Chp 17 – Reentry
-- Smallville -September 2010 --
"I hate that you're leaving so soon, but I'm sure you and Clark will be able to sort everything out."
Lois looked up at Jonathan with an expression of slight amazement. His quiet support and confidence was more than she could have ever have wished to get from her own father. She hadn't realized that it was something that she wanted.
"Thank you," she said softly, turning back to face Cole.
They had been sitting on the floor of the den rolling a ball back and forth when Jonathan had walked in.
"Mom, mom, get the ball. Get it."
Lois smiled as she reached for the ball and rolled it back to him. She would never get tired of hearing Cole call her that. Clark had been right, he had come around.
"We can stay, you know," Clark had just walked up behind his father. He could see that Lois was enjoying herself.
Lois frowned. "No, we'll go as planned." She sighed. "Is it time?"
When Clark nodded, Lois caught the ball and threw it onto the couch. She rose to her feet and brushed off her jeans.
Martha entered the room and reached to embrace Lois. "We'll see you soon, okay?"
Lois nodded. They had spent the day saying goodbye so there really wasn't more to be said.
As Clark reached to hug his parents, Lois knelt down and picked Cole up. "All right, little man, Mommy and Daddy have to go."
Cole twisted in her arms to face his grandparents. "Bye Mi-mi! Bye Papa! Gotta go!" He was waving energetically. "See ya!"
Tears immediately sprung to Lois's eyes. "No, baby. You're going to stay with Mi-mi and Papa, remember?"
"Nooooooo," he whined, turning to latch onto her tighter. He buried his face in her neck. "We gotta go."
Lois closed her eyes and swallowed. Her mouth opened and shut a few times before she was able to speak again. "Here, go to Mi-mi."
"Nooooo!"
Lois tried to hand him to Martha but he was holding on with all the strength in his little body. After a few tugs, Lois was too emotional to try again. "I can't…"
Martha fought back her own tears as she helped to pry him away. When Cole began crying and frantically reaching for her, Lois released a quick breath and hurried outside. Clark swiftly followed behind.
Martha and Jonathan watched as Clark wrapped an arm around Lois's waist just as she crumpled. Clark glanced over his shoulder back at the house, unsure of what to do.
Cole was still in tears and reaching towards the door. Martha turned and carried him up the stairs so Lois wouldn't continue to be tortured by his cries.
Jonathan stepped outside and pulled Lois away from Clark and into his arms. He held her until her breathing settled and helped to lead her to the car. Clark hurried to open the passenger door, stepping aside to let Lois get in. He and his father made their way around to the driver's side, and Clark accepted his father's offer of a handshake.
"Take care of her."
"I will."
-- Metropolis - September 2010 --
Lois held her breath as Clark unlocked the door to her apartment. It took her a few moments before she was ready to follow him inside. She entered and silently took stock of her surroundings.
"I think it looks better than when I left," she commented, lightly tracing a finger along her bookshelf.
"That's because of Cat, actually," Clark responded. He was watching her from the other side of the room. Standing with his hands stuffed in his pockets, he followed her with his eyes as she walked toward the two bedrooms.
"Cat," Lois said softly. "There's a lot I need to thank her for."
Lois paused in front of Cole's bedroom before moving on to her own. Clark noticed but decided not to say anything. She would enter the room when she was ready.
"You want something to eat?" Clark called from the living room.
After over a year of eating very little, Lois's appetite had diminished. Martha had made it her mission to help rebuild it by offering Lois small portions of meals and snacks every time she turned around. Lois figured that Clark was taking over the job.
"Yeah, that would be nice," Lois answered, coming back into the room.
"Okay, great. What will it be?"
Lois followed him into the kitchen and watched as he scanned the refrigerator and cabinets for something edible.
"What, are you going to cook?" Lois snarked.
Clark smirked. "Yes, I was thinking that I would."
She crossed her arms over he chest and leaned against the cabinet. "In that case, lasagna with a tossed salad on the side is my vote."
Clark rolled his eyes. "I can't make that."
"Oh, that's too bad," Lois sighed, feigning disappointment. "What are we having then?"
Clark was happy that they were bantering. The drive to Metropolis had been conducted in silence. The goodbyes had been rough on everybody.
Clark pulled a couple of cans from the cabinet. "Looks like soup… and soup."
"In that case, I think I'll have some soup."
Lois was gaining some of her confidence and swagger back as she was getting back to her domain. She had never been good with inactivity. It made her anxious.
There was an underlying pain in her heart the size of her baby, but she knew that it would help to keep her focused. The sooner they got started, the sooner it would be finished.
"You're pretty handy with a can opener, you know," she observed.
"You should see me with a spatula."
"I want to go in early," Lois announced, placing her bowl in the sink. "I'd like to get there before the crowd if possible. We can talk to Perry, brief him on what's going on, and then put together a plan of attack."
"You're going to need this," Clark said, handing her a box.
She glared at him and pulled the ring out. With a sigh, she slid the band onto her finger. "This doesn't mean you aren't sleeping on the couch."
Clark blushed. "Oh, no. I, um, wasn't…"
Lois fought to control the grin that was threatening to break. He had always been an easy target. "No, Smallville. I knew you weren't thinking about that." She cocked an eyebrow. "But I 'm talking about no sitting in chairs next to the bed, or outside the door. You get the couch. All night."
Clark's shoulders fell. He had thought he was being sneaky with his nightly vigilance. Lois hadn't said anything because for a while it had been comforting.
"Can I have a pillow?"
"You look like you're nervous."
"That would be your fault," Lois replied, jabbing the elevator button with her thumb.
"My fault?" Clark asked.
"Yes." She held up her hand. "This is your fault. I have to pretend to be married for heaven's sake. I'm supposed to walk in there as if I haven't spent the last year in a hell disguised as paradise, and I have to act as if I have been married for the past four and a half years. It's a wrench in my plans. A really big wrench. There is no way people will believe that we are married."
"It's an estranged marriage - it won't seem out of the ordinary if we are a bit off."
"Oh that's just perfect. Not only do I have a fake marriage, but it's a failed one at that. This is just about…"
"Lois…" Clark interrupted.
"What?" she demanded, turning to face him.
"You're panicking."
"I do not panic."
Clark laughed and reached to rub her arms with his hands. Lois's gaze narrowed as he stepped closer.
"Don't fall for me, Farm Boy. I don't have time for it."
Clark dropped his arms and smiled. "It's too late… Lois…"
"Don't, Clark."
Lois jumped to exit the elevator as the doors slid open. She stalked away from him with a brisk pace.
Clark frowned and exited, slowly following in her wake. Lois was good at dodging him, but he was determined to tell her how he felt. He'd been about to do it in Cuba, but had decided to wait for the perfect moment. Now, years later, he realized that there was no such thing as a perfect moment, and waiting only led to missed opportunities.
The few staffers in the newsroom that got their first glance at the couple could see that love was not in the air.
Lois stepped through Perry's open door with a grin. "I don't know how you managed without me!"
Perry laughed and Lois caught sight of the office's other occupant. "Cat!" she exclaimed, running over to hug her.
Perry stood and caught Clark's hand in a firm handshake. "It's good to have you back. The Feds were ready to send choppers out when I told them Lois would be here this morning. I promised that you would be calling to set up a chat as soon as you could. It was about all I could do to hold them off."
"Thanks, Chief. We'll call right away."
"How's everything going?"
Clark shrugged. The frustration from the elevator confrontation was still evident on his face. Perry nodded knowingly and walked over to Lois.
"I'm really glad you're back, now would you mind telling me where the hell you have been?"
-- Metropolis - September 2010 --
"Detective Henderson was a lot nicer to you than he has been to me over the past few months," Clark remarked as they left the station.
"You call that nice?" Lois asked.
Clark shot her a wry smile. "He was happy to see you alive, Lois."
"He was happy to close the case."
"I thought you weren't planning on telling the police about the plane and the crates," Clark said.
"And I'm still not going to. Henderson's different. He'll help us cover. He won't like it, but he'll do it."
"And what about the Feds?" They had met with the FBI the day before and given them the details of Lois's inadvertent kidnapping. They were preparing to launch an investigation and wanted more meetings to discuss it further.
"I don't trust them. They have more leaks than a strainer. You remember Chloe's safe house?" Lois cocked her head to the side. "Exactly my point."
"What about their investigation?"
"They can investigate. I'll just have my own investigation going at the same time."
"We," Clark corrected.
"What?"
"We'll have our own investigation going at the same time."
"That's what I said. Anyway, I was thinking about heading back to the docks to see if anything stands out."
"That sounds good." They began walking back to The Planet. "Lois, we need to talk about us."
Lois stopped walking and faced him. "Clark, I told you not to go there."
"Yeah, I heard what you said, but you haven't taken the chance to hear me." Clark reached for her arm as she started to turn away. "You can feel any way that you want to, but I love you and I'm going to keep telling you that whenever I feel like it because you can't wait for perfect moments. You have to take advantage of the ones you get."
Lois fixed him with a glare and walked away. Clark jogged to catch up with her.
"I know you can't say it back, and that's okay. I'm not trying to pressure you. I just don't want to get caught in a place where I can't tell you, or anyone for that matter, how I feel. I've lived for too long keeping things inside."
Clark grinned at her. He was relieved to be able to get that off his chest, and decided to add one more thing for good measure. "I love you, Lois Lane."
By that time they were standing in front of the main doors of the Planet Building. Lois narrowed her gaze angrily at him and walked into the building. "We have a meeting with a source in an hour. Let's get to work," she threw over her shoulder.
"Well, look whose back from sabbatical. That is a killer tan," Bobby Big Mouth commented. "What beach have you been laying on?"
Lois rolled her eyes. "Business before pleasure, Bobby. What have you got for me?"
Bobby eyed the man standing behind her. "What, are you brining a bodyguard to your meetings now? Hey, Tin Man, you mind giving us a little privacy here?"
Clark narrowed his eyes and wondered how far he could throw the snitch.
Lois smirked as she felt Clark bristle. "Sorry, Bobby. He stays. This is Clark Kent, my… partner."
"Partner? Lois Lane sharing a byline with someone else? Yeah right. That'll be the day." Bobby paused and took another look at Clark. "Wait… is this the guy? This is the guy! The husband!
Nice to meet you!"
Bobby reached out a hand toward Clark. "I didn't really believe the rumor mill, its not always reputable, you know. But here you are. How did you manage to land this Lane-shark, eh?"
"Bobby," Lois interrupted, sternly.
He turned back to her. "Oh, sorry. The business-before-pleasure rule. Geez, Lane, you really should try mixing the two… or maybe you already have that down," he teased pointing at Clark.
"Bobby," she warned.
"All right, all right. I have to say that you going on vacation like that with no warning put me in bind."
Lois moved to sit at the outdoor table next to Bobby, and indicated that Clark pull up a chair. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well, I had to talk to some of your competitors. Information is a commodity. People need my services."
Lois sighed. "We had an understanding before. I need you to commit to exclusivity again. You talk to me only… and him," she pointed to Clark. "But that's it."
Bobby took a second to think about it. "It'll cost ya."
Clark leaned over and mumbled into Lois's ear so only she could hear. "The Planet has a policy of not paying sources…"
"Hey, what's he saying?"
Lois glanced at Clark with a cocked eyebrow. "He says he'll personally cover your fees."
Clark's eyes widened at her reply, and Bobby clapped his hands together.
"Good man," Bobby remarked. "But I don't know. I mean, what if you decide to skip town again and leave me hanging? A man's got to look out for his best interests. I need some insurance."
Lois pulled a bag onto the table. "You know what, Bobby? You're absolutely right." She pulled a piece of Chocolate Mousse Silk Pie from the bag and opened the plastic cover. As she pulled a plastic fork from the bag, she continued, "You'll want some insurance because the years that we have worked together mean nothing. Our history…meaningless."
She sliced into the pie and put the section into her mouth. "Mmmph. This is sooo good."
Bobby licked his lips and reached over to grab the pie. "Okay, you win. You got me. I'm yours. Everything I get, goes only to you."
Lois handed him an extra fork. "And there's two more in the bag."
Bobby jumped up from the table, shoveling forkfuls of pie into his mouth. "You're a doll, Lane. This stuff is amazing." He grabbed the bag and began backing away from the table. "It was good to see you again, Lois. I was starting to get worried."
"It's good to be seen, Bobby. We'll talk soon, all right?"
"Mmm-hmmph," he replied around more pie. With a wink, he disappeared around the corner.
"You pay him with food?" Clark asked. An expression of disbelief was on his face.
"I used to." Lois smiled and stood up. "Now, you pay him with food."
tbc
