Carbon Copy By Wendy Richards Rated: PG-13 Submitted: August 2002 ----------- Author's note: Carbon Copy began its life at least three years ago, when my imagination dreamt up a conversation between the Clark from That Super Man Of Mine and a Clark in another universe who hadn't yet told Lois his secret. I visualised the first Clark getting angry with his counterpart, pointing out all the advantages of letting Lois in on the secret, and the damage that Clark was doing by keeping her in ignorance. It wasn't exactly a friendly conversation; no doubt Kaethel would say that she was right not to like CK in this story. Then I had to find a premise in which I could use that conversation, and for some reason Top Copy seemed like an appropriate place in which to locate it. And then I lost inspiration, and the notes and the shred of conversation languished on my hard drive. Two years ago I took it out again and actually managed to write the first scene. Then another story I was writing at the time (Just Another Undercover Assignment) grabbed my attention instead, and the untitled copy went back into oblivion on my hard drive until late last year. In the meantime, of course, Ann had posted A Triangle Built For Two - this had enabled me to procrastinate again on this story, because I told myself that I couldn't start posting a Top Copy rewrite when Ann's was still being posted. But at the end of last year I promised myself that this time I would write and finish it - despite Nan posting Getting To Know You, part of the Mystery series, earlier this year. Like LabRat and her experience with If Tomorrow Comes, Top Copy was an ep which hadn't really been rewritten when I started writing this story, yet by the time I posted, lots of people seemed to have written their own adaptations. But I was determined this time... and despite other distractions, including other WIPs, I did finally finish it. The fact that I finished it is mainly down to the readers and commenters on Zoom's MBs, but also to some other people whose help is very much appreciated. Anne, who nagged and cheerled. Kaethel, who nagged and encouraged and wrote a smoochie for me when I was completely lacking in inspiration. And the 'spoiler gang', who were incredibly patient and tolerant putting up with me pasting bits from this story week after week. And to Katie, Chris, Laura and Anne for the photos. Thanks, too, to Nan, from whom I 'borrowed' the stomach-pump remedy and who gave me the idea for a scene near the end of the story. And most of all, some truly wonderful beta-readers: Yvonne and Meredith, who were my beta-readers throughout, and Jo_March, who gave the story a final edit before I finished. And thanks, Meredith, for the title! I would also like to thank my Archive editor, Sarah Murray, for her very speedy and helpful editing. An illustrated version of this story is available on my page at Annesplace, www.annesplace.net. ~ Carbon Copy ~ Yawning, Clark filled his coffee-machine. It was going to be another long day, right on top of last night's stakeout, and Lois was due over at his place shortly to drop off their completed story so that he could look it over before they took it in to Perry. This was one they *didn't* want anywhere around the newsroom before Perry had it safely sent for printing. Knowing Lois, she would expect him to read the story on the spot - well, he could, of course, but she didn't know that! - and she would stay until he'd okayed it. Hence the coffee, made precisely to Lois's exacting specifications. Not that he would ever object to Lois's company, of course. If only they were able to find some time together when they weren't on assignment! He had finally managed to work up the courage to ask her for a date, and she had actually said yes - but that had been well over a week ago now. What should have been their first date had been cancelled when an assignment had come up, and since then there had been no opportunity to reschedule. He half-suspected that Lois was secretly relieved at that fact, and if he was honest with himself, there was a part of him which was also a tiny bit relieved. He loved Lois, of course, and he wanted nothing more than to have her as his girlfriend... his wife, even, if she would have him. But at the moment they were best friends, and after a long time and a lot of hard work he had her trust. If they dated, became romantically involved, and it all went pear- shaped, what would happen to their friendship? But he had already faced that question, he reminded himself. He had been over and over that in his mind before asking her out in the first place. And she had also considered that same point, he was well aware. She'd even brought it up with him in conversation, while she was wondering whether or not their dating was a good idea. The same issue had been very much in the back of both their minds on their 'almost first date'; there had been that very awkward moment when she had fallen on top of him on the couch. They had ended up staring into each other's eyes, and he had ached to kiss her. Yet something had held him back, and there had been something in her eyes which suggested that she had also been torn. They had both known, instinctively, that one kiss then could plunge them over a precipice into the complete unknown. They had, together but independently, retreated to the security of their friendship, preferring the comfortable and familiar over the uncertainty of what lay beyond it. And for Clark there was more to that unknown than Lois could know. There was the question of his secret identity to deal with. If he and Lois became romantically involved, he would have to tell her the truth about Superman. And that was something about which he had an enormous sense of mixed feelings. It wasn't a question of trust; never that. He trusted Lois implicitly by this point. She'd proven over and over that she wouldn't betray Superman and that she considered her loyalty to him more important than getting a story. She hadn't reported the existence of Kryptonite, nor had she printed the fact that his powers could be transferred. She'd even stopped Jimmy photographing Superman being defeated by Metallo. No, it wasn't trust. It was something far less important, and about which Clark felt ashamed. Because of that, he preferred not to think about it. The real reason he was reluctant to tell Lois his secret was because he was afraid of what her reaction would be - particularly whether she'd want him because he was Superman, and not because he was Clark. Not something to be proud of, he told himself. After all, they were best friends and almost dating. He should have more faith in her than that. But still... Pouring himself a much-needed cup of coffee, he was about to raise the drink to his lips when he suddenly became aware of *something.* Not quite a sound, not quite a movement... just some instinct telling him that there was *something* outside. On his balcony... With a burst of very silent Super-speed, in under a second he was standing at the door to the balcony, his glasses in his hand as he gazed through the closed door using X-ray vision. What he saw made him almost keel over in shock; the next second, he was pinching himself to ensure that he was awake. Superman was landing on his balcony. ********* Superman? Clark almost felt he had to remind himself of that fact as he stared out through the door at his strange visitor. So who was this impostor? Another clone? Sent by someone who had discovered his secret? Was this a trap? Maybe he should pretend not to be in. Maybe he should... but no. It would be better to find out *now* what was going on; who this impostor was. If someone was out to try to expose him, or to cause trouble, it would be better to nip it in the bud as soon as possible. He hesitated before opening the door, unwilling to confront this Superman-clone until he was sure that he could play the part of Clark Kent, reporter, who wouldn't be all that surprised to see Superman show up on his balcony. After all, he was supposed to be a friend of Superman's, so if he showed any degree of suspicion at all... He stood back, replacing his glasses, then took one deep breath and pulled the door open. The impostor stood, watching, as if he'd been waiting for Clark to open the door. "Superman! This is a surprise - what can I do for you?" Clark asked, controlling his tone of voice so that he sounded both friendly and curious. "I just wanted to talk to you, Clark." The deep voice, so like his own, with precisely the lower pitch he used when he was in the Suit, made Clark feel as if he was in the middle of some bizarre dream. He didn't particularly want to have whatever conversation was going to ensue out on his balcony, though; he really didn't want anyone else noticing that Superman was accustomed to flying into Clark Kent's apartment through the back way. "You better come in, then," he replied, his tone this time a little abrupt. The Superman-clone followed him into the bedroom, closing the door behind him, and then headed for the kitchen. Clark was about to ask again what his visitor wanted, but before he could do so, the Spandex-clad man began to spin. Less than a second later, Clark found himself staring at... Himself. "What...? How...?" Frantically searching for a question which wouldn't give himself away, Clark simply stared at the man. How had this clone - or the clone's makers - known that *he* was Superman? And what were they planning on doing with the knowledge? "Maybe your question should be 'who,' Clark," his identical twin pointed out with a touch of irony. Clark looked closer, and began to see some subtle differences. This man's hairstyle wasn't quite the same, and his glasses, though gold-framed, were styled differently. He also seemed to be quite relaxed about the situation, which was more than could be said for Clark himself right now! He sighed. "Okay then, you got me. Who are you?" His visitor held out his hand - and in that moment, Clark could see a hint of nervousness in the other man's stance. "Hi. I'm Clark Kent, also known as Superman, and it's great to meet you, Clark." Clark ignored the hand, shaking his head in disbelief. "Come on - you expect me to believe that? Who are you? Who's paying you to do this? And how did you manage that flying stunt outside?" His visitor raised an eyebrow in enquiry. "What, you don't believe I'm Superman either now? I guess I can't blame you - after all, you know you're Superman, so how could I be?" He grinned in a lop-sided manner, and before Clark could deny his own relationship to the Super-hero, the visitor levitated several feet off the ground. That scratched the double theory, Clark thought, now completely baffled. Just who was this guy, who looked just like him and who knew that Superman was really Clark Kent? Was it another clone? Or some sort of hallucination, or even a cyborg? And what was his agenda? Should Clark be trying to overpower him, before he could be hurt himself? "Clark, I really am Superman," his double claimed. "I'm just from another dimension, that's all." "What are you talking about? Another dimension?" Clark repeated, bewildered and unsure whether to believe this fantastic story or not. On the other hand, what other explanation could there be? Well, the guy could be another clone, of course, and if that was the case then he really should be worried. Because *this* clone knew that Clark Kent was Superman, and had known it even before he arrived at the apartment. "Another dimension, Clark," his double explained. "An alternate universe. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear to you that it's true. I'm you. That's why I look exactly like you, and how I knew where you lived, and how I know that you're Superman. I'm from a Metropolis just like this one." He *sounded* convincing... but then, of course he would, Clark told himself. And yet it was becoming more difficult to be sceptical. The man was just like him. And the expression on his face was completely without guile. And it was such a tempting idea: someone exactly like him, with the same powers, and even more significant, the same *history*... "If you really have Super-powers, are you from Krypton?" he found himself asking, almost against his will. It was a tremendous effort to stop himself from adding 'as well'. He didn't even know why he'd asked the question. It was a stupid thing to do, given that he couldn't be sure by any means that the man's crazy story was true, Super-powers or not. He couldn't possibly trust this stranger, or believe his story. So why...? "Yes, I'm from Krypton," the man answered. "By way of Smallville, Kansas, and now Metropolis, like I told you." "This doesn't make any sense," Clark muttered, torn between scepticism and a longing to believe. Smallville... Wouldn't his story have to be true, if he knew about Smallville? But not if someone had found out that Clark Kent was Superman, Clark forced himself to remember. And he'd already as good as given himself away as Superman, as much as he'd tried to make sure that he didn't say anything incriminating. "I know," his double replied, again revealing his possession of super-powers. "Look, I was every bit as sceptical as you were when that Wells guy turned up and told me I had to come and visit your dimension for a few days. I mean, he was trying to convince me that there was another one of me out there, when I'd just got used to the idea that I was the last survivor of Krypton. And you're not just another Kryptonian on Earth, you're *me*!" He paused, then continued, "I have to be honest - even after Wells put me through that window-gadget of his, I still didn't believe him. I didn't believe you existed - when I flew down onto the balcony a couple of minutes ago, I was convinced I'd find I was at my own apartment and that the guy had just pulled off an elaborate hoax. When you opened the door... well, I was almost as stunned as you, and I'd been told that you existed!" "Another dimension..." Clark repeated weakly, still completely torn. "Okay... well, since the only other answer here is that you're a clone..." "I promise you, I'm not a clone," the other Clark interrupted. "I'm not sure how else I can convince you that I'm exactly who I say I am, though." He reached into his pocket and produced a small rectangular card, about the size of a credit card. Clark inspected it; it was a press pass, identical to his own. Frowning, he reached out for his suit jacket, which was hanging on the back of a chair. Finding his own press card within, he compared it with his twin's. The two were very similar, but not identical. The photographs were of a similar vintage, but the two Clarks portrayed were subtly different, in terms of clothing and hairstyle as well as glasses. The Planet logo was identical, but the layout of the pass and the typefaces used were different. Clark, noting these differences, reflected that, had someone been trying to trap him with a clone, the passes would be identical at least in terms of the Planet's details. Anyone who wanted to forge his press pass would at least get that much right. They would obtain a legitimate pass and simply insert a different photograph and name. So... could this man be telling the truth? Or could it still be an elaborate trap? Fixing his visitor with a piercing stare, Clark said abruptly, "Who were your parents, Kal-El?" "Jor-El of the House of El, and Lara of the House of Ra," came the unhesitating answer. No-one else knew that, beyond his adoptive parents. Clark took a deep breath. "Which power did you develop first?" he threw at his double. Only he knew that. He'd told his parents that his Super-hearing had manifested itself first, but that wasn't actually true.... "You want what I told Mom and Dad, or the truth?" the visitor asked, grinning. "Of course, who's to say that things happened for you the way they did in my world - but anyway, what really happened was that one day, when I was about ten, I woke up and I don't even know what I was doing, but suddenly the wall between my bedroom and Mom and Dad's just seemed to melt away and I could see them - " "Yeah, yeah, I know," Clark interrupted, embarrassed. "I remember." Taking a couple of steps to bring himself closer to his double, he extended his hand. "Hi, Clark. I'm Clark - pleased to meet you." His twin grinned, accepting the hand. "Glad you believe me. I don't blame you for being suspicious - I would be, too, in the same circumstances." Clark was watching his other-dimensional counterpart with intense interest. "It's *really* great to meet you, believe me! But what are you doing here? And who's this man you said sent you?" The other Clark grimaced. "That's the weird bit. He says he's a time-traveller, and that he's taken a particular interest in Superman over the years and between dimensions. Anyway," he added, as if the time-traveller was of less interest here, "he told me I needed to come here and help you, because someone's about to expose you as Superman." That shook Clark; he stared, aghast, at his double. "What?! Who...? And how... Clark, I can't let that happen!" "I know you can't, Clark - that's why I'm here." "I can't call you Clark," Clark mused abstractedly. "It's too confusing - I mean, I sometimes refer to *myself* in the third person...." He broke off, realising how weird that must sound, but his double nodded wryly. "I know how that feels," he commented. "And yeah, this is pretty confusing. Look... Jimmy calls me CK at work, so why don't you call me that?" "You too?" Clark asked, then wondered why he was surprised. After all, this Clark Kent's life did seem to have paralleled his in every way. "Yeah. Anyway, you wanted to know who - you've heard of Diana Stride?" Clark blinked. How could she possibly have discovered his identity? "Yeah - she's a reporter on a tabloid TV programme called 'Top Copy'. They specialise in exposes... But how on earth could she have found out anything about Superman?" "Oh, she hasn't yet," CK assured him. "But she's going to start trying tonight. Ummm... you should probably also be aware that I've been told she's not quite what she seems. Wells sent me to protect your identity, but apparently this Stride woman also has a contract to kill Superman." "What?!" Clark was staggered. He actually had to grip the edge of the worktop, so great was his shock at this news. "Diana Stride? But she's just a TV reporter... isn't she?" But CK was shaking his head. "I have no idea, Clark, I'm sorry. This seems to be somewhere our worlds differ - there isn't a TV show called 'Top Copy' in my world, and I've never heard of Diana Stride. And since Mr Wells didn't tell me any more than I've already told you, I guess this is just something you and Lois will have to figure out yourselves." Clark wasn't so sure about that, since it might involve telling Lois certain things he would really rather *not* tell her for the moment. But on the other hand, it made sense that he should use his investigative skills, rather than his Superman skills, to find out exactly who was behind Diana Stride. If he thought about it, he was sure he could come up with an explanation for Lois's ears. "So is this it - did this Mr Wells just send you here to warn me?" Clark asked, a little puzzled at why CK was involved in this at all. Why couldn't this Wells person have come to warn him directly? But CK shook his head. "No - I'm going to stick around until this is over. For a couple of days, Clark, there really will be two of you. You'll be Clark and I'll be Superman." There was a flaw in this reasoning, Clark thought. He ran a hand through his hair, musing for a moment on the situation. Then he stared at CK and said, "But if she's trying to kill Superman, it's far too risky for you!" CK shrugged. "Would it be any less risky for you?" "That's not the point!" Clark objected, agitated. "This isn't your dimension, CK. Why should you risk your life for me? I can't let you do that." "You don't have a choice, Clark. I'm volunteering," his visitor retorted. Then he added, "Come on, let's think about this. What could she possibly do that could hurt me?" "Kryptonite," Clark said grimly. Then, as a thought occurred to him, he added, "You *have* come across that stuff, haven't you?" "Oh yeah," CK answered with a curl of his lip. "Okay. So let's suppose that she has Kryptonite - we've both got pretty used to detecting the stuff now, haven't we? I'm betting I could get out of the way before it starts to cause me serious problems." To Clark, that sounded as if his counterpart was being too cocky, and he wondered briefly whether he'd ever been that over-confident. Then he remembered his attitude to the Nightfall asteroid, and gave himself a mental slap. "I'm not happy about this," he told CK then, his voice heavy. "This sounds too dangerous, and I don't like the idea of you taking the risks for me." "Look at it this way, Clark," CK pointed out. "There'll be two of us. While I'm being Superman, you can concentrate on investigating this Stride woman. If you can prove who she really is, or that she's trying to kill Superman, then it'll all be over before she even gets within spitting distance of me." That made sense, Clark thought, but he still couldn't see why he should be the one to lurk in safety as himself, while his counterpart took all the risks. But then he realised that CK couldn't possibly take the Clark Kent role; even though he'd obviously know everyone at the Planet, he wouldn't be as clued in on Clark's daily life as Clark himself was. And could he maintain a distance from the situation, as Superman, while watching CK work with Lois... spending time with Lois, laughing with her, joking with her... It would be pure torture. And anyway, Clark told himself with an inward cynical grin, Lois would see through this visitor if he tried to play himself. Of course she would. She was far too clever to be fooled. Or was she...? Eighteen months or more later, she'd still failed to recognise Superman in her partner and best friend... Clark bit his lip as he realised that he was coming around to accepting that CK would play Superman, and thus expose himself to Diana Stride's attempts on the Super-hero's life. "I'm still not happy about this," he said wryly, shaking his head at CK. "Yeah, but you're going to do it, aren't you?" CK grinned at him. "I mean, you don't want the whole world knowing who Superman really is, do you? Look, it'll be fine. *I'll* be fine." Clark sighed. "You don't know that... but I guess you're right. I don't want people knowing about Superman. My life wouldn't be worth living if that got out..." "Exactly," CK said. "So it's agreed?" "Yeah," Clark said reluctantly. This was weird, Clark thought, shaking his head as he tried to assimilate what was happening. For a few days, he would have to ignore all calls for help, and simply trust that his counterpart from another universe would respond. "But what if I see something you don't help with?" CK raised an eyebrow. "Clark, are you always able to respond to every single cry for help you hear?" He shook his head, knowing that he couldn't. It was very difficult sometimes, hearing calls he couldn't answer, seeing disasters happening but knowing he wasn't free to go to help. That was something which occasionally haunted him at night, though he continually reminded himself of Lois's words to him a year or so earlier: the fact that he was able to help at all was important. The *idea* of Superman was enough to give people hope. "And do you trust yourself to respond to as much as you can, given your circumstances? To act fairly and responsibly, to use your powers to help whenever you can?" "Of course!" Clark replied indignantly. "In that case, you should trust me," his visitor pointed out. "Remember, I *am* you." Another version of me, Clark was about to point out, but a sound outside the apartment caught his attention. Rapidly swivelling to see what it was, he then immediately turned back to his visitor and clutched at his arm. "It's Lois! She's going to be knocking on the door any second - you've got to change back into the Suit!" CK stared at him. "She doesn't know?" "Know?" Clark stared back, bemused. "That I'm...? No, of course she doesn't!" His visitor looked incredulous. "Well, don't you think - " "I *think* there's no time to waste!" Clark snapped, agitated. "Get into the Suit, or else go and wait out on the balcony. She can't see two of me here!" With a very long-suffering sigh, CK Super-sped out onto the balcony, just as several sharp knocks were heard at Clark's door. ************** Barely waiting for an invitation, Lois marched quickly into the apartment, laying her files on the kitchen table without pausing in her rapid speech. "Hi, Clark, how are you today? Fine, great. I've got the story, so you better look it over quick so I can take it to Perry. Got any coffee? Oh, and who were you talking to just now? I definitely heard voices just before I knocked. But there's no-one else here, unless you're hiding someone in the bathroom..." "No, Lois, I'm not hiding anyone in the bathroom!" Clark interjected as Lois finally paused for breath. He passed her a mug of coffee, already prepared to her taste, and a warmed danish. "Superman was here - he just left." "Superman?" Clark grimaced inwardly as he saw the sudden widening of Lois's eyes, sensed her increased heart-rate. She was still hung up on his alter ego, no matter how much she denied her crush. And even though she'd agreed to go out on a date with *him*! "He was here? Why? And why didn't he stay to talk to me?" Clark was now very relieved that his visitor had taken the option of disappearing instead of remaining in the guise of Superman. As bad as it was seeing Lois fawn over himself when he was in the Spandex, it would be far worse to watch her do it to someone else - someone who, if he felt about the Lois of his own world as Clark did about this Lois, might well enjoy it. But Lois was waiting for an answer. "He had to go - I think someone needed him. As for why he was here, it was just a brief social call." That was easier than pretending Superman's supposed visit had anything to do with giving him the story on some emergency he'd assisted with; Lois would expect to be given all the details, and - for once - he hadn't helped out at anything particularly newsworthy in the past few hours. But that didn't silence her either. Holding his gaze with an intent stare, she was clearly determined to prise more information from him. When he didn't supply it, she sighed. "Social call, Clark?" He rolled his eyes in desperation, beginning to wish that his counterpart had never shown up. "Yes - is that so surprising? He visits you, Lois, and I've never asked for details!" "That's because you're not - " She broke off suddenly, her hand flying up to cover her mouth and her gaze shooting away from his. That was what she'd started to say, Clark knew. He shouldn't be surprised; he'd known she hadn't entirely dropped her Superman crush, even though she'd made it clear she now thought the Super-hero had feet of clay. He'd just hoped that her agreement to going on a date with *him* signified that she was ready to put whatever feelings she thought she had for Superman behind her. Obviously not. It was very clear that if Superman offered to sweep her off her feet, she'd throw herself into his arms, saving him the trouble of picking her up. But *he* wouldn't do that; he wanted her to see beyond outward appearances and come to care for *him,* Clark Kent. Which was one reason why he would make sure that his visitor stayed well away from Lois. Her awareness of the gaffe she'd made helped him to change the subject, and soon they had agreed the final text of their latest story. Putting the papers back into her file, Lois got to her feet. "Want a ride to the Planet?" Clark shook his head. "I'm not ready to go just yet. Thanks, but I'll see you there later." She hesitated. "I'll wait...?" Wait while he talked to CK? Not a chance! "No, you go on. There's something I need to do before I go to work." Shrugging, she left the apartment. ************* Clark had barely turned away from closing the door behind Lois when CK strode back into the kitchen. He raised an eyebrow at his visitor. "You could at least let her get out of here before..." He made a gesture, indicating CK's presence in the apartment. "She's gone. I checked." For some reason, CK seemed more edgy than before, but Clark was in no mood to enquire as to the reason. "Can we finish this? I need to get to work." CK nodded. "We're nearly done, anyway." He paused, his expression suggesting that he was battling with himself over something; then he gave Clark an incredulous look. "I can't believe that you haven't told her yet!" "That's hardly your business," Clark objected stiffly. "It's certainly not what you said you came here to do." "I know, Clark," CK acknowledged, "but... well, I can't just not say anything! Why haven't you told her? You love her, don't you?" Clark shrugged. "Yeah, I love her. But you know that - I assume. There is a Lois in your world?" CK's expression softened. "Oh yes. And - I guess like you - I fell in love with her the moment I saw her." His annoyance fading, Clark nodded. "Exactly like me. She's... beautiful, intelligent, loyal, stubborn - and I can't imagine life without her." "So?" CK prompted. Clark grimaced, acknowledging his guest's point, then sighed. "The time's just never been right... I'm just not sure how she'll react." He paused. "*Your* Lois knows?" "Yeah. I told her just after I got shot by Clyde Barrow - she was so upset, and I couldn't bear to see her crying, so I went to her apartment and told her the truth." Clark stared at his counterpart. A lot of things had gone through his mind during those terrible couple of days after he'd been 'killed', but telling Lois he was Superman had not been one of them, even though he'd been aware of her grief. Was that selfish of him? "I... I told her I was alive as soon as I could," he said, excusing himself. "I just had to figure out a way of explaining why I wasn't dead." "Sure. Lois helped me to do that," CK replied. "And having her know the truth made everything much easier to bear - I've never regretted it." "But - well, maybe it worked for you..." "We're getting married in a month," was the soft-voiced reply. The subtle message was clear: 'if you'd trusted her long ago, you could be happy now as well'. Clark looked away, unable to bear the expression on his counterpart's face. He was suddenly, insanely, jealous; although he'd got as far as asking Lois for a date, and she'd accepted, they were nowhere close to being considered a couple. They hadn't even gone on that date yet. And, judging by her reaction a few minutes earlier when she'd discovered that Superman had been in his apartment, that elusive date was probably not going to happen. He pushed those thoughts of dating Lois away. Now that he'd seen that Lois's Superman crush was as strong as ever, he couldn't contemplate telling her the truth yet. And he didn't want any more lectures from CK as to why being honest with her was a good idea. "Okay, CK." His voice was harsher than he'd intended. "Let's finalise what's going to happen here. You're Superman until further notice, and I'm just Clark Kent, right?" "That's right. And you have to remember not to answer any cries for help. I'll go to as many as I can - though, on second thoughts, I might have to try not to respond to everything, because you normally don't. I mean, if you did you'd never get any work done, right?" "Right." "Okay. So I'm Superman, and if and when this Stride woman makes her claim that Clark Kent is Superman, we prove her wrong. We can appear together to show that she's wrong, and we should have plenty of reports of Superman activity with people able to swear that they were with Clark Kent at exactly the same time." "Yeah, that's all fine," Clark said, waving a hand dismissively. "But it's this idea that she wants to kill me - you - uh, Superman, that still bothers me," he added more soberly. "I couldn't live with myself - " "Clark, we already agreed this!" CK interrupted, his voice insistent. "It's the only way this thing will work. And don't forget that this gives us a huge advantage. She's not expecting there to be two of us." He strode out to the balcony door, then looked back at Clark. "Look, you need to get to work, and start doing some investigation of this Stride woman. We're one step ahead of her at the moment, and if you can prove who she really is, then we don't even have to wait for her to make her move." With that, he pushed open the door; Clark heard a >whoosh!< and a bare second later, the sight of flapping red fabric in the distance was the only sign that his visitor was now airborne. ********** Lois looked up as her partner strolled down the ramp and into the bullpen; she'd been at her desk for a full half- hour already, and he'd finally decided to show up. If he'd done as she'd suggested and travelled in with her, they could already have prepared their plan of action for the follow-up to the story she'd just given Perry on their behalf. But that was Clark all over; sometimes, for no apparent reason whatsoever, he just wasn't where he should be, or where she needed him to be - either physically or mentally, in fact. Take this morning. She'd gone to his apartment - at *his* suggestion - so that they could work on their story together before coming into work. He'd invited her, saying that he'd provide breakfast. Well, one cup of coffee and a danish probably just about qualified as breakfast, she supposed. But he'd been acting very strangely. From the moment she'd arrived, she'd sensed that he didn't really want her there. And he'd seemed so anxious to push her out the door once they'd finished - despite their tacit understanding that he'd ride into work with her. He clearly hadn't wanted her company this morning. And this was the man who'd asked her for a date? A date they had yet to go on? Did she really want to date a man who blew hot and cold on her like that? But this was *Clark*, she reminded herself immediately. Her best friend. Okay, Clark could - and did - act weird sometimes, but there was no malice in it. At worst, he was a little insensitive, maybe. He didn't think; he was sort of absent-minded, she supposed. But he wasn't thoughtless, nor was he in any way neglectful of her. He did care about her, and she was pretty sure that he'd be a very attentive boyfriend. If only she could get to the bottom of why he acted so strangely sometimes... ********* It hadn't been easy being just Clark Kent for the day, Clark mused sombrely as he went to refill his and Lois's coffee cups in the late afternoon. For all his occasional temptations to wish that he was no more and no less than Clark Kent, reporter, today had shown him that being 'normal' wasn't what he wanted. He missed being Superman. He missed the feeling of satisfaction he got when he saved someone's life, or even when he prevented a fairly minor accident from happening. And it wasn't the adulation, or the thanks, which made the difference to him. It was, quite simply, the need to help. As long as his other-world counterpart was around, Clark wasn't needed to help. CK could handle it all. And Clark was just what he claimed to be: Clark Kent, reporter. The first time Clark had heard a cry for help that day, he'd been half-way out of his chair before he'd remembered that he was supposed to be lying low and allowing CK to be Superman. He'd sat down again very reluctantly, all sorts of thoughts whirling through his head. Had CK heard the scream too? Was he going to help? What if he hadn't heard it? What if he was somewhere on the other side of the country? Then, so subtly that he wasn't even sure it was happening, Clark had seemed to feel *something* in his mind, like a whispered thought, telling him to relax. <> Had he really heard that? Bamboozled - in fact, downright mystified - Clark had resumed work. And the next time he'd heard an emergency he'd normally go to, he'd tensed but had stayed where he was, trusting that his other-world self would deal with whatever the problem was. One big advantage of not having to run off to be Superman, of course, had been the ability to spend the entire day with Lois. No stupid excuses, no pathetic cover stories, and no wondering whether she was going to speak to him again once he got back to the newsroom. And even better, since he could be confident of being free that evening, there might even be a chance that he could suggest to Lois that they do something together once they'd finished work... And so he did, later that afternoon; as he brought Lois yet another coffee refill, he paused by her desk for a moment until she acknowledged him with a look and a smile. "Want to go grab a pizza later?" he suggested. "I thought maybe Gorgio's...?" "Mmmm," she murmured consideringly. "Eat in or take out?" He shrugged. "Whichever you want. We could get a video and eat at my place, if you like." Bad idea, Kent, he reminded himself immediately. What if CK came over? But he'd made the offer now - and perhaps he could find a way of switching it to her apartment. "Yeah, I like the sound of that," she told him. "Later, then." Later turned out to be much later; a big lead broke on one of their investigations shortly before five, and they had to stay. Finally, they'd both got to a point where they couldn't do anything else, but they couldn't leave; a couple of sources had promised them information that evening, and they needed to stay until it came in. Lois was waiting for a phone call, and Clark had been promised a fax from a source in the Iberia Detective Agency. To his surprise, Lois pushed her keyboard away shortly after six, not long after her phone call had come through. "I've had enough. Do you know if that chessboard is still in Perry's office, or did he get rid of it in his last clearout?" "Should still be there," Clark thought aloud. "You want a game?" "Why not?" she said, grinning. "As I recall, I need to consolidate my lead..." "We'll see about that!" he retorted instantly, getting to his feet to get the board. They were halfway through the second when Lois leaned back in her chair and yawned, her stomach rumbling simultaneously. "Should have got pizza sent in," she complained, sticking her tongue out. Clark started to commiserate, but then his phone rang. Answering it, he conducted a brief conversation before hanging up and turning back to Lois. In a cheerful yet sympathetic voice, he said, "The fax from Iberia should be here in a few minutes and we can finally get out of here." He paused, surveyed the chessboard for a moment, then moved a piece. "Okay, Queen to King one. Your move." Lois pulled a wry face. "I know. It's been my move for a while." Puzzled, Clark indicated the chessboard. "What do you mean? I just - ?" "I mean the date thing," she said softly, apologetically; but he could see the nervousness in her eyes. He was nervous too, of course; the longer it was taking for them actually to *organise* this thing, the more scared he was getting about the whole business. And given Lois's notorious insecurity where men and relationships were concerned, plus the disaster of her relationship with Lex in the spring of the previous year, he could imagine that she had to be ten times as scared as he was. Trying to keep his tone light and not give away how important this was to him, he said softly, "Oh." "So. About the date thing..." Lois began, and he admired her courage yet again. "Yes?" He was still deliberately trying to keep it casual. "I know I've been kind of avoiding the subject lately..." she said hesitantly, and he tried his best to look encouraging. When she didn't complete the sentence, he tried again for an encouraging, fairly casual tone. "Yes," he acknowledged, hoping that his matter-of-fact agreement didn't put her off. "But I've finally decided that I think we should just..." Lois was still speaking when a high-pitched siren cut in via his Super-hearing, shattering the near-silence in the newsroom and drowning out Lois's words entirely. he pleaded silently, cursing the fates as the sound of a police announcer came, describing a fire at the Metropolitan Building penthouse which, by the sound of it, definitely needed Superman. People were trapped, and conventional firefighting equipment couldn't get near it. Then he relaxed as he remembered. He didn't have to go. His counterpart, CK would get it. Knowing that he could trust CK, he allowed himself to shut off his Super-hearing, and focused his attention back on Lois. She was just finishing speaking. "...just a date, right?" Then, impatiently - clearly she'd noticed that she didn't have his full attention - "Clark?" Oh, hell. She'd obviously been saying something very important - well, of course it was important; before he'd been interrupted, she'd been talking about their date and why she'd been avoiding the subject, hadn't she? - and he'd missed it all. How could he ask her to repeat it? He'd be making it obvious that he hadn't heard a word she'd said, and in the circumstances, when he was trying to get her to go out with him, that was a *bad* idea. "Lois, I - " he began apologetically, but then the shrill beep of the fax machine interrupted the tense atmosphere. "The fax," he said quickly, glad of the breathing space which he desperately needed. As he got up to retrieve the document now spewing out of the machine, Clark caught sight of Lois's expression. She was angry, but there was something beyond anger there. Her posture looked resigned... but her eyes were hurt. He'd hurt her by his inattention, by the impression he'd given that he wasn't interested in what she had to say... that he wasn't interested in *them*. If only she knew that nothing - *nothing* - could be further from the truth! In that moment, it struck him that CK had been right. He should have told Lois about Superman a long time ago. If he had, he wouldn't be in this position right now. He could simply tell Lois that there was a Superman emergency, and either excuse himself to deal with it or - since, if she knew about Superman, he'd probably have told her about CK too - explain that his counterpart was going. The document, once he felt capable of concentrating on it, delivered all that Clark's contact at the detective agency had promised. He scanned it at Super-speed, then passed it over to Lois, who'd come to stand behind him. She read it too, then, in a brisk, detached tone which pained him to the core, spelt out the implications for their story. The chess game abandoned, Clark sat down at his computer again and made the relevant amendments and additions to the story before letting Lois check it. Once she'd finished, he hit the key to send it to the night editor. It would probably get held over for the following day's afternoon edition, since they were right on the deadline for the morning's, but right now Clark really didn't care. The most important thing right now was undoing the damage he'd done to his relationship to the beautiful, and emotionally insecure, woman standing next to him. Lois was already pulling her coat on, and judging by her stance she was preparing to leave, on her own. Clark caught her arm, gently tugging her to face him. Her hostile expression and the dark look she gave his grip on her almost made him back away; but this was important. He stood his ground. "Lois, I'm sorry," he said contritely. "I should have been listening to you. I *wanted* to listen to you. You have no idea how much I wanted to hear what you were trying to say - how much I still want to hear it. Please, don't go. Talk to me. Please... I'm sorry," he repeated. "I was pouring my heart out, Clark. I needed to express a deep, personal feeling, while you... You decided that *something else* was more important. Whatever it was you were thinking about instead of listening to me!" she muttered furiously. "Nothing else is more important to me than knowing what you were going to say about our date," Clark told her softly. "I swear to you, Lois. I..." He swallowed, then added, "Lois, this whole thing scares me too. I don't want to lose you as a friend. But I want more... and when you were talking, I was afraid that you were going to tell me that you'd been avoiding the issue because you didn't want to go through with the date after all. And... that's why I was distracted," he finished, knowing that he was lying to her and hating every minute of it. Lois raised her gaze to his, and he could see that she wanted to believe him. Which only made him feel an even bigger heel, of course. But, he reminded himself, he'd taken the decision a long time ago that he couldn't tell anyone that he was Superman. That included Lois. And, yes, there might well be a time in the future when it was right to tell her, but that would be a decision he'd have to make carefully, with a lot of forethought, and being very sure that it was what he wanted. Not on an impulse, because it seemed to be the most convenient way out of a given situation at the time. "I'm sorry, Lois," he repeated. "Will you tell me now, please?" She was wavering, he could tell. Giving her a charming, yet pleading smile, he offered, "I'll treat you to whatever you want at the Fudge Castle. Okay?" "Okay," she said; it sounded faintly grudging, but Clark didn't care. ********* Superman flew away from the Metro Penthouse, puzzling over what had just happened. Given that he was in this universe specifically to protect the Clark of this world from a serious threat to his identity and his life, and given that the source of the threat was Diana Stride, it seemed too coincidental that the trapped victim who had fallen from - or thrown herself off - the building had been none other than Ms Stride herself. Not that CK would have known that, of course; it was only when one of the fire officers had addressed her as Ms Stride that he'd realised. Diana Stride had manipulated a reason for Superman and herself to meet. CK was very sure of it. She had to have arranged this. And caused the fire? he asked himself, frowning. Well, there had to be *some* explanation for the fire. And CK would lay odds that Ms Stride was in some way behind it. Rubbing his neck absently in response to an irritating itch, he headed for Clark's apartment. Even if his counterpart wasn't at home yet, CK would wait for him. He needed to bring his friend up to date on events. ********* Lois entered the Fudge Castle ahead of Clark, still wondering if she was doing the right thing by giving him the benefit of the doubt. Yes, she wanted to be with him, but she was more confused than ever by the state of his own feelings. Did he want to be with her or not? Did he still want to date her? Or was he just pretending, knowing that he'd made a very bad move by his inattention in the newsroom? None of it made sense. A man who was seriously and genuinely interested in her would not have so completely ignored her as she was pouring her feelings out to him. By not listening to her at that moment, when it had been obvious that she was going to say something very important about the two of them and their on-hold relationship, he'd sent a very clear signal that she *didn't* matter. That any possible relationship they might have didn't matter. But yet he'd apologised so sincerely and contritely, she could almost believe that he really did want her after all. That his behaviour had been some terrible mistake that he utterly regretted, and that he was desperate to find out just where he stood with her. Could she believe him? This was *Clark*, she reminded herself quickly. He was her best friend. Of course she could trust him... couldn't she? But this was the same Clark who, she'd known for some time, was hiding something from her. Her mind went back to her musings that morning, when she'd wondered if she really wanted to date someone who behaved as oddly - and treated her as casually - as Clark did sometimes. He really was very weird. There were times when she could have sworn that she was the most precious thing in his life, and that he'd literally give her the world if he could. Christmas Eve, when he'd pretended to be unable to get to Smallville just so that she wouldn't be alone, was one of those times. And yet there were other times when she could've sworn that he wished he was anywhere but with her, when he couldn't wait to get away from her and when he couldn't even trouble himself to come up with a convincing excuse. Yes, Clark was hiding something from her... and maybe it was time she found out just what it was. Maybe then she'd be closer to understanding her partner. Sliding into a bench seat opposite Clark, she noticed her partner watching her, a contrite and very affectionate expression on his face. Clark had a way of looking at her sometimes, with a particular light in his eyes, which made her feel warmed inside and very much cared about. It was times like this when she could easily let herself believe that his feelings for her went a lot deeper than friendship or mere attraction. But it was times like that moment in the newsroom which generally gave her a rude awakening, causing her to acknowledge that she'd been imagining things, or hoping for too much, where Clark was concerned. Attempting to distance herself from her thoughts, she ordered a large serving of double chocolate monster fudge cake, with ice-cream, and a hot chocolate on the side. Clark just ordered coffee, remarking with a crooked smile that he knew he'd be called upon to share her gateau. "So," he said once the waitress had gone, "what were you saying earlier?" He seemed so eager, so desperate to know, that Lois sighed. She might as well tell him - and then make sure that he understood that she was thinking of changing her mind. Shrugging, she said, "I just said that since the anticipation of this thing seems to be making us both crazy, it would probably be the best thing if we just went ahead and did it. The date, I mean. Just... fix a date and do it. I mean, if it goes wrong, we'll deal with it, and it'd be better to know than to be in this state of wondering and worrying. Wouldn't it?" she finished anxiously, now desperately needing to hear what Clark thought. "You make going out with me sound like a trip to the dentist," Clark said wryly, and she could tell from his expression that he was a little hurt. Oh no... Lois felt guilt well up inside her, but she tried to squash it quickly, reminding herself that she'd been hurt when Clark hadn't even bothered to listen to what she'd said earlier. But then she made the mistake of looking at him again, and saw the flat line of his mouth. "I'm sorry, Clark," she said quietly. "I didn't mean it like that, I swear." His large hand came to cover hers instantly. "It's okay. I know you didn't." He sighed. "But I guess there's a point there all the same. We're both letting this scare us, aren't we? I know I'm terrified that it'll all go wrong and that our friendship'll never be the same afterwards." Lois caught her breath. "So... what are you saying?" she whispered. "That you want to forget all about it?" "Is that what you want?" he asked quickly - so quickly that she felt sure that he was afraid it was what she wanted. Shaking her head, she said, "We can't go back, Clark. It's like Pandora's box; once it's opened, you can't close it again and shut everything away. We've started to think about each other as potential dates, not as friends. And even if we don't ever go on that date, we'll never forget that we talked about it. And we'll always wonder what it might have been like..." "And regret that we never found out," Clark finished softly. "I know I would." "Then let's do it," Lois said quickly, before she could change her mind. "Let's fix a day, right now." ********** Later, Clark returned to his apartment - on foot, much though he'd have liked to fly, but he knew that he had to be careful with another Superman around - still simultaneously overjoyed and panicked about the agreement he and Lois had made to go on their date next Saturday. He had so much to work out: where to take her, what to wear, how he should behave - after all, this would be a *date*, so she wouldn't be expecting him to act like good old Clark from the newsroom, would she? Should he try to kiss her when he walked her home? Should he expect to be invited in, and if she did invite him in, what would she be expecting? And, most of all, was he ready for what she might be expecting? Oh, not sex - making love, he corrected himself hurriedly. He felt that he knew Lois well enough to be sure that she wouldn't sleep with a guy on the first date. In fact, he was pretty sure, given the way she behaved around men who made it clear that they were attracted to her, and the things she'd said about men in her past, that intimacy was a step she wouldn't consider unless she was very sure about a relationship. And that suited him down to the ground. Despite being probably the oldest male virgin in Metropolis - well, apart from career celibates, he corrected himself in wry amusement - he was in no hurry to change his status. The fact that he'd waited so long actually made him *more* anxious to ensure that, when he finally made love, it would be with the right woman and for the right reasons. And that he would love and trust the woman concerned enough to have told her his secret. There lay the rub, he reminded himself thoughtfully. He hadn't told Lois about Superman, and at present he had no plans to. CK thought he should tell her, and the sooner the better. CK had told his Lois, and the two of them were engaged to be married. Maybe he needed to talk to CK... Clark hoped that CK was somewhere around, waiting for him to come home. He wanted - needed - to find out what his counterpart had been up to, and how he'd handled the emergencies he'd dealt with. Squashing the thought that he only wanted to know what CK had been doing in order to assure himself that the other Superman had done everything Clark himself would have done, he told himself that he needed to be aware of anything out of the ordinary, in case the Stride woman was getting ready to strike. And, of course - a somewhat less noble motive - he'd missed out on his Superman exclusives today. There might have been something which he'd have written about, had he been the one in the Suit today. If Clark Kent failed to produce a story which, on his past record, he would have turned in, then Perry would get suspicious. He let himself into his apartment, scanning it quickly over the rims of his glasses to see whether CK was anywhere around. The place was empty. Clark quickly walked through his bedroom and out to the balcony door. Before he had a chance to scan the sky, he heard a soft noise and CK was landing beside him. "I couldn't take the chance that you might have someone with you," his counterpart explained as Clark led the way back into the apartment. "Someone?" Clark queried. "Yeah. Like Lois. Since you're so adamant that you don't want her to know about any of this." "Lois doesn't make a habit of coming back to my apartment with me late at night," Clark pointed out, knowing that he was being a little snippy, but not caring. The other Clark was engaged to his Lois. He had no idea what it was like to be in love with her and not know how she felt in return; how hard he was having to work just to get her to go on a date with him, and even worse, how nervous he now felt about the date they'd finally arranged for the coming weekend. his conscience reminded him. CK blinked, but said mildly, "I wasn't implying anything, Clark. If your Lois is anything like mine, she wouldn't care what time it was. If she wanted to talk to you about a story, she'd be on your doorstep, day or night. Wouldn't she?" His expression as he faced Clark was one of amused admiration, and Clark found himself smiling in return. "Yes, that's Lois," he said softly. "And... um, if you don't mind, CK... later I'd like to ask you about your Lois. If that's okay?" "Sure," his visitor said, reaching to rub the back of his neck absently. "But we have some other things to talk about first. Like Diana Stride and why she just threw herself off the top of a burning building." ********* Saturday. Clark was going to take her out to dinner. As a date. And Lois still didn't know if she'd made the right decision to agree to it, after Clark's very obvious inattention during what should have been a deep and meaningful conversation in the newsroom. That was *not* the action of a man who was very attracted to her and really wanted to date her. But, as she'd told Clark, it was impossible to go back. They could only go forward. By the mere fact of his asking her out in the first place, their friendship had changed irrevocably. And that scared the heck out of her. But then, something that had been happening over the past few months had also scared her. Mayson Drake. The blonde assistant DA had been putting the moves on Clark pretty seriously since the previous autumn. And for a time, Lois had suspected that Clark reciprocated the woman's interest in him. Despite her boast to Perry at that dance that she knew she could never lose Clark, she'd been afraid for some time that this was precisely what was happening. If Clark started to date someone else, their friendship could never be the same again. She could never invite herself over to his apartment for pizza and a movie just because. She couldn't run to him, or call him, in the middle of the night because she was worried about something or because she'd just had a great idea. She would no longer have the right of first call on his time or his attentions. She would no longer have the right to flirt with him whenever she felt like it, or invite him to events when she needed a partner. And this possibility, that she might lose Clark to another woman, had made her become very possessive of him - which was something of which she was secretly ashamed. And it had also made her relieved - despite being scared - when he'd actually asked *her* out. Her. Not Mayson. Whether Clark had dated Mayson for a while and broken up with her, or whether she'd just never forgiven him for standing her up that weekend when he'd been supposed to go to her cabin with her, Lois had no idea. The important thing was that he didn't seem to be interested in Mayson any more. Instead, he was interested in... her. And everything about their relationship had changed. Irrevocably. ********** "So you think she deliberately jumped?" Clark asked, frowning. "But the building was on fire - I guess she might have thought it was her only way out." CK shook his head. "I'd have got there in time. Thing is, Clark, I'm almost sure that she was watching for me - that she'd seen me coming before she jumped." "That doesn't make sense. I don't understand why she'd take that kind of risk." "To be sure that I rescued her? I don't know," CK answered, looking very puzzled and rubbing his neck again. "I mean, she didn't even talk to me, other than thanking me effusively. She introduced herself and her cameraman - now he was irritating. He had a video camera, and he kept filming me." "Well, I guess even after almost two years Superman's still kind of a novelty to some people," Clark said thoughtfully. "I get people wanting to have photos taken with me all the time still." "Maybe," CK said, grimacing and continuing to rub his neck. Something about his visitor didn't look right to Clark... and then he realised what it was. CK was Kryptonian, and invulnerable. Just as he himself was. Which meant... "What's wrong with your neck?" Clark demanded abruptly. Looking taken aback, CK shrugged. "It just itches." Then he stilled and his eyes widened. "I never itch!" he exclaimed. "Kryptonite?" Clark queried, trying to figure out what could have caused the irritation. "Nope. I'd have known." He would, Clark agreed. "Let me take a look," he said. CK bent his head forward, and Clark examined the back of his counterpart's neck. "Can't see anything," he said after a moment or two. "Where exactly is it irritating?" CK indicated, and Clark tugged his glasses down slightly, using his Super-vision to examine the area more closely. Then he let out a low whistle. "What is it?" CK demanded, sounding concerned. "There's something stuck just below your hairline... it's like some sort of tiny radioactive device. And..." Clark paused, listening carefully. "Yeah - it's giving out a signal!" "What the..." CK straightened and turned to face Clark. "How could - " He broke off, then finished with, "Diana Stride." "A tracking device?" Clark queried. "Has to be." "And she's probably tracked you here by now," Clark said, resigned. "Not a problem," CK said quickly. "You're a reporter; you write a lot of stories about Superman. I just came to give you the scoop on the fire - you can call it in to the night editor, can't you? There's our cover." "Yeah, I can do that," Clark agreed. "You've got to do something about that tracker, though. Want me to burn it off?" CK hesitated. "We don't want your apartment to be the last place it sends a signal from. If I can get it off myself, I could dump it in the Atlantic or something..." "I'm not sure you could," Clark said thoughtfully. "It's embedded in the skin somehow - almost as if it's been absorbed." "She rubbed something on me," CK said flatly. "I remember it now. It was when I caught her..." "Which is why she jumped," Clark finished. "That way she could be assured that you'd have to hold onto her." "And she could tag me." CK sighed. "Okay, but I still have to get rid of it." "I'll fly with you," Clark offered. "Once we're well away from here, I'll get it off you. I could burn it off with heat vision - it might hurt, but at least it'd be gone." "Sounds okay to me. As long as no-one sees two flying men..." "Well, I'm not going to let you carry me!" Clark objected. "We'll just make sure we stay high." ********** An hour or so later, two Kryptonians sat, feet paddling in the shallows, somewhere in the upper reaches of the Zambezi. "So, you did some checking on Diana Stride?" CK asked, once Clark had finished questioning him on his activities that day. He'd tried not to feel too irritated by his counterpart and host's almost-interrogation, telling himself that if this was his universe he'd probably feel the same way about the presence of another Superman. And Clark was right: he'd be expected to bring in at least one report of a Super-activity, since that was his normal practice, and so CK had to give him the necessary information. And at least Clark had expressed his appreciation in one respect: that while Superman was out saving people and stopping crime, Clark Kent was visibly working in the newsroom or out and about: there would be plenty of witnesses able to swear that Clark Kent and Superman could not possibly be the same person. "Yep." Clark nodded. "But she's an elusive woman - at least, the side of her we want to know about is. You want to know about Diana Stride the TV star? No problem - we've got PR releases coming out our ears, from the studio, the production company, Diana's agent and more besides. But try to find out anything about her that's not on the official PR? Zip. Nada. I can't even find what she did - officially - before she became a TV star. It's as if she's got no past - as if she appeared out of nowhere just as she is today." "Which makes it even more likely that there's something suspicious going on there," CK mused aloud. "What does Lois think?" "Lois?" Clark sounded taken aback. "I haven't told her..." CK sighed. His counterpart seemed to be even more lunkheaded where Lois was concerned than he himself had been. He wished that his Lois was here, so that she could talk some sense into this idiot. He just wished that she was here, period... It had only been a day, but he missed her. He missed being able to pick up the phone and call her, or look across the newsroom and see her... he just missed being able to hold her in his arms. And now he faced a lonely night on his own, without Lois to hold. He didn't even know where he was going to be spending the night... and this Clark Kent was so unappreciative of what he had that he was doing his best to chase his Lois away. CK sighed again. Maybe he was being too critical of Clark, he told himself. After all, he hadn't been much better; he'd hidden his true self from his Lois for almost a year and a half, only telling her the truth in the end a few short months ago. He wasn't perfect either. But still... Surely Clark could see how much easier things would be if Lois was in on the secret? "I take it you don't approve." His host's slightly sardonic voice intruded on CK's thoughts. "It's not really my business," CK equivocated. "I just thought... well, I know I do my best work with Lois, and she's great at coming up with ideas I'd never have thought of. I suppose I figured it might be the same for you." Clark sighed this time. "You're right, it is. And, yes, working with Lois on this would be easier. The problem is, I just don't know how to explain it all to her. I mean, how can I tell her that I think Diana Stride wants to kill Superman?" Reluctantly, CK said, "Superman told you?" "But how does Superman know?" Clark objected. "I don't know how I could explain that. And anyway... I'm getting really tired of having to tell her that 'Superman told me' things." Guilty conscience kicking in? CK wondered. "Okay, maybe we need to think of something. Because I really think we could use Lois's help here." "Okay," Clark agreed; CK thought he sounded almost relieved. "Speaking of Lois..." he added then, seeming somewhat awkward, "I wanted to ask you something." "Sure," CK agreed. "Well, it's... maybe a bit personal. It's about you and your Lois. You're... engaged, right?" CK smiled as the image of his beautiful fiancee floated before his mind yet again. "Yes - I asked her to marry me at Christmas. I flew us both to Smallville for the holiday, and I proposed on Christmas Day." "You're very fortunate," Clark said softly. "I'd love to hope that there's a possibility Lois and I might get to that point some day." "Why shouldn't you?" CK asked. "If we did...?" "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," Clark said wryly. "I asked Lois out a week or so ago. Our date had to be postponed because of a stakeout, but she's agreed to go out with me next Saturday. And I'm..." "Nervous?" CK suggested. "Yeah," Clark agreed, and CK could hear it in his voice. "Lois put it just right tonight. We've been best friends for ages. I'd hate to lose that. But we're going to try dating... and I'm scared of what might happen if it doesn't work out. We can't go back to being friends - or at least, not easily. And I'd hate to lose her as both girlfriend and best friend." "Yeah, I can understand that," CK said quietly. "But could you really have just kept things the way they were? Working beside her, knowing that you loved her, maybe seeing her dating someone else?" he added silently, not wanting to ask Clark whether that part of their history was also shared. It was painful enough to remember it on his own account, and he and Lois were engaged. In Clark's position, the memory would be far more distressing. Clark shook his head. "That's why I asked her out. But ever since I've been having second thoughts - not because I don't want to go out with her, but because..." "You're scared of what might happen. I know." CK knew only too well; he'd gone through the same thought process many times before that fateful night when he'd been shot and events had simply taken over. It had taken the prospect of losing Lois to Lex Luthor to make him drag up the courage to tell her his feelings the first time, and that rejection had made him very wary of a second attempt. It had been too easy to decide to settle for her friendship, as something he could be sure of, instead of taking the risk on a deeper relationship which might go wrong. "It was easier for me, in a way," he continued reflectively. "Okay, she was mad at me when she found out I was Superman, but she'd just realised what it was like to think she'd lost me, and that made a difference. Plus, we spent a lot of time together. It was a lot easier to tell her how I felt, and it was pretty obvious that she felt the same. And... well, I won't say that it's all been plain sailing, but we love each other and neither of us is going to risk losing that." "I suppose I should have a bit more faith in us," Clark said. "It's just... well, it's not easy, you know?" "I know," CK agreed, wondering whether to add what he really thought. Then he decided that Clark probably needed the push. "But it won't get any easier as long as you're deceiving her, Clark. She deserves to know who you really are." "She knows who I am," Clark said coolly. "Clark Kent, reporter. That's who I want her to want to be with." "Clark, you know as well as I do that that's a false choice!" CK said, irritated that his counterpart just seemed to be ignoring the truth. "I had to realise that myself a few months ago. Wanting Lois to choose you as Clark is just as unfair as it would be if you wanted her to choose you as Superman. Neither is *you*. As far as Lois knows, Clark Kent is an ordinary guy, with whom she'd have an ordinary life. She doesn't know that in taking you on she'd have to share you with the whole world, and that might be as much of a turn-off as the powers could be an attraction. She deserves the chance to consider that before she falls in love with a man who doesn't really exist - not as she believes him to be, anyway." Clark pulled his feet out of the river and sat with his knees drawn up, arms wrapped around them, clearly avoiding CK's gaze. He'd obviously offended his host, CK accepted, but he felt no regret for what he'd said. Clark, in his opinion, needed to hear what he'd said, and he hoped that at least his counterpart would think about the points he'd made. After a long silence, Clark got to his feet. "I'm going back," he said briefly. CK grimaced. So his counterpart was going to stay angry. "Okay, Clark. I guess we'll talk again tomorrow." Clark hesitated. "Where are you planning on spending the night?" he asked, sounding concerned. CK shrugged. "I don't know. Probably just fly around, I guess. I'm sure to find things to do." "That's crazy. I know we don't need as much sleep as humans, but you still need some rest. Come back to my place. You can sleep on the couch," Clark offered, sounding - to CK's surprise - as if he meant it. Grateful, CK nodded. "If you're sure. And... uh, you're sure Lois isn't likely to come over in the middle of the night because she's got a lead on a story and just *has* to tell you about it right there and then?" Clark shrugged. "If she does, you should be able to get out of the way quickly enough. Or spin back into the Suit and we can think of a reason why Superman's there." "I guess," CK agreed. "And thanks, Clark." He saw Clark shrug wryly. "No problem. You'd do the same if our positions were reversed. And... I've been behaving like a jerk to you. I know you mean well, even if I don't really want to hear what you're saying." That was something, CK thought. "Let's go," he said lightly. "We have an assassin to catch tomorrow - and I bet she'll be looking out for another way to track me down now that her tracer's gone." ********* "...so that's why he's here," Clark finished. "It all sounds pretty far-fetched, though. I mean, I believe him, but it does all sound pretty crazy, doesn't it?" "So does the thought that someone from another planet could be living here on Earth, looking just like a normal man, but with all sorts of special powers," Martha Kent pointed out. "Your dad and I learned long ago not to believe that anything's impossible where you're concerned, honey." "I guess," Clark agreed. "It does bother me that he's taking all the risk, though. What if something goes wrong? What if he..." What if CK were to die, he finished silently. "You said he's engaged," Jonathan intervened. "I guess that makes it worse - if anything happens to him, his fiancee's going to be devastated." Two lives ruined, not just one, Clark acknowledged. "He told me that he'd just about had time to tell his Lois what he was doing. She just told him to be careful and come back to her." The three fell silent as the possibility that the visiting Superman might not be able to fulfil that promise lay heavily on their minds. "I'll do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen," Clark said abruptly. "He's insisted on being Superman while he's here, which I guess makes sense in a way. But I'm going to make sure I know what he's doing and where he is the whole time. No-one's going to get near him without me knowing about it." "In that case, *you* need to be careful too," Jonathan pointed out. Clark nodded. He also, he knew, needed to be more considerate towards his counterpart. It had struck him last night, on hearing CK go out on a rescue for the third time, just how much the other-universe visitor was doing for him. It wasn't just taking the risk from Diana Stride onto his shoulders, although that would have been enough. CK had voluntarily come to this universe from his own, leaving his own family, friends and loved ones behind. Leaving his *Lois* behind. He had to be desperately lonely; missing Lois terribly. Silently, Clark resolved to make this as quick and as easy as possible for his counterpart. If he could quickly prove what Diana Stride was up to, preferably before she got close enough to Superman to do any harm, then CK could get back home very soon, and back to his fiancee. Martha got to her feet. "I told you your new glasses arrived yesterday. I nearly forgot to give them to you!" She picked up a small case from the dresser and handed them over. Clark removed his horn-rims and put on the new spectacles, leaning sideways and floating up a few feet so that he could see himself in the mirror. They made quite a difference to his appearance, he thought in satisfaction. "So why the change of image?" Martha asked, grinning. "This wouldn't be for a certain person's benefit, would it?" Clark rolled his eyes. "I just got tired of the other ones - they're very old-fashioned. I wanted something a bit more modern." "Well, they sure suit you," his mother said approvingly. "Thanks." Clark smiled, then got up and went to hug his mother. "I need to get going," he said. "Bring CK to meet us," Martha said as he made his way to the door. "We'd like to see him." Clark nodded. He'd ask CK - always assuming that they had time, and that CK was going to be okay... ********* Determined that he was going to ask for Lois's help with investigating Diana Stride, Clark hurried into the newsroom later that morning. Lois was already there, and she beckoned quickly to him as he approached, then mimed drinking something. Grinning, he veered over to the coffee area. "Your coffee, madam," he said with a wink as he came over to Lois a minute or two later. "So what's up?" "Big breaking story," she said briefly, accepting the cup and instantly taking a sip. Watching her, Clark marvelled again at his partner's ability to detach herself completely from personal issues when she was focused on work. Looking at her now, the way she was behaving towards him, he'd never have guessed that the previous evening they'd had a deep and intense conversation about taking the scary step towards a relationship. It was almost impossible to believe that this was the same Lois who'd given him a shy, almost nervous goodbye when he'd walked her back to her Jeep, having refused a lift home from her. "Oh?" "You must have missed the news on LNN," Lois answered. "Seems the FBI's managed to arrest an important member of Intergang, and he's agreed to cut a deal. Rumour from the DA's office is that Intergang has been bumping off world leaders for decades, making it look like an accident each time. And it seems that Mr X - that's what the DA's office is calling him - is going to finger their chief assassin." Lois paused, looking straight at Clark, and he could see the excitement on her face. She had the smell of a really big story under her nose, and she couldn't wait to get going. So much for getting her help with Diana Stride, he thought ruefully. "Anyway," Lois continued, "Mr X has been moved to a secret location ahead of testifying, and Perry wants us to get the scoop." "What, find out where he is? Or *who* he is?" Clark queried. "More like who he's going to name!" Lois exclaimed, grinning. "Apparently it's someone prominent - someone no- one would have suspected. At least, that's what my contact in the FBI says. Oh, nice glasses, by the way," she added with an approving smile. "They suit you." Clark blinked. Lois had a contact in the FBI? But then, why was he surprised? Lois had contacts everywhere. "Thanks," he said in response to the compliment. "Okay, so what's the plan?" he asked, knowing that she would already have something worked out that they could discuss. She shrugged, and suddenly she was looking uncomfortable. "Oh, I thought maybe you could talk to your Assistant DA friend." Clark was about to object, feeling uncomfortable about taking advantage of Mayson in that way, as well as knowing that Mayson hated any idea that he was simply using her for information. But then he was distracted by his Super- hearing kicking in... Someone had mentioned Superman, and it was a voice he recognised. Diana Stride! He focused, ignoring Lois. The Stride woman wasn't speaking, but a man was. The French accent made Clark think that it must have been the man with her the previous evening; CK had mentioned a French cameraman. "I know it's a nuisance, but can't you tag him again?" the man lisped. "Don't be stupid!" Diana retorted. "He's never going to fall for that trick again; not if he found the tracer and got rid of it! We'll just have to try something else." "Well, I did manage to find out where he went last night, remember," the cameraman said defensively. "The apartment belongs to Clark Kent." That was clearly news to Diana Stride, for her tone was intrigued. "Mr Kent? Of the Daily Planet? Well, well. Perhaps this won't be such a wasted journey after all." This wasn't good. Already Diana Stride had made a link between himself and Superman. Okay, for the next few days there was a Superman as well as a Clark Kent, so he didn't have to worry too much about exposure of that secret. But even so, he now knew that it would be a mistake to under- estimate Diana Stride. "Clark? *Clark*!" Suddenly he became aware that Lois was thumping his arm, as well as calling him impatiently. "I'm sorry. I was... thinking," he said, turning to her. "About?" she prompted impatiently. "And are you going to talk to Mayson or not? And why aren't you more excited, anyway? This could be the scoop of the year, if we manage to get the name of the assassin before anyone else!" "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't like the idea. And..." He hesitated, then added, "It's just that I had something else I needed to work on today. I know this will be a great story, if we get it - it's just that it came at kind of a bad time." "Something else?" Lois's curiosity had clearly been aroused. Clark shrugged. "It doesn't matter now." He still wasn't sure that he was ready to tell Lois that Diana Stride wanted to kill Superman. It was a pretty far- fetched idea, he knew: why on earth would the darling of prime-time TV want to kill anyone, least of all Superman? And yet he trusted CK's word on that - and even if he hadn't, the tracer the previous evening at least proved that Stride was up to no good. And, of course, CK had told him that her other aim was to expose Superman as Clark Kent. Whether or not she already guessed his secret identity, Clark wasn't sure. But the fact that Superman had been tracked to his apartment wasn't a good sign, even though they could 'prove' her wrong on that easily enough. He'd have to talk to CK and see whether they could come up with a deflecting tactic. He needed to talk to CK anyway - his counterpart had left the apartment early in response to a report of a freeway pile-up. Clark was determined, as he'd told his parents, to keep a check on CK's safety. First, though, he needed to find out just what Diana Stride was doing at the Planet offices. He didn't have to wait too long. In just a moment, the elevator doors slid open and the TV presenter and her cameraman entered the newsroom. The sudden surprised murmurs as staffers recognised her brought Perry out of his office. "What in the Sam Hill - Ms Stride! What can I do for you?" His manner changing from gruffly annoyed to welcoming, the editor held out his hand to the visitor. "I'm so sorry for intruding into your newsroom, Mr White," Clark heard Diana say smoothly; the husky undertone of her voice made his hackles stand on end. He nudged Lois, and the two of them made their way to the front of the newsroom. "What's she doing here?" Lois hissed. "Your guess is as good as mine," he told her. "But I don't trust her..." "Why not?" Lois was surprised. "She's only a lightweight chat-show host. Chosen for her looks and not her brains." Clark sighed. "I'm not so sure about that," he said unwillingly. "I'll explain later, okay? I just want to know what she's up to." He turned his attention back to Perry and Diana Stride. "...we're making a special issue of Top Copy, all about Superman. A tribute to him. After all, he does so much for all of us, and for this great city of ours, and we thought that it's time someone said thanks on behalf of all of us. And since we know that the Daily Planet has always had a special relationship with Superman - and especially with a couple of your top journalists - I was hoping that you might agree to help us." "Help you?" Perry queried. "Yes - oh, just some background information, and maybe a few short interviews? It won't take up too much of anyone's time, I promise." Well, that, together with the tag, was proof of one of CK's assertions about the Stride woman, Clark thought grimly. And now he had the answer to one of his questions. Whether or not she already suspected that Superman was Clark Kent, it was very likely that she thought he had a secret identity. Special tribute - hah! She was going to try to expose him. And, for the first time, Clark found himself feeling very grateful for his counterpart's presence, instead of the vague resentment he'd felt since CK had arrived and which he'd tried to hide from his parents. "I'd hope that if any of my reporters have anything new to say about Superman, they'd say it in the pages of the Daily Planet, not on Top Copy!" Perry said curtly. "Oh, but, Perry - may I call you Perry?" Diana cooed. "The Daily Planet is, after all, a serious newspaper. We simply couldn't compare it with Top Copy. My show is really just a light-hearted magazine programme. And since what we're planning is a *tribute* to Superman, I would really love to have his friends talking about how wonderful he is. People who know the *man*, not just the hero." "I'm not sure that anyone does know the man," Lois said dryly, and Clark glanced at her sharply. She, more than anyone, knew the man in the Suit, even though she didn't know that he was actually her partner. Was she resentful that she didn't know Superman as well as she'd like to - or was she protecting him? Of course, he reminded himself, she'd never printed the truth about Kryptonite after she'd seen him wounded by it... so the idea that she was being protective of Superman wasn't that far-fetched. Diana looked taken aback at Lois's comment, but then ignored her, turning to Clark. "How about you, Mr Kent? After all, I do know that you're a particular friend of Superman's." "I'm not sure where you got that information..." Clark began, anxious to scotch any suspicions of close links between himself and his alter ego, but Diana interrupted him. "Oh, you don't need to cover up for him with me, Mr Kent! I'm not going to stake out your apartment looking for him. Let's just say that I have my sources, and I know that you two are... shall we say, close?" Time to quash that line of speculation once and for all, Clark decided. "If you mean that Superman occasionally gives us information for stories, sure. He sometimes flies by my apartment - or Lois's - and tells us what he's been up to. I guess he doesn't really get much opportunity to talk to people normally. But that doesn't mean that I know him at all, really." "That's fascinating, Clark!" Diana gushed. "You don't mind if I quote you on that in the show, do you?" "He does," Lois growled, grabbing Clark's arm and tugging him away. "We have work to do, Ms Stride; I'm sure you'll excuse us." "Not just yet, Mr Kent, if you don't mind," Diana said quickly. At his gesture of protest, she added, "It's just that I have a message for Superman, and I'd be so grateful if you could pass it on for me." "What message?" Clark asked, knowing that his tone was curt, but not really caring. "Please tell him that I want to apologise for last night. I... played a little trick on him, you see. And I know now that it was unfair, and I'm sure he resents me for it. So if you could tell him that, Mr. Kent, I'd be most grateful. I'd also like to make it up to him..." Her voice dipped an octave. "I would be very honoured if he would have dinner with me in my penthouse. Tonight, if possible, so that I can apologise in person." Clark, knowing that Lois was giving him an openly questioning look, simply said, "I'll do what I can, Ms Stride. But there's no guarantee at all that either of us will see him today. And now, if you'll excuse us, my partner and I have work to do." ********* "What on earth is going on with you?" Lois muttered as they walked back to her desk. "I mean, I'm no fan of Diana Stride and I think her show is sensationalist rubbish, but what's your problem?" It was very unusual that Clark would be rude to anyone, least of all a woman; her partner had very old-fashioned manners in some respect, despite his general belief in equality. And yet it had been more than apparent to her that he'd taken an instant dislike to Diana Stride. She'd almost been able to feel his hackles rising. Not that her hackles had actually been behaving themselves either, she acknowledged. She hadn't liked the way the perfectly-made-up TV star had been looking at Clark, and she'd wanted to growl when Stride had gushed at him. The way she'd said "That's fascinating, Clark!", and looked at him as if she was hanging on her partner's every word, had set Lois's teeth very definitely on edge. She'd never cared for Diana Stride; now she actively disliked the woman. "Long story," Clark answered, his tone equally low. "If we get a few minutes before Perry sends us off in search of Mr X, I'll fill you in. It's related to what I wanted to work on." "We'll make time," she told him firmly. "Conference room - now. Perry's still occupied with getting her out of his newsroom - he won't notice." It wasn't often that Clark offered to share a secret with her, and Lois had every intention of taking full advantage of this rare opportunity. It wasn't that her partner was a secretive person as a rule, she was sure, but she did know that there were some things he was keeping from her. Somewhere deep inside, she was still smarting from that incident a year or so ago, when she'd demanded that he tell her his deepest secret so that she could have blackmail material. And he'd admitted later what she'd already suspected: that what he'd told her hadn't been his most protected secret after all. Of course, part of the reason she felt that Clark was keeping things - or at least, one important thing - from her could be, Lois conceded, that she'd never exactly encouraged him to treat her as a confidant. Whereas, as far as he was concerned, the opposite was true: she'd confided in him on many occasions, and he'd made it clear that he was happy to listen... and, even more important, that anything she told him would never go any further. Clark had never repeated to anyone any of the private things she'd told him about herself, even when she hadn't spelt out their confidential nature. It struck her as unfair - unworthy of her - that her feelings now about the prospect of Clark confiding in her about something were more related to the satisfaction of her own curiosity than any wish to help her friend. Not just her friend, she reminded herself, biting her lip: the man she had a date with next Saturday. Closing the conference-room door behind her, she faced Clark and said immediately, "So what's the problem with Diana Stride?" He looked awkward for a moment, then said, "Superman told me that he's pretty sure that she's out to kill him." Incredulous, Lois stared at him. "You're kidding! Why on earth would Diana Stride want to kill Superman?" And how could she, unless she knew about Kryptonite? Lois added silently. She was fairly certain that Clark knew Kryptonite could kill Superman, but she'd never taken any chances where discussing the deadly mineral was concerned. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Clark answered, "I have no idea. It makes no sense to me at all - but he seemed pretty sure. I'm not really convinced... but I'm not going to ignore what he said." One thing clicked into place. "She asked you to apologise to Superman for a trick she played on him," Lois said slowly. "What was that all about?" She listened in amazement as Clark explained about the tracer. Then, frowning, she said, "But that could just be to do with this show she's planning. What if it's going to be some sort of expose, Clark? She probably tagged him to try to find out where he goes, what he does, when he's not rescuing people." And that was a question which, somehow, she herself had failed to address in any serious way, Lois reminded herself. In the beginning, she'd been so dazzled by Superman that she'd been unable to be objective about him; she'd completely failed to apply her usual objective, questioning approach to him. Later, he'd become a friend and she'd understood that he guarded his privacy carefully. She'd also understood, without his needing to tell her, that if she probed too far, she'd lose his trust. And so she'd never actually asked those questions which, it seemed, Diana Stride was now considering. "Maybe," Clark said, but he didn't look convinced. "I don't know. Superman seems to believe that there's more to it than a TV show. Though one thing I do agree with you on - this isn't just going to be a 'tribute' to Superman. She's trying to find out something sensational or salacious about him - I'd bet a year's salary on that," he added cynically. "Have you ever seen 'Top Copy'?" Lois demanded, raising an eyebrow. "That's what it's all about! It's not serious journalism, or even just press-release journalism. Sure, she gets the occasional big-name interviewee, and I have *no* idea at all how her production company manages it. But mostly it's all about tabloid-style exposures. Look how she got that senator on last year - he thought she was going to ask him about his opposition to the education bill, but she'd found a string of women he'd had affairs with and got them all on videotape, and she destroyed his marriage right there on live TV. It got great ratings, of course," she finished scornfully. Not that Lois had any time for the kind of guy who played around behind his wife's back - her own family experiences had given her a loathing for that sort of creep - but she had even less time for salacious media exposure of people's private business. "I think I've only ever watched it once," Clark said wryly. "But whatever she's planning, I don't want to help her." "Me neither," Lois said firmly. "I'll bet part of her so- called 'investigation' is poking her nose into Superman's private life. His *sex* life..." Assuming he had one, she thought wryly. Although she knew only too well that Superman was both heterosexual and capable of being attracted to Earth women... Clark groaned. "Why should anyone care?" he asked, his tone almost desperate, Lois thought. "Oh, some people care all right," she drawled cynically. "The Diana Strides of the world, in fact. Hang on a minute," she added quickly as a thought came to her mind. "Clark, why don't we put a spoke in her wheel?" He looked interested. "What have you got in mind?" "Well..." Lois began with a grin, then outlined the plan she had in mind. As she finished, Clark was grinning too. "Sounds perfect!" he complimented her. "Did I ever tell you you're brilliant, Lois?" She laughed. "Not nearly enough for my satisfaction, partner! Now come on," she added. "We have a couple of villains to investigate..." ********* With Lois determined to review everything they knew about Intergang, it proved impossible for Clark to get away, even for five minutes, to check up on CK. She also had several hunches as to who the mysterious Mr X might be, and some wild guesses about the mystery assassin. "He's someone high profile, we think," she said, waving a doughnut around as she spoke. "Someone no-one would expect to be an assassin, either. Hmmm... And I guess he'd have to have easy access to his victims, otherwise he'd have been caught by now. So..." "So...?" Clark prompted. "So... I don't think we're getting anywhere. I think we should talk to Mayson Drake. I think you should call her and ask her to meet us." Clark sighed. Okay, sure, he knew that was what they did. They used contacts to get leads. Lois had already used a contact of hers in the FBI. And now he was the one who had a contact in the DA's office. But Mayson wasn't just a contact. She was a friend - and a friend, furthermore, who'd made it very plain that she hated being used. Not that Lois would understand that, he knew. She sometimes acted as if friends were commodities just like the public library or the Internet: they were an information resource, to be tapped when required. He still remembered, ruefully, Lois acting concerned for him when he'd been burgled, only to find that she was using him as research for a story. Lois insisted, though, and so eventually Clark picked up the phone. As he'd known, Mayson wasn't happy about the request, but she agreed in the end to meet them for lunch at Lois's uncle's cafe. "I can't tell you anything," she repeated as he thanked her. "Well, I'm grateful anyway," he assured her. ********** Climbing out of the cab outside Mike Lane's restaurant, Clark said resignedly, "I'm not really comfortable with this, Lois." She shrugged. "Why? We discussed this, Clark. Mayson works in the DA's office, so she's in the perfect position to give us a lead on this Mr X. Or on the assassin." Clark sighed. "I know. You don't see any problem with what you're asking me to do." Lois rolled her eyes at him. "I offered to come alone, remember? And anyway, what's the big problem? Just because she's in love with you?" She saw Clark flinch at her bluntness, and she winced inwardly. she told herself brusquely; it wasn't entirely Clark's fault that Mayson Drake was crazy about him and couldn't manage to hide her feelings. Although she still wasn't entirely sure where Clark himself stood on the issue of Mayson. He'd told her that she was a friend... but then Lois had always been sceptical about the possibility of men and women being friends without anything else intruding. Oh, sure, she and Clark were friends, but it wasn't as if sex had never reared its ugly head between them - she knew that he'd been attracted to her when they'd first met, and then there had been that declaration and withdrawal of love last summer. Plus she wasn't exactly indifferent to him... And now they were about to take that scary step from friendship to dating. No, she decided; platonic friendship between men and women was a myth. Clark sighed again as he held the cafe door open for her. "Mayson's a friend, Lois. That's all. I asked *you* out, if you remember." "I know," Lois said, a little sheepishly. "But that doesn't stop her wanting more from you than you're prepared to give, does it?" Clark was silent for a moment; then, just as Mike was approaching to show them to a table, he murmured, "I know. I need to do something about that. I just don't want to hurt her, Lois." Lois waited until Mike had chatted with them for a couple of minutes, handed them menus and then left, promising to send their guest over as soon as she arrived. Then she touched Clark's arm lightly. "By not telling her you're not interested, you're hurting her more. All the time she doesn't know you don't want a relationship with her, she's allowing herself to hope, and dream... Clark, you're not being fair to her." He met her gaze, his dark eyes troubled. "You sound like you know how that feels." Thinking of Superman, Lois nodded. "I do. And, believe me, while it hurts to be told you're wasting your time, it's kinder in the end." It *had* hurt, six months earlier when Superman had told her that he didn't believe she loved him; when his behaviour had made it clear that they couldn't be any more than friends. For weeks she'd been angry with him, desperately hurt by what had seemed at the time to be the withdrawal of his friendship as well as what she'd hoped was his love. But, as it turned out, she'd never lost his friendship, and they'd now come to a new and better understanding of each other. Without that abrupt, almost cruel dashing of her hopes, she might have continued to believe that she and Superman could be together, and she'd have become bitter and unhappy over time as she gradually came to understand that it would never happen. She still, sometimes in her most secret dreams, yearned for him; but she recognised that it was a fantasy, and she was directing her romantic thoughts towards ordinary men instead. Well, towards one ordinary man in particular. No; much as she disliked Mayson Drake - and, yes, she *was* jealous, she admitted silently, of the other woman's apparent hold on Clark and the possessive way she behaved around him - she didn't want another woman to go on hoping and dreaming for something that just wasn't going to happen. After a moment, Clark nodded. "Okay. I'll talk to her. Thanks." He hesitated then, and after a moment added, "So... who hurt you, Lois?" His voice was soft, his tone concerned. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him; but then she shook her head. That conversation with Superman had been private. To the best of her knowledge, nobody else knew about it. She certainly hadn't told anyone, and she couldn't imagine Superman talking about it to anyone, either. He'd never even referred to it again. No; she couldn't tell Clark. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Oh, that's ancient history. Don't worry about it. And look," she added, for once in her life actually grateful to see the Assistant DA, "Mayson's here." ******** Forced to shift gears, Clark got to his feet and extended his hand to Mayson. He realised as soon as he saw her puzzled - wounded - expression that she hadn't been expecting him to be so formal, and he awkwardly tried to alter his gesture. Shifting so that his arm went loosely around her, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek lightly. As Mayson took the seat Mike Lane was holding out for her, though, Clark could see that she was still hurt by what she obviously thought was a snub. Lois was right, he accepted, sighing inwardly. He needed to deal with the Mayson situation, and the sooner the better. They made small talk between ordering and having their sandwiches brought to them; then Clark explained again what they wanted to talk to Mayson about. She shook her head several times as he was talking, then finally said firmly, "Sorry, guys, I can't give on this one." That was only what he'd expected. Clark glanced at Lois, hoping that she'd accept it and leave Mayson alone. But she leaned forward, making eye contact with the assistant DA. "Look, we wouldn't be irresponsible with the information," Lois pointed out. "You know us. You can trust us. We'd hold it till the day he testified - you know that's what we'd do." Mayson was having none of that either. "This isn't a matter of trust," she said instantly. "I have orders. And these orders come from way up." Feeling, reluctantly, that he had to support his partner, Clark leaned forward and caught Mayson's gaze, giving her what he hoped was a friendly, encouraging smile. "We've heard the rumours about the assassin Mr. X is going to ID... there's nothing at all you can give us?" He could feel her weakening, and part of him wanted to tell her to ignore him, to forget all about personal feelings and just do her job. He didn't want Mayson giving him special favours just because she was in love with him; he didn't want her to be in love with him at all. Because he couldn't, wouldn't love her back... After a pause, Mayson said in a low voice, "Well, all right, but I shouldn't even be saying this. Apparently, the assassin is famous. Really famous." Lois looked up at that; she seemed to have been looking at something on the floor, Clark noticed. "Yeah, we'd got that sort of impression," she said to Mayson. "High-profile was what I heard." Mayson looked almost disappointed to find that her information wasn't altogether new to the reporters, Clark thought. But she didn't comment. Instead, she just said, "If I say another word, I'll be looking for a new career." "We understand that, Mayson," Clark said. "Don't worry. And thank you - we really appreciate this. Now, can I get you another latte?" Mayson was sitting too close to him; she was taking advantage of every possible opportunity to touch him, and she kept trying to make eye contact. Lois noticed too, and she raised a cynical eyebrow in Clark's direction more than once. Clark admitted again that Lois was right, and that the sooner he explained the situation to Mayson, the better. So, once his partner had finished eating, Clark said quickly, "Lois, would you mind going ahead back to the Planet? I wanted a chance to talk to Mayson about something else." Lois glanced at him and seemed to read what he was trying to tell her. She nodded. "See you later, Clark. Thanks, Mayson." Once his partner had left the cafe, Clark turned back to Mayson. She was looking at him expectantly. "I'm glad you wanted to talk, Clark," she told him, her voice even more husky than normal. "Things got left kind of up in the air between us..." "I know, and it's my fault," he said quietly, meeting her gaze. "Mayson... there's something I've needed to tell you for a while, and I just could never figure out a way to do it. I... I never wanted to hurt you, but I think by not saying anything I probably ended up hurting you more anyway..." Her gaze dropped to the table. "You're telling me that you're not... you don't want to date me," she mumbled, sounding crushed. "Mayson, I'm so sorry," he said quickly. "I never wanted to hurt you. And it's not you - I think you're beautiful, intelligent, great company and a really, really nice person. It's me... I'm just..." "Just head-over-heels in love with that oblivious partner of yours," Mayson finished, with a humourless laugh. "I think I've always known that, Clark. I guess I hoped that maybe you'd give up on her one of these days and recognise that there's someone out there who really does care about *you* and wants to be with you... and I wanted that to be me." "I know," Clark said, on a sigh. "But I can't do that... it wouldn't be fair to you. Would you really want to go out with a guy who wanted to be with someone else? Who was thinking of another woman when he kissed you?" He shook his head. "I couldn't do that to you, Mayson. I like you far too much to use you like that." "Well, that's something anyway," she said gruffly; he could tell that she was hiding her real feelings, which added to his self-castigation for delaying so long in making it clear to her where she stood. "But tell me something," she added suddenly. "I noticed the way Lois looked at me... is there something going on between you two?" Unable - unwilling - to lie, Clark nodded. "I asked her out about a week ago. Things kind of got in the way, but we're going on our first date this weekend." Mayson was silent for several moments. Then she collected her things and stood up. "I wish you'd told me this sooner, Clark. All this time I've been hoping... wondering where I stood with you... and you asked Lois out a week or more ago. You should have told me," she repeated raggedly. "I know," he said softly. "And, believe me, I'm sorry, Mayson." "Not half as sorry as I am," she muttered, turning to go. "Mayson," he called quickly. She didn't turn around, but she did stop moving. "Mayson, I meant what I said - I really like you. I..." "Don't tell me," she interrupted, swinging around to stare at him, her expression hurt and angry. "You think of me as a friend. Like a sister, maybe. You want us to stay friends. That's what you were going to say, isn't it?" She ducked her head, as if she couldn't bear to look at Clark as he answered. "Something like that," Clark admitted. "Don't. Just don't, Clark! Don't call me, don't come to see me, don't expect me to be your *friend*, okay? At least... not just yet. Maybe... maybe in a while I'll be able to deal with that, but not now," she muttered quickly, and then headed swiftly towards the exit. This time, Clark let her go. ********* Lois decided, instead of taking a cab straight back to the Planet, to hang around and wait for Clark. She knew him well enough to know that telling Mayson that he wasn't interested in being more than friends was going to be tough on him, and he'd probably appreciate her support. Even if he didn't want to talk about it, and she suspected he wouldn't, the least she could do was be there and keep him company on the journey back to the office. As she waited, glancing idly in the shop windows, she congratulated herself again on *not* giving in to the temptation to steal - *borrow* - Mayson's pager. It would have been so easy. It had been sitting on top of Mayson's open bag, and Lois could have had it in her palm in under a second. And who knew what information she could have gleaned from that useful little gadget? But Clark wouldn't have approved. If he'd found out - and hiding it from him wouldn't have been easy - he'd have insisted she return it and apologise. And apologising to Mayson Drake wasn't exactly something which appealed to Lois. She just didn't like the woman, and that was all there was to it. Well, it would have been a possible lead on finding where Mr X was being held, she thought wryly, regretting the missed opportunity. But they'd just have to come up with another way. The sound of alarms just around the corner attracted her attention then, and she hurriedly set off to find out what was happening. A building - a warehouse - was on fire, and Superman was just emerging, carrying a man in his arms. Wishing she had a camera, Lois stood and watched, then fished in her purse for her notebook and pen. Scribbling notes on the rescue operation, Lois was very conscious that Superman was merely feet from her. It seemed that no matter how many times she told herself that she'd got over her feelings for him, that she just regarded him as a friend, she only had to come close to him to find herself longing for him all over again. Unusually, he didn't acknowledge her in any way. Normally, if she was present at any sort of incident, then unless he was completely rushed off his feet or deeply engrossed in rescuing people from a life-and-death situation, he tended to give her a nod or a smile or something, a gesture which frequently meant that if she hung around he'd give her a quote when he was finished. Today, though, while she knew he was aware of her presence, he hadn't acknowledged her in any way, in contrast to his usual practice of at least giving her a brief nod or a smile. Chagrined, she hung about, watching him; she needed to talk to him anyway, she told herself. She - well, Clark, really - had a message to pass on to him, after all. So she managed to catch his eye after a few minutes, and indicated that she wanted to talk to him when he was free. After several minutes, when the fire seemed to be out and the fire crew was inside the building doing a clean-up, Superman finally walked over to her. "You wanted to speak to me, Lois?" he asked, sounding very formal. "Yeah. I..." She halted, frowning, as she studied his face. He seemed to be doing his best to avoid looking at her, his gaze fixed at some point above her head. He was holding himself far more stiffly than he normally would around her. It was almost as if he couldn't bear to be in her company. "Superman?" she queried, concerned. "Is something wrong?" ********* CK stared at Lois, his heart sinking. He'd hoped that she wouldn't notice his awkwardness with her; that she'd just ask him a question or two and then let him make his escape. But why should he have expected that? he asked himself wryly. This was Lois Lane, after all. And Lois Lane, in any universe, never did what anyone expected of her. He'd seen her as soon as he'd come out of the building, and he'd felt an immediate surge of joy flowing through him. Lois was here! Like a man dying of thirst, he'd drunk in the sight of her, longing to go over and clasp her in his arms, hold her to himself and kiss her until the memory of these last two days without her had been obliterated. But then he'd remembered. This wasn't *his* Lois. He was in Clark's universe, and this was Clark's Lois. The woman *Clark* loved. The woman he didn't care about enough to tell her the truth about himself. The woman he probably didn't deserve... Lois... He missed her so much. And it was torture, being close to someone who looked exactly like her, who was like her in every way but the most important one. She wasn't *his* Lois. He hadn't wanted to speak to her. He'd been counting on her leaving him alone; that she'd accept that he was busy and therefore just make a few notes and leave. But not Lois. Oh, no. She'd had to make it clear that she wanted to talk to him. And so he'd had to go over to her, or else risk her realising that there was something strange going on with Superman. Since her Clark didn't want her to know anything about his relationship with Superman, there was nothing else he could do. And now she'd realised anyway that there was something up. Sighing inwardly, he said stiffly, "No, Lois. I'm just a bit tired." He hoped it wouldn't occur to her that Superman, as an invulnerable being, didn't often get tired. She gave him a sympathetic look and, to his horror, put her hand on his arm. He braced himself, afraid that he was going to have to fight the urge to pull her into his arms... ...and then he realised, with a shock, that he felt no such desire. Her touch meant no more to him than that of any other stranger. Taken aback, he looked directly at her again... and realised that he was gazing into the eyes of a woman who looked familiar, and yet wasn't. It was as if she was the sister of his own Lois: like her, and in a way so completely different. Relieved, he smiled warmly at her. And, at that moment, he saw his counterpart standing a few feet behind them, his face like thunder. ******** Clark stared at CK and Lois, barely able to believe the evidence of his eyes. His counterpart and his partner, engrossed in what looked like a pretty intimate conversation. Lois, he probably shouldn't be surprised at; he'd always known about her Superman crush, though he'd done his best to discourage it and persuade her to see his alter ego as a friend, no more. But CK...! CK had his own Lois Lane, apart from anything else. And CK was very well aware of how Clark felt about Lois. So what gave him the right to... to talk to her, to smile at her like that, to make her smile and laugh in return? Furious, he started to stride towards the two of them. But then he realised that his attitude would only make Lois assume that he was jealous of her affection for Superman, and he'd been trying to dispel that idea for some time now. He'd learned his lesson from the Lex Luthor debacle: as far as Lois was concerned, a jealous friend, whether or not he was a would-be boyfriend, was a pain in the neck. Forcing himself to calm down, he called to CK. "Superman! I'm glad I've seen you - I have a message for you." CK stepped away from Lois, and Clark could see the apology in his eyes. Strangely, at the same time, he could almost seem to hear his counterpart's voice in his head. <> Clark shook his head, dismissing the weird fantasy that somehow his counterpart was talking to him telepathically. "Diana Stride came to the Planet earlier," he said, changing the - unspoken - subject. "She claimed she's doing a story about Superman - you. And she wanted to interview us about you." "I take it you refused?" CK said sardonically. "Well, we did," Lois answered. "But then Clark and I talked about it, and we had this idea..." She explained, and CK said thoughtfully, "It sounds good. But do you think she'll fall for it?" "Why shouldn't she?" Lois demanded. "What does she really know about you? Other than what she's been able to find by tracking you, that is." Clark saw CK give him a questioning glance, and he nodded, hoping his counterpart would understand that he'd told Lois about the threat to Superman's life. "True," CK agreed. "Well, okay, but be careful. Please, Lois. I'd hate it if anything happened to you." Possessiveness got the better of Clark again. He wrapped his arm firmly around Lois's shoulders before saying, "I would too, and you know that, Lois." "Oh, cool it, you guys!" Lois exclaimed. "Look, I know that you both care, and I love it that you do, but I've been looking after myself for a lot longer than I've known either of you." CK caught Clark's eye again, this time with a rueful, sympathetic raised eyebrow; Clark couldn't help but smile in return. Clearly this was yet another area in which their respective Loises were alike. "Anyway," Clark continued, "I told you there was a message for you." Quickly, he passed on Diana Stride's apology and request. CK nodded thoughtfully. "Hmmm. I suppose it makes sense for her, since it must have been obvious that I'd detected the tag. She's going for more direct action this time, then." "You won't go, of course," Clark said. It wasn't a question. "What are you talking about?" Lois demanded. "Clark, it's the perfect opportunity for Superman to find out what she wants, and to prove that she's up to no good!" "It's too dangerous," Clark said flatly, ignoring Lois and staring at CK, whose expression was impassive. "Dangerous, maybe," CK said matter-of-factly. "But Lois is right. It's the perfect opportunity." "No!" Clark exclaimed, then realised that his lack of caution was attracting attention from other bystanders. More quietly, he added, "Superman, it's too dangerous. We don't know what she's planning on doing. If she has Kr - well, you know," he finished, stopping himself from mentioning the lethal mineral just in time. He would never be able to reconcile it with his conscience if anything happened to CK when it could have been prevented. "If she has *that*," CK finished, "I'll feel it before she has a chance to get close enough with it. I can be out of there before it has time to take effect on me." He'd been that confident too, before Arianna Carlin had shot him with a Kryptonite bullet, Clark remembered grimly. CK was being far too confident. But he couldn't remind CK of that incident, always assuming that it was part of their shared history. Not while Lois didn't know that she was actually with two Supermen... "Superman, Clark's right," Lois pointed out, to Clark's surprise. "Remember when you were shot?" She gave Clark a cautious glance. "I'm sorry," she said hesitantly, looking back at CK. "I forgot Clark doesn't know about that..." "He knows," CK said quickly. "It's okay, Lois. And, yes, I remember. I had no idea that she had a bullet made of that stuff. But this time I'll be aware of that possibility too. Remember, I can scan everything in sight in seconds - if there's a gun, or even if something's hidden behind lead, I'll be aware of it." Clark still wasn't happy, but it was clear that he was outvoted. CK was going to accept Stride's invitation. Resigned to the inevitable, he said abruptly, "Be careful. And let me - *us* - know what you find out." "You could carry a miniature tape recorder," Lois suggested quietly. "If you could find somewhere to conceal it in your Suit, that is..." CK shrugged. "I think I could manage that. Uh..." He gave Clark a questioning look. "How about I stop by your apartment later, Clark? Around seven?" "Fine," Clark agreed. That way at least he'd get a chance to talk to his counterpart privately, something he was increasingly feeling the need to do. CK nodded. "I should go," he said then, and without further ado he took a step away from them and became airborne. Clark watched, wondering why the sight of his counterpart flying bothered him so much; then he admitted that it was a form of jealousy. *He* was supposed to be the only one who could fly in this world; he was the hero everyone - including Lois - looked up to. And now suddenly he really was just Clark Kent, newspaper reporter, standing by while another man performed Super feats. he reminded himself caustically. But somehow that didn't quite succeed in making him overcome his irritation with CK. ******** "It's not like you to be so anxious about Superman's safety," Lois commented as they made their way back to the Planet. "You're usually pretty blase about what he can do." Clark's attitude to the prospect of Superman meeting Diana Stride had surprised her. As had, she remembered, the fact that he'd actually appeared to be ordering Superman about. Perhaps the two men were closer friends than she'd imagined. She considered Superman a good friend, and she'd even told him off once for lying to her. But she couldn't imagine talking to him the way Clark just had, especially in front of someone else. Was that perhaps how Clark normally spoke to Superman? She started to think, then suddenly realised that she'd never actually been witness to any conversations between the two men before today. Now that was odd... Clark interrupted her thoughts, replying a little defensively, she thought. "Aren't you concerned? If Diana Stride really is out to kill him, then he could be in big trouble if he's not careful." "Yeah..." Lois fell silent as she remembered again the horror of regaining consciousness only to see Superman bleeding and in agony on the floor in front of her. That had been the first time she'd realised that the Super-hero really could be killed, and she'd been terrified for him. "He'll be okay, though, won't he?" she questioned quickly, ignoring the fact that Clark couldn't have any more information than she did. Clark was silent for a few moments. Then, quietly, he said, "I hope so." She grimaced. The thought of Superman being seriously hurt - even killed - was too horrible to contemplate, and she felt a lump swell in her throat. Glancing at Clark, the muscle she saw twitching in his jaw told her that he felt the same way. His jaw... Standing next to the two men, it had occurred to her how physically similar they were. She'd always thought that Superman was taller than Clark, but if there was any difference in height it was an inch at most. And the shape of their jawlines seemed almost identical. In a way, apart from the fact that Clark was short-sighted and, of course, that he was human, they could almost be brothers. Strange how she'd never noticed that before... She then remembered suddenly why she'd left Mike's cafe on her own in the first place. "Clark, how did it go with Mayson?" she asked him, concerned. She heard him sigh, which made her stop and turn to look at him. His expression was regretful, and she patted his chest sympathetically. "Bad?" "It wasn't easy," he admitted. "You were right - seems I had been leading her to expect more between us. I told her that I'd asked you out, and..." "Ouch," Lois said, grimacing. "That had to hurt." "It did," he agreed. "I never meant to hurt her, Lois! She was just a friend. I never seriously considered..." He broke off, sighing, and closed his eyes briefly. Then, a muscle twitching in his jaw, he continued awkwardly, beginning to walk again. "She kissed me once. I should have told her then that I wasn't interested in her that way, but... Lois, it's always been you, where I'm concerned. But I guess that night she caught me at a weak moment. I... was getting to think that I had no chance with you, and here was a beautiful woman - " Lois scowled at that, and he obviously noticed, and corrected himself " - an attractive woman, just throwing herself at me, and... I kissed her back. It didn't do a lot for me, and that's when I should have told her that I was never going to want her as more than a friend. I just didn't know how to." Lois remembered seeing that kiss - and remembered the unfamiliar, threatening feelings which had coursed through her on seeing it. Jealousy. A possessive rage. A burning desire to march right into Clark's apartment, push Mayson out of the way and let her know just who Clark belonged to. But, of course, she'd had to acknowledge that, for all she knew, Clark could have belonged to Mayson at that moment. Unwilling to take the risk of rejection - unwilling to let Clark know how she was beginning to feel about him - she'd said nothing, and just seethed. And then something else Clark had said resonated with her. Her breath caught as she digested that statement. Was he telling her that he'd always... What? Been attracted to her? Wanted her? Maybe... loved her? No - he'd told her that he didn't love her. The shuddering humiliation of that moment was still seared on her soul. Ever since, she'd thanked whatever gods had been smiling on her that day that she'd let Clark go first, before she'd made an utter fool of herself by telling him that she loved him too. But if he'd just told her that she'd always been the one... what did that mean? And, she thought, stealing a quick glance at Clark, did he even realise what he'd said? She suspected that he didn't, because he was still looking pretty cut up about his conversation with Mayson. This definitely wasn't a time to discuss their own relationship - and Lois wasn't even sure that she wanted to talk about it at the moment anyway. This revelation of the long- standing nature of Clark's feelings for her, whatever those feelings were, was something she needed some time to consider. In the meantime, Clark was obsessing, she could tell. She linked her arm through his and nudged him with her hip. "Come on, Clark; it's not your fault! Mayson liked you, and she tried to make a move on you. You like her as a friend, and you just couldn't figure out how to say no to her - but you didn't do it because you wanted to lead her on. You just didn't know how to let her down gently without hurting her feelings. That doesn't make you a love-rat, Clark." He sighed. "I know - but she was still hurt, and I can't help feeling bad about it." "She'll get over it," Lois said gently. "We do, you know, Clark. And no matter how much it hurts at the time, we can usually recognise when it's for the best." He smiled ruefully. "Thanks. And thanks, too, for the advice earlier. You were right - no matter how hard it was to do, I had to tell her." "You did," Lois assured him. "And now you've done it, so you can take me out on Saturday with a clear conscience. So," she added teasingly, "where are you taking me?" Clark laughed, and Lois smiled inwardly, glad that she'd managed to persuade him to stop brooding. "Ever heard of the concept of being surprised, Lois?" "I have. Doesn't mean I like it, though," she warned him. "Relax, Lois. You might find you like it better than you think," he said