Twins: 9/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
She looked at him as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "This is my chance to talk to him, of course. Maybe I can find out something useful about him."
"It could be dangerous," he protested feebly.
"I doubt it. He hasn't hurt anyone so far. Much, anyway -- and even if it is a *little* dangerous, we can't pass up the chance to learn about this guy."
"But ..." He let the objection trail off. What could he say? Lois wouldn't appreciate his attempt to meddle, and would undoubtedly ignore any objections he could pose. It would be better, he decided, to keep an eye on things from a distance, and if it looked like Lois was losing control of the situation, he would intervene.
"You're right," he said.
Lois's eye widened slightly, as if she had expected him to argue more forcefully, then she seemed to recover and nodded briskly. "I'm glad you agree. I guess I'd better phone in an order to Chen Yung's Chinese Restaurant."
**********
And now, Part 9:
Lois stood back, surveying the table setting with the eye of a stage manager. Everything looked just right for an intimate dinner for two. It was a quarter to nine. The double would be here any minute. She swallowed a little nervously, but a glance in the mirror told her that the nervousness didn't show.
It was obvious that the imposter had somehow discovered her identity a short time after their meeting. That was an interesting circumstance in itself, since she had only given him her first name. It didn't prove anything, but it was consistent with what she and Clark suspected.
Clark had been worried about her, she knew, and maybe he had reason, but he hadn't tried to stop her from doing this. At least, he hadn't tried very hard. She gave a little smile at the thought. Poor Clark. It was funny in a mind-boggling way to realize that she was able to wrap the world's strongest man around her finger as easily as she did Clark. Still, if there was anything that she had learned about her partner in the months since he had come to work for the Daily Planet, it was that he was something of a softy. He definitely had a soft spot for her.
Her smile faded as she thought about the implications of that. Clark was Superman. Even after having had several hours to absorb the information, it still seemed unreal. She had run the gamut of anger and hurt that he hadn't told her, to guilt at her treatment of him and embarrassment for several reasons. By now, she had come to the unpalatable conclusion that the reason for Clark's failure to tell her the truth probably lay with her. She was simply going to have to prove to him that she was worthy of his trust.
Clark was strongly attracted to her. That part had been obvious for months but she had chosen to ignore the fact. The trouble was that she liked Clark. She liked him a lot more than was safe for her peace of mind. Superman, on the other hand, was obviously well beyond the reach of a mere mortal woman. It had seemed safe to love him ... only now that was manifestly not true. Her hero was a man like other men in all the important ways. Oh, he still had all the wonderful powers and the ethical code that she admired, but now she knew that he had the flaws as well -- and worse, that he was strongly attracted to her. There were times when she suspected that there was a lot more to it even than that. In any case, he was no longer out of reach. Maybe, she thought, that was why she had refused to see the obvious until her nose was forcibly rubbed in it. If she had admitted to herself that the coworker who was her best friend was also the hero that she dreamed of, she might have had to make choices that she would rather avoid. A mortal man made mistakes. A mortal man could hurt you terribly if you gave him your heart. She had seen how her father had hurt her mother every day for years. She had been foolish enough to give a man her heart once, and he had betrayed her. Risking that again was something she didn't want to do. And yet ...
Behind her there was a gust of air and the sound of booted feet hitting the carpet. She turned.
Superman stood there. He had brought a bouquet of flowers, she saw, and his smile definitely looked nervous. He reminded her suddenly of a puppy that wasn't quite sure if it was going to receive a pat on the head or a kick.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi." Lois smiled warmly at him. "You're early."
"That's okay, isn't it?" He suddenly looked anxious.
"Of course it's okay," she said and found herself rewarded with a brilliant smile.
"I brought these for you." The boy -- she found herself unable to think of him any other way -- held out the bouquet, and she took it.
"They're beautiful," she said. "Why don't you sit down while I put them in a vase?"
Placing the flowers in water took only a minute and when she turned she found that he had seated himself on the sofa. Briefly she wondered if he would find it as uncomfortable as Clark always claimed he did. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked.
"Well ... I don't need to, but --"
"Nobody needs champagne. That's what makes life interesting," Lois said, wondering briefly if she should actually be giving an alcoholic beverage to him, but she reassured herself that he was physically an adult, and besides, he had Superman's powers. She'd seen the Man of Steel swallow a bomb, for heaven's sake. A little champagne certainly wasn't going to affect him. She picked up the bottle that she had uncorked moments earlier and filled the two goblets sitting on the table.
He was behind her when she turned. She smiled, handing him the glass, and lifted her own. "Cheers."
He drank the beverage in three swallows, never removing his gaze from her. "You look really hot," he said.
"Thank you." Definitely not as old as he looked, she decided. That was not a phrase Superman would use -- or any grown man of her acquaintance who was trying to impress a woman. She set down her glass. "I saw you on television two days ago, when you saved the passenger plane."
"I saved a ship, too."
"I know you did," she said. "I was impressed. Those people owe you their lives."
"It was fun," he said. His gaze strayed to her cleavage in the low-cut gown, and she wished momentarily that she had chosen a dress that showed a little less of her, then his eyes snapped back to her face. "Could we sit on the couch?"
"All right."
He sat beside her, sneaking another glance at her cleavage, and then scooted closer until his leg touched hers. With apparent casualness, he slipped an arm along the back of the sofa, and an instant later it was around her shoulders. "Do you like me?" he asked.
"Well, sure," she said, reminding herself that she was playing a part. "I did wonder about what happened this afternoon, though. You could have hurt that man when you threw him."
"I haven't done anything wrong," he said quickly. "Might is right." His arm tightened ever so slightly. "How about a kiss?"
"Wha ..." The word was barely out of her mouth when she found herself being enthusiastically, if inexpertly, kissed. Instinctively, she tried to push him away, but his arms were like steel. She doubted that he even noticed her resistance.
"Am I interrupting?" For an instant she thought she was imagining Clark's voice, but the arms that held her suddenly slackened, and she pulled free.
"Clark!" she gasped, jumping to her feet.
He crossed the distance between them in two steps and put an arm around her shoulders.
The Superman double also rose, and Lois saw that he was glaring at the intruder. The two were less than three feet apart and there was an expression on Clark's face that nearly caused her heart to turn over. It wasn't the look of a chivalrous man who was simply protecting a woman from an overly aggressive date. It was possessive, challenging -- a man defending his own against an outsider.
"Go away," her guest commanded. "We don't want you here!"
"I think Lois wants me to stay," Clark said.
"Yes! I do!" Lois said.
The imposter's hand shot out toward Clark so fast that she saw only a blur, and as quickly, Clark caught his wrist. She saw the boy's eyes widen and he wrenched his arm away. They stared at each other for a long second while Lois held her breath.
"I have to go now," the other Superman said, suddenly. Unexpectedly, his face broke into a smile. "It's almost ten." He looked directly at Clark and the smile became mocking. "I'll be seeing you again." He walked casually to the window, jumped out and was gone.
Lois discovered suddenly that she needed to breathe and inhaled deeply. "My god."
"Are you all right?" Clark asked. "Did he hurt you?"
She shook her head, sinking down on the sofa. "Not exactly. He kissed me."
"*Kissed* you!"
She nodded. "He's a kid, Clark. He was like a fifteen-year-old on his first date. He even kisses like a kid." She glanced at him and rubbed her face. He looked merely concerned, now -- just the usual Clark when he was a little worried about her. Had she really seen what she thought she had seen? "Are *you* okay?"
He nodded. "I think so."
"I think my theory was right," she said. She took another deep breath. "He said 'Might is right'. Does that sound like anyone we know?"
He didn't answer but his jaw clenched. "I'm beginning to think it isn't as impossible as I thought."
"With Lex Luthor, nothing is impossible," Lois said. "Or at least, not much. This is awful, Clark. He's teaching his own code to this Superman -- to this *kid*! We've got to do something."
"I wish I knew what," Clark said.
"Well, first we have to find out who he hired to do the work," she said. "And how. He had to have a living cell from Superman to start with. We'll get busy on that first thing in the morning."
He gave a slight smile. "You seem to be taking all this pretty calmly."
She laughed shortly. "I am, aren't I? Don't ask me why. I think it hasn't really hit me yet."
"Maybe I should stay for a while," he said. "In case he comes back."
"I don't think he will," Lois said. "Did you hear what he said? I think he may have a curfew." Still, enough doubt remained that his presence would be reassuring. Not that she would ever admit that to anyone. Besides ... that expression she had seen. Did he really think of her that way? It shouldn't have, but unexpectedly a small thrill coursed its way up her spine. She had never known a man who thought of her as *his* before. Even if it wasn't something either one of them acknowledged.
She glanced at the Chinese food sitting on the table. "If you'd like, you can help me eat this."
Without a word, Clark walked to the window, closed and locked it. "All right. I haven't eaten yet, actually. What's on the menu?"
"Chinese," she said.
"Ah, the stuff from Chen Yung's." He sniffed. "Smells pretty good."
"Their food isn't bad," she agreed. "I have some champagne here, too, if you'd like some. Let me get you a clean glass." She hurried back into the kitchen with the glass that the double had used and returned a moment later with an unused one.
Clark was standing at the window, looking out into the darkness but he turned when she re-entered the room and smiled at her. Lois set the glass down on the table and filled it with champagne to give herself a few seconds to recover. Clark's smile was the exact duplicate of the double's.
A hundred confused thoughts were running through her mind and she hadn't had a chance to sort them out yet, but one realization had managed to make its way through. Clark wasn't just attracted to her. If what she had seen meant what she thought it did then her partner regarded her as a lot more than a friend and an attractive woman. She wasn't sure how to react now. This was Superman in her living room. What was she supposed to say -- or do? Superman was far more attainable than she had thought, which made the whole situation a lot more dangerous than she had imagined, and that was something she was going to have to think hard about. One thing, however, was clear. She had been associating with the man of her impossible dreams for months, making a lot of cruel, uncalled for comments to him, at least in the beginning ... and yet, he hadn't let the things she said bother him. Or had he? At the very least, she owed him an apology.
"Clark --" she began.
He held her chair for her while she took her seat. "Yes?"
"You know ... back when we first met ... I said some things to you that I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
He was taking his seat as she spoke and now he glanced at her with obvious surprise. "What brought that on?"
"Oh ..." She busied herself with arranging her napkin just so, keeping her eyes focussed on her plate. "I don't know. The way you stood up for me tonight ... It just suddenly occurred to me that I was pretty nasty to you in the beginning and I never apologized. I was really out of line, and I'd like to set the record straight. I hope you can forgive me."
He reached across the table to lay a hand on top of hers as she started to pick up her chopsticks. "Don't worry about it, okay? It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does," she insisted. "I said some pretty awful things back then -- and did some pretty bad things, too. I want you to know I wish I hadn't."
"Well, I pulled a pretty dirty trick on you, too," he said, and Lois could swear that he looked a little embarrassed. "My mother taught me to treat women better than that so I think we're even."
"Clark, I deserved every bit of it!" she said. "What I did was totally wrong, and you had every right to do what you did. Actually, it made me respect you," she added in a lower voice. "I suddenly realized that I'd behaved just like Claude. I guess it kind of shocked me back to sanity. Anyhow, I've felt sort of bad about it for a while now. I wanted to apologize."
"Oh. Well, your apology is accepted," he said, giving her a smile. "Let's just forget it, okay? As far as I'm concerned, it never happened."
"I know," she said. "You never hold grudges. I think that makes you a much better person than I am. And by the way -- thanks for showing up tonight. He -- the double -- was getting kind of aggressive."
"I noticed," he said somewhat dryly.
"I don't think he meant any harm," Lois added hastily. "He's a kid."
"Yeah, and his hormones were in overdrive," Clark said. He smiled, obviously trying to make a joke of the incident. "I can't fault his taste, though. You look really great."
Lois glanced down at her dress. "You like it?"
"Definitely." He reached for the egg rolls. "If I were a teenager, I'd probably be drooling too, even if I wouldn't go to his extreme."
She found herself laughing. "That's a relief. I'd never dare wear it in public."
Clark grinned. "That would be a shame."
Lois could feel her cheeks turning pink. Clark normally didn't say things like that, probably because they were work partners, but maybe tonight had kind of shocked him out of the role. Surprisingly the idea didn't disturb her as much as she had always assumed it would. She was really going to have to take some time to think this over. She was so confused at the moment, she didn't know *what* she thought.
**********
tbc
