DC Comics and Bad Hat Harry Productions still own what they own. Trish still appears courtesy of Speakfire.
Jimmy, Trish and Jason stepped out of the darkroom and looked around the much brighter newsroom. "Dad, Mr. Clark!" Jason ran up to Richard and gave his leg a hug.
Clark waived hi to Jason as he walked on over to his desk and picked up his blazer.
Richard reached down and patted his son on the back. Then squatted down hugged him and picked him up. "Oh, Dad, me and Trish helped Jimmy develop his pitchers of the bad bald man's house. There's one there that we've got to show Superman."
"Really?" Richard looked over at Clark and tried to gesture with his hands while holding his son.
"Yeah, it's a pitcher of a 'speriment in the basement with a huge crystal. It looks just like the ones where the bad bald man took me and Mommy in his boat."
"You don't say." Richard looked Jason in the eyes with rapt attention.
"I do say."
"What else did you guys develop pictures of?"
"Mmmm, the house? I don't remember the other ones too good."
"Trish?" queried the editor, "What about the other photos."
"Let's see…" the intern began. "Mr. Olson had us develop pictures of the ocean liner guy's house, the Metropolis Power and Light Offices, one of the power plants, an MPL official in front of the power plant, you know stuff like that."
"Daddy, I know you gotta go get the paper to the presses, but can me and Mr. Clark take these pitchers up to the roof and show 'em to Superman? I gotta talk to him about something anyway."
"I don't know, sport," said Clark trying on his fedora hat with the blazer. He studied himself in a reflection in the dark monitor on Lois's desk. He appeared not to like what he saw. "Your mom is up there probably waiting for him right now."
"Then we gotta go, Mr. Clark. We gotta go now, before he finishes talking to her and flies off."
Ever the editor, Richard looked seriously at the group. "Jimmy, Clark, you two choose a picture, I'll take Jason up to the roof." Father and son made their way over to the elevators.
Jimmy and Clark looked at each other. Trish watched carefully. Both the photographer and reporter slipped back into wordless communication they had shared years before when they worked together all the time, before Clark and Superman had both dropped off the face of the earth. "Show me," said Clark.
Jimmy spread them out, "The best one is the one of the MPL guy in front of the power plant."
"I think so, too. Send that one down along with the story. Thanks, Jimmy."
"Trish," Clark focused on the intern as though she were the most important person in the room. "I need you to continue sorting those old story files that Mr. White and Mr. Richard passed on to us.
"Read the first two paragraphs to get the gist of what it's about. Anything that you don't actually remember happening, put in the large box. The rest put on top of my notebook computer, okay?"
As the teen listened, she wondered if this was how it felt to talk to Superman. She wondered if Superman made people feel like they were the most important person around. She decided that he must. Otherwise he wouldn't be very super, just powerful. When she looked back up Clark was gone.