Army brat, Farm guy
Chapter 2 Daily Planet, day 1
"PERRY!" Lois Lane screams as she bursts into her editor's office unannounced. As usual. She jerks to a stop as she sees that he has someone with him, and they were talking.
"Lois, please join us, have a seat." Perry White calmly addresses her.
"But Perry-
"Sit, Lois!" He motions to the chair next to his visitor.
She sits, crosses her legs, "Hmpf!" The 2 men notice she has a newspaper in one hand, clenched tightly.
"Lois, this is your new partner, Clark Kent." Perry motions to the rather large young man to her left.
She turns her body and head, her eyes widen when she takes in the smiling, handsome young man next to her. Perry had mentioned a new partner, but this! A broad chested young man, with a slightly unruly mop of jet-black hair; a curl drooping down his forehead; muscles galore on his toned arms; bright blue eyes and the sincerest smile she has ever seen. 'His abs must be . . . stop – full STOP!'
"Where did you work last?" She squeaks out.
"The Torch, my high school paper. I have some sample columns," he hands her a manila folder.
She gingerly takes it as Perry looks on, smiling.
"High School paper," Lois whispers as she turns pages. Her frown turns to a slight smile. As she reaches the last printed text page, she comes to a sketch. Her eyes widen and she stops. She looks up, "these are yours?" She pages through several sketches.
Perry clasps his hands, his chin resting on them. He looks amused.
"Yes, ma'am. It's a hobby of mine," Clark gulps.
Lois looks from the sketches to Clark and back down to the pages in her hands. "Perry, what the hell are we going to do with this?" She is flummoxed.
"Ideas?" The editor opens his hands in a questioning motion.
Clark motions to speak, Perry nods.
"I was wondering if you ever considered illustrating your columns?" He looked inquisitively to Lois.
She doesn't know what to say. "You took art classes in HS?"
"No, Mrs. Morgan said I was too advanced for her. I just sketch." He looks worried now.
"This eagle in front of the windmill and corn field. That's fantastic!" She smiles at him.
"That was done for a request. It's sold; I just included it for an example of the watermark technique."
"Watermark?" Lois and Perry appear puzzled.
"Yes. You see the eagle is in full color; the background is sepia tone. That's the watermark. It's a little unusual; the watermark isn't usually that large or that noticeable."
Lois and Perry nod; they get it, sort of.
"If I may ask, how much did you sell it for," Lois inquires.
"$10,000." He really cringes now.
Lois & Perry look at each other. "And you're going to work as an intern? Why?" Lois wonders.
"Well, sketching is just a hobby for me. I've always wanted to be a journalist; and working at the Daily Planet, and learning from the best is a dream come true!" Clark appears to relax a bit.
Perry opines, "Well, I will need to have a meeting with Lois and James Olsen, the owner, about the illustrating issue. In the meantime – Lois, what were you so steamed about?"
"Perry, have you seen this?" Lois unfolds and holds up the INQUISITOR front page. There is a half-page picture of a man in red/blue holding a ripped off car door. The accompanying article detailed the accident scene and the man's actions to assist accident victims and emergency personnel.
Perry's eyes widened, "How did that rag get this scoop?" He bellowed.
Lois shrugged. "Right place, right time I guess."
"So, pure damned luck?"
"Yeah. But who is this, Perry? We have Batman in Gotham; Green Arrow in Star City; some other freaks floating around; now this red/blue guy. What's going on?" Lois raises her voice at the end.
Clark conjures up his best poker face.
The threesome looks at each other. No answers.
Perry speaks, "Well, you are the best, Lois. And now you have a partner. And a mystery to investigate. Get on it!" He shoos them out of his office.
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Lois leads the way to the bullpen, at almost a trot. They take their seats at facing desks. She throws down the paper and sighs. She looks up at Clark, "Any ideas, partner?"
He likes the sound of that. "Well, where would you start with a puzzle like this?" He raises an eyebrow.
"May I ask you this, where are you from?"
"Smallville, Kansas."
Lois looks askance, "Yeah, and I'm from Hooterville, Arkansas."
"Really, Smallville."
She stares at him.
"Smallville, Kansas. Meteor capital of the world." He grins. "Should we start by contacting those other people you- mentioned?" He wants to get out of the spotlight. Even though Lois doesn't realize it is on him.
"Ah, yeah, I suppose so. Good idea, Smallville." Lois grins.
He cringes at the nickname. It could be worse.
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TBC
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