Chapter 11

Perry white sat at his desk looking over the mock-up of the previous day's issue. Clark Kent's story filled two columns and the picture of Superman had been given three. A slow smile crept over his face as he read again the words of the young reporter that had changed his own life.

He took a small magnifying glass from his desk and began to examine the photo. After ten long minutes, he sat back in his chair, muttered to himself, "Great Caesar's ghost!" and pulled open the bottom right-hand drawer of his desk. Only one item was in that drawer – an unopened bottle of gin.

He picked it up and ran his hands over it lovingly for a few seconds, then slowly returned it to its place, shoving the drawer closed with a resolution he would never have expected from himself only a few short years ago. Leaning back in his chair, he flipped on the CD player behind him and settled back to listen to the King belt one out while he thought of the past.

"Well, lawdy, lawdy, lawdy, Miss Clawdy"

The trip he'd taken to Smallville, Kansas, of all places, had changed his life in so many ways. Here he sat in the Chief Editor's office of the most respected newspaper in the world, and tonight, his beloved wife, Alice, would be waiting with open arms to welcome him home from a job he truly enjoyed.

"Gal, you sure look good to me,"

"… please don't excite me, baby,"

And it was all due to a Kansas farm boy named Clark Kent.

" I know it can't be me."

When he'd met Clark, he was "on the skids," as they say. Sliding down on the fasttrack to obscurity with a destroyed marriage, career, and with very little hope for his future.

"Well, I give you all my money,

Yeah, but you just won't treat me right."

It had taken Perry White three weeks to clear the last remaining vestiges of fog-like mentality that his long-time alcohol abuse problem had left with him.

"You like to ball every morning,

Don't come home till late at night."

Then it had taken him a few days to sort through the time-line of events he'd witnessed in Smallville. He'd researched extensively every little detail that had happened that day, right down to that small news item that had occurred that day about certain sunspot activity. Oh yes, it had taken some thinking and some digging. But he'd finally connected all those stray dots and come up with an idea that just would not stop tugging at his brain.

"I'm gonna tell, tell my mama

Lord, swear to God what you been doing to me"

It had led him back to Metropolis and the reports of a mysterious Red/Blue Blur who went around saving people at a speed so fast, they never got a good look at him. They only saw, if anything, a red and blue blur. A red and blue blur just like the one he'd seen once when he had watched Clark Kent disappear into thin Kansas farm air. Well, technically, he'd seen a yellow and blue blur, but still…

There had only been one problem. He'd seen a lot of strange stuff that day and he had been drinking. He couldn't deny that.

"I'm gonna tell everybody that I'm down in misery."

It was only when he factored in that mysterious sun spot activity that he'd finally believed all he'd seen and was able to make sense of it. The kid had some mighty impressive powers; that much was evident. At first, Perry had naturally connected them to the meteor rocks that seemed to give ordinary people around Smallville fantastic abilities, but it hadn't taken him long to change his mind about that.

No, Clark was different. For one thing, he had multiple powers. He had displayed great strength, great speed, and the ability to withstand things that would have killed other people. No, after a long debate within himself, Perry had figured that somehow this boy had gained powers from the sun somehow and those sunspots had made them go haywire that day.

"…Well, lawdy, lawdy, lawdy, Miss Clawdy!"

A little research showed that the Smallville newspaper had chronicled the heroic deeds of the local teen on several occasions. Perry suspected there had been many, many more that had gone unreported and unnoticed. Then there was how Jonathan Kent had been defensive from the start, and very worried too when he'd started nosing about the farm. A reporter's eye could spot that right away, but it didn't take a reporter to be suspicious of a flying tractor.

Oh, but that little episode on the damn. That was almost what convinced Perry the drink had made him imagine it all. But it was the one thing that had kept popping up as a red flag too.

Clark had not even taken time to think about rescuing him that day; he had just leapt from that bridge with absolutely no thought of his own safety. It was like a reflex action, a long-practiced reflex action. No, Clark had jumped over the side of that railing with no thought of dying, no thought of peril to himself. He only had one thought – saving Perry. It was the action of a true hero.

So bye, bye, bye, baby…"

But when they'd both been pulled up to safety, when they were sitting on the concrete trying to catch their own breaths, Clark had looked down at his bleeding hands. He'd looked at that blood, and Perry remembered the moment so clearly, especially the look on Clark's face – Clark had been surprised.

Surprise! Not anger at the man who had risked both of their lives. Not just pain, although he was sure those bleeding hands had hurt. No, it was that look of surprise that kept coming back to Perry White as he thought about that moment for days on end while he fought his battle with the booze.

Clark wasn't used to being hurt. He wasn't used to bleeding. Seeing his own red blood oozing from the rope burns had simply been a surprise.

But any good reporter knows you need a second source, a corroboration of your first evidence. He'd looked long and hard for it, and then finally it had dropped in his lap as a byproduct of another story he'd been following – corruption in the Metropolis Police Department.

Several years back, a cop gone bad named Sam Phelan had been killed by police fire while trying to rob the Metropolis Museum. Perry had boned up on the case and finally, after many months of effort, attained some of the man's private files. It had not been easy, but it had been enlightening, and Perry had gotten his long-sought, confirming source. It was all there: what he'd seen, the tests he'd put Clark through, the things he'd forced the young boy to do, and his plans for a great partnership in crime that he'd hoped would make him wealthy beyond belief.

Those records were ash now. And if any other proof out there lay in any other hands, it would be found too and destroyed. There was going to be no roadblocks in the way of this hero succeeding to his destiny if Perry White had anything to do with it.

"Goodbye little darlin',"

And while he was at it…it couldn't hurt if he paved the way for a little romance for the young man too. After all, didn't he owe his own happy marriage to the boy? No, make that man. For that was what he had become now. A man. A Superman.

"…Down the road I go."

Clark Kent, now a mild mannered reporter, was a mystery to be solved to anyone that had ever met him, he'd wager. But also, he was the one person in the world that had to be protected at all costs. "The hope of the world," he breathed out quietly, "and he's only just begun the journey." He laughed softly to himself. "Great shades of Elvis, what a ride this is going to be!"

Author's note: The lyrics of one of the best pure rock and roll songs of all time, "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy" were written and copyrighted by the singer, Lloyd Price of "Personality" fame. It's been recorded over 160 times, but the version known best will always be Elvis Presley's and that's, of course, what I used. (My Perry probably tends toward the L&C version. Loved Lane Smith!)

I think I'm not supposed to use it here, but the song is so old, and all over the internet, I am going to chance it and leave it in the chapter. It fits so well, and if I could find a way to get in touch with Lloyd Price, I'm sure he wouldn't mind my reminding people of it! If anyone complains, of course, I'll remove it.

Some more author's notes:

Klaatu —What a great review!

Colleen Joy —- I always thought Lois would have to suspect. Knowing is another matter…maybe she'd figure out that some way…like comparing a kiss to one from a mysterious fake Green Lantern? The teasing of Clark about Superman being put in a lab and the question of "safe" sex with Superman was really what made me write this. I didn't think I'd ever seen it dealt with completely in a fan fic…but then I haven't read many yet. I only just recently got into full SV mode!

CloisHarley – I'll try. But I never plan…it probably would be better if I did…must try that sometime!

Jasmine of the Forest — I'm so glad you didn't slack on this story! Thank you so much. Reviews are like ice cream treats on a hot day!