The Darkest Hour (Before the Dawn)
by Erin Klingler <erinklingler@cableone.net>
Rated PG-13
Submitted October 2000
_____________



I've taken some liberty with the show's chronological timeline, 
setting this story toward the end of the second season after Lois & 
Clark have started dating, most likely somewhere between 'Whine Whine 
Whine' and 'And the Answer Is.'  So please bear with me if this 
story, its character appearances--Dr. Klein in particular <g>--and 
the holiday season and year (1999) don't quite fall into step with 
the chronological time-line of the episodes.  :)

Many, many thanks go out to my brilliant A-plot helper, Carol Malo, 
who got me started on this story and gave me the confidence to tackle 
something this involved, and to my Tuesday IRC buddies (/me waves 
<g>), who encouraged me to finish this, as well as helped me out with 
all sorts of plot points.  Also, thanks so much to all the members of 
the fanfic list, for without their words of encouragement and 
merciless nagging for the next installments of this story <g>, I'd 
have given up on this monstrosity long ago.  And last, but certainly 
not least, a *huge* thank you goes out to Wendy Richards, who 
unselfishly took time out of her busy schedule to read each and every 
installment of this story as I went, and pointed out plot holes, 
suggested ways to tighten things up, and offered brilliant 
suggestions along the way.  Wendy, there's no way I could've done 
this without you.  You're the best.  ;)

As always, comments and suggestions--good or bad, public or 
private--are welcome.


**********

The Darkest Hour (Before the Dawn)
by Erin Klingler
erinklingler@cableone.net


"Well, if that's how you feel about it, maybe I should just quit!" 
Lois yelled at Perry, eliciting a surprised look from him as well as 
causing more than a few heads in the newsroom to turn their direction.

Lois' eyes filled with tears of frustration.  But before the tears 
could fall, she turned and yanked her overcoat from the back of her 
chair, nearly causing it to topple from the force, and stormed to the 
elevator, causing a shocked newsroom staff to part like the Red Sea 
before her.

They were used to seeing Lois' famous tantrums, but hearing her 
threaten to quit was something they hadn't heard before.  A sea of 
stunned faces turned to watch her dramatic exit, but no one was more 
shocked than the dark-haired young man who stood stock-still beside 
her desk, too stunned to move.

When the elevator doors closed behind her, the newsroom slowly 
returned to its normal hustle and bustle, but Clark remained still. 
Lois quit?  That was a new one.  He turned shocked eyes to his Editor 
in Chief, who was standing beside him, looking just as shell-shocked.

Perry was the first to speak.  "I sincerely hope she didn't mean that."

Clark jarred himself out of his reverie and shook his head.  "No, I'm 
sure she didn't.  I think she just needs to blow off some steam."

"I hope you're right," Perry answered, though he didn't sound 
entirely convinced.

Clark shifted his feet anxiously and gestured to the elevator.  "Is 
it okay if...?"

Perry nodded before Clark even finished.  "Yeah, go catch up with 
her.  Maybe you can talk some sense into her.  Heaven knows I've 
never been able to."  With a resigned sigh and a slight shake of his 
head, he turned and headed for his office.

Clark hurried into the elevator and quickly hit the lobby button, but 
it seemed to take forever to reach the lobby.  *The stairs would've 
been faster,* he thought. *I could've used some super-speed.  At this 
rate, I'll never catch up to her.*

He silently willed the elevator to hurry and, after what seemed like 
an eternity, the doors finally opened and he rushed out into the 
lobby and pushed through the revolving doors.  When he reached the snowy 
sidewalk, he stopped and tried to see which direction Lois had gone. 
The sidewalks were crowded, but he finally spotted Lois halfway down 
the block.  He could tell from her gait that she was still angry.

Setting his mouth in a firm line, he started to jog after her, doing 
his best to maneuver through the pre-Christmas crowds.  When he was 
within a few feet of her, he called out, "Lois, wait up!"

She heard him and rolled her eyes, not bothering to slow her stride. 
*Great.  Just what I need.  The ever-present Boy Scout coming to pry 
for information.  Well, I'm not going to give it to him.*

When Clark fell into step with her, she muttered tonelessly, "Clark, 
leave me alone.  I just want to be by myself right now."

"Uh-uh."  Clark put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop and 
turn toward him.  "You just threatened to quit up there.  I'm not 
going to leave you alone until you tell me why."

Lois crossed her arms defiantly and glared at him, her breath forming 
little clouds in the cold air before her as she tried to catch her 
breath.  "What do you mean, 'tell you why'?" she asked.  "You were 
there!  You heard what Perry said!"

"Yes, Perry killed our story," Clark answered.  "What's the big deal? 
It's not like he's never done it before."

  "How can you pretend that it's no big deal?" Lois demanded, looking 
at him as if he were a traitor to the cause.  "You've been working 
just as hard on this story as I have!  Corrupt, government-funded 
vigilante groups and secret agencies are possibly the biggest thing 
we've ever had fall into our laps!  With those tips we've gotten 
recently, we could follow through with all this and blow the veil of 
secrecy right off these guys!  This isn't just news, this is huge. 
Pulitzer Prize material, even!"

Clark let out his breath and looked toward the heavens for strength. 
When he looked back at her, his calm, determined eyes met her angry, 
betrayed ones.  "Lois, you're right that I've worked just as hard on 
this story as you have.  So that should give me the right to tell you 
that I think Perry's right.  The well has run dry.  Yeah, there's a 
big story there, but face it, we're at a dead end.  None of those 
tips have gotten us very far, and Perry has other stories for us to 
work on."

"But isn't it our job to expose these corrupted groups?" Lois 
continued, not about to give up.  "What about Superman? Remember 
Bureau 39?  Jason Trask was all bent on killing Superman with 
Kryptonite!  As Superman's friends, isn't it our job to help him by 
exposing these people?"

Clark looked at her strangely.  "Is this what this is all about? 
Saving Superman?"

"No!  No, this isn't just about Superman!" Lois said, throwing her 
gloved hands up in the air in exasperation.  "Can't you see the big 
picture?  Anyone can fall victim to these kinds of groups, and that's 
what makes them so dangerous!  All their ridiculous agendas and 
paranoid delusions...they need to be stopped.  And that's where we 
come in!  Or came in..."  Her voice trailed off, and she blinked back 
the tears that once again threatened to fall.

Clark let out a deep breath and silently scolded himself for pushing 
her to an even more emotional state.  "Come on, Lois," he said, 
slipping a sympathetic arm around her shoulders.  "I think we need to 
talk."

He led the way through the crowds to Margene's, the quaint little 
café down the street where they'd spent many lunch hours as of late. 
When they reached the building, Clark held the wreath-adorned front 
door of the café open for Lois as she went inside and headed for a 
quiet booth in the back corner.  As soon as they sat down, a waitress 
appeared at their table, and Clark quickly ordered them hot chocolate 
and pastries.

When the waitress left to fill their order, Clark turned his 
attention to Lois.  He reached across the small table and took her 
hand.  "Lois," he began, his voice quiet and reasoning.  "I 
understand where you're coming from.  Really, I do.  The great thing 
about being a journalist is that we can make the world a better place 
by exposing the injustices in it.  But we can't change everything. 
Some things are just out of our reach, and Perry sees that with this 
story.  So, my question is this.  Is this story really worth risking 
your career over?  Would you really quit your job at the Planet over 
a difference of opinion with Perry?"

As Lois listened to Clark's reasoning, she realized he was right. 
She'd acted stubbornly and impulsively.  Again.  Finally, she shook 
her head.  "No, I guess I wouldn't," she said quietly.  A tear 
escaped, and she reached up to quickly wipe it away, embarrassed to 
let Clark see her cry.

Clark's heart went out to her.  Nothing tore him up as much as Lois 
crying.  "Come on, Lois," he prompted.  "Tell me what's really 
bothering you.  There's got to be more to this than just having your 
story killed."

Lois laughed a little through her tears.  "How do you do it, Clark?" 
she asked, eliciting a confused look from Clark.  "You always seem to 
understand my moods better than anybody ever has.  Sometimes I think 
you know me better than I even know myself."

Clark laughed with her, but didn't say anything as he waited for her 
to continue.  Finally, she did.  "You're right, Clark.  There *is* 
more to this, and I feel bad about taking things out on Perry.  He 
didn't deserve to be yelled at like that.  He was just doing his job, 
deciding which stories were best for us to pursue.  It's just that 
his killing our story just happened to be the thing that set me off. 
Not that I don't feel strongly about this story, because I do," she 
continued rambling as Clark patiently waited for her to get to the 
point.  "But with everything going on, it's all just getting to be 
too much for me."

"What is, Lois?"

Lois' eyes widened.  "You're kidding, right?  You mean to tell me 
none of this has affected you?  Not in the least?"

Clark chuckled.  "I'm afraid you've lost me, Lois.  What are you 
talking about?"

"Work!" she exclaimed emphatically, tossing her hands up in the air. 
"The never-ending pressure!  We've been going non-stop for weeks, 
working twelve-hour days with no end in sight.  Crime is picking up 
around the city like it always does around the holidays, which means 
Superman is busier, which makes *us* busier since Perry wants us to 
cover those stories."

"But Lois, this is *you*!"  Clark exclaimed, surprised at her 
explanation.  "'Mad Dog Lane,' never let anybody beat you to a story. 
You *thrive* on pressure!"

Lois nodded vigorously.  "That's exactly it, Clark!  Everyone expects 
me to be some kind of non-feeling, super-human, machine of a reporter 
who never gets tired or burned out.  But do you know what?  I do!  I 
try my best not to let it show, but sometimes it all gets too much 
for me and I snap."

She paused as their waitress arrived and set their steaming mugs of 
hot chocolate and warmed apple-turnovers before them, then left them 
alone.  Lois picked up her spoon and stirred her steaming drink as 
she continued.

"And if our work load wasn't enough to make me crazy, my parents are 
pushing for this big family get-together on Christmas Day," she 
explained.  "Lucy was supposed to be coming, but now she might not be 
able to, and mom and dad have been at each other's throats for weeks 
since they started planning this holiday thing.  Then to top it all 
off, I haven't had a good night's sleep in *forever*, and it's been 
even longer than that since we've been able to spend time together. 
You know...as a couple." She looked up from her hot chocolate and 
smiled shyly at Clark.  "I mean, how good can all that be on the 
beginnings of a relationship?"

Clark smiled understandingly and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.  "I 
know.  You have no idea how many times I've wished we could just slip 
away and go someplace where we could have some time to ourselves," he 
replied truthfully, though he did feel a slight twinge of guilt about 
evading her earlier question about the long hours.  Of course they 
hadn't affected him.  But how could he tell *her* that?  It was just 
another of the increasingly frustrating things about keeping his 
other identity a secret from her.

Lois lifted her mug to her lips and took a cautious sip, then sat 
back wearily in her seat.  "I guess the bottom line is...I'm tired, 
Clark.  I'm just tired."

"So take a vacation," Clark suggested matter-of-factly as he took a 
bite of his pastry.

"I already arranged to have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off."

Clark laughed.  "Lois, like you just said, that's not a vacation. 
You need to take a *real* vacation.  Go someplace where nobody knows 
where you are.  You could sleep in until noon, do things at your own 
pace...stuff like that."

Lois grinned.  "I have to admit, that does sound nice."

"So why don't you?"

"Clark, it's not that easy."

"It *is* that easy!" Clark insisted.  "You just walk into Perry's 
office and say, 'Perry, I'm using some vacation days.  I'll see you 
in a week.'"

Lois burst out laughing.  "Yeah, just before I hear Perry bellow a 
big fat 'No!'"  She shook her head.  "It's not going to happen, 
Clark.  Perry has us booked up until this time next year."

Clark took her hand once again and caught her eye.  His voice was 
gentler when he spoke.  "Lois, you just threatened to quit.  I think 
Perry would rather give you some days off than lose you altogether."

Lois looked back into Clark's intent gaze for a long moment, then she 
smiled wryly.  "You're right.  Maybe some good will come from that 
outburst yet."

Clark squeezed her hand and laughed.  "See?  Now you're thinking."

Lois laughed a little, too.  Then she glanced at her watch and was 
surprised to see how long they'd been gone.  "I guess we'd better get 
back."

After they finished their hot chocolate and pastries, Clark pulled a 
few dollars out of his wallet, set them on the table, then headed out 
with Lois.

As they walked slowly back to the Planet, Lois gave a heavy sigh. 
"You know, Clark, sometimes I wonder why I do this," she confided. 
"The long hours, getting hung up on when trying to get a quote, the 
deadlines....  It all seems pretty thankless at times."

Clark laughed and slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her 
close as they walked.  "Well, for starters, *we* do this because we 
like the challenge of digging in and discovering the truth.  And then 
there's the feeling we get every time we nail a big story or send 
some criminal to jail.  That makes it all worth it, doesn't it?"

Lois smiled in spite of herself and slid her arm around his waist. 
"Yeah, I guess you're right.  It does make up for the rest."

They walked together in silence for a short distance, then Lois 
looked up at him and gave him a little nudge with her elbow. 
"Thanks, Clark."

Clark turned to her in surprise.  "For what?"

"For cheering me up.  And for caring enough to come after me when I 
stormed out of the newsroom."

"Anytime," Clark smiled warmly.  Then he laughed.  "I have to say, 
though, you really shocked everybody when you threatened to quit and 
then stormed out.  I don't think I've ever heard that place go so 
quiet!"

They laughed together as they went through the revolving doors of the 
Planet, unaware of the pair of eyes focused on their every move from 
a building's windows high above the street.

"They just went into the building, sir," the burly, dark-haired man 
reported, speaking slowly and clearly into his headset as he took the 
binoculars away from his eyes.  "What do you want me to do?"

His boss' hoarse voice drifted through his earpiece.  "Stay there. 
Our eyes inside can take over.  But every time they leave the 
building, I want a full report of where they go and what they do. 
Every single move.  Understood?"

The burly man nodded, even though his boss couldn't see him.  "Understood."

*****

The newsroom was even more chaotic than usual when Lois and Clark 
stepped off the elevator a few minutes later.  Lois looked around at 
the people hurrying past, their voices raised to a frenzied level as 
they rushed into the elevators or answered the insistently ringing 
phones.

"What's going on?" Lois asked as she watched everyone scurrying 
around.  "Did we miss something?"

As if in answer to her question, Perry thundered out of his office as 
soon as hespotted them.  "Lois, Clark!  There's a hostage situation 
at the bank on 5th and Fairview.  I want you two down there, pronto!"

Clark was immediately on alert.  "What?  When did this happen?" he 
shouted back at Perry above the din of the bustling newsroom.

"Just a few minutes ago!" Perry called.  "Simmons picked it up on the 
police scanner."  Perry started to turn around to head back into his 
office, but suddenly he paused and glanced pointedly at Lois.  "Or 
should I be sending somebody else?"

Lois caught his meaning and shook her head.  "No, that's okay.  We're 
on it, Chief."

Perry's answering smile made it clear that he was glad Lois was still 
part of the team.  "Great!  But I want you in my office when you get 
back, understand?  Now get!"

"We're already gone," Lois answered, then whirled around to face 
Clark.  "Come on, Clark, let's grab a cab."

But when Lois reached for his arm, Clark balked.  "Um, Lois, why 
don't you go on without me and I'll catch up with you in a minute?" 
he suggested as he shifted his feet anxiously and reached for the 
knot of his tie.  "I just remembered that I left something at the 
café."

Lois looked at him strangely.  "Left something at the café?  Clark, 
what are you talking about?  You didn't leave anything, I'm sure of 
it."

But Clark continued to fidget as he backed quickly toward the 
Planet's back stairwell.  "Don't worry, Lois, I'll just be a minute 
behind you."

"But, Clark!" she exclaimed, a hand on her hip and an indignant, 
confused expression on her face.  But Clark ignored her as he spun 
around and rushed for the stairs.

As she watched the stairwell door close behind her partner, Lois 
rolled her eyes and turned to the elevator.  *What was that all 
about?* she grumbled to herself.  His disappearing acts never ceased 
to irritate her, especially since they always seemed to come at the 
most inopportune times.  Like hostage situations.  And natural 
disasters.  Even times when she wanted to open up and talk.

As the elevator doors opened, she stepped inside and punched the 
lobby button.  *What's more important?* she muttered to herself.  *A 
hostage situation with lives being threatened, or the package of 
Dentyne that fell out of his coat pocket at the café?*

When the elevator doors opened onto the bustling lobby, she hurried 
out to the street and hailed a cab.  As they drove, she continued to 
fume as she thought about Clark running out on her.  She hated it 
when he did that!  It would be one thing if he had somewhere 
important to go, like to see a relative who had just taken ill, or to 
his apartment if he'd found out it was on fire.  But having a sudden 
craving for yogurt?  Or suddenly remembering to return a video? 
Those were all important enough reasons to ditch her?

But even as she rode silently in the cab, she knew her anger would 
soon fade and she'd forgive him, just as she always did.  All it 
would take would be a flash of that heart-stopping smile, or a 
soul-searching kiss when they had a moment alone, or how he'd take 
her in his arms, making her feel both safe and loved at the same 
time.  At times like these, she knew there wasn't anything she 
wouldn't forgive him for.

The cab suddenly pulled to a stop, and Lois realized with a start 
that they'd arrived.  Tossing some money at the driver, Lois grabbed 
her attaché and hurried out of the cab to the chaotic crowd that was 
gathered behind the police barriers.  Quickly, she forced Clark out 
of her mind.  After all, she did have a job to do.

*****

As soon as Clark threw open the back door of the Planet's stairwell 
and rushed out into the deserted alley, he spun into the suit and 
rocketed into the air.  He shook his head angrily as he flew in the 
direction of the hostage crisis.

*What in the world is the matter with you?* he scolded himself.  *You 
should've picked up on this situation long before Perry had to tell 
you about it!  What were you thinking?!*

But even as he asked himself, he already knew the answer.  He'd been 
so intent on listening to Lois and enjoying being with her that he 
hadn't even heard about the hostage situation.  And that was 
inexcusable.

Not that Lois wasn't worth listening to, because she was.  She meant 
more to him than she might ever know.  She was what he'd always known 
in his heart that he'd wanted.  And now that he finally was on his 
way to fulfilling his lifelong dream of having someone to love, he 
couldn't be happier.  But he still knew that if anything happened to 
those people in the bank because of his sloppiness he'd never forgive 
himself.

That was the downside to having the powers he possessed.  Rarely was 
he able to focus exclusively on one thing at a time.  When he was 
Clark, his superhearing was always subconsciously tuned into any 
potential cries for help, and when he was Superman, he was often 
wondering about the people or situation he'd just had to flee from to 
answer the calls for help.  Juggling the two was fulfilling at times, 
but other times it was just downright frustrating, to say the least.

And it was only getting more complicated now that he had a budding 
romance thrown into the mix.  It was getting harder to pretend that 
he didn't have the feelings for Lois that he did whenever he saw her 
as Superman.

As he neared the corner of 5th and Fairview, he forced himself to 
push his thoughts of Lois out of his mind and concentrate on the task 
at hand instead.  He was going to have to be ready for anything if he 
was going to help those people.

Luckily, the situation wasn't as difficult as it could have been.  It 
was only a matter of minutes before he was escorting the flustered 
bank robber out of the building by the scruff of his jacket, and, 
instantly, a roar of approval went up from the waiting crowd of 
reporters and on-lookers as the police took the man into custody. 
The sound of clicking camera shutters and news cameramen calling out, 
"Superman!  Over here!" suddenly filled the air, and Clark couldn't 
help feeling overwhelmed by the attention.

He quickly held up a hand to quiet the crowd.  "I can answer your 
questions in a few minutes, but first we have some hostages to attend 
to."  Then, without waiting for a response, he joined the officers 
who were going into the bank to see if everyone was okay.

As he did, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar brown-haired 
reporter pressing through the crowd to the front of the barricade 
with her hand raised.  A moment later, he could see Lois' smiling 
face.

"Superman!" she cried out through the shouts of the other reporters.

Anxiously, Clark stiffened further into his traditional Superman pose 
and gave her a slight, awkward wave.  "Hi, Lois," he replied before 
hurrying into the building.  Once safely inside, he closed his eyes 
momentarily.

Great.  As if the situation weren't tough enough as it was, Lois was 
out there waiting to interview him.  How was he supposed to handle 
that?  Surely any interview more than a few minutes would reveal more 
about him than he was willing to reveal.  How could he pretend to be 
somebody else under the scrutiny of those deep, soulful brown eyes? 
Surely she'd see right through him.  Ever since they'd officially 
started dating a few weeks ago, he'd made sure to make himself scarce 
whenever he was around her as Superman.  It was just too hard to hide 
his feelings for her now that they were officially a couple.  Was he 
just supposed to pretend he didn't love her?  That they hadn't spent 
an intense evening kissing or making out the night before?  How was 
he supposed to hide that?  He was afraid that it was only a matter of 
time before his emotions betrayed him...to her or to somebody else. 
The whole situation was just too dangerous, and should be avoided at 
all costs.

But the answer was, he couldn't.

So instead, he avoided her as best he could whenever he was in the 
Superman suit.  It was just too difficult to deal with.

Hoping that Lois would be gone by the time he came out, Clark took 
his time inside with the police as they made sure the people that had 
been held hostage were okay, and that the police were able to get 
thorough statements from everyone.

But when he exited the building half an hour later, he saw that, much 
to his disappointment, Lois was still there waiting for him.  She was 
talking to one of the officers, but he could tell from her stance and 
her nearly motionless pen that she wasn't paying very close 
attention.  Suddenly, she looked up and caught his eye.

Knowing he couldn't avoid her any longer, he sighed and went over to 
her.  Responding to her friendly smile with a tight-lipped one of his 
own, he crossed his arms across his chest and answered her questions 
as quickly as he could, doing his best to remain aloof yet 
professional.

In response to her question about the condition of the hostages, he 
glanced back at the building where the police were getting the 
hostages on their way.  When he turned back to her, he noticed that 
Lois was looking at him strangely, her pen poised motionlessly above 
her note pad.

"Superman, are you okay?" she asked in concern.

Clark froze.  With his heart hammering so loudly that he was sure she 
could hear it, he heard himself stammer in a very un-Superman-like 
fashion, "Y-yeah, I'm fine.  Why?"

She studied him for a long moment, her eyebrows knitting together. 
"You seem, I don't know, distracted or something.  Is everything 
okay?"

He nodded, though more nervously than he'd intended.  "Yes, Lois, I'm 
fine.  But you're right.  I do have something I need to do.  If you 
don't have any more questions for me...?" he finished pointedly.

Lois' face fell, and immediately Clark felt horrible.  He hadn't 
meant to sound so rude.  After all, she and Superman were supposed to 
be friends.  But he also knew that if he didn't get out of there now, 
things could quickly go sour.

"I'm sorry, Lois, but I really do have to go."  Then, without so much 
as a 'goodbye,' he turned and rocketed into the sky.

"Great," Lois grumbled, rolling her eyes and shoving her notepad 
angrily into her attaché.  "And the day goes from bad to worse." 
Turning on her heels, she stalked away from the cordoned-off area and 
hailed a cab to take her back to the Planet.

When one pulled up next to her, she opened the door and climbed in, 
completely unaware of the black Lexus parked across the street, with 
its darkly-tinted windows shielding onlookers' views from the spying 
eyes inside.

"Do we follow her?" the burly, blond-haired driver asked, glancing 
over his shoulder at the dark-haired man in the back seat.

The man deliberated for a moment, then nodded.  "Those are the boss's 
orders."  Then, under his breath he muttered, "Though I have no idea 
what this is supposed to accomplish.  I swear, whoever stole that 
man's body from the coroner's office and paid to have him brought 
back to life must've been as psychotic as *he* is.  If we both didn't 
want to have Superman eliminated, I'd be out of here in a heartbeat. 
I have my own agenda to deal with."

The driver turned and looked at him in surprise.  "Sir?"

Garrison waved his hand at the younger man, dismissing his last 
words.  "Forget it.  Let's just go.  But be sure she doesn't spot us."

"Yes sir."

With an air of caution, the black Lexus pulled inconspicuously out 
into the street.

*****

As Clark walked up the front steps of Lois' apartment building later 
that night, he couldn't help feeling horrible for the way he'd 
treated Lois when he was dressed as Superman earlier that day.  But 
he didn't know what else he could've done.  If he'd hung around and 
talked to her, he doubted that he could have kept her from picking up 
on his mannerisms and the way he felt about her.

With a sigh, he realized he couldn't keep his other identity a secret 
for much longer, nor did he want to.  He knew he could trust her with 
his secret, and he was sure it would only succeed in strengthening 
their relationship.  But if he was going to tell her, it was going to 
have to be soon, or she'd end up figuring it out for herself.  And he 
definitely didn't like that idea.  He knew she'd most likely get 
emotional either way, but at least if he told her on his own terms, 
she couldn't accuse him of not coming clean.  His taking the 
initiative would have to mean something.  But if she were to find out 
on her own...well, he didn't like to think about the consequences.

Walking up the last few stairs and turning down the hallway toward 
Lois' apartment, Clark wondered what kind of a mood Lois was going to 
be in tonight.  He hadn't seen much of her that afternoon, since 
she'd been busy interviewing various people from the bank scene and 
gathering information, but it hadn't taken a psychic to see that she 
wasn't in the best of moods.  Unlike that morning, however, she'd 
done a good job of keeping her cool and not blowing up at anybody.

Not that that was necessarily a good thing, Clark realized.  An 
afternoon's worth of Lois' pent-up anger was sure to surface sooner 
or later, and Clark suspected he might be in for an evening of trying 
to calm her bouts of emotional release.  He didn't mind; after all, 
that's what being in a loving relationship was all about--being there 
for the other person, through good times and bad.  But he knew he'd 
have to be careful not to say the wrong thing and make it worse. 
Dealing with an angry Lois Lane was a lot like trying to deactivate a 
time bomb.  It took skill, nerves of steel, and a steady hand.

Stopping in front of Lois' door, he knocked three times and waited. 
Almost immediately, he heard the sound of loud footsteps, then the 
apartment door was yanked open by an obviously angry Lois Lane.  One 
look at her flushed cheeks and flashing eyes, and he knew he was in 
for an interesting evening.

"Come in only if you have a death wish," she said angrily before 
turning from the open door and heading into the kitchen where she had 
tea brewing.

Clark sighed.  Yep.  Interesting evening.

Stepping in, he closed the door and cautiously followed her into the 
kitchen.  He watched her slam some items around for a few moments 
before asking carefully, "Can I help?"

"Only if you can convince Perry to stop treating me like a 
five-year-old," she snapped as she jerked open the cupboard and 
pulled out a ceramic mug.

Clark leaned up against the counter and slid his hands into his pants 
pockets.  "So what happened?  Or should I ask?"

His question was all it took to send Lois into a full-scale, 
trademark, Lois Lane tantrum.  "Oh, you can ask," she stormed, 
turning to him briefly before whirling back around to the whistling 
tea kettle, her dark hair tossing about wildly.  "Anyone in the 
newsroom could've told you how Perry was treating me.  He spent all 
afternoon walking on eggshells around me, and then as soon as I sent 
him that article we finished up, he assigned me some story about a 
charity event at the Lexor hotel.  A charity event!  Can you believe 
that?!  Isn't that an article for the society columnist?  I'm an 
investigative reporter, not some gossip columnist!  It felt like an 
insult, coming from Perry.  It was like he was afraid to push any of 
my buttons or something."

"Well, you did threaten to quit, Lois," Clark pointed out 
diplomatically.  "Maybe he realizes he's been pushing you too hard 
and wanted to give you something easier to work on."

"Easier?  If he wanted to make my job easier, he'd lighten our load, 
or tell me to cut out early for a change.  Not assign me some fluff 
piece that would only undermine my credibility."  Lois grabbed a 
soapy sponge from the sink and scrubbed at a dirty spot on the mug 
furiously.  "And, as if I didn't have a bad enough day as it was, I 
tried to interview Superman after that hostage situation today, and 
he actually gave me the cold shoulder!  Can you believe that?  So 
much for us being friends!"  No longer interested in the tea, Lois 
slammed the coffee mug down onto the counter with a crash.

Clark cringed.  The fact that Lois was angry enough to start breaking 
things was *not* a good sign.  And it didn't make him feel any better 
knowing that his actions as Superman were partly to blame for her bad 
day.  He knew he had to smooth things over.

Taking her by the shoulders, he forced her to meet his steady gaze. 
"Lois, I think the first thing you need to do is calm down," he 
insisted.  Then he gave her a quick smile.  "Besides, you're too 
dangerous when you're angry."

Her angry frown slowly melted into a slight grin.  Seeing he'd gotten 
through to her, Clark let his hands slide down her shoulders and he 
grasped one of her hands in his.  "Come on.  Let's go sit on the 
couch."

Leading her into the front room, he sat down on the couch and pulled 
her down next to him.  "Now turn and put your feet up," he directed, 
sounding very much like a parent talking to a young child.  When she 
did so reluctantly, he smiled and reached for one of the throw 
pillows, laying it on his lap.  "Now lie back."

She did as she was told, but she rolled her eyes at him just the 
same.  "Clark, this is stupid," she protested.  "Just lying down on 
the couch isn't going to make me relax."

He smiled gently.  "Just trust me on this one, Lois.  Now close your eyes."

Lois let out a rebellious sigh, but did as she was told.  A few 
moments later, she peered up at Clark through one partially opened 
lid.  "And now I'm supposed to feel better?"

Clark laughed.  "See, Lois?  That's your problem.  You've never 
learned to relax!  You're always on the go, rushing around from one 
thing to the next.  It's going to be the death of you!  So I'm going 
to do my good deed and teach you how to just kick back and relax, 
even if I have to hold you down myself."

"Mmmm, is that a promise?" Lois asked flirtatiously.

Clark laughed again.  "See what I mean?" he scolded through his 
laughter.  "You can't relax, sit still, or stop talking for even ten 
seconds!"

"Okay, okay," Lois grumbled good-naturedly, closing her eyes again. 
She lay still for a long minute, trying to relax like Clark wanted 
her to.  But she felt funny just lying there doing nothing.  She was 
just about to sit up and quit trying when Clark put his hand on her 
head, making her jump.

Clark chuckled softly as he started to run his fingers through her 
silky dark hair.  "Relax, Lois.  You're all wound up.  Just lie back 
for a few minutes."

  Lois sighed dreamily.  "Mmmm, I love that," she murmured as he 
continued to run his fingers through her hair.

She could hear Clark smile as he responded.  "I know."

As Clark continued to stroke her hair, Lois couldn't help falling 
into a relaxed, blissful state.  She was able to forget Perry, 
Superman's rude behavior, even about her joke of an assignment.  In 
fact, she was very nearly asleep when Clark removed his hand from her 
hair, and his voice drifted through her sleepy haze.

"What?" she murmured sleepily.

"I was just asking if you were still awake.  I guess that answers my question."

Lois smiled softly.  "You're the one who insisted I relax.  Now 
you're giving me a hard time because I am?"

"Not at all," Clark told her with a smile.  "I'm just glad to see 
that you can relax after all.  How do you feel?"

"Better."  She opened her eyes and looked gratefully up into Clark's 
face.  "You always know just what I need."

Clark lifted his hand to trace a finger across her cheek and then 
tuck a strand of hair tenderly behind her ear.  "Not always," he 
admitted.  "But this time it was obvious."  They were both quiet for 
a minute as Clark continued to stroke her face lightly.

"You know, Lois," Clark said softly a minute later, "times like these 
make me realize just how few and far between our time alone together 
has been."

Lois sighed deeply.  "I know," she replied, tipping her head back so 
she could stare up into his beautiful brown eyes.  Feeling closer to 
him than she had in days, she reached up to finger his shirt lightly. 
"Like I said this morning, it's hard to start off a relationship with 
so little free time."

"Maybe we should just make a conscious effort to *make* time," Clark suggested.

Lois smiled dreamily.  "I'd love to.  In fact, Perry offered to give 
me some time off, just like you said."

Clark clapped her gently on the shoulder.  "See?  I told you he 
would!  He'd rather give you a few days off than lose you entirely. 
So what did he say?"

"Well, he corralled me into his office this afternoon when I got back 
from that hostage situation, and practically *demanded* that we have 
a little talk."  Lois looked up at Clark and grinned.  "We talked 
about what happened this morning, and I told him I hadn't really been 
serious about quitting, that I'd just lost my temper because of all 
the pressure I've been under lately.  He was really great about it, 
and that's when he suggested I take a few days off."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him I was going to take him up on that, but that I'd have to 
get back to him about when.  It's kind of hard to plan a vacation 
when you have no idea what you want to do or where you want to go."

"It's not that hard, Lois," Clark chuckled.  "Just pick somewhere and 
go there.  Even hang around here, if that's what you want.  Do 
anything but work."

Lois rubbed his arm lightly.  "Actually, I was kind of hoping we 
could do something together."

"I'd love that," Clark said sincerely.  "What did you have in mind?"

Lois sighed.  "Honestly, I don't have a clue.  Any suggestions?"

Clark thought for a minute.  "You could spend Christmas with me and 
my folks in Smallville.  I know they'd love to have you as much as I 
would.  And we could take long walks, spend quiet evenings sipping 
hot apple cider and eating homemade apple pie....  It'd be great."

"That *does* sound great," Lois admitted.  "But you're forgetting 
that my parents want me to spend Christmas Day with them and Lucy."

Clark's hopeful expression fell.  "Oh, that's right.  I forgot about that."

Lois sat up and leaned her head against Clark's shoulder. 
Automatically, he slipped his arm around her shoulders, and she 
reached for his hand, entwining her fingers with his.  "It's just 
been so long since we've had time for each other," she said wistfully.

Tipping his head to rest it on Lois', Clark brushed his cheek against 
her hair, enjoying its softness and sweet floral scent.  He closed 
his eyes and breathed deeply.  Lois was right.  It *had* been a long 
time since they'd had time to be alone together.

"Well, Christmas is out, but how about New Year's?" he asked.  "We 
could spend the day together, maybe drive up to the mountains or 
something."

Lois smiled dreamily.  "Mmmm, a whole day alone together, surrounded 
by nothing but trees and mountains.  It sounds wonderful, actually."

"Then why don't we do it?"

"I don't know if I can.  I think it's my turn for holiday rotation. 
If I'm scheduled to work and ask Perry for that day off, he might 
have a hard time finding somebody else to fill in, since so many 
people have holiday plans."

Clark shook his head and chuckled softly.  "Good grief, this is like 
negotiating a nuclear treaty."

Lois laughed, too.  "Well, maybe not that bad.  But you're not far 
off."  They continued to rattle off suggestions for several minutes, 
but each of them was met with either personal or work conflicts.

Finally, Lois sighed in discouragement and let her head slump against 
Clark's shoulder.  "Clark, have you ever thought that maybe this 
whole thing between us just isn't meant to be?"

Clark stiffened.  "Lois, you're not serious, are you?"

She sat up beside him and shrugged.  "Well, think about it, Clark. 
How many times in the past few weeks have we had time to spend alone 
together?  I think this is the first time this month.  Maybe 
someone's trying to tell us something."

Clark shook his head adamantly.  "Lois, I think all we're finding out 
is that the holidays are a crazy time for a relationship.  Nothing 
more."  He reached out to tip her chin up, forcing her to look at 
him.  When she did, his eyes searched hers intently.  "Lois, I want 
nothing more than to have this relationship work.  And if that means 
making some time in a hectic schedule, then that's what we have to 
do.  I'm not about to give up on us.  You're too important to me."

Lois felt tears spring to her eyes.  "You really mean that?"

Clark nodded seriously.  "Yes, I do.  What do I need to do to prove it to you?"

Lois' solemn expression quickly changed and she smiled at him 
mischievously.  "Well, I guess you could prove it to me with a really 
*great* kiss."

"I think I can handle that," Clark replied, a grin tugging at the 
corners of his mouth.  He lowered his head to hers, but paused when 
his lips were only a breath away from hers.  "Before I do this, I 
want to make sure I have the rules straight.  Do I only get one kiss 
to prove myself, or can this be settled over a series of long, drawn 
out kisses?"

Lois giggled.  "Mmmm, why don't we see how great your first kiss is, 
and then go from there?"

Clark grinned.  "That sounds good to me."

*****

Later that night, after Clark had gone home, Lois slipped on her 
favorite silky nightgown and went through her apartment, turning off 
lights and making sure doors and windows were locked.  As she thought 
about the evening, a smile slowly worked its way across her face.

When she'd gotten home from work, she'd been ready to explode.  But 
then Clark had shown up and managed to magically soothe her frazzled 
nerves.

There was definitely something about Clark's manner that had a 
calming influence on her, and his seemingly endless supply of 
patience never ceased to amaze her.  She wouldn't have thought in a 
million years that, when she'd first met him that day in Perry's 
office, that he'd be so perfect for her, their personalities so 
evenly meshed.  And never, ever, did she think that she'd find 
herself wanting to settle into a serious relationship with a man.

But Clark wasn't just any man.  He was an extraordinary man.  And it 
was still tough sometimes for her to imagine why he put up with her 
stubbornness, as well as her fiery temper and mood swings that seemed 
to change by the minute.  But she was glad he did.  If anyone could 
change her mind about trusting men in a relationship, she knew it 
would be Clark.

Over the past couple of years as her partner--and more recently as 
even more than that--he kept proving to her time and time again that 
he was someone she could trust, someone who she could count on when 
she needed a friend.

Except for those times when he continued to disappear out of the blue.

Lois shook her head in frustration.  Today had been no exception. 
Darting off to the café because he'd supposedly forgotten something 
just when something as newsworthy as a hostage situation needed their 
attention?  Talk about strange priorities.  But she knew she couldn't 
hold it against him.  Just like the times before when she'd been 
angry at him for his rushing off, he'd always apologized when he 
returned.  She doubted she'd ever like that about him, and she always 
got the feeling he wasn't being completely honest with her about his 
reason for leaving.  But when she'd finally had it and confronted him 
about it in his apartment that night after the lawsuit, he told her 
he wasn't hiding, that he was ready to take the next step, if she 
was.  The kiss that had followed had told her more than words could 
say about how much he cared about her, even loved her.

Loved her?  The very thought made her stop and think.  Yes, she was 
sure he loved her.  Just as she loved him.

In the short time they'd been officially dating, she'd never actually 
gotten up the nerve to voice her feelings, but she knew with a 
certainty that that was how she felt.  Even so, it was a scary thing 
to say out loud.  What if she did, and then found out he didn't feel 
the same way about her?

No, she decided.  That wouldn't be the case.  The fact that he loved 
her was evident in his every action, softly spoken word and tender 
touch.  She suspected he'd wanted to tell her for quite some time, 
but maybe it was because he knew that her fear of relationships made 
her a little skittish.  She was sure it was just a matter of time 
before they felt comfortable enough to verbalize how they felt about 
each other.  But in the meantime, she was content in knowing she 
loved this gentle man, and that he loved her.  Verbalization or not.

Lois flipped off the front room light and walked back into her 
bedroom where she climbed under her covers and turned off the bedside 
lamp.  Snuggling into her pillow, her thoughts once again drifted to 
Clark's strange disappearance that day.  Clearly, she still had a lot 
to learn about Clark.  It seemed like every day she was learning 
something new about him, or the way he acted in certain situations.

*But what's strange about that?* Lois asked herself.  *Isn't that 
what being in a new relationship is all about?  Learning new things 
about each other?  As well as I think I know him, the fact remains 
that we've only been dating for a short time.  Surely there will be 
things I'll continue to learn about him as we go.*

Lois rolled over and pulled the blankets more snugly around her. 
Well, whatever she still had to learn about Clark she knew she would 
learn in time.  For now, she was tired of thinking.  It had been a 
long day, and this was something she could think about later.  So, 
with one last sigh, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.


*****

When Lois stepped off the elevator at the Planet the next morning, 
she noticed that Clark was already at his desk.  He seemed to sense 
her eyes on him because almost immediately, he looked up.  When he 
did, their eyes met and a warm smile crossed his face.

When she reached her desk, he was waiting for her.  "Feeling better 
this morning?" he asked, reaching out to rub her arms lightly.

She smiled as she set her attaché on her desk.  "Much.  Thanks to the 
time we were able to spend together last night."

Clark chuckled as he took her into his arms.  "I have to admit, I 
didn't think we could cram that much kissing into such a short amount 
of time."

Lois flashed him a mischievous grin, "Well, when all you have is a 
short amount of time, you do what you've gotta do."

Clark leaned in to give her a sweet, tender kiss, drawing the 
attention of nearby colleagues.  Noticing they were causing quite a 
scene, Lois giggled as Clark pulled away, his face reddening 
slightly.  But he smiled sheepishly and whispered, "Hopefully we can 
continue this later when there are no prying eyes."

Lois grinned back.  "Nice theory.  I'd like to know how we're going 
to manage to get some free time later."

Just then Lois heard her name called and she smiled into Clark's 
laughing eyes.  "See what I mean?"

Turning to see who was calling her, Lois spotted the newest Daily 
Planet researcher approaching.  "Hey, Manny," she replied.  "What's 
up?"

The athletic-looking young man in his mid-twenties stopped beside 
them.  "Didn't mean to interrupt anything important," he hinted with 
a wry grin, "but here's the research you wanted on last week's jewel 
robbery, Lois, as well as a disk that contains some background 
information on the thief."

She took the handful of stuff from him and gave them a cursory 
glance.  "Thanks, Manny."

Manny started to leave, but suddenly stopped and turned back to 
Clark.  "Oh, hey, Clark.  Are we still on for our game of basketball 
at lunch today?"

Clark grinned.  "You bet.  But be prepared for a sound whipping."

Manny laughed and pointed his pencil challengingly at Clark as he 
turned to leave.  "We'll just see about that."

After Manny disappeared into the crowded newsroom, Lois turned to 
Clark.  "Lunchtime basketball?  I didn't know you guys were so 
chummy."

Clark nodded.  "I helped show him around when he first started here a 
couple of months ago, and when we found out that we both liked to 
play basketball, we kind of set up a weekly lunchtime game at the 
park.  It's a great way to blow off some steam after a busy morning."

"But it's December!" Lois exclaimed incredulously.  "How are you 
supposed to play basketball in the snow?"

Clark laughed.  "The snow's pretty much subsided for now, and the 
courts will be clear.  Why is that so crazy?"

"I didn't say you were crazy, but now that you mention it..."  Her 
voice trailed off and she smiled a little.

Clark grinned.  "You should try it sometime, Lois.  A little mid-day 
exercise might do you some good.  It all comes down to that relaxing 
thing we talked about last night."

"Forget it," she said stubbornly.  "Sweating in the middle of the day 
out on some basketball court isn't my idea of a good time."

"If you say so," Clark conceded.  When Lois started to take off her coat, he quickly 
stopped her.  "You might as well leave your coat on, Lois.  Perry 
wants us to go down to the courthouse this morning to cover the 
hearing of that bank robber from yesterday."

"Oh yeah, the hostage situation where Superman gave me the brush 
off," Lois quipped, her face clouding over a bit as she rebuttoned 
her coat and reached for her attache.

Clark sighed.  "Lois, I'm sure he didn't mean to give you the brush 
off.  Maybe he really did have something on his mind, like he said."

"Who are you, Superman's PR man?" Lois shot back, her anger once 
again resurfacing.  "I know what I saw, and I know how he treated me. 
It really hurt, Clark, and to be honest, I'm still angry about it. 
Something's going on with him, Clark, and I, for one, would like to 
know what it is."  She hastily slung her attaché over her shoulder 
and headed for the elevator.

Clark sighed.  "Well, it may not be long before you know, Lois," he 
said quietly to himself.  "And if you're angry now, I can't wait to 
see you then."  Shaking his head, he hurried to catch up with her.

*****

The exercise and cool, brisk winter air was a refreshing change for 
Clark as he and Manny met in the park a few hours later for their 
game of one on one.  Not only was he frustrated that he and Lois were 
having a tough time with work, but he couldn't help feeling horrible 
at the fact that Lois was angry at how he'd acted as Superman during 
their recent encounter.

So Clark took out all his pent-up frustrations on Manny as he 
dribbled down the half-court length toward the basket, giving Manny a 
quick fake, then rolling to his left and rushing to the basket to 
execute a perfect lay-up.

"Yes!" Clark exclaimed, raising his hands high above his head 
victoriously.  "That's game!"

Manny laughed and shook his head.  "Okay, I give.  I know when I'm 
beat.  But what's gotten into you today?  You haven't played this 
possessed since we started playing."

Clark spun the ball on his finger and grinned cockily.  "Maybe I was 
just tired of letting you win."

"Yeah, sure," Manny laughed again as he went over to the bench next 
to the court, picked up the sweatshirt he'd draped over the back of 
it and pulled it over his head.  "I think it's more like you were 
sick of being creamed."

Clark smiled as he walked over to Manny and started to put his own 
sweatshirt on.  "Either way, this has been fun.  It's a great way to 
work off some job stress, especially with as busy as it has been 
around the Planet lately."

Manny bent over to tie a shoe.  "Yeah, I noticed Perry has been 
working you and Lois pretty hard lately.  How's she holding up?"

Clark's smile faded and he turned to sit down on the bench.  "Not 
very well, I'm afraid," Clark admitted.  "She's pretty stressed out, 
and I can't say that I blame her.  And yesterday's dramatic exit from 
the newsroom certainly announced it to everyone."

Manny grimaced.  "Yeah, I saw that.  Lois can do dramatic better than 
anyone I know."

Clark laughed.  "Don't I know it."

"So what's the story with you guys?" Manny asked as he finished tying 
his shoe and then turned to sit down beside Clark.  "I take it from 
that kiss I saw in the newsroom this morning that you two are still 
happy together."

"Definitely," Clark grinned.  "Things are going really great for us. 
But to be honest, we're both pretty frustrated at how little time 
we've been able to spend together lately.  With the holidays and all 
the work Perry's been loading on us, it's been nearly impossible to 
do anything together.  But after Lois threatened to quit yesterday, 
Perry offered to give her some time off, and I'd like to take some 
vacation time of my own so we can do something together.  We've even 
talked about it, but we have no idea what we want to do."

"Hey, I have the perfect thing!" Manny exclaimed immediately.  He 
turned and reached into his duffle bag, fished around for a second, 
then pulled his keys out.  When he'd located one key in particular, 
he worked it off his key chain and handed it to Clark with a 
flourish.  "Here you go.  The perfect solution."

Clark's brow furrowed in confusion.  "What is it?"

"It's the key to my cabin," Manny announced.  "Well, it's not really 
*my* cabin.  It's my brother's actually, but he lives on the west 
coast and has me look after it when he's not using it.  It's this 
great little place in the mountains just north of Metropolis.  It's 
part of a little mountain resort that has some surprisingly good 
restaurants, and even a decent theater group that performs a couple 
of times a week.  The cabin's pretty secluded, but not far enough out 
of town to make it inconvenient.  It'd be the perfect getaway for you 
and Lois!  Trust me, she'd love it."

Clark stared at his friend in surprise.  "Really?  Your brother 
wouldn't mind if we used it?"

"Not a bit," Manny assured him.  "As a matter of fact, you'd be doing 
me a favor.  I haven't had a chance to get up there and air it out in 
several weeks."

"Great!" Clark exclaimed happily as he took the key.  "I'm sure Lois 
will love it.  But I'll definitely owe you one."

Manny smiled and shook his head.  "Just go a little easier on me next 
time we play some one on one, will ya?  I'm going to be sore 
tomorrow, thanks to you."

Clark laughed.  "It's a deal."  He stood up and threw on his 
sweatshirt and grabbed his duffle bag containing his change of 
clothes.  "I'm going to head back to the Planet locker room and 
shower up.  You coming?"

"Nah, go on ahead," Manny said, waving him on.  "I've got a couple of 
quick errands to run before I get back to the grind."

"Okay, then I'll see you later.  And thanks again for this!"  Clark 
held up the key and smiled gratefully.

"Anytime."

With one last wave, Clark jogged across the park lawn to the street, 
where Manny watched him carefully look both ways before running 
across.  When Manny was certain Clark was out of earshot, he looked 
around to make sure he was alone, then reached into his bag, pulled 
out his cell phone and quickly punched in a number.

A few moments later, he spoke quietly into the phone.  "Yeah, it's 
me.  The cabin's a go.  He doesn't suspect a thing."

When he hung up the phone and slipped it back into his bag, he turned 
once again to watch as Clark's still-jogging figure continued to 
disappear down the street.

Manny smiled and shook his head.  "Some things are just too easy."

*****

"Yes!" Trask exclaimed as he slapped the mouthpiece of his cell phone 
shut and spun around to face his colleague.  "Manny did it!  Kent 
fell for it hook, line and sinker.  Before you know it, we'll have 
Lane and Kent walking right into our clutches."

Garrison looked up skeptically from where he sat in the recliner in 
the corner of the sparsely decorated log-cabin room, thumbing through 
a computer technology magazine.  "Don't get so optimistic, Trask. 
There are still a hundred things that could go wrong with this plan. 
Like your little unexpected snitch, for example."

Trask dismissed Garrison's pessimism with a wave of his hand.  "An 
unforeseen complication, but I took care of it," he assured him 
airily.  "How could we have known that Les would suddenly develop a 
conscience about being involved in a plot to eliminate Superman, and 
rush to the Daily Planet to tell Lois Lane about it?"

"Well, it was lucky for us that we were able to have him killed 
before he leaked too much information to her," Garrison muttered. 
"Otherwise, your little snitch could've ruined everything."

"But he didn't," Trask replied.  "According to Manny, Lane labored 
away at her so-called "vigilante groups" story for weeks before the 
well finally ran dry, and that joke of an editor, Perry White, had no 
choice but to pull her off the story.  And it just happened to work 
to our advantage that dear, over-worked Lois Lane recently started to 
suffer an emotional breakdown, leaving us the perfect opportunity to 
have Manny convince Clark to take her to the cabin for some little 
romantic getaway."  He chortled.  "Little do they know that when they 
arrive, we'll be waiting for them."

Garrison shook his head negatively.  "Unless something else goes wrong."

Trask's expression darkened.  "Why so pessimistic, Garrison?  We're 
finally about to trap Superman and make him tell us about his friends 
coming to take over planet Earth."

Garrison snorted sarcastically.  "I can't believe that you're still 
holding firm to this insane 'alien invasion' theory!  Come on, Trask! 
Stop being such a paranoid delusional.... "

"Paranoid?  Is that what you think I am?" Trask asked coldly. 
"You're just like everyone else in this country--too blind to see 
what's right in front of your face!  What else would a super being 
like Superman be doing here?  An accidental arrival who suddenly 
decides to fight for "truth, justice and the American way"?  Come on! 
If you believe that, you're as brainwashed as the rest of them!  A 
year ago I followed Superman's trail to Smallville, put my job on the 
line--not to mention my noble intention of saving the American way of 
life!--and found out about Kryptonite, the one thing that'll kill 
Superman.  And how am I repaid?  The American people turn on me, 
leave me in some pond to die!  And for what?  Because I'm trying to 
stop an alien invasion from swarming to Earth?  From taking over the 
world and changing all those people's ways of life?  I'm punished, 
practically banished from the government community!"

"Not bitter or anything, are you?" Garrison countered.

"You bet I'm bitter!" Trask snapped.  "Superman almost killed me back 
in that pond in Smallville.  Who knows what his people would do if 
they come in force?"

"Superman wasn't even *in* Smallville, Trask!" Garrison shouted, 
finally tired of hearing Trask's rantings.

Trask smirked.  "Oh, really?  Is that what you think?"

"What I think?!  It's what I know!" Garrison shot back, not the least 
bit worried about being overheard by Trask's thugs standing outside 
the room.  "The details were all in the files!  Your men never once 
caught sight of the red cape or blue suit.  He didn't almost kill 
you, Trask!  It was *you* who almost got yourself killed!  Did you 
think that pulling a gun on that reporter, Clark Kent, in some small 
pond in Smallville was going to lure Superman?"

Garrison turned and stalked to the window looking out onto the 
forest, then turned back and continued angrily.  "You were shot 
because you almost killed some innocent reporter!  If it weren't for 
some psychotic person with undoubtedly too much time and money on 
their hands to arrange to have your body stolen from the morgue and 
then have you brought back to life, you'd be six feet under right 
now!  Consider yourself lucky, Trask.  Whether or not this person 
believes in your 'alien invasion' theory, they agree with you on one 
thing, as I do.  Superman needs to be eliminated.  So let's just 
focus on that and be done with it.  Then you can go your way, and I 
can go mine."

"Oh, that's right.  You want to go back to your dank little hideout 
away from the watchful eyes of the FBI where you can spend your days 
hacking into whatever computer systems people pay you to," Trask shot 
back.  "If you're such a disbeliever in the mission of Bureau 39, why 
did you get assigned to this position?  I certainly didn't ask for 
you."

Garrison's lips curled into a disdainful frown.  "Just lucky, I guess."

Trask simply shrugged.  "Well, all that really matters is, your job 
is to help me kill Superman.  Whether or not you agree with me on 
*why* we need to do that, it doesn't matter.  All that matters is, 
I'm back, and I'm going to lure him here and find out by any means 
necessary when this invasion is going to take place.  And then 
everyone who doubted me before will finally know that I was right. 
Then I'm going to dispose of him the way I should've done when I had 
the chance.  He won't get away from me again."

Deciding it wasn't worth arguing about, Garrison shook his head and 
crossed the room toward the door.  "Whatever you say, Trask.  Now if 
you don't mind, I have some people to contact."

"Oh yeah?" Trask asked offhandedly.  "The 'secret boss' you have?"

"Yes.  Unlike you, I have sane people to answer to."

Trask let the insult roll off his back.  "Answer to for what, exactly?"

Garrison paused with his hand on the doorknob.  He turned back to 
Trask, his face steely and expression masked.  "As you like to say, 
'That's on a need to know basis, and...you don't.'"  He smirked. 
"The reasons for why I'm here are none of your business.  But like 
you said, in the long run, we're both after the same thing:  to see 
that Superman is eliminated.  That's all that matters."  And with 
that, Garrison opened the door and left the room.

Trask's eyes flashed as he watched Garrison disappear into the hall. 
As soon as he was out of sight, he grumbled,  "If he hadn't been 
directly assigned to this project and wasn't so highly connected, I'd 
get rid of him in a second."

Ever since that fateful day in Smallville when he'd been shot by that 
deputy, everything had changed.  Politics had changed.  The 
administration of Bureau 39 had changed.

But one thing hadn't changed.  Superman, and the threat of an alien 
invasion along with him, needed to be taken care of.  Whichever 
anonymous benefactor had decided to pay to use some mysterious, 
life-saving regeneration method to bring him back to life, he was 
grateful.  Since the person didn't want their identity known, Trask 
had long since given up trying to find the source.  He was just glad 
to be alive, to have another chance to validate himself as a man who 
could save the world from an oncoming force of destruction.  A race 
of super beings sure to invade and rule the world.  It was too bad 
Garrison didn't see the threat.

Trask shook his head as he walked over to the cabin window looking 
out on the darkening forest.  In the past year or so that he'd been 
nursed back to health and had had Garrison assigned to be his second 
in command by somebody higher up (even *he* had never known everybody 
up the political Bureau 39 chain), Garrison had been something of an 
enigma to him.

He'd never been able to find out who'd assigned him, and hadn't been 
able to track down much of Garrison's past to give him a clue as to 
why he was being assigned to the project.  It definitely wasn't 
because Garrison shared his views on Superman being the front man of 
an alien invasion, that was for sure.  He'd made it clear how he felt 
about that theory.  But he did indeed seem to want, as badly as *he* 
did, to eliminate Superman, and that was at least something.

But it didn't quell his suspicions about Garrison, and the agenda he 
was sure the man secretly held.  Had he been sent to spy on him and 
his men as they worked toward disposing of the Superhero?  If so, who 
was suspicious enough--or not confident enough in his abilities to 
follow through with the task--to plant Garrison in the mix?  Who was 
it he mysteriously reported to?  Was that person the one who'd 
brought Trask back to life, therefore staking his claim in the 
project?

But whatever answers there were, Trask had been unable to find them. 
So he'd continued to go about his business, putting up with 
Garrison's flippant remarks and rebellious ways.  He was 
insubordinate, did things on his own schedule, often disappeared into 
that hole of a back room where he used his extensive set-up of 
computer equipment for hours at a time, and mouthed off to him in 
front of his men.

But as much as he'd like to be the one to do away with Garrison, he 
didn't dare.  Obviously, Garrison reported to someone of importance, 
and the connections he brought to the project were invaluable, even 
if he was kept in the dark about how he came up with most of the 
information he acquired.

The bottom line was, though, that it didn't matter.  As long as he 
got what he wanted--Superman--Garrison could follow his own agenda, 
whatever it may be.  It was enough that Garrison was as eager to 
dispose of Superman as he was.

Turning away from the window, Trask decided to temporarily put his 
colleague's suspicious actions aside.  Right now, he had other, more 
important things to worry about.

Taking a couple of steps toward the door, Trask called out for his 
men in the hall.  "Guys, get in here!  We've got a kidnapping to 
plan."

*****

After grudgingly going through the information Manny had given her 
about the jewelry theft for over an hour, Lois finally leaned back in 
her chair and sighed.  She hated these no-brainer stories.  They 
weren't any challenge.  Robbery occurs, police show up in response to 
silent alarm, jewel thief caught in the act.  Where was the challenge 
in a story like that?

Bored and unable to stop procrastinating, Lois swiveled back and 
forth in her chair, finding herself wishing for some sort of 
catastrophe, some natural disaster that would give her an excuse to 
do something else.  *Anything* else.  But for once, Metropolis was 
quiet.

Spinning back to face her desk, the black disk sitting on top of the 
other research information Manny had given her suddenly caught her 
eye.  Hadn't he said he'd downloaded some background information on 
the robber?  Maybe there was something there she could use to get a 
more interesting angle.

Reaching for the disk, she slipped it into her computer and clicked 
on the file that appeared.  Immediately, a series of strange 
characters flashed onto her screen, and soon her monitor was filled 
with a jumble of unreadable numbers and letters that flashed past her 
so quickly she could hardly make them out.

"What is *this*?" she asked in confusion.  Leaning back in her chair, 
she yelled, "Hey, Jimmy!"

Jimmy hurried over to her.  "Yeah, Lois?"  When she gestured at her 
computer screen, he looked at the mess of characters and started to 
laugh.  "Okay, Lois, what did you do to your computer this time?"

"I didn't do anything!" Lois protested indignantly.  "I just put my 
disk in, opened the file, and this is what came up."

Jimmy's brow furrowed as he put a hand on her desk and leaned closer 
to her monitor.  "Is there something wrong with your disk?  It looks 
like whatever was on it really got fried."

Lois shrugged.  "I don't know.  It's the disk Manny gave me with a 
bunch of research on that jewelry theft story I'm working on.  He 
said it contained some background information about the robber."

Jimmy reached out and hit the down key, shaking his head in confusion 
as he watched the characters scroll past.  "I don't know what to tell 
you, Lois.  It must've been a bad disk or something."

"Great," Lois muttered in a 'what else can go wrong' tone.  "There 
goes any possible interesting angles I might have come up with. 
Let's just hope there wasn't something irreplaceable on this."  She 
reached out and started to eject the disk, but Jimmy quickly stopped 
her.

"Wait, Lois.  Before you pull it out, why don't we save the file on 
your hard drive?  When I find a spare minute, I could go through it 
and see if I can salvage anything."

"Okay," Lois sighed.  "I guess it's worth a shot.  I'm not really 
getting anywhere on this story anyway."  Just then someone called out 
for Jimmy, and Lois waved him away.  "Go ahead.  I'll save this file 
and have you look at it later."

Jimmy gave her a sympathetic smile.  "Don't let me forget."

After Jimmy hurried away, Lois saved the file to her hard drive, then 
ejected the disk and looked at it for a moment, not sure what to do 
with it.  If the disk was bad, she knew she should just throw it 
away.  But maybe Jimmy could do more to restore the file if he 
actually had the disk.  She didn't know how that worked.

After a minute of indecision, she finally opened her top desk drawer, 
tossed in the disk, and shut it once again.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Lois jumped.  She quickly looked up to see Clark standing beside her. 
"Sorry," he said with a quick smile.  "I didn't mean to scare you. 
But you'll never guess what happened at lunch."

"You won your little basketball game," Lois guessed disinterestedly.

"Well, yeah, but that's not it."  He sat down on the corner of her 
desk and beamed at her, obviously bursting with news.  "Guess again."

Lois sighed and leaned back in her chair.  "Clark, I'm really not in 
the mood for guessing games," she said wearily.  "I can't find an 
angle on this jewel thief story, and the disk Manny gave me with the 
research information doesn't work.  So whatever you're trying to tell 
me, just tell me."

"Well, Manny and I were talking after our game about vacation spots 
you might like, and he was telling me about this great cabin his 
brother has up in the hills north of Metropolis.  There's this quaint 
little resort town just down the hill from it that has several 
restaurants, a great local theater group...it's the perfect place for 
a vacation."

Lois stared at him and crossed her arms accusingly, though the 
corners of her mouth twitched into a slow smile.  "And how exactly 
did he know I was thinking about taking a vacation?"

Clark shifted his weight on the edge of her desk awkwardly.  "Well, 
um, I might have mentioned something about it.  Besides, everyone 
knows how stressed out you've been lately...."

"And how does everyone know I've been stressed?"

Clark started to laugh.  "You're kidding, right?  With the way you've 
been storming around lately?  Everybody in the building has made a 
personal pact to stay clear of you.  Besides, after you yelled at 
Perry yesterday and threatened to quit, word got around."

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't exactly be a secret," Lois replied with a 
sheepish smile.

"So anyway," Clark continued, "I was also telling him how hard it has 
been for us to find some time to be alone lately, and..." he paused 
for dramatic effect, then pulled a key with a flourish from his 
pocket, "Tah-dah!  It's all ours if we want it."

Lois looked from the key, to Clark in confusion.  "What are you talking about?"

"The cabin!" he replied impatiently.  "Manny's watching it for his 
out of state brother, and he says we'd be doing him a favor by 
getting up there and airing it out since he hasn't been up there in a 
while.  So I was thinking we could go up there for New Year's 
weekend, since we were already thinking of spending New Year's Day 
together anyway.  What do you say?"

Lois fought the tightness in her throat and the sudden urge to panic. 
"Spend the weekend at a cabin?  Alone?  Together?  For a whole 
weekend?"

"Sure," Clark nodded, his smile fading into a puzzled frown.  "What's 
wrong with that?"

Lois stared at Clark in disbelief.  *What's wrong with that?!  Is he 
kidding?  How can he possibly ask that?  Doesn't he realize what a 
huge step this would be in our relationship?  This isn't just some 
small, unimportant detail like deciding to get Chinese takeout 
instead of Thai food.  He's talking about being *intimate* with each 
other!*

She couldn't help feeling like Clark was being more than a little 
insensitive to suggest something like this, without at least 
discussing it with her first.  Not that she hadn't considered being 
intimate with him.  But this soon in their relationship?

Even the thought of taking this huge step was enough to send her into 
a panic.  After all, if her past relationships were any 
indication--Claude was the first to come to mind--the minute her 
relationships turned intimate, they usually fell apart.  Not that she 
could compare Claude to Clark, by any means.  But other than a little 
making out at their apartments, she and Clark had never gotten very 
intimate with each other.  Who knew how their relationship would 
change if they became intimate?

A nagging voice in the back of her mind suddenly started in, and she 
was helpless to stop it.  'I can't believe, after all this time 
you've known Clark, you really didn't know him at all.  He's just 
like all the other men...he can hardly wait to jump into bed.'

But then the rational side of her brain took over and argued, *Come 
on, Lois, you *know* Clark!  He's not like that!*

But immediately, the nagging voice argued back, 'Oh yeah?  How well 
do you *really* know him?  Where does he always run off to when you 
two are together?  Why won't he ever give you a clear answer about 
where he's been?  There are obviously a lot of things you don't know 
about him.  How do you know he's not going to run off the minute you 
sleep with him?  You may think that Clark's not like that, but 
believe me, *all* men are like that!'

Lois gave herself a mental shake and forced herself to quiet the 
nagging voices in her head.  But the damage had already been done. 
She felt both pressured and panicked.

Turning back to Clark, she saw he was still sitting patiently, 
waiting for her response.  She blushed slightly, and, feeling 
definitely uncomfortable, she glanced around to make sure no one was 
listening.  When she was sure no one was, she leaned forward and 
whispered, "Um, Clark, this is all kind of sudden, don't you think?"

Clark's brows furrowed in confusion.  "Sudden?  What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Lois hedged, averting her gaze and suddenly appearing 
to be very interested in the pencil in her hand.  "Some time together 
sounds great, but I don't know if this was exactly what I had in 
mind.  Maybe we should think about this a little...."

"Think about it?" Clark asked, surprised.  "Lois, what's there to 
think about?  You need a vacation, and I figured you'd jump at the 
chance to get away."

"Oh, it's not that, Clark...."

"Then what, Lois?  I guess I don't understand the problem."

Lois swallowed hard and tried to calm the anxious shake in her voice. 
"Well, um, don't get me wrong, Clark.  There's nothing I'd like more 
than to spend some time alone with you.  But this...it's just, this 
is a really big step, you know?  The idea of you and me, spending a 
whole weekend, you know, alone...together.  It's just a really big 
step, and I don't think I'm ready...."

Clark's confused expression instantly changed, and his eyebrows 
lifted in understanding.  "Oh!" he said quickly, suddenly realizing 
what Lois was trying to say.  She thought he'd arranged for them to 
have not only a romantic getaway, but an intimate one, as well!

Suddenly feeling horrible about unintentionally putting her in such 
an awkward position at this stage of their relationship, he started 
to stumble over his words.

"Oh, Lois, I'm so sorry!" he stammered.  "I didn't mean, well.... 
When I asked you to spend the weekend with me, I didn't mean that I 
wanted you to...you know, *spend the weekend* with me.  I just 
thought it would be a great chance to get away.  I mean, we can sleep 
in different rooms, maintain some privacy...."

"I know, Clark, I know," Lois replied quickly, though to Clark, she 
didn't sound convinced at all.  She looked back down at her pencil 
and picked at the dull point.  "I just think that maybe we should 
think a little bit about this before deciding, you know?"

"Sure, Lois, I understand," Clark hurried to assure her.  "Take as 
much time as you'd like.  In fact, why don't we--"

Perry's bellowing voice suddenly sounded in the newsroom, cutting 
Clark off before he could finish.  "Lois!  Clark!  Where's that piece 
on the Christmas charities scandal I asked for?"

Lois and Clark looked over at their stocky editor, and Clark called 
back, "Almost done, Chief!"  Then he turned back to Lois.  "I guess 
we'll have to talk about this some more later."

Lois nodded and smiled, but Clark couldn't help noticing her smile 
seemed forced.  "Sure," she said quietly.  "We'll get the story 
finished and talk later."

As she turned back to her computer, Clark shook his head and walked 
back to his desk.  *What are you doing?* he asked himself angrily. 
*You should've considered how this might sound to someone with Lois' 
past history with men.  Now she obviously thinks you're pressuring 
her into moving your relationship forward into an intimacy she's not 
ready for, and if you're not careful she's going to bolt!  Something 
like this could definitely set things back.  Way to go, Clark!*

Sitting down heavily in his desk chair, he leaned back and glanced 
over at Lois.  He watched as she picked up her phone and quickly 
punched in a number, then tapped her pencil habitually on her desk as 
she spoke to the person on the other end of the line.

She may have looked like her normal, tenacious self to any casual 
observer, but Clark knew differently.  Her preoccupied smile and lack 
of animated hand gestures as she talked on the phone were dead 
giveaways to someone who knew her as well as he did.  She was clearly 
spooked, and trying her hardest not to show it.

Sighing heavily, Clark slumped forward and put his head in his hands. 
*Terrific, Clark, look what you've done!*

*I only wanted to spend some time with her!* the other voice argued 
back uselessly.  *I've been working toward this relationship for a 
long time.  The last thing I'd want to do is ruin it by scaring her 
off.*

Shaking his head, he sat up and reached for the Christmas charity 
story notes.  He had to talk to her, to smooth things over.  But when 
he did approach the subject again, he knew it would have to be done 
carefully.  After all, if he blew this, he could blow everything.

Suddenly, his superhearing picked up on an all-too-familiar sound: a 
cry for help.  Looking around him and seeing that no one was paying 
attention to him, he quickly stood up and headed for the back 
staircase, his exit going unnoticed even by Lois.

*****

When Clark slipped discreetly out the Daily Planet's back door, he 
saw that the snow had started to fall once again and was already 
beginning to cover the sidewalks and streets with a thick blanket of 
white.

He sighed.  A snowstorm usually meant he was bound to be busy as 
Superman, which meant he might not have time to have that talk with 
Lois as soon as he wanted.  Spinning into the suit, he rocketed into 
the sky toward the cry for help.

For the rest of the day, Superman was in high demand as the snow 
continued to fall and accumulate on the roads.  He helped out at a 
couple of accidents, while preventing several others.  He also chased 
down a bank robber as he tried to make a quick getaway, and then 
helped resolve a couple of parking lot disputes over parking spaces 
at malls.

By the time things had calmed down early that evening, Clark realized 
that it wouldn't make any sense to hurry back to the Planet.  The 
paper would have already been put to bed, and surely Lois would've 
left for the day.

As he flew above Metropolis, he felt for the hundredth time like 
kicking himself for being so naive in his conversation earlier that 
day with Lois.  If he'd thought for even a second, or put himself in 
Lois' shoes, he would've realized how delicate a topic his invitation 
might have been for her.  Instead, in his excitement to spend some 
time alone with her, he'd foolishly rushed in, never even thinking 
about how his invitation might be misconstrued by her.

He wanted to talk to Lois, but what was he supposed to say?  'Lois, I 
love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  So I 
have no problem waiting to take this next step in our relationship. 
I'm willing to wait for you as long as you need.'  The mere thought 
almost made Clark want to laugh out loud.

Sure, it would be the truth.  But with as anxious as Lois tended to 
be when it came to relationships--and intimacy, given her past 
history with men--it might have just the opposite effect and put even 
more pressure on her in a situation where there already was a lot of 
pressure.  It might even send their relationship a step backward 
instead of forward.  And that was definitely not what he wanted.

With a heavy sigh, Clark realized he wasn't ready to talk to her yet. 
Not until he knew what to say.  And somehow the answer remained 
elusive.

As he flew through the darkening sky, Clark decided that he didn't 
really feel like going home to his apartment.  It had been a very 
busy afternoon, not to mention his mind was still reeling over his 
conversation with Lois.  He desperately needed to unwind, and maybe 
even talk things out with somebody.

With a smile, he quickly changed direction and headed for the perfect 
place.  Smallville.

*****

"Clark, how great to see you!" Martha greeted him warmly as he walked 
through the front door a short time later.  "You're just in time!  I 
have a roast coming out of the oven in a few minutes.  You are 
staying for dinner, aren't you?"

Clark smiled as he walked over to his mom and gave her a warm hug. 
"Hi, Mom.  Sure, dinner sounds great."  He stepped out of his mom's 
embrace and glanced around.  "Where's Dad?"

"Out in the barn feeding the livestock.  Why don't you go on out and 
hurry him up?" she suggested.  "Dinner will be ready in a few 
minutes, and I don't want it to get cold."

"Sure, Mom, no problem."  Clark took a couple of steps toward the 
back door, but then paused momentarily before reaching out and 
grabbing one of the hot rolls cooling on a tray next to the sink and 
darting off with it, despite his mother's protests and shooing hands.

As he hurried through the back door, though, he could hear his mother 
muttering--with a smile in her voice--something about how things 
never changed.  Clark smiled.  Home was a wonderful place.

When he reached the barn, he found his father raking straw into the 
horses' stalls.  "Hi, Dad."

Jonathan looked up in surprise at the unexpected sound of his son's 
voice.  His face broke out into a broad smile and he straightened. 
"Clark!  It's good to see you, son.  How're things in the big city?"

Clark walked over to his dad and took the pitchfork from him. 
"Busy," he admitted as he took over for his father.  "With all the 
fresh snow, I've been racing around as Superman all day."

"I'm not surprised," his father commiserated as he moved away to 
measure grain for the horses.  "And how's Lois?"  Clark hesitated, 
and his dad immediately picked up on it.  "Uh-oh.  Something's wrong 
between you and Lois."

Clark shook his head quickly.  "No, nothing's wrong, really," he hedged.

"But?"

Knowing he had a listening ear, Clark sighed and began to pour out 
the story of what had happened between him and Lois earlier that day, 
and how badly he felt about asking her to go away with him for the 
weekend because he felt like he was pressuring her for more in their 
relationship.

When Clark finished, Jonathan looked intently at his son.  "Well, 
were you?" he asked pointedly.

Clark stilled his pitchfork and leaned on it as he spoke.  "No, 
honestly I wasn't.  Not that I wouldn't mind being...intimate...with 
Lois," he admitted, giving his dad a sheepish smile.  "But I know our 
relationship isn't to that point yet.  We've only been dating for a 
short time, and I don't want to rush things."

Clark was silent for a moment, and his eyes lowered to the straw 
below him.  When he continued, his voice was hushed, almost reverent. 
"You know, Dad, I've waited a long time for Lois, even before I knew 
she was the one I was waiting for.  But now that I've found her, I 
don't want to blow it by rushing her.  You know what I mean?"

He raised his eyes to his father's, and was comforted by the look of 
understanding in his dad's gaze.  Knowing his father understood, he 
rushed on.  "When I asked Lois to go away with me for the weekend, I 
definitely didn't mean to imply anything like she thought I was 
implying.  I just wanted to be with her, to have some time alone with 
her, without any phone calls or cries for help to interrupt us.  I 
realize even more now than I did a year ago that she is the one I 
want to spend the rest of my life with, and if that means taking 
things at her pace, I'm willing to do that.  I just don't want her 
panicking and feeling like I'm pressuring her into something she's 
not ready for."

Jonathan nodded as he dumped the buckets of grain into the horses' 
feed troughs.  "Have you told her any of this?"

"Not yet," Clark replied as he resumed pitching straw into the 
stalls.  "This happened just after lunch, and I got busy making all 
those rescues.  But afterward, I wanted to go talk to her, but I had 
no idea what to say."

His dad smiled at him.  "So you came here instead."

Clark grinned sheepishly.  "Yeah, I guess I did."

Jonathan chuckled.  "I can't say that I'm not glad to see you, but 
you really should be in Metropolis talking to Lois, not here talking 
to me.  Not that I want you to feel like you can't come talk to me 
about these things whenever you need to," he rushed on.  "But Lois is 
a smart woman, Clark.  She'll understand if you just take the time to 
explain what you're feeling."

Clark nodded, though hesitantly.  "Yeah, I know she is.  But she's 
one with an awful lot of qualms about relationships.  Things like 
this tend to scare her off more than other women, I think."

  "All the more reason to talk to her," his dad insisted.  "Trust me 
on this.  You'll both feel better getting these things off your 
chests."

Clark tossed the last of the straw into the stall and shut the stall 
door.  "You're right, as usual," Clark told his dad with a grin. 
"Maybe that's why I headed over.  You always give me good advice."

Jonathan smiled back and clapped Clark on the shoulder as they walked 
out of the barn together.  "Anytime, son.  That's what I'm here for."

*****

After finishing a wonderful dinner with his parents and taking a much 
needed break from the hustle and bustle of Metropolis, Clark hugged 
his parents, promised his dad he'd let him know how things went with 
Lois, then flew back to the city.  With only a quick break to change 
out of the suit, he didn't take any time in getting to Lois', as much 
as he was tempted to.

When he knocked on her apartment door and then heard the sound of her 
approaching footsteps, he couldn't help the nervous, anxious feeling 
that threatened to overcome him.  How was she feeling, now that some 
time had passed since their talk after lunch?  Had she thought things 
through?  Was she still uneasy about the idea of them getting away 
together?  All these questions and more flooded through his mind as 
he listened to the sound of her door locks opening.

In the next moment, her door opened and his eyes immediately went to 
hers, looking for any sign of tension that could give him any 
indication as to how she was feeling.  With a sinking feeling, he saw 
that the smile that greeted him didn't reach all the way into her 
eyes.  *At least she hasn't slammed the door in my face.  That's got 
to be a good sign,* Clark thought optimistically.

She opened her door further and gestured for him to come in.  "I was 
wondering if something had happened to you when you didn't come back 
to the Planet this afternoon."

"I, uh, left to run a few errands and got sidetracked," he hedged. 
Quickly he changed the subject.  "Lois, can we talk?"

"Sure," she answered casually, gesturing to the couch.  But Clark 
couldn't help noticing that she looked as nervous as he felt. 
Following him over to the couch, she sat down tentatively next to 
him.  "What do you want to talk about, Clark?"

Clark turned to face her and took a deep breath.  "Lois, I feel 
horrible about the way we left things earlier this afternoon, and I 
wanted to apologize.  I didn't mean to make you feel like I was 
pressuring you--"

"No, Clark, it's okay--"

"No, Lois, it's not," he quickly cut her off before she could finish. 
He reached out to take her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. 
"This isn't something we've really talked about, and I want to assure 
you that I don't ever expect you to take a step in our relationship 
that you're not ready for.  The last thing I'd want to do is make you 
uncomfortable, or pressure you into doing something you're not ready 
to do."

Lois was quiet for a minute as she listened, then dropped her eyes to 
look at their joined hands.  "I know that, Clark," she replied 
quietly.

"But?" Clark asked, sensing there was one coming.

Lois sighed.  "But I guess it's just the idea of what could happen 
between us if we're alone together for a weekend that's bothering 
me."  She kept her eyes averted, nervous about voicing the concerns 
that had been running through her head since Clark had first 
mentioned their getting away.

Noticing her hesitancy, Clark lifted a hand to brush a strand of her 
dark hair out of her eyes, tucking it gently behind her ear and then 
tilting her chin up so she was forced to meet his intense gaze. 
"Come on, Lois.  You can tell me anything.  What's bothering you 
about it?"

After a minute, Lois began haltingly, "Well, it's just that, other 
than some intense kissing, we really haven't gotten...intimate...with 
each other, and I'm afraid of what might happen if we did."

Clark's brow furrowed in confusion.  "I'm not sure what you mean, Lois...."

Lois grew impatient.  "Clark, don't you see?  Every intimate 
relationship I've ever had has ended up disastrously.  What if the 
same thing happens to us?  Not that I'm saying ours would end up that 
way if we, you know, slept together.  I'm just saying that I can't 
seem to stop thinking about it."

"Lois, intimacy isn't something you need to worry about in our 
relationship," he insisted softly.  "When I asked you to go away with 
me for a weekend, I never meant to imply that we should jump into bed 
with each other.  I just thought it would be a great way to get us 
some time alone together, that's all.  I *promise* you that's all I 
was thinking.  Besides, I don't even know if *I'm* ready to take that 
step in our relationship just yet."

Lois smiled slowly and reached up to touch his cheek tenderly.  "I 
know, Clark.  It's just that your invitation got me thinking, you 
know?  And when I did, I suffered a temporary panic attack."

"But you're over that now?  And we're okay?" Clark asked, his eyes 
gazing intently into hers.

She nodded.  "We're okay."

Clark breathed a huge sigh of relief.  "You have no idea how glad I 
am to hear you say that," he admitted.  "I was so worried about how 
to talk to you about this that I fl--"

Lois looked at him strangely as he stopped mid-word.  "That you what?"

"Um," Clark stuttered, realizing how close he'd just come to telling 
her he flew to Smallville to talk to his dad.  He mentally shook 
himself and tried again.  "That I worried about it all afternoon 
while I was running errands," he finished lamely.

Lois seemed to accept that, though, and he gave an inward sigh of 
relief.  *You'd better watch yourself, Clark!* he scolded.  *One more 
false step like that and your relationship with Lois could be over 
for an entirely different reason.*

"Well, thanks for caring enough to worry about it, Clark," Lois said 
sincerely, giving his hand a squeeze.  "It makes me feel better 
knowing that you care that much about how comfortable I feel in our 
relationship."

"I do care, Lois," he assured her.  "And I want you to know that when 
and if the point comes in our relationship when we're considering 
intimacy, it'll be up to you to decide whether or not you're ready. 
If you're not, we'll wait.  No pressure.  Okay?"

She smiled gratefully.  "Thanks, Clark, for being so understanding, 
and not giving up on me altogether when I have my little anxiety 
attacks."

Clark shook his head and lifted his hand to stroke her cheek 
tenderly.  "I'm not giving up on us, Lois.  You can count on that."

Lois smiled.  "I'm glad to hear that."

Leaning down, Clark touched his lips gently to hers, his kiss light 
and tender at first.  But as they continued to kiss, their kiss 
deepened, becoming something more passionate and intense.  When they 
pulled away, they were both breathless.

Lois sighed as she snuggled into Clark's side.  "This is so nice," 
she breathed, reaching up for the arm Clark had draped around her 
shoulder and lacing her fingers with his.  Then, to Clark's utter 
surprise, she said, "You know, maybe I *could* handle a whole weekend 
of being alone together like this."

Clark stared at her.  "What are you saying, Lois?  That you *want* to 
spend a weekend at the cabin?"

"Well, it does sound like the perfect place to go," Lois admitted. 
"And everyone knows I could use a vacation."

Clark nodded, trying not to appear too eager.  But inside he was 
ecstatic.  Time alone with Lois, no interruptions...it was too good 
to be true!

"But on the other hand, we've only been dating for a couple of 
months.  Maybe we're not ready for something like this yet..."

"Lois," Clark interrupted patiently.  "Like I said before, spending a 
weekend together doesn't need to be a milestone in our relationship. 
We would just be two people who are spending some time together, 
getting to know each other better.  Just think--no phones, no alarm 
clocks...we can go out to dinner, then go back to the cabin and sit 
and snuggle in front of the fireplace and talk until all hours of the 
night."

Lois sighed happily.  "It sounds wonderful."

"And if it makes you feel any better, we can sleep in separate 
bedrooms," Clark continued.  When Lois laughed, he straightened up 
and looked at her seriously.  "No, Lois, I'm serious.  I want to make 
sure you know there's no pressure.  I don't want you to do anything 
you're not comfortable doing."

Lois met his intense gaze.  "Okay, but what if there's only one bedroom?"

"Then you can have the bedroom and I'll take the couch or something," 
he insisted.  Lois rolled her eyes, and Clark tightened his arm 
around her.  "Come on, Lois, you'll see.  This can work.  And I 
promise, it'll be just what you need.  What *we* need."

Lois tightened her fingers around Clark's.  "I think you may be right."

Their gazes locked, and Clark leaned down to kiss her softly.  When 
they pulled apart, Clark's lips curved into a slow smile.  "This is 
going to be great."

*****

"Hey, Manny!" Clark called across the lobby of the Daily Planet the 
next morning.

Manny turned around to see Clark hurrying to catch up to him and he 
slowed his steps and smiled.  "Clark!  Has anyone told you that you 
look entirely too cheerful in the morning?"

Clark laughed.  "All too frequently.  Hey, listen.  Lois is excited 
about using the cabin.  Thanks again for offering it to us."

"Oh, no sweat," Manny replied as they stepped into the waiting 
elevator.  "I'm just glad I could help.  When are you heading up 
there?"

Clark moved over to make room for a couple of other people who were 
trying to get in the elevator, then turned back to his friend.  "We'd 
originally talked about going up over New Year's since it's a 
weekend, but then we thought it might work better to just extend our 
Christmas vacation for a couple of days and go up early in the week 
for a day or two.  Is that a problem, though?  Using it during the 
week?"

"Not at all," Manny said quickly.  "In fact, the town's putting on a 
snow festival with ice sculpture contests, snow mazes, stuff like 
that.  And I know that the theater group has a performance scheduled 
for that Monday night.  Why don't you use my season theater pass and 
take Lois?  The performers are supposed to be really good."

"That sounds great!" Clark exclaimed.  "Are you sure you don't mind, though?"

Manny smiled and shook his head as the elevator stopped and they 
stepped into the newsroom.  "I paid for the season pass.  Someone 
might as well use it."

"Perfect."  Clark clapped his friend on the shoulder as they started 
to part ways.  "Remind me to make this up to you."

"Just go a little easier on me the next time we play ball!" Manny 
called after him.  As he watched Clark walk energetically down the 
newsroom ramp, Manny's casual smile faded and his expression turned 
serious.

He walked over to his desk in the research section, sat down, picked 
up the phone and dialed.  When he heard the voice on the other end, 
he sat down at his desk and lowered his voice.  "Give me Garrison."

A minute later, Garrison's gruff voice came across the line.  "Yeah."

"Garrison, it's me.  It's all set.  Kent's going to be using the 
cabin for a couple of days after Christmas.  I even convinced him to 
take those theater tickets like you wanted.  Everything's a go."

"Good," came Garrison's gruff reply.  "Now get on up here.  We've got 
some planning to do."

"But I just got here!" Manny exclaimed in surprise.  "What am I 
supposed to tell everyone?"

"Who cares?" Garrison growled.  "You found out when Kent and Lane are 
coming, that's what's important.  So use any excuse you want, but get 
your butt out of there.  I need you here.  And make sure to bring the 
disk with you."

Manny nodded, eager to get back on his boss' good side.  "Sure thing, 
Garrison.  I'll be there in a couple of hours."

*****

"So what have we got?" Perry asked from his seat at the head of the 
conference table.  He looked at his reporting staff sitting around 
the table.

"There's the union strike," one of the reporters tossed out.

"Or how about the increase in crime around Metropolis during the 
holidays?" suggested another.

But Perry stood up and shook his head.  "No, no, no," he said gruffly 
as he waved off their suggestions and started to pace around the 
room.  "I don't think you guys get it!  The Daily Planet is the 
number one newspaper in the world, and we're going on-line starting 
January first!  We've got to have some big stories, something to 
start off this New Year with a bang!  I don't want the on-line 
stories to read 'Big Wait at Check-Out Lines.'"  He stopped pacing 
and turned back to the group.  "Now everyone think!  What can we use 
to start the year 2000 off with a bang?  Lois?  Clark?"

"Don't look at me," Lois told him.  "Since you killed my 'Vigilante 
Groups' story, all I've got is 'Jewel Thief Caught' and 'Christmas 
Charity Fund Raiser a Success.'"

Clark gave her a look and nudged her under the table, but Lois nudged 
him back in protest.  Sure, she understood why Perry had taken her 
off the story.  But she didn't have to like it.

Perry nodded and turned to her partner.  "Clark?  What about you? 
Have you got anything?"

Clark turned away from Lois and looked at Perry.  "Not much, Chief. 
I've been working on that senatorial scandal, but so far there's 
nothing new on that to lead off the year with."

Perry walked back to the head of the table and slapped his hands down 
on it firmly.  "Come on, people!  The Daily Planet going on-line is a 
monumental occasion, one that I don't want to underplay.  And our 
first on-line issue is just a week and a half away!  Our competition 
has already launched its on-line website, and if we don't start out 
with a bang, we'll just look like a cheap imitation!  So in order to 
prove that we're the best, we need scandal!  We need catastrophe! 
This is Metropolis, for crying out loud!  Our stories are out there 
waiting for us.  Go find 'em!"

His words sent everyone scrambling for the conference room door, and 
Perry went with them, leaving Lois and Clark alone in the room.

Lois closed her notebook and sighed.  "He sure didn't beat around the 
bush, did he?"

"Nope, but I know how hard he's been pushing to get the paper 
on-line," Clark told her as he stood up.  "It's been his pet project 
ever since the Star went on-line and started modernizing their paper. 
Since then, Perry's been pushing to get the paper ready to go on-line 
with a special daily edition."

"Perry pushing to modernize the paper," Lois said with a shake of her 
head.  "Now I've seen everything."

"Yeah, me too," Clark chuckled.  "But we won't have to worry much 
about it.  In just a few short days, we'll be on vacation in the 
seclusion of the mountains, and we won't be hounded by Perry to come 
up with something out of this world."

"Maybe," Lois said as she followed Clark out of the room.  "We still 
have to convince him to let us have those vacation days, and from the 
way he yelled at everyone just now about finding him some stories of 
major importance, I doubt he's going to be easily convinced."

Clark smiled smugly at her as they reached their desks.  "I already 
convinced him."

Lois stopped dead in her tracks.  "You did?  You're kidding!  How'd 
you manage that?"

"I just went into his office this morning and asked him," Clark told 
her, obviously very pleased with himself.  "He didn't have any 
problem with giving you the extra time off, especially since that 
little spectacle of yours from a couple of days ago was still fresh 
in his mind.  But it took a little fancy talking on my part to 
convince him to let me have the time off, too."

"But he did?"

Clark nodded.  "Yep.  And Manny said we could have the cabin whenever 
we want it, so how about we head up there on Sunday, the day after 
Christmas?"

"That'd be great, but unfortunately I'm going to be spending all 
Christmas Day with my parents and Lucy, which doesn't exactly leave 
me a lot of time to pack.  Besides, aren't you going to be in 
Smallville with your folks on Christmas?  You're not flying back on 
Christmas Day, are you?"

Clark opened his mouth to say that he could fly back whenever he 
wanted to, but he quickly stopped himself.  Of course she meant 
'flying back' as in 'on an airplane.'  She didn't have any reason to 
think any differently.

"Oh, yeah, you're right," Clark fibbed.  "Maybe we should leave first 
thing on Monday morning, instead.  That way we can be there in plenty 
of time to see the sights.  Manny said the resort's center down the 
hill has all sorts of activities going on, like ice sculptures and 
snow mazes."

"Really?  That sounds like fun!" Lois exclaimed.  She sidled up to 
Clark and slid her arms around his waist, tilting her face up to his 
with a smile.  "I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this 
now that we've talked about, well, you know."

Clark tightened his arms around her and smiled back at her.  "I know. 
And I'm glad you're looking forward to it, because I am, too." 
Leaning down, he kissed her lightly.

"Hey, hey, hey!  What's this?" Perry interrupted, causing them to 
jump apart guiltily.  He walked over to them with a stack of papers 
in his hand.  "You two will have plenty of time for that mushy stuff 
later, like during that vacation time I very generously approved. 
But for now, don't you think you two had better get to work?  I want 
to see your stories on my desk in an hour, plus I want you to give me 
everything you have on those other stories you've started.  I need to 
see what we may have coming up that I can lead off with on January 
first."

"Okay, Chief," Clark answered obediently.

Satisfied, Perry turned and headed for his office.  When he was out 
of earshot, Lois turned to Clark.  "He's got to be kidding! 
Everything we have?  That'll take a good couple of hours to put 
together, not to mention the time it'll take to get our stories ready 
for him in an hour!  We'll be lucky if we get a lunch break at all."

"You're right," Clark agreed seriously.  Then he smiled.  "But just 
keep reminding yourself that in a few days, we'll be outta here."

Lois laughed at his enthusiastic slang and nodded her head in 
agreement.  "It's a deal.  Now let's get to work."

*****

The mid-day sunlight streamed through the tall forest trees, casting 
a myriad of shadows on the unpaved, dirt road as Manny slowed to a 
stop in front of the post and barbed wire gate stretched across the 
road.  As he waited for the armed guard to reach him, Manny pulled 
his I.D. from his jacket pocket and rolled down his window.

When the guard stopped next to the driver's side window, Manny handed 
the large, burly man his I.D. and said, "Garrison's expecting me."

The man glanced at the picture on the I.D., looked at Manny, then 
back at the picture.  "Look, I'm kind of in a hurry," Manny responded 
impatiently.  "Can we kind of move this along?"

Unruffled, the guard studied the information on the card for another 
long moment before handing the card back to Manny.  "Go down the road 
and park on the left.  I'll get the gate."  And with that, the man 
adjusted the rifle on his shoulder and walked around to the front of 
the car to unlatch the gate, then swung it open for Manny to drive 
through.

"Park on the left?" Manny grumbled to himself as he finished rolling 
up his window.  "What am I, an outsider?  It's not as if I haven't 
been here a hundred times already."  In disgust, he stomped on the 
accelerator, causing his spinning tires to kick up the dust from the 
road and engulf the guard in a brown, dusty cloud.  Manny glanced in 
his rearview mirror and smiled in satisfaction as he saw the man 
begin to cough and sputter.  "Serves him right."

Manny slowed back down as the dirt road he was on began to twist in 
and out of the thick forest of trees as it led him up the slope of a 
mountain.  When he reached the crest of the hill, the road swerved 
abruptly to the left and then started to descend toward the large log 
building set at the bottom of the hill next to a gently flowing creek.

Set down in the ravine a couple of miles from the nearest paved road, 
the cabin and its occupants were all but invisible from prying eyes. 
Trask had picked this location upon his reinstatement with Bureau 39, 
insistent that his skills as a survivalist would keep him obscure and 
protected from any outside intrusions as he went about fulfilling his 
mission of eliminating Superman.

Steering the car into the level dirt parking area on the left of the 
building, alongside the two four-wheel drive vehicles and an unmarked 
white van with tinted windows, Manny shifted his car into park and 
turned off the engine.  Immediately, two large, formidable men 
dressed in camouflaged military uniforms appeared in the lodge 
doorway, but then they saw Manny and relaxed.  They waved him in and 
led him through the lodge's front room, then through a large, 
functional kitchen, and finally down a long hallway that eventually 
led to Garrison's office at the back of the structure.

When they knocked and Garrison's deep voice responded, they opened 
the door and gestured for Manny to go in.  When he did, they quickly 
closed the door behind him, leaving him alone with Garrison.

Manny clenched his fists in irritation.  "Why do Trask's thugs always 
think I need an escort in this place?"

Garrison glanced up from his computer monitor and waved his hand at 
the doorway dismissively.  "They're all just a bunch of brainless, 
brawny thugs who've never thought for themselves a day in their 
lives.  Trask ordered that everyone except his immediate troops, and 
me, of course, be escorted around the place.  Don't let them get to 
you."  He finished typing in a few more keystrokes, then leaned back 
in his chair and looked intently at Manny.  "So?  Where's the disk?"

"Oh, yeah."  Manny reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled 
out the square piece of black plastic.  "It's all set.  The virus is 
installed, and everything is pretty much set to go."

Garrison took the disk Manny held out to him, then gave him a look. 
"Pretty much?"

"Yeah, well, I still want to run a couple of tests on it to make sure 
everything goes according to plan," Manny told him, shifting his feet 
anxiously, "but so far there haven't been any indications that the 
plan is anything but perfect.  There's nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?  That's a pretty cocky statement coming from 
someone who's about to be involved in the biggest virus scandal in 
history."

Manny grinned.  "So I'm cocky.  What's wrong with that?"

"Everything's wrong with that," Garrison scolded, temporarily 
forgetting the disk in his hand and glaring up at Manny.  "If you 
look at all the criminals around the world who are behind bars, 
ninety-five percent of them are cocky, and didn't think they'd ever 
be caught.  That arrogance is what *gets* you caught.  And if you 
ever get caught, it'll be your funeral.  Understand?"

The grin quickly faded from Manny's face.  "Yeah, boss.  I understand."

"Good."  Garrison turned back to the computer and slid the disk into 
a slot on one of the three computers lining the wall.

The whirring sound of the computer as it started to read the disk 
filled the air, and a second later, the disk's files flashed onto the 
screen.  Seeing the data before him, Garrison slowly leaned forward 
in his chair, his eyes widening in disbelief.  "What is this?!"

Manny's heart leapt into his throat as he took a step closer to the 
monitor to see what his boss was looking at.  "What's the matter?"

"This!" Garrison shouted, gesturing to the computer screen.  "This 
disk contains information about some jewel thief and his conviction 
record!  Where's the virus antidote?!"

Manny's face turned ashen and he gulped.  "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?" Garrison echoed.  "What do you mean, 'uh-oh?'"

"Um, I must have accidentally switched the disks by mistake," Manny 
said in a small voice as he straightened up.

"Switched the disks?!" Garrison roared, his eyes blazing.  "With 
whose?  Who has the virus antidote?"

"Lois Lane must have it.  This disk was supposed to be included in 
the research I gave her for her story.  I must have given her our 
disk, instead."

"So Lois Lane has the disk?  You idiot!  Do you have any idea what 
you've done?!  That disk contains the patch for the Planet's virus! 
If she's looked at it, she could be on to our whole plan!  We'd be 
done for!"

"Now, Garrison, calm down," Manny said, trying to soothe his raging 
boss.  "The antidote is completely encrypted.  Even if she did open 
it, there'd be nothing for her to see.  All I have to do is go back 
to the Planet and switch the disks back.  She always keeps her disks 
in her top desk drawer, so it's no problem to find it."

"Unless she's already taken it to the police!" Garrison shouted.  He 
turned back to his computer and quickly shut it down, then stood up 
and grabbed his overcoat from the hook on the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To get the disk!"

"But I already said I'd go back and get it for you," Manny told him 
as he hurried over to the door.

But Garrison quickly pushed him aside.  "Forget it!  You've already 
jeopardized the plan.  Do you think I'm just going to stay here while 
I give you the chance to run back and mess things up again?  Forget 
it!  I'm going myself.  That's the only way I'm going to know the job 
is done right.  Just stay here and make sure no one fools with my 
computer while I'm gone."

"But...it'll take you four hours to get there and back!  You just 
want me to sit here for four hours?"

Garrison yanked open the door, but then paused and turned back to 
glare at him.  "Just be glad I don't pull out my gun and shoot you 
right now.  In a plan of this magnitude, there's no room for 
mistakes.  Or for the people who make them," he finished pointedly. 
Then with one last, seething look, Garrison walked out and slammed 
the door behind him.

As Garrison's footsteps retreated, Manny breathed a quick sigh of 
relief.  Garrison had been right.  There was no room for mistakes. 
And he'd just been let off the hook.

Walking over to the chair Garrison had recently occupied, he sat 
down, leaned his head against the tall-backed chair and closed his 
eyes.  He knew he might as well make himself comfortable.  He had a 
few hours to kill.

*****

"How's your story coming, Lois?" Clark asked as he walked over to her 
desk and perched on the corner of it.

"Just sending it to Perry now."  A couple more clicks of her mouse, 
and the story was on its way to Perry's office.  With a weary sigh, 
she leaned back in her chair and looked up at Clark.  "How's yours?"

"All done."

"You mean we finally have a minute to breathe?" she asked, smiling 
tiredly.  "I'm so hungry I could eat an entire four course meal."

Clark grinned.  "Then how about some lunch?  If we hurry, we can 
still catch the lunch special at Margene's."

"That sounds perfect."

Lois rolled her chair back from her desk and reached for her purse. 
When she stood up, Clark was holding her coat up for her.  She smiled 
at him.  "Always the perfect gentleman."

He flashed her his heart-stopping smile and helped her on with her 
coat.  "Of course I am.  So are you ready?"

She nodded as she slipped her arm through his.  "Yep.  But let's 
hurry and get out of here before Perry decides to slap another 
last-minute story on us."

Clark laughed as they walked arm and arm out of the newsroom.  "You 
know, I wouldn't put it past him."

When they stepped out into the brisk December air, Lois tightened her 
overcoat around her more securely and looked up at the blanket of 
clouds overhead.  "Looks like snow," she commented.  "At least it 
would warm things up around here."  She pulled her gloves from her 
pockets and started to put them on.  As she did, she couldn't help 
noticing Clark's unbuttoned coat and lack of gloves.  "Aren't you 
freezing?"

"Oh, um, not really," Clark stammered, suddenly looking 
uncomfortable.  "I guess I spent so much time working out on the farm 
in Smallville in cold weather that it doesn't affect me much anymore."

"Mmm," Lois murmured distractedly as she reached for her scarf and 
wrapped it around her neck.  "Acclimation and all that, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess," Clark replied.  Then he quickly reached out and 
grabbed her arm, steering her around a couple of Christmas shoppers 
who had stopped to peer into a boutique window.

Lois smiled up at him.  "Thanks.  I guess I should watch where I'm 
going in this crowd."

It wasn't long before they reached Margene's and walked through the 
jingling, wreath-adorned front door of the café.  Compared to the 
cold outside, the warmth of the café was a comforting change.

As the door swung shut behind them, Clark put his hand on the small 
of her back and steered her toward a vacant booth near the windows. 
They sat down, and Lois pulled off her gloves and shrugged out of her 
coat.

"A few minutes to relax," Lois smiled across the table at Clark.  "I 
can hardly believe it."

"Well, believe it," Clark grinned back.  "And just think...this is 
only the beginning.  We can relax for three whole days once we get up 
to the cabin.  Manny says they have some great restaurants in town. 
We could be doing this a couple of times a day."

"Mmmm," Lois replied happily.  "Just the thought of a real, 
honest-to-goodness vacation--and one with you, even--" she grinned, 
"keeps me going through busy days like these."  She reached for one 
of the menus on their table and flipped it open.  "What are you going 
to order?"

When they'd placed their orders with the waitress and their food 
arrived, Lois didn't waste any time digging right in.  It wasn't long 
before her food was gone.

Clark couldn't help laughing.  "I can't believe you just ate all 
that.  I guess you won't have any room for dessert now."

"Oh, dessert!" Lois exclaimed.  "I could really go for some chocolate mousse."

Clark smiled and shook his head.  "Lois, you never cease to amaze me."

Lois grinned sheepishly as she gave the waitress her dessert order 
and then sat back to wait for it.  "What can I say?  All that work 
this morning and putting off lunch for so long made me famished."

Clark opened his mouth to reply, but the sound of Lois' cell phone 
ringing interrupted him.  Lois sighed.  "I guess a whole lunch 
without interruptions would be too much to ask for."  She reached 
into her purse and pulled out the phone.  "Hello?  Oh, hi Jimmy. 
What's up?"

As Clark scooped up the last of his lasagna, he glanced up at Lois as 
she listened to Jimmy.  But a few seconds later, her face took on a 
strange, confused expression.

"He was looking for me?  Did he say what he wanted?"

Instantly on alert, Clark's brow furrowed and he put down his fork. 
"What's wrong?" he mouthed.

She shook her head at him quickly, then listened for another minute. 
"And he just left when he saw you watching him?  Where did he go?"

More than anything, Clark wanted to tune in his superhearing and 
listen in on her conversation, but he felt funny about doing that 
since he'd be invading her privacy.  So he waited impatiently for her 
to finish.

The second she did, Clark started in on her.  "Lois, what happened? 
What did Jimmy say?"

Lois' brows furrowed as she slid the phone back into her purse. 
"Jimmy said the newsroom pretty much died after we left since 
everybody else was taking a late lunch, so he sat down at his desk to 
eat lunch, too.  But then he spotted some big guy with dark hair 
coming down the ramp, and he asked somebody where my desk was.  When 
they told him, the guy went over to my desk and started rummaging 
through my drawers.  He took something out and slipped it into his 
coat pocket, but then he saw Jimmy watching him and took off down the 
back stairs."

Clark stiffened in his seat.  "Did the guards catch him?"

Lois shook her head.  "Jimmy alerted the security guards downstairs, 
but nobody could find him.  My guess is he ran out of a fire exit or 
something."

"What did he take?" Clark asked, concerned.  "Did you leave anything 
valuable in your desk?  Keys to your car or apartment?  A wallet 
maybe?"

Lois shook her head adamantly.  "I never put anything like that in my 
drawers.  Only notebooks and pencils and stuff.  Nothing of value."

"Well, it would have to be something small enough to fit into his 
coat pocket.  Does that give you any clues?"

Lois frowned.  "Not really."

The familiar feeling of dread that Clark got whenever somebody close 
to him might be in danger returned, and he knew it would be 
impossible to shrug it off.  "Lois, maybe you should find somewhere 
else to stay tonight.  Whoever this was, they wanted something of 
yours enough to walk into the Planet in broad daylight with 
co-workers around, and steal it.  Are you sure you'd be safe in your 
apartment by yourself tonight?  Maybe you should stay with me at my 
apartment."

Lois laughed.  "Clark, I've lived by myself for a long time.  I'll be 
fine.  Don't worry."

"Lois, I can't help it.  I *do* worry about you.  You get yourself 
into more jams than anyone I've ever known."

She reached for his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  "And I've 
come through each of them relatively unscathed.  I can handle it."

Clark felt torn.  He wanted to protect her, to make sure she was 
safe.  But on the other hand, he knew he couldn't force his 
protection on her.  If his past attempts were any indication, he knew 
she wouldn't stand for it.

Finally he sighed in exasperation.  "If you won't stay somewhere 
else, at least promise me you'll be extra careful for the next few 
days.  Whoever was at the Planet wanted something of yours, and who 
knows if he'll show up again, or what he might do if he does."

"Clark, I promise," Lois assured him.  She reached for the chocolate 
mousse the waitress had set in front of her while she was on the 
phone and took a bite.  "Now, why don't we forget about this for a 
few minutes and finish dessert?  Then we can figure it all out when 
we get back to the Planet."

Clark sighed.  If only he could push the incident out of his mind so easily.

*****

When they got back to the Planet, Clark didn't waste any time in 
grilling Jimmy for any other details he might have forgotten.  He 
even talked to Perry, who had already been alerted to the situation 
by Jimmy, and got permission to spend some time talking to the 
security guards in the building to see if they'd noted anything out 
of the ordinary.  But nobody had.  Even Lois wasn't much help, since 
she couldn't seem to find out what had been taken.

Finally, with nothing left to go on, Clark gave up.  He tried to 
persuade Lois again as the day came to a close to stay somewhere else 
for the night, but she firmly refused.  Because of it, Clark spent a 
restless night as he kept his superhearing tuned in for any signs of 
trouble, and he flew over her apartment several times.  But much to 
his relief, nothing happened.

The next day also passed uneventfully, with Clark and Lois spending 
the day catching up on the last minute stories that Perry assigned 
them, and by quitting time, Clark's feelings of anxiety for Lois had 
also passed.  The following day, Christmas Eve, went by quickly, with 
Perry treating everyone to a catered lunch and a casual, festive 
atmosphere.  Before Clark knew it, he and Lois were done for the day.

As they walked out of the Planet building together, Clark held Lois' 
attaché while she put her gloves on.  "So is everything set for your 
family's Christmas gathering tomorrow?" he asked as they walked down 
the street to where she'd parked her Jeep.

Lois nodded as she finished with her gloves and took her attaché back 
from Clark.  "Yes, as set as it's going to be, I guess," she answered 
with a sigh.  "Lucy is able to come after all, and her flight's 
getting in tonight.  But she's not coming alone.  She's bringing her 
latest boyfriend with her, so that should be interesting."

Clark laughed.  "I can imagine."

"How about you?" Lois asked, sliding her arm through Clark's and 
snuggling up next to him.  "When does your flight leave for 
Smallville?"

Clark cringed.  He hated having to tell little white lies to Lois. 
At the point they were in their relationship, it just made him feel 
guilty.  He had to tell her about Superman.  And soon.

"Um, tonight," he finally answered.  "My parents and I are going to 
spend Christmas morning together.  Then tomorrow night we'll probably 
go into town to see the Christmas tree and lights festival they have 
every year at the town square.  There are always carolers and hot 
chocolate, and everybody gets to catch up on who's doing what."

Lois smiled wistfully.  "Sounds like fun."

Clark heard the tone in her voice and turned to her.  "Lois, you're 
still welcome to come, you know.  I wouldn't want to intrude on your 
family time, but if you're really dreading spending the day with your 
family--"

"No, Clark, it's okay," Lois interrupted.  "I told my folks I'd be 
there, and at least they're making an attempt to have everyone get 
together.  That's at least something."  They reached the car, and 
Lois stopped to look up at Clark and give him a quick smile.  "But 
thanks for offering."

Clark smiled back, but Lois noticed his smile didn't reach all the 
way into his eyes.  He sighed and reached out to pull her into a warm 
hug.  "I just hate the thought of you being unhappy on Christmas, 
Lois."

Feeling tears gather in her eyes at the sincerity of his words, she 
slid her arms around his waist and hugged him back tightly.  It was 
an incredible feeling to know that he cared so much about her, and 
about whether or not she was happy.  He truly was an amazing person.

"I won't be unhappy, exactly," she reassured him.  "I'd just rather 
be spending Christmas with you, that's all."

He hugged her a little tighter, and Lois knew that if he didn't stop 
being so darned sympathetic, he was going to make her cry right there 
in front of everybody.  She gave his back a quick pat and pulled out 
of his embrace, careful to keep her emotions in check.

"Don't worry about me, Clark, I'll be fine.  Besides, we're heading 
up to the lodge the day after Christmas, right?"

Clark nodded.  "If it's all right with you, I thought we'd leave 
around nine.  That should get us up there around eleven, and we can 
unpack and look around a little before lunch."

"I can hardly wait," Lois told him with a smile.  "At least I have 
that to look forward to."  At the return of Clark's sympathetic look, 
Lois groaned and rolled her eyes.  "Clark, quit worrying about me! 
I'm going to be fine."

She unlocked the doors of her Jeep and then went around to the 
driver's side to climb in while Clark got in the passenger side. 
Feeling she'd gotten her emotions back under control, she turned to 
Clark once they were in the car and grinned.  "I seem to be telling 
you a lot lately not to worry about me."

Clark laughed.  "How true.  But if I'm always having to say that, 
don't you think that means something?"

She started the car and flashed him a teasing smile.  "Um, maybe that 
you worry too much?"

Clark laughed again as he shook his head.  "I give up," he muttered 
as they drove away.

As they did, neither of them noticed the dark-haired man listening in 
on their conversation from the back seat of the black Lexus parked in 
front of them.  He watched the silver Jeep pull out into traffic, 
then rolled up his window.  Turning to Manny sitting beside him, 
Garrison said, "Sounds like they'll be at the cabin early.  We'd 
better go make sure everything's set for their arrival."

Manny nodded, clearly relieved to be back on his boss' good side now 
that the disk was back in their possession.  "I'll go there tonight 
and get started."

Garrison gave him a quick nod.  "You do that."  Then he straightened 
and waved his hand at the burly, blond-haired driver in the front 
seat.  "Let's go.  Trask will want to hear about this."

*****

Lois grabbed the dinner dishes from her mom and gave her a tired 
smile.  "Why don't you go and sit down, Mom?  I can do the dishes."

Ms. Lane smiled at her daughter.  "Thanks, sweetie.  Actually, I 
wouldn't mind stepping outside for a minute to get some fresh air."

Lois watched as her mom turned and crossed through the family room, 
complete with lighted and blinking Christmas tree, and headed out 
onto the back patio of the condo, shutting the door behind her.

"I can't say that I blame you, Mom," she muttered as she set the 
dinner dishes in the kitchen sink.  "This day hasn't exactly been 
relaxing."

*Relaxing.  Yeah, right,* Lois thought as she turned on the hot 
water.  *I know things are bad when I'm using the excuse of doing the 
dishes to get a moment to myself.  At least I'm assured of a few 
minutes of peace this way.  I mean, who in their right mind is going 
to come in and offer to help?*

Actually, the day had started off pretty well, Lois considered as she 
started to rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.  Lucy and 
her new boyfriend, who seemed to be very charming, were happy and 
joking around, which seemed to set the tone of the morning as they 
all sat around the tree, talking and laughing and opening gifts.  In 
fact, Lois couldn't remember enjoying a holiday with her family more.

But then the inevitable happened.  Her dad said