Yay for feedback!
I was afraid that this one started off a little too slowly, but it seems I've got takers, so /me breathes sigh of relief.
Carol, part 2 is off to the betas, as you know. Thank you Carol and Bob! I'm aiming for twice a week postings, mostly because real life has some storm clouds brewing so I can't completely blow it off like I did last time I started posting a longer story. So, next part probably Thursday.
Kathy, I like alternate beginnings, too. I started this one because I have a particular place I want to go and I don't think it's possible to get there from where the show begins, so I needed to change some of the starting parameters, as it were. It gives us more room to play around.
Queenie and Cookiesmom, your enthusiasm is encouraging. More is on the way.
Ilionthe, I was glad to see that you picked up on Lois's Clark Kent line. It's the first deviation from the pilot, and it's a pretty subtle one, so I was afraid that people would be skimming along and miss it.
BJ, I was intrigued that you found Lois so much softer than we expect from S1. Actually, most of her dialog in that first scene is straight from the pilot script. The Clark Kent line is the only one I added. When I go back and watch the pilot, one of the things that strikes me is the affection between Lois and Jimmy. It seems to me that they had a bit of a big sister/ little brother dynamic going on before Clark showed up. I don't doubt that Lois was Mad Dog Lane when we first met her, but she had a soft side as well. I think she was extra prickly with Clark because he threatened her, both professionally and because of her past with Claude. This Lois doesn't have a partner/competitor at work. She's still the undisputed queen of the newsroom, so she can afford to be a little more magnanimous.
As for Clark and Luthor, I hadn't thought precisely in terms of upstaging, but you're exactly right. Clark hasn't been in Metropolis before now, but I'm sure that's exactly how Luthor would see it--Clark coming into Luthor's town and stealing his limelight.
I'm also tickled by the various speculations about Clark being undercover. That's pretty much the theme of this story, as you can tell from the title. Which Clark Kent is the real one and which are the covers? I'm not sure Clark himself knows that at this point.
Stay tuned!
