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 nodded to Jimmy and Gil, with whom he had been discussing that morning's senate confirmations hearings, and headed toward his desk. As Lois strode past him, he cupped his jaw in his hand and scrunched up his face. "Awwweee."

"Good morning, Clark," Lois waved at him dismissively. She walked directly over to a nearby printer and flipped through the pile on the output tray, looking for the photos she had sent over the cloud about an hour earlier. "Tsk, where is it?" she said with annoyance. The control panel screen displayed some kind of error. "Jimmy," she called to the young man who was standing nearby still chatting with Gil. "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 reached her desk.

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 break room above the fridge."

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

Approaching his desk adjacent to Lois's, Clark sat leaned against it, massaging his jaw with his hand. "You think it could be a cavity?"

Lois shrugged. "Could be." She was absorbed in her own business, paying no attention to him, as usual.

Clark decided 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 yesterday?"

Lois glanced up from her computer for a moment. "Mmmm? Uh, yeah." 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!

Lois finally lifted her gaze, though not in Clark's direction. She extended her neck towards the printer station and called out loudly, "Jimmy?"

"I'm working on it, Ms. Lane," Jimmy yelled back.

Clark persisted. "Uh, Jason was hoping. I mean, he told me that if he had any cavities, he was hoping I could 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."

Lois shot Clark a sideways glance. "I know."

"So what's the problem?"

Lois let out a exasperated huff. She leaned back in her chair and gave Clark a slightly irritated look. "Clark… Richard and I really…. appreciate everything that you do for Jason. We really do. 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 get the feeling you're about to use the word 'however.'"

"Because I am…. 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 reluctantly 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," Lois said with sincerity, "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, giving him a resolute huff before turning back to 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 shot Clark a knowing look, as if hoping he would help him out here.

"What's in Midvale?" Clark asked, confused.

"Midvale Girls' School," Richard told him. "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 shot back. "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? With his history and reputation... he's got a ward! 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 her and Clark and Richard. "So, what's going on? Anything interesting?"

"Humph," Richard shot one last annoyed look at Lois, exchanged worried glances with Clark, and then left to go back to his office.

"Something I said?" Jimmy asked. Nobody answered. Jimmy shrugged and headed to the break room for a cup of water.

"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. His brow furrowed as he picked up the photo and examined the image. Other than appearing to be a little older, the girl in the photo bore an uncanny resemblance to that of a girl in his distant memory. Clark paused to gaze at the photo for a few moments, vividly reliving the memory in his mind.

He brought the photo to Lois and handed it to her. "What are you going to do with this? Dr. Luthor's not going to let you publish her photo."

She examined the photo briefly, not bothering to answer his question. "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." Clark trudged back to the printer. He barely glanced at the second photo as he retrieved it from the output tray, but something about it caught his attention.

He did a second double take in as many minutes. Staring at the photo, he froze in utter confusion and disbelief. What he was seeing was impossible. The second photo featured the same girl, captured from a different angle, revealing an intricately crafted, metallic-looking comb adorning her hair. To others, the shapes on the comb might seem abstract, but to Clark, they were unmistakably the ancient Kryptonian symbols spelling out 'KARA.'

No!

This couldn't be!

He scrutinized the girl's face once more, an older version of the image ingrained in his memory of his cousin, Kara. Stunned, he grappled with the surreal nature of what he held in his hands. He took some deep breaths, trying to calm himself enough to gather his thoughts.

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

Jimmy exited the break room and walked over to Clark. "Mr. Kent, are you alright?"

Clark stared blankly at Jimmy for a few moments before dropping the photo. It floated gracefully to the floor as he walked trance-like toward the elevators.

Jimmy picked the photo up and called after him. "No problem, 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.