"So, Miss Lane, is that everything you wanted to ask?"

Lois turns off her voice recorder and flips her notebook shut. "Yes, Superman, I think it is. Thank you for the interview."

"Of course," Superman says, smiling that honest smile that probably makes every girl's heart flutter the way Lois's is fluttering right now. "It's always a pleasure to talk to you, Miss Lane."

"You still won't talk to me about anything personal, though?" Lois asks. She might as well try, at least. "Strictly professional?"

"Strictly professional," Superman agrees, still smiling. "What about you? Will you tell me about anything personal in your life?"

Normally, Lois wouldn't follow an interview with gossip about her own life, but she doesn't want Superman to leave. It's a little embarrassing, frankly, but it's true. If chatting with him about her life is enough to make him stay, then she'll chat.

"Well, my mom called me again to ask if I have a boyfriend yet."

Superman is startled into laughing. Lois wishes for a moment she still had her voice recorder on so she could capture the sound, then she berates herself for being a creepy Superman fangirl.

"And do you have a boyfriend yet?" Superman teases.

"No," Lois says, making a face. "Definitely not. I mean, it hasn't been that long since my last boyfriend and I broke up, and I"m just trying to take a break from dating for the moment, but my mom seems to think that means I've sworn off men altogether and I'm going to die alone, surrounded by cats."

"If you're surrounded by cats, aren't you, by definition, not alone?"

"If there's no husband in the picture, my mom thinks I'm alone." Lois sighs. "Does your mom ever do this sort of thing? Ask if you've got a girlfriend or something?"

"Uh, actually, yeah," Superman agrees, which is a crumb of information Lois hadn't been expecting to get. "I think she thinks I'm lonely."

"Are you?"

Superman shrugs. "Sometimes. Not right now, though." He gestures at Lois. "By definition, I'm not alone."

"Dork," Lois replies fondly. Discovering that Superman is, in fact, a massive dork was perhaps one of the best discoveries in her career, even if she's never written about it and probably never will. It makes him almost ridiculously endearing. He's an alien superhero, so he should feel untouchable and otherworldly, and instead, he feels like a friend.

"So there's no one you're interested in dating right now?" Superman asks. "Because you've sworn off men, of course."

"Ha, ha," Lois replies flatly. "No, I'm not looking to date anyone right now. But if I had to choose someone…" She looks around. "What I'm about to tell you does not leave this rooftop, okay? Promise?"

"Cross my heart," Superman agrees easily.

"If I had to choose a guy," Lois says, "I think I'd choose this other reporter I work with. He's sweet, and he's kinda bumbling, but he's a good guy. His name is Clark Kent."

Superman makes a noise that sounds like he's choking. "What?"

"Oh my god, you know him, don't you?" Lois demands, suddenly remembering how many interviews Clark has gotten with Superman. "If you breathe a single word of this to him, I'll team up with Lex Luthor and figure out a way to kill you."

"Understood," Superman says, still looking faintly shocked. "So, you like Clark Kent?"

"Whoa, slow down. Like is a strong word. I mean, as a fellow reporter, sure. As a friend, definitely. But like-like? …And great, now I sound like a six year old."

"Do you like-like him?" Superman asks, a spark of mischief in his eyes.

Lois rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I think what I said before was 'if I had to choose a guy.' Thus indicating that, while I like him as a friend, I'm not actively looking for a relationship with Clark. Just, like, if I had to date someone for some reason, it'd probably be him."

"Why would you ever have to date someone?" Superman asks curiously.

"I don't know, I'm just saying. I don't like-like Clark, but I do like him, so…" Lois shrugs. "You're not going to tell him any of this, right?"

"I won't say a word," Superman promises. "Are you ever going to tell him?"

"It's not like I'm actually looking for a relationship," Lois replies. "Clark is just… nice. And he's handsome. He'd be even more handsome if he worked on his posture a little, but I guess no guy is perfect. I even think he manages to make those dorky glasses work."

"Those are pretty dorky glasses," Superman agrees.

"Yeah, but he looks cute in them," Lois replies. "I mean, objectively speaking. He looks cute in them, objectively. I don't think that because I like him or anything."

"It would be okay if you did, you know," Superman says. "And I promise I won't tell."

"Look, Superman, you're a cool guy, and I know I did start this conversation in the first place, but I don't think my local superhero is going to be the first person I admit my crush to," Lois says. "If I, theoretically, had a crush at all."

"Understandable."

"And on that note, I think we probably both have to go," Lois adds. "I've got to write up this article, and you've got to… save the world, probably."

"Saving the world is on my agenda for tonight," Superman agrees.

"So…" Lois holds out a hand. "Until next time?"

Superman smiles and shakes her hand. "Until next time, Miss Lane."


(It's months later, after Lois has discovered Superman's secret identity and started dating him, that she wakes in the middle of the night and slaps Clark's shoulder harshly.

"Lois?" Clark mumbles. "Something wrong?"

"You're Clark Kent," Lois hisses. "You're Superman, and you're Clark Kent."

Clark blinks at her. "…Yeah?"

"I told you that I liked you! I talked to you about it! You said you wouldn't tell!"

"Well, technically, I didn't, you did."

Lois stares at Clark for a long moment, then she buries her face in her pillow and screams.)