Fic: 20 Random Facts About Lois Lane (times 2!!) | DCU/SR | Clark/Lois | R | 1/1
Title: 20 Random Facts About Lois Lane + 20 MORE Random Facts About Lois Lane
Fandom: DCU/Superman Returns
Characters/Pairing: Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Jason White, and many more!!
Rating: R - for references to serious violence
Word Count: 3,016
Summary: 40 random facts about Lois Lane, as written in Superman: Aftermath.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own it all. I own nothing. Darnit.
Author's Notes/Warnings: Since this is the version of Lois from Aftermath, there are MAJOR SPOILERS for Aftermath!!!! I can't stress that enough. If you want to be surprised by that story, you probably shouldn't read this. :p Also, there are spoilers for the as-yet unwritten sequel to Aftermath, and pretty much the rest of Lois and Clark's lives together! This would have been posted days ago, but once the muse got going, she just wouldn't stop! XD *hugs her muse* Oh! And a certain couple has been shamelessly 'borrowed' from the lovely kalalanekent and anissa7118. Love you ladies! ^_^
20 Random Facts About Lois Lane
1. Lois always thought that working her way up the ranks to senior reporter was the greatest accomplishment of her life. Then she gave birth to Jason.
2. The only thing Lois regrets more than her Pulitzer-winning article is lying to Richard about how much she loved Kal-El. He deserved better.
3. The moment she threw up her breakfast into the trash can in Perry's office, Lois knew she was pregnant. She also knew who her baby's father was... and had never been more scared in her life.
4. When Jason was two years old, Lois got herself kidnapped amidst an investigation into a smuggling ring. When she managed to free herself and escape three hours later, she knew for certain that she'd be all right if Kal-El never came back.
5. She'll never admit it out loud, but she was devastated when Clark left the Planet, not a week after Kal-El dropped off the radar. How in the world could she cope with being knocked up and abandoned without her partner and best friend at her side?
6. The best memory Lois has of working with Clark is the day they published the article that put Bill Church and his son in prison. Taking down the Metropolis branch of Intergang was such a high that they took the rest of the afternoon off and spent it strolling through Centennial Park, just talking. Lois learned more about her partner that day than she had in the entire year and a half they'd been working together, and she was happy to return the favor. Her second favorite memory is the late nights they spent working at the Planet, when it was just her, Clark, a hot story, and a deadline. Those times were pure magic.
7. When Lois was fifteen and living with the General and Lucy on base at Fort Penline, a bunch of enlisted men took her to a party in one of the dorms and proceeded to try to get her drunk. As she realized they were trying to take advantage of her, something inside her snapped, and she beat a few of them so badly they needed medical care. Afterward, she vowed never to trust another man, outside her father, and for years afterward, she reserved her trust for the General and for Lucy. It wasn't until Perry took her under his wing that she expanded that circle to include an outsider. She knew that the hardened old editor would never betray her. When Clark, and later Kal-El, came into her life, that circle grew even wider.
8. Finding out that Clark and Kal-El were the same person destroyed Lois's trust in him - them - him. Despite the way things played out between them, and how much she grew to love him again, a tiny bit of distrust in him lingered within her for years.
9. Lois still can't believe she let Clark pick their second son's name, but as she watches Bruce Jonathan graduate from high school - two years early - she's glad that he turned out as ornery and determined as both of his namesakes.
10. At the age of twelve, Lois knew she wanted to become an investigative reporter. Accidentally overhearing the General dressing down a subordinate for nearly causing an 'international incident' had her beyond curious to find out what really happened. It only took her two days to uncover the truth, and though she never told her father that she knew, she was smug and self-satisfied for a month afterward.
11. Despite evidence to the contrary, Lois doesn't hate her sister. After their mother died, having to raise Lucy and deal with her out-of-control teenage years on her own left Lois exhausted and incapable of relating to her sister on any meaningful level. When she later found out that Lucy had married and decided to raise a family instead of pursuing a career, Lois felt like she'd failed her. All she'd ever wanted for her sister was to instill a sense of independence in her.
12. When Bruce brings his adopted son to Metropolis for the first time and introduces him to Jason, Lois is taken aback by how quickly the two boys hit it off. Jason's never had many friends that he could be completely honest with, and Lois is relieved that he doesn't have to hide who he is from Dick. Before long, the two boys are fast friends, and Lois knows she won't have to worry about her son quite as hard anymore.
13. Keeping herself together after Richard and Perry got her, Jason, and Clark off of Luthor's yacht was the hardest thing Lois has ever done. Coming so close to losing her family so soon after they'd come together was simply too much to handle, and seeing Clark battered and bleeding ripped her heart in half and made her want to vomit.
14. Before Kal-El came along, Lois was close to fluent in Spanish, French, Italian, and German, thanks to growing up on military bases around the world. Now she knows a smattering of ten other languages as well. Still has atrocious spelling, however, and can't figure out why for the life of her.
15. At Perry's funeral, Lois cries for the first time since Lara was born, twelve years earlier. Losing the man she'd respected as a second father hits her harder than she expected.
16. When Martha dies two years later, Lois and Clark both cry for hours, holding onto one another with everything they have. Lois can't believe how much she came to view Clark's mother as her own.
17. Lois refused to let Clark have any part in the newly forming Justice League until she had a chance to tour their facilities herself. Satisfied that the place wasn't anything like Bruce's Cave, that Clark had plenty of access to sunlight, she gave the go-ahead. She hadn't seen Clark so thrilled since Lara was a baby.
18. Lois couldn't help distrusting Conner when Clark insisted they take him in. The boy did have Luthor's DNA, after all, despite the madman's death years earlier. But when she saw how quickly her own children took to him, and how much he seemed to care for them in return, she threw her distrust out the window. Conner was a Kent, without a doubt.
19. When the world believed that Superman had died at the hands of Doomsday, Bruce came to the house and stayed with Lois for three days, both of them taking turns crying and telling stories about Clark while the kids were secluded at Titans Tower under Dick's watchful eye. Neither Lois nor Bruce will admit to the tears, or to sleeping together on the third day, both of them desperate and grieving. After Clark returns from the grave, the subject is never brought up, though Lois knows that her husband is aware of what happened, and doesn't judge either of them for it.
20. When Jason receives his first photojournalism Pulitzer, Lois convinces Richard to close down the Planet for the rest of the day. She hires a caterer and throws an impromptu party in the bullpen for her son, wishing Perry were still alive to see Jason's success. She's never been more proud of her son.
* * * * *
20 MORE Random Facts About Lois Lane
1. Lois still can't figure out why Richard loves horror movies so damn much, but knowing that watching them might desensitize Jason to things he'd inevitably see on the screens in the bullpen, she reluctantly agreed to agreed to let her then-fiancé introduce their son to the genre when he was just a toddler. Three years later, when she and Jason wake up on Luthor's yacht, finding the room smeared with blood and grime, and Clark handcuffed to the wall, his leg and chest torn to shreds, she's glad that she made that choice. Her son's composure in the situation astounds her.
2. There's nothing worse than office gossip, as far as Lois is concerned. It was none of the other staffers' business when she became pregnant with Jason, it was none of their business when she started dating Richard, and it was none of their business when she and Richard ended their engagement. But when Lois and Clark return from their trip to Smallville married, she's more than happy to feed the flames. Let them have it, the harpies, she decides, proud to have snagged the sweetest, most loving man on the face of the planet. And if none of the office gossips can see why she loves him so much, well, that's their problem.
3. Naturally, the news that Richard and Lana - Clark's childhood sweetheart, recently relocated from Smallville by way of New York - have started dating reaches Lois through the office grapevine. Having met Lana twice and seen how well she and Richard got along, she finds herself excited for the new couple, even if she wasn't the first to know.
4. She'll never tell anyone, but Lois considers the day she fell out of that helicopter and into Kal-El's arms to be the first day of the rest of her life, for so many reasons.
5. Lois thought she would have a heart attack the day that Lara debuted as a superhero, working alongside her older brother to right a capsized ship, but when Supergirl joined the Titans a few days later, Lois's anxiety came back down to a manageable level. Dick and Jason and Ollie's kid, Roy, would take good care of her.
6. One of Lois's favorite things is waking up to the aroma of brewing coffee. When Clark lets her sleep in on the rare Sunday morning that he isn't occupied elsewhere, and surprises her with breakfast in bed, complete with fresh coffee, she considers herself the luckiest woman alive.
7. If she could have gotten close enough, Lois would have gladly spat in Mindy Church's face during her trial, for what that woman did to Clark, and indirectly, to half of Metropolis. She doesn't spare an ounce of remorse when Church is sentenced to twenty life terms, and later hangs herself.
8. If Lois hadn't promised not to, she would have gladly printed the story about how Kitty Kowalski saved the Earth and everyone on it from Luthor's plans. But Katherine - as she calls the other woman when they meet for lunch every now and then these days - wanted no part of it. Lois can respect her for not wanting the world to know about the horrors that Luthor put her through, or that she was the one that put the bullet between the man's eyes, ending him once and for all.
9. When it became clear to Lois that Kal-El wasn't ever coming back, she stripped the sheets off of her bed - the bed she'd shared with him all those nights after they first came together - and torched them on her balcony. She threw two pairs of pink undies onto the fire, along with a doll he'd brought her from Thailand, a half-smoked pack of cigarettes, and a mostly-full bottle of imported vodka. All the rest of the memories she had of him she threw into a box with some mementos from her partnership with Clark. She didn't open the box again for five months, when she added a small lead-lined container holding a tiny shard of kryptonite. Taping it shut, she vowed never to open the box again.
10. Six months after Clark comes back to her, Lois finds a web forum called “Superman's Tights”. At first, she's disgusted by the blatant ogling of her husband, but when she realizes they've got him all wrong, she joins the forum under two different pseudonyms and proceeds to set the record straight, all under the guise of 'speculation', of course. Later, when she discovers the 'fan fiction' part of the forum, she laughs herself silly. The stories about what Superman might be doing behind closed doors with Batman are the most wonderfully ludicrous things she's ever read. Of course, Clark doesn't believe her about it until she shows him, and he proceeds to turn a lovely shade of maroon. Lois has never laughed so hard in her life.
11. Lois's heart broke when Bruce Jonathan came to the conclusion that he would never be able to fly like his father, brother, and sister. Not because he was different, but because she hated to see any of her children hurting. So she did what any mother would do - she called Jason, and had him send a friend from the Titans over. Bruce took off with Kid Flash five minutes later, and she didn't see her son for three days. When he returned, having seen most of the world on his whirlwind tour with his new friend and having gained a new sense of purpose, Lois wrapped him up in a hug so tight that she wasn't sure she didn't crack a few of his ribs, partial invulnerability notwithstanding.
12. Every year on Father's Day, Lois visits the General's grave at Arlington National Cemetery, regardless of the travel time from Metropolis to DC. He may not have been the most perfect father in the world, but he did the best he could, and she still loves him for it. The year that she can't get a flight out and traffic is too congested to even consider it, Clark flies her down himself. After he departs to give her some time alone, she tells her father in no uncertain terms that he'd be proud to have Clark as his son-in-law, for being such a wonderful husband to her and father to her children. She knows that if he could hear her, he'd snap to attention, salute, and say “Yes, Ma'am!” with that mischievous twinkle in his eye that he'd always reserved for her and Lucy.
13. The Fortress has always been too cold for Lois's liking, but on her rare trips up with Clark, he fixes her a cup of hot cocoa and wraps his cape around her, kissing her warm again, and she's content to stay for days.
14. When Cat Grant started taking a liking to Clark, Lois made sure the society columnist's fat-free coffee creamer was replaced with the high-fat version. A month later, Cat was too busy trying to figure out why she'd suddenly gained ten pounds to worry about the cute office nerd. Teach her to look twice at my husband.
15. Contrary to popular opinion, Lois has never relied on Clark to help her out if she got into a jam while chasing a story. Of course, she'd probably be dead a dozen times over by now if he hadn't, but that's besides the point. She's always been ready to face the consequences of her actions - that much she learned from the General and from Perry years ago.
16. Really, the thing she's most relied on Clark for over the years is to be her personal copy editor. She's not too ashamed to admit that.
17. Okay, so maybe she's relied on him more as a friend and partner over the years. Before Clark left on his fool's journey to find Krypton, he helped her deal with the General's passing. In fact, he was the only one that stuck by her for that entire hellacious week. Now that she thinks about it, Clark is pretty much the only real friend she's ever had. Aside from his extended absence, he's been right by her side almost since the day they first met in the bullpen. The realization brings a smile to her face as she lays in bed next to her husband, and she rolls over and kisses him on the cheek, watching him sleep.
18. This is not the life Lois wanted to live. Three kids, a cat, a forever on-call husband, and a mortgage? No thank you. She'd have gladly taken the adventurous life any day. But being kidnapped by Luthor and his minions for the second time in three weeks changed her mind - she wouldn't trade her life now for all the adventure in the world. Make no mistake, she'll still go for the story in a heartbeat, and would gladly put her defensive skills to good use if the situation warranted it, but these days, she'd rather leave the deep undercover work, espionage, and terrorists to the staffers that wouldn't be missed by a houseful of kids.
19. The year that Jason joins the newly forming Teen Titans, Lois becomes a civilian member of the Justice League, to be their liaison with the press. Only the founding seven know that she's married to Clark, and it turns out to be an easier secret to keep than she'd figured... until Black Canary catches them fooling around in the showers on the Watchtower. Lucky for them, Dinah knows how to keep a secret, and no one else finds out after that.
20. Every year since Clark came home, Lois has hosted the family Christmas dinner at their apartment, letting Clark take over the cooking duties when her determined attempts invariably fail. This year, as Clark finishes with the turkey in the small kitchen, she surveys the cramped space. Dick is showing Jason, Lara, baby Bruce, and Aaron - Richard and Lana's little boy - how to walk on their hands, Richard is comparing notes with the elder Bruce about aircraft and piloting, Perry and Alice are sitting with Martha and Ben, watching It's a Wonderful Life, Lana is talking to Diana about Clark's younger days, Lucy and Ron are sneaking a kiss under the mistletoe while their twin terrors, Lauren and Jacob, run wild, and Jimmy is busy shooting the happy gathering for the Lane-Kent holiday album. The apartment has never been so full of life and laughter, and Lois is sure it never will be again. Her prediction is proved true when the growing family moves to a larger penthouse the next summer, but this Christmas will live in her memory as the holiday that her entire family was finally together. No future holiday gathering ever quite compares to this one, until the year Clark comes home... again.
* * * * *
Fandom: DCU/Superman Returns
Characters/Pairing: Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Jason White, and many more!!
Rating: R - for references to serious violence
Word Count: 3,016
Summary: 40 random facts about Lois Lane, as written in Superman: Aftermath.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own it all. I own nothing. Darnit.
Author's Notes/Warnings: Since this is the version of Lois from Aftermath, there are MAJOR SPOILERS for Aftermath!!!! I can't stress that enough. If you want to be surprised by that story, you probably shouldn't read this. :p Also, there are spoilers for the as-yet unwritten sequel to Aftermath, and pretty much the rest of Lois and Clark's lives together! This would have been posted days ago, but once the muse got going, she just wouldn't stop! XD *hugs her muse* Oh! And a certain couple has been shamelessly 'borrowed' from the lovely kalalanekent and anissa7118. Love you ladies! ^_^
20 Random Facts About Lois Lane
1. Lois always thought that working her way up the ranks to senior reporter was the greatest accomplishment of her life. Then she gave birth to Jason.
2. The only thing Lois regrets more than her Pulitzer-winning article is lying to Richard about how much she loved Kal-El. He deserved better.
3. The moment she threw up her breakfast into the trash can in Perry's office, Lois knew she was pregnant. She also knew who her baby's father was... and had never been more scared in her life.
4. When Jason was two years old, Lois got herself kidnapped amidst an investigation into a smuggling ring. When she managed to free herself and escape three hours later, she knew for certain that she'd be all right if Kal-El never came back.
5. She'll never admit it out loud, but she was devastated when Clark left the Planet, not a week after Kal-El dropped off the radar. How in the world could she cope with being knocked up and abandoned without her partner and best friend at her side?
6. The best memory Lois has of working with Clark is the day they published the article that put Bill Church and his son in prison. Taking down the Metropolis branch of Intergang was such a high that they took the rest of the afternoon off and spent it strolling through Centennial Park, just talking. Lois learned more about her partner that day than she had in the entire year and a half they'd been working together, and she was happy to return the favor. Her second favorite memory is the late nights they spent working at the Planet, when it was just her, Clark, a hot story, and a deadline. Those times were pure magic.
7. When Lois was fifteen and living with the General and Lucy on base at Fort Penline, a bunch of enlisted men took her to a party in one of the dorms and proceeded to try to get her drunk. As she realized they were trying to take advantage of her, something inside her snapped, and she beat a few of them so badly they needed medical care. Afterward, she vowed never to trust another man, outside her father, and for years afterward, she reserved her trust for the General and for Lucy. It wasn't until Perry took her under his wing that she expanded that circle to include an outsider. She knew that the hardened old editor would never betray her. When Clark, and later Kal-El, came into her life, that circle grew even wider.
8. Finding out that Clark and Kal-El were the same person destroyed Lois's trust in him - them - him. Despite the way things played out between them, and how much she grew to love him again, a tiny bit of distrust in him lingered within her for years.
9. Lois still can't believe she let Clark pick their second son's name, but as she watches Bruce Jonathan graduate from high school - two years early - she's glad that he turned out as ornery and determined as both of his namesakes.
10. At the age of twelve, Lois knew she wanted to become an investigative reporter. Accidentally overhearing the General dressing down a subordinate for nearly causing an 'international incident' had her beyond curious to find out what really happened. It only took her two days to uncover the truth, and though she never told her father that she knew, she was smug and self-satisfied for a month afterward.
11. Despite evidence to the contrary, Lois doesn't hate her sister. After their mother died, having to raise Lucy and deal with her out-of-control teenage years on her own left Lois exhausted and incapable of relating to her sister on any meaningful level. When she later found out that Lucy had married and decided to raise a family instead of pursuing a career, Lois felt like she'd failed her. All she'd ever wanted for her sister was to instill a sense of independence in her.
12. When Bruce brings his adopted son to Metropolis for the first time and introduces him to Jason, Lois is taken aback by how quickly the two boys hit it off. Jason's never had many friends that he could be completely honest with, and Lois is relieved that he doesn't have to hide who he is from Dick. Before long, the two boys are fast friends, and Lois knows she won't have to worry about her son quite as hard anymore.
13. Keeping herself together after Richard and Perry got her, Jason, and Clark off of Luthor's yacht was the hardest thing Lois has ever done. Coming so close to losing her family so soon after they'd come together was simply too much to handle, and seeing Clark battered and bleeding ripped her heart in half and made her want to vomit.
14. Before Kal-El came along, Lois was close to fluent in Spanish, French, Italian, and German, thanks to growing up on military bases around the world. Now she knows a smattering of ten other languages as well. Still has atrocious spelling, however, and can't figure out why for the life of her.
15. At Perry's funeral, Lois cries for the first time since Lara was born, twelve years earlier. Losing the man she'd respected as a second father hits her harder than she expected.
16. When Martha dies two years later, Lois and Clark both cry for hours, holding onto one another with everything they have. Lois can't believe how much she came to view Clark's mother as her own.
17. Lois refused to let Clark have any part in the newly forming Justice League until she had a chance to tour their facilities herself. Satisfied that the place wasn't anything like Bruce's Cave, that Clark had plenty of access to sunlight, she gave the go-ahead. She hadn't seen Clark so thrilled since Lara was a baby.
18. Lois couldn't help distrusting Conner when Clark insisted they take him in. The boy did have Luthor's DNA, after all, despite the madman's death years earlier. But when she saw how quickly her own children took to him, and how much he seemed to care for them in return, she threw her distrust out the window. Conner was a Kent, without a doubt.
19. When the world believed that Superman had died at the hands of Doomsday, Bruce came to the house and stayed with Lois for three days, both of them taking turns crying and telling stories about Clark while the kids were secluded at Titans Tower under Dick's watchful eye. Neither Lois nor Bruce will admit to the tears, or to sleeping together on the third day, both of them desperate and grieving. After Clark returns from the grave, the subject is never brought up, though Lois knows that her husband is aware of what happened, and doesn't judge either of them for it.
20. When Jason receives his first photojournalism Pulitzer, Lois convinces Richard to close down the Planet for the rest of the day. She hires a caterer and throws an impromptu party in the bullpen for her son, wishing Perry were still alive to see Jason's success. She's never been more proud of her son.
* * * * *
20 MORE Random Facts About Lois Lane
1. Lois still can't figure out why Richard loves horror movies so damn much, but knowing that watching them might desensitize Jason to things he'd inevitably see on the screens in the bullpen, she reluctantly agreed to agreed to let her then-fiancé introduce their son to the genre when he was just a toddler. Three years later, when she and Jason wake up on Luthor's yacht, finding the room smeared with blood and grime, and Clark handcuffed to the wall, his leg and chest torn to shreds, she's glad that she made that choice. Her son's composure in the situation astounds her.
2. There's nothing worse than office gossip, as far as Lois is concerned. It was none of the other staffers' business when she became pregnant with Jason, it was none of their business when she started dating Richard, and it was none of their business when she and Richard ended their engagement. But when Lois and Clark return from their trip to Smallville married, she's more than happy to feed the flames. Let them have it, the harpies, she decides, proud to have snagged the sweetest, most loving man on the face of the planet. And if none of the office gossips can see why she loves him so much, well, that's their problem.
3. Naturally, the news that Richard and Lana - Clark's childhood sweetheart, recently relocated from Smallville by way of New York - have started dating reaches Lois through the office grapevine. Having met Lana twice and seen how well she and Richard got along, she finds herself excited for the new couple, even if she wasn't the first to know.
4. She'll never tell anyone, but Lois considers the day she fell out of that helicopter and into Kal-El's arms to be the first day of the rest of her life, for so many reasons.
5. Lois thought she would have a heart attack the day that Lara debuted as a superhero, working alongside her older brother to right a capsized ship, but when Supergirl joined the Titans a few days later, Lois's anxiety came back down to a manageable level. Dick and Jason and Ollie's kid, Roy, would take good care of her.
6. One of Lois's favorite things is waking up to the aroma of brewing coffee. When Clark lets her sleep in on the rare Sunday morning that he isn't occupied elsewhere, and surprises her with breakfast in bed, complete with fresh coffee, she considers herself the luckiest woman alive.
7. If she could have gotten close enough, Lois would have gladly spat in Mindy Church's face during her trial, for what that woman did to Clark, and indirectly, to half of Metropolis. She doesn't spare an ounce of remorse when Church is sentenced to twenty life terms, and later hangs herself.
8. If Lois hadn't promised not to, she would have gladly printed the story about how Kitty Kowalski saved the Earth and everyone on it from Luthor's plans. But Katherine - as she calls the other woman when they meet for lunch every now and then these days - wanted no part of it. Lois can respect her for not wanting the world to know about the horrors that Luthor put her through, or that she was the one that put the bullet between the man's eyes, ending him once and for all.
9. When it became clear to Lois that Kal-El wasn't ever coming back, she stripped the sheets off of her bed - the bed she'd shared with him all those nights after they first came together - and torched them on her balcony. She threw two pairs of pink undies onto the fire, along with a doll he'd brought her from Thailand, a half-smoked pack of cigarettes, and a mostly-full bottle of imported vodka. All the rest of the memories she had of him she threw into a box with some mementos from her partnership with Clark. She didn't open the box again for five months, when she added a small lead-lined container holding a tiny shard of kryptonite. Taping it shut, she vowed never to open the box again.
10. Six months after Clark comes back to her, Lois finds a web forum called “Superman's Tights”. At first, she's disgusted by the blatant ogling of her husband, but when she realizes they've got him all wrong, she joins the forum under two different pseudonyms and proceeds to set the record straight, all under the guise of 'speculation', of course. Later, when she discovers the 'fan fiction' part of the forum, she laughs herself silly. The stories about what Superman might be doing behind closed doors with Batman are the most wonderfully ludicrous things she's ever read. Of course, Clark doesn't believe her about it until she shows him, and he proceeds to turn a lovely shade of maroon. Lois has never laughed so hard in her life.
11. Lois's heart broke when Bruce Jonathan came to the conclusion that he would never be able to fly like his father, brother, and sister. Not because he was different, but because she hated to see any of her children hurting. So she did what any mother would do - she called Jason, and had him send a friend from the Titans over. Bruce took off with Kid Flash five minutes later, and she didn't see her son for three days. When he returned, having seen most of the world on his whirlwind tour with his new friend and having gained a new sense of purpose, Lois wrapped him up in a hug so tight that she wasn't sure she didn't crack a few of his ribs, partial invulnerability notwithstanding.
12. Every year on Father's Day, Lois visits the General's grave at Arlington National Cemetery, regardless of the travel time from Metropolis to DC. He may not have been the most perfect father in the world, but he did the best he could, and she still loves him for it. The year that she can't get a flight out and traffic is too congested to even consider it, Clark flies her down himself. After he departs to give her some time alone, she tells her father in no uncertain terms that he'd be proud to have Clark as his son-in-law, for being such a wonderful husband to her and father to her children. She knows that if he could hear her, he'd snap to attention, salute, and say “Yes, Ma'am!” with that mischievous twinkle in his eye that he'd always reserved for her and Lucy.
13. The Fortress has always been too cold for Lois's liking, but on her rare trips up with Clark, he fixes her a cup of hot cocoa and wraps his cape around her, kissing her warm again, and she's content to stay for days.
14. When Cat Grant started taking a liking to Clark, Lois made sure the society columnist's fat-free coffee creamer was replaced with the high-fat version. A month later, Cat was too busy trying to figure out why she'd suddenly gained ten pounds to worry about the cute office nerd. Teach her to look twice at my husband.
15. Contrary to popular opinion, Lois has never relied on Clark to help her out if she got into a jam while chasing a story. Of course, she'd probably be dead a dozen times over by now if he hadn't, but that's besides the point. She's always been ready to face the consequences of her actions - that much she learned from the General and from Perry years ago.
16. Really, the thing she's most relied on Clark for over the years is to be her personal copy editor. She's not too ashamed to admit that.
17. Okay, so maybe she's relied on him more as a friend and partner over the years. Before Clark left on his fool's journey to find Krypton, he helped her deal with the General's passing. In fact, he was the only one that stuck by her for that entire hellacious week. Now that she thinks about it, Clark is pretty much the only real friend she's ever had. Aside from his extended absence, he's been right by her side almost since the day they first met in the bullpen. The realization brings a smile to her face as she lays in bed next to her husband, and she rolls over and kisses him on the cheek, watching him sleep.
18. This is not the life Lois wanted to live. Three kids, a cat, a forever on-call husband, and a mortgage? No thank you. She'd have gladly taken the adventurous life any day. But being kidnapped by Luthor and his minions for the second time in three weeks changed her mind - she wouldn't trade her life now for all the adventure in the world. Make no mistake, she'll still go for the story in a heartbeat, and would gladly put her defensive skills to good use if the situation warranted it, but these days, she'd rather leave the deep undercover work, espionage, and terrorists to the staffers that wouldn't be missed by a houseful of kids.
19. The year that Jason joins the newly forming Teen Titans, Lois becomes a civilian member of the Justice League, to be their liaison with the press. Only the founding seven know that she's married to Clark, and it turns out to be an easier secret to keep than she'd figured... until Black Canary catches them fooling around in the showers on the Watchtower. Lucky for them, Dinah knows how to keep a secret, and no one else finds out after that.
20. Every year since Clark came home, Lois has hosted the family Christmas dinner at their apartment, letting Clark take over the cooking duties when her determined attempts invariably fail. This year, as Clark finishes with the turkey in the small kitchen, she surveys the cramped space. Dick is showing Jason, Lara, baby Bruce, and Aaron - Richard and Lana's little boy - how to walk on their hands, Richard is comparing notes with the elder Bruce about aircraft and piloting, Perry and Alice are sitting with Martha and Ben, watching It's a Wonderful Life, Lana is talking to Diana about Clark's younger days, Lucy and Ron are sneaking a kiss under the mistletoe while their twin terrors, Lauren and Jacob, run wild, and Jimmy is busy shooting the happy gathering for the Lane-Kent holiday album. The apartment has never been so full of life and laughter, and Lois is sure it never will be again. Her prediction is proved true when the growing family moves to a larger penthouse the next summer, but this Christmas will live in her memory as the holiday that her entire family was finally together. No future holiday gathering ever quite compares to this one, until the year Clark comes home... again.
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