Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic If I Were You (9/?)

From Part 8:

She laughed, knowing full well that if it were light enough, she’d see a blush on his cheeks. Mostly she laughed because Clark was talking to her again, they were teasing one another, and he was holding her easily, comfortably, in his arms under a starlit sky. Somehow, in this quiet space between the heavens and the earth, a truce had been declared, and things felt as close to right as they had in a week. As her laughter died away, she dared to rest her head on his shoulder in that sweet spot she loved. She felt him tense, but he didn’t push her away, and she worked up the nerve to say the words that lay heavy on her heart: “I’ve missed you, Clark.”

He sighed and let his arms tighten around her just the tiniest bit. “I’ve missed you, too, Lois.”
______________________________

Part 9:


Clark crept into his apartment and held his breath as he glided silently past Perry, who was snoring on the sofa, and Jimmy, who was sprawled on a nearby pallet. If he could keep from waking them, he would have until the next morning to come up with some reasonable, logical explanation for the fact that it had taken him four hours to return a video. He suspected he could get away with just about anything with Jimmy, but he had no wish to press his luck with a man as shrewd as Perry White. He would have no choice but to slip out for Superman emergencies, but as long as Perry was staying with him, he knew he wouldn’t be able to indulge in any more evenings out in Smallville.

And it had been an indulgence, no question about it. Once he’d gotten over his initial pique at seeing Lois with Adam, there was a part of him – a rebellious part he hadn’t yet managed to subdue – that had reveled in being out with his old friends with Lois Lane at his side. It was obvious that the entire group, including Adam, thought that he and Lois belonged together – that they made up a pair even if they professed not to be a couple. Lois had done a masterful job of pretending that there was nothing amiss between them, and for a while he’d let himself fall into the polite fiction and enjoy the feeling.

Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

Lane and Kent.

Lois and Clark.

Their names had been linked so often that they seemed to flow into one another naturally, just as it seemed natural to have Lois seated at his side. Throughout the evening, he’d staked his claim on her in small, familiar ways – by pulling out her chair, by refilling her glass, and, twice, by finishing her sentences. He’d let his friends know that though she might have arrived with Adam, she belonged with Clark. He had no idea how the evening might have gone if Adam hadn’t bowed out so obviously and so gracefully, but he doubted he would have acquitted himself well. And in hindsight, he was disgusted with himself. He was firmly resolved that he wasn’t in love with Lois, and yet the sight of her with another man had sent him into an unmistakable, albeit subtle, show of possessiveness.

As he slipped between the sheets of his bed, he realized in a sudden epiphany that the way he’d behaved that night had been remarkably like the way Lois had always behaved with him. She had never wanted him herself, but she certainly hadn’t wanted anyone else to have him. She teased him and called him Mr. Greenjeans, but let another woman look his way, and her claws came out. He’d picked up on it early on and had always found it amusing – endearing, even. At times, he’d even allowed her possessive behavior to give him hope – the very hope that had led him to pour his heart out to her in the middle of a public park. But never had he dared to assert a similar claim on her. Never for one minute had he thought she’d sit still for it. So what did it mean that he’d done so tonight and lived to tell the tale?

The only answer he could come up with was the most painful one imaginable: What she’d never have tolerated from Clark, she suddenly welcomed now that she knew he was Superman.

It was his worst fear, and he felt almost sick as he forced himself to reevaluate the evening in that light. For a few sweet, treasured moments as he’d held her in his arms beneath the stars, he’d dared to hope that their friendship might actually have weathered the storms of the past week. He had even cautiously allowed himself to envision a future with Lois Lane in it. It wasn’t a romantic future – he wasn’t feeling that brave or that stupid – but perhaps some sort of return to the way things had been before. Maybe they’d be able to live in the same town, even work at the same paper. Maybe he wouldn’t have to start over someplace new in an attempt to outrun his memories.

And then she’d put her head on his shoulder in that vulnerable, trusting way that had always melted his defenses, and his heart had stuttered to life for the first time in a week. She’d told him that she had missed him, and he hadn’t been able to keep from responding in kind. Because he had missed her. He had missed her like he’d missed his powers when he’d been exposed to Kryptonite. His powers were something that often aggravated and inconvenienced him, and many times he’d wished them gone, wished he could be ‘normal.’ But when it happened for real and he’d thought the superpowers might be gone for good, the loss had been devastating – more so than he’d ever admitted to his parents. He’d felt like half a person for those few days, and that was exactly how he’d felt since he’d fallen out so spectacularly with Lois. It was easy to think of a hundred different reasons he’d be better off with out her, but when he was without her, he felt utterly incomplete.

Was it possible that it was only about Superman for her? She’d called him by name, and he’d been dressed as Clark at the time, but the fact that they had been floating a quarter of a mile above his parents’ farm might make the first two points moot. For most of the time she’d known him, Superman had done the floating and Clark Kent had remained safely on terra firma. Had she really had time to accept that the two were one and the same?

Intellectually, he thought she probably had. He hadn’t been acting particularly like Superman, after all, and she hadn’t been treating him as a ‘god in a cape.’ In fact, she’d been teasing him in a way she’d never have dared to tease Superman, and there had been none of the breathless adoration that he had always found irritating and intoxicating in equal measure. No, there had just been warmth and reassurance, and then that final confession that she had missed him, had missed what they had once shared. Those words must have been meant for Clark. They just had to have been. And if he hadn’t been so completely wrong about her just a week before, he might even have allowed himself to feel a little hopeful.

As it was, he told himself firmly that he needed to put the evening out of his mind. He’d left her in Smallville, in the care of his parents. She was as safe as Lois Lane could ever be anywhere, which wasn’t as reassuring as he’d like, but it was the best he could do. He had a job to do in Metropolis, and he needed to give it all his attention. Lex Luthor was a formidable opponent, even for Superman, and Clark was determined to vanquish him once and for all.

But in direct defiance of all those very practical, very sensible thoughts, the last thing on his mind as he slid into sleep was the feel of Lois relaxed in his arms, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder and her breath warm against his neck as she told him she’d missed him.
_________________________________________

“OW! Damn it!”

Clark’s eyes snapped open and he jerked upright to find Jimmy hopping up and down at the foot of his bed. He made a quick grab for his glasses and slid them into place.

“Jimmy? What are you doing?”

“Sorry CK,” Jimmy said through gritted teeth. “I stubbed my toe on your bed.”

“Oh.” Clark rubbed his face, still feeling muddled. “You OK?”

“Except for the broken toe, yeah. Still need the bathroom though.”

“Be my guest.” Clark waved in the direction of the bathroom and then flopped back onto his pillow. The red numbers on his clock indicated that it was almost 6 a.m. – too late to go back to sleep and earlier than he wanted to get up.

“You boys all right in there?” Perry rumbled from the next room.

“Yeah, Chief,” Clark called. “Jimmy just ran into my bed on the way to the bathroom.”

“Oh.” There was silence for a few seconds and then, “Shame he woke you up. I expect you were wanting to sleep in a bit, what with getting in so late and all.”

Here we go, Clark thought.

“Now me, when I rent a video, I use the store closest to the house. Alice says they don’t have as good a selection as the one over on Calhoun, but I just don’t like having to go so far out of my way to return ‘em, you know? Now I figure you’re more like Alice and willing to go a little bit out of the way…to the next state, say, or maybe clear into Canada.”

Instead of feeling annoyed, Clark grinned up at the ceiling at Perry’s tactics.

“You haven’t lived ‘till you’ve seen the video selection in Canada, Chief. It’s like a whole new cinematic world up there.”

“Uh huh.” Perry’s voice was thick with skepticism. “Try again, son.”

“I use the video store a half mile away,” Clark admitted. “I just got…detained on the way home.”

Perry appeared in the archway leading to Clark’s room, his hair standing on end and one eyebrow raised inquisitively as he knotted his bathrobe.

“I ran into Superman, and he took me to see Lois.” Clark had learned long since that the closer he stuck to the truth, the better off he would be.

“Really? Well, that’s just great! How is she?”

“How’s who?” Jimmy asked, having just come out of the bathroom.

“Superman took me to see Lois last night,” Clark explained, sitting up in bed again. “And she’s fine, Chief. Settling in. She’s anxious for this to be over so she can come home, though.”

“Well, you tell her next time you see her that we’re doing everything we can to make that happen. I’m not going to ask where she is – I think the fewer people who know that the better – but I’m awfully glad she’s safe.”

“Me, too,” Clark said.

“Well you’re a better man than me, Chief,” Jimmy said. “I’m dying to ask where she is. Wouldn’t it be cool if Superman had some kind of secret lair? Someplace he goes when he’s not out saving people? It’s probably got all sorts of alien technology that makes it unplottable by humans…”

Clark couldn’t help it – he burst out laughing. “You’ve seen too many movies, Jimmy. I don’t know if Superman has a ‘secret lair’ or not, but I can promise you that’s not where he took Lois. She’s in a perfectly normal, plottable place – just hopefully not a place where Luthor would think to look for her.”

“And that’s good enough for me,” Perry said, giving Jimmy a quelling look. “Now since we’re all up, why don’t we get started on our day? We’ve got a lot to do if we’re gonna get to the bottom of this mess. Clark, why don’t you take the first shower, and I’ll start breakfast. Jimmy, while Clark’s in the shower, you head down the street to the newsstand and pick up a copy of today’s Star. I hate reading that rag, but I can’t start my day without a newspaper.”

“I can run get it, Chief,” Clark offered, thinking he might be able to sneak in a quick patrol on his way.

“Nothing doing,” Perry said firmly. “The last ten-minute errand you ran took hours. If I decide I want the Montreal Gazette, though, I’ll call you.”

“Sheesh.” Clark swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “Come in past curfew one time…”

“Aw, quit your griping and get in the shower,” Perry ordered. “Jimmy! Newspaper!”

“On it, Chief.” Jimmy hastened in the direction of his suitcase, and Clark noticed he was still favoring one foot slightly.

It should have seemed ridiculous, Superman being ordered around in his own home by a man who was neither his father, nor, at the moment, his boss, but Clark found it natural to let Perry take charge, and he suspected Jimmy did too. Their former editor had earned their respect, and with the Planet in ruins and their lives in upheaval, there was something almost comforting about having Perry White barking orders at them at six o’clock in the morning.

That didn’t mean, however, that Clark couldn’t at least attempt to have the last word: “I like my eggs over easy,” he said, flashing Perry a grin.

“Too bad,” Perry retorted. “I only do scrambled.”

Even with rampant bed-head, the man was formidable. Clark conceded defeat and hit the shower.

_____________________________________

Clark had showered and was sipping a cup of coffee and watching Perry put the finishing touches on breakfast when his front door opened to reveal Jimmy holding the requested copy of the Metropolis Star. “Hey Chief!” Jimmy called. “I think you’re gonna need to scramble a few more eggs.”

Before Clark and Perry could ask what he was talking about, Jimmy moved inside the doorway and made way for Jack, who greeted them with a cocky smile and a wave.

“Hey,” he said. “Got room for one more?”

“Jack!” Clark exclaimed, moving toward his young friend. “Of course there’s room, but what are you doing here? Did your lawyer get you out?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “That guy? Not a chance.”

“Then…?”

“C’mon Clark. It’s juvie hall, not Alcatraz. They won’t even miss me ‘till the trial.”

“You have to go back,” Clark insisted, sounding sanctimonious even to his own ears.

“No way.” Jack’s face took on a belligerent cast. “Forget it.”

“Jack…”

“Let the boy tell his side.” Perry entered the conversation for the first time. He waited for Clark’s nod of agreement, and then turned to Jack. “What’s the story, Jack?”

“Can we eat first? I’m kind of starving.”

Perry nodded. “Sit down, all of you. We’ll eat then talk.”

Perry’s attempt at breakfast was only passable, but Jack shoveled in the rubbery eggs and overcooked toast as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Clark and Jimmy ate more moderately and attempted some small talk, but mostly it fell flat, since the only thing anyone was truly interested in was their surprise guest.

“All right, kid. Why’d you break out?” Perry said, pointing his fork at Jack when it seemed the boy had eaten his fill.

“I overheard some stuff,” Jack said, looking troubled. “They brought in a kid a couple of days ago -- he was bragging about how he and his brother pulled this frame-up. You know, planted incriminating evidence in some guy's crib.”

“So?” Jimmy asked.

“So I was the framee! He was talking about me and the explosives they found at my place after the fire at the Planet.”

“Who was he?” Perry asked, and then, rapid-fire, “Who hired him?”

“The guy’s name was Pete. Pete Black and his brother John. And I don’t know who hired him – just that it was somebody important, and they got paid a ton of money. Pete called him ‘The Boss.’”

“It has to be Luthor,” Clark said. “I’m sure of it.”

“Now wait just a minute.” Perry stabbed a finger in Clark’s direction. “I’m not saying I disagree, just that it doesn’t do a bit of good unless we can prove it. The one thing we can be sure of is that this 'Boss' didn’t burn down the Daily Planet just to frame Jack for the job. There's got to be another, bigger reason.”

“Insurance?” Jimmy offered.

“Could be,” Perry said. “Look into it. Find out how much Luthor made on the Planet.”

Clark shook his head. “I don’t buy it, Chief. Luthor has enough money that he doesn’t need to risk insurance fraud to make a few bucks, or even a few hundred thousand bucks. And besides, he told Lois that the Planet was underinsured and he didn’t make enough to rebuild.”

“Well, we should be able to verify that, if it’s true. Jimmy, get on it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“He didn’t do it for the insurance,” Clark said stubbornly. “I’m telling you, I know how this guy thinks. Everything’s a power trip with him. Everything’s about control. And this time, the person he wanted to control was Lois. He did it because of Lois.”

“Clark, are you sure you’re being completely objective about this?” Perry asked, but his tone was kind. “I know Luthor proposed to Lois, and I’ve got a pretty good idea of how you felt about that…but son, men propose to women every day, and they don’t go around blowing up buildings because of it. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“It does!” Clark said, shoving back from the table roughly and beginning to pace. “It does make sense! He wanted to cut her off from everyone and everything but him. Everything he’s done – running the paper into the ground, buying it, blowing it up – it was all about Lois. He was systematically destroying everything that was important to her so that once her life was in ruins, he’d be in position to ride in on his white horse and save her. And when it didn’t work, when she told him she wouldn’t marry him, he bugged her apartment and her car so that he could anticipate her every move, her every need. He was getting desperate, and if she hadn’t realized it in time…” He broke off, the look on his face speaking volumes. “I’m sure of this, Perry,” he finished with quiet intensity.

Perry gave him a measuring look and then relented. “All right, then. Let’s say for the time being that we agree with you. That still doesn’t put Luthor behind bars, it doesn’t get the Planet rebuilt, and it doesn’t make it safe for Lois to return to Metropolis. We need proof, people! So get out there and get me some! Jimmy, you’re on the insurance lead. Jack, you find out where we can contact this John Black character. Clark, get me whatever you can on anyone known as ‘The Boss.’ I’m going to start digging into the Planet’s finances.”

Perry’s instructions were greeted with a chorus of ‘yes, sir’s,’ and his little army scattered immediately to begin their assignments. Jimmy headed for the shower, since he hadn’t taken one yet, and Perry, who had already gotten dressed, grabbed his keys and his copy of the Star and headed out the door to meet with the Planet’s accounting firm. Clark was about to follow when Jack stopped him.

“Hey, Clark, you got a minute?”

“Sure, Jack. What’s up? Oh, you probably need clothes and things, don’t you? Well, you’re probably closer to Jimmy’s size than mine, but…”

“No.” Jack shook his head. “I mean, yeah, I’ll probably need some stuff, but that’s not it. I wanted to talk to you – you know, while everyone else is gone.”

“OK,” Clark said slowly. “Shoot.”

“Well, it’s about that night at the Planet – the night the terrorists held us hostage, remember?”

Clark felt himself start to sweat a little, but he tried to hide it with a joke. “Gee, I’m not sure…I think it rings a bell, but…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, there’s something about that night I haven’t told you.”

Clark was truly nervous now. He’d known Jack suspected something, but he’d hoped it would remain unspoken between them. He didn’t want to lie to his young friend, but neither did he want to tell him the truth. As long as it was unconfirmed, he thought Jack would probably always have doubts.

“What is it?” he asked quietly.

“Well, it’s about…uh, the globe…the one I took from you.” Jack looked up, regret shining in his eyes. “You know I’m sorry about that, right?”

Clark gave his young friend a reassuring smile. “Yeah, Jack, I know. That’s all behind us now. No worries.”

“Thanks. Anyway, the night I was kidnapped and taken to the museum, I woke up right before Superman rescued me, and I heard two men talking. Not for long – I mean, they got the hell out of there and left me for dead, you know? – but I did hear them, and I recognized the guy with the British accent, the one I’d sold the globe to. I didn’t know who the other man was.” He took a deep breath. “But the night we were held hostage at the Planet I realized…well, I’m pretty sure the other man at the museum was Lex Luthor. I couldn’t swear to it in court, but he’s got that smarmy upper-class accent, and after spending so many hours with him during the terrorist thing...I just really think it was him.”

Clark sucked in a sharp breath and then let it out again softly. “Luthor…” he murmured. “I should have known…should have thought of it myself.” He shook his head as if to clear it. “Thanks, Jack. I appreciate your telling me.”

“You’re welcome,” Jack said. “But I gotta ask…if you’d known he was the one who bought…Superman’s…globe, would you have still…?”

“Would I have saved him?” Clark interrupted with a wry smile. “Yeah, I probably would have.”

“I kinda figured,” Jack said, shaking his head in frank disbelief. “You know, you’re a little too good to be true sometimes. It’s not many guys who’d give the coat off their backs to the punk who robbed their apartment.”

Clark shrugged and looked embarrassed. “It was cold,” he said simply. “Anyway, Luthor knowing…what he probably knows…well, in a way, maybe it’s for the best. Luthor’s a known enemy to Superman. There’s been no love lost between them from the very beginning. So knowing that it’s Luthor makes it easier than thinking there was someone else out to get him.”

On the other hand, Clark thought, if Luthor had somehow guessed at the truth, he would be in a perfect position to take his revenge if they should succeed in having him arrested. He didn’t think Luthor had heard anything in the messages that could lead him to Clark Kent, and Jack hadn’t told Luthor where he had found the globe, but still, the thought of Lex Luthor being privy to something so incredibly personal made him feel violated. It was like knowing that Luthor had watched Lois in the shower. The thought of anyone spying on Lois that way nauseated him, but knowing it was Luthor made it just that much worse.

For a terrible moment, he remembered Jack's earlier question and wished he could live that night at the Planet over again. How much simpler everything would be now if, instead of playing the hero, he’d simply let Lex Luthor bleed quietly to death on the conference room floor.

“You all right, Clark?” Jack’s question and his look of genuine concern jerked Clark out of his dark reverie.

“Yeah,” Clark said, managing a wan smile. “Just…forgot who I was for a minute.”

Jack cocked his head and gave his friend a strange look. “Clark Kent, right?”

“Right,” Clark said firmly, a sense of relief flooding through him. “Clark Kent.”

______________________________________


A/N: Well, I avoided it as long as I could, but I was finally forced to write a little smidgen of plot. Actually, that's a lie - I stole a little plot, and some dialogue, too. Pretty much anything you recognize in this part comes from “The House of Luthor,” written by Deborah Joy Levine and Dan Levine, who hopefully have better things to do with their time than suing fan writers. There are also many references to events in “Foundling,” written by Dan Levine. The other six words are my own .