Summary: Doubts abound after a series of unfortunate events involving Lex Luthor, red Kryptonite, and Miranda's pheromone spray. Can Lois and Clark survive the storm to come?

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I make nothing. All characters, plot points, and recognizable dialogue belong to DC comics, Warner Brothers, December 3rd Productions and anyone else with a stake in the Superman Franchise. I'm just having fun with their toys.

Author's Note: I am completely altering the time line for this story. Also, this will deal with non-consensual sex between a man and a woman, but will NOT be described in graphic detail. This story will also deal with other difficult and controversial topics, though I have attempted to handle them in as delicate a way as I possibly can.

Special thanks go to: ChrisP for planting the idea for this story in my head. I hope I did it justice for you!

Special thanks also go out to: AntiK, my ever fearless, ever helpful beta. Your comments throughout the story have helped shape it into something stronger than it once was, as always. We make a "super" team, the two of us! Thanks for taking on this monster of a story.

Miranda Covington smiled and hummed a lively tune to herself as she mixed various chemicals in her laboratory. Unstopping a vial of clear liquid, she poured the contents into the vat she was currently working on. Her humming became louder, almost words. An evil, pleased smile crossed her lips as she worked. From a shelf to her right, Warlock, a completely black cat, looked on. Miranda hated that the cat was there, watching her every move. The last batch of pheromone-laced perfume she'd cooked up had killed her other cat, Daru, with the noxious fumes it had given off when she'd miscalculated the ratio of her ingredients. But there was no dissuading Warlock away from his perch. Instead, he lay there, purring away, as though he were supervising the operation.

"I want to get physical, physical," she sang, breaking away from her near-humming. Her voice was muffled by the mask she was wearing to protect herself from the effects of the perfume.

She grabbed the last ingredient and added it to the mix. The lavender oil was supposed to help mask the smell of the pheromone mixture, which reminded her of sweaty gym socks. To her dismay, it did almost nothing to hide the odor. She shrugged to herself. Making it smell more pleasant was a perk only for her, not for her targets. Still, she dared not add more to the mixture. She couldn't risk diluting it. If it was to work, she would need it to be as potent as possible.

"Twenty percent," she said, marking the beaker in her hand with a black marker. "This should do the trick. But who?" she wondered aloud.

"Meooow," Warlock responded, stretching. He arched his back and jumped down from his shelf to wander toward the water bowl on the other side of the room.

"Hmm," Miranda mused, as if the cat's meow had been an actual name. "Of course!"

"Meow?" the sleek black cat asked, standing by the empty food dish.

Miranda crossed the room and knelt by the bin where she kept the cat food. She dug out a scoop, then another, and filled the bowl. "There you go, sweetie."

Warlock purred and rubbed against her upraised knee. Miranda pet the cat's head, luxuriating in the silky feel of the jet black fur. After a moment, she straightened back up. Biting her lower lip in thought, she left her lab for the night. The perfume needed some time to rest. Besides, it was late. Her plans would need to wait.

"Morning," Clark said cheerfully as he passed by Lois' desk, biting into a plain cake donut and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Morning," Lois said, barely looking up from her computer screen. She spoke distractedly.

"What are you working on?" Clark asked, diverting himself from his path to his own desk. Instead, he circled behind Lois' and sat on the edge.

"That murder-suicide we covered last night," she said. "I've almost got it written up."

"Didn't you get my email? I had a hard time falling asleep last night so I came in and filed it for us."

Lois' jaw dropped open an inch. "No! The network's been down all morning. What time did you come in?"

Clark shrugged. "Sorry. I guess I should have left a post-it note too. I guess it was about...eleven-ish?"

"You should have called me. I would have met you here."

Again, he shrugged. "I figured it was pointless to drag the two of us out in the rain when I could write it up myself. It wound up being a fairly quick article anyway. I was back in my apartment by twelve forty-five. And that included a stop at the twenty-four hour convenience store a couple of blocks from my house for a late night churro."

"Well...thanks," Lois said, brushing a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. "I appreciate it."

"No problem," Clark said, meaning every word. "You know I'll never have a problem with doing something like that."

"Yeah, I know."

"So...I was wondering..." Clark began.

"Yeah?"

"Well..." he said, clearing his throat.

Inwardly, he groaned. He'd spent half the night trying to figure out how to ask Lois out, which was the real reason why he hadn't slept well. They'd been friends for the better part of a year. He feared to rock the boat, now that Lois trusted him as both a partner and a best friend. After all, he didn't want to lose her. On the other hand, it was killing him inside, having to hold back his true emotions around her.

Then again, he sighed to himself, the only person she seems to be interested in is Superman.

That thought made him sad. While it was great that the alien superhero had found a friend and champion in Lois, the flashy suit and the extraordinary powers had blinded her to the real man that they belonged to. The man who loved her. The man who worked alongside her every day. The man she utterly ignored as far as romantic thoughts seemed to be concerned.

"Luciano's for lunch?" he asked instead.

Lois smiled. "I'd like that."

He sighed. "That...that wasn't..."

"Clark? What's going on? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he said. "I just...need to ask you something."

"How much?"

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"Clark, you're jumpy and beating around the bush. Clearly you aren't comfortable asking. So...how much do you need?" She shrugged while reaching for her purse.

"No, Lois. I'm not asking for money."

"Then what? Do you need to borrow the Jeep? If you gas it up, it's yours."

"Would you like to go out with me?" he asked, finally finding his courage, the words tumbling out of his mouth in a rush.

"What? You mean like...a date?" she asked after a long moment of processing his words, a look of utter shock on her face.

He nodded and dropped his voice a little lower, unwilling to let the entire bullpen overhear him. "Yes. Like a date."

"Oh, Clark...I don't know...I mean...we're best friends."

"And partners," he added.

"Exactly! What if we did and it blew up in our face? I can't lose you as a friend," she said, her eyes still wide as she fumbled for words.

"You'll never lose me, Lois. I care about you too much to let anything get in the way of our friendship. There isn't a force on this Earth that can change that."

She rewarded him with a tender smile. "Well, when you put it like that..."

Clark brightened. "So...you will?"

Lois nodded her affirmation. "Sure. Let's give it a shot."

It was a struggle for Clark to keep his feet firmly planted on the floor and not float in his happiness. Lois saw his smile grow and matched his grin.

"What?" she asked as he continued to grin at her.

"Nothing. It's just...I'm glad that you're willing to give this a shot. I thought..." he let his voice trail off as he shrugged.

"That what?" Lois prodded. "That I'd waste my time pursuing Superman until I die?" She gestured, as if dismissing the thought. "Don't look at me like that. I know what you must think of my...attraction to him."

"I just didn't realize you'd given up on him, that's all."

Lois sighed. "I'm not sure he even knows I exist. At least, not outside of our friendship. But maybe...maybe it's a good thing," she said, her voice steeling with conviction as she spoke. "I mean, really, I'm not sure I would want to share my boyfriend with the entire world. Besides, it was a stupid idea that a man like that, who can have anyone in the world, would pick...well...someone like me."

"It's not such a stupid idea, Lois," Clark said in a soft voice. Then, realizing he was treading on dangerous ground, he faked a cough and changed his tone. "I mean, you've got a lot to offer a guy."

"You're just saying that because I agreed to go out with you," she said with a smirk.

Clark shook his head and smiled. "No way! Why do you think I asked you out? Why I've wanted to ask you out since the moment we first met? It's because you are the most fascinating, complex, brilliant woman I've ever come across. Not to mention the fact that you're beautiful."

He clamped his mouth shut as he processed what he'd said. He hadn't meant to say so much. But Lois didn't look upset at him. In fact, though perhaps a bit surprised, she seemed to be touched by his confession.

"Well," she said after a moment, "maybe it all worked out for the best. I mean, you're a great guy, right?" Had he imagined it, or had Lois sounded almost vulnerable and scared for an instant there?

"I like to think so," he replied with a wry grin and a quick, shallow nod.

"Any woman would be lucky to date you."

"Thanks," he said. "That means a lot. So...how does tonight sound?" It felt like an awkward way to put the conversation back on its initial track, but he couldn't take back what he'd said.

"I wish I could," Lois said, throwing a glance at her calendar, as if to double check the date. "But I have a dinner date tonight."

"A dinner date? With who?"

"Lex Luthor. Actually, it's more of a dinner than a date. A working dinner. He's finally agreed to let me interview him. For the first time, he'll actually be answering a reporter's questions about himself."

"Oh," Clark said, his tone going icier than he'd wanted and his mouth twisting down into a frown.

"What is it with you and Lex? Ever since the night you met him at the White Orchard ball when you first started here, you've had this hatred for him," she demanded.

"I wouldn't call it a hatred," Clark mumbled in defense.

Lois crossed her arms and gave him a hard look.

"I just don't trust the guy," Clark confessed after a moment. "There's something about him. I can't place my finger on it. I just...I don't think he's the good guy philanthropist everyone thinks he is."

"Clark, please, it's more than that. The way you talk about him, it's like you consider him to be the root of all evil."

"He may well be," Clark said, taking another sip of his coffee. "I just can't prove it yet."

Lois rolled her eyes. "In any case, I'll be the first reporter to snag an in-depth interview with him. Kerth award, here I come!"

Clark chuckled. "One thing at a time, Lois. One thing at a time."

"Let's see...today is Thursday. How about Saturday for...you know. Our date." She lowered her voice, perhaps afraid that their coworkers would overhear them.

"Saturday's great," Clark said. He'd purposefully kept his calendar clear in case Lois had agreed to go out with him. "I know a guy who can get me two tickets to Rent at the Metropolis Theatre House, if you're interested."

"I'd like that." Lois' phone began to ring. She looked apologetically at Clark.

"Go ahead," he said. "I need to work on getting my article on the arson trial written up before Perry skins me alive."

He wandered over to his desk, started his computer, and began to type. The article flowed from his fingertips. It was a simple enough story to write, just the verdict of an arson trial that he'd been assigned to cover - not surprisingly, the jury had found the defendant guilty. Within fifteen minutes, it was finished and he fired it off to Perry, thankful that the network had come back online since he'd first started talking to Lois.

At lunchtime, Lois and Clark hailed a cab and took it to Luciano's, one of their favorite Italian restaurants. Clark paid for their meal, feeling almost like they were preparing for their first date. He said nothing about it to Lois, however. He'd already admitted to far more than he'd wanted to that day. He was just happy that Lois had actually said yes to him - that she was going to give him, Clark, a real chance.

Of course, that didn't make him feel any better about Lois' impending dinner with Luthor. The guy reeked of evil. Clark vowed that some day, he would find a way to make Luthor pay for whatever misdeeds the man had committed.

"Sir?"

Lex Luthor held up one finger to silence his manservant, Nigel, as he finished signing his name to the check he was writing out. When he was finished, he set it aside in a pile of similarly prepared checks.

"These are ready to go out," he said, gesturing to the pile.

"Payments to your business associates?" the man asked knowingly.

"Just the legitimate ones," Lex grinned.

The elder British man had been with him from the beginning, when Lex had taken over his first corporation. He was the only man alive who was privy to Lex's more underhanded and illegal business dealings. In many ways, he was the one person on the planet that Lex trusted at all.

"Very good, sir. I will get these out by the end of the day."

"Excellent."

"There is a Miss Miranda Covington here to see you, sir."

"Miranda? Here?" He frowned. He hadn't summoned the woman. He hadn't even spoken to her in well more than a year.

Nigel nodded. "She says that she has urgent news that she must discuss with you."

"My calendar?" Lex asked.

"Free until lunch, when you have a meeting with Mr. Kobiyachi."

"Ah, yes." Lex threw a glance at the antique clock on the wall. "Make Miranda wait ten minutes and then show her in."

"Very good, sir."

"And, Nigel?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I'll take the stretch limo to the meeting this afternoon."

"An excellent choice, sir," the manservant said with a bow before exiting the room.

Ten minutes later, the man reappeared as he escorted Miranda into the room. Without a word, he slipped back out, unnoticed by either party. Miranda slithered her way over to Lex's desk, where he still sat, less than thrilled to be meeting with the woman before him.

"Miranda," he said flatly. "How nice to see you."

"Lex, you haven't been returning my calls," she purred in a dangerous tone.

"Yes, well, I've been rather busy. In fact, I'm extremely busy today, so if you don't mind, I'd like to cut to the chase. What is it that I can do for you?"

"More like, what can I do for you," she said. She reached into her purse and pulled out a small atomizer spray bottle.

"Perfume?" Lex asked dryly. "You come to me with perfume?"

"Oh, it's more than just perfume," she promised him. "One spritz of this and..." With a dramatic flair, she sprayed Lex right in the face.

"Ugh!" the man cried out, his eyes watering. "What is that foul stench?" He furiously waved at the air before him, trying to dissipate the offending odor.

"Pheromones," Miranda said as a simple explanation. "You see, once a person inhales my perfume, the pheromones go to work breaking down their restraint, allowing them to act on their baser, animalistic impulses. Once they spy someone they are attracted to..." she shrugged. "They are powerless to resist the urge to mate."

Lex arched a skeptical eyebrow. "Really?"

Miranda nodded.

"And why might I be even remotely interested in this...concoction of yours?"

Miranda shrugged. "Strip people of their sensibilities and you can control them better," she offered, speaking as if it was the only answer that made any sense.

"I think not. Take away people's abilities of rationalization and overall clear-headedness, and you strip away the very things that make dominating them so satisfying. Take away the challenge and make the victory devoid of any meaning."

"But, Lex? Surely you have to admit that the idea does have some merit?" Miranda asked, blatantly fishing for a compliment.

"Go pedal your witch's brew at one of those sappy love retreats. I'm not interested in it," Lex said firmly.

"And what about me?"

"What about you?"

"What about what we once meant to each other?"

Lex had to stifle a laugh. The woman was crazy!

"There was never an us, Miranda. You meant nothing. You were an itch and you've been scratched."

The woman's face fell, but, to her credit, she quickly recomposed herself. She cleared her throat and looked Lex in his eyes. "But..."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an important meeting to get to," Lex said, standing for the first time.

"Don't you dare dismiss me," Miranda said, a threatening tone creeping into her voice.

"On the contrary," Lex countered. "Don't you dare threaten me. Because, believe me, it will not end well for you. Is that understood?"

"We'll see about that," Miranda said.

"Get out of my office. Now."

"You'll regret this," Miranda vowed. "You and everyone else in this pathetic city."

"I highly doubt that," Lex said, boredom in his voice. Truth be told, he'd ceased to pay much attention to the woman.

"I'll prove to you just how useful I can be," Miranda muttered under her breath as she walked out of Lex's office. "Just you wait and see."