Table of Contents
From Part 1:For the sake of appearances, Superman was always referred to in the third person in any conversations with Lois or Perry. Clark was now very used to keeping the two parts of himself separate.
And Lois... Lois was becoming a very good friend. The night she'd rescued him, they'd talked for a couple of hours afterwards, he telling her how he'd come to be Superman and she apologising, shamefaced, for the way she'd treated him as Clark, as compared to the way she'd fawned over him in his Superhero guise. They'd agreed to put all that behind them - even though he hadn't liked it at the time, Clark had been able to understand Lois's reaction. After all, who would notice an ordinary guy from Kansas next to someone who could fly?
And from that moment they'd been sworn friends, the past put behind them. Yes, life was good, Clark thought with a smile, and with the treat he’d planned for the evening ahead of them still, it was going to get even better.
*********
Now read on..."Ready to go?"
Lois looked up to see Clark standing by her desk, his jacket on, clearly ready to depart. "Just let me shut this down."
Grabbing her coat, she walked with him to the elevator, but to her surprise he ushered her into the stairwell. "Are we supposed to be on some sort of health kick?" she said, her voice laced with irony. "Because I'm not sure that it's going to make any difference to the four hundred calories I'll be eating!"
He laughed. "We're going up, not down," he explained. "And I didn't want anyone to see the elevator going up to roof level."
"We're going to the roof?" Puzzled, Lois stopped in her tracks and stared at Clark. "What for?"
"Well, I did promise you a chocolate sundae," he said blandly.
"Yeah, but the Fudge Castle's down there," Lois pointed out with exaggerated patience.
"Did I mention the Fudge Castle? Come on, Lois, trust me. Would I lead you on a wild goose chase?"
"Well, unless there's a soda fountain on the roof..."
Clark laughed again and caught Lois's hand, tugging her after him. She followed, still baffled as to what he was up to, but willing to follow his direction.
It had been a good day, she thought as they hurried up the stairs. That afternoon, a lead had broken on one of their ongoing investigations, and they'd spent several hours chasing down additional information and putting the pieces together. For a while, Lois had thought that they'd have to stay late and take a raincheck on that chocolate sundae. But she'd reckoned without her partner's extraordinary abilities. He'd commandeered one of the smaller conference rooms and she'd sat, her jaw dropping, as he'd scanned through hundreds of pages of documentary records in seconds. And he'd found the missing proof they'd needed to write their story.
He was amazing. And what was even more astonishing, he wanted to be her partner. Considering all he could do, and the fact that he was also a talented journalist, if he'd wanted to work solo he could have run rings around her, beating her - and probably every reporter in Metropolis - to the best stories. Yet he wanted her as a partner. And he made it clear how much he admired her own ability as a reporter.
His attitude was so different from any other male journalist she'd ever worked with. Every one of them had been interested in promoting their own careers, and they hadn't cared who they stepped on in the process - and she'd come to understand that the only way to succeed was to behave exactly as they did. Clark was turning her expectations of men upside down.
And putting her own treatment of him to shame.
Yes - as she’d admitted to him the night of the long confessions, as she thought of it now, she had treated Clark appallingly. Right from the moment he’d arrived, she’d resented him. She’d done her best to put him down at every opportunity, and it was only to his credit that he’d fought back - though in a humorous rather than a nasty way. She’d done her best to assert her seniority over him, made it clear that as far as she was concerned he was very much the low man on the totem pole - and she’d even stolen his story.
She’d stolen his story - the same crime she’d never forgiven Claude for.
And yet he’d forgiven her. And he was waiting for her right now, ready to take her out for ice-cream...
Moments later, they stepped out onto the flat roof of the Planet. He dropped her hand, and she instantly felt the loss of the solidity and warmth of his grasp. Then he started to spin, and moments later she was looking at Superman.
She'd seen him execute that spin manoeuvre before, but she never ceased to marvel at it. To see him transform from Clark to Superman in less than a couple of seconds was breathtaking. But she didn't even have time to wonder why he'd done it before he was holding out his hand towards her. "Come flying with me?" he asked, a smile in his voice.
Flying. With Superman.
She'd dreamed of flying in Superman's arms again ever since that first time she'd met Clark in his Superhero guise. He'd flown her back to the Planet then, swooping in through the huge picture window to deposit her beside her own desk - and now, of course, she understood how he'd known exactly where in the newsroom she worked.
And he hadn’t offered to take her flying again since. She'd been hoping that he would, over the past couple of weeks, but it somehow hadn't seemed right to ask him for a social flight. Sure, he was Superman. But he was also her friend Clark, and since the last thing Lois wanted him to think was that she liked him for what he could do, instead of the wonderful person he was, she was doing her best to let him see that she was focusing on Clark and not on the Super side of him. She’d made that mistake once already, and through luck and Clark’s own forgiving personality she’d got a chance to start again with him. She wasn’t going to wreck this chance.
So she hadn’t asked him - for this, or for anything else which would involve him using his Super abilities.
Now, it seemed, he was offering.
"Wow," she said softly as he scooped her into his arms, holding her close to his chest.
"Put your arms around my neck," he suggested. "I'm going to take off pretty quickly - I don't want us to be seen."
The surroundings turned to a mass of indistinguishable colours as Clark swept them up into the air - and yet, to her surprise, Lois didn't feel any of the dizziness or discomfort she'd have expected from the speed they were moving at. She allowed herself to relax against him, watching the scenery rush past beneath them.
Then she heard his voice in her ear. "You okay?"
"Are you kidding? This is wonderful!" Lois exclaimed. "I'd forgotten how fantastic it felt to fly with you - last time, I think I was too caught up with trying to figure out who you were to enjoy the flight. This... wow."
His laughter tickled her hair. "We'll have to do this more often, then. I don't often get to share this with anyone."
"I'm glad you're sharing it with me."
As they flew, he pointed out states and landmarks to her, all of which sped past in the blink of an eye. They were travelling far faster than even a supersonic jet, she realised as she saw how quickly the state borders he was pointing out were vanishing beneath them. Even the fairly basic knowledge of physics she possessed told Lois that she should be vaporised... and yet she was perfectly safe and whole in Clark's arms. And, despite their altitude, she wasn't even cold.
He truly was an incredible man.
And, astoundingly, he was her friend.
Her friend. Lois Lane, the woman who didn’t really have any friends - who’d never really noticed the absence of friends in her life before now.
They were flying over the ocean now - the Pacific, she realised, off the coast of northern California; the shape of the coastline told her that much. She still had no idea of their destination, and Clark's grin when they'd emerged onto the rooftop had told her that he had no intention of telling her his plans until he was ready.
And then the scenery below began to take on a more defined form, and she knew that they were losing altitude. "Isn't that the Golden Gate Bridge?" she exclaimed, recognising the distinctive orange towers.
"Sure is," he answered. "San Francisco. We'll be landing in a minute. You'd better hold on tight, because I'll have to come down quickly."
He'd brought her to San Francisco? They'd flown all the way across the US, just for a chocolate sundae? That was unbelievable... and yet it was the sort of thing Clark could do any time he wanted. No wonder he was so well-travelled.
"Where are we?" she asked once he'd set her on her feet in a small back alley.
"Between Fisherman's Wharf and the Cannery," he explained, pausing then to spin back into his normal clothing. "The ocean's this way."
"Why San Francisco? I mean, this is fantastic! I've never been here, and I can't believe it, but... why?"
Clark grinned, guiding her out onto the Embarcadero. "I promised you chocolate, didn't I?"
"Well, yeah, but..."
They'd passed the Cannery; Clark ushered her across the road and through a grassy area, then gestured ahead. "I wanted to take you to the best place I could think of. And there's nowhere better than Ghirardelli's."
"I love their chocolate squares!" Lois said instantly. "They do sundaes?"
"There's a small chain of soda fountains," he explained. "They're mostly on the west coast - there's hardly any back east apart from in Florida. And if we're going to Ghirardelli's, how could I take you anywhere else but San Francisco?"
"You're out of this world," Lois murmured, almost lost for words. "And I'd have settled for the Fudge Castle? I must have been crazy!"
*********
Yes, he was out of this world, Clark mused silently as he led Lois through Ghiarardelli Square and towards the soda fountain. Just another reminder that he wasn't human; that he could never expect anyone to accept him as a normal guy. Still, at times like this he could persuade himself that it didn't matter. Lois's delight in his surprise gladdened his heart, and he resolved to enjoy their evening together. And, if she was interested - and that seemed very likely - he could suggest other trips together. He'd never known just how much better it could be to share his enjoyment of flying, and travelling to different places, with a friend.
Though, ten minutes later, watching Lois's ecstatic expression as she ate her World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae, smothered in hot fudge sauce, whipped cream and almonds, Clark found himself wondering whether she thought chocolate or flying was more of a treat. He couldn't help the grin which stole across his face as he studied her; how she managed to keep her slender figure when she was so addicted to chocolate and ice-cream was a miracle.
He soon found out; she hadn't even eaten half of the contents of the glass when she sat back and declared herself replete. Pushing the glass over to him, she said, laughing, "It's all yours. So I hope you like chocolate!"
"Oh, I think I can force myself."
"So." Lois grinned at him impishly. "Do we have to go back straight away, or can we do the tourist thing for a while?"
"If you like. I thought you might like to ride the cable car - it shouldn't be too crowded now."
"Sounds good. And maybe Chinatown? Can we eat there?"
"Eat?" Clark allowed his eyebrows to shoot towards his hairline. "You want to eat again?"
Lois shrugged. "In a couple of hours. I mean, all those hills in this city... I'll have walked off the sundae in no time!"
"Okay, dinner in Chinatown," Clark agreed. "But, you know, the food's pretty good here but it's still not a patch on Shanghai."
Lois blinked. "Shanghai? I guess you've been there, of course... You don't fly over there just to eat, do you?" she asked disbelievingly, her voice carefully lowered.
"Whenever I want decent Chinese takeout, sure," he said, enjoying the incredulous look on her face. "Remember that first night we worked late at the Planet?"
"You're kidding!"
"Nope," he assured her, and burst out laughing at her expression. It felt good to know that being different wasn't altogether a bad thing.
Sitting across from Lois, enjoying her company, Clark again felt amazement at how far his and Lois’s relationship had come from those first couple of weeks. He still wondered occasionally why she’d treated him the way she had when they’d first met. It was in such contrast to her behaviour now, though he supposed that it wasn’t too different from the treatment some other guys in the newsroom occasionally got from her. But it had been far worse with him. She hadn’t just been dismissive; she’d been downright rude, offensive and occasionally nasty.
There had to be a reason for it. From his knowledge of Lois over the past few weeks, that wasn’t her normal behaviour. She was thoughtful, caring, funny and even casually affectionate - a far cry from the cold, arrogant woman he’d been paired with for his very first story.
Actually, he had a pretty good suspicion of what was behind her attitude. She’d given him one big clue that night they’d been chained together at EPRAD; she’d told him about that other reporter, Claude, whom she’d slept with and who’d then stolen her story. Clearly, she didn’t trust male reporters... though he was sure that there was more to it than that.
He’d finally come to the conclusion that he obviously resembled Claude in some way. He probably looked like the guy, and perhaps he’d even - in some superficial way - behaved like him as well. If that was so, he could hardly blame her for reacting badly.
That was his theory, anyway. He hadn’t had an opportunity to prove it, mainly because he hadn’t wanted to ask questions around the newsroom about the other reporter. If it had got back to Lois, she’d have been sure to think that he was gossiping about her - something he would never do, though she probably hadn’t know him well enough at that point to know that. And even if it hadn’t got back to her, he wouldn’t have wanted anyone else in the newsroom to wonder why he was asking questions about the love-rat who’d slept with, then dissed, Lois.
But anyway, her initial behaviour towards him didn’t really matter any more. She had apologised for it, after all, and after what she’d done for him and his parents he could hardly hold it against her, even if he’d wanted to. And he didn’t. He was finding, ever since that night, that he liked her far too much to bear a grudge.
They worked together, and also spent time together socially - Lois's favourite means of relaxation could very quickly become pizza and a movie at his place, or so she'd informed him the previous weekend after he'd suggested it for the first time. It had been fun, he thought now, remembering. They'd talked for hours afterwards, discovering all kinds of interests they had in common, and had argued good-naturedly about politics and literature and other subjects.
She was ambitious as a reporter, but he was also discovering that she was a fiercely loyal friend. They’d become close - in fact, she was the closest friend he’d ever had, since he’d never before had a friend who knew everything about him.
And a friend with whom he could be himself. It was so good not to have to hide his real self around her. That was such a novelty for him, and he found he was loving it. When they were alone, he could be truly himself. He could heat up water with his eyes, or reach stuff on high shelves by floating, or look through walls when she was around if he wanted. It felt great. He felt free.
Alone with Lois at her apartment or his, he could use his powers in the same way he would if he was on his own, or with his parents. When he'd fixed her microwave the previous week by, first, X-raying the case to discover that there was a loose connection, and then welding it with his heat vision, she'd stared at him in amazement but then burst out laughing. And twice already, when she'd been so focused on her work that she'd let her coffee go cold, she'd simply brought the mug over to him and given him an expectant look, demanding that he heat it up for her.
She was proving herself a good friend to Superman too. She'd covered for him three times now, as he'd just reminded her. And she'd helped him write up Superman stories a couple of times when, as she'd pointed out, it wouldn't do him any good to have Superman too closely associated in the public mind with Clark Kent. Okay, it was true that in doing so Lois then gained herself another byline above a story about Superman - and a front page story on one of those occasions - but he knew her well enough to be sure that it hadn't been her primary motivation.
Best of all, her crush on his alter ego seemed to have disappeared completely. He was very glad of that - despite her apologies on the night she'd rescued him, he'd been worried that she might transfer her infatuation to him as Clark. Although of course he wouldn't have objected to Lois seeing him as more than a friend, the last thing he wanted was to have her want him because of what he could do. If all she wanted was to be Superman's girlfriend, he wasn't interested. But he had nothing to be concerned about there, it had turned out; he hadn't once noticed that hero-worshipping look in her eyes since she'd found out the truth. What remained was far better; their relationship was rapidly turning into the most solid friendship he'd ever had.
And he intended to keep it that way. Which meant that his own feelings for Lois were under very close guard. The very first time he'd seen her, he'd fallen hard; but, as he'd acknowledged to himself many times since, he'd known her as little as she'd known Superman. His feelings for her at that time had probably been little more than a crush, too. Although of course he still found her attractive, and he longed to kiss her, he knew that keeping her as a friend was the right thing to do.
After all, he was an alien. He was from another planet, a planet he still knew next to nothing about. That was a very recent discovery, too; while he and his parents had often wondered whether he could possibly have come from somewhere other than Earth, their suspicion had only been confirmed when, after he'd flown his parents back to Smallville, his father had shown him where the craft he'd arrived in had been buried. Clark had dug it up, and had then been astounded to find a small globe which actually seemed to communicate with him. From the globe, he'd discovered that he came from a planet called Krypton.
He was an alien. He now knew for a fact, therefore, that he wasn't human. So how could he assume that he could expect any woman to accept him as a man? As a lover? Okay, he knew that he looked identical to human males, and locker-room talk and comparisons as a schoolkid, and later at college, had reassured him that his body worked pretty much as a human male's did. Well, up to a point. He'd never actually made love to a woman. And that was the only way he would know if he was completely normal in that respect.
But how could he make love to someone without being honest with her about himself? And, assuming that he did manage to tell someone the truth, how could he expect her to accept him as he was? He wasn't normal, and that was all there was to it. And, of course, there was his deeper fear, the one which had been the subject of nightmares for him since the time he'd been dating Lana. What if he couldn't control his abilities when making love? What if he held her so tightly that he crushed her? What if he suffocated her? There were so many ways that his actions could result in his lover's death.
Oh, he had tried to convince himself that he was worrying about nothing. But then he'd remember the time when he'd got carried away when kissing Lana. He'd tightened his arms around her, holding her so close to him, and he'd deepened the kiss, completely forgetting that he was able to hold his breath far longer than she could. She'd had to struggle to make him release her, and when he had, she'd been almost blue in the face, gasping for breath and holding her ribs as if he'd hurt her. Bruised her. He’d been very lucky that bruising was all she’d suffered.
And she’d never let him get too close to her from then on.
After that, he'd always been very careful. On the rare occasions when he'd kissed a woman since, he'd touched them very lightly, if at all, and kept any kisses brief. He was careful around his parents too, making sure that he kept hugs brief, his powerful strength under intense control. He was never going to risk hurting anyone ever again.
And that was the main reason why any thoughts of Lois as more than a friend were out of the question. Even if she was willing to consider him, a being from another planet, in the light of a boyfriend - which he knew would be very unlikely, despite her early crush on Superman, since after all he knew that she hadn't even considered the consequences of a relationship - he could never risk her safety. As anything more than a friend, he was a danger to her. It was as simple as that.
And that, he thought, was why it was time to leave Ghirardelli’s and get on with doing the tourist thing. Sitting opposite her, sharing her sundae, was just too dangerous. He was at risk of letting himself fall into the trap of seeing the two of them as more than friends; of imagining that they were like the many other couples sitting around in the cafe - that they were a couple.
They weren’t, and he knew they could never be.
So he forced himself to smile at her and to adopt a light, cheerful tone. “Ready to go?”
***********
...tbc
