Thanks again to Beth and Mary Beth for all their help. This chapter has almost no resemblance to the original one, but is much better due to their comments and suggestions.
Superman was not lying. It only took two more days before something happened that started to give Clark answers on whom he was and where he came from. Clark sort of wished Superman had warned him it was going to be so confrontational, though.
When those men had come out of the elevator, it had felt like the Planet was under attack. And the way they had manhandled Lois… Clark was not sure what he would have done if things had not calmed down slightly after that. That was Perry's doing really. He had come out and fought with the government agents, sending Lois and Clark to his office. There was only so much he had been able to do, but Clark could not help but feel grateful for Perry's willingness to support them, particularly Perry's support of him, given that he had just joined the staff two days ago.
It had been a busy two days. Clark had fully intended to come back to Metropolis and try to find a place to live immediately. He was eager to get Superman out of his parents' house. He was not sure why, but he felt uneasy with the current living arrangements. Superman was a stranger to them even if he claimed to have lived a life pretty similar to Clark's. Additionally, it just made Clark feel guilty. Superman was supposed to be there to help him. His parents should not have to be inconvenienced for that.
He knew his parents did not see it as an inconvenience; they just were not built that way. Still, he was eager to find a new place for Superman. Besides, moving out of the Apollo was not exactly a sacrifice.
But he had made little headway in finding a place. Just getting settled at the Planet had taken most of his time. And in the small amount of time he had to look at classified ads, he had seen nothing.
He was not even sure why the men who had stormed the Planet were interested in him. Lois had talked to Superman – everyone knew that. It had made the news. The Daily Planet had gotten the major headline with Lois' firsthand account, of course, but Superman was big news and other news stations had picked it up. Lois' name had been mentioned in many of the articles as the first person to speak to him.
But no one knew that Clark had talked to Superman. So, it was unclear why these men wanted to talk to him as well. There were two possibilities. One was that they knew Superman was staying with his parents – a thought that made his stomach clench. The other was that it was nothing more than a reaction to Clark's behavior. When they had first entered, they had approached Lois. In what Clark could already tell was typical Lois style, Lois had refused when one of the men had asked to see all her files on her encounter with Superman. In response, the man had grabbed Lois' arm roughly.
Clark, who had been watching the interchange from his desk, had gotten up. “Hey!” he said loudly, causing several pairs of eyes to move to him. “Let go of her!”
Lois had rolled her eyes at him, and with the benefit of superhearing, Clark had heard her say, “Midwestern chivalry, no doubt!” But despite the sound of sarcasm in her voice, she had smiled at him gratefully when the man had let go of her arm.
So maybe the only reason they wanted to talk to him was because he had gotten their attention by speaking up.
Lois had found the whole thing with the invasion, as she called it, rather annoying and she made no attempt to hide it. Her answers to the polygraph were sarcastic and biting. But the men were looking for anything they could use.
“During the time you two were alone, did Superman discuss his mission here on Earth?” one of the men asked Lois.
“Mission?” Lois asked, the laughter clear in her voice. “We flew. We didn't talk. We didn't have to.”
Clark, who was shamelessly eavesdropping, knew exactly what she meant. Even if her words were not clear, the wrenching feeling in his gut would have let him in on it. But her interrogator somehow missed the lovesick sound to Lois' voice and instead saw this as an admission that Superman had telepathic powers.
“Have you had any romantic attachments to this Superman?” he asked her. Lois said nothing, although a slight sigh escaped her lips. The interrogator and the polygraph operator conferred over the fluctuations on Lois' test, but she did not seem to notice.
Clark had spent the entire time Lois was in there worried about his parents. These were government agents and from the way they burst in here and took over the newsroom, they meant business. They seemed hell-bent on finding Superman. If they were somehow successful, what would happen to his parents? Superman could take care of himself, but his parents had no defense against men coming onto the farm with guns.
And what if the way Superman was found was through him. What if when he was hooked him up to the polygraph it did not read correctly? Who knew how much his differences might lead to his reacting strangely to the test? So he was relieved when at the start, things went smoothly.
As it had with Lois, the test started with, “You will answer "yes' to these first two questions. We use this to calibrate the machine. Is your name Clark Kent?”
Clark took a deep breath in an attempt to remain calm. “Yes.”
“Are you also Superman?”
“Yes.” Clark glanced at the machine. Just as it should, the needle spiked as he told the lie.
“Well, Mister Kent, let's proceed,” the man said, and Clark could feel his pulse racing. “Have you ever met Superman?”
“Yes,” Clark considered lying in an effort to keep the search as far away from himself and thus his parents as possible. But then he was worried the test would show the lie and that might make them more suspicious.
“Is he from this Earth?”
“I don't know,” Clark answered.
“Can you take us to Superman right now?”
Clark tried to remain calm, but he could not help but think of his parents once again. His dad was probably in the field and his mother likely in the barn. Unless they were in the living room having a nice chat with Superman.
“No,” Clark finally responded, knowing that this time he had to lie, and saw the operator looking at his test with interest.
“Perimeters been penetrated,” an agent came in to announce.
The man who had been interrogating him moved closer to Clark, their faces inches apart. “Mister Kent, I don't need a polygraph to tell me when I'm being lied to. I can see it in the eyes. We're not finished.”
Then backing away, he left the room.
************************
When Perry sent Lois and Clark out of the newsroom telling them to avoid being anywhere they could easily be served, Clark went straight to Smallville. To Superman, Clark almost seemed to be a force of nature the way he stormed into the small farm house. “You need to leave,” he announced as soon as he entered, looking right at Superman.
A moment before that, Superman had been having a really nice lunch with his mother. Martha. It was hard to remember to call her that, but it was just odd to call her Mom. She looked like his mother and acted a lot like her, but there were minor differences. This woman was a bit less even tempered with her husband. No one who had not met his mother would even notice and they would think he was crazy for even saying something that could be perceived as saying she was not even-tempered. Still, she had rolled her eyes when Jonathan had come in for lunch complaining about the turkey sandwich she had offered him.
And even stranger, she had offered Jonathan egg salad instead in response. While Superman had trouble picturing his mother ever rolling her eyes at his father, she would have made some snappy comment about how lucky he was to have lunch made for him if his father ever dare complain. She never would have offered him something else.
Still, despite the small differences, Martha was a lot like his mother and Jonathan was a lot like his father. It had only been a couple of days and already he was feeling a bit homesick. Sitting and chatting with Martha had felt comfortable and enough like spending time with his own mother to help ease the homesickness.
As a result, his response to Clark's order to leave had been a bit sharper than he intended. “What?”
“The military stormed the Planet today looking for information about you. They want to know where you are. What if they find you here?” Clark asked, panic clear in his voice.
Superman's immediate response was annoyance. “Clark, everything is fine. There's really no reason for me to go.” But then he took in the look in Clark's eyes. These people were his parents. Superman thought back to how panicked he had felt when Trask had shown up. And his parents had been relatively safe that first time. He took a deep breath. While perhaps not rational, Clark's behavior was normal. Of course, he wanted to protect his parents.
With a sigh, Superman nodded, immediately sobered. “I'm sorry,” he added. “I can go.”
“Nonsense!” Martha said, standing up. “Clark Kent, what is wrong with you? This man came here to help you and you go and kick him out of the only place he has to stay right now. Shame on you!”
It was hard not to laugh at Clark's reaction. It was striking how similar they were. Superman had felt himself stand up straighter at Martha's words. But then he remembered that he was not the Clark Kent to whom she was speaking. Clark, on the other hand, had no such reprieve from his response to the harsh words, which was to flush a bright crimson and start to explain in a voice that was dripping with contrition. “Mom.”
Martha cut him off before he could, though. “Clark, I know you are worried,” her voice soft now. “But your father and I will be okay. What's the chance that the government will figure out Superman is hanging out in Smallville, Kansas, anyway?”
Clark's flush deepened. She was right. “I'm sorry,” he said, turning to Superman. “I over reacted.”
Superman smiled, “No apologies. It's okay to worry about your parents. But I do promise you that I won't let anything happen to them.” He smiled at Clark to let him know that there were no hard feelings.
************************
Lois, on the other hand, immediately went home. In retrospect, she had to smile. Her sister Lucy had taken her actions in stride.
As soon as she entered the apartment, Lois ran to her bedroom to throw things into a suitcase. Lucy followed her, giving her a quizzical look.
“I'm not here,” Lois told her, speaking rapidly. “And I'm not staying. If anybody calls, tell them I was never here. Don't even admit that I live here. If someone knocks, don't open the door unless you know who they are. Don't sign anything. Don't call me, I'll call you. You got all this?”
Lois could tell she was panicking, but she could not help it. She was worried. All her life she had been the big sister, she had taken care of Lucy. Now she was in trouble and she was worried that if Lucy was not careful about what she said, she would be in trouble, too.
However, in complete contrast to Lois, Lucy seemed calm and in control. “Chill, Lois. You're not here, you don't exist. I don't know you. We've never met.” Lucy's calm was a surprise to Lois. As children, Lois had always been the calm one with Lucy the one more likely to have panic attacks.
“Lo?” the small voice asked in the darkness.
“Go to sleep, Luce,” Lois answered from where she was buried beneath her covers.
“I can't sleep,” came the pitiful reply. “It's too loud out there.”
Lois raised up the end of her blankets closest to Lucy's bed. “Join me in the fort,” she said.
Lucy scrambled out of bed and climbed in beside Lois. “This is a fort?” she asked.
Lois leaned over and grabbed the flashlight she had forgotten to put away earlier. Moving under the covers, she turned the light on. “Now it is,” she told her younger sister. “It's Fort Lane.” Lucy giggled. “Fort Lane is the safe place soldiers come to hide out in during wars. No bad things ever happen here,” Lois said.
“No fighting?” Lucy asked, her voice timid.
“Nope,” Lois said. “Everyone is safe in here.”
Within a few moments, Lucy had fallen asleep snuggled against Lois' side, the sound of her parents fighting forgotten.
The phone rang right then and Lucy went to answer it. Lois could feel her heart going a mile a minute worried that she had been found by those government agents, and almost laughed in relief when she realized it was just Perry.
“Get back in here, Lois,” he said when she took the phone from her sister. “The warrant was phony.”
************************
“Where were you?” Lois asked Clark as he entered the conference room.
Clark looked at her quizzically, “What do you mean?”
“What do you think I mean?” Lois asked, shaking her head at the idiocy of the man. “Where were you?”
“I was at the hotel,” Clark said, wondering if Lois was suspicious. In reality, he had still been in Smallville, having lunch with his mother and Superman when Perry had called his beeper.
“Hmmm,” Lois replied, and it was obvious she was not sure why she had bothered to ask. The answer did not interest her in the slightest.
“So, what's up?” Clark asked her.
“What's up is that the warrant is phony,” Lois told him, clearly relishing the news.
“Phony?” Clark asked as he sank into a chair. All that drama was for a phony warrant?
“Phony,” Perry confirmed as he entered the conference room. “Our lawyers called every government agent they could think of, even the FDA, but no one is taking credit for those boys.”
“So who are they are?” Clark asked.
“No idea,” Lois answered. “But clearly they think their job is to hunt down Superman. We have to help him, Clark!”
Clark felt his stomach clench once more at the sound of her voice, but of course she was right. They did need to help him.
“So,” Perry said, drawing attention back towards him. “You need to find this Superman before they do.”
************************
Lois and Clark stayed up half the night going over leads. But they did not make much progress. Additionally, Lois was a bit more overbearing and even less likely to listen to his suggestions now than when he had been freelancing.
“Maybe we should just go on home,” Lois said at a quarter to one.
Clark yawned, “But we haven't gotten anywhere yet.”
“I know,” Lois said. “But it's not clear we are going to. Why don't we head out?” Lois got up and shut off her light.
With another yawn, Clark followed her lead. Lois caught a cab when they got downstairs, but Clark decided to walk. He was halfway home before he realized that he had forgotten his hotel key. Laughing at himself, he turned around to go back to the Planet.
He was surprised at first to see a light on when he entered the newsroom. Even the night crew had left before they had. Then he realized the light was coming from Lois' desk.
He made no attempt to hide the sounds of his footsteps and Lois looked up guiltily when she saw him. “I had a thought,” she started, but stopped at the look on Clark's face.
“What's up, Lois?” he asked.
Lois looked at him, challenging him with her eyes, “I told you, I had a thought, so I decided to come back.”
Clark nodded his head as he pulled his chair next to her desk.
“It was lucky that you had this thought before you even got home,” Clark said, the annoyance in his voice clear.
“Look, Kent,” Lois said, her temper now rising to meet his. “I'm not sure where you got the idea that we're partners. We're not. If I have an idea for what's going on, I don't need to share it with you.”
“I must have been mistaken,” Clark retorted. “I was under the impression they were using both of us to get to Superman.”
“They are, although why they involved you, I have no idea. You've never even met Superman,” Lois said with contempt.
Clark sighed, not knowing what to say. He had no desire to tell Lois that he had met Superman when the man had decided to stop by his parents' farm. On the other hand, if he and Superman were supposed to share an apartment at some point in the near future, it would make sense that they were friends. “I'm not sure how they know this, but I do know Superman. We're friends.”
Lois' entire countenance changed at this announcement. “You're friends with Superman?” Her voice was full of wonder.
Clark nodded, already hating himself for this. He figured he had about a half hour of Lois eagerly questioning him about his life as it related to the super hero. A minute ago, she could have cared less about Clark Kent, but suddenly he was the most interesting person she knew. Aside from his spandex clad look-a-like, that was.
“How did you meet?” Lois asked.
Clark thought quickly. “It was just coincidence. I bumped into him randomly and we discovered that we've traveled to many of the same places. We just sort of hit it off.”
“You just bumped into each other?” Lois asked incredulously. “How do you bump into Superman? Do you use the same dry cleaner? Shop at the same supermarket?”
Clark sighed, not sure how to get Lois onto a new topic of conversation. “I don't remember,” he finally said.
Lois gave him a look that made it perfectly clear she did not believe him. “You've been in Metropolis all of a week, Clark. Superman has been around for what, two days, and even then no one has really seen much of him since the space station. So, presumably you met him recently. How could you not remember how you met?”
Clark flushed. Being interviewed by the star investigative reporter at the Planet was not a good idea when you had something to hide. Finally, he shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“Sorry!” Lois fumed. “Sorry for what? That you have a memory like a sieve? What kind of reporter can you be if you can't even remember something like meeting a man who can fly just a day or two after it happens?”
Clark shrugged again and this time Lois let it drop.
