Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) COMPLETE 2/17/11

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Cardinal
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 38-40 (pg 5) 12/26

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 41

Back in Town
The drive back to Metropolis was slow, due to the road conditions, but Clark didn’t mind one bit. Anything that helped extended his time with Lana was fine with him. She was bubbly and excited when they started out, but the closer they got to Metropolis, the more she withdrew. Clark noticed and finally asked her what was going on.

“I’m just thinking about work, I guess,” Lana said. “The trial will start right after New Year’s Day.”

“A week from tomorrow?” Clark asked.

“Yup. Monday, January 3rd, I make my debut in front of a judge here in Kansas.”

“You’re not getting nervous, are you?”

“Yeah. A little bit anyway.” Lana looked over at Clark. She could see the concern in his eyes. While she thought his concern was sweet, she also thought it was unnecessary, so she said, “Don’t worry about me, I always get nervous right before a trial. Once I’m in court and doing my thing, the butterflies disappear and everything’s all right.”

“So, do you have any more prep to do before you start jury selection?”

“Not really, but I do have a meeting scheduled with one of Ed Kinser’s old confidential informants.”

“Really? A meeting?”

“Eh……well, not an actual meeting, more like a secret phone call. This person seems to think he or she is the next Deep Throat. Whoever it is won’t even give me a name, but claims to have some inside information that I‘ll want. Ed’s files claim that this person has been an infallible source of information, so I’m going to make the call and see what he’s got to say.”

“Now it’s a he?”

Lana shrugged her shoulders. “Gut feeling.”

“When’s this call?”

“Tomorrow…and before you ask anything more, let me say that’s all I can tell you.”

“Aw…”

“Don’t think you can use the ‘puppy dog eyes’ on me, either. When it comes to work, you’re a reporter and I’m a prosecutor. I do have to keep some things secret from you.”

Acknowledging the justice of Lana’s stance on her need to protect her sources, Clark backed off, but while his eyes were on the road, his mind was still busy thinking about her and her upcoming phone call.

Metropolis first appeared as an indistinct glow of light on the horizon. Then, road signs proclaiming the many services available in the city became more and more frequent. Soon, Clark was driving on the city’s ring road and then navigated the rented Lincoln down mostly deserted streets.

Once at Lana’s building, Clark unloaded her luggage and helped her carry it upstairs. He hadn’t said any more about her work, but felt compelled to give her a word of warning before he left. “Be careful about trusting any of Ed’s informants.”

Lana set her small suitcase down in her bathroom and came back out. “Why? He rated the guy very highly for reliability.”

“Yeah…” Clark said, slowly, “Lois and I had a number of C.I.s, too, but each and every one of them had been discovered and killed by the time I was able to get back around to reestablishing the evidence for our story after they killed her. These people seem to be good at counter-intelligence, they may already know about your informant.”

Lana liked the fact that Clark was seriously concerned for her well-being, but even more than that, she loved the fact that he wasn’t trying to tell her what to do, he was just warning her and letting her make her own decisions.

So many guys in my life have wanted to control me under the guise of ‘protecting’ me. Even Bruce tried to do that a time or two. It’s nice being treated like an equal for once. I’m not weaker just because I’m smaller or because I’m a woman.

“I’ll be sure to keep Superman informed if I go anywhere. Is that good enough?”

Nodding his head grudgingly, Clark agreed. Still, he knew women well enough to know that Lana’s idea of ‘keeping Superman informed’ was likely a whole lot different than his. Sounds like I’m going to need to tell my informants to be on the lookout for anything involving the new prosecutor.

“Keeping Superman in the loop sounds fine to me. I will hold you to that though. Your safety is more important to me than any number of new leads. Got it?”

“You’re so cute when you’re concerned for me,” Lana said, as she stepped into the circle of his arms.

Surprised and bemused by being called ‘cute,’ Clark said, “I think the last person who said I was cute, was Rachel.”

“Really? When?”

“It was the first day Rachel and I met face-to-face. Bruce used to talk about her constantly, but I never got to meet her until they became engaged.”

“You weren’t at the engagement party,” Lana commented. “I’d have remembered someone like you being there.”

“Thanks…I think.” Clark grinned briefly, but thinking back to that day brought a faraway look into his eyes. “I couldn’t make it to Gotham City for that, though I was supposed to be there. There had been a seven-alarm fire that morning at a low-income housing project here in Metropolis. Perry already had plenty of writers to cover the story, but I just needed to be here…to help in any way that I could.”

“That’s very noble of you,” Lana said, and she meant it. She was touched by the idea that Clark would sacrifice a night designed to honor two close friends in an attempt to help people who needed him more. “How’d you finally meet her?”

“They were on vacation a few weeks later and they both made it a point to come here so she could finally meet me, and vice-versa. She saw me, and told Bruce that she thought I was ‘too cute for words.’ I just rolled my eyes at Bruce, and that’s when she found out I have pretty good hearing.”

“You must have. Rachel is normally a very careful. I don’t think she would have wanted to embarrass you like that.”

“She didn’t embarrass me, it’s just that I usually save the word ‘cute’ for babies, young girls in white pinafores on Easter Sunday, and you.”

Lana started swaying side-to-side, and when Clark responded in kind, they began to dance out around the bedroom as they talked.

“Too bad we don’t have any music in here,” Lana commented as they moved together. Contrary to Clark’s protests the day they met, he seemed to her to be a decent dancer, just as he had been the night of her office party. That’s something I’ll have to investigate further at a later date…or maybe on a later date.

“Too bad we aren’t at my place,” Clark countered. “You can hear the sound system perfectly from any room in the place.” Strike that idea, Clark thought. I don’t want Lana within range of that stupid black box. With her in the room, it would probably start playing theme music from E.T. or Alien. Then, I’d just panic.

Clark led the dancing, finally taking them from the bedroom out to the safer territory of the living room. He didn’t want to break their clinch, but both of them had to return to the working world tomorrow, and they were going to need their sleep. After exchanging ‘I love yous’, they kissed softly…once, twice, three times, and then Clark let Lana go.

“Sleep tight, Lana.”

“You too, Clark.”

Clark made his way out of her building and returned the rented car to the airport and then super-sped back to his building. No way was he going to waste sleeping time on a long, slow, and expensive cab ride.

The next day brought a return to normalcy for Lana and Clark. She was out of her building on time wearing a sharp business suit, and he was in position overhead in Superman’s red-and-blue, on the lookout for anyone who wanted to mess with her.

The closer she got to Schuster Plaza, the lower he flew, because he had come to the conclusion that she was at her most vulnerable entering or leaving work since there was only one entrance to the building, which gave her enemies a place that she had to pass through at least twice every day. Her condo building had entrances on opposite sides, forcing people to guess which side she might use, which made her that much safer.

Safely in her office once more, Lana went to work, wading through a number of meetings before heading out to lunch with some of the girls from work. They all mentioned their Christmases, and when Lana mentioned she had spent the holiday with Clark at his mom’s house, their mouths just dropped open in shock. Her new friends knew how long the two of them had known each other, and while they were happy for her, they wondered if this relationship wasn’t going a little too fast.

Still, it was impossible for them to deny the way Lana glowed whenever she talked about Clark. The unattached girls envied her ‘lucking’ into a great guy on her first day in town, while the girls who already had a guy thought back to those first days of a new love with great fondness.

Clark had been busy himself. As he promised himself the night before, he put out the word to all of his contacts to send him word if they heard anything about the new Deputy District Attorney. Perry then called him into his glass-walled office for a brief meeting.

When Clark closed the door, Perry tossed him a copy of the Sunday edition of the Daily Planet and said, “Read Sullivan’s first article on your girlfr…on Miss Lang and her team.”

The content of the article was unexceptionable, and the writing was clear and concise. To Clark’s eyes, it appeared that Perry had hired another talented writer. It remained to been seen if she was a good researcher.

“I like it so far, Perry,” Clark said as he handed the paper back. “She seems like a good writer.”

“So…what does Miss Lang think of it?”

“No clue.”

“Oh, come on, Kent,” Perry said. He folded the paper and laid it flat on his desk. Putting his elbows on the table, Perry folded his hands, leaned forward, and said, “I know I officially don’t know about you two, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know. You can tell me what she thinks.”

“Honest, Perry, I don’t know. Lana and I were both out of town until late last night and neither one of us saw a copy of the Planet while in Smallville.”

“Smallville, Kent? Taking her to meet your mother already? And on Christmas no less.” Perry whistled. “She must be more attractive inside than outside, and that’s saying a lot from what I’ve seen.”

Clark shook his head helplessly. “You have no idea.”

Perry studied his desk for a moment and then asked quietly, “How is your mother these days, Clark?”

“She’s well.”

“I’m glad.” Perry ‘s eyes shot up, and he seemed to snap out of whatever funk he had been in. “The reason I asked you about Sullivan’s article is that I wanted to make sure the little argument those two ladies had last week doesn’t spill over into Sullivan’s work. I have a standard to maintain here, and if she’s not up to the job, I need to know as soon as possible.”

At lunch time, Clark headed out to eat by himself since Lana had called to say she was going to eat with some girls from work. He quickly headed to a comfortable Thai place since he felt like eating something spicy. The restaurant was dark, but he was recognized almost as soon as he was seated. It turned out to be Chloe, who asked if she could share the table with him. Figuring she knew by now just where they stood, Clark agreed and stood to seat her.

“Nice article, Chloe.”

“Thanks.”

The waitress came and took their orders, and then Clark resumed their conversation. “Is this an accidental meeting, or were you looking for me?”

“Looking for you. I was coming over here to find you and saw you leave the Planet, so I followed. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Nah. I don’t mind company, and I’m interested to hear how you and Lana are getting along.”

“Surprisingly well,” Chloe admitted. “After I kissed her boyfriend and her reaction to the kiss, I thought she might hold it against me and make things difficult.”

“Not Lana, not from what I’ve seen anyway,” Clark said. “You guys apologized and made up, so that should be it for her…but if you’d done that to my last girlfriend, she would’ve knocked your block off instead of just yelling at you.”

“Oh yeah?” Chloe said, as she took a sip of her iced tea. “Whoever she was, she’d better be tough.”

The look in Clark’s eyes was nostalgic as he said, “She was. They don’t get much tougher than Lois Lane.”

Chloe had just begun swallowing her sip of tea and instantly began choking. When her series of hacking coughs ended, she looked up at Clark and asked incredulously, “Lois Lane? Tall, bossy, big mouth? Hard-as-nails on the outside and soft-as-a-marshmallow on the inside?”

Not sure where this was going, Clark said cautiously, “Yeeeeeeees, that sounds like Lois all right. Did she owe you money or something?”

“No,” Chloe said, with a voice that sounded completely lost. “She was my cousin.”

Clark was now as shocked as Chloe. “I thought the only family she had left was a kid sister who was traveling in Europe and made her money as a grifter.”

“Yeah, that’s Lucy.” Chloe shook her head in disgust. “Looks like a model, but has the mind of a swindler.”

Clark and Chloe spent the rest of their lunch sharing stories of Lois. Chloe’s were all from Lois’ childhood, while Clark’s were from her last years, an exchange of stories that allowed each to see a side of Lois that they had never known. It wasn’t until they paid and went outside, however, that Clark told Chloe about Lois’ death and that he was sure Intergang was responsible.

Chloe hadn’t been too excited about covering Lana and her team until that moment. Now, she wanted to revel in the conviction of Morgan Edge, and to help with the destruction of Intergang. She ended up staying a bit long on lunch so Clark could tell her about Lois’ death, and by the time she made it back to the District Attorney’s offices, Lana had already received a special phone call from a voice that was being electronically masked.

Lana took notes on a plain sheet of paper. When she was done, she reviewed the notes and put the paper through the crosscut shredder in her office once she had memorized the details of the notes. “Looks like I’ve got some calls to make before everyone goes home for the day. I have an old warehouse to lead a raid on.”
"In the Name of the King"
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 38-40 (pg 5) 12/26

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 42

Trust Me
Lana had some work to do, first she told her boss about her tip, and he approved her desire to get a search warrant for the warehouse in question. She then went downstairs to the circuit court level and was directed to one of the associate circuit court judges who granted her request for a search warrant after she laid out her information.

With the freshly-signed warrant locked in her briefcase, Lana was back in her office and arranged for a police strike team to accompany her. The police were needed, first, as backup for the initial serving of the warrant and then to cordon off the warehouse while she and her investigators searched the premises. Once she was ready, Lana didn’t want to wait. She wanted to hit the warehouse now, to guard against the off chance of anything being moved.

Just before she left the Siegel Center in a caravan of police cruisers and evidence trucks, Lana thought about her promise to Clark to keep Superman informed, but she also thought about how guilty she would feel for taking Superman away from his job just to tell him she would be traveling with an escort of policemen. The more she thought about it, the more she realized he wasn’t needed today, so she decided to not tell him.

Once on the road, her first problem was trying to get from the gleaming skyscrapers of downtown to the seedy, industrial side of town. Traffic was heavy since it was nearly 5 p.m. by the time they left the office, and that kept tying them up; only the heavy use of police sirens and lights allowed them to make any progress at all.

As Lana neared her goal, she could see street after street of grimy factories sitting cheek-by-jowl with rickety-looking warehouses. To her eyes, they looked like relics of a bygone era; a scene that should have been more familiar to Upton Sinclair than to her. But instead of being repulsed by the sight, Lana was becoming more and more excited. She felt like this was her first chance to show the public what she could do for them. She wanted to be worthy of the public’s trust.

When they finally arrived at the warehouse, police cruisers moved to block off the exits from the warehouse and its immediate area, while Lana, her investigators, and an escort of policemen headed for the warehouse’s office to serve the warrant. Just before Lana’s shoe hit the first step on the steel-railed concrete steps that led to the office door, she heard the rapid slap of shoe leather on asphalt and turned back to see who was trying to catch up with her and what they could possibly want. Whoever it is better have a damn good reason for interrupting now, Lana fumed. She didn’t have long to wait, as the footfalls sounded like they were about to come around the corner.

Clark came chugging around the corner with a full head of steam, clutching a small sheaf of papers in one hand. A couple of cops had reflexively moved in front of Lana to shield her, but let Clark make his way past once they recognized him.

“Miss Lang,” Clark said, holding the papers out to her like they were missives from on-high.

“Mr. Kent, what a surprise.” Lana replied. Her voice was coolly professional, but it was the look in her eyes that stopped Clark in his tracks. He could tell that she was in ‘take no prisoners’ mode just like she had been in her initial news conference.

“Miss Lang, there’s something here that you really need to take a look at before you go in there.” Lana held out her hand for the papers, and was annoyed when he used his head to gesture to one side, and said, “For your eyes only.”

Lana headed for the indicated corner and whipped around when she got there.

“Sorry, Lana,” Clark said somewhat sheepishly, as he showed her the blank sheets of paper. “I had to talk to you before you made a mistake.”

“This had better be good, Clark. I don’t appreciate grandstanding by journalists…no matter how hot I think they are.”

“Trust me, Lana, this is huge…for you at least.” Lana looked at Clark expectantly, and he went on. “I don’t know what you expect to find in that warehouse, but it doesn’t matter since there’s nothing in there.”

“Say what?

“It’s empty. No boxes or anything else in the open bay and no files in the office, just empty file cabinets.”

“How do you know this…and how did you find out about this raid in the first place?”

Remembering their conversation the night before, Clark grinned slightly and said, “You have your informants and I have mine.” Clark’s expression became serious once more. “And that's not all, it gets worse. I expect the local television stations and other news media will be here as soon as their trucks can make it through traffic.”

“Oh crap!”

“Yeah. You’re about to have a full-blown media circus here…and they will just eat it up when you break down the door, go charging inside, and come out empty-handed. You’ll go from being Metropolis’ newest media darling to just another chump in the blink of an eye.”

Lana’s mind was racing as she thought through the possibilities. If Clark was right, someone was either trying to discredit her and damage her reputation just before the start of the trial or there was a dangerous leak somewhere and the bad guys had gotten enough of a warning to clear out the warehouse. Either way had some serious implications for her. But first she had to make sure that Clark was right.

“You never did answer my question about how you know this. I know you can‘t reveal your sources, but how do you know that your source is right and mine isn’t.” Hoping he’d understand, Lana said, “I can’t call off the raid just on the say so of a newspaper reporter, I have to have something more concrete than that. Judge Tompkins would love to hear that after she wrote out the warrant, I changed my mind because I let my boyfriend talk me out of it.”

This was fast becoming more complicated than Clark had thought. He’d hoped that Lana might take him at his word, show some trust in him, and call this off. He should’ve realized that as a professional and as a public servant, she’d need something more. Only, he didn’t have anything more to give her. He didn’t think she’d appreciate hearing that he’d been here for half an hour already and had broken in through a back window to search every nook and cranny of the place.

Please don’t go in there. I know it’s your job and you think you owe it to the people of Metropolis to investigate this lead you were given, but if you open that door…”

“If I open that door…what?”

“Then I have to go do my job.”

Lana knew what his job was, but that didn’t stop her from asking the question anyway. “What is your job today, Clark?”

Looking ineffably sad, Clark replied, “To write the story of what happens here. At least until another reporter makes it out here and takes over.” Seeing that she hadn’t changed her mind, Clark pulled out his press pass and clipped it to his overcoat’s lapel. Just before he turned to walk off, he said plaintively, “You get to make the mistakes. I’m the one who has to chronicle them.”

Lana’s thoughts were a bit confused right then. She was annoyed that Clark was so sure she was about to make a mistake, but she was touched by how it seemed to affect him. His visit had shaken her confidence in what she was about to do, but barring compelling evidence to the contrary, she couldn’t justify not serving the warrant.

When Clark disappeared around a distant corner, Lana had just noted that he was heading farther into the complex instead of out toward the street, when she heard an authoritative voice overhead. She nearly wrenched her neck when she whipped her head up and behind to locate the man the voice belonged to.

Superman was standing on the edge of the roof, and when Lana located him, he leapt off and floated down to stand in front of her. He noticed that the investigators and her police escort were trying to listen in to whatever he had to say to Lana without being obvious about it, and that just wouldn’t do.

Superman turned his head and fixed his eyes on the lead investigator. The man straightened up as if he’d been caught with his hand in a cookie jar. “Would you fellows mind giving Miss Lang and me some room?” Clark asked. The police and Lana’s investigators moved away, and kept on moving until Superman quit staring at them.

Turning back to Lana, he gave her a disapproving look, and then said, “I had thought leaving Clark here to warn you would be enough, but it seems I need to come back here to stop you myself.”

“So…you’re his source for this. Why didn’t he tell me? I would have canceled this raid right away.”

Superman looked down at the ground. When his eyes moved back up to meet Lana’s they looked sad, and he said, “Maybe he wanted you to believe in him instead of me. Looks like Clark has a way to go yet.”

Lana was wounded by that comment. It wasn’t true, it couldn’t be true. “It’s not that I don’t trust him, Superman, I do. But in my job, public perception is important. Clark is my boyfriend, which makes it difficult for me to make decisions based on what he says.” Lana wrung her hands. “You’re different though. Everyone knows Superman is neutral and is all about truth and justice, so when you say something, everyone relies on it.”

Nodding his head in reluctant agreement, Superman said, “True. I imagine Clark will get over it eventually.” His eyes grew cold then and pinned Lana in place. “What he won’t get over quite so easily is that you failed to tell me where you were going today after promising him that you would.”

Lana felt guilty. Being the kind of person he was gave Superman an unassailable moral authority. When he said you screwed up, it carried real weight. Lana wanted to try and explain, but she was sure it wouldn’t make a difference.

“I’m here with a big police escort, Superman. What could possibly happen to me?”

“Let me tell you what.” Superman held up a hand and began ticking off the things she hadn’t considered. “Besides there not being any evidence inside, there are also no high explosive booby traps for you to trip over, no canisters of poison gas inside a file cabinet for you to set off, and no sharpshooting assassins hiding in the rafters. In short, there’s nothing here that would have made your ‘protection’ useless.”

Lana’s mouth was hanging open in shock. She hadn’t considered these other ways someone might come after her. “I’m sorry, Superman, I should have called for you.”

Seeing that Lana fully realized her mistake, Superman allowed himself the slightest grin. “Yes, you should have. Just make sure you actually do it next time. I can’t protect you if I’m not with you.”

They exchanged goodbyes and he flew off. Lana was telling the police commander that the raid was being called off just as the first two television trucks pulled up at the warehouse. Lana grabbed a couple of officers to use as an escort and went to look for Clark.

I’m so sorry, and I need to apologize to him, she thought. But no matter where she looked, she couldn’t find him. Maybe he’s mad at me.

Lana pulled her cell phone from her pocket, thinking of calling him to set things straight, but then she got an idea. Just last night, Clark had pointed out that she hadn’t been to his place yet, and since apologizing face-to-face was always better than doing it over the phone, it looked like this was the perfect time to make that first visit.

I sure hope he doesn’t mind a surprise visit.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 41&42 (pg 6) 12/28

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 43

I’m Sorry
When Superman left Lana he flew high into the sky. Instead of stopping a couple of miles up at his normal Metropolis patrol height, he kept on climbing, through the sparse cloud cover and out into the blackness of space. He was upset and needed somewhere private to vent and then to think.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Superman released some of his pent up anger. Blowing his stack felt good, and this was the one place he could do it without risking someone seeing him. A yell like this back in Metropolis would be heard from one end of the city to the other and would make people wonder about his mental health. Up here, his only company was a horde of manmade satellites that neither knew, nor cared, who he was.

How could that boneheaded woman do that? I don’t think I asked for too much. Just freaking tell me when and where she was going. She didn’t even have to spend any of her cell minutes. All she had to do was say she needed me and I would have been there.

It seemed to him as if Lana was oblivious to just how much danger she was in. He knows she’s generally been good about following his instructions for her safety, but then she goes and does something colossally stupid like this, making him wonder if she truly understands the danger she’s in. This kind of frustration made him glad he wasn’t a personal bodyguard. Having to deal with the whims of one person on a regular basis would be more than thought he could handle.

Superman waited until he had thoroughly cooled down before heading back home. He needed to get something to eat, and he wanted to relax for a little while before heading back to the skies to put in some time patrolling. Feeling like eating something spicy for dinner, and since he was already out, Superman made a quick side trip to Bangkok to pick up a selection of his favorite Thai dishes.

He was on the way home, and somewhere over the Hawaiian Islands, when he heard Lana’s voice speak his name. But it wasn’t Superman that she spoke of, she was talking about Clark. Listening as he flew on, he quickly realized that she was talking to a doorman who was on duty at his building.

“…yes, Clark Kent.”

“Mr. Kent? I haven’t seen him come in yet this evening, Miss. But he could’ve come in the other entrance.”

“Could you call up to his place and see?”

Turning to the intercom system just behind his duty station, the doorman asked, “And your name is?”

“Lana Lang.” Even though that was all he needed to know, Lana felt a sudden urge to add, “I’m his girlfriend.”

“That’s what they all say, Ma’am.” The doorman pressed the combination of buttons that linked his station to Clark’s condo and said, “Mr. Kent? This is Mike at the East Entrance. Are you home?”

Lana was glad she had been let inside the building’s lobby, as the outside air temperature was dropping rapidly. She wondered idly if Metropolis was in for an extended cold snap, while the doorman kept trying to get Clark on the intercom.

“It’s no use, Miss Lang. Mr. Kent isn’t answering.”

Lana was just about to ask the doorman to get her a cab, when she felt a familiar touch on her shoulder. She had just begun to turn around when Clark said, “She’s with me, Mike.”

“Very good, Mr. Kent,” the doorman said as he resumed his station.

Clark rolled his eyes as he came to a stop. “How many times have I told you, Mike? My name’s Clark.”

“As you say, Mr. Kent.”

Foiled by the doorman‘s unyielding formality, Clark used one hand to hold the Thai food and put the other one between Lana’s shoulder blades as he guided her to the elevators. Clark could tell from the jeans and half boots she was wearing, that she had already been home to change.

“Hi, Clark,” Lana said. Her voice sounded to him like she was forcing a bright tone of pretended cheerfulness. Underneath that surface, all seemed to be brittleness, as if it wouldn’t take much to shatter her surface cheer.

Clark didn’t feel especially cheerful toward Lana right now, but he couldn’t help trying to lift her spirits, so he smiled widely as he said, “Hi, Lana. What brings you over here tonight?”

“You…me…what happened at the warehouse today.”

It belatedly occurred to Clark that Lana was also upset about what happened today. What else could have gotten her that upset? Duh! Think about someone else for once. That thought spurred Clark to think about his actions today. Looking at the days events from Lana’s perspective made his insides twist in knots as he suddenly felt ashamed of himself. Here he had been upset with Lana, and he had failed to recognize his own mistakes. With both of them now lost in their thoughts, the elevator ride was taken in silence.

Lana noted the wonderful aromas emanating from the large sack Clark was carrying. She thought it smelled like something Asian, but she didn’t know what. Whatever it was, it was making her hungry. As she and Clark walked side-by-side to his door, she looked up at him for the first time and asked, “What kind of food is that?”

Clark opened the door, and said, “Thai.”

“Really? Where’d you get it?” Lana was curious, because she loved Asian cuisine and Thai was one of her favorites.

Fussing with his keys and then closing the door behind him, Clark was distracted and absentmindedly replied, “Bangkok.”

He froze in place, cringing, unable to believe his colossal stupidity. Maybe I won’t have to worry about telling Lana my secrets any more.

Lana took a few steps and then turned back when she noticed that Clark wasn’t following her into the condo. “Bangkok? Sure you did.” Gesturing at the bag, which was still held at Clark’s side, she asked, “No really, where’d you get it?”

Clark was unable to believe the good luck of the reprieve provided by Lana’s belief that he was joking. He fumbled around in his mind for the name of a Thai place in town, but all he could remember was the name of the restaurant in Bangkok. “I, uh, I got this at Annan’s.”

“Okay, but where is this…Annan’s located?” Lana asked, as she relieved a stationary Clark of the food bag and headed for his kitchen.

Clark rubbed his now sweaty palms on his thighs and followed Lana into the kitchen, where she was busy unloading the small containers from the bag out onto the counter. Looking at the number of containers, Lana asked, “Were you planning on pigging out, Clark? There’s enough here for a family of four.”

“I was planning on having some leftovers,” Clark replied. “I don’t go to Annan’s very often, so I always get enough while I’m there for three or four meals.”

“Sounds efficient…as long as the food is still tasty when reheated.” Lana finished with the food and came back around the counter. “You never did tell me where this place is.”

“Oh, trust me, Lana. It’s a very long way away. You can’t even imagine how far away it is.”

Lana stood there for several seconds, with hands on hips, and in that moment, Clark was sure the gig was up. He took off his overcoat and then set it on the back of a dining room chair so he could help her with her coat.

“I guess that’s why you don’t go there very often,” Lana said finally, as she slipped her arms out of her coat while Clark held it. “Well, if you’re determined to keep this place’s location a secret, I’ll just have to get you to take me there sometime.”

The look on Clark’s face was apologetic as he said, “I’m sorry, Lana. I’ve had a long day, and I need to go get cleaned up. If I had known you were coming…”

“I know, you’d be cleaned up already.” Lana shooed Clark away. “Remember, I’ll be expecting a tour of the place once you’re ready.”

“Sure thing,” Clark replied before he hung up both coats and then headed to his bedroom.

Once Clark was out of sight, Lana took a look around the kitchen. Dual Sub-Zero refrigerator-freezers, a Viking stainless-steel stove, dual ovens, granite countertops, a dishwasher, and an island workspace with prep sink and disposal. She was jealous already and she hadn’t left the kitchen. A peek inside the refrigerators showed that one was completely empty and they other had a small selection of fruits and vegetables to go along with cold cuts, a jug of milk, and a pitcher of orange juice.

A peek into the freezer compartment revealed a stack of microwaveable TV dinners along with a tub of vanilla ice cream. Lana wasn’t sure why, but seeing that Clark liked vanilla wasn’t a big surprise to her.

She made her way into the living room and saw a sleek, black-leather sectional sofa which was set across the room from a large, thin TV and a home entertainment system. She couldn’t tell if the TV was plasma or liquid crystal, but she wasn’t interested in watching it anyway.

Instead, Lana just wanted some soft music to distract her while she waited for Clark to get cleaned up. She was nervous about having to apologize for breaking her promise, and her growing hunger pangs which were caused by the fabulous smells coming from the kitchen weren’t helping her much either.

Lana wasn’t much of an electronics connoisseur, but even to her eyes, Clark’s stereo setup looked to be expensive. She looked for an on button and finally managed to turn on both the receiver and the Digital Storage Device. When no music came out, she looked carefully and noticed a flat black box that had only one button, and that one was unlabeled. She cautiously pressed that button, ready to turn it off again immediately if something went wrong.

Almost instantly, Lana heard the opening strains of a song she didn’t recognize. It sounded different than the types of music she was used to, and it took her a few seconds to realize that it had to be an old country music song.


“I’m Sorry” - Brenda Lee

I’m sorry, so sorry,
That I was such a fool…


The singer’s voice was clear and strong, and hearing those first few words spooked Lana since the song was just what she was feeling deep inside. She quickly shut off the entire sound system as she thought, I am sorry. After all, I came over here for the purpose of apologizing to Clark, but I don’t need the stereo to remind me of that.

Lana drifted down the hall and into Clark’s office. He had a nice-sized desk and chair combination, probably essential due to his size, along with a computer and laser printer. She noticed what seemed to be a trend: every room she had seen so far was clean, almost painfully so, but didn’t have the feel of being lived in. It was more like he just stopped here just long enough to sleep, eat, and change clothes before rushing out again.

Another thing she had noticed was that there were no photographs on display here. That was so unlike his mom’s house, which had so many shots of Clark and his parents on the wall that it looked like a family memorial. Again, this place didn’t feel like a home.

Lana could faintly hear the sound of running water coming from the direction of Clark’s bedroom. That made her think about his bathroom, and what he was doing in there. She imagined him soaping up his long, chiseled body as the glass door fogged up. Lana felt a sudden heat in her loins and headed back to the living room and its stereo as she now wanted something to distract her from her dirty thoughts. The last thing she needed right now was to be all worked up and ready to pounce when Clark came back out of his room.

First, she got herself a glass of ice water. If she couldn’t give herself a cold shower, she’d just have to settle for something else cold. After running the cool glass across her damp forehead, Lana went to the living room and was just about to turn on the sound system again when she heard the door to Clark’s bedroom pop open. Here he came down the hallway, with his hair still damp and him wearing nothing but a clean, white towel.

Clark looked mortified by being out in front of Lana in nothing but a towel, but he had a reason. He had two baskets of clean, folded laundry in his laundry room, which included his entire supply of clean underwear.

Seeing Clark as he apologetically made his way back by her with a full laundry basket in hand brought Lana’s dirty thoughts back in full force. As she started up Clark’s expensive sound system once more, all she could seem to think of was getting her hands on that towel and giving it a good yank.

“I Touch Myself” - The Divinyls

I love myself
I want you to love me
When I feel down
I want you above me
I search myself
I want you to find me
I forget myself
I want you to remind me

I don't want anybody else
When I think about you I touch myself…


Lana had just been bouncing along with the beat and thinking about Clark until the chorus started. Then she listened more carefully and her face turned puce as she realized that the lyrics were just as dirty as her thoughts. She again shut off the sound system, but this time, she wondered if there was a reason it seemed to be mirroring her thoughts.

Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times…hmm, maybe his stereo is possessed or something. Can a stereo even be possessed? Could a priest be called in to do an exorcism on a stereo? Man, I’m flipping out. It must’ve just been a coincidence. But if it happens a third time…

Clark was back out in no time at all in a black t-shirt and blue jeans, with damp locks of hair still curling around his ears.

“Sorry I took so long,” Clark said.

“Are you kidding me?” Lana asked. “If it was me in there, I’d still be trying to choose the right bath beads. So don’t sweat it.”

Clark pointed toward the kitchen and indicated that Lana should go first. She obliged him just as he asked if she’d like to share his Thai. When she answered affirmatively, Clark moved to his cabinets and dug out a pair of plates, two sets of silverware, and one glass for him since Lana still had hers in hand. They sat on either side of one corner of Clark’s square dining table with the various containers of food spread out between them.

The meal was mostly quiet as Lana’s thoughts returned to her purpose for coming here, while Clark was still mulling over what had happened…both things that were her fault and things that were his.

Even with Lana helping him eat, roughly half of the food was still left over, so after Clark put the dishes in his dishwasher, he boxed up the remaining food and stuck it in the mostly empty fridge. Wanting to put off what he knew they needed to talk about just a little bit longer, Clark took Lana on that tour. He showed her the rooms she had already seen and then headed into his bedroom.

This was the first room Lana had seen that looked to her like someone actually lived there. He may have straightened the room up while he was in there, but she could still see the clutter of knickknacks on his bedside table, and the toe of a lone sock sticking out from under the edge of his king-size bed. Here, too, were the pictures that were lacking in the rest of the condo. On his bedside table were photos of his parents, and of the three of them together. And sitting on his chest-of-drawers was a photo of a strikingly attractive woman with hair that was either light brown or dark blonde.

That must be Lois. His former partner and his last girlfriend. Lana didn’t have any specific reason for thinking that since Clark had never described Lois to her, but she couldn’t imagine any other woman being given a place of honor like that.

Seeing a photo of his last girlfriend in his bedroom, while he didn't even have a photo of his current one, caused Lana a twinge of jealousy. I've gotta remember to take him to a portrait studio soon, so we can have some professional shots taken.

Lana even took a quick peek inside Clark’s master bath and when she saw that the shower did indeed have a glass door, she felt a brief surge of those feelings again, before they headed back to the living room to talk. Lana sat in the middle of the sectional and slipped off her shoes before curling one leg beneath the other. Clark sat just around the curve from her so they would be able to look at each other more easily. Neither one knew just how to start because this had been their first real fight of any kind since they had started dating.

Clark finally decided to start. He was normally all for ‘ladies first,’ but he figured since Lana took the initiative to come over here, presumably to apologize, the least he could do would be to make his apology first, which should make it easier for her to do the same thing.

After clearing his throat, which startled Lana from her own thoughts, Clark said quietly, “I’m sorry, Lana.”

Expecting to be the one apologizing, Lana was surprised and asked, “Whatever for?”

“I was incredibly selfish today. It almost caused you to go on with the raid, and you would have, except for the timely appearance of Superman.”

Still seeing the day’s events from her perspective, Lana wasn’t sure exactly what Clark was getting at. “Go on.”

“When I came up to tell you that the warehouse was empty, I should have told you immediately that Superman was my source. Instead…” Clark released a big breath, “…instead, I wanted you to trust me. I wanted you to show that you believed in me, so I withheld the identity of my source. My crime was putting my selfish wish before your legitimate need. I’m so sorry. Can you find it in yourself to forgive me?”

Clark’s eyes had been focused on Lana’s the whole time. His look was intense, and hers changed from confused to relieved as she realized she wasn’t the only one needing forgiveness tonight.

“Yes, Clark,” Lana said, as the first genuine smile of the evening graced her face. “I forgive you. I know you didn’t mean to make things difficult for me.” Lana drew in a deep breath. “I, on the other hand, need to apologize to you. I promised you I'd keep Superman informed about where I was going, and I didn’t. He pointed out to me a number of ways that I could have died even with a police escort. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I was wrong and I apologize.”

Clark didn’t even wait for her to ask for forgiveness since he already felt like a heel for making her apologize twice. Her apology to Superman had been all he needed to hear, but if it made Lana feel better, then she could apologize as much as she wanted. He looked forward to the day that she knew everything so they could avoid uncomfortable scenes like this; he only hoped he could work up the nerve to tell her soon.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 41&42 (pg 6) 12/28

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 44

The Mask
Lex walked into his father’s modernistic office of glass and chrome and tossed an early copy of the morning’s Daily Planet on his desk. Both men were normally in the office by seven a.m., and today was no exception.

“Yes, Lex?” Lionel asked testily. “What is it?” He already knew what Lex wanted to talk about, and asking about it was the surest way of getting the inevitable taunting out of the way.

“Oh…nothing, Dad,” Lex said, as he swiveled the paper around so his father could see the front page. With a look of mock concern on his face and sarcasm in his voice, he said, “I was looking for that article about the new Deputy District Attorney that you promised would be in there this morning. Wonder of wonders, I didn’t find it. Not only that, but there weren’t any news stories about her on the ten o’clock news last night. Why, it might lead me to think that nothing happened last night after all.”

Lionel’s eyes narrowed to slits as his son forced him to relive his small defeat. “It appears that our city’s red-caped menace interfered. I had a couple of people stationed where they could see the office entrance and they said that Superman talked the lovely Miss Lang out of going inside.”

“Too bad, Dad. I know that was supposed to be the first step in your plan to disgrace her and force her firing…now I guess you’ll have to stop her some other way.” It was much too early for booze, so Lex poured himself a mug of the gourmet coffee his father’s personal assistant brewed every morning. Following his first sip, he said, “After all, you’ve gotta keep Morgan Edge from getting a murder conviction. You never know when he might decide to become state’s evidence against you.”

“Thank you for that tedious lecture on my situation,” Lionel said dryly. “I might never have known what was going on otherwise.”

“So, Dad, what’s the plan? Your fair-haired boy’s jury selection starts in six days. Time is running out.”

Lionel pressed both palms flat on his desk and gave Lex a look that could kill. “Lex, you’re about to wear out your welcome, but if it will shut you up and get you to return to working on the presentation for our meeting with A.D.M., I’ll tell you what’s going to happen.”

Lex remained standing and waited expectantly.

“The trial is getting too close and Miss Lang is becoming too much of a risk, so I’ve contracted with Morgan’s people to implement a…” and here came Lionel’s wolfish grin “…a final solution to that problem.”

“How long’s that gonna take? Finding the perfect spot and arranging an effective escape plan takes time. Especially since Superman seems to have taken a professional interest in Miss Lang’s well-being.”

“It will take less time than you think, Lex. I’ve had Morgan’s people scouting Miss Lang, as a backup plan, ever since she started working in Metropolis. The plans are already set. By nightfall, Lana Lang will be nothing more than a memory.”

Lex strode confidently from his father’s office and passed by his own, heading instead for the executive elevator that would take him anywhere in the building without having to stop for the little people. He took it down to the ground floor and once there, headed out the front door. Lex walked until he came to a pay phone two blocks away from LuthorCorp Tower.

I helped the big doofus in red and blue disrupt Dad’s plans yesterday, doing so today should make things between him and Intergang more tenuous. After dropping fifty cents into the coin slot, Lex placed a compact electronic device over the mouthpiece and dialed a number from memory. It’s still only 7:30, Lex thought, I hope I can catch Clark before he leaves his condo.

He had no such luck. Clark had turned off his cell phone in preparation for following Lana to work. Unable to believe that his one connection to Superman wasn’t available, Lex swore and then left a terse warning message on Clark’s voicemail.

Of all the days to be unreachable, Lex thought as he headed back to the office. I hope your brand-new girlfriend doesn’t end up paying the ultimate price, Clark. After all, I can’t steal her from you if she does.

Superman was a few minutes early because he never knew quite when Lana was going to be ready. Today, she rode the subway and took the direct route to the Siegel Center. Superman followed closely and was in position when she emerged from the subway station only a couple of blocks from work.

The closer Lana got to the trial, the closer Superman had been following her. His original height of 2,000 feet overhead was now down to only 1,000 feet overhead. At this rate, Superman thought, I’ll be flying just over her shoulder by the middle of January.

Superman noticed that Lana’s walk to work still had the look of confidence and sex appeal that had attracted him to her in the first place. Lana stepped into Schuster Plaza and angled for the sole entrance to the Siegel Center. Superman subconsciously lowered his altitude even more as he knew this plaza was the place Lana was most vulnerable since, no matter what route she took to work, she always had to pass through here to get to the Siegel Center.

Superman’s vigilance paid off.

Since light moves at 186,000 miles per second, while sound only moves at a little over 700 miles per hour, he saw the shards of broken glass and the twin tongues of flame well before he had a chance to hear the gunshots. He didn’t have time to do anything but react as he threw himself into a full-power dive straight down toward the plaza.

The first bullet had been deflected and deformed by the thick window glass of the office that the gunmen were using as their hunting blind. But the second one, as planned, was headed directly for Lana’s unprotected back, and because the bullet was traveling faster than the speed of sound, the bullet would hit her before she heard it get fired, giving her no chance to duck.

The remaining bullet was small and he couldn’t risk using his heat vision on it from this height as he might accidentally fry some of the people underneath it, so catching or deflecting it was his only choice. Superman had both hands extended in front of his face as he used his most aerodynamic form to squeeze every ounce of speed from his body in this most important race of his life. Lana, and everyone else in the plaza for that matter, seemed to be moving so slowly that they might as well have been standing still.

Superman readjusted his course, so that he was pointed toward a spot immediately behind Lana’s back, as it would give him the most time to make the interception. He could tell it was going to be a close thing. So close, in fact, that Superman couldn’t afford to slow down as he approached the ground. To do so was to condemn Lana to death. With a cry of rage, Superman extended the fingers of one hand as he stretched that arm and desperately tried to touch the bullet before it touched his love.

Success!

Superman managed to deflect the bullet straight down just before he hit the surface of the plaza at full-steam.

The concussion of his impact knocked Lana, and anyone else nearby, off of their feet. Superman instantly tried to reverse his flight, but his momentum and indestructibility combined to carry him twenty-five feet underground before he came to a stop.

Superman immediately gathered himself and leapt into the air to cover Lana’s prone body as he was unsure if the snipers would take another shot, or if there was more than one set of snipers.

The sound of the bullets had reached Superman’s ears just after he hit the ground, and that had started a frenzy as everyone in the plaza reacted. Some took off running, some dropped in place hoping to hide, and some had no idea what had just happened, but what Superman was interested in was Lana.

As for Lana, she wasn’t waiting around to find out what was going to happen next. She didn’t quite realize what had caused the large crater just behind where she had landed, but she knew the sound of gunshots. As soon as she regained her bearings, Lana leapt to her feet, left her briefcase and shoes behind, and began running in her stockings on the wintry pavement toward the safety of the Siegel Center.

Superman saw the snipers in the office building opposite from the Siegel Center. Any chance they had of getting off a second shot was gone now and when they realized his eyes were on them, they dropped their weapons and began to follow their procedures for initiating their escape plan. Superman wanted nothing more than to run down the men that had tried to kill Lana, but her immediate safety was a bigger priority, so he turned back and saw her fleeing form.

Making use of super-speed, Superman was behind Lana in a flash. He then scooped her off of the ground and bolted into the air, leaving behind a mass of panicked government workers. His first instinct was to clear the area, so he flew them high into the air. Once there, Superman took a few seconds to clear his mind and decide his next move. Believing that Lana would be safe in the well-secured District Attorney’s office complex, Superman then flew down to the roof of the Siegel Center and sat Lana down next to a door that opened into a stairwell.

Lana was dazed. First, she had been knocked off of her feet by some kind of explosion, followed almost instantly by the crack of two rifle shots. After that, she remembered running and then flying and then…and then…Superman.

The adrenaline and endorphins that were coursing through her system weren’t allowing her to feel anything other than a temporary euphoria, but Superman could see a series of small cuts on the back of Lana’s neck and head. It looked to him like she had been injured by flying shards of concrete from the plaza floor, but luckily, none of her injuries looked to be serious, and the thicknesses of Lana’s business suit and wool coat had combined to save her from cuts on the rest of her body.

Superman picked up the corner of his cape and began to slowly and gently dab at her cuts, hoping to loosen any debris that had become embedded while trying to stanch the flow of blood. As Lana’s adrenaline and endorphins faded away, her body began to check in, and she thought she was going to have a spectacular set of bruises on the palms of her hands, and on one cheek, as well as a throbbing headache from her wounds.

Once Superman was sure Lana was going to live, he left her long enough to retrieve her briefcase and shoes. Just this once, he’d let the city’s emergency personnel do their jobs unaided. He had someone else to attend to.

Lana gratefully took her stuff back and immediately slipped on her shoes before checking her briefcase to be sure everything was in order. Superman had slipped away, and was sitting on the edge of a low ledge near the middle of the roof. He was facing back toward the stairwell door, as Lana moved in behind him to thank him for saving her life.

She was shocked to see that Superman’s normally erect posture had disappeared as the man seemed to have folded in on himself. Also surprising was that Superman was holding his head like he had a massive headache. Wanting to give something back to the man who had just saved her life, Lana’s small hands began working on the muscles of his upper back and shoulders in an attempt at helping him relax. It seemed to help somewhat, but he was still cradling his head in his hands.

Lana’s hands slowly made their way up the back of Superman’s neck, kneading and pressing as they went. The neck massage became a head massage, as she rubbed her fingers in small circles on the back of Superman’s skull.

All this time, Superman had been reliving the near miss he and Lana had had down below on the plaza. When he thought back and replayed the events of the attempt on Lana’s life, he saw that he hadn’t deflected the bullet with his hand, or even a finger. Instead, he had deflected the bullet with the fingernail on his middle finger. If he had done so much as trim his nails before leaving home this morning, Lana would be dead.

Thus it was that Superman wasn’t paying much attention to the location of Lana’s hands…hands that had been moving farther forward on his head with each small circle they traced. So when both of her hands pressed in on his temples at the same time, his mask came off, and he couldn’t stop it from coming to rest in her hands.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 41&42 (pg 6) 12/28

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 45

What to Do?
Lana looked at her hands in utter shock. It took a second for the truth to register in her mind. Ahhh! I’m holding Superman’s mask! So he does disguise himself. All I have to do is step around his body, and I can see who he is. Clark seems to know already, but I bet Chloe Sullivan would give a month’s pay to be where I am right now. Lana’s hands trembled as she thought about how easy it would be to just take a peek. Who would it hurt?

The answer to that question came quickly to Lana. It would hurt Superman, a man who’s saved my life twice. That secret belongs to him and no one but him; that means I don’t get to decide whether or not I learn that secret. If he chooses to tell me his secret, I’ll listen eagerly, but I’ll wait until he’s ready to tell me.

Sounds like I’ve got two guys in my life with secrets, Lana thought humorously.

Suddenly, it hit her, maybe it wasn’t a coincidence. Clark had some deep secret that he wasn’t able to tell her yet, and Superman had a secret identity. To support that thought, she recalled that it had been obvious to her from the start that those two were roughly the same size, and she’d never seen them together, even though they seem to have some kind of friendship going.

Lana wanted to dredge her memory to see if there were any other bits of information that would support her theory, but right now, she had a mask to return to it’s owner…without seeing who he really was. So, she closed her eyes tightly and reached around in front of Superman with both hands, placing the mask right in front of his eyes.

“I think this belongs to you,” Lana said quietly, “and so does the secret of your identity.”

The entire time that Lana had been holding his mask in her hands, Clark had sat there wondering what she would do. He knew he was fast enough to spin around and yank the mask out of her hands without her seeing his face, but strangely, he didn’t want to.

Clark was deeply involved with deciding what to say after Lana took her first look at his face, when he saw his mask come down in front of his face. His reply to what she said was to quietly reach up for the mask and pull it back on. Once it was locked into position, he checked to make sure the edges of his costume hadn’t gotten tied up with the edges of the mask, before turning to Lana and asking, “Why?”

“When you want me to know,” Lana said simply, “you’ll tell me.”

Bewildered, Clark replied, “But…almost anyone in Metropolis would give their eye-teeth to know my identity.”

“I’m not just anyone,” A warm smile spread slowly across her face. “I’m willing to wait.”

“Thank you.”

Now that the mask was in place, Superman was back, but he was very puzzled. He would’ve bet the farm that anyone who was a couple of steps away from learning Superman’s secret identity would take that opportunity. He’d been steeling himself to deal with Lana’s reaction…and then she’d declined her chance. She chose to protect my secret.

As Superman took time to think, Lana was getting progressively colder out on the windy rooftop, despite her wool clothing. Trying to bring Superman back from wherever his thoughts had taken him, she said, “Umm…Superman? Hello? You may not notice it, but it’s freezing up here.”

Lana’s voice cut through Superman’s mental fog like a hot knife through butter, and he shook his head in an attempt at refocusing his mind on the matter at hand. Since Lana had head injuries, he had to scratch his original idea of sending her downstairs to work. Instead, she was going to Metropolis General Hospital for a full checkup in the emergency room, whether she liked it or not.

“Ready to fly?” Superman asked.

“Where are we going?”

“Metropolis General. You need to get checked over.”

Lana started to protest, but Superman tilted his head to one side and his eyebrows stretched toward the sky as he gave her a look that just dared her to argue with him. Realizing this wasn’t a battle she could win, Lana wisely backed down. Superman scooped her into his arms, and launched them into the air.

To Superman’s eyes, Lana’s wounds appeared to be superficial, but he wasn’t taking any chances with her health. He wanted every wound cleaned out, disinfected, and if necessary, stitched up. Then, he wanted CT scans, PET scans, and any other kind of brain scans they could come up with to check for any hidden internal damage. He wasn’t letting on to Lana, but he was more than a little scared right now, and would remain so until the doctors gave her a clean bill of health.

The people at the Metropolis General emergency room were familiar with the sight of Superman swooping in to drop off a critically injured citizen before immediately rushing back out. But they weren’t prepared for what happened today. He walked in the sliding door holding a small woman in his arms and immediately commandeered a vacant wheelchair. Once she was sitting in it, he rolled her to the admitting desk. ‘Superman’ was a name to conjure with, so Lana was whisked through the admission process in record time.

The hospital staffers were a bit surprised that Superman showed no likelihood of leaving right away like he usually did, but when they told him he could wait in the Waiting Room for Lana to be helped, he really surprised them by following her into an examining room instead. When a nurse told him he’d have to wait outside, Superman ignored her and remained by Lana’s side, as unmovable as a mountain. The reason he insisted on staying at Lana’s side was simple. He’d almost lost her once today, and he fully intended to stay by her side to make sure no one got a second chance at killing her.

The nurse then tried a second time to get Superman to leave the examining room. Lana waved her down, and said, “It looks like I’ll just have to get used to the idea of having an extra shadow today…a 6’ 4”, 225 pound shadow.”

“How do you know my size?” Superman asked.

“It’s in half of the newspaper articles about you that I’ve read,” Lana said. “It’s like it’s almost a part of your identity.”

“Oh.”

Surprised, Lana asked, “You didn’t know?”

“No. Why would I? I don’t read the articles about me.”

“Why not?”

“I was there, I already know what happened,” Superman said. “Besides, I’m not in the superhero game so people can tell me how good I am; I do what I do because people need help. Help that no one else can provide.”

Lana loved Superman’s selfless demeanor, and if her theory was right, it was just one more reason to love Clark.

As the nurse took Lana’s vital signs and started a chart on her, Superman kept quiet. It would’ve appeared that he was just allowing the nurse to get her work done as quickly and efficiently as possible, but in reality, he was withdrawing to a place inside his mind where no one else could go. For the rest of his time in the hospital, Superman spoke only when spoken to and only in terse sentences.

The quiet that he experienced as Lana went from examination to test to another test, gave him his first lengthy down time since he stopped the bullet, and it allowed him to think about what had happened. For him, the parallels between today, the day Lois died, and the day Ed died were unavoidable.

All three times, he was working with someone close to him to try and bring down a part of Intergang and all three times, someone had struck back at them. Losing Lois had wrecked him; losing Ed had taken that initial wound and deepened it; losing Lana just might finish him off. The longer Clark had to think, the darker and more painful his thoughts became. He couldn’t bear for this to happen a third time, he just couldn’t. He had to do something.

For her part, Lana had been putting on a brave front, mostly for Superman’s benefit, but the difference between knowing someone wanted you dead, and experiencing an actual attack, was like the difference between seeing things in 2D and seeing them in 3D. The threat to her life had become a very real thing to her all of a sudden and her thoughts were, understandably, mostly focused on herself and her own mortality, so she missed the implications of Superman’s stony silence.

Sometime late in the morning, Lana fielded brief calls from both Bruce and Rachel. Alfred had seen a CNN report about the shooting and instantly headed for Bruce’s room. By the time the network definitively determined who the target was, Bruce was sitting up in bed and watching the story on his wall-mounted 47-inch LCD high-definition TV. Alfred then gave Rachel a heads-up call while she was at work, causing her to leave a staff meeting and retreat to her office to watch along with Bruce on her office TV.

Lana told both Rachel and Bruce a number of details that CNN didn’t know or had left out, but the one that grabbed the attention of both of her callers was that Superman seemed to be out of sorts after setting her down on top of the Siegel Center. When Lana added that Superman was standing guard over her as silently as the Sphinx, and had been all day, Bruce had been happy that Clark wasn’t taking any chances, but Rachel was worried about the extended silence.

There are two victims in Metropolis today, Rachel thought. One’s injuries are on the surface and can be healed with the use of antiseptic and stitches, while the other’s injuries are hidden deep, where they can’t be seen, much less healed.

It was early afternoon before the doctors convinced Superman that Lana was fine. Lana was correct about getting a headache from her wounds, so the doctor gave her a prescription for a mild pain reliever and sent her home.

Once Lana unlocked her balcony door, Superman left her outside while he searched the interior of her condo. He was becoming a bit paranoid and was trying to see if someone had snuck in and planted some explosives to finish the job. There was nothing for him to find, however, so he waved her into the condo and then headed out to collect her prescription from the local pharmacy.

Meanwhile, Lana was busy with her thoughts. Her theory from earlier in the day, which had been shunted aside for a while by the reality of her situation, came to mind as she waited for Superman to return with her medicine. Along with the theory, came memories of various events; things that added to the possibility of Clark being Superman.

Like her first day at work. It had rained hard, and she hadn’t had a raincoat or an umbrella. Even though she had eviscerated Clark in front of his peers earlier in the day, he had come back to find her at the end of the workday to lend her his own coat and give her that hideous Daily Planet umbrella he had bought. Besides the fact that the umbrella was now one of her most treasured possessions, there was one other thing she had taken from that moment: Clark had made the trip from the Daily Planet to the Siegel Center without getting the coat wet, which should’ve been a sheer impossibility.

Another thing she remembered was how familiar Clark had seemed with the layout of her condo the very first time he had come over. It was as if he had been there before. He hadn’t, but Superman had.

And then, the day they went to his club to workout, Lana had watched Clark play basketball. He had played hard, but had come out of the game without a drop of sweat on his magnificent body.

Any one of those things taken by itself might not mean much, and even taken together, they weren’t anything more than circumstantial evidence, but Lana knew.

Clark Kent, her boyfriend, so sweet and sexy, smart and funny, polite and considerate…was Superman. She couldn’t imagine where or how he had gotten his powers, but the fact that he chose to use them for the betterment of mankind, instead of for personal gain, was just the most amazing thing she had ever heard.

This revelation also helped explain a few things. She now knew why Superman had reacted so violently to her suggestion that Clark might be working with Intergang. She winced when she remembered that day. What I wouldn’t give to be able to take that back, Lana thought. Bruce must know who Superman is, since he nearly died when I told him about what I had said to Superman about Clark…hmm, and if Bruce knows, I’ll bet my life savings that Rachel knows also.

It wasn’t too long before Superman was back on the balcony, prescription in hand. Lana opened the door to let him in. By the time she locked the door once more and turned to him, she noticed he was distressed. His chest was heaving and his face was almost oozing sadness.

Pain medication forgotten for the moment, Lana moved toward him, hoping to somehow, someway, alleviate his suffering. She didn’t even know why he was in pain, all she knew was, when Clark was in pain, they both hurt, and she had to try to help.

He raised a hand to stop her before she drew in close, and said heavily, “Lana, we need to talk.”

“Okay…about what?”

“About you and me…and what happened on the roof of the Siegel Center today.” Lana knew he could only be referring to the mask, so with her curiosity piqued, she stood still and waited for him to continue. Superman stared Lana straight in the eye and started talking immediately, wanting to get rolling before his fears tripped him up.

“Earlier today, you did something for me that I was unable to do for you as recently as yesterday.”

“What?”

“When it came right down to it, you were able to put your wants aside and put my needs first. You wanted to know who was under my mask, but instead, you allowed my need to stay anonymous take precedence.” Lana could hear the emotion crackling in his voice and wondered briefly if the mask would allow his eyes to tear up. “Today, you earned my trust.”

With that, Superman’s hands rose to both sides of his head and pressed both temples at once. In less than a second, the mask popped off into his hands and Clark’s face was revealed.

Lana gasped and her mouth dropped open as she froze in place. She had already convinced herself that Clark was Superman, but having the proof right in front of her was still a shock.

Clark stood still, studying her reaction, and found it less demonstrative that he had expected. Did she suspect, he wondered, or maybe even know?

While Clark’s revelation had frozen Lana in place, she never took even a single step back. The look on Clark’s face matched the one that had been on his mask. He still seemed to be inexpressibly sad, and it was this that restarted Lana’s movement toward him.

Lana’s left hand reached up and cupped Clark’s jawline as she reached him. The pad of her thumb stroked the hollow of his cheek, and Clark’s eyes closed as he automatically leaned into her caress.

“Is this the big secret you’ve been trying to tell me?”

“Part of it,” Clark admitted, with his eyes still closed, “but this is just the beginning of what I have to tell you.” And it’s the end, Clark thought sadly, of something much more dear to my heart.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 43-45 (pg 6) 1/7

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 46

Confession…and More
“This is gonna take awhile, isn’t it?” Lana asked.

“Yeah.”

Lana released Clark’s face and glided toward the kitchen, as she asked, “Can I get you something to drink then? I know I always need a glass of water on the prosecutor’s table when I have to do a lot of talking in court.”

“Water sounds just fine.” Clark replied. He wasn’t really paying a lot of attention to Lana at the moment though; his thoughts were focused on what he had to say. I know, in my bones, that Lana will keep my secrets, but maybe I’ll get lucky and the alien part will scare her away. It’s strange, here I’ve been worried that she would dump me once she knew, and now I’m hoping she does.

Lana brought two tall glasses of filtered cold water back with her, and set them on coasters on top of the low coffee table in front of her living room couch. She hadn’t had time to change out of her business suit before Clark returned with her medicine, so she lifted the hem of her skirt so it rested just above her knees, and then tucked one slender leg beneath the other on top of the couch.

When Clark remained standing, Lana patted a spot on the couch right beside her, and said, “Come over here and make yourself comfortable.” Startled out of his trance, Clark finally looked over at Lana. “I don’t bite, Clark.”

Clark gave Lana a small, sheepish grin and moved around the coffee table to sit a hand’s width away from her.

Lana looked at Clark as he swept his cape behind him and sat down. “Are you comfortable in that suit, Clark, or would you rather change into regular clothes?” Clark just shrugged his shoulders as if it didn’t really matter to him. “Oooookay.” Something new suddenly occurred to Lana. Where does Clark keep his other clothes while he’s Superman, and vice-versa? “I don’t know where you could possibly hide your clothes when you’re dressed as Superman, but if you have them here, I can go into my bedroom and change into something more comfortable, while you do the same in the other bathroom.”

Clark’s response was to reach underneath his cape and pull the golden N-space box off of his belt. “This is where I stash my clothes while I‘m in uniform…and where I keep my outfit while I’m being Clark.”

Lana gave Clark a disbelieving look and said, “In there? But that’s too small. It’s barely bigger than a pair of cigarette packs.”

Clark popped off the lid and slowly stretched the box left and right, and then stretched it front and back. The farther Clark stretched the box, the higher Lana’s eyebrows rose. What the hell? she thought. How is that possible?

“But that’s still only four inches deep.”

Clark quirked a single eyebrow at Lana, as if to say ‘you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. He then dipped his hand into the opening and pulled out a two-piece suit with shirt, tie, and belt, all on a hanger. After carefully draping the suit on the couch, Clark reached in one more time and pulled out two leather shoes with a sock tucked into the top of each.

Lana was speechless. She’d never seen anything like this, had never even dreamed of anything like this. Clark waited patiently for her to decide where their conversation went next. What he couldn’t imagine, was how it must feel to be on her side of this conversation.

Bruce had handled the entire revelation fairly well, even going so far as to joke that Clark could make a killing if he mass-produced the N-Space boxes and marketed them to women as portable wardrobes or super-compact, super-capacious purses. But even a man as wealthy and as jaded as Bruce Wayne had been flabbergasted by the story.

Lois had learned his secrets bit by bit, as she had been chasing after the Superman story for some time before he finally revealed himself to her. She had already known a lot of stuff about Superman that had never made it into the press, including his alien origin, just because he had asked her to keep it secret. This had made it relatively easy for her to cope with the revelation that her boyfriend and writing partner was also Superman.

Rachel’s introduction to Clark’s secret had been hilarious. She had flat out refused to believe it when both Clark and Bruce tried to tell her, mostly because she believed she was the victim of an elaborate practical joke. Clark had been too polite to change clothes in front of her, even though he could do it so fast that she’d only see a brief blur, and when he went into another room to change clothes and then came back, she thought Clark and Superman were both in on the gag.

Clark hadn’t thought about just donning the mask in front of Rachel to prove who he was, so he had finally put on a small show for her. They were inside his condo at the time, and the highlight of that show had been Clark taking her platinum hoop earrings, breaking them in half, bending them, using his heat vision to weld them together into one piece and then bending them some more, until they were one giant hoop…all done while hovering upside down so that it appeared he was standing on the ceiling.

“How is that box even possible?” Lana asked.

“It’s a bit of advanced technology.” Clark took a deep breath, held it for a second, and then released half of it. “You might even call it a bit of advanced alien technology.”

“Alien? As in, from outer space?” Lana was confused. If this is actually a bit of alien technology, how did a reporter from Kansas get a hold of it? Even if he is super-powered, I’d expect the government to keep stuff like this for itself.

“Yeah, from outer space.” Not wanting to draw this out any longer, Clark added softly, “Just like me.”

Lana stared at Clark, wanting all the while to dig the wax out of her ears, because she couldn’t possibly have heard him correctly. She went over what she thought she had just heard in her mind. Yeah, from outer space. Just like me. Those three innocuous, little words stood out to Lana, and they kept repeating themselves over and over in her mind in time with the throbbing of her ever-increasing headache.

Clark had left the plain white prescription bag on the far side of the coffee table, and Lana reached for it now, just barely snagging it on her second attempt. She ripped the bag open, and after reading the directions, opened the bottle, pulled out the small wad of cotton, and took two small pills which she washed down with a healthy-sized swallow of water from her glass.

Recapping the medicine bottle, Lana set it on the coffee table, and asked nervously, “Did I…did I hear you correctly?”

“Given how rattled you look right now,” Clark said with a faint smile, “you must have.” He paused for dramatic effect, before hamming it up. “I, Clark Joseph Kent, am also known as Kal-El. I was born on the planet Krypton, the only son of Jor-El and Lara.”

Inside, Lana was snickering at Clark’s goofiness, but given the absolute seriousness of what Clark was doing in trusting her with his most intimate secrets, she tried very hard to maintain her composure.

Thinking he saw something in her face that he had been afraid to see before, but now wanted to see, he added in a hesitant voice, “I’ll understand if you don’t want to continue our relationship. Not too many women would be able to handle something like this.”

Wasn’t there a movie about something like this? I think My Step-Mother’s an Alien was the name. Maybe this will be the sequel. But what will the title be? Lana wondered whether Clark would just be her friend, or would be more than that, continuing to be her boyfriend and maybe one day becoming her husband.

The funny thing to her was that she didn’t question in the least Clark’s assertion that he was from outer space. As improbable as it sounded to her, it had to be the truth. Since that box was alien technology, it followed that the mask was too. And no one on Earth, that she had ever heard of anyway, had anything like the powers that Clark did, so he must be from outer space also.

What she was focusing on was whether or not she could give herself fully to an alien. Put like that, she doubted it. But when she considered whether or not she could give her all to Clark, the sweetest, kindest, handsomest and most self-sacrificing man she’s ever known, it was no contest; her doubt turned into no doubt. Lana loved Clark; she loved who he was and what he stood for as a reporter, and knowing how he used his fantastic abilities just made her love him even more.

Lana made her choice. She still wanted Clark.

“Sorry, Clark,” Lana said with a gentle shake of her head, “you’re not getting rid of me that easily. I loved you when I woke up this morning, but I love you even more now. Alien or not, you’re the one that I want.”

Clark’s confidence wilted and his insides wanted to cramp as he knew that he’d have to be the one to break off their relationship. Before he could muster the strength to do so, Lana asked, “What’s…Krypton, you called it?” An affirmative nod from Clark. “What’s Krypton like? Why are you here on Earth?”

The almost childlike wonder in Lana’s voice as she asked those questions only served to make things more difficult for Clark. Here he was, trying to end things, and she was setting her hooks deeper into his heart.

“I don’t know what Krypton is like, Lana. When I was a baby, Krypton was on the verge of destruction. My father stuffed me into a prototype spaceship and sent me to Earth to save me from the blast. As far as I know, I’m the last Kryptonian left alive.”

“Oh no, Clark. I’m so sorry.” Lana felt terrible for bringing up such a subject, and she leaned into Clark, resting her hand on his upper arm as she tried to comfort him.

Clark’s other arm moved up and that hand slid itself into Lana’s hand, lifting it from his arm. Their fingers slid across each other until they finally settled into a firm grip. He made sure his eyes were locked onto hers as he said, “Don’t worry about it, Lana. You couldn’t possibly have known. That is…was… one of my deepest secrets.

“As far as your second question goes, I came to Earth because my biological father had been here before. He had met a family that he trusted, and when it came time to send his only son away, he chose to send me here, in the hope that the family that had befriended him would befriend me, too. He sent me to the Kents.

“Jor-El had plans for me here on Earth, too. Once I reached adulthood, I had to undergo some specialized Kryptonian training to become the man that the Earth will need me to be one day. His words were something like, ‘They are a good people, Kal-El. They need only a light to show them the way. That’s why I’ve sent them you, my only son.’”

Clark fidgeted and both his hand and his eyes slipped away from Lana. “There’s something else you need to know about me coming to Earth.” Maybe this will drive her away. I doubt it, because of the type of woman she is, but I’m grasping at straws here.

“What’s that?” she asked. Could anything be more amazing than what he’s already told me?

“I came to Earth in the infamous Smallville meteor shower.” Once again, Clark’s eyes sought out Lana’s. “In fact, the meteor shower was caused by me coming to Earth. The meteors were pulled along with my ship as a way to disguise the ship from radar detection. Your Aunt Nell died because I was sent here.”

Lana had only the barest memories of her aunt. She didn’t have a lot of family, so having one more close family member would’ve been great, but she didn’t feel anything more than a vague sense of loss.

“I think my aunt would’ve been special to me, and I am sorry I never got the chance to really know her,” Lana said, “but her death wasn’t your fault. Now, if your biological father had somehow survived and made it to Earth, I might have some cross words with him.”

“So, the sins of the father…?”

“…are not visited on the next generation.”

Lana’s acceptance of him warmed Clark’s heart in a way he couldn’t express, but it also increased the difficulty of what he felt he had to do. She didn’t know it, but she was making this as difficult for him as she possibly could. Clark was willing himself to be hard, to be tough, but a woman who was less than half his weight was breaking him down with nothing more than a soulful, doe-eyed stare.

He was beginning to question if he could do this at all.

Lana was torn between wanting to launch herself into Clark’s arms and asking him a billion more questions about what he had just told her, but while her enthusiasm was mounting, his appeared to her to be melting away.

Concerned, she asked, “Clark, what’s wrong? You look like you’re about to cry.”

“I might,” Clark replied, embarrassed by the admission. “I’m not sure.” His voice was choked with emotion and once again, he was having trouble making eye contact with Lana. Gotta be a man about this, Clark thought. Can’t have Superman turning into a complete wuss.

Lana slid toward Clark until their legs were touching, and she slipped one slender arm around his broad back so she could hug him tight. “It’s okay, Clark. It’s over. You told me your secrets, and I’m still here.” Lana’s hand began rubbing lightly up and down Clark’s back. “I love you.”

That did it. There was no blubbering, but Clark was unable to stop the tears from cascading down his cheeks. “I love you too, Lana,” Clark replied. “That’s what makes this so painful for me to say…and just as painful for you to hear.”

Lana had a sudden sense of foreboding and tried to mentally brace herself, but it’s nearly impossible to brace yourself for a collision when you can’t see where it’s coming from.

“I love you more than any woman I’ve ever known,” Clark’s voice chose that moment to crack, “but I can’t stay with you any more.”

Lana had been ready for something painful. She’d thought he might have some kind of unusual Kryptonian disease or something, or maybe he’d say he couldn’t give her any children, but not this. She wasn’t crying, not yet anyway; she currently felt like she’d been hit in the solar plexus and all of the air had been driven from her lungs.

Why, Clark?”

Open-ended questions are always the hardest to answer, but Clark tried.

“Because Lois died, and it’s happening again with you. I know I told you that she died in an explosion. I’m sorry about not telling the whole truth that time and I’m also sorry about the fib I told when I said I was ‘miraculously unhurt,’ but the whole truth is, I was in the damn car, sitting right next to her when the bomb went off. Even with all of my abilities, there wasn’t a single thing I could do. I didn’t even get to hold her broken body in my arms one last time to say goodbye, because I had to pretend to have been thrown clear to protect my precious secret.” Clark venomously spat the last two words out of his mouth, as if he wanted nothing more than to be rid of his secret for all time. “I can’t go through that again. I just can’t.”

Lana was crushed by Clark breaking up with her, but her heart ached for him. She couldn’t imagine watching the one you love die three feet away and being helpless to do anything about it. But that death was years ago, and this breakup was happening now, so she focused on Clark and herself.

“You’re dumping me because I might get hurt?” Lana asked. The incredulity in her voice was off the charts. “In case you’ve forgotten, you saved me today. Intergang tried to kill me and failed.”

Clark held up his middle finger, making Lana want to giggle in spite of the situation because it made the straight-laced Clark Kent look like he was flipping her off.

“See the nail on this finger?” Clark asked intensely. “That’s where I deflected the bullet that was headed for your back. If I was the least little fraction slower, or if I had been flying along ten feet higher in the air, you’d be dead right now.

“Those guys could get you just about anytime. There’s only so much I can do, and before you say anything about the using the police, you need to know that a large number of cops in this town are corrupt. They’ve either been bought off, or are scared of not doing what Intergang wants.”

“But I was okay at the warehouse…”

Clark cut Lana off harshly, and said, “The only things keeping you safe there were me and the fact that there were too many cops around you, thus making it too dangerous for one lone rogue cop to do anything. In any case, we’re through, and I’m done arguing about it.”

Lana watched in stunned silence as Clark stood, pulled his mask back on, opened the balcony door, and launched himself into the air. It wasn’t until he was long gone that the dam burst, and Lana began to weep uncontrollably. This morning she had been on top of the world, both professionally and personally, and now, someone had tried to assassinate her on her way to work and the man she had already been thinking about marrying had just lost his mind and dumped her.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 43-45 (pg 6) 1/7

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 47

Alpha Lana
Lana cried hard, but not as long as she might have expected. As soon as she was down to occasional sobbing, she picked up her cell phone and called Rachel, who was in the middle of her evening commute. She answered the call using the hands-free phone in her Mercedes, and was instantly concerned when she heard how upset her friend was.

“Raaaaaachel?” Lana sniffed.

“Lana? Why are you so upset? When I talked to you this morning, you had just survived a shooting. You should be celebrating with that man of yours.”

Mentioning Clark, even if it wasn’t by name, made Lana sob briefly and let Rachel know roughly what the problem was. She had feared what Clark might do if something happened to Lana; now, it looked like she was going to find out.

“So…let me guess,” Rachel said, “big, tall, and stupid did something rash and broke up with you.”

“He’s not stupid!” Lana said testily. She wondered where the need to defend Clark had come from. “He just…uh…did something stupid.”

“Some difference.”

“Yes, it is.” Lana couldn’t believe she was still defending Clark; it was like she felt that she was the only one who was allowed to rip into him. “Being stupid is a permanent condition. Doing something stupid is hopefully only a one-time event.”

“I stand corrected,” Rachel said. It was a good thing for her that Lana was half a continent away, because if she could see Rachel’s indulgent smile at that moment, Lana might start getting upset at her.

“But yeah, he did break up with me.”

Rachel could hear the desolation in Lana’s voice, and as quick as that, the humor in this situation disappeared. When I get my hands on Clark, she thought, he’ll learn the cost of hurting my girl.

“Tell me everything, Lana.”

Rachel was parking her car in it’s space in the spacious Wayne Manor garage by the time Lana finished recounting everything that had happened since her morning phone call. The hardest part for Lana had been letting Rachel know that Clark had told her about his secrets, without saying anything over the phone that might reveal those secrets to anyone who might try listening in.

Rachel was pleased that Clark had managed to find the courage it took to let Lana in, but wondered at the subsequent failure of his courage when she needed it most. As she continued sitting in the car, she realized that due to his physical invulnerability, Clark had never truly had to develop any physical courage. After all, if you can’t get hurt, why be afraid? Emotional courage was the only kind he’d ever need, but when it came to that, he was completely inexperienced. No wonder he failed her, Rachel thought. This is only the second time in his life that he’s had to put his heart on the line, and he was completely burned the last time he tried it. He’s skittish.

As she walked into the main part of house, Alfred appeared as if from nowhere to take Rachel’s coat, gloves, and scarf. When Alfred informed her that Master Bruce was in the ‘basement playing with his toys,’ the code for the Batcave that he used whenever an unknown person was within hearing range, Rachel smiled and asked him to have the cook hold dinner for an hour.

“Very good, Mistress Rachel.”

“Thank you, Alfred.”

Rachel resumed talking as she hustled upstairs to get out of her suit and into a sweater and a pair of jeans. “Sorry about that, Lana, I had to talk to Alfred for a bit.”

“No problem, Rach.” Lana said, as she pulled a wayward strand of hair behind one ear. “So…what do I do?”

Coming to the second floor, Rachel hurried down the hall toward the massive oak doors of the master suite. Once inside, she shut the doors behind her, which effectively shut out the rest of the household, put the phone on speaker, and began changing. When she had married Bruce, Alfred had tried to assign her a chambermaid to, among other things, help her dress and undress. Rachel had grown up being the child of a servant, and had felt intensely uncomfortable with the idea, so she had gracefully declined.

"Let me see..." Rachel said, to buy herself some time to think.

Being on the outside of Lana’s problem looking in gave Rachel a the perspective to see a solution that Lana was too wound up to notice yet.

“First things first. Do you want to get Clark back?”

“Of course. I love him, and he did admit that he loves me more than any woman he’s ever known, so at least something good happened today.”

Rachel could tell just from the sound of Lana’s voice that she was moping. To break her out of that, Rachel figured she’d have to shift Lana’s way of thinking from passive and emotional to aggressive and analytical.

“Since Clark told you the true story about how his last serious girlfriend died, you‘ve gotta know he’s scared out of his mind right now.”

“But did he have to take it out on me?”

“Don’t think about you right now, think about how this is affecting him.”

“Okay.”

“My point is this: he made an emotional decision. If you want him to change that decision, you have to get him to think about this situation, instead of just reacting to it. Once he does that, he’ll realize that if you die, he will hurt just as much now as he would if he was still officially dating you.”

“I get it. The love is the important part; dating is just a word.” Lana thought and then asked, “So, I should go after him?”

“Definitely, and do it tonight, before the dummy gets a chance to become comfortable with this stupid idea.”

Talking mostly to herself, Lana said, with growing excitement, “And, if I have to, I can point out once again, like I did when we started dating, that I’ll be in danger whether he’s dating me or not. Also, as my boyfriend, he would be with me more often, making it easier for him to protect me.”

“All of those are valid points, Lana.” Then Rachel reinforced her earlier point. “Get him to think instead of react, and you’ll succeed.”

Now that Lana had a plan of action, she was feeling more like her usual self. “See ya, Rach, I’ve got a man to wake up.” Just before she ended the call, Lana added, “And Rachel?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for snapping me out of my funk.”

“It was my pleasure.”

Lana immediately threw herself into getting ready to do battle with Clark. She quickly stripped off her clothes and hurried through a shower before picking out an outfit. She wasn’t going for sexy, just nice. She wanted Clark’s thoughts on his decision, not on how she looked. Lana finally decided on a forest green Henley and an older pair of blue jeans. When she slipped her sock-clad feet into her white Nikes, it reminded her that she had been meaning to join Clark’s club.

If I’m successful tonight…not willing to admit the possibility of defeat, Lana changed that thought to, no, when I’m successful tonight, I’ll talk to Clark about getting that done tomorrow after work.

Lana thought for a moment about the possibility of going to Clark’s building and sneaking by the doorman so she could take Clark by surprise, but she decided against it. Instead, she chose to be upfront and call him to get him to allow her into the building.

While Lana had been crying and then talking to Rachel, Superman had rocketed into the sky. He was desperate for some way to take his mind off of Lana and what he had just done, and a pair of would-be liquor store robbers were the first criminals to come to his attention. One was holding a pistol on the cashier, while the other had a shotgun trained on the back of the store to make sure they weren’t jumped from behind.

Both were highly nervous and had itchy trigger fingers, but neither one ever saw what hit them as Superman blazed his way into the store and knocked the two crooks out before they even heard the front door open. He dropped the two crooks off at the nearest police station with information on which store they had tried to rob so that the police could return there to collect the security camera recording for evidence.

After that, Superman was all over town, with a focus on stopping bad things before they happened. The more work he had, the easier it was to keep his pain sealed away. Soon enough, though, he ran out of places to be and criminals to stop, so he returned home. He made his way past the doorman with barely a grunt, which was a far cry from his usual genial disposition.

This was a night where Clark desperately wished that alcohol affected him. He wanted to get absolutely wrecked in the hope that the oblivion of unconsciousness would at least temporarily end his torment, but he knew that wasn’t possible. There was one other alternative tucked away in a lead box which was on a shelf in his closet, but he wasn’t quite desperate enough to resort to the muscle cramping power of Kryptonite poisoning. Not yet anyway.

So Clark settled for changing into all black clothing, which fit his mood perfectly, and then going into the living room. He turned on CNN to see what else had happened in the world today and found nothing but more of the things he fought on a daily basis: crimes of every shape and size. He really didn’t want to see any more of that. Checking his other favorite channels, he found nothing else he wanted to see, so Clark clicked off the TV and turned to his stereo. Here at least, he knew he could find something to match his mood.

He’d been sitting in the dark, stretched out on his sectional sofa and trying to mellow out as the black box alternated cool jazz with delta blues, when his cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID out of habit and saw that it was Lana. He didn’t want to talk to her right now, so he let it ring, but she wasn’t having it. She stepped out on her windswept balcony, faced his building, and said, “I know you can hear me, you coward. Answer your damn phone. You had your chance to talk earlier, now it’s my turn.”

Clark knew he wasn’t especially brave, but being called a coward irked him. Also, Lana’s voice had a hard edge to it, something that he wasn’t used to hearing from her. He grabbed his phone and stepped onto his balcony, where he used his telescopic vision to see Lana standing outside. She’s on her balcony with no sweater or coat on, Clark thought exasperatedly. What’s that woman thinking of? He knew she had to be freezing out there, so he reluctantly answered her call, and said, “If I talk to you, will you please go back inside?”

“Deal.” Once Lana was back inside, she said, “I’m just calling to make sure you’re home and that you’ll tell the doorman to let me come up when I come over in a few minutes.”

“You’re coming over here? Now?”

“Oh yeah.” Lana’s voice was testy, a perfect compliment to her mood. “We’re going to have this out right now, and we’re going to do it face to face.”

Unsure of how to deflect this force of nature, and really unsure if it would be wise to even try, Clark gave in. “Okay, come on over, but please don’t walk. Take a cab, or if you want, I could come over and, uh, bring you back here.”

“No thanks, Clark. I wouldn’t want to risk that.” She ended the call, and said, knowing he’d be listening in, “You flying to get me wouldn’t be a good idea. Someone might see us if we fly directly to your place, and landing somewhere else and then walking the rest of the way is a waste of time, so I’ll take a cab. See ya in a few minutes.”

Clark wanted to run and hide, but really, there was no place to hide because Lana could just start yelling at him, knowing all too well that he’d hear each and every word. In any case, he couldn’t run and hide because he still had to remain close to her for her safety.

Even though Lana didn’t want him to pick her up, Clark raced to his rooftop, changed clothes, and launched himself into the dark December sky to keep an eye on her as she came over to see him. He was in position low over her street by the time the cab that her doorman called for showed up. The drive to his building was quick and uneventful. When Lana alighted from her cab, Clark raced back to his condo to be there when the doorman called.

The black box picked up on Clark’s agitated state of mind, and started playing “Pressure” by Billy Joel. In a couple of minutes, but what to Clark felt like a couple of seconds, Lana was knocking at his door, as the last few lines of the song were blaring out of the stereo.


…I'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationale
But here you are in the ninth
Two men out and three men on
Nowhere to look but inside
Where we all respond to
Pressure, pressure

All your life is Time Magazine
I read it too
What does it mean?
Pressure

I'm sure you'll have some cosmic rationale
But here you are with your faith
And your Peter Pan advice
You have no scars on your face
And you cannot handle pressure
Pressure, pressure
One, two, three, four
Pressure



The frantic, almost staccato beat of the song matched the jumpy nature of his nerves at this moment perfectly, and as for pressure, he was definitely feeling that, too.

Clark stood, wiped his sweaty palms on the front of his black jeans, adjusted his untucked black button-up shirt, turned on some lights, and opened the door.

Lana pushed by Clark with barely a hello and made her way into the living room, where she took a position standing in front of the TV and stereo. She was acutely aware of the psychological edge Clark would have if he was able to look down on her during their upcoming ‘conversation,’ so when he followed her into the room, she just pointed at the sectional sofa, and said, “Sit.”

Lana had an air about her now that quite plainly told Clark, ‘Don’t mess with me,’ so he took a seat. When he got his first good look at her he saw that she was so intense that she appeared to be the one who could shoot fire out of her eyes. She was so focused on her objective, that she hadn’t immediately noticed that as soon as she stepped within range of the black box, it had changed songs.

When she moved to turn the stereo off so they could could have peace and quiet for their talk, Lana finally noticed the new song was “You’re the One That I Want” from the musical Grease.

(Danny)
I got chills, they're multiplyin'
And I'm losin' control
Cause the power you're supplyin'
It's electrifyin'

(Sandy)
You better shape up
Cause I need a man
And my heart is set on you
You better shape up
You better understand
To my heart I must be true

(Danny & Sandy)
Nothing left, nothing left for me to do

(Chorus)
You're the one that I want (you are the one I want), ooh ooh ooh, honey
The one that I want (you are the one I want), ooh ooh ooh, honey
The one that I want (you are the one I want), ooh ooh ooh, honey
The one I need (the one I need), oh yes indeed (yes indeed)

(Sandy)
If you're filled with affection
'n you're too shy to convey
Meditate my direction
Feel your way

(Danny)
I better shape up
Cause you need a man

(Sandy)
I need a man
Who can keep me satisfied

(Danny)
I better shape up
If I'm gonna prove

(Sandy)
You better prove
That my faith is justified

(Danny)
Are you sure?

(Sandy)
Yes I'm sure down deep inside

(Chorus)
You're the one that I want (you are the one I want), ooh ooh ooh, honey
The one that I want (you are the one I want), ooh ooh ooh, honey
The one that I want (you are the one I want), ooh ooh ooh, honey
The one I need (the one I need), oh yes indeed (yes indeed)…



Lana just stood there, unconsciously tapping her foot to the bouncy tune, while wondering how Clark’s radio was reading her thoughts. When the song petered out in seemingly endless repeats of the chorus, Lana turned off the stereo, looked back to Clark, and asked, “What was that?”

“Huh?”

“Why is it that your stereo seems to be able to read my thoughts?”

“Oh, that,” Clark replied. He was happy to be starting out with a safe topic of conversation. “That little black box on top of the stereo is more Kryptonian technology. It’s designed to be used for self-analysis, but I took the specs and modified them so I could use it on my stereo system to select songs that match what I’m thinking and how I’m feeling.”

Lana was astounded, but she knew that to Clark, this was just another normal part of his life. It was nothing to get excited about. She wondered how many more surprises he had in store for her. Determined to find out, she returned her thoughts to the matter at hand, and asked, “Do you love me, Clark?”

The question sounded sweet and innocent, but Clark remembered that burning intensity he had seen a couple of minutes earlier, so he paused, and then said, “Well, yes. I told you so just before I broke up with you.”

“I’d like for you to repeat what you said at that time, please.”

His eidetic memory made that easy, so he quoted himself word for word. “I love you more than any woman I’ve ever known.”

“Do you love me any less now that we’re apart?”

“No, but…”

Lana jumped in and cut him off with a gesture, and said, “Just answer the question, Clark. Don’t embellish your answers.”

Clark felt like he was being led down a path he didn’t want to travel, but found himself unable to stop Lana. She was like a human avalanche, able to bury anything that got in her way.

“So,” Lana continued, “continuing from my last question, can you think of a time when you’ll love me less than you do now?”

“I sure hope so,” Clark said quietly.

“I didn’t ask if you hoped to love me less, I asked if you thought it would happen.”

With her line of questioning, Lana was forcing Clark to consider things he thought were best left alone. She waited with baited breath, as he hesitated to answer her question. When he looked up at her, he once again found that burning intensity. But now, it had spread from her eyes to consume her entire countenance.

He wilted before her, and reluctantly said, “No, I don’t.”

“Don’t what, Clark?”

Giving her a glower that showed his irritation, Clark said, “I don’t think I will ever love you less than I do now.”

Lana rocked back, pleased that her first goal had been met. Shifting her weight back toward Clark, she kept up the pressure, determined to help Clark realize the errors in his arguments.

“So, you dumped me, hoping to ease your feelings. That was a very chickensh!t thing to do by the way.” Clark was surprised when he heard the mild obscenity slip from Lana’s mouth, but she had said it on purpose. She wanted to drive home the idea that he wasn’t just trying to take the easy way out, but he was also abandoning her in the process. “Yet, you’ve just admitted that you think you will continue to love me. Correct?”

“Yes,” Clark said. He was beginning to squirm under Lana’s close verbal examination, as he hadn’t considered how this would look from her side of things.

“Since you still love me, and will continue to do so, how will breaking up with me make you feel any better if I die?”

Clark was staring at his shoe tops by now, and said, “I don’t know.”

Lana had finally pushed Clark to the heart of the matter, and her voice, which had been insistent and harsh the whole time, shifted to gentle and confused, as she asked, “Then…why did you break up with me?”

The change in her tone of voice made Clark look up. When he caught her eyes, he was surprised by what he saw. The eyes that had been burning moments earlier were now filled with unshed tears. That broke him. Tears began leaking out of the corners of his eyes, and his chin began to wobble, as he admitted, “Because I’m scared.”

Lana walked over to Clark, stepped between his legs, wrapped her hands around his head, and pulled it to rest on her chest. She rested her chin on top of his head, and said, “I’m scared too. Every day I have to wonder if this is the day someone tries to kill me. Having my own personal superhero on the job is comforting, but the fear is still there. Being with you is the one thing that makes my fear disappear for a while. I know I might die someday, but when I’m with you, I live.”

“Me too,” Clark said in between sniffles. “Being with you has been like opening a door in my heart and finding there’s a whole new part of me that’s just been waiting to be explored.”

“So…what are we going to do now?”

Clark was ashamed of the way he had tried to abandon Lana earlier in the evening. He hadn’t left her physically, but he had left her emotionally, and that was just as bad. He also was embarrassed by his decision because he knew now how stupid it had been.

“I don’t know,” Clark replied, “but the first thing I need to do is apologize.” He pulled his head far enough off of its warm pillow to see Lana’s face. “I’m sorry, Lana. I made a whopper of a mistake, and I hurt you in the process. Will you forgive me? Will you take me back?”

Lana turned ninety degrees and plopped herself down on one of Clark’s thighs. Her hands were still holding the back of his head, as she said, “You’re forgiven…and Clark?”

“Yes?” he replied hopefully.

Lana leaned in close to his face and whispered, “As far as I’m concerned, you may have tried to leave me, but I never let you go.”
Last edited by Cardinal on Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
"In the Name of the King"
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 43-45 (pg 6) 1/7

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 48

Sharing
With their faces still close together, their lips only inches apart, Clark and Lana paused only a moment before they edged in for a kiss. Clark reached around Lana’s back and put one hand on her lower back to make sure she stayed balanced on his leg. Both of her hands were still looped around his neck, almost as if she was unconsciously trying to prevent him from getting away again.

“I love you,” Clark said, when they broke that tentative first kiss.

“I love you, too,” Lana replied.

Lana scooted her bottom along Clark’s leg to bring her body as close to his as possible. After what felt to her like a very long day, she was drained and just wanted to be held.

For his part, Clark had enjoyed the delicious feel of Lana’s softness sliding across his leg, but when she turned her head and rested the side of her face against his chest, he reflexively raised his arm from her lower back and wrapped it around her shoulders to hold her close.

They didn’t say anything for some time, and instead just basked in each other’s presence. Clark had nearly lost Lana to a bullet, while Lana had nearly lost Clark to fear and remembered pain. Now they just wanted to hold and be held, and to enjoy the fact that the they were still together.

Clark finally leaned down and kissed Lana’s forehead, and the arm around her shoulders began lightly rubbing her back.

Lana was reassessing the things she knew about Clark, or thought she knew, in light of what she had learned today. She was dating the most physically powerful man on the planet. She would’ve expected a guy with that kind of strength to be a little bit ham-handed with his caresses, but the gentleness of his touch, and the nimble way his fingers always managed to avoid touching her bra strap as it passed up and down her back amazed her.

“So…” Clark finally ventured, “…I guess we get to be scared together.”

“Yeah, we do.” Choosing to make lemonade when the world gives her lemons, Lana added, “But with us sharing that fear, that should make it easier to bear.”

Clark kissed Lana’s forehead. “I sure hope so, Babe.”

Lana tilted her head skyward to seek out Clark’s eyes with her own. “I know so.”

“Good. I’m glad one of us is sure.”

Lana stretched up for a kiss, which was little more than a peck on the lips, meant to reassure Clark. “Then I’ll have to be sure enough for both of us.”

I’ve not even known Lana for three weeks, Clark thought, and already, I have no idea what I’d do without her, or how I lived before her. Such confidence she has! Such strength!

“What now?” Clark asked.

“I like this cuddling thing we’ve got going on,” Lana said, “but, um, I wouldn’t be averse to some making out. After all, we do need to make the most of our time together, whether it’s one day or one lifetime.”

“You sure are demanding.” Clark rolled his eyes in mock disbelief, as the corners of his mouth began to curl upward into a smile. “The things I have to put up with to be with you.”

“You love it and you know it,” Lana replied playfully before she leaned in for a kiss. They started making out then and each one noticed quickly that their kissing seemed to have a special urgency, as if they both wanted to get in some extra kisses and invest each kiss with some extra passion, just in case.

Lana quickly got frustrated with her position, which forced her to twist ninety degrees and bend her neck to get at Clark’s yummy lips, so she scrambled around to go from sitting across his lap to straddling his legs…all without stopping their insistent kissing even for a second. Now, she could use her thighs to adjust her height perfectly for anything from gently kissing Clark’s eyelids, to voraciously sucking on his neck, or anything in between.

Clark had just experienced Lana taking control in their personal lives as she gave him a much-needed ass-kicking, but now he was experiencing her sexual aggression, and he found he liked it. He was happy to allow her to set the pace and decide exactly how far this would go…and right now, it seemed to him like Lana wanted it to go a long way, because her hands were enmeshed in the slightly curly hair on both sides of his head as she pulled him in for a kiss that stole the very breath from his lungs.

As Lana had swung herself around to straddle Clark, her Henley had come untucked and had ridden up in the back. The hand that Clark had been massaging her with had then found its way under the blouse’s hem to continue its spine-tingling attentions on the small of her back. His other hand was also busy, slowly sliding its way up one side of her torso and rubbing her lightly as he began a mental inventory of the places where she really liked to be touched.

Lana’s sexual experience was limited to one long-term boyfriend in college, and to the disastrous rebound relationship that had followed after her long-term boyfriend dumped her for a rich man’s daughter and the cushy job that came with her. And that limited experience with guys and sex had taught her that at this point, guys just wanted to get into her pants as fast as possible.

The idea that a guy could want to take the time to build things up slowly had never even occurred to her, but Clark’s attentions to places on her body that weren’t expecting them was just further inflaming her passion. She regretfully took her hands out of Clark’s thick, silky hair, because it was the only way she could get his shirt off without using her teeth, and her teeth weren’t available because her mouth was still completely dedicated to exploring every millimeter of his face.

Button by button, Clark’s shirt began to open as Lana’s small hands worked their way down his chest. With each new open buttonhole, the V of white skin between the black shirt halves grew wider and deeper. While working on the last button of his shirt, Lana’s knuckles brushed lightly against the larger metal button on his black jeans, but as tempting as it was to start down there, she left it strictly alone. If Clark was going to allow her to draw this out, the way making love was always portrayed in the gooey romance novels that were her secret vice, then she was going to take full advantage of it.

Instead of tugging on Clark’s pants, Lana slid the black shirt off of his chiseled shoulders and down his arms. He stopped teasing her torso only long enough for her to slide the shirt off and onto the sofa behind him. Now her hands had free rein over the magnificent chest she had admired back at the gym. Her fingertips danced over his six-pack abdominals and serrated obliques, then traveled upward to knead the firm roundnesses of his pectorals, before lightly tracing his trapezius muscles on their descent from the back of his neck to the tops of his shoulders.

Clark’s hands froze in place as he found the touch of Lana’s fingers on his chest to be far more intense than he had ever imagined. It felt to him like little sparks were shooting out of each of her fingertips as they made their way across his body, and not until Lana whimpered and asked why he had stopped, was Clark was able to make his hands return to what they had been doing.

That’s how it went for them: a tortuously slow exploration of each other’s body as the inexperienced lovers tried to their best to express their pent up feelings with touches.

When Clark was down to nothing more than white boxers and Lana’s only covering was a lacy blue thong, he floated up off of the sectional sofa with her still on top of him. As his legs reached for the ground, his arms cradled her so she wouldn’t fall as his lap dropped out from under her.

Lana pulled back from kissing when she felt herself rising into the air, only to lock eyes with Clark as he carried her into the bedroom. What she saw shining in his eyes in that moment, was what every woman wants to see: pure, unadulterated love. The intensity of what she saw reassured her, because it matched what she felt for him.

Clark kicked open the door to his bedroom and, noticing the disheveled state of his bed with ill-concealed dismay, he said, “Give me a second, and I’ll change the bed sheets.”

“Why, Clark?” Lana giggled. “We’re just going to mess them up anyway.”

Clark grinned. “I guess you’re right about that.” Then, turning serious for a moment, he asked, “Are you sure you want to do this? Now? With me?”

Still ensconced in Clark’s arms, Lana leaned in and gave him a kiss for her answer. It was long, slow, and full of unquenched desire. When Lana finally pulled back, she asked, “Why did you even ask, Clark? Do you think I let just any guy undress me like this?”

“No. Not hardly.” Clark shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I just want to make sure you’ve thought carefully about this. I don’t want you to wake up in the morning and have regrets…I want our first time to be the way you want it to be.”

“Oh, Clark…the only regrets I’ll have will be for the things I don’t do. I love you,” she said, as she playfully tweaked one of his nipples. “Make love to me.”

“Your wish is my command.”
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 46-48 (pg 6) 1/11

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 49

Bong Chicka Wah Wah!
Clark leaned over the silk sheets on his king-size bed and gently set Lana down as close to the middle as he could manage. When he straightened up, he opened the drawer on his bedside table, opened a brand new box of condoms he had bought after their first date, and pulled out a foil-wrapped circle of latex. He wasn’t quite ready to use it, but he set it on the corner of the table where it would be close at hand when the time came.

With his precaution ready, Clark looked back to where Lana was positioned on his bed. She had turned on one side and propped her head up with an arm to watch Clark and admire the full length and breadth of his body. She noticed for the first time just how pale he was and wondered idly if it was even possible for him to get a suntan.

She made no bones about the fact that she was examining each and every inch of his body…all except for the several inches still covered, unfortunately, by his boxers. When Clark stepped toward the bed, Lana gestured with her free hand, and asked, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Confused, Clark squinted slightly as he said, “Huh?”

Lana shifted her gaze back to the boxers and gestured with her free hand as if to say, ‘Are you taking those off or not?’

Clark blushed slightly as he faced away from her and shyly began lowering his boxers. Lana murmured in appreciation as his dimpled cheeks came into view, and involuntarily gasped when he slowly turned to face her. She didn’t have a lot of experience to go by, but it seemed to her as if Clark had just proved he was super in more ways than one.

When Clark moved to stand at the foot of the bed, Lana figured it was her turn, so she rolled onto her back and slid her hands down to her hips to begin removing her thong. Her hands stopped moving of their own accord when she saw Clark wave a single finger back and forth.

“Nope,” Clark said. “I think removing underwear is my job this evening.”

Lana pulled her hands back and sat up, propping herself up on her elbows. Clark followed Lana’s lead, and took a good, long look at Lana’s body. There was nothing especially dramatic about it, just a sublime collection of subtle curves that went from her small, perky breasts to her gracefully rounded hips, ending with the undulating curves of her slender legs. She was more beautiful than he had any right to hope for, and for the umpteenth time since they started dating, Clark wondered how such a creature had come to choose him.

With his mouth open in a silent ‘O’ of appreciation, Clark climbed onto the bed rubbing and stroking the backs of Lana’s legs as he slowly kissed, nibbled, and licked his way up their fronts. Lana’s anticipation built higher and higher the closer he came to her panties, so much so that she squealed in frustration when he passed over her hips, leaving the wisp of lace and elastic in place.

As Clark slowly made his way up Lana’s torso, she was on the ragged edge. She didn’t think she could take this exquisite torture anymore, so she reached down, placed a hand on either side of his head, and used her grip as leverage to slide her body down the fitted silk sheet beneath Clark. He was surprised by Lana’s sudden move, but when her head came to rest right below his, he brought his mouth crashing down upon hers which was exactly what she wanted. She was burning with a desire that needed an outlet, and Clark’s plump lips were the perfect target.

When Lana finally released Clark’s head, he levered himself up just enough to get a good look at her face. Their eyes met, and all Lana had to do to get Clark reaching for the foil wrapper on the bedside table was to ask, “Clark…please?”

One burst of super-speed later, and the latex sheath was in position. All that stood between Lana and Clark and their final joining, was the smallest of garments. Lana expected Clark to slide it down her legs to join his boxers on the floor, but instead he easily tore through the fabric and elastic of the thong first on one hip and then on the other, then finally lifting her bottom just enough to pull the rest of the ruined fabric from between her legs.

Clark positioned himself at Lana’s entrance, and looking deeply into her eyes, he flexed his hips and eased his way inside. He waited for her body to adjust and then pushed again. That process repeated itself until they had fully joined. Lana’s breathing was deep and regular, and her eyes shone as if producing their own radiance.

Mindful as always of his strength, Clark had been very careful and now only waited for a signal from Lana to start moving once more.

All she did was to give him a slight nod, and Clark began thrusting. Slowly at first, then building up speed until he had achieved a rhythm that changed Lana’s vocalizations from mere grunts and moans, to the repeated exclamation: “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” which was soon shortened to “Oh God! Oh God!” to keep up with Clark’s tempo.

All of the time Lana and Clark had spent in working each other up paid off as it wasn’t too long before Lana reached her peak and it seemed to her as if all of the nerve endings in her crotch had exploded at once. Her body clamped down on his, and then the super hero who had been struggling with all of his might to hold off his peak until his love had reached hers, could hold off no longer.

Minutes later, laying side by side, entangled in the sheets, and in each other, Lana and Clark shared some private thoughts.

“So that’s what making love is,” Lana said. “I’ve had sex before, but this was something special, and I’m so glad that you were the man to show me the difference.”

Clark turned his head and brushed her cheek with a kiss. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For kicking me in the butt when I needed it. For loving me despite who I am. For just being you.”

“You’re welcome for the butt kicking, and you need to know that I love you for who you are, not despite who you are. I love Clark Kent in all his guises: award-winning reporter, superhero, and most importantly, my boyfriend.”
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
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Re: Somebody to Love (SV,Clark/Lana,Adult) Ch 46-48 (pg 6) 1/11

Post by Cardinal »

Chapter 50

Arrangements
It was still dark outside when Clark awoke. He could feel something soft and warm pressed into the front of his body, and that, combined with the faint smell of strawberry-scented shampoo, brought the events of the previous night into laser-sharp focus.

Clark felt both an uncontrollable smile and an uncomfortable stirring in his groin when he realized that the warm softness was none other than Lana Lang. He looked over his shoulder and, seeing that his bedside alarm clock read 6:02 a.m., decided he had plenty of time and could let Lana sleep a little longer. Afraid of waking her, Clark held his position and fought off the sudden urge to run his fingers through her silken tresses.

Lana, meanwhile, was in the midst of a dream. She was in a forest, then in a city, but everywhere she went, she was in danger. The dream was mostly a confusing mish-mash of images, but a central theme stood out: wherever she was, there too was a giant bear. The bear had a thick, glossy coat of black fur and was impossibly powerful. His mouth was filled with sharp teeth, and his claws looked to be lethal. But instead of being a source of the danger, the bear was her protector, defending her at every turn. And when the bear threw his arms around her and held her tight, it didn’t feel weird, instead, she had never felt safer or more loved in her life. This bear was her very own teddy bear come to life.

Just as she had this realization, Lana awoke, announcing her presence in the waking world with a muted sigh and a slightly raised heartbeat that only Clark could hear. They were lying on their sides, with their faces only inches apart. Clark still had a hand resting on Lana’s back, where it had served to hold her close during the night, but that had been accomplished just as easily by their legs, which were tied up in the covers and in each other.

“Good morning, Beautiful!” Clark said brightly.

“Hi there yourself, Teddy Bear,” Lana replied, somewhat sleepily.

Amused, Clark asked, “Teddy Bear?”

“Yes,” Lana said, “you’re my very own extra cuddly teddy bear.” She went on to explain briefly about the dream bear. “…and so, the bear didn’t have a name, but when I woke up a minute ago, I could still remember the dream, and that black-furred bear had to be you.”

“A teddy bear. Hmm.” Clark let that thought settle into his mind, and then said, “Except this teddy bear holds his little girl, instead of the other way around.”

Lana put an arm around Clark and pulled him as close as she could manage. “They both hold on…and they both love being held.”

“And they’ll never let go.”

“Never.”

Lana impishly closed the remaining distance between them for a brief kiss, risking morning breath to do so, only to learn that Clark’s kisses were like Lay’s Potato Chips…one was never enough…and so, one brief kiss became two, two became four, and four became eight; with each doubling came an attendant increase in the passion and length of the kisses. Before they knew it, a hot-and-heavy makeout session was in full-swing.

At this moment, Lana wasn’t concerned with getting to work on time, she wasn’t worried about anyone trying to kill her, and her final prep for the upcoming trial couldn’t have been further from her mind. Instead, her only focus was the next kiss. Clark shared her single-mindedness; his concerns about her safety melted into the background…if only for the moment.

The heat between them grew, but Lana knew she was too sore from the previous night’s events to even seriously contemplate going at it again. Plus, even if she was in shape for Round 2, one look over Clark’s shoulder at his bedside clock brought her back to reality. If she didn’t get moving…right now… she was gonna be late. So she reluctantly disengaged herself and planted one last peck on the tip of his nose.

“I love you, Clark,” Lana said, “and I want to show you just how much I love you all over again, but right now I need to go home and get ready for work or else I’ll be late.”

Curious about her reasoning, since it still wasn’t quite 6:30, Clark asked, “How so?”

“Well, I have to dress and go home…” Lana paused then, and thought, And won’t whichever doorman is on duty think I’m some kind of hoochie mama for strolling in at 7 in the morning on a workday. “Then I’ll have to shower, dress for work, and then…get there somehow.”

Clark heard the hesitation in her voice and saw the worry in her hazel eyes as she remembered the previous day’s assault. He reached up and stroked the line of her jaw, ending with his thumb and forefinger lightly clasping the tip of her chin. He used his grip to turn her face until she was looking straight at him once more.

“Lana?” Clark said. “There are a few things related to your safety we need to talk about. First, you have lots of time to get to work, because I intend for Superman to fly you to and from work every day. Is that okay with you?” A quick nod of her head was all he needed to see before he went on. “Second, I have some friends in various branches of law enforcement…”

“Imagine that,” Lana giggled, “Superman has friends among the police.”

“Yeah, big surprise there, huh?” His grin grew to match hers before he said, “Anyway, I should be able to borrow a bulletproof vest in a ladies’ small for you. How ‘bout it?”

“I don’t know,” Lana demurred. “Maybe if you bring it to the office, I can try it on and see if I like it.”

“Okay. I don’t really think you’ll need it with the way the security is set up over there. It was more for your peace of mind.”

“Thanks, Clark,” Lana said as she reached over and tapped the middle of his chest, “but the S-shield that normally sits right here is all I really need to feel safe.”

“Even after the near-miss yesterday?”

“Even so.” After another smile, she added, “You’re my teddy bear, remember?”

Clark paused. The way Lana said that, expressing complete conviction, made him feel warm inside while at the same time it caused a lump in his throat as he feared he might not be able to live up to her faith in him. So he made a decision that he found personally distasteful: he was going to have to call in some help. He already could imagine the ribbing he was going to take, but that was a price he would just have to pay.

He’d do anything for Lana.

“Next,” Clark said, “no more lunches out with the girls. I’ll be bringing you something we can share at your desk.”

Lana didn’t want to give up her best chance for socializing with her co-workers, but she was realistic enough to admit that it was the sensible thing to do. “I think the girls will understand, and be wildly jealous, when they realize I’m staying in to have intimate lunches with the hottest guy in town.”

Clark blushed and laughed self-deprecatingly at Lana’s compliment. It suddenly occurred to her that he might not have any idea just how hot he truly was. The very idea boggled her mind, since it was plain to her that his effect on women is like the effect that methamphetamine has on users: one meeting was generally all that’s needed to get the women hooked for life.

And he’s mine, all mine! Lana chortled to herself.

Clark managed to miss the brief look of manic glee that swept over Lana’s face because he was trying to think of a way to gently phrase his next request. But there’s no polite way to ask a woman to move in with me for the duration of the trial, Clark thought, even if it is for her security. It’s the only way I’ve got to keep an eye on her at night. Once they realize that they won’t be getting a second chance at her on the street, her home is the next logical place to try to attack her.

Lana could see that Clark was distracted, so she asked, “Anything I can do to help?”

“Yeah,” Clark replied, “I guess there is. Umm…will you move in with me?” His voice cracked as he asked Lana to move in, which made him grimace. He hurried to explain his reasoning before Lana could object. “Once the people who are out to get you realize that they can’t get you on the street, the next step is…”

“…my condo.” Now it was Lana’s turn to grimace. “The one place in this world that is mine, that is meant to be my sanctuary, and they have to ruin it. Of course, once I get to work today, I do think the police will try to give me around-the-clock protection.”

“Some protection. Might as well have no protection if you’re gonna trust those guys with your life.”

“They can’t all be crooked.”

“No,” Clark allowed, “but there’s no way to know which ones are, and trusting your life to blind luck is not something I want to try.” Clark paused a beat, and then asked, “So…will you move in? I’ve got lots of room and we can go back to get clothes or other belongings whenever you want.”

Lana regretfully rolled out of Clark’s arms and headed for his closet, still wearing nothing but what she’d been born in. She decided that since he’d put on a show for her last night, it wouldn’t do for her to be overly self-conscious about her body this morning, so she’d just have to pretend she wasn’t nervous about parading around in front of him. Clark, on the other hand, was fully conscious of the delectable sight before him, and he let out a low wolf whistle in appreciation. Without breaking stride, Lana looked back over her shoulder and winked.

Clark managed to tear his eyes away from Lana’s buns just long enough to see a look on her face that somehow seemed to combine innocence and lust in equal measure. Only the faintest remnant of a blush on her face gave away any of the nerves she had been feeling about putting herself on display for him like that.

Lana leaned into his spacious closet and checked how much space he had left. She knew she couldn’t bring all of her clothes over, but there was room enough. A quick check of the master bathroom showed at least two empty drawers in the cabinet under the sink. Again, not as much room as she would like, but she could make do.

“Do you have another bathroom here somewhere?” Lana asked idly as she came back out of the bathroom.

“Yeah. Back by the washer and dryer.” With a quizzical look on his face, Clark asked, “Why’d you want to know?”

“Mmm…in case we need to get ready at the same time. When I’m doing my makeup and stuff in the morning, I tend to take up the whole counter, so I was wondering if we’d have enough room.”

“Lana,” Clark said with a laugh, “I’m ‘faster than a speeding bullet,’ or hadn’t you heard? I‘ll be in and out so quick, you‘ll never know I was even in there.”

One more advantage to having a super-powered boyfriend, Lana thought, no conflicts over who’s hogging the bathroom in the morning.

Finally, Lana made her way over to the dresser and asked how many drawers she could have for her things. Clark knew the dresser wasn’t even close to being full, so he said ’half.’ He figured she would end up wheedling a few more drawers out of him no matter what amount he initially gave her, so ‘half’ was a good starting point since he thought he could live with only having one-quarter of the drawer space in the end.

Lana turned to face Clark with her arms crossed below her breasts, a sight that elicited a groan of frustrated sexual need from him, and said, “Okay. I think we can make this work, but don’t you dare tell my parents we’re living together. Without them knowing about you being Superman, they won’t understand.”

“Okay.” Clark nodded his head. “I’m definitely not able to tell them about my second job right now…and I might not ever be able to.”

“I understand. Mom might not be able to restrain herself from telling some of the busybodies she knows that her daughter married Superman. Kind of trumps the old ‘my daughter married a doctor’ line.”

When Lana finished, Clark was smiling at her like he’d just won the lottery. She knew it had to be something she’d said, but she couldn’t imagine what it was.

“Married, huh?” Clark asked. “You said ‘married.’”

Oh crap! Lana thought. I did say ‘married’…twice! He’s gonna think I’m in some god-awful hurry to walk down the aisle or something. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

“I like the sound of that.” That was all he had to say to put Lana at ease, but he added, “Especially since it’s Laura Lang’s daughter that’s doing the marrying.”

Lana’s eyes shone then with a brightness and love that totally captivated Clark. She could’ve been wearing neon pink body paint at that moment, and he wouldn’t have given it more than the merest glance.

The time was closing in on 7 a.m. by the time they managed to tear their eyes from each other. Lana felt she had to go now if she was to have any chance at making it to work on time, even with Superman‘s assistance. Gesturing at the clock, she said, “I don’t want to leave you, Clark, but…I’ve gotta get to work.”

“Okay, Lana,” Clark said, as he rolled out of bed. “Get dressed, it’s time for Superman to fly you home.”
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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