Story TOC I've been trying to end each part with a snippet of the other pairing of our heroes, but this part was running long and there was no good place to cut what comes next, so I had to make an executive decision and cut the Flois/Plark teaser. I was under deadline! I promised BJ I'd post this last night but by the time I got home it was late and I was too tired to think clearly. Hopefully it still works and she'll forgive me and post part 17 of Master of Disguise today in a gesture of goodwill.
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Previously:
"That's a great angle, by the way," she told him as they started walking again. "How did you find out about Wes Angelo?"
"From you," he told her. "You told me about all of this yesterday afternoon before you, uh--."
"Oh." Lois felt awkward, uncertain what to say. Should she pat his arm in comfort? Take credit for an idea that wasn't exactly hers? Say something pithy to change the subject? Lois half-stumbled, feeling out-of-place in every possible sense. The feeling dissipated as Clark's hand briefly touched her back to steady her.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"Anytime," he answered.
It had been an automatic reply, just like the gesture that had preceded it. Clark had touched her like that countless times before and he had always been there for her - in one guise or another. Lois tried, but couldn't squelch the warm glow inside of her at the realization that he really did mean it.
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Ricochet 6/10
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1998
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The next day Lois stayed behind at the Planet when Clark and Jimmy left to document who was parking illegally at police headquarters. She was seven names into the dull task of checking who owned each of the cars parked illegally the previous day before she could no longer resist the temptation to use the Clark-free time to do a little research. She logged into the Planet's database and brought up the front page for February 12, 1995 - the day after she had been brought forward in time.
"LUTHOR ALIVE AND BEHIND BARS".
Lois gasped, reading with disbelief the story that she and Clark had written about how Lex Luthor came back from the grave, bribed a judge, killed Sheldon Bender and freed Rollie Vale before being captured by Superman.
Why Rollie Vale? Was Lex still in jail? Lois did a search on Lex's name. There was a series of articles by her and Clark about Lex's trial that were written through the spring and summer of 1995. Then there was another story, written by Martin Prescott, about Lex breaking out of prison on February 10, 1996. There were a few more stories, written by Clark, about the search for Lex before she read that Lex had been killed in a sewage tunnel collapse on February 26, 1996. That story was also written by Clark.
Why only Clark? Why hadn't she shared the by-line on a story about Lex?
Lois searched for her byline, but could find no stories filed by her from February 9 until April 12. Why the lapse? Where had she been? Lois did another search, looking for any story with her name in it and found two: the first was a wedding announcement that she and Clark were to be married on February 10 and the other was a mention in the society pages of the February 11 edition about the Lane/Kent wedding reception.
That couldn't be right. Clark had been specific, to the day, about when they got married and now here was proof that he had shaved off at least half a year. Why was he lying about that? Where had she been for over two months?
Lois stared at her monitor without really seeing it. Had they taken a long honeymoon? She did another search, looking for stories written by Clark. To her surprise, Clark's byline only took a five day break, appearing again on February 15 and appearing regularly during the entirety of her gap.
What had happened to her? Was this why Clark was being so evasive? Was this why she had been sent forward in time? Whatever had kept her from writing for two months had to be drastic, maybe even dire. Was she here to learn about it and prevent it from happening?
Above her monitor she saw the elevator doors open. Clark and Jimmy stepped out and Lois quickly closed the Planet search engine.
As they approached her desk, Jimmy held up two canisters of film with a grin. "We found lots of illegally parked cars and not a ticket in sight over there."
"And I," Clark added, "have a list of license plates that we can check against the list from yesterday. How far did you get in identifying those plates?"
"Uh," Lois stalled. "Can we talk? Somewhere private?"
"I'll just go get these developed," Jimmy told them and hurried away.
Clark gestured at the empty conference room and Lois quickly walked inside. She looked upset and Clark wondered what had happened in his absence. Perry was watching them from across the room, his interest seemed more than casual. Clark cringed at the thought that Lois might have said or done something anachronistic while he was gone. He should have insisted that she come along.
"I know why I'm here," Lois told him after he had closed the door.
Relief flooded through Clark. "That's great! Wells came and talked to you?"
"No. I did some research and figured it out for myself. Something happens to me in February 1996 because I disappear for two months. I don't write a single story until April. So what happens to me, Clark? Did it ever occur to you that maybe that's why I'm here?"
Clark gaped at her. He should have known better than to leave Lois alone when she had access to the Planet's database and three years of unanswered questions. Before he could even begin to formulate a response, she continued talking.
"Why did you lie to me about when we got married?"
"Lois," he said slowly, "I didn't lie to you. We got married on October 6, 1996."
"Then why is there a mention about our reception in the paper on February 10?"
Clark began to pace, running one hand through his hair as he tried to think how best to explain what had happened. Was she right? Was that why she was here? How different would their lives be if they had married that first time?
"I didn't marry you in February, Lois. Yes, that was when we were supposed to get married." He stopped pacing and looked her in the eye. "Lex Luthor broke out of prison and abducted you just before the ceremony. He left a clone in your place and that's who I married."
Lois stared at him in open-mouthed astonishment as the significance of his words sank in. "That's where I was for two months? With Lex? While you were off cavorting with… with… with my clone?"
"No. You were only with Luthor for a couple of weeks. You read the stories about Luthor, too, right?"
She nodded stiffly.
"You were there, when the tunnel collapsed. But you had amnesia and… Look, Lois, it was a mess. The whole thing was a mess from start to finish. So maybe you're right, because if I could change anything about the past, I would change that."
"So what happened to my clone?" Lois asked. She saw Clark's expression sadden and the little twist of jealousy she had felt upon hearing he had married someone else increased.
"She died," he said softly. "She was there in the tunnel that day, too. She gave up her life to save us both."
"Did you love her?" The question was a dry whisper.
"No." Clark shook his head. "I even came close to hating her for a little while. She was… she was nothing like you, Lois. She looked like you, but that was where the similarities stopped. We did become friends, near the end, but that was all."
A knock on the door startled them both. The door opened and Seth Allred stuck his head in to say, "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I'm supposed to have the room now."
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Lois was on her way back to her desk, feeling somewhat dazed from everything she had just learned, when Perry asked her to come into his office.
"How are you?" Perry asked solicitously as he shut the door.
"Fine," Lois answered with a big, bright grin.
Perry's eyes narrowed and he gave her an assessing look. "Uh, huh," he said, clearly not believing her.
Oh, she was in big trouble. There was no possible way to fool Perry, especially since he obviously knew something was amiss.
"Is this a social call, Chief? Because I have work I should be doing…"
"Lois, feel free to tell me that this is none of my business, but are things okay?"
"Of course," she said, faking confusion. "Why wouldn't they be?"
"Well, you've been…" Perry hesitated as he tried to think of a way to explain. "…different lately. You've been avoiding Clark…"
"I'm not avoiding Clark!" she interjected.
Perry continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I haven't seen you two hold hands, or kiss, or even so much as bat an eye at each other for a couple of days now. And I'm sorry for spying, but you didn't look too happy with each other in the conference room just now. I'm just saying, if you want to talk, you know I'm here for you, darlin'."
The realization that Perry was exactly the same made Lois feel less like a stranger in her own life. For a few seconds she wondered if she dared to tell Perry the truth.
"I--. Thanks, Chief. If there was anything wrong, you know I'd ask for your advice. It's just been a weird couple of days, that's all."
Perry sized her up and then apparently decided that he believed her. "Well, I'm here if you need me. I'm not going to take sides, mind you. Clark is like a son to me."
"And I'm not?" she teased.
"You know you're my favorite son." Perry chuckled and waved at the door. "Now get back to work."
As she left Perry's office Lois looked across the bullpen and found Clark sitting at his desk. His back was turned, but the set of his shoulders made her wonder if he'd been eavesdropping. She walked over and sat down in the chair next to his desk.
Their eyes met and she said, "I guess you heard that."
"Yes." He gave her an apologetic smile. "I normally don't listen in, but I've been worried about Perry since yesterday."
Her gaze dropped to stare at his left hand where it was resting on the desk. Lois wondered if she should reach out and touch him - would that fool Perry? Or would it just make things worse because she was certain that the gesture would only look awkward and clumsy.
"What do you want to do?" she asked him quietly. "Because now I know that truth and I'm still here it's starting to look like I might be here for a while."
Clark looked at his watch, then back at her. "We should probably stick around for another hour; we can go through the list of license plates. Then we can talk over dinner."
"Will you tell me everything?"
Clark nodded, the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "It looks like the only option I have left, doesn't it?"
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Lois was sitting on the countertop, watching Clark chop vegetables with faster-than-the-eye precision. It was truly amazing, the stuff that he could do without appearing to even be trying. All in all, it would seem that she had done extremely well for herself. Clark had to be the most useful husband in history.
"So do I ever cook?" she asked.
"Sometimes. Mostly you just, uh, supervise while I cook." Clark added the veggies to a saucepan and adjusted the burner's setting.
"Do I supervise while you clean up afterwards, too?" she asked, only half-kidding.
"Our deal is that I cook and you clean up." He opened the oven and pulled out a baking dish - without using hot pads. "But I always help you clean up."
Lois laughed. "So that's my future? Superman fulfilling my every domestic whim?"
Clark grinned at her. "Not so bad, is it?"
No, it really wasn't. But it did rather beg the question of why he seemed perfectly content with the arrangement. "And what do you get from all this?"
His smile widened and he replied as if the answer should have been obvious. "You."
Lois could feel a blush creeping across her cheeks, but tried to appear nonchalant. "For what? Sex? I think you got the short end of that deal."
He laughed. "The sex is great, but that's not what I meant."
She waited, hoping he'd explain. Clark stirred the vegetables and then took the pan off the burner, setting it aside so that he could give her his full attention.
"I became Superman because I wanted to help people. Sometimes there are people I can't help or the situation is beyond my abilities. Logically, I know that I can't do everything or be everywhere, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept. Being Superman wasn't something I could just leave at the door when I got home. But you--, well, that all changed when coming home meant that you would be there."
"Me?" she whispered in disbelief.
"You're my best friend, Lois. You take care of me. You're the only person in the world who can hold me and make all the terrible stuff fade away."
Lois stared at him, remembering all the times that he had held her. She had always felt safe and secure in his arms. The gentle comfort and acceptance she experienced when he held her were why she had sought him out more than a few times. Was it really the same for him?
She was so quiet that Clark began to worry that he had said too much. He nodded in the direction of the table. "How about we eat this before it gets cold?"
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Over dinner Clark laid out the entirety of their dealings with Lex Luthor, telling her the details that hadn't been in the paper about Rollie Vale and the kryptonite he had traded to Luthor for his freedom. He told her how Nigel had stolen the kryptonite and tried to use it to destroy Superman, but that the chunk of space rock was now securely stored at STAR Labs.
After dinner they had moved to the living room and Lois sat on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest, while Clark explained the twisted circumstances of their first attempt to get married and how she had ended up with amnesia while Dr. Deter played mind games with her.
"Wow," she said softly. "I'm not sure I want to go back now."
"Well, like you said, maybe forewarned is forearmed," Clark told her.
"But how do I change any of that? There are so many factors that even someone with your powers wouldn't be able to control." Lois got up and paced across the room to stare at the wedding picture of her and Clark with their families. "Even if I told you all of this, how are we supposed to stop any of it?"
Clark came over to stand next to her. For several seconds he, too, looked at the pictures on the wall. Then he softly asked, "Do you know what I would change, if I only got to change one thing?"
"What?" Lois turned to look up at him.
"I would never have left your side on our wedding day. Not even for a second. Maybe that's what you need to do, is go back and tell me not to let you out of my sight on that day?"
Lois looked up at him as another possibility entered her mind. "Clark! What if that's why I'm
not here. What if the me from now went back in time to tell you then…" Her forehead furrowed and then she laughed. "That's confusing, isn't it?"
"No, it's brilliant!" On impulse, Clark pulled her into a celebratory hug. "Maybe Wells was only able to explain what was supposed to happen to one of you."
Lois closed her eyes, savoring the hug as her mind reeled at how good he smelled and how amazing his arms felt wrapped around her.
Clark pulled away slightly and his chin dipped, as if he meant to kiss her. Then he straightened up and stepped away from their hug. "Sorry," he murmured.
"It's okay," she whispered, her heart hammering in her chest. "If you want to kiss me, I mean. It's okay with me. Give it a shot."
Clark stared at her mouth. He needed that connection with her, needed her kiss just as much as he had told her earlier that he needed her to hold him. And she had said it was okay, after all.
"All right." Clark leaned down again and she closed her eyes as he gave her a very chaste, barely there kiss.
It was sweet, but over so quickly that Lois felt cheated. "That's it?" she blurted out.
"What?" he asked, startled.
"That's how you kiss me? I don't want to seem rude, but that was pretty tame."
"I--."
"Just, you know, kiss me like you normally would."
Clark took her face between his hands, his eyes meeting hers for a long moment. When his eyes closed, a shiver of anticipation coursed through her and her own eyelids slid shut. His lips met hers again, this time with a little more pressure. She kissed him back and his mouth became hungrier, feeding on hers in long pulls and short nips. His arms went around her, holding her decisively against him as he coaxed her mouth open. Their breathing turned ragged as their lips and tongues met again and again. Lois moaned into the kiss and Clark abruptly broke it off.
"Good night," he gasped and then hurried up the stairs.
For almost a minute, Lois stood dizzy and panting at the bottom of the staircase. Her legs felt shaky as she climbed the stairs to the guest room. She changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed, but she couldn't stop thinking about Clark. That kiss had definitely been headed somewhere before he had stopped it. She shivered at the thought that in three years he wouldn't pull away like that. In three years he would kiss her, touch her, lift her up in those strong arms and… neither of them would be sleeping alone.
Lois blushed and turned over, burying her face in a pillow.
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Two days later Lois was standing in the news room when she saw a report on the TV about a boating accident in the harbor. Superman was there, helping with the rescue efforts. Lois shouted to Jimmy that she was going down to the marina and left the Planet in a hurry. She kept the radio tuned to the news channel and was only half-way to the marina when she heard that Superman had now left. Lois changed lanes, ignoring the annoyed honk from the driver she had just cut off, and headed for home.
Lois raced into the brownstone, pausing just inside the door to listen. Upstairs she could hear water running so Clark must be there. She hurried up the stairs and down the hallway to find the bedroom door halfway open.
Door's open, she told herself, just go in. She sat down on the sofa and waited, trying not to imagine what Clark would look like naked and failing miserably. She heard the water turn off and then the door to the bathroom opened.
Lois stood up quickly. "Hi," she said, feeling her cheeks color a little at the sight of him in nothing but a towel.
"Hi." He was clearly surprised to see her there.
Lois forced herself to look only at his face. "How are you?" she asked, wincing a little at the lameness of the words. She rushed to speak before he could answer, trying to look a little less stupid and a lot more supportive. "Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want some tea? Or a, uh, a hug? I'm not sure what it is I'm supposed to do for you."
"Oh," Clark said, looking as though he understood now why she had been waiting for him. "Thanks, but this one wasn't that bad. You don't have to do anything."
"Oh, well, good." Lois looked away, embarrassed that she had thought she could be what he needed. "Great. I'll just, uh, let you get dressed now."
She hurried out of the room, pulling the door shut firmly behind her before heading down the stairs and into the kitchen. Lois filled a pot with water and was setting it on a burner when Clark entered the room. He was dressed now, wearing jeans and a dark grey t-shirt that clung to the taut muscles of his upper arms and chest. He wasn't wearing his glasses and his hair was still damp. Just looking at him made her heart beat faster and her stomach tighten unhappily that he hadn't wanted her to hold him.
"What's for dinner?" Clark asked conversationally.
"Spaghetti?"
His lips quirked into a smile and then he coughed to cover a laugh.
"What? Do you think I can't even cook spaghetti?"
"No, sorry. It's just that having pasta for dinner is kind of a private joke between us."
"What's the joke?" He looked embarrassed, and now she
had to know. "What's the joke? Tell me."
"Uh, it was when we were first married. We had fettuccini one night and…" He cleared his throat and shifted his shoulders in an uncomfortable shrug. "It just became our private joke, that it was the pasta that, well, you know."
Lois didn't know, but she could certainly guess. Flustered by the mental picture of Clark making love to her and feeling like an interloper in her own - albeit future - life, Lois quickly turned off the burner and lifted the pan.
"I think I'd rather have pizza," she said and poured the water down the drain.
Clark watched her leave the kitchen and sagged back against the counter. It was so hard to keep his distance and she wasn't making it any easier. For the past couple of days she had been so warm - flirting with him and acting the part of an adoring wife while they were at work. She had practically begged - or maybe that was dared - him to kiss her the other night and he had been weak enough to take her up on the offer. He had come so close to forgetting that she wasn't yet his wife that night.
Tonight she had shown up in their bedroom when he was practically naked and offered to hug him. Clark had wanted that hug desperately - still wanted it, in fact - but he wasn't sure he could hold her and leave it at that. Worst of all, he could see that he had, once again, mortified her by alluding to their shared intimacy.
For a moment or two he thought about following her into the next room and apologizing. Then he decided that could only make the situation worse. Clark sat down with a sigh and tapped his fingers nervously on the table. Behind him he heard the swinging door open and he half-turned in the chair to look over.
"They said it will be about forty-five minutes, is that okay?" Lois asked, her gaze fixed on the opposite side of the kitchen from him.
"Great," he answered. She glanced at him, then away, her cheeks coloring. Again, he mentally kicked himself for freaking her out by over-sharing.
"I'm going to, uh." Lois pointed at the ceiling and began to sidle back through the swinging door. "I think I'm going to go read in my room. Let me know when the pizza gets here."
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End 6/10
