How the Ball Rolls
Summary: Trapped in an office all night with nothing to do, Lois reveals a secret that Clark was not expecting.
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“Great, just great, Clark. We’re going to be stuck in here all night,” griped Lois as she peered through the slot she had created in the blinds at the large gathering of men down below in the parking lot. Clark had received a tip about a bank, alleging an executive’s possible involvement in an illegal foreclosure scandal. Foreclosing on people whose mortgages were current, selling the homes quickly, and then settling with those former home-owners for pennies on the dollar as compensation for the bank’s mistake.
They had been headed towards the seventeenth floor, where the mortgage department was located, when all the extra security guards had shown up and began thoroughly checking the building. Looking at all the men below, Lois could only guess that since they knew the boss was showing up, they had decided to actually do their job and walk all the floors, securing every door as they went. They had been fortunate that somehow Clark had heard a group of guards heading towards the stairwell they were in as they were making their climb up. They quickly had exited onto the nearest floor and found an office left unlocked. So here Lois was, on the fifth floor of the New Troy Bank, stuck in a random small office with Clark, who had insisted that ‘tonight was the night, of all the nights this week, to come here’.
“Lois, it’s not that bad,” Clark tried to reassure her. He looked around the room to find a comfortable place to sit. It was fairly generic and dull, as offices go. Framed prints hung on the wall, a desk and high back office chair sat in the middle in front of a row of filing cabinets. Two arm chairs sat in front of the desk and two more up against the wall opposite the window; a ficus tucked in the corner by the door, adding the only real color to the room. No personal items to be found anywhere, unless one counted the name plate of Hal Cromwell, Training Director, which sat on the desk.
Clark walked over to the office chair behind the desk and sat down. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to find what we’re looking for tonight and we’ll have to come back later. We should be able to sneak out in the morning after they’re all gone. Shift change should be around five, and tomorrow’s Saturday. Perry gave us the morning off. We don’t have to be in to the Planet until one, so you can still go home and get some real sleep.”
Lois let go of the blinds and turned around to face Clark. “Maybe I had something to do in the morning before work,” she groaned in frustration.
“Oh, really, like what?” he inquired.
“Like I would tell you,” Lois snorted, wishing now that she hadn’t said anything to pique his interest.
“Fine,” he said nonchalantly as he rose from the chair and walked over to the window to have a peek at what was going on down below.
Lois hurried back over the window to join him. “You know this is all your fault,” she snapped as she crossed her arms over her chest and took a firm stance.
Clark peeled his eyes away from the window to look at Lois. His only response was to raise his right eyebrow in a questioning expression before turning back to face the window.
“You were the one who picked tonight to come here, the one night they decide to hold an all hands security guard training session complete with live scenarios,” she said, unhooking her crossed arms and throwing them in the air before pointing to the scene below. Lois watched Clark as he dropped his gaze to the floor in resignation, knowing that he wasn’t going to win this argument. She had won this round, however irrational her argument really was.
“Lois, I’m sorry. I have something I have to do tomorrow evening. How was I supposed to know they were doing this tonight?”
Lois ignored his plea. “You have something to do tomorrow night? Like what, a hot date? I know Linda left town, so is it Toni? Did she get out on bail and give you a call even though you turned her in?”
He scrunched his forehead as he searched his mind for whom she could be referring to. “What? Toni Taylor? No, nothing like that; it’s a neighborhood watch meeting. I have to be there by eight”
She tossed her hands in the air again. “Well, geez, can’t skip that.”
“I know you think it’s dumb, but I can’t miss it,” he affirmed.
“Fine,” Lois said curtly and went back to the window. She looked down, seeing that nothing had changed. The man in front, she guessed was either their boss or instructor, had all the security guards gathered in three semicircle lines in front of him, and was giving them some sort of speech.
“Well, since we’re stuck here, what do you want to do?” Clark asked her.
“Stare out the window in hope that they all go home,” she said flatly, not really being in the mood for talking.
“Lois, does it look like they’re going home anytime soon?”
“Well, no.”
“Then stop playing with the blinds. You’re going to draw their attention up here. Then they’ll realize they really do have a live scenario on their hands.”
“Humpf,” she grunted. Lois pulled away from the blinds to admire the window before cracking a devilish grin. “Maybe once they all go on a break, I could just jump out the window and Superman would be there to catch me.” She pictured herself opening up the window, climbing onto the sill and launching herself straight into the strong spandex covered arms of Superman. He would grin at her before looking up and shooting straight up to the sky. They would then sail slowly back to her apartment through her open window, the sheer curtains blowing in the breeze as they landed.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Clark interrupted her daydream. “We’re not that high up. He wouldn’t have much time to catch you.”
“A girl can hope,” she replied before resuming the scene in her head. After it finished playing out, with him giving her a tender goodbye kiss and her thanking him for the flight as he floated out her window, she glanced at Clark. He looked uncomfortable, shifting his weight from foot to foot, possibly blushing, but it was too dark to really tell. She had figured out long ago that Clark, although a friend of Superman’s, was also jealous of him and would start acting funny whenever she brought him up. It wasn’t as prevalent as it was when Superman first had shown up, but it was still there and she secretly loved how it made him squirm.
“You really want to get home, so you can do whatever it is tomorrow morning you want to do, don’t you?” he asked, then took a seat in one of the chairs up against the wall opposite the window.
His question brought her back to their present situation. “Yes, it’s important.”
“If it’s so important, why can’t you tell me what it is?” He grinned as he tried to goad her into ousting her secret.
“Because.”
“Because….?” Clark let the last sound trail off.
“Because I just don’t want to,” she barked. She was starting to get annoyed with him again. First, he got her stuck in this room with nothing to do, and now this.
“Is it dangerous?” he probed.
“No.”
“’No’ by your standards or by everyone else’s?”
Lois quickly put her hands on her hips and squared her shoulders to Clark's. “What is that suppose to mean?”
“Nothing. Just since you already mentioned him, is it going to require Superman rescuing you, or me bailing you out of jail?”
“No.”
“Meeting a source?” he tried again.
“No, it has nothing to do with work”
“Does it involve chocolate?”
“No.”
Lois was becoming increasingly agitated and as a result shorter and shorter ‘No’s’ followed every question he asked. It was none of his business. She should have just lied in the first place or not said anything at all.
“Come on, Lois, is it really such a big deal that you can’t tell me?” he implored.
“Can you just give it up?”
“No,” he responded, mimicking her short ‘no’.
“Fine,” she grumbled, having had enough of this game. “If you’re going to play twenty questions and badger me all night about it, I’ll just tell you.”
“Okay, so what’s the big secret?”
Lois took a peek back out the window. The men were all still there standing in their lines. Were they ever going to move? she thought. She turned back to Clark and blurted out, “Football.”
“Football? It’s April, Lois. It’s not football season,” he clarified.
“Well, not that crap you call American football,” she said brusquely.
“Excuse me?” he choked as he stumbled out of his chair attempting to walk over to her. “Did you really just say that?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” Lois interjected and continued before he had time to respond. “I’m talking about real football. You know, where the ball is actually round, stays near your foot, and play doesn’t stop every seven seconds for everyone to catch their breath.”
“Soccer?” he questioned.
“If that’s what you want to call it,” she shot back.
“Lois, we’re in the U.S.; that’s what it’s called here.”
“Whatever.”
“So, what’s important about tomorrow morning?” asked Clark, trying to bring the conversation back around.
“Saturday morning is the start of all the Premiership games for the week. Plus, it’s nearing the end of the season so each game is extra important. With England five hours ahead, I have to catch them here before lunch.”
He was lost. “Premiership?”
“You know, the Premier League.”
Clark just stared at her with a ‘What are you talking about’ expression so she continued dropping clues.
“It’s the top league in England.”
He continued to stand there so she tried once more.
“Chelsea, Manchester United?” Lois said without removing the ‘duh’ from her tone.
“Okay, yes, I’ve heard of them. But the Premier League?”
“And you call yourself a sports fan,” she took a jab at him.
“Yes, baseball, football, basketball, even hockey.”
“Well, the rest of the world plays proper football, Clark,” she continued to jab, enjoying how much he took offense to her criticism.
“So you, Lois Lane, are closet diehard soccer fan. I never would have guessed,” said Clark, truly surprised by her revelation. He sat back down in his chair.
She smiled, recalling how she had started becoming a fan of the sport. “I got into it while I was in Ireland. On game day, we would all go to the pub to catch all the games. Young to old, the place would be full. I didn’t watch the Premier League then. It’s actually only been around a few years, but we would watch wherever the Irish national team was playing or catch the local Irish League team. It was such an amazing experience. It’s not like going to the bar and watching football here; sitting around the bar with the guys, some beer, and some Buffalo wings. It’s so much…more.” Lois was once again lost in thought, reminiscing her time spent abroad. The freedom that being on her own and away from her family brought. “Anyway, I do try to catch other games, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, but I find I like the British teams the best, after Ireland.”
“And you watch the games every Saturday by yourself?”
Lois walked over to where Clark had been sitting and took a seat in the second chair. “Depends on my work schedule, but yeah. Sunday’s as well. When Lucy was living here, she was hardly ever awake early enough to catch a game. Had she been, she probably wouldn’t be interested in it anyway. Sports were never her thing. In fact, she probably would have just nagged me about how I was wasting my time with those games when I could have been on a coffee date or something.”
“Did she do that a lot? Pester you about dating?” asked Clark.
“Constantly! I’d tell her I was going out and she just assumed I was going on an interview.”
“Well, Lois, if you want, I could come over and watch with you,” he asked hesitantly. “I’d bring the coffee. Therefore, if your sister ever found out, you could say you were also having coffee with a guy.”
Is Clark asking me out? thought Lois. She hadn’t been prepared for him to offer to come over and watch football with her. She half expected him to laugh at the thought of her alone on her couch yelling at the TV over a sport most Americans don’t give any thought to. But this was Clark and he wouldn’t laugh; he may tease but never about something important and personal.
“Lois?” Clark asked gently, breaking her out of her mental babble. “I didn’t mean to pressure you. It’s not as if it would have to be a date or anything. I just thought you might want someone to keep you company, that’s all. Just two friends having coffee and watching a fixture.”
“So you do know the proper term for a game!” she said, sounding surprised.
“Maybe,” he beamed.
“Are you holding out on me, Kent?”
“Lois, I swear to you I know nothing about British football leagues. You’ll have to explain everything to me,” Clark said seriously.
Lois looked at him, evaluating whether or not he was teasing her again or telling the truth. She could find no hint of him being facetious. “Fine, but it may take awhile.” Lois paused, her pulse speeding up as she prepared herself for her next question. “Do you want it to be a date, Clark?”
“I want whatever you’re comfortable with, Lois. Date or no date, I’ll be there, Java in hand.”
Most of the time Lois liked it when he let her make the decisions but, right now, she was hoping he would be direct and actually voice what he wanted. “And what if I do want it to be a date?” she asked, hoping he would elaborate.
“Then we’ll share a couch.”
He still wasn’t giving her what she wanted to know. “Will you try to kiss me?”
“I’ve kissed you before.”
Lois’s mind quickly flashed to the bed in the Honeymoon suite at the Luxor. Even after a few months, it was still fresh in her mind and she could remember every detail. The way her body molded into the mattress from the weight of his atop her; his mouth on hers, open, begging for more. Before the maid could interrupt, Lois abruptly stood up out of her chair and walked over to examine the ficus. The air around her was getting a little too warm. She needed space to cool down her thoughts and refocus on getting Clark to open up.
“You didn’t answer the question,” she said. “Say the team I’m rooting for scores a goal, I’m excited, I jump up and throw myself into your arms. Will you try to kiss me?”
“Probably not…yet.”
Always the gentleman, thought Lois, never wanting to rush anything. “What if I kiss you first?”
“Are you going to kiss me?” asked Clark.
Lois thought she detected a hint of hope in Clark’s question, causing her heart to skip a beat. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to kiss him or not. She always thought of herself as someone who reacted to the situation, not one who thought things out to far in advance. “I don’t know. I may be in a really bad mood if my team is losing.”
“And if they win, and you’re in my arms?”
She thought about his question and she wanted nothing more than to be in those strong, protective arms she knew he kept hidden under his business suit. Just thinking about it made her want to launch into them right now. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough, but she didn’t want him to know that.
“We’ll just have to see what happens.” Lois turned away and paced back to the window. Where had all this come from? How had she gone from fantasizing about Superman to thinking about kissing Clark and being in his arms? Suddenly, she realized why she found Clark so attractive. Superman may only be a fantasy, but Clark could very much be a reality. He may not be able to fly her out the window, but she really didn’t need Superman’s rescuing tonight.
Lois turned back around to face Clark and began studying him, her eyes traversing the length of his body. Clark got that uncomfortable look on his face again as he rocked his weight from right foot to his left. Had she just set herself up on a date with him or not? Recalling the conversation, neither one of them explicitly said whether it would be a date or not. She guessed it would be up to her to make that decision tomorrow, or she could right now. Who was she kidding? She knew she wanted it to be a date. Lois then realized they hadn’t discussed when this was happening either. “Clark, we’re talking about tomorrow morning, right?”
“I assumed so. Why, did you want to wait until next week?” he asked hesitantly and stopped his fidgeting.
She could tell there was disappointment in his tone at the thought of having to wait a week. “No, no, no, tomorrow’s fine. Assuming we get out of here at a reasonable hour to get some sleep.” Not that she thought she was going to be able to get any sleep tonight after this conversation. She already knew what her dreams had in store for her. “And, Clark, one last thing. Don’t say a word of this to anyone, especially at work,” she demanded.
“The date, soccer, or both?” he asked sounding a little hurt.
“Both actually. I just…I don’t want everyone knowing about it. Not yet. Maybe not ever for soccer. Since I’ve never participate in any of Planet outings to the Met Tigers games, not even during playoff years, I don’t want Pete in sports or anyone else giving me crap about soccer and how they think it’s an inferior sport. You know they would. To those guys, it’s not a real sport unless someone gets pummeled.”
Clark held up his right hand. “Your secret’s safe with me, Lois. Though, I think they’re more apt to make fun of you if you were at home watching the Masters or some other golf tournament, but just in case they do find out, I’ll let you on a little secret that you can use to deflect them my way.”
Lois looked at him skeptically. “Oh, and what would that be?”
He bent down and whispered in her ear, “I’m a huge Aussie rules fan.”
She pulled back from him and asked, “What?”
Clark bounced his eyebrows and smiled before saying, “Actually, they call it footy, but to Australians, it’s the real football.”
“I know what it is, Clark, and as you’ve pointed out before, this is America; therefore, footy, or Australian Rules football, is not real football. How could you even compare it to the others? First off, the field is oval. Second, you can score a point for missing the goal. Who does that? And last, the players just run around everywhere trying to pound each other into the ground to steal the ball with no padding on whatsoever. I’d barely classify it as organized chaos. You call footy real football again, the date’s off, and I’ll make sure Pete knows your secret,” she threatened, placing her right index finger on his chest and pushing him back a step for emphasis.
“So, you don’t want to come over to my place to watch footy Sunday evening?” he pouted jokingly. “The season has just started. I could even make dinner,” he added to entice her, taking a step forward to reclaim the ground he had just lost.
When Lois thought about footy, a herd men running around on a field chasing an egg shaped ball, it was the last thing she wanted to think about at this moment. Instead, his proximity to her was causing her mind to drift again and she pictured herself sitting on Clark’s couch, his arms wrapped around her body as she relaxed into him. Her right leg tucked up under herself while her left danged next to his, slowly caressing his calf. She couldn’t care less about what the TV had playing at that time.
With her daydreams fueling her libido, Lois threw caution to the wind and placed her arms around Clark’s neck, her fingers tickling the back of his head. “Clark, depending on how tomorrow morning goes, I may come over Sunday night, but watching footy might be the last thing on my mind.” She slowly slid her hands down the front of his chest and pushed off slightly to back away; leaving him speechless and frozen in place, as she returned to the window. Peeking through, she saw that the men below had dispersed and presumed they were now swarming the building, partaking in whatever drills were planned for the night.
Lois returned to where Clark was standing, still rooted in the same spot from a minute ago. She placed her right hand on his chest drawing him out of his stupor and playfully walked her fingers up his chest. Stopping at the underside of his chin, she drew her eyes up to meet his. “Looks like their drills have started. They must be all over the building by now. How do you suggest we pass the time until they’re done?”
Clark took the hint she was giving him and brought his hands up to cup her face, guiding it towards his and slowly met her lips.
Lois couldn’t believe this was happening. How they gone from planning a maybe date and arguing about what really is football to this, she didn’t understand. But at this moment, she didn’t care. The feeling was more than she had felt from any kiss before and, unlike the other times she had kissed Clark, there was no rush to this one, no ruse to act for or quiet goodbye. This kiss was real for both of them.
Clark’s lips were soft and gentle, letting Lois set the tempo and giving each other a chance to adjust to the new feeling. As Lois took a breath, Clark slid his hands from her cheeks to the back of her head, drawing her in closer and increasing the pressure. Lois tilted her head slightly and opened her lips to invite him in when Clark suddenly pulled away, reluctant to follow her advances.
“You know, Lois, I was thinking. If you don’t like footy, we could try watching Gaelic football. I’ve never seen a game and I don’t know the rules but I’ve heard it’s interesting.”
Lois was confused by his diversionary babble. What was Clark doing, why did he break the kiss, and who cared about football right now? She gave him a bewildered look. “Clark, I’ve seen it and I’m not interested. Just shut up and kiss me.”
Clark leaned in but hesitated.
Lois could read that there was something on his mind. “Clark?” she asked.
“It’s nothing. I just…I want to make sure this is what you want, Lois.”
“Clark,” she murmured, snaking her arms back around him and holding him so he couldn’t back away. “Right now, I want nothing more. Tomorrow…we’ll just have to see how things go.” She leaned in and kissed him.
This time there was no hesitation on his part. The fire that had begun to burn when Clark had abruptly put on the brakes, not only was reignited, but smoldered hotter than before.
“Too bad there’s no couch to sit on,” said Clark when he stopped to catch his breath.
Lois cracked a smile. “Yeah, too bad. I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow.”
Clark smiled back then resumed kissing her.
For the next few hours, they forgot about the men outside. Lois spent some of the time educating Clark on all the football leagues in England and how promotion and relegation between them worked. But, mostly, they didn’t talk at all; they simply explored and found comfort in their new closeness. Eventually, Lois fell asleep in Clark’s arms, dreaming of all the things that tomorrow would bring.
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This is my response to Virginia's No Way Out Challenge(who was also kind enough to beta it for me and help make it WAFFy), which has three rules:
#1 - Lois and Clark must be locked (alone) in a some kind of room overnight.
#2 - Clark cannot reveal that he's Superman but one of them must reveal a secret other than that they love the other one.
#3 - No sex. Lots of WAFF!
Note: I am a huge sports fan and I don't mean to offend anyone with this story by choosing one form of football over another.
