"Way to go, Kent!" Perry gestured grandly to the banner headline of the Planet: CERTIFIED UNSAFE: SURVEYOR SCAMS CITY. "The other newspapers are eating our dust!" The newspaper editor grinned with pride, then proceeded with markedly less enthusiasm. "Oh, and good job, too, Lois, on the follow-up with the building inspectors."

Across the crowded briefing room, Clark Kent nodded awkwardly at the chorus of appreciation. Lois tapped her pen on the table in front of her, hoping her boss would get the morning meeting back on track. With Richard taking care of Jason at home, Lois had worked late last night, tracking down the officials who'd relied on the work of Roscoe's Surveying to declare buildings safe for habitation and utilities clear to return to full functioning. Their outrage had given her a great hook for the article that appeared on the front page, albeit below the fold. Below Clark's.

At least it had nothing to do with Superman. Lois Lane, ace reporter, was back in the game. Or she would be as soon as Perry handed out the day's assignment.

"Lane? Kent? I want you to follow up on this. Milk this story for all it's worth! Clark? You can accompany the marine team that's looking at the underwater pipeline Roscoe signed off on. See if they fudged on that the same as so many other projects. Lois? You can give me the Superman angle."

Faster than a speeding bullet, Lois rose out of her chair, growling. "Chief? What kind of story is that?"

Perry White blinked in surprise at her ferocious response. "You know, what the big guy's doing to help check out this problem. I hear he agreed to bring in the mini-sub they're using to inspect the pipeline. You could meet him at the docks and get his exclusive insights."

Lois leaned forward, gesticulating with her pen. "I am not going to be writing fluff pieces on Superman while there's a story that's going untouched. Nobody here," she waved the pen towards Clark, standing meekly on the other side of the room, "has thought to ask where all of Roscoe's cutting edge equipment disappeared to so that he had to start faking the results. The man won three major scientific awards for his research into remote sensing technology, got rave reviews for his inventions and these machines were, by all accounts, his life. Either he's been faking everybody out all along or there's something else going on."

Perry smiled enthusiastically. "See, people? This is why Lois Lane won a Pulitzer. She's got the killer instinct for a great story." He looked down at the papers in front of him and made a few notes with his own pen, then looked up. "Okay, Kent, I want you to start on the follow-up regarding Roscoe's equipment and his record. Dig into the archives, check out the experts at Met U. Lois? Take Olsen with you. You'll do the marine team's inspection and Superman. Meet up with Kent after you file those stories and the two of you can share notes on the rest."

Lois opened her mouth to object but subsided, resuming her seat at Perry's relentless stare. She knew that this was as much of a concession as she'd get on the story. One step at a time, she reminded herself, then started jotting down notes on what she'd tell Clark to ensure he didn't mess up her story before she and Jimmy headed to the wharf.

As staff members filed out of the room, babbling over their daily assignments, Lois hung back, jotting more notes on her pad of paper. "Don't go too far, Clark," she ordered without lifting her head.

A hesitant clearing of the throat was the only response she received, but she smiled, nonetheless. Clark was so reliable. She finished her cryptic notes:

warf
revue
port ethority, check!
Resurch fund sources Rosco
followup patents rites

then looked up to see him watching her, visibly uneasy.

Smiling, Lois attempted to put Clark Kent at ease. No matter how much he annoyed her with his meek as milquetoast ways, he was a good partner and, more importantly, very good at research. If she couldn't be two places at one time, she could rely on him to pick up the other half of their assignment.

"Good work on that story, Clark," she began. Seeing him begin to stammer, she cut off his response. "Really, I mean it. You did a great job but we have to follow up everything before the other reporters in town beat us to the next scoop."

Clark nodded vigorously. "I know, Lois. Th-th-that was a good idea with Perry, about looking into Roscoe's background."

She cocked her head to one side. "Honestly, Clark. You were thinking that, too, weren't you."

He seemed to shrink as he looked down to the tabletop in front of him and Lois sighed. Would he ever find enough self-confidence to assert himself? Injecting an excess of cheer into her voice, she answered her own question, "Of course you were. You're a good reporter, Clark. Not as good as I am, of course, but still a good reporter."

Lois was rewarded with a smile and a sense that some of Clark's nerves had abated. "Sit down. We need to plan out where we're going next with the story. Especially if I'm going to be out on the waterfront for most of the day! Let's see what we need to cover. . . ."

Between the two of them, they drafted a list of all the unanswered questions they needed to pursue. Looking at her notes, Clark volunteered to keep the records and they brainstormed what sources they'd need to check for everything from the newspaper's morgue through contacts at the federal funding agency and the scientists who'd mentored Roscoe during his meteoric rise in the field of research.

Lois was surprised to note that only fifteen minutes had passed but they'd, nevertheless, managed to come up with a pretty substantial list of things to do. She pursed her lips as she reviewed it all. "Will you be able to get to all of this while I'm out of the office what with" -her hand sketched a flying motion suddenly ducking downwards- "Superman and all?"

Clark seemed to fold inward upon himself. "You sound upset, Lois."

She blinked, looking up at him. "I'm not, really. Well, a bit at Perry. He seems to mollycoddle me ever since that whole thing with Luthor."

"You're sure that's all. You're not upset at-" his stutter returned suddenly -"S-s-s-superman?"

Lois sighed again. "Superman's a whole other issue. I don't blame him for being the number one news story. Heck, I helped make him that. I just wish. . . ." Her gaze flew over his shoulder and out to the newsroom where Richard White was in close conversation with another reporter, "I wish my life was less complicated."

She didn't stop to think it was kind of funny for Mr. Smallville, Kansas, simple country boy Clark Kent to nod so vigorously in agreement with her on the last statement. But she did think it was funny how easy it was to talk with him about some of these things. Good old Clark. He made everyone feel right at home.

"Umm, excuse me, Miss Lane?" Jimmy Olsen hefted his camera equipment uneasily, standing uncomfortably in the chilly winter breeze, stopped on the boarding plank behind the Daily Planet's star reporter. "Miss Lane?"

He couldn't see for sure what was causing the delay, but her face was tilted dreamily upwards. Still, Jimmy didn't dare say anything about the likely cause of her abstraction. Lois Lane was nothing if not a bit touchy about the big guy and all of that. He settled on clearing his throat loudly and was rewarded with a start that had them both soon settled on the barge.

True to form, Lois Lane was immediately all business, marching up to the knot of sailors and introducing herself with her credentials. One weathered woman, clearly the captain, shook her hand then pointed towards the rear of the vessel – aft, Jimmy reminded himself – where another group was busy around a strange assortment of equipment. Following Lois' lead, Jimmy picked up the tripod and large camera bag, making his way across the gently shifting deck towards their goal.

"Hello! I'm Lois Lane from the Planet. Remember, we'd arranged to come along with your pipeline inspection team?"

One of the group, a wiry, tanned man crouching down beside an electronic console fitted into a large case, stood up to shake her hand. "Yes, I remember! John Swanson, chief scientist at the Oceanographic Institute. We're happy you could join us today." He gestured to the cases beside them. "These are the controls for our mini-sub that's going to permit us to carry out a visual inspection of the pipeline that Roscoe's Surveying had cleared last month."

Lois craned her neck to look out over the water, scanning for the submarine vessel. "We missed Superman?" She told herself that it was only the knowledge of Perry's expectation that sparked the disappointment she felt.

"Oh, no!" Swanson smiled. "Superman brought our container of equipment over first and said he'd be back with the mini-sub any moment."

Jimmy, who'd been digging in his camera bag, dropped that and brought his trusty SLR to his eye, focusing his gaze into the sky and southwards.

"Jimmy?"

"What?" Unmoving, the photographer kept scanning the sky for his subject.

Lois sighed. "The Institute's north of the city. Turn around."

Within a minute, their vigil was rewarded as a small spot on the horizon rapidly closed with the barge. Superman came into focus, dwarfed by the research submarine he carried. Jimmy excitedly mumbled as he shot picture after picture and Lois tried to be completely professional, carrying on interviewing the scientists and representatives from the pipeline consortium who'd commissioned the inspection in the wake of The Daily Planet's exposé. She was still barking out questions when a familiar hush descended around her. Superman had arrived.

He hovered just over the harbour waters, seaward of the barge. Attention focused on the Institute director, Superman politely asked where he should deposit their equipment. Swanson, smiling like a kid at Christmas, directed the superhero to lower it into the water beside them. Maneuvering the multi-tonne machine like a child would a toy; Superman complied and handed over the tethering cables to the waiting technicians. Lois watched quietly as the crew of the barge abandoned their own tasks to crowd near the rear of the barge, closer to their hero.

When it seemed as if he was about to fly off, however, Lois abandoned her reserve. "Superman!"

Instantly, he landed on the deck of the barge, regarding her politely. "Miss Lane?"

Lois glanced down at her notebook to remind herself of the questions she'd prepared, feeling all eyes upon them. "Superman, it's been two months since the disaster and now the citizens of Metropolis have new worries about their safety. Do you think we're ever going to return to normal?"

His gaze turned to the horizon and everyone could see the sigh he exhaled. "With all that Lex Luthor did, I don't know that will ever be possible for anyone in Metropolis. But it's certainly disappointing when what we thought was safe and secure proves to be built on shaky ground." He turned to look upon Dr. Swanson. "When I heard that the Institute was willing to help ensure the safety of Metropolis by inspecting the underwater pipeline, but couldn't get their equipment here, I had to volunteer my services."

Dr. Swanson seemed to swell with pride. "It was the most exciting moment in my life when you flew by our offices last night, Superman. We figured it would take us a week to arrange for the re-supply and transport of our sub and team but you did it all in less than a day. With your help, the people of Metropolis should know, today, whether they really have anything to worry about with their natural gas pipeline."

Jimmy snapped some more pictures, concentrating on Superman and the director. Lois tilted her recorder towards the scientist. "And I know the people of Metropolis will be grateful, Dr. Swanson. But why couldn't Superman just carry out the inspection himself?" She cocked her head towards the silent hero.

The scientist appeared a little amused. "He may be the Man of Steel but I don't think he has the expertise to do this job. To be able to restore complete natural gas service to the city, the pipeline has to be certified by registered inspectors. Our submarine can transport those people right to the site in convenience and relative comfort. If everything goes right, the job will be done tonight."

Lois smiled tightly at his condescension and changed her line of questioning. "Can we accompany you on the inspection?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid that the sub is going to be full with myself, the two inspectors and our operator aboard. But you're welcome to stay with our monitoring team here on the barge and watch the camera feeds or come to the debriefing tonight."

"Hmmm," she said, noncommittally. Tonight would be well after today's deadline. Focusing back on Superman, Lois asked, "Will you be doing anything else here today, Superman?"

The hero shook his head. "I've told Dr. Swanson that I'll be happy to return the equipment to the Institute when the inspection's finished. Besides that, I'm going to do what I can to help the hardworking men and women of Metropolis deal with the continuing fallout of the New Krypton disaster." His expression seemed to darken and Lois knew that he must be thinking more about the situation with Lex Luthor. There were so many questions still unanswered: what had happened with Luthor who seemed to have disappeared so completely; what other consequences of that enormous evil had yet to be uncovered. She, of course, had other questions of her own, but now was not the time and place.

Seeking to lighten the mood, Lois nodded towards the city skyline. "I'm sure we'll have a few other problems you can help with that have nothing to do with the rebuilding work, Superman, like who's going to help the Met U football team out of their slump." The scientists and inspectors chuckled at her weak joke and Superman took to the air, accompanied by the snap, snap, snap of Jimmy's shutter.

Moving decisively, Lois made her excuses to the research team as she finished up her interview questions. There was no way she'd huddle on this barge for an entire day when there were other story angles to explore. Before the barge could head out further into the harbour, she and Jimmy were back on land.

Lois paused to regard the unfamiliar industrial area of the docklands. Metropolis Terminal processed an enormous amount of oceangoing traffic as well as serving as the key transfer point for the coastal pipeline and transcontinental cables. Ahead she could see the jetties where the oil tankers unloaded their shipments.

"Come on, Jimmy."

The photographer stumbled behind her, burdened by his oversized camera bag. "Aren't we supposed to head back to the Planet?"

"In a minute." Lois marched purposefully towards the unoccupied jetty where a boarding tower loomed high overhead. "I want to see something, first. You can get some good pictures here, too."

Jimmy followed, nervously. As they reached the base of the tower, he looked around. "Are you sure this is okay?"

"Positive," Lois said decisively, putting a well-shod foot to the metal stairs. "I want to get up here and get some . . . perspective."

As she clattered upwards, Jimmy sighed and followed. "If you're sure. . . ."

Several stories above the pier, Lois looked searchingly around her. "The pipeline's just one part of the whole system, here, Jimmy. And even if it checks out clean, there's all these terminal buildings that will need to be inspected. Maybe Superman doesn't have the expertise to survey pipelines, but I bet he can do a lot to see damage out here, for instance. Or, if not Superman, maybe the Planet can hire a helicopter and another survey team, and go over the area. Just imagine the scoop it would be."

She leaned sideways against the railing, looking out seaward. "So much was almost lost that day, Jimmy. So much is still at risk when cowards and cheaters, like Roscoe, fail in their duties." The metal gave an ominous creak but she continued to scan the horizon while digging in her coat pocket for her notebook. "We won't fail in ours."

"Umm, Lois?" Jimmy's voice sounded even more concerned.

"What, Jimmy?"

"Umm, are we leaning?"

The metal of the tower gave a heart-stopping groan and Lois felt herself sliding forward. As the icy waters of Metropolis Harbour dominated the view, she barely had time to shriek before she found herself falling, falling, falling. . . .