The Man Of Steel, The Woman Of Mettle

Chapter Fourteen –- The House Of Lane

Xxxx In The LastChapter xxxX

Clark smiled ruefully, and then a curious expression crossed his face.

"Lois, can I ask you a personal question?"

Wondering, just what mystery she had left, she nodded. "OK, Smallville, what do you want to know?"

Reaching up he pulled a strand of her hair from her shoulder, wrapped it around his finger, and then let it go. "What is your natural hair color?"

Xxxxx And Now Chapter Fourteen xxxxX

The sun was just illuminating the loft when Lois' computer joined her in sleep. Gradually, she started to lean and it wasn't long before she was stretched the length of the couch.

Clark darted through the loft's window and hovered near her. Her sleep softened features almost looked like someone… else. He opened the bundle he was carrying and spread it over her. Then he darted back out of the loft's window, looped back over the top of the barn, and sped off.

--

Consciousness came slowly to Lois, starting when her olfactory sense, pulled her mercilessly toward her second favorite aroma. Slowly her eyes opened to the cup of coffee inches from her nose. As she reached for it, it moved farther away from her. With a growl, she sat up and stared at her antagonist, sitting on the coffee table - grinning. "CLARK! Give me that coffee! Right now…" Her voice trailed off as he held up a paper bag with the logo of her favorite doughnut shop in Chicago. She watched as he teasingly moved it back and forth, and she decided on her plan of attack.

Leaning forward, she placed her hands on his thighs, and stroked down to his knees. Then back up, and down again; after a few strokes she was able to get her coffee from his trembling hand. Sitting back with a smug smile, she noticed that he was smiling a little too smugly.

"What are you smiling about?"

"You look beautiful in the mornings."

"Just now realizing that, Farm Boy?" She said just before taking a sip.

"Just saying what I've been thinking for three years."

Sputtering, Lois reached over and slapped his thigh. "I was right!"

"About what… This time?"

"You keep way too much bottled up."

He didn't answer; he just held the doughnut bag out of reach.

Narrowing her eyes, she quickly stood and reached for the bag. Clark leaned back, keeping it just out of reach, so she pushed his shoulder, causing him to land on his back. Leaning over him, she placed a hand over his heart, and took a sip of her coffee.

"Get a room you two!" Lucy exclaimed from the stairs.

Not moving her hand, Lois, looked at her sister. "Go away!"

Lucy, sashayed over to the couch and plopped down, bringing her feet to rest on the coffee table. "No door, no privacy."

"Lucy!"

Daintily, she tore a piece off of the doughnut she was holding and placed it on her tongue before easing it into her mouth. Smiling, after she swallowed, she looked at Clark. "Thanks for the sinkers."

Lois noticed that Lucy was only wearing Clark's green flannel shirt, her hair was styled, and her legs were recently shaven. Turning to Clark she asked, "Would you get my sweater from my car?"

As he stood she added, "At normal speed."

He looked at her. She looked at him and rolled her eyes in Lucy's direction. Giving the mildest of nods, he left.

XxxX

It took Clark only a brief moment to know that there was no sweater in Lois' car, but he pretended to look. After a couple of minutes he stopped and leaned against the driver's s side door. About this time, Lucy came running from the barn wrapped only in a saddle blanket and ran into the farm house.

He looked toward the barn door in time to see Lois saunter out wearing the flannel shirt that Lucy had formerly occupied, a satisfied smirk on her beautiful face.

"What was that all about?"

"I asked her to let me wear the shirt and she agreed."

"Lois…" He started, with a trace of anger in his voice.

She looked at him, placed her hands on her hips, and frowned. "I had to explain rustling penalties to her."

"What?"

"Trespassing laws."

"Huh?"

Getting annoyed, Lois poked him in the chest. "I explained to her the no flirting rules."

"We never… She never… I never… What right do you have…?"

"You and I are in a relationship. We are in a committed relationship… aren't we?"

Clark stumbled for words just long enough for Lois to turn and run to the loft. Picking up the picture, of her and Clark that was on his desk, she hurled it against the wall. It would have shattered, if Clark hadn't caught it.

She saw him and turned her back to him; tears started to roll down her cheeks and she squeezed her eyes shut. 'He will not see me weak!' She thought to herself as she heard him place the picture back on the desk.

"Lois."

His warm breath on her neck made her flinch.

"Lois," he began again, "you know that I am not the most verbose of men."

Her nod was barely perceptible.

"I hope the flowers I brought you will let you know my true feelings."

Opening her eyes, she saw that he had moved in front of her and was holding six roses. He knew that her favorite flower is the lily – she sniffed, looked him in the eye, and arched her eye brow in question.

He pulled the lone yellow rose form the bunch and handed it to her. "This rose represents the friendship that we have – that every thing else is built on." Then he handed her the two white roses. "These represent the purity of my motives and intentions." The final three roses were red, and he handed them to her one at a time. "The first rose represents the love I have for you. This second, the love I have for your family. And this last rose, the love and belief I have in us. I do consider us in a committed relationship, you just kind of shocked me with the way you handled Lucy."

The punch he received on the shoulder was unexpected, to say the least. The smile was reassuring.

"You may not be verbose, Smallville. But you do have your moments."

"What about Lucy? Those saddle blankets are rough."

"Maybe it'll teach her something. She likes to flirt with my boy friends. I think I caught her off guard, I've never really objected before."

"What makes this time different?"

What she mumbled was not lost to his super hearing.

"I love you too, Lois Lane." Seeing something blue on the floor, he quickly picked it up. "I almost forgot, I had Lara make you a new flying cloak." He flipped it around her shoulders and attached it. "Care to break it in?"

Fingering the material, she looked up. "This is nice, Smallville. What's wrong with the other one?"

"It's bright white, this blue will blend into the sky and allow us to be almost invisible at night. I thought it'd be better for chasing stories in Metropolis."

"So you're not just a pretty face after all." She teased.

"Besides, I made a crystal emblem for the Lane family.

Lois unclasped it and pulled it to where she could see the emblem on the clasp; it was a cursive, looped capital 'L' inside of an elongated trapezoid.

"It would have been more Kryptonian for the 'L' to be a bold two line, straight angle. But that's too close to what the Luthors use.

"I like it Clark, it's beautiful."

Minutes later, they were flying over New York. The smile on Clark's face betrayed the kiss Lois had given him. That was the moment that they were almost struck by the black lightning.

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

TBC…