"Sneaks into the room* Hey, everyone. So, a short break over Christmas turned into a break over New Years and then a break over January. Oops. Rewriting this chapter twice didn't help things either. I think I finally have it good enough for public consumption. Since it may have been awhile, here's a little reminder of what happened last time.

Lois unlocked her door without taking her eyes off Clark. She pulled him inside before kissing him, her hands moving up under his shirt, against his strong muscles of his back. He pulled the kiss deeper, taking his jacket off her, and lifting her up, his hands cradling her hips.

"Lois, you have no idea how much I want you right now..."

She interrupted him. "I might have some idea."

"...but before we do anything, we really need to talk."

Chapter 12: Confessions, part 2

Lois groaned. "Really, Clark? You are the only man I know who would choose talking over sex."

Clark's face remained serious. He put Lois down and began pacing across the room. She immediately sobered up.

"Lois, I haven't been completely truthful with you. There are things about me that you don't know. I...I'm not always Clark Kent."

"Okay," Lois said confused. "Are you trying to tell me you have some sort of secret life?"

"Kind of. I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to be straightforward. Lois, I'm Superman."

Lois just stared at him. Clark took off his glasses and stood up straighter. He regretted not wearing the suit tonight, it would have made things a little easier. Lois continued staring. Clark could see her brain working, trying to connect the dots. He really wished she would say something.

Suddenly, Lois charged. Clark saw her fist move toward his face. He bent back, absorbing most of the force of the blow. He could have dodged it altogether, but he knew he deserved it.

"You lying son of a bitch! If I only had some Kryptonite, I'd make sure that actually hurt you." Lois was rubbing her hand, obviously in pain. Clark hadn't heard any bones break, but it was going to bruise.

Lois sat down on her couch, her head hanging down. Clark went into her kitchen and grabbed a bag of frozen peas to put on her hand. He came back out into the living room and handed her the peas. She didn't look at him as she grabbed them. It took him a moment to realize she was crying silently.

He stood there awkwardly for several minutes before she said anything. "I should hate you right now, but I don't. I'm mad as hell, but I don't hate you."

Clark said nothing.

Lois looked up at him. "Just tell me, is Clark Kent nothing but a lie? I feel like I've been tricked into confessing my love to a puppet."

"Lois, the me you know is who I really am. Superman is a part of me, but only a part. And when I said I loved you from the day I met you, I meant that."

Lois nodded her head in understanding. "You should leave. I don't want to see your face for a while."

Clark got up, grabbed his jacket and glasses, and left.

SSSS

Lois came to work late the next day. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, instead she had stayed up seething about Clark, Superman, whoever he was. Thinking had only made her angrier, at Clark for keeping such a big secret from her, while being Jason's father, no less, and at herself for never seeing though him before.

Thankfully, Clark wasn't here this morning. One glance at the televisions monitors told her where he was: Brazil, helping out with a landslide. At least, now she knew where he went all the time. That helped somewhat. Not much, but somewhat.

When he did finally come in, she ignored him, making it perfectly clear that she had no interest in interacting with him. Lois could pull off the cold as ice routine better than anyone she knew. The one time Clark tried to interact with her, she would only answer him with terse statements or icy glares. He avoided her after that, disappearing from the office for most of the afternoon.

Around three, Lois heard Perry's voice booming across the bullpen. "Lane! My office! Now!"

Lois hurried over to the chief's office. "What do you want Perry? I've got a lot of work to do."

"Fine, I'll be straightforward then. If you and Clark are having some sort of quarrel, I need you to end it."

Lois' eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me? I really don't see how any issues Clark and I have are any of your business. Besides," Lois said, switching subjects, "you have no idea what he did. If I want to be mad at him, I have every right to be."

"Lois, I have known you a long time. In many ways, you are the closest thing to a daughter I have ever had. Clark is good man; whatever he did or didn't do, I'm sure he had his reasons. You need to talk to him, find out what they are, and then make up. The two of you are far better together than either of you are apart." Perry smirked. "Besides, I can't have my two best reporters feuding with each other. Makes for bad copy. Now get out of my office and back to all that work you have to do."

"Right away, Chief." Lois said as she walked out.

"Don't call me chief!" Perry yelled at her back.

SSSS

Lois didn't know how to react to Perry's advice. She knew he was right. She couldn't stay mad at Clark forever. And they did need to talk about the many issues his revelation had brought up. And she did still love him, both of him, though reconciling her old love for Superman and her new love of Clark Kent made her head hurt.

Yet something was still needed to push her into taking that step towards reconciliation. Emotionally, his deception still stung. She still wanted to be mad at him, wanted him to be the bad guy. She wanted to stamp her foot and yell and scream about how she had been wronged even if it was immature and wouldn't resolve anything.

She slipped into the break room to calm herself with a dose of caffeine. She could overhear one of the young female interns gossiping with Perry's secretary the next room over. They hadn't noticed her presence at the coffee pot.

Normally, she couldn't care less for office gossip, but the sound of Clark's name caught her attention. She scooted closer, trying not to reveal herself.

The intern had said, "You know, there are really no good men around here, at least, no single ones anyway."

"Well, there's always Clark." Perry assistant replied. "He used to be such a dork; I never would have considered him, but he's been different since coming back."

"He's single? I thought he and Lois were together. Heard a rumor that's why she and Richard broke up. Old feelings rekindled or something like that."

"No, they've only ever been partners in a business sense, at least as far as I know. And if they have anything secret going on Cat Grant certainly doesn't seem to care."

"She wouldn't. I never did understand why she kept throwing herself at him, but after seeing him the last couple of days, I think I have a clue. Guess she's just better at picking men than I am."

So this was why Lois usually didn't eavesdrop on office gossip. It just made her more pissed. Except now she was pissed at all of her coworkers for making up rumors about her and planning to steal her man. Because she had decided that he was her man, even though she was still mad at him. She just needed to make sure no one else in this office got any ideas while she cooled down.

SSSS

Clark picked that exact moment to walk out the elevator doors. He saw Lois stride over to him determinedly. He winced expecting a verbal beat down if not another attempted physical one.

He did not expect Lois to kiss him hard on the mouth in the middle of the bullpen. As she pulled away, Clark gave her a questioning look.

"I'm still mad at you," she whispered, "but I didn't want anyone else getting any silly ideas about stealing you away. The roof. After work. We need to talk."