By Daisymay390 <loislanekent2000@yahoo.com>
Rated: PG
Submitted: June 2007
Summary: What if Lois had been at Clark's apartment when Mayson came over in the episode "Church of Metropolis," and what if Mayson assumed more about Clark and Lois' relationship than was actually going on?
***
"Hey, look at this," Lois said as Clark passed by her desk.
"What?" Clark asked.
"Checking public records on Martin Snell, five years ago he was staff counsel for Bill Church."
"The CostMart guy?"
"Worked in corporate acquisitions, responsible for buying up overseas companies. I wonder…" she trailed off as she keyed a few strokes on her keyboard. "Now this is interesting, cross graph what we know about the spread of Intergang with the spread of CostMart around the world, everywhere Intergang has gotten a foothold, there's a CostMart."
"Ok, let's pull up the police files on Bill Church." Clark came around the desk as he said this and watched Lois key a few strokes on her keyboard. "See, nothing, not even a parking ticket."
"So he's never been caught, neither was Lex Luthor, 'til the end," Lois countered.
"You may be on to something, but I really think Martin Snell is the guy to nail here. I think we should just stay on him, okay?"
"Okay, kids, comp tickets for the charity ball, make sure you invite people who know how to dress and don't mind dancing close. Haha, we're gonna have a great time," Perry interrupted them before Lois could respond.
As soon as he had walked away, Lois retorted, "How come you don't think Church could be behind Intergang? You knew Lex was dirty as soon as you met him!"
"Lo-is," Clark exclaimed. "You know that's not true. I value your opinion just as much as I value my own opinion, I just think Martin Snell has a hand in this too. Why don't we meet tonight and compare our notes, okay?"
"Fine," Lois harrumphed. "I'll meet you at your place at 7:00, you better get some good takeout. I still think I'm right."
"Fine," Clark replied with a grin. "Would you like Italian or Chinese?"
Lois pretended to contemplate the question before answering with a sheepish smile, "Could you bring Chinese from the restaurant you still won't tell me about?"
Clark could never resist Lois' puppy dog eyes and promptly agreed. "Fine, I'll see you at 7:00."
Before they could say anything else, Clark got one of his funny looks on his face. Lois sighed and said, "Go ahead and go." At Clark's questioning look she said, "You have that look you always get before you leave me, just go."
"Ok, thanks, Lois," Clark said as he headed towards the stairway.
"Clark?" Lois' voice made him turn back toward her. "Promise one day you'll tell me why you always do that?"
Clark gave her a sorry smile and said, "Of course, Lois."
"Thanks," Lois said to his retreating back.
Clark had just arrived home and spun into a T-shirt and shorts when there was a knock on the door. Quickly setting down the takeout cartons, he sprinted to the door and started to open it when he realized he didn't have his glasses on. He quickly located them on his end table, slid them on and went to open the door. He was quickly faced with a frustrated woman balancing an armful of files in one arm and a shirt box in the other arm.
"Lois, what is that?" Clark asked as he took the contents from her arms.
"These," she said, gesturing to the files he had just set down, "are everything I could find on Bill Church and Martin Snell. And that," she said gesturing to the box, "is for Superman."
"What is it?" he asked.
"Well, I got to thinking today. I obviously have a price on my head to keep Superman from doing something. But we both know Superman just isn't going to sit back and let innocent people get hurt, right?"
"Right," Clark responded warily.
"But he can't go out in his cape and suit and not expect to be recognized. So I realized what he needs to do is to go undercover, something that wouldn't draw attention." She reached for the box, opened it and pulled out a Metropolis policeman uniform. "So the plan is for Superman to wear this while he is out patrolling or whatever it is that he does at night."
"Lois, you are brilliant. I'll be sure to give it to Superman the next time I see him."
"Thank you, Clark. Now, I smell kung pao chicken, are you going to feed me or what?"
Clark laughed and said, "Let me just get some plates and we can start, okay?"
"Okay," Lois responded.
An hour later, Lois leaned back on the couch and sighed. "We're getting nowhere," she said. "I know Church is dirty, I just can't find the proof."
Clark looked over at her from his end of the couch and smiled at her. "How about I get us some pop?" he asked as he started to get up.
"That would be great, Clark," Lois responded with a smile. She loved how Clark always knew how to cheer her up. Leaning back into the couch she thought about how she had agreed to spend the evening going over files just because she had wanted to spend it with Clark. It didn't matter that all they would be doing would be working, at least she wouldn't be home alone. She just wished she could have the courage to tell Clark how she really felt about him. He had been so great after her aborted wedding to Lex, never once saying 'I told you so' and never once bringing up that conversation in the park. She knew he had lied that day in front of the Planet by the way he still looked at her, like she was the most beautiful woman in the world and he worshipped her.
Yawning, she got up to tell Clark that maybe she'd better have tea or else she would be up all night, and collided straight into a wall of human flesh, very soft and warm human flesh. Lois was propelled onto the floor by the momentum of the collision and it was then that she realized that Clark had been carrying two glasses of cream soda, which was now covering all of her clothes and his shirt.
"Oomph," escaped Lois' mouth as she fell down. Clark was immediately hovering over her, a worried expression on his face.
"Oh my gosh, Lois, are you alright? Are you hurt? Do I need to take you to the doctor?!" Clark exclaimed without taking a breath. He reached down to help her up, and while doing so he x-rayed her body to see if he had broken any bones. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized he hadn't run into her as hard as he thought.
"Clark, calm down, I'm fine, see?" She made a point of twirling around as if to show him she was okay. "I'm just all wet, do you think you have something that I could change into?"
"Sure, Lois, right through here. In that top drawer there should be some clothes that my mom left that should fit you," he said, motioning to the drawer in question.
"Okay, Clark, thank you."
"No problem, Lois, anytime," he replied with a thousand watt smile.
As he walked away, Lois realized that he really meant 'anytime,' and she loved that. She started to walk over to the dresser to rummage for some clothes when something on Clark's bed caught her eye. Grinning, she walked over to it, picked it up and took it into the bathroom to change.
Meanwhile, after Clark left Lois at the doorway to his bedroom, he walked over to the kitchen to clean up the mess that he had made. He stripped off his wet t-shirt on the way and draped it over a chair. As he started to clean up the soda, he realized that he had never even heard Lois coming, which was rare for him. Shrugging, he chalked it up to being tired and frustrated that they couldn't find anything on either Church or Snell. He was actually starting to believe that Church could be behind Intergang and it was disconcerting that they hadn't found anything. Finishing up the cleaning, he was about to head to his bedroom to see if Lois was done yet, so he could get a clean shirt and clean the stickiness off of his chest. However when he heard a knock at the door, he changed direction and went to answer the door. He was surprised when he saw Mayson Drake at his door.
"Hi," she said, nervously.
"Hi," Clark responded, while looking back towards the bedroom. He knew that Lois already did not like Mayson Drake and was trying to avoid a scene. He also noticed how Mayson was ogling his bare chest. Groaning inwardly, he let her in.
"I was in the neighborhood," she started, hesitantly, "and thought we could go over some facts."
"Well, actually, I was busy…" Clark didn't get a chance to finish his thought when Lois interrupted him.
"Claarrrkkkk," Lois said, trying to sound sexy. She had spied his dress shirt from that day lying across his bed and, in a moment of pure insanity, had decided to put it on in order to get him to say how he felt about her. However, she was so nervous that she did not open her eyes and, therefore, did not see Mayson standing there, ogling her partner.
"Oh my," Mayson exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you had company. I'm so sorry for intruding. We can, um, talk about the case later, Clark. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you two were involved. I never would have pursued you, Clark, if I had known." She trailed off as her gaze bounced from a very bewildered looking Clark to an embarrassed-looking Lois.
"Mayson, its not…" Clark tried to reassure her but was cut off by Mayson again.
"It's okay, Clark, I should have realized in the precinct with the way you two were looking at each other. I'll call you tomorrow to discuss the case, goodbye." Before Clark could say anything more, Mayson was out the door, leaving him alone with Lois.
When Clark turned around he finally got a good look at what Lois was wearing and his throat promptly closed up. Even though Lois was only wearing his dress shirt, he couldn't imagine her looking any sexier than she did at this exact moment. He didn't realize he was staring until Lois cleared her throat and started to say something.
"I'm sorry, this was a mistake. I'll just go find something to wear and then go home," she said dejectedly. She turned around and started to turn towards the bedroom again.
Clark realized if he didn't say anything now, he might lose her forever if he let her go home now. So, swallowing his nervousness, he said, "Lois, wait." He quickly jogged over to where she stood frozen in space and lifted her chin so that she couldn't look anywhere but straight into his eyes. What he saw there almost made him cry, she looked so vulnerable and helpless. He simply couldn't leave things the way they were, so he said, "Lois, you don't have to go and I don't think this was a bad idea. You look wonderful," he said huskily, while fingering the hem of his shirt.
"Clark, I'm sorry I ruined your talk with Mayson. I just wanted to do something to show you I think I might be in love with you and I didn't realize you didn't still have feelings for me and I'll just go now."
"Lois," Clark tried interrupting her babbling but she continued on as if she hadn't heard him.
"And I realize I blew my chance when I turned you down for Lex, but I thought you might have still had feelings for me, but I guess I was wrong. I mean, obviously you don't…mmph." Anything else she might have said was cut off by Clark's lips crashing down on hers.
After several minutes, the need for air became apparent, at least for Lois, and they broke apart. "Does that answer your question as to if I still have feelings for you?" Clark asked leaning his forehead against hers.
"Oh yeah," Lois exclaimed, out of breath. Before she realized what had happened she was being picked up and carried to the couch. "Um, Clark," she said, nervously, "You never told me how you felt about me?"
"Lois, I am completely in love with you. I have loved you since the moment I met you and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you," Clark said, passionately.
"Oh, Clark," was all Lois could say. "I love you too, so much. I'm not sure how long I've loved you but I realized I loved you the day of my wedding, that's why I stopped the wedding."
"You stopped the wedding!" Clark exclaimed in shock.
"Yes, I realized I wasn't marrying Lex because I loved him, I was marrying him because I had lost everyone else. I realized I could never marry someone I didn't love, so I stopped the wedding. I'm glad that I didn't end up marrying him, after I learned what kind of man he was," Lois said, disgusted.
Clark saw the look on Lois' face and immediately tried to cheer her up. "Lois, you know it's not your fault that you didn't realize what kind of man he was. He had a lot of people fooled."
"I know, but I am the best investigative reporter in Metropolis, I should have realized."
"Lois, you ARE the best investigative reporter in Metropolis, but Lex even had the wool pulled over the eyes of the cops and the mayor. It's not your fault," he said as he pulled her closer into his embrace. "Now, how about we go on to more important and more enjoyable topics?" And with that, he proceeded to kiss her neck.
For a long time, the only sounds heard in the apartment were moans and feminine giggles. When they finally came up for a breather, Lois said, "So, Clark, what exactly is your secret?"
"Well, Lois," Clark started. It was going to be a long night, he thought, as he proceeded to tell her his secret.
THE END