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Chapter 4:

Chaos Theory

After spending five minutes with Davis Bloom, Lois was sure of two things: One – He was in love with her cousin. Two – There was something about him that made her stomach twist in apprehension.

The longer she spent in his company, the worse the pain got until she had to excuse herself and splash copious amounts of tepid water on her face. She looked pale and drawn in the low lighting of the bathroom of the coffee shop she'd chosen for their rescheduled interview, and as she brought her hand up to fan over her cheek, she let out a shaky breath.

She couldn't put her finger on it, and that, more than anything, upset her. Sure, she was predisposed to hating his guts because of her suspicions regarding his role in Chloe and Jimmy's breakup. But it was more than that. Every time he'd looked directly into her eyes during the interview, she'd felt a coldness sweep across her skin and the overwhelming feeling that he was stealing something from her irrationally invaded every nerve of her being.

Lois squared her shoulders and blew out another breath. She was behaving like a complete moron. She'd never met Davis Bloom before today, and if he and her cousin were carrying on then that was their business. She would not play morality police in Chloe's life. She could barely keep track of her own screwed up relationships.

Nodding once into the mirror, she collected her bag and rejoined him at the small corner table near the door. She only had a few more questions for him, thank God, and then she could go home for the evening and lose herself in the world of Kung Fu Theater.

"Sorry, Mr. Bloom," she excused herself, sliding into the seat across from him.

He smiled at her, although the smile barely reached his eyes. "Davis…"

"Right. Davis," she repeated, pulling out her notebook and pen once she was settled. "So, where were we?"

"I had just told you that I had been looking for a patient of mine and found myself in Linda Lake's room by accident," he said, a strong hand curling around his almost empty mug. "And you were about to tell me to stay away from your cousin."

Lois' eyes flashed up to his and found him staring at her with a knowing look on his face.

She thought about feigning ignorance for a moment, but the second she opened her mouth she knew that would not be enough. "If I thought it would do any good, I would've led off the interview with that piece of information," she said, folding her hands together in front of her. "But I will say this. If my cousin is going to try and get her marriage back, and you are her friend, then you'll do everything in your power to support her decision and not make it a tough one."

A small smile played across his lips. "You're just as straightforward as ever, I see."

Lois' brows drew together. "As ever? This is the first time we've ever met."

Something flashed in Davis' eyes and his gaze faltered from hers for a second. "Actually, we met once before, but you wouldn't remember. You weren't exactly…yourself."

Her own gaze faltered, but for a completely different reason. "Oh, man. How drunk was I?" she asked, frantically trying to recall their original meeting.

"It's not important," Davis said, waving his hand absently. "What is important is that Chloe is happy. If that means I leave her alone, then I'll leave her alone. But I'm not planning on going anywhere until she asks me."

Their gazes held across the table in a silent stand-off, and Lois' eyes narrowed when she saw that he meant every single word. She was more sure than ever that Chloe had in fact met up with him the other night when she'd run out of the Talon.

"What do you say we get back to the interview?" she offered calmly, although the sick feeling had begun to wash over her once again.

"I don't know how much more help I can be," he shrugged, draining the last of his coffee. "I've told you everything I know."

"What about the fact that you are the last reported person to see Linda Lake alive? There's got to be something you're not remembering about that night. She was found murdered not even ten minutes after a nurse saw you leaving her room." Flipping back through her notepad, her finger came to rest on the important piece of information. "There was only one patient signed in by you that night and that patient was on a completely different floor."

Davis' eyes darkened considerably, his lashes lowering to half-mast. "And what exactly are you implying, Ms. Lane?"

"Lois," she said, angling her head to the side and meeting his gaze head-on. "I'm not implying anything. I'm just asking you to try and remember even the smallest details. You never know what may or may not be the key to finding Linda Lake's murderer."

The tightening of his hand around his now empty mug didn't go unnoticed. "Well, as I've said, I've told you all I know. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, but if you'll excuse me…"

Pushing out of her chair at the same time as him, she cut off his escape and thrust her hand out towards him. "Thank you for your time. I'm sure that once I put all this together the answer will just leap off the page right at me," she said, wagging her notebook in the air.

Giving her a tight-lipped smile, Davis shook her hand quickly and sidestepped around her. Before he could disappear through the doors, Lois called out to him.

"Oh, and if you see my cousin before I do, would you tell her I need to talk to her?"

Hand on the doorknob, he nodded woodenly without facing her and then escaped onto the busy street to get lost among the thread of people headed home for the evening.

Sighing wearily, Lois wiped the self-satisfied smirk from her face and figured it was time she did the same.

The next morning, she found herself at the Planet much earlier than she normally arrived. Her story was itching to be written, but she couldn't figure a way to write the ending without sounding biased and slanderous. She needed more proof, but she had enough for a preliminary article establishing the fact that Linda Lake's murder was not, in fact, forgotten about and that the trail to the killer was most definitely heating up.

Maybe she'd get lucky and someone would phone in an anonymous tip thanks to the article.

People began arriving and tossing greetings her way, but she barely registered any of them until she heard the deep voice that somehow always seemed to penetrate even her most focused of moments.

"Morning, Lois."

"Hey," she tossed out, accompanying it with a quick smile so his girlish sensibilities wouldn't be offended and continued typing like mad. She'd finally found her stride and if she kept this up, she'd have this one finished before lunch, leaving her with plenty of time to go back to the hospital to do a bit more digging.

"Begins only has one g."

"What?" Turning, the top of her head almost collided with his chin. He was leaning down to get a better look at her screen, reading over her shoulder in that maddening way he knew drove her completely crazy.

"Your title. Linda Lake Murder Investigation Begins. Only one g in begins."

"Thank you Webster's Dictionary," she grumbled, turning back to her screen. "And what did I tell you about crowding me, Smallville?"

"I don't remember," he feigned, smirking, leaning even further into her personal space. "Want to remind me again?"

Lois could feel the heat of his body radiating off of him. Her own skin shivered in response, knowing that if he didn't back off soon she was going to do something foolish like kiss him.

Or decapitate him.

"Back off, champ," she warned, not so subtly rolling her chair back and over his feet.

Instead of the irritated cry of pain she'd expected and planned for, he graced her with soft laughter as he moved quickly to his own desk and shrugged out of his suit jacket. "You seem to be in a chipper mood today, Lois. Story going well?"

"It's going great, thank you," she said, turning her full attention back to the piece in question. "With any luck, after this story goes to print the murderer will slip up and it will only be a matter of time before he's caught."

Clark's silence was her only answer, and when she looked up at him she could see that he was gearing up for one of what she liked to call his 'protective lectures'. Sure enough, her shoulders squared just in time for his opening pitch.

"Maybe you should slow down a bit with this story, Lois."

"And why would that be, Clark?" she asked dryly, falling into her side of the now-patented routine.

"Well," his gaze shot around the bullpen, not lingering on any one thing long enough to matter. "For one thing, the police themselves have said they don't have any leads. And if you go around shaking things up you might run into trouble that you weren't expecting."

"That's my job, Smallville. What else you got?" she fired back, arching an eyebrow.

His eyes finally met hers, and she could tell from his expression that their little volleying game was not so funny to him anymore. "How about the fact that if this person could move through a secure hospital undetected and literally get away with murder…what makes you think they'd hesitate to hurt you if given half the chance?"

Lois sighed, her patience wearing thin but her regard for Clark held her emotions in check. He was incredibly overprotective and on any given day the care with which he treated her made her feel things she shouldn't be feeling. But she had a job to do, and if he couldn't respect that…the one thing she had left in the whole world that made sense to her…then he'd just have to politely move out of the way.

"I carry my phone with me at all times. I have two cans of pepper spray in my bag and a Swiss Army Knife. My army brat training is enough to get out of a tight spot and besides, I eat my Wheaties." When her little joke was met with stony silence, she sighed again.

"Smallville, the protective thing? It's appreciated and all, but really. Enough is enough. I'm a big girl and this is my job," she emphasized, gesturing to the bullpen at large. "I don't tell you not to chase the important stuff because you might get a boo boo. And I expect the same courtesy from you."

Clark's eyes flashed like he wanted to say something, but to her relief, he thought better of it and settled himself in front of his own computer. "Whatever, Lois. Just be careful."

"Always, Smallville," she chirped with a grin. "Always."

They passed the rest of the morning in companionable silence working on their respective stories. Lois was just putting the finishing touches on her conclusion when the copy boy – the one who's name always eluded her – approached her desk with an arrangement of flowers.

"Ms. Lane, a courier just dropped these off for you," he announced, a silly grin lighting his face as he placed them gently on the desktop.

Lois looked up from her computer screen, her brow furrowed. "Flowers?"

"Seems you have an admirer," the eager young intern said, his cheeks flushing quickly.

"Thanks, uh…" Searching her memory for his name, she simultaneously began looking for a card among the yellow roses.

"Jeff."

Clark's low voice supplied her with the answer, and when she looked up to thank him she saw him staring at the large arrangement now separating them.

"Yeah. Thanks, Jeff," she said, giving the boy a quick smile and resuming her search for the card. She wasn't aware of the kid's departure, but she was intensely aware that Clark had not resumed his typing.

Clearing her throat, she finally fished the card out of the tangle of stems.

"So…who sprung for the roses?"

Lois avoided his gaze, the one she could now feel trained on her face.

"You know that guy from first class I was telling you about?" she asked, shrugging as she chose not to complete the thought. Mark had been nice enough, but the chances of a second date were not all that likely.

"Right."

An awkward silence fell over them, one in which Lois tucked the card out of sight and resumed her own typing as quickly as she could. Clark's keyboard, however, remained untouched.

"I never took you as a flower kind of woman," he said finally. The statement was just strange enough to earn her full attention once again.

"What?" she asked, staring at him in confusion. "And why wouldn't I be a 'flower kind of woman'?"

Clark's own expression was completely unreadable as he considered the arrangement sitting innocently on the corner of her desk. Shrugging, he said, "Monster Truck Rally tickets…the latest Metallica album…Season 4 of Kung Fu Theater…"

"What?" she asked again, her eyes sliding back and forth between the bouquet and his face.

He shrugged again, as if it was completely obvious and should be to her as well. "Those things…you'd like all those things a lot better than some unoriginal flowers that'll wind up dying anyway, wouldn't you?"

Her mouth opened to retort, but she found that the words wouldn't come. He was right. She would much rather receive those as tokens of admiration than a bunch of flowers that would most definitely perish under her forgetful watch.

"That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the gesture," she felt the need to point out. An overwhelming desire to throw something at his infuriating head overtook her. She hated that he knew her like that. The fact that he knew exactly what would make her happy didn't please her in the slightest. In fact, it made her downright angry. Didn't he understand that this kind of thing was off limits between them now?

A muscle in his jaw jumped and his eyes darkened considerably as he let his gaze fall away from hers and back to his computer screen. "I take it that means a second date is in the works?" he questioned, attempting for nonchalance she assumed, but failing miserably. The tense, clipped tone of his voice jumpstarted her nerve endings and the reaction took her by surprise. He almost sounded…

Jealous.

And she almost liked it.

The situation was quickly spiraling out of her realm of comfort and she hated the fact that she'd allowed it to once again take over her concentration and focus. Shaking her hair off her shoulders, she redoubled her efforts to put all her attention into her story and averted her own eyes to her own screen.

"I don't know. Haven't thought about it," she said, making sure he could hear and understand the finality in her tone. She was not going to discuss her personal business any further. Not here, and not with him.

They couldn't do that kind of thing anymore.

Matching scowls reflected off the screens of the two reporters, neither aware of Jeff's return to the bullpen until he was standing right on top of them.

"Ms. Lane, one more thing dropped off for you," he said, the blush overtaking his whole face now. "You're mighty popular today."

"Can the commentary, kid," she said, snatching the letter out of his hand. The smile slid off his face so quickly that Lois felt an instant stab of remorse. "Uh…look, Jack –"

"Jeff."

Sparing a quick glance at Clark before turning to the intern, she offered an apologetic smile. "I'm really busy, so if anything else happens to get delivered for me, put it in the break room and I'll grab it on my way out, okay?"

Jeff's face relaxed and he nodded his understanding. "Sure thing, Ms. Lane. Sorry to bother you."

Lois sighed at his retreating form, gearing up for round two of the awkward and strange. She noticed, however, that besides Clark's assistance with what's-his-name's name, he hadn't looked up or stopped working. Seemingly in the clear, she checked the front of the envelope for a return address, but the only writing on the outside was her name in neat, unremarkable handwriting.

Intrigued, she slid her finger under the fold and removed the letter inside. But once her eyes absorbed the words written on the paper, all thoughts of intrigue flew out of her mind.

Stop looking into the Linda Lake murder if you know what's good for you.

This is your first, last and only warning.

She felt the color drain from her face as the threat washed over her, but moments later her shock was replaced with boiling, white hot anger. More than ever, she was determined to nail this son of a bitch.

Too late, she realized she heard silence coming from Clark's direction again, and when she looked over at him she found him staring with fierce concentration at the piece of paper still clutched tightly in her hands.

Folding it quickly, she shoved it into her bag. "Stupid love note," she said, rolling her eyes for effect. "Must've forgot to put it with the flowers."

Clark's face remained rigid, his jaw clenched hard, eyes flashing dangerously and for one crazy instant, Lois could almost believe that he'd seen the letter. Shaking it off as illogical and impossible, she cleared her throat and resumed her work on formatting the article in question.

She could feel him staring at her, but she wasn't going to share the letter with him. There was no way. He'd go all caveman on her again and demand that she drop the story before something bad happened. And she just didn't have the energy to go another round right now.

Still, when an entire minute had elapsed and he remained in exactly the same position, she chanced another glance at him from around her computer screen and saw the warring emotions battling across his face. Figuring the safest course of action was to remove herself from the situation entirely, she saved her progress and clicked off her monitor.

"Going somewhere?" he questioned, his eyes flashing with something that Lois could only classify as worry. But why he'd be worried about her…

Unless he'd actually seen the letter…

Shaking off the possibility once more as impossible, she grabbed her bag and her press pass. "Yeah. I think I'm going to head back to the hospital and do a follow up interview with the nurse. I was checking some of my facts and there's a gap or two I want to fill in. Catch you later, Smallville."

Heading towards the stairs, she realized that it wasn't actually a lie. She'd stop at the hospital first to see if they had a particular EMT's handwriting on file. If not, there was no reason she couldn't swing by his apartment for a follow up interview with him as well, was there? And if he wasn't actually there and she just so happened to find any paperwork she'd be able to match up with her letter, then she'd consider it a successful day.

"Either way, I'll get you, Davis Bloom," she muttered, taking the stairs two at a time.

************************************************************************

Despite his ability to move faster than the speed of sound, he slowed his pace down to a near-crawl the closer he got to Davis Bloom's apartment. If he found Lois where he had a hunch he would find Lois, he would need every moment of clarity he could afford himself right now.

The letter she'd received at the Planet was an outright threat and it was all he could do not to rip the offending paper out of her hands and demand that she drop the story.

But his will to live was stronger than that.

Muttering under his breath in frustration, he focused on trying to come up with an excuse for his soon-to-be presence at Davis' place. Lois hadn't told him her destination after her pit stop at the hospital, and he couldn't very well come out and tell her that he could see through solid objects, or that he could hear her when she was barely breaking a whisper.

Luck was on his side, however. Lois' car was parked right outside.

Subtle.

Rolling his eyes, he yanked the lobby door open and prayed he would bump into her on her way out.

Searching the ground floor and coming up Lois-less, he sighed and focused as hard as he could on filtering out all the other sounds invading his mind, searching for the now-familiar heartbeat that signaled she was alright.

It called out to him immediately, steady and strong. Pressing the call button on the elevator, he leaned against the wall and settled on telling her that he'd gone out for lunch and spotted her car. At least the story would put her on the defensive, forcing her to explain why she was breaking and entering and possibly eliciting an explanation about what she'd hoped to find.

The plan began to unravel the second he spotted Davis Bloom opening the lobby door. Instincts kicking into overdrive, he sped around the corner and through the stairwell door before he was spotted. Within seconds, he was outside Davis' door and all thoughts of subtlety were tossed out the proverbial window as he barreled into the apartment.

Lois jumped at the sound of the intrusion and whipped around guiltily with a stack of papers in her hand. Upon seeing him, she clutched her free hand to her chest and blew out an angry breath.

"Smallville, what the hell –"

His ears picked up the jingling of keys from down the hallway and without a second thought, he grabbed her hand and scanned the room quickly. Finding the hall closet fairly empty, he pulled her along after him, blocking out her irate protestations as he opened the door, tossed her inside and followed her in moments before Davis' keys met the keyhole of his front door.

Even in the semi-darkness he could see Lois gearing up for a tirade. His hand darted up to cover her mouth and he nodded slightly towards the door. Her eyes narrowed, but when she heard the front door open they widened again and stared back at him in surprise.

Clark shifted slightly to angle his head for better hearing, hoping that Davis' stop at his apartment was just that – a stop. He didn't relish the thought of being stuck in a hallway closet for the remainder of a day that, for all intents and purposes, had not been on his list of favorites to begin with.

Lois shifted her own body then, and all thoughts of vacating the small confines flew out of his mind. Her hands rested against his chest, keeping a natural barrier between them…but not much of one. He could feel the closeness of her body in every nerve of his own, and he wasn't sure whether it was the scent of her hair or the lack of oxygen in the close confines that had him feeling slightly dizzy.

His eyes had adjusted to the lack of light enough to see that Lois' senses were on full alert as well. She was now staring at the door, holding her breath, head inclined to pick up the slightest movement from outside.

Clark slowly removed his hand from over her mouth, realizing too late that there wasn't much room to maneuver his arm away from her completely. He let his hand settle on her upper arm, and the second his skin came into contact with hers he felt her tense up under his touch.

Frowning slightly, he focused on her profile and tried to rid himself of the sinking feeling he got from the change in her posture. She was stiff against him now, pushing at his chest with light pressure as if to give herself some distance. His frown deepened as he rationalized that the she was the reason they were in this predicament in the first place.

The sound of Davis' footsteps across the wood floors grew increasingly louder, and he could feel Lois suck in a nervous breath. His arm instinctively tightened around her waist, bringing her flush against him without the pretense of her hands to keep them apart.

The entirety of his focus was on her face now, watching as it slowly relaxed at the sound of the footsteps disappearing into the other room. She began to pull away from him and Clark knew she meant to make a run for it, but his arms kept her in place. There was no way they had enough luck to make it to Davis' front door before he heard them and reappeared to investigate. Especially since Lois had about as much finesse as a bull in a china shop on a good day.

Her eyes found his questioningly, eyebrow raised in silent argument. He shook his head, letting her know that they were going to stay put until Davis left his apartment or some grace of God occurred to allow for their escape.

She wriggled in his arms, trying to regain some of that personal space she'd lost from only moments before, but the movement did little to free her and more than its fair share of driving him slowly insane.

His senses were filled with her now…her scent, the feel of her skin, the heat radiating off her body…all were beginning to overwhelm him to the point of no return. He'd been so careful to keep his distance from her since the wedding, calculating just how close to her he could be without thoughts of kissing her invading his mind and taking up permanent residence. And he'd felt that he was winning that particular battle with himself.

Until now.

Something in her eyes flashed and for the first time in a long time, Clark felt as if she was letting him see into her without the pretense of the boundaries she'd tossed up to protect herself from whatever had shifted and changed between them. He reached out for that something and held her gaze steadily, his thumb brushing lightly back and forth across her upper arm without even being fully aware he was doing so.

He knew he should be listening for Davis and any impending signs that he was aware of their presence in his home, but the only thing he could hear was the erratic heartbeat emanating from the woman who was now beginning to blush in his arms.

His eyes flickered down to her lips, pursed in a tight line at first but falling open under his gaze, and his head inclined towards hers so slowly that time almost seemed to move backwards within their little hiding spot.

A million thoughts raced through his mind as he felt her hands ball into fists against his chest. A million memories of her and all the moments they'd spent together over the past four years flooded over him, consuming him to the point of total distraction. This wasn't how this was supposed to happen…trapped in a closet, the threat of being arrested for trespassing a very real possibility…

But before he could put a stop to his own progress, Lois increased the pressure of her hands against him and averted her eyes to the fingers that were now shaking slightly over his heart.

The gesture was small, but in its clarity Clark knew that she was finding the strength to be strong for the both of them. In that moment, he was more certain than ever that Lois understood him even when he couldn't understand himself.

The thought both terrified him and excited something in his blood that had Chloe's words burning repeatedly through his mind.

Lois Lane is a part of your life now.

Closing his eyes against the assault on his senses, he took a steadying breath and forced himself to remember that he needed to be focused on getting them out of here without being caught. At the same moment, he heard her sharp intake of breath and the sounds of water running from the other room.

"Shower," she mouthed, her eyes meeting his hopefully.

Giving the outer room a quick scan and seeing Davis moving into his bathroom, he nodded at her and grabbed her hand. Once he saw that the coast was clear, he twisted the knob gently and proceeded to the front door as fast as he could with Lois in tow.

There was a grand total of fifteen seconds of relief and silence as they made their way into the elevator before turning towards each other and shouting simultaneously.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"What were you thinking, Lois?"

"Almost gave me a heart attack –"

"Invasion of privacy mean anything to you?"

"Bursting through the door like some damn superhero come to save the day!"

"How about breaking and entering?"

"Just once I'd like to be able to do my job without worrying about getting a lecture from you!"

"I'm pretty sure racking up felonies isn't on your list of rules of good reporting!"

The elevator slowed to a halt at the lobby and as soon as the doors opened, they marched off – in perfect sync – towards the front of the building.

"You haven't explained what you're doing here, Smallville," she pushed, throwing her shoulder into the door and spilling out onto the sidewalk.

"Neither have you," he growled, keeping pace with her as they crossed the street and ended up at her car.

"Do you need a ride?" she fumed.

"I took my truck," he snapped.

"Good."

"Fine."

"Thanks for the save," she clipped, hotly, yanking open the driver's side door.

"You're welcome. See you back at the Planet," he retorted, stalking off in the opposite direction.

He could hear the squeal of her tires as she pealed out into traffic, fisting his hands at his sides and releasing a pent-up breath as he approached his own car.

Careful to mind his strength as he entered the truck, he realized as soon as he was seated that he was completely, 100% exhausted. His forehead dropped to the steering wheel and his eyes closed wearily as his mind tried to wrap around the frustrating, confusing, exhilarating chaos that had made up his day.

Lois Lane is a part of your life now.

The smallest of smiles tugged at his lips.