By Jed Erick Henrie <erick.henrie@nav-international.com>
Rated: G
Submitted: February 2003
Summary: Lois is determined that Clark shouldn't get away with breaking up their relationship in this addition to the episode "When Irish Eyes Are Killing."
(This story takes place after the episode When Irish Eyes are Killing)
***
Lois sat alone, looking at the wall and eating a freshly opened gallon of ice cream as she thought, "He'll do it again."
Their relationship was difficult for her to figure out. As she devoured spoonful after spoonful of her ice cream, she thought back on recent events that had lead up to this point.
Not too long ago, she had decided that it was Clark Kent that she was in love with, not Superman. Soon after that, a near-death experience had opened her eyes to the fact that the man she loved was actually two men. And then came a proposal. She was upset that something this big was kept from her, and by the fact that she was unable to see it earlier. But she managed to see past all that and move ahead.
And then, after a crazy incident that involved what she thought were aliens, Clark had decided to break things off without even consulting her, due to the fact that he thought that their relationship was too dangerous, as she kept getting hurt or placed in the face of death when they were together.
How could he? How could he make such a decision without talking to her about it first? It had definitely put their relationship into question. The fact that made her even more upset was that she was about ready to accept his proposal.
After Clark made his decision, things got uncomfortable. They were not communicating. She tried to convince him that it was the wrong decision, but he wouldn't listen. She did not want to give up, she was mad, but she loved him. To her surprise an old boyfriend was in town, and to her luck he wanted to spend some time with her. She decided to use this to her advantage. She spent some time with him, had lunch, dinner, and refused to fill Clark in on what was happening between them. Her only excuse was that he didn't want to be involved with her, so he didn't get to know what was happening in her life. As always, something went wrong and she became the target of a Druid sacrifice. As always, she and Clark found a way through it all.
After all that, Clark finally came to his senses. In so many words, he told her he was sorry and that the decision he made was wrong. And as he kissed her something came into her mind.
"He'll do it again Lois."
She pushed him away and told him that she couldn't do this, and that she was worried he would do it again. She pushed him out the door and told him she needed time to think.
And with that final thought, she finished the last spoonful of ice cream and went to bed.
***
She got up the next morning and started getting ready to go to work. She was nervous, anxious and upset. She did not know how to act now. She herself was confused about what she'd done; was it a defense mechanism? Why had she tried so hard to get him to change his mind only to push him away?
She began to ask herself the same questions she'd tried to ask Clark about his decision. She had no answer, only one thing came to mind. "He'll do it again."
She continued to get ready, thinking about how much she missed Clark. As she walked out the door, she got even more depressed. Clark was usually here, waiting to go to work with her, but he wasn't today. She walked out her apartment building and looked around, hoping to see Clark sitting on the step or by her SUV. He wasn't. She got in and drove to work.
She arrived at the Daily Planet and headed up to the newsroom. She got off the elevator to the sounds of ringing phones and screaming people. She was a little relieved, more calm, and able to think a little better. This was her home, where she was able to think, and in a moment Clark would walk in and she would lose that focus.
She sat down at her desk and checked her messages. Before she was able to finish checking them, Perry yelled out to her.
"Lois! Can I talk to you in my office for a minute, hun?"
As she got up to walk over to his office, Jimmy walked by with his head down, looking a little depressed. She patted him on the shoulder and thought to herself, "More girl trouble!"
She walked into Perry's office to see him standing up looking out the window. She sat down, looking around for a bit at all the Elvis memorabilia, thinking to herself, "Some things don't change."
Perry sat down and took a deep breath. He looked at her with the serious-sad look that only Perry had and said to her, "Clark is gone."
"What!?" she said out loud.
Perry told her to calm down. He went on to explain that Clark had arrived extra early that morning to tell Perry that he had a story he wanted to work on and that it was out of Metropolis. He went on to say that he asked Clark if there was a problem and asked if he wanted to talk about it, and he said no. He also said that he grilled, Clark saying that he was not going to just let him up and leave on a story that wasn't worth losing one of his best reporters on. Perry said that Clark wanted to go and investigate a White House official who might be selling information to foreign governments. Perry agreed.
Before he left for the assignment, Perry asked how long he would be gone. Perry said the only thing Clark said was, "Until it is finished."
Lois sat in shock. She could not believe it; she did not know what to think. Had she pushed him too far away? Was he running away? Was he doing this to get back at her?
She got up, ready to leave, and Perry asked," Do you want to talk about it?"
Lois quietly said, "I have to find Clark." And with that she walked out of his office, into the elevator, and out of the Daily Planet.
***
She got into her car and headed for Clark's apartment. She started to think of all the things that she was going to say to him. She was so upset; a case like this could take months, even if he was Superman. All the events from the past few weeks flooded her mind, upsetting her even more.
She arrived at Clark's apartment and knocked on the door. She waited; no answer. She got out her credit card and let herself in. She called out Clark's name several times but there was no answer. She picked up the phone and called Martha and Jonathan.
Martha picked up the phone and before she could say hello, Lois was already asking her the question that she wanted an answer to. "Have you talked to Clark?"
Martha called for Jonathan to get on the other phone. They went on to explain that they had talked to Clark after their most recent disagreement. They said that he wasn't doing too well. They said that he explained to them that he knew he'd made a mistake. He was worried that he had pushed her too far away. They said that he went on to say that he was also confused. He told them that she had said she needed time. He said he would give it to her. In all fairness he was going to try and do what she wanted this time, he was going to give her time to think. No Clark, no Superman. He had thought that maybe if he was gone she would be able to figure out her feelings.
She told the Kent's that if they talked to him to have him call her. She didn't care what time it was or where. She just wanted to talk to him.
As she hung up the phone she began to cry. She had not meant for him to leave. She didn't want time apart, just time to think. She wasn't mad at him any more. She understood that he was only trying to think of her and what she wanted.
She walked to the door, looked around at Clark's quiet apartment, and then shut the door behind her as she left. She spent the day walking around, and thinking. When she got home, she went straight to the freezer and pulled out another full carton of ice cream. She went to her room, ready to get to the bottom of the carton of ice cream, when she saw something on her bed. It was a rose; there was a note attached. It read:
Lois,
I just wanted you to know that I am sorry for what I did. I respect that you want some time to figure things out for yourself.
Because you needed some time to think, I decided that it would be best if Clark Kent weren't around for a while. He will make it harder for you to think. So I will be staying in Washington. But because Superman has sworn to protect the people of Metropolis, he will be making rounds as needed.
I promise I will not bug you. I will not interfere, I will not call or try and contact you, and this letter is the last communication that I will have with you until I hear from you that you are ready to talk, or that you are ready to move on.
If you need to get in touch with me, I will be checking the messages on my machine everyday. Please be careful while I am not around. I just wanted you to know that no matter what you decide, I will always love you.
Clark
She put the letter down. She didn't want him not to be there, she didn't want to be away from him, she was happy when he was around and they were together. All she could think about was how much she missed him at that moment. And then it hit her, if this was how she felt when he was gone, how would she feel if she knew they would never be together?
And with that she made her decision. She loved Clark; there was no doubt about that. She could not live without him. He had become such a big part of her life that she could not begin to think about breathing without him. As she had thought about things over the past few days, she had done everything but think of things from Clark's point of view.
She sat down and started running things through her head. And realized that he had been thinking about her when he had called things off, he had been thinking about her when he tried to get back together with her, he had been thinking about her feelings when he left for an assignment. Even though she didn't agree with what he had done, he was trying to think about her. Their problem wasn't that they couldn't be together, it was that they had to learn how to talk to each other about things.
She realized that both of them were very independent people. Clark grew up knowing he was different and feeling somewhat alone. She had been the kind of person that always depended on herself, that is, until Clark arrived. It was all making sense to her now. Yes, she wanted to marry him and she knew that they could work through anything. She felt as though saying that to herself was like flying, and, speaking of which, she ran to the phone and called Clark.
She got the answering machine; she thought to herself that she wanted to be able to tell Clark everything in person. She left a message telling him to meet her at the Metropolis Steak house, the next night at seven so they could talk. As she hung up the phone she felt relief and excitement.
She went to her room, got ready for bed and went to sleep.
***
The next morning, she called in to work, telling Perry that she was going to take the day off. Being that she had not taken a day off work besides the weekends, in over three years, Perry agreed.
Lois spent the day relaxing and thinking about what Clark's reaction was going to be. But mostly she thought about how much she just could not wait to see him.
By the time six o'clock rolled around she was ready to go and tell the man she loved that she was ready to marry him. By six forty-five she was at the Metropolis Steak house waiting for Clark. She was very eager. She sat waiting when all of a sudden her eyes were covered, and she heard someone say, "Guess who?"
Lois was shocked, it didn't sound like Clark. She threw the hands off her face to see the surprise was Dan Scardino! Lois looked surprised and could not get anything out her mouth. Dan was as cocky as usual and thought that she was excited and happy to see him. With that in mind he kissed her and gave her a big hug.
Lois could think of nothing else to do but give him a quick pat on the back as a sympathy hug. She thought to herself, "Not now, please not now."
As they broke away from their hug, Lois looked over to see a shocked Clark. Dan had not noticed him until Lois softly said his name. Dan looked over and then looked at Lois again and said, " I am not interrupting anything am I?"
Before Lois was able to say anything, Clark came up and shook Dan's hand saying, "No, you're not interrupting anything, actually I was just coming by to drop something off for Lois before I left for Washington."
Pulling out the box the ring was in and handing it to Lois, he said, "Here you go, Lois, I don't need this anymore. You two have a nice dinner. I'll see you when I get back!" And with that said he walked away.
Lois just stood quietly, looking at the box in her hand. Dan asked her what the box was but she didn't answer him. "What are you doing here, Dan?" asked Lois.
"What do you mean, what am I doing here, I left a message on your machine at the Daily Planet the day before yesterday telling you I was in town and that I would like to get together. Don't tell me the great Lois Lane doesn't check her messages?"
Lois thought back to the day before yesterday and remembered that she didn't get a chance to check her messages because Perry called her into his office, and after she found out Clark was leaving she had stormed out. "I haven't been at work for a few days, I am sorry. And Dan I have to go."
"Don't tell me you and Kent there are still…"
"Yes we are, in fact it has gotten a lot more serious," said Lois.
"Oh, I see. Well, did I screw things up? Do I need to talk to Kent over there and let him know that there is nothing between us? By the way, there is nothing between us is there?" asked Dan.
"No, I told you before who I want. I am sorry but I love Clark more than anything. And I need to go right now and tell him that. Good bye!"
As Lois ran away, he spoke out loud saying, "Well, ya can't blame me for trying!"
***
As Lois walked up to Clark's door she put the box in her pocket. She knocked on the door.
"It's open!" yelled Clark.
Lois stuck her head in first, followed by the rest of her body. She saw Clark placing some things in a suitcase on the couch.
"Clark, I want to talk to you!" Lois said softly.
"If you have come to tell me that you want to move on, I think I got the point, or rather I think I saw the point. You don't need to come over here and rub it in my face," Clark said in an upset voice.
Lois understood how it must have looked and how upset he must be right now, but she was determined to see this through, and let him know how she felt. She stood in front of Clark before he walked back to the bedroom. "Clark, please. Let's sit down and talk. I have something I want to tell you!"
Clark hesitated, and then sat down looking out the window.
"Clark, I want you to look at me."
Clark turned his head toward Lois and looked into her eyes.
"I have been thinking about everything that has happened between us recently. It has been a lot for both of us to take in! I was very upset when you told me that for my own good we needed to break up. I don't think that was fair."
Clark tried to interrupt,"Lois, I tried to tell you I am sor…"
Lois then interrupted Clark. "But then I did the same thing to you and pushed you away, after I had tried to make you understand that we could be together. That wasn't fair either. I was scared and hurt, Clark. I have never had to depend on someone so much as I do you. I am not used to that. But I know this is all new for you also. We both have to learn that we need to talk to each other more before we make a decision. We are a team. By that I mean I can't function without you. I can't think, I can't work, nothing. I need you to be with me all the time. I have come to realize that being apart is more difficult than being together and working through our problems. I don't want to be away from you another minute."
Lois got down on one knee and pulled out the box from her pocket. "Clark Kent, will you marry me?"
Clark sat there; this is not what he'd expected to hear from her. He was at a loss for words. As he sat there, speechless, Lois began to grow a little impatient.
"Come on, Kent, for someone with super speed you sure are taking your sweet time to answer an important question." She smiled.
He smiled. He leaned in close to her and said, "Yes!"
With that being said, they stood up and he put the ring on her finger. They both looked at each other, Lois with tears in her eyes, and held each other as they shared a kiss. When they pulled away, all they could say to each other was, "I love you."
THE END
(The following episode after this would be Chip off the old Clark.)