A.N: I apologize for the lack of updates, but I think I'm sad to say I've lost the inspiration to continue this story... After tonight's episode I'm physically upset and extremely livid at the outcome, to the point where I tried to write and nothing good came out... For now I've written up til chapter 7, which I will update weekly to buy myself some time... but if you want to take this as a short hiatus, you can... hopefully I'll be back full force as soon as Lana Lang is gone... I'm sorry to all of you who are reading this. But rather than putting out crap, like the Smallville writers are doing, I'm going to wait til something good comes out of me. Thanks again and I'm so sorry....
Chapter 4
The elevator doors dinged, and Oliver moved aside to allow whoever was entering to step inside with him.
"Good morning", the man holding two suit cases smiled.
"Good morning", Oliver nodded.
They both stood on either side of the elevator, without speaking, waiting to be taken to the top floor.
Oliver finally looked over at the young man, watching the numbers go by.
"Oliver Queen", he extended his hand.
The man dropped one suit case on the ground to return the greeting, "Clark Kent."
"First day, Clark", Oliver asked.
"Yeah", Clark laughed, "Kind of nervous…"
"Oh you'll do fine", Oliver smiled with his hands tied behind his back, "You'll be working with the best team in the world."
"Why I chose the Daily Planet", Clark smiled.
"Well, Clark", Oliver smiled, "My office is on the top floor, if you need anything…"
He was stepping off and Clark realized this was his floor too, so he followed in suit.
Looking around he was wondering where he was supposed to go. He found Perry White's office and figured it'd be the best place to start. He saw Oliver was walking toward there as well. So he hung back, waiting. He put both suit cases on the floor, and looked for her. He wanted to see if she'd recognize him. But if she didn't without the glasses, then she definitely wouldn't now.
"Oh my Go-", someone had tripped with one of his suit cases, "damn, I stubbed my toe…"
"Oh I'm sorry", Clark was helping her up and smiled when he recognized her, "Lois?"
"Yeah who wants to know", she looked up, "Do I know you?"
"Clark, Clark Kent", he smiled.
"Clark", she said her eyes widening in surprise, "Welcome back…"
She hugged him tightly.
"I haven't seen you in years", she was saying, "How long has it been?"
She was walking away and he thought it best to follow her, so he picked up his belongings.
"Um… twelve years… yeah about twelve years", he smiled.
"It's great to see you", she smiled, "What are you doing here?"
"I work here now", he smiled, "It's not exactly agriculture or law enforcement…"
She blushed remembering one of their last conversations.
"Who would have thought, Clark Kent went off to the big city", he shrugged.
"You know, I always knew it would happen", she grinned.
"Sure you did", he said smiling.
"So have you seen Chloe", Lois said redirecting the conversation.
"Uh… no I haven't but I heard she-"
"How's Lana", Lois cut him off never looking up from the papers on her desk.
Clark smiled softly. "I wouldn't know. I haven't seen her since graduation about twelve years ago…"
Lois looked. "I'm sorry, I thought you two would have-"
"Gotten married, had two kids and taken over the family farm?"
"Something like that", she tried to smile.
"Wasn't written in the stars as permanently as some people thought…"
"Yeah I guess not", Lois nodded.
"Lois… Lois", Jimmy said running toward her, "Guess who just showed up!"
"Jimmy, this is Clark Kent", she pointed at Clark introducing them, "Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen… He and Chloe were married a few years ago..."
"The Clark Kent", Jimmy's eyes widened, "I've heard a lot about you…"
"Oh from Chloe", Clark asked.
"Chloe", Jimmy smiled looking from him to Lois, "From Lois… she hasn't shut up about you- ow!"
Lois had bumped his rib hard.
"That hurt, Lane."
"I have no idea what you're talking about", she smiled looking at Clark, "Anyway, Clark, you might want to get settled. Chief's office is right over there, Good luck, Kent."
"Thanks", he said smiling.
"Later, CK", Jimmy said smiling.
Clark walked over to Perry White's office door and knocked.
Oliver and Perry both looked up.
"You wanted to see me, Chief?"
"Kent!"
Perry smiled waving him in, "Come in, come in… have you met Oliver Queen?"
"We met Perry", Oliver laughed, "Hey Clark… settled in yet?"
"Not exactly", Clark smiled, "I still don't know where I'll be starting out."
"Oh you know what", Perry said pushing a button on his intercom, "Jimmy, get me Lois!"
Sure thing, Chief!
"Kent", Perry smiled, "You can start by shadowing Lois… she's my best reporter. You can learn a lot from that firecracker."
"Wanted to see me, Chief?"
Lois had stuck her head in the door.
"Yeah", Perry asked, "What are you working on now?"
"The Lex Luthor interview", she said slowly.
"Great! Clark knew Lex back in the day, he can give some insight", Perry smiled, "Let him tail you for a while until his feet get wet."
"Chief I don't think-"
Oliver smiled. "I think it's a great idea… Lois would be the perfect teacher for Clark."
"Olli-Mr. Queen", she tried to smile, "With all due respect sir, I don't do partners…"
"You take Jimmy along", Perry stated.
"So I wouldn't have to carry a camera", she whined.
"And now you don't have to carry the full load", Perry smiled, "Get to it!"
Lois rolled her eyes and walked out of the room.
"Thank you, Mr. White", Clark smiled, "Mr. Queen."
"Prove us right, Clark", Perry smiled.
"Alright", he nodded and walked back to Lois's desk, "So where do we begin…"
"You can begin by getting me a cup of coffee", she smiled handing him her mug.
He put the mug back on her desk, "Suddenly, I don't think that's what Perry had in mind when he partnered us up-"
"Listen, Clark", she said looking up and smiling, "I know it's been a long time, but up here I'm top banana. Meaning this temporary "partnership" will be labeled as Lane-Kent and not Kent-Lane. I'm always on top, comprende?"
"You like to be on top", he said slowly and smiled, "Got it…"
"That's not what I-"
"Not judging", he said holding his hand in the air.
"No but wait-"
"Lois, I don't judge, you like being on top, I'll let you be on top", he smirked.
She sighed deeply and smirked. "Whatever."
She picked up her mug and walked to the coffee machine herself, while Clark sat back in his chair smiling and watching her.
_______________________________________________________________
Lex stepped off the elevator and caught a glimpse of Lois at her desk smiling a dark haired man sitting across from her. He felt his jealousy start to rise, and took a step forward. He started walking toward her, but was conveniently stopped by Cat Grant. He'd read her gossip column and smiled warmly, not wanting to end up on her black list.
"Good afternoon, Miss Grant", he said.
"Mr. Luthor", she smiled, "What brings you to this part of town?"
"I came to see an old friend", he said attempting to walk past her.
"Is that so", she asked, "Shame, I thought maybe I'd get an interview since you were here…"
"I'm afraid not today", he smiled politely, "But contact Mercy Graves and I'm sure she'll be able to set something up."
He nodded curtly and walked around her successfully. He noticed Lois had stood up to get her daily caffeine fix and thought it would be perfect to surprise her. He snuck up on her slowly.
"Lois", he whispered close to her ear.
She'd nearly jumped ten feet in the air and turned around glaring at her assailant who'd cause her to spill all her precious coffee.
"Lex", she muttered, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see if you were alright", he smiled, "After the helicopter incident, I wasn't sure…"
"Is that really why you've been calling me so continuously or is it because your interview didn't make the front page?"
"Lois", he said leaning into her, "I don't care about the interview; I told you that, I only did it for you… I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
"Well, now that you've seen with your own two eyes that I am", Lois said nodding, "I have to get back to work."
Lex let her walk around him, but he asked, "Who's your new partner?"
Lois turned around, "You didn't recognize him?"
Lex smiled politely, "Should I have?"
She shrugged, "You two were so close for so long, I thought you would have…"
"I'm sorry, I'm not following", he said shaking his head.
"It's Clark Kent", she said emphasizing on the name; "He's the newest recruit to the Daily Planet."
"Clark Kent, from Smallville", Lex asked.
"The one and only", she smiled, "You should go say hi…"
She smirked at him knowing that he and Clark had a sort of falling out sometime around senior year. They had never really been able to mend the relationship. But it felt good to stick it to Lex Luthor. She knew he was up to something, and she knew it wasn't anything good. And if pimping herself out to him, got her the story, she'd do whatever it took.
Lex watched her walked back to her desk, from across Clark Kent. He couldn't believe he hadn't recognized the only friend he'd ever had. Sure, Clark had grown up and was no longer a boy but a man. And the glasses were something completely new. Lex shook his head and walked toward the elevator. It wasn't bad enough that Clark had Lana Lang in high school, now his older self had Lois Lane. Lex watched the doors close in the elevator, but not before shooting one more glance in the direction of Clark Kent. Where had he been the last twelve years?
