It was funny how a new perspective could make you think so differently about your problems. For Clark, that new viewpoint had become as he lay on his face in another alley. He had gone out every night since he'd encountered the man who had attacked him, and for five days had found no trace. But on the sixth night he had found him again. And rather than getting the drop on him, the man had surprised him instead.

After that, things had gone much as they had before. He had been felled by the incredible pain lancing through his head and his attacker had just laughed at him.

The experience had been valuable in several ways. Firstly he had been able to confirm that however he was being attacked, it was by no visible weapon. Secondly he had been able to work out that the man enjoyed causing pain. And thirdly, he wasn't ready to kill him just yet.

All those useful insights had come as he lay in the gutter, not a single muscle in his body willing to do as he asked. The grit in his face was a clear reminder that sometimes he didn't make the best choices and he wasn't handling the situation with this threat well. But going to Ollie or even Chloe and begging for help seemed impossible. He had rejected them so completely that turning to them now would mean he was totally wrong about everything. He couldn't make all sacrifices mean nothing.

But maybe if he could talk to Lois, he might be able to get his thoughts in order and deal with the problem. Calling her the other night had been a big mistake. Hearing her flirt with him, hear her compassion and understanding, had just made being apart from her all the more painful. It would be easy to just pick up the phone and call her again but he knew afterwards he would be left with this bitter taste in his mouth. Similar to the taste of alley dirt he reflected.

If he could just have some of that phone-Lois as Clark Kent, maybe dealing with this would be easier. But she was so angry with him, he wasn't sure any half-meant apology would work. There was one thing that Lois could reliably be reached through. Her work. And there was only one story she cared about at the moment, he was sure. The death of her source.

It would mean resurrecting his old life temporarily but it would give him the brief fix of her he needed. So he needed to go and be a reporter. Which he would do as soon as he could stand.

-------------------

It was funny how changing your perspective could transform the whole picture. Lois had never believed Metropolis could look peaceful from any angle but looking down at it from Chloe's apartment, it seemed almost serene at night. Reality only intruded again when the sound of a siren drifted up from street level.

It was a useful technique, changing your view. Like looking at your life with a few millennia's perspective could teach you an abortive romance with a co-worker wasn't the end of the world. No, the end of the world was tied up to a man who you had an embarrassing phone-crush on and who was wearing himself into the ground.

The problem was she couldn't find the same kind of fresh angle on her two highest priorities. Well, three. The first was the man in question. How was she supposed to help him? He hadn't called again after their excruciating phone call and she wouldn't be surprised if he never did again. The second was her story on Kate's murder. She had tried to get the cops to listen to her again and got nowhere. They thought she was a crazy hack who couldn't see tragedy without thinking conspiracy. They had also ignored her claims about an unidentified man getting hold of information on the city's water supplies. Lois herself was confused about what the killer's plan had been. Whilst Kate had access to some important information that was hard to come by, the information wasn't of much interest to an ordinary criminal. The only thing she could think of was that he had wanted to pull off some kind of heist using the sewer system.

But she hadn't heard reports of any crime that fit that description and security around the water filtration plants and reservoir was pretty tight, so anything more ambitious seemed out of the question for this sick son of a bitch.

There was a third problem that she was also stuck on, with no clear idea to resolve it, or even if she should. Clark Kent was still in the wind and his continued absence in her and Chloe's life was making her realise how much they had come to depend on him. He was so solid and reliable that it had felt natural to let him make in-roads into her existence. Before she had had a chance to take stock, he had become one of her closest friends, her work colleague, and the man whose face crept into her dreams, sleeping and waking. Which meant the pain of missing him was starting to overwhelm her anger.

"It's a beautiful view isn't it?" Chloe's voice piped up from behind her. She had been quiet for a few hours, working on something on her computer, answering only in monosyllables to Lois' questions. Now she was standing behind her cousin, her hair tucked behind her ears and a contemplative expression on her face. "Jimmy loved the city you know."

"I know."

"Some days I hate it. Like I think we should all just have stayed in Smallville and carried on living like the outside world didn't exist. No Luthors, no meteors, no monsters." She laughed bitterly. "Not possible of course. But sometimes I wonder what it would have been like."

"I'd be surprised if you didn't Chlo."

"Maybe I'd be happy. But I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now."

"Isis?"

"Right. And I might never have met Jimmy. I wouldn't change that for anything. Near the end, I think we knew that nothing would ever come between us again. It was like I could see the future stretching out in front of us and it was full of us together, and the life we would have. A home. Children. Old age."

"The future has a habit of biting you in the ass," Lois said, her voice softer than her sharp words. Chloe looked at her oddly, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"I guess so. Things don't turn out like you expect."

"People don't turn out like you expect," Lois snorted.

"Ah, so the ban on talking about Clark has been lifted?"

"Who says I was talking about that idiot?" Chloe smiled.

"Oh I don't know, the incredibly subtle anvil you dropped into the conversation maybe? Or that look on your face."

"What look?"

"The look you always get when you're annoyed with him."

"I don't have faces to do with him!" Lois protested with indignation.

"Sure Lois."

"I don't! Why does everyone keep saying these things? You and Ollie act like there's some big joke going on and I feel like I'm the butt of it! What are you trying to say?" Chloe looked at her with pained sympathy and a touch of amusement, the Karaoke Look. Lois knew the look exactly because she had massacred several power ballads under the influence of alcohol with Chloe as witness. Her interpretation of Meatloaf's 'I would do anything for love (But I won't do that)' had been a particularly excruciating low-point. "You're laughing at me."

"I'm sorry cuz, it's just weird for me seeing this. I don't mean to laugh." Lois let the frown fade off her face. She couldn't stay mad at Chloe for very long, and she was too tired to even try. "Clark has always been easy to love but hard to understand. Right now it's hard to understand why he's doing this to himself."

"To you Chloe!"

"Oh no, this is all about him, make no mistake about that. He isn't a selfish person but when he is, it's because he's trying to protect himself from something he doesn't think he can deal with. So he closes himself off in case he gets hurt. You know that."

"But he wasn't responsible for what happened to Jimmy, the only person who was is dead."

"Clark didn't think that Davis was the same monster as that beast. And maybe he wasn't once. But we both made a mistake."

"No. Clark is being ridiculous, and he should be here with you. You need your friends right now, and when I was gone…I can't believe he walked away from his responsibilities."

"Lois," Chloe laid a hand on her arm gently. "He'll come back, I know he will. He always does."

"And what if he doesn't? He's so cold right now. So…"

"Alien?"

"Exactly! It's like that time we first met."

"Except with less nudity," Chloe said, trying not to smile.

"Right, no nudity." Lois crossed her arms moodily. "He only gets naked when he's struck by lightning, which explains the shocking state of his love life."

"These seem to be subjects you've been thinking about."

"The only reason I haven't killed you by now is you're family. But I have been known to change my mind."

"I'm sorry!" Chloe threw up her hands in surrender. "You just make it so easy sometimes!"

"Yeah, well, I like seeing you laugh, even if it's at my expense," she grumbled good-naturedly.

"You know, if you do ever need to talk about things with Clark with me…I have a lot of experience in dealing with…you know. Difficult feelings between friends." Lois bit her lip and ducked her head. In some ways it would be easy for her to unload all her fears and doubts on Chloe but she wanted to be strong for her. She couldn't afford to unravel in front of her cousin. She was far from back to her old self, if she ever could be. Her cheery demeanour was as much a fragile mask as Clark's ice-cold one.

And more selfishly, if she let that genie out of the bottle, how could she ever put it back?

"The only difficult feeling between Clark and me is that he's going to have difficulty feeling his face after I slap him into next week." Before Chloe could respond, Lois was rescued by the man himself, ringing her on her cell phone. She smiled with some menace as she answered the call. "Oh Kent, how sweet of you to call. It's funny, I didn't know the world was ending."

"Lois, can we talk?"

"We tried that Clark, it didn't work so well last time."

"I remember. It's about Kate Roberts."

"What about her?"

"I have something you need to see. Can you meet me and Detective Jones at the Planet?"

"When?"

"How about now?"

------------------------

Clark looked round at the bullpen, marvelling at how awkward he felt being there when the place had been like a home to him. The place always seemed strange without people in it, though he was glad that it was at this late hour. He could do without any uncomfortable questions about what he was doing back here. Thankfully his pass still worked but his computer access had been revoked. The Planet was slowly spitting him out.

The office also never felt quite right without Lois in it. Right now her seat was occupied by Detective Jones, his fingers steepled together in a thoughtful pose. Clark knew so little about the fellow alien and he suddenly wondered how well the man had known his father. Had Jor-El been as difficult in life as he was in death? He wanted to ask him about his home, where he was from, how he felt living as a stranger on earth. But instead the silence stretched on. Clark was scared that the older man wouldn't confess to any of the same feelings he had about being so out of place and his own heritage was such an uncomfortable subject that he didn't want to dare go near it in conversation. John Jones had always been a perceptive man, and his scrutiny seemed particularly keen this evening.

"When can we expect Miss Lane to join us?"

"She'll be here any minute, probably break a few traffic laws just to…uh, I mean, she always drives within the legal limit. Fast but legal." A smile graced the lips of the police officer for a moment.

"Don't worry Kal-El, I won't be hauling her downtown." He looked round at the empty office and observed, "You must miss this place."

"Not really." Jones gave him a sceptical look. "It was fun working here. But that part of my life is done with now."

"So why are we here?"

"Because I should have listened to Lois' source and now she's dead. I have to try and make some small amends."

"When you first came to me it sounded like you had other reasons."

"That was before you showed me the tape." Jones looked at the image on Lois' computer screen. Clark had been able to start up her p.c. and bring up her media player to show the dvd Jones had burned for him. It was paused, ready to show Lois when she arrived. Kate Roberts was frozen, staring at the rail track she was about to throw herself onto.

The first time he had seen this view of the platform, he had hoped somehow there would be a different end to the story. But it had ended as Lois had said. With an innocent woman dead. Seeing it on screen had changed something for him. Kate's death and the guilt he bore over it seemed lost in the wash of the other failures he had experienced over the last few months. Watching her fall in front of the Metro had brought her death into sharp relief. It wasn't about reaching out to Lois anymore. It was about finding the man responsible and seeing he was brought to justice. Especially now he believed he had an idea who he was.

"You cannot save every life Kal-El. Even your father came to realise that. Every man has his limits. He couldn't save his planet but he could save you. And you in turn saved this one."

"It's not enough," Clark said angrily.

"You are no god, if you think like that you will be guilty of the same kind of hubris that brought your home planet to its destruction." Clark was shocked at the implication.

"I'm saving more people every day, how can that be a bad thing?"

Jones shook his head. "If I had thought you would listen I would have tried to tell you this a long time ago. But you are still grieving."

"This isn't about Jimmy, it's about my destiny! My responsibilities!"

"You are not grieving your friend Clark," Jones said in a kinder tone. "You are mourning the loss of your innocence. You see now that your future would be filled with difficult choices and you recoil from them." Clark shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about this."

"Very well." And so they sat in silence again, until Lois clattered down the stairs and swept onto the floor. She was dressed in jeans, a band t-shirt and a blazer. Her hair fell to her shoulders in rather disorganised waves. She was very, very pissed off. Clark realised at that moment that she was as beautiful as she was impossible.

He wasn't sure why he had even thought that, it wasn't appropriate, and it wasn't welcome. But it was undeniably true. Lois was always an uncomfortable truth, usually hitting him right between the eyes. If Lois caught any hint of his thoughts, she showed no sign of it, walking straight up to Jones and holding out her hand. The detective stood and shook it, no doubt noticing Lois' intentional slight of her friend.

"Nice to see you again Detective."

"Likewise Miss Lane."

"Are you here to play referee?"

"Not exactly. Clark came to me the other day and explained your suspicions about Miss Roberts' death."

"Not suspicions, I know."

"But as I understand it, you have no proof." Lois nodded tersely. She had still barely looked at Clark, who sat in his old chair feeling irritated and confused. "I hear you saw the report on her death. No witnesses were interviewed apart from the driver. But someone else did see her die." Lois looked at her screen and gasped.

"They wouldn't show it to me! Have you already…wait a second, how did you get into my computer?"

"I guessed your password," Clark said in a flat voice. Lois actually blushed. "I didn't realise you were such a fan of his."

"Me and half the women in Metropolis," Lois retorted. "Don't worry, no one expects you to compete with a man like that. Show me what you've found." Clark stood with a sigh and took control of her desktop. He needed to get this over and done with as soon as possible. John Jones was looking like he wished he still had his powers so he could blast straight through the wall to get away from the two of them.

All three watched carefully as the fuzzy image of Kate wandered across the camera's view. She was walking backwards quickly, her steps stumbling. She paused at the edge of the platform and turned. She had her arms around herself and her whole body was shaking. Several times her frame seemed to buckle under an unseen pressure. Then a light began to appear from the bottom of the screen, reflected off the smooth tiles of the curved tunnel wall. The train was coming.

Thankfully at the fatal moment, the camera view was from behind the train, so Lois did not witness her actual death. But the lead-up was horrifying to see. Clark could see Lois' shoulders stiffen as the Metro sped into the station. Kate Roberts had been so scared at the end.

But not alone.

"She was looking at someone, wasn't she?" Lois suddenly said. "That's what you found."

"It's all in the second camera view, the one covering the other side of the platform." Clark clicked on the next snippet of footage and Lois watched in amazement as a man walked up into the frame. His face was hard to see in any detail but he fit the vague description of Kate's seducer. And he was looking straight at where Kate was standing. He was talking to her as well, calling out something but the cameras didn't pick up audio. When the time-stamp on the bottom corner of the image matched the number for Kate's death, something strange happened.

He laughed.

It was clear to see, even without the sound.

"That monster killed her, didn't he?" Lois hand hovered over her throat as she had swallowed something toxic.

"There's still no proof of that," Jones pointed out. "Their entry into the station together and his strange behaviour is suggestive but would be laughed straight out of court."

"But he did it! Somehow he forced her to jump."

"I think he may be meteor-infected," Clark said quietly. "She was in pain, that's how he made her jump."

"There were no visible signs when he hurt her," Lois said thoughtfully. "How could he do that?"

"Perhaps some control over her nervous system. Didn't she say that when they first met, his effect on her was chemical? It's all conjecture though. And totally impossible to prove."

"No I meant, how could he do that? How could he laugh?" Lois' hand now curled into a fist. "We have to stop him. There's no way he won't try and hurt someone else."

"More importantly, it means it's likely he's done this before. Somewhere there will be traces of this man," Jones said. "His appearance on this is too vague and generic to i.d. him. But perhaps I can find something on VICAP."

"You'll help me?" Lois said.

"This is a very dangerous man Miss Lane, it's essential we stop him. I have enough here to suggest something untoward was happening between the victim and this man. Re-opening the investigation into her death may be difficult but I'm going to talk to the water board about their security."

Clark stared at the paused footage of the killer. His build and effect on Kate were suggestive enough but his expression as she died was conclusive. He knew this was the masked man who had almost destroyed him twice. He tore his eyes away from the screen and saw the quiet of the bullpen around him. His old chair opposite him stood empty. From this perspective, it looked like he had disappeared.