Chapter 30
"Clark, if you don't stop squeaking that chair…" She let the threat hang in the air.
"Oh, sorry."
They worked a few minutes in silence. Then gradually she became aware that he was drumming his fingers on the desk.
She pulled her chair back from her computer so she could face him. "You're not getting anywhere, are you?"
"No." His tone was downright grumpy. "I can't concentrate."
"Then why don't you go on patrol or something? Anything! You just need to get your mind off it."
"It's just…if I knew what to expect…"
"You'll find out tonight. Although," she got up and walked around to stand behind his chair and massage his neck, "I think you know what they're going to have you do for one test. Don't you?"
"Yeah. Although…it might be a bit different, since they're going to be testing…" he shook his head and covered his eyes at the thought, "my…or rather…the speed and force of my…oh, god!"
Lois leaned down and let both her arms envelop him. "Smallville, it's a scientific test. Dr. Kline and Dr. Hamilton are not going to be trying to embarrass you. I'm sure the whole thing will be private and professional and—."
"And embarrassing," he finished morosely. "At least I'll be the only one in the building with super-hearing and X-ray vision. And you can be sure I'll scan for cameras before I—" He stopped again. "I can't believe I'm letting them do this! This is like my worst nightmare!"
She hugged him tighter. "Smallville, you're doing it for a very, very good reason. And when it's all over, I promise you," she whispered suggestively into his ear, "you're going to be as glad as I will be that you did."
He covered both of her hands with his, and asked seriously, "And what if the outcome is not what you hope it will be? Lois, we may never be able to—"
"Then we cross that proverbial bridge when we come to it with tanks, Hummers, and aircraft carriers, if need be."
"You're mixing your metaphors, Lane," he chuckled. "That would be one heck of a bridge."
"Well, at least I got you laughing." She straightened up and went back to the neck massaging. "Can you even feel this?"
"Yes," he said a little testily. "I'm not a robot, Lois. I feel your touch quite clearly. Now if you took a blow torch to my back, that would be more difficult for me to detect. I'm not very aware of temperature changes."
"Really? Now that's the kind of thing that I could write up in the next article," she said with a sudden burst of excitement.
"What? Why would anyone be interested in—?"
"Trust me, they would. People want to know how you're different. That's the kind of thing that would grab people. I need to start a list."
"No," he said tentatively, then more definitively, "no! That's not right. If you do an article, it's got to be done the right way. You can't just keep a list."
"Why not?" She turned his chair around to face her. "What's the difference?"
"I don't know," he admitted, but the whole thought bothered him. "It just is. If you do another interview with Superman, it has to be in the same way as before – on a rooftop and he's in the suit," Clark said firmly.
"He? Since when did you start referring to yourself in the third person?"
"Oh, since the day I put on spandex. Lois, it's hard to explain, but I don't think it's right just taking my words when it's just the two of us talking and using them for—"
"Oh, this is getting too weird, Smallville. Do you hear yourself?"
"Yes, but I'm also hearing you, and I don't like the idea of watching my words around you. I want to feel completely comfortable that you're not just studying me or—"
"Oh. We're not really talking about you and me or any article anymore. We're really still talking about the tests." She surprised him then by sitting on his lap. His arms went very willingly around her. "Look, it's going to be okay. I promise you, and have I ever broken a promise I've made to you?"
He thought for a moment and then nodded. "All the time. You never stay back when I tell you to. You never let me know where you're going when you're off to follow some lead in a bad part of town. You never—"
"Oh, come on. Technically, those weren't promises. This one is; tonight is going to go our way. I know it. I can feel it. Besides, the mere fact that someone like you from some planet in a galaxy far, far away and someone like me," she made a face, "even hooked up at all is kind of fantastic."
"True." He let out a deep sigh. "And, at least, we know we can do this." He reached his hand up and touched her face tenderly.
It only took ten seconds for their kiss to be interrupted by Perry White bursting through the doorway.
"Clark! Thirty car pile-up on I-35! Lois, my office, now!"
The door closed and the two of them stared at it.
"Well, at least that tells us one thing," Clark said.
"What? That he doesn't seem to mind two of his employees canoodling in their private office?"
"No. He doesn't know I've told you. He's getting you out of my way so I can change and—"
"That sly old fox!" she said, as she slid from his lap. She straightened her blouse and put her hands on her hips. "You know, that's kind of insulting."
Clark turned back to her, his hand already loosening his tie. "Why?"
"Why does he think he's smart enough to figure it out, but I'm not?"
"Lois, it wasn't a contest. Besides, you did have an advantage he didn't have."
She raised her eyebrows at him.
"I never kissed him when I was dressed as Green Arrow." With a last smile at her, he was gone.
