Fuse
By Teala373
Chapter 1: Meeting for the First Time
Synopsis: AU - What if Lois Lane liked Clark Kent, but not Superman? What if there were other survivors of Krypton? What if no matter what the continuity, Bruce still gets in Clark's way?
Author's Notes: There are multiple references to scenes and incidents from other Superman continuities. Also, I'm not feeling solid on all my comma usage in this one. Ever since I had twins, my brain's been a little mushy… so, sorry for the punctuation faux pas. I could really use a beta reader!
(o)O(o)
The first time Clark Kent actually saw Lois Lane was at a journalist conference in Chicago, just before he accepted the transfer to Metropolis.
His articles had been winning him accolades and were being picked up by bigger and bigger publications. Even the great Perry White, editor-in-chief to one of the nation's largest and most recognized publications, had taken notice of him.
The grand hotel ballroom was tastefully made up in cream and an odd shade of slate blue that somehow only existed in the hotel industry. While drinking a mediocre cup of lukewarm coffee, he tried to pay attention to the advice that veteran journalist Ed Hagner was insistently giving him, but he was distracted by voices he was overhearing from the side of the stage.
"What do you mean Olsen isn't here yet with my presentation file? I am not going to give this presentation without visual aides! Get on the phone and tell Olsen if he doesn't get his barely-graduated-ass over here with that file, I'm going to carve out his organs in alphabetical order and sell them to cannibals!"
"Right away, Miss Lane," came a nervous reply from the twitching young woman who immediately whipped out a cell phone and began dialing, "is there anything else?"
"Yeah, who do I have to kill to get a white chocolate mocha around here?"
Nodding at the newest piece of advice Mr. Hagner was giving him, Clark continued tuning his ears towards the continued demands of the conference's star speaker as she checked every piece of audio/visual equipment, barking at one of the staff workers as to why it wasn't up to her satisfaction and what they could do about it. There were also several more times she hollered for a status on Olsen and her missing presentation file.
It went on and on, even as everyone was seated and other speakers took the stage. Of course, no one could hear the ranting of the nation's top journalist as her assault was confined to the backstage arena; only Clark's finely tuned ears were picking up her continued tirade that lasted all the way until she was announced to present.
Lois Lane was everything the rumors said she was: ambitious, cold, arrogant, calculated, and stubborn. Yet, as Clark watched her speak to the eager room full of rising stars in the journalist community, he saw something else.
He had always prided himself on his instincts and judge of character, and what they were now gathering from the beautiful woman captivating the room was very interesting. He could somehow sense that her tough exterior was just a façade. There was something else inside her that he could see peeking through.
He had never believed in love at first sight. He had actually never given much thought to love. However, the woman before him, the beautiful, untouchable ice queen, was swiftly changing all that.
(o)O(o)
Lois Lane was on fire. She had worked hard to glean every last lesson she could from Perry White and cement her reputation as the number one reporter in the city. People knew her name. People read her stories. People gave her awards for her articles. The article in her hand was about to be her next front-page masterpiece.
"I got it, Chief!" She called out as she burst through Perry White's front door while still looking over her print out. "It's got everything: tragedy, scandal, murder, sex, arson, corruption, and even good triumphing over evil. All masterfully told by yours truly."
She tossed her papers with glowing triumph on Perry's desk, completely avoiding the two bodies she was now becoming aware were standing to her left. Suppressing the feeling of embarrassment for being rude, she continued to look at her boss from across his desk. No matter what she truly felt inside, she had learned a long time ago that if she wanted to stay at the top, she had to act like she was at the top.
"Good, you're free to take care of something for me," Perry grunted, barely acknowledging the article. "Metropolis is a little too big for even you. I need you to keep up with Wayne Enterprises and Lex Corp. When those two start going off, I'll still need the city beat covered, so I called in some fresh blood."
Lois felt her body clench as she tried to keep her face from dropping. She was used to covering Lex Corp, but she hated covering Wayne Enterprises, even if it had given her some great material over the years. And she certainly didn't want some new person muscling in on her turf. It wasn't unusual for Perry to shake up assignments and bring in reporters from other areas; however, he had never shaken Lois up. Perry always liked Lois just where she was, and never forced her to partner up.
Perry gestured to the man standing immediately next to Lois. "Lois, this is Clark Kent. Show him around, get him settled, try not to chew him up and spit him out."
Lois turned and found she had to look up. The man next to her was quite tall. Looking past his broad shoulders, she couldn't help but to notice that even though he looked a little old fashioned, he was handsome. She felt her body unclench as he smiled at her.
"Um… h-hello. It's nice to meet you Miss Lane. I've been a big fan of your work."
Taking his hand and meeting his firm shake, Lois found herself smiling back. "Nice to meet you, too. Where are you from?"
"Smallville, Kansas."
Cocking her head slightly to one side, Lois gave him a look he couldn't quite place. "I've been to Smallville a few times. It's a very nice area. Very peaceful."
Clark smiled again and she swore she felt her insides turn to jelly. "Do you have family there?"
The unreadable look touched her eyes again. "You could say that."
"Alright, you two," Perry barked, "get to work."
As the walked out into the bullpen, the other man who had been in the office trailed behind them.
"You should feel honored, Mr. Kent," Jimmy Olson, a young photographer who often trailed along with Lois, offered the man he had shown to Perry's office, "Miss Lane hardly ever smiles for anyone, and I can't remember the last time she met someone from the mid-west without making a joke about corn fields."
Lois whipped around to shoot Jimmy a death glare. "Can it, Olson." She turned back towards Clark. "Were you assigned a desk, yet?"
Clark pointed out a desk that was two up from hers and across the large center aisle. She helped him get settled and showed him around, much to the surprise of everyone in the office. By the time they were done, it was 10:30 and Lois informed Clark they were off to a Lex Corp press conference to "hear the latest and greatest from the man everyone loves to hate from behind his back."
(o)O(o)
Over the next two weeks, Clark acclimated himself with Metropolis. Lois and Jimmy took him all over the city and gave him the inside scoop on all of the major players and hot spots.
They kept him so busy he hardly had time to contemplate when he was going to reveal his other persona to the public. He had done a few small jobs, using his speed to keep from being noticed.
'Who are you kidding, Clark,' he thought to himself as he turned to gaze over at Lois while she typed the outline for her latest story, 'you enjoy being a mild-mannered reporter attached at the hip to Lois Lane.'
Since they had first met, Lois and Clark were hardly ever separated. Lois took him to every restaurant, conference, event, gala, and exhibit the city had to offer. They ate breakfast, lunch, and often times, dinner together with Jimmy, and stayed late to watch the stories go through to print. She seemed perfectly content to cover stories alongside him and share her bylines.
He wondered exactly what it was about him that turned Lois from an arrogant, ambitious lion to a fun and thoughtful woman that never stopped smiling. She was normally brash, outspoken, direct and even rude, barking orders and leveling anyone she talked to with snappy quips from her razor-sharp tongue. Even Jimmy, who seemed to be the only other person in the office she didn't loathe, met her wrath from time to time.
But, never Clark.
Even after she put on her game face and fired away an array of challenging questions with her forceful, intimidating demeanor, she would always turn to him with a smile afterwards, as if she were a totally different person.
He briefly entertained the thought that maybe she possibly liked him as more than a co-worker, but he quickly brushed it aside. Despite her attentions towards him, Lois was a no-nonsense career woman that clearly had no time or interest in a relationship. He also didn't think his 'awe-shucks', boy scout persona was what a strong, independent woman such as Lois would find attractive.
"Hey, Smalleville," Lois perched on the edge of Clark's desk and smiled down at him, "you ready to cut the cord and strike out on your own?"
He smiled back nervously. The combined scent of her perfume and shampoo were driving him crazy. "Uh, yeah. What did you have in mind?"
"Looks like the Wayne Tech division of the mighty Wayne Empire has some interesting developments. The chopper is taking me to Gotham tonight. Think you can cover the city beat and try not to miss me too much over the next few days?"
"I'll do my best."
Lois flashed a large, infectious smile. "Great. Wanna catch a quick bite with me before I head off?"
Nodding, Clark grabbed his suit jacket, but Jimmy quickly intercepted them.
"Chief wants you to take a quick look at these," he handed Lois a stack of envelopes, "and see if there's anything interesting for the editorial page."
"This will just take a second, Clark."
Sitting back down in his chair, Clark watched as Lois deftly opened each envelope and within seconds determined it was 'crap'.
"What are those?" He asked as she skimmed another letter before tossing it in the recycling bin.
"Mail from readers. Most of it just reiterates what we've already written, but you find a few winners from time to time."
She handed a letter over to Jimmy, who placed it in a folder. Five others went into the recycle bin.
The last envelope had little drawings all over it, causing Lois to examine it for a moment. As she took the paper out and discarded the envelope, Clark picked it up to investigate. While the handwriting was neat and clearly of an older woman, the drawings were the handiwork of a small child.
"This is interesting. I don't know what to do with it, but it's interesting," Lois mumbled, catching Clark and Jimmy's attention.
"It's a little girl who says she has a big story for me. Listen to this: 'Dear Lois Lane, I have a big story for you to report at the Daily Planet. I was saved from a fire in my building by a big blue angel with red wings. My mom was very happy that I was okay, but she didn't see the angel. Can you find him and let everyone know how great he is. I enclosed a picture so you know what to look for.' Signed, Casey Myers. Well, let's check out this picture."
Lois pulled the picture out from behind the letter and her face froze. Clark stood and looked over one shoulder, while Jimmy looked over the other. The picture showed a man, head-to-toe in blue, with big red wings, flying away from a building that was clearly on fire. Below on the ground was a small girl with blonde pigtails. But that wasn't what was attracting Lois' attention. She was staring at the red outline of a diamond, with an 'S' in the middle, on the angel's chest.
"What's that supposed to be?" Jimmy asked, pointing to the 'S'.
Both Lois and Clark remained quiet.
Finally, Lois thrust the letter and picture at Jimmy. "Put these on my desk. I'll look into it later. Right now, I'm hungry." She grabbed her purse and began heading for the door. "C'mon, Kent! I don't have a lot of time before take off!"
Clark followed Lois to the elevator, his mind wandering to why Lois seemed disturbed by the picture and how that little girl possibly saw him when he set her on the ground. He had wrapped her in a flame retardant blanket, covering her eyes, or so he had thought.
Lois led him downstairs to the small café on the corner of their block. They talked about the latest on-goings and how Lois felt Clark should approach his next set of assignments.
"If some juicy story should fall from the sky, drop what you've got with Harry," Lois advised as she dunked one of her fries into her chocolate milkshake, eliciting a look from Clark. "Use the contact database to determine who to talk to and muscle your way to the front line. You don't have to be as much of a bear as the Chief and I, but I've noted how clever you are. You have your own style; nothing wrong with that."
Clark tried to thwart Lois from dunking another fry into her milkshake, but she not only succeeded, she also managed to stuff it in his mouth.
"Hey, that's actually pretty good."
Lois pointed a new fry in his direction. "Never underestimate me when it comes to food, Kent. I'm good at two things: journalism and eating."
Laughing, Clark swiped a fry off her plate. "I do have to admit that I've learned just as much about food as I have about reporting in Metropolis."
She smirked back. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Olson when he started: stick with me and you'll be well fed."
There was only time for a few more quick pieces of advice before Lois had to grab her bags and head up to the one of the roofs of the multileveled Daily Planet building that held a landing pad.
(o)O(o)
"Ok, Mr. Kent, starting tomorrow, it's just you and me," Jimmy happily called out as he packed up his camera bag. "Ms. Lane told me to make sure I took real good care of you."
Smiling, Clark closed the lid on his briefcase. "We should be alright, Jimmy. Lois gave me some tips over diner."
A thud echoed across the nearly empty room as Jimmy dropped his case to the ground. "She shared her secrets with you?"
Clark looked up innocently. "Yes. Why?"
"Don't get me wrong, Clark, I love working with Lois, but she isn't exactly the warm and fuzzy type. Then, you walk in here, and it's like she couldn't be nicer. I've been buying it because working with you is a direct order from Perry, but sharing her trade secrets? That's just too much! What kind of spell do you have her under?"
Staring blankly at Jimmy, Clark shrugged. "I think she's just being helpful."
"So, like I was saying, what kind of spell do you have her under?"
(o)O(o)
Lois didn't particularly like riding in helicopters, but she had grown accustomed to it over her years of journalism. The Daily Planet had several small choppers for reporting purposes, one of which Perry liked to use for weekend getaways and jaunts to a private golf course.
Ignoring the odd, gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach, Lois climbed aboard. As she buckled her safety belt, she thought about the symbol she had seen in the picture of the blue angel. Lois had seen that symbol before and she didn't like that the person brandishing it was now in Metropolis.
(o)O(o)
Before leaving the office for the night, Clark went over to Lois' desk to look at the drawing by Casey Myers one last time. He had accessed an interactive hologram from his birth father about having a public identity. His father's words had been wise, but he wasn't sure if he was ready. It wasn't that he doubted his abilities; it was that he had always been Clark Kent, only sometimes being Kal-El, but now… now things would change.
His thoughts were heavy as he walked out on to the streets of Metropolis, but they were soon cut short as he saw the panicked crowd screaming and pointing upward. Looking up, he saw the Daily Planet's helicopter dangling from the rooftop's edge, and Lois hanging on for dear life out of the passenger door.
The firemen and police were setting up a perimeter and preparing a safety net for Lois and the pilot to fall into.
Clark had a better idea.