Here it is, the penultimate part
TOC **********
Why did the elevator have to be full? It was the worst feeling in the world.
Clark looked at Lois longingly; she was the woman of his dreams. He ached to touch her, to gather her in his arms and kiss her senseless. But first they needed to talk, really hash out what had happened yesterday. Even though they had made peace in the car, they still hadn't resolved their problems. There was still a strange, uncomfortable, unresolved tension between them.
It was a disturbing trend -- Superman was interfering with their relationship. Clark needed to do something to control the Superman factor.
But they couldn't talk now. There were six other people in the elevator, so they couldn't even mention the word Superman. Why did the elevator have to be full today? The ride up to the newsroom was agonizingly long and the tension mounted as they inched closer to the newsroom.
When the elevator doors opened, Lois made a large gesture of peace, reaching out and grabbing his hand. She squeezed it reassuringly and whispered, "We need to talk."
Clark squeezed back in response. "Conference room?"
Lois nodded as they made a beeline to the empty conference room without even making an effort to stop at their respective desks.
As they made their way through the newsroom, they were greeted by birthday wishes from almost everyone. Darn it, why did Clark have to be so popular?
"Happy birthday, CK!" Jimmy exclaimed as he made his way over to the couple, obviously expecting a long chat.
"Thanks," Clark said simply. He really didn't want to think about his birthday. It just wasn't a happy day. The knowledge of how badly he had hurt his wife, the woman of his dreams, was gnawing at his heart.
Before Jimmy could start a conversation, Lois interjected, "Jimmy, Clark and I are really busy right now. Can this wait until later?" She knew she was being rude, but Jimmy usually didn’t get subtle hints.
"Oh, um, sure. Big story?"
"Thanks!" Lois squeezed Clark's hand again and led the way to the conference room, leaving a stunned Jimmy in their wake. Jimmy would get over it!
They almost ran into the conference room to avoid any further confrontation. Both Lois and Clark had one thing on their minds -- they needed to talk about what had been happening between them. And they needed to do it now. They couldn’t let this go on any longer.
Lois pulled the door closed behind her and took her time closing all the blinds in the room. She knew what she wanted to say to him, but she wasn't sure how to do it.
When she turned around the face him, her breath caught in her chest. She had never seen him look so vulnerable. He looked like a sad, abandoned puppy! That look was irresistible. Even though she was mad and hurt, she had the inexplicable desire to make him feel better. Her body ached for him.
She needed him. Now.
Forget talking, she wanted action.
She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his head down to hers. Their foreheads touched lightly and before Lois kissed him, she whispered, "I love you."
Lips mere millimeters apart, Clark, almost too shocked to speak, whispered, "I love you, too."
Lois closed the gap separating their lips and brushed her lips against his.
All inhibition left Clark's body as he brought his arms around Lois's back and pulled her close. Her lips were so soft, so wet, so inviting.
Their mouths melded together, forming a gigaohm seal that couldn't be broken. It was almost like their lips were covalently bonded together, impossible to separate. Two became one.
All the tension that had been coursing through their veins had surfaced. More than a week of separation had taken its toll on them both, and they ached for something more than a mere kiss. However passionate it was, it could never satisfy all their desires.
When their kiss finally broke, Lois stared into her husband's desire-clouded eyes and whispered, "Happy birthday."
Clark smiled weakly, knowing there was still so much more they needed to do before all of their problems were resolved. At least now he was sure that she still loved him -- she had at least partially forgiven him.
"Thank you," he breathed.
After a brief silence, where they looked into each others' eyes, hesitant to even speak, Lois took the initiative to be the one to broach the looming discussion.
"We need to talk, honey."
"Yeah, we really do. Lois, I know . . ."
"No, let me talk. I really need to say this. "
Clark nodded anxiously, eager to do anything to fix what he had done to her yesterday -- what he had been doing recently. Yesterday wasn't the beginning. It was the culmination of a bigger problem.
Lois sat down at the table wearily before she continued, "You really hurt me yesterday."
Her voice was icy and her words stung Clark's heart. But she was right. What had he done to her? From the first day he met her, he had told himself that he would do everything in his power to keep her happy. He promised himself that he would never hurt her.
But he had.
She took a weary breath. "How could you leave me like that?"
Clark shrugged -- he had absolutely no idea why he had done it. He had left her for a charity softball game. What could have been more stupid? "I, uh, I don’t know."
"You left me, Clark. I would have understood if it had been an emergency, but it wasn't. You left me to play softball with people that aren't even worth your company. You left me."
She was right. That was exactly what he had done! "I did," he said simply.
Clark knew he had to better prioritize his schedule. He needed to stop Superman, the vile interfering force that always seemed to play an instrumental role in ruining his life. And he needed to tell Lois how incredibly stupid he had been, how sorry he was. He needed to make sure Lois was the most important person in his existence.
"And this wasn't the first time. If it's not softball, it's ribbon cuttings, golf, hospital reopenings, rescuing cats stuck in trees . . ." Tears that had been welling up began to stream down her cheeks. "I just, I just, I just feel like I'm not important . . ."
"Lois, no! You know you're the most important person in my life." He quickly sat down next to her and eyes met hers. Tears streamed down his face as he stumbled over his words, "I'm so sorry for making you think that! Lois, you are the only person in the world that matters to me. I love you so much it hurts."
"I love you, too."
"I can't believe I hurt you so much. I didn't even realize what I was doing. I don't know if I can tell you how sorry I am. Before we got married, I promised myself I would never hurt you."
Lois listened in rapt attention, tears streaming down her cheeks. She knew Clark hadn't meant to hurt her, but that didn't change how much he had hurt her, however inadvertently.
"But now I've hurt you so profoundly, I don't know what to do." He took a deep breath and waited for her response. She probably wouldn't accept his apology -- and he wouldn't blame her at all.
"I know you didn't mean it, Clark, and we can't change what's happened." She reached out and touched his cheek, wiping away his tears, her own tears still streaming down her face. "But we *can* fix it."
Clark fought against his tears and forced a smile. "I love you so much, Lois."
"I love you too. I love you so much it hurts." She took a deep breath and continued, "But I don't like what you did. *You* have to remember that we're married now, so Superman can't accept every offer he gets. The charities can survive without you at their every event. I can't survive without you with me every night."
"Oh, god, Lois, it's *I* that can’t survive without *you* next to *me* every night." He shook his head woefully.
"You just have to cut back. We don't see enough of each other as it is with just regular emergencies. We *never* see each other when you add in the charity appearances."
"As much as I want to cut back, I'm not sure I can. Some of these events have been scheduled years in advance -- before we were a couple."
Lois shook her head. How had he made arrangements years in advance? Hadn't he considered what his life might have evolved into in that short time span? "Superman can break his engagements," Lois said definitively. "People will forgive him. Everyone knows how busy he is." And she was right. No one would question Superman's motivation for canceling -- they would just believe that he had other emergency priorities.
Clark sighed. She was right. He really could cut back on most of his engagements -- and the charities were bound to understand, especially if the Superman Foundation increased its donations.
He couldn't cut back on his marriage.
"You're right. I can’t believe how Superman's taken over my life. When I created him, I just wanted an outlet to help people in need . . ."
Before Clark got lost in a hole of self-pity, Lois interrupted, "Superman is the world's greatest asset. You help so many people and have saved so many lives. And that is so amazing. You do so much!"
Lois reached and squeezed his shoulder, trying to reassure him.
"But you have to realize that you don't belong to the world anymore." She took a deep breath before saying, "You belong to me."
"I'm glad you still want me." He kissed her on her cheek and hugged her close.
Lois turned her head so she could look in his eyes. "I'll always want you. I'm just glad *you* still want *me*."
"I've always wanted you."
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. It was almost a let down from all the tension that had built up in her body since last night. She felt like they deserved a bigger, more dramatic resolution.
"We just need to prioritize a little better, Clark. We need to put our relationship first in our lives. Before work, before Superman, before anything else."
"How do we do it?"
"I don't know. Maybe we need to set aside some time each week specifically for us." God, 'us time' sounded so stereotypical. But after everything that had happened, she was desperate.
"Good idea, honey. We can do that." If they set an organized time each week to spend together, it was a start.
Clark pulled a planner out of his briefcase and opened it, flipping aimlessly through the well-used pages.
"What's that?"
"Oh, um, it's my day planner."
"*That's* your planner, Clark? I've never seen it."
Clark shrugged. "I guess I've never showed it to anyone."
"But what about your other planner? The one with the different colors for when Superman is committed to do various things? The one I used to plan last night."
Clark smiled weakly, guiltily. "That's *Clark's* planner. This one is Superman's."
Lois looked at it quizzically. "Superman has his own planner?"
Clark shrugged. It seemed only natural -- secret identity, secret day planner. "How else would I keep everything straight?"
"It doesn't really help, you know." That was a cheap shot. But he deserved it.
Clark shrugged, knowing she was right. "I guess I don't check it as often as I should."
Lois flipped through the pages and exclaimed, "You're booked into the next century!"
"Don't worry. A lot of those are just tentative. I can easily get out of most of them."
Lois looked at the book and then back at him. "I don't want you to stop helping charities. I'm just asking to be more involved in your life."
"And you will be, honey. Starting with planning at least one day a week to spend alone together with no distractions, no interruptions."
"Starting tonight?" Lois wrapped her arms around his neck again and put her head down on his shoulder.
"A romantic dinner somewhere exotic -- Australia, Sydney Harbor? We've been planning to go there forever."
Lois smiled at the sentiment, remembering her plan for penance from last night. But that wasn't what she wanted. She'd much rather have him as her sex slave. "That sounds wonderful. But I think tonight I want to stay home. Alone. With you. No distractions, no interruptions."
Clark shivered unconsciously, knowing what she was thinking. "Alone, together. Without the rest of the world." Would she give him a replay of what he had missed last night?
"Happy Birthday," she whispered, looking into his eyes.
"Thank you," he answered, his voice dropping the closer his lips edged to hers.
Their lips met and Clark kissed her, releasing the tension that had been building since their fight this morning. He surrendered to the feel of her lips against his, her hands on his neck, her tongue in his mouth. She loved him and had forgiven him.
Lois closed her eyes and reveled in the feel of his lips against hers, his fingers tangled in her hair, his other hand rubbing her back. She couldn't stay mad at him. He had so many good intentions, but he needed to remember that he couldn't help everyone on Earth. Sometimes he needed to help himself.
Lois knew she needed more. Eight days was too long. She was desperate, so desperate. If it wasn't considered unprofessional, and they wouldn't have an audience, she would take him right here on the conference room table.
"Let's go home. I need you now."
Clark groaned. She had voiced every thought he was feeling. He was so desperate -- and she was desperate, too. But again, it wasn't the right time. If he could, he would make love to her right here on the conference room table. "Lo-is, don't do this to me! We have to work."
"Screw work. This is an emergency."
"Eight days, six hours, fifteen minutes, and thirteen seconds isn't just an emergency, it's a disaster."
"Let's go home, Clark. We'll tell Perry we're sick."
Clark nodded quickly. Lois stood up and pulled Clark with her. As they headed to the door hand-in-hand, Clark stopped abruptly and stiffened noticably.
"Oh my god, not now!" His heart sank as the sound of a police scanner invaded his brain. Why him? Why now?
"What is it?" Lois sighed deeply. Superman again. This had better be something good, or else . . .
"Fire in Suicide Slum."
Almost instinctively, she exclaimed, "What are you waiting for? Go!"
"Are you serious?" Even though he knew he had to go, thousands of lives were at stake, he wondered if they fire department could manage without him this once.
Lois kissed him quickly and pushed him towards the door. Even though she needed him with her, she wasn't *that* selfish. When lives were at stake, Superman had a duty. She could wait. It wouldn't kill her. "Go! I'll see you there."
Without a second thought, Clark took a deep breath and hurried toward the staircase, the feel of Lois's lips still fresh on his lips.
**********
Penny looked scornfully at the pile of papers on her desk. How could she have work to do today? She *never* had any real work! On the one day she actually had something *important* to do, she had to do stuff for Diticom.
How rude!
Didn't her bosses realize she had *much* more important things to do?
It was times like this she wished she had superpowers . . . or a man with Superpowers. Then she could finish this mundane work in seconds. Or maybe she wouldn't even need this stupid job!
As she mindlessly entered data, she noticed the television flickering in the corner of the room. There he was! Her future husband. LNN was broadcasting a story about a massive fire in a warehouse on Hobbs Bay, but Penny didn't care about something stupid like a fire! Superman was there!
He looked so wonderful, do intense, so gorgeous when he was working. His muscles rippled under the royal blue spandex with each move he made. Penny was in love with the most beautiful, man in the world.
Screw work.
In the grand scheme of life, it didn't matter. Superman, he was the most important person in her life.
She was going to find his secret identity. It was time for her to pretend to be doing "work" as she entered the parameters into the search engine. She'd "worked" enough for today. Now it was time to get down to business!
As she waited for the search program to load, she pulled her list of Superman's traits out of her bag. These were her ticket to discovering her hero's secret identity.
Again she was stricken with self doubt. Wasn't this secret identity idea too easy? How would he go around every day without anyone recognizing him? Then again, most people don't often look below the surface. Once, she had almost run right into her favorite actor on the street in broad daylight, and she'd had no idea it was him. He'd certainly looked a lot different than his character on television.
Maybe that was the same for Superman. Could the television reports and newspaper pictures create a different image for public consumption?
What if his secret identity looked absolutely nothing like the Superman everyone knew? What if he had some kind of power to morph into a completely different form, sort of like the Hulk? He could be *anything*. What if he morphed into an animal? Superdog? Supercat? Superbunny? Superbird? Well, he could fly. Maybe he *did* morph into a bird.
No, that was crazy. He couldn't morph into an *animal*.
But maybe he could morph into a human that looked *different*.
How would he do it? She had no idea of the extent of his powers, so she couldn’t absolutely say that he *couldn't* morph into a different look. If he did, there was no way she'd ever be able to find him.
What if he didn't have that morphing power? Didn't it seem a little absurd? It sounded like something from one of her stupid little brother's comic books.
Why couldn't Superman hide in plain sight? It *was* possible. He could make a few minor changes to his hair style or something equally superficial and no one would recognize him.
It would be too hard for her to search for his secret identity if she didn't assume he was hiding in plain sight. She was already making so many assumptions, what was one more?
And if she was wrong, she could always stage an accident. She wanted to try the more professional way first before she gave in to the easy, foolproof way.
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