Barbarians in the Rain

by Alicia U. <lxu2@cwru.edu>

Rated: PG

Submitted: November 2004

Clark looked up at the sky. "Great," he muttered. Dark clouds were rolling in from the west, and the bright blue sky was turning an ominous grey. "Metaphor for my life." The fog was vastly becoming so dense he could no longer see the top of Luthor Tower without his enhanced vision.

Maybe not seeing Luthor's penthouse was a good thing. "What am I doing to myself?" he softly moaned. Why was he walking by that building? Did he want to torture himself? "Stupid masochist."

He shook his head and deliberately directed his gaze to the sidewalk beneath his feet. He didn't need to think about Luthor. He didn't want to see anything that reminded him of her.

Her. Lois. "Damn it!" He was doing it again. Thinking of her. Hadn't he vowed he would go an entire hour without one thought of her? Wasn't the gray concrete interesting enough? The tufts of grass poking through the cracks and the tiny ants crawling on the vegetation weren't enough to redirect his thoughts.

But how was that possible? How could he not think of her? It seemed like everything in his life revolved around her. All of his recent memories had some tie to her. Even Superman. "Lois," he whispered. He had even unconsciously chosen his path today with the hope of running into her. He needed to see her. He wanted to see her. He had to see her.

But he wasn't sure what to expect now that she was practically Mrs. Lex Luthor. Would she still be his friend? More importantly, could he still look her in the eye and respect her?

He reached the intersection and instead of crossing the street and continuing on his way, he abruptly stopped and changed direction. Maybe just one more loop around the building. Maybe she'd be there now. The thought both scared and excited him.

Clark's head jerked up when he heard a clap of thunder in the distance. Another bolt of lightening flashed, and Clark softly counted, "One. Two. Three. Four. Five." Then he heard another loud boom of thunder.

The storm was close. Perfect. Just what he needed.

He turned on his heel, ready to give up and head home when he heard a familiar voice. "Clark!"

"Lois!" he exclaimed. She was there. And he wasn't sure what to do. Large, heavy, cold raindrops began to fall on the city.

She covered her head with her briefcase and took a few steps towards him. "What are you doing here?"

Clark closed the gap between them and felt a goofy grin cross his face. "I don't know," he said. "I . . . was in the neighborhood?"

Lois grinned and affectionately ran her hand down along his tie. "Liar," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. "You just wanted to see me."

Clark wiped the rain from his face, and grinned with a twinkle in his eye that was only there when he was with her. "You got me," he said in a husky voice. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too," she said softly. Then she tugged on his tie. "That's why you should come work at LNN with me."

Clark shook his head. "Never." He glanced up into the sky at the sheets of rain falling down on the city. He put an arm around Lois' shoulders and said, "Let's get out of this rain. There's a bus stop at the corner."

Before Lois could respond, he jogged towards the corner and she had no choice but to go with him. Out of breath and soaking wet, they sank down onto the covered bench on the corner.

Lois turned to Clark with a playful smile. "What is it, Clark?"

She knew he had something on his mind. She always knew. But this wasn't light nor was it playful. It was hard for him to do, but he had to spill his heart to her. "Lois," he said in a deep voice almost choked with emotion. "Lois, I did miss you, and I did want to see you."

"I know. I saw you pacing. You passed the door three times before I finally came out."

Clark blushed. She had been watching him. He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. I did. I really need to talk to you."

Her playful grin had turned into a concerned stare. "What is it, Clark?" she repeated.

"Lois, when I think about losing my job at the Planet," he shook his head, " saying goodbye to Perry, Jimmy, everyone . . ." He looked up into her eyes. "I realized something."

"What, Clark?" she asked anxiously.

Clark smiled at her. He watched her aimlessly tuck her wet hair behind her ears and was awestruck by how beautiful she was. "I realized," he said softly, "that I could lose all that and still go on." He reached out to touch Lois's cheek, something he had never before dared to do. But it was do or die time. He had to let her know how much she meant to him before it was too late. "Lois, there's only one thing I can't live without."

"What's that?" she asked softly.

She had to know what he meant. She had to feel the same way. "You," he whispered. "I can't live without you."

She shivered and said, "Clark."

"Let me finish." He took a deep breath. "I need to say this." It had taken a lot of courage for him to admit that much. If he was laying his heart on the line, she had to let him finish. "Lois, I need to see you every morning. I need to watch you drink your morning coffee. I need to play stupid games with you like 'Name the Seven Dwarves'. I need to work with you. I need to be with you."

"Clark," she said. She reached out and covered his mouth with her hand. "You could still have that if you came to work at LNN with me."

He shook his head. "No, Lois. That's not what I want at all. Listen to me."

"I always listen to you."

He raised his eyebrows. "You always listen to me?"

She shrugged. "More or less."

He decided not to continue down that road. "Lois, I'm not talking about our work. I'm talking about us. You're my partner, my friend . . ." He tilted her head up until he met her eyes. "My love. My reason for staying in Metropolis. My reason for being."

Lois blinked, stupefied. "What?"

"I love you, Lois. I've always loved you."

She shook her head and sputtered, "You can't . . . No . . . It's not supposed to . . ."

His heart dropped. But what had he expected? "Lois," he breathed, "you had to have known." She wasn't just going to fall into his arms and declare her undying love to him. Not when she was practically engaged to his arch nemesis.

She continued shaking her head. "I . . . guess I sort of knew you had a crush on me."

"It was never a crush," he defended himself. A bolt of lightning flashed before them, and a loud crash of thunder caused Lois to jump.

She regained her composure and said, "I mean, you're my friend. My best friend. My only friend," she amended. "You're the only partner I've ever tolerated." She smiled, but didn't allow herself to look him in the eye. "Of course I respect you. And admire you. And if you really stretch the definition, I guess I love you . . ."

He looked at her bitterly, and the rain pitter pattered against the bus stop shield. "And what about Luthor?"

"Lex? I have no idea. I barely know him." She covered her face in her hands. "I'm so confused." She stood up and started to walk away from him.

"But you do know me, Lois," Clark pleaded. "You even admitted that you love me . . . in some way." He stood up and followed her.

Lois sighed. "Clark, I do love you, but not like that. There's . . . someone else."

"Superman," Clark said immediately. How he longed to tell her the truth if only to rub it into her face. "Lois, please listen to me."

Just then, another lightening bolt struck very close and the thunder followed loudly and almost instantaneously. The bus stop shook and Lois jumped into Clark's waiting arms. She shivered, and Clark brought his overcoat around her to warm her up. His strong arms encircled her, still wanting to protect her at any cost, no matter how much she had hurt him.

"Superman," she breathed.

"I know you don't want to hear this, Lois, but Superman can never be what you think he is. He isn't real. . . My love is real." Before she could respond, he leaned down and brushed a wisp of hair off her forehead. He looked down into her eyes and slowly inched his lips towards hers.

"Clark," she whispered. Her eyes widened and she stared at him with what he hoped was nervous anticipation.

Before she could say anything else, he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. For a moment, it was as if time stood still when their lips brushed against each other. Clark wasn't sure whether he should pull away or keep going.

Lois was completely still in his arms until he felt her bring her arms around his back and pull him closer to her. He hungrily kissed her, rubbing his lips aggressively against hers, allowing his pent up frustration to dissolve into the passion that he had always dreamed of sharing with her.

It ended almost as soon as it had begun. Clark wasn't sure when he stepped away, but he did. As painful as it was to look at her with her eyes squeezed shut, her lips slightly swollen, and an expression of pure bliss on her face, he pulled away. "Don't ever forget me, Lois," he whispered. Then he turned on his heel and left her for good.

He would never think about her again. She didn't want him. She wanted the other him. The cartoon superhero. Superman. And nothing could change her mind.

After just a few steps in the rain, Clark felt a small hand on his shoulder. "Clark, wait."

He turned around slowly. It couldn't be. He had left her forever. "Lois," he said. Why couldn't he just leave her and be done with her? Then he wouldn't have to face the emotional pain again.

She took a deep breath. "What happened? Did I ever say I wanted you to go?"

"What?" He started at her, amazed.

"Why did you go?"

He shook his head. "Luthor. Superman. Why am I kissing you when you can't love me back?"

The rain beat down on them, but neither seemed to notice. "Luthor who?" She put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know him at all." She put her other hand on his cheek. "I do know you." She kissed his cheek. "And Superman isn't real." She kissed the tip of his nose. "You're real. You're here. I admire you. You're my best friend." She brought her lips just inches from his. "I love you. And I want to give this 'us ' a try."

Clark couldn't agree more. With the rain pelting them, Clark wrapped his overcoat around Lois' shivering body and captured her lips with his own. This continuation of their first kiss sparked so many emotions they hadn't even known they could feel.

"Lex doesn't do this," Lois murmured. "Superman doesn't do this." She kissed him again. "You do this to me."

"I love you, Lois," Clark said before he kissed her again.

"I love you, too."

Even though the rain poured down around them, they didn't notice. They were protected by the euphoria of new love. The rest of the world no longer mattered, at least for the few minutes of that first kiss.

The End

This story was inspired by a scene in the movie "Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel" where Gilbert sees Anne in Kingsport and it starts pouring. I always tell anyone who watches the movie with me that if Gilbert had just wrapped his coat around Anne and kissed her senseless, she would have realized her true feelings for him. And I think the same is true for Lois and Clark. Several lines are taken from the episode 'Barbarians at the Planet' by Dan Levine and Deborah Joy Levine.

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