By CloudyEyes@aol.com
Summary: Just before Lois' New Year's Eve party, her sister, Lucy, discovers Clark's secret and tries to force him into a revelation.
Here's my very first revelation story, comments please!
***
Clark Kent happily looked at the calendar on his desk. It was December twenty-ninth, just two days away from New Year's Eve. The calendar read "DAY OFF" on January first. Perry White, the editor of the Daily Planet where they worked, had decided to give both Lois Lane and Clark the day off on the first so that they could spend New Year's together as they had planned.
Lois was having a small New Year's party on the thirty-first. Her younger sister Lucy was coming, along with Clark, Perry, Perry's wife Alice, Jimmy Olsen, and his new girlfriend Angela. Regretfully, Lucy had to leave her new boyfriend from Venice, California behind.
"Clark!" Lois' voice made Clark turn around. "You're coming over early the day of the party to help me set up, right?"
"Of course." Clark smiled, thinking about the fact that he would get to spend some time alone with Lois. They had been sort of seeing each other since Christmas, but Clark was not exactly sure where the relationship was headed. He didn't think that Lois knew either.
Just then, Jimmy happily strolled by Clark and Lois. He had a huge grin on his face and seemed to be lost in thought.
"Why the smile?" Lois asked.
Jimmy snapped out of his daydream and faced Lois. "Angela and I went out again last night," he replied. Angela was a girl who was new to the Daily Planet. He had met her while working on the secret Santa organization and Lois had later set them up. Jimmy would be forever grateful.
"What did you do?" Clark inquired.
"We went bowling…" Jimmy sighed dreamily.
Lois and Clark exchanged amused glances. Clark thought it was great that Jimmy had a girlfriend after some bad experiences with women. His previous girlfriend, Kelly, had dumped him after Jimmy got some bad advice from Perry.
Later that day, Lois told Clark that Lucy would be flying into Metropolis that afternoon. There goes the time alone, Clark thought. "She got a complementary flight or something, I think. I guess it pays to work on an airline. Want to come with me to pick her up?"
"Sure," Clark replied. "Is her boyfriend coming?"
"No," said Lois. "Lucy mentioned something about him having to work… he's supposedly a big computer freak. I guess I'll have to get more information out of my sister."
At 4:00, the two left the Daily Planet building and got into Lois' jeep. It was a twenty minute drive to the Metropolis International Airport. When they arrived, Lois took a small sheet of paper out of her pocket with some notes scrawled on it messily.
"It's LexAir flight 141 at gate twenty-six," Lois read. "Her flight is supposed to come in at 4:35, but you know how planes are."
Clark nodded. How true, he thought to himself. That's why I prefer to fly Superman style.
While waiting in the airport for almost half an hour, Lois and Clark took a quick journey to a food court. It was next to a rather large gift shop filled with Metropolis souvenirs. The food court had a choice of pizza, hot dogs, tacos, fried chicken, frozen yogurt, and chocolate chip cookies. There was also a rack that had potato chips and candy bars. Lois, feeling hungry, selected a slice of pizza and a double fudge crunch bar. Clark decided to have a cup of coffee.
"Aren't you hungry?" asked Lois. "Lunch hasn't been for hours!"
"Not really," Clark said. "Coffee will be fine."
It was Lois' treat, and after she paid for the food they left. Clark drank the scalding coffee immediately, much to Lois' amazement. As they walked back to gate twenty-six, Lois absorbed herself in the food. It wasn't easy for her to walk, eat, and concentrate on not bumping into people at once, especially wearing pumps. So when she went sprawling to the ground over a crack in the floor, Clark was not surprised.
"Are you okay?" Clark asked, helping Lois to her feet. A half-eaten piece of pizza now lay on the ground. Lois' purse and the contents had been scattered about.
"I'm fine," Lois sighed. She tried to collect her things, and Clark helped out. "I knew I should have closed my purse… I was careless after paying for the food…"
"Well, no harm done." Clark picked up the pizza and threw it away for Lois, who was already munching on the candy bar. By now they had arrived at gate twenty-six, and so had Lucy.
"Lois!" Lucy Lane called, running to meet her older sister.
"Hi Lucy!" exclaimed Lois, hugging her. "How was the flight?"
"Not bad, except for the delay," she replied. Then noticing that Lois was not alone, "Hi, Clark."
"Hi," Clark said. He helped Lucy with some of her luggage as they walked towards the parking lot. Since it was only a short stay, Lucy had brought everything on the plane as a carry-on item.
***
"Well, here it is," Lois Lane announced, flipping on the lights to her apartment. "My lovely home. Nothing much has changed since you last saw it."
"True," Lucy said, looking around. She faced Lois and Clark, who were standing next to each other. "So, are you two… together?"
Clark laughed uncertainly at Lucy's question. The fact was, he hardly knew himself. He looked at Lois for help, and she was doing the same thing. "Well…"
"I get it," said Lucy. "You're in that 'deciding' stage."
"Uh…" Clark looked confused.
Lois broke the embarrassing moment. "So, what should we have for dinner?" she asked, picking up the phone to order something."
"What? You're not cooking?" Clark asked, half serious and half to see how Lucy would react to the mention of Lois' cooking.
It worked. "Cooking?" Lucy cried. "Please, don't let my sister near an oven! For all of our safety."
Lois looked insulted. "Lucy, for your information, I've become a very good cook."
"Of course you have. Take off the wrapper, put it in the microwave, press a few buttons, and dinner is served."
"Lucy! That's not true at all. Tell `er, Clark."
"Actually, Lois *is* a very good cook," Clark said. Lois nodded at him. "I personally sampled her turkey…"
"And?"
"Well, it was… unique…"
"Really," Lucy smiled. "I don't know how you do it, Lois…"
Lois looked disgusted. "Oh, you guys are awful. I don't know if I should even order pizza…"
Clark quickly apologized. "Sorry, Lois. Really. I don't mind if you buy us pizza."
Rolling her eyes, Lois phoned the pizza place. It was on her speed-dial, along with Chinese, Italian, and the ice cream man for those Rocky Road emergencies. She placed her order and the delivery guy said he'd be there in an hour and forty-five minutes.
"An hour and forty-five minutes!" Lois exclaimed. "It takes you an hour and forty-five minutes to deliver pizza?"
"We're really busy ma'am," he told Lois.
"Oh… never mind!" With flourish, Lois slammed down the phone.
Lucy gave Clark a look that said "typical" while Clark did the exact same thing. Lois looked at them both for help.
"Suggestions?" she asked.
"We *could* make dinner," Clark told her. "All three of us." Wandering over to the refrigerator, he opened it up and looked surprised. There was not a single edible thing inside that wasn't a TV dinner, dessert (mainly rocky road ice cream), leftover Chinese, or soda. "Well… that narrows it down a little," he remarked.
"So I haven't been shopping in awhile."
"Try months…"
Lois looked at him. "Very funny. I'll just have to go now." And before either Clark or Lucy could protest, Lois was on her way out the door with her purse and car keys.
Lucy sighed as she watched her sister leave. "So, Clark, I really want to know the truth. Are you and Lois dating?"
"We- uh- well we've been spending a lot more time together…"
"It's that `fear of commitment' thing my sister has. She's afraid to get close to any guy. That is, except for Superman."
Clark winced. "I- I don't know about that—"
"Sure you do. All Lois does when I call is talk about the Man of Steel. You know, you'd better do something or else she's going to—" Lucy paused suddenly. She peered at Clark's face, studying it perhaps. "Clark?"
"Yes?"
"Take off your glasses."
Clark's felt his usually warm hands turn a clammy cold. "W-why?"
"Take off your glasses," Lucy repeated.
Slowly, Clark brought his hands to his face. His glasses were a covering and without them he was exposed, vulnerable. He didn't want Lucy Lane to know that he was Superman any more than he did the president. He wanted Lois to know, of course, but it still wasn't the right time to tell her. Clark took his glasses off his face and shut his eyes tight briefly. When he opened them, Lucy was smiling.
"I knew it," she said.
"Knew what?"
"I'd always suspected, but I wasn't sure. But just now… I can't believe that you think a little pair of glasses is going to fool the entire world. Now ,I realize that most people don't know that Clark Kent exists, but Lois is going to find out sooner or later—"
It brought up an interesting point. Still, Clark didn't have to worry about most of Metropolis, and not the whole world. There was no reason for people to believe that Superman had another identity, and if they did, why Clark? Still, he grew angry. "If you tell her—"
"Don't worry, Clark! I would never do that. What I'm saying is, you should tell her before she figures it out herself and gets mad at you for keeping the secret."
"Won't she be mad anyway?"
"Not necessarily. Lois can be very good at taking news—"
Clark raised his eyebrows.
"—when it's as important as this. She could go nuts but she probably won't. She's smart, she could understand why you couldn't tell her."
Clark got up and began pacing. "But if she finds out herself…"
"Then she will be upset that you kept it from her since she won't know when you were planning to tell her."
This certainly put things in a new perspective. Lucy was right, he *had* to tell Lois as soon as possible! God, this would be hard, he didn't expect to have to do this for a while. But as he thought about it, Clark realized that he had been sort of putting it off.
What am I thinking? Clark wondered. Lucy is brainwashing me. I can't tell Lois that I'm Superman until she decides to see the man underneath the suit…
What man underneath the suit? As far as Lois knows, there *is* no man underneath the suit. Superman is who he is, and Lois loves him for that. Clark was very confused by all of this. He was afraid that Lucy's knowledge could become dangerous. Look what it was doing to him already!
"Well, Clark?"
"Well what?"
"Are you going to tell her tonight?" Lucy looked at him impatiently.
"Tonight! This is insane, Lucy, no offense. I want to wait until—"
"Until Lois falls in love with you? That's pretty selfish."
Maybe Lucy was right. No! "Then why would I tell her at all?"
"Because she's your best friend."
"So?"
"And as I said, Lois is smart. She'll figure it out."
Clark was tired of this conversation. "So let her figure it out." And with that, he left the room.
***
"Clark? Lucy?" Lois called after she unlocked her apartment and stepped inside. She carried two bags of groceries from a local market and was trying to balance them and her purse at the same time. Lucy was sitting on the couch staring absentmindedly at the TV and Clark was nowhere to be seen. "Lucy, where's Clark? You didn't drive him away already, did you?"
"No… I think he's in the kitchen."
"The kitchen? Oh, well I have the food." Lois looked overwhelmed as she walked into the kitchen and set the bags on the counter. She unpacked the items from the bags. There was a variety of vegetables, some apples, bread, chicken, and a few other things. "What should we do with this chicken?"
Lucy surveyed the food. "Um… I think we should ask Clark."
Upon hearing his name, Clark walked over to Lois and began helping her. "Need help with dinner?"
"Sure… your cooking is probably ten times better than mine."
Oh how Clark wished that Lucy wasn't there! Her stare was making Clark uncomfortable. He knew she was analyzing all of his actions, trying to tie them to being Superman or having super powers.
Just stop, he thought as if his thoughts would be sent telepathically to Lucy. He looked at the chicken, more out of a desire to have his mind focused on something than to actually study it. Clark knew something they could make, mushroom chicken. But Lois wasn't exactly thrilled when he told her.
"Mushrooms?" Lois asked skeptically. "Um… I'd rather not…"
"We could make apricot chicken," Clark suggested. "You use apricot marmalade… I saw some in your cabinet. It's really good."
"Sounds great!" said Lucy. She went over to the cabinet and produced an unopened jar of apricot marmalade. In a fake struggle, she tried to open the lid. "I can't get it open, Clark could you help?"
Clark wanted to strangle Lucy then and there. But with clenched teeth he took the jar from Lucy and opened it up effortlessly. "Satisfied?"
"Oh, how did you do that? Clark, you're so strong…" Lucy giggled loudly and gave Clark a teasing look.
Lois, confused by the whole scenario, began to gather some other ingredients that Clark had mentioned. He told her what to do, and soon the chicken was ready to go in the oven.
Clark foolishly volunteered to put the chicken in the oven. He told Lois and Lucy to go and sit down, he'd clean up. Lois began to wander but Lucy stayed put.
"Isn't that oven hot, Clark? Be careful, don't burn yourself!"
"Lucy… please go and turn on the radio or something…"
"Why, Clark? Are you trying to get rid of me?" Lucy smiled a taunting smile.
"Yes, so go." And with that he turned to close the oven. But Lucy was quick and caught him off-guard by shutting the oven door right on his hand.
It took a moment for the non-present pain to register. "Ow…" Clark swore silently, but not because he was hurt. He immediately rushed to the sink cradling his "burnt" hand and ran cool water under it.
Lois rushed over. "Are you okay? Do you need some cream or something to put on that?"
"No…" Clark said, wincing in false agony. "I'm… fine."
"I'll bet you are," Lucy said under her breath. Clark heard her, of course, but Lois did not. He decided to ignore the remark, as he had been doing for the past several hours.
When the chicken was done, Clark told Lois that maybe she should take it out of the oven. Lois obliged and soon dinner was ready. The table was set and everything looked delicious. Lucy had made a salad and Lois had bought some brown-and-serve biscuits at the store. The three sat down to eat while Clark hoped that they could enjoy the mean peacefully without Lucy making references to Superman. *** "Lucy!" Lois cried. "How dare you!"
Lucy Lane looked hurt. "What did I do?"
For once, Lois was furious at her sister. How could she do this? Lois wondered. Clark has been so nice to her, he makes dinner and everything, and this is how she pays him back? "You know exactly what you did. That was really rude… Clark is a good friend of mine."
After they had cleaned up from dinner, Lois was ready for a relaxing evening. But for some reason, Clark had seemed on edge. He had been casting wary glances toward Lucy who thought this was funny. Lois didn't quite get the joke.
Then, once Clark suggested some music, Lucy had jumped up to put a tape in the tape player. But she turned the music down so low that Lois could barely hear it. Clark couldn't either, and he asked her to please turn it up.
"What for?" Lucy asked. "You can hear it fine."
"No, I can't. If it's that much trouble, I can do it myself." Clark made a move to get up, but Lucy stopped him.
"Sit down!" she had cried. "I'm sick of your acting! You are so mean, you can't even tell Lois the truth…" She was about to say more when Clark got up and left the apartment, looking apologetically at Lois.
"I'll call you later…" he had said. And now Lucy and Lois were all alone. What truth? Lois wondered. What could Clark possibly have to hide that would make Lucy so upset? And why was Lucy so rude?
***
Clark Kent had never felt true hate before he met Lex Luthor. And even after Lex had died, nothing really matched what he had felt. But Lucy Lane had come quite close today.
First of all, it was none of her business whether or not he was Superman. And second, she had no right to tell him what to do! He would tell Lois when he felt the time was right. And tonight was not the right time.
Clark saw Lois the next morning at work. "Could you please tell me what that was all about last night?" Lois asked.
He wanted to tell her everything just then. But they were in the middle of the city room, and they had to be alone. "I wish I could… but I can't."
"But… Clark… I'm your best friend! You can trust me…"
"I know, Lois," Clark told her. "It's just that… I can't. Not now."
"When?" she asked.
"Can I talk to you right after we're finished here? We can go to my apartment… okay?"
"Sure," said Lois and returned to her desk.
They took a cab to Clinton Street after work. Clark's heart was pounding as he thought of how to tell her. When they finally arrived at his apartment and were inside, they sat on the sofa.
"Lois… I…" Clark's voice gave out. Lois peered at him curiously. Slowly, Clark removed his glasses.
Lois smiled a little. She had never seen him without his glasses. However, as she stared at his face, her expression changed from amusement to shock. It was the face of Superman's. "Clark! What… I mean… you're *him*!"
"Yes…"
"Oh, god…" The whole situation was too much for Lois to take and she fainted.
When she came to, she was alone in her own apartment. Superman was there, standing in the window that she often left open for him. "Superman," said Lois. "I didn't expect you to be here…" She couldn't exactly remember how she got home. Clark must have brought me, she thought.
Clark! She looked at Superman, remembering. "You're Clark," she said. "I mean, Clark is you. I mean… who *are* you?"
Superman smiled. "I am Clark." He came in and changed into Clark. He then picked her up and began to fly out the window.
"Wait," cried Lois. "I need to know some things about you…"
But he didn't respond. Instead, he flew into the sky. Lois clung to him, afraid to let go. "Clark? Please listen to me…" Suddenly she was falling. Clark had let go of her and she was falling through the clouds…
***
"Help!" Lois screamed, sitting upright. She was in Clark's apartment again, and he was sitting next to her looking worried.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Lois sighed with relief, not clearly remembering the terrifying dream she had. But then it all came back to her and she remembered what caused her to faint in the first place. Clark was Superman! "Clark… is it true?"
"It is, Lois. I really wanted to tell you earlier…"
But now, Lois didn't really want to see him. "I should go," she said. "I'll see you later." And with that, she got up and left for home.
Clark sat, confused. He knew that Lois needed to be alone to sort things out. How long would it take before she was ready to accept it? Would she ever?
***
Lois Lane walked into the Daily Planet building numbly on December thirty-first. It was the day of her party, but she didn't really feel she could be a good hostess. Everything was so confusing now, she didn't know what to believe. It turned out that Lucy knew who Clark was and wanted him to tell Lois. She was mad at Lucy for making Clark feel he had to tell, but at the same time she was glad. Who knows how long it would be otherwise!
"Hi Perry," she greeted her boss. Perry White turned to Lois.
"Alice and I are ready for that party of yours tonight," he said. "What time should we come?"
"Around eight," Lois replied. Lucy will have to take over for me, she thought.
"Okay!" Perry went into his office.
Clark walked in just then. Lois turned away, not being able to meet his brown eyes. And Clark wasn't really looking for Lois either. He went to his desk, sat down, and turned on the computer. Lois' heart felt like dying. Why hasn't he talked to me? she asked herself.
It wasn't until lunch time that Clark went to Lois. "Hi," he said softly.
"Hi," Lois replied. "How are you?"
"Fine…" Clark paused. "Uh… I should get back to work." And he left Lois who felt like crying.
She sat at her desk, not really wanting to write about recent burglaries in Metropolis. The news is so depressing, she thought. I can't breathe. I have to get out of here.
But there was nowhere to go except inside her purse, where a full supply of Double Fudge Crunch Bars was waiting.
***
Clark Kent didn't like himself at all that day. He was ignoring Lois when he should be there for her! But he just did not know what to say or do. Act like everything was normal when it wasn't? He knew that in the near future they would be able to communicate again, but now he couldn't face Lois.
That evening at seven-thirty he fixed himself a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner. It didn't taste good, nothing did, but he felt like eating. Soon it was eight and he began to watch a football game on TV that had just started. It was the 49ers vs. the Saints and San Francisco was ahead 25-9. Then it was nine, and the phone rang.
"Hi, honey!" Martha Kent exclaimed. "How are you?"
"Fine, Mom," Clark replied. "I… I told Lois who I am."
There was a pause. Clark could picture Martha's worried expression in Smallville. "Oh… well how did she take it?"
"I'm not sure. She fainted at first, then was really quiet. Today we didn't even really talk."
"Oh…" Clark heard muffled sounds in the background. "Your father is here, would you like to talk to him?"
"Sure." A moment later Jonathan was on the line. "Hi Dad."
"Hi, son. So, you told Lois?"
"Yeah. I had to, her younger sister Lucy found out."
Jonathan was concerned. "Her sister knows? Isn't that a little dangerous?"
"I guess so, but I don't think she'll tell anyone. Anyway, if she did, Lois would never speak to her again."
"You're probably right. Well, have a great New Year. Bye, Clark." Jonathan hung up.
New Year! Lois' party was tonight! Remembering this information made Clark feel incredibly guilty as he rushed to get dressed. Changing from his royal blue T-shirt and jeans into a purple polo and slacks, Clark checked the time. 9:16 read the digital numbers of the alarm-radio clock on his night table. He was late, and he had even promised to help set up! Oh well, he thought. Lucy will be there.
Just thinking of Lucy made Clark wonder if he should go. But Lois was a definite plus, and she outweighed Lucy's negatives by far. Besides, Lucy knew that Lois knew, and she probably wouldn't be quite so obnoxious.
Checking his appearance in the mirror one final time, Clark grabbed his coat and headed out the door.
***
Lois Lane glanced unhappily at her watch. It was almost nine-thirty and Clark still was nowhere to be seen. The party was in full swing, at least as full as it would be. Perry and Alice were there, along with Jimmy, Angela, and Lucy. They were all talking in the living room and Lois was doing as best as she could to keep up her end of the conversation. An occasional smile or nod would do, however, because Jimmy was eager to get in as much as he could. Angela was a very charismatic young lady, and she was fun to have around. She and Lucy were engrossed in a discussion about men, their boyfriends to be more specific.
Munching on a carrot stick, Lois decided to phone Clark. She had no sooner gotten up from the sofa when there was a knock on the door. Hopefully, Lois answered it. It was Clark, and he had once again saved her evening.
"Clark!" Lois exclaimed, giving him a hug. Woah, talk about deja vu, thought Clark. "Where have you been?"
Not wanting to admit that he'd been watching football, Clark looked sheepish. "I… lost track of time."
"Well… I'm so glad you came!" Clark followed her into the living room where he was greeted by everyone.
The two sat alone away from the other five people and began to talk. "Lois… I just wanted to make sure that you're okay with everything…"
"How could I not be?" Lois asked. "I'll admit I was surprised… okay, shocked… but I'm not going to let this come between us."
She had said "us". Just that one little word made Clark's heart beat faster.
"The only thing I was upset about," Lois continued, "was that you ignored me this morning."
His heart wrenched. "I didn't know what to say to you… what you'd do… I'm really sorry, Lois." He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes.
"Well… I guess I was partly to blame. I didn't really know what to say either."
They talked more and more, losing track of time. Before they knew it, it was 11:59 and the countdown had begun.
"Five- four- three-"
Lois took Clark's hand and held it tight.
"Two- one- Happy New Year!"
Confetti flew and horns blew as they all welcomed the arrival of the new year. Clark leaned over and kissed Lois, who returned it, and they both knew that the new year was also a new beginning for them.
THE END
(newbegin.txt)