Here you go with the last Part of Sunday's Gain. As I said at the beginning of this Story (or maybe I'd better call it section 
) this won't finish Becca's story either. I hope you haven't had enough of Clark's little girl yet.
Feedback is very appreciated. I really love feedback. And my muse depends on it, she is just half as good without. 
Thanks to LaraMoon. You always make me smile when I read your comments. Did I ever tell you how much they help me writing? From Part 7 “How about you call me Clark instead of Kent as a sign of reconciliation,” Clark offered. He held out his hand and Lois shook it.
“I’m Lois,” she said softly. “It was impressive how you made the fire fighter talk,” Lois added and glanced only briefly at him before she looked away. Her concentration was focused on the street again.
“Thanks,” Clark replied simply.
Part 8:They were approaching downtown Metropolis. The traffic became denser and the streets were busy. Both Lois and Clark had fallen silent. Clark watch his surrounding, trying to broaden his mental map of the city. But there will still many places he hadn’t seen yet, not even on his previous visits to the city without Becca when he had searched for an apartment. And he was thinking about Lois’ comment on being hungry. Why should meeting a source have something to do with hunger? Maybe this mystery would be solved soon.
They had reached a Chinese take-out when Lois parked the car again.
“I’ll be back in a flash, Ke…Clark,” She corrected herself.
“What…?”Clark wanted to ask, but she was already gone. He watched her leaving, startled.
It took a couple of minutes for her to return. Lois had a big paper bag, filled with Chinese take-out. Clark wondered what she was going to do with such an amount of food. She grabbed in the bag and handed him an egg roll and a fortune cookie.
“Watch these, but *don’t* you dare eat them,” she said threateningly. Then she placed the paper bag on his lap, covering the two things she had given him previously. “Same with that.”
She started the car again and pulled out of the parking lot. They followed the street and continued their way to a yet unknown destination. They passed a couple of blocks and most of the buildings on the side of the street contained restaurants. There was Indian food, French Cuisine, some Bars and Pubs and about any other type of restaurant. Cheap ones and really expensive ones, all accurately lined up like pearls on a string. Clark had no clue as to who this mysterious source could be. When he or she really lived in this El Dorado of food, why had Lois bought so much that he and Becca would need about a week to eat it all?
After an endless row of restaurants, Lois left the street and parked the car in an alley behind a restaurant. She shot a longing glance towards the paper bag, but turned her head again and watched the street. Obviously she was waiting for someone to appear. After a couple of minutes, her gaze wandered back to the paper bag. Clark could hear her stomach growling and realized with astonishment that noon was long gone.
“Why don’t you eat something, Lois?” Clark offered. She shot him a glance as if he had made a downright impossible suggestion.
“Don’t you dare!” a voice from the back of the car answered instead of Lois.
Clark turned around and gasped in surprise. He hadn’t heard anyone entering the car, but there was a man sitting on the backseat. He had light brown curls and wasn’t really shaved. His once white shirt was spotted with remnants of various meals and the man looked as if he needed a shower. He grabbed the paper bag from Clark’s lap and opened it, his eyes gleaming with pleasure.
“What did you bring me, Lois?”
It was a rhetorical question. Clark assumed that Lois had brought every available item from the takeout. The man started eating.
“Who is that friend of yours, Lois?” he asked between two bites.
Clark could hardly believe that this man was able to swallow his food. It was amazing and somewhat disgusting to watch him eat.
“This is Clark Kent, Clark, this is Bobby Bigmouth. Bobby, what do you know about these fires?” Lois inquired.
Bobby Bigmouth chewed a couple of egg rolls while he was thinking. Clark considered Bigmouth as the only suitable name for the man on the backseat. He waited patiently for Bobby to answer, but like Lois had said, she wasn’t patient.
“Come on, Bobby. I know that you know something about the fires,” she repeated.
Bobby shook his head. “Not without that last egg roll and I bet there was a fortune cookie as well.”
Lois denied their existence and shot Clark a pleading glance. Bobby Bigmouth called Lois a liar and insisted on the two last bits of food that hadn’t yet found their way into his seemingly giant stomach. Clark handed him the objects of desire and observed, fascinated, how quick they were vanishing as well.
“All I know is that someone set fire on your building in attempt to kill your neighbor. By the way, I’m glad you survived. I have no idea why the hotel burned as well. Oh, and there are rumors that a mysterious man stormed into your building and rescued you and your neighbor.” Bobby fumbled with the packages of his meal. “Find your disguise for Halloween,” he read out loud and added an address. “Lois, please, where did you get that? Am I going to find advertising for the first journey of the Titanic on the bag next time? Remember, only fresh food means fresh news.” With these words he left a very startled Lois and Clark.
Clark noticed that Lois’ expression had turned blank and he could virtually see her mind wrapping around the news she had gotten. He waited for her to come to terms with what she had heard. Clark was a little worried that his rescue hadn’t remained a secret. Of course, Bobby Bigmouth hadn’t said that Clark Kent had saved Lois. But rumors could be bad enough, especially when they caused Lois to dig further in her rescue. She hadn’t been aware of the circumstances in which she had escaped the apartment building. Clark wished that it would still be like that.
In the meantime Lois had obviously come to a conclusion. “He was there, Clark, both times. These arsons are connected.”
“He? Lois, who are you talking about?” Clark asked, confused.
“The arsonist, Clark. He was there. Don’t you remember what the fire fighter said? There was someone who rescued people. And Bobby Bigmouth just told us that there was a mysterious man that saved my neighbor and me,” Lois explained.
Clark shook his head. “No, Lois. Why should anyone burn down houses and run into them to save the victims?”
“I don’t know, Clark, but this is Metropolis. Stranger things have happened here. If he was a hero, why would he hide, then?”
Clark didn’t reply. He could hardly tell Lois the truth. And as it was, he couldn’t come up with a good argument that would instantly prove her theory wrong. How could she know that she hadn’t been on the second floor but the third? That no living being on earth but him could have gotten her outside? And that even the smartest arsonist couldn’t have escaped the fire in the hotel? She hadn’t been there or had been unconscious and therefore hadn’t seen the entire extend of the fire. He wasn’t going to tell her, he wasn’t going to tell anyone.
All of the sudden two sentences that had been used previously jumped back into Clark’s mind and established themselves there, not willing to leave. One of them was the advertising that Bobby Bigmouth had read out; the other was Lois’ last sentence. He tried to get them out of his head, but to no avail. All he managed was to reduce them to two words that kept circulating in his mind. * Disguise* *Hide* *Disguise* *Hide* Clark almost didn’t notice that Lois was speaking again. She had obviously assumed that he had accepted having lost the argument, which was certainly true.
“Where shall I drop, you, Clark? We are finished now; there is nothing else that we’ll find today. The press conference is tomorrow. I think that your daughter wants you back. I almost forgot…Perry told me that you could have a day off on Monday, if you like.”
The jumble of thoughts in Clark’s head stopped for a moment and was replaced by sheer felicity. His mouth got dry and dark clouds were vanishing. Suddenly sunshine was able to touch the ground. “I…I’d be glad if I could come in a few hours later on Monday,” he managed to say.
“Sure, Clark,” Lois replied and for the first time since she was with him, a bright smile appeared on her face. Clark was directly transported to paradise as he saw her beautiful face. “You know what? Despite your being so inexperienced you came into your own. Maybe it’s not that bad being partnered with you on this story. But don’t think that we’ll make that a habit.”
* * *
When Clark returned home it was afternoon and freezing cold outside, but one of his problems had just vanished into nothingness. He could attend Becca’s first day in school. It could as well have been a bright and fresh morning in the warm summer air. That reflected how Clark felt much better. After all it hadn’t been that bad a day, though some moments of it had been quite rough.
Clark opened the door to his apartment and noticed that Becca and his parents had already returned. The little girl had obviously forgiven him his early departure and ran across the room towards him. He caught her in mid air when she jumped up and held her tightly.
“Hi, pumpkin, nice to see you,” he greeted her and she laid her arms around his neck and placed a kiss on his mouth. “What a welcome,” he mumbled. Clark walked with the little whirlwind on his arms into the living room. “Hi, Mom and Dad.”
“Hi, Clark,” his father said, grinning at his son. Martha’s smile was slightly smaller, but she didn’t say anything. “How was the first day of work?” Jonathan inquired.
“Difficult at times, but mostly okay,” Clark replied.
“She’s a witch!” Becca stated.
“No, she isn’t, honey. She had a bad day. Remember? She’s the woman that I saved from the fire in the apartment building.”
“Bad day, pah.” Becca rolled her eyes. She could win contests at that. Clark couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
“Why don’t you get dressed pumpkin? Really warm clothes!” Clark said.
Becca’s face started to gleam with expectation. Her cheeks grew red and her eyes turned into sparkling stars. As soon as Clark had released her to the floor, she started running upstairs. She didn’t notice how Martha was shaking her head.
*Clark!* she mouthed in her son’s direction. She knew exactly what he was up to. *Don’t you dare!*
“Yes, Mom, I will take her out on a flight. She deserves that after I left her this morning,” he whispered.
“That’s another point, Clark how you think this is going to work when we return to Smallville? You can’t possibly bring Becca to us on a moment’s notice,” Martha returned in a low voice.
“I don’t know yet, Mom. But I’ll find a way. Becca is my responsibility, I’d never let her down,” Clark stated firmly.
“We trust you, son,” Jonathan said and rested his hand on Clark’s shoulder in affirmation. Martha nodded, not completely convinced yet, but knowing that Becca’s happiness strictly depended on her being with Clark.
As soon as Becca came down again, Clark lifted her up into his arms and said good-bye to his parents. Then he stepped out on his balcony. It was already dark outside.
“Ready?” he asked his daughter.
“Ready!” she replied happily.
Clark took off and flew high up into the sky. The clear air of the night and the joy of flying washed away all his sorrows. One last time, the two words that had accompanied him since he had said good-bye to Lois suddenly reappeared. First there was *Hide* and then came *Disguise*. As strange as it was, they made sense to him now. Becca’s cheers of joy only confirmed it as brilliant. Right at this moment, Clark had the feeling that he had just solved another one of his problems.
(Not really) The End
