Hey all - sorry I've been MIA for a few weeks. I am working on the other stories and will hopefully have something out soon.
As for this story, we're still in Earth2 and the beginning of this chapter immediately follows the last chapter. A brief explanation about my take on Clark Luthor in the flashbacks of my story. I know that the CL we saw in Luthor (I didn't watch Kent, but suspect he was much the same) was very, very dark, but as I've said before, I think there was something redeemable in him, which means that at one point in his life, he wasn't the dark, murderous CL that we saw. That is the Clark Luthor that I'm attempting to write. I kinda see him more along the lines of a Lex in the early seasons of SV, where he was clearly a Luthor, but had choices before him that determine the type of man he became. The CL in my story is at one of those crossroads. What follows below is the beginning of that journey.
Also, I upped the rating to T - more to cover myself in where I'm taking Earth2 Lois and Clark. But also because this Clark is a lot more brazen and aware of his appeal to women than our Clark is. I honestly have no idea what he'll make me say or do on his behalf. ;)
Hope you enjoy! As always, thank you so, so, so very much for your support and feedback. I'd love to hear what you think!
The Two Worlds, Two Words Series: Challenge Accepted
With a heavy sigh, Lois Lane booted her laptop and tried to forget about the argument she'd just had with one Oliver Queen.
It wasn't the first fight they'd had over Clark Luthor and she doubted it would be the last. Not if the past few weeks were any indication.
It was becoming routine now.
Get up. Follow a lead. Turn in a story. Fight with Oliver. Sit in vigil over Clark. Go to bed.
Get up the next morning and do it all again.
The laptop's wallpaper showcasing a smiling couple at their engagement party greeted her. That had been a special night. A strange night. A night that had opened old doors, new wounds and fresh possibilities.
A night that was threatening to tear Oliver and her apart.
Or was that just what she told herself to chase away the doubts that had been clawing at the edges of her mind since the day she'd slipped Oliver's ring on her finger?
Lois paused a moment, analyzing the photo.
Since when did smiling look so painful? Or take so much effort? And why should it be any effort at all on one of the happiest days of her life?
Maybe because you've glimpsed true happiness and what you have now just doesn't compare...
Shaking away that disturbing thought, Lois did what she always did when the doubts became too heavy to shrug away. She purposely averted her attention to two files that were permanent fixtures on her desktop: the first story she'd ever written for the Daily Planet and the first 'Lois Lane' article the Daily Planet ever published.
They served as constant reminders of two fundamental principles of life. The first? To always tell the truth. And the second? That compromising the truth with beautiful lies can only lead to a broken heart.
It was not lost on her that she'd been defying both principles of late.
Her mind drifted back to the day she met the subject of those articles.
The day she met Clark Luthor...and her whole life changed...
Hazel eyes bright with excitement and slim shoulders set with determination, Lois Lane entered the Daily Plant for the finale to a week-long flurry of face-to-face interviews, skills tests and endless paperwork.
The hiring process had been more arduous than she'd expected. But, in some ways, that was reassuring. At least the Daily Planet didn't take just anyone off the street with a pen and a notepad claiming to be a reporter.
After a long string of steady disappointments in everything from family to love to work over the past few years, Lois was ready for a change. For a challenge. For a dream to come true.
She was ushered into the top boss' office and instantly wondered if she'd conjured 'dream come true' with that thought alone or if she'd unconsciously pieced together that dream with the man before her in mind.
She'd seen pictures of him, of course. Who hadn't? From billboards to tabloids to society pages, the owner of the Daily Planet's face, and playboy reputation, were well-known in the streets of Metropolis, and beyond.
But nothing prepared her for being in the same room with him.
The devastatingly handsome Clark Luthor sat behind his large mahogany desk, his raven head bent in rapt captivity over a folder in his hands. His broad shoulders were draped in a tailored-made suit of navy that would surely set off those famous steel-blue eyes. Eyes that were hidden by a veil of full, long lashes. The strong jaw was relaxed as full lips pursed in concentration.
In profile, he was like an exquisite statue of an ancient god captured in stone. Painfully beautiful. Disappointingly untouchable. And way beyond the meager earnings of a mere Army brat.
The wealth he was adopted into echoed in the obvious, yet understated, decor of his office. Power and confidence hung in the air around him like a heady cologne. The raw sexual energy emanating from him was palpable.
And they had yet to interact.
Nervously, Lois shifted from one foot to the other, bit her lower lip.
And waited.
After a few moments that felt to Lois like an eternity, he finally spoke, though he still had yet to look at her.
"Lois Lane. You've made it to the final round of interviews. How does that make you feel?"
"Determined to make an impression." Lois quipped confidently.
Full lips twitched in seeming approval at her answer.
"Ohhh..." Dropping the folder marked with her name onto his desk and turning his full attention on her, Clark Luthor's steely blue gaze swept over her with aching slowness. Starting first at the long legs peeking out under a short gray, pencil skirt, sliding over the lines of her shapely hips, he took in every voluptuous curve of her form-fitting blouse and finally, to her suddenly flushed face and shining eyes. Interest and appreciation flared in his expression. "I don't think you'll have a problem with that."
Switching gears before Lois had a chance to react, Clark leaned back in his custom leather chair and casually folded his hands in his lap before asking an unexpected question. "So, tell me. What do you think of our application process?"
Still reeling from the blatant way he had undressed her with his eyes, from the heat that had spread through her like a wildfire when he did, Lois blinked herself back to the question. "It's...uh...rigorous. Unique."
An eyebrow rose, indication that she had piqued his often-bored interest. "Unique? In what way?"
It was a simple, innocent question, yet her legs suddenly turned to jelly at the husky lilt of his voice. Blowing out a short breath, Lois sidestepped immediately answering him with a nod toward the chair in front of his desk. "May I?"
"Of course." Clark's lips tilted in admiration at her obvious attempt to gain back some semblance of the control he'd been responsible for making her lose.
Sitting, Lois turned her attention back to his unanswered question. She gazed at an ornate paperweight on his desk to harness her power of concentration. "Well, it's not every day your journalistic career rests on your ability to interview your prospective boss and write a profile piece detailing said interview." Lois noted as she self-consciously bit her lower lip and smoothed away the invisible wrinkles in the skirt that insisted on riding up higher than she intended.
Clark Luthor didn't seem to mind.
His hungry gaze slid up her long legs, shifted to her face, then slipped down the long column of her neck, hovering where the necklace that once belonged to her mother rested over her heart. Head tilted to the side, he was seemingly captured in a moment of distraction.
In was in the silence that Lois was acutely aware of the thundering of her heart, her racing pulse and the shaky breaths escaping her slightly parted lips. The heat in her cheeks flared to blazing-sun temperatures and an ache spilled from her stomach to the apex of her thighs.
She'd never had this happen before. Less than five minutes in such close proximity to this man was doing things to her that usually required three dinners, a movie and some heavy petting.
Even as baffling as it was, it was also...thrilling. Irrational. Dangerous.
"Are you turned on?" Clark asked suddenly, his eyes snapping upward to meet hers. Assessing. Scrutinizing. Predatory. "Or just nervous?"
Lois blanched at his brazen question, recovered quickly, then lied like an expert. After all, she wasn't General Sam Lane's daughter, trained with quick reflexes and prepared for any challenge, for nothing. "Who isn't nervous when their worth is being judged in a matter of minutes by someone of your reputed caliber?"
Seeming to admire not only the answer, but the swift recovery and quick wit, he bestowed on her the full effects of a slow, captivating Clark Luthor smile. "Don't be. Play your cards right, and this interview won't be nearly as important as dinner."
"Excuse me?" Lois blinked at the not-so-subtle suggestiveness of his tone.
A dark eyebrow rose in surprise. "Oh, haven't you heard the stories from previous candidates? If I..." His gaze swept over her once more. The tilt of his lips echoing the sentiment of his statement. "...like what I see in this interview, you'll have the chance to impress me even more at dinner. Maybe even with some dancing and...whatever else that might lead to."
Lois' expression tightened. She didn't know whether to be flattered that such a powerful, gorgeous man was so obviously coming on to her or insulted that she was just one in a seemingly long list of 'candidates'.
Insult won out.
For it seemed that 'dream come true' had turned out to be a smug, arrogant illusion.
It figured.
Lois Lane never had been lucky in the romance department.
Perhaps even more angry with herself than him, her hazel eyes flared with barely controlled indignation. "So tell me, Mr. Luthor..."
"Please. Call me Clark."
"So, tell me, Mr. Luthor..." Lois repeated obstinately. "...is sexually harassing women a normal part of the interview process or do you just fit it in whenever you can?"
Clark 's lips twitched with amusement, his eyes danced with challenge. "It's only harassment if the advances are unwanted, Ms. Lane."
"And what makes you think I want your...advances, such as they may be?" Lois challenged back.
Clark's chuckle filled the room. "You are a woman. And I'm...well..." The wave of his hands took in the length of his figure. A conceited smirk quirked. "...me."
"Well, if nothing else, at least you have the Luthor arrogance." Lois quipped as an acknowledging eyebrow hitched. With professional studiousness, she pulled out her notebook. "Shall we begin the interview? I must warn you, I'm not always gentle."
"It isn't my first time, so please..." His voice took on a dangerously seductive edge."...be as rough as you like."
Lois hit him hard right out of the gate. Without blinking an eye. "Alright then. Why don't we start with what it's like being the adopted son of Lionel Luthor? And have you ever wondered where you really came from?"
One week later...
Lois Lane stormed into Clark Luthor's office like a raging bull targeting a rodeo clown.
"What the hell, Luthor? This is not the article I submitted!" Lois held up the morning edition of the Daily Planet. The headline, 'Clark Luthor: Man of the Future' and a picture of a rival candidate, Cat Grant, right above her byline glared at Clark.
Clark Luthor's gaze switched from the paper to a furious Lois. Remaining the very picture of calm, Clark's only hint of emotion at Lois' outburst was the flicker of amusement that passed through his eyes.
He'd expected her fury. He'd hoped for it, in fact. The only outlier was the when of it all.
"That's because I tweaked it a bit." A dark eyebrow rose." Congratulations. You made the front page." He nodded toward the upraised paper and shrugged as if already bored with the conversation.
Deep inside, he was anything but.
Lois Lane was, without a doubt, the most beautiful, intriguing woman Clark had ever met. Their brief encounter had made an impact on him that no one, least of all Clark, could have foreseen. That she rejected him so blatantly put her instantly in his crosshairs and for seven long days and seven excruciating nights, he hadn't been able to concentrate on anything but her.
Oddly enough, while she may have been the one conducting that interview, it was Clark Luthor who got the real scoop.
Because he discovered that Lois Lane was challenging and fierce. Brave and loyal. Sharp and witty. A captivating force of nature. And though she valiantly, defiantly tried to hide it, she was not, by any means, beyond his powers of seduction.
When her insightful submission hit his desk, Clark Luthor felt his entire world shift.
She risked everything - her dream job, censure from the most powerful family in Metropolis, even her reputation - to tell the truth as she saw it.
It made him want her even more.
Because, in one sitting, Lois Lane had laid him bare.
His strengths and weaknesses. The good, the bad. The devilish Luthor in contrast with the sympathetic orphan. A lost boy without a home that had grown into a man, ready to own the world.
She'd seen right through him. To his heart. To his soul. She'd cut through the lies of his public persona and captured the hidden dreams he dared not speak.
For the first time in his life, he saw himself through the clarity of another's eyes. Not just as he was. But as he could be.
And Clark Luthor knew with unwavering certainty that he had to have her in his life.
For he simply couldn't live in a world where Lois Lane's good opinion didn't favor him.
"A bit? I wrote the truth. This? This is..." Face scrunched in disgust, Lois tossed the missive on Clark 's desk, sending a pile of papers flying and regaining his full attention. "...I don't know what this is." Clenched fists landed on shapely hips. A graceful eyebrow shot up. "I could sue you for slander, you know."
Clark bit back a smile. "Slander is spoken defamation of character, Ms. Lane."
"Fine. Then I'll sue you for libel." Lois shot back, undeterred.
"But the article isn't about you." Clark countered. "And there's no defamation of anyone's character. I made sure of that."
Flustered more by her body's reflexive reaction to his mischievously dancing eyes than the actual conversation, Lois blew out a staccato breath. "Well, then I'll just...I'll...I'll report you to the Daily Planet Board of Directors!"
"You mean the board my father chairs?"
"I…I…" Lois stuttered to an abrupt halt and hrumphed her displeasure at being bested.
Clearly, she had not come to this battle fully armed.
Truth was, Lois Lane had thought of little else but Clark Luthor since their meeting a week ago. He'd starred in every steamy fantasy and ruled her every waking thought with a vengeance. When it finally came to writing her article, she vacillated between securing a career with a fluff piece of epic proportions or a scathing expose that would ensure she never saw the doors of the Daily Planet again.
She decided to write the truth of Clark Luthor as she saw it.
She thought she'd pulled it off. She was counting on it, in fact.
So, when she opened the morning paper to see her own words in black and white, sliced and diced and given to another...
She charged into battle without weighing the consequences.
And now that she was here, she wasn't sure who the real battle was with. Clark or herself...
With a triumphant smirk, Clark pushed himself out of his seat and rounded the desk, approaching her. This is the closest she'd ever come to Clark Luthor and the force of his presence was enough to make her take a giant step back. Her chest hitched and shivered with an emotion she couldn't quite name. But there was no denying the intense desire that shot through her body, rattling her.
"And why would you even want to do that?" Hands stuffed in his pocket, Clark gazed down at her, his eyes warm and sparkling, his lips tilted in a bemused smile. A look that Lois couldn't deny looked good on him. Very, very good. "It is, after all, the article that got you your job at the Daily Planet. Congratulations again, by the way."
Ignoring the fact that Clark just announced she'd been given her dream job, she pushed back. "But...but...it isn't my article. The only thing you kept in there were your own quotes!"
"Well, that's not quite true." Clark correct evenly. "I did leave in all the good bits, especially where you talked about my looks. 'God among men', I believe was the exact phrase." He flashed her a teasing smile as a pretty blush rushed through her cheeks and her embarrassed gaze glanced exasperatingly away from his.
"So, tell me." His eyes narrowed with gentle accusation. "How is it that you recognized it as your work anyway? If I, you know, changed it so drastically and all?"
"I...well, I uh..." Lois was rendered speechless. Again.
Clark took advantage of that fact.
"Alright, look, you have every right to be angry. I admit that there were significant enough changes that I couldn't, in good conscience, give you the byline." At the surprised look on her face, Clark continued with his confession. "And even though I had a large hand in those changes, I didn't think it would be fair to my other reporters to share a byline with a rookie, being that I'm the owner of the Daily Planet as well as the subject of said article so..."
His explanation took the wind out of her sails. Until she remembered...
"So you gave the byline to perky, little, bottle-blonde Cat Grant." Lois surmised, a hint of jealousy edging her words.
Clark shrugged nonchalantly. "I owed her a favor."
"Let me guess..." Arms crossed in front of her and anxious to make a point, since she'd lost two already, Lois' eyebrow hitched in presumptive judgment."...she went to dinner with you?"
Clearly, 'dinner' was becoming a code word.
"I didn't even ask her." Clark smirked then corrected her misconception with a quick offer on his lips. "But you on the other hand..." Clark paused as a predatory grin slowly stole through his expression. "...owe me a big, fat thank you. So, I thought perhaps since you skipped out on me last time, we could start with dinner and well...see where things go." Clark leaned back against his desk, a hungry gaze sweeping over her as the tenor of his voice went from playful to downright suggestive in a heartbeat. "Unless, of course, you can think of more creative ways to show me your gratitude on an accelerated timetable."
There it was again. That smug, arrogant assumption that he was God's greatest gift that all women were eager to open. No questions asked.
It was enough to make her see red.
"Thank you? Why in hell would I do that?"
"For not only giving you a job, but single-handedly saving your journalistic aspirations. Despite all those dastardly little things you wrote about me."
Lois rolled her eyes. "Puhleese. They were all true and I could get a job at any news bureau I want."
The humor drained from his face as an unexpected flash of disgust raced through his eyes. "Not if my father had seen what you'd written about his darling son. He would pull strings with every paper on the planet and make sure you couldn't even get a job emptying the trash."
Lois scoffed. "No one is that powerful."
The tightness of his smile, the hardness in his eyes spoke more truth than his brief words ever could. "He. Is."
Swallowing hard, Lois' arms crossed defensively in front of her, her chin tilted defiantly as she tried to drag them away from obviously dark and shaky ground.
"Why would you even want me to work for you? Clearly, I don't like you."
"Actually, that part isn't as clear as you might think." Clark's cryptic response was accompanied by knowingly tilted lips. "Besides...I love a challenge."
"Is that so?" Lois queried, finding herself enjoying their back and forth more than she knew she should. "I'm warning you now, I will not cut you any slack."
Clark bit back a grin. "I don't expect you to."
"I'll be a thorn in your side. A pain in your ass."
"Sounds delightful." Clark quipped.
"I won't stop writing the truth."
Clark instantly brightened. "Good. That's exactly what I would expect from any of my reporters."
As if feeling the need to speak slowly so he would get the point, Lois wondered where Clark Luthor really hailed from that he wasn't able to comprehend simple English. "That means, I will write the truth even if its about you, your father, your family!"
"Do it." Clark answered with an unconcerned shrug.
Lois blinked in disbelief. "Did you not hear what I just said?"
"Oh, I think all of Metropolis heard what you said, given how loudly you said it." Clark quipped.
"But...I...how can you..." She shook her head, though she was clearly running out of reasons to resist his offer. "This will never work."
Sensing a final victory at hand, Clark rocked back on his heels. "Oh, it can work. As long as we understand one another."
"Really? And what do I need to understand about you?"
"That I want you." Brazenly declaring his intentions, Clark's steady gaze registered every minute reaction with satisfaction. The way her breath hitched unexpectedly. How her pulse started to pound. The flush of her cheeks. "And I always get what I want."
"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not the sleep-her-way-to-the-top kind of gal." Lois shot back hotly.
"I wouldn't respect you if you were. And I intend to respect you greatly." The double-meaning of his words hanging between them, Clark responded evenly then switched gears. "Ms. Lane, as contrary to your poor opinion of me as this may be, I want the Daily Planet to be a success. And a reputable success, at that. For that to happen, I need good writers, good reporters. You're both. That is why I want you on my staff."
Immediately rejecting his explanation, Lois shook her head and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. "No. That's not it. You want me on your staff so you can control what I write."
Clark didn't deny her conclusion. He didn't confirm it either. "Well, there is that saying. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
She took a beat to assess him. What he was offering. What it could mean.
She had every reason to mistrust him. Every reason. Taking this job would be like dancing with the devil himself.
It would be thrilling. Irrational. Dangerous.
She took a challenging step forward, her eyes narrow with accusation. "So is that what we are then? Enemies?"
Clark Luthor flashed a smile. Of amusement. Of sincerity. Of hope. He pushed himself away from the desk and met her halfway, gazing down at her with a gentle challenge that took her breath away.
"We are, Lois Lane ..." He reached out and ran a soft finger over the lines of her face. He felt the sparks. The ache. The desire. And noted with satisfaction that so did she. "...whatever you make of us."
His hand dropped only to hold out to her a compromise as he awaited his fate. "So, what do you say?"
Lois Lane stared at his hand, swallowed hard, then unexpectedly slipped her hand in his.
She felt the sparks. The ache. The desire. And noted with satisfaction that so did he.
"Challenge accepted."
tbc