Okay, I'm back in business with this one. I did some typing and here's what fell out in an hour or so.
Nancy
Disguise Failed pt 4
Clark walked back to his desk, feeling better than he’d felt since he’d met up with Lois in the space shuttle. What a great friend and boss Perry was. This was more than he could have dreamed of, not only did he have the perfect job, his boss was going to be supportive of his alter ego.
This didn’t alter the fact that Lois Lane still knew his secret. She obviously couldn’t be trusted. Perhaps a time out on an iceberg would help her to realize the secret was worth protecting. Maybe a flight with Superman was just what the doctor ordered after all.
The smile on his face showed his gratitude for Perry. However, it quickly faded when Lois arrived in the newsroom. He could hear her fast heartbeat as she stormed down the ramp. She headed straight into Perry’s office, opened the door and slammed it with a bang. Heads throughout the newsroom looked in that direction. Her screams at Perry were muffled by the door, for everyone except Clark. Every word came through loud and clear.
“What the Hell did you do that for, Perry?”
Her boss looked up as she continued her tirade. “You TOLD me to get the story. I got the story. I got the evidence. I got the facts. This is world news. I got it for the Daily Planet. What nerve do you have, what right do you have to edit the truth out of my story? What kind of an editor are you anyway? I could march upstairs and tell the Suits what you did and you’d be out on the street before…”
Perry stood up from his desk and walked around to face his star reporter.
“Close Your Mouth, Lois.” The look on his face was menacing.
Her jaw fell open as the words stopped coming out.
“You did what I told you to do, Lois. But I’m the editor, you’re the reporter. You gather the news and I decide what’s fit to print.”
“And this isn’t?” Scorn dripped from her sneer.
“No, it’s not.”
“And just why not?”
“Lois, when you calm down I’ll explain things to you.”
Perry leaned against his desk with his arms crossed waiting for Lois to run out of steam. It took a bit of time and a bucketful of flying verbal sewage, but she finally ran out of words and expressions.
“Clark Kent is my reporter. I respect him. I respect what Superman is trying to do. You can’t expose him like this. What would happen to his life? What would happen to his parents, his close friends, this paper?”
She bit back what she was going to say, her face still red with her fury. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, imagine what happens if you get your way and the world finds out who Clark Kent really is. He quits his job, changes his name and Superman stops flying the skies….Now imagine this. You know who he is. I know who he is. You are partners with the world’s top investigator, one that can see through walls, hear through buildings, catch bullets and float on the ceiling. Do you think it would ever come in handy to have someone like that around?”
“I don’t need a bodyguard. I can defend myself.”
“Where have I heard that before? Remember when you were in the Congo? How about all the other times you’ve had to wait for Henderson or someone to arrive to untie you? Face it, Lois. What better team could you be a part of?”
She looked at him mournfully. He was off his rocker, it was obvious. He’d lost his senses.
“I don’t mean to say that you don’t have to get your sources and your facts with the usual legwork, but I’m just saying that things would run a lot smoother for you if you had Clark as a partner, than if he had moved to Paris to write for La Presse.”
Lois wasn’t buying it, but she was thinking about it. Perry continued, “Now if I were Superman and could fly faster than light, and you tried to expose me, I’m sure I could come up with some way of showing the world that you were wrong.”
“Oh yeah? Like how?”
“Not only is he a powerful man, he has a photographic memory, he can read faster than light, he can process information at the speed of a computer…If I were him, I think I’d have no problem convincing the world that you were a liar.”
“But it’s the truth! He wouldn’t lie about the truth, he’s, he’s Superman!”
“Ah, but I think he’d lie to protect that one secret. Lois, darlin’, you need him as a friend, as a partner, as a comrade.”
“I don’t need…” she spit out, unsure just what she did need.
“So Lois. I want you to calm down. You have the opportunity of a lifetime in your lap. He’s in this city, he’s in this office and he’s your partner. You can have an interview anytime you’d like, on any aspect of his life that he’s willing to let the world know. Trust me on this Lois. This is a lifetime project of covering the news. It’s a lot better than one good article and not a hint of Superman for the rest of our lives. He’s loyal to the Daily Planet and is happy to give us as many exclusives as we want. But he wants our loyalty in return. Nobody is to know his secret. No one. Not Jimmy, not Cat, not your sister, not Alice, not…anyone. You got it?”
She sat there, glowering at her boss. She had no intention of doing any such thing.
“And in case you’re thinking you’re not going to go along with me on this, Lois, I would be very happy to assign you to the gossip mill or the pet corner. Of course, you may be happier with being fired from the Daily Planet on your resume. I think that would cut off your hopes of a job at most top newspapers.”
“Is this blackmail?”
“I think you know very well, that if you destroy this man’s life, this man who is doing all he can to help others, not asking anything in return, not even wanting anyone to know who is the do-gooder is, then I don’t want you on my payroll. And I don’t think you want it on your conscience either.”
He paused and waited for Lois’ response, but she’d shut her mouth, finally.
“Now, I would like you to take some time off, Lois. I want you to get out of here and think about what you almost did to this man. I want you to appreciate what I did for you by not publishing that article.”
Perry went around to the other side of his desk. “I have something here I want you to look into.”
He picked up a brochure and handed it to her. It was a resort brochure, boasting all the comforts of home in the wilderness in Northern Canada. “I know this isn’t your type of article Lois, travel and all, but I want you away from here for awhile. Take some time to think over your life, your job and gain some perspective on this. I’m going to have Christy from travel book your flight. Would you like to leave this afternoon or tomorrow morning?”
Before she could object, she realized the futility of it and shrugged her shoulders, tossing her hair as she glanced up at her editor’s face. “How long will I be there?” If I go, she added mentally.
“I’d like you to stay up there for a week, do all the boat tours, visit all the sights, get the whole tourist experience.”
She nodded, realizing finally that she didn’t have much choice. It was this or picking leftovers out of the garbage bins in Suicide Slum.
