Thanks, as ever, to Nancy, Alisha, Beth, Pam and Cat - who donned her Super Brucie Helpery Hat of Possible Helpfulness last night and helped tremendously
.
Last time:
"You look different without your glasses and with your hair slicked back like that – like when it was wet."
"Right. I remember that. But do you really think that's enough to keep someone from recognizing me?"
"Well, no," she shrugged. "But get a disguise that's bold and splashy enough that no one will really look too closely at your face."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, but surely we can come up with something." She reminded herself suddenly that it wasn't *them* that would be doing this, but *him* - once one of them got around to getting a lawyer. "I came up with the idea. You take care of the details."
"I'll call my mom tomorrow. I bet she can come up with something."
She turned back to her computer. "I'm sure she can." She started typing again. "Was there something else?" she asked.
He sighed. "I think that's enough for now." He stood. "I guess I'm going to hop in the shower if that's okay."
"Sure." Lois looked at him. "Um, I told Lucy everything earlier. Just so you know. About us, I mean, not you."
Clark nodded. "Okay." He gathered some things together and headed for the bathroom.
Lois sighed and read over the story one more time before sending it to the night editor. She quickly changed into pajamas and slid into bed before Clark exited the bathroom.
Before she knew it, she was sound asleep.
Chapter 10Clark set a couple of drinks on the waitress' tray. "There you go, Mandy."
"Thanks, Clark." The red-headed waitress turned and walked towards the table she was serving.
"I need a soda, please."
Clark turned to get the order. "How'd you sleep?" he asked quietly enough that no one else would hear.
"Fine."
"Saw that you got your story in." He nodded towards Toni who was gesturing furiously at Lou and the paper lying on the table.
She nodded. "Yep. So did yours."
"I saw that. Thanks again."
"For what? Letting you keep your story?" She rolled her eyes while tapping her fingers impatiently.
"Please be careful," he said suddenly, setting the glass on her tray.
She smiled slightly. "Don't worry about me. I'll be careful."
Clark wasn't sure he believed that, but he went back to work anyway, concentrating on his bartending.
It was about two hours later when the announcement was made.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Metro Club proudly presents Miss Lola Dane."
Clark looked up to see Lois standing there in a white evening gown that literally made his jaw drop.
"I've got a crush on you, Sweetie Pie." Her sultry voice resounded through the Club.
Clark watched as she sang. Soft. Seductive. Sensuous. A side of Lois he'd never seen.
Not like this.
On their... wedding night, she'd been much more... playful than sexy or seductive. Of course, he'd found that very sexy and seductive at the time. He probably still would. He knew he still would.
Was it his imagination or was she looking directly at him at least part of the time? If she was, what did that mean? Anything? Nothing? Just that he was a familiar, friendly face?
"I'm not sure I like you looking at the help that way."
He turned to see Toni standing there, leaning against the bar watching him.
Clark shrugged. "She's good." He turned back to cleaning a shot glass.
"Yes, she is. So, Lou said you're having problems with the ice maker."
"It's on the fritz. I don't know what's wrong with it." Clark was glad for the change in subject as Lois finished her song.
"I'll have someone look at it."
"Thanks."
He smiled at her. "You seem upset about something."
She shrugged. "Just wondering how that filth about the Metro Club got in today's paper."
Clark cleaned out a glass as he watched her. "I'll keep my ear out."
"Thanks, Clark."
The rest of the night was uneventful, until he found Lois in the supply closet. She was trying to see and hear what was going on in the conference room through the bullet holes put there the night before.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
"My job," she whispered back. "If you're a good boy maybe I'll teach you some more of my tricks someday but right now I've got to get ready for my next number."
She brushed past him, opening the door to find Toni standing there.
Clark grabbed her by the upper shoulders. "Here she is. Your leak. Lois Lane, reporter for the Daily Planet."
He was going to pay for that later. She was *not* going to be happy.
Toni nodded at Clark. "Guess I'm going to have to find another singer. Good work, Clark."
A minute later, Lois was tossed – carefully – over his shoulder as he carried her out the back door.
"You're going to pay for this, Kent," she hissed. "Why are you doing this?"
"She'll stop looking for a leak and I'll be your source for anything that happens," he told her.
"Don't you dare," she said as he headed towards the dumpsters.
"I'll be gentle." He lowered his glasses and looked in one of the bins. Old food. That wouldn't work. The other held mostly shredded paper. That was a better option.
"*No!*" she yelled as he set her as gently as he could in the bin.
Clark wiped his hands off. "And *stay* out," he said loudly. He headed back into the club.
"That's the last we'll hear from her," Lou said, shutting the door behind them.
"Speak for yourself," Clark muttered.
It was nearly closing time and he finished his duties quickly before heading back to Lois' apartment.
There was no one there when he arrived. He sighed and started to make some tea. He'd really hoped to talk to Lois. His mom had thought the idea of a disguise was sheer brilliance. He was supposed to go to Kansas in the morning to try some on and he was thinking about asking if she wanted to go with him.
There was a knock on the door as he set the tea kettle on the burner.
He was surprised to see Toni standing there. She was holding a bag of groceries from the Metro Mart as she pushed past him.
"Nice place," she said, heading for the kitchen.
"A... friend of mine is letting me stay here for the moment," he told her, closing the door behind them.
"Once again I'm in your debt," Toni told him, setting the bag on the counter. "I thought I'd pay you back with a home cooked meal. How does lasagna sound?" She began emptying the bag.
"It sounds delicious," Clark said honestly. "But I'm not sure this is a good idea."
"Why not?" Toni stopped what she was doing to look at him.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Because I *am* married and even though things aren't great between us, I'm not all that comfortable being alone with another woman in an apartment."
She regarded him contemplatively before nodding. "I can't say I'm happy to be turned down – married or not, there's nothing ulterior in my motives, but it's nice to see someone stand by his convictions."
Clark moved back to the door and opened it. "Thanks for stopping by. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."
Toni nodded, heading out the door. "Thanks again, Clark."
Clark finished his tea and contemplated going out to look for Lois. He headed into the bedroom to change and that was when he saw the note.
'I'm fine. I'll be back later. Don't worry about me. I'm not doing anything dangerous. L'
He sighed, changing into a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top. He'd just finished brushing his teeth when he heard the front door open.
"Lois?" he called, walking out into the living room.
"Nope."
"Hi, Lucy," he said. "Do you know where Lois is?"
Lucy shrugged. "No. Thought she was working with you at the Metro Club."
Clark leaned against the island in the kitchen and ran a hand through his hair. "She was but she left about an hour before me."
Lucy leaned against one of the couches. "What are your intentions towards my sister?"
He was slightly taken aback. "What?"
"What are your plans now that you know who my sister is? And what about my niece or nephew?"
Clark sighed and hopped up onto the counter. "I want to be a part of my child's life, help Lois is whatever way I can."
"And my sister?"
He was quiet for a long moment. "That's between me and her," he said quietly.
In all honesty, he didn't know what was going to happen. They hadn't talked at all about what was going to happen.
She'd been asleep when he came out of the bathroom very early that morning. He'd debated about where he was going to sleep and finally decided that he'd sleep in the bed with her.
He'd stayed on top of the covers though. He wasn't sure he trusted himself to be any closer to her than that. He'd waited to find the right woman. But now that he knew what it was like to be with her – he found it hard to control his hormones.
Would it have been the same with anyone else? He didn't know, but he knew that he *really* enjoyed being with Lois. Was that enough to base a relationship on? That and a baby?
No. Of course not, but the more he got to know her, the more he wanted to get to know her, to fall in love with her.
"Don't hurt her," Lucy said quietly.
He nodded. He wasn't sure he *could* hurt her – that he had that kind of power over her emotions. Maybe if he took off again and wasn't a part of the baby's life, but otherwise... He didn't think so.
He sighed. "Listen, we both worked late last night and I had to go in early this morning. I have to be up early again tomorrow so I'm going to crash." He hopped off the counter. "If you see Lois would you let her know that I'm leaving early and I'll see her later tomorrow?"
Lucy nodded. "Okay."
Clark headed back to the bedroom and flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling for a while before rolling over and going to sleep.
*****
Lois headed back towards her apartment after going for a walk to clear her head. She stopped when she saw the door open and Toni Taylor walked out.
Her former... boss looked a bit annoyed. She wondered why that was, why Toni had been in her apartment building. Had she come to see Clark? How long had she been there? Lois glanced at her watch. She'd been gone for about an hour and a half. That was plenty of time for...
She stopped herself. She wasn't going there. Instead she decided to follow Toni and see what she could find out.
That was how she ended up in a warehouse, hiding behind a mannequin and hoping that the rats would leave her alone. It was how she heard that Toni was behind the Toasters and how she found out that they were planning on burning West River down. Unfortunately, she couldn't leave the warehouse to try to warn the police because of the goon stationed between her and the only working exit.
So she spent hours huddled down, praying she wouldn't be noticed. She was hungry. She was tired. She'd even dozed off a few times, but only for a few minutes here and there.
And she had to go to the bathroom.
Finally, the goon left – but not before setting a small fire near the back of the warehouse.
"There you go, *Toni*," he sneered as he headed for the door. "You'll have plenty of time to think about trying to double cross the Toasters." He gave an evil laugh as he ran out the door.
Lois made herself count to ten before running across the open space between her and where Toni was sitting – tied to both a chair and a post of some kind. She didn't let herself dwell on the fire behind her. She could hear it growing, crackling as she started to work frantically on the knots that held Toni in place.
"What are you doing here?"
"I followed you," Lois said, finally sneaking a peek over her shoulder. She had to hurry.
"From where?"
"My apartment?"
"Your apartment? The only place I went last night was to see my bartender."
"You mean my husband," Lois said grimly. She tried not to analyze what made her lay claim to Clark.
"Clark Kent is your husband?" Toni's eyes were wide and her voice incredulous.
"Yes." Lois finished the knot that held Toni's hands in place. "You get your right leg." She started working on the ropes that held Toni's left leg to the leg of the chair. "We've got to hurry."
Toni did as she was told and a minute later they were running out of the building. Lois kept her hand tightly wrapped around Toni's elbow as they rounded the corner.
"Let me go."
"No." Lois dragged Toni with her as they headed towards the sounds of sirens.
"They've started burning the West River area," Toni told her. "The Toasters are behind all this."
"And you're behind the Toasters. Yes, I know." They rounded another corner and Lois saw who she was hoping to see. "*Henderson!*"
The cop turned to look at her. "Lane. What're you doing here?"
Lois shoved her captive towards him. "Toni Taylor. Head of the Metro Gang and behind the Toasters. They're the ones doing this."
"Lois, right now I'm trying to coordinate with the fire chief. You two stay right here." He turned to talk to a uniformed police officer.
"What's that?!" someone yelled.
"What?" someone else yelled back.
"In the sky!"
"Where?"
"It's a bird!"
"No. Plane. But it's awfully low!"
Lois turned to try to see what they were pointing out.
"No. A guy in tights. And a cape."
She finally found what they were looking at. She gasped as the flying man hovered over the building.
Clark.
He'd said he was going to talk to his mom about a costume but...
The bright blue tights with red underwear on the outside. A flowing red cape with an 'S' looking symbol on it. Another, matching, emblem on his chest.
The crowd was awed as he blew on fire enveloping one of the warehouses.
"Lois!"
She turned to see Jimmy running towards her.
"Can you believe this?!" He took a few more pictures. "What is this guy?"
"Someone here to help, I suppose," Lois said quietly, grabbing Toni's elbow again as the other woman tried to slink away.
Knowing what he could do – seeing him chill a bottle of champagne, floating with him as they... made love – and watching him fly around the building putting the fire out was were two entirely different things.
Two hours later, Henderson had taken custody of Toni and Lois had been following the new hero around the Riverview part of the West River district. She'd been taking notes and talking to others in the area, gathering information for her article.
Superman had managed to detain the Toasters and they were in custody as well.
And then he landed in front of them.
"Excuse me," Clark said, his voice a bit deeper than normal.
"Hello, Superman." Lois smiled slightly as he started. She'd come up with the idea over the course of the last couple of hours and had started spreading it around – asking people what they thought of 'Superman'.
"I was told you might be able to tell me more about who was behind these fires."
Lois nodded before turning to her companion. "Jimmy, why don't you head back to the Planet and start getting that film developed? I'll be right behind you."
Jimmy nodded and took off, whistling loudly for a cab.
Lois turned back to Clark with a bit of a smirk on her face. "Nice."
"What?"
"The costume. I think I'd like your mom."
He looked down and his face turned red. "She said no one would be looking at my face," he muttered.
"Well, she was right." She saw one of the news crews heading their way. "Um, I've got to get back to work and get this written up."
Clark sighed. "And I'm going to have to find a new job. The Metro Club's been closed down, I hear."
She watched the crew get closer and made a decision. "Fly me to the Planet? Fly me in and show off and then come back dressed as yourself and you can help me write up both stories – the Metro Club and the Toasters and Superman."
He scooped her into his arms and leapt into the air. "Superman?" he asked.
She shrugged as best she could with her arms around his neck. "It worked."
"I heard you were in one of the warehouses," he said quietly.
She nodded. "I followed Toni when she left the apartment."
"She was only there for a few minutes," he rushed to tell her. "She offered to make me dinner and I told her I wasn't comfortable with that."
Lois wasn't sure what to make of that. "Anyway, I followed her and got stuck in the warehouse. She was the one behind the Toasters. I think there's probably someone else behind her but I've not got a clue who it might be."
"Sounds likely."
They floated down in front of the large doors leading to the upper portion of the newsroom. Clark blew gently and they swung open.
He floated in and set her on the floor next to her desk.
"You owe me an interview," she said, sliding into what she'd determined would be her role – awed and star-struck. Maybe even a bit starry-eyed.
"I do?" Clark said, slipping back into what she thought was becoming his public persona.
She shrugged. "You flew with me first."
"Is that the rule?"
She could see a slight twinkle in his eye. "No, but I'd appreciate it."
He lifted into the air and headed slowly for the window.
"How will I find you?" she called after him, knowing he'd be back momentarily.
"I'll be around." He reached the window and disappeared in a blur.
She sank into her chair as the newsroom roared to life.
"*Lois!*" Perry's bellow cut through the din.
"Yeah, Perry?"
He appeared in front of her desk. "You want to tell me what this is all about, Darlin'?"
She knew what he meant but replied how she wanted to. "Well, Toni's behind the Metros and the Toasters. She's under arrest. I'm writing it up now." She turned to her computer, trying desperately to hide the smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.
"Lois, Darlin', you better start talking about what seemed to be a flying man or I'll find some obits for you to write." His voice was calm but she could hear the underlying annoyance.
She turned towards Perry, leaning back in her chair. "His name is Superman. He's here to help. He helped put out the fires down by West River and..." She shrugged. "He *flies*."
Perry glared at her.
She grinned. "Jimmy's got pictures. I've got the story. We'll have it to you before you can say 'stop the presses'."
The elevator dinged and she glanced over. "There's my source inside the Metro Club now."
Perry followed her eyes. "Kent?"
She nodded. "When he didn't get the job here, he had to go somewhere. He got hired on as a bartender there. He's been working with me. Toni trusted him."
Clark smiled as he walked up. "Hello, Mr. White."
"Call me Perry, son." He eyed Clark for a long moment. "You been keeping an eye on this girl?"
Clark nodded. "As much as she'd let me. Once I realized she was undercover, I did my best."
"You ratted me out," Lois muttered.
"Okay, I ratted you out. But Toni caught us in the storage closet," he pointed out. "What was I supposed to do?"
"Pretend we were having a fleeting moment of passion." She glared at him.
"I'll remember that for next time," he bantered back.
"There won't be a next time."
"Well, get me the Superman story first," Perry told her.
Clark cleared his throat and Lois looked at him. He looked a bit nervous.
"You got somethin' to say, son?"
"Actually, I've got a meeting set up with him," Clark answered nervously.
"You do?" Lois and Perry said simultaneously.
Clark nodded. "Lois is supposed to come with me."
She grinned. "Of course, I am."
"Well, get on it!" Perry practically bellowed, even though they were standing right there.
Clark looked between them. "Actually, the meeting isn't for a couple more hours, so I'm sure Lois has enough time to write up what she's got already."
"Well, then get on it, kids!"
He turned and bellowed at someone else.
"That was pretty impressive," Lois said softly.
Clark sat in the chair next to her desk. "Well, I wasn't doing it to try to get in good with Perry or anything. But if anyone has to interview me – and I know I have to do it eventually – then I'd rather it be you."
Lois nodded. She had nearly as much to lose as he did since she was, after all, having his baby. She'd be careful with what was put in the article. "True, but that's not what I meant. I meant the fires and everything."
"Ah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It was nice to be able to help, but I wanted to do more. All I really did was get everything under control to the point that the fire departments could handle it."
She reached out and squeezed his hand lightly. "What you did was enough. The whole area would have burned to the ground without you."
"Thanks."
She felt like she should say more but wasn't sure what so she turned back to her computer. "Okay, let's get to work on this." He nodded and they spent the next two hours working on the stories.
"Ready for that interview?" she asked as she LANned the files to Perry.
He sighed. "No, but let's go do this anyway."
She gathered her things and followed him to the stairwell and then the roof, wondering what he was doing.
When they reached the roof, he looked around then started to spin, stopping when he was wearing his new costume.
"Ready?" he asked.
She found that she couldn’t speak and just nodded instead.
He scooped her into his arms and took off into the air.
*****
TBC
