Thanks to everyone who commented on part 10.
I hope you enjoy this part too.
AnnaBtG.


TOC here


Part 10:

She kissed him again, and then pulled her chair back and grabbed her purse. “Come on, we’ve got work to do.”

He rose. “What is it?”

“I have some information.” She took the paper with her notes and waved it in front of his face. “First of all, we’re going to feed Bobby Bigmouth, and then, maybe he’ll let us know what he was talking about.”

Clark looked confused. “We’re going to feed… whom?”

Lois smiled, amused by the expression on his face. “I’ll tell you on the way. Come on now.”

Convinced, he followed her out.


Part 11:

“Three well-roasted chickens and many fried potatoes.” Walking out of the restaurant, Clark mimicked Lois’s ordering take-out a few minutes ago.

“Exactly,” she said, holding the bags in her arms, as if they were too heavy for her to carry them. She wasn’t panting, nevertheless, and something evil was flashing in her eyes.

“Who is all this food for?”

“Bobby.”

“And who is Bobby?”

“Hold these things for a second.” Lois handed him the bags, found her car keys and opened the door. She got in and unlocked the passenger’s door. “Come on in,” she called.

Clark got in, closed the door and carefully placed the bags on his laps. Lois turned the engine on and drove away.

“Where are we going now?” Clark asked.

“To find Bobby,” she indifferently replied.

“And who is Bobby?”

She smiled. He could handle being a little tortured. And he was just so cute when he had that confused look on his face…

“He’s one of my sources,” she finally answered.

“And that’s why you fetch him chickens?”

Her smile widened. “Only when he provides me with useful information. The more useful the information, the more chickens he gets.”

Clark questioningly grimaced. He couldn’t quite realize the equivalence between information and chickens.

Clark’s grimace caused a soft, quiet laughter to escape from Lois’s mouth.

“He doesn’t always get chickens, of course,” she went on teasing him. “Sometimes it’s burgers, sausages, or fish-steaks. If the information is very valuable, I buy him Peking duck, which he loves. And if he’s only told me crap, cabbage is enough.”

Clark stared at her, wondering if she was kidding him. She looked serious, though. Serious about what she was saying, that is, because he could tell that the occasional glance she was taking at him was enough to make her want to pull the brake and fall on the wheel laughing. Did he really look so funny?

“I’m not kidding,” she said, repressing a laugh. “That’s the case. Bobby provides me with information and I provide him with food.”

A question was now bugging Clark, but he didn’t seem to be capable of putting it into words. “Why don’t you just give him some money?” he finally managed.

“Because he’d spend them to buy food,” was Lois’s simple reply.

Clark felt like banging his head on the window.

“Do all sources in Metropolis work like this?” he dared.

“No,” Lois replied. “Most of them want money. The more, the better. Bobby wants food. The more, the better.”

Clark rolled his eyes, and finally let the question that was bugging him come out. “You’re not kidding me, are you?”

A big grin came over Lois’s face. “No, I’m not. It’s funny, but it’s true.”

He stared out of the window, silent.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked him.

“I’m wondering if common sense applies to this city.”

“Oh, that’s easy. No.”

Clark sighed.

“There are many things you have to learn about life in big cities, Kent,” she said.

“I’ve lived in big cities before…” he said, looking at the big buildings they were passing. “But there’s just something different here. Maybe it’s having you.”

“I hope this is a compliment.”

“Of course it is. You make everything look…”

He paused for a second and turned to her. She was concentrated on the driving.

“…unimportant,” he finally found the fitting word.

Lois’s heart jumped. <Oh, this boy knows how to make you feel special.>

“You still wanted to learn what the chickens were for,” she teased.

“Just because I couldn’t understand. And now that I do, or at least I kinda do, I think it’s not important. I mean, who cares if Bobby wants food instead of money? As long as we’re going together to give him what he wants, it’s enough for me.”

Lois instantly stopped the car. They were in a dark alley.

“What?” Clark asked.

“We’re here,” she replied. Then, she leaned towards him and kissed his lips. “You are so cute when your eyes are shining like this…”

“It’s called ‘love’.”

She fell on his shoulder. “Sorry for teasing you earlier. But the look on your face was worth it.”

“I should’ve seen me, huh?”

“You bet. Now, come on, get out.”

They both got out, Clark holding the bags and Lois impatiently looking around. Bobby joined them a few minutes later.

“Bobby!” Lois exclaimed.

“Where’s my food?” he hungrily said.

Lois grimaced in disgust, then took the bags from Clark’s hands and gave them to Bobby, who hurriedly opened one of them, took one of the chickens and, leaving the other bags on the asphalt, began eating. Lois and Clark stared at him, Lois angrily, Clark with a little bit of amusement.

“Bobby,” Lois finally warned him.

“What?” he said, munching.

“About the robbers…”

Bobby let a moan of munching pleasure, and Lois impatiently eyed him. “What do you have for me?”

Bobby swallowed another big bite of chicken and replied. “I already told you everything.”

“What do you mean, ‘everything’? All you know is that there is a big ring of robbers planning to break into the jewelry stores around Metropolis?”

“Yes.”

“And *that’s* why you asked for a big reward?”

“I always ask for a big reward.”

“I thought you had more!”

“Well, I don’t,” he indifferently replied, while munching a big mouthful.

Lois’s jaw dropped open. She looked around and noticed the bags standing at Bobby’s feet. “Give those to me,” she said, grabbing them with a quick move before walking away.

“No! My food!” Bobby jumped up, trying not to drop the half-eaten chicken he had been eating as he tried to take the bags from Lois’s hands.

“It’s *mine*,” she said. “*I* bought it.”

“No! It’s mine!”

Clark was silently watching, clearly amused.

“You brought the chickens for me, so they’re mine!” Bobby insisted. “Give them back!”

“No!” Lois stubbornly replied. “Unless you give me more information, I won’t…”

Bobby tried to force Lois’s fingers to leave the bags, and in a way he succeeded, for as soon as his dirty hands touched hers, she dropped the bags and backed away in disgust.

“Yuck! Bobby, you’re horrible!”

Clark handed her a handkerchief, which she was more than glad to receive. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” she said, angrily staring at Bobby while wiping her hands. “Don’t you *ever* dare calling me again unless you’ve got something worthy.”

“Sure,” he said, oil dripping off his mouth. The view was enough to make Lois sick.

“Come on, Clark, let’s go,” she said, dragging him to the Jeep.

-----

“He doesn’t look that useful to me,” Clark said, repressing a grin.

“He is… He knows guys, who know guys…” Lois glanced at him with a playful smile. “He *can* find information on anything.”

“Oh.”

Silence filled the car for a few minutes. Suddenly, Clark spoke up.

“Lois!”

“What?” she asked, nearly losing control of the car as she turned to him.

“Leave me here, a robbery’s taking place!”

“What?” She immediately stopped the car. “Where?”

“In ‘Gold & Silver’, downtown. I’ll fly there.”

“Oh. I come with you,” she said.

“No!”

“Why?”

“I can’t! I’m just going there to stop the robbery, you…”

“You’re taking me with you, or else…”

“Look, I have to hurry,” he cut her. “I’ll meet you there.”

With that, he opened the door and disappeared in a nearby alley.

Frustrated, Lois turned around the car and headed to the jewelry. With a little bit of luck, she’d be there before everything was over.

-----

She arrived at the jewelry just in time to see the police taking away the robbers.

“Excellent!” she exclaimed. “I missed all the action!”

A few heads turned to her, including Clark’s, who was dressed as Superman. She warningly stared back at him.

Superman told the policemen he had to go and flew away.

Astonished, Lois stood there, looking at the sky.

<Unless he’s back in…>

“Lois?”

He was already behind her, casually dressed.

“Oh, here you are,” she said, her eyes flashing with fury. “Come with me.”

She took him to the place she had parked the Jeep, so nobody was close enough to hear them.

“Now, what do you think you just did?” she asked, impatiently tapping her foot.

“What did I do?” he asked back, confused.

“You left me in the car and came here!”

“It was an emergency, Lois!”

“You could as well have taken me with you!”

“Lois, you think we could risk being seen together, while I was wearing the Suit?”

“You could have left me a block away, and I’d have walked to the jewelry!”

He paused for a minute. “I guess it didn’t occur to me,” he said, lowering his head.

“You didn’t even wait to listen to me! Now you’re the hero, I’ve missed everything, and…”

She was ready to accuse him of stealing her story, but she cut herself in mid-sentence. Despite the fact that it was probably one of the robberies Bobby had talked about, she wouldn’t have known it had taken place if it wasn’t for Clark. And anyway, they were partners, right?

“Hey,” Clark playfully said, looking at her blank face. “I know what this is! You’re afraid you’ll lose this story, aren’t you?”

Lois blinked, coming back to reality. “What?”

“Lois, if all you want is to write this story, it’s fine with me.”

“What?” she asked, now confused. He’d already given up on the story?

“Of course!”

“Are you serious?”

“If you want to write it, then, go on. I would never think of keeping it for myself anyway. It’s what Bobby, *your* source, was talking about.”

Lois stared at him, not believing what she was listening. “Clark, do you want to be a *serious*, *well-respected* reporter, or not?”

“Yes, but…”

“No buts,” she cut him. “Do you know the reason why I’m such a good reporter? Because I live by three rules. I never get involved with my stories, I never let anyone get there first and I don’t sleep with anyone I work with.”

“Are you sure?” he playfully asked.

She nearly blushed. “We’re not sleeping together. Not yet.”

He grinned.

“And these rules, or at least the first two ones, are the ones you’re going to follow from now on. Don’t let anyone get there first.”

“That’s easy.” The grin was still on his lips.

“Yes, but you understand that, if you’ve gotten there first, it’s yours. *Yours*. Capiche?”

“We work together.”

“It’s *yours*!”

“We’ll co-write it.”

“*You* write it, or no one does.”

“Okay, I’ll write it and put a ‘Lane and Kent’ byline.”

“Clark, why are you doing this?” she asked, tired of that conversation.

“Because that’s what I think I must do. We write it together or not?”

Lois sighed. “Whatever. But the next time it happens, *you* write it.”

“Deal. I’ll just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

She smiled sympathetically. “Clark, you’re a country boy, you don’t know how things work over here. Journalism is a war, and you’re not gonna survive if you keep on being so naïve.”

“I know you’d never take advantage of me.”

“You’re right, I won’t. But others might.”

“Lois, there’s nothing to be worried about,” he said, embracing her gently. “No one’s going to take advantage of me. I’ll be fine, trust me.”

Once in his arms, her eyes were full of tears. Clark felt she wasn’t all right and looked down to her.

“Lois, you’re crying?”

“No…” she sniffed. “I was just thinking…”

“About what?”

“I want to protect you. I mean, I know how it feels. No one protected me when I needed it. I thought I could make it on my own, and failed miserably so many times. Other times, I trusted the wrong person, and… It’s been terrible. And I don’t want this to happen to you.”

He couldn’t help but smile at her protective tone.

She left his embrace to wipe her tears away. “I was just a kid when I had to take over my parents’ role and look after my little sister. My father had left us, and my mother was an alcoholic… Not much of a help,” she said in bitter irony. “Since then, I haven’t denied my help to anyone who needed it. That’s what I do with my job, after all. And it seems like you could use my help, maybe not as much as Lucy needed it, but there are a couple of things you have to learn.” Her face lightened up. “And I’m gonna teach you those.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, let’s go back to the Planet, shall we?”

“Sure.”

They got in the Jeep and left.

-End of part 11-


What we've got here is failure to communicate...