Another thank you to beta extraordinaire Lisa (MrsMosley) for being so “Super!” Bakasi, Julia, SNL, mariadferdez, Laurach (Catherine) for the feedback. I hope you enjoy the next part. This is for all of you!!
SECRET AGENT
By Rhea
Rated PG
9/2006
Part Four
When Lois got to the Daily Planet, Clark was nowhere to be seen. Perry White seemed to be hovering over her desk and almost pounced on her when she arrived in the newsroom.
“Did you get that file yet from Clark?”
With everything that had happened yesterday, she had completely forgotten the file Perry had requested. “I’ll get it to you, right away.” She noticed that the Editor had an edge about him that made her inspect him a little more closely.
“You okay, Perry?” Lois asked slowly. He had something white coating his upper lip and she gestured with her hand, “You’ve got a little something on your lip.”
He swiped at it with the back of his hand and grinned when he saw the tell tale evidence of his departure from his diet. “Now don’t go telling Alice about this, you hear?”
She raised her hand as if taking an oath. “Your secret is safe with me, Perry.”
“Good, because I don’t need another thing to set her off right now.”
“Is anything wrong? You guys get into a fight?”
“Now, honey. Don’t you worry about me. We’ve just had a small tiff. Where’s that partner of yours anyway?”
Lois suddenly got flustered, “Oh, I’m sure he’s just checking his mail before he came in today.”
“His mail?” Perry looked at her as if she had just lost her mind.
“Well. . . you see . . .he has a source that only communicates with him through the U.S. Postal system. The paranoid type.” She finished with as much confidence as she could muster.
“Got the letter right here.” Clark said as he walked up behind him.
“Clark!” Lois exclaimed in relief.
“Kent!” Perry said in amusement. It couldn’t be too bad between these two if Lois was trying to cover for her partner.
“Well, I’ll just leave you two to have at it then.” Perry walked off.
“Checking my mail?” Clark said with a grin.
“Well, it was the best I could think of at the time.” Lois almost wailed.
Clark’s grin grew wider.
“Well, he was on a rampage. Okay, so it was a lame excuse. I’ll try to think of better ones in the future.” Lois slumped down in her chair.
Clark was amused and very touched by the fact that Lois had tried to cover for him. Having her in on his secret did have its advantages, unless her suspicious behavior caused anyone to look deeper.
“I appreciate it Lois, really. It means a lot to me that you care enough to try.” Clark soothed, he sat at the edge of her desk.
Lois looked up at him with a suspiciously moist gaze. “Of course I care, Clark! How could you even think that I wouldn’t?”
When she looked at him like that, Clark couldn’t help but feel his heart go out to her. She might be infatuated with Superman, but he knew that she was Clark Kent’s friend no matter what.
“Let’s go some place where we can talk privately,” Clark said softly.
Jimmy came up to them. “Hey, CK!”
“Jimmy, tell Perry that we had something that we needed to work on. We’ll check in later.” Lois stood up and grabbed Clark arm.
“Sure thing, Lois.” Jimmy said with a shrug.
After a short debate, they decided to go back to Clark’s apartment. They took Lois’ car and drove in silence. They glanced sidelong at each other, pretending not to notice the other’s regard. Clark was uncomfortable and uncertain what he should say. Lois was filled with a quiet determination to get a few things off of her chest.
“Coffee?” Clark asked as he closed his apartment door behind them.
“No, thank you.” Lois said, folding her legs under her as she sat on his couch.
Clark ran his fingers through his hair, at a loss for words. Lois patted the couch alongside her, and he sat down, grateful to have something to do. He wondered if he should mention finding the card, but he felt reluctant to bring up matters of emotion just yet. They needed to work out how she really felt about his alter ego. He had never doubted Lois’ devotion to Superman, but he had always hoped she would notice the man without the cape.
He sighed heavily.
“Hey, it’s going to be all right.” Lois said, feeling his tension. “I told you that I won’t tell anyone.”
“I know you won’t, Lois. I trust you.”
“Good. There’s something that I need to talk to you about.”
“Okay.” He had been prepared for a series of questions and he braced himself for her anger.
“I can help you out.”
This was so sweet and unexpected, he smiled at Lois. “I appreciate how you tried to cover for me, and you have to have a little sympathy about some of my transparent excuses.” Clark tried for a bit of humor, hoping it would help to dispel his nervousness.
“We’ll work on getting a plan in place for those times later. What I’m trying to say is that next time you go off on a . . .call, I want to go with you.”
“Lois, you can’t do that!” Clark’s eyes grew wide. Of all the things he had anticipated, this was not one of them. Lois wanted to go with him when he was Superman?
“I can help you. What if you need back up? What if you get hurt? You need me, Clark.” Lois insisted.
Clark was confused. He appreciated her concern, but he thought that she understood the whole invulnerability thing. “It takes a lot to hurt me, Lois. If I were to take you along, I would have to worry about your safety as well. I would be putting you in unnecessary danger.”
“You’re just like all men. You think that because I’m a woman I can’t do what a man can do,” Lois huffed. She crossed her arms in front of her and leaned back, clearly mad at her partner.
“Lois. It’s not about being a woman. There are just certain things that I can do that . . .well. . .that others can’t.” She could be so frustrating some times. He was trying to be gentle. He didn’t want Lois to think that he thought of her as any less because she didn’t have superpowers.
“Tell me one thing that you can do that I can’t,” she insisted.
Clark considered her for a moment, wondering what exactly she was trying to prove. Was she trying to say in a roundabout manner that his powers didn’t really matter? Isn’t that the attitude he had always hoped that she would adopt?
He answered cautiously, “Well, for one thing I can see through things.”
“I’m very observant as well. In fact, I saw that Perry was having some sort of issue at home just this very morning. He also ate a doughnut, against his doctor’s recommendations, I might add.” Lois said this very smugly.
“You know that’s not what I mean.” Clark was thrown for a second. “Perry’s having trouble at home?”
“Oh, he said he and Alice had a small fight. It’s probably nothing that won’t sort itself out in time. You’re changing the subject. Tell me something else you can do that I can’t.”
“I can fly.”
“That’s just silly, Clark. You know I have loads of unused frequent flier miles.”
“Why are you doing this, Lois? Are you jealous? There’s no need to make this a competition.”
“I’m just saying that I can keep up. That’s all,” Lois said defensively. “Oh, Clark. I’m sorry. I just think that if some government agency is going to have someone be an agent for them, you would think they would ask me too. I thought we were partners. I mean, if you have to go flying off to Paris to deliver some briefcase to some diplomat, I could be there too. Of course, your French is better than mine. I should have known with all those languages that you speak that you weren’t just a reporter.”
Clark stared at her, certain that he was in a parallel dimension, one where Lois Lane had gone certifiably insane. He had interviewed enough people in his lifetime that he was able to maintain his composure despite his confusion
He inspected her closely. “Have you received any sort of blow to the head recently?”
“Clark!” Lois protested.
“Gotten sprayed with any chemicals, flashed in the face with any strobe lights, or been exposed to any sort of strangely glowing meteor rocks?”
“What are you talking about, Clark? You’re not making any sense. Is this some sort of technique they teach you at the Academy?” Lois asked.
Clark shook his head slowly, finally putting all the clues together. She didn’t know that he was Superman. She thought he was some sort of government agent. Laughter bubbled up inside him, and it took all of his control to prevent the sound from escaping. But he couldn’t stop the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Let me get this straight. You want to help me out because you think I’m some sort of secret agent?”
“Well . . . yeah.” Lois was beginning to lose confidence. “Aren’t you?”
She hadn’t written that card to him because she thought he was Superman. She loved him anyway. He wondered if he should be upset that she was in love with Clark Kent, international man of mystery. He could see it now. No wonder she thought he needed her help. It made a certain amount of sense: all his disappearances, his fluency with a number of languages, his need to help others.
God, he loved this woman.
“Lois. I am not working for any government organization.”
“You’re not working for some splinter group?” Lois asked, looking worried.
“You read too many spy novels,” Clark insisted.
“I thought you might be trying to help people, that you were doing some good. Don’t tell me that my other theory is right then!” Lois moaned in dismay.
Clark cringed inside. Here’s where she tells him that he’s Superman. He asked tentatively, “What other theory?”
“That you have . . . um . . . well . . . “
“What is it, Lois?”
“That you have bladder or bowel problems,” she said in a rush.
That was the last straw. He could not contain it anymore. He laughed harder than he had ever laughed in his life. Lois was anything but predictable.
“It happens to some people,” Lois said defensively. “Then you tell me what’s going on. I think I deserve the truth.” If it wasn’t for the suddenly vulnerable look in her eye, Clark might have considered evading her questions.
She lowered her gaze and continued in such a low voice that Clark wondered if it would have been audible without his enhanced hearing, “I thought I loved you, but you can’t even be honest with me.”
That immediately sobered him. His love for her suffused his being and he put his hand on the side of her cheek and whispered, “Lois.” The depth of emotions in his voice brought her attention away from her feet and she met his gaze again.
Lois was mortified at her false assumptions and frankly humiliated that she could have been so wrong. Lois thought about everything she knew about her partner. But now she recalled all of the things that he had said. He could see through things. She had thought he was speaking metaphorically, but what if she had been wrong about that too? He could fly. She had insisted that she had frequent flier miles and could accompany him, but he seemed to think the thought was ludicrous.
Clark couldn’t be talking about . . . no. . . that was impossible. . . . wasn’t it?
She reached out and pulled the glasses from Clark’s face.
“Superman?” She whispered.
Clark’s heart hammered in his chest and he wondered if Lois could hear it even without enhanced senses. “Yes, but I’m still your partner too. I just sometimes have this . . . other job I sometimes have to do.” He tried for a lightly teasing smile, but his mouth quirked in a quick grimace instead. He was so afraid that she would hate him now. This was the moment he had anticipated, no dreaded since the moment he became Superman.
“But I’ve seen you . . .I mean Superman and Clark Kent together. Haven’t I?” Lois was stunned. She felt numb, but her mind was racing to assemble the pieces together.
“I can move really fast.” Clark stated.
“So fast that I didn’t even see you fly out of here yesterday.” She said in astonishment, remembering his disappearing act of the day before.
Lois got to her feet and began to pace in front of the couch. “You lied to me. You let me think that you were two people.”
“I’m sorry, Lois. I wanted to tell you. I also wanted to have an ordinary life. If everyone knew what a mild mannered reporter at the Daily Planet could do, any hope of normalcy would be over.” Clark’s eyes pleaded with her.
She went over their conversation of the last two days. He had said that he wanted to tell her and she had replied stating that it wasn’t just his secret to keep. Clark had then exclaimed, “Exactly.”
Lois paused in her pacing but she kept her gaze on the ground. “You thought that if you told me that I would print it and that would put your parents in jeopardy.”
“You mean if you printed “Clark Kent is Superman” on the cover of the Daily Planet? Yes, that would be an issue.” He watched her pace wanting to pull her into his arms, but knowing that she wouldn’t welcome him at this moment.
Lois’ gaze fixed on her partner’s face. There was a haunted quality to her expression that hurt Clark worse than kryptonite. She said, “Do you really believe that I could do something like that to you or to Superman? Oh, you know what I mean. This is so confusing. I know that I’m sometimes relentless when I’m in pursuit of a story, but I also have a sense of morality when it comes to the things that I write. How could you think that I would do that to you, Clark? Or should I be calling you Superman now?” She spat the last part at him, trying to find some way of punishing Clark for all the pain flooding through her.
This was exactly the reaction Clark had anticipated and had feared from Lois. “I’m still Clark,” he said. “I’m still your partner and your friend, and I had hoped someday that there would be something more heartfelt between us. I find the whole thing confusing at times, too. My parents complain that I talk about myself in the third person. I’ve never wanted to lie to you. All I know is that I wanted you in my life as Superman, but mostly as Clark.”
His words seeped their way into her heart and seemed to settle into the empty place she hadn’t even known was there. Lois was hurt that he hadn’t told her, angry at herself that she hadn’t realized earlier, and humiliated that she had said some of the things to Clark about Superman that she would never admit to Superman’s face. She sat on the floor and covered her face with her hands, trying to gain some distance from him.
Clark sank to the floor with her and pulled her into his lap. “Lois, I never meant to hurt you. I wanted to tell you often.” He kissed the top of her head as he hugged her against him.
“But you didn’t. Did you?” She buried her head in his chest and as she settled in closer, reveling in the scent of him, the feel of him against her. She was mad at him, but not so angry that she wasn’t averse to secretly enjoying the contact.
“No. I didn’t and I’m sorry. I was insecure.”
“Superman was insecure.” Lois said this without emotion.
“For all my strength, and all my abilities, I am just a man. I wanted you to love me the way I love you, for all of you. I don’t just love you for your reporting skills, and I don’t just love you for the way you make coffee.”
“Good thing too.” She snuffled into his shirt. Clark smiled, knowing he was making some headway. “It’s kind of like a rich man never knowing if the beautiful woman on his arm is really there for him or for what he could buy her.”
She raised her tear streaked face to look into Clark’s eyes. His voice cracked as he said, “And you are so beautiful, so wonderful. How could I not love you?”
“Oh, Clark.” She closed the distance between them and kissed him, tangled her fingers in his soft hair.
Clark closed his eyes as Lois’ velvet soft mouth met his own. Suddenly, all background sounds that he had grown use to ignoring faded away. There was nothing except Lois. Kissing Lois was better than flying. He groaned, deepening the kiss as he shifted so that she was flush against him.
Lois loved the feeling of his body against hers. She heard Clark groan deep in his throat and it caused tingling warmth to spread through her body. She shuddered slightly, tasting him, smelling the clean scent of him, feeling his strong arms around her. She felt so safe and yet at the same time as if she was entering dangerous territory. Lois felt heady with his nearness and marveled that she could feel such passion for this man and only just now realize it.
She had known that she loved Clark, but she hadn’t expected to feel such intense emotion for him; certainly she had never felt this way about anyone before. She had thought that they could build a nice companionable relationship with her best friend. She had never dreamed that she could be so swept away. She had been blind on so many levels.
Lois had been working alongside Clark for awhile, and although she had been attracted to him, she would never have guessed that she could feel like she needed someone so desperately. Lois felt as if her heart were trying to escape the confines of her chest and she felt her body flush in response as their tongues tangled together in an erotic dance.
She pulled back panting and gazed into Clark’s face. His eyes were dark, regarding her intently. His face was flushed, and he visibly gathered himself together, regaining control.
“What are you thinking?” Lois asked him.
“How I’ve never been so moved in my entire life,” Clark answered with hoarse honesty.
She rested her forehead against his and when she regained her breath she said, “Do you know how confused you had me?”
“I’m sorry . . .”
Lois interrupted raising her head. “I had feelings for two seemingly different men and I was certain that if I thought I was in love with two people, I couldn’t really be in love at all. I had to be pretty shallow to be in love with two people at the same time.” She paused and then said, “First, I was distracted by this super man who wore this outfit that displayed his great looking body.”
“My mom said that they wouldn’t be looking at my face.” Clark blushed.
“Your mom?” Lois giggled a bit and then said, “And then he swept in like an angel saving me and anyone else without asking for anything in return. How could I resist? And then there was this great partner who was kind of naïve, but had a wonderful heart. He was charming and good looking. He was everything I could hope for, but every time I started to get close, he ran off. I was certain he . . .I mean, you, had relationship issues. And then I thought that maybe you were kind of . . . well, a coward.”
Seeing Clark’s wounded expression, Lois tried to explain. “Every time there was an emergency, you would run off and then Superman would show up to save the day. Clark Kent always avoided danger while Superman faced the danger. So I loved one man who was mostly there for me whenever I was in peril and another who was only there when I needed a friend. What was I to think?”
Clark had never looked at it from Lois’ point of view before. It made sense. How could she really respect someone who ran away leaving her to face the danger alone? No wonder she viewed Superman as a different person than Clark Kent. It wasn’t just his powers; it was also what he did while he was wearing the suit. “I’m so sorry, Lois. I should have told you earlier, but the longer I waited, the harder it became. I don’t know if I would have ever known that you would welcome my love if it wasn’t for the card that you left for me yesterday.”
Her eyes grew wide and she held her breath for a moment.
“Lois?” Clark said concerned.
“What card?” She finally asked.
