A.N: This is my first META-fic. So I call this one a mabble. It's definitely corny, cheesy, whacky, quirky and everything else you can come up with. Thing is, for the longest time I have been wanting Jared Padalecki to guest star on Smallville. And when I watched Icarus this past December the character he could play hit me. Then, I thought why not make this completely meta so that's where the character's name came from. It's supposed to be funny and ironic. I hope it wasn't a hit and a miss. It's my first attempt at meta.

Disclaimer: This is not to be taken seriously AT ALL.

Lois sat down at her desk and sighed sadly. Clark had blurred off earlier to find out how Oliver was doing. She'd opted to come back to the office and see what she could find out on her end while they were at Watchtower.

"There's a sight I never imagined ever becoming reality."

She smirked and turned toward the familiar voice. She stood and embraced the soldier who'd just walked into the bullpen.

"Thomas Wellington…" she shook her head in amusement. "It's been a long time, soldier."

He shrugged his shoulder with a smile when he pulled back from their hug taking off his beret from his head. "Me? What about you? Lois Lane… Reporter for the Daily Planet… I thought you couldn't spell much less… report anything."

She leaned back against her desk and crossed her arms. "Careful, Wellington. I can still kick your ass."

"I'd like to see you try, Lane."

He glanced down at her arms and noticed the ring on her fourth finger.

"Or maybe I should look over my shoulder for someone else who can."

She eyed him curiously as he nodded toward her ring.

"Oh Clark?" she laughed. "Clark's harmless. He wouldn't hurt a fly. In fact… you need to meet him. He'll be in soon he just had to run and take care of… an emergency."

"Maybe some other time." Tom shrugged. "I'm only passing by. I'm supposed to be reporting for duty on this VRA curfew the city's under."

"You're working for the VRA?"

"Don't sound so surprised, Lois… I was working under your father until he suddenly resigned from the bill a couple months ago."

"Right…" she nodded with a forced smile. "He mentioned that."

Tom shrugged. "I wondered why he dropped out so suddenly though."

"I think he had a change of heart."

"Lois...?"

She turned toward the new voice in the bullpen and smiled. "Clark."

Tom watched the man in question walk toward them to stand right next to Lois.

"Who's your friend?" Clark asked.

"Clark…" she smiled. "This is Tom Wellington. He was an Army brat turned Army Ranger."

"Hello, Clark."

Tom stretched his arm out toward him and Clark took it in a firm handshake. When Tom squeezed his hand, Clark squeezed a little harder. He smiled smugly when he felt the other man's hand soften.

Lois glanced between the two men in front of her and stepped in closer. "Okay…" she stood in between them and frowned.

They dropped their hands and turned toward her simultaneously.

"That's a strong handshake you've got there, Clark." Tom said rubbing his numb hand.

"What exactly is it that you do, Tom?" Clark asked.

"Um… that's top secret…" Tom grinned arrogantly before glancing at Lois and turning back toward him. "Are you Lois' errand boy?"

Clark scowled. "I'm her partner."

Lois bit her lip in amusement.

"Hey, Tom!"

The three turned toward the soldier standing at the entrance of the bullpen.

"They just had a shift change. Time to move on out."

"I'll be right there…" Tom watched the other soldier leave before turning back toward Lois. She glanced at him with a tight smile. "I've got to go, Lo."

"Already?" she asked with a frown.

"Yeah… I've got to go back to saving the world one war at a time."

Clark cleared his throat loudly causing the two people in front of him to turn toward him with annoyance and amusement.

Lois eyed him with exasperation before turning back toward her old friend. "Try not to let another ten years go by without dropping me a line, okay?"

"Same goes for you, Lane." He pulled her into a tight hug with a smug smile toward Clark. He pulled away from Lois putting his beret back on his head before giving a curt nod toward the other man in front of him. "Clark…"

They watched him walk toward the stairs when he stopped and turned around to face them again. He smiled cheekily. "And hey… congratulations, Clark... Lois Lane is definitely a diamond in the rough. Don't take her for granted."

Lois bit her lip to keep herself from grinning at Clark's reddened face.

Tom's grin was full of arrogance as he turned around walking up the stairs and out of the bullpen.

Lois turned toward her brooding fiancé and rolled her eyes. "Really?"

He turned his head toward her with confusion. "What?"

"You don't have to mark your territory around Tom… he's just an old friend."

"Just a friend?" Clark asked.

Lois rolled her eyes again for good measure. "We dated in high school. But that's old news, Clark. It was a long time ago."

"How long ago?" Clark asked with a pout before falling back on his chair and looking up at her.

Lois smirked and walked around their desks standing in front of him. She hopped up on his desk and pulled on his tie as she leaned down toward him. She eyed him flirtatiously and bit her lip. "A long, long time ago. It's ancient history. You have nothing to be jealous about, Smallville."

She winked and pulled back dropping his tie to hop off his desk. She walked back around and sat in her own chair, turning on her computer to start her day.

"I wasn't jealous."

She leaned to the side to look at him with a shake of her head and a chuckle. She shook her head sitting up straight to begin typing on her keyboard.

"I wasn't." Clark mumbled.

She laughed without taking her eyes off her screen. "Sure you weren't, Smallville."