Disclaimer: not mine
Warnings: Language. Remember, this is the second chapter I'm uploading in the same day.
After leaving the Auditorium, Clark made a quick patrol to make sure there was no impending crime, robbery or natural disaster needing him, and contacted the League to inform them he had some personal matters to attend and he would not be on duty tonight. He had made a promise and had all the intentions of keeping it.
He landed in an alley nearby to change and he headed home.
"Honey, I'm home," said Clark closing the door behind him.
The apartment was strangely silent, but Lois' things were scattered all around. He picked up her shoes from the entrance and placed them on their shoe cabinet before heading to the kitchen, where he saw an unfinished cup of tea on the table, right to her purse.
He grabbed her jacket from one of the living room coaches; her blouse, skirt and underwear had been dropped on the bathroom's floor, and the still steamy atmosphere revealed a very long and hot shower. Picking up the clothes he opened the small window to ventilate.
Only two places left to look: bedroom and study. Clark focused, and soon his super hearing caught the dance of her fingers on the keyboard. He walked towards the ajar door and pushed it softly to get inside, catching Lois' sitting profile in front of the computer. Clark remained silent for a while, leaning on the doorframe. Lois didn't seem to realize he was already home. He took his time basking in the love of his life: bunny sleepers, Superman's tee and pajama trousers. Long and still wet hair down her shoulders.
"Hon, you are going to catch a cold", said Clark.
Lois was still writing, unresponsive to his remark. "Lo?" Nothing. Then he saw the thin cable going down from her ears.
So, looking pissed while writing and listening to music. No need to wonder which of her play lists was on. He tried again, increasing the tone of his voice. "Lo, I'm home." Still nothing. "I'm home and you're going to turn deaf if you keep using that high volume," said Clark, more to himself than to Lois.
Clark pondered the possibilities. Direct approach was out of the question, two previously broken fingers strongly advised against it: a pissed off Lois with headphones on, equaled Lois attacking before asking. He chose the light sign and pulled the lever up and down twice. Lois turned her head and saw Clark by the doorframe smiling. "Hi," he said.
Lois took the headphones off and placed the music player by the keyboard. "Sorry, Clark, I didn't hear you coming."
"I noticed."
Clark moved towards Lois and sat by her side.
"How are you feeling?," he asked kissing her temple.
Lois sighed and leaned on his chest. "How do you think, Clark? I blew it, and it bugs me. I could've said so many things..."
"Honey, don't think--"
"The way he attacked you," she continued. "God! all the things he said?, I had the perfect come back, Smallville, all the damn words to render him speechless and beaten, and all I could come up with was the wrong thing to say or silence! Do you know how much I hate silence?" Clark nodded silently. "And that bull he said about what you mean? Clark, you are a symbol beyond your actions, you inspire people to be pro-active, exactly what he claimed we are not! He gave me the freaking arguments to defeat him on a silver platter and I didn't take them," said an increasingly frustrated Lois.
Clark embraced her. "Lo, I don't think--"
"I was so terrified that if I said the slightest thing he would open Pandora's box...I just froze," she finally said seeking comfort in his arms.
Clark held her tighter. "Honey, don't think about it, you did what you could, Lex came prepared."
"I'm so frustrated, it's like I found the correct words two hours too late."
All her attitude spelled defeat, and Clark hated to see her like that.
"Superman inspires people, and Lex's arguments were one big lie after another. How could I not see it coming? Why didn't I point that out? How could I let him win, Clark?"
"You were protecting me, Lo, I'm--"
Lois continued her rant ignoring him. "And Perry?, oh, Perry's going to kill me, and then revive me only to kill me again." Lois let her head rest on Clark's shoulders, eyes closed, hoping to get lost in his warmth. "Tell me you got the interview."
Clark gulped, but nonetheless tried to sound normal. "No, she didn't want it."
And that completely broke the magic.
"Clark, please, tell me you just have a horrible sense of humor and that we are publishing an exclusive tomorrow."
"It's not that she didn't want to give me the interview, Lo. She didn't want an interview. Nobody will have it," he said innocently in a feeble attempt to ease her.
It didn't work.
"Clark, how could you? how could she?-- oh crap, I'm so dead now." Lois made a head-desk movement on his chest in frustration. "I'm dead but I'm going to kill you first so I can mock you, and tease you, and remind you of your failure for all eternity and beyond," she said as she poked him on his chest.
"Lois, she was really stubborn. In fact, she reminded me a little of you."
"Not funny, Clark."
"Look, just relax, Lo. I talked to Perry and did some damage control. He knew about you--"
"Cat," she said cutting him. "I'm so going to kill that bitch too."
"Before you bring us all into your afterlife's social circle, could you at least let me finish my sentences?"
"Ok, you got your last wish."
"I told Perry we would write the article together," said Clark cheerfully.
"And that awesome plan of yours calmed the beast?," deadpanned a perplexed Lois.
"Well, he didn't say no."
"I don't buy that." Lois sat back in order to see Clark's face.
"Why not?"
"Weren't you there, Clark? Do you honestly think I'm entitled to write anything about tonight and get it published with my name under it and have Perry giving it green light? Are you sure you talked to Perry?"
Clark looked at the screen. "Well, you seem to have a big part already written."
"Most of it ranting, I wasn't thinking about Perry accepting it."
"Can I read it?"
"Sure, suit yourself." Lois stood up and placed her hand on Clark's shoulders. "I'm hungry, do you want anything?"
Clark was already reading the text. "Sea bass au vodka, please."
"Cheese sandwich it is."
PRIMARY COLORS TO THE TEST
Presidential race already on for Luthor.
By Lois Lane.
The United States' Presidential campaigns are known to be a long-running political process. That fact arises both praise and criticism. On one hand, the Primaries give a deeper sense of authenticity to the meaning of Democracy; on the other hand, making the process too long endangers voters' registration by becoming a dull and boring series of political debates.
This year, however, the election has made an unexpected turn: renowned billionaire Lex Luthor has irrupted in the middle of the primaries to announce his intention to run for President as an independent candidate. Financially supported by his own resources he is indeed in full condition to do so.
The effect of such announcement on the political circles has been instantaneous. The third parties have abandoned the race prematurely, and Democrats and Republicans have speeded up their schedules, with a marathon pre-campaign hoping to have their candidates elected before the last caucuses in order to start the presidential race as soon as possible. Both National Conventions will be held by the (begg) beginning of June, an unprecedented event.
The effect on the voting population has not been inconspicuous either: first intention of vote polls on registered voters suggests an increase of undecided vote, evidencing that Mr. Luthor has indeed caught the public opinion's attention.
With such a background, Mr. Luthor's first political public appearance last night at Metropolis' Grey Hall was awaited with high expectations.
As citizens of the United States of America with the right to elect by voting to our nation's leaders, we also have a big responsibility to fulfill. We live in the most powerful country of the Western world, capable of doing almost anything. And that makes it a matter that not only affects us, but also the rest of the world.
Our country is normally on the side of those who drop the bombs, not the ones who run from them. Mr. Luthor's speech last night seemed to agree with that point of view, the bastard.
Dear reader, I think there is another side: the one that disarms the bombs. And we can be that side. So when these next few months we take a minute to reflect about who are we going to vote to become our President for at least the next four years, let's not narrow the possibilities to a dual choice. It is not about how things are today as our only options, but about how things can be if we change them.
Mr. Luthor himself is an example of what can we do. So I say we do the same and send his stinking hyena dirty ass back to the realm of the dead, this time for fucking good, because dudes, if he gets a single foot inside the White House, it will be the end of the world as we know it. In the worst meaning of the phrase. So don't be nuts, don't be fools. Think this: how the hell is it going to be good to vote somebody who depends on no one to do anything but himself? He can kiss our asses goodbye while he's killing innocent people in order to get what he wants, not losing his fucking Profident smile while he's at it. (...)
The rant went on. By the time Lois came with their dinner, Clark had read it twice. Lois sat on his lap.
"That's a little biased, don't you think?," asked Clark as he took his sandwich.
"I told you I was venting. It hasn't been my brightest day today, you know?"
"For a moment I forgot about the date," Clark said smiling apologetically, "and felt like the biggest jerk in the world."
Lois sighed, "Everything with you is the biggest, Smallville, no matter what."
Lois sat back on her chair by his side and kissed his hand.
Clark held her hand. "I'm sorry Lo," he said.
"I know you are, Clark. It bugs me that you are, because you shouldn't. See? Today is today, it cannot be avoided, I just wish I was strong enough to ignore it."
"You can't ignore it. It's Chloe--"
"I don't mean like that. I mean...I mean the pain." Lois looked down in an attempt to hide the tears she was almost failing to hold back. "It's, it's always sharp, stronger today. And I don't want to feel that when I think of her." Then she looked back at him, with a bitter smile. "You know what I do to dull the pain?"
Clark nodded. "You buy a vinyl."
"That I can't even open."
"That you can't open and you take to Smallville and you keep neatly stored in boxes with the player and all the other LPs you've been buying for the last eleven years."
"One in Chloe's birthday, one in Chloe's death anniversary." Lois paused briefly and looked him in the eye. "You never asked why."
"I figured it was some way to keep her closer. Something between you two. I didn't want to pry."
"Not long before the wedding we were walking on the streets of Metropolis. I wasn't feeling very well and as she was in town, she offered to pick me up from work. As we were walking to the car, we passed by this music store. An old vinyl player was for sale. Chloe stopped dead in her tracks, captivated. It wasn't her style to be so attracted to an old thing like that, being a high-tech queen, you know."
"Well, I remember that type-writer we bought for her birthday."
Lois smiled at the memory. "Yeah. Well, it was something similar with the player. And I asked her why would she want that if she didn't even have a single vinyl."
Clark waited for her answer. It came in less than a second, with Lois quoting her absent cousin.
"'When I have one of those things, I will know I've found my home'. Those were her words. She looked at me, all in her Sullivan smile, and she told me about this dream of having her own player and starting a collection of LPs. But, silly as it sounded, it was something so special for her, that it had always been connected to her dream of having her own home. She smiled again and told me that when she had seen it right then, the first thing that had come to mind had been buying it."
"Meaning she finally felt she was going to have a home. With Jimmy."
"Exactly. Well, you know Chloe, the perfectionist. As she didn't consider the Talon their real love-nest, she told me she would wait. I couldn't."
"Patience was never one of your virtues."
"Right," she said, "so I went to the store the next day. A lady wanted to buy it, you know?"
Clark frowned, fearing the answer. "And what did you do?"
Lois' reply was categorical. "I offered more than its original price."
Clark rolled his eyes. "Figures."
"What did you expect, Smallville?"
"A more orthodox approach?"
"It felt like the best waste of money I had ever made. And I saved it for Chloe. I knew of Jimmy's present, so I hid it in the barn and planned to give it to her when she made the inauguration party."
"But the party never came."
Lois sighed. "And then, suddenly, she was gone."
Clark took her again in his arms.
"I missed her so much, Clark, I couldn't bear the idea of not having her around for the rest of my life. First time we'd thought she was dead was bad enough, but, you know, I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, and there we were, north-by-northwesting my dad's soldiers and fighting meteor psychos till we found her. But this time I was there. I was with her when she died at the hospital, I heard the monitors. There was no mistake. She was gone."
Clark kissed the top of her head and tightened the embrace.
"Call me crazy, call me idiot, but buying those LPs...they kind of bring her back to me, they are--"
"Like a link?"
"Yes, I guess you could say that."
"It's a beautiful thing to do, Lois. I just hope that some day you actually open that box and listen to them."
"Maybe some day, Clark. Maybe some day."
"I'm sorry, Lo."
"And surely," she said using her defense mechanisms, "I'll get better when you stop feeling guilty."
Clark let Lois sit back in her chair and looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"Every time we talk about Chloe, especially when I'm sad, you have that guilty look on your face, Clark."
Clark turned away his face.
"Honey, look at me." Lois directed his face towards her eyes with her hand.
"Lois, I--"
"You are not responsible for her death."
"I know," said Clark.
"Then..."
"Its--"
"Complicated." Lois closed her eyes and sighed. "Smallville, I'm not up to a Kent's cryptic tonight's special."
Clark kissed her. "Then you won't have it. Come on, Lane, we have an article to finish."
"Sure, Smallville. Why don't you write down your ideas so I can finish for both when you have to sneak out to save the world?"
Clark smiled. "Nobody's going to call."
"Yeah, sure, Pinocchio," said Lois rolling her eyes in incredulity.
"I'm serious."
Lois' skeptical stare made him elaborate.
"I called the League. I'm off duty tonight."
"You serious?"
"No cape tonight."
"No cape?"
"Nope."
"Under no circumstance?"
"No, under n-- erm...define 'circumstance'."
Author's notes: hope you enjoyed.
Music: Lois has many playlists on her ipod. Not that she has all the time in the world to make them, it is mostly Lucy (who loves doing that kind of stuff because little Samuel loves music) organizing them for her. They are thematic playlists, and one of them is the Venting playlist. It does not include Lois' favorite music, but it helps her to rant. The song playing to help write the article was Pearl Jam's "God's Dice". The first half of the lyrics express the frustration she is feeling with all this.
As usual, the version with direct links to the songs can be found at my LJ (until I post the complete soundtrack here at my profile). Reviews welcome, bla, bla, bla. But most importantly, if you're still reading, thanks, I hope you're enjoying it.
