Clark's assignment wasn't able to get done for a few more days, so in the interim Perry told him to assist Lois with her story. He hadn't been paying attention to what she'd been working on lately so he needed to be caught up to speed. Unfortunately Lois wasn't cooperating.
"You don't want to tell me what's going on do you?" Clark asked.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's that I don't want you trying to steal my story." Lois answered curtly.
"When has it ever been in my in my character to steal stories from you?" Clark feigned innocence. In actuality he had stolen a few from her, as retribution from her doing the same to him.
"Don't even go there Smallville." She demanded as Clark laughed.
"Can you at least fill me in on what you have so far?"
"Due to public support, the state fair is returning to Metropolis. With all the glory of the old days. All the rides, all the games, and twice as many food stands."
"Really? It's coming back? I knew there were people who protested the decision to move it in the first place. I know they were trying to get it back, but I didn't know if they had enough support."
"It starts today. How could you not have known about it? I figured you'd be all ready to take your girlfriend."
"It starts today? Where have I been?"
"Yeah Smallville, where have you been? Come on, let's go."
For decades the State Fair used to be one of the highlights of a Metropolis summer. More recently however, high profile incidents requiring Superman's assistance caused city and state officials to move the fair to another city. It was an unpopular decision with many within the city, but the out of towners convinced the Governor to step in to get it moved.
Clark and Lois caught a taxi to the fairgrounds. It was before 10AM so the fair wasn't particularly full yet. There were rides, games and food stands set up across the entire grounds Clark was shocked, that he didn't notice this beforehand. He saw in his flights through the city that there had been crews setting up equipment in the area but hadn't realized what they were doing. He hadn't even heard or seen any type of advertisement about it's return either. Diana must really be occupying his attention, because it seemed unlike him to not have any idea what was going on around town. He followed Lois who seemed to be on a mission, but let his eyes wander. The sights brought back memories of the Smallville County fair he attended as a child. Of course it was not nearly as ornate as this, but they were fond memories. Early times spent with his parents, then later on with Lana.
"You know, I think I'm going to bring Diana down here before this thing is over." Clark said, looking toward Lois, who was nowhere in sight. He looked around bewildered that she could just disappear like that.
"You lost your lady?" A man said, who was working at a pizza stand, a few steps from where Clark was left scratching his head.
"Something like that." Clark answered. "One minute she was here, the next just; poof. Gone."
It wouldn't be that hard to find Lois if he wanted to. Over the years he'd gotten quite adept at finding her in crowds much bigger than this one. However this wasn't one of those times where she needed help. She indicated during the ride over that she wanted to speak with some of the backers for this years events, Clark assumed she left to do just that. He was just tagging along because he didn't have anything else to do. Figuring to get a few comments from workers and patrons of the fair to share with Lois for her final write up.
Two years ago, the last time the fair was in Metropolis, when Baron Sunday decided he wanted to challenge Superman in front of a crowd. Sunday's voodoo magic gave Superman fits, as it always did before being defeated. Thinking back, Clark wished Diana was around at that time, her resistance to magic could have helped him out tremendously. The year before that, Solomon Grundy barreled through the ferris wheel, and injured about 40 people, before Superman could stop him. After those events, the fair was moved to another city and went on without incident. Clark walked around aimlessly while the fairgrounds began to fill with more and more people, he briefly wondered what Lois was doing before deciding to go find a vendor selling barbecue.
What Lois didn't tell Clark was that she suspected the fair was being financed by some shady characters. One of her sources filled her in that this fair was actually a front for some serious illegal operations. She wasn't looking to get an interview, she was looking to find proof of any dirty dealings. Her source told her where the donors were meeting, in a small temporary building on the outskirts of the fairgrounds, close to the water. That's where she was going, this would be a big time scandal, and a big time story, the biggest in quite some time for her. There was no way she was going to let Clark anywhere near this one.
She huddled up next to a window on the steel sided temporary building, and peeked inside. There were several men sitting around a table, talking low. They weren't the financial backers she was looking for, as she didn't recognize anyone there. There were two average sized men, who looked rather intimidated sitting at the table. With their backs turned to the window there were two other men, one looked very large and muscular, wearing a black pinstripe suit with a fedora hat, and another man who looked sickly skinny. She tried to listen in, but couldn't hear everything, and had missed some important parts of the conversation already.
"We don't have anything close to what we planned. The Bat took down damn near our whole shipment." One of the intimidated men said.
Lois assumed they were talking about drugs, it was common knowledge the Batman intercepted a massive shipment some time ago. She wondered why they were trying to get back into Metropolis. Superman had all but ended the organized drug trade in the entire city. All that remained were low level street dealers from out of town, many of which couldn't elude police for very long.
"That's not my problem, we had a deal, you're going to put your entire stash on the streets. Metropolis is an untapped market, think of the money you could make." Said the skinny man.
"You know why we stopped dealing in Metropolis. Superman can be in 20 places at once." Said the other intimidated man.
"I don't care. Let's go." The skinny man said to the muscular one, and they all stood up to leave. They got to the door quicker than Lois could get away, she was sure they'd spotted her.
There was a total of 12 barbecue stands in the fair, and Clark was on a mission to sample all of them. He was headed towards stand #3 when he spotted a familiar face. Ahead of him, on the other side of the walkway going in the other direction was none other than Bruce Wayne. This wasn't business Bruce, and definitely not Batman, this was Bruce in disguise. With a high quality fake goatee and mustache, and a pair of thick hipster glasses, nearly identical to Clark's, probably worn as an insult to Clark. And of course he didn't miss Bruce's arm candy, Selina Kyle who seemed to be draped all over him, as if he'd spontaneously combust if she didn't remain in constant physical contact.
Bruce saw Clark, and saw that Clark saw him back. Because of Selina, secrets needed to be kept, so Bruce simply acknowledged Clark with a mere head nod. Which Clark returned.
Clark knew Bruce's head nod meant something, the fact that he was in Metropolis meant something. He would only be here if he had a reason. The fact that Selina was with him made it even more obvious. It was she who discovered that the Batman's big drug bust and the Gotham subway illnesses were connected. Them both being in town had to mean that someone in Metropolis had their hands in all of that. Clark immediately thought about Lois, and her habit of getting in the center of trouble. His gut was telling him she'd just done it again. Clark hurriedly left the fairgrounds in search for a secluded spot for a change of clothes.
Clark discovered at a young age that heartbeats are very distinctive. A well attuned ear can distinguish one heartbeat from another, as easy as picking out a singular voice in a crowd. Even from a mile in the sky, Lois was easy to locate, he was so enchanted with her when they first met he learned the sound of her heart immediately.
First he heard her, then he saw her. Whoever she was looking for, she found them, and they weren't happy about it. Two men were pointing pistols fitted with suppressors at her, and two others, a big man and a much smaller man appeared to be exiting the premises quickly. He'd fill Bruce in on those two, Lois was the priority.
Lois had gotten herself caught, again. This was exactly what she wanted to stop doing, getting into situations she couldn't get herself out of. This was what prompted her to consider motherhood, as it would force her to make smarter decisions about her safety. She silently begged for someone to save her, knowing that there was only a 6 pound trigger pull between a long life, and a hollowpoint in the chest.
"Dammit! You know who that is don't you?" One of the gunmen asked.
Her reputation preceded her, everyone knew that she was basically Superman's exclusive press writer. However, she didn't like it when strange men pointed guns at her, even if she thought Superman was around.
"What should we do?" Asked the other.
"Nothing." Said a deep commanding voice, accompanied by a strong gust of wind.
Suddenly both men realized that they were no longer holding functional weapons. They each stared confused at what was left. Superman had taken their magazines, suppressors and slide assemblies. They were left only with the remaining plastic grips, which were both cracked, rendering them useless.
The two men, turned to run away, Superman moved to follow them but was stopped by Lois.
"Oh thank you Superman! Thank you so much." She jumped into his arms, and hugged him.
"You're welcome. You always are."
"I just stopped you from catching those guys didn't I?" Lois asked sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine, I'll get them at some point. I never forget a face." The two men hadn't gotten very far, but he decided to stay with Lois for now.
"I guess you wouldn't." Lois was now giggling like a schoolgirl. It was completely unlike her, even when in the presence of Superman. "Superman can I ask you something?"
"You may?" He could guess what she was going to ask.
"Would you ever consider being a sperm donor for me?"
He was spot on with his guess, in fact he was pretty sure she was considering asking Clark the same question. Which is why he nixed that idea before she had the opportunity. This time he acted surprised that she would ask such a thing. "I'm sorry Lois, but I don't even think that's possible."
"Of course! Hey, it's cool. Just... covering my bases." Lois said awkwardly. "I figured you'd say that. I thought I'd ask on the off chance you'd say yes. But if you change your mind, you know where to find me."
"Have a good day Lois, stay safe." Superman said while slowly rising from the ground.
"You too Superman!" Lois waved, but he was gone. "That was mortifying... And he probably heard me say that."
Superman looked back and watched Lois sulk back towards the people gathered to have fun. Chuckling softly at her statement, of course he'd heard her. He quickly zipped back to change his clothes back to Clark Kent's.
Lois figured she knew Clark pretty well, they'd known each other for quite a while. Using that information she began to make an educated guess to where he was.
"If I were Clark Kent, where would I be? Let me think, I don't have any work to do, and I'm at a fair, alone." Lois looked around, there were far more people than when they first arrived. Of course she could just call him, but where was the fun in that? This way she could test her detective skills, if she became a mother she'd have to find a wandering child at some point anyway. Clark was like a little boy sometimes, this would be as good a place to start as any. She looked around at the rides and the games. None of which would be of much interest to him, the she saw something that would pull him in. "Of course. He's eating."
Clark was tasting an incredibly dry pork rib when Lois finally spotted him. Of course he knew where she was the whole time but was surprised it took her this long to find him again. He wondered why she didn't just call.
"Clark you wouldn't just believe what just happened to me." Lois exclaimed.
"You fell off the edge of the earth?" Clark joked.
Lois hated it when Clark turned into a smartass. Which he had a habit of doing when she was most stressed out. "What are you drunk on barbecue sauce?"
"Not on these." Clark said holding up a rib. "This is like the Sahara of ribs."
"What? Whatever Clark no, I didn't fall off the edge of the earth, I got held at gunpoint again."
"Again? What happened?" Clark acted concerned. "How did you get away?"
"Superman, again." Lois said dryly.
"That figures." Clark looked up and searched the sky as if he was looking for Superman. "You know it's really convenient that he's always around when you need him."
"I know, can we get out of here?" Lois asked.
Hours later, Clark was glad to finally be finished with work. It was a good thing he didn't have any serious deadlines coming up, because his mind was definitely not where it should have been all day. When he left this morning he could have sworn he heard Diana whisper the word 'tonight'. He fought himself all day not to think about what that could mean. Now that he was free for the night, he was better able to relax.
Diana spent a restless and frustrating day alone in her apartment. She came to a decision last night, and wanted desperately to tell someone about it. She hoped to get in touch with Shannon before Clark got home but she was busy with school and then work. And unfortunately Shannon was the only person Diana trusted to tell, so she was forced to be silent about it. She had spent the last hour or so trying on different outfits, looking for the best one for tonight. She wanted to feel beautiful, yet still be comfortable, she had narrowed her decision down to two dresses when her phone rang.
Diana turned and looked at the phone on her bed, the caller ID picture was of Clark. Her heart raced and her mood lifted immediately. She gracefully leaped across the bed to grab the phone.
"Hey you!" She answered excitedly.
"Hey yourself." Clark responded.
"Are you finally off work?"
"Yep, I'm headed home now. You said you wanted me to call when I was doing so. So, I'm calling."
"Great. Listen, pick up some dinner and then I'll meet you at your apartment."
"Alright, what do you want?"
"Something light, something green."
"Alright I can do that. I'll see you in about 20."
"Okay, bye Clark."
After hanging up, Diana quickly turned her attention back to the closet, she didn't have long to choose now.
Clark entered his apartment to find Diana already there waiting for him. She looked stunning in a short red strapless dress that showed off a tempting length of leg. And high heels that accentuated her perfectly defined calf muscles. She also wore a dazzling smile on her lips. Lips that he wanted to press against his own.
"Hi Clark."
"Hello Diana."
Clark crossed the room to give her a quick kiss to her before placing the bags of food on the counter.
"What's with the dress? Is there some special occasion that I'm not aware of?" Clark asked.
"No, I just wanted to look pretty."
"You're more than pretty." Clark said as his eyes roamed up and down her frame. "Give me a second, and then we can eat."
Clark disappeared into his bedroom for a second, then reappeared just to go into another room, the same one her mother slept in when she was here. Diana wondered what he could be doing in there. But his exit did give Diana a short while to collect her thoughts, she took a deep breath and did a silent mantra to make sure she wouldn't back down from her plans for the evening.
Clark used his extra room for storage, for things he didn't use very often or didn't have a place in the decor of the home. He went into a large trunk where he kept his high end dinnerware. He selected plates, crystal wine glasses, cloth napkins and the proper cutlery for two place settings. Before returning to Diana he also picked up a glass candle holder and two candles.
"What's that?" Diana asked as Clark returned. He removed his glasses, but she was glad that he hadn't changed out of his gray business suit.
"This my high quality china. That I pull out only... never."
"Never?"
"This is the first time I've used any of this stuff. It was a Christmas gift from my parents a long time ago. I figured since you were dressed so nicely, this is as good a time as any to pull it out."
He began moving the grilled shrimp salad from the styrofoam takeout containers onto the plates. Then took a bottle of chardonnay from his pantry and filled each glass.
"I can help with the place settings." Diana said, taking the napkins and cutlery from him and placing it on the square glass table in the open area designated as the dining room. Clark brought the plates, in one trip and the wine and glasses the next.
"Aren't the knife and fork supposed to be switched?" Clark asked as he sat down, lighting the candles with his eyes.
"No." Diana said bluntly.
"Are you sure?" He really couldn't remember, most of the places he ate had everything wrapped in a paper napkin.
"I'm very sure. Clark, I've been to enough high end restaurants to know this."
Clark stared at his plate, framed by the silverware on either side. "This doesn't seem right. But I'll take your word for it."
"Good. So how was your day at work?"
"Not bad, I don't have any hard deadlines coming up so it's pretty much smooth sailing for now. Except Superman made a brief appearance."
"Oh?"
"Yep. In classic fashion I rescued Lois Lane."
"Again? I don't understand how she finds herself in so much trouble."
"Neither do I."
"So what happened?"
"The state fair, she was there to try and speak with the financial backers of it's return to Metropolis. Unfortunately she stumbled upon some less than noble characters."
"The state fair? I know about that. Shannon suggested you take me."
"We can go. No problem."
"Ok." Diana smiled. "So did anything else happen?"
"Not really. Bruce was there though, with Selina. So something might be going down soon."
"Why would Bruce be in Metropolis? Did he tell you anything beforehand?"
"No."
"Does he think that what's going on in Gotham has anything to do with the fair?"
"I don't know, I didn't actually speak to him. But enough about that. How was your day?"
"Okay I guess. I didn't do much of anything."
"That can be fun too."
"I don't know about that. I'm used to being busy. With the bracelet campaign going so well these days there's not much for me to do at the foundation."
"Really? I figured you were going there on a regular basis."
"No. It's set up so that I don't have to be there all the time. Usually I use that extra time for speeches and public appearances, but now, I'd rather spend that time with you." Diana smiled.
Conversation flowed casually while they finished their meal. Diana stared into Clark's eyes as she finished off the last of her wine, part of her wished she could feel the alcohol a little bit. It might give her more courage to continue.
"So, it's Friday night. We're young, we're dressed up, what should we get into tonight?" Clark asked. "You want to go dancing?"
"I do love dancing. But not tonight. Actually I had something planned for us." Diana stood.
"Oh?" Clark stood to join her, noticing that her heart rate increased rapidly as she stood.
Diana stepped close to Clark, taking his arms and placing them around her waist, then putting her own hands at his shoulders.
She took a deep breath before speaking. "Clark, I want to make love with you tonight."
Now it was Clark's heart rate that shot up. Subconsciously he'd been waiting to hear her say those words to him for over two years. He wanted to sprint to the bedroom with her in his arms, and make mad passionate love to her, but instead, he kept his cool.
He didn't say a word, instead relaying his intentions to her in the form of a soft kiss, which she returned eagerly, understanding his action.
When their mouths finally parted, Diana took him by the hand and led him towards his bedroom. She knew once she crossed that threshold there was no turning back. She would be going against everything her upbringing had taught her. Her Amazon sisters may never view her the same again. But confident in her decision, she continued on, this is her life, this is what she wanted, this is who she wanted it with.
They came to stand at the foot of the bed, Diana pushed the jacket off his shoulders, while Clark loosened his tie. Next Clark unbuttoned his shirt while while Diana unbuckled his belt, and removed it. She stared into his eyes while he removed his shirt, faint rings of red flashed in them, Diana came to interpret the red in his eyes as his desire for her. She loved the reaction she was able to get from him, her ability to affect him this way made her want to continue on.
She watched him kick off his shoes and remove his socks, but he made no move to remove his pants. At first Diana couldn't figure out why he wasn't continuing to undress, then it dawned on her that he wanted her to do it. Not out of some chauvinistic desire for her to do all the work, but to give her control, to give her the opportunity to change her mind. She wasn't going to do that, so she unbuttoned and unzipped his pants and dropped them to the floor, he now only had on a pair of black boxer briefs.
Clark had let Diana disrobe him, but now it was his turn. He had a long time to imagine this moment, and he was going to live out a few fantasies while the opportunity was at hand. He gently placed her into a sitting position on the bed, then knelt in front of her. He began kissing her thighs, each one back and forth, working his way down to her knees then her calves and ankles. Then he removed one of her shoes. Starting at the heel he slowly kissed his way from her soles to her toes, the back up the top of her foot. Then he repeated the process on her other foot... there had to be balance.
Diana hadn't expected him to linger at her feet, but she wasn't complaining. He felt good, everything he did felt right. Her body was hot, and it was his fault. As he began moving back up her legs she found her breathing was getting heavier. She leaned back when he began kissing her stomach through her dress, working his way up, to her chest and neck, but he stopped before kissing her lips again.
He picked Diana back up into a standing position, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. His hands moved from her back to her hips to her behind, down to her thighs before disappearing under her dress. His fingers found the edges of her panties. Diana saw the look in his eyes as if he was asking her permission to remove them. With a slight nod of the head, she gave him the permission he sought, and her panties were slowly pulled down her legs and allowed to fall to the floor.
Diana watched Clark step back, and remove his briefs. She breathed heavy at the sight of him, then smiled in appreciation. His body was spectacular, she had seen many sculptures of all sorts of Gods in her life, but none of them came anywhere close to the Titan standing before her. She wasn't one bit surprised when he then smiled back at her, no doubt with a satisfied ego. Diana then reached behind her to remove her dress. Clark was holding his breath in anticipation, and she wasn't going to disappoint him. As the dress fell to her feet, she watched his eyes roam over her body drinking in the beautiful sight, lingering on her breasts and her womanhood. This wasn't the first time a man has looked at her with desire in his eyes, but it was the first time she was nude when one has. It was also the first time she liked it. Mixed with desire his eyes showed love, appreciation and tenderness.
Diana wore nothing but her Amazon bracelets and a smile. She was the most beautiful woman that had ever and would ever walk this on this earth. And she was there just for him, showing the utmost trust in him. A trust he would never betray. "You're beautiful." Clark said, finally able to speak.
"So are you." Diana whispered.
As Clark came to her Diana lifted slowly off the floor, motioning him to join her.
"Above the bed?" Clark asked softly.
"No." Diana answered. "Above the earth."
Even as the cold air whipped around their intertwined bodies, there was nothing between them but heat. Wrapped in only his cape, they arched across the sky, in an erotic embrace. They held each other tight, unable to get enough, in between the kisses were scratches, bites gasps and growls. For Diana it was the most intense and pleasurable experience in her entire life. The contrast of the cool air around her and the heat inside her sent her nerves in an intense frenzy. She couldn't control her breathing, or the cries of pleasure coming from her mouth. If she felt this way, it wouldn't be fair for him not to, so she gripped his shoulders, wrapped her legs around him, and gave back to him with all the strength she could muster.
Clark fought hard not to lose himself, Diana was incredible. Nothing could have prepared him for this experience, his senses were at their peak. The electricity within Diana drove him insane with need. She responded to him perfectly, keeping in rhythm with his rigorous pace, she accepted him without protest, and then demanded more. He had no intention of disappointing her either.
The two most powerful beings the world has ever known circled the globe over and over again. They lost count, and neither cared one bit. They held each other in an intimate embrace, unseen by all eyes both above and below. In each others arms they touched the power of perfection. They touched the unbreakable power of love.