The Power of Suggestion

Part 2: Eavesdropping

Clark was in the barn tinkering with the tractor again. It seemed that that thing was always out of commission. He didn't have long; Oliver, Victor, AC, and Jimmy were coming over for a guys-only lunch in just a few minutes.

He looked up when he heard the distant sound of Oliver's car driving down the long driveway. He could hear a muffled conversation going on in inside, and upon hearing his name, decided to listen in. Normally he wouldn't, but if they were going to talk about him, he wanted to know what they were saying.

"Are you sure Chloe said Lois was in love with Clark, Jimmy?" he heard Oliver ask.

Clark banged his head on the tractor, leaving a large dent in the side. As if!

"Yeah I'm sure. We were talking about our feelings for each other—"

"Skip it, lover boy," Victor interrupted.

"Be quite, Tin Man. We're not all made of metal," AC said to Victor.

"Drop it you two," Oliver broke in. "You were saying?"

"Well, we were talking and I mentioned that it was sad that Lois and Clark couldn't be as happy as we are," Jimmy continued. "She said that maybe they could be if Clark would just get over his hero complex thingy and tell her the truth. Apparently Lois has been in love with Clark for ages."

"Hero complex!" Clark cried to the mutilated tractor.

"You mean Clark should tell her his secret or admit that he loves her?" Victor asked.

"Both."

"You mean that Clark hasn't told Lois he's a little green man yet? Why not? It's not like she doesn't know about the rest of us," AC said, shocked. "I told her about my abilities on the second date for carp's sake!"

"Yeah, well that's you, AC," Clark mumbled, banging the recent dent out of the tractor with his fist. "Some of us aren't quite so cavalier about our darkest secrets."

"You know Clark. He's afraid that anyone he tells will be doomed for life," Oliver said resignedly. "It's not like she isn't always in danger anyway, what with her penchant for finding it. She's gotten herself out of more sticky situations than Impulse and that's saying something."

"I know that!" Clark said huffily. "It's just that…" He trailed off, not sure what else to say or why he was even bothering to defend himself. The tractor lay forgotten.

"So why doesn't he trust her?" Victor asked.

"I do trust her! I trust her with my life everyday," Clark said.

"Chloe said it's not so much an issue of trust as it is an issue of opening up," Jimmy explained wisely. "She says that Clark is afraid that once he tells Lois who he really is, he won't have any reason to hide his feelings anymore and that scares him. He doesn't even want to admit that he feels anything for her."

This comment had Clark stumped. Was it true? Was he really in denial?

"What a load of stinking sardines!" AC cried. "It's obvious to anyone with eyes that she loves him and he loves her! He runs into burning buildings without a second thought, what does he have to be scared of now?"

"Just because you're indestructible doesn't mean you can't be hurt. Clark's had his share of heartache in the past, if you recall," Oliver said soothingly.

"For once I agree with the fish. One bad experience is not worth wasting a lifetime, believe me," Victor put in.

"Do you think we should tell him?" Jimmy asked.

"No," Oliver responded. "You know he would just shrug it off. He's too proud for his own good. The best we can hope for is for him to come to his senses before they both die of old age."

"Hey, I resent that," Clark said, preoccupied.

"What's the likelihood of that happening?" AC asked to no one in particular.

"About 99.7 million to 0.001," responded Victor.

"I wasn't asking for the literal amount you walking flash drive. That was rhetorical!" AC cried.

"Excuse me if my brain power is higher than you can comprehend, dolphin breath."

"Oh that's original. What are you, three? You know dolphins are actually quite intelligent creatures."

"If you two don't stop it, I swear I will hurt you," Oliver said sternly. "We're almost at the farm. Don't you dare mention a word of this conversation to the boy scout, do you understand?"

The men mumbled their ascent as the car pulled up to the house.

Clark stood in the barn, lost in his thoughts. As strange as it was to think Lois was in love with him, upon deeper reflection, he had to admit he was more than a little attracted to her too. She was so witty and strong and beautiful. The way her impish smile made even grown men wary and her laugh lit up a room… Her blue eyes always made him feel like she knew even his darkest and most guarded secret. He had never met anyone like her and he knew he never would. She was entirely unique.

And he was in love with her.

He, Clark Kent, the last son of Krypton, the farm boy turned rookie-reporter, was in love with Lois Lane, his partner at The Daily Planet, the most special woman in all the known and unknown galaxies.

So engrossed in this sudden realization was he that he failed to hear what Jimmy and Oliver said as they climbed out of the limousine and peered into the barn.

"Do you think he heard us?" Jimmy asked, leaning into Oliver's ear.

"Definitely," Oliver responded, a wide smile plastered on his face.

--

Lois made her way laboriously up the curvy stairs in the Talon to her apartment, precariously balancing three full cups of coffee and three turkey sandwiches. If she fell and broke her neck, she was going to blame her cousin and Dinah, even if they were her lunch guests. They were the ones that had sent her on this dangerous mission in the first place after all.

Just before she was about to knock her head against the door and call for someone to open it, she heard a sentence that made her stop mid whack. She pressed her ear up to the door and strained to make out what the couple was saying.

--

"Is she coming?" Dinah asked Chloe who had her eye pressed up against the peephole.

"She's coming up the stairs now. If she's not careful, she's going to pour that coffee down her pants," Chloe responded.

"Right, let's start," Dinah said.

"Speaking of love interest, Clark just admitted to me that he loves Lois!" Chloe said loudly facing the door. She and Dinah exchanged smiles when they heard the hard thump from the other side signaling that Lois had heard.

"It's about time! He's been making puppy eyes at her for as long as I can remember." Dinah repressed a snicker as she continued. "I'm just surprised it's taken this long to get over his denial and accept the inevitable."

"And what's that?" Chloe asked, smiling brightly.

"You know, that he and Lois are made for each other."

They both struggled to repress their laughter at the gasp and profuse denial from Lois.

Chloe took a deep breath before responding. "Yeah they really are. She may deny it, but one look at the two of them and it's obvious. She may pretend to be as hard as nails, but believe me when I say she is more like a marshmallow on the inside. She should get an Academy Award for her acting skills."

"Well Clark's no poor actor himself. He'd have to be what with his secret and all," Dinah said more seriously.

"Which secret? That he loves her or the other one?" Chloe's smile had faded. This was the most delicate part of the scheme and it had to be done with extreme caution and tact.

"The other one," Dinah responded. Both strained to hear what Lois was doing on the other side of the door. They could just imagine her pressed up against it, her eyes probably wide with interest. "I'm surprised he hasn't told her yet."

"You know Clark. He thinks anyone who knows his secret is doomed. He only told me because I caught him in the act and if you weren't a member of the League, he never would have told you. He's just too protective for his own good." Chloe eyed the door warily.

"But Lois can handle herself just fine. She doesn't need to be protected."

The two almost laughed at the enthusiastic, if somewhat muffled, "Yeah!" from behind the door.

"Clark knows that. His 'for-their-own-good' motto is really just an excuse to protect himself. He's afraid that if he opens himself up to her entirely, she will hurt him. It was bad enough with Lana, he doesn't want to go through it again with Lois," Chloe said wisely.

"But surly Lois would never do that."

"Lois may not intend to, but you know how she is. She can be so judgmental. You remember what happened when she found out that Oliver was the Green Arrow. Clark doesn't want the same thing to happen to him." Chloe's eyes were fairly burning a hole in the door. If she knew her cousin, she was probably standing there with a bemused and hurt expression on her face. But this had to be done; it was for her own good.

"But maybe this time would be different. Her feelings for Oliver were never as deep as the ones she has for Clark, right?" Dinah asked, her eyes also glued to the door. "It's obvious from the way she looks at him."

"You know this and I know this, but Lois doesn't. I don't think Lois realizes how much Clark means to her. I'm afraid that when Clark does finally tell her, she'll react instinctively and back off before she gets a chance to fully process her feelings. If she does, then they will both be unhappy and there may be no bouncing back for Clark. I know Clark loves her more than he ever loved Lana."

"Can we say anything to hint to her about this?" Dinah implored.

"No, absolutely not," Chloe responded emphatically. "Lois would just blow us off. This is something she will just have to learn on her own. She can never know anything about what we've just discussed, understand? If we hint too much about his secret, she might ask him about it and you know he will never tell her if she pushes him."

Dinah started to nod, but stopped herself and said, "Yes" for Lois' benefit. They hadn't heard anything from her for the last few minutes and just hopped she was still listening.

"Right, let's get back to setting the table. Lois should be here any minute. How long could it possibly take to get a few sandwiches anyway?" Chloe said, motioning for Dinah to come away from the door.

--

Lois was in shock. Clark loved her! And she…well she didn't find him wholly unattractive although his penchant for plaid was a bit much. But surprisingly she wasn't as concerned about his feelings for her as she was his so-called secret.

Her natural curiosity was in overdrive. How could the mild-mannered farm boy turned reporter have any secrets? Although come to think of it, it might explain a few things like how come he was so chummy with all the members of the Justice League and his strange habit of always showing up in a crisis.

Maybe he was a meteor freak. That was possible wasn't it? He had grown up in the meteor freak capitol of the world after all.

Would him being a meteor freak alter the way she felt about him? He was still the same Clark she'd always known, right? Meteor power or not, he was still the man she fell in love with.

It took her a moment to realize what she'd just thought. Had she really just thought she was in love with Smallville? It took her another moment to realize that this was wholly and undeniably true.

She, Lois Lane, was in love with him, Clark Kent. And there was nothing that would ever change that.

As for his secret, well she would just have to curb her curiosity until he felt he was ready to open up to her. She could do that, couldn't she?

Squaring her shoulders, she pounded her head on the door and called for somebody to open it.

She passed out the coffee and sandwiches and sat down to eat, acting like what she'd overheard had had no effect on her whatsoever and the stone cold coffee was still hot. Like Chloe had said, she was a brilliant actress.

Coming up next: Fish jokes abound and Lois and Clark spend some quality time in a…wouldn't you like to know? You'll find out next time in part three of "The Power of Suggestion": "Torture Chamber".