The Mad Dog and Solitary Queen (L.L, O.Q., C.K.)

[Jade4813]

Lois tried to hide the concern in her voice as she spoke into her phone, "Okay, Ollie, I'll stop nagging you." She ignored his snort of disbelief. "Just promise me that you'll call if you need anything."

He sounded amused. "I will. But, really, I'm fine. I don't think it was a surprise to anyone that Chloe and I couldn't make it work - least of all the two of us. It's hard to really have confidence in a marriage when neither of you can remember the wedding. And since it wasn't even legal, it seemed better to just walk away now, rather than struggling to make it work when it was never going to in the first place."

"Still," Lois said, drawing out the word. Ever since Oliver and Chloe split, they had both been trying to convince her that they were both fine. She'd heard it a million times. It had started as friends with benefits and they'd tried to make it into something more, but they realized they were more in love with the idea of having someone who could understand their lives as superheroes than they were in love with each other. They insisted they were fine, and Lois had to admit that they certainly seemed to be. But she still loved them, she worried about them, and she wasn't about to just take their words on it that they were both fine.

"Stop it," Ollie said, and though his command was sharp, he was clearly trying to smother a laugh. "I can hear you worrying from here. Chloe and I are both happier the way things are. We're still friends, and we still work together. We're just no longer pretending to be anything more than that." She opened her mouth to protest, and he teased, "Of course, I'd be a lot better if you decided to leave that big blue boyscout fiance of yours and run off with me."

Lois grinned, taking it as the joke he clearly intended it to be. Lowering her voice, she murmured, "Don't let Clark hear you say that."

"Oh, is he there?"

She glanced over at Clark's desk, hoping to find him there. He'd been called away before even getting to work that morning, and though Lois had made excuses for him, she was going to have to come up with another story if he was delayed too much longer.

"No," she admitted. "But you should know he has really good hearing."

She narrowed her eyes in frustration as her computer screen went blue and her computer crashed. "Oh, come on!" she growled angrily, giving the computer a hard smack. "Not again!"

"Lois, smacking the computer doesn't actually accomplish anything. You do realize that, don't you?" Oliver pointed out.

"Shut up. It makes me feel better," she snapped, giving her computer an even harder thwack.

From down the hall, she heard Perry yell, "You break another one, Lane, it's coming out of your paycheck!" She ignored him.

Instead, she grabbed a hold of Jeff's arm as he walked by her desk to drop off some papers. "Chocolate. Now," she barked at him. Already needing chocolate and it wasn't even noon. It already looked like it was going to be a hell of a day.

<tag Clark>

[Sana]

Clark raced down the hallway towards the office he shared with Lois. As he banged into someone passing by, he murmured a quick apology and then adjusted his glasses. Remembering that he needed to slouch a little more, he let shoulders droop and then began to loosen the knot in his tie. The last time he’d seen Lois, she’d told him that he needed to be “less GQ and more Big Bang Theory”. Apparently he still looked a little too put together for the "nerd with glasses" look he was trying to pull off.

Clark rounded the corner to their shared office and his super-hearing picked up Lois’s murmur and her laughter. “Don’t let Clark hear you say that.” And then, after a pause, “No, but you should know he has really good hearing.”

Clark’s interest piqued and he paused just outside the door. He considered listening in on whatever was being said on the other end of the phone call but decided against it. Before he could enter the room, however, he was almost run over by Jeff who raced by mumbling something about chocolate.

Shaking his head slightly, Clark called out to Jeff’s retreating back, “The last thing she needs is sugar, Jeff!” Then, he sauntered into the office and asked, with a slight grin, “Don’t let me hear who say what?”

<<<Tag: Lois>>>

[Jade4813]

Lois beamed up at Clark when she saw him walk in. "Hey, honey, Ollie's trying to convince me to run away with him," she chirped, grinning wider when she heard Oliver groan on the other end of the line. Since the offer had been in jest, it didn't occur to her to lie about it, particularly when there was so much more traction to be gotten from telling the truth. She generally tried to be honest with Clark (unless something important, like a story, was on the line), and she loved indulging in some good-natured teasing of the people she loved. "I told him I'd consider it, since he's been a little down lately," she joked. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Lois, is there a reason you want to get me killed?" Ollie asked with a long-suffering sigh on the other end of the phone. "Chloe's okay, I swear!"

Lois's grin widened. "I've gotta go, but seriously, give me a call if you need anything, okay?"

"Like what? An obituary?" he teased. "Take care, Legs."

Hanging up the phone, Lois stood and moved to close the door. As she did so, Jeff passed by, armed with a candy bar he'd obtained from the vending machine. When she gestured at him, he tossed it at her and scampered away. Lois caught it and threw Clark a defiant grin, since he'd tried to deprive her of her chocolate. Then she perched on the edge of her desk, pulled the foil off the bar and nibbled off a piece, deciding to ignore her computer problems for the moment. If she didn't ignore the computer, she'd throw the darn thing out the window.

Keeping her voice low as an extra precaution so they couldn't be overheard through the door, she explained, "I told Perry you had to pick up a prescription after the doctor's visit I told him you had yesterday when you, you know..." She nodded sideways, towards the window. As she spoke, she reached to adjust his tie, which was a little askew.

"Anyway, I've spoken to Ollie and Chloe and they swear they're both fine, but you'll tell me if they're not, right?" Clark often got to see the both of them more than Lois did, since he worked with them occasionally in a "professional" capacity. "Chloe's out of town, by the way. She said she had some things to take care of. Do you think she's really okay?"

She was fretting, and she knew it. She was concerned about her friends, of course, but she was also a little bothered by something Ollie had said, about how important it was for a superhero to have someone who could understand that side of their life. Lois was still relatively new at juggling her personal life with Clark and his superhero persona, and she wasn't sure that she was really able to "understand" Clark's life in the way Ollie had indicated. She wouldn't tell Clark that, however, since she didn't want him to think she had any doubts about being with him - particularly after the events leading up to their unfinished wedding.

She generally tried to be honest with Clark, but she didn't see any reason to worry him.

<Tag: Clark>

[Sana]

Clark leaned back in his chair and studied Lois. She was doing that thing she did when she was nervous. Chattering away, not letting anyone get in a word edgewise. What was it she’d said when they’d first met? I’m uncomfortable with uncomfortable silences. He grinned, thinking that she was actually uncomfortable with silence, period.

“They’re fine,” Clark told her, in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. “I talked to Chloe last night and she told me that this was a long time coming.” In reality, he wasn't surprised by their friends’ decision. He’d been rather shocked when they’d announced that they were going to try to make their “marriage” work. While he loved both them, in their own way, he didn’t think they were actually good for each other. “Honestly, I think it’s for the best. I always thought the two of them brought out the worst in each other.”

Lois paused mid-bite into her chocolate bar and threw him a startled look, as though she couldn’t believe that he’d just said that.

Clark shrugged. Given how many lectures he’d gotten from Chloe and Oliver over the years, he figured he was entitled to voicing his own opinion on their mistakes. The fact was that Oliver and Chloe enabled each other and used the other person to justify for their own failings. He wanted them to be happy; he was just convinced that their happiness would be with other people.

However, he didn’t think that Lois could handle hearing that. She’d been relieved when Oliver had found Chloe because he knew that she still felt guilty sometimes that she’d chosen Clark over Oliver – especially on the heels of his attempted suicide. And he also knew that Lois still felt bad for Chloe after Jimmy’s death and her affair with the man who ended up being Doomsday.

Deciding to change the subject, Clark went on. “Thanks for covering for me.” He quickly turned his computer on and then began going through the piles of paperwork littering his desk. “I was at Watchtower. Dr. Hamilton had some things he wanted to show me on the computer.”

That got Lois’s attention. She put down the chocolate bar and gave him an expectant look.

With a grin, Clark reached over and shut their door, making sure no one would be able to overhear their conversation. Then he turned his focus to Lois, who was perched on her desk and looking at him with that look in her eye that she always got when she thought something was going to lead to a story.

“There was some odd fluctuations he picked up in the Middle East – he thinks it’s time travel.”

Lois didn’t look in the least bit shocked or surprised by that. It was understandable, since she’d seen pretty much everything at this point and had – herself – travelled through time once. Not that she remembered it.

“Are you going to --?” Lois made a wooshing noise and swiped her hand through the air. It was her universal signal for “is Superman making an appearance?”

Clark let out a sigh and threw his pen onto his desk. “No. Hamilton thinks that it’ll look odd if Superman shows up there. According to what he pulled together, the government has already sent agents to look it. If Superman goes there, then it’ll turn into a press event and it could impede the investigation.” Clark shook his head. “It could be anything, Lois. It could be the Legion. Or it could be Brainiac.” With horror, he thought about Zod and some of the other beings he’d fought over the years. “Or maybe it’s not even a time machine – maybe its people from the Phantom Zone. But Hamilton thinks,” Clark continued, in a frustrated tone, “that we’ll know soon enough if Superman is needed. And, for now, I still need to focus on Metropolis.” He glanced towards Lois. “What do you think?”

<<< Tag: Lois >>>

[Jade4813]

Lois considered his question. She was still getting accustomed to being asked her opinion on "superhero" stuff. Everyone else made it look so easy, but it wasn't. Lois knew better than most that she was far from perfect. Any planet that abided by Lois Lane's Rules for Healthy Living would jump into the middle of an asteroid field without a second thought and be obliterated in days. She couldn't always manage to make the best decisions for herself on a day-to-day basis (if the measuring stick for "best decisions" was "the ability to survive another 24 hours" instead of "the ability to get a story like nobody else" at least - though she often thought the latter was highly undervalued, particularly in Clark's lectures to her about personal safety). She couldn't imagine what it was like for Clark, who had to often make decisions that would have global repercussions.

"Well," Lois began, nibbling off a little more chocolate for sugar-feuled strength, as well as an opportunity to stall. She pondered what advice to give that would be sage and level-headed, but nothing immediately came to mind. Ah, to hell with it, she figured. He was coming to her because he wanted Lois's opinion. Right or wrong, she'd give it to him, and he would have to do what he thought was best with it. After all, if he was looking for perfection, he had to know he was barking up the wrong tree, anyway!

With a slight frown, she turned her attention back to Clark. "I think you should trust your instincts, Clark," she replied. "You have great instincts, and...except for the time it took you forever to finally ask me out on a date, they haven't led you wrong, yet."

Kicking her foot out in a slow back-and-forth motion, she considered the prospect that there were more time-travellers mucking up the works. Life was complicated enough in the present day, without any future beings trying to make things worse.

"Although I will say, if Hamilton's right and there is some time travel going on, it's likely to be eventually brought to your doorstep. Let's see...the last time I confronted a time traveler, it was a ninja chick from the future, who came back to turn me into a Lois-ka-bob. And the last time YOU encountered a time traveler, it was because Brainiac wanted to show you what an awesome fiance you have." She paused and met Clark's eyes again for a brief moment. "Which was very good advice, by the way. I knew I always liked that guy."

She lapsed into silence for a second. "Like you said, it could be anything. I think Hamilton's right in thinking that, whatever it is, it'll eventually be brought to your doorstep because that's what usually happens. But it's up to you, what you want to do next. You can race off, track it down, and confront it, with the hope that you'll figure out the answers when you get there. Or you can play it cool for now and try to get as much information on the situation as you can, so that you know what you're up against, whether it's friend or foe."

She grinned, using a brave smile to hide her concern. "For the record, I think it goes without saying that I would pick Door Number 1, but since rushing in and asking questions later usually leads to me needing, well, your help a little later down the line, I totally understand why you might think that Door Number 2 would be a better option."

All joking aside, she wondered what this time travel would mean. In all honesty, Lois and Clark had both had more than their share of time travel interference in the past. There had been the ninja assassin and Brainiac's matchmaking, of course, but there had also been the time Lois had been sent to the future and watched Clark die. She didn't remember the future too clearly, anymore, but every once in a while, she had a nightmare about it and would wake up in a cold sweat. There was also a group of heroes from the future, who came into the past to apparently help Clark reconnect with his ex, Lana. That was all Lois needed right now. Because her relationship (and attempted marriage) with Clark was going swimmingly on its own, so it needed his ex-girlfriend (and ex-fixation) to make an appearance, to liven things up a bit. That, or another demigod's planet appearing in the sky, on a quest to end the world.

So the odds were against this being anything good for Lois and Clark. No need to worry Clark about all of that now; he was aware as she of the potentialities.

She threw him an encouraging smile. "Whatever it is, we'll get through it together. And I personally almost hope that it's another psycho ninja chick. I upped my exercise routine in anticipation of our wedding, so I totally think I could kick her ass."

<<<Tag: Clark>>>

[Sana]

Clark was a little bemused by Lois’s attitude. This was new – normally, he had no problems getting Lois to give him an opinion on something. And normally, it was a rather strong opinion. Now, it was like he was getting whip-lash from Lois’s wavering back and forth on the various things he could do.

Leaning back in his chair, his gaze narrowed on her. Lois was nibbling at the chocolate nervously and her leg was swinging back and forth a mile a minute. She also had an encouraging grin plastered on her face. Frankly, it was all starting to make him slightly nervous.

Now that he thought of it, this wasn’t the first time he’d seen her acting strangely. In fact, she’d been rather uptight and nervous in the past few weeks. In fact, it was the norm lately. And he couldn’t remember the last time they’d gotten into an argument. When was the last time Lois had disagreed with him on anything? She’d been strangely supportive – not that being supportive was a bad thing, but it was the way in which she’d been supportive. It was like she was now – just parroting a bunch of things that he suspected she thought he wanted to hear, rather than just telling him what she really thought.

Taking a deep breath, Clark decided enough was enough and was going call her on it. “So, let me get this straight. Your advice is basically to tell me what my options are? You don’t feel strongly about any of the options? You would pick ‘door one’ but have absolutely no problem with me picking ‘door two’? And that wouldn’t bother you in any way?”

<<< Tag: Lois >>>