Originally written for the August Ficgrab on

Don't You Dare Read My Mind

"How many F's in catastrophic?" Lois asked nobody in particular, but hoping that one Clark Kent would answer her inquiry. He was, after all, her walking dictionary. It was good to have him back. Having him back meant that Superman was back, and Superman being back was good for….

Perry's door banged open. "Lois, in my office. Now! As for the rest of you, the story…." Lois blocked out the rest of Perry's tirade, knowing full well he was going off on how Superman was the story. If only he knew who the story really was.

"The story is the blackout," She listed off everything that was affected by the huge blackout. Somehow she had to get Perry to realize that Superman wasn't just a story, he was a real person with real feelings. A person she really didn't want to get involved with again. Not yet.

Just then Richard walked in. Great, more emotions, Lois thought. By the look on Richard's face, she could tell he was concerned about her.

"I'm okay," she declared.

"Are you sure?" Lois glared at him, then nodded as he pulled her into an embrace.

"Where's Jason?" Richard asked as he stepped out of their embrace.

How am I supposed to know? Lois wondered. "He was with you."

Richard looked at her with the "you're his mother, you're supposed to know everything about him all the time" look.

Then she looked into the bullpen, hoping against all hope, but no, it was too late. Her little social butterfly had spotted him…. She had to rush out to get some control of the situation.

"Clark," she smiled, "I see you met the munchkin."

"Yeah, he's great," Clark said returning the smile.

You bet he's great, you stupid alien, Lois thought to herself. But don't get too close. Don't want you figuring out things just yet. Don't know if I ever want you to know the truth. Great, here comes Richard. Better introduce the two. I don't know how I'm going to manage with both of them vying for my attention. I've got enough on my plate. I don't need to boost two super-egos.

It had been a few days since Clark got back to the Planet. Of course, Perry couldn't wait to ramp up the competitive edge between his top reporters, much to Lois's chagrin.

"The sexist oaf had to assign Superman to me," Lois grumbled to herself in the elevator, fuming over his comment on how other papers had good looking female reporters on their roofs waiting for their chance to interview him. Like he was looking. She knew better than that.

"I said it in his office, I'll say it again, I've done Superman. Got the kid to prove it. I don't really want him thrown in my face, I CAN write about OTHER things. But I'll be the good reporter and do my story, while helping my story write his.

"But, I don't know. Can Clark really write or is he too busy playing hero? How many times have I bailed his Kryptonian butt out, do I really want to start doing it again? Then again, it is a cute butt. What am I thinking? I'm engaged to Richard. Yeah, we know all about that….Shut up Lois…. Arguing with yourself? Isn't that a sign of insanity?

"Damn that alien, he's only back a few days, and he's already driving me crazy."