Clark found Lois on the roof of the Daily Planet. Instead of smoking, she was eating a candy bar. Lois heard the familiar thud of Superman landing on the roof. She turned around and smiled.

"You should be proud of me," she said, "I wanted a cigarette, but I settled for chocolate. I don't know why I came out on the roof to eat it. Habit, I guess."

"I have to something important to tell you."

"What a coincidence. So do I."

"Maybe you should go first," he said.

"Okay. I've been doing a lot of thinking. I don't love Richard, at least not in a romantic way. Richard is a wonderful man. He's been there for Jason and me, but it's not fair to him. I'm not stupid. He loves me, and he's been hoping if he waits long enough, I'll love him too, but it's not going to happen. I don't know that I want to end things with him. It's comfortable and steady. I have to be honest with him though, so he can make a decision.

"As far as Jason goes, I want you in his life but not as his father. He's not ready for it. He thinks Richard is his dad, and he loves him. Maybe one day we can all sit down and tell him, but he's been through so much lately. Kidnapping and near death experiences. One positive thing that came out of being kidnapped is that he isn't allergic to kryptonite or at least it isn't effective immediately, but he does have other allergies. I don't think I told you that he recently developed your super strength. He pushed a piano and killed a guy to save me. Can you imagine being in kindergarten and suddenly you're unbelievably strong, you've killed a person, and then you find out your father's not your father? He's a resilient kid, but I'm not sure how much he can handle."

"I understand, and I agree."

"That's good to hear. Now what's your news?"

"I still love you, and I have to be honest with you. There's no easy way to tell you this, so I'm just going to say it. I'm Clark Kent. Superman is a disguise that I use to save people in."

Lois stared at him.

"Aren't you going to yell?" he asked, finding her silence disturbing.

"Why? It's my own fault for being stupid and not chasing the story down. I knew you had a secret, Clark, but I thought 'Stay out of his personal life, Lois. If it concerns you, he'll tell you. Lana kept pushing him for his secret and it wrecked their relationship.' Gosh, I'm stupid. I had a child with you, and I didn't know you were Clark. I knew you when you weren't wearing glasses. You both disappear and return at the same time. Maybe I kind of suspected that you were deep down, but I ignored it. Do other people know?"

"My mom does, of course. Chloe, Bruce, and Alfred know."

"I bet you all sat around, laughing and pitying me. Poor, dumb Lois doesn't even know who the father of her child really is. I am mad at you after all, Clark. If you run into your Gotham City buddies, tell them I'm mad at them too. I don't talk to the people that I'm mad at, so it's been nice knowing you, Superman or Clark or whoever you are," she turned around and stormed away.

When Clark came back into the office, Lois still looked mad. He hoped she would cool down and find it in her heart to forgive him.

"Lane, Kent in my office now!" Perry yelled.

That was strange. They hadn't been called into his office together in a long time.

"Some people in Metropolis think they've spotted some weird sort of alien that's not Superman. Now normally I leave these stories for rags like the Inquisitor, but everyone's stories seem to correlate. I want you two to interview some of these people and get to the bottom of this."

"I am not working with Clark. What about Richard?"

"I have Richard working on another story. Besides, you and Kent are the best reporting team I've ever seen. You're unstoppable. I'm not going to make you partners if you don't want to be, but as editor, I have to put the reporters together that I think can do this. I can't take into account who's engaged to whom or who's mad at whom. Feelings belong in your personal life. Got it?"

"Got it," she growled. She punched Clark's shoulder and said, "Let's go."

Clark instinctively rubbed his shoulder like it hurt, which probably made Lois angrier. How they would complete this story successfully, he had no idea.