Different

A/N: In this next chapter, after returning to Metropolis, Clark and Lois realize that in spite of what they had hoped, everything would be different now. Please read and review. Thanks, everyone!! Read on!



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Chapter 9: Utterly Blinding



Previously:



They really should get back to their lives in Metropolis. “Are you ready to go now?” He asked loving having her in his arms like this. She nodded ready to head back home where they could finally talk about everything. “Put your arms around my neck. That’s it. Now hold on!” Clark said and lifted up into the sky. He'd never done this before, but he got the hang of things pretty quickly, surprising himself.



“My bag!” Lois said pointing to it on the bed, but he grabbed it for her. She put the bag over her shoulder, grabbed hold of him around the neck and held on tight. She gazed at his profile and the "S" on his chest wondering about a new name for him. What should it be? It had to be something amazing, something brilliant, something unforgettable, something superb, no something … ‘super’! And then she smiled.



~o~o~



Back to the real world:



After dropping Lois off at her apartment so she could change, Clark took off saying he had a few things to do. He told her they would talk, he promised, in a few hours on top of the Daily Planet rooftop. He kissed her quick and then he was gone back into the sky.



Lois frowned as she watched him fly away, a part of her understanding that Clark had two jobs and he would be going about saving the world and writing about it at the same time. Speaking of which, she had a job to do herself, and it wasn’t going to get done lollygagging around here. She showered and changed and went to the Planet. Chloe had called her earlier and was at the DP waiting for her when she arrived. She led her to a vacant office after a brief hello, where they could talk privately.



“You know don’t you?” Chloe asked getting to the point.



Lois sighed, took Chloe’s hands in hers and led her to the sofa. “Yes, Chloe, I know the truth now and a part of me was furious with him, but another part understands why he kept the truth from me. I don’t hold it against you, either. It wasn’t your secret to tell. I understand.” She squeezed her hand. “But tell me, still no word from Oliver?”



Chloe’s eyes watered fearing the worst. “No one has heard or seen from him in over a week. I don’t know what to do, Lois. I’m at the end of my rope.”



Lois squeezed her hand again. “You must be frantic with worry. I know Clark would want to help if he knew.” She pulled out her cell. “I’ll give him a call,” Lois said and dialed his number. “Humm, it went to voicemail. Clark, its Lois, you need to get over here right away. Chloe needs your help. Bye.”



“Thank you, Lois. I’ll head over to Watchtower and wait for him.”



Lois tried not to look confused. Watchtower? She thought. “Sure, call me if you hear anything,” she said and gave Chloe a hug before she left.



Lois went to the window and looked up at the sky. “Smallville, we really need to talk.”



~o~o~



Metropolis and around the world:



After dropping Lois at her place, all Clark could hear were cries for help. He couldn’t ignore them, wouldn’t ignore them. He went first to China to help earthquake victims, then he went to the offshore drilling platform but not in time to save the victims of the explosion, but he was able to help with the leak, and shored up the oil flow before it got any worst. He then headed to Washington to prevent a subway train collision. It was a very close call. He heard his cell phone ring but was too busy helping victims to stop and answer it. He suddenly realized that his face was out there now for the world to see, but he didn’t care. This is what his father had prepared him for and he felt this was what he is sent here to do. Another hour went by and the cries for help subsided to a dull roar. He knew he would be a few minutes late meeting with Lois, but it couldn’t be helped.



~o~o~



The Daily Planet bullpen:



Several hours went by and Lois couldn’t help wondering where Clark was and what he was doing. She was getting impatient for answers. She tried to put the pieces together in her mind. I know he’s not a Martian. He was raised on a farm for goodness sake. Then how is it possible he can do all those amazing things? Was it meteor rock? Was that the answer? No, that’s not it. Chloe would have told me years ago. She shook her head deciding to stop speculating about it and try and be patient. Clark would tell me everything, but when? One thing that kept coming into her mind was, even if he told me he was from Mars, it would make no difference. We love each other, and that’s never going to change, not if she had anything to say about it. No more secrets, no more pushing each other away, no more. She smiled to herself as she headed to the rooftop for her meeting with him. She was so distracted by her thoughts that she had failed to realize the bullpen was frantically trying to find out who the ‘flying man’ could be. As she sat down to wait for him, her thoughts went back to the past few days, and then her smile couldn’t be contained as a blush crept up her cheeks lighting up her face, and her eyes shone as if they were lit from within.



Clark arrived at the Planet rooftop ten minutes late, but she was still there waiting for him. “Is that smile for me?”



Lois looked up from her musings and Clark was standing on the rooftop ledge, hands on hips, his cape flapping in the wind and he was smiling at her. She decided to be stern with him, as she frowned at him. She stood up and crossed her arms as countless questions came into her mind, but seeing him like this made her think those questions may not be as important as she had once thought. He hopped down from the ledge, still smiling. She swallowed. Seeing him again in the suit was quite a sight, as her heart fluttered at the look on his face. “And where have you been?” she asked trying to be stern.



“Sorry, I’m late, Lois. I've been busy for a while, but …” He began trying to explain.



She interrupted him. “I understand … I do.” She looked him up and down then. “I realize now what’s important to you,” she said as her dreams for them were just that, dreams, nothing more.



He frowned then. “You’re important to me, Lois. You know that.” He came closer. “I love you, Lois, more than anyone or anything else in this world.”



She closed her eyes and sighed knowing he meant every word, but there were other things more important. It felt as if her heart was breaking, but she had to be the bigger person here. “I think I understand your father now, Clark. Having me in your life will distract you from … your mission, from this ...”



“You are not a distraction. How can you say that? And this mission as you call it, I would give it all up for you, Lois."



"Don't say that, Clark. I could never ask you do that," she said but deep in her heart, she knew he would do exactly that if she asked him.



He took her by the shoulders then. "I know you love me, Lois. Don’t deny it. We can make this work. I know it will be hard, but … I won’t give you up, I can’t."



She couldn't look at him anymore. It hurt too much. “Look at me, Lois.”



She raised her shining eyes to his face. Such a dear face. Her heart felt like it would burst with love for him. She shook her head trying to be strong.



He had to convince her they could do this. “Marry me, Lois,” he said shocking her.



“What did you just say?” She must have heard him wrong.



He touched her cheek. “Say you’ll marry me,” he said and reached inside the pocket of his shorts and showed her the ring.



She couldn’t believe this was happening, as she took the ring from him. She stared at it, as a silent tear slid down her cheek. The ring was beautiful, uttering blinding in its clarity. “Oh Clark,” she said not knowing what to say.



He wiped her tear away. “Say yes, Lois.”



She stared at his face. I don’t know what I was thinking. I can’t give him up either. It’s just not in me to let him go. “Yes, Clark, I’ll marry you,” she said smiling through her tears.



Clark let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He took the ring from her and slipped it on her finger. “There, it’s perfect.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. He raised his eyes to her face. “Tell me,” he said.



She went into his arms then. “I love you, Clark. I’ll always love you,” she said eyes shining.



He kissed her then, holding her close to his heart. Lois kissed him back loving him so much, it felt like pain sometimes. Clark was so excited that he thought he might explode from the joy. “Yes, yes, yes!” He shouted and picked her up, twirling her around and around. He was so happy that before he knew what was happening they were a thousand feet in the air, and Lois lost her shoes.



“Clark, put me down, my shoes!” Lois exclaimed thrilled by his actions and not the least bit worried about her shoes.



Clark laughed. He wrapped the cape around her to keep her warm. He had to kiss her, and he did as he couldn’t seem to stop, not wanting to ever stop.



~o~o~



Lois looked down and they were over Niagara Falls. She’d always wanted to visit there. They stopped at a secluded park to talk. Clark began his story from the beginning. He had been born on another planet, a planet called Krypton. His biological parents who were dead now, sent him to Earth to save his life. His mom and dad found him, adopted him and raised him as a human until he was fourteen years old when his parents told he was not from around here.



Lois was finding this all too incredible to believe. “Clark, are you making this up?”



“No, Lois, it’s all true. The things I can do … speed, strength, flight, x-ray vision, heat vision, and a few other abilities, are caused by the Earth’s yellow sun.”



She stared at him shaking her head beginning to understand him. “It must have been hard for you growing up and not understanding what was happening to you.”



“It was pretty hard to accept the truth about myself. My parents didn’t know what was happening to me, so I rebelled, acted out, and I even ran away from home,” Clark said looking embarrassed.



“Clark Kent ran away from home? Really?” She asked smiling not believing it.



“And I lived to regret it, too,” he said trying to smile.



“I’m sure you did,” Lois said smirking.



“I’ve learned some pretty hard lessons over the years, Lois,” Clark said as he stood up and began to pace.



“What kinds of lessons, Clark? I want to know,” Lois asked curious about his life and how he got to this point.



He turned to face her and thought about her question for a moment. “I learned that the people I thought I could trust betrayed me and tried to destroy me … Lana, Lex, Zod, and a few others over the years, and all because they knew my secret.” I won’t tell her about Chloe. Her heart was in the right place.



“Is that the reason why you never told me about yourself because you thought I would turn against you and try to hurt you?” She knew in her heart that wasn’t true, but she needed to hear him say it.



He came back to her then and took her hand. “No, Lois, that wasn’t the reason. As the years went by, I knew I could trust you with the truth. The trust and friendship we shared grew into something more. I tried to ignore it, tried to push it away, but I couldn’t.” He shook his head remembering. “My feelings for you were so confusing at first. I wanted to protect you, yes, but I also realized that I needed you in my life,” he said trying to explain how he felt back then.



Lois was also thinking about the past. “It’s strange, but even when you were pulling away from me, I knew deep inside that you cared about me. I felt it in here,” she said touching her heart.



He smiled then. “You have no idea how hard it was not to ask you out, to get closer.” He touched her hair smoothing it behind her ear. He touched her neck and then pulled her head closer to kiss her sweet lips. Lois smiled against his lips kissing him back.



“We should continue this at my place,” she said and smiled against his cheek. “Do you agree?”



“I agree,” Clark said smiling.



Lois stared at him as they flew back to Metropolis. I’m marrying a man from another planet. He’s different from everyone else in the world. There’s no one else like him. He had told her about the Kandorians and how they were like him, but different from him because they were clones. The imposter Zod was the closest person he had ever met that was like him, but Zod was mad with power. He wanted to take over the world, but Clark couldn’t let him do that, so he sent him away with help from his mother, Tess, and Oliver.



Lois told him then about Oliver’s disappearance and Clark said he knew about it, and he had an idea where Oliver and Tess could be. He would talk to Chloe about it. They may be beyond their reach, but he said he would not stop until he could bring them both home. Lois told him she had every faith in him and she wanted to help in any that she could.



“Even if that means bringing Tess back?” He had to ask her, quirking an eyebrow.



“Well, she was crucial to your plan Clark. You could not have done what you did if not for her. So, I’ll forgive her this one time,” she said smirking.



He laughed and pulled her closer. Soon, they landed in an alley not far from the Planet but Clark had something else to tell her.



Once he had twirled into his work clothes, utterly surprising his fiancé, he told her that once they got inside they would have a few things to work out. His story would have to be told to the world and he wanted her to tell it.



Clark was right about everything changing. As they exited the elevator, they saw that everyone was glued to the monitors watching Clark’s heroics. “Put your glasses on, Clark, NOW!” Lois urgently whispered as she loosened his tie a little and pushed his hair back from his forehead.



“Lois, that’s not going to fool anybody now,” Clark said but he put his glasses on anyway and decided to slouch a little too. It couldn’t hurt.



An excited co-worker came up to them then. “Did you see those videos, guys? There’s a man in blue tights, red boots and a cape flying around helping people, rescuing people, and he’s saving lives too. He’s amazing!”



Lois and Clark briefly glanced at each other and answered him at the same time. “Really?”



TBC!



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A/N: People see what they want to see!! I hope you liked it! It would make my day to see a review here. Thanks for reading. The last chapter will be up in a one week!