Clark's Response

(sequel to Lois' Revenge)

By B.B Medos [bbmedos@aol.com]

Summary: In this sequel to the story "Lois' Revenge," Clark shows  his frito. :-)

"Characters in this story are copyrighted by December 3rd  Production, Warner Brothers, and ABC. No infringement is intended  in any part by the author, however, the ideas expressed within  this story are copyrighted to the author." [Author's Note: About  a month or so after finishing LOIS' REVENGE, my conscience  started bothering me about leaving Clark with his mouth hanging  open and this sequel resulted. This takes place back during  season two, around the time of Whine, Whine, Whine, but certainly  before And The Answer Is. It is definitely out of kilter with  season three, but it is after all a flight of fancy.]

***

Oh, God, was she in super trouble!

Lois closed the door of her apartment and leaned against it. Then  she closed her eyes and shook her head in exasperation at her own  behavior. What had she been thinking?

The simple truth of the matter was she hadn't been thinking. Not  clearly, anyway. She'd been functioning on sheer willpower alone  and had given barely a thought to whether her actions were right  or wrong.

Never mind sane or crazy.

She was never going to be able to look Clark in the face again.  Lois wasn't even sure if she was ever going to be able to look  herself in the eye anytime in the near future.

Slowly, she walked over to the closest chair and sank down onto  it, desperately trying to sort out the last few days of her life  in her own mind.

Three days earlier, when Lois had first realized Clark and  Superman were one and the same after her little artistic temper  tantrum of turning both their pictures into devils, she hadn't  been able to move. For the longest, she'd simply stood frozen,  staring at the two matching, identical portraits, totally  mesmerized by what she was seeing.

Then, slowly, the significance of the images sank in and she'd  gone on a rampage throughout her apartment, stomping, throwing,  or ripping anything and everything in sight. Once her initial  burst of anger was expended, she'd finally started thinking  again. Not exactly rationally, but, at least, with a little  clear-headedness. In the middle of her first honest attempt to  think things through, the phone rang and her answering machine  clicked in before her addled brain had even figured out what the  annoying noise was. The sound of Clark's voice pleading with her  to answer the phone had been the final trigger which sent her  into vigorous, if impulsive, action.

Her first response had been to rip the offending phone out of the  wall, then she'd grabbed her overcoat and purse and stormed out  of her apartment, the only thought in her head being she needed  time to process her discovery and HE could show up at any  second.

Literally.

Luckily she'd been wearing an old worn-out jogging suit at the  time and not her nightgown or she would've gone into hiding in a  very embarrassed condition. Not that she'd ever have noticed in  the first place because she'd been too busy glancing worriedly at  the sky, certain a bright blue suit was going to suddenly appear  in front of her face at any second.

She'd gotten three blocks from her apartment when it occurred to  her to wonder about several aspects of her sudden flight. One  question was first and foremost in her mind, however.

How did one go about hiding from Superman?

Particularly on foot.

God, her mind was blown. Completely blown out of orbit.

Then her reporter's instincts for survival kicked in and Lois  rapidly considered her options. Luckily, she had several, most of  which she knew Clark would never consider. Some of which, Mister  Goody Two-Shoes would never believe she'd ever consider.

He wasn't the only one with secrets, after all.

Two hours later, she was safely hiding in the protective custody  of one of her oldest friends in Metropolis. Bonnie was a  childhood friend and completely loyal to Lois even though they'd  grown apart through the years. It didn't hurt that Lois had  covered a story involving Bonnie her rookie year as a reporter at  the Daily Planet and had ended up saving the woman's life. Bonnie  owed her and Lois had a standing invitation to 'visit' anytime  she needed, or simply wanted, to.

Luckily, Bonnie also had the resources to make just about anyone  disappear. Temporarily or permanently, whatever it took, and she  promptly offered to make sure whoever was worrying Lois DID  disappear. It revealed a great deal about Lois' state of mind at  that point when she actually considered the idea for a few brief  seconds. Then she laughed and told her old friend it wasn't  necessary.

She didn't tell Bonnie it wasn't possible. At least, not by any  means Lois was going to reveal to her friend. It took some  convincing but she finally satisfied Bonnie the person she was  avoiding wasn't an enemy but a friend, a very determined,  resourceful, worrywart kind of friend. That she wasn't running  away completely, just giving herself time to recover from a shock  before she faced him again.

Once Bonnie was reassured Lois' life wasn't in danger, she smiled  and nodded sagely, recognizing a matter of the heart when she saw  it. Lois needed time and shelter while she licked her wounds, and  that's what Bonnie made sure she got. For two straight days, Lois  didn't have to lift a finger. Bonnie and her employees fed,  clothed, pampered and generally bossed Lois around, while Lois  sat mostly silent, giving all her energies to thinking THINGS  through.

At the end of her second day of seclusion, Lois began to come out  of her fog enough to start talking. Most of what she told her  friend didn't make all that much sense, which was just as well  under the circumstances. Bonnie apparently gathered enough  information from Lois' ramblings, however, to conclude the root  of her friend's problem was the man in her life had been lying to  her for two years about something important. She also realized  while Lois understood his reasons and could even forgive his  actions, she was still feeling considerably betrayed.

As well as humiliated, used, and, worst of all, absolutely  embarrassed.

MEN! Who did they think they were? God's gift to women?

Clearly not in Bonnie's opinion and, by the time she and her  girls got through trashing the male of species in general, Lois  couldn't help but agree with them. Not that she tried very hard  to disagree. Together they all, Lois included, decided the entire  world collection of males needed to be taught a lesson, starting  with Lois' FRIEND in particular.

Before Lois could blink twice, Bonnie placed all of her  considerable resources at her friend's disposal, starting with  the enormous working wardrobe of her employees. Enormous in  quantity, that is. Individually, most of the single ensembles  Bonnie's girls used professionally would fit quite easily into  the pocket of Lois' overcoat.

With room to spare.

Lois spent an extremely enjoyable, even therapeutic, few hours  perusing Bonnie's inventory of outfits, laughing and joking with  her friend about the varied impressions each one would make on a  certain male. Her personal favorite was a lacy red and black  number. She could just imagine the look on Clark's face if she  were to appear in front of him wearing it.

He might actually start sweating, an accomplishment in and of  itself.

Then, she saw... IT, and realized she could make him do  considerably more than simply sweat.

Up until her eyes landed on the frilly version of the S-shield  Lois hadn't taken Bonnie's idea of 'revenge' all that seriously.  She was bold, she was brass, she was even reckless, but she  wasn't crazy. At least, she didn't think she was. One look at the  Superman teddy, however, and Lois knew she was going to go  through with Bonnie's plan.

If only to see the look on Clark's face. Then she could die  happy. Probably of embarrassment, but, at least, she'd be happy.

Lois let Bonnie think she'd decided on the red and black outfit,  but instead put the other one on when her friend left her to  change. As she stared at herself in the mirror, Lois felt one  short burst of hesitation about the idea, which she quickly  squashed as she determinedly covered the outfit and its emblem up  with her overcoat.

It wasn't all that hard to squash her doubts either. All she had  to do to strengthen her resolve was keep thinking of all the  times Superman had appeared at her window when she'd been half  dressed and how he'd shown up later as Clark, as innocent as a  lamb.

GRRRRRRR!!!!

In her opinion, at that moment, anyway, he was going to get off  easy. IF she decided to let him off the hook with just a look,  that is.

Once Bonnie's limousine deposited her at Clark's apartment and  Lois 'let' herself in, she started to have second thoughts again.  After wandering rather aimlessly through his apartment, trying to  make up her mind whether or not to go through with the whole  thing, she spied a publicity picture of her and Clark taken in  front of the Daily Planet. Sitting right next to it on the shelf  was a similar picture of her and Superman, taken after one of his  famous rescues.

The oh so virtuous grins on his face in each was exactly the same  as in the pictures she'd used to make her devil portraits.

Damn him.

It was all she could do not to pick up the pictures and hurl them  against the wall. Instead, Lois determinedly took off her  overcoat and hung it in the closet, made herself a much needed  snack of a sandwich and milk, then curled up on his bed to wait  for him. Eventually, simple exhaustion took over and she fell  into a deep, dreamless sleep.

She didn't wake up, either, until she sensed someone else in the  room. For a moment, Lois couldn't move, because her first thought  was she wasn't in her own bed. The second was an extremely strong  impression of danger. Then her eyes focused on Clark's expression  of... not exactly horror, but more blank disbelief with possibly  a large measure of panic thrown in, and all her memories came  rushing back.

It took all her concentration not to burst out laughing, then and  there. Even harder to control was the urge to giggle when he  initially stood like a statue under the onslaught of her caresses  and whispers against the side of his neck.

The humor of the situation abruptly disappeared when Clark gave  an agonized groan and crushed her against his chest, murmuring  how worried he'd been the entire time she'd been missing. Lois  suddenly had difficulty hanging on to her anger, much less remain  amused, in the face of the pain she heard in his voice. Instead,  she found herself comforting HIM, convincing him everything was  okay, persuading him she was safe and sound, while continuing to  hold him and be held by him.

Only after an absolutely soul-shattering kiss which left Lois  even more breathless and shaken than she already was, did Clark  seem convinced she was okay.

A lot he knew.

She watched bemused as he collected his wits and desperately  tried not to stare at her outfit, all the while attempting to  maneuver her out of his bedroom and into the living room.

Her amusement promptly returned, full force. The man was  Superman, for goodness sakes. He could pick her up with his  little finger and toss her out the door, IF he wanted to. Of  course, to throw her, he'd have to touch her and Clark suddenly  SEEMED to be avoiding that at all costs.

Slowly, and in blatant imitation of Superman's normal pose, Lois  straightened, placed her hands on her hips and smiled at Clark,  knowing full well the effect her movements would have on the  teddy she was wearing.

She was rewarded by Clark's eyes almost bugging out of his head  before he hastily controlled his reaction. He also stopped  babbling nonsense about getting them something to eat. Knowing  she had his full attention again, Lois drifted back over to stand  in front of him.

But when she tried to place her arms around his neck one more  time, Clark did react with a low, husky growl as he grabbed her  hands and held them in front of his chest. "What the hell are you  doing, Lois Lane?"

Good question and, since she had no idea what she WAS doing, not  really, she didn't have a ready answer for him. She also couldn't  seem to meet his eyes.

Her brief hesitation gave Clark the edge he needed. "Lois... we  need to talk. I know you found out... SOMETHING. You must be  extremely upset with me." His hand on her chin pulled her face  around until their eyes met. "Is that why you're doing this?"

"God, Clark... of course not." His eyebrows tilted in disbelief  and her eyes shifted away from his as she muttered. "Okay, maybe  a little."

Clark sighed. "I suppose, I do deserve some of this... but only a  little."

Hearing the faint mocking sound of laughter in his voice, Lois  turned back to glare at his wry grin. "You deserve a hell of a  lot more than this and you know it... SUPERMAN." When she poked  him in the chest to emphasis her hiss, Clark picked up her hand  and held it against his heart. Lois' eyes narrowed and she  whispered. "By all that's fair in this world, Mr. Clark Kent, you  should be lying on that bed, stark naked, begging for mercy right  about now." His eyes widened and she felt compelled to add one  more pertinent point, just for clarification. "I might even be  moved to grant you mercy. Eventually. And it's an extremely faint  MIGHT. Remember that."

With that pronouncement, Lois whirled around to leave, catching  Clark completely by surprise. She made it all the way to the  living room before he caught up with her. "Lois... wait! Where  are you going?"

"Home."

Clark's scowl turned fierce at her soft whisper. "Like that? The  hell you are!"

Under other circumstances, Lois might have been exasperated, or  even amused, by his protective behavior, but she'd reached her  limit, even if most of her current mood was her own fault. She  snapped back. "Of course like this. How do you think I got here  in the first place?"

"Lois... if you think I'm going to let you..."

"LET ME! Oh, and just what are YOU gonna do to stop me..."  Suddenly, it hit her exactly who she was speaking to and Lois  turned to stare at him with new awareness in her eyes as her  words trailed off. My god, she'd just attempted to seduce  Superman! With difficulty, she swallowed the giggle forming in  the back of her throat, fearing if she let it slip out, she'd  become completely hysterical. Instead, she forced herself to  frown and shrug carelessly. "Oh, relax, Clark. I wore my overcoat  over it."

Clark watched in silence as she walked to his closet and pulled  out her coat. As she put it on, he tried again. "Lois, please  stay. We need to talk. There's so much I need to explain."

Only when she reached the front door did she turn to face him,  but she couldn't seem to bring herself to meet his eyes. She  addressed her comments to his shoes, instead. "Look, Clark. I  understand what you did by putting on... a costume. I even  understand why you did it. I know you had good reasons. Just give  me time to get used to the idea and things will go back to normal  between us. It was... a stupid idea coming here like this  tonight, so just forget it happened. I know I'm going to."

And if he believed that one...

Then she closed the door of his apartment without waiting for a  response and started walking, fully expecting to be scooped up  right off the sidewalk with each step she took, but amazingly  she'd reached her apartment without seeing a single hint of a red  cape. She wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad sign.

With a huge tired sigh, Lois stood up and moved into her kitchen.  Momentarily, she considered fixing herself some tea, but changed  her mind. What she really wanted was a nice long soak in a hot  bubble bath.

If she was lucky enough, she might even drown in the process.

Entering her bedroom, she flipped on the light and froze.

Clark was sitting in the middle of her bed, leaning against the  headboard with his arms folded across his chest, gazing at her  intently through narrowed eyes.

Lois closed her eyes, shook her head, then opened her eyes  again.

He was still there.

Clark stood up, started towards her and Lois instinctively took a  step backwards. Her eyes widened as she got a good peek at the  rest of him and suddenly she had absolutely no problem looking at  his face. "Clark, you don't have on..."

"...a costume?" Clark smiled tightly. "That's right, Lois. I'm  not wearing ANY costume. No tights or cape. Not even a tie or  glasses."

"But... why?"

His eyes flashed. "Why not, Lois?"

Staring at him with wide eyes, she shivered and took another step  backwards. Her back made contact with the door frame and she  groaned. "This whole thing is getting ridiculous, Clark."

"I agree." He took another step towards her and his arm shot out  to block her escape through the door when she edged slightly  away. "First of all, Lois, it's ridiculous to expect anything to  go back to 'normal' between us, whatever that was, IF I wanted to  go back to the way it was in the first place, which I don't. I've  waited too long to tell you the truth to turn back now."

"Well, of course things can't go back. That wasn't what I  meant..."

"I'm not finished, Lois."

His sharp tone of voice jerked her gaze back to his eyes from  where she'd been staring intently at his chin after deciding it  was a safe compromise between his eyes and... anything else.  "Now, Clark..."

"Lois," Clark glared her down and then continued, "it's also  ridiculous for you to expect me to let you simply walk out of my  apartment after you've been missing for two days. Particularly in  that outfit." She opened her mouth again and he placed his finger  on her lips to stop her from speaking. "One word about that  flimsy overcoat and you'll find it shredded in the trash can,  Lois Lane. I used up all my restraint keeping myself from picking  you up off the sidewalk as I followed you over here, so don't  tempt me."

Her only response to that was a glare.

Clark smiled back, his eyes glittering. "Another thing that's  completely ridiculous is you didn't ask ME if I wanted mercy."

His words hung between them for a few seconds before their  meaning registered in Lois' brain. She gasped and her mouth  almost dropped open. Finally, she managed to meet his eyes and  whisper. "Do you?"

"Not particularly, Lois, I am pretty indestructible." He watched  her eyes narrow at his boastful sounding comment and smiled  softly as he rubbed his thumb along her jaw. "However, I do  insist on one thing, baby. We have to talk first. There are some  very important things you HAVE to understand before we can do  this."

Lois couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was standing in  her bedroom buck naked and he expected her to want to talk? The  man was incredible. He was also nuts. Possibly more nuts than she  was and that was saying quite a lot. "Clark, I've already told  you, I know all I need to know."

Clark gave a long-suffering sigh. "Do you know that once you do  this you will belong to ME, Lois?"

Her mouth did drop open at that. And hung there as Lois stared at  him in amazement. Blinking, she snapped her mouth shut and  hissed. "Clark Kent, that sounded positively barbaric!"

He chuckled. "Didn't think I had it in me, did you?"

"Well, frankly..."

"Don't answer that..." Clark did some glaring of his own and then  shook his head, grinning ruefully. "To be honest, Lois, I'm not  sure I did either until you disappeared on me two days ago. The  last two days have been hell and have made me realize a few  simple truths."

"Such as?"

"Just how much you mean to me, for one thing. I love you with all  my heart." His gaze held hers for a long moment, then he sighed.  "But mostly, Lois, I realized I don't want to go another day  without being able to hold you in my arms for as long as I want.  I'm tired of interruptions, interferences and anything and  everything else that keeps coming between us. Since I can't do  much to make them go away, I want to at least be able to come  back to you and know I'm welcome. Anytime."

Lois stared at him. She swallowed as tears came to her eyes. "Oh,  Clark... you know..."

"Yes, in my heart I know, Lois, but... I'm tired of not being  able to express it, I guess."

For once, she was in complete agreement with him. "Still, Clark,  don't you think, well, that what you said was a little strong?"

His head tilted as he studied her face intently. "Only if you  think I meant you would be a possession, Lois. I meant belonging  more in terms of responsibility. Once you link your life with  mine, Lois, there's no going back. That's what I mean. You have  to be sure."

Lois digested his words, then smiled. Talking was helping her get  over her chagrin over his nudity and she was beginning to relax.  "I think I understand, Clark, but I might remind you for some  reason my life is already linked with yours. I don't seem to have  any choice in the matter."

Clark yanked her overcoat open and tugged her up against his  chest so quickly she didn't have time to protest. Then he  rumbled. "That's one of the other things I realized. Since I  can't seem to shake loose from this hold you have over me, I  might as well surrender to it. Less stress that way."

Lois swallowed and murmured. "Ummm, surrender sounds good, as  long as it's you doing it."

"I had a feeling you'd like that part."

Her eyes widened as he efficiently discarded the overcoat and  deposited her in the middle of the bed after his husky growl.  Once her heart settled down after the rapid fluttering his  actions had caused, she was able to find her voice again. "I  suppose I could be persuaded to make some concessions, though."

Clark stretched out beside her on the bed and leaned over on one  elbow to stare down at her face, eyes sparkling. "All I want from  you, Lois Lane, is a promise to show no mercy."

THE END

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Clark's Response