TITLE: "Love's Damaged Goods"

SUMMARY: Lois finally opens up to Clark about her past relationships, giving him a better understanding as to why she is so reluctant to take anything too fast with him.

RATED: PG-13

PARING: Clois; Lois and Lois/BW. ;-)

NOTES: So, I have been wondering why Lois is so hesitant with her relationship with Clark and what she really means with "they always run off" on her. Who are "they"? So far, in SV world, we have known that Wes Keenan was one of Lois Lane's first boyfriends--possibly her first which happened in grade school. AC Curry was shown to possibly be her first superhero boyfriend who walks out during the beginning of their relationship. And then there was Oliver Queen--her first adult relationship that happened when she was in her early twenties. AC and Oliver are more than likely part of that "they" since they both hurt Lois, but what of the rest? How many men broke her heart and contributed to her becoming such damaged goods? Yes, the General had a lot to do with it, but I'm talking more about romantic love. Then a thought came to me as I was reading a few comics…and then I wrote it out.

TIMELINE: PRE-"Disciple" (9x10), POST-"Pandora" (9x09). No worries. There's no real spoilers, in case you haven't seen the new episode yet.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOOOOOOOT own ANYTHING…just a VERY proud obsession. :D

SIDENOTES: So, the italics part is basically Lois telling the story in her perspective.

It was a very lonely and quiet night along the big city. It seemed as if the burglars, rapists, and terrorists had decided to take a night off because everything was just completely peaceful. Walking along the boardwalk along the waters of Metropolis were only a handful of couples, one of them being Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

The movie they had just watched had finished and Clark had not been able to end his 4th date with his sassy co-worker. He too noticed the quiet and stillness of the night. His Blur duties were not needed at the moment and he wanted to take full advantage. Who knew when a night this perfect was going to come along again?

Clark turned towards the beautiful woman walking along his side. He saw her brown green eyes twinkling by the light of the moon, her cheeks giving a glamorous glow, and her dark hair blending exquisitely with the night. Looking at her made him breathless. It was a good thing that his body did not need oxygen because if that were the case, he would have fainted long ago just by looking at her.

"You're staring, Smallville," Lois accused.

He felt no guilt and it didn't feel as if she disliked the idea since she was smirking a cocky grin, so he kept looking at her.

"And you're grinning like a five-year-old," she said with a half-chuckle.

She was right, and he hadn't a clue until then. Funny, he felt himself smiling. For how long had he been doing it for? The last five minutes? The last hour? All night? How long had she noticed his grins?

If Lois would have "outted" him this same way just a few months ago, he was sure he would have been blushing right now out of embarrassment. His "farm boy" self would have felt unsure of how to handle this sort of Lois comment. However, there was no trace of shame of what he wad doing. He didn't feel guilty for staring at her and smiling at her and her catching him. He didn't care at all if they would have been walking along hundreds of people right now and all of them would have seen the intense stares he would give her constantly. He was sure of his feelings for Lois and was more than proud to show them.

Clark looked at the ground and let out a humorous smile. He didn't know why, but everything Lois said lately just made him grin. "Well, there's lots of beautiful things to grin over," he said with a low and seriousness flattery tone.

Even through the darkness of the night, he could see a slight blush appearing in her cheeks. She immediately lowered her head, her hair quickly covering her face from his so he was unable to see her cute blush anymore.

Every time he would make these sort of comments, she would get a blush and grow a bit uncomfortable. He wasn't sure if it was because she just didn't know how to take a romantic compliment or because she--unlike him--was unsure of the relationship they were in now.

If it was the latter, then he wanted to give her assuredness. He looked down at her empty hand gliding along the winter Metropolis air and reached for it. The moment his palm touched hers, it felt as if their hands took a mind of their own. As if they knew exactly what to do. Their fingers intertwined with one another. Their palms became one. They were one now.

The sense of it feeling so right and natural came to Clark as he felt their hands clinging to one another. However, it was very short lived. He suddenly felt her hand grow still and with great effort, she slipped her hand away from his. A sense of emptiness rushed through his palm and fingers.

She cleared her throat a little, shoving her fingers into her coat pockets and walking at a little faster pace.

He went after her, frowning. "Something wrong?" He stayed right at her side.

He saw her getting uncomfortable; she wouldn't look him in the eye. "A bit too much PDA, Smallville. Remember: slow."

He didn't hold back rolling his eyes. "Lois, it's not as if I'm a blind date and asking you back to my place for a little action. We've been friends for five years and this is us just holding hands. We have been dating for a couple of weeks. I think our fingers touching is a green light now."

He hated sounding snappy or feeling irritated, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't as if he wanted to speed things up immediately between them. He did mean it when he told her they should take their time with one another, but he felt that there were times--like now--that she was holding them back a little. He knew she felt as strongly for him as he did for her but wasn't positive if she was sure of his feelings for her. This had to be the reason why she was so hesitant and extremely careful.

"Maybe, but I don't want to take the chance of going too fast," she said softly.

Clark bit down a groan of irritation. "Lois, I'm all for us being cautious so everything can go right, but there is such a thing as being too cautious."

"For me there isn't when it comes to you. I'd rather take things as slow as possible. I don't want you running off on me," she said the last thing with the smallest voice.

He stopped on his tracks and turned to her, grabbing her arm and stopping her from walking away from him.

He heard her heart start beating a little faster. It was the kind of pace that it got when she was feeling worried. Over the course of the last year, he had picked up on the different kinds of rhythms her heart gave and how different they all sounded from one another. In the last few months, since she came back after those weeks of missing, his ears were more and more in tuned with her heart and caught on faster on distinguishing the differences between the beats and applying them to her current mood. At the moment, he could tell that the quickened beat her heart was in now meant that she was worried about something.

However, she kept her head high and refused to turn to him.

He stepped closer to her, filling in the gap between them, placed his palm on her cheek and turned her face to his.

There in her eyes, he saw the worry as well, along with doubt. It broke his heart that she couldn't trust and believe in this relationship working out. He was sure that if she could remember what happened between them in the future, she would have no doubt about it either.

Clark looked deep into her eyes and leaned closer to her. "I'm not running, Lois," he said with determination and honesty.

Her eyes grew a bit watery as he continued to stare at her. "I've been told that before."

His heart broke as he saw at her slightly breaking. Although they had been friends for quite some years now, he could count in one hand how many times she had let him see her vulnerable. And every time he saw her in this stage, made her feel more real to him.

He knew she had been through a lot in her youth, particularly with men. She had never had the best luck with them. Even though he only knew about her past relationship with Ollie and her short-lived romantic-fling with AC Curry, he still did not know about the previous men that had helped her built up a wall around herself. And he had never asked her about them. He wanted Lois to tell him because she wanted to. Wanted her to open up whenever she felt ready. He did not want to pressure her. But what he wanted most was for her to trust in everything he said, especially when it came to their relationship.

Several seconds passed as they looked at each other intently.

Lois finally broke eye contact and looked around and turned back to him, finally speaking. "It goes back to my senior year in high school. I think that relationship is one of the reasons why I seem to be so skeptical with men."

Clark just stood there, looking at her, not speaking. This was all up to her. How she wanted to open up to him and how much she was willing to share was all up to her. Her choice.

Lois got the message and looked around. Two sets of couples were coming their way. She grew stiff and continued to look around. Suddenly, she grabbed his coat arm and led him towards a private bench. It was very much out of ear shot from the very few people still walking along the boardwalk.

Once they reached the bench, Lois pushed him down to take a seat. She sat right next to him and took a deep breath. "This is a long one, so bear with me."

He looked down at her shaky hands. Her heart was giving a different kind of beat. She was nervous. He reached over and placed his hand over one of hers. His thumb caressed the back of her wrist. He heard the beating of her heart slow down, almost to a calm.

She took another swallow and took a deep breath before looking into his eyes again. "I was in this relationship for over six months. The General was stationed back here in the States and for the first--and only time--he signed me up to one of the best ivy schools in the country. Most of the kids there were stuck up and rude. They all came from wealthy families and thought they were above everyone else. The education was great there, but those kids were a pain in the neck. Anyways, it was almost the end of semester and I was very much behind. Finals were a good three weeks away, and I needed to put my happy butt in gear. So, I was in the library, studying my ass off and worrying about how in the hell I was going to get all of this done when the sweetest guy comes up to me…"

-----------

"Looks like you can use a little help," his deep voice said.

I was startled and jumped off from my chair. I turn and find this tall, dark, and handsome looking dude smiling down at me with a million dollar smile. It was enough to make me melt right there in my seat.

I smiled up at him, "I think I'm being given more than I can chew."

He gave me a low chuckle and sat right next to me. "These teachers have mercy for no one. There was a girl last year who lost both her parents in the middle of the semester and the teachers wouldn't allow her to make up any of the tests. All of her family was part of the law enforcement and always gave so much to the school. But once they were gone, so did their importance to the school."

I shook my head in disgust. "How horrible."

He nodded. "Tell me about it. She was one of the very few sweet girls left in this school. While everyone else here was fake, she wasn't."

"What became of her?" I asked, curiously. I had always had a nose and wanted to know every truth, even about people I did not know personally.

He gave a slight shrug. "She was in and out of school a lot. The dean finally got sick of it and kicked her out."

"But she was only a kid."

"Her parents had left her enough money. Plus, she was eighteen--legal--at the time."

"What happened to her?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I haven't heard of Dinah since."

I shook my head, saddened by the news.

He thought for a minute and frowned. "How you got me to tell you all of that information is beyond me. I don't open much to people."

I gave him one of my charming smiles. "Guess I have a gift."

"And a nose," he teased.

It was my turn to shrug. "It's a talent."

He gave a snicker. "So, if you're done asking me a million and one questions, you want me to help you out with all this junk?" He motioned towards the scattered books and papers throughout my desk. "I'm done with mine already. And I have nothing to do for the rest of the weekend."

I chuckled. "Sure. That'd be great."

He smiled at me and began to dig in to my work.

Then, it had occurred to me, I had yet to introduce myself. "Oh, I'm Lois Lane." I extended my hand to his.

He took it into his firm grip and shook it. "Bruce Wayne."

NOTE: So, I know that in the comics Bruce Wayne and Lois Lane actually dated before Lois and Clark did. I wanted to incorporate that into SV. Plus, I think it works well with Lois' "hero complex." LOL. I mean, she's already dated Green Arrow and had a small fling with Aquaman in SV, so I figured: what the hell. Give her Batman as well. hahaha Plus, I don't know if y'all remember that issue from the comics where Lois kissed all those superheroes to make Superman jealous, and it played into my idea here very well. Now, my SV Lois has kissed Batman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow as well. ;D

Oh, and did you catch that small part about Dinah? Hehehehehe. I figured I could give a little small back story as to what pushed Dinah into her calling.

Alright. I will put up the next chapter in the next several days. I have it mostly finished, I just wanted to see the response of people. I'm not sure if I'm gonna put everything in one chapter of have it be at least three chapters. It's for sure not going to be more than three.