Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Federal Disaster (35-36/37)

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Chapter 35

Clark dropped her off at the Planet before flying to the precinct to talk to Henderson. He promised to return the moment Superman was done giving his statement. She could tell he was worried for her, but Lois always felt at home when she was at the Planet. Something about the chaotic din and frenzied pace soothed her. She assured Clark she was exactly where she needed to be, then got onto the elevator.

The moment the doors opened and she stepped out, the noise level dropped considerably. She had expected that. Though the full explanation of what had happened with the President had yet to be published the rumour machine was alive and well and add that to the fact that TV news had been reporting on Lex’s death outside her apartment and…well, Lois had assumed she’d be the centre of attention.

She lifted her chin and tried to ignore the curious stares as she headed over to her desk. As she did so, she noticed that Claude was already there. She hadn’t been sure when he would return to France, and she knew she would have to be in touch with him in order to turn over control of Dupont Airlines to his family, but she was fairly surprised to see him in the newsroom. He looked as if he was waiting for her, and her heart sank.

Among other things, she’d intended to have a talk with Perry and explain that Claude had stolen her story today. Though she knew that would mean Perry contacting Claude, she had hoped it would be via a phone call. She felt weary in a way that had nothing to do with lack of sleep and everything to do with the fact that, dead or alive, the federal disasters of her past had worn out their welcome.

“I…wasn’t sure you’d be coming in,” Claude said when she reached her desk. “I hoped you would, but I didn’t know if…well, I heard what happened.”

“Hello, Claude,” Lois replied, unable to hide the exhaustion in her voice. She knew he was trying to be kind, but she had neither the energy nor the emotional bandwidth to deal with it. “Do you mind moving over? I need to start typing up the story on the President before the Metropolis Star scoops us.”

“They can’t, though,” Claude said. “I mean, not really. They don’t have half the inside information we do…you do, I mean. Anything they print will be mostly speculation and rumour.”

He was right, and Lois knew it, but she still felt compelled to get to work. She hadn’t seen Perry yet, and was hoping that when she did, Claude would have taken the hint and left.

“I appreciate that,” she said, trying to stay polite, “but I still need to write it. Is there something you could be helping Jimmy with?”

“Not really,” he admitted. He looked a bit nervous. “I’ll be honest, my flight home leaves in a week. I wanted to stay and help with whatever financial matters needed to be worked out with the purchase of my company’s shares…if you’re still planning to buy it back, that is.”

“I am,” Lois replied coolly, “but you really don’t need to be here for that. I intend to contact my lawyer today and let him know that he can come back to Metropolis. Once he does, I will sign whatever he needs me to, and then he will take it from there.”

“I understand,” Claude replied sheepishly. “I realised there is not much for me to do here, but I’m rather at loose ends. I thought…well, I know you’ll be telling Mr. White about the story I stole, and I know that he will want to talk to me and I guess I just wanted to make it easier on everyone by being here…and being accountable.”

“I…thank you,” Lois said, not knowing how else to respond. “I appreciate that.”

“I’ll get out of your hair for now,” he offered as he stood up. “I am going to borrow a desk and type up my resignation from my newspaper. I plan to uphold my end of things. I want to be better.”

“You…you can use Clark’s desk,” Lois said, unable to believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. “Until he gets back that is.”

Claude nodded and headed over to Clark’s desk. Lois gave a soft sigh of relief. She hadn’t expected Claude to be so agreeable about her demand that he quit his job, and wondered briefly if doing so under these conditions was somewhat of a relief to him. It also made her realise that she hadn’t known him very well at all. Not even close. She knew what Clark was thinking or feeling simply by looking at him. A smile, a gesture, even the tone of voice that he used conveyed more to her than any conversation she’d ever had with Claude.

All those months she’d spent working with him, looking up to him, idolising and thinking she was falling in love with him…it had all been so surface level it was unreal. Sleeping with Claude had been a disappointment both physically and spiritually. She hadn’t ever communicated with him or any man she’d been with the way she had with Clark. The act had been there, but that was it.

And now that she knew what she’d been missing, she knew it was worth it. She’d taken the hard route, but it was worth all the pain and heartache. Because when Clark touched her, it was real. When she told him what she liked, he listened. And the way he made her feel was both explosive and peaceful.

She focused her attention back on the story, determined to get some work done before Clark returned. She wasn’t going to write all of it, of course. After all, Clark had done just as much work on the story and would share the byline. However, she decided to get the boring job of organising all the facts and quotes in the meantime.

Time seemed to slip by and before Lois knew it, the familiar touch of Clark’s hand on her shoulder told her he had returned. He pulled up a chair and she saved her work, then turned to him.

“How did it go?” She tried to keep the hint of anxiety out of her voice, but couldn’t have been very successful because he reached out and squeezed her hand gently.

“Henderson told me the police will officially be ruling Lex Luthor’s death an accident during an attempted murder. No charges will be filed. He said there isn’t a jury in the world that would prosecute you at this point.”

“Oh,” she said, suddenly feeling rather lightheaded. Clark gripped her hand a bit tighter and she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I’m glad. I know he’d said last night that it would most likely be ruled an accident but…”

“I know,” Clark replied. “I think Henderson noticed that even Superman seemed a bit on edge when he gave his statement. But it’s over.”

Over. As in finished. Did he really believe that? Sure, she hadn’t killed Lex, but did it really matter that she wasn’t technically responsible? She felt responsible regardless. And something about that distinction wouldn’t let her fully relax.

“It isn’t though,” Lois said softly. “Over, I mean. I’m not sure it will be for a very long time. The fact that I didn’t personally push him from the window doesn’t mean I don’t feel as if I did.”

“Lois —”

“And I’m relieved! Relieved!” she interrupted, feeling the panic rising in her chest threatening to spill over. “And I don’t know what to do with that. I mean, I’m basically glad a man is dead and glad that my actions sort of lead to his death!”

“Lois —”

“What does that make me? Who does that make me?”

“Honey —”

“And if he was trying to kill me, should I even care? Should I just be glad he’s gone and wash my hands of it? I want to, but I keep seeing him fall out that window when I close my eyes and —”

The feel of his lips on hers, kissing her deeply stole her voice from her. She melted into the kiss without a second thought, allowing the memory of what they had done that morning and the feeling of his tongue dancing with hers drive the panic from her mind. She pushed her thoughts aside and allowed her body to take over, and her body only wanted one thing: Clark.

Eventually, they parted and Lois fought to regain her senses. She cast a surreptitious look around the office, but nobody was paying attention to them. Either they were used to the sight of the two of them kissing at work, or they hadn’t seen it.

Lois was surprised to find herself relieved. She wasn’t normally self-conscious about displays of affection at work. Though not strictly professional, Perry never seemed to have an issue with it, but this time it was different. This was the morning after. Surely if others had seen that kiss, they would know. She couldn’t explain it, but they would know. The kiss felt different — the way Clark looked at her was different. There was a sureness to him now that wasn’t there before — a confidence with her body that hadn’t been there before they’d made love. And that look in his eyes…Lois shivered.

“Oh, Clark, this is all so overwhelming,” she admitted with a shaky breath. “Every time you look at me, I think of this morning and last night and how good you made me feel, but then…somehow it’s mixed up with the attack and the fall and I don’t know how to feel. I feel guilty that you make me feel so good and —”

“I know,” he said, gently touching his forehead to hers. She closed her eyes and drew a long deep breath, allowing the feel of her hands in his and his physical presence to calm her. “But you have nothing to feel guilty about. And whether it’s right or wrong, when I think about what could have happened…well, I know it’s not very ‘Superman’ of me, but, I’m not sorry. He got what he deserved.”

Hearing Clark say that made something inside her unclench. She knew she would have to unpack her feelings about Lex’s death, but she also knew that he wouldn’t judge her for them, and though Clark was also Superman, she knew he wasn’t perfect or above complicated feelings. Human or Kryptonian, there was no easy way forward. But, he was here. Lex was gone. She wasn’t going to be charged in connection with his death. And they had made love for the first time. There were things in her life worth celebrating. It was going to be okay.

“Thank you,” she finally managed to say. “I don’t know why, but I needed to hear that.”

“There’s no one way you have to feel here,” Clark reminded her. “It’s not as if there’s a ‘how to deal with seeing your psychopathic ex-fiance fall from your window the night he tried to kill you’ book in the lifestyle section.”

“True,” Lois replied with a sigh. “All the same, I think I will book an appointment with Dr. Frisken for next week. After I talk to Perry, that is. Have you seen him?”

“He was downstairs getting lunch a few minutes ago but he’s back in his office now,” Clark told her. He studied her quietly for a moment and then said, “You don’t have to tell him about the story Claude stole today, you know. It can wait.”

“I know,” Lois said as she took a deep steadying breath. “But I need to do this sooner rather than later or I never will. It’s been weighing me down for too long.”

“Do you want me to come in with you?” Clark wondered. She shook her head.

“I love you for offering, but I think this is something I need to do alone.” Clark nodded, and although Lois knew that he wanted to be by her side to offer support, he would respect her wishes. “Could you…wait out here for me though? Barring any Superman rescues, of course.”

“Absolutely,” he promised, placing a featherlight kiss on her cheek that caused her pulse to quicken again. “I’ll look over the notes you made while you're there if you want. We can write it together when you’re done.”

She nodded, squeezed his hand and walked across the newsroom to Perry’s office. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Claude’s gaze following her. He obviously knew what she was about to do. She tried not to let that influence her thoughts as she walked into Perry’s office.

Perry, more than used to her barging into his office without knocking, barely spared her a glance. He was too busy picking his sandwich from the deli apart and muttering angrily to himself.

“Why is it so blasted difficult to remember that I said no tomatoes?” he groused.

“You ordered a BLT, Chief,” Lois reminded him gently, trying to stifle a smile. He did this every week.

“Well I’d order a BL, but nobody seems to know what that means,” he grumbled. “There somethin’ I can help you with, darlin’, or are you just here to argue sandwich semantics?”

“I was hoping to talk to you,” Lois said, feeling nervous and hesitant. Perry noticed it too because she saw him sit up and set the sandwich aside to give her his full attention. She paused and turned to close the door to his office before she faced him again. “It’s about…Claude. Well, Claude and the story he won the Kerth award for.”

“What about it?” Perry asked, his eyes narrowing the way they usually did when he knew something smelled fishy.

“He didn’t write it,” Lois replied, letting out a breath as she metaphorically ripped the band aid off. “I did. He stole it from me and passed it off as his own. And I…I let him get away with it all these years.”

A moment of torturous silence passed between her and Perry before she watched him drag his hand over his face, shaking his head softly.

“Judas Priest,” he muttered to himself. Then, looking her directly in the eye, he said, “I think you'd better tell me everything.”

“You…” she hesitated. “You believe me?” She’d thought he would. She’d expected him to. And yet somehow, she needed to hear him say the words for it to be real.

“Well, of course, I believe you,” Perry said, sounding slightly incredulous. “You’re the best damn reporter I’ve ever worked with, and beyond that you’re…well, you’re like family to me, honey. I know you wouldn’t lie…not about something like this. Now pull up a chair and tell me how this happened.”

“I…” Lois felt the tension melt from her shoulders as she took a seat, her legs feeling slightly shaky and her emotions threatening to betray her. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Start at the beginning,” Perry urged. “And then work your way up to the part where I go out there and hang that good for nothin’ rat Dupont upside down by his toenails and shake him for loose change.”

Lois suppressed a smile as well as a swell of gratitude at Perry’s reaction. To have him not only believe her but get that angry on her behalf meant the world. Still, she wasn’t through with this yet, and she owed it to herself and to Perry to explain what happened and why she hadn’t come forward at the time.

In a halting voice, she recounted the events that led up to Claude stealing her story to Perry, sparing no details. It was difficult, as she was tempted many times to hide the more embarrassing aspects of it, such as how she was drawn in by him, lied to and then of course how he had managed to access her story when she was in such a vulnerable state.

Perry thankfully said nothing. He sat and patiently listened until she was finished, which was a relief. When it was clear there was no more to tell, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and gave her a sad smile.

“I am so sorry, Lois,” he finally said. Something about his posture and bearing seemed to change. It was as if he aged ten years in an instant, looking extremely weary. “I should have spotted it. Old newshound like myself…ha! Some Editor in Chief I turned out to be.”

“You can’t blame yourself, Perry!” Lois exclaimed in surprise. “Claude was…well, he was older and charming and…so very convincing! Sometimes we see the things we want to see in people, regardless of whether or not that is the face they are really showing us. It’s not our fault. I’m only just starting to learn that.”

“I hear you, Lois, but I…” Perry shook his head. “Aw, hell, I guess I just feel bad. I didn’t protect you then, but I can now. I can make it right, now. If you want me to, that is.”

“If you’re asking me what I think you’re asking, then yes,” Lois said. She’d anticipated this part of the conversation. She knew that if Perry believed her, he would want to make it right. “I would like you to alert the Kerth Award committee.”

Perry nodded, and Lois knew he’d known what her answer would be.

“Now, it’s not gonna be easy,” he warned her. “I believe you…‘course I do, but an accusation like this…well, they’re gonna want to investigate, and without proof, it’s your word against his. I’m only tellin’ you this now because they might want to question you both and —”

“Claude is willing to go on record and admit he stole the story,” Lois interrupted. She knew what Perry was trying to say, and if it weren’t for the fact that she’d already spoken to Claude, she would have appreciated his not-so-subtle attempt at caution. But the warning wasn’t necessary. She knew that while she had his unconditional trust, in the eyes of an awards committee, even a three-time Kerth-Award-winning reporter would be held up to immense scrutiny — especially when that reporter also happened to be a woman.

“Oh!” Perry sounded surprised, but also relieved. “Well, then that changes things. I’ll uh...give the committee a call. Right after you send that low down dirty son of a —”

“Chief —” Lois warned. Perry gave a small huff, stood up and walked over to the door.

“Fine. Send Dupont in here please. I just wanna have a polite chat.”

Lois nodded and stood up. She meant to walk out the door that Perry had opened, but instead, she found herself overcome with affection for her boss, giving him an impulsive and swift hug. The soft ‘ooof’ of surprise from Perry told her he hadn’t been expecting it either. When she stepped back, he cleared his throat and looked away.

“Thanks, Perry,” she said quietly.

“Don’t thank me yet, darlin’,” Perry said gruffly. “Now go on and get that lyin’ creep…er, Claude and send him on in here.”

Lois smiled. A small part of her was tempted to tell Perry to go easy on him, given that he had already agreed to back her up. She fought the impulse.

“Give him hell, Chief.”

Chapter 36

It turned out that Lois didn’t need to give Claude the message. He’d been watching as she’d gone in and come out of Perry’s office and had gotten up immediately after she left. As they passed one another, he gave her a pained grimace.

“On a scale of one to ‘should I be planning my funeral’, how bad is this going to be?”

“Do you have a will?” Lois shot back. Claude sighed, shook his head and kept walking. When she made it back to her desk where Clark was still waiting, she sat down, gave him a tight smile and turned her attention back to their story.

She began typing, but stopped when she noticed that Clark wasn’t focused on the computer. Instead, he was staring at Perry’s closed office door with a strangely triumphant smile on his face. Lois felt her jaw drop and gasped in surprise.

“Clark, are you —?”

“Listening in on Perry’s conversation with Claude?” Clark said with an unapologetic grin. “Absolutely. You said I couldn’t hit him, but I’m not going to miss this.”

Lois gaped for a moment and then poked him gently in the side.

“Well? What’s Perry saying?”

Clark reached for her hand and relayed the long and very angry rant that Perry was currently delivering to Claude, word for word. Lois was amused to find that Perry had managed to work an Elvis story into his lecture before calling Claude a few of the names he’d almost used when she was in the office and telling him to get the hell out. Though her anger had long since faded, there was a piece of her that felt both vindicated and touched to know just how deeply Perry cared.

When Claude exited the office, head down looking utterly defeated, Clark turned to her and kissed her, a boyish smile on his face.

“Enjoyed that, did you?” Lois asked wryly. He nodded.

“Better than cable.”

“Well, I’m glad you’ve gotten that out of your system, Mr. Maturity,” she teased, though inside her heart was beyond full. “Now, if you’re done abusing your powers, we have work to do.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said innocently as he turned his attention back to the computer. He pointed at the screen and grinned. “That’s not how you spell ‘alleged’, by the way.”

She resisted the urge to playfully hit his shoulder, and then realised that for the first time since Claude had shown up, things felt almost normal. She and Clark were here together, and they were bantering. It felt good. No, it felt better than good.

She couldn’t pretend that she understood this emotional rollercoaster she was on, but she was finally starting to realise that she couldn’t control it, and that was okay. One moment she might feel the way she did right now — that things were okay — and the next…well, the next she might remember the way the crimson blood stain covered the pavement after Lex’s fall — and it was in those moments she knew she would have to hold onto Clark. She would need to trust him with the most vulnerable parts of herself, and that was no longer terrifying.

It was freeing.

She looked back at Clark and gave him a mischievous smile — the one she knew usually drove him crazy and bit her lip. She leaned forward.

“You keep editing my copy, and I’ll —”

“You’ll what?” he challenged, eyes twinkling and his face only inches from hers. Suddenly, it felt as if the floor had dropped out from under her. Her pulse sped up and she found herself being drawn into him, the way she always did when he looked at her with such raw longing.

“Don’t push me, Kent,” she breathed, “you are way out of your league.” She could see Clark gulp and his eyes darken with anticipation and marvelled at the way one simple phrase could be used so very differently. He obviously recognised the words she’d said to him the first day they’d met as well because he twined her fingers through his and leaned in, giving her the gentlest kiss on the cheek while he whispered in her ear.

“You like to be on top. Got it.”

She shivered and closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to be back in the safety of her bedroom with Clark next to her, clothing optional. But they had a story to finish and imagining all the things she wanted him to do to her was extremely distracting.

But such an enjoyable distraction.

She bit her lip and reluctantly pulled away.

“Later,” she said under her breath in a tone low enough that only he could hear. “We finish this now, and we can explore any position you want.”

He groaned softly and she could see him grip the desk just a little bit tighter.

“You’re killing me,” he said hoarsely.

“Good,” she replied with a somewhat wicked grin. “Now, which of these headlines should we pick?”

Clark very reluctantly forced his attention back to work, and they spent an hour writing up the story, checking sources, organising quotes and getting everything ready to print. They were just putting the finishing touches on it, when Perry left his office and strode purposefully over to Lois’ desk. She noticed as he approached that Claude had either left or made himself scarce, and smiled in amusement.

“I just spoke with the Kerth Committee,” he told her. “Claude has to provide them with a written statement saying he stole the story from you and that it was your original work. Once he does that, a retraction on his award will be printed in the Planet, and the Kerth will be sent to you in the mail.”

Lois suddenly found herself at a complete loss for words. She’d been hoping for this, but hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly. She hadn’t even thought it mattered all that much to her whether she had the actual award. She’d told herself it had been more about ensuring that the truth was known in general, but also where Perry was concerned. She hadn’t really thought much beyond that. Even though Claude was willing to give a statement, she hadn’t thought about whether it mattered to her to have the award on her shelf.

And now, as she searched her feelings she found it did matter. It mattered a whole damn lot. That Kerth was more than just an award it was a symbol of the woman she had become and the battles it had taken to get her there.

“Lois, honey, you okay?”

She swallowed tightly and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Clark reached out and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly.

“I think she’s just a little overwhelmed, Chief,” he said. She nodded and fought to regain control of her emotions before speaking.

“Thank you, Perry,” she finally said. “I can’t tell you what it means to me.”

“Aw, don’t thank me,” Perry said with an embarrassed wave of his hand. “Besides, it looks good to marketing if we can say that the Planet has a four-time Kerth award winner on staff. Five if you count Kent here.”

Lois shot Clark a grin. She didn’t for a second believe that Perry cared about how the extra Kerth looked for marketing.

Perry cleared his throat. “How’s that story on the President coming along, by the way?”

“We’re mostly done,” Clark replied. “Just putting the finishing touches on it.”

“Good,” Perry nodded. “Then I want you both to go home and don’t come back until Wednesday. I mean it. You were attacked last night and you’ve earned yourself a long weekend at the very least and I won’t hear no for an answer.”

“We can’t take four days off, Perry!” Lois exclaimed. “We still have to write the follow up on the assassination attempt!”

“Follow up?” Perry gave her a sharp look and Lois took a deep breath. She’d already anticipated Perry’s objection to her writing the Lex Luthor piece. Clark looked at her in surprise as well.

“Well, the rules do say that we have exclusive rights to the follow up,” Lois reasoned, “and I do have a firsthand account of Lex Luthor’s…escape, so I thought —”

“Firsthand account?” Perry exclaimed. “That’s putting it mildly! Hells bells, darlin’, the man tried to kill you! You can’t write the story. You were the story. You know darn well it’s a conflict of interest.”

“But Chief —”

“Lois, he’s right,” Clark cut in. She whirled on him, eyes flashing fire at his betrayal.

“Et tu, Brute?”

“I’m serious,” Clark said patiently. “Think about it. The police questioned you. Even though they declined to press charges, if you wrote…if we…wrote the piece there would always be questions about the paper’s integrity. I think someone else has to handle this one, and I think you know that.”

She did. Damn him, she did. Deep down, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to write it, but a major story was a major story, and fighting to be front and centre was so ingrained as to almost be instinctive. Still, Lois wasn’t used to going down without a fight.

“If not us, then who?” she asked.

“Lois, you’re not the only good reporter at this paper,” Perry reminded her with mild amusement. “But it is a good question. Stevens is on assignment, and Jackson is off sick. I could assign it to Bates, but —”

“What about Jimmy?” Lois blurted out. Both Clark and Perry looked at her in surprise. She hadn’t meant to make the suggestion, but once the words were out of her mouth, she was surprised at how right they felt. Jimmy had worked hard with them for the story on the President. He’d been there every step of the way, and beyond that, she knew how hard he’d been working to be taken seriously as a potential reporter. She also knew how hard it was to advocate for yourself when you’re young and inexperienced. She couldn’t go back in time and change her own past, but she could give Jimmy the hand up she’d never had.

“Jimmy?” Perry said sceptically. “Now don’t get me wrong, the kid has promise, but this is a big story and —”

“He’s never going to be ready if you don’t give him a chance,” Lois pushed. “You of all people know we have to start somewhere. All I needed was someone to believe in me…to give me that big story. That’s all JImmy needs too. I think he can do it.”

“Plus, he did all the research for the piece on the assasination attempt,” Clark chimed in. Lois was relieved that he was in agreement with her. “He knows that story inside and out. I think Lois is right.”

“Fine,” Perry grumbled. “But that means you two go home. I don’t want to see hide nor hair of either of you until Wednesday, comprende?”

“But Perry —”

“I mean it, Lois,” he repeated, his voice a bit gentler, but no less insistent. “You’ve been through a lot. Both of you. Once that story of yours is on my desk, I want to see tail lights.”

“Got it, Chief,” Clark replied.

Perry nodded, satisfied, and gave her shoulder a light squeeze before heading back to his office. Lois sighed.

“We can go back to my apartment,” Clark suggested, as if reading her mind. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to spend four uninterrupted days with Clark — far from it. They’d just made love for the first time. Under any other circumstances, she’d be jumping at the chance to spend four days in bed with Clark, but it also meant returning to her apartment. “We can use the time to call your friend Steven and put things in motion for Lex’s money and maybe…look at housing listings to search for a place of our own?”

Lois raised an eyebrow.

“That’s awfully ambitious of you, considering what I was thinking we would spend the next four days doing.”

She reached under the desk and gave his thigh an insistent squeeze. The result was Clark banging his knee against the desk in surprise.

“Lo-is,” he protested, his jaw set tightly in concentration. “You know I can’t think clearly when you put images like that in my head!”

“What images?” She batted her eyes, feigning innocence — something that only caused Clark’s expression to darken in a way that let Lois know exactly what he was thinking. She shivered as he leaned forward. Maybe this hadn’t been the best game to play in the newsroom.

“Images of you…from this morning.”

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to picture it, allowing a soft moan only he could hear to escape her. He ran his fingers lightly down her arm, causing the heat that had started to build to intensify. She moved her hand slightly further up his thigh in return, and he made a slightly strangled noise.

“Now that is a good image,” Lois acknowledged softly, “but not as good as the one I had in mind.” She leaned over and whispered in explicit detail what she wanted to do to him.

“It’s like that, it is?” Clark almost growled. “You’re going to make sure I never leave this desk with that kind of talk. Besides, I wasn’t finished.”

“Oh?” She quirked an eyebrow at him and he swallowed tightly. She moved her hand even further up his leg until she’d almost reached his inner thigh. If she moved it any further, things might look suspicious and they both knew it.

“Hey, CK, hey, Lois!” Jimmy called as he approached. As if caught in the act itself, she wrenched her arm backwards from Clark’s leg and banged it hard on the desk. She swore under her breath, both because of the pain and because of Jimmy’s ill-timed interruption.

His voice, though cheerful, ripped through Lois’ mind, destroying the incredibly erotic fantasy she’d conjured up and causing her to grit her teeth. She looked up and tried to force her breathing to return to normal. Clark looked similarly frustrated and had a far worse poker face than she did. Thankfully, Jimmy seemed blissfully oblivious, pulling a chair up and sitting down as he ran a hand excitedly through his naturally floppy hair. “I just spoke to the Chief! He told me that you guys suggested I write the Luthor story and I just wanted to come over and thank you.”

“It’s no problem, Jimmy,” Lois replied, shooting a resigned but frustrated look back at her partner. He shared the look but gave Jimmy a smile nonetheless. “You worked hard and you deserved it.”

“I know, but…” Jimmy seemed at a loss for words. He looked at Lois seriously. “This is huge. First there’s the story itself and then there’s…well, I know what a story like this will mean for you…for both of you. And I understand if you were just being nice and all. If you wanted to give something like this to a more experienced writer, I would totally understand. I know what Luthor did to you and I —”

Lois reached out and grabbed Jimmy’s hand, something that seemed to surprise him. The fantasy flew out of her mind as the reality of the moment pressed upon her. She found herself equally surprised not just by her actions, but by how strongly she felt about Jimmy being the one to write the story.

“That’s exactly why I...why we wanted you to write it. You know. You did the research. You put in the time. You did everything a good reporter is supposed to do. You’ve earned this story, and there is nobody else in this newsroom other than Clark that I would trust to tell it properly.”

“But I —”

“Lois is right,” Clark said quietly. “You’ve more than earned this.” Jimmy looked as if he wanted to argue further, but thought better of it. He stood up and nodded.

“Can I ask you guys for help if I need it?”

"Normally, I would say yes, but Perry has exiled us from the newsroom for the next four days,” Lois replied, shooting Clark a meaningful look. “But we trust you, Jimmy and we believe in you.”

“Oh…wow. Thanks,” Jimmy said, sounding slightly awed. “You don’t know what it means to hear you say that. I won’t let you down, I promise.”

Lois nodded. “I know.”

Jimmy gave them a lopsided half smile and turned to go.

“Hey Jimmy,” Clark said, causing Jimmy to turn halfway back to his work station — an area he shared with other researchers. “You can use the computer at my desk while we’re gone if you need to.”

Jimmy’s eyes lit up as if it were Christmas and he grinned.

“Whoa, thanks, CK!”

Lois watched him go and felt a small tug of nostalgia as she did so. Jimmy wasn’t all that much younger than she and Clark and yet somehow his youthful exuberance felt like a lifetime ago. And while a small part of her envied that feeling of just starting out and standing on that big precipice of job and career, she wouldn’t go back. Not for anything.

Every choice, both good and bad, had led her here — to her job, her friends and to Clark. She glanced at Clark out of the corner of her eye and saw him gazing at her intently.

She looked back at him and grinned. “What are you thinking about?”

“Whether we’re ready to hand in the assassination piece and get out of here,” he replied, his voice low and quiet sending shivers up her spine.

“There might be the odd spelling mistake or two,” Lois admitted, feeling suddenly breathless. The look he was giving her had to be illegal, and she found herself wondering if everyone else could see the way his every intention seemed to be written all over his face. “Do you…want to edit my copy?”

Did that sound dirty? Oh God, somehow she’d made it sound dirty!

“Perry’s an editor right?” Clark said as he stood up, took her hand and pulled her to her feet, leaning close to her ear where he spoke in a quiet rasp. “He can handle it. Come back to my apartment. I need to touch you.”

She swallowed heavily, grabbed her coat and allowed him to lead her out of the newsroom, heart beating wildly as erotic scenes played on repeat in her mind.