Chapter 2
Hopkins Dormitory, Metropolis University (Afternoon)
Clark exited Adrian's Hall to meet up with Chloe in the center court. By the time he made his way to her, she had hung up her phone.
"Who were you talking to?" he asked out of curiosity.
"Oh, that was Lois," she answered simply. Clark is surprised, they haven't heard from Lois for a couple of months now.
"Is she okay? Where is she? Did she mention when she was coming back?" he questioned making Chloe's mind spin recklessly out of her head.
"Whoa, Clark, take it easy. She's fine"
"Well…" he says a little impatiently. "Where is she?"
She shrugged. "I don't know"
"What do you mean…" he shrugs, imitating her. "I don't know. Didn't you ask?"
"Honestly… no"
"Chloe"
"Clark, she's a big girl. If she needs our help, she'll call us"
When Clark was left alone to his thoughts, he went over the last few months since she left. It's no secret to anyone that knew him that he missed her. He attended Central Kansas with Lois and when they did, they truly got to know each other without any of that hostility they shared earlier in the relationship.
He hasn't heard from her for two months and it has him a little worried. He even went as far as thinking maybe what happened between them during spring break pushed her away. He just hope she wasn't in any kind of trouble, because if he knew Lois better than he thinks he knows her. If she's in trouble, she won't come running to him for help. She's just so stubborn that way.
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Wayne Gala, Wayne Manor (Night)
Bruce Wayne entered from the foyer and into the magnificent ballroom. It was a black tie event and so everyone was certainly dressed for the occasion.
"May I offer you a bubbly, Master Wayne?" Alfred came by with a tray of the world's finest champagne.
Bruce had been temporarily distracted by two ladies adjoined in what seemed to be a lively discussion across the room.
"I don't mind if I do," Bruce replied absentmindedly, taking a couple of glasses off Alfred's tray before making his way to the other side.
"Ladies!" he boyishly interrupted.
The men and woman around the chatter stopped what they were doing while the two women he set his sights on remained impassive. He gestured the two filled champagne glasses to them in hopes that one, preferably both, takes them.
Rachel smiled. "Thanks Bruce." Lois on the other hand wasn't falling for it.
"I don't drink"
District Attorney Rachel Dawes just about choked on her drink when she heard that. "Since when?" she says in a shocked manner.
Bruce eyed the two ladies curiously. "You two know each other?" It was obvious judging from their camaraderie that they knew each other.
"We met three summers ago in Italy," Rachel explained, oblivious to Lois and Bruce's two minute history together. "We've been friends ever since. If only she would visit me more often though," she added with an attempt to make her visit the city more often.
"Oh, hey now, come on. We're very busy people"
"Uh huh, busy getting kicked out of colleges all right," Rachel couldn't help but joke out about. She laughed hysterically when she got the e-mail from Lois claiming that she got booted out of Metropolis University for a binging incident. Getting kicked out is no laughing matter, but when your subject line read 'College is Evil,' how else was she suppose to react?
Bruce raised his eyebrows in even more surprise. "You got kicked out?"
"Well aren't you a regular twenty questions," Lois observed, remarking on how many times he had asked her the simplest questions.
Rachel stood between them and saw something that may be she wasn't suppose two. As the attorney in the matter, she couldn't help but wonder…
"Have you two met already?"
"Yes," Lois says. "No," Bruce says at the same time as Lois but then took it back... "I mean, briefly. We met briefly, but I hardly call that a meeting," he recovered in the end.
"Should I even ask what happened?"
"He attacked me," Lois simply put.
Rachel's eyes go wide with uncertainty; she turned to Bruce, her eyes slightly blazing. "You attacked her!"
"Only by accident," he defends himself. "I thought she was burglar"
"How many burglars can walk into a highly secured Wayne Enterprise facility?" Lois crossed her arms and looked at the billionaire sternly, awaiting his rebuff.
Bruce held back the urge to verbally lash at her but realized that between Rachel and the very interesting Miss Lane, he'd fail in his attempts anyway.
"Okay, you're right, I was wrong and I apologize," he expressed sincerely.
Lois was unaffected by his charms. She intertwined her arms with Rachel's. "Look," she pointed as Rachel's gaze follows. "There's someone over there that needs to be interrogated"
Rachel chuckled at her. "That's the buffet table, Lois"
"And that doesn't make it any less important, now come on, I think I see strawberries coated with chocolate," she pulled.
As they glided across the room, Bruce looked on with a mixture of bewilderment and intrigue. Who exactly is Lois Lane?
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Wayne Gardens, Wayne Manor (Night)
Contrary to popular belief, Lois was never the party girl type. She came, she drank and she left. This time, she was actually made to mingle.
"I always thought my parties were a bore," someone comments from behind. Lois has had too many experiences in this sort of thing that she's learned not to react as much.
"It's good the know that the feeling is mutual"
He steps out of the shadows and into the light; Lois could finally stop and see where the appeal to him was.
"Look, I know we both sort of got on the wrong foot…" he began to apologize, again. "So if you'll allow me, I'd like to properly introduce myself." He extends his hand once more. "My name is Bruce Wayne"
Lois eyed him for a few seconds, staring into his features to prove that his sincerity was false, but in all honesty, she saw none.
She finally shakes his hand.
"Lois Lane"
Bruce smiled. "It's nice to meet you"
She let go and stared into his garden, so rich with plants and flowers. "You don't strike me as the gardening type"
He chuckles at the observation. "You're right, I'm not," he confirmed, leaning down to smell the flowers. "My mother loved it though. In some ways, I keep it around just to remind myself that she'll always be with me," he uncharacteristically revealed. Bruce Wayne is never the person to reveal something so personal, especially to a remote stranger.
Lois caught the shift in emotion throughout his face and she wondered if there was more to the billionaire than what she has been told. In the end, she decided to remain silent.
And as if coming from nowhere, a bat flew out from beneath the bushes and Lois almost found herself screeching.
"I'm sorry, are you all right," Bruce asked in concern.
"No, thanks, I'm all right... that was... unexpected"
"Gotham's known for its bats," he attempts to scurry her mind elsewhere, the previous nights events at the Narrows becoming a clear memory in his mind. He has spent a year keeping his dual identities a secret from strangers, this was no different.
"So I've noticed," she remarked, the attack left her unfazed.
"You don't look surprised"
She looked at him and grinned. "You should try visiting Smallville sometime"
Somehow, he knew that wasn't an invitation.
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Batcave, Wayne Manor (End of Night)
Bruce sat contemplatively in front of several massive plasma screens, pushing on various buttons beneath each screen. One screen particularly caught his eye.
Alfred couldn't help but notice his change in extracurricular activities.
Like Master Bruce, he too stared at vision of the woman that has entranced his Master's attention all throughout the night. To be honest, he was glad of it. It'd bring some light into his often very dark life.
"What have you found, sir?"
"Lois Lane"
"I can see that, Master Bruce. I meant, about her"
"Oh, right." He sat up a lot more comfortably on his chair as he pressed a few more keys. "Lois Joanne Lane. Born West Germany, has a younger sister named Lucy but…" With a few more strokes, he added… "There's a gap"
"A gap, sir?"
"Uh huh, a gap… Rachel mentioned how she got kicked out of school, and I sort of got a little curious about it so… yes, I noticed a gap. She mysteriously left school for two weeks before graduation."
"Couldn't she have waited till after she graduated to do that, sir?"
"That's what I initially thought, but then I realized that there's no information about it whatsoever in her files"
"Enlighten me, Master Bruce"
He smiled. "What I meant is that there are no records as to why she left. Nothing at all, it's like she just came back without so much as an explanation"
"If I may, what does this have to do with us?"
"Absolutely nothing," he concluded.
"Excuse me"
Bruce remained silent.
"Sir is this for security purposes or are we running a background check on your new girlfriend?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Alfred, I don't have time for a girlfriend… besides, I think she's already taken"
"What do you mean?" He didn't notice a ring on her finger nor any indication that she was involved, but then again, looks can be deceiving.
"I found a few photos of her with this… guy," he read closely. "A Clark Kent"
"This is all very interesting Master Bruce, but what does this have to do with us again?"
He shook his head. "Absolutely" Bruce began to answer as Alfred joined him on the rest. "… nothing"