"What do you want?" Lois asked in a sleepy, grumpy voice.
"It's 11:00 a.m., Lois. We have to get started on that story, unless you've changed your mind?" Chloe asked.
"No, I have the day off and I'm coming."
"What did you do to Clark?"
"Nothing."
"I invited him to help us and he said not if you were going to be there."
"I think I hurt his feelings last night but he should be apologizing to me. I'll call him after I get off the phone and make him come. Where are we meeting?"
"At the Daily Planet. Richard and Jimmy are going to be there too."
"Oh, joy. Well, I better get a move on. Bye, Chlo."
"Bye."
Lois dialed the Kents and Martha answered.
"Hey, Mrs. Kent. I thought you were working today."
"I'm getting ready to head out now. I hope you're taking it easy."
"Yeah. Is Clark there?"
"Hold on…He says to tell you he isn't here."
Lois had to restrain her laughter, when Clark got on the phone.
"What do you want, Lois?" Clark asked.
"Smallville, you're too moody."
"If you called me to insult me, I'm going to hang up."
"Relax. I called to say I didn't mean the things I said last night. I do kind of like you hanging around."
"Did Chloe put you up to this?"
"No, I would've called you last night but I was too tired."
"So you're apologizing?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you?"
"Okay. I'm sorry too. We should both try to be nicer to each other."
"So are you coming to the Daily Planet?"
"Yes. See you in a little bit."
"Bye, Smallville"
---
Lois and Clark were standing around Chloe's desk and wondering where she had gone. At last, Chloe came and took them to the storage room.
"And why exactly are we going into the storage room?" asked Lois.
"We need privacy. 5 people at my desk are bound to draw some attention," replied Chloe.
Richard and Jimmy were there too. They all walked into the musty smelling room. Chloe had brought in a folding table but all 5 chairs were squeezed onto one side. She had also brought in 2 laptops and paper and pencils for everybody. Chloe turned on the single light bulb and everybody went to grab a chair. Lois got to the table first and grabbed the center chair. Chloe got the one on the right beside Lois. Richard and Clark made a dash for the other chair beside Lois. It was an unfair contest. Clark got to the chair first. Clark had gotten the one on Clark's other side, so that left Richard sitting on the other side of Chloe. (I felt loved). Lois was oblivious to the whole thing and had been doodling on her paper. When everybody took a seat, Lois looked up.
"What's the game plan, Chloe?" she asked.
The first step to any story is research," Chloe said.
"And the most boring. Shouldn't some little peon be doing that kind of stuff?"
"When you're an intern, you are the peon. You have to be an official reporter to really use people in research and even then you still have to do a little yourself. It comes with the territory and I like researching. It's my favorite part,"
"Well, there's a laptop in front of you and one in front of Clark. You two go to town and enjoy your research," and Lois laid back in her chair. She took her pencil and held it like a cigarette. She was thinking about something and subconsciously taking the pencil in and out of her mouth like a cigarette.
Richard said to her, "you're a smoker, aren't you?"
"I was a smoker. Emphasis on the was."
"I think you should see a therapist about it. Whenever you become bored or emotionally stressed, that drive to smoke will resurface."
"What would a therapist do, you idiot, unless he prescribes me nicotine. I have been smoke free for quite some time. If I did decide to pick up smoking again, I would do it away from other people and you would be the last to know," she further made her point by taking her pencil and pretending to smoke it. She blew the imaginary smoke in Richard's direction.
After a while, Lois broke the silence with, "you know what I just realized. I'm in a room full of Daily Planet fanatics. Chloe and Jimmy work here and Richard and Clark might want to work here some day."
"You would never want to work here?" Chloe asked her.
"No, I have no talent for this and I don't like the current editor."
"Then you're in luck," Richard said, "because I think you are very talented and she's retiring. My uncle has done been told he's going to replace her. I can put in a good word for you."
"Richard, did anyone ever tell you that you're a suck-up? I wouldn't waste your energy sucking up to your uncle when you're ready for a job. Nepotism is alive and well."
Clark smiled. He wasn't the target of her barbed humor for once. He could also tell that there was no added affection from her part like what she had with him. It made Clark happy.
(Lois and Clark are back from their walk and skim over all the work I've done since they've been gone. Lois pats me on the back and says she's going to go check and see if Brian is up from his nap yet. Clark tells her not to worry that he's still asleep and even if he were up, their 5-year-old grandson is well behaved. Lois smirks and says Jason was a well-behaved 5-year-old but she wouldn't have trusted him by himself for any length of time. She goes off to perform her grandmotherly job, necessary or not. Clark goes back to his book.)
Lois wasn't being very patient during the research. She's ready for action. She asks Chloe, "what have you accomplished?"
"Not a lot. I keep trying to find the company's records but there are none. If we don't know who was in charge of this company or where the teddy bears were shipped, it's hopeless."
"Not necessarily. The kids would be affected with some weird power, wouldn't they?" Lois said, "so why don't we check out the home of the meteor freaks? Bell Reeve. It's a long shot but some effected children might be there."
Chloe tried hacking in to the mental institution.
Jimmy looked at Lois with admiration and said, "Miss Lane, you're brilliant."
Lois was taken off guard and that rarely happened. She wasn't used to people paying her a lot of compliments. Particularly where her IQ was concerned. She didn't necessarily tear herself down but neither did she build herself up. Jimmy was a welcome change in her life because he looked up to her. He looked up to Clark too. He still does, in fact. It was good for the both of them but especially Lois. She needs that every now and then.
Bell Reeve had updated their system, making it close to impossible to hack into. The 5 of them decided they should just head for the institute.
(Lois is back. I tell her that she's brilliant and Clark seconds it. She asked what that was for and I tell her that sometimes people forget to state the obvious. She looks pleased.)
TBC