Author's Notes: Here's another chapter where Lois and Clark are in a conference room having a revealing conversation, Clark is at a crossroads about his chosen profession, Lex's life in Smallville will come into focus, meeting Clark and their friendship is explained years ago in Smallville. It's complicated but Clark remembers the last time he saw Lex. Keep reading and tell me what you think.

~o~o~

Chapter 4: The Truth

The Daily Planet:

The elevator dinged, he took her arm then, "Come with me." Now in the conference room, the door locked, he took a deep breath then turned to face her. He felt excited and worried at the same time. "You knew, but how did you figure it out?"

Lois had a few thoughts about all of it. "The other day when you broke the story about the failed battle choppers, you disappeared and I suspected you left to help people."

He looked confused. "I had my doubts before that. When I first met you, I mean when I met Superman on the shuttle, then you came here searching for a job and I began to think you were right, all that time I spent searching for you, then it all made sense." She stared at his face. "You came to me out of the blue and gave me the interview and the way you came on to me." She had to know. "Do you have feelings for me?"

He stared at her face feeling shy. "I guess I was not too subtle about my feelings."

"No, you weren't but I felt intrigued and fascinated. "You are Superman, but your kindness, sensitive to others and the things you can do, all the superpowers, you were born with them. You grew up here, and you do fit into this crazy world." She tried to smile.

He came closer. "But when we were assigned together, you avoided me, like I was an idiot and did not belong there."

"That was my ego because I knew about you, your name that you could write, and you do have a reputation. I felt you would become famous and I did not want to get into a rivalry about stories," she confessed.

"You are a Pulitzer Prize winner, and there's no way I could outshine you. Come on, you know it's true." He paused. "Now, tell me the real reason you avoided me."

She walked over to the window feeling ashamed not only that but other things with far deeper meanings. "I'm sorry, Clark, but you are right, there is another reason." She bowed her head. He came closer still and waited. She looked up into his face. "Do you want the truth?"

"Yes, tell me the truth."

"When we first met, I felt our attraction, and I was afraid we would become involved and everything would change, but to be honest… I liked you."

He smiled liking that reply. "I like you too. But it is true, that we haven't had the chance to get to know each other, well not since the interview, but I do want to get to know you." He felt bold, then raised her chin, the same way he did during their interview. "I've wanted to tell you the reason I came to you that night and gave you the interview. I wanted you to be the one because I heard of you during my travels, that you were brilliant at what you do, and I wanted to meet you, and to be honest, I felt our attraction as well," he confessed.

"Oh, Clark, that's a sweet thing to say. We have a lot to discuss and we can do that at another time."

"Lois, how would you feel if I asked you out… on a date?" There, he finally did it.

Surprised but dare she admit it, she felt touched but also confused. "You want to date me?"

He smiled. "Well, we could talk over a nice meal, a glass of wine, and get better acquainted; what do you say?" She was thinking about it. At her confusion, he let her off the hook for now. "There's no rush; think about it and let me know. Now, we should get to work." They left the conference room but had one more thing to say. He took her arm. "Lois, this is between you and me, no one else, understand?"

"Of course, only you and me," she smiled understanding. As they walked toward the bullpen, she did feel relieved that he gave her time to think about the date, but she would give him a chance, and realized she did not need to talk herself into it.

Now at their desks, Clark had hope they would go out on a date and dare he raise his hopes, but he did have hope.

~o~o~

Later that same day:

Clark is in Perry's office and his boss seemed worried. "Luthor is ready to file a lawsuit for slander or you need to write a retraction about the chopper failures. The Planet is implicated. "Write it up," he demanded.

Clark is upset. "On what basis, Mr. White? Until he presents his alleged evidence? It's all conjecture on Luthor's part."

"Right, and the key word is that sentence Kent, it's not conjecture; it's Luthor."

"What is his proof? What is his credibility?"

"Other than years of proving himself to be the leading expert in this entire field. Are you kidding me? This is not a crackpot theory, Kent. The fact that Luthor's making these claims about Superman is news. Either you write it up or I'll hire someone else who will."

Clark is still upset, then left his office feeling disappointed and sat down at his desk. "This is the career you wanted, Kent." He whispered to himself staring at the blank screen, hands above the keys trying to decide about Lex. He knew it was true. Superman knew it, but he cannot prove it. Suddenly, he heard a loud metal noise and it seemed like something is breaking apart, and it was not stopping.

Now on the roof, he changed and headed towards the sound. It was a high over-head bridge swaying back and forth and vehicles were swerving hoping to get control and a few crashed against the wall barriers but they did not give way. He looked over the bridge and saw a nightmare happen before his eyes. A bridge connection cable snapped and he flew up and held it together while all the vehicles left the bridge, but one vehicle lost control and crashed into the side but it would not start again. A young woman left her car and decided to run. Still holding the cables together, people were screaming to help. "Look at him, go Superman, go!" "Dude's a hero."

Suddenly the bridge began to sway again and the woman tripped and almost fell over the side and into the water. He decided to fuse the cables together, a temporary fix, and went to help the young woman. It's a long way down, and she may not survive. He helped her pull herself up and he saved her. She thanked him and headed to the end of the bridge.

That's when he spotted Lois and Jim is snapping pictures, then she gave him a 2-thumbs' up. He smiled but he got a strange feeling and tried to pull himself up but the weakness in his body felt odd.

He fell over the side and into the water, feeling weak, and unable to save himself. In the water, he felt strange and the weakness is still there. He hadn't felt this way in a long time, but he knew what it meant … Kryptonite is here somewhere. He managed to leave the water but barely.

The next morning, he read the headlines on the Daily Planet website. 'Demolition Man?' It had a picture of Superman holding the cables trying to stop the collapse of the entire bridge. More smaller headlines: 'Failed Rescue Or Deliberate Sabotage? Eyewitness Argue. Lex Luthor Warns City To Maintain Its Vigilance, Offers to Match Federal Funds For Alien Investigation.'

~o~o~

It's the weekend, Clark left a message with Lois, then returned to Smallville for a short visit to talk to Ma and Pa and to rethink his career. Martha is at the computer and Clark is pointing to the headlines. They both spoke at once: "Luthor."

After Clark explained how he felt before and after falling from the bridge, Martha had a question. "On the bridge, that's the same pain you felt when you were fifteen?"

"Yes, nausea, fever, and sudden weakness." In his mind's eye, he could see himself, then he continued. "It's not like I can catch the flu, Ma, which was exactly like what I went through at fifteen, and Lex was connected to that too. He's the key; he lived here that year we were trying to become friends. And you're telling me there's no record of him in Smallville at all? School enrollment, county clerk, newspaper files?" Clark asked.

"Yes, they were purged, altered or destroyed. Hardly beyond a man as rich and powerful as Lex became. I suppose people remember…" Martha replied.

Jonathan enters and removes his hat. "I asked around, Principal Goodwin, Lana's family; you would be surprised at how many folks have been "encouraged" to change the subject whenever the Luthor name came up." He came close and gave Clark a hug from behind and Clark's glasses fell off; he placed them inside his shirt pocket.

"Rich and powerful?" Clark asked thinking of the man he met recently.

"I'm thinking," Jonathan said.

"What is it?" Clark asked curious.

"I recognize that million-mile stare, the one that says, "I blame myself. Clark, think back, you tried to help Lex, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," he replied and again saw in his mind's eye of the night he asked Lex over for dinner only being a friend. "You were both good to him, asking him to make himself at home and to welcome him."

"I remember how late you both were for dinner and then you explained that Lex tended to get into trouble at school because he appeared too old for high school. He was always fixing gadgets, appliances, missing tests, too busy fixing things. He does have a brilliant mind, and his teachers knew it," Martha said.

"That is true. I remember one evening he wanted to explain to me about the stars and how to safely use my telescope. Lex felt surprised that it was a gift and he didn't understand about gifts. I tried to explain to him about school, my teachers, and how positive I am about life, learning, friendship and my parents. He just did not get it," Clark said sadly.

"He was definitely a strange one," Martha said thinking about Lex back then.

"But a man can change in ten years, Clark, especially one so fundamentally abused and disturbed as Lex was." Jonathan remembers too.

"You can say that again. It's hard to believe he's the same guy, except for…" Clark hesitated.

"The meteorite," Jonathan finished for him.

"Except for that. I always assumed he'd lost it in the fire and the explosion that afternoon… and let's talk about that… but…" He hesitated thinking about Lex and his experiments and the last time he saw him.

~o~o~

Meanwhile, in Echo Park:

It's early evening and Lex is back at Echo Park, in his lab coat, goggles, and hearing devices to record everything to make sure he doesn't forget anything. First he closed the Park for refurbishment and gave the staff the evening off; he's all alone, reminding him of his life up until he had met Clark Kent.

Friendship to him meant talking to someone who knew him inside and out, understood him and would not judge him no matter what, but it was this one area that stood between them… his powers and abilities and of course the meteorite. He recorded the bridge test losing a precious piece of the green nonmineral in my possession. However, the payoff exceeded my wildest hopes.

Superman's molecular structure, as I had expected, is uniquely vulnerable to the meteorite's radiation. Given prolonged exposure, it's rays could end him altogether and to think… that isn't even its primary value.

As a boy, I stood at this very threshold and in one bitter moment… was denied the culmination of a lifetime's dreams and labors. It has taken me a full decade to reconstruct my designs and calculations, now, ten years later, that moment stands before me again.

Activate subspace translator… discovery a phantom zone, antigravity… telepathic sensors.

And dear God… success is sweeter than I could ever have imagined… He could see through a wormhole… Kryptonians, the familiar 'S' and what it meant…

~o~o~

Back in Smallville:

Clark and Jonathan are standing at the spot where Lex explained to him all those years ago about the meteor that they thought was buried but it's not.

"No, I had assumed it had been destroyed in the blast, but he must have saved it. And now that we're grown up, he's using it on me, intentionally this time… smart," Clark said.

"He was a smart boy; you both were."

"I just read fast Pa. Lex was born an absolute genius."

Then Clark remembered the explosion at the Luthor mansion, the last time he saw Lex. "I tried to help him that night but after I entered his lab, I felt the effects of the meteorite. I had never felt anything like it except the other day. All of Lex's work was destroyed, notes, experiments, everything was burned away." Clark saved Lex but his father died. "That was the last anyone in this town ever heard from Lex Luthor… directly anyway."

Jonathan put his arm around his son. "It's not your fault, Clark. Whatever Lex's hardships were, that darkness was inside him before you ever met. I don't care if he's more charming now, or more coherent, Lex chose to make himself into the man he is today. If you still want to take responsibility for him, then concentrate on stopping him before he hurts anyone else."

"And hope he doesn't see through my disguise," Clark said.

"He's not looking Clark, remember? Nothing good will ever come out of this hick town but Lex Luthor. Hopefully, so long as you're always extra-careful around Lex in both your identities, even if he wanted to link Superman to Smallville, his ego would not allow it."

"There will always be that danger though."

"It's a dangerous job. Fortunately, you're damn good at it."

~o~o~

Back to Metropolis:

Feeling chipper and excited to see Lois again, Clark entered the bullpen and saw Jim. "Morning Jim, how was your weekend… Jim?"

Jim and several employees were pointing and they seemed worried while looking at something outside the window.

"Too good to be true… who knew he was… what do we do now?" Jim spoke to his co-workers.

Clark came closer. "Jim, what is going on?"

He ignored him, then Lois, Mr. White and several others were also staring out the window. "Lois? Mr. White, I've been away a couple of days. I missed something newsworthy?" He asked his co-workers but they were still reading and confusion appeared on their faces.

Then he saw it and read a banner of a huge billboard. "Under Attack. Lex Luthor Provides Photo Evidence of Alien Warships with Familiar Crest. Pentagon: Superman "Just the First": Vanguard of Imminent Alien Invasion."

Clark is stunned then, "What?"

~o~o~

Minutes later, now out on the street, Lois is speaking to a fireman. "Where is Superman?" Lois asked him.

"You just missed him, Lady; I didn't see him myself, mind you, but that water tower didn't dump itself on this fire, something…"

Now at a hospital emergency zone, Lois is speaking to an intern and recording him.

"Blurred through my emergency room spreading God knows what kind of extraterrestrial bacteria and pathogens. I've already called in the Center for Disease Control to clean up. Yes, some patients, mostly those on painkillers, mind you, claim this 'Superman' stopped the east wing hazmat spill, but I don't know…"

Now out on the street, speaking to a policeman, and she is still recording.

"Whose side he's on for sure. Like he detains those perps, right? But when I tell him there are warrants out for him, too, he takes off like a shot, not five seconds ago, Miss…"

Lois is confused by this entire situation. "It doesn't sound like Superman at all," she whispered to herself.

Still confused, in her car, she managed to follow several police cars but she got lost. She did recognize the neighborhood and it is not a nice area, but she could find out what is going on. Now inside a private establishment, a crack den, it appears, but she tried to back out. She heard footsteps, and with her spine straight, she watched as several unsavory looking men came forward and she handed one her press pass.

"Lois Lane, Daily Planet," she said but regrets her decision.

One man spoke, checking her credentials and handed it back. "I recognize the name. I'm sorry you found us. You had a lot of enemies in the Giacomo family, Ms. Lane."

"Had?" She asked, nervous and worried.

"Forgive me. Unlike you, I'm no writer." He grinned but he is not impressed. "But it seems like past tense is the most proper choice. Obviously, we could simply kill you by meth, but why waste a good high?" He pulled out two handguns and pointed them at her.

She tried to run but he fired the guns. Instead of getting killed on the spot, Superman stood behind her and stopped the bullets. She looked behind her. "God… there you are. About time." Still reflecting bullets, then she said. "I have a lot of questions for you."

"Can they wait?" He asked still busy.

"No," she replied as more bullets arrived and stopped.

One man yelled. "It's him! Whoa, whoa, hold your fire! Superman, we have a message for you."

"What could you possibly have to say that I would want to hear?" Clark asked furious.

"Oh, we… we were told to make you an offer. Mister Giacomo figures that when the invasion comes, you all need an operations network. He can provide that. He proposes an alliance." He holds up the phone to Superman. "Here, I've got him on the phone."

On the line, Mr. Giacomo is listening. "Yeah, Tony, put him on, hello, is anyone there?"

Superman is gone with Lois in his arms, flying over the city. They hadn't flown together since the night of the interview.

He is worried about her. "Did they hurt you? Do you need a doctor?"

Being this close to him again in this way, made her nervous but also excited. "No, but the fact you asked certainly bolsters my belief, meaning nothing Luthor says makes any sense about you and why you're here." She paused and held on tight.

He felt relieved. "Thanks for that."

She continues and tells him what she found. "Luthor claims that you're the sentry for a race of alien warmongers because he's got an Einstein-level brainpower, that accusations making headlines and headway. You're wanted for questioning by the police, the Feds, the Department of Homeland Security, and even the United Nations and yet…." She paused to gather her composure.

"And yet?"

She stared at him feeling so many things. "Even though our total conversations don't add up to ten minutes, I've been watching you a lot longer than that, and all evidence indicates you're a good man here to help."

And with that statement, feeling bold, he leaned down. Lois froze afraid of his intentions, he stopped, then she pulled his head down and they kissed.

TBC!

~o~o~

Song Inspiration: All At Once, Whitney Houston.

A/N: Sorry to end it there, but the next update will make up for it. I do not normally write Lex only in the movie verse and a few times in the TV verse, but this book opened my eyes about Lex and his life in Smallville. I knew he was a genius but also a narcissist and with mental issues. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this. Please comment when you get time. Come back in a week.