IN THE SHADOW OF LUTHOR

About one and a half years ago, the old Parksett Brothers corporate headquarters building across the street from the Planet had been purchased by a newly formed entity, Lucre Inc. When Lois got wind the deal had been brokered by ex-convict-turned-realtor Jonas T Smith, her 'reporter's intuition' immediately kicked in and she started digging into Lucre and what they were planning for the building. She had been blocked, stonewalled, lied to, and misdirected at every turn. Of course this only made Lois dig harder, but she had not ended up uncovering much of interest other than that much of the funding for the purchase and renovations was coming from entities associated with the shady philanthropist John Kiley. The building had been undergoing extensive renovations for about a year now.

Clark had noticed early on the enormous amount of lead being used to line the walls. Even most of the windows were replaced with leaded glass panes. Clark had been curious about the lead, but unconcerned. Now it all made sense.

It turned out L.U.C.R.E stood for "Luthor Universal Corporation for Research and Enterprises." Everyone was now referring to the company as "Luthor Corp" for simplicity and clarity.

On his way back to the Planet, Clark caught a glimpse of Luthor in his luxuriously appointed office across the street. One strategically placed window into his office was not lined with lead. Clark was certain this was not an oversight. Luthor was careful not to conduct any important business near that window. It was just another way for him to thumb his nose at Superman. Besides the lead that blocked him from seeing anything inside, large "perfect crystals" had been placed and energized at strategic points around the building to interfere with his superhearing.

The building was a big opaque blob Clark was going to have to live with for the foreseeable future. Even the way Clark's desk was oriented, every time he looked up, it was looming in the background of his view like a big black shadow.

Lois had gone in there… willingly…recklessly…. Clark winced and his stomach twisted in knots every time he thought of Lois going in there. How could he keep her safe and still let her be Lois, intrepid reporter? Could he keep her safe, or was he just fooling himself?

The ease with which Luthor had snatched Kara from under his nose had really shaken Clark's confidence. Really, if he had wanted to, Luthor could have hurt Lois or Jason, or both, easily any time over the last two years. Clark had to accept the fact that the only reason Lois and Jason were still alive and well was because, for some reason, Luthor wanted it that way.

Two years ago, after learning Luthor knew about Jason, Superman had strongly urged Lois, Richard, and Jason to take on new identities and go into hiding in something similar to a witness protection program. They had refused, hoping and betting on that Luthor had perished on New Krypton when Superman hurled it into space. Now, with Luthor's reappearance, Clark wanted to broach the subject again, but he was certain they would again refuse.

As Clark exited the elevator, the 'blob' again came into view. He averted his eyes and settled them on Lois, who was at her desk typing away on her computer. He walked to her and waited for a few moments for her to acknowledge him. She didn't.

"Lois."

"Mmm?"

"I'm sorry."

Lois looked up from her computer and considered him silently.

"You're right," Clark told her. "I haven't been myself lately. I'm really sorry for how I've been acting."

Lois gave Clark a half smile. "Thank you for the apology. I appreciate it. So you're going to back off and leave me and my family alone?"

Wow. That stung. "I'm worried about you, especially now that Luthor's back."

Lois leaned back in her chair and cocked her head to the side. "If he wanted to hurt me or Jason, it would have been easier these past two years, before he got his pardon."

"I'm not sure that's the way Luthor's mind works. He doesn't care about what's easier. He cares more about maximum gain."

"What would he gain by waiting to hurt us?"

"Dunno yet." Clark pulled his chair close to Lois and sat down. "I'm really sorry about earlier today. You're right it does seem that for the time being Richard and I can probably… and should… let you… be you. So if we promise to let up, will you promise not to sneak around anymore? At least tell us where you're going?"

"I'll definitely tell Richard. I'll tell you… if it's appropriate as my coworker…"

Clark pressed his lips together in a slight grimace. For Lois's safety, now would definitely be a good time to tell her his secret. But he had to be back at S.T.A.R. Labs in less than an hour. Also, Ma had just texted him that Kara had smeared nail polish all over her bedroom walls. So he'd be heading to Smallville after he was done at the Labs. He didn't have the time or the head space to tell Lois right now. Excuses, excuses. He always had excuses.

"Fine," Clark replied after a few moments. "Can you tell me about what you saw in the Luthor Corp Labs?"

Lois gave Clark a morose look. "Donovon claims they already have the invulnerablide. They're just trying to find a way to mass produce it."

Clark let out a slow breath through pursed lips. "Did he show you any proof of that?"

"I gave him a sample of my hair. He dipped it in something and supposedly showed me how it became invulnerable… I mean, I couldn't cut it with scissors."

"Supposedly?" Clark inquired.

"It could have been a trick… slight of hand."

"Or it could've been real."

"Yeah," Lois agreed.

"At the very least, they want us to think they've already got it," Clark surmised.

"Uh huh. I think we moving forward we need to assume worst case scenario that they already have it and we are way behind."

"We should let Emil know. You should call him and discuss every detail from Luthor's labs you can remember. He is a scientist."

Clark pushed and swiveled his chair back to his own desk.

"Clark."

Clark turned to look at Lois.

She smiled warmly at him. "I'm glad the old Clark is back."

Clark smiled back. Lois turned back to her computer. As Clark's eyes moved from her to his own computer, they caught sight of the opaque blob across the street. His smile faded.