Thanks for the feedback, everyone.
Michael, I will confess that 'Susan' was intentional. 'Miguel,' however, was not, so it creacks me up that it worked out that way.
As has been pointed out, Clark really doesn't have much chance of keeping Lois out of danger. But, considering that he plans on poking around the seedy side of Metropolis and thinks that Lois is more likely to investigate through more conventional chanels, I hope we can at least buy that he *thinks* he's protecting her. Remember that this Clark is not her work partner and so doesn't know as much as we do about her work habits.
As for the idea that he's keeping his secret without a really good reason, would that be out of character for Clark? He'll learn his mistake soon enough.
Here's another question, though: does Lois have a good reason for keeping her secret? She could solve her own problem with one sentence: "I know who you are."
Not sure when the next post will be; I'm at the 'take the time to make it right' portion of the story. I started in one direction last night and ended up somewhere I never planned to go and didn't really like. (It was a pretty good fight between L & C, though. Shame to waste it, but it doesn't work here.) So I had to backtrack and start again. It'll work out in the end, but I might have to slap a few people around first. Good thing Clark can take it.
I'm so glad you liked Ruben. We might need him later.
