Author's Note: I do not own the characters.
THE INFAMOUS INTERVIEW.
Chapter 1.
Sometimes, you discover things in life that can flip your world view upside down in a matter of moments. Everything you thought you knew goes right out of the window in a matter of seconds. Long-held prejudices have no grounds on which they can be supported. The tooth fairy was really one of your parents sneaking into your room at night. Santa Claus is not real. The Earth is round not flat, and it revolves around the sun, not vice versa. Clark Kent is an alien with super powers, not just a Kansas farmboy turned mild-mannered reporter.
The last few minutes in the supply room were just such an occasion for Lois. She had only gone in there to get some more paper for the printer, and also in an attempt to brush off Clark's latest lame excuses for why he hadn't picked her up from the airport instead of leaving her waiting in the rain. Of all the reasons he could give for committing such an egregious error, claiming to be Metropolis' anonymous Good Samaritan really took the cake. And yet he could prove it beyond all doubt.
Clark was the last person Lois would have thought of to be the new hero in town, even though she had long felt him to have a hero complex, and yet as he reeled off a list of abilities and occasions when he'd used those abilities, Lois was struck by another thought, and this one had its roots in her personal devastation following events at her cousin Chloe's wedding. She had been so certain that Clark was the one and that he'd finally been able to move beyond previous relationships which had left him blinkered and then broken, and that they both wanted what had obviously been there long before that fateful day. The awe and admiration upon learning about Clark's abilities was expected, but what was not expected was the tinge of disappointment that she worked hard to mask. It was there though, gnawing away in the background.
The life of a hero meant sacrificing their personal happiness because it was a calling over and above that of the average Joe. How could a hero go about being…well, a hero…if personal attachments were holding them back? This must have been why Clark couldn't move forward until Lana was out of his life. Despite the blinkers, his status meant he had a calling that had to override any commitment to a personal relationship. Ultimately, he could never put Lana first, not without overlooking what was going on around him. And therein lay Lois' sense of disappointment. If she were ever to pursue a relationship with Clark, she would still be secondary and be left behind all too frequently, just as she had been by any other guy she'd gotten close to. One day, she would have to let him go. She could never believe she would be worthy of somebody so special.
Just a few minutes earlier however…
"About the meteors..." Clark began, prompting Lois to turn back and listen intently at what more he had to say. What she'd learned in the past few minutes already represented the biggest bombshell ever. The mild-mannered copyboy who sat across from her desk - her best friend, 'Smallville' - was the selfless and anonymous hero who'd been cleaning up the streets of Metropolis and providing a symbol of hope for its citizens over the past few months. He was the Red-Blue Blur. "…we should talk about where I'm from."
The seriousness on his face left her in no doubt that this was the real biggie. The impact of that little statement was so seismic she felt like her heart had skipped a beat. She raised her hand to her chest, the shock evident on her face, her jaw almost hitting the floor. She staggered backwards, suddenly feeling light-headed, her other hand grasping for the door handle just so she could maintain her balance. Was he saying that he was not from this planet? Because that is what it sounded like.
Clark never took his eyes off her, trying to gauge her reaction. Her response to him revealing his range of abilities had been better than he could ever have imagined, yet still oh so Lois. From initially laughing in his face, then reacting with shock followed by awe, leading to a line of questioning as her interest grew, he felt relieved that she'd taken the news so amazingly well. Finally, he could see a sense of pride that he'd chosen her of all people to tell his story, and that he trusted her. It was a complete 180 from her earlier anger with him for failing to pick her up from the airport as promised. Right now though, he couldn't be sure if she was going to pass out or not.
Eventually, Lois was able to speak. "You mean to say you came with the meteors?"
Clark smiled and nodded. That was exactly what he was saying.
"I…uh…I…wow!" she whispered breathlessly, blinking repeatedly. Smallville was an alien! Trying to focus on something in the room in order to get a handle on the emotions whirling around inside her head, her eyes kept drifting back to him and she found herself staring at him, perhaps to see if she could spot the non-human aspects of his appearance. She drew a blank. He looked perfectly human and, well, Clark-like. For an alien, he had the best disguise ever. There was no hint of little green man or one of those bug-eyed creatures lying on a slab at Area 51.
Clark could sense that he needed to take charge of the situation because Lois looked to be completely in a daze. "Lois, I know you have a lot of questions and I'd like to answer them all as truthfully as possible. Maybe we need to go somewhere quiet so we can talk."
Lois shook her head as if to clear the fog before replying. "Uh…right, yeah. Well, I think I need to reassign my other stuff and run this by Tess."
She opened the door to step out of the supply room, vacantly glancing around as though the place were new to her. Clark was alarmed.
" I should come with you. What are you going to say to her?" There was a hint of desperation in his voice.
Lois turned back. "I don't know. I'll think of something. Don't worry, I have no intention of outing you before we've had a chance to talk."
Everything she'd been furious about earlier just cleared from her mind as though it was trivial and had no bearing in the grand scheme of things. Thinking it through logically, there were any number of ways she could have got back from the airport much sooner - one of the many shuttle buses for example. Traipsing to and from the parking lot during the downpour trying to locate Clark in the rain had been needless, and waiting in line at the taxi rank with no umbrella and barely any shelter from the elements could easily have been avoided too. The driver had conveniently got lost on the way into the city, going past the Daily Planet once before rounding the block and back to where she'd wanted to be dropped off. The driver had overcharged her after taking the 'scenic' route, he wasn't interested in helping her with her bags, he'd overdone it with the pot pourri air freshener and he'd driven through a large puddle once Lois had alighted from the cab. All of that paled into insignificance now as she considered that Clark was probably saving lives at that very same time.
Clark felt somewhat reassured that she was at least thinking clearly so he followed her out of the room. Lois grabbed the stack of assignments from her desk before heading for the elevator. Next stop was Tess Mercer's office.
Tess' office door was open having just despatched an underling to carry out an order. She was standing behind her desk looking out of the window at the rainy city beyond. As usual, her hair and attire gave off the impression that she was all business, with little time for frivolity or reporters not doing their job. She appeared to be deep in thought so didn't hear the footsteps of two reporters from the bullpen entering her office.
Lois cleared her throat loudly, getting Tess' attention.
"Lois! Good to see you're back," Tess offered in a tone notable for its complete lack of warmth or sincerity. "I know how you like to bury your nose in other people's business so I passed off some assignments that would be right up your alley."
Tess could see that Lois looked a little drained of colour. Could it be that she'd received some bad news? Maybe she was finding the job too much to handle? After her extended break, was she after a period of sick leave? Clark was standing beside her, hands in pockets and wearing an inscrutable expression. Tess had become familiar with that look because it signified that he would be clamming up, straight-batting her enquiries. Lois nodded to the assignments she was currently holding.
"Yeah, about that. You'll need to pawn these off onto someone else because I have another lead that will bring you a major scoop. And when I say 'major', I mean major."
Tess turned right round, slowly settling herself into her chair. She nodded for Lois to continue, sceptical as to the significance of whatever it was that had piqued Lois' interest. Then again, Lois had spent the past few weeks holed up in Star City, and her über-inquisitive nature might have led her to something newsworthy. In her time under the LuthorCorp management structure, Tess had learned that it was best to hear out the other party before giving them her decision, even if she'd already made her decision. The possibility of new information coming to light, or simply gaining an insight into what made people tick made it prudent to wait just long enough to learn as much as possible.
"The Red-Blue Blur has been in contact with me. He would like me to conduct an interview and put across his side of the story. He wants people to know why he does what he does, and why he's been doing this anonymously so far. If I meet him now, I could have the story on your desk by tonight," Lois explained.
"Oh really?" Tess piped up sceptically. "How do you know for sure it was him?"
Lois had to think on her feet. How would she explain how it was definitely the Red-Blue Blur? She remembered when the murderous meteor freak Sebastian Kane attacked her in her apartment, and decided that was the most plausible way to convince Tess.
"He saved me from an attacker recently. No-one else could have known about it because there was no-one else there at the time. I never told anybody about the attack, but the person calling as the Red-Blue Blur knew the exact details."
"I see," said Tess, still sceptical. "Well, what did he sound like?"
Clark shifted his weight, uncomfortable with how this was going. If it looked like Tess was going to nix any chance of a story in the Daily Planet, it would give Linda Lake the advantage. He was in a difficult position because he couldn't indicate that Lois was referring to him right now - at least not before the story got the go-ahead. He continued to observe the exchange between the two women.
Lois was again surprisingly quick with the plausible explanation. "I don't know Tess. He was using something to disguise his voice. But the things he talked about had a level of detail that the public couldn't possibly know about. That's how I'm convinced it is genuine."
Clark made a mental note to consider using a voice changer like Oliver did. If Tess refused to approve the story, he might need a disguise to try and distance Clark Kent from the Red-Blue Blur.
Tess put on her best poker face. Was Lois playing games? It wouldn't have escaped people's attention that the two didn't get along and frequently butted heads, seeking alpha female dominance. And as for the mysterious Red-Blue Blur, how and why had he contacted Lois of all people to grant her an exclusive? The newspaper had any number of big league reporters far more qualified for the task, and the city's hero surely must have rescued them at some point, such was the level of crime in Metropolis. Would they not be a better bet for such a huge story? No, the mystery Good Samaritan wanted to speak to a bullpen-dwelling irritant instead. He might be heroic but he was none too bright, Tess opined. And why had Lois bypassed her direct superior, the City Editor Randall Brady?
"And what does Randall have to say about this?" asked Tess, keeping her cards close to her chest.
"No offence but I think a potential scoop this big is above Randall's pay grade. I came straight to the top. Tess, you know it makes sense. This could be the biggest story the paper's had in years, and it's your name on the door. Circulation could go through the roof on your watch. You could make a name for yourself as Editor rather than just be seen as another Lex Luthor fembot."
Clark was impressed. He surmised that Lois must have spent a lot of time thinking up how to track down the Red-Blue Blur while she was in Star City, but she couldn't have been planning this given that he'd only just told her. Yet here she was, holding her own against the boss and making a reasoned argument, closing off any angles for Tess to protest, buttering her up by appealing to her leadership side and yet not missing the chance to throw in a barb or two. There was a game being played here, and Lois was clearly au fait with the rules.
Tess considered the proposal. Ordinarily, she wasn't given to her reporters trying to pass off assignments, and she certainly wasn't given to allowing Lois Lane to throw jibes in her direction without a retort, but Lois had a point. Tess couldn't deny that she was interested in learning more about the Red-Blue Blur even if she had her suspicions. She glanced over to Clark.
"And what about you, Clark? What's your part in this?"
"Lois wants me to tag along and take notes. 'Learning on the job, Smallville' were her exact words," he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. He looked every bit like the junior reporter he was. A deliberate ploy to disguise any trace of hero or indeed alien.
Lois stifled a smirk. Clark's answer, though a blatant lie, was very sharp and left no room for doubt. He was learning fast.
"You can meet this Red-Blue Blur and file a copy with me by the end of the day, you say?" Tess turned to address Lois.
"I think I can get him to agree to a picture too."
Tess placed her elbows on the desk and knitted her fingers together, casting her eyes over the two reporters. Whatever they had, it must be legit. Leaning back, she summarised in her head the state of play as she saw it, and then placed her demands.
"OK. Have it ready by the end of today. Take Clark with you. I'll reassign your workload through Randall. Oh and Lois? Don't let me down on this one. I want it ready for the morning edition. If the scoop is as big as you say it is, there's no point sitting on it."
"Tess, this is the front page of all front pages. Once this story breaks, I'll be expecting a promotion and a new office." Lois plopped the stack of assignments on Tess' desk, then she and Clark made their exit without waiting to see Tess' response to that little demand.
Tess grinned as she observed them leaving. As much as she loved to put people in their place, she also loved a bit of verbal sparring, before putting those people in their place too. It would be extra sweet if it was Lois as Tess could see why Lex found her to be such an irritation. Lois had an uncanny ability to get under your skin, but that also made her one of the sharpest investigators at the Daily Planet. Tess didn't believe anything much would come of this story, and there was a part of her hoping Lois would crash and burn. Once that happened, Lois would be even further away from a promotion than she currently was. If Lois managed to come up trumps, Tess would deal with that situation then.
As Clark and Lois headed back down to the bullpen in the elevator, Clark asked if she was really going to use pictures. It was beginning to dawn on him that an article laying bare the truth about Clark Kent would have far-reaching consequences. As Chloe had earlier pointed out, he could wave goodbye to the privacy he currently enjoyed because he'd become a celebrity. Still, beating Linda Lake to the punch was the goal here.
"I just said that to get Tess onside," Lois explained. "We can use your Daily Planet headshot if she insists on a picture. The story should be about you, not what you look like."
Stepping into the bullpen, Lois grabbed her coat and bag and Clark grabbed his jacket. Both wanted to conduct this chat away from prying eyes, but each had a different idea as to where. Neither felt the Daily Planet was the best place to do so. They couldn't just sneak into an empty office and hope not to be spotted as there was always somebody in the vicinity who might see them. There were also a number of gossip-mongers just itching to start a rumour about two attractive reporters from the bullpen spending some 'alone time' in another office. While Lois didn't care what anyone thought, she could do without the whispers behind her back and the feeling that people were looking at her when they thought she wasn't looking. For Clark, he was trying to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself.
"Where are we going?" Clark asked as he paced behind Lois out of the bullpen.
"I was thinking the Ace of Clubs. It's nearby and nobody bothers you there. Why, do you have a better idea?" Lois walked quickly towards the elevator as Clark continued to keep pace. She had a spring in her step once more, the way she usually did when she was chasing a story, her ponytail swishing from side to side as she walked.
"Actually I do. You don't suffer from motion sickness do you?" Clark asked pointedly.
He glanced around the floor and summoned up his x-ray vision to make sure nobody was watching. The other staff and reporters were all busy and nobody was paying attention to the hall. The coast was clear.
"No. Why?"
With that, Clark scooped Lois up into his arms, causing her to yelp in surprise. Before she had any idea what had happened, they had super-sped their way to Smallville and the Kent farm.