And the Question Is…?
By Bren Ren
******
Summary: "And the Answer Is..?" episode companion fic: putting into words the subtext of Lois's thoughts during the first marriage proposal from Clark.
Rating: General Audiences, Appropriate for All Ages
Disclaimer: Not mine, never were, never will be. Just letting the characters have a little fun, will return them as good as I found them when we're done playing.
******
"I've been thinking," Clark said quietly several minutes into their late-night stroll through the park.
"Me too," Lois replied just as softly.
"About what?" Clark asked.
"You first," Lois told him with a blink of deja-vu. Considering what happened the last time she let him go first in the discussion of their relationship after her aborted wedding, she knew she should probably go first this time, but after everything she'd been through the last few days, she just couldn't muster the courage to share her thoughts first. She simply chickened out.
"Okay," Clark answered as he slowed to a halt. He turned to face her directly, letting his arm slip away from her shoulders before taking a steadying breath and plunging ahead. "Sometimes… you think you're immortal," he began slowly, "and you start to think that the people around you are, too. And it only takes a second to realize how wrong you are… about everything."
Lois felt her pulse begin to quicken as realization sank in. He was finally going to tell her the truth, to let her in on his big secret once and for all.
"What I'm trying to say is," Clark continued a bit haltingly, "I almost lost you. And I feel… ashamed."
"Ashamed?" That was the last thing she expected him to feel. "Why?"
"I kept… pushing you away…" Clark fumbled on, "even when I promised myself I would stop. And if you had died without ever knowing why, I would never be able to forgive myself… because I love you."
Oh, Clark, Lois thought. This really has been just as hard for you as it has been for me, hasn't it? She reached up to caress his face with one hand in a gesture identical to that which had finally given him away such a short time before.
Clark gently pulled her over to the fountain and guided her to sit down on its ledge. Her quickened pulse instantly shot up to hyperspeed in anticipation of what she was absolutely certain he was going to tell her. Before he could begin, though, the floodgates of the heavens opened and rain began pouring down on them in a sudden deluge.
As the thunder rolled overhead, Clark lifted his gaze to the dark sky above with a frustrated chuckle. "Come on! Give me a break!"
Lois laughed in return. "Do you want to go back?"
He tilted his face back down to meet her gaze with unwavering eyes. "If the earth opened at my feet, I wouldn't move until I'd said this."
She almost laughed again as she realized the literal truth in that statement, and her entire body began to tremble and tingle with ever-growing anticipation. The moment of truth was finally upon them.
"Lois," Clark began as he dropped down on one knee, and Lois held her breath as she waited for the words to come. But when Clark reached inside his jacket, Lois was confused for a moment. Then she saw the small box in Clark's hand. That's when she realized… he wasn't confessing his secret.
He was proposing.
After one quick gulp, Clark somberly spoke those four little life-altering words. "Will you marry me?"
He did it. He proposed—and he did so before telling her the truth about who he really was. "Clark…" she started; there was something of a hint of warning in her tone, but it was the glint in her eyes that should have set the alarm bells off in Clark's head.
Enough was enough. If he wasn't going to tell her, she was just going to have to tell him herself. One way or the other, the truth was going to be revealed this evening.
"Who's asking—Clark? " Lois reached out and pulled his glasses right off his face. "Or Superman?"
******
