Hi!
A BIG thanks goes to Kmar for returning this so fast.
Michael
Disclaimer: The recognizable characters and settings in this story are the property of D.C. Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions, and anyone else with a legal right to them, and I have no claim on them whatsoever, nor am I profiting by their use. It’s just the original stuff, that would be mine, written down to bring some entertainment to other FoLC.
The setting is right after “Season’s Greedings” in Season 2.
Blocks in >> << are literal thoughts by the character.
Rating: PG-13
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Part 18 left Clark after he had realized that he hadn’t raped Lois in the courthouse and the knowledge that Lois was sending him a message by sharing her story with him.
Part 19 /
TOC /
Comments **********
When the elevator doors closed on Lois without Clark catching up on her, she let go of a relieved breath, grateful that she was going to have a few moments alone. Her thighs hurt, a cold draft made it painfully obvious that her clothes no longer sufficed for covering her modesty, and she kept the coat clutched together as if her life depended on it.
And somehow it did. Because if it ever became public knowledge that Lois Lane had left the courthouse less then modestly clothed, then she could kiss her professional image good bye. >>Damn you, Kent!<< She wanted to bang her head against the elevator doors and only the fact that they opened right before she could muster the will to test her head against the brushed steel surface saved her from acquiring a terrible headache in addition to everything else. She sighed and rushed out of the main exit and down the stairs in the front of the building. Now if she could just get past the police lines outside, she might actually manage to get away from everything.
When she saw several of her *esteemed colleagues* from the less reputable publications in Metropolis harassing one of the officers who seemed to be in charge of public relations, she let go a relieved breath. They had obviously begun with processing the aftermath of this crisis while she had been occupied with Clark. Brazenly, Lois stormed past her colleagues, determined to just ignore anyone who might try to stop her. Then she was on the outside of the loose perimeter and could focus on her next challenge: flagging down a cab.
Sure, cabs flooded the streets of Metropolis at all hours of the day, but with all the ruckus going on, she might have to walk at least to the corner of the block in order to find a cab. And all she wanted to do was to find a place where she could relax and think in quiet solitude.
Lois had just started to walk down the sidewalk when one of the less courteous examples of the Metropolitan motor pool screeched to a halt a mere two feet in front of her, and halfway on the sidewalk. She was about to smash her fist against the hood and teach the cab driver a very select list of extremely inventive descriptions of his implied sexual preferences when she realized that the vehicle that had almost run her over was a *cab*.
As soon as that realization had set in, the previous passenger had barely enough time to get out of the backseat when Lois pushed herself inside the yellow deathtrap.
“Where too, Miss?” the unkempt cabbie asked her, barely turning his head as he loudly chewed on something that could either be tobacco, chewing gum, or something she didn’t even want to think about.
“1058 Carter Avenue,” Lois informed him equally briskly, trying to keep her breathing flat as she attempted to block out the smell of the yellow beast’s inside. And it really did smell like she would imagine actual insides to smell like. Had something died underneath the front seat? She eyed the driver a little more closely, and immediately regretted it, because now she couldn’t help but think that it might *be* the driver who was personally responsible for the rather unpleasant odor. Not even the sewage reclamation facility had assaulted her sense of smell this badly.
She was about to seriously consider trying her luck with the next cab, when the driver threw her a “Sure”, distorted by whatever he was chewing, and hit the accelerator with enough force to press her into the upholstery. And the faintly squishy sound this maneuver elicited from her seating accommodation wasn’t reassuring at all. She shuddered and tried to block out her surroundings. Her inner demons were surely enough to distract her from this nightmare of a cab.
How had she and Clark managed to get from screaming at each other to screaming in passion? She hadn’t wanted to do Clark again. Or have him do her. Or whatever. At least not like that. She wanted Clark to love her and not to leave her. She wasn’t just a cheap lay he could seek out his relieve with, no matter how much he turned her insides to mush.
Yes, that was a good feeling. A strong feeling. She was someone to be treated with respect. And her making the first move was no invitation for him to take her like that. Mind-blowing sex was no excuse for inconsiderate and downright rude behavior. She would have to make sure to tell him that before she invited him into her bedroom the next time.
God, was that the only thing she was able to think about? Two times with Clark and she was a goner? And this time it hadn’t even been gentle lovemaking. God, she was pathetic! Even worse than her sister, apparently.
Her sister! Her sister who was currently between jobs and probably at home right now. She couldn’t go home when her sister was there, waiting for her. How could she ever hope to explain her ruined clothes? Her sister was obviously way too good at sniffing out dirty little secrets, and she was quite certain that she had ‘I had sex’ tattooed on her forehead as far as Lucy was concerned.
“Stop!” she pressed out, trembling with agitation.
“Yo?” he mumbled in reply but began to pull through the traffic towards the sidewalk.
Lois kept feverously thinking of alternative destinations. The Planet was out, for obvious reasons. There was no way that she’d risk even a trip down to the locker rooms for a fresh set of clothes in her current state of dress. The chances were too great that somebody might walk in on her. Darn it, why didn’t they have changing rooms in the Planet’s locker room?
And just buying new slacks and a new blouse and changing inside the clothing store wasn’t an option either. After all, changing into a new clothes and stuffing her old ones into a shopping bag wouldn’t look suspicious at all. She rolled her eyes at her own sarcasm and kept thinking.
“So, are ya gettin’ outa here, or do ya wanna go somewhere else?” the cabbie inquired.
“I… I… I’d like to change my destination,” Lois finally managed to say with only a hint of a waver in her voice. So where should she go? Where *could* she go? Letting go of a heavy sigh, she finally realized there was only one place she could go without potentially embarrassing herself in front of her sister, her colleagues, or strangers. Resigned, she told the driver her new destination. And perhaps she would get lucky and have some quiet-time once she got there.
**********
After his talk with Perry, it had taken Clark less than fifteen minutes to finish his own story on the train derailment. Now that he was finally done with his work, his thoughts went back to Lois.
Why had she been willing to share her exclusive with him? Lois *never* shared a story that she didn’t have to. True, there had been no big stories lately that she hadn’t shared with him. But that was because he had been her partner on those. They had investigated them together. They had appropriated evidence on them together. They even had fun together. But this time, it had been her story and she *had* shared it with him. It was a mindboggling and previously unheard of incident.
He sighed dejectedly. The obvious answer was that Lois was trying to apologize to him for slipping him that drug just as he had attempted to apologize with the chocolates for taking advantage of her. Offering Lois her favorite treat sure had seemed like a good idea at the time. But now that he was on the receiving end of such a gesture, he wasn’t too sure anymore. Oh, it’s not like he hadn’t known that he would have to talk to her, too. But starting to apologize by sending her the sweets certainly looked like shallow bribery in the harsh light of day. He let go of another sigh. At least Lois’ attempt at an apology had actually cost her, personally. But it still irked him to know that she would try the same maneuver on him even when she hadn’t accepted his own token gesture of an apology.
Still, if she was willing to apologize to him, it had to mean that she was willing to talk to him, too. Right? So all he had to do now was find her. Clark briefly considered his options. The most straightforward would probably be to just go and ask Perry if he knew her whereabouts. The only problem with that was that he wasn’t prepared to admit to his boss that he had no idea where his partner was. It would just raise too many unwanted questions. And chances might be that Lois hadn’t actually told the chief where she was hiding out in the first place or Perry would have mentioned it to him.
That left Clark only with the other option: Searching the city for her heartbeat. It was bad enough when she dropped from the face of the earth during an investigation turned abduction, but at least then she wasn’t actively avoiding him. Of course, this assumed that she *was* avoiding him right now. But she would have made sure to tell him where she was, if she weren’t. That was, unless she really was sitting at home, having missed him after he had left her place to head back to the Planet. But wouldn’t her sister have told her about his visit and where Lois could find him? So, was she actually hiding from him or just not feeling up to talking to him on the phone?
Clark shook his head warily and decided to just try her place first and take it from there. After all, how many hiding places could there be for one lone woman in the city of Metropolis? >>What am I thinking? Only about a million and that was without Lois even putting a lot of thought into it.<<
**********
Lois let herself flop back down against the comfortable couch after her thirty minute phone call with the Planet’s rewrite-desk and her earlier phone call with Perry. The chief sure had chewed her ear off when she had finally called in. That was, until she had managed to get him to listen to her instead of him berating her on the proper use of a pager. Then she had been treated to a mixture of elation and fatherly worry over her front row report of the hostage crisis.
But that was then and now she was back to sitting here and left to her own devices. She sighed and got up to pace around the apartment; the couch was way too soft and relaxing to do proper thinking. And she needed to *think*, because she knew one thing for sure: Clark would show up, sooner or later. She just hoped it would be after he had shown his face at the Planet long enough to make her article their article.
She stifled a giggle at the memory of Perry almost dropping the receiver when she had told him that Clark should contribute the Superman exclusive to the article. But what was Perry complaining about? Hadn’t *he* told her to work together with Clark in the first place?
Lois’ aimless wandering had finally brought her into the open kitchen and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of about two dozen boxes of chocolates, truffles, and more pralines. Her tongue licked involuntarily over her lips as she stepped closer to inspect the bounty spread out in front of her.
Apparently Clark had decided to stock up for a long series of apology gifts. Picking one of the boxes filled with pralines made of dark chocolate and nougat, Lois fought a sniffle. She really had managed to hurt the guy. No, she wasn’t going to cry. They had *both* managed to hurt each other – badly. They had both been selfish and only concerned with their own agendas. They had both been stupid. And she was done with being stupid. She might not have forgiven him for lying to her and hurting her, but she wasn’t going to stay mad with him or beat herself up over her own mistakes either.
And more chocolate than she could possible eat in a week could sure do a lot to calm her nerves until the object of her distraction deigned to come home.
**********
A quick perusal of Lois apartment by way of his x-ray vision confirmed the conclusion he had already reached after not hearing her heartbeat. Lois wasn’t home and he was fresh out of options. He sighed, fully aware that if he wanted to find her in a reasonable amount of time, he would have to somehow narrow down the number of places to search.
Clark began to mentally arrange a list of facts as he aimlessly floated through the sky over Metropolis. Lois had to have been at a place where she could phone in a fairly long story. That ruled out any form of public phones. So was it possible she could be holed up in one of the cheaper hotels, those that didn’t require reservations in advance? He guessed so, but searching for her at those places might also reveal a lot more about his fellow citizens than he was prepared to learn. Not that he wouldn’t do it, if it was his only option for finding Lois. But still, there had to be a better way.
Clark came to a sudden halt in midair. Her pager! If she had it turned on, he could try to find her by listening for it. After all, it had already worked once before, so why not try it again. Only this time he didn’t want Jimmy to do the dialing. But he could dial from his place and then check out a few hotels before trying again. And it might even lead to Lois calling him back, too.
Glad to have finally found a solution, he zipped towards his apartment.
**********
About forty-five minutes later Lois afforded the now empty box of chocolates an evil glare. She was sure going to pay for that one during her next trip to the fitness center. Or not, considering how she hadn’t eaten much over the past day or so. Then she heard a sound from where she knew Clark’s bedroom to be and began to turn her head.
“Lois?”
Lois stared wide-eyed at Clark standing in the door to his bedroom, still dressed as Superman and looking for all intents and purposes like he had just seen a ghost. “Clark,” she greeted him in return.
A minute or so passed without either of them saying a word. Instead, Clark just kept staring at Lois while she was working on figuring out if and what to say next. And she knew that she should probably say something to him, now that he had found her in *his* apartment. She was fairly certain that this would be the proper code of conduct when your partner surprised you inside his apartment, eating his chocolates and wearing his sweats. “I…,” she started, rising halfway to her feet as she turned around and braced herself on the couch’s backrest.
“Lois, I…,” Clark spoke at the same moment.
They both fell silent again before Lois blurted out, “Did you get my story?”
“I’ve been trying to find you, and…,” Clark’s declaration came simultaneously before he trailed off to answer her question. “Uh, yeah, I did.” Clark ran his hand through his hair, disheveling the slicked-back Superman-look and giving the impression of a very nervous farm boy. “And I finished it; just as you told Perry.” He paused before rushing to add, “That’s what you wanted me to do, right? Turning your story into our story?”
Lois heart skipped a beat. Clark didn’t seem to resent her for asking him to add to her story and making it their story. *And* he had been looking for her. “Thanks,” she whispered, giving him a shy smile before standing up further and fixing her eyes on his red boots. “Does that mean you’re willing to work together with me?” she asked him meekly but with hope evident in her voice. Better to try work subjects first. She could do work subjects. They were safe and she had been able to work with Clark even when she hadn’t been feeling all those unwelcome emotions for him.
Clark looked like he was caught off guard at her question, his eyes preoccupied with taking in her appearance. “You’re wearing my sweats,” he stated instead of answering her question.
Now it was Lois’ turn to look a bit uncomfortable before she again steeled her resolve. “Well, yeah. After all, *someone* had ripped my clothes open and I bet you’d not be happy with me sitting on your couch like that.” At least for now, she added to herself. Because if and when they progressed to testing out his apartment for places to enjoy each other, being naked on this couch of his might not be such a bad idea.
Meanwhile, Clark had flushed deeply at the mentioning of his earlier actions and began to stammer once more. “I… That… About that… I… I’m sorry, Lois. That… I shouldn’t have done that. Oh, god, please tell me that I didn’t…”
Lois stared back at him, trying to figure out his line of reasoning even as another part of her mind fought a valiant battle not to break down in giggles at the sight of Superman, nervously shuffling around while looking as if he were about to have a panic attack. But when his expression became decidedly dejected, her compassion won over. “What are you worrying about?” she probed as she made her way around the couch and carefully approached him.
Clark swallowed and she could see his Adam’s apple bob up and down in the process, but he didn’t say a word.
Lois’ mind worked feverously on figuring out Clark’s present worry. What was he obsessing about? He had been fine, sort of, until she had mentioned their steamy encounter in the courthouse. But what about that could have left him so shocked? She closed the distance and placed a hand on his chest as she looked up into his eyes. “What is it, Clark?”
Even standing right in front of him, Lois was barely able to hear his answer as he finally whispered, “Please tell me that I didn’t force you.”
Lois’ eyes grew wide as she took his words in. She hadn’t expected that. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but surely that wasn’t it. Then she stepped final last step closer to him and pressed her head against his chest. “I’m sorry, Clark. I’m so sorry I ever made you think that in the first place. I was just so scared and angry and… and… dumb,” she closed with a sob that was muffled against his spandex clad chest. God, he felt good.
Clark’s arms wrapped around her, pressing her tightly against his chest. Then she felt them move as he floated them somewhere. It was only when she felt the soft cushion against her arms that she realized he had floated them back to the couch and settled down with her sitting sideways on his lap. His right hand began to softly stroke her hair as her tears streamed silently down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, too, Lois,” Clark’s soft voice wormed its way into her consciousness. “I never should have let you think that I’d died that day. I had my reasons but somehow they seem pretty selfish right now.”
Lois sniffled at his declaration, and twisted her neck to look into his eyes. “Damn right you should have. I lost my partner that day. My best friend. The man I was falling in…” She cut herself off at that, some sense of self-preservation keeping her from voicing her feelings to him right now. It wasn’t the right time for those feelings. She was far too vulnerable to rationally declare them right now. “And when I’d finally been over the whole mess and able to enjoy being with you like that again, I learned that it had all been for naught. I felt so… so… You had been my last hope for finding lo-” She gripped him harder and pressed her head back against his shoulder. “How could you?” she mumbled a silent accusation.
When Clark didn’t answer, her tears slowed down to a trickle and finally stopped. When she’d pulled herself together, she again twisted her neck to stare into his face. There was no need to let go of his embrace just because she was still upset with him, now was there? “Well?” She challenged him. “How could you?”
Clark’s solemn face cracked at her accusation and a small – a very small – smile played at the corner of his mouth. “Because we were stupid? Because we were both unwilling to face our demons and just *talk*?”
Lois blinked at Clark’s matter-of-fact voice. “Speak for yourself, Kent,” she retorted his statement, but there was no conviction behind it. Clark was right. They had been dumb. And she should have just dragged him out of the newsroom the first day he was back from Smallville and yelled at him until her throat was sore instead of taking her revenge on him like that. But still, some parts of said revenge *had* been fun. Would they have gotten to enjoy that evening together had she just yelled at him? And why was she again thinking about Clark in that way? She wasn’t about to try out his bed, or this couch for that matter. They already had enough baggage to deal with. And as far as she could tell, his mind was occupied with similar thoughts. “And I’m not going to sleep with you, so relax, would you?” she told him, commanding her eyes to convey a menacing sparkle. She just hoped that it would work, because if it didn’t and Clark wouldn’t back off, then she would be in big trouble. And she’d better make an appointment with her gynecologist first thing tomorrow morning to get a fresh prescription for birth control pills.
“What are you talking about, Lois?” Clark stared back at her with a blank look on his face.
Rolling her eyes, she began to wonder if he was just faking cluelessness in order to tease her, or if he really thought that she would fall for the innocent farm-boy-act. She decided to remind him that there was a reason to why she was known as the best investigative reporter in Metropolis and let her hands do the talking.
“Lois, please stop!” Clark begged in a husky voice a few moments later.
Lois repressed the urge to grin. “Why?”
“Because I don’t think that we’re ready for another round.” He took a deep breath and she got the distinct impression that he was doing his very best to fight his urges. “We should try talking first.”
“Wow, a man who wants to talk.” Lois gave a good performance of looking awed before spoiling it with her next question. “What’s the matter, Clark? Are you out of condoms?”
That earned her a blink from Clark as he stammered, “Condoms?”
She cocked her right eyebrow as she returned his look. “Yeah, condoms…” Lois was about to continue her teasing when a faint memory encroached on her thoughts. He hadn’t used protection during their latest encounter. And why hadn’t she thought of that earlier?
“Lois?” Clark’s very concerned voice shook her out of her panicking thoughts. “What’s going on?”
Lois swallowed and returned her head to its proven position against his shoulder. She was going to have to tell him. And while she was quite certain that nothing would have come from their first encounter two nights ago, today had been far closer to her ovulation date. And Clark was Superman. Superman was invulnerable. Hell, he’d managed to fly into *outer space* for crying out loud. And he didn’t get tired. What if his Kryptonian physiology extended to other things as well? Oh god, this was not happening.
“Lois?” Clark probed her again.
“I… I’m not on the pill,” she mumbled against his blue spandex.
**********
tbc
