mdufre4: Thank you for reading! Happy you're still excited even if I'm so amiss updating this story!
Whynot1993: Thanks! You'll find out here if Lois is the forgiving sort ;)
Guest #1: Waaaah… now I'm pressured! I hope I deliver. Thank you for reading! :)
BigRed67: Ohhhh.. I wonder what you'll think of this chapter? Thank you!
Nat: An update is now here! And thank you for sticking to this story! :)
And here's the next chapter!
Chapter 20
Tess grimaced as she put on the burn cream on her face. Her healing has been fast tracked, thanks to the scientists she had contacted. She has gained agility, but her movements were still slow. But for her, it was enough to put a bullet on Lois Lane's body.
Her plans to suck the life out of Lois' body were interrupted by her ringing phone. Looking at the caller ID, she answered the call and barked "What!"
"I have heard from the hospital that Lois Lane is ready to move out of the mansion."
Tess' eyebrows rose. "That was fast. Couldn't wait to leave brother dear, I see."
"I also heard that it could happen as early as this weekend. Depending on some tests."
"Then I have to move fast too. Keep me posted." Tess ended the conversation.
She wanted to break Clark in order for him to come back to her. And to break Clark, she has to break Lois, slowly and painfully.
It has been a week and a half since Lois made her call to Lucy, and steadily she has improved her mobility. She continued her therapies and exercises with diligence, and the increasing number of steps that she has been taking rewarded her. She was still wobbly at times, but mostly Lois was able to catch herself before she plants her face to the ground. And she has to admit, more often than not, Clark was there to save her before she fell.
Lois sighed. She sat up and carefully maneuvered so her legs dangled on the side of the bed. She should be celebrating: she was positive that she has regained a hundred percent of the feeling in her legs, she was taking steps without help, and she now has gotten rid of the wheelchair and replaced it with crutches. She should be ecstatic, and yet, something was weighing her down.
As if on cue, a knock permeated her thoughts and at her permission, the door opened and Clark entered her room. Lois straightened her back and smiled. "Hey."
"Hey." Clark said, a bit shy, which was not the Clark Luthor she knew.
"What's up?" Lois said, hoping to sound nonchalant, willing her heart to steady its beating for fear that Clark might pick up on it.
"Dr. Rubio called and told me that she's been talking with Lucy."
Lois nodded. Her departure from this makeshift and temporary therapy facility.
"After your final round of tests tomorrow, she'll give you your release orders." Clark grinned. "You must be very proud of yourself."
Lois couldn't help but return the grin. "I am."
"And Lucy sent me a text saying that she'll be buying her ticket depending on the results. I told her that she better buy it now, because I'm pretty sure you'll pass those tests with flying colors. She'll be arriving the day after your tests, and pretty much arranged everything."
"You're that confident?" Lois asked in awe.
"In you? Of course." Clark gave a small laugh. "Hell, those tests might be quivering now knowing they will be taking on the one and only Lois Lane."
"Very funny." Lois countered, and then looked at Clark probing, somehow knowing that's not the only reason he sought her out.
Clark took a deep breath, as if preparing to take a deep dive. "And, uhm, maybe you'd like to celebrate?"
"Celebrate?"
"Dinner. Tonight. Anywhere you like. I'm pretty sure you're probably tired of the chef's fares here."
"Clark," Lois said, amused. "The chef here is a former head chef of a Michelin starred restaurant in Paris. Why on Earth will I turn that down, let alone be tired of it?"
"I don't know, change of scenery?"
Clark looked at Lois earnestly and she couldn't help but to accept his invitation. "Fine. Let's celebrate."
That lethal smile was back on Clark's face, and Lois almost swooned. Almost. "I'll send something for you to wear. I'll pick you up at 7."
Clark didn't wait for Lois to respond and soon left her room. Lois placed her hand on her still furiously beating heart. He was sure making it hard for her to part ways with him.
Lois looked at herself in the mirror, the red knee-length dress Clark gave her hugging her every curve. She missed dressing up like this, but she has to admit to herself that she's also scared. She didn't know what to expect about this dinner.
As she reached for the crutches resting on the wall beside the mirror, a knock on the door signaled that Clark was already there. She gave him permission to enter.
Lois saw Clark's eyes rake over her entire body, and damn if it did not ignite certain body parts. His eyes returned to hers, and he gave her a small smile, as if apologizing for being caught ogling. "Ready?"
Lois nodded as she took her crutches and Clark was immediately by her side. As they stepped outside to the back garden, Clark turned to Lois. "Do you care much about your hair?"
Lois touched her hair in confusion and shook her head. "Why? Where are we going?"
"It's not really about where we're going, but how we're going there." With that answer, Clark took Lois' crutches, hooked it on his shoulder, and then carried her in his arms. Lois' arms encircled Clark's neck, surprise evident in his face at the intimacy Lois showed.
"Ready?" Clark asked, his voice a little bit huskier to her ears.
"Yes." Lois answered, and as they took off, Lois knew that the yes she uttered has more meaning than what was intended.
When did this turn awkward? Clark thought as he stole a glance at Lois who was obviously disconcerted too.
Was the dinner too much? Clark flew them to a small village in Italy, to a quaint seaside restaurant where the food was divine. The place was secluded, only four other couples were dining, and Clark realized that it smacked of seduction. The mood was very romantic, the water was lapping at the shore, and Clark mentally berated himself for the mistake. He really wanted to celebrate with good food and scenery, and the last thing he wanted to do was for Lois to think that he was trying to get into her panties.
Clark motioned for the waiter to clear their plates and asked for the dessert to be served. He looked at Lois once more, and she was looking at the couple to the left, who were obviously so in love they were oblivious to the other people in the room.
Clark coughed which caught Lois' attention. "How was the food?"
"It was delicious. Thank you for bringing me here." Lois smiled, and then gazed out to the sea. "And the view is fantastic."
Clark gave a hesitant smile. Was Lois just being polite? Did she really appreciate the gesture? His stream of thoughts was interrupted by the arrival of the dessert, and they were once again silent.
Man up, Clark. Clark finished his dish, and watched Lois finish hers. As soon as he deemed safe, he stood up and offered his hand to Lois. "Come on, I'll take you to the beach."
"OK." Lois said as she took his hand. Standing up, she grabbed one crutch as Clark handed her the other, and they started walking towards the beach. It was a cloudless sky, and soft music was coming from a nearby establishment.
"Dance with me?"
Lois gave out a laugh. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, you know I'm a skilled dancer, but with these," she motioned to her crutches, "I'll be a killer."
Clark smiled widely, remembering their first dance as husband and wife in that little chapel in Las Vegas, where Lois stepped on him more than a couple of times. It was a good thing that he was invulnerable. "You can step on my toes."
Lois looked at Clark as if she's assessing the suggestion, then she grabbed both crutches and dropped them softly on the sand. Clark placed his hands lightly on Lois' waist as Lois grabbed on Clark's shoulders for support and stepped on his shoes.
"Is this OK?" Lois asked.
Clark's heart thundered as he looked deeply into Lois' eyes. "Perfect."
They slowly swayed to the music, eyes locked into each other. Clark drew the courage to finally tell Lois what he's been dying to say ever since he'd invited her to this dinner. "Lois, I just want to say I'm sorry—"
"Shhh." Lois said, and then pressed her head to his chest. "Let's just enjoy this. Just this. Between us."
Clark nodded and closed his eyes, savoring the moment, knowing that this may be the last day he'll be holding her like this in his arms.
"I'm a concrete jungle type of girl, but this is breathtaking." Lois said as she stared in awe at the forest around her. Clark had flown her to the Tepuis in the Amazon, their night not yet through.
"I didn't know you'd like it. I also thought I was a city boy, but I realized doing those saves that I am more than that."
Lois looked at Clark with something akin to pride. "You are more than that."
Clark removed his coat and laid it the bare patch of land. Lois sat down, legs stretched out in front of her, and laid her crutches on her left. Clark sat on her right.
Silence enveloped them but this time, there was no awkwardness. Clark was surprised then, when Lois spoke. "You wanted to tell me something earlier, while we were dancing?"
Clark bent his knees and placed his elbows there, head hung down. "I have a lot of things to say Lois, and I don't know where to start."
Lois just nodded, and waited patiently for Clark. He lifted his head and looked at her. "I guess I was at the right path earlier, starting with an apology."
But instead, Clark started where he knew he would lose Lois forever.
"I knew Queen was planning to bring me down. I knew that the reason behind his land grabbing in Smallville was to amass the meteorite in the town to fight me. And when I returned from the other world, I realized you were the key for my revenge. I did my homework. Too well in fact." He hung his head once more, not wanting to see her reaction to one of his many planned confession. "I was the one who sent you the video of Queen and your cousin, because my plan was to get your trust, to make you fall in love with me, and then toss you aside publicly, so that Queen would know that you were so shattered that even he couldn't fix you."
"I found the video of you with the other Clark, and when he mentioned you were allies in the other world, the plan became more concrete. I would pretend to be him, so I started doing the saves for the sake of revenge. But in the course of the charade something changed, because I started saving them because it would make you happy. And then I continued doing it because I want the world to be better for you."
"Make you fall in love with me huh?" Clark shook his head and scoffed. "I was way in over my head, because I fell in love with you. Every time you correct me saying you're Mrs. Kent, I wanted to go over to the other world and kill him. I wanted you to love me, Clark Luthor, and not who you think is Clark Kent. It was eating me alive every time you tell me your insecurity about the other Lois, when there is no other Lois at all."
"Tess was in on the plan in the beginning. But like I said, I threw it all away after I married you. Hell, I think I abandoned it when I saw you crying over that damn video I sent you. And she was furious about it. She planned it, the night you got in the accident. Not the actual accident, but the events before it. Someone gave me a room key, and it made it appear that it came from you. So I went."
"Instead of you, it was her, and she has kryptonite with her. It's the meteorite that Queen was collecting. It makes me weak, and continued exposure to it would kill me. So believe me Lois when I say that I might have lied about everything else, but I wasn't unfaithful to you that night."
Clark stared up at the sky, leaving everything to the heavens. "And so here we are, and you're days away to starting a new life. You did great, your recovery really is remarkable."
With nothing else to say, Clark decided to end it. "I don't expect you to believe me, to believe that I'm sorry, to believe that I do love you. But please believe me when I say that I'll continue saving the world, to make it better, little by little."
Seconds folded into minutes, and Clark looked at Lois, the moon making the unshed tears in her eyes shine. It stabbed at him again, that he is causing her more pain, but it has to be done. There has to be closure.
"I'd like to go back now." Lois said quietly.
Clark blinked back his own tears and nodded. Stood up and helped Lois to her feet. Soon they were off again towards the sky.
Clark and Lois walked side by side quietly towards her room. They had returned to the mansion, and Lois never said a word the whole time. How he wished for telepathic powers instead of his current set.
They arrived at her door, and they faced each other, but Lois was looking down, and Clark knew that this was the consequence of all his errors.
"Thank you for giving me the time. After tonight I know that you don't want to see me anymore, so I arranged for the vehicle that will take you to the hospital for your tests and to bring you back here. Same guy will pick up Lucy the day after tomorrow, and you just tell him where to go."
Lois just nodded slightly, and Clark took one more liberty. This will be the last time they'll be together, and he's going to take his fill. He grabbed her and hugged her, his lips on her temple. He gave her a soft kiss. "You don't need to leave the Planet. I intend to turn it over to someone who isn't morally corrupt. I promise you Lois, you won't be bothered by me anymore." One more kiss on her forehead and Clark let one tear fall to his cheek. "Thank you for everything."
He let her go and started walking away.
"Clark."
Clark stopped after a few steps at her soft voice uttering his name, and turned around to face her. "Do you need something?"
"You." Lois said. "I need you."
Clark's eyes sought Lois' and beyond the tears he saw that she meant it. Walking straight to her, Clark grabbed her and pulled her to him, his lips crashing down on hers. Clark groaned when Lois clutched at him as if never letting him go, her crutches making a clanking sound as it dropped to the floor, and the kiss intensified to the point of no return. Clark then lifted her, and Lois wrapped her legs around his hips, lips still attached to him.
Clark opened the door to her room, and closed it with a resounding bang, his whole world now clinging to him and he couldn't be happier.
Should I venture into M territory? Or should I even ask? :D What do you guys think? Just a few more chapters and we're through! Love lots!