Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic An Early Revelation: Top Copy 3/18?

Here is part #3!

I would like to thank Nancy for the fabulous beta reading she did for me on the first section of this chapter. Your insight really helped me out!

PART THREE

Lois tapped her pencil sharply on the surface of her desk, heedless of the glares from her fellow employees. Everyone was on edge tonight. The usually buzzing newsroom was instead filled with clumps of people whispering to each other and glancing continually at Perry’s office and occasionally at Lois’ desk. Although no one had any real reason to stay late tonight, no one had left since Top Copy’s exclusive had aired. Idle curiosity seekers, Lois scoffed. They should just call it a night and go home.

But then again, so should she. She was tired, worn out, and didn’t she just finish telling Clark that she needed time to think? She was such a mess of emotions. Her first instinct was to shout at him, scream all sorts of nasty things in his face, and accuse him of all the hurt and confusion he had caused her. But that look on her partner’s face in Perry’s office, the one that was so sad and resigned, forced her to back down and think through her actions, which had never come naturally to Lois. It was as if there were two Loises. There was the old familiar one, who refused to be used and discarded by anyone, determined to put up a protective shell to prevent such a thing from ever happening. Then, there was this newer, fresher one. She was unfamiliar with this Lois, where had she even come from? It was this Lois who started off.

What exactly did “partners” mean, she wondered. Lois thought back to when Mayson was threatening to sue because she refused to reveal the “source” that led them to the government safe house. What was it that he had said? “Whatever one of us does, the other person takes responsibility for.” Clark had backed her up then, even though she had been the one to steal Mayson’s pager. Actually, Clark often backed her up whenever she did one of her wild and crazy, yet completely necessary, stunts. As his partner, did she owe him some kind of loyalty even though she didn’t agree with everything he had done? Perhaps. But at this, the good old fighter Lois Lane chimed in: he had hurt her, she argued. The lies he spun for public consumption had been for her too! He had left her in the dark about so many things. How could she just forget about that? At the same time, New Lois said, how many of her escapades were fully backed by him? Most of the time she just dived right in, expecting Clark to follow willingly. Maybe he deserved some loyalty in return. But this, Old Lois complained, was different circumstances. She had stolen Mayson’s pager as part of their investigation; Clark’s Superman activities weren’t part of the reporting job. Although many of his deeds ended up on the front page, Lois was never really a part of what he did. At the same time, New Lois reminded her, they both knew that their relationship was more than just professional, that they were partners after they had left the Planet for the day. Could she put all her hurt feelings behind for the time being and support her partner, and friend, and maybe more? It went against Lois’ nature, but how could she expect such loyal devotion from Clark when she wasn’t willing to do the same thing for him? Her partner was in a bind. That much was certain.

What she needed, Lois decided, was to understand Clark. She thought she knew him, but since that airing of the tape, and especially since his confession in Perry’s office, she realized that there was a huge part of him that he had kept hidden. If she could just understand that part, then maybe she could put aside her hurt feelings and support him just as he had supported her all those times. Studying him through the pulled blinds of the editor’s office, Lois began to ponder the enigma that was Clark Kent.

He didn’t look alien to her. The thought of Clark Kent hurtling through space en route from an exploding planet seemed so strange and ludicrous to her. She couldn’t wrap her head around it. With Superman, it was easy. He appeared so otherworldly and slightly removed from reality that even the most fantastical stories about him seemed to make perfect sense. Clark, however, seemed so normal. Remembering his testimony in the office earlier, it appeared that all Clark ever wanted was to be normal, nothing else. Lois leaned forward to get a better look at her partner. Did he really reject his alien heritage so violently? As Superman, he seemed to embrace it as perfectly acceptable, but all Clark Kent wanted, it seemed, was a normal life.

That was why Clark seemed so human, she decided. Although he had been gifted with the ability to do extraordinary things, he still strived to be accepted by those around him. Looking at him through the window blinds of Perry’s office, she smiled. He was typing on Perry’s computer, so absorbed with what he was doing that he had probably tuned out all the other voices in the newsroom. His work ethic spoke again of his humanity. Although he could have easily made a career as a professional athlete or something, he had chosen a profession where he was not easily the best. Where he had to work hard to prove himself to others and to be truly good at what he did. Although Clark was intelligent and gifted with words, he wasn’t super-intelligent or a super-writer. Clark, she mused, liked to be recognized and respected for what he worked hard for. Superman was often only though of as a droid-like tool. Many people only focused on the physical things he could do and ignored the other aspects of his character.

So deep were her thoughts in working out this mystery, that she didn’t hear the elevator chime ring. She didn’t even hear the newcomer enter, and walk to the edge of the balcony. She didn’t even know about the gun until the echo of its shot was heard across the newsroom. Quickly, she turned to see the perpetrator, only to confront a large, tightly clasped hand, an inch from her face. That hand was, of course, connected to her partner Clark Kent. Before she could even process what must have happened, Clark had sped across the room and was holding the shooter’s hands behind his back in one hand and holding the gun in the other. Lois was curious. This was the first time she had seen Clark perform any kind of super-duties while not in uniform and she was interested to see the difference.

Although Clark still exuded the same confidence that Superman did, the energy was less flashy somehow. Clark’s face was drawn with tension and he didn’t hold himself in the same broad, all powerful stance that Superman did. Instead of making the usual admonishing comments in a clear, ringing tone, he spoke in a subdued voice.

“Why would you try a stunt like that? You knew I was here. You knew I would stop you.” The man refused to speak. Lois could see the sorrow over the man’s attack evident on Clark’s face. Clearly, her partner was feeling responsible for this, although she had no idea why. “Why did you come here tonight?” he asked. The man Clark had in his grip was young, probably early twenties, with a distinct scruffy look. He wore a toque over his head, but he had made no other effort to disguise himself. He had a look of insane pride on his face, and he refused to make eye contact with Clark.

“This attack is nothing.” The man had a sense of nobility about him, no matter how warped it appeared to the other people in the room. “I have sacrificed my freedom for the sake of the Cause. This building has housed an alien for over a year, unable or perhaps unwilling to see the truth. I am but a messenger for the punishment that is to come.”

Lois couldn’t believe it. This was the first time she had ever come across such sentiments since Jason Trask was killed, and that was when Superman first made his appearance. She had though that all residual doubt would have been cleared up by now after Superman had spent so long in Metropolis doing nothing but good. Apparently this was news to Clark as well, as he had suddenly gone completely white, and with a blur, tied the shooter to the nearest chair, and came over to Lois. He looked pale, tense and worried. He gently placed a hand on her arm and steered her in the opposite direction of the shell shocked spectators.

“Lois, can you do me a favor?” he asked in a low voice. He discretely passed her the gun he had taken from the shooter. Lois noticed that there were indentations where his fingers had been. “I need you to watch him,” Clark indicated the prisoner with his head. “Just until the police come to pick him up.”

“Where are you going?” Clark shifted on the spot.

“Smallville. If whatever group that sent him here has a thing against the Planet for giving me a job for the last year and a half, I can’t imagine what they feel about my parents.” Lois gasped, for the first time, she began to recognize the danger Clark was in because of the knowledge to world had over him. She tightened her hold on the gun and nodded.

“Go take care of your parents.”

“I’ll come back later and take you home; you could be in danger too.” Lois shook her head. Although she would appreciate a paparazzi-free ride home, flying with Clark was much too close contact until she sorted out her very confused feelings over this whole affair.

“No, Clark. You need to watch out for other people. I’ll be fine, I always am. Now get out of here and check up on you parents.” Clark gave what she could only describe as a scoff, or as close to one as her perpetually polite partner could ever get to.

“Lois, you’re never fine. The number of times-”

“Clark,” she interrupted, “I don’t want to hear it. Go take care of your parents. I’ll get the police to take me home or something.” Clark hesitated, but finally decided to leave. With a gust of air he was gone, leaving the bay windows open, letting in the breeze. Lois braced herself and turned towards her prisoner, gun trained on his chest. “Okay buddy, don’t you dare move an inch.”


* * *

Clark sat on the roof of his parent’s house and brooded. Since Diana Stride’s on screen revelation he hadn’t had much time to think through the consequences of what had happened. Now that he had the chance, he wasn’t too happy with the obvious conclusions. His career at the Planet was undecided. Perry had confirmed that Clark Kent had a job as long as he wanted it, but what kind of articles could he publish now that the general population knew he was Superman? As a public figure that often had to take a stand on difficult decisions, how would that affect his credibility as a reporter? His work would be seen as biased, and the general public would claim that his two jobs were a conflict of interest. And they were, he admitted. Often he obscured facts from Lois and Perry so they would not be published in order to protect Superman’s image. This was only so he could go about doing his job, but the fact remained that his articles were often slanted in a way to mislead the public.

As for his personal life, he had no idea where he stood with Lois. She hadn’t started yelling at him yet, which could be seen as a positive sign. Then again, knowing Lois, she could still blow up at him with very little warning. He would just have to wait until she was ready to talk. It was the least he could do after what he had put her through. On the positive side, Perry and Jimmy already seemed to be adapting well to this unforeseen aspect of Clark’s character. After traveling to Smallville to check on his parents, Clark had gone back to Metropolis and captured Diana and Rolf as they attempted to board a private plane heading to Jamaica. Getting them into custody had not been difficult, so at least one thing had gone well tonight. Since he had returned to Metropolis anyway, Clark had decided to see if the situation at the Daily Planet had been resolved. He was slightly disappointed to see that Lois had gone home already, but was immensely relieved to find out that the remaining staff had also left with the exception of Jimmy and Perry. They spent some time talking and working things out, chuckling at some of the fast thinking that Clark had pulled in the past in order to protect his secret. Clark’s worry was that once people knew he was Superman, people would start treating him with the same reverence they always did. Clearly, this was not to be with these two. Clark and Superman had simply become just Clark.

Unfortunately, this was not the same everywhere. It was different now, to go to places as Superman and be instantly recognized as Clark, and vice versa. Like the emperor with his new clothes in that fairy tale. For the past year and a half, that had been one of his greatest fears. He had always wondered how long it would be before some child pointed at him in the street saying “hey wait a minute… That guy wearing the glasses is Superman!” Now, it would be a constant reality. He couldn’t deny the accusation, nor hedge around the question. He would have to face these wide-eyed pointers with complete openness and frankness. For the rest of his life.

He was startled out of his revere by a heavy clunk on the side of the house. A few moments later, Jonathan Kent appeared, climbing up the ladder to the roof. He walked across the shingles, and sat down to join his son. They sat in silence for a while, both looking at the multitude of stars. Clark was first to break the silence.

“They still don’t know who the shooter is.”

“You went by the police station?”

“Yeah. He wasn’t carrying any ID, and he’s refused to give a name. They’re running his picture and prints, but it could be a while before they find anything.” Frustrated, Clark began ripping the useless preliminary police report into tiny pieces. “He said that he was just a warning, which means that either he’s insane or that he’s got accomplices, maybe a whole organization. But I haven’t heard of any kind of organization like this before Dad, I have no idea who these people are.” Looking at the sad pile of paper pieces, he decided that maybe they weren’t quite small enough “All I know is that they’re going after Clark to get to Superman. They attacked my place of work, specifically my partner. Does that mean everyone I know is in danger? I can’t guard everyone Dad, but I have no idea of who might be the next target.” The pile of paper started slowly smoldering as Clark stared at it with his heat vision. “You could be the next, or Lois, or Perry, my landlord. For all I know, the guy who sold me my last pair of running shoes could be a target!” Jonathan put a calming hand in Clark’s shoulder.

“Clark, you’re wearing yourself out with all this. You need to take a step back, focus on what you do know about these people.”

“Which is?”

“Well you said you haven’t seen this group anywhere before. That probably means they’ve been underground, or they’re just starting up.” Clark could see where this was going. Nodding his agreement, he continued along his father’s line of thought.

“They’re weak right now. They’ll probably stick to easy targets, close to their base.” Jonathan nodded. “And they’re probably based in Metropolis, it makes the most sense. That’s where I am”

“So you can eliminate any targets outside of Metropolis for the time being. Including your mother and me.”

“Dad I can’t just let you-”

“Clark, your mother and I have already talked this through. We figure the only people who will bother us are a few reporters, which we can handle. We trust you to nip this whole Superman fanaticism in the bud. We won’t see any of them here. As for the reporters, Superman is a lot bigger in Metropolis than in Smallville. I doubt that we’ll get a lot trouble.” Clark hesitated, but finally agreed. “Besides Clark, you’ve got enough to worry about taking care of business in Metropolis. I’m sure everything has been pretty nuts after tonight.”

“Tell me about,” Clark said. “My apartment, the Daily Planet, and even Lois’ and Perry’s places are overrun with reporters. Everyone’s going crazy trying to get this story. People I’ve met before, people I worked with are now screaming at me trying to get a statement. This guy who I had a drink with at the last journalism convention is now trying to climb up my drainpipe and plant microphones in my apartment.”

“What are you going to do about the media?”

“I’ve asked Perry to call a press conference tomorrow. I’ll explain my side of the story, give them some good quotes, and then ask them to leave me alone. I’m not going to stop living my life as Clark just because everyone knows about me.” Jonathan stoic face finally broke into a smile.

“That’s great Clark, I’m really glad you’re taking this into your own hands.” He gave a yawn. “So are you going to come inside anytime soon? We assumed you were staying the night.”

“Yeah, I’ll be in soon Dad. I just want to stay out here for a bit.”

“Alright Clark.” Jonathan hoisted himself up from his spot on the roof, and walked towards the ladder. Reaching the top, he turned to face his son before descending. “And Clark?”

“Yeah Dad?”

“We’re proud of you son.”

“Thanks Dad.” Clark watched as his dad disappeared from view. Leaning back to lay on the shingles, he drank in the light of the stars. It was so peaceful here. Clark wished he could stay on this roof top forever, but he knew that tomorrow he would have to go back to Metropolis and take care of the mess that Diana Stride had left his life in. But for tonight, he would sit on the roof of the house he grew up in, protecting the people who had protected him throughout his entire life.