Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Wrong Clark (121/???)

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

Where we left off in Part 120 …

“How much time will this take?” Clark asked, taking the disk from Eugene.

Eugene shrugged. “Depends on how long it takes to get this antidote uploaded into these centers. It could take weeks…”

“We could make more disks, and have planes fly to the different cities,” Jimbo suggested from the next computer. “If each of us takes a disk…” He pointed at his classmates.

Lois set her hands on Eugene and Jimbo’s shoulders. “Or we could ask a friend of mine to do it.”

“A friend?” Jimbo said skeptically, his head shaking and then his eyes widened. “Superman! I don’t know, Lois. You heard the radio; he’s been putting out fires all day, sometimes literally.”

Eugene nodded, glancing up at her. “It would speed along the healing process. How fast is he?”

Lois smiled at Clark. “Oh, I don’t know,” she answered casually. “I bet he could reach all the centers and sub-centers today just by using that one disk. I’m sure he’d much rather treat the disease preemptively than retroactively, don’t you think, Clark?”

“I’ll see if I can contact him,” Clark said, jumping to his feet and rushing to the door. “Then you can ask him yourself.”

“Superman is coming here?” Jimbo gasped. “Here?”

Lois patted Jimbo’s shoulder. “I did say I’d introduce you someday, didn’t I?”

“Wow,” Jimbo gushed.

Eugene leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head, and sighed. “It feels good to be a free man again, Lois. Thank you for not giving up, and I’m sorry you got arrested because of me,” he said, giving her a big smile. “If there’s ever anything I can do for you…”

Lois glanced over her shoulder and towards the door that Clark exited out of a minute before. “Let’s just get the country up and running again, first, Eugene,” she replied, dropping into Clark’s seat with a sneaky smile. “And get you your life back on track again, and then we can talk about the future.” Moreover, resurrecting Clark’s past.

***

Part 121

Although Superman had applied the virus antidote directly to the computer networks, according to Eugene Laderman, it would take time for all systems affected by the Ides of Metropolis to be sorted out before major systems such as telephone and electricity could function again and even longer to iron out any glitches. Eugene’s antidote would get rid of the virus, but there would still be repercussions of having had the Ides of Metropolis virus nibbling away at the country’s computer infrastructure for the past couple of days. What long-term repercussions exactly, they would have to wait to find out.

One of the pluses to the citywide blackout was that people couldn’t rely on getting their news from LNN or any other television channel for that matter, and were once again returning to the Daily Planet, or the radio, for the latest news. Therefore, the day before when the mayor issued a curfew for all non-essential personnel needing to be off the streets by ten o’clock during the blackout, it was the Daily Planet, along with the news radio, which got the word out to the people.

Consequently, when neither Clark nor Superman had returned to M.U.T. by nine fifteen, Lois knew they couldn’t wait any longer and offered Jimbo a lift back to his and his cousin Jimmy’s apartment. Eugene’s apartment was walking distance from the campus and nearby the boarding house that several of Jimbo’s classmates shared, so they had said that they would close up the computer lab and head home as a group. The darkness in the city made it seem later in the night than it really was by the time Lois and Jimbo finally got into her Jeep to return downtown.

“Doesn’t the city seem creepier without the lights, Lois?” Jimbo said, gazing through the window and into the darkness.

The trip took longer than Lois would have liked due to stopping at all major intersections to do a four-way stop, when she normally could breeze through on a green or yellow light. Although, knowing that Lex Luthor was stalking her via his LoLex watch, and who knew by how many other means, currently her life was creepier with the electricity turned on. “Other than the fact I can’t blow dry my hair, and my microwave doesn’t work, I find the darkness soothing.”

“Do you want me to… uh… stay at your place?” Jimbo asked hesitantly. At her raised brow, he hurried on, “I know that since Lucy moved to L.A., you’re in that big apartment all by yourself with no security, and I thought if I slept in the guest room, it might make y… Clark feel better than if you returned there alone.”

“Clark, huh?” she said, hiding the smile, which was trying to peek out from the corner of her lips. “Well, I don’t take my orders from my partner.” If her partner was so worried about her safety, he could come and guard her body personally. Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. It was such a good idea, in fact, that she hoped that Clark thought of it too. As long as the power was out, she could use his body heat without interfering with her undercover assignment.

“Mr. White, then.”

“Perry knows I can take care of myself. Didn’t Lucy ever tell you who forced her to take Taekwondo, Jimmy?” she asked.

“You?”

“Yes, me. I’m a black belt and have been since college,” Lois reminded him.

“Oh,” he said softly. He was quiet on the subject until she pulled up to his apartment building. “So, do you want to stay with Cuz and me at our apartment to keep us safe?”

Lois laughed, pushing him out of her car. “Good night, Jimmy, and thanks for your help. I’ll be sure that Clark and I credit Eugene Laderman’s antiviral class in our article.” She didn’t know when she slipped into calling Jimbo ‘Jimmy’, but Eugene had been calling him that all day, and she guessed it was contagious.

As Lois continued on to her apartment, she thought about her late night visit to Clark’s apartment the night before, and how he had been out, busy being Superman. She had considered using her lock picks and breaking in to wait for him to return, but then figured that after all his break-ins since moving to Metropolis, Clark probably had invested in top-of-the-line locks and she wasn’t really in the mood to do battle with his locks. Moreover, although she had been juiced on adrenaline from convincing a judge of Eugene’s innocence and semi-immediate freedom when she had arrived at Clark’s apartment, the weariness of the day had caught up with her by the time she had climbed the stairs to his apartment. Not really, physically tired, but mentally. Mentally, she wasn’t in the mood to lie in wait for Clark and finally share that important conversation they needed to have. Physically, she had merely wanted him to hold her, kiss her, and tell her everything would be all right, as she knew it would be.

Those hours of waiting for Superman or Clark to return to M.U.T. had taken their toll on Lois as well. Patience was a virtue she didn’t possess. She was sure Clark would be out late patrolling the skies over America once more and for the foreseeable future or at least until the power was back up and running, so it would be pointless to try breaking into his apartment this evening either. The curfew would start in a few minutes, and since she was currently out on bail, she needed to walk the straight and narrow, or it could be revoked, and her butt thrown back in jail until they could review her case. The last thing she needed would be getting caught breaking-and-entering into Clark’s apartment.

As she closed in on her neighborhood, she saw sporadic buildings with lit windows, including Lex Tower. Of course, Lex would have a generator.

Lois didn’t know what she was going to do about the billionaire. Somehow, she needed to step up her investigation, but she could tell every little thing having to do with her and Lex upset Clark. She didn’t want to hurt him. She wanted to get past this investigation and move on with their relationship and their lives, but knew that she and Clark would be living in fear of his safety if she didn’t make Lex pay for his crimes, and that wasn’t an acceptable alternative.

Other than Clark’s safety, she knew that she needed to complete this self-appointed assignment to prove that she was still Mad Dog Lane, despite having given her heart to that sweet man who was supposedly a farm boy from Kansas. She didn’t want anyone to think she had gone soft just because she turned into a big pile of mush whenever Clark looked at her with those big soulful brown eyes. She couldn’t live through hearing the whispers, hushed gossip, and giggles again, not after Claude had spread those horrible rumors about her, and not after working so hard to build up her reputation as a hard-nosed reporter. She hated that double standard that a romance wouldn’t scratch the surface of a man’s career, but it could be deadly to a woman’s, especially an office romance.

She and Clark needed to have a serious talk. She knew the way she was keeping him in the dark (no pun intended) about her investigation wasn’t fair, even if teasing him about his alter ego was.

Lois grinned, and an evil chuckle passed her lips as she recalled the three different shades of pale he had turned when she had asked why they had never done a joint interview with Superman. It had matched so well with his not being able to look her in the eye as he stammered through his pathetic response. She rolled her eyes, still amazed that she hadn’t seen through those glasses before.

She circled her block twice before she found a questionable parking space within walking distance of her apartment building. It would have been much easier to use her underground parking garage, but with the power out, the gates and keycard didn’t work, so street parking it was.

It was time to come clean with Clark. She had wanted to wait until he confessed the truth to her about Superman, actually she still did. He needed to prove to her, beyond a doubt, that he trusted her. She scoffed to herself. So that she could then crush that trust by admitting that she had been investigating Lex on her own, or at least, mostly on her own; Cat’s involvement didn’t really count as a true partnership.

It wasn’t going to be an easy conversation, Lois knew, which was one of the reasons she hadn’t stuck around at Clark’s apartment the previous night. The figurative Kryptonite shards Clark had left in her heart when Superman had broken up with her for good, still caused her pain, and she knew wielding them against Clark in a fit of anger would hurt them both. Until she exposed those shards to the light of day, though, they would fester and pollute their relationship.

One way or another, Lois also knew that as soon as she told Clark about the tracer in her LoLex watch, Lex would suddenly see “Lois” as space junk, because of how far Clark would throw the watch to get it away from her. Clark would never keep her out of the loop regarding such an investigation, any investigation in fact, so not telling him had been like a woodpecker perforating her soul. Well, technically, Clark hadn’t told her about collaborating with Cat to investigate the disappearance of Dr. Brenda Muldoon, but comparing the two investigations was pointless as they weren’t even on the same page, scale-wise.

The trouble was finding the correct time and place to hash it all out. They couldn’t have the conversation at her apartment once the power was back on, in case the Voyeur had set up his surveillance once more. Lois shuddered involuntarily at the thought of Lex watching her shower, change her clothes, and sleep. She couldn’t even allow Clark or Superman entry into her apartment or he might discover the bugs and get rid of them, once again pushing back her investigation.

Of course, they couldn’t have the conversation until the power was back on, anyway, because Superman would be too busy to spend the time, the uninterrupted time, to discuss their relationship. They certainly couldn’t have the conversation at the Daily Planet. There was too much of a chance of being both interrupted and overheard. Therefore, that was out as well.

Lois couldn’t let Superman fly her to some undisclosed location, although she might allow such a flight for a romantic date, because with her luck, her tongue would get a mind of its own and she’d end up stranded because Clark had flown off in a huff. That left Clark’s apartment, which had the added bonus of having food and a bed.

If only they could get locked in a safe room with no internal surveillance and plenty of amenities. She sighed. It figured. The one week she wasn’t kidnapped and thrown into an inescapable, middle-of-nowhere hole with her partner would be the one time she wouldn’t mind it happening.

Lois unlocked the outer door to her apartment building and went inside, making sure to double check that the door had closed and locked properly.

Now, all she needed to do was find the correct time. All she and Clark needed was at least six hours of uninterrupted time, with no phone calls, no Jimmy knocking on his front door, and no calls for ‘help’.

She started climbing the stairs to her apartment.

Maybe they should have the conversation on the Kents’ farm.

***

The power had finally come back on in the city the night before, and Lois hoped to nail down a time that she and Clark, or Superman, could talk. Just as she was about to broach the subject with her partner a messenger walked into the Daily Planet’s bullpen, requesting her presence at a lunch meeting with Lex and Mr. Schwartz to discuss her legal case. Telephone service was still patchy, so apparently Lex had gone old-fashioned on her. At least, it wasn’t a singing telegram.

The last thing she wanted to be reminded of, while still riding the euphoric high of ending the Ides of Metropolis virus, was the fact that she was technically still not a ‘free’ woman. Lois was sure it was only a matter of time before the D.A.’s office dropped her harboring charges, since Lois had not only proven Eugene Laderman to be innocent and was instrumental in solving the Ides of Metropolis debacle. She had already told Lex what he could do with his lawyer, but it seemed that she hadn’t used enough expletives. Apparently, she needed draw Lex a diagram in this matter, but since she did that better in person than through messenger, she had reluctantly accepted.

When the messenger had left, Lois turned back around to explain to Clark why she accepted the ‘lunch date’, only to find that he was in the middle of a conversation with Cat, Jimmy, and Rita, Lex’s possible spy.

Cat was regaling them with how she had been stuck alone in her building’s elevator for the weekend, and how lucky she was that she had just been returning from the grocery store, so she had food. The first day hadn’t been so bad, except that she had gone hoarse from screaming for help. The second day, was the worst because the emergency lights, which had come on with the power outage, started to fade leaving poor Cat alone in the dark in a confined space with no hope for rescue.

“After a few more hours of meditative yoga, I told myself that this was ridiculous. What sort of woman was I, sitting in the elevator feeling pity for myself, waiting for some big strong man to rescue me? Pathetic, right?” Cat had said, glancing at Clark. “I’m telling you, Clark, it was thoroughly invigorating, saving myself. I opened the panel in the ceiling of the elevator car and found out that there was a window or something in the roof, which let light into the shaft. I climbed up the cable and found a ventilation duct. I was able to kick the grate in and somehow get inside of the duct. I crawled through the duct, backwards mind you because I couldn’t turn around, until I found a panel above a hallway. I knocked that down and fell into the hall below. Luckily, Kevin caught me.”

“Kevin?” Clark asked. He seemed overly hopeful that Cat would find a new romance. It had been a while since Cat shared one of her tryst stories with the newsroom, but Lois recognized what would be coming next. Although Lois usually tuned these stories out until someone needed to mop up the pool of drool under Jimmy’s feet, she too had been riveted by Cat’s adventure. She crossed her arms and waited for Clark to turn away from Cat in disgust, when he realized what type of story it really was.

“Yeah, Kevin. Out of all the men in my building I could fall for, literally,” Cat said with a titter of laughter. “— it would end up being the gay body builder from the third floor. Anyway, he walked me back to my apartment, at which point, I realized that I had left my purse with my keys in it…”

“In the elevator,” they all chimed in at once.

Cat chuckled. “So, you’ve heard this one?”

They laughed, with the exception of Clark who only smiled weakly. Lois could tell that he was blaming himself for not checking up on his friend after the power had gone off. Knowing that she couldn’t drag him off to explain her meeting with Lex, until Cat’s story launched into the raunchy zone, Lois rubbed his back softly to reassure him that he had still done more than enough rescuing during the weekend and would never be able to save everyone. She doubted if he had slept an hour a night, if that, since the virus had struck.

“Fortunately, my neighbor old Mrs. Thomelson was home, and I was able to climb from her balcony over to mine and get in that way. I leave the sliding door unlocked, just in case some flying hero ever needs to pop in for…” She sighed dramatically. “You know.”

“Really, Cat?” Jimmy sputtered despite his jaw hitting the floor. “Does Superman…?” He finished that question with a not so subtle cough.

Cat smiled an ear-to-ear grin at the young man. “A woman can always be hopeful, Jimmy.” She bounced her eyebrows in Clark’s direction.

Clark returned a sour expression. “I wouldn’t hold my breath, if I were you, Cat,” he mumbled, his arms crossing in a subconsciously Superman-like manner.

“You never know, Clark,” Cat cooed, and winked at him. “I still hold out hopes that you’ll come back over and warm my bed, too.”

Lois’s fingers moved from Clark’s back to his arm in a possessive way as she shot the woman a scowl.

“Anyway, back in my apartment, I took a cold shower, which frankly given my latest track record, I really didn’t want,” Cat said, running her fingers through her hair. “Afterwards, I was able to power up my laptop, which hadn’t been connected to the Internet, so it wasn’t infected, to write up my whole harrowing story for Perry, only to discover it was 11:30 Saturday morning. What I thought was two full days in the elevator, turned out to be less than twelve hours.” She laughed. “I spent the rest of the weekend playing cribbage with old Mrs. Thomelson and Kevin, who happened to have a gas camping stove, which we used to heat up soup out on the balcony.”

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I’m not going to conduct this meeting without you,” Perry called from the conference room. “I’m sure Cat will be more than willing to share her titillating blackout details later.”

Jimmy turned to Cat. “So, this story gets titillating?”

Cat frowned. “Unfortunately not. My bad streak perseveres on. Sorry, Jimmy.”

“You know, I could…”

Cat held up her hands and winced. “Ewwww, Jimmy. Cousins!”

Jimmy frowned. “Right,” he grumbled and headed for the conference room. “Cousins.”

Before Lois could tighten her hold on Clark’s elbow to explain about accepting lunch with Lex’s lawyer, he had already grabbed his notepad and slipped the conference room. Damn.

“Lois,” Cat whispered from across her desk, as she pulled up her notes. “No go on the watch. It wasn’t there. Sorry.”

Lois’s brow furrowed. So, Cat hadn’t ratted her out to Henderson. Had he been telling the truth about having found the watch on Clark’s person? How had Clark gotten hold of it? “Thanks, anyway, Cat,” Lois replied.

“You still owe me,” Cat reminded her with a healthy point of her finger. “And I know exactly what I want from you.” She lowered her voice to a hiss as Perry turned and gave them his best Chief glare. “After the meeting.”

Terrific. Just what Lois wanted: to owe Cat Grant a favor. One of things Lois loved about her partnership with Clark was that he never called in his chips. The kisses he supplied weren’t half-bad, either. Who was she kidding? Clark’s kisses turned Lois’s insides to mush.

Clark had left a chair open next to him, presumably for Lois, but Cat beat her to it. Lois took the open seat down at the end next to Ralph. If this was an indication of how her day would go, Lois had the sudden desire to return home and crawl under the covers. She wouldn’t because she wasn’t a hider, but the temptation was still there. Ralph was wise enough to ignore her existence, just as she was doing with him.

About two-thirds of the way through the meeting, Perry took a call from upstairs. The powers-that-be were threatening to cut some other benefit, despite the Daily Planet having solved the problem of the Ides of Metropolis on their own. Apparently advertisers were now starting to pull out of the paper. It couldn’t just be because of that Met Star rag, could it?

While waiting for Perry to return to the meeting, the staffers started chatting amongst themselves. Lois tried to overhear what Cat and Clark were discussing, but unlike an unnamed hero in their mix, Lois unfortunately didn’t have super hearing.

“… tell me… your investigation … all night,” Clark mumbled to Cat.

Were they discussing the Dr. Muldoon investigation? Lois wondered, trying to lean forward subtly.

“Clark… weren’t so heavy… Lois wouldn’t feel… to step out… with Lex,” Cat replied.

“What?” Clark gasped and shot Lois a dirty look.

Lois responded with a warm smile, which she hoped he knew meant that Cat was full of crap. Some extra protection Cat was. Lois knew it had been a bad idea to bring her into this mess.

“No… no…” Cat said, tugging on his arm to regain his attention. “Not like that.”

Like what, then?

“Like what, then?” Clark echoed her thoughts.

“Ask her…” Cat started to say before Perry interrupted.

Great, now Clark thought Lois was cheating on him with Lex again. Thanks, Cat. Lois had just smoothed down those worries over the weekend and was ready to tell him all. The last thing she needed was Clark being all defensive when she talked to him.

Clark got a call towards the end of the meeting, and dodged out early to meet a source, once again forcing Lois to delay asking him to meet her alone.

She hoped that the phone call meant that the phones were up and running as they ought, but when she returned to her desk she discovered no dial tone. There was only so much information she could dig up at the office without a working phone line, so it appeared that Lois would have to hit the streets and do things the hard way: hunt down her sources in person and go physically to the city departments to ask how well they were running post-virus.

Lois thought again about her pillow and about the dream of kissing Clark outside, in public, for everyone to see. It had been a nice kiss, despite Clark running off in the middle of it due to an exploding car down the street, but when one dated Superman that was par for the course.

“Okay, here’s what I need you to do,” Cat said, catching Lois by the elevators as she was about to head out.

“‘Need me to do’?” Lois repeated. “That’s rich, after sabotaging me.”

“I didn’t sabotage you,” Cat replied.

“Oh, and what do you call implying that there’s something illicit going on between me and Lex?”

“That was a misunderstanding,” Cat explained. “I meant he shouldn’t hover. We’re big girls who can take care of ourselves, not defenseless women.”

Was that what Cat had meant? “I didn’t catch that nuanced interpretation to what you said and neither did Clark,” Lois replied, before lowering her voice further. “You know how much he hates Lex.”

“I’ll clear it up later,” Cat said in an off-hand manner as if it didn’t matter. “You could do anything short of murder, and he’d still follow you to the ends of the Earth.”

“Mind if I don’t test your theory?” Lois said bitterly.

“Do whatever you want as long as you tell me the next time you’re meeting Lex,” Cat said.

“Fine. I’m meeting him for lunch today at Centennial Gardens. Are we even now?” Lois said snidely, pushing the down elevator button again.

“Hardly. I meant the next time you go to his place. Have him pick you up and let me know,” Cat said.

“That’s it?” Lois asked skeptically. Was Cat worried that Lex had plans to kidnap her? No, Cat couldn’t possibly mean it that way, because why would she be encouraging Lois to use Lex’s limousine?

“That’s it,” Cat replied. “You could also tell me what positions he likes, but that would be strictly off the record, background information.” She winked, and Lois’s stomach churned at such a disgusting thought.

“That’s not going to happen,” Lois hissed as the elevator doors opened and a group of people disembarked.

“Fine, keep all the juicy details to yourself, spoilsport,” Cat said with a pout.

Lois leaned close to the gossip. “Lex and I aren’t intimate.” Aren’t. Never will be. She’d rather die first.

“Oh, no.” Cat giggled. “I meant Clark.”

“We aren’t that kind of friends,” Lois informed her with a scowl, stepping back and onto the elevator.

“Um…” Cat pointed at the elevator. “Are you sure you want to chance it? There have been sporadic brownouts around town today and power could go out at any time.”

Lois pushed the ‘lobby’ button. “I live for danger,” she retorted, finally getting in the last word before the door closed.

***

Lunch with Lex and Schwartz came up before Lois had a chance to return to the Planet to talk to Clark, so she’d have to explain her actions afterward. Unfortunately, she didn’t happen to see Superman flying about town, either.

Lex and Mr. Schwartz, the attorney Lois had met with before her bail hearing, were already sitting outside in the garden section, when she arrived. Lois wasn’t sure which the more peculiar sight was: Lex at a restaurant, or him seated outside on the patio of said restaurant. Granted, the Centennial Gardens was so exclusive one needed to make weekday lunch reservations at least six months in advance… well, someone of her ilk. It was pointless even to ask about dinner reservations. Lex Luthor, on the other hand, was in the highest class there was, even if he was reportedly new money, and management at the Centennial Gardens wouldn’t be stupid enough to deny him anything, including a last minute table.

Lex was wearing sunglasses, which gave him a rakish quality. Not in the good way Clark’s glasses did, but in the way described in Jane Austen novels, the kind of rake a good mother would warn her daughter to avoid. At least, Lois could be assured Lex wasn’t a fortune hunter. Nevertheless, Mr. Charming Rake rose to greet her, kissing her cheek in a friendly manner. Good thing she already knew Lex wasn’t the hero of her story, or she might have bought this act. His movements seemed stilted, guarded, almost stiff. She disregarded it as discomfort at being outside; like a monster forced outside during daylight hours, Lex fit better into the inside, the shadows, and the dark of night.

“Thank you for inviting me to lunch, Lex,” Lois said, swallowing down the annoyance that he had once again interrupted a conversation between her and Clark. She cut directly to the chase. “And for bailing me out of jail, but as I stated before it would be better for all involved if the Daily Planet’s attorneys handled my case from now on.”

Schwartz glanced at Lex, who nodded for the man to speak. “Ms. Lane, I have been in contact with Mayson Drake the assistant District Attorney assigned this case, and I believe that I can persuade her to drop all charges.”

“Isn’t that wonderful, darling?” Lex asked with a debonair smile, setting his hand on top of hers.

Lois pulled her hand away. “It isn’t more than I expected, Mr. Schwartz. I did prove that Eugene Laderman was innocent, therefore making my ‘harboring’ charges moot. Also, due to my intervention, Eugene was released from jail soon enough to concoct an antidote, which kept the infrastructure of this country from going further down the tubes. The D.A. hasn’t a leg to stand on, and I’m sure that the Daily Planet attorneys will be able to handle my case with their usual aplomb. Thank you, Mr. Schwartz.”

Schwartz glanced over at Lex, who shrugged in a familiar manner that clearly scoffed “women!”. Lois noticed though, after Lex made the movement a momentary flash of pain streaked across his face. Yes, something was definitely ailing Mr. Luthor.

“If that is your decision, Ms. Lane, then I will leave you and Mr. Luthor to your lunch,” Mr. Schwartz said, standing.

“I’m sure Ms. Lane means the change of attorneys as no reflection upon yourself or your abilities, Mr. Schwartz,” Lex apologized on Lois’s behalf.

“Of course not. I’m sure you understand that as a reporter I need to keep the appearance of impartiality with people upon whom I report,” Lois said. It was only after she said it that she realized that Lex had put the words in her mouth. She didn't owe Mr. Schwartz any platitudes.

“Then, may I make a recommendation, Ms. Lane,” Mr. Schwartz said. “Stop harboring fugitives whose trial you are covering.” With a nod of his head to her, he then turned to Lex. “Good day, Mr. Luthor.”

“Schwartz,” Lex said, standing up and shaking the attorney’s hand.

Lois once again saw a slight wince cross Lex’s expression. She waited to say something until Schwartz had left and Lex had seated himself, but he spoke before she could.

“I shall have him fired, Lois. He shouldn’t speak that way to you.”

“Didn’t I just fire him as my attorney, Lex?” Lois asked, knowing she had, but feeling as if she should state the words again in case the third time was the charm to get it through Lex’s thick skull.

“Not from this case, my dear, but from his firm. He should know better than to speak to a client so roughly,” Lex explained.

“But I’m no longer his client,” she said, and then her brow furrowed. She wasn’t paying Schwartz’s bill. “No, I wasn’t, was I? You were… are… his client, which is why he treated you with respect. See, this is why I cannot have him working on my case, Lex; it would have been as if he were another gift tied with a big red bow. As with the watch you gave…tried to give me at Christmas, it costs too much.” She looked down at the LoLex watch on her wrist. “I really should give this back to you as well, but…” Her voice faded. She really didn’t want a whole team of people following her around and reporting to Lex where she had gone and what she had been doing. Of course, this watch didn’t necessarily mean that those men weren’t still following her around… but, for heaven’s sake, she hoped it did. It served her as a reminder that she was never really alone and that she was constantly undercover. “I really can’t stand not knowing the time.” She laughed. “Anyway, Schwartz’s advice was sound even if his delivery could use some fine tuning. I do have a tendency to lose myself in my investigations, although it is one of my three rules not to do so,” Lois said, biting her tongue for letting that slip. She was babbling, although she wasn’t quite sure why she was babbling. Damn, if she was going to let Lex’s actions on her behalf make her feel guilty.

“Three rules?” Lex asked. “What are the other two?”

Lois didn’t know why she even mentioned the three rules. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t broken every one of them recently. “It doesn’t matter. They’re more guidelines than rules anyway.” It was time to switch the subject. She reached over and set her hand on top of his. “Lex, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said smoothly.

Uh-huh. She would readdress this lie later. “What did you do during the blackout?” she asked, picking up her napkin and setting it in her lap. “I saw that you were one of the lucky ones with lights on. I must admit there was a time or two this weekend I was tempted to visit you just to get a hot shower.” Tempted by the idea of a hot shower, yes; stuck with the cold shower because of Clark, again yes.

Lex swallowed. “I would have loved nothing more, my dear. I’m afraid though, while I have a generator, I did not have use of my elevator, and one-hundred and ten floors are a lot of stairs.”

“No elevator? So, were you stuck in the penthouse?” Lois asked, taking a sip of her water.

“I kept busy, tied up with this and that,” he replied vaguely. “Not knowing how long this crisis would last, I wanted to conserve what power I had to stretch it out for the long haul, if need be.” He lifted up his water and took a sip. Lois noticed a slight red line on his wrist as his cuff pulled momentarily up during this movement. “I do have my helipad on the roof, if I needed to leave the penthouse, which I didn’t.”

She reached over and snatched his glasses from his face; she wasn’t going to be blind to what lay behind another pair of glasses. Not only did Lex have dark circles under his eyes, he appeared more pale than usual. She handed back the glasses to Lex and gazed at him skeptically. “Lex, I’m a reporter. It’s my job to notice things, and what I see is someone who isn’t ‘fine’. What’s wrong?”

Lex returned the sunglasses to his face, glanced down to her hand on the table, and covered it with his as he smiled. “The truth of the matter is,” he said softly, squeezing her hand. “I spent the weekend…” He cleared his throat. “Unable to get out of bed.”

“Oh, Lex. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you’d been ill,” Lois gasped, actually feeling bad for de-masking him so publicly. “Are you feeling any better?”

He smiled weakly, in a manner she knew would lead to him lying. “I’m improving every day.”

“Have you seen a doctor?” she asked.

Lex coughed slightly. “Now, don’t you worry about me, Lois. I’ve been under a doctor’s strict care. It was my doctor, in fact, who insisted that I remain in bed.”

“And to think, I saw you on Thursday and you appeared just fine,” she said.

“I was fine,” Lex replied stiltedly, frowing. “Now, I’m much better.” He said this wryly, leading Lois to believe he was angry at his illness, or the words describing his illness, but knowing Lex it was most likely that he was angry with himself for having become sick at all. He patted her hand and removed his to take another sip of water. “Anyway, once the power came back on, I felt the need to escape into the sunshine and see you, my dear.” He smiled wistfully at her. “You are as beautiful as a breath of fresh air. I missed you; you’ll never know how much.”

Lois raised a brow. “Please, tell me that you haven’t been sprayed by Miranda’s Revenge perfume again, Lex,” she said, and then laughed, so that he knew she was joking.

Lex joined with her laughter, and then raised his hand. A waiter arrived faster than Superman could and took their order.

***End of Part 121***

Part 122

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