Perry was clearly winding up to a flourish in his "Welcome to The Planet" speech when Clark winced at a familiar voice behind him barking out the editor's name. The ire wasn't directed at him, yet, but Clark still had to draw in a deep breath and mentally gird himself for the battle to come with his nemesis, his downfall, his. . . .

"Lois! 'Bout time you showed up. I've been briefing your new partner." Perry stood up as his star reporter stalked into his office, wrathful eyes fixed upon him to the exclusion of Clark.

"Perry! We talked about this last week, I don't need a partner! I'm doing just fine and I got you a great story," Lois spoke impatiently as she pawed through the enormous shoulderbag she deposited on Perry's desk. "Aha! See!"

Perry accepted the slightly wrinked printouts with a wary look that soon turned to excitement. "Great Scott, Lois, this is dynamite stuff!"

Lois broke into a cheeky grin at her editor's praise. "Well, yeah, of course, Perry! So what would a partner like," she turned to regard the man she'd heretofore been ignoring and found her voice trailing away to nothing.

"Hi, Lois," Clark volunteered as the silence stretched to an uncomfortable length.

"You two know each other?" Perry asked Clark as Lois continued to stare at the younger man, her jaw dropping repeatedly as she clearly struggled for words.

Unwilling to tear his eyes away from Lois, for he had no idea if she was about to punch him or hug him, Clark nodded awkwardly and shoved his glasses up his nose. "Um, yes, Mr. White. Lois lived with us for a while in Smallville and also worked for my mom."

Perry turned to regard Lois who continued to gape at Clark. "Lois? You been holding out on me?"

Lois shook herself sharply, tearing her gaze from Clark. "It was a long time ago, Chief. A long time. Anyway, I don't care who you've dug up. I don't need a partner."

Perry rocked back on his heels with a smile. "That's where you're wrong, Lois. I've been telling you the last few months that you're taking on too much with all those leads you're following. You've been kidnapped twice in the last year! And you're not making the deadlines the way you should, trying to follow up all these stories at the same time. A partner like Kent, here? It makes sense."

Lois glared at Perry, gesturing with one hand to Clark. "What can he do for me? Bale hay? De-tassel corn? Farm skills aren't any use at the Planet unless he's writing the agriculture report." She smirked at her own wit while Perry rolled his eyes.

"Kent's got a pretty impressive resume. Been around the world while he was finishing his journalism degree." Lois sniffed as Perry enumerated Clark's achievements, up to and including his blazing speed at the keyboard.

Clark watched her hostile stance and sighed. Immediately, Lois turned her gaze back on him. "What?" she demanded.

Clark knew he had to turn things around before Lois derailed his job prospects entirely. "This isn't like you, Lois," he said with a knowing smirk. She responded predictably, closing with him and raising her chin defiantly.

"What do you mean, Smallville?" Lois rapped out as he leaned back slightly. You never wanted to be too close to Lois when her blood was up.

"You know what I mean, Lois," Clark said. Seeing her expression darkened, he sealed the deal with a clucking sound.

She stabbed him in the chest with one indignant finger. "I am not chicken! I'm just too busy to baby-sit a country yokel."

It looked to Clark as if Lois was just winding up for a good tirade, but she was forestalled when Perry leapt on her last words. "Busy? See, Lois, I told you that you needed a partner. Now, you show Clark the ropes and he helps take some of that workload off your shoulders. Everything works out."

Lois sighed defeatedly as Perry talked right over her objections. Waving a hand in defeat, she stalked out of the office as Clark signed the last of the paperwork HR had prepared. Perry might think that the battle with Lois had been won but Clark's super-hearing alerted him to her angry tirade from the bullpen. He sighed after he'd shaken Perry's hand and followed the editor to see his new desk.

His super-hearing picked up a scream from not too many blocks away and Clark froze. This was it, he thought as his hands reached, unconsciously, for the button-down front of his dress shirt. Perry's head turned at Clark's sudden halt but before the editor could ask what was wrong, Clark was turning for the staircase.

"Sorry, Mr. White," he managed, as he pushed open the exit door. "Forgot to put enough money in the meter. I'll be right back!"

As he exploded down the staircase, Clark heard Perry spluttering behind him and an outraged exclamation from Lois at the sudden departure of her unwanted partner. From the sounds of things, he wasn't going to have an easy start at the paper. But, then again, what else had he expected with Lois involved?

It was a good thing that he had super-sight; otherwise it would have been almost impossible to spot Lois as she disappeared across the crowded plaza. Bright spring sunshine had brought out the residents of Metropolis in droves and Lois was diving into the throng as if her life depended on it. Only their story did, but for Lois it was the same thing.

Clark jogged to catch up with her but not too fast as he followed her swaying derriere. The view from behind wasn't that bad, he admitted, and then shook his head in horror at the direction his thoughts were taking. This was Lois he was talking about. Lois "Steal all the Hot Water, Take Over His Bedroom, Call the Dog Clarkie and Treat Clark as a (Super)Human Punching Bag" Lane. Admittedly, it had been flattering when she'd latched onto his alter ego at that first Metropolis rescue, even bestowing on him the rather discomfiting tag "Superman". But she was still Lois and he shouldn't be thinking things like that he told himself as he sped up his jog.

"Come on, you're not even trying," Lois chided as he finally caught up with her.

"What do you mean?"

Lois snorted as she continued her punishing pace, shoving up the sleeves of her close-fitting red shirt as she shouldered her way through the mercifully thinning crowds. "Your disappearing act, Smallville. Usually, at this time in following up a lead together, you'd remember that you forgot to water your cat or feed your cactus or whatever. And then you run off and scoop me."

Her pace slowed as they turned down an empty alleyway between two office buildings. "Damn. I was sure that the drop site was back here. Given what our informant said, this should be where they're passing the insider information, all those secrets taken from Prime Industries."

Lois continued to move ahead into the alley, even though it was clear from the lack of even a dumpster that nothing could be concealed in the open space. Clark followed along behind, silent as he thought on the implications of her earlier comment. It was true he'd done more than his share of ducking out on assignments, trying to answer the calls for Superman, and he'd taken a fair bit of satisfaction in getting the story ahead of Lois more than once. But enough to earn Lois's scorn and distrust? He hadn't really thought she'd notice.

But the same sharp eyes that prowled the alleyway weren't only watching for a story. They were also watching him. "Clark? You're not going to turn all mopey, are you? I thought we got over that back on the farm."

Clark shook off the moodiness that had threatened to overwhelm him and forced a smile. "No, I wouldn't want you to take another swing at me," he joked.

Lois smirked. "Good, 'cause I hit hard. Now, if the Hallmark moment is over, we've got a story to work on. Either our source was pulling my leg or they're hiding this information better than we thought. Come on and help me look."

Together, the partners combed the brick-lined alley, Clark taking high and Lois taking low. It looked as if they would come up a bust before Clark was able to take advantage of Lois's griping inattention and x-ray the walls. There, behind a "No Parking" sign, was a carefully hollowed-out cavity cradling a package.

"I don't believe it," Lois fumed as she rose from a crouch. Rubbing one hand at the small of her back, she glared at Clark. "Nothing! Perry's going to have our heads if we don't bring in the story on industrial spying that we promised."

Clark ostentatiously leaned against the sign. With a creak, the thin metal collapsed inwards and Clark pretended to stumble backwards.

"What the hell?" Lois pounced on the anomaly, peeling back the metal to reveal the secret cavity. "Aha! You big goof, Clark, here it is." Lois flipped open the folder to rifle through the documents while Clark peered at them over her shoulder.

With a cheeky grin, Lois looked up at her partner. "I don't know if you should share in the byline, Clark. After all, you looked right past this more than once. We only found it by dumb luck and your clumsiness."

Clark's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to retort. Before he could say anything, he had Lois's elbow in his stomach and, feigning discomfort, he arched away as she caroled, "Kidding! Keep up, Smallville. We've got a story to write."

As she sashayed down the alley, Clark allowed himself a moment to enjoy the view. Then he was loping to catch up with the maddening woman who was turning out to be a surprisingly good match. As a partner.

"Lois."

"Hey there, Clark," his partner said as she stepped up to his desk. "What gave me away?"

Your perfume he wanted to say, but restrained himself. He'd scented her the moment she'd stepped off the elevator – her scent a unique mix of sandalwood, sweet orange and something else that was uniquely Lois. "Uh, I don't know," he prevaricated as she perched on the edge of his desk, one bare leg swinging beneath her short skirt. "Guess I just figured it had to be you. Like a dark cloud or a bad penny, always turning up."

Lois swatted him with a rolled-up newspaper as one of the interns, yawning widely, fired up the copy machine. "Shut up or I'll have to duck you again, like back in high school."

Clark looked around the busy, and dry, office where other reporters were grabbing their morning coffee or typing at their keyboards. "Like I'm worried."

Lois wrinkled her nose at him. "You should be."

Clark leaned back in his chair. "So, what's up."

Lois straightened her back and flipped her light brown hair over her shoulder. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

Clark steepled his fingers. "Because I know you, Lois Joanne Lane. You always come in right before a staff meeting and don't talk to anyone until you've had your coffee after that. Yet, here you are, a half hour early and no caffeine to be seen." Clark looked around with exaggerated care. "So, what gives?"

With a sigh, Lois slapped the paper she was holding on the desk in front of Clark. It was the tabloid Daily Star with a lurid photo of shackled suspects and piles of cash. "We've been scooped, again!"

The rival newspaper's headline showed that they'd broken the story on the counterfeiting ring that Lois and Clark had been tracking for weeks. He looked up in surprise. "This isn't like you at all, Lois. Normally you'd be calling for their heads on pikes, not coming in extra-early and cheerful."

Lois got up from Clark's desk and pulled her chair over beside his. "I thought I'd come in and bluff Perry with a "big story" we had to follow – get him off our back for a few days. But I've got nothing. I'm this close to quitting, Clark. Ten of our last twelve stories have been scooped by them. Perry's going to think we're the lamest reporting team, ever."

Clark was surprised. Lois Lane quitting journalism? That was as unlikely as her cousin, Chloe, suddenly stepping down from her job as editor of Gotham's acclaimed Investigative Weekly. Suddenly serious, he put a hand on her shoulder. "Lois, you can't be serious."

Her glum expression didn't lighten. "I used to have a nose for news, Clark. Now, I seem to be a day late and a dollar short on everything."

Clark listened with one ear as he considered Lois's complaint. It was true that they'd been cut out of more than a few big leads they'd followed. And in most of those cases, only Lois and Clark had known anything of their investigation until the story was spread all over the pages of their tabloid counterpart.

"Lois, have you thought that you're, I mean, we're. . . ," Clark stopped and pulled out a piece of paper, rapidly writing being bugged. Her eyes widened and she snatched the pen from his hand and began to write back.

It's gotta be. Looking over her shoulder nervously, Lois sheltered the paper from others' view and continued to scribble. She folded it up and shoved it into Clark's hands. With feigned nonchalance, Lois said, "We're short on caffeine, I know, Clark. I'm going to head on down to Starbucks for a venti mochachino before the staff meeting. Want to join me?"

Clark finished reading her note, concentrating on the words at the end – I'm going to catch the lousy creeps who've been spying on us and today. Are you with me or not? He nodded at her invitation, following her silently to the elevators and out to the cafe.

After a few carefully staged phone calls, a loud discussion at the morning staff meeting and a casual mention of their latest lead at the water cooler, each repetition with a slightly different time mentioned for the expected collar, Lois and Clark set out for the warehouse district. "Stop looking over your shoulder, Lois," Clark hissed. "You'll alert anyone who's watching us!"

Turning her gaze forward, Lois spoke through clenched teeth. "I am so going to kill those scumbags from the Star. Too lazy and incompetent to investigate their own stories so they steal ours!"

Clark nodded as they rounded the corner. "Just wait until we have them spotted. We said we'd be staking out suspected arsonists here at anytime between ten and one, depending on who overheard us. Now we just have to hide out over in that building and wait to see who comes to take the bait."

The pair took their places in a cramped, abandoned office whose only virtue were the windows overlooking the complex's buildings. Lois fruitlessly rubbed at the dust on a desk and perched on the dirty surface. Clark closed his eyes as he inhaled her rich scent, then stepped to the window. Lois was his partner and nothing more. He couldn't pursue this line of thought with all the secrets between them and her safety to think of.

"Not too close," Lois said as he stood beside the dingy glass. Clark heaved a sigh, stepping back to lean on the desk beside her, but not too close. As time slowly ticked by and only normal weekday traffic appeared on the industrial roadway, Lois loudly crossed off her list the names various suspects (Clark pointed out that suspecting Jimmy had been a stupid idea to begin with when that "lead" didn't pan out). Finally, at half past twelve, a familiar figure came into view: Barrett Welsh, the Planet's newest intern.

Lois perked up immediately, leaning eagerly towards the window as she saw him case the warehouse across the street. "That little scumbag. He's been all over the office, 'helping out' while all the time he's been selling our secrets to the Star."

"Seems like it, Lois, but let's watch and make sure. He might just be coming here to deliver a message or something." Lois huffed, holding up her cell. Clark admitted to himself that it'd been a pretty lame suggestion.

As they watched, Barrett left the warehouse with a discontented expression on his face. Lois was racing for the door when Clark grabbed her arm. "Wait," he suggested.

She made a face, but stopped with her partner and watched as Barrett scuttled to his car, talking all the while on his cellphone. He popped the trunk and pulled out a container, before hurrying back to the warehouse.

"Gas?" Clark and Lois jumped for the door. Lois thumbed her cellphone keypad, barking out the situation to 911 as she lead the way. Clark felt stricken. He'd never thought that the person who was selling their leads would be so desperate as to invent a story where one hadn't appeared.

"Hurry, Clark, we've got to stop him," Lois barked as she raced down the stairs. But a whispering sound from the office was all the answer she got as she forged ahead.

"Superman?" Lois gaped as she stumbled into the sunlight with Metropolis's resident superhero holding the collar of Barrett, the intern, who dangled a few feet off the ground. "What's going on?"

"It appears that I've caught a would-be arsonist, Miss Lane."

Lois smirked, whipping out her notebook as Barrett flailed. In the distance, sirens wailed and the intern blanched.

"Well, Superman," Lois said slowly as she moved closer, "I do recognize this one. He works at the Daily Planet. . . ."

Barrett smiled with relief, then whimpered as Lois continued, ". . . selling secrets to The Daily Star. Ah, lookie here!" Lois crouched down and picked up the cellphone that the rattled intern had dropped to the ground. "Hmm, let's see, what was your last call? To John Newton at the Star?"

The sirens rose to an inhuman level as two fire trucks and a police car raced around the corner. Just behind them, a nondescript sedan pulled up, disgorging the tabloid reporter Barrett had phoned a few minutes earlier.

Leaving Superman to deal with the authorities, Lois ambled up to her rival. "Hey there, John. Fancy meeting you here."

"Got a tip there was an arson in progress, Lane. Some of us break the news, you know."

Hands on her hips, Lois confidently led with her chin. "Don't you mean make the news, John? We know what you've cooked up with our intern – stealing Clark's and my stories. And we just caught him trying to set a fire when he found out there wasn't anything newsworthy going down, despite our loud comments earlier. Guess he didn't want to disappoint his evil masters." In the background, the police took the disgraced intern into custody and the firefighters shook Superman's hand before the hero flew off and away.

Newton stammered as Lois continued to hammer home the links between Barrett's work and the Star's recent run of investigative leads. At some point during her harangue, she noticed Clark appearing at her elbow and let him break in. "You might want to leave something for the police, Lois. They're telling me here that Barrett Welsh was singing like a canary about how he's been in the pay of Newton and the Star here for the past month, stealing leads and making up stories when he couldn't get the goods. A one-man crime wave in the making."

Lois smugly smiled as the police intervened, copying down a last few, choice quotes into her notebook as they escorted the stammering newsman into a squad car. Clark stood, hands in his pockets, smiling in satisfaction as the officers drove off. When Lois flicked him sharply in the chest, he inhaled indignantly.

"What was that for?"

Lois scowled. "You know. What was it this time? Your shoelace get wrapped around a loose nail? You suffered a ten-minute round of amnesia?"

Clark blustered a bit beneath her disapproving look, searching for an explanation. He'd done this so many times during their tenure as partners – racing off to the rescue only to show back up as Clark with a lame excuse some time much later. Lois had always been so accepting of that, at least until the last few weeks. He'd noticed impatient sighs and brooding silences on her part, but hadn't connected it with his disappearances, at least not until now.

But now, with the back of her hand still resting against his chest, Clark fumbled for one of his usual inane explanations and came up lacking. He just stared unhappily at Lois.

She met his gaze, challengingly. "You know, a long time ago, you told me, 'Sometimes in order to protect the people we love, we keep secrets.'"

Clark nodded solemnly. Lois shook her hair back over her shoulder and continued. "And I believe I told you at the time that was retarded." At his vehement nod of agreement, she nodded. "Well, for the last while, I've been keeping someone's secret, waiting for that someone to notice how I've been stepping up for them. And they've completely missed it."

Lois let her gaze drop to her hand, still resting against Clark's blue oxford shirt. Turning the fingers around, she slowly traced a shield shape on her partner's chest. Clark's chin dropped as her fingers stopped their slow movement against him.

"Clark, I know. Maybe not everything but certainly the important things." Lois arched one eyebrow as she carried on. "And I want you to know that it's time to stop pretending and lying to me about things. And start being honest about a lot more."

Clark tried to speak, but Lois moved her fingers up to lie against his mouth, stopping the words unspoken. "We're good partners, good friends and I think we can be a lot more. But as long as you thought you were carrying around that secret and protecting me with it, you've been a big, unapproachable rock."

Clark's lips quirked into a bit of a smile as she railed away. "And when I think of how I'm leaving myself open to all sorts of jokes about liking plaid flannel and smalltown farmboys. And you know how I hate being out there and, well, you know," her fingers flailed away.

"Can I speak?"

"No!" Lois rapped him on the mouth. "And, well, I know that with you, Smallville, this could take forever but I'm not about to wait that long. So you have one week to deal with the shock of me not being completely, you know, retarded!, and stepping up to the bat."

Clark raised his eyebrows behind his glasses and Lois elaborated. "A date, Smallville. As in you take me on one."

Spinning on one foot, she started walking away from her dumbfounded partner. As she walked off, his super-hearing made it possible for him to hear her whispered, ". . . and make it a good one."

"Mom, you don't have to do all this. You're a senator and shouldn't be cooking all this on one of your days off!" Clark waved his arm across the kitchen counter overflowing with his mom's famous fried chicken, potato and macaroni salad, fresh-baked rolls and two kinds of pie.

Martha smiled as she continued to wrap the food up and carefully stow it in the picnic basket. "Now, Clark. I like to do this and I don't get much chance to bake when I'm in Washington. Plus, I made enough to have leftovers for the rest of the weekend. Now, you need to go get dressed and shoo or you'll be late for your date with Lois."

Clark smiled goofily at that last comment. Who'd've thought that he'd be looking forward to a date with Lois? Of course, he'd acknowledged, way back then, that she was cute (but maddening!), a great kisser (and slapper!) and definitely a lot of trouble. But she was also more than worth it.

"Thanks, Mom." Clark gave Martha a peck on the cheek and took the stairs, two at a time, to change. In a flash, he was pelting back down the stairs, grabbing the picnic basket and heading towards the door. "I'll pay you back, I promise."

Lois groaned ecstatically as Clark laid the food out on the picnic blanket. "Your mother cooked all of this for us? I'm going to owe her, forever."

"Hey, don't I get any credit?" Clark reached his fingers back from the chicken as Lois mock-growled at his advances.

"You get credit for having the best mother in the country. We'll wait and see if there's anything more we can say when it comes to the rest of the date." She gazed around the noisy crowds thronging the fairgrounds. "I mean, the State Fair? How quaint, Smallville!"

Clark just grinned as he tucked into the food after Lois had filled her plate. "Just wait and see, Lois."

She chuckled around a mouthful. The two of them were busy enjoying Martha Kent's home-cooked feast for the next while to say anything else. When most of the food was consumed, they groaned in unison as they struggled to tidy up the remains of the meal. "Careful with that last bit of pie," Lois warned as Clark wrapped up the dessert.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, Lois."

She arched one eyebrow but held her tongue, a concession that Clark appreciated. So far, Lois had been completely cooperative when he'd announced that their first date was going to be at the State Fair. And that attitude had continued right through today, although not without a few snarky comments here and there.

That relieved Clark. He might enjoy a little peace and cooperation, but he didn't want to lose the essence of Lois.

The object of his thoughts returned from the washroom with a broad smile on her face. "What's up next on this magical mystery tour?"

Clark began to tick plans off on his fingers. He'd planned out a full range of Americana for Lois to enjoy at the fair: the midway, the rides, the hallways full of exhibits and attractions, the snack vendors and something "special" at the end. Lois badgered him repeatedly to reveal that last secret, but Clark refused to budge on that (though he did buy her two deep-fried oreos and a giant mocha shake after failing to win her a giant panda at the throw-a-ball booth).

It wasn't until nightfall that Lois had a clue as to the final surprise of the date. Leaning on Clark's arm, she stared warily as they walked towards the grandstand. "Cowboy music?" she asked.

Clark raised an eyebrow and regarded her with amusement. "I have a better sense of self-preservation than to try and force you to listen to country music against your will."

Lois chuckled and patted his hand approvingly. "Good man, Smallville."

As they got closer, she could hear familiar strains of "Is This Love." "Whitesnake? Ohmygod, Clark, I didn't know they were playing here!"

Clark couldn't suppress his grin of triumph. It had been hard work keeping this news secret from Lois but springing her favourite band on her made the date perfect.

Her smile was incandescent as they made their way towards the musicians. Impulsively, Lois turned to Clark and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I just want to thank you now for what is possibly the best date ever."

Clark had to agree with the sentiments as she pulled his head down for a kiss with the power rock chorus swelling around them.