To recap:
"Look," Kevin glanced behind him. "Meet me back here tonight at ten o'clock. I want to show you what I mean, but I can't do it with them around." He jerked his head to indicate Ron Fraser and Ken Randall.
"We'll be here," Clark assured him.
"Wear something you don't care about; we'll be going down in the sewer."
"Great," Lois said, wrinkling her nose. "Thanks for thinking of us."
"Now what?" Clark asked as Kevin walked away.
"What about that man that Rachel said pushed them? He didn't stick around after the accident. Maybe he deliberately bumped into them to send them sprawling onto the ground?"
"Let's go talk to Rachel Eames again." Lois inadvertently brushed against him as she moved past.
Clark closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall for a moment to steady himself. If she knew what that did to him she'd never come within six feet of him again. It was one thing when she accidentally touched him as Clark. It was agonizing to be anywhere near her as Superman.
Just over three months had passed since that night. Three months that had been a waking hell to him. In that time she had made it clear to him that she saw him only as a friend. It seemed that night was erased from her memory as completely as if it had never happened. And why wouldn't she want to forget it had ever happened? The circumstances had been appalling. It was probably a mercy if she had forgotten it had ever happened.
If only he could forget. If his life had become a waking hell, his nights were even worse. It was a rare night indeed when he didn't dream about making love to her. He was ashamed to admit that, if he had the chance to live that night over again, he would still have made love to her.
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Part 3/?
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Inspector Henderson was sitting at the table where Rachel had been and he shook his head at them as they walked over. "If you're looking for Ms. Eames, she just left in the ambulance."
"So what do you think?" Lois asked Henderson, taking the seat next to him. "Doesn't it seem a little coincidental to you that two people who work for STAR Labs have met with the same accident this week?"
Henderson shrugged. "Don't you believe in coincidences, Lois?"
"Not if I can help it," she replied.
"Well, I do. The world is full of them."
Clark had been scanning the crowd, trying to see if there were any tall, thin men who seemed unduly interested in the accident scene. He couldn't see anyone matching Rachel's earlier description.
"Inspector, there's an ATM on the outside of the bank across the street." Clark pointed at it as he spoke. "It's possible the cameras might have captured an image of the man who pushed Rachel."
Henderson nodded. "We're already looking into it. If we find anything, I'll let you know. We'll have you run the picture in the paper, see if anyone recognizes the guy."
"We heard the water on top of the manhole cover was actually salt water. Was that a coincidence?" Lois asked.
Henderson broke into a grin and stood up from the table. "It's a hell of a coincidence, isn't it?"
"How about we check out STAR Labs?" Clark asked Lois. "I don't think that's a coincidence."
"Do you believe in coincidences, Clark?" Lois asked him as they walked away.
"It depends," Clark said. "Give me an example and I'll tell you whether I think it's a coincidence or not."
"Take Superman, for instance."
"Superman?"
"Yes, he's always there to save us. Does he follow us around? Is he stalking us? Is he really that fast? Can he read our minds? Or is it just the most amazing coincidence that he's always there when we need him?"
"Superman saves lots of people."
Lois frowned at his answer. "Have you seen him recently?"
"Yeah." Clark glanced at the front window of the store they were passing and caught his reflection. "I've seen him."
"I never see him anymore. I haven't really spoken to him since I got engaged to Lex. Is he mad at me?"
Clark winced. It was true; he'd been avoiding her as Superman. He had stopped the occasional nighttime fly-by of her apartment. He didn't want to give her false hope that there could be more than friendship between her and Superman. If she wanted to believe it was her near-wedding that was behind his evasion, well, he wasn't about to correct her.
"Why would he be angry with you? He's a busy guy, Lois, that's all."
"He finds time to visit you."
"I didn't say I visited with him. I just said that I had seen him."
Lois shrugged. That was semantics as far as she was concerned. Superman didn't even get close enough that she could see him nowadays. She stopped and looked up, shading her eyes. Come to think of it - where was he when these electrocutions had happened? Of course, they weren't noisy, so maybe they hadn't drawn his attention. Still, it seemed unlike Superman not to show up and put in an appearance.
Not for the first time she didn't wonder if Clark had said something - even inadvertently - about that night to Superman.
"Lois?" Clark had taken a few steps before realizing she wasn't alongside him. She was looking up into the sky and guilt washed over him when he realized who she watching for.
Lois' attention shifted back to Clark. "Sorry," she told him. "I just miss him."
Clark nodded, his dark eyes almost sad. Whatever the reason, Lois was almost certain Clark knew why Superman was avoiding her. Getting him to tell her - that was another matter. It was Clark's complete silence on the matter that gave her hope he hadn't said anything to Superman about that night.
It was fine for him to keep her secrets, but surely he could see how terrible she felt about Superman's silence. Why didn't Clark just tell her the truth? Didn't he care about her feelings at all?
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Clark had never been this nervous before. It was the first time Lois would see him as Superman since that night and he was terrified.
He wasn't sure he could trust himself to be around her as Superman. He was afraid that he might have a reaction to her presence; one that the suit would make extremely obvious. But since she wasn't listening to him as Clark he was going to have to give it a shot.
He hovered outside her window. She was going to take one look at him and recognize him. How could she not? She saw him that night without the glasses. Or was she not paying attention? She had been a little preoccupied by the time he took the glasses off. Clark wavered and was about to fly away when she caught sight of him.
"Would you like to come in?" she asked as she parted the curtains for him.
He took a deep breath. Put her on the defensive, he told himself. And don't look anywhere except her face.
"If I were you, I'd want to know what I was doing outside your window."
"Just hanging around?" she lightly teased.
Clark shook his head, not trusting his voice. She was wearing a shirt tied at her midriff and he could see bare skin. I've touched her there, he thought. No! Look at her face. Don't look anywhere else.
"You ran into Clark and he told you I was in danger and I wouldn't let him bodyguard me. Am I right?"
Clark hesitated for moment. She really didn't know it was him. "Yes."
"So Clark asked you to be my bodyguard? Why not just knock on the door?"
When did he ever knock on her door as Superman? "I thought it would be better if I stayed inconspicuous."
Lois looked at Superman, taking in the snug way the suit didn't hide much. Had she really told Clark he came close? What was she thinking? There was no one else like Superman. "I'd change tailors if you're gonna go for the undercover look."
"Well, that's why you should let Clark keep you company."
Clark? Sure, she could have let Clark stay. But Clark's 'protection' so far had lacked any of Superman's finesse. Clark's idea of bodyguarding consisted of accosting an innocent skateboarder and throwing her down on the steps of her building.
Lois loosened her hair from its ponytail and casually tried to fix her hair. "Are you, um, staying for dinner?"
"No, thank you. I have some errands to run. But I'll come back." He couldn't maintain eye contact with her like he used to. Surely she noticed how he kept looking away?
"Errands?" she laughed. "That's funny. I never think of Superman having to run errands."
"Well, I do have a life, you know."
"Really? What kind of life?" She sat down, looking up at him with unabashed curiosity.
Clark hesitated, he couldn't possibly tell her. What would it hurt to let her think his entire life was community service? Maybe it would make her think of him as something neutral and genderless. "Well, tonight I have a neighborhood watch meeting. Tomorrow, prison."
She laughed. "That's cute, I, uh, guess."
Look at me, he thought. Do you really not recognize me? How could you have slept with me and be this clueless? He felt an all-too-familiar twitch of interest as he realized just how many buttons she had left undone on her blouse. It would be reckless to stay around her much longer.
"Well, I'd better be going. You'll be okay?"
"Sure, I'll be fine."
Shouldn't there be some primal alarm bell ringing in her head right now? There sure as heck was in his. Catching sight of the paper he decided to lecture her as Superman, at least he knew she would take what he said seriously. "You'd better be careful. If the killer reads between the lines of your story and realizes that you were there…"
"You read my work?"
"Always," he told her truthfully. And you especially hate it when I edit for you.
Clark put the paper down and turned to go out the window. Lois hurried over to the window, brushing against him as she moved past. He panicked - she was too close.
"Let me, uh, get this," she said as she fumbled with the curtains.
Clark walked over to the door instead. He had it unlocked and open before she could cross the room. Don't touch me, he thought. Please don't touch me.
"Lock your doors," he told her as he slipped out into the relative safety of the hallway. "And windows." If she locked her windows it would keep both him and her stalker out.
"I promise."
Safely out of her apartment, he changed back into his clothes and bought a paper. Clark settled on a bench across the street to watch her apartment. A cold night on the bench would be even better than a cold shower.
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"I'm very sorry," the receptionist told them. "But STAR Labs will not be issuing any statements at this time."
"So that's a 'no comment', is it?" Lois asked sarcastically and turned away from the desk in time to see Ken Randall come through a side door. Her mood darkened further. Had they talked to that charlatan and not to them?
"Ah, Lane and Kent. So what's your angle?" Ken asked.
"What's yours?" Lois countered.
Ken gave her the megawatt smile that beamed down from countless billboards throughout Metropolis. "No angle. A really good story just tells itself."
"So they didn't tell you anything either, did they?"
At that Ken let out a genuine laugh. "When are you going to leave that dinosaur you lovingly call the Planet and come work where the future lies in television? I heard you were working for LNN for a while."
"It wasn't really me. TV news is a wasteland for fakes and hacks."
"Then you would fit right in. Just look at you! A broad with your looks? You bleach your hair blonde and you'd be a top anchor in no time."
"I don't look good as a blonde."
"Mmmm, tell me you have pictures of that somewhere. If there are, I may have a new goal in life."
"I've seen koi ponds deeper than you, Ken." Clark couldn't hold back any longer. Ken Randall might be popular with the public, but he was a pariah amongst his peers.
Ken and Lois looked at Clark in surprise - they had both forgotten he was there.
"Good thing you brought someone along to fight your battles for you. I heard you lost your edge after Luthor went splat."
Clark's hands fisted, but given Ken's current line of argument he couldn't say a word without making things worse. Besides, Lois had definitely not lost her edge - as he was sure Ken was about to discover.
"At least I had an edge," Lois said evenly. "But then I guess you can't really miss something you never had."
Ken's demeanor changed, his expression softened. "That was low, bringing up Luthor like that. I'm sorry. Do you miss him?"
"No," Lois said curtly. "Never once."
Ken shrugged and switched tactics. "I've heard things about you. There's a rumor that you boffed Superman."
"What?" Lois exclaimed, her cheeks flushing in a way that let Ken know he'd finally found a nerve to prod. "I've never!"
"I bet you would, though, wouldn't you?"
"You'd do the same if you thought it would be a good story," Lois shot back.
"Alas, I'm only partial to dark-eyed beauties who sleep with their sources."
Clark tapped Lois' elbow to caution her against saying anything else. "Let's go, Lois."
"Superman isn't a source. He's a friend." Lois turned her back on Ken and stalked out of the lobby.
"I wouldn't mess with her," Clark couldn't hold back the words. "She could tear you apart with her bare hands if she really wanted to."
Ken laughed. "Lois Lane doesn't scare me. And neither do you, Kent."
Clark leaned in and asked in a deadly calm voice. "What about Superman?"
Ken didn't even blink. "Superman is much too good to smack me around over a few comments to his little girlfriend."
"Don't misjudge him. Even Superman would make an exception for you."
Clark grimaced as he walked away from Ken Randall. The nerve of that guy! He wasn't sure which remark was worse - the one about Luthor or the one about Superman.
He knew Lois didn't want, or need, his protection. It didn't matter to him. He would protect her as best he could from the Kens and the Luthors of this world. And, most importantly, he would protect her from himself. If she thought it hurt that Superman was avoiding her, he knew it would kill her to learn what had really happened that night.
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Lois' alarm went off at six o'clock. Clark could hear her wandering through her apartment, making sounds of frustration. The reason behind her dismay became obvious when Mr. Tracewski, the super, came out of the building complaining about the poor quality of pipes.
Clark went back to reading the paper in his hands and then he heard it - a sound that made his heart stutter. Lois was struggling; fighting against someone. He ran up the stairs and burst through the door. To his horror Lois had stopped fighting and was losing consciousness.
"Let go of her!" Clark ordered.
The man, who looked exactly like Mr. Tracewski, only tightened his grip on Lois' throat.
Clark held up his hand to calm the double who was beginning to look frantic. "Let her go now," Clark said slowly.
The man dropped her and Lois fell limply to the floor. Clark's heart sank, she was lying there so still. He let the man run past him, he could only see Lois and how she wasn't breathing. God, please, no. He couldn't hear her breathing…
"Lois!" He knelt next to her, turning her over with unsteady hands. He caught sight of the fake Mr. Tracewski disappearing through the still-open door as he bent to breathe into her mouth.
One little puff and she gasped. He gathered her against him as she sputtered and choked.
"Okay," he murmured into her hair.
"Cla..," Lois' hands sought for him, he pulled her closer. "Clark. Clark," she murmured.
"It's okay. It's all right, it's all right, it's all right," he repeated mindlessly, as much to reassure himself as her.
"I couldn't breathe. That nice Mr. Tracewski…" Lois couldn't seem to draw enough air into her lungs. What the hell had just happened? She still felt so confused. When did Clark get here?
"No. No, it wasn't him. It must have been somebody else. I saw the real Mr. Tracewski leave."
"He tried to kill me." Her throat burned as she formed the words. It was for real. Someone really was trying to kill her. And Clark was here. She was safe now.
"I'll find him." Clark started to set her gently aside. He was just itching to catch the man.
"No!" Lois clung to him with all the strength she had left. "Please don't leave me."
"Okay, I won't. I'm here. I'm right here. I'm right here." He held her close against him and rocked her, the rhythmic motion soothing them both.
Lois tried to hold the sob back but it broke through anyway. Clark murmured softly into her hair that it was okay. She thought about that night, how she went over to find comfort in his embrace and found forgetfulness instead. Today there was nothing but comfort in his arms. His voice and his touch were strong and soothing. Lois clung to him, afraid of what the world was going to look like when he wasn't holding her anymore.
Finally she disentangled herself from his embrace. He let her go easily and stood up, holding out his hand to help her rise. For a second she thought about ignoring him and standing on her own. Before she could fully form that thought her hand had taken his of its own volition. He pulled her up and let go, taking two steps back to lean against her kitchen counter.
"Do you want me to wait outside while you get ready?" he offered.
Lois blinked, surprised that he'd even make the suggestion. "No, just… have a seat…" She waved in the direction of her living room. "I'll just get dressed and we can go."
As she got dressed she realized that he must have woke up very early to be over here in time to see Mr. Tracewski leave the building. Or had he spent the night outside? No, he couldn't have. It was far too cold out there. But he did come over awfully early.
Lois smiled to herself. He really was very sweet. Naïve and trusting and very, very sweet.
<"I could make you forget him.">
Lois took in a shuddery breath. She would never have believed anyone could make her forget Superman, but for a short time that night her entire world had consisted of only Clark. She brushed her hair a little harder as penance for her wandering mind.
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"Are you sure this is where we were supposed to meet her?" Clark looked around the hotel's bar but couldn't see Rachel anywhere.
Lois glanced at her watch. "She told Jimmy seven o'clock in the bar of the Hotel Britannia's lobby. It's only five after seven, maybe she's running late?"
"No, there she is." Clark pointed across the bar where Rachel Eames had just emerged from the restroom. Rachel waved and made her way unsteadily towards them, plopping down in the chair next to Clark. She smelled of whiskey and her eyes looked a little too bright.
"Can I get you a drink?" she asked them.
"No, thanks, I'm not really thirsty," Lois said
Rachel's expression darkened. "I'm not usually a drinker, you know. I'm just having a very bad week."
"We're very sorry for your loss. Were you close to Anthony?" Clark asked.
Rachel hiccupped and traced her fingernail over the wood grain of the tabletop. "Close to him? Oh god, I don't know how to answer that. We worked together, you know?"
"Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt the two of you?" Lois asked.
Rachel took a deep breath and let it out slowly, shaking her head the entire time. "Maybe his ex-wife. She wasn't taking the divorce well."
"You were involved with Tony?" Clark asked in surprise.
"Involved is the wrong word for it, really. We… had an arrangement. I've been through a lot of disastrous relationships and he was just coming out of his divorce. We neither one of us wanted to get involved with anyone but, you know, there are certain things you miss when you're not seeing someone. There was an attraction between us, and it was such a relief to not have to make small talk, or remember birthdays, or any of that other garbage that you have to wade through in a relationship." Rachel's voice trailed off on the last few words.
Lois tried hard to sound neutral as she clarified, "You were sleeping with each other?"
Rachel let out a laugh. "No, not sleeping. That was one of the rules - we never spent the night. Afterwards we'd just go home. No recriminations, no guilt."
"Huh." Clark didn't know what else to say. Rachel looked at both of them, picking up on the shock they were trying to hide, and felt defensive.
"Hey, everyone has needs. Relationships can get so messy, though. Sometimes all you need is the physical contact and not the emotional baggage that comes with it."
Lois openly gaped at her now. "But doesn't sleeping with your co-worker create problems? Work baggage?"
"I didn't think of him as my co-worker, or even as Tony. In my mind he was Brad Pitt or Superman."
"Superman!" Lois echoed.
Clark coughed to cover his laugh.
"Mmm, yeah. That was a good one. It was just sex, Miss Lane. We were both clear on that. In his mind I was Cindy Crawford or that cute new lab assistant or…whomever" Rachel shrugged. "Neither of us ever asked."
"What? You just acted out each other's little fantasies?" Lois scoffed.
"We each had a night of the week that was ours. What we did on that night was our choice. There were ground rules, of course, which we both were in absolute agreement on."
"Ground rules?" Clark was sure if his eyebrows climbed any higher they'd fall off.
"How often? What's permissible? Where? Surely a reporter can think of all the questions you'd need to settle beforehand."
"That's so unromantic," Clark said.
"Romance has nothing to do with it, Mr. Kent."
"Sex and romance are two completely different issues," Lois muttered.
"Exactly! So how long has it been, Miss Lane?" Rachel asked.
"I beg your pardon?" Lois spluttered.
"How long has it been since someone tripped the light fantastic for you?"
Clark's mouth twitched as he fought a smile and Lois thought for sure she was going to have to kill him. "I don't see how that's any of your business!"
"Look at yourself, though. You're a mess! You're in a demanding, high-pressured career. You don't have a husband. I'd wager you don't even have a boyfriend. You go to bed alone every night. And when you go back to work in the morning you have all the frustrations from the day before that you drag into the office with you. And it grows exponentially. Don't you ever wish there was some kind of release?"
Clark pressed his lips into a straight line and shrugged. It was taking all his willpower not to laugh, if only because Lois had never looked so unabashedly horrified before.
"So when was the last time?" Rachel persisted.
Lois swallowed, turned even redder and shook her head. "I don't, I'm not about to tell you."
"It's been months, hasn't it? If not years. Do yourself a favor, find a buddy to sleep with. Maybe even Mr. Kent, here."
At that, Lois rose and left the bar.
"Well, thanks for your time," Clark said, hastening to leave before Rachel could start in on him. "If we have any follow-up questions, we'll call you."
Clark caught up to Lois outside the hotel. "So, I'll pick you up at nine-thirty?" he asked her.
"For what?" Lois was still flustered. What did he think he was going to do with her at nine-thirty?
"We're meeting Kevin from MetEd at ten, yes?"
"Fine. I'll see you at nine-thirty." Lois was grateful he didn't say anything about Rachel's comments. She shook her head as she watched Clark walking away.
Just when she was certain she knew him, or knew what he was going to do in a given situation, he surprised her.
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End Part 3/?
