Thanks as always to my awesome betas – Carol, Beth, and Mark!
From Chapter 41
“It's fine,” she said to Clark grudgingly. “Now send it to Perry so we can have our discussion.”
“You can have it,” Clark said softly.
“What?” Lois asked confused.
“Come on, Lois. This is going to be a first page article. Take it,” Clark insisted.
“You mean by myself? But that's insane, Clark. I wasn't even there,” Lois said, looking at him suspiciously. “What are you up to, Farmboy?”
Clark smiled at her sincerely. Or at least she thought it was sincere. What was he up to? “You were right to be upset with me, Lois. Sort of. I should be able to keep other people's secrets from you. But I shouldn't have lied when you asked if anything else was missing. I should have told you that something else was missing and I didn't want to tell you what it was. Not that you ever would have let up if I said that,” he grinned at her. “But I should have. This is my way of apologizing.”
“Really?” Lois asked, trying not to get upset about the "I should be able to keep other people's secrets from you' thing. She knew he was right, but that did not mean she had to like it, did it?
“Clark, Lois, where's the art museum story?” Perry asked.
“Right here, Chief,” Clark said and Lois noticed that even though he had not changed it, her name was the only one on the byline. She had just not noticed it when she read it. Clark gave her a questioning look.
Lois felt like perhaps this was more than she deserved. It was a big story. On the other hand, Clark should know that lying to her was not acceptable. She nodded and Clark gave the story to Perry.
Chapter 42
Clark's first morning patrol went well in that nothing needed to be done. Clark felt like this had the very real benefit that he could not screw anything up if he did not do anything.
Superman said that it was not that unusual for Metropolis to be quiet – as long as Superman showed up in the seedier sections of town often enough, petty crime tended to be kept to a minimum.
As a result, though, Clark had gotten to the newsroom early. What he should have done, he realized now, was to start copying video files to a disk to bring to Smallville. However, he had wanted to finish the article on the findings at the art museum before Lois got in, so he had worked on that instead.
Maybe that was the right choice, as Lois certainly seemed over her annoyance at him for lying to her now that he had given her the story. Still, it meant he had not had a chance to copy the files until after the staff meeting at which point Lois was around.
The staff meeting might have been good for providing a distraction for Lois from what he was doing by giving her something else to work on, except that there did not appear to be much else to do. Aside from the article Clark had penned this morning, not much was going on, and the suits upstairs were not happy. Recently, the Metropolis Star had been scooping them daily and readership of the Planet was at an all-time low.
So, while they should have been hot in the pursuit of a story, Lois and Clark were at loose ends – a situation that was getting more and more worrisome as time went on.
More importantly right now, though, was the fact that Clark looked busy while copying files to the jump drive, and given their lack of assignments, this made Lois suspicious.
“What are you working on?” she asked him, coming around his desk to stand behind him.
“Nothing,” Clark said, but then thought about what he was saying. He was just repeating the same mistake as he had with the globe. Honesty was the best policy. Or that was what his mother had always told him, but then she had not met Lois until recently. “Actually, it's a project. For Superman. But I can't talk about it.”
Lois' eyebrows raised and Clark could see her ready to pounce, so he reminded her, “I told you – I can't talk about it. I didn't want to lie to you about it either, but you need to respect the fact that I can't tell you what it is.”
Lois glared at him without saying a word and moved back to her desk. Once there, she turned around for one last glare, “I could help, you know!”
************
“Hotel fire!” Jimmy called out a half hour later.
Perry stuck his head out of his office, but before he could say anything, Lois and Clark had gotten up. “We're on it, Chief,” Clark called. Smiling, Perry went back into his office.
They were almost at the elevator when Clark realized this was a chance for him to be Superman. Should he? It was not actually happening right in front of him, so maybe he should not. He and Superman had not talked about how to deal with this – what was the best way to make sure two Supermen did not show up at a potential rescue?
Lois got in the elevator and gave Clark a pointed look. “Coming, Farmboy?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Clark said, deciding not to go as Superman. Hopefully, if when they arrived Superman was not there, he would be able to slip away from Lois and help. They had said he shouldn't try to help in front of Lois anyway.
************
“What is she doing here?” Lois asked as they pushed their way through the crowd. A fast look had shown that everything was taken care of, so Clark could relax and focus on being a reporter. This having two jobs thing was going to be tough, he could already tell.
“Who?” he asked Lois, realizing she was waiting for him to respond.
“Lois. Nice to see you,” a tall, beautiful blonde woman said to Lois. Her voice was saccharine sweet and it was immediately clear to Clark that this was the woman Lois had been speaking of.
“Not now, Linda. We're here on business for the Daily Planet and we need to talk to Superman,” Lois said, not bothering to introduce Clark to the woman.
“Sorry, Lois,” she replied gleefully. “You just missed him. He was very helpful – gave me a quote for my story for the Star.”
“You work for the Metropolis Star?” Lois asked, incredulous.
Linda smiled, “Yup. And I believe that you've just been scooped.” Then turning to Clark, she smiled. “Hi. I'm Linda King. And you are?”
“Clark Kent. Lois' partner.”
“Well, don't believe anything she told you about me,” Linda warned.
“Told him about you? Ha!” Lois laughed. “As if I would mention you to him. Or to anybody. You're not worth the effort it would take to breathe enough to get the words out.”
“Ouch,” Clark said quietly and Lois glared at him.
“And one more thing,” Lois said, “Stay away from Superman.”
“What? Is he your personal source?” Linda asked.
“No, but he works exclusively with the Daily Planet,” Lois said, but she blushed when she caught the skeptical look Clark gave her. “Well, not exclusively, but…”
“Nice to meet you, Clark,” Linda said before walking off with a swish of her hips.
************
“Clark,” someone called as Clark made his way back to the office later that afternoon. Lois had disappeared at lunch and had not come back.
He turned around to see Linda King coming toward to him. How odd.
“Hi, Linda,” he said cautiously. Lois had given him an earful about Linda earlier. He was not sure how much was true – Lois did have a flair for exaggeration – but she had warned that Linda was without morals or conscious.
“I read your article on the hotel fire,” he said as she approached. It had been in the afternoon edition of the Metropolis Star, something Perry was not at all happy about given that Lois and Clark had gotten there too late to write up much of anything at all. “Nice work.”
“Thank you,” Linda said graciously. “I'm surprised to hear you say that, though.”
“Why?” Clark asked. “Just because we're competitors doesn't mean I can't appreciate good journalism. I also liked the editorial Preston Carpenter wrote demanding changes in the fire department.”
“Yes,” Linda agreed, “Well, Preston is a very powerful man. Would you like to meet him?”
“Um… sure?” Clark replied, unsure of where this was going.
“He's throwing a party at the Metropolis Press Club tonight. Want to come?”
“Oh, um… I need to check with Lois,” Clark stammered.
“What? Is she your keeper?” Linda asked. “Listen, Clark, I don't know what your relationship with Lois is, but you shouldn't let her hold you back.”
“She doesn't,” Clark said, his voice holding just a tiny bit of anger. “Lois and I are partners. I just want to make sure we're not working on anything tonight.”
“Wouldn't you know?” Linda challenged him.
“Sometimes. But this is the news business. Things change quickly,” Clark said pointedly, trying to keep himself from getting annoyed. He did not want to get in the middle of whatever the argument was between Lois and Linda. He could forgive Lois for putting him there, but it was harder to forgive Linda, whom he had just met.
“Well, if you're free, you're invited to come tonight,” Linda said, ignoring his barb. “I'd ask you to be my date, but unfortunately, I already have one,” Linda said, all smiles again.
Clark relaxed. Linda was not flirting with him if she had a date with someone else and was still inviting him to come. He had to admit she was attractive, but he did not want to send her the wrong message. If he thought there was no chance for him and Lois it might be different, but he tried to remember the short-haired Lois he had met months ago. She had promised that it took some time, but she had fallen for her Clark. He just had to believe that it would happen for him as well.
“Okay. Thanks,” he smiled at her.
“See you tonight,” Linda said before she walked off.
************
“What are you doing tonight?” Clark asked Lois when she returned to the newsroom that afternoon.
“Why?” she asked him, feeling suspicious.
“Linda King invited us to a party at the Press Club,” he told her.
“Linda? You saw Linda? You accepted an invitation from Linda?” Lois fired questions at him.
“Yes, yes, and yes,” Clark smiled at her. “Come on, Lois. It's just a party. And a chance to meet Preston Carpenter.”
“Why would I want to meet Preston Carpenter? He's not exactly Perry White,” Lois said.
Clark rolled his eyes. “I'm not trying to say that Preston is better than Perry. But don't you have a desire to meet the man who single-handedly turned the Metropolis Star from a second-rate newspaper into the paper read by more Americans than any other?”
Lois rolled her eyes at him. “What, are you doing commercials for him now?” she asked.
“Do you want to go or not?” Clark asked her.
“I'll meet you there at seven.”
************
“So, how much time do we have?” Martha asked, taking the jump drive from Clark.
“I have an hour or so before I need to be back in Metropolis,” Clark said, looking at his watch. “But we can come back tomorrow night.”
“We should probably keep doing this until we are perfectly matched,” Superman suggested. “I mean, if you're willing to help us?”
“Of course we are,” Martha said.
“Okay, so what should we watch first?” Jonathan said opening the directory of video files Clark had copied from the Planet's archives.
“Let's look at Clark first,” Clark suggested. “While I think we need to be imitating each other, come to some sort of compromise Superman, for now, I probably need to make the most changes. "Superman' can't change too much at first.”
“Right,” Superman agreed. “I think maybe for now, you should try to act as much like me as possible. Once we're indistinguishable, we can make subtle changes at the same time so we're a Superman you're more comfortable being.”
“Right,” Clark agreed, leaning over to point to a file on the computer. “This is Clark at the hotel fire this morning.”
Jonathan double clicked on the file and the four watched in silence for a few minutes. Once it was finished, Jonathan clicked on the file Clark pointed to which showed the rescue at the fire at the ferry terminal Clark had helped with.
When they had watched both clips, the four stepped back from the computer to take seats around the living room.
“Okay, the obvious difference is that Clark looks nervous,” Martha said.
“Yeah, Clark definitely looks more comfortable as Superman,” Jonathan said and all four of them laughed.
“I think for these conversations, it's okay if you all call me Superman,” Superman smiled.
“Okay,” Jonathan agreed. “Superman definitely looks more comfortable.”
“But how do I look comfortable?” Clark asked. “I'm not comfortable.”
“When I first started in my universe, I was really nervous,” Superman said. “But I just didn't think about it. I pretended I was in a play and I was playing the part of a superhero. I think it made me come across as a little stiff, but other than that it was okay.”
“You still come off as a little stiff,” Martha pointed out.
Superman smiled. “Yes, well, I decided that worked for the personality. I mean… I'm not describing this very well, but I guess I still see Superman as a character I play. I get to write my own lines and develop my own character, but I definitely try to act a specific way.”
“So, I need to pretend to be comfortable with what I'm doing,” Clark said, looking doubtful this was going to work.
“Anything else?” Superman said.
“Clark, Superman holds the victims differently,” Jonathan noted. “During the hotel fire, he carried the woman in his arms. You wrapped an arm around the waist of the young man at the grease fire.”
“Do you always hold victims that way?” Clark asked.
Superman nodded. “Unless there is more than one,” he clarified.
“Okay. Carry victims in my arms.”
“Maybe that's enough for now,” Martha said, looking at her son worriedly.
Superman nodded. “I should get back and do the evening patrol anyway. Are you coming, Clark?”
“I want to look over these again. Go ahead without me. I still have a few more minutes before I need to head back.”
“Okay. Have fun with Lois tonight. Thanks, Martha, Jonathan,” he said, giving each of the older Kents a hug before he took off.
When Superman left, Clark turned back to the computer.
“Clark,” Martha said gently. “How are you?”
Clark gave a slight smile. Leave it to his mother to realize that he was not doing well. “I'm not sure,” he admitted. “It all feels so overwhelming.”
“You'll get better with practice,” Jonathan said.
“Isn't this exactly what you didn't want me to be doing?” Clark asked his father, confused. “Helping in public.”
Jonathan nodded his head. “It is. But I don't think that's who you are. You've shown effectively that unless someone else is around taking care of things and ordering you not to help, you feel the need to do so.
“It's taken me some time, but I've come to terms with it. It seems to work for Superman,” Jonathan said.
“We're so proud of you, honey,” Martha said. “We know how scary this is. But you have to do this. Superman can't stay here forever.”
“I know,” Clark admitted. “Still, I… I feel like throwing up every time I put on the suit. I've never thrown up, but that's all I can think of to describe the feeling. I haven't been able to eat for the past two days.”
“It will get easier,” Jonathan said, placing a hand on Clark's shoulder. “You'll get more practiced at it and you'll feel more comfortable. It's different now, Clark. This isn't like when you were a teenager.
“I'm not saying it doesn't make me a little nervous as well, but I think this will make you happy once you work past all the old stuff. I think this is what you always wanted to do.”
Clark nodded. “Maybe.” He looked at the clock. “I should get going.”
“Have a good time, honey,” Martha said, holding him tightly.
************
Clark walked up to Lois as soon as she came into the party. “Wow!” he said. “You look great!”
“Have you seen Linda?” she asked him, barely paying attention to what he had said.
“No one fields a compliment quite like you,” he said with a smile and Lois looked at him.
“Sorry. Thank you. And you look good, too. Now, have you seen Linda?” She was trying to stay calm, but the truth was, just knowing she was in the same room as Linda made her nervous. They had nothing in common anymore. Still, it was hard to see her.
Clark smiled broadly. “I haven't seen her yet. Lois, what is this rivalry about?”
“Rivalry? What rivalry?” Lois asked.
“Between you and Linda,” Clark said slowly.
“There is no rivalry. I don't like her. That's all there is to it,” Lois explained.
“You brought Lois,” Linda said as she came up to them, looking directly at Clark. “I didn't realize you'd bring…”
“We're partners,” Lois and Clark said together, although Clark's tone was friendly while Lois' was cold.
“Right,” Linda said, linking her arm through Clark's. “Let me introduce you to Preston.”
Clark gently removed her arm from his, but Lois glared at him anyway.
