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Chapter 7
Back at his desk, Lois was waiting with a smile. "Not so bad, was it, Smallville."
"No, I guess not." He looked at her curiously. "Are you ready for the permanent partners thing?"
"It worked out all right this week. It's not as if we haven't been working together a little all along anyway. You've helped me on stories; I've helped you."
"Yeah. Just more of the same. And a new office." He looked around them. "That's going to be the big change."
"But more prestige. We'll get assigned the bigger stories. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for that, Smallville." She reached and got a key from beside her computer. "Here. I almost forgot."
"Thanks. Uh…Lois, your story." He licked his lips nervously. "It was very well done. Mom liked it." He pocketed the key and sat down at his own desk, looking desperately for something to do.
"Really? She did?" Lois seemed more than pleased. "What did she say about it exactly?"
"Didn't Perry give you enough praise already?"
"Some. Not much though. He wants me to think of a follow-up. But I'm blank. I mean, I said it all. There's nothing left to really write about until Superman does something else, is there?"
"I'm sure something will come up." Clark started typing.
"Yeah…but I guess we could work on the red/blue blur angle."
"The what?"
"The red/blue blur. It was obviously him all along. I can't believe I forgot to ask him about that. There were really just so many other things that seemed more important. I wonder why he…" Her voice trailed away as she sat back and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully.
"Why he what?" he asked. She had Clark's complete attention and all her questions came spewing out in quick succession, while his own mind's answers to them remained unspoken.
"Why did he burst onto the scene like that?"
I didn't want to.
"Why hasn't he flown before now?"
Because I only mastered flying a few weeks ago.
"There have been a few planes that have crashed across the country. Why didn't he save those planes?"
I wasn't sure I could.
"Why did he save that one?"
I had no choice.
"…And expose himself to the world like that?"
Because you were on that plane.
"What made the difference?"
You did.
But aloud, Clark said, "Maybe he wasn't able to fly before now. Maybe he was just ready. He obviously had the suit made, complete with an easily identifiable emblem on his chest."
"Yeah…what's with that 'S'? She frowned, looking down at her shoes. "What could it stand for, Smallville?" I know now it's going to stand for Superman, but I don't think that's what he had in mind. The whole flashy entrance…it just wasn't his style somehow."
"Oh, so after a couple of hours in his presence, you think you know his style?" Clark was beginning to get uncomfortable.
"Yeah!" She jutted out her chin in that way of hers that exuded confidence. "I think I do. He was fairly easy to read, Clark." She got up and walked around the desk and his thoughts once more flickered to that image of a tiger and its prey.
When she hopped up and sat down on the edge of his desk, just next to his keyboard, Clark sat back in surprise. "You know, I've been thinking about all he told me about Krypton. He's the last son of Krypton …now, that's pretty heavy stuff."
She was thinking out loud now and totally in her own world as she crossed her legs. Clark tried hard to avoid the sight of her short hemline becoming shorter as the material bunched up with each swing of her leg. "The last of his race. Can you imagine how alone he must feel sometimes?"
"I can imagine," Clark barely choked out the words.
"You know, I couldn't very well ask him some of the questions I wanted to…"
This surprised Clark and his eyebrows lifted. He'd suffered though all her direct questioning, and she'd actually held back some? "What on earth did you not ask?" He was trying his best to keep his eyes on her face and not on those long legs.
"Well, I didn't ask him if he was…you know…normal?" She smiled, and her head danced from side to side in a comical fashion.
He laughed and tried to keep the bitterness out of it. "Normal? Isn't it apparent he's not normal?"
"Yeah…but I mean…like all over." She gave him a wicked little smile and then had to wait a full five seconds until it finally dawned on Clark exactly what she meant.
"Lois!" He was sure he was blushing right down to his toes.
"Well, you can bet your life I'm not the only girl thinking about it." She punched him lightly in the shoulder. "I bet there are a few billion others out there wondering the same thing. But then, that outfit doesn't leave that much to the imagination, so I'm pretty sure he really is, well, largely normal." Clark's mouth fell open and she watched the reaction with glee. "Not that I wouldn't mind taking a peek under those tights just to make sure—"
Clark closed his eyes, put a hand to his forehead and groaned, "Lois!"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Clark, you are such a prude. We must work on that sometime." Then her eyes drifted toward the ceiling and a dreamy look came over her. "I do wonder though, with all those powers, is it safe for an earth girl to have—"
This time his hand flew up to cover her mouth. "Lois, I can't believe you—"
She pulled his hand away forcefully, gave him an infuriated look, and continued a little more loudly, "—To have SEX with him safely? What's the matter, Smallville? Touchy subject there? It's a reasonable question."
"Lois, you shouldn't even be—"
"Clark, there's a very super guy out there that flies and catches planes in his bare hands that could very well be a super-sperm shooter. Now, it might just matter to some girl somewhere." Her eyes were locked on him, and she fully expected another protest from Clark. She was surprised to see a look of complete horror fill his eyes. "Smallville, you okay there? You don't look so hot."
"I…I…" But Clark couldn't even express any words.
This thought had not even crossed his mind. In all the years he'd been afraid of hurting Lana, it had always been his strength, his great strength that always seemed to be growing on a daily basis, that had concerned him. He had been scared of hurting her by losing control at the moment of… But he had never even thought of his—. Oh, god, he didn't even want to think about this!
But Lois was on a tear and still talking a mile a minute.
"…if his DNA is so different, well, who knows if he even has DNA? Or red blood? What if his blood is green like Mr. Spock's?"
"What has Spock got to do with Superman?" Clark had been shaken enough that he had missed a few of her wonderings, and now he was having trouble even following her.
"Oh, I just thought of that because Superman's a Star Trek fan. Didn't I tell you?"
"How in the world could you possibly know that?"
"Just something he said. But come to think of it, I doubt it. Wouldn't the color of your blood give your skin some of its color? He'd be greenish, I'll bet, if his blood was green. Spock was a bit greenish, wasn't he? I mean, you'd know. You're a Star Trek fan. I've seen the model you made of the Enterprise when you were a kid in your room."
But Clark wasn't answering. He was breathing rather shallowly. He had the feeling the world was closing in on him.
She turned her head sideways and looked at him strangely. "No, I have a feeling he's a red-blooded, American male, and I think he'd be trustworthy enough to warn a girl before, you know, doing something that could hurt her."
"I…I'm sure he would," Clark said weakly, without looking at her.
"Still, a lot of questions remain. I mean, can he father children? Would they have his powers? Would bearing his children kill an earth woman? They are all reasonable questions."
"Lois, you can't possibly be thinking of asking him all that."
"Oh, I'm thinking of it all right." The wicked smile returned, and she watched with relish the effect of her next words on him. "I just don't know how to bring it up right now, no pun intended."
That elicited another low groan from Clark. She laughed, obviously enjoying herself.
Then Clark managed to speak to her through clenched teeth. "Has it ever occurred to you he might not know all the answers?"
Her eyes grew wide, her smile disappeared, and her voice lowered. "Oh." She swallowed hard. A few long seconds went by before she continued, "Now that could be …" she exhaled deeply, "…a problem."
"Yes, it could be. And it might not be so funny to him."
"I'm sorry, Smallville. I-I hadn't realized. I guess I never even thought…Hmm. I'll work on that. Wait a minute." She jumped down from the desk and ran around to her own. She found the file on her computer quickly, and Clark was left wondering what could have captured her attention so completely.
"Lois, what are you doing?" He got up and went around to her desk and leaned over her shoulder. He didn't quite trust her when she changed from fired up to quiet this quickly.
She was clicking through her contacts files. "There's this doctor at Star Labs. I met him once. A bit of a flake in some ways, but he's deep into biomedical research. He really knows his stuff, and I think he might be willing to—"
"No!" His voice was as stern as she'd ever heard it. "Lois, I forbid you—"
"Forbid me?" She looked up at him and her eyes were blazing. "Smallville, you're treading on dangerous ground there," she warned. Then lowering her voice to a whisper, she said, "and I haven't even gotten started with you on how it is that you contacted Superman in the first place. Want me to go there, Clark?"
He ignored the question. "Lois, think about it. If you grew up so different from everyone else, wouldn't you be afraid of being put in a lab for tests to be run on you?"
She turned in her seat. "You mean like he might have a kind of phobia about it?"
"Yeah. I guess that's kind of what I mean."
"Then he should talk to someone about it," she said sincerely. "And I know just the person." She clicked a few keys and an address came up on the screen. "Dr. Bernard Kline. Really, Smallville, I think this is a good idea."
Clark walked back around the desk and sat down again. Sometimes just talking with Lois was exhausting.
But she wasn't letting the subject die. "Clark, have you ever heard of the 80/20 theory?" He looked at her blankly. "Well, it's this idea that 80 per cent of people are good, 20 per cent are bad. Although I think it gets extended to all kinds of things, not just the good/bad concept. Anyway, if 80 per cent are inherently good, then if you parked your Lamborghini in front of a restaurant and threw the keys to someone and asked them to watch your car, the odds are 80 to 20 your car would be there when you got back. But the whole thing really depends on whether you choose the person at random and don't just give your keys to the one that volunteers to watch your car."
"Because the one who volunteers might have his own agenda," Clark mused.
"And your car gets stolen." She smiled at him so widely, he couldn't help but smile back at her.
"I see your point. If Superman picks out the person to do the test, it's not as much of a gamble for him. But, Lois, do you really think this is any of your business? He gave you a simple interview. You're really running wild with this idea. Maybe he—"
"Maybe he's happy being alone?" She shook her head. "I didn't see a guy on that rooftop that was one hundred per cent, certifiably happy. I saw a very wary, very nervous, and very lonely man."
"Can you blame him for being nervous? He was being interviewed by Mad Dog Lane!" And for that, she threw her pencil at him which, to her surprise, he caught in mid-air.
"And you're about to be sharing an office with her, farm boy. Maybe I'd better request red carpet so the blood stains don't show."
