"At least you can't complain that we're being scooped," Jimmy Olsen replied. "No one's been able to get him."

"How can you? Trouble happens, he comes in, saves the day and flies away. The cops don't even know what to do with him."

"I hear they want to deputize him. He can fly, has super-strength, and my buddy over at the Star was saying that he saw him fuse metal together just by looking at it."

Lois raised an eyebrow. "Jimmy, the Star hasn't been a reliable source of anything but birdcage liner ever since George Taylor retired years ago."

Just then, a familiar ding pierced the air as both realized the elevator had stopped. Within seconds, the doors had opened, and they stepped into the main newsroom.

"Well, they did have that piece on Luthor last year," Jimmy said.

"Jimmy, anyone with a working knowledge of Google can find something shady about Lex Luthor. Work at it long enough, and you'll be able to catch them with their pants down. Which is what they did, but they never followed up on it, so Lex forked over some cash and bought back the city's respect."

Jimmy shrugged, not able to come up with anything to counter Lois' point. He slowed down, expecting Lois to make the usual turn to her desk, but instead, she kept walking, and went straight into Perry White's office. He sighed, knowing the boss's usual reaction, so he opted to cautiously slide in behind her, hopefully unnoticed.

"Lois, how many times have I told you about knocking first?" Perry yelled.

"But I have something this time. I think. I may know how we can get a lead on this Superman story."

Perry cleared his throat and put up his hand. "Actually, that is what Mr. Kent and I have been discussing for the last twenty minutes." He gestured over to the gentleman seated in the chair across from his desk.

Lois turned her head slowing to see Perry's visitor. Even with him sitting, Lois could tell he was tall, and had dark hair, and was dressed rather nicely in his grey suit and blue tie. But then, she noticed his face.

"Smallville," she muttered. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Nice to see you too, Lois," Clark replied, smiling.

"I take it you two know each other?" Perry wondered.

"To put it nicely," Lois answered.

"Lois stayed in Smallville for a time," Clark explained. "And stole our hot water everyday for a month."

Perry chuckled. "Then I'm sure you two will get along fine. Lois, show him his desk, it's the one across from yours. And then I want the two of you to start working on this Superman story together."

"Together?!" Lois exclaimed. "Perry, I – "

"I don't want to hear it. Circulation is down, and we need the boost that Superman can give us. Kent's got some good ideas, but he doesn't have a name for himself yet, and you do. So, teach him, Lois. And you, Olsen!"

"Yes, sir!" Jimmy said, snapping to attention.

"I want a good picture for the front page. Big red ‘S', dramatic pose. Something that screams truth, justice, and the American way. Having the inside scoop on Superman can't help our sales if we don't give people a reason to even look at our paper. Now, get going!"

The trio turned and walked out of Perry's office. Clark started following Lois towards the desks.

"Now, don't get any ideas, Smallville," Lois warned. "I haven't busted my butt working my way up through the ranks to watch you come in and take it away from me with one stroke of luck."

"I don't mean to take anything away from you, Lois," Clark replied. "I'm sure we can work together just fine."

"Only if you can keep up." At this point, they had reached their desks, and Lois sat down behind hers, pointing at the desk that sat next to it, facing her. "Chief says you're sitting there," she said, looking at her computer monitor.

Clark put his briefcase down and placed his hat on the desk, looking around the office, taking it in.

Lois sighed and looked up from her monitor. "Welcome to the Daily Planet," she said, in a much softer tone of voice than she had used all morning.

Clark smiled. "Thanks, Lois. It's good to see you too."

"But seriously . . . lose the suit. It's a bit stuffy on you."

Clark pushed the glasses back up his nose. "I'll keep that in mind," he said, sitting down, and hitting the power button on his computer.

"Well, who do we have here?"

Clark turned when he heard this female voice behind him. "Um, I'm Clark Kent. I'm new here."

"I'll say," the blonde said, sitting down on the edge of Clark's desk. She crossed her legs. "I'm Cat Grant, the lifestyles and society reporter."

"Trust me, Cat, he's not worth your time," Lois said, not even looking up from her monitor. "Just a farmboy from Kansas."

Cat ran her hand over her right ear and pushed her blonde hair back. "I'll be the judge of that. It's been a while since we've had fresh blood in here."

Clark just looked at Lois, not sure what to think of this new arrival. He wasn't used to people being so forward in their introduction, especially leggy blondes wearing mini-skirts sitting on the edge of his desk. "I am looking forward to working here," Clark replied, with the safest answer he could.

"I'm sure," Cat replied, standing up. "And if you need anything, learning the ropes or whatever, just ask." She waved slightly as she walked away. "Tootles."

"Welcome to life in the big city, Smallville," Lois said. "You'll find it's rarely boring."

"And here I wasn't expecting a desk with a view . . . " Clark mumbled.

"So, what's your angle?" Lois asked bluntly.

"Angle?"

"On Superman. Perry said you had some ideas, and we are supposed to be working on this together. Don't think I'm just going to let you mooch off of my work and get the credit."

"I'm not sure if I have anything definite. It was more in my presentation."

"Presentation. Hmm. Sounds like you don't have squat and you used your farmboy charm to inspire our editor." Lois chuckled. "I have to say nice job on that part."

"Thank you," Clark answered. "I think." He stood up.

"Where are you going so soon?"

"Archives. I'm thinking there is something in there that might have been missed."

Lois just shook her head as Clark walked away.

As he walked in, and around the corner wall, he saw yet another blond female sitting at the desk against the far wall, furiously typing away at the computer. He cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, is this the archive section?"

"Gah!" the girl exclaimed, jumping up out of her seat. "Don't people know how to knock here?" she asked as she turned around. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed as she saw who was standing in front of her. "Clark!" she exclaimed, rushing over with her arms extended, her green dress flowing around her.

"Chloe?" Clark wondered. As much as seeing Lois upstairs had been a shock, this one was even bigger. Chloe Sullivan was Clark's best friend throughout high school in Smallville. In fact, she was the first one to learn his secret. Unfortunately, shortly after high school, they lost touch. They had exchanged a few e-mails and phone calls over the years, but had never found the time to actually meet.

Chloe grabbed Clark around the shoulders and embraced him. "What are you doing here?"

"I sort of got a job here," Clark replied. "I didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah," Chloe responded, breaking the hug and taking a step back. "I got a job on the web staff, and that somehow got merged in with archives. Basically, I ended up mostly by myself on this floor."

"You're the only web girl?"

"Well, there's a staff that does some of the actual coding, but I do most of the work that bridges the gap between reporting and technology. Or at least that's the tagline I'm trying to come up with. Does it sound good?"

Clark smiled. "Sounds like you have a good job."

Chloe sighed. "I expected to be a bit more higher profile around here. I mean, Lois ends up as star reporter and I'm only two steps above basement dweller."

Clark shrugged his shoulders. "And I have the desk next to her."

"What?" Chloe exclaimed. "Come on, you gotta help your bestest buddy out now!"

Clark laughed. "I'm still a rookie here."

"Yeah, but – wait a minute," Chloe interrupted herself. "You show up here just days after the Constitution incident . . . " She leaned in closer to Clark and lowered her voice. "Are you Superman?"

Clark nodded.

"So you can take the hero out of Smallville," Chloe added. "I was wondering when you'd come to your senses."

"What?"

"I've been waiting for a long time to hear about you doing something other than just moping around Smallville."

"Actually, I moved to Metropolis a few months ago."

Chloe smacked Clark's shoulder playfully, knowing that he would hardly feel it. "And you didn't call me?"

"I wasn't sure where you ended up, actually."

"Okay, maybe I've been a little bad on the keeping in touch part."

"Then we definitely need to catch up."

"Well, I don't have much of a social life. So, I'm free most nights."

"Good, because I don't think the walls of a newspaper building are very secretive."

Chloe laughed. "No, they're not. You should hear the gossip that spreads through this place."

"I'm guessing Cat Grant is a big part of that."

"Oh, so you've met?"

"Yeah," Clark replied quickly. "She leaves quite an interesting impression."

"Just watch yourself around her. She's very ambitious, and uses whatever she can to give herself whatever advantage she needs."

"I'll be careful."

"So, you explained why you're in the building, but I still don't know why you made your way to my department."

"I was wondering if any of, um, Superman's not so public exploits have made their way into the paper's archives."

"Basically, you're wondering if there's anything in there that can tie the two of you together?"

Clark nodded. "I know that some of what I did in Smallville ended up being very high profile."

"Not to mention being buddy buddy with Lex Luthor. I'm surprised he never uncovered your secret."

"Now there's no telling what he might figure out, now that I'm in his city."

"Somehow, I don't think people will be calling Metropolis his city for much longer."

"What do you mean?"

Chloe smiled, and typed something into her computer. She stepped aside and let Clark look at the loaded page. First and foremost, it had a large stylized S.

"Art guys reconstructed it from a few blurry pictures," Chloe explained. "How does it look?"

"Pretty accurate," Clark replied. "But what does this mean?"

"Metropolis was almost headed towards a depression. Not necessarily the financial kind, but almost a moral one. There have been a lot of dubious dealings going on in the city. And Luthor has been at the heart of most of it, even though it technically can't be proven. So, while most people are able to continue going about their normal business, there is still a sense that things are slowly spiraling downhill."

"Are you saying Luthor has some sort of endgame for Metropolis?"

Chloe shook her head. "I can't say for sure. He is a clever schemer. But if there is someone out there that will be a hero, a champion of the oppressed, then maybe things will get a lot brighter in the city of tomorrow."

"I don't know about all that."

Chloe smiled. "I do. I've seen it."

Clark pushed his glasses up his nose again. "I'll try not to let you down." He turned to leave. "And we'll get together sometime. I'll even let you hang out at my desk upstairs," he added with a smile.

"Thanks, Clark." Chloe started to turn back to her computer, but then turned to face the door. "Oh, by the way, I like the suit. And the glasses are a nice touch."

Clark chuckled and headed back upstairs.