Pheromone: 2/2
by Nan Smith
Previously from Part 1:
He strode back and forth on the ice field, digging a deeper trench in the surface with each trip. When the ice reached the level of his eyes he glanced up and lifted out of the hole, staring down at what he had done. This was ridiculous, he decided. He was going to go back and tell Lois how he felt about her.
Without further thought, he lifted into the frigid air and streaked southward.
**********
And now, Part 2:
Now that the decision was made, Clark wasted no time on his return to Metropolis. Unwilling to bother with the irrelevancy of changing into his alter ego, he arrived at the Daily Planet as Superman and stood for a moment just outside the big windows of the newsroom, scanning the premises for her.
Perry White, in the process of haranguing Pete over the dearth of sports information for the issue of the Planet for which the deadline was fast approaching, looked up to see him standing in mid air outside the glass. One of the staffers hastened to open the window at the editor's gesture.
"Can I help you, Superman?" Perry asked.
The slightly foggy sensation that seemed to encase his brain parted slightly and he was able to reply in his best Superman voice. "I'm looking for Lois and I wondered if you could tell me where she is?"
Perry shook his head. "She turned in her story about Miranda and the pheromone threat to the city and then left. I think she may have gone to look for Kent."
"Oh," Clark said. "Okay. I guess I'd better go find her." He waved breezily to his editor. "I'll see you later." He missed the odd look that Perry White gave him as he flew away, nor was he aware of his editor looking thoughtfully after him as he vanished in the direction of his apartment.
Approaching his apartment building, he scanned the area below him, looking for any sign of his partner, but he didn't see her. He did, however, see Tony's flower stand and dropped toward the ground with the intention of purchasing a bouquet of flowers for Lois. At the last instant the thought drifted into his mind that perhaps it would be better if it were Clark Kent that actually bought the flowers, and he landed in the nearest alley to make the switch into his other identity.
Carrying a large bouquet of red roses, he walked away from the stand, whistling softly. If Lois was looking for him, she probably would try his apartment, he thought, but so far he hadn't seen her. Maybe she was waiting for him inside. As he approached the apartment he removed his glasses, and found that his judgement had not deserted him. Lois was sitting in his living room wearing --
His heart climbed into his throat and stayed there, beating erratically. She was wearing one of his shirts. And nothing else.
Instantly, he was aware of that tight sensation again: the one that had sent him to the Arctic for a long, ineffective swim. This wasn't right, some small voice in the back of his mind was pointing out to him. It wasn't the behavior of a gentleman to assume something from a lady's clothing, even in such circumstances at this. And besides, his mother and father would probably have something to say along those lines too. But --
He stopped, closed his eyes, took several long breaths and looked again. Yes, it was Lois, and now she was walking around his living room, and she was certainly wearing one of his shirts and there was just as certainly nothing on under it--
Well, now was as good a time as any to offer himself to her as Superman. He stepped into the narrow alley between the apartment house and the one next door and spun into the Suit. An alarm bell was sounding somewhere in the deep recesses of his brain but he chose to ignore it. Casting caution to the winds, he ran up the steps to his apartment and opened the door.
**********
Lois was walking back and forth in Clark Kent's apartment when she heard the door open. She turned and her heart started to beat so hard she could swear it would burst from her chest. Superman stood there, and in his hand he held a bouquet of red roses. "Superman! What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for you."
"For me?" she asked.
He nodded, coming down the short flight of steps with his cape waving behind him. Lois started toward him and threw her arms around his neck. "Why did you want me?"
She saw him swallow convulsively. "I -- uh -- Lois, I wanted to ask you -- uh -- I mean tell you that I love you and I --" He seemed to choke. "Uh, what are *you* doing here?"
"I was looking for Clark," she said.
"For *Clark*?" He had put his arms around her and was beginning to lower his head to hers, but at her words he stopped. "Why did you want *him*?" he asked.
The next words stopped him in his tracks. "I love Clark," she said simply. Then the sheer unfairness seemed to overwhelm her. She could feel her eyes filling with tears. "It's not fair!" she wailed.
"What isn't fair?" he asked. "No Lois, please don't cry! I can't stand it!"
"I love Clark!" Lois sobbed, "but I love you too! I love *both* of you!"
**********
Dismayed and stunned, Clark ran the words over in his head. "I love Clark, but I love you too! I love *both* of you!"
*Both* of them -- of him? Wait a minute. He had the solution for that!
Lois was sobbing on his shoulder. Her state of dress -- or undress -- didn't seem to occur to her.
"Lois," he said. The feel of her warm body under the thin material of the shirt nearly cut off his breath, but he had to fix this for her. Seeing Lois cry was tearing him up, and the tears seemed to make it easier to keep his mind off what she was wearing -- or rather *not* wearing.
"Lois," he tried again. "It's all right. I love you."
"But that's just the problem," Lois said, between sniffles. "*You* love me and I love you but I love Clark too, and he doesn't love me!"
Oh, *that* was the problem? "Just a minute," he told her. "I can fix that. Hold these."
She took the flowers, looking at him with those huge, brown eyes that could drown a man, he thought lyrically. He began to spin.
When he came out of his spin, he once again met her eyes as he pushed his glasses into place. "I'm both of us," he said, ungrammatically. "And I love you, too. Both of us do."
**********
Clark Kent opened his eyes and closed them quickly at the unbelievably bright light that leaked through the curtains of the hotel room. Over the hum of the air conditioner he could hear the distant sound of surf and the cries of sea birds. Somewhere Hawaiian music was playing from somebody's radio. He dropped back with a groan, one hand over his face. He'd never had a headache before but if this was what regular people felt like with one, then he was glad it was a rare occurrence for him. The bed in which he lay felt as if it were rocking like a ship at sea, and the room beyond his closed eyes seemed to be slowly revolving, and tilting unsteadily as it did so. Where was he and how had he gotten here? He lay still, grasping at the confused memories of the dreams that had been chasing themselves around in his head. Something about having married Lois, and flying them to Hawaii for their honeymoon ....
Beside him, a warm body was curled tightly to his side and he seemed to catch traces of the familiar scent of Lois's shampoo and the lilac cologne that she usually wore ...
Cautiously, he cracked an eyelid.
His first impression had been correct, he thought in dismay. And the person beside him was definitely Lois. She had her left arm crooked across her eyes and on the third finger of her left hand she wore a diamond engagement ring next to a band of gold.
Uh oh ...
Cautiously, he lifted his own left hand. There was a broad gold band on his third finger as well.
Oh boy ...
The End
