Well, I've been staring at the next part for... several hours now. Off and on. It's up to... wow... 11 pages. Didn't realize it was that long. So I'm just going to post most of it and finish the rest in the next few days because I'm so totally stuck. I've got them all depress-y and I don't want them all depress-y and so it's further from being done than I thought it would be. Or maybe THEY'RE not all depress-y but I am and it's rubbing off and I can't get them happy or something...
I thought it would wrap up in this segment, but maybe not...
It just sort of ends and there's not much waffy smoochieness in it, but... eh. That's sort of where I'm at right now. Eh. So here it is. Comments appreciated. Suggestions appreciated more. Encouragement appreciated most... Or something like that.
From Part 3:
Lois moved swiftly, sliding quickly through the water and covered his lips with hers. She took his face in her hands and settled herself on his lap as she continued to kiss him.
After long minutes, she broke away. "I do love you, Clark. I think I always have."
Part 4
*****
Lois rested her forehead on Clark's. How could she convince him that she loved *him*, all of him and not just the part that moonlighted in spandex?
Clark sighed and pushed her away. "Sure you do, Lois. I spill my heart to you and you get what you've always wanted... Superman."
"No, Clark. That's not it at all." She rested against the opposite side of the tub. "You probably won't believe me but... the honest to God truth is that last night, when I realized you were holding me while we were asleep... I felt safer than I ever have in my life. Even safer than flying with Superman and that really made me think. Deep down, I know I was about to admit to myself that I have feelings for you, but..." She sighed. "You know my history with men." She raised a hand. "I know you're not like them, not at all, but it doesn't make it any easier for me to risk my heart. Because, I know, that if I let myself love you like I think I could... it's a forever kind of thing, Clark, and if something ever happened between us and it didn't work out... that I don't think I'd survive."
Clark sat silently and started in the general direction of the front door.
"You know when I first realized I was attracted to you?"
Clark shook his head.
"When we danced."
He finally looked at her. "When we danced?"
"I wasn't nearly as disappointed as I let on that you cut in at the White Orchid Ball. I mean, I was disappointed in the sense that I wanted the interview with Lex, but... that's why I left so quickly. I couldn't let myself get distracted by a pretty face."
At Clark's outraged look, Lois laughed. "Oh, I know now there's a lot more to you than just a pretty face, but at the time..."
This time Clark groaned. "Lois, would you mind not referring to me as 'pretty'?"
Lois giggled. "Fine. You were just another handsome guy who would probably sleep with me and steal my story, just like the last time, and I couldn't let that happen. So I pushed you away and made you think I was mad at you, which was only partly true. The next time, I realized that I was attracted to you was when we found Platt. The way you stood up to that cop... it made me realize that you were a lot more substance than fluff. And you're the only person that I could ever stand to edit my copy."
She chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip. "You know, though... Clark, it's really not fair of you to want someone to love you for only Clark."
Clark rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about, Lois? I am Clark. I have been since my parents found me. It's my mother's maiden name."
"I'm serious. 'Clark Kent' is the guy who goes out for pizza and beer or stubs his toe and wears glasses. Superman is the guy in Spandex who saves the world. Just Clark... well, he's something else all together. That's one of the first things I noticed when I took your glasses off, even before you floated and I realized who you were. Without those," she pointed to the glasses sitting on the edge of the tub. "You're not Clark Kent, but you're not Superman either. You're you. The guy who gets me coffee and edits my copy and sent me to the Sewage Reclamation Facility and probably uses the vision gizmos in pursuit of a story or to reheat cold pizza or a cold tub." She gestured towards the water. "Do you mind?"
Clark sighed and she felt the water reheat.
"See? Right now, you're not Clark Kent, you're not Superman, you're just you. Asking a woman to love Clark Kent isn't any more fair than asking a woman not to love just Superman."
*****
Clark sat silent for a few moments. How in the world had she managed to turn everything upside down again?
And the worst part of it?
She was right.
He'd never thought of it like that before, but she was. Asking someone to love only Clark was just as unfair as asking someone to love only Superman.
And she was saying she loved all of him.
Could he believe her? Did he want to?
The second question was much easier to answer than the first. Of course, he wanted to believe her. That kiss... his insides were still quivering like a bowl full of Jello from that kiss.
But could he?
Had Lois ever been untruthful with him?
The technical answer to that was an unequivocal yes. She'd lied to him about stories, especially the early Superman ones. She'd lied to him when she'd pushed him away, but if he believed her now that was only because she was scared.
So when it came to things that really mattered, had she lied to him?
The answer to that was no. She'd been Superman's staunchest supporter during the heat wave. She'd actually begun to trust him, - Clark – to let him be her friend.
She'd started to trust him with her heart.
Could he trust her with his?
She moved so that she was half standing half floating directly in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Do you think you can ever believe me? That I love you?"
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. "Who is it?"
Clark gazed towards the door to the suite. "Perry, Cat and Jimmy."
Lois sighed. "You think you can make this look less..." She waved a hand at the tub. "...whatever real quick?"
Clark nodded and before she could blink, she was dry, with a robe wrapped around her and Clark was in jeans and a T-shirt, hair done and glasses on. He had set her next to the bed. "You stay here and get dressed. I'll stall."
She nodded. Why were they always getting interrupted?
Clark closed the door to the bedroom behind him. With a 'whoosh', he made sure that notes and other things that indicated they were hard at work were very visible.
He then opened the door and welcomed their boss and coworkers inside.
Cat glanced around and raised a brow. "Where's Lois?"
"She's in the bathroom. She got the fire sprinklers turned on across the street and went to take a shower, but it's been a little bit so I'd imagine she'll be done soon."
Perry sighed. "You never know what it's going to be with that girl."
Clark grinned. "Nope."
Lois opened the door and walked out of the bedroom. Her smile included all of them. "Welcome to our love nest."
Clark groaned. Perry laughed. Jimmy stared at his feet. Cat snorted.
"Sure, Lois." Cat immediately went back to the seat she'd staked out the day before and turned the massager on. "So sprinklers, huh?"
Lois rolled her eyes. "Clark, did you find anything in that file I snagged?"
Perry raised a hand. "Lois, do I really want to know?"
She shook her head. "No, not really and the tape was screwed up anyway so we're not really sure what happened."
Clark was amazed. She thought so quickly on her feet. Surely she could help him come up with some better excuses. The meeting a source, return a video and get a prescription ones were getting really old. "Yeah. She snuck in, but the sprinklers came on. She grabbed a file and came back." He shrugged. "I haven't looked at it yet. I figured she'd box my ears if I did."
"Got that right, farm boy." She held out a hand. "Where is it?"
He sighed and handed it over.
Lois opened the folder. "Tsunami. What's that?"
Cat had the answer. "Japanese seafood, right?"
Clark rolled his eyes. "No, Cat. A tsunami is a tidal wave. Sort of. Technically, it's not a tidal wave because the..." He sighed. "It has to do with wind. So, not a tidal wave, but not a good thing. Basically, something happens, like an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption or rock slide and it creates a giant wave. Out at sea, a ship probably wouldn't even notice it, but as it gets close to shore it sort of sucks up all the water and then rolls in destroying everything in its path for however long it takes to crest. Some tsunamis are only a few feet high and are only noticed because scientists measure these things. Others will finally run out of steam further inland having decimated buildings and people and everything else in its way."
"But its Japanese sea food too, right?"
"No, Cat. There are a lot of Japanese restaurants named Tsunami but it's not the name of a dish. And this is a lot more serious than that."
Lois chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip. "Clark, remember the tape they showed?"
Clark's eyes grew wide. "A wave took out half of downtown Metropolis."
"A tsunami?"
Clark exhaled slowly. "Wow."
Perry stood. "Well, we need to get a hold of Superman and anyone else who might be able to figure this thing out."
Clark looked at him. "What can Superman do?"
"Well, for one, I think the military would be more likely to listen to him than you, son. You and I both know that the boy in blue carries more weight than we do."
Clark nodded. "Yeah, he does. Let's finish up here and we'll find him."
Perry looked sternly at Lois. "And no jumping off a building."
Lois rolled her eyes. "No need to jump, Chief. Just stand on the roof, and yell 'Help, Superman'." She winked slightly at Clark. "Right, partner?"
He looked at her quite seriously. "That is the safer way."
"Okay. Let's get out of here and see what we can do. Cat, you stake out Harrington's place. Jimmy, do your computer thing. Lois, Clark... well, do whatever you two do to get a hold of Superman without dangling over the jaws of death to do it."
*****
"Well, Roarke and Harrington and the goons are under arrest. Superman was able to convince the Navy not to conduct the test. The story's on the front page of the Planet. And, they think Roarke is going to implicate 'the Boss' soon."
Lois stuck her plastic door key in the slot. "I wonder who it is."
Clark sighed. "I think I have a pretty good idea."
She stopped and looked at him. "Who? And why didn't you tell me?"
Clark shrugged. "*I* don't *know* anything. Superman has heard and seen some things, but has no evidence. And you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Lois glared at him. "Spill it."
Clark sighed. "Luthor."
"What? Clark, that's ridiculous." Lois turned back to the door, but stopped short of opening it. "Well, okay. If you told me that, I probably wouldn't believe you, but Superman has resources the rest of us don't." She pushed the door open and started to walk inside, but stopped when she saw the place had been ransacked.
Clark suddenly appeared in front of her, reaching under the sofa. He pulled out what could only be a bomb and enveloped it in both of his hands. There was a popping sound and wisps of smoke snuck out of the openings between his fingers.
Lois' mouth worked open and closed several times. Finally, she managed to squeak out a small "Wow."
Clark's mouth was set in a hard line. "Someone wanted us dead. That was triggered by the key in the door. Whoever it was figured that by the time it went off, we'd be over here. But we stood outside for a minute so..." He tossed the bomb remnants onto the couch and looked around. "No fingerprints." His head went up and suddenly Superman was there.
His cape billowing behind him, Superman walked towards the door. "Inspector Henderson," he said as the man walked in. "There was a bomb under the couch. I was able to contain the detonation, but the remnants are over there. I've looked around the room and there aren't any fingerprints at all."
Henderson nodded. "Roarke is singing like a canary. He said they'd been over here after they found your credit card, Lane."
Superman pushed the door slightly to reveal Lois' card stuck to the back of the door with a knife.
"I was wondering where that was."
Henderson sighed and looked around. "Where's Kent?"
"He was finishing up at the Planet. He said he wouldn't be more than a few minutes behind me. I ran into Superman and he offered to check the place out with me, just in case. I'm awfully glad he did."
Superman nodded. "I better be going though. Unless there's anything else, Inspector?"
Henderson shook his head. "Just find Kent."
Superman nodded. "I will. If you'll let the management know, I'd be happy to help clean up the mess later so they can get their room back to normal once you're done with it. I'll stop back by in a bit."
"I'll tell them. Thanks."
With his characteristic 'whoosh', he was gone.
A few seconds later, Clark rushed in. "What's going on? I saw the cop cars downstairs and thought I heard Superman..."
Lois realized how easy it was to believe Clark and Superman had actually been in the same place at the same time.
Henderson sighed. "Your partner can fill you in. Superman said there was no evidence here and Roarke already admitted to having it done and who did it an signed a confession, with his lawyer present no less."
Lois' eyes narrowed. "Is he getting a deal?"
Henderson looked at her sharply. "What are you talking about?"
"He's giving you 'the Boss' isn't he?"
Henderson nodded. "Yes. But that's not for print."
Lois shook her head. "Of course not. But we get the exclusive."
Henderson rolled his eyes. "Of course you do, Lane."
Lois moved to stand directly in front of him. "Who is 'the boss'?"
"I'm not telling you that."
"It's Lex Luthor, isn't it?"
She stared him straight in the eyes and saw his pupils dilate slightly.
"Whatever gives you that idea, Lane?"
"I'm right, aren't I?" She stared at him for a long moment. "But I suppose you can neither confirm nor deny that, can you, Henderson?"
"Lois, I can't confirm anything."
She nodded. They'd used that trick a time or two in the past. She'd ask if he could confirm or deny something and he'd only use one of the two words in his response. The word he used indicated what he was doing. In this case, he was confirming Luthor as 'the Boss' without actually confirming it.
The first time he'd done that to her, she'd fumed until her own leads had taken her to the same end and it had finally clicked that he had been denying something in order to send her in the right direction. She'd wasted two whole days on something he'd already denied. Since then, she'd paid much more attention to how he worded things with her.
She sighed and moved back. "That figures. Typical government cover-up."
Henderson rolled his eyes. "Believe whatever you want, Lane. I'm outta here." He stopped at looked directly at Clark. "And tell Superman that I'm sure the hotel won't mind if he helps clean up a bit."
Clark nodded and locked the door behind Henderson.
Lois sighed and sat in one of the chairs that hadn't been destroyed. She had to brush aside some stuffing from the couch first, but the chair itself was intact. "Do you think he knows?"
Clark shrugged. "I don't think so. He knows I know how to get a hold of Superman is all."
"Oh."
Lois closed her eyes and sighed. She felt a rush of wind and when she opened her eyes, she was unsurprised to see the room was clean.
Clark sank wearily in the chair opposite her and put his feet on the coffee table. "I didn't do the bedroom yet. I thought you might want to get, er, your things first."
"Thanks." She sighed again. "I'm sorry we got interrupted, Clark."
"Me, too, but I'm glad we stopped the destruction of downtown Metropolis."
She nodded. "Clark..." She stopped unsure of what exactly she was going to say. The emotion of the last few days came over her and tears sprung to her eyes. "I love you, Clark. I don't know how to convince you that I love all of you and not just the super part, but I do."
***
TBC
