What Lies Beneath

Jimmy/Lois
Season 8
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: These characters belong to the CW and DC Comics, not to me.
Based on a plot bunny by circulartime.
Screencap from KEakaCK.

"Oh, my God."

Lois Lane stared through the etched glass of the door that led to the archives room in the Daily Planet's basement. She'd been working with Jimmy Olsen off and on since she started working here, and she'd always thought of him as a skinny little geek. Which maybe wasn't too nice of her, but the truth hurt, didn't it?

But apparently it wasn't the truth. Because behind the glass door, Jimmy was changing from work clothes to jeans and a t-shirt before going home for the night.

And he was seriously hot.

At least, he looked a lot better than she would have expected. He wasn't a massive wall of muscle like her friend Clark Kent (whose muscle seemed to extend right up between his ears), but he had the hard, toned look of a guy who walked and rode all over Metropolis, instead of driving.

It was late at night, and the basement was empty. She had the place all to herself. She had the view all to herself. He'd peeled his collared shirt off, and now his hands dropped to the waistband of his slacks.

She ought to turn away. She really ought to.

But she didn't.

Jimmy's slacks dropped onto the floor, exposing a really nice pair of legs. You could tell he owned a bike, and rode it a lot. She stared at his thighs, mesmerized by the unexpected bulge of muscle.

He didn't take off his tighty whities, somewhat to her annoyance, but as he turned toward the desk where he'd placed his casual clothes, she got a good, long look at his ass. Even covered in white cotton, it looked good enough to smack.

Oh, my God, she thought, staring helplessly. Something is so seriously wrong with me. I'm lusting for a geek.

She remembered something she'd said a long time ago: Give me a nerd in glasses any day. But it wasn't true, and she knew it. The truth was that she'd always been drawn to the big, gorgeous, hunky sort of man. Nerds barely registered on her radar. God knows Jimmy Olsen never had.

Jimmy wasn't big, or gorgeous, or hunky. But all of a sudden, she realized that slim and toned wasn't a bad look, either.

And maybe, just maybe, the reason she found him so attractive wasn't just the way he looked. Jimmy was a nice guy, a decent guy, who'd been encouraging to her, even when other people at the Planet sneered at the big empty spaces on her resume. He'd never once treated her like an idiot, or implied she was incompetent. He'd given her leads, read over her articles and pointed out errors, and told her she was a terrific addition to the staff, even when she was uncomfortably certain she wasn't.

He was a great guy, and she'd never noticed, just because he wasn't built like Schwarzenegger.

Although maybe she wasn't giving herself quite enough credit. Maybe she wasn't quite that superficial. After all, her cousin Chloe had been dating Jimmy until recently, so he'd been off limits. But now Chloe was dating Clark, and boinking Clark, which meant that Jimmy was officially back on the market.

He was all hers, if she wanted him.

And strangely enough, she did.

She stared a moment longer. Jimmy grabbed his jeans off the desk, and she squared her shoulders, steeling herself, and pushed the glass door open before he could put them on.

"Drop 'em," she said.

Jimmy screamed like a girl, and she burst out laughing. He spun around and looked at her sheepishly, covering himself awkwardly with his jeans as his cheeks turned red.

She walked over to him and put her arms around his neck, and he looked startled, but dropped his jeans back on the desk without argument.

His arms went around her waist, and they were strong and solid and really, really nice. Up close, she discovered, he didn't feel like a nerd. He felt like a really sexy guy.

She kissed him, and he kissed her back. And not too much later, he screamed like a girl again.

Lois didn't mind.

-The End-