A/N: Ok, so I had Lois and Clark "break up" to throw the scent off of Clark being Superman. I know it would be easy for Superman to be with someone else and Lois and Clark to remain together, but this way, it's a definite thing, and we all know that Lois is willing to do anything to protect Clark's identity. Cat, being a little bitch, would willingly speculate that Clark is Superman. Sorry if it upset anyone or was confusing, but I've enjoyed writing Lois with Hal and having Clark be a little jealous of Hal.

Lois awoke feeling cold. She reached to the other side of the bed, and realized that no one was there. She brought her knees up to her chest, pulling the comforter up over her head.

"Rise and shine buttercup!" There was a pounding on the door and she groaned.

"Go away!"

"Not gonna happen sugar." The pounding continued and she pulled herself out of bed and staggered to the door.

"What?" She snarled. Hal Jordan stood on the other side of the door, a pastry box with a drink tray on top of it with two cups of coffee in it.

She leaned forward, sniffing hopefully. Usually the smell of coffee was so enticing, she couldn't help but have a cup. The smell hit her nostrils, and it seemed to hit her stomach like a punch. She clenched her jaw shut and ran for the bathroom.

"Hey!" Hal was right behind her. She slammed the door in his face, but he ignored it. She was kneeling in front of the toilet, gagging, and he sat on the edge of the tub, rubbing her back. "You ok, Lane?"

"Yeah, I just can't shake this stomach bug. I'm actually starting to get worried." She straightened, and then stood.

"Ok, we're going to see Emil." He grasped her elbow and she dug in her heels.

"No, seriously, I'm fine."

"No, seriously, you're going." He glared at her and she wrenched her arm away from him.

"What are you even doing here?" She walked back into the bedroom and slid under the covers, burying her face in Clark's pillow.

"I am officially your new love interest." He leaned against the bathroom doorframe and grinned conspiratorially at her.

"What?" She sat up, allowing the blankets to fall from her shoulders.

"Yep, we are officially an item. So get moving baby, I'm gonna walk you to work after we go see Emil, that is." He yanked the blanket off the bed and she groaned, lying back down.

"Come on, up and at 'em, Lane." He grabbed her feet and dragged her towards him.

"Ok. Ok. I'm awake." She sat up and walked into the bathroom. "I'll be back in fifteen. Don't follow me." She glared at him and he grinned.

Lois walked out of the bathroom, showered and dressed, but still looking green around the gills.

"So I take it you don't want your maple donut and coffee?" He asked, gesturing to the box and tray that was resting on the table.

She shook her head and sat down at the table, resting her head in her hands. "Ok, remind me of our story again?"

"Ok, so we met when we were kids on an Air Force base and we recently reconnected. Clark broke up with you, so you've run into my loving arms." He held his arms open for her, and she glared.

"Do you, or do you not remember the rules?" She asked, standing, putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember. Kisses on the cheek, acceptable. Kisses on the mouth, unacceptable. Nothing was said about hugs or handholding." He shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. "In fact, if it's going to be believable, we should probably hold hands and hug."

Lois nodded. "Alright, let's go." She grabbed her coat and purse and he followed her.

Hal sat in Watchtower on one of the couches, flipping through the channels on the T.V. He'd forced Lois to go see Emil. He wasn't having her getting sick on his watch. After Lois had gone to bed after the meeting, he and Clark had met on top of the Daily Planet building. They both agreed that just because Lex hadn't retaliated against the article, didn't mean he wouldn't, which meant Lois needed protection 24/7. He'd promised Supes that he'd keep an eye on his fiancée, and he didn't intend to let the Kryptonian down. If their roles were reversed, he would want Clark with Carol at all times.

Lois emerged from the makeshift hospital room, rubbing her arm and wrinkling her nose.

"Everything ok?" He turned off the T.V. and dropped the remote.

"Yeah, he took some blood and he's going to get back with me." She sat down next to him, and he wrapped an arm around her.

"It'll be fine, you'll see." He smiled at her and she nodded.

"Well, I should get to work." Lois stood, smoothing out her skirt and he nodded, standing as well.

"Come on then." He grabbed her hand and they walked out onto the street, hands clasped together firmly.

Lois completely forgot how much she enjoyed hanging out with Hal Jordan. They were so alike sometimes, it was scary. They both grew up on military bases, and they both were driven. It was good to have someone who understood her who wasn't Clark. Before they entered the building, Lois nodded and Hal wrapped his arm around her. The smell of his soft brown leather bomber jacket invaded her senses. It smelled completely foreign, but nice. They took the elevator up, and it seemed like all eyes turned on them.

"Here we go, Lane." He smiled and she laughed.

"So anyway, what time do you want to meet for dinner?" She turned on all of her charm, gazing up into his face. He took the sudden shift in mood completely in stride.

"I'll pick you up after work and we'll go to that new place…what's it called?" They had arrived at the door to her and Clark's office.

"Mosaics?" They were standing inches away from each other. He wasn't as tall nor as broad as Clark, but he had the same commanding presence. Maybe it was a superhero thing, but most of the guys she knew had a certain presence about them.

"Yeah…Mosaics." He half smiled at her. "See you at five, sugar." He pressed his lips to her forehead and she smiled. His presence was so comforting, like an older brother.

"Bye baby." She grinned as he walked away. He turned to wave at her, and then disappeared down the staircase.

Lois turned and walked back into her and Clark's office. He was sitting at his desk, looking steadfastly at his computer screen. She shut the door to the office, and went to sit on his desk. He looked up at her sadly.

"I missed you last night." She ran a hand through his hair and he nodded.

"I missed you too." He rested a hand on her knee, leaning into her touch.

They rested like that for a while, until Lois finally pulled away. "So when is your big date with Wonder Woman?" She asked, walking over to her computer.

"Tomorrow." He looked at her warily.

"Well, have fun." She sat down at her desk, and he looked over his computer at her.

"Are you sure you're ok with this?"

"Of course. It's the only logical thing to do."

"Lois, I know it's logical, but we don't have to do this." He stood and walked over to her desk.

"Clark, yes, we do. It's the only way. Just a month, right?" She placed her hand on his and he nodded.

"Just promise me you won't let Diana worm her way into your affections?" She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and he grabbed her hand.

"You know you're the only girl for me." He pressed his lips to her forehead, and she sighed.

"We should probably do some work." She said reluctantly and he nodded.

They sat across from each other, working in complete silence. As her fingers danced across the keyboard, she realized that she hadn't yet taken off her engagement ring. It came off of her finger with one tug, and she unclasped the necklace she wore, putting the ring on the chain where it could hang next to the pendant.

Clark was looking at her miserably. She returned his look, and he nodded. The ring lay heavily on her breastbone. It just wasn't the same. She was used to looking down at her finger and seeing the ring glinting back up at her. Her left hand looked bare without it.

"Lois?" There was a light knock, and Jennifer, one of the interns, stepped into the room. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." She followed the petite blonde out into the bullpen.

"Who was that guy that walked you in this morning?" She was looking at Lois conspiratorially. "He was hot. Think you could fix us up?"

Lois cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Actually, that's my boyfriend. Hal." The words left her lips and hung between the two women. It was weird, calling Hal her boyfriend. He just wasn't the boyfriend type.

"What?" Jennifer squealed, grabbing Lois's arm and dragging her. The smaller woman was surprisingly strong for her stature. She flung open the door to the supply room, dragging Lois in.

Jennifer threw her arms around Lois, wrapping her in a tight hug. "Lois, honey, are you ok? What happened?" She rubbed her back comfortingly, and Lois was surprised that this actually felt nice. She didn't have very many female friends, and Jennifer had always been sweet to her. She could actually feel tears building behind her eyes.

"Uhm." The tears began to flow, and suddenly she was sobbing into the younger woman's shoulder.

"It's ok, sweetie. Let it all out." Jennifer continued to rub Lois's back, and after about five minutes, she felt her tears slowing. She pulled away to look at the blonde, who was gazing at her pitifully.

"Clark broke up with me." It hurt to say those words, even though she knew they weren't true.

"That bastard. I'll kill him." She snarled.

"No, really, it's fine." She said as Jennifer handed her a tissue.

"What happened?"

"Uh, well, he said he wasn't ready to get married and maybe we should take a break for awhile." Lois shrugged and Jennifer snorted.

"A man with commitment issues. Big surprise." She rolled her eyes and Lois laughed. "So who's the new man?"

"Oh, Hal's just an old friend. We grew up together on the military base, and he's back in town for a while. He asked me to dinner tonight."

"Good. Get back out on the field." She smiled reassuringly at her.

"Ok. Thanks, Jennifer."

"No prob, Bob." She grinned toothily, and Lois opened the door, walking back out into the bullpen.

When she arrived back at her and Clark's office, Clark was looking at her forlornly. It was obvious he had heard the entire conversation, and she smiled the same smile back at him, and sat down at her desk.

The day seemed to go by incredibly slow. When five o'clock rolled around, she couldn't wait to get out of the tiny office. It was agonizing sitting across from the one man she couldn't touch.

A light knock on the door drew her from her reverie. She turned to the door, which pushed open to reveal Hal Jordan. He looked pretty much the same as he had earlier in the day. The only difference was he had changed his plain white tee shirt for a bottle green button down. He wore the same frayed jeans, bomber jacket and scuffed chucks.

"My lady. Your chariot awaits." He bowed mockingly to her, and she grinned.

Clark glared at him, and Hal looked at the fellow superhero apologetically. Lois grabbed her stuff, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She walked around her and Clark's desk, resting a hand on her fiancee's shoulder. She looked at Hal significantly, and he nodded, blocking the entirety of the doorway, completely spreading out. She brushed her lips across Clark's, and he grabbed her hand, kissing her back.

"I love you. Be safe." He whispered and she nodded.

"I love you too."

Lois and Hal breezed into Mosaic's, looking for all the world like Metropolis's new "it" couple. His arm was wrapped protectively around her, and the hostess glanced at her jealously as she led them to their booth. They sat across from each other, and Hall grinned foolishly at her.

"You think they're buying this whole 'so in love' thing?" He asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"I don't know if our goings on are very paparazzi. Clark and Diana will probably get more press tomorrow." She said sourly, and Hall grinned again.

"Yeah, you're probably right." His eyes darted around the room. "Bruce did say he was going to alert the Daily Planet."

"God, I hope Cat Grant doesn't show up to write the story." She tapped her fingers nervously against the white tablecloth. The waiter approached, a broad smile on his face.

"Can I take your order Miss Lane?" He completely ignored Hal and Lois looked at him, baffled.

"Uh, yeah. We'll start off with a bottle of champagne while we look over the menu. Thanks." Hal spoke for both of them, and the waiter nodded before scurrying off. "I don't think you're aware of how famous and well liked you are."

Lois snorted her derision, but Hal shook his head.

"I'm serious, Lo. How do you think I got a reservation at the swankiest place in town? It sure as hell wasn't by giving them my name."

"You mean Bruce or Ollie didn't get it for you?"

"Nope. I told the hostess that Lois Lane and her new boyfriend wanted to have dinner here tonight, and suddenly it was, 'Does 6 work for Miss Lane? Or would 7 be better?'"

"Are you kidding me?" She rested her elbows on the table, leaning forward.

"Nope." He raised his eyebrows. "This place is probably hoping you'll tell the food editor you loved your meal here and give them a good review."

Lois was stunned. Did people really think of her like that? The waiter approached, a bottle of chilled wine, two champagne flutes and two small plates on a tray.

He deftly opened the bottle of champagne and poured them into the flutes. "Miss Lane, the chef would like to offer you an amuse-bouche, on the house."

"Oh, uh, sure." She looked at Hal confused, and he smiled at her confusion. The waiter set the small plates in front of each of them. "What you have here is a cherry tomato, halved and filled with Hawaiian pickled onions. It is topped with Lomi salmon, a curl of green onion and smoked salt. Please enjoy." He gestured to the food, and then walked away.

"What was that about? What's an amuse-bouche?" Lois asked.

"Chefs occasionally give out what they call, amuse-bouche, which means amuse the mouth in French." Hal explained. "It's something to prepare your taste buds for the meal and to get you used to the chef's way of cooking."

Lois popped the cherry tomato half in her mouth, allowing the smoked salmon to melt on her tongue. The tomato was a bright pop of flavor in her mouth, and the sourness of the onions set it off nicely.

"Mmm." She moaned at the flavor. "This is delicious."

"Mmhmm." He nodded.

The meal passed pretty uneventfully. Mosaic's, as it turned out, was a Hawaiian fusion restaurant. Hal had gotten the seafood trio, a combination of lobster tail, scallops and shrimp, set on top of a pesto risotto that was dotted with mushrooms. Lois had gone a little more conventional, opting for the macadamia nut encrusted mahi mahi with garlic mashed potatoes and oven roasted asparagus. It wasn't until dessert, which was a chocolate lava cake with raspberry sauce, when a photographer and one of Cat Grant's underlings, Alexandria Timon, showed up.

"Lois! Lois Lane!" Alex struggled to get past the hostess, who was blocking her path, and was waving her pad of paper in the air.

"Ignore her." Hal reached for her hand. The frantic clicking of the camera was distracting.

"We might as well give them something." Lois shrugged, sliding from her side of the booth. She sat down next to Hal, and he wrapped his arm around her. Picking up a spoon, she dipped it into the soft cake. Then, she held the spoon out for him, and put it in his mouth.

"Mmm. Good." He licked his lips.

"Wait, you have something. I'll get it." She reached out, and swiped a small dot of chocolate off of the corner of his mouth. The clicking of the camera had suddenly pervaded all of her senses, and she needed to get out of there. She wished it were Clark sitting next to her instead of Hal Jordan.

"Can we get out of here? I want to go home." She felt like crying. He gazed at her thoughtfully and nodded.

Hal dropped several bills on the table, and, grasping her hand, she pulled him from the booth. He pushed the cameraman away, and in seconds they were in a cab, speeding toward her apartment.

"You ok?" He asked, and she nodded tearfully. "Hey…it's ok to be upset, you know."

"I know. I just didn't think my life would turn out like this…one deceit after another." She ran her hands across her face. "All I want to do is live a life with the man I love, is that too much to ask?"

Hal shrugged. "We don't always get what we want, hon. Especially us. We give up so much of our lives to helping others, that we forget that if we don't look out for ourselves, no one else will."

She nodded, and they sat in silence. When the cab pulled up to her apartment, he opened the door for her, and walked her to her door.

"Look, I just wanted to say that-everything's going to work out in the end. You have to trust that. The paparazzi is fickle. They'll drop you like a hot potato when something bigger comes along, and tomorrow, when Supes is on his 'date' with Wonder Woman, you and I'll be old news. Then you and Clark can get back together and life will be back to normal. You'll see." Hal smiled reassuringly at her and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You're a good friend, Hal."

He hugged her back, but then laughed, pulling away. "Just remember that when my birthday comes around."

"You got it." She grinned at him, and he pulled his ring from an inside pocket of his bomber jacket.

"Well, I gotta get going. I'm on patrol tonight, then I'm gonna go out and see Carol."

"Be safe, and have a good time." She said as he stepped away from her.

"You got it, dude." He said, slipping the faintly glowing green ring onto his finger. In a flash, Hal Jordan was gone, and the Green Lantern was taking off into the night sky, a streak of neon green in the darkness.