Thanks - as always to my fabulous betas - Nancy, Alisha, Beth, Cat and Pam!
Last time:
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."
Chapter 15
"What?"
"I love you, Clark Kent. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"What?"
She leaned into him, standing on her toes as her hands slipped up and around his neck and smiled. "Has anyone ever told you how much you look like Superman?"
"What?"
"Is that all you know how to say?" Her lips landed lightly on his, tugging slightly on his bottom lip with both of hers.
His arms wrapped around her and he could feel her body pressed tightly against his. Her lips were on his again and he allowed her to deepen the kiss.
Her hands tangled in his hair as she began to move backwards, tugging him with her towards the bedroom, stopping when she ran into the wall instead. After another moment of some of the most sensuous kisses he'd ever been a part of, he bent slightly, wrapping his arms more tightly around her and lifting her feet off the floor.
Her legs found their way around his waist as he managed to get them to the bed, floating so he didn't squash her when they landed on the mattress.
Together they worked to get his jeans and shirt off. He rested on one elbow as she faced him, one leg wrapped around his. His free hand ran gently up and down her bare thigh as he looked at her.
"Now am I overdressed?" she asked him huskily.
She leaned in to kiss him, but he moved away from her.
Something seemed off.
He'd written it off to being sleepy but they'd been at this long enough that she should have been fully awake.
But her eyes were still slightly glassy.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked quietly.
She pushed on him until he was flat on the mattress. "You are so handsome."
"What?"
She pouted and, in his experience, Lois Lane never pouted. "Are we back to that?" She leaned down to kiss him. "Forget about time. Forget about the world. All we need is us."
The more he studied her face, the more he was sure something was off. "Lois..." He rested his hands firmly on her waist and moved her to the side so he could sit up. "I think something's wrong. You're not acting like yourself."
"The only thing wrong is that you're not kissing me." She reached around, one hand grasping the back of his neck as she pulled him towards her.
He kissed her, but he could still tell that something wasn't right and he pulled away again. He rolled, standing up and running a hand through his hair. "Lois, I don't think..."
Lois sat up and slowly unbuttoned one of the few buttons actually done up on the shirt she'd... borrowed. "I think the problem is that you think too much."
What was he supposed to do? He didn't know what she might be under the influence of, but she was definitely under the influence of *something*. But she really didn't look like she was going to take 'no' for an answer.
So what was a guy to do when his admittedly sexy wife appeared to be high and wanted to make love with him?
Make sure she was safe and leave?
Keep an eye on her from forty thousand feet where it was cold enough to be a rough equivalent of a cold shower?
Would she be mad when she came out of it? Mad that he left? Mad that things had gone as far as they had? Mad at him? At her?
She undid another button, moving towards him as she did. "Cla-ark..."
He breathed a silent prayer and swiftly buttoned the whole shirt.
She pouted again. "What'd you do that for? If you're gonna use your speed gizmo shouldn't it be to *un*dress us?"
He sighed. "Lois..."
Whatever else he was going to say was lost as she launched herself at him, kissing him for all she was worth.
Clark kissed her back, losing himself in the kiss.
Until he found himself lying on top of her on the bed once more.
He pulled back again. "Lois..."
She frowned. "Don't tell me someone needs... Superman?" she whispered. "*I* need Superman right now."
He grasped at the lifeline she'd thrown him. "That's it. I have to, um, fly!" He didn't want to lie to her outright, but flying was a very good plan.
"Will you come back?"
He nodded. "Definitely."
She smiled sultrily at him. "I'll be waiting."
With that, he didn't even bother with the Suit but instead put his jeans and shirt back on as he fled out the door.
*****
Lois pulled the covers up over her head and groaned. Her head *hurt*.
"Here."
The voice was barely over a whisper, but it made the pounding worse.
Where was she and who was that?
She pulled the blanket down just enough to see Clark holding a glass of water.
"What..." She wasn't even sure how to finish the thought.
"Take some medicine and go back to sleep. We'll talk when you wake up."
His voice was still soft, but she noticed that he averted his eyes when she pushed herself up and the blanket fell away.
She looked down, and, realizing she wasn't wearing a shirt, pulled the blanket back up. "What happened to my clothes?"
What she really wanted to ask was if they'd... had sex again, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so.
"I'd guess you took your shirt off when I left," he told her, still looking anywhere but at the bed. He held out his hands. "Here."
She took the glass and the pills. By the time she'd finished taking them, he was holding a T-shirt and a pair of sweats.
"I don't really have anything that'll fit you but..."
"Thanks."
"Get some more sleep and we'll talk in a bit," he repeated.
As much as she wanted to know what had happened, that sounded like a very good plan.
When she woke later, she felt much better just knowing that she was clothed. She carefully stood, stopping first in the bathroom. She took her time, borrowing Clark's toothbrush and splashing some water on her face.
There was a soft knock on the door. "Are you okay?"
She sighed and couldn't put it off any longer. She opened the door to see Clark standing a few feet back, hands shoved deep in his pockets. She didn't speak to him but headed to the living area, changing directions when she realized breakfast was on the table.
When they were both seated, she finally spoke. "What happened?"
"What do you remember?"
Lois furrowed her brow. "I remember working yesterday. There was some kind of perfume shoot or something." She thought for a long moment. "That's it until I woke up earlier."
"Something happened at work. I'm not sure what but..."
He handed her the Daily Planet. It was covered with hearts and stories of lost loves reunited. Her eyebrows crept up her forehead.
"What's this?"
He shrugged. "Whatever happened didn't affect just you."
She was suddenly filled with dread. "How did it affect me?"
She stared at him as he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "Um, you were here when I got home last night. I'd been out..." He made a flying motion with one hand. "You were asleep so I cleaned up the dinner you'd brought with you and, um..." He stopped, refusing to look at her.
"What?"
"You woke up and came out here..."
"What?" she demanded when he stopped again.
"You were wearing one of my dress shirts and you kissed me and we..." He waved a hand towards the bedroom.
"We..." She couldn't finish the thought. Not that the thought of... making love with Clark was repulsive but if she didn't even remember it...
"No, we didn't," he told her with a vehement shake of his head. "You seemed... off somehow. Your eyes were a bit glazed over. At first, I thought it was because you'd just woken up, but..." He sighed. "You weren't yourself and I left."
"You just left me here?"
He sighed again. "Well, I tried. You didn't want me to. You..." There was a pause. "You kissed me again and we ended up back on the bed and... You didn't want me to leave but finally asked if someone needed Superman so I said I had to fly and took off. I didn't go far – just about forty thousand feet up where it's freezing cold and kept an eye on you from there. I mean, I didn't watch you the *whole* time – I don't know when you took the shirt off, because you still had it on when I left – but I checked on you and you finally fell asleep."
Lois didn't say anything, choosing instead to concentrate on eating her omelet.
"So how're you feeling?"
"Embarrassed," she said after mulling it over for a minute. "I have no idea what happened, but that's the worst headache I remember having ever." A thought came to her. "Except for the day that we, um..."
"Right."
"So whatever it was didn't affect you," she said, thoughtfully munching on a piece of bacon.
"Not this time."
"Then it must have happened at the Planet. Whatever it was."
"Most likely."
"Why didn't you take the job?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.
"What?"
"At the Planet. Why didn't you take it?"
He reached for another egg and cracked it onto his plate, frying it with his eyes before cutting off a bite. He refused to look at her. "You said you don't work with a partner. The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable. I don't want to fight with you or anything else. I want all of this to be done as friendly as possible and taking a job working with you when you really don't want me to doesn't seem to be a way to do that."
"So what're you going to do?"
He shrugged. "I don't know yet. I've got some ideas. Like I said before, I can always get a job doing construction or something if nothing else pans out."
They ate in silence until breakfast was gone.
"You should probably get home and get to work. Figure this out."
She stared at the plate for a long moment. "Will you help me?"
"Help you what?"
"Figure out what happened. If this is anything like what happened to both of us... Then we both have an interest in finding out what made me act so crazy and Perry decide *that* was fit to print." She gestured towards the paper.
"Hey." He reached out and covered her hand with his own. "It's not your fault. Whatever it was... It wasn't your fault. You weren't yourself."
"Then I'm going to find out whose fault it is and nail them." She stood. "Meet me at the Planet in an hour?"
He nodded. "I will."
With that, she practically fled out the door.
*****
Clark quickly cleaned up after breakfast before taking to the air, in the Suit this time. He did a quick patrol over Metropolis before landing in the alley behind the Daily Planet. Lois was waiting for the elevator as he walked into the lobby.
"How're you feeling?" he asked quietly.
She shrugged. "My head doesn't hurt as badly."
"That's good."
The elevator ride passed in silence but both were stunned when they exited onto the newsroom floor.
Heart shaped balloons were all over the newsroom, accompanied by flowers of all kinds and hearts of many different materials.
"I think whatever it is isn't over," Lois told him with a sigh.
"I think you're right." Clark followed her to her desk, observing everything around them.
"Hey, CK!" Jimmy bounded up to the desk. "Isn't she *hot*?" He tossed a handful of pictures onto Lois' desk.
"What about Lucy?" Lois asked him with a glare.
"She's hotter, but she's not here and it's not like I'd ever *touch* but a guy can look, can't he?" He picked up the picture of the supermodel. "What do you think, Clark?"
Clark glanced at Lois who was resolutely looking at her computer monitor. "She's pretty, but what would Lucy say if she knew you were even looking at other women like that? You love her, don't you?" He didn't know either one of them very well, but he'd seen them together at the White Orchid Ball and it certainly seemed like the real thing.
Jimmy sighed and leaned against another desk. "Yeah, I do. And she really is prettier than April."
Clark looked at one of the pictures more closely. "Who's this?"
There was a blond lady in the background, holding an atomizer in her hand.
Jimmy shrugged. "Dunno. But that perfume she had..." He shuddered. "It stunk. Like old sweat socks or garbage that needed taking out." He sighed. "I think I'm going to find Lucy."
"I don't think I want to know," Lois muttered.
Clark handed her the picture. "Do you remember her being here?"
She studied the picture. "Maybe. Who is she?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, but eau de sweat socks or trash cans? Rather than something that smells like... flowers or something? Seems odd, doesn't it?"
Lois leaned back in her chair, biting her lip as she thought. "I do remember smelling something awful, but I'd been in the conference room and I don't remember being anywhere near her." She suddenly sat straight up and looked at him, eyes wide. "Clark, it's the same thing I remember from that shop in Eureka Springs."
"What?" he hissed.
"I remember the smell. From that bath and body shop where I got the lotion right before everything went insane."
"Well, that's a start then. Let's see if we can find out who owns that shop and if there's a connection to Metropolis and this lady." He tossed the picture back on the pile.
Two hours later, they were looking at a name. "Miranda Johnson, chemist and perfumer," Clark tapped the screen. "She owns Perfume and Body Works in Eureka Springs *and* Miranda's Perfume Shop here in Metropolis. She looks like she's done pretty well for herself."
"Fourteen stores in ten states? I'd say so." Lois looked at him. "We have our connection. Now what?"
"Let's go talk to her."
Lois nodded, shutting down her computer and gathering her things. Twenty minutes later, they were outside the shop in a quaint section of Metropolis.
"Here goes nothing," Lois muttered as they headed inside.
They were greeted by a young brunette with pink streaks in her hair. "Hi. I'm Pink."
"Is that what your parents named you?" Lois asked, walking around the shop and looking at the bottles lining the shelves.
"Well, no." She recovered quickly. "What can I help you find?"
"I think the owner of your shop was at the Daily Planet yesterday, with a perfume."
Clark left her to talk to the sales associate, moving around the store, lowering his glasses to look more closely at a bottle here or a jar there.
//'Listen here, it's working.'//
Clark looked through the wall to see the woman they were looking for speaking on the phone.
//'Eureka Springs was a tiny spill of the .01 percent solution. Yesterday was the full one percent. The effects of that shouldn't wear off for forty-eight hours. In Eureka Springs, the effects probably lasted an hour, maybe two tops and wouldn't cause the out of control behavior you're looking for. I wouldn't have expected it to. But this is working right. Didn't you see the Daily Planet this morning?'//
Clark winced at the expletives that came out of her mouth before she slammed the phone down.
There it was. Confirmation of what had happened to them. Or to Lois at least. Was there a way to know if it had affected him as well? Without exposing him to it again?
And there it was.
His eyes lighted on the atomizer from the pictures. It was practically hidden on a shelf behind the checkout counter. A split-second later, it was in his pocket.
"Honey," he said, his tone cheerful. "I don't think we're going to find what we're looking for here.
Lois gave him an odd look. "We're not?"
"Nope. They don't carry 'Exclusive' here." He wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her as gently as he could towards the door. "We'll find it somewhere else. Thanks, Pink," he called over his shoulder.
They made it around the corner from the shop before she stopped to glare at him. "What was that all about, *honey*?"
He pulled the atomizer out of his pocket. "I found what we're looking for and overheard Miranda on the phone." He filled her in on what he'd heard.
"So that explains what happened to us," she said as they walked towards her Jeep.
"She also said that repeated exposure would lead to the effects of anything less than the 100% solution wearing off more quickly."
"So that explains why I'm okay but no one else is."
"Exactly."
They ended up back at the Daily Planet, reassuring Perry that the harassment charges against him wouldn't stick and that his newsroom would be back to normal.
The three of them sat in the conference room, tossing around ideas, for nearly an hour.
"What I don't get is something else she said." Clark chewed thoughtfully on the end of a pen. "She said the entire city would feel her revenge, but how? She seemed to indicate that it would be the 100% solution this time, too."
"I don't know, but I have to visit the little reporters' room." Lois stood abruptly and left the room.
Perry watched her leave before turning to look at him. "I still wanna know how you got close enough to overhear all that without anyone noticing."
He shrugged. "I'm just good, I guess."
The editor sighed. "If all this pans out into as big a story as I think it will, I don't care what the suits upstairs say, I'm offering you another job. Maybe sports or something until there's an official opening on the city beat. They weren't really crazy about the whole Lois' partner thing, but..." He shook his head.
"Lois wasn't either, sir. She works alone and I don't want to make her uncomfortable."
"Then what are you doing working with her today?"
Clark sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You'd have to ask her about that, sir."
Perry snorted. "Enough of the 'sir' nonsense. It's Perry or Chief."
Clark smiled. "Yes, sir. Chief."
Lois barged back in. "I've got it!"
"What?" Perry and Clark asked simultaneously.
"The fruit fly spraying. *That's* how Miranda's going to spray the city."
"What?" they asked simultaneously again.
Lois gave an exasperated sigh. "Miranda said she wanted to spray the entire city with the 100% solution, right?"
Clark nodded. "Right."
"What better way to do that than with a crop duster that everyone *expects* to be spraying stuff all over the city?"
Perry thought about that for a minute. "That makes sense. What time is that supposed to start?"
Lois looked at the clock. "Ten minutes."
Clark bolted upright. "I'll, um, see if I can find Superman."
Lois waved him off. "Go. I'm heading to the airport."
By the time Lois arrived, Superman had Miranda in custody and the police were wrapping things up. Henderson thanked her for, once again, sticking her nose in and told her to have Perry call if he needed anything with regards to the legal matters.
Before she knew it, Lois was flying in Superman's arms towards Arkansas.
"We need to find that other atomizer and make sure no one else gets affected by this stuff," Lois said as they flew. "How'd you get her to tell you that anyway?"
He shrugged. "When I doused her with the tenth of a percent solution, she suddenly realized she was in love with Superman and told him everything. It should wear off in a couple hours."
It wasn't long before they landed in a small alley near the Perfume and Body Works shop. Lois, again, distracted the sales clerk while Clark snatched the atomizer.
No sooner were they outside than he moved behind her, moving lockstep with her, his arms holding her close.
He kissed the base of her neck in a way he'd quickly learned drove her crazy. "Whaddya say we go find us a hotel with a room with a Jacuzzi?"
Lois stopped. "What?"
"I want to make love to my wife. No going to the courthouse nonsense this time and we already know a hotel that has a room we like..."
"Clark..."
He spun her in his arms, kissing her until they were both breathless.
She sunk against him, using his body to hold her upright as she recovered. "Okay," she whispered. "Let's go. Make love to me, Clark."
*****
TBC
