Sorry that this part is a little late. My internet connection has been acting up lately. Thanks once again to Nancy and Carol for their help.
Previously...
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” Lois shrugged. “Living with someone in Metropolis would be a good experience for you, anyway. You’ll learn a lot more about life in the city that way. Besides, I’ve never lived with an alien before. It could be fun.”
“I am not that interesting,” Kal shook his head.
“That’s what you think,” Lois shot back. “And besides, I’m planning to make use of all your powers so I’ll never have to do any housework again.”
Kal blinked, slightly taken aback. Then his face settled in an easy smile. “I guess that is only fair,” he replied. “So as of this night, I am now an official resident of Metropolis.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“I don’t get a lot of people stopping by, so I don’t think we need to make your presence public, but if someone does see you over here for some reason, I’ll say that you’re a friend of Jonathan and Martha’s who’s visiting from Kansas,” Lois told Kal as they landed in her apartment.
“Your place is different from the Kent’s,” Kal remarked, taking in his surroundings.
“It’s an apartment, so the whole building is partitioned off like this so each person has their own space,” Lois explained. “Feel free to explore around. This is going to be your home, after all.”
Kal wandered into the kitchen, and ran a hand over the countertops.
Lois followed him closely. For some reason, she couldn’t stop hovering over him, taking in his reaction to everything.
”This is the kitchen,” she spoke unnecessarily. “With the… you know, stove, fridge,” she gestured to each one. “And the microwave. And there’s food…” she opened a cupboard to show, and then closed it hastily when she saw the pathetic contents. “In case you get hungry, you know.” Belatedly, she realized she was talking to a person who didn’t eat.
“Oh, and here’s the phone,” she spoke, changing the subject abruptly. “If you need to call… well, the Kents. Or me when I’m at work.” How sad to think that he only knew three people on the entire planet. And how lonely that must make him feel. “It’s probably best if you don’t answer the phone while you’re here,” she told him. “We can make an excuse for why you’re here, but if we don’t have to, then it makes it easier. But if you need me while I’m at work, then you can call me.”
“How does the phone work?” Kal asked.
Lois blinked, shocked again at this reminder of how different Kal was. He looked so human it was hard to remember at times.
“Well, each phone line has a unique combination of digits. You just lift the receiver,” she told him, demonstrating as she went. “And then you punch in the number you want. It’ll connect you to the person you want to call.” At least a phone was a pretty easy device to use.
“It sounds like a complicated way to talk to someone,” Kal told her.
Well, maybe it wasn’t easy for a Kryptonian.
“It was easier on Krypton?” Lois guessed.
“Telepathy tends to negate the need for technology like this,” Kal replied.
“Telepathy?” Lois asked with interest.
“Yes.” But the tone of Kal’s voice made it clear that he didn’t want to talk about it.
Lois didn’t ask any further. Clearly, his memories of Krypton were still painful, and it was probably best to not push him to share more than he wanted to.
“I’ll show you to your room,” she said instead, leading him towards it. “It’s just beside mine.” She stepped back to let Kal enter first.
He walked into the room slowly, and stopped by the foot of the bed. He placed the small duffle bag that held all his worldly possessions on the bed, and sat down beside it.
“Lucy picked out the bedding and pictures and everything,” Lois explained. “And I know some of her tastes are a little… Well, if you want to change something just let me know.
“You do not need to go through so much trouble, Lois.” Kal replied. “You have already given me so much here.”
“I was happy to do it,” she shook her head. “Please don’t feel like you owe me or anything.”
“Thank you,” Kal nodded.
Lois glanced down at her watch.
“Oh, drat, I’ve got to get to work,” she told Kal. “And I’m not even close to being ready. Look, I’m going to go get changed and I’ll let you get settled in.”
She glanced down at Kal’s duffle bag. Even without the aid of super speed, she doubted it would take him long.
* * *
“I don’t know how, Lois, but you’ve done it again,” Perry congratulated her as he handed her a plastic glass with some of the celebratory champagne. “You’ve stolen the biggest exclusive in town and brought it home for the Daily Planet.”
“Well, a lot of it was luck,” Lois replied modestly. “Superman already knew who I was from the launch and that went a long way towards gaining his trust.”
“Well, being at the right place at the right time is part of being a good reporter,” Perry told her. “Anyway, I’m proud of you, darlin’.”
“Thanks,” Lois replied.
“Yeah, I bet this must feel good after everything that happened with Luthor,” Jimmy piped up.
An uncomfortable silence settled among the small group.
“Um… Yeah, it does,” Lois replied cautiously, ignoring the burning in her cheeks from the attention.
“Sorry,” Jimmy apologized, wincing. “Uh… good job, Lois.” He slunk away back to his desk.
“Are you okay, darlin’?” Perry asked Lois.
“I’m fine,” she replied glumly. “I suppose I should just stop living in the past and get over what happened with Luthor, but I still can’t let go.”
“The Luthor story was solid journalism,” Perry reassured her. “You did a good job, and it wasn’t your fault that things went the direction that they did. But you’re right in saying that you need to stop dwelling on the past.”
“I know I’ve been in a bit of a rut since then,” she confessed.
“Well, you definitely pulled yourself out of it,” Perry told her. “If it wasn’t the Prometheus story, the Superman story has definitely done it for you. This was a great job, Lois.”
“Thanks.”
“To think that out of all the reporters in Metropolis, you were the only one to get the Superman scoop!” he crowed.
“Well, that’s why I’m the best,” Lois shrugged. She hadn’t told Perry about her trip to Kansas, and she wasn’t planning on it. No one needed to know that Superman had been living in Smallville up until earlier today. It drew too much attention to the Kents. She was more than willing to swallow the cost of a plane ticket in order to protect Jonathan and Martha.
“Now, you know I don’t let anyone sit on their laurels for long,” Perry spoke. “Get out there and grab me another exclusive, okay?”
“Got it, Perry,” she grinned.
Although Perry’s driving words still rang in her head, she decided to allow herself one moment of happy gloating at her desk before she went off to find another hot story. Of course, that moment was soon interrupted.
The paper with her interview on the front page smacked down on top of her keyboard, and a husky voice broke her silent triumph.
“I can’t believe you didn’t ask him,” Cat complained. “Some investigative reporter you are.”
“I don’t know if you noticed, Cat,” Lois spoke teasingly, “but I tend to write serious pieces of journalism. Not fluffy bits of dirt disguised as a gossip column.”
“Say what you want, Lois,” Cat replied, settling herself in the chair beside Lois’ desk. “But I could argue that the readership for my column is actually higher than some of your articles.”
“Well, no one said the general population of Metropolis had good taste,” Lois grumbled.
“Of course when you’ve got an article like a Superman interview, then I’m sure you’ve snagged the majority,” Cat decided. “And I still can’t believe you didn’t ask him my question.”
“I did, Cat,” Lois said, rolling her eyes.
Cat immediately sat forward on her seat, planting her elbows on Lois’ desk. “And?”
“The suit’s kind of similar to what he wore on Krypton. But the colors are different, and a few other things, apparently.”
“So it does come off?”
“Of course it does, Cat,” Lois laughed. “He may be from another planet, but you definitely can’t tell that from looking at him. He’s just like any ordinary guy.”
“Well, I’ve never met him face to face. How am I supposed to know?” she shrugged. “Hey, do you think-”
“No,” Lois answered.
“You didn’t even hear what I wanted to ask,” she pouted.
“One of two things. Either you wanted an interview, or you wanted me to set you up on a date with him. And there’s no way I would have said yes to either of those.”
“I was going to ask for both,” she grinned saucily.
“Goodbye, Cat,” Lois told her, handing back her copy of the Planet.
“See you around, spoilsport.”
Lois shook her head as Cat moved on to prowl another part of the newsroom. The two had clashed dangerously when they first met, but Lois quickly learned to not be fazed by Cat’s behavior, and they had eventually come to respect each other. And perhaps even become close enough to be considered friends, although neither would be willing to say that within earshot of the other.
Lois pulled out her notebook and began flipping through it. Perry had not given her a new assignment yet, and she wanted to see if there was anything in here that could be developed into a pitch for Perry. She was still not happy with how the whole Prometheus affair was tied up. Baines had died before the shuttle was sabotaged, and that pointed to an accomplice or perhaps even a boss who directed Baines.
But although she wanted to focus on a new story, her mind kept wandering back to Kal. He was alone in her apartment today, and she couldn’t help but worry about him. Was he doing okay? She was tempted to call, but she had already instructed him not to answer the phone in order to prevent people from finding out about him. And he did know how to use it now, so he could call if he had any problems.
He would be fine, Lois decided. He was Superman, after all.
* * *
Kal stared at the small black device he held in his hand, the ‘remote control’. His father had done an excellent job in teaching him the basics of English through the learning device on board the ship, but Kal had learned over and over again that such study was only good for so much, and that there were a lot of things he would need to learn in order to function in this society.
The device fit neatly in his hand, and Lois had explained that it controlled the TV that was placed against the wall. Kal knew the Kents had something similar at their home, but he had never used it before. They rarely turned it on, and even then he did not need to control it. But now that he was facing the day alone, minus whenever anyone needed help, Kal knew he needed some way to pass the time. Lois had mentioned that the TV could help him learn a lot about the culture here, so that sounded like a good idea.
But he could not make sense of the abbreviations on the control device, and there were strange symbols printed there that he was sure weren’t letters. The last thing he wanted to do was guess and damage the TV.
He could call Lois and ask her how to use it, but he did not want to disturb her at work. Although her number was taped beside the phone, and he was pretty sure he knew how to use it, he knew that calling her every time he ran into a small difficulty would quickly become an inconvenience to her, and he did not want to do that.
Going to visit the Kents was also out of the question. Although he was positive he would know how to fly back to Smallville, he did not want to come to them for advice on this. It was for the same reason that he had declined Martha’s offer to stay with him for a few days to help get him acclimatized. They had given him so much, and he wanted to show that he was capable of looking after himself. He did not want to become a burden to anyone.
Returning his attention to the controller, Kal tried to make sense of the strange symbols. They were a bizarre mix of geometric shapes from triangles to squares to straight lines. And even the letters on the device did not seem to join together to make words of any kind. What did ‘PWR’ mean? It was the largest button, so perhaps it was the most important one.
Cautiously, Kal pointed the device in the direction of the TV and pressed the ‘PWR’ button. Instantly, the black screen jumped to life and the apartment was filled with the sound of cheers and clapping. Kal watched the people who appeared on the screen with interest. Martha had explained to him that most of the people on TV were ‘actors’, and were actually pretending to be whoever they were on the TV. There was nothing like that on Krypton, so Kal was interested to see what something like that looked like.
There were four ‘actors’ standing in front of a large wheel with numerical values placed around it. Three of the actors were clapping and cheering, while the fourth was much calmer. Occasionally, the screen would switch to a view of another actor standing in front of a large board with letters placed on it.
“I’d like to buy a vowel,” one actor announced.
The calmer one, seeming to be the leader of the group, gave the actor permission.
“I’d like to buy an ‘A’,” the actor said.
The leader gave some calculations, and soon the letter board lit up. The female actor by the board turned over the lights to reveal three A’s.
There was more clapping and cheering.
Kal shook his head in confusion. What was the point of pretending something like this? He knew that some humans took pleasure in gambling, but watching people pretend to gamble seemed like a poor use of time to him.
But how was he to change the show?
He looked again at the device. Perhaps some of the other bigger buttons would be able to help him. What did ‘vol’ or ‘ch’ mean? Guessing, he pushed the down arrow with the ‘vol’ label.
The sound on the TV got quieter.
He pushed the up arrow, and the sound got louder. That mystery solved, Kal pushed the down arrow under ‘ch’.
The show changed.
A woman stood in front of a gathered audience, smiling at them all.
“Does everybody know what time it is?” she asked.
“Tool Time!” the audience replied in unison.
“That’s right!” the woman confirmed. “Binford Tools is proud to present Tim ‘The Tool Man’ Taylor!”
Two men entered to the applause of the audience. Kal looked at them curiously. Which one was the Tool Man? He assumed it was a nickname, but he wasn’t sure where that would have come from. He couldn’t be made of tools, could he? Both men looked to be like normal humans. And why were the audience members included in the screen? Didn’t that spoil the illusion they were trying to create? Perhaps he would have to come back to this show later in order to really understand it.
He pushed the ‘ch’ button again, and this next show was very different from the previous two. Something about it told him right away that it was the ‘news’ like Lois had described, and that these were not actors, but reporters with a job to do.
They talked about a fire blazing in an apartment building, and footage was shown from the scene. An address was given, and Kal felt that he could find it, given the rough sketch Lois had given him of the city. He stood up from his seat. Learning more about Earth culture could wait a while. For now, he had more important things to do.
* * *
Lois entered her apartment to something completely foreign to her in this building.
The smell of cooking.
“Kal?” she asked, entering her kitchen and seeing him bent over the stove.
“Lois!” his head snapped around to meet her gaze. “You surprised me.”
“The super sensitive hearing didn’t kick in?”
“I was concentrating on this,” he replied, gesturing to the stove.
“It smells amazing,” she told him. “You didn’t have to do this, though.”
“I wanted to do something for you,” Kal replied. “And it is good practice for me. Martha had taught me to make this while I was staying with them.”
Lois stepped towards the stove, and peered at the bubbling tomato sauce. “The burner isn’t on,” she observed.
Kal blushed. “I could not figure out how to turn the knobs, so I used my heat vision.”
That explained why he wasn’t wearing his glasses.
“There’s a safety lock on them,” she explained. “You have to push the knob in, then turn it.” She demonstrated, turning the burner to medium.
“Oh.”
“It must be hard,” she sympathized. “Having to figure out every day things like this.”
“It is, sometimes,” he agreed. “Although I did manage the basics of the TV today. That is how I found out about the fire.”
“I heard about that. And a few other things. I guess you’ve been pretty busy your first day.”
“Yes,” Kal nodded. “But that is what I want to do. I am sorry I was not able to give you any exclusive interviews today, though.”
“That’s fine,” Lois waved aside. “The Planet got quite a bit of material, and I was at my desk for a large part of the day, working on my next big project.”
“Oh? What is it? If that is acceptable to ask.”
“I don’t mind telling you,” she told Kal. “You’re not going to spread it around to anyone who shouldn’t hear it.”
Before she could continue, Kal lifted the spoon he had used to stir the sauce, and moved it towards her mouth.
“Taste this,” he commanded.
Her mouth opened, and she received a taste of the sauce on her tongue. Although it was hot, Kal had cooled slightly, so it did not burn her.
“Mmmm,” she replied. She normally didn’t get this type of food unless she was at the Kent house.
“Good?” Kal asked.
“Yes, definitely.”
Kal switched the burner off, and moved to drain the pasta. “You were saying about your story?”
“Oh, yeah. Well, I’m still curious to see who was behind the Prometheus sabotage. I’m not convinced that case has closed.”
“Do you have any idea who might have done it?” Kal asked, pouring the sauce over a plate of pasta.
“I have a few suspects,” Lois replied. “But none I’m ready to fully investigate yet. You would have to be pretty rich and powerful to benefit from destroying a space station.”
“And you would want to be careful investigating any of those people,” Kal filled in.
“I’m not scared to investigate them,” Lois spoke suddenly. “It’s just that this type of thing needs to be carefully executed, so there’re no holes left.”
The well connected could make even the tiniest hole big enough to collapse the entire case. She had learned that the hard way once before.
“This is ready for you now,” Kal told her.
Lois sat down at her table in front of the steaming plate. Kal sat across from her in front of nothing. He really was serious about the not eating thing.
“I got a call from a contact of mine today,” she announced, taking a bite of pasta. “This is fantastic, Kal, by the way.”
“Thank you. Who was this contact?”
“He works for the NIA.” She saw Kal’s look of confusion, and explained. “The National Intelligence Agency. They do a lot of… Well, it’s difficult to explain, but they’re a government agency that does a lot of hidden operations and such. I’ve helped him out with an assignment or two in the past, and he’s helped me out with a couple stories, too.”
“Is he going to help you with your investigation?”
“I haven’t told him anything about that,” she waved aside. “He was actually calling about you.”
“Oh. Does the government want to speak to me?”
“Well, I imagine they would, but it wasn’t about that. He wanted to offer you a protected identity so you could live the life of a citizen here without anyone having to know about who you are.”
“No,” Kal replied abruptly.
Lois looked up in surprise. “You’re not even going to think about it?”
“Having a second identity where I pretended to be an ordinary citizen would be a lie. It would not be right for me to lie to people here. I am a visitor, and they deserve the truth.”
“Kal, I’ve thought about this, and I really don’t think there’s any way you could have a normal life here with everyone knowing about you.”
“I do not need a normal life, Lois. I just want to help people here on Earth.”
“But the media attention on you-”
“Will not keep me from doing what I have to do,” Kal cut in. “I will still be able to help out regardless of the media.”
“You hid yourself when you were staying with the Kents,” Lois tried.
“I was doing that for their protection,” Kal replied. “Just like I will not do anything to draw attention to your apartment while I am staying here. I know you do not want any attention drawn to you because of this, and I will respect that wish. But I will not do anything to mislead the people living here, and that is all I want to say about it.”
Lois didn’t dare say anything else about the subject.
