Or you could go in the other direction entirely after she gets fired - noone will hire her. After all if the 'Planet' can't afford to keep her employed due to her risk taking and leaping before she looks, how is another paper going to float her bills *and* her salary? (this works with either prologue)
Lois could go on and endless round of interviews for a while and then find out why she is getting none of the jobs... she gets depressed for a while, who wouldn't be? But then she perks up, pulls herself up by her ahem, bootstraps, and tells herself that she has skills - she's a damn fine investigator, a damn fine writer, she can sing and dance, and she could order up one hell of a meal even if she couldn't cook one worth a damn!
And using some combination of those skills make a new life for herself - perhaps in Vegas <g>.
I dunno, anyway laters,
