Title: Gossip
Author: Nadia Mack
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing
Summary: Life intervenes to get Lois and Clark together in the most unexpected ways.
Author's Notes: I was sitting in my desk this morning thinking. And thinking. Then thinking some more. Then I look back on Exposed and amuse myself at the memory of Lois and Chloe hanging out at the Daily Planet. So this story is somewhat inspired by it.

Part 1 of 4

Lois Lane. Twenty years old. Born on an Army base in West Germany, she lived her life on a daily basis, never concerning herself of the future. When it comes, she'll deal with it then, but at the moment, she's content to just live.

"Die! Die! Die!" Lois said in front of the computer monitor.

A few desks away sat her younger cousin, Chloe Sullivan. She grinned inevitably at Lois' antics. She plays the same game every time she hangs out with her at the Daily Planet after hours.

"Don't you ever get tired of that?" Chloe asked.

"Nope."

"Because, there are other games in there."

"Right," Lois said, dragging the word for all its worth. "I outgrew Mario Brother's a decade ago."

Chloe laughed. "Why don't you make yourself useful and write something?"

"Why?" Lois complained.

Chloe simply shook her head, amused. Half into her sophomore year in Metropolis University, she's glad to say that she's still interning at the Daily Planet. While sadly she is still handling the obituary section, Miss Pauline Kahn allows her to venture off into print-worthy stories when an opportunity presents itself.

"Lois. Do you think I make a good reporter?"

Lois looked at her oddly while at the same time, made sure her concentration didn't waver from the game.

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course you're a good reporter. One of the greats!"

Although glad of her cousin's support and confidence, Chloe didn't feel the same way.

"Why do you ask?" Lois wondered.

Chloe shrugged. "It's just -- I haven't been given a real assignment. How am I supposed to bring in the good stories when my editor won't give me any of the great ones? I've been here a year now and some of the articles I did manage to write have made it deep in the double digits of the newspaper." She leaned back on her chair, clearly frustrated.

Lois paused her game then watched her thoughtfully. Chloe has always been so hard on herself. As much as she loves her deeply, practically as a sister, she was always aware of her emotional insecurities. It has always been there even when they were kids. She pushed herself too hard, and when she didn't get the results she wanted, it normally stressed her out.

"Look. A good reporter doesn't get great stories," Lois said to her in hopes to make her feel better.

Chloe looked at her like she was crazy.

"Tell that to my editor," Chloe said sarcastically.

Lois chuckled, refusing to give in. She rephrased. "A good reporter doesn't get great stories," she repeated. "A good reporter makes them great."

Chloe was about to say something to rebuke when she realized Lois was right. She sat frozen for a moment, blankly watching her cousin un-pause her game of play Space Invaders on the computer. She has always been impressed at how naturally Lois moved about in this line of work, even if in fact she continues to deny ever liking it.

"I have an idea," Chloe said, but Lois already knew what it was going to be.

"No, I'm not going to help you find another story."

"Oh, come on, Lois. You're like my good luck charm. I always seem to find the best story to turn in when you're with me."

Lois was not taking the bait. "That's because you keep throwing me into the most embarrassing and high-blood pressured situations."

"That was. One. Time."

"Yeah, one time every month," Lois scoffed while simultaneously gaining another hundred points. "SCORE!"

Chloe started to wonder a few months back how long it would take for Lois to realize that she was good at investigative journalism. She's even beginning to wonder maybe the journalism-bug caught the wrong cousin.

"Working here is a lot harder than I expected," Chloe confessed.

"What'd you expect?" Lois replied rationally. "Metropolis isn't exactly crawling with meteor-infected psychopaths." She paused. "And if it were, they hide it way better around here. A lot of closed spaces." She makes another kill. Bonus points. A smug look crosses her features.

Chloe is tickled at how completely unaware her cousin is of her talent. She asked herself many times how Lois did it. How can she move through life so unburdened? No, scratch that. She knew probably better than anyone else that Lois hasn't had it easy, but like she said about Metropolis, she was one of those people who knew how to hide it. And she hid it well. It concerned her sometimes.

Chloe opts for a change in topic. "I'm headed to Smallville this weekend to have dinner with the Kent's. Care to join me?"

"I think I'll pass."

"Why not?" she asked; surprised. Lois was practically an honorary member of the Kent family.

"I'm busy."

Chloe raised her eyebrows. "Busy doing what?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just things."

Was it Chloe's imagination or is her cousin actually avoiding the question. Her investigative instinct suddenly kicks in to high gear.

"Did something happen?"

Lois ignored answering the question fully. "No."

"You're lying," Chloe accused with a grin.

Lois never lies to her. The cousins had a routine, you see. A kind of rule between them. If there was something the other didn't or couldn't share, they'd acknowledge that something of the kind existed, thus, eliminating any kind of misunderstandings and false conclusions when a question arises and neither are reluctant to answer.

"I'm not -- what are you -- I'd never lie to you," Lois said, stumbling and befuddled.

Chloe spun her seat around and rolled herself by her cousin's side. "Something's going on," she surmised.

Lois rolled her eyes. "No. There is not."

"Then tell me why you can't come with me to Smallville."

"I told you, I've got stuff to do."

"Yeah. Right," Chloe replied, not believing her. "You'd never pass up on Mrs. Kent's cooking." She tugged at her arm, observing her cousin intently. "Come on! Tell me!" At that moment, Chloe reminded Lois incredibly of her younger sister Lucy. That can't happen.

"Fine! If I tell you, could you please keep it on the down low?"

Chloe became giddy with excitement. "Why? Is this something big?"

"Depends," Lois replied morosely. "Your infatuation on farmboy Kent is long gone, right?"

"Yes," Chloe nodded. "What's Clark have to do - " She covered her mouth, holding not only her shock, but her amazement as well. "Oh my God. There is no way!"

Chloe beamed at the idea that any kind of thing has happened between her best friend and cousin. They were literally polar opposites. While Clark immersed himself in school and authors like Thomas Moore, Lois avoided school and read books that involved tragic themes. They had little to nothing in common, so the revelation that something other than bickering friends occurred between the two is news worth talking about.

"When?" Chloe asked.

Lois didn't want to answer but she just kept on prodding. She looked at her wrist watch. "About three weeks four days and an odd number of hours ago."

With a sudden rush, Chloe unplugged her monitor and Lois protested disapprovingly.

"Hey!" Lois glared at her angrily. "I was on the expert level!"

"Oh. You've been keeping this to yourself for almost a month and you haven't even told me. You are so going to give me the 411."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"This is you and Clark here," Chloe reminded her like it was common knowledge. "Believe me, I can write a book."

Several minutes later, Chloe is in rapt attention as Lois recounts -- at super speed that would definitely rival Clark's -- what happened between them one morning back in Smallville. Chloe is astonished.

"But you kissed him back."

"For a second!"

"But you still kissed him back."

"I was surprised, okay. It's not like I planned it."

"So how was it?"

"So -- not saying!"

"Then tell me what happened afterwards."

Lois sighed. "I left."

Chloe frowned. "That's it?"

"I certainly wasn't going to make a dramatic scene out of it. I'll leave that between you and Lana."

"Hey. That's not funny."

Lois thought so. "Look. I just don't want to go there, okay. It feels weird."

"But if you don't feel anything for him, then it shouldn't be."

"I'd like to think that too, but what about the plaid-wearing farmboy."

"Lois!" Chloe was about ready to chastise her. "If you can kiss the guy, you can say his name too."

Lois tries not to let her annoyance show. "How many times do I have to say it? He kissed me!"

Chloe takes a mental note to charge Clark with questions when she arrives in Smallville tomorrow evening. All the questions swimming in her mind cannot go unanswered. She wondered what possessed Clark to make a move on her cousin. Come to think about it, she's hardly see him around campus, and when he was, he made sure that he didn't run into her cousin.

Chloe was going to get to the bottom of this, and to her never-ending surprise, she thinks she's going to like it.

To be continued...