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From Part 20:Did he trust her? Now, that was the big question, and Clark knew it.
But he’d already confronted that question, hadn’t he? And he hadn’t trusted her; he’d been all set to run when she’d come charging over to his hotel room and given him a lecture on her intentions. She’d assured him that she had no intention of deliberately telling the world his secret. And he’d believed her.
However, what if it was accidental? What if she said too much, was careless?
He checked himself. This was Lois Lane, he reminded himself once again; award-winning reporter, with three Kerths and as many Merriwethers to her name. And she didn’t get to where she was by carelessly giving away information.
Yes, of course he should trust her.
Giving her a smile, he flew a short distance from the LexCorp building before looking for somewhere safe to land. “Of course I trust you, Lois,” he told her as he dropped gently to the ground and began to slide her to her feet. “I trust you with everything.”
*********
Now read on...He trusted her. The rush of emotion which hit her at his words took Lois by surprise. Why did Clark Kent’s trust matter so much? He was nothing to her, after all. Just a man - well, maybe an alien, but still a man - who had a few special abilities and who worked with her.
And to whom she owed her life.
Nevertheless, he was just someone she worked with, and might work with rather more closely in future, given that they seemed to make a good team. And that they could help each other. That was all he was to her. Wasn’t it?
And yet...
He hadn’t trusted her after he’d told her the truth about himself. His first reaction had been to assume that she’d expose him. And even when she’d assured him that she wouldn’t, he’d been sceptical, reluctant to believe her. She’d seen that in his wary expression, and although she’d thought he’d accepted that she was telling the truth, his reaction just now when she’d asked him to take her to a payphone had shown her that he still doubted her.
Had still doubted her. If he was sincere - and the way he’d looked at her as he’d spoken told her without any reservation that he was - then he now believed her.
It felt like a momentous achievement, a moment of great significance in their relationship.
<What relationship?>
Lois tried to brush the thought away. There was nothing momentous here. They were just two colleagues who were getting used to working together, and the kind of close working relationship dictated by the demands of investigative journalism always had teething problems. People had to adjust their expectations of each other, smooth away their rough edges and overcome preconceived ideas. It was a big and awkward transition to make - involving about the same kind of work needed in order to make a personal relationship to work. In some ways, it was like marriage.
<Without the fun of the sex>
Her cheeks burning, Lois squashed that thought. Her relationship with Clark Kent was all business. And that was all it would be. Oh, sure, she’d offered him help in coming up with some sort of disguise so that he could use his abilities openly to help people in need, but she’d get something out of that too; she had every intention of ensuring that the scoop on the new freelance emergency rescuer would go to her. And the first exclusive one-on-one interview, too.
“Lois? Are you okay?” Clark’s concerned voice interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced at him, feeling herself blush again.
“Uh... sure. Where’s the phone?” she demanded abruptly.
“Ah... right there,” he said, sounding puzzled and indicating at a point just behind her right shoulder. She turned and looked, then mentally kicked herself as she saw the familiar Bell logo just inches away.
“Thanks,” she muttered awkwardly, picking up the receiver.
<Dial, Lois> she told herself. Focus. Just focus. No, not on Clark Kent! she told herself as once more she saw an image in her head of her temporary partner as he’d looked when he’d floated in her living-room. And then as that one was banished, she had a flashback to their kiss...
...his mouth on hers, giving, taking, tasting, devouring, consuming... his arms around her, pulling her against him, pulling her into him, as she gripped onto him as if she could drag herself right inside him. Wanting him, needing him, never wanting to let him go or to lose the heat, the mindless, passionate fervour of their kiss...
<*Focus*!> she yelled silently, squirming with embarrassment. She hoped fervently that he’d told her the truth when he’d said that he couldn’t read minds.
“28th Precinct. Caller?” The impatient voice on the other end of the line told Lois that her thoughts had been elsewhere for too long and that the operator was about to hang up.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “Henderson, please.”
“And who may I say is calling?” The faintly bored, faintly aggressive voice on the other end of the line seemed to be sending the message that speaking to Henderson was a privilege unlikely to be granted.
“Tell him it’s Lane. And to get his butt on the line right now,” Lois snapped abruptly. Maybe by being aggressive to some minion who was getting in her way, she’d be able to push those inconvenient - and disturbing - memories out of her head.
“I heard that, Lane,” a sardonic male voice drawled down the phone-line. “Never imagined you were that interested in my body - is this a social call, then?”
“Not in a million years, Henderson!” Lois barked, mentally thanking the man; his barbs always succeeded in taking her mind off other things. “I’ve got a suggestion for you, though.”
“You’re too late, Lane,” the detective commented. “I’ve been taking long walks off short piers for years. Too bad I always seem to survive.”
Despite herself, Lois grinned. “Just make sure your bad luck doesn’t give out one of these days, Bill,” she quipped.
“Am I hearing things?” An incredulous tone greeted her remark. “Is Lois Lane actually admitting that she’d miss me?”
“Hardly,” she informed him dryly. “You’re just the only cop in the city with more than half a brain, that’s all.”
Henderson’s dry laugh warmed her, reassuring her that she was back to being Lois Lane, highly professional reporter on the top of her game, instead of some stupid adolescent mooning over a first kiss.
“Anyway, stimulating as this exchange is, Lois, is there a point to this call? I do have more important things to be doing.”
All business now, Lois explained. “Have your teams actually searched Luthor’s apartment?”
She could sense Henderson rolling his eyes. “We’ve had units out to all his homes.”
“Yeah, but have you actually searched inside?”
“His staff denied knowledge of his whereabouts. And they wouldn’t let anyone in without a warrant.”
“I thought you had warrants!” Lois exclaimed.
“Arrest warrants, yes. But not search warrants, and we decided against making a forced entry where there was no evidence that the guy was actually there. It’s standard police procedure, Lane. I do know how to do my job, you know!” Henderson drawled sarcastically. “Anyway, as I told you earlier, the guy’s probably making his way out of state by now.”
“But what if he isn’t, Bill?” Lois put to him. “Look, just listen for a minute. And think about it. Okay?”
“Shoot,” the detective said immediately.
“As far as Luthor knows, he’s safe. He took care of all witnesses, didn’t he? He thinks that Clark and I are dead, and so is Baines. And he set fires to destroy the evidence in Baines’ office. So why would he assume that he’s in any danger?”
“And so you think he might be...” Henderson began slowly, but Lois could hear the alertness in his tone.
“Sound asleep in his own bed,” Lois finished.
“It’s as good a thought as any,” Henderson agreed. “Let me have it checked out, okay?”
“That’s all I want, Bill,” she said.
“I’ll get back to you if there’s any news,” Henderson offered, then added quickly, “Unless I don’t need to... and knowing you, I probably won’t.”
“I shouldn’t think so,” she told him dryly, a hint of laughter in her voice.
“You know, there are times when I think you chose the wrong career, Lois,” Henderson said with dry humour. “And I’ll deny I ever said that if you repeat it!”
*********
“Nice work, Lois,” Clark said admiringly as she hung up and turned back to him. He’d been unable to prevent himself listening to both sides of the conversation, and he was very impressed by the way she’d convinced the hard-bitten detective to take her seriously. Henderson clearly had a lot of respect for Lois, obviously built up over several years of acquaintance. And that respect was mutual, despite Lois’s seemingly disparaging attitude towards the police officer.
“Thanks.” She grinned at him, clearly very pleased with herself.
“So what now?”
“We wait,” she said firmly. “Can you fly us up again so we can watch what happens?”
“Sure,” Clark agreed, taking a step towards her and only then realising that to do what she asked of him would mean holding her in his arms again. It was odd: earlier, when he’d picked her up to fly with her, he’d managed to block out what it had meant to hold her close to him, and he’d barely registered the sensation of having her in his arms.
At least, so he’d thought at the time. Now, his mind was filled with images of holding her closely against him, and the memory of the sensations it had evoked.
The memory it had also evoked of their passionate kisses in the shed at Eprad, when she’d also pressed her body tightly against his. He wanted, quite desperately, to kiss her again.
The attraction he’d felt to her right at the beginning, when he’d thought that she was a gangster kid named Larry, was still there, stronger than ever now. And he knew that she wasn’t indifferent to him: her kisses had shown him that, as had her reaction in her apartment when he’d tried to distract her from questioning him about his abilities.
But being attracted to him and wanting to act on it were two quite different things, Clark acknowledged as he scooped Lois up in his arms again and slowly drifted upwards. Lois might well have lots of perfectly good reasons why she had no desire to get involved with him. She might be in love with someone else - though he thought that seemed unlikely; no-one at the Planet had mentioned a boyfriend. In fact, quite the opposite; her reputation seemed such that she frightened most men off.
She didn’t frighten him off...
Though that still didn’t mean that there was any reason why she should be interested in him, beyond a passing attraction. Apart from anything else, she now had more reason than most to avoid him on a personal level, Clark reminded himself grimly. She knew that he wasn’t... normal. Might not be human.
But, he acknowledged, she hadn’t shown any kind of distaste on learning that. She’d been fascinated by the knowledge of what he could do, but she’d shown no signs of being unhappy about what he was. And he had recognised earlier that her attitude to what he’d revealed about himself was nothing like he’d anticipated.
A memory from his teenage years came rushing back, and he closed his eyes, wincing. He must have made an awkward movement in flight, because Lois tightened her grip on him.
“Clark? What happened?”
“Oh... uh, nothing,” he reassured her, finding his bearings again and focusing on getting them close enough to the LexCorp building so that they could watch what was happening. He noticed a building opposite which had a water-tower on its roof, and landed just behind that. It would offer cover, so that they wouldn’t be seen, and the building was just high enough to allow him to see into the penthouse without seeing only its ceiling.
“Now we wait,” she said quietly, sliding out of his arms.
“Yeah,” he agreed, murmuring his response.
Nothing was going to happen at least for a few minutes; a quick scan of the area showed him that there were no police-cars anywhere. Lois showed little inclination to talk; she seemed to be entirely focused on waiting for the police to arrive. And so Clark had no choice but to confront the memory which had assailed him.
He’d taken Lana to see Starman when they’d both been teenagers. He’d been all of seventeen and she sixteen at the time. It had been a deliberate choice of movie, though Lana herself hadn’t objected; she thought Jeff Bridges was hot, as he remembered. She’d been fairly quiet as they came out of the cinema, and in his naivety he’d actually found himself wondering - hoping - that she might actually have guessed why he’d wanted her to see the film.
If she might at last be putting two and two together where he was concerned...
He’d asked her then, as they’d got into his dad’s truck, what she would have done in Karen Allen’s position. If she’d been the woman who’d discovered the alien. What had the naïve, teenage Clark Kent expected? That she’d find the whole idea of meeting an alien romantic? That she’d have rushed to help and protect him? That she’d insist that she’d have tried even harder than the Karen Allen character to protect him - that she’d have fallen in love with him immediately, rather than after a while, as the character in the film had?
Yes, that had been incredibly naïve.
And foolish, too, he’d discovered. For Lana’s response had been to tell him that she’d thought Jenny had been crazy for trying to shelter the Starman. If she’d been in Jenny’s position, Lana had insisted, she’d have run a mile in the opposite direction. No; first, she would have exposed him to the FBI and the military, and then got as far away from him as she possibly could.
That day, Clark had given up all hope of ever being able to tell Lana the truth about himself. He’d also realised then that their relationship was doomed to be short-lived.
How could he possibly have a relationship with someone when he couldn’t even be honest with them about who he really was?
And it was then when he’d accepted that he might never be able to have the kind of relationship his parents had. After all, what normal woman would want to be involved with a freak? Even if he wasn’t talking love, marriage, happy ever after, what he was would be a problem even in forming close friendships, he’d realised. Friends - close friends - should also be honest with each other, and that would be a problem for him. So he’d resigned himself to going through life as a loner.
Now, Lois Lane had thrown a very large spanner into that particular life-plan.
She knew his secret, and she hadn’t run screaming. She’d flown with him, and had made clear her enjoyment of the experience. And there seemed to be a possibility that they could even be friends.
She didn’t think that he was a freak. She was *excited* by what he could do! He’d actually met someone to whom his strange abilities weren’t a turn-off. Lois wouldn’t run screaming from what he could do, and it was clear that even the possibility that he was from another planet didn’t worry her in the slightest.
And she trusted him. That realisation struck him suddenly. Of course she trusted him: she’d put her life in his hands when she’d agreed to fly with him! But he also got the impression that she trusted him in other ways too. Such as not to use his abilities to steal her story right from under her. And to do exactly what he’d told her he would do.
But, as she’d pointedly drawn to his attention only a few minutes earlier, he didn’t trust her. Did he?
He’d gone running as soon as he’d told her his secret, jumping to the conclusion that she’d publish it. He’d reacted badly when she’d turned up at his hotel room, assuming without evidence that she’d come to get more dirt on him. And then, when she’d asked to be taken to a phone, he’d assumed that she’d be careless in what she revealed to the police.
She’d deserved none of those suspicions. She’d shown, each time, that she was more trustworthy than he’d anticipated... more so, probably, than he deserved.
Yes, he needed to give Lois Lane his trust.
That also meant, he reminded himself, that he needed to stop coming to his own conclusions about what she would want, or whether she would be interested in him. He needed to give her credit for being an adult, capable of making her own decisions, and of doing her own rejecting, if she wanted to do it. He shouldn’t assume in advance that she would reject him, and then not even give her the opportunity to make her own mind up!
“They’re here!”
Lois was pulling on his arm, and Clark blinked, returning his attention to his surroundings. He’d been so lost in thought that he’d missed the arrival of the police; despite his natural advantages, Lois had seen them before he had, despite the fact that, to her, they would have been little more than dots.
No fewer than four cars had pulled up just outside the LexCorp building. Watching closely, Clark saw Henderson emerge from one. He gave directions to a couple of other men, then went over to the entrance. Clark saw the flash of a badge and an official document, then the detective disappeared inside, followed by two uniformed officers.
“What’s happening?” Lois demanded. He turned to look at her, grinning at her enthusiasm, combined with her automatic assumption that he would use his abilities to keep her informed.
“Okay, well, they’ve just gone inside,” he told her, narrating the scene unfolding below. “And Henderson’s spoken to a security guard... Yeah, the guard’s going to go up with them in the elevator.”
“Clark!” She grabbed his arm. “They’ll warn Luthor! He’ll get away!”
He switched his attention to the penthouse suite. An older man with silvery hair was on the telephone, while two others, dressed in livery, were heading towards Lex Luthor’s bedroom.
He couldn’t interfere; it was too dangerous. But he could keep an eye on what was happening...
Then his attention was distracted, and he lost his focus on the penthouse. Lois was tugging on his arm, her tone impatient.
“Clark! What’s happening now?”
“Lois, let me watch, please! I’ll tell you what I can, but I can’t concentrate and give you a running commentary at the same time!” he told her hurriedly.
“Oh, okay.” She didn’t sound especially happy, but that hardly mattered.
Back in the penthouse, Luthor was out of bed - Clark averted his eyes briefly from the man’s near-naked body - and was being helped into a robe. Using all his reserves of concentration, he tried to listen in on the conversation, but could only hear snatches.
“Police... warrant... just some questions... way up...” one servant was saying.
“St John... on the telephone...”
Then the bedroom door was pushed open and the silvery-haired man strode in. His voice was crisp and much clearer; Clark was able to hear most of his words. “My apologies for this intrusion, sir. Clearly some of Metropolis’s police have forgotten their manners.”
Luthor waved his hand, although Clark was sure the man’s expression was irritated. “It’s a trifling matter, Nigel. I cannot imagine what this officer - ?”
“An Inspector Henderson,” the man called Nigel supplied.
“Indeed. I simply have no idea what he can want with me. But, of course, we must always endeavour to assist our worthy public servants!”
Luthor shrugged then, adding, “Lead the way, Nigel. I assume that they will be escorted to my office?”
So he wasn’t going to try to make a run for it, Clark thought, relieved. But was Luthor really so confident of having covered his tracks that he wasn’t even concerned about what Henderson might want?
The two men were walking together out of Luthor’s bedroom, and Clark had to strain harder to hear their conversation. “...the helicopter ready?” Luthor was saying.
“Naturally, sir; it did occur to me that some precautions might be necessary.”
“Excellent, Nigel.” Luthor stepped into the light afforded by a large standard lamp, and the satisfied, confident smile on his face was clearly visible to Clark. “Remind me to increase your salary next month.”
“I’ve already taken care of that, sir,” the man called Nigel replied.
“As ever, you anticipate my needs.” They had reached the door which, Clark could see, led to Luthor’s office. A dig in his ribs made him lose focus again.
“Lois!” he exclaimed.
“What’s going on? You’ve said nothing for ages! And then you started to look worried... He’d better not be getting away!”
Clark sighed. “Actually, I am a bit worried - he’s got a helicopter ready to go. Though he’s going to talk to Inspector Henderson first, so...”
“So that means he has an escape plan,” Lois said decisively. “And that he’s going to neutralise Henderson somehow. I just hope he doesn’t kill Henderson - the guy may be a cop, but he’s one of the good guys all the same.”
“Lois, you know I wouldn’t let that happen!” Clark said immediately. “Come on, you have to know that!”
Her small hand covered his large one suddenly. “Yes, I do know that,” Lois said softly. “You saved my life. And you didn’t have to. I know what it cost you in terms of letting me in on your secret.”
Looking at her, he saw the sincerity and the look of apology in her gaze. Shaking his head slightly, he smiled softly in return.
“Lois, I couldn’t have let you die.” To Clark’s surprise, his words came out huskily. “Even if I’d had to let Luthor find out what I can do too.”
“You really are one of the good guys, Clark.” Lois squeezed his hand briefly before stepping back. “Now, get back to watching Luthor!”
“Yes, ma’am!” He grinned quickly at her, then turned his attention back to the penthouse floor - and very quickly realised that he shouldn’t have looked away. Henderson and the two other officers were in Luthor’s office, but the man called Nigel was holding the other officers at bay with one handgun, while Luthor had Henderson at gunpoint.
“...so the deal is, Inspector, you will accompany me - as guarantor of my safety, of course. And your colleagues will remain here, to be looked after by my staff. You understand, of course?” Luthor was saying, in a tone which was as urbane as if he were addressing a society gathering. Clark felt his fists clench.
“You do know that taking me hostage won’t get you anywhere, don’t you, Luthor?” Henderson drawled. “Like any other ordinary police officer, I’m expendable.”
“Well, we’ll soon find out how true that is,” Luthor said casually, before jabbing his gun into Henderson’s side. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind moving...?”
He had to do something. But just what that something would be, Clark wasn’t sure...
“Lois, stay here!” he told her urgently.
“What’s going on?” she demanded, as he’d known she would.
“Trouble,” he said briefly, before running off the top of the building and swooping up towards the penthouse. Being seen was a worry; it was broad daylight now, after all. But if he stuck close to the wall and moved either extremely quickly, faster than the human eye could see, or else so slowly that it didn’t attract attention, he should be fine.
What could he do? He did have one very effective way of persuading someone to drop a gun, of course. But could he do it? He’d never tried it through glass before. Would it work? Would he end up burning a hole in the glass too? That would be a bad idea - the last thing he wanted was for anyone to realise that he was out there.
Maybe it wouldn’t affect the glass. After all, he could use what his parents called his X-ray vision through glass, without any ill-effects either on himself or on the glass.
Clark took a deep breath. Okay, he’d give it a try...
Concentrating, he lowered his glasses and sent a dart of heat vision through the window, aimed straight at Lex Luthor’s pistol-hand. And, seconds later, he had the satisfaction of seeing the businessman wince and drop the gun, cradling his hand protectively against his side. Before anyone else in the room could react, Clark turned his attention to the man called Nigel, giving him the same treatment.
He was pleased to see that the police officers acted very swiftly, drawing their own weapons and overpowering Luthor and Nigel. All was well; he smiled, then took flight at almost supersonic speed to return to Lois.
********
...tbc
