“May I offer you a ride?” Clark spoke as she exited the shuttle.
“A ride?”
He nodded. “I can fly you to your home, if you give me directions,” he added quickly. Lois was puzzled. Clark knew very well where she lived.
“Uh, no. I mean, yes, I’d like- love!- a ride, but no, not to my home. Take me to the Daily Planet.”
“You’re a reporter, then.” Suddenly it hit her. Clark did not think she recognized him. . . and he didn’t want her to. He must have forgotten, or hoped that she had forgotten, that she had seen him many times without his glasses, fresh out of the shower, in the years she had lived in the Kent home.
“Yes. And I’m going to want an interview with you.”
Clark nodded, then picked her up like she weighed nothing and headed in the direction of the Daily Planet.
Why didn’t Clark want her to know he was. . . whatever he was?
*****
The whole newsroom watched, open mouthed, as Clark flew her in through the open windows.
“I see it, but I don’t believe it,” Cat Grant spoke shaking her head. “Lois Lane-Kent *finally* falling for a man. Except, he’s not a man. He’s an alien.”
“I think you owe me an exclusive,” Lois spoke at Clark sat her down. “I did see you first.”
Clark raised an eyebrow at her, an expression she had often seen on his face. How could he think that I wouldn’t recognize him? she thought.
“Is that the rule?”
“Well, no. But I’d appreciate it very much.”
Clark chucked and began to drift toward the window.
“Wait! How will I find you?”
He smiled. “I’ll be around.”
As he continued to fly away, Cat came to stand behind her. “Did you figure out what the “S” stands for?”
Suddenly Clark’s comment from the other night flashed through her mind. She had found him. Her “super man” had come along, as Clark had predicted. “Super Man”, she spoke. “That’s what the “S” stands for.”
*****
Lois spent all night tossing and turning. Clark had not been home when she got there. All afternoon, as she had typed away trying to tell the story of the colonist launch, she listened to the ladies in the newsroom swoon over Superman. It made her feel sick to listen to them talking about Clark like he was a hunk of meat. She would never. . .suddenly she was seized with a crazy thought that would not go away. If Clark didn’t think that she knew Superman was Clark, wouldn’t he think it odd if she was not swooning over him like everyone else? What if. . . could this be a way for her to show Clark her love without actually sharing her feelings with Clark and taking the chance that he would reject her or that her unreciprocated feelings would ruin their friendship? The idea was ludicrous, but she couldn’t make it go away. She kept thinking of stories and plays and legends of people who pretended to be something they were not to gain the love of the man (or woman) they desired. She had suppressed her feelings, and would continue to do so when around Clark. But when she was around Superman, she was going to show Clark all the love that she felt. And maybe he would see that she loved him and come to love her as well. When he loved her too, he would tell her that he was also Superman, the man she loved, and she would tell him that she knew that all along. And they would kiss and he would sweep her up in his arms. . . Lois smiled dreamily. But until then she had to act normally around Clark, considering they were working together, currently living together, and she would never forgive her self if her feelings caused any uneasiness in her relationship with the Kents.
*****
She still had not seen Clark until she bumped into him in the newsroom the next day. “Morning, Lois.”
“Clark! Where have you been?” She wasn’t just asking to be polite. She really, really wanted to know.
“Around.” Not exactly the answer that she was looking for. “I’m sorry, Lois. I should have thought- I should have called to let you know-”
“You don’t answer to me, Clark. That’s why I gave you a key. Hey! Guess what?”
“What?”
“Well, Superman was in the newsroom and I think I nailed an exclusive with him.”
“That’s great, Lois. Congratulations.”
Well, here goes nothing, she thought. “Clark, you should have seen him! Up close he is the most magnificent figure of a man that I have ever-”
Clark didn’t let her finished, “It sounds like he made quite and impression on you.”
Lois sighed dreamily. “Hhmmnn. Yes, he did. Why? Are you jealous?”
“Of Superman? Should I be?” Was it possible to be jealous of one’s self?
“Of course not, Clark. You mean the world to me.” He really did, just not the way he probably had interpreted her comment. “Let’s get going.”
“Where?”
“Terrorist shooting on Third. Perry said you work here now, so I’m taking you along. But remember, I ask the questions.”
*****
Perry had Clark working on a story on adoption. That had to be hard on him. Had the Kents really found him on their doorstep? Somehow she doubted it. Surely Clark had to wonder where he came from. Maybe she should try to cheer him up.
She walked over to his desk, “Clark,” she began.
Then the elevator doors opened a several men with ear pieces and wearing black suits entered. In the midst of them was a man in tan suit looking decidedly unhappy. He strode in like he owned the place.
Perry moved to confront him. “Nobody comes busting into my newsroom like this.”
The man frowned and flashed a piece of paper at him. “Take it up with Washington.” Then he began to signal to his men. They headed toward her and one grabbed her arm roughly.
“Wait a minute! Get your hands off me,” she protested. Clark immediately moved to her aid, but he was grabbed as well and she heard the sound of a gun cocking.
“Put it away,” the leader instructed. ”She’s just the reporter.”
“Right, reporter. As in protected by the Constitution.” Lois glared at him.
“Impressive document, the Constitution. It enables the courts to issue warrants, like this one, that says I get what I want.”
“No, it doesn’t,” contested Clark. “For a warrant to be issued you have to prove just cause.”
“I have all the cause I need,” the man said advancing threateningly toward Clark. “I want Superman.” Clark turned to look at her and she could see the panic in his eyes.
“Lois, Clark, in my office now. Let me talk to these goons.”
“But, Perry-” Lois began to argue.
“Let’s do what he says, Lois. And Perry?”
“Yes, Kent?”
“You might want to have legal take a good look at that warrant.”
*****
Lois watched the scene in the newsroom through the windows of Perry’s office, until something else caught her attention. Clark had been tossing rolled up paper into Perry’s wastebasket. Now he tossed a piece in the air and was directing it towards the trash with his breath. Wow! Was there no end to his abilities? She turned towards him. The paper fell like a stone and Clark put his best innocent expression on his face and began to whistle.
Perry entered the room. “Okay, here’s the deal. They want you to take a lie detector test-”
“What?”
“Why?” Lois and Clark spoke at once.
“-limited to national security concerns about Superman,” Perry continued. “I told them to stuff it. Not my reporters.”
“You tell ‘em, Perry,” Lois encouraged.
“I told them if they were so bound and determined to take your computers and your notes to just get on with it and get the hell out of my newsroom so I could start suing their butts off.”
“Perry! They can’t take my computer. I have sensitive information on there. Sources! They’ll never trust me again if they know that I turned their information over to the government. Everything I’ve ever done or thought about doing is on that computer! My notes. . . my novel.”
“You talk, they walk. Otherwise they’re going to confiscate the whole shebang,” Lois looked at Clark.
“No, Lois! I don’t want to take a lie detector test.”
“Why, Clark? Do you have something to hide?” Clark had that panicked look in his eyes again and she started to feel very sorry for him. But there was as much information on her computer about his identity as anything she could tell the men. And she knew how to fool a lie detector. She promised herself that if she got out of this with her hard drive intact that she would dump her Clark file and ask Jimmy to purge it. If there was a way to completely erase any traces of the file, Jimmy could do it. Why had she foolishly begun that file?! Anyone could have seen it, if they could break her passwords. “Perry, can I talk to Clark alone for a minute.”
Perry looked at her oddly, but nodded. “They want a decision ASAP, Lois.”
“This will only take a second, Perry.” Perry walked out of his office closing the door. Lois turned to Clark. “Look, Clark, there is a lot of personal- very personal stuff- on my computer. I know I can beat the lie detector test. I think you can too.”
“I can’t believe you’d rather take a lie detector test, subject me to a lie detector test, than take the chance that someone might read your novel!”
How could he think so little of her? Tears came to her eyes and for a second, she wanted to tell him that she was just trying to protect his sorry hide. But she couldn’t. “You can beat the lie detector too, Clark. It’s not that hard. No machine can actually detect when a person is telling a lie. It is just the opinion of the person operating the machine. Don’t try to keep your body from responding. The physical effort will show up on the machine. Instead, intensify your emotions. If you’re asked something simple, try to think about an unpleasant situation. They will try to calibrate the machine based on easy questions, so if you can overreact to those, it will mess up the rest of the test. Make movements that they can’t see, but that will raise your blood pressure, like wiggling your toes in your shoes.” She stepped toward the computer at the podium and typed something. “Here, look at this. It’s a book at antipolygraph.com. It has a whole chapter on how to beat a lie detector. Hey, suck your breath in and out really hard and make the needle jump how you want it.” She said this in a teasing voice, trying to lighten the situation and maybe, it would give him an idea. If he could manipulate the paper wads, surely he could manipulate the machine. He did seem to relax.
“Okay, Lois. If that is what you feel is best.”
“Great! I’m going to go tell Perry our decision. If it makes you better, I’ll go first.” Maybe that would give Clark time to look over the web site.
*****
The men hooked her up to the polygraph machine. “You will answer yes to these first two questions. Is your name Lois Lane?” Idiots, she thought. The first question was supposed to be true. If they calibrated the machine by this question, it was seriously going to screw with their results.
“Yes,” she lied.
“And are you also the president of the United States?”
“I have thought about running, but, you know, I’d really rather spend my time tracking down scum like you and making sure the public knows what our government is up to.”
“Just answer yes, Miss Lane.”
“Yes,” she lied again.
“Do have any reason to believe that Superman is an agent of a foreign power?”
“Yeah, sure. And Leprechauns are agents of the IRA.”
“Is Superman from another planet?”
“If something looks like a duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, chances are, it’s a duck.” One of Perry’s favorite sayings. The man glared at her. “Well, he looks like a man to me.”
“During your time alone with Superman, did he discuss his mission on earth?”
“Mission? No. But if I see him again, I’ll ask him. And then you can read it in the Daily Planet along with everyone else.”
“Does Superman have telepathic abilities?”
“How would I know?” Oh, he’d better not! He couldn’t, or he would know how her heart longed for him, and how thoughts of him filled her mind 24/7.
“Do you have any romantic attachment to Superman?”
“No,” she blurted quickly. The machine began beeping wildly. She looked at him sheepishly then said defensively, “Every woman with a pulse is attracted to him. He’s a fine figure of a man.”
The man snorted and pointed to the door. “You can send Kent in now.”
*****
Lois waited anxiously for Clark to return. She hoped that things were going okay. She felt guilty for causing him this worry, but she had to keep these men away from her computer. Then the men came bursting out of the room. The leader turned to Clark, who was still strapped to the machine. “I don’t need a polygraph, Mr. Kent, to know when I’m being lied to. It’s in the eyes.” He turned on his heel, and Lois rushed past him and helped Clark remove the band and wires.
“I’m sorry, Clark. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Lois,” he said with anger in his voice.
Perry entered. “Lois, Clark, type up your notes and give them to Valdez.”
“What? Perry this is my story.”
“Lois, right now, you are the story. And in case those goons come back, I want you out of here so they can’t serve you a subpoena. Now get.”
“I guess I can work from home then?” Clark asked Perry.
“Home? No don’t go home. Don’t go anywhere they can serve you. Keep your phones on. We’ll be in touch.”
*****
Lucy was at her house when she arrived. Lois rushed past her. “I’m not here, you never saw me. In fact, if anyone calls, don’t even admit that I live here. Don’t open the door, don’t sign anything, don’t accept any packages. In fact, it would be better if you went home or back to the dorm for tonight.”
“Clark already gave me this lecture.”
“Clark? He was here?”
“Yeah. He said he was going to stay with someone from work for a while. Grant or something?”
“Cat Grant!?”
Lucy shrugged. “You two have a fight?”
“No, we did not have a fight! What would we fight about?”
“Cat Grant seems to have struck a nerve.” The phone rang.
“I know, I know. You don’t live here, I never saw you. Hello?” Lucy answered the phone. She covered the mouthpiece. “It’s some old guy with a Southern accent and a real attitude. He says to answer your cell phone.” Lois took the phone from her.
“Hi, Perry.”
“Lois, you need to come back to work right away.”
“What? Why?”
“Clark was right. The warrant’s a fake.”
*****
Lois looked over the paper Perry handed her. “I can’t believe it’s a fake! We took lie detector tests. Clark didn’t want to and I made him, and it was for nothing. Wait a minute, Perry, where’s Clark?”
“I still need to talk to him. I called you first.”
“Well what are you waiting for! Call him.”
Perry dialed the number. “No answer.” A few minutes later his phone rang. “Kent? There’s been a new development. I’ll send Jimmy with a car to pick you up. Where are you?” Lois wondered the same thing. Perry continued, “It sounds like jungle drums.”
Lois grabbed the phone from Perry. “Clark, where are you? Quit playing games and get in here.”
To her dismay Cat Grant’s voice answered, “Sorry, Lois. Clark is a little. . . tied up right now. But once I find the key to my handcuffs, I’ll send him your way.”
Lois couldn’t stop herself from slamming down the phone. “I’ll wait in the conference room,” she told Perry. She needed a minute.
*****
Too soon, Clark opened the door.
“Well, look what the Cat dragged in.”
“You’ve got the wrong idea, Lois.”
“Cat Grant’s bedroom has more comings and goings than Metropolis Central Station. I. . . I just never thought that you would be just another . . . commuter.”
“Just tell me what’s going on.”
“What’s going on is that the warrant’s phony.”
“Phony?”
Perry entered rubbing his hand tiredly over his head. He nodded. “As lock of Elvis’ hair in a souvenir shop. I called my contacts in Washington and they contacted all the alphabet agencies. No one’s claiming these guys.”
“Then who are they?”
Lois answered, “We don’t know, just that they think their job is to hunt down Superman.”
“Which is why, boys and girls,” Perry interjected, “it’s our job to hunt them down first.”
*****
Lois was typing the story and Clark was sitting next to her editing her printed copy (infuriating!!) when Cat Grant arrived. She leaned over and kissed Clark on the corner of his mouth, like she did it every day.
“Sleep well?” Cat questioned giving Clark a knowing glance.
Clark looked at Lois. “Nothing happened.”
“Clark, you can do the horizontal rumba with the entire Met U. cheerleading squad for all I care, just keep your hands off my copy!” She grabbed the print out from him. She could feel tears coming to the surface. She had to get away before she made a fool of herself, but Jimmy came up.
“Hey, CK. It is all over the newsroom. You,” he held up one hand, “and the Cat woman,” he held up the other then joined his hands. The mental image that flashed through Lois mind made her feel physically sick. She practically ran to refill her coffee. When she returned, Jimmy was sitting in her seat. She glared at him.
“Oh, great piece of journalism there, CK,” he said as he stood. He shook Clark’s hand with a gleam in his eye. What juicy details had Clark shared with him? She wanted to know, but she also couldn’t stand to hear it.
“Sorry to interrupt your male bonding,” she interrupted, “but we have a break in the story.”
*****
Lois pushed open the double door leading back out onto Metropolis Street. “Nothing!” she fumed. Thompson tried to turn the tables on her.
“You know, Lois,” Clark said, “I think I’ll just go home. I’m not feeling so well.”
Lois glanced quickly at him. Was he really not feeling well? “Oh, well, sure Clark. Sometimes you have to put yourself above the story.”
“Well, I don’t want to leave you in the lurch.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like we’re actually a team. Do you need a ride?”
“No, I think I’ll walk. Maybe the fresh air will clear my head. I’ll see you tonight at home, if I don’t see you at the paper later.”
“Sure. I’m just going to make a few calls.” She patted him on the back. “Feel better.”
She pulled her phone from her purse and dialed a familiar number “Jimmy, get me everything you can find on George Thompson.” Then she saw the subject of her conversation standing on the corner to hail a cab. She hung up the phone and began to look for a cab of her own. She had to figure out what Thompson was up to and protect Clark. As she moved to get into the cab, people around her began to exclaim and point. She saw Superman speeding across the sky. “Be careful up there,” she whispered to him.
Thompson’s cab dropped him off at a warehouse on Bessolo Boulevard. Well, she knew what she would be doing on a dark night in the near future. “Take me back to the Planet,” she instructed the cabbie.
*****
Clark never came back to the Planet and he wasn’t at home either. Her phone rang. Maybe it was him.
“Hello?”
“Lois, it’s Martha.”
“Martha, it’s great to hear from you. But, Clark’s not here.”
“Actually, I was calling to talk to you.”
“You were?”
“Clark called this afternoon. He seemed. . . discouraged, upset. . . I’m worried about him, Lois.”
“Clark will be fine, Martha. It’s just difficult beginning a new career.”
“I hate to ask you this, Lois, but will you keep an eye on him? I know he’s a big boy now, and he doesn’t need looking after, but he’s still my boy, and he’s far from home.”
“You know I will Martha. Hey, maybe I’ll have Lucy come over this weekend. We had a really good time together watching movies the other night.”
“Thank you, Lois. You don’t know how great it feels to know that you are there with him.”
*****
She heard Clark come in after midnight and start the shower. Had he been at Cat’s again? She was finally able to relax and fall asleep to the sound of the falling water.
He was already gone when she woke up, but he had left a note: “Pancakes in the microwave.”
*****
When she arrived at the Planet, Clark was in front of the microfiche machine. She came up behind him and patted his shoulder, “Feeling better?”
Clark glanced up at her. “Yeah, I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you got home last night. I started feeling better and decided to explore Metropolis for a while. How’d it go yesterday after I deserted you?”
“Well, I trailed Thompson to a warehouse on Bessolo Boulevard. Very weird. What did you dig up?”
“Nothing.” He was lying. She could see it in his eyes. She looked at the screen that he was trying to close without it being obvious.
“Project Blue Book? Clark, the Air Force got out of the UFO business in 1969. This is old news. Way old news.”
“It was just a hunch, Lois.”
“Wait a second.” She stilled his hand as he moved to shut down the screen. She stared at the picture.
“Some hunch.” She pointed, “That guy in the middle is the fake that raided the Planet. Isn’t he?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. My sight isn’t the best.” Really?
“Well I have perfect vision. Superman does not see like I do.” Obviously! “Jason Trask. That’s our man.” She slapped him on the chest. “Almost missed that one, rookie.” He hadn’t though, and she knew it.
*****
Perry had Clark in his office, undoubtedly telling him one of his Elvis stories when the call came in. She knocked and opened the door to Perry’s office. “It’s Thompson. Metropolis Harbor. Coroner’s got him.” She saw the pain in Clark’s face. He probably felt that he should have stopped it, but there was no way that Clark could be every where at once. He couldn’t keep bad things from happening anymore than he could solve the conflict in Darfur.
*****
Research into Project Blue Book led them to General Newcomb. After he destroyed her recording, he put a plastic card on his desk, turned and pulled a gun out of his cabinet and gave them three seconds to get out of his office. Lois grabbed the card. It looked just like the one Thompson had used to get into the warehouse.
*****
Security at the warehouse had changed in the last 40 years. Clark figured out the combination to the new system, and they entered the main warehouse. Lois moved to the file cabinets and started looking through them. She pulled out a picture that looked like jellyfish on toothpicks. “Oh, give me a break. I’ve seen this movie.”
“I don’t know, Lois. These look real.”
She moved on to another cabinet. “It’s got to be a set up.”
“What if its not? What if people really traveled in these things? People from. . . far away?” He sounded hopeful. She looked at him. Clark wanted to believe. He wanted to feel that he was not alone.
She could understand that. Still. “There might be a story here, Clark, but I don’t think its UFOs.”
“Well, you were the one who said if it looks like a duck-”
“Do not quote me to myself, Clark. And how did you know I said that?” Clark was slipping. He would not have been able to hear that with human ears. He didn’t answer her question and began to physically move her from the cabinet he was looking in. “What are you doing?” She said jerking away from him.
“Well, you said you don’t like their pictures, let see what else they have.”
“I suppose you think there are UFOs under these tarps. “ She lifted one. “Clark, this is just some old scrap metal.” She started to wander off and then stopped. Clark had pulled the tarp off one of the shapes and began to run his fingers over it like it held all the secrets of the world. His face held a look of wonder. It was. . . well, she supposed it could be a spaceship. After all, how were they supposed to know what one looked like? Clark stopped and stared at the tapered front of the ship. Lois moved as quietly as she could so that he would not notice her presence. He was so engrossed that he didn’t seem to realize she was still there. On the nose of the craft was the stylized “S” he wore on his suit. She barely stopped herself from gasping. Was this Clark’s ship? It was a very private moment and she felt guilty watching. She turned to struggle with a drawer on another cabinet. “Krypton” she heard Clark whisper. What was a krypton?
A noise roused her, but it was too late. By the time she got out the words, “Clark, someone’s coming,” Trask and his men were on them. Oh, this was not good.
*****
The next thing she knew she was in a military style airplane flying high above Metropolis. Clark was sitting by her side. He had been so quiet, she was worried about him. She decided to break the silence and try to distract him.
“It’s a romance novel.” It worked.
“What?” he queried.
“My novel. It’s about a woman who dies without ever knowing what it feels like to be truly loved.”
“That’s not going to happen to you, Lois.” His eyes drifted back to the men. What else could she distract him with?
“Okay, I told you. Now you tell me.”
He turned to her again. “What?”
“What really happened between you and Cat the other night? Not that I care, but it’s probably the best secret you’ve got going. If we get out of here, you have got to raise your standards.”
Jason Trask interrupted them. Drat the man. She wanted to hear Clark deny sleeping with Cat and she desperately wanted to believe him when he said it.
“I suppose you are familiar with the scientific method?”
Apparently Clark was and he rattled off the answer.
Trask smirked. “My theory is that at least one of you knows how to contact the alien, Superman.”
“How do you intend to prove that?” Lois shot back.
“I suppose that if you were to become airborne at say, 20 thousand feet without a parachute, that you would put all your efforts into contacting him.” The men opened the door. Oh, this did not look good. The men grabbed both her and Clark. “Wait,” she cried. “I’ll go first-”
“Lois, no,” Clark protested.
“-but I think that I deserve one last request.” Trask looked askance at her. “I want to kiss Clark goodbye.”
Trask nodded and the men holding her released her arms so that she could walk towards Clark. She made her request for two reasons. One, as her lips met his, was that she really did want to kiss Clark before she died. And second, she leaned past Clark’s face to his ear, “You take the one on the left.” She turned on her heel and put all her body weight into punching Trask in his smug face. Clark started to do as she had commanded, but a second later a gun was fired. Lois was thrown from the plane.
“Clark!’ she cried as she fell.
She could hear him call out to her, “Lois!”
She tried to stay calm. She tried to stop the tears streaming down her face. She tried to calm her racing heart. But she was falling faster and faster, and she didn’t know where Clark was. “Superman, Help!”
And then he was there, catching her in his arms. “Clark!”
“What?”
“Clark, they still have him.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go back for him.” Superman set her down in an alley near the Daily Planet. “You’ll be alright.”
At that moment she noticed the missile headed straight for them. “Lois?” All she could do was point. Clark shot into the air.
The next thing she saw was the missile explode. She burst into tears. Where was Clark? Was he okay? Had he exploded with the missile?
*****
Lois stumbled into the newsroom. “Lois,” asked Perry in a concerned voice. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“Before or after I was thrown out of the plane?”
“Plane, what plane?”
Then the elevator doors opened. She swore the sun came out and music began to play. “Clark! You’re alive.” She ran to him and threw herself into his arms. She didn’t care if he knew how she felt about him, she just had to feel his arms holding her safe. She ran her hands over his face.
“It would seem so,” he joked looking down at her. She turned away from him before he could see the love that she knew was shining in her eyes.
“Clark’s alive everybody. And if Clark’s alive, that means Superman’s alive! This story is getting bigger every minute. Perry, we’ve got to get back to that warehouse.”
*****
It was deserted. In a matter of hours, they had completely cleared out the open room. “But it was all here, Perry.”
“I believe you, Lois, but your proof has vanished. I can’t let you print your story.”
Lois arranged a disappointed look on her face. Honestly, if Clark wanted to keep his identity a secret, it was better for all this to have vanished. Except for one thing, Clark’s ship. She’d seen him run his hands over it and she knew that with all his heart he longed to know more about his origins and that had just been ripped from him. Clark must have bought her act.
“Lois, I’m sorry,” he said sadly. She shook her head.
“Clark, do you realize what we’ve lost here?”
“Yes, Lois. I do.” Oh, Clark. She wanted to pull him into her arms and give him comfort. To kiss his sad eyes. To place her lips on his tight mouth. Couldn’t he see that she loved him? Why didn’t he see the real Lois?
*****
She stayed late at the Planet. She didn’t want to go home and face Clark. She couldn’t go over to her mother’s because Ellen would know something was bothering her, and Lois couldn’t take a chance that Ellen would drag something out of her in a weak moment. So she was sitting there, trying to catch Whoppers in her mouth when his voice spoke.
“I hear you’ve been looking for me.”
She almost choked on the Whopper she had just managed to land in her open mouth. She blushed. “All my life.” She didn’t care if he heard her. She pushed away from her desk. “Everybody’s looking for you.”
“I know, and I know that you almost died because of me.”
“Because of Trask, you mean. But it did make that bungee jump I did last year seem a little tame.”
“I’ll find that man, and stop him, Lois. I promise.”
“You know my name, but I don’t know what to call you.”
“Well, Superman seems to have caught on.”
She laughed. “Where are you from? I mean you’re not from Kansas, that’s for sure.” There. She left the door wide open for him to acknowledge that he was Clark.
He chuckled. “No, I’m not from Kansas. I’m from another planet. A place called Krypton.”
The word he had whispered in the warehouse. Okay, Lois, think like a reporter. This was news. Superman was acknowledging that he was, in fact, an alien. “Do you mind if I write this down?”
“No. You did say that I owed you an interview.”
“Um, you say that you’re from Krypton, but you, uh, seem to have all the. . . parts of a man.” She knew her cheeks were on fire.”
“I am a man.”
She looked up at him. “I’m really glad you’re here.” She smiled. “But, uh, why are you here?”
“To help.”
“To help? To fight for truth and justice?” Wasn’t that what they said on those cartoons? He really hadn’t thought this through, had he?
“Truth! And justice. That’s good. You can use that.” Then he got “that look” on his face.
“What is it?”
“Someone’s in trouble.”
“Then you’d better go.”
“I’ll be seeing you,” he called down as he flew off.
“Hmph. I better, Superman. It’s your turn to do the dishes tonight.” Perry was going to have a coronary when she turned this in! She, Lois Lane-Kent, had just gotten the first one-on-one interview with Superman, and she hadn’t even had to use her family connections to do it.
*****
“Did everyone sleep well? Because I didn’t.” Perry said without waiting for an answer to his question. “I had the publishers of the Daily Planet calling my house to ask me why we didn’t have the definitive story on Superman when he has, literally, fallen into our laps. I assured him that each and every one of my reporters would chip in. Would not rest until we brought in the story. Is that understood?”
“No!” protested Lois. Clark couldn’t afford to have the entire staff of the Daily Planet on his tail. He really wasn’t that great at this, and glasses and a fancy suit would only fool people for so long. “I don’t understand. It’s my story. I was the one Superman flew with. I wrote the original piece. I found him.”
“Actually, he found you.” Here she was trying to protect him and Clark was mocking her!
“Perry this isn’t fair. This is my story. It should be my follow up. Those are the rules.”
“There are no rules, Lois. Not with a story this big.”
“But he’s mine!” Cat smirked at her. “My story, I mean.”
“No, from now on, Superman is fair game. Its every man for himself.” Perry looked at Lois. “Or herself. Now go get me that story!”
The conference room emptied. Lois turned to Clark, who still sat there with a stunned expression on his face.
“I’ll find him,” she assured Clark.
Clark snorted, “How? He could be anywhere? Mars, the North Pole. . .”
“I’ll find him,” she insisted.
“What if he doesn’t want to be found?’
“What do you mean?”
“What if all this media circus isn’t what he expected?”
“Well, he has no reason to hide. Especially from me.” If Clark would just let her in on his secret, this could be so much easier. She could help him maintain his persona as Clark Kent. But he had to trust her, and it seemed he didn’t.
Cat approached, having caught the end of their conversation. “Oh, I get it. You and Superman joined the old “Mile High Club” up there on the space station. What was it like doing it at zero gravity?” Could Clark get any redder?
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, don’t worry, Lois. Your secret is safe with me. No one would believe it anyway- Ice Maiden.” Now Lois was red. “What?” Lois fumed at Clark when he looked at her. She spun away. She had work to do.
*****
“Think, people,” Perry challenged. “What would draw Superman out? Use your instincts. Beat the bushes. I don’t care how, just get me this Superman story!”
Lois pushed back her chair. “So, what do we have?” Clark asked.
“We? There is no we. This is my story.”
“How do you know I don’t have the inside track here?”
“You? Have you even met him? Superman is my story!” She ran out of the room, but not before she saw Cat making her way toward Clark.
Lois had decided that listening to the police scanner was the best way to find Superman. Besides, since she could see Clark sitting at his desk across from her, Superman was obviously not going to make an appearance any time soon. In the meantime, she combed the internet for Superman references and pictures. She had to know what people were thinking. If any of it was correct or even close, she had to be able to refute it. Wait! She turned up the scanner. There was a call about a jumper. She grabbed her satchel and hurried towards the elevator. Clark would most likely be along in a minute- or less.
When she arrived at the address, a man stood on the ledge high above the crowd. He waved to them. Some of them waved back. Lois looked at them with disgust. If he was going to jump, he should just get on with it. Superman arrived and grabbed the would-be jumper by the arm. Immediately the man turned and began to follow the police towards the stairwell. Lois saw Clark take to the sky again. She ran towards a taxi. “Follow him! And step on it.”
By the time she arrived to where the sirens were blaring, it was all over, and there was Clark, now dressed in street clothes. “Lois, you should have seen it! Superman caught that woman in mid-air.” Was he bragging?! He continued, “She’s okay. She left in the ambulance a minute ago. You should have been here.”
“That’s great, Clark, really great.”
“I’d better phone it in.” Clark began to flip open his cell phone.
“No!” Lois laid her hands on his stopping his actions. Clark couldn’t report on his own activities! Someone was bound to realize Clark Kent wasn’t actually there and put two and two together. “Clark, if you phone it in, they’ll just re-write you. Best thing to do is get to the Planet as fast as possible and start typing. Hey, take my cab. Go on.”
“Lois, I appreciate it. I owe you one.” Yes he did, and he didn’t even know it. The second Clark was out of sight, Lois pulled her cell phone from her purse, speed dialed the Planet, and quickly filled Doris in on the story. She was saving Clark. So why did she feel so guilty? She tossed and turned all night.
*****
