As always lots of thanks to Beth, Carol, and Mark!!
From Chapter 53
“Okay,” Clark said. “Let's try another one.”
“Is it any better?” Lois asked.
“Do you mean is it any less circumstantial? No. I told you I don't have anything concrete.”
“This is ridiculous, Clark. You can't amass a bunch of stuff that shows that subsidiaries of subsidiaries of companies that Lex owns paid someone off and think that makes him guilty. First off, Lex owns more than half of Metropolis. So it's not surprising that you can make links between him and anything that happens – good or bad. It's like discounting an actor because he has some tie to Kevin Bacon. It's just silly. Plus, because Lex owns half of Metropolis, he can't keep close tabs on everyone he works for. He probably has no idea that there's any tie between him and Baines,” Lois finished.
“So, that's it?” Clark asked. “You're dismissing all of it?”
“I'm not dismissing it. I'm just… Okay, I'm dismissing it. It's silly, Clark.”
“Well, it's good to see you kept an open mind,” Clark said sarcastically.
“You aren't keeping an open mind about Lex!” Lois insisted.
“That's because I have a pile of papers here that says the man is dangerous!”
“No, you have a pile of papers that say nothing, Clark. Nothing!”
With that, feeling more frustrated with Clark than she thought she had ever been before, Lois stormed out.
Chapter 54
Clark flew over Metropolis slowly. He hoped there was nothing below that could really use his help. He was too distracted to do much good. Lois was considering marrying Lex Luthor. The thought made his stomach clench and roil while his palms broke out in a sweat.
He could think of nothing worse. Admittedly, the idea of Lois marrying anyone but him would be hard to deal with. Lex, though? That took the pain to a whole new level. The man was evil and who knew what he would do to Lois once she was married to him?
He wondered – the paper suddenly took a huge hit in advertising sales and then Lex swept in and saved them. Did Lex do something to cause their advertisers to pull out? It would be a typical Lex move. Add to that the fact that doing so would make Lex the Planet's – and thereby Lois' – savior, and the move was all the more strategic. There was no doubt that part of what made Lex so dangerous was that he was brilliant. Causing the Planet to move into a financial tailspin and then pulling it out of the tailspin would be a brilliant move.
Just one more thing to add to the list of things he was investigating Lex for.
Not that it would matter. Lois had categorically dismissed all of his evidence. He understood, and had told her repeatedly that all the evidence he had was circumstantial. Still, he thought it was pretty damning – even circumstantial evidence in the quantities he had amassed against Lex would make most people wonder.
What did he have to do so that Lois would not marry Lex? That was the important thing. He had to stop her from saying yes and destroying her life.
***********************
“Excellent writing, Clark,” Lex said as he approached Clark's desk.
Clark took the piece of paper Lex was holding out skeptically. Luthor was going to read everything they wrote? What was the point of Perry and Perry's new boss, Chip, or whatever, if Lex was going to read everything?
“I think we'll hold off on running it for now,” Lex finished. “It's sort of a controversial topic.”
“Controversial? What's controversial about excessive rate hikes at Metropolis Electric?”
“The rate hikes are fact, Kent. The fact that they are excessive is your opinion, not fact and not the opinion of this paper,” Lex said.
“Would this have something to do with the fact that you're on the board of Metropolis Electric?” Clark asked.
Lex got visibly annoyed. “That inference is insulting and unprofessional. I expected more from you! If you don't feel free to write what you want here, Mr. Kent, you are free to leave.”
Shooting a look at Clark, Jack passed by muttering.
“What was that, young man?” Lex asked.
Clark looked at Jack, willing him not to repeat his words, but Jack, as always, was willful. “I said "Who died and made you king?'” Jack asked before walking off.
Lex gave Jack a dirty look before turning and going back to his office.
***********************
“What's going on?” Lois asked as she put her purse in a desk drawer. She had heard Lex saying something to Clark about leaving and then Jack's snide remark. It was starting to seem like it was not going to be a good morning.
“Oh, nothing. It's just a typical day at the Planet,” Clark groused.
“Stop being petulant, Clark. What was going on with you, Jack, and Lex?”
“Luthor apparently has decided that he will decide what is news-worthy and what is not. Apparently, my article on excessive rate hikes at Metropolis Electric is not.”
Lois looked at him quizzically. “How can that not be news? This is the third rate hike they've taken this year.”
Clark looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Maybe you should ask your betrothed that.”
Lois, flushing, came closer to his desk to whisper. “Could you not say that out loud? I don't want anyone to know. Besides, it's not true. I haven't said yes yet.”
“Yet,” Clark said.
“I'm still thinking about it, Clark. I'd wanted to talk to you about it, but that was…”
“So, talk,” Clark interrupted her.
Lois started to snap at him, but decided against it. He was understandably annoyed if Lex was saying no to a perfectly good story. She had proofread it for Clark yesterday. It was well-written and something that would be of importance to the people of Metropolis. She could not see any reason not to include it.
“First,” Lois smiled at him, “I'm going to talk to Lex and see if I can get your article back in the paper.”
“You're what?” Clark asked.
“It's a good article. I'm not sure what Lex' issue with it is, but it should be in the paper. I think I may be better able to get through to Lex than you,” Lois said before turning around and heading into Perry's office, which Lex had commandeered as his own.
Now that Lois thought about it, that was odd, too. As she had told Clark yesterday, Lex owned more than half of Metropolis. Why was he hanging out here just because he had bought the paper?
“Lois,” Lex said with pleasure when she entered his office. “It's so good to see you.”
“Hi, Lex,” she said. To her surprise, Lex got up and moved around his desk to kiss her on the cheek. She would have expected Lex to want to keep things completely professional at work.
“Lex,” she said, not sure where to start. “Did you fire Perry?” She decided to start with the most egregious of errors.
“Of course not,” Lex said as he led Lois over to the couch so they could sit side by side. “Chip is just here to help him out. Take on some of the workload. Perry works too hard.”
“Perry likes working too hard,” Lois said. “The Planet is his life. Mine, too.”
For a moment, Lois thought she saw something… she was not sure what, but something flashed across Lex' face, but then he smiled and seemed back to normal. “I know,” he said tenderly. “And I'm sorry about Perry. If I made a mistake in getting him help, I'll apologize. It would be a huge loss to the paper to lose Perry. Or you,” he added, leaning forward to kiss her softly.
“And what about Jimmy and Jack?” Lois asked, but she was softening. Lex seemed sincere in his actions towards Perry. It was just a misunderstanding. Lex was new here – he did not know Perry like she did.
“I know, Lois. And I'm sorry. I'll get them jobs in the newsroom as soon as I can, but with money tight right now, the printing plant was the best I could do.”
Lois smiled. “I thought that was the case.”
“Good,” Lex said, squeezing her hip. “Anything else?”
“Oh, right, one more thing. Clark's article on the rate hikes at Metropolis Electric. Why aren't you running it? I saw it – it's good.”
“It's not really news, though, is it?” Lex asked. “The rate hikes are, but Clark's article states that they are excessive. That's his opinion – at best a conjecture. But not fact.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“Lois,” Lex cut her off, “I'd be happy to run Clark's article with a few minor modifications. Things got out of hand when I spoke to him this morning. I tried to be nice, but he seems to have this unreasonable hostility towards me. I don't know what caused it, but it seems to blow up at every opportunity.”
Lois did not know what to say. Lex was right, but if she wanted them to get along, she could hardly fuel the fire by telling Lex what Clark really thought of him. “But you'll print his article if he makes the changes?” she asked.
“Of course,” Lex said. “I'll go talk to him now.”
“Thanks, Lex,” Lois said as they got up.
Lex wrapped his arms around her, “Everything's going to be just fine,” he said as he nuzzled her neck. “Trust me.”
***********************
“Are you hiding out here again?” The question came from the doorway and caught him by surprise.
“Clark!” Martha said, also surprised. “What are you doing here?” she asked as she got up to give her son a hug.
“I needed someone to talk to. And I couldn't figure out where Superman had gone. I see now, though,” he said looking at Superman.
“Sorry,” Superman said. “I haven't been hiding out here per se, but I have been coming by a lot.”
“Is something about to happen?” Clark asked and Superman blanched. The truth was that he had not even considered what may have been going on in Lois and Clark's lives. He had gotten too wrapped up in what was going on with him. Not that he had actually told Martha and Jonathan what was going on completely.
How could he tell them that he was starting to daydream about the woman their son was in love with? No, he could not do that. He was able to tell them how much he missed his wife, though, how he was forgetting her. It was good to say it out loud and he did not think it was something he could really share with Clark. He did not want Clark feeling guilty about his being here. He just needed someone to hear him, to share his pain.
“No,” he finally said to Clark, although he had not really thought about it. “What's going on? What is it you need to talk about?”
Clark took a seat, looking at Superman strangely. He felt himself flush. He knew this was the first time he had not known what was bothering Clark long before Clark was even bothered and Clark clearly realized it, too.
“Luthor proposed to Lois,” he announced and everyone in the room gasped. In horror, Clark looked at Superman, “This didn't happen in your universe?”
“No, it did,” Superman admitted. “I just… somehow I didn't realize it was that time yet.”
“What did she do?” Clark asked.
“What do you mean?” Martha interrupted. “Didn't Lois tell you?”
“She's still deciding,” Clark explained, then looking back at Superman he said, “Never mind. I know you can't tell me.”
Superman shook his head. He could not allow Clark to go through this without knowing what was going to happen. It was too painful. Blast the timeline, anyway. “She said yes,” he said quietly. “But,” he added seeing the look on Clark's face, “I won't tell you what happens, but she does not end up marrying him.” He did not want to go into details. He definitely did not want to tell Clark about the cage. He did not want another situation like Nightfall, where Clark insisted on taking his place.
“She said yes?” Clark asked. “I didn't really think she'd do it, or even get close enough to say yes.”
“You need to stop her, Clark,” Martha said. “Given what you know about Luthor you can't let her get engaged to him. Even if they don't get married, the idea of it is too frightening.”
Superman started to interrupt, to let them know that there was nothing Clark could do, but ended up staying silent. Maybe he should stop trying to play with the timeline. Surely given what Clark already knew he would not tell her he was in love with her anyway.
“What should I do?” Clark asked.
“Show her what you've found on Luthor,” Jonathan suggested.
“I did,” Clark said to Superman's surprise. He had shared his Luthor research with this Lois and she was still considering the proposal?
“She dismissed it all as circumstantial. Said I had a vendetta against Luthor. It's been a mess.”
“Oh, Clark,” Martha said, reaching out to place a hand on his.
“What are you going to do, son?” Jonathan asked.
“I don't know,” Clark admitted. “But I have to do something.”
***********************
Lois looked around the table at all the sad faces. They had lost everything. There had been an explosion at the Planet. With Superman's help, everyone had gotten out okay, but the building was ruined. There would be no edition of the Daily Planet tomorrow for the first time in 219 years.
Worse yet, the bomb seemed to be set off by something in Jack's lunchbox. Luthor said they had found the makings of a bomb in his room, but Lois did not really think Jack would do this. Not only was this much more serious than the petty crime Jack used to engage in, but she believed him. Like Clark, she saw someone who had turned to a life of petty crime to stay alive – to keep his brother alive. Once he had an opportunity to do that without stealing, Jack had seemed to transform. Plus, he was so protective of Denny. Why would he do something that was likely to land him in Juvie Hall – worse, even? Bombing the Planet could land him in jail. He would not want to be separated from his brother like that. Plus, what did Jack have to gain from the Planet closing down? It did not make any sense.
Now Cat had found a job and was not coming back and Perry was talking about retiring. Lois could not really see this as being the end of the Planet, but it seemed like everyone else had just given up.
***********************
“I'm sorry, Lois,” Lex said to her. “The Planet was terribly under-insured. It just… it just doesn't make sense to rebuild. Unfortunately, I have to think of my stock holders and with the Planet's finances the way they were, rebuilding would bring down the value of LexCorp.”
“But we're all so lost,” Lois said, hating the pleading sound in her voice.
“Lois,” Lex said, wrapping an arm around her protectively. “I know you thought of the Planet as your home, but I can make a new home for you.”
“I can't do that, Lex. I can't be some perfect business wife, hosting dinner parties, and...”
“Don't be ridiculous, darling. Of course you couldn't do that. Lois, I love you for you. I didn't mean here, although of course I hope I can make a home for you here, too. I meant at LNN.”
“At LNN?” Lois asked. Could she be a television reporter? If not, though, where would she go? It made sense to at least look.
***********************
Lois sat at the small chair in their bedroom in front of the mirror. She put a pair of simple pearl earrings in her ears and brushed her hair out.
“Mom and Dad are here,” Clark told her as he watched her get ready. “Emily and Jory are already arguing over who gets to play with them. Emily has dragged out all her dolls and is begging Dad to have a tea party with her, while Jory is trying to run over Mom with the remote control truck Jimmy got him for his birthday.”
Lois turned to him and smiled before moving to the living room to say hello to his parents.
An hour later they were sitting at a table in the back of a quiet restaurant on Metropolis' south side. The restaurant was fairly new and very popular, but it was Lois' favorite so Clark had made reservations a month ago to ensure they would get a table.
He reached across the table now to take her hand in his. “I love you, Lois,” he whispered. She smiled at him. “Sometimes I can't believe my life has turned out like this. I dreamed of settling down and having a family, but I never really thought it would happen. Even when I first met you… If someone had told me then that we'd be married for… well, who knows how long, but hopefully a lot longer than the seven years it's been today, I never would have believed them.”
“Why?” Lois asked confused. “You must have known how I felt about you, even then.”
Clark grinned, “Well, yes, but I was hoping for a little more than the adoration you paid Superman.”
“But I do adore you,” Lois said, running her hand over his cheek. “You're perfect. Exactly what I wanted. You could never hurt me.”
Clark looked at her quizzically. “Don't you mean I would never hurt you?”
“No, silly. Could. How can you hurt me? This is just a silly crush. You must know that I'm in love with Clark?”
He put his head in his hands. He was not sure he could do this anymore. Not that he saw anyway out. Well, aside from abandoning Clark and how could he live with himself if he did that?
He had gotten nothing done today except for helping at the Planet's explosion, and he had been so wrapped up in his pain that he had almost missed that. Luckily, he had remembered at the last minute. He was sure if he had not shown up Clark would have helped, but with Lois right there, that would not have been a wise move.
Why wasn't Herb bringing Lois by? A visit from his wife, even if he could just hold her for a few minutes, would help so much. He needed to feel and see for himself how she was different – how he felt different with her.
He felt like he had no memories left. This Lois had invaded all of them.
This… this was not living. Even with Clark and Martha and Jonathan trying to be there for him, he was just… empty. He needed Lois so much it was becoming a physical pain.
***********************
“How can you just say no, Clark?” Lois asked him.
Clark felt like he was talking to someone else. Someone who was not Lois. This woman was giving up on the Planet and she was agreeing to work for a television station. Worse yet, she was agreeing to work for LNN. Even though she could not see Lex for who he was, he thought this went against her rules. Or did it not count as being involved with someone you worked with when you were married to the boss?
“I can't do this, Lois,” he sighed. “I'm sorry, I can't work here.”
He could see her getting frustrated with him, could tell that she was moments away from leaving. He had to do something, anything, to get her to see that she could not marry Luthor.
“Is there somewhere we can talk?” he asked.
Lois nodded, although she was looking at him skeptically. “Is this to show me more research on how Lex is evil?” she asked him.
“No,” he assured her. “It's not about Lex at all.”
***********************
“What is it?” she asked him as they walked. She hoped this was the beginning for them. That Clark was letting go of his anger towards Lex. She would let him talk, tell her what he had to say and then maybe he would be ready to talk through her thoughts on Lex' proposal. She was becoming more and more convinced that she had to talk to Superman about this too, though. Still, that would be a very different conversation than the one she wanted to have with Clark.
“Lois, I've been thinking about my life a lot for the past couple of days. Why I'm having such a hard time getting over the destruction of the Planet. I mean, this is the longest I've ever been at a job. I'm an old hand at brushing myself off and starting over, but I haven't wanted to do that since I got here. And, I've been trying to determine why.”
“Have you?” Lois asked, reaching for his hand as they sat side by side on a bench in the park.
“Yeah,” he said, turning slightly so he was looking directly at her as he took her other hand in his as well. “You. I want to see you every morning and talk to you every day.”
“Then why won't you come to LNN?” she asked confused.
“Lois, you're not listening. I'm not talking about working together. Not that I don't love that, but… it's just a poor substitute for what I want.”
“What do you want?” Lois asked, afraid of the answer.
“You. Everyday. Lois, I'm in love with you. I think I have been from the first moment I saw you.”
Lois tried to school her features. She did not want to hurt him, but that was unavoidable. Pulling her hands gently from his grasp, she stood up. “I love you too, Clark.” One look in his eyes, and she could tell he already knew where she was going with this. “You're my best friend and the only partner I've ever actually liked working with. But… I don't think of you that way. I'm so sorry.”
She willed herself not to cry. She was hurting horribly, but she knew Clark was the one who was allowed to be angry and hurt here, not her.
“And Luthor?” he asked quietly. “Do you love him?”
She had to look away from him. His eyes were so full of pain she could not look at him. “I don't know,” she admitted. She almost smiled when she realized what had happened. They were having the conversation she had desperately wanted to have. She would not have thought it was possible after his admission. “I'm attracted to him,” she said quietly. “But I don't know if I love him.”
“So what are you going to do?” he asked.
Lois gave a half laugh. “I still don't know. I need to talk it over with someone else first.”
“I don't know where he is,” Clark said in a strangled voice.
Lois nodded, finally asking timidly, “If you see him, though, you'll let him know?”
Clark nodded, but Lois turned away when she saw the tear slip down his cheek.
