Lois awoke to the smell of coffee and bacon. She stretched and realized she had fallen asleep on the sofa. <<Where had Clark slept?>> She looked around the small living room and realized he may have slept floating. She smiled to herself, thinking of that give away moment a few short months ago. It had floored her to learn he was Superman, and now, it felt right, normal even. Clark was her hero in so many ways, his moonlighting in tights just one of the many.
He came in the room a moment later, the early morning sun splashing on him from the kitchen. She could see only his silhouette for a second, and he seemed like a Greek god, having stepped off Mt. Olympus. She smirked a second later as he moved into the room and she could see he was dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans. <<Some Greek god attire.>>
He handed her a mug.
"You certainly know how to win my favor," she smiled appreciatively.
"Oh, I've learned to only approach you in the morning armed with a cup of coffee," he joked.
Clark sat next to her on the sofa. "Mom's making breakfast, which should be ready any minute." He gestured to the kitchen.
"Your mother is amazing!" Lois said.
He laughed warmly. "Yeah, I am very lucky to have my parents..."Clark quickly changed the subject, anxious to work on their plan for getting Luthor. "Hey, I talked with Perry this morning."
"Oh?" she asked with interest.
He nodded, taking another sip of coffee before he answered. "Yeah, he's sure that the Planet was set up, but we just have to prove it."
"Well, we know that already. Did you tell him we suspect Lex?"
He smiled at her use of 'we.' His partner was back. "No, I figured that information should be kept quiet till we have evidence to back it up. So, we need to head to Metropolis right after breakfast. You find out what you can from the inside, which means you'll have to play nice with Luthor for at least another day or so. I don't like it, but I think you'll be in more danger if he knows you have people helping you."
She groaned. "I hate feeling like a caught fish. But you're right, he thinks as long as he can isolate me, he can control me."
Clark nodded grimly. "I know. And trust me, as soon as I find evidence against him I'm going to Henderson and this will all be over. And please," he couldn't help adding. "Try not to do anything to push his buttons. I'll worry enough not being able to talk to you about everything."
She ignored his warning, but caught on to his theme."So I guess you and I can't really see each other in Metropolis without Lex suspecting something," she nosed into her cup, thinking as she drank.
Clark smiled, seeing how glumly she assessed the situation. It meant she cared about seeing him. And that would always make him smile.
She noticed his look and smiled back. "I told you I was fond of you," she winked.
"Just fond of me?" he leaned in, his voice sultry.
She felt her heart flip. "Well, maybe, I'm growing just a little more than fond," she whispered, closing the distance between them to kiss him.
"Ahem," Martha said sweetly from the doorway. "Sorry to interrupt. But breakfast is ready!"
*********
Back in Metropolis, Lois did what she could to keep up the pretense that she was going along with Lex's plan. Lex had suggested she could work at LNN so Lois went there to check out what her job might be like in television.
Though it was new and exciting, it was more pretentious than she would have liked. She felt like Lex's stamp was everywhere, flashy, yet sophisticated; seemingly righteous, but slightly on the fringe. There was something forced about LNN that just didn't sit right.
Half way through the first day, she knew she would forever miss the grind at the Planet. She already missed the earnestness of the paper; everything at LNN was rushed, before people even had their facts straight. If another news organization ran with something, LNN would try to be there faster or with more details, even if the truth of the details were suspect.
Lois knew she didn't belong there, but she did her best to look interested and tried to find out if anyone was at all suspicious of Lex. It wasn't easy to do and not draw unwanted attention to herself. Besides, they all knew she was the boss' fiancee. The closest she got to what people really thought of Lex was when she talked to an errand girl, who had just started working there a month before.
"Mr. Luthor?" She shivered. "Well, better you marry him than me. I don't care how much money the man has, that man gives me the creeps."
<<You and me both,>> Lois secretly agreed.
At the end of the day, she was picked up by Lex's limo. She had tried to protest that she didn't need a ride home, but Lex had insisted that afternoon on the phone. She thought it was simply a controlling gesture, so that she'd have no option but to go exactly where he wanted her to go. But at least she didn't have to see him tonight. Instead, it was just Nigel, dropping her off at her apartment. Although, in some ways, Nigel creeped her out more than Lex did. He wasn't overtly rude to her, but she felt like he saw her as little more than a bug to squish beneath his shoe if she got in his way.
When at last she was home, she still couldn't relax. Clark had told her it was best to leave the bugs in her apartment for now, so Lex was less likely to be suspicious. But Clark had assured her there were no cameras, just microphones.
She sighed with resignation. She couldn't call Clark, as much as she wanted to. She would just have to settle in for the night as if nothing whatsoever was amiss.
Lois caught sight of a recent edition she had of the Daily Planet. It was, in fact, the very last edition of the venerable newspaper, and she couldn't help the tears that welled up. Her world felt so shaken with the Planet destroyed, and she didn't know how things could ever be right again without it. She held the newsprint to her nose, taking in the scent of ink and paper in a frivolous gesture. It was a beloved smell, that to her would always be associated with a morning coffee and the satisfaction of having helped serve justice, or just the vibrant feel of the newsroom. There was so much more tangibility and person to person interaction at the newspaper, whereas television was so distant and impersonal. She sighed, her eyes caressing the logo of the Planet forlornly. She loved seeing her byline in print and she was sad to think that may never happen again. Even if they took down Luthor, chances were that the Planet wouldn't ever be rebuilt. Not without a miracle.
*********
Meanwhile, Clark recruited Jimmy and Perry to try and dig up some details as to what happened at the Planet. Even Jack showed up at Clark's door, having broken out of JV detention hall. Though Clark was not thrilled with the idea of him skipping out of his legal obligations, he finally agreed that Jack could possibly be useful in hunting down the truth. Besides, he could sympathize with the kid wanting to clear his own name.
Clark didn't share his theories with the gang right away, though he suspected that once they started investigating, it would come to the fore pretty quickly that Luthor was to blame.
And though Clark missed Lois terribly, he enjoyed the camaraderie of the guys pulling together to work out what happened at the Planet. The first day, everyone had dug up references to someone called 'the boss,' which confirmed in Clark's mind Luthor was behind everything. But, they had nothing solid.
That night, Perry came back to Clark's apartment to discuss what he thought about it all.
Perry sighed heavily as he made himself comfortable on Clark's sofa. "I've been digging into the Planet's finances... Though I can't get a straight answer from anyone! Every member of the Board of Directors is ducking me! But I did get a hold of the session where they decided to sell to Luthor," he said, tapping his briefcase. "Instinct tells me they're hiding something. What I need is leverage!"
Clark nodded in agreement. "I've actually been suspicious Luthor was behind everything all along."
Perry looked at him thoughtfully a moment. "Uh, have you seen Lois?"
"Actually, I have. She's being forced to go along with Luthor for now, Chief. Which is why we have to move fast to catch him!"
"Now Son, why didn't you tell me you suspected Luthor from the start?"
"I wanted to dig up something solid first." He handed Perry a stack of papers. "These are files that Lois had on Luthor. She's suspected him a while too."
Perry looked up in shock from what he was reading. "Then why the hell would Lois allow this fiend get so close to her?"
"I don't know, Chief," Clark said despondently. "She--well, she seemed pretty confused about how it happened as well. We've got to take him down, Perry. That's all I know."
"I agree, Clark. We'll find a way."
