PREVIOUSLY...
“Why don’t you go, Lois?” Clark said. “I want to type up my story about Ata before I leave. I’ve been feeling guilty about not typing up that story yet.”
“Clark...”
“Go. It sounds like fun.”
Her eyes narrowed momentarily. “Fine. Then, Dan, I’d love to.”* * * * * * * * *
AND NOW...
Lois quietly fumed as she hid beneath her wig, trench coat, sunglasses and ball cap in the passenger’s seat in Scardino’s rental. She could hardly believe how Clark had practically forced her to go out with Scardino. How dare he? Even if he was having second thoughts about his feelings for her, he had no right to choose her dates for her!
She’d agreed just to give him a taste of his own medicine. And she had to admit, it was somewhat satisfying to see the muscle in his jaw tick when Dan had helped her on with her coat.
Well, if that was the way Clark wanted it, she planned to have a great time. A really great time. She folded her arms defiantly across her chest as she thought about the really great time she was going to have.
“So I understand why Kent has to sneak into and out of the Planet,” Scardino said. “But why do you?”
Why her? Well, perhaps because, as far as those reporters out there were concerned, she and Clark were together. But how exactly did she say that in the circumstances? After all, Clark had made it pretty clear that he didn’t think they should be together.
“Because he’s my partner,” Lois said - although at this moment, she couldn’t say she knew exactly what that meant.
“Uhh... So if they can’t talk to him, you’re the next best thing, huh?”
“Something like that. Turn here.” Lois finally removed her arms from across her chest to busy herself with removing her disguise and finger-combing her hair. She pulled down her sun-visor, using the vanity mirror to ensure that she didn’t look as disheveled as she felt. Almost immediately, she realized that it wasn’t her appearance that seemed tousled, but what was going on inside her.
Scardino turned the vehicle where indicated. “Is this it?” Scardino asked when they had driven about a block down from the corner.
“Uh, yeah.”
A moment later, they were pulling into the parking lot.
Lois felt as if she was having some sort of out of body experience as she stepped out of the car and accompanied Scardino into the restaurant. As if from a long ways away, she heard him tell the hostess that they wanted a table for two and then followed on autopilot as they were led towards a table.
What the hell was she doing here?
She’d let anger master her once again - letting Clark goad her into agreeing to go out with another man. Damn it. And all of this after chastising herself earlier today for reacting in anger to Clark instead of talking things through with him.
Dan pulled a chair out for her.
“I can’t do this,” Lois said, backing away.
“What?”
“This. I’m sorry, but there’s something you need to know. Clark and I... well, we aren’t just partners. We live together.”
“As in... roommates?”
“No.”
“Oh. But then why...”
“He’s being a lunkhead at the moment,” Lois said. “But... I love him, Dan. And being here with you... it’s not fair to any of us. And it just feels wrong. I can’t stay.”
“Not even for a platonic dinner with a friend?”
Lois shook her head. “I don’t have time. I have to find a two by four to hit my lunkhead over the head with.”
“Well, if you’re living together, why not just use a rolling pin?”
“What’s a rolling pin?”
“Uhh... How about I give you a ride home?”
Lois shook her head. “You stay. The food really is good. I’ll grab a cab.”
“I hope he’s worth it.”
Lois gave him her first real smile, one that, although she didn’t know it, he wouldn’t soon forget - one that revealed a mixture of both unqualified love and that particular brand of determination of which only Lois Lane was capable. One that told him that this was a woman who was definitely not available.
“He is,” she told him with complete conviction.
* * * * * * * * *
On the scale of horrible days, this one had to rate somewhere near the top. He’d had to tell Perry that he didn’t have the Mayson Drake attempted murder story for him yet. His trip home from work had been almost as bad as the one there. But the worst blow of all was that Lois was out on a date with Agent Casanova.
What was she doing going on a date with someone else, anyway? She was living with him for crying out loud! Surely she could have waited until his side of the bed was cold before going out with another man.
Okay, so maybe this was partially his fault. He might have sort of pushed her into it. Still, she hadn’t had to accept! She could have said no! But she hadn’t.
And ever since, he’d been torturing himself since with images of her and Scardino at the Roma Cafe. His hand on the small of her back as he escorted her to a table. Laughing at Scardino’s jokes the way she’d laughed at his only the previous evening. Reaching out to lay a hand on his arm. Her heart racing as Scardino leaned to steal a...
The key snapped in the lock.
Crap.
The aroma of something burning suddenly penetrated Clark’s tormented brain. The apartment! It was coming from the apartment!
He was about to push the door in when his hearing caught the sound of an annoyed grumble coming from inside. She was frustrated, but she wasn’t frantic.
Okay, no emergency. Still... Was she cooking? Would she have really brought her ‘date’ back here for supper? Did she have no concern at all for his feelings?
But... He stretched out with his hearing. No, she was alone. But surely there hadn’t been enough time for her to have dinner with Scardino and get home in time to burn... Was that milk? It definitely had a milky smell to it.
Unable to put the pieces of the puzzle together, he turned his attention back to his immediate problem - the key he’d broken off in the lock. Feeling around, he discovered that there was still a small part of the key sticking out, enough for him to get hold of it with his fingernails and, very gently, very slowly, turn the key.
Click.
Letting out a sigh of relief, he carefully pulled the key fragment out of the lock. He’d have to tell Lois not to use the third lock down until he had a chance to get a replacement key made.
Using the next key, he turned his attention to the next lock.
“Is everything set up?”
His hearing picked up a woman’s random question coming from one of the nearby apartments. He quickly dismissed it to concentrate on his task. He muttered darkly under his breath when his hand fumbled and he dropped the keys. Unable to use his vision, he had to get down on his knees and feel around on the floor. He felt Shadow’s nose against his arm and then the feel of... He let out a breath of relief as he recovered the keys from Shadow’s mouth.
“Thanks, boy,” he said, rising to his feet.
He heard Lois begin singing softly to herself and felt his heart give an involuntary flutter.
It flashed though his mind to use superspeed to get into the house. He’d still fumble at superspeed, of course. But at superspeed, things still wouldn’t take nearly as long. But as quickly as the thought came, he recalled his earlier decision to put a moratorium on all of his super powers. Given the amount of surveillance he was under and the loss of his eyesight, who knew when someone might catch something on some high powered camera even when he thought he was alone?
Still, he rebelled inside at the amount of time it was taking just to get the door unlocked. Just when he was about to give up and knock to get Lois to let him in, the last lock opened, allowing him to enter the apartment. He was grateful that locking them behind him took less time.
Realizing Lois was in the kitchen, he slipped off his coat and boots before releasing Shadow from the halter. Shadow immediately bounded away.
“Hi, boy,” Lois said, her singing ending as she greeted the pup. “Bring your master with you or did he send you away, too? Other masters he wanted you to guide around for the evening.”
“Lois...” he said, his voice a soft plea as he tapped his way into the kitchen.
Lois ignored him to continue addressing Shadow. “Did you walk out on them, too, boy? Leave them sitting alone without even eating supper?”
“You didn’t stay for dinner?”
“See if you can turn the volume up.” The random voice from a nearby apartment again penetrated Clark’s consciousness.
He pushed it aside when he heard Lois stand from where she’d been squatted down to address Shadow.
“What the hell were you thinking, Clark?” Her voice as soft, but probing, and he could hear the hurt in her tone.
“Lois...”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re an idiot?”
“You. Regularly.”
“Is the tape recorder going? ‘Cause this is getting good,” said that annoying voice again.
“That’s because you are an...”
Clark suddenly understood the meaning of the voice. Shifting into gear, he grabbed Lois, his lips descending on hers in an effort to cut off whatever she’d been about to say.
He heard her give a surprised gasp, followed by a soft moan as her lips opened under his. Unable to resist, he kissed her back, accepting her invitation to invade her mouth, searching it for her taste. Her body melted against his, molding to his, soft everywhere that he was hard. His arms went around her waist, drawing her closer, even as hers wound their way around his neck as she brought her body even closer.
One kiss turned into two and then three before he felt one of Lois’ hands leave his neck to slide down his shoulder and onto his chest, slipping her fingers between the buttons on his shirt.
“Focus in more on her hand.”
The voice snapped Clark out of the lustful haze that was beginning to consume him. Still, it took him a moment to slow things down. Finally, he managed to force himself to break the kiss, pulling her even closer so that his lips were positioned right next to her ear.
Still panting, he breathed into her ear a single word. “Bugs.”
Except for the continued heaving of her chest, she froze.
“Cameras,” he whispered again.
He felt her nod against him, telling him that his message had been received and he could tell that she, like he, was mentally reviewing everything they’d said since he’d arrived home.
“Now that’s what I call a proper welcome home,” she said, finally drawing away from him.
“Yeah,” he agreed, his mind moving as he tried to figure out how to handle this development. Even blind, Superman could have the place cleaned out in seconds, just by following the high pitched sounds he could hear coming from the equipment now that he knew to listen for it. Problem was that whoever had bugged the place would know instantly that only Superman could have cleaned the place out that quickly.
“Would you mind seeing if you have any more luck than I did cleaning the burned milk out of the saucepan while I give Perry a call?” Lois asked.
He smiled. She was brilliant. By using the cordless phone, she could come up with a viable reason to discover the surveillance devices by picking up on the magnetic clicking sound when the phone was in close proximity to the electromagnetic field produced by a hidden camera or microphone. Once they’d found one, they’d have more than enough reason to search for more.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois let out a breath of relief when, after the experts had come to search the apartment, finding all the surveillance devices cluttering the place, she checked the bedroom closet. The Superman suits hidden in the box in the back of the closet appeared to have been undisturbed. Still, they really needed to come up with a better storage place for the suits because the people who had bugged their apartment this time would undoubtedly try again. Or others would.
She suspected the only reason the suits hadn’t been found this time was because the people planting the devices hadn’t wanted to leave behind any sort of disturbance that would alert either Lois or Clark to the fact that someone had entered the apartment.
She was annoyed with herself that she hadn’t considered the possibility that someone would have tried planting bugs and cameras in here. The ones in her bedroom bothered her the most. What were they hoping to capture - super sex?
The issue of bugs in their apartment also raised other questions. Were there bugs at the Daily Planet, too? What about her jeep? And if there were surveillance devices in other places... had anyone managed to capture anything compromising? It was probably a good thing that she and Clark had been fighting today and so hadn’t spent time together, talking about things. Otherwise... Before they had realized the problem... They could have said something incredibly incriminating to each other. Something that could have sealed Clark’s fate. Positively identifying him as Superman.
It flashed through her mind that, just like they had found bugs in their apartment, she had planted a bug in Bill Church’s hospital room. Was that really so different?
Yes, it was. The difference was the intent behind the activity because, although she couldn’t care less about Mindy Black’s flirtations with Bill Church, she had no doubt that if the cameras in her bedroom had captured her and Clark having sex, that video would have found its way into the public domain and every magazine and television news show would be publishing all the intimate details.
It was a good thing that Clark had realized that they were being bugged.
But... when had he realized they were bugged? Before or during the kiss. She’d thought at the time that the kiss meant he realized what an idiot he was being. But now...
“I’m wondering why you have so many locks on the door when they don’t seem to keep anyone out,” Clark asked.
She turned from where she was still squatting next to the box containing the Superman suits to see him standing in the doorway.
“Alan Morris. Kyle Griffin. Ryan Wiley. Mr. Makeup,” Clark continued “Even Lex Luthor must have bust in here once or twice to set up an exact replica of your apartment in his bunker. And now this.”
“And it’s only going to get worse,” Lois said. “But at least we know now what to look out for. By the way, couldn’t you hear where the signal was being sent or something?”
“Two doors down.”
“The McLoughlin residence? But they are away on holidays.”
“Someone must have broken in to use the apartment as their base of operations. But they cleared out as soon as we found the first bug and since I couldn’t stop them without confirming who I was...” He shrugged. “I can tell you that at least one of them was a woman, however.”
Lois nodded.
“Still sure you want to be in a relationship with Superman?” Clark asked.
“No,” she said, rising to her feet. “I want to be in a relationship with Clark.”
“But, Lois...”
She let out a breath. “Clark...” Deciding that she didn’t want to have this conversation while standing in their room, she took his arm and led him into the living room. She waited until they were both settled on the couch, before continuing. “Clark, I love you. But this... waffling on your part... I can’t take it anymore.”
“I just want you to have the choice to get out if you don’t think you can handle all this.”
“Well, you’re making me think you are the one with second thoughts. That maybe you don’t love me anymore.”
“No, Lois,” Clark responded immediately.
“So you don’t love me, anymore,” she said, her voice sounding small even to her own ears.
His hand instantly came up to cup her cheek. “I love you. I love you so much that...” He faltered, unable to find the words to complete his thought. He gave his head a shake and tears came to his eyes - communicating his feelings far more elegantly than words ever could.
“Clark, I love you just as much,” Lois said. “So when you keep trying to push me away... Can’t you understand how much it hurts me?”
“I just want... I know you didn’t sign up for all this. If this doesn’t blow over... If they find the evidence they need to prove conclusively that I’m Superman... Or they simply come to be completely convinced of Mayson’s story...”
“Then we’ll deal with it. Us. Together.”
“But...”
“No buts, Clark. We’re in this together.”
“Are you absolutely sure, Lois?”
“I am more than absolutely sure. Whatever happens... we’re in this together. Just promise me that you’ll quit trying to push me away.”
He seemed to waver for another moment before nodding.
“So... Partners? In every way?”
He nodded.
“Partners,” he confirmed. “In every way.”
“Pinky swear,” she demanded. “After all, it’s not really binding unless there’s a pinky swear involved. Oh, and let me see your other hand - to make sure you don’t have your fingers crossed or something.”
He couldn’t help but smile, even as he stretched out one of his hands while making sure the other was clearly visible.
She took his pinky with hers. “We promise on three... One. Two. Three.”
“I promise,” they both said in unison.
“It’s almost like being married,” he said.
She giggled before taking his hand and raising it to her lips to kiss his fingers. If he could joke about marriage, maybe he was even finally starting to realize that her rejection of his proposal had not been a rejection of him. Still, she didn’t want to talk about that now. Not after their fight. Or the day they’d had. No, she had something else on her mind at the moment. “I seem to have heard somewhere that makeup sex is really, really great. And since this is our first fight since getting together...” Her voice trailed off, letting him fill in the missing pieces for himself.
“What about our first morning here? I’d say that was a fight.”
“Are you trying to be obstinate, Mr. Kent?”
“Are you propositioning me, Ms. Lane?”
“I’m doing more than that,” Lois responded cheekily. “I’m telling you to take me to bed.”
He smiled in a way that told her he wasn’t quite done teasing her. “But... what about that great meal you were making?”
“Hmph. I only got as far as burning the milk for the cheese sauce. I was trying a recipe Lucy left behind for homemade macaroni and cheese. I’d heard somewhere that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach and thought... Well, can’t everyone make macaroni and cheese?”
“Lois, I didn’t fall in love with you for your skills in the kitchen.”
“Good thing.”
“Besides, there are other rooms where you definitely excel.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
She smiled. “So what are you waiting for? Take me to the bedroom - then maybe we can order some take out.”
Clark didn’t need more. He scooped her up in his arms, carrying her on sure feet towards the bedroom. As they left the living room, she flicked off the light. He pushed the bedroom door closed with his foot, leaving a whimpering dog on the other side.
* * * * * * * * *
The decision to eat their Chinese food in bed was probably not, in retrospect, the best plan she’d ever had. Between the inherent slipperiness of much of the food and Clark’s lack of sight, they were making quite a mess. Still, there were compensations. Eating a slippery shrimp off Clark’s chest, and ensuring no stickiness was left behind, had certainly been thought provoking. And it had been more than a little intriguing when he had used his sense of smell to lick up some sweet and sour sauce that had dripped onto her right thigh.
Clothing optional had also proven interesting. Not that either of them had actually been comfortable with complete nudity while eating supper. But they’d had the foresight to wear old clothing.
He had thrown on an old pair of jeans to answer the door when the food arrived. And she had to admit, she was enjoying being able to explore his magnificent chest whenever she wanted. And the old dress shirt she’d stolen from Clark seemed to be quite a hit with him, providing his hands with plenty of skin to explore.
Shadow, having been granted access to the room when the food arrived, was enjoying the activity as well, acting like a living garborator, quickly gobbling up any food that made its way onto the floor or ended up close to the edge of the bed.
Still, next time, she might opt for robes at the table. Save the bed for something else... Something involving chocolate sauce perhaps.
Makeup sex, on the other hand, she couldn’t say enough positive things about that particular experience. And given that both of them had felt the need to show the other how much they loved each other... Wow.
That was something else new about this relationship, she mused. In the few previous relationships that had become sexual, after the first times when feelings and excitement had been running high, sex had quickly become more of a concession Lois made to her partner’s needs. Now... being close to Clark, having exclusive rights to his body, was getting better with each encounter instead of becoming something of a chore.
But that might just be because of Clark. Unlike other men, having climbed that particular mountain, he hadn’t become more focused on simply fulfilling his own needs, but continued to ensure she was well satisfied, too.
If he kept this up, soon she was going to have to award him that gold star. She wondered if he realized just how different he was from other men. She stretched and purred contentedly.
“Wow,” Clark said, pulling her into his arms so that she was cuddled up against his chest. “That sounded like a great thought.”
“You have no idea,” she said, emphasizing each word.
“Now I’m really intrigued.”
Lois laughed again. “So tell me something,” she said, instead of answering his query. “When you left last night... I sort of wondered if you might have gone to Kansas.”
Clark shook his head before filling her in on his trip to the Mediterranean and the reason he was late for work.
Lois was thoughtful when he finished. “About your eyes... Something happened today, Clark. I managed to access the Faraday information.” With that, she filled him in on saving a man’s life at the MGH.
“Hey, that’s really great!” Clark exclaimed.
“So anyway I wondered...” She wiggled out of his arms, turning so that she was sitting on her knees facing him. “Look up towards the light so that I can look in your eyes.”
“Which way’s the light?”
She took his face between her hands and turned his face so that the light was reflected in his eyes.
“What exactly is the point of this?” Clark asked.
She tried to get a better vantage point. “I’m just hoping that by looking in your eyes, maybe something will come to me about how to get your sight back.”
His eyebrows rose.
“It was when I was confronted with a guy in cardiac arrest that I was able to access the information Faraday put in my head. If that’s there, then maybe I can do the same to find the information that will help us figure out how to get your eyesight back.”
She was silent then as she looked into his eyes. But other than the fact that his eyes were a beautiful dark chocolate in color, she couldn’t tell anything. “I need one of those thing-a-ma-do-hickies for looking into a person’s eyes.”
“Do you mean a ophthalmoscope?” Clark asked.
“Uhh... okay.”
Clark laughed, wrapping his arms around her to pull her to him.
“Hey, I’m trying to solve your eye problem,” she protested, batting at his hands.
With a sigh, he released her. “Well, what do you see?” he asked after another moment.
“I see you getting lucky with a beautiful brunette,” Lois said. “And, in spite of the beautiful qualifier, it better be me or you’re in real trouble, buster.”
He reached out, pulling her to him again. This time she didn’t resist, wrapping an arm around his neck as he settled her in his lap.
“I’m sorry, Clark. I’d like to try again with one of those things you mentioned.”
“An ophthalmoscope?”
“Right. But at the moment... sorry. I just see these beautiful brown eyes.” Her hand ran gently down his cheek. “Guess I still have some ways to go before I can really claim to know how to access the Faraday information. Maybe I should reconsider getting some sort of adrenaline pill to see if that might help.”
“No, Lois. Every drug has side effects. I really don’t like the idea of you popping adrenaline tablets just to access this information.”
Lois sighed. “I agree. Having the ability to access the additional information on command might be nice, but not at the risk of my health. Still...”
“We’ll work on it. Your leak about how to access the Faraday information didn’t seem to indicate that adrenaline was a necessity - just a possible catalyst. Maybe when things settle down a bit we can work on figuring out how you can access this information without artificial adrenaline.”
Lois nodded. “Still, I’m going to contact the doctors treating the men at the MPH and tell them about my breakthrough. Those guys’ situation is much more serious than mine. They might warrant the use of some sort of artificial adrenaline.”
“Good idea. I did hear, however, that Steve’s daughter flew in and apparently, he has been responding well to that.”
“That still doesn’t help with your eyes. Have you considered perhaps doing what Dr. Scott suggested?”
“Which is?”
“Going to see an expert. He gave you a list of names. Do you still have it?”
“Probably, but...” He was silent for a moment as he seemed to think about her suggestion. “Given the predators out there watching me, I don’t really want to give any of them anything.”
“And if you went to the wrong expert, he might well be looking for proof as to your identity.”
“And since I can’t wear my sunglasses while having my eyes examined...”
“I see your point. All the more reason for me to get hold of one of those ophtha-whatcha-ma-call-its and see if I can figure out what the problem is. Oh, and given the way people keep breaking in here... We need to find a better hiding place for the Superman suits.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. When I had to use one of the suits the other night, I discovered that you have a loose floorboard in the back of your closet. I’ll pry it up and place them and my shaving kit under there before we leave in the morning.”
For a moment, they were both silent, enjoying being close and lost in their own thoughts.
“I wonder how Mom and Dad are making out,” Clark finally said.
“Maybe we should fly out to see.”
Clark shook his head. “I thought of that, but it’s too risky. Even if I can now navigate without my sight - or at least will be able to until I give Ata back to Dr. Klein tomorrow...”
Lois opened her mouth to interrupt, but then closed it again, having no idea what she could say. Clark had stayed late at the Planet to type up the story about Ata. He probably felt ethically bound to return the device to Dr. Klein tomorrow.
“...but without my sight, I might miss someone taking pictures from a distance. Normally I can see further than any long distance lens, but now... No. I really don’t think I can risk either a takeoff from Metropolis or a landing in Smallville. And after all the surveillance devices we found in here this evening, I’m even thinking I should avoid being too open on the phone as well. Still, I keep wondering how they’re making out.”
“Speaking of which... Let’s turn on LNN... Just to get an idea of how they’re reporting this.”
When Clark nodded, Lois squirmed off his lap. After stripping off the sticky shirt, she picked up her robe before hesitating.
“Shower first,” she suddenly announced.
“Suits me,” Clark said, quickly jumping to his feet.
It was sometime later before Lois slipped into her robe and padded softly into the living room. She didn’t bother to turn on the lights, letting the television provide her with enough illumination to settle on the couch. Clark joined her there, towel drying his hair. She immediately pulled her legs up under her, cuddling up against his side even as his arm went around her shoulders.
Lois watched and Clark listened as LNN covered a number of other stories. The ‘Clark is Superman’ story was still the top story of the day. But other than reiterating Mayson’s claim and some basic biographical information about Clark and a shot of him being rushed into the Daily Planet this morning, they didn’t have much - and certainly no pictures of Smallville or his folks.
“Maybe the worst of it is over,” Clark said when the segment had played.
“Maybe,” Lois responded skeptically even as she found herself wondering what might be coming next.
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
