KARA!

Even though it was already early afternoon and the newsroom was humming and bustling with activity, Clark could make out Lois's distinctive footsteps coming from the direction of the elevator.

OK, it was showtime.

Clark cupped his jaw in his hand and scrunched up his face. "Awwweee," he moaned as Lois walked by.

"Good morning, Clark," Lois waved at him dismissively. She walked directly over to the printer and flipped through the pile on the output tray. "Tsk, where is it?" she said with annoyance. The control panel screen displayed some kind of error. "Jimmy," she called to the young man standing by the coffee station. "The printer is acting up again. Could you….?" She didn't wait for an answer but headed over to her desk.

"Oooowww!" Clark moaned again, rubbing his jaw as Lois walked by.

Jimmy was concerned. "You OK, Mr Kent?"

"Ugh… I dunno… what should I do for a toothache?" Clark spoke loudly enough for Lois to hear.

Jimmy started fiddling with the printer. "Isn't this what we have an IT department for? There's some Tylenol in the kitchen above the fridge."

Lois plopped down in her chair and became occupied with something or other on her computer.

Clark walked over to his desk, which was next to Lois's.

"You think it could be a cavity?" Clark glanced over at Lois. She was absorbed in her own business, paying no attention to him, as usual. He might have to take a more direct approach.

"Uh, Lois, do you know a good dentist?"

"Huh?" Lois didn't even look up from her computer.

"Didn't Jason just have a dentist appointment?"

Lois glanced up from her computer for a moment. "Mmmm? Uh, yeh." She turned her attention back to whatever she was doing.

"How did it go," Clark pressed.

"It was fine," Lois waved her hand dismissively.

Fine? He had three freak'n cavities!

"Jimmy," Lois called loudly, "the printer?"

"I'm working on it, Ms Lane."

Clark persisted. "Uh, Jason was hoping. I mean, he told me that IF he had any cavities, he would want me to come with him when he got his fillings."

Lois gave a long, drawn out sigh. "No… no. I don't think so." She tried to turn her attention back to the computer.

"Why not? I'm happy to go with him."

"I know." Lois looked up at Clark and leaned back in her chair. She shook her head slowly. "Clark… Richard and I really…. appreciate everything that you do for Jason. When you-know-who suggested we let someone else in on our little secret to help with babysitting and stuff like that, someone trustworthy and likes kids and stuff…. he suggested you and well, I thought you would be a great choice. You're the most trustworthy person I know."

"Golly, thanks, but why do I think there's a 'however' coming."

"Because there is…. however…. you're just a little too enthusiastic about this. You've taken Jason to the park, what, three times just this week? And the library twice… the children's museum and this is mostly on school days. And you're taking him to the zoo on Saturday. That's all just in one week. I'm his mother, Clark. Maybe I want to take him to the dentist when he gets his fillings. Maybe I want to take him to the park and the zoo sometimes too."

"Uh huh," Clark conceded the point.

Richard glanced out his office window and spotted Lois. He slammed his fist on his desk, stood up with a grunt and walked resolutely across the newsroom toward his fiancé.

"If you love kids so much, maybe you should think about starting a family of your own one day. If you weren't so obsessed with my family, maybe you'd notice that a couple of our coworkers have been vying for your attention." Lois gestured to the newsroom.

"Huh?" Clark looked around, wondering who Lois was referring to, although the last thing he needed right now was a family of his own.

"Just saying…"

"Have you been ghosting me?" Richard confronted Lois. "I called you fifteen times!"

Lois looked up at Richard and feigned an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"Where were you? You were supposed to get Jason off to school this morning. I had to cancel two meetings!"

Lois didn't answer. She turned back to whatever she was doing on her computer.

"You weren't in Midvale, were you?"

Lois raised her eyes to glance at Richard. She gave a resolute sigh and looked back at her computer.

"I thought we had decided you weren't going," Richard said angrily.

"No, you decided I wasn't going," Lois retorted. "I said we'd talk about it later."

"Which we never did because you up and went anyway, sneaking out in the middle of the night!"

Richard glanced at Clark, as if hoping he would help him out here.

"What's in Midvale?" Clark asked.

"Midvale Girls' School," Richard answered. "One of the students there happens to be the daughter of one Dr. Leonard Luthor," Richard added pointedly. "Lois got a tip he was going to be visiting his daughter today."

Now Clark was angry. "Lois…"

"Don't you start with me too!" Now Lois was angry. "I'm a reporter. This is what I do."

"There are other reporters that can deal with the Luthors," Clark retorted. "Like me, for example."

"So have you confronted Dr. Luthor? Have you asked him about his brother's whereabouts?"

"Well, no," Clark conceded.

"Humph!" Lois wasn't impressed.

"Did he tell you anything," Richard wanted to know. As angry as he was with Lois for going to Midvale at all, he was also concerned about Lex Luthor's whereabouts and what dastardly plans he had for the future… especially if any of those plans involved Jason.

"He wouldn't talk to me."

"What are you so busy with, then?" Clark gestured to her computer.

"I met his daughter's roommate. She's Dr. Luthors ward. Can you believe that? It's bad enough he's got a biological child. I'm going to find out who thought it was a good idea to subject any child to that sociopath's guardianship …. and what 'ole Leo is getting out of the arrangement." Lois fell silent as she turned back to her computer.

Jimmy walked over and handed some crinkled paper to Lois. "If these are what you were waiting for, you'll need to send them through again." He shifted his gaze between the other three people. "So, what's going on? Anything interesting?"

"Humph," Richard glared at Lois and then left to go back to his office.

"Something I said," Jimmy asked.

"Lois," Clark persisted. "This is not OK. You have Jason to thing about."

"Clark," Lois smiled sweetly at him and pointed toward the printer. "Could you….?" She turned back to her computer.

"Humph." Clark wanted to make clear to Lois that he was not her errand boy. But he didn't. He never did. Maybe he was her errand boy. Like an obedient puppy, he trudged to the printer and waited for Lois's documents.

He watched as a photo of a young girl emerged from the printer onto the output tray. "Must be Dr. Luthor's ward," Clark surmised. He was only half paying attention as the rest of the photo finished and the paper was released onto the tray. But then he did a double-take. Clark picked up the photo and examined the image. He furrowed his brow. The girl in the photo looked just like the image of a girl from a memory of his from long ago. The girl in the photo looked a little bit older than the one in his memory, but otherwise the resemblance was uncanny. Clark gazed at the photo for a few moments, reliving the memory in his mind.

He brought the photo back to Lois and handed it to her.

"There should be two," she told him, barely looking up.

Not even a thank you. "Humph." Clark was about to tell her to go get it herself, when little-puppy-Clark got the best of him. "Fine."

He went back to the printer and grabbed the second photo. As he glanced at it, he did another double-take. But this time, he froze in utter confusion and disbelief. What he was seeing was impossible!

The second photo was of the same girl, but from a different angle that showed an intricately wrought metal-looking comb in her hair. To anyone else, the shapes on the comb would look like abstract figures. But to Clark, they were familiar ancient Kryptonian symbols that spelled out "KARA."

Clark shook his head. No! This was impossible. He examined the girl's face again, an older version of the image in his memory of his cousin, Kara. He stood there in shock, trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing. He took some deep breaths and tried to calm down enough to think.

Lois was calling to him from across the newsroom but nothing penetrated Clark's bewildered state.

Jimmy, who had been standing by the water cooler, walked over to Clark. "Mr. Kent, are you alright?"

Clark stared blankly at Jimmy for a few moments before dropping the photo and walking trance-like toward the elevators.

Jimmy picked the photo up and called after him. "It's alright, I'll give it to Ms Lane."

But Clark wasn't listening. He pushed the 'UP' button, and moments later walked into an empty elevator.