By Jose Antonio Chamorro <danlx86@yahoo.es>
Rated: PG-13
Submitted: July 2003
Summary: Lois and Clark's relationship starts to take off once she learns his secret.
Notes:
It has been a long time since I wrote something, and this mostly was witten last year. This story is the follow up of Misty Revelation.
Many thanks to my beta readers Elle (until her RL came in the way) and Caroline Mckenna for her suggestions and comments and her corrections of the mistakes.
I want to thank another person who nagged me to get this out. When I was traslating The Parent Trap into Spanish she was my beta for that story. She asked why I had stopped writing. I made two mistakes: first, I sent her this story that was lost in the hard disk since last year. The second was sending a certain file… but that's another story, don't you think so, Cris? I'd like to thank her all the comments, suggestions and support, specially the last draft of comments, that remided me of a preparation for certain project…
Thanks too to Erin Klingler, my GE, who edited this for the Archive and went over all the typos that my betas and I didn't catch ;)
I don't own any of the characters here, they are property of DC comics and Warner Bros. I'm just borrowing them for fun.
***
Lois watched the man who had become her partner, friend, and possibly more, walk to the kitchen. She followed him, questioning why she had never before noticed that he was Superman. Lois examined the facts.
'Okay, until today, he had been careful enough not to let me see his face without glasses,' she pointed out to herself. But she had seen Clark—or rather ogled him— wearing only a towel when they were investigating the Messenger incident. And Superman's outfit didn't leave anything to the imagination. Her wonderings made the apartment feel warmer than usual. She focused on throwing the vision of Clark wearing only a towel out of her mind.
The two reporters remained quiet as they reached Lois' kitchen. Suddenly, he started to move at superspeed. When Lois's eyes could follow him, she saw Clark heating the tea with his heat vision.
"Wow."
He looked at her. He wasn't wearing his glasses, she realized. Lois still had them; she had forgotten to give them back.
"You don't look bad with glasses," Clark commented as he came to her with two cups of tea. "We'll be better on the couch."
"Yeah," Lois answered. They made their way back to the living room and sat down. An awkward silence grew between them. Though there were plenty of things to be said, it seemed neither of them knew how to begin.
"Well…"
"Well…" Clark repeated. He looked at her. Something was strange. This wasn't going how he had thought at all. "You're taking this very well. In fact, when you took my glasses off before, I expected you to start yelling and screaming at me."
Lois placed a hand on his arm and explained, "Clark, I'm not mad at you. If there is someone to be mad at, it's myself." Lois made a pause when she saw the stunned face of her partner. He was about to reply when she continued, "Clark, I think I'm the person who knows you the best, with the exception of your parents, and I didn't have a clue. And it's not like you didn't leave me a few. Your lame excuses, things happening with no proper explanation… But the worst is that I was having fantasies," said Lois, flushing, "about Superman, but all along he had your body. Or you had his body. All I know is I was falling at Superman's feet, when deep down it was you I wanted to be with. Only that I wouldn't dare to admit it to myself."
"What?!" Clark replied, stunned again. Was she saying she was attracted to him? As Clark?
"I'm not talking about the pheromone compound," she pointed out to him, "but we discovered that it only lowered inhibitions; it didn't create feelings. Remember that Chinese takeout," she stopped suddenly, thought, and then she continued, "which now I'm sure it was from China, that we shared your first week at the Planet? I realized at that moment you were dangerous. That's why I told you that you shouldn't fall for me. But Fate has its own ways of working. And then the next morning made everything worse because you answered the door wearing only a towel. I still don't know how I could restrain from throwing myself at you… maybe that the bed was too small. Fortunately, the towel didn't do anything by itself, if you know what I mean. So, the physical attraction added to the emotional attraction."
"But…" Clark tried to stop Lois's babble mode.
"Don't interrupt me, Clark; I haven't finished, and I'm on a roll here. Of course, there are the other women, like Cat or Toni Taylor. Although I denied it, I was jealous. Especially of Toni. When you kissed her, I thought I was going to explode. Why? That reminds me, the kiss we shared to distract Trask and his goons in the plane. That was the original plan. What I hadn't expected was that I would have wanted to kiss you again. The other two kisses were different. When you kissed me during the heat wave? That kiss made me realize that you had feelings for me, and me for you. Clark, I wanted to be with you! I wanted to forget everything and go to Smallville, just so I wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of losing you." Lois paused when she saw Clark raising an eyebrow.
"Lois, I can't imagine you quitting at the Planet and going with me to Smallville," Clark said.
"Would you have told me the secret if that had happened?" Lois inquired, curious.
"Probably. We'd have had to travel to Smallville by plane." He stopped to think and spoke again. "Under the circumstances, I wasn't in the mood for being stuck in a plane for hours…"
Lois smiled lightly, stood up, and sat again, this time on Clark's lap, slipping her arms around his neck. She began to kiss him and she soon felt Clark responding to her kiss. The kiss was deepening in intensity when she suddenly broke it. "Clark, I hope you don't think I'm doing this because you're Superman," Lois said as she observed the reaction on his face. "I love you for the qualities you have as Superman, not the powers," she added before he could reply. "And I love you for the qualities you have as Clark. And that is something that I realized pretty quickly. You have a pretty strong sense of morals. I teased you about it when I admired it in Superman. That wasn't fair, and I'm sorry for it."
"You don't need to apologize, Lois," Clark cut in.
"Yes, I have to. As Superman you're somehow distant, but you bent it a little towards me. And I didn't help by throwing myself at one part of you, and claiming to be annoyed by the other. I'm not going to deny that I like the powers. They're awesome and sometimes handy, but you'd be the same person without them."
"Thanks, Lois, for being so understanding."
"It's nothing. Actually, I'm far from completely comprehending everything you've gone through, though I'm trying. But you have lived, keeping so much to yourself, with so many secrets, for so long. It must have been pretty difficult for a child growing up so differently from the rest. And having to control your strength, your speed, all of the time. It must have been quite tempting." She paused, and with an innocent smile, added, " I mean, what kid wouldn't want to be the best in everything?" Her comment earned her a chuckle. "Clark, how old were you when you began realizing just how special you were?" Lois asked.
Clark thought a bit and spoke; "I think I was ten or so when I began to hear more than I should…"
"Like?"
"Well, the walls at my folk's house aren't too thick but…" He began to blush.
Watching his discomfort, Lois laughed, saying, "Okay, okay, I got it. I had a similar experience once too."
"At first I thought my imagination had been playing a trick on me, so I pretty much dismissed it. But I knew something wasn't normal when days later I bounced one of my Mom's knives…"
"Oh," Lois blurted out, "Martha's face must have been priceless!"
"Yep, after that my parents began to tell me what they knew about me."
"That you were adopted," Lois muttered. "And how they found you. That must have been hard."
"I always wondered what I was," Clark said.
"Wait a minute, you didn't know you were an alien?!" Lois said, surprised. "But you told me that you are from Krypton."
"Well," Clark began, a little bit uncomfortable because Lois wouldn't like the fact he had hidden information from her. "I didn't know until I found the globe in the Bessolo Boulevard warehouse."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"Lois, you barely tolerated me back then!" Clark replied, trying to defend himself from her accusation. Slowly, he moved his hand until it met her chin. "I wanted to tell you almost after meeting you. Don't ever doubt that. I fell in love with you the moment you barged into Perry's office during my work interview. It was when I realized you were the only woman I want to be with the rest of my life."
Touched by his love declaration, Lois couldn't hold back the single tear that rolled down her cheek. "That's beautiful, Clark."
"After I spent some time with you I realized that you had been hurt in the past, and things wouldn't be as easy as I'd hoped. So I assured myself that first I would be your friend. And when you felt comfortable around me and knew me, Clark Kent, the farmboy from Kansas, I'd have tried to ask you out," Clark explained.
"But instead I treated you badly as Clark and mooned after Superman." She paused and then blushed. "I can't believe I called you a Greek God to your face! And that you were the before and he was the way, way after! You must have really been laughing at me a lot."
"Okay, at first, I can't deny it was fun for a bit to see that the best reporter in town was fooled by a pair of glasses and some hair gel." Clark chuckled. "But later…" Clark frowned.
"Superman took the light and Clark Kent faded into the background." She remained thoughtful for a moment. "I remember you whispering something about there being such a thing as an invisible man."
"You heard that?" Clark asked.
"Yes. At the moment I dismissed it because I thought you were being stubborn about the case of the invisible man, but now I understand what you meant." Lois then asked, "What made you create Superman?"
"I have to help when I can, and I can't do it as Clark Kent."
"I can see that. People would try to control you by threatening your parents or…hold on a second! I saw you make a big deal because of a paper cut. You said you never had experienced that! That means…Kryptonite exists?"
"Yes."
"Wow! I hope any madman, like the one that was testing Superman soon after you created him, doesn't find it," Lois stated.
"Especially that madman."
Lois irked her eyebrow and asked, "Did you know who was behind those tests?"
"The same that was behind the bomb at the Prometheus, behind the Mentamide 5 project, behind the Toasters, and I'm pretty sure he was also behind your father's enhanced boxers. But I think his curriculum is larger than that," Clark told her.
"Wait a minute. You have been investigating him without me?" Lois smacked Clark on the arm.
"Ehh," Clark was speechless.
"Claaaark," Lois watched his expression carefully. There was some fear there. "You are scared to tell me!" She pointed with her finger at his face.
"You are not going to like it."
At that moment Lois understood, "It's Luthor, isn't he?"
"Yes."
Lois smiled and said, "Clark, he means nothing to me. I like you. I love you. And he is going to be the next Lane & Kent exclusive. 'The Fall of Luthor Empire, by Lois Lane and Clark Kent.'"
"I like that," Clark stated.
"Me too. It might even win us our first award as a team. But don't you think we can wait until tomorrow?" She smiled seductively. "I'm sure there are more interesting things we could do rather than talk about Luthor."
Lois waited for his reply, but he didn't say anything. He only leaned to her and kissed her passionately. Lois responded to the kiss and began to play with the buttons on Clark's shirt. She felt the tact of his chest under it. He wasn't wearing the suit! A surprised Clark broke the kiss this time; somehow in his eyes there was a question to Lois. She answered, "Clark, remember my three rules?"
He nodded. "The first was you never got involved with your stories," Clark said, kissing her again.
"Well," she began, shyly freeing herself from his kiss, "since I've known you, I have managed to get myself involved in all the articles that are related to Superman."
"Not to let anybody get the story first was the second one," Clark reminded her, and kissed her jaw.
"I let you get first in that story I stole from you…" She blushed furiously as she remembered how badly she had behaved. Clark's look changed again and Lois realized that her idea was reaching his mind.
"The third one was never…uh…sleep with someone you work with," Clark said shyly, not kissing her this time.
"I think it's time to break the third rule. If that's okay with you?" Lois said, grinning mischievously.
"Uh, well…" Clark didn't know what to say. He noticed Lois's look. Attraction, desire, and…love. Yes, she loved him and she wanted him to make love to her. But he was scared.
Lois studied Clark's reaction: doubt and some fear. "Clark, you behave as if you had only used the bed to sleep," Lois joked, but she realized that she had made a point when Clark's cheeks turned red.
Clark felt his embarrassment grow as his body assured Lois that he was a virgin. He saw Lois's lips forming a mischievous smile. He heard her voice. "Clark, one of the reasons Perry partnered us together was so that I could teach you the ropes." She stopped, adding afterwards, "But I'm beginning to think that you weren't the only one that had to learn something. Now I think he partnered me with you to get me human again."
"I don't understand," Clark said.
"Clark, before you came, I barely spoke with anybody at the Planet except Jimmy and Perry. Now people tell me good morning, or stop to talk to me, something that months ago they didn't do."
"I can't imagine Ralph talking with you." Clark chuckled.
Lois giggled at his statement. "And if he knows what is best for him, it'll remain that way. So you understand, you made me see that not everybody is trying to stab me in the back—well, Ralph would do it—and that your partner is not trying to lure you into his bed to steal a story."
Lois paused again and smiled, then commented, "You know, somehow we just keep digressing. And Ralph is definitely not a subject for me and my boyfriend to talk about, mostly when there's a new lesson to be learned. Which reminds me, this is not the best place for any lesson. I certainly wasn't considering this kind of situation when I bought the couch…and I see why Lucy decided to stop living here."
"You made Lucy sleep here?" Clark asked incredulously.
"Yes," she replied. Kissing him, she whispered, "Clark, what are you waiting for? Don't you know the way to the ONLY bedroom?"
As she said this, he floated them over the couch and made their way to the bedroom. "I knew these powers were going to be useful…" Lois said before she kissed him.
***
When Lois woke up, she felt another presence in the bed. She rolled over and saw her companion. Clark—her partner, her friend, and now, her lover. And what she had felt when they had made love made her wonder if he was the soulmate she'd thought didn't exist. It was the union of two souls that hadn't been together for a long time. Lois watched him as he opened his eyes and tried to focus his look on her. "Morning, Flyboy."
"Good morning, Honey," Clark answered as he kissed her lightly on the lips. "Sleep well?"
"Fantastic. You left me exhausted," Lois commented, remembering the wild night.
"Hey, do you think you didn't? Lucky there wasn't any emergency, in that case…"
"You know what? Today you proved that nothing happened that day in Cat's apartment," Lois said distractedly.
"Lo-is," Clark said. "I told you that nothing happened."
"Of course. You wouldn't have gotten out of her bed…" Lois laughed as she saw the fear in Clark's face.
Lois spoke again, this time more serious. "Where are we going from here?"
"Well, I know I love you, and I'm pretty sure you love me," Clark began, and he saw Lois' angry look. "Yeah, I'm sure you love me. So, let's date a bit. And you'll come spend Christmas in Smallville with me. My parents will be happy to have you there."
Lois didn't like Christmas too much, but the idea of spending it with Clark and his parent's made her feel happy and loved. "Okay, I agree, but on one condition."
"Yes?"
"We'll share your bed."
As soon as he heard that, Clark laughed and rolled over Lois. He began to kiss her, but she stopped him. Clark placed his body again on his side of the bed as she explained herself, pointing at the alarm clock.
"It's late. We need to take a shower and…" Lois realized what she had said and looked at his face, which showed that his mind was making the same association of ideas. "The last one in the shower does the research today!" Lois said as she bolted out of bed.
A second later, they were both under the hot water, thanks to Clark's abilities.
"I guess we both win," she said before kissing him.
***
Lucy had traveled the entire night to get to Metropolis and was dismayed when no one answered Lois's door. Knowing her sister, Lois was out on a stakeout. Lucy decided she would use her keys. She took them out of her purse, praying that Lois hadn't changed the locks. Luckily, the keys opened the door.
She came in with her luggage, which she dropped in the middle of the apartment. Lucy observed that there were two cups with tea on the table in front of the couch. They looked like they had been forsaken abruptly. Yeah, Lois had been with somebody and Lucy knew her sister. She probably received a phone call with some clue from a hotshot. Indeed, Lois surely pulled her companion out of the apartment, so she could run away.
In the middle of the room, Lucy heard a familiar sound but she couldn't place it. She listened carefully and tried to locate the source of the sound. She quickly identified it. The shower. She walked towards the bathroom, the sound increasing as she got near the door. It was better to come in and tell Lois she was here. Otherwise, she could take Lucy for a burglar. Lucy knocked on the door and opened it, but she didn't expect what she found.
Lucy saw her sister wrapped around a man under the shower. They had been kissing but stopped to turn and look at her. She noticed the puzzled look on both faces. "Sorry," Lucy said as she closed the door and strolled to the couch.
Lucy was sure she knew the man. Her mind began to work furiously. Suddenly, the thought was there. Couldn't he be…? The sound of the bathroom door opening interrupted her thoughts. Lois and her companion walked to the living room. She was wearing a bathrobe. He, only a towel that covered him from waist down. Lucy examined the man carefully. Yes, he was him. Superman. Anger grew in Lucy.
"How could you?" Lucy stomped over to Superman.
"What?"
"You, Mr. I-Fight-For-Truth-and-Justice. Incredible. You have everybody fooled. I suppose you were charging Lois for all the times you've rescued her. Or Lois, you were thanking him for all the big scoops he has given you?" Lucy babbled. A second later she saw Superman grabbing her sister's arm, just before it made contact with her cheek. Lois was just about to hit her!
"It's not her fault. She didn't expect this and she hasn't been able to take in what she has just seen," Superman said calmly.
"She walks into my bathroom when I'm with my boyfriend and it's not her fault?" Lois stared at Superman.
"What do you mean?" Lucy attacked verbally again. "Are you going to tell me that you two are in a relationship?" She watched them looking at each other and rolling their eyes. "Oooh! No, I don't believe this. It's impossible. How could you have a relationship? You have to keep it secret, you…"
Lucy noticed Superman smirking.
"What? You think this is funny?"
Superman shook his head. "No, I just didn't realize the babbling was a genetic thing. You think if we have kids they'll have it too?"
Lucy stopped speaking as she saw her sister glancing at the Man of Steel with a smile. Then Lucy heard Lois tell him, "Yeah, and they'd inherit from you that dark hole you have in the stomach."
"Kids?!" Lucy didn't know what else to say.
Lois had heard the word "kids," and not only wasn't she spraying her typical speech, but she was joking about it.
Lucy charged against them again. "Kids? You haven't listened to what I've said!"
"Yes, Lucy, we have listened," Superman said, "and we agree with you. Superman can't have a public relationship with a woman."
Lucy felt relieved but she didn't understand. "So, then it's okay to have a private one?"
"Neither," Clark replied. "Lucy, Lois isn't having a relationship with Superman, because I'm not Superman."
"Uh…" The confusion was apparent on Lucy's face.
As he watched Lucy's confused expression, Superman realized that he had to explain better. "I haven't explained myself correctly. I am Superman, but he is only a part of me. In fact, you could say that Superman is what I can do…" And Superman vanished. Not a second after, Clark stood where Superman had been. "…Clark Kent is who I am."
"Wow!" Lucy was astonished. Yes. They were different. His hair and the glasses made him different. She saw the distant look in his eyes and she listened to his words.
"Ehhh, Lois, there is an emergency." Clark kissed his girlfriend lightly on the lips. "I'll see you at the Planet. I love you." And he disappeared.
"Well," Lois spoke after a while, "I'll have to find an excuse for his delay…" Then she turned to her sister and said, "Come on." She looked at the clock. "We'll talk while I get dressed. I'd better be at the Planet before Perry wants our heads."
THE END