Here goes... in taking a break from Nano, this came to me.
It takes place in HiM and then goes a different direction. I have taken a couple liberties with the timeline - the biggest one is that the kiss comes on the first day they're at the hotel.
This will be 2 or 3 parts, I'm thinking 3, but I don't know yet. The muse is currently calling in from the Himalayas where she's preparing to climb Mt. Everest, so as long as the connection holds, I should post the next part by Tuesday or so at the latest.
Very special thanks goes out to Alisha and Kaylle for boosting my spirits during my recent bouts of self-doubt and insecurity. Kaylle has seen parts of this, but it hasn't been officially beta'd so I take full blame for any errors, plot holes big enough to fly a New Kryptonian palace through or anything else.
And now, without further ado...
It's a Big Bed...
*****
"Chief, I was just thinking..." Lois paced in the area around her desk, fiddling with her fingers, hoping desperately that he'd go for her plan.
Perry rolled his eyes. "Let me take a wild guess: you want the Daily Planet to put you up in the Honeymoon Suite until we figure out exactly what's going on in Apocalypse Consulting."
Lois grinned at him. "Thanks, Chief."
Perry held up one hand. "Now, hold on a minute. We're talking a major surveillance operation here."
Lois' face grew more animated. "Perry, this is major. A Washington VIP selling highly classified information."
Perry sighed, resigned to it. He knew if Lois wanted something badly enough, she'd find a way to get it, but she couldn't do this alone. "Okay, you guys have got three nights."
Lois' mouth dropped. "Guys?"
Perry nodded. "You and Clark."
Her face showed only disbelief. "Did you say 'Clark'?"
Clark grinned. "I heard him say 'Clark'."
Jimmy winked at him. "He definitely said 'Clark'."
Cat's sultry voice joined the conversation. ”Definitely."
Lois was adamant. "Chief, I am not sharing that Suite with Clark. How would it look?"
Perry grinned. "The Honeymoon Suite? Natural."
Lois was growing desperate. "But..."
"Lois, think it through. No hotel's going to sit still for us using it as a base for spy operations. You need a cover. What better cover than honeymooners in the Honeymoon Suite?"
Her tone grew even more desperate. "But..."
Perry tried logic. "Besides, how are you going to manage 'round the clock surveillance all by yourself?"
Clark grinned again. "It would be business, Lois. Strictly business."
Perry turned to his office. "That's the deal. Take it or leave it..."
Lois gave a resigned sigh. "I'll take it."
"Good. Now we'll get you two set up with rings and surveillance equipment."
Clark smiled at Lois and pointed a warning finger at her. "Just don't try anything funny."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry."
*****
Several hours later, they were setting up the surveillance equipment. He'd carried her over the threshold. She'd threatened to kill anyone who made another newlywed joke and so he'd kept his piece. Jimmy had come in with their equipment and on his heels was Cat, who had obviously known her way around the room. Somehow seeing her name carved in the table top surprised none of them.
Now, here they were, setting up cameras and other paraphernalia and chatting amiably. Clark wondered idly how they were going to decide who got to sleep in the big bed behind them. He supposed he should be the gentleman and let Lois, but he'd have to give her a hard time about it first.
As they chatted, Clark's superhearing cut in. A quick peek over the top of his glasses showed the maid coming with more towels. He quickly grabbed the scope and tripod, threw it on the bed, pulled a blanket over it and...
Lois interrupted his activity. "Are you insane?"
Clark heard the door begin to open. The surveillance equipment was still visible. Without thinking any further, he grabbed Lois and gently laid her on the bed. His mouth covered hers and after a second or two, he felt her respond to his kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips matched his, beat for beat.
The door opened and a voice barely pierced his consciousness as he continued to lose himself in the kiss. "Towels? Yah? Oops. Sor... ry."
Clark continued the kiss for a few more seconds as the door to the bedroom and later the suite itself shut and then pulled back. He was breathless. He had kissed Lois a time or two, but nothing like that. He rolled off of her and then sat up, trying desperately to pretend it hadn't affected him like it had.
He could hear Lois' breathing and noted her increased heart rate. Maybe she had felt just a little of what he did whenever he was near her.
*****
Lois tried desperately to gather her wits about her. For a split second, she had been furious with Clark for kissing her like that, but then... Then she remembered what a good kisser he was and before she knew it, all rational thought had flown from her head. She'd barely noticed when the maid had come in. Clark must have heard her and that was the reason for the kiss.
But, wow, he was a good kisser.
She managed to compose herself enough to speak. "Doesn't anybody knock around here?!" she protested. "I swear, I'm going to have to call management and complain. Imagine if we were really on our honeymoon! That could have been really embarrassing!" She stood and walked to the window, hoping that Clark wouldn't notice the flush that she had felt creep over her face.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Lois. We want to keep a low profile while we're here. We don't want to give anyone a good reason to think we're anything but a couple of newlyweds."
She sighed. Why did he always have to be right? She nodded. No sense in getting thrown out now, but later... once this was all over, she'd give the manager a piece of her mind. For now, however, they needed to get that stuff all set up.
*****
Clark busied himself by making sure their cameras and recording devices were as inconspicuous as possible. He had set some of the equipment actually on the window sill and covered it with the curtains. Satisfied that he'd done the best he could, he moved back to the couch, grabbing the remote as he went. "Want to watch a movie? I think Die Hard's on tonight."
Lois shook her head."I'm going to bed. You've got first shift. Wake me when our friends across the way show up."
Clark grinned to himself. Here was his chance. "Wait a minute. Aren't you forgetting something?"
She looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "What?"
He grinned again, but this time at her. "This *is* our first night alone together."
"So?"
He reached into his pocket and pulled a quarter out. "So, we flip for the bed."
Lois rolled her eyes. "How about... I get the bed, I lend you a pillow."
He smiled at her again. "How about we alternate nights?"
"How about we don't?"
He decided he could go for one more, just to see her reaction. "It's a *big* bed. How about we share?"
Lois opened her mouth as though to make a sharp retort then closed it. "You know," she sighed. "You're probably right."
Clark did a double take. "I am?"
She nodded. "That maid walked in without any warning and if someone else does and finds you sleeping out here... Well, that might invite a lot of questions we really don't want to answer."
Clark stared at her. "Are you sure? We could always say that we had a fight."
"No. We're both adults. We can share a bed, even a round one, without a problem."
Clark stood. "If you think that really is the best way..." He grinned at her. "I'll even sleep on top of the sheets."
She rolled her eyes. "That's not necessary. Besides, I turned the air way down in here last night and it's pretty chilly in there. You'll get cold."
Clark doubted that was going to be a problem and was sure that his invulnerability had nothing to do with it.
*****
Lois walked into the bedroom more than a bit apprehensive. Why had she decided that the best plan of action was to share the bed? What on earth was she thinking? She was going to be about as intimate as two people could be with her gorgeous, great kissing partner. At least, as intimate as two people could be without doing... that.
His voice startled her. "Lois, why don't you take the bathroom first and brush your teeth or whatever."
She nodded. "Fine. Since we're not alternating nights in the bed, we can alternate there. I'll get ready for bed first tonight and you can tomorrow night." She turned and headed to the bathroom. It seemed smaller than she would have thought and only had one sink. Shouldn't a honeymoon suite have two? Part of her had a sudden urge to take a shower, just to postpone climbing into bed with Clark.
Actually, one part of her brain reminded her, he'd be the one doing the climbing. She'd be in bed while he did whatever it was guys did to get ready for bed.
She brushed her teeth on autopilot and then washed her face and put some moisturizer on. She grimaced slightly. Well, Clark had seen her without make up before and he hadn't run screaming so... she must not be as scary as she thought she was.
She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and took a deep breath. This was it.
That's it. This was it. This was Clark. Her best friend. It really wasn't a big deal at all.
*****
Clark sat on the edge of the bed. He could hear, without even trying to, the water running in the bathroom. How had he managed to get himself into this mess? A little harmless fun over who would get the bed and now they had to share.
Sure, there were worse things in life than sharing a bed with a beautiful woman – not that he actually knew what that was like, he never had shared a bed with a woman, beautiful or otherwise – but certainly things like nuclear explosions and impending death by asteroid would be worse. He'd survived the nuclear reactor to end the heat wave, he could survive this. Piece of cake.
Yeah, and there were pigs flying by outside the window too.
As long as tonight didn't entail a major emergency and didn't float in his sleep, it would be okay.
And if he was *really* lucky, hell was freezing over too.
*****
Lois emerged from the bathroom to find the door to the living area open. "Clark?" she called.
"I'll be right there. I’m just checking everything one more time."
"Okay." She pulled back the comforter and slid into the satin sheets. She tried not to think about how she had lain here earlier in the day, feeling Clark's body molded to hers, feeling his lips on hers. Even though it was only pretense, she'd never had a better kiss. Ever.
She rolled over and closed her eyes. Maybe Clark would buy that she was asleep before he came back in.
*****
Clark walked through the bedroom, where he could make out Lois' body curled up under the blankets, and went in to the bathroom.
He brushed his teeth – they were as invulnerable as the rest of him, but at least he'd have minty breath – and splashed some water on his face. He frowned as he realized the front of his hair was wet. A quick blast of heat vision dried his hair and then he gave his chin a once over so that the stubble disappeared.
He turned to the door and took a deep breath. This was it. Though it wasn't exactly how he'd dreamed of it for the last six months, he was about to go to bed with Lois.
He walked across the room, listening to her breathing. It was pretty obvious that she wanted him to think she was asleep, but her rapid heart rate told him that she wasn't.
He slid into his side of the bed, and rolled so that his back was to Lois. He'd do his best to make sure she wasn't uncomfortable, even if he didn't think he'd get any sleep at all tonight.
*****
Lois tried to roll over, but a weight on her waist prevented it. Where was she? She looked around. The honeymoon suite. Why couldn’t she move? Her hand moved to her waist to see why and felt an arm. An arm?
Clark's arm.
It came back to her in a rush. She and Clark were sharing the bed in the honeymoon suite.
She vividly remembered him crawling in bed and that he faced away from her – she was sure so that she wouldn’t be uncomfortable – and then she'd heard a whispered 'Good night, Lois' and... he must have rolled over sometime in the night. It was still night, she could see that. Though the curtains were drawn tight, there was no light coming from the cracks that inevitably existed. There was a glow coming in but it was a florescent glow from some sort of outside lights rather than the morning sun.
She could feel his body molded against hers as they spooned. She'd never spooned with anyone before. She and Joe had had some pretty heavy make out sessions in high school, but they'd never actually taken things very far – the relationship didn't last long.
Then there was Claude. They'd... been together three times before he stole her story. Three nights in a row. He'd been playing her all along, she was sure. After... it was over, he'd rolled off of her and left pretty quickly. Always using the excuse that her sister would be home anytime even though she'd assured him Lucy was out of town for the week, he'd left within minutes each time. That should have told her something.
Very few of her other dates – interviews Lucy had called them – had resulted in more than a chaste kiss on the cheek and many not even that.
And so this was the first time she'd ever truly *slept* with someone and she was finding it to be... quite comfortable. And safe. She'd never felt this safe, not even when flying with Superman.
Superman. That caught her off guard. Of course, she was safe with Superman. But this was Clark. He was a rock when she needed one. He'd taken her in his arms more than once. And he'd been a perfect gentleman during the pheromone fiasco. Many lesser men would have taken advantage of her.
Suddenly, it hit her. She could wake up every morning like this for the rest of her life and she'd be okay with that. She felt safe and secure and somehow knew that she'd sleep better than she ever had while wrapped in Clark's arms.
The arm shifted as Clark rolled onto his back.
She took the opportunity to roll to her other side. Her brows knit together as she realized that he was still wearing his glasses. That couldn't be comfortable. She reached out and gently removed them, turning to put them on the side table. She turned back to her partner and as she did, the sheet slipped further down his body, revealing a near perfect chest and the top set of six-pack abs.
How on earth did he manage to stay in such good shape when he ate worse than most eight year olds? He ate more snack cakes in an average week than she had in her entire life.
He let out a soft sigh and a small smile graced his lips. He looked so at peace like this.
And so familiar.
Not quite like Clark, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on who he reminded her of.
She squinted and twisted her head to one side just a bit trying to place him.
After a minute she saw a hint of Superman.
Well, that was ridiculous. Sure, they had the same general coloring and were almost the same height, but that was it.
Clark shifted again in his sleep so that he was back on his side, facing her.
And then the strangest thing happened.
He levitated.
He just lifted up off the bed and hovered there about 18 inches above the mattress.
Lois stared and then waved one hand underneath him to make sure that there were no strings or any other explanation.
There was only one logical conclusion.
Clark was Superman.
*****
TBC
