Gods and Heroes
Written by Wentworth360
Chapter 4:
Metropolis
The irritating sound of his alarm brought Clark out of his near coma like sleep. A groan escaped his lips as he finally reached over and shut it off. Pulling himself up into a sitting position, Clark could feel ever strain and ache in his muscles. He was sore in places he didn't know he could be sore in. Somehow he managed to drag himself into the bathroom and climbed into the shower. The extra hot water felt glorious as it poured down on him from several angles.
This brought the thought of how taken Aphrodite had been with the gadget and a smile spread across his face. As the erotic memories of the weekend started to come back to him they were suddenly cut off by the thought he was going back to his regular life today. It was back to the awkwardness and tension of the last few weeks and Clark was dreading it. Part of him felt like chucking it all and escaping, but he had his responsibilities and knew he had to face it. Turning off the shower, he glumly started to get dress for work. He practically devoured his breakfast and drank nearly two gallons of orange juice before he finally left for the Daily Planet.
The sun was shining and it seemed to pick up his spirits as he made his way to work. He could feel the tension of the newsroom the moment he entered. It started to put a damper on his good mood, but then he decided he was going to do something. The whole thing between him and Lois needed some sort of resolution and now was as good a time as any. Taking a deep breath, Clark got up from his desk and slowly made his way over to Lois' office. He tapped lightly on the door.
"It's open," came her aggressive voice. He opened the door and stepped inside. Lois was on the phone and didn't immediately look up, but continued to berate whoever the unfortunate soul was on the other end of the line.
"…You said you'd have the information today! No! No, tomorrow isn't good enough! I want it today! I'll call back in half an hour and you better have something for me then! Bye!" she shouted into the phone and then slammed it down.
"What?" she started, but then stopped when she saw Clark standing there. "Oh, Clark, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you."
He could feel how uncomfortable she was being around him.
"Lois, I was hoping you had a minute to talk," he started softly.
"It's not really a good time, Smallville, can I take a rain check?"
"This won't take that long, Lois, but I think it's important."
She saw he was serious and reluctantly she gestured for him to sit down. Clark slipped into the seat across from her and gathered his thoughts.
"This is uncomfortable, isn't it?" He finally said, looking over at her.
"No, what? No, I don't know what you mean," she replied. Her denial was just a little too fast.
"Lois, this-this awkwardness between us, I was hoping we could talk about it. Maybe clear the air a little," he said softly.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea."
"I'd like to try, Lois," Clark said to her.
"What's the point, Clark? What's done is done," she said with resignation. He could see she had her guard up. After all these years they knew each other better than just about anyone.
"I know it is. The point is that even before we, well, before we were together, we were friends, Lois. Even with everything that's changed, I'd don't want to lose that."
"I don't think we can be friends like we used to," she admitted. Clark nodded, understanding, but deciding to press on.
"You may be right, I don't know. Look, I admit it hurt when I came back to see you had moved on, but I've been able to come to terms with it. I can't say it's easy to see you with someone else, but I can accept it. Richard's a good man and you're in love with him. I get it, really I do. I always wanted you to be happy, Lo. I'm not trying to mess that up for you, I promise," he said sincerely.
"Then what do you want," she said seriously, holding his gaze with her own.
"To apologize, first of all. I'm sorry for the way things ended. That's the most important thing, really. I guess I want that we don't have to dread seeing each other. We've known each other for so long and been through so much that the idea of us being nothing to each other saddens me, Lo. I know we can't go back to before, but I don't want us to just be nothing to each other. I know it will take time. I'll give you all the space you need."
She sat there for a moment taking in his words. The apology had surprised her. Deep down she appreciated it more than she imagined she would. Their estrangement had been difficult for her as well. She had loved him and probably still did love him deeply, but that was over. She knew he was a good man, a Superman in fact, but he had always been a friend as well.
"I can't promise anything, Smallville, but I'll try." She finally offered with a small smile.
"Thank you, that's all I can ask," he said. He returning her smile. Without another word, he got up and left her office, closing the door softly after him. His good mood returned and he was glad he'd finally confronted this head on. He had more relationships to mend, but this one was the first step. There were very few people he completely trusted, so he couldn't afford to lose any of them.