As he walked into the bullpen of the Daily Planet, Clark wasn't sure if he wanted to hug or strangle Chloe. Sure, she'd talked to some of the contacts she still had in Metropolis and gotten him the interview that turned into his first job after graduating from Metropolis University, but he was fairly certain that she was exaggerating just how welcoming these people would be to a new guy with minimal experience bypassing a stint in the basement. He appreciated the confidence his best friend had in him, but that confidence now felt wasted as he walked into what appeared to be nothing short of a madhouse.
"Lois, Perry's on a rampage," he heard a woman call as he stood in the doorway. "I have very specific instructions to not let you leave this building until you give him a good excuse for missing your third staff meeting in a row."
He watched as the subject of the conversation finally came into view. So…this was Chloe's cousin, Lois. Chloe wasn't kidding when he described her as a spitfire. He leisurely walked toward her as she barreled through the bullpen. She was muttering obscenities and apparently looking for something in her desk. "He knows damn well what I'm going to tell him, Maria," she yelled. "I haven't the slightest idea why he even bothers asking anymore."
That was definitely her. He again contemplated strangling his best friend before finally stepping forward to his new partner's desk. "Uh, Lois? Lois Lane?"
Lois whipped around and almost ran into him, not realizing how close he was to her. She quickly scanned the man standing in front of her before becoming instantly skeptical of his presence. "The one and only. What do you want?" she asked before turning around and continuing to rummage through her drawers. "I have to meet with my editor and I can't find a pen for the life of me."
"Clark Kent," he said, reaching out his right hand. "I'm your new partner."
Lois found a pen and gave a big "A ha!" just as he said those words. She turned back to him and made a big show of letting out a large sigh. Her expression quickly changed from shock to snarky as she put her hands on her hips. "You are, are you?" He nodded. "Well in that case, you're coming with me." She grabbed him by the wrist, effectively forcing him to follow her to what he presumed was Mr. White's office.
They entered the Editor-in-Chief's office like a whirlwind, causing Perry White to turn his head in surprise. "Lois…Clark. I see you've met each other."
"Yeah, about that Perry. I told you I didn't want—or need—a partner. I have enough on my plate right now without having to train some kid from Corn Town USA."
Perry opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when Clark stepped forward. "Mr. White, if you don't mind," he said, gesturing toward Lois and then turning to face her. "First of all, Lois, I'm not a kid. I'm 26, a fact you should have checked before you ran your mouth. And furthermore, I may be from Smallville, but I graduated from Met U and spent my last semester interning at the Gotham Gazette, so I'm not as green as you make me out to be." He turned back toward his boss and sighed. "I thought Mad Dog Lane would have done her research."
Perry smirked and shifted his eyes from Clark to Lois. She was seething, and having a hard time formulating a comeback. "And you're right, Lois," Perry added, "you do have plenty on your plate right now. Consider this my way of helping you lighten the load."
"I've got it under control, Perry."
The editor walked around his desk and stood in front of her. When he spoke to her again, it was more like a father speaking to a child than a boss to an employee. "I know that and you know that, Lois, but there are people out there who don't know the whole story and will try to capitalize on their own ignorance. I know for a fact you don't want that."
Clark could sense that his presence was the reason for their elusiveness. He did his best to stand in the background until he finally heard Lois mutter an agreement.
"Good," Perry told her. "Get Kent up to date on the Intergang piece you're working on and then I want him fully ensconced in it as soon as possible. Wherever you go, he goes."
"But Chief-"
"No buts, Lois. Sometimes you have to compromise to keep the things in life you love the most." He turned without another word and sat back down behind his desk. "Kent, you can learn a great deal from Lois, but don't let her push you around too much. That nickname of hers usually has people cowering for no good reason."
"Thanks, Mr. White. I'll keep that in mind."
Clark followed Lois out of the editor's office and back to their section of the bullpen. He now had four different impressions of Lois—from Chloe, Mr. White, the public perception, and himself—and they were all different. He knew, of course, that she was quickly becoming one of the most respected investigative reporters in the country. On more than one occasion during his internship, he heard different people at the Gazette talking about how management was trying to lure her from the Planet. She obviously didn't buy what they were selling.
What he heard from Chloe was a completely different story. He heard about Lois being an Army brat and how she had a penchant for upsetting her father, a three-star general. His best friend had also told her how much fun they had during some of their summer vacations together, even though Lois was at a different base every couple years. Most of all, he remembered Chloe vowing that she would go anywhere and do anything for her cousin—no questions asked.
He recalled the look on Mr. White's face when he stood up to Lois a few minutes ago, as well as his statement about Lois and how her bark was worse than her bite. He remembered the editor telling Lois that the partnership with Lois was a way of lightening her load. The look that crossed her face in that moment was one he thought—in his limited knowledge—Lois was incapable of. Because, really? He was supposed to be standing next to Lois "Mad Dog" Lane, and yet, she was standing there in the Editor-in-Chief's office looking, if only for a split second, like she could break down and cry. But then, her features glossed over just as quickly and she went about her day, signaling for him to follow her back into the bullpen and get to work.
"Okay, Smallville. This is the file of research for the Intergang piece," Lois said as they returned to the bullpen and their desks. She pulled out a manila folder that was bursting at its seams and laid it on the desk in front of him as he sat down and made himself comfortable. He could tell immediately that he was in for a long day. "It's 9:15 now. Lunch is at noon and then I have a meeting with a source at one. Think you can get yourself caught up by then?"
He nodded and opened the folder, amazed at the detail he found. From the look of it, this was a story Lois had been working on for some time; some of the information went as far back as eight months ago. A newspaper clipping announced the release of Bruno Mannheim from prison. Phrases and sources within the article were highlighted, along with what appeared to be initials next to them and notes like "are you kidding me?" and "DH says otherwise" in the margins.
Almost two hours later he stretched his legs and stood up, feeling confident that he could finish the file in another 45 minutes. But right now, he needed a cup of coffee. "Need a refill, Lois? I have to get up and walk for a minute so I can digest all this information."
Lois looked up in surprise. "You're done already?"
"Almost. But like I said, I need a break before my eyes bug out. How do you like your coffee?"
"Cream and two sugars. Thanks, Smallville."
Clark walked into the employee lounge and grabbed a couple cups. He poured them each some coffee and started to doctor Lois's while he glanced back at her through the window. She had told him she was preparing for their source meeting after lunch, and he could see the concentration in her face as she twirled the pen in her hand. At that moment, it was hard for him to imagine her as Chloe's carefree cousin.
Right now, his impression of her was a big amalgam of all the different versions of her. He started walking across the bullpen and watched as she answered her phone. What appeared to start off as a normal conversation was the exact opposite by the time he set the coffee down inconspicuously on her desk.
"For the last time, David," she almost yelled into the phone, "I'm not going to agree to that…No…yeah, well I'd like to see you try." She slammed her pen down on the desk and stood up. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that it's under control…No, you don't have to remind me; I have the scars as reminders, thank you…Court, huh? Thanks for the warning."
She slammed the phone down into its cradle and ran her hands through her hair before focusing her eyes on Clark.
"Sorry you had to hear that. He always manages to get me riled up," she told him, breathing out heavily and then reaching for the coffee Clark brought her.
"Husband?"
"In a past lifetime, yes. Now he's just a consistent pain in my ass."
"I'm sorry, Lois."
Her head jerked in his direction. "Why are you sorry? I'm pretty sure you're not the one who gave him this smug sense of superiority."
"Sorry. I-"
"See, there you go again. Stop apologizing. I've been dealing with the guy just fine for almost seven years now. I don't need your sympathy."
Clark watched as she sat down at her desk and made a good show of getting back to work. She almost had him convinced until she started poking and beating her keyboard almost maniacally until she finally let out a small scream and pushed her chair away from her desk.
"Everything ok, Lois?"
"You done with that file yet?" He nodded. "Good. Small change of plans. I need to make a pit stop before that meeting this afternoon, and since you're my partner now, I guess you get to come along for the ride." She stormed toward the exit, turning around when she was almost halfway on the other side of the bullpen. Clark hadn't moved, still shocked by her outburst. "Well, come on, Smallville. We're on a time crunch here."
What else could he do but get up and follow her?
Twenty minutes later Clark found himself following Lois into Bayside Daycare in Park Ridge, a borough of Metropolis. About a million questions flooded his mind before Lois stopped him right outside the door and looked him straight in the eye. "Look, I know you're going to have all kinds of questions. But please, for me, just hang back and let me have a few minutes. I'll explain at lunch."
Clark nodded and followed her through the door, not sure what he was going to find. He listened as Lois spoke to the woman at the front counter as if they were well-acquainted, and then once again followed as they went into a playroom. A short time later, a boy of about five ran in from outside and launched himself into Lois's waiting arms.
"How's my baby boy?" she asked as she held tightly to him.
"Did you come for lunch, Mommy?" he queried as he looked into her face. He was like a miniature Lois, with dark, wavy brown hair and brown eyes to match.
"I'm sorry, DJ. I wish I could but Mommy's got a meeting this afternoon. But I had a few extra minutes so I wanted to stop in and see how you were doing."
He held out his arms triumphantly. "It's almost gone! That pink stuff's working." Lois quickly examined his arms, then gave his legs a once over. "Mommy? Who's that guy?" he asked, pointing in Clark's direction.
Clark was doing his best to remain like a fly on the wall, but he quickly realized that this boy was definitely Lois's son. He watched as she looked over to him contemplatively, as if she was trying to decide how to explain his presence.
"Oh," she started, walking slowly in his direction. She put her son down so he could walk with her, grabbed his hand, and cautiously came to stand in front of him. "DJ, this is Clark. He's my new partner at the newspaper. Clark, this is…my son, DJ."
Clark noticed the hesitancy in her voice, but shook it off as he knelt down so he didn't tower over the young boy so much. DJ smiled at him, so he smiled in return, quickly glanced up at Lois, and extended his hand. "Hello, DJ. It's nice to meet you."
DJ took Clark's hand and shook it, a smile adorning his face almost immediately. "Mommy doesn't like partners. She says they slow her down."
Lois laughed nervously and knelt down so she was at the same level as Clark and her son. "Honey, I don't—"
"Lois, it's okay. He's being honest," Clark said, cutting her off.
"Brutally honest. I'm afraid that's not the best quality he got from me."
"It's not the worst, either." He smiled at her then turned his attention back to DJ. "Tell you what, DJ. I'll do my best to keep up with your mom. Maybe I can make her change her mind about partners."
Lois laughed, almost silently, and then leaned in to whisper something in DJ's ear. He looked at her questioningly and she gave him the motion to go ahead. "Mommy says 'fat chance.' She's just as…" he looked back to his mother and she whispered in his ear again. "…stub-born as Grandpa Sam."
Clark laughed. He'd heard stories from Chloe about her uncle Sam's legendary stubborn streak. He turned to Lois to see her smirking and looking quite satisfied that she was using her son to make him look incompetent. "Thanks for the warning, buddy. But I think I'll take my chances."
There was a lull in the conversation, and Lois quickly looked at her watch. "Ok, kiddo. Mommy has to go. I'll be back to get you later." She hugged him tightly then took a good look at him. "I love you."
"Love you too, Mommy. Can I go play now?"
She smiled softly and stood up. "Yeah, you can go play. Be good."
DJ ran off toward the door and out to the playground, leaving Lois standing in the playroom with Clark. He glanced over to her, being careful not to rush her. She was still rooted to the spot, not taking her eyes off her son. Then all at once, she snapped out of it.
"Ready to go, Smallville? I'm starving and I have a feeling I'm going to need a great deal of nourishment to get through this day."
"Yeah," he said quietly, watching as she shifted from mother back into the role of hardnosed investigative reporter. He noticed that it was almost like she was flipping a switch. Not only did she have an ex-husband, but also a young son that—as far as he could tell—was just like his mother. But he would have never guessed any of that upon meeting her this morning. It was as if she had very neatly compartmentalized all these different aspects of her life so that they didn't interact and get in the way of the other parts.
Clark followed her out to the car and marveled at how she could turn motherhood on and off like she did. She was walking across the parking lot with purpose, bound and determined to get out of there as soon as possible.
"Great kid you've got there, Lois," he almost yelled in a desperate attempt to get her to slow down, even if it was just for a moment.
"Yeah, well he unfortunately is a great deal like his mother." She hardly missed a beat, continuing to walk toward her car.
"I wouldn't say it's unfortunate. Just…interesting. It's like when your parents say they can't wait for you to be a parent so you'll understand what they had to deal with."
Lois almost wrenched the car door open before she answered him. She had a look in her eye that almost frightened him, one that said he should drop the subject before she ripped his eyes out with her finger nails. "Listen. I don't advertise to the world that I have a son. Most people don't even know that I was married, let alone got a divorce. I keep my work life and my home life separate because it's necessary." She paused as they got in the car and she started it. She pulled onto the street before she spoke again. "The irony of the whole thing is that doing so put me in the pickle I'm in now."
"Sounds like I have quite a bit to learn."
"You don't know the half of it, Smallville."