I take the view that time is very fluid with the episodes. Lois was certainly well acquainted enough with Scardino to put him on equal footing to Clark in the romantic sense, which certainly implies a closer relationship than was shown to us before WWW. Then again, they did the exact same thing with Luthor when you compare the episodes before Fly Hard and after.
As to using him as a source, I'd find it perfectly believable of Lois to do it, even if it meant annoying Clark. I certainly found it believable in
Dear Lois by Shayne Terry or
50 First Revelations by Matrix and Sue S. though Lois and Clark's relationship was decidedly more strained than the canon version would be.
Now, whether or not Dan would have cooperated or Clark would have thrown a hissy fit over it are other stories =)
At the same time, I'm also not a Dan fan... as I covered perhaps overly well in the FDK thread for my Finale Anniversary fic, heh.
