A Day Late (Chapter 2)

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Sorry it’s been more than a month on this. I can’t promise the updates will be frequent on this until it ends up on the front burner. But I’ll do my best to keep it to less than a month. 

Chapter Two

Sunday Night

“I’m just saying we can’t afford to be complacent,” Clark said, for what felt like the millionth time.

“And I’m not disagreeing.” Oliver shrugged, picking a mushroom off his pizza and tossing it onto Chloe’s slice. 

They’d decided to order pizza, then double it once Bart arrived. They had too much catching up to do it in some restaurant as most of their conversation wasn’t for civilian ears.

“But I don’t see a reason to be paranoid, either,” Oliver went on. I’ve had my beefs with Lex, too. But looking into him without reason might alert him to us and have him looking our way.”

“Who’s to say he isn’t, already?” Clark glanced away, making sure Lois was still on the other side of the room with Courtney before going on. “General Lane threw in with the VRA. Now he’s working with Lex. He might even have some idea he’s doing the right thing when he’s really…” 

“Okay. Let’s not jump on Uncle Sam, here.” Chloe popped the mushroom slice into her mouth and picked another off Oliver’s slice. “He might be getting duped,” she went on, still chewing as she picked some olives off her slice and put them on Oliver’s. 

“So you agree?” Clark asked, trying not to be annoyed at the wordless little food exchange. “Lex is up to something.”

“Lex is and always will be up to something,” Chloe said with a shrug. “Whether we need to worry about it is another question.”

“It’s not one we need to answer tonight,” Oliver said with a yawn, standing and grabbing his jacket. “Babe, I’m hitting the hotel. Lois? You ready?”

“In a second,” Lois groaned. “God!” She turned back to Courtney. “I’m telling you, just act like you can’t stand the sight of him.”

“Does that really work?” Courtney gasped.

“Results may vary, but it’s pretty much my number one move.”

“I heard that,” Clark called out. 

“Then stop eavesdropping,” Lois said tightly. “Of course, be careful you know him well enough and make sure he actually likes your family and doesn’t just say he does while holding secret, little grudges and…”

Clark stopped listening then as he was sure she wanted him to hear that part. He turned back to Chloe and Oliver as Chloe stood, adjusting his collar.

“Are you serious about sticking around here?” Oliver asked. “Because it’s getting…”

“I promised Courtney I’d help sort this mess out,” Chloe cut in. “You go on. I can have Courtney drop me in an hour.” She stood as well and pulled him in, brushing his lips.

“Mushroom breath,” Oliver muttered.

“Better than olive breath,” she said on a chuckle, meeting his lips again.

Clark looked away, not sure what was annoying him more, the fact that no one was taking the Lex situation seriously, not even Chloe, or the fact that everyone seemed to be laughing it up – and kissing like he wasn’t even in the room.

“Hey, none of that,” Clark heard, just before Bart tore himself away from his video game and sped up and right between Chloe and Oliver. “I thought we agreed you two weren’t going to flaunt this little romance of yours while I still happen to be nursing a broken heart.”

“Really?” Chloe giggled. “Speaking of nurses, AC told me he caught you with one at his place in Coast City.”

“That’s just me trying to forget you, Sweet Thing,” Bart gasped, taking her hand. “I’m probably going to have to go through dozens of women, maybe even a hundred, but I want you to see each one as a testament to how much I truly…”

“Okay, can it, Shortie.” Oliver brushed Bart away and bent to Chloe. “One hour?” 

“Or so,” Chloe said with a grin, leaning up to kiss him again.

Lois sauntered over to them. “Oh, now we’re not in a hurry?”

“Well, since you’re going to break every known speed limit,” Oliver said, breaking away from Chloe, “I figured I had some down time.”

“You’re almost as hilarious as you think you are.” Lois shoved him aside and pulled Chloe to her. “We’re in at nine sharp tomorrow. Try not to stay up all night.”

“I’m just going to be here for an hour and…”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll probably find you here in these same clothes. Come on, Ollie.” Lois pushed him out the door, then turned back, her eyes landing on Clark, her smile dropping. “Did you want to come or…”

“I’ll just meet you at home,” he said.

“Suit yourself,” she said tightly, moving out the door.

“So…” Chloe was staring after her. “I think you two might need to talk.”

“I’m putting it off,” he grumbled, pushing his decimated slice around on the paper plate.

“You know, not everything has to be a fight.”

“Tell her that.”

“I mean it. I swear, sometimes me and Ollie are just on the verge and then he says something silly and…” She grinned and sat back down. “I don’t know. It’s like he can tease me right out of being angry.”

“Yes. I heard the adorable pet names. Mushroom breath?”

Chloe laughed. “That’s just this thing. See, Ollie hates mushrooms and I hate olives and we always…”

“No. I saw,” Clark cut in, rolling his eyes. “I was wondering why you guys had to have pizza with everything if you were just going to pick everything off it?”

“Well, it’s easier than telling every server ever to hold them.” She shrugged and smiled. “What has you so cranky, anyway?”

“I’m not…” He gave up, sighing. “I don’t know. I just feel like no one is taking me seriously.”

“Well, it was reunion time. We weren’t in a serious mood tonight.” She took a deep breath. “But on a serious note…”

“I know. I’m leaving,” Bart cut in, zipping up his hoodie. “But you’ll survive.”

“Not as well as we would have with actual leftover pizza,” Courtney grumbled, shaking open a garbage bag and shoving an empty box in it. “It’s like you only come around here when there’s food. You leave as soon as you eat.”

“Pfft! If that wasn’t totally true, I’d be so mad right now,” Bart huffed before disappearing.

Courtney groaned. “You’d think he’d use some of that speed to help clean up.” She dropped her bag. “Eh, it can wait till morning. Chloe, you have to sort out these files.” She pulled Chloe up. “So if Three is storage only, does that mean Four is…”

“It’s for remote access. I had this worked out before. Comp One is the main and everything else is like a satellite, all with varying…”

Clark rolled his eyes and picked up the garbage bag. He’d known Courtney long enough by now. Waiting till morning could stretch into the next several mornings. Not that he blamed her. She had a full course load at Met U, but she always seemed to volunteer for things, then get to them in her own sweet time. Then again, he hadn’t been much better at her age, always putting things off until it turned into a crisis. 

He wasn’t about to make that mistake again. Not with Lex. Then again, no one seemed to want to talk about Lex. He sped around, cleaning up as Chloe and Courtney worked. He’d just clean up, go home, and maybe try again tomorrow, see if anyone would listen then. Tonight, they were obviously too tied up with…

“It’s perfectly natural to have a crush, but just be careful with Al,” Chloe was saying.

He tied off the bag with a huff. Tied up with talking about boys, apparently.

“That’s the thing with these hero types,” Chloe went on, her voice low. “You tend to get into… Well, hero worship. Even with you being a hero yourself, it can happen. But you have to keep it in perspective.”

“Chloe, you don’t get it,” Courtney sighed. “Al is like… he’s just perfect to me.”

“Believe me, I do get it. I’ve even been there. And I know Lois means well, but pretending you can’t stand him is just… Just try not to play too many games. Okay? If you like someone, let them know. And if they say they don’t feel the same way… Well, accept it.” Chloe tugged on Courtney’s hair. “Trust me. You are way too smart and pretty and awesome to spend years pining after someone.”

Courtney rolled her eyes. “Come on…”

“I’m serious. I want you to know that now. If he doesn’t see you that way, then forget him and find someone who will. Don’t waste your time.”

Clark frowned and moved away, knowing he wasn’t supposed to hear this. Though it wasn’t a secret. It’s not like he didn’t know who Chloe was talking about. Chloe's feelings were something that always hung over their friendship – back when she had them, at least – like this swinging pendulum, always dropping just a little, threatening to ruin all they were to each other until… it just stopped, really. 

He couldn’t pinpoint when, exactly. It wasn’t when she met Jimmy, but somewhere along the way, those feelings stopped hanging over them. By the time she met Oliver, they were barely friends, so those feelings were long gone. And, despite the tension between them during that year, it was a relief. That idea that she was waiting for him always made him feel horribly uncomfortable and the idea of having her on his line, whether he meant for her to be there or not, made him feel like an asshole. 

So why did being described as a waste of time make him feel even worse? Wasn’t that pretty much the truth of it?

He was just tired -- tired and annoyed tonight. He wasn’t fit company. “All cleaned up,” he announced loudly.

“Oh, Clark. You didn’t have to do that,” Courtney said unconvincingly, not taking her eyes away from the console.

“Don’t mention it,” he muttered. “I’ll see you two tomorr…”

“Hey, not so fast.” Chloe rushed away from the console and gripped his arm. “I’ll… I’ll walk you out. Just keep transferring,” she called back to Courtney as she hustled him to the doors. “Be right back.” 

“I think I know the way better than you by…”

“Oh, just listen.” She moved into the entryway and waited till the doors swung shut with an electronic hiss. “I didn’t want to say this where anyone else could hear. Clark, you can’t go to Lois with the idea of investigating anything involving her father. You have to know that.”

“But if he’s in with Lex, it’s…”

“And you can’t talk to Oliver about anything involving Lex,” she said, pacing in front of him. “I mean, you know what happened before. The guilt of what he did nearly destroyed him and it took a lot to pull him back. Oliver won’t want to touch anything involving Lex.”

He stepped in front of her. “Chloe, I get what they’re feeling, but if they could just put it aside and look at things clearly…”

“They can’t, Clark. They can’t put it aside. So you need to stop bringing it up to them.”

He threw up his hands, moving away. “Fine. I’ll just pretend not to…”

“But I can,” she cut in.

He stilled and turned back to her. “You can?”

“No one knows Lex better than we do, new Lex or old, we know how he works. I’m not saying they might not be right that there’s nothing to see, but we can take a careful look closer.” She shook her head. “But we have to keep it between us. We don’t want to rock our… respective boats, do we?”

“I might have rocked mine enough lately,” he sighed. “But how do we even start to look into him now? What if Oliver was right? That could turn it all back on us and…”

“We just need to be careful, find a discreet way in.” She yawned. “I mean, we can talk about it later, but yes. I’m in. Just keep it under your hat.”

He chuckled. “I’ve never been a hat guy.”

She groaned and pushed at him. “You know what I mean. We’ll talk tomorrow,” she said before moving back into Watchtower.

He stared after, relaxing just a little. He should have known Chloe wouldn’t let him down. Even when they were barely friends a few years back, they could always count on each other when it mattered. And now that they were close again… He stopped that thought as he opened the stairwell door and sped down as it was always quicker that way. They weren’t close again, really. Truth be told, their friendship never quite recovered from the rift that was 2010.

Of course, that was only natural. They just didn’t see each other much anymore. Maybe this next week could help them get close again. Either way, it wasn’t his relationship with Chloe he was worried about…

By the time he got home, he could hear Lois in the bathroom. “Lois?”

“Yeah. I’ll be out in a second if you need it.”

“No. I don’t need the bathroom. I just thought…” He moved through the bedroom and closer to the bathroom door. “I just thought we could talk a little.”

“About which horrible, stubborn, mule-headed thing?” he heard her sigh over the running water.

“Ladies choice?” he tried. 

The door swung open and Lois stood there in a slippers and robe, a mud mask on her face. He started to repress a smile at the sight of her, then remembered what Chloe said.

Sometimes me and Ollie are just on the verge and then he says something silly and… I don’t know. It’s like he can tease me right out of being angry.

He let that smile out. “I, uh, see you dressed up for me,” he said, going for the tease.

Her eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

“I was just…”

“You know, I was up late last night, trying to finish our piece for the Sunday edition, because you ran off into the night…”

“I had to…”

“And even saying that," Lois cut in, squeezing her eyes shut for a second, "I know you were off saving lives, but then I had to still get up and get Chloe and Ollie from the airport…”

“But Courtney wanted help with…”

“And even saying that, I know you were doing what you had to do. I don’t mind, Clark. I seriously don’t mind always ending up on my own, always making excuses for you. I know it comes with the territory. But for you to waltz in here and act like I’m supposed to always look some certain way for you…”

“I wasn’t even saying that. I was just kidding and…”

“Maybe I’m not in the mood for kidding. Maybe I’m not in the mood to listen to you pace around, disrespecting my father,” she growled, moving to the bed and grabbing a pillow and blanket. 

“Lois, I wasn’t trying to disrespect him.”

“Really? Because calling his actions ‘questionable from the start’ is pretty damned close to disrespect.”

“I said alliances. Not his actions. If we could just talk…”

“Clark, I’m not in the mood to talk, either,” she finished on a choked breath, then held out the bundle. “You know what to do with these.”

He certainly did, after these last few months. So much for teasing her out of her bad mood. Maybe he just didn’t have Oliver’s way with words. 

He didn’t know how this started. They were like honeymooners at first, even with the actual wedding postponed. They seemed all too ready to give in and compromise at first. They found time for each other. Then the wedding was postponed again… and again… and again. Then it seemed he was always working and she was always working in their different ways and even the littlest fights just seemed to pile up before snowballing into grudge matches. And there was never time to make it right. 

Maybe if they took some time. Before the big meeting, they could take a day or two to decompress. Then again, he still had business with Chloe… and Lex. He couldn’t forget Lex. Maybe after the meeting. Hell, they could wake up tomorrow in better moods. 

But he wasn’t counting it, not after another night on the couch. 

********************

Chloe stared at the white on black, the ones and zeros and blinking cursors zipping by as her fingers flew over the keyboards. The whole system needed going over. It was one bad shutdown away from the blue screen of death. Still, she’d kind of missed having all this power at her fingertips. Her set-up in Star City was less than ideal. 

Oliver’s house, while big enough to hold a Watchtower or ten, had old wiring and her attempts to get any kind of mission control established there were futile. She could never get into Watchtower’s satellites from there with the limitations and there just wasn’t the money to build it up or even get a better space right now. Oliver was still building up Queen Industries back up. The false Lionel Luthor might have been dethroned, but not before he depleted Queen Industries and Luthorcorp of most of its funds with his little projects. Even Lex, from what she knew, had to restructure, taking everything under the umbrella of Lexcorp.

He’d done that once before. He may not remember it, but she did. Her freshman year, he’d bought out Smallville’s plant under that name. Lionel foiled him by the end of the year, getting both the plant and Lex back under him. It was funny that Lex would pick the same name again. Maybe he’d just read about it. Maybe he was studying up on his old life and it had led him there. Either way, it showed his instincts were still the same. 

Of course, back then, that buyout was an attempt to do some good and save thousands of jobs. Now, she wasn’t sure what Lex was after. Everyone gave him as wide a berth as possible these days. And maybe that was a good idea, but that didn’t mean they could afford to count him out. Clark was right to be…

One crisis at a time, she thought, putting her mind back on untangling this mess. And they really had made a mess of her system. She had a good mind to take some of these toys back to Star City. Of course, she wouldn’t do that. They were struggling to make things work, as it was.

She glanced at Courtney, long since fallen asleep on the couch. She’d been so tired out, she hadn’t even pulled it out. The poor kid. She knew the feeling, burning the candle at both ends. She remembered juggling a full course-load with The Planet and sidekicking for Clark. She could say things were about the same now, but she was older and more able to balance her life so she could handle a full day… and night when it came to it.

It must be worse for Courtney, having to go off control and pull hero duty when the team was shorthanded. They needed more hands out here with Eastern/Central. Sometimes she wondered if she could fill in the blanks a few days a week. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have quite a few people that could zip her out here on a moment’s notice. Besides, she’d built Watchtower up and, damn it, she missed the place.

It was more than Watchtower, really. She missed Metropolis. It seemed nuts to miss landlocked Metropolis when Star City had ocean views and interesting restaurants and she lived in a veritable mansion, but there it was. Lois was here and, though they video chatted almost every day, she missed her. And Clark was here. They may have grown apart, even more so with the distance, but it might be nice this week, seeing him every day. It could be like old times… except not at all. 

She knew better than to get too tangled up in Clark’s life and Clark’s business. That led to being codependent and dysfunctional -- as many self-help books, therapy not being an option, had made clear to her. That was what led them to that awful year, barely speaking and almost hating the sight of each other. They were stupid kids then, dealing with grown-up problems way too soon and screwing everything up and…

She tried not to beat herself up about all the mistakes she made then. It was no way to move on. But no matter how she tried to tell herself she was not that girl anymore, some moments still haunted her. Sebastian Kane… No matter how she tried to push him away, he was always there, always telling her to be mindful of who she was becoming. That was why she understood Oliver’s reluctance to deal with anything involving Lex. She knew what it was to be dogged by that sort of guilt. 

She could tell herself she wasn’t in her right mind, that it was Brainiac, that she would never do it, she still heard her own voice speaking so coldly (You know, the human mind is simply a highly sophisticated computer. Download too much information, and it crashes. And all the data's lost.), saw her own hand gripping his (Here. Let me show you), heard Oliver’s words to her some month’s later (…it seemed like a pretty natural instinct to protect Clark.)

She and Oliver talked it out long after. Sometimes she thought that was what brought them together, that imperfection that made them go off the rails, doing the worst possible thing. Even if it was for the best possible reason, it didn’t make it right. And they’d paid for it in so many ways, with so many lonely nights before they came together and realized they could be loved, warts and all.

She smiled and moved to her purse, digging her phone out, thinking she should at least call him. It had definitely been more than their agreed-upon hour. It had to be nearly… She dropped her smile as she glanced at her phone. It was after three! And her phone was practically dead! She hadn’t seen the time, with having every computer in the place in BIOS mode. “Such a stupid…”

She picked that smile back up as she saw she had ten texts, all from Oliver. 

It’s been an hour.

Now two. I knew it.

By the way, this place has a giant spa tub. Way too big for one person. I’m just saying…

You know what? I’m glad you’re not here. I’m gonna to watch porn. See how you like that!

Okay. Maybe just zombie movies. BTW, three hours now.

You’d think zombie flicks would be less scary to a man who lived the experience, but you’d be wrong. Someone hold me. 

Fine. Cuddle up to your consoles. But I guarantee they will not be as much fun in the tub as me.

I shudder to think if they could go in the tub or make you an omelette. I’d be out of a job.

Five hours now. Am going to fall asleep in about… zzzzzzzz

Something tells me I’ll be bringing you coffee and a change of clothes in the morning. But if I see one lipstick mark on those computers, so help me….

She giggled and texted back quickly, seeing the last was an hour ago. He was long asleep by now. 

Can you bring my charger, too?

She’d pushed the button to shut it off when it buzzed in her hand. 

You suck. Love you. See you in the morning.

She chuckled. Same to you. Only for the last two, though. It shut itself off before he could text a snappy rejoinder.

She looked around, wondering if she should surprise him and slip into bed. But she didn’t want Courtney to wake up to this mess. She’d just get things running again, then take a wee nap. She had work tomorrow, after all. As excited as she was for the big hero jamboree, it was The Planet that had them flying in a week before they needed to be here. It might not measure up to the big summit, but walking into The Planet again with her head held high, even if it was just for two weeks, had her pretty keyed up. 

She’d take care not to get too keyed up. She'd definitely sleep, she decided as she clicked away. Just five more minutes…

Monday Morning

“Did you even go to sleep?” Clark demanded when Watchtower’s doors opened on Chloe, wide-eyed in front of the main console, still in last night’s clothes.

“I almost did a couple times,” she said dully, blinking and briefly turning away before dragging her eyes back. “I’m nearly done.”

He hadn’t meant to come here, but he found himself up way too early, even the criminals were fast asleep. Nothing to do. He almost envied Chloe, having something. Though he’d rather she didn’t. “You know, no one expects you to type your fingers to the bone. You came here for other work,” he grumbled.

“I don’t mind. Besides, I just had to.”

“No, you didn’t. We could have called Victor in. He could probably mind-meld with the stupid thing.”

“I’m wondering if you slept,” she said, eyes still on her screens.

He didn’t answer. He just moved to the kitchenette, seeing if there was any coffee. There was. But it was burnt down to thick sludge. He turned the coffee-maker off and paced to the couch, seeing Courtney, mouth open and emitting soft snores. He kind of envied her, too. He’d seen her drop off to sleep in chairs, dead to the world. He could barely get a wink on a couch. His constitution might make it less likely to give him a stiff neck, but it didn't make it any more comfortable for a good night’s sleep.

“I had the best night’s sleep,” Oliver called out as the doors whooshed open. 

Clark pushed back the urge to snap at him. 

“Giant suite,” Oliver went on, moving in with a coffee carrier and a small carry-on bag, ”four-poster California king, and the sheets… I’m thinking a thousand thread count, at the least.”

“That’s nice, Baby,” Chloe said, eyes still glued to the screens. 

Clark didn’t agree. It wasn’t nice to brag like…

“See that?” Oliver moved to Clark. “Doesn’t even look at me.”

Clark just grunted. 

“But watch this…” Oliver put the bag down, then pulled the lid from one of the coffee cups. Waving his hand over it several times.

Chloe stiffened and turned, smiling widely. “Oliver! You know, I was just going to…”

“Save it.” He snapped the lid back on and moved to her. “It’s hard enough coming second to a motherboard, but to some grounds and water…”

“I was just finishing up. Pretty much done now.” She leaned over and made a few strokes. “See? Rebooting.” She grinned and moved to grab the cup.

Oliver held the carrier away. “First, tell how many lipstick stains I’m going to find on these monitors.”

“None. It wore off after a while.” She leaned up to him, meeting his lips. “See?”

“I might have to take a closer look…”

Clark turned away again as they fell all over each other. The two of them were kind of annoying with the constant PDA… also weird. Lipstick marks. Another little in-joke, he supposed.

He’d barely had time to clear his throat when Oliver turned to him. “What’s the matter with you?”

“What? Nothing,” Clark said, dragging his eyes back to them.

“He didn’t sleep well,” Chloe said, still pasted to Oliver.

“I figured.” Oliver held out his carrier. “You want mine? I can get another.”

Clark almost forgave Oliver all that bragging about his perfect night of sleep, moving toward it.

Then Courtney shot up from the couch. “I’m up!” She glanced around, eyes wide. “What’s… Why are we…” She shook herself and stood, tossing off the blankets. “Did I fall asleep?”

“I let you have a nap,” Chloe said calmly, pulling away from Oliver and sipping away. “But it’s fine. I finished up and…”

“What time is it?” Her eyes darted around the room.

“It’s only eight.”

“Eight!” Courtney rushed around the room, gathering her stuff. “I have Poli-Sci at nine and my bookbag is in my dorm and…”

“And you can teleport there,” Clark cut in.

“Oh, yeah. I know. I know that. I’m just tired.” She stilled and smiled. “Good. Okay. I’m good.” She grabbed her staff from next to the coat rack and stood there with it. “So… How are the consoles?”

“Back in working order,” Chloe said, still sipping. “I can walk you through some of the changes tonight.”

“Uh-huh. And how are you guys?” She gestured to Clark and Oliver, yawning. 

“You don’t have to make small talk if you have somewhere to be,” Clark muttered.

Courtney rolled her eyes. “What’s with him?”

“Bad night’s sleep,” Chloe supplied.

Clark glared at her.

“Oh, yeah. Same,” Courtney said, though Clark knew it was a lie. Stupid easy sleepers… “Anyway, I do have somewhere to be,” she said absently while moving to Oliver, staring at his carrier. “Is that for me?”

“I was actually going to…”

She picked it up and grinned. “Thanks, Arrow. I’ve got such a big day ahead. You’re the best,” she said before disappearing in a flash of light.

Chloe snorted out a laugh as she sipped.

Clark glared at her again, not finding this funny at all. No sleep and now no coffee…

“Who wants coffee?”

He’d have been relieved at the new voice if it wasn’t Lois. Chances are she was also bringing it for Chloe. She doubted she was giving him anything after last night… last month, really.

“See, I knew it,” Lois said, sailing in with two bags. “I knew you’d stay up all night, playing with all your smartypants matrix crap.” She nearly tripped over the bag Oliver dropped. “Oh! Guess that would be clothes. Well, you better shimmy into them, Missy.” Lois dug in one of the bags and came out with a cup. “I brought you some…” She frowned at the cup in Chloe’s hands. “Well… I think we have too much coffee.”

“You'd think that,” Chloe said before downing the cup in her hand and taking the one in Lois’ hand. “but you’d be wrong.” She kissed Lois on the cheek and picked up the bag before moving to the tiny bathroom. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll be fresh as a daisy.”

Clark frowned at the door when it closed, thinking it wasn’t exactly fair Chloe had two coffees when he hadn’t had one. Maybe she stayed up night, but he’d come pretty close hims…

“Here.”

He turned to Lois, found her holding out a cup, if a little begrudgingly.

“Thank you,” he breathed as he took it.

“Well, I saw you were up before me. I figured you’d be here, too.” She pulled one out and handed it to Oliver before pulling out her own. 

He resisted the urge to quibble about the “too” part, as if he was just an afterthought right now. Still, with her mood last night, she might have not bothered. “Lois, last night…”

“Clark, I don’t want to talk about last night or last week or last month or any of the other stupid fights we’ve been having.” She turned to him. “I think you should come out, you disagree. You think we should be investigating my father…”

“Not your father. Lex. Your father is just…”

“However you put it,” she cut in, “I disagree. So can’t we just call it even? Drop them both? Can we just agree to disagree and move on with our lives?”

He started to tell her that he couldn’t drop Lex. But if she was willing to drop his grand coming-out, then… No. He still couldn’t drop Lex. But she didn’t have to know that part. If he and Chloe did a little digging, just for peace of mind, no one had to know. Not Lois or Oliver. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t want to lie. He just gave the barest of nods.

She smiled back just a little. “We’re good, then.”

He didn’t quite agree, but it was relief to be done fighting.

By the time Lois dragged Chloe out of the bathroom, fussing with her hair, groaning “Why don’t you ever fluff it?” over Chloe’s protests, she was stiff as she gave him a perfunctory kiss.

“You sure you don’t want to ride in with us?”

“I’ll be faster on my own. You guys go on. Save me a donut.”

“Can’t make any promises. Chloe…”

Chloe broke away, smoothing her hair down after whatever Lois must have done and moved to Oliver. “Sorry about last night.”

“Well, you should be.” He grinned and kissed her nose.

Clark turned away, though they weren’t done trading their little in-jokes.

“I did try to get this system to make me an omelette, but it seems to think it’ll be enslaving us in a decade, so you still have a job.”

He chuckled. “That’s a relief. You still suck.”

“I know.”

Clark heard another smacking kiss, then figured it was safe to look as Lois was dragging Chloe off. He and Lois weren’t big on public displays, he guessed. Then again, maybe they’d just been together longer than Chloe and Oliver… by a few months, but still…

“Horrible woman,” Oliver sighed. “You know, she said she’d be done in an hour, then left me by my lonesome all night.”

He knew Oliver was joking, but he couldn’t help thinking of Lois, complaining about being left on her own all the time, picking up his slack. “You don’t seem to mind that much.”

Oliver shrugged. “I do the same to her sometimes. We get over it.”

“How?” he found himself asking. “How do you stop everything from turning into a fight?”

Oliver laughed. “Well… like that. We laugh it off, actually.” 

“Chloe said something about that last night.”

“Really?” Oliver turned to him. “She talking smack on me?”

“She just said you can tease each other out of bad moods. Doesn’t work for me,” he muttered. “I tried teasing Lois last night and she just got madder.”

“Comic timing, my friend.” Oliver slapped his back with a chuckle. “You never did get it down. I’d give you a masterclass, but I have to get on with Victor and figure out timing for Saturday.”

“Thanks all the same,” Clark grunted. “I’ve got work.” 

CHAPTER THREE