Good news everyone!
(read author's note at end)
Chapter Eight: A Failure to Communicate
General Sam Lane was awful with the idea of communication, so in practice, he was even worse.
It was his fault. There was no denying that. But it was made worse by the fact that he had also been raised an army brat and into a stricter environment where everyone was expected to know exactly what to do and when to do it. In his family, everyone had made the transition from civilian to soldier by the age of eighteen, with a childhood of preparation behind them. He had relatives in every branch of the military, enlisted to officers of all ranks. A long, proud history of serving the country, decorated with various medals for bravery and courage, valor and honor.
The Lane family had succeeded and excelled in the military because they understood the simplicity of being a cog in the machine, spinning at the right speed in the right direction and making everything work.
And then there was Lois Lane, who had popped out of the machine like a faulty piston and rolled away like fuck that noise.
Lois Lane was many things, but she wasn't really a team player. Truthfully, she was much better at being a leader. And that was where she butted heads with her father.
What General Lane forgot all the time was that both his daughters, but his oldest especially, had been raised to be strong, independent women who said 'no' and didn't bow or fall into line in any way that granted men power over them. He had forgot that they had been taught to question authority and always seek the truth, because authority was sometimes wrong and lies weren't acceptable. General Lane was exactly the sort of man who went after the corrupt members of the Army and didn't stand for nonsense in his military.
And then he got very confused when his daughters refused to obey his orders or fall into line, and even more confused when they back-talked him and questioned his authority. Lucy was less prolific about it, but that still didn't make her the good one. She just looked like the good one compared to Lois.
General Lane's biggest failing was his inability to communicate effectively with his children. He had the unfortunate habit of expecting them to obey because and got angry when they questioned him because he saw them as soldiers more than daughters and once a soldier had their order, they carried it out without wondering about the motives behind it.
"So, you're actually going to have dinner with General Dad?" Lucy called out, looking towards the partially open bathroom door. "Don't we sort of do that twice a month already?"
"He wants to get fancy." Lois shrugged. "It's some Italian place off Centennial Park. Must be new. I've never heard of it."
"Okay, but dinner with General Dad, alone and in public?"
"Don't make it sound like a horror story, little sister."
Lucy frowned, mostly at the strangeness of the arrangement. The family dinners were a new thing for them; their dad struggling to try and get to know them a little better by ordering in and laying out the plates and silverware at the table and making very awkward small talk. Lucy was much more accustomed to eating off a paper plate in her bedroom with the TV in the background for company. Lois would sprawl on her couch and eat ramen out of a coffee mug and scroll through social media for the pick of the day.
General Lane had never told Lois, and just Lois, to put on a dress and meet him in a restaurant downtown.
It smelled kind of funny to the fourteen year old.
Dad's up to something, I bet.
There was no saying what, considering how closely to the chest General Lane played his cards. Lucy put her chin back down on her arms and turned to the next page of her Captain America comic. She lounged on her sister's much wider bed while Lois changed in the bathroom.
"What if he's tryin' to marry you off?" the teenager suddenly found herself asking.
There was a clatter as something hit the sink countertop rather hard.
"Don't be stupid, Lucy." Lois scowled. "Dad knows better than to try something idiotic like that."
"But what if he is?" Lucy pressed. "I mean, you're like twenty-five-"
"Twenty-four."
"An' you never dated or anything. Not after Colletta, I mean. And we never said General Dad was all that smart about that thing. Seriously, what if he's trying to play matchmaker or something? Hook you up with the straightest whitest guy he can find?"
"He'd be stupid to try." Lois said again, letting herself out of the bathroom. She struck a pose. "How do I look?"
She had put on her frill-free little black dress; a sleeve-less A-line that had served her well on many occasions when she couldn't judge how formal the setting was supposed to be. It bore little ornamentation, allowing it to get by as semi-casual, but was classy enough to function as suitable evening wear for a black-tie event. That the was the nature of a little black dress.
She had also pulled her hair up in a sleek, twisting bun. Her make-up was a little more heavy than usual and she had put on her best lucky shoes; a black pair of heels that glimmered like mother-of-pearl.
Lucy shrugged. "I bet Clark's jaw would hit the floor if he saw you." she said.
"Anything I wear makes Clark's jaw hit the floor." Lois pointed out. "I could show up in my pajamas and he'd still tell me I look great. All in his best little farm boy voice. He'd be completely serious."
"That's 'cause he likes you. Like when a man lurves a woman likes you." Lucy said gleefully. She was a teenager, but she wasn't blind to the way Clark Kent glanced at her older sister whenever Lois wasn't looking.
There was a good chance, actually, that a blind man was entirely capable of seeing the way Clark looked at Lois.
"Girl, you're fourteen years old. Cut that out." Lois ordered, going over to her jewelry box to pick out a necklace.
"I'll be fifteen soon enough."
"Yeah, in December. That's still months away."
She hooked the chain around her neck and let the pendant fall against her chest, absently brushing away the loose strands of hair that weren't long enough to catch in the bun. She whirled around and pointed to her sister commandingly.
"Homework?"
"Didn't have any. First week of school."
"Good." Lois nodded. "There's frozen mini-pizzas in the freezer if you want something. Don't burn down the building. Leave a light on. No wild parties or strangers. Bed by nine."
"Ten."
"Nine-thirty and a cannoli, final offer."
Lucy raised her chin. "Nine-forty-five and I can have the cannoli for breakfast."
"Nine-thirty. You have to catch the seven-twenty cross-town just to get to school on time." Lois reminded her. "If it wasn't Thursday night, I wouldn't care what time you went to bed, but I'm gonna try to be the responsible sister here. Remember the deal."
"Fine." Lucy scowled at the early morning she had ahead of her. Catching the seven-twenty cross-town to get back to North Bridge on time meant getting up no later than seven and that was twenty minutes of sleep she wasn't going to get back.
The deal was this: If Lucy needed to get away from Dad for a night, she was welcome to spend it with Lois. If it was a school night, she was expected to get to bed on time. It worked for both of them. Lucy could get a respite from their dad and the sisters could figure out how to reconnect.
"Can I still have the cannoli for breakfast?" Lucy wondered.
"Yeah, sure, you're a teenager. You could eat cardboard for breakfast and still get some nutritional value out of it." Lois muttered, picking up her clutch purse. She snapped it open, checking on her wallet and her pepper spray and the set of brass knuckles because getting a gun permit in this town was too much trouble.
"Alright, cab's gonna be here in a few minutes. See you. House rules."
"I know, I know. Have fun." Lucy waved a hand, her attention already back to Captain America trying to talk down the Winter Soldier.
The bright yellow cab was pulling up to the curb as Lois was coming down the stairs and it beeped its horn. She had never owned a car; Metropolis's extensive public transportation system made a car redundant and downtown parking was an absolute bitch. She only had her driver's license so she could rent cars and drive out of the city, if need be. Cabs were a bit expensive, but they got you where you needed to go without having to worry about things like parking and the drivers were wizard when it came to navigating traffic.
At seven in the evening on a warm Thursday night, Metropolis was buzzing and humming and already shakin' its booty (in the proverbial manner). The warm summer days didn't last long this close to Canada, so the warm, steamy evenings were seized and throttled and choked clear of all life and potential until the people had gotten their fix. The bars were open, the clubs were open, the restaurant patios were open. If it could be patroned on a Thursday night, it was open. Everything was done up in broad neon and bright colors, like flashy birds of paradise trying to attract mates.
The new Italian restaurant was right across the street from Centennial Park, almost sparkling in its infancy. It was generically classy in a manner that faked wealth, like synthetic diamonds that were almost the real thing, but still not. But even synthetic diamonds demanded a minimum standard in class and so did the new restaurant. The dress code wasn't stringent, but skirts and ties were still expected. The string orchestra wasn't live, but there was still a dance floor. The chandeliers were glass, but the lighting was still soft and moody. The food wouldn't be anything special, but it still smelled good.
Lois gave her name to the hostess and was led across the main floor to a section set a little apart from the rest with frosted-glass dividers. Her father was at one of the window tables, wearing his dress uniform. The stars of his rank and the various banners for his awards gleamed brightly in the soft light of the sphere on the table. But he wasn't alone. Accompanying him was another military man, this one a sergeant with far fewer honors but with a uniform that was just as crisp and impeccable as the General's.
He had an upturned pug nose that afford Lois an unwanted look at his nose hairs. His blonde hair was carefully gelled down for the occasion. His smile was weird, bordering on creepy. His lips didn't pull back from his teeth the way a normal person's did. It was more like a snarl or a grimace, and his eyes didn't twinkle enough to off-set the look.
"Lois! There you are."
General Lane stood up at his daughter's approach to the table, giving a strained and thin smile; he was still trying to figure out how to do it right. The sergeant hastily followed suit and his jaw slowly dropped. His brown eyes raked up and down Lois's form and his strange snarl-grin widened, leaving her with the unsettling impression that he had just imagined her naked.
"Whoa, Dad, if you'd just told me this was a double-date, I would have brought a friend." Lois quipped, partially in an effort to distract herself from the leering expression.
"It's not a date, Lois. It's an introduction." General Lane corrected. "This is a colleague of mine, Sergeant John Corben."
"Charmed, Miss Lane." Sergeant Corben said, in a nasally voice that desperately wanted to carry a British accent. "You're every bit the lovely beauty I imagined."
He took her hand by the fingers and bent over to kiss her knuckles, peering at her while he did. He tried for some combination of courtly and sensuous. He didn't slobber on her hand, but the smoldering bedroom eyes he aimed at her were very inappropriate.
Lois's skin crawled.
"It's wonderful to meet you." Corben went on. "Your father's told me quite a bit about you."
"Well, that must have been a short conversation." Lois commented.
General Lane made an awkward sound, but it was Corben who laughed. The sound was nasally like his voice and seemed to originate entirely from the back of his nose. Not deep from the bottom of his lungs like Clark's - that full belly laugh that shook in Lois's bones...
"He did mention your razor tongue." the sergeant added, while obeying the silent order from the general to have a seat. "I've been looking forward to meeting you for some time now."
"Really?" Lois disguised her gritted teeth as a grin and glanced over to his father, who was doing a wonderful job of not displaying any outward nervousness. "I'm afraid he's told me nothing about you."
"Then tonight will be one of discovery." Corben declared.
A waiter passed out the menus and the wine list. The dinner courses were what Lois expected to find in a mid-level restaurant - things that were rather generically Italian; what any American could expect to find and truthfully, not all that authentic. Fortunately, it was hard to screw up chicken alfredo and there was a rather good white wine on the list.
Lois had a feeling she was going to need some good wine to get through the next hour.
This was a set-up. A blind date style set-up, only she had not been informed of the plans. Corben was attractive by most standards; both physically and in the sense that he was a sergeant in the army. To army brats, that was quite appealing. And Lucy was right: This was absolutely something their father would do, no matter how stupid it was.
Once the dinner orders had been placed, the waiter swept off, leaving them in relative privacy. Corben leaned forward and resumed his snarl-grin. Lois wondered if he had any idea what that expression of his actually looked like, and if he thought it was charming instead of somewhat creepy.
"I understand that you're a journalist." Corben started conversationally.
That was probably the only thing General Lane had told him; it was the only fact he knew for certain because he read the Daily Planet. The general didn't deal in half-certainties and incomplete information, and he didn't move forward without verified facts.
In turn, that was also the only thing Corben knew.
"Investigative reporter." Lois corrected. Then, proudly, she added: "And a Pulitzer winner for my editorial The City of Tomorrow -"
"Which paper do you work for?" Corben asked, completely cutting her off.
Lois scowled. "I wasn't done talking."
"Yes, she'll be covering the LExpo this weekend for the Daily Planet." General Lane said.
"Ah, I was just about to ask." Corben said, his eyes gleaming. "I'm going to be there as well, Miss Lane. I can't tell you why - classified information and you're only a civilian. But perhaps we'll cross paths this Saturday."
"Maybe." Lois said. Fat chance of that. She thought. She'd hide behind Clark first.
The LExpo, or the Lex Luthor Technology and Innovation Expo, was the hot new thing to close out summer. Forget concerts or other festivals where a bald man didn't show off his ego, this was the thing. The highlight of the summer, seriously. It was ridiculous, but that was the sort of influence that Mr. Luthor wielded. He was about as popular as Superman.
Everyone thought he was such a damn straight stand-up really cool hip guy who "got" the younger crowd in the way older people thought the younger crowd should be got.
The two-day only event was geared to expose talented young scientists and engineers and the like to showcase their skills and hard work to a broad range of employers and investors. Luthor himself was also going to unveil brand new equipment that would help Metropolis improve in "more than just a leap and bound". Luthor was particularly notorious for employing young up and comers, and supporting their sometimes radical notions. "Out of madness often comes genius. And you never know what can change the future." he was known to say.
While the LExpo would certainly what it was meant to do, it still felt like Luthor was facilitating another opportunity to say 'Hey, look at me! I'm bald and mad with power!'
"I tried to be a journalist once." Corben said. "But they said I was too stiff and formal even for a newspaper. I suppose I really wasn't any good at it. Anyways, I think I found my passion with the military. I can't tell you exactly what I do - it's very hush-hush. I have driven tanks and that's going to be very useful at the LExpo."
It was like he was trying to hook her interest by being very vague with his job description and his role in the LExpo. He probably had something to do with the new equipment that Luthor was unveiling, given the fact that Corben was basically trying to invite her to ask questions about it for the purposing of expounding once again that it was a secret.
"Wonderful." Lois commented.
The waiter came back with their drinks. General Lane had selected something deep and red, while the sergeant had opted for a foamy mug of imported beer.
"Dad, you really should have mentioned you were bringing a guest." Lois said, not able to keep the acid entirely out of her voice. "It really doesn't help to build communication skills if you lie by omission."
"Lois, we're in a public venue. I don't want to have this conversation with you." General Lane said.
"And if you knew anything about me, you'd know that public venues don't stop me." Lois pointed out. "So we are going to talk about this right now because Lucy made an observation that's got me worried already-"
The general turned to his subordinate. "I'm sorry, sergeant. Lois and I have been working through several issues. I thought we'd made better progress-"
"No, no, you talk to me, Dad. Don't talk to him." Lois ordered, her voice commanding enough to make her father turn back to her. "You called this an introduction. Is this a blind date?"
If it was, she was going to need more than one glass of wine to get through the conversation ahead.
She got a weary look from her father, like he was being caused entirely too much trouble.
"Lois, I'm nearly fifty-five years old and I have spent several of those years watching you waste your life in the Daily Planet. I want to see you happy." he said.
"Then stop trying to interfere." the reporter suggested. "It's pretty simple. Don't mess with the details of my life and I'll be happy-"
"That's not what I mean." General Lane interrupted. "You'll be twenty-five next week and you're not even dating. I don't think you've dated since college. Are you planning to be unmarried by your thirtieth birthday?"
"Well General Dad, if this is how you're going to act about my single life, then yes, I think I shall remain unmarried well past my thirtieth birthday." Lois grinned and sipped her wine. Good wine; it had a nice smooth taste that would go well with the alfredo. "Besides, you have a terrible habit of interfering with my dating life as it is. I didn't break up with Colletta just because the relationship wasn't working out, remember."
Corben got a slightly strange look on his face. "Colletta?" he repeated slowly, sounding out the syllables.
"My old girlfriend." Lois said, shrugging. It was very lackadaisical, but a front to cover up the twinge of discomfort she always felt when she brought up her sexual orientation in front of her father.
General Lane's expression became very unhappy indeed, for he lived and breathed "Don't ask, don't tell". Sergeant Corben blinked rapidly a few times, his brain trying to process the new bit of information that had been shoved at him.
"You- like girls?" he asked, his voice a tad strangled.
"Men moreso, but y'know, every once in a while, this pretty lady walks into my line of sight and I feel that sapphic pull." Lois admitted, making a fluttering motion with her hand. The sapphic pull tended to be very brief. She sometimes wondered if she had been forever put off of romatic relationships with women.
"And that's what I'm talking about." General Lane said, still looking a little pained. "Lucy needs a role model. Sergeant Corben is the best man there is. He's a model soldier and he has an excellent future in the army. Not like that Kent fellow..."
It took every ounce of willpower Lois possessed to not slam the glass down on the table-top. What a sneer in her father's voice, how dare he-! Clark Kent was a good man and he might even be Superman! Even if he wasn't Superman, there was still no better a role model for Lucy than Clark Kent. She approved of him and he had a soft spot for her. They got along famously.
"You're going to find that our opinions are different." she said.
"Who's Kent?" Corben inquired. There was tone in his voice that sounded quite a bit like unwarranted jealousy.
"A friend, co-worker. We're partners. Sometimes we share the byline." Lois explained. They had been partners ever since last year, after Perry had deemed them a good match. They got along well and frankly, there was no other person Lois would rather work with.
There was an "it" to get on the mechanics of working with Lois Lane and Clark got "it".
The rest of dinner was horrible and awkward. Corben tried - Lois would give him that much. The sergeant tried to engage her interest and attention, sharing stories of his own life growing up on a military base and relating some vaguely amusing anecdotes about his short-lived adventures in high school journalism. They did have those two things in common and it covered a fairly broad range of experiences. But he also made it perfectly clear that the only voice he wanted to hear was his own. He cut her off every time if her reply happened to be longer than five words. Lois could barely find it in herself to present an expression other than a neutral bitch-face.
Corben hadn't passed any of her tests. She didn't find him physically attractive. He wasn't tall or dark-haired or classically handsome. Despite his military posture, there was a strange kind of gorilla-like hunch in his shoulders. The pug nose was similarly unattractive and his fingers were too spindly and spidery. She really didn't like the way he looked at her. Throughout dinner, he would stare unblinkingly at her and then lick his lips. Lois found herself fighting the simultaneous urges to either cover her chest or stab Corben's hand with the fork.
His personality seemed to work roughly on the same lines as being crude and liking itself too much to allow room for other people. He wasn't a loud person, but he liked to be overbearing. No one was in the habit of telling him to back down.
And then there was the one fact Lois could not get past.
This was a blind date that she hadn't asked for.
Lois did not date for a variety of reasons. She didn't date women anymore because she- well... The relationship with Colletta hadn't been very strong to begin with; they really were better friends than girlfriends. And then her dad, so steeped in military protocol that he hadn't been able to fathom the idea that his eldest was anything but heterosexual, that he would certainly try to insert herself into any of her sapphic relationships and that was just more work than Lois wanted to commit herself to.
Men were safer, but she didn't get very lucky with the men who wanted to take her out for a drink or a movie. If they didn't turn out like Corben, then they were bland and boring and insecure in more ways than she had ever thought possible. She never seemed to land on that balanced in between where they were confident without being overbearing and interesting without being dangerous.
By the time the check was placed on the table, Lois was more than ready to get the hell out of here.
I'm really going to have to start having chaperones along the next time General Dad pulls a piece of shit like this. The reporter decided, taking from the waiter the cannoli she had promised Lucy.
"Thank you for the invite, General." Corben said, looking to the man. "I had a wonderful time."
"It was a delight to have you." General Lane agreed, shaking hands with the sergeant.
"Well, I need to get home. Lucy's spending the night and I figure I shouldn't come home too late or I'll wake her up on my way in." Lois said, standing up from the table very quickly. "Dad, I'll see you around some time. Call first, full disclosure. None of this again."
"I'll walk you to Fall Creek Avenue, Miss Lane." Corben said, hurrying to follow her. "It'll be easier to catch a cab from there, but Centennial Park isn't the safest place this time of night."
"Really? I always found it quite well lit and safe." Lois commented, extending her stride to try and out-pace him. "I'll be fine on my own. You can go ahead back to the base or wherever it is you're living."
"I must insist on walking you. For your safety and your father's peace of mind." the sergeant persisted, practically hanging onto her elbow as they walked out the door. "This city can be dangerous, Miss Lane."
The sergeant didn't so much as escort her across the street as he stalked her over the crosswalk and onto the well-lit paths of Centennial Park. It was completely unnecessary to escort her anywhere and to Lois, this didn't feel very much like a gesture of goodwill.
The sky had only really just darkened over Metropolis and nightfall had never heralded danger. The City of Tomorrow had always prided itself on being one of the safest cities in the Midwest. All of the lamps in Centennial Park were bright and working, the police presence was seen if not necessarily felt. She would have been fine on her own.
Corben followed so closely that Lois swore she felt his shoes literally nipping at her heels. He right inside her personal space bubble that she felt the brush of the heavy fabric of his uniform against her elbow. And his fingers reached up to graze her wrist, as if he was going to take hold on her hand. She jerked it away.
The sergeant made a groaning noise.
"You don't seem to like me very much, Miss Lane." he observed.
"No offense, but I just met you and we didn't exactly click. So I don't know what you were expecting." Lois said crossly. "I'm really not a fan of getting to know people unless it's for a story and I take a while to warm up to anyone."
"And what about Clark Kent? How quickly did you warm up to him?" Corben wondered, pushing his chin into the air loftily.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lois demanded, frowning. The sergeant was wearing an ugly face of jealousy; eyes narrowed, lips sneering, brow wrinkled in every flavor of displeasure imaginable. "What's with the face?"
"I'm not making a face. I merely asking a question." Corben said defensively, visibly trying to rearrange his features to look less jealous. "I think I should know what I'm getting into with past relationships-"
"Hold it right there, mister!" Lois stepped in front of him and shoved her free hand into face. Corben was forced to halt just as abruptly, lest he impale his nose on one of her fingernails. "I don't know what my dad has told you, but I am not available! I'm dating Clark!"
The words jumped out of her mouth before she could even process that they were on the tip of her tongue. A flush of- mortification? awkward horror? what feeling was that? - surged up in her, but she clamped down on it hard to keep her expression defiant and challenging, arms crossed.
In the year and a half she had dated Colletta, Lois had been hit on by more guys than she would have thought possible. It was like she had exuded some pheremone that marked her as unavailable and those college-aged males had seen it as a challenge. Replying to their inquiries that she was dating, and shortening Colletta's name to 'Cole', had usually been enough to make those otherwise aggressive males back off the hunt.
If Corben had the idea in his head that he and Lois had a potential future together, then trotting out the tried-and-true "boyfriend card" might be enough to give him pause. If not, Lois could always put her heel in his crotch.
Corben actually snarled this time. "Is that so?"
"Absolutely. Coffee and lunch dates, mostly; we have busy schedules. But we've also done the moonlit walks at the lakeshore, Sunday morning runs thorugh the park, brunch, picnics, you get the idea." The reporter grinned wider.
None of that was a flat-out lie. Really more a lie by omission. Lois had, in fact, done all of that with Clark, but without any distinct romantic elements. Their moonlit lakeshore strolls had been more like watching for boats trying to smuggle cocaine into the city and the picnics a week-long stake-out trying to get the dirt on a scuzzy politician. And she had managed to talk Clark into being her running buddy.
"Furthermore, fuck-bucket," Lois continued. "Drop this romantic rival crap or you'll get to see just how far your balls can drop."
"There's no need to get violent and foul-mouthed, Miss Lane-" Corben started.
"No, you came here because my dad's trying to play matchmaker-"
"And you are obviously in need of a strong arm to control you-"
"Control me?!" Lois burst out, taking an angry step towards the sergeant. Her fist clenched tightly until her arm shook under the tension. "I'm not some goddamn barn animal, you asshole! Women do not need to be controlled!"
"General Lane feels you've made some bad decisions in your life and that it's gone out of your control. That means this... relationship you have with Mr. Kent cannot continue. I, in good conscience, also cannot allow it to continue." Corben said, taking up an unconcerned parade rest posture. "It's past time that you were brought into line, Miss Lane. Your father only wishes the best for you and he expects a firm hand to be used. I do expect to see you Saturday promptly after the exhibition-"
"Uh-uh, I'll be at the LExpo to do my job, not to see you." Lois corrected. "I don't know you, I don't like you, I don't respect you, and I don't have to pay any attention to you. So go fuck yourself with a pineapple. Good night."
She took several steps back, gauging his reaction to the words. She wouldn't turn her back on him until she was sure that he wasn't about to come running at her. Corben didn't seem like a stable fellow. He had made a few presumptuous comments. He definitely assuming too much. Blindly following orders was never a good sign. Soldiers were expected to follow orders, yes, but at some point, you had to draw a line. Corben's orders, as far as Lois could tell, were to break her down and bring her into whatever line General Lane thought was necessary.
Dad, I have no idea why you keep thinking I'm a dumb little girl.
She knew that she had made the right call on keeping an eye on him when Corben colored a bright red and he broke the parade rest posture, his hands coming out fisted.
"You little bitch!" he spat. "I was polite to you all evening and this is what I get in return?"
"Being polite is not some magic ticket that gets you through the door, buddy. Doesn't matter what you think on the matter." Lois said. She pointed to herself. "It's what I think. And I'm thinking I don't like douchebag Alpha Males like you."
The Alpha Male archetype was easily the most annoying personality type to exist. It was like a fart - typically loud, smelly, and offensive. In some respects, it was quite necessary to have them. Sometimes you felt better for having one, or if you needed to clear a room in a hurry.
But like a fart, the Alpha Male didn't contribute anything useful to society and it was best to get rid of them as soon as possible.
"Besides, you lost any right to my good side after you basically implied that you'd beat me into submission." she added.
"I said nothing of the sort!" Corben bellowed.
"Strong arm? Firm hand? How else am I supposed to interpret that as not planning to use force?" Lois questioned. He had descended pretty quickly into calling her a bitch, getting jealous over Clark's existence, getting angry when she turned him down, acting entitled just for being polite... It was obvious he was not a very mature person when it came to relationships.
Corben gritted his teeth. "Miss Lane-"
"Is there a problem here?" Superman's voice interrupted.
The sergeant jumped like he had been electrocuted. Superman was above their heads, level with the top of the lamps, his boots just touching one of them. His massive arms were crossed over his broad chest and he peered down at the scene with a mixture of unassuming curiosity and mild concern.
"I heard shouting and it sounded angry. I wanted to make sure everything was all right over here." he said.
He sounded so earnest and concerned that Lois was half-sure the tone and the facial expression were being manipulated for maximum effect. As genuine as Superman often was, the reporter didn't have many doubts that he knew exactly how to use his body language and tone to achieve a positive result. He wasn't trying to intimidate, but rather giving Corben the opportunity to walk. He didn't want there to be a problem.
At the least, the sergeant recognized that, along with the sheer physical might that was Superman. There really wasn't a soul alive who could go toe to toe with the Man of Steel and hope to actually win. And Corben knew that.
He jerked his collar straight and smoothed down his hair. "Yes, everything is all right. No problem." he said.
"Good." Superman smiled, loosening his tighter posture. He stepped off the street lamp and down to the walking path, his red cape fluttering behind him. "If you don't mind- Sergeant Corben?" The alien peered at the name-plate on the uniform, scanning the rank medal for confirmation. "Sergeant Corben, I'll see Miss Lane safely to a taxi. I'm sure you have a base curfew to mind."
"Yes..." Corben agreed slowly. He tugged at his collar again. "Miss Lane, it was a pleasure. I do hope we can meet again."
"Don't ever talk to me again." Lois smiled.
The sergeant made an indistinct grumbling noise, but he turned sharply and walked away.
"Thanks. For a minute there, I was worried I was going to have to fight him. Blood's a bitch to get out of fabric." Lois brushed imaginary debris off the skirt. "I could have crushed the cannoli too. Lucy wouldn't have been happy."
"You look nice." Superman told her. She did. She looked very nice. This was the first time he had ever seen her in properly formal clothes and wow! She was a bombshell!
"Aw, thank you." Lois beamed. "Oh god I told him I was dating Clark!"
And there was that awkward horror/humilation feeling again. She covered her face with her free hand and her skin turned hot and she gave herself a moment to wallow in that feeling of wanting the ground to open up underneath her.
"Who?" Superman asked politely.
Lois lowered her hand and looked at the Man of Steel- was he blushing? It was hard to tell with the yellow-orange lighting, but she could have sworn there was a pink tinge in his cheeks.
"Oh, just a coworker of mine." Lois muttered, waving a hand. "I was trying to see if Corben would back off, but I can't believe I said that at all. I guess he was just the first guy I thought of."
"D-Do you- like him? This- This guy, Clark?" Superman wondered, his voice oddly stuttering. His cheeks were definitely a little pinker than normal.
Lois's brain screeched to a halt. Did she? Did she like Clark like that? Did Clark like her like that? She had started with the intention of keeping this strictly professional, but Clark had had such a warm and open affability to him that it had been hard not to become friends with him. But the potential to go further? Clark had hardly dated himself; his love life was only slightly less existent than hers. What if he wasn't ready for a more serious commitment? She didn't want to push the idea at him and ruin what they had. They had a good thing going and she wanted it to last.
"Well, I- guess- I mean, he's a good friend and I like him as a friend, I just don't know if there's a... a romantic potential to whatever we've got going on." Lois said, half- shrugging her way through it. "Why am I even talking about this with you? This isn't going to help the rumors, y'know. You and me on a walk through the park at dusk. I've been getting called your girlfriend lately. Which makes no sense. We'd have to do a lot more than just fall out of windows and get rescued to actually be in a relationship."
"That's mostly on you, Miss Lane." Superman pointed out mildly. Getting thrown out windows was a new trend for her. "In any case, I have every confidence that, should you need to, you'll be able to set the record straight."
"Your confidence in me is stellar. Whatever did I do to deserve it?" Lois wondered rhetorically, resuming walking once more.
"You're a good person." Superman told her sincerely. He glanced over his shoulder, partially to make sure that the Sergeant Corben wasn't hanging around. "Why were you with the sergeant? I thought you were having dinner with your father tonight."
"General Lane decided to try and play matchmaker tonight and I never told you about my plans because we don't talk casually." Lois narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "The only person I told, outside of my own family, was a man named Clark Kent. Now unless you're him..."
She trailed off and let it hang, providing an opening for a potential confession. The last twelve hours had been full of too many coincidences to ignore. Clark disappearing just before Superman turned up and vice versa. Not just the constantly showing up on her assignments, but knowing details that she hadn't told anyone else except Clark. Same inflection, same voice, same physical features and body structure... The eye color was easily explained - color contacts or a quirk of his alien biology. And Clark never talked about his evening plans with her, because he probably spent his evenings flying around and stopping crime wherever he could catch it. Wouldn't want to end up contradicting himself.
Oh... shit... Superman backpedaled mentally, otherwise tightening his jaw in an effort to not let his nerves show. He hoped the sweat that he felt was strictly imaginary. I've got to get better at separating the life of Clark Kent from Superman. I am making this way too obvious. Lois is a lot more observant than other people, but if she figures it out, other people might too.
"Is there something I should know? Something important, maybe?" the reporter wondered, glaring at the Man of Steel.
"No, Miss Lane. I don't think there's anything. But you'd be the first to hear about it." Superman said, stepping back from her. "I have to go. I can hear someone asking for help. Get home safely."
He burst into the air fast enough to send Lois's skirt swirling up around her waist and she hastily pushed the fabric down. By the time she looked up, Superman was already well gone into the night sky, the darkness already deep enough to hide any trace of him.
She shook her head. "Wow, you are awful at keeping secrets. You're not even making this difficult."
Clark Kent was Superman. Now she was sure of it. There was nothing disputing it and just way too many coincidences that lined up into a neat little row. If she called Clark right now, she'd probably hear him make up some hasty excuse about what he'd been up to all evening. If he picked up the phone at all.
The only thing left to do was properly confirm the connection.
Or derail it. Lois was prepared to accept the possibility that Clark was not Superman and that she had been barking up the wrong tree in a different forest entirely the whole time, but really. There was nothing to suggest that.
"I'll have you corned soon, Mr. Kent. It's only a matter of time." Lois murmured to herself, grinning in triumph.
-0-
A/N: Before y'all get too excited, let me explain.
My old Gateway notebook died around Thanksgiving 2017. Attached to that notebook was an external hard-drive. While waiting on my next laptop (the HP that died two weeks ago), I moved everything from the hard-drive onto my mom's then-previous Dell laptop. The good news? EVERYTHING THAT WAS SAVED ALL THE WAY UP TO DEC 1, 2017 IS STILL ON THAT DELL!
Now, obviously I don't have any of the new material that was created AFTER Dec 1st, which means there's about three extra chapters missing from this story and the ending is still in its original form. But otherwise, I have (nearly) the entirety of Formation and everything right up to the end of Lightning Storm.
Fingers are still crossed that everything can be salvaged from the HP, tho. I don't fancy having to recreate/rewrite the 6 1/4 chapters of Whiplash.