Hi!
*hugs betas* This part took so long to finish before bouncing ideas around got the case thrown wide open. Thanks for all the work, you’re the best.
Not much else to say, except the rainy days are over and some action will soon follow. Well, rainy days meaning weepy Lois and action meaning Lois running around and doing stuff.
Michael
Disclaimer: The recognizable characters and settings in this story are the property of D.C. Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions, and anyone else with a legal right to them, and I have no claim on them whatsoever, nor am I profiting by their use. It’s just the original stuff, that would be mine, written down to bring some entertainment to other FoLC.
The setting is right after “Season’s Greedings” in Season 2.
Blocks in >> << are literal thoughts by the character.
Rating: PG-13
**********
Last time Clark had come to the conclusion he couldn’t just hang Lois out to dry. Lois had attracted Perry’s attention with her latest crying fit after Clark had left her. And when Clark had finally returned, Perry’s conclusion was that they had some issues to work through. And that’s where they are now, in the conference room, told to wait until Perry got a hold of Lucy to take Lois home.
Part 14 /
TOC /
Comments **********
Clark was just sitting down again when Lois started to speak.
“You-” Lois sniffled. “-came back to me.”
Clark looked at her tear-streaked face and swollen eyes and took a deep breath before he leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. “What are you talking about?”
“Before.” Lois motioned at the space between them. “You said you would never leave me and then you did. And now you’re back.”
“Oh.” This was going to be hard on her. “Yeah, about that. I couldn’t just leave you to talk to Perry. He would never understand once he found out the truth.” Clark jumped up again and began to pace around the conference room. “Hell! *I* don’t even understand it.” His arms flung high and he looked back at where Lois was still crouched against the wall.
“*Hell*?” Lois choked. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say ‘hell’ before.”
“Yeah, well. I’ve never been drugged by the woman I love before, either. I guess it’s a year for firsts.” Then his mind flashed back to how Lois had been the one to spray him during the Space Rats incident. >>Oh well, details.<<
“You still love me?” Lois asked in a meek voice, her face looking up at him with a cross of lost-puppy and little-girl-at-Christmas.
“Yes!” Clark drew in a breath. “No!” His arms flapped around in exaggeration. “Dammit! I don’t *know* what I feel anymore, Lois.” Clark got back to pacing. “Two days ago, I was about to tell you about myself. You know-” He turned back to Lois, gesticulating up and down himself. “-the whole me. And then you ambushed me with your Superman crush.” He was now once more pacing across the room. “And later, when I found that letter by Anonymous, my entire world collapsed. Do you have *any* idea how I felt, believing I took advantage of you like that?” Clark only barely managed to keep his voice down, a small portion of his mind aware that there was a whole newsroom out there.
“Of course I know how that feels, Clark.” Lois was now standing and looking straight at him from just three feet away. “I can assure you, I know *exactly* how it feels. You think I *planned* this?”
Upon hearing Lois’ last statement, he desperately grabbed for a chair, the wall, anything to keep him standing. But to no avail and he soon found himself collapsed on the floor, shaking with a laughing fit.
“You think this is funny, Kent?” Lois snarled with her hands pushed into her hips.
“No.” Clark drew in a breath, trying to calm himself. “Yes, it *is* funny.” He sobered. “Or not.” Clark slowly rose back to his feet, and with Lois’ latest fit of anger, they were now just a foot from each other. Of *course* you planned this, Lois. You told me so yourself, just what was it, an hour ago?” He took her shoulders, making sure she was looking at him. “*You* were Anonymous. *You* drugged me. *You* dragged me off to your bed. And *you* accused me of rape the next morning.” He pushed her away again, turning towards the far wall once more. “So forgive me if I assume you’d *planned* this whole charade.”
Lois rushed forward to look into his eyes once again. A feat complicated by his continued attempts at evasion. Then Lois finally grabbed his arm and pulled him around to look at her. “And what about *you*, Clark? You were quite the willing participant that night, weren’t you? I can remember some *very* forward fingers doing a *lot* of exploring. And that was *after* I’d asked you to tell me the truth. So *don’t* lay all of this on me just because things got out of hand.” Lois’ voice had taken on a sharp edge.
Clark shook his shoulder, trying to dislodge Lois’ hand. “Do you even *listen* to yourself, Lois?” He glared at her menacingly. “First you say you drugged me so I’d sleep with you, then you *accuse* me of doing just that to you? Are you *completely* out of it?”
“What?” Lois looked confused for a second. “Oh, that,” she added in a dismissive tone.
“Yes, *that*.” Clark now stared straight at her, clueless as to what her next words would be. Or if he should ask her about PMS. And this time for real.
Lois gaze cleared. “I guess I should have told you earlier.”
Clark sputtered and blinked helplessly. “As in, *before* you raped Superman?”
The next thing he knew, his head snapped to his side and Lois was cursing about steel bars mating with donkeys to bear sea slime. Or something along those lines. And the whole time she was pressing her right hand underneath her left arm, her face twisted in pain.
“Dammit, Kent! How often do I have to-” Lois panted, trying to overcome the pain in her right hand. “-hit you before it stops to hurt like crap?” Lois glared at him and he belatedly realized she had just slapped him. This was the second time this morning and it was getting old fast.
After Lois had a minute to recover, during which Clark had wisely refrained from recommending she’d just stop hitting him altogether to prevent further damages to her hand, she launched herself back into their quarrel.
“I did *not* rape Superman. You. Whoever.”
Clark was about to point out the invalidity of her statement, when she stopped him with a raised left hand. Her right appendage was still occupied in feeling the temperature underneath her left arm.
“The stuff I slipped you wasn’t a date rape drug or anything like that. It wasn’t even an aphrodisiac.” She snorted. “It was just something to increase the male potency.”
Clark cocked his eyebrow at that, trying to place the familiar term. “Increased male potency?” Then he had it. “You mean, you fed me *Winninger’s drug*?”
“Yeah, Clark,” Lois confirmed for him.
Clark’s eyes grew wide as everything suddenly made sense. His inability to control himself in the newsroom. His reaction to seeing Lois in the women’s bathroom. The reason for all his embarrassments during that day. “It was you. You were drugging me during the whole day, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Lois replied meekly.
“And at the same time you profess your love for me!?” Clark pushed her away, quickly striding to the other side of the room. Finally, with the table between them, he felt safe. “You *used* Clark Kent as a guinea pig. As a lab rat! All in a ploy to get to *Superman*.” He spat out the name of his alter ego as if it was a vile curse. He couldn’t believe Lois would betray him like that. Her partner. Her *best* friend.
“No! I-” Lois implored him with her eyes. “I’m sorry for what I did, Clark. I really am.”
“Because now you know I’m *Superman*, right? Now that you know you’ve hurt your *beloved hero*, you’re sorry.” Clark quickly strode to the exit.
“Where you going, Clark?” Lois gripped the chair’s back in a vise grip.
“Back into the newsroom, Lois. There isn’t anything left to talk about.” Clark reached for the door.
“But Perry-”
“Perry never intended to call your sister, Lois. Ever heard of reverse psychology?” He began to turn the door knob, before looking back at her once again. “And I recommend you try *not* to fall back into that well of tears you’ve been hiding in this whole morning, unless you intend to tell *Ralph* all about why *he* had his little accident two days ago.”
“You’re not going to tell anybody?” Lois whispered meekly, trying to keep standing.
“*No*, I’m not going to tell them.” Clark shook his head. “*I* still understand the value of friendship, and unless you’ve lied to me again, Ralph didn’t *have* to act the way he did. So no, I’m not going to get you fired. But you shouldn’t have any illusions about us being friends anymore.” And as an afterthought, he added to her before he pulled the door open. “And please, Lois, be so kind and try *not* to jump from a sky scraper in the next few days, weeks, or months, okay?”
“Why, you’re not going to save me if I do?”
“No, but I’m not going to *enjoy* holding you in my arms when I do.” And with those words Clark pulled open the door and strode outside, forcing his mind to concentrate on the sounds of the newsroom and not on the racing heartbeat behind him. He really *could* learn to do it. He had resisted Lois before. He *could* do it again.
**********
Clark was already halfway to his desk when he heard the conference room door open and then close again, as Lois made her own way back out into the real world. He still couldn’t believe what he had just heard and right now, even the love potion would have sounded like a better alternative to Lois maliciously humiliating him like that.
Lois really *had* no understanding of friendship. She just kept people around as long as they suited her. At least he had realized this before he had revealed himself to be Superman. Or rather, at least Lois had shown him her true face before he had revealed himself to her. He shuddered at the thought that he might have actually committed to a relationship with that woman.
Clark sat down at his desk before he wondered how he could have been *so* mistaken about a person. Before Lois, his instincts had been perfect. And that had been true for both men and women alike, even though Lois had often reminded him of how he was always chasing the pretty skirts with the criminal minds. Perhaps it was a projection on Lois’ part, or something like that.
So, where did this leave him, besides with a broken heart? Well, for starters, he no longer had a best friend in this city. Oh sure, he had lots of friends and buddies from work. But someone to actually hang out with, to share his hopes and dreams, that’s something he had just buried. And that hurt more than even the heartbreak he had received at the hands of Lois. He gloomily propped his chin up with his left fist and stared into the big void that was his future.
**********
Lois stared after Clark as he rushed out of the conference room, her eyes wide in horror at what had just happened. She had told him everything about what she had done and she had lost him. He was even barely willing to rescue her, if she got into trouble, and he rescued *everybody*.
Was this the gracious man that she loved? Lois shook her head in disbelief. The way he had looked at her, she had almost expected him to curse her, or hit her, or something. Well, okay, not hit her, but whatever. Was this the real man? Was this what lay beneath the caring reporter and the gentle superhero? How could he hide this, this *Neanderthal* behind two so wonderful façades?
Lois carefully opened the door and looked outside. Noting that none of her colleagues were presently staring at the stage, also known as the conference room, Lois rushed to the ladies’ room to freshen up after her crying fit. She was sure her make-up looked like a monster’s visage right now.
**********
Five minutes later Lois was staring into the mirror above the sink, most of her make-up gone and her eyes still slightly swollen. She sighed and wetted another paper towel in the stream of cold water, before pressing it against her eyes. She really had to stop crying so often or she would soon begin to look like this haunted mask presently staring back at her on a long term basis.
Shaking her head in disgust, she looked back up from the sodden piece of paper. Clark had completely transformed in front of her eyes, once she had confirmed to him how she had drugged him during the day. He had told her that she had used him as a guinea pig and lab rat.
Then something snapped and Lois’ head softly crashed into the mirror. She *hadn’t* told him she already knew about his being Superman when she had begun to implemented her revenge. And the only conclusion left for him was that she had just used Clark to get to Superman – like she had done last summer.
How could she have been so *stupid*? That had been the whole idea, playing Clark and Superman against each other. Humiliating Clark. Making him understand he couldn’t just lie to her without consequences. Only now half the truth was truly the worst of lies.
Lois threw the towel into the sink and rushed outside. She had to talk to Clark. She had to tell him the rest of the story. And then he might even forgive her. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to forgive him, but that was a matter for another day.
**********
Lois’ eyes immediately sought out her partner’s desk. Only now his desk was empty. She was certain he had sat down at his workstation just as she had left the conference room. And now Clark wasn’t there. She quickly let her eyes roam the bullpen, trying to find the one person she needed to talk to right now.
“Hey, Lois,” Jimmy’s voice cut into her desperation.
“Huh?” Lois’ head snapped around at the aspiring photo journalist and office gopher. “Where’s Clark?”
Jimmy carefully extracted his shirt from Lois’ death grip and smiled at her with a mixture of fear and something she couldn’t identify. Was it hope? But for what? A happy ending between her and Clark?
“Uh, Clark…?” Jimmy trailed off while his eyes searched the room like hers had done just seconds earlier. “A minute ago he I saw him at his desk. I have no idea where he went.” He looked apologetically at her before amending, “Sorry, Lois.”
Then the young man was off to Perry’s office and Lois let her gaze follow, checking if Clark was in there. But no, that would have been too easy. So where else did this leave her to look for him?
Remembering her own recent need to get a breather, so to speak, Lois turned around and headed for the men’s room. Not caring for any possible occupants, she pulled the door open and stuck her head inside. “Clark? You in there?”
“What the-?”
Meyer’s startled exclamation did little to assuage Lois’ need to find her partner. Instead, she just kept the door open and asked her colleague, who was standing behind the wall that separated the urinals from the rest of the bathroom. “Sorry, Steve. Is Clark in there?”
“Lois!? Do I *look* like your partner’s nanny? Close the door. From the *outside*!” And while the door swung shut again, Lois heard him mutter about mad dogs in heat.
Okay, so Clark wasn’t on the John, and unless he had managed to get lost in the storage closet, he had left the newsroom. It wasn’t lunch time yet and so she walked back to Clark’s desk to check his calendar for any appointments he might have this morning.
Lois picked up the small desk calendar and took a close look at the column for Wednesday. Had it really been just two days since she had begun to implement her unfortunate plot? Apparently so, but it still felt like a lifetime to her. Lois shook her head to refocus on the here and now and noted there were no appointments listed for this morning.
That was when Clark’s telephone started to ring and Lois automatically picked it up since her partner was nowhere to be seen. “Clark Kent’s desk. Lois Lane speaking,” she spoke into the receiver like she had so many times in the past, when Clark had been missing in action. Only now she knew where he usually went in order to return his books or retrieve his next shipment from the Cheese of the Month Club.
“Ms. Lane?”
A female voice came through the speaker and Lois was fairly certain she knew its owner. But she couldn’t place her right this instant, even though it had a very distinct and grating quality to it. Yes, she definitely didn’t like the owner of this voice.
“It’s Mayson Drake, from the D.A.’s office.”
>>Mayson Drake!<< Lois immediately remembered the blond hussy who had so blatantly tried to push herself onto her Clark. Why was that slut calling her Clark? “Yeah?” Lois replied into the receiver while letting go of the crumpled sheet of paper she had ripped from the calendar at the sound of her wannabe rival.
“Ms. Lane. I’m trying to get a hold of Clark. You see, I’m afraid I might be a little late for our dinner appointment tonight and-“
“Dinner?” Lois choked out, her eyes wide in shock.
“Yes. Clark wanted to meet me tonight and I’m afraid I might be half an hour late or so, since the court session is probably going to run long.” And after a short pause. “Did Clark not tell you about this?”
“What?” Lois was quickly trying to pull her thoughts together. Clark was having a *date* tonight with the D.A.’s answer to Cat Grant? There was something she should remember about this. Now if she could just put her finger on it... Then Lois decided to go with the easy option and just faked it. She could puzzle things together after she was done talking to Clark about meeting *blondes* for *dinner*. “Of course I know about tonight. He is *my* partner, after all.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want this to be awkward and if it weren’t for the public’s perception, then we’d go out for dinner instead of-“
What was that blonde man-eater saying about *not* going out? “Where did you say you are meeting Clark?” Lois probed while her eyes narrowed to slits.
“At the Planet of course. It’s the easiest option with my busy schedule.”
“Here?” Clark was meeting his fling *here*? At *their* working place? “Fine, I’ll let him know when I see him. Is there anything else, Ms. Drake?” Lois tried to reply nonchalantly. Yes, she would tell Clark when she saw him the next time. Which should be *before* the bleached mantis arrived to pick up her prey and she would make certain Clark would not be alone with this *person*.
“Thank you, Ms. Lane. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”
“Yeah. Whatever. Good bye, *Ms.* Drake.” Lois quickly replaced the receiver, causing a few of her colleagues to glance over at the sound of plastic slamming on plastic. Oh well, phones were used to abuse.
**********
Lois absentmindedly strolled over to her desk and sat down, her chin propped up on her right hand while she stared blankly over at Clark’s desk.
So, Clark was most likely out on some Superman mission, unless of course, he was intentionally avoiding her. That would be just the thing for her partner to do. Fly off into the sky and sulk on some cloud or other.
Well, sooner or later he had to return to the office today, because his *dinner date* with the district slut was tonight. Which reminded her of something else. Clark *had* told her earlier this morning that he was going to have dinner with that woman tonight. No, that wasn’t right. He had said, *they* would have dinner, meaning himself, the slut, *and* her.
So why had the little hussy assumed it was just her and Clark? Was he trying to keep his options open, depending on how it went with her today? Or was the fake blonde just too self-absorbed to realize the man she was trying to hump was already taken? Not that she assumed that the tramp would have any compunctions of becoming a home-wrecker even if she knew about a preexisting relationship.
And that meant she would have to make certain Clark understood where he belonged before that vamp got a chance to bury her fake nails into his flesh. That was something only she had the right to do. Well, metaphorically speaking, because neither were her nails long enough for that, nor would they survive the attempt to dig into her partner’s skin. >>And it’s not like I haven’t tried…<< Lois absently eyed the slightly damaged nails on her left hand, a reminder of what had happened two nights ago. Yes, her nails were defiantly no match for his hide of steel. Now if he could just fly back to her so they could talk and then everything would be back to normal.
Sighing deeply, Lois reminded herself she still had to come up with a way to get to talk to her partner. And if he really *was* trying to avoid her, then he wouldn’t return until tonight. So how was she going to figure out when the hussy was supposed to meet *her* Clark? And unless she figured that out, she had no chance of beating the slut to Clark and actually talking to him.
>>Come on, Lane. You can do this,<< Lois encouraged herself before letting go of a silent scream and letting her head fall onto the desk. Which hurt far more than she cared for.
**********
“Hey, Darlin’, I thought I’d told you to stay in the conference room with Clark,” probed Perry’s voice through the headache she had recently acquired courtesy of some very unyielding piece of office furniture.
“Not now, Perry, please. I’m trying to figure something out here,” she mumbled against the desk.
“Like if you and Clark are finally able to look at each other without going ten rounds in the ring?” Perry was now leaning close to her, both of his hands flat on the table just inches from her face while they supported his posture.
Lois turned her head so she could squint up at her editor’s face. “I’ve worked through my issues, if that’s what you’re asking. And I’m meeting Clark tonight for dinner.”
“That’s great news, Lois.” Perry paused for a moment before probing further. “Then why are you trying to prove to this poor desk here that your head is stronger than its wooden surface?”
Lois sighed and pulled herself upright again. “Because I’ve a headache and I can’t figure out how to get a date confirmed.”
This obviously perked Perry’s journalistic interest and he let himself down on the chair still standing in front of her desk from the first time he had spoken to her this morning. “So you’re working on a story?”
“Everything’s a story, Perry. You just have to find the angle,” Lois tried to distract her editor with a platitude.
“True. So what’s the problem?”
Apparently the diversion had worked and Lois wasn’t about to miss her chance. “There is a meeting taking place which I need to, you know, *attend* and I need to figure out the exact time. Otherwise I’m going to spook them.”
“Spook them?” Perry’s eyebrow’s rose and his worry became apparent. “Now, Lois, I know you’re the best, but shouldn’t you wait for your partner before checking this out?”
“Relax, Perry,” Lois swatted his arm. “They’re harmless. Just a lawyer trying to corrupt a source of mine. But if this pans out, it will still be worth the effort.” Lois silently congratulated herself on so effectively navigating through this particular minefield. Clark would be so proud of her. She hadn’t even had to lie about it. And who cared about the fact that the corruption was spelled seduction, that her source was Superman, and that the effort was to make sure Clark would come back to her. “The problem is I can’t just ask my source when they will meet and if I hang around beforehand, they will see me and get spooked.”
“Hm, I see your problem.“ Perry closed his eyes in thought. “Could you perhaps triangulate their meeting time?”
“Triangulate, Perry?” Lois wasn’t sure what her boss was hinting at and that meant she still wasn’t up to par. Although she shouldn’t be surprised about that, given the events of the past two days.
“Well, if you can figure out when they both have an empty slot in their schedules, it could indicate a potential meeting time.”
Lois blinked. Mayson had said the court session could run long. She would just have to check with the courthouse. “Thanks Perry!” Lois jumped up and hugged her editor before kissing his cheek. “I really don’t know why I haven’t thought about it myself. It’s sooo obvious.”
“Well, Darlin’.” Perry smiled. “I’m happy this old warhorse can be of use once in a while, too.”
Lois no longer heard her editor, as she had already grabbed her coat and was running towards the elevator. Mayson was going down.
**********
tbc
