Title: Favor Fulfilled

Genre: General/Some Angst and Humor

Rating: K

Summary: Future Tense, AU. Lois Lane is furious when she is partnered with Clark Kent, and after a rather rough day, she demands that Perry tell her why he hired him. What she learns shocks her, and she leaves Perry with a little more respect for Clark Kent.

Authors Note: Set in the future tense, Lois and Clark are in their mid twenties.. Everything in Smallville happened minus one thing, Lois never met Clark as a teen, and Chloe doesn't exist (I love Chloe but she didn't fit into this fiction!). Jimmy's personality is closer to that in Superman Returns, or Lois & Clark. This is a one-shot, and I hope you enjoy it!

Favor Fulfilled

Perry White sat at his desk, fingering his way through some old documents. It was another typical day at the Daily Planet, and as usual, he had more work than time to finish it in.

Heaving a sigh, Perry leaned backwards into his leather chair, and ran a hand through his steadily thinning hair. While being the editor of the famous newspaper was stressful, it did have its rewards. He loved his job, more than life itself, and that alone made coming in every day worth it.

However, today was turning out to be a very bad day, and the editor had the distinct feeling in his gut that it was only going to get worse. It didn't take long before his instincts were proven right, and he groaned when a particularly nervous looking Jimmy Olsen slid into the room.

"Uh, chief…you busy?" Jimmy asked, pulling at the bow tie he wore uncomfortably.

Raising an eyebrow, Perry replied gruffly, "My work is never done, Olsen. What do you want?"

"Um, I don't want anything…I just thought that I ought to let you know…Miss. Lane is about to storm in here, and she's not in a very good mood…" Jimmy swallowed.

Perry groaned again, just what I need, Lois spinning off into another tyrant.

When his boss didn't respond, Jimmy continued to speak hesitantly, "I think it's got something to do with that new guy you've partnered her up with….Mr. Clark, right?"

"Kent, Clark Kent." Perry corrected, rolling his eyes.

"Oh! Yes that's right, I remember now." Jimmy said eagerly, before glancing backwards and through the door.

Perry leant forward and also looked outside his office. He sighed heavily when he spied Lois Lane barreling her way through a group of innocent bystanders, causing papers to fly everywhere. "You better leave, Jimmy. This isn't going to be pretty. Why don't you keep Kent occupied while I talk to her?"

"Right away, chief." Jimmy immediately made his way out of the office, grateful that he wouldn't be stuck in the middle of the soon to be argument.

Lois stormed past Jimmy, nearly knocking him over in the process. Whew, I got out of there just in time, the young man thought in relief.

Scanning the newsroom, he spied the tall form of Clark Kent, standing awkwardly against a wall. "Mr. Clark…I mean Kent!" Jimmy called out as he waved. "Let's go get a coffee, god knows we need a break every once in a while." He suggested as he made his over to the bespectacled man.

Not waiting for an answer, he led the shy reporter towards the coffee machine.

Perry, meanwhile, was bracing himself for the full fury of his star reporter, who had just burst into his office.

Slamming the door behind her, Lois glared at her boss.

"Is there a problem, Lois?" Perry asked with a sigh.

"A problem? A problem?! Yes, chief, there is a problem….that…that farm boy you partnered me up with is the problem!" Lois hissed as she paced back and forth, her heels clicking annoyingly.

Perry frowned, "Lois, you may be one of my best reporters, but that doesn't give you the right to insult anyone. Clark Kent is a good man."

"He told me to be 'careful' eight times today, eight times in less than two hours!"

"So, you're saying that you don't like him because he was concerned for your safety?" Perry asked, truly confused.

"That isn't the point, chief! There is danger involved when it comes to this job, if he can't handle it he should get into another line of work!" Lois continued to rant.

Perry couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips.

Lois sent him a look that could kill, and he nearly flinched under the deadly gaze.

"I fail to see what's so funny, chief. I know I'm in no laughing mood…first, you pair me up with someone without even telling me beforehand, and secondly, you give me the most bumbling man on the planet! It's only been two days and he's already broken half the stuff on my desk." Lois complained.

"There's more to Clark Kent than meets the eye, Lois." Perry replied, his eyes far away as he reminisced.

With an exhausted sigh, Lois flopped down into the chair opposite of the editor. Rubbing her temples, she said, "I just don't get it chief. It takes years to work your way to where I am, how did Clark Kent manage to get here after one interview?"

"He's a good writer." Perry offered.

Laughing, Lois shot back, "So am I, but I was still writing obituaries before I made it to the top floor."

"Well…I kind of owed him a huge favor. The two factors played heavily in my decision…" Perry admitted, feeling slightly guilty. He was a man of ethics, and he knew promoting someone to the city beat after one interview wasn't going to sit well with Lois.

He was right.

"You owed him a favor?!" Lois exclaimed, just barely keeping her temper in check, "What'd the guy do, save your life?" Her voice was slightly sarcastic and she laughed at her own joke.

"Actually, he did." Perry said calmly.

Lois stared at him for a few seconds, before continuing to laugh, "Nice one, boss. You almost had me there. Haha, Clark Kent saving someone's life…that guy is afraid of his own shadow."

"Well, he saved my life twice, to tell you the truth." Perry continued, grinning at the shocked look his ace reporter now wore.

"You aren't kidding?" Lois squeaked.

"Nope."

Lois felt her reporter instincts coming forth, and she said in a demanding tone, "Tell me everything." Upon the look on her boss's face, she remembered that he was in fact, her superior, so she added quickly, "Please?"

"This remains strictly confidential; I swear I don't care how damn good a reporter you are, if this leaks out you're fired." Perry warned. Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh, but the last thing I need is for my employees to know that I was a drunk!

"Understood." Lois answered, she was now completely calm, okay, perhaps a bit eager, but she wasn't angry anymore per say.

"Alright, well it all started oh…I guess eight or so years ago. I was covering a story for X Styles…"

Lois stifled a giggle at the name, and managed to ask in a slightly neutral voice, "X Styles, chief?"

Perry shot her a warning glance and said, "It was a brief dip in my career, do you want to hear the rest of this story or not?" Smiling at the reporter's sudden snap to rapt attention, he continued.

"So, as I was saying…I was in Smallville, Clark's hometown…I was doing a story on the meteor shower that hit the town seventeen year before. Like I said, I was in a rough spot, and I had a few to many drinks at one of the bars. Anyways, I did something idiotic…" Perry spoke hesitatingly, revealing his past hadn't exactly been on his to do list today.

"Uh, so yeah, I decided to drive drunk. You could say it wasn't one of my brightest ideas. Anyways, I was driving and then this teen just came out of no where, I swerved to avoid him and hit a telephone pole. There were electrical wire everywhere, but this kid completely ignored the danger, tore open my door and carried me out like I weighed no more than a feather."

"I'm guessing this teenager was Clark Kent?"

"Yeah, and let me tell you. Eight years ago he didn't have glasses, and his hair was a lot different. So was his style of clothing and his attitude. To be honest, I almost didn't recognize him the other day. I think I have a newspaper clipping with his picture in it somewhere…if it turns up I'll show you. Anyways, back to the story.

Like I said, I was drunk when all this happened, and in my state I guess I thought I saw something I didn't. You see, I could've sworn that the boy had thrown my car door clear across the road, and that he had stepped on the hydro lines. Naturally, I smelled a story and I was determined to find out the truth about Clark Kent.

I came up with a scheme…I told him and his father that if he didn't show me around town, I'd make them pay for the car damages, which I doubt they were financially stable enough to do. I figured I could keep an eye on him and see if he did anything else…unnatural."

"Did he?" Lois asked curiously.

"Well, I thought he did. There was this incident with a tractor…and another time when he was running and suddenly just disappeared, but looking back now I know that I wasn't exactly sober when those things occurred." Perry answered.

Lois was having a hard time believing that the editor was a drunk in the past tense, but she remained silent and waited for him to continue.

"I was determined to get the scoop on him. The poor kid had to hole himself up in his house because I had a camera crew staking him out. After a while, I pretended to give up, and I tricked Kent's would-be girlfriend to drive me to the bus stop. I promised I'd leave the town if she took me there…she eagerly accepted, she wasn't exactly pleased with me being in Smallville…

Anyways, I pretended that I was going to be sick, and the girl pulled over. I jumped out and ran to the viewpoint of…I think it was called Saunders Gorge. I told the young lady to call Mr. Kent or I'd kill myself…" By this point, Perry was blushing madly, and looking extremely embarrassed.

Lois shrugged and said, "Hey, I'd do anything for a story too."

Perry smiled at her small attempt to make him feel less embarrassed and continued gruffly, "Well, the kid showed up soon afterwards. I was positive that if I jumped off the ledge, Clark would be able to save me. You see, I figured he could run really fast, and he was also shock resistant…I wanted to see what else he could dish out.

He of course, was trying to convince me that he was just a normal kid, but you know me…I'm stubborn. Anyways, I jumped off of the ledge, with nothing but a thin string tied around my ankle. He jumped over with me."

Lois' mouth dropped open in shock, "That Clark Kent, the same one out there, jumped over a ledge into a gorge?!"

"That's correct. We were hanging there, and I yelled for him to break out those super powers he had. When he didn't, I realized how wrong I had been about him. His friends threw down a camping rope, which he grabbed, the string around my ankle broke right afterwards. He had to hold onto that rope for over five minutes, with me clutching him around the waist.

When we finally got to safety, the kid collapsed to the ground. When I looked over at his hands I realized what sort of person I had become…the inside of his palms were torn and covered in blood from the rope. I almost got the two of us killed."

Lois could hardly believe what she was hearing. "How did the Clark Kent you knew, turn into that Clark out there?" She asked, pointing out of the office and towards the tall man, who was currently talking to Jimmy.

Perry shrugged, "I don't know, Lois. I heard a while back that his father died…maybe it changed him."

Suddenly feeling very guilty, Lois looked down, ashamed of the way she had treated Clark.

"Anyways, he inspired me to come back to the Daily Planet…in a lot of ways I owe that man what I currently have. So I told him to look me up if he ever made it to Metropolis, and he did." Perry concluded.

"Now, I have a lot of work to do, and so do you, remember…not a word of this to anyone, not even Kent"

Lois nodded and stood up, her mind reeling.

"Oh, and Lois?"

The intrepid reporter turned, "Yeah?"

"If you still don't wand to be partnered up with Kent, I'll separate you two."

Lois considered the offer and was silent for a moment before saying, "I don't think that will be necessary, chief. Lane and Kent does have a nice ring to it. As long as he remembers his place I think we'll be okay." With that, she exited the editor's office and scanned the newsroom for her new partner.

Better save him from Jimmy. She thought when she spied the two. "Hey, Clark! Let's go, we still have a story to finish!" She called out.

The man jumped up, knocking over a stapler in the process, and made his way towards her. Fidgeting with his glasses, Clark asked nervously, "Is everything okay?"

Lois smiled and replied, "Yes, everything is just fine. Now let's go, this story isn't going to write itself!"

As the two headed towards the elevators, Lois watched Clark from behind. You're a mystery, Clark Kent…but I think I've got you figured out.

Meanwhile, Perry was attempting to continue his work, which he was finding very hard to do, the memories of his time in Smallville kept playing out in his head. He chuckled when the memory of the falling tractor resurfaced and he muttered, "Tractors falling from the skies….what was I thinking?"

The End

This story was begging to be written, and I finally gave into the temptation. I hope you all liked it, even if it was slightly AU! Let me know what you think!