Chapter 6 - Tryst


-- Havanna, Cuba - October 2006 --

Clark unlocked the door and opened it, reaching for the light switch as he stepped inside.

"It's not much," he warned as Lois followed. "This is Alejandro's place- he works at one of the big resorts. I met him a little while after I got here and he let me stay with him. He gets a little extra money for the rent, and I get a place to sleep. He's working overnight this week because of the holiday."

Lois looked around the small apartment. As they entered the flat, there was a small kitchen to the left. To the right, a small living that area served as a room housed a full sized bed that took up most of the space. A short hallway led to another room.

Clark headed into the hallway. "My room is back here. I'm just going to change my shirt and I'll be right back."

"Uh, where's your bathroom?" Lois asked before he disappeared from sight.

"Oh, sorry. It's this door right here," he answered, opening a narrow door off to the side of the hall.

As she finished in the bathroom, Lois exited into the hallway and she ran straight into Clark's naked chest.

"Sorry," she said, as he reached to stabilizer her. She hadn't been paying attention when she opened the door.

"No, it's my fault. I was waiting to get a towel… I'm… sticky."

"Yeah," Lois nodded, awkwardly stepping out of his reach. She was suddenly feeling very warm. "I'm just going to go… wait. Okay?"

Clark's expression was puzzled as she quickly turned and headed away. It seemed that they were back to being players in a comedy of errors.

Sighing, he entered the bathroom and wet a towel in the sink. Right before he had left Smallville last year, he and Lois had reached a point in their relationship where the awkward tension stage had passed. They had become good friends… on the verge of becoming something more.

He wasn't sure where they stood now. And he hadn't realized how much he'd missed her until today.


Lois sat in the kitchen and nervously drummed her fingers on the table. She had put a lot of energy into keeping things light tonight, but she was suffering from lack of practice. Not to mention the fact that this was the first time they had truly been alone all day.

It used to be so easy. When Clark was just a small town farm boy.

Then she'd found out that there was more to him than what met the eye. And she learned that she enjoyed being a part of that.

Bumping into him on the other side of the world after a long time apart should have put them back on square one. The past few hours had been about reconnecting: old friends catching up. That should have been it.

Lois sighed and walked across the converted living room to the window. As she pulled the curtains aside, she realized that the window was actually a narrow patio door. The terrace was small, the floor extending only about 2 feet from the building. Sliding it open, she stepped out and leaned against the wrought iron railing, inhaling the humid night air.

The day he'd boarded that plane to China, Lois had finally let herself fall, if only for a moment. But that was because Clark was leaving to embark on a destiny that was bigger than both of them. Seeing him again had made those feelings resurface from a place where they had been neatly tucked away.

The last thing she had expected to happen when she'd begged Perry to let her join the reporting team going to Havana was to bump into Clark Kent.



Clark finished buttoning up the short-sleeved linen shirt as he exited the hall into the main room of the apartment. He looked up and frowned when he didn't see Lois sitting in the kitchen. A slight breeze caused the curtain to shift and his attention was drawn to the small terrace.

Seeing her standing in the moonlight took him back to memories of some of the late night talks they'd shared in his loft. A small jolt of homesickness caused a lump to form in his throat and he let out a soft cough to clear it.

Lois glanced over her shoulder at the sound before turning back to the night sky.

"It's amazing to think that the stars stay the same no matter where you are when you're looking at them," she said.

"Yeah," Clark agreed, moving to stand behind her, so he could peer at the sky as well.

The hair on the back of her neck bristled as she felt him move closer.

"I mean, I know that these are probably a different set of stars from the ones in the sky in Kansas, but I was just thinking that the stars themselves don't move…"

Clack smiled into the night. "I know what you meant, Lois."

"Yeah."

As she turned to face him, Clark stepped backwards into the apartment. "Are you ready to go?" he asked, noting that she seemed suddenly uncomfortable with their nearness.

"Coffee. Right," she quipped, reaching tuck her hair behind her ear. "Let's go get some coffee." She stepped past him into the room and walked toward the front door.

Clark sighed as he slid the patio door shut, leaving the curtains open. He wanted to put her at ease, but didn't know what to say. He thought he had a good idea what was behind the tension that was building with the more time they spent together. The coffee, and the less intimate environment of the coffee shop, would help them relax.

He flicked off the kitchen light, and followed her to the door, reaching past her for the handle.

As he pulled the door open, his other hand moved to the small of her back. It had just been meant to usher her outside, but the moment he touched her, their eyes locked and all his intentions faded.

"Lois." Her eyes fluttered shut as he leaned in to kiss her.

"You're crying," Clark whispered as he pulled away.

Lois quickly reached up to swipe at her cheek. "No… I'm just really happy to see you." Her eyes searched his for a moment before she smiled.

"Me too." He reached down and pulled her into his arms, taking the opportunity to reclaim her lips.

Somehow the door closed and they were stumbling down the hall, eventually falling onto Clark's bed. The sounds of musical instruments playing outside on the street below the apartment jerked Lois from her passion-filled reverie. Her hands stilled from their explorations beneath his shirt and she pulled away from his mouth panting.

They really needed to slow down, she thought. If they got carried away…

"Clark, I think…"

"Don't think, Lois. Just this one time…"

Her mind went blank again, as Clark's recently abandoned lips found her neck. Within seconds, Clark's linen shirt drifted to the floor after being unceremoniously tossed from the bed.



Kryptonite.

That was the only thing he'd ever come in contact with that made him feel so vulnerable and exhausted. The difference was, he also felt powerful. Like he could move a mountain, just by blowing on it. How was it possible to feel both of those things at once?

Clark exhaled slowly, and delighted in the feel of the soft skin under his fingertips. He was waiting for the guilt to set in but it never did. Neither of them had been expecting things to go as far as they had, but neither had been able to stop.

Lois let out a low chuckle as she shifted her position. Feeling her cross her arms as she leaned on his chest, he opened his eyes to look up at her.

"What?" he asked warily, taking in her amused expression. Somehow, he didn't think that laughter was a good indicator of his performance.

"I didn't know you knew how to fly."

"Huh?" He wondered if that was some kind of joke. "I can't fly," he replied, frowning.

Lois smiled. He was even more adorable when he was perplexed. "No? Well, what are we doing up here?"

Clark narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure out if she was serious. He turned his head slightly to glance over his shoulder. To his surprise, he was floating two feet above the bed. Shocked with the discovery, he turned abruptly in mid-air causing Lois to slide off his chest and onto the bed below.

She let out yelp as she bounced and rolled to the side just as Clark landed next to her.

"Are you okay?" Clark asked, sitting up so he could check.

Lois laughed and leaned over the side of the bed to grab Clark's shirt from the floor. Putting it on, she looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I'm fine. I wouldn't say the same thing for the bed, though."

Sighing, he flopped onto his back and looked at the ceiling. "Wow."

"I'd say so." Lois leaned over and gazed down at him. "I take it from your reaction that you haven't done that before?"

"I once woke up and felt like I was falling, but I always thought it was a dream. I flew as Kal-El, but never could get it to work when I wanted it to."

"Well, you seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it a few minutes ago. Come on, try it now," she encouraged, moving to sit cross-legged on the bed.

Clark closed his eyes and tried to focus. "Anything?"

"No."

After a few more tries he gave up, leaving the bed to grab a pair of shorts from his bag. He turned back to the bed and shook his head at Lois's smirk.

"What is that look for?"

Giggling as he crawled on top of her, she playfully tugged at the waistband of his shorts. "I just think you have a really cute butt."


"I just don't know what made it kick in right then," Clark commented.

"If I can figure out what sparked it, I can learn how to control it. That's usually what we've done in the past."

They had been discussing the floating incident, comparing it to the other times when his powers had started to appear.

Lois yawned and covered her mouth with her hand, blinking at him. "I'm sorry, what'd you just say?"

Clark smiled as another yawn claimed her.

"Nothing. Go to sleep."

"I'm really sorry. It's not that you're boring or anything. I've got to be up in…" She picked up his watch from the floor and peered at it. "2 hours. I've got to meet the team at the hotel so I can make the interview. And I need to change. Shower…" her voice drifted off as her eyes closed.

"Lois," Clark whispered, smiling.

"Hmm?" came her grunted reply.

"Go to sleep."

"Hmm."



Clark awoke, hoping that he hadn't been dreaming. His hand found only emptiness when he reached for the other side of the bed. Abruptly, he opened his eyes and rolled onto his side.

"Hey," Lois said, drawing his attention to where she was standing in the bedroom's doorway. "Good morning."

He grinned widely as she walked to the bed and sat down next to him. She had dressed and gathered her belongings together so she could leave.

"That's my shirt," he said, taking hold of her hand.

"I know. I'm taking it as collateral so you'll have to come see me later to get it back."

"I can walk you to your hotel," he offered, moving to sit up.

"No, one of us should get to sleep in." She stopped him with a hand on his chest and leaned in to seal the deal with a kiss. "Plus, I need to rush, and you're naked."

"I'm not naked," he muttered, blushing.

"And adorable," Lois laughed, jumping up from the bed. "The interview is supposed to take place right before the parade starts, so how about you meet me in the Square… say noon?"

Seeing him nod, she winked and headed down the hall. When she stepped out of the front door, Clark jumped up and called her name.

"What?" she called back, using her foot to hold the door open since her hands were occupied with securing an earring on her right ear.

"It'll keep," he answered as he reached her, deciding he wanted it to have a more romantic setting when he told her what he had to say. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Lois arched an eyebrow at him, trying to judge if she should make him spill or not. She reached up and rubbed his short beard with a laugh. "Count on it."

Clark stood at the door until she reached the bottom of the steps, and then closed it. Closing his eyes, her followed her heartbeat for a few more minutes before he heard her mutter, "I think I might be falling in love with you, Clark Kent."

Startled, his eyes popped open. She probably hadn't meant for him to hear that. Smiling, he realized that his feet weren't touching the floor.


Clark made his way down the crowded streets of Union Square, the site where the Independence Day celebrations were supposed to culminate. The parade was scheduled to pass through this area around noon, and the presidential family would be there to greet the crowd. The streets were busier than normal, but that was to be expected, given the extra importance of the day.

He noticed Lois's group of reporters on the far end of the square near an elevated stage. They were shaking hands with a man dressed in an olive colored uniform, surrounded by numerous soldier types. He didn't doubt that the man was Fidelito Castro, the son of the ailing Cuban president.

Had he not been preoccupied with his thoughts for Lois, he might have been more aware of the movements of the crowd around him. As it was, he was caught by surprise when the shots rang out. Chaos immediately ensued, as people began running in all directions, seeking cover. He was within 20 feet of Lois's entourage before soldiers blocked his path. Fidelito was being rushed into a nearby sedan and the reporters were being ushered in a different direction.

"Lois!" Clark yelled, causing her to stop and turn around.

The guard next to her grabbed her arm and tried to pull her toward her colleagues but she struggled against his grip.

Additional shots were heard, and Clark looked up to see that snipers had taken position on the roof of a nearby building. A woman to his left began screaming, and he saw that her dress was covered with blood. She was yelling something barely comprehensible about her daughter and pointing to the ground. With enhanced vision, Clark noticed that the wounded child was in danger of being trampled by the panicked retreat of the masses.

He turned his attention back to Lois, who was losing her struggle with the guard. When their eyes met, she nodded in the direction of the woman.

"You can help them, Clark," she shouted. "They need you. Go!"

With one last look, he turned and pushed through the crowd to get to the woman. He picked up the girl and explained that they needed to get to a hospital. Nodding, the mother grabbed his shirt and trailed behind him through the crowd.


tbc