(no subject)
The Scare
_lois_lane_ and cat_grant
Not visible to other muses.
Lois Lane paced around her apartment, stewing.
She'd called her sister Lucy three times and got no
answer. 'Who else can I call?' she wondered. Her
stomach ached just thinking about it. Well, there was
one person she could call. One person who
just might understand her predicament. She
picked up the phone and dialed hurriedly, before she
could talk herself out of it. "Hello... Cat?"
Cat was lying on the floor, her face covered with a
mask and some cut cucumbers when she sought the phone
receiver blindly. "Lois? Hi. This is a suprise."
Lois sounded odd on the phone. Edgy. Almost panicked.
"I know, I know. I just didn't know who to call. I
need to talk to someone, and I thought you
might be able to help me. I know this is out of the
blue and all--" She babbled, not making much sense.
"It's... it's bad."
Cat sat up, mumbling a curse when the forgotten
cucumbers fell over. Lois did tend to exagerrate, but
enough to call her? "What's wrong? Did you have
another meet with George or something?"
"Well, yes..." Lois heaved a sigh. "And it didn't go
well at all. It was too soon to try and make up. I...
sort of walked in on George and his new boyfriend."
Lois cringed with humiliation, twisting her fingers
through the phone cord. "But, believe it or not,
that's not why I called."
Cat tried not to laugh. The idea of Lois walking in on
George and his boyfriend was amusing. "Uh, I bet it
wasn't pleasant. I can't relate to that, though,
sorry. What's wrong, though? Must be pretty bad if you
called me."
Lois felt her cheeks burn with humiliation. Good thing
she and Cat weren't face-to-face. "Cat, I'm... late."
Cat raised her eyebrows. "Er... how long? You know,
I've had so many false alarms I can tell you the best
thing is to just check and not panick right away. I
went crazy the first couple of times. I thought I'd
have to kill myself, I was so worried."
"I should have had it two or three weeks ago. And
then, you know how I was sick to my stomach? This can
only mean one thing..." Lois trembled.
This was bad. "Lois, the only advice I could
give you is check. Get one of those home test
thingies. You could have just missed it because you
were sick - it happens, you know."
"Do you think you could come over? Maybe?" She
couldn't believe she'd just asked Cat Grant to
her apartment. But at least Cat had experience with
this sort of thing.
"I guess, if it would make you feel better. Carter
Avenue, right? I'll be there in a half hour. I'll pick
up a couple of tests for you." This was surreal. Lois
Lane and Cat Grant, who would have though they'd ever
get along. Let alone this much - Lois never needed
support. Or at least she never showed it.
"Carter Avenue, right. And thanks, Cat..." She set the
phone down in its cradle.
* * * * *
Cat knocked on the door. She hoped Lois was still fine
- after all, pregnant or not, she was feeling sick
lately.
It was still quite hot in Metropolis due to the recent
heat wave. It shouldn't have surprised Lois when Cat
arrived in a gold lame bikini.
She handed Lois the bag in her hand. "Hi. Do you want
to do it now?"
Lois stared at the drug store bag and withdrew the
at-home pregnancy test as though it was something
hideous. She skimmed over the instructions. "I guess
the sooner the better, right?" she said, already
looking defeated.
Cat couldn't help but sympathize. She put her hand on
Lois's shoulder. "Don't worry. Even if you are
pregnant, what's the worst that can happen?" She led
her into the bathroom. "Now you take the test, so you
can calm down."
"What's the worst that can happen? I don't even want
to think about it..." Lois shut the bathroom
door. She took her time, reading the instructions
twice so as to make sure she'd done everything right.
She emerged from the bathroom moments later. "Fifteen
minutes," she said with a sigh.
Cat sighed. "Just sit down. It'll be fine. What
exactly is so bad about having children?" She couldn't
believe those words were coming out of her mouth, Miss
Cat 'casual romance and nothing else' Grant.
Lois sank into her sofa dejectedly. "What in the world
would I do with a kid? And how could I tell George
after things went so badly when I tried to visit?
Besides, I'd be a terrible parent. My job... it's too
time-consuming. How could I do that to a kid?"
Cat waved her hand in the air. "Don't be afraid of
what George will say. He may not be in love with you,
but hopefully he has enough common sense to realize
it's not like you woke up one morning and said, 'oh, I
think today I'll get pregnant'. And why do you think
you'd be a bad parent? George is not off the hook
here. He can babysit, too, you know. Although I would
understand if you didn't want him to... Anyway, you
know, even if you are a single mother, you do have
friends that could help you, right? You aren't alone
by far, if you think about it."
Lois looked like she might cry. "Cat, I can't do this.
Do you realize how much I'd have to give up? I can't
even stand to think about it. Maternity leave alone
would kill me. I was so careful, Cat. We used
protection. Then, one day we didn't. I'm on the pill,
I trusted it... but then nothing is a hundred percent
accurate, is it?"
Cat sat down next to Lois. "The pill is ninety nine
point nine percent accurate, most of the time, if you
take it every day. If you took your pills every day,
you probably missed it because you've been sick. You
know, it happens, like I said earlier. But Lois...
there's always abortion," she said the last sentence
almost whispering, as if fearing Lois's reaction.
Lois sighed. "I know." She wrung her hands worriedly.
She knew deep down it would probably come down to
that. But when faced with it, it felt so... wrong. She
looked at her watch. It had only been five minutes.
"This is the longest fifteen minutes of my life," she
groaned.
Cat chuckled. "That's what I said last time I was at
the dentist's."
Lois had to smile. 'Cat's a pretty decent person when
she isn't harassing me,' she thought. Her face fell at
another realization. Her friends. "What happens
when people find out? Everyone at the Planet...
People will talk."
"People do talk. And I can tell you that, I could have
enough material for my column for the next month if
Perry let me use everything I hear at the
Planet. But they knew you were involved in a
relationship - it's not like you were single for years
and suddenly got pregnant. Don't worry."
Lois frowned. This couldn't be happening. "George is
going to feel lynched into this. Like I planned it.
Things have been going so badly since we broke it off.
His friends despise me. But how could I not tell him?
I feel like--well, even if I decided to get it taken
care of at a clinic, he at least has the right to know
before I do..."
Cat raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you're right, but what's
wrong with telling him? He doesn't hate you. And trust
me, I don't think he'll believe you planned this.
Time?"
She looked at her watch. "Almost. Two minutes."
"God. Now I'm nervous, too."
Somehow, somewhere deep-down, Cat's concern was a real
comfort. "So this has happened to you before? And all
false alarms?"
Cat looked down. "Most of them. I got pregnant
once..."
"Really?" Lois said softly.
"Yeah." She turned to look at Lois. "I was going to
have the baby. I thought about it for a while, and I
decided I wanted to have it. I carried it for 3
months! And then..." She looked back down. "Then I had
a miscarriage. And that was that."
"Oh, God. Cat, I'm sorry..." Lois said in an
almost-whisper. "That must have been terrible. Your
boyfriend, was he still in the picture when it
happened?"
"He was there, but we were just friends by then. It
was a long time ago, I got over it, really. I think he
was relieved." She looked up at the ceiling,
irritated. "You should have seen his face when I told
him. He could have at least pretended to be sorry!"
"Jerk," Lois muttered. "That must have been so hard.
But then, maybe things happen for a reason. Do you
want a family someday, Cat? I never thought of you as
the 'settling down' type."
Cat paused for a minute. "I guess, someday. I don't
know why I go through men the way I do, but even the
ones that lasted for a week or two - I could never see
myself staying with them for any longer. I don't dump
guys because I mean to be a tease. I'm just picky. Or
careful. Either way - I guess when the right time and
the right man comes, it'll just happen. I never
planned anything for the future, but look how that
turned out - I ended up working for one of the best
newspapers in America." She smiled. "And I don't
regret that."
A small smile crossed Lois' face. "That's a good way
to look at it. I agree with you. Laying out a plan is
futile. There's nothing wrong with being picky,
anyhow." Lois looked at her watch. "Time's up." She
took a deep breath. Pink line, yes; Blue plus, no...
Or was it one line, yes; two lines, no? "Would you...
do the honors? I can barely remember what symbol means
what..." She cast a nervous glance in the direction of
the bathroom, where the test lay, results waiting.
Cat stood up. "Okay. Give me the package." She picked
the package up from the table and read the back.
"Okay. Take a deep breath."
Lois did, and clasped her shaky hands in a vain
attempt to ease her nerves.
Cat walked into the bathroom. She emerged a minute
later, holding the white plastic device, and with a
final look at it, held it out for Lois to see. "It's
negative."
Lois stood up and stared at it in disbelief. "Thank
God!" she cried out as the realization hit her.
Negative! She wasn't! She threw her arms
around Cat and squeezed her tightly. When she pulled
back, Cat had a very bewildered expression on her
face. "Don't worry, that won't happen again," Lois
said with a smirk.
Cat's expression softened. "Don't worry, I just wasn't
expecting this. None of that in the Planet,
though - after all, I do have a reputation to
keep up," her expression turning playfully stern. "I'm
glad you're okay."
Lois grinned. "Ha. I have a reputation, too. You think
'Mad Dog Lane' goes around hugging gossip columnists?
I think not!" Her face fell. "Cat, if you breathe a
word about this to anyone--"
"-- It's okay, Lois. Your secret's safe with me. But
you have to promise not to tell anyone anything you
found out about me tonight, too!"
"Of course not, Cat. I would never tell anyone." Lois
couldn't believe she and Cat had shared as much as
they did. "My God, if Clark ever found out, I'd be so
embarrassed," she said, thinking aloud.
Cat tilted her head to the side. "Why? If you think
about it, he never did anything to embarrass you, and
you've been partners for enough time now. It's time
you start being friends, at least!"
"It's just... well, look at him. He's so darn
wholesome. I'd hate for him to think I was some
kind of easy city girl. I have to admit, I've taken a
liking to having him as a partner," Lois replied
honestly.
"He won't think that. Trust me - no one at the
Planet will ever think you are easy. But you have to
stop doing this to yourself - you did not have a one
night stand, for crying out loud! You had a
boyfriend!" She sighed. "Besides, it was a false
alarm, after all. You're not pregnant."
"You're right... And no one will find out about this
scare, either. Everything that happened here is
between you and me."
"Deal."
_lois_lane_ and cat_grant
Not visible to other muses.
Lois Lane paced around her apartment, stewing.
She'd called her sister Lucy three times and got no
answer. 'Who else can I call?' she wondered. Her
stomach ached just thinking about it. Well, there was
one person she could call. One person who
just might understand her predicament. She
picked up the phone and dialed hurriedly, before she
could talk herself out of it. "Hello... Cat?"
Cat was lying on the floor, her face covered with a
mask and some cut cucumbers when she sought the phone
receiver blindly. "Lois? Hi. This is a suprise."
Lois sounded odd on the phone. Edgy. Almost panicked.
"I know, I know. I just didn't know who to call. I
need to talk to someone, and I thought you
might be able to help me. I know this is out of the
blue and all--" She babbled, not making much sense.
"It's... it's bad."
Cat sat up, mumbling a curse when the forgotten
cucumbers fell over. Lois did tend to exagerrate, but
enough to call her? "What's wrong? Did you have
another meet with George or something?"
"Well, yes..." Lois heaved a sigh. "And it didn't go
well at all. It was too soon to try and make up. I...
sort of walked in on George and his new boyfriend."
Lois cringed with humiliation, twisting her fingers
through the phone cord. "But, believe it or not,
that's not why I called."
Cat tried not to laugh. The idea of Lois walking in on
George and his boyfriend was amusing. "Uh, I bet it
wasn't pleasant. I can't relate to that, though,
sorry. What's wrong, though? Must be pretty bad if you
called me."
Lois felt her cheeks burn with humiliation. Good thing
she and Cat weren't face-to-face. "Cat, I'm... late."
Cat raised her eyebrows. "Er... how long? You know,
I've had so many false alarms I can tell you the best
thing is to just check and not panick right away. I
went crazy the first couple of times. I thought I'd
have to kill myself, I was so worried."
"I should have had it two or three weeks ago. And
then, you know how I was sick to my stomach? This can
only mean one thing..." Lois trembled.
This was bad. "Lois, the only advice I could
give you is check. Get one of those home test
thingies. You could have just missed it because you
were sick - it happens, you know."
"Do you think you could come over? Maybe?" She
couldn't believe she'd just asked Cat Grant to
her apartment. But at least Cat had experience with
this sort of thing.
"I guess, if it would make you feel better. Carter
Avenue, right? I'll be there in a half hour. I'll pick
up a couple of tests for you." This was surreal. Lois
Lane and Cat Grant, who would have though they'd ever
get along. Let alone this much - Lois never needed
support. Or at least she never showed it.
"Carter Avenue, right. And thanks, Cat..." She set the
phone down in its cradle.
* * * * *
Cat knocked on the door. She hoped Lois was still fine
- after all, pregnant or not, she was feeling sick
lately.
It was still quite hot in Metropolis due to the recent
heat wave. It shouldn't have surprised Lois when Cat
arrived in a gold lame bikini.
She handed Lois the bag in her hand. "Hi. Do you want
to do it now?"
Lois stared at the drug store bag and withdrew the
at-home pregnancy test as though it was something
hideous. She skimmed over the instructions. "I guess
the sooner the better, right?" she said, already
looking defeated.
Cat couldn't help but sympathize. She put her hand on
Lois's shoulder. "Don't worry. Even if you are
pregnant, what's the worst that can happen?" She led
her into the bathroom. "Now you take the test, so you
can calm down."
"What's the worst that can happen? I don't even want
to think about it..." Lois shut the bathroom
door. She took her time, reading the instructions
twice so as to make sure she'd done everything right.
She emerged from the bathroom moments later. "Fifteen
minutes," she said with a sigh.
Cat sighed. "Just sit down. It'll be fine. What
exactly is so bad about having children?" She couldn't
believe those words were coming out of her mouth, Miss
Cat 'casual romance and nothing else' Grant.
Lois sank into her sofa dejectedly. "What in the world
would I do with a kid? And how could I tell George
after things went so badly when I tried to visit?
Besides, I'd be a terrible parent. My job... it's too
time-consuming. How could I do that to a kid?"
Cat waved her hand in the air. "Don't be afraid of
what George will say. He may not be in love with you,
but hopefully he has enough common sense to realize
it's not like you woke up one morning and said, 'oh, I
think today I'll get pregnant'. And why do you think
you'd be a bad parent? George is not off the hook
here. He can babysit, too, you know. Although I would
understand if you didn't want him to... Anyway, you
know, even if you are a single mother, you do have
friends that could help you, right? You aren't alone
by far, if you think about it."
Lois looked like she might cry. "Cat, I can't do this.
Do you realize how much I'd have to give up? I can't
even stand to think about it. Maternity leave alone
would kill me. I was so careful, Cat. We used
protection. Then, one day we didn't. I'm on the pill,
I trusted it... but then nothing is a hundred percent
accurate, is it?"
Cat sat down next to Lois. "The pill is ninety nine
point nine percent accurate, most of the time, if you
take it every day. If you took your pills every day,
you probably missed it because you've been sick. You
know, it happens, like I said earlier. But Lois...
there's always abortion," she said the last sentence
almost whispering, as if fearing Lois's reaction.
Lois sighed. "I know." She wrung her hands worriedly.
She knew deep down it would probably come down to
that. But when faced with it, it felt so... wrong. She
looked at her watch. It had only been five minutes.
"This is the longest fifteen minutes of my life," she
groaned.
Cat chuckled. "That's what I said last time I was at
the dentist's."
Lois had to smile. 'Cat's a pretty decent person when
she isn't harassing me,' she thought. Her face fell at
another realization. Her friends. "What happens
when people find out? Everyone at the Planet...
People will talk."
"People do talk. And I can tell you that, I could have
enough material for my column for the next month if
Perry let me use everything I hear at the
Planet. But they knew you were involved in a
relationship - it's not like you were single for years
and suddenly got pregnant. Don't worry."
Lois frowned. This couldn't be happening. "George is
going to feel lynched into this. Like I planned it.
Things have been going so badly since we broke it off.
His friends despise me. But how could I not tell him?
I feel like--well, even if I decided to get it taken
care of at a clinic, he at least has the right to know
before I do..."
Cat raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you're right, but what's
wrong with telling him? He doesn't hate you. And trust
me, I don't think he'll believe you planned this.
Time?"
She looked at her watch. "Almost. Two minutes."
"God. Now I'm nervous, too."
Somehow, somewhere deep-down, Cat's concern was a real
comfort. "So this has happened to you before? And all
false alarms?"
Cat looked down. "Most of them. I got pregnant
once..."
"Really?" Lois said softly.
"Yeah." She turned to look at Lois. "I was going to
have the baby. I thought about it for a while, and I
decided I wanted to have it. I carried it for 3
months! And then..." She looked back down. "Then I had
a miscarriage. And that was that."
"Oh, God. Cat, I'm sorry..." Lois said in an
almost-whisper. "That must have been terrible. Your
boyfriend, was he still in the picture when it
happened?"
"He was there, but we were just friends by then. It
was a long time ago, I got over it, really. I think he
was relieved." She looked up at the ceiling,
irritated. "You should have seen his face when I told
him. He could have at least pretended to be sorry!"
"Jerk," Lois muttered. "That must have been so hard.
But then, maybe things happen for a reason. Do you
want a family someday, Cat? I never thought of you as
the 'settling down' type."
Cat paused for a minute. "I guess, someday. I don't
know why I go through men the way I do, but even the
ones that lasted for a week or two - I could never see
myself staying with them for any longer. I don't dump
guys because I mean to be a tease. I'm just picky. Or
careful. Either way - I guess when the right time and
the right man comes, it'll just happen. I never
planned anything for the future, but look how that
turned out - I ended up working for one of the best
newspapers in America." She smiled. "And I don't
regret that."
A small smile crossed Lois' face. "That's a good way
to look at it. I agree with you. Laying out a plan is
futile. There's nothing wrong with being picky,
anyhow." Lois looked at her watch. "Time's up." She
took a deep breath. Pink line, yes; Blue plus, no...
Or was it one line, yes; two lines, no? "Would you...
do the honors? I can barely remember what symbol means
what..." She cast a nervous glance in the direction of
the bathroom, where the test lay, results waiting.
Cat stood up. "Okay. Give me the package." She picked
the package up from the table and read the back.
"Okay. Take a deep breath."
Lois did, and clasped her shaky hands in a vain
attempt to ease her nerves.
Cat walked into the bathroom. She emerged a minute
later, holding the white plastic device, and with a
final look at it, held it out for Lois to see. "It's
negative."
Lois stood up and stared at it in disbelief. "Thank
God!" she cried out as the realization hit her.
Negative! She wasn't! She threw her arms
around Cat and squeezed her tightly. When she pulled
back, Cat had a very bewildered expression on her
face. "Don't worry, that won't happen again," Lois
said with a smirk.
Cat's expression softened. "Don't worry, I just wasn't
expecting this. None of that in the Planet,
though - after all, I do have a reputation to
keep up," her expression turning playfully stern. "I'm
glad you're okay."
Lois grinned. "Ha. I have a reputation, too. You think
'Mad Dog Lane' goes around hugging gossip columnists?
I think not!" Her face fell. "Cat, if you breathe a
word about this to anyone--"
"-- It's okay, Lois. Your secret's safe with me. But
you have to promise not to tell anyone anything you
found out about me tonight, too!"
"Of course not, Cat. I would never tell anyone." Lois
couldn't believe she and Cat had shared as much as
they did. "My God, if Clark ever found out, I'd be so
embarrassed," she said, thinking aloud.
Cat tilted her head to the side. "Why? If you think
about it, he never did anything to embarrass you, and
you've been partners for enough time now. It's time
you start being friends, at least!"
"It's just... well, look at him. He's so darn
wholesome. I'd hate for him to think I was some
kind of easy city girl. I have to admit, I've taken a
liking to having him as a partner," Lois replied
honestly.
"He won't think that. Trust me - no one at the
Planet will ever think you are easy. But you have to
stop doing this to yourself - you did not have a one
night stand, for crying out loud! You had a
boyfriend!" She sighed. "Besides, it was a false
alarm, after all. You're not pregnant."
"You're right... And no one will find out about this
scare, either. Everything that happened here is
between you and me."
"Deal."