Chapter Nine

The Lois Factor

"Finally, you're back." Lois said as Clark came into the newsroom. It seemed like he had been on that date of his forever, and he was whistling; what was that about? "I was beginning to wonder if you decided to charter a jet with Lana or something." Clark looked at her. He was smiling. It was annoying. "Well, as nice as it is that you have finally claimed yourself a social life, we have work to do." Okay, that was a little low. Since when was Lois big on social lives? She was practically a workaholic herself. She should just be happy for Clark. She cleared her throat, "Look at these." She said, giving Clark what Jimmy had found her.

"Phone records?"

Lois nodded, "Ted Raymond's phone records. All of last week, including when he was holding me captive, Raymond was making regular phone calls to an unlisted number. Now, we could just shrug it off as personal business, if it were not for the fact that while in the middle of doing something illegal, he still made one of these calls."

"Then he might not have been working alone."

Lois smiled, "That's what I was thinking."

"You can't find whose number it is?"

"Jimmy's working on it."

"So right now we're waiting?"

"I hate waiting." Lois said, pouting a little. Clark watched her, loving her cute, determined pout. She sighed, "So, how was your date?" Lois asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"It was good." Clark said, smiling as he thought about it.

"How good?"

"What do you mean 'How good'?"

"I mean how good? Was it, 'let's go out again' good? Was it, 'I got lucky' good? Or was it, 'let's call mom and book a church' good?"

"Lois!"

"What? I'm just asking."

Clark sighed, "It was good. I had a good time. That's it."

Lois rolled her eyes, annoyed, "Clark, I just want to know-"

"Not everything's your business, Lois!"

"Excuse me?" Lois and Clark both turned toward the voice, "I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"

Clark recognized the woman as Mallory.

"No, not at all."

Mallory smiled thankfully at Clark, and then turned to Lois, "Ms. Lane, I'm Mallory, and I just wanted to apologize for what happened to you. I'm sure Superman filled you in, and for my part, I am extremely sorry."

Lois stared at her blankly. Superman had not actually told her all that much when he rescued her, and she had not seen him since.

Clark, on the other hand, turned to Mallory, "Yes, he did, but he said you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Just be a little more careful who you give information to next time."

"Oh, believe me, I will." Mallory said guiltily. She headed off in another direction.

Lois looked at Clark, "Want to fill me in?"

Clark smiled, "Mallory gave Superman a tip that helped him find you."

"Oh." Lois said.

Clark came down the stairs to the smell of something amazing. He saw Lana at the stove, wearing a white apron with pink trimmings.

"Hi," she said turning around, smiling when she saw him, "Lois is out for the night; she said she was going to be working late, so I thought I'd make you dinner."

Clark smiled. It had been about a week since their first date. Since then, they had been out twice, each date ending with a perfect kiss. Clark was starting to get comfortable with Lana. He was enjoying getting to know her again, and he really liked her. He felt like she really liked him too, which was always nice.

"Well, it smells great." He said.

Lana smiled appreciatively. "I'm making salmon-broccoli loaf with dill and capers. Would you like an appetizer?" she held a dish of bruschetta out to him. He picked one up.

"Wow, I feel like I'm in a restaurant."

Lana looked at him, "Too much?" she asked, concerned.

"No, no. It's great."

Lana smiled, relieved. "It should be ready in a minute or so."

"I'm looking forward to it," he said, smiling.

Lois had been waiting a week for Jimmy to track down that number, and still nothing. She was starting to get impatient. Whoever had been calling Ted Raymond was clearly talented when it came to covering his or her tracks, and that could only mean this story would be huge. Lois hated waiting around.

"Hey, Mallory!" Lois called out, seeing the woman pass by. Mallory turned, "Can we talk?"

"Sure." Mallory said, seeming surprised.

Lois decided to start with the obvious first. It was probably the best tact. Gratitude, then favor. "First, thank you, for helping Superman find me."

"Oh, of course, I was sort of my fault in the first place, so-"

"Well, see, that's the second thing." Lois interrupted. She knew it was a long shot, but maybe this girl knew something. "How exactly were you involved in it?"

"Oh, um, well, this guy asked if I knew where you were and he said you two were dating or something and he couldn't find, and he seemed genuinely worried, so I told him to try Clark Kent's apartment."

"Oh." Lois said, a little disappointed, "Well, is there anything else you can tell me?"

"You mean, you want me to be your source?" Lois shrugged. Mallory's eyes brightened. "Well, that's amazing. I never would have thought … um, sure. Yes. I would love to answer your questions Ms. Lane."

"Lois."

"Lois."

"That, was amazing." Clark said, clearing his plate.

"Just wait until you try dessert."

"Dessert?" Clark asked, mystified.

Lana nodded. "Chocolate mouse."

"You're unbelievable." He pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her, and kissed her. The kiss was starting to intensify a little when the phone rang.

Clark reluctantly pulled away from Lana. "Um, I'll-" Lana nodded, and stood waiting as Clark got the phone. After a minute, he came back.

"That was just Lois. She just wanted to make sure I knew she was working late and didn't think she had gotten herself kidnapped again."

Lana grimaced a little. Clark stepped toward her, planning to pick up where they had left off, but Lana retreated.

"Clark, I think we need to talk." Lana said, heading over to the couch. Clark followed and sat down next to her.

"All right. Is everything okay?"

Lana sighed, "Clark, I really like you. And I think you really like me too?" she said it as a question.

"Of course I do." Clark said.

Lana smiled, "Good." She took a deep breath, "because I can see this going somewhere. But, before we go any further, we need to talk about you and Lois."

"What about me and Lois?"

"I just need to know if there's anything there, between you two. Clark, do you have feelings for her?"

Lana looked at him, expectantly. What do you say to that?

"Honestly?" Lana nodded, "I have had feelings for Lois, for some time now." Lana sighed, looking down, "but, she has never looked at me that way. And, I've had feelings for you for … almost as far back as I can remember. I care for both of you, a lot. But when you get right down to it, all Lois and I are ever going to be is just friends." He reached for Lana's hand, "and I don't want to be 'just friends' with you."

Lana looked up at him and smiled, "And if someday Lois opens her eyes and sees just how amazing you are?"

"I honestly don't know what I would do, but I would definitely have to think about it, and that would not have been my response a few weeks ago. I really like you Lana. I cannot help that I care for Lois, and I am not going to lie to you about it, but I think that this could be something really amazing, if we give it a chance."

Lana smiled, "You're quite the wordsmith Kent."

"Well, it is my chosen profession." Clark said with a smile. Lana leaned in and kissed him gently.

"I don't know, it just seems sometimes like I'm the main kidnapping target in Metropolis." Lois said. Her and Mallory had been talking for hours, and both of them had had a little to drink. Not a lot, mind you, but enough to make Lois a little less business and a little more personal.

"Well, you know why that is, don't you?" Lois shrugged, "Come on, Lois. Everybody knows you have a pretty personal relationship with Superman."

"That's not true."

"It's not? So you two aren't-"

"I don't know what we are. I mean, he's Superman, SUPERMAN. How is a girl supposed to…ugh, look, every woman in Metropolis is in love with him, at least a little bit. What makes me any different?"

"Because he's in love with you too." Mallory said quietly. She gave Lois a minute for that to sink in. Then, Lois burst out laughing.

"No he's not. He's not in love with me. Superman's not in love with me, Clark's not in love with me, nobody's in love with me."

"What does Clark have to do with anything?"

"Nothing." Mallory nodded, "It's just, you know, when he told me he loved me, even though he was lying, I believed him, and ever since then, things have been … it's like he opened up this possibility in my mind, and now…" Lois threw her hands up in the air. "I mean, I have a good life, and I'm happy. At least I think I'm happy. What is happy anyway? How do you know if you're happy?"

"I think when you have everything you want."

"Well, I have that. Professionally at least. It's just, the other stuff. That's all very complicated."

"Well, if it were me, I would just get together with Superman and forget Clark, but that's just me."

"Hey, wait a minute, Clark is a great guy. He is an amazing guy. I've never known anybody quite as amazing as him." Lois said wistfully.

"And Superman?"

"Superman is … not an option."

"You still don't get it, do you? You got the first Superman exclusive, and almost every interview after. You can consider him a close friend, and he considers you one. You spend more time with him than anybody. You named him for god's sake. Without you, he is nothing. If you told him to stop saving the day, he would. You own him. You are the key, Lois."