Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Lacey, and believe me, she wishes I didn't. Everyone else belongs to Warner Brothers, DC Comics and all sorts of people that are not little old me.


Five

Lacey was confused as she stared at the object on her desk. Where did it come from? She picked it up and stared at it carefully. It wasn't that she didn't like it. Far from it. She loved it. But why was it there?

"Where did you get that?"

Lacey looked up to see Lois. She shrugged. "I don't know. It was just sitting here. Did you see-"

"Considering I've been in Perry's office all morning? I haven't seen anything." Lois said with a shrug of her own. "What are you going to do with it?"

Lacey turned the item upside down. "I don't know. Keep it of course. It's neat. But the mystery of it is going to kill me." For at least five minutes.

Lois grinned. "I hope not. You promised to watch Jason for us on Saturday night."

"You people only love me for my free babysitting skills." Lacey pouted as Lois walked away with a laugh. She shook her head and set the mystery gift to the side as she got back to work. She had some things to type up. Meanwhile, the little stuffed penguin just stared silently at her from its spot on the desk.


Ah, lunch. Lacey was tempted to go out for it, but she decided to head for the roof with her prize and a bag of M&Ms instead. Now that was lunch. Or a sugar addiction. Both worked for her. She must have been really bored, because she was humming while having the plush penguin hop along the edge of the building.

"Sesame Street?" Naturally, that would be when he'd show up. She'd wondered where Clark had disappeared to earlier.

She turned around; fighting the slight hint of a blush she knew was threatening her. Yeah, so she had the Sesame Street song in her head. She also had the Rubber Ducky song in there too. Still, she hated it when she was caught by surprise like that. "It's a perfectly good show. Very educational. Although you have to question the real truth behind Bert and Ernie's living arrangement. Really."

Superman grinned at her. "Why am I not surprised that you question relationships on a kid's show?"

"Because you said so yourself. I'm a very strange woman." She frowned and stared at him, but she didn't say anything else.

His arms folded across his chest and he gave her a look of silent question.

There was plenty of staring. Who would break first?

Superman sighed. "What are you staring at?"

Lacey for the win! Lacey gleefully clutched her toy in one hand and walked over to him. She reached up and tapped that damn curl in his hair. "I knew it! You use gel! You are sooo vain."

He lightly swatted her hand away with a laugh. "What is your fascination with my hair?"

"It's just.. Come on. Perfect hair. I'm jealous." Lacey pouted. "You get all the good perks."

"Not all of the perks are good." He said. There was a far away look in his eyes for a brief moment.

That made Lacey sigh inwardly. Ok, she wasn't going to have that. She held up the penguin. "Take him."

Superman stared at her in confusion. "What?"

"Take the penguin." Lacey demanded with a serious expression. "Give him a squeeze. You'll feel better."

What? Superman instinctively took a step back. "I'm not squeezing the penguin."

"Why not?" Lacey looked at him and then looked at the penguin. She held the plushie up toward his face. "He's cute and squeezable. It makes things better."

"Exactly how does-" Superman shook his head and turned his gaze toward the sky. "How do I get into these discussions with you?"

Lacey grinned. He sounded exasperated with her, but she saw the laughter in his eyes. "Because my randomness is contagious. It's like a virus only less gross and a lot more fun." When he chuckled, she decided to breeze on to another topic. "So why are you blessing my company with your presence? Shouldn't you be putting a cork in a volcano or something?"

"That's scheduled for this evening." Superman replied dryly.

"Try not to stay out too late." Lacey ordered as she walked past him. "You'll miss tonight's episode of Supernatural."

He watched her head for the door and shook his head. "We couldn't have that, now could we."

"Of course not. The Winchesters are hot Kansas boys. The mid-west knows how to pump out the fictional eye candy." Lacey had her hand on the door when she turned to him with a curious look. "Cupcakes or cookies?"

Superman was caught off guard by the random question. He really shouldn't have been. "Cupcakes. Why?"

She grinned at him and shook the penguin in the air as she opened the door. "Because I have to thank my friend Clark for my new buddy here."

The superhero blinked in surprise as she disappeared back into the building. Oh, she was good.

He was just going to prove he was better; Superman thought with a chuckle and lifted himself back into the air.