Thanks to everybody who posted comments on Part One, and convinced me that this was a good idea, after all... 
From Part One...No, the ring did need to be disposed of...but the question was, *how*? It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing that you just threw away – she had already established that she couldn’t *give* it away – so how to dispose of it?
If only she had had the common sense to give it back to Lex before walking up the aisle – then he would probably have it on his person when and if he had flung himself off the roof of his penthouse...
...flung himself off the *roof?*
Lois smiled. How ironic.
* * * * * * * * *
Now read on...* * * * * * * * *
Clark Kent watched the woman he loved wistfully as she walked aimlessly around the site. She was only a few feet away from him, a beautiful temptation. If he just took a few steps, he would be next to her, close enough to touch her...
...but no. Clark had just been through an extremely harrowing few days – he was in no shape to handle another rejection, another rebuff, another reassurance that Lois Lane would never feel the same way about him as he did about her. Another assurance that she would never love him.
What he was about to do would kill him, and yet he was at far worse risk by not doing it.
He had been such a lunkhead, he reflected ruefully, dumping his emotions on Lois when she already had enough to cope with. For goodness sake, had he *really* expected her to fall into his arms and simper, ‘Take me, I’m yours?’ The fact that she *wouldn’t* degrade herself by doing that was one of the primary reasons why he loved her so much.
No, the fact that she had turned him down was a testimonial true to Lois Lane. To be honest, he had known, at the back of his mind, the response he would get.
//So, then why did you tell her?// an annoying voice asked.
‘Because I...I...’ he fumbled to explain.
Why *had* he told her? He’d already admitted that he‘d known she would reject him anyway – why make it worse by letting her put thought into action?
His feelings should have stayed a secret – hidden from no one but her. Oh, he knew that some of his former colleagues had been well aware of the fact that he was in love with his partner – he had heard the phrase "Poor Clark," mentioned on occasion when Lois was observed staring at the picture of Superman on the morning’s front page.
Superman. He laughed silently, sardonically. If Lois had turned away from Lex, it had only been to pine for her hero – the man who could fly – the two-dimensional character he had created purely for his own protection, and the protection of the people closest to him.
Lois’ love of Superman had been the final blow, the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. To see the disdain in her eyes when first dealing with Clark, then the blind adoration in them when meeting Superman on his debut appearance...it had sunk him into a state of deep depression for weeks.
As she got to know Clark better, the look had slowly changed from disdain, to respect, to friendship, whereas it had never changed from hero-worship with Superman. Surely that, all on its own, should have warned him that he would never find what he was looking for in Lois Lane.
Why, then, did he have to keep on searching, keep seeking what he had long since established wasn’t there? Why had he told her his most innermost thoughts, his secrets – okay, not *all* his secrets, but enough to give her a certain amount of power over him, whether he was in love her or not - why had he done all that? Why had he gone and worn his heart on his sleeve and bared his soul to her?
Naïve. He was really naïve, to think that declaring his love for her would change anything, do anything except make her run, to make her get away from this scary, suddenly unrecognisable Clark.
With just a few short words, he had driven her away, so far that he might as well have still been living on Krypton. He had broken not just his own heart, but *her* trust, her faith in him. His safety.
He had made it impossible for them to continue being best friends, and that was why he was about to tear himself apart and lie to her. His short spell away from her had reminded him just how much he wanted...*needed* her in his life. She was like a drug – all consuming, powerful and almost impossible to break away from. Clark was so hooked on her that even a short time away from her broke his spirit and wounded his soul so that every moment was unbearable agony and all of his senses were centred on her. Her look, her touch, her smell – and for a few short, bittersweet moments in the past, her taste – they had all caught him, hook, line and sinker.
It was just a pity that she wasn’t interested in her catch.
He cleared his throat, deciding that it was time, but was distracted by a deep baritone voice calling for attention. Diverting his gaze reluctantly, he stared at a hefty African-American man who was waving one of his hands in the direction of a truck that had a bulky, concealed object on the back.
As Clark watched, the tarpaulin fell away, revealing a monument that was very near and dear to him. The Daily Planet globe glinted cheerfully in the sunlight, and from what Clark could see of his former colleague’s faces, they were just as touched as he was.
Clark grinned. That, at least, was one worry taken care of. He glanced at Lois to gauge her reaction, and was delighted to see her look almost like herself again, less like the pale shadow of a woman whose spirit and faith in herself had almost been broken. She was smiling, and clapping heartily, almost beside herself with glee.
As Franklin Stern strode away, muttering about modernisations, and Perry trotted after him, protesting said modernisations, Clark cleared his throat gently and pronounced, “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my entire life,” all the time watching his former partner wistfully.
However, instead of glancing at him as he had hoped she would, she was now looking deeply perturbed. Confused, he watched her as she turned on her heel and hurried into the shadows at the side of the demolished Daily Planet building. His heart sank. Why was she leaving so soon? Had she guessed what he was about to do? Why go into the blind alley at the side of the Planet? There was nothing there except an old fire escape. Why go somewhere that posed no interest to her?
Clark sighed, despondent, but a few moments later his expression hardened and he straightened up. He would wait for her. There was nothing for it. He had to repair this.
He had to get her friendship back. He just had to.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois Lane stepped cautiously up the fire escape, grimacing as she trod on every rung. The construction was brittle, to say the least, and the recent explosion hadn’t helped a lot. Despite her eagerness to get onto the roof of the Planet, Lois really didn’t want to nurse a broken neck. On top of everything else, it would just be too much and besides, she had no patience for doctors, especially when she wasn’t in the position to give them a good telling-off.
The staircase creaked and she winced slightly. This had *not* been a good idea. She should have known that the demolishment of the Daily Planet would have unsettled the already rickety edifice. She felt like her childhood hero, Calamity Jane, as she stepped across a fraying footbridge over a chasm thousands of feet below her. She gritted her teeth. This was just another story, another bad guy, another calamity that she needed to get herself out of.
Finally, she emerged onto the roof of the Daily Planet, grubby, stressed, but with her neck and upper body still intact. Thanking the gods for this unforeseen stroke of luck, she walked slowly towards the edge. The Planet, she knew, had been a fairly sturdy structure, but she wasn’t sure how much the explosion had weakened it and she had no desire to fall through the roof. Resting one foot on the raised border that ran around the perimeter of the building, she surveyed her surroundings. Perfect. She was on one of the tallest buildings in Metropolis – everywhere around her was a little network of houses and offices.
She took a step backwards, braced herself, and with all her might flung the ill-fated ring far, far over the rooftops, in the direction of LexTowers, experiencing such an incredible feeling of release and freedom as she did so that she almost cried with the sheer relief of it. At the same time she heard a muffled exclamation behind her and the momentum of the hurl swung her around, to face an ashen-faced Clark Kent.
* * * * * * * * *
