Clark hung in space, suspended upon a current of emotion. His eyes were closed, listening to the sounds from Earth. He was the only one who could hear anything up there. He knew full well that there was no sound in the vacuum of space, but, then, a human body cannot exist alive there either…so here he was, floating, thinking, and listening.

He felt horrible. Horrible for betraying the two women he loved most in his life. He had given Chloe too much, given her what she knew he shouldn't…and they both knew it. She was his greatest childhood friend, and he let himself ruin that bond. He realized he had indulged on a whim, a pure flight of fantasy. He had been infatuated with Lana once, he had given himself to her, and she had betrayed him with Lex. Still, it wasn't fair to treat her this way in his thoughts, as she had begged for forgiveness once she saw what Lex had become, but she hadn't tried to become part of his life again. He respected her for that, for the boundaries that she learned from her time with Lex. He loved Chloe as a sister, but knew he could never be with her. Just, every once in a while, while growing up, he would hear her say his name, see her laugh, find himself looking out the door for her to arrive…and often wondered if that meant he wanted more. After they were together before, he realized it wasn't more. It didn't ruin their friendship because it was already so strong, their platonic love for each other so great. She would always be a part of his life and in his heart. Just, not as a lover or soul mate.

And now, he had ruined that. He opened his eyes, looking at the sun, feeling the rays enter his body, even though he didn't feel the heat. The sun refreshed him, gave him strength, made him able to face the day, save the world.

And face Lois.

He listened a moment longer, pinpointing a spot in the Alps, as it appeared some skiers were about to be rundown by an avalanche. He took a deep breath, and then, with a silent whoosh, rocket back to the Earth, the heat from the burn of entering the atmosphere dissipating literally the moment it happened. He mused at the shadows over the snow peaked hills as he spotted the thunder snow – they told him he was going to be late for work. But right now, he was Superman, and saving someone's life came before Clark having to deal with personal problems. He would take care of it…after he stopped the avalanche.

-----------------------------------

Poor Richard! He was very confused, and Lois understood why…she just couldn't tell him why she was acting this way. She couldn't tell him why a quick trip to her cousin's hotel room had her racing home, furious and on the verge of tears. She had been able to articulate that Clark had been there…and Richard had guessed the rest on his own. He was probably thinking the worst. Was it the worst? Yes, it was! To her it was! Why was it? She didn't know. It didn't seem fair…to anyone.

She hadn't been able to call Chloe that morning, as the first thought in her head when she woke up was that Clark was probably still there…and she could not handle that if it was true. One thing, she had surprised herself by, was the way she handled the truth – truly seeing for herself that yes, Clark Kent is Superman. And she actually liked that fact. It was a nice juxtaposition. She smiled a little to herself, at the image of Clark running into a secluded hallway, revealing the 'S', and then flying off into the sky.

The image sent a thrill through her spine, and a little smile revealed itself on her lips.

"Ah, now there's a smile! Hey, Richard! Lois is smiling now!" Jimmy said, looking at her happily.

Lois quickly wiped the smile from her face. "I'm not smiling, Jimmy, I'm working."

"You were smiling…!"

She looked at him irritatingly. "Fine, I concede to it – I was smiling. But not anymore, I have to work."

He nodded. "Um, eherm, uh…"

She glanced up at him. "Out with it, Jimmy."

"Well, it's just – uh, I, uh, thought Chloe was supposed to come in with you today."

She froze in place. "I honestly don't know if she is or not."

Richard came walking up just then. "I hope you got that on camera, Jimmy, cause she sure isn't smiling now." He rubbed her back, giving her a sympathetic look, before turning to Jimmy.

"Yeah, Chloe's probably not going to come in today after all…" he leaned forward a bit, a small, wicked smile on his face, "I'm betting that Clark kept her up all night. She's very energetic and he's a big guy who probably has a lot of stamina."

Chloe winced at those words, though, she realized, they were probably true. Richard didn't even notice how fast Jimmy's face fell.

"Of course, she's with Clark." He whispered to himself.

"Pardon?" Richard asked, leaning forward again.

"What? I didn't say anything." Jimmy said quickly, surprised that Richard had even noticed he talked.

Lois didn't notice him saying. But, she was staring at Chloe, who had just exited the elevator. Chloe caught Lois' eye immediately, and stopped in her tracks. Lois gave her a hard look. Chloe swallowed a lump in her throat, before gathering the courage to walk forward.

"You guys, check out the news…there's some sort of avalanche in the Alps." She pointed to one of the TVs. All of them looked up, to see Superman on the camera quickly moving the immobile skiers out of the way before he turned to the snow plummeting down the mountain.

"Superman saves the day again, huh?" Perry White said from in back of them. "Anybody want to cover this story?"

"Oh, Clark's on it already." Lois replied coolly.

Chloe looked at her cousin in shock. She admitted to herself that she didn't know how Lois was going to handle the truth about Clark…but this was getting down right nasty!

"Hey Richard, Perry, Jimmy. Lois, can I talk to you for a second?"

Richard flashed her a grin, Perry gave a quick nod, while Jimmy barely mumbled a hello, as he watched her drag Lois into the elevator.

The doors dinged and closed in front of them.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" Both Lois and Chloe found themselves yelling at each other.

"What?" They both said again, looking at each other in confusion. Lois quickly reached over, pressing the stop button on the elevator. It clunked to stop.

"Me first," Lois jumped in, turning to her cousin, "what they hell were you thinking with Clark? You know he's my son's father, you know he is Superman and that he and I have a history, you know – "

"Oh, so knowing someone since childhood isn't a history." Chloe retorted.

Lois closed her eyes, aggravated. "I have a romantic history with him. You were his best friend."

Chloe sighed, leaning her head against the wall. "You're right." She said quietly. "I had no right to be intimate with Clark after what you have been through with him. You are the love of his life, his son's mother, and you now know who he really is." She straightened up, looking directly into Lois' eyes. "The question is, Lois, can you handle the truth? Can you love Clark as much as you love Superman? Because you can't love him as anything less than both."

Lois took a deep breath, looking around the elevator. "I can't say I love him right now, because I honestly don't know. Clark has always been a friend to me nothing more and nothing less. Superman was…more…but now that I know that they are one in the same…"

"You have to start looking at them both that way." Chloe gave a chuckle. "Wait till you see him as Kal-El."

Lois almost laughed herself. "The non-hero Kryptonian part of him?"

Chloe nodded with a little smile on her face. "Yeah, he's like that mostly back home in Kansas…and he's a major hottie like that!"

Lois burst out laughing. It felt good, to let out all that tension. Her muscles eased and relaxed. She hated being angry with Chloe.

"I hated being so angry with you. I hated feeling betrayed like that. I hated the fact that I was feeling jealous about Clark moving on."

Chloe took Lois' hands in her own. "It's completely understandable, Lo. And trust me, I hate being angry with you also. Right now, you are just royally confused about how you feel, because two people you've known for a long time are actually one person. It's bound to confuse anyone! But, not anyone is you, Lois Lane, the one true love of Kal-El, Clark Kent, and Superman, all one man."

Lois embraced her cousin, thankful that they had passed this argument with relative ease.

"God, I thought we were going to be angry with each other for days!" Lois laughed.

Chloe laughed as well. "Nah, I know I'm no competition for his heart; even before he met you."

"But does he still feel that way? I've done everything in my power to push him away as Superman, and to ignore him as Clark."

She just smiled at Lois. "You will find, as you already know, that Clark is a very understanding guy. I bet you he is blaming himself for everything, more than he blames either of us."

Lois gave a heartbreaking look at that statement.

"But, he is alive, he does have feelings. The fact that you never saw him as Clark, and that you've now pushed him away as Superman…that is not easy for him."

"It's sad…it just took me a long time to realize it!" Lois sad sadly, as she pulled out the stop button, and the elevator shuddered, before moving back to their floor. "And now, to face him when he gets back from the Alps."

"You'll do fine." Chloe said soothingly, as the doors dinged and opened back onto their level.

Lois nearly stopped dead in her tracks. Clark was already there, standing next to her desk, somberly waiting for her. He was looking around, not noticing her there, when suddenly he turned his head sharply, seeing her standing there. He set his jaw, swallowed the lump in his throat, and politely waited for her to walk to her desk.

Chloe gave him a polite, sympathetic smile, which he caught as he shot a quick glance at her. Lois stopped in front of him, leaning a little on her chair for physical support.

"Everyone safe in the Alps?" She asked quietly, politely. He nodded.

"Good."

"Lois…we need to talk." Clark said quietly, straightforward. It was at that moment, that Lois realizes how much he must be drawing from his Superman persona, this must be how he truly is: as Kal-El.

"Yes, we do."

"I…I never meant for you to discover who I was that way."

She looked at him for a second, her bitterness and twinge of jealousy starting to rise. "Meaning what? That you wanted to tell me after you slept with my cousin?"

His eyes looked pained. "Of course not. The entire situation could've been prevented."

"If I had walked in later. Or not at all." She crossed her arms over her chest. She knew she was getting defensive, but damn it, this was a lot for her to take in and accept all at once!

Clark stood there, studying her for a minute. He couldn't place exactly what he was feeling, but he knew he saw something knew in Lois. She had never acted this way, around him, around Superman. She could be defensive and feisty, yes – but there was something inching its way across her face, her stance, through the words she used.

"Lois, are you jealous?" He as almost amused.

Her eyes quickly shot up to his face. She remembered asking him once if he could read her mind, If that was one of his super powers. He had told her no. How did he know she was getting jealous? Maybe he just really knew her a lot better than she thought he did.

"I'm not so much jealous as much as – I felt betrayed. I felt let down by you and Chloe."

He looked confused. "Why?"

"Because I know you slept with her!" She blurted out, before freezing up, as she realized how loud she had just been, and that everyone in the bullpen was looking at her and Clark. Chloe, who had been giving a friendly hello to Richard and Jimmy, collapsed into a chair, letting her head fall into her hands, her hair hanging down, her hands covering the shame and humiliation on her face.

Richard and Jimmy were both watching the scene in front of them with very different emotions. Richard would've started out amused, but he was too confused over Lois' behavior. He didn't understand why she would be upset about Clark and Chloe being involved. He didn't understand why they were even standing there, having a heated discussion. They were friends, nothing more, nothing less. Jimmy, however, felt like dying. The look on his face was of complete shattering of hope. He was crushed. He knew he was never going to have a snowballs chance in hell with Chloe. She was too pretty, too smart, too fun, too full of zeal to ever want to date him. He was, well, he was a less cool version of Clark in his opinion. And the sad thing was, he knew that Clark wasn't thought of as cool: he wasn't really thought of…at all. But, Clark was the one person he felt he could relate to, he could be true-friends with, who noticed and appreciated him, and he had always been glad to do the same back. Of course, it would take someone as smart and together as Chloe to realize what all the other pulse-beating females in Metropolis hadn't noticed: Clark. Clark was tall, dark, much more handsome, strong, and an actual reporter instead of just a photographer. He had an Atticus Finch quality, while Jimmy had a – well, Steve Urkell quality in his opinion. He sighed. He never thought that Clark would truly cross to the 'normal' side of the spectrum…with the girl that Jimmy, himself wanted a chance with.

Clark felt every stare on him, not Lois. He knew that that statement about him came as a bit of a shock to everyone there. He was mild-mannered, quiet and gentle, sweet, Boy Scout like, Clark Kent: easily missed, completely anonymous, a modern day Mister Cellophane. It didn't occur to any of them that he would ever get in an argument with anyone, that he could, well, stop a bullet with his eyeballs, or that he would be accused of – having sex.

"I didn't." He said, very quietly.

"What?" Lois said, almost unable to say it.

He gave her a sad look. "I didn't have sex with Chloe last night."

Her eyes widened.

"I flew off," he said quietly, "the moment you left."

She gave a discontented sigh, feeling like a fool. She moved to sit, when he caught her elbow.

"We need to go on the roof to talk." He stated, pulling her up.

--------------------------

Lois stepped slowly onto the roof. It wasn't windy today, thank God, but she still felt a chill go through her body. She knew it had nothing to do with the temperature. She heard Clark walk in back of her.

"The last time we were on this roof together, you took me flying above the city."

"You want me to do that again? It might be a little confusing for the people who saw us come up here."

She turned to him. "No, I…I'm not really certain right now what I want."

He shook his head, giving a snort. "I knew this would happen."

"Knew what would happen?"

"I knew that once you found out I was Superman, you were going to realize that you suddenly had to pay attention to Clark Kent. And I'm trying to find out how that is taking its toll on you." He gave her a hard look.

She looked at him angrily. "That's not fair!"

"No, Lois, you want to know what's not fair?" He took a step towards her, his voice raising. "Seeing how completely you ignore me everyday as Clark, and how much you look at me as Superman with as much desire as I have for you, but you are pushing it away as hard as possible."

"We've been through this! You left, Richard is a nice man, he was there for me, I've moved on." She said urgently

"We've been through the talk about my disappearing act to find my home planet. What we haven't been through is your complete and utter lack of regard for me: for Clark Kent." He gestured pointedly at himself then.

"What are you expecting me to do, Clark? Are you expecting me to suddenly swoon, fall to the floor and tell you how much I love you? I don't know if I love you yet, Clark! I don't even know if I love Superman any more!"

He threw up his hands in exasperation. "That's it, Lois! You are always going to love Superman in some way! But, can you ever, ever love Clark? You never gave a damn about me, never thought of me as more than a friend, sometimes a journalistic partner, but always as someone who could be ignored."

She looked hurt, and saw the emotion reflected on his face. "I hope I haven't ignored you…I never meant to."

He sighed, slumped his shoulders, letting his head hang low, "We never mean to do anything that hurts someone else. Yet, it's done anyway. I have loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. The only part of me you've ever cared about was Superman. But, Lois, he's a part of me. You can't love just a part of me; you have to love all of me. Or, you can't love me at all."

Lois wiped a tear off her cheek. She really was blind, not seeing who he was, and more so, not seeing him at all. Clark really was Superman, but so much more than that. He was sweet, kind, gentle, he had feelings, wasn't perfect. He wasn't human, she knew this, but he was still alive. He had fallen in love with her, and she, in her idiocy, had been swept away by the romantic side of his persona, while ignoring the entire person.

Clark breathed in deeply. He watched as Lois stood there, looked at the ground, contemplating what he was saying. A glimmer of hope passed through him. He thought he could see her finally understanding him and his situation. Maybe there was hope for a closer friendship between them. Maybe there was hope for him as one person after all.

She looked up at him, her eyes still shiny from her tears. "You're right, Clark. I never would have accepted you before." She gave him a small hopeful smile. "But, I think I can now."

He broke out in a full grin. He took his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You don't know how long I've wanted to tell you, wanted you to understand."

She continued to smile. "I understand." Her expression changed in the slightest. "Uh, Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"You're floating."

He looked at the roof in surprise. He was about 5 feet off the ground and hadn't even realized. He quickly, smoothly landed. "I do that sometimes without realizing it, when in very emotional situations."

"Well, we have been running on quite the emotional high." She laughed at herself. "God, Richard is so confused right now, and, oh my gosh, how I must have embarrassed Chloe by what I yelled at you earlier!"

He gave a conceding look. "Yeah, that was rather embarrassing."

"Oh, no, Jimmy! He has such a thing for Chloe – "

"He does?" Clark asked in surprised.

"And he admires you so much, Clark."

"Well I have thought about telling him – "

"Oh, not right now, Clark. You can't do it now. One revelation at a time, I think." She paused for a second. "I think the next person to tell his Jason. He needs to know that you – and Superman – are his father."

He nodded slowly. "If you think that is best."

They stood there, comfortable for the first time in…well really, the first time. As Clark and Lois. As Superman and Lois. As Kal-EL and Lois. Most importantly, was that Lois knew he was all three, and she accepted him for it.

"Are we ok?" She asked almost feebly, taking one of his hands in hers.

He gave her his famous smile, the smile that she had seen a hundred times on both Clark and Superman, and finally noticed how truly well it fit him. "We are just fine." He pressed the button, the elevator opened, and they both entered it, still smiling at each other and holding each other's hand.