Happy Birthday, Kae!
A MATCH MADE IN CHICAGO
By Chris Carr
Last time, on part one...
... Call-Me-Daniel was staring at her, his mouth open and his brows drawn into a frown. "Your... sister?" he asked. "I don't..."
"Lois," said Lucy flatly. "Lois Lane."
His eyebrows lifted half an inch and his hand, which was still extended in her direction, clenched into a fist. Then he pointed an accusing finger at her. "*You're* Lois's sister?!" He didn't sound any happier about that than she was.
Lucy nodded. "Yes." Her voice came out small and disgruntled. "I'm Lucy," she said, then added, "Lucy Lane."
PART TWO
Oh, d... da... damn!
This little flirtation was supposed to have been a distraction, not a reminder. Now they'd have to navigate their way around the awkwardness and social niceties that this revelation carried with it. "So... um... how is your sister these days?" he asked.
"Fine," said Lucy flatly. "Getting married tomorrow, in fact."
"To Kent, I presume."
"Uh, huh," grunted Lucy.
"I never did figure out what she saw in him."
"Well... He's nice and he's pretty good-looking in a clean-cut kind of way."
"He's boring!"
Oops, thought Dan. Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to say about your newest acquaintance's future brother-in-law.
Then again... "I know!" Lucy was laughing and the people around them were glaring. Again. Obviously no-one was supposed to have fun in a departure lounge. "But... Oh! Compared to the other losers she's dated—"
Lucy's laughter cut off in mid-guffaw and she suddenly looked mortified. "I... Sorry. I didn't mean you. You know that, right? I meant people like, um, well, Luthor. Yeah, Luthor. I mean, she almost married him, for goodness sake, and he turned out to be a really evil criminal genius. And, well, after him *anyone* is going to look pretty good."
Oh, good grief! Lucy could babble as well as her sister, thought Scardino. It had to be genetic.
He hazarded a guess. "So, you're on your way to Metropolis for the wedding?"
"Yeah. Maid of Honour. That's me."
"You don't sound very happy about it."
"That obvious, huh?"
"Yeah." Scardino wondered for a moment whether or not to ask the next question. Then again, tact and respect for the feelings of others had never been among his strong suits. "So, what's the problem?"
"Besides the fact that I don't stand a chance of hooking up with the best man, you mean?"
"You don't? But surely, a gorgeous lady such as yourself...?"
She smiled at him. His stomach flipped a little, clenched a lot and then flopped over onto its left-hand side.
"That's very sweet of you," she said.
"Not sweet," he replied. "It's true."
"Oh, very true. Sweet and true," she said lightly.
"Seriously, what's wrong with the best man? I mean, there has to be something wrong with him if he can't appreciate a girl like you. He's not gay, is he?"
"Nah, he's not gay," replied Lucy. Then she frowned. "At least , I don't think so. Mind you, if he is, it would certainly go a long way towards explaining why our one and only date was such a complete disaster. And it would also explain why he chose to take me to the Ice-capades."
Ah. Ice-capades. Scardino could see how that might be the date from hell. Just the thought of it was almost enough to make him gag. He had never been a fan of Lycra – too gaudy for his tastes.
Then again... A mental image of Lucy dressed in Lycra popped unbidden into his head. Oh, yeah! Lycra Lucy. That would definitely be enough to make him reconsider his prejudices.
He swallowed. Noisily. And with difficulty.
As much to calm his libido as anything else, he decided to change the direction of the conversation. "Okay, so besides the best man thing, what's the problem?"
*****
Lucy was torn. Should she tell him or not? She didn't know him, but he knew Lois. Besides, he seemed nice and sympathetic. It couldn't hurt, surely. Maybe he'd even understand.
She swallowed. Noisily. And uncomfortably.
Then she said, "Last time I saw my sister... Well, we didn't exactly part on the best of terms. I think she only asked me to be Maid of Honour as some kind of peace offering. The problem with that is..." She looked down at her hands, up at the ceiling, across the concourse towards the undrinkable-coffee concession... Anywhere but at him. "I'm not sure I want to make peace."
"Lucy?" There was something in the way he said her name that made her stomach flutter. Or maybe it was just hunger pangs. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, after all.
She felt his fingers brush against hers and she jumped as he clasped her hand in his, tightening his grip sympathetically.
To her surprise, he seemed genuinely concerned for her. There was nothing flirtatious or sexual about his gesture, but she felt her nerves stand to attention anyway. His touch was warm and sent tingles up to her brain and down to her toes.
The next thing she knew, she was telling him everything, spilling her guts more freely than she'd ever managed in any of her therapy sessions. She told him a little about her childhood by way of background and then she told him a lot about Johnny.
She told him about the mistakes she'd made, about how Johnny had turned out to be little better than a petty crook who had wooed her with sweet words and lived off her money. The she found herself telling Dan how two madmen had turned Johnny into a cyborg and how he'd died.
How Superman had killed him.
How she'd been forced to watch as the tragedy unfolded.
How she'd stayed with Johnny as the life had left his eyes.
How Lois had allowed Jimmy Olsen to take the photographs that had graced the front page of the next day's Daily Planet.
There was another reason why she wasn't going to hook up with Clark's best man any time soon.
By the time she'd finished, tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was in Scardino's arms. She didn't know how she'd got there, only that she was and that he was rocking her gently, rubbing comforting circles on her back.
Her sobs turned to hiccups and the rocking stopped, but still he held her.
This, she thought, was what she'd needed for months. This was what she should have got from her sister – an unquestioning hug... the opportunity to cry herself out... comfort.
Instead, Lois's betrayal – and Lois's allowing Jimmy to take those most invasive of photos could only ever be seen as a betrayal – had driven a wedge between the two sisters.
They'd both tried their best to keep in touch since; they spoke to each other from time to time, but their differences had killed the closeness they'd shared as children.
"I don't know why I told you all that," Lucy snuffled apologetically into Scardino's chest.
"You obviously needed to tell someone," said Scardino quietly.
"Mmm."
"And... I'm *way* cheaper than a therapist!"
She almost smiled at that. "True. Very true," she murmured. Then: "I'm sorry."
"No need to be."
*****
For months Dan had been comparing every woman he met to Lois Lane, and now, having heard Lucy's story, he was wondering how well he'd known her in the first place. He'd known that she was driven; he had even admired that about her. He'd also known that she put her career ahead of nearly everything else in her life; he'd witnessed first-hand the way she would go tenaciously after stories, heedless of the danger she put herself – and others – in. He'd—
Okay, so maybe the evidence had been in front of his eyes all along and he'd just been too besotted to see it all for what it was.
The Lois he'd known – had thought he'd known – had been poised, smart, sassy, beautiful. The one he had just heard about was still all those things, but she was also utterly ruthless, callous and selfish. She had to be to have done that to her own sister.
When he'd been trying to date her, Dan had believed her to be genuinely torn between Clark and himself. Now, with hindsight, he couldn't help wondering whether she'd been deliberately playing them off against each other all along, determinedly working towards the outcome that suited her best.
But no. Even Lois couldn't have been that calculating, that cold-blooded. Could she?
He had so many questions, so many doubts. Yet, in amongst this maelstrom of uncertainty he was positive about one thing: he would never compare another woman to Lois Lane again and find her wanting.
Poor Lucy, he thought.
Scardino liked the way Lucy's body felt against his. She was warm and soft and, even at six in the evening, she smelled of cheap shampoo. However, his left arm had fallen asleep while he'd been holding her and he needed to do something about that. Plus, people were staring at them again. Anyone would think they'd never seen a woman crying her heart out before.
Or maybe it was just that this was the closest thing to entertainment that was available to them.
He was tempted to yell at them all to go to hell, but he didn't want to make Lucy feel any more self-conscious than she already did. He settled for glaring at them instead.
He shifted, pulling out of the embrace and peered at her carefully. "I don't have a handkerchief," he said apologetically.
"'S okay," she said. "I've got some Kleenex in my bag."
"Oh." He lifted it with his right hand and passed it to her while he flexed pins and needles out of his left. "Here you go."
"Thank you."
He looked away while she rummaged around, found what she was looking for, and blew her nose loudly.
The crowds in the lounge had thinned a little and, when Scardino looked at the boards, he could see why. Somewhere along the line, the weather must have improved enough to let a few flights out. A few others were showing up as cancellations; he guessed some people must have left, undoubtedly only to try again tomorrow. His own, he noticed, now showed a tentative departure time some four hours distant.
"Which flight are you supposed to be on?" he asked.
"What? Oh..." Scardino watched as Lucy processed the question and tried to gather her shattered wits together. "LA 793," she said.
Scardino scanned the lists until he found it. "Do you want the good news or the bad news?"
"Bad," she answered, not sounding as though she particularly cared one way or the other.
"It hasn’t been cancelled."
"That's bad news?" she asked with a frown. Dan liked the way the crease marred her forehead. It made her look studious rather than unattractive.
"It's very bad news for me," he said lightly.
"Oh. And I suppose the good news is good news for you, too."
"No. Actually, it's good for you. Your flight is only showing another hour's delay."
Lucy nodded. "I've already missed the wedding rehearsal, but I guess I might make it in time for the dinner."
"Guess so," said Dan.
*****
Lucy felt empty – emptier than she'd felt in months. Only now, after letting all the emotions out, did she realise how much she'd been holding in. She felt hollow. She felt as though she was floating. She felt good.
She glanced sideways at Dan. For someone with a lousy hair-cut and no clothes sense whatsoever, he was turning out to be a surprisingly decent human being. He was definitely growing on her.
Dan "Call-Me-Daniel" Scardino was nothing like she'd expected. From what little Lois had told her, she'd expected him to be egotistical and over-protective. From what little she'd seen he was...
Actually, maybe he was egotistical. How else could she account for his lousy chat-up lines? And he was very protective. Over-protective? She didn't know about that. Only time would tell, she thought, before realising with a jolt that time was a luxury they didn't have. Her flight was due to leave in – what? – just over fifty minutes.
She sighed softly, regretfully.
Nowhere in Lois's descriptions of Call-Me-Daniel had there been any mention of his gentleness or his ability to care. There had only been irritation – irritation at the odd gifts he'd given her and his single-minded determination to horn in on Lois's dates with Clark.
She, Lucy, thought the latter was rather sweet. At least it showed that Dan had been serious about Lois. Better that, surely, than a man who gave up at the first hurdle in a relationship. Heck, if a guy showed only a fraction of that determination in courting her, she, Lucy, would jump into his arms like a shot.
She glanced at Dan again. They barely knew each other, but she knew him well enough to know that it was going to hurt to have to say good-bye.
*****
They sat in silence. What could they possibly find to say to each other after that emotional upheaval? And yet... Neither of them made any move to leave. A thunder storm hundreds of miles away had been the catalyst that had brought them together. Lucy's own emotional storm seemed to have somehow forced them to stay that way.
It felt awkward to sit around, doing and saying nothing, Scardino thought. But it would be even more awkward to just up and walk away. Besides, he wasn't sure that Lucy was all right yet, and he didn't want to leave her alone until he was convinced that she was.
He glanced sideways at her. He decided that, for someone with dishevelled hair, blotchy skin, bloodshot eyes and a very red nose, Lucy didn't look half bad. In fact, he found the vulnerable look rather appealing.
"You hungry?" he suddenly said.
She shook her head. "No."
"Oh. Okay, then."
A few more seconds of silence passed, then she said, "But if you're hungry I'll come with you while you get something to eat."
"Okay!" He flashed a grin at her. "So, what's it going to be: burgers, doughnuts, weiners or subs?"
Lucy shrugged. "It's your meal. You decide."
Dan considered his options: greasy burgers, stale doughnuts, rubbery weiners or leathery subs. What a choice! Airport food really was pretty disgusting. And seriously over-priced. H'm. He must be hungry, he thought, if he was seriously contemplating eating any of this stuff.
He threw a mental die unenthusiastically and made a decision. "Okay, burgers it is."
Dan started to walk away, assuming that Lucy would follow him. Then he had second thoughts, turned back, and took the pack – which she was in the process of heaving onto her shoulder – from her and said, "Here, I'll carry that for you."
For a brief second, he thought his unaccustomed flash of chivalry had been rendered worthwhile when she smiled at him with unmistakable gratitude. Then he realised why she was quite so grateful and he found himself having third thoughts about his decision to play the gentleman. He supposed it was too late now to change his mind again. He settled for gasping, "What the heck have you got in here!?" instead.
*****
For someone who had claimed not to be hungry, Lucy Lane had one heck of an appetite.
Dan had noticed the way she'd covertly looked in her purse before scanning the menu and deciding to order a milkshake, and he'd tried to be discreet about it when he'd watched her carefully count out a small mountain of loose change with which to pay.
Once they'd settled themselves at a table, he'd encouraged her to help herself to some of his fries. Within five minutes, she'd eaten a generous half of them, so he'd signalled to the waitress and asked for a duplicate order.
"Haven't eaten since breakfast," she said guiltily as she took her first bite of the burger he'd bought her. She chewed, swallowed, looked at him and grunted a "Thanks" before sinking her teeth back into the bun.
Ravenous hunger... a mostly empty purse... and she was in a position where she couldn't bring herself to ask her sister for any kind of help. Was hers a temporary cash-flow problem or was she really so stony broke that she couldn't afford a burger in the worst concession the airport had to offer? Was there anyone else that Lucy could turn to?
Dan chewed slowly, thoughtfully, and realised that he was so worried about her that he was losing his appetite. Then again, maybe that was because of the food. It was enough to put anyone off eating for life.
Anyone except Lucy, apparently. *She* was devouring her burger ravenously, as if it was the best thing she'd eaten in years. He sincerely hoped that it wasn't, because, if it was, it didn't say much for her diet.
"Sorry," she said scant minutes later as she swallowed her last mouthful. Dan guessed she was apologising for her enthusiastic lack of decorum. Either that or she was apologising for accepting his charity. He sincerely hoped it wasn't the latter because he really didn't mind. In fact, he was tempted to even go so far as to think it might actually have been his pleasure to do something nice for her.
"Nothing to be sorry about," he said.
"It's just, all the auto-tellers in the check-in area were out of order this morning and I ran out of cheques three days ago."
Oh. So she wasn't starving; her hunger had been a transitory thing. That was a relief. He hadn't needed to worry about her, after all.
But then he realised that it was almost a pity that he didn't need to because he'd been rather enjoying it.
"It's odd," she was saying now. "You wouldn't think that the death of one billionaire sociopath would make a difference to the day-to-day operations of a business, but I swear things at LexBank have really gone down-hill since he died."
"Yeah," Dan said. "That is weird. I mean, it's not like he can ever have found time to run his businesses personally when was always preoccupied with planning the next murder."
"Not to mention running off to massacre endangered species on a whim."
"Or all his affairs and his hobbies—"
"I think that having affairs was one of his hobbies!"
"Okay, not to mention his affairs and all his other hobbies!"
Oh, this was great! thought Dan. Exchanging banter was even better than worrying, and laughing together... Well, that had to be best of all. He was going to miss this.
His laughter died away, sinking down in his chest.
Lucy picked up her napkin and wiped her mouth delicately.
Lucy, Dan mused, had a certain amount of poise. She was smart, sassy when she wanted to be, and she was beautiful. What she lacked were Lois's hard edges. Lucy was a softer Lane, a kinder Lane.
A better Lane.
He liked her. He liked her a lot. And he didn't want to say good-bye.
Like they say, he thought, nothing ventured, nothing gained...
*****
"Lucy?"
She screwed up the paper napkin, put it down on the table, looked up at him, and said, "Yes?"
"You know what I said earlier? About getting to know each other, falling in love and running away together?"
She nodded. A lump of hope lodged itself in her throat and made it impossible to speak.
"Well, we've gotten to know each other a bit better."
Lucy nodded again jerkily and waited on tenterhooks to hear what he would say next.
"I'm not sure about the love part yet," he said. "But I'd sure as heck like to run away with you so that we can figure that bit out."
Lucy stared at him. It took a lot of effort to squeeze the words she needed around that lump of hope, which seemed to be expanding so much that it was almost choking her. Then again, maybe it was the food. She'd eaten so fast that it couldn't possibly have been good for her. "You... You'd like to run away with me? Really?"
"Well, I'd like at least to take you back to DC with me. It'd be irresponsible of me to go AWOL from my job for very long."
"And picking up strange women at the airport is responsible?" she asked.
"You're not strange," he said, deftly dodging her question.
They stared at each other. Their eyes locked. She liked his eyes. She liked the way they twinkled, she liked their colour, she liked their thick lashes and his almost-bushy brows.
She liked him and she found herself being tempted by his offer.
But...
"I can't..." whispered Lucy sadly.
"You can," he said. "If you wanted to, you could."
"The wedding..."
"It's not as though it's your wedding, is it? You don't need to be there."
"I do. I'm the Maid of Hon—"
Dan interrupted. "But you don't really want to go, do you?"
Lucy shook her head before she could stop herself. No, she didn't want to, but that didn't stop her feeling as though she ought to. It was her duty.
"Then don't," Dan said.
"You make it sound so simple," said Lucy.
"It is simple," he answered. "If you let it be."
She shook her head again. But this time it wasn't a gesture of denial. It was one of disbelief.
Could it really be as easy as Dan suggested? She would be letting Lois down. She didn't want to do that.
Or maybe she did.
What a choice! she thought. She was torn between a sister she'd known all her life and a man she'd met only a few hours before. She was torn between a sister who hurt her in the most painful ways imaginable and a man who had gone out of his way to be nice to her.
She was torn between duty and desire.
"They're calling your flight," Dan said as a distorted female voice blared out of a nearby speaker. "You're going to have to decide one way or the other."
She nodded. "I..." Her eyes flitted between him and the direction of the gates and she made her decision. "I'm sorry," she said.
Dan sighed. "Me, too," he said, and he sounded as though he really meant it. He took a deep breath. "C'mon. Let's go. You can give me your number on the way."
She gasped softly. She'd turned him down and he wanted her number anyway?
He must have read her thoughts because he chuckled ruefully and said, "I'm not going to let you slip away from me that easily, Lucy Lane. I want to get to know you better and, one way or another, that's what I intend to do."
Her stomach was fluttering again, only this time, because she'd just eaten, she knew it wasn't because she was hungry. She hoped it wasn't from indigestion either, because she rather liked the way it was making her feel.
She liked the way Dan made her feel, too.
*****
"Would Lucy Lane, travelling on LexAir flight 793 to Metropolis please report to gate F57, where the plane is now ready to depart."
Lucy had made a last-minute detour to the restroom and then they'd hunted around for the signs that would point them in the direction of her gate. They'd tried talking to each other but they had lapsed into a morose silence as they'd dragged their feet through long carpeted walkways and stood, procrastinating, on the travelators
Now, though... There was her gate. Apparently all the other passengers had gone through and the flight-attendant who was manning it was looking decidedly impatient. In fact, she was positively scowling as she picked up the handset that would connect her to the airport's tannoy system. "This is the last call for Lucy Lane. If you do not report to gate F57 within the next two minutes, your baggage will be off-loaded from the aircraft."
"It's okay!" shouted Dan. "She's here, already!"
If anything, the attendant's scowl seemed to deepen.
Lucy took a deep breath, shifted her backpack more securely onto her shoulder, and looked into Dan's eyes.
"Well, I guess this is good-bye," she said, feeling suddenly shy.
"I guess so."
"Well... Call me. I mean... only if you want to. I—"
"I will. I promise."
For some reason she didn't quite understand, Lucy was sure that it was a promise he would keep. "I'll look forward to it," she said, and she meant it.
Their gazes locked for a second or two. Should they hug? she wondered. Should she give him a peck on the cheek? What was the appropriate—"
"Ms Lane! You're holding up the entire flight!" grumped the attendant.
The moment was lost. "Go on." Dan nudged her. "You'd better go. That woman is giving you the evil-eye."
Lucy nodded. She turned away from him and began to walk. She took one step... two... three. Her pace began to slow. Five... Six... Seven...
She stopped. Turned around again. He hadn't moved from where she'd left him. He was watching her avidly, almost hungrily.
She stared at him. This was her last chance, she thought. She shouldn't go with him. Going with him would do even more damage to her relationship with her sister, though she supposed she could live with that.
His expression was shifting from avid to hopeful. And now he was beckoning to her. Oh, glory be! He really, really wanted her to go with him!
She shifted from one foot to the other as she weighed up her options.
Honest, open and intelligent... Lucy realised that he'd shown signs of being all three. That meant he ought to be boring. Then again...
She found herself beginning to smile at him. Her smile broadened, growing into a grin.
Wild hair and hideous shirts aside, he wasn't that bad-looking. Plus, he did have some terrible personality defects, such as being an utter pig when it came to picking up women, so at the very least he was a flawed boring. That made him almost interesting.
Oh, what the heck!
She dumped her backpack on the ground, spun round towards the attendant and yelled, "It's okay! I'm going with him!" She pointed a thumb back over her shoulder, towards the spot where Dan was standing.
Then, ignoring the attendant's muttered expletives, she spun around again and launched herself in Dan's direction.
And then... And then she was in his arms, or maybe he was in hers. It didn't matter which. And they were kissing, and he tasted of a combination of greasy burger and that awful breath-freshener that she'd seen advertised on television, right between the commercials for tooth-paste and toupees. And she didn't care about a bit of it because her knees were buckling and they were both laughing into the kiss and...
For Lucy Lane at least, it was a perfect moment, a moment she hoped would last forever.
Which, of course, it didn't. They had to come up for oxygen eventually.
"Oh... my... Whatever am I going to tell Lois?" Her eyes widened into round saucers as the full import of what she had just done suddenly hit her.
Dan shrugged. "Haven't got a clue." He sounded like he didn't care very much, either. From the way he was grinning at her, she could only assume that his mind was on other things.
"Because I'm sure as heck not going to tell her the truth – that I found something better to do with my time!"
His grin broadened, if that were at all possible. Apparently he liked the idea of being that "something better to do".
"I mean," continued Lucy earnestly, "that would just be... well... just a bit tactless, don't you think?"
"Tact isn't my strong point," he said, "but I bet that we can come up with something, if we put our heads together. Maybe we could tell her that you were... I don't know... knocked over by a bus."
"Nah. Boring. How about... kidnapped by aliens?"
Dan shook his head. "Even Lois wouldn't believe that, and given all the weirdness that goes on in Metropolis, that's saying something."
"I know!" Lucy was almost jumping up and down with excitement. "How about, I was running late for my plane and—"
"—you set off the metal detector—"
"—and got stopped by a security guard—"
"—so you decked him—"
"—got arrested—"
"—and won't make bail until Monday!"
"Oh, Dan! That's perfect!"
And then they were laughing, almost hysterical with a confusion of happiness and relief. Their arms were wrapped around each other and they were kissing and—
And the attendant tapped them both forcefully on their shoulders and scowled as she curtly told Lucy that here was her suitcase. Then, just for good measure, she asked whether Lucy realised that she'd held up the flight for a good twenty minutes and demanded to know whether they were always this irresponsible and inconsiderate.
Lucy didn't care about any of it, not one bit. The only thing she cared about was the man standing beside her, the man whose insanely happy grin was matched only by her own.
She pushed her now-useless boarding-pass into her back pocket and she and Dan picked up her bags, taking one each. Then she took Dan's free hand in her own and together they walked back the way they'd come.
END
Author's note:
The original inspiration for this came from rewatching Metallo. It crossed my mind that Lucy probably wouldn't have reacted well to Lois allowing Jimmy to take the photograph of her with the Corbin cyborg at the end of the episode. Sure, viewers know why Lois did it, but Lucy didn't. So... Lucy probably felt betrayed by Lois. And then Lucy didn't show up for either of Lois's subsequent weddings...
Lucy's excuse is taken from the episode "I Now Pronounce You...", written by Chris Ruppenthal.
