Very very special thanks to the usual suspects - Nancy, Beth, Cat, Pam and Alisha
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Last time:
There was a slight knock on the door. "Come in," Lois called.
The door swung open and there he stood.
"Clark," she said quietly. "Come on in."
He held out a bouquet of wildflowers. "These are for you."
"Thank you."
He glanced between the two of them.
"Um, Lois, can we talk?"
Chapter 14Clark finally made it back to the hospital. He'd hated leaving her there, not staying with her, but he really believed it was better for him to go catch the bad guys and save Secretary Wallace.
He'd gone back to the Star building to find that Carpenter's office was empty. A few minutes, later the color drained from his face as he read the editorial that was going to run after the assassination of Secretary Wallace in the morning.
He'd printed a copy and went straight to the police station to find Henderson – mainly because he was the only police officer Clark knew.
Henderson's eyes grew wide as Clark, as Superman, told him all that had happened in the last hour. When he handed over the editorial, Henderson had swung into action. Superman did what he could and Clark showed up a few minutes after Superman left.
It had been twelve hours since Clark had dropped Lois off. He'd even made a quick trip to Africa to pick some flowers for her.
He stood outside the door, hearing soft voices talking inside. That was a relief. She was awake.
He took a deep breath and knocked.
"Come in," he heard her call.
He opened the door and stood right inside, his eyes moving from one person to the other.
"Clark. Come on in."
He held the flowers out her direction. "These are for you."
"Thank you." She didn't really look straight at him.
He looked between the two of them again. "Um, Lois, can we talk?"
Lois looked over at her sister. "Can you excuse us for a few minutes, Luce?"
Lucy stood. "Of course." She gave Lois a careful hug. "I'll be back later."
"Thanks, Luce."
Clark moved further into the room as Lucy left, smiling slightly at her as she did. "How are you?"
"I'm okay," she said quietly. "Someone should be in in a minute to check on me."
As though on cue, there was a knock at the door. "Ms. Lane?" A nurse came in pushing a computer on wheels with a blood pressure cuff and assorted other medical paraphernalia on it. "The doctor will be here shortly, but let's get started."
It wasn't long before the doctor walked in and talked to Lois for a few minutes, before examining her. Clark spent most of his time staring out the window while she talked to the doctor.
"And the baby?" she finally asked.
"The baby looks great." Clark could hear the smile in the doctor's voice. "Your OB came by and checked the ultrasound we did. She said she'd be back by later, but that everything looks good and that this baby must have some super genes or something."
Clark smiled slightly and thought he heard Lois snort a bit at that.
"Call the nurses if you need anything, okay, Ms. Lane?"
"I need to get out of here."
"Not until morning. Sorry."
Lois sighed.
"And visiting hours are just about over. You can have one family member stay with you, if you'd like."
Clark turned. "I'm her husband." He was glad that, for the moment at least, he still had a legal right to be there – that the divorce hadn't been started, much less finalized.
The doctor nodded. "Well then, if it's okay with Ms. Lane, you're welcome to stay."
"Thank you for everything." Clark meant that sincerely.
"My pleasure."
He turned back to Lois. "Um, I didn't think to grab a vase or anything," he told her, holding out the flowers.
"Where'd you get them?"
"Africa."
"Wow." It was little more than a whisper. "So, what happened?"
Clark finally set the flowers on the side table. "You tell me. I woke up and you were gone."
"I couldn’t sleep." She didn't look at him, instead, apparently finding the hospital blanket truly fascinating.
"Right."
"I couldn't," she said defiantly. "I woke up and I wasn't in my bed and I couldn't sleep."
"So you decided to get caught by a money grubbing, power hungry megalomaniac?"
"No. I didn't *decide* to get caught. I just *got* caught."
"So... care to tell me what happened?"
She sighed. "I decided to go to the Star, to see if I could find anything on Carpenter's computer. While I was there, he came back and I got caught. His henchman hit me over the head and the next thing I remember, I woke up here a few minutes ago. I found the editorial, but he showed up before I could do anything about it."
She finally looked up at him, the look on her face practically daring him to challenge her on it. "So what happened?" she asked.
He leaned back in the chair. "I woke up and you were gone. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, so I headed out to... you know." He made a flying motion with his hand. "I checked your apartment and the Planet and finally the Star." He told her the rest of the story, including how he'd written it up for the Planet and Perry had given them the joint byline. Front page and everything.
They sat in uncomfortable silence for a long time before they both spoke at the same time.
"Thank you," Lois said.
"I heard Linda say..." Clark started at the same time. "You go."
"Thank you for saving me," she said.
"Anytime."
"So, um, Linda *was* implicated in all of this."
He nodded. "I really didn't think she was but then when I was looking for you..." He hesitated.
"What?"
"She said some things..."
"Like what?" Lois asked when he didn't continue.
"About you. Your college boyfriend."
"Oh." She didn't look at him. "The one she was sleeping with behind my back."
"Yeah."
"Did she mention that when I caught them, I threw him out of our room in nothing but his underwear? Underwear no man should wear, ever, for any reason?" There was a bit of a smirk on her face.
He chuckled slightly. "No. She didn't mention that."
She picked at the blanket. "I bet she had some pretty unflattering things to say about me."
"Yes," he answered slowly. "But I didn't believe any of it. She's a criminal who obviously hates you. Being taken at her word isn't something she's earned. And it wasn't like she was talking to me – I was listening in to her talking to Carpenter, hoping to figure out where you were."
"His name was Paul," she said quietly. "We dated for about three and a half months. I thought we were in love and finally... He wasn't my first, but I knew I wasn't in love with Dan, who was. Attracted? Yes. In love? No. He was a good guy and he's helped me on a couple stories here and there – he works for the FDA now. And we just got carried away one night. It wasn't... *bad*, but... We broke up a few weeks later, mostly because of time constraints. In those three weeks, we'd seen each other twice. We weren't avoiding each other or anything; just busy. But Paul... I was determined I wasn't going to be with another guy unless I was in love, so we waited. Or I waited rather. He wanted to sleep with me on our first date. Given what I know about him now, I'm kind of surprised we kept dating, but I guess since he was sleeping with Linda the whole time, he wasn't as upset that we weren't... you know."
The whole mentality didn't make any sense to him. "That's pathetic, you know. Justifying sleeping with someone because the person you're dating isn't sleeping with you."
"No one else thought so," she muttered.
*****
She couldn't look at him. Tears had been building behind her eyes as she spoke and finally spilled over onto her cheeks as she continued. "Everyone else thought he was perfectly within his rights. I'd even gone all out for... *that* night. Nice clothes, wine, candles." She wasn't sure why she was telling Clark all of this. She'd barely let herself think about it in years and she'd *never* talked to anyone about it. Except Lucy, a little bit. And telling the man who was technically her husband how she'd set out to have sex with another man... "And when all was said and done, it wasn't all that great. And it wasn't for the next two weeks either. He blamed it on me, of course, when the story spread, but the reality is I think it was probably both of us or at least the combination of the two of us together. Part of me wants to say it was all his fault, but that's probably not any more fair than him blaming it all on me."
"That's generous of you," Clark told her quietly.
"It's the truth. I don't think I really realized that until... recently." She still refused to look at him, wasn't sure why she was telling him about a very painful time in her life. "It was different with you. Maybe it was because we were drugged or whatever, but I felt like I could just be myself and not worry about impressing you or whatever and for whatever reason, we clicked together."
"Yeah."
And from what he'd said about having trouble keeping his hands to himself around her, she was sure that he wasn't disappointed in her like Paul had been. She was glad of that, at least. In those quiet hours, in the still of the night, when she cried herself to sleep thinking that she'd never find the right man for her, she'd worried about what would happen if she did. Had Paul been right? Would she never know what it was like to really make *love*? Her time with Clark had proven that she would and the night after the White Orchid Ball had proven that it wasn't a one time, one night thing – even if they weren't actually *in love*.
An announcement came over the loud speaker system telling them the visiting hours were over. When Clark made no move to leave, she spoke again. "You don't have to stay."
"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about."
She swiped at her cheeks. "Okay."
"Perry offered me a job."
"That's great."
"As your partner."
Her head snapped up. "What?"
"He offered me a job as your partner."
"I work alone." She always had and, even though she could admit that Clark was a good writer and they had worked well together, she didn't want a partner. Especially not him. Not now. Maybe under other circumstances but...
He was silent for a long moment. "Okay then." He stood. "I'll let you get some rest." He looked like he was going to say or do something else, but instead he just headed for the door. "Good night."
"Good night."
She laid there for a long time, simply staring at the ceiling, before sleep finally overcame her.
It was noon the next day before she was finally able to leave the hospital. Lucy had come by to pick her up and take her home.
She spent another two days resting at home before heading back to work.
She hadn't heard from Clark at all in those two days. She didn't know if he had accepted Perry's job offer and he was going to be her partner against her wishes or what.
She walked carefully down the stairs, her eyes scanning the newsroom as she did.
"*Lois*! My office. Now!"
Some things never changed.
She sighed and set her bag down at her desk before heading to Perry's office.
"Close the door."
She did.
"Have a seat."
She sat across from his desk, feeling for all the world like she was sitting in the principal's office.
Perry leaned back in his chair, studying her until she was nearly ready to squirm. "I can understand why you didn't tell me you'd gotten married. Clark gave me a few - *few* - details and I get it. But that you're pregnant? Lois, I need to know things like that. What if you blacked out or fell or something? We wouldn't know to get you the help you needed. How long have you known?"
She sighed. "Since the first night I was in Kansas. I didn’t even suspect until the doctor called after you made me go see him."
"And that's why you were late getting back? Stopping in Smallville to see Clark?"
She nodded. "I thought he should know."
"Then tell me... Why'd he turn down my job offer?"
Her head shot up. "He did?"
"He didn't tell you?"
Lois shook her head. "I haven't talked to him since he stopped by the hospital that first night. He told me about it but didn't say what he was going to do."
He looked at her for another minute. "I thought that, even though you two are whatever you are, he would have jumped at the chance to team up with you. You two work well together."
So that was it. "So it really was a job as my partner?" she asked, needing to make sure.
Perry nodded. "He told you that?"
"I don't want a partner. I don't *need* a partner." So, he had to have done that after she told him she worked alone. She wondered what he'd do for a job if he'd turned down Perry's offer. Would he try construction again? Another bartender's job? The Star? She should have caught on that something wasn't completely what it seemed when he'd started there, knowing what he'd said just days earlier about working there. Would he get a job as a... sewer technician? The Superman thing seemed to be working so he could stay in Metropolis. Exactly how far was he willing to go to help take care of the baby? To take care of her? And what did that mean?
Perry interrupted her musings. "Did you tell him that?"
"Not in so many words, but yeah."
He leaned forward, elbows resting on his desk. "Darlin', far be it from me to tell you how to do your job – like I'm your boss or somethin' – but at some point, you're not going to be able to do what you do. I'm not sayin' that gettin' caught the other day was because you're pregnant – I don't think it was – but are you going to be able to do what you need to do, when you can't move faster than a medium paced walk no matter how hard you try?"
She had to admit that he had a point. "Probably not."
"And so I was thinkin' that if you and Clark were working together, you still wouldn’t be completely out of the investigative loop even if you did have to do a lot of desk work for a while." He sighed. "Anyway – while you were out a group of government thug wanna-bes showed up wanting to know what you knew about Superman being the front man for an invasion and to take your computer and all of that. Fortunately, one of the Planet's lawyers was here showing his sixteen-year-old reporter wanna-be nephew around and took a look at the warrant. It was as phony as a lock of Elvis' hair in a Memphis souvenir shop. They took off but not without some pretty interesting threats. Keep an eye out for anyone following you and all that. Let me know if you notice anything."
"I will."
They talked for a few minutes before Lois headed off to cover the negotiations between management and the dock workers union.
*****
Clark spent most of those days either being Superman or helping out at the farm. He knew he needed to look for another job, but he couldn't bring himself to just yet.
He'd finally been offered the job of his dreams at the Daily Planet and he'd turned it down. One thing he definitely didn't want to do was make Lois uncomfortable and it was apparent that working with him would make her uncomfortable so he turned it down.
He flew patrols in the mornings and again at nights but spent the rest of the days brooding and pounding fence posts into the ground and stretching barbed wire to fit.
On the third day, he pushed his mom's beef brisket and party potatoes around on his plate, not eating much at all, before heading back to Metropolis.
He'd promised himself that he wouldn’t allow Superman to take over his life – that, outside of when he was patrolling – he'd only respond to real emergencies. But this day...
He found some neighborhood kids arguing over balls and strikes. He landed and asked if they wanted an umpire. They were amazed that he knew how to play baseball well enough to be their umpire, but were thrilled – especially when he took a few pitches that he, literally, knocked out of the ballpark.
After that he took some of the kids for flights around the park – but only those whose parents were there to give permission. More kids showed up as word got around that he was there hanging out. They played a game of super-freeze-tag before taking a few more pictures. He told the disappointed group that it was time for him to go and he took to the sky to patrol Metropolis.
He stopped a few muggings and assorted other minor crimes. He ran into Henderson at a crime scene and helped find a piece of evidence. They spoke for about half an hour, discussing what Superman could do to help the police the best.
He continued his patrol, helping at a four car pile-up, flying one patient to the hospital. He stayed out longer than he probably would have otherwise, but he really wasn't ready to go home, to face the reality of losing his dream job and looking for something else. To an empty apartment. He was going to have to figure something out. The Superman thing was working. It looked like he could stay in Metropolis, be a part of his baby's life, but he'd have to get a job. He thought about talking to the new folks running the Star but he couldn’t bring himself to do that.
What else could he do? He floated above Metropolis, staring at the night sky. Maybe he could work for a magazine or write copy for ANC or work for an advertising company writing copy for press releases or something like that – something that was remotely related to reporting.
He'd start hunting in the morning.
Mind made up, he headed for home.
Something seemed a bit off when his boots landed on the balcony. There was a glow coming from around the curtains. It almost reminded him of the glow from his globe but it was at home, in Smallville.
Instead of entering immediately, he decided to x-ray the apartment first.
What he saw made his heart nearly stop beating in his chest.
Curled up on his bed, blanket pulled tightly around her, was Lois.
He went in through the balcony door, spinning into his jeans and T-shirt once he was inside. There were candles lit all over the apartment, bathing it in the warm glow he'd noticed from outside. On the table was dinner for two from DiGiacinto's Italian Eatery. He picked up one of the ravioli and popped it in his mouth. Cold. She'd been there for a while. He took a sip of the wine. Its lukewarm room temperature further confirmed that as did the amount of wax pooling at the bottom of a number of the candlesticks.
He puttered around the kitchen for a few minutes, putting the food away and blowing out the candles, wondering what could have possessed her to do this. Was it some kind of apology for not wanting him to take the job? Or something else?
He sighed. He just didn't understand women, Lois in particular.
"Hey."
The voice behind him startled him and he turned to see her standing there, leaning against the brickwork in the archway.
She was obviously still half asleep and she looked utterly adorable, her hair slightly messed up, bare feet.
That wasn't what took his breath away.
It was his shirt.
His white dress shirt.
His only partially buttoned white dress shirt.
His incredibly sexy wife wearing his only partially buttoned white shirt.
"I waited for you." She walked towards him, hips swinging slightly. "I wanted to talk to you."
He swallowed hard. "You're not dressed to talk."
She looked down and then back up at him from under her long eyelashes. "I'm not?" she asked, her face the picture of pure innocence. She fingered one button. "Am I... overdressed?" She slipped the button through the buttonhole.
"No." He shook his head. "You're not overdressed."
Her hands fell to her sides as she got closer to him. "Too bad."
She came to stop directly in front of him, her hands coming to rest on his chest. "Is it too late, Clark?"
His hands came to rest on her waist. "For what?"
"For us. For happiness."
*****
TBC
