Chp 8 – Purpose


-- Metropolis – April 2010 --

Clark had actually waited a couple of weeks before deciding to head to Metropolis. He had spent that time reconnecting with his family and trying to come up with a plan of attack.

Stepping off the elevator, Clark scanned the bullpen of the infamous Daily Planet. He silently watched as people bustled to and fro, answering phones and passing pages of print among colleagues. He knew that this had been Lois's domain and he tried to see if he could sense any connection to her. Somewhere deep down, he felt that they shared a vibe, and he was planning on holding on to that until he was able to prove that she was still alive. He would do that for Cole. He would do that for himself.

Behind him, the elevator dinged again, announcing that another load of people had arrived to the newsroom. Clark turned as someone bumped into him.

The young man shuffled the stack of papers he was holding, effectively rebalancing them so they wouldn't fall. "Hey, I'm sorry about that. I wasn't looking… I don't think I've seen you around here before. Is there somebody you're looking for?"

Clark nodded. "I'm here to see Perry White."

"Oh, well, you're in luck. I'm on my way to his office right now, so you can just follow me."

As they made their way down the ramp, Clark continued to take in his surroundings, half listening as his guide pointed things out on the way.

"Are you a reporter?" Clark asked.

"Wow. You think I'm a reporter? Cool. No, not yet. I'm a reporter's assistant. That's a couple steps lower than an assistant reporter, but you've got to do your time, you know? It's really just a fancy title for a copy boy but someone made a fuss over the name and they changed it."

Clark wondered if the person being described was Lois. He remembered her telling him about the newspaper's attempt to make her a copy girl when she first started.

"I'm planning on becoming a photo-journalist some day."

Clark extended a hand. "Well, best of luck, then. I'm Clark Kent. It's nice to meet you…"

"James Ol…"

"Jimmy!"

Clark jumped as the name was bellowed from an office on the far side of the room.

"Coming Chief!" Jimmy answered, shrugging at Clark while he finished the handshake. "Everybody calls me Jimmy. Come on. Chief doesn't like to have to yell twice."

Clark smirked and followed him to the office. When they arrived, Jimmy rapped his knuckles on the open door before stepping inside. Clark stood in the frame, waiting until his presence was acknowledged before fully entering. Perry White was leaning over his desk, his attention focused on a couple of large poster boards lying on it.

"Jimmy, how are you coming with that list I gave you?" he asked without looking up.

"The horn on your golf cart is fixed now," Jimmy replied, grimacing in Clark's direction. "And here are the ad contracts you asked for."

"Good, good. Now, I need you to run these boards down to Printing. And tell them I want it to look exactly like this. I swear, with all of these new fangled computers they got us using these days, those kids are getting out of touch with the craft."

Jimmy tucked the boards under his arm and waved for Clark to come in. "Chief, someone's here to see you."

Clark stepped into the office and thanked Jimmy as he sped past. "Mr. White, I'm Clark Kent… we met in Smallville a few years ago."

Perry crossed the office and grabbed his hand to shake it. "Oh, I know who you are, Clark. It's just been a long time. I guess you're all grown up now."

Clark nodded and adjusted his glasses. "I guess so. Um, I came to see what you could tell me about Lois Lane's disappearance."

"Why don't you have a seat," Perry suggested, closing the door and returning to his desk. "It really is a small world, isn't it? I knew Lois spent some time in Smallville, but I never connected that with you and your family. I found it even more surprising that your parents had no idea that they had a grandchild. Seems there was a communication lapse while their son was traveling the globe."

Clark shifted in his seat. "I had no idea either."

Perry grunted and was quiet for a while, focusing a hard stare on the young man in front of him. Finally he broke the silence and leaned forward. "I don't think that I can be of any help to you."

Hearing those words, Clark felt his composure erode. "Mr. White, I have spent the past two weeks searching every achievable news database in the country. There is no mention of Lois's disappearance in any of them. I can't figure out why no one has any information about this! I need answers, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get them."

Jumping up from the chair, Clark began to pace. "The Daily Planet must be run by some pretty sick bastards if they aren't willing to risk their precious reputation for the life of one of the paper's top reporters."

"Hold on right there, Son," Perry interrupted. "I think it would be fair to say that since you don't know the whole story, it would be wise to watch where you point those accusations. If my memory serves me correctly, you haven't been around long enough to have any claim here."

Perry leaned back into his chair, clasping his hands together and setting them in his lap. "I am aware that you and Lois share some history, but since you had no idea that you had a son until a little over a week ago, you just might be in danger of stepping out of line. Why don't you take your seat, and I'll try to get you caught up to speed."

Clark glared at the older man for a moment, caught between indignation from Perry's rebuttal, and guilt from knowing that there was some truth to it. Finally, he returned to the chair and sat down.

Perry nodded and began explaining. "You should know that the police just turned the case over to the FBI, so it is not that no one has been working on this. It's a matter of policy that The Planet does not publicly announce that high profile employees are missing, unless it is a last resort. We have learned that doing so could cause more harm than good."

"That doesn't make sense," Clark interjected. "She's been gone for nine months. How can more harm come from that?"

Perry rubbed his jaw. "Originally, the police were waiting to see if a ransom note would come. The other times when Lois was kidnapped…"

"Other times!"

"Yes," Perry sighed, realizing that Clark was unaware of quite a bit in regards to Lois Lane. "Lois has been… quite active in bringing down a number of high-profile criminals. In turn, she has often been a target for retribution. In the past, when she was kidnapped, a ransom note soon followed, and things were wrapped up rather quickly. She's a very capable woman. Most of the time, she gets herself out of these things unscathed. When we didn't hear anything, the police decided that whoever has her might not know who she is."

Clark stared at Perry with his mouth agape, trying to process this new information.

"We're keeping this quiet because for all we know, the lack of publicity is what's keeping her alive- if she still is." Perry rose from the chair and went to stand next to Clark, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I suggest you go home and take care of that little boy. Leave finding Lois to the professionals."

"No!" Clark shouted, knocking Perry's hand to the side as he jumped from his seat. "I won't sit by and do nothing. I can't…" Defeated, he sank back into the chair and dropped his chin to his chest.

Perry sighed and pulled the second visitor's chair in front of Clark and sat down. "Then I might be able to help you after all."

Startled, Clark met Perry's gaze.

"I just had to make sure that you were determined," Perry said smiling at the confused expression on Clark's face.

"Personally, I'm not a fan of the policy, but I do understand its purpose. I'm also not too keen on some of our 'boys in blue,' and now that the Feds are on the case, there's no telling what in tarnation they'll mess up. Lois means a great deal… to The Planet." Perry paused and cleared his throat to erase the traces of emotion that had entered his voice. "I hired my own investigator. You can be certain that I'll make sure that everything possible is being done to bring her home."

Listening to him, Clark realized that Perry was just as hurt as he was. Clark wondered if Perry had been a stand-in father figure for Lois when she and her dad had stopped speaking.

"I was hoping I could retrace her steps. Maybe something was overlooked," Clark said in a soft voice, almost pleadingly.

"I'll tell you what we'll do, Kent. I'll have Jimmy set you up on Lois's computer so you can access her files. We've had to be real careful about keeping her stuff protected. The only other person in the newsroom that knows she's not really on sabbatical is Catherine Grant. Maybe you'll find a clue that the police missed, who knows. Anything's possible." Perry sighed heavily and moved back to sit behind his desk.

Clark nodded, following Perry's movements with his gaze. "I need to talk to the police, so I can find out what they know."

"I don't know how much they'll be willing to tell you," Perry replied. "I'm not sure that being the father of her child is enough to get them to release information in a case like this."

Clark thought about that for a moment before gathering enough nerve to bring up the next part of his plan. "That's where you come in, Mr. White. I need to ask a favor."

"What is that?"

"I know that it's standard for information to only be shared with family members, and since her father doesn't know about this… or anyone in her family for that matter, I figured that I could take that role. I was hoping that you would help me become Lois's husband."

Perry blinked. "You want to run that by me again?"

"I want to forge a marriage certificate. Lois and I have a son; it's not so far fetched if you think about it. And that way, the police and the FBI will have to tell me what they know."

"There's no way to know if that will work," Perry said shaking his head. "Something like that could bring up more questions than answers."

The hair-brained scheme reminded him of some of the things Lois used to pull, and a tear sprung to his eye. He held up a hand as Clark began to speak.

"I'll make some calls and see what I can do. In the meantime, let's get you set up. Where are you staying while you're in town?"

Clark grimaced, preparing to ask yet another favor. "I was, um, hoping to stay at her apartment… so I could search for clues there too."

Perry grunted and turned in his chair to look out the window. He knew that he would do anything in his power to make sure Lois returned home. Helping Clark Kent do the same just might do the trick.

"Cat has her extra set of keys. She was the one who let the police in when they did their investigation. I'll talk to her about it. She doesn't know about the birth certificate, so we'll have some additional explaining to do on that end... Would you mind opening the door?"

Clark stood and did as he was asked.

"Jimmy!"

Clark flinched as Perry yelled for the young copy boy he'd met earlier, then smirked as the boy skidded into the office seconds later. He was relieved that he would finally be able to do something to try to get Lois back.


tbc