Author's note: References events from the 1978 movie, "Superman". The idea of Lois forgetting is somewhat based on the EllenF excellent fanfic, "First Meeting". See her website at ellyfanfiction.blogspot.com.
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Step Eight: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Perry sat in his chair in the back row at the Friendly Friday meeting. He preferred the back row as he often came in late, and he considered it rude to interrupt the meeting. No lateness today, however, as today's speaker promised to be a cut above the usual.
Hank G., a former lawyer, was well into his talk, a well-spoken, amusing "drunk-a-log". The crowd laughed as Hank continued. "So I kept on drinking, and I was hung over all the time, and I wasn't making any money, so I dipped into the clients' escrow accounts."
A slight disturbance next to Perry, and Clark Kent sat down. The tall man dwarfed the folding chair, but he sat gracefully nonetheless. Perry nodded at Clark and made a small "hello" gesture which Clark returned. He noted curiously that Clark had put the dorky glasses back on – maybe his contact lenses were giving him trouble? Clark had mentioned before that the contacts bothered his eyes.
The two men listened to Hank G.'s account of his spiral into worsening alcoholism, with stops for divorce and disbarment along the way.
Hank followed with his tale of working up from rock bottom, and dealing with the mess he'd made of his life. "And then I found out that "sober" is actually an acronym for 'Son of a B!tch! Everything's Real!'" the ex-lawyer joked.
Perry smiled at that – things certainly were real. The world was brighter, clearer, more in focus now that he wasn't anesthetizing himself with a bottle of booze every day. Of course, the downside was that, without the anesthesia, bad things hurt more too. But Perry had learned that the good outweighed the bad. And he'd learned ways of dealing with the bad without needing the crutch of alcohol.
Hank said, "And right now I'm an assistant in a law office, and some snot-nosed, pimply-faced kid lawyer there told me to get him a Coca-Cola from the vending machine. I wanted to smack him in the face." He gave a rueful laugh. "Then I thought of Step Eight and I just said, "Diet or regular, sir?"
The crowd roared again at Hank's sardonic tone. Face it, getting sober wasn't all fun and games. But they could laugh at it, together.
Perry saw Clark smiling gravely too. He wondered in passing what Clark's drug problem was – Clark never had said anything besides that it was a "designer drug." Perry had been worried about his reporter – Lois' head injury seemed to have hit Kent pretty hard.
Apparently Lois Lane had developed some sort of amnesia, at least from Clark's point of view, because Perry kept on seeing him make references to some supposed shared experiences that Lois totally denied knowing about. In fact, she'd become irritated at Clark, and had gone to Perry demanding that Clark stop harassing her. Perry had called Clark into his office for a little informal one-on-one counseling, and had seen Clark's face pale.
"She doesn't want you around, Kent, if you keep on annoying her with your old home week stories," Perry had said.
"Perry, we went to high school together! We were good friends! I wrote on the Smallville Torch paper with her! She was my editor there!" Clark expostulated.
"Well, Clark," Perry said patiently, "that hit on the head must have really scrambled her brains, then, because she doesn't remember any of that." He smiled. "Well, she remembers being editor of the Torch, which she constantly refers to when she wants me to change one of my editorial decisions."
"Perry," Clark said earnestly, "I'm hoping that if I keep on reminding her of it, the memories will come back to her."
"Well, they don't seem to be," Perry said. "And I'd advise you to tone it down. Lois has complained to me, and the next thing she wants is for you and her to be separated totally – no shared stories, move your desk as far away as possible – basically get you out of her life." He gave Clark a hard glance. "And, in the current atmosphere, the things you do could possibly be construed as sexual harassment. And then you're gone."
Clark swallowed.
Perry continued in a more conciliatory tone. "I know it's hard for you, son, but I'm asking you. Just keep the conversation professional. Lois is very focused - she wants the story. You two – you're a great team together. Just keep things on a professional level. Don't go off into some reminiscence that irritates the hell out of her. Focus on work."
"So, you want me to take someone that's a good friend, and just talk work to her? No real conversation?" Clark said bitterly.
"Clark, right now that's all she knows," Perry replied, sympathizing with the anguished look on Clark's face.
"So, I've got to earn her trust and friendship again?" Clark asked.
"Yep."
"And get her to put up with me?"
"Yep."
"And then I can start boring her with my old home reminiscences again?" A reluctant amusement crept into Clark's voice.
Perry smiled. "Yep. Just take it one day at a time." The two men shared a glance at the AA motto. Perry continued, "You don't give up, do you?"
Clark smiled back. "You taught me that." He stood up, pushed his chair back. "OK, OK. I'll stop with the Smallville talk. From now on with me and Lois, it's professional all the way. No talk of the past." He looked away and Perry barely caught the whispered aside, "Until she remembers."
Perry came back to himself with a start – he'd missed the last ten minutes of Hank G.'s talk. He glanced over at Clark curiously. Right after Lois had hit her head and lost her memory, Clark had seemed distraught for weeks. Perry was afraid that Clark would turn to drugs again – the risk factors were there. A man with little or no family, somewhat isolated from the world, losing a close friend – a stressful time.
But Clark hadn't gone back to drugs, as far as Perry knew. He'd kept on coming to work every day, and kept on turning in professional stories. Heck, he'd turned in more stories than Perry had ever seen him do before. Perry had seen him every week at the Friendly Friday group, and had talked with Clark on the AA hotline one or two times – Clark was asking for meeting information. And Perry had gone occasionally to other meetings and had run into Clark at those meetings once or twice.
So all in all, Perry figured that Clark had recognized the temptation too, and was going to meetings and keeping himself busy at work to avoid giving in to the seductive lure of addiction. They'd never talked about it openly, but Clark had given enough hints that Perry deduced it.
Hank G.'s talk ended with thunderous applause. After the usual post-meeting mingling, Perry and Clark set out for a leisurely walk back to the Daily Planet building.
The bright spring sunshine enlivened everyone's spirits. Perry thought that Clark seemed especially invigorated. The reporter took off his suit jacket and slung it over his shoulder as they walked through the crowded streets of Metropolis. He turned his face up to the sun, luxuriating in the warm glow.
"Don't your eyes get dazed?" Perry asked curiously, as Clark seemed for a moment to look directly into the sunlight.
Clark jerked his head down, momentarily startled. "Ah, no," he said lamely.
"How's that Luthorcorp story coming along?" Perry asked, changing the subject.
Clark looked at the crowd nearby and lowered his voice. "We're really making progress, Perry," he said. "Lois has lined up some sources…I don't want to say more right here."
"She's keeping proper notes now, I hope," Perry grumbled. "The trouble with keeping notes in your head is that when your head gets hit, you lose them all."
Clark shrugged. "You're right, Perry. This time we've got everything documented. Names, dates, files – it's all there."
"Encrypted, of course?" Perry asked.
Clark gave a short laugh. "Yeah, Lois is pretty good at the computer stuff. She swears on a stack of Bibles that the information is secure."
"I hope so," Perry said soberly. "You and I know that the Luthors are no people to mess with." He gave Clark a curious look. "You knew Lex Luthor in Smallville, didn't you?"
Clark hesitated. Perry picked up on that with the seasoned reportorial instinct he'd developed over thirty years. "Right?" Perry asked.
"Um, yeah, we had a…pretty strong acquaintanceship in Smallville," Clark admitted.
"I heard you were friends, once," Perry probed.
Clark's voice was clipped. "Once. Now we're not."
Perry sighed. "OK, Clark. It's just that the Planet will have to have an interview with Lex Luthor for this story. You know how secretive he is. I was hoping you – "
" – could use my previous friendship with Lex to get the interview?" Clark asked sharply.
"Well, either you or Lois has to do it, and she categorically, flat-out, 100 percent, refuses," Perry said, his smile taking the sting out of the words.
Clark paused for a moment as the two men strode along on the uneven Metropolis sidewalks. "Yeah, she would." He took a few more steps. "I'll try, Perry, but I don't think Lex will see me. But I'll put in a request with his PR department."
They were almost at the doors of the Planet. Perry felt a wave of concern. "You're keeping an eye out, aren't you? Even if you're doing this investigation on the q.t., Lex Luthor seems to have moles everywhere."
"I'm being careful," Clark replied.
"Keep an eye on Lois, too," Perry asked. "You know she's not the best at covering herself when she's going after a hot story."
"I'll keep an eye on her," Clark promised. Perry looked up at the promise in his voice. It was hard not to believe Clark when he used that particular tone. Clark continued, "Besides, right now, she's got that Presidential interview. They've got all that security - hopefully, she's covered too, right now."
Perry nodded.
Clark went on, a tinge of pride in his voice. "Pretty good for her to get an interview like that – the only reporter in Metropolis." Perry heard naked longing in Clark's voice. "That Lois – she's really somebody."
"Well, you could be somebody too, Clark," Perry said jokingly. Clark was his second-best reporter, Lois being the best. "Just put in the extra work like Lois does. Before you know it, ta da! You're somebody!"
They both laughed.
"Lois is unique, you know that, Perry," Clark said. He smiled.
"Yeah, it's not just the extra work that makes her a great reporter," Perry agreed.
"But, strange you should mention that, Chief," Clark said lightheartedly. "I've been wondering about doing some extra work lately. I thought that I had to do it with Lois, but she's been so busy with her own job that I've decided to go out on my own." Perry noticed a momentary sad look in Clark's eyes, despite the jocular tone.
"Care to tell me what it's about?" Perry probed. It didn't matter; he was sure that Clark would come back with another amazing story. Or several.
"Um, not right now, Perry, but hopefully there'll be a good story or two in it."
"Well, Clark," Perry said, slapping him on the back, "Lois is going to be busy with this Presidential interview. So you go ahead and do your extra thing. Hopefully it'll be newsworthy."
"Do you have plans?" Clark asked, tacitly turning away from whatever his own plans were.
Perry actually shuffled his feet. Somehow they'd gotten into a confidence-sharing mode.
"What?" Clark asked, smiling.
"You know Alice?" Perry asked.
"Your ex?"
"Yes," Perry replied.
Clark raised his eyebrows. "Yes?" he said encouragingly.
Perry thought about what he'd like to say. He'd like to say to Clark: "I've been working Step Eight with her for a long time, trying to make up for all the missed dinners and broken promises from when we were married." He would like to confide in Clark: "And she's given me a second chance." His voice would accelerate, and he'd continue talking to the tall man beside him who was so good at listening, and he'd say: "And I've fallen in love with her all over again – not that I ever really fell out of love with her. "
But he couldn't bring himself to say all that. Clark might understand the repeated promise-breakings, the innumerable small betrayals that had shattered the trust that he and Alice once had. And that would be just too embarrassing.
So, instead, all Perry said was, "I'm going to propose to her tonight at our favorite restaurant. And I hope that she'll marry me again." From Clark's expression, he knew that his voice had said more than just his words.
Clark, stunned, stood speechless. Then he breathed out, "Wow! Perry, I had no idea…"
"She's the one for me, Clark," Perry said seriously. "And I'd do a lot to get her back." Then he stood back, suddenly embarrassed at the torrential outflow of feeling he'd kept back for months. Clark was just such a good listener, he drew things out.
Clark seemed pensive for a moment, not meeting Perry's gaze. Perry thought he heard him murmur, "There's only one for me too…if only I can get her back…" Then Clark squared his shoulders and gave Perry a smile.
"Well, gosh, Perry, I sure hope that it goes well," Clark said, putting a hand on Perry's arm. "I wish you two the best." He smiled again, carefully offering social inanities to cover their moment of near-connection. Perry laughed too, and the two men entered the Planet building.
