Chapter Eight
"So…what does this mean exactly?" Chloe asked as she and Clark sat in Café Metro at lunch the next day. Lois had declined their offer in favour of planning out her interview with the Blur. "You know she's writing down about a thousand questions right now?"
Clark pressed his hands to his face. "Yes, I know. But what else was I supposed to do Chloe? She's been working so hard trying to get an interview and she was there last night. She saw me."
Chloe scoffed before taking a sip of her coffee. "For your sake I hope not."
"You know what I mean. But do you think I'm doing the right thing? Going public I mean."
Chloe put her cup down and looked at him. "Well, what do you think you should do? What feels right to you?"
"I don't know. I know that helping people is important, it's what I was sent here for. But at the same time, I need to safeguard my identity. Maybe this article is just the thing I need. Lois will do a great job, I'm sure of it. She'll help the public see that I'm not a threat, that I have good intentions, and she'll do all that without knowing who I really am."
Chloe was watching him with a strange expression now. "What?" he asked.
"Nothing, it's just…how long have you had feelings for my cousin?"
Clark spat his coffee out and started coughing. "What?"
"Oh come on Clark, it's as clear as day that you like her." Chloe said with a grin. She was enjoying this, he thought.
"That's…well, I mean…" he stammered, not knowing what to say.
She smiled sweetly and then put on her best puppy face. "Come on Clark, I'm your best friend, you know you can tell me anything, right?"
Clark blinked. "You wanna play that card? Okay sure, tell me who you're dating and I'll tell you the truth."
That shut her right up. "Yeah, that's what I thought. But seriously Chloe, this guy, he's good right?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, defensively.
"He's a good guy isn't he? He won't hurt you?"
"Oh, no he would never hurt me. He's…" A dreamy look appeared in her eyes and Clark was curious to know who she was thinking about. "He's the best. You'd really like him."
Something in the way she chuckled had him wondering if he already knew this guy.
"Well, as long as you're happy. That's really all that matters." He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. She looked down at them and smiled.
"I am. Very happy."
"Good."
Chloe narrowed her eyes. "But Clark, take my advice, if you truly like Lois, don't wait. Tell her how you feel. You never know," she said with a wink. "She might like you back."
"But what if she doesn't?" He realised with that question he'd just confirmed everything Chloe had suspected.
"Something tells me she does. But there's really only one way to find out isn't there?"
He nodded and smiled. "So, what am I going to do about this interview?"
"Well, you're going to call her aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"How did you call her without her recognising your voice last night?" she asked with a frown.
"Oliver hooked me up with an untraceable phone and voice modifier."
"Ah, that makes sense."
Clark looked at her for a long moment, smiling. "I want to do this Chloe. I want her to know, even if I can't tell her who I am."
Chloe nodded. "I get that, I do. But Clark, just be careful."
Lois walked into her apartment later that evening, and plonked herself down on the sofa. Man, it had been a long day. The tension in the air when she'd seen Clark at work had been intense, to say the least. All day he kept staring at her, and she'd found it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes off him as well.
Yet neither of them mentioned the brief kiss they'd shared last night. The topic of conversation stayed on work and nothing else. The fact that Cat had come around, flirting like crazy with him, had only made things worse. And Clark hadn't exactly pushed her away.
Lois hated being jealous, but she could no longer deny that that wasn't what she was feeling. Yep, she had feelings for Clark alright. But from the looks she'd been getting from Chloe, it was clear that her cousin knew something was up. She was far too smart for her own good sometimes.
Deciding to take a nice, long, hot bath to improve her mood, Lois walked into the bathroom and started the water and went to get one of her magazines to read. Her phone started ringing just as she reached the bedroom.
"Hello?"
"Hello Lois."
"It's you." she breathed, her excitement at hearing his voice, going up. It was him, the Red-Blue-Blur.
"How are you?" His voice was deep, altered she knew, but still…him.
"I'm excellent thanks. How are you?"
"I'm good. Is this a good time to talk?"
"Yes, of course it is. I have to admit, I've been waiting for you to call. Are you still sure about your interview?"
"Lois, there's no one better I can think of that could write this."
Her smile threatened to split her face, it was so wide. "You've read my work?"
"Yes, I've read a lot of your articles. That's why I chose you."
She grabbed a pen and some paper and sat down at the table. "Okay then, would you like to start now?" Then, realising how that sounded, she grimaced. "Sorry, I'm not normally this pushy."
"No that's fine. And yes, now would be the perfect time. Where would you like to start?"
"Um, well…how about we start at the beginning. What's your name?" She closed her eyes and sighed. He'd already told her that last night. What is wrong with me?
"Sorry, um okay, where do you come from?"
He hesitated for a moment. "That's a long story. Are you sure you have the time?"
"I have nothing but time." she replied, tucking one of her legs underneath her to get more comfortable. Something told her she was going to be here for a while.
"Okay then. Well I was raised on Earth…" She started writing, trying to keep up with him when a thought occurred to her.
"Wait, are you saying…?"
"I wasn't born on this planet. Or anywhere near it, in fact. I was born on a planet called Krypton."
"I thought you were meteor infected."
"No, I came down with the meteors. That was my fault." He sounded guilty. But she couldn't understand that at all.
"How was that your fault?"
"A lot of people were hurt that day." He was starting to close off, this was obviously not a subject he wanted to talk about. "My planet was destroyed when I was a baby."
Even through the voice modifier, she could hear his voice change. As if it was painful for him to talk about this.
"I'm so sorry. What happened?"
"It exploded."
"And that's what caused the meteor shower?" she said, starting to understand how those meteor rocks could affect people if they came from a planet that housed super-powered beings.
"Yes."
"How does an entire planet just explode?"
"It's not important. But my parents, well my father was a great scientist on my planet. He built a spaceship for me, put me in it and sent me to Earth."
"While you were still a baby?" she asked, shocked.
"Yes. My parents wanted me to have a chance at a life. So they sent me to Earth, because I would blend in with the people here."
She shook her head, trying to understand. "Okay, you have to help me with something here. If you hadn't been sent to this planet, does that mean that the meteor shower would never have happened?"
"Well, no…"
"So even if you hadn't come down with them, the meteors would've still caused the same damage."
He sighed. "I suppose you're right."
"So if you'd stayed, you would've died like everyone else and we still would've had the meteor shower because the planet would still have exploded, only with you on it instead."
He let out a slow laugh. "I see your point Lois."
She grinned, feeling pleased with herself. "Good, you can't blame yourself for something that was never your fault."
"I guess so."
"So…you look just like us?"
"Yes, everything is the same. With one exception."
"Your powers."
"The yellow sun gives me strength, it's what gives me my abilities. When my father knew he was sending me to Earth, he had it all planned out. He carefully chose who would raise me and he left a piece of my planet in my spaceship. A very important crystal, with the ability to teach me everything I would need to know about my heritage."
"Wow, that's…incredible. Your parents must've loved you very much."
There was silence for a few minutes and Lois feared she had gone too far. But then he spoke and she relaxed.
"They did. They sent me to two amazing people who would raise me to be a good man, to be human."
"So you grew up here, and you…?"
"I adjusted every day to my abilities. But I know my purpose in this world, Lois. I'm here to help people. If I can save lives, it makes living with these powers, a little better."
She frowned. "You sound like you think of them as a burden."
"I used to. I hated being the only person who could do these things. But I know now that it's because I have a purpose."
It was a strange feeling, hearing him talk about himself like this. It seemed like something that was so personal, something he would only tell someone close to him. She couldn't think what warranted her as a confidant, but she had every intention of listening to him. He obviously needed someone to talk to and if she was honest, she thought he sounded a little lonely.
"It must've been difficult growing up like that. But I'm glad that you're where you are now. This city could use a hero or two."
He chuckled. "I wouldn't say I was a hero, Lois. I've made my share of mistakes."
"Humans do that, you know."
He fell silent again. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not seeing me as some kind of alien monster."
Her heart ached for him. "You're not a monster Kal. Hell, I've never even met you and I can tell already that you're more human than most of the scum around here."
On the rooftop across the street, Clark sat with his phone glued to his ear, hanging onto her every word. He felt a little like a stalker, watching her as she sat at her table, writing down every little thing he was saying. But he was seeing a different side to Lois tonight, and it was a side he liked very much.
"Next question?" he prompted.
"Oh yeah, uh…" He saw her flip through her notes, as well as hearing the paper rustle through the phone. "So I know you have powers, how many exactly?"
"Well, there's the ones you've already seen, speed, strength and so on. But there are others."
"Like what?" She sounded intrigued.
"X-ray vision." He frowned, a thought coming to him. "But Lois, maybe it isn't a good idea to put all this in the paper. It would only freak people out, I would imagine."
"Maybe, but then, if they saw you using these abilities and they didn't already know about them, that would scare them even more. At least this way, they have the information, and you can explain them in a little more detail so that they can understand them."
Okay, so she had a point. But listing all his powers seemed a little…well he didn't want to come across as an all-powerful being to be afraid of.
"You may have a point."
She chuckled, and it was a sweet sound to his ears. He'd never heard her chuckle like that before. "Okay, so x-ray vision. What's that?"
"Just like it sounds. I can see through things."
"What? Like anything?" she said, clearly impressed and maybe just a tad wary.
"Yes, but it's not there all the time. I have to focus on something to see through it."
"Ah, gotcha. Okay then, next?"
He drew in a lungful of air, steadying his nerves. This was harder than he'd thought it would be. As he began listing all of his abilities, Clark found himself staring at Lois with wonder. He wondered what was going through her head right now. He wondered if she was taking this all as well as she claimed, because since he could only see her back, he had no idea of the look on her face.
But her voice, it was sweet, strong and reassuring. The Lois he knew, and yet, something different too. Urging him to continue when he hesitated, softening in sympathy when he explained about his real parents. She cared. And that felt nice, even if she didn't know it was Clark she was talking to.
"So is there anything else you want me to write?" she asked when they were done. It wasn't until then, that he realised that they'd been on the phone for nearly an hour.
"No, I think that's everything. I know you'll do a great job Lois."
"Thank you, it means a lot that you trust me."
"I do. I know that tomorrow's Daily Planet will have a story that will change the world."
She scoffed. "Well, maybe not that much."
"Still, you are a great reporter. I know I don't have to ask but…would you write that I really have no bad intentions where this city is concerned?"
"You're right, you don't have to ask. That's a given."
He found himself laughing again. "Thank you Lois. I truly do appreciate this."
"No problem, I'm happy to help. And if you ever need anything, help, or just someone to talk to, I'm only a phone call away."
"I'll remember that." He said his goodbyes and hung up, but he didn't leave right away. He watched for a few more minutes as Lois got up, stretched her back and walked through to the bathroom where he couldn't see her. But he heard her loud and clear when she yelled.
"Son of a…!"
He was across the street and up the stairs of the Talon in a flash.
To Be Continued...
