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Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 569 Likes: 89
Columnist
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Columnist
Joined: Apr 2023
Posts: 569 Likes: 89 |
Happy Ficlet Friday! This is part 8 of the Pizza Run Series. This chapter lives here. Full TOC here. Thank you to everyone who's been reading and replying! I want to go back and reply to so many of those (and I likely will!), but I'm not letting myself do anything else until I finish my story for the Location Challenge, which was a much heavier lift than I'd originally planned (because of course it was, lol). So I'm desperately craving your FDK for Pizza Run as I cheat on this story, primarily writing for another.  Speaking of which, this series will be on hold for a couple of weeks in August while I finish and post that. Then maybe a little break before I head back here. But the next entry is written and the 3 after that are planned. It will wrap up shortly after that (I think). But I think what you've all been waiting for is coming up soon.  No beta on this one, so any mistakes are my own! I don't mind having them pointed out, since I'll plan to submit this to the archive. And of course, any other comments are really just kind encouragement to send me into the next part! Thanks for reading!
Looking forward to this summer's Location Challenge! Looks like stories are due around August 1st, and then polls open for voting! And don't forget about the 2026 fundraiser! Head over to the Fundraising page to donate or consider adding a story to the Keepsake Collection fundraising drive!
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Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 201 Likes: 46
Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 201 Likes: 46 |
Or maybe she should convince Clark to tell Perry what he hadn’t yet told her, and get a real support system for himself in place.
I was thinking the same thing while reading the previous chapter. “There’s a new folder on the upper right corner of your desktop called ‘Pizza Toppings,’” Jimmy said.
It's so cute seeing Jimmy and Lois work together to help Clark. ![[Linked Image]](https://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/liebe/h054.gif) ![[Linked Image]](https://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/liebe/h041.gif)
Stories are written by the victors.
(Hmm, come to think of it, that's not the exact quote...)
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Joined: Oct 2023
Posts: 274 Likes: 47
Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Oct 2023
Posts: 274 Likes: 47 |
This went from being such a fun and silly series to really getting into the heart of things. I love Lois recognizing how hard his life is even while he is still clueless that she knows. I love Jimmy teasing, and Lois denying that she's not still mad. I love Perry knowing something is up but not getting any clues as to what it is.
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,016 Likes: 99
Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,016 Likes: 99 |
Poor Clark. This must be one of my favorite tropes in this fandom - Clark getting tired because he's saving so many people. You're doing an awesome job of portraying this.
It's never too dark to be cool. 
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Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 568 Likes: 77
Columnist
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Columnist
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 568 Likes: 77 |
Run ragged indeed. Poor Clark! And aww Lois stepping up, even while she's still confused.
Come hang out in the Discord server! Just make a Discord account and click this https://discord.gg/fv2bAVVUBQ to join. Discord can be a little intimidating, but we keep our server simple and are always happy to help people learn their way around!
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1 member likes this:
peixinho |
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,882 Likes: 12
Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,882 Likes: 12 |
Three days ago, Clark had called her to say in a hurried voice that one of his apartment windows had broken, and he was stuck waiting for his landlord to come to replace it. She’d immediately picked up a remote and turned the volume higher on one of the newsroom televisions to see that the Hurricane Gordon was now barreling across Florida, and Jimmy had come up behind her with a concerned look on his face as they watched footage of the storm decimating whole communities that didn’t stand a chance. That time, Clark hadn’t even said ‘goodbye’ before speeding off the line.
Aww, he doesn't even have time to stop by the Planet! 💔💔 What a disaster! They were going to have to cover for him. Should she say that he was still sick? But this kind of thing seemed to happen all the time. It would eat up his vacation time pretty quickly if that was always her excuse for him. Then what would happen when he ran out of time off? No more rescues?
Hah, I love how practical she is! This is a valid concern!! Without thinking, she reached up to remove his glasses and a second later, her hand was gently, but immovably, encased in steel.
Their eyes met.
His were suddenly alert, and she realized what she’d been about to unwittingly do.
She’d been about to remove Superman’s disguise in a room full of reporters.
I really like this moment! Before she could bark at him again or Perry could come up with a reason for his reporters not to play musical chairs with their assignments, Jimmy was suddenly there, all but shoving Clark toward the elevator.
“I’m on it for photos!” Jimmy yelled back at them, one hand still propelling Clark away from their boss.
Love Jimmy!! He's good on his feet!! Jimmy was already waiting there, camera bag still strapped across his chest, as it had been since he’d left his desk to intercept Clark.
He already had the camera!!! Lmaooo Love the ending too!! Jimmy and Lois have great interactions in this series!! Another great installment in this series! Will be looking forward to the next one!! ❤❤❤
What we've got here is failure to communicate...
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 9,399 Likes: 76
Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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Boards Chief Administrator Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 9,399 Likes: 76 |
Hi Evie! And since there was no ability to shift the outcome for those people in the storm’s path. They weren’t interviewees or targets of an investigation; they were victims. So everyone had collectively indulged in their annual sigh of relief as the season came to a close. But then Tropical Storm Gordon decided to prove to the national news circuit that they had all been wrong to think that they could predict, and therefore underestimate, the forces of nature. It promoted itself to a hurricane and proceeded to brutally pummel the Caribbean and the east coast.
Very vividly written  They had first heard about it last week when it had clipped the tip of Jamaica, and Clark had offered to go grab them coffees, his treat, as Lois and Jimmy shared a knowing glance over her desk.
I wonder if he realizes that coffee isn’t fresh if he delivers it three mornings hence. Two days later, they’d tracked the storm’s progress to Cuba, when Clark told them he had a doctor’s appointment he’d nearly forgotten,
Okay, I grinned but assumed ‘coincidence’ when Clark got coffee on his trip to Jamaica. But given Che Guevara was a medical doctor, I’m now calling ‘sneaky author hiding nuggets’! Three days ago, Clark had called her to say in a hurried voice that one of his apartment windows had broken, and he was stuck waiting for his landlord to come to replace it.
Poor guy is so tired he didn’t notice the window was closed when he got home. “Jimmy, I’m sure he’s fine. He’s, you know, him.”
Unless the Gordon picked up some green glowing water in the Bermudas where Lois was on a cruise last summer. And I’m not constructing a connection with Gordon Shumway about this being an alien catastrophe. Because she was, she told herself, now vacillating hourly on her reaction to Clark and his secret.
You picked the title wonderfully. Clark is running ragged due to emergencies. Lois is running ragged due to her own issues with Clark and her lying to him about knowing the truth. Then what would happen when he ran out of time off? No more rescues?
PERRY: *yodelidado!* so she’d just told Clark to wait. That way she could pivot the blame to herself, as the senior partner.
She’s very adorable. Also, not very consistent in her being angry with him. More like a mother being mad that her four-year-old drew all over the table with crayons. But at the end of the day, she still loves him. Maybe she should tell him that she loves and cares for him like a mother. This should either cause some very interesting issues for Dr. Friskin to resolve or once and for all quiet the sexual ardor they’re both feeling. Or maybe she should convince Clark to tell Perry what he hadn’t yet told her, and get a real support system for himself in place.
Now wouldn’t that be a fun conversation? PERRY: So, Lois sent you to me. So I can help you with your…errands. But she doesn’t know about your…errands? CLARK: Uh…yes? PERRY: Jimmy! Jimmy! Where is the guy… Jimmy! Book a weekend at the Lexor. Yes. Honeymoon Suite. One bed. … I don’t care that it’s last minute. … Now, let’s see… The HR form. The expense form. Cancel the Cat package… Clark, what is it? … Call Wayne Enterprises? What? Why would they be interested in… Oh, never mind. Wayne Manor. I see. A guy named ‘Alfred’…? By Elvis cape, those two are going to run me into the ground with their antics. Dammit. She knew that tone. Somehow she’d gotten his antennae up, and now he was going to dig in.
Sometimes ‘busy Mad Dog’ disarmed it.
 “Without you?”
“I don’t need to go out on every tip we get,” she said, trying to sound appropriately annoyed.
“Is it credible?”
“Should be,” she said with a shrug.
“But you sent Kent to check it out alone?”
 “While you type up story notes on last week’s news?”
 “I always clean up my notes after a big story,” she said, attempting to sound scandalized and still a little annoyed.
Uh-huh. “Uh-huh,” Perry replied, staring her down.
“Let me know if I need to pull the front page for your tip,” he said with a lilt to his voice that she might describe in a less professional setting as ‘smart-ass.’
Well… it’s a story about that new hurricane they’re developing down in the Gulf. It’s still all very hush hush right now… “You’re not mad at him anymore,” Jimmy accused playfully.
“I’m mad as hell.
See? Lois can have passionate making-love with Clark while being mad at him. What does the one thing have to do with the other? CAT: /proud mama … older sister/ “There’s a new folder on the upper right corner of your desktop called ‘Pizza Toppings',” Jimmy said.
Also, shouldn’t she be worried he can also access *her*computer? One button was open on his shirt, which was coming untucked. As he walked down the ramp, he put his hands in his pockets; with his jacket pushed aside, she could see that he’d missed a belt loop. One of his shoelaces was even untied.
Oh dear! Did he spend the entire night with the ladies down at the docks, pretending to be a sailor man? Without thinking, she reached up to remove his glasses and a second later, her hand was gently, but immovably, encased in steel.
Their eyes met.
His were suddenly alert, and she realized what she’d been about to unwittingly do.
She’d been about to remove Superman’s disguise in a room full of reporters.
I wonder if he would have stopped her this instinctively had they been alone. For some reason, Clark’s gaze swept over to Lois, a pleading look in his eye.
And it clicked.
He had to cover the orphanage fire.
So that Superman could put out the fire.
“Uh, actually, I’ve got that press conference, Chief!” she called back to Perry, breaking away from Clark toward her desk and throwing her purse over her shoulder.
“What?!” Perry asked, his head swiveling back to her.
Behind her, Clark’s face was a study in surprise.
Perry’s so gonna call the friendly men wearing the white coats. Or the frog catcher. “Now hold on there, do you even know what this press conference is about?” Perry stopped Lois just as she was about to follow Clark and Jimmy.
Yes… boring numbers about the city officials spending tons of tax dollar money in the Bahamas. It seems that the local tourism industry has opened a new venue catering to *male* city officials. “He’s talking about how to leverage interest savings against the city’s current existing debt to maintain a robust credit rating over the next fiscal year.”
Sounds like he’s betting the tax dollars on Twelve Red (sic) in Vegas. Jimmy cut him off. “You go ahead, CK. I just remembered I have to get my camera. Would you mind if I met you there?”
Clark’s face cleared. “Yes. Sure, Jimmy! I’ll meet you there.”
Martha’s gonna have a field day explaining the birds and the bees to her son. Perry gave her a hard look, but seemed to decide that he was getting the best he was going to get out of this whirlwind of chicanery masquerading as a newsroom today.
He should be thankful for all the stories coming in on time and not ask too many questions. Much healthier for his heart that way. “You think he’ll do ok at that fire?” he asked.
“Of course,” she said confidently, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because he’s Superman,” she said emphatically. “And when he’s not feeling so super, we’ve got his back.”
Still, he had looked really tired.
STAR: Superman fell asleep during rescue and dropped into the burning building. Then Jimmy grinned widely. “You’re so not mad at him anymore,” he teased again.
Oh, she is. Just wait till he’s gotten a chance to sleep and she finds him in his bedroom the next day. She’ll so give it to him then! “I’m furious,” Lois insisted with a straight face.
Jimmy’s smile grew.
Without looking, Lois reached over and whacked his upper arm.
“Ow!” he protested, chuckling.
“See? Furious.”
The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and they were off to the races.
![[Linked Image]](https://cosgan.de/images/smilie/konfus/s065.gif) Wonderfully chaotic chapter  Michael
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