Author's Note: This fic is a sequel to Interludes, which was written as a between-the-scenes fic for Man of Steel. This picks up where Interludes left off and will end with the beginning of Dawn of Justice, but you should be able to understand everything in this fic as long as you've seen Man of Steel. It won't have any major overt spoilers for DoJ, but there will be some foreshadowing from time to time that might accidentally give something away. You've been warned.

Regarding timing, the movie says there was 18 months between the Battle of Metropolis and the beginning of DoJ, but Martha is harvesting tomatoes (a warm-weather vegetable) just before that battle, and there's an incident during a (November 1) Day of the Dead celebration early on in DoJ. However, in my story Interludes, Clark joins the Daily Planet in mid-March, roughly six months after the battle, which would make the timing of 18 months just about right between the end of MoS and the beginning of DoJ. Yes, I'm a geek and an absolute nut for canon.

On that same note about being a nut for canon, I know that Zack Snyder said at one point that Clark wasn't a virgin in MoS, but I have a hard time accepting that given the way Clark was characterized. I doubt he would let anyone who didn't know his secret that close to him physically or emotionally – he was too much of an outcast while growing up in Smallville and too much of a loner after his dad died – so I'm ignoring that statement by Snyder. Nothing I post publicly on FFnet will be M-rated (partly because I have kids who will likely read this someday and partly because those sorts of scenes are extremely difficult to do well). This story will remain T-rated, but because Clark's and Lois' relationship has matured in DoJ, this fic will be on the stronger side of that rating than Interludes.

If you're still reading after all that, I hope you enjoy the actual story!


Lois blinked against the sunlight streaming into her bedroom, trying to sort through what was memory and what was dream. She was positive that Perry in a T-rex costume was not real, but she wasn't so sure about Clark showing up at the Planet in eye-glasses.

Frowning thoughtfully, she went to the kitchen and booted up her laptop. On the Planet's messaging system, she typed in "Kent" and his name popped up with a blank icon instead of his picture. Squealing despite herself, she hurried to get dressed. Even on her first day at the Daily Planet as a cub reporter, even on her first day back after winning a Pulitzer Prize, she hadn't been this excited to go to work.

Sure, he wouldn't be in until noon, but she had a story to write in the meantime, and she intended to actually take a full lunch hour today. She was walking on cloud nine through her morning routine and commute.

When she entered the bullpen, there was no tangible change from the morning before, no visible hint that Clark was now part of the Planet – part of her life – but the sight of the stringer desks made her smile. Soon.

But first things first. The Planet hadn't done a piece about crime rates in Metropolis since Superman had made himself a regular around town. Granted, that was only about two and a half months ago, but with those muggers' failed attempt last night she had a good, human angle for what could otherwise be a boring piece. If she gathered enough data this morning, she and Clark could launch into actual writing when he came in later that day.

The thought alone of him at the Planet (with the glasses and another ridiculous flannel shirt) made her silly fangirl heart go all aflutter, and she actually chuckled at herself. The bullpen was going to be an even more interesting place now, no question.

Plugging her earbuds into the computer, she started her "Research" playlist, cracked her knuckles, and got to work.

...

Someone had been tapping her on the shoulder for a few seconds before Lois realized it, she was that focused. Pulling out one of the earbuds, she looked up to see a befuddled-looking Steve Lombard, though Cat Grant was a couple of steps away and staring at her, too.

"Yes?" Lois asked.

"Who are you and what have you done with Lois Lane?" Cat snapped.

"What?"

Clearly enunciating the words, Lombard said, "You're humming."

"And smiling," Cat added. "And you were here early today."

Lombard crossed his arms. "Clearly, you're not Lois Lane."

Lois huffed in indignation. "I love my work – I've always loved my work. There's absolutely nothing weird or unusual about me being happy to be here."

"What are you working on," Lombard demanded, leaning closer to view her monitor.

Cat eagerly closed in, too, and then wrinkled her nose. "Murder and rape statistics makes you hum and smile? Lois, you are one sick puppy."

She heaved a long-suffering sigh. "The new guy and I got mugged last night..."

Cat leered. "Did Super-stud save you?"

Lois glowered back. "No. I fought off my own attacker, thank you very much. But it got me wondering about Superman's impact on crime in the city."

"What about what's-his-name? Kent, wasn't it?" Lombard demanded. "He's built like a linebacker. I bet he's good in a fight."

"I didn't really notice," Lois lied.

Perry breezed into the bullpen and passed them on his way to his office. "Lois, stop distracting my reporters."

Lois threw her hands in the air in frustration, but Lombard and Cat chuckled as they went back to their desks.

Not even their teasing could ruin Lois' good mood, and their conversation about Clark was further proof that she wasn't dreaming or crazy and that he really was working at the Planet now. She put her earbuds back in with one last longing glance at the desk that – despite her warning to Clark yesterday – she'd come to think of as his and then focused again on gathering data.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been working before her IM popped up with a message from Clark. "Good afternoon."

She looked at it blankly for a second and then whirled to see him at the stringer desks. The sight of him there did even wilder things to her heartbeat than all her reflections about him that morning. Nobody looking at him would ever imagine he was the heroic alien who saved humanity, not with his goofy grin and Podunk flannel shirt, but not even the bulky blazer could hide his broad shoulders, and the thick, heavy glasses did nothing to conceal the light in his eyes when he glanced up and met her gaze. The hero in him was mind-blowing, but the man himself left her – Lois Lane, a master of words – speechless.

He winked and looked back down at his laptop, and a few swift heartbeats later, he messaged her again. "What are we working on today?"

Still not sure that she could act normal around him in front of her co-workers, Lois typed, "Schedule a conference room, and I'll show you what I've got."

"Umm...how do I do that?" he wrote back.

Grinning, Lois stood and walked over to him, reminding herself that she was just doing what her editor had told her to – showing him the ropes. "There's a scheduling system," she said, pointing it out to him over his shoulder and walking him through the steps to reserve the room. It was only available in half-hour increments, but one was open immediately and in the next half-hour block, so Lois had him snag it and said, "Bring your laptop."

"Thank you, Lois," he said, formally extending his hand but with a very boyish twinkle in his eyes.

It was her first opportunity to actually touch him today, and she fought back a smile as she shook his hand. Warmth spread through her again at his touch, like the rising of the sun. He was real, he was here, and he was going to stay if they could make this work.

Letting go before their handshake could become suspicious, she returned to her desk long enough to email him her notes and grab a pen and notepad. Then they started walking toward the conference room.

Casual small-talk was never her forte, and she mentally groped for a safe topic that wouldn't get them in trouble. Finally she asked, "How was your commute today?"

"Interrupted," he said with a sidelong smile. "But it all worked out. It's nice having a job that's a bit more flexible in terms of schedule."

"That's right," she said, pretending that she didn't know much about his other job. "You're also working the night shift doing reconstruction downtown. How is that going, anyway?"

"Slow but steady," he said with satisfaction in his tone.

In the conference room, Lois sat next to him at the table and showed him the data she'd been able to gather.

"It's sad," she said when he'd reached the bottom of her document. "Crime in the city dropped substantially after the battle, but it's been creeping up again over the last several months. We rally around each other in a crisis, but it doesn't take long before we're back to our old ways."

"Not entirely," he said, intently looking over the document again. "Crime hasn't returned to the pre-battle level and actually started to fall off again in mid-January."

"About the time Superman became a regular here." Of course, having Superman in Metropolis wasn't anywhere near as exciting to her as having Clark at the Planet. Without choosing to, she placed her hand over his.

He glanced at their hands and then up at her with a shy smile before turning his attention back to the laptop screen. "Almost to the day that I moved here."

She half-laughed and said, "Well, we won't be including that juicy tidbit in the article. What angle do you want to take on this instead?"

Clark shrugged. "You're the senior partner. You tell me."

Lois' heart soared, and she affectionately patted his shoulder. "This really is going to work."

In the end, they opted to leave Clark nameless (at his request) and simply write about Lois getting mugged for the human interest part of their story. Clark was good at the number crunching and making sense of trends, while Lois focused on crafting that data into something that might actually catch a reader's attention. All in all, she was very pleased with their progress when a knock on the door let them know their time was up. Lois glanced at the clock and realized they'd been working for almost an hour beyond their scheduled time.

It was pushing two in the afternoon, and Lois remembered her resolve to actually take a lunch hour today.

Glancing up at the superhero in disguise beside her, she was pretty sure she already knew the answer. Still, for the look of the thing, she asked, "You hungry, Kent?"

He glanced at her with knowing grin. Of course he was in the mood to eat – and they both knew it. "Sure."

She actually balled her hand into a fist to keep herself from reaching for his own. How on Earth or Krypton were they going to pull off the appearance of a platonic relationship, even for a short time? "Let's grab a quick bite from Jean's Beans and then get back to work on this. We probably won't have it ready for deadline today, but it should make tomorrow's morning edition without trouble. That'll give us some time to pound the pavement and get a good quote or two."

While Lois struggled yet again to find a safe small-talk subject, they rode the crowded elevator in silence. Even once they were on the street, she put her hands in her pockets to keep from reaching for his. They had crossed the street and were waiting in line before she thought of a suitable question. "So, your job with reconstruction, what's it like?"

He shrugged. "About what you'd expect. We've got most of the rubble cleared from the downtown at this point and all of the buildings that are repairable are back in use. The ones that were condemned are taking longer." In a lower voice, he added, "We still find human remains in those from time to time."

Finally surrendering to the impulse, Lois reached out and took his hand in hers, and he looked down at their intertwined fingers in surprise. Even if other Daily Planet staff might see, she didn't care. Besides, they needed to get this office romance off the ground ASAP.

He lifted his gaze back to hers and smiled before squeezing her hand gently in thanks and letting it go.

More for potential eavesdroppers than for Clark, Lois said, "That's gotta be rough on you guys. Have you found any personally?"

His expression was carefully neutral when he answered, "Several."

Of course he would, with the X-ray and super-zoom vision. Not to mention his enhanced sense of smell.

Giving him a wan smile, she said, "I'm sure the families appreciate the closure."

"I'm sure," he echoed, more solemn now.

Lois frowned thoughtfully at his change in mood and decided not to press him on it. They each ordered a sandwich and waited quietly until their orders were called. As they looked for a place to sit, she eyed the outdoor tables. It was still only mid-March, but it was a pleasant day, and one of the open tables was in the sun. Come to think of it, Clark would probably appreciate some sunshine, too. "Let's eat outside."

Once they'd settled in at their table, Clark asked, "So what's the next step with the crime-rate article?"

Lois chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Probably contact City Hall. Get a quote from the chief of police or the mayor or anybody else who wants to take credit for Superman's hard work." She smirked at him. "If we can find Superman, it might be nice to quote from him, too."

He fought down a smile. "Sounds like we have our work cut out for us."

His comment suddenly reminded Lois of another difficulty looming before them. "Just so you know, I didn't even tell Perry yet that I suspect a certain philanthropist might be behind the illegal gambling ring. I don't know if I would have admitted it to you if you hadn't guessed. Really don't say anything in the bullpen or on our computers about it."

"I guess it would be that sensitive," he murmured in answer.

When they got back to the bullpen, Lois saw Perry had sent her an IM about twenty minutes before, telling her to come to his office.

"The Chief needs me," she said to Clark. "Go ahead and call City Hall. If we can get an appointment, that would be ideal, but if not, let them know it's good press for the city and at least get us a quote from their PR people."

"On it."

A little nervous about what white lies she might need to tell, Lois headed to Perry's office. When she knocked, he waved her in, saying, "How's your partnership with Kent coming?"

Lois frowned thoughtfully as she considered what her opinion of Clark would be if she hadn't known his secret. "Not as badly as I expected. He's smart enough and knows how to follow my lead. There's probably no remedy for his fashion sense, but I think he'll work out okay." Inspiration struck, and Lois added, "He's still really green, though. As much as it pains me to say this, if you're serious about keeping him, better have him stick with me for a while."

Perry nodded. "Has he helped out with the gambling ring story yet?"

"We started working on it yesterday, but we got mugged after dinner last night. It got me thinking about crime rates in the city since Superman arrived. I've got a smaller piece, or rather we do, for you for the time being. It should be ready to run by tomorrow morning or whenever you can fit it in after that. Tonight and tomorrow will be focused on my mysterious lowlife. But I'd better warn you, it's going to be slow going with him."

"Or her," Perry added.

Lois shrugged. "Or them. Regardless, following the money has only taken me so far, and my sources on this one are more skittish than usual. I feel like I've hit a dead end, but there's a side-alley that might be promising. Some of the fighters in the boxing matches aren't US citizens, and they're not here of their own volition."

"Human trafficking?" Perry wondered.

Lois nodded. "We usually think of it in terms of the sex trade, but these men are bought and sold just like slaves. They're forced to fight in brutal conditions, and I suspect it's to the death on occasion."

Perry leaned back and considered it. "You know more than you're letting on."

Lois sighed hard in frustration. "It's just a gut feeling at this point, but it's like I'm skirting this great big spider web. There are these sticky threads that are all interconnected, but I'm still just on the edge of it. Where there's a web, though, there's gotta be a spider."

"That makes you scared to just plunge in?"

Lois gave her editor a disbelieving look. "Cautious, not scared."

He smirked. "Potato, pah-tato."

She rolled her eyes. "The big question is how do I go after the spider without getting tangled up myself? I'm beginning to think it's not possible."

"Anybody else, I'd assume that means you're giving up on the story, but I know you better."

"Yeah," Lois agreed, still not happy with the situation.

"Well, in that case I'd say don't run faster than your red-caped guardian angel can fly."

Lois huffed. "I haven't needed a man to rescue me on the job yet, Perry, and I'm not going to start now."

"Too bad," he said, though amusement sparkled in his eyes. "Superman usually makes for a good headline."

...

When Lois returned to her desk, Clark wasn't at his. She frowned thoughtfully and looked around the bullpen for him. Not seeing him anywhere, she pulled out her cell phone, plugged in her ear buds, and opened her police scanner app. Sure enough there was a high-speed chase going on right now, and as Lois listened, Superman intervened.

Smiling to herself, she settled in to work. About five minutes later, Clark sat down at his desk, and Lois crossed the bullpen to him. She showed him her phone with the police app still running. He nodded slightly, a knowing smile playing across his lips, and Lois had to force herself to look away. Act normal, she reminded herself. And normal-Lois would not be hauling the new guy off to a supply closet to make out right now. Forcing herself to focus, she asked, "Did you get a hold of City Hall before your bathroom break?"

"I...um..."

Lois faked an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes. "The phone number's on the Metropolis website, Podunk. Nobody uses the phone book here in the big city."

"Smallville," he corrected absently as he skimmed the Contact Us page. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and Lois commandeered the chair in the next stringer cubicle over, ready to jump in if he needed it. He didn't, of course. He was perfectly polite, and that gentlemanly sweetness got him through to the city's PR people in record time. Lois listened in wry amusement. If a woman was patient and kind, everyone assumed she was a doormat and walked all over her. She had to be firm if not aggressive to make any headway in the world. If a man was patient and kind, though, it won him respect. Maybe that was part of the difference in their writing, too. Lois had be a hard-hitter to get where she was today as a reporter. Clark, ironically enough, didn't. Having a male writing partner might just turn out to be more useful than she had expected.

He hung up the phone and gave her another grin that sent warmth rushing through her. "The MPD's Outreach Officer is booked solid today, but she's willing to stay after work for an interview. She wants us there a few minutes before 5:00. I assume that'll be okay."

"That'll be perfect," Lois said. "I'm sure she'll be happy with the reduction in crime, and I suspect she's willing to give credit where it's due. We have a couple of hours before we need to go meet her, so let's build some space into our draft for a quote along those lines, and see if we can't get it ready to submit right after the interview."

Clark nodded sharply in agreement, and they got to work.

...

They arrived at City Hall five minutes before closing, and the receptionist led Lois and Clark to the Outreach Officer's desk. She was on the phone, so they found a couple of chairs just outside her office and settled in to wait.

Lois leaned closer to Clark. "Good work on the high-speed chase today."

He half-smiled. "Thanks. I'm getting better at stopping the cars without destroying them. More often than not, they're stolen. Just some cosmetic damage on this one."

Lois smiled. "These and other superhero problems."

"Something like that."

The officer opened her door, and Lois and Clark both rose to their feet.

"Welcome," she greeted. "I'm Sgt. Kelley."

"Pleased to see you again," Lois answered, warmly shaking her hand.

Kelley tilted her head curiously and Lois added, "I remember you from the initial search and rescue after the Battle of Metropolis."

"You have a good memory," Kelley complimented her. "Please come in and have a seat."

Lois led the way but remembered her manners before she sat down, "Oh, this is my partner Clark Kent. He's a transplant to Metropolis since the Battle."

Kelley shook his hand as well and gestured to the other empty chair opposite her desk.

"Do you mind if we record this interview for accuracy in our reporting?" Lois asked as she pulled out her cell phone and opened a recording app.

"I don't mind at all." Kelley easily answered. "So the note said you have good press about our police force?"

Lois glanced at Clark, and he said, "Good press about the entire city, actually. We did an analysis of various crime rates here in Metropolis, comparing the first quarter of this year against the same time period for the last several years. Crime is down across the board."

Kelley nodded with a smile. "That's great news! We've noticed the improvement, too."

Lois jumped in with, "What do you attribute the drop in crime to?"

Kelley leaned back in her chair. "Well, there are several factors. One is that there are more blue-collar jobs available with the reconstruction, and that provides a boost for some of our most disadvantaged citizens and neighborhoods. The perception of law enforcement has improved as well, in large part due to our fallen brothers and sisters in blue who died in the Battle. And, of course, there's Superman."

Lois tried to keep the irritation out of her voice when she said, "I can't help but notice he's at the bottom of the list."

Kelley chuckled. "I saved the best for last."

Lois smiled in answer, relieved that Kelley was also a fan.

"These other factors are important, too, though," Clark said. "Thank you for bringing them to our attention."

Kelley shrugged. "Superman is a fantastic ally for our department, no question, but not even he can stop every crime every time. Humanity has to assume responsibility for our own problems and solutions at some point. I want to make sure credit is given where it's due."

Lois hadn't thought of it that way, and intrigued, she asked a few follow-up questions that kept them talking for another half-hour or so. As Sgt. Kelley escorted them to the front exit, Lois decided that the Outreach Officer would have a larger part of their word-count.

Kelley parted ways with them at the door, and as Lois and Clark walked down the steps of City Hall, she checked her cell phone for the time. It was pushing six o'clock, and the sun was starting to sink in the sky. Clark would start getting hungry soon. "How 'bout we go out for dinner and then head back to the Planet to finish this up?"

Clark smiled, but there was an edge of shy embarrassment to it. "Thanks, but I can't afford to go out every night. I could just run home, whip something up, and come join you."

He had practically walked into that one, and Lois grinned when she said, "Well if you're going to cook, why don't you come to my place, make dinner there for the both of us, and we can wrap it up without having to go back to the Planet."

His smile warmed to something more genuine, and Lois felt an echo of that warmth in her own heart. "I think I'd like that."

They hopped the subway since they weren't in a particular rush at this point, and Lois asked, "What do you think about Sgt. Kelley's perspective?"

"I think there's a lot of merit to it."

"But she places Superman outside of humanity – outside of that social contract," Lois protested.

Clark gave her a self-deprecating smile. "He kind of is."

The rest of the way home, the two of them debated back and forth about how to handle Kelley's portion of their article. When they got to her apartment, though, Lois gestured toward her kitchen and said, "Go ahead. Knock yourself out."

Shrugging out of his suitcoat, he opened the fridge and rifled through it. After a couple of minutes, he said, "How do you not starve? There's nothing here!"

"There is to."

"Apples, oranges, yogurt, milk, eggs. Some jam and..." he pulled out a deli bag and looked at it critically. "Expired lunch meat."

Lois snatched it out of his hand, glanced at it to check and yes, it had expired yesterday. She tossed it in the garbage. "I'm usually not home much," she explained.

He chuckled as he moved on to the cupboards, opening and briefly looking around in them. "Never let my mom see this. She'd freak out. Probably send me money to buy you groceries."

Lois flushed in embarrassment. "Don't tell her, then!"

Mischief danced in his eyes as he turned and grinned at her. "Alright, but only on the condition that you let me go get a few cooking supplies for you."

She sighed in frustration and then crossed the room to her coffee table and purse. Retrieving her wallet, she pulled out a couple of twenty-dollar bills and held them out to him. "Will this cover it?"

He took one of the bills and said, "Yes, and then some, if you like feta and mushroom omelets."

"Sounds delicious. I'll start working on Sgt. Kelley's contribution while you're gone."

Clark nodded in agreement and said, "Be right back," as he slipped through the door. Out of habit, she locked it behind him before booting up her laptop.

She hadn't even finished transcribing the statements from Sgt. Kelley that she wanted to use before there was a knock on her door. Glancing through the peephole, she saw it was Clark and let him. "That was quick."

He smirked as he crossed to the kitchen with his armload of groceries. "I walk fast."

Lois watched in fascinated amusement as Clark made himself comfortable in her kitchen, pulling out a large bowl, a whisk, a cutting board, a chef's knife, and a skillet. He moved so gracefully, even under the ridiculous flannel shirt, and with such confidence that she couldn't help wondering if he was X-raying the cupboards as he went or if he just remembered where everything was from when he'd cleaned her apartment back when it was ransacked. Since he wasn't constantly tipping his glasses down, she suspected it was the latter.

While the skillet heated, he chopped up mushrooms and green onion quicker than sight, and she chuckled. "Hungry?"

He gave her a sidelong smile and shrugged. "I get energy from the sun, but not things like protein or vitamins. I do need to eat sometimes, but I would have been fine with a peanut butter sandwich."

"So...hungry."

He chuckled. "Yes."

He cracked the eggs one-handed, and Lois asked, "Where did you learn to cook?"

He cast her a curious glance and, as he beat the eggs and added milk, he said, "My mom. She's a good cook and since she didn't have any daughters to teach, she improvised."

"Ah."

Lois felt like she was watching a cooking show as he sautéed the mushrooms and onions, added spices, and then transferred all that to another bowl. Then he started about a third of the egg mixture cooking. Lois would have just mixed it all together (if she had bothered to cook at all), and called it good.

"Oh!" he said, and crossed her small kitchen to the grocery bag still sitting on the counter. He retrieved a rounded loaf of bread and said, "Almost forgot the rosemary brioche. Do you want it toasted?"

"Sure," she answered, feeling ridiculously spoiled. If this was his idea of eating in, she might not ever eat out again!

Deciding such a nice meal deserved a better setting than "kicked back on the couch," she started setting the kitchen table. As she reached for the glasses, she realized they only had water to drink, and Lois frowned thoughtfully. Maybe she should invest in a bottle or two of wine. She'd learned back in college it wasn't a good idea for her to drink by herself, so she never kept any alcohol at home. Eyeing Clark as he put the finishing touches on her omelet, she felt a swell of hope that he would be a regular around her apartment.

He snagged a plate from the table and carefully placed the omelet on it then started the second one cooking.

Before she knew it, the second omelet was done, the toast was buttered, and Clark was pulling out her chair for her.

Lois grinned as she sat down. She could definitely get used to this.

"So," Clark said as he cut into his omelet, "what progress did you make on the story while I was out?"

"Just got some quotes transcribed and added."

"Do we want to take another day or two and explore those other factors Sgt. Kelley mentioned?"

Lois frowned thoughtfully. "We've got a pretty substantial article as-is. Maybe it would make a good follow-up piece next week, though, to take a more in-depth look at the human side of it."

Clark nodded, apparently satisfied with that, and focused on eating.

Lois savored several bites before a question occurred to her. "Where did you get the feta? I mean, the nearest place to buy a gallon of milk is the 7-Eleven two blocks up, and I doubt they carry it. Did you fly to Greece?"

He chuckled and wiped his mouth before answering. "No need to fly anywhere. There's a little specialty grocer one subway station down. It's near that Chinese place we went to in December, actually."

Lois felt like Watson being punked by Sherlock Holmes when she realized that Clark knew her neighborhood better than she did. "Hm. I never noticed it."

Clark grinned and rescued the third omelet from the stove. "Did you want to split it?" He asked. Lois shook her head, and Clark returned to their previous conversation. "Next time we'll go to that store together."

She nodded in agreement. "Just how much time did you spend stalking me and studying maps of Metropolis before you moved here?"

Clark's grin faded, and he looked down. A small part of Lois was pleased she'd punked him back, but mostly she wished she had thought a little bit more about the question before asking it. "Stalking's the wrong word."

"No," he softly answered, still looking down. "I did use my superpowers to check in on you. Usually just once or twice a day."

"Really?" Lois was pleasantly surprised it was that often.

He lifted his gaze again, and searched her face. "You're not angry?"

"No. Well, I mean, I assume you didn't watch me shower or - "

"No," he interrupted, "nothing like that. I just checked to make sure that you were okay."

She shrugged. "Then why would I be angry?"

"You were being spied on more than enough already," he said, and Lois could see it was still a sore point for him.

"Yeah, but those peeping toms weren't my boyfriend."

Lois hadn't meant to punk him with that one, but he froze at the word 'boyfriend' and a slow smile spread across his face.

Had he forgotten that little fact? Or was he really that in awe of if? Probably the latter, and it made her own heart soar to realize that.

She chuckled and stood to clear her now-empty plate. "And boyfriend? Thank you for making dinner."

"Of course," he said, still a little stunned.

Grinning to herself, she went back over to the living room and, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the couch, woke her laptop back up. "Want to hear the draft as it now stands?"

"Sure."

As she read through the draft, Clark finished eating, did the washing up, and came to sit on the couch behind her. When she finished reading, she rested her arms on his knees (which were on either side of her) and turned slightly so she could see his face. "What do you think?"

"I think you're still giving Superman too much credit," he said, leaning forward (close enough for her to catch of whiff of his clothes, and the scent reminded her of wind and sunshine) to point to one of paragraphs. "Sgt. Kelley put him at the bottom of the list, but you open with the quote about him being a fantastic ally for the department."

"Clark, I mean this in the kindest possible way, but you're biased on this one. Trust me, people will want to read more about Superman than they will blue-collar jobs."

He sighed in resignation, and Lois turned her attention back to the article, combing it over for stray typos. Finally she leaned back against the couch again.

"Good to go?" he asked.

"I think so." And she saved it to her DropBox for Perry.

"Good," Clark said, and Lois was suddenly aware that he was leaning close to read her screen over her shoulder when he was capable of reading it from outside the building. He didn't have to hover over her – he wanted to.

It was such a small gesture, but it made her hyper-aware that they had at least an hour before he had to leave to get ready for his construction job, and all the spy devices in her apartment were gone. With a few possible exceptions, that is.

She closed her laptop and flipped it over so she could pull the battery out. Her cell phone was next to the laptop on the coffee table, so she removed the battery from it, too. When she glanced up at Clark, he was giving her a cautious look, and it almost made her laugh. "I don't kiss and tell," she said by way of explanation.

He fought a smile and adorably lost, which really was disconcerting with the flannel shirt. Maybe she could even convince him to take it off, and all the better if he really did have the suit on underneath.

She stood and unplugged the smart TV before joining him on the couch and tucking her feet under her. He had taken his glasses off sometime during their writing session, and she reached out to let her fingers run through his hair.

Without a word, he shifted so he was angled more toward her, and she leaned closer, rising up a little on her knees to kiss him. He gently returned it, his hand caressing her cheek.

Warm affection rushed through her, but she held herself in check, matching his deliberate but intense pace. She'd long ago stopped being frustrated with his easily-overwhelmed super-senses. There was something almost teasing about the way he savored and explored her with every touch and kiss. It was different - or maybe alien was the better word - for her to take her time like this, but Clark had opened her eyes in so many ways.

Eventually he leaned back, looking stunned and short of breath, and Lois smiled in satisfaction that she could knock the wind out of Superman. Relaxing back to sit on her heels again, she said, "I've been paying attention to the wrong things tonight."

He smiled shyly. "No. Even I know better than to get in the way when you've got a story to write."

She chuckled and leaned in for another kiss. Somehow over the course of the next half-hour, she ended up sitting across his lap, all but melting into his arms. He'd just taken another pause to catch both his breath and his focus when his cell phone started beeping.

"Time's up?" Lois sadly asked.

"Gotta get ready for my full-time job," he confirmed, stealing one last, lingering kiss.

She smiled and caressed his face, feeling a hint of stubble. It reminded her that he'd never answered her question about how he shaved. With him working at the Planet now, maybe she'd finally be able to weasel it out of him. "See you tomorrow?"

He gently maneuvered her from his lap to the couch and rose to his feet. Putting his glasses and suit-coat back on, he said, "Yes. Where we get to do this all again."

A little breathless at the thought, she grinned and said, "Deal."