Once again, sincere thanks to my betas, Corrina and Michael.
**********************
From Part 2:
Tomorrow morning. That’s the plan, thought Lucy. I’ll find Superman’s spaceship and make a great story out of it. Tomorrow I’ll start my award-winning career.
*************************************************
Part 3:
When Lois came in, she saw Lucy standing next to her desk, and reading something intently. Lucy hastily stuffed the paper back into her leather file case.
“Just a lot of paperwork to go through, when you start at a new place, you know?” Lucy said.
“Sure.” Lois didn’t feel like talking much; she definitely needed to go to bed. She had planned on staying at the Planet to chase down more Superman leads, but given her lack of success at that, and her general weariness, she decided instead to call it a day. And after she and Lucy silently went back to her apartment, she didn’t even bother to watch any of the “Ivory Tower” before she tucked herself in and fell asleep.
Lois spent the next day in the newsroom, following up on various investigative pieces and continuing to query her sources for any leads on Superman. The Man of Steel had been frustratingly absent from the streets of Metropolis.
Clark walked in the newsroom, and Lois found herself aghast at his expression. She’d never seen the normally-cheerful Kansan so morose.
“What’s up, Clark?”
“A fifteen-year old boy is in critical condition, his mother is in shock, and his little sister can’t stop crying. There were witnesses, but they’re not talking. The officer I talked to said they’ve had half a dozen like this in the last week alone.”
“Sounds like a job for Superman,” Lois said sadly.
“Yeah. That would have made it a truly great story, wouldn’t it?” Clark said bitterly.
“Forget the story, Clark. Metropolis needs Superman.”
“You think he would have been able to stop this?” Clark slapped his notebook on the table. “Or that?” he pointed to TV footage of a car crash.
“No. Even Superman can’t be everywhere at once.”
“Then what good is he?” Clark demanded.
“What he can’t do…it doesn’t matter. It’s the idea of Superman. Someone to believe in. Someone to build a few hopes around. Whatever he can do, it’s enough. If I could only tell him that…”
She had to go. She had a tip to chase down. She’d find Superman and she would tell him that. She didn’t bother looking back at Clark.
**********************************
That afternoon, Lois returned. She was sweaty, hot, frustrated, and tired. She’d chased around the whole city, trying to keep up with Superman, who was back from wherever he’d been. He’d been making rescues all day. And she’d never gotten close.
She slammed herself down in her chair and debated getting a cola. She definitely didn’t want to join the group – Perry, Cat, Clark, and Jimmy – who stood around the vending machine. She’d caught sight of the evening edition’s headline – “Superman’s Back!”. She knew Clark had the byline. God, how did he do it? He must have some inside track with Superman. He was deliberately freezing her out.
She wrinkled her nose. The breeze wafting through the newsroom smelled terrible. Was there a blockage in the drains?
The stairwell doors banged open and Lois stared in shock. Her sister limped in, one heel broken off, her blue suit – no, Lois’s good blue suit – covered in filth. She carried a large black plastic trash bag in one hand. The gossiping reporters broke off their talk and stood back as Lucy stalked toward Lois’s desk.
She slammed a piece of paper down. Lois picked it up. On one side, it was clearly labeled – addressed to Lois Lane. On the other – Lois gasped as she saw a map with streets and arrows and directions. In the center, a large “X” was labeled, “Superman’s Spaceship”.
“Lucy, what happened?” Jimmy and Lois asked simultaneously.
“Oh, nothing, nothing at all.” Lucy glared at Lois. “Lois, if this is what you have to do to be a reporter – you’re crazy!”
“What?”
“Did you know that it’s possible to get completely lost at the Metropolis Sewage Reclamation Facility? And did you know there are billions of mosquitoes there? I do! I met them!”
Clark seemed distressed, acting as if he wanted to pat Lucy on the back. The waves of raw sewage odor wafting from her dissuaded him.
“Lucy, why did you go there?” Lois was beginning to get an ugly suspicion. “Where did you get this map?”
“You should know! It was on your desk! You had it first! I was only borrowing it! I wanted to get the story! You told me I had to get the story!” Lucy was almost as angry as Lois could be. “There was no story there. But I did get this!” She opened the trash bag and pulled out a plastic Godzilla with a large yellow “S” painted on its chest.
Clark moved his eyes shiftily between Lois and Lucy.
With a blinding flash, the pieces came together for Lois. “You!” She said, leaping to her feet and pointing a finger at Clark. “You sent me this map so I’d go on a wild-goose chase for Superman’s spaceship!” She whirled toward Lucy. “And you stole the map off my desk! That’s what you were shoving in your file case last night!” She inhaled, faced Lucy accusingly. “You were going to steal my story!”
“You were the one who told me to do anything to get the story!” Lucy retorted.
“I didn’t mean steal it from me…” Lois trailed off when she saw Clark smirking.
“Consider this a life lesson, Lois. No charge,” he said cheerily. “You know, karmic payback doesn’t usually happen this fast.” He turned to Lucy. “Sorry you got caught in the middle of this, Lucy.”
“Yeah, well it would have been nice to know this was a practical joke before I got bitten by ten million mosquitoes!”
Jimmy moved closer, despite the odor. “”It’s not that bad….you just put calamine lotion on them.” He gave Lucy an encouraging smile.
Lucy let go of her anger. Deflated, she said, “I guess I deserved it, listening to Lois.” She turned away and limped quietly to the door, leaving an unmistakable eau de sewer odor behind.
Lois stared at her retreating sister. Her sister’s last words, That’s what I get for listening to Lois, made Lois feel….what? Angry? Deflated? Small. That was it. Lois felt very small right now. “She ruined my suit…,” was all Lois could say.
Cat got the last word. “Don’t worry, Lois. You can’t ruin what’s already ruined.”
***********************
Lois wandered up to the Planet rooftop that evening. It was better than going home and having to face Lucy. She’d taken herself out of the newsroom for the rest of the day and had made excuses to check up on outside sources, avoiding the scene of her humiliation. She didn’t want to think about things. Lucy’s parting words had been the worst. Was she really that bad a person? So bad that listening to her advice had made her sister go astray? Apparently, yes. She stood at the railing, looking over the rooftops of Metropolis, fiddling with her bracelet.
“Damn!” She’d loosened the catch and the bracelet had fallen on the ledge, over the railing, rolling out of her reach. She carefully stepped over the railing and bent down to pick it up. Then she stood and stared again at the ever-fascinating vista of nighttime Metropolis. There was a curious excitement in knowing that she wasn’t protected, that with one step she’d fall thirty stories.
A “whoosh” ruffled her hair. Superman floated nearby. “Lois? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“But what are you doing, outside the rail…,” he trailed off. “You’re not…”
Understanding bloomed. “No, I’m not suicidal,” Lois said tartly. She’d normally never talk to Superman like that, she thought. This whole day had gotten to her. “I just dropped my bracelet and I had to step over the railing to get it. I’ll go back now.”
“Allow me,” Superman said. He floated closer and offered her his arm. Lois tried – and failed - to slow her rapid breathing as she took it. He levitated them up and over the railing. He set her down and she reluctantly released his arm.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” They stood in awkward silence for a minute, and Lois realized that Superman was about to fly away.
“Superman?”
“Yes?” He turned back, aborting the little motion Lois already recognized as a precursor to flight.
“Do you have a spaceship?”
An unreadable expression flitted across his face. “I’m sorry, Ms Lane, that’s one question I don’t care to comment on.” She shifted nervously as he added, “Why do you ask?”
“I did a bad thing today,” she confessed.
He was silent for a moment. Did he realize that she wanted to confess, that instead of interviewing him and asking him the questions, she wanted him to ask her? He must have, for he asked gently, “Would you care to talk about it?”
She looked downward, not wanting to meet his eyes. “I stole Clark’s story.” She got it out in one burst of breath. “I stole it. I’ve never stolen a story in my life and I stole his. How could I do that?”
Superman remained impassive, hearing her out.
“Perry said the rules were off,” she said, hating herself for trying to justify it. “But that’s no excuse. I’m ashamed of myself.”
“Um?” Superman said encouragingly.
“And what Clark did – he really made me realize how small I am.”
“What did Clark do?”
“He set me up! He made a fake map, and he was going to send me on a wild-goose chase to the Metropolis Sewage Reclamation Facility to find your spaceship!”
“Was going to?”
“Lucy stole the map.”
She saw Superman’s big body tremble, and then he broke out laughing. “So, you stole a story from Clark, and then Lucy stole a story from you?”
“It was a fake story,” Lois said angrily. Then she said quietly, “But I told her to be like that. She was only following my advice.” She raised her eyes from the ground and met Superman’s gaze. “I guess I deserved it.”
“So….” Superman was very good about inviting confidences, Lois thought.
She turned away and started walking back and forth. “So, I’m going to go in the newsroom tomorrow and talk to Clark,” Lois said, a new resolve filling her. “I’m going to tell him that he won. He got the story and took me down a peg – or he would have taken me down if Lucy hadn’t gotten there first. He’s worked hard. He’s earned his success.”
“I’m sure that will mean a lot to him,” Superman said, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile.
Lois stopped short. “Yeah, well, he’d better cherish the moment, because he’ll never experience it again.”
Superman laughed out loud. “But you are sorry about stealing his story?”
“I’m sorry.”
“And you’re ashamed of yourself?” Somehow he’d advanced until he stood right behind her, his big body shielding her from the cool evening breeze.
“I’m ashamed of myself.”
“And you’ll never do it again?” His deep voice rumbled, vibrating his entire chest. He’d wrapped his arms around her, just slightly. She’d never felt as safe as she did right now.
“I’ll never do it again.”
“And you’ll apologize to Clark Kent?”
She pulled herself from Superman’s arms. There were some limits. Lois Lane didn’t do certain things. “Not in this millennium.”
THE END
************************************
Author’s Note: The line about “being poured into your outfit and forgetting to say ‘when’” is actually by P.G. Wodehouse.
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Ficathon Request:
Screen Name: Lois Lane Fan
Three things I want in my fic:
1. Plot Un-Twist/Alternate ending for the episode Neverending Battle where Lucy Lane ends up getting the map to ‘Superman’s Spaceship’ before Lois gets home and goes looking for it without her sister.
2. Poor Clark having to face the wrath of both sisters – Lois because she found out she was the intended victim and Lucy because she’s mad he turned her into “mosquito food.”
3. Funny reactions to Lucy’s appearance from Jimmy and Cat.
Preferred season(s)/holiday [if applicable]: Season 1/not holiday related.
Three things I do not want in my fic:
1. Scardino
2. No deaths please
3. Nothing too serious. I’m looking for humor.
