Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic The Roads They Walked Alone Part 5 - Comments

"It is good to see you, too," she replied. She stepped back. "I'm sorry, I forget myself. Kal El, this is my father, Tek Ra."

Clark bowed deeply and respectfully. Tek Ra bowed in response. "I am very pleased to meet you, sir," Clark said.

"And I am honored to meet you at last, Kal El, son of Jor El and Lara. My thanks to you for responding to our request. Though I knew that if you were a man like your father, you would not deny us your assistance."

Without the sounds of her own typing to fill the air, the other sounds of the newsroom managed to work their way to the forefront. In the background she could hear a copy machine in the copy room as it rattled off page after page. The coffee machine whirred and hissed almost silently on the other end of the bullpen. Reporters and editors yelled back and forth as eight different conversations unfolded simultaneously. A dozen people having more luck than she with the writing process typed like maniacs on their keyboards, filling the bullpen with the clattering of plastic keyboard keys.

Over the din of the newsroom, her computer's hard drive whirred, as though patiently waiting for her to give it something to do, to make it part of the magical process of crafting an award winning article. Fat chance. Lois's fingers were not busy typing. They hovered over the keys, waiting for inspiration. She closed her eyes and tried to block out the million and one distractions that the newsroom afforded its staff during any given moment in the workday.

A soft sound intruded upon her ruminations. It didn't quite sound like the computer fan, or at least it didn't sound like the computer fan did when it was working properly. The computer wasn't subtly trying to tell her that it was on the verge of crashing was it? She strained to listen to it, distilling it out from all the other sounds in the newsroom, willing the rest of the newsroom to go quiet.

There it was: fluttering, faint but unmistakable, and certainly not imagined. She'd been listening for that sound for weeks now. And there it was, as if it had always been there, waiting for her to hear it. Tears immediately formed in her eyes and soon threatened to spill. She tried to move or speak, but could do neither. Lois was struck dumb. As far as she was concerned, the whole world had come to a grinding halt and there was nothing left in it save that miraculous, whisper soft sound.

I'm afraid that as the title suggests, LnC will find themselves apart and dealing with a great deal alone.