---- Chapter 35
"I hadn't ever realized until now just how long work could seem without coffee in the morning to give me a kick in the ass to wake up. It's kind of unbelievable, really, because as much as I love it here at the Planet, I really feel like going home and going back to bed right now."
"You could drink decaffeinated coffee, Lois. It's not like it's unavailable to you. You're the one who said that coffee without caffeine is just a brown drink not worth having."
Lois glared at Clark, who in her mind should have at least faked sympathy in response. Here she was, his pregnant wife, tired the Monday after a five day weekend as she was barred from having the elixir that she loved so much, and he was taunting her with her own damn quotes! She was happy that he was Kryptonian because it meant her attempts to strangle him couldn't succeed. Otherwise he might be in trouble.
She spun around once in her desk chair, losing the battle to focus her mind in on the story Perry had assigned them when they'd walked in that morning. Apparently there was a big news conference about something at City Hall in a couple hours and they were being sent to cover it. Until then, they were to brainstorm on what could be the topic of conversation. She didn't think she could be much help on this.
"Ok, Smallville, start your brain on some thunder and lightning. I don't have a clue on what could be going on at City Hall these days to warrant this occasion because I don't even know who the mayor is."
"We are currently in the midst of the Sackett administration. He promotes education, cleaning up the city and being in the pocket of Lex."
Lois say up, looking at Clark. "The Mayor's in Lex's pocket too?"
"Unlike the city council, it's a pretty open fact that Sackett is Lex's puppet. Lex was the main monetary contributor to his campaign, not to mention the political minds he hired to make sure that he won."
"Then why the hell aren't we going after him? It seems like an open and shut article."
"We have. We've done something like six articles showing the links between the two before and after the election. One of them actually resulted in a recall vote that only failed by about a couple thousand votes. It was such a big deal that nearly ninety percent of the city voted."
"How could a recall vote possibly fail? If somebody is obviously in the pocket of somebody else, especially Lex Luthor, shouldn't people rise up and bitch slap the guy? Does the populace not yet realize just how bad of a person Lex really is?"
Clark shrugged at her, rubbing at one of his ears before he spoke. "Lex still gives off this persona of being a humanitarian, interested in doing what's best for everybody. While the people in Smallville knew it was a sham, he's refined his act quite a bit since then. Giant donations to numerous charities, most of which he owns and can filter the money away from, has kept people from looking too deeply at what he does.
"Unfortunately, a lot of people are also afraid of what will happen to them if they go against him. The Star has a policy that they won't break any news that negatively affects him. Once somebody else breaks the news and has the spotlight, they'll jump all over it, but until then..." He shrugged again and Lois felt her frown deepen.
"What the hell happened to journalists? We're supposed to be the watchdogs that keep people in line, but an entire newspaper actually has a policy to not break news about somebody! If the editor or writers at The Star had any balls, they'd be out there acting like real journalists and taking the chances."
Lois stood up, unable to find an outlet for her frustration while sitting down. She rubbed at one of her temples a second before she took a couple deep breaths to calm herself down. She really didn't need to let this make her angry and stressed out, because that probably wouldn't be good for AJ. She sat back down, letting one hand rest on her stomach, slowly tracing circles over the spot she'd felt AJ on Friday.
"Please tell me that the Planet never tried to enact such ridiculousness because the board was afraid of Lex."
"Oh, I wish I could. Perry was threatening to resign if they tried to hobble us, and that stayed their hand for a couple weeks, but they decided to go ahead with it anyway."
---
"This is total bullshit! They're going to screw with our ability to report the news, let you resign and still have the audacity to call this The Daily Planet? The Daily Wimp would be a much more accurate name!"
Clark sat next to Lois in Perry's office, both of them watching him pack up his things. It had been two months since she'd forgotten again, and it had been a tumultuous two months to say the least. It seemed that his engagement to Lois had been a catalyst for everything to start going sideways.
The memory loss had been the beginning of it, the first major event. Clark had called Chloe after trying to explain everything to Lois, finding her to be less than believing of the truth, most of which she thought was ridiculous. Chloe had flown to Metropolis a few hours later.
Bruce and Jack had arrived that night, and the Wayne clan stayed for a few days while they all did their best to help Lois with the transition. Chloe said that it went as well as it had when she'd forgotten in 2013, which they both assumed was as well as could be expected when breaking this sort of news to somebody. Really, how were things SUPPOSED to go when telling somebody they have an unbelievable form of amnesia?
A few weeks and some strange transition after that, they'd gotten a call from Bruce that Jack was in the hospital with a serious infection. He'd been tempted to reveal his secret to her right then so they could go right away, but decided against it. It turned out he didn't need to anyway; Lois had called her dad and asked him to get them a flight to Gotham when every commercial flight had been booked solid.
Jack was released a week later, on his second birthday, but not after some tense moments. Chloe had yelled at two of the finest pediatricians in the country, which Lois had found funny because Jack was already getting better and she hadn't yelled when he wasn't. Clark thought that it was touching, but wished he had never had to see it. He'd have preferred that Jack had never been sick at all, as they all did.
The next Friday at work, the news had hit that the board was considering a similar ban to the one that The Star had enacted. That had brought them to where they were now.
"Look, hon, I agree with you. That's why I resigned: I don't want to work for a newspaper that isn't willing to actually be a newspaper, too scared to be useful to its readers. Anything dealing with Lex Luthor doing something illegal should be top story most days, front and center. If a paper in his hometown isn't willing to do that, I'll find one somewhere else that is."
Clark decided to chime in. "Where do you think you're going to go, Chief?"
"I've heard that the editor of the Los Angeles Times is on thin ice because of falling sales, so I might head out west to see where the heads. Hell, twenty minutes after I submitted my resignation I got a call from Newsweek, but I'm a newspaper man at heart. For the next couple weeks, though, I plan on doing some relaxing to let my blood pressure go back to a level that doesn't require medication."
"I'm quitting too."
Clark looked over at Lois, not believing what he was hearing. "WHAT?"
"You heard me. If they don't want to cover Lex Luthor in all his evil bastard glory, then I don't want to work here anymore either. I can find a new job with a paper that isn't scared of the news. I'll go where you go, Perry, if they'll have me."
"Any paper that's in print would want to have you, Lois, but are you sure about this?"
"I wanted to work at the Daily Planet because it was the best. The best stories, the best writers and the best editor. Then we got an even better editor in you. Chloe's gone and now the board is doing its best to not be the best anymore, so I don't want to work here."
"But Lo..."
"You still haven't earned the use of that nickname, Smallville."
Clark rolled his eyes, rubbing a hand over his face. Apparently today was going to be a difficult day when it came to the details. It made sense, though, since she was all kinds of pissed off. He was going to have to approach this one softly.
"Look, Lois, I admire your position on this, I really do, but you've made such a difference here. All your coverage of Superman has really helped the world accept him and see what he stands for. He might have been feared like Batman, which is something he's admitted to not wanting."
"Oh come on, Smallville. Superman doesn't need me anymore, and since I can't remember all the articles or investigations we did together anyway, I don't think I'm much use to him. If need be, I can refer him to you for articles that he wants written."
"I don't think he's ever actually requested an article written, Lois."
She threw her hands up in the air. "Who cares? I mean, yeah, I really like the guy because he's amazing and has the looks of Greek God..."
She trailed off and just stared into space for a minute. Clark looked to Perry, who rolled his eyes and motioned for Clark to snap her out of her reverie. Of course it fell to him since he was the guy that was engaged to her for a whole... what, twelve hours before she forgot? He knew better than anyone that she hated being snapped out of a reverie because one, she hated being accused of getting lost in a daydream, and two, she liked her daydreams.
With a sigh, he laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to shake her head and look at him.
"What are you doing?"
"You zoned out for a second."
"I did not." She paused for a second before continuing. "And even if I did, you know how much I like my daydreams!" She turned away from him, looking at Perry instead. "That aside, I mean it when I say I'm leaving. We're a good team, Perry."
"The team is Lane and Kent, Lois, not White and Lane."
"You know what I mean. Clark seems like he wants to stay, despite the fact that his abilities as a journalist are being cuffed by the big wigs, so he can have his own byline now. I'm sure the new editor will be giddy about having him, and we'll be able to start fresh somewhere new."
Perry walked around his desk and leaned back on it in front of Lois, smiling at her. "I appreciate the loyalty, Lois, I really do, but the best way for you to make a difference is to stay right here. Stay at the Daily Planet and keep doing what you do, which is getting the stories. If you find anything especially inflammatory on Luthor, you can send it to me and I'll print it under an alias."
"No. I refuse to work for a paper that doesn't have the balls to break stories on a guy that is evil. I don't care if he can destroy me. He tried once and failed. If he tries again, I'm taking him with me or going down swinging, and I can't do that here anymore."
Lois stood up and walked out of the office before Clark could get a word in edgewise. Through Perry's window, he watched her walk through the bullpen, grab her jacket and purse and walk to the elevator. Before the doors could close on her, he caught sight of her face. She looked grim and determined. It was the look she always got when she was doing something she hated.
Clark sat back down, letting his head droop down to look at the floor. "The woman I love wants to leave and I can't stop her. Hell, I can't even blame her. If the situation were different, I'd leave too."
Perry stopped what he was doing and looked back at Clark. "What situation?"
Clark very quickly realized what he'd said. Not good, not good at all. "Um, well, you know, my mom's getting up there in years and Metropolis is close enough that it's not a very long drive to get back to Smallville. I like being within a good distance of her since she's living alone at the farm, in case she needs any help."
Perry nodded, seemingly satisfied, and Clark let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. This whole thing was getting out of control. Perry was resigning, Lois had decided she was going to quit to follow Perry wherever he went because apparently she had become his groupie, and he was making references to his alter ego without even thinking about it! Admittedly, that was the least of his problems at the moment.
He stood up out of the chair he was in. "Chief, I'm going to go do... something. I feel pretty useless at the moment." He shrugged and walked out of the office, making his way back to his desk. He sat down, not really knowing what to do with himself. Perry hadn't bothered assigning him an article that morning since he'd been busy with resigning, and he and Lois didn't have any ongoing investigations.
Just then the phone on Lois's desk started ringing. Thinking about it a second, he stood and reached over to it, grabbing the receiver. "Lois Lane's desk."
"Clark? Why are you answering Lois's phone?"
"Hello to you too, Chloe."
"Hello, Clark." He could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Where's Lois?"
"I have no idea. She took off a little while ago."
"Took off? Was she following a lead?"
"Nope. She said she was going to quit The Daily Planet."
"WHAT?"
Clark held the phone away from his ear, shaking off the shock of hearing Chloe produce such loud sounds. He always forgot that she liked to yell when surprised.
"The board is imposing restrictions on what we can print about Lex. Perry resigned earlier in protest of the policy, and while we were in his office talking about it Lois suddenly says that she's going to quit because of it. I don't know if she's done it yet, but she had that look on her face she always gets when she is headed to do something she knows she has to but really isn't looking forward to it."
Chloe was silent a second before speaking. Clark moved over and sat down and Lois's desk.
"Unbelievable. I never thought I'd see the day where my beloved Daily Planet started caving in to pressure of asshole billionaires that think they can control the media. They shouldn't be able to, yet here you are in this situation."
"I don't know what I'm going to do, Chloe. If she really leaves Metropolis...I already lost my fiancée to the memory loss. I can't lose being around her. It's all I have left, because she doesn't even want to listen to me when I try to talk about how good we were together. Anytime I even get near the subject she changes it." Pausing for a second, Clark thought about what he had said. "I think this is the closest to brooding I've been in a long time."
"As much as it pains me to say it, I think you'd actually be entitled to one if Lois left Metropolis. I know this is hard on you, Clark, but if Lois feels strongly enough to leave the Planet over this, then there's nothing you or I can do about it."
Clark sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He knew Chloe was right, but that didn't mean he liked it. This was awful. He just wanted to take Lois in his arms and never let go, to make sure she was safe.
"Maybe she could work at the Gazette with you, Chlo. At least then, if she does leave, she'll be near to family and Bruce will be able to keep an eye on her exploits. I figure it's kind of important for her to have somebody nearby, too, in case she forgets again. Were she to wake up in a strange city and not know how to contact anybody... well, it's just another thing in all this that I can see going wrong.
"To be honest, I want her at the Gazette for selfish reasons, too. I know that she'd be at the manor a fair amount of time, and whenever I flew there to see you guys I might get to see her too. I just can't believe how wrong everything has gone... having missed her last memory loss, I didn't realize how total and encompassing it would be. She became a different person in just over five hours of sleep."
"I know, Clark. It's something you have to experience to believe. And I know it's overwhelming, but don't give up on her just yet. You found your way into her heart after her last memory loss, and I think this time will be the same."
Clark sighed, looking around the bullpen. It seemed that a lot of people were out on assignment or had the day off. "It hurts like nothing I've ever felt, Chloe. When Lois was attacked, I thought that was as low as I got, but at least there was some reason in that. This... I may as well have gotten dumped. The only difference is that she did it unintentionally."
"Look, I empathize with you Clark, I really do, but if you don't want Lois to leave, I suggest that you focus on the solution and not the problem. And if you are going to focus on the problem, focus on the right one. Lois hasn't left yet. Fight. Keep her there, not just for you, but for Metropolis. The city needs her almost as much as it needs Superman."
They talked for the next forty five minutes, throwing around ideas. Chloe went so far as to suggest revealing his identity to her to keep her there and keep doing the work she started, but Clark wasn't fond of the idea. He hated that he had to affect his meek persona around her again, but he also didn't feel that he should use Superman to solve his problems. That would, in all likelihood, just cause more problems.
When they hung up, Clark found himself in little better shape than he'd been before the phone call.
He stood up, looking around the room again and found people gathered around Perry's office. Clark headed that way, people letting him through as the crowd began to disperse around him. Confused, he walked into the office and found Perry siting in his chair, face half hidden by a box as he frowned.
"What's wrong, Chief?"
"I was telling everybody else the bad news. This isn't public knowledge yet, since it only happen about twenty minutes ago, but hearing that I had resigned, Luthor put in a very generous offer to buy the paper. Seems he wasn't satisfied with the new policy. Apparently, now that I am leaving, it's a newspaper worth owning and controlling."
Clark sat down heavily. It felt like the only thing that could go wrong after this was somebody dying. He looked up at Perry, a sad smile on his face.
"I guess I may as well quit too, because I'm fairly certain the first thing Lex will do when things are finalized is fire me. I never thought ownership would sell..."
Very suddenly, an idea hit. He shot up out of his chair. Why the hell hadn't he thought of this before? If the problem was at the top, then replace the top people!
"Chief, I gotta go... don't give up hope yet."
Clark pulled out his cell as he walked through the bullpen, making his way through the crowd to the stairway. Taking a quick glance around, he super sped up to the roof. He scrolled through his numbers and found Chloe's cell, dialing it. It rang a couple times before she answered.
"Didn't we just talk, Clark?"
"Yes, we did. Where's Bruce?"
"You could call him and ask that, you know."
"I do, but he only answers his cell one of every five times it rings unless it's you or Lois. Therefore I am just going to go talk to him."
"Well, I guess that makes sense. He's actually in Metropolis doing some business. He was going to drop in at the apartment tonight and surprise you two. Being his courteous self, I had to talk him into doing it, but I have my ways."
"That's great, Chloe. Where in Metropolis?
"Looks like it's an impatient day. I don't know where exactly Bruce is. He had business meetings all over and didn't leave me with an itinerary."
"Damn it. Will you call him and ask him to meet me at the apartment as soon as possible? If he can't make it, have him call me. I prefer to ask for a favor of this magnitude in person, though."
Chloe assented, and after a quick change of clothes, Clark took off into the sky, heading towards his apartment. A few seconds later he was landing in an alley nearby; he'd have landed on the balcony, but he didn't know where Lois was and didn't want to take any chances. He figured he could have x-rayed the apartment to see if she was there, but this wasn't any trouble. He had to wait for Bruce anyway.
Giving a quick nod to the doorman, Clark made his way into the building and took the elevator up to his floor. After the day he'd had so far, it felt good to have a little hope again. If he could convince Bruce to do this for him, it would save the day.
Clark tried unlocking the door, but found it to already be in that state. Shrugging, he figured they'd forgotten this morning and walked into the apartment, fully prepared to super speed around and clean up the place when he was confronted with Lois and Bruce sitting on the couch. He thought they both looked surprised to see him, and figured he looked the same. It was a good thing he'd landed nearby after all.
"Smallville, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be saying your farewells to Perry."
"I was coming to clean up, actually. I just talked to Chloe and asked her to call you, Bruce, and ask you to meet me here." Just then, a phone went off and Bruce reached into his pocket, pulling his out.
"Speaking of my wife... excuse me." Bruce walked out on to the balcony to talk to Chloe, and Clark took the opportunity to sit down next to Lois.
"How did you know Bruce was in Metropolis?"
"I didn't. I called him to ask about possibly setting Perry and I up with jobs at the Gazette, since he owns the thing, and was pleasantly surprised. We were actually planning on going out to lunch soon. I wanted to ask him face to face about it, since it's a pretty big favor."
"Trust me, Lois, what I'm going to ask is bigger."
That was when Bruce walked back in the room. "Chloe says you need to ask a favor of me, Clark."
"I do. Lois has been telling you about what's going on with The Daily Planet board and all that nonsense, I take it?"
"She has."
"Well, there's a new twist: Lex has put in a big offer to buy the paper, according to Perry. Apparently, now that he's resigned, Lex wants to own the paper."
Lois shot up off the couch, arms flailing. "What? The board can't seriously be considering that! It's blasphemy!"
"I know, Lois. Lex could come out of this deal looking squeaky clean, though. I'm pretty sure that what's happened is that he's behind the new Luthor friendly policy. He's probably been leaning on the board, knowing that when the y did it Perry would resign. Who's going to say anything, though, since he's probably blackmailing most of them? They finally do enact it, Perry leaves and he buys the paper, free and clear of the mess of firing him when circulation is so high. That's why I wanted to see Bruce, though."
He turned to hm, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"Bruce, I wanted to ask you to bid over the top of Lex and buy The Daily Planet."
- - -
"Wait. Bruce owns the paper now?"
Clark nodded and she looked away. They were in a cab now, the long story having taken until now to finish. City Hall was still five minutes away.
"Bruce was more than happy to add The Daily Planet to Wayne Enterprises media holdings. I never heard how much money he ended up spending for it, but I doubt it was cheap, even for a billionaire. Once everything was done, though, he brought Perry back in and neither of us had to quit. I still don't know what I would have done if you'd have moved away."
"You'd have ended up with me and we'd be together, Smallville. Now that you have me convinced of that, I really believe it. Our love conquers all."
She watched Clark smile, and found herself doing the same. "Have I told you recently that I love you, Lo?"
"Not nearly enough, Smallville."
