12:41 PM
Lois glanced at her watch.
She had to meet her source at 3:00.
And of course, there would be kissing at 4:55.
She grinned, then quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.
Because, it wasn't like she was looking forward to it or anything.
"Hey, wanna get some lunch?"
She looked at Clark, who had suddenly appeared next to her.
"Lunch?"
"Yeah, you know, that meal people often eat around noon," he teased.
"Funny."
"Is that a yes?"
She shrugged, and stood up beside him. "Sure."
As she began to walk to the door of the bullpen, she is more than a little surprised to feel his hand on the small of her back, gently guiding her toward the exit.
When she turned to give him a questioning look, he simply smiled.
"You said to make it believable."
Giving him an appreciative nod, while also of course trying to deny that she was most definitely enjoying the warmth of his touch, Lois instinctively moved a bit closer to him, so his arm was now circling her waist.
"Nice to know you actually are listening to my brilliant advice, Smallville," she teased, stepping into the elevator.
"Always."
**
"Lois!"
Clark tried to push her hand away, but to no avail as she reached across the table and picked up the top of his hamburger bun, snatching off the onions.
"You're gonna kiss me later. No onion breath allowed," she said, taking the opportunity to snag one of his fries before returning her attention to the grilled chicken salad in front of her.
"And what about you?" he asked, gesturing toward her lunch.
Lois gave him a look. "No onions in this salad. See, I was being considerate."
He rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his burger. After a moment though, he froze, halfway to setting it back on his plate.
Watching, Lois leaned forward. She had gotten used to this in the months since she'd learned his secret.
"What is it?" she asked quietly.
"Fire over on 3rd and Main."
She nodded. "Go."
He gave her an apologetic look, then a grateful grin, before quickly walking out of the diner.
She watched him move briskly around the corner, probably heading to the alley where he could start his superspeed without it being too noticeable.
"Some lunch date," she said to herself, jokingly, while reaching over to take a few more of the now abandoned fries.
Truth be told, she was terribly proud of him. He had told her about some of the things he'd done in Smallville, and those had mostly been for the benefit of his family and friends, herself included on more than one occasion.
But he was putting himself on the line here in Metropolis. Risking exposure of his secret to the world because he just couldn't not help. Which reminded her, she had been meaning to talk to him about coming up with some sort of disguise. It would allow him to be more upfront when he rushed off to the scene of one of Metropolis' many accidents or tragedies. She knew that was what had helped Oliver accomplish his goals without his true identity being discovered. And even if she didn't quite agree with Ollie's philosophy all the time, she did admire the good that he did.
Of course, bringing up Oliver around Clark wasn't always the best idea. She knew they were friends, close friends even. They got along great, she had seen it for herself since Ollie had come back to Metropolis this past year. Clark had even started working more with the Justice League. But for some reason, whenever she mentioned him, Clark seemed to bristle at her talking about him.
Shrugging to herself, the mysteries of Clark Kent still managing to perplex her even after all the time she'd known him and everything she knew about him, she stabbed at a piece of chicken and took a bite.
"I guess congratulations are in order."
Lois swallowed quickly, looking up at Brian Nichols, fellow reporter and current competitor at the Daily Planet.
"For?"
"Don't play coy, Lane," he grumbled.
"Ohhh, someone's in a bad mood," she responded, taking a sip of her iced tea.
"Please, if the shoe were on the other foot, you'd be screaming bloody murder all over the bullpen."
Completely confused, Lois just stared at him. Giving her a quizzical look, Brian shook his head.
"I'm surprised. When I overheard Perry telling Kent he was giving you two the Rogers story earlier, I was sure you'd be gloating all over Metropolis in a matter of minutes. I definitely didn't expect to find you sitting in some random diner picking at a chicken salad."
Narrowing her eyes, Lois turned and glared at the empty seat across from her.
Oh, he did notkeep this from me.
"Lane?"
Snapping out of her angry daze, she quickly looked back toward Brian.
"I guess you don't know me as well as you think you do," she said, in an attempt at nonchalance.
"Guess not. Where's Kent?" he asked, motioning to the formerly occupied seat across from her, complete with an uneaten lunch in front of it.
"Errand," she grumbled, angrily attacking the lettuce on her plate. She was more than used to covering for Clark by now, but at the moment, she was too ticked off to come up with any more of an elaborate excuse than that.
"Right. Well, I'll let you get back to your lunch," he said, gesturing toward her plate. Lois gave him a slightly annoyed look, then a sarcastic wave as he headed to the counter to place an order.
With Brian's back turned and his attention elsewhere, Lois tossed down her fork.
She was gonna kill him. Superpowers be damned.
What the hell is he thinking? Oh wait, he's clearly not thinking. WHY wouldn't he tell me? This is the break we've been waiting a year for and he decides to just keep it to himself? What, is there a new color of kryptonite I don't know about yet, one that makes him stupid?
She took a long sip of her iced tea and stared daggers at his uneaten lunch. She then reached across and picked up his burger, taking a big bite of it before slamming it back down on his plate. As she did, her hand touched the pile of slippery onions she had taken off his burger earlier.
Because he was going to kiss her later.
Eyes widening at the realization, Lois suddenly fell back against the black and silver leather chair.
Is that why he didn't tell me? Oh my God…does Smallville actually want to kiss me?
A flash of heat ran through her at that thought, and she grabbed her iced tea and proceeded to down it in seconds flat.
As she sat there, slightly shocked, she tried not to acknowledge that she was actually borderline impressed at his sneakiness. She didn't know he had it in him.
In fact, she'd go so far as to say this was totally something she would do.
NOT that that lets him off the hook. The guy keeps a huge break from me so he can get me in a liplock? Okay, okay so it was all my idea to begin with, but he's supposed to be the straight laced one. And I can't believe I didn't even know he was hiding something. I'm so losing my touch. I mean, Smallville isn't the best liar in the world. Hell, the animals on the farm are better liars than he is. How did I NOT know?
Succeeding in riling herself up again, she reached across and spitefully took another big bite out of his burger.
Just wait til he walks back through that door. He's going to wish for death by kryptonite by the time I get through with him…
Crossing her arms in front of her, she stared at the glass door of the diner, as if that would bring the unsuspecting Clark Kent back through it sooner.
"You okay, Lois?"
She saw Brian, greasy bag in hand, standing next to her once again. Looking down at herself, her stiff cross armed stance, staring straight ahead at the door, she could only imagine what she looked like to the uninformed.
"Fine. Just…thinking."
Brian shook his head, then gave her a wave and walked out. He never knew quite what to make of Lois Lane.
In an attempt to loosen her tense posture, Lois uncrossed her arms and took another bite of her salad. Her thoughts continued to race as she kept a vigilant watch on the door.
You know, it is kinda sweet that he really wants to kiss me…
NO, no it is NOT sweet. He should have told me. He KNOWS how much this story means to me.
But he was probably afraid I'd back out of the kiss.
No way, he's probably just trying to teach me a lesson, in his Clark Kent way. Some ridiculous moral thing, like I shouldn't do such crazy things to get a story, or something equally as…well….Clark.
Or…he just really wants to kiss me….
"Argh, stop it Lois," she hissed to herself. Taking her now empty glass of iced tea, she tilted it back and retrieved an ice cube, shoving it in her mouth and beginning to crunch down.
Don't you know eating ice cubes is a sign of sexual frustration?
"Shut up," she groaned. She was really hating her conscience today.
You really should just let him kiss you. Clearly you need it.
"I said, shut up!" she snapped, a little louder than she had intended, drawing some stares from the nearby diners. Sighing loudly, she leaned forward and placed her elbow on the table, her chin in her hands.
There might be a better way to play this, Lois.
And now? Her conscience had her attention.
If any of the diners had looked over at her in the next few minutes, they would have seen Lois' countenance shift from anger to, well…smug. That would be the best word to describe it. The grin that lifted the right corner of her mouth gave her almost a wicked look, and that was the look that nearly stopped Clark dead in his tracks when he walked back in the door.
Damn, she was sexy.
Okay, sure, that look normally meant she was about to cause him some serious anxiety and / or try and give him a heart attack by getting herself mixed up in something he would eventually have to save her from.
But he couldn't deny that that look also made his heart pound so hard it blocked out every other sound his superhearing was attempting to pick up.
Walking back to their table, he slid into his chair. Looking down, he saw a good portion of his burger gone.
"Lois?"
Having not noticed him before that very second, she snapped herself out of her scheming thoughts, giving him her sweetest smile.
"Everything okay?"
"Oh, yeah…thankfully no one was injured."
"Thanks to you," she said, fixing him with her best 'hero worshipping' look. She noticed the color rise slightly in his cheeks before he cleared his throat and pointed to his now half eaten lunch.
"Oh," she giggled, "sorry, I guess I was hungrier than I thought."
Clark grinned, shrugging good naturedly before taking a large bite of his now cold burger. He was so hungry after his latest rescue mission, he didn't even care.
Watching him, Lois bit the side of her lip.
He wasn't gonna know what hit him.
**
The Planet had several unused office areas. And Jimmy Olsen couldn't be more thankful for that, especially today.
See, abandoned offices were a perfect hiding spot. Especially when one was hiding from a very feisty and, at least today, bloodthirsty Lois Lane.
He knew she'd calm down. Eventually. Clark would be able to pacify her, at least somewhat. He had a special knack for handling Lois. In fact, he was probably the only one who could. Or, more to the point, the only one she would let handle her. Probably because he did it in a way that didn't stifle her personality. It was obvious to anyone who watched that Clark adored of every one of Lois' quirks. He wouldn't have her any other way.
Picking up one of his cameras, he took the special lens wipe and busied himself carefully cleaning his 'baby', as he called it. He had just begun to relax in his latest 'saferoom', as he had taken to calling his hiding places throughout the day today, when he heard footsteps quickly coming down the hall. The footsteps slow as they neared the office he was using, and he had the sudden urge to throw himself behind one of the empty filing cabinets against the wall.
Jeez Olsen, could you be more of a wimp? It's probably just someone going up to the roof to have a smoke.
The footsteps stopped, and Jimmy held his breath. He saw the doorknob slowly turning and the large windowless oak door beginning to open. When it finally did, he was stunned into silence at what he saw.
Lois Lane. Leaning against the doorframe. And smiling the sweetest smile he'd ever seen her smile. When she finally spoke, her voice was laced with so much sugar he was sure that just listening to her was giving him a cavity.
"Jimmy. Just the man I'm looking for."
