Since this little tale seems to be something you all want to read...
Just a reminder:
**** denotes breaks between scenes. < > denotes Clark's thoughts. << >> denotes Lois' thoughts. {{{{ }}}} denotes scenes of past events. ^^^^ denotes journal writings. ++++ denotes the passing of a significant amount of time.
(This was easier in Word!
)
I'm not exactly how many parts this will end up being, but I'll warn you when we start getting toward the end. It's finished... I hope. I never start posting until I'm done, although I'm not sure how often I can post. Hopefully more consistently than the last story. In a few parts I will need your help though, so be looking forward to adding even more input than usual.
Enjoy!
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It would be weeks before he realized the true extent of what he’d done. By turning his back on what they’d shared, Clark had solidified Lois’ belief that she’d never be able to trust her heart to a man.
And when Lois was hurt, Lois became angry. When she was angry, she worked. She worked with a passion that was short of breathtaking.
The week following Clark’s declaration, Lois managed to uncover a scandal inside the mayor’s office. She also managed to get herself out of a close call with a pair of thugs bent on ‘taking care of any loose ends’.
****
Lois stepped off the elevator with the first smile to grace her face in over a week. Her expose on the mayor had hit the front page that morning and she’d already gotten a call from Perry singing her praises.
The usual morning commotion in the bull pen stopped and loud applause rose up around her as she made her way down into the newsroom toward her desk, graciously accepting the accolades of her fellow staffers.
“Congratulations, Lois!” Perry bellowed as he held up the morning edition of the paper. “You’ve proven once again why you’re the best!”
“Thanks, Perry,” she answered as she dropped her briefcase.
“And I don’t even want to know how you got that bruise,” Perry went on.
“Good. Because I’m not going to tell you,” she declared as she glanced toward Clark. The muscle in his jaw ticked in irritation. He was upset. Probably about her evening raid of confidential files in the mayor’s private office at his house.
<<Good.>>
A few more congratulatory wishes were accepted before work resumed, and Lois sat down at her desk.
“Keep up the good work,” Perry told her before he ordered everyone back to work and headed toward his office.
“Lois?”
She looked up to see Clark standing beside her.
“Yes?”
“Could I speak with you in private?” He asked between clenched teeth.
During the week since he’d broken things off with her, they’d barely spoken. She’d spent a great deal of time out searching for leads on her case. At first she’d tried to convince herself it wasn’t so she wouldn’t have to see him, but that was no use. She had purposely avoided Clark, and she wanted to keep avoiding him.
“What is it, Clark? I’m really busy. The mayor’s giving a press conference this morning.” She shifted papers on her desk in an attempt to prove she’d meant what she’d said.
“We need to talk.”
Her eyes snapped up to his. “There can’t be a *we*,” she repeated to him the words he’d spoken to her that fateful afternoon.
“Fine. Let everyone hear. What do you think you were doing last night?” He demanded, his eyes flashing dangerously.
“My job. But what business is it of yours?”
“You can’t help yourself, can you? You rush right into situations you know you shouldn’t...”
“One,” she started as she rose to her feet. “I was a reporter long before I met you. Two, I’ll be a reporter for a very long time to come. And three, you’re not my father!”
“I don’t pretend to be.”
“No, but you think you’re my keeper!” She pointed a finger at him. “Just because you split up the team doesn’t mean all the players are on the bench.”
“You split up the team!”
“You negotiated the deal!”
“Excuse me?” Perry asked as he stepped in between his two best reporters. “Could we turn the volume up a bit? I don’t believe they heard you outside.”
Lois folded her arms across her chest, her ears burning in anger. Clark, too, crossed his arms, refusing to stop glaring at her.
“Now,” Perry told them when he had their attention. “Take this to the conference room and iron out whatever differences you have. I won’t allow either of you to disturb the tranquility of my newsroom.” He pointed in the direction of the other room and waited until they turned to go.
****
Lois was first to stomp into the room. Clark followed and closed the blinds after he’d shut the door.
“The whole purpose of me doing what I did was so that there would be distance between you and Superman,” he told her calmly, even though he felt far from calm. Just the opposite. He was seething because she’d placed herself in a situation that could have potentially ended badly.
“Did I call for Superman?”
“No, but you were hurt.”
“I have a bruise. I’ll live.”
“And according to your article...”
“Look, the real issue here is that you don’t have control. I am my own person, Clark. I’ll continue to be my own person. With or without you.”
“But...”
“But nothing! Just because you have a problem with me doing my job, doesn’t mean I’m going to stop.”
“I didn’t ask you to stop,” he said to defend himself, even as the truth of what she’d said began to seep through his consciousness.
“You might not have asked, but it’s what you want. You want me safe, out of danger. Well, I can’t control other people. *You* can’t control other people. Things happen. Dangerous things. Sometimes I end up in those dangerous situations. I’m a big girl. I’ve done this job for a long time. I’m good at it. And unless you’re prepared to kidnap me and fly me off to some deserted island so I can’t get back, don’t expect me to stop!” She finished with a flourish of her hands.
Clark shoved his hands into his pockets and hang his head in shame. She was right. He did want her safe, tucked away so no one could hurt her.
“Clark, I’m a big girl.”
“I know that,” he told her and stepped around her. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The distance was supposed to make things easier.
<This will never be easier. You’ll always worry about Lois.>
“Not what you thought, is it?” She knew him too well- knew that in his all-knowing wisdom, he’d failed to hash out all the details.
He turned back to her. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t plan on it. But if it happens, it happens. You or nobody else is going to change that.”
He could only stand there in silence. His mother had told him the same thing. Actually, his mother had almost scolded him for what he’d done.
“Now, we have a job to do, and I intend to do mine.” She received a slight nod in response. “Are you going to allow me to do that without making a scene every time I chase down a lead?”
“If you’re asking me to remain professional...”
“That’s exactly what I’m *telling* you. That’s what you wanted,” she pointed out. Without waiting for an answer, she turned and left him alone.
Clark sank to a chair as he replayed everything she’d said. She was right. He wanted her completely out of danger even if that was not possible. He never wanted to arrive at an accident scene of some kind only to discover that she’d been hurt or worse, killed. And he certainly had no intention of hauling her off to a deserted island. He might be Superman, but he’d never survive that.
****
How dare he? Clark Kent was not about to stop her from doing her job! He wanted this separation. If it hadn’t been for that stupid decision, he’d have been with her last night. Granted, she might not have been hurt.
And if a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his butt when he hopped!
Lois snatched up her purse and stormed out of the newsroom. Arguing with Clark, and herself, had put her behind schedule. If she didn’t hurry, she’d be late for the mayor’s press conference.
****
Clark stood in the back of the room in pure agony. It had been six days since his argument with Lois in the newsroom. She’d written a fantastic follow-up to her expose and now she was about to be the next woman auctioned off in the annual charity benefit for the Metropolis Children’s Home.
He’d been furious when he’d found out she was going to be available for this particular aspect of the benefit. Of course, he hadn’t voiced that fury to her. He had mentioned it to his mother, though. Martha had promptly given him a lecture about having his cake and eating it, too. His mother was upset with him about his decision to distance himself from Lois. He’d tried to explain, but repeating it had sounded so... dumb.
“All right, gentlemen. Dig deep. Our very own prize winning reporter Lois Lane is next up on the auction block,” Perry bellowed, taking to his role as auctioneer just as easily as he did his role as editor.
Lois smiled brightly. She’d approached Perry about this. He’d assumed she wasn’t available, but she’d reminded him again of her and Clark’s separation. The editor in him had hoped his star reporters would have worked out their differences by now, though the friend in him had offered her an encouraging shoulder to lean on.
“Do I hear twenty?”
“Twenty,” came the voice of Richard Donaldson.
“Twenty! Do I hear forty?”
“Fifty,” replied another man in the crowd.
Before he knew what he’d done, Clark had shouted out his bid. “One hundred!”
“Way to go, Clark!” Perry beamed.
Lois glared at him. What was his deal? He’d broken up with her for her own good. Then he’d gone all ‘he-man’ on her. They’d barely spoken in nearly a week. Now he wanted to be the highest bidder for a chance to take her out on a date? Either he wanted her or he didn’t!
“One twenty five!”
Clark wanted to prove why he was called Superman. “One fifty!” How dare Gary bid against him! Didn’t he know that Lois was his...?
<Your what? You broke up with her. Remember?>
“Ten thousand!”
Perry stopped and looked at the man who’d stepped forward with such a generous bid. “Is that American dollars, sir?”
“Dollars, pounds, rubles... Whatever you’d like?” came the heavily accented reply of the man in a perfectly tailored suit.
“Patrick!” Lois breathed as she stepped toward him.
“Well, I thank you and the children thank you,” Perry said as he banged the gavel.
“What are you doing here?” Lois asked the man as they moved away from the continued action taking place behind them.
“I’m here on business,” he replied as he looked at her. “But there was no way I could come all the way to Metropolis without seeing my Lois.” He looked her over appreciatively, then smiled. “You look great.”
“So do you.” She finally gave into the urge to hug him. She’d met Patrick Sullivan when she was an exchange student in Ireland. She’d boarded with his family. The Sullivans were a wealthy Irish family who dealt in real estate. Patrick had a degree in business management and it seemed everything he touched turned to gold. He’d successfully established several businesses that he’d later sold for millions.
“I’m told you’re quite the reporter.”
“Still my passion,” Lois told him as she took the arm he offered and they drifted toward the doors that led out to the garden area of the museum where the auction was being held.
“From the articles I’ve read, I’d say it’s more like an obsession.”
“Yeah, well...”
Clark could only stare hopelessly as her laughter filled his ears. This Patrick was obviously someone she knew. He was tempted to eavesdrop, but decided instead to just leave. He’d asked for distance. Now he was getting it in spades.
