bunker-buddy, not that Bureau whatsit after all.”

Lois was amazed Cat had figured it out so quickly and answered slowly, “A woman has to be careful whom she can trust.”

“Preaching to the choir here, minister. So, your billionaire beau must have given you a Christmas present you didn’t like.”

“It really was hideous; even you wouldn’t have worn it,” Lois replied, hating that Clark had been right about Cat all along. “And look who only plays dumb.”

This time, Cat was the one who shrugged innocently. “It’s what people expect when you have a body and face like mine. If they think I’m too stupid to figure them out, they’re more likely to make mistakes.”

Lois nodded, now understanding Cat’s technique on getting her gossip scoops. Her respect and admiration for the woman rose.

“Clark’s not going to be happy to know you kept this from him,” Cat stated the obvious.

“It’s for his protection,” Lois replied.

Cat pointed at her. “I don’t want any more allusions to being your prophylactic.” She grinned. “Unless you want me to be that thin layer between you and Clark keeping you both safe,” she purred. “While you’re warming Lex’s bed.”

Lois felt sick to her stomach. It really was a horrible metaphor. “It won’t get that far. So, will you do it, find the watch and give it to S.T.A.R. Labs for me?” she asked, returning to the topic at hand. “It would be better if Clark didn’t find out.”

“Well, he already knows you’re two-timing him with Daddy Badbucks…”

“I’m not… dating Lex; I’m undercover. He wants me to keep him apprised of Daily Planet stories for him in exchange for insider information,” Lois explained. “I’d rather not have Clark find out third-hand that I was to blame for his… illness.”

Cat’s eyes widened. “Wait. Are you telling me that Lex gave you…?” Her jaw dropped as she pointed out the door to an imaginary Lex. “And here I thought he was gaga for you. You know he even asked me how you were doing recently at a charity event.”

“He… we’re friends,” Lois said, her patience growing thin. They had spent entirely too much time alone in the restroom. If someone was watching her at the office, they were bound to become suspicious.

“Getting Superman out of the picture, that I get, but why is he trying to kill you?” Cat asked.

“Kill me?” Lois was flabbergasted that Cat had come to such a conclusion.

“Honey,” Cat said, shifting her weight so her hips rocked. “If he’s giving you Kryptonite jewelry to wear, and you’re Superman’s favorite rescue toy, he’ll end up killing you both with one stone.”

Lois hadn’t ever thought about it in that manner. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She popped open the lid of her lipstick and applied a fresh coat. “By the way, I sent you something to your apartment.”

“Don’t tell me! Directions to the M.S.R.F. to find Superman’s spaceship?” Cat said with a laugh.

“No,” Lois said, her brow wrinkling in confusion. “No… um… just give it to Superman if I go missing.”

“What is it?”

“The frequency to the tracking bug in my new watch,” Lois replied.

The door to the restroom opened and Rita, the new researcher caught at the coffee shop robbery with Lois, walked in. She nodded at them and headed for a stall.

“Are you telling me that you, not Clark, sent me to the Sewage Reclamation Facility?” Lois hollered at Cat as that piece finally fit into her puzzle. Well, that explained why it took him hours before Superman went in search of her. He hadn’t known. “I can’t believe you! I didn’t talk to him for a month because of that.” Okay, that wasn’t exactly true, but Rita wouldn’t know that. She hadn’t been at the Planet then. Lois didn’t know for sure that she was working for Lex, but she kept popping up wherever Lois was, so she wasn’t going to take any chances.

Cat shrugged. “Well, you stole Clark’s story, and then started in on Jimmy’s idea, you needed to be taken down a peg,” she replied, following Lois out of the restroom.

“I didn’t steal Clark’s story, we just happen to both cover the same story, and I would have given Jimmy full credit on the whole spaceship story if it had panned out,” Lois retorted.

Cat rolled her eyes, clearly not believing a word that Lois said. “Whatever, Lane. Clark got off easy. Silent treatment from you is better than a cash bonus. Anyway, if you had known it was me, I’d be sporting a fist sized fracture to my sternum.”

Lois looked at her with pretend dismay. “Don’t be ridiculous, Cat. I wouldn’t have punched you,” she replied. “Although, I can’t guarantee you that your hair wouldn’t be Superman blue and about half an inch long.”

Cat’s eyes widened as her hand went protectively up to her head. “Geez, Lois, it was just a joke,” she said, and ran off to her desk.

Lois grinned. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

***

From what Clark could tell from his research, the medicines his anonymous source said Dr. Muldoon had stolen from the hospital dealt with lowering high blood pressure, inducing labor, reducing blood clots or anemia, and other severe pregnancy related conditions. They weren’t the usual black-market type drugs. Unless Dr. Muldoon was setting up her own private birthing hospital, Clark didn’t understand why she would steal such medications. If she had been preparing for one private birth, she wouldn’t have needed the medications in volume.

He closed his manila folder with the copies from the journals he had made to show to Cat and stepped out of the stairwell to head back to his desk.

Lois bounded up and grabbed his arm, dragging him over to a secluded section of the bullpen. “Tell me the biggest secret you have,” she demanded.

“What?” he sputtered. He had been trying to tell her the biggest secret he had for weeks now, but after what happened the day before yesterday at Lois’s apartment and at this morning’s meeting, Clark was having doubts on whether or not it was the right decision. He couldn't undo telling the secret. Once she knew, she knew. It wasn't as if he could erase her memory with a kiss, if he wanted to, so until he knew what exactly was going on between Lois and Luthor, he had decided to wait. He wanted to trust her, but what if Luthor had hoodwinked her somehow?

Her eyes widened. “Okay, not the biggest secret you have. I know we can’t talk about that, but how about the next biggest. Something you’ve never revealed to another soul,” she insisted.

“Why?” he asked. She was acting very suspiciously. Moreover, what did she mean they couldn’t talk about his biggest secret? How would she know?

“Because I’m about to tell you one of the biggest secrets I’m holding, and I need blackmail material,” she explained.

Clark crossed his arms. “Do you really feel the need to blackmail me, Lois, to keep silent? Don’t you trust me?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Clark, but you’re best friends with Superman, and what I’m about to tell you can’t be repeated to anyone, especially him,” Lois whispered, her eyes darting around. “So, tell me your second biggest secret, and then swear you won’t tell anyone mine.”

“Why do you think we couldn’t talk about my biggest secret?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Because I already know what it is, and this isn’t the time or place to discuss it,” she said. “Now, tell me!”

“You… already… know?” he gulped on a suddenly dry throat. How did she know? Anyway, if she knew his biggest secret, then how did she expect him to keep it from Superman?

“Yes! I figured it out,” she said, lowering her voice once more. “Hello? Psychotic ex-fiancée, irrational fear of intimacy…any of that ringing a bell?”

What did that have to do with him being Superman? Then Clark realized she was talking about something else entirely, and blushed. Okay, she had a point. He didn’t want to discuss that anywhere near the office. Technically, his fear of the curse was his third biggest secret behind his origins… both of them. “You’re right. We can talk about that later,” he said, clearing his throat.

“It’s not as if I would ever use that against you, which is why I want you to tell me your next biggest secret. I know you have a bunch of them. Come on, give me something, Chuck!” Lois insisted. “Anything.”

Clark stiffened; it annoyed him that she would call him ‘Chuck’ after going on who knew how many dates with Luthor. It was time to tell her the truth. “I have been keeping something from you, Lois,” he said, and then paused glancing around. Nobody was standing within ten feet of them. “I’m going to lunch with Linda King tomorrow.”

Lois’s jaw dropped. From what Linda had told him at the Magic Club of her friendship at Metropolis University with Lois, which he was taking with a grain of salt until he heard Lois’s side of the story, he had expected this announcement to be nothing less than a bombshell.

When the startled expression fell from Lois’s eyes, they seemed to tear up with repressed emotion. Oh, no. What had he done? Oh, please, not tears.

“Oh, Clark,” she said, with a barely contained sniffle. “That is the sweetest… most touching… Thank you.”

Huh?

“Has it been a month already?” Lois asked, and raised a hand to her chest. “And I didn’t get you anything.”

Huh? A month since what?

“Is it lunch lunch or a date lunch? Please tell me it’s a lunch date,” she pleaded.

“Uh… It’s a date,” he admitted. He made it with the sole purpose of making Lois jealous, and letting her know how he was feeling about her meals with Luthor. Technically, it hadn’t been his idea but Linda’s, so he felt little remorse in accepting it.

Lois swallowed back her happy tears, placed a big grin on her face, and squeezed his hand tenderly for a moment. “That’s fantastic, Clark! Oh, you’re so brilliant!”

Okay, he had to admit he hadn't expected this reaction. “Uh… Thanks?”

“I wish I had thought of it. Yes, you should date someone else, and there isn’t anyone better for you to be seen in public with than Linda,” Lois said, sounding almost like she was drowning in her own giddiness. “You should take her to dinner, too. Better yet, dancing!”

“Why?” he asked slowly. He was still wracking his brain, trying to figure out to what she was referring. A month ago, they were investigating Rourke at the Lexor… Oh, no. Their kiss on the bed had led Lois to officially forgive him for his previous faults and non-officially jump-started their relationship once more. And he had asked another woman out on a date on their one month anniversary. He might as well dive back into Hob’s Bay, because he was now marked as a dead man.

“Because if the people who tried to kill you want to get to you through your girlfriend, they’ll attack her,” Lois said, and then dropping her voice. “And not me.” She raised her voice again. “No woman deserves to be beaten up more than Linda. I’ve never received such an unexpected and thoughtful gift, Clark. Thank you.”

“Lois,” Clark scolded through pressed lips, although this was closer to the reaction that he had been expecting from this news. Still, he was shocked, dismayed, and frankly, a bit flabbergasted by this suggestion. “I’m not using Linda as bait.”

“Of course you are, Chuck,” Lois whispered, her voice tender. “We would finally know if it’s safe to come out of hiding.”

“Oh, is that what you’ve been doing?” he asked, crossing his arms in annoyance once more. “Hiding?”

She glared at him. “You know exactly what I’m doing, Clark,” she raised her voice once more. “Have fun on your date. Linda fits perfectly with the reputation surrounding you of dating loose women. Although, I must warn you Linda is a bit more discerning than Cat. Linda doesn’t chase anyone unless it gets her something in return, and she’s already told me that she wants to use you to get to Superman. She’s power hungry and isn’t afraid to use sex appeal to get what she wants.”

“Like an expensive watch,” Clark returned.

Lois looked as if Clark had slapped her across the face, and her eyes hardened from love into something darker and full of fury. “For your information, it’s just a watch; something I use to tell the time and make sure I’m not late. If you hadn’t gone all high and mighty on me, Clark, you would have learned that I told Lex that as soon as I found another watch, or better yet, got my grandmother’s watch back, I’d be returning this one to him,” she said. “If you think I’m the sort of woman who’s interested in a man because of his earning potential, you’re sorely mistaken.” She turned and started to stomp away from him.

“Lois.”

“What, Clark?” she snapped.

“Weren’t you going to tell me something?” he asked.

“Damn straight! How dare you…”

“Lois,” he interjected. “Your secret.”

“You haven’t earned the right to hear my secret. Your secret, though vile and disgusting, wasn’t important enough to earn knowledge of my secret,” Lois announced haughtily.

Clark physically cut her off before she could head back to her desk. “It was definitely a secret from you.”

She pinched her lips together. “Yes, but it was a worthless secret, Clark, because unless you told it, it would have done nothing towards making me jealous. Therefore, it really wasn’t a secret at all,” she hissed, pointing at him.

Touché. He crossed his arms. “Tell me.”

“No,” Lois said, crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air.

“It must not be all that important then,” he replied. “Never mind.” He turned towards his desk.

“Eugene Laderman is hiding out at my apartment,” she whispered.

Clark wasn’t that far away, but even so, he needed an ounce of his super hearing for her words to reach his ear. “What?” He marched back up to her. “What?”

“Swear you won’t repeat it,” she said.

“No!”

“On the lives of our future grandchildren,” Lois insisted.

Clark stared at her. Did she say just what he thought she had said?

“Swear!”

He nodded, unable to speak.

“And no matter what, you can’t do anything about it?” she said.

“Lois, I’m not going to do anything, you are,” Clark said, walking to a nearby phone, picking it up, and handing the receiver to her. “You’re calling the police.”

“You swore!”

“Lois!”

“On the lives of your future grandchildren,” she reminded him.

“You cannot make me swear to something that’s illegal,” he rebutted, pointing the handset at her. “You are harboring a fugitive, a murderer. The man is dangerous. He killed Harrison, and he could kill you.”

Lois took the telephone out of his hand. “He’s innocent!” She hung up the phone.

“He was tried and convicted by a jury of his peers,” Clark said.

“Oh, as if the justice system hasn’t ever gotten anything wrong before. Leave the truth and justice stuff to Superman, would you?” Lois growled, crossing her arms and turning her back to him.

Easier said than done. “I can’t, Lois. Not where your safety comes into play,” he said softly, nudging her shoulder with his own.

“Do you think I’d purposely put myself into harm’s way?” she said, glancing over her shoulder at him and nudging him right back.

She had to be kidding, right? “Do you really want me to answer that honestly?”

“Don’t tell me, reporter’s intuition?” Lois guessed. “You just know Eugene is going to hurt me?”

Was she teasing him about how much trouble she could get herself into? Really? Or was this about her semi-psychic sense? “You don’t hold the patent on it, you know,” he rebutted.

“No, but intuition isn’t just something you pick up; you’re born with it,” she said.

“And?”

“I was,” she announced.

Yep, this was about her ‘not always accurate’ psychic sense. “Congratulations,” he said wryly. “Well, my intuition says you’re getting in too deep.”

Lois glowered at him. “See. I knew I shouldn’t have told you,” she snapped, and then her voice turned soft. “But you’re my… partner, right?” This time it was her elbow, which bumped lightly into him. He knew she was doing it on purpose.

The way she said ‘partner’, he could tell she meant in a romantic sense. “When it’s convenient for you, yes,” he replied, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrow.

“Come to my apartment,” Lois said in her pleading voice.

He hated it when she used this voice against him. It reminded him of when Lana tried to wheedle him into doing things he didn’t want to do.

“Talk to Eugene, if you still think that he’s a murderer, then you can call the police,” she said, looking up at him in that ‘I really want to kiss you’ way that she had, which made him melt. “Deal?”

“Only,” Clark said, holding up his index finger. “To stop you from spending any more time alone with a convicted killer.”

“Thanks, Clark,” she replied crinkling of her nose with that quick grin she used whenever she won. “You’re the greatest.” She gave his chest a quick pat and then turned to head back to her desk.

“Lois,” he said coolly. “Don’t talk to me like that.”

She stopped and cocked her head off to the side. “Don’t talk to you like what?”

“As if I would do anything you ask because I…” He cleared his throat. “Because you ask it. This…” He waved his index finger between them. “— is a choice that I’ve made of my own free will. I’m not powerless to act against it.”

“Of course you aren’t, Clark,” she said, and they both knew she was placating him. “I know that.”

Clark sighed as he watched her go to retrieve her briefcase.

***End of Part 113***

Part 114

Cat is so much fun to write. I wish they hadn't dropped her after S1. Comments