Between her concern for Lucy and her sudden realization that she didn't have Clark Kent's telephone number, Lois was finding it very difficult to focus on the staff meeting. Staring into the distance, Lois almost missed Perry's shocking statement. It took her a moment to realize that the other staff members had already filed out of the room, leaving her alone with Perry.
"You've got a new partner, Lois." Perry was saying. "He comes highly recommended, and I need someone to..."
Lois blinked. "You want *me* to drag a rookie around for the next few days?” Perry had tried forcing her to work with a partner on several occasions since Claude had left, but he’d never been foolish enough to demand that she work with someone new. He had the idea that having a partner would make her pay more attention to her own safety.
As far as Lois was concerned, a partner would only blunt her effectiveness as a reporter. She was the best reporter in the city primarily because she was willing to take risks that other reporters avoided. Her string of Kerth and Merriweather awards was proof of that.
It took time and effort to frighten a new partner away, time she could ill afford if she was going to have a personal life again after a long hiatus.
"You've just finished the cloning story, " Perry began. "After what you went through with that, I'd figure you could use the time off."
"I know I've been working on the cloning story for the past few months,” Lois said, her mind racing, “but I've already got a few leads on new stories. I won't have time to be dragging a rookie around by the nose."
"Honey, if you were anyone else, I'd force you to take a couple of weeks off. You were nearly shot twice last week. The boys upstairs are starting to worry that you are an insurance liability."
Lois shook her head. "I wasn't in any danger. The secret service wouldn't have shot me...they'd have just thrown me in jail. As for the rest...I haven’t cost the company any more in medical premiums than Eduardo."
“Eduardo has seven children and a wife,” Perry said. “And despite that, you’ve spent more time in the Emergency room in the last four months than his entire family has in the past six.”
“It was a tough story,” Lois said, shrugging. “And I never had any serious injuries.”
Perry stared at her silently for a moment, as though he could make her admit the truth through sheer force of will, but Lois only stared back impassively. Finally. he continued. "As I was saying, if you were anyone else, I'd make you take a week off. You've been focused on this one story for far too long, and it takes time to shift gears." Before she could protest, he continued. "I won't ask you to take time off, but I will ask you to take it easy for a few days. Show the new man the ropes."
"Can't you get Eduardo, or Ralph to do it? Are you really sure I’m the first person you want a new employee to see?” Lois found her voice slipping into uncertainty, which she hated. She'd been Mad Dog Lane for so long that it was hard to remember a time when she'd been anything else.
"You can't keep this up forever," Perry was saying, and Lois realized that she'd missed more of what he was saying. "You'll have to start working with other people sooner or later, or it's going to get you killed."
Shaking her head, Lois said, "I work best alone."
Until last night, she'd thought that was true in all areas of her life. Claude had only been the final nail in the coffin; her experiences with men had been universally dismal. Her experiences with women had been just as poor. Linda King had been only the first in a long line of competitors who had used every means necessary to get ahead.
Perry spoke firmly. "Not this week."
Lois rarely heard that tone of voice from Perry. Usually, she could persuade him to do whatever she needed in pursuit of a story. Unfortunately, this time, she could tell that he would accept no arguments.
She could only hope that she wouldn't frighten the new employee completely out of the company. If she did, Perry would have only himself to blame.
"All right," she sighed. "I'll show him the ropes." Helping a rookie couldn't be any worse than focusing on Lucy and her mother, or trying not to think about how easily last night might have turned out differently. Lois had never been the sort of person to wait anxiously by the telephone, and she wouldn't do it now, even if Clark Kent HAD impressed her.
Lois continued, "But if he slows me down, I'm going to leave him behind."
Perry nodded. "I don't think you'll have any problems with that. By all reports, Mr. Kent is an experienced world traveler with an impressive resume. He should be fast on his feet."
Lois froze. "What did you say his name was?"
"Clark Kent...he's a world traveler. He's a minor celebrity in the travelogue circuit, and he has an impressive portfolio of freelance articles from around the world. Rumor is that he'll be up for a Kerth this year."
Lois spoke slowly, her voice sounding odd in her own ears. "I've heard of him. He used to play football for Midwestern, right?"
"That's right. You won't have any trouble giving him the grand tour, then?" Perry asked.
"I'll do what I need to do," Lois said. She felt oddly numb, curiously betrayed. Objectively, she knew that they'd both agreed not to talk about their work. What Perry had already told her about Clark Kent's background matched what he'd told her himself the night before.
Yet the odds of two people meeting randomly on a blind date and discovering that they'd be co-workers seemed outrageous.
"He's waiting in my office," Perry said. "I didn't want to bring him in until I had your agreement."
Perry had been afraid that she'd make an embarrassing scene. Lois felt a moment of shame, wondering how she'd come to a point where she couldn't be depended on to behave like a normal human being. Perry would have been right; she had little doubt that she would have said something acidic and asinine if she'd been forced to confront Clark Kent with no preparation.
Lois nodded and rose to her feet. "I guess now is as good a time as ever." She smiled, though the expression felt frozen on her face.
Perry watched her cautiously for a moment before turning and heading out of the room.
"Kent!" he said as he stepped into his office. "You'll be partnered up with our number one reporter this week."
Lois stepped out from behind Perry, watching Clark to see what his reaction to her would be.
She saw a moment of surprise flicker across his features before it disappeared. His face lit up with the smile that she'd found so devastating the night before.
"You must be Lois Lane," he said. "I've been catching up with past issues of the Planet this morning, and I've found myself becoming a great fan of your work."
Clark Kent was smooth, smoother than Claude had ever considered being. He hadn't actually lied, but he'd left the impression that they'd never met. Lois wasn't sure whether to be grateful or angry. She'd had a lifetime to learn to dislike dishonest men, but on the other hand, she'd have been embarrassed for Perry to find out that she'd already been involved with him romantically.
"You weren't reading the Planet while you were traveling?" Lois found herself asking archly. She'd reserve judgment for now, but she'd give him enough rope to hang himself if he so chose.
He smiled again, apologetically. "Despite the Planet's reputation, it hasn't been distributed to many of the places that I've been in the last two years. Otherwise, I'd have recognized your name immediately."
Obliquely, he was saying that he hadn't known who she was last night. If Lois could believe that, it would resolve many of her fears. As it was, she wasn't sure that she could believe anything he'd told her.
"We'd better get going," Lois said. "I'm thinking about doing a story on drugs on the underground party circuit."
Clark Kent nodded gravely, as though he wasn't surprised at all; in all likelihood, he wasn't. Given their experiences last night with Lucy, he couldn't have expected anything else.
"Unless you've got a U.S. senator supplying the drugs, I'm going to have to ask you to hold off on the story." Perry said. "I've got another assignment in mind for the two of you."
Although Lois was anxious to do anything she could to help Lucy, her newswoman's instincts told her to keep quiet. Something about Perry's tone of voice told her that he had a big story.
“I’ve got friends in high places,” Perry began, “People who travel in the highest circles of power. They occasionally let me know when something big is going to happen. I trust these people...they’ve never led me wrong about anything important.”
Lois knew that better than anyone. Without hints from insiders that something was wrong with the President, she'd have never been able to piece the puzzle together on the cloning story. Perry's contacts were extensive, and as far as she knew, they'd never led him astray.
"Still, I didn't exactly fall out of the turnip truck yesterday. When I'm told something that seems impossible, I'm a little bit skeptical."
For some reason, Clark Kent shifted uneasily in his chair. Lois glanced at him for a moment, before allowing her attention to return to Perry, who was continuing.
"Three people in the state department have told me the same thing, people that I've never known to lie, and yet I'm still not sure I believe what I've been told."
Lois found herself leaning forward.
"Something has been found in Kansas...something utilizing a level of technology unlike anything that anyone has ever seen. The materials it is made of seem to consist of metals and polymers that don't exist on earth."
Lois blinked. "You're telling me that they've found a UFO."
Perry nodded. "A farmer found it out in his field, and the entire town knew about it before the feds moved in. The government is claiming that it’s a hoax, but they have quarantined the immediate area, claiming a toxic waste spill.”
Glancing at Clark, Lois was surprised to see that he wasn’t looking at either of them. For the first time since she’d met him, he looked pale and shaken.
*****************
It was his every nightmare come to life. The government knew, or if they didn’t already know, they’d know soon. Jonathan Kent hadn’t lived long enough to see the true extent of his son’s abilities, but he’d seen enough to warn Clark against ever revealing them to anyone.
“They’ll dissect you like a frog.” His father had been adamant, and he’d frightened a ten year old Clark with stories of the possible consequences should the people in power ever find out about what he could do, about what he was.
Objectively, Clark knew that there would be little that they could do to him. His skin was impervious to any conventional weapon, and after he’d deflected the Nightfall asteroid from its’ course, he’d known that he was truly invulnerable.
However, deflecting Nightfall had undoubtedly turned the suspicions of the government toward the presence of an alien presence on earth, no matter what interpretation the world religious community had placed on the event.
The government couldn’t hurt him, but they could make his life a living hell. He’d only now found a place that he could envision settling down in, and given the world wide communications network, even wandering as he had been wouldn’t be enough to hide.
Clark didn’t want to have to live on top of a mountaintop in solitude for the rest of his life. He’d spent too much time alone to contemplate living apart from the rest of humanity. His enforced secrecy was already almost too much to bear.
For the first time he noticed Lois and Perry White staring at him. He struggled to compose himself.
“Are you sure it isn’t exactly what they say it is? Perhaps your informants have an ulterior motive for leading you on a wild goose chase.”
“I know it’s hard to believe, son,” Perry said. “I’m not sure I believe it myself. But if I just let this one slide by, I wouldn’t be the newsman I think I am. You’ll both be on the first flight to Smallville tomorrow.”
Clark hesitated, then glanced at Lois. Killing the story wouldn’t be easy; it’d be infinitely harder with a reporter like Lois Lane at his side.
“I’ll look into it,” Clark said. “I know the town and it shouldn’t be that hard to find leads.” He hesitated. “Sending two reporters might be overkill, though. If Lois feels that the Rave story is important, maybe...”
“The decision has already been made.” Perry said. “Lois is the best reporter in Metropolis, and if this story is anything like I think it will be, it’ll take someone with her talents to get to the root of the problem.”
Although Clark didn’t know Perry very well, he could tell that the discussion was closed as far as the other man was concerned.
Clark didn’t want to return to Smallville. He certainly didn’t want to bring the first woman to whom he’d ever been really attracted to the place of his greatest sorrow and shame.
It’d been ten years since he’d been in Smallville, and if he’d had a choice, he’d have never returned.
