Chapter TwoClark turned up early to work the next morning, he wanted to get an early start on things. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself, though in the back of his mind a little voice kept saying that he wanted to see if he could catch Lois before she disappeared for the day. He dismissed it as friendly concern and nothing more.
But as he heard her breeze into the bullpen, coffee in one hand and newspaper in the other, he knew that was a lie. He sighed and turned his attention back to his computer screen, this shouldn't be this hard, he thought to himself.
This was Lois, it should've been easy. But he was constantly aware of and confused by his ever growing feelings for her lately. It was scary, how could he go from loving one person, to thinking he was going to be alone again for the rest of his life, to finding out that his best friend meant more to him than he first thought?
He wasn't as naïve as he used to be, he knew that something was going on but he was afraid of finding out what. His conversation with Chloe had certainly opened his eyes a little. Up to that point he hadn't been aware that he had been looking at Lois any differently, but Chloe had seen it and had been quick to point it out to him.
He looked up to see Lois fluttering around the bullpen and since her attention was distracted, he took a moment to watch her. She was rifling through a file drawer, her nose wrinkled in concentration, eyebrows furrowing.
When had his feelings towards her changed? When had he started seeing her as more then the brash, rude, bantering person he had spent the last four years being friends with? No matter what was happening between them he was glad that she was in his life.
"Hey Smallville." She said in a breezy tone as she sat down at her desk, though he couldn't actually see her.
Over the last couple of days he had noticed that her computer monitor had begun shifting across her desk, finally ending up in the middle so that his view of her was blocked. He was a little surprised that it stung so much.
At first he hadn't noticed but as the days went on, it moved further across and he could no longer put it down to the cleaning lady shifting things about. No she had done it on purpose but he didn't know why.
Realising that he hadn't answered her yet, he stood up so that he could see her but kept his head down looking through some papers.
"Hey Lois. Did you have a good time last…" He stopped mid-sentence as he looked up and saw her face, though she wasn't looking at him. She was busying herself with some paperwork but as he stopped, she looked up and frowned.
"Lois what happened?" He said, pointing to her face.
"Oh this? It's nothing, you should see the other guy." She said with a wave of her hand, dismissing it.
"Who did that to you?" He asked, and even he could hear the concern in his voice. He knew that this had happened but actually seeing the evidence of it made him angry.
"I said it's nothing Clark." She replied, her frosty tone telling him to drop it.
But something inside him wouldn't let that happen. He wanted her to tell him, he wanted her to feel like she could tell him. However before he could ask her again she walked over to the other end of the room.
He ran after her and followed her into a nearby storage room. She turned and raised her eyebrows as she saw him lock the door behind him.
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked, folding her arms in front of her and glaring at him.
He stood by the door for a few moments, trying to collect his thoughts. He didn't really know what he was doing. He just knew that he wanted her to talk to him. He took a step towards her and stopped.
"What happened last night Lois?" He asked again.
He saw her expression soften and for a moment he thought that she was going to tell him. But as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone again and the glare was back, along with a hint of something he couldn't recognise in her eyes.
"Why do you even care?"
"Lois you're my friend. I do care." He replied and what he did next shocked them both.
Without even thinking he raised his hand and gently cupped her chin, his thumb gently rubbing close to the cut on her lip, his eyes staring into hers. She blinked and shook her head free of his grasp. She stepped around him and headed to the door.
"Lois please," Something in his voice made her stop as she reached for the handle.
"Look Clark, I'm a big girl, I took care of myself and you don't need to worry about me." All of this she said with her back to him. "But thank you." She said quietly before opening the door and walking out.
Lois went back to her desk to get her things. She needed to get out of here and fast. What was going on with him? She wondered. He had made it perfectly clear that he didn't want anything but friendship so why was he all of a sudden so concerned over a little cut?
She had been trying so hard to distance herself from him emotionally, trying to do what she had told him and get back to being friends. She had thought she was doing a pretty good job at it too up until last night. And even though she had handled that particular situation herself, there had been a split second where she wished that Clark was there.
No, she needed to remember that they were only friends and nothing more. But he made it so hard to think straight when he did things like that. Though a part of her felt a little touched that he was so concerned, she knew that it was only out of friendship. She'd be kidding herself to think otherwise.
"Lane," She turned to look at Tess' new assistant. A short, blonde woman in her mid twenties by the name of Lydia. "Boss wants to see you. Now." She said curtly before walking off.
Great. And my day just gets better and better.
"Come in." She heard Tess call as she knocked on the door. Lois entered and rolled her eyes in frustration as she noticed that Clark was already in the room. "Sit down Lois." Tess said, her manner distinctly unpleasant.
"I've called you here because this concerns you both." Tess started, leaning against her desk.
"I heard about your shenanigans last night Lois. You know that it reflects badly on the Daily Planet to have one of our reporters arrested don't you?" Lois closed her eyes a shook her head. Of course she would have to bring this up in front of Clark. Why did everything always have to come out in front of him?
"Yes I'm aware of that but I wasn't charged with anything and they let me go after an hour." Lois said quietly, she could feel Clark staring at her but kept her gaze on Tess.
"It doesn't matter, until I can sort this whole thing out you're suspended."
Lois exploded.
"What? You can't do that! I wasn't charged with anything!" She said as she jumped out of her seat.
"You may not have been charged Lois but I can't have reporters on my staff who go around beating people up and putting them in the hospital." Tess replied flatly.
"First of all I did not beat anyone up, I was defending myself and second of all…"
"Lois that's enough. I don't wanna hear it. You're suspended, end of story. I will call you when I have decided if it's worth the trouble of keeping you on." Tess turned her back on a now seething Lois and turned to Clark.
"That means that you have an awful lot of work to do Clark. I want you to cover for Lois while she's out." Lois' mouth fell open as did Clark's.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Lois shouted. Tess ignored her completely and smiled at Clark.
"You up for the task Clark?" Tess asked with a smirk. Lois watched as Clark seemed to take a minute to weigh his decision up.
He's not actually going to do it is he?
"Miss Mercer…" Clark stood and put his hands in his pockets. "If you're going to suspend Lois over something that wasn't her fault, then I want no part in it. Find someone else to cover for her."
"You misunderstand me Clark, either you do what I tell you, or you'll be on suspension too." Tess replied, enjoying the fact that with that threat, he wouldn't say no to her.
"On what grounds?" He asked.
"Misconduct, for failing to do what your boss tells you to do." Lois, feeling like a spare part now, watched Clark as he stood a little taller and squared his shoulders.
"Then consider me on suspension because I'm not doing it." The smile immediately fell from Tess' face, clearly she hadn't been expecting that answer.
And evidently neither had Lois, because for the second time in a matter of minutes her jaw hit the floor.
"You sure you wanna end a career that's barely starting, for her?" She asked with a daunting tone.
"Is that a threat? You and I both know that you have no grounds to fire me but if you wanna do so then go ahead because I'm not just going to let you treat her this way. She hasn't done anything wrong." Clark said and Lois hadn't missed the way he had sounded so defiant, so confident. She was shocked to say the least.
Tess was quickly getting annoyed with the situation and if Lois didn't know any better, she could've sworn she saw her looking at Clark with a hint of disappointment. Maybe she had feelings for him. If she hadn't been so angry at that moment, Lois would've laughed at that thought.
"Fine, get out. You're both suspended for the time being. I'll be in touch soon but I don't want to see either of you within a hundred yards of this place until I do. Got it?" And with that, she turned her back to them, effectively dismissing them.
Outside in the hall Lois grabbed Clark's arm as he walked past her.
"Why on earth did you do that Smallville?" She asked, her voice a mixture of mild annoyance and appreciation.
"We're a team Lane. I can't work without the other half of it now can I?" He said, giving her the briefest of smiles before walking away.
Lois stood there for a few minutes watching him leave, a slow smile creeping up her face.
What had just happened?
