Lois Lane was on vacation--Jimmy Olsen was breathing easier. She'd gone to a dude ranch out in Nevada for two weeks, leaving the very day after Jimmy had his talk with his mother. Lois had been talking about the trip for some time. She said that the dude ranch was a favorite place for some of the rich women waiting out their residency to get a divorce decree, and she intended to scrape up enough material for a feature article. Trust Lois to find a way to get news, even on vacation.

Those two weeks were the most peaceful Jimmy had experienced in some time. He no longer worried about getting crowded into isolated corners, no longer had to leave a room suddenly to escape suggestive comments. It made a difference. Even Perry asked if he'd managed to get past some particularly difficult exam at school.

About a week after Lois left, Jimmy went to the break room for lunch, and Clark was there, finishing a cup of coffee. He looked up as Jimmy entered the room. Jimmy was gratified to see his expression light with pleasure, but then... Then the guarded look came back into his eyes. He started to push his chair back.

"It's okay," Jimmy said. "You don't have to leave because of me. I can eat somewhere else."

He started to turn back, but Clark said quietly, "Jimmy, wait." He paused, hand still on the knob, his sack lunch dangling from his other hand. Clark sighed. "Come on in. It won't take me long to finish this."

Jimmy entered and sat at the table. He was couldn't stand to sit on the other side of the table, but he was careful not to sit too very close. He was very conscious of how such simple things as closeness could make someone either blissful, or uncomfortable.

He unpacked his lunch and began to eat, though he didn't really have an appetite. His stomach felt rather like it was full of butterflies. Clark sat, holding his coffee cup, but he didn't drink. He was watching Jimmy. It didn't make him cringe, though, the way it did when Lois stared at him. Finally Clark said, "You seem a lot more relaxed lately, Jimmy." He nodded. Clark was silent for a moment, then said, "Lois will be back next week." He looked at Jimmy questioningly.

Jimmy stared at the remains of his sandwich, then put it down with a sigh. "I know."

"Have you decided what you're going to do about your situation?" Jimmy put the sandwich down and rubbed his face. "Jimmy..." Clark hesitated, then said, "It's your life, Jim. I don't want to interfer in it, but I hate seeing what this is doing to you."

"Thanks, Clark." He took a breath, then looked into his eyes. "It's going to be all right. Instead of just wiggling away, I'm going to TELL her how I feel. Part of what makes Lois a good reporter is being able to look at things in a realistic way."

Clark nodded. "I think that's a good plan. It's never good to run away from what's troubling you. Facing it is usually the best policy." He stood up and walked behind Jimmy to the little sink and rinsed out his cup.

As Clark was walking back toward the door, passing behind him, Jimmy said softly, "I miss us." Clark halted just behind him. Jimmy didn't look around at him, keeping his eyes fixed on the tabletop.

There was silence for a moment. Then Jimmy felt Clark's hand settle on the back of his neck. He couldn't help it--he leaned his head back, eyes closed, pressing into that warm, firm touch. The fingers flexed, kneading a little. Clark's voice was low. "I do, to." Then the touch was withdrawn. When Jimmy heard the door close, he put his face down on his crossed arms. But he didn't cry.

A week later Lois came back. He was tensed, waiting to see if the harassment would begin again. He was relieved when Lois practically ignored him, aside from passing him a thick pile of vacation photos to admire. Jimmy began to hope that this particular phase of his life was over, without confrontation.

It didn't last.

Jimmy was in the clippings morgue, trying to ferret out a particular bit of information. He was thinking idly that some day they'd have a system that didn't force you to sift manually through tons of newsprint. He was digging in the bottom drawer of a file cabinet in a back corner of the dim room. He was sure that he was on the right track, concentrating fiercely. That was why he never saw it coming.

Lois had finished the first draft of her article, and decided she deserved a bit of recreation, so she went looking for Jimmy. She located him in an almost perfect place--dim and private. He was squatting, digging in the drawer, totally absorbed. Oh, and his trousers were pulled tight over that beautiful, firm, nineteen-year-old male ass. She couldn't resist. She slipped up on him and reached...

Jimmy had been goosed before. You don't spend time in high school locker rooms without a bit of grab-ass going on. But you expected it there. This came out of the blue, while he was totally preoccupied, and the rough dig between his buttocks shocked him.

He sprang up with a yell of surprise. In the same motion he turned, falling back against the file cabinet and banging his shin against the open drawer. Lois grinned at him. "Sorry, Jimmy, but that was a target I just couldn't pass up."

"You... Lois! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Lois blinked. Jimmy Olsen, using a swear? Even one as mild as that? "Call it a physical gesture of admiration."

"I call it rude! And presumptuous, and... and..." He swallowed, calming down. "And a natural progression from the way you've been acting lately. It has to stop, Lois."

She rolled her eyes. "Geez, have a cow. Okay, I'm sorry. Feel better?"

"Not much, no." Lois blinked again. "Lois, do you think that just saying 'sorry' is going to make everything better? You have been hounding me for months now."

"It's not like I..."

"Don't try to make it seem insignificant. All the suggestive comments, the touches, rubbing up against me."

"Oh, come on, you..."

"Don't you dare say I liked it!"

Lois took a step back. Instead of blushing, Jimmy had gone pale, so pale that his freckles stood out. His usually warm brown eyes were flashing, and his hands were clenched at his side. "I didn't mean anything by it, Jimmy."

"Then why have you kept on? Lois, I never gave you any hint that I wanted that sort of attention, did I? And I've never encouraged you. I've never done anything but run, you can't deny that."

"Well, I figured you were shy."

Jimmy sighed. "Lois, if any man had ever pursued you the way you have me, after you showed him you weren't interested, how would you react?" Lois's mouth tightened, and her eyes narrowed. Jimmy nodded. "That's what I thought. You would have clobbered him a long time ago. Well, I didn't have that option, because you're a woman. I should have said this a long time ago, but I'm saying it now: I want you to stop harassing me, Lois. I don't want to go to Perry about it, but I will if I have to."

Lois hesitated, then said, "You really mean that, don't you? You haven't been playing hard to get." Jimmy shook his head. "Well, hell." She sighed. "Look, I AM sorry, Jimmy. I get the message. I'll back off." She made a vague gesture of apology, turned, and left.

Jimmy leaned back against the wall, feeling suddenly dizzy. He hadn't really been thinking when he spoke to Lois. The words had just been there, and they had burst out. In any case, it seemed to have been effective. Lois had always been pretty straight before this incident started. He had a feeling that she'd be true to her promise.

He went back to digging through the files. Time would tell.