Thanks for your comments on part 12.
I've begun a thread titled 'The Walls Between Us - FDK on part 13 and more', including some author's notes. It contains spoilers for this part, but I'd like you to have a look when you finish reading this part.
The link can be found in the end of the post.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy part 13.
See ya,
AnnaBtG.
TOC here From Part 12: “Lois, you have no reason to feel jealous, or sad. Everything I have is yours.”
“I can’t ask you this…”
“You’re not asking. I’m giving it to you. Lois, I want to give you everything I have. But, most of all, I want to give you my heart, my soul. My love.”
Lois’s face lit up. “That’s all I’m asking for.”
She returned in his embrace, calmer now, but happy too. Every single doubt she ever had was gone.
He loved her. And that was all she needed.
Part 13: The days at Smallville passed quickly, but for Lois and Clark they were the best days of their lives. Days full of love and family atmosphere, as well as fun. They returned to Metropolis with their batteries recharged and their mood renewed.
The next four weeks seemed ideal. Their relationship was now technically official and their careers had taken off. Their team had had all Superman’s exclusives and five big scoops, plus smaller articles printed on a regular basis.
However, Clark was worried about Lois.
He hadn’t known her for a long time. For all he knew, she could be her usual self, and she persisted on assuring him that this was the case.
Still, he could clearly see that she was abusing herself. She slept less than she should, staying up too late for work, and drank far too many coffees to cover her lack of energy. Every day she was more nervous and things he would consider of tiny importance seemed to constantly annoy her.
At least, she was always genuinely happy to be with him. He never felt like she was hiding something from him and she was never angry with him. That was, unless he insisted that she should sleep more and drink less coffee.
That Monday, exactly one month since the Smallville weekend, he had been sitting at his desk, waiting anxiously for Lois. She had been considerably late and he was wondering whether something had happened.
She arrived at 9 a.m., obviously nervous. She hurried at her desk, left her purse down and fell on her chair with a sigh.
He headed towards her, but stopped a few steps behind. “Lois? What’s wrong?”
She turned to face him, her expression tired. “I didn’t hear the alarm clock, woke up at seven thirty, and, you know, took a shower, got dressed… What do we have for today?” she changed the subject.
“Nothing…” He thought for a moment, in an attempt to do something that would calm her down. “Do you want a cup of coffee?”
“I had one at home, but I’d like another one.”
He didn’t argue with her. “I’ll bring you one.”
With that, he headed to the coffee machine.
-----
Three hours and four coffees later, she was still nervous.
Clark had been glancing at her every other minute, wishing he knew what was wrong. As she typed, slowly, as if she didn’t know what to write, she turned around, sometimes stared at her purse, then turned back to typing and so on. However, he didn’t dare ask her what was bugging her.
Suddenly, he saw her rising and grabbing her purse determinedly.
He rose too. “Lois? Where are you going?”
She turned to him. “To the bathroom.”
“Oh…”
She smiled, in an attempt to reassure him. Then, she headed to the ladies’ room.
-----
A few minutes later, everyone’s heads turned to the direction of the toilets. Something had been heard from there; a voice saying something, loud enough to be noticed, but not enough to be comprehensible.
However, unlike the other heads, Clark didn’t turn back to working after just taking a look. He remained still, staring at silent horror, not daring to x-ray inside.
That was Lois’s voice. She had said, “Oh, darn!”
Whatever had happened?
-----
About a minute later, Lois stormed out of the ladies’ room, holding her purse tightly. She sat in her chair, dropped the purse beside her and buried her face inside her arms, which were now folded on her desk.
Clark approached, without getting too close. She didn’t seem to notice.
Undecided for a few moments, he took some deep breaths. Finally…
“Lois?”
A moan was the answer he took.
“Lois?” he repeated again.
He saw her rise her head and look at him angrily.
“Go.”
Maybe she was right. If she didn’t want him to do something for her, he should just go. He’d be unable to watch her suffer like this, especially if he didn’t know what that was all about.
As he headed to the elevators, however, he heard her voice – trembling and low.
“Not… from the Planet,” she said, regretfully. “Stay here. I might need you later.”
Pretty sure that she would, he returned to his desk.
-----
Positive.
Positive.
It was positive.
Darn!
Lois felt like dropping it right into that sink. That way, she would never see it again. It would be as if she had never seen it.
Who was she kidding?
Her head jerked up, hearing someone trying to open the door, then she sighed in relief, remembering that she had locked it.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” she called, trying her best to sound calm.
Now, on with this. What to do with this?
Throw it in the trash? No. Someone might see it.
Keep it? What for?
Flush it in the toilet? That sounded like the best option.
So she did. Then, she washed her hands twice, and finally exited the bathroom and walked to the safety of her desk. She had special bonds with that furniture. She felt like it could understand her every desire.
And right now, she just wanted to disappear, or, at least, hide her face. Every second was a torture.
“Lois?”
Great. Couldn’t he see she wasn’t in the mood? Couldn’t he see she just didn’t want to talk?
“Lois?”
Oh, so he couldn’t.
“Go,” she said, with the little patience that was left in her.
Seeing him actually doing it, however, made her feel embarrassed about herself. He cared. It wasn’t his fault.
“Not… from the Planet,” she managed to say. “Stay here. I might need you later.”
As he walked past her and towards his desk, her head fell again on her folded arms. Frustration overwhelmed her.
He ought to know. She should tell him.
And then, he could dump her all too well.
One more man who’d have dumped her.
But this time, she wouldn’t be able to blame him for doing it.
This time, he’d have every right in the world to do it. And she wouldn’t be able to say a word about it.
-----
When she was finally ready, she rose her head and called for him.
“Clark?”
He instantly left his work and came to sit in a chair in the opposite side of her desk.
“I…” She took a deep breath. “I need to tell you something.”
“Sure.”
“But I can’t afford to be heard.”
“So, let’s go?”
“I don’t wanna leave my desk.”
“Just tell me,” he said and glanced around. “Nobody’s watching.”
She glanced around too. “Okay.”
She crossed her fingers on the table and took a few breaths, looking for a way to start. Clark waited patiently.
“Well…” she began.
The interest in his eyes encouraged her to continue.
She gulped. “If you remember, the day you first came in the Planet, I had a big story printed.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“It was about a rapist.”
“Yeah, I remember that too.”
“Do you also remember the rest of the story?”
“I remember it all, it had me really impressed. I think it’s the best article I’ve read in a long time.”
She weakly smiled. “Thanks, but the compliments are not helping.” She took a deep breath and tried to ignore his expression, which was getting even more worried. “Anyway. There was a detail about this story that never made it to the article.”
He nodded, waiting for the rest of what she had to say.
“I wrote that the victims were twenty-five, but they weren’t. They were twenty-six.”
Clark knew what was coming next.
“I was one too.”
“Lois…” He cupped her hands with his.
“Shh, stop,” she said, taking her hands away. “I’m not finished yet.”
“Okay, tell me.”
With another deep breath, she began narrating. “I was suspecting him, but didn’t have enough evidence. The victims wouldn’t speak, they were all terrified. So I figured that the only way to make sure was to pose as a victim. I was sure I’d be able to knock him down while he was trying to… you know. And he did fall in the trap, but…”
She sobbed, unable to continue. But Clark could understand very well what had happened.
“Lois, don’t worry…”
“When he finally let me go,” she moved on, wiping her tears, “I told the police that an anonymous source gave me his name. They arrested him, and made a list with the victims. I wasn’t in there, and I didn’t say anything about it. And of course, nor did he say anything about me missing from the list. The less victims, the better it was for him. So we were both satisfied.”
“I see…”
“You know, I wasn’t thinking of telling you yet. But things came this way that I had to.”
He stared at her in confusion. She was now trembling.
“Clark, I’m pregnant.”
-End of part 13-
The Walls Between Us - FDK on part 13 and more
