A Super Assignment
'Touched by an Angel' /
'Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'
Crossover story
By: Yvette Jessen
Part 1
The Metropolis skyline shimmered in the early morning sunshine. It was a beautiful spring day and the city was a bustle with activity, people going to work, children going to school and the general stresses of big city life being taken in stride. On one side, a woman with shoulder length brown hair was running towards the glass door to a tall high-rise building. In front of the modern high-rise, a large globe-shaped sculpture stood with the words 'Daily Planet' etched on one side in the same metallic material. On the opposite side of the street, a man with glasses and dark hair was also walking towards the building, his eyes filled with sadness, but he continued to make his way towards the same building, some quite obvious hesitancy emanating him.
Unseen by either of them, three angels stood observing their movements as well as observing the overall mood of the people around them. All three pairs of eyes were on the building that they had just entered. The tall auburn headed woman stared at the building and then glanced back over at her companions. “Tess, who is our assignment here?”
“Well, Miss Wings, this assignment is a little bit harder to explain,” the elder of the three angels answered. This woman was heavyset, with mahogany colored skin, gray hair, and kind, wise eyes. Her companions, one, a woman with long auburn hair and kind brown eyes, and a man with shoulder-length wavy blonde hair and compassionate green eyes, were standing and both of the younger angels looked confused.
The eldest angel took a deep breath before she was able to attempt explaining the case that she, herself, had a hard time understanding. “You and Andrew are going to be working at the Daily Planet and a part of the assignment is going to be Lois Lane. She's the woman you just saw who was in a hurry to get to work. The other part of your assignment will be Clark Kent, but you'll also be working with a young man named Jimmy Olsen. Anyway, Clark was the man who went inside after Lois, the dark-headed young man with glasses.”
“Three different assignments?” Monica looked at Tess.
“Well, this is going to be a complex case, Angel Babies,” Tess said softly as she shook her head. “Lois has been hurt many times in her life, Monica, and somewhere in there is an attitude that she won't let go of until she understands the concept of the whole truth and nothing but. I suppose that if anything, that was why she became a reporter in the first place, she's the best in Metropolis, and she knows it, but there is a part of her that wants to find the truth at all costs. Sometimes that cost causes her to do things without any conscientious thought as to whether what she is doing is the best thing for her or her safety. Clark is more level headed of the two, but he also has to learn that honesty is the best way to go and there is a secret in there that is destroying their newfound love for one another.”
“Tess, where are you going to be over the course of this assignment?” Monica asked.
“For now, I'll be working in Smallville, I don't really know yet what I will be doing there, as the assignment is actually here, but the Father is being very vague with us on this one, so I'm afraid to say, so I don't really know why I'll be there, but I think you two have things under control here.”
“You don't know why you're not going to be working with us here?” Monica asked.
“No, baby, I don't, but we're going to have to trust Him and hope for the best in this regard,” Tess said as she shrugged her shoulders.
“So what specifically are we going to be doing, Tess?” Andrew asked.
“Monica is going to see Perry White this morning and will submit an application for employment in order to become a reporter, and in a few days, you're going to do the same, except you will apply to be a staff photographer. You're not supposed to know each other yet, so Monica, you'll be on your own here for a couple of days, and then Andrew will come into the assignment and the two of you will officially ‘meet’.”
“Why is that? Why can't we work together from the start?” Monica asked, the confusion shadowing her pretty face.
“I think I know,” Andrew said as he ran his hand through his wavy, blonde hair. Although he sometimes did casework with Monica and Tess, he was also an Angel of Death. However, unlike the images that could emerge from many of today's horror movies, Andrew was anything but the gruesomeness that one might imagine whenever they would contemplate his job. The gentle angel positively loathed this concept of a creature that killed people or delighted in their demise, and his main task was to act as the link between Earth and the hereafter. He was, in fact, a depiction of kindness, compassion, and empathy. He was tall and handsome, dressed in light colored slacks and a beige, almost white, pullover. His shining green eyes were focused on the building as he spoke. “Did you see how Lois looked when she went in? She seemed as though she did not want to trust anyone in the world, and based on how Clark looked, I am under the impression that maybe Lois' attitude may have something to do with men in general.”
Tess nodded, “you're absolutely right, Angel Boy, Lois has been hurt, and you two are going to be walking on some eggshells until this assignment starts to take some turns and you are able to break down that wall she has successfully built up around herself. Don't loose heart, it is going to take some time for Lois to come around.”
Monica nodded and within seconds, she realized that now she was standing alone on the street. She looked down at her clothing and could see the pristine olive green suit that she was now wearing. Knotted around her throat was a matching silk scarf and in her hand, she carried a soft leather briefcase. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the street and walked into the building without looking back.
*****
Perry White was seated at his desk at that moment, his eyes staring down at the latest edition of the Daily Planet. He smiled in satisfaction as he read the headline that was splashed across the top of the paper. He could not help but beam with pride as yet another crime-wave had been stopped by the work of his dedicated reporters. He could feel the sense of fatherly pride overcome him as he looked out through the glass window and could see his star reporters, Lois Lane and Clark Kent each at their desks, but instead of hearing the casual chatter that tended to emanate the newsroom, an almost stony silence seemed to resonate all around this familiar place.
A knock interrupted his thoughts and he looked between the blinds to see that a pretty auburn headed woman was standing on the other side of the door. He went over and opened the door, and cleared his throat as he offered the woman a warm smile, but a confused look. He had no appointments and he was not certain who she was or what she wanted.
“Mr. White?” She spoke, her soft Irish lilted voice filled with warmth, and she smiled at him, her expression filled with warmth and honesty.
“Yes, what can I do for you?” He asked.
“My name is Monica, and I wanted to apply to work here as a reporter. I'm new in Metropolis, just got here last night from Chicago,” she said.
“Ah, Chicago,” Perry smiled. “You do any reporting there?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I worked at the Guardian for a while and wrote a few articles there, but I've also done television reporting, but only small scale,” Monica explained. “I was the weather girl at a station back west, as well.”
“Well, not to worry, we don't really focus too much on television experience around here, but every little bit helps,” Perry smiled. Something about this woman was very nice, she seemed to have a very relaxed and calm demeanor and something told him that this would be a tremendous asset around the Planet, especially right now when a reenactment of World War II seemed to be going on between his top reporters. “Do you have any writing samples with you, by chance?”
Monica nodded, dug in her briefcase, and handed the editor three typed pages with one of the stories she had written at the Guardian. Perry looked down and began to scan the pages, as he did a smile covered his face and he nodded approvingly as he finished the article and looked back up in her direction.
“Not bad, but tell me, are you one of these eccentric types who doesn't believe in surnames?” He asked.
“Why do you ask?”
“Your by-line says just ‘Monica’,” he said looking at her with obvious confusion on his face.
Monica smiled weakly. “Is it required to have a surname, Mr. White?”
“Well, it does help with regard to reporter identification,” he said. “I’m more an old fashioned editor, I suppose and surnames do help.”
Monica smiled as she thought about his words. Angels did not have surnames, but if it would pacify him, she'd provide him with a surname. “Wings,” she finally said.
“Monica Wings,” he nodded. “OK, we'll get you started. I will have to put you with a partner, since you’re new and need to learn the ropes here.”
“Oh, that's fine,” she smiled at him.
“OK, good,” he stood up and went to the door to the office. “Come with me, and I'll introduce you to Jimmy, and he can show you around. When I figure out whom you'll be working with, I'll let you know. Just concentrate on getting yourself acquainted with everyone here and you might get started looking into the archives a little bit and just acquaint yourself a little bit with format how we do things around here.”
“OK,” Monica nodded and smiled as they walked out into the newsroom.
“Jimmy?” Perry called out.
“Yes, Chief,” came the youthful sounding response as a young man with brown hair and friendly eyes approached.
“Jimmy Olsen, this is Monica Wings, she's new here, and I thought maybe you could show her around the databanks and maybe introduce her to some of the others,” Perry said.
Jimmy nodded and smiled briefly as Perry left and returned to his office. Once he was gone, Jimmy led Monica over to his desk and offered her his chair. Once she sat down he began to show her how to use the archives to do research until it was nearing lunchtime.
“Time flies when you're having fun,” he interrupted her after an hour had passed and he looked at her, and smiled. “You want to have lunch with me, Monica?” He offered.
“Sure,” she smiled, closed the archive, and stood up.
“Really?” He looked at her, bewilderment shadowing his face.
“Yes, where do you have in mind?” She asked as she realized that she was hungry.
“There's a coffee shop down the street,” Jimmy said.
“Sounds good, do you know if they serve mocha lattes?” Monica asked, her mouth watering at the mention of her favorite drink.
“No idea, come on we can find out. We have about half an hour, then when we get back I'll introduce you to a few people, then I have an assignment to get to.” As the last words emerged, Monica noticed a look of pride that briefly crossed the young man’s face.
She liked Jimmy; he was much smarter than given credit for being, but was also young, and energetic. There was also a trace of melancholy in his demeanor and she wondered for a moment what it could have meant. She looked up and could see that Jimmy was watching a man who was seated at the desk on the other side of the newsroom. “Is everything OK?” She eventually asked him, thus breaking him out of his reverie.
The young man shook his head as he stared over at his long time friend, Clark Kent.
"Is that a friend of yours?" Monica asked, casually trying to get Jimmy to open up a little bit to her.
“Uh, yeah I guess so, his name’s Clark Kent, he's one of the best reporters in Metropolis, and he's also one of my best friends, but for the last couple of days, he really hasn't been himself,” Jimmy said. “I guess it's no big deal, because everyone has a bad day now and again.” He shrugged his shoulders, smiled bravely at her and they left the newsroom.
*****
A half an hour later, Jimmy and Monica returned, and much to the angel's added confusion, Jimmy did not seem able to cast any light on anything as to why she was even there. Sighing deeply, she looked around the busy newsroom, her soft brown eyes filled with confusion as to why such an assertive and confident woman as Lois Lane needed an angel.
Jimmy walked with her over to Clark's desk. “Hey C.K., this is Monica she’s the new rookie. Perry asked me to show her around and introduce her to some of the folks.” Jimmy said, the unfamiliar pride back in his voice.
The man at the desk looked up and smiled at her. “Hello, I’m Clark Kent.”
“Nice to meet you,” Monica said smiling. “I had a chance to read some of your articles while I was working in the archives this morning, you’re a wonderful reporter, Mr. Kent,” Monica said.
“Call me Clark, and thank you,” Clark said smiling briefly, but he looked at Jimmy, he took a deep breath before he was able to exhale. “Jimmy, I'm not going to be able to go fishing with you this weekend. Something came up and I have to go home.”
“It's OK, C.K., I figured that something had come up, you look kind of tired,” Jimmy said, but Monica could detect the disappointment in the younger man's eyes. Instead of speaking about it, she remained silent.
“Any breaks on the drug case?” Jimmy asked.
“None, it's almost as though contacts and connections have just dried up,” Clark said. He glanced over towards where Lois usually sat and it was clear to anyone who were to look at him that he was getting aggravated with the silent treatment that Lois was dishing out. He knew that he wanted to run away, and maybe going back to Smallville was the way to do so.
As he began to drown into his thoughts, he could see that Lois was coming out of the elevator and he went over to meet her. “Lois?”
The woman at the elevator looked at him scornfully, her eyes filled with rage. “Why do you do this to me?” She asked; her voice filled with scorn.
“Calling your name?” He asked with puzzlement in his voice. “Look, I’m not doing anything, Lois, but we need to talk. Please, you don’t have to say anything, but I have to explain.”
“There's nothing to explain, we may have to work together, but that doesn't mean we have to like it.” With that, she walked over to her computer and sat down, her hands brusquely typing, all the while she was trying to shut him out. Eventually, he went back over to his desk where Monica and Jimmy were and sat down.
“Strike two?” Jimmy asked, looking at his friend, his eyes filled with worry.
“Yeah,” Clark said softly, but did not say another word about Lois Lane.
By this time, Jimmy had excused himself to go out and fulfill his assignment, thus leaving Monica standing next to the desk and on her own in the large newsroom. “Clark, can I ask you a question?”
“Maybe later, Monica, I think I need to talk to Perry about something,” Clark stood up and made a beeline towards the editor’s office.
Unmoving, Monica was left standing next to his desk, and rather than stay there, she walked a short distance over to where Lois sat at her desk. “Excuse me?” She spoke, causing Lois to look up.
“Yes?” The reporter addressed the angel with a no-nonsense voice.
“My name is Monica, and I'm new here at the Planet,” she began.
“Yeah, so?” Lois’ eyes never left the computer screen.
“I just thought since I hadn't met you yet, that I would come over and say ‘hello’,” Monica said.
“Hi,” Lois looked up and after a second, she looked back down at her notes. Monica shifted her weight slightly, but when she said nothing, Lois eventually looked up, her dark eyes filled with obvious frustration. “What do you want?”
The angel shook her head. “I wasn't expecting anything, I just wanted to say ‘hello’,” Monica looked down and could see the nameplate on the desk. “You're Lois Lane?”
“And you're a rocket scientist who can read,” Lois looked up, her sarcasm literally dripping in her words.
Monica shrugged her shoulders as she remembered what Tess had said that morning about Lois’ demeanor. She backed slowly away from the desk and made her way back over towards where Clark’s desk was. When he didn't come out of Perry's office, she went back over to Jimmy's and continued searching the archives and trying to find a way to find out about the relationship that seemed to exist between Lois and Clark.
She continued to investigate their relationship through the articles they wrote, and she discovered a new person coming into the mixture, Superman. He seemed to be the theme of many of Lois and Clark’s articles, in fact, she found herself smiling as she scanned the articles and saw pictures of the attractive man who wore blue tights and a red cape.
As she read through the articles, she found herself really liking him; he seemed to stand for things that she and her friends also stood for: truth, goodness, and honesty. Just like an angel, and he can fly too, she thought trying to keep herself from chuckling under her breath as she continued to study the articles.
As she learned more about Superman, she discovered that the people who seemed to have the closest ties to him were the two people who wrote the most about him. Shaking her head in bewilderment, she continued to read, all the while, she wondered how it was that these two people could reach the point where they were so angry with each another. What sort of secret could be so detrimental that it would destroy their friendship or possible romance? What could it possibly be that was keeping two people apart who obviously loved each other, and deeply? The questions continued to buzz around in her head until six O'clock, when many of the reporters still in the newsroom started to pack up their things and head for home.
TBC...
