Ta-da! There's more waff in this part. I hope you enjoy it - it's been well-earned I think... <g>
Table of Contents **********
From Part 10
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Lois planted her feet, forcing Clark to stop. He turned to look at her and she frowned at him. “Don’t.”
Clark gave her a look of confusion. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t you do that, Clark. I don’t care about your powers. I mean it. I would just as soon have your arm around me keeping me warm.”
He tightened his hold on her. “I can definitely do that.”
“Okay, good,” she said, sounding satisfied. “Now let’s get you inside before your cold turns into pneumonia.”
Clark opened the door for her and followed her inside. Lois looked around expecting Martha to come in and fuss at Clark for getting caught in the rain, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “Where’s your mom?”
Clark gestured upstairs. “They go to bed pretty early because they have to get up before the chickens,” he said, smiling at her. Then he shrugged. “That’s life on a farm.” He headed upstairs, continuing to talk as he climbed, “Get your...” He almost said pajamas but decided against it, “...clothes ready that you want to change into and I’ll get the shower hot for you.”
“No, Clark,” she hollered up at him, “you go ahead. You need to get warmed up. Besides, I’m sure you’re faster than me in the shower.”
A couple of minutes later Clark was stepping into the shower. The heat of the water soaked into his body, warming him through. As he savored the rhythmic massage of the water against his neck and shoulders, his mind turned to thoughts of Lois bathing in this same shower after him. After a few seconds, Clark reached down and shifted the nozzle to cold.
***********
PART ELEVEN
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Lois came down the stairs prepared to go to bed on the couch, but she found Clark lying there instead.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, crossing her arms in front of her – not just for authority but also because she felt a little self-conscious in the thin cotton pajamas she had on.
“Going to sleep,” he responded easily. “I put fresh sheets on my bed for you.”
She shook her head. “Uh-uh. You’re sick. I’m not letting you sleep down here on the couch. Besides I owe you one from the honeymoon suite at the Lexor.”
Clark laughed lightly. “I hope you don’t think that this would make up for that. You’d still owe me.”
Lois raised an eyebrow. “Really? And just what did you have in mind?” She smiled in triumph when his face reddened. “I’m serious. You don’t need to be sleeping on the couch. Now get upstairs.”
He sat up on the couch and gave her a little mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Where’s my pillow?”
“I took it upstairs and put it on my bed,” he answered. “I can go get it...”
“Nah. I’ll walk upstairs with you and get it.”
Clark got up from the couch and walked to the stairs. He held out his hand, gesturing for her to go first, and she hesitantly began to climb them. It was ridiculous for her to feel nervous about him walking up the stairs behind her in her lightweight pajamas - after all she had greeted him as Superman in a silk nightie – but she felt self-conscious nonetheless.
And this was different. This was Clark. Her mind knew that the two of them were the same person, but her heart still had a little trouble with it.
Thinking about that silk nightie, she remembered something he had said that night at her apartment. “Clark? Have you ever...” she hesitated for a moment but then decided that she had to know the answer, “...x-rayed me?”
“What?” he exclaimed. He realized he was staring at her nicely formed backside as it gracefully ascended the stairs in front of him. Of course he hadn’t ever x-rayed her – not that he hadn’t thought about it.
She reached the top of the stairs and turned to look down at him. “You heard me. That night you came to my apartment as Superman, I was going to put on a robe and you told me that it wouldn’t do any good unless it was lead-lined. Have you ever...”
“No!” Clark replied, horrified.
“Not even a little?”
“Lois!”
Lois was grinning like a Cheshire cat because Clark’s face had turned a deep shade of red. “Haven’t even thought about it, huh?” She pretended to be a little affronted.
“Lois, Superman would never...”
“Well I’m not talking to Superman, now, am I?” she bantered, stepping aside so he could get up the last couple of steps. She walked into his bedroom and grabbed her pillow up from his bed.
Clark felt dizzy from the comfortable way she was teasing him. He followed her into the bedroom and when she turned around he decided two could play this game. “So you’re asking if I’ve ever been tempted to take a peek?” He flashed her a grin. “Sure.”
Lois felt a little light-headed at his admission. “But you didn’t... um... look?”
He shook his head.
“When were you tempted?” she asked, giving him a curious look.
“That night in the honeymoon suite. You looked so beautiful and I had teased you about sharing the bed with you. I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I was listening as you got ready for bed. I...” He swallowed, amazed that he was actually going to admit this to her. “I heard you pull back the satin sheets and I heard you take off your clothes.” He ran a hand through his hair nervously. “Before I realized what I was doing, I was standing in front of your bedroom door and had pulled my glasses down. But I caught myself. I didn’t look, I swear.”
Lois’s face had turned a pretty shade of pink and Clark smiled. “It was so much harder not to want you after you threw yourself at me when you were affected by the pheromone spray,” he admitted.
Her mouth fell open. “I did not *throw* myself at you,” she huffed, pretending to be upset.
Clark shrugged and her pretense fell away into a shy grin. “Well, maybe just a little,” she admitted. Then her head started to swim when she realized what he had just said, ‘it was so much harder not to *want* you...’
Lois felt her breath catch when Clark stepped closer to her. She watched in anticipation as his hand came up to cup her cheek softly. It set her nerve endings on fire where his skin touched hers and she closed her eyes in expectation of what was to come.
Clark looked down into her face. It would be so easy to kiss her. He wanted to kiss her so badly. But what if she wasn’t ready for that? She looked ready – she looked like it was what she wanted.
But it was a big deal. Clark hadn’t ever kissed her before as ‘Clark’, at least not when she knew that he really meant it. When it wasn’t a diversion or some kind of pretense to cover something else.
All of the sudden he lost his nerve and he brushed his lips lightly across her cheek instead. “Goodnight, Lois,” he whispered next to her ear.
The feather-light brush of his lips sent a shiver down her spine, but when he pulled away, Lois opened her eyes and tried to do her best to hide her disappointment. “Goodnight, Clark.” He wasn’t comfortable enough with their situation to kiss her. He probably still wasn’t sure if it was really him that she cared about, or if she was still enamored with Superman.
She walked out of his bedroom and back down the stairs, biting the inside of her cheek as she contemplated her situation. How could she prove her feelings for him? What had to happen in order to heal the rift between them?
**********
Lois was riding inside Lex’s private elevator at LexCorp. The elevator went lower and lower, never stopping. She silently cursed it. Clark was hurt. She had to get to him.
Bright, gleaming green bars flashed through her mind. She could see Clark doubled over on the floor inside a cage, clasping his stomach and coughing in agony. He looked up at her and his lips moved. ‘Help me, Lois,’ he seemed to be saying.
Lois opened her eyes and found herself looking into the face of Lex Luthor. “You promised to give yourself to me!” he yelled in a fury, ripping off part of her dress.
“No,” she screamed. “Clark!”
“Clark is dead,” Lex taunted her. “I would have killed him to take him from you but he had already died from a broken heart.” Lex pinned her body beneath his and crushed his lips forcefully against hers. Lois fought against him, closing her eyes to what was happening.
When she opened her eyes again she was back in the elevator. Bursts of light flashed around her and an alarm went off.
A loud, piercing alarm that ripped through her consciousness and woke her from her nightmare. She wasn’t at LexCorp. She was in Kansas at Clark’s parents’ house.
But the alarm – that was real enough. It was coming from the next room. Lois got up and hurried into the kitchen, where the sound was emanating from. She looked around and found the object making the noise – it was the weather radio.
“The national weather service has issued a tornado watch for the following counties...” a mechanized voice informed her.
Tornado watch? Watch... Was that the bad one? She knew there were watches and warnings. One meant that there was the possibility of a tornado and the other one meant that a tornado had actually been seen. Thinking logically, warning would mean that a tornado could form, and watch would mean that one had been spotted and you needed to watch for it, right?
“...Reno, Sedgwick, Sumner...”
Lois had no idea what county they were in. She needed to get Clark. She ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs, her path being lit by the flashes of lightning outside. Her heart raced with each subsequent crash of thunder.
Not worried this time about knocking, Lois threw the door open and rushed inside. She put her hands on Clark’s shoulder and shook him. “Clark? Clark, wake up, there’s a tornado.”
Clark rolled over to look up at her. “What?” he asked sleepily.
“A tornado! The weather radio went off. I didn’t know what to do. They were naming off all these counties and I didn’t know which one we were in and...”
“Lois, calm down. Did they say if it was a tornado watch or a warning?”
“A watch. Isn’t that the bad one?” Lois was fidgeting nervously, wishing that Clark would hurry up and get out of bed. He seemed way too calm. “Warning just means that they’re warning you that there could be one, right?”
Clark sat up in bed and swung his legs off the side of the bed. “No, a warning means that an actual tornado has been spotted. A watch means that conditions are favorable for a tornado.” He stood up slowly, trying to get his bearings after having been woken up so abruptly.
“What do we do? They don’t have tornados in Metropolis.” She started to pace in the small confines of his bedroom. “I’ve never been in one before. Where do we go? I remember something about getting to the basement or the southeast corner of your house or something like that...”
He stopped her from pacing on her next pass, putting his hands on her shoulders. He intended to assure her that it wasn’t serious yet, but before he could say anything she turned into his body and wrapped her arms around him. “Clark, I’m scared.” Truth be told, she still felt a little shaky from her nightmare. It hadn’t helped to have such a rude awakening, and the thought of a tornado really did frighten her.
Enfolding her in his arms he rubbed her back softly. “It’s okay. Trust me. I’ve been through this lots of times.” Clark felt like he was trying to convince her as much as he was himself. If a tornado really did come, there wouldn’t be a damn thing he could do about it. He didn’t have any of his powers or abilities to try and divert it; he wouldn’t even be able to fly them away from danger.
Clark pulled away from her and took her hand, leading her out of the room. He grabbed his glasses and put them on out of habit. “Let’s go downstairs and turn on the TV, see what the local stations are saying.”
He led her down the stairs and they both sat on the couch. Clark turned on the TV and flipped through the stations.
“...reported at this time,” the anchorman was saying.
“What? Did he say a tornado had been reported?” Lois asked anxiously.
“Shhhh,” Clark shushed her. The meteorologist was talking and he couldn’t hear him over Lois. “Listen.”
“...definitely some circular motion being detected in the lower level clouds here,” the weatherman pointed to a spot on the screen and drew animated arrows indicating the rotation. “We will continue to monitor this system and keep you informed of any changes.”
“Thanks, Ted,” the original anchorman said. “As we said before, there have not been any reported sightings of an actual funnel cloud at this time. But now is the time to get prepared. This storm has already knocked out power in several towns and has produced some large hail – anywhere from marble size to golf ball size pieces.” He used his thumb and finger to indicate the sizes. “We are advising everyone to remain indoors and stay tuned in for further updates.”
The bulletin cut off and went back to the regular programming, which happened to be a late night talk show. The watch box in the lower left corner of the screen had the counties highlighted that were at risk.
Lois had been fidgeting restlessly. Now that the broadcast was over, she turned to look at Clark. “So what do we do now?”
“There’s not much we can do,” he said apologetically. “Mom and Dad have a bag in their closet with flashlights, bottled water, a radio and back-up batteries. If the advisory changes from a watch to a warning, then I’ll go wake them up. We can go out to the storm cellar until it passes.”
She raised her eyebrows. “They have a storm cellar? Like what? A concrete underground bunker?”
Clark chuckled lightly. “Sort of. It’s a shelter built down into the ground. It has some canned goods and some oil lanterns in it. It’s not very comfortable though, so we don’t usually go in there unless we’re certain there’s a real threat. The last time I remember using it, I was probably about thirteen.” He stood up from the couch and started to walk away.
“Wait. Where are you going?” Lois asked, standing up and following him. “I don’t think I want to be down here by myself.”
Clark turned around and smiled at her. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you by yourself. I’m just going to get a glass of water. You want anything?”
“Yeah, my bed in my own apartment back in Metropolis?” she joked.
“If I could fly, I would take you there in a heartbeat,” he said earnestly, his voice suddenly serious.
Lois smiled timidly. “No, if you had your powers you’d be out there in the middle of that storm, trying to see if there was anything you could do to divert it.” She had spoken without really thinking about it and when she saw the look on Clark’s face and watched him walk quietly into the kitchen, she wanted to kick herself.
She let out a soft sigh and followed him into the kitchen. He had his back turned to her while he filled up a glass with water. Lois walked up and reached out with one hand, rubbing his back softly. “It’s okay, you know,” she said gently.
“What is?” he asked simply, wishing he could avoid the subject.
“Clark, talk to me. Please? I know you’re bottling everything up inside you...”
“What good would it do? It wouldn’t change anything,” he brooded. “If I shared my fears or my troubles with you or my parents, it wouldn’t help anything. It would just make you feel as lousy as I do,” he said, taking a long drink from his glass.
“It would make you feel better. That’s something. It’s not good to keep things pinned up inside you. Believe me, I should know,” she admitted, putting her arms around him and giving him a gentle squeeze.
Clark was quiet for a few seconds before answering her, “What if my powers never come back?”
Her heart clenched inside her. If his powers never came back it would be her fault. She had been the bait Lex had used and it had worked. She would be guilty of the death of a super hero. Lois had an inkling of how Clark felt because she knew it would devastate her if that happened.
“Then you’ll just be Clark Kent.” She pulled on him until he turned around to face her. “Clark, whether you have super powers or not, you’re still a very special person. You are the kindest, gentlest, most considerate, caring person that I’ve ever known. You’d have to be to have put up with me for so long. That takes the patience of a saint.” She smiled broadly at him and he gave her a small smile in return. “You help people in so many ways, not just as Superman. Look at the things you’ve been able to accomplish just through the articles you’ve written at the Planet.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I guess. But it’s going to be so hard. I’m used to being able to fix things, to help people. I’ve always been able to and now suddenly I can’t. I feel powerless.”
“But you aren’t, Clark. You are one of the strongest people I know. And you’re talking like you’ve already lost your powers for good. You don’t know that for sure. Where’s that incorrigibly hopeful, naive farm boy partner that I’ve grown so fond of?”
“Don’t you mean ‘hack from nowheresville’?” he reminded her.
She frowned. “I’ll have you know that hack is the only partner I’d ever work with, and he comes from this cute little town that has the best caramel apples you’ve ever tasted.”
Clark raised his eyebrows at her. “You didn’t ever get to taste those caramel apples I told you about.”
She smiled mischievously at him. “Yeah. I was hoping we might rectify that this trip.”
He smiled back and then got quiet for a minute. He sighed softly and took hold of her by both shoulders, looking intently at her. “Are you sure you could really love the ordinary man, the farm boy from Kansas with no powers, nothing special?”
Lois took a deep, shaky breath as she looked into his apprehensive eyes. “I’m already in love with him. He’s the reason I didn’t marry Lex. Not Superman. He’s the one I hoped I could have something more with, if he could forgive me for being so blind and foolish.”
Now. She should tell him about Klein now.
Clark was overcome by emotion and he drew Lois to him with his left hand around her waist. He didn’t care if he was being reckless. For once in his life he was going to do something he wanted, without worrying about the consequences. He reached up with his right hand and cupped her face, pulling her towards him as he leaned forward to claim her lips with his own.
There was no hesitation with this kiss. It wasn’t some false pretense or diversionary tactic. It was the real thing.
He caught Lois by surprise with the kiss, but all her thoughts quickly melted away and she relaxed, softening against him. She tightened her arms around him, closing her eyes and giving herself over to the moment. Clark was kissing her. Really kissing her. She could feel every place his skin met hers, the way his thumb was pressed lightly against her cheek and his fingers teased the hairline behind her ear... the passion in the way his hand pulled against the small of her back where it rested.
Clark pulled away from her to catch his breath before taking a soft taste of her upper lip. She moaned into his mouth, running the tip of her tongue along the silky inner surface of his lips. His thumb caressed the soft skin of her cheek while his fingers moved lower, gently exploring the contours of her jaw line and neck as the fingers of his other hand tensed and teased against her back.
Lois felt herself tremble at the soft caresses. The tenderness in his movements raised the hair on the back of her neck and arms. She released him from her embrace and ran her hands up along his pectoral muscles and over his shoulders, sliding her fingers around behind his neck and up into his hair. It was just like she had daydreamed. She relished in the feel of his soft, silky strands between her fingers. Lois pulled against him, deepening the kiss, drawing from his lips until she felt lightheaded. She tilted her head back and took a few gulps of air.
Clark wasted no time in lowering his mouth to her exposed neck, leaving a trail of kisses down to her collarbone. But as nice as that felt, Lois didn’t want to be parted from his lips so soon. Having caught her breath and feeling a little empowered, she sought out his mouth again.
She pressed him, her body insisting on gaining ground against his. Clark gave into her advances, slowly backing up until his body met with resistance from the kitchen cabinets behind him.
“You have nowhere left to run, Clark,” Lois panted between kisses. “No where to hide,” she murmured, before sucking on his lower lip.
Clark uttered a groan of pleasure before responding, “I don’t want to hide. I never want to hide from you again.”
Taking her by surprise, Clark lifted her up in his arms and turned around to sit her on the countertop behind him. He leaned in and brushed a soft kiss between the plunging v-collar of her pajama top. If he’d had his powers now, it would have practically taken a miracle for him not to sneak a peek at what lay under her soft cotton shirt. As it was, the garment was almost thin enough not to leave much to the imagination.
Clark leaned his head forward against her shoulder and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He wondered for just a moment if he might be dreaming. He’d had many dreams about Lois, but none of them had ever felt this real.
Lois pulled him out of his thoughts when she wove her hands into his hair and began lightly stroking it. “Mmmm,” she hummed happily. “I can’t believe I’m making out with you in your parents’ kitchen.”
He placed a soft kiss on her shoulder before pulling away and looking up into her eyes. “Hmmm, I’ve eaten a lot of good food in here,” he said before leaning in to kiss her neck, “but I don’t think any of it ever tasted quite like this,” he murmured against her throat, a soft chuckle coming from deep within him.
Lois tilted her head down to look at him. “Why did we ever wait so long to do this? God knows I’ve dreamed about it often enough... well, except for the kitchen part.” She flashed him a small smile.
“You’ve dreamed about making out with me?” he asked. She nodded. “Me? Not Superman?”
“I won’t lie. I’ve dreamed of making out with Superman, but I’ve also dreamed of making out with you, Clark. Ever since I saw you in that towel when I came to pick you up at the Apollo hotel.” She got a dreamy look in her eyes. “I mean, wow, Clark. After that day, I always wondered why you kept that body hidden beneath those suits, and those awful ties.”
Clark’s eyebrows lifted. “You think my ties are awful?”
Lois giggled. “A few of them are...” at his hurt look, she softened the blow, “a little... um... wild.”
“Well that’s the point. To see the tie and not the man behind them.”
She nodded. “To see the glasses and not the beautiful brown eyes behind them.” She reached out and took his glasses off, looking into his eyes. “How could I have not seen you? I should have realized right off...”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” he admitted softly. “I needed to be able to fool people, Lois. I wanted to have a real life.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “But yet you were upset that I couldn’t see, how was it you put it, ‘what was right in front of me’?”
Clark sighed. “Yeah, I know - you can’t have it both ways. I was actually more upset that you couldn’t see Luthor for who he really was than because you couldn’t see me for who I was.”
Lois looked away, hating to be reminded of her error in judgment. Clark winced guiltily and put one hand to her chin to turn her face back to look at him. “But that was partly my fault too. No one knew Luthor the way I did.”
“Yeah, but I should...” She reached up and covered her mouth as a yawn escaped her lips.
She smiled apologetically at him and he brushed his hand across her cheek softly, sweeping her hair away from her face. “You should go up to my bedroom and get some sleep. I can stay up for a while and keep an eye on the storm, see if it gets any worse.”
“No,” she protested, “I told you I wasn’t going to take your bed.” Just the thought of sleeping in his bed sent a rush of flutters through her stomach. Definitely not a good idea – she’d never get to sleep. Even as tired as she was, her mind was still reeling with thoughts of his lips and hands...
Clark sighed. “All right, then let’s go sit on the couch together. We can watch TV until we can’t keep our eyes open.”
“Okay.” Lois wasn’t sure that was better, but she didn’t argue. Clark lifted her down from the counter and she followed him back to the couch, sitting down next to him. The same watch box was still on the screen, apparently there hadn’t been any new developments, and the same talk show was still on – a comedian was attempting to juggle various items.
After a bit, Lois began to relax. She felt a comfortableness with Clark that she had never known before and she eased over closer to him. She could feel the warmth of his body and she snuggled against him. He lifted his arm and slid it around her shoulders allowing her to lay her head against his chest. She smiled when she felt the vibrations of his laughter at what he was watching on TV.
Lois yawned again. Her eyelids were so heavy that she swore they felt like they weighed five pounds each. She wouldn’t be able to keep them open much longer.
Clark looked down at her, watching her as she lost the battle with sleep. Waiting until she was completely gone, he then scooped her up in his arms. He winced with pain as he stood up with her, his abdominal muscles pulling against his wound. He kept forgetting that there were some things he had trouble doing. Clark set his jaw against the pain and carried her towards the stairs. He might not be ‘super’, but he wasn’t a weakling either. He would fight this in whatever way he could.
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To Be Continued...
