inalienable rights CHAPTER FOUR

Lois tried to twist out of Clark's grip on her arm as they waited for the elevator to appear beyond the wardrobe. "Can you loosen up a little, please? Your hand is like a vise. Not that I really know, 'cause I've ever really used a vise, just the simile."

The blazing glare accompanied by blistering silence that Clark almost tangibly threw at her shut Lois up, at least momentarily. Levity clearly wasn't going to get her out of this scrape. "Look, Clark, I'm sorry I followed you."

"You should be!" He shouted, more fiery than she'd expected. She had always suspected it took something pretty significant to get a rise out of mild-mannered Clark Kent, and - well, she supposed sneaking into a hidden facility's ductwork to overhear that he might be some kind of mutant was fairly significant. "You shouldn't have come here, you - why did you follow me?"

Lois winced as his grip tightened. "Ouch, Clark! Seriously, I'm going to have a little trouble answering if I'm distracted by a broken arm."

Clark relented slightly in his grasp, but not in his temper. "Cut the banter, Lois. I want to know what you're doing here, what you heard, and I want to know now. Don't leave anything out. Where the hell is the elevator?"

The usual barrage of ready-to-fly quips that Lois kept on the tip of her tongue was noticeably absent in the heat of Clark's anger, and given what she had just learned about him, Lois feared that she'd made a grave mistake in treating the matter so lightly at first. What was he, after all? What had she discovered? What might he do to protect his secret?

Suddenly fearful, Lois tried to backpedal. "I didn't really hear anything, I swear, - well, I heard something about flying, I think - but he was kidding right? In a 'Red Bull gives you wings' sort of way?" She tried to smile charmingly, despite her trembling jaw. "Does it really matter what I heard?"

The elevator rose behind them then, and Clark guided her inside. "Since it looks like I can't trust you, yes, it matters," he hissed. "Chloe used to pry into my life too, you know. As close as you two are supposed to be, I thought she might have mentioned that I really, really don't like it." The elevator was taking excessive liberties about moving, as if time were a luxury it had in Luthorian proportions.

That doesn't make it sound like I'm getting out of here in one piece. "Clark, I can't tell you how sorry I am, really - how was I supposed to know I was going to overhear something like that? I thought I'd catch you dropping in on a girl, or something - I don't know!"

Clark tossed her arm away from him, as if touching her burned him now. "Why should it matter to you if I was? What business is it of yours where I go, or what I do there?"

Lois felt hot tears rising, but fought them back indignantly. "None whatsoever, Clark. I just thought you were somebody that - evidently - you're not, and yes, I'm sorry - again, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, but I was curious, okay? About that guy I thought you were." Lois was getting really worked up now, half confessing and half defending herself, and the tears were no longer hiding behind indignation. She was scared and frantic, and really thought she'd wandered on stage in the middle of her own curtain call. "Damn, you got me! I admit it, I'm a hot-blooded American girl, and I was following a boy who caught my eye. Really diabolical of me, I know." She wiped away a trail of mascara and hoped that Clark couldn't tell her nose was running. She hated crying in front of people - or whatever Clark was.

Clark observed Lois in silence as she slumped against the opposite wall, looking uncharacteristically hopeless. "You often snag a date by hiding in a ventilation shaft?"

The venom had left his voice, so Lois raised her eyes again, hoping that might mean she'd make it through this misadventure. "No… it's murder on the hair. Plus the light is really unflattering."

Clark smiled in spite of himself. "Well, your sense of humor's still intact, so no permanent damage."

"Not yet," Lois snarked before she could stop herself.

Clark straightened up and leveled his gaze at her. "Lois, don't act like you didn't get yourself into this. That said, nobody's going to hurt you. I don't really know what we're going to do, but - look, I know that none of this really makes sense, and it's going to get weirder before it does makes sense, but I promise you'll be okay."

Lois wiped her eyes and searched her pockets for a tissue. "So, ah - this whole 'Real World' moment - can I plead temporary insanity and a little amnesia to go with it? Help yourself to some of that amnesia, actually… yeah." Oh, if I could ever take back words - and actions - now would be a great time.

Clark tilted his head to one side and gave Lois a lingering, unblinking look - a look that left her feeling deliciously unsettled. "I'm not sure," he shrugged. "There were one or two things you said that, uh - I think might stick."

Lois caught her breath, hoping in vain that she could pause time along with it. She straightened up and braced herself against the wall, letting her imagination give in to the thousand mini fantasies that sprung up to fit the moment, and Clark took a step toward her.

Then he stopped. "Why isn't the elevator going anywhere?"

Lois slumped again. Well, that was almost beautiful. "You, um - you forgot to push the button." Damn, stupid meddling button. You and Shakespearan friars - you all must die! She mournfully watched Clark push the offending button. Well, I'm not dying at least. I'm momentarily chaste, but alive.

Clark, Lois, and the elevator descended together into uncomfortable silence, until Clark broke it (the silence, not the elevator).

"You - um, probably should let me do the talking at first."

Lois nodded. "Yeah, probably."

The doors slid open, revealing Dr. Swann and his fantastic four, curious ducks all in a row.

"Uh, hi," Lois said meekly, despite Clark's warning. "I - uh, I'm Lois Lane." She held out her hand, in a gesture that she hoped carried an "I come in peace" effect, without saying something so cliché.

Marin Blake broke rank and stepped forward, a bright smile on her face and her own arm outstretched. "Nice to meet you, Miss Lane," she greeted, taking Lois' hand firmly in hers.

Lois smiled in return, but her smile quickly twisted into a grimace of pain when Marin pushed up Lois' sleeve and plunged a needle into her forearm.