Archive of Our Own

I can’t live in a world where you don’t love me.   

That's what Clark had said to her. Not the Clark Luthor that she knew, but another version of Clark. From a different world.  

Lois rolled over in her bed, closing her eyes and thinking of how he had snatched her away from Oliver, earnestly looking into her eyes and begging her to trust him. He had such kind, warm green eyes, something she had never seen in Clark before. He had told her that he was trapped there from a parallel world, and that he needed to get back.  

He needed to return to her counterpart in his world.  

Her hand reached down below the covers, caressing herself gently as she thought about the desperation on Clark’s face as he tried to convince her that he was a good man, telling her about the quirks he loved about his Lois in his world, and how they mirrored her.  

Lois thought about the man that called himself Clark Kent, and how he had taken such care not to hurt her, to let her know that she was safe, and that he would never hurt her.  

She thought about how easily she had trusted him.  

Lois felt her orgasm crest as she thought about the fire in his eyes as he had looked at her, the love he had for his Lois evident in his voice as he talked about needing to go home.  

She felt a tear slip from her eye as she thought about Ollie, off on another adventure trying to save the world, who had practically forgotten about her. She thought about Chloe, her best friend and only remaining family, who her husband was really in love with, and who he was probably sleeping with.  

She thought about her sister and her father, long dead, and her mother, who she barely even remembered.  

Lois closer her eyes and willed sleep to come.  

It was the only time she didn’t feel the burden of her losses.  

>>>  

Lois left the Daily Planet after dark. She usually tried to get home before sunset, but she had gotten waylaid talking to a source and polishing up a story about the local DA accepting bribes in exchange for refusing to charge dirty cops.  

She maneuvered through the empty streets, walking as quickly as she could to get to her apartment when a car pulled onto the sidewalk and cut her off. Lois turned to run, freezing when she saw a large man with a gun standing behind her. She silently scolded herself for leaving her taser at her desk.  

Ultraman may have suddenly disappeared a few months ago, but regular criminals hadn’t.  

“Mrs Queen?” a voice called from inside the car.  

Lois shook her head and calmly walked past the car, hearing heavy footsteps follow her.  

“Mrs Queen, please get in the car,” the voice called.  

Lois turned to look at the slender blond man who was smiling at her through the rolled down window.  

“And you are?” she asked.  

“A friend,” he smiled at her unnervingly.  

Lois smiled politely and tried to keep calm.  

“I have enough friends, thanks.”  

She turned and kept walking, moving as fast as she could. Lois gasped when she felt a hand grab her upper arm, turning to punch whoever had grabbed her. Before she could make contact, the hand around her arm let go.  

Lois felt her jaw drop as she watched Clark Luthor stand before her, holding the two men who had accosted her, each by the throat.  

“Who are you?” he asked, calm and low.  

“We work for the Mayor,” the blond man said.  

“What does he want with Miss Lane?” Clark asked.  

Something inside Lois twisted uncomfortably at the use of her maiden name. Watching Clark stand there, appearing as if he was helping her, added to her unease. The contradiction of this beautiful man, who was so evil and terrifying, who fascinated and repulsed her.  

“Don’t know. We were just told to collect her,” the large guy said.  

Clark dropped them both to the ground roughly.  

“Go home. You didn’t see Miss Lane tonight,” Clark threatened.  

Lois watched with bated breath as they both ran back to the car, kicking it into gear and speeding off. She was wide eyed as she stared at Clark, waiting for him to look at her.  

He turned, looking directly into her eyes, and she felt herself step backwards.  

“Are you alright?” he asked.  

She huffed in disbelief, still backing away from him. “What do you want?” she asked.  

Clark’s eyes, green eyes that almost looked like another man’s soft, kind green eyes, clouded over.  

“I just wanted to help,” he said.  

Lois heard the peal of hysterical laughter leave her throat before she could stop it, turning on her heel and storming away from him.  

She looked back as she turned the corner, but he was gone. She breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that she wouldn’t see him again. Lois kept her pace brisk, only two blocks away from her apartment now.  

The last time she had been face to face with Clark Luthor had been over a month ago at work. As the CEO of the Daily Planet, he hardly spent any time in the building, only showing face every few months to inspire the staff .  

She rounded the corner, sighing in relief when she saw her apartment building so close, finally slowing down and crossing the road to her building. Lois was so relieved to be home she didn’t notice the man with a gun jump grabbed her from behind and shove her into the alley she had almost passed.  

She reflexively reached into her bag for her wallet.  

“Here,” she said, throwing it at him. The man didn’t blink, and in a split second, Lois realised he didn’t want her cash.  

She drew her legs close, ready to lash out and kick, when she heard a sickening crack and the man crumpled to the ground. Lois blinked and saw Clark standing there in his place.  

Lois gasped and scurried away from him.  

“You killed him,” she whimpered.  

Clark looked conflicted, taking a step back from her.  

“He was going to hurt you,” he said, frowning at her.  

“So that makes it okay to kill someone?” Lois said, ashamed at how shrill and rattled she sounded.  

Clark tilted his head, and she could see he was genuinely confused. He watched her, his frown deepening as he moved to take a step towards her.  

Lois froze, squinting at him.  

“What are you doing?” she asked.  

“What do you mean?”  

“What are you doing ?” Lois asked.  

Clark took a step towards her, raising his hands slightly like she was a rabid dog he was trying to calm.  

“I didn’t want you to get hurt,” he said.  

Lois scoffed and backed away further.  

“What am I, stupid?” Lois spat. “What’s your angle?”  

Clark took another step closer, and Lois noted the way he somehow made himself seem less physically imposing, slouching maybe, to try to convey he wasn’t a threat.  

“I told you. I didn’t want to see you get hurt,” Clark said slowly, like she was an idiot.  

Lois hated that her interest was piqued.  

"Really? You just murdered someone,” Lois said lowly.  

“I was trying to do the right thing,” Clark said, looking at her like he was waiting for her to say something.  

Lois moved into the street and turned away from him, sprinting to her apartment building. She quickly used her key card to let herself in and ran into the elevator, turning back to see if he had followed her. She locked eyes with Clark as the elevator doors shut, watching him watch her from the street outside, confused and unsettled by what had just happened.  

She could barely breathe as she made her way up to her apartment, immediately stripping off and getting into a scalding hot shower, desperate to wash the last thirty minutes off her. Who the hell did that man think he was, she seethed to herself as she scrubbed her skin raw.  

Calling her Miss Lane and asking if she was okay. She hated herself for thinking, for a split second, that the other Clark had returned to save her. She was disgusted with herself for wanting someone as pure hearted and beautiful as the other Clark to rescue her.  

She hated Clark Luthor for saving her, and even more for confusing her.  

Lois made herself dinner and sat in front of the television while she wrote up an outline for a new story.  

She was going to expose Ultraman for the monster he really was.  

>>>  

“You can’t publish this, Lois,” Oliver said, his eyes blazing and his jaw clenched.  

Lois scoffed at him, reaching to snatch the papers out of his hand.  

“It’s my story, I can write what I like. He's a monster , Ollie. If people know Clark Luthor is Ultraman, maybe we can stop him,” Lois reasoned.  

Oliver shook his head and moved to the oven, pulling out the casserole he had reheated.  

“Lois, he’s a killer. He's your boss . How are you going to get this published?” Oliver challenged her  

“I still have contacts at The Inquisitor. Or maybe I’ll self-publish it online,” Lois said.  

Oliver opened his mouth to argue, but his phone buzzed and he turned away from her.  

“I have to call Chloe about work,” he murmured, walking away from her and locking himself in his office.  

Lois sighed in frustration. Oliver always ran to Chloe when she called him. She had long suspected that they had something going on, but none of them were brave enough to verbalise it and confront it.  

The world was painful enough; Lois didn’t need to be a divorcée before she was 30 and lose the only family that she had left in Chloe.  

Lois ate dinner alone while Oliver stayed locked in his office, eventually going to bed and falling asleep without him. She woke up hours later as he sidled into bed with her. She could feel he was naked as he kissed down her shoulder, curling his arm around her waist. Lois sighed and relaxed against him.  

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her ear. It was heavy, and she knew he was apologising for more than missing dinner and ignoring her for hours.  

Lois knew Oliver loved her, but she had learned that love wasn’t enough to sustain him. He needed the thrill of helping people, to feel like he was serving the world and giving back more of himself than he had to offer. Lois understood, because she felt the same. Exposing crime and reporting on the evils of the world is what soothed her soul and gave her purpose. She would never begrudge Ollie for needing more from this life.  

She just wished she could give him a little bit more of herself; maybe then he wouldn’t go looking for something extra in Chloe.  

Lois rolled over and kissed him, relaxing as he climbed on top of her, closing her eyes as he made love to her gently, his head tucked into her neck, holding her close.  

She adamantly did not think about Clark Luthor, standing over her in his impeccably tailored navy suit, snapping a man’s neck to save her life, or the way his green eyes sparkled at her as she came.  

>>>  

"Mrs Queen, Mr Luthor wants to see you in his office,” Jeff said as he handed her a coffee.  

Lois blanched. She hadn’t seen him since that night on the street a week ago; she hadn’t even known he was in the building. She took a large gulp of her coffee and headed upstairs, her heart pounding in the elevator.  

She walked up to his office and was waved straight in by his personal assistant, a young blonde named Mandie or Brandie or something equally vapid. Lois opened the door and tried not to falter when she saw him sitting at his desk, the sleeves of his moss green dress shirt rolled up his forearms.  

He nodded at her to sit. Lois took the seat across from him, staying silent.  

They stared each other down, both waiting for the other to crack. Lois did her best not to blink, determined to make him speak first. After all, he was the one who summoned her, she thought.  

“Miss Lane,” Clark said, eyes still locked on hers.  

“Mrs Queen,” she corrected. Clark raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly.  

“Miss Lane,” he pushed on, ignoring her. “I wanted to see how you were doing.”  

Lois blinked, confused.  

“Why?”  

Clark sat back in his chair, and she could see the way he looked her up and down.  

“I was worried about you after the other night,” he said.  

Lois held in a laugh, barely.  

“Do you honestly expect me to believe that, Mr Luthor?” she asked. She caught the way the corner of his mouth twitched when she said his name.  

“What are you working on?” Clark asked, sitting forward and shifting gears. She relaxed slightly as she began describing a tip she had received about the city council buying up heritage land illegally.  

Clark shook his head, raising his hand to cut her off.  

“No, Miss Lane. What are you really working on?” Clark challenged.  

He knew , she realised. She didn’t know how, but somehow, Clark had found out she was writing about Ultraman.  

Oliver had told her in confidence that Clark was Ultraman; killing people for sport, terrorising the city for fun. He had been working with the Justice League for months, working on taking him down. He had a theory that Clark was allergic to meteor rocks, but none of them had gotten close enough to test it. Clark was stronger than any man they had come across, and he had other gifts , other that his superhuman speed, Oliver suspected.  

Lois decided to go with honesty, squaring her shoulders and sitting up straight.  

“I’m working on an exposé on the crime rate in Metropolis.”  

Clark smiled at her, and she vaguely thought about the horror movies she and Lucy used to watch way too young, where the villain would smile when he tricked his prey into his trap.  

“On crime in general? That’s a bit vague,” Clark said, amusement evident in his voice.  

Lois shrugged and decided to test the waters.  

“I was thinking about centreing my piece on Ultraman.”  

“Do you know who he is?” Clark asked, looking almost joyous , Lois thought, unnerved. Clark was toying with her, having fun with this.  

Lois shook her head, choosing to play it safe.  

“No, but I’m going to find out.”  

Clark leaned forward, his bulging forearms pressing against his desk. Lois did her best to not look at the lines of muscles on his arms, or how big his hands were.  

His hands – those hands that had murdered a man in front of her days ago, breaking someone’s neck like he was snapping a blade of grass.  

“I can’t wait to read your first draft, Lois,” he said, nodding to the door to dismiss her.  

Lois blinked at the use of her first name, moving as quickly as she could out the door and back to her desk. She had no idea how Clark could have known about her story; she had made sure to write about the council corruption case at work only working on the Ultraman story in her home, on her personal laptop.  

She was rattled that he had somehow known what she was up to.  

Maybe reading minds was one of his superpowers, she thought as she left the office for the day, determined to write her Ultraman story in the confines of her own home.  

>>>  

“What have you got?” Lois asked in a low voice, handing over a wad of hundreds.  

The pretty blonde in front of her took the cash and checked to make sure nobody was listening.  

"My brother worked for their security detail for years. The whole family is a twisted mess,” Daisy said.  

Lois nodded, taking notes.  

“Rumour has it that Lionel used to make the boys fight each other. Clark put Lex in the hospital a bunch of times,” Daisy continued. “My brother thinks that Clark killed Lex. And he, um. He thinks Lionel told him to do it.”  

Lois shook her head in disbelief. “Some people are monsters,” she said.  

“Tell me about it,” Daisy agreed. “Chris said that Clark is the only Luthor that’s never had a security detail, and he comes and goes without anyone knowing.”  

“Does anyone know where he goes?” she asked.  

Daisy nodded. “He goes to Desaad’s at least once a week.”  

“The sex club on fifth?” she confirmed.  

“Chris said the maids told him he comes home covered in blood some nights,” Daisy nodded.  

Lois briefly flashed to the night she had watched Clark kill a man with his bare hands.  

“I’m not surprised,” she muttered.  

“That’s all I have.”  

Lois nodded. “Thanks. Call me if you hear anything else?”  

Daisy nodded and ducked out of the alley, joining the foot traffic. Lois waited for two minutes and went the opposite way, heading back to the office. She weaved through the office, jumping into the elevator and releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding onto as she rushed into her office on the eight floor, shutting the door behind her.  

"Miss Lane.”  

Lois jumped and turned, seeing Clark sitting in her chair. He smiled widely at her, looking much too comfortable in her space.  

“Mr Luthor,” she greeted, and his mouth twitched at the corner.  

“How’s your story coming?” Clark asked, watching her.  

Lois squared her shoulders and smiled.  

“It’s coming,” she said, refusing to give him any more information.  

Clark stood and walked over to her, crowding her in against the office door. Lois felt her breathing become shallow, a combination of fear and arousal at his proximity. She looked up at him as he stood directly in front of her, so close that a deep breath would have had her breasts pressed against him.  

He tilted his head slightly, watching her. Lois blinked nervously, unsure of what to do. Clark leaned in even closer to her, studying her.  

“You’re kinda cute when you squirm,” he muttered lowly.  

Lois’ body betrayed her instantly; her lips parted slightly, and she felt herself get wet. Clark watched her closely, looking down her body, and she swore he could tell what was happening between her legs. Because of him. For him.  

Clark smiled at her, stepping back and waiting for her. She moved away and let him open the door to leave.  

“Miss Lane,” he said smugly, smiling at her as he left.  

She shut the door behind him, sitting at her desk and trying to catch her breath.  

What the hell was that, Lane? she berated herself. Clark Luthor was a monster, a predator and a killer. He had killed in front of her.  

For her , she thought.  

She shook her head. Lois knew she had a propensity for becoming hyper fixated on things. She knew she had a penchant for obsession, for falling so deep into her stories that nothing else in the world mattered.  

But she would not become obsessed with Clark Luthor.  

She wouldn’t.  

>>>  

Chloe frowned, shaking her head.  

“I don’t have anything,” she said.  

Lois raised an eyebrow and stared her down.  

“Nothing?” she asked.  

“We’ve never caught him on any of the surveillance we have,” Chloe said. “Us even knowing that Clark is Ultraman was only confirmed when his doppelgänger appeared.”  

“Clark Kent,” Lois said softly.  

Chloe nodded. “Ollie suspected him but we never knew for sure. And we still have no proof.”  

Lois sighed, taking a long sip of her wine.  

“I need something to nail this guy to the wall,” Lois said woefully.  

“I did see something on the cameras a couple of weeks ago,” Chloe broached, and Lois braced herself.  

“You and Clark, in an alley. Ringing any bells?” Chloe asked.  

Lois nodded. “Did you tell Ollie?”  

“No,” Chloe said quietly. “You were safe, and I figured it was up to you to tell him what happened.”  

“He saved me twice in the span of ten minutes,” Lois said carefully. “And when I asked him why, he just it was because he wanted to help.”  

Chloe frowned, looking as confused as Lois felt.  

“Do you think – I mean, is it possible that he’s reformed?” Chloe asked.  

Lois scoffed. “Do psychopaths have an off switch?”  

Chloe sat up properly, crossing her legs on the couch and facing Lois.  

“Think about it. He swapped lives with Bizarro Clark and when they switched back, Ultraman was gone. Do you think something happened to him?” Chloe asked.  

“What, like he developed a conscience in three hours?” Lois scoffed.  

“You met alterna-Clark, right?”  

Lois nodded.  

“What if trading lives had an impact on this Clark? What if he saw another way of life and decided to change?” Chloe asked.  

Lois downed the last of her wine as she heard the keycard at the door.  

“I think you’re giving him too much credit,” Lois said.  

“Ooh, ladies, wine night?” Oliver asked, smiling at them both. He walked over to give Lois a soft kiss, smiling at Chloe and going into the kitchen to grab his own glass. Lois couldn’t bring herself to care about the way Chloe tensed as Oliver kissed her, or the way his eyes flicked to Chloe before he leaned down to her.  

Lois' thoughts were preoccupied with someone else.  

Oliver sat across from them in the ugly green armchair he had picked out and poured himself a glass of wine.  

“I need to go to Latvia for two weeks,” he announced.  

Lois nodded. “The clean energy deal?”  

Oliver nodded. “There’s some facilities we want to tour, and to be honest, we just need to buck up and buy one and get moving on the project.”  

“When do you leave?” she asked.  

“Tomorrow afternoon,” he smiled sadly at her. Lois tipped her head back against the couch, closing her eyes. Two whole weeks without Oliver would be lonely and boring and sad.  

Chloe cleared her throat and stood, grabbing her bag.  

“Well, I don’t want to interrupt your time together. Lo, get some sleep,” she said gently, moving Lois’ hair out of her face before leaning down to hug her. Lois held her tightly, watching Oliver walk Chloe to the door and close it behind her.  

Oliver threw himself down on the couch and pulled her feet into his lap.  

“Did you have dinner?” he asked.  

Lois nodded.  

“I didn't,” he smiled, his hands trailing up her legs and rucking her pencil skirt up to her hips, kneeling between her legs and kissing down her thighs. She set her wine glass down on the floor next to her and closed her eyes as Oliver got to work, moaning as he licked and sucked at her clit.  

He made her come three times, and each time she came, she pictured another tall, dark and handsome man between her legs.  

>>>  

Oliver had barely been gone for four hours before Lois found herself in a situation . She had spent the afternoon fitting a blonde wig, picking an outfit that was slutty, but not too attention grabbing.  

She had wrangled an invite to Desaad’s club and needed to look the part. Staring at herself in the mirror, in her thigh high black leather boots, a tight leather corset top and patent black mini skirt, she figured she looked the part. Lois breathed a sigh of relief when the bouncer let her straight in, barely glancing at her invite.  

She walked into the club and tried not to stare. People in various states of undress roamed the floor. Everybody had a drink in their hand, she noticed. Lois scoped the room for the exits, trying not to focus on the moans all around her.  

She went straight for the bar, ordering a double whiskey and downing it in one go. Lois' skin pricked as she felt eyes on her.  

It’s the outfit , she tried to assure herself, holding herself with confidence.  

The bartender came back to her, smiling widely at her.  

“Do you want another?” he asked.  

“Please,” she smiled at him, batting her lashes. He winked and served her another glass.  

“What’s back there?” she pointed to a black door underneath a staircase in the back corner of the room.  

“Private rooms. Reserved for elite members,” he said, brown eyes checking her out.  

“And your elite members are...?”  

“Anonymous,” the bartender smiled at her.  

“What’s your price?” Lois asked. The bartender smirked at her and leaned in close to whisper.  

“Five grand and I'll give you the full lowdown,” he whispered.  

“When can I find you?” she asked.  

“Besson’s diner on twelfth at three tomorrow,” he suggested.  

“Look for a brunette,” Lois winked at him. He smiled and moved down the bar, taking another woman’s order.  

Lois turned to check out the crowd again, and blinked when she found a short redheaded woman standing in front of her. She opened her mouth but the woman just handed her a blue business card.  

“What’s this?” Lois asked.  

The woman pointed at the black door and walked away. Lois flipped the card over and saw #8 scribbled on the back. She scanned the room, seeing a couple of familiar faces like lawyers and cops, before she made her way to the back of the room.  

A security guard appeared in front of her, as if out of thin air, and held out his hand. He wordlessly inspected her card and opened the door for her, pointing to the right. Three doors down, she saw door #8.  

Lois braced herself and walked in, blanching when she saw Clark sitting on the brown leather chesterfield against the back wall.  

“Miss Lane,” he greeted, a much too relaxed smile on his face. His teeth were on display, and Lois fleetingly thought about the animal channel documentaries where the lions attack the antelopes.  

Lois sighed and leaned against the door, banging her head against it, hoping she could wake herself up from the nightmare she walked into.  

“I didn’t know this was your scene,” Clark smiled at her.  

“Maybe you just never noticed me before,” she shot back at him.  

Clark smiled at her, looking her up and down lasciviously.  

“You could have a paper bag over your head and I’d still know it’s you. What are you doing here?” he asked.  

Lois was still reeling from his flirtatiousness when she finally responded.  

“Got a tip on a story I’m working on. If I had known our fearless CEO was an elite client, I wouldn’t have worked so hard getting this wig on,” Lois said.  

Clark stood and moved closer to her. Under the soft lights, she could make out his black pinstripe slacks and his deep blue dress shirt, top buttons undone, tie loose and sleeves rolled up around his forearms.  

Lois’ eyes caught on a scar.  

“What’s that?” she asked.  

Clark extended his forearm to give her a closer look.  

“Lex,” he said. Lois stared at the scar, committing the boxed in L to memory. Her fingers twitched as she ached to reach out and touch it.  

Her eyes moved up to Clark’s, and she shrunk back slightly under the intensity of his gaze.  

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I killed him?” Clark asked in a low, dangerous voice.  

Lois shook her head.  

Clark took a step closer to her, and this time, Lois didn’t try to move away from him. Not even when he reached up to brush the fringe she had cut on the wig out of her eyes.  

“I like you better brunette,” Clark whispered, his hand coming down to cup her jaw. Lois' eyes drifted closed as he leaned in closer, and she could feel his breath on his lips.  

She came to her senses and shoved herself away from Clark, her back hitting the door with force. Of course you couldn’t push him, he’s too strong , she remembered as he didn’t budge an inch.  

“I’m married,” Lois said.  

Clark shrugged.  

“You want me,” he said, as if he was stating a fact.  

“I don’t want you,” Lois immediately rebutted.  

Clark tilted his head, looking at her predatorily. Lois felt a wave of arousal flood her body, followed immediately by shame. Clark seemed to sense the change in the air. He reached his other hand down to her thigh, caressing her gently and inching his way up her skirt.  

“Say it again,” he ordered.  

Lois looked him straight in the eye. “I don’t want you,” she said, holding her resolve for exactly six seconds before she pulled him in by his shirt.  

Clark moved with her, pressing her against the door and kissing her. Lois’ whole body felt like it was on fire; from just his kiss, she felt herself get wet. She returned his feverish kisses with equal ferocity, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him as close to her as humanly possible. She gasped when he pushed up her skirt, his fingers gently brushing against her mound through her underwear.  

The reality of what was happening hit her like a brick; she panicked and slapped Clark, pushing him off of her. He didn’t react to her slap, but he let her shove him away from her. He watched in silence as she pulled her skirt down and wiped her mouth.  

“No,” she shook her head.  

“Why not?” Clark challenged. He looked debauched, his hair messed up from where she must have run her hands through it, his mouth covered in red lipstick.  

“I love my husband, for one. Two, you’re my boss. Three, you –” Lois cut herself off, eyes widening.  

“I what?” he asked quietly.  

“You terrify me,” Lois finished.  

Clark blinked, but stepped back further from her.  

“You fascinate me,” he said, watching her. “I have this desire to prove myself to you, and I don’t know why.”  

Lois frowned at the unexpected honesty, surprised at how vulnerable Clark sounded.  

She turned and opened the door, stepping back into the hallway. She turned back to Clark and looked down at his feet, refusing to meet his eyes.  

“You fascinate me, too,” Lois said, shutting the door before he could respond.  

>>>  

Her conversation with Joshua the bartender proved extremely fruitful. Lois had gotten the names of a dozen elite clients of Desaad, and nearly thirty government employees who attended regularly. He hooked her up with the bouncer, who agreed to supply additional names. Times like this, she was thankful for Oliver’s never ending bank account.  

Lois held out until the end of their conversation to ask about Clark.  

“Luthor? He follows his old man’s MO. Uses the club for business, not for pleasure,” Josh had said.  

She spent the weekend finishing her city corruption case, thrilled that her investigation on Clark had lead her to solving that story, giving her the perfect cover to keep working on the Ultraman story.  

It was nearing eight p.m. when there was a knock at her front door. Lois frowned; the concierge hadn’t buzzed her to advise of a visitor, and she hadn’t ordered any food. She silently picked up the gun she kept in her handbag now and moved to the front door, checking the peephole. She was about to open the door when her phone rang.  

Lois yelped and jumped, scrambling to answer it.  

“Was this you?” she asked.  

Oliver laughed down the other end of the phone. “I figured you’d be so stuck into your story you’d forget to eat. Am I right?” he asked.  

Lois scoffed and opened the door, grabbing the food delivery.  

“Fried rice and dumplings, you know me so well,” she smiled, shutting the door and dumping the food on the kitchen counter, putting the phone on speaker and tearing into the food.  

“Brain food,” he said, and Lois could hear from the way he was speaking that he was smiling. She felt a stab of guilt at kissing Clark the night before but put it out of her mind.  

“You’re staying safe?” he asked.  

“You know me,” she said through a mouthful of fried rice.  

“Yeah, I do, Lois, that’s the problem,” Oliver snarked.  

“How’s Latvia?” she asked, not even trying to be subtle in changing the subject.  

“Good, we’ll close the deal next week, and I should be home the following Thursday.”  

Lois hummed to herself. “Maybe I’ll invite Chloe over for a girl’s night. We could have a sleepover, like when we were kids,” she smiled to herself.  

“Chloe on an assignment for the Gazette. She's in Mexico for a few days.”  

Lois swallowed loudly. She hated being slapped in the face with the reality that Oliver and Chloe were sneaking around together behind her back. But after last night, she could barely begrudge them for it.  

“Good for her,” Lois said, surprised that she meant it. She could hear some chatter in the back of Oliver’s call, and knew that was the end of their time together, likely for a few days.  

“Lo, I have to go. I love you,” Oliver said.  

“I love you too,” she replied, smiling sadly as he hung up.  

She did love him; she loved Oliver a lot. But life was harsh and cruel, and she knew he was in love with both her and Chloe, and none of them knew how to navigate the situation they had found themselves in.  

The three of them were all they each had left, and she knew none of them were prepared to disrupt the balance and risk losing someone.  

Fleetingly, Lois wondered if there was someone else out there for her, someone that would be fulfilled with her, and only her.  

Someone that could love Lois Queen the way Clark Kent loved his Lois Lane.  

>>>  

Lois parked in the dark alley by the docks, texting her contact that she was here. She saw headlights half a block away flash twice, and took her cue. She got out and walked to the car, climbing in.  

“Thanks for meeting me,” she said, handing over a huge wad of cash.  

The man nodded and took it, tucking it into his coat pocket.  

“So, what have you got for me?”  

He pulled out a very large manila folder of papers.  

“Financial records of everyone Lionel Luthor has paid off in relation to Clark and Lex Luthor’s wrongdoings for the last fifteen years,” he said handing it to her.  

Lois flicked through them briefly, shocked by how many there were.  

“These date back to middle school,” she breathed.  

The man nodded. “Comprehensive list of payouts and who they’ve gone to over the years. You'll also notice some other names on there.”  

“Lucas Luthor, Lutessa Luthor?” Lois read.  

“Illegitimate children,” he explained.  

“Lex’s entire fortune went to Clark,” she noted.  

The man shook his head. “Most of it. Tess Mercer got a cut.”  

Lois felt confused. She knew Tess through Oliver, but they had lost touch over the years.  

“Was she – how did she know Lionel?” Lois asked.  

The man grimaced. “Lutessa Luthor is Tess Mercer.”  

Lois watched him, feeling like there was something more.  

“Do you have anything else for me?” she asked.  

The man shook his head. “Everything I have proof of is in there.”  

Lois clicked her dictaphone off, thanking him and running back to her car. He was a gentleman, waiting for her to get into her car safely and take off before he also left. She rushed home, kicking off her shoes before she shut her front door and opening up the manila folder.  

Inside were timestamped photos of Clark and Lionel at the Luthor compound, schedules of meetings dating back the last four years, and a contact sheet for the current rotation of staff.  

“You were well worth the money, my guy,” Lois muttered, impressed.  

She spent the night combing through the documents, trying to put together a timeline of the uptick in crime and Clark’s activities over the years. She kept at it until four in the morning, making her way to bed when she physically couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. Lois closed her eyes but her mind was still awake, trying to put the pieces together.  

Crime had gone way down once the two Clark’s had switched back; the money didn’t lie. Lois had assumed he was keeping a low profile now that Oliver knew who he was and was mining Smallville for meteor rocks, but now she wondered if there was more to the story.  

>>>  

Lois’ breath hitched as he pressed inside her one swift motion, giving her no time to adjust before he began fucking her roughly. She tightened her legs around his waist, holding on for dear life as he thrust so hard he moved her up the bed.  

She could barely breathe as he kissed her, biting at her lips and grabbing her neck.  

Lois moaned his name, and he moved above her, catching his breath and smiling down at her.  

Clark's green eyes sparkled at her as he brushed her hair out of her face, leaning back down to kiss her. She pushed at his shoulder and he flipped them over, letting her sit over him and take control, his hands moving to her hips and helping guide her movements.  

Lois closed her eyes as one of his hands moved up her body and wrapped around her neck – the same hands that had snapped that man’s neck right in front of her with more ease than she could snap a piece of uncooked spaghetti. The knowledge of how strong he was, and how her life was truly in his hands was intoxicating; the simple thought enough to push her off the edge, gasping for air as she came, clenching around him.  

Clark sat up and squeezed around her neck just a little bit, letting her use his body to ride out her orgasm, panting with her. He pulled her in by the neck to kiss her and Lois moaned, completely overwhelmed by him in every way.  

“Lois,” he moaned into her neck. She felt the way he tensed beneath her and then she could feel him twitch inside her as he filled her up, pulsing, warm and wet –  

Lois sat upright, blinking the sleep out of her eyes and throwing the covers off of her.  

She was not about to start having dreams about Clark Luthor – especially not filthy sex dreams. Especially especially not dreams about how attracted she was to the fact that he could kill .  

Lois went straight into the bathroom and ran a hot bath, heading to the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of red wine and the largest glass she could find. She pointedly turned the clock displaying 1:12 PM away from her on her way back to the bathroom, taking long sips of her wine as she tried to dissect her dream.  

Clark Luthor fascinated her; he was Ultraman, a murderer and a tyrant, but he had also killed to protect her. Even before she knew who he was, as CEO of the Daily Planet he had given her free reign to write and publish what she liked, never vetoing a story the way his father had to protect business connections and honour the Luthor name. Clark was more chaotic, more reckless, more interested in how he could upend people’s lives than protect the Luthorcorp umbrella.  

She had long chalked it up to his nasty personality, but now she was curious about the interactions that they had had over the last few months, since he had gone to the parallel world and swapped lives with Clark Kent.  

Kent was kind, his eyes warm and gentle, but he was utterly ferocious in his determination to get back home, specifically to his Lois.  

Luthor was cold and hard, his eyes mischievous and often cruel, and he had an air of anger and boredom about him. He was only hungry for pain, feeding off of it like it fueled him.  

Except the last few weeks, something seemed to have changed. His eyes weren’t at all dismissive when he looked at her; in fact, now they were heated, curious and interested. And he had been actively chasing her down, trying to corner her and get her alone in closed rooms, staring at her like he was trying to read her mind, like he wanted her.  

You fascinate me , that’s what he had said at Desaad’s. Lois had believed him – she didn’t know why, but for some reason, she believed he was fixated on her.  

Just as much as she was fixated on him.  

She was ashamed of herself for feeling this way. And even more disgusted in herself for kissing him, for wanting him.  

He’s a monster, he’s killed in front of you , she had repeated to herself like a motto nearly every six minutes for the three days since she had seen Clark. But now, he was in her dreams, fucking her and worshipping her and moaning her name.  

Lois deemed the bath full enough and turned off the tap, grabbing her laptop and phone and lowering herself into the bath, proof reading her corruption story before sending it to her editor for a final review, hoping they would publish it in time for the Monday morning printing.  

She stayed in the bath until the water ran cold, the wine disappeared and she felt hungry, jumping in the shower quickly to scrub herself raw before getting dressed in jeans, a sweater and her comfortable boots to run to the store and buy food for dinner.  

Lois drove downtown to her favourite grocery store, filling the cart with fresh vegetables and bread, intent on actually cooking over the next week and a half Ollie was away. It was much more peaceful to attempt cooking when Oliver didn’t intervene to save her dishes, or laugh every time she set off the smoke detectors.  

“I didn’t take you for a gourmand.”  

Lois sighed at the little girl voice coming from behind her, plastering on a smile and turning around.  

“Cat Grant,” she greeted. Lois softened at the sight of the little boy wrapped around her legs.  

“Hey Adam,” Lois said kindly.  

“Hi,” he meekly said back.  

Lois smiled at him, and looked up to see Cat looking more relaxed than she expected.  

“Are you helping mom cook Sunday dinner?” Lois asked.  

“If you call hot dogs and nachos dinner, then yes, he is,” Cat smiled.  

“Nachos, good idea,” Lois said, grabbing a pack of corn chips and tossing them into her cart.  

“They’re running your corruption piece tomorrow, front page,” Cat announced. Lois smiled, nodding. “Good work,” Cat said.  

“Thanks,” Lois said, meaning it. She wasn’t sure how Cat had heard about it before she had, but she was grateful that it was happening.  

“Say goodbye to Mrs Queen,” Cat instructed Lois, giving her a small wave and guiding Adam to the cash register.  

“Bye,” he waved. Lois waved back at him and finished her shop, loading her groceries into the car and heading back to her apartment, parking in her reserved space underneath the building, about to take her bags up when her phone rang.  

“Hello?” she answered without looking.  

“Miss Lane,” a smooth voice said from the other line.  

Lois sighed and threw her head back against her seat, trying not to think about the other things he could whisper into her ear.  

“Mr Luthor, why are you calling me on a Sunday?” she asked.  

“I’m going to need you in the office a little earlier than usual tomorrow. Seven a.m. sharp,” he instructed.  

“Why?” Lois asked suspiciously.  

“I have a press conference I want you to cover,” Clark said.  

“Seven a.m., I’ll be there,” she agreed, snapping her phone shut and refusing to spend any more time talking to him.  

Lois spent the rest of her afternoon painstakingly making a cottage pie, cutting and cooking all the vegetables and chicken to perfection, sitting down to eat it and finding she had absolutely no appetite. She wrapped it up and tossed it in the fridge, instead fixing herself a bowl of ice cream with extra fudge and picking at it until she fell asleep on the couch.  

>>>  

Lois watched the way Clark’s eyes travelled up her bare legs, across her hips and up her chest, before finally landing on her eyes. Should have worn pants , she lamented, even though she knows she picked her shortest black pencil skirt and tightest white blouse and her most borderline not appropriate for work four inch heels to work today, knowing she would be seeing Clark.  

In turn, she trailed her eyes over him; his black three piece suit with the olive green shirt peaking out underneath. He looked especially broad in his blazers, she noted.  

He jerked his head to the elevator, pressing the button and holding it open for her when it arrived. Clark followed her in and silently pressed the button while Lois stayed silent, staring at the floor.  

She startled slightly when the elevator arrived and she frowned, looking at the car display and seeing they were on the roof. Clark smirked and pushed her out of the elevator, his hand warm and absolutely huge on her lower back.  

Lois was so confused she didn’t pull away.  

When he opened the door to the helipad and ushered her outside, she finally spoke.  

“Where’s the press conference?” she asked.  

Clark smiled at her and leaned in close to her ear, so she could hear him over the noise.  

At least, that’s what she told herself as his lips brushed her ear.  

“LA,” he said.  

Lois marched to the helicopter, tossing her bag inside and getting ready to launch herself up the tall steps when she felt two strong hands on her hips, hoisting her up gently into the helicopter. Lois decidedly did not blush as images from her dreams flashed across her mind, of big, strong arms manhandling her and choking her and holding her close.  

She took a seat and watched as he smoothly entered after her, taking a seat and nodding to the pilot to take off.  

They were silent the entire twenty minute ride to the private airfield, Lois watching Metropolis fade into the city outskirts, into the farmland. From her peripheral vision, she could see Clark watching her watch the world go by.  

They didn’t say a word as the pilot landed except when Lois thanked him. She watched Clark jump out of the helicopter and looked at him unsurely, biting her lip when he reached out a hand for her.  

She hooked her bag onto her shoulder and reached for his hand, gasping as his hand kept moving and grabbed onto the side of her stomach, yanking her out of the helicopter. Clark gently placed her down with both hands wrapped around her waist, and he took a moment to look at her before letting her go and stepping back.  

“That’s our plane,” he said, moving quickly across the airfield. Lois did her best to match his pace; she had always been told she was a tall woman at five foot eight, standing at six feet in most of her heels. But trying to match strides with Clark, who was at least six foot six in his shoes, was a struggle.  

Clark stopped at the stairs to his private jet, waving her up to go inside first. She smiled at the cabin crew and made her way down the end of the plane, taking a seat on a comfortable looking armchair.  

Lois tried not to watch as Clark followed her in, taking off his blazer and sitting opposite her in the other armchair.  

At least he didn’t sit next to me , she thought. Lois changed her mind when she looked up and saw him staring at her intently as he rolled up his shirt sleeves.  

“What should we talk about for five hours?” Clark asked.  

Lois flinched. “It’s a five hour flight?”  

He nodded. “Noon press conference. We'll be home by dinner,” Clark said, flashing her a charming smile.  

“What’s the announcement?” she asked.  

Clark leaned forward in his seat. “I’ve acquired Mercer Media Group,” he said.  

Lois frowned. “Tess Mercer?”  

She didn’t know if Clark knew Tess was his sister, but she didn’t imagine there was anything in that family that Clark didn’t know about.  

Clark nodded.  

“Tess is a powerhouse. She owns the entire West Coast. Why did she sell?” Lois asked.  

Clark narrowed his eyes at her, as if he found the question suspicious, but Lois was sure she would have asked that question even if she didn’t know Clark was Ultraman and Tess was his sister.  

“Tess wants out,” he said.  

“Out of what?”  

Clark looked out the window, watching as their plane finally took off.  

“Out of the business, away from her family. Out of the country. She's moving to Europe,” Clark explained.  

If Lois didn’t know any better, she would think he sounded rueful.  

“What are you planning on doing with MMG?” Lois asked.  

Clark shrugged and slouched back in his chair.  

“Probably nothing. Leave it as is and just make a profit,” he said.  

Lois raised an eyebrow, and noticed the way the corner of Clark’s mouth twitched when she did so.  

“Impressive,” she muttered.  

“What is?”  

“I didn’t think you were capable of telling the truth,” Lois said.  

“I rarely lie,” Clark said with a smile.  

Lois looked at him doubtfully, and his smile got wider. For the first time, Lois really looked at him. He had dimples, she noted. She had never noticed them before, but maybe his business smile was nothing like this smile. He had smile lines crinkling around his eyes, and he looked almost boyish.  

It was jarring.  

“Ask me anything, and I’ll tell you the truth.”  

Lois felt her lips part a little at the challenge, but she recognised what he was doing.  

He wanted her to ask about Ultraman.  

She was silent for a moment, thinking about what to ask him, when he reached over to the seats across from them and tossed a newspaper at her – today's issue of the Planet.  

“It’s a decent article, but your heart wasn’t in it,” Clark said.  

Lois narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you mean?”  

“You were distracted,” he said.  

Lois looked away from him, reading the front page headline.  

“You don’t know me that well,” she said.  

Clark leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning into her space.  

“I know that you wore that short little fuck me  skirt for me today. I know that your husband was still in American airspace when you kissed me the other night. I know that every part of your body is screaming at you to back away from me, but you keep leaning closer to me without realising,” Clark whispered lowly.  

Lois sat back with a start, not realising she had been leaning closer and closer.  

Clark sat back in his chair, satisfied.  

“I know you hate your life and you want more, but you don’t know what more is. I know you’re an adrenaline junkie who meets sources in shady areas in the dead of night, secretly hoping you’ll get attacked so you have an excuse to whale on some lowlife and feel something . I know you’re probably obsessing about your Ultraman story, and he’s all you think about,” Clark said smugly.  

Lois blinked at him.  

“Sometimes I meet sources during the day,” she argued.  

Clark laughed, a deep, unsettling sound that made her stomach curl into itself a little.  

“Why did you kill that man in the alley?” she asked.  

Clark stopped laughing.  

“I didn’t want him to hurt you. It seemed like the cleanest option to kill him,” Clark explained.  

“You snapped his neck like a twig,” Lois whispered.  

Clark looked out the window.  

“I’m strong,” he said.  

“I know,” Lois murmured.  

She watched Clark watch her closely, waiting.  

“Why do you care if I live or die?” she asked.  

Clark leaned forward again, taking her hand in his. She didn’t move as he turned her wrist right side up, gently tracing over her veins.  

“I didn’t want to live in a world that doesn’t have you in it,” he said.  

Lois froze. It was so close to what Clark Kent had said to her all those months ago on the roof of the Planet, frantically trying to convince her that he wasn’t the man before her now.  

“Why me?”  

Clark's eyes met hers, sparkling green eyes locking onto her hazel eyes.  

“I don’t know,” he said softly. “I remember meeting you, when Oliver brought you to that school reunion, and thinking you were too good for him. Too smart, too attractive. I always noticed you. But a few weeks ago, I realised I wanted you.”  

Lois did the math quickly and realised he probably was talking about when he switched worlds.  

She asked the question before she could stop herself.  

“Did you meet me? In the parallel world?”  

Clark froze, letting go of her wrist and sitting up straight, looking at her curiously. He seemed to find something in her eyes because he smiled and relaxed.  

“You met Kent,” he stated.  

Lois nodded. No point in lying, she decided.  

“He’s nothing like you,” she said.  

Clark huffed out a laugh and looked out the window.  

“Is that why Ultraman disappeared?” Lois asked.  

Clark looked back at her, eyes narrowed like he was trying to work out if she was being direct with him or not.  

“Did you see something in the other world that compelled you to stop killing?”  

He laughed, relaxing back into his chair.  

“Something like that,” he muttered.  

Lois sat back in her own chair, trying to process the last two minutes.  

“If I ask a question, will you answer it honestly?” Clark asked.  

Lois nodded, already regretting this.  

“Did you wear that skirt for me today?” he asked.  

“Yes,” Lois said. “Do you like it?”  

Clark nodded. “I do. Are you trying to please me?”  

“Maybe,” Lois conceded. “I didn’t think about it too much.”  

“I wish it was shorter,” he said, staring at her bare thighs.  

Lois shifted under his gaze, pressing her legs together.  

“Relax,” he ordered, stretching out a leg and knocking her ankle against his. She relaxed her legs as she was told.  

“What’s stopping you from pursuing something with me?” he asked.  

Lois frowned at him.  

“I’m married,” she said, stating the obvious.  

“Is that really it?” he pushed.  

Lois tried to consider how she really felt – a hard feat, given that she spent days trying to ignore her feelings.  

“I don’t want to be disloyal to Ollie,” Lois said quietly. “Part of it is that I don’t understand you, and I don’t trust you. You scare me.”  

Clark nodded slowly.  

“I would never hurt you, Lois.”  

“The thing is, I want to believe you. And that want makes no sense, and it makes me feel a little sick with myself,” Lois said honestly.  

Clark reached forward and placed his hands on her thighs, gently forcing them apart. He looked up at her as he wrapped his hands under her thighs and pulled her closer to him. Lois’ hands shot out to steady herself against his forearms.  

“Can I have you?” he asked.  

Lois closed her eyes, considering his question. She didn’t know if he meant it for now, for today, or forever. Did he want to fuck her and forget her, or did he want her to leave Ollie?  

Before she could answer, the plane hit turbulence. Clark pulled away from her, his head tilted as he concentrated on something.  

“We’re going down,” he said.  

Lois laughed in shock. “What?”  

“The engine’s shot,” he said, looking at her. Lois stopped laughing and looked out the window, flinching as she saw black and blue smoke around them.  

Clark stood up, checking the cupboard by the door and banging on the door to the cockpit. The pilot opened it, and the two of them had a conversation before the pilot followed Clark out.  

“Only three of us on the plane. We each have a parachute. Lois, the plane is going down, so we need to move now,” Clark said calmly.  

“The plane is crashing?” she asked, feeling faint.  

Clark nodded.  

“Ivan has altered course, we’re facing empty farmland. When the plane goes down there’ll be no one around that could get hurt. We're going to move now,” he said.  

He passed the pilot a parachute and walked to the emergency door, easily opening it.  

“Go, I’ll calm her down,” Clark ordered.  

He didn’t need to be told twice, strapping on his parachute and not even looking back at them before jumping out of the plane. Clark knelt in front of her, hands on her thighs again, in a completely different context.  

He was trying to comfort her, not seduce her. Lois found herself missing the position they were in moments ago.  

“Do you trust me?” Clark asked, eyes never leaving hers.  

Lois found herself nodding.  

He stood up, shoving the newspaper and his blazer into her messenger bag and tossing the strap around her neck. He put two parachutes in her arms, and pulled her out of the chair. Before Lois could move to put the parachute on, Clark had picked her up, cradling her in his arms.  

“Try to relax,” he smiled.  

Lois wrapped one arm around his neck, curling in close to him. She stared up at him as he carried her to the door and casually stepped out into the air.  

It felt like they were floating down. With a start, Lois realised they were floating.  

“You can fly?!”  

Clark smirked. “I can do a lot of things.”  

He had them on the ground in a minute, placing her gently onto her feet and making sure she could stand on her own before he took one of the parachutes, opening it and shaking it out so it looked like they had used them. She began opening the second one to hand to him, catching him smile as he took it from her and placed it forty yards away from the first.  

“Where are we?” Lois asked.  

“Texas,” he said, checking his watch. “You wanna get breakfast?”  

"What?”  

He walked right up to her, holding her neck and smiling at her. In a flash, they were standing on the street in front of a cafe. Lois blinked and looked at the palm trees around her.  

“Did you – did you just run from Texas to LA?” she asked.  

Clark nodded.  

“That’s so fucking cool,” Lois breathed.  

Clark looked pleased with himself, reaching to take her bag from her and hooking it over his shoulder.  

“You need coffee,” he said, pressing his hand into her lower back and pushing her into the diner in front of them.  

Lois sat in silence as he ordered them two coffees and pancakes.  

"That’s twice now you’ve saved my life.”  

“Three times,” Clark corrected.  

Lois shook her head. “Those two punks in their little Ford Focus? Please. I could have taken them.”  

“Fine, twice,” he agreed.  

Lois reached for her coffee and took a long sip before she turned to look out the window, enjoying the view of the beach.  

“You’re oddly calm for someone who just survived a plane crash,” he remarked.  

Lois shrugged. “The little oxygen thingies didn’t even drop from the ceiling, and you flew us to safety. It hardly counts as a crash,” she said.  

Clark pursed his lips and nodded. “You’re tough.”  

Lois shrugged. “Had to be.”  

He looked at her with concern. “Are you really okay?”  

She smiled and nodded.   

“You need to spend less time thinking about how you think you should feel, and more time feeling the things you do feel,” Clark advised.  

Lois frowned. That was actually pretty good advice, she thought begrudgingly.  

“It would be pretty selfish to just focus on the things that you want, and not the right thing to do,” Lois said.  

Clark seemed to survey her before he spoke. “Why don’t you try? Just today, do one selfish thing for yourself, not for anybody else. I dare you.”  

And wasn’t that like activating a sleeper agent, Lois thought. He dared her; she nearly laughed, but she recognised what he was trying to do.  

“Deal.”  

>>>  

The press conference went smoothly, Clark charming the press with ease with the announcement that Luthorcorp was taking over the Mercer Media Group, with Tess set to step out of her role immediately. He flashed his dimple free business smile around the room, cracking jokes and making assurances that he wouldn’t be making any changes to the current regime for the foreseeable future.  

He had hired a clean up crew to take care of the plane, paying off the farmer in the area to keep quiet. Lois wondered, if this were a week or two earlier, if this transaction would appear on the accounting paperwork she had been handed last week.  

Clark had simply smiled at her and said this is why Luthors don’t brand our names on planes .  

The press conference wrapped up at two p.m. The time difference put her at four p.m. Kansas time, and given how early she had woken up, she was beginning to fade. She followed Clark out of the press room into a waiting town car.  

“How are we getting home?” she asked.  

“Well, we flew in, so we need to fly back so nobody asks questions,” he said. “But I can’t get a plane for another ten hours.”  

Lois made a soft noise and rested her head against the headrest.  

“Two a.m.? I can’t stay awake that long,” she complained.  

“We have a hotel room, you can get some sleep before we catch our flight.”  

Lois sat up and stared at him. “Separate rooms?” she asked.  

He smirked at her. “Of course, Miss Lane.”  

>>>  

Lois silently fumed as the woman at the check in desk handed them a single key card, announcing their room number and pointing them to the elevator. She didn’t say a word as Clark pushed her into the elevator and pressed the button to the top floor of the hotel.  

“Calm down,” he ordered.  

“I haven’t said a word,” she said with as much attitude as she could muster.  

The elevator opened and Clark lead her down the hallway to one of three doors on this level, opening the door and ushering her inside.  

“Separate rooms, see?” he said, pointing at multiple bedrooms spread across the suite. Lois counted four bedrooms, as well as a full kitchen, dining room and lounge. She uncrossed her arms and began to relax.  

“Master?”  

“Yes?” Clark answered with a grin.  

Lois rolled her eyes.  

“Which one is the Master?” she asked.  

Clark pointed to the room at the far back.  

“What time do we need to leave?” she asked.  

“Midnight.”  

Lois pulled out her phone and set an alarm for eleven thirty.  

“See you then,” she said, turning on her heel and heading straight for the master bedroom, shutting the door and locking it behind her.  

She kicked off her heels, sighing in relief and stretching her toes and she moved to check out the ensuite bathroom. Lois nearly cried in relief when she saw the full bath in there, immediately turning on the water to run a bath. She stripped off quickly, giving herself a quick scrub in the shower and washing off the events of the day before she sank into the tub, grabbing her laptop and phone and dialling Ollie.  

“I miss you,” he said the second he picked up the phone. Lois smiled, wishing she were home with him right now.  

“You have no idea how much I miss you,” she breathed into the receiver.  

“Congratulations on your article, Lo.”  

“Thank you. It wasn’t my best work,” she said.  

“What are you talking about? You outed the entire city council for fraud and corruption, how could it have been better?” he asked.  

Lois smiled and stretched her back now that her body felt warm.  

“I have to tell you something,” she warned. “I’m fine, before you freak out.”  

Oliver huffed and waited.  

“I flew to LA to cover a press conference, and there was an issue with our flight home, so we’re stuck here for the night,” Lois said.  

“Go on, drop the other shoe,” Oliver said.  

“I’m with Clark,” she said.  

Even through the phone, she could feel the way Ollie was seething.  

“What do you mean you’re with Clark?”  

“The Planet assigned me to cover the Luthorcorp buyout of MMG,” she explained. “We took the corporate jet here, but they’ve gotta fix something before we can head home. At this stage we’re scheduled to fly home at one a.m.”  

She could hear Oliver moving through the phone.  

“I’ll send one of my jets,” he said.  

Lois sighed. “No, it’s fine, really. I have a hotel room, I’m going to nap before we need to leave tonight.”  

“Will you text me when you get on the plane? And when you get home? I don’t like you flying around without me knowing.”  

“I’m surprised you don’t have me LoJack'd,” Lois laughed.  

Oliver made a sweet sound into the phone at the suggestion.  

“Lo, come on. You're the most trustworthy person I know,” he said.  

Guilt settled in her stomach, reminding her what a terrible wife she had been. In the last four days alone, she had met up with Clark at a sex club, kissed him, slapped him, let him run his hands all over her thighs, and wrapped her arms around him like it was the only thing in the world that mattered to her.  

“How many days until you’re home?” she asked.  

“Eleven,” he said softly. “I can’t wait to see you.”  

She smiled into the phone. “Me either.”  

“I love you.”  

Lois returned the refrain, relieved to find that she did mean it; she did love Ollie.  

Which is why she couldn’t understand why the first thing she did when she hung up the phone was let her hands wander down to her thighs, stroking herself the way Clark had in the plane.  

She let her hand drift to her clit, gently playing with herself as she closed her eyes and pictured Clark bossing her around, touching her, on his knees for her, asking for her. For her .  

Lois tried to contain her gasps as she worked herself up, shallowly fucking herself with two fingers at the memory of Clark’s hands on her, and worse, at the memory of him snapping that man’s neck in front of her. She came with a high pitched keen, breathing shallowly as she shuddered in the cooling water, Clark’s name on her lips.  

The tears came straight after, Lois trying to hold back her sad gasps as she got out of the shower and dried off, climbing naked into the giant, plush hotel bed and crying silently as she typed up her coverage of Luthorcorp’s Mercer Media Group acquisition, sending it to her editor before she tossed her laptop on the end of the bed and curled under the covers, crying herself to sleep.  

>>>  

Lois woke with a start, feeling confused and disoriented. It took her nearly a minute to remember she was in LA, only clicking into gear when she turned the lamp on and saw the hotel room service menu.  

She stretched before she sat up, walking over to pull her underwear on and search for a robe in the closet. The time on her phone read ten p.m., and she was rapt that she actually had time to order room service and eat before they left again. Lois was so relieved she felt refreshed enough from the three hour nap she had that she didn’t even have a headache that she decided to reward her body with a glass of wine.  

Lois opened her bedroom door, figuring she would check with Clark to see if he wanted any food, surprised to see him sitting on the couch, watching television. She padded out quietly to the lounge and sat on the opposite end of the couch.  

He was sat in just his boxers, his hair still wet, and his feet resting up on the coffee table.  

"You look well rested,” Clark said.  

Lois nodded, doing her best not to stare at his perfect, gigantic broad chest, or look at the way his biceps were bulging, even as he just sat there.  

“I got some room service earlier, there’s some food warming in the oven for you.”  

She shook her head, pouring herself a small glass of wine and sitting as far away from him as she could on the opposite end of the sofa.  

She curled up on the couch as they watched some stupid CSI procedural, not saying a word. Lois surreptitiously looked at Clark, studying the way his hair was drying into wild curls, making him look sweeter and younger. She focused on his eyes, that had all day looked so unguarded and warm in a way she never thought they could. She stared at his plush pink lips, that she now knew would turn red and swell a little after kissing them.  

Lois watched the way his chest rose and fell with his steady breaths, so calm. She studied his shoulders, easily the broadest shoulders she had ever seen in real life. She watched his arms, that had held her safe earlier that day, studying the veins that travelled down his forearms, to his huge, warm hands, both deadly and so, so gentle.  

She looked at his abs, clearly visible despite the way he was slouched on the couch, and his hips, a prominent V of muscle on display. The downy, soft black hair that she could see trailing down from his bellybutton to his boxers.  

His thighs, so solid and firm. Even his feet looked perfect. Lois' eyes trailed back up his body, and her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw he was staring at her, waiting.  

“You are easily the least subtle person I have ever met,” Clark said, shaking his head.  

“I never claimed to be subtle,” she agreed.  

He let out a soft laugh and looked back at the television, leaving her to her thoughts. Lois considered what he had said earlier, about doing something for herself.  

She decided to heed his advice.  

Lois reached for the remote and turned off the tv. Clark looked at her sideways, one eyebrow raised, ready to say something, but stopped when he saw the look in her eyes.  

She stood up and slowly untied her robe, stripping it off and letting it fall to the floor. Any feeling of nervousness or anxiety or even guilt disappeared when she saw the hungry, genuinely feral look in Clark’s eyes as he stared at her.  

“I want you,” she admitted.  

Lois was falling back into her bed before she even noticed Clark getting off the couch and carrying her back to her room. He was already on top of her, pressing himself against her as close as he could. She could feel his erection against her mound.  

Clark kissed her, and she moaned as she registered how good he felt. He was an incredible kisser, and this felt so much better than their frantic, desperate kiss at Desaad’s. She could feel how badly he wanted her; her body responded in kind. She could already feel that she was soaking through her thin lace underwear.  

She caught her breath as he moved down her body, focusing on her bare breasts, biting at and sucking on her nipples as his hands moved greedily down her body, caressing her stomach and pushing down her underwear. Lois ran her hands through his hair, his curls still damp, her fingers curling as he kissed his way down her stomach and he pulled her underwear down her legs.  

Without a word, he hitched her right leg over his shoulder and buried his face between her legs, hungrily licking her clit. Lois felt her body respond with his movements, an orgasm building embarrassingly fast.  

“You taste like peaches,” Clark murmured between her legs. That was all it took for her to come, before he was even inside her. Clark kept his mouth on her the whole time, easing off of her clit when she started to pant and relax her legs.  

He slowly built her back up for a second orgasm, and Lois felt a flash of surprise. While Clark's reputation for promiscuity proceeded him, she hadn’t expected that he would be so attentive or in tune with her body.  

That thought was forgotten as he licked and sucked at her clit to a second orgasm, rubbing his face against her pussy as he slid an arm under her lower back and encouraging her to grind against him.  

The second orgasm was harder, leaving her shaking for longer. Lois yanked Clark’s hair roughly, trying to pull him away from her hips. He generously let her move him, crawling back over her and kissing her.  

Lois moaned at the taste of her on his mouth; she sucked on his bottom lip, enjoying her own sweetness.  

“Lois,” Clark moaned, moving to kiss her as she moved her hands down his body, reaching his boxers and shoving them down his thighs. She hooked one foot into the waistband and pushed them all the way down his legs, helping him kick them off.  

Clark grabbed both her wrists and pinned them over her head in one of his giant hands as he rut against her. He ran his free hand across her jaw, down her chest, pinching at her breast before pushing her hip down to the bed.  

Before Lois could breath, Clark fucked inside her in one fast, easy thrust. Lois moaned loudly as she tried to raise her hips to meet his, whimpering when she realised he had her so pinned down she couldn’t do anything but wrap her legs around his waist.  

Clark showed her no mercy, not allowing her any time to adjust to the size of him. He just fucked her, completely focused on her face and her every moan and whimper, working to push her over the edge again. It took barely any effort, Lois screaming his name as he made her come again and again, her body wearing down more and more with each orgasm.  

Somewhere around orgasm number twelve, she lost count. Clark hadn’t come once, hadn’t slowed down or needed a break at all. He just lavished her with attention, worshipping at her body, moaning her name and holding her tightly and fucking her so roughly and thoroughly Lois worried that she would forever be ruined for any other man.  

Before her mind could wander to Ollie, Clark changed their positions again, pushing Lois over onto her stomach, lifting her hips up and roughly fucking her from behind.  

“One more,” Clark demanded.  

Lois could feel the tears fall from her eyes, so overwhelmed and oversensitive that just the tone of his voice sent her over the edge. He leaned down over her, kissing the back of her neck and calling her his good girl, helping her ride it out.  

She felt herself cry harder when he pulled out and flipped her over, sitting at the edge of the bed and pulling her into his lap. Lois went easily, breathing a sigh of relief as he entered her again, her distress at him pulling out disappearing.  

Clark fucked up into her faster than he had all night, his fingers digging into his hips, and she started to cry again, pulling him closer to her, not wanting this to end. He tucked his face into the crook of her neck and licked her collarbone.  

“One more,” he ordered. Lois shook her head and tried to shove him off of her, worried that her body couldn’t even follow through, but Clark just held her tighter against him.  

“With me, please,” he begged, grabbing her by the back of the neck and pulling her in for a kiss.  

Clark somehow picked up his pace even more, fucking her so hard she could feel her bones reverberate inside her body, but somehow her body gave him what he needed.  

She felt herself clench around his cock and felt him come inside her, filling her up. Lois struggled to catch her breath as Clark moaned in pleasure underneath her, both of them clutching onto each other and unable to fully make their way back to clarity.  

Clark gently flipped them, rolling them onto their sides without pulling out of her, kissing her gently. Lois sighed into the kiss, relishing in the warmth and the afterglow.  

Until he frowned and looked over her shoulder.  

“The car to the airport will be here in twelve minutes,” he said quietly.  

Lois flinched. Back to reality already, she thought ruefully.  

She looked into Clark’s eyes and blinked at what she saw.  

Warmth, desire, vulnerability, and some other things that didn’t terrify her. For the first time, Clark Luthor reminded her of Clark Kent, outside their matching beautiful faces.  

Lois pulled away, gently pushing Clark off of her. He disengaged from her body, sitting up and looking her over. She braced herself, trying to psych herself to get out of bed and make herself presentable to the public, when Clark pushed two fingers inside her.  

She gasped and tried to squirm away from him, but he pushed her down to the bed by her chest with his other hand.  

“Why,” she whimpered.  

“I just want to stay inside you as long as I can,” he muttered, eyes cast down to where he was pressed inside of her.  

With a startled laugh, Lois understood he meant that he wanted to keep her marked with his come.  

“Clark, we need to get dressed,” she said gently, waiting for him to pull away from her. He nodded and stood up, pushing his come deeper inside of her one last time before he pulled out, leaning down to kiss her softly before walking back to his own room.  

If Lois reached for her underwear and put them straight on without cleaning up, that was nobodies business but her own.  

>>>  

Thank God it was a pitch black night , Lois thought. She had jumped when she had seen her reflection in the mirror, frantically clipping up the birds nest that was her hair and hastily dressing before meeting Clark by the front door.  

She silently seethed as they made their way down to the car. How did Clark manage to look so polished and unaffected after nearly two hours of uninterrupted sex while she looked like Laura Palmer wrapped in tarp?  

They didn’t exchange a word as they got into the new private jet, Clark silent as he sat next to Lois on the bench seat right at the back of the plane.  

The pilot poked his head out of the cockpit and announced that they would be touching down just before seven a.m. local Kansas time. Clark thanked him and advised that they would likely sleep the entire flight home, and to please leave them uninterrupted. The pilot smiled pleasantly and nodded, disappearing behind the closed door.  

As the wheels turned up, Lois remembered her promise earlier. She pulled out her phone and texted Ollie to let him know she was on her way home. He texted back with a smiley face emoticon and a be safe, love you text.  

Lois tucked the phone into her bag and didn’t miss the way Clark’s jaw was clenched, set with a tension she hadn’t seen from him in days. She leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes, letting the exhaustion of the last few hours seep into her bones and lull her to sleep.  

She doesn’t think she imagined the way Clark reached over to gently brush her hair out of her face as she fell asleep.  

>>>  

Lois made a beeline straight for the shower as soon as she got home, anxiously scrubbing her skin red raw. She did her best not to sob in the shower as she scratched at her skin, the heaviness of what she had done in the last twelve hours finally sinking in, weighing down her stomach.  

The tears finally fell as she stared at herself in the mirror, seeing the evidence of what she had done with Clark.  

Bruises littered her body, covering her hips, her thighs and her wrists. Her neck . She turned to see her back, seeing even more bruises lining her spine. Lois gasped when she realised they were all the exact shape of Clark’s fingerprints. She even had a handprint shaped bruise on her the right side of her ass, a deeper purple than the rest already.  

Lois dressed herself in a pair of Oliver’s loose sweatpants and old sweaters, keeping herself as covered as she could out of shame. Her heart nearly dropped to the floor when Ollie called her around lunch time, checking to make sure she got home okay. She smiled through the phone, telling him she missed him and that she couldn’t wait to see him.  

She spent the day working from home, working on a proposal for a new article. She couldn’t stand the idea of writing a story about Ultraman.  

On Clark .  

On the man she cheated on her husband with.  

She called her editor and pitched a story regarding a tip the Planet had received on the Metropolis Chief of Police being in communication with the Gotham Chief of Police and working together to ‘lose’ detainees.  

Lois made a choice that night before she went to bed; she took every file she had on Clark Luthor and Ultraman, every document she had been working on, sticking it on a flash drive and bundling it with the manila folder she had, locking it in her private safe hidden at the back of her shoe closet. The exposé on Ultraman was officially dead.  

She slept fitfully that night, resolving to forget that night in LA had ever happened; that she had ever let Clark Luthor touch her, and absolutely refusing to ever think about the fact that she had loved it. Needed it, even.  

That she craved him.  

Lois made her way into the office the next day with her head held high, wearing her blandest grey pantsuit, her hair tied up into a boring ponytail and her neck covered in concealer to hide the bruises Clark had left behind.  

She made her way to the weekly staff meeting, taking her usual seat around the table, chatting to Randall before Clark walked in.  

“Whip around, guys. What are you all working on,” he asked, sitting at the head of the table.  

Lois listened as people rattled off their current stories, bracing herself for her turn.  

“Pitched a new police corruption piece to Randall yesterday. We got a tip that Gotham Police are dumping suspects on the run in Metropolis, and vice versa,” she announced.  

Randall nodded next to her. “Word is someone higher up the chain was stonewalled when they tried to report it and they want to whistle blow.”  

Clark nodded, eyes boring into Lois’. She looked away, doodling on her notepad. Randall nodded to Callum next to him to continue the whip around, and Lois didn’t look up from her drawings until the meeting ended.  

She made her way back to her office, shutting the door and working on her outline for the story when her door swung open. Lois startled and looked up, blanching when she saw Clark there.  

She went back to typing, staring at her screen as Clark stepped inside, shutting the door behind him and sitting across from her.  

Lois felt her skin prickle as he watched her, staying silent. She wanted to throw him out of her office, or slap him, or kiss him. She wanted to get on her knees for him and beg him to fuck her.  

“What’s wrong with you?” he finally asked in a low voice.  

Lois shook her head. “Nothing. I’m working.”  

Clark sighed and she finally looked up, taking in his loose grey business shirt tucked into black slacks, looking more casual than she had ever seen him in the office before.  

“You scrapped your piece on me,” he stated.  

Lois looked back to her screen, resuming her typing.  

“How would I even go about proving you’re Ultraman,” she said flatly.  

“You’ve got testimonials from Daisy and Joseph. Josh confirmed I’m an elite member of Desaad’s. You have records of all the people we’ve paid off over the years. You have proof of all my illegitimate siblings. What else do you need?” Clark asked calmly.  

Lois flinched and looked at him.  

“How do you know that?”  

Clark smiled at her, and she hated herself for reacting to the predatory way he looked at her, as if she were a fly caught in his web, right where he wanted her.  

“Do you really think anybody talks about the Luthors without me knowing?”  

Lois scoffed and finally sat back in her chair, abandoning all pretense of working.  

“I’m confused. Do you want me to expose you as Ultraman?” she asked.  

Clark tilted his head, considering her.  

“I like the idea of you knowing everything about me and still wanting me,” he said plainly.  

The frankness of the confession caught her off guard. She could never have expected that that was what he wanted.  

“I don’t want you,” she muttered, looking down at her nails.  

Clark stood up and moved to her side of the desk, leaning down and cupping her jaw.  

“I can literally hear the way your heartbeat speeds up around me, Lois,” he said lowly, leaning down to kiss her.  

Lois couldn’t stop herself; she leaned in to meet his lips, parting her lips, her breath hitching as he kissed her passionately, biting at her lower lip. She came to her senses and pushed at his chest, flooding with relief as he stepped back and gave her space.  

“I thought we were passed lying,” he admonished Lois. The disappointment in his voice almost drove her to her knees to beg for his forgiveness.  

“What happens if I write the story?” Lois asked.  

Clark leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms and frowning at her.  

“About who I really am?”  

Lois nodded.  

“Probably nothing,” he said.  

Lois blinked. “What do you mean, nothing?”  

Clark shrugged. “We publish the story and I can call it a hoax by a disgruntled employee. We can pay off the cops and every lawyer that tries to touch me, killing the story. Or I can roam the streets and kill anybody that talks ill of Ultraman, silencing the whole city. That's just off the top of my head,” he posited.  

Lois narrowed her eyes at him.  

“I saw the financials. You haven’t paid off anyone in months,” she challenged. “It’s almost as if Ultraman turned over a new leaf.”  

Clark smiled ruefully, almost grimacing at her.  

“I got bored,” he said.  

Lois watched him carefully, sensing there was more.  

“I thought we agreed not to lie to each other,” she parroted to him.  

Clark clenched his jaw and pushed off the wall, moving to the door.  

“We’ll talk about this tonight,” he said, nodding down to her keyboard before he left, shutting the door behind him.  

She looked down to see a business card marked with beautiful penmanship, marked with The Metropolis Alexandria, #1708, 9pm.  

Lois tossed the business card into the trashcan under her desk.  

She wasn’t going anywhere with Clark Luthor ever again.  

>>>  

Lois stood in front of room 1708 at five minutes to seven, kicking herself for her complete lack of spine. She had even gone home and changed, brushing her hair out and wearing a flowy green knee length dress that she had worn to her birthday dinner with Chloe years ago.  

She raised her hand to knock, panicking and stepping back, starting back down the hall. She got all the way to the elevator before she stopped, turning back and heading to the room.  

Lois startled when she saw Clark leaning against the open door, looking at her like she was being ridiculous.  

“I’ve watched you stand there for nearly ten minutes. I got bored,” he said, smiling at her much too confidently for her liking. He moved aside, gesturing for her to head in.  

Lois looked around, surprised to see that the room looked lived in. Papers were scattered across a desk near the big bay window, backing onto a comfortable looking lounge. She looked over to the open plan kitchen where Clark was currently pouring two glasses of red wine. Behind him, there was a door that must have led to the bedroom.  

She perched on the couch, her back ramrod straight as she tried to justify her reasons for coming. Even knowing that she didn’t really have one; she just wanted to see him.  

Lois blinked as Clark stood before her, handing her a glass. She took it and swallowed a large gulp as he sat down next to her. Clark leaned closer to her, gently grabbing one of her wrists. She watched as he reverently stroked her arm, lightly touching the bruises that littered her arm.  

She took another sip of her wine and noticed the way his eyes caught at her neck, brushing her hair aside and caressing the marks he had left there.  

Lois felt her eyes close involuntarily, relaxing at the feel of his touch.  

“I’m sorry about these,” he said softly. “I tried to be gentle with you.”  

Lois’ eyes snapped open and she pulled away. “You should see the rest of the bruises,” she joked.  

Clark's eyes seemed to cloud over and she felt the energy shift from tentative sensuality to absolute hunger. He took her wine and put their glasses on the coffee table.  

“Show me,” he ordered, calm and low.  

Lois couldn’t resist him. She stood up, stepping between his spread legs, slowly raising her dress. Clark's hands went straight for her thighs, running over her skin, studying the bruises he had left there two nights ago.  

She pulled the dress up over her hips, her breath hitching as his hands roamed up to her waist. Clark reached up, pulling the dress up over her body, yanking it roughly over her head. Lois resisted the urge to cover up her body, feeling awkward standing before him in her underwear, not completely ready to give herself to him again.  

Clark made a hungry noise as he sat forward, pulling her against him and mouthing at her hip. She sighed, reaching out to bury her hands in his hair, moaning quietly as he kissed each bruise, working his way across her stomach.  

Lois pushed him back against the couch, climbing into his lap and reaching down to unzip his pants, working as fast as she could to pull out his cock, already so thick and hard for her. Clark reached up to unhook her bra in a practised motion, pulling it off her arms and cupping her breasts before biting at them.  

“No more bruises,” Lois said, pushing him off of her. He rested his head against the couch, letting her take his wrists and hold them down by his head. Clark relaxed his body, letting her hold him down, watching as she pulled her underwear to the side and slowly sank down on his cock.  

Lois felt immediate pleasure and peace the moment he entered her, sighing at how well he filled her up. She began moving her hips, riding him, using him to get herself off. Clark shook her hands off his wrists and put his hands behind his head, locking his hands and looking relaxed and unbothered, as if he wasn’t buried deep inside Lois Lane.  

She pulled at his shirt, ripping at the buttons and running her hands over his chest. Clark watched her through hooded eyes, making soft noises with every bounce of her hips.  

“We can’t do this again,” Lois moaned and she ground against him.  

Clark laughed in her face, smiling smugly at her.  

“Okay.”  

“I mean it,” Lois said through a moan. “I love my husband, I can’t do this again.”  

Clark hummed, watching her hips move against him. He moved beneath her, snapping his hips up to meet hers. The feeling immediately pushed her over the edge and she reached up to grab his shoulders, riding out her orgasm, finally leaning in to kiss him. Her kiss did the trick, and she felt him come with her, coming inside her as she kept riding him, moaning into her mouth and breathing her name.  

He finally moved his hands, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close to him. Lois tried to push him away, but this time, he didn’t let her.  

“Stay,” he said.  

Lois shook her head, already panicking over what she had done. She had become all too familiar with the feeling of guilt that had begun to live with her permanently over the last few weeks, settling into her stomach and leaving her with a constant sick feeling.  

She moved off of him, standing up and shoving him away from her. Lois reached for her dress, shaking her head and doing her best to stave off another freak out.  

“Lois,” Clark chided, standing up and following her through the lounge, not bothering to tuck himself in or make himself look presentable.  

Lois held up her hand to silence him, feeling the uncomfortable wetness of Clark’s come pooling in her underwear as she moved to the door.  

“I’m done,” she said. “I’m done with the Ultraman story, I’m done with investigating the Luthors, and I'm done with you,” Lois said rudely.  

Clark flinched at her words, stopping in his tracks and letting her back away to the door.  

Lois diverted her eyes, trying not to take a last look at him before she ran out, taking the elevator to the basement and driving home in a rush.  

She followed her now familiar routine of running straight into the shower and scrubbing every inch of her skin raw, stifling her cries under the boiling hot water and praying the bruises covering her body would fade before Ollie came home next week.  

>>>  

Lois breathed a sigh of relief in the weekly meeting when Randall sat in the head chair, conducting the whip around and getting everybody’s updates. She hadn’t seen Clark since that night at his hotel; he hadn’t been by the Planet, and the rumour mill was swirling that he was stepping back from the Planet to focus on another division within Luthorcorp.  

She had no right to be devastated at the fact that he was avoiding her. Lois was married . She loved Oliver, she really did.  

Her feelings for Clark were a passing infatuation, she decided. A sick fixation due to her fascination with the dichotomy he presented; a violent murderer who had protected her and openly desired her. Lois knew enough about Stockholm Syndrome to understand that these feelings weren’t real, and that her insecurity around Ollie and his emotional affair – at the very least – with Chloe had gotten the best of her.  

The bruises had faded, completely invisible in low lighting. Perfect timing for Ollie’s return tomorrow, for which Lois was so grateful for. With Ollie back home, they could settle into their usual routine, and she could forget all about Clark Luthor.  

Lois came home on Thursday evening to find him already home. She was overjoyed to see him, jumping into his arms and laughing as she tackled him to the floor.  

“Green Arrow’s really lost his touch,” she joked, trying to keep him pinned down.  

Oliver flipped them until he was above her, kissing her through a laugh on their lounge room floor.  

“I missed you, Lo.”  

Lois smiled at him, genuine and bright.  

“I missed you too, Ollie.”  

Lois felt a sense of ease again, being side by side with Oliver. They spent the next week reconnecting, enjoying each other’s company, watching movies every night, doing yoga and playing board games. He slept curled around her tightly every night, his naked body pressed against her bare back and his nose tucked behind her ear.  

She almost forgot everything she had done with Clark.  

It wasn’t until she came home two weeks later and saw an invitation to a gala for the weekend stuck on the fridge.  

“What’s this?” she asked, pointing at the invite.  

“Excelsior is having some fundraising thing. It's black tie, so wear something sexy,” Oliver winked at her.  

Lois smiled and excused herself to the bathroom, giving herself exactly two minutes to hyperventilate and panic before she pulled herself together.  

Clark would be there, she knew. He never missed a social occasion. She had first met him at a gala, years ago when she and Oliver had just started dating. Lois specifically remembers Clark coming up behind them and clapping Ollie on the back so hard his knees buckled, looking Lois up and down like she was a piece of meat he wanted to chew on.  

And now he had , she thought, disgusted with herself.  

She remembers how she had felt at the time, too. Instantly attracted to the dark haired, green eyed man with the beautiful smile who stood half a foot taller than her even in her highest heels, fascinated by the way people were either drawn to him or terrified of him. Lois remembers not being able to pick which way she had felt about him.  

It wasn’t until the drive home where Ollie explained what a bully and a monster Clark was, alluding to some distressing incidents at school that she wouldn’t get the details of until years later, after they were married.  

Oliver had explicitly told her to stay away from Clark, even begging her to quit the Planet once Luthorcorp had bought it. She found out months later that Oliver had approached Lionel Luthor and offered him double what he paid for it, and Lionel had laughed and refused.  

The next two days were hell; she was buzzing with the anticipation of seeing Clark again. She was nervous that he would expose their affair to Oliver, or that he would be too obvious in making her uncomfortable that she would give herself away.  

Lois was mostly worried that she wouldn’t be able to stay away from him.  

>>>  

“What a beautiful dress,” one of Oliver’s old teachers whose name she couldn’t remember complimented her. Lois smiled and thanked her. She had chosen the mossy silk green gown because she thought it went well with her hazel eyes, making her features stand out.  

She adamantly refused to think of how it was an exact match to Clark’s eyes.  

The lights dimmed, and Oliver turned to her.  

“I can’t believe we have to watch these kids sing and dance,” he muttered lowly.  

“Did you have to do this as a kid?” Lois asked gleefully.  

She could tell by the look on his face that he did.  

“Oh my god, please, tell me, what was your act?” Lois asked.  

Ollie squared his shoulders and looked her right in the eye.  

“I was in the choir,” he said with false pride.  

Lois laughed quietly, trying to imagine little Ollie in a fancy outfit singing choir.  

“Did you have a solo or were you just background?”  

“I had a solo, I'll have you know,” he said, leading them to their table. “We sang Do Re Mi, and my shining moment was ‘fah’.”  

Lois laughed as he pulled her chair out for her.  

“My superstar,” she praised.  

Her skin prickled as she felt eyes on her – Clark's eyes on her. Lois hated that she could feel his gaze on her specifically. She shouldn’t be able to simply sense him in the room without seeing him, and she refused to scan the room and try to look for him.  

“I’m going to get us a top up before the mania starts,” Ollie said, heading up to the bar.  

Lois heard the chair next to her pull out and turned to greet her seatmate, when she froze.  

“Lane,” Clark said, looking her over appreciatively.  

“Mr Luthor,” she greeted politely. Lois' eye twitched as a beautiful brunette whose day job was definitely modelling sat on the other side of Clark.  

“Hi, I’m Jessie,” she introduced.  

“Lois,” she tried to smile back. Jessie complimented her dress, remarking that she and Clark looked like they had colour coordinated. Lois finally looked at him, noticing the mossy green dress shirt he had on under his black suit.  

“People with green eyes only have one move,” Lois lamented, trying to laugh it off.  

She panicked slightly when she felt Oliver sit down, watching the way Clark’s eyes went from playful to dangerous.  

“Queen,” Clark greeted, not moving to extend his hand.  

“Clark,” Oliver nodded, sitting down and moving his chair just a little closer to Lois. Jessie seemed oblivious to the tension and began asking Lois about how she did her hair, complaining that her own hair was too thin to hold a blowout.  

Lois had to admit that Jessie seemed nice, doing her utmost to tamp down any jealousy she felt over Clark being with another woman right in front of her, an emotion she had no right to feel when she was sitting with her husband.  

They went silent as the recitals started, Lois leaning back in her chair and exchanging a pained look with Oliver as the kids sang off key and danced out of time. They finished their first three courses while the kids performed their show, Lois doing her best to forget Clark was right next to her, close enough to touch.  

She did a great job, zoning out so effectively that she startled when the lights came on and everyone loudly applauded.  

Oliver stood up as people began milling around, leaning in to whisper to Lois.  

“I’m going to talk to Anthony Gibbons,” he said. Lois nodded and rolled her eyes.  

“And I will stay far, far away,” she said. Mr Gibbons hadn’t been too fond of her since she’d published an investigation four years ago exposing his company for stealing from their charity division.  

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jessie also get up and leave. Lois sighed, wondering how long it would take for –  

“Do you know how hard it is to keep my hands to myself when you look like this?” Clark murmured lowly next to her. Lois swallowed the last of her drink before she turned to him.  

“Do you know how pathetic you sound?” Lois shot back.  

Clark smiled widely at her, his dimples popping out for her.  

“I’ve missed you, Lane,” Clark said. “How long did those bruises last?” he taunted.  

“Too long,” Lois dismissed, still refusing to look at him.  

Clark leaned forward, into her space, and she couldn’t help but see him clearly in her peripheral.  

“For the last hour, all I could think about was how badly I wanted to throw you down on the table and fuck you in front of your husband,” Clark whispered.  

Lois took a deep breath at the visual he presented her, trying to convince herself that it was disgusting and awful, and not sexy and dangerous and something she, too, wanted.  

“Jessie’s right there. I'm sure some of these old folks would love a real show,” Lois smiled.  

Clark rested his hand on her thigh, under the tablecloth and away from prying eyes. Lois told herself that to jerk away might cause people to notice them, but she knew she was just soaking up the warmth of his touch after nearly three weeks of not having felt him.  

“Did you pick this dress for me?” he asked.  

Lois finally turned her head, looking him in the eye. He smiled at the acknowledgement, correctly reading her answer.  

“I’m going to powder my nose,” Lois said, grabbing her bag and marching straight out of the function room, going right the hallway to where she was sure the bathrooms were.  

She took a left turn and realised she had fucked up – every door and corridor she went down looked the same, and there were no signs. Lois looked around aimlessly, wondering what would come first: her finding her way back to the function room, or someone discovering her mummified body.  

Lois looked around, gasping in shock when she turned and smacked into someone that wasn’t there a millisecond ago.  

“Are you lost?” Clark asked.  

“A little,” she admitted.  

Clark took her hand and pulled her into a small bathroom down the hall, shutting the door and not locking it behind him. Lois blinked nervously, and backed away from him.  

She shook her head at him, trying to convince herself as much as him that she didn’t want this.  

Clark walked to her calmly, gently placing his hands no her waist.  

“My husband is three rooms away,” Lois pleaded.  

Clark began gathering the silk up around her hips, slowly pulling it up her legs, staring her right in the eyes,  

“Tell me to stop and I'll walk away right now,” Clark challenged.  

Lois didn’t even think about it. She leaned up to kiss him, pulling him down to her by his tie, moaning softly into his mouth. Three weeks without him had felt like a lifetime , and she realised, with a shattering feeling in her heart, that she needed him.  

Clark’s grip on her hips tightened as he turned her around, pushing her hips against the bathroom countertop and making eye contact with her through the mirror opposite them. Lois watched as he hiked her dress up over her waist, exposing her matching green underwear, reaching down to unzip his pants and tug at his cock quicky.  

She gasped when he pushed her down over the counter and pulled her hips to him, thrusting inside her so quickly and roughly she had to slap her hands over her mouth to stop a filthy moan from escaping.  

He fucked her quickly, holding her dress out of the way and keeping his hands off her, getting them both to climax together within three minutes. Lois whimpered as Clark grunted lowly, riding out their orgasms and coming down together. He pulled out slowly, and Lois whimpered at the loss, her body suddenly feeling cold and empty.  

Clark quickly cleaned himself up, handing Lois a hand towel from the stack at the sink and watching her do the same. They didn’t say a word as they made themselves look presentable again, Lois panicking as her lips were clearly red and swollen, the nape of her neck just a little sweaty.  

“Right, left, left,” Clark instructed, moving to the door and taking one last look at her before he left.  

Lois leaned back against the counter, trying to catch her breath.  

So much for being done with Clark Luthor, she chastised herself.  

Lois gave herself five more minutes before she followed Clark’s directions and ended up standing in front of the function room, trying to brace herself to go back in.  

“Hey! Where did you run off to?” Oliver asked, coming up behind her and slipping his phone into his pocket.  

“I got lost looking for a bathroom,” she said, not lying.  

“Wanna go? I cut a cheque already,” Ollie said. Lois nodded, letting him drape his blazer over her shoulders and offering his arm, leading them out to the car.  

Lois made sure to shower thoroughly before getting into bed with Ollie, hoping and praying that he would never know she had been with another man while he was only feet away. Another man that Oliver hated more than anybody else.  

She feigned sleep soon after she got into bed, ignoring Ollie as he tried kissing down her shoulder in an attempt to initiate sex. He gave up quickly, turning over and falling asleep within minutes.  

Lois lay awake for hours, thinking about the way Clark tasted, the way he was so careful not to touch her tonight, leaving no bruises. She finally fell asleep when the dawn light filtered through the gaps in the curtains, dreaming about clear green eyes, a venomous smile, and a horrified Oliver watching her, broken, as Clark Luthor held her down and fucked her in front of him, claiming her as his own.  

>>>  

Lois thankfully spent the next two weeks working on her investigation into the police scandal, grateful that her story was shaping up to be incredibly juicy – enough to get them both fired. She kept herself either locked in her office at the Planet or her home office, sorting through not-quite-legally obtained arrest records to find a pattern.  

She was so locked in that she didn’t even notice Clark standing in front of her desk.  

Lois startled and threw her pen at him when she realised he was there reflexively, trying to catch her breath.  

“What are you doing here?” she asked.  

Clark looked at her intently and Lois felt herself squirm under his gaze.  

“I’ve missed you,” he said.  

Lois shook her head and looked back at her work.  

“I’m not doing this,” she said lowly.  

Clark rounded the desk and Lois’ eyes flicked to the door of her office, cringing when she saw he had left it ajar. He spun her chair towards him and got on his knees in front of her, parting her legs.  

“I’ve spent the last two months craving peaches,” Clark muttered as he gently caressed her thighs, moving her skirt up her hips.  

Lois felt ashamed as she shuffled down her chair and lifted her hips, making it easier for Clark to pull her underwear down her legs and bury his face against her mound, immediately licking and sucking at her clit as if he were trying to devour her.  

As if he were eating a peach , she thought, doing her best to hold in her moans at the feeling. Lois reached down to grab at his hair, pulling him even closer to her and lightly grinding against his face. She heard the elevator on her floor ding and tensed with concern that someone would barge into her office and see them; they were completely out in the open, no room for interpretation.  

Clark pulled back slightly, gently kissing her inner thigh and looking up at her. Lois nearly came at the sight of him; his lips were red and wet from her arousal, his eyes cloudy and glassy. She had pulled his hair out of its slicked back style and it was fluffy and messy and sexy.  

He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.  

Lois jumped when her cellphone rang, the special ringtone she had for Ollie reverberating around the room. Clark looked over at the caller ID and reached over, answering it for her and holding it to her ear.  

“Hi,” she answered, keeping her breath steady and even.  

“Hey baby,” Ollie answered, asking how her day was.  

Lois felt like her entire body was on fire; her office door was open, leaving her vulnerable to getting caught cheating on her husband. Who was on the phone with her. While her boss performed cunnilingus on her. At work .  

She felt faint, overwhelmed and more aroused than she had ever been in her life. The thrill of getting caught was never something she had wanted before, but the danger coursing her through veins right now was working as well as Clark’s mouth in getting her off.  

“I was talking to Geoffrey today, he has a contact inside Gotham Police Department that is willing to talk to you about your investigation,” Ollie said.  

Lois closed her eyes and tried not to pant, feeling her orgasm building in the pit of her stomach.  

“That’s amazing, Ollie, thank you.” Lois felt sick at the idea of saying her husband’s name while another man’s tongue was inside of her.  

“Yeah, well, anything to take down the bad guys,” Oliver said. Lois hummed, partly in agreement, and partly because Clark felt so good she needed to do something that wasn’t screaming.  

“Listen, I won’t be home for dinner, something’s come up,” Oliver said. Lois could barely process his words because Clark had slid two fingers inside of her, and the feeling of almost being full sent her over the edge.  

“That’s okay,” she breathed as her orgasm crept up on her, sinking lower into her chair and pulling at Clark’s hair so hard her fingers began to hurt. Clark looked up at her, his lips still working her clit, and she felt it hit her like a train.  

“I have to go, someone’s in my office,” Lois rushed out, snapping her phone shut and tossing it onto her desk. She panted as Clark kept at her, his fingers pressing even deeper inside her and making her leg kick out.  

He eased up and let her body calm down, kissing his way down her thigh as he pulled her skirt back down, standing up and looking at her in a way she hadn’t seen before. It made her stomach pull tight, and she had the urge to reach out and kiss him.  

Lois startled as she realised he was tucking her underwear into his pants pocket, opening her mouth to protest.  

Clark smiled at her lecherously. “These are mine now,” he said, turning on his heel and walking out of her office.  

Lois blinked, trying to come back to herself. How did she let that happen, she berated herself. On the phone with her husband , no less. Lois felt the tears sting at her eyes and began packing up, throwing her laptop and paperwork into her messenger back.  

“Jeff, I'm offline meeting a source for the rest of the day,” Lois barked into her phone, hanging up before he could say anything back to her. She hightailed it out of the building and jumped into a cab, going straight to Queen Industries.  

She had no idea what she was doing, or what she was going to say when she saw Oliver. Lois just knew that she needed to see him, the guilt of what had been happening weighing so heavily on her that she felt like she was in a constant state of fight or flight.  

Lois took the private entrance Oliver used when he wanted to come and go undetected, slipping through the small back corridor between the penthouse bathroom and his office.  

She flung the door open and froze.  

Oliver wasn’t there.  

Lois walked straight back out, hailing a cab and heading home. She ruefully considered how normal this had become; running home after secret sex with Clark to scrub herself raw, crying and praying that Oliver would never know what had happened between them.  

She ran herself a bath, boiling hot and extra soapy, and tried to wash away her sins.  

It didn’t work.  

>>>  

Lois knocked on the door, listening for any sounds inside, disappointed when she heard nothing. She hadn’t called ahead, not wanting to make this more than it was. She knocked again, blowing out a sigh of relief and disappointment when nobody came to the door.  

She gave up, walking down the hall to the elevator and blinking in surprise when it opened before she got there. Lois felt her heart speed up at the sight of Clark stepping out, her resolve shattering when she saw the way his face lit up when he saw her. His eyes sparkled and he smiled, his dimples popping out and the lines around his eyes crinkling.  

“Lois,” he greeted, taking her hand and pulling her down the hallway back to his room.  

She said nothing, trying not to feel despair at the conversation she was about to initiate. Lois had tried to convince herself that this – affair – they were having was just sex and satiating a need for danger on her part, but whatever was left of her resolve crumbled completely as she finally accepted the truth.  

Lois had feelings for Clark.  

Something much more than attraction and desire.  

Clark opened the door to his room, ushering her through and throwing his briefcase and coat down on the arm of the couch. He took a step towards her but she stepped back, causing him to stop.  

“I can’t do this anymore, Clark,” Lois said quietly. She watched the way his eyes clouded over with emotion before he blinked it away, putting on a smug smile.  

“Can’t do what?” he challenged.  

She gestured loosely between the two of them.  

“I can’t do this ,” she said. “I can’t be around you anymore.”  

Clark smiled disbelievingly at her, tilting his head.  

“Why not?” he asked.  

Lois tried to find the right words; she hadn’t anticipated this conversation being as hard as it was.  

“What I feel for you – it's not sustainable,” she said. Clark said nothing, waiting for her to go on.  

“This is over,” Lois said, her eye twitching at the way her voice cracked.  

“No,” Clark said, glaring down patronisingly at her.  

Lois blinked. “No?”  

“No, this isn’t over,” he said calmly.  

Lois shook her head as he began unbuttoning his shirt and kicking off his shoes. She couldn’t look away as he stripped his shirt off and unzipped his pants.  

“Come to bed,” he ordered, shucking off his pants. Lois shook her head and stood up, making her way to the door.  

Leave, she begged herself. Walk out and don’t look back , she told herself. Lois made it to the door, putting her hand on the handle to leave, when she fucked up and looked back at Clark.  

There was something about the way he was staring at her; he looked so vulnerable, stress and sadness clouding his eyes. It was enough to make her falter.  

She moved away from the door and Clark’s face cleared with relief. He turned away from her and walked straight into the bedroom.  

Lois followed.  

He closed the door behind them, moving to stand before her slowly. Clark undressed her reverently, his fingers feather light against her skin. Lois hated that being in his arms felt like being home.  

Clark laid her down on his bed, climbing over her and lowering himself above her. Lois held her breath as he smiled at her, so softly and sweetly, before he pressed against her and kissed her.  

Lois moaned against him; he was so warm, and being in his arms felt safe . She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him as close to her as possible. Clark reached down to move her leg, resting in the cradle of her hips and lining his cock up with her entrance, pressing inside her slowly.  

She gasped, breaking the kiss to breathe as Clark kissed across her jawline, moving down to her neck. Lois cried out as his hips pressed flush against hers, revelling in how thick and how deep he felt.  

“Clark, I’m –”  

Clark cut her off with a kiss, swallowing her words. He pulled his hips back and thrust back inside her slowly, fucking her gently and deliberately. Clark whimpered in her ear and Lois returned the noise, gasping at the pleasure he was giving her.  

She closed her eyes as his hands caressed her, running over her body reverently, and she was pulled out of the moment by the realisation that tonight, they felt different – he felt different.  

This wasn’t just sex.  

Clark was making love to her.  

Lois pulled his mouth back to her, kissing him as passionately and as deeply as she could. He moaned and matched her energy, ever so slightly picking up his pace, thrusting just a little harder.  

She didn’t realise a tear had slipped down her cheek until Clark wiped it away, burying his face in her neck and panting into her ear.  

“I love you,” she heard him say, so quietly she could easily convince herself she never heard it.  

Lois held on to him tighter, moving her hips against his. Clark got the message and sped up his thrusts, still touching her so gently and lovingly as he brought her over the edge. He raised himself up on his forearms above her to watch her intently; he was so focused on her face that if she wasn’t so lost in the haze of her orgasm, she would have felt nervous and uncomfortable.  

Clark came with her, grinding his hips against hers as he climaxed inside of her, eyes locked on hers. Lois relaxed beneath him as her body calmed down, savouring the feeling of being warmed by him, inside and out, and feeling so full , literally and metaphorically.  

The last time , she told herself.  

No matter how she felt, Clark was a ruthless, dangerous man, and Lois was married . She couldn't leave her husband for a murderer.  

Lois let herself bask underneath Clark, holding him close, not ready to let him go yet. He held onto her just as tightly, making no move to pull away from her. They stayed like that for ages before the anxiety took over, making her edgy.  

She shifted and Clark moved, rolling off of her. Lois sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, reaching down for her clothes and haphazardly pulling them on.  

“Lois,” Clark said from behind her, his voice soft and pleading.  

She straightened her shirt, trying to clear her face of any emotion and turned to face him.  

“Goodbye, Clark,” she said, proud of herself for not letting her voice waiver or crack.  

Every step away from him felt like a piece of herself was being ripped apart, as if pieces of her heart were shattering and being left behind like breadcrumbs. He let her go, not calling out to her or trying to stop her.  

Lois held it together until she was in the elevator, making it all the way passed level 12 before she let the tears flow.  

>>>  

“I need to talk to you about something,” Lois said, turning off the television and making Oliver look at her.  

He raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening in fear.  

“Lois, I –”  

“I’m going to quit working at the Planet,” she rushed out.  

Oliver blinked rapidly in shock, turning to face her properly.  

“Because of Clark?” he asked.  

Lois recoiled like she had been slapped.  

“When did you know?” she asked quietly.  

Oliver sighed. “After Latvia. Between the bruises, the bite mark on your ass and the way you flinched every time I touched you, I figured something had happened.”  

Lois’ eyes filled with tears.  

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.  

“Is it just sex?” Ollie asked, his voice dripping with venom. “Or do you love him?”  

Lois immediately went on the defensive.  

“Do you love Chloe?” she shot back.  

Oliver looked away from her in shame.  

“How did this happen,” he lamented. “We were supposed to be better than this.”  

Lois let the tears fall.  

“I don’t know,” she said. “I tried.”  

Oliver nodded. “I know you did. I should have tried harder.”  

He reached out and took her hand, and she held on tightly.  

“What do we do?” Lois asked.  

Oliver leaned over to kiss her; a gentle, comforting kiss, an apology.  

“Maybe – maybe we do what we want,” Oliver said quietly. “Maybe we let ourselves be happy.”  

They didn’t speak for the rest of the night. Oliver had pulled her off the couch and led her to bed, brushing the hair back from her face and just looking at her. Lois wrapped herself around him in bed that night, feeling safe in his strong arms, listening to his heart beat steadily in his chest.  

For the last time.  

>>>  

>>>  

>>>  

Randall tapped his pen against his desk, holding her final draft. Lois tensed as she waited for feedback.  

“This is a hell of a piece, Lane,” he said.  

Lois smiled, relaxing into her chair.  

“It wrote itself,” she said, nodding to her draft.  

“I thought your last piece on the Gotham Police was a doozy, but this,” Randall shook his head. “How did you even find out about this?”  

Lois checked to make sure his door was closed before she leaned in and whispered.  

“A friend of mine from school secured a position at the Pentagon. They quite literally overheard the conversation between the President and the head of security,” she explained.  

"It’s Pulitzer worthy,” Randall smiled at her.  

“It better be. Four months of my life I’m never getting back,” she muttered.  

Randall’s desk phone rang and he answered, agreeing to be somewhere in five.  

“Let’s go, Lane. Boss wants to see us,” he said, pointing her to the door.  

They chatted as they made their way up to the 15th floor from Randall’s office on 12th, excitedly knowing the importance of the story they were about to break. Lois refused to think about the fact that she would finally be face to face with Clark for the first time in nearly five months, since she had walked away from him the night they had made love.  

Clark's assistant waved them straight in. Lois squared her shoulders and sat across from Clark, pointedly not looking at him. Randall sat next to her and she looked at him instead, needing something to focus on.  

“Hell of a story, Lane,” Clark said.  

Lois' eyes finally snapped to his and she felt her heart skip a beat, locking eyes with him.  

He was even more handsome that she remembered. His hair was longer, curling around his temples and the nape of his neck. His eyes were clear and bright, looking at her reservedly. His mouth, his perfect mouth, was curled into a soft smile.  

“Pulitzer worthy,” Randall agreed.  

“We’re doubling the printing,” Clark said, holding Lois’ eye. “Keep yourself available for the morning show circuit, this is going to be a big international story.”  

Lois nodded, smiling. She caught the way Clark’s eyes moved down to her hands, and she resisted the urge to twist the wedding ring that no longer lived on her ring finger.  

“Brady, get this down to layout,” Clark ordered. Randall nodded, standing and leaving the office, flashing a wink at Lois on his way out.  

Lois sat frozen, unsure of whether to stay or go. Clark had avoided the Planet, promoting Perry White as acting editor and apparently had been spending his time between Star City and Dodge City, working on other Luthorcorp ventures with his father.  

She cleared her throat and moved to leave, freezing when Clark reached out to grab her wrist.  

“Wait,” he asked, and she guiltily thought back to that night in his room where he asked her not to leave. She sat back down gingerly, waiting.  

Clark let go of her wrist and grimaced in apology.  

“I was sorry to hear about your divorce,” he said, and Lois was surprised to see that he looked sincere.  

“Thank you,” she said quietly, looking down at her hands.  

The silence between them was tense; there was so much she wanted to say, and it seemed like Clark was struggling to find his words. As if they were both waiting for the other to break.  

“Lois, can I – I’d like to show you something,” he said.  

Lois looked up at him, confused. “What?” she asked.  

Clark looked uncomfortable. “I’d have to take you there,” he said.  

Lois wanted more than anything to run off with him, but she needed to follow her head, and not her heart.  

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said.  

Clark nodded, slumping in his chair. Lois stood and walked out of his office, pausing by the door.  

“I think I loved you too,” she said, rushing out of his office and not stopping until she was safely back in her office, locking the door behind her.  

>>>  

The following two weeks was a whirlwind. Clark was right – her story had swept the nation, the world, and she was fielding interview requests left and right from publications as prestigious as the Planet. The fucking United Nations had reached out to her to discuss her investigation.  

Chloe had reached out to congratulate her on her story and Lois had actually emailed her back, thanking her. They hadn’t had any contact since Lois and Oliver had split, and a member of Oliver’s staff had leaked to the press that he had been sleeping with Chloe for at least the last two years of their marriage.  

Lois did her best to revel in the way her story had been received, thrilled at the way her investigation had shaken up the White House and the Pentagon, holding them accountable for the dangerous errors of the President and the recklessness of the government, but something was missing.  

She knew what it was; now that she had said it out loud, it was impossible to ignore.  

Lois hadn’t stopped dreaming of Clark over the last five months – in fact, the dreams had just gotten worse, more intense, more desperate. She would wake up in a cold sweat almost every night, arousal soaking through her underwear, unable to keep her hands off herself, pretending they were Clark’s.  

So when she found herself standing outside of his hotel room at 3am on a Tuesday morning, she congratulated herself for the self restraint she had shown in staying away from him until now.  

She knocked on the door loudly, praying that it was still Clark that lived here, and not some random businessman who would yell at her for disrupting his sleep.  

Her prayers were answered; Clark answered the door in his boxer briefs, confusion in his eyes before he registered her standing there.  

“What’s wrong?” he asked, and Lois melted.  

“I need you,” she said, looking up at him earnestly.  

His face hardened and Lois felt her stomach drop, but Clark stepped back, nodding for her to come inside. Lois walked straight in, throwing off her jacket and kicking off her shoes. She heard Clark huff out a laugh at her pyjamas: an old Def Leppard t shirt with only one sleeve still attached and ratty sleep shorts covered in tiny donuts.  

“You need me,” Clark repeated, crossing his arms and looking at her. Lois flicked her eyes over his ridiculously broad shoulders and huge arms, before meeting his eyes.  

“I’m in love with you,” she confirmed. “It makes me nervous, and it makes me unsure of myself. You scare me,” Lois said.  

Clark nodded and looked down. “I know.”  

“I don’t know how to do this,” Lois admitted.  

Clark met her eyes again. “Which part?”  

“All of it. The Ultraman of it all. The Clark Luthor of it all. My job. You as my boss. What people will say,” she rattled off.  

“Ultraman is dead. Clark Luthor is trying to be a better man. Your job is safe. Lionel has been shopping around the Planet because he wants to move more into the pharmaceutical business. Fuck what people say,” Clark threw back at her.  

“A better man,” Lois parroted, looking at him hopefully.  

“How much do you know about me?” Clark asked.  

Lois thought back to her abandoned investigation into Clark.  

“Adopted by Lionel Luthor when you were two years old; brother to Lex and Julian, both dead. Attended Excelsior Academy before graduating from Princeton University with a degree in business. Began murdering people as early as fifteen, if the financial records I have are correct,” Lois said.  

Clark nodded. “You’re missing a lot,” he said.  

Lois arched an eyebrow, waiting.  

“I’m not from here,” he said slowly. “The mirror box, it’s technology from where I'm from. It doesn’t exist here on Earth.”  

Lois blinked. “Where are you from?”  

Clark looked out the window, up to the sky. “It’s called Krypton. It doesn’t exist anymore. I landed in Smallville in the meteor shower in 89.”  

Lois huffed out a laugh. “So you’re, um, an alien?”  

Clark nodded. “Lionel raised me to believe my purpose was to rule. And with the way I was raised, I believed him. I believed in chaos and fear. But I don’t anymore.”  

“Why?” she asked.  

Clark looked down at his feet. “Because of you,” he said quietly.  

“Me?”  

“The other you. In the other reality.”  

Lois blinked in shock.  

“I met your counterpart, too,” she reminded him.  

Clark’s eyes snapped up to hers. She could tell he had questions, but he powered through.  

“She was tough, like you. We were together, in that world,” he said. Lois nodded; that much she knew. It had haunted her before she had fallen for her Clark.  

“I tried to kill her, but she knew about what the meteor rock did to me and fought me. She looked me right in my eyes and told me she would gut me if it meant bringing her Clark home,” he smiled. “She was so much like you.”  

Lois huffed. “Bossy and rude?”  

“Tough and ferocious. Willing to do anything for the people she loves.”  

Lois smiled ruefully.  

“When I met Clark Kent,” she shared, “he kidnapped me and held me for ransom. He said he would do anything to get back to his Lois. That he couldn’t live in a world where I didn’t love him.”  

Clark swayed towards her before he caught himself, staying rooted where he was.  

“I know how he feels.”  

Lois closed the distance between them, reaching out and placing her hand over his heart.  

“I don’t want to stay away from you anymore,” she admitted.  

“Are you sure?” he asked.  

Lois nodded. She reached for his hand and pulled him with her to his bedroom. When they were inside, she shut the door behind them and stripped, watching Clark watch her. She stepped towards him and hooked her fingers into his boxer briefs, pulling them down.  

“I’m sure,” she said, pressing herself against his body.  

She sighed in relief as he wrapped his hands around her waist, bending down to kiss her.  

It felt like coming home; like the last few months without him was a nightmare that she was finally waking up from. With his arms wrapped around her, everything felt right for the first time in her life.  

Clark covered every inch of her, holding her tightly, never letting her go. He kissed her as he made love to her, worshipping her for hours, the dawn light filtering through the curtains while he was still inside of her.  

“What did you want to show me?” she asked, hours later after they had showered and ordered room service for breakfast.  

Clark looked confused for a moment before he lit up, looking hopeful.  

“There’s a place up north I've been spending a lot of time at. It's connected to my home. I'd like to show you,” he said.  

Lois smiled at him and nodded. “I’m in.”  

Clark smiled brightly at her, leaning to give her a soft kiss.  

“Are we doing this?” he asked. “Properly, I mean?”  

Lois nodded. “Yeah, I think we are.”  

Clark’s eyes were so light, it inspired a lightness in Lois.  

“Call it a redo,” she said.