Author's note: Set at the end of GGGoH, after Clark's comment about 'feeling Super'.
Disclaimer: All recognisable characters, plot lines etc. are property of DC Comics, Warner Bros and December 3rd Productions. I own nothing.
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“Feeling super. Give me a break,” Lois muttered to herself as she shut down her computer and tidied her desk. On the surface of it, Clark’s remark had just been a slightly naïve sounding choice of phrase. Only two people in the room knew that it had been a terrible pun. The only good thing about it was his powers were apparently back.
She hadn’t realised what had been going on under the surface in Smallville at first. She’d thought that Trask turning up in rural Kansas had just been a manifestation of the rogue agent’s xenophobic paranoia. But once the shock of her partner- her friend- almost being killed had passed, the pieces had started to fall into place.
Why would a meteorite that could hurt Superman turn up just a few short miles from Clark’s hometown? Why was Trask so unalterably convinced that Clark knew something more about Superman? Her curiosity piqued, she’d made a call to one of her sources in Metropolis, and when she received the answer she’d begun to suspect she’d receive, she’d started doing some digging.
It had been the Kents's barn that had confirmed her suspicions. There was a line of scorch marks on the ground where a fire had apparently been extinguished- but no sign of the means used to extinguish the flames. Then there were the ropes used to tie up Clark’s parents and Wayne Irig. They’d been broken, not cut or untied. The frayed ends were unmistakable. No human could have broken those ropes. But a Kryptonian could have. Take into account the information that Superman hadn’t been seen in Metropolis since Lois and Clark had left for Kansas, and the conclusion was obvious.
Clark was Superman.
Her first reaction had been pure fury. He’d lied to her, he’d made her think he was two different people, he’d scooped her… but then the fury had drained away and she’d realised something.
She would’ve done the exact same thing.
That, however, didn’t let Clark Kent off the hook. No one got the better of Lois Lane without paying the price. And she knew exactly what she could do.
Picking up her bag, she reached for her coat only to have Clark grab it first and hold it open for her to shrug into.
“So do you think that’s the end of Bureau 39?” she asked as she settled the coat across her shoulders and started walking towards the elevators.
“I hope so,” Clark sighed, oblivious to the look Lois shot him. He hoped that Jason Trask’s dangerous delusion had died with him, but realistically he doubted it. There’d been quite a few agents of the covert Bureau present in Smallville; while he didn’t know if they all shared the same opinion of Superman that Trask had, he had to assume that at least some of them did. Bureau 39 operated under such secrecy that Clark was almost certain he’d cross paths with them again, sooner or later.
Alone in the elevator car, Lois kept her eyes fixed on the floor display.
“Fitting that you named the rock,” she commented casually.
“Why?” Clark asked warily.
“Well, it came from Krypton. Just like you.” She let out a snort of laughter at the expression on his face. Terror, panic and shock warred for the upper hand as the blood drained away from his face, leaving his usually olive skin a pasty grey.
“How- I mean- I’m- I’m not from Krypton-“
Lois rolled her eyes. “Oh Clark, stop it. I know you’re Superman. And you have a terrible poker face. Besides, I’m an investigative reporter, Clark. Did you really think I wouldn’t figure it out?” She patted him on the chest as the elevator doors opened with a merry ‘ding’. “You don’t have to worry about me, Clark. But I do think you need to do something about Wayne Irig.”
She hit the ‘door close’ button before she walked out of the elevator car, leaving him flat-footed in surprise as the doors shut in his face.
