TOC Part Five Thanks again to Sara Kraft for BRing, and to Sorcha for hanging in there, despite technical and RL issues.
******
Production Meeting Six:
"How are things looking, Seth?" Paul asked when everyone had settled into place.
"Pretty good," he replied. "Traffic is holding steady. People come and people go, but it averages out. It's actually kind of impressive. We're not seeing the usual mid-story sag. What they have to say remains very positive, too."
There were smiles and happy sounds around the table as everyone took in the news.
"Some of them were disappointed about Gotham," Seth continued after a few moments, "but they seem to understand it was beyond our control."
"Yeah," Kate said, "we were disappointed, too."
"Uhm, let's see..." Seth muttered to himself as he flipped through the printouts. "There was a request for an appearance by... Is this right...? Mindy Church? Who's that?"
"Someone we were talking about introducing next season," Timmy replied. He started muttering something about obsessed fans and spoilers.
"Oh. Okay, then. There was also a request for the return of Cat Grant."
"Yeah, we get those from time to time," Steph said. "The execs don't want her around anymore because we have an earlier timeslot this season. She wasn't deemed 'family-friendly.'" She turned to the camera. "Sorry, guys. I don't think we'll be seeing her around again."
"Hey," Seth said, looking at something on one of the printouts, "what's this about the Congo?"
"That was a former case of Lois's," Timmy explained. "Part of her backstory. I don't think we've mentioned it before, but we may end up doing something about it later."
"Gotcha. Thanks, Timmy."
The writer nodded absently, his attention once more focused on the scripts and notes spread out before him.
Paul got up and went to look over Seth's shoulder. "Anything more from that guy?" he whispered.
"Yeah, but not much. Looks like he might be laying low."
"Darn. There were signs of a break-in earlier. Security's on it, but I was hoping we'd know more..."
Seth looked up, shocked. "A break-in? What?"
"Yeah. Luckily, he missed. Timmy was out, explaining to that other fan that he's not her father."
"He actually went to see her?"
Paul nodded. "That's what I hear. Don't know why he wasn't scared to do it, but I guess she seemed nice, even if a little nutty."
"Seriously. I mean, she thinks *George Clooney* makes a good Batman." Seth shook his head, and glanced over to make sure Kate hadn't heard.
That seemed to remind Paul that it wasn't exactly polite to hold a whispered conversation in the middle of a staff meeting. He went back to his chair. "What else do you have, Seth?"
Instead of answering, he passed around one of the printouts. He'd written a brief note at the top. "Looks like Timmy picked up another fan. At least this one just wants to marry him."
"Muse?" Brian asked.
Seth shrugged, not sure how to respond. "Oh, got something else from our favorite hot chick. She's still a fan of Timmy's, but she says she's impressed with how the rest of us have been keeping up with changes, too."
"That's always good to hear," Paul said.
"I like her!" Steph put in happily.
"Sounds like a good note to end on," Paul said. "Unless there's something else."
"I think that about covers it," Seth replied.
Paul nodded and glanced down the table.
"Everything is good here," Steph announced before he could ask. "After the problems we had in the first few weeks, everyone really shaped up and pulled together." She clasped her hands for emphasis.
"Glad to hear it," Paul said, smiling. "I love it when things go right." He turned to the next person, but saw that Brian was looking away. Deciding to give the casting director a little time, he moved on to the technical director. "Kate? What about you?"
"Looking good here, too," she responded, giving her notes one last unnecessary check. "We've got everything we need for this part, and the effects department is putting the final touches on the stuff for next week. Should be quite a sight."
"I'll look forward to it! Brian?"
He looked over, reluctantly. "Lex can't make it."
"What?"
"He got cast on some other show, and they need him to start immediately. He told them he was due to work with us, but they weren't listening. So, he had to choose between a regular gig and a one-shot guest appearance. Guess who won?"
"But he's our main villain! We've been working up to his appearance the whole time! First Gotham and now this... How are we supposed to tell the story when crucial elements keep getting yanked?"
"We'll just have to find another villain," Timmy said, as if this were obvious. In a way, perhaps it was. "I'll try to leave it ambiguous for now," he said, flipping through pages with a pensive frown. "Let me know whom you can get."
"Ambiguous?" Paul asked, incredulous. "Last week, we mounted a sign that said 'LEXCORP' in giant letters. We even made sure to focus the camera on it because the set was designed to represent some shady place in Gotham. How are you going to make it ambiguous now?"
Timmy, hard at work, ignored the question.
Paul sighed and, as he'd done so many times before, trusted that Timmy would find a way.
******
Part Six:
Lois Lane looked over her notes in frustration. Sifting through the information they'd collected at the Lexcorp site was taking forever. The partner she was supposed to have to help her was late. Again. She sighed. Things could be so perfect with him, if only he'd be there when she needed him. If only he didn't run away at the worst possible times. If only he could show her that he cared for her as much as she -- The knocking at her door broke into her thoughts.
She jumped up and ran to the door, hating herself for how happy she felt. "Hi, Cla -- Dan?"
"Hey there," he said, flashing her his most charming smile.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to pretend that her surprise and confusion had nothing to do with the man she *had* expected to be at her door.
"I thought I'd drop by and give you the opportunity to thank me for saving your life the other day," he said with a teasing gleam in his eye.
She wondered what she could say to that. "Oh, uh... yeah. Thanks."
He leaned casually against the doorframe. "I think you can do better than that."
She raised her eyebrows. Did he expect...?
"How about this?" Dan suggested playfully. "I'll let you take me out to dinner."
"Dinner? Well, I, uh..."
"Hi, Lois," Clark said, slipping through the door, "Sorry I'm late. Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No," Lois said, throwing Clark a quick glance before looking back at her other visitor. "Look, Dan, Clark and I have work to do. I'll talk to you... later, okay?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll see you around." He strolled off with deceptive casualness.
Lois closed the door and turned around to face her partner. "Where have you been, Clark?"
"I'm sorry, Lois. There was some trouble in the subway..." Unconsciously, he brushed some iron filings off his hands. The situation with the runaway train had been a close call.
"Oh. Well, now that you're here..." She gestured towards the papers on the table.
Together, they attacked the pile.
"Hey, look at this," Clark said some time later. He handed her a small bundle of sheets. "It looks like a genuine military contract. Lexcorp is working on a one-man craft designed to allow a single soldier to patrol an entire city, giving him capabilities on the order of Superman's."
"So... what? You think it's a legitimate project?"
"I don't know." He handed her another bundle. "It might have started out as one, but from the looks of these notes, someone else took it over. Changed the designs, increased planned production, maybe even found a new buyer. It's hard to tell, but I think someone may have hijacked the whole thing..."
"Which could mean that Lex isn't involved." Lois wasn't sure what to make of that idea.
Clark's expression was oddly tight and very intense. "You can never be sure, with Luthor."
(TBC in the penultimate
Part Seven , sometime on Thursday...)
Part Six
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