Friends or Lovers
Folc4evernaday
Part 13-Finale
***
Clark flew through the sky and landed on the roof of STAR Labs, where he found a balding man standing there with a vial in his hand. That had to be Stanley Gables.
“Everyone loves a good Steven King novel. Now, this city is going to live one.” Gables lifted the vial to break it as Diego, Buster, and McCarthy lifted their masks to protect themselves against the virus.
Clark landed on the roof in one swift motion; he narrowed his eyes at the criminals, giving them a stern look. “I wondered if the prison had a lost and found department.”
Realizing Superman was referring to their daring escape, Diego, McCarthy, and Buster ran in the opposite direction, leaving Superman to deal with Gables alone.
“Don’t go far,” Clark called after them. He turned to Gables and took a step forward but stopped as Gables broke the seal on the vial. Gable held his thumb over the covering in place over the vial. “Give me the vial, Gables.”
Gables smiled sardonically at Clark. “I don’t think so, Superman. There’s nothing you can do to me that STAR Labs hasn’t already done. I am a victim. Justice will be served.”
“It’s not justice when innocent people are made to suffer for your mistakes.”
“Oh, yes, it is.” Gables smashed the vial to the ground before Clark could react and the contents began to spread before them.
Clark, at a loss for what to do, panicked for a split second and then found a solution. He used his super breath to freeze the virus in place then threw it into the sky.
“NO!!” Gables cried out in agony.
***
Scardino jumped out of his cab in front of STAR Labs. Immediately recognizing McCarthy, he began to chase him down. Diego and Buster ran in opposite directions. Albie tackled Diego to the ground and Lois took Buster Williams down with a swift kick.
Scardino continued to chase McCarthy down. McCarthy tried to jump a chain link fence but found it too high, lost his balance, and plummeted to the ground. Scardino took advantage of the situation and drew out his gun. “Get your hands where I can see them!”
McCarthy raised his hands to show surrender. Scardino reached down to remove the mask from McCarthy’s face. McCarthy smiled. Taking advantage of the weak moment, he grabbed Scardino’s leg and tripped him. Scardino’s gun flew across the concrete as they continued to wrestle for control over one another. McCarthy finally gaining the upper hand, wrapped his hands around Scardino’s neck as he taunted him, “You should have died with your partner, Scardino.”
“He likes to be called Daniel.” Clark dressed in his suit and glasses once more, grabbed McCarthy and threw him across the concrete.
McCarthy struggled to stand up once more but was facing the barrel of Scardino’s gun, being held by Lois. “Don’t even bother. You think you’re hurting now, you’ll be in even more pain if you try anything else.”
McCarthy eyed Lois for a moment then gave into unconsciousness. She leaned down to check that he was still breathing then headed towards Clark and Agent Scardino.
Scardino stared in awe as the seemingly mild-mannered reporter helped him to his feet. “Kent?”
“The police are on their way. Thanks for waiting for me by the way.”
“How did you … ?”
“It’s not important.” Lois handed the gun to Scardino. “I don’t think he’ll be giving you any more problems. Clark gave him a good knock on the head when he threw him off of you. Gables is already in custody and Diego and Buster are out cold. Anything else we can do for you, Agent Scardino?”
Agent Scardino stared in awe at the duo. He now understood exactly what Lois saw in Clark. There was nothing ordinary about Kent at all.
***
Perry stood behind Lois and Clark as they read the headline for the mock up of the Planet’s next edition. “DEATH PILL EXPOSED. SCIENTIST LINKED TO D.A.’S MURDER.”
“Quite a story, kids. I’d give my set of gold-plated Elvis spoons to know what makes a guy like Gables tick.”
Lois grimaced. “That’s the way it is today. Everybody sees themselves as a victim.”
Clark nodded in agreement. “It’s like no one wants to take responsibility for their actions anymore.”
Perry smiled. “Well, boys and girls, I, for one, take my responsibility very seriously. And right now I’ve got a paper to put to bed, so I can go home and have a little dinner with Alice. See you tomorrow.”
Perry walked away, leaving the couple alone for the first time since that morning. “Good night, Perry,” Lois called after him. He waved in recognition and headed for the elevator.
“So, how you doing?” Clark asked, nuzzling her neck seductively.
“I’m basking in the glory of my accomplishments,” she replied with a twinkle in her eye.
“Accomplishments?” Clark was baffled at her choice of words.
“Well, in the last 24 hours I have proven that I can take care of myself on my own … “
“Yes, but you still need to work on NOT getting into so much trouble, Lois.”
“Hey, I called you once I got to STAR Labs. I didn’t go in by myself.”
“Yeah, after you threw Buster Williams a roundhouse kick and knocked him out cold.”
“He was trying to get away.”
“Lo-is.”
“Okay, fine. But I still proved I didn’t need anyone’s help to get me out of Gables’ estate. I was already untied by the time you and Dan got there.”
He laughed at her pride in herself. “Okay. I’ll give you that. It was kinda funny to see Scardino’s face when he opened the door and you were already untied.”
“So, what have we got going on tonight?”
“Movie?” he offered.
“Sure. Your place or mine? I must warn you. I have no food,” she offered.
He laughed. “I think I’ll live. But I CAN cook you know.”
“Wow, he can cook and he can fly?” She winked at him. “This just might work out.”
Clark laughed at the inside joke.
Dan Scardino approached them apprehensively and cleared his throat. “Hey.”
“Hi, Dan. How’s your head?” Lois asked.
“It’s good,” he replied. “Thanks to you and Kent, I still have one. I wanted to come by and thank you for what you did for me. I’ve always had the attitude that no one could touch me. I never look before I leap type thing. I got my pride wounded. I deserved it.”
“It happens,” Clark remarked. He remembered a time a few months back when he had foolishly thought himself invincible and had approached Luthor without looking first and had found himself in a Kryptonite cage. It had been a humbling experience.
“Maybe, but, I owe you both an apology. I should never have tried to come in between you two. Perry had warned me you were out of my league and I didn’t listen. I still tried to pursue you and I’m sorry for that. I now know what you see in Kent here. I wish the best for you both and I hope we can all be friends.”
“Sure,” Lois replied. “Just save the cheesy pickup lines for someone else?” Lois smiled up at Clark. “They’re wasted on me.”
“Right. I’ll see you guys around.” Dan shook Clark’s hand firmly. An offer of friendship.
“Sure,” Clark replied. He took the man’s hand in friendship. “Dan?”
“Yeah?”
“I hope you find what it is you’re looking for,” Clark supplied.
“Me too,” he replied sadly. He walked away and headed towards the elevator. He had seen the way Lois looked at Clark. He remembered when a woman had looked at him that way. It had been Jenna. She had been the love of his life. Lois reminded him a lot of her. Would he ever meet anyone to fill the hole in his heart that her death had brought on?
He watched as Clark leaned in to kiss Lois. She laughed and pulled him closer, teasing him —- full of life. No, he never would meet anyone like Jenna. Lois belonged with Kent. That was certain.
Lois watched Dan leave and smiled sadly. “It’s sad. What happened to his partner.”
“Yeah,” Clark replied sadly. “Like I said, I hope he does find what he’s looking for.”
“Me too. He’s not really such a bad guy, just misguided. Needs to learn to back off when someone is obviously madly in love with their best friend and struggling to deal with all those emotions.”
“I love you, too.” He captured her mouth soundly and she laughed against his mouth as he scooped her in his arms and carried her towards the storage closet.
“Clark, where are we going?”
“Exploring?” he replied as she smacked him lightly. He laughed. Things were definitely looking up. He and Lois were together. They were working towards a solid relationship. She knew he was Superman and still loved him. He couldn’t ask for a better beginning to their relationship.
The End. Or The Beginning? You decide.
Notes: Okay, I’m done. Wow. Okay, in my opinion I don’t think Scardino was a bad person I think he just made bad decisions and I don’t think it helped when Lois was obviously leading him on by encouraging the flirting….This really made me mad about the episode Resurrection. Clark had just had a person he cared about die in his arms and Lois was flirting with another man in front of him? What the hell? That’s too insensitive. You don’t do that to your friends. Especially right after you’ve gone on a date with them. If they wanted to put a wrench in the works they should have written it better. They made Lois out to be the b**** in this episode and that wasn’t good either. This is just my opinion. I hope you enjoyed the story.
Last edited by folc4evernaday; 10/28/16 08:17 AM. Reason: Update
