"What do you want?" Lois asked, not backing away from the door.
"To see Clark," answered Lana.
"About what?" Lois asked with a touch of impatience.
"About personal matters," Lana replied, starting to sound impatient herself.
"Is it a matter of life and death?"
"What?"
"You heard me is death knocking at your door?"
"No, but that doesn't make it any less important."
"I believe I've heard that you have an aunt somewhere in the world that you love and who raised you. I've also heard you have a husband. Yet it's so personal that you can only share it with your ex-boyfriend?"
"When you put it that way, it sounds a little stupid, but it's about Clark and me."
"Clark and you? I don't believe there is a Clark and you after you broke his heart by marrying Lex Luthor, 'who would never be dishonest like Clark is'. Words by the way that I heard come out of your mouth. I do heartily thank you for doing it though because now I don't have to see Clark brooding every time I go up to the loft. He's moved on. It's time for you to do the same, but knowing how caring Smallville is, if it's ever a matter of life and death, don't hesitate to ask for his help."
Lana was clearly offended and flounced angrily back to her car. Lois shut the door with a satisfied smile while Martha and Chloe clapped.
"Way to go, Lois," Chloe said. "You may have put an end to the Clark and Lana drama once and for all."
"I can't condone hurting someone's feelings," Martha said, "but it's about time she learned to start leaning on someone other than my son."
"Someone had to do it," Lois said.
"Do what?" Clark asked, coming down the stairs with a smile plastered on his face.
Lois smiled back, knowing full well he'd heard it all.
"Take out the trash," Lois said.
The others stared in disbelief at her terminology.
"Oh, come on, trash is a nice word compared to some of the words I could have used."
"What I can't figure out is why you didn't want her to see Clark," Chloe said with an evil grin.
"We might as well tell them," Clark said. "They already suspect."
"Clark!" Lois said.
"Is it because you're ashamed of it?" he asked.
"No, I just don't think they'll take it well," Lois aid.
"We have to tell them sooner or later. Mom, Chloe, Lois and I are dating."
Martha and Chloe squealed with delight, jumping up and running over to hug them.
"Yeah, they took it really bad," Clark told Lois, as they were still being engulfed in hugs.
"Wait a minute," Lois said. "Chloe, I thought since you know the crush thing, you'd be mad and, Mrs. Kent, I can't imagine any mother liking the idea of me as a prospective daughter-in-law."
"Yeah, but I'm way over Clark," Chloe said. "I have a boyfriend now, remember? I think it's great. You guys are a cute couple, and if you get married, I'll be related to Clark."
"Let's not jump the gun," Lois told Chloe.
"And, honey," Martha said. "You know I already think of you as a daughter. It'd be wonderful if it was official."
Tears shone in Lois' eyes. "Thank you both so much and don't worry about Clark's powers or heritage getting revealed. I already know about them."
"What's going on?" Diana asked, standing at the top of the staircase and yawning.
"We just told them we were dating," Clark said with an arm around Lois.
Diana yawned again. "It's about time. I felt bad about keeping a secret."
"Says the woman with the alternate identity," Lois said, and Clark playfully nudged her.
Diana just laughed. "She's right. Wonder Woman is going back to bed now. That is what everyone is calling me, I believe."
"Lois, the movie!" Chloe suddenly exclaimed.
They said their goodbyes and rushed out the door.
sss
"Chloe, the editor would like to see you in her office," said one of the errand boys, as he passed by her.
Chloe groaned. Whenever the editor wanted to speak to an intern, it was never a good thing.
"Come in," said Pauline Kahn.
Chloe felt like she was walking to an executioner's block, but she remained as calm as she could and took a seat.
Pauline held up issues of the Inquisitor. "Tell me what these are, Miss Sullivan."
"Uh…issues of the Inquisitor."
"Very good, Miss Sullivan, but be more specific than that."
Chloe shrugged, not knowing what to say.
"Let me read you some of these headlines. 'Green Arrow Bandit Steals Necklace.' 'Bat or Man?: Man dresses as Bat to Fight Night Crime' 'Metropolis Has New Hero: Wonder Woman' Do these mean anything to you?"
"Um…not really."
"Let me tell you what they mean to me. This is the Age of Superheroes. People with extraordinary gifts, who fight crime, are popping up everywhere. The Daily Planet has not once gotten a superhero story first. It's beginning to give this rag more credibility than the Daily Planet."
Chloe looked at some of the other stories advertised on the page: 'Woman Delivers 100 Babies at Once' and 'Cat Possessed by the Spirit of Elvis'. She wouldn't go quite that far.
"I noticed something else," Pauline continued. "All these stories that turn out to be true are written by the same journalist, Lois Lane. Do you know her?"
"Yes."
"You should. She's your cousin and roommate as I hear it. Why is she out-scooping you? Does she steal stories that you're working on?"
"No, ma'am. She's just a really good journalist. Sometimes she helps me out and sometimes I help her out."
"Except on the stories that count, correct? Is there some kind of cousin rivalry going on?"
"We're a little competitive with each other because we're in the same field, but that hasn't hurt our relationship."
"I'm glad to hear that because I want to give Miss Lane a job before someone else figures out how good she is and takes her first."
"You want to make her an intern?" Chloe said excitedly. "That's great!"
"No, Miss Sullivan. I want to make her a reporter."
"But—but—"
"But what? She has a well-paid job. Interns only make enough to scrape by because they're still going to school. An internship won't be enough to entice her."
"Lois never went to college."
"So? A lot of the old greats never went to college. Her writing is superb and her stories are excellent. She's a natural. She still has a few things to learn, I'm sure, but that will come from experience."
Chloe swallowed hard and nodded.
"Oh, don't look so bleak, Miss Sullivan. You can pull in some good stories yourself now and again. You have a lot of potential and determination. When you graduate, you may very well get a job here too. I will give you the honors of informing your cousin. I'd like to see her tomorrow at 3:00 if the time is good for her."
"Yes, Ms. Kahn," Chloe left the office feeling overwhelmed and a little jealous.
sss
"Lois, I want to talk to you about your job," Chloe said.
"Politics are dreadfully dull most of the time, dear cousin. I hate talking about it, and I hate trying to wade through all these figures in this tax reform. Math was never my strongest suit but neither was spelling or science or history. I think I was screwed all around. I was pretty good in PE and—"
"Lois, you're babbling!"
"Sorry, Chloe. What do you need to talk about?"
"Your career as a journalist."
"What about it?"
"Well—"
"I got a letter from Steve!" Diana shouted, rushing through the Kents' front door.
"That's nice," Lois said. "It's been a week since he left. I was beginning to wonder if he was really going to write."
"So was I," Diana said. "Would you read it for me, Lois? I'm not very good at reading English yet."
"Sure," Lois said, taking the letter from Diana. "'Dear Diana, Sorry I didn't get a chance to write. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't really get a chance to eat either or do much sleeping. We were captured by the enemies. Everything's fine now. The mission is complete. I still can't tell you what it was, government security and all that. I can tell you about my next mission because it's bogus. There's this place called Paradise Island that's supposedly where dangerous Amazons live. It's a deserted island, and everyone knows it, but this Wonder Woman character is all the proof they need that it exists apparently. Proof from the Inquisitor? What's this world coming to? Anyway, apparently the 'Amazons' are going to take over the world and so we have to annihilate the island. It's a waste of good land and bombs if you ask me. That's all I have time to write for now. As soon as I'm in one place long enough, I'll send you my address so you write me back, my fair heroine. I'll write again soon. Love, Steve' "
Lois, Chloe, and Diana had gone pale at the letter.
"They're going to destroy my home," Diana said at last, her voice shaking with fear.
