Okay... This is my first L&C story, so I hope you enjoy it, at least a little bit.
It's set at the end of 'And the Answer Is' onwards. I utilised a tiny bit of the script at the beginning, but from then on it's my own interpretation/story.
Thank you very much to my beta, Miriam. Although she may not see this post herself (as she's not on these boards...yet), her help was hugely appreciated.
If it wasn't for her laughing with me over several title ideas, we might never have come up with the title as you now see it!
I'll probably post another part each week, but please bear with me if RL takes over once in a while!
Disclaimer: I do not own Lois and Clark. This story is not for profit and all characters (apart from Diana and Dougal) belong to those people who made Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Thoughts are shown by single quotation marks (ie. 'He's stupid,' she thought.)
Title: Remember When It Rained
Author: Anna
Rated: PG
Some glory in their birth, some in their skill,
Some in their wealth, some in their bodies' force,
Some in their garments, though new-fangled ill,
Some in their hawks and hounds, some in their horse;
And every humour hath his adjunct pleasure,
Wherein it finds a joy above the rest:
But these particulars are not my measure;
All these I better in one general best.
Thy love is better than high birth to me,
Richer than wealth, prouder than garments' cost,
Of more delight than hawks or horses be;
And having thee, of all men's pride I boast:
Wretched in this alone, that thou mayst take
All this away and me most wretched make.
--- Sonnet 91 by William Shakespeare
“Lois, will you marry me?” Clark dropped to one knee, displaying a ring.
His question was followed by a brief moment where all Clark could hear was Lois’ heartbeat, the rain and their breathing. Then Lois leaned closer, coming so close their lips were almost touching. She dropped the bombshell. “Who’s asking? Clark…or Superman?”
Clark’s face registered his astonishment, but Lois’ was harder to read. This was one of those times when superhuman powers was not going to get him out of a sticky situation.
“Wha-? I…um… L-Lois?” He stumbled and stuttered over his words, not producing much of anything. Eventually he was able to construct a sufficient sentence. “When- How did you find out?” The expression on Lois’ face was still unfathomable.
“Well, which is it, Clark?” she asked in a neutral tone. “When, or how?”
“Um, how, I suppose.” He watched her warily, just waiting for the classic ‘Lane explosion’. It didn’t come: not yet in any case. What he got instead was an answer.
“When you touched my face.” When Clark looked rather confused, she continued. “Just before you froze me, you touched my face in a certain way. Only Clark had ever touched me in just that way before. When you did it as Superman, everything clicked into place somehow. I’ve been thinking about it ever since you woke me up.”
“A-and, you’re not angry?” He had to find out. Her tone and inscrutable expression was unsettling him somewhat.
“Not angry? Oh no. I’m angry,” Lois said. It was only at that moment that she began to show any emotion about the situation. “In fact, I’m more than angry, Clark. Like I said, I’ve been thinking about it since you woke me up. It may not be an overly long period of time, but believe me, I’ve had ample opportunity to get to ‘angry’ in my long, long list of emotions regarding this-this deception.”
“Oh. Um-” Clark paused, glancing around them as the rain stilled. “Maybe this isn’t the best place to talk, Lois. Shall we…walk?”
“Walk? Alright, let’s walk, Clark.” Lois began to stride away from the fountain where they’d been situated, letting loose a tirade that rivalled any of her previous bests, if not in length, then in the force behind it. All that Clark could do was follow. “You lie to me for well over a year; you hide one half of yourself from me; you let me think that you were dead for goodness sakes! How could you do that to me, Clark? Do you know how that made me feel? And don’t get me started on trust in this relationship, because obviously there isn’t any!”
“Lois!” Clark resisted using his super speed to force her to stand still long enough to look at him. “There were reasons; circumstances! I wanted to tell you! And I did trust you – I mean, I do trust you!”
“If you trusted me so much I wouldn’t have been blaming myself and feeling the agony of loosing you when you d-d-died!” Her voice subsided as she dissolved into the tears she’d been holding back in one way or another since waking from her frozen sleep. Clark, hardly able to stand seeing her like that, made a move to put his arms around her. But she shook his hands off. “Don’t you touch me, Clark Kent!” One hand moved to wipe her tear-stained cheek. “Don’t you dare touch me right now!” The anger that he’d thought gone was still very much an issue, it seemed.
“What do you want me to say, Lois?” Clark asked in a tight voice. “That I’m sorry I lied to you? Because I am, if it makes any difference: I’m sorry, more than I can express in words. But like I said, I had reasons for not telling you. You were in love with Superman, there was Lex and-”
Lois cut in acidly. “Lex hasn’t been around for months now, Clark. And I told you I chose you! So don’t you use any of those as excuses for why you didn’t tell me. At the very least you could have told me after we agreed to take the next step. Before proposing to me!”
“I thought the next step was proposing!” Clark whispered forcefully, aware that, having arrived back at Lois’ apartment they were now surrounded by her neighbours, any of which could be listening eagerly at their window.
Lois unlocked the door to her building and stepped inside. “Well you thought wrong,” she said firmly. And she slammed the door in his face.
********
The next morning, Clark tried to get to Lois’ apartment early so that he could have it out with her before work. But the wily Ms Lane was long gone when he arrived at her door.
Heading to the Planet, Clark stopped off and brought a bunch of purple hyacinths. While at the florist, he also composed a short note to Lois to go with the flowers. Then, reflecting that it couldn’t hurt, he stopped in the Planet’s foyer and bought a box full of Lois’ favourite comfort food, Double Fudge Crunch bars.
When the doors of the elevator opened to reveal the newsroom, Clark’s eyes quickly scanned the room for Lois. He saw her sitting at her desk, talking with the paper’s newest import. Dougal Finnegan had transferred from the London office of the Planet just one week before. His coal black hair and intriguing blue eyes had had most of the paper’s female population under his spell by the end of his first day. On the verge of walking over to talk to Lois, Clark heard his editor, Perry White, call: “Clark, my office now!” When Clark complied, his editor waved him into the room, closing the door behind the two of them. “Have a seat, Clark,” he said, gesturing towards a chair. “This won’t take long.”
“What’s up, Chief?” asked Clark, wondering what it was that his editor wanted to talk to him about, without Lois also being involved. He racked his brain: her birthday wasn’t coming up, so it couldn’t be a surprise party. Did Perry know something that he didn’t about his partner? Was Lois okay? Did he want him to keep an eye on her?
“Well, Clark, you see… It’s like this. You’ve got a new partner.” Seeing the perplexed look on Clark’s face, Perry White hastily amended his sentence. “Oh, ah-just temporarily, of course!”
“But, Chief… Um, can I ask why? What about Lois?”
“She has a new partner too. Also temporarily.” When Clark looked sceptical about the ‘temporary’ aspect of the arrangement, Perry explained. “Lois came to see me this morning, son. She asked me for a favour – for the two of you to work separately for a time. Now, I know, I know: why would I break up my best reporting team, simply to cater to Lois Lane’s wishes? Well, although I suspect this sudden need to work apart from you is neither more nor less than the result of a fight you two have had, I thought that it might be a good idea to split up the team of Lane and Kent for a while. It’ll do you both good to learn to work with other people. Lois especially.”
“Lois requested this?” Clark was sure he could feel his heart sinking in his chest.
“Aw, now don’t look so down, son. It’s only temporary. For a couple of weeks, I promise you. By the way, I’ve set you up with Diana Harwood. She’s shown she’s got potential and I’d like to foster that and give her a chance or two to prove herself with her writing. And Lois is teamed with-”
“Dougal,” Clark finished, his heart plummeting even further. He glanced out into the newsroom and watched his erstwhile partner laugh loudly at something the dashing Irish man had said.
Perry nodded. “I know you’ll do the Planet proud, Clark, and I know that you’ll do all you can to help Diana.” He could see the disappointment in his reporter’s eyes. But he also knew that Clark wouldn’t let him down when he put his trust in him.
Clark exhaled a little loudly, but forced a smile on to his face and said, “Of course, Chief.”
“That’s all, son. I believe that Diana is out by the coffee machine,” his editor said in dismissal. Clark stood slowly, making himself walk to the door and open it. He marched to the coffee machine to talk to Diana, pausing on the way to place the flowers and chocolate on Lois’ desktop. He looked up at her quickly, but she seemed too busy talking to Dougal to notice his gift. Clark hoped that she’d at least notice the note before throwing the flowers out, and put her anger at him aside long enough to read it.
‘There’s Clark,’ Lois thought, sensing rather than seeing her partner set the presents down. She’d observed him closely while he was in talking to Perry, only half listening to what Dougal was saying at the time. Her vision wasn’t quite 20/20, but she’d still been able to clearly see the confused and hurt expression on Clark’s face. For just a moment she’d felt bad about hurting him like that, but in an instant her little devil had poked it’s head up and berated her for feeling sorry for her partner. After all, he’d hurt her. He’d lied to her and he hadn’t trusted her; she was very angry with him.
And it was with this spiteful little voice whispering in her ear, that Lois leaned into Dougal, giggling at something else he’d said. On the inside however, she was pondering whom Perry would have teamed Clark up with.
“Diana?” Clark paused beside the slim blonde woman. She turned, displaying her sunny expression.
“Clark, hi! Perry told me you’d be working with me for a while. I’m so excited! I might actually get the chance to write something for the front page!”
Diana’s energy and enthusiasm was infectious. Clark couldn’t help but feel a little less grumpy about the situation.
“I know you’ll do great,” he assured her with a smile. “Perry has faith in you.”
“Thanks, Clark.” Diana grinned. “I just hope I don’t screw it up!”
From the other side of the newsroom, Lois surveyed the interactions between Clark and Diana Harwood. “I see that Perry’s paired up Clark with Diana,” she commented, a hint of jealousy tingeing her tone. ‘Hmm… She’s always had a crush on Clark. Of course, he’s never been aware of it. He simply has no idea that most of the female staff under the age of fifty gossip about him in the ladies room. I’ll have to keep an eye on her…’
At her voice, Dougal glanced up from a report he was perusing. “Sure seems like it,” he replied, watching his partner’s face. Right now she was studying Clark Kent and Diana Harwood as they talked. He saw her eyes narrow as Diana placed a hand on Clark’s chest briefly, flirtatiously. He raised his eyebrows. He had to hand it to Clark’s new partner – if she continued as she was, pretty soon Lois Lane would be using him to make Clark jealous, with just a little subtle suggestion to help her on her way. And that could work to his advantage. Lois Lane was the person he’d always hoped to work with. And her good looks were only part of the reason why…
********
Later that day, Clark and Diana returned to the newsroom after covering a press conference where the mayor was addressing sexual harassment claims made against him by a former assistant. Upon exiting the elevator, Clark became acutely aware of Lois and Dougal sitting very close together as they eagerly discussed something.
“-and Bobby said that they were involved in the robbery,” he heard Lois state as he tuned into their conversation.
“That makes perfect sense,” Dougal replied. “After all, what criminal activities have Intergang not been involved with in the past few years?”
‘Hmm… So Lois is on to a story involving Intergang,’ Clark mused, a frown sliding on to his face. ‘Some of the most dangerous criminals in Metropolis, and I won’t be with her while she’s investigating. She’s made sure of that!’ He sat down at his desk, absent-mindedly shuffling a pile of papers as he thought. ‘I know that she’s mad at me; I expected it. But why does she have to take this so far? I won’t be able to protect her so easily when I’m not with her.’
“Clark?” He glanced up to see Diana logging off her computer before stuffing some files into her bag. “I’m going to head home, okay? I’ll go over the copy of the deposition that the mayor’s assistant made, tonight. Something about what the mayor said at the press conference rang true to me. I think that somewhere in the assistant’s statements there’s an inconsistency just waiting to be uncovered.”
“Maybe you should have gone into law,” Clark joked, putting down his stack of papers and focusing on her. “But seriously, I’ll see you tomorrow, Di. Have a good night. Don’t work too hard.”
“Thanks, Clark. See you later!” Diana headed for the elevator, and Clark quickly focused his attentions on Lois and her partner once more.
He watched as Dougal leaned into Lois, pointing at something on a piece of paper she held. Clark gritted his teeth, fighting the urge to run over there at super speed and yank the suave Irish man away from her. Instead, his fists clenched beneath the desktop and he looked away from the scene momentarily, trying to regain his composure. When he glanced back, Dougal was standing and heading over to his desk. He started to pack up his papers. Lois also began putting things into her briefcase and subsequently the pair walked out of the newsroom together. Forcing himself wait to for a full fifteen minutes after they’d gone, Clark eventually headed home, his spirits at what seemed like an all time low. He was determined to visit Lois that night. Despite her obvious attempts to avoid him at work and the fact that she’d barely glanced his way all day, it wouldn’t be so easy in her own home. Of course, she could always shut the door on him like she had the night before, and the window for that matter. But he didn’t think that she would. Lois liked a good fight far too much; she wanted to yell at him some more. It was all a part of getting it out of her system, he assured himself. Lois would want to talk. After all, he’d checked: the flowers were still on her desk, but she’d taken the note.
********
Lois had indeed taken the note. And almost an hour after reading it through for the first time she was still sitting, virtually motionless, at her table. It wasn’t so much the words themselves that had floored her, it was that she’d realised that she hadn’t been thinking about Clark’s feelings in this situation at all.
“But he lied to me…” she muttered aloud, her brain processing thoughts frantically. “Why should I consider how he feels? He certainly didn’t consider how I’d feel…” The frown on her face softened slightly. “However angry I am, I do miss him… But the question remains: can I really forgive him that easily?”
It was as her thoughts lingered over these confusing deliberations that the devilish little imp inside of her spoke up for the second time that day.
“Clark Kent lied to you! Don’t back down now. Let him lose sleep worrying. Let him agonize over thoughts of whether you’ll take him back. He deserves it!”
A scowl descended over Lois’ features. “He did lie to me. I can’t just forgive and forget, not so quickly. It’s not that simple. I have to decide whether a deceptive, distrustful Clark is the sort of man I want to be involved with, let alone married to.” She sighed and allowed her head to fall forward on to her outstretched arms. This time when she spoke, her voice was muffled. “Why did I even read that note?”
Just then, a tapping sounded at her window. She knew that tap. Only one person ever tapped at her window, two stories up from the street. And that was the one special person who, out of all the individuals in the world, could fly. The one person that she really didn’t want to talk to. The one person who, despite all the words she’d said, still caused her head and her heart to become utterly confused.
“Go away,” she mumbled, positive he could hear her.
“Lois.” His voice came, barely audible through the window. “Please, let me in.”
“I said go away!” She could feel her temper rising as she raised her head and gazed at his silhouette through the filmy curtains covering her window. “I don’t want to talk to you. Or didn’t I make that clear enough at work today?”
Hovering outside the window, Clark listened to Lois’ last sentence and felt again the tumult of emotions that had been swirling around inside of him since the previous night. The pain was acute, and Lois didn’t seem to care. That’s what hurt the most.
“You made it perfectly clear,” he said, biting back the cutting remarks being batted about by his brain. It was urging him to hurt her as much as she was hurting him. “But I value our relationship too much to just walk away from you now.”
There was a slight scuffling sound from inside before the window was thrown open. A dishevelled Lois stood facing him, a fierce look upon her face.
“Okay. You want to talk? Let’s talk. I’ll talk.” And with that statement, Lois Lane went into full babble mode. “I do not want to have anything to do with you right now, Clark Kent. And do you know why? You should know why. It’s because you lied to me. You deceived me; you misled me; you tricked, swindled, hoodwinked, conned and betrayed me. You lied about your identity for over a year and in the midst of it all, you allowed me to believe that you were dead when you weren’t. I was in so much pain that night, Clark! I thought that you were gone! And I thought that it was all my fault! How on earth could you do something like that to someone you supposedly love? No, wait; don’t answer that. I know why. Because you had to keep your secret; your precious secret.” Her voice had taken on a slightly mocking tone. “Well, you know what I think about your secret right now, Kent?” Lois’ mouth twisted in a grimace. “I think it would serve you right if everyone knew.”
A wave of fear washed over Clark. His eyes widened. “Lois, you wouldn’t…?”
Lois turned her back on the window and started walking. Finally she stopped, as far away from him as she could get in the small apartment. “No,” she said with a sigh, “I wouldn’t. But only because I know what it would mean for your parents. Jonathan and Martha don’t deserve to be embroiled in this.”
He exhaled in relief. “Thank you.”
She spun around once more, the ire still evident in her expression. “Don’t thank me. Just go.” A final word was uttered, squeezed out of the side of her mouth as if she didn’t want to let it go. “Please.”
Clark studied his partner for a moment, watching the set of her jaw and the way her arms were folded tightly across her chest. Silently he nodded, and without another word he extended one arm and shot straight up, looking to the emptiness of space for solace.
Back in her apartment Lois sagged, relaxing her body. She’d stayed incredibly tense throughout the entire encounter and it was a relief to have him gone, so that she could be alone with her thoughts once more. It was dangerous having Clark around. Seeing him was like a king size block of chocolate being flourished in front of a person on a diet: hazardous both to the dieter and to the person brandishing the chocolate. If she were to give in now, simply because she missed him, her anger would overwhelm the relationship, effectively killing anything that was there. She needed to take a little time to forgive his iniquities, and to get to know him again. Time to reconcile her head with her heart.
To be continued in Part 2...
