Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Lacey. And believe me, she wishes I didn't. Everyone else belongs to Warner Brothers, DC Comics and all sorts of people that are not little old me.

Eight

"It looks like Santa threw up." Lacey scowled at the holiday party in front of her. So this was her life now. Being subjected to an office party. She leaned against the doorframe with a bored expression. The holiday atmosphere made her want to pull a Carrie.

"It's not that bad." Lois assured her. She flashed a dazzling smile at Richard, who flashed one back before resuming his conversation with someone from sports.

"You only say that because you've had a couple of glasses of alcohol filled eggnog."

"That's not why I say it, but it doesn't actually hurt my reasoning either." Lois shook her head. Lacey was a strange one, but she liked her. "Just relax. You'll have fun."

Lacey watched Lois walk away to talk to Cat Grant and she turned around to leave, only to run right into Clark. Literally. She had run right into the broad chest that hid behind his suits and the klutzy Clark persona.

"Swell." She muttered and rubbed her now sore shoulder, just as Clark apologized profusely. She held up a hand to cut him off. "It's ok. It was my fault."

"It was my-" Clark stopped and looked concerned. "Are you leaving already?"

Lacey shrugged. "I was thinking about it. I'm not really into the work party thing." She frowned at his expression. Did he look a little disappointed? No, it was just the typical Clark mask.

"It's not really my idea of fun either-"

She came to a sudden decision and grabbed his wrist. "I've got an idea. Come with me." She didn't even notice Clark's lack of protesting as she dragged him away from the party.

"Can you tell me why we're eating ice cream in the middle of winter while sitting on park swings?"

Lacey savored her strawberry cheesecake ice cream as the swing underneath her squeaked while she swayed in it. "Because we can, blue eyes. Obviously."

Clark could only stare at her. Every time he thought he had her pegged, she did something new. His first major shock was when he found out from Cat Grant that it was Lacey who had left him the cookies. Then there were the strange interludes she'd have with him when he was Superman.. They bantered. She got him to banter. It was a strange. He mentally shook the train of thought away. "Aren't you cold?"

Lacey barely heard him, as she was lost in ice cream bliss. That or she was numb from cold. It was a toss up, but she didn't care. Cheesecake ice cream. Yum. She took a moment and glanced down at herself. She was wearing her warmest coat over a simple burgundy dress with a flared skirt that stopped around her knees. She'd paired it off with a nice pair of black boots, because heels were her enemy. Cold? Nah.

She shivered. So maybe she was a little cold, but she'd never admit it.

"Of course I am, but that's part of the fun." Ok, so she would admit it. She devoured another spoonful of ice cream. "Besides, cold isn't too bad. Back in Missouri, I used to have to wait at the corner for the bus to school for about fifteen minutes. There would be snow on the ground and I'd still be standing there in a pair of summer shorts just because."

"You're from Missouri?" Clark asked, a little surprised. In the couple of months or so that he'd known her, she'd never once mentioned where she came from.

She nodded with the plastic spoon in her mouth. Lacey then drove the spoon back into her ice cream. "The state of denial and delusions. Born and raised in a small town there. But I moved to Jefferson City right after high school and then one day I just found my way to Metropolis." At least she was being honest about most of it. Why bother trying to explain the Mary-Sue crap? It wouldn't change anything.

Lacey was being cagey, that much Clark could tell. He wanted to know more, but he had a feeling that if he pried, she'd shut down. He definitely didn't want that. "Are you going back there for Christmas?" Her swing stopped movement and he realized he said the wrong thing.

Her gaze fell to the snow. "No. There isn't anything there for me now."

Now Clark felt like an idiot. "Oh, I'm sorry. I did-"

Her head snapped up and she spun her swing around, letting the chains creak as they twisted, allowing her to face him better. "Psh. You didn't know. It doesn't matter anyway. Just me is cool." Liar liar. They both knew it. "It means I only look out for one person." She sighed and offered him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Don't dwell on it."

He sighed. So she was alone. That explained some of her personality quirks. Even with this information, he found himself asking a possibly painful question. "Then what are you doing for Christmas?"

"Honestly?" She asked and he nodded for her to continue. "I was going to wallow, but then I decided, 'Screw that'. Besides, I really didn't want an uber hangover rerun. So I volunteered to help my neighbor, Gina, at the hospital she works at for Christmas. They do this whole Santa thing for the kids who can't go home for the holidays. I figure that since I have the time, I may as well put it to good use. Besides, kids are cool."

Clark listened to her as she started rambling about all the run ins she'd had with kids that cemented her opinion on them. He knew she had a soft spot just by the way she treated Jason, so hearing her talk about it wasn't that much of a shock. After she stopped rambling about kids, they somehow started sharing tales of the Midwest. She found out how he used to be the water boy for the football team, he found out that she died in a horror movie her sister wrote and filmed as a teenager, they shared their losses, and they skirted issues about certain other topics. At some point, they had run out of ice cream, but they were still sitting and talking in the cold night air.

"I was so mad that I took my mom's most expensive bottle of perfume.." Lacey paused for effect. "And I drank it. A kid drunk on perfume. Memorable moment."

Clark couldn't hide the grin he gave her. "You drank it?"

She took on a mock look of defense and threw her hands up into the air. "I was five. I couldn't think of anything-- Holy hell." Her eyes had noticed the time on her watch. "It's almost eleven."

Had it been that long? It hadn't seemed like it. Clark's eyes widened. "You must be frozen!"

Lacey shivered. Actually, she hadn't really noticed the cold until he mentioned it. The wonders of denial. "Well, I wasn't before, but thanks for reminding me." She said with a roll of her eyes as Clark rose out of his swing.

Clark stepped in front of her and offered her his hand. He ignored the shifty look and eye roll when she accepted the help. Unfortunately, one of them did something wrong when he pulled her up, because a moment later, Clark had slipped and landed on his back in the snow.

Lacey yelped when she landed on top of him and she heard him groan underneath her.

"Ow."

Maybe it was the way he said it. Maybe it was just the fact he did. Either way, it made her lock her eyes with his. Brown eyes versus blue eyes. Color smack down. She giggled and he could only stare at her as mirth filled her eyes. "For the record, this doesn't count as second base."

Lacey had expected Clark to blush, fumble, heck, anything 'Clark-like' at her comment. What she didn't expect was for him to laugh as cheerfully as he did.

Maybe she was doing something good here after all.