Lois downed her third coffee in a row and rubbed her eyes before she focused on the papers in front of her. Scattered across her desk lay the notes she had taken concerning the case of Earl Basing. Some of them were recent, like the typed out interview with fiancée Rachel Bloom. Other notes were older, dating over a year ago, when several buildings including Stanford & Young collapsed. Since neither Lois nor Clark had managed to find anything to go on, she had taken to re-reading her older notes, hoping for some kind of clue. However, so far, she’d found none. Lois sighed, sunk back in her chair and raked her hand through her hair. There was only one possible lead they could follow; the phone calls to Earl from a mysterious woman called Kathy. Rachel Bloom had mentioned informing the police about this, and Lois made sure that whenever Inspector Henderson succeeded in tracking down the number, she would be the first to hear about it.

In the mean time, the case was driving her slowly insane. It wasn’t the first time she hit rock bottom when investigating a story. It wasn’t the first time that her determination and stubbornness made it difficult to accept defeat. But this case was quite unlike the others. The fact that it linked to the collapsing buildings—the death of Richard—and the similarities between the situation of Rachel Bloom and herself made the case much more personal. And much more difficult to let go. Lois didn’t have much time to dwell on it at home. She and Jason had moved out of 312 Riverside Drive, and settled down at 14 Park Avenue. Most of the time at home was spent furnishing and decorating the new house. But at night, when the lights were off, the wheels in her head started turning.

“Did you find anything?” A familiar voice shook her out of her reverie and Lois turned around to see Clark walking towards her, a coffee and a bagel in hand. She shook her head.

“Still waiting for the Inspector to call. Did you?”

Clark shook his head. “I, er…  swooped by the remains of the old building, but I didn’t find papers… anything that could tell us what was going on in there. Mind you, they had removed most of the rubble so there wasn’t very much left to search.”

Lois frowned. Of course there wasn’t much left. The collapse had been over a year ago. Construction work was in full swing. “What did they do with the rubble?”

“Recycled. If there ever was something to be found there, it’s gone now.” Clark pulled up a chair to sit by Lois’ desk while she looked out of the window, disappointed.

“What about traces of explosives?”

Clark sighed and pushed his glasses up. “I couldn’t smell any.”

“Well, that could’ve been washed away by the rain.”

Clark was about to respond when Lois’ phone started ringing. She glanced at the caller ID. “It’s Henderson!” she whispered to Clark before flipping it open. “Lois Lane.”

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

“So, basically, you’ve got nothing.” Perry White scowled at Lois from behind his desk. “I sent two of my very best reporters out and they accomplished nothing.”

Lois set her jaw, frustrated. Perry had called her into his office to hear the progress she and Clark had made so far. Despite their thorough search and Lois’ connection to the police investigation, the still had found no breakthrough. Their last hope, the phone calls made to the Basinger residence on a frequent basis had lead to nothing. As if that didn’t frustrate Lois enough, Perry now made it sound like she and Clark had been slacking all week, while the opposite was true. The last thing she needed now was Perry yelling at her, especially in front of Jimmy. “Clark and I have done everything we could, Perry.” She snapped. “We’ve interviewed the co-workers, the fiancée, everybody close to Earl. The company’s paperwork is clean, we’ve checked the financial records, Clark searched the old building thoroughly for evidence and trace of explosives.-” Perry knowingly raised his eyebrows at the mention of Clark searching, while Jimmy muttered something Lois wasn’t able to catch. “We’ve been very busy, but we haven’t found anything out of the ordinary.”

“What about the phone calls to that woman? What’s her name?” Perry took his feet off his desk and rummaged through his papers.

“Kathy.” Lois said curtly.

“Yes, her.” Perry nodded.

“The calls were made from a public phone booth on the corner of 24^th and Main. As for the money Earl spent without his fiancée’s knowledge, there were weekly withdrawals of 300 dollars. He picked it up in person.” Lois raised her hands in frustration. “I could go check out the phone booth, but I doubt it’ll help. There is no way to track down people that made public calls.” Lois crashed down in one of the seats in front of the editor’s desk.

“There aren’t any cameras?” Perry suggested.

Lois shook her head. “The police checked. The nearest surveillance camera is half a mile away, shooting in the opposite direction.”

“You might not need cameras…” Lois turned around when Jimmy unexpectedly spoke up. She had almost forgotten he was there.

“What are you talking about, Olsen?”

“The corner of 24^th and Main? There are always people there… It’s, you know…” Jimmy looked a little sheepish.

Lois looked between Jimmy and Perry confused. “No, I don’t.”

“Well, that’s where the hookers work.” Jimmy blurted out.

“Really?” Jimmy’s discomfort made Lois grin. “And why exactly do you know this?” she teased, causing Jimmy to blush and fumble with the strap of his camera. The importance of this little bit of information Jimmy had provided wasn’t lost on Lois. Those women were standing on the streets everyday. They knew everyone around. If a woman had been making phone calls in their street everyday, one of them might know her.  From the look of dawning comprehension on Perry’s face, he needed no further explanation either. Lois got up from her seat, and clapped Jimmy on the shoulder; as close a ‘thank you’ Jimmy was going to get. “Looks like we’re checking out the phone booth after all…” 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Clark smoothed out his brown suit before stepping out of the elevator and into the bullpen. Immediately he noticed the absence of the heartbeat he had been hoping to hear. Lois must be away following up on a lead of some sort. Clark briefly felt a pang of regret at the sight of her empty desk, but was soon distracted by the TV screens overhead broadcasting breaking news; Supermen had rescued 14 people from certain death after a car had crashed and caught fire in the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland. As his co-workers rapidly followed the news-item, Clark again wiped at the sleeves of his suit to make sure there were no traces of soot. After his near exposure of several days ago, Clark was even more careful to hide his alter ego.

Might just as well do the job properly, Clark thought, and intentionally tripped over Sally Pomroy’s suitcase. Several people, including Sally Pomroy, sniggered as Clark took several ungraceful steps to keep his balance. Only Jimmy didn’t seem amused; he shot an annoyed glace at Clark and walked away to the copy room. Clark watched him enter the room, and his spirit dropped a little further. This was becoming a problem. Jimmy was clearly upset, and Clark had no idea what the younger man was thinking. His delicate secret being what it was, Clark needed to be able to completely trust those who were in on it. He pushed his glasses up his nose and followed Jimmy into the copy room.

“Jimmy, do you know where Lois is?”

Jimmy, who had been searching for paper, stiffened and then turned around. “You just missed her. She went to check out the phone booth…”

Clark nodded. He’d been listening in on Lois’ conversation with Henderson when he’d heard the sirens go off in Switzerland. He opened his mouth to reply when Jimmy turned back again and continued his search for the right paper for the fax. Clark sighed and pulled the door closed. If he was going to have to talk to Jimmy, it might just as well be now. He cleared his throat. “Look, Jimmy. I know you’re upset. I didn’t mean for you to find out that way.” Jimmy had stiffened when Clark started speaking, and although he didn’t turn around, Clark could tell he had the younger man’s attention. “I was hoping we might sort this out. After all, we do work together.”

“I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Jimmy’s voice was honest, but not very reassuring. When Jimmy finally turned around again, Clark could see a trace of anger on his face. “Of course, no one would believe me if I did. How could bumbling klutz Clark Kent with his Midwestern attitude possibly be the same person who lifts islands into space?”

The bitter tone in Jimmy’s voice surprised Clark. He had never seen the good natured and admiring guy this way. People in peril, petty crooks... that he could deal with. But what was he supposed to say to the person who just discovered his good friend and co-worker was actually a superhero another planet? He was saved from having to say anything because Jimmy obviously had a lot of things to say and he had no trouble voicing it. “I don’t mind that you kept it a secret. In fact, I think you were right to do so. How long did it take Miss Lane to find out?”

“She found out over six years ago, shortly before Zod arrived here.” Then, feeling like he might just as well be entirely honest, he added, “And I told her again a few months ago. I made her forget.”

Jimmy looked confused, but didn’t press the matter, something Clark was grateful for. Instead Jimmy asked, “How did she react?”

“She wouldn’t talk to me for weeks.” Clark replied, and after a thought he added; “A little like you.” Jimmy’s frown deepened and he looked away. “Jimmy, why won’t you talk to me?”

Jimmy’s head snapped up and Clark realised it must be strange for Jimmy to hear this question come from the person he knew to be Superman.

“I don’t even know what to call you. If all this time you have been acting, then who are you?”

Clark sighed. “My name, my real name, is Kal-El. Nobody calls be by that name, though. I’m still Clark Kent.”

Jimmy nodded curtly but didn’t reply. Clark set his jaw. He was feeling like they were beating around the bush here, not discussing what was really going on. “Jimmy, what is it you are so angry about? It’s not how long I’ve been hiding my identity, or the matter of my real name. If you don’t care I’ve been keeping secrets, then what is your problem?”

“My problem?” Jimmy’s eyes flushed. “My problem is that my good friend and role model apparently doesn’t exist! I liked you! You were the only one around here who wasn’t selfish and arrogant. You were the one with the good manners who still managed to impress everyone.” Jimmy seemed to have gotten past the intimidating idea of talking to Superman, and now that he had started talking he didn’t seem to be able to stop the flow. “You and I, I thought we were like a team, you know? Together we, the underdogs, could make a stand against the arrogance out there. You and your blunders, me and my pitiful pictures. I wanted to be like you. But now it turns out you’ve been doing it all on purpose. You’ve been acting the person people would least suspect to be a superhero. Do you know how that makes me feel? Like the biggest moron in the world, that’s how! You were attempting to be the biggest dork possible, and I was trying to be like you!”

A ringing silence fell after this, in which Clark had to collect his jumbled thoughts. He had never given that a thought before. Some of the sings Jimmy had said were oddly flattering, but Clark pushed those out of his mind. “Jimmy… I didn’t know you were… trying to be like me,-” Jimmy ‘hmpf’-ed. “-but you need to know that not everything was an act. True, I don’t really spill that much coffee. I do intentionally trip over things, and I don’t usually say things like ‘darn’, ‘gee’, ‘swell’ or ‘golly’, but I’m still the same person Jimmy. I wasn’t lying about that. I do have a mother—an adopted mother—in Kansas, and I really did grow up on a farm. You do know me, Jimmy.” Clark would’ve continued if Perry hadn’t chosen that particular moment to poke his head into the copy room.

“What in the Lord’s name is taking you so long, Olsen? Kent! Shouldn’t you be with Lois, checking out that phone?”

“Sure thing, Chief!”

Clark said loud enough for his co-workers to hear. Jimmy grabbed a package of paper off the shelves and met Clark’s eyes briefly before hurrying outside. Clark, who still wasn’t entirely sure about where he stood with Jimmy, was relieved to see no anger in them.