Happy Ficlet Friday. MagiKal is finally back and keeping a promise from several weeks ago.

Sorry for the delay.

Thanks to Lynn S.M. for the beta.


Magical Interview

The newsroom was quiet. It was so late that only a few reporters were left. Lois was one of them. She sat staring at the piece of paper in her hands for what seemed the thousandth time. Then she put it back on her desk and smoothed out imaginary wrinkles as if the motion would somehow reveal whether the invitation were real or a fraud.

<Meet me on the roof of the Daily Planet at 9 p.m. MagiKal >

Her gaze drifted toward the clock. Another ten minutes. She knew it wasn’t long now. Still it felt like an eternity. The whole day long her gaze had drifted up to that clock, but the hands seemed to be going slower, as if someone had glued them to the clock face.

Lois had been hoping for this interview for so many weeks now. Ever since she’d found his first letter on her desk, she’d been waiting to get another one.

Once again, she ran her hand over the sheet. She couldn’t believe she actually held the invitation in her hands. Her pulse raced with excitement. She was going to meet him -- MagiKal. It felt unreal.

A sudden pang of guilt rippled through Lois. Why had MagiKal chosen to give her his first interview? Clark had been the one who’d insisted they investigate the arsons, who’d refused to believe that the illusionist was involved and who’d spent a whole week living on the streets - just to prove that MagiKal was innocent. Compared to him, her efforts had been mediocre at best. It just wasn’t fair. At the very least she should ask Clark to come with her to this interview. But she had no idea where he lived or how to contact him.

She hadn’t seen him since the fire in the Metro bar. Her memories of that night were still a jumbled mess of images -- fire, smoke, people running around and Clark right in the middle of it. She vividly remembered him standing in the bar. All fires had been extinguished and ashes danced like snowflakes above his head. There was something to that memory that bothered her, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was exactly. She’d just been relieved that he was safe, that they weren’t going to die in that fire.

However, something had clearly happened with Clark that night.

Apparently, he'd blown his cover saving Toni. The woman had been quite impressed with him even though he'd lied to her about being blind. He’d been surprisingly quick coming up with an excuse, telling Toni that he was a reporter writing an article about handicapped people and how they were treated in public places. She’d bought it, no questions asked. In fact, she’d practically been all over Clark thanking him for saving her life. Even so, he’d been pretty subdued, as if he weren’t comfortable with the attention she heaped upon him.

His whole body had been tense. He’d shrunken in on himself, head ducked between his shoulders, unwilling to look at anyone but Houdini. It had been an odd sight and Lois was pretty sure that any other man she knew would have reveled in the limelight. But not Clark -- what Lois had been able to see of his face had been drawn and pale. She’d wondered if that were the first signs of one of his migraines coming on.

Before she’d had a chance to ask him, he’d left the scene. Lois' attempt to follow him had been thwarted by Toni keeping a keen eye on her and by the police who’d wanted her statement. Lois hadn't wanted to be too obvious in her pursuit of Clark, lest Toni learned of their connection. By the time Lois had been free to leave, Clark had vanished.

Ever since that night, she’d seen neither hide nor hair of either Clark or Houdini. Though she was loath to admit it, she missed his warm voice, his smile and his insights. Working with him had been an unexpected pleasure. All he’d left her was a note saying that he would continue to look into the Toasters. And that was that. It had been a whole week without so much as a word from him.

Once again, Lois looked at MagiKal’s invitation. Then her gaze drifted toward the clock. The large hand was slowly approaching the twelve. If she was going to do this interview, she should get up to the roof now. The whole day she’d compiled questions she was going to ask MagiKal. But right now, her head felt empty.

She felt a strange flutter in her belly, a million butterflies that were combining their efforts in an attempt to break out. It was somewhat uncomfortable as well as a bit sickening. Lois tried to steady her breath as she got up from her desk and headed for the staircase. Her knees felt wobbly and her hands were not only shaking ever so slightly, but also clammy with sweat. She curled them into fists, holding onto the invitation so tightly as if she feared the whole interview were going to burst like a soap-bubble if she let go of it.

The climb up the stairs took longer than she remembered, as if someone had built another few levels on top of the building just to spite her. But eventually, she reached the rooftop. With a trembling hand she opened the door and stepped out into the chilly night.

The wind whistled in her ears and the faint sounds of the traffic down on the streets filled the air. Lois looked around but found the roof empty. Then there was another sound -- a woosh -- and as she turned her head in the general direction, he was there.

MagiKal.

With his dark suit and mask he was barely visible in the darkness. But she could see that he had his hands clasped behind his back and was staring down at his feet. He cleared his throat and looked up at her.

“Hello, Lois,” he said softly.

“MagiKal,” she whispered. She swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump that was suddenly in her throat and taking away her voice. “Thank you for agreeing to this interview.”

His lips curled in a slight smile. “Thank you for interviewing me.”

Lois took a deep breath, not quite knowing where to start. She’d never felt this nervous before an interview and a roof was a pretty odd place for one, too. Her gaze drifted around, searching for a place where they might be more comfortable. Finally she spotted a waist-high wall surrounding a roof light that seemed suitable for her purpose.

She pointed toward it. “Why don’t we sit down?”

“Oh…okay, fine,” he replied.

Was she imagining this or was MagiKal nervous, too? But he performed magic tricks before a huge audience and played with ice and fire. Surely, this had to be a piece of cake by comparison. After all, it was just her, wasn’t it?

As MagiKal headed toward the little wall, his feet suddenly left the ground and he was walking through the air. Lois’ breath caught and her heart hammered in her chest. He was doing this just for her, her very own private performance. Jimmy would be so envious if he knew!

MagiKal sat down in mid air, crossing his legs under him. His expression, as far as it was visible underneath his mask, turned a little sheepish. He kneaded his hands and his gaze darted back and forth between her and some place next to her, as if he couldn’t quite look her in the eyes.

"It's a bit dark up here," Lois noted wistfully.

He pulled two of the cones he used for juggling out of his large pocket and lit them up. A smirk played around his lips as Lois gasped at the sudden burst of flames.

"Better?" The flickering light of the flames illuminated his face.

Transfixed, Lois stared into his warm brown eyes. She'd never been this close to him. It took her a moment to drag her gaze away from him, to even remember they were supposed to be talking.

"Much." She licked her lips, which were awfully dry.

She saw him swallow when he fixed his gaze on her. “Thank you for proving that I wasn’t the arsonist.”

“You’re welcome.” Lois wished she’d taken the list of questions with her, but it was still lying on her desk. Instead she was clutching his invitation for dear life. “Is that why you suddenly agreed to this interview?”

He nodded. “That and the fact that I promised you quite a while ago. I was never aiming for this level of attention when I became MagiKal. That's why I refused to give interviews. But I’m beginning to understand that people want to know about me."

He shifted his seat in mid-air, as if he were sitting on something solid. Lois felt the strange urge to go around him and check for strings or platform or whatever might be holding him up. Did he enjoy showing off?

Lois felt her reporter's instincts return. "If it's not the attention you want, and you're not doing it for the money either, because everything goes to charity -- tell me -- why did you become MagiKal?"

His smile turned lopsided. "To have a life?"

Lois stared at him. Her first impulse was to laugh at his crazy answer. But the sincerity in his gaze gave her pause. She felt that he meant it.

Lois leaned forward. "Care to explain that?"

He looked at his hands. "Before I found magic, I was very lonely. Something… happened to me that changed my life forever. I didn't know how to go on. But then, one day, I saw a circus with illusionists, fire-breathers and trapezists. And I knew that was what I had to do."

She blinked. "Just like that?"

He chuckled. The sound made her heart swell, as if it were a precious gift he'd reserved just for her.

"It took some practice," he conceded.

"I'd think so." A rush of confidence filled Lois. She was back at the top of her game. "You've quickly become one of the world's most famous illusionists. None of your colleagues can even fathom how you do it. What is your secret?"

He shook his head. "You don't expect me to reveal how my magic works, do you?"

Lois flashed a smile at him. "Just one tiny illusion?"

He grinned. "What makes you think they're illusions?"

Lois groaned. "Oh, come on, we both know that there is no such thing as magic."

"If you say so, Ms. Lane, if you say so…"

He opened his mouth, as if he meant to go on. But then his eyes widened. His expression turned panicked, as far as she could tell through his mask. And it was only there for a moment.

In the next moment MagiKal was gone and a thick white cloud rose into the air. It started to whirl and changed its form. Lois turned her head and shielded her eyes from the small storm before her that blew the dust on the roof in her direction.

When Lois looked again, a small figurine of ice stood in front of her -- a top hat with a bunny looking out of it. It seemed to be winking at her.

She laughed. Perhaps there was magic after all.