Well, its time for me to get the ball rolling on this excellent fic!
When did I first know?
I mean really know, beyond a shadow of a doubt?
When did I first have to make one of the hardest decisions I've ever been faced with?
From the beginning
This does not surprise me. Perry for the most part has always been slightly ahead of our favorite reporting duo. The famous 'You Know' scene regarding Eugene Latimer is a classic. A man who can figure something like that out is going to pretty hard to fool when it comes to a certain guy flying around with spandex. He also had good sources like 'Sore Throat' and was able to rally a difficult billionaire to bankroll the Daily Planet after Luther bombed building. All of this is served up by the acting abilities of the late Lane Smith. The man was no lightweight and made the character perfectly believable.
Of course, as with most things, knowing that Clark was Superman had its drawbacks too. Because Superman and the Planet became somewhat synonymous, it meant that we, unfortunately, were targeted, on more than one occasion, in calculated - or desperate, as the case may have been - attempts to get to the Man of Steel. We're tough and we weathered the hard times better than anyone could have hoped, I think. At least, we did for the most part. We had a few causalities here and there - people who decided that they'd seek safer employment someplace else or those who sought earlier than anticipated retirement. Not that I can blame them. A bombing will do that to people. Most, I was sad to see go. A select few couldn't have gotten out of the door faster, for my taste.
Now that's something I never thought about. Working for the Daily Planet could at times be hazardous to a person's health.
There have been times, ever since they met and learned to be friends, when I've thought of their story as being right up there with the timeless, classic tales we all know and love. The kind that gets told and retold over countless generations, which little boys hate for the love and love for the action, and little girls swoon and daydream over. It's been my extraordinary privilege just being able to observe what I've been able to - watching them fall in love, marry, raise a family - let alone to be a part of it, even in so limited a role as I have. Oh, it hasn't always been easy, balancing the fine line I've been forced to walk, always having to exercise my editorial discretion, but let me tell you something:
It's been the greatest joy of my life.
That pretty much says it all. Thanks for writing such a wonderful piece!
