Chapter Twenty Part Two

The sun broke through the slightly shut blinds signaling the start of a new day followed by the sounds of an already bustling city that would normally go unheard by human ears but Clark could hear the noises every day when he awoke from his sleep.

His eyes opened while the noises slowly began to fade away once he regained control and sat up to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

Suddenly the door to his bedroom burst open and Maggie jumped on his bed enthusiastically, "Your finally up!" she exclaims going to grab his arm and began pulling him out of bed, "Ms. Lane made breakfast."

"I'll be out in a minute." He smoothes aside her hair and kissed her forehead then motioned for her to go off while he got himself together.

Shelby and Maggie walked out of the room closing the door behind them as she went leaving Clark to sit on the bedside where he ran his hands over his tired face before rising up to open the blinds letting the sun cast down through the window giving him a much needed energy boost.

In the blink of an eye the bed was made and he was dressed in sweats and his old Smallville High football workout shirt as he stepped out the door to be greeted by the smell of home cooking.

He walked around the corner to find Maggie sitting at her table munching on a stack of French toast while Lois set down another plate at her side, "Good morning." Lois gives him a warm smile before walking back into the kitchen unaware that Clark had followed her.

"Since when can you cook?" he asks suddenly while he watched her make herself a plate and received a playful punch to his arm from Lois.

"I've perfected my cooking skills since the last time I cooked for you. My sister can attest to that." She holds her plate in one hand and leans closer to him to add, "I made her taste test so much food that when she got pregnant she practically begged me not to bake her anything." She walked past him to sit across from Maggie, "Better come eat before it gets cold."

When Clark walked out an odd warmth spread through him and hints of a smile appeared on his face at the sight and his imagined what a future with Lois could look like.

Clark held the bullpen door for Lois and gave her a smile as they walked towards their desks when he noticed a manila envelope with the Wayne Enterprises logo stamped on it.

He quickly grabbed the envelope and ripped it open to reveal a small box and a handwritten note from Bruce reading: For when you need to stop a Cyborg in his tracks- B

He held the box in his hands and quickly slipped it inside his briefcase hoping that no one had seen his actions.

"Lane! Kent!" Perry's voice causes the duo to look towards the direction of their boss's office, "My office! Now!"

They walk simultaneously towards the office only to get stuck in the doorway until Lois wiggled her way causing Clark to stumble after her as Perry shut the door with a small smirk appearing on is face.

"I'm taking you off the Superman story." Lois immediately looked at Perry as if the man had grown a second head while Clark let out a sigh of relief, "I intended for Cat to cover this even but since Lex Luthor personally requested it. You're covering his campaign fundraiser."

Before Lois could voice her opinion Clark stepped in, "Why would he request us specifically?"

"I'm not a mind reader Kent." Perry responded, "I just know that the city's richest man is asking for you two and I'm sure as hell not going to pass up that opportunity and neither should you."

"What about Superman?" Lois asked immediately earning a sideways look from Clark, "You can't just take of us one story and put us on another."

"What does it say on that door?"

"Perry White."

"After that."

"Editor in Chief"

"I'm the editor which means whatever I say goes. Now if you have a problem with that-"

"She doesn't." Clark interjects, "We'd be happy to cover the fundraiser." He says with a nervous smile as he turns back to Lois, "Right Lois?"

She stares at him defiantly for a few minutes before giving up and turning back to Perry, "We'll do it."

"Wonderful!" Perry exclaims with a smile and suddenly deadpanned, "Now get out of my office."

The duo rise up from their chairs and walk out of the office allowing Lois the chance to smack him in the arm, "What the hell Clark!"

"What I'd do?" he asks while pretending to rub his arm while they walked back towards their desk, "This is the perfect opportunity to cover something besides Superman or whatever it is that we do cover." He looks around before leaning closer, "If we can get our names away from my alter ego then maybe people won't start to connect the dots."

Lois just looked at him not showing any emotion, "People aren't going to suddenly think its Clark Kent behind the tights."

"Well you did"

"That's different" she responds turning back to her desk, "I actually knew you before Superman popped up on this city's radar." She turned around, "And besides. I'm that good at my job."

"Maybe I let you find out."

She looked at his retreating form confused at his comment but just shakes it off and goes back to work oblivious to the fact that her partner was watching her from his desk with a small smirk on his face.

John Corben stuck to the shadows with his eyes trained on the object of his revenge and almost apprehension towards going after an innocent when he remembered that his sister was just as innocent when she was murdered by the piece of scum the city's hero had let escape.

Unbeknownst to the child that someone was watching, Maggie walked over towards the fence with a blue envelope in her hand, "Alec!" she calls out to her friend and smiles when she sees him walking towards her but was stopped by the fence, "I wanted to give you this." She slips the envelope through the links and watches as he rips it open to see the invitation.

He smiled and tucked the envelope into his backpack, "I'll have to talk to my aunt but I'm pretty sure I can go."

"Great!" she exclaims rather enthusiastically and just stood there rather awkwardly not knowing what to say when luckily the bell rang, "I better go." She gives him a quick smile before running off.

From afar John smirked with the realization that his plans now had an end date and relished in the idea of causing the Superman's suffering.

TBC

I know it's short but there's a lot of action and drama in the next chapter. I hope you guys like it.

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