Hi everyone-

This is my first stab at fanfiction, so please R&R! Some of you may have read this elsewhere, but i wanted to publish it here as well! If enough people enjoy it, there is plenty more to come!

CHAPTER 1

"Lois, this is ridiculous…" Clark sighed, barely containing his exasperation. They had been camped outside of some downtown metropolis high-rise for almost 2 hours now, waiting in her car.

Lois shot a quick glare over to her partner-"I'll tell you what I told you 10 minutes ago, and 10 minutes before that! If you want to go home, fine, but I'm not losing out on the biggest political scandal of the year because you can't sit still for more than a microsecond!"

Clark sighed again to himself- it's not that he didn't mind waiting here for their story, but his super hearing and x-ray vision had already confirmed that mayor Kinnessey and his mistress were together in her apartment. He also certainly didn't mind being there with Lois- after the whole zombie virus scare a few weeks ago he found himself spending more and more time with her….and daydreaming more than once about that that moment in the rain when he knew that she was ok…

"Clark! Did you hear a word I just said?!" Lois yelled.

Clark broke out of his slight daydream long enough to realize that Lois was staring directly at him, with one of her patented "bull-in-a-china-shop" looks.

"I'm sorry- I must be getting a little drowsy…" Clark feigned, throwing in a small yawn for emphasis.

"Ugh!" Lois said, wondering to herself if Clark was taking this assignment seriously at all. "Tell you what- why don't you head back down to that coffee stand a few blocks back and get us both a little pick-me-up? It can even be your treat, since I'm obviously doing all the heavy lifting on this one."

Clark was ready to retort with a comment about her caffeine addiction, but one look at the smirk on Lois's face caused him to outwardly chuckle. "Straight black, no sugar?" he offered, still smiling.

"Of course," Lois said, the smirk on her face ever widening. It's impossible to stay mad at him now, she thought to herself.

Despite his absent-mindedness and penchant for disappearing, there was no one she would rather have with her on a stakeout like this. In fact, she was beginning to think that maybe there was no one she would rather spend any of her time with…..not that she could tell him that, of course- not with the way things between them seemed to go every time they found themselves in anything resembling a romantic situation.

"Thanks Clark…" Lois offered as Clark opened the door. "Anytime…" he said, his eyes meeting hers. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned his gaze away from her and started off down the street toward the coffee stand.

"Can I get two large coffees, one black and the other with room for cream?" Clark asked, still thinking about his partner. His thoughts were cut short by the sound of muffled gunfire coming from the building across the street. Silently cursing to himself for being so preoccupied, Clark used his x-ray vision to scan the entrance.

Clark was instantly taken aback by what he saw- 3 perfectly still bodies on the ground, and 1 person emerging from what appeared to be the LexBank vault on the ground floor.

Checking to make sure no one was looking, Clark began to speed toward the entrance of the building. In less than a second he had his hand on the door- just in time to be hurtled backward by a huge explosion from the front of the building.

5 minutes earlier….

Lois couldn't resist glancing up at the rear view mirror to watch her partner walk down the street. He sure knows how to fill out a pair of dress slacks, and the way that baby blue shirt brings out his eyes…Get a hold of yourself Lane!

Lois scolded herself for letting her mind wander. This is Smallville we're talking about- leave you at the drop of a hat, come up with lame excuses, back away at the first sign of any connection Smallville!

Lois threw her hands down on the steering wheel and sighed. Of all the men she had ever known, Clark seemed to affect her the most. Sometimes the way he looked at her made her feel like she was the only woman in the world... and other times? Let's just say the checkout guy at the store behind her apartment knew NOT to ask if she really needed those 3 gallons of rocky road.

Why do things have to be so difficult with him? It seems like every time we get close to telling each other how we really feel one of us pulls back. You can't go on like this Lois- you've got to get all the cards on the table. You have to talk to him…

Her thoughts were cut short as she spied someone exiting the entrance of the building. Grabbing her camera out from under the seat, she began to train it on the door when…

BOOM

It took Lois a second to process what was happening. She jumped out of the car almost instantly, looking back toward the blast source. A huge plume of smoke was rising into the sky, and people were beginning to panic.

Lois suddenly realized she couldn't see the coffee stand anymore through all of the smoke and debris. A million thoughts raced through her mind, but she could only manage to scream one of them into the night air.

"CLARK!"

END CHAPTER 1