Thanks again to the wonderful betas, Carol, Beth, and Mark!
From Chapter 34
“Sorry, but I'm not being melodramatic. If the killer reads your story…”
“Good night, Superman.”
He stood still in the middle of her living room. She was asking him to leave. His Lois never asked Superman to leave. What was going on?
“You want me to leave?” he asked.
“You're being…” Lois floundered, not finding the words she wanted to describe her feelings. “You're being like Clark,” she finally said. “If I wanted to hang out with him lecturing me on being careful all night, I would have let him stay.”
Superman said nothing. She was right – he was being like Clark. He was being like Clark in front of Lois. The reason his Lois never asked him to leave was because he was not real to her, Superman was just a fantasy. He was real to this woman. She still saw him as something as a fantasy, but when he really screwed up, like now, she treated him like a person. That was the last thing he wanted.
“Take care of yourself, Lois,” he said, his voice strained as he floated out the window.
He was too embarrassed to tell Clark what had happened, how much he was having trouble keeping himself distant from Lois. So instead he told Clark briefly that Lois was safe, but he had no luck getting her to agree to let Clark come by and then claimed he needed to head to a Neighborhood Watch Meeting and he was running late.
Chapter 35
Lois woke up angry. She had fallen asleep angry and she woke up angry. Between Clark and Superman she felt like she had constant bodyguards – unwanted bodyguards. She was not a child, she could take care of herself, and she did not need their help.
Glancing at the clock as she swung her legs out of bed, she realized there was no time displayed. The power must have gone out in the middle of the night. That was weird – there was no storm or anything.
Lois moved into the bathroom as she shrugged on a robe. Flipping the switch, she moved over to the sink. No light. Was the power still out? Lois brushed her teeth in the dark before moving to the living room. She turned on the television and the radio, but neither worked.
Lois moved to the phone, picked it up, and called her super, Mr. Tracewski. “Good morning, Mr. Tracewski,” she said. “It's Lois Lane. I just wanted to let you know that I don't have power. Is that a building wide thing?”
A few moments later, with assurances from Mr. Tracewski that it was probably just her apartment as he had power and he would come up as soon as he had gone to the basement and checked the fuse box, Lois went back to her bedroom to get dressed. Moving over to the windows to get some light in the room, she opened the blinds.
The first thing she saw made her blood boil again. Clark Kent was sitting outside her apartment on her stoop. Like, like, Freddy, the pathetic guy from My Fair Lady. Lois smiled – she was as tough as Audrey Hepburn. Freddy did not get Audrey (well, Eliza) and Clark would not get Lois. He could hang out on her stoop as long as he wanted. Eventually, though, he would see that he was being silly. She was not in any danger, and if she was, she was plenty capable of dealing with it herself.
A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts. She opened the door all ready to give a piece of her mind to Clark, but was pleasantly surprised. “Wow, Mr. Tracewski, that was fast!”
He pushed past her and Lois closed the door. “So, was it the fuse?” Lois asked him, but strangely he said nothing. “Mr. Tracewski?” she asked as her super came nearer.
She started backing up, not sure why he was giving her the creeps, but the way he was staring at her… She stepped right to avoid the chair and tripped over the ottoman. When had that gotten there? Then she remembered her late night re-decorating.
Before she could put any more thought into it, though, Mr. Tracewski had climbed on top of her, his legs holding her own in place. “Mr. Tracewski?” Lois asked again and then wanted to hit herself. She sounded like an idiot. This man's hands were coming towards her throat and she sounded like one of those buxom blondes in a horror movie.
“Help, Su…” she shouted before his fingers closed around her throat so tightly, she could not make another sound. Or breathe. Panicking now, Lois tried prying his fingers off of her.
She could feel it - she was going to die here. That annoying farmboy of a partner was right. She should have let him sleep on the couch. Or better yet, not kicked his roommate out last night.
She tried kicking, but it was ineffective with Mr. Tracewski on top of her and she was losing energy fast anyway, what with the lack of oxygen and all.
“Lois!” came a voice from the distance. “Hey!” the same voice shouted. “Get off of her!”
She could feel the fingers around her neck loosening, then the weight on her hips disappearing, but was not fully aware of what was going on.
Then she felt someone else hover over her, holding her nose closed and pushing air into her lungs. She coughed and he backed away. “Lois?” he asked as he cradled her head close to his chest.
“Clark?” she asked. “Why would Mr….” her words trailed off as she stopped to take a breath. She was fine now, she thought, but she could still feel it, his fingers around her throat.
“It wasn't Mr. Tracewski, Lois. I passed him on the stairs – he said he was on his way to the basement to check the fuse box for you. Don't worry, though. I'll find out who he is,” he said as he lowered her gently to the floor.
Lois could not explain her feelings, but she knew she did not want to be alone. “Please,” she pleaded with Clark, grabbing the front of his shirt. “Please don't leave me.”
Clark said nothing, although she could see the softness in his eyes as he pulled her close to him again.
For a moment, Lois flashed to a similar scene years ago.
“Well,” Chad said, leaning against the small table Lois had bought for the dining area. “I think this is it.”
Lois nodded, looking around. The place was Spartan, but it had all the essentials. Most importantly though, it was someplace they could afford even without Chad's parents contribution, so they would live here now and not need to move when he got back. And for now, she and Lucy had their own rooms.
Lucy came out from her bedroom, looking exceedingly pleased. “It's perfect,” she said. “I can't believe Dad's paying for this.”
Lois shrugged, “He knows he owes us,” she said simply. Those were the words that she had used with her father on the phone. He had not replied, but agreed to send them the money she requested.
Lucy sat down on the couch they had picked up at a garage sale and looked around the apartment with a smile on her face. On her second circuit, though, she caught sight of Lois' face and realized what she was interrupting.
“Well, I'm going to go organize my books,” she said as she moved to stand up. “Don't leave without saying goodbye, Chad.”
“So…” Lois said, taking Lucy's place on the couch.
“So,” Chad replied in kind, sitting down beside her.
“When's your flight?” she asked quietly, just for something to say as she knew his flight schedule better than he did.
“In the morning at eight. I'll get to Grandma and Grandpa's about noon.”
Lois reached out to take his hand in hers. “I'm proud of you,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I know you don't want to do this anymore than I want you to go, but you're doing it anyway. It makes me feel proud to be your girlfriend.”
Chad pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. “I'm hoping it's a false alarm and Grandpa will be fine in a few days. The admission office said as long as I can start within the first two weeks, it's not a problem.”
“That's not likely to happen, though, is it?” Lois asked.
“No,” Chad admitted. “It sounds like the doctors are pretty sure that Grandpa is not going to get better. And since Grandma can't take care of him on her own, and they can't afford to hire a nurse…”
Lois smiled, although it did not quite reach her eyes, “Chad to the rescue. A modern day superhero.”
Chad smiled at her, “I'll spin you webs, if you'll be my Mary Jane.” He leaned forward to kiss her softly. “I'll see you in a month,” he whispered.
Lois nodded as she felt the tears start to leak out of her eyes. “And we'll talk tomorrow night?”
“Of course,” he said, tears falling down his cheeks, too. “I want to hear all about your first day.”
“I love you,” Lois whispered against his lips, the taste of their tears mingled with the kiss.
“I love you, too, Lois. So much.”
This was different, though. She wanted Clark to stay as she was scared, not because she was in love with him. She calmed slightly. That was true – even if she had been in love with Clark, which she most certainly was not, that had nothing to do with her desire not to be alone right now.
***********************
“Lois, what the Sam Hill are you doing here?” Perry asked as she and Clark entered the bull pen. Before she could answer, though, Perry turned to Clark. “Can't you talk any sense into her?”
Clark laughed,”You think I haven't tried. Trust me. Lois wants to be here. I have the bruises to prove it.”
“Hey!” Lois said sharply. “I didn't bruise you. And it's not my fault anyway. If you hadn't tried to get me to stay in my apartment, I would have had no reason to hit you. Repeatedly.”
To her horror, Clark laughed again.
“Where's the joke in this, Kent?” Lois asked.
“You, yelling at me like I'm a huge inconvenience. Might I remind you that you'd be dead right now if I hadn't come in when I did.”
“Nice!” Lois said as she took a seat. “Remind me how badly my day has been going.” Lois bit her lip to keep from laughing as well. Clark was right. She was being unfair, but somehow it was fun to give him a hard time. She had to admit, he took it very well.
“Look, Perry, this guy that's after me – he can make himself look like anyone. I'm probably safest around people I know well.”
“How is he doing that?” Clark wondered out loud.
“What?” Lois asked him.
“Making himself look like anyone. How does he do that?”
“Beats me,” Lois said as she leaned over to turn her computer on. “Wait a minute,” she turned back to Clark. “Winninger mentioned… Jimmy! Look up anything you can on a… Sebastian… Sebastian Finn.” She turned to Clark. “Winninger called him Mr. Make-Up. Said he could make himself look like anyone.”
“Well, that's a description that seems to match the killer quite well, doesn't it?” Clark smiled at her.
***********************
Clark was on the floor of his bedroom doing push-ups. Not that he really needed to exercise, but he did need to burn off nervous energy and this was the best way to do it.
Lois had made it perfectly clear that she did not want him hanging around outside her apartment tonight. He had fully planned to ignore her. After all, she had nearly been killed this morning, but she was not happy when she opened her window to find him taking residence on her stoop again. After a lengthy yelling match, Lois had disappeared inside and Clark had felt satisfied that he had won.
At least until a moment later when Lois' window had opened again and rather than hurling insults at him, Lois had poured a gallon of water – very cold water, on him. While the cold did not bother him, Lois' attitude did.
He knew, though, that he had to go back there. Regardless of Lois' words and actions, the truth was that if something happened to her because he was not watching her apartment… Well, he just needed to go back there.
He had just decided to go take a fast (as in super-fast) shower and head back over to Lois' when there was a knock at the door. Looking through the door with his x-ray vision, Clark groaned.
“He's not here,” he said as he opened the door. “Trust me, I'm happy that you've come to your senses and decided you need a bodyguard, but Superman is out.”
“I didn't decide I needed a bodyguard,” Lois insisted. “I just…”
“What?” Clark said as he moved aside so she could get in.
“I just wanted some company,” she admitted in a little girl voice.
“Lois? Is everything all right?” Clark asked her, placing a hand on her arm.
“Everything's fine, Clark,” she growled at him, pulling her arm away. “I just wanted some company. Is there a law against that?”
“Of course not,” Clark said, ignoring her tone. “Would you like something to eat?”
“I'm not hungry,” she said while shaking her head.
“So… anything you want to do?”
“I brought a movie,” Lois offered, reaching into her bag to show him the video she had picked out.
“Die Hard?” Clark asked. “Somehow you don't strike me as a Bruce Willis fan.”
“He's okay,” Lois said, shrugging her shoulders. “I thought all guys liked Die Hard.”
“Maybe,” Clark said, looking at her closely. “But somehow I doubt you often watch movies you don't want to see even if you're watching with someone else.”
“It's an apology, okay?” Lois spat. “I'm sorry I poured water on you. Now can we watch the movie, or what?”
Clark unsuccessfully bit back a laugh. “Sounds great, Lois.”
Clark went into the kitchen. “Popcorn?” he asked her.
“That sounds great,” Lois said from right behind him. “You don't happen to have any chocolate, do you?”
Clark turned around apologetically. “Sorry, no.”
“It's okay,” Lois said going back to the living room. “I always carry an emergency stash with me anyway,” she called into the kitchen.
Clark poked his head out. “You carry emergency chocolate around?” he asked her.
Lois nodded. “Sometimes I can't get to the store when I need it.”
“When you need chocolate?”
“Are you making fun of me, Kent?”
“Of course not. Not at all. Everyone needs chocolate once in a while.” Clark went back into the kitchen to check on the popcorn in the microwave. “Anything to drink?” he called out to her.
“Cream soda?” she said, back in the kitchen now, a Double Fudge Crunch bar in her hand.
“Cream soda?” Clark asked.
“Yeah, cream. Like vanilla.”
“And you thought I might have some in the house?” Clark asked with a smile. He had never met anyone who drank cream soda before.
“Anything diet,” Lois said with a sigh.
Clark looked through the refrigerator. “Sorry, I don't have anything diet.”
“Nothing diet?” Lois asked in surprise.
“Sorry, Superman and I don't tend to drink diet soda,” Clark said, grinning. Did she really expect to find diet soda in an apartment inhabited by two bachelors?
“Water,” Lois said, grumpily before heading back to the living room.
“So, um…” Clark came out to the living room with a soda for himself and a water for Lois. “Do you um… want to spend the night?” He decided to beat it back to the kitchen before Lois the Tornado attacked.
“Would that be okay?” Lois asked.
Shocked, Clark poked his head out of the kitchen. “You aren't going to bite my head off for asking?” he asked with a teasing tone to his voice.
Lois smiled slightly, “Thanks for caring, Clark. It really means a lot to me.”
Clark smiled, feeling indescribably happy.
***********************
Lois looked at the gun pointing at her face. It was unbelievable. Again, she had not taken any undue risks. Her worst transgression tonight was asking Jimmy to get her some coffee when he was supposed to be her bodyguard until Clark got back from looking for Barbara Trevino. Even that, though, had not seemed like a risk. They were in the newsroom and Perry assured them that there was increased security.
Of course, it never occurred to any of them to suspect the cleaning woman. Now that Lois thought of it, that was odd. While Trevino had done a remarkable job of looking like an old cleaning woman, she did not look at all like Rehalia, their most common cleaning person.
The upshot of this, though, was that once again this week, Lois was fearing for her life at a time that calling for Superman did not seem wise. Trevino could shoot her much faster than Superman could respond.
Instead, she leaned forward slowly. Trevino did not seem to notice the small changes in Lois' position until it was too late. She grabbed Trevino's wrist. She could not seem to get Trevino to drop the gun, but at least from this angle, she could not be shot.
Additionally, now she could do it. “Help, Superman!” she called as she fought Trevino.
A noise outside startled Trevino and Lois took the opportunity to press her advantage. Trevino dropped the gun as Lois wrestled her to the ground. The door of the supply closet opened and Lois looked up expecting to see Superman. Only it was Jimmy on the other side of the door, looking white as a ghost. Lois was sure that when he had agreed to be her bodyguard, he did not think he would need to do anything.
He was saved from having to overcome his fear when Superman came up behind him. Taking in the situation quickly, he moved around Jimmy and grabbed Trevino by the hands while Lois got up. “Are you okay?” he asked, looking her over quickly.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” Lois said.
“Good,” Superman smiled at her and Lois felt herself blush. Why did she sometimes act like a schoolgirl around him? Sometimes she was perfectly capable of behaving like an adult, but other times, like now, she acted like a groupie.
***********************
By the time Clark returned to the newsroom, Superman was gone and things were quiet. Lois had tried to get Jimmy to go home, but he refused, rather adamantly for Jimmy: “Are you kidding, Lois? CK will never speak to me again!”
“Jimmy, just go home,” Lois said rolling her eyes at him.
“No way,” Jimmy replied and when Lois looked surprised, he explained, “You're scary, I admit that, and I don't want to tick you off, but you are no match for Clark when he's looking after you.”
For some reason, the comment made Lois smile. Jimmy was right – Clark was fiercely protective and when it was not annoying her, it almost felt sort of… nice.
Clark entered a few minutes later, looking dejected. “I know you're not surprised to hear this,” he said to Lois, “but I couldn't find her.”
“I did,” Lois said simply and was happy with the shock value of her statement.
“What!”
“She was the cleaning lady. Superman has taken her off to the police station,” Lois explained.
“Are you okay?” Clark asked looking at her so intently Lois started to feel uncomfortable.
“I'm fine,” Lois said, but Clark took a step closer to her.
“What's that?” he asked, his finger lightly caressing a spot on her neck.
“What's what?” Lois asked although she knew the answer to his question.
“There's a red mark here. What happened to you? Did she try to strangle you or something?”
“I had it under control, Clark,” Lois said. This was one of those moments where she found his protectiveness a bit much.
Clark nodded, seeming to understand that she did not appreciate his tone, and then spoke again in a softer, gentler voice, “I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself, Lois. I just… I guess I don't want anything to happen to you.” He blushed when he finished and Lois thought he must have realized it as he turned away from her.
“Thanks for staying here, Jimmy,” he said.
“I'm sorry I wasn't much help,” Jimmy said, getting up to put his jacket on. “Good night, guys.”
Lois stood up as well. “Are you coming?” she asked Clark.
“Where?”
“Aren't you going to walk me home?” Lois asked.
“I…um… do you want me to?” Clark asked.
“I think I do,” Lois smiled at him. She was not sure why, but his blushing earlier had melted her annoyance at him.
Clark escorted her to the elevator and as they stepped inside, Lois linked her arm through his. She supposed there were worse things in the world than an over-protective partner.
