Up in the Air (for jack_flanagan)

[loistheintrepid]

Seat backs and tray tables upright and locked, belts fastened, cabin lights dimmed. They were about an hour into their overnight flight to Glasgow, the cabin thankfully only at half capacity after the rush of the holiday season. Somehow, both Lois and Jack had managed to extend their vacation for another few days, though Lois had a feeling she'd be forced to put out at least a half dozen fires from abroad before she returned.

Her legs were spread across the empty seat next to her, back curled into Jack's chest as he snored softly against the thick pane of rounded plexiglass next to him. Most of the passengers around them were out cold, considering the time, but Lois couldn't help fidgeting restlessly in her seat. Music hadn't helped. Neither had her request for a nightcap, which the stewardess had most definitely judged her for. Reading had only muddled her worries even more, so finally, she reached out to punch on the screen in front of her to browse through the movies, the sudden sharp glow of light blinding her in contrast to the darkness.

"Son of a-" She jabbed at the buttons on the seat back, squinting until the screen reached a reasonable temperature. Beside her, she felt Jack grumble, stirring slightly at the fuss. "Sorry..." she winced.

Comments

[jack_flanagan]

It was going to be a surprise of epic proportions to show back up in Scotland so quickly after a visit, but he promised the General to at least introduce Lois to his family if he hadn't any plans to make an honest woman out of her. He didn't want the elder man to put words in his mouth but did believe it was the right step to get used to their families.

Besides, a part of Jack wanted to make Lois' father eat his words. He didn't think the military man fully believed his intentions with Lois--moreover, believe he'd really take her home so soon. It was a good feeling to surprise the stoic man. ...And maybe Jack also wanted to make sure the youngest Lane had no reason to stick around.

Jack had grown tired of thwarting her advances. Unfortunately, Lois would possibly go through something similar in Glasgow with his cousin Kyle. Maybe not too similar. Jack would easily put his cousin through a window if he dared to get handsy. Lucy didn't seem to fear Lois, having groped him on a number of occasions.

His eyes remained closed but he started to talk in a sleep filled voice. "What's wrong, Love?" It was one thing that Lois tended to be the night owl, and another that she couldn't rest reading or writing in her seat. She wasn't even sitting in one chair but using him to get comfortable against but not finding comfort.

[loistheintrepid]

The past few days with her family had been... Interesting, to say the least. The General had put Jack through his usual torment - intimidation tactics, immasculation, outright insults when he could find the space for it. But Jack, despite how easily his feathers may be ruffled, had actually handled it well. Or had The General gone soft on him for some reason?

Either way, they'd come out the other end generally unscathed, or at least without a culminating explosion of testosterone. Lucy has tried her best to do her own wrong, but Jack had even withstood her wiles as well.

Maybe she's found a keeper, after all.

If she survived the trip to see HIS family, anyway. She'd agreed because it was the right thing to do - a step she needed to take to show Jack that this was real. That he was more to her than she'd ever let anyone be before.

But Jesus, it was messing with her. She imagined her father and sister multiplied over and over in various forms, Flanagan men and women hovering six feet or taller around her.

Oh she was so, SO not prepared for this.

Swallowing as Jack stirred, she shook her head, twisting to press a kiss to his cheekbone.

"Nothing, just a little restless. Don't worry about it - go back to sleep, handsome," she murmured, giving his thigh an affectionate squeeze.

[jack_flanagan]

"You should sleep," he huskily insisted. "Mum's expecting us 'bout an hour after landing." He probably wasn't helping. Jack wasn't sure how to help. It was one thing that Lois was a night owl but they had a nice round of sex prior to leaving to the airport (nearly made them miss their flight). He thought he'd gotten the job done...

Her father and sister might have known a little of Lois' lovelife but Jack hadn't brought a girl home since the one he left behind from his youth. Molly was married with kids so he didn't expect his current girlfriend to take issue with his ex-girlfriend. The ex provided psuedo grandchildren that his mother wanted so desperately.

It might have been good for him to give some thought as to when he'd first slept with Lois. The brunette might take issue with the fact that he was technically still in a relationship with Molly during that time. He hadn't been man enough to break things off with his first after becoming someone else's first. Jack had put Molly through a number of trials before she wised up and moved on.

They were kids. Karma came in the form of losing Lois. Everything turned out as it should. Molly didn't know of Lois. It would all be fine to learn of one another with the decades passed. He was convinced of it prior to purchasing their flights. Jack would have a worse time with his cousin around his current girlfriend.

Kyle was not only cheeky but a serial womanizer. Every visit home, Jack had to deal with his cousin trying to set him up. He couldn't deny that Kyle had good taste in women based on appearances but none had anything substantial within to keep Jack's interest. He partook in the fun a number of times but not this last holiday visit or the two before.

His cousin knew something was up. Jack fully expected Kyle to study Lois upon arrival and give his unsolicited opinion on the reporter. He might have been smaller as a boy around the MacGregor boys (cousins on his mother's side) but Jack grew about as big as the beanstalk his cousins used to tease him about. It wouldn't be the first, or probably the last, he might possibly throttle Kyle.

If anyone should have had a problem falling asleep, it should have been Jack.

He shifted and pulled Lois to him. Her back was against his chest with his face tucking close to her neck as her head rested on his collarbone. "I could ask for a blanket and help you relax," he offered with mischief in his tired voice. Jack had yet to open his eyes. His strong arms wrapped around her the way a child coveted a comfort item.

[loistheintrepid]

Mum. Right. Lois's imagination had been running wild the past few days with what his mother might be like. He'd mentioned her fondly on occasion - his stories were always warm, happy enough, but... didn't everyone tend to put their mother on a pedestal? Was she in for some kind of crazed, Monster-in-Law situation when she stepped foot off the plane?

In-Laws. As if this counted. She tried to shake the thought off, repeating to herself yet again that she'd find out soon enough. That she was Lois Freakin' Lane, that she'd beaten muggers into submission, held her own against billionaires and world leaders.

Which she'd gladly do again rather than face whatever insanity she was in for with the Flanagan clan. Because they truly were a clan - she'd tried to add them up in her head based on Jack's mention of them. There had to be... ten? Fifteen of them, all together for the holidays? A far cry from the holidays she spent with either her sister and father or, most recently, Clark, Ollie, and Chloe.

She swallowed heavily, Jack's comment earning a hint of a smile on her lips as she squeezed at the his thigh.

"Yeah, that's just what I need. To meet your family reeking of sex after an eight hour flight." She turned her head to press a kiss to his forehead, hand drifting up to rest over his. "I'm fine. Promise." Never mind the tightness in her voice. Or the tension in her muscles. Nope.

[jack_flanagan]

He stiffened a little at her initial response. The act was teasing though Jack tried to convey a serious tone regardless of still having a sleep filled voice. "You think we'll go at it for the entire eight hours?" he asked sarcastically.

"Besides...what I was thinking would only require that I wash my hands after to get rid of any scent." The last was spoken to her ear but he didn't move his hands from where they rested on her. Humor was evident in his voice even if he had yet to fully open his eyes. "You don't sound or feel fine, Love. What's got you so uptight?"

His face buried back into her neck, careful not to scratch her with the beard on his face. One hand reached up and stroked her hair while the other remained covered by her hand. The hand in her hair eventually fell onto her shoulder and started to knead some of the tension in the space.

It wouldn't surprise him in the least if Lois had started having second thoughts. She never seemed very sure about the entire idea to start with. They barely had a day from her family's visit to get used to the plans before flying out. Jack imagined it was all catching up with her. He wanted to sleep. He wanted her to sleep.

His family could drain a person on a good day, forget it if they weren't up to par. Not his mum. Not unless you could exhaust someone by smiling and understanding. The same could be said for most of the MacGregor clan. Lois would possibly only meet one of the Flanagans; his grandfather. There were also the Clarks but Jack hoped not to overwhelm her on a first visit.

He patiently waited for her to start talking. The river would flow and he'd listen as usual. His touch didn't stop as his eyes finally started to pull open. Jack inhaled her scent and left a kiss along her jaw, just under her ear.

[loistheintrepid]

"Bet we could, if we really tried," she teased, running her fingertips over his knuckles thoughtfully. Her smile was a little more genuine at his next words, though the tension in her shoulders hardly wavered. "I'm not uptight," she argued, turning a bit to face him properly.

His touch helped - a little, anyway. Felt damn good to feel him loosen the knots in her shoulder, to simply feel the weight of his hands, the warmth of his skin. His touch had always had too much of an effect on her. For bad or for good.

Still, she'd fallen for a man she tended to bump heads with more often than not, and the idea of meeting an entirely family who might be just as contentious was.. daunting to say the least. Especially when makeup sex was off the table for them.

She sighed, craning her neck to press a kiss to his jaw. His silence always teased out the blabbermouth in her, didn't it?

"It's just... I guess it's all hitting me, you know? We barely cleared the hurdle of my family, and that was only two people. I just don't.... I want to be ready for this. I hope we are. But it's... it's a big step. For me, anyway. I just don't wanna fuck it up."

Jesus H Christ, 10 days ago?! REally?!?!

[jack_flanagan]

His deep voice caught the attention of a passing flight attendant. He asked for a blanket at her glance and refused to let Lois move while they waited her return. His hands busied kneading tension they could feel at his girlfriend's shoulders and neck. Jack might have been teasing what they did best but he really wasn't going to get her riled up out in the open.

However, he was very keen on getting her to dump whatever had her so uptight. "Lo...you don't have the market cornered on difficult kin, Love. Mum'll love you. I won't lie t'ya. Any woman who might give her grandchildren will be a peach. You could smoke, drink and swear like a sailor and she'd consider you Mother Teh-rehssa."

As much as he was trying to make Lois feel better, his own anxiety could be heard with how strong his accent was getting. Yet it wasn't his family that Jack worried about. It was the possibility of losing Lois. While he loved his mother and his relatives, they hadn't saved him from the horror that was his childhood. He wasn't exactly close or he wouldn't be living across the ocean.

There was no bitterness or resentment toward any of his family. Jack would do anything for his mother but he did worry himself over his own happiness before being the dutiful son. Granted, Rhona did get him a little lower cut and clean shaven than Lois was used to.

Hair easily grew back on his face and head. It was a small token knowing his mother blamed herself for not realizing what went on under her nose, burdened with the care of someone else’s child. –None of which Lois knew about. That was what he was most nervous over her visit home with him. Would she want to remain with a man who was so repeatedly broken?

"Don't worry. I already laid down the ground rules. No talk of marriage or baby making on the first visit if they ever wanna lay eyes on ya again," he spoke with the sleep nearly gone from his voice. "I love ya. They'll love ya. There's nothin' for you t'worry yourself about."

:P Busy bee

[loistheintrepid]

The muscles in her shoulders and back tingled as he worked the knots free. Shutting her eyes a moment, she allowed herself a slow breath, slowly feeling the push towards relaxation.

And then he had to go and mention grandchildren. Her eyes opened, a wince tugging at her features at the idea. It wasn't that she didn't want children, necessarily. She'd never really thought about it, either because she considered it far into the distant future or any sign of it would mean a strong word with her doctor regarding the immaculate birth control regimen she kept.

She took another breath, attempting to shake the thought from her mind and reaching her hand up to stroke the back of his neck idly.

"There are only a couple of reasons your accent gets thicker," she murmured, fingertips skimming the short shave at the nape of his neck. "After you get off the phone with your family, when you're angry, when you're stressed... and when you're worried." She craned her neck back at him again, attempting to catch his gaze. "Sure you're not jumping on board with me here?"

[jack_flanagan]

She tensed again but he didn't skip a beat in his touch. The action kept him from getting wound up. Or so he thought. Lois didn't miss much and she caught his slip of accent. His head lowered to kiss at her neck softly.

"You forgot another time, Love. When you rile me up," he teased. It wasn't exactly a lie but he wouldn't hold the truth from her either. "It's only fair to meet my kin if I've met yours. Means a lot to my mum."

Neither was the best reason to have rushed into a visit. His brow knit in thought and he continued. "More worried about you having regrets than anything." His hands finally stopped kneading her tension and wrapped her up in a hug.

[loistheintrepid]

She brushed her fingertips through his hair, smile widening at his kiss, then at his words.

"Mmm, between all those options, I'm surprised you don't just keep the accent going whenever we're together," she said, straightening a moment to take the blanket from the passing stewardess and unwrap it. Spreading it around her torso and Jack's lap, she twisted again to press a kiss to his jaw, frowning at his words.

"Regrets? About meeting your family?"

[jack_flanagan]

He wasn't quite clean shaven yet. His light beard brushed against her neck as he chuckled. "I think you'll break my habit of fighting it soon enough," he teased through the soft laugh.

Jack instantly frowned when she sat up to unwrap the blanket. The expression faded when she turned to kiss him. He could be like a puppy dog when times were good. When they weren't good, he was quite the bear.

"About being with me." He took a breath. "I'm not really like them and they still see me a lot like the boy I was, not the man I am." It was getting difficult to have the conversation without opening up.

"They'll love you. Don't worry."

His words would probably go farther if he sounded more confident but the five words were nearly Gaelic when uttered.

[loistheintrepid]

"Good," she murmured. "I like the accent. Don't know why you keep trying to hide it." She shifted a little so she was facing him, sitting up cross-legged and taking his head in her hands.

"Hey. We've been through a lot - good and bad. But I don't regret a second of it, okay? Even the fighting. Makes the good times that much better." She pressed a kiss to lips, forehead to his. "I'm crazy about you."

How the hell he'd managed to get her to ease his worrying, she'd never know.