TITLE: According to Plan
AUTHOR: Seersha
RATING: K+
PAIRING: Lois/Clark
SPOILERS: None.
DISTRIBUTION: Please do not archive anywhere. It will be up at FF if you would like to link to it.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters (obviously) and no copyright infringement is intended. No profit is made from this fanfiction.
TIMELINE: Futurefic.
SUMMARY: Clark has an important question to ask Lois.
THANKS: to Karen for the beta job. REALLY appreciated you coming to my rescue
NOTE: I also just want to add that this is the first fanfic I've written in about 4 years… let me know what you think! Originally published February 2010.
.-.-.
Lois sat at her desk at the Daily Planet. She hunched over slightly as she stared intently at the papers in front of her.
"Lois, are you almost done for the night?" Clark asked, for the eighth time in the past two hours. He knew it was the eighth time because he'd been keeping count.
"Not just yet, Clark," she answered absently, underlining another sentence. She'd spent all day collating the facts and, for some reason, the connection was still eluding her. It was frustrating, and even though she knew it would click eventually, having Perry breathing down her neck wasn't helping.
Clark stood watching her for a moment, a small smile creeping onto his face. She tapped the pen mindlessly and flipped some pages. It was already getting late, and he knew if he didn't snap her out of it soon, there was a great possibility she'd be here all night.
He looked at his watch. "It's almost nine, we should head off, get dinner on the way home."
She looked up at him, as if only just noticing him. "What?"
"Dinner," he repeated.
Lois waved her hand dismissively, "I'm not hungry," and returned her attention back to the police report in front of her.
"You will be by the time we get to Australia."
Her head snapped up. "Australia?" Her puzzled look softened and a small smile started to form. She moved her elbows closer together and rested her chin on her hands. Her eyebrow arched slightly. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
Like most women, Lois held a distant worry that any time Clark tried to spoil her spontaneously it might be because he needed to apologise for some transgression or he felt he needed to make up for something.
Clark laughed, taking the seat at his desk opposite her. "Nooo," he replied, drawing out the word playfully. He shrugged. "I just think you've been working so hard lately, it's way past time for a break."
Her eyes narrowed. "Smallville, you're not trying to bribe me into agreeing to let Superman be auctioned off on a date in another charity event, are you? I know it was for a good cause, but you know how I felt about the last one -"
Clark grimaced, briefly pondering what on earth made her bring that up again. One thing was for certain; Lois Lane still frequently mystified him. "God, no. That one time was traumatic enough, thank you. Trust me, that won't happen ever again."
Lois gave him a wide grin. "Good," she said, abruptly ending the conversation. She once again looked down at the report in front of her and began underlining furiously once more.
Clark sighed. Why, oh why, he wondered, did it always have to be such a battle sometimes to drag her out of this place? And tonight of all nights!
He watched as she juggled her attention between the computer screen and the paperwork in front of her.
"Lois, honey, the story will still be here in the morning you know."
Lois put her pen down. "I know, but I swear, Clark, I'll just be ten more minutes," she assured him, typing a few notes.
"You said that eight times already," he grumbled to himself.
Lois didn't hear him. She clicked the mouse and got up to walk to the printer close by and retrieve her work.
So far this night wasn't exactly going according to plan. Of course, Clark's definition of "according to plan" was looser than most peoples, but even by his standards this night was far off course. He'd planned to have dinner an hour ago, for one thing, but decided he might have to skip that part of the plan now it was getting so late. It was time to take charge, Clark decided, as he looked at his watch. Again.
While her back was turned, he took the opportunity to write a quick note and then super sped out of the building, leaving a flurry of papers in his wake. Lois, having felt the breeze created by his movement, turned back to her desk, papers still in hand.
"Clark?"
Clark was, predictably, nowhere in sight. She shook her head and sighed, thinking he must have heard a cry for help or something, and wished not for the first time that he'd at least tell her he was about to rush off before disappearing suddenly. She walked the few steps back to her desk and put the pile of paper down.
As she sat Lois noticed a yellow sticky note taped to her computer screen. Curious, she pulled it off, instantly recognizing the handwriting to be Clark's. Now that was odd, she thought. She had assumed he'd dashed off to save the day again, but his note indicated otherwise.
It read simply: "Meet me on the roof in 5 minutes."
.-.-.
Lois exited the stairwell onto the rooftop of the Daily Planet, closing the door behind her with a loud bang. Whatever he was up to, Lois wasn't exactly thrilled to be up here. It was late and dark and cold, and Lois wished she'd thought to bring her jacket with her.
"Clark?" She turned around in a circle slowly to take in the full view of her surroundings, trying to spot him. She moved closer to the edge of the building. "Clark?" she called again, louder this time.
"I'm here," a deep voice said from close behind her, his warm breath tickling her ear.
"Ugh!" Lois let out a startled yelp and spun around, one hand clutching her chest, to find that Clark, or more accurately, Superman, was standing in front of her, his face inches from hers. She took a deep breath. "God, don't do that!" she screeched, still recovering slightly from the shock.
Clark smiled sheepishly and took a step back. "Sorry."
She studied him for a minute, but still had no clue why he had asked her to meet him up here, and even stranger was the fact that he'd shown up as Superman. "What's going on?" she asked finally, eyeing him curiously.
"I want to take you flying tonight."
Lois's draw dropped in disbelief; it was the last thing she'd expected to come out of his mouth. "What? Flying? Tonight?"
He grinned, enjoying the fact that every now and then he could be the one to surprise her. "That's what I said."
She regained her composure, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him her best stern look. "It's pretty cold out. Can't we go flying tomorrow night instead?"
"I'll keep you warm," he assured her, stepping closer so she had to tilt her head to look up at him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her even closer so their bodies were now touching, and suddenly the mood shifted considerably. He was right; she definitely wasn't feeling cold any more. "Tonight can't be put on hold," he whispered softly.
Seeing intensity in his eyes that usually surfaced when he was extremely worried about her, she hesitated with her answer. This seemed really important to him for some unknown reason.
It had been a while since they'd gone flying together, she realised. Oh, of course they flew together quite regularly, mostly because he was constantly saving her from one thing or another, but it had been several weeks since they'd gone flying just for the fun of it.
"Okay," she relented quietly, moving her arms to rest on his shoulders.
He smiled, pleased, and she couldn't help but smile back. The article finally forgotten, she let him pick her up in his arms. "Say it," he ordered teasingly.
She laughed. "Take me flying, Clark," she replied, looking into his eyes.
Her last thought before he took off was that there were worse ways she could spend an evening. After all, being swept of her feet by Superman was pretty darn good.
.-.-.
Clark flew at a leisurely pace, passing tall buildings and flying over vast fields. She asked him three times where he was taking her, but he wanted to surprise her and refused to answer.
After a good ten minutes of "arguing," Lois seemed to give up and instead concentrated on just enjoying the ride. About five minutes before they reached the intended destination, Lois began to recognise some of the landscapes and landmarks below.
"You're taking me flying to Smallville?" she asked, looking around.
Clark didn't reply or even nod, but simply smiled and continued looking ahead. Surprisingly, Lois made no other comment until he finally stopped, hovering high above the Kent farm.
He manoeuvred them both so that Lois was no longer cradled in his arms, but rather they were facing each other, arms wrapped around each other as they floated in the cool night air. He wrapped his cape around her to make sure she was warm.
"Comfy?"
Lois nodded. "Very."
She looked around the black star-lit sky; the full moon was shining brightly and the night air was thankfully slightly warmer in Smallville than it had been in Metropolis.
She gave Clark a full six seconds to begin explaining himself, but when he remained silent, couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. "Okay, time to give me some answers, Smallville. What on earth are we doing here?"
Clark pondered for a few moments how best to word his answer. He'd rehearsed his speech in his head a million times, and this moment had been the only thing on his mind all day. Now though, that the moment of truth had arrived, he suddenly felt nervous.
"Lois, I can't believe it took me so long to realise that you were the one for me… my soul mate," he began. "But from the moment I realised it, there's never been anyone else but you. You're everything to me." He grinned, adding, "And you drive me absolutely crazy, but I love you for it."
Lois laughed softly as Clark emphasised the word "crazy," knowing he meant it in an endearing way. He drove her crazy too, but Lois wouldn't have it any other way.
Even Lucy knew that meant something. "I always knew you'd end up with Clark," she'd told Lois a few months ago. "I knew because Clark drove you crazy and I'd never seen any guy drive you crazy like that before. It had to be love."
Lois pulled herself back to the present when Clark continued. "This is where we first met," he said, "and I thought it was appropriate to come back here tonight. I want to ask you something."
Clark took a breath, and with one hand reached under the collar of his blue suit to reveal he'd been wearing a silver chain around his neck. Lois hadn't even noticed. A ring dangled from the end of the necklace.
OH. GOD.
Lois knew from that instant what Clark was about to ask her. Being an investigative reporter, she probably should have put the pieces together sooner, but she'd been so caught up in the moment it hadn't dawned on her until this second.
A mass of feelings suddenly slammed into her. He'd completely blindsided her and she hadn't been expecting Clark to propose to her. Certainly not this night, in this way. They had discussed marriage before, but they'd never discussed the specifics of when they might actually get married. She wished momentarily to be back on solid ground so she could sit down.
He pulled and the chain broke easily, leaving only the ring in his hand. Lois stared at the gold diamond ring. It was beautiful, but any ring probably would have looked beautiful to Lois. After all, it was Clark who was giving it to her.
"Lois Lane, will you marry me?"
She swallowed and looked into his eyes, which were so full of love. Lois loved him more than she'd loved anyone and she saw herself in those eyes and knew there was only one answer she could possibly give him. This was Clark in front of her and that fact was all that really mattered.
It was true that she'd felt moments of doubt over the years, mainly because of her own insecurities, but now was the moment to leave all of those behind forever.
"Yes, Clark, I'll marry you."
Clark's face lit up with the biggest, brightest smile she'd ever seen on his face. Clark felt a mixture of relief and complete elation wash over him. He'd been confident in her answer, but hearing the words pass her lips made every little, nagging doubt he'd ever felt dissipate completely.
She held her hand out and they both watched as he slipped the ring on her finger. It was the perfect fit.
Clark's arms wrapped around her and they leaned into each other for a passionate kiss. Every feeling they'd ever felt for each other went into that kiss, but overshadowing everything was the sheer joy and happiness they both felt. This was it – this was the beginning of the rest of their lives. After a long while they reluctantly broke apart, foreheads still touching.
Lois grinned, a sparkle of delight in her eyes. "So," she asked, "what are we going to tell people when they ask how you proposed?"
.-.-.
END