The title of this is cute, and I like that it came around a few times.
The other was unconscious, with blood oozing disturbingly from his eyes.
That's traumatic!
The elevator creaked to a stop and he instinctively released the breath he’d been unconsciously holding in the space between his two personas.
This is nice. You have a great way of phrasing things!
He breathed in the thought of her like he was soaking in the sun.
I like the way this equates Lois with his vital life force and healing mechanism.
Clark cringed, his ears nearly ringing from Perry’s shout just behind him, when he’d been dialed into the sounds of the city for blocks outward.
Ouch!
Clark’s stomach turned over as he calculated the one person who was missing from the bullpen this morning.
Oh, no!
I called it that this was for a story! Which was probably intentional, lol.
It hadn’t taken long for him to get the idea that the kid would walk across fire if Lois asked him.
This is probably a bigger feat for Clark's feet in Perry's POV than it would be in his own, lol
I just talked to her yesterday.
This kind of comment always kills me.
“Where was Superman?” he spat, suddenly furious.
Oof.
In a blur, he’d raced straight to her apartment.
This feels very predictably Clark.
Right now, he couldn’t possibly go out there and—
Help!
But he had to.
Oh, yeah, yep, Superman can't ignore a call for help.
But her hair was a glossy brown bob.
Ooof, that reminder right out the gate.
And he knew that his traitorous brain would try to fill her image in, no matter where he looked, constantly seeking her out since it would never find her again.
This feels like such an intimate depiction of grief to me.
But he’d been distracted.
That's dangerous, for Superman to be distracted.
Yikes.
“It’s a little early, but if you want to stay for lunch, I bet we can get this chili into shape in no time! Especially with a little help,” she hinted.
I love that Martha jumps into mom mode. It's really sweet that he goes home enough that she can just pick up as if he's come home from school or something. It really adds a little bit of wholesome innocence to their relationship, somehow.
For three days, he’d sulked around the farm, inadequately helping with chores, zoning out mid conversation, and trying to tame his heart into believing a truth that was forcing it to break.
Poor Clark.
Choosing a random direction, he began a methodical stroll down one of Metropolis’ darkest and now most dangerous alleys.
It feels like he's going into Lois Lane mode here, investigating instead of grieving.
It struck him that losing Lois Lane might not be something that he was capable of getting past.
I feel like it wouldn't be for him.
Maybe he should leave Metropolis.
I feel like anytime anything goes really wrong, he starts packing up his apartment, lol.
It WAS for a story!
and trying to herd him closer to the door.
I feel like I saw this in an episode, lol.
“Charlie King,” Clark said back, shaking his new manager’s hand.
I love when Charlie King enters the building!
He dropped the handshake with Aldo just in time to catch the coat before it pelted him in the face,
Part of me sort of wishes that it hit him, lol. I feel like he's happy enough that she's alive that he could have just taken it to the face.
because she hadn’t seen or spoken to anyone she knew in days and his familiarity was an unexpected balm.
It's just this. Nothing to do with him. Could be anyone she knew, and it would be the same reaction, right?
I wouldn’t do something like this without telling Perry.
That would really sting if someone pulled this on me.
She’d just decided to sacrifice his feelings for the story.
Classic Lois Lane.
“You can have the bed; I’ll take the sofa.”
I know that they do eventually do this in canon, but it's SO close to the one-bed trope! SO close!
“I thought someone called for help.” He shrugged.
Carefulllll...
“You’re not actually showing up tomorrow.”
I feel like Charlie is really making a habit of this!
“The point is to track it,” he corrected her.
Is he editing her copy in real time???
“Why didn’t you call Superman?”
“Because there wasn’t a crime to stop!”
Ok, while I sort of feel like I can't argue with the Lane logic at work here, if it were me, I DEFINITELY would have called!
Gotta admire her gumption!!
“Perry, Henderson, the doctor who took bullet out, and my parents.”
His heart stuttered. “The doctor who took the bullet out?’
Ooops!
The harsh metal angles of the surgical staples looked discordant against her smooth skin.
Owwww!
“I only told my parents because Perry insisted. If anyone—“
I feel like this theme of her not getting along with her parents has been running through this fic-a-ton a bit.
After he left her, he’d tuned into Lois’ heartbeat and its steady rhythm had lulled him into a light doze.
Ugh, I'm such a sucker for this trope.
It was just that she managed to combine a particularly large knowledge gap with a laissez-faire attitude for kitchen safety and a virtuosity of unrivaled timing.
The golden trio of kitchen chaos!
The kitchen was finally still after the tornado of chaos that had somehow blown through.
Aww, he means Lois here, lol. His little tornado.
Don’t look up, Clark prayed, making a mental note to patch the cleaver-sized ceiling hole when he got in tomorrow.
This is particularly fun since the new Superman's tagline is 'Look up.'
Lois’ apron was covered in blood.
Gasp!
“You take a deep breath, Clark! I’m not bleeding out for the likes of a thug like Johnny Taylor!’’
“I’m going to take them all the way out for now so that we can stop the bleeding, ok?”
OW!
“Bite down if it hurts, ok?”
I would absolutely kill him for this stunt.
Mere seconds later, he slid the veal onto the plate and started to spoon the sauce over just as Aldo opened the doors to the kitchen.
Thank goodness he can cook with those powers!
Johnny Taylor had arrived.
It's like he knows what she's thinking.
He opened his mouth to tell her that he was Superman.
But it was the right reason.
Aw.
“She’s a good partner,” he said honestly.
Nice one, Clark.
And Aldo was staring right at her, about to draw his boss’ attention.
Ope!
But he could hear the fatigue in her voice.
Oh, no!
That meant Lois could nap on a stack of enormous flour sacks in the pantry unobserved.
This is a great use of the pantry.
“If this is what the kitchen looks like when I stay out of it, maybe I’ll spend more time out front,” Aldo snickered.
Great planning on Clark's end!
Clark paused, instinctively putting himself slightly in front of Lois.
Awww. He naturally does this on the show sometimes, and it's really sweet.
At this distance, the cowl was unmistakable.
That's a twist!
“We’re chasing down the drops.”
Ooooooohhhhhh. This explains the bloody eyes. EYE drops.
The woman flared her hands out, as if presenting herself. “Zee,” she said with a grin.
I had only heard of Zatanna once before this story. But its fun to see her and Batman catch Clark unawares! I bet Bats won't be able to do that for long.
Zee walked up and offered an arm to Lois, “Lean on me.”
Aw, I love a girl's girl.
She must have pocketed them, because when he looked at her again a moment later, they seemed to have disappeared entirely.
OMG, please tell me that the magician hide them UP HER SLEEVE.
“The money isn’t a priority,” said Batman.
I don't know that much about Batman, but I think it's funny that the millionaire is like, 'eh, burn the money, it's fine!'
“Just a little sleight of hand,” Zee said with a grin.
Hey! The title!
Batman’s eyes were narrowed again, looking at Clark in a way that made him wary.
“Unless you have another way of getting her there.”
Clark kept his gaze steady.
“A cab would be great.”
Is this is the most polite showdown ever?
It had been a smooth ride, just like he’d asked for when he’d settled Lois into the cab.
That's so thoughtful! Because she always complains about the crazy Metropolis cab drivers.
Instead, he handed her over to Perry.
Booooo.
He rang the doorbell four times in a row.
I think it's so cute that they have a little code. Perry is really old school.
Oof, I bet!
He shoots me, but you never come.
I bet that's going to stick with him. Yikes
“I’ll be around,” he promised.
Aw, I love that he repeats this promise to her from the first time they meet.
“Of course I care, Lois,” he said, carefully holding onto his voice.
Caaaaaarefulllll!
Yikes!
Wednesday was half-off pasta night at the restaurant
Oh, I wish I could find a place that still did this on weekdays.
“Not any good ones without my being able to run. Or fight. Or basically move at all.”
I love that her instincts here are literally flight and fight. It's so funny to imagine her absolutely decimating two big hulking dudes. I know we see some of this in the series, but not exactly to this scale.
She didn’t look as annoyed or begrudging as he’d expected.
An admission of true love, Lois Lane style, lol.
But his emotions were spilling over into the kiss. He couldn’t help it.
Oh, poor Clark. But I love that part of their charm is that she's the exception to his every rule.
Tipping his glasses down, he took a look inside the club as they moved quietly down the alley.
It's got to be a huge advantage that they've worked this place before.
“There’s a tear in the curtain,” he said.
Technically not a lie! Nice work here, Clark.
Eyes still on the trio, he watched as Zee held out her hand for Maroni to shake, using the action to cover her motion of sliding her own backpack across the floor to land next to his.
Ooo, she's setting this up for an exchange!
“…family doesn’t do business with women.”
Ok, well, this guy needs to go down.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” he threw to Zee.
Ok, he needs to go down, too.
But she’d just gotten him to confess it in a room full of witnesses.
I have to admit that when I read the prompts, I had definitely been assuming that the public confession would somehow be a romantic one!
The gangster saw Clark coming and raised his gun up to meet the new threat.
Oh, no, I'm having TOGOM flashbacks.
—and a bat-shaped metal disk clanged against the pistol’s barrel, knocking Johnny’s hand sideways and sending the shot wide!
Wow, in the nick of time here!
“Almost like magic, isn’t it?” Zee asked, a wide grin pulling at her mouth.
Batman’s eyes narrowed at him again, and the feeling that he was being deeply scrutinized returned.
Does he know?
With a wave, she disappeared out the back door.
Wait... literally disappeared?
“I’ll bet I can find one,” he said with an easy smile.
I bet he can!
They hadn’t even needed to call in Superman for this one!
Oh, the dramatic irony!
A cup of coffee appeared in front of her, and she looked up to find a soft smile.
Ugh, I love this trope. This is such a satisfying way to drop us back into the newsroom.
“Admiring a job well done,” she said, leaving just the smallest opening for him to have some credit, too.
Awww, she's growing a little!
“Actually, Charlie and I have decided to run away together. We fell passionately in love over a cannoli. We’re leaving the restaurant business behind and starting a new life.”
I don't know if the mischeif was more for Aldo or for Clark!
“Wayne was over last night, and then this morning all these people from the EPA showed up and now we can’t find him. He’s not picking up his phone, and they’ve blocked off most of his farm.”
Oh, wow, we're headed straight for Kansas!
After all, how much trouble could Lois Lane get into in Smallville?
I'd really like to see how she does with a bullet would and way more developed feelings for him in Green, Green Glow of Home!
