Partners

The rest of that evening was spent in conversation that was unproductive at best and downright frustrating at worst. Unlike the first time Chloe and Clark had found themselves in a similar situation, they actually knew how they had been transported from one world to another. They also knew how to get home, it was just an utter impossibility as the crystal had shattered.

Lois had been unwilling to concede defeat in this respect – she seemed to think Clark was being obstinate on the issue just to spite her – and so the three of them had sat up until the wee small hours of the morning arguing the point. They had only finally agreed to shelve the matter until the next day when Chloe finally cracked and declared that she was going to go to bed. She further warned them both that they had a choice: either they agree to sleep on the issue and return to the discussion the next day, or she was going to give them a head injury of some sort in order to make them sleep regardless of their consent. Feeling somewhat disgruntled, they had finally agreed. Lois had set her cousin up in the guest room, and Clark had taken the couch.

When Clark awoke the next morning, it was to the rather unfamiliar smell of burnt eggs. Laying there on the couch as he tried to get his bearings, he heard the unexpected sound of laughter. Curious about what had caused such mirth, he stood slowly and took a few limping steps towards the kitchen before he remembered that he no longer needed to favor his bad leg. Clearly, though his body was no longer scarred, it would be a while until his mind recovered from his previous injury.

As he approached the kitchen door, he heard Lois say doubtfully, "…not that bad, is it?"

"Hmm…" Chloe responded thoughtfully. "Well, it's not good," she admitted.

Lois seemed to agree. "You know what I think? I think this calls for more cheese." Clark watched as she grabbed several slices of cheese from the block next to her and tossed them into the pan.

"More cheese?" Chloe asked laughingly. "You know, your eggs are almost a liquid as it is."

"A cheesy liquid," Lois corrected her. "The cheese makes all the difference!"

With a rather undignified snort, Chloe corrected her in return, "A cheesy burnt liquid, which only confirms the suspicions I had about you growing up. You really could burn water, couldn't you?"

Sounding somewhat affronted, Lois mumbled churlishly, "You know, that's not as hard as people make it sound." That seemed to be too much for Chloe, because she doubled over and howled in laughter. Sounding like she was trying to hold back her own chuckle, Lois added dryly, "Now stop criticizing and get the fire extinguisher ready. I'm going to make toast."

By the time the laughter following this remark had died down, Chloe was sitting on the ground, tears flowing down her cheeks, and Lois's face was flushed with her own amusement. Chuckling at the scene in front of him, Clark finally spoke up. "So, how's breakfast coming along?"

Lois apparently had been unaware of his approach, because at the sound of his voice, she shrieked, whirled around, and flung the spatula she'd been holding in her hand at him. Moving quickly, Clark sidestepped the projectile, but just after it whizzed past his ear, he heard it make contact with a squelchy thud. Confused, he turned to see what had been hit.

Bruce Wayne was standing directly behind Clark, his gaze fixed on the yellow liquid staining the very center of what had previously undoubtedly been a pristine white shirt. Nobody in the apartment said a word as they stared at the stain for a long moment, and then Bruce raised his head and looked at the woman standing in front of the stove. His eyebrows arched in amusement, he drawled, "You know, Lois, I think your cooking has definitely improved." At her sound of horrified laughter, he explained, "A year ago, your scrambled eggs weren't even this solid."

"B-Bruce!" she finally spluttered though her face broke out into a smile that made Clark think fairly sour thoughts. "You're here early!" She took a few steps towards him but stopped when she saw that Clark was standing nearby and had begun to wince from the effects of Kryptonite. Fingering her necklace, she threw him an apologetic look and stepped back again, and Bruce scooted past Clark to walk to Lois instead.

"It's one in the afternoon," he told her dryly, eliciting a surprised look from her.

"Er…is it really? We were up late talking so I guess we slept in," Lois explained as she brushed a kiss across his cheek.

Next to her, Chloe snorted. "That's one thing to call it, I suppose. Personally, I think it was more along the lines of arguing," she muttered darkly.

Her comment seemed to amuse the man standing next to Lois, because he chuckled. "So I take it you're more level-headed than these two?"

With a cheeky grin, she replied, "Not always. But it's really hard to be less level-headed than Lois, so I invariably look good in comparison." While her cousin made a sound of affronted protest, Chloe winked and leaned towards Bruce conspiratorially. "It really worked in my favor when we were growing up. I was no angel, don't get me wrong, but when compared with the trouble Lois used to get herself into…well, let's just say I managed to weasel out of more than a few groundings by reminding my dad that it could have been worse. I could have been with Lois."

Clark felt like the odd man out as he watched the scene in front of him. Bruce and Chloe were laughing at the latter's joke, and even as Lois cried out in reproach and tossed her oven mitt at her cousin, she was giggling. Only Clark was the only person who was not involved in the scene – indeed, he was the only person who couldn't join the group as the Kryptonite Lois wore ensured that he had to maintain a very careful distance from her at all times. He knew that there was more than physical distance between himself and the people in front of him, however. The ghost of Kal-El was almost a tangible presence, an unscalable wall between himself, Lois, and Bruce.

Clark was lost in his own dark musings, bitterly resigning himself to the thought that clearly nobody planned to acknowledge his presence in a way that didn't involve flung spatulas, when Lois said, "Sorry about the shirt, Bruce. And…ah…Kal-lark…er, Clark…um…I shouldn't have thrown the spatula at you. You just surprised me, that's all." It wasn't quite an apology but it appeared to be the best she could do at present. While she was trying to see him as different from Kal-El, she obviously hadn't managed to clearly distinguish them in her own mind just yet.

Though his bitter thoughts had made him feel anything but civil and he was privately wondering how many mornings he'd be faced with the prospect of dodging projectiles, Clark mustered the graciousness to say, "No problem," though he couldn't entirely keep the churlish note out of her voice.

He immediately felt like an ass as his reply caused the good humor in the kitchen to instantly evaporate. Lois shot a quick glance at his face and toyed with her pendant as she shifted her weight from one foot to another. Then, sounding a little unsure, she asked a little too brightly, "S-so, should we have breakfast?"

"Sure, I'll have some eggs," Bruce offered confidently.

"You'd think you'd know better by now," Chloe said, the brightness in her own voice ringing a little false.

Bruce alone sounded unfazed by the sour note Clark had unintentionally injected into the afternoon's humor. "Oh, believe me. I do," he told Chloe dryly. "But if I refuse, I'll be hearing from Alfred later. You'd be surprised how devious that man can be when he's miffed with me; I'll be dealing with overly starched shirts for weeks."

The petite blonde beside him snorted. "Maybe you should introduce him to some of Lois's cooking. If this is a representative sample, I'm sure he'd come to understand why he should be wary of making you eat it."

With a grin, he responded, "Oh, he's eaten some of her cooking. That's why he expects me to do likewise. To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure if it's his passive-aggressive way of making me pay for the stomachache he'd suffered from that evening or if it's simply his way of reminding me what a good cook he is in case I'm ever tempted to fire him. Either way, I don't dare refuse."

"You know," Lois said conversationally through gritted teeth, "I can only pretend to be deaf for so long, and if you think Alfred can be devious about making you pay for being a jerk, just imagine what I can do to you."

That wiped the smile off his face. "Er…I'll have an extra helping, if you can manage it," he said hastily.

"Damn right you will," Lois grumbled, though the corners of her lips were twitching once more. "How 'bout you, Chloe?"

Chloe blanched. "I-I'm not very hungry, actually. I'll just have toast. I can take care of it!" she added hastily as Lois turned towards the toaster.

"I'll take some," Clark spoke up from his position in the doorway, surprising everyone in the room. Lois recovered quickly, and Clark watched his hostess grab a plate and spoon a meager amount of eggs onto it. As he compared the plate she'd prepared for him with the Bruce was eyeing in dismay that had been prepared for him, he added, "Actually, I'm…I'm pretty hungry this morning. Could I have some more?"

"Y-you're sure?" Lois asked in shock. "Maybe you should try some first before you commit to anything. Chloe and Bruce aren't really kidding about my cooking, and I don't really want to make anyone sick."

Clark grinned, happy to have her undivided attention for once. "It's okay. I've had your cooking before; I know what I'm in for," he lied. "You haven't managed to kill me yet."

Though part of him was worried that he might have just bitten off more than he could chew (for all he knew, her cooking really could be more than even his stomach could handle), when the cold look she always seemed to have in her eyes when she gazed at him thawed a little and her face dissolved into a smile, he decided it just might be worth it. When Bruce then noticed her smile and glowered in Clark's direction, any doubt the latter might have had dissolved. He didn't care if it killed him; that his offer had so moved Lois and so annoyed Bruce made the risk of a little food poisoning absolutely worthwhile.

"O-okay," she agreed warmly, turning back to the stove to spoon the rest of the eggs onto his plate. "Wow…I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but I think I have to make some more! Why don't you guys get started, and I'll join you in just a few minutes?"

Chloe grabbed Clark's plate off the counter while Lois started cracking eggs again, and then the three of them – Bruce, Chloe, and Clark – walked to the small table nearby and prepared to eat. As they seated themselves, Bruce and Clark locked eyes and, staring confrontationally at each other, scooped some eggs onto their spoon and took a defiant bite.

It was all Clark could do to swallow that first bite without gagging. However, when he saw the cocky grin being thrown at him by the man across the table, he found the strength to choke the cheesy ooze down and scooped up another spoonful.

Spoonful after spoonful, the two men matched each other bite for bite as they wolfed down the food. When they were done, Bruce drawled, "I think I'm still hungry. You?"

"Yeah," Clark said nonchalantly, as if his stomach wasn't already giving protest over the food it had just consumed. "It was pretty good, actually. I could go for more."

With his eyes still locked on Clark's, Bruce called out, "Hey, Lo…?" Clark wanted to punch him. "You don't happen to have any more eggs, would you? Clark and I are still pretty hungry."

Because of her necklace, Clark knew she was coming before she even poked her head through the door. He hadn't expected her to look so adorable, though, as she asked with a grin that could light up Monroe Square Gardens, "Really? You guys really liked it? I knew the cheese would make all the difference! I-I'll be right back!"

Chloe didn't seem to be as amused as she watched the scene play out before her. As soon as Lois's head ducked through the doorway again and Clark heard her socked feet slide across the linoleum as she darted towards the stove, Chloe took advantage of the moment of privacy. Jumping to her feet, she muttered darkly, "You guys are both jerks, and I hope those eggs make you sick. It's the least you deserve."

Clark was completely baffled by his companion's inexplicable ire, and by the look on Bruce's face, he could tell he wasn't alone. When neither man was able to provide an adequate response (or was even able to contemplate what type of response that would be), Chloe gave a huff of frustration and stormed back to the kitchen, almost careening with Lois as she came bolting back into the room with a pan full of eggs in her hand.

"Here!" she said breathlessly as she scooped her offering onto the two plates. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she babbled when she saw Clark jerk back fast enough to almost topple off the seat; she'd gotten too close with the Kryptonite. Moving fast, she flung the eggs onto the plate and then scampered backwards to a safe distance, watching the men at the table with a hopeful look on her face. "Y-you guys did want more, didn't you?" she asked a little nervously.

"Oh, yeah," Clark responded.

"Definitely," Bruce added, and the two resumed their silent contest.

Clark had to admit that the first batch had been a marked improvement over the second. Though he hadn't thought her scrambled eggs could get any worse, an addition of what tasted like three tablespoons of salt soon proved him wrong. As revolting as the eggs were, however, he figured he could take it. He wasn't about to claim defeat before Bruce did, not if he had anything to say about it.

Only about halfway through the second plate, however, Clark discovered that he didn't have anything to say about it as his body began to burn. Letting out a cry of agony, he looked up through the haze of pain to see Lois standing next to him, fury written in every line of her face as she grabbed the plate of eggs from out in front of him. Thankfully, the agony abated a bit as she walked around the table and snatched Bruce's plate away as well.

"Lois –?" Bruce began as Clark tried to regain his breath.

"W-what –?" he finally managed to choke out when she'd gotten far enough away for the pain to fade.

Looking at Lois's face, Clark could see that she was livid. He just didn't understand why. Glaring at the both of them, she snarled, "Don't even pretend like you don't know! I can't believe you two! You know, the next time the two of you decide to measure the size of your respective…testosterone, you can leave me the hell out of it! You boys feel the need to fight over toys or mark your territory, that's fine! But I'm not about to be impressed that a jerk won some stupid context, and I'm not some prize either of you stand to win, you get that? Don't you ever pull something like that again!"

"B-but we weren't…!" Bruce said quickly as he jumped to his feet. While it looked like he wanted to pull Lois in his arms, the look she gave him froze him in his tracks. Clark couldn't blame the other man for not moving forward; the look in Lois's eyes could have frozen concrete.

"Oh, you know exactly what you were doing!" Though her anger was still palpable, as she spoke, Clark could tell that she was as hurt as she was livid. "I thought you wanted more eggs because you guys actually liked them, that I'd cooked something good for a change, and you two were hungry for more. But that's not what you were doing, is it? You wanted more eggs because you thought they were disgusting and you wanted to know who would flinch first…or maybe get sick first." Looking from one man to the other, she challenged, "I'm right, aren't I?"

"I-it wasn't like that!" Bruce protested, but Lois wasn't listening. With one final glare, she whirled and stormed back into the kitchen, muttering darkly all the while as the two men were left exchanging mystified glances with each other in her wake.

Chloe, deciding to take pity on the two men, shook her head in exasperation. "Come on, you two. I think we should probably leave Lois alone for a little while. Why don't we figure out what we're going to do today while she calms down a bit." The loud clanging of pans in the kitchen accentuated Chloe's statement and made the younger girl wince. "Er…we may have a while."

Clark wasn't about to argue; he had a feeling it would be a good idea to stay as far away from the irate woman with the frying pans as possible. Had he thought about it, he'd have realized that Lois could do him no actual physical harm, so long as he kept his distance from her. However, that logic was drowned out by the voice of reason that was screaming rather loudly that powers or no powers, he did not want to risk crossing Lois Lane. No, for the moment, it was definitely best to keep a safe distance. He heard a loud clanging from the kitchen. A very safe distance.

"Does anyone want to fill me in on what you've discussed so far?" Bruce asked as he took a seat next to Chloe on the couch, leaving Clark to take the chair nearby. He didn't mind the arrangement; while Chloe and Bruce chatted, he wanted to take the time to mull things over.

When Lois had come to his world, everyone had been faced with the problem of discovering how she'd come and how to get her home. This time, Clark already knew the physical mechanism that had brought him and Chloe into another world. Unfortunately, the crystal had shattered, so it would be of no use to him now. But did the Kal-El of this world have a crystal of his own that they could use? Would it be enough, he wondered, to simply find the crystal if it did exist and wish that it send him home, or was there something more here that he was supposed to do? Would Jor-El be able to give him any answers, or was he on his own? And why, when he made the wish he had, had he been brought here to this world, of all places?

There were dozens of questions that didn't seem to have any answers, at least none that would come easily. The only person Clark could think of who might have answers for him would be found in the Arctic if at all, but even if the portal in the Kawatche Caves still worked in this reality, he had no idea where he'd even begin to look for the key.

As he sat lost in his thoughts, Lois finally finished taking her anger out on the dishes and walked back into the living room, taking a seat in a chair on Chloe's left, as far away from Clark as possible. "So," she said conversationally, as if she hadn't been contemplating throttling two-thirds of the group in front of her ten minutes before. "What are we talking about?"

Bruce leaned forward and turned his body towards Lois. "Actually, Chloe was just telling me that they figured out how Lois…that is, the other Lois…was transported to their world because her arrival was accompanied by an E.M.P.. Maybe we should see if a similar pulse accompanied Clark and Chloe when they arrived here."

"I don't know," Clark said slowly. "I mean, tracing the E.M.P. helped us figure out how Lois had gotten to our world, but it wasn't really helpful beyond that. I'm not sure what else the E.M.P., if there was one, could tell us that we don't already know. I mean, we know that a Kryptonian crystal brought us here, but the crystal broke when we arrived."

"Do you think there's a similar one here?" Chloe asked.

He frowned thoughtfully. "I've been thinking about that, but I couldn't say for sure. I just don't know what Kal-El has done and what he hasn't done in this world. If there's a Fortress of Solitude here, it's possible that there's a similar crystal inside. I just don't know if Kal-El ever brought the stones together. Even if he did, it's possible that the Fortress could have been destroyed since. I just don't have any way of knowing."

At this, Lois spoke up. "Okay, question. What exactly is this Fortress of Solitude you keep mentioning? It sounds like something a ten year old would name a tree house."

As the corner of his mouth lifted in amusement, Clark admitted, "I never really thought about it that way, but I guess you're right. Actually, it's…er…a little hard to explain. It's what's left of Krypton. Well, to be more accurate, it's sort of like a mini-Krypton here on Earth. See, there were these three stones, scattered around the Earth, that Jor-El – my Kryptonian father – wanted me to find. When they were brought together, they formed a crystal, and the Fortress grew out of that. Back on my world, when I was Kal-El for a while…again, long story…I gathered all the stones and built the Fortress before giving up my powers. Here…" He paused and shrugged. "It's probable that Kal-El did this same, but I can't guarantee it."

"Okay," Lois replied wryly. "Well, I think we should all pretend like what you just said didn't sound completely insane and go from there. Can we just go to where the Fortress should be and see if it's there? That might be the easiest way."

"N-not really," Clark replied sheepishly. "It's in the Arctic. Kal-El may be able to fly there, but I can't, and while there should be a portal in Smallville, where I grew up, it requires a key. I don't have the key, and I don't know where it is."

"Right…helpful," she replied on a heavy sigh.

Bruce interjected, "Is there anyone who might know if the Fortress exists and, if so, where we could find the key to get there?"

Ducking his head, Clark considered the question. Finally, he said almost reluctantly, "There are two people who might know enough about Kal-El to be able to help us. The first is my mom, but…I don't know where she is. I tried to find her in Smallville, but they said she'd moved and nobody seemed to know where she'd gone."

"And the other?" Bruce prompted, but Clark didn't quite have the nerve to reply. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to risk ripping open an old wound.

Luckily – or perhaps unluckily, depending on one's point of view – Chloe was there to answer for him. "You think…Lana?" she asked softly, looking at him in concern.

"It's possible," he admitted heavily. "I just don't know. I think it's possible that Kal-El told Lana his secrets, but I'm not sure I really want to…Lana was really hurt when she found out about me. My Lana, I mean. She was scared, and she…if she reacted the same way here, I'm not sure I want to risk opening up old wounds for her again."

"But, still…if it's the only way to get home…" Chloe reminded him gently.

"I just don't want to hurt her more than I already have," he returned. "Well…any more than I assume Kal-El already has."

At this, Lois spoke up again. "Okay, so we don't go to Lola right away."

"Lana," Clark corrected her quickly.

With a wave of her hand, she said nonchalantly, "Whatever. Why don't we see if we can find your mom first; we'll worry about Lena after that."

Clark was about to correct her again, but before he could, Chloe asked, "So what should we do first? Try to find Mrs. Kent, or investigate the E.M.P.? I still think it might be helpful to see if there was a similar pulse here on this world as there was on ours. After all, the pulse came out of the caves, not from the north. There may be another portal here in this world that's not in the caves. It is possible, right?"

"I suppose so," Clark admitted. "But…I do…I do really want to find my mom," he admitted. He had a promise to live up to, after all, and even if he hadn't, he needed to see that his mom was okay in this world.

"So we split up," Bruce offered. "Two of us investigate the E.M.P., if there was one. The other two try to track down Mrs. Kent. Lois, why don't you and I go to my office to work on the E.M.P.?"

Lois looked less than enthusiastic about this prospect. "Somehow, I think you're forgetting how spectacularly bad I am at science stuff. It makes no sense for me to sit there staring at computer readouts that would put me to sleep even if I understood them, which I probably wouldn't. It makes much more sense for me to try to track down Mrs. Kent. Chloe and I could do that, and you and Clark can deal with that scientific mumbo-jumbo."

"Wait a minute," Clark interjected. "If anyone's going to find my mom, don't you think it makes sense that it should be me?"

Arching an eyebrow at him, Lois replied, "Maybe not. Remember, in this world, Kal-El isn't exactly the same person you are. I'm thinking there are probably a number of bridges he's burned, and I wouldn't be surprised if his relationship with his mom was one of them. All things considered, she may need a little warning before you just show up at her door."

Though Clark couldn't entirely argue the point, he still wasn't willing to give in. "I understand, but she's still my mom. I-I need to be the one to find her. Even if she tells me she never wants to see me again, I need to see that she's okay." A part of him couldn't imagine that his mom would ever want such a thing as to never see him again, but having met Lois, he was trying to come to terms with the fact that she could want just that. He was going to have to prepare himself, just in case.

"Okay, so Clark and Lois go find Mrs. Kent, and Bruce and I can work together on the E.M.P.," Chloe suggested with a curiously bright voice. A heavy silence met her remark, in which everyone traded uncomfortable glances. After a moment, she explained reasonably, "It makes sense."

Though Bruce didn't argue the truth of her statement, he still seemed reluctant to agree with what she'd said. "Still…I'm not comfortable with the idea of Lois and…" Clark didn't know if it was good manners or some other source of prudence that stopped him from finishing the sentence, but it wasn't like everyone in the group couldn't fill in the gaps. He still didn't trust Clark enough to trust him alone with Lois – which was fine, because Clark wasn't entirely certain he was up to spending so much time alone with Lois just yet.

Lois, on the other hand, didn't seem inclined to let good manners stop her from speaking her mind. "Yeaaaah," she said drawing out the word. "I'm not really sure that's a good idea. I can't get close to him, remember? I am wearing Kryptonite, after all."

"You don't trust us enough to take it off?" Chloe asked, sounding slightly wounded.

Clark saw Lois's lips tighten and her hand raise to finger her pendant, and he blurted, "No, it's okay. She should keep it on."

Everyone looked at him in surprise. "Are you crazy?" Chloe finally demanded in an undertone that was clearly meant to be directed for his ears only but was hissed loud enough that their companions could only have failed to hear her if they had been both deaf and in a different apartment.

"She shouldn't take it off unless she feels ready to do so," he explained. Then looking to Lois, he met her astonished gaze and said softly, "It's her protection; it keeps her safe. I would never do anything to take that away from her."

He kept his gaze locked on hers until she tore her eyes away, and then he glanced around at the group. Chloe was looking vaguely dissatisfied; Bruce was wearing an inscrutable expression. "I don't want to force Lois to take it off either, but what do we do instead?" Chloe asked unhappily. "Lois and I work on the E.M.P. while you and Bruce track down your mom?"

"This is getting ridiculous!" Lois finally exclaimed irritably. "Bruce has to investigate the pulse; not only is he somehow not bored to tears by science stuff, he's the only one of us who has the ability to get what we need to look into it. At least, he can get it faster than any of the rest of us can. Trust me on this. Clark wants to find his mom, and I should be the one to help him. I'm really going to be more superfluous than helpful if I try to help Bruce with the technological side of things – the last time I was let loose at Bruce's office, it was a disaster. Things got broken; I don't like to talk about it. So it only makes sense for Chloe to work with Bruce, and Clark and I will track down Mrs. Kent."

"Lois, you can't…!" Bruce began to protest, but she cut him off.

"It'll be fine, Bruce," she said reassuringly, her tone softening.

Not placated by her assurances, he growled, "I don't trust him."

Her expression didn't so much as flicker as she murmured softly, "Then trust me." Though Clark could tell Bruce wasn't entirely satisfied, his mouth snapped shut and he refrained from arguing any further. Apparently satisfied by her small victory, Lois turned her attention back to Clark. "We'll figure something out," she said for the benefit of the group, though the way she was staring at him made him wonder if she wasn't looking for a similar reassurance from him.

Whether everyone believed her or whether nobody was eager to argue the point any longer, nobody spoke into the silence that fell following this remark. Finally, Chloe asked uncertainly, "So…sh-should we get started?"

"Definitely," Lois said firmly as she jumped to her feet. "Bruce, can I talk to you for a second?"

As Lois and Bruce moved away from the group to speak quietly amongst themselves, Chloe turned to Clark, a small frown creasing a line between her brows. "Are you sure this is a good idea? That Kryptonite…and you don't know what you'll find if you do track down your mom. Just from what little we know about Kal-El…are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?"

"No," he admitted. "I don't know what he's done, but I know he let them down. My father is dead in this world; my mom moved away from Smallville after she lost everything. He let them down, and I have to make that up to her in whatever way I can. If I don't try, who will?"

Chloe didn't appear satisfied, but their moment of privacy had ended. Lois and Bruce exchanged a quick hug, and then Bruce turned back to the blonde by Clark's side. Though his face was grave, he offered his arm in a gallant gesture and asked, "Shall we go?"

A slight blush stained Chloe's cheeks as she laid a tentative hand on his arm and smiled up into his face and walked with him to the door. "If you're not worried about being shown up by a girl," she teased, and the front door shut behind them, cutting off his reply.

Walking into his line of vision, Lois shook her head with mock exasperation and rolled her eyes. "I swear, that man should come with some sort of Surgeon General's warning. If anyone ever figured out how to bottle that charm, no woman in the world would be safe."

Tilting his head slightly, Clark regarded her curiously. "Are you? Unsafe, that is."

Snickering, she arched her eyebrows at him. "Am I under his thrall, do you mean? Please! I'm a special case, and he's good but he's not that good. Besides, Bruce and I are just friends. He isn't particularly interested in trying to sweep me off my feet, so I'm pretty sure I'm safe." Clark wasn't as entirely certain of Bruce's intentions as his companion appeared to be, but Lois didn't seem to notice. "Anyway, we have other things to worry about just now. So, how are we going to work together without killing each other?"

Clark grimaced. Edging forward, he got as close as he could to her, stopping when the pain intensified from a dull but tolerable ache to a mind-numbingly searing burn. "Okay," he gasped, staggering backwards until the pain faded once more. Gauging the distance between them, he estimated it to be roughly around six or seven feet. "I think this is about as close as we can get to each other. At least…no offense…it's as close as I feel comfortable getting to you."

Lois's mouth twitched in appreciation of his humor. "Not a fan of my perfume, huh?" she teased. Then, frowning slightly, she too considered the distance between them. "It is a bit much if we're to work together, isn't it?"

Because he was enjoying the novelty of lighthearted banter between the two of them, he replied jokingly, "No, not at all. I can run into town to pick up some handheld radios, and we can communicate that way. I don't see the problem there; do you?"

She threw him a tight smile in appreciation of his attempt, but even as she did so, she shook her head and began to finger her necklace once more. "I just…I can't take this off yet. I know rationally that you and Kal-El are not the same man, but still…I'm just not ready."

Her words sobered him instantly. "I know, Lois, and believe me when I say that the last thing I want is for you to feel the least bit scared by being around me. At the same time…well, I know you don't trust me, but if we're going to work together, we'll need to find a way around this."

She gave a grudging nod in acknowledgement of his words, and he decided that would suffice for the moment. Switching gears suddenly, he said, "Well, I suppose we can work around it for now while we try to find my mom. Any suggestions about where we should start?"

With a firm nod, she gestured towards her computer. "I think the most logical thing to do would be to start an Internet search. Chances are likely we'll find a hit somewhere. Why don't you get started on that, and I'll call some people I know, see if there's any information they can give me? Even if we can just get a list of addresses, it'll at least be a place to start. Any idea what city she lives in?"

"Not really," he admitted ruefully. "I just know that she moved away from Smallville after my dad died."

"It's not much to go on," Lois admitted, "But I've worked with less. Why don't you start the Internet search, and I'll make a few phone calls?"

Nodding, Clark walked to the computer to do as she suggested. As he lowered himself into the chair and waited for her computer to boot up, however, he took a moment to ponder the woman who was currently rifling through a Rolodex on the counter.

She didn't trust him, and she didn't like the Kal-El that she'd known, but she was still willing to help him anyway. There were probably a thousand things she'd rather be doing then helping him track down a woman she'd never met, and there were probably a million reasons why she felt like she should leave him to his own devices. But she was helping him anyway. Maybe this Lois wasn't like the Lois he'd known before, but she wasn't entirely dissimilar, either.

With a slight frown, Clark pulled his mind off thoughts that would get him nowhere and turned his attention back to the computer screen. He didn't have time to ponder the different sides of the woman who was, at least for the moment, acting as his partner. He had to find his mom.