Happy Ficlet Friday, everyone. Let's pay another visit in the MagiKal AU . Pull A Rabbit From A Hat As they walked down the street Lois stole frequent glances at Clark. His stance was more relaxed, though he had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants once again. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as if he found something amusing. It was so good to see him smile again, even if it was only a ghost of the smiles he was capable of.
Lois loved it when he smiled. It warmed her heart. She wanted to reach out and take his hand in hers. But suddenly, she remembered there was something important she had yet to tell him about. Her guilty conscience made her pull back the hand that had already been inching toward him.
Instead Lois curled it into a fist. Her gaze drifted toward Houdini who was trudging along, happily wagging his tail. Thankfully the dog didn’t know that she’d gone behind Clark’s back. Lois bit her lip. She should tell Clark and come clean before she’d hurt him, not just physically but emotionally too.
Clark turned toward her. “Where are we going?"
"The mayor is holding a press conference," Lois mumbled. "They're announcing which measures they're going to implement to deal with this heat wave and…"
She trailed off as she realized what she was saying. What was she doing dragging him to a press conference that she was only going to attend because annoying things like that belonged to her job? Hadn’t she spent half the morning complaining how pointless and boring this assignment was?
Moreover, a press conference meant lots of people, which was exactly the kind of story Clark couldn't take on. She didn’t suppose dogs would be allowed into the city hall to attend a press conference and it was a little late to try and convince anyone that Houdini was a guard dog.
Way to go, Lois, she thought grumpily. As if Clark needed another reminder of all the things he couldn’t have or do! This was just stupid and unnecessarily cruel! Certainly not the right way to make amends for what she’d done behind his back.
Lois stopped in her tracks and pinched the bridge of her nose. Clark made another two steps before he noticed that she was no longer coming along and returned to her. He looked at her with curiosity rather than anger, which made it even harder to face him.
Her gaze involuntarily drifted toward Houdini, who’d also stopped and looked back at them expectantly. Lois had the strangest feeling, that the expression of the dog carried a quiet warning not to hurt his master again. Or maybe that was just her guilty conscience talking.
Lois exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry. I guess, I didn’t really think this through.”
As she mustered the courage to look at Clark, she saw a smile flash across his face.
“Nevermind.” He winked at her. “It’s the thought that counts.”
Lois tried to smile back, but she just couldn’t get her facial muscles to work accordingly. She felt strangely detached, lost in a way that was difficult to grasp and even harder to put into words. He was so kind and she was… Her gut curled into a tight knot. Clark didn’t even know that she’d taken the crystals back to Metropolis. He believed that she’d gone shopping with Martha. But they’d done something else entirely in a very desperate attempt to solve the mystery surrounding Clark’s power bursts.
It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Though, as she saw his loving smile and the warm gleam of his eyes that carried no reproach, she started to question the wisdom of her decision. The memories of Clark writhing on the ground in agony were just too fresh and terrifying.
She and Martha had agreed not to tell Jonathan. But now she found that she couldn’t tell Clark either. She bit her lip that suddenly quivered and she felt like she’d burst into tears any moment.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” His hand cupped her cheek, his thumb gently wiping away the single tear that escaped her. “I don’t mind waiting for you outside the building. I can hear everything from the outside and then we’ll write the article together.”
She drew a shaky breath. “But…”
He smiled his dazzling smile and her breath caught in her throat. God, he was handsome. She couldn’t think straight when he looked at her like that. All she really wanted to do was lean her head against his chest and have him wrap his arms around her. Maybe, if she felt his warmth, she would find the strength to tell him about her transgression. But if she did, would he still smile at her the same way? Would he ever talk to her again?
“Come on, you wouldn’t want to miss a press conference, would you?” He held out his hand, taking hers in a light grasp.
She could tell that he was being extra careful, his fingers barely closing around hers for fear of hurting her. Still, his touch went through her like a bolt of electricity. Words failing her, she followed him, still attempting to smile at his sudden eagerness. She couldn’t really fathom why anyone would want to go to such a press conference. But with Clark at her side, even the dullest assignment seemed like something to look forward to. If only, he could actually be at her side.
Houdini stood at a crosswalk, waiting for them until the lights turned green. Together they walked across the street and a moment later, climbed the steps to city hall.
Lois gave Clark a pained smile as he leaned his back against one of the columns. “I’ll be just a moment.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Though his smile was reassuring, it cut through her like a knife.
Here they were again, Clark waiting outside, while life happened somewhere else. She couldn’t do that to him, not today, not when she’d just found him, not when her suggestion of investigating this heat wave had just been an excuse to have him work with her again. If she went inside now, they wouldn’t be working together.
“I won’t go. The conference has already started anyway, and I just can’t leave you here like a dog, who has to wait for his master.” She grimaced. “No offense, Houdini.”
Clark laughed softly. “None taken, I’m sure.” He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Lois, you can’t stop working, just because I can’t follow you everywhere.”
“But today…” Her throat tightened so much that she felt unable to continue
He brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. “Don’t you think I know you just suggested investigating the weather to drag me out of the hole I’ve been ready to hide in? You were right, too. I can’t wallow in self-pity for the rest of my life. We may not find a solution to my power problems. But perhaps there is another way. You did so much for me already that I never believed I could have. We just start over and see where it leads us. Go on, I don’t mind waiting here for you.”
“But I mind.” Lois swallowed hard. “I haven’t seen you in weeks, Clark. I don’t want to waste a minute listening to that press conference, when I could be with you.”
He shook his head. “You can’t put your life on hold indefinitely.”
She pursed her lips and gave him a stern look. “But for today, I can. Don’t let us go inside. Let’s listen from here. I know you can tell me everything that’s spoken inside.”
His eyes widened. And then, slowly a grin spread across his features. “Okay. But just remember that you won’t be able to ask questions. Let’s move to a position where we won’t be sticking out like a sore thumb, though.”
Clark led her to a more hidden location, where Lois even had a good view of the stage, where the mayor was just talking. Houdini accompanied them, running around them in circles as if he wanted to make sure they wouldn’t part again. Mesmerized, Lois watched Clark as his eyes lost their focus and he craned his neck a bit.
“They’re just talking about the black-outs,” Clark murmured. “Lex Luthor is speaking now. He says that his nuclear power plant will be operational soon. Apparently, the approval from the utility commission is as good as granted.”
“But there were concerns over the environmental impact,” Lois whispered surprised. “The last thing I heard was that the commission wanted more tests and that it’d take well into the next year to run them all.”
“Seems like Luthor would consider this heat wave a lucky coincidence,” Clark mused.
“Maybe it’s not a coincidence,” Lois muttered.
Clark raised his brows. “You’re not suggesting that he causes it, do you? How on Earth would he accomplish that?”
She grinned at him. “How on Earth do you fly?”
He looked at her, mouth agape. Then a big grin spread across his lips. He laughed and shook his head. Then he placed a kiss on her forehead. Lois felt her heart burst with happiness.
Like a rabbit that a magician had pulled from his hat, a new sense of hope appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly, Lois couldn’t help but believe that everything might fall into place after all.
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