Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Undercover Reporter (3/3)

Hello!

Part 3 is up and Lois and Superman are making their way to the end of this mini-adventure.

If you catch any other nitpicks, moments where there isn't solid clarity, etc. let me know! As my own beta, I know I've missed things, and I'm hoping to send this one to the archive.

If anything really made an impact, I'd love to know. I always use feedback for future writing.

I wanted to thank everyone that's commented on this so far. This story has been residing in my brain for SO LONG that it's such a rush to finally get to be able to talk about it with other FOLCs. You've been such a welcoming group for my first story in this universe!

The story began here: Undercoer Reporter (1/3)
And continued here: Undercover Reporter (2/3)
Concluding here: Undercover Reporter (3/3)
...but they still have some things to solve...look for more in 2024.

SPOILERS:
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This story was actually something I'd thrown out. I have a much longer TOGOM story in progress. I'd written this scene as an ending to that, but after 80+ pages, it felt a little too easy/pat for both Lois and Clark. That story feels like it does need to have the problem solved of how you bring a man back from the dead. But even so, my mind kept coming around to Lois sneaking around this warehouse, kept safe by her ever-vigilant but now silent partner. So I thought maybe it could become something else, something a little waffy and hopeful. I moved the warehouse to another part of town, gave Woolf his own nightmare from that night, and decided to blame the whole thing on Luthor (since I can't believe he ever really leaves Lois, even in death - too much mental trauma). I'm really happy that this little story made it. And that they get a happy ending. ...for a while, at least. And while I'm sure that Luthor Corps' many arms are wreaking havoc on Metropolis, this is the end for our Undercover Reporter. I'll be concentrating on other stories - another TOGOM piece (somehow way darker than this), a spin-off of All Shook Up, and an alt-universe re-interpretation of The Rivals. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to reading more stories here, too!

Thanks for reading!

Loved this and how she became more cautious. It makes a lot of sense. I also really liked the scene with Henderson and how Superman’s small actions led Lois to digging deeper. It was so satisfying.

Looking forward to your future fics

That's it?

That's IT?!

I understand that the whole point was to get Clark and Lois back together, which you did in a masterful fashion. But to end it with "They came up with something?!" As much as I enjoyed the balance of this tale, the whole journey from Lois' pain to her reasonable self-control and deliberate decision to waste no more time, the end came too soon for me. I want to know what impossibly brilliant and convincing story made the entire city believe that Clark a) came back from the dead b) was in hiding for his own protection c) was seriously wounded and needed extensive surgical repairs and physical therapy AND that Lois Lane didn't know any of it?

Maybe I'm too grounded to suspend that part of my disbelief. I just know that I loved every single word of this story until the last sentence. I feel like I tried to step on level ground but found that it was a foot deeper than I'd thought and I tripped and bruised something special.

And I'm sure that few if any others will feel this way. So ignore me as a crusty septuagenarian who has outlived his romantic fantasies if you wish.

I'm sure you'll be nominated for a Kerth next year. The story is quite original and compelling. It shows Lois as a competent if guilt-driven and grief-soaked warrior for justice who gets what she wants the most in her life when she's sure it can't happen. Overall, this is an excellent tale well-told. Thank you for allowing me to share it.

Delightful tale.

It seems he was tired of keeping up the pretense with her, but he didn't see the point in bringing this up after so much time had gone by, because he didn't have any hope of making things right again. But he didn't have it in him to deny the truth any longer, too.

He could. He should. But Clark was infurianting like that sometimes. Like in the situation with Mayson and then with Scardino... Sometimes I wanted to slap some sense into him and scream: Say something! Do something! And he would stubbornly refuse to make anything and just wait for things to resolve itself. Good thing Lois is not so passive.

Yeah, Lois is back to her old self. You go, girl!

What? What do you mean "The end"? Are you going to leave us there? Please, come back! An epilogue would be great. Please? Pretty please with cherry on top?

Andreia

This was great. Please write more!

Hi Evie!





Yes. You see, women can be criminals, too, now. It’s already the 1990s.

Oops?
LOIS: A girl needs a hobby.



/Psst/ I believe you mean ‘racking up’?



We are, too!

Can we make a doll out of her?
LEX: I could have her covered in a thin layer of epoxy resin?

frying pan and fire situation?




Also, did you miss the ‘a’ before ‘deadline’ or is this intentional?

/Must not quote Arya Stark/

Lois drove him off?

Habit.

/Cocks eyebrow/

Ummm…he might have missed something?

Oh. Ah. I see.

Never noticed the lack of blood, did she?

Wonderful juxtaposition!

Cute!



/waits for time machine/



So adorable!

/Looks around at all the china standing around everywhere/

Awwwwww




SUPERMAN: So, that’s a no on the chocolate?
LOIS: Now, let’s not be hasty.

Awwww

Awwwwww

/cocks eyebrow/

That was a beautiful story and a great ending. The actual resurrection has been done numerous times and it’s a detail, nothing more, for this story And to me, the that final lines are so poignant. It just fits in this fandom Also, I've been guilty of the tidy-bow-implied / oops-let's-leave-things-messy option my self, so I can perfectly sympathize.

So great that you have delurked!

Michael

Great story. Very poignant in painting Lois' grief. I could picture the tortured look on Superman/Clark's face when Det. Woolf said the reason for transferring departments. I would like a glimpse at the page eight story that brings Clark back in maybe an epilogue, but that is me wanting to read more. I get why you ended it like you did. Once again, great story.
Sarah

Fantastic story my friend. Beautifully written and executed. As for an epilogue, that might be cool, but in this case I am content to leave how everything was resolved up to my imagination.

Welcome to the Lois and Clark fandom.

Blueowl, thank you very much! I was so happy when Henderson found his way into this one! I just love when he winds up Lois. That was one of the most fun sections to write. I've got a couple of other ideas, but they're much more basic drafts (and much longer ), so it might be a little while!

Terry, yeah, I think that's all more than fair. It's a major (major!) sticking point for me, too - that Lois didn't know what was going on. It would have to be literally the biggest secret in the world, for Clark to keep it from her . It's basically indisputable by this point that they're thick as thieves. I don't know how you solve that. (Well, actually, I do have one idea on how to solve it, but that's a different story. Literally.)
I have a really heavy background in folklore/fairy tales in the 1600-1800's, and it reared it's ugly head here. I'd been writing another story, and a big section of this scene (the whole ending) basically wrote itself one night. Once I'd read it through again, I'd felt about it the way you're describing here. But in lieu of chucking it, I thought I'd try it as a stand-alone. Maybe it's a darling that I should have killed instead of building it a house, but I just couldn't do it. The last sentence picks at me, too, but that folklore background is hard for me to bury.
I think that the one thing I can offer is that we don't get all the information we want here (how they get out of this one), but I think we get all the information we need (they do get out of it - Lois already has the story forming in her head, and she's a lot better at this than I am). I am sorry if it bruised that I wrapped the emotional plot, but not the full story plot.
Thank you for the amazingly kind words here. I've read some of your stories on the archive and I won't soon forget being described as 'masterful' by you. Any story nominations are hard to come by, and a Kerth would be quite a compliment.
A true to character by "grief-soaked" is the absolute best descriptor of the Lois I was aiming for, and I couldn't have articulated it nearly so well. Thank you for reading this with such depth!

Framework4, thank you so much for stopping into the feedback thread! I really appreciate it, and I'm glad that you liked this one!

Andreia, thank you for the kind words!

This... makes... me... CRAZY! I know the writers are trying to stretch out the dramatic tension, especially in the love triangles (love rhombus?), but I do want to physically shove Clark into action sometimes. I sincerely believe that Lois doesn't go for him for her soulmate for A FULL YEAR because he literally just isn't asking. I have to remind myself that he's never been in a long-term, adult relationship before, and so this caution of his is actually charming. And I try to see it as a super human vowing to do no harm -- and that can be hard not to over-correct. It's a slippery little slope. But great shades of Elvis, some days I want to give him that push. And so, that's what Lois does here, lol

Well, technically, for them, it's just the beginning.

I honestly hadn't considered this. That's not a bad idea.

I'm so grateful to everyone who has read this and commented! I'm trying to sneak replies in a work, so I'll be back for the last half of this thread soon! <3

Gr8shadesofElvis, that's very nice of you to stop in and comment! I'm glad you enjoyed this one!


Michael,

Ope, I guess my subconscious accidentally made him a touch misogynist. Aw, Henderson deserves better. I'll have to make it up to him somewhere.

Oh, yes, I do! ...would you be opposed to my borrowing this comment from you? Would you mind seeing it pop up elsewhere?

D'aww, thanks. This scene was soooo fun to write. I got to drive them all a little crazy.

Almost equivalent to a Clark Kent and Superman situation.

Yes, yes. Thank you for catching this one! I fixed it in my original.

YES. This one word just covers so many sins between them, doesn't it? Delicious.

YAY! I was SO psyched to sneak her in. She'd have to be an alt-version anyway here, so I got to have a little fun. Thank you for catching Mercy!!!

Re: Woolf: Was that build worth it? Clark needed a solid reality slap here, but I had trouble balancing this section and was still in my head about it when I hit 'post.' I tried giving Woolf some physical/body posture clues and eye contact issues to support it. I thought Woolf's emotional trauma and Lois' emotional trauma could butt heads in order to create enough distance to pull this off (since they're essentially representing each others' nightmares here). Would a little more discomfort from him have guided us better?

She never noticed the face behind the glasses, either.
This discrepancy never bothers me that much, especially once she's out of the casino. The dress is red, blood is red... grief and shock do such funny things to our brains, don't they?

Swiss chocolate is the Lane panacea.


Bahahahaha. My favorite version of Lois is when she lies really big and really out loud. Our girl is self-aware until that critical moment.

As my first story in this universe, of course this one is close to my heart. xo

Thank you for saying that. I do love writing all the bits where Lois dangerously pussyfoots around a dark building (with various degrees of success), but the story here - from behind the keyboard - was always the journey to the emotional resolution. Thanks for reading so closely from that perspective.

Thanks for being such a cheerleader for a newbie! The welcome here is so warm! I'll be around.



saraj, I really appreciate your kind words! Your wanting to read more is such a compliment - thank you! I didn't really expect anyone to ask for more of this one, but I'll do a bit more thinking about the Planet's upcoming page 8 stories.

Oh, good! I was really invested in this moment! I'm glad it gripped your imagination!



Morgana, thank you! That's so, so kind of you to say! If I start on an epilogue, I'll never get back to beta'ing. And that's my next priority!
Very happy to be here!


Thank you to everyone for reading! <3

Hi Evie!
Nah, Henderson was just playing the odds.
LOIS: he should still have known better. Look! /spreads out her arms/
HENDERSON: Hmm…yes, I can see now how women can be prone to criminal behavior, too. Where’s that B&E form again…

Sure, go right ahead! Wait, are you suggesting having Clark point our Lois’s typos to her? Yes, please!





Hmm…It didn’t jump out at me until he started telling his murder story. And then I wondered if he forgot it was Lois. You know, just focusing on the victim and his emotions, not the witnesses personal stories. I think there’s two…issues here, for the lack of a better word. I managed to forget that Det. Woolf was the one investigating during TOGoM at first. It’s a fallacy of fanfic--which little detail does one remember and doesn’t require to be told/reminded of? And the other, since I wasn’t getting the original connection, I just focused on Lois’s side so I didn’t see anything before he started with the story about the murder. I rechecked now and didn’t find too many hints. I also considered the five-months timeline during the first read but figured ‘coincidence?’ On the whole, it felt like he just rotated out from murder after a couple of months, and not because of ToGOM in particular until the reveal. So…yeah, more discomfort could have helped. Maybe Lois mirroring his due to his presence and her memory of his being there?

Yes.





Aww, thanks! And yes, FoLCs are such great people! There’s also a hangout spot on Discord, if you’re interested!

Michael

I liked how you resolved this, even though we don't get a fleshed out resolution. I enjoyed the banter between Lois and Henderson and how Clark was sitting in between, not believing what he heard.

I also loved the reconciliation between the two characters, how Lois decides to not be angry at him though she would have every right to be.

What a wonderful tale. Again, welcome to the boards. We're glad to have you here.

Evie, I want to make sure I get this point across.

I loved the story. I think it's outstanding. The understated conflict between Lois and Superman and his unconscious (or maybe not so unconscious) neglect of the separation between CK and SM was delicious. And I get that your literary background is more in fairy tales than, say, military history or detective/mystery novels. I'm an amateur historian and I tend toward military matters in that area, so I'm used to stories that have a definite ending, and if there's a cognitive disconnect in your ending the fault rests with me. I apologize for being more abrupt than I should have been. Again, this is an excellent tale that is well told, and I sense a Kerth nom in your future.

Oh, and if you do figure out the result Clark and Lois' brainstorming, please let us know. I'm certain it would be absolutely brilliant.

Michael,

Absolutely cracking me up!

Maaaaaaaayyyybeeeeeeeeeee... And thank you!

Super, super helpful! Wondering if the five-month timeline was a coincidence was intentional - I wanted to lead you here but not force you to drink, for lack of better terminology. I can spell out their OG connection a little more AND connect them to each other with a tighter, more tense rope during the scene. In re-reading, I also realized that I put in some hints at the top of Woolf's entrance, but then we go through the whole Luthor Corp look book. I think that we've forgotten/reattributed the Woolf physical clues by the time we come back to it, so they become more subtle with distance. I'm going to tighten this - thank you so much for very good notes, and for taking the time too look back! I appreciate you!

I may make it to the Discord eventually. I'm the classic introvert, so I'm just starting off with the boards first.


Bakasi,
Thank you so much for the feedback! Superman in disbelief and Superman being inexplicably a background character are two of my favorite things, and definitely hard to craft a believable situation where it can happen! I'm so glad that popped out for you! Thank you for the warm welcome!

Terry,
I really don't think you have anything to apologize for. I very much enjoyed your first round of comments on this. And I was aiming for a conversational tone with my reply. I got a little chatty because I think you're right about the cognitive disconnect. Those older folklore stories really do pull the rug out from under you ("...And then she died. And the prince left. The end. ...And then they went home. The end. ...And so they killed her. The end.") in a wild way when they wrap up. I'm not sure if it's an acquired taste or just a stylistic stumbling block. But college-thesis-writing-me would be so mad at present-day-me for using this ending. So I'm still thinking through it. I enjoyed that you were, too.

That said, I'm grateful for your coming back to the thread. You've been very, very kind about my writing, and I'm deeply flattered. I'm still carrying 'masterful' with me.
...I have developed an idea about what comes of their brainstorming session, but without a 'grief-soaked' Lois, I'm having trouble locating the tension until we get to the final act, and it feels a bit, well, light. If it stays that light, it'll never see daylight, lol. But if it helps, I'll be posting another TOGOM story in the next year or so that will give you the ending that you're looking for. It's just that it's about 80 pages in its current first-draft version and I think it's a 120-ish page story.

Also, while since we're chatting, I wanted to say that I really enjoyed your Play Some Mountain Music. I read it earlier this year, and I remember really sinking into it. Absolutely genius way to use the Metro Club and work in the Toni Taylor story. It really brought us into a new, fleshed out world with favorite and familiar characters guiding us through it. Lucy was truly elevated and much more of a whole person than we're usually treated to. And, naturally, I adored Lois as an undercover investigator. The feint at the end where Lois was worried Clark wouldn't see her off was delicious.

I’m finally caught up!

Gahhh!! I really love the scene in the interrogation room! The interplay between Lois and Henderson and Lois and Superman is so, so great!! There’s really too much great stuff there to quote it all.


Eeeeep! She’s pushed the Overprotective Clark Button! Ahh, the tension here is sooo good!

(And psst… there are a few misplaced spaces here on that last sentence. :))


hahaha I love this!!

Gahh! Right?? And that freckle… I mean…


Hahaha! That phrase made me snort!


OMG! I love this! This is soooo good!


Wonderful phrasing!



Gahhh! Ouch!



Ahhh such beautiful phrasing again!




WOW GAHHH OMG!! I got literal chills reading this—SO GREAT!!


Ahhhh! Love it!


I’m so excited for these!!


About the Woolf scene, since I see that you’d checked in with Michael specifically about it… it was so very close to playing just right! I think what would have helped would be more cues earlier on from Lois….that understated body language of both of them being uncomfortable because of what was unspoken so that, by the time Lois asks the question, Woolf doesn’t really have to say as much…

And after reading all your back and forth with Michael on this, I think you’re spot on with how to tighten things up!


What Michael says here:


Yep! Wholeheartedly agree!

Re: Discord—here’s the secret… we’re ALLLLLL introverts! Okay, there might be a few extroverts among us, but gosh… there are so many commonalities among us FoLC! We’ll be there when you’re ready.

Again, so great to have you de-lurked and writing!!

Sara

This moved me! I can tell you put your love of these characters into every scene.

ArcadeDreams, thank you so much for popping in and taking the time to comment. I do completely love these characters, and I'm glad that came through in the text. I'm so happy you found this moving - it's very kind of you to say!

KSaraSara, thank you SO much for your in-depth comments. I did go back and adjust that section that you and Michael were kind enough to point out, including an earlier cue from Lois. And I'm not sure I ever said that I appreciated that you felt the emotional journey wrapped up here for these two in this story. ...although you and I both know how that really turned out!
You're the absolute best cheerleader, and every "GAHHHH" goes straight to my heart!