“Ummm. But where’s the story behind the story?” Cat said to Jimmy. “Where’s the…” She turned her eyes to Clark and winked. “… the juicy stuff? Where’s the...” She turned back to Jimmy before she became too obvious that she knew Clark was also Superman. “… the dirt?” Cat asked, tapping Jimmy on the nose with her pencil.
“I think that’s coming in right now,” Clark said, pointing over their shoulders. There was a sharp edge to his voice that reminded Cat of when he had told her again last night that they could only be friends.
The gossip columnist glanced back at Clark, and he was staring at Cat with a ferocity she had never seen before in his eyes. Oh no, he knew. He knew that she had sent a messenger over to Lois’ apartment with some bogus map on where to find Superman’s spaceship. Clark also knew that his ‘soul mate’ had gone on some wild goose chase because of her: Cat Grant. Yep, he knew all about it, and he wasn’t happy in the least.
Oh, crap, Cat had just ticked off the strongest man on the planet, who could blow her up with his eyes. If he hadn’t killed her for being the only person who knew his secret identity, he certainly looked as if he was reconsidering that decision. She swallowed, knowing that he wouldn’t dare do anything while they were in the office surrounded by people.
Ah, but that's where Cat is different from Lois. Lois would have known that Clark wouldn't have done that. Then again we are talking about season one Lois and if season one Lois had known Superman was also her work partner...
“Of course, my trip to hell wasn’t a total failure. I found…” She tore open the garbage bag and pulled out the Super Godzilla doll Cat had asked an old friend of hers to drop off where she had indicated on the map. “This!” Lois glared at Cat.
Oh, God! She knew. Lois knew that Cat had set her up. Had Clark already ratted her out? Lois Lane knew taekwondo and Cat had ticked her and her super powered boyfriend off. Either way, Cat figured she was dead.
Lois marched straight up to Cat who was standing frozen in front of Clark’s desk, and plowed her and Jimmy aside to get to Clark. She set the Super Godzilla doll on Clark’s desk and pulled from her pocket the map Cat had badly mimeographed from the phonebook the previous afternoon after Lois had stolen Jimmy’s idea. Lois shoved the map at Clark. “You wouldn’t happen to have any idea who sent me this, would you?”
I just
knew Lois would think it was Clark.
Too bad Lois doesn't know that it's Cat. Then again, in the series this is the moment Clark earned a little respect from her. Something tells me that's not the case here.
I love that Cat's just about as scared of Lois as she is Superman here.
A Cheshire cat sized grin slipped onto Cat’s lips. She couldn’t help but laugh. It certainly had been worth it. She turned to gaze at her new friend, who hadn’t ratted her out to Lois. “Clark…” Poor Clark looked like he had lost his best friend. “You look like you could use a little pick-me-up,” she purred, leaning towards him.
*snort* Wanting to give him a little "thank you?"
He sat down in his chair and didn’t look at her. “I’m not talking to you,” he murmured.
Ohhh.... Cat is in
so much hot water with Clark. And not the kind she likes (the "freezing" variety.)
Clark’s stern expression faltered as he shook his head. “No, Cat. I don’t kill people; no matter how angry I get or how tempting it might be, that isn’t who I am.”
She gulped. Yep, he had been tempted.
Again, I can't get over the fact that Cat doesn't know enough about Clark to know he wouldn't do that. Then again, if this had happened a season down the road I seriously doubt Cat would have accepted that either.
“Thank you for covering for me. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I promised that I would run interference between you and Lois, didn’t I?” he stated.
Cat winced; she hadn’t meant to the detriment of his goals. She felt ashamed that he had sacrificed his relationship with Lois to safeguard her, and it wasn’t a feeling she liked. Clark had been very lucky that Lois was still talking to him, let alone respected him for standing up to her. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not taking you to Paris,” he replied curtly, and turned to go down the stairs.
Yeah, that isn’t a big surprise.
There are other ways to hurt a person that's not physical and sometimes the honest truth hurts, Cat. And I like the punishment.
Clark gazed down at her hand, instantly forgiving her, and at the same time hating himself for being such a pushover. When it came to Lois Lane he didn’t need Kryptonite to be knocked flat on his back.
That's always been my belief. I once wrote a tiny drabble in the Reeve verse of Superman "That I called "More than one way to Shoot a Bullet" having to do with a revelation on Clark/Superman's end (Lois has known that he's Superman.)
“You said that I was a ‘weird one’ the other night before we had dinner, but then you said ‘it works for you’.”
“It works for you,” Lois said at the same time as him, a vacant expression in her eyes as if she were far away thinking of something else. She shook her head, and then her whole body shivered. “I’ve just got strange sensation that we’ve been here before, in this warehouse, and that we’ve done this already. Doesn’t it feel familiar to you?”
To quote Yogi Berra, "Deja vu all over again."
She was still holding on to his tie, and he made an obvious look towards it to draw her attention to that fact. Actually, he didn’t want her to let him go. He wanted to draw her closer, cup her jaw with the palm of his hand, and kiss her until kingdom come. Unfortunately, this was neither the time nor the place.
Too bad Lois doesn't follow the concept of "pounce" like Cat seems to.
She looked down at her hand gripping onto his tie and opened it up, letting the tie escape. Conscious of what she had done, she straightened the tie out by pressing it against his chest. “This tie is lacking personality, Chuck. You need one with more…” She flipped her hand into the air and circled it around as she searched for the correct word. “Umph.”
She misses her original Clark's wild ties it seems.
What was wrong with his tie? Lana had picked out this tie. She had said it was classic, yet serious, perfect for an up-and-coming newsman, but also good for fading into the background. Had she steered him wrong? ‘Lacking personality’? Could ties have personalities? What was a tie with ‘umph’ anyway?
What is wrong with those ties? Maybe the fact that
Lana chose those ties. I hope you didn't bring too many that Lana chose. Maybe you can interject your
own style into your wardrobe and not one chosen by your ex-fiancee.
“It’s a romance novel,” she admitted with a sigh. She knew she would never finish the novel now that Superman had come into her life, either that or she would change its plot completely.
“My novel. It’s about a woman who dies without ever finding her true love,” Lois confessed. “Well, actually, that’s not quite true. She does find him, but he’s dead. He died before they ever met. She and his ghost try to find a way to change the past so that they can be together, but instead the world ends and they are forever separated.” She sighed, her heart aching once more for her characters. She had always felt such a kinship to her main character, Lola, like their destinies were tied together somehow. Her brow furrowed. She had named the ghost character Charlie. She looked at Clark again. Charlie and Chuck were both nicknames for Charles. No, she shook her head; it was just a peculiar coincidence. She was certainly not in love with Chuck.
I
still find it humorous that she insists on calling him Chuck.
Clark’s jaw hung open at her plot description.
I love how Clark's like "wait... what? Was this universe's Clark conversing with her beyond the grave?"
Hello, even Lois herself was a better… no, that was not what she meant… of course, she was a better person, better partner material, better writer, better investigator, better woman in general than Cat Grant. She had meant, if she were hypothetically available that was, which she wasn’t. She was with Superman. Yes, Clark needed someone like her, only not her, because she wasn’t available.
There was a plot like that in the comics at one time. Basically Lois decides to attempt to pair Clark up with a "friend" (that she later pushes over the railing so that Clark would feel some concerns for the friend instead of her.) Believe me the 50s were a convoluted and not so fun time for our resident duo.
Again many thanks to Christina for giving me the brilliant idea that Lois’ novel should be about the plot of Book 1: Another Lois. [Notworthy]
What, seriously? In any case, your welcome! Thought it kind of made sense since it had seemed like she had something like that concept already in place, just a more expanded version.
