---- Chapter 27

Lois walked with Chloe as they went to one of the intercoms that were in the manor. Chloe pushed the talk button when they got there, broadcasting to all the rooms. "Bruce, where are you and Clark hiding?"

There was a moment of silence. "In plain sight. You know it as the kitchen."

Both women rolled their eyes as they walked to the kitchen, entering the room a minute later to find their respective husbands leaning on one of the islands.

"Hello, boys," Lois said as they walked up to them, each woman standing beside her husband.

"What kind of trouble have you two been up to so far?"

As Lois glared at Clark, Chloe simply answered. "No trouble, just talk. We got on an interesting topic that I thought you would like to chime in on. We were talking about the first date you two went on."

"Yeesh. How far did you get?"

"I only did the pre-game. I figured I'd leave the actual date to you, as well as the aftermath."

Lois looked around at the three people she was with. Bruce had yet to chime in, which didn't shock her. The way Chloe kept saying aftermath, though, was beginning to make her wonder. She was about to bring the point up when Clark beat her to the punch.

"Ok then. I'm not even going to tell about most of the date, because it'll all be covered anyway and I'd rather not relive that part directly. I'll start with the end and go from there."

---

"Well, that was... interesting?"

"Yeah Smallville, that's a good word for it."

Clark grimaced as Lois held out her hand for a handshake halfheartedly. He took her hand with a sigh, shaking it and then watched her quickly retreat into her apartment. She didn't even say goodnight.

Shoulders slumped, Clark walked back to the elevator, going down to the lobby in silence and exited the building with another sigh. He really didn't blame her for getting into her apartment as quickly as possible. Anything that could have gone wrong did, and then some. Well, that wasn't true. Picking her up and the ride to the restaurant had been fine.

After that, though, it had been one thing after another. Awkward silence had enveloped them within minutes of being seated. Clark couldn't think of anything to say. He didn't want to start talking about work because then it would just seem like another dinner together and he wanted it to be special. Awkward silence was then followed by him knocking over her water and spilling it into her lap, which had been followed by a waiter tripping and spilling four dinners on her.

Of course, the coup de grรขce had been when his hearing had picked up somebody in need of help. The save hadn't taken long, having wrapped a couple muggers up with a street sign post, but when he'd gotten back to the restaurant Lois had already left. He flew back to her apartment building, finding her exiting a cab. That's when he realized he hadn't even remembered to leave money to pay for dinner.

The fact that she'd allowed him to even walk her up to her place was a small miracle.

With yet another sigh, he ducked into an alley and took off flying, no destination in mind. He just wanted to get away from Metropolis for a little while. A few minutes later he found himself flying over Gotham and landing at the Wayne Manor. Looking at his watch, it was still only eight thirty back in Metropolis, meaning it was nine thirty in Gotham. He went to knock, but stopped his hand and pulled out his cell instead. He dialed Chloe's cell phone, waiting a couple rings before she answered.

"So? How'd it go?"

"Look at what time it is, Chlo. Compare with when we were going out."

"Ouch."

"And that would be an understatement. I'm a little surprised Lois hasn't called you yet. Mind if I stop by the manor?"

"Of course not, I'll tell Alfred... that's you ringing the bell, isn't it?"

"I got here before I called, actually."

"Wow, that must have been an awful date." There was a pause. "Look, Lois is calling me. I'll meet you in the room with the big TV, ok?"

"Yeah, ok." As he closed his cell, Alfred opened up the front door. Clark smiled at him. "Hi, Alfred."

"Mr. Kent, how are you this evening?"

"Alfred, I haven't had many first dates in my life, and tonight I went on the worst one in history with a woman I love."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Kent. Would you like something to drink while you wait for Mrs. Wayne?"

Clark thought a second, then nodded. "Lois isn't around me, so she should be safe from it getting spilled on her. I'll have a glass of milk, if you have it."

"I'll be right back with it."

A few minutes later, Clark was drinking from a glass of milk as he sat in silence, waiting for Chloe. Why couldn't he have just stayed her friend? Why did he have to get greedy and try for more. He was pretty sure they'd still be able to work together, but any hope of them being together romantically was thoroughly dashed. He put his milk down on a coaster and rested his face in his hands.

"Clark?"

Clark looked up and found Bruce standing a few feet away. "Bruce. I thought you'd be out putting fear into the hearts of criminals by now." He hadn't intended that to sound as harsh as it had. "Sorry, that was uncalled for."

Bruce sat down in a chair a few feet away from him. "Not a problem. Wasn't the big date with Lois tonight?"

"It was."

Clark watched as Bruce didn't make much sign of acknowledgment, but did quirk an eyebrow after a second. "Not the best of nights, I take it."

"Awkward silence, water spilled in her lap, food dumped all over her and I had to leave in the middle of it all to save somebody, forgetting to leave money to pay for dinner. I think the restaurant should have paid for the meal after dumping four of them on Lois, but it wasn't that kind of night."

"Well, at least she wasn't shot."

"There's still time."

Silence overtook them, Clark figuring Bruce didn't know what to say. He didn't blame the man; he wouldn't have known what to say if somebody had come to him after a night like this.

Chloe walked into the room, prompting both Bruce and Clark to stand up: Bruce as a courtesy to his wife, Clark eager to know what Lois had said.

The blonde walked straight to Bruce and wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you for not taking me on a first date like the one Lois and Clark had tonight. I don't know that we'd be where we are if you had."

Clark sighed and sat down with a thump, not liking the way that sounded. "I'm a little afraid to ask what Lois thought of our night out."

He watched Chloe unwrap herself from her husband and both sat down. "Do you want the good news or the bad news first, Clark?"

"Bad."

"As far as she is concerned, you and Lois dating or in a relationship will never happen. She was questioning it beforehand and it was all I could do to keep her calm last night. She thought she could really like you, but after a night like this... well, if being with you is like tonight she is convinced that no regular guy can do it for her and she's going to really go all out to get Superman to see her romantically."

"Great. Not only have I ruined my chances with her, but now I have to find some way to let her down easy as Superman. As far as first dates go, this is just about as bad as it gets."

"Well, there's still good news."

"I can only imagine what this may be. Shoot."

"She doesn't blame you for the waiter tripping and spilling food on her. Everything else... well, I think you two are going to have some awkward times at work for a while."

"Nothing in the world could be more awkward than tonight was."

"I think the two of you should be fine working together then. A year or two from now it'll just be a funny memory for the two of you to laugh over."

Clark let out a mirthless laugh, standing up from his chair. "Yeah right. By then Superman will have broken her heart, she'll have found a guy that makes her happy and we'll no longer be partners.

"I can't believe I screwed this up. I just had to be greedy. I couldn't let myself be happy with what I already had. No, I had to go for it all and completely blow it."

Clark sat down again, pulling his glasses off and tossing them on the coffee table then rubbing a hand over his face and through his hair. "What the hell am I supposed to do? I've had nightmares about better dates than tonight, and now Lois is focused on getting Superman to see her romantically. I screw up our relationship, or whatever it is we had, only to find myself having to hurt her as Superman too."

Suddenly his hearing tuned in to a voice calling for Superman back in Metropolis. It was Lois. She didn't sound like she was in danger, either. He frowned even deeper than he had been.

"Lois is calling for Superman, but it sounds more like a social call than any trouble. I guess that's my cue to chop her heart to bits."

"I'm really sorry, Clark. The way you two seemed to click since you got back, I would've bet a good sum of money that tonight would have gone well."

He sighed and started walking towards the front door. "Yeah, so would I. Thanks for listening to me feel sorry for myself. I could've sworn I wasn't going to let myself be mopey anymore."

"We're always here for you, Clark. Call me and let me know how it goes tonight."

He waved goodbye and let himself out the front door, closing it as he walked out. Quickly donning his Superman garb, he flew to Metropolis in good time so as to not keep Lois waiting. He floated down in front of her balcony, finding her standing there with her arms crossed.

"What can I help you with, Lois?"

"I need to talk to you. About us."

He landed next to her, mimicking her crossed arm stance. "Us? I'm not quite sure what you mean."

"Are you seeing anybody, Superman?"

"The life I lead makes too many people angry with me. Were I to be involved with somebody, it would only lead to them being put in danger."

Lois stepped closer to him. He really hoped she didn't notice him gulping as she did so.

"Superman, I'm already a huge target for danger, so I don't buy that as good reason. I think we'd be great together, and being with you wouldn't be putting me in any more danger than I already put myself in."

"And what about your family? What about your partner, Clark Kent? From the conversations we've had, he sounds like a good friend of yours, and if we're together people would use your friendship with him to get to me."

"I don't think we'll be partners too much longer, truthfully. We went out on a date tonight that was just about the worst date you could possibly imagine, which is just going to lead to awkwardness and tension I don't need in my life.

"I can get Chief to let him do a solo article or two to prove himself on his own. After that, our partnership is done and while we may see each other at work every day or have the occasional overlapping articles, I doubt it'll be more than a hello here and there. It sucks that it's turned out this way, but that can happen when friends try to date."

Clark was shocked he had been able to stand through that. She didn't think that they would even be friends anymore. He felt like somebody had just stabbed him in the heart with kryptonite and started twisting it around. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Are you sure your friendship with Clark is ruined after one bad date? I find it hard to believe you'd give up on somebody so quickly."

"This was the mother of all bad dates. I had liquid and solid spilled on me, was abandoned halfway through the date because he thought he'd left his oven on, which makes no sense since we were at dinner. Why the hell would he have his oven on? I ended up having to pay for the worst date ever and on top of it all, my favorite banter partner of all time made me endure nearly a full dinner of uncomfortable silences when he know's they make me uncomfortable!"

"That's true for most people, Lois."

"It's more so for me. If things weren't going to be so damn awkward after this I'd have to think of some way to punish him."

He felt awful for trying to push her into being friends with him again, but he couldn't seem to keep himself from speaking. "I'm sure a lot of great relationships start despite bad first dates."

"That may be true, but to be honest, the bad first date with Clark is only half the problem, at least when it comes to my future relationships. I don't know if the friendship we had can be salvaged, but tonight made something abundantly clear for me: I don't want to settle for something that could be good when I think you and I could be great."

He sighed. "I'm sorry if I've led you on to believe that we could be together the way you think, Lois. We can't happen romantically, no matter how much either of us want it. It's too dangerous for you and it just gives people a way to try and hurt me. I'm sorry."

Lois was silent an unusually long time after she'd just proclaimed her disdain for uncomfortable silences. She spoke abruptly. "I don't accept that."

"This isn't about accepting it, Lois. It's about how things have to be."

"No. This is about you being a very large chicken. I'm already in danger every day, and dozens of papers have already linked us romantically, so it's not like it would really be news. No, I think you're just afraid of letting yourself be seen as something else rather than Superman. You'd just have to be a regular guy if we were together, and that scares the crap out of you, doesn't it?"

Clark took a step back and floated up off the balcony. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Lois."

She was silent a moment before speaking again. "I'll always respect what you do for the city of Metropolis and the world, Superman, but don't bother stopping by my balcony anymore. I might become too much of a target if you do."

Her eyes never left his, full of hurt and sadness, until she finally walked inside her apartment and locked the glass door behind her. It was the first time he'd seen her do that after they'd talked.

---

"Wow. Sounds like everyone involved got hurt that night."

Chloe decided to chime in. "You're not far off, Lo. You didn't talk to Superman for three weeks after that when you'd been talking a couple times a week before that like I said earlier. Clark could barely get in three words with you until just after Jack was born. Everybody came here for the holidays, including Clark and Martha, and it was not a merry Christmas."

"Not only that," Clark added, "but you had a date for a New Years Eve party we were both invited to. I went because I didn't really feel like spending the night all by myself, not knowing you'd be there, and ended up watching you and some guy more or less make out at midnight. It was a rough time for us."

"All because of one lousy date?"

"Lois, this date nearly annihilated your friendship with Clark."

"And yet here we are, married with child, soon to be children."

"Omnia vincit amor," Bruce said.

All three looked at him, not only surprised that he had finally said something but none was all that sure as to exactly what he had said. He slowly gave them all a sly smile.

"Love conquers all."