Title: Lois Lane: New Heights
Author: Nadia Mack
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing
Timeline: Post-Commencement, End of summer 2005
Summary: Three-Part Story. Beginnings, New Heights and Converge.

- Los Angeles, CA 2006 –

Summer has ended and classes began without sympathy. First month in and Lois is already feeling the exhaustion. Her professor overseas has made it a priority to communicate with her via-video conferencing on a weekly basis.

The Los Angeles Times were a whole other ball game. They kept her inside doing miniscule reporting from school plays to restaurant openings. It was nothing grand, but The Professor made a point to remind her that everyone starts somewhere. The chances are out there, it's up to her to make it happen.

She chuckled at the thought.

The next couple of months went by fast; Lois felt she hadn't aged at all. Sitting in the courtyard, she was doing the finishing touches of her paper in her comparative studies class. It was a good thing she isn't as allergic to reading as she is to dogs, but then again, she was even missing that old mutt.

She thought about calling the Kent's more often, but she deeply felt afraid to do so. Now, she just simply resorts to writing Mr. and Mrs. Kent monthly handwritten letters. She found writing it herself to be a lot more personable than electronically sending it through e-mail.

Clark on the other hand, she wasn't going to get into.

Not yet.

"Ahem," a man cleared his throat from behind. Lois looks over.

"Andrew!" she says, launching herself towards him with a big bear hug. "What are you doing on the other side of the world?"

"I just launched my book tour last week"

"Last week?" she replied wide-eyed. "That was…"

"Unexpected," he finished. "It certainly was"

Lois laughs. "Don't you have anything better to do than visit young college girls," she teased.

Andrew, who was about the same age as Professor Dela Vega, gleamed. "Well, you know me," he smiled.

- 15 minutes later -

"So how is he?" Lois asks as she and Andrew walked through the campus.

"He misses you," revealed Andrew. "You know, he may kill me for this but in some ways, you remind him of his daughter"

Lois stopped and reviewed his words. "Professor has a daughter?" He never mentioned that to her.

"Oh," he says noting his mistake. "I thought you knew"

She shook her head. "Can you tell me about her?" She should be angry, but for some reason she wasn't. Maybe it was the way he said it, like it was very sad.

"She died before she reached her eighteenth birthday; he was coming home to surprise her when it happened"

She frowned at the revelation and reluctantly asks the next question.

"What happened?"

"Drive-by shooting," he answered, reliving the memories himself. He had been there with his friend when it happened, but she didn't need to know that.

Lois' eyes began to glisten with tears but she held it from falling and simply remained silent. She realized now why The Professor was always so committed to helping her, teaching her not just how to report and find her stories, but how to keep herself from getting hurt.

"What about you?" Andrew changed the subject, Lois had been silently grateful.

"Nothing much," she says. "A little trouble here, some attitude there. The Times are really warming up to me," she adds with a smile.

"I assume that means they haven't given you a cover story yet"

"Yes, but I have to make sure to be more annoying next time," she said rather proudly.

Andrew smirks. "Is that even possible?"

She slaps him lightly on the arm. "Funny… didn't think you chaps had it in you," she replied with a British imitation of her own.

"Touché, Miss Lane. Touché"

- Smallville, Kansas -

Clark was speeding through the house, tidying things up for his parents return. They had left earlier today to head to Metropolis for his dad's check up. Stacking things together and wiping desks clean, the bottom drawer of one of the shelves breaks open.

He speeds out to the barn to grab a hammer and nails to fix it. Removing it, he noticed a familiar handwriting written across an envelope.

He lifted it and looked at it carefully. Flipping it over and back as if the identity of the sender would appear. Then he noticed that there wasn't a return address.

"Hmm," he says. He normally isn't an eavesdropper when it came to his family's possessions, but there was something familiar about the handwriting. Against good judgment, he succumbs to the curiosity.

Removing it from the already opened envelope, he suddenly wished he hadn't.

Hey Mrs. Kent,

Lois here. I wanted to say 'hey' like my first line said. I miss you guys, Shelby too, but don't tell him cuz he'll pounce on me if I can get myself to visit you someday. All is good in the land down under… wait… that's Australia, and I'm not there. Actually, I'm in the Mother Country right now. You should see it some day, everyone here is so ridiculously proper, they prefer tea over mocha's and cappuccino… what has the world come to?

Clark chuckled out loud as he read the first few lines. He stopped immediately when he realized how evasive he was becoming, but was saddened when he skimmed the entire letter and saw nothing pertaining to him.

It was only over a year ago where they were, in a way, sort of inseparable. He'd talk, she would make fun of him, it was all so fun and light, and now, it's like he doesn't even exist, not even in her words.

He knew disappearing for almost three months was a big reason, but he didn't think she would cut him off so completely. She didn't even give him a chance to explain, and by the time he realized there was something wrong, she was already gone.

Just like that.

Not even a goodbye. Hell, he would've taken a 'go to hell' but no, nothing.

A now this… she kept in touch, probably with everyone but him. He was also aware that she kept in touch with Chloe, but every time he asked Chloe about it, she would sadly nod her head and say 'she didn't mention you, but I think she was in a hurry.'

He scoffs at the lie. 'Yeah, right,' he thought angrily. Lois would always give Chloe her undivided attention, there was no way a conversation between them would ever be a hurry.

- Several Minutes Later -

"Sweetheart," his mother called out from the porch, arriving home with her husband from Metropolis. "We're home," she entered seeing her son sitting on the couch with all her letters. "Clark," she whispered, only imagining what her son might be thinking.

He lifted all the letters he found in the drawer, his eyes tearing.

"I'm sorry, mom," he uttered softly. "I was just trying to fix it when…" he couldn't finish his words and just buried his head in his hands.

"Oh Clark," Martha raced to her son's side and embraced him.

Jonathan entered the room. "Martha, what's wrong?" He saw Clark clutching the letters Lois had written to him and Martha. He immediately sat on the other side of the couch. He reached out to take the letters from him but Clark just held on tighter.

"I'm sorry," he kept saying.

"Clark, sorry for what?" Martha wondered as she tried to sooth her boy.

"For… everything," he says abruptly getting up, standing in the middle of the room.

He sorted through his thoughts and found that he couldn't. He needed to let it out. "Did you know that there's nothing here about me," he pointed out, his anger suddenly outweighing the hurt in him. "It's like we were never even friends"

"Clark…"

"No, Mom! Look at all these…" he points out all the letters Lois has sent to them for the past year and a half. "Why am I feeling this way?" he desperately asked. "She's never called, she doesn't write to me or even about me! At least if she told me she hated me, I'd know where she stands, but not even that! And why didn't you tell me about these?" He felt the walls closing in on him.

He rushed out of there and to his barn loft to be left alone before Martha and Jonathan could get a word in.

"Jonathan…"

"I'll go talk to him, sweetheart," he says, kissing her forehead.

- The Loft -

"Clark"

"I just want to be left alone"

"No you don't, at least not right now," he says thoughtfully.

"Have you spoken to her?" He asked, really wanting to know. Clark had thought he'd put the events of the second meteor shower behind him, but he guessed not.

"No, Clark, we haven't." He sat next to his son on the floor. "The first letter she sent was from Tokyo, she was there to find Lucy"

"Oh"

"Yeah, after that, she didn't seem to stay in one place, probably why there was never a return address"

"She didn't want anyone to visit her," Clark concluded sadly.

"You can't think that way"

"What am I suppose to think? I don't even know where she is or if she's really okay. For all I know, she's out in California becoming a hobo"

Jonathan raised his eyebrows.

"Nevermind," Clark waved off, the memory of Lois ranting about needing a place to stay coming into the forefront of his mind. His argumentative moments with the military brat were always one of the most memorable.

"You think she's ever coming back," Clark asks, his voice going low.

Jonathan puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I have a feeling that we'll be seeing Lois Lane a lot more than we think"

Clark chuckled softly; it was nice of him to try.

- Los Angeles, CA Summer of 2007 -

At Los Angeles International Airport, Lois waited anxiously for her cousin, Chloe Sullivan to exit the terminal. It's been two years since they've seen each other. Sure they've talked on the phone and exchanged e-mails, but it's not the same.

"CHLOE!" she screamed excitedly, running up to her.

"LOIS!" Chloe dropped her bags and ran to hug her cousin. "Oh my God, you're gorgeous," she adds before hugging Lois again.

"I've so missed you, little cousin." They let go again. "Come on, let's get out of here before security haul's us out," Lois says playfully.

"I'm glad the Lois I know hasn't changed"

- Café Luna -

Chloe sat there listening vigilante at everything that's been going on in her older cousin's life since she left Smallville two years ago. She couldn't quite believe that this was the same person who didn't have a direction or goal in life. It was all quite amazing.

"Wow," Chloe could only say.

"Yeah, I'm still getting over it myself; I just hadn't had the time to dwell on it. They've been working me like crazy on top of all the class I have"

"You're… in… journalism," Chloe says, the revelation still a little jarring and surprising and awesome at the same time. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't sure I was even cut out for it, or even if it's something I remotely wanted. I needed something to do, and my Professor was very 'pushy' about it…" she laughed. "I didn't want any expectations in case I dropped it. Turns out, somewhere in between hating it and doing it, I actually began liking it"

"Wow," Chloe continued on.

"I know," she says, it was hard believing it herself.

"Does that mean we could open a paper together?"

"Chloe!"

She shrugs. "What? It was just a thought." The idea of doing exposé's and reporting world-class news with her favorite person in the whole wide world, even more favorite than a certain farm boy was making her very happy. Thinking of Clark…

"Have you spoken to Clark lately?" Lois didn't seem unhappy to hear her ask about him, but then again, she didn't look happy either.

"No," she ignored expressing otherwise.

"Why not?" Chloe pressed.

"No reason"

"It'd mean a lot to him if you can say hello"

"No," she continued to stand by her words.

"Why not?"

"No reason, why are we even talking about this? This trip is about you and me… not boys"

"This isn't just about a boy, Lois, this is about Clark. You've avoided him for the past two years. Literally!" she emphasized. "Two years is a long time to avoid someone, and to be honest, he's been crabby since you left"

Lois laughed at that. "It can't be that serious, he must've been happy to finally see me gone," she stated, unaware of just how wrong she was.

"You're wrong"

Lois avoided the subject of Clark Kent as best as she could during her stay, but the Lane-Sullivan family didn't give up so easily. They're a stubborn bunch. Look at Lucy; she's still off gallivanting the world doing God knows what. She hopes that she gets all her rebellious tendencies out of her system soon, she was beginning to worry more so than usual.

- A Month Later -

"Hey Professor," Lois says over the phone. She had just finished explaining to him her final plans for the year. All the writing she has done for the L.A. Times have garnered her lots of credits that more than made up for her failure to complete her first year in Met-U a few years ago after getting kick-out.

"So going back to Met-U, huh?"

"Yup, that's the plan. Enrollment has been set, and I've saved up enough money to rent an apartment so I don't have to worry about dormitory life. Been there, done that, not planning on doing that again"

The Professor gives out a hearty laugh.

"I'm glad you're happy"

"Thanks to you," she says.

"If you insist on giving me credit, I can't very well refuse"

It was Lois' turn to laugh.

"Be sure to tell me if all goes well," he continued.

"Sure thing, Professor"

"I haven't been your Professor in over a year"

"So"

"Suit yourself," he smiled.

When there conversation ended, she turned her phone off and looked at her packed bags. "This is it," she uttered softly, picking up her stuff.

- 4 Hours Later -

Stepping out of the airport, she took a deep breath and took in the familiar surroundings of one of her favorite cities in the world.

"Welcome back to Metropolis, Lois," she says to herself before whistling to hail for a cab. After getting herself settled in, she decided it was time to visit Mr. and Mrs. Kent