Previous part can be found here, because it's only taken me 5 months to finish this!
http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=001393
Those Darn Space Rats
by Bellarata
Previously on Those Darn Space Rats… Clark succumbed once again to the Space Rats, this time as Superman. Clark flies away with Lois and they fall asleep in Clark’s Smallville bedroom. This starts the following morning…
A/n – Not beta’d so I apologize for the errors!
Chapter 2
A throbbing pain in her head greeted Lois as her body tried to awake from the heavy slumber she had succumbed to hours earlier. On the cusp of consciousness, Lois made a special effort to slink back into oblivion. It didn’t hurt when she was asleep and right now, she was in agony. She beat back a wave of nausea and burrowed deeper into the warm, sleek pillow she was snuggled against. She gave up trying to remember what had happened that had left her in such a state, her brain fully refusing to cooperate. Normally such a thing would have had her leaping out of bed and demanding answers, but oddly, Lois felt safe and that was enough for the moment
Sleep was a welcome respite and Lois gladly embraced it, hoping even as she slipped into the numbing darkness that the pain in her head would not be present when she awoke.
She wasn’t to be that lucky, however.
A loud ringing noise introduced her to a whole new definition of pain and she vaguely identified the sound as the telephone ringing. ‘Oh god, make it stop,’ she moaned to herself, still not wanting to awaken fully.
Her wish came true as the phone was finally answered.
“Hello,” a male voice rumbled against her ear; her pillow raising and falling with the muffled greeting.
Lois gave a mental sigh of relief. It was Clark’s voice. No wonder she felt safe - she was always safe with him, even if she didn’t quite remember the events that had led up to them falling asleep together. Now if he would just get off the phone and let her go back to sleep, she might even wake up in a semi-pleasant mood.
Or at least something close to it.
She felt her warm, sleek pillow tense with a quick indrawn breath and she mentally growled. If Kent knew what was good for him, he’d let her get back to her misery and sleep off this mother of all hangovers.
“Yes, she’s here. Mom,” she heard her partner say. “I’ll uh… bring her back soon.”
Great. Why had her partner just announced to his mother that they had spent the night together? He was a dead man. Even if she didn’t remember spending the night, he was still a dead man, and even deader because now she felt herself waking up. Not good. She heard the phone settle heavily back into the cradle and her pillow sighed.
“Lois.”
She wasn’t going to answer him, hoping he’d get the hint and shut up and let her go back to sleep.
“Lois,” Clark called again, a slight wariness in his voice that Lois didn’t miss. “I know you’re awake.”
“No, I’m not,” she mumbled, burying her face into the warmth of her pillow. “Shut up and let me go back to sleep.”
She felt rather than heard the heavy sigh that left his lungs.
“Lois, you have to get up,” Clark persisted. “We have to get back to Metropolis.”
Get back to Metropolis? What was he talking about? A huge, gaping hole seemed to be missing from her memory and she struggled against the pain to remember the events that had led up to her falling asleep with her partner and best friend. She could feel the tight skirt she’d worn to work cutting into her waist so she knew she wasn’t naked - so whatever had happened obviously hadn’t included anything that was clothing optional.
And why was that thought just a tiny bit disappointing?
“Lois,” he insisted, his voice low and careful. “Wake up.”
Lois sighed in irritation, not looking forward to the actual part where she opened her eyes. Her head hurt and she was tired. If Clark knew what was really good for him, he’d let her go back to sleep and not keep trying to get her awake. But since Clark was Clark, he didn’t know what was good for him. So, with much trepidation, Lois forced her eyelids to part, bracing herself for the stabbing pain that she was sure to follow.
Only she found herself faced with a red “S” that was almost as familiar to her as her own reflection in the mirror.
Pain momentarily forgotten, Lois darted her gaze up to the face of the man who she was snuggled against. “Clark?” she asked incredulously, her brain churning to come up with a logical explanation as to why Superman had Clark’s voice. And why Clark was wearing Superman’s suit. Her eyes studied the familiar features, desperately trying to find anything that would explain this.
Anything but accept the undeniable truth that she refused to process.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, easing out of her arms and getting out of bed. A hand found its way to his forehead as he also grimaced in pain. At least she wasn’t the only one with the hangover from hell.
For the first time, Lois examined her surroundings. A gasp passed through her lips – she knew this place. “We’re in Smallville?” she hissed, eyes narrowing in accusation.
Clark nodded warily. The details were fuzzy but he clearly remembered the Space Rats and the damage those toys had inflicted on his maturity level.
“Why are we in Smallville?”
Clark made his way to the single window and parted the curtains, the sunlight striking him going a long way in easing the pain in his head. “What do you remember?”
Lois’ forehead furrowed in concentration. “I remember Christmas shopping with you. Or uh, with Clark. And… something about… rats. And ice cream. I remember a lot of ice cream.” Her eyes narrowed in accusation. “What did you do?”
That offended Clark. “Me? I didn’t do anything!”
“And I just wound up in Smallville by myself?” Lois rolled her eyes, only to be quickly reminded why eye rolling of any kind wasn’t conducive while experiencing headaches of massive proportions. “Ow,” she muttered, burying her head in her hands.
He was there in an instant and Lois found herself drawn into arms that had left her feeling so safe earlier. Arms that she would never have associated with lies and treachery.
Clark was Superman. It hurt her head even more to think about it.
“Are you ok?” Clark’s voice was gentle and soothing – and she hated that about him.
“No, I’m not ok!” she huffed, not able to stop herself from burying her face against the spandex-covered chest of her best friend. “My head hurts, I can’t remember anything and I find out that my partner has been lying to me every day since the day we met! Of course I’m not ok!”
Lois didn’t see the smile but she could feel it. That Clark Kent mega-watt smile always did something to her and this time was no exception. “You better not be laughing at me, Kent.”
“I’m not laughing at you, Lois.”
She lifted her head from his chest to study his face. “Then why are you smiling?” she demanded when she saw the small smile playing along his lips.
His smile widened. “Because you’re yelling at me.”
“Ha! That’s not yelling. My head hurts too bad to yell. Believe me, you’ll know when I’m yelling.”
“Actually, I am looking forward to it, if you want to know the truth.”
“You’re a sick man, Kent.” After a moment, she added, “Why are you happy that I’m yelling at you?”
She almost didn’t think he was going to answer, the silence stretched on for so long. “Because you’re yelling at Superman, that’s why. You’ve never yelled at Superman.”
“No, I’m yelling at you.”
“Exactly.’
Lois groaned and massaged her temples. “You’re making my headache worse and I didn’t think that it could get any worse.”
“How about I go make us some coffee?”
“Please go make some coffee,” Lois directed, willing the pain in her head to cease. She watched as Superman – no, Clark – left the room. She didn’t know if it was the effects of this hellish hangover that was making his revelation seem so… anti-climatic but she’d just go with it – for now.
Taking a deep breath, Lois took a careful step and made her way into the bathroom. The toothbrush that she had a slight memory of using the night before was laying by the sink and she used it. An irritated growl left her throat when she looked into the mirror.
God!
This was so typical.
She had the imprint of Clark’s ‘s’ shield marking her cheek from using him as a pillow all night.
Could her day get any worse?
“Lois?” she heard Clark call from outside the door. “Are you ok?”
Lois threw open the door and glared at him, faltering only for a brief second at the sight of Clark wearing the oh so familiar suit. “Oh, I’m just peachy, Clark. Why wouldn’t I be ok? I mean… I only wake up in a strange place, find out that my partner just happens to also be the man I’ve been crushing on for months,” she ranted, before gesturing to her face. “And look! I have waffle face, thanks to your stupid ‘S’ shield. I’m tired. I’m stuck in Smallville when I should be in Metropolis getting to the bottom of this whole Space Rats fiasco and…” she broke off and sniffed, “And I have a headache.”
Luckily for Clark, he kept his mouth shut and merely handed her a cup of coffee, which was taken gratefully.
“I’m sorry, Lois,” Clark said carefully after Lois had taken several sips. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
Lois sniffed again and took a healthy gulp. She needed the caffeine at that moment like nothing else. Oh, she wanted to blame Clark for everything. It was always so easy to blame Clark. But the truth was – this wasn’t his fault. Well, the lying to her for years thing was his fault, but not their behavior of the day before.
“What were those things, anyway?”
Clark relaxed a fraction, glad to have Lois’ analytical mind at work rather than the ranting fits she had been known to work herself into. “Come on, let’s go sit down in the kitchen and we can try to figure things out.”
Without waiting for her response, Clark turned on his heel and headed down the stairs, Lois trailing behind with her coffee tucked securely between two hands.
Passing through the familiar doorway into the bright airy kitchen, Lois was suddenly plagued by self-consciousness, which thoroughly pissed her off. Her comfort zone had been disturbed and she didn’t like that. Clark had always been comfortable and they’d shred such an easy friendship. It hadn’t been too far of a stretch for her to imagine them taking their friendship to the next level, because she trusted him. And for once, she could trust herself.
Now, in a disturbing twist of fate, he was no longer comfortable. He was… so far beyond her, she didn’t even know if a definition existed for what Clark really was.
“Don’t do that, Lois,” Clark commanded, his mouth pinching just the slightest bit as he turned around to study her.
“Don’t do what?” she bluffed. God, he knew her so well.
Clark closed the distance that separated them and carefully gripped her upper arms, deliberately violating the boundaries of personal space. “You know what,” he told her. “Please don’t shut me out.”
‘Like you shut me out ever since I knew you?’ she wanted to shout. Instead, she raised her chin and rolled her eyes. “I’m not trying to shut you out. Like I could! You never let me shut you out and don’t think that it’s not because I don’t try because I do! A lot. But you just give me that long suffering look and sigh, and then I feel bad and I let you back in. That’s not really fair, you know. I think that might be one of your undisclosed super powers, because really, I never have problems shutting anybody else out except for you. God, you make my head hurt, Clark!”
A hint of a smile played along Clarks’ lips. This was the Lois he loved; full of indignation and self-righteousness, with a side of babbling mixed in. The smile dimmed as he realized that Lois was having trouble looking him in the eye.
Releasing her, Clark stepped back and gestured to the coffee pot. “More coffee?” he asked, knowing that he was trying to avoid the problem.
Lois nodded and let him take her cup from her hands. She watched him prepare her coffee, like she’d watched him prepare it countless times before.
But this was different.
Because, it wasn’t just Clark fixing her coffee, it was Superman.
“Gah! Why is this so hard?” she blurted, throwing up her hands in aggravation. “I don’t like feeling weird around you.”
Clark handed her back the refilled mug, carefully avoiding her eyes. “Is it because I’m an alien?” he couldn’t help but ask, his deepest fear taking root and springing from his mouth without thought.
The look she gave him could only be described as scorching. “Are you kidding me? You really think I feel weird because you’re from another planet? Ok, fine…awed, maybe – weird, no.” Lois took a sip of coffee. “I feel weird because I never really felt entirely comfortable around Superman like I felt around you and now I’m just not sure how I should be feeling because you’re not just Clark anymore, you’re Superman.”
Clark sighed. This is what he’d been afraid of, and why he’d withheld his second identity from Lois for so long. “Lois, where are we right now?”
The look she gave him was typical Lois. “The Kent farm in Smallville, Kansas, which you very well know since you brought me here!” Her tone was only slightly patronizing and he loved her for that.
“Right. Where I grew up.” He gave her a pointed look. “So where did Superman grow up?”
“Well, since you’re Superman, I guess Superman grew up in Smallville, Kansas,” she replied derisively.
Clark shook his head. “Nope, you’re wrong. Superman didn’t exist until I ate that bomb at EPRAD. He didn’t grow up anywhere.”
Lois looked confused for only a brief moment. “So what you are trying to say is that Superman isn’t really real?”
Clark nodded sharply.
Lois’ response to that gesture was unexpected.
She laughed.
And then the phone rang. Clark snorted in exasperation, gave Lois a dark look and answered the phone.
Lois still felt helpless giggles trying to burrow their way out but she tapped them down. What was amazing was that Clark really seemed to believe that Superman wasn’t real. He was very real. To say he was the most well-known celebrity on the planet wasn’t an understatement, and Lois felt that slightly awe-struck edge creep into her emotions at the realization of just how famous this man was.
But watching Superman get scolded by his mother on the phone seemed to put things in perspective, like nothing else had managed to. It was just so… human.
It was just so very, very Clark.
And she had to admit to herself that she loved that about him, something she’d been trying for months now to deny to herself. But it took seeing her spandex-clad partner, standing in his mother’s kitchen, shoulders slumped as he stumbled out one apology after another, clearly willing to take full responsibility for something that clearly wasn’t his fault to make her admit to herself the truth…
She loved Clark Kent.
All of him.
It was like a huge weight had been lifted. Lois smiled brightly and crossed the room to stand at his side, brushing aside the look of apology he threw her way.
“Let me talk to your mom,” Lois whispered.
Clark gave her an unreadable look and interrupted his mother’s
tirade. “Mom, hold on. Lois wants to talk to you.” He handed the phone over to her waiting hand.
“Hi, Martha,” she greeted.
“Oh, Lois, I’m so sorry this happened and that you found out
in such a way! You must be so furious,” Clark’s mother remarked heartfelt. “I was already expecting you both back in Metropolis, I couldn’t believe it when Clark was still there to answer the phone!”
“I needed coffee first,” Lois said by way of explanation. “Is
everything ok there? Is… Superman needed right this second?”
“Oh no, nothing like that, dear! We’ve actually got everything under control, thanks to your nice Inspector Henderson. I believe the people responsible are already behind bars,” Martha rushed to assure her. “Everyone here is back to normal, although not everybody is feeling one hundred percent.”
“I know that feeling,” Lois remarked, the remnents of her horrendous headache still making its presence known. “Listen, Martha… Is it a problem if Clark and I don’t head back right away? We have a lot we need to talk about.”
“Oh… uh, sure, Lois…”
“Thanks, Martha. We’ll be back later,” Lois interrupted, not letting Clark’s mother finish before firmly setting the phone back in its cradle. Ok, so she’d been a little rude, but she had good reasons, darnit. And she felt certain that Martha would forgive a little rudeness. At least, she hoped Martha would…
When Lois turned to face the man next to her, the wary look the Man of Steel gave her was almost comical. Every time that Lois had seen him wear this suit, there had never been anything even close to resembling the wariness that was so plainly written all over those oh-so-handsome features at this exact moment. She watched him gulp nervously as he tried to read her mood.
“So uh… you told my mom we were going to… talk?”
Lois nodded, still trying to give nothing away on her face.
Another endearing gulp and Clark asked, “What… exactly did you want to talk about?”
“This.” And she kissed him.
Hours later, when they finally returned to Metropolis, Lois knew she would never look at the holiday season the same.
It truly was a magical time of year.
The end.
OMG I actually FINISHED. And yes, I know I rushed the ending a bit (since I ALWAYS seems to do it) and I apologize! Thank you for your patience during what was supposed to be a quick little fic! Little fic - maybe, but not so much with the quick!
