As always, many thanks to my BR, Labrat.
--> From Part 4...
Just at that moment, the elevator chime sounded and the doors opened to the bullpen. Lois saw a man walk out, and survey the newsroom. He was a little over six feet tall, and wore a business suit with a very unusual-looking tie. He looked to be in his late twenties, and his face had strong, sharp features. His clothes were tailored, making it easy to tell that beneath the suit he was lean and well-built. He wore a set of old fashion glasses that at the same time seem to be out of place on him, and seem like the most natural thing for him to wear. He spotted Perry's office, and started toward it.
Lois looked to the ceiling and whispered, "Please God, I promise, if he's not married, engaged, or an idiot, I start attending church regularly again."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reflection, Part 5
Clark stepped out of the elevator, and surveyed the newsroom. He could actually feel the vibrancy of room, and somehow felt immediately at home. As much as he derived satisfaction from his superhero duties, he did miss working for a news organization. Writing had always been his passion, and since it looked like he was going to stick around Metropolis for a while, he hoped that he could impress Mr. White today. He spotted the editor's office and started to head for it.
He had just reached the bottom of the newsroom stairs, when a man burst though the stairway door. He looked to be in his late forties, and was dressed in rags with a watch cap on his head. He was carrying a parcel wrapped in plain, brown paper in both hands in front of him. He dashed into the newsroom shouting, "Lois Lane! Lois Lane! You have to help me. It's going to explode." He waved his package wildly around in the air.
Fearing the man had a bomb, Clark peered over his glasses to examine the package. Peering through the wrapping, he saw that it only contained papers and relaxed. The man spotted Lois, and was about to run down the steps when he was snagged from behind by a security guard.
Clark was now curious what the man had to say for himself. He didn't look dangerous, and he was obviously trying to warn Miss... Ms. Lane about something. He made his way back up the stairs towards the man who was now thrashing in the grip of the security guard. Calmly he placed one hand on the shoulder of the security guard, and the other on the package the man was carrying, in an effort to stop both of their struggles.
Looking right at the security guard, he said, "Please wait, I don't think he's dangerous. I think he may just have something important to say."
The security guard blinked, and then reasserted his air of authority over the situation. "Listen, I don't know who you are, buddy, but this guy could have a bomb for all I know, and he's acting like a maniac. Now just let me do me job."
"Perhaps your job could be to escort him to Ms. Lane. He seems to have something newsworthy to say to her. By the way, that's no bomb he's carrying, it's just a bundle of paperwork."
"And just how would you know that?" the security guard demanded.
"Explosives give off a distinctive odor, which this package doesn't have, and I can feel the paper bundle through this wrapping. So, why don't you give him a chance say his peace, as long as he promises to calm down? "
He turned his attention to the man with the package. "You can speak to Ms. Lane calmly can't you?" Clark employed the same calming voice he had practiced for dealing with hysterical people while performing rescues. Both men paused and looked at Clark. The man nodded, staring appreciatively at Clark.
"Please, you must let me talk to Lois Lane. If not, the space program is doomed!" Even through the man's wild behavior, Clark could see that he genuinely believed what he said was true. There was something in his eyes that made Clark want to believe what the man was saying. He had to think that Ms. Lane would be interested in at least hearing the man out.
Thankfully, by this time, Lois had stepped up to the men, saving Clark the trouble of trying to convince her to meet the man. She looked curiously both at the man with the package, and at Clark - to her, a stranger who had stepped in on the man's behalf. Perry had also come out of his office, looking on to see what was happening in his newsroom. She looked over at the security guard and said, "Eddie, why don’t you bring this guy to my desk so he can talk to me. You can stick around and watch him if you want."
"If that's what you want, Ms. Lane, OK." Turning his attention to the man, he said in a stern voice, "Come on, buddy. And no funny business or I'm personally going to toss you out on your ear." He led the man over to Lois's desk, leaving Clark standing alone with her. Clark saw her turn and look at him with a curious expression. He had been right this morning, without the rain parka on, she was indeed a beautiful woman. Not only that, she seemed to radiate this raw energy, just like... well, he wasn't going to think about that. What did cross his mind was that Lois was now one of the few people who had seen him up close in both of his guises in the same day. He hoped that a reporter as good as she was wouldn't notice the similarities of Clark Kent and his superhero guise.
A thought abruptly popped into his head... It was bad enough that he referred to himself in the third person when playing superhero, but he didn't even know what to call himself while in that guise. He really needed to work on finding a name for himself when he was wearing the 'suit'.
"I guess I should say thanks," he heard her say.
"It's no problem, Ms. Lane, just trying to help," he replied with a nonchalant shrug.
"Most people wouldn't bother to get involved."
"I don't know about that. He just seemed to have a story to tell. I thought it would be a shame to miss out on it."
"Yes, I agree." She studied him for a moment longer, then asked, "Have we met? I know that sounds so corny, but I could swear I've run into you before."
'I guess this is a good test as any to see if I'm recognized,' Clark thought to himself. "No ma'am, I don't believe that we've ever met." Then nodding in the direction of her desk, he said, "I guess you better go see what that guy wants to tell you. Eddie is starting to look nervous."
She looked over her shoulder and replied in a detached voice, "Yeah, I guess I better do that. Turning back, she studied Clark's face one more time, giving him a vaguely uncomfortable feeling. She blinked and seemed to refocus again, turning to go to her desk and interview the man with the package.
He watched her walk to her desk, unable to look away for some reason. As she walked away, she looked over her shoulder back at him, meeting his eyes. She immediately snapped her head back, and focused on reaching her desk to talk to the man.
"You must be Kent."
Clark turned around to face the voice that had spoken to him. He recognized Perry White, from his picture on the editorial page. "I am. Thank you for taking the time to see me, Mr. White." Clark extended his hand to the editor.
After a quick handshake, Perry said in a gruff voice, "Well come on, son, let's get this interview started. That was some show you put on there. It shows initiative, something I like to see in my reporters."
"Thank you, sir." That sounded positive to Clark. He was glad he'd made a good impression on Mr. White by helping that man out, thought it hadn't been his motivation for doing so. Still... it didn't hurt to impress the boss.
He followed Mr. White back to his office. Perry closed the door and sat down behind his desk, Clark taking the seat directly across from him.
"So, you studied under Dr. Calton?"
"Yes, sir."
"Lord, I haven't seen him since we covered Reagan's first inauguration. He said to take a look at your work, so let's see what you got. He said something about an article you did for the UP wire, exposing a plot by some renegade CIA agents to sell stolen arms in Jamaica for profit."
"Yes, sir, it's right here." Clark opened his portfolio and pulled out a copy of the story in question, and handed it to the editor.
Perry read it over without comment. After finishing, he set it down and looked at Clark. "That's some piece you did there, son. Sounded like that local pilot you mentioned in the article has you to thank for not getting that stuff pinned on him."
"I just exposed the truth, Mr. White."
"It is solid writing, Kent. How much experience do you have in the Metropolis area?"
"Not much, it's my first time in Metropolis. But I do have a piece I did for the Planet, if you're interested in it. It's a human interest story about the demolition of a local landmark." He pulled out his article on Beatrice and the Sarah Bernhardt Theater.
Perry took it and carefully read the article. When he had finished, he looked up at Clark, the article still in his hands. "You took it upon yourself to write...."
Suddenly the door of Perry's office burst open, and Lois came storming in. "Chief, there's a story here with this guy, I just know it. I'll need a...."
"Lois! Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" Seeing Lois wouldn't budge, he sighed and nodded in Clark's direction. "Well, since you're here, you might as meet the new reporter I'm going to hire." Clark rose to be formally introduced to Lois Lane. "Clark Kent, this is Lois Lane. Lois this is Clark..."
"Yeah, hi, we kind of met out there. So Perry, I'm going to need... Wait a minute, you said you couldn't afford to give me a raise. How can you afford to hire someone new?" She pointed an accusing finger directly at Clark. Realizing that she was pointing, Lois quickly dropped her hand and turned her head toward Clark. "No offense, Kent."
"None taken." Seeing that his offer for a handshake had been ignored, Clark just stuck his hands in his pockets, and watched the exchange between Lois and her editor with amusement. He was now in a very good mood. Mr. White having basically said that he had gotten the job.
"Anyway, Chief, I'm going to need..." She was interrupted again by a young man in a sweater vest, tapping on the window and pointing to a phone in his hand. "Sorry, Chief, got to run. I'll be right back."
She then stormed back out his office. Clark could only smile at Lois's antics, as he looked at the befuddled editor. "She's a real fireball, isn't she?
"You don't know the half of it, son," Perry said, still staring at the door Lois had just gone through.
"You’d be surprised," Clark muttered under his breath.
Perry turned to Clark, shaking his head. "I swear, if that girl wasn't the best investigative reporter I've ever had, she would have driven me to drink by now. Actually, she might do that anyway." He took a breath, and turned his attention back to the interview. "That's a great piece, Kent. Like I said, I value initiative as much as talent and experience. And you seem to have all three. Welcome to the Planet."
He stuck out his hand, and shook Clark's in congratulations. Clark almost forgot himself in the excitement of the moment, and had to stop from squeezing Mr. White's hand too hard.
"All right then, you go report to human resources on the second floor, and tell them I sent you. This piece on the theater will be your first official assignment. We'll put it on the editorial page for tomorrow's issue. After you finish your paperwork downstairs, report back up here. See Jimmy, that young kid in the sweater, and he'll set you up with a desk. Oh, and let me keep this Jamaica article a bit, I'd like to make a copy."
"Sure, Mr. White. And thanks again." Clark made his way out of the office. As he closed the door, he grimaced as his hearing picked up Mr. White muttering, "Damn, that boy's got a grip."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perry was checking over his editorial again, when Lois knocked on the door and let herself in. "Chief, I've got a real lead here, I think that this guy is for real. I'm going to need a task force on this. We need to track down some of the people who used to work with this guy. I need an expert in rockets, and..."
"You can have Kent."
"What?"
"You - can - have - Kent."
"That new guy? Who, by the way, I haven't forgiven you for hiring yet."
"Yes, Kent. He's a good man. He's got experience investigating, and I like his writing style."
"So where is this Kent from?"
"Well, let me see..." He picked up a piece of paper from his desk. "His resume says he lives in Smallville, Kansas. Degree in journalism from the University of Kansas. Was the editor of the Smallville post, then he..."
"You want to saddle some guy from Hicksville on me, for what could be the most important story of the year?" 'Great,' Lois thought, 'first good prospect to walk by in a while, and he's a hayseed from the boonies.'
"Now listen here, Lois, Kent has --"
"Perry, I need an experienced task force, people who have worked in big city investigations. Myerson can scout out the former co-workers for me and Bently can..."
Clearly fed up with her attitude, and not wanting to have to explain himself further, he interrupted her. "It's Kent, or nobody."
Lois crossed her arms in defiance. Seeing that Perry was not going to relent, she replied in a disgusted voice, "Fine, but he better not drag down *my* investigation." She whirled and left the office, closing the door firmly behind her.
Perry just stared after her, then chuckled to himself. "Sorry, Kent." He sighed, and went back to reviewing his editorial.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark arrived back at the newsroom after finishing his application and filling out his benefits forms. Being a warm day, he had taken off his sport coat and had rolled up his sleeves. As he walked down the steps, Lois Lane hurried past, taking a second to glare at him as she walked past. He stopped to watch her go by, perplexed by her attitude. Not knowing what was wrong, he shrugged, and turned to look for Jimmy Olsen. He took his first step, and found his way block by a statuesque red-head, in her mid-thirties, who was... creatively dressed. Clark blinked, then got out, "Um, sorry, I didn't see you."
"That's something I don't hear very often." She offered her hand to him, and said, "Catherine Grant - Cat's Corner."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Grant." He looked at her hand, uncertain what to do. She was holding it up to him like she expected him to kiss it. He settled on taking her hand, and giving her a gentle, short shake.
"Cat."
"Huh? Oh, right. Cat. Well, nice to meet you." He started to move to get on his way again, but Cat placed a hand on his chest, stopping him.
"Listen, I know how it is to be new in town. I'll be happy to show you around."
"Thanks anyway, but I've been in town for a while already, so..." Clark's voice drifted off as his hearing picked up a sound that usually meant trouble - the scream of a woman. He zeroed in on the source, and determined the general direction and distance. He turned his attention back on Cat for a second. "You know, I just remembered something I have to do..." At a loss what further to say he simply said, "Well, nice meeting you, Miss Grant," and then dashed for the stairway.
Cat just watched him leave, dumbfounded. She managed to get out in a quiet voice, "You can call me Cat..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cat was still staring at the stairwell, when Lois walked by her. She stopped and looked in the same direction Cat was staring, trying to figure out what had her mesmerized. Unable to discern what held her attention, she cleared her throat to get Cat's attention.
"Cat, are you OK?"
"Huh?" Coming out of her reverie, she looked over at Lois, a perplexed look on her face. "He just left." Cat waved in the general direction of the stairwell. "I don't think he even gave me a second look." She looked down at her outfit, checking for... something. What she was looking for, Lois couldn't even begin to guess.
"Cat, what are you talking about?"
"That new guy. I offered to take him out and 'show him the sights', and he just ignored me. Do I look OK?"
"You look your usual. Like you're ready to pose in a magazine... for a lingerie ad."
Lois's sarcastic tone was totally lost on Cat. "Really? Thanks. I wonder why he ignored me then? Is he married, or does he have a girlfriend already?"
"I don't know for sure, but I don't think so. But he kind of just 'fell off the turnip truck' from Kansas, so he may not be used to women with your... fashion sense."
"Oh." Cat contemplated that for a moment, then she gave Lois a devious smile. "Maybe I'll just try the 'down home' look on him next time. What do you think, Lolo?"
"I think that if you call me that in the newsroom again, you'll probably end up with a kick in the shin. It's bad enough you use that nickname when we're by ourselves. And as for Kent, don't pounce on him just yet, I need him to help me with a story later. I'm going to have to spend enough time just showing him the ropes, so I don't need you distracting him."
Cat pouted at Lois's comment. "You take away all my fun."
Lois snorted. "Yeah, right. Don't you have any other prey you can stalk for tonight? I need that rookie's head clear for the next few days."
"All right, Lol... Lois. But next week he's mine!"
Cat whirled, and made her way up the stairs toward the elevators. Unsurprisingly to Lois, most of the male content of the newsroom turned their heads to follow Cat's progress. Lois had to shake her own head in disgust. 'Men are so predictable, and Kent will probably be as bad as the rest of them. Speaking of which, where did he take off to?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The patrolmen pulled his vehicle up to the alley where the 911 dispatcher had directed him. He got out of his car, and proceeded down the alley with his gun drawn. As he rounded the corner he was greeted by the strangest sight he had ever experienced in his fourteen years on patrol. In the alley, a man was hanging upside down by his legs from a fire escape, secured there by what looked like a belt. But even stranger, was the other man who was sitting in mid air, four feet off the ground, in a lotus position. He was dressed in a bright blue spandex outfit, with red boots, and a red cape flowing behind him. He was talking to a young blonde woman who was holding a cell phone. She was acting as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her to be speaking to a man who could float in mid air. The floating man took notice of the officer, and stepped down from... down from... he stepped down and stood up, greeting the officer with a smile and a wave.
The police officer returned his gun to his holster slowly, never taking his eyes off the blue-clad man. The woman walked up to the officer, and explained what had happened. She told him how the man hanging on the fire escape had tried to mug her, and how the man in blue had shown up, swooping in from the air, and captured the mugger in the blink of an eye.
The man in blue, who was probably that superhero guy the officer had read about in the papers, told him to wait a moment. Suddenly he blurred into motion and returned to the same spot with the mugger in hand, all in less then two seconds. He handed the mugger over to the police officer and then rose slowly into the air, saluting the officer as he left.
All three watched the superhero rise into the sky, and then disappear in a blur of motion. The mugger promptly fainted, the police officer letting him fall to the ground without taking his eyes off the sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He shouldn't have done that of course, but he hadn't been able to resist when he saw that mugger attacking that woman. Clark indulged in a guilty smile as he remembered the look on the mugger's face when he handed him to the police officer at super speed. He promptly chastised himself, half-heartedly, for having fun at another's expense, no matter what that person had done.
He glided lazily through the air, enjoying the feel of the late afternoon sun on his face. No matter how crazy his life would get, he could never complain, knowing he could sometimes find the time to soar like this. He knew he'd better get back to the Planet, but he just wanted a few more moments of freedom. Finally, sighing with resignation, he pointed himself in the direction of the newspaper and sped back to the roof of the building.
A minute later, he was exiting the stairway door in the newsroom, straightening his tie. He scanned the room for 'Jimmy', the boy who was supposed to help him find a desk. He made it to the coffee table, and continued to scan the room for him.
Suddenly, he felt a smack on his upper arm and heard, "Come on, Kent, let's hit it." It was Lois Lane, and she looked like she was on her way to the elevator. Clark just stood there, bewildered at what she wanted.
"I'm sorry, am I supposed to go somewhere with you?"
Lois stopped to turn and face him, crossing her arms in obvious impatience. "What? Didn't anybody tell you that you're my new 'task force'." Clark could actually see the sarcasm dripping off the words 'task force' as they left her mouth. Clark smiled, amused at her attitude, and replied, "No, sorry, I was getting settled in. So did Mr. White assign me to work with you?"
"You were assigned to work *for* me. I'm the senior partner, so I call the shots. This is an important story, so you better just follow my lead and keep up. I don't need some rookie from the boonies slowing me down. Comprende?"
Clark scowled at her, taken back by her hostile attitude. "Did I do something to offend you, Ms. Lane? Because I don't really think we know each other enough for you to be upset at me yet. We should at least get to know each first, before you start getting mad at me."
Without further comment, he bounded up the stairs and headed toward the elevator.
***
Lois was frozen to the spot, unable to think of anything to say back to him. She snapped out of her daze, and turned to catch up with Clark, who had already pushed the button for the elevator. When she reached him, she attempted twice to say something to him, but couldn't seem to articulate exactly what she wanted to say. Clark merely looked at her with his eyebrows raised in a quizzical look.
Lois, at last, was able to get out, "I suppose I should get you up to speed on my story." Clark noted that it was 'my story', not 'the story'. He could already see that she was going to be high maintenance. On the other hand, she was one of the best investigative reporters in the city, so it wouldn't hurt to hang around her for a while to pick up some pointers. The elevator opened and they got on, Lois pushing the button for the bottom floor. The doors closed and Lois stood there, unmoving, staring directly ahead.
Lois continued to stare at the elevator doors, not sure what to say next. She had enough honesty with herself to admit that she had been a little hard on Kent, and probably had made a bad first impression. Of course, she wasn’t about to let him know that in this lifetime. She was beginning to realize that sometimes, on rare occasions, she maybe expressed herself a little on the strong side. Sometimes. But Kent was a big boy, he could take it.
She caught a quick peek at him out of the corner of her eye as they rode down in the elevator. 'Actually he's a very big boy,' she thought appreciatively. 'Too bad he's from the sticks. His idea of a good time is probably corn husking... or whatever they do out in Kansas. Definitely a 'C' lister. Maybe a 'B' lister if trained properly.'
***
He probably could have handled that better, but he wasn't very good at handling forceful women anymore. He really didn't need the headache, or the heartache, again. The best tact was to act as professional as possible, and focus on the job at hand.
"So, you were going to get me up to speed?"
She snapped her head around quickly, like she was surprised that he was still standing next to her. "Um, right, sorry. I was thinking of where to go first, to the local NASA office, or to see Dr. Platt."
"And Dr. Platt would be...?" The elevator reached the lobby and opened its doors just as Clark finished his question. As they walked out together, Lois switched to her 'all business' mode, telling Clark the story that Dr. Platt had relayed to her.
"I didn't know if I should take him seriously or not, but his paperwork all looked authentic, and he seemed to know what he was talking about. I spent the afternoon on the phone with some of my contacts, and I found out that Dr. Platt was fired from NASA under some very suspicious circumstances. Apparently, there had been some concern over some irregularities on the Prometheus program, and Dr. Platt had tried to bring it to the attention of someone in NASA management. One source told me that an engineer at NASA saw Dr. Platt's findings and agreed with him. But after submitting his report, Dr. Platt suddenly fell on a string of bad luck The other engineer decided to keep quiet, afraid something might happen to him too. A few days after he filed that report, which seems to have mysteriously disappeared from NASA, he was found guilty of stealing equipment from NASA. His coworkers reported that that would be totally out of character for him."
"So you suspect some kind of cover up?"
"At the very least." Lois stopped at the corner, put her thumb and finger in her mouth, and gave out the loudest whistle that Clark had heard in some time. With a screech, a taxi came to halt directly in front of them. After they got into the taxi, Lois gave the driver an address, which Clark was sure was not for NASA headquarters.
"I take it we're going to see Dr. Platt first."
"Right. I want to talk to him about what he gave me this morning and see if it's a copy of this report that he supposedly submitted to his superiors. I'll... we'll need to get an expert to decipher it for me... us."
"I just have to guess that you usually work alone."
Lois shot him an annoyed look. "I happen to work best alone. Other people just slow me down, plus I hate wasting time getting past the 'what's a nice girl like you doing in a business like this?' attitude which seems to prevail among some of my male peers." Her expression dared him to voice such an opinion to her.
"Well, I won't waste your time by asking such a silly question. I have read your work, by the way. I thought your investigation of that car theft ring was a brilliant piece of work."
"It was, wasn't it?" Lois replied, with a self satisfied expression.
"So when is the follow-up?"
She quickly looked confused. "What follow-up?"
"Oh, sorry, I just thought that you would follow up with the personal stories of your investigation. I read that there were a lot of homeless boys recruited to steal cars for the ring. It would be fascinating to get some of their stories. How did they get recruited? Why do they feel they have to steal cars to survive? You know, the human side of the story."
Lois snorted in reply. "Hey, listen, they were car thieves... they were caught, thanks to me, of course. End of story. Time to move on. Human interest stories never make it to the front page anyway."
"I see." Clark was a little disappointed at her attitude. He'd always thought that the human side of the story was the most interesting part. He guessed that Lois was interested mostly in the expose. But he always felt that exposing the human condition was just as important. He didn't say anything further, and simply looked out his window for the rest of the taxi ride.
***
Lois watched Kent turn away from her and look out the window. She was about to say something else, but thought better of it. He was obviously judging her in some way. How dare he! He'd been on the job for one day, and he was already making comments about her work. Or rather what her work lacked. She didn't need to do those touchy-feely stories. That were for reporters who couldn't hack the strain of investigative reporting. She had exposed enough criminals in the past three years to be justifiably proud of her work. Besides, if Perry wanted follow-up articles he would tell her so. Wouldn't he?
She looked out her own window, and a stray thought crept into her conscience. She really hadn't thought about those young boys the car theft ring had recruited. She had been disguised as one of them, and worked alongside them for a week, and hadn't even thought about getting their side of the story. She was so focused on exposing the car ring, that she hadn't even thought of that.
'And why think of it now? Why do I suddenly feel like I need to explain myself to Kent? It's not like he said I should have written it, he just expressed interest in their story. He was just curious about them, asked questions... about them...' The implications of her thoughts suddenly hit her, and his silence was more of a conviction than any words he could have spoken. 'Questions I should have thought to ask,' she reflected sheepishly. She looked at Clark again, thinking of some way to explain herself. He hadn't asked for any explanation, but his questions had made her consider what she had missed. Lois felt the need to explain to him, to say something to him, but was at a loss as to what, exactly, to say.
Lois watched Clark as the taxi drove on, his face faintly reflected in the window, as the scenes of life on the city streets blurred by. As she studied his reflection, she felt her preconceptions slowly slip away from her. She realized that, once again, she had leapt before looking, this time jumping to a conclusion on the type of person Clark Kent really was. Somehow, the soft image she saw in the taxi's window reflected a depth she rarely glimpsed in a city where shallowness was fashion, and who you were was more important that what you did.
She'd always prided herself on the ability to read others' faces, and now that she had taken a moment to really look at Clark Kent's face, she saw more than a naive, Kansas farmboy. In fact, she had to admit that he had a handsome face. His older style glasses gave him a studious look, but behind them she could see strong features, ones that were not only attractive, but showed character. 'I bet he has a beautiful smile too, ' she thought wistfully. She shook herself out of her daydreaming, chastising herself for letting her thoughts drift into 'that area'.
'Maybe I should say something to Clark, and let him know he had a point. I'm a big enough person to admit when I make a small, minuscule error in judgment. OK, it wasn't really so small, but...' She stopped when a stray thought surprised her.
'When did he become Clark to me?' she asked herself. The honest side of her replied, 'When you saw him as something more than a hick who might get in your way. So maybe you should let him know that he brought up a good point.'
But before she could act on that thought, the taxi turned the corner and screeched to an abrupt halt. The sun suddenly streamed through the taxi's window, and Clark's reflection disappeared in a blaze of sunlight. They were now in front of a run-down apartment building, whose address matched the one Dr. Platt had given her that morning. Lois paid the driver quickly, and got out with Clark. She still wanted to say something to him about what he had said, but that would have to wait until later. Now she needed to concentrate on talking to Dr. Platt. But, later, she hoped that they got a chance to talk. Maybe she would be able to make up for that 'not so good' (OK, lousy) first impression he must have gotten of her in the newsroom.
****
Clark wasn't sure what to make of Lois Lane right now. She was obviously a great reporter, but he couldn't comprehend how she could minimize the importance of those boys' stories. And he still didn't understand why he'd got such a hostile attitude from her in the newsroom. It was as if working with him was some kind of punishment to her.
'Oh, well, maybe she was just having a bad day, and I was the nearest target,' he thought. Putting the thought aside, he followed Lois into the front entrance of the building, and down the hall towards Dr. Platt's room.
They noted the collection of garbage strewn in various places, some of it looking like it had been there for quite some time. It was apparent that only transients lived in the building, and Clark doubted that anyone even cared for the building at all any more.
Lois stopped in front of a door halfway down the hall, and knocked loudly. After a minute, with no answer, she knocked again, and shouted at the door, "Dr. Platt, it's Lois Lane."
Clark had an uneasy feeling about this, and tuned his hearing to the inside of the apartment. He heard someone scrambling to the opposite side of the room. Looking over his glasses, he could only get a fuzzy image of the interior, probably due to the lead in the old paint used on the door.
"Lois, I've got a bad feeling about this, I'm going in." He turned the door knob, and found it open. He dashed in, to see the only window in the room opened. Looking quickly around the room, he spotted a man lying on the floor, his body at an odd angle. Clark could hear the distant sounds of someone running down the street, merging with the other sounds of the city. It was too late now to chase whoever had been here, so he went to check the man on the floor.
Clark knelt down besides the man, and checked for a pulse by placing his fingers on the man's neck. By this time his enhanced senses had already told him that the man was dead.
Clark sighed audibly, as he stood up. Lois was standing there, just staring at the body. "Is he dead?" she got out, her voice full of dread.
Clark nodded his head, the look of sadness and guilt playing across his face. "His neck has been broken. Looks like it happened in the last few minutes." He looked back down at the body of Dr. Platt, peering over his glasses to see if he could pick up any clues before calling the police. He saw only one set of fingerprints around the area. Some of impressions were very old, leading him to believe that they were Dr. Platt's. As he looked over the body once again, he felt Lois touch him on the arm, speaking to him in a shaky voice
"Clark, what do you see?"
"Nothing," he said in disgust. After a few moments of silence, he turned his head to tell Lois to call the police, but saw her staring blankly at the doctor's body. "Lois, are you all right?"
"I guess so, it's just that..." She looked at him with forlorn eyes. "I asked almost everyone I talked to on the phone today if Dr. Platt really had any incriminating evidence about NASA. What if someone got nervous, and they... and they..." She turned and looked directly into Clark's eyes, like she was asking for absolution for her indiscretions. "I did it again. I jumped in without thinking what would happen first. What if they killed him because of me?"
Clark placed his hand gently on her upper arm, and spoke to her in a quiet, soothing voice. "Lois, you did nothing wrong. Someone else killed him, not you. You can't take the blame for something like this. Believe me, I know." Lois bowed her head, so that her forehead rested on his shoulder. In a soft voice she said, "Can we get out of here for a minute?"
"Sure, let's get out into the hallway." He lead her away from the body. Outside the apartment she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms, her eyes fixed on her shoes. Without looking up, she said, "Sorry. I usually don't act so bothered about things like this. You think I would be used to this by now."
"You never get used to it."
The certainty in his voice made Lois curious, and she raised her head to look at him. "Why not? We have to be able to be insensitive to these kind of things, or we'd just..."
"Or we'd just what? Become overwhelmed? I'd rather chance that, then to feel nothing when someone is hurt like this. If this affects you, all it means is that you care what happens to others. It's part of what makes you a good reporter... and a decent human being. You just have to reach a balance - you stop yourself from being overwhelmed, without being totally unsympathetic to plight of others."
Lois just stared at him, suddenly feeling ashamed of having underestimated Clark Kent. The feeling made her look down again, unable to continue to look him in the eyes. She could sense Clark bending down to try to look at her face.
"Lois? Look, I'm sorry if I upset you any. Sometimes I say things without thinking too, but I don't want you to feel bad because of anything I've said."
She looked up again him, and meet his eyes with her own. "No, you didn't upset me. What you said was true, and something I should already know. In fact, it's supposed to be one of my rules, but I'm never very good at following my own rules." She gave him a weak smile, which he returned.
She was right, he did have a nice smile. "So, Mr. Kent, you sound like you speak from experience."
"Well, I've been around. I left the U.S. right after college. We're so insulated here in the U.S., that we forget how tough it is in the poorer nations. About two-and-a-half years ago, I started a personal quest to report on the conditions in the poorer nations in the world. I needed to find that balance, or I'd go crazy."
"I understand." After a few moments of silence she then said, "I guess we better call the police."
"That's probably a good idea. Do you have a cell phone?"
"Yeah, Perry gave me one. He said I needed one for when I get into trouble, which, apparently, he thinks is often."
"Is it?"
"Kind of," she replied sheepishly.
"Kind of," he repeated with a wry tone. Lois immediately gave him a dirty look. Clark did his best to put on an innocent face, which of course made him look even more guilty. She dug her phone out of her purse, and pushed the speed dial for the police.
"Lois, I'm going to look around while you're on the phone, I'll be right back."
Lois just nodded, listening in frustration to the elevator music coming over her phone.
Clark made his way back into the apartment, and immediately pulled down his glasses to look around in his own special way. After five minutes of searching, his X-ray vision picked up a thick notebook of papers hidden behind some books on the bookshelf. He took out a pencil and pushed one of the books over to expose part of the notebook. It looked about the same size as the package Dr. Platt had been carrying earlier that morning. Seeing nothing else of interest, he exited the apartment and rejoined Lois in the hallway. She was just putting away her phone when he reached her.
"I talked to Inspector Henderson. He's a pretty decent guy, for a cop. He's on his way over with an investigation team. Did you find anything?"
"Maybe. Did you look through that package Dr. Platt gave you this morning?"
"Yes I did. It was a notebook with all his analysis and reports he filed on the Messenger and the Crew Transport for Prometheus. He said it was a copy of the originals."
"That's what I thought. I think I found the originals hidden in his bookcase. I think the killer was probably after it."
"Maybe so. Listen, Clark, I don't think that we should tell Henderson about our copy. He might want us to surrender it, and we'll have nothing to go on."
Clark was looking at her with a curious expression, which made Lois ask self-consciously, "What?"
"You're not calling me 'Kent' anymore. Why the change?"
She shrugged. "I don't know... maybe I think you'll do for now."
"I see," he replied sarcastically, a hint of a smile on his face.
"Don't push it, Kent," she said with a grin.
Clark held up his hands in a sign of mock-surrender, then became serious once again. "I agree about not telling the Inspector. We'll need to go through his reports to see if we can find out why he was killed."
"Yeah, we should. But, even but even if we go through the reports, will we be able to understand what they say? I don't know about you, but I barely made it through my required Physics class at Met. U. We may have to call in an expert."
"I kind of have a hobby reading about science stuff. I think I can decipher most of what the reports say. Usually engineering reports are geared for technical managers who are not specialist in a particular field, so it might make them easier to read."
"We'll see," she said with a bit of suspicion in her voice.
'Far be it for Lois Lane to take anybody at their word,' Clark mused to himself. Just then, he could hear several cars pull up outside, undoubtedly the police.
"I think the police are here."
"Really? I didn't hear anything."
Clark chastised himself for the slip. He really needed to be more careful about using his abilities if he was going to spend any time at all with others. Especially with someone as perceptive as Lois Lane. "I, um... thought I heard a door slam outside."
A moment later, a group of men came down the hallway. Most were uniformed policemen, but the man in front was dressed in a crumpled business suit. His expression gave the impression of someone who was unhappy about life in general. Outside his suit, he wore an equally crumpled trench-coat, which was unusual for this time of the year. He approached Lois and Clark, his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. He and his entourage stopped directly in front of Lois and Clark.
"So, Lane, you found more trouble for me to take care of?" His manner was gruff, but underneath Clark could tell that the Inspector respected Lois and her abilities.
"Actually, this one came to me, so it's not... my fault." She gave a quick glance and smiled at Clark. Clark, knowing what she was saying between the lines, acknowledged her with a nod and a smile of his own.
"Hmmm... right. So, who's the linebacker?" he asked, tilting his head in Clark's direction.
"This is Clark Kent. He's new to the Planet, and Perry assigned him to work... with me on this story."
Henderson snorted. "In other words, Perry assigned someone to help keep you out of trouble." He looked at Clark as he finished his sentence, appearing to size Clark up. Not knowing how to respond to Henderson's scrutiny, Clark just shrugged.
Lois immediately acted insulted at Henderson's comment. "You make it sound like I'm constantly getting into trouble. I do *not* get into trouble that much, just occasionally when I..."
Henderson waved his hand at her, interrupting Lois. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell it to someone who'll buy it. OK, Lane, you know the drill..." He took a notebook and a pen out of his trench-coat pocket, and started jotting down some notes. "I want the who, what, and where. And I want to know why you knew this man."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, Lois and Clark were back on the street hailing a cab, on their way back to the Planet. Lois, once again, executed one of her ear-splitting whistles. Clark made a show of clearly his ear with his finger, and then asked, "How do you do that?"
Feeling a little mischievous, she did her best Lauren Bacall imitation, and said with a mock seductive voice, "It's not hard, you just have to whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Clark? You just put your lips together... and... blow." She had only meant to say her last statement in jest, but her voice became husky as she got out the last word, and her eyes locked on to his. The background noise of the city seemed to disappear around Lois, leaving only the sound of her racing heart.
*****
Clark was drawn to the sight of her lips as Lois said 'put your lips together'. His eyes followed the contour of her face up to her eyes. He was drawn into them, and it immediately scared him. He couldn't do this now, not with her, no matter what spark he felt at this moment. She was a colleague and he needed to respect her. Besides, he didn't need to fall into the trap he had fallen into once before. With difficulty he got out in a hoarse whisper, "I'll try to remember that."
A taxi cab came noisily to a halt, breaking the spell between them. They both gave a nervous laugh and turned to get into the taxicab. Clark instinctively reached out to open Lois's door for her, while at the same time Lois reached to open her own door. Clark felt the contact of her hand on his own as they reached the door handle almost at the same moment. Her hand lingered on his a moment more than it had to, and then she drew it away.
Clark slowly opened the door for her, and allowed her to enter the cab. He could hear her muttered 'thank you' under her breath, but she didn't look up at him. He closed the door for her, and was about to go around to the other side, when a sound caught his attention.
He looked off in the direction of the sound, concentrating so that he could isolate it from all the other background noise in the city. When he locked on to the sound, he could hear that it was a fire alarm, and it sounded like another big one. Looking back down at Lois through her open taxi window, he could see her looking at him curiously. "Did you see something, Clark?"
"Huh? I mean, know, no I just remembered that I need to meet someone about an apartment to rent. I need to go right now. Why don't you go back to the Planet, and I'll meet you back there in an hour or so?"
"Sure, Clark, no problem." Clark turned, about to dash off, when hehe heard Lois say, "Clark, wait!" He stopped and returned to the taxi. Lois had gotten back out of the taxi and was standing by the back door. "Listen, Clark, I just wanted to, um, well..." She paused to take a deep breath, before she continued. "I just wanted to apologize for that 'boonies' crack this morning."
"It's OK, Lois, really. It happens sometimes. I know I certainly don't say the perfect thing every time. I could have told you that I thought it was great that I am getting to work with one of the top investigative reporters in Metropolis."
"Thanks, Clark." Then after a beat, "One of...?"
"Sorry, my mistake. *The* top investigative reporter..."
" See? You're learning already." She then turned serious again. "I also want you to know that you were right about the follow-up to my car theft story. It would be important to get those boys' stories. Maybe, after this, you can help me with talking to some of them."
"I would like that, Lois. Listen, I've got to go or I'll be late. I'll see you back at the paper in an hour or so."
"OK, see you then."
Clark watched her get back into the cab, and give the driver the address of the Planet. As soon as the taxi left, he turned and dashed down the nearest alley. Checking that no one was there to watch him, he sped up and turned into a blur. A second later he was airborne and heading toward the fire.
***********
Lois looked over her shoulder and watched Clark dash away, out of sight. 'Wow, he is in a hurry.'
She faced the front again and thought about her exchange with Clark, including the part when her hand had touched his. She stared at her hand, wondering why he affected her in that way. She had no idea, and it didn't help that he seemed to be a walking paradox. She had pegged him for a hick, fresh off the bus, with too much inexperience to be an effective reporter in the big city. But it turned out that he was very intelligent, and apparently well-traveled. She didn't even think about the fact that Perry must have been impressed with his work enough to hire him on the spot.
'Boy, what a dope, Lane. I'm lucky that Clark talked to me at all after that show this morning. Too bad we're involved in an important story, it would be nice to learn more about him.' That thought made her pause. She couldn't remember, in her adult life, ever thinking about a man, over focusing on a big story. Could she really be that attracted to Clark after only knowing him for a few hours? That would definitely be a first. She didn't even warm up to Paul this quick, and she was sure that he was *the one*, at the time.
'Ha! The *one*, indeed.' On their first date, he told her that if she really loved him, she would spend the night with him. She couldn't believe that women actually fell for that line. Linda King was welcome to him. Of course, Linda only lasted two months with him, before he found a new target for his wandering eye. Poor Linda, it took the rest of the school year for her to get over the humiliation. Lois was just glad that she was there to help Linda though that time.
Settling back into the taxi's seat, her thoughts wandered back to Clark's image again. Feeling like this was new to her, and she wanted to be cautious. She had waited this long to find the right person, no use in rushing it now. In the door's window, she could now see her reflection, making her think about the choices she had made to get where she was today. The exterior shell she had forged around herself to make it in a career that was basically a man's world. Here she was, twenty-seven years old, and she'd never had a serious relationship with any man. Was it good, because she was being patient, or was it bad, because she was being too picky... or was she afraid to even try?
Maybe it was time to do something that. After the investigation, she could suggest to Clark a nice, casual dinner together. Just a couple of newshounds trading war stories. Exchanging experiences. Swapping tales of life. Getting to know each other better... Sharing a meal. Telling their favorite jokes. Making him laugh, just so she could see him smile again...
** SLAP ** Her inner voice smacked her up the side of the brain, snapping her back to reality. 'Damn! I really have to stop reading those romance novels at night.' She settled back for the rest of the ride back to the Planet, purposely trying to focus on the investigation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It took Clark only twenty minutes to help the fire department put out the apartment fire. Luckily, the building was fairly deserted in the middle of the day, and he only had to evacuate one mother and baby before attending to the flames. On his way back to the Planet, he did a quick dive into the ocean to wash the smell of smoke off his body. Of course now he smelled like the salt water (which wasn't much better), so he diverted to Niagara Falls for a quick trip through the spray. Ten minutes later, he was back in Metropolis, relatively cleaned and dried.
Seeing nobody in the alley behind the Planet, he changed at super speed on the way down, landing behind a crate dressed in his business suit and glasses. He was making his way to the front of the building, when he stopped to think about what had happened in the taxicab this afternoon.
He had started to enjoy the camaraderie that seemed to be growing between them, working together on this investigation. But he was afraid something more than that could happen. He could recognize the attraction stirring within him, and the last thing he needed was to worry about getting his heart broken again. He would just need to be careful, and keep their budding friendship in perspective.
That settled in his mind, he continued on into the building, and up to meet with his new colleague and potential work partner.
... to be continued
