i know it's been a while, but here's the next part. part 5 is, of course, open to anyone who wants it. claim it in the TOC folder as usual.
speaking of which, for those who need to catch up or refresh their memories, the TOC can be found
here. from
part 3 ...
"Clark! What are you doing here?"
She turned around and looked at her ex-partner, half-expecting him to still be furious with her, or apologetic, or...
He was standing there grinning at her, wearing a sharp-looking suit she'd never seen before and by the look on his face was acting as if that scene in the park had never happened. Superman in a suit and it wasn't blue spandex!
She rose out of her chair to confront him and found that he wasn't alone. Lex was approaching.
"Ah, Kent!" Luthor said curiously, eyeing his competition. "I see you have found her. Have you told her the good news?"
"News?" Lois asked looking from one man to the other.
"Lois, I've decided to take up your job offer that you mentioned in the park. I'm the new anchor man for LNN news."
Luthor smiled to himself. It was far better to have the enemy in hand than not know what he was doing out of sight. He had plans for Superman in the works and soon there would some for Clark Kent.
and now, without further ado,
part 4...
"Clark, can I talk to you for a moment, please?"
"Sure, Lois."
"Excuse us, Lex."
"Of course, Lois. Just don't take too long. Mr. Kent has work to do, and he'll need time to learn the ropes." Lex walked away smiling.
Lois led Clark to her office. As he walked in the door, he lowered his glasses and took a look around. "Nice view," he said.
"Thanks. Look, Clark, I need to know. What are you doing here? I thought you said you'd never work for Lex, and when you... left after our last conversation, I had the distinct impression that you weren't too happy with me."
"I'm not going to
tap dance around it, Lois. Luthor
bugs me." As he spoke, Clark waved vaguely towards the phone and then the room in general. "I'm not saying that I can't see his
point of view," he added, gesturing subtlely towards a dark corner of the ceiling behind him. "I just can't agree with it."
Lois raised her eyebrows. "I see. And what makes you say that?"
Clark fiddled with his glasses and tapped the side of his head, near his eyes. "It's just the way I see things, Lois." He sighed. "I should get to work. Like the boss said, I'm going to need to get used to things here. Maybe we can talk more another time."
"Yeah. Another time, Clark." Lois hardly noticed when he walked out the door. There was too much to take in. She still didn't know why Clark had changed his mind about the job, but she had her suspicions. If he was there to "check up on the little woman" or to investigate the man who might soon be her fiance, he wouldn't live long enough to regret it. Of course, that would take some creativity, she reminded herself. She'd tried to take Clark's reference to his super senses in stride, but she still wasn't used to thinking of him with powers. She knew Clark was Superman, but her mind still boggled at the thought that her mild-mannered partner could eat bombs and lift spaceships into orbit.
The revelation that her office had been bugged with a camera, a phone tap, and who knew what else certainly hadn't helped her sort through the confusion. That Lex -- for who else would have or even could have had those bugs placed? -- was so willing to invade her privacy was certainly not a good sign. She was going to have to have a little chat with him about that. One that, when it was over, would leave him thinking twice before he so much as glanced in her direction. But that talk was going to have to wait. First she needed to sort things out with Clark and then she had to figure out a way to mention the bugs without revealing how she'd found out about them. Despite everything, that was one thing she was clear on; she would not tell anyone that Clark was Superman. Which meant that, if she was to accept Lex's proposal, she'd have to keep the secret from her husband.
She'd realized some time ago that it would not be a fairy tale marriage. Deep down, she knew she wasn't in love with Lex. That wasn't a big problem, or so she kept telling herself. She'd given up on fairy tales while her age had still been in the single digits. This was the real world, and sometimes you had to take what you could get. She laughed at herself. It wasn't like you could call it "settling" when you were talking about the man who had been named "Metropolis's most eligible bachelor" four years running.
That was an old argument, though, or at least it felt old, after having gone through her head more times than she cared to count. Now she had some new things to think about, and they were making it increasingly more difficult to "win" that old argument.
But it was starting to look like Lex was her only choice, unless she wanted to remain single for the forseeable future. There were only two other eligible men that she'd failed to drive off. She'd thought herself in love with one, and had considered the other her best friend. Then, suddenly, everything had been turned topsy-turvy. She'd turned down her best friend's offer of love, only to find out that he was also the man she'd thought she'd loved. That conversation had gone so spectacularly that he had not simply run from her, he'd literally flown away.
Clark's revelation had left her shaken and uncertain. She'd thought she'd had him all figured out by the end of their first day together, but now she felt like she knew less than ever. Who was he, really? And where did she stand with him? Were they still friends? Did she still
want them to be friends? Could she even trust him? She laughed at herself again. If anyone had told her even last week that she'd be questioning Superman's trustworthiness, she'd have had that person in a duct tape straight jacket ready to be hauled away by some nice men in white lab coats before he even knew what had happened.
She shook her head. She needed to talk to Clark. It might end up being their last conversation, but it was one they needed to have. She got up and went looking through the halls. Suddenly, she heard Lex's voice, apparently on the phone. She decided to stay out of sight. Turnabout was, after all, fair play.
"What do you mean it's too big to fit into the office?" he demanded. "I told you to -- I see. You were afraid it would be too obvious. Well, that's why I told you to build it into the ceiling. ... You didn't think you'd be able to work around the wiring. And you're just bringing this up now because...?" He sighed into the phone. "Never mind. How long would it take to rebuild it? ... I don't have that much time. Forget it. Just... put it in the wine cellar. I'll figure out how to work around your incompetence."
Lois hid as Lex stalked off. She had no idea what that had been about, but she knew enough to realize that she didn't want to run into him just then. It didn't matter, she reminded herself. Clark was the one she needed to talk to. She made her way towards the newsroom. Rounding a corner, she spotted him. "Clark!" He turned towards her, but then cocked his head in a familiar way. In the background, Lois could barely make out the sound of the news anchor talking about an oil tanker that had run aground some place or other.
"Excuse me," Clark said to the woman he'd been talking to. "I need to..."
He was floundering for another lame excuse, and suddenly Lois understood why. With everything else, she hadn't had a chance to think it through, but now it all made sense. He had to go save that tanker, and she had to help him. She went with the first thing that came to mind. "Clark!" she shouted, doing her best impression of Perry White. "When I said I wanted you to look into that warehouse story, I didn't mean next week, I meant now! So what are you still doing here? Git!"
He looked startled for a second, but then, hiding a smile, he ducked his head. "Sorry, Lois. I'll get right on that." He threw an apologetic glance at the confused woman standing next to him and dashed off.
Lois watched him go, then turned back to her office. It looked like their conversation would have to wait, after all. Might as well get some work done.
