Chapter 7: Storytime

The door opened, and Clark walked in. Lois admired her boyfriend for a moment. His arms were well defined, and the t-shirt hugged his chest. Clark handed her a cup of tea and then sat down next to her.

"How did it go last night?" She asked.

Clark had gotten home from the Mayor's Gala Dinner very late last night, perhaps around three, she'd just gone to sleep when she'd heard the door open.

"It was interesting." Clark replied, running a hand through his hair.

"Interesting? How so?" Lois asked.

"I got five seconds with the Mayor and he said five words to me." Clark said, fixing her with a look that said he wasn't impressed.

"And what did the Mayor say?" Lois asked.

Clark put his fingers around the words he said then. "I have no comment, thanks."

"That's technically six words, Smallville." Lois said smiling.

Clark laughed. "You don't count the comma as a word."

"Don't tell Perry that." Lois replied, giggling at Clark's expression.

"Shit, what am I going to tell Perry? He fully expected me to emerge from that dinner last night with something. And I have nothing." Clark said.

Lois took his hand in her free on and said. "That's not true."

Clark raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, think about it like this. You went there with the express purpose of interviewing the Mayor, the Mayor's office knows this. The Mayor refused to talk to you. That's a story in of itself." Lois said.

Clark frowned. "I suppose so. Plus, I did see Mannheim speaking to Bruce Wayne."

"Bruce Wayne was there?" Lois asked. She'd met the playboy billionaire owner of Wayne Corp a few times over the years, he'd always been charming, but there was something off about him.

"Yes." Clark said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Both he and Ray Palmer. I think they might have gone to the dinner because of the proposals Mannheim's put in place."

"The ones to do with tech?" Lois asked, that would make sense. Wayne Corp was always looking to expand.

"Yes. I think both of them want the contracts." Clark said.

"Did you get anything useful from them?" Lois asked. Perry would love it if Clark had.

"Confirmation or as good as confirmation that they are both looking to expand and that Bruce Wayne is a dick." Clark said.

Lois raised an eyebrow then, it was very rare for Clark to swear. "What makes you say that?"

"He continually spoke for Ray Palmer and for himself. Palmer's heart raced several times during our conversations, and always when Wayne said something that I'd asked Palmer specifically." Clark said.

"So, you think he's lying?" Lois asked, she'd come to trust Clark's ability to tell who was lying and who wasn't, it had helped her out when interviewing some people from the army.

"Yes." Clark said. "But about what I don't know."

"Either way, you've got your story." Lois said smiling.

Clark kissed her hand and said. "True. But anyway enough about that, how are things going with you and that Manchester Black Story?"

Lois groaned. "It's not." She had searched high and low for any sign of where Manchester Black was, but the man seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth. It was incredibly annoying.

"How so?" Clark asked.

"I think something's happened to him." Lois said. "I've tried searching for him online, in the phonebook and through using my sources, and nothing. It's like he's become a ghost."

"Maybe he's gone underground?" Clark suggested. "After all, from what you have told me about him, he doesn't sound like a nice man."

Lois snorted. "Nobody connected to Mannheim is nice."

"Exactly." Clark said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"So, what do you think I should do?" Lois asked.

"Maybe find an alternate angle for the ships? Maybe don't pursue Manchester Black." Clark suggested.

Lois sighed. "I can't. I know it's probably the smart thing to do, but I can't. Something won't let me."

Clark sighed then. "I know."

Lois nodded and then asked. "Do you think Superman could find out information?" She hated asking him like this, but she was running low on ideas.

"What, you want Superman to go off and visit the Mayor and ask him a few more questions?" Clark asked.

Lois hesitated. Was that what she wanted or was it something else? "I think so." She ended up saying.

She saw Clark frown again and then heard him say. "I suppose he could speak to the man. The Mayor might be more likely to speak with me than with a reporter."

"Thank you!" Lois said, placing the cup of tea on the table and leaning forward to kiss Clark.

The kiss was about to deepen when her phone went off. At the same time Clark's phone went off. They both sighed and pulled out their phones.

"The Facebook group chat seems to be going off." Clark commented. He had never had Facebook until he'd started at the Planet. Sometimes he still got a bit shocked by what could be done on it. It was cute.

"Switch on the T.V." Lois said.

Clark put his phone down and grabbed the remote, hitting the on button. The T.V. blared to life.

Don Lemon, from CNN was standing in front of a police cordon.

"I'm live from Ambassador Square in Washington, where several members of the Iraqi Embassy have been taken hostage by a being calling himself Metallo. He has not said why he has taken these people hostage, but he is refusing to give them up."

Clark straightened up then and she could tell he was wondering how he'd not heard this happening.

"Already one police officer has been severely wounded. And the question on everyone's lips is, where is Superman?"

Lois turned from the T.V. and saw Clark looking at her. "Go." She said. "But come back safe."

Clark nodded, he kissed her and then changed into his suit and took off. Lois watched him go, a lump in her throat.